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Microsoft's E3 Conference Displays Company Confidence
The tone from Microsoft tonight was one of celebration and anticipation, as they ran down their successes since the 360 launched and hyped their lineup between now and the end of the year. Peter Moore framed the discussing by recalling the blockbuster holiday season of 2004, which was driven by the Grand Theft Auto, Madden, and Halo franchises. Moore stated that 'the only place to play all three games' this year is the 360. In addition to showing off other heavyweight titles like Mass Effect (which is due in November), the company had a few new announcements: They'll be releasing a version of the movie trivia game Scene-It with a quartet of special controllers, for a standard game price. They've partnered with Walt Disney and its associated companies to bring their family of movies to the Xbox Live service, with many titles already available tonight. CliffyB officially revealed Gears of War for the PC; it'll have additional content as well as co-op gaming via Live for Windows. Resident Evil 5 will be coming to the system (the only game from their conference not releasing this year). The event was capped by a live-action short piece meant to show what a Halo movie might look like, the announcement of a Halo 3 special edition 360 sku set to launch alongside the game, and a new trailer showing a bunch of Halo 3 in-game footage. For further details on the event, click below for other sites' liveblog coverage.
Really surprised at how great COD4 looked, especially compared to the underwhelming Halo 3 footage. Everyone kind of assumed that Halo 3, being the biggest game for the 360, would end up being a graphical showcase, but it doesn't seem like it's going to be.
I would be confident if I had The Chief on my side.
I watched it live, and I must say it was full of marketing drivel. Not one moment did I feel wonder at what was displayed, only felt like I was being sold something but a really slimy salesman. Which is fair enough right? No not really. I'm not interested in how they are going, or how many millions of dollars they will make, I just want innovation in games. All we got in this display was I bunch of dick waving.
I'm sick of all this "our console is better than the other's" crap, I want to see the best games on the right console at the right time. For all three competitors. Their products should speak for themselves.
They are excited because by the end of the year they finally hope to be making profit (which they never did with the original xbox). Also, they seem to think they have beaten the PS3. Amazing what you can do with $4billion to burn. The most amazing thing is that Sony still probably would have beaten them if they didn't get caught up in their own hubris and focus on things like blu-ray.
Qxe4
"...it'll have additional content as well as co-op gaming via Live for Windows."
Oh goodie, as opposed to co-op gaming via the mother-fucking-internet.
I think Microsoft did an excellent job of showcasing what the new e3 is about. They presented themselves like they would to shareholders in a company. They talked about the current market and how they are standing up to the competition. (And when they showed the numbers they showed Nintendo right behind them and didnt hide it) They showed off their exclusive titles, new services to xbox live, and of course they showed us game play of new titles.
This is the new E3, no more crowded booths, no more distractions with booth babes, crazy music, and all that jazz. This is about showing off what you got against the competition.
So you get one story about MS partners bailing over delayed releases in the SW division.
/. for ya. A Windows hatefest followed by a Microsoft Gaming lovefest.
Then the next story is about the confidence in the gaming division.
That's
09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0 is the magic number.
Well of course it was! How many companies go to a big conference and put on a presentation and say "Hey! We suck!"?
Remember Sony's conference last year? Remember "Riiidge Racer!"? _They_ were certainly confident, but that didn't mean much in the long run. It's not whether they show confidence in themselves that matters, it's whether the media and the consumers also feel confident about them by the time the presentation is done.
This Space Intentionally Left Blank
After the cinematic masterpiece that was DooM, I just can't wait for the Halo movie.
I hope they release it in blu-ray or HD-DVD, so I can watch it in all its HighDef glory.
As a PC Gamer I am happy that MS is pushing for games on the PC. Hopefully, we won't have to pay membership fees for Gears of War online. I had bet on the fact that with Vista out, most great games on XBox will find their way to the PC and had thus bought a PS3.... yay to me.
Anyways, with few new announcements that wasn't a very successful press conference. I was hoping for a few new games, or a price drop on the elite, or anything else that would push me into convincing my wife to let me buy a 360
I still wonder how many of those 10-million-plus 360s are from "repeat" buyers.
http://thepiratebay.org/tor/3738470 looks amazing.
Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun the frumious Bandersnatch.
new warranty anybody?
also, 40 games? 40 * ~$60 = $2,400
nobody feels sorry for you man, you have too much cash to spend. there aren't even that many decent games for the platform.
Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun the frumious Bandersnatch.
One of the biggest things that was expected was for Microsoft to announce was that they were cutting the price of the 360. Gamesutra even had an article saying that the price cuts were supposed to be the "key takeaway" of E3 2007 (http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?s tory=14631).
I guess they will wait until after Halo 3 and GTA4 are released and saturated in the market since a $50 price cut won't change many peoples decisions on whether or not to get the system.
Price cut for the Thanksgiving holiday anyone?
I think the final sentence of the following portion of the summary is sad:
"The tone from Microsoft tonight was one of celebration and anticipation, as they ran down their successes since the 360 launched and hyped their lineup between now and the end of the year. Peter Moore framed the discussing by recalling the blockbuster holiday season of 2004, which was driven by the Grand Theft Auto, Madden, and Halo franchises. Moore stated that 'the only place to play all three games' this year is the 360."
The celebration is essentially over their monopoly. The deals are paying off; their role as gatekeeper and toll collector is going to make them a lot of money. The console has fewer capabilities than a comparably-priced personal computer these days, and it has only been the exclusive publication deals that have drawn people to buy the 360 at all. Although consumers are making free decisions, I think constructing consoles (or Verizon cell phones, or Sony media formats, or various batteries and light bulbs, etc) simply to lure people in to participating in ongoing exclusive transactions to eventually exploit both all remaining perceived value of the product and the reluctance of a person to turn away from a bad decision, is unethical.
The Atari 2600 console was created and sold at a time when a comparable personal computer was maybe 10X the cost.
The 360 is just a crippled personal computer created for the sole purpose of creating a value distortion effect that causes an unjustifiable amount of money eventually going to its creators and partners.
The creation of Microsoft's video formats, or the Flash video format, or Sony's Blue-Ray, or SMS, or Verizon's "Get It Now", or Sony's memory stick, etc, has nothing to do with creating value for the consumer or making an advance in technology. It's all about luring people in to habits that are difficult to break.
While I think it's shameful for Apple to not enable easy use of any audio file to be used as a "ring tone" when the iPhone receives a call, at least Apple INNOVATED and provided genuine value in the many other features of the software and hardware. Even Apple seems reluctant to turn down the totally unethical revenue gained by controlling how people associate audio clips with incoming calls, though! (May they prove me wrong some day soon!) However, their access to the Internet (e.g., YouTube) is completely neutral; only bandwidth with the carrier matters. Meanwhile, Verizon and some 3G device carriers wanted to use their monopolistic roles yet again by charging specifically for access to YouTube content. How do carriers add value to specific data streams? They don't!
Stockholders and board members should vote in some ethics-inspired procedures to prevent the exploitation of any monopoly-like conditions that their business units might happen to indirectly or directly create. For example, the charter of Verizon should have forbid having any control over the kinds of data carried on their networks, or controlling any data transferred to and from devices owned by customers. "Get It Now" should never have been possible. Costly SMS bills, beyond the reasonable cost of operating cell towers, etc, should never have become a big source of profit for carriers.
Microsoft and its partners may be way beyond the ability to adopt any sort of ethics-inspired corporate principles; the very creation of the 360 is evidence of that.
Maybe the ultimate solution to the problem of companies creating captive markets (because such companies are too lazy to actually innovate or create genuine value) is to spread information that makes it evident that a person is better off choosing products in true open markets.
After watching their press conference I'm a little mixed about it. I liked the fact that they didn't bother talking too much about what's coming out far off in 2008, but talked about what we could be expecting to see in time for the holidays. It's interesting to see what's in the pipes, but I liked that they highlighted the games showing up in the near future. I also think they did a good job pointing out some of the exclusives that they were going to have as well or what kind of exclusive features (GTA IV downloadable content) that would only be showing up on the Xbox 360.
I think that their efforts in terms of family games was a little on the week side. I can understand they want to get into the same marketspace as the Wii, but it seems as though it's an afterthought for them. I think that their initial core market is mature gamers who enjoy FPS games and such. The Scene It game just seemed kind of awkward for a console. I think the majority of Xbox 360 owners don't really care too much about these games. I would have rather seen more focus on their core.
I really could care less about their Live for Windows information as well, but I've never been much of a computer gamer. I've always liked E3 for the focus on the consoles.
One thing that really stuck out, and this always seems to happen at pretty much every conference, is that some celebrity or designer comes out to highlight a game and they come off sounding stiff and awkward. The lady talking during the Assassins Creed preview made me cringe. The Madden demo also felt forced. Please reherse or find some more genuine presenters. It makes everything look more professional. Last year Sony was horrible for this reason.
Overall, not a bad showing, but it didn't feel as though they were trying to generate a lot of buzz. Maybe that's just an effect of the new format of E3 though. Looking forward to both of the press conferences tomorrow and what Sony and Nintendo have in the works.
If it's going to be Vista-only I'll be waiting for the inevitable "unofficial" XP patch before I buy it. Whether they'll have the balls to scupper sales for a potentially big PC hit is another matter - any bets? I might consider it but I've heard that lots of my existing games *won't* work on Vista - as a gamer, why would I want to spend money on that?
Matthew @ Bytemark Hosting
You do realize that your xbox is still under warranty for at least another year? Microsoft extended the warranty of all 360s for three years.
"Jeremy, you need to get to an internet cafe and cut and paste some appropriate sentiments about me from the world wide
18 months old, huh? You know about the extended warranty, right?
It's good for another 18.
It's not the same logic at all. People don't like Windows for technical reasons. They don't like Sony's DRM for moral reasons. Hence, not liking Windows but liking the 360 is possible, but hating Sony for the DRM implies that you hate the company, not a single product.
and it seems the battle in modern Japan saw the Wii hit the ps3 in its weak spot for MASSIVE DAMAGE.
I never spellcheck and I freely admit it. Save your karma for more worthwhile "lol erorrs" replies
Forums are alight with news, that Microsoft gave nothing new, aside from a BabyPoo Green Halo 20GB Xbox 360, which clashes with the red rings of death.
I like how they implied how GTA IV was an Xbox exclusive, by bundling it with the Halo 3 statement.
Here is a reworded version for Sony:
Harrisson said "This season, the only way to play GTA IV, Killzone, Warhawk, Ratchet Clank TOD is on Playstation 3"..
See how easy it was...
The 3-year warranty only covers the RRoD problem. Anything else falls under the previous warranty.
So because he's got a lot of games, let him burn? How do you know all games were purchased retail? I have to say I might buy one or two full-price new releases per year and the rest hunted off ebay or the used game shops.
$2400 invested in a system already two and a half years in isn't even that bad, anyway, if you can afford it. Don't be jealous of others' prosperity.
More Twoson than Cupertino
Nooo!! Was Monkey Boy dancing around the stage again?
"Though they had to be running Windows"
Q TH
Come on man, you knew this, but in case you didn't
http://www.amazon.com/Macsoft-Halo-Mac/dp/B00006I
http://www.apple.com/games/articles/2003/11/halo/
Wait... Sony dropped the price of the PS3? At launch you could get one for $499 or $599, now on Amazon I see them listed for $499 and $599... Did they introduce a new SKU for $449 or $399 and I'm not seeing it?
Such an idiotic comment could be uttered.
Check MS stock performance:
http://finance.google.com/finance?q=MSFT (check Max).
That is a steady state system curve for you. This means the company has matured and is not finding anything innovative.
Look how an innovative company looks:
http://finance.google.com/finance?q=GOOG
the exponential curve shows that people perceive value in the company.
Simply put, MS is stagnated, I am sure institutional investors are losing patience, wasting 5 billion chasing a chimera does not sound like a good choice, and the markets are saying as much.
IANAL but write like a drunk one.
Wow, thats a lot of games to pick up in 18 months. When I read the first part of your post I was shocked that you would buy an new 360 if your old one was busted but with that kind of investment I guess i understand.
Shame though, if your computer went to shit in 18 months you probably wouldn't buy another one of those computers.
"In America, first you get the sugar, then you get the power, then you get the women..." -H. Simpson
What boggles my mind is that his 360 had only 200 hours of game play on it. 40 games, 5 hours a piece? yipes!
"In America, first you get the sugar, then you get the power, then you get the women..." -H. Simpson
Last year one of my relatives gave everyone a plug and play game called Buzztime for christmas, its fun but disconnecting the existing consoles to plug it in to play one game is a bit of a pain. This sounds alot more spontaneous. Having access to Live means the game can be updated easily. Its proably not going to attract many of the traditional gamers but for the new casual gamers its sounds like a great way for the family to game together. I'ts gimmicky but I can see the controllers being used for other Licensed versions of popular games. Family Feud, Jeopardy, Who Wants To Be A Millionaire and tons of others could be easily ported and play almost identically to the way it does on the TV shows. I think there will be a big market for it.
And all I kept hearing - between the lines - was that some games would ship on Microsoft that already were shipping on PS3 and Wii, and that other games would ship first of xBox360 and then ship on the Wii.
Take home message, other than a few games (Halo) that we already knew were xBox360 specific - not much behind the PR.
-- Tigger warning: This post may contain tiggers! --
Nooo!! Was Monkey Boy dancing around the stage again?
No, but he says he has two logos tattooed on his arms now.
-- Tigger warning: This post may contain tiggers! --
That is stupid, considering that all past, present and future XBox 360's have a 3 year warranty on them now. Should have contacted Microsoft to get them to send you a new one for free.
$499 Playstation 3 Confirmed
So you missed the point then?
yeah, i wasn't being jealous about his 'prosperity', I was more pointing out how impulsive he must be. m$ just announced a RETROACTIVE 3 year warranty, and this guy's solution is to just buy a new system. also, as mentioned above, 200 hours of play? i may be a halo junkie, but i've easily played 200 hours of just halo 1.
not let him burn, just sizzle a little.
Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun the frumious Bandersnatch.
where, exactly, did I say that I haven't played any games?
Or did you mean that I haven't played the games that haven't come out yet? OK, thats fair, its possible that the new Halo will be totally different from the old one, but more likely than not it will be a graphical update with some nice new maps. GTA, pretty much the same, but now with more bitch slappin' action.
I can tell you right now that the game play in Madden wont be significantly different from the last version (except maybe on the Wii where I assume they are still working on the control system).
Look, I'm not saying that these games don't have merit and don't have value, but they sure aren't innovative and they aren't likely to introduce anything new in terms of game play. The primary changes are likely to be graphics.
"In America, first you get the sugar, then you get the power, then you get the women..." -H. Simpson