Microsoft: Xbox One Overhaul Hasn't Hurt Momentum

Steven Bogos

The Taco Man
Jan 17, 2013
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Microsoft: Xbox One Overhaul Hasn't Hurt Momentum


A Microsoft exec claims the Xbox One is "remaining true to our vision that we want to be wherever our consumers want us to be."

Xbox Europe VP Chris Lewis recently gave an interview to MCV [http://www.mcvuk.com/news/read/xbox-we-wouldn-t-trade-places-with-anyone/0120873], in which he stood behind all of the controversial flip-flopping Microsoft have been doing with the Xbox One, stating that "we remain true to our vision that we want to be wherever our consumers want us to be." When asked if the Xbox One strategy overhaul has hurt the machine's momentum, Lewis firmly said "no," and feels "confident" that the console will still sell out when it is released in November.

One of the biggest criticisms of Microsoft's policy reversal, was why they didn't just stick with its initial strategy and better educate consumers on the benefits. Lewis responds that listening to consumer demands most definitely comes before trying to educate them otherwise: "As a business, the minute we don't listen to our customers attentively, and adapt and react in an appropriate way, then we would be in a dangerous place." He adds that "I wouldn't trade places with anybody."

He claims that the digital revolution that the Xbox One's initial vision seemed to enshrine is still something that will happen sooner or later, and the policy change was more about giving consumers more choice. "We want to offer consumers choice, including physical discs and being able to do all the things that they want with those physical discs. We've always been very committed to consumer choice."

Lastly, Lewis re-iterates what pretty much everyone at Microsoft has already said, when asked about the possibility of decoupling the new Kinect sensor from the console. "Kinect is at the heart of the architecture of what we are with Xbox One ... we are clear on our vision and our strategy for the hardware, the platform, the services and the content."

Source: MCV [http://www.mcvuk.com/news/read/xbox-we-wouldn-t-trade-places-with-anyone/0120873]

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Adam Jensen_v1legacy

I never asked for this
Sep 8, 2011
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M$ said:
we want to be wherever our consumers want us to be...
...We've always been very committed to consumer choice
I want you to be the console without the Kinect. Clearly this is not a console for me then, is it?
 

9thRequiem

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Sep 21, 2010
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Lastly, Lewis re-iterates what pretty much everyone at Microsoft has already said, when asked about the possibility of decoupling the new Kinect sensor from the console. "Kinect is at the heart of the architecture of what we are with Xbox One ... we are clear on our vision and our strategy for the hardware, the platform, the services and the content."
A shame; I'd consider an Xbox One if there was a Kinectless version that was cheaper than the PS4. It seems that the Kinect is less of a feature, and more of a dead weight that will sink the whole console.

Listening to customers is great, but I think there's a lot of customers that really don't want the kinect, so ...
 

CrazyCapnMorgan

Is not insane, just crazy >:)
Jan 5, 2011
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Wait, wait, wait a minute...

Clearly I've been under a rock this past console generation. The XBone had momentum!? Is that what they're calling terminal velocity nowadays?

Huh. Imagine that.

OT: When the Kinect becomes optional, then Microsoft will have truly listened to the customer.
 

Ed130 The Vanguard

(Insert witty quote here)
Sep 10, 2008
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CrazyCapnMorgan said:
Wait, wait, wait a minute...

Clearly I've been under a rock this past console generation. The XBone had momentum!? Is that what they're calling terminal velocity nowadays?

Huh. Imagine that.

OT: When the Kinect becomes optional, then Microsoft will have truly listened to the customer.
I suspect it did receive a bump in pre-orders after the One-Eighty on the Always Online issue.

It could have been bigger if they added Kinectless version and they wouldn't have even been in this mess if they had used some common sense but still...

An increase is an increase, even if it is still trailing the PS4.
 

Zhukov

The Laughing Arsehole
Dec 29, 2009
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"...we remain true to our vision that we want to be wherever our consumers want us to be."

Sounds to me like their vision underwent a bit of an overhaul.

Surely we all still remember "Deal with it." How did that fit their almighty vision?
 

Steven Bogos

The Taco Man
Jan 17, 2013
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Zhukov said:
"...we remain true to our vision that we want to be wherever our consumers want us to be."

Sounds to me like their vision underwent a bit of an overhaul.

Surely we all still remember "Deal with it." How did that fit their almighty vision?
IIRC, that got Mr. Orth fired from Microsoft. Which does actually fit with their vision of putting the customer first.
 

008Zulu_v1legacy

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Sep 6, 2009
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The idea of a digital delivery system is a good idea, but making a purely digital console is a bad idea. Three quarters of Microsoft's consumers don't have access to an internet connection or plan capable of supporting it. I have no doubt that a purely digital world will come about, just that it won't be here for many decades to come.
 

Andy Shandy

Fucked if I know
Jun 7, 2010
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To be fair, they're technically right. The overhaul didn't hurt their "momentum", it was the initial idiotic idea that did that.
 

Johnny Wishbone

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Aug 17, 2011
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A Microsoft exec claims the Xbox One is "remaining true to our vision that we want to be wherever our consumers want us to be."
Translation: "We're still going to tell the consumer what WE think they want, we're just being less obtuse about it this time."



When asked if the Xbox One strategy overhaul has hurt the machine's momentum, Lewis firmly said "no," and feels "confident" that the console will still sell out when it is released in November.
Of course it will "sell out" when it is released. Microsoft will report that it "sold out" on launch day because they will only count how many consoles they sold to retailers. The fact that most of those consoles will still be sitting on store shelves for weeks after launch is irrelevant to them; they got their money from selling the console to the retailer.
 

Eri

The Light of Dawn
Feb 21, 2009
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As a guy on facebook said, "It didn't hurt momentum because there was no momentum TO hurt."

Exactly this. Microsoft thinks they're clever.
 

GodzillaGuy92

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Jul 10, 2012
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Steven Bogos said:
A Microsoft exec claims the Xbox One is "remaining true to our vision that we want to be wherever our consumers want us to be."
Eeeexcept for anywhere other than the twenty-one supported countries, back when it was doing the DRM. And anywhere other than the mere thirteen countries it was recently reduced to. And now the five countries that the Kinect voice commands will work in.

Seriously, Microsoft. I know you're trying to rebuild your image, but this isn't the way. Admitting you've screwed up and giving the impression that you're learning from it will earn you a lot more good will than just trying to pretend the screw-up never happened.
 

zellosoli

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Aug 22, 2011
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microsoft.....just release the f*#%ing thing first before you spout this crap. work on your image after that because im just so tired of this spin BS, its literally putting me to sleep.
 

Magnethead

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Feb 1, 2011
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I'm not sure there's really anything MS can do at this stage to turn this around before the launch. They really need to just shut up for 6 months and come back with a well planned and unified message. The turn-arounds and apparently scatter-gun approach they've taken so far is making them look fairly amateur.

And the whole Kinect thing is a farce. They insist it's an important part of the system, but haven't offered any evidence to back that up that I've seen. I'm sure they have great plans for it, so maybe if they hinted at some compelling reasons for it, nothing that's going to give their competitors a head-start, then maybe more people would be on-board with the whole bundling deal. I've got the Kinect v1.0 on my kids' 360, and it's a complete lame duck. Based on the v1.0 I can't currently think of any reason why I'd pay good money for version 2.
 

ellers07

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Feb 24, 2013
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"we want to be wherever our consumers want us to be..."

Oh! Well, I'd like it to not be in my house. So I guess we both get what we want!
 

Gethsemani_v1legacy

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Oct 1, 2009
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CrazyCapnMorgan said:
Wait, wait, wait a minute...

Clearly I've been under a rock this past console generation. The XBone had momentum!? Is that what they're calling terminal velocity nowadays?

Huh. Imagine that.

OT: When the Kinect becomes optional, then Microsoft will have truly listened to the customer.
Terminal velocity is the maximum velocity that an object can reach unassisted due to gravity. It is a cool expression, but terminal in this instance doesn't mean deadly it simply means end point (as in: point in which velocity no longer increases). Just a little nitpick ;)

OT: It seems odd to claim being dedicated to customer choice when your first statements about the product were all about removing choice by forcing always online connection, forcing the inclusion of peripheral equipment few wanted and generally just acting like those who said they wanted choice were some strange, slightly psychotic people. Either way I am sure all the controversy hasn't hurt the Xbone's momentum, it has always been laying still like a brick PR-wise when compared to the PS4, where opinions seem to be in the "Meh, I don't want another console" to "This shit's dope" range with few genuinely negative remarks against it.
 

rapidoud

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Feb 1, 2008
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I don't understand the kinect hate. It actually gives developers incentive to develop for it and we may get some cool tech out of it like we did with the original kinect.

I personally stand by Carmack's comments on the Kinect though; way too much inbuilt lag as well as player momentum (I take 100ms to move my arm + the system has to process it) for it to be actually entertaining for games.

I'll be buying it for the exclusives no doubt, although the hefty $600 price tag is asking a lot. I'll probably get an Oculus Rift before that.
 

Something Amyss

Aswyng and Amyss
Dec 3, 2008
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Eri said:
As a guy on facebook said, "It didn't hurt momentum because there was no momentum TO hurt."

Exactly this. Microsoft thinks they're clever.
It pretty much had nowhere to go but up.