Feel good about Microsoft first party after E3?

They have a great list of exclusive games but their first party studios are certainly lacking. I've got fairly little faith in 343 to make the Halo game I want to play, Turn 10 need to produce better than Forza 5, Lionhead's new ip is a good while off and Black Tusk are unproven.

I think they have they have the studios in place to make great games but they need strong creative directors to define what the franchises will be in the future. Another by the books Halo, Fable, Gears or Forza will make them feel even staler than they already do.
 
I was really pleased, great line up and even Fable looked like it was back to its best. Next E3 could be even better, we will probably see Gears and more importantly for me the Rare games hinted. Praying for Banjo Threeie and Perfect Dark 2.
 
Nutter said:
Uh.. Its MS funded. And i believe MS owns the IP. So while the studio isnt first party. The game by all means is. Its like saying KI isnt first party because double helix developed it.
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On the topic of Scalebound, do we know for sure that MS owns the IP?

I have not seen it registered as a trademark by MS, and the Xbox website doesn't have a disclaimer at the end which states things like 'blahblahblah is a property of blahblahblah.'
 
As a publisher for external studios I like that they are publishing games by Platinum, Remedy and Insomniac and they are all new IP.

I also like the fact they are working with external studios on some older IP like working with Iron Galaxy on Killer Instinct Season 2, Cloudgine (and another studio) on Crackdown and some unannounced studio on Phantom Dust (along with the original creator(s) of the game).

What worries me though is MS actual 1st party studios as they seem to be very safe and in a fixed cycle. Hopefully with Kinect no longer having to be sold with the Xbox One Rare are moved onto doing something new (I still hope MS makes Kinect games but funds smaller external studios to do the work and not get a team the size of Rare to make them), Lionhead's new IP isn't cancelled and some of the new new studios develop console games that are not just low budget small games.
 
Hmmm they showed nothing to sway people on the fence, it was safe and pandered to the fans they already have. Im kind of ready for a new halo so the collection is great, i loved fh so happy theres a second, crackdown should be good, not sold on fable. But it was safe too safe it was the core halo fable forza that wont win over anyone thats not already in on xbox.
 
I was ok with it, but really it is just more of Forza, Fable and Halo. Master Chief Collection did get me hyped for that but other than that and some indies at the show, there wasn't a lot. I was really hoping to see more of Quantum Break, disappointed in that and I personally think Sunset Overdrive just looks plain dumb. I guess it's alright anyway between Halo and a few indies I won't have a whole lot of time on my X1 for playing Destiny, Driveclub, TLOU: Remaster and LBP3 on my PS4 and if I don't break down like I do every year and buy Madden. 2 or 3 exclusives a year for the X1 is good enough for me.
 
Not really, they have nothing I care about. I think for the first time in years they felt like they presented a compelling stance though. They've been pushed by market pressures, it's not really the impact of having Phil crowned, but they're on a track I find very attractive, and he's a great figurehead. I'll buy one as soon as they have a must play exclusive. They had a great show.
 
Why not?

They've got a lot of great stuff in the pipeline. From gorgeous indie titles to niche as fuck Japanese titles. This along with AAA franchise favourites and a few returning IPs, what is there to be unhappy about?
 
mattiewheels said:
I was watching for the big announcements at E3 to feel out how MS is going forward with its first party games. How did their plate live up to what you expected?

I was pretty disappointed by their output at the end of the 360 life cycle, but I figured they were putting their resources for those games into next gen. Crackdown is something I've been waiting for, but are you guys impressed with the commitment you've seen so far?
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Yes and no.

Yes with things like quantum break, crackdown etc. the quality of the games looks good

No, because like you I'd hoped maybe they'd moved teams from 360 onto XB1 prep, but they don't have enough early games to back that up.

So it looks like they simply ramped down first party on 360 quite early, and therefore I'm concerned if they'll do that again. Competition might help prevent that this time though
 
mattiewheels said:
The PC talk from the bombcast makes me wonder if I should just wait...
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If you were buying an XB1 *just* for the halo collection then I'd be tempted to wait as it does sound like it it coming to PC.

But if you are also going to want to play Halo 5 or other titles, then why not jump in this fall, as you'll get to play the halo collection earlier (any PC version is surely several months later)?
 
alterno69 said:
Considering it was mostly smoke and mirrors, no. I'm not a fan of Crackdown, never played the series. I don't even know what Phantom Dust is. Plus, they keep paying third party studios to make games for them instead of growing their own, looks exactly like what they did last gen. I'm afraid they'll abandon the console like they did with the 360 if things don't go as planned.
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You know the likes of Naughty Dog, Sucker Punch, Guerilla etc were also third party funded studios before Sony later bought them out? And the likes of Quantic Dream, Ready at Dawn, FROM still are? And that MS has actually grown their own studios from scratch like Turn10 and Black Tusk?
 
Rand6 said:
The thread is about "are you feeling good about Microsoft first party after E3", and I think that Platinum still own Scalebound IP.

It's a great exclusive for Microsoft (like TitanFall) but I don't think it's first party.
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thats just linguistic semantics. thread should say "you happy with xbone exclusives after e3?"
and not try to play with words.


we all know that like >10 years ago ms would try and buy franchises and companies. we also know that in the generation previous to this one, they shifted to more like "we pay you -not buy you, and you make what you can do best for us"
for me, as a consumer, I really dont give a damn if ms ...bought kamiya or bought this game.
what matters is its exclusive to the console, and the party making it seems to get a good deal too, which is cherries on top.
same with ted price and sunset overdrive.
 
The only game I was really interested in was Crackdown, but I don't think it's going to be ready for a long while.

I was really disappointed that they never showed anything from Rare; a Perfect Dark, Banjo, or Conker game would have been amazing.

On the whole, I'm kind of disappointed with their showing but I think that has more to do with how I feel about them neglecting Rare's properties.
 
Not at all. The hype for Platinum and their games has always surprised me, did not care for Bayo, W101 or anything they have ever made. The excitement for Crackdown is a mystery as well. Not sure Insomniac of all studios deserves to be held to some sort of reverence, but to each their own.

Its troublesome when the most exciting games are a Halo compilation, a GTA5 port and TLOU remaster. All great games, and i love Halo 2, but that says a lot about this year for both consoles.

Halo as a series just feels like it peaked years ago, and we are just retreading it with the compilation, a great value no doubt, but almost a "Remember when you gave a shit?" kind of deal. The whole thing is bittersweet
 
I wasn't impressed with their showing. The CGI just doesn't do anything for me. It tells me nothing about how the game is going to look or play.

Last gen Microsoft heavily relied on Halo and Gears, both were made by 3rd party studios who are now gone.
So Micrsoft has a lot to prove in terms of 1st party studios.
But I think they can do be better than last gen.
 
Yeah I do. Really interested in Crackdown, Scalebound, Phantom Dust and Sunset Overdrive. Master Chief collection is a must buy as well although that might end up on pc.

p3tran said:
thats just linguistic semantics. thread should say "you happy with xbone exclusives after e3?"
and not try to play with words.
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Thats how I'm taking it seeing as theres no real difference to me between those and first party games.
 
Their 1st party stuff is boring compared to their 2nd and 3rd party stuff. I do love how easily pleased people are with cgi trailers though.
 
I feel better that Microsoft has realized just how quickly they lost a lot of the good will they got last generation.

Funding games like Sunset Overdrive, Scalebound, bringing games like Phantom Dust out. Crackdown 3 would've been a bigger surprise were it not for Ntkrnl. They've really rejuvenated the Halo community with their MCC announcement. Halo to Microsoft is what Link/Mario/Pokémon is to Nintendo. They can't let that community suffer.

As long as they keep their commitment to games, get their studios working again, and work with other third party devs, it's a positive. Now they just need to cut out the pre-order/retailer stuff, maybe announce a next-gen Conker or Banjo and were golden. Phil Spencer has shown he's much more suited for this job than his predecessor.
 
Sunset Overdrive was the only first-party showcase at the conference that said to me "This could well be worth buying an Xbox One for." Everything else either turned me off or was met with indifference. I bought an OG Xbox partly for Halo back in the day and found it to be largely generic and forgettable, so I haven't returned to the franchise since. Sim racers don't do it for me, so I've no time for Forza. I've never played a Platinum game I liked, and the trailer just looked bad anyway, so Scalebound might as well not exist, Legends has been met with a humdrum respose, plus I played the first Fable and didn't like it anyway, and Phantom Dust... I don't even know what that is, and a brief CGI trailer does little to inform me otherwise.

As it stands right now, there are only two games coming to the Xbox One that make me stand up and take notice, and that's Sunset Overdrive and Quantum Break. And the latter has only really grabbed me due to Remedy's pedigree - they're an excellent studio.
 
I followed their announcements with interest but they still have to push my interest in their console above 299$ (with Kinect). 2016/2017 might be my year of the xbox. Go MS
 
Not at all, aside from Sunset Overdrive. And that's not really first-party, is it?

First Party seems way too keen on repeating the Halo/Gears/Forza cycle.
 
I'm always excited for a new Halo, but Crackdown doesn't really whet my whistle and Lionhead has never really impressed me since Fable 1 so meh. I'm interested in what Rare are making though if it's a big budget release. Wouldn't mind a new Banjo, Conker or something or other. Will not budge for a new Viva Pinata though as much as i love em however.
 
Nightengale said:
On the topic of Scalebound, do we know for sure that MS owns the IP?

I have not seen it registered as a trademark by MS, and the Xbox website doesn't have a disclaimer at the end which states things like 'blahblahblah is a property of blahblahblah.'
Click to expand...

I would be shocked if they didn't.

Having said that, I was shocked to discover the same about Sunset Overdrive, and Ryse.


OP:

I think they're doing a great job of offering a diverse portfolio. They need Lionhead to offer a real RPG and they'll be on the right track.

I am not keen on their actual first party stable. I heard a lot about the focus for the European studios, which I feel is reflected in Rare and Lionhead's output. Hopefully Phil will fix that, as it's not in service to gaming - it's in service to better ROI.

But yeah, their 2nd party output looks exciting. I just wonder how far off all three of those CG titles are. At least one will have to be 2016, right?
 
Hoo-doo said:
Not at all, aside from Sunset Overdrive. And that's not really first-party, is it?
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Definitely not, I dunno why people keep mentioning third party exclusives in this thread.

MS had a boring showing for their first party, really don't care at all for either halo, fable or cgi trailers.

Not saying Sony were better though, they hade a poor showing of their first party studios as well.
 
Nightengale said:
On the topic of Scalebound, do we know for sure that MS owns the IP?

I have not seen it registered as a trademark by MS, and the Xbox website doesn't have a disclaimer at the end which states things like 'blahblahblah is a property of blahblahblah.'
Click to expand...
In an interview with GT Phil Spencer refers to it as "first party" so i assumed they did own it. Obviouly funded by them either way.
 
Eh... I've always thought Microsoft has the weakest first-party lineup of the big three, and this didn't really change that. Scalebound looks like it could be cool, but that's a third party exclusive, not first party. Same with Sunset Overdrive.

The Phantom Dust remake will certainly be interesting, but a lot of the other stuff looks like it could be hit or miss. Certainly not sold on Fable Legends, and am going to wait and see on Project Spark as well. I've already given up hope on Rare, and don't expect all that much from 343 after Halo 4, so I'm still waiting on Microsoft to impress me. Sony and Nintendo have shown that they've got first party devs who can make peerless games. I'm still waiting on Microsoft to do the same thing.

And just to note, I say this as someone who still has their OG XBox plugged into the telly, and enjoys taking old Xbox games out for a spin.
 
MS's exclusive line-up looks really good at this point and it's the reason I will buy a Xbone this fall.

Also I don't understand why so many people try to devalue the importance of a 3rd party exclusive, should we feel less excited about Bloodborne & Scalebound because From and Platinum are not owned by Sony and MS? and if yes then why exactly? these two games are the things that I am most excited about on the PS4 and Xbone because they are made by talented teams that have delivered some amazing games.
 
Feindflug said:
MS's exclusive line-up looks really good at this point and it's the reason I will buy a Xbone this fall.

Also I don't understand why so many people try to devalue the importance of a 3rd party exclusive, should we feel less excited about Bloodborne & Scalebound because From and Platinum are not owned by Sony and MS? and if yes then why exactly? these two games are the things that I am most excited about on the PS4 and Xbone because they are made by talented teams that have delivered some amazing games.
Click to expand...

This thread isn't titled "Feel good about Microsoft exclusive games after E3?".

And isn't Bloodborne co-developed by Sony Japan Studio?
 
Hoo-doo said:
Not at all, aside from Sunset Overdrive. And that's not really first-party, is it?

First Party seems way too keen on repeating the Halo/Gears/Forza cycle.
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Yeah if you ignore Phantom Dust, Crackdown, KI and Quantum Break then clearly its a Halo/Gears/Forza cycle.
 
I feel good considering the entire offer but first party studios? Not at all. Anyway I'm confident and I hope they'll invest resources in them like Sony did in the past generation rather than buying games here and there. I'd like them to build an actual identity.
At the moment I can barely link the name of their studios with their games which is quite bad, this doesn't happen with Nintendo or Sony.
By the way, we should really make an official thread for Microsoft/Sony/Nintendo first party studios if there isn't one already.
 
abadguy said:
Yeah if you ignore Phantom Dust, Crackdown, KI and Quantum Break then clearly its a Halo/Gears/Forza cycle.
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Seems to be a popular thing to do in this thread. If I only had Halo, Gears and Forza to look forward to then I'd be disappointed. That sounds more like Microsoft towards the end of last gen rather than their showing at e3.
 
p3tran said:
thats just linguistic semantics. thread should say "you happy with xbone exclusives after e3?"
and not try to play with words.


we all know that like >10 years ago ms would try and buy franchises and companies. we also know that in the generation previous to this one, they shifted to more like "we pay you -not buy you, and you make what you can do best for us"
for me, as a consumer, I really dont give a damn if ms ...bought kamiya or bought this game.
what matters is its exclusive to the console, and the party making it seems to get a good deal too, which is cherries on top.
same with ted price and sunset overdrive.
Click to expand...

It's funny how these bullshit semantic arguments only pop up in MS-related threads, while any time Sony's first-party output is discussed, people are happy to just throw in Bloodborne, LBP3, The Order, Quantic Dream's stuff, etc without blinking.
 
I feel like their lineup would have looked lacking compared to Sony/Nintendo if they weren't announcing games up to 2016.
 
Pound_lb003 said:
But yeah, their 2nd party output looks exciting. I just wonder how far off all three of those CG titles are. At least one will have to be 2016, right?
Click to expand...

Well... if ntkrl is to be believed, Crackdown and Scalebound are both 2016.

Phantom Dust is probably 2015 if it's just a remake.
 
abadguy said:
Yeah if you ignore Phantom Dust, Crackdown, KI and Quantum Break then clearly its a Halo/Gears/Forza cycle.
Click to expand...

There's two Halo games in the works, another first-party studio got pulled off another project to work on Gears and PG are working on Forza:Horizon while T10 is probably working on Forza 6. Rare is doing Fable.

I'd call that a pretty familiar cycle, yes.
I never said that's all they are making, but they are clearly keen on continuing the trend, wouldn't you agree?
 
1st party? No. The problem with MS to me was that always seemed more willing to fund projects with outside studios than develop in house. Which is fine so long as that practice continues, the problem is that it may not once the install base increases for both consoles and 3rd party publishers are more willing than MS to give the Cryteks and Insomniacs of the world what they want.

To me it is an unrealistic expection to think MS will be able to have majority of their games be made from external studios. They have already had two setbacks. Double Helix moving to Amazon and Titanfall franchise going multiplat. So then we are back to their first party which has Halo, Gears, Forza, Fable rinse and repeat.
 
I like what I saw but I do have some reservations.

Well for me, I have never played any of these games that everyone was so hype about so it's good for me to finally get to try them. However the feeling is very bittersweet.

Crackdown is a big deal for some. I haven't played it so it's just another game to me. But since it's not exactly a successor but more like a remake, it makes me feel wary.

Why?

Because well, it doesn't show that Microsoft has the confidence in the game to carry a sequel which I disappointing. Same thing with Phantom Dust. I have never played it before and it's a big deal for everyone else. Despite being CGI, it looked Ok. Of course I would have to see gameplay first but because I've never played it before, it's just another game to me. No nostalgia is attached to any of them so from my point of view, I can't say it's something I feel ok about. It's good for people who know them, but for newcomers like me who has never played these games but now have knowledge that these games had exists back in the days, it's just ok for me.

One thing I don't particularly like is classic games being remade. I feel like as a classic, they should remain that way and once they have been remade, the version that we all knew now feels either dated and or feels like it lost value. So in my head, knowing these games are classics, not really Sequels but remakes makes me feel like Microsoft didn't actually create a whole lot of new. So with that said, it's not amazing for me but its a new experience.

With the exception of the new IPs and indies, everything is ok. I'll buy them for my XB1 but if I didn't have one, they wouldn't drag me to buy one. I'm just buying these games because I have to have everything.


Tldr : Never played the games, however liked them, but feeling neutral to the fact that they aren't exactly new games but remakes to classics/throwback.
 
Only Scalebound potentially interests me and to be sure about that I need to actually see the game.

Everything else was meh. Halo, Gears, Forza, Fable cycle is utterly uninteresting to me. I can't even get excited about a new Crackdown. I don't know what that game is in a post Infamous/Saint's Row 4/Prototype world.
 
Air Zombie Meat said:
Seems to be a popular thing to do in this thread.
Click to expand...

Yup, apparently, focusing on multimillion selling titles and their most important IP's is not the thing a console that is struggling to win over fans should do. Instead they should invest in wild new titles without dedicated fanbases or proven sales, and see if that stems the tide.

This isn't a Microsoft thing. This is an industry thing. Nintendo has just released Mario Kart, showed off the new Zelda and the new Smash Bros. Sony just showed off Uncharted 4, it's remaster of Last of us etc.

Be prepared to see less risks taken on new IP's and instead more sequels. Why is the next Battlefield title even called Battlefield? Solely because of the name/brand/fanbase.

Just saying, Gears wasn't even announced, but if it is, people should be excited to see what all that money and time spent creating a new great studio in Vancouver is capable of. It was Halo:MCC and Halo 5, Forza: Horizon 2, Fable: Legends, Phantom Dust, Crackdown 3, Project Spark featuring Conker as their main first party focus. Then you add in the MS funded/published third party games Sunset Overdrive, Scalebound, Ori and the Blind Forest.
 
Scalebound and Phantom Dust both interest me. If more "Japanese as fuck" games end up being announced as exclusives I'll consider picking up the console in 3-4 years. The 360 had excellent eastern dev support early on. Hopefully Xbone's future looks more like that and less like the last few years of 360.
 
The exclusives list wasn't bad, but unfortunately for me it does not appeal to me at all. ;( First-party list was really tepid for me.

My reasons for looking at an XB1 still basically amount to Xbox Fitness and Dance Central: Spotlight (not that the list of reasons I would want a PS4 contains a lot of items, either).

Still waiting for that next gen must-have.
 
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