Xbox E3 Conference 6/11 2pm PST

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Your argument is just asinine. MS is going to do things that they think will make them money. If they find themselves doing something that isn't making them money, they'll try something else. Their 'actions' have nothing to do with a subset of fans defending them. You think they care what a handful of forum posters think about the cancellation of scalebound? They care about dollars and cents. They care about their investors

No doubt it may seem that way when you are clearly not even bothered enough to read what is actually written.

At no point did I claim Microsoft's action had anything to do with fans. I've only argued that fans defending them every time they do something shady or misguided isn't likely to make the improvements in that platform that we all want to see.

If you don't think Microsoft and the like don't care what their online community has to say, I don't know what to tell you other than that you are flat out wrong. How do you figure we even got a Phantom Dust reboot greenlit in the first place? How do you figure they made efforts for a HD restoration? Prior to that, how do you figure they got to enabling BC on XB1? There are so many examples of Microsoft tuning into what the community is saying and acting on it that I find it bizarre you think this way.

This whole 'treatment of developers' angle is actually quite removed from the topic of discussion. Sometimes companies lose faith in their investment so they pull out. That's what appears to have happened with scalebound and fable. MS own mismanagement may have contributed to this loss of faith. I dont doubt it. what happens when management makes bad decisions in any industry? They start making cuts to compensate. cutting losses was determined to be the economical thing to do.

I just don't know what to say about your last paragraph. Every publisher under the sun has cancelled games. Many we never even hear about. These particular games just had high profiles, so it stings more.

No, it isn't. It is at the heart of the argument. Sometimes projects fall through, sure, but Microsoft announcing 3 big projects, them all falling through, and with devs involved with each of them coming at various times to criticise Microsoft is not business as usual. How do you even figure this is normal?
 
I don't have a problem with the rest of you post. This I'd like you to substantiate. At what point did I say fans were responsible for any game cancellations or poor choices?

I've only addressed a certain subset of fans as having a negative impact on getting Microsoft to change, because they're always going to defend their actions, regardless of right or wrong, and as a result, the Xbox platform as a whole is going to have difficulty moving forward.





Did you two go halfsies on a magic eight ball? Also, again, way to miss the point. The quality of the games themselves, however good or bad they may or may not have turned out, is irrelevant. The problem lies entirely with Microsoft's treatment of developers and their decision-making, which developers have gone on record to criticise.

I suppose next you'll tell me it's all coincidence or just the result of savvy business acumen as to why three games Microsoft announced with separate developers were all cancelled.

Fable Legends was pretty much finished.
It was shit.

Why would they cancel good profitable games?
 
I can see what Rumble is saying in terms of the fans and the counter point that it's business, a few fans views won't matter but I would like to think some on the Xbox team listen, particularly on social media but money talks more than any online rant or love letter ever will and the best way to show your approval or displeasure is to vote with your wallet.

From personal experience, I left the Xbox preview programme after constant crap going on, I found the forums especially to be a pain in the ass. I would provide feedback and suggestions via the forum and the Xbox feedback site, and you would think I was ripping them to shreads, the reactions I got. Here's one example:

"In a future update, I would like to see gamerpics have a wider selection or if possible or the option to have custom pics. I realise it's not a major issue or priority but it would be a nice little extra for those that like that sort of thing. Thanks"

Bizarrely I was met with aggressiveness particularly from those who are Ambassadors "it's not important, go get a PS4 if you want that sort thing" "no one cares about this stuff, it's not important" etc etc

When custom gamerpics where made available not so long ago, these very same people where celebrating it. "Thanks to Live team, great news" and so on. I had to laugh but that was just one example of many and I just had enough.

Also found the likes of Aaron Greenberg and Mike Ybarra cool to deal with, as long as you are super positive.
 
No doubt it may seem that way when you are clearly not even bothered enough to read what is actually written.

At no point did I claim Microsoft's action had anything to do with fans. I've only argued that fans defending them every time they do something shady or misguided isn't likely to make the improvements in that platform that we all want to see.

If you don't think Microsoft and the like don't care what their online community has to say, I don't know what to tell you other than that you are flat out wrong. How do you figure we even got a Phantom Dust reboot greenlit in the first place? How do you figure they made efforts for a HD restoration? Prior to that, how do you figure they got to enabling BC on XB1? There are so many examples of Microsoft tuning into what the community is saying and acting on it that I find it bizarre you think this way.



No, it isn't. It is at the heart of the argument. Sometimes projects fall through, sure, but Microsoft announcing 3 big projects, them all falling through, and with devs involved with each of them coming at various times to criticise Microsoft is not business as usual. How do you even figure this is normal?

I've only addressed a certain subset of fans as having a negative impact on getting Microsoft to change, because they're always going to defend their actions, regardless of right or wrong, and as a result, the Xbox platform as a whole is going to have difficulty moving forward.

This is what you said. You are explicility implying that regarding developer relations, the opinions of a subset of fans influence MS' behavior. That's not grounded in any reality, and isn't pertinent to any of the discussion going on here.

Whether or not MS decides to fund a game through completion isn't a matter of right or wrong. It's a matter of dollars and sense. Stating this fact does not amount to a 'defense' it's being realistic about the business side of the industry.

I'm sure MS does care about having positive PR. But they aren't going to continue to go massively over budget on a video game that they have no faith in - all in an effort to save face with a subset of fans.

Regarding normalcy- video games get cancelled all the time. That's normal. It's also normal to be critical when your funding gets cut. Like I said. I don't doubt management issues were part of it. But let's say MS perfectly managed a game, but it needed to be cancelled- you think the dev would have pleasant things to say?
 
This is what you said. You are explicility implying that regarding developer relations, the opinions of a subset of fans influence MS' behavior. That's not grounded in any reality, and isn't pertinent to any of the discussion going on here.

Whether or not MS decides to fund a game through completion isn't a matter of right or wrong. It's a matter of dollars and sense. Stating this fact does not amount to a 'defense' it's being realistic about the business side of the industry.

I'm sure MS does care about having positive PR. But they aren't going to continue to go massively over budget on a video game that they have no faith in - all in an effort to save face with a subset of fans.

Regarding normalcy- video games get cancelled all the time. That's normal. It's also normal to be critical when your funding gets cut. Like I said. I don't don't management issues were part of it. But let's say MS perfectly managed a game, but it needed to be cancelled- you think the dev would have pleasant things to say?

Well, said. Do you think Phil and his team want to cancel something like Scalebound? Probably killed him, but at some point you have use common and business sense.

Point being nobody knows what went down. Projects fail. Shit happens...
 
Fable Legends was pretty much finished.
It was shit.

Why would they cancel good profitable games?

Why do you find it difficult to read?

But here's the thing, whether or not the games would have turned out good or not, isn't the point.

Microsoft's behaviour in dealing with developers is the point.

The quality of the games themselves, however good or bad they may or may not have turned out, is irrelevant. The problem lies entirely with Microsoft's treatment of developers and their decision-making, which developers have gone on record to criticise.

Even if you were to assume Fable Legends was a complete and utter disaster of a game that would make a penny upon release, it doesn't matter. What matters is how Microsoft go about their business, and how fans defending them is counterproductive to the platform, because cancelling games isn't good for the platform, not when it needs more diversity in its line up.

I'm done responding to you.
 
Why do you find it difficult to read?

Even if you were to assume Fable Legends was a complete and utter disaster of a game that would make a penny upon release, it doesn't matter. What matters is how Microsoft go about their business, and how fans defending them is counterproductive to the platform, because cancelling games isn't good for the platform, not when it needs more diversity in its line up.

I'm done responding to you.

Cancelling bad games isn't any worse for the platform than spending a lot of money to release a bad game.

Ideally, every game in development will have a perfect dev cycle and will being massive ROI and great PR. But that's often not how it plays out unfortunately.

As someone who enjoyed playing Fable Legends, I believe it would have been a critical and commercial dud- And would have done little to ease 'concern' over MS' first party output. It probably would have exacerbated the issue as the industry asked in unison "why isn't this Fable 4 instead"
 
Why do you find it difficult to read?





Even if you were to assume Fable Legends was a complete and utter disaster of a game that would make a penny upon release, it doesn't matter. What matters is how Microsoft go about their business, and how fans defending them is counterproductive to the platform, because cancelling games isn't good for the platform, not when it needs more diversity in its line up.

I'm done responding to you.

I don't find anything wrong with cancelling a shit game, which would have tied them to launch and post launch support, fixes and other legal implications. Rather they cut thier losses and redirect that money to something more worthwhile like Xbox S and Scorpio.

They took a risk with Titanfall and made it a success, I don't see why they would not continue to do the same, quality does matter.
 
My personal main Xbox E3 Press Conference predictions are (derived from a dream):
- Project Scorpio priced below or at $499
- Project Scorpio release date: mid to end of October 2017
- new Ubisoft Splinter Cell on stage (timed exclusive) (native 4K)
- CD Project Red on stage with Cyperpunk 2077 (marketing deal) (native 4K)
- new Bioware IP on stage (marketing deal) (native 4K)
- Sega cooperation announcement with Monster Hunter coming to Xbox (native 4K)
- Fable 4 teaser trailer (CGI)
- new MS IP RPG'ish game

(if only 50% is true I am fine)

Two RPGs?

You must be dreaming as that is a pretty wild prediction. I'd be amazed if they announce one RPG let alone two.

Ubisoft would never go timed exclusive too.
 
Leaks happened mere hours before conferences last year. Still plenty of time.

I actually don't mind when it's that close to E3, though I know leaks suck for a lot of ppl. I'm usually busy preparing for E3 and watching the pre-shows instead of being buried in GAF. Can't wait for next Sunday!!! :D
 
My personal main Xbox E3 Press Conference predictions are (derived from a dream):
- Project Scorpio priced below or at $499
- Project Scorpio release date: mid to end of October 2017
- new Ubisoft Splinter Cell on stage (timed exclusive) (native 4K)
- CD Project Red on stage with Cyperpunk 2077 (marketing deal) (native 4K)
- new Bioware IP on stage (marketing deal) (native 4K)
- Sega cooperation announcement with Monster Hunter coming to Xbox (native 4K)
- Fable 4 teaser trailer (CGI)
- new MS IP RPG'ish game

(if only 50% is true I am fine)

Sega obtaining the Monster Hunter IP would certainly be a big announcement.
 
Microsoft has to do something extraordinary, cause at this point there is no reason to own their console. Nintendo & Sony are in better positions to sell people shit.

And yet when you think it can't get more extreme.... here we are.

You can't be serious. No reason? There's not a possibility that Crackdown, SoD2 and Sea of Thieves turn out to be really damn good? Or what about games likes Forza? Quality games. There are people like that Halo and Gears, no reason to own the console?

And then of course the reason that all of a sudden doesn't seem important anymore, Scorpio soon being the console that will have multiplats at their best. Come on now.
 
Predictions.

Scorpio is called Xbox One Plus, priced at $349 or $399, out October
Crackdown 3 in August
Forza 7 (duh) in September
State of Decay sent to die in November
Sea of Thieves is released as Game Preview - out now announcement
Ori 2 announced for 2018
Dylan announced
AC Origins shown
Ryse 2 announced
360 BC games come to Windows 10
More Phantom Dust style re-releases from OG Xbox
 
You can't be serious. No reason? There's not a possibility that Crackdown, SoD2 and Sea of Thieves turn out to be really damn good? Or what about games likes Forza? Quality games. There are people like that Halo and Gears, no reason to own the console?

Speaking for myself... I'm pretty interested in Sea of Thieves and SoD2, but the only games I liked from the first-party ( and permanent exclusives ) lineup on XB1 this gen are FH3, SSO & TItanfall.

I won't act like I'm in any shape or form a majority, but there is a group of us who hasn't been impressed by the lineup of what Xbox has released, even though they're good games. The ones who have been fans of Xbox's core IP has largely been satisfied this gen, but those who jumped into Xbox for stuff like Lost Odyssey, etc, has not found a reason to go back.

That is why software and new IP is king first and foremost my expectation for MS, and every publisher this E3, and all E3s. I don't doubt that MS can deliver great games, but the type of great games that I have confidence in MS's ability to consistently deliver (Halo, Gears, Forza) are not the kind of games I'm looking for. Not as what they are today.

And the other point of Scorpio being the best "console platform" for 3rd party games. That is a huge selling point... for someone who hasn't owned a console yet. For someone like me who's had a PS4 already, I've yet to be disappointed by the vanilla PS4's ability to run games on my regular HDTV to even consider a Pro or Scorpio.
 
Careful with that wording there bud.

Why exactly? It seems pretty much a given that the most powerful hardware of them all will have them at their best. You don't think so then?

Look for some games it may be a difference of native 4K and checkerboard 4K and it just depends on if you can see that difference. But I see no reason why Battlefront 2 for example wouldn't have an edge on Scorpio.
 
Speaking for myself... I'm pretty interested in Sea of Thieves and SoD2, but the only games I liked from the first-party ( and permanent exclusives ) lineup on XB1 this gen are FH3, SSO & TItanfall.

I won't act like I'm in any shape or form a majority, but there is a group of us who hasn't been impressed by the lineup of what Xbox has released, even though they're good games. The ones who have been fans of Xbox's core IP has largely been satisfied this gen, but those who jumped into Xbox for stuff like Lost Odyssey, etc, has not found a reason to go back.

That is why software and new IP is king first and foremost my expectation for MS, and every publisher this E3, and all E3s. I don't doubt that MS can deliver great games, but the type of great games that I have confidence in MS's ability to consistently deliver (Halo, Gears, Forza) are not the kind of games I'm looking for. Not as what they are today.

And the other point of Scorpio being the best "console platform" for 3rd party games. That is a huge selling point... for someone who hasn't owned a console yet. For someone like me who's had a PS4 already, I've yet to be disappointed by the vanilla PS4's ability to run games on my regular HDTV to even consider a Pro or Scorpio.

Oh I get that. I can definitely imagine PS4/Pro owners not yet seeing the benefits of getting a Scorpio if the exclusives don't interest them and we have to wait and see how big the differences are. People already gaming on Xbox or new gamers however, that's a different story.

cough PC cough

Oh lol, I definitely meant in the console space. Guess I should edit that.
 
Why exactly? It seems pretty much a given that the most powerful hardware of them all will have them at their best. You don't think so then?

Look for some games it may be a difference of native 4K and checkerboard 4K and it just depends on if you can see that difference. But I see no reason why Battlefront 2 for example wouldn't have an edge on Scorpio.

Look at what I hightlighted.
 
It was not very fun. Pretty yes, but fun, no.

Very true. Still I say they should have made this into a proper SP focused Fable 4 like the fans wanted. The locations and characters were great. But instead they cancel the game and close studio.

To me that seems like a waste, but they had their reasons to not do this.
 
Very true. Still I say they should have made this into a proper SP focused Fable 4 like the fans wanted. The locations and characters were great. But instead they cancel the game and close studio.

To me that seems like a waste, but they had their reasons to not do this.

I think they'd sunk so much time and money into the game, that they couldn't justify further spending. It sucks because they should have been working on Fable 4 the whole time. It would have then taken a bunch of money and several years to reverse course and create a proper RPG.

The waste was inevitable the moment they decided to make a big budget, f2p, 4v1 game. Just a terrible concept to greenlight.
 
I think they'd sunk so much time and money into the game, that they couldn't justify further spending. It sucks because they should have been working on Fable 4 the whole time. It would have then taken a bunch of money and several years to reverse course and create a proper RPG.

The waste was inevitable the moment they decided to make a big budget, f2p, 4v1 game. Just a terrible concept to greenlight.

Yeah man. What frustrates me the most about all this is that the Fable 4 that they pitched to MS sounded fucking awesome and they said no to that.

Fuck man.

Of course there's no guarantee that this game would have been as great as it sounded but you never know that beforehand. If I had been in that chair making a decision though that Legends game would have gotten a huge no from me and a big yes to that more darker, grittier Fable 4. I remember so well how disappointed I was when they announced a new Fable and it was this. Was very excited to see a Fable 4 without Molyneux.
 
Predictions.

Scorpio is called Xbox One Plus, priced at $349 or $399, out October
Crackdown 3 in August
Forza 7 (duh) in September
State of Decay sent to die in November
Sea of Thieves is released as Game Preview - out now announcement
Ori 2 announced for 2018
Dylan announced
AC Origins shown
Ryse 2 announced
360 BC games come to Windows 10
More Phantom Dust style re-releases from OG Xbox

Thatslunds pretty accurate other than 349$ price plint. 399$ is the lowest they'll ever go. And what is Dylan?
 
Yeah man. What frustrates me the most about all this is that the Fable 4 that they pitched to MS sounded fucking awesome and they said no to that.

Fuck man.

Of course there's no guarantee that this game would have been as great as it sounded but you never know that beforehand. If I had been in that chair making a decision though that Legends game would have gotten a huge no from me and a big yes to that more darker, grittier Fable 4. I remember so well how disappointed I was when they announced a new Fable and it was this. Was very excited to see a Fable 4 without Molyneux.

No doubt, Fable 4 should have gotten the greenlight, and perhaps Fable Legends could have been the work of a smaller team with a smaller budget. They could have expanded on the concept if the f2p title gained some traction- the killer instinct model.... But betting the farm on Fable Legends made no sense.
 
The entire conference got leaked last year IIRC, down to the order that the games would be shown.

Hopefully MS have learned from their mistakes and have their schedule and reveals air tight.

These things get leaked mostly because of rehearsels. They will do one the day before the conference and everything will leak, no doubt about that. And then somebody will be stupid enough to post all press material hours before the conference. It's standard procedure for Microsoft at E3.
 
No doubt, Fable 4 should have gotten the greenlight, and perhaps Fable Legends could have been the work of a smaller team with a smaller budget. They could have expanded on the concept if the f2p title gained some traction- the killer instinct model.... But betting the farm on Fable Legends made no sense.

I mean look here, look on Reddit and other sites, people want a proper Fable. So why not listen to them? Sadly though for some reason I am expecting them to make something similar to Legends again if they give Fable another chance. Phil Spencer said they need to find a balance between SP and MP games and that SP is crucial to them. Well Fable is that kind of game that should have a SP focus, it's just simple as that.
 
I mean look here, look on Reddit and other sites, people want a proper Fable. So why not listen to them? Sadly though for some reason I am expecting them to make something similar to Legends again if they give Fable another chance. Phil Spencer said they need to find a balance between SP and MP games and that SP is crucial to them. Well Fable is that kind of game that should have a SP focus, it's just simple as that.

I think MS has been stuck in this mentality that every game needs to have some sort of service model built into it- and a traditional RPG doesn't lend itself well to that and they haven't had much luck lately with their single player focused games.

I think they need rethink that mentality. And aim for diversity in their models.
 

Damn hype confirmed

Who could this "trusted source" be? My first thought was Jez Corden since they're friends and even have a podcast together, and since Sumo Digital are in the UK, it's possible.
However if they were to show CD3 gameplay to journalists, Windows Central is not enough.

It'd be great that after the conference ends, Gameinformer or Eurogamer too had impressions of their time with the game ready to go. It's going to be Xbox news all day regardless.
 
Meh. We will just see next week. "Heard from a trusted source its amazing" I dont know. I cant do anything with that really.
 
Meh. We will just see next week. "Heard from a trusted source its amazing" I dont know. I cant do anything with that really.

Yeah that's true. However on one hand it would make sense that it will blow people away. Because it has been in development for quite a while now. The MP was said to be finished a while ago already and then work started on the SP. Plus someone here said some very talented guys are in this team. Plus the fact that they have been so mysterious about it, not even showing as little as a screenshot or a video at all. Then of course the fact that MS gave this developer the time to make it and didn't cancel it is hopefully quite telling as well.

At the same time one could say it's a bit concerning that they haven't shown anything really yet. I'm hoping it's the former because I am very ready for a great Crackdown game again. Had a blast with the first one. Yeah let's hope the reason for all this silence is because they want to wow folks at the show.
 
I'm really looking forward to it, the game has had massive changes in direction since it was first announced, so I'm keen to see how the finished product is and how it holds up as an overall package.
 
Yeah that's true. However on one hand it would make sense that it will blow people away. Because it has been in development for quite a while now. The MP was said to be finished a while ago already and then work started on the SP. Plus someone here said some very talented guys are in this team. Plus the fact that they have been so mysterious about it, not even showing as little as a screenshot or a video at all. Then of course the fact that MS gave this developer the time to make it and didn't cancel it is hopefully quite telling as well.

At the same time one could say it's a bit concerning that they haven't shown anything really yet. I'm hoping it's the former because I am very ready for a great Crackdown game again. Had a blast with the first one. Yeah let's hope the reason for all this silence is because they want to wow folks at the show.

But saying something is "amazing" isn't exactly newsworthy. Where's the substance?
 
I think MS has been stuck in this mentality that every game needs to have some sort of service model built into it- and a traditional RPG doesn't lend itself well to that and they haven't had much luck lately with their single player focused games.

I think they need rethink that mentality. And aim for diversity in their models.

Yeah and I was hoping Phil Spencer would bring a drastic change to that. But that remains to be seen. GaaS doesn't matter because most Xbox One games are that. But Fable is not good as a MMO or F2P. Hopefully they finally start to realize that. Witcher 3 should be a good example why a SP game like that can succeed in incredible ways. That's not to say a Fable 4 would ever get that success but it can succeed.

But saying something is "amazing" isn't exactly newsworthy. Where's the substance?

Agreed. His source should have mentioned a few things why he thinks it was amazing. Simple things like destruction or physics or missions would have been at least something. Good thing is soon we will know.
 
How do you know this is someone who's played the game?

How do you know it's not? I mean Rand is pretty legit when it comes to stuff like this. He's not known to flat out lie about shit. I'll take his word on it until proven otherwise.
 
How do you know it's not? I mean Rand is pretty legit when it comes to stuff like this. He's not known to flat out lie about shit. I'll take his word on it until proven otherwise.

That's not how the burden of proof works.

Plus, nobody says he's lying. He only said a "trusted source". Assuming the source is legitimate, that could be anyone within the internal supply chain. It's not indicative of anything and we don't know what it is based on.

Similarly, just saying that something is "amazing" tells us nothing. I'm sure it is—but it's subjective. Now, there's nothing wrong with that, of course but as a result, it's a statement that offers very little value without context.
 
Oh wait they actually had Lionhead before.

They not going to moneyhat two different studios to create two different RPGs.
Not talking about lionhead. Blue dragon, and lost Odyssey were in development at the same time.

If the games are different enough in style or substance they ver well could.
 
Fable from the 360 days had a multiplayer component plus goofy ways to level up instead of a traditional RPG if anything it needs to go more RPG and move away from the the 360 games.

Make it a destiny clone or Guild Wars-esque game. Have it last multiple years or multiple consoles. Fable needs to be more of dark comedy version of classic Grimm tales set in Albion. It needs a reboot and a competent developer behind it.
 
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