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[graywolf323]

Of course, novelty demo I was bored in minutes.

I miss when you at least pretended you were only a fanboy because of VRR…

 

[Mobilemofo]

It's ALWAYS been about the games. The 360 was pretty magnificent, but since then, they have lost their way quite a bit. I sort of wish misfortune upon them still, because of the sheer spite in "wanting to kill Sony". Fuckin games Microsoft. GAMES. FUN GAMES.

 

[James Sawyer Ford]

I'm pretty sure Xbox Series might be my favorite console / ecosystem of all time at this point. The combination of hardware, software, features, and sub quality is just such a huge improvement in multiple ways.

As long as they're profitable that's enough for me. It took me a few years to realize it, but I actually hope they stay in 3rd place just barely above profitable. That's the sweet spot. Xbox library can remain tastefully underground, and my older brother can talk about Spider Man 2 on Thanksgiving while I silently sip an obscure craft beer and mentally revisit the sophisticated, non-mainstream gaming of Hi-Fi Rush, Starfield, Jusant, Cocoon.

I don't think making something that appeals to the majority of gamers is even a goal I share at this point. The more I look back, some of my other favorite systems were the Wii U, and the Dreamcast.

There's probably a real existential risk in the console space, which was leaked out in the court hearings. I don't understand why they are in that market at this point. They are simply inconsequential now. They can't really provide a better piece of hardware at a given cost than Sony can, nor do they have the ability to exclusively gate keep software because they don't make compelling exclusives for mainstream audiences.

They need to go third party instead and try and get GP on as many platforms as possible.

 

[MikeM]

Xbox brand is confusing. Console? PC? Streaming? Game Pass? Most powerful console? Least powerful console? The messaging has been confusing this generation.

The naming convention itself is wild. Xbox Series? At least PS makes sense- 5 is higher than 4.

 

[Danjin44]

Whatever man.

I never look at Japanese games and call them dull. They full of color and vibrant. Just like Grounded.

Even if most of them are not for me.

You have your tastes and I have mine, thats all there is to it. People going gaga over games like Spider Man 2 but for me I find those games dull.

I'm sure there are plenty of people who find games like 13 Sentinels and Armored Core VI which I highly enjoyed dull.....that just how opinion works.....dont take it personally.

 

[Krappadizzle]

Exclusives do matter. Sadly, neither of the big two are offering anything other than some prettier variation of the same formula we've all experienced dozens of times already.

For whatever reasons you don't find the Xbox brand exciting, one could feel the exact same way about Sony and to a lesser degree Nintendo.

 

[semiconscious]

I have become the old man get off my lawn guy but most of the series you mentioned have been losing their luster to me

GOW Rag was boring, Spiderman is dying to me as Peter Parker is Spiderman, I didn't know Elden Ring was a PS5 exclusive, Ghost of Tsushima TO ME is the jewel here, Demon Souls was very good, Astros was just mind blowing introducing me to the controller

we are dozens! naughty dog, santa monica studio, & insomniac, developers who's output i'd always greatly enjoyed, all pretty much lost me during the ps4 era. as did sucker punch, to an extent (yes, i enjoyed second son / first light quite a bit more than tsushima). the ps4 games, for whatever reason, uniformly adopted more sombre, introspective, & 'feels targeted' approaches in their narratives & characters, resulting in games that, imo, became ponderous, lethargic, & not all that much fun... oh, & the less said about media molecule, the better...

 

[Ic3man]

Why are the Sony warriors so concerned about Microsoft? And also I can play most of the games you mentioned on PC

 

[Skifi28]

Sorry I'm late, has anybody already said that engagement matters?

 

[Represent.]

Shit games and fair weather fans who eat up trash because it’s “free”

 

[nial]

while I silently sip an obscure craft beer and mentally revisit the sophisticated, non-mainstream gaming of Hi-Fi Rush, Starfield, Jusant, Cocoon.

I do admire your sense of humor, Miku...

 

[PixelatedBeast]

They are cross-gen but were built to make use of Series features from the get go. At release, Forza Horizon 5 even had Series bundles. Never heard of Returnal and did not know Ratchet and Clank had a new entry exclusively on PS5 as the series peaked on PS2 for me. Doesn't really change my point that both have similar first party support this gen...

What? Are you high? Xbox first party offerings is no where near playstation...... and really hasnt been since the xbox 360, from a sales and critical review rating point of view. They launced a console during the pandemic with no exclusives. In the same time frame, playstation had TLOU2, Ghost of Tsushima, Miles Morales, Rachet and Clank, Demon Souls and Returnal. Its very disingenuous to try and say Xbox's first party offering has been anything similar, without the context of showing the vast difference in quality.


The best game Microsoft released this generation is Forza. A new Forza Motorsport just came out last month and nobody even noticed.

What about Starfield?

Redfall?

Halo?

 

[UniformDeliverance]

Alright. I mean we just witnessed Xbox complete their second massive publisher acquisition. Let’s see what happens.

I do however think you’re comparing apples to oranges here. It’s not about the hardware, it’s game sales, engagement, and gamepass subs. It is very possible that the highest selling game on PlayStation next year will be a first party Xbox title. Call of duty.

Might not make for a fun console war discussion, but I’m sure Microsoft will be crying all the way to the bank with their pc, Xbox, and PlayStation revenue from that launch.

 

[BennyBlanco]

Exclusives do matter. Sadly, neither of the big two are offering anything other than some prettier variation of the same formula we've all experienced dozens of times already.

For whatever reasons you don't find the Xbox brand exciting, one could feel the exact same way about Sony and to a lesser degree Nintendo.

Nintendo has the only compelling first party offering right now IMO. Sony’s focus tested, diversity consulted, AAA schlock doesn’t excite me. I will buy DS2 next year and that’s probably it on ps5. MS first party had me playing Starfield and Hi Fi Rush over the last 2 years and that’s it.

Switch has maybe the best lineup of exclusives ever.

Xenoblade 2 + 3 and their expansions
BOTW + TOTK
Fire Emblem 3 Houses
Metroid Prime Remake
Bayonetta 2 + 3
Mario Odyssey
MK8 Deluxe
Mario Wonder
Astral Chain

This shits on both other consoles from a huge height and I barely even scratched the surface.

 

[Punished Miku]

I do admire your sense of humor, Miku...

I was surprised it took this long for anyone to laugh lol.

 

[SteadyEvo]

Each of the big 3 goes though highs and lows. Just the way it is. MS is going through a down period. Should be lessons learned and good things going forward. Same as the PS3s slow start, GameCube and WiiU, virtual boy. Love and learn.

 

[Jboemios]

I just watched the upcoming games for 2024 and beyond and I can say Xbox users are happy with what is coming. I cant say the same about PS and GAAS debacle

 

[MagiusNecros]

The issue is 95% of the games available just come to PC anyway...on Microsoft's Operating System so getting an Xbox is pretty pointless IMO.

Nintendo has the best 1st party offerings and those offerings are locked to Nintendo systems only. So PC + Nintendo master race it is.

 

[Bernardougf]

I currently do not own an xbox but loved the original OG Xbox and Xbox 360. It is not a complicated formula on why the Xbox brand has been failing. At the end of the day, what really matters are the games. The PS5 has so many more exclusive games it wipes it's ass with the Xbox brand.

On PS5 I am playing: God of War, Spiderman Series, , Ratchet and Clank, Ghost of Tsushima, Returnal, The Last of us series, Demon Souls, Astro's playroom, etc. There is a great library of games developed for the PS platform:

On Xbox you have: A pretty good Forza series, A shell of bungie Halo, Gears of War still going?, I know Xbox fanboys are creaming their pants for Starfield but the consensus says it's pretty average, Ori is cool, and Flight Simulator if that is your thing. The Xbox brand has failed to establish IP's that get the masses excited.

It's simple, GAMES MATTER!

If microsoft stays in this console race and flexes their muscles using their new Developer acquisitions to keep games exclusively on xbox it could become interesting down the road. I admit that I am rooting for Xbox and sad to see it's much worse than I thought at this point in time. Bottom line is the games I can play on said platform matter much more than Teraflops or marketing. You have to be a complete blind fool to not admit thate Sony has many more exclusive better games than the Xbox brand right now. That could change but time will tell.

Yes exclusives matter.. they know that.. they just dont know how to make good games....thats why they are buying the whole fucking industrie... if you can't win buy them

 

[Superbean]

My series x has been packed in it's box for 9 months now. There's just literally no reason for me to set it up. Racing games are not for me, Halo of war horizon 15 doesn't appeal to me at all, they have been the same experience since 360, it's tired. Really hoping they can produce something appealing single player or coop, I don't touch toxic mp stuff anymore. I still need to play Ragnarok and ratchet, and I guess spider man 2. Only got 6 hours into star field before it was Uber repetitive and got boring for me.

 

[ShadyAcshuns]

Multiplats now dominate the big, traditional consoles and have for several gens now.

 

[Knightime_X]

lol damn, people are STILL mad salty

 

[reinking]

How is any of this confusing to an adult?

I'm not talking about an individual customer. It is confusing in the market and it shows. When your message constantly changes you don't have a real message.

 

[Bojji]

I’m guessing folk don’t understand some people just like the Xbox exclusives/IPs and prefer them over Sony’s offerings? Id rather play ANY Halo than ANY game in that Sony list. Seriously.

I’m all about the MP, whether that be Forza, Halo, Gears, Sea of Thieves, COD (I guess it’s MS’s baby going forward). Sony doesn’t have anything that touches them for me. There isn’t one Sony exclusive I have ever genuinely wanted to play other than the Uncharted series (and one day I will).

Spider-Man? Been there with Batman Arkham Asylum 15 years ago - didn’t even touch the Batman sequels as I’d had my fill. Ratchet and Clank? Pass. Left baby stuff like that behind when i stopped sucking my thumb.

And folk can say what they want about the quality/success of Microsoft’s recent offerings - hi fi rush, redfall and starfield. They have so many studios that will be churning out so many games, there is bound to be something for everyone going forward. Some of that stuff will stick.

I think MS are in a good place software wise. Definitely too late to turn the hardware tide (folk are locked into their ecosystems now), but they will recover somewhat and always be a major player.

No hard feelings, we all like what we like.

You have some funny opinions about games you never played but whatever...

I don't like MP at all, I see it as a waste of time (playing the same thing over and over) so for me MS really don't have much to offer right now. Starfield was ok (same for Halo Infinite) and I'm looking forward for Hellblade 2 but there is nothing else that comes to my mind. Their last really good SP game was Gears 5.

Sony OTOH dropped in quality compared to PS4 gen but are still miles ahead in producing content that interests me.

Multiplats now dominate the big, traditional consoles and have for several gens now.

This doesn't help Xbox sales.

 

[Orbital2060]

I currently do not own an xbox but loved the original OG Xbox and Xbox 360. It is not a complicated formula on why the Xbox brand has been failing. At the end of the day, what really matters are the games. The PS5 has so many more exclusive games it wipes it's ass with the Xbox brand.

On PS5 I am playing: God of War, Spiderman Series, , Ratchet and Clank, Ghost of Tsushima, Returnal, The Last of us series, Demon Souls, Astro's playroom, etc. There is a great library of games developed for the PS platform:

On Xbox you have: A pretty good Forza series, A shell of bungie Halo, Gears of War still going?, I know Xbox fanboys are creaming their pants for Starfield but the consensus says it's pretty average, Ori is cool, and Flight Simulator if that is your thing. The Xbox brand has failed to establish IP's that get the masses excited.

It's simple, GAMES MATTER!

If microsoft stays in this console race and flexes their muscles using their new Developer acquisitions to keep games exclusively on xbox it could become interesting down the road. I admit that I am rooting for Xbox and sad to see it's much worse than I thought at this point in time. Bottom line is the games I can play on said platform matter much more than Teraflops or marketing. You have to be a complete blind fool to not admit thate Sony has many more exclusive better games than the Xbox brand right now. That could change but time will tell.

Dude grow the fuck up

 

[ShadyAcshuns]

This doesn't help Xbox sales.

Pretty sure MS cares more about other things more than simple console sales. I mean, if they did they would have Xbox console exclusives, but they choose to put their games on PC, and even other consoles, and I'm willing to bet they know more than we do about what makes them the most money.

 

[ZoukGalaxy]

Nothing wrong, initially, except they just ruined all the appeal they built with the Xbox 360, in *ONE* word.
I was so hyped after the 360 and really hated the PS3, then, the drama happened, they really wasted everything themselves ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

[Bojji]

Pretty sure MS cares more about other things more than simple console sales. I mean, if they did they would have Xbox console exclusives, but they choose to put their games on PC, and even other consoles, and I'm willing to bet they know more than we do about what makes them the most money.

I think they have no clue. They usually have more sales on Xbox then on PC, PC market is not in their control (it's mostly in Gabe hands) so console sales drives software (and GP subs) sales. They won't achieve great success when their console isn't selling.

 

[SEGAvangelist]

I currently do not own an xbox but loved the original OG Xbox and Xbox 360. It is not a complicated formula on why the Xbox brand has been failing. At the end of the day, what really matters are the games. The PS5 has so many more exclusive games it wipes it's ass with the Xbox brand.

On PS5 I am playing: God of War, Spiderman Series, , Ratchet and Clank, Ghost of Tsushima, Returnal, The Last of us series, Demon Souls, Astro's playroom, etc. There is a great library of games developed for the PS platform:

On Xbox you have: A pretty good Forza series, A shell of bungie Halo, Gears of War still going?, I know Xbox fanboys are creaming their pants for Starfield but the consensus says it's pretty average, Ori is cool, and Flight Simulator if that is your thing. The Xbox brand has failed to establish IP's that get the masses excited.

It's simple, GAMES MATTER!

If microsoft stays in this console race and flexes their muscles using their new Developer acquisitions to keep games exclusively on xbox it could become interesting down the road. I admit that I am rooting for Xbox and sad to see it's much worse than I thought at this point in time. Bottom line is the games I can play on said platform matter much more than Teraflops or marketing. You have to be a complete blind fool to not admit thate Sony has many more exclusive better games than the Xbox brand right now. That could change but time will tell.

Cool list wars post.

 

[Ozriel]

I'm not talking about an individual customer. It is confusing in the market and it shows. When your message constantly changes you don't have a real message.

How is "you can play the games on your PC or Cloud or on console" confusing to an average customer?

The average customer has no issue navigating an iPhone 15 Pro Max purchase vs an iPhone 15 or multiple iPad models, but can't differentiate between two Xbox models with significant differences in price and appearance?

Nah. that ain't it.

 

[intheinbetween]

now OG XBOX was cooler than the Series X gen, enough internet for today

 

[ADiTAR]

To me, it seems like they pound their chest too much before the game comes out and it turns out it's wasn't worth the pounding.

Redfall, Starfield, all marketed as the next big thing. Phill did say they expected Redfall to score higher, so it could be that someone on the inside is lying to them or they have no real ability to criticize anyone.

Their exclusive are just not that interesting, and I don't think the ones they showcase so far were. Starfield looked nice in the hour long video, but you kinda knew they were cherry picking.

Compare that to Nintendo and TotK, where they had a small gameplay segment to go over the main abilities, and it all checked out. They didn't over promise and under deliver, they actually did the opposite.

 

[Dream-Knife]

At this point I think xbox is unrecoverable. If there was a gen xbox could get ahead, it would be this one, but it seems no matter how bad sony flops, MS will flop harder.

 

[Toytown Assassin]

I don't think there is anything particularly wrong with the xbox brand. The series X is a decent console other than the shitty controller with some decent games. The problem for xbox is that sony has the mind share and the locked in user base with an ever expanding digital games catalogue etc. If they want to win they need to buy sony

 

[Giallo Corsa]

now OG XBOX was cooler than the Series X gen, enough internet for today

My man, OG Xbox has some terrific console exclusives :
- JSRF
- Splinter cell 1
- Panzer dragoon orta
- Shenmue 2
- Otogi 1& 2
- Ninja Gaiden (GOAT)
- Crimson Skies
- Dead or alive 3 (truly jaw-dropping, next gen shit at the time)
- Dead or alive ultimate
- Halo 1 & 2
- Kingdom under fire
- Riddick escape from Butcher bay
- Doom 3
- Half life 2
- Call of Cthulhu
- Metal wolf chaos
- Phantasy star online
- PGR 1& 2
- KOTOR
... and a fuckton of others

Maybe you're young and you don't remember /haven't played all of the above but...OG Xbox was legitimately a good console with good exclusives - personally, I can't say the same thing about the XSX/XSS generation.
It's all Forza, a mediocre Halo game, Redfall and Starfield best game of the year®.

 

[James Sawyer Ford]

To me, it seems like they pound their chest too much before the game comes out and it turns out it's wasn't worth the pounding.

Redfall, Starfield, all marketed as the next big thing. Phill did say they expected Redfall to score higher, so it could be that someone on the inside is lying to them or they have no real ability to criticize anyone.

Their exclusive are just not that interesting, and I don't think the ones they showcase so far were. Starfield looked nice in the hour long video, but you kinda knew they were cherry picking.

Compare that to Nintendo and TotK, where they had a small gameplay segment to go over the main abilities, and it all checked out. They didn't over promise and under deliver, they actually did the opposite.

Yeah they really don't have the killer app type titles that are "events" in gaming like they used to. Gears and Halo used to be those games in the 360 era, but no longer. People would buy consoles for those games and get extremely excited around them.

Starfield was supposed to be that game but it fell well short of that. Sony and Nintendo have these games every single year like clockwork. Microsoft has struggled to even get one ever since the 360 era.

They have a ton of studios now, and I think it's imperative they focus on quality over quantity. That may force them to have multiple studios working on a single project. There's no need for all the Arkane studios working on separate projects. They aren't big enough. They need them to focus on 1 killer app collectively.

 

[ADiTAR]

They have a ton of studios now, and I think it's imperative they focus on quality over quantity. That may force them to have multiple studios working on a single project. There's no need for all the Arkane studios working on separate projects. They aren't big enough. They need them to focus on 1 killer app collectively.

I'm actually on the opposite mind here. They can't compete with Sony's AAA blockbusters, or Nintendo's IPs, so they should double down on GamePass, and release at least one or more experiences every month. Games don't need to be 10+ hours long, it could be smaller 4-5 hours long games, each month, with fresh ideas, kinda like Hi-Fi Rush, and I think that would give them more subscribers.

 

[vodka-bull]

Since I‘ll be joining the pc master race, I don‘t consider Sonys „exclusive“ games exclusive, most of them get a PC release anyway. But aside from my standpoint, Xbox has its exclusives, they‘re just different than Sonys exclusive games.

 

[Physiognomonics]

I have become the old man get off my lawn guy but most of the series you mentioned have been losing their luster to me

GOW Rag was boring, Spiderman is dying to me as Peter Parker is Spiderman, I didn't know Elden Ring was a PS5 exclusive, Ghost of Tsushima TO ME is the jewel here, Demon Souls was very good, Astros was just mind blowing introducing me to the controller

I am with you on this one. Sony are starting to mismanage their own brand and IPs in their own way. Mainly subscription services, GAAS and that new religion they are starting to push in their game stories.

 

[James Sawyer Ford]

I'm actually on the opposite mind here. They can't compete with Sony's AAA blockbusters, or Nintendo's IPs, so they should double down on GamePass, and release at least one or more experiences every month. Games don't need to be 10+ hours long, it could be smaller 4-5 hours long games, each month, with fresh ideas, kinda like Hi-Fi Rush, and I think that would give them more subscribers.

That approach doesn't really work. They need AAA heavy hitters AND the smaller titles you talk about, but the former is far more important when it comes to consumers.

 

[Warablo]

I really doubt exclusives would increase their world wide appeal. It would take a long time to increase that.

 

[intheinbetween]

My man, OG Xbox has some terrific console exclusives :
- JSRF
- Splinter cell 1
- Panzer dragoon orta
- Shenmue 2
- Otogi 1& 2
- Ninja Gaiden (GOAT)
- Crimson Skies
- Dead or alive 3 (truly jaw-dropping, next gen shit at the time)
- Dead or alive ultimate
- Halo 1 & 2
- Kingdom under fire
- Riddick escape from Butcher bay
- Doom 3
- Half life 2
- Call of Cthulhu
- Metal wolf chaos
- Phantasy star online
- PGR 1& 2
- KOTOR
... and a fuckton of others

Maybe you're young and you don't remember /haven't played all of the above but...OG Xbox was legitimately a good console with good exclusives - personally, I can't say the same thing about the XSX/XSS generation.
It's all Forza, a mediocre Halo game, Redfall and Starfield best game of the year®.

I’m over 40 and the OG XBOX era depended mostly of the efforts from SEGA and a few gems (Otogi, Blinx, Phantom Dust, or some weird dark japanese games such as SMT Nine, Magatama or NUDE) besides Halo, Fable and PGR. Back then XBOX lacked of most of the third party support, and they had some bland entries such as Brute Force, Fusion Frenzy, etc..and while MS did what they needed to do they were third. Nostalgia plays a big role when thinking about OG XBOX, and hey I still keep mine but let’s be honest it was MS first attempt competing against Sony (at their momentum) and Nintendo

Obviously the 360 era was their best, but the lack of expertise in gaming burst that bobble and they lost the momentum.

Nowadays MS has a lot of game studios, they have great hardware, good services, though again the lack of expertise in console gaming its hitting them. They should just hire people with this expertise in order to be successful, but I will be surprised if they do instead of internal promotions.


Whether many people like it or not, MS has managed to improve XBO trainwreck but they have a lot of work to do

 

[ADiTAR]

That approach doesn't really work. They need AAA heavy hitters AND the smaller titles you talk about, but the former is far more important when it comes to consumers.

Their long term strategy is having GamePass everywhere. Yeah, they can have 1-2 big exclusives a year, but so far they aren't very good at producing them compared to their smaller titles like Hi Fi Rush and that story game thing from Obsidian was it?

I don't think they are in it to sell hardware anymore. Now that they bought IPs they can leverage those for experimental small games that they can take in interesting places.

I think consumers love content, and they will consume it if it's good and fun.

 

[MagiusNecros]

That approach doesn't really work. They need AAA heavy hitters AND the smaller titles you talk about, but the former is far more important when it comes to consumers.

Nah they primarily need AA games. AAA takes too long and most AAA games suck. But hey if you like burning money...

 

[James Sawyer Ford]

Their long term strategy is having GamePass everywhere. Yeah, they can have 1-2 big exclusives a year, but so far they aren't very good at producing them compared to their smaller titles like Hi Fi Rush and that story game thing from Obsidian was it?

I don't think they are in it to sell hardware anymore. Now that they bought IPs they can leverage those for experimental small games that they can take in interesting places.

I think consumers love content, and they will consume it if it's good and fun.

The problem is that while hardcore gamers like you and me love the HFR type titles, HFR would not have sold well at retail and probably didn't cause many GP subs in general.

 

[NeverYouMind]

What? Are you high? Xbox first party offerings is no where near playstation...... and really hasnt been since the xbox 360, from a sales and critical review rating point of view. They launced a console during the pandemic with no exclusives. In the same time frame, playstation had TLOU2, Ghost of Tsushima, Miles Morales, Rachet and Clank, Demon Souls and Returnal. Its very disingenuous to try and say Xbox's first party offering has been anything similar, without the context of showing the vast difference in quality.


The best game Microsoft released this generation is Forza. A new Forza Motorsport just came out last month and nobody even noticed.

What about Starfield?

Redfall?

Halo?

I wouldn't put TLOU2 and Miles Morales anywhere near the best 1000 games released in the last decade. Demon Souls and Ratchet and Clank is a new coat of paint over PS3 era content. I bet most people do not even know what Returnal is. The only good games to release from PlayStation first party studios was for the last generation. Marvel's Spider-Man, Ghost of Tsushima, God of War, and Infamous Second Son were those games. They preceded this generation. The sequels this generation are lower quality rehashes.

The best game Microsoft published this generation is Forza Horizon 5. It just happens to be cross-gen. Next you have the unrivaled Hi-Fi Rush, which released this year. After that Psychonauts 2, which was released across all platforms.

Also, what about Starfield? Sci-fi fans are still blown away by its scope and quality. Live service games are not worth talking about until a year after release. As far as Forza Motorsport is concerned, it may actually be good by the time I get around to it. I wouldn't even remember that Microsoft owned Halo if it was not for events in their other games and Redfall was never my kind of game to begin with and is about as relevant to this conversation as Returnal as far as I am concerned (i.e. not at all).

 

[onnextflix5]

Games matter, but you have to something to dethrone the market leader, with 360 they had a cheaper console, one year head start, and a much better online experience, some good games aswell, instead of focusing on those, they jumped on the kenect bandwagon and thought they were going be some kind of third party platform like steam and apple, they need to get a better console out at cheaper price, and get them exclusives out.

 

[Shake Your Rump]

GAMES MATTER!

They sure do. Remember the original Xbox with games like Kung-Fu Chaos, Fusion Frenzy, Mechassault, Phantasy Star Online, Morrowind… there were many reasons to choose Xbox back in 2002.

Is there even a single reason to choose Xbox over PlayStation or PC? I mean, the Wii U was more compelling than the current Xbox lineup.

 

[ADiTAR]

The problem is that while hardcore gamers like you and me love the HFR type titles, HFR would not have sold well at retail and probably didn't cause many GP subs in general.

It's steady content and surprises that keep people coming back for more. Netflix has been on a drought for a long time, yet people keep subscribing. There's some trashy thing coming out every now and then, and people eat it up. They got the Witcher franchise and they have a live action, a spin off and an anime. You can question its quality, but it's still content.

The gamepass strategy isn't retail anyway.

 

[James Sawyer Ford]

It's steady content and surprises that keep people coming back for more. Netflix has been on a drought for a long time, yet people keep subscribing. There's some trashy thing coming out every now and then, and people eat it up. They got the Witcher franchise and they have a live action, a spin off and an anime. You can question its quality, but it's still content.

The gamepass strategy isn't retail anyway.

The gamepass strategy isn't to sign up 1-2 million users per month that dig those niche games though, is my point.

The only way GP grows is with AAAA titles on the regular, not niche titles on the regular. I think GamePass as an idea is getting way too much focus from Microsoft and is a failed concept. It's great for indie and smaller titles like you say, but it should in no way be a substitute for full priced titles on day 1.