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[Trago]

It would turn heads but would it be a worthy investment in the end? I cited Blue Dragon as an example of a game that also turned heads but didn't really move the needle in Japan or the west. It's more of an image problem than anything else. Most people don't associate Microsoft/Xbox with Japanese IP. Well, I take that back somewhat. Wasn't there a joke that Xbox 360 in Japan was basically the Idolmaster console?

I'm sure that there are plenty of Japanese games on the 360 that did well, like the Dark Souls games, Fighting games, Metal Gear Rising, etc.

You cited a console JRPG, which is a genre that, in general, hasn't been big or as big as generations prior. Exclusives are exclusives and Microsoft needs them. You ask if it's even worth it, but there's excitement for AAA Japanese games across the board. Many of us complain that too many Japanese devs are on mobile or handhelds. If Microsoft can bring some of that talent to consoles, how is that not worth it?

 

[Shining Sunshine]

Ehhh... Microsoft makes studios that make nothing decent and then kill them.

Holding back any positive reaction to this until they show promise.

 

[Dragonborn]

They need to prove themselves first, and also, are these for big games or just mobile/indie style titles?

 

[Exploratory]

Well, exclusive and first party are two different things.

In terms of first party, Microsoft essentially only have Halo/Forza/Fable. I understand why one would be a fan of some of those series, but Sony's first party is objectively superior, at least in terms of number of diversity.

State of Decay? Gears of War? Phantom Dust? Project Spark? Killer Instinct?

 

[Marcel]

State of Decay? Gears of War? Phantom Dust? Project Spark? Killer Instinct?

Game title with question mark? List Wars?

 

[SenjutsuSage]

I'm all for MS building up their first party, but obviously what they do currently also leads to a lot of great games and franchises being created, so it's without a doubt a good thing. I don't care so much about MS owning a developer so long as we get incredible games from it.

 

[Pound_lb003]

You can argue basically anything is "preferable".. it's not exactly something you can put a number to. I'd even suggest that their output has been varied enough that many people such as yourself argue that they put out next to nothing simply because a lot of what they did put out is completely outside of your preference bubble. All those Kinect games and mobile games aren't next to nothing, they're just games you don't give half a shit about. When people claim they're not impressed with a console's line-up because they don't care for indies games, they often get jump on mercilessly... do the same for Kinect though, and for some reason it's fine to simply count them as not being games at all.

Well.... Given the forum you're on, I wouldn't be massively surprised. I do count them as games, just, not ones that factor into discussion on GAF. That's all.

And even by that standard I actually went and had a look and I am wrong. They did release a nice slate of games outside of the Kinect products. So I hope that eases your mind, that my opinion is changed.

 

[Exploratory]

Game title with question mark? List Wars?

Oh please. The person claimed they only had 3 first party IPs and I mentioned 5 more. Should we just let people say incorrect statements on GAF? I don't believe in that.

 

[J-Skee]

Wow, finally. They needed this. Looks like they just as much if not more than Sony now. Time to see what their internal studios are capable when they're not named Turn 10 & 343.

 

[Poodlestrike]

State of Decay? Gears of War? Phantom Dust? Project Spark? Killer Instinct?

In all fairness, MS first party was super barren for a while there, especially if you were Kinect-averse. Me, I never minded so much, but it's true. All of the games you listed are either from a much earlier period, or very recent. It's a crying shame, especially considering the wild diversity they displayed in the PC/OG Xbox days, but they seem to be finally getting back on track.

 

[Exploratory]

In all fairness, MS first party was super barren for a while there, especially if you were Kinect-averse. Me, I never minded so much, but it's true. All of the games you listed are either from a much earlier period, or very recent. It's a crying shame, especially considering the wild diversity they displayed in the PC/OG Xbox days, but they seem to be finally getting back on track.

That's absolutely true post Kinect 360 was atrocious. Thankfully that seems to be changing.

 

[stargateheaven]

wasn't "good science" the guys who made those free kinect games? like scanning in items and stuff

 

[FunkyPajamas]

Are they big games? New games? Indie-sized games? What genres are they? When are their games coming out?

This. I would also add "What's their pedigree?" (i.e. Do they have any big names in there?)

 

[Birgitte2004]

State of Decay? Gears of War? Phantom Dust? Project Spark? Killer Instinct?

This is a perfect example of the difference between "exclusive" and "first party" the post you were responding to was talking about.

Microsoft did not develop State of Decay, the existing Gears of War games, or Killer Instinct. They partnered (and published) a different company's game, exclusively.

 

[Servbot24]

We'll have to wait and see what they come up with but it is a good sign.

 

[Poodlestrike]

This is a perfect example of the difference between "exclusive" and "first party" the post you were responding to was talking about.

Microsoft did not develop State of Decay, the existing Gears of War games, or Killer Instinct. They partnered (and published) a different company's game, exclusively.

Well... KI is as close to first party as you can get without owning the studio, since the IP was MS's and it was wholly funded by them as well. This is why I think 2nd party is a useful distinction.

 

[Vestax]

This is a very good thing, if it pans out to be true. I respect this a lot more than Microsoft holding hostage a big AAA.

 

[Darksol]

Wait and see.

 

[TechnicPuppet]

Well, exclusive and first party are two different things.

In terms of first party, Microsoft essentially only have Halo/Forza/Fable. I understand why one would be a fan of some of those series, but Sony's first party is objectively superior, at least in terms of number and diversity.

No it isn't, how can it be objectively better?

 

[kinoki]

Well... KI is as close to first party as you can get without owning the studio, since the IP was MS's and it was wholly funded by them as well. This is why I think 2nd party is a useful distinction.

It's so first party that the studio in question made a multiplat title just after and then Amazon bought them.

Regarding first party and Microsoft. History speaks loudly against it. I really hope they get their act together. Hopefully it's not too rooted in tradition. And hopefully they can follow Sony in tapping the creative visions of both Europeans and Asian traditions. I'll be happy when either company sets up shop in South America and Arabic countries.

 

[Doffen]

No it isn't, how can it be objectively better?

Because SingStar. Clearly.

 

[Exploratory]

This is a perfect example of the difference between "exclusive" and "first party" the post you were responding to was talking about.

Microsoft did not develop State of Decay, the existing Gears of War games, or Killer Instinct. They partnered (and published) a different company's game, exclusively.

The existing Gears yeah that's obvious. But I'm fairly sure second party is a colloquial term on GAF and those are all first party games. State of Decay is owned by MS.

If you're talking about in house studios owned by MS then yeah they are pretty sparse compared to Sony/Nintendo.

 

[Unknown Soldier]

MS actually has as a bad a history as EA in terms of closing studios. So I'll believe it when I see it. You don't just open studios and start cranking out AAA megahit exclusives. What Nintendo and Sony built has literally taken decades of steady effort, not the MS moneyhat short term solution to everything.

 

[Dreams-Visions]

It's a positive sign. As long as MS doesn't relegate them to Kinect games, I'm sure they'll produce something worth talking about. That in and of itself is great for One owners. Will be years before we see any products from them though, so meh.

 

[Avari]

Yep. Buying/opening all of the studios I'm the world went matter if they put out garbage or nothing at all.

I hope this means we'll get some new games, though. Cautiously optimistic.

Pretty much. I think how well the studios will do will in large part depend on how 'hands off' MS is prepared to be. When you give people some breathing room (particularly creative people) you tend to get better results - you just need a light leash to keep things realistic.

 

[Exploratory]

MS actually has as a bad a history as EA in terms of closing studios. So I'll believe it when I see it. You don't just open studios and start cranking out AAA megahit exclusives. What Nintendo and Sony built has literally taken decades of steady effort, not the MS moneyhat short term solution to everything.

Which studios have MS closed?

 

[Unknown Soldier]

Which studios have MS closed?

Off the top of my head, Ensemble and FASA immediately come to mind. There are others of course, someone made a detailed post awhile back of MS's sordid history.

Rare basically exists in name only, all the original people left long ago.

 

[OldRoutes]

MS actually has as a bad a history as EA in terms of closing studios. So I'll believe it when I see it. You don't just open studios and start cranking out AAA megahit exclusives. What Nintendo and Sony built has literally taken decades of steady effort, not the MS moneyhat short term solution to everything.

Sure dude, whatever, except that's what Sony has also been doing. And Sony closed 3 studios only a few years ago, during the same year.

Bigbig Studios, developers of the Pursuit Force series, was closed.
Zipper Interactive, developers of the SOCOM, MAG and Unit 13 series, was closed.
SCE Studio Liverpool - developer of the Wipeout series, was closed.

 

[Unknown Soldier]

Sure dude, whatever, except that's what Sony has also been doing. And Sony closed 3 studios only a few years ago, during the same year.

The second reply to my post was Sony Too™ in a thread about MS. I'm shocked.

 

[Nightengale]

Urgh, why are we dragging Sony into this.

 

[nynt9]

I'm concerned.

Does this mean no more money for third party exclusives?

If it does, I'm wholly against this.

What? Third party games come to the platform even when they're not exclusive. This makes no sense unless you're just straight up only about the console war.

 

[RulkezX]

What? Third party games come to the platform even when they're not exclusive. This makes no sense unless you're just straight up only about the console war.

Wooooooosh.


OT | I'll reserve judgement until we see what these guys are doing, in any case it's going to be years until we start seeing output.

 

[Doffen]

The second reply to my post was Sony Too™ in a thread about MS. I'm shocked.

You introduced Sony in your post. Own it. Don't brush it off with a "SonyToo™" when people disagree with you.

 

[Banjo-Kazooie]

This is a perfect example of the difference between "exclusive" and "first party" the post you were responding to was talking about.

Microsoft did not develop State of Decay, the existing Gears of War games, or Killer Instinct. They partnered (and published) a different company's game, exclusively.

Um....MS considers those titles 1st party, regardless of who develops them, since all of those titles are MS owned IP.

Yes, they are not 1st party studios technically, but MS still refers to the games as 1st party.

 

[StealthGoblin]

Sure dude, whatever, except that's what Sony has also been doing. And Sony closed 3 studios only a few years ago, during the same year.

True.

You must also remember though that they've actually grown the teams that they have kept.

Guerrilla Games have three teams/studios [Amsterdam, Cambridge, another in Amsterdam] - Working on 3 IPs concurrently.
Naughty Dog are now able to manage multiple projects. [TLOU, Uncharted etc]7
Santa Monica have 2 main teams (even after the layoffs) and their External developement studio.
SCEJ have several IP on the go.
Media Molecule have two teams. [Tearaway, New IP]

I think it is sometimes a bit easy to say that companies shut a lot of studios and think that they've downscaled. I'm sure Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft have studios who can handle a lot of games at once.

Sony's most successful studios have grown. Let's hope that Microsoft's most successful studios can grow too.

 

[OldRoutes]

The second reply to my post was Sony Too™ in a thread about MS. I'm shocked.

Because what you said was simply not true. You can't use blanket statement and then flip out when someone calls you out on it ; Nintendo is one of the only manufacturer that actually spawned most of its internal or first party studios, and even in recent years they've been aggressively acquiring new, existing studios.

What Microsoft is doing right now is creating new umbrellas for developers, and all you could add to this news was : "Well Microsoft also killed a lot of studios" and guess what? The two other manufacturers did, too.

 

[Handy Fake]

True.

You must also remember though that they've actually grown the teams that they have kept.

Guerrilla Games have three teams/studios [Amsterdam, Cambridge, another in Amsterdam] - Working on 3 IPs concurrently.
Naughty Dog are now able to manage multiple projects. [TLOU, Uncharted etc]7
Santa Monica have 2 main teams (even after the layoffs) and their External developement studio.
SCEJ have several IP on the go.
Media Molecule have two teams. [Tearaway, New IP]

I think it is sometimes a bit easy to say that companies shut a lot of studios and think that they've downscaled. I'm sure Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft have studios who can handle a lot of games at once.

Sony's most successful studios have grown. Let's hope that Microsoft's most successful studios can grow too.

They've got ICE Team as well to back up their in-house teams.

 

[CosmicQueso]

The second reply to my post was Sony Too™ in a thread about MS. I'm shocked.

Just stop. You baited it, the reply was sensible and addressed your point directly.

 

[Ovek]

Wow five new Kinect games for Christmas 2015! Haha!!

 

[Unknown Soldier]

You introduced Sony in your post. Own it. Don't brush it off with a "SonyToo™" when people disagree with you.

Oddly enough I mentioned both other platform holders, but people decided to ignore Nintendo and zero in on Sony. Imagine that.

 

[Omega]

Probably not.

I remember during the 360 getting excited because they announced new first party studios. I don't even think concept art was ever released.

These guys will probably do nothing. I believe in Phil, but not that much to believe something will come out of this

 

[Nevadatan]

and then, in the other hand you have Rare...doing kinect stuff.
seriously...

 

[OldRoutes]

Oddly enough I mentioned both other platform holders, but people decided to ignore Nintendo and zero in on Sony. Imagine that.

Because it's true for Nintendo (starting to be even less relevant with the purchases of Monolith, Retro and Intelligent Systems) but not ultimately true for Sony. Please.

 

[Doffen]

Oddly enough I mentioned both other platform holders, but people decided to ignore Nintendo and zero in on Sony. Imagine that.

Sony does what Nintendon't™

 

[statham]

Sony does what Nintendon't™

Nice.

 

[MCD]

not worth getting excited over till they release some games.

 

[Caayn]

The second reply to my post was Sony Too™ in a thread about MS. I'm shocked.

I chuckle everytime I see a reply to a post with "Sony Too". It's like a child saying "lalalala I can't hear you" while putting his/her fingers in his/her ears.

 

[Synth]

I chuckle everytime I see a reply to a post with "Sony Too". It's like a child saying "lalalala I'm not hearing you" while putting his/her fingers in his/her ears.

Can you all just leave Sony out of it?... we're trying to shit on MS here!

Feel free to talk about EA though.

 

[machemachete]

Great news for Xbox Owners, these kind of FP Studios are the ones that Xbox needs.

Now to wait if they have talented people on these companies

 

[PdotMichael]

Sure dude, whatever, except that's what Sony has also been doing. And Sony closed 3 studios only a few years ago, during the same year.

This is true and nice and stuff but the difference between Sony and Microsoft is that it didn't have a negative impact on Sony's first party output in quantity and quality.

Sometimes a company needs to close studios because it didn't work out.