Jimquisition: The Xbox One: A Lying Failure Machine
- Thread starter Jimothy Sterling
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did you actually read the article or just the headline? they re-wrote it to make the script clearer that they weren't pulling the same crap as microsoft because everyone assumed they were going to, from the articleVinLAURiA said:
"All it did was make us come out and state very clearly 'the status quo has been good to us, consumers like the choice and the balance that achieves'," he concluded. "It wasn't a shift in strategy, it was just a feeling of a necessity to go out and communicate something that we just took advantage of."
sure they took advantage of the blunder, but that's just good business sense.
Um... where in that article does it say Sony made a U-turn of the type Microsoft have been continually making for the last year?VinLAURiA said:
That tie quells all debate? Damn, where do I get me one of them?
So, slight tangent: Game Informer. That magazine that comes with a platinum GameStop membership.
However futilely, I felt obligated to write into GI this month. You see, a while back, they did an assessment of the PS4 versus the XBox One. Usually, I feel that GI does a fairly good job for a magazine that rides on the back of GS membership, but here, they took a turn for the cowardly and gave both the PS4 and XBox One equal high-mediocre marks, in the process more or less ignoring all the crap that has seen Microsoft spend the last several months back-pedaling.
So in the most recent issue, discussing the E3, they go into detail about the XBox One's setbacks and under-performance... And then they go and give both Sony and Microsoft "C+".
"But Callate," you say, "They were only evaluating the E3 performances, not the systems, this time!" Except they weren't. In the segment on Nintendo, they note that "Many declared Nintendo had 'won' E3", and then give their presentation a "C" on the grounds that "It's important to understand the difference between 'winning' E3 and winning the console battle."
So "winning the console battle" is an important part of the assessment, except when it isn't.
I called the assessment timid, which was a diplomatic hedge on the lines that it was more likely to get my letter printed. In truth, I would be more inclined to call it craven, and if I was truly blunt, to suggest that it smacked of a wing of GameStop not wanting to step on toes. I'm no Sony fanboy- I don't own a PS3 or PS4, as yet- but Sony is clearly winning, right now. The only right steps Microsoft is taking are steps away from its earlier stances. Sunset Overdrive and Titanfall may be great, and all, but No Man's Sky was the game of the show for many, and right now it's looking like a PS4 exclusive.
It's frustrating to see Microsoft winning (or even coming to a draw in) a PR battle they don't deserve.
So, slight tangent: Game Informer. That magazine that comes with a platinum GameStop membership.
However futilely, I felt obligated to write into GI this month. You see, a while back, they did an assessment of the PS4 versus the XBox One. Usually, I feel that GI does a fairly good job for a magazine that rides on the back of GS membership, but here, they took a turn for the cowardly and gave both the PS4 and XBox One equal high-mediocre marks, in the process more or less ignoring all the crap that has seen Microsoft spend the last several months back-pedaling.
So in the most recent issue, discussing the E3, they go into detail about the XBox One's setbacks and under-performance... And then they go and give both Sony and Microsoft "C+".
"But Callate," you say, "They were only evaluating the E3 performances, not the systems, this time!" Except they weren't. In the segment on Nintendo, they note that "Many declared Nintendo had 'won' E3", and then give their presentation a "C" on the grounds that "It's important to understand the difference between 'winning' E3 and winning the console battle."
So "winning the console battle" is an important part of the assessment, except when it isn't.
I called the assessment timid, which was a diplomatic hedge on the lines that it was more likely to get my letter printed. In truth, I would be more inclined to call it craven, and if I was truly blunt, to suggest that it smacked of a wing of GameStop not wanting to step on toes. I'm no Sony fanboy- I don't own a PS3 or PS4, as yet- but Sony is clearly winning, right now. The only right steps Microsoft is taking are steps away from its earlier stances. Sunset Overdrive and Titanfall may be great, and all, but No Man's Sky was the game of the show for many, and right now it's looking like a PS4 exclusive.
It's frustrating to see Microsoft winning (or even coming to a draw in) a PR battle they don't deserve.
Oh, I read the article. And one person's comments below it sums it up quite well:Soulrender95 said:
I mean, come on. Consider Sony's track record with this stuff. Look at the PS3's launch hubris. Look at the PSN fiasco. Look at the Vita and all that proprietary nonsense. Look at that embarrassing patent for the "interrupt your gameplay until you say an ad phrase into the PSEye" thing. These guys have a track record for screwing people over and they were treated as a hero last E3 for doing the bare minimum simply because Microsoft didn't. Only reason they got away with it this time is because they changed their minds only shortly before it would've been called backpedaling to do so.
Again, I'm not saying Microsoft's any better, and yes, PS4 is still the better console. But come on, they're all-but saying "yeah, we were gonna do the same thing if you guys swallowed Microsoft doing it." How is that worthy of any sort of praise?
So the game almost flawlessly combines its mechanics and narrative in a meaningful way, and Jimmy fails to mention it once. Putting him in the same stinking boat as almost everyone else who has reviewed it.SirBryghtside said:
even assuming that Sony was going to do what microsoft did, of which until someone leaks internal documents there is no evidence of.VinLAURiA said:
There's a difference between doing it before announcement and launch and doing it publicly over the course of a year after telling customers and potential customers outright lies about the kinect being necessary, the console always needing to check in online.
Ballmer is out and replaced with Nadella.
Mattrick is out replaced by Spencer.
The company as a whole needed a bit of a turn around.
And here's your apology. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AYil9yd0Dmw]
Mattrick is out replaced by Spencer.
The company as a whole needed a bit of a turn around.
And here's your apology. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AYil9yd0Dmw]
I've no issue with giving Sony shit over everything it has and will do wrong, but I go by what the company says and more importantly, what it does. I don't know if Sony planned the same DRM scheme or not, all I know is they said they didn't and didn't release a console with it. What I also know is that MS said they were going to, and after an avalanche of complaints, insisted that they HAD to, which was a lie.VinLAURiA said:
Any accusation that Sony planned to put that DRM in their system is speculation, and I can see why one might think it was good speculation, but the fact is they didn't spend several months trying to bullshit us into seeing things their way. Even if that had been the plan, the fact that they saw that it wasn't a desirable "feature" and quickly canned it still puts them leagues ahead of MS' bullshit brigade trying to convince us that their shitty DRM was actually totally awesomely rad for us, the consumers. BY all means, shit on Sony when they deserve it, they have earned plenty of it, but in this case, they sure as hell weren't even in the same ballpark of barf that MS was.
I think that is what bugs me the most about rants like Mr. Sterling's. Next gen should not have been about graphics(obviously they would get better). It should not have been about games(obviously there would be new ones). And honestly, for all the complaining he has done in regards to how publishers have become lazy and dishonest, you would think he would have understood the concept of a next gen console that was not centered around games. Instead, MS is "dishonest" for trying to do something different. All of this anti-consumer crap he is spouting is nonsense.youji itami said:
Always online:
- faster less obtrusive updates
- device inter-connectivity
- expanded cloud services
Alternative Control Perpherals
- more connectivity
- more interactivity
- less fiddling for non gamers
To name a few. The assumption that these things were included for the sole purpose of hurting the consumer, makes very little sense, from both a business and technology standpoint. I feel it is he short sightedness of gamers like Jim that is the reason that current Gen doesn't feel quite so impressive.
That's the standard stoff, I'm talking about the Moral Point System. He's never mentioning that.MarsAtlas said:
Video game companies aren't going to change until people stop throwing their money at them without a second thought and trusting companies that nobody says the actually trust. Have some freaken patience. Did you HAVE to buy an XBOX ONE ( or insert X system or X game that disappointed you) the day it came out or soon thereafter? Nope. But you just had to, didn't you? Had to have it now now now, gimme gimme gimme.
Think you aren't part of the problem? If you are per-ordering video game products, you are. If you are buying titles before any reviews or actual game play footage is seen, you are. I save myself tons of money and frustration by doing just one simple thing. Waiting. Not only do I never pay full price for games, I rarely, if ever, get suckered into buying a game that is shit. And the industry, including the game developers ain't going to change till they feel it in their wallets.
And nope, I don't miss out on a thing. A game like Mass Effect 3 was just as awesome for 20 bucks. In fact, it was better through patches and such...then you paid 60 for it. Games don't age and get worse over the course of a year. You'll be in a bit of a dry spell at first, but soon after, you'll be on a regular video game playing schedule like everyone else. Playing new games all the time. But for cheaper and less chance of it being an aliens colonial marines type situation.
Think you aren't part of the problem? If you are per-ordering video game products, you are. If you are buying titles before any reviews or actual game play footage is seen, you are. I save myself tons of money and frustration by doing just one simple thing. Waiting. Not only do I never pay full price for games, I rarely, if ever, get suckered into buying a game that is shit. And the industry, including the game developers ain't going to change till they feel it in their wallets.
And nope, I don't miss out on a thing. A game like Mass Effect 3 was just as awesome for 20 bucks. In fact, it was better through patches and such...then you paid 60 for it. Games don't age and get worse over the course of a year. You'll be in a bit of a dry spell at first, but soon after, you'll be on a regular video game playing schedule like everyone else. Playing new games all the time. But for cheaper and less chance of it being an aliens colonial marines type situation.
are you just being deliberately obtuse?VinLAURiA said:
the first guy doesn't need to be exonerated because he didn't commit a crime, he might have wanted to, but he didn't, and since you can't place person on trial something they might have done had they been given the opportunity by the same token we can't accuse Sony of a U-turn because we may think they had plans to do it and there is no evidence to suggest they did, just hearsay and speculation. The difference is Microsoft actually DID it, they publicly lied to customers and potential customers, they're is video and documented evidence of this.
Ah Microsoft, I guess their short stint as a company that people actually like is now over, back to the old days of fucking us over at every turn. We finally see the true face of Microsoft that we have been waiting for it to reveal ever since it announced it would enter the console market. A monopolist of the worst kind, abusing customers in every way because they don't have a choice. Guess they now realized that in the console market your monopoly only lasts until the end of the generation.
The reason people shame them in the first place is because they didn't seem to care about us right from the start by lying to and trying to screw the customers at every fucking turn, so, as with just about every problem in the game industry, this was a problem they caused. Also being silent or supposedly more dignified wouldn't get their attention, since the best they would've done then is pull out the old "hur dur it's just a vocal minority line." No, it was vocal criticism (and supposedly sagging preorder/sales figures) that got Microsoft to turn off its awful drm, and come out with a less shit version of its console... one that it still sells for $400 (maybe more depending on where you live) in spite of the fact that for all intents and purposes there's even less to separate it from the xbox 360 in terms of functionality, but still the way I see it we at least have nothing to lose everything to gain from shaming them.Imperioratorex Caprae said:
Picture the scene; I'm delivering a parcel to a friend whos moved to a new house that I've never been to before. I've got a rough idea of how to get there, advice from friends and a vague map. While the journey in theory is a few streets away, I make a mess of it - I end up going down cul-de-sacs, I get stuck in one way streets but eventually I make it to the house and drop off the parcel.
Was the journey a fuck-up? Hah, definetly. Was it a failure? Well, no - the package was delivered.
I understand the sentiment behind what you're saying but I cant help feel its a bit silly to hold a grudge in such a way, almost cutting off your own nose to spite your face.
Was the journey a fuck-up? Hah, definetly. Was it a failure? Well, no - the package was delivered.
I understand the sentiment behind what you're saying but I cant help feel its a bit silly to hold a grudge in such a way, almost cutting off your own nose to spite your face.
There are three phases:
1. Thinking about doing something.
2. Saying you're going to do something.
3. Actually doing something.
Are people seriously trying to give Sony shit about what they were alledgedly THINKING about doing? Good grief.
Microsoft graduated their bad ideas from the thinking phase to both the saying AND doing phase, which is why they deserve to be taken to task repeatedly.
1. Thinking about doing something.
2. Saying you're going to do something.
3. Actually doing something.
Are people seriously trying to give Sony shit about what they were alledgedly THINKING about doing? Good grief.
Microsoft graduated their bad ideas from the thinking phase to both the saying AND doing phase, which is why they deserve to be taken to task repeatedly.