Microsoft Was Surprised By Xbox One Outcry

[Story]

Hehehaha
Oh really there Microsoft?
You didn't expect consumer's to assume the worst from you when there were damaging rumors even before the Xbox 180 revival?
That maybe, just maybe, people didn't like to be screwed over by a machine they've paid for?
The arrogance or is it ignorance? (or both?) is staggering and you are doing nothing to make me warm up to you.

 

[Zeckt]

I have no problems going all digital! steam proved to me its better then having my shelves clogged up by games. However, I DO have problems with microsoft doing it with their track record on shit hardware and overpriced microsoft points to dollars conversion and screwing me over just because I'm canadian.

Whats that? they reversed the microsoft points to real dollars? You think I'll just FORGIVE them for their hardware failures and ripping me off for years?! no, I would kick a microsoft rep in the balls if I could. They care *nothing* about their consumers. I *despise* them.

 

[Hazy992]

Can you honestly blame them? No really, the amount of shit they got away with this generation with the 360 it's no wonder the Xbox division had so much hubris.

The RROD debacle alone would have fucking killed almost any other brand, so the fact they got away with it as well as charging for Xbox Live and gating everything behind it they probably thought they could do no wrong in gamers' eyes.

 

[SonOfVoorhees]

MS really are clueless. Why did they release this comment that will just dig up all the negative flaws about the XB1 and how MS dealt with it. They really need a new publicity person.

 

[mechalynx]

I love Microsoft. Every time they open their mouths nowadays comedy gemstones fall out. I almost don't want them to come to their senses.

 

[TheMadJack]

Every time MS open its corporate mouth about Xbox One I get to laugh, that's not a bad thing now is it?

I've said my piece more than once about MS, here and elsewhere, so I'm not gonna repeat myself. I wish they would just shut up and refuse commenting as long as they're not ready to release. Keeping quiet can't be worse than spewing nonsense, now can it?

 

[Roxas1359]

Who the hell is running things at Microsoft? A lobotomized chimpanzee?

You know, you are not very off for that description of Steve Ballmer at all really. XD

OT: The fact that they are "surprised" about all the reaction of this console shows just how desperately out of touch Microsoft is with the rest of the world. Really a lot of people in the industry makes you feel that way, but MS took it too a whole new level. I honestly was thinking that some of those "decisions" were just to see what they could get away with, but then again I've lost all hope at Microsoft making any rational sense or making decisions that aren't fully retarded. Recent case, buying the rest of Nokia when their shares in the Smartphone market are pretty much nonexistent at this point.

 

[Snotnarok]

If they even were close to some form of steam like drm then they'd have been fine, but 24 hour checks, 'game sharing' that is controlled by publishers allowing full sharing or short demos, it's just not a good idea. The fact games are 60 or maybe now 70 dollars doesn't help, the reason steam is successful is bountiful and huge sales with DRM that doesn't get in your way when trying to enjoy.
Steam isn't perfect, but it's so far the best example of DRM done right.

 

[Ryan Hughes]

So let me get this straight. They listed out all the ways they were going to fuck over the customer while any benefits were poorly explained at best, if they got mentioned at all, and it's a surprise that there's customer backlash?

Who the hell is running things at Microsoft? A lobotomized chimpanzee?

Keep in mind that Xbox is one of the few products Microsoft has made that has ever had to compete with anything else on a level playing field. This means that no one in marketing and public relations really knows what they are doing. A lobotomized Chimp could have seen this backlash coming though, and that just goes to show how insular and arrogant MS is as a company.

Or it could be "Assumptions resulted in Don Mattick leaving Microsoft for Zynga".

Actually, I ascribe to the theory that Mattrick was planning to leave MS for awhile before the reveal. These types of transitions do not happen overnight, they take months. This also explains why Mattrick messed up MS' messaging so badly, he knew he was leaving and did not care at all.

There was plenty of outcry just based on the rumors. Microsoft can't claim to have not heard it.

See the first paragraph. MS is so insular and arrogant that they are simply deaf at this point.

That being said, they did reverse their decisions, and Ms. Larson Green is now head of Xbox. She headed Windows 7 -likely the best product MS has ever made- and she seems to have a much steadier hand than Mattrick, so maybe she can turn things around, if the MS corporate culture will let her.

 

[Rad Party God]

Nope. Nopenopenopenopenopenope. Nope.

If you want to copy Steam, then F*ING COPY STEAM!, don't make a bastardized and blatantly anti-consumer version of it. Heck, even Origin got it (mostly) right.

 

[T'Generalissimo]

Hmmm...to me this sounds very much like they're planning to attempt something similar in the future.

 

[Davey Woo]

The only reason there was outcry and 'assumptions' was because Microsoft didn't give us enough information. They've spent the last few months clarifying things that they overlooked in their press releases and making sense of the mess they made, and it all sounds perfectly reasonable now. If they'd just given us the information they're giving us now, back then, there wouldn't be so much of a problem.

 

[TomWiley]

Nope. Nopenopenopenopenopenope. Nope.

If you want to copy Steam, then F*ING COPY STEAM!, don't make a bastardized and blatantly anti-consumer version of it. Heck, even Origin got it (mostly) right.

Interesting you should say that:

The original Xbox One allowed you to do the following with digital games:

Buy at day one
Cloud storage
Access on friend's machine

Sharing of digital games(not on Steam)
Giving of digital games (not on Steam)


That's already two things that the original Xbox One would let you do that Steam doesn't let you do. You could even say that Steam is *gasp* more restrictive than the original Xbox One.

So much for the consumer backlash. Perhaps Microsoft just didn't plan on getting so much criticism based solely on misconceptions.

 

[Miss G.]

I love Microsoft. Every time they open their mouths nowadays comedy gemstones fall out. I almost don't want them to come to their senses.

You're right, same here except for that 'love' part. Before I even clicked on the article the chuckles started. Every time one of these pops up I'm almost guaranteed a good laugh or 2 before I even get to the comment section.

 

[Adept Mechanicus]

So let me get this straight. They listed out all the ways they were going to fuck over the customer while any benefits were poorly explained at best, if they got mentioned at all, and it's a surprise that there's customer backlash?

Who the hell is running things at Microsoft? A lobotomized chimpanzee?

There's a great political science article Princeton University published called "On Bullshit." It argued that there's a big difference between bullshit and lying. Liars are necessarily concerned with the truth because lying entails inserting one falsehood into a system of truths that create context. Bullshit is completely unconcerned with whether or not it's true because bullshit transcends truth values. The purpose of lying is to misrepresent the truth. The purpose of bullshit is to misrepresent the speaker. Since all of corporate marketing is essentially bullshit, it makes sense that a corporation would be so unconcerned with truth that they lose touch with reality entirely.

 

[MCerberus]

I'm sorry, but I'm considered insanely green at project management, but even I know that every single thing they did was wrong. You didn't throw anything to reliable customers, chasing after people even you think are too fickle to care. You're putting something in that adds no value and contributes to the $100 gap between you and the direct competition... with worse specs? Oh, then you let it slip that it's all about selling ads. JFC these basics about quality have been around since the 50s.

Their messaging was horrible, they didn't know what their consumer base actually wanted, they didn't go through the consequences of their decisions (particularly, how they'd kill their ability to sell to the US military), and the entire thing has the stink of mandates from the top. What. were. you. thinking.

 

[Rad Party God]

Spoiler: Snip.

Nope. Nopenopenopenopenopenope. Nope.

If you want to copy Steam, then F*ING COPY STEAM!, don't make a bastardized and blatantly anti-consumer version of it. Heck, even Origin got it (mostly) right.

Interesting you should say that:

The original Xbox One allowed you to do the following with digital games:

Buy at day one
Cloud storage
Access on friend's machine

Sharing of digital games(not on Steam)
Giving of digital games (not on Steam)


That's already two things that the original Xbox One would let you do that Steam doesn't let you do. You could even say that Steam is *gasp* more restrictive than the original Xbox One.

So much for the consumer backlash. Perhaps Microsoft just didn't plan on getting so much criticism based solely on misconceptions.

*sigh* Seriously, are these comparisons even necessary?.

Jim had it better explained... 3 months ago :/ [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/jimquisition/7586-Why-PC-Gaming-Gets-Away-With-It]

 

[TomWiley]

Again with the Steam comparisons... Even if it were all-digital, there is one major, fundamental difference that they have missed:

Steam has a little feature called "Offline mode" that works forever, even if you never connect your device to the internet again.

In my experience, Offline mode becomes pretty much unusable after a certain number of days, often following a restart at which the point the system simply won't let me sign in before I get an Internet connection.

Valve has even gone out and acknowledged this:

"There are many components involved in Offline Mode, and some of them have known issues and bugs which we are continually working to improve. We're aware that it doesn't always work as flawlessly as we want it to, but please keep reporting bugs with Offline Mode. It is not broken 'by design'. "

Right, now add to the equation the fact that Xbox One was actually less restrictive in terms of digital games, allowing you to share games and even give away full games to friends, and the comparison becomes more relevant..

And yes, I am saying that the original Xbox One featuring a sharing policy less "anti-consumer" than that of Steam.

 

[TomWiley]

Spoiler: Snip.

Nope. Nopenopenopenopenopenope. Nope.

If you want to copy Steam, then F*ING COPY STEAM!, don't make a bastardized and blatantly anti-consumer version of it. Heck, even Origin got it (mostly) right.

Interesting you should say that:

The original Xbox One allowed you to do the following with digital games:

Buy at day one
Cloud storage
Access on friend's machine

Sharing of digital games(not on Steam)
Giving of digital games (not on Steam)


That's already two things that the original Xbox One would let you do that Steam doesn't let you do. You could even say that Steam is *gasp* more restrictive than the original Xbox One.

So much for the consumer backlash. Perhaps Microsoft just didn't plan on getting so much criticism based solely on misconceptions.

Seriously, are these comparisons even necessary?.

Jim has it better explained. [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/jimquisition/7586-Why-PC-Gaming-Gets-Away-With-It]

No he hasn't. He just shows you a bunch of funny pictures and think's that "oh the PC isn't affected be retailers" (which is simply not true btw) is somehow an argument. Rule #1; just because the bloke got his own show doesn't mean he knows anything more than you or me.

Secondly, doesn't matter if some guy on the Internet thinks the comparison is irrelevant. What you said in your original post still doesn't make one lick of sense to me. And since I have this compulsive disorder to correct people on Xbox One misconceptions, I couldn't just ignore it.

 

[an annoyed writer]

There were flamewars about this crap when it was only fucking rumored. People were calling it a shitstorm brewing long before Microsoft's official announcement, and somehow this passed them up completely? For some reason I'm not buying it, especially after their PR stunts of "don't like it? by a 360 then, chump!", which only pissed more people off. The only way it could've passed them up is if they're willingly both blind and deaf. Even then they should've still been capable of feeling the pain of Sony, Nintendo, dozens of websites, hundreds of videos, and millions of angry gamers punching and kicking their barely animated corpse of a corporation.

In short, Microsoft has completely misunderstood PR and capitalism.