Microsoft Cancels E3 Post-Conference Info Session

[Johnson McGee]

They probably swapped out the 'post E3 info session' on their calendar for 'superficially change things people react badly to'.

 

[Lilani]

Either they are really arrogant about their press conference, or it really was a scheduling conflict.

This is one of their biggest press gigs all year, and one of their biggest chances to put to bed a lot of people's worries about the X-bone. There's no such thing as a "scheduling conflict" when it comes to that big of an opportunity. I think there's no way this isn't deliberate.

In other news, they must really be in some deep shit if with all the money and resources they have they can't find a single person who can't sit down for a couple of hours and spin the X-bone in a positive light. What they need right now is good PR, and E3 is not only their greatest opportunity but is also where they're expected to step up to the plate and get some. The only reason I can see for this is that they really think they can't do enough good there to outweigh the bad. Whether that's the bad that's already happened or the bad that they're worried will happen, I don't know.

 

[Norix596]

I guess the thinking is that they expect people to be unhappy about the consumer controls and capabilities and hope they can avoid answering for them; I don't think this is a good plan though since the more evasive they get, the more people ask about it and unhappy they get. Remember Romney's tax returns? If he has just released them up front it never even would have become a story - same principle here.

 

[Dryk]

I reckon they didn't count on the XBox One getting that much of a negative reaction, only made worse by having execs saying whatever to whoever asked.

But that's my point. The negative reaction was already there for months before the conference, and they didn't see it coming.

 

[BreakfastMan]

Funny. There's a rumour going round that Microsoft is having major issues getting the Xbone to actually run. Wired did a video on the Kinect interface, and the whole thing is far laggier and more unresponsive than the staged demo shown in May. The rumour is that they're having hardware troubles, and having to downclock as a result.

Normally I'd call it just a rumour, but Microsoft's decision to completely close off from the press, and try and control all presentations of the interface makes me wonder if there's some truth to it. If you're having to downclock your hardware due to crappy interface performance, the last thing you want to do is let journalists get their hands on that and do a terrible write up.

Maybe we'll still see journalists going hands on with the interface at E3, but right now I'm hugely skeptical. Microsoft needed to have that discussion at E3 and clear the air about what's going on regarding certain policies. That they're not doing that is only going to hurt them even more.

I don't doubt that that isn't true. I mean, besides the reveal demos being obviously staged (those always are), those performance issues sound right in line with the info they have released before. That is what you get for having a crappy, ridiculous OS setup. -_-

Still, if it is true (and I believe it is), it is another shot in the foot for microsoft. Honestly, I am having a hard time believing that microsoft has any foot left at this point, seeing as how they have shot it so many times in the last couple weeks alone. XD

 

[Mr. Q]

Great move, Microsoft. Bad enough you've alienated your customers with the Xbone, but now you've painted yourself into a corner by not answering any further questions regarding the product. -_- Covering up the problems with a blanket is not going to make them go away.

Microsoft has two options at this point. Either they get their act together and undo all the idiotic decisions regarding Xbox One and everything else (Windows 8, anyone) or stay the course and condemn their company to a bleak future. I'd like to think they're smart enough to pick the former but I'm not gonna hold my breath.

 

[F'Angus]

I could insert a comment about Dealing with it... but Microsoft's marketing seems too insane even for that now...




They really seem to be going for the Peter Moleneux style of here's a box, you should give me money for it but I don't want tell you what it does.

 

[Nikolaz72]

Well... Time to pull out the good ole-

Xbox-1 0

PS4!......5! 2

 

[Callate]

I know what to make of it: whoever is responsible is utterly incompetent.

For @#$%'s sake, you do not spend a month responding to every query about the content of your release with "Uh, not sure, don't want to make an official statement I'd end up eating, we'll get back to you later" and then fail to offer that clarification at the E3 event where you're expected to have to do damage control.

In the slim chance that it actually is nothing more than a "scheduling conflict": you damn well move heaven and earth to make the Q&A happen. There is literally nothing that is more important to the future of your console than that you start giving some straight answers, because right now your reputation is trending towards "If in doubt, presuming the worst will provide the most accurate guess." Microsoft is coming across as the company with everything to hide and nothing to offer.

And if, as I think more likely, this is actually further adventures in "spin more, inform less, no news is good news"- congratulations on furthering the impression that Microsoft views its consumers with contempt. The one thing people want is games, you give them TV. The one thing people want is straight answers, you give them canned presentations. You cannot "leave them wanting more" if you've never given them a damn thing they wanted in the first place!

Whether your game plan is coming out of malevolence, stupidity, or some kind of malevopidity, you're increasingly making people like me want you to get the crap kicked outta ya, Microsoft.

 

[Colt47]

Someone needs to run a poll on which reveal was worse: The Sega Saturn or the Xbox One. I would have definitely said the saturn before, but this one is coming really close.

 

[Josh123914]

Someone needs to run a poll on which reveal was worse: The Sega Saturn or the Xbox One. I would have definitely said the saturn before, but this one is coming really close.

Pardon my ignorance but what was so bad about the Sega Saturn (aside from The PSX stealing its sales)? I always thought the Sega Neptune or CD was Sega's downfall.

 

[Lightknight]

For @#$%'s sake, you do not spend a month responding to every query about the content of your release with "Uh, not sure, don't want to make an official statement I'd end up eating, we'll get back to you later" and then fail to offer that clarification at the E3 event where you're expected to have to do damage control.

This is actually a sign that something is very wrong. Over the past month they've been able to carefully word their responses in what they feel is the best light they can. The only reason they'd do that but not the press conference means that they're afraid of being put on the spot... which likewise means that they have things they don't want customers to know about. Either it's new stuff that we wouldn't like or it's more specific information about the stuff we already know that would only cement our disdain for it. Also, there is a possibility that they are just planning on going forward with the features we already stated we don't want and so it will not benefit them to confirm it so much as remaining silent. Silence, while enfuriating to those in the know, is not as bad as negative quotes in the headlines all over the place like the past month.

Now, there are only two reasons why they wouldn't want customers to know something about their console.

1. They know we won't like it.
2. They know we won't like it and they're planning on changing it.

The thing is, if it were two then they could announce that they are going to change that component after having listened to consumers. Unless it was a particularly bad thing for them to even have considered initially. So I'm betting on just 1. So I know what to make of this. Microsoft has something to fear from being questioned.

 

[Amir Kondori]

The excuse is paper thin, a "scheduling conflict" for an important date that they have probably been planning for all year? Suuuuure.
No, the backlash against all the "features" of the Xbox One that serve Microsoft and publishers more than the people actually buying the product was much greater than expected and they are falling back on the one tactic they know best, silence. It is pretty sad to see.

 

[Lightknight]

The excuse is paper thin, a "scheduling conflict" for an important date that they have probably been planning for all year? Suuuuure.
No, the backlash against all the "features" of the Xbox One that serve Microsoft and publishers more than the people actually buying the product was much greater than expected and they are falling back on the one tactic they know best, silence. It is pretty sad to see.

Right, E3 should be the scheduling conflict for which they have to ditch other events. It's also not like they only have one person that understand the product.

This is purely damage control. Plain and simple. Their scheduling conflict is that they have time set aside around then to not accidentally give the media something else to complain about it.

 

[Colt47]

Someone needs to run a poll on which reveal was worse: The Sega Saturn or the Xbox One. I would have definitely said the saturn before, but this one is coming really close.

Pardon my ignorance but what was so bad about the Sega Saturn (aside from The PSX stealing its sales)? I always thought the Sega Neptune or CD was Sega's downfall.

In the case of the Saturn, the console was already on the store shelves during the E3 release and they restricted the number of 2D games that were allowed to be released on it. Ironically, the Saturn was a power house with 2D games but had very sketchy 3d support, so as you can imagine this didn't sit well with developers. Neither did not having any heads up on the console pre-release.

Microsoft on the other hand is doing it's best to alienate the people it is supposed to sell the Xbox One to, to the point where most people are just watching to see how far the boat goes before it completely sinks into the ocean.

 

[Infernal Lawyer]

What the escapist or destructoid or rock, paper, shotgun or gamespot, or kotaku thinks about MS at this point is irrelevant, because as MS sees it they've already lost them. As important as those outlets may be to hardcore gamers, a single well-crafted nation-wide advertising campaign will reach far more people than any gaming press ever will; all while allowing them to carefully shape and control the message.

The problem is, hardcore gamers are the reliable bread and butter consumers of video games. They are the ones that buy game after game, time after time.

If you lose them, you will end up just like Nintendo. Praying that whatever gimmicks your toy has is capable of attracting the single-purchase-then-to-the-closet-it-go mainstream market.

Nah, us hardcore crowd will just be buying the console anyway like Microsoft said, because, you know, we're hardcore and stuff, and buying every console for the hell of it is our god-given duty. Microsoft has every right to piss over our petty questions so they can focus on more important things: convincing everyone that they need to spend $600+ on an 'all-in-one' media center, astonishing features such as 'streaming TV' and 'playing music' their computer is already capable of doing itself with half the hassles...

OT: Microsoft, you continue to insult our intelligence with this bullshit. Nintendo may have screwed up the Wii U's launch, but at least that was because of misinformation (new console lolwut?), not because they blatantly refused to answer any difficult questions (not that any existed to the best of my knowledge), and for all of Sony's secrecy, all they had to do is say "The PS4 is designed primarily for games" to reassure everyone.

Back off topic, unlike Nintendo who's using a gimmicky tablet and Sony who's focusing on that bloody 'share' button, both of which MAY work, you had to go one worse: to take an idea that we all know DOES NOT FUCKING WORK and force it on us, which now you won't answer difficult questions about regarding invasion of privacy because you're so bloody terrified that someone will say something stupid (or worst, honest) if they're not reading off a script.

 

[Lunar Templar]

Not the brightest move after the utter failure of the Xbone announcement

 

[Icehearted]

I wonder if they will have the gall to actually pretend to be shocked at how people will react to all of this once this monstrosity is on the shelves and sales are tanking.

 

[Simon1]

This... this is hilarious. I fucking called this. Their entire E3 presentation is likely going to be damage control. Meanwhile, we'll finally get to see the PS4 box, and hopefully Nintendo might announce something at their own conference later this year. As is though, it looks like the Xbone is a sinking ship on the scale of the ET for the Atari.

Better get those landfill's ready Microsoft.

 

[Stevepinto3]

So how long until they give us some solid answers as to what the fuck the thing actually does? A year after it's released?

This is the most ridiculously awful PR for a console I think I've ever seen. I'm not sure if people having been sniffing glue all day at Microsoft or if they really made a system so terrible that they don't want to tell us.