Penny Arcade - Comic - Exbox

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Penny Arcade - Comic - Exbox

Videogaming-related online strip by Mike Krahulik and Jerry Holkins. Includes news and commentary.

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V1m

Is... is this some joke I'm too old to get?

Golden Yak

I think it's just an Incredibles reference. With walruses, which are pretty funny.

(You probably have to see the ad campaign.)

dennis

I took the incredibly clever strategy of googling "xbox ads".

https://www.creativebloq.com/creative-inspiration/advertising/microsoft-is-confusing-everyone-with-its-bizarre-new-xbox-ads



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IYBSNQLsBKk

Lucascraft

I'm guessing that the walrus is a callback to their old clan name.

You know how Tycho always signs his name as "Tycho (CW)" on his newsposts? The "(CW)" part stands for Clan Walrus.

I *think* that was their Tribes/Tribes2 clan. (Maybe?)

MichaelLC

Millennial marketing is terrible.

Give me a doctor telling people to smoke to help relax any day.

Grendus

It's not Millenials, just Microsoft having the worst ad department in the industry.

They're trying to shift their brand strategy to XBox being all of Microsoft gaming - you run XBox games on your laptop, or Smart TV, or phone, or via streaming, or on your VR headset. But as usual, they fail to understand that advertising is aspirational, so they need to be convincing me that this is a good thing. This ad doesn't make me happy that XBox stuff runs on other hardware, because I don't really give a shit about XBoxes.

Undead Scottsman

Xbox at some point decided they lost the most important generation (the one where people established their large digital libraries) and thus they do not believe they can ever defeat Playstation on a console vs console basis, so they've been trying to reformulate Xbox as being a platform agnostic brand, with stuff like crossplay, play anywhere, gamepass and xcloud. This commercial is just the most recent salvo on trying to push that idea.

Ultimately they're just saying you don't need to buy an Xbox to play Xbox stuff now. Because they know hardly anyone wants to buy an xbox already and have zero ideas of how to push the hardware, especially given their inability to get content out on the regular despite owning 50 kerjillion studios.

V1m

Sadly, Steam is about a generation ahead on that scheme too. And has an approximately infinitely better reputation

RatherDashing

It might be silly for them to refer to the Microsoft cloud gaming brand as XBox...but it's a heck of a lot better than trying to sell any gaming-related thing using the Microsoft name.

Rhesus Positive

This is an ex box

dennis

V1m wrote: »

Sadly, Steam is about a generation ahead on that scheme too. And has an approximately infinitely better reputation

See also "the one where people established their large digital libraries".

V1m

dennis wrote: »

V1m wrote: »

Sadly, Steam is about a generation ahead on that scheme too. And has an approximately infinitely better reputation

See also "the one where people established their large digital libraries".

All the indeeds

dennis

It's like Microsoft getting to phones after iPhone and Android all over again.

Overkillengine

Sounds like they need to either offer a product/service that is either better than other others for the same price, or one that is about the same for cheaper. If they want a decent shot at passing the hurdles already in place.

Their marketing funds are clearly not being spent well, they can repatriate some of that to focus on those. But who am I kidding? They'll just buy out some more studios and slowly run them into the ground and enshittify their products. I miss Skype from back when it was good.

ArmsForPeace84

I don't hate most of this campaign. Only the stickers. And the two panels they're clearly hoping will get memes trending as a form of viral marketing. But that just come off like a manager wearing a Jerry Garcia tie to show that it's not all stuffy business around here, we have fun. You know what, I'm gonna take my tie off. Don't try to stop me. I've had two cups of coffee, and now it's getting cray-cray up in here.

Which a gaming brand really shouldn't have to do.

jberry

ceci nest pas une xbox

RememberThePhorum

Microsoft's trying to do "what's a computer" but without the ad savvy, business strategy, or captive market.

All just to launch a bunch of shit they're going to discontinue.

Armored Chocobo

MichaelLC wrote: »

Millennial marketing is terrible.

Give me a doctor telling people to smoke to help relax any day.

Naw man, it's still Boomers ultimately green-lighting this shit. We won't see Millennial marketing till they die.