Xbox Live's Major Nelson » Modern day web ‘journalism’ :

http://www.brainlazy.com Phawx

Listen, just make the next xbox have all the specs.

Russell Gorall

And not RROD on Day Two!
- Sinister Kahuna
  
  Yes, exactly! I’ll be waiting at least 6 months after the (new) console’s release to see what issues show up.
  
  It also better be 100% compatible with my downloaded 360 content, or I may skip the next generation of consoles altogether.

http://twitter.com/xJCCx JCC_Xboxygen

Instead of letting rumors invade the net, made an official announcement ! Anyway, we are not dupes on your plans for the Xbox.

BostonSup

So does that mean that it isn’t true that starting with Xbox 720, MS will start having unique deal of the week, allow publishers to set reasonable prices on DLC without interference (ie Oddworld, etc), have reasonable prices for Arcade games and Games on Demand, as well has have Xbox Live features that aren’t solely additional fee based apps and XBL being littered with ads (even though each of the million+ of people pays about $50 a year for it)?

Russell Gorall

It is a classic case of Microsoft saying look at this over here, isn’t that weird?, all the while trying to make billions on services and products that are free elsewhere.

And, in true Major Nelson fashion, he is trying to be topical through a Tweet about a problem that he embodies.
- http://www.majornelson.com Major Nelson
  
  Using your deep and wide river of wisdom please show me how this a problem the I embody .
  - Russell Gorall
    
    I thought you worked for Microsoft?
    - http://twitter.com/iKeepPounding Wes
      
      Oh, now you’re just trying too hard. What did he even misspell? Here’s a little puzzle for you to figure out. When you do, I hope the message reaches you.
      
      You
      ——
      Yourself
      
      ((Spoiler alert: You should get over yourself.))
    - Russell Gorall
      
      He edited it after I mentioned it.
      
      If you have an opinion on anything other than myself please respond. The Internet is a big enough place for everyone. Cheers.
    - http://twitter.com/damashedavenger kit walker
      
      your feeding him…
    - http://twitter.com/iKeepPounding Wes
      
      Big girls need love, too.
  - http://www.facebook.com/people/Curtis-Isabell/1036013363 Curtis Isabell
    
    On psn all the apps like netflix and hulu are free, while on xbox you need to spend $60 a year on gold membership, so right there is your perfect example. then we can use the example of actually playing games, why pay for gold when it is free on the wiiu pc and ps3. you work at MS right? well don’t you research competition?
    
    so lets remove apps, and games… what else is there benefits for gold members.. I know sales! well as you can see by everyone on your own blog that laughs when each week we get some of the worst sales in the INDUSTRY. but don’t worry, we should buy games for $10 more then their retail versions right? not to mention the horribly overpriced DLC and arcade games that are over in 3 hours but sell for $15.
    
    But that isn’t all, the dashboard now is horrid and has ads everywhere. no one wants or needs ads for coke, mountain dew, or games that are online on PC on their xbox.
    
    Meanwhile MS will jump all over something stupid like a fake rumor instead of answering why gold membership even exists, giving the gamers that built the console what they want and overall why xbox is dieing.
  - Frank Costanza’s lawyer
    
    Wait a second. Does that mean that “Major Nelson” actually exists? For real? Oh wow. I can’t wait for him to start answering some of our questions. I mean, instead of only answering questions that bruises his ego, that is.
    
    This is a reflection of what this industry has become: A bad joke. You don’t respect us, we don’t respect you. You don’t need to be a rocket scientist to see that, Just check out “Final Fantasy: All the bravest” to see what the “industry” thinks of us. It’s an eye-opening experience.
    
    Ways to fix this: Day one DLC, in-app purchase, digital games more expensive than the retail ones and a total disregard to the people who pays your salaries and “bonuses”. You guys just do that and everything will be alright.
    - http://www.majornelson.com Major Nelson
      
      I try to drop in and answer questions when I can. If I could wave a magic wand and fix all you mention I would.
    - BlinkFandango
      
      Now I’m very concerned about what Curtis brought up and your statement worries me. The question is why are we still paying $60 for Xbox Live?
      
      1. Online gaming is free on other platforms, access to apps is free on other platforms, so that can no longer be the benefit. You might not care about Wii U at the moment, but isn’t the Playstation kicking MS’s trash everywhere but the US (and catching up over here). You should be worried about what the competition is doing.
      
      2. So now all we have is deals, you say you can’t wave a magic wand, but someone did over the Christmas break and we got awesome deals, I spent over 4000 MSP (I think it was around 6500 MSP). That’s almost as much as what I spent on the previous 6 months COMBINED. Sony waved a magic wand and made PSN+ worthwhile, Wii U waved a magic wand yesterday and gave everyone a reason to buy their console. All Xbox has to do is have non-repeated deals to be good and you’re saying there is no one that can do that? I know you personally can’t, but whoever has the power to do so needs to start listening to their customers, because I’m invested in Xbox now so you might be able to keep screwing me over for the next few months, but when the new consoles come out, right now I’m planning on getting a Wii U. So someone better whip out a magic wand and save the deals, because the current deals team is getting paid way too much for doing too little (i.e. throwing a dart at a board with huge posters of Red Dead, Bioshock, and Borderlands and a tiny passport sized photo that says “what customers actually want”).
      
      3. Also, why the heck can’t old games and DLC be discounted? What is stopping you? I feel like 90% of the problem stems from the fact that almost NOTHING gets discounted EVER. You can’t possible be making much money off of stuff like Mirror’s Edge DLC or Burnout Paradise DLC (yes, those are ones I want personally, but there are plenty more I don’t really care about that would benefit from discounts), but if you permanently reduce prices on old content four important things happen: i) You advertise it, so people want to buy it, ii) It’s cheaper than before so more people want to buy it, iii) Now that it is permanently discounted you won’t have to make it a deal of the week, so we won’t get repeated deals and iv) You’ve done something that favors customers over yourselves, which improves the image of Microsoft increasing my chances of purchasing the next Xbox because I now believe that you actually will take care of your customers with that system.
      
      TL;DR: If Major Nelson doesn’t have a magic wand, we need to be in contact with the person who does so we can get permanent discounts on old content and good deals on new content.
    - http://twitter.com/damashedavenger kit walker
      
      i think u just did exactly what he was complaining about… far too often u get sucked into bs with trolls, while legit, on topic questions go unanswered.
      
      it is rather immature and very annoying.
    - Fred
      
      I applaud Major Nelson for taking the time to actually respond to messages like this, when most would not.
      
      Bucking the trend, I would like to remind people that it is easy to complain, but let’s not forget all the things MS got right:
      
      1) Bundling voice chat on everything. Every LIVE game does it, and people use it. On PSN, it hardly seems used at all.
      
      2) Ditching the custom memory cards and allowing the use of USB sticks on the console. My nephew’s core console is useful because of that. 16Gb for a few dollars vs. $100 for what Sony charges on the Vita? Good move, Microsoft.
      
      3) Standardizing everything online. Global friends lists, etc. are all things PS3 owners (myself included) had to wait for.
      
      Of course there is room for improvement. Personally, some of the older arcade titles could use a price drop, along with older DLC etc. And I’m not fan of locking out services like youtube which are free on every other device. But that said, as long as there is a forum where somebody is willing to listen, there is at least hope that there will continue to be improvements in the future.
    - http://www.facebook.com/people/Curtis-Isabell/1036013363 Curtis Isabell
      
      well, his real name is larry herb he major nelson is his gamertag iirc.
- Lee Thomas Rayson
  
  Microsoft isn’t the only company that wants to make money all companies want to make money. they don’t force you to use the service if it bothers you so much I’m sure you be able to find the services you want else were free right?
  
  Every day you have something else to moan about is your life that dull?
  
  it the same pattern
  
  Microsoft – Major – halo 4 – deal of the week – “my sub up in February so I don’t care”
  
  Yeah I’m likely to get thumbs down for this(many by the same person like always) not being a fanboy or anything but
  
  This is how Microsoft has been since the launch of the Xbox 360 if it hasn’t changed by now it likely won’t
  - Nick Peck
    
    Well said. I love going around on sites to see these poor soles that think you are only allowed to like and or own one system. Guess what guys, psn won’t be free like it is for much longer. Pretty soon to get most “nice” things you will have to pay for psn+ at $50.00 a year. Go to newegg.com, they have xbl 12 months on sale for $40.00.
    I have been a member of XBL since beta, still have my burned discs from the Xbox and have enjoyed it over the last 10 years and have never once minded paying for it. PSN is a mess to get around (even with the redesign) and it slow as hell, which it has always been (then there’s the full game install times lol).
    I’m sure next gen will bring some major online changes and I can’t wait to see what we get when MS is ready to tell us. Major, just ignore these guys, they have nothing else to do but be internet “cool guys”, if it was in person they would stare at the floor and walk away.
    Oh and Major, ever need a helper at work let me know :p I should have a wing at MS headquarters by now!! Keep up the good work and take care.
    - http://www.facebook.com/people/Curtis-Isabell/1036013363 Curtis Isabell
      
      poor soul thinks PSN will cost money next gen. please keep showing you are a ridiculous fanboy, microsoft can’t do anything wrong right?
    - Nick Peck
      
      Soooo you haven’t noticed all of the “better” stuff only happens on psn when the + is present? It will get worse as those who pay will always get more and better deals while free trails behind in the dust.
      
      Never said MS could do no wrong, it’s run by human beings so mistakes are always made, however that hold true to ANY company. Just look at sony with their bleeding jugular
      
      But I do love you sony fangirls. First it was so cool with the ps3′s backwards compatibility which over the years is now what, gone/worthless for the most part? Then it was how stupid MS is for charging for live, but now you pay for psn+ and it’s ok. I love the double standards and how all of the fanboy arguing goes away when “your guy” does it lol. Whatever.
    - http://www.facebook.com/people/Curtis-Isabell/1036013363 Curtis Isabell
      
      all the + stuff is a BONUS are you dense? if I stopped paying for plus right now I could still play all the games I bought online and it would be no better or wore than i I had PSN+. the reason plus is so good is because it’s amazing for the value. you get $100′s of dollars worth of content for $50 a year. if you get 1 free game or 1 good sale on an item you want a month you pretty much payed for your subscription. not to mention other bonuses like timed trials.
  - Russell Gorall
    
    Way to stick up for the big guy.
    
    While I am posing questions as a consumer and gamer, you are posing questions and posts about one person’s opinion. The Internet is a dangerous place if you find opinions a bad thing.
    - http://twitter.com/boe2BE Boe2
      
      Throwing around baseless accusations and hyperboles hardly equals to “asking questions”/
    - Lee Thomas Rayson
      
      Thank you someone actually gets it
    - Russell Gorall
      
      You used hyperbole on the Internet, you finally did it.
  - http://twitter.com/GreenMistt Miller
    
    “not being a fanboy or anything but” But we know you’re the biggest one around here anyway so no matter what, you would bend over for them.
    
    Anyway, the DotW is a legitimate reason to complain. Why? Because Major always reassures us (by lying through his teeth) that the “team” look at Major’s blog and read the comments, they hear our feedback. But proceed to do NOTHING at all about it. So if people are going to lie to you and ignore their CONSUMERS the ones that allow them to keep their flipping jobs, are you still going to stand up for them? (it’s rhetorical btw, I know your answer already)
    - Lee Thomas Rayson
      
      An you know Major lying about this how? the marketing team may in fact read comment they just may not want to listen due to people leaving negative feedback all the time. Instead being negative about it perhaps leave suggestions, with the amount of negative comments and troll comments why bother listen to us?
    - http://twitter.com/GreenMistt Miller
      
      Unbelievable.
      
      The complaints started slowly and gradually when consumers realised MS were doing nothing to compete with their competitors. All/most were legitimate complaints. This went on for a while (some troll ones too), we got ignored continuously, more people voiced their opinions. Nothing. Even when major said the team were reading… nothing (maybe 2 good deals over the course of last year were a result of voiced opinions… wow). And you expect people to still make a formal complaint now? No.
      
      If it’s anyone’s fault for making so many ‘trolls’ and negativity on this blog it’s due to; lies, ignorance, disrespecting fans/consumers, and the fanboys downvoting anyone who disagree with MS’s practises, even if it was in a constructive manner.
    - http://www.facebook.com/people/Bush-O-Connor/555604190 Bush O Connor
      
      you better stay away from the halo waypoint forums if you think its bad here
    - Lee Thomas Rayson
      
      I agree with some points you made yeah other company’s are offering better deals this past year than xbox. But vented on Major’s blog isn’t the place even if the marketing team are reviewing comments.
      
      The same people who complain about the deals end up buying whats on offer at some point(I know from experience as I have bought into sucky deals in the past so I wont be the only one) an until sales numbers start to decrease they wont listen.
      
      A few year ago they had really good sales almost 2 weeks out of the month an that was because a lot of us were not buying digital content and since the increase in sales they feel they don’t need to work at it anymore
      
      Hopefully it change for the next console but I don’t think it change now
  - BlinkFandango
    
    Your problem is expecting it not to change. Xbox had a better service than PS and Sony worked hard to change and they came out with PSN+, which is in my opinion a great idea. When Steam first came out everyone hated it, now it has the best deals out of any gaming store in the world by far. As for Wii U, I never thought I would ever want one, but they finally changed yesterday by announcing a bunch of reasons to own a Wii U (more Zelda + more Mario), from having a hazy future to a clear cut future, they changed their outlook.
    
    You’re right, I complain about my sub not being worth it, but the fact is I still have one. In my defense, I’m invested in the Xbox 360, I was invested in it long before PSN became good and the Wii U became a reality and as for why I don’t use Steam, the price of a decent PC coupled with the fact that there I like to play co-op with my wife negates that for now.
    
    So I’m invested in the Xbox 360, I actually don’t care all that much about the deals, what pisses me off more is the fact that content never seems to get discounted. And I mean OLD content from like four of five years ago. In six months Halo 4 will drop to like $30, but DLC for a four or five year old will remain the same price (on Xbox, Steam discounts things like a normal retail store and I don’t know enough about PSN to comment, but they had the time trials for Mirror’s Edge DLC free since 3 years ago).
    
    Now MS might not change, but that won’t stop me from complaining about the fact that MS has a monopoly over the prices in the Marketplace and that they shouldn’t abuse it like they currently are.
    - http://www.facebook.com/people/Curtis-Isabell/1036013363 Curtis Isabell
      
      PSN won’t cost money though, PSN+ still will but they wouldn’t be dumb enough to start charging people just to pay online in this age there is no need to, when xbox live started it was hard to get smooth online anywhere, even many pc games had issues, ps2 online was terrible, the dreamcast only had like 1 game online, gamecube only had like 1 game online, xbox brought internet to consoles in a good way but it’s no longer like that, aside from the wii the online of other consoles and PC are on par with xbox.
JuanCabrera

And don’t forget about those dreaded MS points. Hopefully , with the new system, we start using real money much like Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8. Just recently I wanted to purchase a season of The Walking Dead but would have been 60 points short. Instead of buying another $5 worth of points, I just bought it on Xbox Video on Windows 8.
- chex_mix
  
  Then you obviously don’t know what you are doing when it comes to Microsoft points. They are awesome. Why? Because there are sales on them and ways to get them for free. Do you ever see a sale on real money (aka PSN cards)? Nope. Ever heard of a system similar to Bing Rewards where you can get money to use on PSN for free like you can get Microsoft points for free? Nope. Ever heard of a 50% off sale on $20 PSN cards getting them for $10 like you could get the 1600 Microsoft point cards at Target on Black Friday for? Nope. So yes, I, for one, hope Microsoft points stick around.
  - http://twitter.com/dlchief58 Michael Burden
    
    And let’s not forget using points instead of real money means you don’t have to pay sales tax, which makes the games cheaper.
  - http://www.facebook.com/people/Curtis-Isabell/1036013363 Curtis Isabell
    
    1 whole sale for 12 months is not worth using confusing point system, they should go back to 1000 points being $10. it was awesome too because arcade games were still 800 points, so you got 200 extra so every 4 arcade games you bought you got a free one basically.
    - http://twitter.com/GbHaseo Haseo
      
      It wasn’t free…. not even close, no matter how you look at it. Is 1000 points better than 800 sure. If they increased it to that would those extra points now be free? No. Free is one of the most misused words, you should’ve just said it’s a much better deal.
  - Dimitri Rosner
    
    MS points are ridiculous, especially in Canada, where our dollar is higher then yours and yet we pay more for microsoft points.

http://twitter.com/davidkenobi davidkenobi

Gamers (and journalists, and studios, and the whole industry) waiting for some bit of “official” news since early 2012 to have fresh air… Don’t be surprised if everyone run ! It woul be so simple for microsoft to give a little to stop the flood… Give the dog a bone to nibble

http://twitter.com/StrikeSudden StrikeSudden

I thought these guys had a internet name. Trolls or something.

http://twitter.com/StrikeSudden StrikeSudden

How about some truth about the call of duty series and the call of duty community. No complaints on the reporting there.

NarcoSleepy

“not one of the more reputable sites picked it up.”

Sick burn, Gizmodo, CNET

http://www.facebook.com/romulo.fernandes1 Rômulo Fernandes

I am a journalist and i don’t like this kind of journalism. But please, the type of product that we deal with is like football or movies, we can’t just make news based on official releases made by the developers every year and then. The right path is always check your sources and don’t end up with some ridiculous rumor in your front page. Sometimes it is necessary to spread some rumors or unconfirmed news so we can get closer to the truth, but you must know how to use it carefully and only when no other paths are available. The actual scenario is favorable to this kind of “news”. Both, industry and journalists, are guilty by not knowing how to use correctly tools that the media offers.

NBA Kirkland

I don’t mind all the rumors and speculation. I take it all with a grain of salt. Though it is amazing how often the rumors turn out to be fairly accurate.
Frankly I think the guy who did this little X-Surface hoax just to prove a point is a major d-bag (no offense to you, Major). Yes the outcome was totally predicable as it has been done before.

Lee Thomas Rayson

Modern “journalism” IMO is bad. anyone who has a blog thinks they are a journalist. It is only going to get worse and I blame this new social media world we live in. even sites that have/had a good rep follow all other sites and post nonsense. Kotaku maybe the worse for continuing to spread rumours

Russell Gorall

I thought this would be a piece on how Microsoft knew the early 360 consoles were faulty and didn’t do anything about it for the longest time.

In fact, one might say they reaped more benefit from dead consoles than live ones.

All in all, this is about as serious as a Kim Kardashian Tweet, Major. Something you know about?

Russell Gorall

Which is exactly what Microsoft and Sony want… not having to say anything and still getting a lot of publicity.

To think that half the “leaks” aren’t purposefully done by the console makers is being a bit gullible.

ungeheier

I loved a comment i saw on another site earlier today: “Will MS make their games $70?” I guess the person who said that knows nothing of the $100 games they’re already selling.

fsdfg dsfds

Tweeter and facebook are for retards who post about there sad daily activity’s and think people actually care

http://twitter.com/iKeepPounding Wes

>Calls people retards
>Misspells Twitter and activities
>Uses wrong form of Their
>No punctuation

This, folks, is the power of a GED in action. Stay in school, kids!
- fsdfg dsfds
  
  Oh its the spelling police dickhead, your worse then social media using dropkicks
http://www.facebook.com/people/Bush-O-Connor/555604190 Bush O Connor

facebook is for women or moms to play games and twitter is for people to declare when they have finished taking a dump. i hate devs that use these type of sites when they have a forum of their own.

kingcrusher

The entire web is basically a Wikipedia of sorts. It’s hard to know if you should believe anything you read right off the bat. Whenever I look at “reputable” news sites, I take those with a grain of salt as well. Constantly, especially with breaking stories, the “updates’ at times completely change the story. The same can be said for gaming news, where we want to know so badly we’ll eat up whatever anyone says.
People just need to remember to take all news, especially stories about upcoming systems with a dish of salt, until we get actual word from the horse’s mouth.
Basically, web journalism is fun, but not overly accurate until some time after the event that is being discussed, when the source of the story reveals the facts.
So, with that being said, how about you give us some news Major?

http://twitter.com/GreenMistt Miller

I’m not sure why everyone’s so excited for news. It’ll be a repeat of the former version of this gen. DLC everywhere, unfinished buggy games released, sequel after sequel, shooter after shooter, oh and of course… ads.
- kingcrusher
  
  Simply because it’s fun, and it gives people something to look forward to. It’s amazing how something as insignificant as a game or in this case a system can give people a little something to look forward to.
  I remember when the Dreamcast was coming out and I was in a kind of down time in life and it gave me something to focus on and brought a little joy to my heart. I think we all need something of that sort in our lives, otherwise we dwell a little too much on the negative.
  Bottom line: it’s fun. There ya have it
- http://twitter.com/boe2BE Boe2
  
  I disagree, Steam indiegames and XBLA give a glimpse of brighter future. Ofcourse the casual crowd will still buy the latest call of duty and soccergame of the year every new release, but for real gamers there is lots of innovation going on.
http://www.facebook.com/people/Curtis-Isabell/1036013363 Curtis Isabell

the only difference between wikipedia and the rest of the web is wikipedia is a credible source.
- Lee Thomas Rayson
  
  “wikipedia is a credible source” what? since when? sure it has a lot of fact but it has a lot of false info too

http://twitter.com/Fokma Kyle Fokma

Haha I love the hilarity of this post. I couldn’t believe the amount of leaks going on, it’s hilarious to see someone came out and pointed out (with proof) how gullible and immature video game “journalism” is.

http://twitter.com/Ganon255 Ganon255

Give us the REAL scoop Major!

Jordan Mcdonald

this is as stupid as those pro life retards beating ppl to death for having an abortion….
now if you’ll excuse me i have to shoot sum ppl to promote gun saftey.

H7O

Dunno why I feel (which I could be totally 100% wrong) that you guys leaked this news.

Anyway, just pls have a better GPU (or on par) with PS4′s and I guess everyone will hopefully be happy.

http://www.facebook.com/soopx Tom Crowley

Uh “modern”? This has been happening in videogame journalism for as long as I can remember.

http://twitter.com/boe2BE Boe2

Teach us a lesson, MJ. Prove that those specs are fake by posting the real ones. That will show us who is boss, hah, we won’t know what hit poor us.

http://twitter.com/boe2BE Boe2

Hey, I love bloggers. They give me a better idea of wether I will like a game not better than journalists can, simply because they aren’t nearly as pretentious. If there are rumours, we want to hear them, knowing well enough it might be fake.

spiralgray

Modern day web “journalism” is a joke. Everyone with a keyboard thinks they are a reporter and, as the article you linked states, want to be the “first” to report something. In their haste to report it all aspects of real journalism (like fact-checking) go right out the window. There’s no accountability. I’ve become extremely cynical over the past few years and believe very little of what I read on the internet as a result of this behavior. Even large sites like Yahoo and CNN have been fooled into reporting things that just aren’t true because, well, the article showed up on several other sites so it must be true, right? It’s laughable.

http://twitter.com/tytyredwood Tyler Terrell

Could the rumor and speculation Major is referring too be the leaked Durango (Xbox) specs? This isn’t 2005 anymore Major. It is 2013 and hiding information from your potential customers just does not work anymore. Microsoft has thousands of people who have hands on and have knowledge of the next Xbox from Microsoft. The reality is, a leak in today’s world is a certainty. You may call it rumor and speculation to distract people from the reality. Microsoft and its lawyers can’t defend against a certainty.

ElektroDragon

Brilliant post.

http://twitter.com/RichieL1980 Richie Laurence

Hi Larry i am an Xbox Fanboy and i’m concerned about the rumors of Ps4 being 50% more powerful, please tell me Microsoft has came up with a new console the fans can be proud off.

Lee Thomas Rayson

what!! I thought it was 30% more powerful :O if that rumour is true then my next xbox is going to suck
- http://twitter.com/RichieL1980 Richie Laurence
  
  apparently based on leaked specs this week ps4 1.7terraflops nextbox 1.2terraflops?? i hope this is not the case and its maybe what mr nelson is talking about
  - http://www.facebook.com/people/Bush-O-Connor/555604190 Bush O Connor
    
    whatever it turns out to be you will be able to get a pc with higher specs for a lower price.
    - http://twitter.com/GreenMistt Miller
      
      I wonder who downvoted you.
    - Lee Thomas Rayson
      
      it be the trolls there a few that have many accounts and down vote like crazy. every time I even post I get a down vote half the time I blame you(due to you not liking me or my opinions) half the time trolls
    - http://twitter.com/GreenMistt Miller
      
      Come on, I may troll. But I wouldn’t go to that extreme, what are 10 downvotes going to prove? Nothing.
    - Lee Thomas Rayson
      
      Well the main troll is always my first guess(you know who I mean) then when me and you get into “comment wars” that’s when I think its you but if it not my mistake
    - http://twitter.com/GreenMistt Miller
      
      I only really downvote when people say something very biased (like me – although I try to explain what I say, although when I’m outright fed-up with the lack of communication I tend to lose the constructiveness and just troll) or erroneous without going on to expand or explain their reason behind what they say.
      
      I don’t go out my way to downvote you (or anybody) for no reason, that doesn’t mean I don’t do it (I do, but only when I really disagree or for the reasons above). But I won’t scour the blog to find certain people’s posts and downvote lol.
      It doesn’t prove anything, I see the downvotes as what they should be; Agree/Disagree. Not downvote him to oblivion just for giggles.
  - http://twitter.com/NAVARiN BENNiJiN
    
    They said the PS3 would be more powerful yet a lot of multiplat games performed better on 360 for years, and some still do. It’s not just the power.
    
    That aside though I do hope this starts an arms race of sorts. I want the most powerful machine but I want to pay the least money, it’s that simple.

gamereviewgod

Would a car review site not have advertisements for cars? Would an iPhone site not have ads for iOS devices and apps? The ad argument is quite ridiculous since it happens in every industry. It’s demographics.

Sensible

It’s more than that. There’s actual evidence and examples of game publishers blackmailing reviewers into giving their games high scores, or they won’t receive any more advance copies to review. And they rely on advance copies to review to be any sort of competition in the journalism industry.
- gamereviewgod
  
  All industries have advanced copies.products. I write Blu-ray reviews and guess what? I get advance – even exclusive discs – all the time.
  
  And what evidence? Gerstmann gate? That happened after the review was already published and those higher-ups were let go. Konami with Destructoid? They took a stand. There is no evidence against credible sites with regards to review scores.

ElektroDragon

Nice try covering up leaked trade secrets as rumor and speculation.

http://www.facebook.com/people/Bush-O-Connor/555604190 Bush O Connor

modern day web journalism.. we call it back handers, big sack of cash to review games.

you no pay you get bad review soldier boy

http://www.majornelson.com Major Nelson

Regarding the R*offers, I removed it and updated the post (“Edit: Updating the list to remove the Rockstart offers.”) It’s a well known fact that I am not the person who negotiates the offers and deals. I was given the information originally and then was told it was no longer going to be offered. That’s all I know. I removed it and provided notice that I indeed did so.

Based on that background, what would you have done?

BlinkFandango

In that situation I guess you did all you could, the blame should go to the deal negotiators who gave you no reason about why the deal was changed. I’m really starting to hate those guys.

As a side note, what exactly can you do in terms of deals Major? I know you have met with the deals team, but why does the only person who actually reads our feedback (I know you say the deals team do to, but there has been no evidence of that in the actual deals that come out) not have any sway in what deals are made?

Also, who is in charge of permanently discounting content? Is that entity separate from the deals team? If so, there are two departments that need to get fired and if not, you know where all your problems lie.
- http://www.majornelson.com Major Nelson
  
  What I do is take the more articulate comments here and share them with the people around here. Then I stop by their offices to make sure they read them. All in all I am a pest when it comes to these things.
  - NBA Kirkland
    
    So basically you have nothing to share with them. lol
    - Lee Thomas Rayson
      
      So true because lets face it there about 5% of people who sometimes do post “articulate ” comments
      (an to the people who don’t like me I am not saying I am one of those people)
  - BlinkFandango
    
    Pester them more please, pester them more.
  - BlinkFandango
    
    Also, could you find out why it takes so long for items to be permanently discounted? I feel like if things were discounted more frequently (like retail games) there would be less repeated deals and, therefore, less complaints.
    - http://www.majornelson.com Major Nelson
      
      My understanding is simple supply and demand. If things are selling then a price drop is much less necessary.
    - BlinkFandango
      
      I understand that for a game like Castle Crashers, but almost nothing gets discounted. Is everything else selling that much?
    - http://twitter.com/iKeepPounding Wes
      
      I’m sure you keep up with competitors. Tiger Woods 13 is $10 right now for PS+ subscribers. If I remember right, it’s still $40 on XBL. I understand vendor kickbacks and such, but there has to be SOMETHING you guys can do when ti comes to some games being so over-priced. Prey is $20 on XBL. You can pick up a retail copy for $5 now.
      
      If nothing else, can you shed some light on how digital copy games are higher priced than retail, when there’s no physical product necessary to produce? Why charge more for something that’s not necessitating higher cost?
    - http://www.facebook.com/people/Curtis-Isabell/1036013363 Curtis Isabell
      
      there is unlimited supply on a digital item so this should NEVER be the case. sales should be used to stimulate growth of games, be honest, find out how many times someone buys castle crashers on xbox this week, then put it on sale and sell it +all the dlc for $1, thats right, $1 for the whole thing. and see how many more people buy it, and more importantly see how many people are playing it that week over the previous.
      
      little big planet karting is $10 right now on PSN+, $10, the RETAIL game came out in like november. the price last week was $40, what did sony do? put it on sale half off to $20, for everyone, then they said, hey, PSN+ members can take ANOTHER 50% off, so we can get it for $10, a full retail game. now before people go crazy, there are other sales as well, psychonaughts ( which was a game a lot of people loved on the original xbox) is on sale for $2.50.
      
      We also have to look at steam which is the leading PC digital distribution. looking at 2 examples right now ( and by far these are mediocre by steam standards) Just cause 2, is $8… Deus ex human revolution is $10. I know I have seen better deals and bundles but without really any effort I found 2 great deals for 2 great games that would be nice to have on xbox.
      
      , I and many other people would be happy if xbox just copied sales that PSN, steam, and wii-u online stores did… combine steam sales with trying to get devs to bring their PC exclusives over to xbox and you will have a revitalized gaming console which honestly, is what xbox needs right now, a LOT of people are unhappy, mostly because the competition is improving and xbox seems to just be stagnate, PS3 got PSN+, which is awesome, and even more exclusives. on PC less and less devs are porting games over to xbox, the original xbox was great because so many pc games came to console, the 360 is supposed to be easy to develop for like PC, and based on what the FEZ developer said about not being able to update their game, i’m not surprised they haven’t been jumping over. The 360 had so much potential ( and in the beginning it was great) to be the bridge from PC to console, I really hope next gen strives to do that.
    - Some guy
      
      Sadly, when demand gets too low, they just disapear from the market, wanted to buy Operation Darkness because its price dropped, but surprise, it’s not here anymore. Same with Kung Fu strike and others.

RubbaNoze

Hahahahaha A great read. I feel confirmed in not giving anything on such rumours. After all, we will get real details on the new console first from you Larry, amirite?

http://www.majornelson.com Major Nelson

Thanks…I have read it all, and while I can’t respond to each point, I will say that there are (at least) two sides to each issue.

http://www.facebook.com/people/Curtis-Isabell/1036013363 Curtis Isabell

this is excellent. and yes there are 2 parts to every story, but here is what I know for sure, MS is a massive company, and it should strive to take exactly what other companies do and then 1up them. if steam can give those amazing deals, and PSN+ can give the free ( all be it rental style) games xbox gold membership should be able to beat both of them, or at the very least compete.

thanks for responding, it gives me hope for xbox.
BlinkFandango

Well, let’s take a look at the other side, because I agree with most of his points from a customer perspective, let’s try and think about MS’s perspective (I know it probably isn’t this cut and dry, but I believe these are the issues they are considering):

1. You don’t let Silver members play free, it may increase your revenue, but you will likely lose a lot of customers who want to play online without paying (which I believe both Nintendo AND Sony offer). In the long term you lose customer base and, therefore, revenue.

2. Keep Rare making Kinect games, if they make Kinect Sports 3, you will likely make more money than if they made Banjo Kazooie 3, sad but true (although apparently all the Banjo Kazooie games are selling well on Xbox or they would have been permanently discounted a while ago).

3. You keep doing terrible deals of the week and discounting games based on “supply and demand” while PSN+ keeps giving away free games. Now that Sony is finally updating their crappy controller and with customers wanting to invest in something that will benefit them long term, a huge customer base switches to PS4. Microsoft loses revenue.

4. You keep the proprietary hard drives, but increase cloud space. I’m assuming these proprietary drive increases security or something. Now it all depends on what Sony does, if Sony does the same thing, you’re probably alright, but if Sony follows Nintendo and lets people use their own, no matter how secure your system is, MS looks like the bad guy.

5. You stop used sales with some sort of DRM, everyone freaks out and doesn’t buy your system. Alternatively, you switch to a digital only format, assuming you allow people to use their own hard drives, everyone will again freak out because your “supply and demand” pricing never discounts anything ever and again a huge customer base ditches MS.

6. You keep strict guidelines on sizes for certain games, more and more medium size games come out (he mentioned Oddworld, but also Torchlight 2) which are too big to be arcade games and too small to be retail releases and you lose more and more games to competitors.

7. You don’t buy Vigil games for cheap since apparently no one wanted it, you lose a potential revenue stream that would have been more beneficial than Rare (ok, maybe not now that they’re making Kinect Sports games).

8. You keep pushing Kinect and attract a lot of casual gamers and push away a lot of hardcore gamers. The console sells better than Wii, but then you realize what Nintendo did, that casual gamers don’t buy a whole lot of games (I have over 200 games btw, new and used with around 70 digital, of those 70 most are arcade games since games on demand is a joke).

9. You don’t get PC exclusives on Xbox and the Steam Box does, the Steam Bpx starts to get more support from the customer base that used to belong to Microsoft.

10. He’s asking you to wave the magic wand here. You don’t wave the magic wand and play it safe, you probably won’t lose too many investors (in fact you will probably gain some). You may lose a fair few of your customer base though.

Of course I have done this analysis in about 15 minutes without any data to back it up, but the main case I want to make is this:

Microsoft has not improved their digital system much this console cycle and kept a solid customer base, that’s because we were already invested in this generation since you had a good beginning to the console race. Now others have caught up and surpassed Microsoft in almost every respect, but Microsoft thinks they can rest on their laurels and still keep a customer base during this critical transition phase. It’s not going to happen.

Nintendo blew everyone out of the water a few days ago by announcing five exclusive games. Microsoft can do one better by addressing these issues above. I really believe in a digital future for the Xbox, let’s hope Microsoft doesn’t mess it up.

http://twitter.com/NAVARiN BENNiJiN

Here’s one for you: Look up Atari, THQ, Codemasters or any other unfortunate companies and count how many use the “Game Over” headline.

VIDEOGAME JOURNALISM, PEOPLE!

Russell Gorall

This is the most idiotic post frenzy on a corporation website I have ever seen.

http://twitter.com/ivan_spivan ivan

I think the pseudo-journalism was done in part by the man himself. People not checking up on their sources, especially anonymous sources that randomly e-mail with a supposed scoop is going to continue to happen. People get lazy in every profession, especially in the highly competitive professions when a chance for a scoop on your competitors presents itself. That’s good to see that the bigger reputable sites did not pick it up.

I also think it’s odd at the bottom of the story he calls one person “repugnant” because he basically got told off — by one of the guy’s he was trying to fool– for being a bit too persistent on trying to represent himself as a genuine source. Kinda crosses the ethical line there if there is any in this case, demonstrates this guy’s level of maturity, and maybe even ego issues.

He did actually link to the guy’s twitter account, who so happened to put up part of the exchange. https://twitter.com/Rob_Crossley_

There may be harsher things exchanged by the two, but it’s clear by what was shown the guy’s cover was blown, and instead of given kudos to a guy who didn’t take the bait he rails on the guy any way.

http://twitter.com/GbHaseo Haseo

While a very good article, it’s also very false, it’s not something that only occurs in gaming, it’s one that everyone is taught is pre-school. Where all the kids sit in a circle and whisper a rumor and then see how it changes at the end. Yet, still the entire world, does this constantly with every subject matter. In the days of Twitter, and Facebook, information is flying everywhere, and most of it is false info at the end of the circle.
If something is truly a leak, what proof can you obtain? You can’t, and sure a person might risk their job giving a leak, as long as they remain unknown. Who’s going to willingly lose their job at MS by confirming something in this economy so gamers can know something early? If real specs leaked, do you really think MS would come out and say “YEP! That’s all true!” No, they wouldn’t, and chances are like any company, they’d probably offer money to keep it quiet.
The gaming industry, like most now suffer from mass consumerism. They’ve brought in huge customer bases, and have expanded greatly, that’s where the problem lies. Gaming has turned into the movie industry, where everyone’s celebrities, and needs news 24/7. I think it would improve gaming, to go back to giving info in magazines once a month, as well as limiting conventions. There’s conventions, and news every freaking week, it’s exhausting!

http://twitter.com/boe2BE Boe2

Actually, what baffles me is that nobody was interested in Vigil Games. If it’s exclusives you want, acquiring the Darksiders franchise for a bargain price would have been a great move.

http://twitter.com/toohats toohats

OK Major, how about teasing us with some real news? Like a little more info on that cool projection system thingy MS show at CES? The one where the guy says, “Go Big” and fills the room with an extension of the television? Please?

I’m Always Worried

The most obvious answer is money. Rumors for a highly anticipated product means more views and more views mean more advertisement revenue. Second, there’s a difference between journalism and enthusiast media.

When it comes to modern day web gaming ‘journalism’ or really any kind of journalism for that matter, rumors can come in many different forms. Some are more credible than others but what is really striking is when something is actually leaked, real information about a product that has yet to be announced, released, etc. The problem with this is when the company of that leaked product refuses to add any clarity or answers, the rumor mill picks ups and false information is spread around like wildfire. So don’t be surprised if one insignificant leak can lead to a fire storm of rumors.

Most popular Next Gen Xbox links:
Next Gen Xbox Document: rumors.http://www.ign.com/articles/2012/06/16/xbox-720-price-features-revealed-in-rumored-document

Next Gen Xbox Specs: http://www.vgleaks.com/world-exclusive-durango-unveiled-2/

This can both help and hurt that unreleased product. On one hand this shows interest and spreads excitement. On the other hand you risk “over hype” where the rumors become unruly and the product cannot live to these expectations. See Iphone 5 and Apple’s current stock price.

How do you solve this? Simply acknowledge leaks. Take it in stride. Don’t give the “we don’t comment on rumors and speculations”. That’s cheap PR. A perfect example of this is the leak of Bungie’s Project Destniy that happend just a few short months ago. You can read the story here: http://www.gamespot.com/news/how-bungie-turned-destiny-leak-into-a-positive-6402709

TL;DR
Journalism and the enthusiast media are two different things. Don’t flatter them.
If actual info is leaked, own up to it. If not, then dispel false rumors. Don’t complain about a fire if you refuse to put it out.

http://twitter.com/mermistwit Josh

Outstanding article. I manage a Best Buy store, incorrect information on web sites is a source of a lot of our questions and calls. Fake gift cards, wrong data about a cell phone or laptop, misinformation on a provider offerings – all frequently from web sites with wrong news or wrong “helpful” guidance.

January 23rd 2013 11:14 am PT

Modern day web ‘journalism’

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