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[CloudStrife_ca]

Microsoft really boggled the launch, with their policies on used games and system always being online, they quickly reversed their decision but the console suffered from a lack of exclusives overall, despite with the introduction of the Xbox One X being the more powerful system overall.

During the first part of this gen for the Xbox One, Titanfall as an exclusive absolutely hooked me and pushed me to buy the Xbox One. I ended up also managing to find an unclaimed pre-order for the Titanfall collectors edition with the Atlas statue which is still one of the top 3 collectors editions I own.

Things kind of slid from there, backwards compatibility was added but the games trickled in at random and it became apparent although the console itself wasn't bad, the number of exclusives were limited and personally didn't excite me. Until Cuphead & Sea of Thieves, Cuphead had been on my radar forever, given the love that was put into the hand animation and I was somewhat disappointed as Microsoft couldn't even be bothered to publish a physical copy or a collectors edition, if there was any work of art in gaming that deserved a proper physical copy with a collectors edition, its Cuphead.

Sea of Thieves although it lacked content at first I still loved the mechanics and feel of the world created by Rare, as the content updates came in the game now offers a pretty decent experience, although it hurt the game that it wasn't all done at launch.

At the rate Microsoft has been signing studios, they know what they did wrong this gen and are preemptively gearing up to fix it for next gen, assuring a lot more exclusives. Without exclusives you can have the most powerful console of the generation but it won't matter if there isn't great games to play on it.

I'm thinking next gen we'll see a much closer battle between Microsoft and Sony and the gaming community will reap the rewards.

 

[Vampire On Titus]

I have one have and I haven't turned it on in over a year. I honestly can't remember ever being more disappointed in a console's lineup. F+

 

[Dirk Benedict]

I gave them a C+ for throwing big bucks at their future and trying to right every wrong that Mattrick did to the brand.
Personally I feel next gen will shed a better light on their 'grade' as this gen, their exclusive output is lacklustre and needs to be games people will want to play again and again.

 

[Mochilador]

I voted A+, based on my experience. There are plenty of games to play, services like Game Pass and EA Access making games much more accessible, backwards compatibility and the brazilian store did not get behind the US one (here in Brazil both Xbox 360 and PS3 lacked a lot of content available on the US store).

 

[Beerman462]

MS needs to focus on quality hardware and game development. Having the weakest base console and trying to survive on 3rd party was never going to work.

At launch they need a must have exclusive that takes full advantage of the next Xbox's hardware.

 

[Afro Republican]

Having the weakest base console and trying to survive on 3rd party was never going to work.
.

Wii u and Switch were both weaker.

 

[Beerman462]

Wii u and Switch were both weaker.

 

[Afro Republican]

Are you saying they weren't?

 

[Beerman462]

Are you saying they weren't?

I'm saying you know what I meant. Sony and MS are competing in the same space as more or less straight forward gaming consoles. Nintendo does there own thing and aren't competeing in the same hardware space. Why don't we throw the 3DS the Vita and a budget Android phone in the mix as well?

 

[Afro Republican]

I'm saying you know what I meant. Sony and MS are competing in the same space as more or less straight forward gaming consoles. Nintendo does there own thing and aren't competeing in the same hardware space. Why don't we throw the 3DS the Vita and a budget Android phone in the mix as well?

I mean that doesn't really apply to the Wii U, which was initially an attempt to be the hardcore Wii, they just abandoned it after it failed miserably after the first two years.

 

[Beerman462]

I mean that doesn't really apply to the Wii U, which was initially an attempt to be the hardcore Wii, they just abandoned it after it failed miserably after the first two years.

No it wasn't. It had a gimmick touch-screen controller that used it's already limited graphics processing to render to. It got a few cross gen 3rd parties but that's it. I love the Switch and Nintendo's games, but they really aren't competing in the same "AAA" space as Sony and MS. If you want to play a vast majority of console centric games the choice is Sony or MS. When PS5 and NextBox launch noone will be weighing their options between them and the Switch.

 

[Lightsbane]

I initially gave it a D, but changed it to F, because this really might be the worst Xbox of all time.

Granted, there was the RROD before, but this particular console doesn't have a single exclusive that I want to play.
I'm basically only glad it exists so Sony can't get too complacent (but it looks like they will anyway).

 

[Chozofication_]

Disaster. Insanely long installs and patches, thing's a brick without internet, near 0 exclusives and cheap controllers with sticky buttons.

The base machine is woefully underpowered while base ps4 is at least good enough.

The only credit I give them is they at least pretend to care about backwards compatibility and aren't assholes when it comes to crossplay like Sony.

 

[Chozofication_]

Wii u and Switch were both weaker.

I would argue power is a bigger issue for Xbox one than it is/was for those nintendo machines. With the exception of wii u's cpu. Strictly speaking on games visual quality and not AAA multiplat support or anything else.

Xbox one games often have too low resolution for the kinds of rendering AAA multiplats have. Low res combined with heavy taa and post processing is not a good match.

Wii u games and more so switch games are crisp and clean with timeless aesthetic.

 

[Afro Republican]

No it wasn't. It had a gimmick touch-screen controller that used it's already limited graphics processing to render to.

This isn't really a debate, they marketed the console, and temporarily corrupted western third-parties specifically to try and get them and players to forgive the Wii. People were saying the Wii U would bring Nintendo back and it would bring hardcore games. That was how it was initially thrown out and they dropped the whole thing after minimal effort to try and salvage it.

 

[Mega Man]

From what we've seen in the past, the two things that correlate with success between these two companies are:

1. Who is first to launch

2. Who is the most focused on GAMES and Game Development throughout the Generation

PS2 v. OG Xbox:
PS2 was first to launch by a year and a half, and had a far more robust library with instant classic exclusives.

PS3 v. 360:
360 was first to launch, PS3 focused on the Blu-Ray vs. HD-DVD battle. In addition, they made it difficult to develop and port to their platform due to their "advanced technology."

PS4 v. XBONE:
PS4 was first to launch, XBONE focused on being an "all in one" entertainment device. Mixed messaging and going back on their digital focused gaming with licenses and family sharing confused consumers. A higher price tag with forced Kinect integration was a differentiating factor as well.

I agree, Microsoft is more than a generation out of even thinking of competing on the national stage. If they want to win on their home field however, they must stick to the formula they began but abandoned with the 360. Make the console accessible for all consumers from the start. Be first to market. Provide quality games on all levels (AAA to indie), and celebrate up and coming developers. Allowing options for consumers is key. Forcing a peripheral which jacks up a price tag is garbage imo. The 360 had basic and premium options based on HDD size. Everything I have mentioned is great, but at the end of the day, EXCLUSIVES rule the day. And the fact the EVERY exclusive for Xbox will launch day and date on PC, may hurt sales within the hardcore.

...but hey, that's just one man's opinion...

 

[Beerman462]

This isn't really a debate, they marketed the console, and temporarily corrupted western third-parties specifically to try and get them and players to forgive the Wii. People were saying the Wii U would bring Nintendo back and it would bring hardcore games. That was how it was initially thrown out and they dropped the whole thing after minimal effort to try and salvage it.

Nintendo isn't in the conversation as far as my point goes, for the reasons you stated.. That's really about as far as this goes.

 

[Douche McBaggins The 3rd]

Rated them as shit. Using bc as a hook is crap. The 360 was damn good. The original xbox gave me an experience that no other console could. This? It gave me nothing. At least they didn't bail out after 2017 to start a new console.

 

[prag16]

C- probably... exclusives are kind of lacking, and they fucked up the messaging out of the gate gifting Sony a huge advantage. However I like a lot of the steps they've taken since (PC ports for all exclusives, play anywhere, xbonex is a nice box, etc) and I think they're in a better position moving forward than their relative lack of success of the xbone would indicate.

 

[Afro Republican]

The spli is pretty even. Seems like people in many cases aren't sure what to think. But with new studios and several of their big features likely being day 1 the next Xbox may not be so polarizing.

 

[KINDERFELD]

F from me.
They didn't even try this gen apart from the 1X which the vast majority of Xbox 1 owners don't have.

 

[Phil-NeoGAF]

A C+ from me and I love my 1X. The variety of games just wasn't there this generation.

 

[bitbydeath]

N, they first brought forth games like Sunset Overdrive and Quantum Break but suffered from bad policies which then switched to good policies but the games then vanished and they're not looking to be fixing it at all this generation.

 

[JustP_Gaming]

Let's see if they can turn this ship around seeing as Phil Spencer has the keys. This is the first time in Xbox history where the head of Xbox has no one other then the CEO to clear decisions with, being promoted to Senior Leadership Team in 2017 should yield some exciting things for 2019 and beyond.

 

[Gavon West]

Let's see if they can turn this ship around seeing as Phil Spencer has the keys. This is the first time in Xbox history where the head of Xbox has no one other then the CEO to clear decisions with, being promoted to Senior Leadership Team in 2017 should yield some exciting things for 2019 and beyond.

I'd say its pretty obvious at this point. Clearly.

 

[DESTROYA]

Hardware A Did a great job with the XboxOneX.
GamePass A+ Great system feature for a price but well worth it.
Software C Some great games but too far and few between

 

[[Asmodean]]

To me at least; solid A+ for services/back compatible, and hardware (xbx).

D for games. They simply have no games that I'm interested in, that I can't play elsewhere. Plus, mostly shooters and sports games, which aren't my thing.

 

[Jon Neu]

The worst Xbox console by far. The X comes too late and also lacks AAA exclusives.

 

[Ramzy]

Hardware: A+
AAA Exclusives: Sea oF+ Thieves

The One X is a fine console, and I think the controller far surpasses the PS4 in terms of comfort, however the total lack of AAA exclusives aside from Halo 18 Electric Boogaloo and Generic Grunts of War really hurt it. I dusted off my One X to burn through RDR2 in native 4K which was fantastic, but it's been off for the last 2 months and I don't see myself playing it any time soon.

Honestly I regret buying the One X, considering I do the majority of my gaming on PC. Oh well, guess we'll wait and see what 2019 brings with all of MSFT's acquisitions and Phil Spencer at the helm.

 

[pr0guchi]

the xox is a great piece of hardware.
the vanilla one was a mess
also marketing was far away from the cooler x and 360