What would an Always Online Xbox requirement mean to Microsoft gaming? Would it help Microsoft fight piracy or keep honest users from spending their hard-earned money on the next-generation console?
The Xbox brand has done a lot of good over the years, but their various blunders are pretty wild to look back on in their magnitude.
Ironically number 9 can save them at this point (releasing games on multiple platforms)
By “save them” you mean make more profit for Microsoft. Xbox will still be a dying hardware platform.
You could add the naming scheme for the consoles, it just confuses customers. I know they wanted to avoid traditional numbering bc it would always be lower than their competitor, but this whole 360 then One then Series thing is confusing af. Imagine a Soccer Mom trying to figure this stuff out. I still mistakenly call the Series X the One from time to time on accident.
Don't forget about the Xbox One, Xbox One X and Xbox Series X! Good luck to Soccer moms around the world.
They did that on purpose to confuse and direct attention away from the generational numbering.
MS doesn’t like reminding people that they joined the industry after others had already been involved in gaming.
For instance, they called the xbox “360” to combat PlayStation “3” because they wanted to seem like “more” than “3”, so instead of xbox 2, they opted for xbox 360. Also this had the additional benefit of selling consoles to uninformed parents who might purchase a “360” instead of a “3” by mistake, or because they thought 360 was more than 3. Kind of a disingenuous move.
They have been continuing with their confusing naming patterns for pretty much the same reasons. Frankly, it fits with who and what they are as a brand.
I can understand their reasoning, but whoever came up with that naming scheme should be fired, bad naming schemes have killed consoles (I'm pretty sure it was the major reason for the downfall of the WiiU). They should have had unqiue names like Nintendo and Sega have had for their consoles, far less confusing for the consumer.
Phil Spencer is the worst that has happened to Xbox.
They built a respectable brand up to Xbox one. Then this guy took over and things became a joke
I didn't like either person, both people damaged their respective brands and produced worse outcomes, but Phil did save the Xbox brand from being retired by Microsoft. Although in hindsight, he should have just let it die, rather than languish in limbo like it is now.
Phil Spencer was also on the team back when 360 was around, alongside Shane Kim, Peter Moore etc. I think the damage that did the most harm was the Don Mattrick "Always Online" console (ahead of its time basically). They handed Sony and Nintendo a free-pass when that was revealed. It went downhill from there. Then the corporate machine went into full swing to try and recover. They have to a degree as a games company for the masses, and less so for the core gamer. Outside USA, the Xbox brand does not sell as well as Japanese based consoles (citation needed).
Want a decision maker. The always online and TV plans was a disaster yes, but they caught up by announcing 1st party games that gamers actually kept the hype going.. until this moron took over and introduced the PC day one release.. e all know where that ended..
I dont think they were ever a respectable brand, not since the beginning, when their goal was never to be involved and share in the gaming space. I think the OG xbox was an exception because MS as a brand was still getting its foot in and so the people behind that were people of the gaming industry.
The 360 was the brand in its prime though, everything went downhill towards the end of that generation. Its staple games like Halo, Forza and Gears are what kept the console relevant and afloat for so long.
Really good video.
I remember the days with RRoD was big news on here, N4G.
Microsoft had it turbulence number of years.
Looking at the success of Sea of Thieves despite being 6 years old, time to release Halo, Forza horizon 4 & 5 on PS5. It'll help their revenue
2 of the 4 games they did already sold really well. So it's definitely going down. Idk about halo or forza but I feel those studios they've bought in the last 5 years, their coming
I found this video painful to watch. Can someone list them out?
Top 10 for me from are:
1. 2013 reveal presentation
2. Bundling Kinect 2 with Xbox One
3. RRoD or why rushing to market with hardware is always a bad idea.
4. Buying studios only to close them.
5. Ads on the Home Screen
6. Letting Halo die.
7. Letting Geard of War die.
8. Every console name
9. Charging for Xbox Live on Xbox 360 when Sony let PS3 players play online for free.
10. Cancelling release of OG Xbox games after the Xbox 360 launched.
Microsoft recently revealed its plans to incorporate Copilot directly into video games, with Minecraft being the first showcased example.
F*** AI
"Hey Copilot, what's a good meme to prove I dislike AI".... https://giphy.com/clips/sou...
Two trillion dollar company that just can't wait to put as many people possible out of work as fast as possible.
It feels like every single thing they do is making gaming worse and destroying the industry.
....you know it takes people to program the AI.... right? It isnt like it is sentient. We haven't reach skynet level of situation or anywhere close to the matrix just yet.
That's next Thursday.
It takes a people to program the AI then that AI is used for who knows how many games eliminating countless jobs which only grows as AI is used for more and more game creation functions.
What you're saying is so ridiculously short sighted and truly larking any kind of understanding and foresight.
Why all the hate? Im actually excited about this! Always wanted this kind of immersion, and an AI companion with me all the time helping me out knowing the status of my skills/inventory/progress and giving me tips on the best approach or how to craft something specific is game changing for the industry.
Hate all you want about AI, but this is just the start and I can see the potential already. You wont be complaining in the next 5-10 years about this, but rather complain if a game hasn’t implemented it.
Yes we can't wait for the work of others to be used without the need to pay them so that MS can profit even more from the people they fire.
There is no chance I'd ever use something like this, especially if it's not part of the core game design, but a layer on top of it. It's way too much handholding. Many games already feel like busy work, because they don't let the player figure things out on their own. Having a real-time interactive guide defeats the purpose of playing the game in the first place in my opinion.
If this were to become the standard like you predict, we'll see more and more video games get away with bad design, because people will just be used to ask for help from the AI companion anyway.
Well Nintendo don't need this with some of their games these days, with invincible characters, items, easy bosses etc.. they do the hand holding built in
Microsoft's Activision subsidiary announced today that it is opening a new game development studio to take advantage of the huge talent pool growing in Poland. It'll be the second Activision studio based in the region, joining Infinity Ward Krakow, although this studio is, in fact, not working on Call of Duty.
More 720 articles incoming.
Edit: @ the choonsenone - Yes that true but have you been living under a rock for the last few days?
This topic has been discussed millions of times since the Adam Ortha tweet and I think people are tired of seeing these types of articles.
Go look at the top page on N4G on tell whats on top?
Deal with it people that have 360 s now will buy the next one same goes for ps3 to ps4
It's 2 day old news move on
Always on doesn't bother me ! But if its offically true , the gaming world will go berserk
Always online will be devastating for Microsoft.
I really hope so....but somehow I think MS fanboys are soooo dumb, they will still buy 720 in droves.
They supported them by paying to have the internet TWICE,......they supported them & kept buying new arcade consoles & swapping out the HDD's, when there old ones suffered the RROD, & they supported them when they shut down inhouse studios before said inhouse studios had even released there games, thus not allowing these developers to prove themselves & there product, with sales (see Halo Wars & it's developers (whose name eludes me at present) for the best example).
So, I will certainly not be buying a 720 at this point, & unless this always having to be online to play any of it's games STRONG "RUMOUR" turns out to be BS, I won't EVER buy a 720.
Then there is the whole fact that MS are getting even more rushed by Sony's imminent console release, than they were with 360, & MS don't have a good track record with rushed hardware, but, on that whole RROD fiasco, at least 720's failure rate couldn't be any worse, as a little talked about fact is that the failure rate for AT LEAST, the 1st 2 yrs worth of 360's manufactured WAS WITHOUT DOUBT 100%. So, that being said, the only way it could be worse is if this time when they overheat, they burn your house down, & this time, instead of getting anywhere from 2weeks to 18months from your machine, you get 1hr before your machine makes a loud snap, crackle & pop noise & smoke arises from your new shiny MS Windows 8 badged lump of melting plastic.
This always on crap, blocking of used games & such, is a huge step in the wrong direction for gamers......& I think that if things keep going that way & MS win with this crap, then the console & gaming industry in general, is going to suffer a 1980's meltdown. As, I am already being scared off by $100 digital download versions of games....I mean, if these bastards are trying to con us out of $100Au for a digital version of a game, when it's still competing with a retail copy with cover, instructions & disk that is going for $89 or $79, then what the hell are we going to be charged for a game, when there is no longer any such thing as hardcopies of games anymore? We are gonna have our bum holes raped HARD.
So, I will do everything I can to ensure hardcopies stay around for AS LONG as possible. I have a Wii-U already (hey, I wanted Zombi-U, leave me alone, as I now know it wasn't worth it for that one game, although I didn't expect I'd still be waiting for something else), & I know Nintendo won't be in any hurry to throw away hardcopies of games just yet, as they realize that, casual sales is where it's at for them, & casuals don't buy digital download games.......I mean, most casuals aren't even getting online with there machines, & don't care to, so, they are not going to be stupid enough to throw away THE MAJORITY of there sales numbers that Wii proved they were capable of getting, to go the whole digital distribution ONLY route. That would be dumb, & financial suicide for a company like Nintendo.
Anyway, I will have a PS4 to go alongside my Wii-U, PS3 & 360, but I think MS's 720 will have to be overlooked this time around.