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Will this be the narrative that history will enshrine when talking about Xbox in the future?

Geometric-Crusher

"Nintendo games are like indies, and worth at most $19" 🤡
a) Xbox 360 rivaled the PS3
but in the second half of the 360 era Microsoft began to restrict the console to Gears, Forza and Halo.

b) Knect's colossal success blinded the company's perception, which gradually alienated it from traditional customers in favor of a casual niche, a volatile audience.

c) mistake of not noticing that the WiiU was betrayed by the casual public and therefore the era of motion sensors was over.

d) In the transition to Xbox One Initiate unpopular policies such as attempts to attack the used games market

e) Microsoft's attempt on Xbox One to imitate Sony with narrative games (Quantum Break) was completely rejected by Xbox customers, Xbox customers buy few games and spend a lot of time in just one franchise. The initial Xbox One games sold less than expected and only Halo 5 had an acceptable commercial performance.
Therefore, it would have been better for the company to have just made Halo 5 for launch instead of trying to diversify, with the Xbox client, less is more.

f) turning point
The profit in the console market is in the games not in the hardware, as Xbox customers were not buying the games Phil Spencer decides to recoup his investment by launching Xbox games on the PC (a taboo at that time) and starting a bold but stupid maneuver in my opinion about Game Pass, naturally the Xbox customer would be discouraged from purchasing games officially.

g) At the end of the xbox one generation, MS had an administrative mistake related to the number of new releases, again Gamepass imposed a challenge of impossible deadlines, leading Microsoft to buy several studios and then an entire publisher (70 freaking bi)

h) The current generation began in a pre-launch cold war with MS talking about 12 teraflops (something that turned against it like the Atari Jaguar campaign. Do the math) but once again the deadlines were not being respected, the new Halo had a monkey with N64 look that was a disaster.

Rumors that Gamepass was stagnant, shareholders wanting results led to the recent wave of layoffs and in a way the end of Xbox as a reliable brand with a future etc.

Here's the million-dollar question. If GP was created because MS didn't have games with sales appeal, now it does. Is Call of Duty incompatible with GP under current conditions? Stop selling the game in a traditional way or cut content to adapt to Gamepass at the risk of starting to weaken this powerful franchise? We'll soon know.

Will this be the narrative that history will enshrine when talking about Xbox in the future?
 

Crew511A

Member
I think the narrative is that if Microsoft didn't sign that deal with Bungie, the Xbox brand would be a footnote in gaming history right now.

I'm starting to see some parallels with Sega, except at least Sega knew how to cultivate a good first party lineup. Microsoft clearly doesn't have a clue. Even their Big 3 hitters are hamstrung by bone headed decisions.
 

Humdinger

Member
Will this be the narrative that history will enshrine when talking about Xbox in the future?

I think everyone will write the narrative in different ways, choosing to emphasize different things. You've highlighted many of the key issues, but if I were to write the story, I would put more emphasis on MS's inability to produce high-quality exclusive games that drew people to their console (post 2010). That was their main reason for their downfall, imo. Their PR around this issue also ties into how their reputation got wrecked during the Xbox One era. They were repeatedly taken to task over it, throughout an entire generation, and they offered promise after promise ("wait till next year") that fell flat. They really wore out their welcome with that and degraded their reputation.

I would also be clearer about why GamePass did not work out. You call it "stupid" but don't really elaborate on why. I think the reasons are important, especially because GP was basically the Vision. GP also ended up undermining the console.

I'd put more emphasis on the consequences (internally) of the acquisition, too. That was clearly a turning point. You mention it parenthetically, but it was a big deal.
 

IDKFA

I am Become Bilbo Baggins
Xbox One was the downfall.

That was arguably the most important generation as people were building up their digital libraries, which would carry over to the current generation. With the Xbox One losing ground to the PS4, it gave Sony an advantage before this generation even started.
 

geary

Member
Announcing Bill Murray GIF
 

Geometric-Crusher

"Nintendo games are like indies, and worth at most $19" 🤡
The historical narrative will be more concise. Perhaps nothing more than a two word sentence.

‘Failed leadership.’ Or ‘Basic mismanagement.’
The main reason was undoubtedly that the brand's consumers did not buy the games. This triggered a succession of events that culminated in the current situation.
 

XXL

Member
Sold 25 million units, which was quite unheard of for an expensive peripheral launching five years into the life cycle of the console. And it made the Guinness world records. I think this completely blinded Microsoft.
Kinect was ultimately the beginning of the end of Xbox.

It was directly responsible for the Xbox One being the Xbox One (the worst announcement of all time) and the end of the 360s run of greatness.

It pretty much caused the chain reaction that lead to GamePass and Xbox being over reactive in general.
Alanis Morissette Reaction GIF by MOODMAN

25M units sold wasn't fucking worth it in the end and it's hard to call that a success in my opinion, when looking at the bigger picture.
 
Kinect was ultimately the beginning of the end of Xbox.

It was directly responsible for the Xbox One being the Xbox One (the worst announcement of all time) and the end of the 360s run of greatness.

It pretty much caused the chain reaction that lead to GamePass and Xbox being over reactive in general.
Alanis Morissette Reaction GIF by MOODMAN

25M units sold wasn't fucking worth it in the end and it's hard to call that a success in my opinion, when looking at the bigger picture.
Yes and OP agrees with you. OP explained that Kinect was initially a huge success. It WAS. Then MS was blinded by this success and made a massive blunder by making it part of Xbox one so ultimately it was a trap/failure. But it WAS massively successful at one time
 
Will this be the narrative that history will enshrine when talking about Xbox in the future?
Probably too much info for the next generations. Do you think that we look at Atari and ask ourselves about how the market was back then, that it was considered a toy, that the sellers could give back the games that did not sold and forced the game makers to make huge quantities of games just because? No. Atari made shit games and ET is the most shit of them. If you know even that you are expert in the subject. Same with Sega. Who knew that their founder gave away his fortune to help Sega survive? No, Sega Japan and Sega USA had a civil war that caused their downfall. And once again this is good enough for most people. For Xbox they will either have succeded in making Don mattrick the scapegoat or have a bigger meltdown in the future that will make us forget about it. Or Microsoft will find a way to kill Sony and Nintendo with cash. I don't think they will but we can never know what the future is holding for us.
 

DonkeyPunchJr

World’s Biggest Weeb
I agree that Kinect was the beginning of the end.

Early 360 era was amazing, they had a huge lineup of killer first party AND 3rd party exclusives, including even Japanese exclusives. I’d even say that for a while, 360 was a more essential Japanese gaming machine than PS3 was.

By the end, it was the Kinect + Halo/Gears/Forza machine and they doubled down on that with X1
 

Geometric-Crusher

"Nintendo games are like indies, and worth at most $19" 🤡
I agree that Kinect was the beginning of the end.

Early 360 era was amazing, they had a huge lineup of killer first party AND 3rd party exclusives, including even Japanese exclusives. I’d even say that for a while, 360 was a more essential Japanese gaming machine than PS3 was.

By the end, it was the Kinect + Halo/Gears/Forza machine and they doubled down on that with X1
Aggravatingly, Halo declined after 4, Forza Horizon after FH3 and Forza in the most recent Forza Motorsport, Gears of War 5 was a regular game.

We can add that Microsoft's incessant search for its AA gaas of infinite profit has failed after dozens of attempts since 2016 and Xbox games have never been graphical exponents of the generation because Xbox management spends a lot (spends badly) but doesn't reach the technical quality of Horizon Forbidden West an unbelievable game because it is first and foremost a Playstation 4 game.
 

Alan Wake

Member
Kinect was ultimately the beginning of the end of Xbox.

It was directly responsible for the Xbox One being the Xbox One (the worst announcement of all time) and the end of the 360s run of greatness.

It pretty much caused the chain reaction that lead to GamePass and Xbox being over reactive in general.
Alanis Morissette Reaction GIF by MOODMAN

25M units sold wasn't fucking worth it in the end and it's hard to call that a success in my opinion, when looking at the bigger picture.
Oh, I agree. It was the beginning of the end. But the question was however it was successful. It was.
 
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BlackTron

Member
Kinect was ultimately the beginning of the end of Xbox.

It was directly responsible for the Xbox One being the Xbox One (the worst announcement of all time) and the end of the 360s run of greatness.

It pretty much caused the chain reaction that lead to GamePass and Xbox being over reactive in general.

This is true and when you consider that Kinect was a direct response to Wii, it's staggering how severely its success influenced MS to completely own themselves.
 

Geometric-Crusher

"Nintendo games are like indies, and worth at most $19" 🤡
I think everyone will write the narrative in different ways, choosing to emphasize different things.
you right, but a core will remain no matter how many people disagree, I disagree with the traditional theses that explain the failure of the Dreamcast, for example the toy appearance of the product and the lack of an RPG like Skies of Arcadia for the launch, things that do not appear in no conventional narrative.
 

Alebrije

Gold Member
XBOX :The console that brought PC games to console users.
360: The console that brought multiplayer to the masses.
ONE : nothing to Say good about it until Xbox One X came.
SERIES X : A machine with great power on weak hands. A walking dead.

After 360 Microsoft no offered something new to the market, they played the monopoly card with ONE but it was not Office or Windows. Once thier ONE strategy failed they entered on a new strategy called Gamepass...and time Will tell how it ends just hope for the good of the market Microsoft never get the firsth place , they are fine on 3rd.
 

Humdinger

Member
you right, but a core will remain no matter how many people disagree, I disagree with the traditional theses that explain the failure of the Dreamcast, for example

Yeah, I'm sure there will continue to be post-mortems well after Xbox is gone, and people will continue to disagree.

I saw one of those post-mortems threads about the Dreamcast on the first page, actually. I arrived at gaming after the Dreamcast had departed, so why it failed isn't that interesting to me. I was a big Xbox fan for the first generation and a half, though, so its story is more relevant for me.
 
Poor leadership that a substantial amount of people supported and praised along the way and showed a distain to anyone who didn’t.

Despite a more critical eye on the content, the mainstream gaming media more or less talked around the issue of leadership for years.

And here we are. Years of inconsistency, barren years in terms of high profile games, a console launching with the marketing surrounding playing older titles, their biggest IP became a farce and despite a substantial amount of years in the business they are “still learning” “listening to feedback “. All of which has devalued the console, obstructed the purchase habits of its users with a blunt force push to a subscription service and now they are releasing more of their games on PlayStation and Nintendo.

Congrats
 
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Crew511A

Member
XBOX :The console that brought PC games to console users.
360: The console that brought multiplayer to the masses.
ONE : nothing to Say good about it until Xbox One X came.
SERIES X : A machine with great power on weak hands. A walking dead.

After 360 Microsoft no offered something new to the market, they played the monopoly card with ONE but it was not Office or Windows. Once thier ONE strategy failed they entered on a new strategy called Gamepass...and time Will tell how it ends just hope for the good of the market Microsoft never get the firsth place , they are fine on 3rd.
At least the Series X was a pretty great emulation box until Microsoft decided to pull the plug. And no, I'm not wasting time with Dev mode.
 
Xbox will just be a footnote in history like Windows Phone, I don't think most people think too deeply on Microsoft's various failures to break into consumer markets where they simply do not have the right corporate culture to fit a consumer centric mindset
 

MacReady13

Member
Perfectly said if you ask me. They only have themselves to blame. Shocking how they have mismanaged pretty much everything from middle of the 360 onwards.

The fact they continue on with game pass is staggering.
 

anothertech

Member
With halo, Forza, gears, they were really hitting some home runs. Why did they stop?

They should have let their best studios innovate and try some new IP instead of forcing stale sequels for a decade and a half.

Now they have more studios than ever but nothing noteworthy for the foreseeable near future. How the hell
 

Cyberpunkd

Member

Will this be the narrative that history will enshrine when talking about Xbox in the future?​

That Xbox could most likely never deliver on the returns both Microsoft and shareholders had in mind. That's why XBO went full "TV" since by definition "entertainment" market is much larger than "video game" one. In order to pursue such growth Microsoft bet the Xbox business on Game Pass, neglecting everything else, in order to achieve their quoted 110mln subs in 2030. This has led to total value destruction of the Xbox business.

Here's the GIF version:

Wp Taser GIF by Wellington Paranormal
 
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suits ruined a good thing by trying to appeal to the lowest common denominator, see kinect, xbone, acti aquisition that leads to more scrutiny of the division. and got into a more mainstream push, we will see it bleed out and die as a COD, WoW and Halo house publisher. Mind you none of those games in the future will be more than mediocre at best due to western hiring policies. So it will be a sad slow death.
 
The turning points were:

1. PS3 starting to win the war with exclusives - continued into PS4.

2. XBox One being obsessed with the TV/motion nonsense.

There were so many people on digital and PS exclusives by the time PS5 came along, that Xbox never stood a chance - even without the confusing SKUs.
 
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