You don’t say?
Look, I may have, on more than one occasion, pointed out that the Xbox One X might not as all encompassing as Microsoft makes out. Especially as I’m not the sort to drop that large a chunk of change on not only a console, but a new 4K TV to play it on. But they have an explanation. From an interview Phil Spencer gave to Gamespot at the Brazil Game Show:
Xbox One S will be the market leader for us. It’s the more affordable console. It plays all the same games… It will be the console that sells. Whether you’re on a 1080p TV or a 4K TV, you’re going to have a great experience. But it’s not for everybody. It’s like when we built the Xbox One Elite controller, we didn’t try to say to everybody, ‘If you need an extra controller, go buy the Elite controller.’ We sold a ton of those controllers. We know in the gaming segment, there are a lot of people who play games casually and there’s also people where gaming is their number one hobby. Their number one form of entertainment, and we want to give them the very best experience. I’ve played games in true 4K with HDR, and they look fantastic. But it doesn’t mean everybody has to do that. So we’re giving gamers a choice. Whether we’ve pushed the innovation too far? It’s hard to do that with gamers. I guess we’ll see; I feel very confident in the product we have coming to market.
Phil, I don’t think hobbyists enter into the picture here. There are plenty of hobbyists in other fields that, despite their dedication, will never set hands on the highest end aspects of their hobby. Hell, you know what? I’ll just explain what he did here. He implied that only true Scotsmen hobbyists will pay extra for top of the line products (and to an extent, he is right). Only the casuals will stick with good enough. That’s the implication you’re supposed to draw; and then you buy the thing to prove you’re not casual. It’s a variation of an old trick, and, game recognizes game, it was beautifully executed. Hats off to you, sir.
And in the case of a number of people, he’s absolutely right. Plenty shelled out $150 for the Elite controller. And I’m sure the sort that need to be on the bleeding edge of something will buy the Xbox One X. The problem, however, seems to be how incremental it is for the price. And that may not make things look too good for it outside of the die-hard part of the fanbase.
About Author
