BaldB3lper78

Xbox plus marketing plus PR -= disaster these days . It’s all very well doing the money waving stuff and just buying things up without any thought at all, but if you haven’t thought about it, you will fail.
They know they have the money so just wave it around and hope that one of their punts will finally pay off. Sadly for Xbox gamers, we are seeing that the result of their egotistical willy waving is failure. And I can only see things getting worse now.

They will make more hardware. It just won’t sell very well. Any trust that gamers had in Xbox has been eroded by Spencer, Booty and fantasist supreme, Bond.
They can’t get that back. Treat your customers like poop and they will flee.

I’ve got the games I want from Ubi and many of these games I can pick up for peanuts anyway. It’s just not a great addition. It smacks of desperation from both sides tbh.

@Weebleman exactly. It’s a gateway. To what though? Hell?

This is simply another way for Xbox to claim everyone plays ‘Xbox.’
I keep trying to write the positives down and I’m so stuck. I’ve been trying for the last few years to cling to Xbox, to see the forward steps and all I find is damaging, anti consumer and utter bull 💩 at every turn.
Active users. That’s the obsession.

You can have 1 millions active users who all play for 3 minutes and spin that as being amazing and a huge success.

Yet Xbox is a master of manipulating figures. Spin and more spin.

Worth every penny of that extra 12 quid

And just when Xbox couldn’t get any lower or annoy fans any more …… here they come swinging with another belter of an own goal!!!!! 🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️

When do Xbox ever listen to their players? But then that is the point isn’t it really? They don’t care about their players anymore.
They want everyone to be an Xbox gamer and claim everything is an Xbox but they have missed the point and just thrown everyone under the bus.
I don’t know why they don’t just drop the hardware now and call it a day.
Become a cloud service only and full 3rd party publisher.
It’s now pointless for them to pretend to be anything else at all.

@SodaPop6548 The tariffs excuse would work fine for hardware if anyone is as buying one but sales are in hundreds now and its lifetime sales - Series X/S are awful.
Putting up prices of something that isn’t selling is madness.
But then when it comes to marketing and PR, Xbox are the kings of disaster.

Xbox hardware - very expensive. Game Pass - getting more expensive. Will go up even more.
Xbox hardware sales - appalling.
Game Pass subs - not good and about to get worse.
Xbox - everything is an Xbox. So it’s the best selling consoles of all time.
Disaster class from top to bottom.

I think the votes say it all. And now ASUS are advertising the Rog Ally X not an Xbox as the future of gaming.
Again, Xbox and PR and marketing…… it’s a disasterclass it really is

@Techno92LFC But Xbox is by far the best selling console now of all time because everyone owns an Xbox nowadays even if they don’t know it.

Because everything is an Xbox. And that is all they have to cling to after today.

Even the Game Pass cancellation page has crashed now!

Just when I think Xbox can’t make any more mistakes, along they come and do it so well- and that’s not a compliment!

Tried to cancel my GPU subscription and the page is totally crashed! Like it’s struggling to cope with the volume of traffic.

Like I said earlier - this is one hell of an own goal from Xbox.

A rather big ‘oops’ we’ve done it again moment for Bond , Spencer and Booty!

You can pick up many of the UBISoft games pretty cheaply anyway which makes that “inclusion’ hardly worth the additional cost.
Play Anywhere - At any cost.

Just as think that Xbox is worth sticking with, they go and take away any loyalty I was still holding,

Yeah. Not really worth an increase over ten quid. Time maybe give this a Game ‘Pass.’

@FraserG You can get GEForce Now premium for less a month now.
Hmm.
When I work out cost of GEFN monthly, I may as well play that via my Ipad Pro where I get full screen rather than the cut off edges of Xcloud, better performance and it would take me what, 4 years to spend as much as an Xbox Ally X would cost me.

I can't see this how this is at all a good thing. Feels like a massive own goal. Again.

This was essentially Xbox finally and at last announcing that Xbox is now no more and is now simply Xcloud.

“This is how we game now.”

I'll possibly hang on for a little while but if you are going for the best Cloud gaming experience, you may as well get GEForceNow, access to more games that run better than Xcloud and now actually LESS per month than Game Pass Ultimate.

Not sure this is a good move from Xbox, but then, their marketing and PR this generation has been absolutely mind blowingly abysmal.

Another own goal methinks.

Competitive mode is a huge boost. Authentic mode is so dull. I want fast, football, end to end. At last we have some old fashioned arcade football to devour. It’s better than the last few entries that’s for sure that have been dull and far too ‘authentic.’

@FraserG So will these all be under the ‘Play Anywhere’ banner as well?

The problem here is that you can lock up a Steam Deck for half the price.
It’s selling well - but then that depends on how many have been made. And I’m guessing it’s not many.

The UK really doesn’t seem to be the place for the X does it.
Also, Valve have just put the steam deck on sale to £270. Which is a no brainer. At that price you would have be in need of a lobotomy to buy a Rog Ally or Ally X.

@FraserG ah right. I would quite like the Ally X but I think I’d have to wait for if drop a bit.

@FraserG EE only have the Rog Ally for pre order at £499. Ally X isn’t on there at all.

Can’t see them having made that many units initially anyway so that will have an impact as well as scalpers who will be buying the stock up.
It would be nice to see this thing succeed, but it seems to have the same issues as the Rog Ally X and for more money.
Collectors and avid Xbox fans will pick it up I’m sure, but if selling it quickly being seen as a great thing really will depend heavily on numbers made.

And now sold out on all Xbox stores worldwide according to Xbox on Facebook.
Got to be scalpers. Surely.

@Questionable_Duck The second best selling Xbox in Japan. Wow. That’s even worse!

@Fiendish-Beaver exactly

@BaldB3lper78 It’s all very well saying that it’s the fastest growing region, but just because more devs from the area are putting games on Xbox , doesn’t mean it’s growth. She’s putting very positive spin on something that isn’t that great.
Cloud cuckoo land again from Xbox. Xbox needs to be better at communication and marketing. And PR. They really do.

I was staggered by her comment tbh. I’ve heard of grasping at straws but this is right up there with one of the most ridiculous statements she has made.
If you go from selling 1k consoles to seeking 1k and 1 consoles; that’s growth if you choose to spin it that way. It’s also still rubbish.

She does love to tow the corporate line doesn’t she. I mean, wow, this is a claim right out of Disney.

@Feffster They will likely hike the price rather than anything else tbh. The success of FH5 has already shown just how much money Xbox can make from being multi-platform.

What was massively clear from today’s showcase, was that Play Anywhere is the future for Xbox. And they can make that a huge winner, IF they get their marketing and PR right.

Which is one thing they struggle with massively.

@JetmanUK Yeah I will get it Play Anywhere I would imagine initially.

Nintendo Switch 2……..? Would love Forza in any form on my Switch 2 tbh. Probably won’t happen though.
Will be having it anyway. Love the Forza games. Horizon 4 is my fave.

And what was that they said - Xbox is growing in Asia.
Well, I guess if you take things at their simplest level, maybe.

But if you are selling next to nothing and then start selling a few more than next to nothing, that is growth. But boy are they clutching at straws with that.
Big time.

It just feels like everything that comes out of Sarah Bond’s mouth in particular is utter drivel. She certainly tows the corporate line very well indeed.

@Vipor007 Yeah, I can’t quite believe that tbh. Although I can as it’s Xbox and when it comes to things like releases , marketing and PR, they really are awful. To be this close to release and having no price can’t be just about the tariffs. That’s a lame excuse. Really lame.
Yet they banged on about the existence of the device often enough , yet no one has time to save for one.

I really don’t get why Xbox seem so intent on grabbing a gun, and then an even bigger gun and shooting themselves in the foot time and time and time again.

I was really quite excited about Xbox Rog Ally X and thought, ah, here is a chance for Xbox to give us something thats worth having and will simplify the handheld PC interface. And whilst it may do that, it’s just frustrating and baffling that they are still holding off at this late stage.

It was pretty bland tbh. The cat did well though.

@PartyMarty whilst it’s just a streaming device, I also use it for retro gaming as well. Being able to dock it to the TV is also a bonus. It’s not the best, but it’s a good alternative for those who don’t mind cloud gaming.

@PartyMarty got mine second hand for 150. Been one of my most used pieces of tech for gaming for a long time tbh

People can try and dress it up as much as they like, but this is the end. I love Xbox in many ways, but hardware wise, it’s done. We will perhaps see one last dance but Xbox needs to just focus on Game Pass and Cloud and being available on a number of devices. That’s where their future is and they may as well crack on with it now.

Both will tank. PC handhelds will
Struggle to sell over a million. Steam Deck is the only viable option. Other than that, just buy a PC.

May as well buy a GCloud.

21 days then before release, Xbox will announce price of the Xbox Rog Ally X? Clearly not much faith in it. Or care.

I can’t believe that we are in a situation where the Ally X price ‘might’ be revealed on the 25th September!!!!
What are Xbox doing??

@Sir_Bobbins Yeah, announcing a price just, what will it be, 19 days before release? That in itself is madness but with the increased pricing for Xbox hardware that is hardly flying off sales at current prices , announcing a price of what could easily be £1000 here in the UK would just make more of a mockery of Xbox and what they seem to be doing.

When first announced, I was actually quite keen on the Ally X but as time has gone on, it just seems clear that it’s going to be another waste of time.

Xbox has to sort out its marketing and PR, it really does.

If we all recall, Sarah Bond said, around the time that Xbox said Indiana Jones would go to PS5 that this holiday season, Xbox would announce the biggest leap forward in a generation.

Now, it’s here is no way on earth that she would have been referring to the ASUS handhelds so is there still something yet to come …… or was that all back then just a ruse to cover up for their usual pile of lies to Xbox fans to keep them on board a little longer??

Cracking idea when sales are terrible anyway. I get that the tariffs are causing issues for everyone but surely Xbox would be better making the units appealing so that people actually buy them, rather than putting up costs which will just see the final nails drilled into the coffins of Series X and S.
And it’s such a shame because both are great consoles and deserved much better success.

But Xbox have become masters of poor PR and even worse marketing.

Xbox Rog Ally X - £1200 anyone? Nah.

@Millionski Yeah I was interested to have this alongside my Switch 2 but it’s a pass now. I’ll stick to my iPad Pro and GEForce Now when I get the Game Pass and PC itch.

When announced, I was pretty hyped about the Ally X Xbox, but tbh now, not sure I can be bothered. Neither Xbox nor ASUS seem bothered about the device.

What could well be a very good device is being handled badly. Where Xbox is concerned, Microsoft just give no care about marketing.
Another dud all of Xbox making.

Pure madness.

Series S is a superb little console. It’s had some bad and unfair press but for the money it’s the best money can buy.
Had it been marketed better it could and should have done really well for Xbox.
Still worth picking up for the right price

It makes sense as let’s be honest, Xbox is heading towards being a PC centric model from now on in, so this, in theory should work well.