None really interest me, but they've done a good job the past year. Finally.
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Phil Spencer: We're upping our investment with first party and committed to innovate
- Thread starter leeh
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None really interest me, but they've done a good job the past year. Finally.
Tell that to Ryse, Sunset overdrive, quantum break, Recore, and the other single player games on Xbox. Even ppl here on gaf keep saying "I'll get an Xbox when it has diverse games." I think what they really mean is "Japanese support" cuz Xbox has diversity. The "diverse" games just don't do well sadly.
Gamezone
Gold Member
Obviously hot garbage like Ryse, Quantum Break and ReCore doesn`t sell well. The same can`t be said for Sony`s Uncharted and The Last of Us. You can`t blame it on games being single player and story driven.
But as long as people are buying too many copies of mediocre MMO`s like Destiny and The Division, I can`t understand him from a business perspective.
But as long as people are buying too many copies of mediocre MMO`s like Destiny and The Division, I can`t understand him from a business perspective.
A voice of reason.
Is it too much to also ask for good games? Because really only Sunset Overdrive is a good game from those you mentioned. And that's not from a first-party either.
FinaruDensetsu
Member
Well at least to me those games were pretty bad single player, story based games (sunset basically had no story). They need to do a better job and they will now that they're injecting more money into first party development.
VincentMatts
Member
Possible, didnt notice.
DriftingSpirit
Member
The games need to be high quality. It isn't enough to just release okay games.
wesleyshark
Banned
His honesty is welcomed. SP games are great, but games like Destiny are better.
mysteriousmage09
Member
I didn't say that. But when you start getting exclusive games so fast, nobody is going to give a shit talking about the tech differences between PS4 and Xbox One for Mass Effect: Andromeda.
The Salt Life
Banned
It was never released.....To the public.....
Halo 5 was, it was successful, like another game that was probably not very good (scale bound) they canned it. Just like they should have canned Master Chief Collection and like how Sony should have canned No Mans Sky. I don't care if Sony of Microsoft lose money, they don't pay my bills, I do. Microsoft is a big company I'm sure they will be ok.
But games that are "okay" are some of the best selling games this gen. Also let's not act like games getting 76-77 or 82 on metacritic are somehow bad games. As of every game that has good sales is 90+
Ryse, D4, Sunset Overdrive, Quantum Break, etc... were excellent games. Especially Sunset Overdrive (my GOTY of 2014) and Quantum Break (not my GOTY of 2016 but up there in my top 5).
I see a lot of doom and gloom in this thread but I'm reserving judgement until I see what they announce this E3.
I think what's hurt Microsoft lately is the lack of Japanese single player games. Which they don't produce. There are 3rd party games that should be on Microsoft systems but for whatever reason aren't. Like Persona 5, Yakuzo 0, Shenmue 3, FFVII Remake, 999, Virtue's Last Reward.
Would help tremendously if we had those games to complement Microsoft's really good 1st party games + the overall 3rd party software on the system.
And yes, Microsoft's 1st party games are really good. Forza Horizon 3 was incredible, as was Gears of War 4, and Sea of Thieves, State of Decay 2, and Crackdown 3 aren't released yet of course but could be fantastic games too.
It just stings to not have Japanese third party games.
I see a lot of doom and gloom in this thread but I'm reserving judgement until I see what they announce this E3.
I think what's hurt Microsoft lately is the lack of Japanese single player games. Which they don't produce. There are 3rd party games that should be on Microsoft systems but for whatever reason aren't. Like Persona 5, Yakuzo 0, Shenmue 3, FFVII Remake, 999, Virtue's Last Reward.
Would help tremendously if we had those games to complement Microsoft's really good 1st party games + the overall 3rd party software on the system.
And yes, Microsoft's 1st party games are really good. Forza Horizon 3 was incredible, as was Gears of War 4, and Sea of Thieves, State of Decay 2, and Crackdown 3 aren't released yet of course but could be fantastic games too.
It just stings to not have Japanese third party games.
For shareholders? Sure.
I'm sad to hear that Xbox is going in that "service" direction but I understand why they do it. In the end Microsoft is a much larger company with different objectives in mind.
If it benefits their overall business, good for them. I hope the best for them. Xbox on Windows is probably one of their pillars against Apple's Macs and mobile devices so they will keep that brand alive and well funded.
Personally it is nowhere near my tastes and what I want from video games. I'm glad Sony and Nintendo are still going in the opposite direction at least for the foreseeable future.
If it benefits their overall business, good for them. I hope the best for them. Xbox on Windows is probably one of their pillars against Apple's Macs and mobile devices so they will keep that brand alive and well funded.
Personally it is nowhere near my tastes and what I want from video games. I'm glad Sony and Nintendo are still going in the opposite direction at least for the foreseeable future.
Spyder_Monkey
Banned
"Diverse" All but one is a third person shooter and that's because Ryse takes place in ancient Rome.
FinaruDensetsu
Member
Well right now both exclusives and performance are in the ps4's favor. When ps4 has the edge in exclusives but xbox has the edge in performance later this year people will give a shit.
primovinny
Member
Are you hurt? Someone broke your heart? Do you need friends? Are you in touch with your family?
Just because you don't like the game it doesn't mean it's hot garbage or mediocre. And by the way, you may want some classes on phrase structure, your second phrase makes no sense. (if something works people will try to take money from it, it's not a well-kept secret. What you don't understand about this?)
StereoVsn
Member
There are reasons why Uncharted, Last of Us, Horizon sold well. Mainly those reasons have to do with these games being great and the MS efforts being mediocre. Even Infamous Second Son and Expansion are better then most of MS' games above and Infamous is not a great game but still decent.
And yes, Japanese studios SP support is missing but then again, FFXV sold only 20% or less on Xbone.
Breakfast at Noon
Member
I'll believe it when I see it.
Words from all these companies mean nothing to me.
Words from all these companies mean nothing to me.
Lack of Japanese support is definitely a huge factor, as it prevents games like Persona and Nier, but what about homegrown games like Sony has with Sony Santa Monica, Bend, and Naughty Dog?
Everyone points to Horizon as an example of a game that was done very well, and it the exception, but what makes it so? A talented team that had no prior experience making open world games took on a new project, and nailed it. The game was critically well received, and seems to have sold very well. Why is MS so afraid to do something like this? There was nothing about Horizon that immediately gave it an edge was there? GG was coming off a pretty mediocre offering in Killzone 3.
MS has to own their mistakes, and fix them in house. Assign 343 to a new project, put Halo on hold for a few years, and hit one out of the park like GG did.
Is Halo really THAT important anyway when you have annual COD, plus Destiny, Dice, and Overwatch? I mean, yeah, it's an important franchise, but will they survive a 3-4 year hiatus? I think it will. If worse comes to worse, make the new IP based on the Halo universe. Wouldn't a Horizon type game within the Halo world be fucking awesome?
Oh boy....
Wait what? How is destiny better than SP games, like how do you compare the two?
Why does it need to be one or the other?
titiklabingapat
Member
How an you dismiss Zelda just like that when it's the sole reason to own a Switch right now and largely driving it's sale?
MS need to treat thier properties like Nintendo does: treat them with care, don't churn out too much of them and let them bake as long as possible and let the teams try new things. Halo is starting to become irrelevant as time goes on for its sameyness.
MS need to treat thier properties like Nintendo does: treat them with care, don't churn out too much of them and let them bake as long as possible and let the teams try new things. Halo is starting to become irrelevant as time goes on for its sameyness.
Saying "all but one is a third person shooter" tells me you probably don't even know the genres those games fall under.
Sunset Overdrive is like its own genre - no way would I call it a third person shooter. It's a colourful, jumping/grinding/platforming game that happens to have shooting.
Quantum Break is a very unique story-driven game involving time-stopping game play and narrative - which happens to have shooting.
Recore is a 3D Metroidvania game... which happens to have shooting.
You guys might not have liked the games I listed, but I enjoyed all of them. It's not just a list war for me. I would love a sequel for every one of those games. Quantum Break has a great story and lots of depth to the characters in it., and really fun gameplay. The other games may not have great story, but gameplay saves it. The last of us and uncharted have boring gameplay to me, but the story saves it.
azertydu91
Hard to Kill
If Fable doesn't count how about project spark?
Edit: eh nevermind
blue_phazon
Member
Spyder_Monkey
Banned
Cool twists on the same genre does not make them different genres. (And I like Sunset that game deserved so much better)
Edit: Also you couldn't even say what genre those games belong to.
The Salt Life
Banned
That game screamed for better multiplayer.
azertydu91
Hard to Kill
Come on be honest, the fact that they have a particularity in their gameplay is irrelevant to their genre.
Uncharted and Last of Us are both 3rd person shooter even though they play very differently just like Infamous is. it's a super hero 3rd perso shooter in an open world I wouldn't call it a whole new genre just because it's open world with a better traversal system.
And there's no reason that one of those games couldn't make a jump in quality with a sequel like Uncharted and Assassins Creed did. Unfortunately, part of the problem is that there's no way in hell MS will take a chance on something like that.
It's crazy considering how the narrative a few years ago was that MS had all the money in the world and could take as many risks as they wanted to make something work.
Excellent, as they should be. Quality first party support and innovation is vital for a healthy ecosystem.
The cycle repeats.
Not a flat line, but a flat circle.
The cycle repeats.
Bit of a double edged sword there.
It's great they are investing more in first party. This is absolutely what they need to do. I hope this works and we start to see some great games down the line.
On the other hand his comments about single player story games are very discouraging. I love these kind of games and going by the success of them I can't say I agree with his comments. Is there more money in service based games? Yeah sure, but a good platform has a healthy mix of both. PS4 is a runaway success due to many factors. Spencer just cited one of them as a negative... weird.
It's great they are investing more in first party. This is absolutely what they need to do. I hope this works and we start to see some great games down the line.
On the other hand his comments about single player story games are very discouraging. I love these kind of games and going by the success of them I can't say I agree with his comments. Is there more money in service based games? Yeah sure, but a good platform has a healthy mix of both. PS4 is a runaway success due to many factors. Spencer just cited one of them as a negative... weird.
AmuroChan
Member
Project Spark.
DriftingSpirit
Member
I'm talking about critical reception. I'm not saying what you're suggesting.
I totally agree Xbox needs more Japanese support. It's the main reason I still get Playstation systems (along with their exclusives). I will wait to see what they do with halo 6 before I say they need to stop. Halo 5 campaign was disappointing but MP was on point. I do think they should do other things with halo tho since they obviously wanna stick to it. That Halo Blocks concept game might have been a good example. I do think they need to start making some new IPs tho. E3 isn't too far now.
azertydu91
Hard to Kill
Just don't expect to much from what phil might say he's somekind of PR empty shell, remember the xbox will invest one billion into xbox games?
I H8 Memes
Member
These are all 3rd party studios. Nobody really cares. Throwing around money for 3rd party exclusives wont tempt most people to buy a console. Especially when they have seen the same strategy generation after generation from MS. Buy 3rd party exclusives for system launch then ... thats it. If you dont have studios to make great first party games then whats the point of your console at all?
Cthulhu_Steev
Member
They both started at zero. MS has a shit ton more money than Sony, surely it's them that should be more risk averse?
DriftingSpirit
Member
That doesn't mean the gaming section has a ton of money to use.
phantasmic_glaive
Member
Better late than never. And if NONE interest you, you should have nothing to worry about, MS has you covered. 🤗
OT, They still have to cater to the fans that want sp games. Consistency is key to making a great lineup of games. PlayStation didn't get there overnight, it took em all last gen to see what works and what doesn't. Now, they have a slew of blockbusters.
Whatever they announce it should be a fresh start for em (ms).
The quote about SP pretty much confirms what I've been thinking about Microsoft for a while. It's not surprising to me at all, and makes business sense.
People on forums like GAF seem to prefer story--driven SP games (and even I do mostly). Zelda, Uncharted, and Horizon might sell a few million copies each, but outside of that in the mainstream sphere service-driven games probably pull in more revenue and have greater market penetration. We're talking about the every day console gamer who buys COD and Madden every year and might be messing around with Destiny or Overwatch now.
My guess: we might see something like Quantum Break's TV presentation style but actually episodic, maybe even bundled with Xbox Game Pass. I'm actually a bit surprised other developers and publishers haven't been talking about the Hitman model.
People on forums like GAF seem to prefer story--driven SP games (and even I do mostly). Zelda, Uncharted, and Horizon might sell a few million copies each, but outside of that in the mainstream sphere service-driven games probably pull in more revenue and have greater market penetration. We're talking about the every day console gamer who buys COD and Madden every year and might be messing around with Destiny or Overwatch now.
My guess: we might see something like Quantum Break's TV presentation style but actually episodic, maybe even bundled with Xbox Game Pass. I'm actually a bit surprised other developers and publishers haven't been talking about the Hitman model.
JamesHolden
Banned
I continue to support Xbox because the exclusive they develop or bankroll continue to put an emphasis into Multiplayer, whether that be coop or competitive play. I tried playing games like Sunset Overdrive and Quantum Break, but it's hard to turn down an invite from a friend who wants to socialize while playing Overwatch, ME:A MP, Smite, etc. Heck, I ended up enjoying Ryse's MP better than the SP during the launch window when I desperate to just playing anything. I just don't make the necessary time to enjoy these sweeping SP experiences because I have to give up something I enjoy more.
I like Phil's message about investment and diversity of offerings, but I also appreciate that they don't plan to dive head first into a string of SP focused games. If Sony wants to position itself as the platform for Niche Japanese SP games, and story driven 1st party SP games that either shine or bomb, that's fine, there's a market for that. But Microsoft doesn't need to imitate Sony to be succesful. Offer gamers different strengths and compete. Now they just need to improve their GaaS offerings to better compete with 3rd party titles already on the market. Sea of Thieves looks like a good start, as that doesn't resemble anything that currently exists elsewhere.
I like Phil's message about investment and diversity of offerings, but I also appreciate that they don't plan to dive head first into a string of SP focused games. If Sony wants to position itself as the platform for Niche Japanese SP games, and story driven 1st party SP games that either shine or bomb, that's fine, there's a market for that. But Microsoft doesn't need to imitate Sony to be succesful. Offer gamers different strengths and compete. Now they just need to improve their GaaS offerings to better compete with 3rd party titles already on the market. Sea of Thieves looks like a good start, as that doesn't resemble anything that currently exists elsewhere.
Is there a demographic that heavily desires GaaS and no SP at all? Or are Ms hoping that 3rd parties will fill that void?
While I can understand the desire to chase where the money seems to be, and getting those service subscribers up, it does seem to be at the risk of offering an unbalanced portfolio to consumers
While I can understand the desire to chase where the money seems to be, and getting those service subscribers up, it does seem to be at the risk of offering an unbalanced portfolio to consumers
Well my point (which azertydu91 actually does a better job of making) is that the games play wildly differently despite all being considered "third-person shooters". Those three games especially (Quantum Break, Sunset Overdrive, and Recore) absolutely can be taken together and called diverse.
JamesHolden
Banned
Yes
Aaronrules380
Member
I mean you say this but most of the successful games as a service games are on ps4 anyways, and most of the exceptions to that are pc only games. Sony has been vastly more successful than MS this gem, and I honestly only see the gap widening. And a big part of why Sony is so successful (and the main reason Nintendo can continue to exist) is that they offer games that are very different to what third parties offer. Phil complained about single player being competitive, but I'd argue GaaS are far more so and far harder to break into since a large part of that audience is content to buy only one or two games a year
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