I mean I say it's non-exhaustive for a reason--I prioritised retail releases and well-received/marketed indies and digital-only titles. The point remains even if you listed out every piece of software on there (regardless of how shovelware it is or is not), Xbox still has less. Like, yes, Xbox One has say, Screamride, and a handful of Kinect games. Is that really relevant to a discussion on exclusives motivating purchases though?
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Microsoft needs more exclusives throughout the year
- Thread starter GravityInsanity
- Start date
I mean I say it's non-exhaustive for a reason--I prioritised retail releases and well-received/marketed indies and digital-only titles. The point remains even if you listed out every piece of software on there (regardless of how shovelware it is or is not), Xbox still has less. Like, yes, Xbox One has say, Screamride, and a handful of Kinect games. Is that really relevant to a discussion on exclusives motivating purchases though?
There is nothing in MS financials supporting your assertions.
Uno Venova
Banned
There arent any glaring omissions on your list it was fine.
SmokedMeat
Gamer™
I don't believe Xbox One is doing nearly as good as the Xbox 360. The 360 was handled by a Microsoft that was a lot hungrier.
Humdinger
Member
1.9 billion in revenue, quarter before last. That's Win 10 and Xbox combined. Up 4% year over year. 7% growth in software services and revenue.
https://venturebeat.com/2017/04/27/...-division-generated-1-9-billion-last-quarter/
D
Deleted member 471617
Unconfirmed Member
Definitely a good list of games from different genres but here's the problem for me personally -
Sea of Thieves being an open world MMO first person game does nothing for me. I'm NOT an online gamer at all and this is where Microsoft focuses most on. Games that are online and are labeled as Games as a Service (GAAS) which I have no interest in. First person is also far less preferred than third person for me. If this game had an off-line single player campaign in which I could explore, fight, etc. by myself, this would easily be a pre-order and day one pickup even in first person but it's not and thus, my interest in it is non-existent. I will say this though - Sea of Thieves impressed me more at Microsoft's E3 press conference than any other exclusive they showed but it loses it's appeal because it's an online MMO.
State of Decay 2 is the ONLY game on the list that im buying and only because others here have confirmed that it can be played solo and off-line like the original game. If this changes, oh well. I enjoyed the original game on Xbox 360 and am looking forward to the sequel but the character models, animations in general and enemies all look exactly the same as what they did four years ago. Only the environments look vastly improved. Was also expecting it this October but nope. 2018 it is.
Cuphead looks good, real good but the plat-forming looks very generic. I think adding in all the plat-forming is going to backfire on this game. If it gets good impressions from those here who purchase the game and can be played solo (instead of co-op), I may buy it but as right now, nope.
Tacoma looks like one hell of a boring ass game period. And I know that PS4 has a bunch of the same boring ass games. Simply not for me.
Halo Wars 2 doesn't interest me simply because of the genre it is. No interest in RTS but it's cool that the console actually has one. Only problem is that at launch it was said to be almost broken in some ways. Don't know how true that is but either way, this genre doesn't interest me at all.
Crackdown 3 doesn't interest me whatsoever either especially since all of the destruction is ONLINE ONLY. Seriously? Three years later and I can't play solo with all of the destruction? Come on. Watching this game at E3, it basically not only disappointed me completely on so many levels, it was also a factor that eliminated me buying Scorpio day one. I'll stick with my Xbox One Slim.
Forza Motorsport 7 looks absolutely stunning but like GT Sport, I have no interest in simulation racing. I do love Forza Horizon 2/3 though and can't wait for FH4 next September.
I'm going to add Super Lucky's Tale as it's the only exclusive that im buying day one for Xbox One this entire year. Haven't played a single 2017 exclusive on Xbox One and while there have been an exclusive game here and there, the simple fact of the matter is that they don't appeal to me.
That's the number one difference for me - Sony exclusives are off-line single player story driven third person games that appeal to me in nearly every way. They simply "check off every box" where as Microsoft exclusives don't because their exclusives are the opposite of what appeals to me.
In conclusion, while that list isn't bad whatsoever and is actually pretty good in general, I think that for most who pass on Xbox One, prefer PS4 or both do so for the same reason as me - the games simply don't cater to what gamers are looking to play on Xbox One.
In terms of console war stuff? Heck no. Whens the last time an X1/PS4 tech comparison was a hot topic on gaf?
Oh great, you found revenue for Xbox* ** ***
* includes Minecraft on non-Xbox hardware
* includes "Xbox" game sales on Windows
* includes unspecified other device business (Hololens Lightroom Zune lol)
Like I said, nothing supports your assertions.
Nothing officially released supports a profitable Xbox business. Doesn't even matter if we redefine "Xbox" to bundle up a bunch of things that aren't Xbox. There is no profitability information even for the current umbrella.
Nothing officially released supports Xbox One tracking ahead of Xbox 360 either. They stopped commenting on NPD to that extent late 2014ish.
This is cool and all. But its just preference. But saying Xbox has only racers and shooters it just inaccurate and the portoflio is pretty diverse. And that was the reason for the response.
This is my biggest gripe. Pissed at them for not continuing the best new IP of this generation.
Deputy Moonman
Member
This is a great point. Its annoying when people constantly compare the Playstation to the Xbox. The Xbox will never have the global appeal that the Playstation has. Further, there are some things you just dont recover from: releasing a lower powered system at a higher price, to already largely unfavorable backlash from previously proposed policies. I feel like for MS, to be where they are at right now, is pretty impressive. It also doesn't make sense to focus too hard on a lot of new exclusives for the Xbox One currently when it's probably nearing the end of its life cycle (my own opinion). Especially if the Wii U is any kind of indicator of how well exclusives will work to bring a system back from the dead. But the Xbox One is not dead, no matter how many non xbox fans bemoan that it is. Surprisingly, MS had quite a few new games on the horizon, including many that haven't been announced. We are in the middle of a dry spell for sure, when both Nintendo and Sony have pushed out some new games, but things will pick back up. I imagine once the One X is released MS will push new games pretty hard. But again, not much reason to right now.
I agree with this too. At least we are getting a second Ori.
That1BlackGuy
Member
Yep, I said it earlier Xbox isn't in some sectioned off world from the rest of the market. Like Nintendo, Sony, Mobile and PC consumers they like and enjoy a wide variety of games. Look at some of their popular games: ARK Survival Evolved, Minecraft, State of Decay, GTAV, Rocket League, SMITE, Destiny, Roblox and so on, that's not even including their first efforts that you listed earlier in addition to ID@Xbox. Xbox is far from hurting for diverse games and I doubt most of their consumers are asking themselves "can people on other platforms play this game?" when seeing something they want to play.
bigbaldwolf86
Banned
So people who don't own an Xbox can't have an opinion on this? Ok
which will cost you more money than to just play on your current Xbox One that you own now.
Gnome Scat
Member
I'm close to jumping ship from Xbox, more exclusives worth playing would help me stay.
Humdinger
Member
Some fair points there. I did mention it was Win 10 as well. I had forgotten about Minecraft, though.
I'll concede that we don't have profit statements. We do know revenue is impressive, but revenue isn't profit. So I'll concede that there is no documented proof of profitability. We can just call it my opinion; I do believe Xbox is profitable for MS.
But I'm not really here to argue that point, because that's not really my concern. My thrust was to push back against some of the exaggerated statements being made in the thread -- "MS has given up," "Xbox is like Sega," "Xbox has nothing to offer," etc.. I'm a PS guy, but those statements are ridiculous; they sound fanboyish to me. I wanted to push back against that and get some kind of balance.
I didn't say they were tracking ahead. I said "about" the same. I believe they're tracking somewhat behind.
D
Deleted member 471617
Unconfirmed Member
I agree with you and that other LONG list is actually pretty impressive and solid in it's own right. It's just that Xbox One is seen by the majority as an online focused racing and first person shooter box.
Regardless of that being true or not, it's simply not how it looks and when you look at the list you posted, four out of the seven games fall into this category with FM7 also being an online playable game. The only games on your list that don't fit with the rest are Cuphead and Tacoma. And with Cuphead, it's meant to be played more as a co-op than solo. And this is where the problem lies especially when a lot of Xbox 360 online gamers jumped to PS4 for COD/BF, etc.
So while the portfolio is diverse, it's simply not impressive or appealing to me or millions of other gamers like me who continually pass on Microsoft exclusives because of what direction their exclusives are headed in.
For me, where's the Xbox One version of Horizon, Uncharted, God of War, etc.? Microsoft just recycles Forza/Gears/Halo over and over. If Guerrilla Games can move on successfully from Killzone and give us what's easily and by far their best game in Horizon, why can't Microsoft let the studios they do own do the same?
Microsoft doesn't even let their studios try anything new and even the rare occasion when they do, they eventually cancel the game and shutdown the studio.
Even Scalebound which regardless of how bad it looked, ran and said to have played appealed to me because it was a third person action RPG but of course, Microsoft has to change the damn game into an online co-op or whatever the hell it was before it was cancelled. It's like, what the hell? At the very least, just see it through.
While between launch and now, I have completed twice as many PS4 exclusives but the worse part is that between Hellblade and years ahead, I have around 15 more compared to 4 for Xbox One. It's just sad.
I look at Fable for example. That Legends game was crap and cancelled. They bring out Fortune which appears to be some card game. UGH. Why not let Lionhead develop that dark toned RPG that was rumored?
Microsoft doesn't even allow their development studios to even try what they want. They simply just focus on the big three, games that are a GAAS or buying third party games as timed exclusives which not only get released in a bad time frame but also end up bombing in sales.
For me personally and im sure a lot of others out there, it's just aggravating and frustrating because Microsoft could let their studios do a lot of awesome games that aren't part of the big three but they rarely if ever let them. Oh well. At least I have Forza Horizon 3/4 and Playground Games new open world IP to look forward to.
unapersson
Member
I'm not so sure, I know they give a power boost but it's not as though previous generations didn't have the relaunches (slim versions, or the New 3DS). Sony talked initially about selling to those that would be tempted to migrate to PC, but it seems to have both brought new people in and increased interest in the cheaper version, as well as the upgraders. That old halo effect (no, not that Halo).
As for Microsoft they've always had a few hardcore fan bases, one based around Xbox and one based around Windows, and I see their approach as trying to merge those fan bases and give them some flexibility going forward. They can entice users to the Windows Store, move to a single underlying platform and drop new console hardware when they think its appropriate. Their seeming lack of exclusives may just be a case of getting out of the way of third parties and returning to being a provider of a platform, but one where they get a cut rather that seeing software as a way of selling Windows.
I don't see them leaving the console market unless that market itself collapses, as it helps drive the software market. If they left it I can't see any other outcome than PC gaming shifting almost entirely to Steam. XBox is the one lever they've got to strengthen their position in PC gaming by providing the same software as they do on console.
That was my goal--I included everything in their lineup since launch that had any kind of meaningful impact, from Ori and ReCore to Halo and Forza, and of course digital-only releases are fine in my book as long as they have a decent presentation and are meaningful to the platform. If Xbox had more exclusives along the lines of say, Cuphead, in terms of presence and polish that would be very nice.
I feel like the argument is more along the lines of "compared to what they offered under the 360 (as then compared to PS3), they have significantly less to offer".
To which there are, I think, three key reasons:
-Worse performance for 3rd-party multiplatform games on base model of console (last generation this was the 360's strong point, now they are in the opposite position, at least until XBX)
-Less broad range of exclusives (While it's true Microsoft has always had less Japanese 3rd-party and even 1st-party support than Sony, this generation is about as bad as it's ever been)
-The initial messaging failure on the part of Microsoft around game-sharing, game-selling, online connectivity
Now of course, if you fall into a specific subset of gaming consumer who is incredibly invested in the Xbox ecosystem, or has all their friends on Xbox, then these points are almost irrelevant.
This likely also includes people who just really really like Halo, Gears, and Forza, and the handful of other titles unique to the system. Fewer though they may be, this is very subjective.
Also, if you're someone who buys every system every generation anyway, these are also largely irrelevant to whether or not you'll buy an Xbox One.
Comparing the value propositions of 360-PS3 to XO-PS4, the gap is pretty apparent.
unapersson
Member
Part of it might just be because people have been waiting what seems like a very long time for these to come out now. Once they're here attitudes might change.
SmokedMeat
Gamer™
We're having a conversation on their current state. You don't need to be a current Xbox One owner to weigh your thoughts on the hardware or Microsoft.
Louis Cyphre
Banned
What impact did JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Eyes of Heaven and a bunch of other games you listed have? This is why I hate list wars but there is no denying Sony continues to have the upper hand in game support.
Nameless
Member
Fantastic post
Caayn
Member
So you made those lists with your own parameters, gotcha, yet it doesn't look like you applied said parameters equally to both lists.
Seems you don't even realize that not all titles are exclusive on your own list
Have fun with your own lists though.There are titles missing, due to "parameters", and some titles listed aren't even exclusive. Did you bother to check the list or did you just look at the length of it and went "Jup, PS4 is larger, that seems correct."?
Edit; You guys have fun with your championing your favourite billion dollar company thread, I'm out.
SmokedMeat
Gamer™
I sold my Xbox One to put towards PC upgrades, and I've since picked up Forza Horizon 3, Ori, and Gears 4 to go along with my previous copy of Killer Instinct. I no longer pay for Xbox Live Gold and have a far greater library of available games to choose from at cheaper prices.
And then there's the far superior performance of the games themselves. Something which some Xbox users are looking to drop another $500 to obtain this coming fall.
You ever think they don't own one or have desire to own because of this topic?
Uno Venova
Banned
So you made those lists with your own parameters, gotcha, yet it doesn't look like you applied said parameters equally to both lists.
Seems you don't even realize that not all titles are exclusive on your own list
There are titles missing, due to "parameters", and some titles listed aren't even exclusive. Did you bother to check the list or did you just look at the length of it and went "Jup, PS4 is larger, that seems correct."?
I didn't notice any but what are the glaring omissions?
LiquidSolid
Member
No argument here, it just helped offset the Dreamcast's lack of third party support you mentioned (which was basically just EA).
Forget catching up, I'm talking about just making up ground and building momentum to give it another try next gen. That's the goal Microsoft should have but I can't see any sign of that happening.
The reason why the PS3 ended up selling well wasn't just because of Sony's worldwide brand recognition and history, Sony also paid far more attention to international audiences (something Microsoft's always struggled with, often coming across far too US centric) and invested a ton of resources into competing with Microsoft. While Microsoft's screw ups helped the PS4 a lot, particularly in the US and UK, the PS4's success is largely built on the momentum they gathered during those excellent last few years of the PS3.
As for your point, that's kinda stating the obvious, isn't it? Yeah, most people don't care whether good games are exclusive or not but when they are, they do help move the needle. Let it go on long enough and you can reach a point where that stream of games is outright avoiding your system because there just isn't an audience there to support them (see: Persona 5 and Nier Automata).
Additionally, the Wii U was such a huge mess of various different issues, it was struggling before those droughts even hit. So it's a bit silly to attribute its failure to one or two things.
Humdinger
Member
I've yet to see a list that someone didn't quibble with.
Yes, and that's completely fair. Or, I would add, "Compared to what the PS4 offers." I'm in that camp myself. I was an Xbox guy for 9 or 10 years, from the OG Xbox to mid-cycle 360, at which point I grew increasingly dissatisfied with how little exclusive content they were offering (outside of Gears/Halo/Forza/Fable and Kinect games). So gradually I shifted to the PS3, and then I've been a PS4 guy ever since.
I keep waiting for MS to give me a reason to pick up their console, and they just aren't doing it for me. It's too bad. I'm more disappointed in them than anything. I used to really enjoy Xbox. They've drifted a long way from where they used to be. And the direction they're heading isn't inspiring.
Gotcha. I would add this:
It seems like a continuation of what began around 2009 (?), with the decline of exclusives (apart from Kinect games), the Halo/Gears/Forza/Fable complaints. So it's been a long trend. I hear some Xbox guys say this is a recent complaint, just based on the 2017 disparity. I think that's completely misjudging the situation. This is a trend that has been going on for at least 8 years. This is no recent or temporary blip. This is a long standing pattern.
Yes. And there are plenty of those people. Their friends play CoD or GTA (or whatever) on Xbox, so that's the console they buy. They like Halo, Gears, and Forza, and that's fine with them. Throw in some good multiplatforms, and they're happy gamers.
Can't argue with that. All I can say is, if I were an Xbox gamer, I'd be starved for things to play. They killed the only one of the tentpole franchises I actually liked (Fable).
I'm not arguing that game shook the game industry or anything (because it sure as hell didn't), but it had a retail release, and is from a relatively well-known series. That's why it's on there.
So you made those lists with your own parameters, gotcha, yet it doesn't look like you applied said parameters equally to both lists.
Seems you don't even realize that not all titles are exclusive on your own list
I admit I was going off of data from a variety of sources (Wikipedia, IGN, etc.) and some may have been outdated. What are you thinking of that isn't exclusive? (or isn't just platform+PC)
Right, and that's where I stand too. The list was more just to demonstrate the situation, even if perhaps a few of them are incorrect. They didn't specify what so I don't actually know, but just for the sake of it let's say they're right.
PeterLegend
Member
It's been this way since 2010 honestly, also Xbox 360 benefitted at the start of last gen because PS3 was too difficult to code for so they have bioshock, mass effect exclusivity at first.
Exclusives are important to core gamers/hardcore gamers but to casual folks they could care less, they are looking to play cod, battlefield, gta etc.
Exclusives are important to core gamers/hardcore gamers but to casual folks they could care less, they are looking to play cod, battlefield, gta etc.
They have a lot of great games and potentially great upcoming if you're into co-op/multiplayer, but I still hold that the variety they lack isn't in terms of genre. It's the difference in their output between AAA single player and service games. That's what's hurting them massively in threads like this because, right or wrong, to a certain segment of the market it's the only thing that counts. Take a look at the games winning Gaf's game of the year or favorite games from last generation, and most of the top games are single player focused.
It's no wonder that people looking for those types of games aren't impressed with Microsoft's current output. There's no AAA single player only game coming to Xbox this year and since nothing is even announced it's likely they won't have one in 2018 either. 2019 if fans of single player games are lucky? Maybe.
I think it's that lack of variety - single player vs multi player - that's hurting them in terms of mindshare and it's made even worse when studios that have produced good single player games in the past like Rare and Lionhead are pushed onto the service wagon (or now closed in the latters case), because it leaves less hope of ever seeing another AAA single player only exclusive. And that's after years of pushing them onto the Kinect wagon and having their other studios set-up as franchise factories.
It's uninspiring and completely understandable why it's pushing some people away.
if say when you start adding stuff like hotline Miami etc it gets murky because every console has exclusive indie games
And also Hotline Miami was a previous gen game. Then do we start counting BC games because a bunch of those previous gen games aren't on PS4 etc
Could be. But the top 4 of Neogaf game of the year as MP in it to be fair. Uncharted, Doom, Overwatch, Dark Souls 3 in a way.
Well, games from previous generation made compatible through BC are generally differentiated from remasters and re-releases because, well, they're separate kinds of distribution. For the same reason that Last of Us Remastered and RDR on Xbox's BC are not the same thing, essentially.
In the case of Hotline Miami, there's not really anything to remaster even if they wanted to, besides resolution. I included games that were 'exclusive to ecosystem' in the list as well, because not counting Persona 5 just because it is also out on PS3 or not counting the Halo 1-4 remasters/re-releases just because they were on 360 would be ridiculous.
Obviously indie games are a fine line, but a lot of the ones towards the bottom for PS4 are still retail releases. And within indie games there are different classes of indie games, I would say--your Hotline Miamis, your Binding of Isaacs, your Undertales. In the case of Xbox, I was struggling to find games that fit such a mold and were exclusive.
Again, I could have jammed all the Kinect games, and Dad Beat Dead, and Death God University, and Full Metal Furies on there. But I felt that I had to stop somewhere. There are a lot of technically PS4-exclusive indie games not on that list as well just because they are preposterously obscure, have no retail footprint, and not even a Wikipedia page.
If there are some great titles I left out that don't give the Xbox a fair shake, please just share some and I'll be happy to edit my post.
Kssio_Aug
Member
I don't know... I mean, when it comes to games the more the best (as long as they're also high quality obviously). But does MS need more exclusives? I think if that was the case they would be seeking it already for quite a while. It seems Xbox is doing fine given what it is.
Also, MS released a very decent line-up this generation already. Things may have cooled down a little bit but it doesn't mean they're in a bad position either. Also, those lists are mostly silly.
Also, MS released a very decent line-up this generation already. Things may have cooled down a little bit but it doesn't mean they're in a bad position either. Also, those lists are mostly silly.
Jaguar Victory
Member
That's all well and good for single player games, but the XBOX community is still great and strong for multi. PC gamers tend to be more fickle. The free games are worth $60 a year.
Keep on trying to push your dream that Xbox isn't profitable even though they've been green ever since like '08 and report their gross margins on yearly financial reports.
Overwatch is certainly fair, but the others aren't on the list because of their multiplayer modes and the point is in general it tends to be single player focused games. Here's the Gaf favorites of the last generation:
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1393699
I think Microsoft's output is a little underrated. There's some great games out already and I look forward to some of their upcoming ones, but it's impossible to deny that as far as AAA is concerned, there's very little of appeal to those looking for single player only. And as long as that's the case I think the criticism of their output is only gonna grow, because some will percieve that as a lack of variety.
Banjo-Kazooie
Member
I mean, the list did also have N++ and Steins;Gate 0 as exclusive when they aren't...heh
But they're not separated in the most important topic which is "being avaliable to be played". Last of Us Remastered and RDR BC had the same purpose - making a great game from previous gens playable on the current one.
If you want to compare libraries to say one console has more options than the others, i don't see how you can't count BC games then. Being a remaster, remake, re-release or BC, the game is still there and you can still play it. Any xbox 360 exclusive which got a BC release doesn't look any different to me as persona 3 or the halo games which got remastered in the end, they're still games you can only play in that same console brand.
Both consoles have tons of games avaliable to them, but obviously PS4 have more. The problem starts when people push this "xbox have no games but halo/forza/gear shooty shoots" and then start ignoring everything else that doesn't fit their very specific criteria.
Uno Venova
Banned
If it's a dream shouldn't it be easily disproved with sources?
Go look, I just gave you the source.
Taliban Stan
Member
I'd be happy if they just didn't get left out of multiplats.
Humdinger
Member
I wouldn't worry about getting your list to the point where everyone is happy. It'll never happen. People on the losing end will always complain your list left out X or included Y. No list is perfect.
It's not about a perfect list that makes everyone happy. It's about the overall picture. Even if you removed a couple of titles from the PS4 side and added a couple of titles to the Xbox side, it wouldn't change the overall picture.
PS4 is dominant when it comes to number of exclusives. There just isn't any question about that. From the looks of things, it's just going to get more lopsided as time goes on.