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[AmuroChan]

As much as I want to be mad at Sony for announcing games like Death Stranding and TLoU Part II so early, I really can't. Even though it's risky, I think Microsoft needs to copy that approach if they truly do have worthwhile games on the horizon for 2018 and beyond.

The approach to announce games really early? They did with Crackdown 3, Scalebound, Fable Legends, Sea of Thieves, Cuphead, and Phantom Dust. I'm not sure that approach is going to pay off for them. PD came and went. Scalebound and Fable got canceled. The hype for SoT and Cuphead has dipped significantly since their initial reveals. And Crackdown 3 looks like a mess right now.

 

[Vinc]

As much as I want to be mad at Sony for announcing games like Death Stranding and TLoU Part II so early, I really can't. Even though it's risky, I think Microsoft needs to copy that approach if they truly do have worthwhile games on the horizon for 2018 and beyond.

I don't think there's really reason to be mad at them announcing the games early, it gives people who are looking into buying a PS4 visibility on what's coming up, and the roadmap until those games release is still FILLED with plenty of games to play. Having longer-term visibility is fantastic before you make a console purchasing decision. It's basically the ideal strategy for a console maker.

 

[GetLucky]

As they release a new console in two months. Weird.

They did that with Windows Phone. As they were phasing it out, they released the 'flagship' lumia 950. I know because I bought one

 

[Okami Haundo]

I'm talking about the strategy not about whether they'll have the best looking versions of multi-platform games on XB1X... I mean the latter is so obvious that I don't really know why it needs to be mentioned.

The point i'm making though is that simply having the best looking console versions of multi-platform games is not going to get them the success that Sony has seen with the PS4.

If they honestly think that just having the best version of multiplats, with no notable exclusives, is a viable strategy then somebody needs to call Phil Spencer, because I've got a Nigerian prince here that I want him to invest in.

I'm picking up what you're putting down! Apparently I needed to step off the literal train this morning as I agree that it's a terrible strategy.

You only need to go back and watch E3 2014 to see why this is a bad idea for them

Microsoft needs their own gameplan, they can't copy what Sony does.

I definitely know that it burned them in the past, but now they have the opposite problem. If they really do have projects in the works that people should be excited for, they sure aren't showing it. If all they have to show is more Halo/Forza/Gears, I don't see the point in talking early.

 

[vg260]

What does this mean? "Xbox Live Arcade" was branding for "downloadable games" with a bunch of restrictions applied like having leaderboards be a mandatory feature. In the current gen we've made the point that every game is available as a download regardless of whether they're a big AAA production or a little indie game.

Going back to separating "Disc Games" and "Arcade Games" is a regression that makes no sense in this day and age. That's what this IGN guy is suggesting.

Yeah, that suggestion makes no sense to me.

 

[dealer-]

I don't mean to be a negative nancy. I love Xbox. But damn, they've lost a lot of third-party support.

The vast majority of Japanese games will skip Xbox.

Xbox gets a lot of indie games and Western third-party devs, but there are still an alarming amount of them that skip Xbox.

The Talos Principle will never be on Xbox (indie dev). Transistor and Pyre will never be on Xbox (indie dev). Dust An Elysian Tail (former 360 indie game) got a PS4 port - no Xbox port in site. Same with Fez. The new Hellblade game is also skipping Xbox completely. There are tons of these small little indie games, Western third-party, and Japanese games that skip Xbox. It adds up.

I think with indie games though, Xbox gets excellent titles. But I think overall the major problem with Xbox is the following:

1) If there is any indie or third-party game that comes out first on Xbox, there is a 99.9999% change that it will come out on PS4 eventually. Devs would be stupid to miss out on the "biggest" fanbase right?

2) If there is any indie or third-party game that comes out first on PS4, you can safely assume that 75% of the time it will skip Xbox. Sure you'll get excellent titles like The Witness, Thumper, What Remains Of Edith Finch, Firewatch, etc... with late ports. But ugh, those ports tend to remain secret for so god damn long. And they are few and far between.

Yup. Wanted to buy Undertale on Xbox One this week but couldn't. They really need to sort out getting these games on their console before anything else if they want it to be the best place for third party.

Also, the games listed in the OP are pretty esoteric. They'd appeal to gaffers but not the Xbox crowd imo.

 

[Fata1moose]

Fable needs a reboot, but Rare is not the studio equipped to do so. I'd prefer a British studio, just not Rare. I think Playground games has the talent.

 

[ZAMtendo]

Partner up with Nintendo Switch and take over the world.

 

[Gator86]

A number of decent ideas, but these things take time.

In the short to medium term, I don't think MS can do much of anything regarding first party. They just have to hope the X takes off and timed exclusives like PUBG are successful with the mainstream console audience.

Agreed with this. There's no quick fix when they've let their internal studios and IPs rot like they have.

Also, why do people still seem to think Rare is a big developer? They're just a name now.

 

[Zukkoyaki]

The Press Play closure still irks me. Not even necessarily because I loved their games, but because they were a small, unique studio making small, unique games for the brand. And obviously didn't cost anywhere near as much to operate as a AAA studio. They had even held a fan vote for their next project just a few months prior :/

Smaller and more focused studios and projects like them are where I would expect Microsoft to start focusing seeing how their interest and/or budget for new AAA games seem to have largely evaporated.

Regarding Fable, I say let Ninja Theory take a crack if interested.

 

[Sleight of Jam]

Hahaha glad he's not running Xbox.

I know let's bring back some IP's that didn't even sell that well or have been milked beyond their peak... nice one.

 

[Fata1moose]

I think Fable has a broader appeal than Gears of War and has the potential to sell more copies, they just massively mishandled the IP.

 

[Okami Haundo]

Partner up with Nintendo Switch and take over the world.

I used to joke quite often about a Nintendo/Microsoft partnership. It'd address Xbox's first party problem and Nintendo's incompetence with online services. If only...

 

[Cpt Lmao]

I agree. It's not a popular opinion, but get Peter Molyneux back in and give him the support he needs. Someone with pure, naked ambition to drive things forward. That's what people love about Forza Horizon (wait, I can go anywhere?) and liked about Scalebound (dragons + rpg + co-op + beat-em-up combat). I would disagree however with the assertion that closing Lionhead was a 'grievous error'. From what we can see from the outside, Molyneux was the talent - with him gone, there seemed to be a lack of direction and vision.

Also, for all the hate he gets, Molyneux actually delivered for Microsoft. Fable 1 was fantastic and made money. Fable 2 was fantastic and made money. Fable 3 was decent and made money. He didn't deliver all he promised, but he delivered an awful lot regardless.

I support Tottenham too, great quote.

I think it was a grievous error, they were a great studio and Microsoft simply could have made a better effort to restore the company's talent. Killing off Lionhead essentially killed off Fable 4, a game that the Xbox One's library sorely needs with right now.

 

[LordBaztion]

Microsft strengh was on finding talented studios and giving them money for their games and making them reach mass audiences. It is the case of Bungie (which they had to buy), Epic Remedy and Bioware. Unlike Sony, their strategy was never having a large chain of studios however, as game development costs increases, there are less independent studios willing to take on AAA games, thus MS has a difficult time getting projects.

IMO, to remedy that stance they need to get closer to indie developers, specially those who prove they can handle an AAA like project , support them until they had enough experience and finnance their next project.

 

[family_guy]

Make Halo an every year or every two year franchise but make each game with a new cast of characters, similar to how Call of Duty has rotating teams. For a sci-fi franchise, there's so much more they can do with it. Let Forza team keep doing their thing. Get rid of all the other studios, even Rare, and take that money saved to get exclusive third party games and DLC. Also pay Japanese developers to get ports of games that are only on PS4/PC. Makes no sense for something like Kingdom Hearts 3 to be on Xbox, a platform that has never had a Kingdom Hearts game, yet the remasters are nowhere to be seen. Personally the Xbox platform was never about the first party content outside of a few games so why try to change that? Just pour money into making the user experience the best it can be and have a rewards program built in for people who spend money and time on your platform.

 

[Leafhopper]

Why would anyone want a first person Shadowrun?

Because the last one they did was good just that people were hung up on the title.

Wish Fasa Studios didn't die...

 

[3rdamention]

I didn't read the article, but who is going to make these games? Which development house? And if they have their First Party stable create them, then who is going to do Forza, Gears, Halo? If their First Party Studios can just work on two games at once, why aren't they already doing that?

 

[FairFriend]

I believe Microsoft is mostly done with first party developers. From now own XBox will be a more convenient way (in terms of ease of use and possibly price/performance ratio) to play pc games, with the odd exclusive here and there.

 

[D4Danger]

Here's an idea you can have for free: Forza RC. Somewhere between Rocket League, Re-Volt and Mario Kart. A racing game for people who don't care how many hours you spent recording engine sounds.

Also bring back avatar games. You know people want them. Sometimes people just want to chat shit and those games were perfect for that.

And a Halo RPG while you're at it. Mass Effect blew it, perfect opportunity to do something there.

 

[Lord of Ostia]

Yup. Wanted to buy Undertale on Xbox One this week but couldn't. They really need to sort out getting these games on their console before anything else if they want it to be the best place for third party.

Also, the games listed in the OP are pretty esoteric. They'd appeal to gaffers but not the Xbox crowd imo.

Well, Undertale only came to consoles so it could sell to the Japanese market. They needed to do a port and a localization together to be successful there, so since they were already doing the port, there was no reason not to release it in the West as well. You wouldn't do an Xbox One port to appeal to the Japanese market.

 

[Crayon]

If you want to pitch a game, make sure to think about what multiplayer and microtransaction features it's going to have.

 

[Confused Cheeseburger]

This list isn't really deep or well written. Couldn't even finish the full article. When it comes to opinion pieces, IGN simply doesn't have a stable of writers that even come close to Eurogamer, Waypoint or even Polygon.

 

[jelly]

If they don't feel like risking new IP then they have to risk it with the IP they have. Why isn't Gears of War survival horror or something. Why isn't Halo an RPG, Galactic Crimson Skies or a third person action adventure as a colony rebel against the covenant. That's another thing that is starting to annoy me. I've got no little love for Gears of War but a new take on the IP, I would have a look. Do something different with your IP, not just filling the 'PC users might like this RTS'.

Microsoft Studios Kart racing, Wave racing, Midtown Madness with Avatars, I mean bloody hell. How hard is it. Build on what DICE, Rare did and get the Forza team to just lose their minds and go nuts. Look at that Kinect Rivals Waverace.

You're telling me people wouldn't love that. Microsoft are fools for not doing it. They are so clueless sometimes. You can even sell your Avatar clothes, customisations etc. Have a Kart livery like Forza. Wow, extra revenue streams. Success.

 

[oldergamer]

http://m.ign.com/articles/2017/08/17/opinion-how-id-fix-xboxs-first-party-problem

Suggests the following

-Reboot Fable at Rare
-Make a first person Shadowrun RPG
-Bring back Crimson Skies
-Alan Wake 2
-Itagaki for Ninja Gaiden spiritual successor, also recommends ties with Sega for Shinobi Reboot
-Splinter Cell Chaos Theory 2
-Xbox Live Arcade returns



Do you agree with this? What would you do differently?

Nah... Here's what I would do. I think the problem is not enough variety

343 makes second AAA title that is not Halo. Give them Perfect Dark
Coalition makes second AAA title that is not gears ( but could be the same universe )
Allow Rare to make a new cartoony RPG after the current project
Allow rare to reboot one older franchise
Find someone to make a reboot of Blue Dragon with increased visuals
Find someone to make a reboot of Lost odyssey
Revive crimson skies ( agreed on that one )
Create a new action adventure franchise. Create a studio in California or LA and attract some really good CG artists to push the quality level
Create a studio for the sole purpose of porting Japanese games. Work license deals with japanese studios to do the port for them, and end some of the automatic exclusivity sony has enjoyed.

 

[Lingitiz]

MS has been around for 3 gens now, only one console cycle fewer than Sony, and the Xbox brand peaked with 360, having trounced the PS3 for most of last gen. So I'm not buying the industry seniority excuse. Sony isn't doing better now because they've been at this longer or because they've always been better at this: MS just dropped the ball, big time.

I mean that's not really the point I was trying to make. Their first party is in shambles because so many of their tent poles relied on external partnerships that no longer exist. It takes years to actually build up internally like Sony has for the long haul.

 

[Razzmatazzer]

Maybe it's already been said, but I like how this list is just a ripoff of the rumors spreading right before E3 for the MS conference.

 

[Samus4145]

So fix the problem of first party lineup, by releasing a bunch of third party titles (minus Rare)? Okay?

 

[KORNdoggy]

It takes years to actually build up internally like Sony has for the long haul.

this is true, but they need to actually start. if they always take this approach of "oh, it takes years, we'll go for the quick fix and get a year long timed exclusivity deal for tomb raider instead" they will never build the internal studio's they so desperately need.

they're already screwed in the short term, there is nothing they can do to change that, so may as well use that time to announce some future projects with CGi trailers if need be, build new studios, give 343 and coalition some freedom and then in 2 years time they'll see the fruits of their labour. it'll be too late to compete with sony NOW, but at least it puts them in a better position later.

 

[Pie and Beans]

Nothing is going to fix Microsoft's current problems with getting exclusives and whatnot other than time travel. Xbox Money seems so obviously cursed to a lot of the development community, especially when you communicate through actions that an industry legend like Kamiya's work isn't good enough for your platform.

The only avenue left to them is incubating and investing in far newer start ups and kind of over-paying them to steer hard away from their past of short term pump and dumps. PUBG is a slight step in the right direction, but thats not an exclusive. They should do what Sony did with Santa Monica overseeing tons of indies and helping and trying to foster long-term relationships there.

The other question is do they even want to be a platform holder anymore? It doesn't seem like it to me considering they have fewer first party projects than third party publishers do. I keep expecting the shoe to drop on the Xbox name and this all become a Windows Store show.

 

[Icarus]

I would totally love a Rare driven Fable...

 

[Darth Giggity]

they need to stop putting out games weekly that are basically either ports of ios mobile games, or games that were originally created as mobile games. A lot of the "arcade" titles they put out are just that.

Also, they should put actual demos out for all of these games. I can't tell you how many games I bought on 360 due to actually being able to try it out without renting or just blindly buying a game.

 

[wwm0nkey]

I will take another FPS ShadowRun. They really could use another RPG that isn't in a high fantasy setting.

 

[Lingitiz]

this is true, but they need to actually start. if they always take this approach of "oh, it takes years, we'll go for the quick fix and get a year long timed exclusivity deal for tomb raider instead" they will never build the internal studio's they so desperately need.

they're already screwed in the short term, there is nothing they can do to change that, so may as well use that time to announce some future projects with CGi trailers if need be, build new studios, give 343 and coalition some freedom and then in 2 years time they'll see the fruits of their labour. it'll be too late to compete with sony NOW, but at least it puts them in a better position later.

That's exactly the point I'm trying to make. This article is all about short term solutions. The actual long term solution is to start building internally at large scale.

 

[SmoothRunningGun]

Is anyone left at rare that worked on fable? Those are mostly bad ideas.

Put someone in charge of halo that has a creative vision on how to modernize sp/coop.

Put competent devs on crackdown or just kill it.

Gears is ok but they need to innovate for the next one.

Sea of thieves isn't my type of thing but at least they're trying there.

Forza cart racer with toon-ed ms characters.

Offer some level of free mp to compete with sony. Maybe 20 hours free per month or something like that.

You're welcome phil.

 

[Logash]

Is anyone left at rare that worked on fable? Those are mostly bad ideas.

Put someone in charge of halo that has a creative vision on how to modernize sp/coop.

Put competent devs on crackdown or just kill it.

Gears is ok but they need to innovate for the next one.

Sea of thieves isn't my type of thing but at least they're trying there.

Forza cart racer with toon-ed ms characters.

Offer some level of free mp to compete with sony. Maybe 20 hours free per month or something like that.

You're welcome phil.

Fable was made by Lionhead which is now defunct.

 

[VincentMatts]

Glad he's not running Xbox.

Me too. How id do it:

- get a exclusive deal with EA for KOTOR spiritual successor
- make Halo good again
- sign deals so 3rd party games are promoted on your console with dlc first
- change that god damn terrible UI thats coming soon
- revamp the store look completely, its terrible. separate games from indie, arcade etc
- have social live games like 1vs100 again
- let studios make the games they want, dont force them to only one franchise. Do like naughty dog do
- stop releasing a forza game every god damn year for fuck sakes
- invest in story telling, make better stories in your games, hire movie/tv people if you have to
- have an exclusive game come out every month or 2
- have better software/apps. youre a god damn software company, how is sony doing a better job at that then you.....
- wake the fuck up

 

[Hello? This is Hailun!]

http://m.ign.com/articles/2017/08/17/opinion-how-id-fix-xboxs-first-party-problem

Suggests the following

-Reboot Fable at Rare
-Make a first person Shadowrun RPG
-Bring back Crimson Skies
-Alan Wake 2
-Itagaki for Ninja Gaiden spiritual successor, also recommends ties with Sega for Shinobi Reboot
-Splinter Cell Chaos Theory 2
-Xbox Live Arcade returns



Do you agree with this? What would you do differently?

Bold won't sell nor will it generate enough hype.

Shadowrun would be great but they'd botch it.

 

[Unknown?]

As much as I want to be mad at Sony for announcing games like Death Stranding and TLoU Part II so early, I really can't. Even though it's risky, I think Microsoft needs to copy that approach if they truly do have worthwhile games on the horizon for 2018 and beyond.

It only works if games are getting released on a regular basis. In Sony's case they CAN announce games early because they have games releasing all year. People still have stuff to play so they can wait. Microsoft CAN'T because they have a big lull outside a few games at the end of the year. People won't have things to play around E3 and hadn't since the previous year so they won't be satisfied unless they have games coming soon. This year's E3 was mostly timed exclusives disguised as exclusives for them so it was just kinda lame.

 

[Euron]

So make new installments in a bunch of niche series and force what's left of a formerly loved developer to reboot a mediocre RPG? Nothing about these ideas will bring in much revenue at all for Microsoft or get a widespread audience engaged with the Xbox brand.

What has worked for Microsoft in the past is creating franchises with a lasting appeal that can keep a widespread audience engaged long after the initial release date (Halo and Gears). So many people at places like IGN still don't understand that budgets for games are ridiculous and a one time $60 payment does not cut it anymore.

If there's no long term revenue stream, Microsoft will not fund it. I'm not a fan of the business method either but it's necessary today in order to keep studios upright and meet the growing demands of gamers.

 

[Chronospherics]

First and formost, they need to push some new and exciting franchises. Games in their existing portfolio (e.g. Crackdown) need to significantly evolve and expand. Gears and Halo need to be more than they presently are, new ideas, gameplay mechanics, push them to the cutting edge of multiplayer game design.

I would also stop wasting time changing the UI every couple of years. Feels like it's something that probably costs a lot of money, that very few really appreciate. Familiarity is a good thing.

 

[Hari Seldon]

I don't know what they should do besides actually buy some devs, but I know what they shouldn't do: chase 2016/2017 trends like open world RPGs and release a game 5 years from now when everyone has moved passed that. They need to actually innovate.

 

[VincentMatts]

I don't know what they should do besides actually buy some devs, but I know what they shouldn't do: chase 2016/2017 trends like open world RPGs and release a game 5 years from now when everyone has moved passed that. They need to actually innovate.

Theyre unable to innovate. Just look at their god damn dashboard.

 

[Skeeter49]

The problem with this is some of these are cool games to have, but most of them don't fix the first party perception, and a few of these might make their first party problem come into focus more, when some of these are third party deals that would most likely not remain full exclusives, and go the way of Tomb Raider.

 

[Balb]

Agree that Fable should be rebooted because they need that kind of game in their portfolio. It's not really fair to assume that Rare would be able to make that kind of game just because they're British though.

Going back to the XBLA system would be regressive and wouldn't even work in 2017. Developers didn't have much of a choice in 2008 but today there's no way they would put up with the old XBLA restrictions. The name "Xbox Live Arcade" is also way too limiting for the types of downloadable games that get released these days.

The rest of the suggestions are nice, though they wouldn't move the needle. Frankly, they need new IPs and they need to rethink Halo and Gears, because those games haven't been hitting like they used to.

 

[Goodacre0081]

The Talos Principle will never be on Xbox (indie dev). Transistor and Pyre will never be on Xbox (indie dev). Dust An Elysian Tail (former 360 indie game) got a PS4 port - no Xbox port in site. Same with Fez. The new Hellblade game is also skipping Xbox completely. There are tons of these small little indie games, Western third-party, and Japanese games that skip Xbox. It adds up.

i always wanted to ask about what happened between SuperGiant and Microsoft. last gen they created a following with Bastion and now they avoid the platform like the plague.

 

[SimpleCRIPPLE]

Make Master Chief and Cortana a team again.

For fucks sake, i dont care if they retcon out part 4 and 5, my favorite part about Halo was Chief and Cortana and 343 seems to be focused and moving as far from that as they can.

 

[Okami Haundo]

i always wanted to ask about what happened between SuperGiant and Microsoft. last gen they created a following with Bastion and now they avoid the platform like the plague.

Didn't they re-release Bastion on the Xbox One though? That makes things even stranger still.

 

[SimpleCRIPPLE]

i always wanted to ask about what happened between SuperGiant and Microsoft. last gen they created a following with Bastion and now they avoid the platform like the plague.

I think its as simple as install base. If you’re a small studio and need to focus your effort for the best return, you pick the console with double the install base.

 

[Sponge]

Giving Fable to Rare is laughable. Microsoft doesn't need more Fable. You know what's hot right now? 90's nostalgia. Platformer revivals. This year alone has a Crash Bandicoot collection, 2D Sonic game. 3D Mario game, hell even Bubsy is back.

It's about time Rare made another Banjo game.