So, New Xbox Reveal In About 14 Hours.

[Arthur_Tuxedo]

Allowing the console to work without its bundled control accessory would defeat the purpose of including it in the box. Imagine if the Wii could function without the Wiimote. Devs would have had to design games not knowing whether the player was using a Wiimote or a standard gamepad. Wiimote functionality would have been reduced to a token gimmick, the sole selling point of the console would have been undermined, and almost no one would have bought one. The only way to replicate the Wii's success in introducing a new control interface is to make it an integral part of the console, whether or not there is a technical need for it to be.

If the Kinect is in the box with the Xbox One, but the rest of the console can work without it, why can't developers assume that everybody has one when they know that everyone with the Xbox did purchase a Kinect ?

It's a trade-off for sure. I suppose we'll have to wait and see which approach MS takes.

[Stark]

A lot comes down to why Microsoft is so bad at media communication.

[Jub]

That's just it, they haven't done anything that Sony hasn't with this new console. Sony just delayed announcing the negative bits and let MS bite that bullet first. I'm sure even that could have sucked less if they had anybody competent designing their presentation. What makes it odder is that pressers aren't something that they're not usually too bad at.

My guess is that they knew they wanted to focus on the TV/media aspects, but forgot that they need to appeal to the hardcore crowd first or risk negative buzz. This would have been a better thing to announce at E3 with the first reveal being all sizzle and next to no details. That way people could equate the new console with prerendered game demos and also think that it's cool that they can use it for other things.

The name is also pretty terrible as well which I can't see helping.

[Stark]

As much as I've heard it, I don't see how it doesn't appeal to 'hardcore gamers' since its either similar to or better than the PS4 announcement and even has actual titles/exclusives etc. They just have no message control at all; if they ignore this stuff for weeks or months like they did with all the fabrication ign etc were pumping that's pretty dumb. I'm not sure if they don't have details or if their media guys are just really out of the loop or not comminicating, but its bad for their product.

[Grandmaster Jogurt]

The name is also pretty terrible as well which I can't see helping.

"XBox One" isn't any more mockable than "Playstation 2" or especially "Wii", but that didn't do a thing to keep the former from dominating the market or the latter from raking in profits.

A lot of console systems have silly names; the only reason this one would be notable is if someone wanted to make up another reason to mock the system to join in the narrative.

[Jub]

The name is also pretty terrible as well which I can't see helping.

"XBox One" isn't any more mockable than "Playstation 2" or especially "Wii", but that didn't do a thing to keep the former from dominating the market or the latter from raking in profits.

A lot of console systems have silly names; the only reason this one would be notable is if someone wanted to make up another reason to mock the system to join in the narrative.

Now you have the X-Box One versus the Playstation 4, which is a situation the aimed to avoid by not going with the X-Box 2 last cycle. Plus, it could create confusion for the dumbest of he idiot masses that confuse X-Box One with the X-Box. It's not the worst name, but there are other words that convey the same thing and avoid that issue.

[Stark]

It wouldn't matter if they had media cut and paste sites like ign and kotaku playing their song, but they don't because their marketing sucks. Throwing out random, confusing and possibly negative and unclear statements and leaving them for weeks = fire your media team.

[bilateralrope]

The name is also pretty terrible as well which I can't see helping.

"XBox One" isn't any more mockable than "Playstation 2" or especially "Wii", but that didn't do a thing to keep the former from dominating the market or the latter from raking in profits.

A lot of console systems have silly names; the only reason this one would be notable is if someone wanted to make up another reason to mock the system to join in the narrative.

How much mocking has Sony received for their naming scheme of Playstation {version number} ?
Jokes about the Wii quickly burned out because the jokes were so obvious, while the 360 constantly had people coming up with the same joke and thinking they were original over years. But I don't remember seeing anyone mock the Playstation version number, just the 'Playstation' part.

But it's not the mocking potential that's the problem. It's that everybody was already calling the fist Xbox the Xbox 1 to differentiate it from the 360. How are games going to differentiate the Xbox 1 from the Xbox One ?
My guess is that the Xbox One is going to be stuck with a nickname that everybody uses. Xbone seems to be the front runner. But that only works for people in the know. What's going to happen when a parent who isn't in the know gets confused and buys an Xbox 1 thinking they are getting a good deal on something that their child wants ?

Or what about a parent who thinks that the Xbox 360 must be the better version because it has the higher number ?

What about misleading Ebay auctions ?

Why did MS call the 360 the Xbox 360 instead of the Xbox 2 ?
The reason I keep seeing is that they thought consumers were too stupid to understand that the Xbox 2 was from the same console generation as the Playstation 3. But if Xbox 2 vs Playstation 3 was a problem, why doesn't MS think that Xbox One vs Playstation 4 is a bigger problem ?

[Jub]

It wouldn't matter if they had media cut and paste sites like ign and kotaku playing their song, but they don't because their marketing sucks. Throwing out random, confusing and possibly negative and unclear statements and leaving them for weeks = fire your media team.

That's just it, taken alone none of this would be an issue, but when you don't put a spin on things and let the worst of your critics make your image for you any small thing can sink you. Knowing your marketing team is that bad, you would think they would try to make their releases iron clad while assembling a new marketing team.

[Stark]

Especially for something so obviously negative (ie, we will be charging you for a new thing you were not previously charged for) their strategy of having four guys say three different things and then apparently just rely on consumers to identify unsourced or unverified negative claims is stupid.

To be honest, I think that this might have been better annonuced three months AFTER the One launched, given how poorly they're managing it and the importance of day one adoption for their userbase.

[Kuja]

"XBox One" isn't any more mockable than "Playstation 2" or especially "Wii", but that didn't do a thing to keep the former from dominating the market or the latter from raking in profits.

A lot of console systems have silly names; the only reason this one would be notable is if someone wanted to make up another reason to mock the system to join in the narrative.

Are you kidding? It's far more mockable. In the past couple weeks I've seen all of the following around the net-



"lel hey guys check it out i got a special preorder release xbox one"





There's also 'xbox wan' floating around since 'wan' is the Japanese sound for a dog barking, but I couldn't find one of those pics.

The most you could do with the PS2 was make some weak #2 jokes, but nobody mocked the PS2 for its name; they mocked it for being a giant black monolith that had no games for the first aeon of its existence.

Now you have the X-Box One versus the Playstation 4, which is a situation the aimed to avoid by not going with the X-Box 2 last cycle. Plus, it could create confusion for the dumbest of he idiot masses that confuse X-Box One with the X-Box. It's not the worst name, but there are other words that convey the same thing and avoid that issue.

After their reasoning that they went with the name Xbox One because they wanted it to be the one choice for electronic media, I saw somebody suggest that they should have gone with 'Xbox Prime' which would have been infinitely better: then I'd be stuck making Transformers jokes and everybody loves Optimus Prime anyway.

[Kuja]

However, in other related xboxian news:

http://www.cinemablend.com/games/Xbox-O ... 56040.html

Xbox One Used Game Activation Fee Is $52?

New information has emerged as gaming media, for the first time, is working overtime to get a clarification on the used game fees and always-on DRM for the Xbox One. The new information rolls out an explanation of how much you have to pay and who gets paid what every time a game is traded in.

Microsoft is still mum, but GameSpot did some actual investigating, talking with retailers and cross-confirming information from sites who have also been in talks with retailers and publishers to clarify the used game fee for the Xbox One.

The whole thing is kind of lengthy and confusing and roundabout, but I'll try to simplify it as much as possible: Retailers can sell used games for whatever price point they want, just the same as they do now. However, each physical copy sold has a royalty fee that goes toward the publisher and console manufacture, and the retailer gets to keep 10 percent of the final sale. This means that if Gamestop sold a used copy of a game for $60, they would only make $6 on the sale, which would mean they would probably have to sell games for about 200% of the market value if they wanted to see decent returns on used game sales. Keep in mind that 46% of Gamestop's revenue comes from used games, which could mean that the brick and mortar gaming powerhouse could be out of half their intake with this method of trading that Microsoft is employing.

Now, one retailer informed GameSpot that the license activision fee for used games would be about 52$ or £35. I don't know how true this is but that would mean that Microsoft is getting a massive cut from every used game trade, and depending on how much you get back from the trade, that's almost 90% of the game's standard market value per each activation. This would easily explain why EA was so quick to kill off the Online Pass program.

And no, you would not be able to trade games with friends just for the heck of it. It's also been clarified that if you decided to let someone borrow a game and use your account, when it's time to go back and play your own Xbox One console the mandatory 24-hour check-in will determine if all your licenses for games are active on the console where they should be. Meaning that if someone was borrowing your game and playing via your account, once you boot up your own Xbox One, the check-in will disable your account on your friend's machine.

According to Microsoft, their revised official stance on the matter is as follows...

[we want] "to enable our customers to trade in and resell games at retail."

"We know there is some confusion around used games on Xbox One and wanted to provide a bit of clarification on exactly what we've confirmed today,".... "While there have been many potential scenarios discussed, today we have only confirmed that we designed Xbox One to enable our customers to trade in and resell games at retail."

"Beyond that, we have not confirmed any specific scenarios."

Shortly after that comment is when Microsoft made it known that the policy is up for change and hasn't been finalized given that the system is still a few months away from launch.

Well, things really aren't getting prettier for the Xbox One as more information comes out for it. Huge props to gaming media for at least pursuing information on Microsoft's agenda and letting everyone know how anti-consumer many of these measures are.

Quite naturally, this caused a ton of gamers to fume like they've never fumed before, while being led by Angry Joe's rant on the issue. Also lots of supporters have been coming out of the woodwork to let Microsoft know they don't appreciate their rights being trampled on. Also, be sure to inform your friends about what the Xbox One is really about.

I cannot imagine this is going over well with GameStop. It makes me want to toss axes at the pair of them.

[Kuja]

The most you could do with the PS2 was make some weak #2 jokes, but nobody mocked the PS2 for its name; they mocked it for being a giant black monolith that had no games for the first aeon of its existence.

Disregard the bolded. I was thinking of the PS3's launch, not the PS2. The PS2 actually got off pretty mock-free, I think.

[bilateralrope]

The whole thing is kind of lengthy and confusing and roundabout, but I'll try to simplify it as much as possible: Retailers can sell used games for whatever price point they want, just the same as they do now. However, each physical copy sold has a royalty fee that goes toward the publisher and console manufacture, and the retailer gets to keep 10 percent of the final sale. This means that if Gamestop sold a used copy of a game for $60, they would only make $6 on the sale,

Seems that this reporter thinks that Gamestop is getting used copies for free

Throw in the statement from MS saying that they want used sales to keep happening, and I really think that this retailers only keep 10% thing is BS.

[InsaneTD]

If gamestop was only getting $6, they'd only be offering $1 for used games. No one would sell to them.

[Phillip Hone]

Now, one retailer informed GameSpot that the license activision fee for used games would be about 52$ or £35. I don't know how true this is but that would mean that Microsoft is getting a massive cut from every used game trade, and depending on how much you get back from the trade, that's almost 90% of the game's standard market value per each activation

Well, things really aren't getting prettier for the Xbox One as more information comes out for it

Also, be sure to inform your friends about what the Xbox One is really about.

(emphasis mine).

This sounds like mostly baseless speculation from someone with an axe to grind

I'll worry about this fee when there's some actual information out on what it will be.

[Sharp-kun]

Now you have the X-Box One versus the Playstation 4, which is a situation the aimed to avoid by not going with the X-Box 2 last cycle. Plus, it could create confusion for the dumbest of he idiot masses that confuse X-Box One with the X-Box. It's not the worst name, but there are other words that convey the same thing and avoid that issue.

Its not even the idiot masses. Its the people that genuinly don't follow the tech/gaming news and won't even know there's a new console coming out until it actually does and its pointed out to them.

When the Wii came out non off the old office ladies here knew about it, until someone pointed out Wii-Sports to them and they thought "that looks cool" and bought it. The same people here don't know the Wii-U is a new console (if they knew it existed). Those that did thought it was some incremental upgrade to the Wii because the name is so similar. Nintendo failed at making a spash with them - arguably the audience that helped the original Wii sell so well. I wouldn't be surprised if part of that was down to the name - Wii-U doesn't sound like a jump over Wii.

With Playstation 2-3-4 you see a clear improvement in the name.
WIth XBox - XBox 360 you saw a bigger number.

The same kind of people will likely get confused by the X-Box One. They don't follow the news / press releases and so won't know that X-Box One is different from the first X-Box.

[Stark]

Are you seriously saying you think people will mistake a new product being sold in a huge launch with one that hasn't been available outside boutique collectors stores and garage sales for years? Blaming the failure of the Wii-U on the name is a pretty bold claim - is it based on anything?

You could argue that since people are just calling it 'the new Xbox' the money they spent on marketing was wasted and they should have just done an Apple. :v

[Havok]

Hahahahaha My gawd the irony of you guys calling consumers idiots.

There will be maybe four or five grandmas that will be confused for about three seconds until the salespeople tell them "this is the newest Xbox ma'am".

You honestly think people are going to be walking out of stores with the original Xbox? I mean that was a real thought in your heads? You guys are exquisitely fucking grade A stupid.

[Stark]

Maybe they'll look for stores with used Xboxes in a clearance bin and somehow thing they're the same, Hav. A BARGAIN?!

[Havok]

Fucking A a bargain! Gears of War here I come!

As to the name... does anyone even call the Xbox 360 Xbox 360 anymore or do they just call it Xbox? Same question for the PlayStation 3? I'm betting people just say "xbox" or "playstation".

In fact when I went and bought DD: Dark Arisen yesterday, when I asked the guy at Gamestop if they had it he said "For Xbox?".
I guess I should have slapped him and said "No you fucking idiot for the Xbox 360!"

You guys fucking crack me up.

[fordlltwm]

Havok, I work in a second hand shop, and most people who come in asking about games say "Have you got any 360 games?" and "Any PS3 games in?" rather than use Xbox or Playstation.

[Lord Relvenous]

Havok, I work in a second hand shop, and most people who come in asking about games say "Have you got any 360 games?" and "Any PS3 games in?" rather than use Xbox or Playstation.

Yeah, the common shorthand for the Xbox 360 that I always hear is "360", not Xbox in general.

[Havok]

I guess I'll pay more attention to the people I know that actually play games to see what they say. The UK to Idaho is a pretty good stretch.

[born in shadow]

Blaming the failure of the Wii-U on the name is a pretty bold claim - is it based on anything?

It's only anecdotal, but while I was working at Gamestop, we had quite a few people pass on picking it up. A lot of customers thought it was just the large gamepad as an addition to the Wii, rather than a stand alone system. How widely spread this belief was, I don't know, but a rather large amount of our customers weren't overly enthused.