Eurogamer (like most of the gaming media) have been very disappointed by Xbox One X, and even more disappointed by Microsoft's horrible Xbox One X press conference yesterday at Gamescom!
Also remember it was Eurogamer (aka Digital Foundry) that scored the world exclusive reveal of the Xbox One X - and even so, Eurogamer still can't hide their disgust at what an utter dead on arrival piece of shit the Xbox One X really is!
Microsoft's final sales pitch for Xbox One X falls flat
As the allocated 90 minutes clocked up and we all began to think about the few short hours left until we drag ourselves up for the Monday commute, it was hard to make head or tail of what Microsoft's Gamescom show had set out to achieve. In an hour and a half of reheated E3 trailers and recaps, there was perhaps one announcement of a genuine exclusive for Xbox: a vertical console stand for the day one edition of the Xbox One X, as unpackaged by Major Nelson in an abandoned office on the other side of the world.
Whether this was a conference or not was neither here nor there, for Microsoft had requested the attention of an audience hungry for anything after a lacklustre E3, and staring down the barrel of an unconvincing Q4 for Xbox. This was an opportunity to convince the world that the Xbox One X was going to be a worthwhile bet this year, perhaps the last before the console's launch, but when the pre-orders went live at the close of the show it was difficult not to feel that the sales pitch had fallen flat.
It all brought up the same question that kept recurring again and again - who is this thing for, and what's Microsoft setting out to achieve with the Xbox One X? Its mantra, repeated ad infinitum in official material, is that this is The World's Most Powerful Console, but there's the nagging feeling that elsewhere in Redmond things aren't running quite so smoothly.
You can sense that in the same mistakes being made again; Microsoft stepped up its commitment to PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds, backing a proven winner, but the messaging was all over the place. This is an exclusive in that very loose definition of the word, with all sorts of obfuscation being peddled out when it comes to future versions on other platforms. Maybe if Phil Spencer hadn't skipped this week's show he might have advised that, mindful of a Gamescom from the not-too-distant past and the muddied reveal of another Xbox 'exclusive', you can't pull the wool over people's eyes for too long.
It needs new and exciting games, and just one reason to make the Xbox One X essential - an Uncharted, or a Breath of the Wild, to make the console's case for it. Forza Motorsport 7, as fine as it looks, doesn't quite cut it - alongside Gears of War and Halo, it feels like yesterday's news, and not the shot in the arm that's needed right now. You could argue that the PlayStation 4 Pro didn't have its own big showcase game, but given Sony's momentum and success so far this generation, it didn't really need one.
For all the bluster of the Xbox One X, and its proud claim to be the world's most powerful console, it seems its intentions are surprisingly modest. A boon for the fans, with a little exclusive vertical stand thrown in to boot. Given the hits the brand has taken over the past few years, staying upright might be all that can be asked for right now.
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