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Xbox - I need to get my thoughts out..

Before I even start, this is NOT a hate thread. If anything my frustration comes from love. Really I've just been thinking about this a lot since the showcase last month, and needed to put my thoughts into words. I'm going to put my thoughts into categories starting with the current console.

Xbox One: Gonna make this relatively quick. They fucked up, and fucked up early giving the generation away before it started. The last few years though got me hyped again. They released two great consoles in the Xbox One S and X, and Playground gave up 2 of the best racing games ever made with Horizon 3/4. It gave me hope for the next console, along with the ridiculous value that GamePass holds. They really turned it around bringing me to my next point..

Series X: I feel let down. The beginning of the marketing was great. That initial reveal trailer got me pretty damn hyped, and the thought of a next gen Halo (one of my favorite franchises) was so enticing despite 4/5/MCC being a letdown personally in many ways (though great in others).
  • Their marketing has taken a roll downhill. They seem to contradict themselves left and right making it confusing as to what is actually the truth. They have hyped up showcases only for them to come out and be completely underwhelming. Their ecosystem strategy is on one hand pretty cool, but on the other frustrating. I think it's great for some people that especially in these times may not have the money to shell out for a new console, and they've stated that their first party games will be cross-get for awhile (2 years maybe?). I think it also just removes a lot of the hype for a new console. New consoles should give up new things to be excited about, new things possible by developing specifically for a new console (especially a console without a shit CPU, and slow HDD). But what is true? Multiple games have be shown as Series X exclusive from their 1st party studios so the question is: Are these games simply just so far out that they aren't part of the original statement? Or are you picking and choosing and therefore confusing people?
  • Do you want people to buy your new console? Or do you not care? Do console generations matter or not? It's all so unclear from their marketing which is disappointing.
  • What games come out at launch outside of Halo? A Series X port of some years old games like Horizon 4 and Gears 5? We are getting a console launch without a NEW flagship racing title, and that seems weird.

Game showcases: Some great games have been shown in these but overall were pretty underwhelming. I remember liking some games but outside of The Medium I can't actually pick out a single game that I'm like oh fuck yeah lets go. First one was a "Gameplay Showcase" almost completely void of gameplay. Then they hyped up a First Party showcase which let a lot of people down. You have Rare's game that they don't even know what it is yet. Then you have Fable which was a short teaser and completely CGI. It's like that ESVI teaser. Just why? If it's so far out that you can't show us anything more then CGI teaser then why show us anything at all? And then ...

Halo: I love Halo despite getting a late start on it. I've read the books, I've spent hundreds of hours playing, hundreds of hours reading lore and watching lore videos. The world of Halo is just so rich.
  • I don't want to focus on graphics as if the game is "open world" then it is harder to push fidelity then something like 4/5. Outside of 3/Reach Halo has never been a graphical showcase IMO but a flagship next gen title SHOULD look better then upscaled Halo Reach from 2010. BUT my problem is they kept this under wraps for soooo long which built up hype so so high despite 343i's other games being looked down on by many (I have my problems with those but that's not the point of the thread).
  • We are 3-4 months out from the launch of the consoles, they are on bug fix duty at this point. This won't be fixed by launch, and it reminds me of MCC which has the worst launch of any game I can think of. You can't delay Halo without delaying Series X and it's too late to delay the console. If they had shown us that in like March or April it wouldn't have been nearly as big of a disappointment to see a game that looks much worse then Halo 5 on XBO X. Gameplay looks pretty good but animations and effects just quit and disappear immediately. It's just obvious it's not ready for release. But then 343i tells us they are aware of the criticisms but remind us that it's pushing a new audio engine? What?
  • The announcement of F2P Multiplayer (and 120fps as well on Series X) got me hyped initially but then I remembered what goes hand in hand with F2P games...microtransactions. You could point to Warzone as a way to not ruin a F2P game with them but COD has never really been about deep customization. Halo has been and I can see them ruining it with micro transactions. You want this cool shoulder armor? Well pay for it. This visor? Pay for it. Does it affect the gameplay? No but it is integral in what makes Halo MP customizable without attachments and weapons like in COD.

I want Xbox to wow me so badly. I want to go out and buy a Series X and play an epic mind blowing Halo game. I want to play a gorgeous 60/120fps racing title. I want competition back. I want Xbox to do something great, and make Sony do better as well. Now I have issues with PS5 as well, and honestly neither of the new consoles are really making it known why I should buy them this fall.

I am frustrated because I love Xbox as a brand. I don't want this to turn into console war bullshit, but I just felt like I needed to put my thoughts into words.
 

Mr.ODST

Member
To be fair I feel the same way, a lot I like about my Xbox and PC integration like clips, cloud saves instantly etc, biggest thing for me now is saving money for a house and Xbox really appeals as the big money saver for me, carry over my games from last gen which means I can move my Xbox One X downstairs and play halo on Series X at the highest fidelity (Craig memes ensues), PC for M&KB when I feel like it.

There is still ALOT of value in gaming on Xbox just they don't have the games like PS4 does but so far neither next gen has wowed me, still hyped for halo multiplayer
 
Sometimes it feels like I'm the only one left to be very happy with the last Xbox showcase. They showed some great games and everything is on Game Pass. The more I think of it, the more I'm certain of my pick in November. The only thing that might change it, is a very cheap PS5 (or very expensive Series X).
 
Personally I haven’t enjoyed the brand as much since Pre-Mattrick, even tho that wasn’t faultless either. Been in the preview program for years, got the 100k gamerscore and so on, I’m definitely passionate about Xbox but it has its limits and I can’t be bothered with some other fans who simply can’t just disagree, they call you “hater” “not a true fan”, block you and so on.

Certainly not in the Phil Spencer fan club to be honest and I realise that looks to be in a minority of Xbox fans. It is what it is, I play on the PlayStation and Nintendo platforms too so I just go where there is the content I like.
 
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tommycronin

Member
Looking forward to seeing the difference between comments on here and era on this one. This must be a thought experiment you're collecting data between the 2 sites yeah?
 
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JonnyMP3

Member
It happens. This is why I don't do 'Brands' just whoever does the best job as a games company and pumps out great games .
The thing with Microsoft is that I've seen another company go the same way they did before with no clear idea and direction to take the product and brand and eventually lost market share of consoles and then dropped out of the console market altogether.
That company was called Sega.
But that doesn't diminish what they were at one point. Lots of people still think fondly of them as console makers and wish that the Saturn and Dreamcast had sold better and been more popular to keep Sega alive as a console manufacturer... But everything that happened to Sega that caused their fall, was of their own doing. And unfortunately, from watching history and learning from it... Xbox is basically headed the same way.
 

Goalus

Member
What games come out at launch outside of Halo? A Series X port of some years old games like Horizon 4 and Gears 5? We are getting a console launch without a NEW flagship racing title, and that seems weird.
Just curious - how do you feel about Playstation then?
On PS5 you are getting a port of a years old game like Spiderman - that you have to pay for.

I am looking forward to free-of-charge remasters of FH4, Gears 5 and Ori (an open-world racing game, a cinematic 3rd-person shooter and an AAA 2D platformer).
I am also looking forward to playing Gears Tactics (a turn-based strategy game).

On PS5 I am looking forward to - nothing.
Since everything Marvel-related bores me to death.
 
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FunkMiller

Gold Member
Both this site and era are just Sony

It's almost as if 110 million Ps4's were sold, because Sony did everything right, whereas only 46 million XBoxes were sold, because Microsoft didn't.

I find it hilarious that people get annoyed with forums about the disparity, and still keep praising the people at Microsoft, despite the fact that they are the ones actually to blame.

Go back to 2007, and things were very different, because Sony were fucking things up and Microsoft were doing brilliantly.

If you're pissed off that you're surrounded by so many Sony fans, you've only got Phil and his friends to blame.
 

Hunnybun

Member
They're obviously struggling because their first party developers just aren't ready. They're a couple of years behind Sony there. That and Halo Infinite looking shit and it's a tough situation for them going into launch.

But then they have game pass which is great value, but personally I'd want a bit more than that to get me to buy in. All that great stuff coming to game pass is years away - why would I sign up now?
 

Freeman

Banned
They're obviously struggling because their first party developers just aren't ready. They're a couple of years behind Sony there. That and Halo Infinite looking shit and it's a tough situation for them going into launch.

But then they have game pass which is great value, but personally I'd want a bit more than that to get me to buy in. All that great stuff coming to game pass is years away - why would I sign up now?
And why, if you don't mind me asking, aren't they ready 20 years after MS entered the console market? To me it's because they completely change direction every time their brilliant new strategy backfires and they never commit long term to anything.
 
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lol you posted this same BS on era.
Is that bad? Am I not allowed to use both forums? Do I have to pick a side? I still visit Era mainly because of the amount of traffic. I just stay away from the Very Era Like topics.
Looking forward to seeing the difference between comments on here and era on this one. This must be a thought experiment you're collecting data between the 2 sites yeah?
Just curious really.
Just curious - how do you feel about Playstation then?
On PS5 you are getting a port of a years old game like Spiderman - that you have to pay for.

I am looking forward to free-of-charge remasters of FH4, Gears 5 and Ori (an open-world racing game, a cinematic 3rd-person shooter and an AAA 2D platformer).
I am also looking forward to playing Gears Tactics (a turn-based strategy game).

On PS5 I am looking forward to - nothing.
Since everything Marvel-related bores me to death.
I'm disappointed there as well. I don't really have a concrete reason to buy either console at launch unless they release GT at launch. I'm excited for new consoles, and disappointed by the offerings so far. Hopefully they give more reasons this month.
 

CatLady

Selfishly plays on Xbox Purr-ies X
Sometimes it feels like I'm the only one left to be very happy with the last Xbox showcase. They showed some great games and everything is on Game Pass. The more I think of it, the more I'm certain of my pick in November. The only thing that might change it, is a very cheap PS5 (or very expensive Series X).

Nah, I'm with you, I'm very happy about what they showed and what the future holds for XsX. OP lays out a very reasonable post describing his disenchantment and makes some fair points. I'm just not personally as concerned over them as the OP.

Pretty or not, I'll take a big open world Halo featuring Craig over a little 6-8hr PS4 Spiderman expansion any day. There are a ton of 3rd party exclusives/timed exclusives shown in the 2 Xbox shows that I want to play, with several available at launch. I'm super excited about all the great WRPGS Xbox will have in the next few years and finally 3rd party games with look and play better on the XsX.
 

Goalus

Member
I advise you to stop spreading false information as if it was a fact then.
If you are that concerned about FUD, why didn't you jump in then in the Grounded thread and advised the poster who claimed that the game sold 50000 copies and the other 950000 had uninstalled it already? Someone else was claiming that 1 million people had looked at the game but didn't buy it.

I expect you to go into that thread now and "advise" those users just as you advised me.
 

Hunnybun

Member
And why, if you don't mind me asking, aren't they ready 20 years after MS entered the console market?

Guessing that's a rhetorical question, but it's because they were incredibly complacent about building up a quality portfolio of studios and tried to rely on Halo Gears Forza. They're trying to do in 5 years what took Sony about 2 decades of patient, meticulous investment and nurturing.

That's why I'm always a bit wary about MS. As stupid as it is to say it about a giant corporation, but I don't trust them. They were obviously happy to rely on 3 tired franchises as long as it got them sales. Then there were the shenanigans at the Xbox One launch. And now they're throwing vast amounts of money at game pass, which you can only assume is aimed at achieving a dominant position and then raising prices.

I guess it's just prejudice, but there's something I don't really like about them. They're TOO rich and powerful. I'd be the same if it were Google or Amazon. Sony's just vulnerable enough as a company that you feel they'll always be kept honest.
 

turtlepowa

Banned
It's almost as if 110 million Ps4's were sold, because Sony did everything right, whereas only 46 million XBoxes were sold, because Microsoft didn't.

I find it hilarious that people get annoyed with forums about the disparity, and still keep praising the people at Microsoft, despite the fact that they are the ones actually to blame.

Go back to 2007, and things were very different, because Sony were fucking things up and Microsoft were doing brilliantly.

If you're pissed off that you're surrounded by so many Sony fans, you've only got Phil and his friends to blame.
It's not the fans that are annoying.
 

Vawn

Banned
If you are that concerned about FUD, why didn't you jump in then in the Grounded thread and advised the poster who claimed that the game sold 50000 copies and the other 950000 had uninstalled it already? Someone else was claiming that 1 million people had looked at the game but didn't buy it.

I expect you to go into that thread now and "advise" those users just as you advised me.

If someone is spreading lies in the name of console wars, like you are admitting to doing here, I suggest you report them.

Just like I expect your FUD comments here to be reported. Arguing opinions is one thing, making up stuff is another.
 

Freeman

Banned
Guessing that's a rhetorical question, but it's because they were incredibly complacent about building up a quality portfolio of studios and tried to rely on Halo Gears Forza. They're trying to do in 5 years what took Sony about 2 decades of patient, meticulous investment and nurturing.

That's why I'm always a bit wary about MS. As stupid as it is to say it about a giant corporation, but I don't trust them. They were obviously happy to rely on 3 tired franchises as long as it got them sales. Then there were the shenanigans at the Xbox One launch. And now they're throwing vast amounts of money at game pass, which you can only assume is aimed at achieving a dominant position and then raising prices.

I guess it's just prejudice, but there's something I don't really like about them. They're TOO rich and powerful. I'd be the same if it were Google or Amazon. Sony's just vulnerable enough as a company that you feel they'll always be kept honest.
They also signaled they were going to heavily invest on internal studio before, usually at the start of a generation. If it isn't as successful as they hope it wouldn't be out of character for them to abandon their plans like before (rush games, cancel games, change direction, only investing on the safest IPs).

They don't have any credit left and are the ones that need to prove doubter wrong.
 
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JonnyMP3

Member
Guessing that's a rhetorical question, but it's because they were incredibly complacent about building up a quality portfolio of studios and tried to rely on Halo Gears Forza. They're trying to do in 5 years what took Sony about 2 decades of patient, meticulous investment and nurturing.

That's why I'm always a bit wary about MS. As stupid as it is to say it about a giant corporation, but I don't trust them. They were obviously happy to rely on 3 tired franchises as long as it got them sales. Then there were the shenanigans at the Xbox One launch. And now they're throwing vast amounts of money at game pass, which you can only assume is aimed at achieving a dominant position and then raising prices.

I guess it's just prejudice, but there's something I don't really like about them. They're TOO rich and powerful. I'd be the same if it were Google or Amazon. Sony's just vulnerable enough as a company that you feel they'll always be kept honest.
The problem with these big billion dollar companies is that if they find something unprofitable... They'll just dump it. Microsoft have many things they've just dumped or sold off.
From Zunes to Windows Phones and Kinect.
Google have started up many different apps and programs that they no longer support.
Their main business is computer software, yet Microsoft also builds and dumps programs and apps too. Thinking Microsoft Corporation actually gives a damn about gamers is... 🤦🏻‍♂️
 
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longdi

Banned
If you buy Series X, you get the best of third party games, and the most value for money.

How happy you will be if you chose Series X depends on 2 things
1. how much of a fan you are of Sony games
2. if you are a PCMR already.

Imo Phil has gone all in with Series X, if you are a gamer, i think you will be pleased.

But be patient, we are not seeing too many games yet. Wait for the launch party. :messenger_peace:
 

Freeman

Banned
If you are that concerned about FUD, why didn't you jump in then in the Grounded thread and advised the poster who claimed that the game sold 50000 copies and the other 950000 had uninstalled it already? Someone else was claiming that 1 million people had looked at the game but didn't buy it.

I expect you to go into that thread now and "advise" those users just as you advised me.
I'm not on the Grounded thread and have no interest on being there. GaaS ain't my thing.

I don't feel the need to lie about anything, specially not on purpose.
 
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Goalus

Member
I'm not on the Grounded thread and have no interest on being there. GaaS ain't my thing.

I don't feel the need to lie about anything, specially not on purpose.

In the thread about Halo MP becoming F2P you posted this:
With MS biggest games being F2P now I think that gamepass just got worse.
I asked "What games?"
You answered:
Halo Infinite their biggest game and likelly others as well if they are willing to do it with Halo.

You get what you pay for.
You made up "facts" to spread FUD.
 
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Before I even start, this is NOT a hate thread. If anything my frustration comes from love. Really I've just been thinking about this a lot since the showcase last month, and needed to put my thoughts into words. I'm going to put my thoughts into categories starting with the current console.

Xbox One: Gonna make this relatively quick. They fucked up, and fucked up early giving the generation away before it started. The last few years though got me hyped again. They released two great consoles in the Xbox One S and X, and Playground gave up 2 of the best racing games ever made with Horizon 3/4. It gave me hope for the next console, along with the ridiculous value that GamePass holds. They really turned it around bringing me to my next point..

Series X: I feel let down. The beginning of the marketing was great. That initial reveal trailer got me pretty damn hyped, and the thought of a next gen Halo (one of my favorite franchises) was so enticing despite 4/5/MCC being a letdown personally in many ways (though great in others).
  • Their marketing has taken a roll downhill. They seem to contradict themselves left and right making it confusing as to what is actually the truth. They have hyped up showcases only for them to come out and be completely underwhelming. Their ecosystem strategy is on one hand pretty cool, but on the other frustrating. I think it's great for some people that especially in these times may not have the money to shell out for a new console, and they've stated that their first party games will be cross-get for awhile (2 years maybe?). I think it also just removes a lot of the hype for a new console. New consoles should give up new things to be excited about, new things possible by developing specifically for a new console (especially a console without a shit CPU, and slow HDD). But what is true? Multiple games have be shown as Series X exclusive from their 1st party studios so the question is: Are these games simply just so far out that they aren't part of the original statement? Or are you picking and choosing and therefore confusing people?
  • Do you want people to buy your new console? Or do you not care? Do console generations matter or not? It's all so unclear from their marketing which is disappointing.
  • What games come out at launch outside of Halo? A Series X port of some years old games like Horizon 4 and Gears 5? We are getting a console launch without a NEW flagship racing title, and that seems weird.

Game showcases: Some great games have been shown in these but overall were pretty underwhelming. I remember liking some games but outside of The Medium I can't actually pick out a single game that I'm like oh fuck yeah lets go. First one was a "Gameplay Showcase" almost completely void of gameplay. Then they hyped up a First Party showcase which let a lot of people down. You have Rare's game that they don't even know what it is yet. Then you have Fable which was a short teaser and completely CGI. It's like that ESVI teaser. Just why? If it's so far out that you can't show us anything more then CGI teaser then why show us anything at all? And then ...

Halo: I love Halo despite getting a late start on it. I've read the books, I've spent hundreds of hours playing, hundreds of hours reading lore and watching lore videos. The world of Halo is just so rich.
  • I don't want to focus on graphics as if the game is "open world" then it is harder to push fidelity then something like 4/5. Outside of 3/Reach Halo has never been a graphical showcase IMO but a flagship next gen title SHOULD look better then upscaled Halo Reach from 2010. BUT my problem is they kept this under wraps for soooo long which built up hype so so high despite 343i's other games being looked down on by many (I have my problems with those but that's not the point of the thread).
  • We are 3-4 months out from the launch of the consoles, they are on bug fix duty at this point. This won't be fixed by launch, and it reminds me of MCC which has the worst launch of any game I can think of. You can't delay Halo without delaying Series X and it's too late to delay the console. If they had shown us that in like March or April it wouldn't have been nearly as big of a disappointment to see a game that looks much worse then Halo 5 on XBO X. Gameplay looks pretty good but animations and effects just quit and disappear immediately. It's just obvious it's not ready for release. But then 343i tells us they are aware of the criticisms but remind us that it's pushing a new audio engine? What?
  • The announcement of F2P Multiplayer (and 120fps as well on Series X) got me hyped initially but then I remembered what goes hand in hand with F2P games...microtransactions. You could point to Warzone as a way to not ruin a F2P game with them but COD has never really been about deep customization. Halo has been and I can see them ruining it with micro transactions. You want this cool shoulder armor? Well pay for it. This visor? Pay for it. Does it affect the gameplay? No but it is integral in what makes Halo MP customizable without attachments and weapons like in COD.

I want Xbox to wow me so badly. I want to go out and buy a Series X and play an epic mind blowing Halo game. I want to play a gorgeous 60/120fps racing title. I want competition back. I want Xbox to do something great, and make Sony do better as well. Now I have issues with PS5 as well, and honestly neither of the new consoles are really making it known why I should buy them this fall.

I am frustrated because I love Xbox as a brand. I don't want this to turn into console war bullshit, but I just felt like I needed to put my thoughts into words.

Simply one thing sums this up BC and gamepass has ruined your expectations honestly what you want they can’t deliver without abandoning the gamepass xcloud stragedy altogether IMO they will have to think nextgen only and not BC with the other systems
 

Freeman

Banned
In the thread about Halo MP becoming F2P you posted this:

I asked "What games?"
You answered:

You made up "facts" to spread FUD.
That's just an extra s that sneaked on the sentence (unless you want to count Minesweepers in that case the s can stay).

You can also change "being" to "becoming" and my sentence works just fine.

I didn't made up "facts" I speculated (and I'll likely be proven right anyway, just wait a bit more).

I any case, I take that back and I'll add a correction. Only their biggest franchise was turned into a F2P, so far.
 
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M.W.

Member
Chill

20200802-080229.jpg
 

Mr.ODST

Member
It's almost as if 110 million Ps4's were sold, because Sony did everything right, whereas only 46 million XBoxes were sold, because Microsoft didn't.

I find it hilarious that people get annoyed with forums about the disparity, and still keep praising the people at Microsoft, despite the fact that they are the ones actually to blame.

Go back to 2007, and things were very different, because Sony were fucking things up and Microsoft were doing brilliantly.

If you're pissed off that you're surrounded by so many Sony fans, you've only got Phil and his friends to blame.

Who said I'm pissed off, I play on Playstation I'm just stating the obvious 🤣
 

phil_t98

#SonyToo
Is that bad? Am I not allowed to use both forums? Do I have to pick a side? I still visit Era mainly because of the amount of traffic. I just stay away from the Very Era Like topics.

Just curious really.

I'm disappointed there as well. I don't really have a concrete reason to buy either console at launch unless they release GT at launch. I'm excited for new consoles, and disappointed by the offerings so far. Hopefully they give more reasons this month.
so if your disappointed in both consoles why pick on one? both game reveals weren't great from either side. now wow factor
 
Seriously, I am not even an xbox fan (not for a very long time)... but I am disappointed, I was kind of expecting them to show us how good cross gen games can look (like current games on RTX 2080 with some Ray Tracing action).

Now I just fell like they have something to offer, but they have not made it clear... After Sony's June "gameplay" presentation Phil himself took time to tweet that it made him feel good about their July unveiling, and BOOM a giant crash.
tenor.gif
 
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