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[Okami Haundo]

I think anyone who's expecting them to show some bombshell AAA first party games during E3 will be pretty disappointed. They could have one or two smaller surprises in store, but that's about it. Phil has even gone on record to say that they don't have the equivalent of a Halo or Gears game just hiding behind the scenes for release this year.

That being said, I really appreciate that Phil has been so vocal about this lately. His team has been pretty incredible about implementing ideas based on fan feedback, so it's encouraging to know that he wants to improve on that. I'm in for Scorpio on day one, but I already treat my Xbox One as my "primary" console anyway.

 

[digoutyoursoul]

People do realise it takes 4-5 years to make a new IP right? Phil took over 3 years ago, so this e3 is really his first e3 since taking over and will tell us a lot about the direction xbox is going with under him.

He's also been on record saying he doesn't want to show games early so there's that too. This year e3 is when we should start to see where Phil is going with exclusives for the first time. Other than small games like recore and some like dead rising 4, gears 4, yearly forza pretty much every single game we've been playing so far is a mattrick era game.

Sea of Thieves was greenlit by Phil wasn't it?

 

[wapplew]

Who is going to make them? We know what almost all of their studios are up to.

The next Playground game, the next Double Helix, the next Supermassive.

 

[Coulomb_Barrier]

I'm kind of getting the feeling, based on Spencer's non-answers, that we may not get a scorpio reveal before or even at e3.

Yeah they may just release it without any reveal. Like a secret thing.

 

[Tyaren]

His words - and others quoted from other sources - imply games really pushing to console, which is great for Scorpio but given the power gulf raises questions what the "last gen" version looks like.

That is something that would concern me if I was a regular Xbox One owner. Sony imo did a good job promoting the PS4 Pro but not diminishing the regular PS4 at the same time. There was some hyperbole on GAF before release, but Sony themselves were always respectful of the regular PS4. Games won't target the Pro to be downgraded for the PS4. It will always be the other way round. That's what you understand as a customer.
With Microsoft the rhetoric seems to be a little different. Everytime they talk about the Scorpio it sounds to me as if they are diminishing the regular XboxOne at the same time. They also don't seem to have decided yet on how to market the Scorpio. So, is it considered a completely new console or is it a "Xbox One Pro"? Do regular One owners have to fear downgraded, second thought versions or not? Will there even be exclusives after all? :/

 

[Chris1]

Sea of Thieves was greenlit by Phil wasn't it?

Hmm yes I think but it's hard to say because the early stages of it must have been under mattrick before ksr release and we know rare has multiple teams so who knows how far along it was, but that's not out yet. I also think showing it off early was a special occasion because of rares anniversary. There's also that it was supposed to be out last year too.

 

[Nestunt]

But Nintendo or Sony would still get all your money when you buy the game on PC.

Again, I don't think MS particularly cares whether you own an Xbone or Scorpio, as long as you spend the cash on their games and services.
It's an interesting strategy but does yes, "devalue" the perception of owning hardware to a certain extent.

Oh, sure! I am not talking about MS as a whole, but Scorpio in particular. Exclusives do not sell machines on their own, but they help a lot, specially if you are not offering something much more special in comparison to the competition.

 

[Pasedo]

In all seriousness though some people say following the PS4 Pro strategy won't work but I think people just have this innate need to want more power. New iPhone comes out. Nothing significantly different about it. It just has a faster chip and bang people want it's extra juice. New laptops and graphics cards in the thousands of dollars and people flock to it. It certainly isn't logical but we consumers usually are not with our purchases and old Phil is betting on our power hungry weakness.

 

[PanicFreak]

Well I'm certainly excited about State of Decay 2 and Crackdown 3. I don't think they will rely as heavily on Halo and Gears in the future given that sales of those franchises have been hit hard. I wouldn't be surprised if 343 made a new franchise after Halo 6 (though I also wouldn't be surprised if they made Halo 7). I see Gears lasting another one or two games before they move on to something new.

 

[op_ivy]

Yeah they may just release it without any reveal. Like a secret thing.

Yeah, that's what I said.

 

[MAX PAYMENT]

I wonder if they're treating Scorpio like a new generation.

They're holding back all the games until the Scorpio reveal for launch titles and whatnot.

 

[andycapps]

Still talking about getting Japanese publishers... It's a little late. If anybody actually believes something will happen with that, I feel sorry for them.

 

[Thorrgal]

Well I'm certainly excited about State of Decay 2 and Crackdown 3. I don't think they will rely as heavily on Halo and Gears in the future given that sales of those franchises have been hit hard. I wouldn't be surprised if 343 made a new franchise after Halo 6 (though I also wouldn't be surprised if they made Halo 7). I see Gears lasting another one or two games before they move on to something new.

So you don't see them relying aa heavily on Halo and Gears but see them making Halo and Gears for at least another 5 to 10 years?

 

[Reagan's BR]

People forget that Xbox had a much better selection of games than Sony for the first half of last gen.

The leadership that lead from later in the 360 life to launch of the one botched everything. They are still recovering and sales have improved remarkably.

That said I've been disappointed with the way MS has treated Halo but that's neither here nor there. (Halo 5 MP is great but different than Halo. Singleplayer and Halo 4 were disasters.) Gears 4 story also felt a bit out of place in that universe.

They have killed it with Forza lately though.

Re: Japan MS has put in more effort but come up short each time. They have chased that market hard and have nothing to show for it. Canceling scalebound was the right decision. The project was overbudget and projections didn't have it being profitable enough.

If: sunk cost + cost to finish < projected sales revenue

Then it should get canceled.

Props to Sony for chasing after it last half of last gen and all of this gen. It's been great to see such good competition.

 

[blakep267]

I think anyone who's expecting them to show some bombshell AAA first party games during E3 will be pretty disappointed. They could have one or two smaller surprises in store, but that's about it. Phil has even gone on record to say that they don't have the equivalent of a Halo or Gears game just hiding behind the scenes for release this year.

That being said, I really appreciate that Phil has been so vocal about this lately. His team has been pretty incredible about implementing ideas based on fan feedback, so it's encouraging to know that he wants to improve on that. I'm in for Scorpio on day one, but I already treat my Xbox One as my "primary" console anyway.

they can show bombshell games. They just would likely be 2018 and beyond games. This year is likely set with the 4 AAA releases we already know and some smaller tier games etc

 

[Bits N Pieces]

Hey that sounds familiar:



- Phil Spencer, 2015

https://www.gamespot.com/articles/xbox-one-interview-phil-spencer-on-microsofts-firs/1100-6429471/

Two to three year Dev cycle. Believe! lol

 

[Okami Haundo]

That is something that would concern me if I was a regular Xbox One owner. Sony imo did a good job promoting the PS4 Pro but not diminishing the regular PS4 at the same time. There was some hyperbole on GAF before release, but Sony themselves were always respectful of the regular PS4. Games won't target the Pro to be downgraded for the PS4. It will always be the other way round. That's what you understand as a customer.
With Microsoft the rhetoric seems to be a little different. Everytime they talk about the Scorpio it sounds to me as if they are diminishing the regular XboxOne at the same time. They don't seem to have decided yet how to market the Scorpio. So, is it considered a completely new console or is it a "Xbox One Pro"? Do regular One owners have to fear downgraded, second thought versions or not? :/

I don't quite understand this sentiment as it seems like we're pretending that the vanilla Xbox One exists in a vacuum. If the PS4 Pro was Sony's only piece of hardware on the market, I would say that this concern is valid. The reality is that the vanilla PS4 and Xbox One will continue to be the "baseline" consoles for devs for quite some time until their userbases migrate to more powerful hardware. I just don't see this as being something to worry about right now.

they can show bombshell games. They just would likely be 2018 and beyond games. This year is likely set with the 4 AAA releases we already know and some smaller tier games etc

I absolutely agree! I should have clarified more in my first sentence there. I meant to say that anyone expecting them to have a secret AAA bombshell that will be out this fall is going to be disappointed. I'd argue that they could do with some early hype for games that are coming in the future. Hell, Sony's "year of dreams" was all about games that are hype but not coming anytime soon.

 

[QuackkAttack]

What's always? There have been 2 proper JRPG games XV and type zero. One sold bad. One didn't

Final Fantasy XV was discounted to $35.00(in some territories, including the US) pre-release on Xbox One. It has sold 1M in Japan on PS4, and less than 20k lifetime on XBO.

Final Fantasy XV, the biggest JRPG launch since FF XIII, did not sell well on Xbox One. Why in the world would Dragon Quest be a "perfect fit" for Scorpio?

 

[CassidyIzABeast]

We don't know anything about their first party line up beyond 2017 and Phil has been constantly said they're investing in first party. All you can do is wait for E3 and see what they've got planned.

 

[wapplew]

We don't know anything about their first party line up beyond 2017 and Phil has been constantly said they're investing in first party. All you can do is wait for E3 and see what they've got planned.

Actually, we do know something about their first party lineup beyond 2017. In fact we could predict some of their first party lineup beyond 2018 and 2019.

 

[HighResTomato]

I wonder if they're treating Scorpio like a new generation.

They're holding back all the games until the Scorpio reveal for launch titles and whatnot.

Which games are they holding back?

 

[blakep267]

Final Fantasy XV was discounted to $35.00(in some territories, including the US) pre-release on Xbox One. It has sold 1M in Japan on PS4, and less than 20k lifetime on XBO.

Final Fantasy XV, the biggest JRPG launch since FF XIII, did not sell well on Xbox One. Why in the world would Dragon Quest be a "perfect fit" for Scorpio?

Final fantasy XV was $35 on both platforms for weeks in December at GameStop and Amazon because they price match. The $35 pre-release was only at Newegg and last 3 hours. It didn't have much of an effect.

FFXV sold 450k on the Xbox in 1 month in the US. That's not a bad number at all

I'm not sure why you are bringing up Japan numbers when there are only 60k or so xboxes even sold there

 

[falberto]

Last odyssey 2, can I dream?

 

[Peltz]

Guys, just wait. If e3 comes and goes without a bunch of new games, then get mad. But I don't think it's fair to get all up in arms when Microsoft says they are committed to 1st party stuff on March 24th, before showing their new hardware. There's a time and place to debut new stuff. This time of year isn't that time, especially prior to a hardware reveal.

Nintendo was radio silent about new games for over a year leading up to the Switch reveal too. This is how things work.

Sony's PS4 Pro strategy of downplaying the upgrade from stock PS4 isn't necessarily Microsoft's blueprint. They probably want to debut some first party stuff with the new hardware. For them, this is a bigger launch and a bigger brand refresh.

I am just as skeptical as the next person about Microsoft's plans regarding 1st party software. But I'm willing to give them the benefit of the doubt with what's in store for the new hardware. They had great exclusive software in the previous two generations. They know their brand is hurting with the core audience. Let's just see what they have in store.

People forget that Xbox had a much better selection of games than Sony for the first half of last gen.

The leadership that lead from later in the 360 life to launch of the one botched everything. They are still recovering and sales have improved remarkably.

That said I've been disappointed with the way MS has treated Halo but that's neither here nor there. (Halo 5 MP is great but different than Halo. Singleplayer and Halo 4 were disasters.) Gears 4 story also felt a bit out of place in that universe.

They have killed it with Forza lately though.

Re: Japan MS has put in more effort but come up short each time. They have chased that market hard and have nothing to show for it. Canceling scalebound was the right decision. The project was overbudget and projections didn't have it being profitable enough.

If: sunk cost + cost to finish < projected sales revenue

Then it should had been canceled.

Props to Sony for chasing after it last half of last gen and all of this gen. It's been great to see such good competition.

Eh... I don't agree cancelling Scalebound was the right move. They were better off releasing a mediocre game than no game at all, even if it lost them money. They really soured the good will with their brand for a lot of hardcore gamers.

 

[Triggerhappytel]

Actually, we do know something about their first party lineup beyond 2017. In fact we could predict some of their first party lineup beyond 2018 and 2019.

Do you have any good predictions on what they'll be working on outside of the typical Halo, Gears, Forza?

We know about Sea of Thieves, Crackdown, State of Decay 2, Ori 2, Below, Ashen, Cuphead, any others?

 

[Tecnniqe]

Which games are they holding back?

All the unannounced ones.

Eh... I don't agree cancelling Scalebound was the right move. They were better off releasing a mediocre game than no game at all, even if it lost them money. They really soured the good will with their brand for a lot of hardcore gamers.

All those Hardcore gamers who all said Wildlands was shit, trash and absolute poop on a disc yet sold more than anything the hardcore community talk about?


Yeah don't think they care much about catering to them.

 

[PanicFreak]

So you don't see them relying aa heavily on Halo and Gears but see them making Halo and Gears for at least another 5 to 10 years?

LOL. I get your point. I guess I don't see them relying on many Halo spinoff series in the future and other series getting more play.

 

[CassidyIzABeast]

Actually, we do know something about their first party lineup beyond 2017. In fact we could predict some of their first party lineup beyond 2018 and 2019.

Obviously you can guess that Forza, Halo, and Gears will be there but that's about it.

 

[DesertFox]

Phil Spencer has won over a lot of good will, and he deserves recognition for the work he's put into righting the ship... but first party is a serious concern right now, and we need to see something to make us feel otherwise.

Microsoft needs something on par with Horizon and Zelda. I don't care if it's too much of a risk and it makes Microsoft uncomfortable. They need to do it for the health of the brand.

I fully intend to pick up a Scorpio, because by this point I'm invested in the platform and I have dozens and dozens of games across Xbox One and Xbox 360 sitting on my external hard drive, but damn it if I don't regret buying an Xbox One this gen. I've missed out on some great exclusives.

 

[backbreaker65]

Man, y'all make a thread about this dude every other day, if he pass gas someone makes a thread. He says the same shit all the time and y'all make a thread about what he said, when he said in 2015 5 times 2016 10 times and so on.

So glad Shu doesn't say much.

 

[digoutyoursoul]

Phil Spencer has won over a lot of goodwill, and he deserves recognition for the work he's put into righting the ship... but first party is a serious concern right now, and we need to see something to make us feel otherwise.

Microsoft needs something on par with Horizon and Zelda. I don't care if it's too much of a risk and it makes Microsoft uncomfortable. They need to do it for th health of the brand.

I fully intend to pick up a Scorpio, because by this point I'm invested in the platform and I have dozens and dozens of games across Xbox One and Xbox 360 sitting on my external hard drive, but damn it if I don't regret buying an Xbox One this gen. I've missed out on some great exclusives.

This may sound unrealistic but Moon Studios are a real talent in my opinion,. I think we are expecting a Ori 2? If that also hits the spot critically and commercially, how about expanding the studio to try something AAA in future?

 

[wapplew]

Obviously you can guess that Forza, Halo, and Gears will be there but that's about it.

They are very consistent at publish 3-4 big retail exclusive per year.
3 games for the holiday, Forza+Halo/Gears+unknown (mostly time exclusive from thrid party), another one for first half of the year.
I'm fully expecting them to produce new spinoff for Halo/Gears to complete the rotation like that did with Forza.

 

[AmyS]

Although it's not first party, I wan Panzer Dragoon Orta 2.

 

[blakep267]

They are very consistent at publish 3-4 big retail exclusive per year.
3 games for the holiday, Forza+Halo/Gears+unknown (mostly time exclusive from thrid party), another one for first half of the year.
I'm fully expecting them to produce new spinoff for Halo/Gears to complete the rotation like that did with Forza.

If 2018 is Halo 6 and Horizon 4. There's still 2-3 other AAA games that we wouldn't know about. We don't know a lot of what they have

 

[Uno Venova]

Remember when people had this guy as their avatar, or had "i believe/trust in Phil" akin to political slogans proudly printed on their avatars.

 

[Call Me A Hero]

Lost Odyssey 2 please.

 

[EmiPrime]

Guys, just wait. If e3 comes and goes without a bunch of new games, then get mad.

That's my attitude. No point getting upset now with E3 just a few months away. If their exclusive portfolio remains anaemic and Scorpio is over-priced then I will pillory Xbox and Spencer but not before, they deserve at least E3 to show that they can turn things around.

 

[Family Fry]

This may sound unrealistic but Moon Studios are a real talent in my opinion,. I think we are expecting a Ori 2? If that also hits the spot critically and commercially, how about expanding the studio to try something AAA in future?

Ori wasn't an AAA game?!

It better than half of the AAA released that year on Xbox.

Also Moon Studios aren't owned by MS are they? I thought they were an independent studio?

 

[shandy706]

If you think you'll be getting PC ultra level performance from Scorpio I have a bridge to sell you.

More likely PC medium 1080p and PC medium 4k.

IF the system is actually "6TF+", then "Ultra" @1080p/30 or 1080p/60 (depending on the game) is absolutely doable.

4k is a different story. You're looking at med-high (or current console settings) for 4k/30. Games built specifically for Scorpio's high-end may fair better.

Consoles tend to perform above their hardware in comparison to PCs too though...so then you have to take all that into consideration.

 

[Okami Haundo]

Remember when people had this guy as their avatar, or had "i believe/trust in Phil" akin to political slogans proudly printed on their avatars.

I mean... I think Phil has done an incredible job at turning things around for the Xbox One. Is a lack of new first party games really worth discrediting everything else he's done?

 

[Thorrgal]

LOL. I get your point. I guess I don't see them relying on many Halo spinoff series in the future and other series getting more play.

Tbf hey are in a difficult possition...I think Phil is talking about 1party because after Sony's 1Q he has too, but probably 3party exclusives is the way to go. How big would be a Cyberpunk 2077 console exclusivity for example? That would sell tons of Scorpios

 

[irrotational]

Not sure it helps but the clearest sense I got of the position of Scorpio was Phil Spencer likening it to the Elite controller. It's a more expensive, premium, product, designed for people who are really into games and want the "best" equipment.*

They consider the One S as their "cooking" console that the average jo would buy for his kids to have something to play on. In the IGN interview he describes people going out to buy "a console" and they'll look for the cheapest one and go with that.

No idea of the ratio but pulling a random figure from the air I bet they expect to sell 2m-3m Scorpios which would be around 1 Scoprio for every 10 "One"'s.

Secretly I bet they hope that it does better than expected, like the Elite controller did. Over time the economics will change and it will become cheaper and slowly phase out the S as the "cooking" version.

*Yes I know many people will consider PC far superior and also PS as the "best" equipment but I'd hope that you know what I mean.

 

[gamz]

Not sure it helps but the clearest sense I got of the position of Scorpio was Phil Spencer likening it to the Elite controller. It's a more expensive, premium, product, designed for people who are really into games and want the "best" equipment.*

They consider the One S as their "cooking" console that the average jo would buy for his kids to have something to play on. In the IGN interview he describes people going out to buy "a console" and they'll look for the cheapest one and go with that.

No idea of the ratio but pulling a random figure from the air I bet they expect to sell 2m-3m Scorpios which would be around 1 Scoprio for every 10 "One"'s.

Secretly I bet they hope that it does better than expected, like the Elite controller did. Over time the economics will change and it will become cheaper and slowly phase out the S as the "cooking" version.

*Yes I know many people will consider PC far superior and also PS as the "best" equipment but I'd hope that you know what I mean.

2 or 3 million total?

 

[Markoman]

Tbf hey are in a difficult possition...I think Phil is talking about 1party because after Sony's 1Q he has too, but I think they 3party exclusives is the way to go. How big would be a Cyberpunk 2077 console exclusivity for example? That would sell tons of Scorpios

Lol, is it fan-fiction time again? How much is MS going to pay to keep that game away from a 70-80m (or even higher) player base when this game releases? If CP 2077 releases in late 2019, we could already see PS5. No way.

Oh, and if that's the only way to make up for their short-commings, they can fo. That's the shitty side of competition.

 

[CassidyIzABeast]

They are very consistent at publish 3-4 big retail exclusive per year.
3 games for the holiday, Forza+Halo/Gears+unknown (mostly time exclusive from thrid party), another one for first half of the year.
I'm fully expecting them to produce new spinoff for Halo/Gears to complete the rotation like that did with Forza.

From the way Phil talked on Podcast Unlocked it sounds like he's getting ready to retool their first party. Twisted Pixel, Press Play, and Lionhead are all off the books now and so far they don't seem to be continuing forward with a bunch of their AAA new IPs like Quantum Break or Ryse so they're flush with cash. We'll see what they come up with.

 

[Spyder_Monkey]

Why can nintendo get away with releasing Mario, Pokémon and Zelda every year for the last 2 decades but Microsoft cant

Because they don't. The last major Mario and Zelda games before this year were released back in 2013.

 

[digoutyoursoul]

Ori wasn't an AAA game?!

It better than half of the AAA released that year on Xbox.

Also Moon Studios aren't owned by MS are they? I thought they were an independent studio?

I thought it was more a metroidvania game in design with a gorgeous art style. It wasn't priced as a AAA game and didn't have scope of one either particularly a Zelda or Horizon.

 

[RPGamer92]

Because they don't. The last major Mario and Zelda games before this year were released back in 2013.

Wut?

 

[Lady Gaia]

I can't say I'm encouraged by the statement that they started with hardware, despite the reasonable argument that hardware design and production involve the longest timelines. Microsoft isn't actually building hardware designs from scratch. AMD is a solid partner that does the heavy lifting in that space, and while it's good that Microsoft keeps their eye on the ball and contributes to customizing the design it's also something they already do pretty well. Microsoft has been doing hardware design for ages and it fits well with their corporate culture.

Ground-up IP work requires a similar long-lead approach. Only in this case, there's a lot of foundational work that Microsoft isn't predisposed to do well. Building the studios capable of turning out compelling offerings is a cultural challenge for a company that has never really understood the creative process as well as they understand tackling measurable engineering problems. If Phil Spencer didn't start working on that problem on day one it could be a very long road to success.

 

[Plague Doctor]

A true Single Player AAA Fable game? A true Single Player AAA Fable game.

Open up your Scrooge McDuck Money Bin and get this party going, Phil. One game and you have a lot of our excitement. It could be just a logo. It could be a 2 minute teaser clip.

Stop fucking around. Present this and drop the mic.