Xbox One Designed "With Advertising in Mind"

[Grabehn]

So the xBox One was specifically designed with corporate interests in mind?

I also love how even the ad team is having none of the smartglass and tablet bullshit.

THIS, ALL OF IT. Is anyone really surprised about them having advertisements as a base design for their dashboard? It is a really smart move thou, since they will make a huge profit out of it.

Me? I haven't cared about consoles for the longest time, and continue to do so, sadly.

 

[irok]

Wow, just when you think theres nothing else to screw up , they come up with something else, regardless whether or not they have drm and support used games or what have you does anyone trust them anymore?

 

[chozo_hybrid]

Why would I want ads to be "part of the experience." They can go screw themselves, Xbox 360 was bad, but tolerable, that said, my PS3 never annoyed me at all with ads, so I hope the PS4 sticks to the same idea.

 

[BrotherRool]

I just don't get these men. Stuff like this you're supposed to hide away in the fine print to be an unpleasant surprise for your customers, not parade as one of your main selling points. I'd frankly be less annoyed if the advertising was a sudden reveal a day before the thing came out, I just can't understand how the biggest electronics corporation we have can be so damn stupid.

I agree, I really do think that most people would prefer to learn this stuff on launch day, because at least it would show that someone in Microsoft has some semblance of intelligence, instead of this weird inability to stop talking about every single negative feature of their console.

 

[Shamanic Rhythm]

Oh look, those predictions turned out to be completely true.

Does Microsoft not get that pitches to investors will, in this day and age, also be read by buyers? That's the only reason I can think of for their abysmal PR.

 

[Callate]

Wow. Remember when industry flacks used to say their interfaces were designed with things like "ease of use" or "convenience" or "simplicity" or "efficiency" in mind? I mean, we knew that was usually bullshit that sounded good and cost nothing to say, but at least it was lip service towards the idea that the customers were, well, the customers.

That's... amazingly brazen. I'm actually starting to feel nostalgic for when they respected us enough to lie to us.

Also noted this in the original article cited:

"This sort of works at two levels. There's the game producers who have a different API, so a different set of code and system that they use, and they've got a lot more control of the whole thing," he stated, "whereas from the advertising point of view we have a slightly more limited set, which is designed to protect the user. The company is very keen on protecting the user from any sort of abuse so we can't do certain things."

Ah... Great. So much like the publishers were originally given the freedom to use or not use the switch that would prevent users from playing used copies of their games, if the publishers decide to put their own advertising into their games, they can target it to a more specific set of biometric data than is available to Microsoft's advertisers? That's not reassuring...

Now, to be clear that I'm not donning a tinfoil helmet: I suspect what is currently in mind is not hugely different from a computer that uses cookies to target banner ads based on a user's past buying habits. But it's a terrible precedent, there's no guarantee it will stop there just because it begins there, it puts a distinctly sinister tinge on the XBox One's Kinect requirement-- and besides, I have options on how my browser handles things like my history and cookies that users of Microsoft's gated XBox One experience won't.

 

[tehroc]

I'm really starting to wonder what parallel universe Xbox designers came from where all that looked like a really great idea, before it was scary now it's turning into hilarious.

Don't worry PC users I'm sure this will all be included in the next version of Windows.

 

[Azure Knight-Zeo]

"The new Xbox One dashboard was designed with advertising in mind." "On Xbox [One], the ad is part of the actual experience, it's not something that is outside."

Yeah that's what people buy an Xbox for, forget about playing games it's all about the ads.

Is this some kind of joke?!

 

[klaynexas3]

I don't know how I feel about this. On the one hand, at least they are honest about being manipulative, abusive, and total dicks. On the other hand is the stuff they're being honest about.

Hey Microsoft, here's what I want to know: What about the next console do you NOT want us to know? Seriously, all companies have secrets about their products. With what they are telling us, what can they possibly NOT be telling us? Is the console hardware made from the bones and organs of a kitten? Does it run on the tears of orphans?

I honestly don't know how I feel about this, because at the very least, unlike some corporations, at least they are blatantly telling their customers they will be ravaging their virgin anuses with a 20 inch in diameter, 10 foot uncircumcised penis.

 

[Evil Smurf]

I've used my router to block ads.... it's really handy. My Xbox 360 is unable to display ads, but as a side effect I can't watch Hulu. They detect the ad wasn't played and refuse to play.

how do you do this?

 

[SinisterGehe]

Can we say abusive advertising? Being forced to buy the Kinect, keep it always active with the console.

I am just curious since abusive advertising, forceful advertising is illegal in some European countries. Specially advertising targeted towards minors (And there will be minors playing the console): I think it is completely illegal in Sweden, partially in Finland. Dunno about other areas.

Also there are regional restrictions on advertising standards, what you can say and show. Like I know for sure American advertisements will not pass the Finnish standards.

This will turn interesting, I want to see who tries to defend this policy and system

 

[Jabberwock King]

I do not relish the idea of having every discussion that goes on in or near my living room being recorded by cold wretched lizard people in suits, this just feels too Orwellian in scope. Also, I can tolerate the 360 dashboard as it is now because it always stuffs ads in the bottom right corner where they can be outright ignored, but trying to integrate them into other parts of the interface to trick people is annoying.

In addition, my idea of wrapping the Kinect in cellophane is becoming more and more appealing.

 

[Jabberwock King]

I've used my router to block ads.... it's really handy. My Xbox 360 is unable to display ads, but as a side effect I can't watch Hulu. They detect the ad wasn't played and refuse to play.

how do you do this?

There was a story about how you could do this awhile back. I can't recall the details but it's probably still around.

 

[Astoria]

I don't understand how the xbox one can make transitioning between gaming and tv any more simple than pressing a button on your remote. I was re considering buying it when they withdrew all their 24 hour check in and that crap but I'd rather not have millions of adds shoved in my face while I'm playing a game thanks.

 

[Amir Kondori]

As soon as I read that the Kinect was to be required to operate the xbone I knew they would be mining the recorded conversations for keywords in order to do targeted advertising. Why anyone would buy one of these things is a mystery to me.

 

[gamegod25]

"We already have two controllers that we have to deal with, [Smartglass] is just an unnecessary obstacle."

Hahahahahahahaha! *ahem* That is all.

 

[FieryTrainwreck]

Sony's entire PR arm could easily consist of one guy scanning the web for Microsoft's press releases before reissuing them with the words "We won't..." pasted in front of them.

I was hoping they'd be humbled by the ass-kicking they took at E3, that they might try to shy away from any overt declarations in favor of publishers and advertisers over the consumers dumb enough to buy this thing, but I guess their hubris knows no bounds.

If you're a person who defends this company and this console (and they are certainly here), at what point do you give up? Like what would it actually take to make you come to your fucking senses?

 

[Freyar]

Sony's entire PR arm could easily consist of one guy scanning the web for Microsoft's press releases before reissuing them with the words "We won't..." pasted in front of them.

I was hoping they'd be humbled by the ass-kicking they took at E3, that they might try to shy away from any overt declarations in favor of publishers and advertisers over the consumers dumb enough to buy this thing, but I guess their hubris knows no bounds.

If you're a person who defends this company and this console (and they are certainly here), at what point do you give up? Like what would it actually take to make you come to your fucking senses?

When I read the press release concerning the DRM reversal, it shows that Microsoft's Xbox Live and Xbox One teams just don't give a crap about what they're trying to sell (at least in the sense that the people they're selling to are ultimately deciding if their work is worth paying money for.)

You have Major Nelson getting in Angry Joe's face regarding the DRM issue, constantly dismissing it over and over trying to say that the "good things counter those concerns" and Mattrick decided to spout the dribble he had about how they already had a product for "poor peons who can't afford a decent internet connection" (despite a lack of options being the biggest problem with the United States' infrastructure.)

The release regarding the DRM reversal was nothing but words that showed that Microsoft takes it's customers for granted. Sony did this at the launch of the PS3 and they've learned a lot about how they are in this industry to sell hardware, games, and provide services to customers. Microsoft has moved away from the idea that the people who buy and play games on their systems are their customers, to a business model that puts advertisers on a higher pedestal.

Until Microsoft shows some goddamned remorse for being this year's ***hats, putting them on par with EA as far as "WCIA", I won't be doing business with their Xbox brands nor their Windows Mobile brands. There are some good people I know that are affected by this decision (and I'm aware I'm one of many), but I cannot and will not put myself in a position to let Microsoft screw me over again over time with Dashboard updates that put the box firmly where it was before or worse.

I don't trust Microsoft. They spent five-plus years destroying that, and they don't show they are willing to change, simply that they are a business that services a different industry than ours. Who is the customer in Microsoft's business relationship?

 

[TakeyB0y2]

"[Microsoft] is very keen on protecting the user from any sort of abuse so we can't do certain things."

Ehehehehehe not going to lie I get a kick out of reading this sentence. The irony is delicious. -Microsoft- is talking about protecting the user from abuse. Sure, it may have done a u-turn now but it was still planning a hell of a lot of abuse earlier...

I gotta say though, the way they phrase that sentence makes it sound like they WANTED to do "certain things" but can't due to laws.

 

[Infernal Lawyer]

God damnit Microsoft. Every time someone is worried about a certain problem of your stupid box, you either don't give them an straight answer, or you tell them that it's somehow a 'feature', that they're being stupid and that they should 'deal with it'.

First you tried to convince us that your always online function wasn't actually DRM, and that it was to 'create constant worlds' and to enable that 'cloud processing' nonsense, which we all knew never worked for SimCity or Diablo 3, because some people don't want to get dicked around by a lousy internet connection when they're playing Single Player.

Then you told us that you were getting rid of our ownership rights, again for the sake of the 'cloud'. We all knew that you were just sore that people were sharing or lending their games without asking you permission and paying a fucking fee for the privilege.

Then you told us all that we were just idiots who needed to be 'educated' so we would understand how lovely and awesome the 'experience' would be, because you were constantly using that wonderful PR word over and over again without giving us any hard details to work with, even AFTER you said we 'just didn't understand', even when you told us you were banking on the fact that people wouldn't do their homework and just buy the console like mindless sheep.

And now you not only tell us that the aggressive advertisements that plagued the Xbox 360's dashboard are back but are bloody 'central to the experience', but that the Kinect will be listening to what we're saying, and selling that information to other corporations... and you try to sell that as a fucking FEATURE?! Fucking ADVERTISEMENTS?! For the love of God, the Kinect constantly watching people was the ONE thing that was creeping people out about the Xbone, and you expect us to actually believe you, not only that it's a fucking feature, but that you won't abuse the information it gets? Do you really think people want to pay a Premium of $500, plus a subscription, to be spied on and bombarded by advertisements? Have you forgotten about the NSA scandal that you were in? What's stopping you from giving hours upon hours of recordings to the government due to a secret court order?

And here we were, mocking all the conspiracy theorists for thinking you'd be stupid enough to pull this nonsense, while you were planning to announce it as a goddamn selling point. Well fucking done. Apparently you didn't realize that 1984 was a warning, not a blueprint.