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[DangerMouse]

Partly because a lot of the "PS3 is outselling the 360" info was based on speculative data from a source that had previously suggested that the PS3 would be the greatest-selling console of all time forever, and the Wii would sell literally nothing.

Also because the Xbox One has redeemed itself in the eyes of a lot of people, and the PS3 never really managed to improve in any sort of massive, perceptible way. The Xbox is like megaton after megaton in a lot of ways. PS3 never had that.

How is that a valid excuse? Then they should have looked at the real data, hell people on forums did and we have less resources than they do, which was saying the same, we knew for quite some time that PS3 was outselling the 360 worldwide every year but the media certainly never brought attention to it until the 360 began to faulter in the second half of the generation.

That's because the main thing people complained about from day 1 with the PS3 was price. The only megaton they could have done was somehow cut the price 50% before launch despite the fact that at $600 they were already losing like 200-300 per system.

I thought the Xbox 360 was the one outselling the PS3 every month...

Only in the US and the UK. Overall worldwide this wasn't the case over the course of the generation.

It was. There was a point in... I wanna say 2011 or 2012 where a website that always predicted the PS3 would be the best-selling console ever (outselling the PS2!) erroneously reported that info, and PS3 fans clung to it like bloodborne fans to the idea that The Witcher 3 doesn't deserve any acclaim.

That's not true. It was only outselling the PS3 reliably in the US and UK.

LOL at that last bit. Plenty of users on both consoles recognize how great Witcher 3 was.

 

[sir_kevith]

Or maybe it is just a great system with a lot to offer and is receiving credit where it is due.

I wish the industry worked like that.

 

[cilonen]

I dont agree on what theyre saying that it was simply games. It was a lot more than that. Sony hasnt had a lot of exclusive games for a while now and it still sells like hotcakes. Look at what 360 did well for example:

- Intuitive dashboard that isnt slow as molasses (didnt happen on xbox one)
- Better designed system than competitor, lots of power (didnt happen on xbox one)
- Tools that made it very easy to develop PC and xbox games simultaneously (didnt happen on xbox one)
- Lots of exclusivity deals with the big 3rd party games like COD, Gears (at the time) etc (didnt happen on xbox one)
- Solid Halo games that dont launch broken as fuck for 8 months (didnt happen on xbox one) 5 was great tho.

Theres a lot of stuff that MS did well with 360 that they just dont do as well now.

Heres how they can improve to me:

- Phil needs to be more "maketing" focused. Peter more was more of a marketer and Phil is more of a gamer, but i feel like Phil can benefit from being more of a marketer as well. Those commercials help, like the halo3 maquette one, Mad world, etc..

- More power: next xbox needs to be powerful period. Not like now that it struggles to hit resolutions and frame-rates.

- Dashboard needs to be intuitive and fast from the start, not 2 years after its launch.

- Price need to be competitive from the start, not 2 years later.

- Games, obviously.

- Elite controller in every xbox.

- Fuck Kinect and let us voice command with a fucking mic already.

- Incorporate MS tech (windows services and tools) a la Cortana, play versus PC etc..

- Make xbox a service, not specifically a console. Allow me to use my xbox on my pc, on my phone, on my tv, anywhere i want.

They do this, they will destroy the competition.

This is pretty much what I want to see too.

 

[SlaughterX]

Not to sound like a hardware snob but I don't see how Xbox can be great again with its current hardware. I'd just start developing new IP, see what your core prefer, then release the next Xbox full guns blazing with a streamlined machine based on games first.

Since when did hardware power designate if a console was great or not? Pretty sure the PS2 sold the most and had the largest library of games in its generation and happened to be the weakest console.

 

[J_Viper]

I wrote a whole big article on why 343i doesn't get Halo, and I stand by it. I think other teams at MS are way better than 343i is.

I'd like to check that out, could I bother you for a link?

I actually very much enjoyed Halo 4, so I have no idea how they managed to drop the ball that hard.

 

[Maulik]

My biggest issue with this article is that believes the issue with the initial reveal of the xbox was its lack of focus on games. However, I think had it just been that, gamers would have been forgiving with the eventual showing at E3. I think the bigger mistake was their allusion to the console being always online and that used games would be a thing of the past. That more than anything blew them up in the hangar before the Xb1 could even lift off.

 

[mangochutney]

I dont agree on what theyre saying that it was simply games. It was a lot more than that. Sony hasnt had a lot of exclusive games for a while now and it still sells like hotcakes. Look at what 360 did well for example:

- Intuitive dashboard that isnt slow as molasses (didnt happen on xbox one)
- Better designed system than competitor, lots of power (didnt happen on xbox one)
- Tools that made it very easy to develop PC and xbox games simultaneously (didnt happen on xbox one)
- Lots of exclusivity deals with the big 3rd party games like COD, Gears (at the time) etc (didnt happen on xbox one)
- Solid Halo games that dont launch broken as fuck for 8 months (didnt happen on xbox one) 5 was great tho.
- Intuitive store and events like the Summer of arcade (didnt happen on xbox one)

Theres a lot of stuff that MS did well with 360 that they just dont do as well now.

The PS3 was better designed and more powerful as a result, though. Which ultimately is why your third point exists in the 360 being easier to develop for.

Are you sure that it isn't easy to develop for Xbox One and PC? Seems that given these consoles are more in line with PCs than every before it would be, I have no knowledge on the matter though.

Also they did have 3rd party exclusive deals from - FIFA, Ass Creed etc, also The Division which has yet to release of course. FIFA is still big, but clearly AC is in decline and I guess a bad bet at the time.

But you're right. It wasn't games, it was the system and it's policies and them not giving a clear message making it seem like they were trying to be shady and not on the side of the consumer.

 

[tattooed_dwarf]

"Yay! The Christmas bonus checks have arrived from our friends at Microsoft!" - Gaming/Tech Blogs

Oh here we go...

 

[VincentMatts]

The PS3 was better designed and more powerful as a result, though. Which ultimately is why your third point exists in the 360 being easier to develop for.

Are you sure that it isn't easy to develop for Xbox One and PC? Seems that given these consoles are more in line with PCs than every before it would be, I have no knowledge on the matter though.

Also they did have 3rd party exclusive deals from - FIFA, Ass Creed etc, also The Division which has yet to release of course. FIFA is still big, but clearly AC is in decline and I guess a bad bet at the time.

But you're right. It wasn't games, it was the system and it's policies and them not giving a clear message making it seem like they were trying to be shady and not on the side of the consumer.

PS3 wasnt better designed, it was consistently criticized as being complicated to develop for. Theoretical power doesnt count. Its what you get out of it that counts. Like not having to use only 256 MB of ram at a time. This time, i hear all those arguments again, but from people trying to develop on xbox one. Thats what i mean.

Also, last time they had those XNA tools that people used for xbox and PC, then then scrapped them for some reason. Im not sure why they did that. They innovated last time with shit like summer of arcade and having a store that made sense. Games are not just games. Some are arcade smaller games, some are bigger retail, some are indie, why did they change that?? Its just worse now.

And yeah, FIFA is popular but just FIFA isnt enough. Ass creed to me isnt AAA. I mean AAA games. The CODs, those games everyone is looking forward to. Ass creed is about as exciting as watching paint dry.

Ultimately what im getting at is last time, they went out of their way to satisfy consumers and developers. This time, i feel like they just wanted to push Apps and windows 8. Big mistake.

 

[DocSeuss]

That's not true. It was only outselling the PS3 reliably in the US and UK.

LOL at that last bit. Plenty of users on both consoles recognize how great Witcher 3 was.

Yes, but the US is the world's largest console market for a reason. The 360 was, in terms of raw, global sales, beating the PS3, because the US is just that much bigger.

The PS3 was better designed and more powerful as a result, though. Which ultimately is why your third point exists in the 360 being easier to develop for.

Are you sure that it isn't easy to develop for Xbox One and PC? Seems that given these consoles are more in line with PCs than every before it would be, I have no knowledge on the matter though.

Also they did have 3rd party exclusive deals from - FIFA, Ass Creed etc, also The Division which has yet to release of course. FIFA is still big, but clearly AC is in decline and I guess a bad bet at the time.

But you're right. It wasn't games, it was the system and it's policies and them not giving a clear message making it seem like they were trying to be shady and not on the side of the consumer.

The PS3 was neither better designed nor more powerful. It was objectively less powerful than the 360, and most developers you will talk to will tell you as much. Not just "it's convoluted," but "it has a split RAM pool that makes it increasingly hard to do stuff on" and "its graphics chip is about half a generation behind the 360's." Wanna know why Bioshock Infinite sucked? It's because they kept having to scrap things thanks to the PS3's limitations. Wanna know why Skyrim and New Vegas never got patches on the PS3? Because those games should never have been on there in the first place.

The power of the Cell is as real as the second Xbox One GPU.

 

[reKon]

Yes, but the US is the world's largest console market for a reason. The 360 was, in terms of raw, global sales, beating the PS3, because the US is just that much bigger.



The PS3 was neither better designed nor more powerful. It was objectively less powerful than the 360, and most developers you will talk to will tell you as much. Not just "it's convoluted," but "it has a split RAM pool that makes it increasingly hard to do stuff on" and "its graphics chip is about half a generation behind the 360's." Wanna know why Bioshock Infinite sucked? It's because they kept having to scrap things thanks to the PS3's limitations. Wanna know why Skyrim and New Vegas never got patches on the PS3? Because those games should never have been on there in the first place.

The power of the Cell is as real as the second Xbox One GPU.

For the PS3, if you look at all of Europe, that seemed to be the larger market for them (I'm looking at the wikipedia page).

As for the Cell, there were definitely technical advantages, but they were harder and more time consuming to master. Maybe those technical advantages were harder to take advantage of for large RPG type games, but some of the major PS3 exclusives looked a step up from the exclusives from other consoles for a reason.

 

[RoKKeR]

Great read. The console and Xbox as a whole have made one hell of a turn around in the past two years, and I think they continue to head in the right direction.

 

[LeonSPBR]

I wrote a whole big article on why 343i doesn't get Halo, and I stand by it. I think other teams at MS are way better than 343i is.

Can I have the link for this article, seems a fun read.

 

[VincentMatts]

I wrote a whole big article on why 343i doesn't get Halo, and I stand by it. I think other teams at MS are way better than 343i is.

Theres a big difference between having a child and raising it, and adopting one and raising it.

Halo like it or not, was Bungies child. They created it. They understood it better for the most part. 343 adopted it and like it or not, thats a lot more difficult.

I think that 343 have good intentions, but i also think that there are some things about halo that they dont understand having inherited it and all. But they have taken good strides, like the MP. Its the best yet. But then go play SP and they copy the worst halo SP out there which is 2. Its not hard, people wanna play as the fucking Chief and they dont wanna have to chase after fucking cortana anymore. Can we have a fucking interesting enemy that isnt Elites or my AI companion?

Those podcasts they had were so good, make a SP out of that.

 

[otakukidd]

Yes, but the US is the world's largest console market for a reason. The 360 was, in terms of raw, global sales, beating the PS3, because the US is just that much bigger.



The PS3 was neither better designed nor more powerful. It was objectively less powerful than the 360, and most developers you will talk to will tell you as much. Not just "it's convoluted," but "it has a split RAM pool that makes it increasingly hard to do stuff on" and "its graphics chip is about half a generation behind the 360's." Wanna know why Bioshock Infinite sucked? It's because they kept having to scrap things thanks to the PS3's limitations. Wanna know why Skyrim and New Vegas never got patches on the PS3? Because those games should never have been on there in the first place.

The power of the Cell is as real as the second Xbox One GPU.

... Then explain how they closed a 9 million console gap without outselling xbox. If they weren't out selling them ww then they wouldn't of been able to catch up.

 

[VincentMatts]

... Then explain how they closed a 9 million console gap without outselling xbox. If they weren't out selling them ww then they wouldn't of been able to catch up.

japan, the only place MS always do horribly and sony dont.

 

[semiconscious]

Great read. The console and Xbox as a whole have made one hell of a turn around in the past two years, and I think they continue to head in the right direction.

if they haven't begun heading beyond the borders of the u.s. & u.k., they haven't been heading in the right direction yet ...

 

[Mjöölnir]

Xbox should focus on becoming an esports machine with deep focus on multiplayer support and community building. The PS4 has the better performance and it shows in comparisons so no need to fight that battle anymore. I personally prefer Live over PSN and I think that it would be wise for Microsoft to look at the PCs multiplayer structure and copy as much as they can.

 

[Coxy100]

Great read - thanks for the link OP

 

[ZehDon]

Feels a little strange seeing two major "pro-Xbox" articles on the same day, given its current situation. I suppose that's simply the more interesting narrative, because "Sony wins. Again" wouldn't entice readers too much. Anyway, an interesting article, but it raises a few eye brows for me:

In theory, the Xbox One was an improvement on everything fans loved about the Xbox 360: a more powerful Kinect, new hardware that merged the console with your cable box, and lots of talk about the cloud. Microsoft only forgot one thing: the games.

Right from the start, the article feels out of touch with the issues the Xbone faced, and faces. Gamers didn't want Kinect, cable box integration or cloud-talk. In fact, these were all parts of the Xbone's problem. As for games, sure, the reveal event lacked the games, however Microsoft's E3 certainly didn't. Taking the conferences that year just on the games, Microsoft actually had a better E3 than Sony did. Microsoft simply handed Sony the greatest mic-drop in the history of the industry, making the games almost irrelevant. Microsoft's bullshit policies and muddied messaging destroyed the Xbone before it started.

...But our media habits are neither as static nor as constrained today as they were in 2001. When we read a Kindle ebook or stream a Netflix show, we may start on a laptop at work, switch to a smartphone for our commute, and finish on a tablet or television at home. In 2015, we expect media to follow us wherever we go.

Enter Minecraft...

I feel like I missed something here. Minecraft doesn't address the fact that Microsoft was, effectively, using a 10 year old "trojan horse" model, instead of adapting to the changed marketplace. No one can "own the living room" any more, because there are multiple devices who share it. The Xbone attempted to replace all of them, and failed because it's jack of all trades approach doesn't work in the console space. See: "it only does everything".

...Lionhead Studios, responsible for the Fable series, is developing the next Fable Legends for Xbox One and Windows 10. Rare Ltd. is developing its multiplayer adventure game Sea of Thieves the same way. Core franchises are making their way to PC, too. Albeit slowly. Gears of War: Ultimate Edition, a polished remake of the original, is scheduled for release on Windows 10 in the future...

This begs the question that the author never seems to push for a real answer for: if I can buy virtually everything elsewhere, how does this make the Xbox great again? Why should I buy an Xbone? The answer given to a wishy-washy version of this question is little more than hand-waving: "expanding demographics" reads like corporate-speak for "hedging our bets". The last line of the article literally undermines every single word above it: "You can play it this fall," she’ll say, "on Xbox One and all Windows 10 devices."

Really strange article, given the reality of the Xbone's situation. It's current narrative is basically: "it cannot win", and that every title for it goes the way of "Rise of the Tomb Raider". Microsoft needs to re-shape the narrative. Buying an Xbone shouldn't feel like throwing money away on an inferior product, which is basically what it feels like now. Unless you get a Black Friday deal. The article doesn't address any of this.

Yearly Forza releases, poorly thought-out 3rd party deals, and "good" titles like Halo 5 are not going to turn the tide. Microsoft needs amazing game experience that you simply can't get elsewhere to re-shape the image of their foundering console. The article spends a long time highlighting Microsoft's combined Win10 focus. This generation isn't going to be long enough for Microsoft to play the long game in order rebuild the Xbox brand using the Xbone. They needed amazing titles yesterday, and they simply don't have them. Their Win10 focus feels like a "safe play" to ensure profitability, before starting fresh with a new console to make "Xbox great again"... which is writing the Xbone off entirely.

 

[Kurt Angle]

all travel ban on 360 players

until we figure "what the hell is going on"

 

[The Flash]

Cool article. I look forward to seeing more of Shannon Loftis in the future.

 

[RiccochetJ]

"Yay! The Christmas bonus checks have arrived from our friends at Microsoft!" - Gaming/Tech Blogs

I was wondering when the payoff/bribe accusations would appear.

 

[DocSeuss]

For the PS3, if you look at all of Europe, that seemed to be the larger market for them (I'm looking at the wikipedia page).

As for the Cell, there were definitely technical advantages, but they were harder and more time consuming to master. Maybe those technical advantages were harder to take advantage of for large RPG type games, but some of the major PS3 exclusives looked a step up from the exclusives from other consoles for a reason.

Not really advantages for gaming, though. I remember talking to some devs about how it was just objectively worse for AI and stuff.

The reason some major PS3 exclusives look "a step up" is because A) there are some tremendous artists, B) a lot of them would use fixed cameras or really small maps.

Take a game like Alan Wake or Metro 2033--those were pulling off stuff that was literally not possible on the PS3. iirc, the PS3 can't do Alan Wake because it's incapable of doing simultaneous volumetric and dynamic lighting or something like that.

Games like Halo Reach (which had a 27km draw distance or something obscene like that) and Alan Wake were doing a ton of these really huge map things. Games like Uncharted 2 had really good art design, but their maps are super small, and asset quality drops off a CLIFF at distance.

Can I have the link for this article, seems a fun read.

Sure. I was bummed GAF got a few threads discussing the idea but never actually cited me outside of HaloGAF, hahaha. I really, really, really want to talk about 343i and how they've handled Halo.

Theres a big difference between having a child and raising it, and adopting one and raising it.

Halo like it or not, was Bungies child. They created it. They understood it better for the most part. 343 adopted it and like it or not, thats a lot more difficult.

I think that 343 have good intentions, but i also think that there are some things about halo that they dont understand having inherited it and all. But they have taken good strides, like the MP. Its the best yet. But then go play SP and they copy the worst halo SP out there which is 2. Its not hard, people wanna play as the fucking Chief and they dont wanna have to chase after fucking cortana anymore. Can we have a fucking interesting enemy that isnt Elites or my AI companion?

Those podcasts they had were so good, make a SP out of that.

There's so much we could talk about in regards to why the series has failed, and I'd loooove to do that, but it's also hard to have a serious or meaningful conversation with Sony drivebys and 'well, I liked it' folks.

Like, I'd love to talk about the Killzone-esque level design, or the way 343i seems insistent on putting their mark on the series, but their mark is really just "what everyone else is doing."

Halo, like any good series, has a very strong sense of identity, and 343i seems incapable of sustaining that identity. They're trying to make other things with it, and they can't.

They say they want to make it Star Wars, but you can't make Star Wars out of heroic military sci-fi.

japan, the only place MS always do horribly and sony dont.

Japan's console market is shrinking horribly. It's one of the smallest games markets there are.

 

[DangerMouse]

Yes, but the US is the world's largest console market for a reason. The 360 was, in terms of raw, global sales, beating the PS3, because the US is just that much bigger.

Nope. Ours is a big market but worldwide they were continually closing the gap.

The PS3 was neither better designed nor more powerful. It was objectively less powerful than the 360, and most developers you will talk to will tell you as much. Not just "it's convoluted," but "it has a split RAM pool that makes it increasingly hard to do stuff on" and "its graphics chip is about half a generation behind the 360's." Wanna know why Bioshock Infinite sucked? It's because they kept having to scrap things thanks to the PS3's limitations. Wanna know why Skyrim and New Vegas never got patches on the PS3? Because those games should never have been on there in the first place.

The power of the Cell is as real as the second Xbox One GPU.

It was not better designed as it was apparently a complete bitch to work with, but it was more powerful.

The split RAM pool is likely the main reason for the Skyrim and New Vegas problems. And even then there's not really an excuse, even on PS4 and XBone they are still having some of the same development issues.

Again, most devs have already come out and said that the Cell was a beast of a processor and that it was a distinct advantage even if too difficult and specialized to make it worth it for a lot of multiplats, so that comparison is garbage.

 

[UpDownLeftRight]

In theory, the Xbox One was an improvement on everything fans loved about the Xbox 360: a more powerful Kinect, new hardware that merged the console with your cable box, and lots of talk about the cloud. Microsoft only forgot one thing: the games. During the hour-long kick-off presentation, six minutes were allotted to new game announcements.

Wait what 360 was that?

 

[jet1911]

Not first place Microsoft is best Microsoft.

 

[RedNumberFive]

I was wondering when the payoff/bribe accusations would appear.

To be fair, there's precedence.

 

[DocSeuss]

It was not better designed as it was apparently a complete bitch to work with, but it was more powerful.

The split RAM pool is likely the main reason for the Skyrim and New Vegas problems. And even then there's not really an excuse, even on PS4 and XBone they are still having some of the same development issues.

Again, most devs have already come out and said that the Cell was a beast of a processor and that it was a distinct advantage even if too difficult and specialized to make it worth it for a lot of multiplats, so that comparison is garbage.

It wasn't. John Carmack tweeted a few years back that the PS3 was the weakest console and that he regretted porting Rage to it. Other developers have explicitly cited the PS3 as the weakest console. It had weaknesses in the way it processed, the graphics, and the RAM. It was generally considered among developers the weakest of the HD consoles.

Sony liked pretending it was an incredible beast, but blast processing is blast processing. The tasks it was best at were tasks you wouldn't, like... want to game with.

There was a really fun discussion on the wikipedia talk page for the CPU where Sony fans got wiki to post false stats despite official stats showing that the PS3 had been depowered compared to its initial specs. But that's a bit of another discussion.

 

[LeonSPBR]

Sure. I was bummed GAF got a few threads discussing the idea but never actually cited me outside of HaloGAF, hahaha. I really, really, really want to talk about 343i and how they've handled Halo.

Oh I remembered reading this when you wrote, didn't know it was someone from Gaf. Awesome reading, agree with you on all points, Halo 4 and 5 feels off compared to Bungie Halo. And I still find Halo 3 better than Halo 5 on MP (although I only played 5 matched on MP)

If you want to talk about 343i why don't you make a thread about them?? It would be an interesting thread to read and could be a good discussion if fanboys don't screw it up.

 

[therealbigrich]

it's weird it's like anything positive about xbox today is a bad thing, so confused.

seems like it right

 

[UraMallas]

I got a Xbox one at launch and a ps4... Pretty much exclusively played the X1 because of killer instinct (I love fighting games) but this year I moved... Unpacked all my stuff March of this year and have all my consoles hooked up to my new entertainment center except my X1... Haven't even bothered to unpack it since the move. Honestly I don't follow consoles so much as I follow te games. But I feel like there hasn't been any games for X1 that have made me freak out and think "I need this right now!" But hopefully I'll stand corrected soonish.

This is a coincidence, I had the exact opposite thing happen. I was playing my PS4 non-stop when it launched. I moved into my own place in February and hooked up my One for the first time through the TV-throughput. Bought a few games like Forza Horizon 2 and some others I had missed and now I just can't be bothered to switch inputs for the PS4. "Xbox on" is the first thing I say when I come in the door, watch my sports, play my games, watch my shows, and then "Xbox off" is the last thing I say at night.

Absolutely love my machine, surprisingly. I was so vocal about shunning Xbox One when they dropped the always online bomb even going so far as to actively steer my friends away from a console that would do that. Now? I can't get enough of the system and the games.

 

[gatti-man]

Since when did hardware power designate if a console was great or not? Pretty sure the PS2 sold the most and had the largest library of games in its generation and happened to be the weakest console.

It wasn't perceived as the weakest console at the time and had tons of killer Exclusive IP. Are we really going to think MS has something like FF10,11,12 exclusive for its console?

That's why I said Microsoft needs to work on establishing new IP this gem and hit next gem running with major titles that draw people to the brand. Ps4 has a strangle hold on this gem with exclusive content and DLC. Not to mention better hardware.

 

[DocSeuss]

Oh I remembered reading this when you wrote, didn't know it was someone from Gaf. Awesome reading, agree with you on all points, Halo 4 and 5 feels off compared to Bungie Halo. And I still find Halo 3 better than Halo 5 on MP (although I only played 5 matched on MP)

If you want to talk about 343i why don't you make a thread about them?? It would be an interesting thread to read and could be a good discussion if fanboys don't screw it up.

Thanks! Yeah, I've been really lucky that Kotaku is willing to publish my design-focused stuff. Not many people do that.

Just finished up a semester reading ~700 pages a week + 17 writing responses every week. So I'm kinda burned out right now, lol. If I wasn't desperate for cash, I probably wouldn't even do any freelance this month.

This is a coincidence, I had the exact opposite thing happen. I was playing my PS4 non-stop when it launched. I moved into my own place in February and hooked up my One for the first time through the TV-throughput. Bought a few games like Forza Horizon 2 and some others I had missed and now I just can't be bothered to switch inputs for the PS4. "Xbox on" is the first thing I say when I come in the door, watch my sports, play my games, watch my shows, and then "Xbox off" is the last thing I say at night.

Absolutely love my machine, surprisingly. I was so vocal about shunning Xbox One when they dropped the always online bomb even going so far as to actively steer my friends away from a console that would do that. Now? I can't get enough of the system and the games.

I feel the same way. I thought my PS4 would get more use, but I literally only turn it on to play Destiny with the friends who forced me to play Destiny on PS4 instead of Xbox. Meanwhile, I'm playing ROTR, Forza Horizon 2 (still; what a huge game!), Gears, Rare collection, etc.

 

[Dabanton]

My biggest issue with this article is that believes the issue with the initial reveal of the xbox was its lack of focus on games. However, I think had it just been that, gamers would have been forgiving with the eventual showing at E3. I think the bigger mistake was their allusion to the console being always online and that used games would be a thing of the past. That more than anything blew them up in the hangar before the Xb1 could even lift off.

And the biggest slap for them is that is pretty much what has ended up happening,some of the biggest game this gen are 'online only' if they would have waited it would have happened naturally and they could have eased people in. They jumped the gun, spooked the horses and pissed off a huge section of their potential userbase.

I know sometimes like in the case of getting broadband usage up you have to make that decision that some people are going to have to upgrade or get left behind, but this was a push that wasn't needed yet. Next gen? maybe. But now? it was a major mistake and one no doubt MS planners will grimace over as they plan for whatever machine follows up the X1

 

[Bizzquik]

Thanks for the link, OP. Interesting read.

Microsoft needs to make streaming to Xbox One from Windows 10 the future. Until then, I don't really understand how all this stuff helps longtime Xbox fans.
(Though, admittedly, cloud-based multiplayer sounds interesting.)

 

[otakukidd]

Not really advantages for gaming, though. I remember talking to some devs about how it was just objectively worse for AI and stuff.

The reason some major PS3 exclusives look "a step up" is because A) there are some tremendous artists, B) a lot of them would use fixed cameras or really small maps.

Take a game like Alan Wake or Metro 2033--those were pulling off stuff that was literally not possible on the PS3. iirc, the PS3 can't do Alan Wake because it's incapable of doing simultaneous volumetric and dynamic lighting or something like that.

Games like Halo Reach (which had a 27km draw distance or something obscene like that) and Alan Wake were doing a ton of these really huge map things. Games like Uncharted 2 had really good art design, but their maps are super small, and asset quality drops off a CLIFF at distance.



Sure. I was bummed GAF got a few threads discussing the idea but never actually cited me outside of HaloGAF, hahaha. I really, really, really want to talk about 343i and how they've handled Halo.



There's so much we could talk about in regards to why the series has failed, and I'd loooove to do that, but it's also hard to have a serious or meaningful conversation with Sony drivebys and 'well, I liked it' folks.

Like, I'd love to talk about the Killzone-esque level design, or the way 343i seems insistent on putting their mark on the series, but their mark is really just "what everyone else is doing."

Halo, like any good series, has a very strong sense of identity, and 343i seems incapable of sustaining that identity. They're trying to make other things with it, and they can't.

They say they want to make it Star Wars, but you can't make Star Wars out of heroic military sci-fi.



Japan's console market is shrinking horribly. It's one of the smallest games markets there are.

there is some major FUD in this post. Wow

 

[DocSeuss]

there is some major FUD in this post. Wow

If you don't know how to use FUD, don't use it.

 

[Shin-Ra]

I'm enjoying DocSeuss's descent into madness here.

 

[DocSeuss]

I'm enjoying DocSeuss's descent into madness here.

hahahahahahaa. All I've done is express my dislike for 343i's Halo, my understanding of PS3 architecture based on my discussions with a bunch of devs who've worked on it, and explained my personal interest in the Xbox One.

You think this is madness? Ask me what I think about Japan and 3D games.

 

[RowdyReverb]

hahahahahahaa. All I've done is express my dislike for 343i's Halo, my understanding of PS3 architecture based on my discussions with a bunch of devs who've worked on it, and explained my personal interest in the Xbox One.

You think this is madness? Ask me what I think about Japan and 3D games.

Well, now you've gone and made me curious.

 

[User 479360]

Great again?

It's great now.

Sheesh.

This

 

[otakukidd]

hahahahahahaa. All I've done is express my dislike for 343i's Halo, my understanding of PS3 architecture based on my discussions with a bunch of devs who've worked on it, and explained my personal interest in the Xbox One.

You think this is madness? Ask me what I think about Japan and 3D games.

Don't forget saying that 360 beat ps3 every year world wide even though the ps3 closed a 9 million console gap...

Also pretty sure I didn't use FUD wrong considering all the bullshit your spouting.

 

[khaois]

I wrote a whole big article on why 343i doesn't get Halo, and I stand by it. I think other teams at MS are way better than 343i is.

Personally, I think 343i has done so much better than any of the other teams at MS. They've taken Halo and improved on all things i care about: campaign, writing, eu.

 

[Business]

I think the launch problems are overblown. The main issue is the XBone is a less powerful PS4 in a market where exclusives matter less and less.

 

[vcc]

It wasn't. John Carmack tweeted a few years back that the PS3 was the weakest console and that he regretted porting Rage to it.

That seems to be missing some context, Carmack loves challenges so why would he regret porting a game to a weaker system? He spent much of the last part of his time at ID making mobile games because it was a challenge.

360 and PS3 are probably the two most comparable systems ever to compete. On paper the PS3 had more flops, in practice the 360 put out better performance at comparable quality and detail. The PS3 was a pain in the ass and caused many many many devs to lose sleep but I think you're over playing the power difference. It was much more about how much of a pain the PS3 was rather than it begin straight up outclassed.

 

[SmoothRunningGun]

Personally, I think 343i has done so much better than any of the other teams at MS. They've taken Halo and improved on all things i care about: campaign, writing, eu.

The 343 campaigns are horrible.

 

[CLEEK]

Multi-platform titles banned from entering Xbox ecosystem until Microsoft representatives can "figure out what's going on"

They already do this with indies!

 

[Black Mantis]

Personally, I think 343i has done so much better than any of the other teams at MS. They've taken Halo and improved on all things i care about: campaign, writing, eu.

Word. Series is in good hands.

 

[Dragon Puncher]

If Microsoft really wants to secure the next big franchise they need to take more chances with their games.

The MS exclusives are often pretty good games, but none of them are really anything truly unique and from what we have seen this extends into 2016 as well.

Sony's first party is more of a rollercoaster quality wise, but at least their are doing something different with titles like Until Dawn and No Man's Sky + Playstation VR.

The way MS has managed to turn the Xbox One image around is super impressive, but most of what they have done is remove a lot of shitty features instead of adding new ones. So while the Xbox is doing better, besides maybe backwards compatibility, I just don't see them having a lot of big advantages over the competition. It's not a bad console, but the race against PS4 is lost by now.