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Microsoft needs more exclusives throughout the year

Thorrgal

Member
My own take on exclusives is quite simple:

Multiplats are so called "dissatisfiers". They are what players expect. It doesn't make them happier if they are available, just dissatisfied if they are not. See exhibit A) Nintendo.

Exclusives however are "motivators". They maybe not as important as some major 3rd party IPs like FIFA, CoD or GTA when it comes to moving consoles in general , but they really matter when it comes to actually choosing a platform.

Good post.

Also, nice meltdowns on the thread...always fascinating to watch those unravel.
 

cakely

Member
So much blood on the floor.
Can't wait to pull out my Bat-tools to recreate and examine the crimes committed in this thread.

The moderators took out the worst offenders a few pages ago. I think we're all having a fairly civil discussion at this point.

(However, using your bat forensic scanner to analyze the thread and generate a reconstruction does sound pretty cool)
 

SmokedMeat

Gamer™
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.

There's certainly some value in having everything under one service. As long as you're using the multiplayer and likely playing with friends, it's worth your money.

I'm more of a single player person, with the occasional multiplayer itch, so these services aren't for me.
 

thelastword

Banned
For all the flak MS first party get for milking Halo and Gears, there are only 1 mainline Halo and Gears this gen.
Sony will get 2 Uncharted and 2 Knack soon, just saying.
Hasnt' there been Gears remake, Gears 4.....Halo MCC, Halo Wars Remake. Halo Wars 2, Halo 5 etc.....Then so far we have had Forza 5. 6 and soon 7....and Horizon 2 and 3 and I guess another pretty soon.
 

nampad

Member
Haven't had a lot of time to follow the games releases in a while and didn't know it was that bad for Microsoft this year. Hope they expand their first party studio lineup for the new generation.

Hasnt' there been Gears remake, Gears 4.....Halo MCC, Halo Wars Remake. Halo Wars 2, Halo 5 etc.....Then so far we have had Forza 5. 6 and soon 7....and Horizon 2 and 3 and I guess another pretty soon.

PSSSHHHH...we are only counting mainline games...except for Uncharted.
 

CAR105 3

Member
I believe that microsoft should schedule itself to be able to produce at least 3 first party exclusives per year in which at least one should be AAA. Because they really need to build their exclusives portfolio.
 

Theorry

Member
I believe that microsoft should schedule itself to be able to produce at least 3 first party exclusives per year in which at least one should be AAA. Because they really need to build their exclusives portfolio.

But they have? Or do you mean new IP's?
 
No one, but the purpose of exclusives aren't to sell all exclusives to all gamers. Exclusives are how you capture the margins.

An example: Dark Souls has become a multi-million seller multi-platform game. It was always going to hit both XB1 and PS4 this generation. So Sony beats DS3s' release with Bloodborne, swaying the vast majority of Souls fans toward the PS4.

They then capitalize on it a few years later by working with Tecmo Koei to distribute Nioh worldwide after DS3 is out to further reinforce that if you're a Souls fan the PS4 is where you want to live.

JRPGs - FFXV was going to be on both, and likely PC eventually, but Sony also has Persona 5, Nier, and Ni No Kuni II on the way not to mention other even more fringe exclusives. So JRPG fans aren't even going to look at XB1.

As Sony kept racking up these kinds of marginal advantages both hardware sales and 3rd party sales ratios slanted massively in their favor, to the point now where many of their 2017 third party exclusives weren't even subsidized in a meaningful way, the PS4 is just the default choice and for more and more games supporting Xbox One requires some level of financial merit testing.

Microsoft did something similar with the X360 last generation, cornering the shooter market early thanks to Halo and Gears. At that point even things like competitive CoD were X360 focused. MS just simply let themselves get boxed out nearly across the board by Sony this generation.



I've said it about a dozen times in similar threads. The biggest difference between Sony and MS on first party titles, other than Sony simply having a far larger first party stable, is timing.

MS loads up on the holiday window when every big 3rd party release is already hitting. As a result everything but their headliner titles get drowned out.

Last generation Sony committed hard to a spring, summer, and early fall release focus of their first party titles, getting out of the way of the big holiday 3rd party blitz entirely, and it has paid off amazingly well.

Their first party titles are selling better, especially the more niche ones, they keep interest levels in the platform up year round, and the big early year releases make great bundle fodder for the holidays.

It's simply a superior strategy. The fact that it is teamed with a broader first party stable is just compounding the advantage.
Well for one, MS came out of the gate this generation with two broken legs and a neck brace. Is it really that surprising that they are struggling, especially compared to the system with far more global appeal? I for one am shocked I tell ya. Also, Sony has the luxury of a Japanese market that will eat those games up, and a stable of old japanese IP's they can fall back on dating back to the PS1 before the OG xbox existed. It's not surprising and not necessarily this brilliant strategy lol. With the exception of maybe Bloodborne, MS could release the same line up of games and sales would be pretty poor. And by having so many Japanese games Sony can ultimately stagger their releases more frequently throughout the year. Without all the extra niche games I'm not sure Sony would gamble on releasing their big hitters outside of Q3 and Q4 either. That being said I agree that MS has chosen poorly when to release a lot of their games. Both Titanfall and Sunset Overdrive would have fared a lot better at a different release date.

For Sony, Bloodbourne was a fantastic exclusive for the PS4. At the same time though, Fromsoftware would never have been willing to make the same game or something similar as an exclusive for the Xbox One. And the excitement for the game was largely because Fromsoftware is behind the Dark Souls series. So kudos to Sony I guess.

Persona was already a successful game series dating back to the Playstation 1. Persona 5 was supposed to come out in 2014 and was instead delayed 2 more years. Not exactly a brilliant strategy but yes it worked. Sony has a much larger store of old IP's to go back to, which people seem to ignore or discount a lot of the time.

Nioh's development started in 2004 lol. It's great that Sony finally released it for the PS4, but don't act like it was this brilliantly planned game that they developed recently with the sole intent to counter Dark Souls 3.

Nier was originally multiplatform, released on both the ps3 and 360, probably because the 360 was doing so well. Shocker that Nier Automata isn't multiplatform this time around now that the One is not doing as well.

Also, Ni No Kuni is coming to PC. Can I use the "it doesn't count as an exclusive" argument lol?

The funny thing about it all is that unless you're really into Japanese games, most of those games are by and large unappealing. I for example and not really interested in them. So even with the extra number of exclusives for the PS4, it doesn't do anything to persuade me to buy one. But mainly I just wanted to point out that it's not that hard to have this strategy of staggering releases through out the year when you have so many niche game IP's to use and the benefit of a market that will buy them. Just not seeing it as a knock against MS which doesnt have that luxury, nor the luxury of record sales this gen to be putting in all their chips on new IPs, especially niche ones.
 

Skeeter49

Member
I feel like from all sides I've enjoyed First Party games, or exclusives, more than a lot of third party multiplat games.

I don't mean from a satisfaction of them being exclusive, I just feel like a lot of Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo games have been better than a lot of multiplat games this gen, from a quality standpoint. For my taste anyway.
 

Goalus

Member
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.

So what is your point?
Are you claiming that the Xbox division is losing money?

By the way, I can understand that you are in a bad mood as your hopes of Xbox becoming irrelevant get constantly crushed by Microsoft's quarterly earnings reports. But how exactly does it feel having to realize time and time again that reality is not going to grant your wish?
 

seady

Member
The XBO is the only console I haven't buy since the PS2 Xbox Gamecube era. I even bought the Wii U despite how few games it had. The XBO has absolutely zero exclusive games that give me an excuse to buy.

Even a failure like Wii U had Bayonetta 2, Splatoon, Super Mario Maker that I needed the system to play. The few interesting XBO games can be played on other systems thus give me no excuse to buy the hardware. It probably is the most soulless and no-personality console ever.

I think barely anyone can think back in 20 years remembering what games or hardware features are tie to the XBO. The Wii U people will at least remember as a system with few cool exclusives and has a controller with a screen.
 

sjay1994

Member
I am so happy that I didn't buy an Xbone when Scalebound was announced.

Because if I bought the fucking thing and learned Scalebound was cancelled, I would have genuinely been pissed.
 

Humdinger

Member
Even a failure like Wii U had Bayonetta 2, Splatoon, Super Mario Maker that I needed the system to play. The few interesting XBO games can be played on other systems thus give me no excuse to buy the hardware. It probably is the most soulless and no-personality console ever.

I think barely anyone can think back in 20 years remembering what games or hardware features are tie to the XBO. The Wii U people will at least remember as a system with few cool exclusives and has a controller with a screen.

When I think of Xbox, I think of Halo. I think in 20 years, people are more likely to remember Halo than Super Mario Maker or Splatoon.

Remember it, hell, we'll probably be on Halo 15: Master Chief Gets a Colonoscopy by then.
 
The XBO is the only console I haven't buy since the PS2 Xbox Gamecube era. I even bought the Wii U despite how few games it had. The XBO has absolutely zero exclusive games that give me an excuse to buy.

Even a failure like Wii U had Bayonetta 2, Splatoon, Super Mario Maker that I needed the system to play. The few interesting XBO games can be played on other systems thus give me no excuse to buy the hardware. It probably is the most soulless and no-personality console ever.

I think barely anyone can think back in 20 years remembering what games or hardware features are tie to the XBO. The Wii U people will at least remember as a system with few cool exclusives and has a controller with a screen.

Only speaking for myself personally but I will always remember Sunset overdrive and honestly Ryse son of rome with titanfall (I know they on PC now )as games Ill remember my XBO for
 
So what is your point?
Are you claiming that the Xbox division is losing money?

By the way, I can understand that you are in a bad mood as your hopes of Xbox becoming irrelevant get constantly crushed by Microsoft's quarterly earnings reports. But how exactly does it feel having to realize time and time again that reality is not going to grant your wish?
It's telling that no sources were posted.
 

Dremorak

Banned
The XBO is the only console I haven't buy since the PS2 Xbox Gamecube era. I even bought the Wii U despite how few games it had. The XBO has absolutely zero exclusive games that give me an excuse to buy.

Even a failure like Wii U had Bayonetta 2, Splatoon, Super Mario Maker that I needed the system to play. The few interesting XBO games can be played on other systems thus give me no excuse to buy the hardware. It probably is the most soulless and no-personality console ever.

I think barely anyone can think back in 20 years remembering what games or hardware features are tie to the XBO. The Wii U people will at least remember as a system with few cool exclusives and has a controller with a screen.

Same here. If you have a pc there is zero reason to buy one. Tbh even if I didnt own a pc, I would have no reason to buy one, because I still havent played any of the xbox store games anyway. The only reason why anyone I know owns an xbone is because they had friends that play on xbox live
 

Jimm

Member
I am so happy that I didn't buy an Xbone when Scalebound was announced.

Because if I bought the fucking thing and learned Scalebound was cancelled, I would have genuinely been pissed.


I did this. I bought it in anticipation but also for Sunset Overdrive. At least that game was fantastic. But not price of a console fantastic. My XB1 has since been sold. No reason for me to own one. The very few exclusives I was interested in are on PC anyway.
 

Melchiah

Member
This is insane. I don't even know how to respond this. You even gave the example of indies right after.

Specially when most AAA exclusives people can think of are as safe as they can be. Tell me all about the risks games like Uncharted and Halo are taking.

Yeah, about that...

http://www.dualshockers.com/shuhei-...ke-money-but-sony-will-always-support-talent/
Yoshida said:
It’s a hit-driven business. We look at our financial results of the titles, and probably three or four out of ten make money, and maybe one or two make all the money to cover the cost of the others titles. So we have to be able to maintain that hit ratio at a certain level to be able to continue in the business, so we always try to find out and support and help grow the talent. That’s the most important work that I believe myself and some of my management team at worldwide studios are doing.

It's a safe bet they wouldn't take that kind of risks, if the exclusives weren't meant to bolster their platform.
 

Humdinger

Member
The only reason why anyone I know owns an xbone is because they had friends that play on xbox live

So you don't know anyone who likes Halo, or Forza, or Gears, or Ori, or any of the other Xbox exclusives? I find that kind of strange. You must not know many Xbox gamers.

I know a bunch. They give a wide variety of reasons why they own an Xbox.
 

ElNino

Member
So you don't know anyone who likes Halo, or Forza, or Gears, or Ori, or any of the other Xbox exclusives? I find that kind of strange. You must not know many Xbox gamers.

I know a bunch. They give a wide variety of reasons why they own an Xbox.
It must be a regional thing, considering how much more popular PlayStation is across the pond (and less popular Microsoft is).

While I (and by extension my kids) own all the consoles, I only know a couple of other people who own a PS4 while many more own an Xbox One. The only PS4 game my son plays is MLB The Show, and all of his other gaming time is spent on the Xbox.
 

bigjig

Member
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.

Even counting BC games your point is moot, because going by your logic of "being available to be played" you'd have to count PS2 classics and PS Now games on PS4.
 

panda-zebra

Member
I feel like we have this discussion every month?

I feel like majority of the poster complaining and participating these discussion does not own Xbox or have any desire to get one

I feel like you hit the nail on the head.

Microsoft's challenge is to rectify this, and these threads turning up regularly highlight what they could do to make it so. A more diverse and compelling range of exclusive software would go a long way.

Right now, and going into 2018, the prospect of a more powerful box to play the same range games isn't looking like it's enough for many.
 

nekkid

It doesn't matter who we are, what matters is our plan.
I feel like you hit the nail on the head.

Microsoft's challenge is to rectify this, and these threads turning up regularly highlight what they could do to make it so. A more diverse and compelling range of exclusive software would go a long way.

Right now, and going into 2018, the prospect of a more powerful box to play the same range games isn't looking like it's enough for many.

And yet would still not convince many of the people here to get one. They've got no intention, regardless of what MS does.
 
And yet would still not convince many of the people here to get one. They've got no intention, regardless of what MS does.
I own one. It hasn't been used for gaming in over a year.

Even on my PC I haven't played a MS Studios title in ages. I honestly think MS has completely dropped the ball this gen in terms of exclusive output, especially when you compare it to the early years of last gen. We're seeing the same anemic output as post-Kinect 360 (basically ever since Phil took over it's slowed to a crawl), and that's disappointing.
 
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.


DAT panic mode, and nervousness. The storm is coming King X Nov.7th. DEAL WITH IT.
 

Goalus

Member
It's telling that no sources were posted.

I indeed expected him to not be able to backup his claim of Xbox losing money with a source.

As far as that source doesn't exist, we have to assume that the business is doing well enough to carry on. Revenue is up YOY, despite declining hardware sales (i.e. more money is made by software which usually means more profit, if no big AAA titles have bombed in the respective time frame). The CEO calling Xbox a "critical asset" adds to the impression that it's a valuable addition to Microsoft's product portfolio because Satya doesn't say things he doesn't mean or changes his mind about two months later.
 

Inuhanyou

Believes Dragon Quest is a franchise managed by Sony
I dont know how this thread has gone on for so long. For the people looking at exclusives on PS4 as an example of MS dropping the ball, MS were never going to get your money in the first place with the strategy they have been finding success in recently.

MS is not losing money in their Xbox division right now. On the contrary, despite the hardware sales gap, their profits are through the roof and they are laughing all the way to the bank. They are simply not investing in traditional channels to find that success.

You can not be interested in the route they have taken, but to say they are failing and should change because they are losing money or not finding success somehow, is a flawed way of thinking. Its better if you simply go to another ecosystem altogether if you want something different than what they are currently offering.
 

anothertech

Member
People arguing Xbox is not losing money does not take away from the fact their first party offerings at the moment is shit, no matter who you compare it to.

They need some new fresh ip's and to start pumping them out if they want Xbox to thrive. It's a valid complInt and everything else is just noise.
 

Novocaine

Member
People arguing Xbox is not losing money does not take away from the fact their first party offerings at the moment is shit, no matter who you compare it to.

They need some new fresh ip's and to start pumping them out if they want Xbox to thrive. It's a valid complInt and everything else is just noise.

They're not shit if those are the games you want to play.
 
Its not hard to look:
Operating Income of the Personal Cloud and Computing Division was 6.1bn for 2016.

It also has the same info in the quarterlies.

I know the next thing you're both going to say.
I mean...what has been asked for hasn't been provided. Because it's not available, that's not the fault of anyone here.

But I can tell this is probably going to keep going back and forth so I'll end my participation in the 'profit' conversation from here.
 

leeh

Member
I mean...what has been asked for hasn't been provided. Because it's not available, that's not the fault of anyone here.

But I can tell this is probably going to keep going back and forth so I'll end my participation in the 'profit' conversation from here.

There you go.
 
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