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Microsoft expects consumers to 'figure out' which Xbox is which
The best way to keep a job as a marketer is to never go off message. And that's precisely what happened when I interviewed Xbox's head of console marketing Albert Penello on our E3 stage this week. Though he was more than happy to talk about the Xbox One X's tech specs and the impact of 4K gaming, asking harder questions about Xbox as an organization yielded a lot of non-answers. Still, there were a few tells.
Xbox One's DRM policy reversal: an oral history
The Xbox One's DRM policy reversal was unprecedented, and will have lasting impacts for the lifespan of Microsoft's next game console. When the console was originally announced on Microsoft's Redmond, Wash., campus back in May, conflicting reports from Microsoft execs during interviews throughout the day portrayed the Xbox One's digital vision as a scrambled mess. Some execs said the console required an online check-in once every 24 hours; others mentioned different periods of time; some said you could sell used games "for a fee"; others said it wouldn't cost a thing. You get the idea -- there wasn't a clear message, and the reaction from the most vocal of consumers was overwhelmingly negative. Microsoft Senior Director of Product Management Albert Penello lived through the saga. "I always have to be really careful what I say here," he said, prefacing his comments, clearly burnt by the experience earlier this year. Before saying anything else, Penello wanted to reiterate that Microsoft is wholesale committed to the console's current vision: "The thing I want to be super explicit about, because I do think people are worried about, is once we made the decision to go to physical disc security, we're not unwinding that decision. We're committed to the physical disc; we're committed to trading and loaning. This is my official: 'We're not going back on that.' I don't want anybody to think we 'got' them, and then tomorrow I'm gonna go back to the old stuff, 'cause that's not gonna happen." All that said, Penello and the team at Microsoft haven't completely given up on the original vision of a digital future. And some of that vision is even still in the Xbox One arriving on November 22nd.
Your new Xbox One won't do much without the day one patch
Imagine it's November 22nd: You've got your shiny new Xbox One from the local games merchant, you've got it home, and it's time to video game. Aw shucks, the internet is out! But that's okay, as you've got yourself a physical game disc ready to go. Sadly, it looks like you've got yourself a $500 paperweight until your ISP comes back online. "Functionally, you will be able to do very little without taking the day one update," Microsoft senior director of product management Albert Penello told Engadget in a recent interview. We posed just such a scenario to him, and asked what we could do with an Xbox One out of the box. "Nothing. You need the Day One update," he said. We've known since June that the Xbox One would require such an update, but not how comprehensive it will be. "A lot of the apps come with the day one update because they wouldn't have even been done," Penello added. "You're gonna need to take this update. It's not gonna be really an optional thing'." Essentially, the Xbox One currently being manufactured contains a relatively old version of the console's operating system, and thus the need for such an update. That even games are unplayable may seem a bit extreme, but it's a measure of the system's software being updated until the very last minute. Fingers crossed your internet service is strong as we head toward launch later this month!
Here are five especially neat things the Xbox One can do
The Xbox One that you snag on November 22nd (or thereafter) does some pretty neat stuff besides just playing video games: live TV, NFL fantasy league and voice commands for everything. But that's all bigger-picture stuff. Some of the coolest things that the Xbox One does are in the details, many of which were just revealed this week in a press preview of the upcoming game console. For instance, did you know that the console's OneGuide feature does more than just show you what's available to watch over cable? In fact, you can customize the guide to the point where individual SkyDrive folders appear as "channels," easily selectable among your regularly scheduled programming. And that's just one of several fascinating abilities we witnessed this week.
Microsoft offering Killer Instinct free on Xbox One to some longtime fans (update)
Today is apparently the day where Microsoft turns into Oprah: You get a copy of Killer Instinct on Xbox One! And you get a copy of Killer Instinct on Xbox One! And just like Oprah, Microsoft's dispersal of said free game is seemingly at random. According to the official Xbox Twitter account, the company "considered a variety of things like Gamerscore, LIVE tenure, & other factors in markets where #XboxOne is available" in deciding who would receive free copies. Codes to unlock all the characters in Killer Instinct will arrive on launch day or thereabouts following today's email blast (seen above) alerting users. And KI isn't the only freebie MS is announcing today, as Xbox Live Gold users on Xbox One will get Xbox Music streaming for free as well (like web users). Sadly, that comes with adverts, which makes it distinctly less free and more "free." But hey, that new Eminem album is on there, so that's...something? We guess? Update: Apparently Albert Penello spoke too soon, as he's just updated his Twitter account saying, "was wrong about Music on XboxOne: You get 15 free song plays then need Music Pass for ad-free streaming. No ad-supported streaming. Sorry!" [Image credit: NeoGAF]
You can plug a PS4 into the Xbox One, but Microsoft says you probably shouldn't
Microsoft's Albert Penello confirmed to Gamespot at the Tokyo Game Show that the Xbox One's HDMI input would work with any device, including its rival the PlayStation 4, but that's not the whole story. In a forum post on NeoGAF, Penello expands on the quote by mentioning it "won't be a great experience," citing HDMI latency affecting interactive content, and adds that he indicated as much in his original response to the question. He's still traveling and promised more details later, but it's easy to fill in the blanks on how the console is intended to be used. While it can work as an HDMI passthrough for any device, the process introduces some additional lag. That's fine for audio/video because it will still be in sync, but not so great if you're playing games . The Xbox One is designed for placement between the cable / satellite TV box (assuming owners want to use the overlay features or control with Kinect, and have pay-TV service) and wherever it's going, whether into a receiver or directly into the TV. You can plug anything else into it, like a PS4 or even an Xbox 360, but just because you can doesn't always mean you should.
Microsoft admits 'failure' with Xbox 360 faceplates, says nobody bought them
This one's strictly for the record, the one that documents failed aesthetic experiments. Microsoft's Albert Penello has been cornered for an interview by the British Official Xbox Magazine -- mostly to discuss the console's five-year anniversary -- and their discourse touched on the ill-fated frontal accessory for the original 360. Penello admitted that although "faceplates were what everybody wanted to do" five years ago, they pretty much fell flat in terms of retail success, which led Microsoft to kill them off pretty quickly. We can't say we ever developed strong feelings either way about these plastic prettifiers, let's just be happy that Microsoft's latest console peripheral probably won't be subject to similar mea culpa admissions five years from now.
Microsoft aware Xbox 360 "sweet spot" is $199, not limited to 20-something demographic
Xbox's director of product management, David Hufford, said to Bloomberg yesterday that "We are well aware that the sweet spot of the market is really 199 bucks.'' Peter Moore and Albert Penello, the big guys of Xbox marketing, also stated that the company needs to "expand our demographic" and build content that appeals to people other than the 20-something males (in other words: "hello Moms!"). Why exactly Microsoft has decided to take the metaphorical mouth freshener at this point isn't quite clear, although we're guessing it comes down to an attempt to differentiate the Xbox from the PS3 in the minds of household purchasing decision makers and take a little sheen of the Wii's apparent domination of the lucrative casual gaming market. Hey, if these veiled marketing quotes eventually means cheaper consoles, who can complain? Microsoft, just cut the prices all-freakin'-ready.[Via Joystiq]
