Microsoft naming fails

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MSR1701
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Re: Microsoft naming fails

Postby MSR1701 » December 16th, 2019, 12:39 pm

ActRaiser wrote:
MSR1701 wrote:
ActRaiser wrote:I love how marketing gets involved and they always tend to come up with the dumbest names possible. I get that they are trying to present some "larger" message but as stand alone names, they almost always stink.

Code names for projects tend to be way cooler.

A couple of my favorites were Project Reality aka Nintendo 64 and Revolution gave way to Wii. Seriously, I would much rather buy a system called Revolution than Wii.

The only system off the top of my head that launched with a cooler marketing friendly name than the code name was the Dreamcast. Now, that my friends is a name.


Not sure if DreamCast is cooler than Katana...


Doh! I was thinking Neptune for some reason.



Neptune was the code-name for the proposed all-in-one Genesis/32X system. I do believe at one point the successor to the Saturn was being worked on under Project Pluto, but Katana became the major project name very fast.

Gleebergloben123
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Re: Microsoft naming fails

Postby Gleebergloben123 » December 16th, 2019, 1:12 pm

They need something original, I don't know, how about X-Box Dreamcast, or maybe X-Box 10400. No wait, the X-Box That You Can Play Games On and Stuff, that's it.

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C64_Critic
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Re: Microsoft naming fails

Postby C64_Critic » December 16th, 2019, 3:18 pm

fod wrote:
The important thing is that Microsoft keeps making their exclusives available to Game Pass for PC. I've been playing Xbox-related content nearly for free for the past 4 years just by accumulating Bing points and spending them on Xbox Live Gold and Xbox Game Pass subscriptions.


Color me intrigued - as someone who has accumulated over 100k Bing points over the years and never redeemed them, you're saying I can use them for something that will score me free games? I wen to the "Redeem Rewards" page but I don't see anything called "Game Pass for PC". Can you give me some more specifics?
Mahalo!

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Matchstick
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Re: Microsoft naming fails

Postby Matchstick » December 16th, 2019, 3:33 pm

C64_Critic wrote:
fod wrote:
The important thing is that Microsoft keeps making their exclusives available to Game Pass for PC. I've been playing Xbox-related content nearly for free for the past 4 years just by accumulating Bing points and spending them on Xbox Live Gold and Xbox Game Pass subscriptions.


Color me intrigued - as someone who has accumulated over 100k Bing points over the years and never redeemed them, you're saying I can use them for something that will score me free games? I wen to the "Redeem Rewards" page but I don't see anything called "Game Pass for PC". Can you give me some more specifics?
Mahalo!


Whoa, you mean someone else has fallen into this "trap," too? Suddenly I don't feel so alone. All right!!

Kidding aside, I haven't spent a dime on anything Xbox related in the last year, as I use my Bing points to buy things from the Xbox Marketplace on the Xbox One. Usually, I will redeem my points for an Xbox gift card (values vary between $1.25 up to $25) which immediately adds that amount to your Microsoft Account balance. After you use your points on the gift card, simply go to a game you want to buy, either on your PC or on the Xbox One, select checkout, then "Pay with Microsoft Account balance."

You can redeem points for Xbox Live Gold and Game Pass, and it should apply to both Xbox One and PC. I have redeemed points for Game Pass, but have never played on PC, though I do get messages about it periodically. I have bought games on my PC before and had them show up in my Xbox One catalogue, and I do believe the two are linked. That is to say, if you buy a game that has a version on both PC and Xbox (such as Recore or Shadow of the Tomb Raider) you buy the game once and own it for both systems.

I also bought Game Pass Ultimate on my account a few months ago, and received an e-mail with a code to redeem on the Microsoft Store. I gave the code to my wife, and she used it to redeem Game Pass on her account, no problem. I believe anytime you redeem for Live or Game Pass, you are given a code which is not tied to your account. You are free to give it away, sell it on eBay, etc. However, when you redeem a Xbox or Microsoft Gift Card, that balance is immediately applied to your account and can not be transferred. It's all in the fine print when you checkout. Still, I was pleasantly surprised I could "gift" Game Pass to my wife's account. Since she plays way, way more than I do, it's been a great use of my points.

I call it a trap because of the compulsive need it gives me to search on Bing every single day, hoping to rack up more points. Darn that Microsoft marketing, they've got me hooked!!

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Matchstick
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Re: Microsoft naming fails

Postby Matchstick » December 16th, 2019, 3:45 pm

... and to make a post relevant to the topic, while I don't care for Microsoft's Xbox naming choices, I don't feel as if they're any worse than "Dreamcast" or "2DS XL." I even though "GameBoy" was a bit odd when I was younger, and just figured it was a play on "WalkMan," which itself was also an odd name at the time.

Sony's had some strange naming choices over the years with their Exxon-style made-up words, like "Vaio" and "Bravia." Maybe they mean something in another language, but in English, it's an odd choice. Likewise, "PlayStation" is such an odd name, but giving them credit, the brand has grown and is very well-known the world over. Still, I find naming their systems PS2 / PS3 / PS4 / PS5 to be pretty boring, and wish they'd take more of a chance. And while they're at it, how 'bout they change up that controller, too!

I think what it all comes down to is that larger companies don't really care about the name attached to their device. For them, the company name will always be stronger than the product name. Are you buying a gaming device because it's named "Vita," or because it's a gaming device made by Sony? Heck, they could call their next major system the "Sony Donut" and it would still sell 100 million units.

Microsoft gets this, too, as the Microsoft name is well-known the world over. The Xbox name was severely tarnished after the 360 overheating fiasco (costing the company billions of dollars) and I'm quite surprised they stuck with the Xbox branding after that mess. But I believe they lean on the MS name much more than anything related to Xbox. If I were them, though, I would have rebranded the Xbox division entirely after then 360, and they're missed a golden opportunity to do so several times over since then. For better or worse, they like the letter "X" (probably because of DirectX, as others have noted) and that name is here to stay, in whatever derivative they decide to use it.

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MSR1701
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Re: Microsoft naming fails

Postby MSR1701 » December 16th, 2019, 4:39 pm

Matchstick wrote:... and to make a post relevant to the topic, while I don't care for Microsoft's Xbox naming choices, I don't feel as if they're any worse than "Dreamcast" or "2DS XL." I even though "GameBoy" was a bit odd when I was younger, and just figured it was a play on "WalkMan," which itself was also an odd name at the time.

Sony's had some strange naming choices over the years with their Exxon-style made-up words, like "Vaio" and "Bravia." Maybe they mean something in another language, but in English, it's an odd choice. Likewise, "PlayStation" is such an odd name, but giving them credit, the brand has grown and is very well-known the world over. Still, I find naming their systems PS2 / PS3 / PS4 / PS5 to be pretty boring, and wish they'd take more of a chance. And while they're at it, how 'bout they change up that controller, too!

I think what it all comes down to is that larger companies don't really care about the name attached to their device. For them, the company name will always be stronger than the product name. Are you buying a gaming device because it's named "Vita," or because it's a gaming device made by Sony? Heck, they could call their next major system the "Sony Donut" and it would still sell 100 million units.

Microsoft gets this, too, as the Microsoft name is well-known the world over. The Xbox name was severely tarnished after the 360 overheating fiasco (costing the company billions of dollars) and I'm quite surprised they stuck with the Xbox branding after that mess. But I believe they lean on the MS name much more than anything related to Xbox. If I were them, though, I would have rebranded the Xbox division entirely after then 360, and they're missed a golden opportunity to do so several times over since then. For better or worse, they like the letter "X" (probably because of DirectX, as others have noted) and that name is here to stay, in whatever derivative they decide to use it.



Good Point, as there have been many weird platform names over the years... DS, Nuon, Game.Com, Wonderswan, Dragon32, ZXSpectrum, Phanton (on wait, that one was appropriate in hindsight...)

Voor
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Re: Microsoft naming fails

Postby Voor » December 16th, 2019, 5:43 pm

Question: is the Super Nintendo a good name? I’ve always felt like it was a natural progression, but looking back, it’s not very creative. Still, I can imagine my beloved console being called anything else. :)

I wonder if “Super Wii” would have done better than “Wii U”? I get that it wasn’t really a progression of the Wii (regarding non emphasis on motion controls), but putting the distinction at the END of the name feels more confusing than the beginning, to me.

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MSR1701
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Re: Microsoft naming fails

Postby MSR1701 » December 16th, 2019, 6:15 pm

Voor wrote:Question: is the Super Nintendo a good name? I’ve always felt like it was a natural progression, but looking back, it’s not very creative. Still, I can imagine my beloved console being called anything else. :)

I wonder if “Super Wii” would have done better than “Wii U”? I get that it wasn’t really a progression of the Wii (regarding non emphasis on motion controls), but putting the distinction at the END of the name feels more confusing than the beginning, to me.


WiiU always felt like Nintendo trying to go with an Apple type name (iDevice)...

Still, I laugh when someone tells me they gave their kid a Switch. Too many memories of my Dad going to the ol peach tree to not think of another kind of switch...


Btw, should this thread be renamed? ;)

Voor
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Re: Microsoft naming fails

Postby Voor » December 16th, 2019, 7:19 pm

Did they announce a price? I have no interest in it, but just curious if they are going to shoot for $499

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Stalvern
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Re: Microsoft naming fails

Postby Stalvern » December 16th, 2019, 10:00 pm

Voor wrote:Question: is the Super Nintendo a good name? I’ve always felt like it was a natural progression, but looking back, it’s not very creative. Still, I can imagine my beloved console being called anything else. :)

It's an endearingly Japanese one.


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