{"id":134840,"date":"2023-09-18T16:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-09-18T16:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nintendolife.com\/#article-155616"},"modified":"2023-09-18T16:00:00","modified_gmt":"2023-09-18T16:00:00","slug":"random-xbox-marketing-wanted-to-avoid-calling-switch-a-console","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/2023\/09\/18\/random-xbox-marketing-wanted-to-avoid-calling-switch-a-console\/","title":{"rendered":"Random: Xbox Marketing Wanted To “Avoid Calling Switch A Console”"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Image: Nintendo Life<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In an attempt to ensure that Microsoft’s Xbox is easily differentiated from the Switch, the company once attempted to make a shift in terminology when it comes to what constitutes a “console” \u2014 because that couldn’t possibly<\/em> lead to confusion, right?<\/p>\n

In a 2019 email from Xbox’s head of marketing, Aaron Greenberg (and shared to Twitter by Kotaku<\/a>‘s @ethangach<\/a>), we can see that there was a time in which Microsoft was keen to present the Nintendo Switch not as a “console”, but rather as a “portable gaming device”. This all spawned from Ori and the Blind Forest<\/a> leaving its Xbox exclusivity and making its way over to the Nintendo console, with Microsoft, obviously, looking for a way to spin it so that its system could still appear favourable.<\/p>\n

It’s a marketing tactic that we have seen many times over from video game companies where even the most minute word choice is the difference between acknowledging the competition and convincing the audience that your<\/em> product is the real deal. There’s no attack on the Switch here, just some comical business hair-splitting to make sure that Microsoft doesn’t send the wrong message.<\/p>\n