Microsoft basically pulled the same deft dumbass move that Nintendo pulled last year. These press conferences have for better or worse become the secular tent revivals for hardcore gamers. They tune in to be enthused, and to be awestruck by hardcore gaming glory. The manufacturers are even promoting this mentality by having it running live on television, and across the internet.
The crime is in not appreciating the audience that is showing up. The conferences are not where you should be pimping your casual offerings to the casual market. Those are not the people that are watching with baited breath. They will see this stuff on Good Morning America, or will see it while their kids are watching Dora the Explorer.
You can't get by labeling yourself as a hardcore gaming spectacle, and then dump a massive pile of casual crap on gamers. They will justifiably get revolted. This was a piss poor performance by Microsoft, and a real let down for gamers. Who will now have to fish through hundreds of announcements to find the gems that should have made it into a press conference which should have been geared towards them. Microsoft should have stayed hardcore for the press event, and then had a major show floor demonstration to casual media. Which are the ones that will bring the news from the mountain top to the market they seek.
Seriously Microsoft really screwed the pooch with this one. A few key announcements will not cover up an hour of what amounts to tormenting hardcore gamers. They deserve to get reamed. Just as much as Nintendo deserved it last year. Well maybe not so much Nintendo didn't have anything remotely hardcore in their press showing.
