How Microsoft plans to make Xbox great again [The Verge]

it's weird it's like anything positive about xbox today is a bad thing, so confused.

Yeah it's kinda sad. It's like nothing positive should ever be said about Xbox. I'm more laughing though at the posters who turned on Kotaku because of the PS4 article. All it took was a two article and now Kotaku has an agenda for Microsoft. It's getting really bad here.

Sony sold 4.1m last year in holidays from 23 November to January 1st or something like that and this year is going to smash that number lol

http://www.financialpost.com/m/wp/b...rldwide-4-1-million-during-the-holiday-season

lol yeah can't have another poster talking about xbox one and 360 numbers without telling them how much better the ps4 is gonna sell, right?
 
this is very very wrong on all accounts.

Monthly XBONE sales (worldwide) have been behind monthly 360 sales during the same period for a while now. (360 was 400-700K per month worldwide in 2007 prior to holidays. XBONE hasn't even been half of that for most of the year)

XBONE SHIPPED number was recently in the 16M ballpark. Sold through was WAY lower. Current totals prior to November NPD are believed to still be <=16M. No way in hell XBONE is selling 4M units worldwide in two months.

oddly despite the above facts, XBONE still does seem to outsell 360 during holidays at the same points in their lives. With that being said, again no way is MS able to hit 4M in two months when Sony isn't going to even hit 4M in the same period. And when holidays are over, XBONE will then resume tracking behind 360.

tl;dr XBONE is selling "better" than 360 because of a much bigger launch, faster worldwide rollout, and the odd occurrence of during the first two holidays selling more than 360 during its first two holidays. However monthly the XBONE is actually selling much worse, and by the first few months of 2016 will actually cumulatively be behind where 360 was in its first few months of 2008.

Sony sold 4.1m last year in holidays from 23 November to January 1st or something like that and this year is going to smash that number lol

http://www.financialpost.com/m/wp/b...rldwide-4-1-million-during-the-holiday-season
 
I thought they were abandoning the moneyhats?

They're not abandoning anything. They just can't write big enough checks anymore.

Yeah it's kinda sad. It's like nothing positive should ever be said about Xbox. I'm more laughing though at the posters who turned on Kotaku because of the PS4 article. All it took was a two article and now Kotaku has an agenda for Microsoft. It's getting really bad here.

Kotaku has been shit on by people for a long time now.
 
It's strange saying this only 2 years into the lifecycle but all Microsoft can really do is play for the next generation. They just need to play out the rest of the generation and build good will while minimizing mistakes - kind of like what Sony did last generation. They already lost Europe and they can only do so much in NA.
 
I love Phil Spencer. In fact my favorite thing about xbox isn't the console, it isn't the games, it's that dimply man with the big smile. If I could I would invite him over for dinner with the wife and kids and he could tell us about Xbox in hushed tones. I would send the wife away and put the kids to bed to have Phil to myself. We would play Voodoo Vince all night and talk about how great an exec he is. The next day we could wake up and smile at each other as we chew on our Cheerios. That would be the life.

Edit: We could smile at each other as we chewed on our Doritos drenched in Mountain Dew.

Edit again: it has come to my attention that Doritos and Mt Dew are no longer associated with Xbox. Given this news, I would not eat Doritos but I would serve Phil whatever he pleased for breakfast.
 
Everyone seems to have completely forgotten what happened the last generation.

Wii was in front of everyone, Xbox 360 was a good second and PS3 was behind. Then PS3 started catching up and selling more in the end, and the Wii died a painful and slow death.

This generation has barely started and people are already making ridiculous claims.
 
I love Phil Spencer. In fact my favorite thing about xbox isn't the console, it isn't the games, it's that dimply man with the big smile. If I could I would invite him over for dinner with the wife and kids and he could tell us about Xbox in hushed tones. I would send the wife away and put the kids to bed to have Phil to myself. We would play Voodoo Vince all night and talk about how great an exec he is. The next day we could wake up and smile at each other as we chew on our Cheerios. That would be the life.

I want what u're smoking right now
 
Everyone seems to have completely forgotten what happened the last generation.

Wii was in front of everyone, Xbox 360 was a good second and PS3 was behind. Then PS3 started catching up and selling more in the end, and the Wii died a painful and slow death.

This generation has barely started and people are already making ridiculous claims.

Things are different this gen. Xbox One doesn't have the foothold outside of US and UK to catch up like PS3 last gen. And Wii U is pretty much dead.

I love Phil Spencer. In fact my favorite thing about xbox isn't the console, it isn't the games, it's that dimply man with the big smile. If I could I would invite him over for dinner with the wife and kids and he could tell us about Xbox in hushed tones. I would send the wife away and put the kids to bed to have Phil to myself. We would play Voodoo Vince all night and talk about how great an exec he is. The next day we could wake up and smile at each other as we chew on our Cheerios. That would be the life.

Ok. This thread needs more of this. Haha!

Phil Spencer is man crush-worthy no doubt.
 
it's weird it's like anything positive about xbox today is a bad thing, so confused.

You don't remember all the puff posts Microsoft's PR team constantly released on Cloud stuff etc? Anytime multiple positive Xbox One articles crop up at the same time I instantly believe them to be disingenuous. That's not my fault I have such perception, it's Microsoft's.
 
I love Phil Spencer. In fact my favorite thing about xbox isn't the console, it isn't the games, it's that dimply man with the big smile. If I could I would invite him over for dinner with the wife and kids and he could tell us about Xbox in hushed tones. I would send the wife away and put the kids to bed to have Phil to myself. We would play Voodoo Vince all night and talk about how great an exec he is. The next day we could wake up and smile at each other as we chew on our Cheerios. That would be the life.

I really don't know what to make of this post....
 
Everyone seems to have completely forgotten what happened the last generation.

Wii was in front of everyone, Xbox 360 was a good second and PS3 was behind. Then PS3 started catching up and selling more in the end, and the Wii died a painful and slow death.

This generation has barely started and people are already making ridiculous claims.

The PS3 was behind because there was a year between the launch of the 360 and the PS3's.
 
You don't remember all the puff posts Microsoft's PR team constantly released on Cloud stuff etc? Anytime multiple positive Xbox One articles crop up at the same time I instantly believe them to be disingenuous. That's not my fault I have such perception, it's Microsoft's.

You still believe the Cloud stuff is all puff pieces? They've been pretty adamant about it for a while now. They aren't backing down. I'd be surprised if they were doing this as a straight up marketing ploy.
 
You don't remember all the puff posts Microsoft's PR team constantly released on Cloud stuff etc? Anytime multiple positive Xbox One articles crop up at the same time I instantly believe them to be disingenuous. That's not my fault I have such perception, it's Microsoft's.
Except the Cloud talk wasn't all wrong. It was just too soon. The tech looks incredibly fun.
 
best thing to do at this point is to plant seeds for fantastic first parties to gain some legs so that hopefully in the next cycle, a better hardware launch can be paired with great games
 
I don't think that they can save the Xbox One at this point any more but if they go back on track with their next console I may jump in again. Loved the first years of the 360. What a time that was. MS should have never let Moore go.

Peter Moore knows how to run a fine business and please gamers at the same time. He was also high up at Sega during the Dreamcast.
 
Yeah, they're also totally going to support PC games this time around! Really guys, they promised! I loved the Xbox and I still play on my 360, but I've had zero reasons to go out and buy an Xbox One. Everything from the announcement to the promotional campaigns just pissed me off and they've done nothing to win me over since. I was looking for a game console that could play awesome games and instead I saw a multimedia box with only a handful interesting games, many of them poorly performing and with lower resolutions than the competition. It's almost as if the gaming aspect was an afterthought.
 
I love Phil Spencer. In fact my favorite thing about xbox isn't the console, it isn't the games, it's that dimply man with the big smile. If I could I would invite him over for dinner with the wife and kids and he could tell us about Xbox in hushed tones. I would send the wife away and put the kids to bed to have Phil to myself. We would play Voodoo Vince all night and talk about how great an exec he is. The next day we could wake up and smile at each other as we chew on our Cheerios. That would be the life.

Edit: We could smile at each other as we chewed on our Doritos drenched in Mountain Dew.

Didn't you hear? Mountain Dew and Doritos switched to PS4. You can win a PS4 from their contest this year.

https://www.fuelupforbattle.com/#/
 
Really good article, before people start thinking MS is on some crazy PR train this article was written because of Loftis which seems obvious. It just goes into more detail as the article goes as The Verge clearly got to talk to a lot of people while writing this article.

This whole "Kotaku and Verge" have agenda's crap people are throwing around is embarrasing. It's a really great article, please read it before commenting, it is a long read though.
 
You still believe the Cloud stuff is all puff pieces? They've been pretty adamant about it for a while now. They aren't backing down. I'd be surprised if they were doing this as a straight up marketing ploy.

You truly believe that Xbox One will become 40 times more powerful because of the cloud? Isn't that what they said? I don't know what to say if you believe any of that rubbish. It was just a marketing ploy to alter the PS4 power advantage perception.

I'm uncomfortable with the implication that the Xbox was ever great to begin with.

Silver-tongued confirmed. Xbox 360 was great though, but I agree on the subject of Xbox One.
 
I'm uncomfortable with the implication that the Xbox was ever great to begin with.

Wow, pure gold.

You truly believe that Xbox One will become 40 times more powerful because of the cloud? Isn't that what they said? I don't know what to say if you believe any of that rubbish. It was just a marketing ploy to alter the PS4 power advantage perception.

I believe there's going to be something that shows us what they've been claiming. Or at least something close. We saw the Crackdown demo, that was fucking crazy but i expect more.

We will see. It's PR suicide if they don't deliver something
 
Microsoft still have a lot of work to do to support, and strengthen their studios.

Turn 10 as it stands, are Microsoft's only competent studio (from the Mattrick era), but they're still facing problems caused by the annualisation of the Forza IP, and the negative effects caused by DLC emphasis in Forza 5.

Mojang - All good in da hood.

343i face a huge problem. The Halo IP is undergoing both critical and commercial decline. Microsoft aren't helping by forcing a short development cycle, but 343i really need to come to terms that the single player needs a major overhaul. The studio needs to be braver, their fanbase may be tough, but they really aren't afraid of innovation, they just do not want Halo to mimic other properties as seen in Halo 4, but instead return to its natural evolutionary pathway.

The Coalition are soon going to learn the hardships of taking over a beloved IP from scratch, but they will benefit from Gears of War facing a lot less pressure from competitive third person shooters. Still, the series needs genuine innovation, and so far the gameplay shown already looks to be more of the same.

Lionhead Studios need a revamp. The studio have made nothing but poor quality Fable spinoffs for five years. Core Fable was a beloved IP and it makes absolutely no sense to me why there hasn't been a Fable 4. Obviously losing Molyneux and other key staff raises questions as to whether they could produce such a game, but fuck me just expand the studio.

Rare look like they're the only studio who are beginning to show tangible improvement. Sea of Thieves looks fresh and fun. I hope it turns into a great game, it's one of my most anticipated XBO titles.
 
Microsoft still have a lot of work to do to support, and strengthen their studios.


343i face a huge problem. The Halo IP is undergoing both critical and commercial decline. Microsoft aren't helping by forcing a short development cycle, but 343i really need to come to terms that the single player needs a major overhaul. The studio needs to be braver, their fanbase may be tough, but they really aren't afraid of innovation, they just do not want Halo to mimic other properties as seen in Halo 4, but instead return to its natural evolutionary pathway.

Halo is 3 years and always been 3 years MS hasn't shorten the cycle
 
Microsoft still have a lot of work to do to support, and strengthen their studios.
.
No they don't. They have great exclusives, and a bright future of exclusives ahead.

As for your piece on 343i, were you aware Halo 5 was released this generation and was greatly received? Because I'm under the impression you are clearly not.
 
I love Phil Spencer. In fact my favorite thing about xbox isn't the console, it isn't the games, it's that dimply man with the big smile. If I could I would invite him over for dinner with the wife and kids and he could tell us about Xbox in hushed tones. I would send the wife away and put the kids to bed to have Phil to myself. We would play Voodoo Vince all night and talk about how great an exec he is. The next day we could wake up and smile at each other as we chew on our Cheerios. That would be the life.

Edit: We could smile at each other as we chewed on our Doritos drenched in Mountain Dew.

Edit again: it has come to my attention that Doritos and Mt Dew are no longer associated with Xbox. Given this news, I would not eat Doritos but I would serve Phil whatever he pleased for breakfast.
Lol... So good
 
Halo is 3 years and always been 3 years MS hasn't shorten the cycle

Halo 3 - 2007
Halo 3: ODST - 2009
Halo: Reach - 2010

As for your piece on 343i, were you aware Halo 5 was released this generation and was greatly received? Because I'm under the impression you are clearly not.

I said critical and commercial decline, which is factually correct.

No they don't. They have great exclusives, and a bright future of exclusives ahead.

Lionhead haven't released a mainline game in half a decade.
Rare were stuck on Kinect Projects since 2007
The Coalition haven't produced a game yet.

I'd argue that their core studios aren't in brilliant shape. It's not like we're going to be seeing regular output from Mojang either.
 
Halo 3 - 2007
Halo 3: ODST - 2009
Halo: Reach - 2010



I said critical and commercial decline, which is factually correct.

To be fair ODST was an expansion pack. Halo 4 was a disaster and should have never been released. If you think Halo 5 is a decline from either reach or 4 you are being cynical. It is a worthy entry in the franchise.
 
Well, in glad Spencer is pretty committed to another console. Lots of naysayers on GAF that have said or alluded to MS not making another. I don't want a one horse race, it'd be terrible for consumers.
 
To be fair ODST was an expansion pack. Halo 4 was a disaster and should have never been released. If you think Halo 5 is a decline from either reach or 4 you are being cynical. It is a worthy entry in the franchise.

Man why do people hate halo 4 so much? I'll give you the multiplayer it was not great but I loved the campaigns
 
To be fair ODST was an expansion pack. Halo 4 was a disaster and should have never been released. If you think Halo 5 is a decline from either reach or 4 you are being cynical. It is a worthy entry in the franchise.

Mainline games have been 3 years

343 was working on Halo 4 at same time Reach was being made. They started in 2009

ODST was launched at full price and can be treated as a mainline game.

If you think Halo 5 is a decline from either reach or 4 you are being cynical. It is a worthy entry in the franchise.

I'm not deciding this, sales and critical reception are deciding this. Halo 5 is the only Halo I haven't played so I'm personally neutral with regards to its quality.
 
Microsoft and the XBox are doing just fine so not sure why there is so much talk and articles saying otherwise. It doesn't matter what the other company is doing. Just do what you do.

They could of course bring back Project Gotham Racing, KOTOR and maybe some other old games people loved.
 
I said critical and commercial decline, which is factually correct.
One week after launching worldwide, Halo 5: Guardians has made history as the biggest Halo launch and fastest-selling Xbox One exclusive game to-date, with more than $400 million in global sales of Halo 5: Guardians games and hardware, pushing the franchise to over $5 billion lifetime. With the highest week one attach rate for a Microsoft first party title on Xbox One, the game was the most played of any game on Xbox One, as well as the most played on Xbox Live.
Where as Halo 3 (same beginning of the console life-span) made $300 million the first week.

So no
 
In theory, the Xbox One was an improvement on everything fans loved about the Xbox 360: a more powerful Kinect, new hardware that merged the console with your cable box, and lots of talk about the cloud.

Yes because in theory that was all great. You have GOT to be fucking kidding me.
 
They should redesign the look of the console. I know it's shallow of me, but the big box is just too ugly. Wii U is nice and small, PS4 has a little something different going on.
 
Microsoft and the XBox are doing just fine so not sure why there is so much talk and articles saying otherwise. It doesn't matter what the other company is doing. Just do what you do.

They could of course bring back Project Gotham Racing, KOTOR and maybe some other old games people loved.

they could. but much like 343 and the coalition, they'd be doing so minus the people who made those franchises great. which is a problem MS are struggling with atm. they seem to think an IP is all you need. when in actuality, it's the talent you need..an established IP just helps.
 
ODST was launched at full price and can be treated as a mainline game.



I'm not deciding this, sales and critical reception are deciding this. Halo 5 is the only Halo I haven't played so I'm personally neutral with regards to its quality.

Regardless Halo 6 isn't coming out in 2016. 343 have stated they need 3 years to make a Halo game.
 
best thing to do at this point is to plant seeds for fantastic first parties to gain some legs so that hopefully in the next cycle, a better hardware launch can be paired with great games

Seems that's what their aiming for, in a way Sony taking the majority of their third party marketing breakfast will be good in the long run, why go all out for games that will be on your platform anyway? For me if you have those games plus ones that are not appearing elsewhere you have my attention.

Create games that can't appear on rival platforms or are only on 'loan' and go from there, seems that's what they'll be doing in 2016, its what people always asked of MS especially mid and late in the 360's life, where are the new IP's where are the risks?

There are a few seeds that are intriguing, ReCore looks interesting from it's concept, Crackdown of course. and Scalebound.
 
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