My issue with Microsoft is every time a game gets delayed, they have nothing to compensate. Sony and Nintendo have smaller stuff like Sifu, Kena, Live a Live etc to fill in the gaps. And when Microsoft eventually releases a new exclusive, it more often than not ends up being mediocre.
Yep. Also, this: they just suck at leading the bad news with good news. When Sony announced the HFW delay back in mid-2021, they had a new gameplay spotlight for it in the State of Play beforehand, which softened the impact of the delay announcement. Same with Ragnarok, and GT7. Meanwhile they still have other exclusives coming (or did already), even if a lot are 3P: FFVII Intergrade, Kena, Sifu, Forspoken, Stray, FFXVI (still confident it's coming this year), Ragnarok etc.
Nintendo may've delayed BOTW2, but they still have several games coming this year, plus again certain system exclusives from 3P partners. Microsoft had the bad luck of counting on a few big 3P exclusives that are now indefinitely delayed due to a war crisis (STALKER 2 and Replaced, which I was especially looking forward to after the showcase last summer...or was it 2020 when they showed it?). But their bigger issue IMO is, they don't have very consistent communication with where their games are, and when they do, like Starfield, it's really just a bunch of talk with nothing to show because - surprise! - here's a delay!
I also think the insiders leaking so many of their game projects is a problem, too, because with things like these delays it makes it look like they let that leak to fill in dead air covering for lack of releases that aren't 3P multiplats. Plus if even a lot of the games they have officially revealed seem to be having issues (in some cases well after release like with Halo Infinite), what hope is there that some of the project name games aren't having issues too? What if some of them end up getting cancelled? Having so many project names floating around out here just puts a spotlight on them in case there are dev issues or cancellations.
In terms of exclusives, well when they're simulator-based, strategy or racing games, you can actually usually count on the quality to be there with Microsoft. Those seem to be genres they excel at. I think if they could add more cinematic flair within some of those games, they could find greater success. Like if they made a Forza Horizon game with the storytelling gravitas of a Fast & Furious film (if Sony tried it with GT it'd probably be something more like Ford vs Ferrari), or adding more cinematic moments in an Age of Empires game. However I don't know if they have people in the division, or on those teams that have the capability or interest of doing such things.
I don't think they will have nothing for 2022. I'm still very much hopeful for some surprise announcements in June.
They still have the new Forza supposedly coming, but nothing official yet. Oh, and Ark 2 and Scorn. But those are really acquired tastes.
That's still who I consider to be the "hardcore" gamers.
There are people that play only a single game like Rainbow 6, Halo, CoD and they play it competitively; to me those people are far more hardcore than gamers that play a shit ton of little indie artsy stuff, Visual Novels or crappy walking sims like Life is Strange that don't even have any gameplay.
Yeah, I can definitely agree with that perspective, or at least partly. Dedication you need to master games like R6, Halo, COD or fighters like SF, Tekken, even Smash, it's a lot in terms of time and skill development.
But I also think just those who invest time in their games so they have some impact on them outside of just being some quick diversion or time-waster, even if that type of game isn't the most technically advanced in terms of skillsets, I think those are also deserving of being considered hardcore depending on how much they devote into playing those games and learning everything about them. There are people who only play games like SH2 for example, but they know EVERYTHING about it, all the secrets, all the lore, themes, dev history, everything. There are people like that when it comes to stuff like King's Field, the Sonic series, Mario, etc.
I think if it's obvious if they put the time and energy into those games, there's no reason they can't be considered hardcore gamers too, in some form.
Useless thread. There are nearly no concerned people, but almost only warriors trying to talk a toy/brand down and you can't change that with words (unless you are their psychologist).
Wrong. I was pretty up on Xbox last year, particularly in the second half, going into that showcase. They were actually, IMO, in kind of a rough spot this time last year, too, but that showcase turned things around.
But then look at some of the results afterwards. Halo Infinite came out, was a thing for like two weeks, then dropped off like a stone. Season 2 is already dead for that game. FH5 had a big debut, but it's tapered off heavily since then, a lot of people feel like it's more of a DLC than really innovating the design of that series. Then the stuff came out about The Initiative. Then Crossfire X (Crossfire L) drops; the first Xbox console exclusive in years and it just...sucked. STALKER 2 indefinitely delayed. Replaced also delayed. Bright Memory Infinite coming out to PC before Xbox (and no word yet on when it's actually coming to Xbox). Now Redfall & Starfield delayed meanwhile PS getting more out of the Zenimax deal so far than Xbox.
It's just a series of unfortunate blunders and missteps that show things haven't really solidified for MS yet, and it'll be a long while until they do. A lot of people were genuinely thinking Starfield would release in November but now that is out of the window. It wouldn't sting as bad if they didn't literally give a very specific date almost a year in advance, then did roundtables and dairies for the game as if they were 100% locked for a November release. Now, IMO, it's reasonable to suspect we won't see that much of either Starfield or RedFall at the June showcase. Anything 1P-wise outside of Forza Motorsport they show will almost 100% not come out in 2022, chances are still good we don't get confirmed dates for Hellblade II or Avowed, either. Never mind games like Everwild which are quite far off, and all the various leaked "project name" games which are probably 2024 or later.
You don't need to be a console warrior or fanboy/fangirl to see that there are reasons to be concerned about MS's ability to build up long-lasting momentum going forward, especially since Sony, Nintendo and others aren't going to stand still and do nothing. I think they needed Starfield to hit this November to solidify what they had been slowly building up momentum-wise from last November, because even though Halo and Forza have kind of fallen off, Xbox was benefiting in NA & Europe from severe PS5 shortages earlier this year. That isn't going to be the case going into the rest of this year now that Sony are going to be ramping up PS5 supply for the fiscal year. Nintendo will also be increasing their supply, and there'll be new GPUs coming to market meaning an influx of prior-gen GPUs getting dumped for the cheap.
All of that plus things like the RedFall/Starfield delay, along with (seemingly) no big exclusives outside of Forza coming the rest of the year and no big 3P games for Day 1 in GamePass (again, that we know of), puts Xbox in a very bad spot. And I'm saying this as someone who
wants Xbox to legitimately do better this generation.
People seem harsher on Microsoft, now that xbox is the market leader.
Don't do this.
