I wouldn't frame it that way from a high level. Quality from a high level. Games in Game Pass significant. Games on the platform were significant. Lack of gameplay from games that are far into production was frustrating. Ninja Theory and From Software leaks did damage too.
Yeah and that was my biggest issue with the show. Gears had a better showing last year. Whether people like it or not, Halo and Gears still define Xbox. When those games miss the mark, Xbox misses with it. A strong Gears showing would've changed a lot of people's opinions of the game. I do like the idea of Gears new mode. Didn't even get to see that.
A lot of people are. Even hardcore Xbox fans are going off. Lot of people heard great things about Gears campaign and are shocked by the no show.
What is the idea?
The whole "everything u love about Gears turned up to 11" followed by a pretty stale and anticlimatic CGI trailer didn't really help.
Its especially strange to not have a Gears demo when you consider how little gameplay there really was in the whole conference.
Stuff I liked...
Bleeding Edge - apparently there's dozens of us...but I'm one. Signing up for the beta. Combo of Kung Fu Chaos and Devil May Cry sounds f'n awesome
Battletoads - again, dozens of us like the art. I'm one. Looking forward to it.
Outer Worlds, Pyschonauts 2, and some really fine looking Indies on Game Pass
Double Fine purchase - Tim Shaefer is a hall of famer and one of my favorite industry people. His ideas are amazing. He's always had to execute on a low budget since he went on his own. Want to see what his team makes with some money.
Ori 2 - best Metroidvania this gen got better with boss battles
Gears new mode - I hated the showing but love the description of the new co-op mode. This sounds much more interesting than Hoard.
Forza Horizon Expansion - looks like a new game
Phantasy Star 2 -
The art style of FromSoftwares new game
Again there's substance there. They just didn't spend time on the substance at the show.
Bleeding Edge - apparently there's dozens of us...but I'm one. Signing up for the beta. Combo of Kung Fu Chaos and Devil May Cry sounds f'n awesome
Battletoads - again, dozens of us like the art. I'm one. Looking forward to it.
Outer Worlds, Pyschonauts 2, and some really fine looking Indies on Game Pass
Double Fine purchase - Tim Shaefer is a hall of famer and one of my favorite industry people. His ideas are amazing. He's always had to execute on a low budget since he went on his own. Want to see what his team makes with some money.
Ori 2 - best Metroidvania this gen got better with boss battles
Gears new mode - I hated the showing but love the description of the new co-op mode. This sounds much more interesting than Hoard.
Forza Horizon Expansion - looks like a new game
Phantasy Star 2 -
The art style of FromSoftwares new game
Again there's substance there. They just didn't spend time on the substance at the show.
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It's evolving Hoard mode. Instead of sitting in one spot and taking on swarms of enemies, you're going from room to room. Will be a lot more interesting and feel like a co-op game rather than a co-op mode. Behind the scenes people have been impressed. We'll see it tomorrow.
Honestly show isn't over for Xbox players. What we hear from hands on impressions of Bleeding Edge and Gears 5 will go a long ways in how people feel about Xbox this year after this week. Those concepts sounds fun. Will come down to execution...which we have no gauge of right now.
I kept waiting for the phrase “Exclusive” to pop up. Instead I kept hearing, “World Premiere”
Everyone complained about exclusive. Not to mention, almost everything is on Windows PC now, so no longer exclusive.
In a world where Inside Xbox will have shows next week and hour long showcases all year long I would rather they not dedicate large chunks of time for just one game. I would rather see the wide variety of games coming to the platform. They have a ton of time to laser focus one two or three games at a time with Inside Xbox. Especially when there is a big danger of being lost in the tide of E3 news.
I can sort of agree given that the pace of the show was very quick but the problem is I walk away with almost no real impression on any game shown.
I am not going to watch Inside Xbox and neither will most of the people who watched today.
Lots of games were shown that I think we'll see more of in coming months. They showed off plenty of games, while they weren't exclusive they still look better than the usual games we see at MS' presser. I think next year we'll get more exclusives and more info. This is the last year for the X1 before the next consoles drop so I feel like they're just trying to make it through the holiday with content that can set them up for next year where a lot of the games they showcased will be released, and they spill more about Scarlett.
So, MS went with the approach with less talk and more games and people are still upset.
People wanted something that they want but instead they get what the developers were making.
All those fools got suckered into the PS4 single player crap which is not worth (IMHO) $60 for a one time ride. Asking MS to make it.
Every game will be part of xbox live because that was how it was from day one.
It will continue to be that way.
People wanted something that they want but instead they get what the developers were making.
All those fools got suckered into the PS4 single player crap which is not worth (IMHO) $60 for a one time ride. Asking MS to make it.
Every game will be part of xbox live because that was how it was from day one.
It will continue to be that way.
Nintendo Directs seem to generate a lot buzz around them and even if people do not spend the time to watch them news outlets report the important bits. The most important part is they normally have whole news cycle of spotlight all by themselves. Inside Xbox should serve the same purpose. For most gamers all they needs is a slight impression of what the game will be. They will normally seek out more information once they see it. Look how much people wanted to know about Cuphead with just about 30 seconds of gameplay during a sizzle reel.
Well I would like to see Inside Xbox be like Nintendo Direct but unfortunately that isn't really the case
I wouldn't want a bunch of 20 minute demos but certainly there is nothing wrong with showcasing your big titles in a big way.
I try to keep it balanced. For transparency, I’ve been a Xbox gamer since November of 2001. Had my Xbox Live account since day 1 in 2002. I’m pretty hyped about the direction of the brand in terms of value.
Microsoft needs to be aware of the narrative regarding single player stuff. They’ll always have their competitive advantage in multiplayer and shouldn’t lose sight of that however....when there’s low hanging fruit, like Gears 5 campaign that’s releasing in a few months and they hold back at the biggest show, it’s tone deaf.
When their first new IP in years, Bleeding Edge, is going to be playable in days yet they don’t give any demo or meat and potatoes on stage, it’s a miss.
These are the things they did with Crackdown and people saw how that turned out. People are now assuming that Microsoft isn’t confident in Gears campaign or Bleeding Edge and it’s based on recent history. It might not be fair to Coalition or Ninja Theory but it’s Microsofts fault.
Microsoft the corporation just sucks at messaging. I’m not confident a damned thing has changed with Xbox. Xbox is completely overhauled except for marketing and it shows.
My personal belief is since Spencer has taken over, it’s nothing but positive in terms of rebuilding the foundation. I’m still most excited about Xbox going into next gen. But if Microsoft doesn’t dump Greenberg and every other fake ass person in their marketing and communication department, Nadella isn’t going to see results and this continued investment won’t last. There’s reason to be a bit negative as Xbox gamers today. Microsoft’s marketing and messaging will F them...and in the end that’ll F us.
Investment = great. Overhaul of studios = great. Game Pass = great. Marketing and messaging = continues to be bottom of the barrel for any mega corporation and Xbox even more than other Microsoft divisions.
Edit: other people in charge of Game Pass marketing and you see their messaging is superior to the rest of Xbox. They just need new people everywhere else.
You know, I was a bit disappointed when I saw the silhouette of the Sena I was like “ugh, someone forgot they highlighted this....wait, it’s made of legos” then I dropped my pizza
Yeah, usually presentation is one of the things that Microsoft does well. They didn't present any of their own games very well. Not even Ori 2.
I guess the FH2 thing was pretty good.
The Halo Infinite presentation was worse than the first one.