The only odd thing is the manager thing, that could lead to some complicated office bullshit.
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Further Xbox 720 media leaks unlikely; Microsoft operates like a damn mafia
- Thread starter shinobi602
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The only odd thing is the manager thing, that could lead to some complicated office bullshit.
Exactly what I thought.
The NDAs don't seem strange at all. The fact that higher ups don't know anything about what their people are working on is what seems strange.
Neuromancer
Member
Holy shit
They can't prevent leaks completely but they can limit the amount of people who have access to certain kinds of information. As long as there's no third party involved (companies that assemble stuff, third party game developers) Microsoft at least has a chance to control the information a bit.
I'd also say that there's a psychological factor involved as well. People who leak things should know that the information they have, and could leak, will lead to them and no one else so they'll be more careful.
Tarin02543
Member
What if your line manager doesn't believe you and fires you without retort? Will they still call the number afterwards?
Whoa, what's wrong with the Surface? It is a nice bit of kit.
LyleLanley
Banned
I would hope that a manager at Microsoft would be smarter than that.
The Albatross
Member
They should be tight lipped, and many consumer electronic companies go through every measure to avoid leaks. Leaks are good for hype, but bad for sales of current hardware. If a substantial, credible leak got out last year that, say, MS would be releasing the new X-Box in May of 2013, then Christmas sales of existing hardware and games would drastically decline. Illegitimate leaks or difficult to confirm leaks get little play, but if there were major leaks about new hardware, then mainstream outlets would pick it up and more people would be hesitant to buy current gen hardware (or expect deeper discounts). Retailers would try to clear their shelves for the new hardware and be less eager to make a big inventory purchase.
Also, the hardware specifications are also under an NDA for Microsoft from their other hardware manufacturers. If NVidia is working on a new chip for Microsoft, they don't want the public, investors, and other competitors to know about it until the release is imminent and scheduled. If a leak gets out that somebody is working on a new graphics chip, it will encourage Nvidia's competitors to do something similar, encourage consumers not to buy the current in store models.
Finally, there are purchasing reasons. If leaks come out that Microsoft is developing their hardware that has certain specifications, let's say hypothetically, SSD's, and that every new X-Box is going to come with a 512GB SSD, manufacturers of SSD's or manufacturers of the parts that go into SSD's will expect increased demand and can raise the price of their hardware or materials. This is similar to what Walt Disney did in the 1960s when he started buying up land in central Florida, under fake corporation names and fake buyer names, buying small plots of land. Had "Walt Disney" been on the purchase and sale, land owners would have inflated the price of their land or refused to sell. It's not 1:1, but the philosophy of the secrecy is motivated by the same thing.
Leaks are great for hype, but usually terrible for business. Plus, with a major release like this, Microsoft will be able to drum up enough hype through official marketing releases... So links that can be substantiated really only hurt them. They have good reason to avoid them.
Microsoft isn't like McDonalds, you don't get fired abruptly with no reason, no paper work, and no explanation. Most managers probably have some idea of the process for developing secret projects... Most of the managers have probably been at the company long enough to expect this and may have been involved in secret projects themselves before becoming managers.
Reason for saying this? I have several friends that work for MS and or used to work for Microsoft -- not in any gaming division or anything relevant to videogames -- and they all like working for MS or liked working there. Just about every division of Microsoft scores very well on GlassDoor, as well.
Also, the hardware specifications are also under an NDA for Microsoft from their other hardware manufacturers. If NVidia is working on a new chip for Microsoft, they don't want the public, investors, and other competitors to know about it until the release is imminent and scheduled. If a leak gets out that somebody is working on a new graphics chip, it will encourage Nvidia's competitors to do something similar, encourage consumers not to buy the current in store models.
Finally, there are purchasing reasons. If leaks come out that Microsoft is developing their hardware that has certain specifications, let's say hypothetically, SSD's, and that every new X-Box is going to come with a 512GB SSD, manufacturers of SSD's or manufacturers of the parts that go into SSD's will expect increased demand and can raise the price of their hardware or materials. This is similar to what Walt Disney did in the 1960s when he started buying up land in central Florida, under fake corporation names and fake buyer names, buying small plots of land. Had "Walt Disney" been on the purchase and sale, land owners would have inflated the price of their land or refused to sell. It's not 1:1, but the philosophy of the secrecy is motivated by the same thing.
Leaks are great for hype, but usually terrible for business. Plus, with a major release like this, Microsoft will be able to drum up enough hype through official marketing releases... So links that can be substantiated really only hurt them. They have good reason to avoid them.
Microsoft isn't like McDonalds, you don't get fired abruptly with no reason, no paper work, and no explanation. Most managers probably have some idea of the process for developing secret projects... Most of the managers have probably been at the company long enough to expect this and may have been involved in secret projects themselves before becoming managers.
Reason for saying this? I have several friends that work for MS and or used to work for Microsoft -- not in any gaming division or anything relevant to videogames -- and they all like working for MS or liked working there. Just about every division of Microsoft scores very well on GlassDoor, as well.
No they're not. See most of Sony's recent E3 shows where we know everything that's going to be there beforehand. Plus you definitely don't want the competition getting an idea of what's going on and adjust their own plans accordingly.
Pagusas
Elden Member
Real companies do not work like this, it isnt fast food or some chump job. Its very hard to fire people and requires going through HR, and you cant just do it. There is a lot of paper work and time required.
dorkimoe
Member
Yeah could you imagine the horror of getting to work on a next gen gaming console that millions of other people would love to get to see and you get paid to work on it everyday. THE HUMANITY!
Nothing proves this is the case, and no way X720 will have 8gb of RAM.
I bet both will have 4gb.
iamshadowlark
Banned
Just finished reading the whole thing and holy hell. Half of my job is TS and I don't put up with alot of that shit.
metalslimer
Member
Not really unbelievable.
ShockingAlberto dropped the rumored high amounts of Durango RAM in January 2012.
It could very well be 8GB... We just don't know which type.
shinobi602
Member
Why not?
Kill Your Masters
Member
I'd like to have this kind of job where I could tell my boss something in the lines of 'call this number man, they'll explain, now let me work'
-Amon-
Member
maybe microsoft thinks that this is not the case, who knows.
-Amon-
Member
Why not. If it's cheap ( read slow as a floppy disk ) it could have 16.
badcrumble
Member
Oh, Microsoft's silo mentality.
Can Crusher
Banned
Some people don't wish good things for others.
Monty Mole
Member
Doesn't really work like that though.
A girl I work with had been seeing a guy who was/is a senior designer at a UK developer. He told her pretty much everything he'd been working on, because it's his girlfriend, and he was trying to impress her. He probably didn't think she would interested enough in videogames to pass the info on. The problem is, she told me quite a bit of info, and I managed to extract more out of her every time I spoke to her! Suffice to say, I knew quite a bit about a certain (announced but unreleased) Wii U game and the console itself, long before it was officially announced. It would have been easy for me to spill the info on here out in to the public domain, but I have a little more integrity, even without a NDA. And besides, the game in question really isn't of much interest to the usual GAF crowd.
shinobi602
Member
It's not like a product or details of the product was leaked.
MS is mad because we know of the magic sauce now.
Project Titan is simply behind a locked door, keycard access. One team goes in and works on their part of the game at a time, then leaves a few months later. NDAs of course, but just a keycard.
Baconsammy
Banned
LOL. It's a billion+ dollar business. Sounds like you need some perspective.
Exactly.
Elginer
Member
Yep and I hope that magic sauce comes with some Alan Wake.
Tylahedras
Banned
So you're saying if I want to sleep under my desk at work all I need to do is join a secret project? SWEET.
Monty Mole
Member
It has 8GB of RAM. And there was concern among certain elements at Sony about it.
edited to add: I don't think specs are going to tell people what they want to know. Just like specs last generation didn't tell people what they wanted to know.
Agreed. I miss the megatons, if this helps, as a fan I'm cool with it.
Kind of telling how many GAFers haven't had a real job yet by some of these responses in here.
I don't see anything wrong with how MS is operating here. I'd do the same thing if I were them.
It takes a special kind of cynicism to assume that secrecy means your job is horrible 
It's basically the exact opposite of a horrible "mafia" job. Cool to be working on things that the world literally knows nothing about. Secrecy is valuable, and if you can't keep things to yourself and risk undermining the plan, you shouldn't have access to those trade secrets.
Pretty much every large company has secret projects operating in exactly this way.
It's basically the exact opposite of a horrible "mafia" job. Cool to be working on things that the world literally knows nothing about. Secrecy is valuable, and if you can't keep things to yourself and risk undermining the plan, you shouldn't have access to those trade secrets.
Pretty much every large company has secret projects operating in exactly this way.
