Ignorance, misinformation, and a quote from Old Abe

The online thing is the one that really blew me away. Most of us left our (cell phones aside) OG Xbox's plugged in, 360's plugged in or connected Wi Fi. It had a steady stream of internet always plugged in. Was it not "always online"? Most of us connected
to XBL just about everyday anyways. So I really did not see the big deal with that. (But I understand we all perceive information differently)

 

Wow 31% of PS4 owners were 360 owners? That number is staggering. Where did you find these statistics? They sound blown way out of proportion. 31 percent? That would mean nearly 3 million 360 owners switched.

 

Okay, I fell asleep again (my day-night schedule is officially messed up), so I have a lot I'd like catch up on here.

Most of you seem to be focusing this discussion more on the mistakes MS made early on, which is perfectly fine because it is in fact, a factor in all of this, even though I personally don't like to be reminded of their blunders. I have always believed that
MS knew what they were doing and I think they believed it too. I think the overall mistake they made was listening to their own research and the numbers rather than what people were actually saying. They probably looked at their own market research with the
Xbox 360 and noticed that the majority of Xbox 360 users were using apps like Netflix and other media like it over playing video games. It was this information that led them to believe that they had found an untapped potential market, so they went with it.
However, in doing so, they failed to pay attention to what consumers themselves were actually saying or wanted and alienated many of them in the process. As a result of this, all of the media and criticism came after - most of you are spot on with that. Even
I can't deny that MS made mistakes - doing that would truly be a fool's errand. I just think it was more of an innocent mistake rather than an evil, sinister one that many people make it out to be. Again, the people in charge who were put in front of the media
didn't help that image... *sigh*

Following that line of thinking, I'm happy they put Phil Spencer in charge. I think he's the best person for the job thus far, especially for correcting MS' many mistakes and putting the primary focus on games. However, it's that latter aspect that I'm concerned
about. As good as it is to have games as the primary focus, I personally would like an equal focus across all media, which is something I believe the company had in mind. The fact that Mr. Spencer has all but removed the entertainment television aspect they
had planned shows that it will no longer be an even playing field, at least in a way that involves them specifically. Some of you may say that it was never even to begin with, since there are some things you can't do with media on the Xbox One that you can
do on other devices. Despite that reasonable logic, however, I do still believe that even though it may not in fact be the all in one device it promised it would be (which let's face it, is practically impossible), it still comes closer than many other media
devices. Besides, from a reasonable standpoint, one look at MS' competition and the games it offers shows that MS' console wasn't going to be the all in one device it promised it would be because if it was, then it would be able to play games from every console
ever made - which we know would never happen (if it did, it would actually be a bad thing, because that could potentially be the start of a monopoly).

As far as this entire discussion goes, I appreciate all of your responses thus far. Thank you for keeping it civil and rational. I am absolutely humbled that all of you can actually do it (I mean that in no small measure). Keep going!

 

On a small side note, I agree with Beast - I would like to see where those percentage numbers came from, just for posterity's sake.

 

Wasn't hard to find an article with a simple Google search.

www.pushsquare.com/.../e3_2014_a_staggering_number_of_xbox_fans_have_converted_to_ps4_says_sony

 

And how does one acquire stats like that. I mean, accurately.

 

Surveys would be my guess, assuming the article is legit.

 

Surveys are never truly accurate - at best you can get a large enough random sample size that can give you an idea of the overall trend. That being said, the article is over 2 months old and doesn't account for how many of those people ALSO bought an Xbox
One or who may have switched since then.

For the record, let's try to keep the references to the competition to a minumum.

 

The amount of misconception about XB1 on the internet is rampant, when it comes to the general public it escalates immensely.

Time heals all wounds & people will get the facts straight on how great the XB1 is.

I also say a lot of 360 gamers still haven't gone next Gen at all & will get XB1 when it suits them. I know plenty of gamers who are still so content with the 360 & have no interest in even bothering going for a PS4.

 

With great games like The Halo Master Chief Collection, great deals with EA Access and Games with Gold/Deals with Gold, and the ever-improving face of Xbox Live, how long do you all think it will be before the Xbox One console hits its stride? Or do you
think that with all of the bad press, ignorance, and misinformation floating around that it may never quite be what it once was?

 

As far as I'm concerned it already hit its stride since launch. Nothing but good exclusive games last year and this year with even more on the horizon. Then again, I got over the fact that people cost me money with their complaining out of ignorance so all
the negativity just dissipates at my feet these days.

 

It'll hit its stride a bit more with every passing month. With the constant updates from our feedback to the ever increasing exclusives that will keep coming & their now dedicated focus with Phil Spencer at the helm.

I also believe that MS will not wait that long to get another Xbox console out & most likely go all out with it to make it a powerhouse. And that time they will focus more on backwards compatibility over a motion camera.

If they just did that from the beginning they would of got a lot of 360 gamers to upgrade & the Kinect haters wouldn't be upset.

 

[quote user="GG"]Surveys are never truly accurate - at best you can get a large enough random sample size that can give you an idea of the overall trend. That being said, the article is over 2 months old and doesn't account for how many of those people ALSO
bought an Xbox One or who may have switched since then. [/quote]

Agreed about the accuracy, for the most part... It's possible to do an accurate survey, but hardly anyone does. I'm also not familiar with the website I found, so that's why I mentioned my "disclaimer". You asked for a source though, and it was pretty easy
to Google a match.

I can also say I've seen a pretty fair number of 360 owners on the PS forums, and not so much on this side. That's just my observation, but I have no reason to skew facts. The sales figures also say that PS4 has sold nearly twice as much as the X1 though,
so that 31% figure doesn't seem like much of a stretch by any means.

[quote user="GG"]Or do you think that with all of the bad press, ignorance, and misinformation floating around that it may never quite be what it once was?[/quote]

I think MS really shot themselves in the foot with their original policies and the attitude some of the higher ups showed (#dealwithit ring a bell?). Remember too, most people don't keep up with forums and such like you, or even I do. So, yes, they're ignorant,
but for good reason. I don't think the X1 is going to flop this gen, but I think they had a chance to dominate and completely ruined it. They've even lost the U.S., which should have been easy for them if they did anything right at all. I'll be very surprised
if, in 8 years, they have more than 2/3 the number of sales as the PS4. Maybe they'll surprise me, and I honestly hope they do... I still *want* a good reason to buy an X1, but so far there's really nothing for *me*. Sales figures to date also show I'm not
alone. I will say that I like what I'm seeing from Phil Spencer so far, but it very well may be too little too late. Maybe he'll have some surprises in store next week though.

Before they announced all the DRM and other things they back peddled on last year, it was just sort of a given in my head that I'd be getting an X1 on launch day. Maybe their vision of the future will come into being one day, but they did an absolutely horrible
job of portraying it and gave consumers absolutely no reason to think that their vision was something to embrace.

Anyway... You asked, so there's an answer from at least one person from that "31 percent".

 

This could also be a testament to the 360's longevity. As it is no where near the same machine it was in November 2005. It has evolved so much over the years. The same can not be said about the competition's machine. They could have wanted something
fresh. Just perhaps another factor.

 

What concerns me the most about misinformation is that I scan through it myself, and its annoying lol. If I need to quickly look for some info, I have 3 different versions, so I then have to go seeking out which one is the accurate version. I don't think
a lot can be done about it unfortunately, but at least on this domain there is a lot of information to remedy the false info.

The only gripe I have with people that make videos that are blind to the truth, is they seem to target the faults rather then provide a feedback. No one can argue that this gen has been very pro-feedback so far, at least to the majority. So in time a lot
of those videos will be (like you say) debunked which in effect will just make videos that may have been accurate at a time, inaccurate as Microsoft fix things and tweak things based on consumer interest.