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Microsoft Studios (& Partners) Current and Future Landscape

The more I think about it the more I believe it would be in Microsoft's best interest to hold their own event equivalent to PSX.

It doesn't need to be as huge but something targeting the dedicated crowd where they can speak directly to their audience, make some cool announcements, preview stuff ahead of release and freely dominate the news for a few days would help generate a lot of good will for the brand.

Maybe do it in like late January as to allow plenty of time between it and E3 and give folks some time to recover from the holidays. Have Sea of Thieves, State of Decay 2, some recent releases like Crackdown and a bunch of cool indies available to play. They could hold a press event where they drop release dates, announce Recore Definitive Edition, Gobo's game, maybe an exciting multiplat and hell, go ahead and announce Halo 6 and a beta while you're at it. Make it a big deal. They need something to generate some serious excitement.
 
Zukkoyaki said:
The more I think about it the more I believe it would be in Microsoft's best interest to hold their own event equivalent to PSX.

It doesn't need to be as huge but something targeting the dedicated crowd where they can speak directly to their audience, make some cool announcements, preview stuff ahead of release and freely dominate the news for a few days would help generate a lot of good will for the brand.

Maybe do it in like late January as to allow plenty of time between it and E3 and give folks some time to recover from the holidays. Have Sea of Thieves, State of Decay 2, some recent releases like Crackdown and a bunch of cool indies available to play. They could hold a press event where they drop release dates, announce Recore Definitive Edition, Gobo's game, maybe an exciting multiplat and hell, go ahead and announce Halo 6 and a beta while you're at it. Make it a big deal. They need something to generate some serious excitement.
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They used to have X07, X08 and stuff like that. I don't know why they stopped....
 
Jeez, I replayed gears 4 today and I have to say the game feels really dated. If they want to keep making gears games they surely need to refresh the game mechanics.
 
Strootman said:
Jeez, I replayed gears 4 today and I have to say the game feels really dated. If they want to keep making gears games they surely need to refresh the game mechanics.
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There not going to tinker with the actual mechanics. Those are here to stay. You may see changes to the overall dressing, like maybe not as linear or adding rpg elements to the game. But the roadie run and shotgun ballet isn't going anywhere. If that's what you're referring to
 
rokkerkory said:
Will MS be at gamescom anyone know?
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No announcement yet. However, Aaron Greenburg features in the Gamescom 2017 trailer deeming it 'the biggest consumer gaming show in the world, so it's extremely important'.

So, one would imagine they will be there. Also with it being said the console will go up for pre order in August. Gamescom is a great platform to announce that.
 
Robso said:
No announcement yet. However, Aaron Greenburg features in the Gamescom 2017 trailer deeming it 'the biggest consumer gaming show in the world, so it's extremely important'.
.
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I mean, that doesnt necessarily mean much, because MS will be there a 100%, but what will they do is the question

A booth is guaranteed, a show remains to be seen
 
I'm betting they'll have a Gamescom show because they've still got Crackdown MP, State of Decay live gameplay, and that Age of Empires tease to pay off on. Probably some Ori 2 footage as well. There's not a ton, but then, it's a smaller conference than E3 so it'd make a sort of sense to have a smaller show, yeah?
 
Poodlestrike said:
I'm betting they'll have a Gamescom show because they've still got Crackdown MP, State of Decay live gameplay, and that Age of Empires tease to pay off on. Probably some Ori 2 footage as well. There's not a ton, but then, it's a smaller conference than E3 so it'd make a sort of sense to have a smaller show, yeah?
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I doubt we get Ori at gamescom.
 
I think with Halo 4 they were not confident enough and played it too safe, and were very much looking backward. But from what I played of Halo 5, they picked a direction and they went for it. Halo 5 is definitely a better game because of that, and I think it’s a more modern game, too, because they weren’t self-referential.

And it’s like, no. If the only way I enjoy this is as a reference to something that’s better, that doesn’t work. You cannot enjoy the reference as much as you enjoyed the original. I felt like Halo 4 was pale imitation of previous Halos. With Halo 5, at least it’s something new. But man, I wouldn’t know what to do with the series now. If you said to me, “You’re the creative director of Halo 6, what do you do?” I would have no idea. You can’t win. It’s an unwinnable situation.
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These quotes are from Jaime Griesemer, The Complete, Untold History of Halo.https://waypoint.vice.com/en_us/article/xwqjg3/the-complete-untold-history-of-halo-an-oral-history

For all we know he could actually have enjoyed halo 5, which wasn't a bad game by any means and has it's fans, but It still piqued my interest, and I wish we could know what version of halo 5 he played or when he did.

Also the article goes into halo 5 as well, and the ideas behind it. One thing I don't understand that Tim Longo wanted, is more characters. Yes I get it that it can get old if it's only about Chief, Cortana, Halsey, but you never gave us a reason to care for the new characters you introduced? I find it fascinating that Marty O'Donnell discusses how they tried to make the characters in reach matter more, and it really got me thinking about what halo 5 really achieved in that regard...

Who is the director for Halo 6 BTW?
 
R aka Bon said:
These quotes are from Jaime Griesemer, The Complete, Untold History of Halo.https://waypoint.vice.com/en_us/article/xwqjg3/the-complete-untold-history-of-halo-an-oral-history

For all we know he could actually have enjoyed halo 5, which wasn't a bad game by any means and has it's fans, but It still piqued my interest, and I wish we could know what version of halo 5 he played or when he did.

Also the article goes into halo 5 as well, and the ideas behind it. One thing I don't understand that Tim Longo wanted, is more characters. Yes I get it that it can get old if it's only about Chief, Cortana, Halsey, but you never gave us a reason to care for the new characters you introduced? I find it fascinating that Marty O'Donnell discusses how they tried to make the characters in reach matter more, and it really got me thinking about what halo 5 really achieved in that regard...

Who is the director for Halo 6 BTW?
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I think it's Chris Lee who has worked on ODST, REACH, 4 and 5.
 
Xumbrega said:
Can we speculate about the Xbox new game that will use the Dark Tide story by Mark Lawrence?

It's a short story, you can read it here.

What do you guys think? Seems like a horror game or maybe a psychological action thriller.. (Alan Wake spiritual sucessor maybe?)

Who could develop a game like this for Microsoft?
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If it is going to become a game then it will only be starting development soon so who knows how long away it could be, but presumably there is only two ways that sort of story could go with either a telltale/Until Dawn/Life is strange style story game. You could also go down the Last of Us root with the linear story driven post apocalyptic survival mechanic gameplay, this game and Last of Us would actually start off very similarly which is why it was the first game to come to mind when reading through it. It would work well in that style of game with the day night mechanic being really interesting, by the end of the game it would be getting really intense. But you would have to retrofit a lot of the story to allow for more enemies, like maybe you add more enemies like the couple that get controlled by the goo. You could probably massively expand the story between escaping from the couple and eventually leaving on the raft, which would allow for a lot more gameplay expansion.


EDIT: In terms of who would develop it? if it was the Until Dawn/Life is strange angle then well.... Supermassive or Don't nod who would be finishing up on Vampyr. If it's the Last of Us style linear survival game angle then I would hope they would ask Coalition, but in terms of independent studios I don't know. Maybe?....I got nothing, most of the studios that could do it are already working on other games like Machine, A4, Insomniac, Remedy etc.
 
Phil tweeted that he won't be at Gamescom so I don't expect a conference there unless someone else is going to do it.

Also he was asked about when will he show more 1st Party games and he said when it's in a quality state to show and they have a release date for it.
 
jbug617 said:
Phil tweeted that he won't be at Gamescom so I don't expect a conference there unless someone else is going to do it.

Also he was asked about when will he show more 1st Party games and he said when it's in a quality state to show and they have a release date for it.
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We're not getting anymore announcements this year, are we? 😒
 
b7yhlrxa4snd.gif

Just leaving this here.


Crackdown online isn't coming out this year is it
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Really? Is Ruffian having trouble there?
 
Shiggy said:
Really? Is Ruffian having trouble there?
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Idk but if they're not doing gamescom where are they gonna show it? It's utilizing the cloud and they have a lot to prove with it. I can't see them give it a small YouTube trailer or something. It has potential to be mind blowingly amazing, it will be shown at a huge conference.
 
Chris1 said:
Idk but if they're not doing gamescom where are they gonna show it? It's utilizing the cloud and they have a lot to prove with it. I can't see them give it a small YouTube trailer or something. It has potential to be mind blowingly amazing, it will be shown at a huge conference.
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All we know is that Phil Spencer won't be at Gamescom due to a scheduling conflict. I get the feeling MS will still be there without him.
 
Chris1 said:
Idk but if they're not doing gamescom where are they gonna show it? It's utilizing the cloud and they have a lot to prove with it. I can't see them give it a small YouTube trailer or something. It has potential to be mind blowingly amazing, it will be shown at a huge conference.
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I don't think that's what they meant. I'd be surprised if they didn't show the game to press. ReCore: Definitive Edition should also finally make an appearance.
 
Shiggy said:
I don't think that's what they meant. I'd be surprised if they didn't show the game to press. ReCore: Definitive Edition should also finally make an appearance.
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Recore DE can be just a youtube trailer and xbox wire post though. It's essentially a patch with some DLC for a game that's already forgotten.

You can already see the narrative now if Xbox shows up at Gamescom and shows off Recore "Lmao MS has no upcoming games they need to show off another old game for conferences". I'm pretty sure it will get a release date, news post and pretty much stealthy release and not much else.

Bear Cub in Sky said:
All we know is that Phil Spencer won't be at Gamescom due to a scheduling conflict. I get the feeling MS will still be there without him.
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Who's gonna show up in place of Phil though? considering Phil is their best guy in public/interviews/etc, I'm struggling to see them send some random joe along to host a big conference like Gamescom.

The only person I could probably see is Mike Ybarra, but I'm not sure he's the right person either since he's more on the software team but I guess he is VP now and is pretty likable

I would think of Xbox was gonna be at Gamescom, Phil would make sure he was there.
 
I remember Bonnie Ross opening the Xbox E3 in 20...15 i think? I mean without Phil the chances of a press conference are slim but it can happen...
 
peppers said:
I remember Bonnie Ross opening the Xbox E3 in 20...15 i think? I mean without Phil the chances of a press conference are slim but it can happen...
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Don't mean just opening the conference.

Bonnie Ross was there because halo opened E3 2015 I think, but Phil came on straight after. There's always a "host" of the show and sometimes people from the dev teams. Phil has been that host for a few years now.

Bonnie only comes on for halo, Phil leads the whole show. Different things.

Anyways if Phil isn't gonna be at gamescom I'd be surprised did they do anything more than they did last year. Probably just a couple of games on the floor but no conferences or anything. Has the head of Xbox ever missed a big event like that where Xbox held a conference? Under matrick perhaps?
 
Strootman said:
Jeez, I replayed gears 4 today and I have to say the game feels really dated. If they want to keep making gears games they surely need to refresh the game mechanics.
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blakep267 said:
There not going to tinker with the actual mechanics. Those are here to stay. You may see changes to the overall dressing, like maybe not as linear or adding rpg elements to the game. But the roadie run and shotgun ballet isn't going anywhere. If that's what you're referring to
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Exo suits with Vanquish style gameplay for Gears 5 confirmed 😉

Chris1 said:
Don't mean just opening the conference.

Bonnie Ross was there because halo opened E3 2015 I think, but Phil came on straight after. There's always a "host" of the show and sometimes people from the dev teams. Phil has been that host for a few years now.

Bonnie only comes on for halo, Phil leads the whole show. Different things.

Anyways if Phil isn't gonna be at gamescom I'd be surprised did they do anything more than they did last year. Probably just a couple of games on the floor but no conferences or anything. Has the head of Xbox ever missed a big event like that where Xbox held a conference? Under matrick perhaps?
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If they do a conference I'm thinking either Shannon Loftis or Yusef Mehdi host it, maybe even both alternating between segments.

However I agree there probably won't be a conference, likely just video reveals or xbox daily style stuff.
 
Chris1 said:
Don't mean just opening the conference.

Bonnie Ross was there because halo opened E3 2015 I think, but Phil came on straight after. There's always a "host" of the show and sometimes people from the dev teams. Phil has been that host for a few years now.

Bonnie only comes on for halo, Phil leads the whole show. Different things.

Anyways if Phil isn't gonna be at gamescom I'd be surprised did they do anything more than they did last year. Probably just a couple of games on the floor but no conferences or anything. Has the head of Xbox ever missed a big event like that where Xbox held a conference? Under matrick perhaps?
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Yeah I know what you mean, but there have been E3 shows where Phil only came onstage twice or so. And you're right about a host or a leader for the show being necessary, but at the same time I don't think having only devs talk about their upcoming or updated games is a bad idea. Phil is always saying it's the team and not him so it would make sense to make such a show.

That said, Shannon Loftis would be a good pick for this, yes.
 
W.S. said:
If they do a conference I'm thinking either Shannon Loftis or Yusef Mehdi host it, maybe even both alternating between segments.

However I agree there probably won't be a conference, likely just video reveals or xbox daily style stuff.
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Yusef Mehdi? lool no chance, he was part of the reason for the XB1's disasterous launch (hell when Mattrick was gone there was people on Neogaf, Reddit, etc hoping Mehdi was next). While I'm sure he'd go through a lot of rehershal to make sure it goes swimmingly & up to standard for Phil, there is no chance he hosts a conference IMO

Shannon loftis is a decent pick, she kinda slipped my mind. Still don't see it without Phil personally though.
 
Klobb is second best to Spencer for public relations. He is much liked, solid history and tells it straight. Shame we don't see much of him IMO.
 
Remember that Eden Falls trademark and supposed game that MS had kicking about a few years ago? Well, here it is, from Jez at Windows Central

Ever heard of "Eden Falls?" Microsoft trademarked the name back in 2014 for Xbox, but nobody really knew what it was for. Today, we have some answers.

It appears Microsoft might have used the trademark for a couple of projects. Brimstone Games was originally tipped as the developer of a game called "Eden Falls," building a single player RPG rated for adults, apparently, for Android and iOS tablets. Microsoft later purchased the domain "EdenFallsGame.com," and it looked as though the project was gaining steam.

Later on, the trademark "Eden Falls" became associated with a rumored project from Lift London, which seems to now be responsible for developing experiences for HoloLens.

Well, we got our hands on the game, and we took a look at this canceled project for Xbox One and Windows 8 devices.
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eden-falls-characters.jpg


More at the link below including a 90 second video.

https://www.windowscentral.com/eden-falls-game-xbox-windows-8-windows-phone-8
 
How sweet, more games we will never get. Just the news we needed during this avalanche of new titles being announced for xbox.

It's really depressing only having a xbox from the big two sometimes.
 
Keinning said:
How sweet, more games we will never get. Just the news we needed during this avalanche of new titles being announced for xbox.

It's really depressing only having a xbox from the big two sometimes.
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Stop it. That game looked garbage. Your better off playing fortnite or PVZ
 
blakep267 said:
Stop it. That game looked garbage. Your better off playing fortnite or PVZ
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It was a phone game. Not really supposed to be a looker. And its not even about this game in particular, but just after days of no xbox news at all i hear about something new and... welp its just an old project that was cancelled lol ya got excited for nothing.

Since E3 the xbox wire and majornelson's blog look so empty of anything remarkable.
 
Chris1 said:
Crackdown online isn't coming out this year is it
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It's probably coming but I think the scope has been reduced a lot. Instead of it being a GTA online esque type mode, it'll probably just have deathmatch, team death match and the destory the enemy tower mode
 
MosquitoSmasher said:
Maybe at GC? I mean just because Spencer isn't there doesn't mean MS won't have a booth with their games there. Besides wasn't Crackdown online finished a while ago already?
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I don't know about it being finished, but the devs said the release was delayed because of the SP, implying that MP's likely done.
 
blakep267 said:
It's probably coming but I think the scope has been reduced a lot. Instead of it being a GTA online esque type mode, it'll probably just have deathmatch, team death match and the destory the enemy tower mode
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Yeah I think so too, which could still itself be very cool. I can imagine several different 'maps' like the area in the 2015 Gamescom demo where several game mode types can be played. It doesn't look like there will be a huge open city.

If only they had the decency to show it to us!
 
I feel like Greenberg (and Phil to a certain degree) doesn't really answer the questions they're asked and instead try to use outlets like Gamingbolt to say the same shit all the time.

On topic: The Coalition is indeed a really talented team. Honestly, I'm not too upset about them being stuck with the Gears IP because I bought the console when Gears 4 was announced, what really bothers me is that it has SO much potential outside of third person shooting that at least for now is not being used.

They could make a strategy game focusing on the pendulum wars with planes and tanks or even a mecha game like 4's ending. In some parts of their last game we get to see stuff like churches with medieval-like soldiers in armor etc., can we PLEASE expand on that?? They could clearly make a spiritual sequel to Ryse based on that universe.
 
Pathetic sales for Xbox in June. Are their executives living under a rock to see how well their competition is doing mainly because of top notch exclusives
 
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