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[Final Verdict]

I wouldn't use the word 'safe', but rather that ntkrl spoiled the broth. Many people got very excited at when ntkrl spilled all the sphaghetti, but that's where we start seeing the negative impact of that leak. Suddenly, those leaks were 'the minimum expectation', and MS was expected to do more than that.

Even more so since Crackdown and Scalebound are 2016 projects. Spencer tried to hoodwink that fact by calling it '2015 and beyond', but ntkrl revealing that MS's biggest 2 upcoming reveals were in fact slated for 2016 is not a net positive.

Yea lol, I was wondering if I was the only one who caught that "and beyond" part (also reinforced by the fact that none of the CG trailers they showed would even put a vague '2015' release window up for the game.
Looks to me like MS has the X1 lined up to receive a steady stream of 4-5 big AAA exclusives every year, just look at this list as proof, its like a pattern. I wouldn't be surprised if they announced several 2017 games at next year E3 too unfortunately...

2013
1.) DR3
2.) Forza 5
3.) Killer Instinct
4.) Ryse
2014
1.) Titanfall
2.) Sunset Overdrive
3.) Forza Horizon 2
4.) Project Spark
5.) Halo MCC
2015
1.) Halo 5 Gaurdians
2.) Fable Leagends
3.) Forza 6
4.) Quantum Break
2016
1.) Gears
2.) Crackdown
3.) Phantom Dust
4.) Scalebound
5.) Forza Horizon 3

 

[SwiftDeath]

Perhaps... I was very hyped for Sunset overdrive... But a lot of the previews have not sounded too good.

Really? That's disappointing. I'll have to read more into it as we get more info/impressions I guess

 

[Nightengale]

How can they be unannounced when you know if them? According to phil spencer, there are studios we don't know about

Because job listings. By all official terminology, Platform Next doesn't exist as a studio. And LXP didn't exist until this year, even though we all knew both studios existed ever since 2012.

http://www.joystiq.com/2012/01/23/microsoft-hiring-for-leap-and-platform-next-game-studios.

Looks to me like MS has the X1 lined up to receive a steady stream of 4-5 big AAA exclusives every year, just look at this list as proof, its like a pattern.

Which is the 'normal pattern' for MS. 4-5 big retail exclusives a year.

 

[enzo_gt]

I don't know about first party itself, but as far as exclusives go, pretty good.

Actually wait, is Crackdown first party? Because Crackdown alone makes their first party fantastic.

 

[jgminto]

Still really excited for D4, even though it didn't have much presence at E3. The Halo Collection is interesting as a former fan of the series and Sunset Overdrive looked like great fun.

 

[TheActtionFigure]

Sunset Overdrive looks awesome, and I can't wait to see more about Crackdown. But besides that, no. Microsoft has the tendency to abandon their focus on gaming as soon as their install base grows. I was an early adopter of the 360 because of games like Dead Rising, Lost Planet, Lost Odyssey, Mass Effect, and Geometry Wars. They seemed hellbent on making the ultimate gaming machine; which to be fair the 360 did become my main source of gaming entertainment last gen. But midway through the Xbox 360's life cycle they began recycling Halo, Forza, Fable, and GoW. Those games are great, but when I saw Sony investing in new franchises throughout the life of the PS3 I felt kinda cheated.

History isn't always indicative of future trends, but I'm very cautious about investing in an Xbox One. And considering what their original focus was with the Xbone, it'll take more than one E3 to convince me otherwise.

 

[Glorified G]

Never felt bad about it. It's not a popular opinion but I'm a fan of the regurgitation of Forza/Gears/Halo late last gen. I felt the latest titles of each were the best in their series. Outside of Sunset Overdrive and Forza Horizon 2 nothing seemed particularly interesting. Crackdown may very well be online only due to heavy use of the "cloud". I don't know what Scalebound is and Platinum has always been a hit or miss for me. Phantom Dust is a remake, Project Spark = Kinect, Fable is going in completely different direction from the previous titles Halo MC is a collection of old games. I have to see more of QB because Alan Wake was just ok for me and got tedious pretty quick.

If I didn't care for their staple franchises then I would have been disappointed but for me it's the only thing interesting they have going so far. Halo 5 is the only first party exclusive announced that I care about next year.

 

[Saint9806]

I watched the entire show again tonight and I feel really excited for Phantom Dust, Crackdown, and Scalebound. Looking forward to seeing more on all those!

 

[mattiewheels]

I don't know about first party itself, but as far as exclusives go, pretty good.

Actually wait, is Crackdown first party? Because Crackdown alone makes their first party fantastic.

I guess exclusives can be counted as 'first party' these days. And they had good ones.

 

[GuitarAtomik]

For me personally, it's the strongest line up for this year. Especially now that the Order was delayed to 2015. Next year will be a much closer fight for my personal tastes though.

Doesn't hurt that Phantom Dust was like an auto win for me lol. One which could have been cancelled out had Sony actually ANNOUNCED A NEW VIB RIBBON SONOVABITCH!!

 

[RoboPlato]

Exclusive line up is very solid but first party output is pretty light as per usual for MS.

 

[SenjutsuSage]

Yea lol, I was wondering if I was the only one who caught that "and beyond" part (also reinforced by the fact that none of the CG trailers they showed would even put a vague '2015' release window up for the game.
Looks to me like MS has the X1 lined up to receive a steady stream of 4-5 big AAA exclusives every year, just look at this list as proof, its like a pattern. I wouldn't be surprised if they announced several 2017 games at next year E3 too unfortunately...

2013
1.) DR3
2.) Forza 5
3.) Killer Instinct
4.) Ryse
2014
1.) Titanfall
2.) Sunset Overdrive
3.) Forza Horizon 2
4.) Project Spark
5.) Halo MCC
2015
1.) Halo 5 Gaurdians
2.) Fable Leagends
3.) Forza 6
4.) Quantum Break
2016
1.) Gears
2.) Crackdown
3.) Phantom Dust
4.) Scalebound
5.) Forza Horizon 3

How could I forget Phantom Dust. And I left out Ryse cause I thought we were discussing games on the way that are First Party, although chances of Ryse getting a sequel just went up bigtime, I feel.

 

[SwiftDeath]

I guess exclusives can be counted as 'first party' these days. And they had good ones.

Hmm why wouldn't you just say exclusives then? Although this might get into the whole 2nd party/3rd party semantics argument but a developer for hire towards an exclusive like Platinum or Insomniac doesn't scream first party to me

 

[Final Verdict]

Which is the 'normal pattern' for MS. 4-5 big retail exclusives a year.

It seemed that that pattern dried up at the end of the 360 lifecycle, but maybe thats just because of all of the Kinect games they put out.

 

[Ape]

Perhaps... I was very hyped for Sunset overdrive... But a lot of the previews have not sounded too good.

I almost choked on my water. I haven't laughed like that in a while, thank you kind sir.

 

[Navy Bean]

I thought it was pretty good. I will buy and play Forza Horizon 2, Sunset Overdrive, and the Halo Collection. And I loved the original Crackdown so hopefully the next one follows in that tradition. The one thing they have not done is developed new IP so hopefully that is on the table. My #1 pipe dream is Lost Odyssey 2.

 

[klodeckel]

Yep, definitely. I love their focus on multiplayer games, because first and foremost - I am a multiplayer gamer I think if you love playing online, their line-up is the best of all three consoles (1st party).

 

[FonkyByNature]

Well i liked what they showed. Scalebound, Phantom Dust, Halo remake, Forza Horizon 2, sunset overdrive all got my attention. They had the best E3 show imo but that Conker tease...I hope it's coming.

 

[Zeyphersan]

Hmm why wouldn't you just say exclusives then? Although this might get into the whole 2nd party/3rd party semantics argument but a developer for hire towards an exclusive like Platinum or Insomniac doesn't scream first party to me

My understanding was always (publisher in this case being platform-owners):

1st Party: Publisher-owned IP and internal studio working on it
2nd Party: Publisher-owned IP but external studio working on it
3rd Party: Completely external studio owns IP and makes it

So Sunset Overdrive would still be third-party, because Insomniac keeps the IP, but it's just a third-party exclusive. Scalebound might be second-party depending on if MS owns the IP or not

 

[PhantomHound]

I almost choked on my water. I haven't laughed like that in a while, thank you kind sir.

Lol... It's true from general impressions I got from people who played it at E3. I hope it's not true. The game looks really purty

 

[manual4]

yes, and they still have a couple of first party's who have not announced anything yet.

rare are working on an old franchise
lion head have confirmed they have another team working on a new ip
twisted pixel are working on a new ip
Press play are working on a new ip, their max team is now on it, they have a duo working on project tottem

 

[EBE]

Project Spark = Kinect

i respect the rest of your post but dont really understand this. what do you mean? youve seen the game have you not? i wouldnt really call it kinect anything. kinect is ancillary to the experience

 

[Nightengale]

It seemed that that pattern dried up at the end of the 360 lifecycle, but maybe thats just because of all of the Kinect games they put out.

Yeah, it's nothing more than Kinect-bias.

With the exception of 2013 ( where they pooled all resources for XB1 launch and left the 360 dry ), MS actually had a steady stream of retail exclusives annually.

The reason it was actively disliked because... stuff like Fable: Journey, Kinect Sports, Dance Central 3, etc aren't really seen as favourable retail exclusives. And then it was yeah... a buffet of Halo, Gears and Forza constantly.

How could I forget Phantom Dust. And I left out Ryse cause I thought we were discussing games on the way that are First Party, although chances of Ryse getting a sequel just went up bigtime, I feel.

Really? Actually this E3's showing by Crytek imo, only reinforces the suspicion that we won't see a Ryse sequel.

It really feels like Crytek's focus as a studio is genuinely shifting, and that they're really only honouring old commitments with Ryse and Homefront. ( Remember thar Ryse was originally a Kinect-only game )

 

[PhantomHound]

Ori and the blind forest looks really interesting. Love the art style.

 

[...Scatter...]

Yea lol, I was wondering if I was the only one who caught that "and beyond" part (also reinforced by the fact that none of the CG trailers they showed would even put a vague '2015' release window up for the game.
Looks to me like MS has the X1 lined up to receive a steady stream of 4-5 big AAA exclusives every year, just look at this list as proof, its like a pattern. I wouldn't be surprised if they announced several 2017 games at next year E3 too unfortunately...

2013
1.) DR3
2.) Forza 5
3.) Killer Instinct
4.) Ryse
2014
1.) Titanfall
2.) Sunset Overdrive
3.) Forza Horizon 2
4.) Project Spark
5.) Halo MCC
2015
1.) Halo 5 Gaurdians
2.) Fable Leagends
3.) Forza 6
4.) Quantum Break
2016
1.) Gears
2.) Crackdown
3.) Phantom Dust
4.) Scalebound
5.) Forza Horizon 3

I'd like to think that Crytek is cooking something up as well? Maybe Ryse II?

 

[JLeack]

About where I expected. The Xbox One is doing tremendously well in terms of software during its first year. I'm curious to see how 2015 goes.

 

[Glorified G]

i respect the rest of your post but dont really understand this. what do you mean? youve seen the game have you not? i wouldnt really call it kinect anything. kinect is ancillary to the experience

I thought it was big part of motion capture and voice. I remember reading about it last year at gamescom and written it off.

But seeing more you're right, it is more ancillary than built around it.

 

[PanicFreak]

Not really. Way too safe. And I'll get excited about crackdown when they actually show the game.

Until then it is just the same Forza, Fable, Halo cycle as normal.

With a little Sunset Overdrive and Quantum Break sprinkled in? Plus Ori is out this fall.

 

[Sotha_Sil]

Yes. Fable is done, at least temporarily after Legends. I don't expect Forza or Halo to ever go away.

I'm glad to see Crackdown come back, and they're certainly dreaming big with it. Phantom Dust making a return is a nice gesture. Can't wait to see Quantum Break at Gamescom. Scalebound doesn't do much for me, but I can understand others being interested. D4 looked good from our brief glimpse of it. Project Spark seems like a bolder LBP. Titanfall was a little disappointing, but still a quality title to get. The Halo Master Chief Collection is a great bit of fan service by 343i. I'm indifferent on more Gears, but having a new team work on it could be good for the series though.

Overall, I think that's a really strong lineup. Even if I will probably never play any of it.

 

[EBE]

I thought it was big part of motion capture and voice. I remember reading about it last year at gamescom and written it off.

But seeing more you're right, it is more ancillary than built around it.

gotcha. i thought you mightve gotten it confused with something else, possibly D4 (and even that can be controlled with a pad)

project spark beta is okay. havent played in a while but some of the user created stuff is pretty cool.

 

[Quasar]

Can't say I'm enthused. Not a whole lot there, though once you add second/third party exclusives its a bit more interesting. Though not enough for me to buy an Xbox.

 

[Nightengale]

Plus Ori is out this fall.

I feel that many of us have become cynical or nonchalant of 'all the artsy stuff' that MS/Sony shows at their pressers, as many of us disregard said smaller games during event showings and instead pivot hard only towards the big AAA-exclusives. (when it comes to these unveilings)

 

[OldKingDoran]

Scalebound and Phantom Dust. damn i'm hyped for those 2. Can't wait to see new Raiden too, and whatever CAVE might be working on, if they're working on something.

 

[Ape]

Lol... It's true from general impressions I got from people who played it at E3. I hope it's not true. The game looks really purty

Bizarre. Everyone that I played the game with at E3 had a blast, literally talked with complete strangers about how great it was because we just had fun playing together. I didn't do that with any other game except Evolve. The line was super long all day and I didn't personally hear anything bad about it on the show floor from anyone. I'm sure that someone might not have liked it, people have their own agendas or maybe even it didn't click with them. But it definitely wasn't indicative or reflective of how the attendees felt about the game.

 

[SenjutsuSage]

Yeah, it's nothing more than Kinect-bias.

With the exception of 2013 ( where they pooled all resources for XB1 launch and left the 360 dry ), MS actually had a steady stream of retail exclusives annually.

The reason it was actively disliked because... stuff like Fable: Journey, Kinect Sports, Dance Central 3, etc aren't really seen as favourable retail exclusives. And then it was yeah... a buffet of Halo, Gears and Forza constantly.



Really? Actually this E3's showing by Crytek imo, only reinforces the suspicion that we won't see a Ryse sequel.

It really feels like Crytek's focus as a studio is genuinely shifting, and that they're really only honouring old commitments with Ryse and Homefront. ( Remember thar Ryse was originally a Kinect-only game )

Phil Spencer's recent comments on Ryse make me think it's getting a sequel. He not only said that he saw that gamer's reaction to it was very positive, a lot more so than the reaction from the media, and he also said it sold pretty well. Now, he's either just giving us the song or dance, or he genuinely feels there's some worth in pursuing Ryse. Considering his willingness so far to even bring back stuff like Phantom Dust and basically give the gamers what they want (even some things I didn't, but clearly others did lol), I'm hopeful that a Ryse sequel will happen. And maybe it's way too soon for this right now, but Gamescom is coming up and it's in Germany where I believe Crytek's main studio is located. That would be a great place to announce a new Ryse game. And considering how Microsoft didn't even give Quantum Break a big showing at E3, because it's planned for Gamescom, it leads me to believe that some other things were maybe held back at this most recent E3.

 

[...Scatter...]

I feel that many of us have become cynical or nonchalant of 'all the artsy stuff' that MS/Sony shows at their pressers, as many of us disregard said smaller games during event showings and instead pivot hard only towards the big AAA-exclusives. (when it comes to these unveilings)

They do tend to be more bite sized than your average AAA game but they definitely have a place. Trine 2 was beautiful and challenging. Max and the Curse of the Brootherhood was beautiful and engaging. I really enjoy the smaller titles to supplement the bigger releases.

 

[Surface of Me]

2016 to be the 2007 of this gen.

 

[Shalashaska161]

It was ok. A lot of it looked far away, but some of the stuff they showed looked like it has a chance of being fun.

 

[Imru’ al-Qays]

Plus, they keep paying third party studios to make games for them instead of growing their own, looks exactly like what they did last gen. I'm afraid they'll abandon the console like they did with the 360 if things don't go as planned.

Definitely an issue.

 

[Nightengale]

Phil Spencer's recent comments on Ryse make me think it's getting a sequel. He not only said that he saw that gamer's reaction to it was very positive, a lot more so than the reaction from the media, and he also said it sold pretty well. Now, he's either just giving us the song or dance, or he genuinely feels there's some worth in pursuing Ryse. Considering his willingness so far to even bring back stuff like Phantom Dust and basically give the gamers what they want (even some things I didn't, but clearly others did lol), I'm hopeful that a Ryse sequel will happen. And maybe it's way too soon for this right now, but Gamescom is coming up and it's in Germany where I believe Crytek's main studio is located. That would be a great place to announce a new Ryse game. And considering how Microsoft didn't even give Quantum Break a big showing at E3, because it's planned for Gamescom, it leads me to believe that some other things were maybe held back at this most recent E3.

Well, MS doesn't own Ryse, so the onus is on Crytek to pursue it.

And lol at Ryse 2 being announced this year. I wouldn't bet on it. We'll see it next year if it happens. I don't subscribe to the sequel of AAA-game being announced within 10 months of its previous release, triply so if the game is truly going to change its setting. ( which means more new assets altogether )

 

[SwiftDeath]

My understanding was always (publisher in this case being platform-owners):

1st Party: Publisher-owned IP and internal studio working on it
2nd Party: Publisher-owned IP but external studio working on it
3rd Party: Completely external studio owns IP and makes it

So Sunset Overdrive would still be third-party, because Insomniac keeps the IP, but it's just a third-party exclusive. Scalebound might be second-party depending on if MS owns the IP or not

Yeah that's what I was getting at. This thread seems more about MS's exclusive line-up regardless of whether an internal studio is working on it or not. I actually don't mind talking about it in that light but well SO, Scalebound, Quantum Break etc. aren't 1st party

 

[PanicFreak]

I feel that many of us have become cynical or nonchalant of 'all the artsy stuff' that MS/Sony shows at their pressers, as many of us disregard said smaller games during event showings and instead pivot hard only towards the big AAA-exclusives. (when it comes to these unveilings)

I know. However, I don't think Microsoft gets enough credit for the downloadable games they come out with. There are some amazing titles, State of Decay, Shadow Complex, Killer Instinct, and it looks like Ori is in that same vein. They also do a good job at announcing things at E3 that will be out that year.

 

[Nightengale]

If you ask me, it doesn't really matter all that much if a studio is an internal studio or external studio for first-party games.

However, it does beg the question of "can we expect the same external studio to continue working on sequels afterwards?"

Eg. we know Undead Labs are tied to a multi-game contract with MS. So for a good 4-5 years, they are practically like a MS first-party studio. Ready at Dawn has no 'contract' with Sony from what we know, but they've talked about The Order as a franchise sufficiently enough to know that if the game is successful, RAD is clearly locked on to make more sequels.

However, for games like... Ryse, Scalebound, etc, it does put a question mark in place. Will Crytek even bother making Ryse 2? Platinum is making Scalebound, but will there be a Scalebound 2? It's hard to imagine Konami, Nintendo, etc not continuing to maintain development relationships with Plat that makes it hard for MS to continue booking their time, etc.

 

[Mihael Mello Keehl]

Yep. They're funding Kamiya and Platinum's new game. I am happy.

Dat first post tho..

 

[Dr. Kitty Muffins]

Sunset Overdrive looks great and a few titles look interesting but they have yet to provide anything other than interesting material. I am not sure if they can deliver. I feel as if they have the weakest first party of the the big three.

 

[DICKS AHOY]

I'm 50/50 on getting a XB1 or a PS4 now after Microsoft's show at E3.

That's great compared to my thoughts on the system less than a few months ago.

 

[taizuke]

Not really. Way too safe. And I'll get excited about crackdown when they actually show the game.

Until then it is just the same Forza, Fable, Halo cycle as normal.

Pretty much. I thought Scalebound was gonna a show stealer but after that generic CG trailer i could not get excited one bit.

 

[Doug Heffernan]

They don't have much in the way of first party studios but Platinum, Remedy and Insomniac are certainly filling the voids.

 

[Doctoglethorpe]

Nope. It's still just Halo and Gears as far as I'm concerned, and the latter seems to be pretty far off. Maybe Platinum's game, but I need to see gameplay to know if I care.

 

[SwiftDeath]

If you ask me, it doesn't really matter all that much if a studio is an internal studio or external studio for first-party games.

However, it does beg the question of "can we expect the same external studio to continue working on sequels afterwards?"

Eg. we know Undead Labs are tied to a multi-game contract with MS. So for a good 4-5 years, they are practically like a MS first-party studio. Ready at Dawn has no 'contract' with Sony from what we know, but they've talked about The Order as a franchise sufficiently enough to know that if the game is successful, RAD is clearly locked on to make more sequels.

However, for games like... Ryse, Scalebound, etc, it does put a question mark in place. Will Crytek even bother making Ryse 2? Platinum is making Scalebound, but will there be a Scalebound 2? It's hard to imagine Konami, Nintendo, etc not continuing to maintain development relationships with Plat that makes it hard for MS to continue booking their time, etc.

Eh honestly I'm just nitpicky and the semantics of what it means to be a First-Party game is pretty clear. Whether the studio working on the game is owned and a part of the platform holders company. That's it. So yes while there can be long-term contracts where a development studio agrees to work with a platform holder for many years, they are still not owned by said company and therefore by definition not first-party.

Again though just me being picky and I should try not to derail an otherwise good thread with it