At around 7:02:43 on the Gamespot Livestream Jeff mentioned that Microsoft might have some bad news in store for Gamescom. What the hell could it be? A past exclusive going to Sony, some more service restrictions, "oh it was actually $600 we said it wrong"? I don't know what they could announce to make things worse.

It's probably just the console not launching in all European countries. I doubt Jeff knows some huge MS bombshell.

Or he can just be guessing.

@zombie2011: Isn't that already confirmed though via MS' graphic about initial Xbone launch countries? A number of Eastern, and some Western, Euro countries were not shaded green.

Given the beating they've been taking on the messaging front up to now, it's hard to imagine what additional bad news MS could reveal.

That chart might even have less green countries unless MS changes their policies. My country's(Norway) equivalent of FCC is very sceptical about how the Xbone will require always on checks, the kinect and the way they handle consumer ownership of the games you buy.

That's a good point. The map only shows countries they are projecting to launch in. I think the kinect issue will not be as hard a sell to some of the countries as the issue of the consumer's digital rights and ownership will be.

Once people get a hold of the Kinect and runs some packet-sniffing tests through it, we'll know. If they spy on you, they're not getting any units sold here.

I wonder if they have only secured a Cable TV partner in "select European territories"...

Q: Do I need to have a specific cable or satellite TV provider to watch live TV on Xbox?

A: Our goal is to enable live TV through Xbox One in every way that it is delivered throughout the world, whether that’s television service providers, over the air or over the Internet, or HDMI-in via a set top box (as is the case with many providers in the US). The delivery of TV is complex and we are working through the many technologies and policies around the world to make live TV available where Xbox One is available.

Credit: http://news.xbox.com/2013/05/qa

Of course, you'll still be able to enjoy streaming movies and media from the comfort of your own home or from these select partners in these select territories. And even then, you can still experience the Xbox One Experience with this awesome, European exclusive launch titles.

Guessing Jeff was just joking about how their terrible cycle of PR/news will continue at the next event... *dons tinfoil hat* orrrrr maybe behind closed doors he found out that in addition to spying on you 24/7 the new kinect can see you naked like those original TSA body scanners at airports and they plan to announce it as a "feature" :O

MS exec on stage at Gamescom: "We've talked about it detecting your heartbeat, but how can Kinect TRULY sense if you're excited? Well, let me show you......"

if the yield issue rumors are true then I could see less launch countries being it

"Hello Germany! So here's our new Xbox.. and eeeh.. Well.. Your laws dictate that we can't actually launch this system in your country.. sooo... yeeeeaaah. We have them on the floor here but.. eh, they don't work. Anyways, here's our new 360!"

@zeforgotten: "Hello, Poland! We are excited about having Polish dev superstars CD Projeckt Red bring the third installment of the highly acclaimed Witcher series to Xbox One next year. To show our appreciation for the kind of quality content homegrown Polish studios are bringing to the platform, we have decided to not launch the Xbox One in your country. We highly suggest you take a road trip with friends to a neighboring country between now and the Witcher 3's release to pick up a console or two and try to import them. Turn it into an adventure that would make Geralt proud!"

I know in the news that German government representatives have stated that they are extremely worried about privacy issues regarding the way kinect constantly monitors its surroundings especially in the wake of recent concerns the EU has with the NSA. I suspect there will delays for console distribution in Europe until assurances or concessions can be made to assuage privacy standards.

@fushichou187

: I am not polish. However I have a polish friend and have learned so much about poland.

I feel slighted by this, since Poland are not a bum fuck back country. They are a first world country, they have trains 24/7 over alot more country than me in the Uk have. They arnt sour about WW2 and they consume media!

Her brother loves and plays 360. Together they share a wall of Star wars books half of which are translated into polish. For all intents and purposes arnt diffrent as an economy as UK France Spain Italy or Germany. They just didn't buy enough 360's to be put on the map of "internet connected".

Weirdly Wikipedia have a page on Internet in Poland. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_in_Poland

Guess what? they can have better net speed than some of america look.

"Download speeds in the range of 1 to 80 Mbit/s. and upload speeds of 512kbit/s or more."

I am uk running on 60mbs. I could pay a little extra and get 120mbs. They arnt backwards yet Microsoft treats them as such.

@fushichou187 said:

@zombie2011: Isn't that already confirmed though via MS' graphic about initial Xbone launch countries? A number of Eastern, and some Western, Euro countries were not shaded green.

Given the beating they've been taking on the messaging front up to now, it's hard to imagine what additional bad news MS could reveal.

Well that sucks, was planning on getting the Xbox One, guess by default I'm getting the PS4.

@zornack:

I predict that the Gamescom thing is a subsidised Xbone by Doritos and Mountain Dew. People will buy it and there will also be some weird social commentary among the press.

The correct social analysis will be on the Giant Bombcast (via Klepek)!

EDIT: I DO NOT LIKE THIS PREDICTION THOUGH!

No Japan, huh.

I wonder if it isn't something like "Yeah, the German government won't let us release this here." because I remember hearing something about the German government being very, very unhappy with the new Kinect recently.

A large rise in the price of live gold, mark my words.

@9cupsoftea:

I wouldn't be surprised if it was that coupled with a $15-$20 increase of the price for new games. Plus, what features will they continue to hide behind the pay wall?

Your Xbox One requires 2 litres of fresh blood per 24 hours as well as an Internet connection.

I would guess that those packets will be encrypted. To decrypt you will need to extract the private key out of the firmware (which I'll assume is tamper proof), so to do that you will need to break the DRM on the box and get root access.

Has quarter slots that require a quarter for every 30 minutes.

It's not a DVR, which is hilarious.

@patoday: pre orders are 60. Bucks. So no change

Because of bad buzz for XBONE and positive Sony buzz, TitanFall will now come to PS4, to be announced at GamesCom.

That is not what is going to happen.

But wouldn't it be crazy?

@the_laughing_man: I stand corrected.

The Dashboard will have double advertisements. If you select enough you get an achievement though.

DNA sample required for each Xbone account?

For every Xbone sold 10 puppies are killed.

@mcghee said:

Semen samples! And Kinect knows if you left the room to fill that cup...

Ignoring my previous, semi-rational post.

"We were going to announce a bold new partnership between Xbox and the National Security Agency today but, sadly, they have decided to postpone our planes dude to the recently increased scrutiny. We'll have more details on this at a later date."

Cboat on GAF was saying something similar about Gamescon. The one crazy rumour a few people theorized was that xbox live gold would be compulsory for the system to run. That would pretty much be the end of Xbox One for a lot pf people and would lead me to never buy the console no matter what exclusives were offered.

What else could they put rules on? Or maybe they are going to talk more about stuff that has been glanced over.

Major Nelson even said that " We wont be changing anything"

So far all I know is that they are going to announce more exclusives.

@the_laughing_man: To be honest I frankly don't believe a fucking word said by Major Nelson (he is a PR man). That rumour was posted by someone who was at least somewhat in the know (though not cboat, if it was him you could call it confirmed already.)

We have an entire thread about what Nelson said about Not changing.

And cboat did not call everything right for the E3 thing. The biggest one was about Sony staying quiet about DRM.

@the_laughing_man: What cboat said says Sony were staying quiet about there DRM plans for E3 not that Sony would say nothing about DRM at E3. In fact now that I think about it Jeff might have gotten this rumour straight from the cboat post... Also Major Nelson said nothing about changing the nature of Xbox live from the xbox 360 only that they wouldn't change the DRM plans currently announced.

I do not think Jeff wold be quoting a NeoGaf post on a E3 stream. And I am sure they know if they make Gold mandatory it would end for them.

You know, given how exclusionary the XB2 has been so far, I'd totally believe they'd make it a male only console...

@the_laughing_man: I wouldn't be so sure about that. A lot of people get info from GAF. In fact Jeff may even be a poster for all we know. I agree with you that compulsory gold would end the Xbox One and likely isn't true but they were arrogant enough to think that an always online console would fly with people so you never know. Hell this may have been true at some point and them cancelled internally. I guess we will have to wait til gamecom to find out for sure.

The price is going up and its now only 12 hours offline. You heard it here first.

Every booth will only have one game, the new Wolfenstein? I don't know.

Nope.

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