How to sell next-gen consoles, Marketing, Positioning, and Pricing [2020]

[Deleted member 11852]

Kind of sad to say this in a way, but... MS needs a jaw dropping moment. They need a tech demo akin to Nvidia's Marbles and Sony's UE5. They need something to cause a splash. Least, it seems that way. Marketing wise.

I think Microsoft are hoping third parties will fill this role. They have a 12Tf console, unless is there is pediment to developing on on it (we know PS5 is super easy as many non-Sony devs have said so) games should just look better on Series X. Whether better = visible perceptible is another question.

It's a real shame CDPR won't have a fully optimised version of Cyberpunk 2077 ready for nextgen day 1. There will be a 'boost' style patch but that's very different. Cyberpunk 2077 could have been that showcase game, they already have a marketing deal with Microsoft. It's a shame Microsoft didn't press them/incentivise them harder.

 

[Silenti]

In a kind of sad twist, I am actually starting to lean away from a console at the moment. Depending on how the DirectStorage for PC/ Windows actually works. If all I need is an RDNA2 or Nvidia 3x to make it work....Just so tired of the BS. Relatively happy with my PC. Could wait for the Nvidia RTX4000 series. Just live with GamePass PC. This is actually appealing to me at the moment. Really could use something to change my mind/ get my attention from a game standpoint. Nothing seems forthcoming.

'Course, I am also probably, old, tired and jaded.

 

[Rangers]

Never should anyone get slain or feel guilt for making misstakes. You have all reason to discuss it.



Seems like it, i mean, a 3070 outperforms a 2080Ti which is a 14+TF product boosting over that. And thats now, early days. I assume drivers will be optimized etc.
I think most where expecting 30% improvement, not 80 to 100% as per the DF video. The ray tracing increases are even more impressive. No idea about DLSS, more tensor performance means DLSS should provide even better results as compared to Turing?

Anyway, i kind of feel NV had to with this, theres a new generation consoles around the corner, RDNA2 competes with Turing, and Intel starts their journey towards competing in that market (or tries to atleast, they have resources).

If anything the performance makes one question Nvidias flops numbers, not vice versa. 3080 is ostensibly a 30 TF part, yet is "only" 70-80% faster than 11 TF 2080.

It's a real shame CDPR won't have a fully optimised version of Cyberpunk 2077 ready for nextgen day 1. There will be a 'boost' style patch but that's very different. Cyberpunk 2077 could have been that showcase game, they already have a marketing deal with Microsoft. It's a shame Microsoft didn't press them/incentivise them harder.

Yes yes yes times 1000. I'm wondering what will even most show off XSX at launch. Maybe Ass Creed or COD or something with mild X enhancements? I really dont know.

Microsoft is really weird about power, they went to the trouble of building the most powerful next gen and advertising the heck out of it as such, but then OTOH they take (nearly, only MS 1st party franchise at 30 remaining is Forza Horizon AFAIK) mandated 1st party 60 FPS stance, introduce Series S, and enforce cross gen requirements to 1st party. All these things basically seriously neuter how much that power advantage will show up on screen. Then they're "shocked" at Halo Infinite reaction (granted I thought it looked good)? What did they really expect of a 60 FPS open world game based on 1.3 TF hardware?

I was always the opinion they should have started Halo Infinite 3-5 years ago with these restrictions: 30 FPS campaign (60 MP would be fine I guess, but I'd prefer even that was 30) and next gen (Series X) only, and really built ground up to focus on the eye candy and show off the hardware. But again, that decision would have had to have been made 3+ years ago, it's way too late now. But a next gen cyberpunk coat of paint funded by MS would have been a utterly superb idea.

I'm actually kind of depressed that Cyberpunk in Nov wont look much better on my Series X. Although I think they've said there will be some improvements, I'm sure they'll be incredibly minor. It's a big downer.

 

[Jay]

Depending on how the DirectStorage for PC/ Windows actually works. If all I need is an RDNA2 or Nvidia 3x to make it work....

For what it's worth I'm assuming direct storage will work with any directx12u card. So any rtx inc 20x range.

Know exactly how your feeling at the moment though.....

 

[Johnny Awesome]

I understand the frustration with XSX. We don't know the whole story behind the scenes. It's possible that they'll only be able to make 1 million of them for 2020 and don't want to overemphasize it, instead focusing on GamePass until they can supply enough units. Then they bring out enhanced Cyberpunk 2077, Flight Sim, Gears 5 enhanced and Halo Infinite all in Q1 and make a big splash then. It's difficult to know because they have a lot more information than we do right now about the state of manufacturing.

Sony doesn't really have much coming in 2020 either, game wise and only serious hardware early adopters are even thinking about getting a new console this year. Remember that of the 120 million people that are going to buy these things over the next 7 years, not more than 5 million of them could possibly be before the end of 2020, due to production limitations.

 

[PSman1700]

'm astonished that people still think most people are actually (like many Beyond3Ders) weighing PC vs. Console.

No idea if i understand what you mean with that, but the pc is a seriously big market (from low to high end). 1.5b pc gamers out there, according to NV.

 

[fehu]

Another one hit the 599 mark

https://twitter.com/x/status/1301811412310913025

 

[London Geezer]

"Estimated value"

 

[fehu]

Two 599 makes an 1198

 

[Xbat]

Someone want to lend me R15000

 

[Jay]

I'm still in the 500 camp, even when the 400 and now these 600 ones came up.

But it has made me think what a 600 would mean especially after the ampare reveal.
600 PS5 / XSX
500 PS5 DD
400 XSS

All really really expensive, but the XSS hits the 400 sweet spot still.
PS5 DD could be considered really desirable even for people who would prefer to have a drive.

 

[London Geezer]

I’m bet that they’re going to be $500 with a margin of error of $100. Nailed it. I take all major credit cards. Cash preferred.

 

[BRiT]

I’m bet that they’re going to be $500 with a margin of error of $100. Nailed it. I take all major credit cards. Cash preferred.

So $399.99 and you lost?

 

[London Geezer]

So $399.99 and you lost?

Shit. Didn’t think this through, did I.

 

[Deleted member 2197]

Two 599 makes an 1198

And to enjoy a 4K experience a bit more for a 4K TV if you don't have one. (~31% of population have 4K TV's.)

 

[iroboto]

Shit. Didn’t think this through, did I.

It would be an incredible feat to see these consoles land at 399 with the CPU and SSD requirements, let alone the GPU and memory requirements, the controller etc.
This seems way too good to be true.

499 is very cost effective for what you're getting and is the best case scenario price point, 599 seems to be the reasonable expectation price point.

 

[BRiT]

I'm hoping they go unconventional, with $429 and $279 price points. Maybe as the Black Friday special prices.

 

[Johnny Awesome]

No idea if i understand what you mean with that, but the pc is a seriously big market (from low to high end). 1.5b pc gamers out there, according to NV.

The communities don't mix really at all to the extent people here seem to think they do. I know about 50 console gamers and about 6 PC gamers. None of these people are even contemplating going the other route this time. Ampere means nothing to most console people.

PC gaming stats are always exagerated as well. People playing Minesweeper and Candy Crush get thrown into the mix.

Forumites here shouldn't make the mistake of thinking that everyone is like themselves weighing PC vs. Console. The market is more segmented than that.

 

[zed]

yeah 1.5 billion is just every PC out there with a decent GPU in it.
for a more accurate number look at the current amount of ppl playing said game on each of the platforms at any time IIRC consoles always outnumber PC by a lot, though PC gamers have more titles to choose from but even taking this into consideration the 1.5 billion number is a gross exageration

 

[Rangers]

299 with such weak specs. Good luck with that.

Yup. Against a 399 or at most 449 PS5 DE? And a 299 Switch? Almost noone will buy this. I'd say I could see a place for it for kids as a cheap fortnight/minecraft/overwatch box, but A) Switch (which is much more attractive to the general populace than "XBox" if you're spending 299) B) why not buy a Xbox One for 199 at Christmas (if they were still available anyway) if that was your purpose?

Lockhart was always a bad idea. It only sounds good in theory, until you start thinking it through. There's no value inherent in the idea because the cost savings of a very slightly smaller SOC just dont amount to much. And besides that power is such an overwhelmingly dominant factor in core gaming. Allowing for $50 for the optical disk, there's effectively $150 difference between this and Series X.

Microsoft is so dumb sometimes, they engineer the winning hand and then set it up for Sony to make them look stupid. Which will be called a 399 PS5 DE, Lockhart will be the laughingstock of the forums across the interwebs if/when that's announced. Hmm, for $100 more I can get the ballyhood Sony exclusives and a real full fat next gen console.

I would have really liked MS position this coming Gen if they just had Series X. As is, they stand a real risk of ruining it all. People are going to be confused and theyre just going to shrug and buy PS5....further we saw with One X how the lower spec hardware is such an anchor. I love my One X, but never remotely felt like I was getting any kind of transcendent experience that 5X the flops should have afforded. One X literally could have passed for a new gen in specs, it was ~as great a flop multiplier as PS4 to PS5 is.

I just hope XSS dies quickly, the good news is I cant see how that isn't likely.