60°

E3 2018 shows that consumers are still getting a raw deal

The Electronic Entertainment Expo is still an industry event at its heart and that's not working out so well for ticketed consumers.

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gamedaily.biz
PoopsMcGee2157d ago (Edited 2157d ago )

I can't imagine paying money to go to E3. As a 3-time attendee, I got paid to go and it was still an aggravating experience at times (although it was always preferable to the office). The lines and crowd are comparable to Disneyland but the payoff isn't as great. It's still just an industry convention at its heart despite the bells and whistles.

PoopsMcGee2157d ago

Oh, and the last one I went to was about a decade ago so I'm sure the crowds and lines are much worse now.

admiralvic2157d ago

I've been to a number of them, including the latest two with the pass and I genuinely don't understand why these people pay to go. Like, I get wanting to see things at E3, but I was talking to one of them on a shuttle to the airport and he mentioned playing six games. Odd are this is hyperbole, since I sincerely doubt he was only able to check out two games a day, but it still works out to about $33.33 to play a demo.

That being said, I don't think the issue is that consumers are getting a raw deal, as much as the narrow focus of the average consumer causes absurd problems. Like, cards on the table, I had a media pass, still didn't get to see Cyberpunk 2077 and that wasn't for a lack of trying. I also didn't get to see anything Xbox did, Sony (I did see Spider-Man because of the press event and Creed thanks to a meeting), Activision, Ubisoft and so forth, so I'm not really coming out ahead being media either, except I paid up to $250 less, got paid to be there, at the cost of having to write/cover a variety of things of varying amounts of interest.

Anyway, getting to my point, the issue will always be lopsided interest. Nintendo was smart enough to see the demand for Smash, essentially schedule time for people to check it out or at least wait in line and circumvented the whole issue of waiting in a four hour line. What happens for other games is simply the viewing E3 as the most narrow of games.

When people ask how was this years E3, it inevitably leads to questions about Kingdom Hearts III, Super Smash Bros., The Division 2, Fallout 76, Pokemon, Call of Duty, Battlefield and things of the like. This is why, even if we have separate days, these things will have absurd waits, because the vast majority of people don't want to go to E3 to see what XSeed is doing or play the latest Bandai Namco title, it's to see a handful of things, resulting in said things having extremely long lines. Something that has been true since my very first E3 where Borderlands 2 had a line so long I couldn't wait in it without skipping a meeting.

What honestly needs to happen is a ticket system for popular games. Not a poor one like Sony does where a ton of people rush to get a handful of spots, but a generous system where you basically predetermine when you wait in line and set it up so a good number of people can experience it. To put it into perspective, while Square wanted to limit Kingdom Hearts III to 15 minutes, we got 20, giving us about 1,620 potential spots to play, with 15 minutes jumping to 2,160 and this doesn't even include the approximate 324 press spots (432 at 15 minutes). Now, some people will miss out, that much is unavoidable, but at least it will streamline the process. Now I might wait an hour or know whether or not I'm going to see it but that is infinitely better than wondering around the show floor waiting for lines to open or spending four or more hours waiting to see one thing.

steven83r2157d ago

That's the way i prefer it. I have been going for about 10 years now and i hate that the public is there. The lines are ridiculous and the public is rude. Since they paid to get in they don't care how they act and no worries of being banned or repercussions to a company. I've seen them almost fight because they cut in line and most of them smell like weed or are drunk at 9am. There are a handful that are truly excited to be there and appreciate the opportunity. What they should do is just have 2 days be for all and first day only for industry. Sony is a let down every year now with their BS choose a time to play. Somehow all slots gone within 1 second of it opening. Go back to the good old days of having to stand in line.

50°

XCOM's Jake Solomon Q&A - Building a Narrative-Driven Life Sim Game at Midsummer Studios

XCOM and Marvel's Midnight Suns director Jake Solomon has founded a new studio to make a life sim game. Here's a new interview with him.

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wccftech.com
330°

Microsoft's quest for short-term $$$ is doing long-term damage to Windows, Surface, Xbox, and beyond

Microsoft is pushing for no "red line" for what games could come to PlayStation, and it all revolves around Satya Nadella and CFO Amy Hood's plans to increase every department's margins.

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windowscentral.com
Brazz12h ago

"The plan to move Xbox games to other platforms is codenamed "Latitude" internally, and I know there's debate and unease at Microsoft about whether or not this is a good idea. More upcoming Microsoft-owned games slated for PlayStation are already being developed. At least for now, they're potentially obvious games you'd most likely expect. And yes, while it's true Microsoft is a prolific publisher on PlayStation already, it has typically revolved around specific franchises like Minecraft. From what I've heard, Microsoft is pushing for no "red line" for what games could come to PlayStation, and it all revolves around Satya Nadella and CFO Amy Hood's mandate to increase every department's margins. "

Yeah, they are going to kill Xbox hardware.

Xeofate9h ago

"Yeah, they are going to kill Xbox hardware."

It's for the best.

Quit stringing along xbox fans and screwing over PlayStation owners.

crazyCoconuts5h ago

Take good care of those Xboxes if you have 'em ...

outsider16245h ago

An Xbox game on a Playstation. Never in my years of gaming did i ever thought this was gonna happen.

jznrpg42m ago

It is dying anyway so doesn’t make much of a difference

VersusDMC26m ago

No way can they get rid of the hardware as probably 90% of game pass subscribers are hardware users.

Highly doubtful those users will move to PC or Cloud to subscribe there and the competition (Sony and Nin) will never have gamepass on their system.

If they want to keep the current subscribers, they need to keep releasing new hardware.

+ Show (2) more repliesLast reply 26m ago
gold_drake11h ago

i think it will kill off the xbox brand. windows will be fine.

but there is and would be a chance that xbox might be killed off in the future. if they fail to make the money they put in. imo.

S2Killinit8h ago

They wont kill it, but they will go fully PC while keeping xbox as a brand, and go multiplatform for the most part. They will also work tirelessly to diminish console gaming’s importance.

PRIMORDUS5h ago

It would be best if Xbox goes the way of Sega, just make and publish games. I know I myself will not support them at all with buying games from them, you all can. 🙃

ChasterMies4h ago

The Xbox brand will live for the games. I don’t expect Microsoft to entirely drop out of gaming hardware. They make Surface tablets and laptops. They’ll make Xbox branded hardware for those that want it.

shadowT10h ago

"Microsoft is pushing for no "red line" for what games could come to PlayStation"

Forza and Starfield next?

Skuletor9h ago

Starfield would be no surprise and there's the rumor that it will come to Playstation after the Shattered Space DLC, Forza (along with Halo and Gears of War) I find less likely but I wouldn't be surprised if they eventually end up on PlayStation too, especially if Xbox give up on hardware and go the Sega route.

shinoff21839h ago

Not to worried about forza. I'd rather see others like what inxile and obsidian are working on. Starfield sounds like it needs more time in the oven so let it cook first imo. If starfield and it's a small if does release on ps it'll be in the fall around the time for dlc or right at the dlc and come packaged with it.

-Foxtrot10h ago

In the words of Phil Spencer when he was talking about Nintendo last year

“It's just taking a long time for Microsoft to see that their future exists off of their own hardware"

S2Killinit8h ago

Yup. MS are a cancer to console gaming.

Aloymetal8h ago

100%!!
I wonder what happened to that dude that was always here posting those court articles with cartoons about MS spending all those billions in studios. He suddenly disappeared, I guess he doesn't like bad news when the green brand is in trouble. No new articles from him as of late...

PRIMORDUS5h ago

Yup, and it's only going to keep spreading.

Outside_ofthe_Box5h ago

Phil Spencer's words always comes back to bite him lol

9h agoReplies(7)
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380°

The PS5 Has Shipped An Estimated 5x More Units Than The Xbox Series X/S In The Last Quarter

When the PS5 and the Xbox Series X/S first launched all the way back in 2020, console sales were not what either platform manufacturer wanted them to be. The pandemic slowed things down more than ever before, even though in the case of each next-gen console, all the units that were manufactured, sold.

Of course that didn’t last, and soon manufacturing limitations on the consoles were a thing of the past, and sales started to leap forward. For one next-gen console platform, at least.

-Foxtrot1d 1h ago

I can see why Microsoft is putting their games on PlayStation with these numbers

Imagine how many copies of future games like Elder Scrolls VI, Blade, Indiana Jones and more they could sell if they went fully multiplatform.

OtterX20h ago

If they don't, it would be the death of them.

Cacabunga6h ago

Can we then stop calling this a console war? Sony rolling over xbox trillions with a few cross gen games.. what would it be when a new uncharted, horizon or tsushima 2 comes out.. even worse, with GTA6 no one would buy an xbox to play it..

purple10118h ago

while I see your point, i'm one of those people that dont really want to see a M$ logo, when I boot up, however good the game is, unless truly exceptional, I've got enough games from Sony and enough coming down the pipeline, plus the 2 free smaller games on ps+, why do I need to give Microsoft anymore money,

I usually play just GT7 and cod, you've got Gran Theft Auto coming, its over for microsoft, they shot themselves in the foot, and now have to hobble away, to the losers corner, sit there, and repent.,!!! hahaha

bloop7h ago

That's crazy man. Just because you prefer blondes doesn't mean you should turn down a brunette.

GamerRN5h ago

Yeah and that's the fanboy problem right there in a nutshell

OtterX18h ago(Edited 17h ago)

@Purple101 At this point, Microsoft just wants to be the American Tencent, but also just happen to have a console available for those who want it.

I hate what they're doing to the industry, but I would play the next Elder Scrolls on PS5 or PS6 even if I had to look at a MS logo at the beginning. At this point, I'm just invested in the series. I didn't feel this way about Starfield, which is why I've skipped it. Worst case scenario, I'd pick Elder Scrolls up on PC if it didn't come to PS, but I've stayed true to my word - I have not, and will not buy another Microsoft console after 3 red ringed 360s. They've killed my console support for life. They showed how scummy they can be by knowingly rushing out a product before it was ready, just to try and capture a 1 year headstart.

If a MS logo shows up at the beginning of the next Elder Scrolls on a Playstation console, so what? That means Sony won and MS is just another publisher. Many of the large publishers are quite dirty, so it fits them well. I wouldn't mind seeing their console die off though and them solely take up this publisher role.

Jingsing14h ago(Edited 14h ago)

Yeah, I never bought another Xbox console after the 360. But at the same time you shouldn't find yourself captive to Elder Scrolls if the company behind it is very scummy. I dropped COD after Ghosts and I don't regret it the company has only become worse and I'm glad I never was part of funding that.

OtterX8h ago

@Jingsing oh yea for sure. If I sense that Elder Scroll 6 is a shell of its former self w a trashy microtransaction setup, I'll probably skip it. I'll wait for previews and reviews but I sure am hoping for the best. I still play Skyrim to this day in VR.

purple1018h ago

I mean yeh, if they do produce something good, i've got a laptop, +HDMI cable to the telly, link a bluetooth dual sense (that I already own), and hey presto, I don't need an xbox,

but I can't see that happening, ps5pro will the the best way to play, with best graphics and sound, for me.

gold_drake13h ago

yeh same, surprised it took them so long.

jznrpg4h ago(Edited 4h ago)

Personally I did not care for the Indiana Jones trailer. The combat looks too much like a Doom/Dishonored game to me. I think it could have been so much more. Which is too bad as I grew up with the movies and Raiders of the Lost Ark is still one of my favorites from when I was a kid.

If they can bring Elder Scrolls back towards Morrowind I would love it. If it’s like Skyrim it will be pretty decent but not great. Blade has potential. Hopefully it’s nothing like Redfall. I don’t really trust MS to make good games and rather not give them my money as they are bad for gaming. I’ll buy some games used, maybe but that’s about it

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Barlos14h ago(Edited 14h ago)

A surprise to nobody.

S2Killinit13h ago(Edited 13h ago)

5X is a surprise as it’s just unreal.

fr0sty10h ago

Yeah, this console war just became a console genocide.

Jingsing14h ago(Edited 14h ago)

Sony would probably be selling more if they stopped sending mixed signals about their future. Putting games on PC because you are taking data analytic advice from Microsoft about the future of consoles is folly and has limited their potential sales. Microsoft want Sony and the world to believe that consoles are done as a business so companies like Sony and Nintendo etc can end up serving Microsoft's platform. Remember when it comes to Microsoft "It is us or no one and the three E's" Don't fall for it.

S2Killinit13h ago(Edited 13h ago)

MS has forced everyone’s hand in regard to PC. If the other two dont release on PC, they will be giving them an edge. Imo

Although i think Sony/PlayStation would be wise to release selectively on PC.

Jingsing12h ago

The way Sony are doing it though is very suspect, It almost seems like they are trying to tunnel their way out of Steam with a PSN back-end. They should have just launched their own store. Yes this would no doubt upset PC users but you just can't have everything on Steam as that means no market competition. Microsoft and Sony should only use their own stores. That way they can also enforce their subscription fee's (I don't think there should be fee's) like they do on console as right now they are saying people on console have to pay this fee but if you play on PC you don't. That is very anti-consumer.

Skuletor11h ago

While putting their games on PC would lose them some console sales, there's a large market of people that prefer consoles for their simplicity and convenience, I wonder if it would really effect them negatively. Well, I guess at this current point they won't be dragging PC players into a PS Plus subscription, so there's that.

crazyCoconuts10h ago

I think after Xbox is gone they'll make a bigger push to move PC gamers over to PS, and they may halt momentum on the PC ports to do that. PC and Nintendo gamers will be the only ones left to convert

Einhander197210h ago(Edited 10h ago)

Jingsing

This is a reply to this comment.

"The way Sony are doing it though is very suspect, It almost seems like they are trying to tunnel their way out of Steam with a PSN back-end"

That's not accurate, what they want is simply to be able to count PC users as PlayStation users. It's no different than what EA Ubisoft or Microsoft are doing. Heck, people need to sign up for extra accounts even on consoles to play some of their games, you can't play Sea of Thieves or Minecraft without a Microsoft account.

I'm not sure why PlayStation is being singled out like this, I get why it was a problem in Helldivers because they added it after the game was released which caused problems for people who already owned the game, but at the same time it was nothing that all the other major publishers weren't already doing.

ChasterMies10h ago

“Putting games on PC because you are taking data analytic advice from Microsoft ”

Sony is putting games on PC because the market for people who spend $2000 on a gaming PC is different from the market that spends $500 on a gaming console. Also consider that consoles are sold at a loss. Sony probably makes more from selling Sony published gamed to PC owners than selling consoles to PC owners who would only use them play those games.

shinoff21837h ago

I dont think consoles are sold at a loss outside of the first couple years.

InUrFoxHole8h ago

Hold your breath if you think they're gonna stop bringing games to pc

BehindTheRows7h ago(Edited 7h ago)

Selling more? They just had one of the biggest periods for a console EVER (20.8m). That’s not exactly something for them to scoff at. They’d just break more records by selling more, but it’s not a necessity.

Their balance of selling what they’re selling while making plenty of money is how you successfully run a console business.

neutralgamer19926h ago

PC gaming is a platform which is compatible with consoles. So many of keep saying the same nonsense for years ago. PC isn’t going anywhere and more and more games will be on PC

+ Show (5) more repliesLast reply 6h ago
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