| Bringing it Home - hit or overhyped? |
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E3 has now been and gone, and so for another industry event we've been blessed with Microsoft's "Bringing it Home". What started out as a commendable effort when it first appeared has somewhat become something of a non entity for gamers who have the likes of Game Trailers, IGN and various other Internet sources providing similar content, and most often in advance of the the Xbox Live Marketplace.
Let's rewind a second to bring into perspective what the ideology is behind the "Bringing it Home" experienece. Not everyone can attend E3, moreso since the organizers closed their doors for a more insider type showcase rather than the open house it used to be. This has meant that the event has become a hotbed for journalists and other industry figures to get a look at the games of the future, so they can report back to gamers their opinions and findings in various publications on and offline. For the average gamers, who are now barred from entering, and certainly not privy to the goings on behind closed doors in various hotels around Los Angeles; there is much knowledge and information to be gleaned from the event, yet this is rather a passive involvement compared to those actually attending. Gamers can download trailers, view screenshots, watch interviews and of course read various opinions of those in attendance over the E3 week and beyond, via general media outlets. Yet Microsoft's initiative sounded great on paper when it was first mentioned and even its namesake created the impression that gamers could, from the comfort of their own sofas be a part of the E3 experience whilst supping beer and smoking or doing whatever else they wanted to, without the need to jet off around the World, or continnent. It certainly appeared to be Microsoft's objective to provide gamers an inside source, looking out for gamers needs, giving them the information they required to keep gamers up to date on all things Microsoft, or more specifically Xbox 360. "Bringing it Home" has offered and offers downloadable trailers, gamer pics and themes and more recently a behind the scenes look at the E3 event thanks to the likes of Aceybongos, Trixie, Major Nelson and newcomer Mr Pointyhead (for Europeans). Yet by looking around popular Internet forums and websites, there seems to be a concencous that it's actually game demos that is the most desirable aspect of the "Bringing it Home" experience.
With several publishers already commenting on the impact of demos in the past, (Ace Combat 6 published by Atari springs to mind) it does make sense that for the majority of gamers, being able to sample a game prior to release in demo form is the best way to develop an opinion about a product. There's several facets to consider here from a developer standpoint, because in some respects a demo prior to release can be a very bad thing and actually turn potential buyers off, especially as the words "this demo does not represent the quality of the final product" is often not entirely the case, and again seems like developers covering their backs if opinion tilts toward the negative side. Also when the final product turns out to be no different from the demo (especially if the demo is released close to the release period). Publishers do have to have a relative degree of confidence in their product to release a demo pre-release, and perhaps take on board some of the critisisms the masses have, and in some cases this can actually be very helpful for developers to go back and tweak things, to get it right for release. It's a double edged sword, yet in the case of a game such as Too Human, which was the only demo to be released for this year's E3 in Europe at least, focus has been drawn to the whole idea behind releasing demos. Which returns us back to the role of the "Bringing it Home" experience and what gamers are actually expecting.
It's probably safe to say that vast number of gamers who are expecting a lot more from Microsoft's "Bringing it Home" and this year's E3 is a perfect example of how the whole idea can become rather disappointing for many. For those people who want a concise look at the event and don't really care about getting breaking news immediatly, then the Marketplace is a good resource for getting the lowdown on E3, although even then, your not going to get the full picture because the Marketplace omits a lot of content, for what ever reasons. For those people who really do want to get the immediate details from the E3 event, then it's probably also safe to say that the Marketplace is not the first port of call for them , because the Internet is able to churn out media far more precisely than the Marketplace can. So for these gamers, the only real incentive to visit the Marketplace is for the exclusive demos and the odd trailer that is exclusive also, yet for this year at least, this aspect has been lackluster.
Demos should really be the mantra behind the "Bringing it Home" experience, because this is what gamers want, it is certainly it's biggest strength and effectively living up to its title. Gamers can play the games that those attending the event are playing. Yet for E3 this year, even just looking at Microsoft's own line-up, they only released one demo, yet had several demos of their other games available to play for those in attendance. We're not going to be naive and think that it would be easy to co-ordinate demos released to the public in accordance with a major event like E3, but on the other hand this is really the basis of what gamers are predominantly expecting, and when the Marketplace fails to deliver, there's certainly an air of disappointment and a lack of confidence in Microsoft's initative.
In light of this year's event a general sentiment that's shared across the board is that the "Bringing it Home" experience has been rather disappointing - although obviously better than nothing at all, and as mentioned, very useful for a specific cross section of consumers. Considering this, and in respect of the popularity of websites such as IGN Gamespot and Gametrailers, one has to ponder and ask, has the whole "Bringing it Home" experience been somewhat over hyped by Microsoft and has now underacheived due to its failure to deliver what's expected?
Microsoft at least should be able to gather its forces and present to consumers something special for the "Bringing it Home" experience, and as we've seen (Sat 19th July) post E3 the Marketplace could have had an exclusive Tomb Raider Underworld trailer to showcase to the millions of Marketplace users across the globe. You would think Microsoft would be pushing for more exclusives in the way media sites like Gametrailers and IGN get exclusive rights to trailers; at least for Microsoft's own product range. Yet this hasn't really happened as much as it could have and thus has meant the Marketplace has been less profilic than it should and could be. We have to wonder why this is the case though, because the Marketplace is a facet of the Xbox 360 experience, and so makes sense that it's an area developed to its full potential.
From our own views here at msxbox-world, there's a sentiment that the "Bringing it Home" experience has been slow and could be much improved in many areas, and yes it could be viewed as something that's been heavily touted by Microsoft, but has somewhat lost its appeal beyond the few demos it has made available. If Microsoft want to really push the Marketplace content during these media events then surely they have the means to be able to do so. "Bringing it Home" at present really means nothing and as mentioned has become a bit of a non entity for a lot of gamers requirements. Perhaps we're looking at it all wrong and don't fit into the target demographic for "Bringing it Home" ? Yet on the other hand, with so much more it could offer, to make it a one stop resource for gamers, we have to wonder why it hasn't been expanded enough to accomodate everyones needs?
Posted By: Robert Cram
Date: 2008-07-20
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