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Josef Fares (Director of Brothers & A Way Out) rips into Microsoft over Xbox Series X name: ''It's a total f*cking mess''

Hugare

Member
Weird naming conventions for sure, but didn't seem to impede the Wii from selling like hotcakes.
It did impede the Wii U from selling as much, tho

From here on it’ll be:
Xbox Series 2
Xbox Series 3
Xbox Series 4
And so on, like Apple Watch.

Or maybe Xbox 7
Xbox(1), Xbox 360(2), Xbox One(3), Xbox One X(4), Xbox Series S(5), Xbox Series X(6), Xbox 7 (7)

Should’ve called this one:
Xbox 10
Because of Windows 10
Seems like you should apply for a marketing job at Microsoft

How hoard it would be to just make it Xbox 2? Then Xbox 2 Pro? Like Sony is doing

Put a number after the name, done. Simple and effective.

But nah, lets go with Xbox 720 next time
 

Barakov

Member
No lies detected. That fact that people thought that the Xbox One X was the Xbox Series X is proof of this. No one is going to mistake the PS4 for the PS5. ESPECIALLY given how different they look. Distinctions need to be made when dealing with the general public.
 

SirTerry-T

Member
Is this Josef fella setting out to be the "cool, bad boy" of games development?
A bit like that twonk who used to wear sunglasses all the time, who worked on Kinect or something...
 

Fredrik

Member
It did impede the Wii U from selling as much, tho


Seems like you should apply for a marketing job at Microsoft

How hoard it would be to just make it Xbox 2? Then Xbox 2 Pro? Like Sony is doing

Put a number after the name, done. Simple and effective.

But nah, lets go with Xbox 720 next time
This would’ve been Xbox 4 so the simple answer why they scrapped that is because they didn’t want to be one lower than Playstation 5.
But yeah, a number would’ve been so much better. And you can’t even say this out loud easily as an abbreviation. Try say XSX fast 10 times. I can say it two times before I mess it up lol
And Series X sounds like serie sex. I hate all about it. No hate is i a big word, I just don’t think it’s a good name at all.
 
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BigLee74

Member
Sure it is.

Xbox series one and Xbox series X

What the fuck.

WTF is an Xbox series one?

On a related side note, I remember owning an HTC One Mini 2. MS has NOTHING on HTC.

Simple guys, it really is. Xbox One ??? is old stuff, Xbox Series ??? is new stuff. Not as simple as an incrementing number, granted, but it’s not exactly rocket science either, is it? Be informed. Costs nothing.
 
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skit_data

Member
Josef can come across as a cocky bastard, but to his credit he quickly became one of Swedens most acclaimed film directors, left that business and is on his way to become somewhat of a big name in gaming as well.

I think he definitely has a point, and he is not ”off his meds”.
 
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carlosrox

Banned
Meh, it's Xbox and it's Series X, or SX.

Console name hate is always overblown shit. Who cares what it's called.
 

Clear

CliffyB's Cock Holster
Meh, it's Xbox and it's Series X, or SX.

Console name hate is always overblown shit. Who cares what it's called.

I doubt anyone cares, but its still a really dumb, self-inflicted, injury to their messaging effort.
 

Derktron

Banned
This guy is a complete utter moron, yeah the name is horrible not going to deny him that but the way he speaks sounds like he did a line of coke before doing this interview. But some of games aren’t that bad though.
 

StreetsofBeige

Gold Member
I don't get the confusion. People have bought cell phones for decades now just fine, and they have always had asinine naming schemes.
Every major TV maker's website has about 20 models and each model will have about 3 sizes each. Now multiply that number of combinations by the number of major makers.

And then places like Costco get their own special version model not listed on websites. So add those to the total.

Yet I've never heard anyone I know buying a TV get confused at buying the wrong TV.
 
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Edokataki

Banned
You must have problems to confuse the names of a console, just go and ask someone in the store for the new Xbox or type it in any online store and you will get Xbox series X/S. Or you just want to create some drama because there is nothing of importance to talk. And no, no one grandparents have any problems shopping for Xboxes, or any other console. Whoever get confused has more serious problems to take care of.
 

DJTHEGREY

Member
Sure it is.

Xbox series one and Xbox series X

What the fuck.
If it confused you... Who am I to judge.... I think anyone posting on this site shouldn't be so easily confused by an S or an X. A more casual gamer I can see being confused at first.... I Wasn't confused at all.... I just thought it was a bad name like the WiiU was a bad name.
 

DunDunDunpachi

Patient MembeR
He's very passionate about the issue.

I disagree. Not that I love the name of their newest consoles, but Microsoft is trying to transform their gaming brand into ambiguous 'XBOX'. They want the hardware to matter less and less. So the more they de-emphasize the particular box-model while continually putting 'XBOX' out there, they are working toward their goal.
 
He's not wrong. This started with the xbone though. They are following in nintendos wii footsteps.

Really should of just called it Xbox Scarlett, or Anaconda or even Lockhart any of them would be bad ass. No they go with series x, almost as bad as project natal... Lol
 
That’s what you get when you name successor to your original console “360”. Where do you go from there: 720, 2 or back to...one. 😆

Sony best at naming their consoles confirmed.
 

bender

What time is it?
Naming conventions for the last two generations of Microsoft's consoles are confusing for Joe Everyman.
 
It did impede the Wii U from selling as much, tho


Seems like you should apply for a marketing job at Microsoft

How hoard it would be to just make it Xbox 2? Then Xbox 2 Pro? Like Sony is doing

Put a number after the name, done. Simple and effective.

But nah, lets go with Xbox 720 next time
That's the thing. They can't call it Pro anymore because Sony got the idea of mid-gen consoles before them (and MS copied them like they copied the share button and are going to copy the DualSense features).
 

Kataploom

Gold Member
I don't get the confusion. People have bought cell phones for decades now just fine, and they have always had asinine naming schemes.
I don't get it either, maybe it's just because of the One S|X that people think it's overcomplicated with Series S|X... It can be better for sure but I actually think the convention with S|X is a very useful way to separate low end from high end consoles... and both are just "Xbox Series consoles". What's wrong with it?
 

Woman7

Banned
He's right.

Wish he said the same about the wiiu.
Sony gets it - the average joe can count to 10, so use that knowledge to your advantage.

Dragons Den Easy Peasy GIF by CBC
 

ZoukGalaxy

Member
100% right.

Someone at Microsoft must be paid to fucked up all names on purpose, that must be its job, I don't see any other explanation, with a job title fuck up as well like "Senior Lead Name Designer Director Executive Assurance Quality Fuckuper"
 
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SirTerry-T

Member
You go to the shops (ideally) and ask for, or pick up from the shelf the big black Xbox gamemachine or the smaller white Xbox game machine.
It's not rocket science, though you would be forgiven for thinking it is by some of crap that gets spouted about it.
 

LucidFlux

Member
I think since Microsoft had already abandoned the traditional "Xbox + ascending number" naming convention for their consoles, they could get away with calling it whatever they want. That said, I don't think Series S|X was the right move as I still hear folks refer to the new Xbox as an Xbox One or just Xbox X.

If they wanted to capture mindshare the name had to be memorable and easily distinguish itself from the previous version. They just had an S and X version of their console. One was not a distinct or memorable name. Series isn't even a name. Ugh I'm getting heated just thinking about it lol. I've sat in these branding meetings before and it's not as easy as you think, especially when someone higher up the totem pole is dead set on using a horrible name. We've had to convince someone not to call a new product the Flow Stick.... and it was not a feminine hygiene product.
 

MiguelItUp

Member
I mean, the naming convention is complicated for seniors/parents and/or anyone not familiar with gaming. But other than that, I don't think it's THAT bad. Could've probably been better though.
 

Aenima

Member
Dude is batshit crazy, and i like him because of that. His also right. Series S/X after One S/X is some kinda of WiiU dumb shit.
I found it hilarious, i think it was a NBA player saying was not hard at all to pre order the new Series S console, then he shows a recipt of a One S. :D
 

Kimahri

Banned
Every major TV maker's website has about 20 models and each model will have about 3 sizes each. Now multiply that number of combinations by the number of major makers.

And then places like Costco get their own special version model not listed on websites. So add those to the total.

Yet I've never heard anyone I know buying a TV get confused at buying the wrong TV.

So the lesson of the story is that gamers are stupid? :goog_unsure:

I don't get it either, maybe it's just because of the One S|X that people think it's overcomplicated with Series S|X... It can be better for sure but I actually think the convention with S|X is a very useful way to separate low end from high end consoles... and both are just "Xbox Series consoles". What's wrong with it?

The whole one x/s probably didn't help if series s/x confuses you, but come on, it's not that hard, haha.
 
It's bad marketing, plain and simple.

I'd consider myself a very tech-savvy consumer. I've skipped all of MS's consoles since the Xbox360, so I don't really pay attention to the naming schemes. And if I wanted to buy any model of the Xbox, I would need to go on Google and try and figure out which model is which, because the different models are all just arbitrary variations on the same theme. That adds friction to the purchase. A purchase decision should be as easy and seamless as possible. Shittiest branding I've seen in a long time, aside from Sony's pathetic branding for their headphones (Like "WF-1000XM3"...wut). It's like these people never actually educated themselves on this stuff at all. It's product branding 101.
 
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