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[Dee Dah Dave]

Someone has the 'dev story' on Phantom Dust don't they, whatever that entails.

 

[Chris1]

I feel like Insomniac was a missed opportunity for Microsoft. Sunset Overdrive was fantastic and should have been the start of a fruitful relationship regardless of sales. But now between Ratchet and Spider-Man, IG is back to being a Sony studio as far as consoles are considered.

I truly believe if they could go back in time after seeing how their other exclusives turned out they would sign Insomniac up for another project. I still think the reason the let Insomniac go was that SO was their first kinda flop this gen, all their launch games sold decently to warrant a sequel, Titanfall sold a shit ton then you had SO which just.. flopped. At that point in time coming off huge hits like Titanfall and SO flopping, it's hard to justify funding a sequel / new game at that point.

 

[Zeta Oni]

It could Be a games with gold for May

This would be* brilliant, honestly.

This is a game that deserves a healthy community and GwG would be a great way of doing that.

Someone has the 'dev story' on Phantom Dust don't they, whatever that entails.

Hopefully they start talking soon, the OT is almost done lol, just needs a little more time in the oven. Would be nice to have a date.

 

[Mifune]

I truly believe if they could go back in time after seeing how their other exclusives turned out they would sign Insomniac up for another project. I still think the reason the let Insomniac go was that SO was their first kinda flop this gen, all their launch games sold decently to warrant a sequel, Titanfall sold a shit ton then you had SO which just.. flopped. At that point in time coming off huge hits like Titanfall and SO flopping, it's hard to justify funding a sequel / new game at that point.

Yeah, I mean it's definitely easier to criticize now. I don't think anyone expected Ratchet PS4 to be as big of a success as it was (series seemed to be declining in popularity) so it probably appeared as if Insomniac would be available for a later Xbox project if they didn't agree on something NOW. But the strong R&C sales probably helped get the Marvel deal done and the rest was history.

 

[Dabanton]

Where are the Splinter Cell rumors coming from?

It seems to have built up slowly.

I know I was making jokes last year and a few times this year that there must be a reason that Splinter Cell:Blacklist was still not a BC title. The theorizing was they were holding it back to offer as a pre order gift or a GWG offer.

There was also this gaf thread from last year where Michael Ironside was spotted at Ubi

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1263153

To throw a date on this: I did see Ironside and one his daughters at the TO studio last summer. This was just good timing, as I was there on other business.
I have two sources who worked on the set of The Space Between (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4682922/), which was shooting in TO. Ironside mentioned he was working on a new Splinter Cell. One source is someone I trust, the other is an acquaintance by degrees.

The movie shoot overlapped the same week as my encounter. As I understand it, he was here for the movie first and worked in the studio visit while in town.
None of us is bound by NDA over this, given our connections and circumstances, but it still feels shady to talk about since it's not official. I was surprised I hadn't seen this news from someone else by now, to be honest.

I know UbiSoft TO has a wonderful new mocap studio. While I did express disappointment it wasn't shown at E3, this thing could be early along. I haven't seen actual in-game assets or production assets for myself (like the Syndicate extra timeline story). I don't know who is making it. I know other dev studios have used the mocap studio.

Remember Ubisoft studios collaborate often. The TO studio contributed content to Watch_Dogs 2, and For Honor also takes up a chunk there. I'd like to say this was another TO take on the franchise, but I will not until I know more.

I guess we'll maybe see at E3. I don't care if it's exclusive or not I just want a new next gen Splinter Cell game in the vein of Blacklist.

 

[Chris1]

Yeah, I mean it's definitely easier to criticize now. I don't think anyone expected Ratchet PS4 to be as big of a success as it was (series seemed to be declining in popularity) so it probably appeared as if Insomniac would be available for a later Xbox project if they didn't agree on something NOW. But the strong R&C sales probably helped get the Marvel deal done and the rest was history.

I was referring to xbox exclusives But yeah, Ratchet too (I haven't played it but it's a high meta & well liked)

QB did nothing, Halo was a massive drop as was Gears, Recore did nothing, Ryse sequel broke down half way etc. Plus they had Scalebound etc in the works back in 2014 aswell. MCC was broken. Mainline Forza is down too I believe. It's easy to say they should have funded a sequel to SO but back then I don't think it was quite as clear as it is now, if they knew the rest of their exclusives would do nothing / would be down massively I truly believe they would have signed Insomniac up again.

SO sales didn't exactly set the world on fire but in hindsight they weren't too bad compared to what came later and has the most potential for a sequel out of any exclusive IMO, also it's meta is up there with their pillar franchises aswell. By the time they knew how the rest of the exclusives turned out, Sony had already locked up Insomniac.

 

[SamNW]

I guess we'll maybe see at E3. I don't care if it's exclusive or not I just want a new next gen Splinter Cell game in the vein of Blacklist.

If Splinter Cell ever comes back, I hope they go back to the series' roots and make something closer to Chaos Theory. That game was outstanding.

 

[Zeta Oni]

Actually this being a thread dedicated to MS's first-party means it would probably be the best place to ask since there's not really a Phantom Dust specific thread...

What are some ideas people have for the Phantom Dust rerelease OT title?

I've been thinking either:

Phantom Dust (2017) |OT| "Unlike anything else on Xbox*"-OXM *PC now included

or

Phantom Dust (2017) |OT| A Post-Apocalyptic Third-person Action Arena-based Collectible Card Game

 

[IncognitoPanda]

I'm still a proponent for perfect dark filling the splinter cell gap. Could fill a splinter cell/mgs style gap because perfect dark has aliens, clones and what have you lol.

Probably won't happen, but who knows.

They really do need to do something new from their first party output that can be a new franchise at the level of halo, gears and forza.

I have made posts about this so many times on here. Make it Mirror's Edge with stealth, gadgets and guns! And give it a futuristic noir look.

Rappelling down buildings, shimmying along edges, sneaking through air vents, planting explosives, cool gadgets; basically just a lot of cool spy-stuff with gunplay included. MI: Perfect Dark (with aliens), the potential is endless!

What I want is basically what I imagined Shangheist to be, just with an actual mascot.

 

[Salty Hippo]

Few others actually. First-party games aren't the ones who define the success or doom of a videogame, but here on GAF this is a widespread belief because it's one of the differences between Sony and MS. MS is doing the right thing to make the third-party games best on its consumer-friendly platform. If they can get the windows store (pc part for that matter) right then they will be a incredible strong position. I'm still baffled that people will buy anything from Sony when they have so much anti-consumer policies, especially with the growth of PC market.

It's almost as if people played games, not policies.

What you think in 3 years they can jettison everything already in the pipeline and make loads of new stuff instead, or would even want to?

LOL

Whatever is truly new and coming from Spencer's direction will be made apparent over the next 5 years. And no, I don't believe Spencer was controlling much game wise during Mattricks reign, as already stated.

Making loads of new stuff seems to be working pretty well for Sony. Except they don't jettison, they keep pilling the games on. You'll get them when you get them, but you will most likely get them. TLG has showed it.

Do you know who actually jettisons games and studios when they desperately need them? You guessed it, Microsoft. 3 years is PLENTY of time to have a bunch of stuff at least ready to be announced. With 2 more years left to fully develop. There will be no excuse for Spencer if Microsoft pulls another E3 2015 or 16.

 

[FelipeMGM]

Yeah, I mean it's definitely easier to criticize now. I don't think anyone expected Ratchet PS4 to be as big of a success as it was (series seemed to be declining in popularity) so it probably appeared as if Insomniac would be available for a later Xbox project if they didn't agree on something NOW. But the strong R&C sales probably helped get the Marvel deal done and the rest was history.

That Marvel deal was sealed way before R&C PS4 was even out tho.

 

[Tntnico]

I feel like Insomniac was a missed opportunity for Microsoft. Sunset Overdrive was fantastic and should have been the start of a fruitful relationship regardless of sales. But now between Ratchet and Spider-Man, IG is back to being a Sony studio as far as consoles are considered.

I still hope a Insomniac X Rare Conker game. When I see Ratchet and Clank and the humor of Sunset Overdrive, this needs to happen !!

 

[Mifune]

That Marvel deal was sealed way before R&C was even out tho.

Haha yeah. That was dumb on my part.

 

[blakep267]

I have made posts about this so many times on here. Make it Mirror's Edge with stealth, gadgets and guns! And give it a futuristic noir look.

Rappelling down buildings, shimmying along edges, sneaking through air vents, planting explosives, cool gadgets; basically just a lot of cool spy-stuff with gunplay included. MI: Perfect Dark (with aliens), the potential is endless!

What I want is basically what I imagined Shangheist to be, just with an actual mascot.

I mean, while not 1:1, that's sounding a lot like Dishonored but in a different universe.

 

[Mifune]

I have made posts about this so many times on here. Make it Mirror's Edge with stealth, gadgets and guns! And give it a futuristic noir look.

Rappelling down buildings, shimmying along edges, sneaking through air vents, planting explosives, cool gadgets; basically just a lot of cool spy-stuff with gunplay included. MI: Perfect Dark (with aliens), the potential is endless!

What I want is basically what I imagined Shangheist to be, just with an actual mascot.

Such a great IP. It would be a shame if they just sat on it.

Who would develop it, though? They canceled Rare's version and all their studios are busy with more popular IPs. My choice: Starbreeze. Their Syndicate was a warmup. (And yes, I know most of the team went to MachineGames but a guy can dream)

 

[FelipeMGM]

I mean, while not 1:1, that's sounding a lot like Dishonored but in a different universe.

I'd be down for something like that. A ''Cyperpunk Dishonored like'' Perfect Dark

 

[Papacheeks]

What you think in 3 years they can jettison everything already in the pipeline and make loads of new stuff instead, or would even want to?

LOL

Whatever is truly new and coming from Spencer's direction will be made apparent over the next 5 years. And no, I don't believe Spencer was controlling much game wise during Mattricks reign, as already stated.

No I don't expect that but I do expect to hear about studios being formed or partnerships being signed.

I don't expect to see pre production or anything like that just the rumblings that talks are happening with signing studios, or talking with well known directors.

 

[Linkified]

Such a great IP. It would be a shame if they just sat on it.

Who would develop it, though? They canceled Rare's version and all their studios are busy with more popular IPs. My choice: Starbreeze. Their Syndicate was a warmup. (And yes, I know most of the team went to MachineGames but a guy can dream)

They expand their current 5 Studios with multiple teams to handle multiple IPs at each of the Studios.

 

[Ushay]

Oh don't get me wrong, I think are killing on everything else. Hardware, features, policies. But they are failing monumentally on what matters the most, which is infuriating. To me it negates all the goods things they're doing. If things stay like this, the competition will always have a way more attractive box to me even with worse graphics, shitty network and anti-consumer practices.

There is a lot of truth here. They have indeed done incredibly well on the OS and service front. But they really need to double down on their first party, it's in dire need of fresh 'successful' IP.

I recently played Zelda on Switch and it made me realise how critical games are regardless of hardware power etc.

Next year is Halo 6, Forza H4, and maybe one or two games being announced at this year's E3, like the Ori follow-up and Sea of Thieves could get pushed back there.

Ya'll thinking another Fable is in development or that Splinter Cell is returning as an Xbox exclusive are straight trippin. Don't even let that thought enter your head.

I honestly think MS should put Fable to bed and create something else. I can never see that series be successful again, no matter who helms it. Regarding the RPG space, MS have an opportunity to really let loose and build something open world in nature, it's definitely a a genre they lack in and would would go a long way to proving their mettle to the hardcore audience.

 

[Dee Dah Dave]

Making loads of new stuff seems to be working pretty well for Sony. Except they don't jettison, they keep pilling the games on. You'll get them when you get them, but you will most likely get them. TLG has showed it.

Do you know who actually jettisons games and studios when they desperately need them? You guessed it, Microsoft. 3 years is PLENTY of time to have a bunch of stuff at least ready to be announced. With 2 more years left to fully develop. There will be no excuse for Spencer if Microsoft pulls another E3 2015 or 16.

No, Sony haven't made or released loads more AAA games at all. They are starting to warm up now but the first couple of years was pretty weak. And they have been helped out by getting some 3rd party games which haven't released on Xbox.

Granted their situation with studios is better than Microsoft's but let's not pretend Sony are pumping out a new Mona Lisa every other month because they aren't.

 

[IncognitoPanda]

I mean, while not 1:1, that's sounding a lot like Dishonored but in a different universe.

Huh, I guess it does, just enabling FPS style gameplay as well. That's not a bad idea. Although, this wouldn't be a game with an achievement for killing no one, it's supposed to have action as well. At least how I imagined it.

Such a great IP. It would be a shame if they just sat on it.

Who would develop it, though? They canceled Rare's version and all their studios are busy with more popular IPs. My choice: Starbreeze. Their Syndicate was a warmup. (And yes, I know most of the team went to MachineGames but a guy can dream)

Didn't know Rare had a PD game in the works for this gen at all. Tbh, they haven't touched fps/action games in a long time, so I'd be happier with someone else developing it.

But as you said, who would develop it? I haven't played the Syndicate, but it looks like they could be up for it (if they still are enough to make a AAA game). Sad thing is I don't know of anyone who would develop a great AAA IP for MS anymore. I wouldn't have my hopes up for a great new AAA IP on Xbox in a long time. I feel their budget is just too strained atm, and great dev studios available are too few.


Edit: Playground games have opened a new studio, but it's an open world game and not necessarily an Xbox exclusive. Although it may not be a new IP at all.

 

[SamNW]

I'd be down for something like that. A ''Cyperpunk Dishonored like'' Perfect Dark

At that point, what's the creative value in retaining the Perfect Dark name? That world and its characters aren't particularly compelling, at least in my opinion. I recognize that there may be some marginal business justification for calling it "Perfect Dark," but if Microsoft wanted to make a cyberpunk immersive sim, I'd rather see them build a new IP.

 

[Wedzi]

Actually this being a thread dedicated to MS's first-party means it would probably be the best place to ask since there's not really a Phantom Dust specific thread...

What are some ideas people have for the Phantom Dust rerelease OT title?

I've been thinking either:

Phantom Dust (2017) |OT| "Unlike anything else on Xbox*"-OXM *PC now included

or

Phantom Dust (2017) |OT| A Post-Apocalyptic Third-person Action Arena-based Collectible Card Game

Phantom Dust (2017) |OT| This is NOT the Remake stop asking!

 

[Triggerhappytel]

Such a great IP. It would be a shame if they just sat on it.

Who would develop it, though? They canceled Rare's version and all their studios are busy with more popular IPs. My choice: Starbreeze. Their Syndicate was a warmup. (And yes, I know most of the team went to MachineGames but a guy can dream)

Get Human Head on development. They were working on Prey 2 before Bethesda shitcanned it with their shady business practices. It was already a game about a bounty Hunter with gadgets and parkour, so those ideas could be easily reworked into a secret agent action game. Would be a good fit for Perfect Dark IMO.

Actually this being a thread dedicated to MS's first-party means it would probably be the best place to ask since there's not really a Phantom Dust specific thread...

What are some ideas people have for the Phantom Dust rerelease OT title?

I've been thinking either:

Phantom Dust (2017) |OT| "Unlike anything else on Xbox*"-OXM *PC now included

or

Phantom Dust (2017) |OT| A Post-Apocalyptic Third-person Action Arena-based Collectible Card Game

I don't particularly like either of your suggestions but I guess they're referencing things I don't understand. I would say "Back from the dead", due to both the word 'phantom', and the fact this IP was resurrected after decade + change of dormancy.

 

[Bits N Pieces]

Actually this being a thread dedicated to MS's first-party means it would probably be the best place to ask since there's not really a Phantom Dust specific thread...

What are some ideas people have for the Phantom Dust rerelease OT title?

I've been thinking either:

Phantom Dust (2017) |OT| "Unlike anything else on Xbox*"-OXM *PC now included

or

Phantom Dust (2017) |OT| A Post-Apocalyptic Third-person Action Arena-based Collectible Card Game

Phantom Dust (2017) |OT| therearedozensofus.gif


I'll be one of the dozens though

 

[Zeta Oni]

Phantom Dust (2017) |OT| therearedozensofus.gif


I'll be one of the dozens though

I feel like this one has been done before though, might be wrong.

Phantom Dust (2017) |OT| This is NOT the Remake stop asking!

I like it, straight to the point.

I don't particularly like either of your suggestions but I guess they're referencing things I don't understand. I would say "Back from the dead", due to both the word 'phantom', and the fact this IP was resurrected after decade + change of dormancy.

Well the first quote is from the front cover of the original NA Box art, and I was trying to highlight there's nothing like it on PC either now that its being released there.

And the second is suppose to be highlighting the extremely odd genre this game falls into, but I guess that didn't go across as well as I hoped. Back to the drawing board.

 

[Salty Hippo]

No, Sony haven't made or released loads more AAA games at all. They are starting to warm up now but the first couple of years was pretty weak. And they have been helped out by getting some 3rd party games which haven't released on Xbox.

Granted their situation with studios is better than Microsoft's but let's not pretend Sony are pumping out a new Mona Lisa every other month because they aren't.

You're being very selective by limiting the output to "Sony" and "AAA". I don't care about Sony or big budgets, I care about quality exclusive games I can't play anywhere else. It's such a cop-out to limit the discussion to games Sony does internally, or to blockbuster titles as if smaller or niche games didn't count. The PS4 does have loads more released AND announced exclusive games (I include titles that also come out on PC in this definition of "exclusive") than XBO, in both quantity and critical reception. It's not even close. The PS4 is not warming up, it's at full steam right now.

 

[Dee Dah Dave]

You're being very selective by limiting the output to "Sony" and "AAA". I don't care about Sony or big budgets, I care about quality exclusive games I can't play anywhere else. It's such a cop-out to limit the discussion to games Sony does internally, or to blockbuster titles as if smaller or niche games didn't count. The PS4 does have loads more released AND announced exclusive games (I include titles that also come out on PC in this definition of "exclusive") than XBO, in both quantity and critical reception. It's not even close. The PS4 is not warming up, it's at full steam right now.

Well you want to make your mind up with what argument you are trying to make. We were talking about Microsoft's 1st party output, which is the topic of the thread. Naturally then, the only fair comparison to make is Sony's actual output too. If you want to add further qualifiers in order to support your argument then clearly it's not a very good one.

Microsoft have plenty of room to improve we all know this, but it isn't going to happen overnight. This gen they have been releasing about 4 big games a year, plus one or two smaller things, I'm not seeing Sony do much more, if at all. If you add all the 3rd party games then sure, they have more exclusives. But that isn't a fair comparison of platform holder output.

 

[BoxyBrown]

You're being very selective by limiting the output to "Sony" and "AAA". I don't care about Sony or big budgets, I care about quality exclusive games I can't play anywhere else. It's such a cop-out to limit the discussion to games Sony does internally, or to blockbuster titles as if smaller or niche games didn't count. The PS4 does have loads more released AND announced exclusive games (I include titles that also come out on PC in this definition of "exclusive") than XBO, in both quantity and critical reception. It's not even close. The PS4 is not warming up, it's at full steam right now.

This isn't even their final form.

 

[digoutyoursoul]

Well you want to make your mind up with what argument you are trying to make. We were talking about Microsoft's 1st party output, which is the topic of the thread. Naturally then, the only fair comparison to make is Sony's actual output too. If you want to add further qualifiers in order to support your argument then clearly it's not a very good one.

Microsoft have plenty of room to improve we all know this, but it isn't going to happen overnight. This gen they have been releasing about 4 big games a year, plus one or two smaller things, I'm not seeing Sony do much more, if at all. If you add all the 3rd party games then sure, they have more exclusives. But that isn't a fair comparison of platform holder output.

How long do they need dude? I am not having a go at you here, They have been in the gaming business for a while now! I know the hype or talk at the moment is about Scorpio but they have been far too quiet on the most important aspect, the games, considering this with the announcement of Scalebound being cancelled, you would think they would of given the fans something, a little tease or showing of a game but no, fuck all. UI Updates, backwards compatibility games, controllers and now a mid gen console upgrade. I have seen other first parties absolutely slaughtered in the past by fans and. media for less.

It's easy to misinterpret the "Xbox has no games" thing going on at the moment, of course they have games, I get the feeling it is what little or what they actually have to offer from a first party perspective that some people have a problem with or are sick of. The predictability of it all.

From a personal point of view I don't want them to go "here you are, some Gears story DLC, a new Forza and a Halo tease" at E3 as the majority of what new stuff they have to say.

Here is a question for those in the thread, when was the last time Microsoft genuinely shocked you or the press felt it too in a real positive sense with a new gaming announcement ? Gears of War for 360 was the last time for me.

 

[Dee Dah Dave]

They pulled in the oars half way through last gen didn't they. Then the start of this one was a shambles for many reasons. But it's unrealistic to expect Spencer to have made major changes or additions in 3 years, that's all I'm saying.

If some new stuff doesn't start landing in the next years then sure, critique away. But even then they aren;t going to stop making their tried and tested stuff, it needs to be a few more besides those.

 

[TheUnsunghero26]

Microsoft's problem right now is creating excitement around their first party games/announcements. Back in the early days of the 360, almost every major release they put out did well. In 2006 they had Gears of War which was a generation defining game, Viva Pinata turned into a 4 game franchise with a TV show. 2007 had Crackdown prove it was more than just a way to get into the Halo 3 beta, Forza 2 started the series transition into a main IP for them, Halo 3 was, of course, huge, and to cap it off they released Mass Effect as their November release. Maybe part of it came from the 360 having such a positive mindshare (despite the RROD), but it seems none of their recent efforts have been able to catch on in a way their early 360 stuff did, with a few exceptions.

Here is a question for those in the thread, when was the last time Microsoft genuinely shocked you or the press felt it too in a real positive sense with a new gaming announcement ? Gears of War for 360 was the last time for me.

I thought their 2013 E3 conference was pretty great for game announcements. The KI reveal in particular was a great moment.

 

[Nightengale]

The start of this gen was amazing.

Xbox E3 2013 were all of these things, all of them first-party:

- Halo 5 Teaser
- Forza 5
- Dead Rising 3
- Sunset Overdrive
- Quantum Break
- Black Tusk New IP
- Ryse
- Killer Instinct
- Project Spark
- D4
- LocoCycle
- Max: The Curse of Brotherhood
- Powerstar Golf
- Zoo Tycoon
- Crimson Dragon

What do I see from all of the above?

An extremely strong effort from 3 fronts.

A continuation of the established AAA tentpoles that made 360 strong, a significant investment in new AAA IPs that have potential to be part of any console's next-gen tentpoles, and a broad array of fresh, smaller digital IPs.

Maybe Phil will return to form what he had under Mattrick in the next two years, but right the actions he's taken in the past two years isn't showing for it.

 

[TheUnsunghero26]

The start of this gen was amazing.

Yup, it was one of the reasons why everyone was excited when Phil Spencer was put in charge of Xbox. The first party games were the one thing they got right at the start.

While I think their current lineup is more diverse than people give it credit for, it's hard not to look at it and think there is something going on behind the scenes (budget cuts).

 

[Nightengale]

Yup, it was one of the reasons why everyone was excited when Phil Spencer was put in charge of Xbox. The first party games were the one thing they got right at the start.

While I think their current lineup is more diverse than people give it credit for, it's hard not to look at it and think there is something going on behind the scenes (budget cuts).

Pound-for-pound, if you focus on the quantity of AAA games MS ships annually on-average, they're not inferior to other publishers. I've not been a fan of their E3 conferences in the past 2 years but still they've never had major issues in terms of shipping software, even if 2015/16 had them pull away from smaller digital first-party investments in a big way.

But there is a definite reprioritization of the Xbox portfolio now compared to how ambitious they were 4 years ago.

 

[tiredheadcrab]

I would love a Perfect Dark 3rd person action/shooter. I think it would work really well. They would need to rewrite the story, especially some characters, but it can for sure work in this day and age. They could get the Coaltition to work on 2 projects. Or just have a smaller team concept and create Gears 5, and work on PD as the next big release with a bigger team. When PD is finished move devs over to Gears 5 and have a smaller core team work on PD2. It would also break up the Gears releases a bit and make the games more spread out.

 

[Strootman]

Here is a question for those in the thread, when was the last time Microsoft genuinely shocked you or the press felt it too in a real positive sense with a new gaming announcement ? Gears of War for 360 was the last time for me.

Scalebound announcement, but we know how that ended.

So I'd say quantum break announcement from remedy. I was very hyped.

 

[Wedzi]

Here is a question for those in the thread, when was the last time Microsoft genuinely shocked you or the press felt it too in a real positive sense with a new gaming announcement ? Gears of War for 360 was the last time for me.

I thought their 2013 E3 conference was pretty great for game announcements. The KI reveal in particular was a great moment.

I thought their E3 2013 was really good. Especially the part when Phil talks about how Master Chief and Marcus Fenix helped define the previous generations and the need for new heroes to take their place. Then he goes ahead and announces Microsoft is investing in 5 brand new studios working on blockbuster franchises. Then shows off the first trailer for one of those new studios projects. A new IP running in engine, from a new large studio based in Vancouver, Black Tusk.
https://youtu.be/fSXicnwHgss?t=4522

Then none of that ever happened.

And now here we all are, almost four years later, still hoping Phil says something along those exact words this E3.

 

[LiquidSolid]

Well you want to make your mind up with what argument you are trying to make. We were talking about Microsoft's 1st party output, which is the topic of the thread. Naturally then, the only fair comparison to make is Sony's actual output too. If you want to add further qualifiers in order to support your argument then clearly it's not a very good one.

Microsoft have plenty of room to improve we all know this, but it isn't going to happen overnight. This gen they have been releasing about 4 big games a year, plus one or two smaller things, I'm not seeing Sony do much more, if at all. If you add all the 3rd party games then sure, they have more exclusives. But that isn't a fair comparison of platform holder output.

I usually just lurk in this thread but come on, if you're going to make claims like this you should really, you know, check to see if you're right or laughably wrong. Sony released 11 games last year (17 if you include VR games and 20 if you include re-releases/remasters on top of that), Microsoft released 5 (7 if you include KI S3 and the Ori re-release).

How long is it going to take you to notice Microsoft's been releasing less and less games every year since the Xbox One launched?

 

[MatrixMan.EXE]

I thought their E3 2013 was really good. Especially the part when Phil talks about how Master Chief and Marcus Fenix helped define the previous generations and the need for new heroes to take their place. Then he goes ahead and announces Microsoft is investing in 5 brand new studios working on blockbuster franchises. Then shows off the first trailer for one of those new studios projects. A new IP running in engine, from a new large studio based in Vancouver, Black Tusk.
https://youtu.be/fSXicnwHgss?t=4522

Then none of that ever happened.

And now here we all are, almost four years later, still hoping Phil says something along those exact words this E3.

"This generation, we're investing in five brand-new studios to create blockbuster titles for Xbox". Interesting. By that I assume he meant actually building five brand new studios, whatever happened to that? Black Tusk/The Coalition was obviously one of them but was there any word on the others?

 

[PooBone]

This doesn't fill me with much confidence in that Scorpio I was planning to buy day one.

 

[Nightengale]

"This generation, we're investing in five brand-new studios to create blockbuster titles for Xbox". Interesting. By that I assume he meant actually building five brand new studios, whatever happened to that? Black Tusk/The Coalition was obviously one of them but was there any word on the others?

1. Black Tusk -> rebranded as Coalition
2. Microsoft Victoria -> shut down ( was Mattrick's pet project )
3. ???
4. ???
5. ???

To be quite honest, part of the things he's saying is probably exaggeration because the other new studios that MS had set-up in that time frame weren't blockbuster studios, it's likely the other 3 are:

x. Lift London -> no game released yet, working on cross-platform mobile/tablet/PC/Xbox games.
x. Team Dakota -> internal team that worked on Project Spark, team is disbanded.
x. Decisive Games -> team that was set-up to work on strategy games, apparently disbanded.

 

[MatrixMan.EXE]

1. Black Tusk -> rebranded as Coalition
2. Microsoft Victoria -> shut down ( was Mattrick's pet project )
3. ???
4. ???
5. ???

To be quite honest, part of the things he's saying is probably exaggeration because the other new studios that MS had set-up in that time frame weren't blockbuster studios, it's likely the other 3 are:

x. Lift London -> no game released yet, working on cross-platform mobile/tablet/PC/Xbox games.
x. Team Dakota -> internal team that worked on Project Spark, team is disbanded.
x. Decisive Games -> team that was set-up to work on strategy games, apparently disbanded.

Yeesh. I guess the issue is that if there are secret studios plugging away at new IP's somewhere in the Microsoft Studios family, then surely we would have heard rumours etc. by now? Doesn't fill me with much confidence but we'll see.

 

[DriftingSpirit]

Yeesh. I guess the issue is that if there are secret studios plugging away at new IP's somewhere in the Microsoft Studios family, then surely we would have heard rumours etc. by now? Doesn't fill me with much confidence but we'll see.

Yeah, I think something like that is too big to keep secret. Especially when that is the main criticism against MS right now. MS investing in a new AAA studio would have leaked by now.

 

[TheUnsunghero26]

I could see them having some ReCore-scale games in development. I'm pretty sure ReCore didn't leak before E3, right?

 

[Poodlestrike]

Yeah, unless MS is literally building their development schedules to avoid E3 leaks, it's pretty unlikely they have much in the way of top-secret AAA studios. Any surprise 1st party titles from unknown studios are likely to be closer to ReCore in scale.

 

[DriftingSpirit]

I could see them having some ReCore-scale games in development. I'm pretty sure ReCore didn't leak before E3, right?

The images and clips leaked last year but the announcement the year prior didn't get leaked. I agree that MS will have some good small to mid tier games.

 

[Salty Hippo]

Well you want to make your mind up with what argument you are trying to make. We were talking about Microsoft's 1st party output, which is the topic of the thread. Naturally then, the only fair comparison to make is Sony's actual output too. If you want to add further qualifiers in order to support your argument then clearly it's not a very good one.

Microsoft have plenty of room to improve we all know this, but it isn't going to happen overnight. This gen they have been releasing about 4 big games a year, plus one or two smaller things, I'm not seeing Sony do much more, if at all. If you add all the 3rd party games then sure, they have more exclusives. But that isn't a fair comparison of platform holder output.

If you want to take PS4's third-party exclusives out of the equation then we might as well also exclude Xbox's third-party exclusives/partnerships, accept that they have no more than 4 games and close this pointless thread.

Don't make me laugh, dude. You're the one who is adding qualifiers and moving goal posts as to what an exclusive game is. And yes it is a fair comparison. It's up to you to shell out the cheese necessary to sign a third-party exclusive if you have to and it's up to you to make your platform more attractive to a wider audience so that the competition doesn't get defacto exclusives that they don't even need to pay for. Or alternatively, it's up to you to have such a strong first-party stable that third-party exclusives become unnecessary. Microsoft is clearly failing hard in every single one of these accounts.

But let's keep making excuses for Phil.

 

[Papacheeks]

Yeah, unless MS is literally building their development schedules to avoid E3 leaks, it's pretty unlikely they have much in the way of top-secret AAA studios. Any surprise 1st party titles from unknown studios are likely to be closer to ReCore in scale.

And that is unfortunate.

 

[Poodlestrike]

And that is unfortunate.

Yeah, sure. I'm pretty happy with their output so far, though. And ReCore tier titles are by no means a bad thing to get. Look at Ori.

If you want to take PS4's third-party exclusives out of the equation then we might as well also exclude Microsoft's third-party exclusives/partnerships, accept that they have no more than 4 games and close this pointless thread.

Don't make me laugh, dude. You're the one who is adding qualifiers and moving goal posts as to what an exclusive game is. And yes it is a fair comparison. It's up to you to shell out the cheese necessary to sign a third-party exclusive if you have to and it's up to you to make your platform more attractive to a wider audience so that the competition doesn't get defacto exclusives that they don't even need to pay for. Or alternatively, it's up to you to have such a strong first-party stable that third-party exclusives become unnecessary. Microsoft is clearly failing hard in every single one of these accounts.

But let's keep making excuses for Phil.

Man, you really need to dial down the sodium intake. You sound like you're desperate for everybody to be as unhappy about MS Studios as you are.