article: X-box not cool?
11-19-02 | 03:37 PM
#1
Thread Starter
DVD Talk Hero
article: X-box not cool?
here:
http://slate.msn.com/?id=2074045
my favorite quote:
"If Sony is your cool college-aged cousin, then Microsoft is the trying-too-hard uncle who mistakenly thinks his tale of attending a Rush concert in 1980 will earn your admiration. "
http://slate.msn.com/?id=2074045
my favorite quote:
"If Sony is your cool college-aged cousin, then Microsoft is the trying-too-hard uncle who mistakenly thinks his tale of attending a Rush concert in 1980 will earn your admiration. "
11-19-02 | 04:09 PM
#4
DVD Talk Platinum Edition
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The article has some good points, but for the most part is a wash. (IMO!)
EDIT: The reason I think it's a wash is because of the mention of the GC being shelved. These "rumors" were created by the hack press or stupid fanboys. For him to ackknowledge the rumor as potential fact is a joke.
I do see his point on the public image of the xbox being poor. On my campus there are many people who do like the xbox, but the average person would rather play a PS2 anyday. Of course the same is true for the GC.
EDIT: The reason I think it's a wash is because of the mention of the GC being shelved. These "rumors" were created by the hack press or stupid fanboys. For him to ackknowledge the rumor as potential fact is a joke.
I do see his point on the public image of the xbox being poor. On my campus there are many people who do like the xbox, but the average person would rather play a PS2 anyday. Of course the same is true for the GC.
Last edited by jeffdsmith; 11-19-02 at 04:22 PM.
11-19-02 | 04:17 PM
#5
Thread Starter
DVD Talk Hero
It's points are pretty much backed up by facts - it doesn't try to say which system is "better" - it's all just public image.
For what it's worth - I own all three consoles and play the X-box more than the PS2 & GC combined.
For what it's worth - I own all three consoles and play the X-box more than the PS2 & GC combined.
11-19-02 | 04:32 PM
#7
Re: article: X-box not cool?
From the article:
"The average gamer is 28, but that figure includes PC gamers. Consoles skew much younger, with nearly half of players too young to vote. It's a demographic that tends to be less enamored of such techie details as polygon counts and processor speeds and more interested in following the leads of tastemakers like rappers and athletes. So the newest sneaker has an extra layer of padding, specially designed by ex-NASA engineers? Who cares—what's Tracy McGrady wearing? And what console is he using? (Answer: a PS2.)"
"The average gamer is 28, but that figure includes PC gamers. Consoles skew much younger, with nearly half of players too young to vote. It's a demographic that tends to be less enamored of such techie details as polygon counts and processor speeds and more interested in following the leads of tastemakers like rappers and athletes. So the newest sneaker has an extra layer of padding, specially designed by ex-NASA engineers? Who cares—what's Tracy McGrady wearing? And what console is he using? (Answer: a PS2.)"
This writer is saying we're all sheep for what some marketing machine tells us is 'cool and hip' regardless of specs.
As if anyone would want to fall for some marketers 'buy this and youre cool' shlock.
11-19-02 | 04:39 PM
#8
DVD Talk Legend
I think there are a lot of sheep out there who do follow whatever celebrities do or whatever is trendy. Doesn't mean everyone is stupid, but I believe there is a large portion of our culture that is extremely stupid. The continued popularity of fullscreen DVDs proves that.
11-19-02 | 04:40 PM
#9
DVD Talk Legend
Re: Re: article: X-box not cool?
Originally posted by Save Ferris
GIVE ME A BREAK. I care about technical details rather than some celebrity wagging his head with dollarsigns in his eyes.
This writer is saying we're all sheep for what some marketing machine tells us is 'cool and hip' regardless of specs.
As if anyone would want to fall for some marketers 'buy this and youre cool' shlock.
GIVE ME A BREAK. I care about technical details rather than some celebrity wagging his head with dollarsigns in his eyes.
This writer is saying we're all sheep for what some marketing machine tells us is 'cool and hip' regardless of specs.
As if anyone would want to fall for some marketers 'buy this and youre cool' shlock.
11-19-02 | 06:22 PM
#10
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Did the Playstation become popular because it was cool? Or is it cool because it is popular? I believe it's the latter. It's so cool now because everyone who's anyone has one.
And how did the PS become popular? By releasing a lot of great, sexy games that blew people (and their competitors) away. Not because of their dumbass E-Nos ads. Even their ads today are pretty conservative. However, it was Sega that hired Ice Cube for their Saturn ads. It was Sega that spent millions on making that John Moore Blade Runner techno Asian chick commercial. It was Sega that hired Iverson to pimp their B-ball games. Where's Sega now?
The only attempt to insert "cool" that consistently pays off is in the design of the games themselves. If a game shows some genuine and hopefully unique style (be it graphics, premise, whatever) then it WILL attract people. Everything about Metal Gear Solid and GTA just OOZES cool. You stick a camera on them and people will be interested.
Don't get me wrong, if you have the right ads at the right time, you can manufacture cool and ride the wave (See the Genesis' run against the SNES). But I don't really see Sony doing that or that happening very often. Their ads just sell the inherent sexiness of the game and it works. SOCOM ads focus on bad-ass Navy SEALs breaking things and destroying people and it works. If anything, it's when they try branding stuff (Live in your world, play in ours) that they become lame.
Basically, I'm saying the need to cultivate some artificial image of cool for a game company as whole is probably not as important to sales as the marketeers want you too believe. If they can keep putting out cool games (which addmittedly may itself be a shallow, artificial rule to impose on designers) then they'll attract the gamers.
And how did the PS become popular? By releasing a lot of great, sexy games that blew people (and their competitors) away. Not because of their dumbass E-Nos ads. Even their ads today are pretty conservative. However, it was Sega that hired Ice Cube for their Saturn ads. It was Sega that spent millions on making that John Moore Blade Runner techno Asian chick commercial. It was Sega that hired Iverson to pimp their B-ball games. Where's Sega now?
The only attempt to insert "cool" that consistently pays off is in the design of the games themselves. If a game shows some genuine and hopefully unique style (be it graphics, premise, whatever) then it WILL attract people. Everything about Metal Gear Solid and GTA just OOZES cool. You stick a camera on them and people will be interested.
Don't get me wrong, if you have the right ads at the right time, you can manufacture cool and ride the wave (See the Genesis' run against the SNES). But I don't really see Sony doing that or that happening very often. Their ads just sell the inherent sexiness of the game and it works. SOCOM ads focus on bad-ass Navy SEALs breaking things and destroying people and it works. If anything, it's when they try branding stuff (Live in your world, play in ours) that they become lame.
Basically, I'm saying the need to cultivate some artificial image of cool for a game company as whole is probably not as important to sales as the marketeers want you too believe. If they can keep putting out cool games (which addmittedly may itself be a shallow, artificial rule to impose on designers) then they'll attract the gamers.
