The news of the launch of Project Scorpio has been one of the great bombs of the year . The arrival of Microsoft’s «beast» has lifted the hype of much of the industry, which looks forward to more news of the most powerful console ever created .However, it has also made relevant a serious problem that we have been suffering for a long time and that affects us all: hatred in the sector .
Microsoft: in the eye of the hurricane
Xbox Scorpio has been the latest example of that tendency to feel antipathy for any product related to the Microsoft brand. But the sensationalism does not end there and seems to encompass everything that Microsoft touches: consoles, games or even decisions .
Project Scorpio is only the last victim
The N4G portal showed a few days ago an image that faithfully reflected that «hate».The website collected a series of articles about Project Scorpio, whose headlines drew a lot of attention. Phrases such as «No one has asked for Project Scorpio,» «How the story of Microsoft will lead Scorpio to failure» or «Project Scorpio: Microsoft’s uninspiring offense» headed some of the many examples there were.
» Microsoft is fighting a losing battle. It would be a shame to see Scorpio fail, but it is not unrealistic to believe that it will be «, comments one of the mentioned articles. Something that clashes with the latest information revealed by the company itself.
The sensationalist trend when talking about Project Scorpio is palpable.
Some of these articles indicate that Microsoft has only presented Scorpio » to feel important again .» Others comment that the native 4K does not matter anymore because » most people do not have TV in 4K «. The campaign that we have experienced in favor of the 4K and the constant comparisons between 4K native and rescalados have disappeared by magic. Now 1080p is back in fashion and investing in a product that can offer us 4K is useless because » that audience does not exist .»
They are also not interested in performance and power, because it is preferable to talk about the price battle or that there are other devices more dedicated to new technologies, such as virtual reality.
Microsoft has been blamed for trying to lure the PC gamer community with Project Scorpio and try to reconcile with developers by giving them more power to create.Perhaps the debate should be why both arguments are considered negative. Clearly, Microsoft wants to attract the widest possible audience. That is the goal of any company. And it’s also going to give developers more power because it’s something they’ve been asking for for years. It is not good for an industry in constant evolution that cases like the one of Dying Light, whose development was canceled for the generation passed by limitations of the hardware, are repeated .
» Last quarter, from January to March 2017, we lived a new record with the commitment to Xbox Live, with 1.1 billion hours of multiplayer globally, up 14% over last year. We look forward and look forward to sharing our plans for Xbox One. Including the launch of the most powerful console, Project Scorpio, plus the incredible catalog we have for Xbox One . « The words of Mike Nichols , head of marketing for Xbox, deny that fatalism about the future of Xbox.
The specifications of Project Scorpio are no longer interesting.
Another one of the great critics of Project Scorpio arrives by the side of the exclusive ones. Both Microsoft and many websites have repeatedly said that Project Scorpio will be a premium product that will coexist with Xbox One and Xbox One S. In the long run we do not know what will happen, but shortly all consoles will share catalog.Project Scorpio will be a high-end product for those who want to enjoy games in an improved way.
Anyway it seems that Xbox will always have lost the debate of exclusive games.Nothing has served that in 2016 we have been able to enjoy Quantum Break, Killer Instinct (season 3), Gears of War 4, ReCore, Dead Rising 4 or Forza Horizon 3 because apparently Xbox does not bring us exclusive .
Sensational analyzes do not help. They destroy
Criticism of the Xbox Scorpio is just the tip of the iceberg of what we usually find.Another of the great problems today revolves around the analysis of video games and why certain criteria when setting the notes.
Analyzing a game is never an easy task. Synthesizing an experience that can take a long time, giving a faithful and realistic image to the reader, is not simple. Analyzes should be relentless in valuing the good and punishing the bad. The problem arises when errors are sometimes punished and sometimes forgiven. The most recent case has been that of Mass Effect Andromeda. But shortly before one of the most striking victims was a Microsoft exclusive: ReCore .
ReCore ha sido una de las últimas víctimas del sensacionalismo.
ReCore has been penalized for faults such as loading times, the ease with which you defeat enemies or how often scenarios can result. Failures to be criticized as such.However, the real problem is that ReCore shares those same flaws with other games and that the grades are so different.
There is no problem in putting a bad mark on a game, as long as it deserves it. The problem arises when the same faults are sometimes condemned yes and sometimes not. If two games have the same deficiencies, the analyzes and notes of both should be similar.
Of course, those who are really hurt are us: the users . It is normal that, in these situations, users complain. That the community is crying out for objectivity in the analysis can not continue being the tendency to follow, because that objectivity should be taken for granted.
Why do you hate yourself? The «click power» is tempting
Lack of information is a vital reason that can lead to hate that we can see on the Internet . It is not unusual for a rumor without any foundation to be true and run like gunpowder. The real problem arises when those rumors become so strong that they end up seriously damaging the industry. Deus Ex: Mankind Divided , for example, received a massive hate and the consequences were not long in coming.
Another interesting idea that can be applied to this world is a concept drawn directly from psychology: cognitive dissonance. Cognitive dissonance refers to the tension that a person suffers when he has two ideas or interests that are totally opposite or an idea that conflicts with his behavior. How do you solve that conflict? In a very simple way: changing the idea contrary to their interests, so that it adjusts to them.
«I want it, but I can not have it. That’s why I hate it «is the basis of cognitive dissonance.
Why on this web criticize both X console? Why do you say things that are not true about X game? According to the theory of cognitive dissonance, because those who criticize it can not or do not want to have it for opposing their beliefs (for example, because that game belongs to a company they detest). The truth is that this theory is very present in everyday life, so it would not be surprising that the hatred in the industry partly had that origin.
You may also simply hate yourself because hate visits . Criticism and sensationalism are topics that always generate traffic on the Internet. Xbox may simply be criticized because the webs ensure a certain influx of visitors by doing so.
Although they seem silly, the truth is that a good campaign of discredit and an uninformed community can have disastrous consequences for the sector.
Advertising is vitally important
Perhaps a good way to solve some of that hatred would be by investing in advertising.Xbox has an advertising in Spain that pales in comparison to the one of the competition . However, if we go to the United States we can see that there is advertising on the consoles and Xbox games is much greater.
The US subsidiary is aware of the importance of the young market for its console ( photo of 2014 ).
The latest data revealed by the Spanish Association of Video Games indicate that 76% of Spanish players belong to the strip between 11 and 14 years: adolescents. If Xbox wants to reach that audience, the biggest in the market at that time, it is necessary to invest more in advertising to reach that potential sector of consumers.For example, moving your official profiles further, holding events or promoting your products in a more prominent way.
Another interesting step would be to invest in television advertising. Far from what may seem like the Internet boom, television advertising is still a success. What’s more, if purely digital companies like Facebook or Google are looking for the TV business, why not Xbox ?.
Advertising is especially important at certain times, such as during Christmas. And the reality is that the advertising campaigns of the competition, which take out all their heavy artillery at that time, leave the Xbox in the background. It is true that Xbox never reveals official data of its sales, but so it is that Campaigns such as Of Destiny they make it go away.
For the community to stop hating a product is necessary to know . And the easiest and most direct way to make it known is through advertising. To show the announcement of «Invitation», one of the best advertising spots that has offered us Xbox.
In the end the change depends on us: the users
Although there is competition between the companies (which is logical, because they are in constant rivalry for monopolizing the consumer market), the relationship between them is cordial. Xbox congratulated Nintendo on the launch of Switch , Phil Spencer had no hesitation in thanking Nintendo for giving him the NES Mini and Naughty Dog did not hesitate to say publicly that he loves Gears of War 4 .
Even very recently we had a very funny episode of healthy rivalry on Twitter, where the official accounts of World of Warcraft and Final Fantasy XIV «fought» to win a client.The community could not be more delighted with this war.
Internet hate can be born by any means, but the important thing is not how it is born but how it dies. And that’s where we come in: the players. The users who simply want to enjoy a hobby and understand that the machaque does not benefit more than those who want to get attention.
We are intelligent. And it is normal that we are tired of populism and amarillismo. It is hopeful to see that, little by little, the community is rebelling against the contents that only seek to destroy . For example, turning away from sensational content. Or by turning around free smear campaigns, supporting good products and turning them into real successes. Or even criticizing certain analyzes or articles that they consider more sensational than truthful. In short, enriching the community by doing what needs to be done.
May the hatred not end with the goal of this hobby: enjoy the video games.
If we want to end this hate, it is necessary for us to continue on that path. Contrasting news, visiting very different media and listening and reading opinions of all kinds, as long as they are grounded. Thus we will gradually form a criterion that will allow us to separate the hate from reality ..
Now it has touched the Xbox Scorpio be beaten, but tomorrow may be any other victim of media harassment . So maybe it’s time to say «this far» and demand that this tonic of harassment and demolition be so fashionable.
After all, there is nothing wrong with asking objective information about a hobby that is made only by and for us: the players.
