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Xbox 2 To Be Unveiled on MTV May 12
An anonymous reader writes "Microsoft confirmed this morning that the Xbox 2 will be revealed on live TV on May 12. MTV will air a half-hour long special to launch the system. 'It doesn't make sense to unveil the product behind a closed door, at a trade-only event,' according to Microsoft corporate VP Peter Moore. 'We wanted to talk directly to the consumer first.'" More coverage available on GamesIndustry.biz and Press the Buttons.
So they put it on a Pay-TV channel? Ok, maybe I'm the last person in the USA without cable. I'll just have to wait for the regular network commercials to tell me how cool this thing is that I don't really need, but will feel strangely compelled to buy anyway.
The Rationale: "We'll introduce it on MTV because it worked for Bill Clinton."
Things to look forward to:
- Blue Music Video of Death
- Some unknown girl/guy in the special will eventually rise to stardom for no apparent reason than they look good and/or can dance and sing
- Days^H^H^H^HHours after the first XBox 2 hits a store shelf before Linux is up and running on one
- First worm to hit XBoxes, which will be virtually impossible to remove due to the closed nature ot the system
Remember when MTV was only about Music Videos?A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
How is MTV open door? Most studio visitors will not have a chance to play the X-box. At least trade shows allow anyone with an entrance pass to try the products.
"We wanted to talk directly to the consumer first."
Make that, "We wanted to talk directly at the consumer first."
Sadly, you can't "talk to" anyone via TV (especially MTV-style networks). Let's just call this an (admittedly clever) uni-directional advertisement and be done with it.
I think they had something like that a few years ago. Then I think they cut everything out except the 30-second snatches of "music" on TRL.
The thing that makes me sad is that MS views people that watch MTV as their target audience. I don't even want people that ingest that filth sharing any sort of demographic with me.
From the virial marketing site: "chaos with penguins"
Shhhh, Microsoft has hidden a secret message in their viral marking website, ourcolony.net
I knew alot more about the PSP when they had the launch party for that. What it looked like, how much it was going to cost etc.
/Just saying
Microsoft has been keeping pretty tight wraps on the details. People will probably watch this to just see what the thing is all about.
I think largely, people aren't excited anymore like they used to be about console launches. Yeah, neat new technology or whatever, pretty visuals...saw it all last year on my PC... and on another note, whats this drivel about "bringing it to the consumers first?" They're just po'ed because sony got the 3pm slot at E3 and they got the 6pm slot... Typical MS PR cover...
Wasn't the original xbox supposed to be aimed at a more mature market? Instead here microsoft is targeting the Britany Spears/reality tv fans. Not much of a surprise but I don't think Microsoft has a clue what they are doing. They are just praying their new system doesn't lose money when it debuts like xbox 1 did.
The article reeks of Marketing squalk. Lots of hype and worlds longer than marmalade, lot of Wow and fizz, but not much substance. No wonder it's on MTV.
If there was something interesting to say about the product, don't you think they would have mentioned that instead of "behind-the-scenes video" and "jam packed with celebs"?
When a Mareketing Manager is "ecstatic about our alliance with MTV" instead of ecstatic about the product. I begin to doubt. Is it me or does this article give off vibes of overhyping to compensate for a poor product?
Wait, am I thinking of a different channel? Please don't tell me the "M" is for "Microsoft."
The "M" is for "Marketing."
Marketing killed the video star.
I watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhauser gate.
I see a lot of "jokes" being tossed about in relation to MTV rarely being about music, Xbox debuting is an example of this etc. however need I not remind you that this is not unique to MTV, for example CBS rarely broadcasts about Colombia.
That'll never happen -- MS will sue if you try to mod your XBox!
One man's Funny is another man's Offtopic.
Our Colony shows to be a pretty good campaign and we carry the news on Our Colony at IU.
MTV may no longer play music videos, but they get great ratings, and specifically within those great ratings is the hard to reach demographic that the XBOX should appeal to.
Congrats to Microsoft for being the first to figure this out. Keep an eye out for Sony to follow their lead if this works out well.
Be sure to remember the Programmers Prayer
This is exactly the reason I can't get myself to accept the Xbox. They are catering to, as Penny Arcade put it nicely, the Generic Frat Fuck. http://www.penny-arcade.com/view.php3?date=2004-11 -08&res=l
Support Liberty, Support Ron Paul
Why wouldn't they? Can you imagine now much a 30 second spot during this show would cost? Existing Xbox games, gamer-focused products, etc. will pay big money to get their ads in. If I were MTV, I would be more than willing to give up an hour for a guaranteed demographic in a focused market (games) and very captive audience. MTV's salespeople would fall all over themselves selling ads during this to EA and any other game publisher.
My sig is blank, I typed this by hand.
"3 to 1 it gets a BSOD while on live TV."
Tee hee giggle snort. If it's funny 300 times, it's sure to be funny 301 times!
Frankly, I'll take a crash on Live TV over blatant lying about how many millions of polygons can be rendered per second. *Glares accusingly in Sony's direction.*
"Derp de derp."
Already, they've put themselves into the name game for the mainstream media right before E3. It won't be "blah, blah, blah, Xbox and PS3 unvieled today", it will be three straight days of "blah, blah, blah, Xbox" - then when E3 hits, "And now lets' compare the PS3 to the Xbox".
;).
While I have my issues with the Xbox losing a ton o' money for Microsoft and not having a big enough library for my tastes (let me state: my personal tastes, so please so replies about the 10 Xbox games that are the "bestest evah!", thank you), at least they're working harder on the marketing for the Xbox 2 - more Japanese developers are announcing products, better viral marketing.
Now that the Sony and Xbox lines will be compatible in power and graphics, it will come down to the games and other features (like Blue Ray and such). Eh - I'm patient. I probably won't buy either system for at least a year after they come out.
Maybe
52 Weeks, 52 Religions with John Hummel
Who said that they wouldn't be showing it at E3? They're launching it on a TV show, but that doesn't mean they aren't going to show it anywhere else.
Have you seen Pimp My Ride? It's actually fairly entertaining television. And this is coming from someone who watches at the most 80 minutes of television a week (The Daily Show).
Okay, so a philosopher, a philologist, and a philatelist walk into a bar...
"And you look like a fucking moron to the console world after the lies the dumbfucks at MS told about how many millions of polygons the piece of shit xbox could pump out."
Bullshit. Show me where Microsoft claimed 66 million polygons a second.
"Keep your dimwitted mouth shut you pussy. Got that dweeb?"
Translation: I love Sony so don't be digging up dirt on them!
"Derp de derp."
So, what kids do you know that watch MSNBC?
I guess they think the biggest money is in the kid sales. Maybe it is. But I know a LOT of twenty-somethings that buy all this stuff and we're not watching MTV.
MTV was good when they had Music Videos of all types. Not, if you actually catch a video, it's crap eyecandy with all booty and no originality. But now it's all these shows, every one packed full with teenage girls that scream at whatever the next boy band is. No thanks.
- It's not the Macs I hate. It's Digg users. -
Bleh, it's people like you that made MS change their controller. The original controller was really well designed and fits into my hands perfectly.
Comment removed based on user account deletion
You do realize they'll still be showing it at E3 a couple days later, right? I'm all for this. Instead of waiting an hour to download some shaky handycam video because everyone else and their mother are trying to download it at the same time, I can actually watch a well-presented (at least in terms of video quality) show on television. Sounds good to me. Sure, it'll probably full of fluff and flashy imagery, but it'll at least answer a few questions. What does it look like? What is it called? When does it come out? How much does it cost? Is there the hardrive standard, seperately, or not at all? Will is get/save content directly from a PC on my network (ver likely)? How are the controllers different? Are they standard wireless? Is it backwards compatible? What are some of the launch games, and what do they look like? I'm betting we'll get answers to at least most of those questions.