After the middling reception to Xbox’s recent showings since May, I would assume that the team knows that they need to come up big right before launch.
Since insiders keep saying that MS keeps pushing back news to be released, it would seem that they are going to do a bigger one-off “event”.
Should Xbox keep the slow and steady news drops until launch, or have one big news week and get everything else out there? What do you think they WILL do?
I’m thinking it will be both. Some piecemeal, and one more mini show where they announce the Series S, and the prices … I’m just thrilled that MS isn’t getting a lot of press right now, because it should make it decently simple to get the more expensive X in November. The Series S might be harder to obtain if it actually comes out this year, because a lot of people will go for the cheaper box.
Uhh, the console is out in two months. The only big announcements left are the Series S and the exact release date and price. They should probably do an event showing the improved backwards compatibility, the auto hdr, the Series S form factor, and price and release date. Unfortunately, I doubt they have any impressive game play to show off of new Series X games to show.
Tbh I’m over it at this point lmao. Its just tiring to sit through this whole ordeal, and their marketing as of late hasn’t been great either.
As a pc primary guy, the consoles themselves aren’t gonna be entering my home for at least a year, so I’m not as desperate for hardware news, I just wish we saw more gameplay from their first parties and ffs actually know what that big gamepass announcement is.
Their recent marketing is bad because it was all Halo focused, and basically they have to start from scratch in an absurdly short amount of time.
Microsoft should do one more big event/showcase at the end of the September. My guess is Thursday September 24th. But then in October, should have a weekly Inside Xbox episode that focuses on a single launch title - Gears Tactics, The Medium, etc. Basically an overview trailer like Sony did with TLOUP2 and Tsushima on State of Play.
I see a lot of Series X in the wild (via twitter) over the past couple of days. Maybe Microsoft sent them out to media and studios?
I’d prefer several medium sized blowouts myself. First establish a barrier of entry, then establish he Day 1 experience, then forecast into the future of the platform a bit:
A ‘Value Proposition’ event/video. Show off XSS, show that it works just as good at 1080p as XSX by showing off a brief Forza demo (60fps/4k/RT tech showcase) running side by side @1080p. Announce prices for both and release date. Announce EA Play on GP and announce the details on Xbox All Access. This should be immediately after Sony announces PS5 pricing. Announce prices for all regions here and start NA/PAL pre-orders immediately. Also include info on any promotions to trade in X1 or PS4 hardware towards XSX.
A ‘Day 1’ event/video: This should be a showcase to focus on Day 1. Show off the OS a bit more, show off BC in detail and talk up how machine learning can be used to make older games the best they can be. Show this for titles from every generation of Xbox. Then showcase their exclusive next gen launch lineup. Explain in detail how ppl can use All Access to get the box/GPU with no $$$ down, explain where that is available and how to get signed up for that going smoothly. Give official list of all BC titles from each generation ready for day 1. Go through every single launch game and show something for it, preferably gameplay of some sort. The console exclusives NEED to be running in retail XSX hardware for this kinda event. This should be done late September and they should do deeper dives on each console exclusive as well as marketing partnership games weekly leading into launch. Maybe commit to doing a 30 min deep dive and dev interview and direct gameplay from XSX for 2-3 games per week leading into launch. Show off Halo MP and do beta for XSX launch to be announced at this show.
XO 2020: The Future of Xbox: This should be done in mid October and show off game engine tech demos for The Initiative’s game + in-engine trailer, show game engine demo for Fable and gameplay demo for Forza in depth, NO CG TRAILERS!, brief gameplay segments for Fable, Hellblade, and Everwild. Get a POLISHED level from Halo to show off. Announce whatever Compulsion and Coalition are working on, perhaps with tech demo teaser.
Above all else, no more CG trailers of any kind. Show footage of gameplay being controlled by a player and not just supercuts of gameplay clips but rather the full, immersive experience when possible.
Big blowout event for sure.
Medium events like the May event or news dropped every 2 weeks don’t resonate enough.
I would prefer MS to have a big single September event with big news like:
If you’re asking what they should do, it’s have a huge news blow out and then just toss out smaller tidbits of more gameplay in the weeks following.
If they wanted to capture everyone’s attention, do an event like this:
I would prefer their September show to be a huge blowout. Show games running on the hardware. Reveal more about their 2021 plans beyond Halo. Reveal Lockhart, price, and pre-order date already.
Follow that up with a string of smaller updates showing off the dash and system features. Backwards compatibility should be given a highlight. Then I would shadow drop a string of videos of games expected within the launch window where the developers narrate how it was working on the systems and what they are excited about in the future. Put the focus on the games, system features, and developers. Stop turning everything into a glorified game Pass commercial.
As much as they’ve said they’re not competing, they’ve lost ground to Sony recently. The piecemeal method of announcements hasn’t been working for them.
I think they need to do one massive show in September. Show a whole bunch of games running on the series x.
Announce their launch line up. Gears tactics, the medium, 12 minutes, the ascent, Call of the sea, Yakuza, the falconeer and Tetris connected.
Announce a beta for halo infinite in December preferably with some good looking multiplayer gameplay.
Show Cyberpunk running on a series X at 60fps. Even without next gen upgrades it will impress.
Show Forza horizon 4, ori and gears 5 upgraded versions.
Announce whatever those gamepass deals they’ve got are.
Show a live demo of their multiple suspend mode and of switching between console gameplay and xcloud.
Announce the series S
Finish by announcing preorder dates and some competitive prices.
A show like this could answer a lot of the lingering questions people have about series X and get the momentum going again.
I figure it will be a mixture including one more large video event and a handful of smaller marketing and social media campaigns.
The larger video event will cover the Series S reveal, show off gameplay on the Series X, and confirm launch titles. I suspect there’ll be a few new announcements for games expected either in the launch window or within 2021. Also GamePass new additions, with a focus on a few big third party games. It will probably end with Series X price and launch date, which will finally signal the start of preorders. This will likely also be the start of All Access preorders as well.
The smaller stuff will be mainly blog, short videos, and social media blitzes. With the exception of people making a last minute decision, you have to assume that most consumers have already made a choice on whether they are going to buy a PS5 or an Xbox Series X/S this holiday, so the goal with any future marketing will be to show the value proposition of the Xbox ecosystem and with teases for the games being made by the ever growing Xbox Games Studios developer pool. I don’t think Microsoft is naive enough to believe they are the console of choice this holiday, so they’ll focus on a long game with a goal to really kick the heavy marketing things off in 2021 when they’ll have more first party Series X support ready to show.
Without tech in it. Just an empty shell. Just drop the price and date. Tell us what games are there. I don’t even know if the new COD will be a next gen version on November 13th or just back compact.
And we’re the hardcore fans. Now Imagine the random mom. But I guess next gen games don’t exist anyways. Just wait till 2021 to play R&C
Since when is launch window the first 6 months? Just drop the console and be honest. We won’t have games ready. But you can still play last gen games. That’s a simple marketing message.
Focus on Series X improving all those games anyways. And if some developes have a patch ready, just give a fucking list of those games. If in doubt wether they make it or not? Don’t include them.
It’s not rocket science. This is just the worst console reveal and launch ever. And Kinect and TV TV TV sucked hard
They need a glitzy event with some hype behind it. Games shown off. Actual launch native SX titles confirmed and shown off. Try and make it seem exciting. I think they’ve lost excitement.
I think Xbox showed more than enough for this holiday, it may still one main event “X020” for this year and that’s cool. But the important question: What about Asia? Less than a month from TGS, are we going to hear their voice from Japan finally?
What have they shown for this holiday that would be considered ‘more than enough’? We don’t even know day one what games will be playable natively on the series X.
Would it be insane for a new Forza Horizon game being annonced? maybe that’s one of their other games that haven’t been announced because FH games come out bi-yearly. That could easily showcase the XSX power IMO.
I think the biggest challenge Microsoft have got now after the last couple of misteps is to turn around the perception that Series X does have stuff other than Halo at launch and what the Series X really is capable of. I reckon one more larger sized Inside Xbox (with the production quality of the Xbox showcase) and then tidbits of news sprinkled out throughout the months.
The Halo delay is obviously a huge blow and while i know it’s easy to say in hindsight, you have to say the plan to launch with just one first party title was questionable - especially when all previous generations they’ve always had two or three first party developed or published games. Unless they’ve got some unnanounced launch games somewhere, they really need to lean into the price and services as a reason for people to get the console at launch. I don’t think they were ever going to win the generation in terms of sales but the worst thing they could do is cede momentum to Sony - they needed to be the ones to come out swinging at launch and onwards.
In terms of showing off what the system can do, unfortunately again Halo is carrying the flak for that after all the talk from Xbox about how it would show off what the console can do, etc people that saw the showing must be thinking (rightly or wrongly) “Wow that’s the best the console can do? It barely looks better than a One X game”. Sony have shown off R&C and judging by reactions it seems to be wowing people. So maybe Microsoft need to have an ingame trailer or slice from one of their upcoming games that is actually in game - no CGI stuff. Maybe a new look at a Hellblade 2 or the Initiative’s game (or what Compulsion Games have been working on).
Ironically if The Medium was a Xbox studios published title, then weirdly the perception Microsoft have nothing currently to show off what the console can do wouldn’t be as strong as that seems to be doiing a lot of cool stuff but not quite getting as much buzz.
It’s a shame they’ve started stumbling more closer to the launch as between Hellblade 2 and the May show, they were doing a good job of building genuine excitement for the console. It’s going to be really difficult to get that momentum back, especially with Sony starting their own marketing push.
