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Was it a mistake to reveal Xbox Series X without the usual build up hype?

What did you think about Series X surprise reveal?

  • It was very hype and smart on Microsoft's part

    Votes: 728 35.7%

  • It was alright I guess? Not sure if I care about how it is revealed

    Votes: 744 36.5%

  • It was pretty anti-climatic, felt like just another ad from TGAa

    Votes: 569 27.9%
  • Total voters
    2,041
abellwillring

abellwillring

Member
Oct 25, 2017
8,916
Austin, TX
I see absolutely no downside to the way they unveiled it. You don't need a ton of lead up to stuff in 2019. Drop it and it will spread -- let the buying public do the work for you. You could perhaps argue it would have been wiser to wait until after the holiday season but I don't think it'll have a material difference on sales.
 

Deleted member 10726

user requested account closure
Banned
Oct 27, 2017
2,674
ResetERA
It's just another plastic box. Given that the real hype will only start when more info about its' features, games and hardware is out, I don't think it's a mistake they revealed it like that.
 
Papercuts

Papercuts

Prophet of Truth
Member
Oct 25, 2017
11,010
Don't think it really matters. PS5 was announced randomly in an article, this was shown at a show. It only matters when they do a deeper dive into what the console pitch is.
 
Vilam

Vilam

Member
Oct 27, 2017
5,053
Don't think it was a particularly good reveal, since the trailer itself doesn't do much to make it clear that this is THE next console from Xbox. That combined with the confusing name left me trying to puzzle out what I'd just watched and what it actually is, rather than being blown away.
 
Meg Cherry

Meg Cherry

Member
Oct 25, 2017
7,261
Seattle, WA
I don't think it really matters.

Console reveals aren't really 'surprising' things. People talk in hushed tones about making games for next-gen, but everyone knows that the dev kits are out and that releases for existing platforms have slowed. It's an absurd thing to act like we don't know what's coming.

Microsoft already started being a tad more open about it by just announcing hardware at the development stage - publicizing the codename.

Revealing the name, box & controller aren't what matters. It's price & games that actually drive interest - and you absolutely know Microsoft will tease the hell out of that reveal when it is time.
 

Merc

Member
Jun 10, 2018
1,252
I think it was a very bad move. When E3 comes, all the attention and hype will be on the PS5 way more now that the XBX has been revealed.
 

Deleted member 13645

User requested account closure
Banned
Oct 27, 2017
6,052
I thought it was cool but doesn't mean much. I suppose if you want to reach a wide audience, this is about as good as you could hope for beyond just doing it at your E3 conference, but that means you have less time to show off other things.

Merc said:
I think it was a very bad move. When E3 comes, all the attention and hype will be on the PS5 way more now that the XBX has been revealed.
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Why? Sony is very likely going to have their own reveal event early next year rather than revealing the PS5 at E3. By the time next E3 rolls around it'll just be about games and selling points from both consoles, the manner in which they showed off what it looks like isn't going to really matter.
 
TechnoSyndrome

TechnoSyndrome

Member
May 15, 2019
2,448
Not having the opportunity to explain it better was why it was a bad venue to reveal it, people immediately had so many questions that weren't being answered.
 
DixieDean82

DixieDean82

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
11,837
Someone needs to get in touch with Phil Spencer and tell him how to do hype announcements. The team over there don't have a clue.
 
Barn

Barn

Member
Oct 27, 2017
3,137
Los Angeles
It worked for me simply because you put Senua somewhere and I'm there, but strategy wise I'm unsure. This year's TGA is regarded as such a debacle that I wonder if that stinks negatively affects the overall perception of the reveal by proxy.
 
Yearsoflurking

Yearsoflurking

Banned
Nov 11, 2017
2,744
3.3mm views on the offical channel in less than 24 hours seems to be doing pretty good

Hellblade with almost a million
 
Galactic Barret

Galactic Barret

Banned
Oct 28, 2017
1,324
I didn't watch the TGAs, so when I saw XSX pop up in my news feed a day (2?) ago, I completely ignored it, mistaking it for a Xbox branded PC.


I didn't know what it was until I checked gaming side. Now that I'm informed of its stats and form-factor, I'm pleasantly intrigued, but it totally flew over my head.
 
OG_Thrills

OG_Thrills

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
4,655
Definitely.

They released their console amongst an onslaught of news and from what I gather it hasn't reached a broader audience. The core are hyped for sure but they missed an opportunity to create, sustain, and drive their own narrative for days, weeks, or quite possibly months.

Hellblade 2 running on XBOX Series X should be all we're talking about but it isn't, because there is so much other info to consume.

Given how vitriolic things have been here I also want stress that that's not a knock on the console itself. I'm surprised and happy that the form factor was revealed and confirmed target specs narrowed. I just believe the positioning and introduction wast mishandled.
 
m_shortpants

m_shortpants

Member
Oct 25, 2017
11,202
It's just an announcement. I'm sure the will have a more formal event where they'll roll out the red carpet and show games and provide more details
 
Thera

Thera

Banned
Feb 28, 2019
12,876
France
I thought this exact reveal (not much not less) should have been on E3 when they had an open field.
But doing it there is good too. They have a lot of time to make the big reveal.
 
Zojirushi

Zojirushi

Member
Oct 26, 2017
3,293
I guess personally I was hoping for more of a pull the curtain type moment at E3 but I realize that's not how you market video games anymore. Oh well.
 
UltraMagnus

UltraMagnus

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
15,670
I think it was a good move on their part. They now have the discussion all focused on them and can continue to roll out other details as time goes on.
 
No Depth

No Depth

Member
Oct 27, 2017
18,263
They used the vast number of hardcore eyeballs pointed at this show effectively.

Previously big events were held for hardware reveals that never came across as memorable so early. The big marketing roadmap and true unveil for software and features is still coming.

This was less costly and gave a chunk of the evening theirs for discussion amid a night filled with gaming reveals. Considering how much the promo image is floating around the internet today, it worked just fine as a reveal.
 
TheGhost

TheGhost

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
28,137
Long Island
It was the most unexpected thing to happen.
you don't get anymore hype than that.

900,000 people saw that. Let that sink in
That's not counting people watching as a group. 900,000 screens
 
Iso

Iso

Member
Oct 25, 2017
1,188
I don't recall who said it here, but a point was brought up that if Microsoft had done a traditional reveal, people who simply haven't been interested in there offerings would simply skip the reveal. Announcing here, they had all eyes on them from fans of every camp.

I think it was smart, super exciting moment :)
 
OneBadMutha

OneBadMutha

Member
Nov 2, 2017
6,059
It was smart. The usual Xbox fanbase are the ones who usually turn out for new console reveals. They'll be there regardless. This broadens the exposure to those not interested in Xbox.
 
Timewarp

Timewarp

Member
Oct 27, 2017
877
MJForum Poster said:
Right. How many threads are there on ERA about it in the last 24 hours, and how many are about anything else shown last night?
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I was curious so I counted. At the moment of my count, there were 5 threads (including this one) about the reveal on the first page (out of 40). Other VGA topics also out number the reveal currently.
The engagement in xbox threads are far higher though. There is a lot chatter for sure.
 
zedox

zedox

Member
Oct 28, 2017
5,215
OG_Thrills said:
Definitely.

They released their console amongst an onslaught of news and from what I gather it hasn't reached a broader audience. The core are hyped for sure but they missed an opportunity to create, sustain, and drive their own narrative for days, weeks, or quite possibly months.

Hellblade 2 running on XBOX Series X should be all we're talking about but it isn't, because there is so much other info to consume.

Given how vitriolic things have been here I also want stress that that's not a knock on the console itself. I'm surprised and happy that the form factor was revealed and confirmed target specs narrowed. I just believe the positioning and introduction wast mishandled.
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You mean the #2 trending video on Youtube with almost 4m views...where cnn has it as trending on their website...and all the tech sites talked about it...yea...sure, only the hardcore is talking about it. A hardware reveal event wouldn't have been something that "casual" users watch anyways...the news will come out and people will talk about it.
 
Proven

Proven

Banned
Oct 29, 2017
5,841
OG_Thrills said:
Definitely.

They released their console amongst an onslaught of news and from what I gather it hasn't reached a broader audience. The core are hyped for sure but they missed an opportunity to create, sustain, and drive their own narrative for days, weeks, or quite possibly months.

Hellblade 2 running on XBOX Series X should be all we're talking about but it isn't, because there is so much other info to consume.

Given how vitriolic things have been here I also want stress that that's not a knock on the console itself. I'm surprised and happy that the form factor was revealed and confirmed target specs narrowed. I just believe the positioning and introduction wast mishandled.
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There are literally a dozen threads on the front page of resetera, the Xbox reveal has over 3300 replies last time I checked, Hellblade is nearing 1,000 replies, and the specs have impressed everyone. It's also trending on twitter and every major outlet has picked it up. I literally do not know what you're getting at. It stole the show.
 
Hawk269

Hawk269

Member
Oct 26, 2017
6,043
When I walked into work this morning I had two coworkers say "did you hear about the new Xbox?". Gaming talk at my work is a rarity.
 
Raide

Raide

Banned
Oct 31, 2017
16,596
The fact the front page of Era has so many SX threads means MS did their job. It's really just a one-up to the PS5 PR article that appeared on Twitter but with some actual information. They have a year now to build up more hype but E3 will be the true proving grounds and this time tech won't be an issue and they have plenty of studios working on games.
 
Gunny T Highway

Gunny T Highway

Unshakable Resolve - One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 27, 2017
16,997
Canada
It was a good move because more eyes were watching the Game Awards than anything Microsoft would have had as an individual reveal conference.
 
Proven

Proven

Banned
Oct 29, 2017
5,841
kikiribu said:
That's not how that works. The only thing they showed was the console, so you can bet that they'll have a long segment dedicated to all the other stuff, like OS/interface features. They need to. Sony will do the same.
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They'll probably have a reveal event in a few months and then just show games at E3 and give the price at the end of the show
 
Raide

Raide

Banned
Oct 31, 2017
16,596
kikiribu said:
That's not how that works. The only thing they showed was the console, so you can bet that they'll have a long segment dedicated to all the other stuff, like OS/interface features. They need to. Sony will do the same.
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Personally, I don't think they will waste time at E3 showing of OS stuff. It's all about games for MS now. The OS reveal etc will be done either at their own launch event or a online reveal.
 
Charpunk

Charpunk

Member
Oct 25, 2017
10,616
I would assume they are going to do a hardware specific event like they did for the xbox one, and 360 to a lesser extent.
 
headspawn

headspawn

Member
Oct 27, 2017
14,605
Honestly, considering they didn't reveal at XO19, it would've been dumb of them not to jump at the chance. They had a great ad, I thought it was well done, showcasing glimpses of what games they aiming to go forward with and then followed by that Hellblade 2 trailer which was absolutely glorious, it was a clear step above everything shown in the entire show.

Now they can just sift out launch details and E3 will again be like 95% games, next gen goodness.. Definitely looking forward to that big time.
 
Flame Lord

Flame Lord

Member
Oct 26, 2017
2,795
Thinking back there was a twinge of disappointment from both last gen reveals, mostly because they didn't show a lot; with this though I didn't expect it and I feel full on hyped. I don't know if it makes a big difference but I liked it.
 
ghostcrew

ghostcrew

The Shrouded Ghost
Administrator
Oct 27, 2017
30,349
In terms of big gaming centred shows, TGA is pretty mainstream. More mainstream than an Xbox specific announcement conference. It had a ton of eyes on it. Era had pretty much E3 numbers of visitors last night during TGA. It's a big show and it's being represented on major, mainstream news sites that I visit.

I think it was a good place to surprise everyone with it.
 
GING-SAMA

GING-SAMA

Banned
Jul 10, 2019
7,846
I think Microsoft has hit Hardcore gamers directly. And he succeeded imo.

But now they have to reach the general public, and expand the XBOX brand, that's why I think they will present the series S for E3 with the big marketing put on the next gen for everyone and Xbox Game Pass.
 
YukiroCTX

YukiroCTX

Prophet of Regret
Member
Oct 30, 2017
2,994
I think the idea was quite smart to show first as it sets a particular expectation that is hard to reach. The console design looks really nice and minimal and it's designed to be quiet even if the shape if slightly mixed among different users, hellblade also set particular expectations on what visuals should be like (literally made Godfall look a generation apart from just cutscene comparison) and there's also the specs as well which are very impressive. These are things people will be looking at in future and that is high bar itself.
 
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