Wow, Sterling comes across very angered over this.
His arguments are understandable but his reasoning for anger just seem childish. He seems to confuse marketing and reality, something that is somewhat forgivable for a fan or forum poster but imo not for a journalist.
Honestly this comes across as someone who doesn't understand that business' don't often come out admitting their mistakes but instead choose to move on and take up a different marketing strategy in hopes of improving their outlook.
Overall this is a disappointing video. To get so worked up and angry over a business making mistakes and to do it so focused on only Microsoft (Sony has it's share of mistakes and U-turns) seems short-sided.
Jim is more a consumer advocate than a journalist, he's been that way for years. He's a reviewer, yes, but his opinion stuff is straight up subjective, angry pro-consumer stuff. Doesn't mean you have to agree with him, but just know that this is nothing new from him.
I'm not sure if I completely agree with the video. I prefer them going back on stuff they see doesn't work with the public rather than just press on, even if they lose their "vision" or whatever. I'll never understand people who hated the original vision saying they'd respected MS more if they'd stuck with it, just seems like some backwards bullshit.
That is not what he is saying though, he is saying that they should at least admit that they have been lying about stuff like the kinect always having to be turned on and so on, instead of trying to pass it off like they are doing everyone a huge favour and "listening to the fans" or whatever.
Imagine I say you can't take part in a full course meal, this is just an example, and say that it would be impossible for me to let you in under any circumstance. But I grew worried about your complaints and found it more viable to just let you into the full course meal. Then I proceeded to make myself look great by "listening to your feedback", when really, I lied to your face.
I think the problem that bothers me the most isn't the fact that they didn't apologize, but that they got up on their high horse and claimed that they are number one in customer support. I think that's Jim's complaint too.
They were in a position that they would never be able to please everyone. You can tell now that with the restructuring that they are really trying. Sure they went back on a lot of their policies but that was just a result of their old leadership. Everything has changed now and you can tell from the new leadership that they are a different company. It's impossible to please everyone, especially after such a massive restructuring. Pretty much every important person since the X1 was revealed is different. The fact that they are listening to their userbase and on such a deep level is something that's unheard of, especially in gaming. They are changing so much every month about their console. This change should NEVER be considered a bad thing.
I once made a bull-headed post exclaiming the opposite, but I honestly dislike characterizing MS's recent moves in a negative light as "backpedalling". Frankly, it seems really dumb to fault a company for making an obviously positive move towards what the market wants when it's original plan was so horribly received. Honestly what are we knocking them for... not continuing to be idiots? Frankly, they did exactly what they said: They had a plan, people told them that it was awful, those people didn't buy the machine, and MS changed what they were doing to better suit the market. It's so simple and sensible I'm surprised so many foolishly want MS to charge into oblivion so this generation would make for more interesting reading.
I'll grant that a lot of the phrasing they used for their policies initially was terrible, because describing their unpopular platform as "essential" to the basic operation of the machine when nothing was anything of the sort was gross.
@roboculus92: Well Jimquisition is basically all click-bait anyway so not really being sarcastic no. It made me laugh out loud anyway, just for the sheer hyperbole of it.
That is not what he is saying though, he is saying that they should at least admit that they have been lying about stuff like the kinect always having to be turned on and so on, instead of trying to pass it off like they are doing everyone a huge favour and "listening to the fans" or whatever.
I don't think it was a matter of lying but instead of changing direction. When they initially announced the Xbox One (at a marketing driven press conference) they announced what would be their vision going forward. After being terribly received they reworked everything, redid everything, and made it more for what people claimed they wanted.
As a business they can't admit that the product they still want to sell was terrible or broken because they're still trying to sell it. So any change, especially big ones, need to be marketed correctly otherwise potential customers will assume you're admitting the whole console is broken.
Either way all of this hurt the Xbox and it's reflected in their sales. But to be mad over unmet promises or a change of direction in a unreleased product seems silly to me. As if Microsoft exists in a vacuum and is the only company making promises and mistakes.
I once made a bull-headed post exclaiming the opposite, but I honestly dislike characterizing MS's recent moves in a negative light as "backpedalling". Frankly, it seems really dumb to fault a company for making an obviously positive move towards what the market wants when it's original plan was so horribly received. Honestly what are we knocking them for... not continuing to be idiots? Frankly, they did exactly what they said: They had a plan, people told them that it was awful, those people didn't buy the machine, and MS changed what they were doing to better suit the market. It's so simple and sensible I'm surprised so many foolishly want MS to charge into oblivion so this generation would make for more interesting reading.
I'll grant that a lot of the phrasing they used for their policies initially was terrible, because describing their unpopular platform as "essential" to the basic operation of the machine when nothing was anything of the sort was gross.
Backpedaling is essentially what Microsoft did, though. They promised one thing and pushed forward with that until they realized that their business plan was a complete disaster. So they backpedaled as hard as they could. In the end, all that's really left is a console that's more powerful than a 360, a clunky UI, and some voice commands, if you feel like using the Kinect that was supposed to be a mandatory part of the system. I can't think of anything regarding Microsoft's original business plan regarding the Xbox One that still holds true, other than it's a game console and you can play video games on it.
In short, they backpedaled with a velocity that would be comical if it didn't mean a bunch of hapless engineers had to spend months on end undoing everything that had been built.
Sure MS might have had at marketing failure, but that doesn't mean that the Xbox is going to be one in the long run. Now don't jump on me for begin an Xbox fan. I hate the fact the Major Nelson straight up lied to Angry Joe when he asked about them turning off the DRM ( say what you will about AJ, but he was right about that). This is still the early stages of the current gen. Shit can still happen on both sides. They (Sony/MS)have plenty of time to fuck up more then they have already in the past.
Either way all of this hurt the Xbox and it's reflected in their sales. But to be mad over unmet promises or a change of direction in a unreleased product seems silly to me. As if Microsoft exists in a vacuum and is the only company making promises and mistakes.
Jim isn't mad over the change in direction. It's the change in direction without apology to its early adopters or the studios like Harmonix that were banking on things like Kinect being a mandatory part of the system. Microsoft portraying these changes in direction as a purely positive thing for all parties involved is a fallacy.
Microsoft was really stuck, sometimes the right thing to do is admit error and try to change. Whether their vision had merit or not, they presented in such a hamfisted tone def way there was no way to save it. If they didn't people would have completely turned on them
Unfortunately their strat for X1 was an all in one, so there is no easy way out of this for them. Like it or not they are playing Sony's game now, and Sony has a fairly clear hardware advantage. Microsoft's only chance I think is to land better exclusives and at least so far they are doing fairly well on that front.
His "point" isn't really that inflammatory in the end.
I've heard a lot about Jimquisition but have never watched it. I didn't realize it was a comedy, I thought it was just another guy sharing his opinion online.
I guess the iconography is meant to refer to him addressing an angry crowd.
So this is a regular thing? Is it at least ironic in any sense?
It's ironic but it doesn't make it less grating. I have to try really hard to look past my distaste for this format when I watch it, and I often find his points to be pretty lacking in substance. That's the worst part. He spends so much of the videos going 'hnnnngh' and being ironically stuck up he forgets to expand upon the really obvious point he's making.
It should be noted that people are giving flack to Sterling saying he should give "equal time" and complaining about the PS4. The key this time is Sony make moves that promised one thing but delivered another.
As mentioned in the by others and explicitly in the video, the XBox One isn't a bad system but the decision making all over the place is disappointing some ways and infuriating in others. If people can't say "I really want Microsoft to stop doing that" without being accused of irrelevant stuff then what can critics do?
His "point" isn't really that inflammatory in the end.
I've heard a lot about Jimquisition but have never watched it. I didn't realize it was a comedy, I thought it was just another guy sharing his opinion online.
It is an opinion piece, but he does it with a certain comedic flair (ex: The background image, his "Thank god for me" catchphrase, etc). I think some people honestly don't realize that he doesn't actually take himself that seriously. He's very opinionated, but he's also a passionate consumer advocate, and it's at least not hard to see where his arguments are coming from, even if you don't necessarily agree with him.
Either way all of this hurt the Xbox and it's reflected in their sales. But to be mad over unmet promises or a change of direction in a unreleased product seems silly to me. As if Microsoft exists in a vacuum and is the only company making promises and mistakes.
Jim isn't mad over the change in direction. It's the change in direction without apology to its early adopters or the studios like Harmonix that were banking on things like Kinect being a mandatory part of the system. Microsoft portraying these changes in direction as a purely positive thing for all parties involved is a fallacy.
I can understand that for sure. But I guess his format makes him come across more like an angry nerd complaining Microsoft isn't perfect than a real critique of marketing and messaging. Someone does need to examine what Microsoft did and is doing but videos like this helps no one, imo, and only furthers to inflame fanboys.
I guess really what I don't understand is why he's so angry and why he choose to represent his opinion in such a poor fashion.
The near monthly updates have done a lot to improve what was initially a rough launch. The kinect is great for watching netflix. I don't regret purchasing it at all and am very pleased with the experience so far.
Either way all of this hurt the Xbox and it's reflected in their sales. But to be mad over unmet promises or a change of direction in a unreleased product seems silly to me. As if Microsoft exists in a vacuum and is the only company making promises and mistakes.
Jim isn't mad over the change in direction. It's the change in direction without apology to its early adopters or the studios like Harmonix that were banking on things like Kinect being a mandatory part of the system. Microsoft portraying these changes in direction as a purely positive thing for all parties involved is a fallacy.
I can understand that for sure. But I guess his format makes him come across more like an angry nerd complaining Microsoft isn't perfect than a real critique of marketing and messaging. Someone does need to examine what Microsoft did and is doing but videos like this helps no one, imo, and only furthers to inflame fanboys.
I guess really what I don't understand is why he's so angry and why he choose to represent his opinion in such a poor fashion.
I wouldn't say he's angry in these videos normally, but more impassioned than anything else.
I'll admit it. I thought MS was going to be fine. Oh, make no mistake I thought what they originally panned was a DISASTER. I'm convinced they thought their dominance of the North American market made them feel like they could shove and twisted the knife any way the wanted and we would have accepted it. Thus I was disgusted by their unveiling in 2013 and was heartened that people didn't just accept it.
YET, I really thought MS was going to be fine and people would buy the system anyway. I thought the millions of XBox 360 owners would toe-the-line eventually, and they woudl do this because MS was so quick to back away form their mistakes. I thought the faithful customers would have been satisfied and that MS would only lag slightly in North American and only lack slightly in Europe.
Make no mistake, I am still not convinced I need an Xbox One. (I just don't see any games I want.) But, I'm a little surprised that the brand they build was damaged so quickly to the point where their sales are lagging very far behind Sony's. MS had what amounted to 10 million more customers in North America than Sony did last generation (or so it appeared), I figured those people would be loyal even if it was not in their best interest and even if MS has an inferior product.
i have always agreed with and liked jim sterling,so it comes to no surprise i 100 percent agree with him now.i never liked microsoft or its previous consoles,and when they did all this crap with the xbox one that was the final chance from me.unless the xbox one suddenly gets all the exclusives from now on there is ZERO reason too own one,and even if that happened i would probably just get a pc at that point because i dont like microsoft.i think its funny some people think jim sterling is mad and they dont like that.with everything microsoft did it shouldnt shock anyone that he or me or anyone else is mad about it.microsoft deserves all the hate it gets,jim sterling and everyone else can and should be mad at microsoft.so all the people who dont like it that people are mad about this imo either dont care what microsoft did,or support it.
I would have respected Microsoft more had they the balls to actually weather the storm instead of constantly making panicked reactions.
Would you? Isn't it just as likely that everybody would have perceived them as bull-headed about a feature only disconnected investors look forward to?
Yep. It's a lose-lose situation for Microsoft.
On the topic of the Kinect not being important to the system, I'll say that while true in a technical sense (system runs fine/better without it), I think it was important to their vision. I think there was something to their vision but maybe it was too early for that. The technology doesn't work as well as it should and people weren't prepared to accept change. You know we're all going to be inevitably living Minority Report. Either way, I think both consoles and their games have been rushed and probably could have used another year of development.
I also think that Sony has greatly benefited from Microsoft's missteps. They've had either the luck or the good sense to watch Microsoft act first so they could gauge reactions and adjust accordingly. I wonder if Sony wouldn't have tried many of the same things without seeing Microsoft falter first.
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