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[Lord_Byron28]

MS had a terrible e3 last year, was laughed at roundly by everyone, and dominated this year in the US market in sales. When that happens again this year after this terrible conference, they'll laugh all the way to the bank again I would imagine.

What we all think is great on GAF isn't what is commercially successful, and that's what a company cares about.

Yeah it worked out for them this year just like it worked out for Nintendo in 2006-2009. Then Nintendo realized they lost the core gamers.

Most people aren't complaining about what was anounced so much as what was focused on. The majority of press and people paying attention to E3 aren't interested and could care less about casual games. If the company wants to anounce and make them that's fine but when you're anouncing, advertising, marketing, etc. 85% of the time casual games to a hardcore market it's not going to be received well. There are better places and times suited for showcasing casual games and E3 isn't one of them. The way Nintendo's E3 2009/2010 conference worked out well. They anounced some casual games, talked about them a little and had demoes for them but their main focus and anouncements were geared to the typical E3 audience.

Nintendo was rightfully so ripped to shreds so should Microsoft for doing the same thing. The conference was pretty underwhelming but the anounced lineup isn't bad. I'd give their anounced lineup a C it appeals to both core gamers and casual gamers. However, it's main flaws are that the lineup only appeals to two main demographs. Where are the action games, RPGs, adventure, survival horror, and platformers? That's a huge chunk of audience missing in between.

 

[Trent Strong]

That article in the OP is the most baffling and incomprehensible thing I've ever read.

 

[duk]

Yeah it worked out for them this year just like it worked out for Nintendo in 2006-2009. Then Nintendo realized they lost the core gamers.

Most people aren't complaining about what was anounced so much as what was focused on. The majority of press and people paying attention to E3 aren't interested and could care less about casual games. If the company wants to anounce and make them that's fine but when you're anouncing, advertising, marketing, etc. 85% of the time casual games to a hardcore market it's not going to be received well. There are better places and times suited for showcasing casual games and E3 isn't one of them. The way Nintendo's E3 2009/2010 conference worked out well. They anounced some casual games, talked about them a little and had demoes for them but their main focus and anouncements were geared to the typical E3 audience.

Nintendo was rightfully so ripped to shreds so should Microsoft for doing the same thing. The conference was pretty underwhelming but the anounced lineup isn't bad. I'd give their anounced lineup a C it appeals to both core gamers and casual gamers. However, it's main flaws are that the lineup only appeals to two main demographs. Where are the action games, RPGs, adventure, survival horror, and platformers? That's a huge chunk of audience missing in between.

Yeah I have same concerns as you along with many, but MS still has the core and will have it til end of the gen. They must balance core/kinect while getting core to adopt kinect. I don't believe they will make same mistake as Nintendo but who knows.

 

[SatelliteOfLove]

For me it comes down to MS reducing gamers in a very binary way. You either like dudebro shooters and sports/racing games or you want to flail about playing on rails or absurdly simplified games. I don't fall into either camp so I guess there is no place for me under the 360's tent anymore.

Where are rpg's, platformers, quirky games, indie stuff, etc

I'm truly at the point where I'm assured they take us for granted. We go where the games are, the 360 carries a ton of them anyways, but we're too savvy for simple marketing tricks, so it's of little use to carnival bark us to their tents. The same reason TV commercials are bad about no gameplay footage and press releases have bullshots again, we're sitting there smelling it from a mile away and will buy what we like...there are BIGGER fish in these big waters we swim in this generation.

 

[elrechazado]

Yeah it worked out for them this year just like it worked out for Nintendo in 2006-2009. Then Nintendo realized they lost the core gamers.

Most people aren't complaining about what was anounced so much as what was focused on. The majority of press and people paying attention to E3 aren't interested and could care less about casual games. If the company wants to anounce and make them that's fine but when you're anouncing, advertising, marketing, etc. 85% of the time casual games to a hardcore market it's not going to be received well. There are better places and times suited for showcasing casual games and E3 isn't one of them. The way Nintendo's E3 2009/2010 conference worked out well. They anounced some casual games, talked about them a little and had demoes for them but their main focus and anouncements were geared to the typical E3 audience.

Nintendo was rightfully so ripped to shreds so should Microsoft for doing the same thing. The conference was pretty underwhelming but the anounced lineup isn't bad. I'd give their anounced lineup a C it appeals to both core gamers and casual gamers. However, it's main flaws are that the lineup only appeals to two main demographs. Where are the action games, RPGs, adventure, survival horror, and platformers? That's a huge chunk of audience missing in between.

Good thing they have games like gears, halo, cod, bf3, bioshock, etc. Nintendo's problem is that their first party stuff is really all there is of quality. MS specifically won't have the nintendo problem you are pointing out, because they rely so heavily on big third party games. So yeah, they'll be fine.

 

[Deleted member 30609]

was even more right then we could have imagined

what is this gif from?

 

[crimsonheadGCN]

what is this gif from?

I believe it's from Pirates of Silicon Valley. It was a movie that dealt with the early history of both Microsoft and Apple.

 

[Bumblebeetuna]

I remember once upon a time when 360 fans didn't have to mention multiplatforms to inflate a list.

What.. 2005? When there was no other next gen console around?

360 has always had a weak lineup of exclusives. At least as far as retail goes. It's always been the console where there are a smaller amount of exclusives, but you almost always get the best version of MP games and you have Live. And of course you have XBLA, which is amazing. Not sure why people are bothered that the list is full of shooters and sequels, Sony's showing was the same imho.

I don't care that MS spent time showing off Kinect. If Move was any kind of success, Sony would have done the same. But it's unfortunate that they did not include any sort of XBLA stuff. Imho it has really helped carry the console for the last couple years.

 

[NemesisPrime]

Where are rpg's, platformers, quirky games, indie stuff, etc

The 360 has by far the longest list of quirky and indie games (and RPGs as well). As a "hardcore" fan.. do you really need MS to show you that on the E3 opening event? You can find all those games on the 360 related gaming websites. The opening event is just like the opening event of the Olympics... not really for sport fans.

Then Nintendo realized they lost the core gamers

If anything.. MS has gained core gamers the last year. Just look at the numbers of online hardcore freaks playing on Live and the weird Indie channel stuff.

 

[Dunlop]

Of course, Microsoft was able to ride the uniqueness of Kinect all the way to the bank last year, but it was Wii Fit and Mario Kart Wii which came after Wii Sports, not Kinect Sports Season 2 and Dance Central 2.

Except Microsoft can ride the uniqueness of Kinect all the way to the bank this year also and rely on AAA third party games to fill in the gap that the Wii had

 

[TwiztidElf]

I like Disney and never been to Disneyland so this would appeal to me.

I have been to Disneyland, and it is awesome. I just wish the rides were true to the evil originals in the park, particularly the ones in FantasyLand. It would have been more appealing to me then.

• Disneyland also sits on an intersection of three so-called geo-physical/electro-magnetic “ley lines”, which are thought to be energy currents that run throughout the planet. These meridian “power” lines also intersect at places like the Glastonbury Tor, the Great Pyramids at Giza, Stonehenge, Nazca in Peru, the Bermuda Triangle, Taos, Sedona, Roswell, Ayers Rock in Australia, and the place where the Oracle at Delphi made her prophecies is thought to be such an “energetic” place as well. The Chinese also believed in these places of power – the entire 4,000 year old art of space arrangement called Feng Shui is based upon the same notion. The Romans also believed in “sacre”, or sacred places where powerful events occurred. These lines have also been linked to the flight path of UFO sightings.
• The SRI consultants chose the location of the park to sit not just in a geographic depression where such energies might coalesce, but “computed the center of gravity from the census districts” to determine the location.
• C.V. Wood also made sure that the King Arthur Carousel was located right at this meridian cross section, supposedly intending to distribute the positive energy/power throughout the park with the spinning of the mechanism (much like a Tesla Coil).

http://www.disinfo.com/2010/06/latitude-33-disney-and-high-strangeness-oh-my/

 

[REV 09]

Most people aren't complaining about what was anounced so much as what was focused on. The majority of press and people paying attention to E3 aren't interested and could care less about casual games. If the company wants to anounce and make them that's fine but when you're anouncing, advertising, marketing, etc. 85% of the time casual games to a hardcore market it's not going to be received well. There are better places and times suited for showcasing casual games and E3 isn't one of them. The way Nintendo's E3 2009/2010 conference worked out well. They anounced some casual games, talked about them a little and had demoes for them but their main focus and anouncements were geared to the typical E3 audience.

Nintendo was rightfully so ripped to shreds so should Microsoft for doing the same thing. The conference was pretty underwhelming but the anounced lineup isn't bad. I'd give their anounced lineup a C it appeals to both core gamers and casual gamers. However, it's main flaws are that the lineup only appeals to two main demographs. Where are the action games, RPGs, adventure, survival horror, and platformers? That's a huge chunk of audience missing in between.

saying that the conference was 85% casual is a gross overstatement. They highlighted 3rd party support by showing MW3 and a "survivor horror/adventure game" in Tomb Raider. The core exclusives that the 360 has always catered to are still coming. They announce 4 Halo games...4! Gears 3 and Forza 4 both look strong.

Imo, MS's biggest failure of the conference was that they did not prove that the hardcore has a home in Kinect. All of the shoe-horned implementations were either gimmicky or just plain bad. The biggest, positive surprises for me were the Halo announcements, especially Halo 4, and the service enhancement to the dashboard, Youtube, Bing, etc.

 

[Maleficence]

That article in the OP is the most baffling and incomprehensible thing I've ever read.

Do you have a reading age of 8?

 

[Acosta]

MS had a terrible e3 last year, was laughed at roundly by everyone, and dominated this year in the US market in sales. When that happens again this year after this terrible conference, they'll laugh all the way to the bank again I would imagine.

What we all think is great on GAF isn't what is commercially successful, and that's what a company cares about.

If the world doesn't care about what "GAF thinks", I see no reason to give a shit at what the world thinks. I don't give a damn about how commercial successful is going to be, I'm not a stockholder. I just know it´s trash and uninteresting to me, if MS wants to pull their bullshit, they have most appropriate moments than a E3 pre-conference.

 

[venne]

The biggest, positive surprises for me were the Halo announcements, especially Halo 4, and the service enhancement to the dashboard, Youtube, Bing, etc.

I think we are seeing Xbox 360 transition from a console to a platform.

It wouldn't surprise me if they eschew the traditional console cycle and just release a new 360 with more muscle periodically. Old 360s will still run everything, just not as well (see Apple's mobile model as an example).

 

[Daschysta]

I think we are seeing Xbox 360 transition from a console to a platform.

It wouldn't surprise me if they eschew the traditional console cycle and just release a new 360 with more muscle periodically. Old 360s will still run everything, just not as well (see Apple's mobile model as an example).

That would be horrible, just horrible.

People buy consoles specifically NOT to have to buy new ones to play all the games well! Plus devs would have to gimp games for new hardware to make it playable on all versions... Plus multiplats would be nearly impossible to optimize... Horrible horrible idea.

 

[venne]

That would be horrible, just horrible.

People buy consoles specifically NOT to have to buy new ones to play all the games well! Plus devs would have to gimp games for new hardware to make it playable on all versions... Plus multiplats would be nearly impossible to optimize... Horrible horrible idea.

People buy consoles to play games. You might buy them so you don't have to upgrade to latest, greatest version of a game.

It already happens on the PC and in Mobile. You cut effects, resolution, etc. to get them to play properly.

Here's an example on the iPad and iPad 2.

 

[Sydle]

Microsoft has a pretty even portfolio of casual and hardcore offerings, but you wouldn't know it by just their E3 presentation. They should have mixed in some XBLA and the cloud save info to make it a bit more of a even-handed presentation. As for the presentation of what content they selected to show I thought it was ace -- very high production values and great pacing.

On the technology side of things I can't help but be impressed by things like voice search and Bing integration. The upcoming content partners are also welcome seeing as how I use my 360 for watching movies/television shows as much as I play games.

I am concerned that Microsoft seems to have given up on any core franchises that aren't Fable, Halo, Gears, or Forza. I suppose we'll see more Alan Wake, but it's really not my thing. I bought my 360 for games like Banjo N&B, Viva Pinata, and Kameo...but I don't see anything remotely like them on the horizon. Right as the conference ended I thought to myself that I'll have to pick up a PS3 to get core games other than shooters, survival horrors, and racers.

 

[TheSeks]

Forza 4 was honestly the major highlight of the conference for me (along with Live TV if they price that with the Gold sub), car clubs coming back. FUCK YEAH.

 

[duk]

MS is thinking much broader than traditional console gaming. xbos is a platform built around services model, this is the future and everything they are doing is transforming 360 into this in the next gen.

 

[Sblargh]

MS is thinking much broader than traditional console gaming. xbos is a platform built around services model, this is the future and everything they are doing is transforming 360 into this in the next gen.

This is the present, actually, since the competition (the whole other two companies) also thinks of the hardware as "a plataform" etc etc. Also smart phones and tablets where you can have nice gaming experience without it even being the main focus.
The future wasn't on this conference.

 

[TANKFARM]

While I don't think the conference was great, it was hardly the worse conference ever.

It seems like a lot of people are overlooking the long term goals and not considering that there is a bigger picture. Yes they did show a ton of Kinect games, many of which nobody here cares to play, but they still had some solid games to show and added some great features to the system.

The addition of live TV, Youtube, overhauling the dash and the search are all features that are definitely important for their long term goals and broadening the Xbox brand. This whole, "I'm not a shareholder" attitude is absurd. The financial success or failure of Xbox, which undeniably hinges on mass adoption given the cost of game development, does matter to you. If Microsoft and Sony can't find ways to expand their market, they are going to get their lunch eaten by Nintendo or Apple and hardcore gaming on consoles will go the way of the PC. The Xbox brand has to be financially stable for Microsoft to continue with their efforts and its pretty obvious that Microsoft, Apple, and Google all are battling for your living room and entertainment. This encompasses more than just gaming. If Nintendo, Sony or Microsoft ignore this aspect they will lose. I don't see anyway they could continue to be competitive with a mindset of gaming only from here out.

As for the entire Kinect issue, that is something that I see as another long term goal. Clearly the technology is in its infancy and it lacks the ability that was originally promised and demonstrated. However, I don't see any reason why this technology like all others won't mature. Better optics technology, improved motion recognition libraries/algorithms, more natural voice recognition, faster processing and development will undoubtedly make future Kinect games better. Overtime you would expect developers to become more creative with the uses and learn how to integrate the device with controllers. You can see that now with Mass Effect, Forza and to a certain degree Ghost Recon. If Microsoft continues to broaden the use of the Kinect, including on PC, I can't imagine this not improving and enhancing the core games that everyone here has been complaining about. They seem pretty invested in this technology and I think this conference reflects that both in terms of gaining casual users and trying to push the motion concept.

Lastly, maybe a good reason they didn't show many new core games or new IPs is because they are further along with the next Xbox than they are leading onto. The conference really make me wonder if they have already shifted a lot of their resources towards their next system and we are starting to seem them abandon the 360 for core gaming development and relegating it to the casual market.

Anyway, not necessarily trying to defend the clear divergence from their core market. It just seems like there is more to this than people are thinking.