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How critical and consumer feedback made Xbox One a contender again
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A recent article from Edge takes a look at the Xbox One's journey from reveal to launch and the steps that needed to be taken to put the console into the position it's in today.
Some highlights:
It's an interesting read and pretty amazing how Microsoft have managed to turn things around from E3, not least when taking into consideration Edge's previous scathing articles. While some people's perceptions of Microsoft and the machine itself undoubtedly won't change, those that were in two minds about it including a good number of previous Xbox fans who were put off by the initial policies have no doubt been swayed. Now Microsoft need to keep pushing forward and proving themselves through the generation, not just at launch.
Will be interesting to read other people's opinions on this.
Some highlights:
Edge wrote:
Yet Sony came dangerously close to a perfect PR campaign while Microsoft was busy making mistakes. Those areas where it had the edge, however, have been eroded by Microsoft’s policy shifts. Today, PlayStation 4’s most visible advantages lie in price and power, and on the latter point, many observers claim that the difference isn’t as pronounced as was once suggested – at least when viewed in balance.
“[PS4’s] DDR5 is basically 50 per cent more powerful than DDR3,” says Gaijin Entertainment CEO Anton Yudintsev. “But the memory write is bigger on Xbox One. So it depends on what you’re doing. PS4 is more powerful, but you can’t just write to the memory, you need to read sometimes.”
Xbox One now has more CPU power than PS4, while PS4 retains the advantage in GPU speed. “They maybe have a little more GPU,” says Lobb. “We have eSRAM [embedded memory] and crazy bandwidth to that eSRAM. Which is going to be better in the long run from a developer [perspective]? We’re going to see as the games go head to head. A lot of it will come down to – as always – which exclusive teams push a piece of hardware best.”
Here, right now, Microsoft has an edge. The £80 price disparity between the two consoles will be a decision maker for many, but for others, Microsoft’s exclusives are more convincing than anything Sony has shown on PS4 to date. Killzone is no Halo; DriveClub, now delayed, never looked like measuring up to Forza; and Dead Rising 3 now looks like a smarter bet for open-world mayhem than Second Son.
Even a second-tier title like Ryse makes a stronger case for its host hardware’s graphical capabilities, at least, than anything set for PS4’s launch day, while no next-generation multiplayer game can match Respawn’s work on Titanfall – an exclusive secured with Microsoft’s financial backing, and a game utterly reliant on the company’s cloud to synchronise its AI and provide dedicated servers as and when needed. Microsoft’s own studios and its willingness to open its chequebook has ensured that Xbox One has 12 months’ worth of exclusives that stand against the best ever seen in a launch year.
It's an interesting read and pretty amazing how Microsoft have managed to turn things around from E3, not least when taking into consideration Edge's previous scathing articles. While some people's perceptions of Microsoft and the machine itself undoubtedly won't change, those that were in two minds about it including a good number of previous Xbox fans who were put off by the initial policies have no doubt been swayed. Now Microsoft need to keep pushing forward and proving themselves through the generation, not just at launch.
Will be interesting to read other people's opinions on this.
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That's a very good thing as far as I'm concerned, the last thing I want to see is one company dominating the console market, at least with a strong competitor, Sony will strive to keep ahead of the game and that's good for everyone, good for Sony, MS and US the gamers.
The U turns were much needed, and things since have shown that underneath all the BS they have a decent machine there, with a botched launch and bad publicity surrounding it.
However, I wouldnt be confident owning one, knowing full well they want to implement these policies at some stage, theres no saying they wont bring them in during the lifecycle of the XboxOne.
Echo the sentiments above though, the last thing we want is the collapse from "competition" of one of the strong competitors... you only have to look how FIFA has stagnated without the challenge from Pro Evolution Soccer to know competition is a healthy, good thing
They should have done it differently. Increase the check-in time if you want to take all the advantages of DRM. If you didn't want all the extra advantages and didn't want the need for the console to check-in, then just make sure the disc is in the console. So simple but MS just decided against it.
Anyway, I'm off topic. Yeah MS messed up but they have come along way since then for the better. I think this will end up like the PS3. Messed up launch, overpriced etc but then over the first couple of years things improve.
How lucky they are that we now how a catalogue of moaners at keyboards.
But how would the DRM work??? :eek:
It appears they're trying to use over sensationalized story lines to get hits, and its working.
God forbid they change their minds, or perhaps they did some more research into how the X1 U-turns have effect potential sales etc
Hell just a few months ago i was saying i hated the things MS where going and i wouldn't buy an X1, now after the changes i'd consider one in the future, i guess my opinion is now as bad as Edge's to you
But what people need to remember is that Microsoft is have a lot of problems right now, and in the past they could use the Windows OS and Office suites to bolster most of the income, markets change, and Microsoft has failed to capture on a few key areas (the fact they had an ereader long before the competition, but held back for stupid middle management reasons and lost the advantage). The way things are looking, the Xbone might be the only thing profitable long term.
But still, the next 5-10 years will be very interesting with Microsoft. Not only do they have more people using smart phones (andriod and apple owning the market), windows phones are not doing great. Now you have Steam making moves to linux (PC gaming used to be safe for microsoft, thanks to direct x being a huge control), now you also have AMD Mantle looking to usurp them, PS4 making lots of right moves. I imagine they feel that they were once kings of the electronics market and are now losing ground.
I have no problem with people changing their opinions, its the manner on which they publicised them which I don't agree with.
Claiming the ps4 was the 'only choice' back then and now that dead rising 3 is a better choice now is not the best way to get your point across.
Yeah.. I actually never said that. Good one though.
What they're saying now though isn't really negative or damaging as compared to what was being said by them a few months back. OK much of what is said there is subjective but they're not hating on PS4, just looking at things in a much more realistic way and understanding the X1 is in a stronger position now, not first place by any means but at least it's not in the gutter.
Nothing has changed since that issue in regards to policies so how can their viewpoint change.
Different writers would have different opinions but they'd all go through the same main editor with the same agenda you'd think...
You near enough did though, even had a little tantrum blaming gamers for holding back Microsoft's great ideas.
Common sense???? If you thought peopled kicked off big time before the console even released, imagine what would happen if they did it 2 years in???
Those people with no internet?? They could file a frigging lawsuit because something they bought no longer works the way it was advertised, trade description act.
They're not going to uturn again.
I've got an idea ok? Shall we try just for once to keep this thread about the actual topic rather than me?
But it's alright, cause he uses smilies so he can say he was only playing around!
MS deserve to get blasted for their arrogant attitude to their customers who raised valid concerns about the online check in. Some of their comments were disgraceful.
But I have never understood criticising people for doing a U-Turn. You spend days or weeks criticising a policy only for the company/person to listen and change their mind so you criticise their decision to change the policy you wanted them to change
(the X1 & microsofts almost limitless financial power is an unbeatable combination :cool: ... still hate kinect tho & itll never be plugged into my X1. :rolleyes:)
If you have it why not use it? Even if its just using the voice commands.
I will probably stick with playstation for next gen as I have been pleased with my purchase of the first 3 playstations (but i will eventually get both), where as my Xbox 360 sits virtually unused except for TV catchup services as they work better on the 360 than the PS3 IMO.
I can't see me getting either until after E3 next year as there are no launch games on either platform that interest me.
i never used the original when it was bundled with my 250gb slim ... i think it looks absolutely hideous tbh! ... id rather theyd brought out a kinectless X1 for £350! ... the only peripherals im interested in are the chatpad (4 txting) & official remote control! (4 movie viewing) ... the kinect probably wouldn't understand my northern accent anyway so voice commands would take 10x longer then just pressing a button lol
Yeah I agree , sold my previous Kinect when it came as a bundle. If I had the option of an X1 without it for less I’d choose that one. But think MS are going for this all in one entertainment system and the Kinect is part of this.
As I said I’ll just use mine for voice commands and the Mrs is looking forward to Skype. I just have this sneaky feeling people are going to like it a bit more than what they expect.