How Microsoft plans to make Xbox great again [The Verge]

Coxy100 said:
All about opinions.... but it really isn't!
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Halo 5 fixes all of Halo 4's major issues. To lump both games together suggests a huge critical deficiency IMO. You can directly compare the two games on every point—enemy design, level design, weapon balance, overall mechanics—and Halo 5 comes out far ahead of Halo 4 every time. Reach too. Even Halo 2 and 3 in some ways.

The Halo 5 backlash is based in a couple of valid issues (lack of features and multiplayer variety) and a whole lot of misaimed badwill carried over from Halo 4 and the MCC.
 
SwolBro said:
And by focusing on Europe you mean making the environment offline based as well? i mean i can support that but i'd rather them focus on innovation and moving the industry forward.

A lot of the backlash from europe was because of the whole online always thing, and the privacy scare and all that. I can understand the latter but not the former. Being a U.S/South american player i'm ok with the online focus.

Is Sony wants to continue to sell traditional gaming units to Europe i'm ok with that, let them. I want Microsoft to keep pushing forward.
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No the backlash didn't really change anything, MS never does well in Europe apart from the UK. MS is seen as being to focused on US(and a little on UK) by Europeans.
 
MS needs to play the future game. They have the money and the PC gaming angle to ensure a chance next gen.

The One is lost, PS4 is the defacto. But they should use the time to unite PC and Bone for XB2. The fact that MS on their 3rd console is losing to Sony is a huge black mark on Balmer and Mattrick.

The biggest barrier to merging the platforms is that PC player fucking hate MS for abandoning them for Xbox 15 years ago. And they should. MS played their cards wrong.

MS has the money to win, but dumb fucks wasting it 2 gens in a row.
 
shoreu said:
The fact that I get to see actual Spartans show off of their abilities in 4 and especially 5 makes them so much more interesting. Plus 343 embracing the lore is the best thing to happen to the series.
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Yeah for the niche audience of people that read the books
Meanwhile it leaves the majority of the fanbase who only play the games scratching their head.

The games are supposed to be the main cannon, someone needs to put a choke chain on 343 and how much they incorporate from the novels
 
devilsadvocat said:
Yeah for the niche audience of people that read the books
Meanwhile it leaves the majority of the fanbase who only play the games scratching their head.

The games are supposed to be the main cannon, someone needs to put a choke chain on 343 and how much they incorporate from the novels
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That's Halo 4's problem, with the whole Didact fiasco. It's not an issue in Halo 5. What's carried over from the extended universe is either nonessential or directly spelled out.

I mean, if you play through the campaign and don't understand what the Mantle is (Halo 5's central carryover from the EU), you definitely weren't paying attention. There's very little to be confused about if you bother to watch the cutscenes and listen to the dialog.
 
Monocle said:
That's Halo 4's problem, with the whole Didact fiasco. It's not an issue in Halo 5. What's carried over from the extended universe is either nonessential or directly spelled out.

I mean, if you play through the campaign and don't understand what the Mantle is (Halo 5's central carryover from the EU), you definitely weren't paying attention. There's very little to be confused about if you bother to watch the cutscenes and listen to the dialog.
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Apparently I had to read comics and play Spartan ops to know why the hell Halsey lost an arm....
 
Why do these threads always devolve into "they're not first it's over" mentality. The box is selling as much if not more than the 360 at the and time in its lifespan, Microsoft just came out and says their black Friday was good (I think it was the best they've had right?). This isn't Talladega nights. These businesses aren't run by Ricky Bobby. The xbox still fulfils a role as a windows machine in the living room and still sells. Do people not understand how business work or is it people are secret console warriors?
 
Mendax said:
meh, to most of us (here in europe) that "offering more" is not added value though; it's more like added nonsense at the expense of gaming.
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So, having more big budget games up to this point isn't added value? Or updating the U.I and overall experience? How about releasing a new amazingly hardcore peripheral?

Or is this really about indie games?

Dr. Black Jack said:
a turd is a turd despite any added luster
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haha. are you going to actually contribute to anything or just drive by shit post more?

i thought this wasn't even allowed here.
 
Mendax said:
meh, to most of us (here in europe) that "offering more" is not added value though; it's more like added nonsense at the expense of gaming.
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The hate is real...

In December 2015, what has MS done that has compromised our gaming?

They just need to keep on working hard throughout the life of the X1 and win back the goodwill that they pissed away in 2013...
 
Monocle said:
Halo 5 fixes all of Halo 4's major issues. To lump both games together suggests a huge critical deficiency IMO. You can directly compare the two games on every point—enemy design, level design, weapon balance, overall mechanics—and Halo 5 comes out far ahead of Halo 4 every time. Reach too. Even Halo 2 and 3 in some ways.

The Halo 5 backlash is based in a couple of valid issues (lack of features and multiplayer variety) and a whole lot of misaimed badwill carried over from Halo 4 and the MCC.
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To be honest, all my issues with Halo 5 are campaign related...
 
Apathy said:
Why do these threads always devolve into "they're not first it's over" mentality. The box is selling as much if not more than the 360 at the and time in its lifespan, Microsoft just came out and says their black Friday was good (I think it was the best they've had right?). This isn't Talladega nights. These businesses aren't run by Ricky Bobby. The xbox still fulfils a role as a windows machine in the living room and still sells. Do people not understand how business work or is it people are secret console warriors?
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It's not about coming out first. But it's still about wanting to sell as many consoles as they can. Until they start focusing on Europe more they will be missing out. You really think MS go "well we aren't number 1 but we are selling fine that's ok with us?" I doubt that very much.
 
Knuf said:
Not that this is suprising coming from a company also known for its "Embrace, Extend and Estinguish" strategy, but in my opinion that quote summarizes very well all what's wrong with Microsoft: instead of nurturing its first-party studios, also allowing them to take some risks and try developing new IP/ideas just like Nintendo or Sony do, they just throw around big bags of cash to external developers, hoping that sooner or later something sticks on the wall and a hugely successful new IP comes from there.
This way risks for MS are very low and when that new IP bombs they immediately can ditch that external developer and move on to the next. All of this while MS first-party studios are forced to keep pushing out sequels and more sequels to their known few big IPs.
What a shame.
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To be honest that was the strategy all along, from Halo all the way down Tomb Raider. Microsoft only show an interest once the IP is popular and in the recent years it seems they don't even care about having the developer around, they just want the IP. It seems silly to say that they push me away from the brand, but their strategy of "hope it sticks" seem dangerously close to how EA treat devs.
 
Beefy said:
It's not about coming out first. But it's still about wanting to sell as many consoles as they can. Until they start focusing on Europe more they will be missing out. You really think MS go well we aren't number 1 but we are selling fine that's ok with us? I doubt that very much.
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As long as they make a healthy ROI then that is exactly what is happening....
 
Beefy said:
It's not about coming out first. But it's still about wanting to sell as many consoles as they can. Until they start focusing on Europe more they will be missing out. You really think MS go well we aren't number 1 but we are selling fine that's ok with us? I doubt that very much.
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this. not sure how anyone here can see a future for a gaming console (or just about any other piece of electronics hardware) that basically only sells in the u.s. & u.k...
 
Outrun said:
So you think that the X1 is a turd? Because that is what he was responding to...

How dare he think that the X1 has more to offer him personally...
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I don't think the Xone is a turd, I own one but I don't think it offering more than the competitor.
 
SwolBro said:
riiight, a turd that happens to be offering more than the competitors.

the hate is real.
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It's objectively offering less for gamers. Considerably weaker hardware (=worse multiplats), much fewer exclusives (especially Japanese games and thanks to its parity clause fewer indies), fewer and less diverse first party games.

The inferiority is real.
 
Occam said:
It's objectively offering less for gamers. Considerably weaker hardware (=worse multiplats), much fewer exclusives (especially Japanese games and thanks to its parity clause fewer indies), fewer and less diverse first party games.

The inferiority is real.
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What is your definition of "considerably weaker" because not being able to tell the difference until some website does software comparisons doesn't show me considerable difference. Considerable difference is getting on PC and running 1080p at 144hz. That's considerable difference.

And up until this point it's had bigger exclusives released. 3rd holiday season in and PS4 has had multiplates. Sorry, that's not offering more of anything but indie titles and i didn't spend hundreds of dollars to play indie titles.

Everything about the X1 has been improved. They're doing a fantastic job. If you want to ignore that for whatever motives you have, that's fine. Some of the drive by shit posts aren't necessary.
 
Beefy said:
It's not about coming out first. But it's still about wanting to sell as many consoles as they can. Until they start focusing on Europe more they will be missing out. You really think MS go well we aren't number 1 but we are selling fine that's ok with us? I doubt that very much.
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No they don't sit around being childish and thinking things in a first or second place mentality. To your own point they think of is it selling as much as it can. If it is and they are second they don't care. Pepsi is second to coke. They know it, and unless coke royally fucks up by introducing coke made from baby panda blood, they have no chance of being first. But that doesn't mean there isn't a market for them. They advertise and they sell as much as they can. Microsoft right now is in second. But they still advertise and they still sell and again they sell more than their last best selling console was doing at this and time. A company can be making profits, can be selling better than their previous product even if they are second and can be comfortably there knowing they can't be first but still selling.

My post was specifically how people don't seem to understand that in these threads and if they aren't first they should just give up.
 
Apathy said:
No they don't sit around being childish and thinking things in a first or second place mentality. To your own point they think of is it selling as much as it can. If it is and they are second they don't care. Pepsi is second to coke. They know it, and unless coke royally fucks up by introducing coke made from baby panda blood, they have no chance of being first. But that doesn't mean there isn't a market for them. They advertise and they sell as much as they can. Microsoft right now is in second. But they still advertise and they still sell and again they sell more than their last best selling console was doing at this and time. A company can be making profits, can be selling better than their previous product even if they are second and can be comfortably there knowing they can't be first but still selling.

My post was specifically how people don't seem to understand that in these threads and if they aren't first they should just give up.
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I get what you mean. I am just saying MS doesn't help themselves in other markets. I hope the tiered system gets dropped next launch.
 
Occam said:
It's objectively offering less for gamers. Considerably weaker hardware (=worse multiplats), much fewer exclusives (especially Japanese games and thanks to its parity clause fewer indies), fewer and less diverse first party games.

The inferiority is real.
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Not being the biggest and the best doesn't mean that it has no use. Even through all of what you have said, it isn't a complete waste of a system. It has enough to warrant a place in the gaming industry.
 
Angel_DvA said:
I don't think the Xone is a turd, I own one but I don't think it offering more than the competitor.
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Fair enough :)

This is the sentiment that MS needs to change if they want to expand their user base. And the best way to do that is by offering more and more.
 
Beefy said:
I get what you mean. I am just saying MS doesn't help themselves in other markets. I hope the tiered system gets dropped next launch.
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Oh and that point I'm not disputing, i 100% agree with you, but the thing is as a whole, they might not see it as being worth their time. They got their core audience and market where their product sells. They got some sales in markets that are secondary to their strategy. They might figure that is the core users in those markets that don't need so much money spent there to get a small number of other people.

Let's say using imaginary numbers to make it easier, if they spent $1000 on advertising but sold $1001 worth of their product, although it is a gain it's too small of a gain to be worth their time. If they see this in the much larger scale and their accountants and finance people say it isn't worth pushing harder than they are in the European markets they they won't (this gen at least).
 
Angel_DvA said:
I agree that Microsoft update and software support like NXE is better than Sony but for everything else, it's behind.
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I would respectfully disagree.

MS has one of the best fighters this generation in KI. (At least until SFV comes out in Spring 16)
MS has one of the best online FPS shooters in Halo 5
MS has one of the best controllers in the Elite
MS has the best online racer in FM6
MS has one of the best Metrovania title in Ori.and the Blind Forest
MS has one of the best open world racers in FH2

To state that MS only has an advantage in updates is a little bit of an oversimplification. I do not want to degenerate into list wars, but at this point the quality is there for them.
 
Occam said:
It's objectively offering less for gamers. Considerably weaker hardware (=worse multiplats), much fewer exclusives (especially Japanese games and thanks to its parity clause fewer indies), fewer and less diverse first party games.

The inferiority is real.
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Considerably weaker? You mean like the difference between my PS4 and my GTX 970? Or the difference between the Xbox One and the Wii U?

The dishonesty is real.
 
DocSeuss said:
Japan's console market is shrinking horribly. It's one of the smallest games markets there are.
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That doesnt change how MS failed miserably in Asian markets with 360 and Sony didnt.

Dr. Black Jack said:
"How Microsoft is trying to polish a turd"
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You probably dont own one. Its night and day to what it was at launch. The OS is to me superior to what sony has, theres more exclusives i wanna play, the elite controller is fucking amazing etc theyve done a really good job recently. At this point, the people still saying stupid shit like you said clearly have no clue what theyre talking about.
 
Apathy said:
No they don't sit around being childish and thinking things in a first or second place mentality. To your own point they think of is it selling as much as it can. If it is and they are second they don't care. Pepsi is second to coke. They know it, and unless coke royally fucks up by introducing coke made from baby panda blood, they have no chance of being first. But that doesn't mean there isn't a market for them. They advertise and they sell as much as they can. Microsoft right now is in second. But they still advertise and they still sell and again they sell more than their last best selling console was doing at this and time. A company can be making profits, can be selling better than their previous product even if they are second and can be comfortably there knowing they can't be first but still selling.

My post was specifically how people don't seem to understand that in these threads and if they aren't first they should just give up.
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I'm convinced that those who say they should give up are trolling. How could anyone actually want less competition?

Microsoft has been making the Xbox experience better and better. I'm completely satisfied with my purchase and am glad to see their focus on continual improvement.


Ricky Ricardo said:
Considerably weaker? You mean like the difference between my PS4 and my GTX 970? Or the difference between the Xbox One and the Wii U?

The dishonesty is real.
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This. The difference between the PS4 and Xbox One is tiny compared to the difference between my PC and the PS4. Dunno why it's such a sticking point. If you really want good graphics you will purchase/play on PC. If you want a reduced fidelity product than the Xbox One and PS4 both offer that.
 
Ok, let's wait and see...
Next year is going to be verrrry interesting by this time of the year (if NX is released)

The way I see it: two men enter, one man leaves (PS4 is Tina Turner)
The market is contracting, no doubt about it.
So there are two possible outcomes:
a) Nintendo NX gets its ass beaten - WiiU all over again
b) NX will steal some of Xbox One's thunder

No matter what - it's no longer a fight for 1st place - it's all about who will be 2nd.
 
NerdEyeBlind said:
Great again?

It's great now.

Sheesh.
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This.... But public perception is key to everything. This Gen since the hardware architecture is similar, the performance differences can be seen/expected real time..( Aka awesome coding can't really save you this Gen.)

The problem now is that even with equal footing in terms of quality games and owned ips, the Xbox one will have to continuously try to compete on uneven ground constantly because of public perception and due to less users WW and being the 2nd place console in NA and UK now this Gen.

All these things come into play as developers will want to push PS4 first because of that said user base.

If this Gen is considered competitive, I can't wait to see what next Gen will bring as MS will want to make up a megaton of ground.

Aka.. They never want to be in a position again where there console/product without question is less powerful in gpu and CPU vs competition, because they have been providing the most updates, feed back and features IMO and they are still struggling to compete in terms of hardware sales.
 
AP90 said:
This.... But public perception is key to everything. This Gen since the hardware architecture is the same, the performance differences can be seen/expected real time..( Aka awesome coding can't really save you this Gen.)

The problem now is that even with equal footing in terms of quality games and owned ips, the Xbox one will have to continuously try to compete on uneven ground constantly because of public perception and due to less users WW and being the 2nd place console in NA and UK now this Gen.

All these things come into play as developers will want to push PS4 first because of that said user base.

If this Gen is considered competitive, I can't wait to see what next Gen will bring as MS will want to make up a megaton of ground.

Aka.. They never want to be in a position again where there console/product without question is less powerful in gpu and CPU vs competition, because they have been providing the most updates, feed back and features IMO and they are still struggling to compete in terms of hardware sales.
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No, its not. Is this a typo?
 
Outrun said:
I would respectfully disagree.

MS has one of the best fighters this generation in KI. (At least until SFV comes out in Spring 16)
MS has one of the best online FPS shooters in Halo 5
MS has one of the best controllers in the Elite
MS has the best online racer in FM6
MS has one of the best Metrovania title in Ori.and the Blind Forest
MS has one of the best open world racers in FH2

To state that MS only has an advantage in updates is a little bit of an oversimplification. I do not want to degenerate into list wars, but at this point the quality is there for them.
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Tell that to sad little WiiU

Best Plattformers
Best 3rd person action game
Best fun racer
......
 
VincentMatts said:
Him, like most of everyone else, is basing this "big difference" on the games resolutions and nothing more.
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As someone who owns both and has played the same game quite a few times on both, in most instances the differences are not significant, that's not to say I don't notice them from time to time.

Alien Isolation is the only game where I can recall significantly more framerate drops (and they happened at bad moments) on the Xbox One.
 
Its too late honestly for MS to make a comeback this gen. There best bet is just ride the wave of 2nd place and juat build up positive press and hope the Xbox Two doesn't flounder ar they gate. They'll build goodwill among fans if they keep doing more to win the consumers back.
 
VincentMatts said:
Him, like most of everyone else, is basing this "big difference" on the games resolutions and nothing more.
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You are in denial.

All in all, shadows look cleaner on PC, the lighting model appears more refined, and we also see better consistency across the quality of artwork deployed across the game, with smooth geometric surfaces and intricate texture detailing.
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That resolution is giving me higher quality lighting, shadows, and texture details.

In more demanding scenes, the engine is more intensely put through its paces. Airstrikes in particular see performance impacted more substantially across both platforms; on PS4 a barrage of explosions causes frame-rates to drop down near the 30fps mark - though only for a few seconds - while Xbox One metrics hover in the mid-40s.
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That increased resolution is making my game stay above 60fps.


http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digitalfoundry-2015-call-of-duty-black-ops-3-face-off
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There's no doubt the Playstation hit gold this gen, and deservably so. Personally I feel XB1 has had better and more attractive exclusives so far, but it's easy to forget that PS4 by the numbers simply have more games. At the end of the day, that's what matters, not where the games come from.

However, it goes to show there are no heroes in this industry, just business. Some people even here still cling on the notiok of one company being inherently "good", and another bad. PS4 have taken the 360 approach to get the multiplat deals, and it's working.

The only thing I find interesting to think about in all of this is how next gen will play out. Playstation already is synonymous with game console for most people, now the gap is widening even more. Just how many people are going to automatically go for PS next gen?

I think MS will pivot if they're smart, and sell the next Xbox as an "affordable gaming PC". Seems to make business sense, and it might help elude the direct competition from PS4.
 
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