Apple doesn't get everything right. Their keynotes, primarily Steve Jobs keynotes, have been undeniably successful. However, when they extend that waxing eloquence to EVERYTHING, and when they repeat themselves, it gets annoying.
It was nice to see developers talk about how Apple changed business for them the first time around. Later on, it, and a bunch of other videos they made, bordered on annoying.
What struck me as odd is MS copying the WRONG parts - annoying parts, of Apples presentation style. Waxing eloquence works when you're ACTUALLY introducing a revolutionary product the first time to the world (aka the first iPhone), not when you're making iterative improvements (subsequent iPhones and any game console)
That jars.
It helps when people who are closer to the process talk, or at least can PRETEND to be close enough (Steve Jobs was really good at that) The shy engineer/designer is a stereotype, not untrue, but a stereotype. there are enough wonderful, creative and expressive people around. Even if not, the VP of engineering or Design lead of a studio is ALWAYS someone who can invest more meaning into a talk about games and a game console than a suit.
The fakeness and scripted, rehearsed nature of it shows. That is where the criticism at failing to copy Apple, or not having the RIGHT people doing the talking, comes.
I'd take awkward or informal but honest, over clean suits and zero actual commitment to what one is saying, any day.
Call of Duty? Beautiful? State of the art? When? 1999?
The new one still looks muddy in all the wrong places. And the characters in Crysis 1 still look a whole lot "holy-shit-I-can't-believe-that's-not-real" better than this "next-gen" stuff.
When will people understand that "crispness" in graphics is SO damn important to making it look beautiful!
Microsoft again learning the wrong things from Apple. Taking their approach to designing CONSUMER appliances to a product designed primarily for consumption by a tech savvy, freedom loving gaming crowd is completely assinine. And this on a system where game installation is mandatory.
If I had to do all that, why wouldn't I just get a high-end PC with a huge hard drive instead. I'm sure next-gen games are going to be super easy to port, considering the nature of both the PS4 and XBox hardware.
Too much BS in these past few days from Microsoft.
Spot on with your criticism of Microsofts attempts to imitate Apple. It seems like all they're succeeding at is learning all the WRONG lessons - what works for Apple (or at least, Steve Jobs) need not work for Microsoft. Microsoft shouldn't be trying so hard to imitate Apple's EXACT presentation style (which itself gets pretty annoying especially with the developer testimonials, sometimes) but try harder to DO what Apple is trying to do in the first place. Communicate their real passion.
Throw away the suits and let your designers and engineers take the stage. Then, you'll see the magic.
If I read some of the comments right, this and the Gamasutra article basically suggests they're killing XBLA. So talented indies either have the choice of competing with AAA offerings in the XBox "One" game charts or hang out with all the other no-budget indies.
The PS4 had a major architectural change. Not supporting old games makes sense. What in the world is SO radically different architecturally in the XBox one that supporting old games would be a problem? Basically they're saying "You've played these silly downloaded titles long enough. Screw you! Oh btw, enjoy this NEW version of Splosion Man EXCLUSIVE to XBox one for ANOTHER 15$. Thank you, suckers!"
@racerxgundam @DKant Hm, maybe. But I don't see the industry in as negative a light as you do. Perhaps that is one source of my skepticism regarding your points.
@Yatterer @mruizinho This is a flawed first-world perception.
Piracy is the number one channel for content consumption in most third-world countries. And it's become such a habit that even people who can EASILY afford to pay for the content refuse to do so. That's what angers me the most.
DKant's comments