First Xbox One TV Spot Forgets About Games

[RandV80]

Well it's going to get ripped on by gamers, but as this is a US add I'd imagine football fans outnumber gamers. Really the effectiveness of this add depends a lot on how many football fans don't already have these other features yet, and what sort of disposable income they have. Microsoft has given us plenty of ammunition to bash the Xbone but gamers are just coming off as whiny here.

 

[RJ 17]

-snip-

I'm pretty sure his point was that the XBox name is pretty well known in the US for its ability to play games, thus needing to say "this game console plays games" is somewhat redundant.

But then, we live in a world where people honestly got confused as to whether or not the Wii U was a new console or just a tablet that works with the old one, even though it was clearly stated that the Wii U had hardware capabilities that surpassed the original Wii. So that may be too generous of a presumption of intelligence from the average consumer in modern times. >_>

The problem is that UnnDunn is making a false equivalency argument. The message of the MS commercial is "We have a new product that will do this, this, and this" in an attempt to gain people in a market that's not part of their target market which is - or at least should be - gamers. The iPhone commercial is saying "Ours is the most preferred product of its kind" in an attempt to get their target market - people that use smartphones - to pick up theirs. That's the key difference between the two commercials: the MS one implies a shift in target market/audience while the iPhone commercial plays to its current target audience/market.

UnnDunn fails to realize that MS's shift alienates gamers while the iPhone commercial panders to smartphone users.

 

[ClockworkUniverse]

-snip-

I'm pretty sure his point was that the XBox name is pretty well known in the US for its ability to play games, thus needing to say "this game console plays games" is somewhat redundant.

That does make sense, but it's still different, since the Xbox commercial is pretty much trying to tell people to buy the Xbone because it lets them do something they can do just fine without it.

 

[FootloosePhoenix]

Ewwwww. I can't imagine anything that would turn me off of the Xbone harder than that short of seeing the machine advertised as a means to bludgeon kittens to death. I mean, I wasn't interested in it in the first place, but I hate sports and seeing football be the absolute focus of an ad for what's supposed to be a video game console makes me cringe. I understand there are people who enjoy both sports and video games, heck I wouldn't care if they'd at least been advertising Madden and the like, but for me personally...this is just awful. I'm not sure if I'd get along with the sort of person who thinks this is a good thing.

Well Microsoft, I guess we'll see if primarily non-gamer sports fans are really dumb enough with their cash to pay $500 (plus Gold) for a fantasy football machine.

 

[UnnDunn]

-snip-

I'm pretty sure his point was that the XBox name is pretty well known in the US for its ability to play games, thus needing to say "this game console plays games" is somewhat redundant.

But then, we live in a world where people honestly got confused as to whether or not the Wii U was a new console or just a tablet that works with the old one, even though it was clearly stated that the Wii U had hardware capabilities that surpassed the original Wii. So that may be too generous of a presumption of intelligence from the average consumer in modern times. >_>

Thank you. That is exactly the point I was trying to make. Judging by this and other threads around the interwebs however, I fear your latter point may be sadly correct.

 

[Verrik]

You know, I bet that if Microsoft keeps airing ads like this, one day someone somewhere is gonna go out to buy an Xbox One.

Then weeks later, after fiddling through the console's options and settings, they're gonna be shocked to find that this awesome "water-cooler" of a device can also... PLAY VIDEO GAMES!

"*GASP*, you mean that my awesome voice activated, NFL sports broadcasting, DVD playing, Skyping Xbox One machine can play video games too!? BONUS!!"

 

[Scorpid]

I've stopped caring about the Xbox brand in general. If they want to hedge their bets on men and their football have at it just don't bother me in my gaming verse. Don't have exclusive Xbox one games that I will want to play but can't because you will bring nothing to the table other then exclusivity which has more to do with your handshaking and fist bumping in the corporate sphere then with the capabilities of your machine.

 

[theaudioprophet]

Well y'know, nowadays everybody wanna talk like they got something to say but nothing comes out when they move their lips, just a buncha' gibberish. Motherfuckers act like they forgot about games.

So what do you say to somebody you hate? Or anyone tryina' bring trouble your way? Wanna resolve things in a bloodier way, just get that DVD of GTA!

etc etc

ah this made me laugh

kudos to you

 

[ninjaRiv]

Didn't they make this mistake already? Are they just repeating the same thing? Kind of a bad move.

 

[Ace Morologist]

Couldn't I just as easily look at my Windows tablet or Windows smartphone and keep up with this fantasy football stuff? Or my Windows laptop? I can do that to look at the Internet too. Or Netflix (I think). With the right apps, I can already do all that stuff that the Xbox One is offering, and none of those devices is going to go away if I were to get an Xbox One. So why should I bother?

That's what I'm not hearing from Microsoft in any PR event or TV ad or Internet article. That's what Microsoft should be doing its damnedest to tell people.

--Morology!

 

[masticina]

Did Sony just payed Microsofts PR team for this?

This is just hilarious bad. Really bad

Look I get it Sports is big in the USA yeah.. but really selling a gaming console without pointing out it actually does games. That sounds like Sony is paying Microsoft PR guys!

 

[mysecondlife]

As much as I like to bash on Xbox as the next guy, its a football-centric commercial catered to football fans on Thursday Night Football.

That being said, $500 just to watch football and skype? I hope nobody made decision buying Xbox solely based on this commercial.

 

[Callate]

"XBox! Get rid of all that crap and let me watch the game!"

"XBox! Why am I giving you access to my cable box?!"

"XBox, did you just Skype my sister's kids live video of me swearing while I accidentally poured a bowl of hot nacho cheese dip down my pants?"

 

[The AmeriCanadian Gamer]

My guess is that they consider that those who want it for a game console already knows enough to have made up their mind and now they're trying to focus on the audience who might be more interested in the TV, sport and communication features. I guess it kinda makes sense from some point of view. Still, I am not sure if there's really an audience who doesn't want games who would buy the thing though.

I think you nailed it pretty well, the only thing I could add would be - Say you're not into games, and you kid wants and Xbox One, and you're trying to justify buying it, then you see this ad, it may help sway that decision.

 

[MarsProbe]

My main question regarding this ad is, who is this Derek person and why does he appear to keep his entire "home entertainment system" (including XB1 and shiny flat screen tv) outside? Seems like a hugely impractical setup. You either have to bring the thing in every night or replace your kit every day after all your gear is inevitably stolen in the middle of the night.

 

[Rainforce]

so after all this controversy, the first ad they pull is solely targeted at the US specifically AND the much smaller subgroup of people caring about the NFL?
HOW?
(I'm all out of 'what' and 'why')

 

[loa]

So it's a remote that doesn't even work that way in my country.
It's for people who watch footbal and skype (which are both gold features btw, just let that sink in) on their tv outside and don't have a remote.
Cool marketing.

 

[Erttheking]

You're kidding me right? All the backlash, all the people screaming THIS ISN'T WHAT WE WANT! and then they turn around and go back with this?

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You know, I haven't seen any PS4 commercials since E3. Anyone else getting the impression that Sony is just letting Microsoft do all the work for them now?

EDIT: DAMN IT! Someone beat me to it!