• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Adam Sessler & Albert Penello on the Xbox One (Interview)

Status
Not open for further replies.

RulkezX

Member
Performance: I’m not dismissing raw performance. I’m stating – as I have stated from the beginning – that the performance delta between the two platforms is not as great as the raw numbers lead the average consumer to believe. There are things about our system architecture not fully understood, and there are things about theirs as well, that bring the two systems into balance.

Albert , how can you possibly claim to know enough about the PS4 to essentially say that people don't understand stuff about XO ( that makes it more powerful than it seems on paper) and thing people don't understand about PS4 that writes off its power advantage ?


Cynicism is the absolute worst characteristic of any internet community. The worst. People mistake it for wisdom and switch their brains off.

The idea that Albert posting here is part of some over-arching official Microsoft PR strategy is not only cynical, but immensely presumptuous. If you don't like what he has to say or don't believe him, fine. But don't just create a narrative to make yourself feel better about it.


He only started posting here post 180's , did he not ? He only posts in threads talking about Xbox One and its usually in defence of the console rather than sharing new info. He seems like a decent enough guy and I doubt anyone questions his passion , but we all know why he is here.
 

xxracerxx

Don't worry, I'll vouch for them.
Pretty ridiculous he is saying it's the consumers fault for not looking for the Kinect videos and such. It's Microsoft's job to sell us their product. They need to push it and show us why we need Kinect. And real world examples, not tech demos.
That is really ridiculous.
 

KHarvey16

Member
Cynicism is the absolute worst characteristic of any internet community. The worst. People mistake it for wisdom and switch their brains off.

The idea that Albert posting here is part of some over-arching official Microsoft PR strategy is not only cynical, but immensely presumptuous. If you don't like what he has to say or don't believe him, fine. But don't just create a narrative to make yourself feel better about it.
 

IN&OUT

Banned
yo-mama-is-so-fat-when-she-walked-by-the-tv-i-missed-3-episodes.jpg


We wouldn't want that now, would we? :p

On a serious note, we all know what the numbers are. You engage him on numbers that aren't in his favor, then don't be surprised when you get an obvious response. He'll do what anyone in his position would. He's going to talk about the amazing work that he sees being done on the system, or mention stuff like how smart the people are working on the project, and how much confidence this gives him on what the system will be capable of. It's not like he's trying to get you to ignore the difference in the numbers, because he can't accomplish that. He's trying to communicate that there's a bit more to it than just that, to look at the games so far, and there are details that we don't know about yet, which could be PR to get our hopes up and raise confidence about the Xbox One, but it isn't impossible that we don't know as much as we think we do about the system. We've seen some awesome things on the PS4, but we also have to be honest that we've seen some awesome stuff on the Xbox One also. I think it's cool that he has stuck with it as much as he has, and is continuing to engage with us, because, trust me, there's times when I think "Oh fuck, we've definitely seen the last of him now," but he continues to participate anyway.

I welcome that.

I truly admire what Albert is doing, I love his passion for games and I think he is the best thing of MS as of now. But....nevermind

I really don't want to drag this thread any longer. we'll have to wait and see about PS4/X1 power gap and discuss more with actual game footage later this year.
 

artist

Banned
I know, it's great right?! No popcorn but artist has skittles.
I wish there was a way to e-transfer some skittles to you .. the closest thing we got is 3d printed skittles but those sound ugh. >.>

oh get off your high horse. You're the guy who started the whole MS Rep on twitter deal right? Don't think it had any effect on your enjoyment of gaming then either but yet you called it out
28kgsii.gif
 
Except when Albert comes here, he is doing his job.

He is trying to influence how people view Xbox One. He is talking a lot of shit without any kind of proof.

He's trying to curb the idea that PS4 is more powerful. He wants to disprove that notion, but has no proof to back it up other than, trust me.

Major Nelson, Albert and the unnamed Microsoft Dev started posting more frequently on here and on other places to change the tone of conversations about Microsoft. Instant access to PR control techniques.

If you look at things that Major Nelson says like "we passed cert long ago" like Albert posted on the same day as Major Nelson, you would see that they are on message. They are about disseminating information slowly and in a controlled manner.

The Ars Technica interview with Albert talking about how Sony is being let off the hook because they don't show their hardware in the box was very recent. I imagine his recent aggressive posts are part of the messaging plan in the coming weeks.

Its getting hot in here..If I had a tie I would be loosening it right now. Flawless.
Let it be said I'm all for Albert being here, He's cool people, and moments like this are worth it.. the mods at Gaf knew what they were doing when they vetted him, what ever will be will be.
 

see5harp

Member
I was referring to GAF, not Microsoft. If after the Xbone releases we find that they had yield issues with the ESRAM or whatever the hell it was, will any of us care when we're busy enjoying our PS4s and Xboxes? I doubt it. I just don't see where all this commotion is coming from.

Children posing as adults, mostly. Converted and newly wise children like nib as well.
 

Metfanant

Member
Cynicism is the absolute worst characteristic of any internet community. The worst. People mistake it for wisdom and switch their brains off.

The idea that Albert posting here is part of some over-arching official Microsoft PR strategy is not only cynical, but immensely presumptuous. If you don't like what he has to say or don't believe him, fine. But don't just create a narrative to make yourself feel better about it.

While I don't think Albert is simply some sort of PR mouthpiece like Major Nelson is...there is certainly an agenda to Albert's posting...he toes the company line and I can't blame him...I'm sure he likes his job and doesn't want to lose it...

I think he is a valuable member of this community and we shouldn't run him off...but if you think his posting is not part of a strategy I think you're very gullible..
 
Except when Albert comes here, he is doing his job.

He is trying to influence how people view Xbox One. He is talking a lot of shit without any kind of proof.

He's trying to curb the idea that PS4 is more powerful. He wants to disprove that notion, but has no proof to back it up other than, trust me.

Major Nelson, Albert and the unnamed Microsoft Dev started posting more frequently on here and on other places to change the tone of conversations about Microsoft. Instant access to PR control techniques.

If you look at things that Major Nelson says like "we passed cert long ago" like Albert posted on the same day as Major Nelson, you would see that they are on message. They are about disseminating information slowly and in a controlled manner.

The Ars Technica interview with Albert talking about how Sony is being let off the hook because they don't show their hardware in the box was very recent. I imagine his recent aggressive posts are part of the messaging plan in the coming weeks.

a quantum-mechanical high five from EmptySpace.
 

KHarvey16

Member
While I don't think Albert is simply some sort of PR mouthpiece like Major Nelson is...there is certainly an agenda to Albert's posting...he toes the company line and I can't blame him...I'm sure he likes his job and doesn't want to lose it...

I think he is a valuable member of this community and we shouldn't run him off...but if you think his posting is not part of a strategy I think you're very gullible..

Again, rejecting cynicism is seen as naivete in all circumstances. The idea that this is all an orchestrated bit of deception and marketing is ridiculous.
 
Cynicism is the absolute worst characteristic of any internet community. The worst. People mistake it for wisdom and switch their brains off.

The idea that Albert posting here is part of some over-arching official Microsoft PR strategy is not only cynical, but immensely presumptuous. If you don't like what he has to say or don't believe him, fine. But don't just create a narrative to make yourself feel better about it.
I don't see it as cynicism at all, but common sense. MS lives in a post-Orth world. They fully grock the damage that off-the-cuff statements can make.

There's no way that this kind of conversation isn't constrained and directed with at least some forethought and strategy.

Note: That doesn't mean that its evil or lying or even direct spin. It just means we need to understand that he can't be completely forthcoming and may be trying to direct the conversation to fit an agenda, even if he happens to be jazzed about that agenda personally, or believes that we'll benefit from it.
 

benny_a

extra source of jiggaflops
Again, rejecting cynicism is seen as naivete in all circumstances. The idea that this is all an orchestrated bit of deception and marketing is ridiculous.
One doesn't have to imagine a grand shadowy conspiracy. Just take the statements made by IGN that Microsoft were desperate to win the core gamers back and that was the reason that MS approached IGN to partner for their exclusive interviews.

The IGN person also speculated that was the reason the XboxOneDev account was created on reddit.
 

Fyrebrand

Neo Member
Ryse was the most disappointing thing at PAX for me. The game (demo) was straight up broken, the game literally had an instance where an enemy clipped through a wall and the people playing couldn't finish the round. During my demo a character would't spawn from a hole in the ground for ~4 mins. It was pretty ridiculous. Couple that with all the little graphical glitches and the overall unfinished feeling of the game with it only having a few weeks to go and it's safe to be extremely worried about this one.

I had a chance to play it at SDCC and it's like night and day, almost like they JUST added multiplayer. I actually liked the demo at SDCC, but this really turned me off.

Its like the game isn't finished yet... weird.....
 

artist

Banned
This is an earlier post of Albert (from a different thread, but similar topic of comparing specs);

I can try and provide as much clarity as I can on things I’ve said. I’ve posed in a couple other threads that I don’t like to speak for other people in the org.

@artist - I don’t know when the final specs will be released, or I would share. I honestly don’t know the plan there.

Just to restate my response earlier – if you read the article, the point I was trying (poorly) to make is that until both consoles are actually done and shipping, and people can pull them apart and see what’s inside, nobody knows the truth. There are some SUPER smart folks here in these forums and I’m continually impressed by the technical ability of some of the members here. When I said “people don’t know what they are talking about” – it was in reference to the fact that the guys actually building the boxes are the only ones who know all the facts. It was never a commentary on the technical aptitude of the community.
So Albert admits that the guys making the boxes are the only ones who know all the facts yet he can comment on the PS4? Okay ..
 

vpance

Member
Yes, it is definitely dangerous precedent to continue allowing people to lob personal attacks at someone just because they work for a company you don't like

Was he really attacked? I haven't read all the posts in this thread, but I don't condone that. But he should just stay in conversational mode here, and quit it with the PR.
 

see5harp

Member
Personal attacks, my favorite. Don't attack the argument always attack the person.

It's not an attack, it's a statement of fact. What does yield issues or PR strategies have to do with whether or not I'm getting COD on day one? Nib is a joke poster who migrated from other joke communities full of man babies.
 

Metfanant

Member
Again, rejecting cynicism is seen as naivete in all circumstances. The idea that this is all an orchestrated bit of deception and marketing is ridiculous.
Do I think someone is telling him exactly what to post here? No I do not...is his posting completely disconnected from MS's overarching PR message? No...
 
Except when Albert comes here, he is doing his job.

He is trying to influence how people view Xbox One. He is talking a lot of shit without any kind of proof.

He's trying to curb the idea that PS4 is more powerful. He wants to disprove that notion, but has no proof to back it up other than, trust me.

Major Nelson, Albert and the unnamed Microsoft Dev started posting more frequently on here and on other places to change the tone of conversations about Microsoft. Instant access to PR control techniques.

If you look at things that Major Nelson says like "we passed cert long ago" like Albert posted on the same day as Major Nelson, you would see that they are on message. They are about disseminating information slowly and in a controlled manner.

The Ars Technica interview with Albert talking about how Sony is being let off the hook because they don't show their hardware in the box was very recent. I imagine his recent aggressive posts are part of the messaging plan in the coming weeks.

This, largely. I posted something shorter but similar right after he posted in this thread. Social Engineering.
 

xxracerxx

Don't worry, I'll vouch for them.
It's not an attack, it's a statement of fact. What does yield issues or PR strategies have to do with whether or not I'm getting COD on day one? Nib is a joke poster who migrated from other joke communities full of man babies.
Dude, you need to stop.
 

KHarvey16

Member
There's no way that this kind of conversation isn't constrained and directed with at least some forethought and strategy.

Arguing from personal incredulity is another hallmark of the online culture that puts cynicism above all else. I'm sorry, it's just depressing. You can't imagine how someone who works at MS could be posting of their own volition so therefore they are not. More presumption in service of a narrative you find appealing.
 
I have to disagree with you here, Albert always post in GAF, his posts are always met with respect to his position and to himself. it's just this time he was little aggressive and bragging, Gaf reacted accordingly.

"Gaf reacted accordingly."

Son, people make worse statements all the time, and Gaf does not "react accordingly" to them.

His statements were not that terrible.

Yes, let's just excuse everything, since everyone is evil and they all are liars.

I'm sure Penello is a fine fellow, and I applaud him for posting here and keeping people informed.

I also, like JABEE stated, understand why he is here, and I find no fault in that. I'm smart enough to read between the lines.
I never said they were, only that if you're going to call them out on it, just realize that everyone does it, and that it isn't the second coming.

I'm just saying, guys, we know ....what's the big deal.

Of COURSE he has bias. Of COURSE his responses are, just as with Major Nelson, organized internally. It's what any person, and any company does.

Why the need to "call him out"? It's frightfully obvious already.

Can we get past that and take this as an opportunity to ask him questions he does know?

He left because you guys attacked him for something that was...completely obvious.

"Oh, guys, hey! This guy works for this company, so if you disagree with him, it's because he's lying!"

Ridiculous.
 
Again, rejecting cynicism is seen as naivete in all circumstances. The idea that this is all an orchestrated bit of deception and marketing is ridiculous.
Maybe not all of it, but to reject any of it as being self serving in some capacity is what I would call naive.

He wouldn't be much of a spokesperson for the X1 if he didn't try to spread some positive word of mouth about his product, just like he is managing some of the negative fallout by owning up to the fuck ups.
 
And what was my response to that?

We have not seen the same games running on PS4 and Xbox One. He might have, but the public and the press has not.

This is what Tretton said:


Albert says: People have not noticed any difference. Well, we have lots of people on GAF that would argue otherwise.
Tretton says: Ask the development community: We've had reports that developer says is the stronger machine and that there will be differences in how the games looks. No person could compare the games side-by-side yet.

Back then (E3) supposedly xbox was behind in both devkits hardware and tools, and more recent reports do say performance has increased a lot since E3. So while Tretton claims might be real back then they might not hold until release...

But I really don't see the point on keeping this discussion... They are both making claims that we will only be able to verify by the time these machines launch... Claiming who is telling the truth right now is everyone's guess...
 

Chobel

Member
It's not an attack, it's a statement of fact. What does yield issues or PR strategies have to do with whether or not I'm getting COD on day one? Nib is a joke poster who migrated from other joke communities full of man babies.

If you see yourself not as man baby then be the better man, and do not throw insults on him randomly out of nowhere.
 

alr1ght

bish gets all the credit :)
Again, rejecting cynicism is seen as naivete in all circumstances. The idea that this is all an orchestrated bit of deception and marketing is ridiculous.

There is a reason he started posting here only after the horrendous pre-launch of the bone.
 

IN&OUT

Banned
It's not an attack, it's a statement of fact. What does yield issues or PR strategies have to do with whether or not I'm getting COD on day one? Nib is a joke poster who migrated from other joke communities full of man babies.

My advice to you is to stop.
 

nib95

Banned
Cynicism is the absolute worst characteristic of any internet community. The worst. People mistake it for wisdom and switch their brains off.

The idea that Albert posting here is part of some over-arching official Microsoft PR strategy is not only cynical, but immensely presumptuous. If you don't like what he has to say or don't believe him, fine. But don't just create a narrative to make yourself feel better about it.

I think you are being unbelievably naive if you honestly think he's not here for PR, especially after the last few posts which have some pretty laughable points.

Far as I can make out, across Reddit and NeoGaf, their official PR "posters" have been trying their utmost to do several things of late, the first is to downplay the hardware differences between the PS4 and Xbox One, even on loose and completely wonky grounds. The other is to essentially discredit Cboat, and also the notion of yield issues based on their recent upclocks, not acknowledging the fact that the yield rumours were never even about issues pertaining to heat to begin with.

Obviously the Cboat stuff is unconfirmed, despite his impressive track record of being accurate, spanning a decade at that. On the one hand you have Microsoft out right denying it and pointing to up clocks as proof, on the other hand you have Cboat, some other Chinese news site, low pre-order numbers and stock shortages, a greatly reduced number of tier 1 countries etc as evidence to the contrary. The truth? Who knows.

That reddit Microsoft 'dev' in particular seems to post in a very reactionary but co-ordinated manner. No doubt he's been given a PR green light on the kind of things he's permitted to say, otherwise you'd never get devs openly speaking like that, especially with looming NDA's and so forth.
 
Arguing from personal incredulity is another hallmark of the online culture that puts cynicism above all else. I'm sorry, it's just depressing. You can't imagine how someone who works at MS could be posting of their own volition so therefore they are not. More presumption in service of a narrative you find appealing.

To add to this, at this point I'd think he would have to think ahead for any kind of post or comment he makes, as everyone will pick it apart and bring up how it does or doesn't fit with something he previously said, or something said by someone else.
 

jet1911

Member
Arguing from personal incredulity is another hallmark of the online culture that puts cynicism above all else. I'm sorry, it's just depressing. You can't imagine how someone who works at MS could be posting of their own volition so therefore they are not. More presumption in service of a narrative you find appealing.

You're too naive man. You're on the internet. Internet and conspiracy theory goes hand in hand. Even for the smallest things.

Cynical GAF is worst GAF.
 

Dr. Kaos

Banned
It's telling that Neogaf seems to prefer a guy like Angry Joe to someone who manages to ask hard questions while remaining civil.

Come on guys, of course they looked at Steam as an example.. they just didn't get the whole picture.

Sessler did a decent job overall except about console performance. He correctly mentioned the faster ram, but not the fairly more powerful PS4 GPU, and didn't call bullshit on the xbone's small amount of "fast" cache, perhaps to keep things civil?

Maybe Sessler is just not very hardcore about underlying tech, and only really cares about games. There are worse things to be guilty of :)
 

Metfanant

Member
I think you are being unbelievably naive if you honestly think he's not here for PR, especially after the last few posts which have some pretty laughable points.

Far as I can make out, across Reddit and NeoGaf, their official PR "posters" have been trying their utmost to do several things of late, the first is to downplay the hardware differences between the PS4 and Xbox One, even on loose and completely wonky grounds. The other is to essentially discredit Cboat, and also the notion of yield issues based on their recent upclocks, not acknowledging the fact that the yield rumours were never even about issues pertaining to heat to begin with.

Obviously the Cboat stuff is unconfirmed, despite his impressive track record of being accurate, spanning a decade at that. On the one hand you have Microsoft out right denying it and pointing to up clocks as proof, on the other hand you have Cboat, some other Chinese news site, low pre-order numbers and stock shortages, a greatly reduced number of tier 1 countries etc as evidence to the contrary. The truth? Who knows.

That reddit Microsoft 'dev' in particular seems to post in a very reactionary but co-ordinated manner. No doubt he's been given a PR green light on the kind of things he's permitted to say, otherwise you'd never get devs openly speaking like that, especially with looming NDA's and so forth.

Yes...very much this...all of this...
 

Verendus

Banned
I'm genuinely confused by this debate going on. I mean, it's been a long week so far, and I'm tired. But something is not registering.

Is the argument that this Penello fellow is not posting here for PR purposes, or that it's the only reason he's posting?
 

KHarvey16

Member
Maybe not all of it, but to reject any of it as being self serving in some capacity is what I would call naive.

He wouldn't be much of a spokesperson for the X1 if he didn't try to spread some positive word of mouth about his product, just like he is managing some of the negative fallout by owning up to the fuck ups.

He's not a spokesperson. Or an engineer. Or in PR. Or in marketing. I think I've read a dozen different job titles for him in this thread.

There is a reason he started posting here only after the horrendous pre-launch of the bone.

Yup, he created the account years ago and then, when the time was right, pounced on the unsuspecting NeoGAF community to win them over and save the XBox. Oh, but it didn't get by some of you, oh no.
 
Sessler did a decent job overall except about console performance. He correctly mentioned the faster ram, but not the fairly more powerful PS4 GPU, and didn't call bullshit on the xbone's small amount of "fast" cache, perhaps to keep things civil?

Maybe Sessler is just not very hardcore about underlying tech, and only really cares about games. There are worse things to be guilty of :)

I disproved this on page 2 or 3. He has a video where the main talking point is his concern about PS4's Ram allocations. He feigns ignorance of tech only when it is convenient to the conversation.
 
It's not an attack, it's a statement of fact. What does yield issues or PR strategies have to do with whether or not I'm getting COD on day one? Nib is a joke poster who migrated from other joke communities full of man babies.

Stop this, or at least be less obvious about it.
 

benny_a

extra source of jiggaflops
But I really don't see the point on keeping this discussion... They are both making claims that we will only be able to verify by the time these machines launch... Claiming who is telling the truth right now is everyone's guess...
Oh I'm confident that there is not a single Face-Off that the Xbox One will come out ahead against the PS4. Are you confident in the opposite now that they development kit is more mature? If they were behind and now are less behind or at the same level, they still need to overcome the spec deficiency.

What is Tretton's claim? That you should ask the developers? And see for yourself and then decide?
But people have asked the developers and they choose PS4. We've had threads about this on GAF, the latest one was from Gamescom where these things were said to journalists.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top Bottom