Last week, I wrote an article detailing the things that Microsoft must do next week at their Xbox reveal to make sure it succeeds. Now I wanted to explore how certain things could ruin the show. Microsoft have surely been poring over every single thing that each individual will say on stage at the event on the 21st of May. But there is a chance that, much like some of the different E3 presentations by Microsoft and Sony alike, the show may be ruined by the choices that they believe to be worth it but end up falling flat. With the dawn of the next generation already being contested between the Xbox and the PlayStation 4, there is no room for error in the reveal.
1 – Spending a ridiculous amount of time on Kinect 2.0 – Ok, we know the Kinect 2.0 is coming and some rumors suggest that the tech will come bundled with the next Xbox in an attempt to merge the two for all users. While the evolution of the technology is exciting for almost everyone, many are tired of endless motion demonstrations. Take the E3 show last year with Sony, where WonderBook was shown for an insane length of time and no one was even remotely paying attention. This must be avoided, as beginning with this or showing the motion tech too early may lead to many viewers and potential customers switching off from what is being said.
2 – A focus on old, aging games – While in the last article I referred to the need for more games, established franchises are not very welcome. You may point me to games such as inFamous, which have continued into next generation, but the difference in that game compared to the last is staggering. This means Halo 5 and Forza and the like need to hide themselves for the time being until games that need a greater exposure have run their course. Naturally, games like Alan Wake could return. I keep returning to this game for the simple reason that it was such a departure from the norm that a return would be much different compared to Halo.
Microsoft, Please do not subject us to more of this kind of trash:
3 – The Call of Duty presentation – Call of Duty: Ghosts will be coming to next generation consoles, and as we suspected, Microsoft will once again tout the game for their own console and will presumably announce a deal with Activision for some sort of exclusivity. Call of Duty, however, is not something that needed time to itself at a reveal. Showing live gameplay footage of the game that everyone loves to hate at the beginning of the next Xbox could come back to haunt Microsoft. The continuation of a deal could be symbolic of a lack of forward movement from the Xbox manufacturer, and something that could signal a lack of imagination to build their own world beating games.
4 – XboxTV, Xbox Streaming and Partnerships – Come on, who wasn’t excited when Sony told us nothing but information for the gamer? Xbox 360 has recently become more of an all round deal. Streaming, TV deals and multiple different partnerships make Xbox Live full of unnecessary advertisements and it no longer is a console for its original purpose, the gamers. Spending any amount of time on anything but games and partnerships will instantly leave many people frustrated after having so much attention from Sony. This could end up losing Microsoft a whole lot of customers, but gain them a lot of non-gamer types. A fine balance must be struck.
5 – Subscriptions – The subscription tiered service was great for Microsoft on the Xbox 360, but there were many people who criticized some parts of it. Online play for the Xbox was not free, much to the annoyance of some, causing a movement of people to the PlayStation 3. Obviously, many were happy to pay, as the service was then more streamlined and much more comfortable than the rival console’s online interface. Online play itself should be free in my opinion, and any extras can be added in a subscription-based model. Announcing a subscription for online now is too early. People want to know how much to pay for the console and leave it at that.
Is there anything else that would render the reveal ruined for you? Let us know in the comments.
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