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Xbox Series X and S Sales Have Collapsed in Europe

Topher

Identifies as young
I use a home theatre PC all the time, hooked up to my 85" TV. But for me I still like the hassle free simplicity of a plug n play box with a straight forward controller based interface/ui (I'm aware of steams big picture, but its still not the same to me). I like picking up my controller and it being seperate from my PC and using quick resume I'm instantly back where I was last playing. But the more they start abusing the ui with ads etc and constantly pushing towards a netflix/fire tv type experience. The more it might very well push me back to PCing again.

They're not doing themselves any favours by disappointing their existing customers, whilst expecting growth too. If anything they need to be working to retain their existing users, let alone attracting new ones. I dunno. I hope they start doing something better in the console space. Because as much as I love my PS5, Sony need to be kept in check. But Xbox do just keep doing head scratcher after head scratcher.

Sure....there are always use cases for both PC and Xbox. Just not for me. Only reason I have PS5 is because I don't want to wait for the exclusives to come to PC. If they were day one, I'd sell my PS5 in a heartbeat. For me, it is all about coverage. Can I play the games on the devices I have. With PC, PS5 and Switch, I'm not missing out on anything save a rare random Xbox indie that I probably don't even know exists.

But there are plenty of gamers out there who don't care about PC and Microsoft simply hasn't done a good enough job appealing to them. Most console gamers already own a PS5 so MS has the difficult job of trying to entice those gamers to invest in a second console. You gotta have some kick ass exclusives to pull that off. So far, what they are offering ain't doing the job. Now they will try to leverage their acquisitions to do that for them, but the big dog, Call of Duty, will still be on PS for at least 10 years so time will tell what the other games will be able to do for Xbox.

I don't remember MS hammering past deals as a precedent for them being allowed to close this deal. It definitely didn't seem like a linchpin of their case by any means.

That's because there hasn't been deals in gaming this big, this impactful to refer to. Now there is. I wasn't suggesting the MS lawyers were pointing to any specific examples. I was saying lawyers will point to whatever examples they can come up with, just as they did with ABK.
 
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GHG

Gold Member
This is a good point. The controller and UI being pretty much the same as the Xbox one was a mistake. It was a chance for a clean break and new exciting start.

That's the thing that I don't understand the most. They had the perfect opportunity to distance themselves from the Xbox One and disassociate the brand from that disaster of a console, but they just iterated on it in the most literal sense possible.

It would be like getting divorced and then remarrying the same woman while moving back into the previous marital home, reinstating the exact environment & situation that contributed towards you getting divorced in the first place. It's crazy.
 

Barakov

Gold Member
That's the thing that I don't understand the most. They had the perfect opportunity to distance themselves from the Xbox One and disassociate the brand from that disaster of a console, but they just iterated on it in the most literal sense possible.

It would be like getting divorced and then remarrying the same woman while moving back into the previous marital home, reinstating the exact environment & situation that contributed towards you getting divorced in the first place. It's crazy.
Honestly, that's probably the worst thing about the series consoles. Somebody at MS has a real hard on for that thing despite everyone hating it except for the die hards. The UI for PS3/4/5 are similar but they changed it enough that it didn't confuse people but here it's exactly the same. While the series consoles are more powerful the general feeling is still that they're Xbox One 1.5.
 

King Dazzar

Member
That's the thing that I don't understand the most. They had the perfect opportunity to distance themselves from the Xbox One and disassociate the brand from that disaster of a console, but they just iterated on it in the most literal sense possible.
I only stepped back to consoles from PC, when the X1X released. A time when TV's like 4k OLED's and HDR were starting to make a proper mark. And it was great. They pushed a lot of enhancements making many games 4k. I thought, hey this is heading in the right direction. And then XSX came out, we got Auto HDR for older titles, great. And then we had pretty crappy fps boost, where it would boost frames but usually at the cost of throwing away X1X enhancements. And then it all just fizzled out.
 
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Edmund

is waiting for Starfield 7
Buying ABK for 69b, Buying Zenimax for 8b, pretending to be good guys, AstroTurfing, spreading FUD about the PS5, chest thumping about being the most powerful console, threatening the UK govt over the ABK acquisition, taking exclusives away from ps5 only to get fucked in the ass so hard by Sony.
 
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Fox Mulder

Member
Sony doesn’t launch their exclusives on PC, literally the reason most people buy consoles. Even if you like Forza and Halo, they’re on PC.

I don’t think MS will quit Xbox, they feel like cloud gaming will be the future and MS is a king in that area.
 
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DragonNCM

Member
At this point MS don't care about console but they will always have console so they can make a distraction how bad Xbox division is doing :)
They are doing grate job camouflaging big guns in the background & when time will come.....ANT>>>>BOOT
nick-fury.gif
 

jroc74

Phone reception is more important to me than human rights
This can work if :
- you build future proof enough hardware that somehow will compete (or give the illusion) despite being released one or two years earlier
- you have excellent first party games available at launch

We have seen instances of this happening in the past and consoles getting a lot of market share in the process (MegaDrive, 360). Honestly, it would shake things up a bit. This gen has been so boring... There's no passion. These consoles are ugly boxes with little to no identity.

This sounds too traditional anyway. Things are going to evolve to something else, with cloud, digital games, services, subscriptions getting the focus etc...
I guess it will depend on how future proof it will be vs a PS5 Pro.

Regardless, cross gen for Xbox will still have to deal with the Series S.

Sorry to say it, but the hardware being the "same" generation to generation is solely an Xbox problem. The controller is the same, even the UI was the same. The only unique thing Xbox created this generation on the hardware side of things is the proprietary SSD, which is of zero benefit to the consumer.

I get what they were going for in terms of continuity but everything about the jump from the Xbox One to the series consoles was lazy and poorly thought out. I've never seen Nintendo or Sony pull anything like that before when jumping a generation, and there's a reason for it.

New console generations are supposed to mark new gaming experiences and new ways to interact with the console. They failed in all aspects.
Exactly.

I remember when this gen started and some were praising MS for XBO controller support and giving Sony hell for ditching the DS4.

Funny how that looks now in hindsight when it comes to being boring.
 

Sanepar

Member
There is only one way and there is a risk that many consumers would quit gaming instead of buying a xbox: get ea, t2 and ubisoft make everything exclusive.
 

kyussman

Member
I'm sitting here in the UK and I was more than willing to drop my ££££ on an XSX if Starfield had come out swinging.......what a pile of shit that turned out to be.Seems a long time ago now that XBox 360 was a pretty cool thing to own over here(not that I had one,those PS3 exclusives were more to my taste).
 

SoraNoKuni

Member
I'm sitting here in the UK and I was more than willing to drop my ££££ on an XSX if Starfield had come out swinging.......what a pile of shit that turned out to be.Seems a long time ago now that XBox 360 was a pretty cool thing to own over here(not that I had one,those PS3 exclusives were more to my taste).
A thought crossed my mind too, when I believed the Xbox fanbase that starfield was the second coming, but then starfield released.
😂
 
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Three

Gold Member
Both Sony and Nintendo had completely different infrastructure and legacy than microsoft
Microsoft arguably had that "legacy" for longer and still floundered it. Infrastructure I'm not even sure what it's referring to but they have far bigger infrastructure than Sony or Nintendo.
 
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Mibu no ookami

Demoted Member® Pro™
Microsoft arguably had that "legacy" for longer and still floundered it. Infrastructure I'm not even sure what it's referring to but they have far bigger infrastructures than Sony or Nintendo.

Sony and Nintendo both had more established studios, IP, and fanbases.

As such it is significantly easier for them to rebound from failures and disappointments that would likely shutter most companies.

Sega for example was never able to rebound with the Dreamcast. The damage was done.
 

SenkiDala

Member
All these acquisitions Microsoft are making is just them getting prepared to be a third party publisher.
Honestly this. They are at a point where nothing will work. COD is granted to come out on PS consoles for 10 more years so by then either Sony (or another 3rd party) will have a licence that can replace COD or COD won't be relevent anymore, the fact that it'll disapear from PS console might, in fact, be one of the reason why it will stop to be relevent.

Sony is so strong on the market than when I remember about what some called "arrogant Sony" when they said "next generation will not start until we say it does", back at the PS3 era, well I think they reached that level of power.

Honestly what can do MS ? The XSX is an excellent console, the hardware, the possibilities (quick resume), the controller... If Starfield didn't work, nothing will. Fable sure is big for hardcore gamers but mass market doesn't give a fuck, same with Perfect Dark, Hellblade, Avowed, sorry to say but those games are little games. If the last AAAA from the Elder Scrolls creators didn't do the job, nothing will.

And it is not even about quality of the final products, look at the Dreamcast it was a beast and the games were revolutionnary (Jet Set Radio, Shenmue, Sonic, Soulcalibur, MSR, and so on) but no people wanted to play SSX and Tekken Tag on PS2, that's how strong Sony is. The OG Xbox had awesome games, Dead or Alive 3, Halo CE, Fable, Buffy (<3), PGR, Panzer Dragon Orta, Jade Empire, KOTOR, Crimson Skies, etc) but it still got annihilated by the PS2.

I don't even think that is a good news because a console market with just 2 competitors, Sony and Nintendo, would be weird.

Maybe a new challenger ? Valve with a new Steam Machine ? Or teaming up with MS for the next Xbox that would include Steam games ?
 

Dane

Member
Sorry to say it, but the hardware being the "same" generation to generation is solely an Xbox problem. The controller is the same, even the UI was the same. The only unique thing Xbox created this generation on the hardware side of things is the proprietary SSD, which is of zero benefit to the consumer.

I get what they were going for in terms of continuity but everything about the jump from the Xbox One to the series consoles was lazy and poorly thought out. I've never seen Nintendo or Sony pull anything like that before when jumping a generation, and there's a reason for it.

New console generations are supposed to mark new gaming experiences and new ways to interact with the console. They failed in all aspects.
If extra vibration features are totally new gaming experiences rather than iterations, is it worth a new mandatory controller? The PS2 was a whole new thing and yet you could use dualshock 1.
 
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GHG

Gold Member
If extra vibration features are totally new gaming experiences rather than iterations, is it worth a new mandatory controller?

Still using those pathetic launch talking points are we? The new controller comes in the box with every console, nobody is complaining.

Those "extra vibrations" (as if that's the only new feature, but whatever) are now being researched by competing platforms and are set to be incorporated in their next controller. So be as reductive as you like, innovation is innovation and some innovation is better than no innovation at all.

But hey, if you want to stick with all the old stuff then there's a creatively bankrupt platform that's perfectly suited to your needs.
 

Astray

Member
That's the thing that I don't understand the most. They had the perfect opportunity to distance themselves from the Xbox One and disassociate the brand from that disaster of a console, but they just iterated on it in the most literal sense possible.
Cost reduction just in case you know this could be your last console gen and don't want to spend too much on it.

Literally what is new about XSX/XSS besides some new DX12 features that ultimately ended up not mattering in most cases and a proprietary SSD standard?
 

Three

Gold Member
Sony and Nintendo both had more established studios, IP, and fanbases.
I can't say I agree. They had a fanbase during 360. Xbox had the IPs in Halo, gears, Forza, even massive ones like Minecraft during XB1. They bought established studios like Rare, they had lionhead, ensemble, even bungie at the time. They floundered it all. If anything during the PS3 Sony had very few IPs to rely on. Their biggest mascot belonged to Activision and most of their hitters were third party IPs. They established IPs like Uncharted, LBP, TLOU, Infamous during that gen. They established Horizon, Spiderman, GoT during the next. They didn't rest on their laurels. They didn't have the IP advantage. In the UK and US they didn't even have the fanbase advantage at the time.
 
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DavidGzz

Member
The same people laughing their asses off at MS would be so mad at them for making all of their games exclusive to their console. If Minecraft, Diablo, CoD, etc were all on their console only, it would suck. They release on PC, Switch, and PlayStation and instead of saying that's awesome, they get laughed at.

Let's face it, they care about making money and selling their games on all of those platforms is making them A LOT of money. They can sit back and laugh at the fanboys wars lol
 
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Dane

Member
Still using those pathetic launch talking points are we? The new controller comes in the box with every console, nobody is complaining.

Those "extra vibrations" (as if that's the only new feature, but whatever) are now being researched by competing platforms and are set to be incorporated in their next controller. So be as reductive as you like, innovation is innovation and some innovation is better than no innovation at all.

But hey, if you want to stick with all the old stuff then there's a creatively bankrupt platform that's perfectly suited to your needs.
I use a Dualshock 1 controller on my PS2 because the two DS2 controllers I have are with broken R2 buttons, I also do the same with DS4 on the PS3 and it works with 99% of the games (You can't do that with Xbox 360 and Xbox One), but I had to get another Dualshock 3 with working buttons to get into the safe mode and reformat the system with a new HDD. However with the current generation you cannot swap DS4 and Dual Sense for the PS4 and 5, as they're incompatible despite sharing 95% of the features.

If its creatively bankrupt to have a cross generation controller compatibility, then I don't know what would be the opposite.
 

laynelane

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

Yep, I tend to agree with this. It's been over six years since the service launched, it was marketed extensively, and there was even quite a bit of astroturfing surrounding it. Everyone knows what it is and many know that it's not right for them or what they're looking for when it comes to gaming.
 

DForce

NaughtyDog Defense Force
The same people laughing their asses off at MS would be so mad at them for making all of their games exclusive to their console. If Minecraft, Diablo, CoD, etc were all on their console only, it would suck. They release on PC, Switch, and PlayStation and instead of saying that's awesome, they get laughed at.

Let's face it, they care about making money and selling their games on all of those platforms is making them A LOT of money. They can sit back and laugh at the fanboys wars lol


They'll get laughed at for putting their games on all consoles because they spent nearly 80b billion dollars to put Sony out of the gaming market and failed.

What they care about is winning and it's their plan to beat Sony is failing so far.

You guys try to make MS out to be innocent when they're not.
 

Three

Gold Member
The same people laughing their asses off at MS would be so mad at them for making all of their games exclusive to their console. If Minecraft, Diablo, CoD, etc were all on their console only, it would suck. They release on PC, Switch, and PlayStation and instead of saying that's awesome, they get laughed at.
I'd say you're right but mostly because of how they all became their games. People aren't saying "that's awesome" because it's something that was the norm and what sucks would be something MS is inflicting. It's like asking why people aren't saying your wife is awesome for not changing the locks and kicking you out the house after changing the name on the deed. That would be pretty shit but it's not something that people should be saying 'awesome of your wife' to either. Besides she did want to kick you out the house but some authority somewhere apparently didn't let her.
 

DavidGzz

Member
They'll get laughed at for putting their games on all consoles because they spent nearly 80b billion dollars to put Sony out of the gaming market and failed.

What they care about is winning and it's their plan to beat Sony is failing so far.

You guys try to make MS out to be innocent when they're not.


The deal JUST went through with caveats. Just because there was an old email you guys are butt hurt about, doesn't mean it's their current plan. They could be like Sony and keep all of their games on Xbox only if they really wanted to do damage. Maybe in ten years, when the CoD deal is over, they will, but I doubt it. They will continue putting games on PC at least. And that's a good thing. None of these corps are good. All assholes, including Sony.
 
All these acquisitions Microsoft are making is just them getting prepared to be a third party publisher.
I think this is likely to be their plan after this generation is over. It just doesn't seem likely that MS will spend the money to develop a new Xbox at this point, all their focus is on publishing games and getting users to sign and pay for Gamepass
 

DavidGzz

Member
I'd say you're right but mostly because of how they all became their games. People aren't saying "that's awesome" because it's something that was the norm and what sucks would be something MS is inflicting. It's like asking why people aren't saying your wife is awesome for not changing the locks and kicking you out the house after changing the name on the deed. That would be pretty shit but it's not something that people should be saying 'awesome of your wife' to either. Besides she did want to kick you out the house but some authority somewhere apparently didn't let her.


Let's face it, this same argument has been said over and over, but if Sony had MS money they would do the same thing and it would be worse for PC gamers. Then Sony fans would be hearting any post that talked about their brand new exclusive lineup.
 

mckmas8808

Mckmaster uses MasterCard to buy Slave drives
That's the thing that I don't understand the most. They had the perfect opportunity to distance themselves from the Xbox One and disassociate the brand from that disaster of a console, but they just iterated on it in the most literal sense possible.

It would be like getting divorced and then remarrying the same woman while moving back into the previous marital home, reinstating the exact environment & situation that contributed towards you getting divorced in the first place. It's crazy.

And something else that's crazy is that most of the western video game media we're going around stating that this was a great decision by microsoft. That changing nothing is what gamers want. It's why people still to this day don't understand when Jim Ryan said " we believe in generations".

They don't understand what Generations even mean.
 

Klayzer

Member
Yep, I tend to agree with this. It's been over six years since the service launched, it was marketed extensively, and there was even quite a bit of astroturfing surrounding it. Everyone knows what it is and many know that it's not right for them or what they're looking for when it comes to gaming.
Yeah, everyone is aware of Xbox services, they just don't care about it like the faithful. Gamespass is marketed all over social media. The fact is, the masses don't seem to agree on the supposed "great deal" all the ambassadors keep spouting it is.
 

DForce

NaughtyDog Defense Force
The deal JUST went through with caveats. Just because there was an old email you guys are butt hurt about, doesn't mean it's their current plan. They could be like Sony and keep all of their games on Xbox only if they really wanted to do damage. Maybe in ten years, when the CoD deal is over, they will, but I doubt it. They will continue putting games on PC at least. And that's a good thing. None of these corps are good. All assholes, including Sony.

You guys deny the obvious signs and months later, you make posts like this.

They're acquiring studios and making games exclusive for a reason, and that's to beat the competition. You don't need some court documents from Phil's email to understand that.

All future Zenimax games and they're going to do the same with a lot of ABK games. No one is "butt hurt" when we're seeing a lot of things fail in front of our eyes.
 

Three

Gold Member
Let's face it, this same argument has been said over and over, but if Sony had MS money they would do the same thing and it would be worse for PC gamers. Then Sony fans would be hearting any post that talked about their brand new exclusive lineup.
What you just said is in fact the same argument over and over. Sony had plenty of money during the PS2 and early PS3 to buy up pretty much most publishers back then. They didn't. Even now when they bought Bungie, they didn't. Claiming not to do shitty things isn't praise worthy. Especially in light of the fact that MS did want to do it with those games you listed but regulators or some other entity (Notch apparently) didn't let them.
 
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DavidGzz

Member
You guys deny the obvious signs and months later, you make posts like this.

They're acquiring studios and making games exclusive for a reason, and that's to beat the competition. You don't need some court documents from Phil's email to understand that.

All future Zenimax games and they're going to do the same with a lot of ABK games. No one is "butt hurt" when we're seeing a lot of things fail in front of our eyes.


Exclusives don't exist for them. They all come to PC. Minecraft is still everywhere. CoD as well. They are doing a bad job of making exclusives that really matter. If they were serious about being the defacto console, they would make them all real exclusives to their console. As a PC gamer, that's awesome for me that they don't. If Sony owned these studios instead, I'd be a 3rd rate citizen when it comes to those franchises. That would suck.
 

DavidGzz

Member
What you just said is in fact the same argument over and over. Sony had plenty of money during the PS2 and early PS3 to buy up pretty much most publishers back then. They didn't.

MS didn't either, they've been in the console space for just 5 years less than Sony. Now they are both doing the same thing, it just happens that one has deeper pockets. That's the only difference.
 

GHG

Gold Member
I use a Dualshock 1 controller on my PS2 because the two DS2 controllers I have are with broken R2 buttons, I also do the same with DS4 on the PS3 and it works with 99% of the games (You can't do that with Xbox 360 and Xbox One), but I had to get another Dualshock 3 with working buttons to get into the safe mode and reformat the system with a new HDD. However with the current generation you cannot swap DS4 and Dual Sense for the PS4 and 5, as they're incompatible despite sharing 95% of the features.

If its creatively bankrupt to have a cross generation controller compatibility, then I don't know what would be the opposite.

What on earth are you talking about? If you buy a PS5 to play PS5 games then you should be using the new controller that comes in the box with it. Playing the games with an older controller would only offer you a massively inferior experience, why would you want that? Developers can also focus on utilising the new features where possible in the knowledge that it's not going to waste since everyone that plays their game on a PS5 will be doing so with the dualsense.

If you're so desperate to play new games using a DS4 (I don't know why) then you can freely do so on PC if you don't mind the additional wait time for the exclusives.

This is the most ridiculous thing to cry about, I've never once seen anyone complain that the quest 2 controllers don't work with the quest 3, and that the old Nintendo controllers didn't work on the Switch (and still don't absent of a 3rd party adapter). Why is that? Why this not so subtle coordinated effort to make it seem like a new controller with new features being introduced with a console is suddenly a bad thing when Sony do it with the Playstation?

Oh, and:

mbsbC1k.jpg


Still beating the same tired old drum after 3 years? I'm so sorry it all backfired.
 
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DForce

NaughtyDog Defense Force
Exclusives don't exist for them. They all come to PC. Minecraft is still everywhere. CoD as well. They are doing a bad job of making exclusives that really matter. If they were serious about being the defacto console, they would make them all real exclusives to their console. As a PC gamer, that's awesome for me that they don't. If Sony owned these studios instead, I'd be a 3rd rate citizen when it comes to those franchises. That would suck.

There's a reason why they took games off of PlayStation. Just stop lying to yourself.

Minecraft was on PlayStation before they acquired and COD has tied to a 10-year agreement. You ignored what happened to Starfield, Hi-Fi Rush, and future Zenimax games. You guys have a habit of arguing in bad faith knowing what you're telling people is pure bs.

Why did they take Indiana Jones from PlayStation? Elder Scrolls? Do you want to tell me they're not trying to beat Sony with these moves?
 

GHG

Gold Member
Exclusives don't exist for them. They all come to PC. Minecraft is still everywhere. CoD as well. They are doing a bad job of making exclusives that really matter. If they were serious about being the defacto console, they would make them all real exclusives to their console. As a PC gamer, that's awesome for me that they don't. If Sony owned these studios instead, I'd be a 3rd rate citizen when it comes to those franchises. That would suck.

If you happen to also own a Playstation alongside your PC then you're not a "3rd rate citizen" and you have nothing to worry about.

And that's exactly the point. If you're an Xbox console player you're quite literally a 3rd rate citizen compared to if you were to play their games on PC considering the fact that they haven't even been bothered to optimise their games for 60fps on console of late. Xbox console owners get zero love and zero preferential treatment from Microsoft, that's why the console is selling as it is. Objectively their consoles are the worst way to experience their games (on hardware in your own home) and there is no upside.

To make matters worse, they aren't even offering a premier cloud solution for their very own games (or service in game pass). Their cloud service is getting trumped by Geforce Now.

They are a rudderless ship.
 
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