Forget ANGELINA JOLIE, Xbox One struts red carpet in London's Leicester Square

London's Leicester Square has been rebranded as "Xbox One Square" ahead of the release of Microsoft's next generation games console. From 7pm tonight, the beating heart of London's glitzy West End will host an event with little of the red carpet glamour it is normally associated with. On the streets where red carpets welcome …

[sam bo]

Ooops !

You may want to edit that article. That Australian chap appears to be from NZ, which last time I looked was some distance from the Australian east coast, even further than France is from Blighty.

[MrDamage]

Re: Ooops !

I agree, unless of course El Reg wants us to start referring to it le Registre, staffed by the cheese eating surrender monkies of the Union Française.

[Roger B]

Corrections?

First of all, yes I am an Xbox 360 owner and will be getting myself a new Xbox One sometime next year. (just wanted to get any suggestions of bias out of the way)

I think the "Australian" is actually a Kiwi and moonlight_swami didn't have his console "Bricked" just suspended until the other night when he was allowed back online with it, and yes I know it wasn't his fault he got it early and why should he have to be penalised for Targets early shipment mistakes, etc etc.

Trying not to get to excited about the launch, some interesting comments popping up on the forums, some mysterious memory has been spotted on the ifixit teardown and the pad looks fantastic.

Anyway, the Doctor is coming up on TV in an hour or so, so, time I was off.

[i like crisps]

MEANWHILE....Back at the NSA's underground lair...

...Standby...STANDBY....Live feed coming through now sir...er..it..er

it appears to be Kim Dot Com's Cock sir!!

[MJI]

Can you see Oxo tower from there?

It would be funny if you could!

[Vociferous]

If Kim Dotcom has five..

...wait, I'm sorry, why should I care about any of this again?

[Greg J Preece]

Had a play with both the PS4 and the Xbox One already. They're perfectly serviceable pieces of hardware. The quickness of the PS4's interface is a massive improvement, but the new controller will take some getting used to after three generations of near-identical Dualshocks. The new Xbox pad is fine, but not as good as the 360.

I had more fun with the PS4 games than with the Xbox ones personally. The new Killer Instinct is a badly-coloured mess, and Forza had some annoying Kinect lean-to-look thing that I couldn't figure out how to disable, that just left my driver's perspective twitching constantly from left to right - bloody infuriating. Knack and Killzone, on the other hand, are actually pretty fun, and I say that as someone who really didn't like the earlier Killzone games.

I think in 6 months time, when the kinks are worked out, the missing features are patched in, and the delayed games are out, it's gonna be a cracking generation. (Provided Microsoft don't also patch back in the bullshit.)

[Anonymous Coward]

A Sham just like the Xbox360 launch?

Where at least 70% of the people in the queues were Microsoft employees, all bussed in for the event, told what to wear, how to behave and what to buy and given some cash. They were then asked to give the Xbox360's back when they got back on the bus around the corner a couple of hours later. This was true of several Oxford st launches in London, I queued for one and then was given money to go buy from another (the queue had gone by that time). I know the same sham happened in Birmingham (as another Reading campus bus was destined for there)

How do I know this? I worked for Microsoft as an intern at the time, and was young and fashionable enough to get picked. I had to sign a NDA to not talk about it, but seeing as I don't work there now, and posting as AC, I guess it doesn't matter.

Either way, don't believe the hype. If nobody is interested in Xbox One, Microsoft have enough cofffers to pay for publicity.

[TheVogon]

Re: A Sham just like the Xbox360 launch?

I was at the actual Xbox 360 launch event in the Mojave Desert, and the only Microsoft employees there were running the show....

Seeing as the Xbox One Pre-Orders sold out months before it went on sale, those in the queues would have been purchasers...

'I had to sign an NDA not to talk about it' - lol to supposedly queue at a launch - that was already a sell out? I call Bullshit.

[CmdrX3]

Re: Geoff Crammond

"I had to sign a NDA to not talk about it, but seeing as I don't work there now, and posting as AC, I guess it doesn't matter."

Given that one statement alone, you have proven to be a little untrustworthy, so I hope you don't mind if I choose to think you are just a little bit full of s***.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: @CmdrX3

"Given that one statement alone, you have proven to be a little untrustworthy"

I have to disagree. Employers, companies, public sector organisations routinely use NDAs for things that are are legally, morally, or ethically wrong. In this case (taken it as true, I've seen worse), it is ethically wrong for Microsoft or any other company to pretend that there's a whole lot more interest than there actually is, with the specific intention of garnering "the right sort of of publicity" and of persuading the easily persuadable that the product is hip, fashionable and desirable.

I'm happy with NDAs for appropriate commercial secrecy, and I've signed a number of those as I'm sure at least half of Reg reders will have. But to be made to sign such an agreement to cover up cynical activity like this, it needs to be ignored. And let's be clear, if the company is doing this, how much choice do you think the proles have? Be good for your career to stand up and refuse to sign the document, announcing your ethical concerns? Or would you walk out from the orgnisation over this, when it's probably part of the inherent culture of the company? Get real, mate, most of us have mortgages or rent to pay, and need a reference for the next two jobs, and we'd go along (unwillingly) with this sort of bull****.

No, inappropriate NDA's are there to be subtly breached.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: @CmdrX3

It was a case of signing the NDA and then you got invited to the party, to ensure that only those of us that had signed it were in on what was going on.

Some guys didn't sign, and there was no problem with that, there were others that took their place in the queue.

It was still a total sham thou.

[i like crisps]

Re: Geoff Crammond

Not untrustworthy, just...Fickle.

[Anonymous Coward]

Bet you also don't believe they paid developers to not show ps4 titles at e3, or they have NDAs in place that prevent developers saying the PS4 is more powerful hardware, or have contracts that ensure ps4 and Xbox games launch with resolution parity (I see two such games got Resolution bumping patches, only on ps4 this week. The contract only appllied to gold disk releases. There is also the questionable Polygon $75,000 bung for some advertising that stinks badly.

All of these are 100% true.

Microsoft have been playing dirty for years, and now it's all coming out.

[returnmyjedi]

Coming out where? Aside from your masked face hole, natch.

[Ian 55]

Given what happened in the HD format war, I would be staggered if both Sony and Microsoft weren't paying good money for exclusives, 'it can't be worse than on the other one's, and other such bribes, erm, incentives... along with some 'if you say this, the money stops' clauses.

[MJI]

Studios

Well Sony did the right thing and acquired studios.

They also give them a lot of autonomy..

David Cage had sonme interesting comments on the attitudes of the manufacturers

[Infidellic_]

Ebay pass

Anyone else notice the linked eBay'd queue pass has an Xbox 360 logo? Smells of scam to me or very poor work from Game (who incidentally I thought had gone bankrupt but I'm clearly wrong)