It's E3. You're a major console manufacturer and publisher. You have your very own press conference in which to dictate to the world your vision of your product for the next 12 months. You have games to announce, you have new technology to pimp, and you've got a fancy new firmware update that's gonna provide all kinds of cool stuff to your userbase. But, you're also pressed for time. You're broadcasting on live television, and thus have to make sure your presentations fit within a narrow 90-minute space. If there's chaff to be cut, you've gotta cut it.
Apparently, that chaff this year included what probably would have amounted to 60-seconds of actual on-camera time, yet would have made that New New New Xbox Experience sound a bunch cooler. Tossed out unceremoniously as part of Major Nelson's latest blog were two interesting tidbits about the NNNXE.
The biggest by far is cloud saving, a bit of functionality many have wanted on Xbox Live for some time. Using this new functionality, you'll be able to access your game saves on any console you sign into via Xbox Live. As Larry put it, "gone are the days of gamertag recovery."
Also, "beacons" are being introduced as well. These beacons are designed to signal to your Xbox Live friends list that you're online and want to play a game with anyone who happens to be around. Ideally, this would prevent you from having to send out a million game requests whenever you want to play online with your friends, since they'll just be able to see that you're interested in playing a game.
While these aren't quite as sexy as live TV on your Xbox or some woman saying the words "Kinect...BING" over and over again, it still really feels like this stuff ought to have made it into the conference. But lord knows, we needed that extra couple of minutes of child actors screeching flatly at one another about collecting coins and how awesome Disney everything is.
I really hope to one day see those kids grow up and find careers that require them to deliver such meaningful lines of dialogue as "Would you like some more coffee, hon?" and "Hey buddy, got some change? I need heroin."