MS Engineer comments

[CoopII]

Those people really shouldn't get the XBOX ONE.

It's not really that complicated.

I agree Not trying to be an A** but really if the features that most are ok with bother you so much then maybe this isn't the system for you. I find most complaints seem to be that the Xbox one wasn't built and tailored just for me with all the features I need or want to game.

I remember where I lived having no internet and original Xbox Live just started and several friends where on it and going on about how great it was. Well if I was buying an Xbox to game online with no or flaky internet my beef isn't with the XBOX it's with the Internet. Same thing if you have no internet then maybe the 360 or even PS4 is where it is all for you. Sucks but that's just kind of how it is. The millions of people on Live now shouldn't have to be denied benefits or features so a smaller portion of people can play offline.

CoopII

 

[Huime]

Technically these are all facts, but its a disaster to let an engineer to handle PR.

 

[vertigoOne]

I remember where I lived having no internet and original Xbox Live just started and several friends where on it and going on about how great it was. Well if I was buying an Xbox to game online with no or flaky internet my beef isn't with the XBOX it's with the Internet. Same thing if you have no internet then maybe the 360 or even PS4 is where it is all for you. Sucks but that's just kind of how it is. The millions of people on Live now shouldn't have to be denied benefits or features so a smaller portion of people can play offline.

CoopII

And who is to say that the strain that this new system creates does not help to reinforce the idea that the current infrastructure needs to improve overall? I say push it till it breaks so that the ISPs get the hint.

 

[onysi]

oh my god!!! So Microsoft is doing the Steam model!!! I LOVE THIS!!!

 

[tekhna]

sigh... really, why dont you just wrap with foil the Kinect after you make your awesome tin foil hat, so you would be sure to block any magical spying power?

when will you stop your.......behaviour? for all your posts you have written, you are not even getting Xbox One, so why are you so worried about it having Kinect? you don't even know what it does, how it will do it. but hey the engineer says you can turn the system off completely, so at least none would spy you while the xbox is off *sarcasm*

why are you even in Internet if you are so afraid of someone spying on you? (well you are the one making this stupid "spying theory" not me) you know.. internet = make it easier for someone to spy you and know about you. but but... you know what is this site about? about windows PHONE. you know... phones have cameras, or are you using a non existent consumer windows phone with no camera? or maybe you cover the camera with a tape or something? wow.. just start to sell your tv, your computer, your cameras, your phones because EVERYONE is and will spy you!!. you are so interesting everyone wants to spy you *sarcasm again obviously.*

the vision with Microsoft and Kinect is one.. if you don't like it, just don't get it. if you cant even see (and they showed it) why Microsoft wants Kinect on it, in every xbox one sold, then you are really blind and you have no vision for an innovative future. there is no proves or anything to back up your amazing spying theory anyway... or do you have one? oh well, I know you have nothing to back it up. next ****** story/rumor/complain theory please?
but have a good day!

The NSA can't wait for a Google Glass and Kinect in every home in America!

 

[paulxxwall]

Not one single game I play uses or implemented Kinect bf4, cod, halo nba14, so why can't I be offers an Xbox with out a Kinect save them for those who use it and like it that's the reason I didn't have one in the first place I want an Xbox one but not the Kinect it would save me 100$ towards more games

 

[CoopII]

And who is to say that the strain that this new system creates does not help to reinforce the idea that the current infrastructure needs to improve overall? I say push it till it breaks so that the ISPs get the hint.

Oh I once again agree the ISP providers are in a profit first mentality as any company should be but what I don't like is amount of profit they feel they need to make. Making 1Billion profit means they may spend 1 Million is updating the infrastructure yet making 999Million means they spend 0 on infrastructure. Drives me nuts I mean how much profit do they really need?

My own case is right outside my House there is a fiber optics line right next to where my telephone lines come into my house. Since Cable internet isn't an option in my area I am stuck with 6-7Mbps DSL. Phone company says no Fiber in my area I am like then what hell am I looking at. A phone tech said ya that's fiber but to terminate it and run it into your home they are looking at least two years to turn a profit from me to do the work even if I sub to the highest package. So they wont do it but the new subdivision going in down the road has it because once again no cable option so if they want internet then They pay for fiber so they see a quicker higher profit margin to the cost of work being done. This is from a smallish town with really only one Cable Provider that does not go to where I live and then only three or 4 ISP's offering DSL and one offering Fibe.

CoopII

 

[Robert Carpenter]

Oh I once again agree the ISP providers are in a profit first mentality as any company should be but what I don't like is amount of profit they feel they need to make. Making 1Billion profit means they may spend 1 Million is updating the infrastructure yet making 999Million means they spend 0 on infrastructure. Drives me nuts I mean how much profit do they really need?

They could also spend 500 billion dollars on infrastructure and make 501 billion dollars in return. That equals 1 billion dollars in profit also.

 

[CoopII]

I'd like to save $100 plus too. But you wont get the programmers to make any advancements in game play if only a small percentage of the installed Base owns the equipment. Why would you waste dev cycles on Kinect if only 10% to 50% own one. I like the eye tracking they are talking about. I can see how in a FPS you running into a battle something catches your eye to the right you slightly turn your head and boom the screen moved right to where you are looking and all this while still pressing only forward. Talk about being immersed in a game and feeling more a part of the environment. I am excited to see what they can do with this not as the sole control of the game but as added function to how I already play.

Even with all the negative press I am really excited to get my new Xbox and see what it can do and then 2 years from now say OMG has this ever got better and better.

CoopII

 

[Mystictrust]

It just seems to say "the Kinect can read and react to more-subtle movements." That just tells me I won't have to flail AS spectacularly as I did trying to get Kinect Disneyland Adventures to figure out what I was trying to do.

LMAO... Just place one of those wacky waving inflatable arm flailing tube men in front of Kinect and get 100% of the achievements in Kinect Disneyland Adventures in 10 minutes. LOL!! :grin:

*cough*

Seriously though, the new Kinect has finger tracking. You can use your finger as a cursor. I saw a demo of some game that followed their finger accurately and precisely on the screen as they were making a movement. I knew the old Kinect had some potential but it also had a ton of its own limitations, therefore not a bunch of uses in games "augmented" by the Kinect. One of the more "accurate" uses of Kinect v1 augmentation was showcased on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, where you could angle your foot as if stepping on a gas pedal and it would accelerate a vehicle. Maybe that was also shown at a few other places as well. But it never took off or got incorporated into any actual uses - it was a tech demo, at any rate, using a racing game not built with Kinect in mind.

While some of the games coming out will have you flailing your arms about, tracking finger movements, etc... other games will be shaking off Zombies if you move your body around slightly while still holding the controller. Or tracking your eye movement to look in rearview mirror of a car. Or tracking the natural leans you may do in a game where you are turning or excited and translate that in-game. And imagine the potential for the Fitness games... probably the only games that really took advantage of the Kinect (along with Dance Central)... the accuracy will be incredible. I want the system to be able to tell that I am twisting my body just a little too far, or rotating my arm the wrong direction, or what have you. And actually, Keith, have you seen the demonstrations that came out before E3 - with the people standing in the room and actually showing both on and off screen how the Kinect was tracking each individual movement (twists, turns, etc) of a person's body? And being able to see them not only in the dark, but in a wide variety of super bright lighting situations, thanks to the variety of different cameras and camera technologies built in to the new Kinect. If you haven't seen it, I will gladly go search up a link for you to watch, because it's fairly incredible. Even if you personally will never use it, you've got to at least respect the technology.

Either way, I'm just responding to a small portion of your post that I missed on my Windows Phone browsing through the forums. I know you have a lot of other concerns.

 

[CoopII]

They could also spend 500 billion dollars on infrastructure and make 501 billion dollars in return. That equals 1 billion dollars in profit also.

Wouldn't that be nice but they would also say spend nothing, cut jobs, use cheaper materials, and make 2 billion while spending only 1million. I miss the good old days when I company wanted more profit they made a better product improved on it. Now it's easier to find a tax loop hole, cut jobs, and reduce the quality of a product to make a larger profit.

CoopII

 

[Mystictrust]

The NSA can't wait for a Google Glass and Kinect in every home in America!

haha - they're already working on software for both as we speak. I hear an unconfirmed rumor they're also tapping the "Playstation Eye" for PS4, and Skype as well

When I start to get all uber-paranoid, I sometimes take it to an extreme level: The technology we think is even remotely possible has already been done, and then some. World governments have already figured out how to break the laws of physics and do things we never thought possible, yet we are stifled so that we believe we have some privacy and "that world and technology is a ways off". What if the technology in a certain popular TV show (to be unnamed for fear of spoiling it for anyone) is true, and there are billions of microscopic nanites flying around the air right now... what if at any time those things can spy on us and send back a remote signal? What if we are in The Matrix?

And if we are in The Matrix, can the Xbox One help me to fly around and stuff? :winktongue:

 

[Keith Wallace]

What? they require a Kinect so developers don't need to code things twice. Otherwise they would have to detect whether you have a Kinect and then give you a particular experience based on this. This is a lot of work. Also right now the Kinect is a big differentiator compared to the useless PS Eye or whatever they are calling it.

I hope the xbox games are a little bit cheaper, entire internet would go ape **** saying its not fair

Not true. Say that there is a set of Kinect-based commands coded into a game. All you have to do is put those in a block, and run a tiny check to turn those functions off or on every clock cycle. It would take such a small fraction of time that it wouldn't ever be noticeable. You'd just make the equivalent of an on-off switch for the Kinect commands.

Actually, you don't even have to do THAT. you can have it always listening for those Kinect commands. If the Kinect isn't connected, then it just won't ever receive those commands and respond to them. It won't affect anything any more than not pressing Start at a given time affects the rest of the game's ability to function. you don't have to write to separate versions of the same game code.

 

[DavidinCT]

Tradeoffs my friend. Xbox One would be identical to steam, and allow an offline mode, but people complained about used games. Steam doesn't have used games, so it allows them to implement an "offline mode". If Xbox One gets rid of used games completely, then they can get rid of the 24-hour online check.

Actually they could almost get rid of the 24 hour checks with out getting rid of used games, Very simple. Requre the disc in the drive when you want to play the game when you do not have access to a internet connection. The game can ONLY be played if it was installed on THAT machine, with THAT disc before internet was lost. It would mean that you WOULD need a internet connection when you install the game(allow to confirm games via smartglass on a cell phone/tablet) but, after that point you can play the game off line IF your using the exact disc in that machine. If you tried to sell the game, then you can no longer play that game. If the xbox shows you played it offline, once it is back online, it would need to to drop in the disc again to confirm you own the disc still.

This would solve almost ALL problems with the 24 hour checks and everyones complaint about not being about to use games on a system with out a internet connection(needing a cell phone/tablet with a data plan of some type to confirm games).

 

[DaveGx]

He makes some good points, but why isnt MS pushing these points? When are we going to hear about game prices? If they arent cheaper than the PS4's prices, thats a problem.

And geez, can the guy curse any more? At least try and come off as professional. You represent MS, be professional and try to speak a sentence or two without dropping an F bomb.

I still dont get MS's quietness on this. If you're still working things out, fine. But then you shouldve said little about it to begin with. When you do get it all worked out, you better get some PR skills and explain it and show case why A, B, and C are good for us and how they will be beneficial. And I still say, if youre going ahead with this, having a cheaper game price than the competition would be the way to go. I think thatll go a long way to regaining some folks you lost after Sony bashed you.

 

[Robert Carpenter]

Actually they could almost get rid of the 24 hour checks with out getting rid of used games, Very simple. Requre the disc in the drive when you want to play the game when you do not have access to a internet connection. The game can ONLY be played if it was installed on THAT machine, with THAT disc before internet was lost. It would mean that you WOULD need a internet connection when you install the game(allow to confirm games via smartglass on a cell phone/tablet) but, after that point you can play the game off line IF your using the exact disc in that machine. If you tried to sell the game, then you can no longer play that game. If the xbox shows you played it offline, once it is back online, it would need to to drop in the disc again to confirm you own the disc still.

This would solve almost ALL problems with the 24 hour checks and everyones complaint about not being about to use games on a system with out a internet connection(needing a cell phone/tablet with a data plan of some type to confirm games).

And then you are taking a step backwards, because that means physical and digital games are completely different. They are no longer identical in every way.

Why doesn't Steam do this so then Steam can allow the selling and trading of used games? Surely Steam is evil for not doing this.

 

[vertigoOne]

He makes some good points, but why isnt MS pushing these points? When are we going to hear about game prices? If they arent cheaper than the PS4's prices, thats a problem.

And geez, can the guy curse any more? At least try and come off as professional. You represent MS, be professional and try to speak a sentence or two without dropping an F bomb.

I still dont get MS's quietness on this. If you're still working things out, fine. But then you shouldve said little about it to begin with. When you do get it all worked out, you better get some PR skills and explain it and show case why A, B, and C are good for us and how they will be beneficial. And I still say, if youre going ahead with this, having a cheaper game price than the competition would be the way to go. I think thatll go a long way to regaining some folks you lost after Sony bashed you.

When you consider what they have done and how it will impact sales, is there anywhere to go but up for Microsoft at this point? Post all the pre-order numbers you want, but do those numbers guarantee sales if any earth-shattering announcements happen between now and launch?

And this guy was not tasked by MS for PR, just giving his insider insights...for which he could lose his job if they find out who he is.

 

[Reflexx]

Wouldn't that be nice but they would also say spend nothing, cut jobs, use cheaper materials, and make 2 billion while spending only 1million. I miss the good old days when I company wanted more profit they made a better product improved on it. Now it's easier to find a tax loop hole, cut jobs, and reduce the quality of a product to make a larger profit.

CoopII

That's what "gamers" apparently want.

Now these people that used to want high tech are saying that companies need to cut costs instead of having DRM. They don't care if that translates to lost jobs and studios moving overseas.

 

[Mystictrust]

I still dont get MS's quietness on this. If you're still working things out, fine. But then you shouldve said little about it to begin with. When you do get it all worked out, you better get some PR skills and explain it and show case why A, B, and C are good for us and how they will be beneficial.

I don't agree that they're being quiet... they are being very upfront. They could have ignored all the DRM rumors circulating the internet via leaks and just focused on the console features until they nailed in the final details and exactly how everything works. Problem is, what if it took them until September or October to figure out how everything worked? Hello extra backlash: "This just in: Microsoft tries to hide massive DRM issues". They addressed the leaks head-on by stating how the system would work in general and their vision for it, while also informing consumers of what to expect, and getting everybody ready in advance.

They are being quiet now, yes, and you know... from the interview with the Microsoft guy who said that "We expected this"... it could very well be part of their plan. This is a way to gauge public opinion. I doubt they are going to reverse course, they've obviously thought about this for an extremely long time in a lot of detail, but reactions and suggestions from your random internet commenter to a major online tech blog article might help guide Microsoft to the finish line when nailing down the final details.

They don't really have PR skills though. Information is scattered. Even after the first press event in May, they seemed to privately and separately talk to a number of different press outlets or blog sites or random people walking down the street who asked how their day was. Let's just hope they can iron out these issues soon (by the end of the summer?) and come up with an amicable solution for all.

 

[Reflexx]

MS will wait until things cool down before spending a lot to advertise benefits.

Right now, MS could say that Jessica Alba will personally deliver your ONE to your house and people will complain that it's not a different star.