Thread: Xbox's new marketing campaign: "This is an Xbox"
i think that's solid messaging actually. Now they just need to deliver with me buying the game on one platform and getting on all those platforms (DLC included) and shared cloud saves.
 
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When your product is everything then it is nothing.

This is just reminding people they don't need to buy an Xbox, and that the games are so unimportant you can run them in a phone or smart tv like a billion rubbish free to play app games.

It's a dumb marketing approach that will have the exact opposite effect they'll hope it will, which sums up Xbox over the last decade plus in fairness.
 
Certainly seems like they are signalling a shift away from console hardware... maybe the next Xbox will be the last one? Assuming we are actually getting a next one...
 
Certainly seems like they are signalling a shift away from console hardware... maybe the next Xbox will be the last one? Assuming we are actually getting a next one...

I think there will absolutely be a new Xbox HW. I expect a set top box and a handheld.

per the article below it looks like MS is going to double down on supporting the existing PC handhelds to prove things out first.

 
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I think there will absolutely be a new Xbox HW. I expect a set top box and a handheld.

per the article below it looks like MS is going to double down on supporting the existing PC handhelds to prove things out first.


When you say "set top box" does that mean a console as we would normally understand it or some kind of somewhat generic "entertainment unit"?
 
When you say "set top box" does that mean a console as we would normally understand it or some kind of somewhat generic "entertainment unit"?

What is even really the difference at this point?

Right now, that fundamental difference is a pesky licensing issue where games you buy for Xbox may not always be available for you to play on PC without having to buy another license.

This is a chief problem for Xbox since it wants to exist on Windows PC while still maintaining an existence as a piece of gaming hardware.

It shoots holes all through their marketing claim that "this is also an Xbox" because from where I'm sitting, my ROG Ally can't access the Xbox games I bought like Diablo 2: Resurrected and Elden Ring. I'm pretty much totally done with Xbox and GamePass can go die in a fire with it.
 
What is even really the difference at this point?

Right now, that fundamental difference is a pesky licensing issue where games you buy for Xbox may not always be available for you to play on PC without having to buy another license.

This is a chief problem for Xbox since it wants to exist on Windows PC while still maintaining an existence as a piece of gaming hardware.

It shoots holes all through their marketing claim that "this is also an Xbox" because from where I'm sitting, my ROG Ally can't access the Xbox games I bought like Diablo 2: Resurrected and Elden Ring. I'm pretty much totally done with Xbox and GamePass can go die in a fire with it.

The importance from my pespective when I say this is the amount of budget/effort put into the custom hardware, a "set top box" could use off the shelf APU/Laptop parts or paired with a mobile GPU. Or it could be a semi-custom part but with little effort put into performance/design.

It also signal whether games will be made from the ground up for the console or just be made in a generic sense with a "Xbox hardware compatible" mode with minimal optimization.

Similarly, if they go the "generic set top box" route, that will allow them to license it out to 3rd parties to make their own "Xbox" which as long as it meets a certain spec is "valid" and so forth.

It would signal them essentially abandoning the console market as we know it and no longer competing with Sony properly. In which case whatever PS6 is would likely be a significantly more powerful, custom designed console with better features and a traditional sales/development model. I would prefer they stayed in the game and actually "tried" rather than whatever this signals.
 
I really like the marketing materials. Succinctly states the direction Xbox are going in, adds humor. Gamepass everywhere essentially.
 
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When you say "set top box" does that mean a console as we would normally understand it or some kind of somewhat generic "entertainment unit"?

yea i meant a console. not sure why i used the other nomenclature. I expect it to the evolution of the xbox we all have come to know.
 
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The importance from my pespective when I say this is the amount of budget/effort put into the custom hardware, a "set top box" could use off the shelf APU/Laptop parts or paired with a mobile GPU. Or it could be a semi-custom part but with little effort put into performance/design.

It also signal whether games will be made from the ground up for the console or just be made in a generic sense with a "Xbox hardware compatible" mode with minimal optimization.

Similarly, if they go the "generic set top box" route, that will allow them to license it out to 3rd parties to make their own "Xbox" which as long as it meets a certain spec is "valid" and so forth.

It would signal them essentially abandoning the console market as we know it and no longer competing with Sony properly. In which case whatever PS6 is would likely be a significantly more powerful, custom designed console with better features and a traditional sales/development model. I would prefer they stayed in the game and actually "tried" rather than whatever this signals.

That makes a whole lot of sense, really. In fact, wouldn't they rather have Asus and Lenovo making Xboxes for them? Xbox handhelds. Xbox set tops. Xbox laptops. Xbox... phones! The whole Windows ecosystem counts as Xbox in their "vision."

The problem for them, of course, is that the lines don't blur so easily. Xbox is really a walled garden running a Windows kernel, while all these other devices they want to call an Xbox are actually open platforms where publishers MS doesn't own get a full cut or a better cut than what they get selling inside the walled garden that is Xbox. Something is going to have to give if MS is to realize this vision, or it's just bald faced marketing lie.

That's probably it.
 
The memes will be glorious.

With how many exclusives wind up on PS5 waiting for the meme of a PS5 that says this is an XBOX LOL
 
When your product is everything then it is nothing.

This is exactly what I thought.

What is a low information person going to take from this? It will mean nothing to them. Even if you've heard of Xbox, you'll just think you don't need to buy anything, because you've already got one apparently?

Also, hate the cringe millenial humor.
 
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"Please stop making us invest billions into console manufacturing when we all know we will lose again. Just use your phone screen instead while we keep raising the cost of streaming our games. Own nothing, keep paying more, and be happy."
 
I DO NOT give a shit at how many platforms I can play my Xbox. All I care about are the GAMES. WHERE ARE THEY?!

Lol, this guy. Hasn't even looked in his imagination yet.

Get with the PG, buddy. You think you're just going to walk into your local branch of Gamestop and pick up an XBOX game? Stop Phillin' your head with nonsense and start imagining Xbox games exist. Whip out your phone and start playing great XBOX content RN. $17.99 please.
 
I DO NOT give a shit at how many platforms I can play my Xbox. All I care about are the GAMES. WHERE ARE THEY?!

Tons of games, if you know what's available.

Tbh the XBOX brand is most attractive right now for people who haven't owned an XBOX for a decade. But for long-time fans… I dunno.
 
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Tons of games, if you know what's available.

Tbh the XBOX brand is most attractive right now for people who haven't owned an XBOX for a decade. But for long-time fans… I dunno.
What I want to see are the exclusives that you could ONLY play on Xbox (and PC too). But that's not happening now is it with Microsoft's Xbox retarded play anywhere approach.

The OG Xbox had some great exclusives.

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They have absolutely destroyed their brand. What does anyone need an XBOX for since they already have a phone, many have a PC and some have a cat box (which will likely soon also run Gamepass). I just don't understand what they are trying to do.
 
The only thing Microsoft is missing is an exclusive game that actually steals market share from their competitors. I cancelled my MS account a few months ago. Aside from indie titles and trying out games I otherwise wouldn't even bother to play the one thing they no longer have is any quality triple A game that sells me on the monthly fee.

Couple years ago THEY DID......every few months a game would come along and justify the price. Hasn't happened for me in 2024. Indiana Jones looks really fun, but it's not going to suck me back into the MS's monthly fee.

Good luck MS..... at some point you need to deliver on the fucking promise of a hit game