Chavo Chastises: The Xbox Reputation

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In the Year 2013, Microsoft announced a successor to the largely successful gaming system, Xbox 360. Their announcement consisted of a funnily named console, a focus on non-gaming related material, and some policy’s that rocked the sweaty, meaty heads of gamers across the world.

That conference has since become the infamy of the now nearly 2 year old console, the Xbox One. A console that faces the ridicule of being egregiously overshadowed by its competitor, the Playstation 4, and mocked by anyone else that has never had a hands on experience with it.

Today, I wanted to take a look at this reputation Xbox has garnered for itself. A simple look into the overall drama that Xbox seemed to generate for itself years ago, and apply it to the reasoning people seem to hold against it today.

Today, I want to talk about the mindset that we, as gamers, seem to keep and hold against companies for their mistakes, and our ability to let things overshadow our way of thinking, and our overall mindset towards Microsoft’s gaming platform.

So first, let's get started with where it all began.

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In 2013, Microsoft unveiled the Xbox One, the, “All in One home media entertainment system.” The Xbox One was designed to make everything easily accessible in all forms of media, from Gaming, to music, to movies, and television.

However, we also received a lot of information that made our hair stand up on the back of our necks, caused our bowels to boil, and made our sweaty hands clench together as if to strangle Don Mattrick by the neck.

We were told we would have to check in to the internet once every 24 hours to ensure DRM policies. Ouch. We were told the Kinect, (or spybox as so many endearing internet users would have you believe,) would be bundled with every system, and we would never have a console without one. We were told used games would no longer function on our consoles. We had media and other forms of entertainment shoved in our faces as if we were supposed to be more excited over these aspects, than the gaming itself!

And of course, we all can agree. The thing looks like a VCR. Haha, how funny, that’s great, because all our other consoles looked like fine and dandy futuristic pieces of technological future boxes, but I digress.

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These announcements didn’t sit well with gamers across the nation, and for good, justified reason too. Microsoft had their head in the wrong place, and attempted to change the industry in so many ways, people were shocked. They were appalled, they were frightened and refused to acknowledge the ways of gaming would ever be forced to transition to methods like these.

And you would think Microsoft would maybe learn from this initial unveiling, and attempt to do some damage control right? Well…

At E3 2013, the hole only dug itself into a meteor sized crater. Policies weren’t changing, media was focused on even more than gaming, and the price point was scary. $500 was the entry level for the Xbox One, versus the $400 price point of the Playstation 4. Not to mention, Sony managed to get in some good punches with the snarky, (yet ultimately hilarious,) videos of lending games to your friends, taking shots at the used games policies.

What we were left with after E3, was worldwide ridicule over the Xbox One’s horrific marketing, shoddy policies, and overall negative treatment to the dedicated gamers that had interest in it. Gifs sprouted everywhere of Mattrick screaming TV in people’s faces, or of Sony and Nintendo beating the console into the dirt. The Xbox One had officially become, the joke of the internet.

You really can’t blame people for it either. The policies sucked, there was little, to no defense for them, and people realized that. The thing people didn’t seem to realize however, is Xbox inevitably realized it too.
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After plenty of hazing, plenty of ridicule, Xbox announced that it was reversing most of its’ initial policies. The internet check in was abolished, the used game lockout system was dropped, and the company attempted severe damage control… a little while after the fact.

Was it enough to sway people? Well, the system did manage to sell 1 million units in the first 24 hours of release, much like its competition, the Playstation 4. The going was slow, the uptake was shaky, but people still bought the system.

Now we reach 2014. The system was doing okay… while simultaneously being obliterated by its competition. People still continued to mock the Xbox for all its mistakes, its price point, and the continued forced nature of the Kinect and focus on media. And it didn’t seem like Microsoft was going to budge on these propositions either. People continued to bash the system, and the joke legacy seemed like it would never fade.

At E3 2014, things started to change a little more. While the Call of Duty’s and Halo’s were still present, there was a 900% increase in focus on games. TV went unmentioned, there were no scary, ominous remarks on future policies, and they finally announced a kinectless system for the world.

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The reaction? Lackluster at best. While people didn’t have as much to joke about, they instead used the show as fodder to talk about how this is as it should have been in the first place. And once again… they have a point. And yet, there’s something people tend to neglect to pay attention to.

It’s the fact that Microsoft responded to feedback. They changed their heavy handed policies, in response to the passionate, dedicated ravings of the internet. No company has to do that. No company is forced to listen to the ravings of an angry keyboard pounder at any point in time. And you can argue that they did it to save their skin, and continue to make money, and obviously that point is going to be true. But it doesn’t change the fact that they responded, and have now opened themselves up to all forms of feedback in a much more accepting manner.

Let’s take a look at what happened after the initial reveal again, but on the company’s side some more. Microsoft created the Xbox Preview program to allow users to try out certain updates and give expansive feedback in order to garner user experience, and further tweak the system and service to better serve the users.

Xbox continued to listen and adjust to feedback in policy, user experience, and in their overall business outlook. Soon the Xbox One would see a price cut, multiple user centered updates, and a larger focus on games over the initial media claims.

While most of it when generally unnoticed by the average internet user, the Xbox continued to attempt to improve and re-establish ground as a competent gaming platform.

Fast forward to present day, and that remains true. Microsoft has promised more user enhanced experience through a new dashboard, connectivity between the Xbox live and Windows 10 platform, backwards compatibility, new IP, new games, user generated mods on consoles, introduction of Hololens, and a better Xbox experience.

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In less than a year and half, Microsoft has continued to listen and improve what was initially, a relatively poor concept for a gaming platform. The internet doesn’t forget, but the internet should also learn to open up to change and dedication. Microsoft did not have to conform to fan feedback, and could have stuck to their guns, angering and alienating gamers everywhere. Instead, they chose to step back, improve, and listen to what people want.

The platform may not have what you want to play, and there isn’t anything wrong with that. You have the choice to play on something that has the games you want to play. And you have the right to judge any book by its cover. But you can at least pay attention to the edits the author makes, and acknowledge where they attempt to improve. You may not like it based on fan favoritism, and that’s nothing to sneeze at either.

Obviously, people may dislike the console for a variety of other reasons. An excess of shooters, a bro-gaming stereotyped community, and a focus on sports games. It seems to almost alienate the fans of JRPG's, and other genre's in general. It isn't the platform for everyone, yet also takes flak for appealing to a target demographic.

Xbox’s reputation has been rocky ever since that infamous reveal of 2013. Is it right for people to continue to judge it based on mistakes it has remedied, and continues to try to remedy, today? And is it right to judge the entire platform based on the fact that it creates content for people that enjoy, said content?

Once again fellow gamers. That choice, is up to you.
 

Rob Blou

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most xbone games are less expensive than ps4 games .. specially used ones on craigslist and other similar sites. the console will have a couple of good exclusive and retro compatibility (not for all 360 games but still). You can find a Xbone for 350$ with a game here .. the PS4 is 450$ with a game (it's 450$ because of the weak CAN dollar).
That being said, it's the only next gen console I don't have but I think it has a purpose and competition is always good.
 

Nathan Drake

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Damn. GameFAQs or not, that poll is pretty telling. As Microsoft is learning, it is really, really hard to dig yourself out of a hole as deep as the one they dug. As much as they're trying, it also feels like they're saying "just buy a PC". I know it's in their best interest to bring PC and home console together since they are involved in both markets, but as an educated consumer, they're going to have an increasingly hard time convincing me that the Xbox One is worthwhile after having already purchased a PS4.
 
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Joe88

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Ms shot them selves in the foot with that little e3 conference with all their anti-user rules, then sony pounced on them right after for it concreting their platform as the superior choice.
Granted all these rules were reversed a week later, but they cant get rid of the damage and bad pr they caused, or that they even suggest such rules in the first place, and now sales reflect that. At least its outselling the wiiu :shit:
 

TecXero

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I don't care about the Xbox One simply because it doesn't have any exclusives I want. M$ is a company, I expect them to try to dick me over, it's just they're the first one in a while flat out saying they want to dick people over. They did go back and change their anti-consumer policies, so if there were a small handful of exclusives I wanted to play, I'd probably have one by now. I'm not going to hold a grudge against a company, just like I won't be loyal to a company, it's just foolish.
 
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endoverend

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Great editorial!

I really think Microsoft has done a great job of damage control over the last two years. E3 2014, while still disappointing, at least began to focus on what a gaming console should really be used for (which is of course, games). And this year's E3 conference managed to really present the XOne in a new light with backwards compatibility. I think it's unfair to say that it is a joke platform at this point in time.
 
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Chary

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Both Phil Spencer and Major Nelson listen to fan feedback quite a lot, and it's great to see Microsoft pick up the pace, to make up for their mistakes from 2013. The problem is, there's still people that are ignorant on the fact that those policies from 2013 were changed. You still see people slamming the Xbox One for DRM, believing that used games are unplayable on the system. Regardless, as an Xbox One owner, I was very happy to see how well they did during this year's E3.
 

Pedeadstrian

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I wouldn't call the Xbox One a joke console. If anything, that belongs to Wii U (I'm kidding).

Sure, they set a bunch of ridiculous rules that were later revoked, but the average consumer doesn't pay much attention to things like E3 and the like. I imagine that for a lot of people, most of their knowledge about the console comes from the initial wave of news after a console is announced and before it's released, since that's when it's talked about the most. A bad first impression to those people means they're gonna steer clear of it. I personally never have and never would buy an Xbox, Xbox 360, or Xbox One. It's not fanboyism, though. The games that tend to be released on that console (aside from the multiplats) are focused on a few select genres that I don't enjoy. I mostly play RPGs and Action/Adventure games, and that's what I have my PS3, 3DS, and Vita for. I just wish more JRPGs like Hyperdimension Neptunia would come to the PC so I could get rid of the Vita that I haven't even touched in months.
 

ShinyLatios

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I don't actually have an Xbone so I don't really have that much of an opinion of it. That said, I generally don't enjoy the exclusives the Xbox side of gaming gets, so I'd rather get a PS4 anyway...

But Xbox dug a pretty deep hole for sure, and it's been interesting watching them crawl out. Xbone isn't as much of a joke system as it was back then, but it's still crawling out.
 

elunesgrace

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The poll one of the users posted isn't very accurate to be honest, because the internet audience that would vote tends to not be the the 'bro-gamer.'

So the genres of the Xbox would attract a big demographic, but that demographic would be less interested in forums or FAQs. Contrasting that with the PS4 audience, and you will have the opposite situation.

That's why the best way to measure is actual sales based on region. I wouldn't expect the xbox one to really penetrate japan because its not designed for those gamers.
 

Pedeadstrian

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The poll one of the users posted isn't very accurate to be honest, because the internet audience that would vote tends to not be the the 'bro-gamer.'

So the genres of the Xbox would attract a big demographic, but that demographic would be less interested in forums or FAQs. Contrasting that with the PS4 audience, and you will have the opposite situation.

That's why the best way to measure is actual sales based on region. I wouldn't expect the xbox one to really penetrate japan because its not designed for those gamers.
We all know (including cearp, who posted it) that the poll is in no way representative of the entire gaming populace. I imagine he was sardonically quoting a GameFAQs poll, considering the site's infamous for its vitriolic userbase. It's no more scientific than this poll that says that nearly a third of people believe the Xbox One is a joke.
 

WiiCube_2013

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I love the Original Xbox and Xbox 360 but Xbox One is a piece of shit (except the controller that's friggin' great).

- Bad multiplatform ports
- Console looks big as a VCR Player (and ugly at that too)
- Spines of the covers are all grey which make them look lifeless
- The name 'Xbox One' implies it's the first Xbox
- Exclusives aren't really of my interest, except for Rare Replay and Sunset Overdrive

I'll be going with PS4 this gen.

Too bad Sony doesn't have an awesome Xbox controller like Microsoft does, though.
 

Azel

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Good piece.

Let me just say that the 360 was my 1st xbox, I loved xbla, jrpgs and multiplatform mainly jp-deved games on it. (less input lag than on ps3, better resolution/performance on those games overall, in-game mp3 player, party chat etc)

I even got a Japanese system at some point to play shoot them up.

Yes, I feel Microsoft slapped me across the face in 2013. "you want an offline system? We have one it's called a 360".. how indecently arrogant.
Also,I've been using my phone as an internet hotspot since 2012, having a 20Gb cap per month for 15€. (I'm a student and couldn't justify 30€ more for a dsl contract)
It's enough for my Internet needs but doesnt bode well with "always online" systems.

Did I mention I live in europe and don't own a tv, and wouldn't watch tv content if I owned one or on xbone.

Right now the xbone has litterally no exclusive game I'm interested in (ok, maybe crimson dragon if any) and with backward compatibility, I get to play what everybody wants to play...not what I want to play. (check the up votes for Cave shmup, and it's pretty clear I'll never get them to play on 360 before fifa06 or nba2k6 is compatible lol)

I was a new and loyal and very happy customer of Microsoft in 2008,when I first got the 360, but they haven't done a single thing that could interested me since 2013.

The last systems I got were a n3ds and a wii u, and I prolly will get a pc or a ps4 in 2016.

Your piece sounds like "the internet" is being unfair to Microsoft .. Well, I honestly don't think I am.
 
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