Like many of us who visit IGN, I was very excited to see what Microsoft would come up with for their next generation console. I don't think any of the announcements surprised me, but I can share my biggest ah-ha moments from their hour-long reveal.
I am a sports guy, and a football guy at that. Never mind that the NFL is the most premium content in the universe in terms of advertising rights, this was an absolute must for Xbox if they really do intend to "own the living room." Xbox spent some money on this one. I'm not sure how much, but they probably had to borrow a few bucks from Daddy to get this one home.
Live sports and key events like Presidential debates, The Voice, American Idol, or the Oscars are not immune to TiVO-osity. However, unlike most of your favorite tv shows, you do everything in your power to watch those events in real time. In rare instances, you are even willing to watch – gasp – ads. We all seem to intuitively understand why this need for immediate consumption is the strongest for these sort of events. I like to break it down by:
1. FOMO. The Fear of Missing Out (aka the the water-cooler phenomenon of being in-the-know about an event that seemingly everyone cares about)
2. Spoiler Alert (Watching a game when you know the outcome is far more sobering than knowing the end of an episode of Modern Family. It's also far more difficult to hide from the result of a game than it is to avoid the Games of Thrones plot twist)
3. Gambling. Oh wait, I didn't mean gambling. What I meant to say was fantasy sports, which are totally different from gambling. By "totally different," I mean exactly the same but without the social stigma.
NFL on Xbox has nailed it on all three of these fronts. The real-time fantasy updates and the Kinect social integration looked amazing. I think that ability to watch a game with all your buddies while layering in the fantasy aspect is cool enough to motivate users to watch on Xbox instead of cable. I also think its just a matter of time before that fantasy stats integration is a Sportsbook.com widget where you can bet your buddy (or a stranger) $10 that the next play will be a pass, or that the current drive will end with a field goal. NFL on Xbox delivers on social and instant gratification, all with what looks to be a killer user interface. I'm excited to try it.
Yes, I know EA is everyone's favorite company to hate. But I have to admit, I don't play Sim City, and I don't really care whether you think always-on DRM was contrived by the devil. EA publishes some pretty sweet sports games. They also throw a hell of a party at the Super Bowl, so they've bought my acquiescence for at least another year.
Seriously though, like it or not, if you are a console gamer, you are dependent on them for some of your favorite games in some way, shape, form. They simply have too much engineering and marketing talent under one roof to think that if EA disappeared, the gaming ecosystem would suddenly improve.
That's why this integration, complete with a new engine, means great things for sports gamers. Xbox's brand is now on the hook too. There will be awesome games coming or heads will roll. Specific to OverDog, I think having EA and Xbox integrated to such a degree, complete with live-streaming options like Twitch or Youtube, there will be some amazing stuff possible. Imagine if you could peek in on a game between two teammates on your favorite team (Lebron and D-Wade, Colin Kaepernick and Patrick Willis, or Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews). OverDog will be working our best to help make experiences like that happen within the architecture of integrations like this partnership between EA and Xbox.
Full disclosure: I suck at CoD. I'm all thumbs. I think Xbox got one very important thing right. They are in the midst of this transition from a great gaming devise that provided a very immersive experience for a very engaged audience. They were an inch wide and a mile deep. I know they have 40 million subscribers, and that is certainly a very wide inch. However, as they transition into this living room hub (gaming, television, movies, music), they can't abandon their core user; they can't forget who got them there. The focus on new games – totally new titles and a rededication to blockbuster franchises – shows they are still taking care of their core market. Whatever Xbox becomes, it seems like they are doing a lot to make sure they don't lose their footing as a great gaming platform.
Full disclosure: I suck at CoD.
Since most of the people that tuned in to the reveal come from the gaming world, not the sports world or the music world or anything else, I would think that most people were pretty satisfied with what they heard. What did you think? Were there any conspicuous omissions you were hoping got covered? If you are an Xbox loyalist or a PlayStation loyalist, did anything you heard at either Reveal make you think about switching consoles in the move to the next generation? Let me know in the comments below.
Hunter Hillenmeyer is an avid gamer, former Chicago Bears Linebacker and President of The Overdog, a site dedicated to bringing gamers and athletes together. Follow him on Twitter and come "wreck shop" with him and other athletes at OverDog.
Source : ign[dot]com
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