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Why didn't Microsoft win over the hearts of gamers like Sony and Nintendo did?

Gamer79

Predicts the worst decade for Sony starting 2022
Lack of exclusives.

3rd party games play better on ps4 vs the x1 so no advantage there.

The only exclusives worth playing IMO is the Forza Horizon series. Halo and Gears of WAr have gotten stale.
 

lvl8

Member
Failed to attract younger crowd with mascots and weebs with waifu games.

They mostly just attracted preteens and man children yelling profanities at each other.
 
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everything so silent on microsoft..mostly now their game development is okay but its community control support mostly not good...its so silent even they are lacking on announcing games event just waiting for big events like e3
*lacking e-sport material on this console(mostly killer instinct has it but its just faint) Halo Wars 2 can get it but MS doesnt support it......mostly popular games that has esport are controlled by its publishers like activision's Call of Duty Series or EA's Fifa(even its creator 343 on Halo Wars 2 are conscious about it)
*Microsoft doesnt know how to handle its Community or control it....via events
 

deriks

4-Time GIF/Meme God
Microsoft never intended to have a videogame. They introduce the Xbox as an multimedia machine.

The 360 was everything a different bet, so they invented a real console that has multimedia stuff.

Xbox One was introduced as a multimedia device again because of Don Matrick, so the backlash still is kinda felt to this day. Nobody wants to see an hour of TV TV TV or a teaser of a dog in the next generation of games... But Phil Spencer came and changed a lot the gaming side of Microsoft, and we hope that the next Xbox could be just a gaming machine with media stuff.
 

kungfuian

Member
Red Ring
KInect
Aaron Greenberg and his Frat boy marketing spin bullshit persona
Milo
Velocity Girl
Always online
TV TV TV
Larry Hyrb the creepy door to door vacuum/encyclopedia salesman
no used games
paid timed exclusives
power of the cloud
We have a system for that
Don Mattrick and his stupid smug face
Forza Gears Halo Forza Gears Halo Forza Gears Halo..........
talk talk talk promise promise promise talk talk talk......

edit- to add balance these are a few things I like about X-box
Cuphead
Ori
Gears
Sunset Over Drive
Game Pass
Play Anywhere
Viva Pinata
competition for Sony
The last Night
Phil Spencer is Human
 
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Vasto

Member
There is a lot of love for Xbox from Xbox gamers. You will see that as soon as Phil steps out on the stage at E3 but the whole winning over hearts thing is just not us.

Its like what Johnny tells his students in Cobra Kai.

" Xbox is about being baddass "
 
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Fox Mulder

Member
It was a great system and had more exclusives than Xbox One.

It was more powerful than the ps2 and the built in HDD was great. Third party games could look better or had better functions. Stuff like Splinter Cell or GTA was way better on the Xbox. NFL 2k series had halftime shows with your plays.

MS tried a lot of stuff early on the Xbox and they got some Dreamcast stuff too.
 
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hunthunt

Banned
There's a lot of reasons for that:

-Abusive Market Behavior
-Windows ME, 8 and their shitty software in general
- Xbox Live (Online under a paywall)
-Zune
-Kinect
-RROD
-paid DLC
-All those closed studios
-Lack of innovation or fresh ideas, or good ideas, or ideas in general.
 

Ryllix_

Member
Microsoft had an impossible amount of negative credibility prior to the launch of the Xbox. People hated Microsoft. Even people who were diehard PC gamers hated Microsoft. The Xbox 360's hardware failure (Red ring) issue soured a ton of people that generation. Xbox One's original "vision" and corporate BS soured lots of gamers this generation. I am an xbox fan, but this is the truth of the matter. Xbox during the OG days and nowadays are great, but there were many rough years in between.
 

Stuart360

Member
Orig Xbox only sold about 25mil, but it was a great console and people who owned it seemed to love it. 360 was loved, 85mil sales, amazing game attach rate. XB1 sems to be hated though by none owners, whether through a lack of exclusives, or because of all the shit at the start of the gen.
I think PS5 will win next gen as Sony is simply more popular worldwide, but i do expect Xbox to do much better next gen than this gen.
 

Klayzer

Member
Microsoft had an impossible amount of negative credibility prior to the launch of the Xbox. People hated Microsoft. Even people who were diehard PC gamers hated Microsoft. The Xbox 360's hardware failure (Red ring) issue soured a ton of people that generation. Xbox One's original "vision" and corporate BS soured lots of gamers this generation. I am an xbox fan, but this is the truth of the matter. Xbox during the OG days and nowadays are great, but there were many rough years in between.
To piggyback on your opinions, a large section of the gaming community for whatever reason just doesn't like Microsoft. Hell some will not even acknowledge anything positive that Microsoft has brought to the industry. I personally like Xbox and want them to succeed.
 

Aren117

Member
OG Xbox and Xbox 360 were so good. OG Xbox was a powerhouse of console, lots of cool games like Halo, Forza, Jet Set Radio Future, Ninja Gaiden, Shenmue 2, Project Gotham Racing, Black, some ports of PC games like Doom 3, Half-Life 2, KOTOR1 and 2, some enhanced ports like Genma Onimusha, Fatal Frame 2... It really was a charming console, like the Dreamcast (imo)

UI in the 360 was blazing fast, even on the latest NXE UI. The store was pratically seamless with the rest of the menus, the Guide was awesome, custom soundtracks/background music. Coming from the PS3, it was such a huge difference with the amount of things you could do with the console, and how fast everything was. Had a bunch of cool games too.

Xbox One was a huge mistake, the UI is sluggish, third party games run bad, only good thing is the backwards compatibility. Didn't had the heart to buy the One X. Holy shit, what a shitshow of launch.

Now that Halo is coming to PC again, I have no need for another Xbox console, thank god.
 

Silver Wattle

Gold Member
The OG Xbox started them off well, then they made the RROD machine, didn't invest enough in new first party IP and then put mattrick in charge and tried going casual on their fan base.

They can rebound though, just focus on making tons of new IP paired with good hardware, no casual gimmicks.
 
Microsoft had an impossible amount of negative credibility prior to the launch of the Xbox. People hated Microsoft. Even people who were diehard PC gamers hated Microsoft. The Xbox 360's hardware failure (Red ring) issue soured a ton of people that generation. Xbox One's original "vision" and corporate BS soured lots of gamers this generation. I am an xbox fan, but this is the truth of the matter. Xbox during the OG days and nowadays are great, but there were many rough years in between.

The RROD effect is generally really overstated though. I mean, yes the failure rate was fucking unbelievable (I worked for em during that time, I was seeing it all happen in real time) to the point where I'm actually fairly sure about 100% of the first Xbox 360 batch failed on people BUT, there was a 3 year warranty on that and so most people got that replaced. And also, it MOSTLY ceased to be an issue with the arrival of an updated motherboard and got further killed off by the release of the 360 Elite and Arcade which had an even better one.
 

brap

Banned
Everybody had a 360 with halo and gears. I think xbox cheerleaders are looking for something to cry about as usual.
 

Gamernyc78

Banned
The RROD effect is generally really overstated though. I mean, yes the failure rate was fucking unbelievable (I worked for em during that time, I was seeing it all happen in real time) to the point where I'm actually fairly sure about 100% of the first Xbox 360 batch failed on people BUT, there was a 3 year warranty on that and so most people got that replaced. And also, it MOSTLY ceased to be an issue with the arrival of an updated motherboard and got further killed off by the release of the 360 Elite and Arcade which had an even better one.

Noopppe initially it was a one year warranty and so many thousands if not more units died and ppl had to buy new consoles because Microsoft was like no your out of warranty. The only reason it was extended was not at good faith but because a serious class action lawsuit was initiated by these same ppl and the courts mandated an extension to the warranty and tht Microsoft handle this mess.

Furthermore what really alienated me to Microsft was tht through court proceedings it came out tht Microsoft purposely pushed out Xbox ahead of time to beat Sony to launch even though through testing they knew of this issue.

By the time the warranty was extended many ppl were on their second or third Xbox. That change wasn't done in good faith. All companies have failure rates but this issue was known before release, they didnt acknowledge it until the courts (they actually denied it) and it just was bad business and no other companies failurate was so crazy like this, ever so it isn't even comparable.

Rrod and it's severity really hurt their image and it made me stay wawy from them. That and their reliance on the their three most famous ips, plus the messaging at Xbox one release plus the hot air pr and doctored kinect videos just made them seem as the big bad, lying corporation in many ppls eyes.
 
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HeresJohnny

Member
The RROD effect is generally really overstated though. I mean, yes the failure rate was fucking unbelievable (I worked for em during that time, I was seeing it all happen in real time) to the point where I'm actually fairly sure about 100% of the first Xbox 360 batch failed on people BUT, there was a 3 year warranty on that and so most people got that replaced. And also, it MOSTLY ceased to be an issue with the arrival of an updated motherboard and got further killed off by the release of the 360 Elite and Arcade which had an even better one.
It was very much a problem, and probably inflated the 360's numbers higher than they should have been given how many systems failed. However, remember Sony was classactioned over PS2 lawsuits for excessive failures, so it isn't entirely uncommon nor difficult to get the customer to forget, perhaps unfortunately. Xbox has had so many other issues that it's just another point on a long list.
 
Why should I respect Microsoft as a gaming company when they started out the console generation focusing on an "all-in-one" experience that didn't put games at the forefront? Why should I put Microsoft in the same league as Sony and Nintendo when they barely have any exclusives that interest me, outside of a new Forza Horizon? Why should I continue to care what new exclusives they have to show if it's just going to end up being cancelled like Scalebound because it doesn't appeal to a large enough demographic? Don't even get me started on Forza Street - they clearly want a big chunk of the mobile / microtransaction space without any regard to maintaining a respectable image of their successful racing brand.

Sony and Nintendo learned from their mistakes. That's why they continue to win over the hearts of gamers. I don't see what Microsoft is doing so well apart from supposedly building up their first-party lineup in preparation for the Xbox Two's launch, but for all we know they could be imitating EA's business model because "game development is too expensive" or some other bullshit excuse that somehow didn't apply until recently.

I won't believe Microsoft are doing anything for the benefit of the traditional console gamer until I see it.
 
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DForce

NaughtyDog Defense Force
Microsoft really lacked an identity this generation and it took them years to realize that they need compelling exclusive to compete against Sony and Microsoft.

The problem is that the fan base denied this was a problem for years and now are starting to realize ever since Microsoft started acquiring new studios.

While Gears and Halo are popular franchises, they need something new and fresh.
 

EverydayBeast

thinks Halo Infinite is a new graphical benchmark
My issue is their exclusives. I get that you have Gears of War, Forza and Halo, but MS should be wiping the floor and at some point you have to look past their failures (RROD, Kinect) remember, Halo is by far the best FPS out there, but I don’t know if 3 exclusives is deep enough.
 

HeresJohnny

Member
Why should I respect Microsoft as a gaming company when they started out the console generation focusing on an "all-in-one" experience that didn't put games at the forefront? Why should I put Microsoft in the same league as Sony and Nintendo when they barely have any exclusives that interest me, outside of a new Forza Horizon? Why should I continue to care what new exclusives they have to show if it's just going to end up being cancelled like Scalebound because it doesn't appeal to a large enough demographic? Don't even get me started on Forza Street - they clearly want a big chunk of the mobile / microtransaction space without any regard to maintaining a respectable image of their successful racing brand.

Sony and Nintendo learned from their mistakes. That's why they continue to win over the hearts of gamers. I don't see what Microsoft is doing so well apart from supposedly building up their first-party lineup in preparation for the Xbox Two's launch, but for all we know they could be imitating EA's business model. I won't believe Microsoft are doing anything for the benefit of the traditional console gamer until I see it.
They've got a ton to prove. It's all on them to either make a mass market machine capable of lasting an entire generation without revisions. I don't think you're alone in taking a wait and see approach. Microsoft has spent far too long penalizing early adopters.
 

Bernkastel

Ask me about my fanboy energy!
I remember Xbox was also hated during the Xbox 360 days with passion. Unlike Sega, Sony gets to be both the cool kid and popular. But upto Xbox 360, they had a fanbase to defend the brand from the hate.
OG Xbox was not a bro shooter console, but after the success of Halo, many copycats followed in the 360. Xbox One can't also be called a bro shooter console.
More than, first party exclusives, Sony and Nintendo have something Microsoft does not - third part exclusives. Games like Persona 5 are exclusive without Sony paying anything, while MS paid 50 million USD for an inferior version of FF XIII(which probably funded another Sony exclusive). There are cases like Eternal Sonata, where Microsoft funds the development of the game but Sony later gets a better version. You will rarely find a Xbox exclusive, not funded by Microsoft. Then their are cases like Shin Megamix Tensei : Nine and Infinite Undiscovery which are not touched by Atlus and SE fans because of how mediocre they are. Why do the likes of Atlus and SE make a mediocre game when it comes to Xbox? I don't even want to start on all those Xbox 360 JRPGs that got a superior release on PS3.
All Sega consoles sold less than Xbox One, but they got many 3rd party exclusives, so it's not an issue of their being more PS4s than Xbox One(many devs made 3rd party exclusives for PS3 to support it when it was not performing well). The idea that Experience is making a Xbox One exclusive Yoko wa saku hana is laughed at and everyone wants them to eventually port it to PS4/Switch. This makes it very heard for Microsoft. This is the reason why they have funded so many different genres(both the OG Xbox and Xbox One), no one wants to make an exclusive for Xbox One, so Microsoft has to do it themselves, but now people don't want them to buy studios. Heck, some studios even make Sony/Nintendo exclusives out of their own pocket when they are bankrupt
Recently, Platinum Games confirmed that Scalebound was more of their fault then Microsoft(but people still keep blaming Microsoft)
They spent 5 years in Scalebound, but made Nier:Automata in 2 years.
Another, problem is blind ignorance. People, love to associate all bad things in the industry with Microsoft.

The entire thread people compare MS with Randy, EA, Nether Realms ignoring that Forza Horizon 4, Sea of Theives, State of Decay 2 , Crackdown 3 have no or almost non-existent MTX. Microsoft never was part of any MTX controversy, but people always include them in it. 343i had to deny 4 times that their is no Battle Royale in Halo Infinite, but even in GAF people still claim they would have one, they just won't call it Battle Royale.
Most Xbox supporters in NeoGaf are called fanatics, I guess it's wrong to support something you like.
 

Stuart360

Member
It was very much a problem, and probably inflated the 360's numbers higher than they should have been given how many systems failed. However, remember Sony was classactioned over PS2 lawsuits for excessive failures, so it isn't entirely uncommon nor difficult to get the customer to forget, perhaps unfortunately. Xbox has had so many other issues that it's just another point on a long list.
I'm sure it had some effect, but not as much as certain people say, hense why game attach rates were almost always higher on 360 than PS3. So the 'RROD made 360 look more successful than it was' argument doesn't realy hold up, otherwise game attach rates would of been much higher on PS3.
 

One smexy gam3r

Walmart's Employee of the Month
I have always loved Microsoft's systems, with the original xbox getting the most love. It blew me away, as someone who didn't grow up on pc. I will admit I was soured with the xbox one and was misinformed on some things about it. Recently got one and now I barely touch my ps4 slim, and I have the last guardian waiting on me. The fucking game pass blows psn now away. The faster downloads. The fact the system never crashes is impressive(it does hang sometimes for 10-20 seconds), unlike ps4 which crashes depending on what theme you have going. The blu rays look better for some reason(not referring to ultra 4k either). The fact you gameshare amongst all the accounts on the same one, by default without jumping through extra hoops. The one can play x65 mkv files, which the ps4 can't. The battery life in the wireless controller is top shelf. I love the xbox one.
 

Gamernyc78

Banned
Its MiyazakiHatesKojima , he's probably joking lol. Having said that, i'm pretty sure Sony has canceled more games and closed down more studios than Microsoft this gen. Someone correct me if i'm wrong.

Your pretty sure? Please enlighten me as I can't think of one game that was officially revealed then canceled by Sony even though there might be one or two, definitely not more. Even The Last Guardian released after so long. As for studios, tht shit par the course on all consoles. Sonys output on exclusives hasn't suffered and is still where Micro wishes it could be.
 
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Stuart360

Member
Your pretty sure? Please enlighten me as I can't think of one game that was officially revealed then canceled by Sony even though there might be one or two, definitely not more. As for studios tht shit par the course on all consoles. Sonys output on exclusives hasn't suffered and is still where Micro wishes it could be.
They closed down Evolution though, and that hit me more than anything. No more MotorStorm :messenger_pouting:. Scalebound at least looked shit, as almost everyone said, until it got cancelled of course.
 

JordanN

Banned
SEGA set the bar higher.

As someone mentioned earlier, Xbox basically feels like a "console that just plays 3rd party games" which in today's world is kinda boring.

When SEGA was in the gauntlet, they were trying to break new ground with IP's, innovative hardware, innovative software, fiercely competitive ads.
 
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Gamernyc78

Banned
They closed down Evolution though, and that hit me more than anything. No more MotorStorm :messenger_pouting:. Scalebound at least looked shit, as almost everyone said, until it got cancelled of course.

Yeah we know about Evolution and I like them but it didn't perform up to par, shit happens.
 

Gamernyc78

Banned
SEGA set the bar higher.

As someone mentioned earlier, Xbox basically feels like a "console that just plays 3rd party games" which in today's world is kinda boring.

When SEGA was in the gauntlet, they were trying to break new ground with IP's, innovative hardware, innovative software, fiercely competitive ads.

I was a Sega head and my brother. Turbografx head. Our Christmases were great :) and yeah Sega was pushing console games, innovation, etc alot thts why I loved their consoles. Some of it hurt them but I liked them for it.
 

Danjin44

The nicest person on this forum
SEGA set the bar higher.

As someone mentioned earlier, Xbox basically feels like a "console that just plays 3rd party games" which in today's world is kinda boring.

When SEGA was in the gauntlet, they were trying to break new ground with IP's, innovative hardware, innovative software, fiercely competitive ads.
But Xbox is still get some of the third party Japanese games for no good reason. I'm still wandering why games like Yakuza and DQXI is not coming out for Xbox even tho it releasing in other systems.
 
It's freaking Microsoft you know. Windows, Excel, all the stuff people know MS for really pushes gaming aside. The Xbox is a well known trademark now but they messed up with the X One launch. Sony on the other hand drank on their faulters. Nintendo needless to say, it was always and will always be the home of Mr. Videogame himself.
 

Pidull

Member
I think that even though there are myriad reasons why they haven't won over the hearts of gamers, it simply comes down to what Microsoft valued most with Xbox.

Microsoft valued brands over talent, in an industry where talent shines through. Nowhere was this more apparent than when they let Bungie walk away from the franchise that built their gaming empire. Once they lost the price and graphical advantage, there wasn't much left for gamers to attach themselves to.

They've seemed to realize this issue and are trying to remedy it, so next generation should prove to be more interesting again.
 

StreetsofBeige

Gold Member
And then Sony was their first. PS1 already had 100+ million sales. PS2 was a 150 million seller. MS got into the business a year after the PS2 launched. To beat the champ you really have to do much better than the champ.
You forgot to mentioned both 360 and PS3 sold about the same amount of units, where PS3 dropped from 150 million to something like 87 million (whatever Sony said a week ago was there final ship out numbers). Also, Wii beat both.

Arguing unit sales is like a PC gamer saying a GPU from 5 years ago selling millions of units is better than a more powerful 4 year old chip that has sold less, and a 3 year old GPU that has sold ever fewer units.
 
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LegendaryLife

Neo Member
It did, you're just too old to realize it.

We all love Sony or Nintendo because they are the consoles we had as little kids. Xbox is the sweet, nostalgic memories of a younger generation.
 
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S

SLoWMoTIoN

Unconfirmed Member
This gen? No games I want to play outside 2. The original Xbox One was a piece of shit as well. Took longer to load, had problems just installing games not to mention the time it took to install anything in it didn't work. Night and day comparison with my 360 which I loved. Sony pissed off a few companies this past year I don't see why MS just doesn't try to reach out to them or hell try to appeal to more than the CoD/FIFA bros.
 
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But Xbox is still get some of the third party Japanese games for no good reason. I'm still wandering why games like Yakuza and DQXI is not coming out for Xbox even tho it releasing in other systems.
Because Yakuza and Dragon Quest don't sell as well in the west as they do in Japan. They're not nearly as popular as Final Fantasy and even that franchise I don't think you could argue most people are buying an Xbox to play.

Same reason why Guilty Gear Xrd isn't available on Xbox.
 
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The RROD effect is generally really overstated though. I mean, yes the failure rate was fucking unbelievable (I worked for em during that time, I was seeing it all happen in real time) to the point where I'm actually fairly sure about 100% of the first Xbox 360 batch failed on people BUT, there was a 3 year warranty on that and so most people got that replaced. And also, it MOSTLY ceased to be an issue with the arrival of an updated motherboard and got further killed off by the release of the 360 Elite and Arcade which had an even better one.

I got three replacements. First one only lasted a few weeks. Second one a few months. The third replacement died just beyond the 12 month warranty. Microsoft told me i was shit out of luck.

Only console i've ever had a problem with.
 
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