Support NeoGAF

[Mibu no ookami]

He has and I'm not sure why. Is this to appease some Xbox bros or something?

I saw an article from him in like 2017 or 2019 or something and it was clear that his biases run pretty deep. I think he's actually just a fanboy.

 

[LiquidMetal14]

It has to make you think that when you see a company blunder their console business like this, but daddy keeps on spending the money, it just shows how they don't know what they're doing. Doing it really shouldn't be in the business. They make tons of money elsewhere but I guess that's what big pockets gets you. Spending money. Frivolously and thinking like that'll solve the problem. It ain't some happy accident that Nintendo and Sony enjoy good mindshare when it comes to the consoles because they built that reputation. And it doesn't take spending 70 billion a year on acquisitions.

 

[StereoVsn]

you can't do that. 64gb isn't being sold anymore, it's been replaced by the LCD 256gb at the same price of 400 dollars.

Moreover he specified Deck OLED which starts at 550 for the cheapest model.

You don't need OLED to dip your toes. There are a ton of Decks been offloaded to eBay/Swappa/Facebook Marketplace/etc... Can just go and grab LCD model on the cheap which still has roughly same performance for half the price. Mind you, yes, OLED deck is better, but if you are trying to save its absolutely not required.

 

[mckmas8808]

I still haven't been able to wrap my mind around the super-positive reviews and general acceptance of Portal. It seems like we really underestimated Portal.

I think many people have underestimated how little people fear a $199 price tag too. It's just as scary as it was in 1999. $199 is nothing these days. Especially when a Steamdeck can sell a few million at a $600 price point.

 

[DeepEnigma]

Damage control¿?

He has and I'm not sure why. Is this to appease some Xbox bros or something?

GHG has the receipts. Follow the monies.

 

[C2brixx]

Microsoft isn't all in when it comes to video games. It's a tiny part of their business.

Recruitment is slow and development is slow. Microsoft is running out of time. It's a resource you can't buy.

Weird way to show you're not "all in".

 

[Kenneth Haight]

 

[TheBomb]

I get it. Microsoft has money to burn, but it ain’t unlimited. Isn’t it?

 

[Topher]

I saw an article from him in like 2017 or 2019 or something and it was clear that his biases run pretty deep. I think he's actually just a fanboy.

That's interesting because I've seen Xbox fans call him a PlayStation fanboy.

 

[Mibu no ookami]

That's interesting because I've seen Xbox fans call him a PlayStation fanboy.

Xbox fans call anyone a fanboy for calling things as they are.

I call balls and strikes. I've been suspended twice for calling out Sony where I thought they fell short, and I've owned every PlayStation console and the PSP. I've never owned an Xbox and haven't owned a Nintendo product since the Gameboy Color, though I loved the GBA SP, I didn't own one.

Most people would categorize me as a PS fanboy, but I considered buying an Xbox Series last year, and would have bought a Switch if it did 4K in docked mode. I'll probably buy a Switch 2 if it has enhanced BC.

When I say that Xbox is a dead brand, it's not for love or hate of a plastic box but rather reading the tea leaves on where the industry is and where it is going.

At the same time I can tell when an "analyst" is being woefully biased and Chris is. He offered no evidence of some market share Microsoft has with mobile or cloud, but felt he had to insert himself into news that was negative for Xbox, highly negative.

Edit: Him putting (so far) into the tweet is also hilarious as if they have some boon waiting for them in November and December. We've already seen within the weeklys that they aren't doing well and there is nothing on the horizon to change that.

Him being an xbox fanboy doesn't offend me, him being a poor analyst is what offends me.

 

[DeepEnigma]

That's interesting because I've seen Xbox fans call him a PlayStation fanboy.

That was when he wrote the piece against the ABK deal (because "only PS fans were against it," derp), then he got a talken to by his superiors, now it's all Microfluff.

 

[DirtyBast8rd]

Corporations are having a tough time understanding how much ownership matters to many people. That's why I'm glad Christopher Nolan and Del Torro said this the other day.

Christopher Nolan Says Streaming-Only Content Is a ‘Danger’ and Can ‘Get Taken Down,’ Guillermo del Toro Calls Owning Physical Media a ‘Responsibility’

Guillermo del Toro and other filmmakers are championing physical media over streaming.

variety.com

Microsoft's heavy focus on GamePass in the long term is BAD for consumers, because the ultimate goal is to get away from YOU the consumer from actually owning the content. "They" don't want us to own it. They want us to rent it forever and to pay them small amounts per month over 20 years.

Keep paying and paying and paying and then when you want to replay a game you find out it isn't available anymore because you have no control in anyway or form with subscription based media consumption.

 

[BennyBlanco]

Fire Phil and offer big Bobby K a huge bag to take his job. The bad PR would be worth it. Let Phil act like he resigned ala Jimbo. I think he is literally the only man on earth up to the job.

 

[DeepEnigma]

Fire Phil and offer big Bobby K a huge bag to take his job. The bad PR would be worth it. Let Phil act like he resigned ala Jimbo. I think he is literally the only man on earth up to the job.

Phil's MS exec lifer "career moment" was the purchasing ABK. His words. Their company culture on what they feel are career moments (EEE), since clearly improving the brand mindshare and recognition is not part of that career moment.

Time to move on and get fresh blood in there. But I feel the mindset will not change much, at all. It didn't from Mattrick, just more of a slow burn on their end game around a "savior" cult of personality.

 

[Topher]

Sometimes I think pride is the only thing really keeping Microsoft in the console business. Losing to Sony isn't how they want to go out.

 

[Heisenberg007]

I think many people have underestimated how little people fear a $199 price tag too. It's just as scary as it was in 1999. $199 is nothing these days. Especially when a Steamdeck can sell a few million at a $600 price point.

I don't think it is just the price point. Microsoft sold Series S for $229 for a long time. I think there was a Verizon offer of a Series S for something like $150.

I think we underestimated the use case Sony was catering to. Sony must have had the data to see how people engage and interact with their content, and there must be a big enough market for this particular use case (Remote Play) that we all just collectively underestimated and ignored.

 

[Syphon Filter]

Xbox needs a change in leadership. Spencer is leading them straight into extinction. The guy is completely clueless, under his stewardship MS first party haven't released any hits which is a damning indictment on him. You need quality exclusives to sell your console, Sony and Nintendo understand this. Somebody at MS should be doing an audit of the whole Xbox division, There's something clearly wrong there.

Nintendo is the only one with quality exclusives to be fair.

 

[Muffdraul]

For me personally, the only time Xbox dominated was the PS360 gen, because the PS3 was this weird and fucked up piece of alien technology that had some very squirrely behaviors, e,g. only some games would display at 1080p, most at 720p, and while some could be forced to 1080, others would default all the way down to 480p when you tried to force them. The real problem for me was that PS3 running at 720p looked like shit on my SONY Bravia 56" because the TV had shitty built-in upscaling. Meanwhile, the 360 automatically upscaled every single thing to 1080p, no questions asked, and everything looked and ran beautifully on my TV. In those days, if a game was cross platform, I bought the 360 version without a thought. But thankfully Sony learned their lesson and the PS4 and PS5 have much more familiar architecture that devs can easily leverage, so any motivation I ever had to favor Xbox completely went away. I still bought a XBone and a Series X just so I can play whatever exclusives they might get, but in hindsight there was very little value there for me. I used to be the biggest Halo fanboy in the world (solo campaign-wise, at least) but I played through Infinity once and have yet to feel any desire to re-visit. This coming from a freak who even played through the god awful Halo 5 at least three times. Gears 5, I never even finished my first playthrough. I don't remember thinking it sucked or anything, but after I reached the part where you're cruising across the desert in some dune-sail vehicle, I stopped there and just never picked it up again for some reason. And beyond Halo and Gears, I can't think of any other Xbox exclusives I give a shit about. Nothing that's still a current franchise, anyway.

 

[Thirty7ven]

Damage control¿?

Ok now it looks sus af

 

[Mibu no ookami]

Sometimes I think pride is the only thing really keeping Microsoft in the console business. Losing to Sony isn't how they want to go out.

Sony is a tiny company comparatively.

It was one thing to lose to apple and google when it came to iOS and Android, but losing to Sony in gaming when they're a fraction of your size? That's probably a bridge too far.

But Nadella is probably realizing how entrenched people are in the PlayStation ecosystem.

When Microsoft falters and leave the console industry, Sony will try and leverage their premier position to get more into PC, Mobile, and handheld.

It's not a coincidence that Sony released the PSP after the PS2. They wanted to expand but after the Vita and PS3, they had to refocus on console. People think Sony is out of the handheld space because the vita was a failure. If that were true, they would never have made a PS4.

Sony has huge hopes for growth and that is entirely dependant on SIE becoming a far more profitable company.

 

[DForce]

Damage control¿?

So far? The year is almost over, lol

 

[MisterXDTV]

Damage control¿?

It's desperation time....

 

[Dutchy]

i won't believe until sennin tells me to

 

[havoc00]

Sony is a tiny company comparatively.

It was one thing to lose to apple and google when it came to iOS and Android, but losing to Sony in gaming when they're a fraction of your size? That's probably a bridge too far.

But Nadella is probably realizing how entrenched people are in the PlayStation ecosystem.

When Microsoft falters and leave the console industry, Sony will try and leverage their premier position to get more into PC, Mobile, and handheld.

It's not a coincidence that Sony released the PSP after the PS2. They wanted to expand but after the Vita and PS3, they had to refocus on console. People think Sony is out of the handheld space because the vita was a failure. If that were true, they would never have made a PS4.

Sony has huge hopes for growth and that is entirely dependant on SIE becoming a far more profitable company.

When MS leaves Apple will step in and wont be as nice as MS is to the competition

 

[jroc74]

BOOM! Some people may not like PSVR2 or PS Portal, but they are two devices that Sony has made that makes gaming on your PS5 that much better and more interesting. MS has openly stated that they have no interest in their Xbox consoles getting a 3rd party VR added to it and also don't seem to want to help their console out with a GamePass cloud machine.

Both PSVR2 and Portal are accessories that give Sony profit on each hardware sold at launch, but also keeps engagement on the PS5 console higher. It's Sony's philosophy and ability to make great games that make their consoles attractive.



MS is all in when it comes to video games. They always were. They just aren't great at it. The X360 didn't happen on accident. Maybe MS is too "all in" at the moment by pushing subscriptions too hard.

I just realized a Portal device would have made alot more sense coming from Xbox instead of PlayStation. Sony isn't allowing cloud streaming from it yet. MS seems to want that everywhere.

Don't tell me MS is about to be late to the party yet again....

 

[MasterCornholio]

When MS leaves Apple will step in and wont be as nice as MS is to the competition

To be fair Microsoft wasn't really nice to the competition. Also Apple doesn't need Microsoft to leave for them to enter the console market.

 

[Banjo64]

Damage control¿?

 

[twilo99]

How is that a good thing?

Certainly good for Sony and Nintendo, not sure if good for gamers in general.

 

[MasterCornholio]

Certainly good for Sony and Nintendo, not sure if good for gamers in general.

Well that depends on the kind of competition they want to provide.

 

[jroc74]

When MS leaves Apple will step in and wont be as nice as MS is to the competition

Won't be as nice as MS?

It will be business as usual then.

 

[havoc00]

Won't be as nice as MS?

It will be business as usual then.

If you think MS is bad Applle will be way worse

 

[Zheph]

Certainly good for Sony and Nintendo, not sure if good for gamers in general.

Buying EA or TakeTwo will be good for gamers tho right?

 

[MasterCornholio]

If you think MS is bad Applle will be way worse

Nah that's just your fear talking. Just a way of punishing people with FUD if Microsoft fails.

 

[Mibu no ookami]

I just realized a Portal device would have made alot more sense coming from Xbox instead of PlayStation. Sony isn't allowing cloud streaming from it yet. MS seems to want that everywhere.

Don't tell me MS is about to be late to the party yet again....

Sony is going to incorporate cloud into the Portal at some point. They've just barely got PS5 streaming off the ground. I'd say this is something that will probably take 6-12 months. Sony is pretty slow about this stuff and if it is already selling out as a remote player, there probably isn't a huge rush to push it out as more than that.

But that will be the key, to not require the purchase of a PlayStation 5, but a membership to PS+ Premium and they'll let you play your digital library on it. So for 200 dollars they'll boost their software sales and subscription memberships which are what they actually make money on rather than hardware.

 

[//DEVIL//]

oh ..my...god,,

 

[Three]

When MS leaves Apple will step in and wont be as nice as MS is to the competition

"We can run Sony out of business" nice?

 

[Cert.in.Death]

Not unexpected, TBH. Europe already has a console option in the PS5 but is shifting to becoming a more mobile-first market like the Asiatic rim.

Toss in economic hardships in the outer EU nations and it’s understandable they’d be struggling.

 

[ShadowkillXNA]

Maybe those Sony users start to realize the value proposition offered by Xbox/GP and make a different choice next time around.

Maybe their already fully aware of exactly what "value" xbox gamepass offers and they decided it just isnt worth it.

 

[poppabk]

But that will be the key, to not require the purchase of a PlayStation 5, but a membership to PS+ Premium and they'll let you play your digital library on it. So for 200 dollars they'll boost their software sales and subscription memberships which are what they actually make money on rather than hardware.

How can people understand this about Sony but not about MS?

 

[Thick Thighs Save Lives]

Not unexpected, TBH. Europe already has a console option in the PS5 but is shifting to becoming a more mobile-first market like the Asiatic rim.

Toss in economic hardships in the outer EU nations and it’s understandable they’d be struggling.

Uhmm... what? Console gaming is trending up in Europe while mobile is trending down.

Revenue and sales were up in 2022

As mentioned, €24.5 billion was spent on video games across various European markets last year. This is a 5% increase compared to the €23.3 billion generated in both 2021 and 2020, and higher than the €21.6 billion taken in 2019, the last pre-pandemic year.

42% of this revenue was generated by console games, up from 41% the year before, while a further 42% was provided by mobile, down 45% year-on-year.

13% of revenue came from PC, with the remaining 3% from streaming services and other online models.

European market report: Growing revenues, growing workforce and older gamers

Sign up for the GI Daily here to get the biggest news straight to your inbox Video Games Europe, the continent's larges…

www.gamesindustry.biz

 

[twilo99]

I get it. Microsoft has money to burn, but it ain’t unlimited. Isn’t it?

Corporations don't like loosing money, but these 4 for example do have the luxury of making big purchases without much trouble simply because they pull some crazy numbers in terms of profit. Microsoft is on track to make ~$60 billion dollars this year.. they might as well use it I guess

 

[sir_daddy_69]

SonyGaf celebrates

 

[Jigsaah]

I dunno, gotta feeling Xbox is gonna creep up next year. Not in terms of hardware, no shot. But the ABK deal...it's likely to write a different story next year around this time.

I just hope they actually focus on games now, not acquisitions. I'm looking forward to Hellblade 2...and that's pretty much it.

Now that I think about it...what is slated for next year with the big 3? I barely know of anything. Anybody got a list?

Edit:
In response to Banjo's LOL emoji...Reality is reality, I dunno what else to tell you brother. If you ignore things like this, they are likely to bite you in the ass.

Activision Blizzard Reports Massive Earnings from Call of Duty, Mobile Games

Activision Blizzard releases its latest quarterly earnings for 2023, with massive profits being drawn in by Call of Duty and mobile games.

gamerant.com

 

[SportsFan581]

Part of the problem is IMHO that what you have said, even if it may seems logical, don't really work for 2 reasons.

One, is that, maybe because of higher social security, we don't care as much about value, at least in gaming. I don't want cheaper games, I want better experiences. I understand that a Series S would allow me to have a lot of fun for cheap, but a PS5 will allow me to play all of the exclusives that I love from Sony in decades. AND all third parties games, unless Microsoft have made deals against it. AND whatever bonus Sony did that for some reason Xbox did not, like the Dualsense this generation. Of course, if enough games are there, and a lot of mega hits in the future are happening more in Xbox than on Playstation, I will look. But that would mean 1 or 2 generations at least. Why would I look at a Series X when my PS5 is giving me so many great games? The brand is strong because of decades of success. I know that having a Sony console means having great single player games that I like. Unless that change, I have no reason to look elsewere.

This is the second reason: Being last is not a good place. You know what you get with Playstation. You know that too with Nintendo. But with Xbox? Why try something else when what you have work well? This is not a dig against Xbox. The 360 worked well in Europe, because they got games and advantages like the better online. If they can do that again, they will gain marketshare. But the time lost will be hard to recover. One advantage that Nintendo has on Sony and Xbox is their IPs. Outside of printing money machines like Pokemon and Mario, they have a lot of known IP that they can use that have an audience. Sony is not at that level, but stuff like Uncharted and GOW will always find gamers, as long at the game is good of course. By not having done that work, they will need to work even harder to get on track. Look at let's say Scalebound, and compare it to a game lie Ghost of Tsuchima. If Scalebound managed to work and sell well, a sequel would probably be out around now. Because Ghost of Tsuchima had that success, we will probably have a sequel. That is 2 to zero. 1 game that I loved, and one that I am certain, unless a disaster happen , that I will love in the future. Because Spiderman was good, Spiderman 2 was expected. As I am not playing Xbox games this generation, I can't be expecting anything from them in the next one too. So even if a good game like Hi fi rush happen, I don't care that much, because I am playing GOW Ragnarok, then Resident Evil 4...

Just in case, of course Xbox have some good arguments for it. But the PS5 too. Even if they were equals, familiarity with the Playstation ecosystem would make me prefer it. For next gen, I will naturally look at what will Xbox offer. But I know that unless Sony make a big mistake, they will have my money first, and ony if Xbox had a really good offer will I think about buying a Xbox. So Xbox would need 2 generations to win me over. Not because they suck or something like that. But because they failed for 2 generations to be what I want: the best place to play. The PS4 was the best place to play games. For me, the PS5 is doing a lot of the same. Sorry for the long answer, but the subject is fascinating. How we see gaming completely differently because(I think) you got a 360 and I a PS3.

This is specifically why MS has made a lot of moves that they've made already, IMO. That's why I got a laugh out of Sony accusing MS of wanting to turn Sony's game business into Nintendo's. I think the reverse is true in a lot of ways, MS wants to turn their own gaming business into Nintendo's (just a little more open with PC and cloud moving some of the emphasis off the hardware). Owning the major pieces of software and services that provide value to the platform while at the same time being a lot less reliant on the third-party offerings that aren't unique.

Also, while many on here can short change the cost of gaming as a hobby, when you look at the real math going on for the bottom 50% of the economy in both the US and most developed nations, I think there is always room for a good value play.

 

[Daniel_Mallorca1985]

 

[GHG]

The portal outselling their consoles during a window where they've released Starfield and Forza was the final twist of the knife huh?

I just hope their retarded tribalists just end up quitting gaming or transition to mobile gaming instead of polluting other platforms with their bottom of the barrel standards.

 

[Mibu no ookami]

How can people understand this about Sony but not about MS?

Because the difference is Sony is leveraging the popularity of the PS5 to do this whereas MS is damaging the xbox to do this.

Sony isn't doing day 1 FP games on PC or their subscription service. The PS5 remains the premium way to play games when they first come out.

Even if portal gets streaming access, you still won't be able to play ps5 games without buying them if you want to play them day 1.

Even if they expand ps+ steaming access to PC, this will still be the case.

 

[buenoblue]

I don't think he is clueless.

I think he was dealt a bad hand and he has played the hand poorly.

When Nadella took over, he had to promise something to keep Xbox alive and that was a subscription service and cloud expansion. Nothing else was other than maybe taking Xbox mobile and leaving consoles was going to do it.

The problem is that a subscription model is the antithesis of console gaming and as a non-market leader they had to go at it very aggressively. Sony can put little effort in and match GamePass numbers, but almost certainly are more profitable.

I think people underestimate how long it takes to build out a studio. It's why Sony has closed a few studios including Japan Studio.

Sony's been at this much longer than Microsoft. All Microsoft cared about was Halo and 3rd party games until fairly recently. Sony who used to have a fairly weak first party has been boosting their first party since the early 2000s and this is when studio creation and management was easier. The games weren't nearly as expensive to produce.

Microsoft has to do this when games cost the most and the pressure for delivery is the highest. It's a bad formula for them. They're also restricted by what they can do with contractors I believe.

Maybe Phil should have spent all his effort, money and time getting all the Xbox studios to make great games. Should of been his number one focus. It's clear he doesn't give a shit about quality games, he just wants to trick you into giving money.

 

[twilo99]

SonyGaf celebrates

yaay

 

[OverHeat]

Time to pack it up MS. Go third party and make more money.