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[GameSpot] Xbox Series X Is At The "End Of The Beginning" Of Its Life Cycle, Phil Spencer Says

DeepEnigma

Gold Member
Yeah, I can see what they are trying to do. I just think it'll again turn out to be a decision like Series S that would later bite them in the ass.

Even if they release a console when there's no PS6 in the market available to buy, it will end up in a very similar situation as it did in 2021 and 2022. PS5 was severely short on supply and Xbox (especially Series S) was relatively easily available. Xbox still couldn't take the lead, and then the PS5 shortage ceased.

In this scenario, Xbox will take a temporary headstart for 1-2 years (when Xbox itself will be short on supply as all new consoles are). Then PS6 will release, significantly more powerful, and PS6 will destroy it in sales. What's worse is that, unlike this current generation, Xbox will be left with underpowered consoles throughout the rest of their generation.

Also, Xbox benefited from a lot of marketing hype before console launch. And a lot of that hype was because both Xbox and PS5 was getting released. If Xbox is doing its own thing, I don't believe they'd get as much news coverage or hype outside of forums and Reddit, amongst casuals that make up the bulk of the market share.
You'll have a Dreamcast situation where people want the PS6. Only difference now, is they have the backing of their parent company and they're trying to buy up all the largest third party publishers. If they did not have the latter, it would be a total Sega and the Dreamcast situation repeated.
 

adamsapple

Or is it just one of Phil's balls in my throat?
End of the beginning.

Beginning of the Mid-point.


Mean Girls Halloween GIF
 

damidu

Member
dont know about that but,
phill sure looks like at beginning of the end of his cycle, not sure they'll let the fool burn 100 billion more for another gen
 
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Stuart360

Member
I also could see them trying to launch a year, or possible even more than a year, before PS6 with a super powerful console that they feel will still be comparable to the later releasing PS6. You could even argue that Phil kind of confirmed when a year ago or so he confirmed in an interview that they were already developing 'multiple Xbox consoles'. Yet in a LATER intrview said there wont be a mid gen console. If there will be no mid gen console then that says to me they will try to get out first next gen.

Problem with that for me is that this isnt like with the 360 that launched a year ealier with some very good software, there was very little negativity around Xbox at that time. Today there is so much negativity (although a lot of it manufactured) and so many gamrers are entrenched in Either Playstation or Xbox, that launching earlier might not even have the effect they would hope for.
Hell they could give away the next Xbox and PS6 would probably still catch up by the end of the gen. Thats just the mindset a lot of gamers have now, the rival is the 'enemy' and no way would they ever buy one.
 

Heisenberg007

Gold Journalism
I kind of like the idea of Xbox releasing when they want to instead of timed with the competition. They're going for their own thing with the acquisitions and Game Pass. Might as well go all the way with it. Plus I'd rather stagger my new console purchases.

EDIT: I wonder how much sticker shock goes into consideration for a mid-gen refresh too. I can't imagine the PS5 Pro will come in anywhere close to $399 for a digital only device. Are we thinking $599 at the cheapest?
The problem with that idea is that Xbox doesn't have the pull or market share of a PlayStation or Nintendo.

The reason Xbox gets a lot of third-party games because Xbox is so similar to PlayStation, in terms of architecture and technologies. If Xbox becomes a very different thing in technology and hardware, and if the dev has to choose whether to ship a game on PlayStation or Xbox, there is a strong chance that many third-party games may start skipping the Xbox platform.
 
End of the beginning.

Beginning of the Mid-point.


Mean Girls Halloween GIF
Real talk, though. I'm sure he just means Starfield and Forza Motorsport are the real start of the generation. Covid set a lot of things back and I think Phil finally thinks the studios are finding their footing.
 

Heisenberg007

Gold Journalism
And the hype was because of the higher specs and teraflops
Some were saying that even the S was going to be better than the PS5

I don't see how they'll launch a console without comparing it to the PS6
Yeah, and there would be a PS5 Pro in the market that could help satiate people until PS6 releases.

Also, PlayStation releases some of their biggest games at the tail-end of each generation. If TLOU 3, the next God of War, Horizon 3, etc. are launching in the final 18 months of PS5 generation, I doubt people would trade in their PS5 Pros to buy the next Xbox, especially when the majority of their launch games (if any!) would likely be cross-gen at that point.
 
The problem with that idea is that Xbox doesn't have the pull or market share of a PlayStation or Nintendo.

The reason Xbox gets a lot of third-party games because Xbox is so similar to PlayStation, in terms of architecture and technologies. If Xbox becomes a very different thing in technology and hardware, and if the dev has to choose whether to ship a game on PlayStation or Xbox, there is a strong chance that many third-party games may start skipping the Xbox platform.
Well in this case, the PS5 still exists, so as long as that console gets new releases, so will the Series S and X. I'm not suggesting that Xbox releases a generation or 2 behind like Switch, but they could certainly be a year or 2 late each generation without any real issue with third parties.
 

feynoob

Banned
The problem with that idea is that Xbox doesn't have the pull or market share of a PlayStation or Nintendo.

The reason Xbox gets a lot of third-party games because Xbox is so similar to PlayStation, in terms of architecture and technologies. If Xbox becomes a very different thing in technology and hardware, and if the dev has to choose whether to ship a game on PlayStation or Xbox, there is a strong chance that many third-party games may start skipping the Xbox platform.
Xbox lost it's meaning once they did PC day1.

You do the same for PS and it will lose the reason to own PS.
 

Heisenberg007

Gold Journalism
Well in this case, the PS5 still exists, so as long as that console gets new releases, so will the Series S and X. I'm not suggesting that Xbox releases a generation or 2 behind like Switch, but they could certainly be a year or 2 late each generation without any real issue with third parties.
May or may not be a problem, true; it all depends on future technologies and the direction of the gaming industry. But it's a huge risk nevertheless to test fate like this, imo.
 

kevm3

Member
This has to have been the worst 'next gen' ever... barely any games that look better than ps4 games with better resolution and frameworks and they already want to move to a 'new gen'? No thanks, especially not a new MS machine. Has any real exclusives released on the series X in the past couple of years?
 

Thirty7ven

Banned
I also could see them trying to launch a year, or possible even more than a year, before PS6 with a super powerful console that they feel will still be comparable to the later releasing PS6.

LOL

Yes let’s Dreamcast Xbox why not. Hey, release two years before, get caught against peak first party releases from PlayStation 5, and then get muted when PS6 gets announced.
 

feynoob

Banned
This has to have been the worst 'next gen' ever... barely any games that look better than ps4 games with better resolution and frameworks and they already want to move to a 'new gen'? No thanks, especially not a new MS machine. Has any real exclusives released on the series X in the past couple of years?
Because there is no ideas out there.
Consoles are old and outdated. Devs can't utilize current hardware. And most of them are focusing on graphics, instead of gameplay.

To make a next gen game, you have to change the gameplay, not the graphics. But that is hard with current systems.
 

Stuart360

Member
LOL

Yes let’s Dreamcast Xbox why not. Hey, release two years before, get caught against peak first party releases from PlayStation 5, and then get muted when PS6 gets announced.
You know i wasnt the only one to suggest it right?. And i wont be surprised if they try to at least get 1 year ahead of PS6. It doesnt mean it would work, and i even said that in that post.
 

Killjoy-NL

Member
Strange generation so far. Both companies upgraded early during a pandemic when they should have waited for better more powerful components at better prices.

And they've both got barely any exclusives as proof
Both consoles released before the pandemic started though.

Edit:

Nvm, forgot they released in 2020.
 
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May or may not be a problem, true; it all depends on future technologies and the direction of the gaming industry. But it's a huge risk nevertheless to test fate like this, imo.
They can always pivot if it's not a success. The truth is that all this hardware is largely the same, so it might not be as big a risk as we think.
 

OuterLimits

Member
You know better than him when the next consoles are coming eh?.

I think people are going to be in for a bit of a shock, i feel another 360/ps3 gen is in the horizon. 10 year gen easy, hell we have only really just dropped last gen support and its coming up to 10 years. Next gen console will probably launch before 10 years of course but i expect another 6 years before next gen console, 5 years at the earliest.

Agree with your thinking here. Cross gen is just finally slowly ending. Combine that with the early supply chain issues and the unprecedented occurrence of both Sony and Microsoft raising the price of their consoles recently likely signals this gen may be quite long.
 
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jroc74

Phone reception is more important to me than human rights
I need to read this article....but this.

Ok, I thought this sounded familiar...this is an old interview.

The article title is different tho. The part about no mid gen refresh from Xbox was the clue this was old.
 
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Verchod

Member
It makes sense. What he's referring to is when developers get used to fixed hardware, they are able to get more out of it. It's happened every generation, but with this generation it's taken a lot longer. A lot of developers have only released one product on this generation so far. I guess the issue is games take a lot longer to make so it takes a lot longer to see their knowledge of the hardware bare fruit. Only now are studios releasing their second product on this generation.
 

feynoob

Banned
It makes sense. What he's referring to is when developers get used to fixed hardware, they are able to get more out of it. It's happened every generation, but with this generation it's taken a lot longer. A lot of developers have only released one product on this generation so far. I guess the issue is games take a lot longer to make so it takes a lot longer to see their knowledge of the hardware bare fruit. Only now are studios releasing their second product on this generation.
3-5 years is insane timeline. Not to mention how many devs it takes to make these games.
 
Ahh I see the doom squad are here.

"Xbox is over!"... despite Microsoft just making one of the largest acquisitions in history for the Xbox brand...
 

feynoob

Banned
Models that sell 10% of the base? Won't move a needle. They want to play the disrupt game.
If MS purchase gets approved, they played the biggest disruption game ever.
Now add to a new gen console and that is a huge landslide. They are also not shy of spending money to fix their issues.
Both companies aren't on playing field, when 1 party can spend 70$b like that.
 

Elysium44

Banned
Ahh I see the doom squad are here.

"Xbox is over!"... despite Microsoft just making one of the largest acquisitions in history for the Xbox brand...

It could end up being what sinks them, if it doesn't pay off like they hope. Call of Duty WAS the big thing, it doesn't mean it will continue to be. Microsoft are taking a huge gamble. It's like marrying a 40-year-old woman who used to be hot when she was 21.
 
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