Blog FeedXbox 2, where do you belong?
A rather subtle “advertisment” for the next Xbox has been spotted. It wasn’t on a gaming website, nor found in between the pages of EGM. You wouldn’t see it on G4 or on a demo disc. Instead it was on that massive leftover statement of our culture past, MTV. You can check out the small commercial over on Gamespy.
It offers nothing that gamers would want/expect from an unveiling. No goregous game shots or views of the new console. Instead its just a bunch of attractive young people (mostly women) sitting around noticing “the greeness” floating around in the sky. The narrator talks as if xbox 2 is the 2nd coming and then at the end (up until this point you’d never know it was an Xbox commercial) a short flash of the xbox logo.
For me it creates mixed responses. First is obvious excitement that the rumored Fall release of the console may actually be true. However, I also feel as though xbox is trying to turn gaming into something it isn’t. With their announcements at the GDC (that no one really wanted to hear) it seems as though xbox thinks that they need to “fix” the games industry. While the industry does have its problems I feel that microsoft’s outlook for the future is a big part of the problem.
Also the commercial kind of feels like a slap in the face. Almost like Microsoft is saying “Ok we finally won over the mainstream to video games, so screw you that were there from the beginning.” Or maybe I am just reading into it far too much.
25th April | Reply
I think you’re reading a bit much into it.
While console gaming is certainly a lot more mainstream than it ever has been, the vast majority of ‘mainstream gamers’ aren’t exactly immersed in the subculture. I wouldn’t be surprised if a large portion of MS desired market share have absolutely no idea that the XBox 2 is soon to be released.
To put it simply, the people they need to advertise to are the ones who have no real understanding of the inner workings of a console (and no desire to investigate), and who get their information regarding games & consoles from the more mainstream media (think MTV and magazines like FHM rather than actual console mags); the rest of their target demographic have probably already decided whether to buy an XBox 2 or not…
25th April | Reply
It should be noted that the name is probably Xbox 360 (for reasons beyond me), and you can find the MTV clip here.
Partially I think you’re right, in that microsoft (and not just them, ofcourse) are pushing consoles as mainstream gaming. I feel however that this is justified. Console’s do present mainstream gaming. Hard and software easy enough to be used even by the dumbest and drunkest frat boys, with a lot of games aimed at simple game fun. You boot the thing up, insert the disk and you get to play. No patches, no confusing installing, no compatibility problems. Cheaper than a PC, and smaller too. Plus, it doesnt have the ‘nerd’ image about it.
There are ofcourse exceptions, with harder games, but exceptions make the rules, as they say. Perhaps its just my PC gamer background, but I dont see console gaming as gaming for ‘those of you that were there from the beginning’. I think most hardcore gamers still prefer the PC, whereas mainstream, casual gamers will be much more attracted to the simplicity of consoles.
While console’s really do offer plenty of content for the real gamers (GTA:SA, Ninja Gaiden, etc), I think because of its ease of use and simplicity, it is much more suited for the casual gamer, which is probably what the big companies aim for (afterall, this is a much larger consumer base).
This is perhaps sad, but remember that there will always be those few real games for consoles. Microsoft and others found a mainstream market now console’s are more mainstream. Now they’re trying to get its full potential. Can’t blame them for wanting to make a profit.
25th April | Reply
Firstly…what was the announcement at GDC that no one wanted to hear?
And JohnDoe…whereas I agree that a lot of ‘hardcore’ gamers prefer the PC, it seems to me like this group is shrinking. As consoles get more powerful and can start to match the sort of power of a PC, more PC gamers will be attracted to it. Especially with the increasing use of the internet for consoles too. A lot of the people who were ‘there from the beginning’ so to speak, are getting older now and a new generation is coming in. These are hardcore gamers that havent been bred on a mouse and Keyboard, but have only ever really known consoles.
This is why I think consoles are becoming more and more succesful, they can appeal to both the casual side and the hardcore side of the gaming World. And I can only see this increasing with the next generation of consoles.
25th April | Reply
Agreed. Even on the PC, the best selling game of all time has been The Sims. I don’t know if it also appeals to many hardcore gamers (it doesn’t appeal to me), but it’s success came from the casual gamers. Tapping into the casual gamer market can lead to explosive results, at least from a financial point of view. And that’s always what Microsoft is after, isn’t it?
Consoles are generally more social experiences because you can have several people sitting next to each other, being pretty heavily involved with what each other is doing. Computers aren’t quite like that, which is why I think the mainstream market for console gaming has so much more potential than that of casual PC gamers. Plus, some consoles make a good, easy replacement for a DVD player in the living room. You don’t need to be a heavy gamer to benefit from that.
I don’t think I need to go into detail as to why hardcore gamers are also so attracted to these new consoles. I mean, look at those proposed specs. They’re far beyond anything PCs have to offer at the moment. Microsoft knows they can’t let that side of the audience down, though. So I’m not worried about the console industry taking a turn for the… mainstream?
25th April | Reply
Microsoft’s GDC announcement was pretty much their future vision of the world of video games. It was like out of a horror movie. They imagined warehouses full of animators, artists, modelers and programmers needed for making games. Thousands of staff members and budgets making hollywood look like an indie production company.
The games of the future would cost so much to produce that innovation would come to a halt. The fear is that with such a hefty cost to produce just one game a publisher could not risk a game that isn’t a guarenteed sale. So the future is paved with sequels to Halo and Madden pretty much.
Oddly enough the most succesful console to bring in the mainstream was the console that was most similiar to a PC, the xbox. The xbox is pretty much a PC turned on its side with a gamepad instead of a keyboard. From that point I can only see Xbox 360 (wtf) and PS3 being even closer to a computer. They are not to far from a “fragbox”. Basically a PC custom tailored to play games.
Xbox 2’s specs include a large amount of details about the non-game set up. The profiles and User Interface… basically the Operating System of the machine. I wouldn’t be surprised if a keyboard becomes pretty standard for these next gen consoles.
25th April | Reply
Nothing new there. I’m sure everyone remembers the stories over the tech/gaming sites about how EA works on the inside. And I’ve not seen much innovation or quality coming out of there for a while. Will Wright’s Spore may be able to buck that trend, but it does seem a bit more like a mishmash of previous sim games anyway. Final judgement will of course be reserved until later.
The core group behind Diablo and Diablo 2 left Blizzard because they weren’t allowed to go in the direction they wanted. As far as I know, they had no other options besides sequels to StarCraft and the like, to guaruntee sales, and that’s the reason behind their resignations. They wanted to do something new, especially since the Diablo series was pretty much wrapped up. The good part is that they founded their own development studio afterwards, and things look to be coming along well on that front.
I don’t mind sequels or spinoff games as long as they are quality. Blizzard at least manages that when it brings out something new. EA, unfortunately with a much larger market share, doesn’t.
12th May | Reply
I think you’re making a bit of a mountain out of a mole hill. I mean obviously when they go on MTV they’re gonna be making a push at the more mainstream customer, that’s a given. That’s the kind of market that MTV really shows. They need to push in that direction because Sony beat them pretty badly in that field. But only like a few days later will be their E3 press confrence and I think we’ll see quite a big set of things for “us”, core consumers at E3 in terms of software that they’re not really gonna make a deal out of on MTV for the the average Joe.
It seems to me you need to go after both sets of consumers and go after both in different ways. They wanted to launch on MTV but the real information-fest is gonna be at E3 for the press and the core-consumer who can watch their press confrence on gamespot or what have you.