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Microsoft on Xbox One messaging -- "Shame on us"

Chief product officer Marc Whitten admits company has not done enough to communicate benefits of Xbox One, says family sharing plan could return.

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Xbox chief product officer Marc Whitten has addressed messaging issues for the Xbox One, saying "shame on us" for coming up short in communicating to consumers the benefits of the next-generation console.

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"I think it's pretty simple. We've got to just talk more, get people understanding what our system is," Whitten told IGN in a new interview. "The thing that's really gratifying is that people are excited about the types of features that are possible, and it's sort of shame on us that we haven't done as good of a job as we can to make people feel like that's where we're headed."

Whitten also spoke about the Change.org petition calling Microsoft to reinstate its controversial Xbox One policies. He said Microsoft's decision to reverse its policies was done to give consumers more options and explained that the company still has work to do to get this point across to consumers.

"What it tells me is we need to do more work to talk about what we're doing because I think that we did something different than maybe how people are perceiving it," Whitten said. "When I read some of the things like that petition, from my perspective we took a lot of the feedback and, while Xbox One is built to be digital native, to have this amazing online experience, we realized people wanted some choice. They wanted what I like to call a bridge, sort of how they think about the world today using more digital stuff."

"Frankly, I think we need to just do more to let people see how the console works, what they're going to be able to do for it."

"What we did, we added to what the console can do by providing physical and offline modes in the console. It isn't about moving away from what that digital vision is for the platform," he added. "It's about adding that choice. Frankly, I think we need to just do more to let people see how the console works, what they're going to be able to do for it. I think a lot of the things they're wishing for are frankly there."

Also in the interview, Whitten specifically addressed the Xbox One's family sharing plan, which was killed off when Microsoft announced its change of policies. He explained that this feature--which would allow gamers to share their digital libraries with up to 10 others--could make a return if consumers make enough noise.

"If it's something that people are really excited about and want, we're going to make sure that we find the right way to bring it back," Whitten said. Check out the full IGN interview for more.

The Xbox One launches this November for $500 alongside competitor Sony's $400 PlayStation 4.

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Zicoroen

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It's nice to see a company admit it's own errors. Keep going.

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Rajiv_psn

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http://www.blogcdn.com/www.joystiq.com/media/2013/07/xbone-dew-doritos.jpg

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Pre_ordered_PS4

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Well stop saying it and do it lol

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devild0ogwhite

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@Pre_ordered_PS4 I wonder who you support...

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Pre_ordered_PS4

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Edited By Pre_ordered_PS4

@devild0ogwhite @Pre_ordered_PS4

PC...

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Lhomity

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@Pre_ordered_PS4 Clearly an Amiga fan.

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bankai_456

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@Pre_ordered_PS4 plot twist.

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Lawdog1521

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Oh, your message was clear.


TV.

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ITLM16

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Edited By ITLM16

@Lawdog1521 dont forget Kinect

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nickpeck36

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@Lawdog1521 The reveal was tv, the tech and some games. E3 was all games. So yah, great comment :)

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SurlyPotato

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@nickpeck36 @Lawdog1521 Considering the exclusives for x-1 blew away all the launch titles that Sony displayed, proves that it is the total package.

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SurlyPotato

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@Lawdog1521 Unintelligent gibberish.

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enoslives7

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My 360 was a good machine. How could microsofty **** up so bad??? All they had to do was stick to formula.

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ravenkiller

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@enoslives7 because they want to build everything around their bad investment which is kinect. I don't know why they continue to push that piece of trash. they should know going for the casual crowd is like a 1 hit wonder casuals just move on to the next hot thing where as core gamers will be around for years even decades to come.

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Pyrosa

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Show the console working -- FULLY FUNCTIONAL -- without Kinect. As in, without Kinect ever having been plugged into the console.


NO KINECT REQUIRED = MAJOR GROUND REGAINED.


I don't give two shits about "always online" -- All my 360s (and PCs, phones, tablets, etc.) are always connected in the first place.


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kingcrimson24

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@Pyrosa always on was the biggest problem for me , cuz internet in my country sucks

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SurlyPotato

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Edited By SurlyPotato

@mouse314 @Pyrosa Agreed.

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ravenkiller

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@SurlyPotato @mouse314 @Pyrosa i say scrap kinect and move on.

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gastankkiller

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This subject is honestly getting old. I'm moving on.

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gastankkiller

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@carolino Yes, I'm Batman.

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fanirama

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@carolino @gastankkiller Your batman what?



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WantYouBad

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@carolino @gastankkiller I AM BATMAN

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ManatuBeard

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Really? A company as big and rich as MS couldnt hire good PR BEFORE the console reveal and E3?

Apologizing AFTER doing bad things doesnt erase them.

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Shenmue_Jehuty

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The X1 has issues that no PR manager can remedy. Lucky for him people will still buy this POS excuse for a game console.

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Mongol812

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That petition is amazing.

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vault-boy

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Don't worry Microsoft, we all realize what your system is, why do you think we don't like it?

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HammerOFdawn

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I hope he noticed the majority of the comments on the petition.

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bunchanumbers

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omg most of those petition votes were trolls. I hope he looked at the petition first.

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Frosty192

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Edited By Frosty192

Maybe they need to get better PR people then they would have never had this issue to begin with.

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