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"This Is An Xbox", Microsoft's New Xbox Advert
- Thread starter thicc_girls_are_teh_best
- Start date
- Cringe Hype Platform
thicc_girls_are_teh_best
Member
Plague Doctor
Member
After this ad, I have 2 questions:
1. Is this TI Graphing calculator an Xbox?
2. Follow up question: How much more powerful is it from a Series S?
1. Is this TI Graphing calculator an Xbox?
2. Follow up question: How much more powerful is it from a Series S?
They are selling the conceptual idea of an xbox, positioned in simple ticktok speak that xbox is a thing that lives in all your screens. I don’t like it. I am not the audience. But I see it…I get it, and I expect it will resonate better with its audienceNo, it's actually really bad marketing and I just realized why a few moments ago.
Microsoft supposedly wants to make Xbox a hardware-agnostic brand, but this advert keeps referring to different hardware devices as Xboxes. "Xboxes", as in physical systems that aren't officially branded as Xbox devices, yet are supposed to be a part of the brand.
So, ironically, they're still leaning into a hardware-based identity even in this advert, and it's all due to a single word: an. If they had said "This is Xbox", instead of "This is an Xbox", then they'd at least be communicating that the devices and the features/experiences they bring are part of the brand that is Xbox. It'd be Microsoft specifically referring to Xbox as a brand, rather than once again reminding them of hardware specifically.
They failed to communicate the point they wanted to message, so the advert fails at a fundamental level. All because of a simple two-letter word. No one at the marketing agency thought about this before spending all this money on the ad campaign? No one?
Maybe that's what Mr. Phil (Spencer) meant when he said more acquisitions?
No it's not. The ads don't tell me anything about Xbox as a brand or an experience, just as a gaming device. An Xbox doesn't have to be called an Xbox, but it's still "an" Xbox.
Oh so Xbox is still "a" thing. It's a phone, it a laptop, it a TV. Okay, can I play my 360 games on that phone? Can I download my games from the TV? Can I use that 2TB Seagate CF Express card on my laptop? No? Oh so these aren't actually Xboxes then :/.
The advert should've been selling the brand and experience, not devices. Not saying they couldn't have featured other devices in it, but it should've revolved around the experience itself.
Funny part is, MS did this very well...during the 360 era. They didn't sell the hardware so much as the brand and the experience. Nintendo did it masterfully with the Switch. SIE's done it very well with PS5. This advert's just telling me I can take a bunch of other non-Xbox branded devices and use them like an Xbox console, except I can't actually because they don't offer 1:1 same features or even software.
They need a 2.0 version of this ad campaign addressing the shortcomings I just mentioned.
. They ain’t gonna get into the minutia of how your games are stored or saves. It’s literally for the depressing generation who have a 15 second attention span.
ChorizoPicozo
Member
No one likes it, and there’s no audience for it
bitbydeath
Member
They’ll likely rebrand when they drop the hardware at the end of this gen. I don’t expect GamePass to survive the change so will likely just become Microsoft Gaming.
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FunkMiller
Gold Member
They'll go for something super cringe like 'XWorld'.
fallingdove
Member
The magic of console gaming will cease to exist at that point.
Do you know what my theory is to explain this, taking into account the standard of MS suits?
If they abandon the Xbox name and change it to GamePass, Phill will have to admit that he failed, that he and his trained fanboys (yes man) destroyed the Xbox.
"we changing the xbox, we didn't end it because we didn't change the name hurrr durrr"
The biggest objective of MS's suit is to appear to have won and even if this makes the entire division increase the risk of bankruptcy
To this day they say that Google is to blame for the end of the Windows Phone and that they didn't win (Nadella said) because they ended the division too soon.
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mayham2199
Member
I wonder if Taketwo will even allow it. Do they currently allow the games you own to be streamed from cloud?
It’s aimed at casuals. I’m not sure there’s any casuals on neogaf
. Like it or not, we’re our own little bubble here…relevant for some things, but completely irrelevant for others. My guess is in this case it’s the latter.mayham2199
Member
They are selling the conceptual idea of an xbox, positioned in simple ticktok speak that xbox is a thing that lives in all your screens. I don’t like it. I am not the audience. But I see it…I get it, and I expect it will resonate better with its audience
And they are expecting what? For that generation to sign up for $20 a month gaming sub service? Good luck. The audience who would care about this most are the hardcore audience. HC gamers are the ones who are going to be willing to spend $20 a month on gaming. Not somebody who turns on their phone while they shit and play candy crush.
Solarstrike
Gold Member
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I’d argue otherwise. The services offer by a vast margin, the best value for money to younger audiences. For an older higher income gamer, people have played or own everything on the services. If I was 15 again, gamespass would be some miracle, of an endless fountain of games, I can play wherever I am. Vs a half dozen or so new £70 games per year you need to stretch out between birthdays and holidays. It’s a fucking bargain. It’s them (and their gen X/millennial parents) they are targeting
ChorizoPicozo
Member
i guess you are taking about casual gamers and not general consumers.It’s aimed at casuals. I’m not sure there’s any casuals on neogaf
casuals know that Xbox is dead (reflected in the continuous declined of HW). This marketing is just cringey and it's trying way to hard to make "Every screen is an Xbox" a thing...but that's been the Xbox reality for years.
at this point, the Xbox brand has more stink than a fresh poop in a closed room. (especially for casuals and even stronger for general consumers)
Game Pass and it's value proposition are the best qualities of MS Gaming.
focusing on Xbox is like focusing on your flaws to hook up with someone.
Iced Arcade
Member
I generally think xbox advertisement miss and suck but I like this 1... might be the use of black sheep though
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Punished Miku
Human Rights Subscription Service
A half dozen games is $420. More like 3.5 games.
Miyazaki’s Slave
Gold Member
That's their entire plan probably...eventually parody becomes the status quo
Sega was way ahead of the curve...they suckered...ahem "sold" Microsoft their Dreamcast Next or whatever and just started selling content.
Now they have a thriving movie franchise and their content is on every platform...I mean X-Box.
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Rhazer Fusion
Member
Everything is an XBox.
Then they wonder why console sales are embarrassingly low.
Again with this genius marketing and strategy, another XBOX console, usb stick or portable at this point imho is POINTLESS when most gamers are expecting your games to eventually show up on other consoles. Why bring out an XBOX portable when your phone, tablet, Switch, iPod, calculator, Roku device, etc will play the same games?
Then they wonder why console sales are embarrassingly low.
Again with this genius marketing and strategy, another XBOX console, usb stick or portable at this point imho is POINTLESS when most gamers are expecting your games to eventually show up on other consoles. Why bring out an XBOX portable when your phone, tablet, Switch, iPod, calculator, Roku device, etc will play the same games?
There is simply no way they are releasing another Xbox console in future years with this messaging. Xbox series owners have been abandoned but Phil and Bond will talk about future mobile generational leap in "a few years" to allow for denial to continue.
simpatico
Member
I'll buy the game for my MS account. For Take2 it's just a digital sale.
Miyazaki’s Slave
Gold Member
Tech snob here...and I fully agree I am being picky. They are a tech company though and they are trying to appeal to those who are "hip and with it".
Look at the android phone they are showing...that Samsung phone (it's a Galaxy S10) is as old as the Xbox One (is not)...and probably will NOT run their xbox streaming app (you can side load it) from google play at this point.
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Haint
Member
X-cloud streaming is literally BY FAR the worst way someone could choose to play a game, and BY FAR the worst representation of the medium. Anyone who earnestly loads up that dogshit and sees the equivalent of a bad 480p - 720p Youtube stream and like 200+ms of input lag on their trash ass 30fps Series S level hardware is going to come away with an incredibly negative impression of Xbox and modern gaming in general. This is like Anti-Marketing that will actively drive people away from Xbox and gaming.
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Fluffytheterrible
Neo Member
Xbox stays losing for the 11th year in a row.
ap_puff
Member
The duality of mankind
sainraja
Member
Well, I think most people will see what they are getting at. I don't think they are trying to say all devices are "equals" in terms of capability and features. But yeah, if people miss what they are trying to say, then the campaign failed to communicate the intent.No, it's actually really bad marketing and I just realized why a few moments ago.
Microsoft supposedly wants to make Xbox a hardware-agnostic brand, but this advert keeps referring to different hardware devices as Xboxes. "Xboxes", as in physical systems that aren't officially branded as Xbox devices, yet are supposed to be a part of the brand.
So, ironically, they're still leaning into a hardware-based identity even in this advert, and it's all due to a single word: an. If they had said "This is Xbox", instead of "This is an Xbox", then they'd at least be communicating that the devices and the features/experiences they bring are part of the brand that is Xbox. It'd be Microsoft specifically referring to Xbox as a brand, rather than once again reminding them of hardware specifically.
They failed to communicate the point they wanted to message, so the advert fails at a fundamental level. All because of a simple two-letter word. No one at the marketing agency thought about this before spending all this money on the ad campaign? No one?
Maybe that's what Mr. Phil (Spencer) meant when he said more acquisitions?
No it's not. The ads don't tell me anything about Xbox as a brand or an experience, just as a gaming device. An Xbox doesn't have to be called an Xbox, but it's still "an" Xbox.
Oh so Xbox is still "a" thing. It's a phone, it a laptop, it a TV. Okay, can I play my 360 games on that phone? Can I download my games from the TV? Can I use that 2TB Seagate CF Express card on my laptop? No? Oh so these aren't actually Xboxes then :/.
The advert should've been selling the brand and experience, not devices. Not saying they couldn't have featured other devices in it, but it should've revolved around the experience itself.
Funny part is, MS did this very well...during the 360 era. They didn't sell the hardware so much as the brand and the experience. Nintendo did it masterfully with the Switch. SIE's done it very well with PS5. This advert's just telling me I can take a bunch of other non-Xbox branded devices and use them like an Xbox console, except I can't actually because they don't offer 1:1 same features or even software.
They need a 2.0 version of this ad campaign addressing the shortcomings I just mentioned.
neocycle
Member
On 13 March 2012, it was announced that Phil Harrison had joined the Interactive Entertainment Team at Microsoft. He headed the European operations for Xbox.
havoc00
Member
I legit don’t get what they are doing or why
SweetTooth
Gold Member
Dr. Samuel Hayden
Member
Fucking embarrassing. How everyone at Xbox hasn't been sacked is beyond me.
Topher
Identifies as young
Del_X
Member
You mean on your xbox?
Lagspike_exe
Member
Capitulation day approaching.
Heisenberg007
Gold Journalism
Sorry this seems like a really complicated way to say your a Third Party Publisher, like many that have come before you. All platforms are open for business just like Capcom, Sega, Konami, EA, Take 2 etc etc ..
The only difference between Microsoft and third party companies is, they have their own box with a fancy logo.
The other difference is like Sega your fancy box failed. But wait you have this fancy subscription service that you can't put on all platforms because of closed eco-systems.
What a bunch of crap and a mess.
The only difference between Microsoft and third party companies is, they have their own box with a fancy logo.
The other difference is like Sega your fancy box failed. But wait you have this fancy subscription service that you can't put on all platforms because of closed eco-systems.
What a bunch of crap and a mess.
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panda-zebra
Member
And who is it for exactly?
That kind of gear is for the most ardent fans to flaunt their corporate loyalty and show their colours... and that kind of demographic is somehow supposed to rejoice in celebrating the end of xbox as they knew it by wearing the hoodie and placing green stickers on their laptops?
It is that alone, yet the track is about making a choice between positivity and negativity and that's lost when it reduces down to a choice of shitness tier you're willing to accept in order to access "xbox".
Beautiful. Pick it up, pick it up.... err pack it up, Greenburg.
Ridicululzz
Member
I get people laughing at this; I find it pretty funny myself, but honestly sort of glad that MS are actually going all-in on a strategy at least. Wasn't totally sure on the direction they were going, but at least now I know what to expect out of them.
eerik9000
Member
Greenie markets Xbox Game Studios' (i.e. first-party) games. He does not do platform marketing. Your irrational hatred has blinded you.