3/10
5/10 would be average. 4/10 would be mediocre. 3/10 I felt there fundamental problems.
Problems:
1) Only 20 minutes dedicated to games, half of that being for CoD.
2) The gaming showcase didn't really hype me up. For example, inFamous spent a few minutes doing a good monologue to set the tone, and then they show a really heart pumping trailer. I guess I just didn't ever feel like what was showcase made me wanting for the next gen to come right now.
2) The functions/features could have been sold better.
Two examples:
a) Skype. They should have had a montage, showcasing people watching shows together in moments that make sense. E.g. a bunch of college guys watching a sports game together, and going absolutely nuts when someone scores (some are celebrating, a few are absolutely in agony). The demonstration they did didn't really communicate the benefit in a practical or emotional level.
b) Internet explorer. I would have had someone pause their game, and go to a gaming site like GameFaqs for help, and then starting the game again to beat it.
Overall, there were some broad problems.
Microsoft struggles to push BENEFITS from a CONSUMER'S perspective. Don't just fucking randomly switch from TV, game, etc. I just can't see how that'll really happen in real life. It feels sterile. Maybe do a quick 30s video that comedic shows a guy playing a game, and having his family members quickly switch through to the other things (although that may really just harm, rather than help...)
Related, is on a more emotional level. Again, I absolutely loved the inFamous presentation in the PS4 conference. It was a game I was passionate about, and the game developer seemed really passionate about it too. The Drive Club guy was awkward, but again, you seemed to feel a sense of passion from him.
Sony had a focused message that the PS4 was about games. Helping developers create what they want, and allowing gamers to play those creations. And hopefully you got excited after seeing Watchdogs gameplay or Killzone.
Microsoft just didn't really seem to have that spark that makes you want the next gen to come as soon as possible.
Finally, not in terms of execution, but strategy. I'm really wary about Microsoft's strategy. They seemed to be straddling two different consumers that don't seem to overlap. Are they pushing the non-gaming benefits to expand the market to households that don't have a single person who plays video games? In other words, would people who don't play video games at all, want the Xbox One just because it's superior to a standard cable box and DVR? Or are these non-gaming features supposed to be the competitive advantage that would tip the scales of a "hardcore" gamer to the side of the Xbox One. If so, there seems to be a fundamental contradiction trying to attract these "hardcore" gamers with features that might make them feel alienated.
Another problem of straddling is that each feature is only raising the willingness to pay of one customer (or a lot for one customer, while only a little for another).
Basically, if I made a graph with Sony it in, it might be much more heavily leaning toward the hardcore, as opposed to the casual.
Finally, I'm just skeptical of how much value the non-gamers, as well as gamers, would put in with a lot of the TV features. I mean, let's just give the benefit of doubt that doing stuff on the Xbox ONE is a superior experience to doing something similar with your smartphone, tablet, etc (e.g. surfing the net while watching TV).
The two questions to ask are: 1) Would people be willing to pay a high price premium to get that superior experience? 2) Would Xbox One eliminate those substitutes?
1) is the million dollar question and 2) is a big fat NO. Even if the Xbox ONE is better at doing stuff than a smartphone, tablet, laptop, people aren'g going to substitute these devices with a Xbox One.
So executionwise it was meh, contentwise it was meh, and strategywise it's worrying.
