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[supernova8]

Of course corona has had a major impact on companies all over the world, but I'm still surprised by the lack of effort/preparation by Microsoft in putting together Inside Xbox. It was bad enough at the time, and then compounded by Sony putting out a relatively well-produced PS5 reveal video 'event'.

Do we have any theories on precisely why it was so bad?

To give some specific details:
(1) Aaron Greenscreen terrible webcam video and audio
(2) Matt Booty passable video quality yet poor audio quality
(3)Damon Baker poor video and audio quality
(4) (5) (6) etc. pretty much every speaker except for (ironically) the NFL player who exhibited the best video/audio by far.
(7) Not bothering to trim talking head sections, resulting in monologues that went on for far too long
(8) Putting out a 4K stream while having individual webcam footage that looked like 720p or worse.

note: this is not a discussion on the choice of games shown. Let's just keep it to the actual production value itself. Feel free, however, to mention the games shown in the context of overall production quality (as I do below).

Personally I think it's a mix of them expecting Sony to do the same, and perhaps misreading the room and thinking the games shown would more than make up for any poor production quality.

 

[Birdo]

Do we have any theories on precisely why it was so bad?

I'm not sure. I think people are preoccupied with the world turning to shit. This is really a non-issue.

 

[TheContact]

Probably just failed logistics, especially in May when things were really chaotic. They probably did the best with what they had to work with.

 

[dorkimoe]

He answered #1, he said he was on vacation or something in some remote area, so it could have been camera or internet. WHy he didnt take a webcam from work I dont know. But I do know he answered that question somewhere.

 

[jigglet]

Do people really think the poor video quality was an issue? That was a complete non-issue for me, they are all casting from home...what can you do?

My issue was with 1) too many non-gameplay trailers and 2) most of the games simply aren't AAA, which is what we're all hyped for. They're mostly launch-window filler.

 

[Yams]

Personally I think it's a mix of them expecting Sony to do the same, and perhaps misreading the room and thinking the games shown would more than make up for any poor production quality.

Comparing Inside Xbox's May event against Sony's big Playstation reveal isn't an apples to apples comparison. I'm sure the July first party presentation will feel quite a bit different.

 

[JOEVIAL]

It was a mis-read cop out.

The time the video released was around the height of concern for COVID in the United States. It was also a period where companies where still scrambling to figure out the best solutions for working from home.

Microsoft thought they could easily do a web-cam showing, because that was what "everyone" else was doing at the time. News outlets, businesses, celebrities. Most everyone was doing the "home-camera" solution. Using bad webcams and low quality conference calls. Nearly everyone was doing this at this point and Microsoft was just following suite in that regard.

 

[pqueue]

Of course corona has had a major impact on companies all over the world, but I'm still surprised by the lack of effort/preparation by Microsoft in putting together Inside Xbox. It was bad enough at the time, and then compounded by Sony putting out a relatively well-produced PS5 reveal video 'event'.

Do we have any theories on precisely why it was so bad?

To give some specific details:
(1) Aaron Greenscreen terrible webcam video and audio
(2) Matt Booty passable video quality yet poor audio quality
(3)Damon Baker poor video and audio quality
(4) (5) (6) etc. pretty much every speaker except for (ironically) the NFL player who exhibited the best video/audio by far.
(7) Not bothering to trim talking head sections, resulting in monologues that went on for far too long
(8) Putting out a 4K stream while having individual webcam footage that looked like 720p or worse.

note: this is not a discussion on the choice of games shown. Let's just keep it to the actual production value itself. Feel free, however, to mention the games shown in the context of overall production quality (as I do below).

Personally I think it's a mix of them expecting Sony to do the same, and perhaps misreading the room and thinking the games shown would more than make up for any poor production quality.

I guess we really have run out of real things to be outraged about.

 

[supernova8]

I guess we really have run out of real things to be outraged about.

Not sure where I mentioned being outraged

 

[supernova8]

Comparing Inside Xbox's May event against Sony's big Playstation reveal isn't an apples to apples comparison. I'm sure the July first party presentation will feel quite a bit different.

I think it's a fair comparison. It's Microsoft first proper reveal of Series X games vs Sony's first proper reveal of PS5 games. It's not like anyone forced them to do the event in May.

 

[-Arcadia-]

Nintendo shipped Sakurai professional quality camera and lighting equipment, and that was for a Smash announcement of far less importance than this.

I don't see why Microsoft couldn't have done the same here.

However, the unveil had far worse problems than this. It was uninteresting and underwhelming at a fundamental level. Had it actually delivered, I doubt anyone would care about some webcam quality streams of miserably boring corporate talk they'd mentally space for anyway.

 

[supernova8]

Do people really think the poor video quality was an issue? That was a complete non-issue for me, they are all casting from home...what can you do?

My issue was with 1) too many non-gameplay trailers and 2) most of the games simply aren't AAA, which is what we're all hyped for. They're mostly launch-window filler.

Well they made a conscious choice to do it like that. Nobody forced them to do a live cast like that. Everything could have (and probably should have) been pre-recorded and edited.

As I mentioned in OP, while I agree with the trailers themselves being generally underwhelming, a lot of that is out of Microsoft's control (they cannot really force devs/publishers to provide more than they're willing to share in terms of content). That's why I'm focusing on production quality because there's really no excuse for it.

 

[Bernkastel]

Because its an Inside Xbox show, and it had the production value of any other Inside Xbox show.

 

[supernova8]

Probably just failed logistics, especially in May when things were really chaotic. They probably did the best with what they had to work with.

I thought the same at first, but when you have YouTubers putting out stunning 4K video with flawless audio, it starts to seem less acceptable that a multi-billion dollar company couldn't do the same.

 

[Kokoloko85]

Im was more concerned about the games

 

[supernova8]

Because its an Inside Xbox show, and it had the production value of any other Inside Xbox show.

That's just not true. Have you seen Inside Xbox 2019?

 

[VincentMatts]

I thought the same at first, but when you have YouTubers putting out stunning 4K video with flawless audio, it starts to seem less acceptable that a multi-billion dollar company couldn't do the same.

Those youtubers work from home 24/7 and are properly set up for it. People at xbox usually go into the office to work and are not set up at home. Not complicated.

 

[jigglet]

Well they made a conscious choice to do it like that. Nobody forced them to do a live cast like that. Everything could have (and probably should have) been pre-recorded and edited.

As I mentioned in OP, while I agree with the trailers themselves being generally underwhelming, a lot of that is out of Microsoft's control (they cannot really force devs/publishers to provide more than they're willing to share in terms of content). That's why I'm focusing on production quality because there's really no excuse for it.

What I'm saying is I don't care about the quality, and I assumed no one else did either, I thought everyone's issues were with the non-gameplay trailers and generally underwhelming third party showing. But I've probably misread what everyone's complaints were so I'm probably wrong. I had no idea the casting quality was even controversial until I read this thread.

 

[hyperbertha]

Phil didn't have much pocket money left after putting together the series X.

 

[supernova8]

Those youtubers work from home 24/7 and are properly set up for it. People at xbox usually go into the office to work and are not set up at home. Not complicated.

My company puts out better video than Inside Xbox and we're not a media/production company by any means. It takes relatively little research/effort to put out decent quality content.

Besides, I would find it hard to believe that either within Xbox or Microsoft as a whole there was nobody they could contact to get help with that sort of thing. The idea that they were left to film at home with whatever they had lying around strikes me as Xbox/Microsoft being lazy.

 

[Bernkastel]

That's just not true. Have you seen Inside Xbox 2019?

Thats X019.

 

[Bernkastel]

Also, people forget that at that time everyone was in their home and had to use their webcam.

 

[VincentMatts]

My company puts out better video than Inside Xbox and we're not a media/production company by any means. It takes relatively little research/effort to put out decent quality content.

Besides, I would find it hard to believe that either within Xbox or Microsoft as a whole there was nobody they could contact to get help with that sort of thing. The idea that they were left to film at home with whatever they had lying around strikes me as Xbox/Microsoft being lazy.

The inside xbox show itself was high quality. The webcams werent.

MS dont provide free 4k webcam setups at home to every employees "just in case". You either have one, or you dont. Aaron greenberg even said that he wasnt home and the webcam he ordered sold out.

Quit reaching buddy. Shit happens.

 

[HighResTomato]

It was in the middle of the fucking outbreak, everyone was getting used to being working from home. Sony did their show way into lock down and had more time to produce the show.

 

[Trogdor1123]

Needed more cardboard cut outs

 

[martino]

Not delaying this show was a mistake
They thought keep the date was more important than production value and they also probably thought showing people working at xbox are real normal ones can be positive in the context. Reception tell us it was not.

 

[Topfuel]

Have you seen the picture quality when Arteta does in press conferences before Arsenal matches?

 

[VincentMatts]

Not delaying this show was a mistake
They thought keep the date was more important than production value and they also probably thought showing people working at xbox are real normal ones can be positive in the context. Reception tell us it was not.

That i agree with. MS need to realize that quality is important. Even during a pandemic. Making due with what you got is fine for little joe startup, but not them.

These are lessons that they should not need to learn at this point, they should know this.

 

[Portugeezer]

The games they showed didn't warrant any effort on their part. Just slap some shit together.

 

[StreetsofBeige]

The only difference between the two was Sony's show had all these little 3 second segues to break up the segments. And they looked like a intern made them.

Both shows generally had crap games shown as a whole with each side going down the toilet with some really odd cheap looking indie games. Game wise, the only difference was MS showed no first party games.

 

[FranXico]

There were some good games in there. It was alright. People actually are blowing it out of proportion.

 

[martino]

That i agree with. MS need to realize that quality is important. Even during a pandemic. Making due with what you got is fine for little joe startup, but not them.

These are lessons that they should not need to learn at this point, they should know this.

Imo this one hit them hard
Because the narrative became a lot less positive after that show.

 

[Fart Knight]

MS's next show will blow Sony's PS5 reveal out of the water.

 

[VincentMatts]

Imo this one hit them hard
Because the narrative became a lot less positive after that show.

Yeah and it honestly baffles me how MS dont even realize it until its too late.

Apple had a WWDC recently. Video was fucking beautiful, great product values. Even sony showcase, the production value was there.

MS instead seem content with everything just being "functional". Its so baffling to me that no one there seems to realize this until its too late.

 

[Kuranghi]

Cortana: "What are you doing???"
Master Chief: "Finishing. This. Pie."
Cortana: "But what if you make yourself sick?!??"
Master Chief: "I won't."

 

[JLB]

100% agree with you OP.
The quality of the video and audio was unacceptable. It looked like an amateur, first-video-uploaded-to-youtube attempt.

 

[LittleBusters]

Aaron Greenberg is reason enough Xbox marketing is a huge fail. Get rid of that loser.

 

[LittleBusters]

Yeah and it honestly baffles me how MS dont even realize it until its too late.

Apple had a WWDC recently. Video was fucking beautiful, great product values. Even sony showcase, the production value was there.

MS instead seem content with everything just being "functional". Its so baffling to me that no one there seems to realize this until its too late.

They don't care because guys like Major Nelson & Aaron Greenberg. They're the type that would drink Coors Light and think that's ok.

It's like Steve Jobs said 15 years ago in that famous interview - MS just doesn't have any taste. It's at the foundational level with BillG.

 

[BlackProdigy]

It was probably rushed

 

[bumleforce]

I think with the Rona Xbox is very cautious about people leaving home plus looking at zoom meetings and al that that they just felt it was the way to go. Sony didn't give an F They did what they had to do to put on a good show and xbox now needs to do the same

 

[supernova8]

The inside xbox show itself was high quality. The webcams werent.

MS dont provide free 4k webcam setups at home to every employees "just in case". You either have one, or you dont. Aaron greenberg even said that he wasnt home and the webcam he ordered sold out.

Quit reaching buddy. Shit happens.

Maybe I'm reaching, buddy, but on what planet is it a good idea to allow an employee to take holiday leave when you have a very important PR event coming up? Or, not give him a decent webcam before going? Microsoft actually makes their own webcams. They literally only needed.. what... 5 or 6? Plus even a shitty $20 USB lapel mic would've been better. Nobody is saying anything about 'every employee'.

I would even say on the contrary members of the higher levels expected to do this sort of thing should have been given high quality webcam setups a long time ago.

 

[Tulipanzo]

The inside xbox show itself was high quality. The webcams werent.

Execs had to publicly apologize for how bad the show was, in what world was it quality?

To answer the question, supposedly the show was put together very quickly (possibly to come in before Sony), to the point that devs had to cut their segments short, leading to the infamous lack of gameplay.

 

[supernova8]

Execs had to publicly apologize for how bad the show was, in what world was it quality?

To answer the question, supposedly the show was put together very quickly (possibly to come in before Sony), to the point that devs had to cut their segments short, leading to the infamous lack of gameplay.

The thing is, if you remove the fancy puzzle looking graphics from Sony's PS5 reveal, all they did was have people talking into a camera in front of a black background with half-decent lighting. It was Microsoft's choice to have people sitting in their homes with cluttered backgrounds, poor audio quality and poor video quality. Go to 55:23 and you can see the Yakuza director talking. Perfect video quality, perfect audio quality. In Japan, camera/audio equipment sold out really quickly as we moved to teleworking, but if their studio can do it, Microsoft can do it.

It was also Microsoft's choice to have people spending a whole minute saying absolutely nothing of value (Sarah Bond and Damon Baker, I'm looking at you). whole minute doesn't sound like a lot but when they are literally adding nothing of value, it's tedious.

Anyway I guess there's not a lot more to add other than they mistakenly thought they were under some kind of time pressure, and mistakenly thought that getting out there first would be better than getting out there with quality.

 

[ZywyPL]

They used unsold Kinects as the webcam.

 

[Stuart360]

I dont think it was meant to be some statement of intent event or somehting, it was just an Inside Xbox show, in the middle of a pandemic, where people are at home bored and frustrated and Microsoft just wanted to show off some 3rd party games. I mean like 80% of the games they showed in May will also be on ps5. i dont think the May event was really part of the marketing 'war' with Sony.
Now if the July event is poor production wise, fair enough.

 

[OptimistPrime]

I think the biggest problem with the stream was the choice of games to open with. I don’t think they realized that the first impression of what Series X titles will be like is pretty important. These games actually weren’t bad at all, they just should not be your opener. This is especially true given how long it would be until your big hitters would be shown (11 weeks later).

 

[Tulipanzo]

The thing is, if you remove the fancy puzzle looking graphics from Sony's PS5 reveal, all they did was have people talking into a camera in front of a black background with half-decent lighting. It was Microsoft's choice to have people sitting in their homes with cluttered backgrounds, poor audio quality and poor video quality. Go to 55:23 and you can see the Yakuza director talking. Perfect video quality, perfect audio quality. In Japan, camera/audio equipment sold out really quickly as we moved to teleworking, but if their studio can do it, Microsoft can do it.

It was also Microsoft's choice to have people spending a whole minute saying absolutely nothing of value (Sarah Bond and Damon Baker, I'm looking at you). whole minute doesn't sound like a lot but when they are literally adding nothing of value, it's tedious.

Anyway I guess there's not a lot more to add other than they mistakenly thought they were under some kind of time pressure, and mistakenly thought that getting out there first would be better than getting out there with quality.

Pretty much, MS just didn't have the time or effort to set up proper recording for its employees, either in a studio or at home.
No script also makes it feel even worse, but that might have been due to the misguided need to look relatable.

There was a lot wrong with the show that a few extra weeks, better scripting/cameras and better showcases would have fixed.

 

[supernova8]

Pretty much, MS just didn't have the time or effort to set up proper recording for its employees, either in a studio or at home.
No script also makes it feel even worse, but that might have been due to the misguided need to look relatable.

There was a lot wrong with the show that a few extra weeks, better scripting/cameras and better showcases would have fixed.

Yeah I think they misunderstood. If you look at their tweet activity, it's kinda cringey. Sometimes it's like a dad trying to be hip and cool with his kids.
In comparison, Sony is generally classy pretty much all the time. They don't really ever take off the mask. Even when they mocked XONE with that used games 'tutorial' it was high production quality.

 

[GymWolf]

I guess they are saving all the budget for halo infinite.

 

[Night.Ninja]

Maybe America needs better internet