At the Las Vagas GameStop Expo last week, in which Xbox Live programming director Larry, “Major Nelson” Hryb took to the stage to reply to questions from the floor for half an hour, many were struck by the simplicity of the event in comparison to the celebrity, video and music filled presentations of the last couple of months.
Larry Hryb states:
“Look, at Xbox, we really care about the community. We’re very focused on what is right for gamers. Everybody at Xbox is a gamer. It’s not like we just show up, do our work and go home. We want to make this the best game system that you are going to own for the next 10 years.”
The presentation and Mr Hryb’s tone suggested to the audience that Microsoft is still attempting to back peddle and claim back lost ground from the PR fiasco of the last couple of months.
This process began with the removal of the online 24 hours limit to the Xbox One after being flooded with an endless stream of complaints over their restrictions to the console. Later this was followed by the confirmation that the Kinect sensor which detects motion and voice of the players will not be a requirement to play Xbox One.
Hryb has confirmed that over the next month he will be touring the USA to reassure customers that the next-gen Xbox console is a step in the direction and that gamers should invest in the console.
Following the confirmation of the Xbox One release date, that being November 22nd, which comes a week after the PlayStation 4 release Microsoft is aware that they do not have long to patch up old wounds. Many now expect the release of these two consoles to be the biggest console launch in history with pre-orders for the Xbox One already surpassing those of the Original Xbox and Xbox 360.
There is pressure for Microsoft to meet these mass sales following their $7.2 billion purchase of Smartphone maker Nokia in order to enter the mobile market and a $900 million failure of the Microsoft surface tablet.
David Wesley, author of “Innovation and Marketing in the Video Game Industry,” concluded that Microsoft should be going in the right direction with this years earlier failings to not have a profound complication on sales at launch.
Wesley notes, “The reality is these concerns likely won’t affect Microsoft’s marketing of the Xbox One. The challenge for Microsoft is conveying the value of the console without over-hyping aspects that don’t really meet expectations. They don’t want to create such high expectations that people are let down when the console is actually launched.”
Do you think the Xbox One launch will go off without a hitch? Let us know what you think in the comments below.
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