The more I read about the new consoles the more I think I will just either buy a PS4 or Xbox One S and wait a few years. Since there will be no exclusives - at least for the first few years - .you are just going have the the back catalog running exactly the same and at best what sounds like XBO/PS4 games just running at a higher res. So paying the the premium upfront for neo/scorpio seems like a waste.
Mixed Information on Consoles or How I learned to loathe PR *spin off*
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RancidLunchmeat
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I thought it was pretty interesting that he prefaced by saying "It's only three paragraphs so there's nothing to interpret" and then broke down each individual sentence and followed with his own interpretation.
Proof Microsoft are their own worst enemy when it comes to messaging.
Honestly I think its somewhat overstated even if MS does continue to have mixed messaging, the reality is MS had a good conference. I do think there could be some confusion about Scorpio but I'm not convinced it hurts MS if anything the lack of clarity gives some consumers sitting on the sidelines a reason to wait for it rather than buy PS4 or confidence to invest in the platform with the hope of upgrading to premium experience later. If you are a 360 gamer who didn't want PS4 you might be inclined to drop money on XB1 now knowing you can port your library to scorpio later. They also had some very good games Recore for example so all in all it was a good show with good message - The Xbox ecosystem isn't going anywhere, its growing and aims to be the most powerful moving forward. The details kinda raise questions but not enough that gamers should honestly care, they are gamers after all not engineers and E3 is about entertainment not a new IEEE standard...
Well its MR FOX so off course its roses from Sony.
Both companies want a smooth transition , MS wants you on windows 10 store or xbox or both. Sony wants you on ps4.
Its obvious neither the one or ps4 is strong enough for real 4k or vr gaming. So new systems were needed. Sony from what we know have a 4.4tflop machine and MS has a 6tflop machine. Both seem to be hitting next year. So there wont be time for one to take a clear lead. Both systems will be getting previous gen ports that are upressed in year one and two with year two and beyond slowly getting games designed for the new system with previous gen systems getting the ports.
This is the same as every previous generation. Its just happening quicker than previous ones.
People are just making way to big of a deal out of it.
http://www.cnbc.com/2016/06/14/sony-expect-playstation-vr-shortages.html
Andrew House gave a short interview. It's the first interview which is speaking to consumers about it. This is only 3 small paragraphs so it's not like there's pages and hours of interviews with 99% of empty fluff to filter and interpret.
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Ok, for one you are comparing an interview that is edited for brevity vs one that is published in full. But it's no more specific and no less vague than Microsoft's plans for Scorpio. Whatever worries you have about one you should have about the other. You can read it however you want, but if you apply the same standards to what either company is saying you should come to more or less the same conclusion. Treat both executives with the same suspicion, but I don't for a second believe that either one is out to screw you.
You seem to be suspicious that Spencer is only promising that Microsoft published games will work on both consoles, but frankly that is a stupid reading of his answer. It's only 3 paragraphs so it doesn't require interpretation, right?
That's the thing... all the great XB1 games got overshadowed by something that could of been held-off for a later date. Microsoft announcing Scorpio was to stop anymore PS4 momentum, and not to inform gamers "of choices". But whatever...
I think reading this and the comments in the Eurogamer thread are very telling of how certain XB1 users feel and possibly what the future holds for Xbox brand as a whole.
The only thing I've ever learned from reading comment sections is to not read comment sections.
Well, it's a Spencer interview (you need advanced PR skills), so yes, it does:
This can be easily interpreted like there could be Scorpio + PC exclusive games, so not console exclusive because available also on PC, but not available on XB1. Which does sound logical if they intend to release VR games on Scorpio + PC. And they will release VR games available on Scorpio and Windows 10 and not available on XB1 so while he semantically didn't lie here, what he purposefully meant for the PR untrained people was dishonest.
He already did a similar thing about Tomb Raider 2. "Xbox Holiday exclusivity" when was asked about whether it was a timed exclusive. It was indeed a timed exclusive but he never admitted it with the right words at first. Then later "Deal with a duration", still trying to mislead people.
My thought exactly, also I never heard of Scorpio before either. (Although I don't always get those infos under NDA before public release.)
Why call it anything other than a leak? Internal and specialist documents are never going to be drafted to be PR friendly as they'd lose their exactness. Can you imagine if the development specs for an upcoming console were nothing more than, "most powerful consolle we've ever built, redefining gaming, socially powerfully, a new era of wonderment," just in case those docs got leaked?!
Now that the cat is out of the bag, Sony's messaging begins (or is stalled with no comments). At which point they'll either be transparent or obtuse, generate positive PR or confuse and annoy. But until they approach the public with a public message, their plans and information don't need to be public friendly.
If you choose to be that suspicious than nothing he says is going to matter anyway.
I disagree. It could be worse the longer they delay the conversation.
This is a complete change to the operational norm for consoles. People need to discuss and plan and have a long time to figure out what they want and need.
For laymans, they know about Scorpio and 4K native. If you don't have a 4K set today will you buy one ? Which will you buy first? The discussion of what people need and when and at what cost point is going to matter and having more time to think about it is better for consumers. Period. You aren't driving sales through hype. You are letting consumers make conscious purchasing decisions on their terms at the cost of your own sales possibly.
We can talk about how mixed messaging is bad. But no one has bought a thing yet, you can't preorder.
Sony is going to come at Neo as: announcement followed by pre-order shortly after. And I'm telling you while this will get some sales from enthusiasts and the hype train the laymans haven't had a chance to take this information in yet. That can backfire spectacularly.
Never seen Brit and shifty go at it like this, product isn't even out for 1.5 years. Pricing won't even be announced for another 7-9 months at least. can you imagine what type crap will happen trying to make clear of why Neo vs why PS4 when they decide to just announce follows by pre-order?
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The article that had Andrew House saying he was surprised about Microsoft announcing Scorpio so soon and how the norm is the Apple model of announce and have availability almost instantly tells me that was and still is Sony's plan for announcing neo.
I have no idea whether announcing early or late is better.
On one hand, you announce early and you have time to get feedback, maybe tweak things, let people come to grips with the idea. But it's a risk to sales in the short term, because you have a long period of time where people can be skeptical of what's available now.
Other hand, you announce late and you can come out with a complete story leaving no question about what the product is. The risk is people can feel like they've had the rug pulled out from under them, or maybe there are details people aren't happy with and there's no time to respond.
I'm not a marketing research firm. I have no idea which of the two is right. I can see pros and cons to both and Microsoft and Sony with both say they chose the right way.
On one hand, you announce early and you have time to get feedback, maybe tweak things, let people come to grips with the idea. But it's a risk to sales in the short term, because you have a long period of time where people can be skeptical of what's available now.
Other hand, you announce late and you can come out with a complete story leaving no question about what the product is. The risk is people can feel like they've had the rug pulled out from under them, or maybe there are details people aren't happy with and there's no time to respond.
I'm not a marketing research firm. I have no idea which of the two is right. I can see pros and cons to both and Microsoft and Sony with both say they chose the right way.
Isn't stalling with no comments being obtuse? It certainly isn't being transparent.
I think MS was very clear that Xbox is not going anywhere and that was needed coming into E3, I've written that the messaging of the conference to me anyway was quite plainly that the Xbox ecosystem isn't going anywhere. To be honest I don't get the complaint about Xbox games on PC, especially when you begin to view Xbox, PC and tablet as extensions of the same ecosystem, its sort of like complaining that your Iphone game runs on your tablet.... Scorpio to me seems to be a signal that MS intends to commit resources to bringing the Xbox brand back in terms of being the premium, best quality (graphically) experience for the consumer, in that sense the announcement is a success and might help stem the bleeding of 360 owners who continue to migrate to PS4 - if Xbox enthusiast who love the tent pole titles like Halo and Gears know better hardware is coming in a few years they might be more inclined to buy an XB1 and upgrade later bc the games you invest in now will work later.
You don't seem to hear much from Larry Hyrb these days. Poor bloke probably can't get a look in with Phil Spencer everywhere!
I thought he left MS...
Sony has a holiday to worry about, especially if we are talking about a spring launch. Sony doesn't want to damper holiday sales.
MS has a new product launching right before the holidays and Scorpio launching the holiday after is not going disrupt the demand for the S all that much.
MS and Sony are in different circumstances which influence their PR.
MS has a new product launching right before the holidays and Scorpio launching the holiday after is not going disrupt the demand for the S all that much.
MS and Sony are in different circumstances which influence their PR.
The fact that he says "no Scorpio exclusive console games" which can technically be rephrased as "no console games will be exclusive to the Scorpio". "No Scorpio exclusives" would be a better phrase if he meant they will allow Scorpio+ PC exclusive titles.