IntentionalPun
Ask me about my wife's perfect butthole
I mean.. they literally aren't, because they don't have any lol
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Cindy Walker(Xbox): “Having Halo at launch would have been tremendous, but we are not reliant on massive exclusive titles to drive console adoption.''
- Thread starter Rolla
- Start date
digoutyoursoul
Member
Name them
“Having Halo at our launch would have been tremendous,” said Cindy Walker, an Xbox spokeswoman. But “we are not reliant on massive exclusive titles to drive console adoption. Our players will have thousands of games from four generations of Xbox available to play on launch day.”
Coming This Fall: Return of the Video Game Console Wars (Published 2020)
Gamers are awaiting Sony’s PlayStation 5 and Microsoft’s Xbox Series X, though supply might be limited because of the pandemic.www.nytimes.com
For 10+ years I've heard:
Me: hey Xbox needs more exclusives and new AAA IPs. They need more 1st and 2nd Party studios.
Many Xbox Fanboys: NO THEY DON'T, exclusives don't really matter Multiplats do!!!
Also look at Da Halo sales numbers!!!
Me: Ok, great glad it sold well, thats partially because there was nothing of AAA exclusive content to play all year. I don't agree that only the holidays matter and the rest of the whole year is just "Preseason" according to M.S.
Many Xbox Fanboys: Again exclusives are overrated, multiplats, multiplats!!!
Me: Alright, but you guys are not encouraging M.S. to improve but supporting a strategy that will loose long term, because without exclusives content the actual Box will be pointless and that hurts multiplats sales too, since you can play multiplats anywhere.
Many Xbox Fanboys: whatever Ya Sony Pony!!! Go and Play your lame Sony single player interactive movies and Kiddy platformers!!! We play real games, Dude Bro Shooters!!!
Microsoft Today: Thanks to years of feedback from our community, we dont need exclusive content for our fans to buy our box or software to show what it is capable of. Our fans are overwhelmingly excited to play games like Assassins Creed Black flag, Call Of Duty Ghost and Left for Dead 2 on there brand new $500 XSX.
Me: Sigh...
The Hamburglar
Banned
24 posts and all of them are Shilling for Xbox and shitting on Sony.
Bernkastel
Ask me about my fanboy energy!
So you are saying that all there games from there newer first party studios like Hellblade II, Avowed, Fable and Initiative's game are all "gamepass games"(by your definition of what you call "gamepass games"). Well they will appear on Game Pass, thats for sure. But why would that affect quality of the game. Are Gears 5 and Flight Simulator also "game pass games"(using your definition).
Bernkastel
Ask me about my fanboy energy!
These are all the exclusives releasing on Xbox for Holiday 2020 and 2021
For Holiday 2020. The Medium Exo One The Falconeer Call of the Sea CrossfireX Yakuza: Like a Dragon Gears Tactics Tetris Effect: Connected The Artful Escape 12 Minutes The Medium and Exo One are not releasing on Xbox One. Yakuza: Like a Dragon is not exclusive to last gen, but only current...
SmurfMustard
Member
You, you are also loved.
Really, all of them?!? I hope you feel better now.24 posts and all of them are Shilling for Xbox and shitting on Sony.
The XBOX launch will be fine and if you preferre a sony box, you'll be fine too.
Bernkastel
Ask me about my fanboy energy!
Flip those two nouns and it will fit most of your post history.24 posts and all of them are Shilling for Xbox and shitting on Sony.
Rolla
Banned
It almost feels like people aren't reading the article, just the headline.Rolla (deliberately?) forgot the key part of the sentence in the headline, which was: Our players will have thousands of games from four generations of Xbox available to play on launch day.”
In the context it's obvious that she means, that they don't need "massive exclusives" at launch, not that they don't need them at all.
Come on good brother. Not like this. It's litterally there in the OP which has remain unedited since the time of posting.
“Having Halo at our launch would have been tremendous,” said Cindy Walker, an Xbox spokeswoman. But “we are not reliant on massive exclusive titles to drive console adoption. Our players will have thousands of games from four generations of Xbox available to play on launch day.”
Coming This Fall: Return of the Video Game Console Wars (Published 2020)
Gamers are awaiting Sony’s PlayStation 5 and Microsoft’s Xbox Series X, though supply might be limited because of the pandemic.
Relativ9
Member
They just spent the last two years buying studios and stating that they were committed to producing high quality exclusives to serve their community.
Perhaps saying that new games aren't important isn't the best PR move?
"As with all of our internally produced titles we decide when to release them based on what standard of quality we want to deliver our fans. Halo being delayed is unfortunate of course, but it will be a better game for it and players will see why when they get to play it next year. In the meantime we have other great exclusive content coming out as well as thousands of backwards compatible games for players to enjoy at launch!"
I'm available MS, hit me up.
Perhaps saying that new games aren't important isn't the best PR move?
"As with all of our internally produced titles we decide when to release them based on what standard of quality we want to deliver our fans. Halo being delayed is unfortunate of course, but it will be a better game for it and players will see why when they get to play it next year. In the meantime we have other great exclusive content coming out as well as thousands of backwards compatible games for players to enjoy at launch!"
I'm available MS, hit me up.
azz0r
Banned
tetris, coooool.These are all the exclusives releasing on Xbox for Holiday 2020 and 2021
For Holiday 2020. The Medium Exo One The Falconeer Call of the Sea CrossfireX Yakuza: Like a Dragon Gears Tactics Tetris Effect: Connected The Artful Escape 12 Minutes The Medium and Exo One are not releasing on Xbox One. Yakuza: Like a Dragon is not exclusive to last gen, but only current...www.neogaf.com
Neo Blaster
Member
So, they finally disclosed their strategy for the entire current gen?so xbx marketing is
We dont rely on games for our games console.........
Nailed it
Bernkastel
Ask me about my fanboy energy!
You only see what you want to see.
digoutyoursoul
Member
What makes me laugh with posters like you is some of us are fans, who actually want them to do better and have spent considerable amounts of money in the past along with it.
You are exactly the type who will have a go at critical people , put them all in the same troll category because some stinking dweeb with a unhealthy PlayStation obsession wrecked your head and if or when the brand in question improves, you are the first to shout loudest and how all the haters can keep quiet now and utter shite like that.
supernova8
Banned
Men lie, woman lie, GitHub lie, PornHub lie, but numbers and Sony's Worldwide Studios don't
nice avatar
R3claimer117
Member
That’s just a facetious Question that doesn’t make sense when we just came from a generation where there was a pro and X there’s already precedent also people aren’t as stupid as most of you like to create this image that casual gamers are so dumb that they can’t decide these things. Someone who doesn’t have a 4K tv doesn’t need a series X. The hardcore gamer that wants the best console experience will. It’s not a difficult issue it’s common sense which a lot of people have contrary to popular belief also entry price matters to the majority of people that buy these consoles who also don’t buy them for exclusives but for madden cod 2k and whatever popular third party game.
Iced Arcade
Member
Glad to see all the usual Sony warriors worried.
Truthful jokes aside... They don't have shit for a launch lineup. Sony doesn't either but that's still no justifying a BS launch lineup.
Truthful jokes aside... They don't have shit for a launch lineup. Sony doesn't either but that's still no justifying a BS launch lineup.
Bernkastel
Ask me about my fanboy energy!
I wished they would have KI 2 at launch like they did last gen.
FunkMiller
Member
Oh dear.
Sometimes in PR, it can be better to say nothing.
This is one of those times.
“Our players will have thousands of games from four generations of Xbox available to play on launch day.”
This literally translates into “we have no new games.”
Perception is reality.
Sometimes in PR, it can be better to say nothing.
This is one of those times.
“Our players will have thousands of games from four generations of Xbox available to play on launch day.”
This literally translates into “we have no new games.”
Perception is reality.
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shenmue mugen
Member
I already noticed that Microsoft....that's ok....I have Nintendo and Sony to satisfy my needs.
Well, for me it isn't the missing Halo (played the Halo games but never was a fan of the series) it is the fact that with the console launch no new Forza is available. Not Forza 8 and not Forza Horizon 5. I really expected one of those with a new console.
About the BC part, still great to have that feature and I will really enjoy some older games (there are many that I still want to play but haven't got the time) but well ....
This years console launches are really really underwhelming aside from the new tech.
Also still waiting for new Nintendo games for years, now. No Pikmin 4, no new 2D Mario, ...
It just seems that games development got just to complicated with 5+ years to make them.
About the BC part, still great to have that feature and I will really enjoy some older games (there are many that I still want to play but haven't got the time) but well ....
This years console launches are really really underwhelming aside from the new tech.
Also still waiting for new Nintendo games for years, now. No Pikmin 4, no new 2D Mario, ...
It just seems that games development got just to complicated with 5+ years to make them.
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thicc_girls_are_teh_best
Member
KINDA-LONG PSEUDO-CRITIQUE/RANT I GUESS INCOMING!!!
Okay let me just preface this saying that if you are familiar with my posts, certainly from a technological discussion POV and also from a games POV, I've been a very strong proponent for the Series X, as well as the PS5. I've also been someone who has (and continues to be) dismissive of concerns Series S will "hold back" next-gen development (or the "interesting" recent speculation that 10 GB of VRAM will "hold back" gaming development in the future...try and guess why that's an "interesting" point of speculation), more concerned it will have issues with complicating the production pipeline on MS's end more than anything else. And from an isolated POV, I actually do very much like and see the value in what they're doing with Gamepass and xCloud.
With all that said, in light of this recent comment from Cindy Walker, I'm just gonna come out and say it: She might be in for a rude awakening a few months or so from now.
The thing is, I'm still not 100% convinced the casuals and mainstream gamers who would hop on board for something like Series S will actually do so at launch, and the core and hardcore gamers have probably played through a ton of those thousands of games already on previous Xbox (and PlayStation and Nintendo) consoles, so just how much of an incentive will it be for them to jump in at launch to play those games yet again but with some improved visuals and performance?
Because as improved the ML can scale up their looks, they still won't look as good as a proper remake of that game built from the ground-up for newer hardware like with what the Demon's Souls remake is doing. Sure people have played that game a lot, too (well, if you were a PS3 owner, anyway...even then I think Demon's Souls was a lot more niche than Dark Souls), but knowing it's getting all the performance benefits of a new console AND next-gen caliber visuals due to being a full-on remake is what's really going to be the driving hooks for people to jump in.
It's frustrating because I do want MS to compete with Sony in getting the mindshare with the general core/hardcore gamer, not just those already in the Xbox ecosystem, but statements like these don't really show me that's what they want to do anymore, and I think it's a massive mistake. Because I'm still convinced the large majority of purchasers for next-gen these first two years are going to be core/hardcore gamers outside of the Black Friday/Christmas periods, where you have the biggest influx of casuals and mainstreamers buying consoles in any given year.
If that's MS's strategy, to count on big holiday sales with the cheap Series S to give them big yearly totals, then I don't really know how sound that strategy is. Long-term sustained monthly sales would surely be more desirable than massive holiday peak sales accounting for the majority of yearly units, right? I know they want that audience so they can get Gamepass subs, but are cheap Gamepass subs really worth trading out the virtually guaranteed multiple magnitudes of money the core/hardcore would invest into the platform, even if there are less of them than the casual/mainstream gamers? AFAIK, the high attach rates and big peripheral sales are generated from the core/hardcore, and historically speaking that segment dominates the first year or two of console sales. MS's notion might be that the reason for such is because the price is normally too high for the casuals and mainstream to jump in earlier, hence Series S.
But now we really have to ask ourselves, does the Series S actually drive enough of a value prop to pull away would-be Xbox One S owners? I mean, if relying mainly on 3rd-party software, they surely know that 3rd-party will be supporting cross-gen for the next two years without doubt, it's not like XBO and PS4 versions of games like Cyberpunk are cancelled. Maybe the casual/mainstream are TRULY indifferent towards specs so in which case, why would they care if the Series S is more performant than a One S, when the One S is cheaper? MS have already said they're continuing One S production so I think that might actually be a bit of a ding on Series S's case to the casual and mainstream gamers, even some within the Xbox ecosystem.
And ironically, it's in that kind of situation where having system exclusives actually DOES matter, because then you're driving attention of the casuals and mainstream to the only viable option for that particular game, and that ends up benefiting the platform and the game.
So yeah, I'll just say these weren't the best choice of words from Cindy literally the day of their competitor's showcase, when said competitor is going to be pushing a lot of system exclusives (1st and 3rd-party, full and timed) to hook in the core/hardcore gamers and, by doing so, those core/hardcore gamers will drive interest of casuals and mainstream to that platform and ecosystem, which just happens to have a cheaper all-digital version of the traditional disc model coming at the same day (and the only difference between them is literally just a disc drive). I've been very optimistic about the technology in MS's next-gen systems (and still am), particularly the Series X, and while I was also very optimistic about their messaging going from December to May or so, TBH that optimism has diminished gradually with what I'd consider kerfuffles, and for me it really started to waver after the July showcase.
The Hot Chips presentation restored a good bit of it in August (although there were still some details I wished we got that we didn't), but it's hard not to notice that MS are doubling down on xCloud and Gamepass, and are treating Series X as simply an option or means of experiencing those services. Honestly, I preferred MS's messaging when it was just the Series X as the focus: that was clear, concise messaging and, while simple, the simplicity helped a lot. That's not me saying Gamepass, xCloud and Series S are bad products; not even close! Series S is very well-designed for a cheaper next-gen offering, Gamepass offers a lot of value and xCloud offers a lot of flexibility.
However, I don't necessarily think these things should've been done under the Xbox branding if I'm being honest, Gamepass and xCloud in particular. I don't see why MS didn't spin those two into a separate brand and isolated them from the main one. Back in the '90s SEGA started doing PC ports of their console games under the SEGA Soft label; while it's debatable how exactly this worked out for them (at least at the time; nowadays the PC is one of SEGA's strongest platforms by far), one thing I actually thing was the right call (in retrospect) was to have SEGA Soft be its own label and brand separate from the SEGA brand handling the consoles and arcade stuff. The reason why, is because it allowed the two to focus much more on those particular markets, given their mountain of differences.
Consoles and PC might be closer today than back in the '90s, but I still think they have enough differences to where completely treating messaging and branding between the two as one in the same might not be the best choice; there are reasons why FS2020 has prioritized PC for the moment, as one example. And those two (console/PC) have a LOT more similar than consoles and mobile, mobile being the area xCloud is prioritizing (hence why it's not on PC yet). These things should be their own brands IMHO and independent of Xbox, because Xbox is more or less associated as a console gaming brand; it's not exactly easy to change that association after decades, especially when you're trying to manage all of these initiatives under one brand identity (Xbox).
So yeah, that probably about sums up my thoughts on MS atm heading into next-gen: I love the technology, I like the games so far (especially some in particular like FS2020, Bright Memory Infinite, Scorn, Exo-Mecha, The Ascent etc.), and am hopeful of the 1st-party in the future (Avowed, Fable, Forza, etc.), but I'm actually NOT feeling the messaging that much right now. The convergence, I feel, they're doing it too soon, it's too many things with different (and in some cases conflicting) points being pushed simultaneously, causing some friction. And because of that I feel some will start to eat into the others down the line.
If I were MS, I would've kept the Xbox focus on Series X, spun off Series S as a pseudo-desktop product from the Surface division with a subsidy covered on Gamepass & xCloud while being able to run a version of W10, put Gamepass and xCloud under the umbrella of a different brand identity. Sometimes it's better to keep certain product and services branches isolated, that way they can build up with their own focus and, once they have matured to a certain level of sustainability, THAT is when you integrate them together and push them under a same identity or messaging.
So far I've yet to see any advertising focused mainly on the Series X similar to what we've seen from Sony's ads for PS5. Why not? Will they even take this time to announce or show anything of a game like FS2020 on Series X? Or some other visually arresting game that can attest to its power and features set? Simply knowing I can play games via Gamepass on my Series X isn't enough of a sell I feel, especially for the core/hardcore who aren't in the Xbox ecosystem.
While being upfront on their messaging I guess I should also say that, personally, the presentation leaks last week were probably for the best. If they went with the presentation as planned I don't know if it would've garnered the same level of traction. I say all of this not knowing how Sony's presentation today will actually transpire (what games will be shown, will the prices be satisfactory, are there any nasty surprises from their end that could sour messaging leading up to launch etc.), but I think the main point still stands: I personally just haven't been too big a fan of the Gamepass/xCloud messaging (and to a lesser extent, now the messaging with Series S) overshadowing the Series X. It does kind of feel like Series X is a bastard stepchild to MS for the moment which is insane considering its capabilities, but that's what the messaging and recent marketing for Gamepass and xCloud feel like to me.
Again, it wouldn't probably come off this way of those other things were being handled by a different division (with some networking to the Xbox division obviously), that way the Xbox division could just focus on the Series X and throw some bones of value-adds in Gamepass and All-Access being there, too. But I don't think their messaging or marketing should be PRIMARILY focused on those things because, ultimately, general core and hardcore gamers, at the start of a new gen, want new games. They don't even care if it's just a handful of new big games, as long as they're good. And that attraction hits harder when those are platform/ecosystem exclusives.
MS want to take a different direction from Sony and I understand that, that's cool. But they might be trying to pivot too much, too soon. I guess we'll see in the sales and subscription numbers a few months post-launch. Still likely going to pick up a Series X sometime in 2021 (same with PS5 most likely), I just hope by then that MS's messaging puts Series X more on the pedestal it had at The Game Awards during the reveal and the months which followed; it's still their best product out of the bunch they're introducing, and deserves the spotlight commanding of such.
Okay let me just preface this saying that if you are familiar with my posts, certainly from a technological discussion POV and also from a games POV, I've been a very strong proponent for the Series X, as well as the PS5. I've also been someone who has (and continues to be) dismissive of concerns Series S will "hold back" next-gen development (or the "interesting" recent speculation that 10 GB of VRAM will "hold back" gaming development in the future...try and guess why that's an "interesting" point of speculation
), more concerned it will have issues with complicating the production pipeline on MS's end more than anything else. And from an isolated POV, I actually do very much like and see the value in what they're doing with Gamepass and xCloud.With all that said, in light of this recent comment from Cindy Walker, I'm just gonna come out and say it: She might be in for a rude awakening a few months or so from now.
The thing is, I'm still not 100% convinced the casuals and mainstream gamers who would hop on board for something like Series S will actually do so at launch, and the core and hardcore gamers have probably played through a ton of those thousands of games already on previous Xbox (and PlayStation and Nintendo) consoles, so just how much of an incentive will it be for them to jump in at launch to play those games yet again but with some improved visuals and performance?
Because as improved the ML can scale up their looks, they still won't look as good as a proper remake of that game built from the ground-up for newer hardware like with what the Demon's Souls remake is doing. Sure people have played that game a lot, too (well, if you were a PS3 owner, anyway...even then I think Demon's Souls was a lot more niche than Dark Souls), but knowing it's getting all the performance benefits of a new console AND next-gen caliber visuals due to being a full-on remake is what's really going to be the driving hooks for people to jump in.
It's frustrating because I do want MS to compete with Sony in getting the mindshare with the general core/hardcore gamer, not just those already in the Xbox ecosystem, but statements like these don't really show me that's what they want to do anymore, and I think it's a massive mistake. Because I'm still convinced the large majority of purchasers for next-gen these first two years are going to be core/hardcore gamers outside of the Black Friday/Christmas periods, where you have the biggest influx of casuals and mainstreamers buying consoles in any given year.
If that's MS's strategy, to count on big holiday sales with the cheap Series S to give them big yearly totals, then I don't really know how sound that strategy is. Long-term sustained monthly sales would surely be more desirable than massive holiday peak sales accounting for the majority of yearly units, right? I know they want that audience so they can get Gamepass subs, but are cheap Gamepass subs really worth trading out the virtually guaranteed multiple magnitudes of money the core/hardcore would invest into the platform, even if there are less of them than the casual/mainstream gamers? AFAIK, the high attach rates and big peripheral sales are generated from the core/hardcore, and historically speaking that segment dominates the first year or two of console sales. MS's notion might be that the reason for such is because the price is normally too high for the casuals and mainstream to jump in earlier, hence Series S.
But now we really have to ask ourselves, does the Series S actually drive enough of a value prop to pull away would-be Xbox One S owners? I mean, if relying mainly on 3rd-party software, they surely know that 3rd-party will be supporting cross-gen for the next two years without doubt, it's not like XBO and PS4 versions of games like Cyberpunk are cancelled. Maybe the casual/mainstream are TRULY indifferent towards specs so in which case, why would they care if the Series S is more performant than a One S, when the One S is cheaper? MS have already said they're continuing One S production so I think that might actually be a bit of a ding on Series S's case to the casual and mainstream gamers, even some within the Xbox ecosystem.
And ironically, it's in that kind of situation where having system exclusives actually DOES matter, because then you're driving attention of the casuals and mainstream to the only viable option for that particular game, and that ends up benefiting the platform and the game.
So yeah, I'll just say these weren't the best choice of words from Cindy literally the day of their competitor's showcase, when said competitor is going to be pushing a lot of system exclusives (1st and 3rd-party, full and timed) to hook in the core/hardcore gamers and, by doing so, those core/hardcore gamers will drive interest of casuals and mainstream to that platform and ecosystem, which just happens to have a cheaper all-digital version of the traditional disc model coming at the same day (and the only difference between them is literally just a disc drive). I've been very optimistic about the technology in MS's next-gen systems (and still am), particularly the Series X, and while I was also very optimistic about their messaging going from December to May or so, TBH that optimism has diminished gradually with what I'd consider kerfuffles, and for me it really started to waver after the July showcase.
The Hot Chips presentation restored a good bit of it in August (although there were still some details I wished we got that we didn't), but it's hard not to notice that MS are doubling down on xCloud and Gamepass, and are treating Series X as simply an option or means of experiencing those services. Honestly, I preferred MS's messaging when it was just the Series X as the focus: that was clear, concise messaging and, while simple, the simplicity helped a lot. That's not me saying Gamepass, xCloud and Series S are bad products; not even close! Series S is very well-designed for a cheaper next-gen offering, Gamepass offers a lot of value and xCloud offers a lot of flexibility.
However, I don't necessarily think these things should've been done under the Xbox branding if I'm being honest, Gamepass and xCloud in particular. I don't see why MS didn't spin those two into a separate brand and isolated them from the main one. Back in the '90s SEGA started doing PC ports of their console games under the SEGA Soft label; while it's debatable how exactly this worked out for them (at least at the time; nowadays the PC is one of SEGA's strongest platforms by far), one thing I actually thing was the right call (in retrospect) was to have SEGA Soft be its own label and brand separate from the SEGA brand handling the consoles and arcade stuff. The reason why, is because it allowed the two to focus much more on those particular markets, given their mountain of differences.
Consoles and PC might be closer today than back in the '90s, but I still think they have enough differences to where completely treating messaging and branding between the two as one in the same might not be the best choice; there are reasons why FS2020 has prioritized PC for the moment, as one example. And those two (console/PC) have a LOT more similar than consoles and mobile, mobile being the area xCloud is prioritizing (hence why it's not on PC yet). These things should be their own brands IMHO and independent of Xbox, because Xbox is more or less associated as a console gaming brand; it's not exactly easy to change that association after decades, especially when you're trying to manage all of these initiatives under one brand identity (Xbox).
So yeah, that probably about sums up my thoughts on MS atm heading into next-gen: I love the technology, I like the games so far (especially some in particular like FS2020, Bright Memory Infinite, Scorn, Exo-Mecha, The Ascent etc.), and am hopeful of the 1st-party in the future (Avowed, Fable, Forza, etc.), but I'm actually NOT feeling the messaging that much right now. The convergence, I feel, they're doing it too soon, it's too many things with different (and in some cases conflicting) points being pushed simultaneously, causing some friction. And because of that I feel some will start to eat into the others down the line.
If I were MS, I would've kept the Xbox focus on Series X, spun off Series S as a pseudo-desktop product from the Surface division with a subsidy covered on Gamepass & xCloud while being able to run a version of W10, put Gamepass and xCloud under the umbrella of a different brand identity. Sometimes it's better to keep certain product and services branches isolated, that way they can build up with their own focus and, once they have matured to a certain level of sustainability, THAT is when you integrate them together and push them under a same identity or messaging.
So far I've yet to see any advertising focused mainly on the Series X similar to what we've seen from Sony's ads for PS5. Why not? Will they even take this time to announce or show anything of a game like FS2020 on Series X? Or some other visually arresting game that can attest to its power and features set? Simply knowing I can play games via Gamepass on my Series X isn't enough of a sell I feel, especially for the core/hardcore who aren't in the Xbox ecosystem.
While being upfront on their messaging I guess I should also say that, personally, the presentation leaks last week were probably for the best. If they went with the presentation as planned I don't know if it would've garnered the same level of traction. I say all of this not knowing how Sony's presentation today will actually transpire (what games will be shown, will the prices be satisfactory, are there any nasty surprises from their end that could sour messaging leading up to launch etc.), but I think the main point still stands: I personally just haven't been too big a fan of the Gamepass/xCloud messaging (and to a lesser extent, now the messaging with Series S) overshadowing the Series X. It does kind of feel like Series X is a bastard stepchild to MS for the moment which is insane considering its capabilities, but that's what the messaging and recent marketing for Gamepass and xCloud feel like to me.
Again, it wouldn't probably come off this way of those other things were being handled by a different division (with some networking to the Xbox division obviously), that way the Xbox division could just focus on the Series X and throw some bones of value-adds in Gamepass and All-Access being there, too. But I don't think their messaging or marketing should be PRIMARILY focused on those things because, ultimately, general core and hardcore gamers, at the start of a new gen, want new games. They don't even care if it's just a handful of new big games, as long as they're good. And that attraction hits harder when those are platform/ecosystem exclusives.
MS want to take a different direction from Sony and I understand that, that's cool. But they might be trying to pivot too much, too soon. I guess we'll see in the sales and subscription numbers a few months post-launch. Still likely going to pick up a Series X sometime in 2021 (same with PS5 most likely), I just hope by then that MS's messaging puts Series X more on the pedestal it had at The Game Awards during the reveal and the months which followed; it's still their best product out of the bunch they're introducing, and deserves the spotlight commanding of such.
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oldergamer
Member
Some people here forget this is the THIRD MS console to launch without being tied to the biggest franchise they have. So console launches don't have to be tied to that to drive adoption. I don't think they are going to have a problem moving consoles into the slower season beyond march without games to back it up.
Not only that but sony also doesn't rely on any one title to launch a console with. So I don't see anything wrong with the statement.
Not only that but sony also doesn't rely on any one title to launch a console with. So I don't see anything wrong with the statement.
oldergamer
Member
Damn, I wish MS would just show the damn games they have coming. all that stuff that was rumored to be held back, they do need exclusives to drive sales, its just not that important at launch due to limited numbers of units and the hardcore buying everything initially.
sublimit
Banned
I like how some people here are way too eager to put Sony in the same bag as MS for having a "shitty launch line-up" when we still don't know anything about it.
Just wait a few more hours for their showcase and if they still don't announce any big title for launch then we'll all shit on them together.
Just wait a few more hours for their showcase and if they still don't announce any big title for launch then we'll all shit on them together.
Bernkastel
Ask me about my fanboy energy!
I am surprised they are not making a surface tablet which can play all Xbox One games. It should be possible with 5nm(when it releases). If Surface Go 3 can act as an Xbox One, that alone will suffice for the casuals.
And they are not doing any of these properly. If Series S had a UHD disc drive with Windows Core OS(so that you can use mpv or madvr), that alone will be the ultimate TV entertainment machine. xCloud should let you play your purchased games for those who dont own Game Pass(with One X/SeriesX enhancements if you want). Paying to play online should completely go away. I am surprised they have not bought Asobo already.
I love these.
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NoMoChokeSJ
Banned
So GAF has a great tendency to talk out of both sides of its mouth. One day Halo is irrelevant and not the console seller it used to be, the next day the Xbox will fail if Halo isn't a launch title. 4 pages of posts that slam MS for not having huge exclusives, but ignoring that they announced 21 other games and quite a few that will be launch titles. The Xbox will be fine and games will come out in time, just like every other generation. Both the PS3 and PS4 had terrible lineups for the first year+ and by the end of the generation has some stellar titles. I'd rather MS take the time to put out titles that are risky for once, much like Sony does, instead of falling on rehashed titles that have a history of selling well.
Also, cutting through all the rhetoric. Neither console has a strong launch lineup. Maybe that will change for Sony this afternoon, but judging by what has been announced so far, the lineups look pretty bleak.
Also, cutting through all the rhetoric. Neither console has a strong launch lineup. Maybe that will change for Sony this afternoon, but judging by what has been announced so far, the lineups look pretty bleak.
Plague Doctor
Member
craigdoubt.jpg
The Hamburglar
Banned
Considering I made a thread discussing about preferring the series x to a ps5, I doubt it.
xbox has more to laugh at than Sony. I guess we can keep saying SSD though.
DarkMage619
$MSFT
You don't seem to understand the word literal. She said 4 generations of Xbox. There is the Xbox, Xbox 360, X1, and... What's the fourth one? The fourth generation is the Xbox Series. By her own statement there IS new games. Why lie about the Xbox's offerings? Just because YOU don't like the games does not mean it they do not exist. The main point is if you don't like the Xbox don't buy it and avoid those discussions since you don't like it. It's so easy especially when there are so many awesome Playstation games to play.
This is some great advice! Let's wait for the Playstation announcement of their launch titles before passing judgment. I'm CERTAIN you feel the same way for MS seeing how they've not made a launch line-up announcement yet. You would never just assume they have no games. No way!
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hybrid_birth
Member
Exactly. I wish they cared more about exclusives but they don't.
Klayzer
Member
Sony too is their new battlecry, apparently. No public list yet, but they already know its the same as Xbox.
sublimit
Banned
I'm sorry that reality hurts you so much but i can't do anything about it.
Sony has already shown a lot of gameplay from 2 of their flagship titles Gran Turismo 7 and Ratchet and Clank both games rumored heavily to be launch or launch window games.
The only flagship title MS has shown gameplay so far has been Halo. And we all know how that ended up.
Even if we ignore today's event Sony still has more chances to launch with at least one big game when compared to what MS has shown so far.
DarkMage619
$MSFT
So Sony gets the benefit of the doubt and we should wait for their shows before passing judgement. MS delayed Halo and its all over. Got it. 'Reality' does hurt.
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TBiddy
Member
You really need to read my posts in this thread.
TBiddy
Member
You left it out of the headline. Kinda obvious why, and it seems like you succeeded.
Knitted Knight
Banned
Pretty much. Still a smelly side of BS though... that's all we get.
sublimit
Banned
Stop spinning and actually read what i wrote.
INC
Member
KingdomHeartsFan
Member
Microsoft's management sucks, all the way upto Phil Spencer. The decision to launch gears tactics on PC and not launch it as a series X exclusive is one of the dumbest decisions ever. They relied on 343 to provide the sole series X exclusive, how'd that turn out?
FunkMiller
Member
If you are a spokesperson for a major video game console company, and your strategy is to promote games from across generations of your console, rather than concentrate on what the new one can do, it implies that you do not have enough games to talk about in the newest generation.
'We want you to enjoy iPhones from the past few years' would not go down well as a piece of PR from Apple on the release of a new model. If you are having to even mention things that are old when promoting something that is new, you are not doing a good job of selling that new thing - unless your spin is something along the lines of 'this new version of our thing is much better than the old version of our thing'.
This has nothing to do with personal preference of console, and everything to do with critiquing how well a spokesperson is performing in their role. If a Sony or Nintendo spokesperson came out and said that they want players to enjoy games from older generations, that would be equally as poor. The communications line being taken is not an effective one. New games sell new consoles. Nothing else.
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DarkMage619
$MSFT
Take your own advice and wait for the appropriate launch game showcase from MS before passing judgement. It was a good idea that you should apply equally.
OR it could be that MS is bring attention to a feature their competitors don't have. You might not like that Xbox can play so many generations of games but not everyone feels the same way you do. In many cases those games look and run significantly better than they did originally. That is pretty darn cool and I am not upset set MS has protected the investment I made with my old games instead of me throwing them away or having to keep old consoles to play them. These features DO NOT prevent me from playing new games either so I don't have a reason to complain.
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thicc_girls_are_teh_best
Member
Lol, I'm glad some folks do. Lots of people expect Twitter-length posts these days but...naaaaah! No char limits here, I'm gonna type as much as I want xD.
That's what a lot of us were thinking Series S was going to be: either a handheld portable, or (once that started not seeming like it'd happen) a Surface style tablet. They'd have to increase the price for business-orientated markets but then they could've just done two SKUs: one with Windows and one with Xbox OS, the latter priced more like a console or gaming handheld but wouldn't be able to run Windows or PC game apps like Steam and GOG.
Or maybe just have a single Surface tablet with the Series S specs in them but tie in All-Access and Gamepass to offer it at a reduced cost that could attract gamers, on a monthly plan. Ironically that would probably also draw in people who would want such a Surface device but on a monthly payment (like business types who already pay subscriptions for Office365 and other services), and that'd be a net win in and of itself.
Hopefully if there's people at MS and the Xbox division who have been considering any of this kind of stuff and crunched the data to see how it'd work if implemented for a long-term, that can mean maybe some of these ideas we're bringing up come to fruition one way or another for the brand going into 2021. It'd do a lot for them imo.
I don't know a lot about some of the other W10 variants outside of Professional/Home/Enterprise and 10X, so I'm guessing Windows Core is one for the consumer embedded devices market? I like the idea; Series S as a casual-friendly entertainment hub machine, which I think there's a market for WRT families still. Tablets and smartphones might provide a lot of those kind of entertainment options too but most of them aren't suitable for casting to a big screen, and it's a more insular experience where everyone's just kind of...doing their own thing...even if they're in the same room.
The xClould stuff is exactly something they should be doing, I'm also surprised it's not in the plans yet (or at least hasn't been announced). Seems like a no-brainer; stream your Series games to a mobile device like your smartphone when around the house, or to TVs around the home with xCloud built-in. Both could also open up some game design ideas for developers especially if they could count on xCloud adoption being ubiquitous (if you're putting the app into stuff like Samsung TVs it's essentially going to be ubiquitous in one way or another anyhow).
And yeah, they absolutely need to buy Asobo sooner rather than later. Those WB Games studios would be a big get (although I don't know if they're up for sale anymore), but Asobo has already delivered the goods multiple times and are masters as simulators as we can see (and quite good with narrative-style games too). They'd fit right in with the other MS studios and the tech could be shared around while each studio still gets to have their own corporate and dev culture, plus I doubt buying Asobo would be too costly (they should be even cheaper to get than Insomniac was for Sony).