The PS5 Reveal Has Put All the Pressure Back on Microsoft - Ryan McCaffrey

Halo Infinite will sell well over 20 million copies on all platforms when all is said and done. Halo is a much bigger franchise than you realize.

I am looking forward to Halo Infinite as a old-school Halo fan. But I am gonna be super real here, Halo lost its relevancy and its going to be very difficult to get it back. If 343 can pull it off more power to them. Guardians was a mess and a spit to face to the fans. Halo Infinite needs to absolutely blow everyone's minds to get anywhere near to redemption for 343.
 
No it won't. It'll be on game pass day one so where's the incentive for paying $60 for it?

You DO realize that Game Pass has helped sell more games that would have otherwise been overlooked, right? It's the old argument that PC players use when they pirate games... Try before you buy. I guarantee that Halo Infinite will be at least 5-10 million sold within the first year.
 
You DO realize that Game Pass has helped sell more games that would have otherwise been overlooked, right? It's the old argument that PC players use when they pirate games... Try before you buy. I guarantee that Halo Infinite will be at least 5-10 million sold within the first year.
Halo, Xbox's biggest IP, doesn't really fit in to the "could have been overlooked if not for gamepass" category, does it? If it's on gamepass, I expect the majority of people to play the campaign, dabble with MP and then move on. That's the nature of the beast now that they've devalued games to a monthly sub fee. We'll never get sales figures so it's futile to discuss potential units sold. I hope it does well. The writing's on the wall for 343 if not.
 
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Well, then it's player engagement numbers will dwarf anything Sony showed at the PS5 event.

Player engagement was never Sony's thing they make single player games. On Halo you have people with 100's even 1000's of hours of game time same for Gears, SoT, SoD2, Horizon, and Motorsport gamers. They aren't masterpieces, but they are played a truck ton more than anything Sony released or which is a direct competitor to those games while also loved by those playing those games.

MS approach is replayability and player retention instead of one time story experiences.
 
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Both Xbox and Playstation had lackluster reveals, but of the two Playsa
Halo, Xbox's biggest IP, doesn't really fit in to the "could have been overlooked if not for gamepass" category really, does it? If it's on gamepass, I expect the majority of people to play the campaign, dabble with MP and then move on. That's the nature of the beast now that they've devalued games to a monthly sub fee. We'll never get sales figures so it's futile to discuss potential units sold. I hope it does well. The writing's on the wall for 343 if not.

I can't argue that point. I'm just saying that Game Pass doesn't necessarily hurt sales. I hope for 343's sake that they knock it out of the park because the Halo series died when Bungie went separate ways, in my opinion.
 
I think MS put a lot of pressure on themselves. They've been talking a big game since the Xbox Series X reveal and they still have a lot to prove. The 1st thing they need to do is get Halo back on track. Halo isn't what it use to be and they need to flip that around.

2nd they need to prove that they're investing in new IPs. There's a lot of people who love Forza Motorsports, Halo, and Gears but there is such a thing as franchise fatigue. Buying up studios was a good place to start but places like 343 and The Coalition need to have (if they don't already have them) a second team working on new stuff.

The last thing they need to do is show why the Xbox Series X is the most powerful console in the world. In July, show games that are running at a high frame rate in 4K. They talk about 12 TF and what not so show people how that makes your games better. It's one thing when you got console warriors fighting on a video game forum about power but my neighbor who plays Warzone all the time doesn't even know what a teraflop is. People need to see why it's so good instead of being told it is.
 
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Sony's showcase yesterday gave me 8 games (4 exclusive, 4 multiplatform) while Microsoft's Inside Xbox showcase gave me 5 games so as long as Microsoft's July showcase gives me at least 5 more games (exclusive or not), I will be a happy camper.

In general, Microsoft needs to have an excellent showcase. If it was up to me, I would have nothing but AAA titles unless it's a first party studio. But all third parties would have to be AAA. Any A/AA games should be saved for perhaps their August Inside Xbox episode. I'm expecting Microsoft's showcase to do what they need to do - show off what their first parties have been working on (as long as there's gameplay to be shown) for launch, 2021 and beyond. Any first party studio that isn't able to have a gameplay trailer ready, I save it for their E3 (or whatever it will be) 2021 showcase. If Fable and Halo Infinite can show 5+ minutes of actual gameplay and it's freaking great, then Xbox Series X has a very positive future. If not, then we have some problems. Thankfully, im expecting Microsoft to give me the best showcase they've had since probably the Xbox 360 era.

Either way, im looking forward to the showcase.
 
Let's see, MS will show off Forza 8, which apparently is going to be a showcase.
They will show Halo Infinate, which I hope, and expect, will look amazing.
They will show off Fable, and considering PG are doing it, it will look amazing.
Ninja Theory will show more of Hellblade 2, which looks nuts.
Flight SIM will get a gig, and that is insane looking, and Sony doesnt have anything to compete with that genre wise.
On top of that, possible new games from their other first party games, and whatever other exclusives they have been working on.
Put that with their initial show, and in totality it isnt really going to hard to match or excel what Sony did.
 
I think that's a no brainer kinda statement; Sony has shown some exclusives that people definitely want, including a surprise launch exclusive sequel of sorts to one of the hottest games of last gen. The games look gorgeous, etc.

But it wasn't so mindblowing that MS is totally screwed. However, I could see MS screwing themselves. They waited so long to buy up studios and start giving a shit about..well.. making games last gen that they are still so far behind.

And one of their major studios in charge of currently their biggest property (343i) continues to struggle to remakes of 10 year old games that aren't buggy as shit. I mean does the sound work correctly yet on the PC version of Halo Anni? lol
 
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Microsoft needs to bring the big guns for the next show and they can easily steal Sonys thunder. Hellblade 2 on UE5 + Halo Infinite +new Forza can do major damage imo
 
The pressure is there for Xbox for sure. Im not sure if they made those studio acquisitions too late, because if its just teasers and cinematics, they've got a massive problem.

Their July show now has to state "all gameplay and trailers are running on xbox series x hardware". If they don't, and they pull the optimisation crap from the 3rd party show, its going to do more damage.

If their main games like Halo and Forza aren't a complete technical showcase then it could backfire. Its the world most powerful console, blah blah blah. They need to prove it this time, and if there isn't anything that looks better than what Sony showed yesterday, it will be even harder for Xbox to gain back some marketshare.

They really need some heavy hitters and show some shit that drops some jaws, but I'm afraid when they pull the "playable even on Xbox 1 S!" will hold them back, because those smaller studios that ARE making XSX exclusives won't have the manpower, budget or time to make something on the level that XSX needs.
 
Sony had one thing going for them going into this reveal. 1st party games.
Great graphics, plenty of exclusives and 3rd party reveals.
The icing on the cake being the system itself. So well designed. I'm worried about cooling and fan noise in that small box.

MS had the upper hand up until yesterday. They designed a powerful and seemingly well thought out box in terms of cooling and efficiency. But for some odd reason choose to show games last. This can be good or bad.

MS is either unprepared or extremely confident in their offerings.

NEW ORIGINAL GAMES ARE A MUST

HALO has run it's course. Forza could use a rest but I'm not the biggest racing fan. And Hellblade was a good but very flawed game in terms of puzzle design so that could go either way. And for the love of god don't mention Gears.
 
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Even though thr xbox third party event was lame, the ps5 event felt like getting punched by a wet limp wrist. A ps5 spiderman expansion that should be on ps4 won't convince me otherwise.
 
Are people actually impressed with yesterdays showing?

I have a hard time imaging Microsoft being particularily scared after that show.

I feel the same way. I just don't understand how people are blown away by what they saw yesterday. I understand that there's a lot of Sony fans out there but how are you impressed by that. Gran Turismo looked like a worse version of what's currently out on Xbox with Forza. Spiderman looks like more of the same although there was also ZERO gameplay. Horizon im sure will be very good, But considering none of my close friends actually played the original, I'm not entirely sure it's a system seller. Then all those indie games in between are mostly timed exclusives that are going to eventually come to Xbox anyway.

Honestly I really don't know what the fuss is all about because I was bored most of the way through that showcase and I really thought I was going to be blown away. I thought it was good, not great. Lots of games that really don't appeal to me.

And the console is incredibly ugly I found. Looks like a toy.
 
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The general public doesn't care about anything on a technical level. They just care about the games. Horizon 2, Spider-Man, Ratchet & Clank, and Demon's Souls will not be on the xbox and that's all that matters. You may not particularly care about any of them, but there is a large amount of people that do. I'm not even sure what is coming out exclusively to the xbox that I can't play on another system.
Erhhmm...you're wrong on so, SO MANY levels...

The single, best sold game in history is... GTA V, with 130 MILLIONS across all the platforms it has been released (PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One).

Next to that, are the Call of Duty franchise (with 60 millions on PS4+XBone) and the FIFA franchise (selling 20 millions on FIFA 18 alone and 282 millions since the very first FIFA game).

The "general public" (as you say) don't care about exclusives or even the games you mention. Those raise barely a blip on the general population.
 
1. I don't think Sony have put all their chips on the table at all
2. I don't think Xbox currently has enough to see them.
3. It doesn't really matter, they don't need to.
What other chips do they have? ND and Sucker Punch are releasing two games in the next month. Sony literally has revealed games by all of there other studios at this event.

According to Shinobi, MS has plenty to show and they've acquired like 7 studios in the past few years
 
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I'll never understand people downplaying how popular the Halo franchise is. I'd argue it's STILL the biggest franchise between MS and Sony. Zelda, Mario, Pokemon and Mario Kart are the only exclusive franchises I'd consider bigger in 2020.
 
microsoft indeed need to build their exclusive empire library...but i dont think they can suddenly output a title on par with games like gow, uncharted,botw etc just like that..making games take time..building a franchise, mascot/icon also not easy feat and ms cant depend solely on halo forever...not to mention it pale in popularity compared to other franchise in those region where xbox name not much popular

but they still need to do it...but dont expect they suddenly could turn things around in short time...they need to build it starting now, plant the root and stuff....they might not able to 'dethroned' or go toe to toe sony in single generation, but they might be at later gen once their library getting 'matured' and improved...building a legacy of exclusives not take simply a single generation of time span

win or lose next gen, but its is crucial important step for later gen

they should not just aimed to be 'services company' but also should aimed to be like sony or nintendo, where for example if people mention nintendo, they immediately know mario and zelda, like how people associate disney with mickey mouse

its like watching pro wrestling...people come to watch the wrestler..be it the rock or kenny omega for example..not simply just come blind to watch wwe or njpw brand disregard who the heck the roster is.
 
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No, Sony needed to reveal Uncharted 5 with something like the first Uncharted 4 gameplay reveal (the one that ends with Nathan being dragged in the mud by a big truck).
It's quite funny actually, but you gotta give Sony credit for the amount of misinformation and marketing department. If you're not on the forums or really glued into this stuff, you wouldn't realize pretty much every third party title they showed yesterday is at best a timed exclusive. Users such as Vawn Vawn fell right into their trap.
You realize that any platform holder mentions only their platform when they show a game on it, you won't see all the logos at the end... unless they say it's exclusive or timed exclusive it comes out on other platforms, this is how it works, and how it has always worked.

You will not see MS announce the next *whatever game* at their show and then say at the end of the trailer: By the way this game is also available on Switch/PS4/PS5 and it will be just as good on these! what a great news for all gamers!
 
All the people who think the showcase was a dissapointment are gonna be in for a rude awakening when Xbox shows that their best game is a crossgen game you can play on your existing console.

Sony successfully showed why you should get a PS5.
 
I'll never understand people downplaying how popular the Halo franchise is. I'd argue it's STILL the biggest franchise between MS and Sony. Zelda, Mario, Pokemon and Mario Kart are the only exclusive franchises I'd consider bigger in 2020.

I wonder if Microsoft will make Minecraft a next gen console exclusive.
 
Hellblade 2 on UE5 + Halo Infinite +new Forza can do major damage imo

I find it hilarious that Hellblade is suddenly this massive franchise.

It started off a PS4 exclusive, and honestly wasn't talked much about by either camp. It was a good, not great, indie game with great graphics - for an indie.

It was basically your typical walking simulator, but it had the twist of actually having a few rudimentary combat sections. Still, its premise was the same as most other walking sim like Vanishing of Ethan Carter, Gone Home, Everybody's Gone to the Rapture, etc.

Now that it is an Xbox exclusive, people are acting like it is suddenly on the level of Uncharted, Halo, Zelda, etc. It's still Hellblade. That's not bad, but let's not pretend it is something massive.
 
All the people who think the showcase was a dissapointment are gonna be in for a rude awakening when Xbox shows that their best game is a crossgen game you can play on your existing console.

Sony successfully showed why you should get a PS5.
Care to tell me why? Because I was hyped when I saw the conference, but then I noticed something: very, VERY few games had actual release date. If there are no release dates, why the hell should I buy a PS5 (or an XSX for that matter) day-one?
 
I find it hilarious that Hellblade is suddenly this massive franchise.

This. Nobody gives a shit about Hellblade 2. It's not going to push units, period. Could it be good? Sure, but that won't matter unless it comes out of nowhere and does things that nobody is expecting...and even then it will be an uphill battle for this game to be a system seller.
 
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I think Sony did a great job. What sells consoles is not teraflops, or variable rate shading, or SSD transfer rates, or decompression schemes. It is games, and they showed off a lot of really good games - games you need a PS5 for.

I'll never understand people downplaying how popular the Halo franchise is. I'd argue it's STILL the biggest franchise between MS and Sony. Zelda, Mario, Pokemon and Mario Kart are the only exclusive franchises I'd consider bigger in 2020.

I don't think Halo is a top-tier franchise anymore. But even if it was, and even if Infinite is a 10/10 game, you don't need a XSX to play it.
 
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I find it hilarious that Hellblade is suddenly this massive franchise.

It started off a PS4 exclusive, and honestly wasn't talked much about by either camp. It was a good, not great, indie game with great graphics - for an indie.

It was basically your typical walking simulator, but it had the twist of actually having a few rudimentary combat sections. Still, its premise was the same as most other walking sim like Vanishing of Ethan Carter, Gone Home, Everybody's Gone to the Rapture, etc.

Now that it is an Xbox exclusive, people are acting like it is suddenly on the level of Uncharted, Halo, Zelda, etc. It's still Hellblade. That's not bad, but let's not pretend it is something massive.

It's not that Hellblade is a massive franchise. It's that the studio did some innovative things in the first game, they now have the backing of a publisher with deep pockets, and the visuals looked astounding in the Hellblade II trailer.

Very few people here care how many hundreds of thousands/millions a game like Ratchet and Clank Rift Apart sells. It doesn't move the needle for a ton of people. Hellblade II still has that intriguing mystery about it. Rift Apart doesn't.
 
It's not that Hellblade is a massive franchise. It's that the studio did some innovative things in the first game, they now have the backing of a publisher with deep pockets, and the visuals looked astounding in the Hellblade II trailer.

Very few people here care how many hundreds of thousands/millions a game like Ratchet and Clank Rift Apart sells. It doesn't move the needle for a ton of people. Hellblade II still has that intriguing mystery about it. Rift Apart doesn't.

Lol, so now Hellblade is bigger than Ratchet and Clank?
 
Hilarious that fans of X was saying MS was going to bring it to Sony on the last event they had which turned out to be turd, now here we go again with wait till they show 1st party event. Deja vu seems a lot waiting for this great games to come out, meanwhile TLoU2 just dropped lmao
 
I honestly thought it was a terrible showing

I kept waiting for the bomb to drop and it never came. Halfway through I actually said to a friend of mine, "If I see one more damn cartoony game I am going to cut this shit off." Then Deathloop came on, I was like son of a...
I'm surprised to see so many people thinking like this here. I actually thought Sony's event was very strong. Showing a large amount and variety of games, both big and small.
 
Care to tell me why? Because I was hyped when I saw the conference, but then I noticed something: very, VERY few games had actual release date. If there are no release dates, why the hell should I buy a PS5 (or an XSX for that matter) day-one?
Sony doesn't care if you get it day one. Hell it's probably gonna be sold out immediately.

They want it to slowly infect your mind. Like a parasitic mushroom of consistent quality.
 
I'm surprised to see so many people thinking like this here. I actually thought Sony's event was very strong. Showing a large amount and variety of games, both big and small.

Every game Sony showed (save for Gran Turismo 7) was a "Plop main character down. Have player push up on left thumbstick and shoot projectiles at enemies designed to be killed, placed conveniently in front of them".

There were no games shown that would make casual gamers even consider the SSD advantage. Most of (all of) the games looked like they played like a ton of PS3 and PS4 games if you dialed the graphics down enough. Plus, the graphical jump was pretty underwhelming.

For people wanting to see gameplay innovation or variety, it was an awful showing. Especially when you consider that Sony hasn't announced a new AAA game in 3 years.
 
I'm surprised to see so many people thinking like this here. I actually thought Sony's event was very strong. Showing a large amount and variety of games, both big and small.
That is Jack Ryan's fault dude talked shit about exclusives at launch. Then tne only first party big game is glorified dlc of a ps4 game prettied up. If horizon was a launch game with a game play demo it would of changed most peoples minds who did not like it. That and ditch the pervy furry game with teens.
 
This gen it's 30 million xbox and 34 million ps4 in North America. While being 100 dollars more expensive as well as being the weaker console during launch....

It was $100 more for less than six months. It's been at price parity since can and the One S has actually has retailed less than PS4 in the US for most of the gen.

Ask Nintendo how being weaker than all of them has worked out.
 
Every game Sony showed (save for Gran Turismo 7) was a "Plop main character down. Have player push up on left thumbstick and shoot projectiles at enemies designed to be killed, placed conveniently in front of them".

There were no games shown that would make casual gamers even consider the SSD advantage. Most of (all of) the games looked like they played like a ton of PS3 and PS4 games if you dialed the graphics down enough. Plus, the graphical jump was pretty underwhelming.

For people wanting to see gameplay innovation or variety, it was an awful showing. Especially when you consider that Sony hasn't announced a new AAA game in 3 years.

Casual gamers will not ever consider the "SSD advantages", nor should they. In fact, we shouldn't be either. What matters is the games. Cerny's technical presentation revolved around building hardware that helped DEVS make the games they wanted to make. Not to put a bullet point on the box so dazzling it becomes the most important thing.

Games sell consoles, not hardware, not specs. We hit diminishing returns in vidya graphics a while ago. I actually didn't expect too much out of the graphics of these games, especially with the rush to 4K. That said, the games looked great. Better than I thought they would, after the mess of the XSX reveal.

Thing is, even if R&C could be turned down to run on a PS4, it does not matter, because it's a PS5 game. You need a PS5 to play it.
 
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There were no games shown that would make casual gamers even consider the SSD advantage. Most of (all of) the games looked like they played like a ton of PS3 and PS4 games if you dialed the graphics down enough. Plus, the graphical jump was pretty underwhelming.
Ratchet & Clank?

That is Jack Ryan's fault dude talked shit about exclusives at launch. Then tne only first party big game is glorified dlc of a ps4 game prettied up. If horizon was a launch game with a game play demo it would of changed most peoples minds who did not like it. That and ditch the pervy furry game with teens.

Sony showed Gran Turismo 7, Ratchet & Clank, Horizon II, and Returnal as big first party games. And they nabbed Deathloop, Ghostwire Tokyo, and Square's new Luminous game as AAA console exclusives. I really can't see how anyone can say Sony didn't show big games yesterday.
 
Sony showed Gran Turismo 7, Ratchet & Clank, Horizon II, and Returnal as big first party games. And they nabbed Deathloop, Ghostwire Tokyo, and Square's new Luminous game as AAA console exclusives. I really can't see how anyone can say Sony didn't show big games yesterday.

You left off the best game shown - Demon's Souls.
 
I didnt like sony's presentation because not all the games will run at 60 fps, I dont want another crappy 30 fps generation.
 
Ratchet & Clank?



Sony showed Gran Turismo 7, Ratchet & Clank, Horizon II, and Returnal as big first party games. And they nabbed Deathloop, Ghostwire Tokyo, and Square's new Luminous game as AAA console exclusives. I really can't see how anyone can say Sony didn't show big games yesterday.
Those first party games were not holiday 2020 ratchet could be but gt7 no date horizon no date souls no date.
 
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Casual gamers will not ever consider the "SSD advantages", nor should they. In fact, we shouldn't be either. What matters is the games. Cerny's technical presentation revolved around building hardware that helped DEVS make the games they wanted to make. Not to put a bullet point on the box so dazzling it becomes the most important thing.

Games sell consoles, not hardware, not specs. We hit diminishing returns in vidya graphics a while ago. I actually didn't expect too much out of the graphics of these games, especially with the rush to 4K. That said, the games looked great. Better than I thought they would, after the mess of the XSX reveal.

Thing is, even if R&C could be turned down to run on a PS4, it does not matter, because it's a PS5 game. You need a PS5 to play it.

I agree with most of what you said (though I didn't put much stock into the 3rd party Series X games reveal).

I still thought the PS5 event was extremely underwhelming.

Sony feels like a leader in terms of hardware (controller + console) but they feel very behind in terms of their actual games.
 
Those first party games were not holiday 2020 ratchet could be but gt7 bo date horizon no date souls no date.
Launch titles are overrated IMO. The PS4 didn't have that spectacular of a launch lineup, but it's initial success was due to both Microsoft's screw ups, and because Sony showed big games you can look forward to beyond launch.
 
Launch titles are overrated IMO. The PS4 didn't have that spectacular of a launch lineup, but it's initial success was due to both Microsoft's screw ups, and because Sony showed big games you can look forward to beyond launch.
I agree but last 3 months have been omg launch exclusives are the most important thing ever. Mario's, halo and 9-9-99 are the exception. Hey people going to talk lots of shit of all the big hitters at launch and Microsoft with cross generation only should eat some crow for fun.
 
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