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[Impeccable]

They should just promote Albert Penello to the head of...entertainment...divisions... whatever they're calling the umbrella for the Xbox division these days. He seems to actually know how to interact with potential customers

He's done it on NeoGAF for 9 years... #truthfact #doubleagent

 

[Bedlam]

Tweet is console war bait on a slow news week. IGN staffers are bored so they need entertainment by watching you guys fight.

I honestly think they don't know better. That's the actual sad part.

 

[ReplacementPelican]

Yes and no. Again, from my experience working there, when I reviewed a product I was never told to soften my criticism. Companies are generally happy just to get some exposure, regardless of the tone of the review. On the other hand, I did have my writing censored because a company complained about a news blurb I wrote. It's not black and white.

Would this also be why when we saw Battlefield 4 run on the Playstation 4 they kept emphasizing it was the PS4 almost as if it was inferior to every version (including the X1 version)

 

[IncandescentPrecept]

Not necessarily. We are quickly becoming a noticeable force in the gaming industry. We've already had a member start a global movement against DRM that was noticed and was one of the deciding factors for Sony to not go through with it, a documentary about the site and how it affects the game industry on one of the largest game sites on the Internet, etc. I'm not saying GAF is the Gaming Illuminati, but it's doing the site a huge disservice to not acknowledge the bit of influence we do have.

The DRM thing became big because it was something that affected even regular gamers - driven by the news of the X1 DRM. MS's 180 isn't because of us, it's because the regular gamer didn't like it at all. If GAF's influence was a big as you think it is, W101 would not have such poor sales.

I think it's great that some developers post here and all but we have to be realistic.

 

[IcyEyes]

With so many people questioning what I meant around “near final” at Gamescom, I want to clarify my own comments (typically I wouldn’t chime in on a Sony thread, since I can’t speak to what Sony is doing), but since I can’t start a new thread, I’m adding my comments here. So before this starts – I’m not here to bash Sony.

At E3, you saw Xbox One games running in a couple of environments:

Development PC’s (these were our early Alpha kits spec’d similarly to HW targets)
Development Kits (these are the white and black consoles that look like retail units)
Other PC’s (in these cases, like the drama around the PC with the nvidia GPU), we asked developers to make sure what they were showing was reflective of what could be achieved on Xbox One.

I think we were pretty open about it. Some may disagree, but I don’t recall us trying to be particularly cagey about this since it’s typical for this point in the console to have game development being scattered.

At this point, just about everything is running on “near final” Hardware. What’s unique about our program this time is that Dev Kits and Retail Kits are exactly the same.

Despite the belief, our Dev Kits DO NOT have 12gb of ram. They have 8gb, just like shipping units. So anything you see running on a black Xbox One console is the same unit we’re going to ship.

Now, the reason I say “near final” is because you guys like us to be precise. Anyone that knows HW development understands that millions of units don’t come flying off the assembly line by just flipping a switch (see what I did there?)

You have many, many units that are run on the factory production line before final product starts as you’re testing quality, tweaking the manufacturing process, etc. But all these consoles you’re seeing are coming off factory production lines. That’s why I caveat “near final” because, before you start full production, you go through many test runs.

So again to clarify – we have real, retail consoles running real code. Every time you see a black box running software, it’s the real thing. I had almost 300 people see the dash demo at Gamescom, and people were free to inspect the HW I was demoing on.

Pretty interesting and thanks for posting.

 

[ZeroMaverick]

Or maybe they used bigger, cooler dev-kits because a gaming console isn't meant to be on for 10+ hours without a break at some gaming convention. I mean, that's the logical answer, right? Granted, I know nothing of computer or console hardware; it just seems like common sense. Am I wrong?

 

[NinjamicWZ]

There is no PS4.

 

[Amir0x]

He's done it on NeoGAF for 9 years... #truthfact #doubleagent

lol

But seriously, he's taken more than his share of heat and he keeps trucking on with reasonable explanations - whether I take some of them at face value or not - and gives a much needed open window that gamers like us often need to feel better about a potential investment. He's simply good PR for Microsoft, through and through, and it's nice to see

 

[NoTacos]

I don't get it.......... weren't we all assuming that the floor models were dev kits? I mean, E3 was way too early to have retail models up and running.

Also, weren't the XONEs running on dev kit as well?

 

[Mik_Pad]

They should just promote Albert Penello to the head of...entertainment...divisions... whatever they're calling the umbrella for the Xbox division these days. He seems to actually know how to interact with potential customers

This, Albert has been very open with us and I appreciate that.

 

[BleachAndPepsi]

Wow this is all making Scott Lowe and IGN look terrible.

Seriously. His ignorance is melting my brain.

 

[parazen]

I'm an online student. I do probably 3,000 words per week. If its about video games, I could 1,000 words three times a day. If that is all it takes, then sign me up. I'm a straight A student and an excellent writer (when I want to be.lol)


Personally, I don't think there is much of an issue here. It is kind of hard to believe they would be launching in 33 countries, with massive pre-orders taken, and be really far behind with production units.

Find a site you like, and offer to write for them for free. Send in a sample. Then keep sending in samples on a regular basis. When they start publishing your work, give it a month and then ask for $100 per article. Presto, you're a freelance games journalist!

 

[Wynnebeck]

The DRM thing became big because it was something that affected even regular gamers - driven by the news of the X1 DRM. MS's 180 isn't because of us, it's because the regular gamer didn't like it at all. If GAF's influence was a big as you think it is, W101 would not have such poor sales.

I think it's great that some developers post here and all but we have to be realistic.

The DRM protest was started by FamousMortimer on NeoGAF and grew. I never said MS's 180 or W101 selling poorly or greatly was influenced by NeoGAF. I think you are confusing what I am talking about.

 

[Impeccable]

But seriously, he's taken more than his share of heat and he keeps trucking on with reasonable explanations - whether I take some of them at face value or not - and gives a much needed open window that gamers like us often need to feel better about a potential investment. He's simply good PR for Microsoft, through and through, and it's nice to see

I completely agree, we need more open and honest communication from all sides. Gamers are probably some of the most socially connected group of hobbyist you can find and it's really obvious when they are pulling the wool over our eyes.

At least with people like Albert, Shahid, Yosp and the list is growing, we're getting newer access to higher up people than ever before and whether or not it's corporate fluff or honest #truthfact it's something we, in my opinion, deserve. Hope the trend starts cracking all three companies open more.

 

[Krakn3Dfx]

This seems like non-news to me, just like I thought it was non-news when they were talking about XB1 games running on PCs and devkits.

I hope a lot of people clicked on the IGN link tho and Scott got his ups, he obviously deserves it for this hard hitting news.

 

[LiquidMetal14]

just so that you know, test kits (not DevKits) are in the PS4 shell... and they've been in the office for a while

Let me reiterate this as I heard about this easily 2 months ago. Final chassis test units for PS4 at one of my dev friends offices. I even posted about it but no one noticed as much.

 

[PrivateRyan]

I really don't understand how one half-arsed attempt at stirring up trouble (which even Scott himself doesn't seem to entirely understand) on Twitter can garner so much attention

 

[Commanche Raisin Toast]

yep, what albert said lines up with what sony is doing as well, sans the "our dev kits are also the consumer units" bit:

-sony's TEST units, are (if i recall correctly) the same as retail units but are able to both run unsigned (non final) code and also output error data for the sake of troubleshooting.

-Verendus said that the TEST UNITS are already available, and it's likely that some of them might end up out "in the wild" at trade shows before PS4 launches.

-at most trade shows after a console has already launched, you won't see retail units running unreleased games, you'll see a TEST unit. this is often cause for people to think there's new hardware yet to be announced when all it was, was a devkit or a test unit.

-just because dev kits were used at Gamescom for sony doesn't mean that there's issues getting test units and retail units manufactured. it means that's currently the most efficient and reliable way of getting unfinished games in the hands of people wanting to try them out.

-MS has the advantage of the dev kits also being the retail units, so not only does it appear visually to be the retail unit, but it's also gives the impression (unless you were to ask) that final hardware is done and ready.

-sony's plan allows for no such comforts unless you were to ask them and they were to give a lengthy explanation- which they won't.

again, nothing mind-blowingly crazy about this. i think albert would even agree. basically IGN's ignorance of how this all works has got them somehow worried that PS4 isn't going to be able to get finalized and manufactured in time for launch. if they understood that test units were already out there then they'd understand that "final hardware" (according to the definition supplied by albert) is already being made.

 

[ndawgdrake]

I'd like some info on these laptops please and how they compare to the frame rate of the ps4 versions of any games spanning both machines, also the cost of the laptop, if you would.

You miss the point. There was concern about how the internals of the PS4 dev kit would fit into a the final PS4 box.

 

[AlphaDump]

Microsoft approached IGN to fix the reputation they had after the bad messaging after E3. That is confirmed by a IGN staffer. I think people just extrapolate from there.

whoa what? i did not hear about this.

man i need to invest in some serious tin foil. so much FUD

 

[GameSeeker]

lol

But seriously, he's taken more than his share of heat and he keeps trucking on with reasonable explanations - whether I take some of them at face value or not - and gives a much needed open window that gamers like us often need to feel better about a potential investment. He's simply good PR for Microsoft, through and through, and it's nice to see

Yes, as long as folks remember he is here on NeoGAF as Microsoft PR.

 

[artist]

Wow this is all making Scott Lowe and IGN look terrible.

How can terrible be made look terrible again?

 

[Krakn3Dfx]

Yes, as long as folks remember he is here on NeoGAF as Microsoft PR.

This.

He comes here for damage control and to communicate an approved message. It's not like he has a history of posting anything non-MS related, he comes here specifically to tell people on here either what they want to hear or what MS wants people to think is happening.

In this case, he's here to try and get some sort of 1-up on Sony, "we has actual units on the floor, dur, dur, dur, dur". That's awesome, glad to hear it, still buying a PS4.

 

[kidhero1000]

They hit really, really hard?

More like flop

 

[shinobi602]

Go home, Albert. You're drunk.

This isn't about you.

Seriously?

 

[Gestault]

This.

He comes here for damage control and to communicate an approved message. It's not like he has a history of posting anything non-MS related, he comes here specifically to tell people on here either what they want to hear or what MS wants people to think is happening.

In this case, he's here to try and get some sort of 1-up on Sony, "we has actual units on the floor, dur, dur, dur, dur". That's awesome, glad to hear it, still buying a PS4.

I see it differently. Penello's answer explains and justifies (as in, defends) the exact circumstances Sony was being criticized by the IGN guy for. His answer is among the explanations that shows how silly the "concern" really was when the overall situation is taken into account.

 

[WetPotatoBread]

Can someone please answer how can a retail Xbone be a Dev kit without extra hardware?

 

[The Bookerman]

this idiot has a job in the media, meanwhile bob mackey, scott sharkey and ray barnholt don't?


i don't understand who makes these hirings.

 

[Gestault]

Yes, as long as folks remember he is here on NeoGAF as Microsoft PR.

Since he's never suggested otherwise (and the content of his comments, his name and his tag indicate as much), I don't understand why you'd need to be so insecure about people missing that.

 

[Yoday]

I only started reading GAF around E3, and since doing so I have become convinced that IGN gets all of their non PR fed news strait from GAF. Not that it surprises me, as I listen to some of their podcasts (I have eight hours a night at work to fill), and most of the IGN staff clearly don't pay attention to gaming news at all. The amount of basic information that they either get wrong or simply don't know is staggering for people whose job is to inform people about what is going on in the industry.

 

[Dr. Kitty Muffins]

Find a site you like, and offer to write for them for free. Send in a sample. Then keep sending in samples on a regular basis. When they start publishing your work, give it a month and then ask for $100 per article. Presto, you're a freelance games journalist!

Does IGN work like this? Heck, GA???

 

[BY2K]

It's like gaming journalist don't know how the gaming industry works.

Crazy, I know.

 

[Amir0x]

Yes, as long as folks remember he is here on NeoGAF as Microsoft PR.

I think everyone on NeoGAF is intelligent enough to understand the benefit Albert and Microsoft receive from good PR. We're all smart enough to parse out such things. The point is that there is a right way to do PR and a wrong way, and Albert is doing it the very right way. If people like him were the face of the Xbox One division early on, and less Mattrick nuttery, Microsoft might have been in a stronger position to at least try to articulate their vision of the future and not allow the endless rampant confusion that went on in the early days of the XB1 reveal.

Anyway, we're getting off topic now, but I just appreciated Albert's willingness to participate in this admittedly harsh community, considering the heat, and also appreciate the tone and way he responds as well. It's good shit.

 

[Freshmaker]

I'm more upset that an editor doesn't know how to use the word "concerning".

 

[Verendus]

Fuck Jay-Z.

 

[3rdamention]

Fixed.

Very well played my friend...

 

[qa_engineer]

What was the point of this tweet? Are we supposed to believe that Sony won't have consoles for launch and everything shown at this point is pure vaporware? Not sure I follow.

 

[hipbabboom]

Can someone please answer how can a retail Xbone be a Dev kit without extra hardware?

Simple:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nxSIpDHVg7I

Just imagine in the video above that the Windows 8 tablet was an XB1 console

EDIT: I've done this for XNA on the 360 as well but it's essentially the same principle.

 

[3rdamention]

With so many people questioning what I meant around “near final” at Gamescom, I want to clarify my own comments (typically I wouldn’t chime in on a Sony thread, since I can’t speak to what Sony is doing), but since I can’t start a new thread, I’m adding my comments here. So before this starts – I’m not here to bash Sony.

At E3, you saw Xbox One games running in a couple of environments:

Development PC’s (these were our early Alpha kits spec’d similarly to HW targets)
Development Kits (these are the white and black consoles that look like retail units)
Other PC’s (in these cases, like the drama around the PC with the nvidia GPU), we asked developers to make sure what they were showing was reflective of what could be achieved on Xbox One.

I think we were pretty open about it. Some may disagree, but I don’t recall us trying to be particularly cagey about this since it’s typical for this point in the console to have game development being scattered.

At this point, just about everything is running on “near final” Hardware. What’s unique about our program this time is that Dev Kits and Retail Kits are exactly the same.

Despite the belief, our Dev Kits DO NOT have 12gb of ram. They have 8gb, just like shipping units. So anything you see running on a black Xbox One console is the same unit we’re going to ship.

Now, the reason I say “near final” is because you guys like us to be precise. Anyone that knows HW development understands that millions of units don’t come flying off the assembly line by just flipping a switch (see what I did there?)

You have many, many units that are run on the factory production line before final product starts as you’re testing quality, tweaking the manufacturing process, etc. But all these consoles you’re seeing are coming off factory production lines. That’s why I caveat “near final” because, before you start full production, you go through many test runs.

So again to clarify – we have real, retail consoles running real code. Every time you see a black box running software, it’s the real thing. I had almost 300 people see the dash demo at Gamescom, and people were free to inspect the HW I was demoing on.

Thanks again Albert.. Did you mean At Gamescom? You said at "E3"

 

[CadetMahoney]

What was the point of this tweet? Are we supposed to believe that Sony won't have consoles for launch and everything shown at this point is pure vaporware? Not sure I follow.

I don't know but it's clearly negative PS4 "news".

 

[Darklor01]

It is good that he posts at all. Just like anyone who works at the company in marketing or PR, what he says should be taken with a grain of salt. If something said can be proven or disproved, it should be. He should also be given respect until he proves he doesn't deserve it. He should also be prepared to answer questions if he chooses to post. Not make a post and then disappear after his pre written statement.

 

[Crimson_Gold]

Fuck Jay-Z.

dat ether

 

[boredandlazy]

I'm more upset that an editor doesn't know how to use the word "concerning".

Yeah, if only they had an competent editorial department to pick up on this stuff. Oh, wait...

 

[KoopaTheCasual]

This.

He comes here for damage control and to communicate an approved message. It's not like he has a history of posting anything non-MS related, he comes here specifically to tell people on here either what they want to hear or what MS wants people to think is happening.

In this case, he's here to try and get some sort of 1-up on Sony, "we has actual units on the floor, dur, dur, dur, dur". That's awesome, glad to hear it, still buying a PS4.

Nah, If anything his comment defends Sony and covers his own ass. His comment is a preemptive "don't say MS isn't ready either". He's just explaining how companies approach these shows and what type of hardware normally accompanies them.

Fuck Jay-Z.

Man, I don't know what has gotten into you lately, Verendus, but I sorta dig it in a weird way.

 

[FlipWilson]

well atleast IGN is there to give us some laughs

 

[Confidence Man]

What was the point of this tweet? Are we supposed to believe that Sony won't have consoles for launch and everything shown at this point is pure vaporware? Not sure I follow.

You're supposed to be concerned. Between this and the way BF4 looks on PS4 maybe it isn't such a good idea to get one at launch after all? Oh and by the way, have you heard Titanfall makes other next-gen FPSs look quaint? Only available on Xbox One™

 

[3rdamention]

This.

He comes here for damage control and to communicate an approved message. It's not like he has a history of posting anything non-MS related, he comes here specifically to tell people on here either what they want to hear or what MS wants people to think is happening.

In this case, he's here to try and get some sort of 1-up on Sony, "we has actual units on the floor, dur, dur, dur, dur". That's awesome, glad to hear it, still buying a PS4.

I have been as critical of Microsoft as anyone, but I cannot agree with this. Albert has answered some tough questions here and has been pretty honest, whether you like MS or not. The person who you would think would be on here, posting Microsoft PR and spinning everything to be pro MS, is Major Nelson. That's his job and he doesn't touch GAF with a 180 foot pole.

 

[140.85]

You're supposed to be concerned. Between this and the way BF4 looks on PS4 maybe it isn't such a good idea to get one at launch after all? Oh and by the way, have you heard Titanfall makes other next-gen FPSs look quaint? Only available on Xbox One™

Damn, son. You got a gift there. You should work for IGN.

 

[nib95]

IGN... Lol.

Honestly though, the final retail hardware is not available yet, what do they expect them to be running on besides dev kits? The only disingenuous part of that would be if the dev kits were completely different hardware to the actual retail kits, and far more powerful. That was the key difference and why Microsoft was lambasted for a similar thing.

Sony's PS4 dev kits are basically the same hardware as a retail PS4, only with dev and debug tools, and OS etc. The PCs Microsoft claimed were dev kits were not similar to the Xbox One's hardware at all, and we're instead much much more powerful than final hardware. GTX 780s and Titans etc.

 

[jett]

You are completely right.

I'll post it again because I love this.
Here is the guy from the OP. IGN's Scott Lowe, getting this exact thing explained to him by Mark Cerny himself.

LOL there are no words.