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Know your audience, Microsoft.

Written by Benke on the 21st of May 2013 at 22:17

We should have known. It's not like it's the first time it's happened. Remember the Xbox 360 reveal on MTV? Over here in Europe they had edited out most of the gameplay and it felt more like a concert with the likes of Snow Patrol and Killers than a proper product reveal. And then there was the Natal Experience thing with ponchos. This time Microsoft followed in Sony's footsteps and apparently they felt all they needed to do was show the console in order to "win" the battle of the reveals.

The truth is Microsoft once again failed to realise who of their millions of Xbox Live users it is that watch these kind of reveals. Not that there's anyone not employed by Microsoft who uses Bing as a search engine and Internet Explorer on their Xbox - but if there was such a person, he or she would not be watching the live stream last night. Core gamers were watching. Longtime fans. Gamers who aren't very interested in watching TV on their shiny new next-gen console. Seriously, watching cable is the first thing you show of when you reveal a next gen console? What were you thinking?

Sure we got Call of Duty: Ghosts. It's likely going to be one hell of a game. Forza 5. Most likely a brilliant racing game. EA Sports - quality stuff. But... is this what Microsoft thinks gets us excited for next gen? A bunch of suits talking about the biggest selling properties of current gen? Quantum Break excluded (and we barely got to see it) - there just wasn't anything during the hour long broadcast to shake our worlds, get us hyped, or even just raise our eyebrows. Hopefully, MS opted to save their revolutionary stuff for E3.

Xbox One looks like the natural extension of everything Microsoft have done with Xbox 360 over the last couple of years at this point. And that leaves this viewer and gamer feeling underwhelmed. Next gen needs to feel like something new, something exciting, something different.

HQ