I'm not being a fanboy in anyway and this is a rant about the journalists at microsofts conference aswell. The way microsoft handed out "free" xbox's to everyone was nothing but an underhand business strategy to buy off game journalists, In any other sort of businesses something like this would be frowned upon hugely and to see someone as credible as Micheal pachter asmitting that he can be "bought" is absolutely disgusting.
I'm not being a fanboy in anyway and this is a rant about the journalists at microsofts conference aswell. The way microsoft handed out "free" xbox's to everyone was nothing but an underhand business strategy to buy off game journalists, In any other sort of businesses something like this would be frowned upon hugely and to see someone as credible as Micheal pachter asmitting that he can be "bought" is absolutely disgusting.scotty182
Bought for what, though? It was a press conference, it's not as if these consoles were thrown in with review copies of Gears of War 3 or anything.
Seriously, when they gave out free 360's, it seemed like a way for them to say "hey, our conference isn't that great and we haven't really got the crowd cheering, so we'll just give one of these to everyone here right at the end of our show so when you leave it feels like we did a great job." - That's what I thought, so I guess I'm agreeing with you. It felt like a last ditch attempt.
Seriously, when they gave out free 360's, it seemed like a way for them to say "hey, our conference isn't that great and we haven't really got the crowd cheering, so we'll just give one of these to everyone here right at the end of our show so when you leave it feels like we did a great job." - That's what I thought, so I guess I'm agreeing with you. It felt like a last ditch attempt.
trugs26
But here's the thing - NO ONE cares what the media thought of the press conferences, which, I might add, are all over the internet for everyone to see for themselves on demand. Everyone knows Microsoft laid an egg, and no article could possibly do anything to clean up that mess. Pretending articles matter, and bribing the press into writing positive ones? I doubt it. I could possibly see them bribing the press NOT to write five-page features about how terrible their show was, but even that would be a dumb bribe, since it wouldn't do any good one way or the other...
It was a great idea for MS to introduce the newest model and then ship them to thee entire E3 audience which consisted almost entirely of press people. These people then write about their new Xbox 360 'S'. It was a genius move.
I didn't have a problem with it myself and I didn't see it as a bribe either. To me it was a way to hype the 360 Slim. In a funny way things like this can push sales for a product. It's similar to how Oprah giving items to the audience makes other want to get said item as well.
I didn't have a problem with it myself and I didn't see it as a bribe either. To me it was a way to hype the 360 Slim. In a funny way things like this can push sales for a product. It's similar to how Oprah giving items to the audience makes other want to get said item as well.Archangel3371
Yup. It's cheap advertising when you think about it.
You think Sony didn't send out ps3 slims to people in the industry? This is common practice, it's not to buy favor, but to give them your product so they can review it and write about it. Lets say one of these people uses twitter.. and i'm sure alot of them do, and one of their followers asked, so is the new xbox really quieter, which is better for ms, a response of, I hear it is but I dont know, or yes i'm using it now and it is definitely quieter.
I'm not being a fanboy in anyway and this is a rant about the journalists at microsofts conference aswell. The way microsoft handed out "free" xbox's to everyone was nothing but an underhand business strategy to buy off game journalists, In any other sort of businesses something like this would be frowned upon hugely and to see someone as credible as Micheal pachter asmitting that he can be "bought" is absolutely disgusting.scotty182
Everybody saw through that though and MS still got trounced in press. Plus, most sites I know are giving away those Xboxes, so everyone wins really.
Seriously, when they gave out free 360's, it seemed like a way for them to say "hey, our conference isn't that great and we haven't really got the crowd cheering, so we'll just give one of these to everyone here right at the end of our show so when you leave it feels like we did a great job." - That's what I thought, so I guess I'm agreeing with you. It felt like a last ditch attempt.
DarkCatalyst
But here's the thing - NO ONE cares what the media thought of the press conferences, which, I might add, are all over the internet for everyone to see for themselves on demand. Everyone knows Microsoft laid an egg, and no article could possibly do anything to clean up that mess. Pretending articles matter, and bribing the press into writing positive ones? I doubt it. I could possibly see them bribing the press NOT to write five-page features about how terrible their show was, but even that would be a dumb bribe, since it wouldn't do any good one way or the other...
Yeah, sorry, I wasn't very clear. I don't think they succeeded in bribing, but it seemed like they *tried* to bribe the audience. That's what I meant.
Ok maybe they were'nt trying to buy anyone off, but that's sure what it looked like to me. especially after hearing people like micheal pachter and othe game journalists admitting that they can be bought after pachter gave microsofts conference an "A++". I really didn't expect that fro a so called "expert" like him. So yeah, I guess that's what I'm more annoyed about.
I thought it was just an advertising ploy. News would spread through the internet of MS's generosity and with it, info on the new 360 S. This thread is an example of the marketing paying off - everyone reading this thread will think about the 360 S. Remember; any publicity is good publicity.
Ok maybe they were'nt trying to buy anyone off, but that's sure what it looked like to me. especially after hearing people like micheal pachter and othe game journalists admitting that they can be bought after pachter gave microsofts conference an "A++". I really didn't expect that fro a so called "expert" like him. So yeah, I guess that's what I'm more annoyed about.scotty182
Dude, this isn't bad...it's business. Giving your product to a professional in your industry is quid pro quo. Do you thing GS paid for every last console they use? You don't believe politicians pay for evry car they drive do you? It may be a little sleazy, but in order to compete in today's business world, it's a necessity.
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