600°

Natal’s River Rush Screenshot Is Real-Time

Judging by the screenshot, the game looks really, really good compared to previous Natal game Ricochet. Turn 10 community manager, Che Chou, confirmed that the screenshot is indeed real-time and not CG, also informs that the game has really good graphics, especially the water effects. Expect a full information blow out tonight regarding Microsoft’s Project Natal.

Read Full Story >>
gamesthirst.com
Cajun Chicken5056d ago

And I should be surprised...because?

mrv3215056d ago

It's a Natal game that doesn't have a red ball... isn't that enough for you? Mind you that raft is red.

Not that good graphics, especially considering the genre, and yes the genre matter for example RTS's look bad, Racers have great graphics because you only have to load a track and not a level.

SOAD5056d ago

I think the screenshot looks great. I just don't understand how the player is going to use Natal to play the game.

jack_burt0n5056d ago

@SOAD

You and the other players have to move around the raft to steer it and keep it balanced, you all have to jump in unison to jump over branches and stuff.

Iamback5056d ago

Lol why would that be CG, its not like it looks THAT good ROFL

ColdFire5056d ago

RTS doesn't have to look bad, what are you basing that on?

Triella5056d ago

of this video are River Rush's gameplay, apparently you need to jump when necessary.

webeblazing5056d ago

triella imma have to keep that vid for when i need a laugh

D4RkNIKON5056d ago (Edited 5056d ago )

Gameplay of jumprope. confirmed.

mrv3215056d ago

RTS's look bad because your controlling a large amount of units on a large map that CANNOT be streamed. Here's my example

ANY FPS running on a PC.. so long as it's recent and not poorly coded VS any other RTS on the same PC.

I love RTS's don't get me wrong, great depth BUT they are large battles and the second you zoom in close you notice the animations which are to say the least lacking, then the detail also really low compared to other genres, not due to a developer but because that's what's needed. I'd rather a fluid and fun RTS like C&C:TS other a RTS with crysis engine running poorly.

+ Show (5) more repliesLast reply 5056d ago
HolyOrangeCows5056d ago (Edited 5056d ago )

1) It's a small image.
2) The supposed claim by the Turn 10 community manager is lacking a source.

That's GamesThirst for ya.

EDIT: It got approved of anyway. Good job, guys. Pfft.

Nike5056d ago (Edited 5056d ago )

I don't know why they didn't include the GAF post as the source (it still would have been classified as a Rumour) in the actual news article. My only guess is that he was afraid we'd mark at as "Wrong Source" and report it. Next best thing: Hide it altogether and no one will be the wiser.

Which is funny because if he simply reported it as being from NeoGAF and put it under Rumours, he wouldn't have had so many reports. :P

@Gaystation 3: Wait, dev comments on forums still qualify as legitimate news posts (even if they're rumours). So this can still be reported as the wrong source.

Gaystation 35056d ago

It wasn't hard to find. I saw Che post this earlier today on NeoGAF http://www.neogaf.com/forum...

HolyOrangeCows5056d ago (Edited 5056d ago )

I trust Turn 10 staff as far as I can throw them. Did he have anything to do with the creation of this game or has he played it? (I'm asking)
EDIT: I just checked, he never answers anyone's questions about playing it.

But still, more importantly, it's a tiny image.
What can we really get out of it?

Gaystation 35056d ago (Edited 5056d ago )

I think he's just played it. His comment did not reveal much, just that the screenshot was real and had very good water effects.

@Nike

I would suggest contacting Catastrophe and asking her to edit the story.

+ Show (1) more replyLast reply 5056d ago
Godmars2905056d ago (Edited 5056d ago )

The one they show before the dancing family. Why not just show - and release that?

Also, thought the question wasn't weather or not Natl games would deliver decent graphics, but weather or not they could deliver graphics on equal to high-end 360-only titles? That you'll even see hardcore games on it at all.

For which a rafting doesn't qualify.

air15056d ago (Edited 5056d ago )

why do you always feel so threatened by natal?

what part of we will still have hardcore games dont you get? if fun family games dont interest you then fine i understand that you have to be 100% hardcore at all times, you will still have that choice. but why try so hard to ruin it for ppl that wouldnt mind giving it a shot?

and why does everything have to be some conspiracy theory with you? they dont want to show it cause they want to do it at E3, do you not get it?

Godmars2905056d ago

I only asked why there's an article about a screen shot when there's video. Also why the same people into Halo and MW getting wet over a family game.

You'd think a Halo or MW type game using Natal would do that.

air15056d ago

we both know that you are stealth trolling, so lets not get all " but all i said was...." on me.... flip flopping will not work.

ppl are interested in the damn game, plain and simple. again, i can understand that you can not put your hardcorness to the side for a few, but why constantly try and ruin it for every one? dont make me post up your history with my last bubble. the images look great it looks good enough for a "fun family" game. just so you know i enjoyed many games over the years that didnt have the best graphics.

IdleLeeSiuLung5056d ago

"dont make me post up your history with my last bubble. the images look great it looks good enough for a "fun family" game. just so you know i enjoyed many games over the years that didnt have the best graphics."

Doesn't what you already said speak for itself? Just leave him alone to hate!

air15056d ago

yea, but someone had to sit him down... kid was on a rampage, lol...

+ Show (2) more repliesLast reply 5056d ago
PoSTedUP5056d ago

jumping? now thats to much "gaming" for me lol i am a lazy sack, i hardly want to stand up for psMOVE let a lone jump up and rattle my weak wooden floors which is attached to my house (having more then one person jumping up at the same time would make too much rukkus and knock over china cabinets lol)

i was hoping i would only have to grab fruits off of the tree branches with my arms and maybe legs or something, that as far as i will go. this sounds like a console that is made to be played outdoors. good luck with that MS.

PCnPS3Gamer5056d ago

imo this game does look cool an the graphics are decent and if i was a casual id be all over this....but like seriously guys natal is so casual its not even funny. like the wii is even more hardcore....I'll always go back to my dual shock 3 but im not gunna lie its nice to play wii with your parents...tried getting my dad to play a game with ds3 and he couldnt figure out how to look around and walk at the same time with the joysticks....so if i got move i could bring it down with me and we could play golf and pool etc....you can hate on motion gaming all you want but it does have upsides...i dont prefer the move over natal or wii cause sony made it i prefer it cause it has buttons similar to the wii but way better. and i liked the wii, so im gunna love move. how many people with bad knees arent gunna be able to play natal i like to see a senior citizen jump for this raft game yeah right.

ms you should've took a hit when nintendo and sony past off on this tech 149 price tag say hi. also theres a reason sony didnt push the eyetoy as a new incredible innovation like what ms is doing cause they dont spread lies lol :p

+ Show (4) more repliesLast reply 5056d ago
DelbertGrady5056d ago (Edited 5056d ago )

Nice to see some confirmation that Natal games won't have to sacrifice the graphics at the expense of motion controls. The game is probably part of some kind of party pack that will come bundled with the console. Not my cup of tea so I'm hoping they show something more hardcore as well.

@Cajun Chicken - Because there's been lots of talk about Natal stealing processing power leading to an eventual compromise in the visual department. Now we at least know that pretty graphics like the ones in the screenshot will be possible.

Wow! 3 disagrees in 3 minutes. I bet you bubbled me down just for the sake of it also. :) *waves to stalkers*

edit: 5 disagrees in 6 minutes. New personal best lol. I don't see what's so offensive with my comment?

FangBlade5056d ago (Edited 5056d ago )

Because your wrong, baka.
How can you say something stupid like "Nice to see some confirmation that Natal games won't have to sacrifice the graphics at the expense of motion controls" when it's been confirmed by many that natal is going to use 10~30% of the Xbox 360's Xenon processor.

fail.

Bluemaster775056d ago

last i check the 360 has an competent GPU that handles all of its Graphics so that theoretical 10-30% you mentioned would be irrelevant

rob60215055d ago

I would be more worried about the budget developers will put into Natal games, considering the small user base. Cause turn 10 has a game that looks ok, doesn't mean everyone else does.

iliimaster5056d ago

whats a bubble down? serious question

candystop5056d ago

N4G works on a bubbles system. We are able to press the green button to help give a person more bubbles or press the red bubble to take away comment bubbles. SO basically if your losing bubbles it's because people want to silence you.

Inside_out5056d ago (Edited 5056d ago )

Hey Soda...saw the vid the other day...while all the PS3 kids were making fun of the reporter and his family having good time with Ricochet, you could clearly see the river rafting game running in the background with outstanding graphics. Unreal engine 3 is powering many of the apps we will see. Expect alot more. I think arcade games like Trial HD will offer a glimpse of what we can expect on Natal...ENJOY...The power of the 360...love this trailer...

webeblazing5056d ago (Edited 5056d ago )

wait are you saying trail hd is 4 natal and that psn dont have good looking games

Corepred45056d ago

really. really? really! really? outstanding graphics? lol give it a break man. i wonder if your trolling or is this really how you feel about it. i really hope your not that blind because some of your comments i think would make even MS laugh at you.

candystop5056d ago

Wait a sec webeblazing! Who the heck said anything about PSN? Why are you bringing up PS in 360 news anyway? I want to see some good stuff from Sony Tuesday but I see no reason to bring it up here. Right now nobody cares about Playstation because this isn't the place for it! Get it? Got it? Good!

webeblazing5056d ago

hey im trying to figure out what he saying the graphic in the game looks like any other arcade game. and this is the first time i herd about trails hd gonna be for natal and he says its the power of 360 do you even read what people write

n4gno5055d ago

"the power of the 360"

lol, sure, it's better than wii.

+ Show (2) more repliesLast reply 5055d ago
Shaman5056d ago

@FangBlade
That mere 15% of xcpu is nothing,todays games are gpu bound,not cpu and since from cpu you can always get more performance with careful optimizing and proper planing same cant be applied on gpu,they have fixed functions.Anyway...IF MS wants Natal games to look something ala RE5 or Gears of War 2 they can make it with not much problems,only thing that remains is,is that needed for casuals?

TotalPS3Fanboy5056d ago (Edited 5056d ago )

it will be sacraficing gameplay. This game all on rail. You have no control at all. It's all QTE. You watch a video of your boat going down a river, and duck when there's a branch and jump when there's a rock. That's all.

That may be fun for the first 5 minutes. But it quickly wears off. To be successful, Natal needs to integrate into real games. Hardcore games that players will play for hours.

bobdog6265056d ago

But if Natal has Hand Gesture Controls like i think they do .Its a Rap ,Sonys Move won't stand a Chance against that.

jerethdagryphon5055d ago

precisly,

that said, natals technolagy as it is is not suited for fps or tps which is the priome market of the 360,

simply put unless it has a list of motions that are valid for control,

there wont be animations to support the wide variety of actions people will use in a shooter.

movement will have to be either walking in place or whatever but at any rate icant see someone doing arobic excercise for hours after work.

on rails or limited motions like racing yes even scaking ican see working but the main games no nochance.

in order for it to work on a hard core game there would have to be next to no animations for combat and use live mapping (aka mocap tracking) to handle any odd movements

meaning it has to be able to do anything, from a guy picking up 2 guns in a game meant for one to spary and praying over the top of a baracade, add into that a physix system capable of dealing with multiple collisions and it starts to get out of hand.

natal will be extremly difficult to implement for mainstream games,

only rickochet has shown the any motion stuff and thats just eye toy tech with deapth..

i will how ever wait to judge until a final product is released

+ Show (2) more repliesLast reply 5055d ago
Nike5056d ago (Edited 5056d ago )

I checked the site, and even scoured the web looking for where the comm manager of Turn 10 said this. Came up with nothing. GamesThirst has no source on their site, no quotes, no videos, nothing to prove they spoke to him exclusively. For all you know they're just making this up to get hits, and it's sad because it looks like it'll hit front page anyway at this rate.

Hallmark Moment5056d ago (Edited 5056d ago )

It's a -alaa- article he just threw it together to get people to flame. His goal is what you see in the first 3 comments.

-alaa- is actually one of the biggest anti Natal members on this site he's sneaky about it. Looks kind of cool for a XBLA game.

EDIT Below

WTF?

Anyways you can tell it's about that time.

LtSkittles5056d ago

Alaa didn't do it unless Alaa is N4PS3G.

LtSkittles5056d ago

N4PS3G always submits crap from Fernando who is a writer on on GT

ThatCanadianGuy5056d ago

"Writer" is being a bit generous no? Fanboy blogger, at best.

jack_burt0n5056d ago

I am not posting the vid but there is already footage of the game available.

Show all comments (88)
280°

Xbox's Preservation Step Sets A Much-Needed Example, Especially For Nintendo

Hanzla from eXputer inquires: "If Xbox can care about preserving its games and legacy, what exactly is wrong with Nintendo, trying to kill game preservation single-handedly?"

purple1012d ago

Ahh yes the good old game preservation of saving all your games to a removable hhd on the Xbox 360, taking it round your mates house, setting up multiple tvs to
Be met with “save data corrupted, please re download”

Or how about removing 360 games
From the store
, download them now or else, and, better hope to god that save data doesn’t corrupt, or it’s lost for ever

Nice one ☝️

Zeref2d ago

It's better than what Nintendo and Playstation is doing. It might not be perfect but at least they are TRYING. Unlike the others.

DarXyde2d ago

Trying? Take off the blinders for a moment, mate.

1. A failure to preserve games is just that: a failure to preserve games. Don't try to sugarcoat it: NO ONE is doing it properly. Better than awful is nothing to write home about.

2. At the time of this comment, isn't it the case that you need an internet connection to play Xbox games even if you buy physical discs that are hardly in circulation anymore? I don't have a Series X and I can't verify, but I think that is correct. I'm fairly certain you can at least play PS5 games at version 1.0 (not much of a win really when many games require day one patches). I think Microsoft's all digital, licensing approach is by far more aggressive than anyone else's. They really try to push you to game pass where you lose your entire library by umm.... Skipping a month of payments.

I don't think anyone is doing it right whatsoever. Don't get me started on Nintendo, who goes after anyone looking to preserve their games better than they ever would with extreme litigation.

Don't be a simp for any of these companies. Get it together.

PhillyDonJawn2d ago (Edited 2d ago )

@DarX never speak on Xbox again. You lost all credibility with your internet connection comment. Smh you have 0 clue and misinformed yet speaking on something you don't no squat about.

Einhander19722d ago

What has Sony done exactly? You guys keep deflecting to Sony but I am not actually seeing any results, and ai am certain nothing that you can come up with even comes close to what Microsoft has done and what they have tried and failed to do, like tie all your disks to your account on xbone.

Microsoft removed their whole indie section when they moved to the xbone because they were going to only allow games on the service that came from a publisher, id@xbox started after xbone launched and it only exists because Sony embraced indie and Microsoft was forced to cancel their plans and reverse course.

And every single game that was part of games for windows live including disk games (I have gta 4 on disk that won't work) so hundreds of games that use that DRM no longer work unless the company themselves patched it out which of course very few did.

MrBaskerville2d ago

Not trying. Tried. they killed of the backcomp program years ago. They set something up again, but sounds like it's more of an attempt to save the current library on whatever they are planning next. With luck they save everything and more, but let's see. I could see them killing off parts of the OG xbox and 360 libraries. Can't imagine that they would allow us to play Forza 5-7 in the future.

With that said, I do like what they've done and really wish they could have done more.

shinoff21831d 19h ago

Zeref

So killing off physical media is trying what exactly. Ms don't really give a fk if you think they do your kidding yourself.

Profchaos1d 18h ago

They are not trying this team is established for forward compatability the team is. It interested in preserving Xbox or 360 games.

+ Show (3) more repliesLast reply 1d 18h ago
isarai2d ago

Is that why Hellblade 2 is digital only?

Zeref2d ago

Just because it's digital only doesn't mean you can't preserve it. Just put it on an external and you have the exact same functionality of what a disc does.

MrNinosan2d ago

Guess you're trolling, but if you actually think that's how it works, I'd recommend buying some braincells.

mkis0071d 10h ago (Edited 1d 10h ago )

Volitile vs nonvolitile data. A disc will not corrupt either. A drive can be corrupted.

Einhander19722d ago

This is just a scammy PR move to distract from the fact they are going digital only and trying to push streaming and subscriptions only.

No gaming company has pushed harder to remove ownership than Microsoft.

Without discs there is no preservation, preservation can't be done by the rights holders it can only be done by the consumers, anything else is a lie.

2d ago Replies(3)
Einhander19722d ago

Anyone remember xblig which Microsoft removed their whole 360 indie section removing hundreds of games from people?

2d ago
2d ago
Zeref2d ago

Do you know you can put your games on an external and preserve them that way? There are no benefits to discs. ZERO. Idk why some of you are still obsessed with them.

DarXyde2d ago

Because games like Persona 5 exist. It's STILL V1.00. On Playstation, that's a win because 1.00 is installed on the disc—no need to download anything.

If a game does not require any updates, it's all on the disc.

Extremely low bar in the modern era, of course. It's not much of a win by any stretch.

But for now, physical media does have a purpose, at least on Playstation.

Einhander19722d ago

That is factually not how game licensing works, try plugging your hard drive into someone else xbox, It's not going to work, and it won't work if the licensing servers ever go down.

Einhander19722d ago

Anyone remember games for windows live.

I have around a dozen games, some on Steam itself that will not work because Microsoft shut off the licensing servers.

BehindTheRows2d ago (Edited 2d ago )

I do. I STILL have games (Gears of War being the big one) I cannot access because Games for Windows LIVE is total garbage and no one has held Microsoft accountable.

Zeref2d ago (Edited 2d ago )

You don't have an Xbox apparently. Because you can 100 percent plug in your external and play games from it on any Xbox console lol. You just have to be logged in to prove ownership.

Chevalier2d ago

"You don't have an Xbox apparently. Because you can 100 percent plug in your external and play games from it on any Xbox console lol. You just have to be logged in to prove ownership."

Damn how many times do people got to explain your idiocy to you? You can take a copy of Persona 5 like someone used as an example and play that game on ANY console WITHOUT logging in which means I can lend the game to a friend without internet and they can play my game. Can you lend your hard drive to anyone without logging in for them to play? NOPE. That is a huge difference and if you think otherwise then sorry you're an idiot.

Tacoboto2d ago

"No gaming company has pushed harder to remove ownership than Microsoft."

Ubisoft is literally erasing games people bought from their libraries... My PS1-3 discs are useless on modern hardware. Nintendo's re-published and resold almost their entire Wii U library, and the eShop is completely dead with no BC mechanism in the Switch software. Microsoft publishes everything they make today day one on Steam and Xbox/Windows. Sony only brings to PC the titles they think you might want some years later and Nintendo won't even design a functional long-lasting joystick.

You're absolutely trolling and not serious if you think Microsoft today is the worst offender.

shinoff21831d 19h ago

Yay steam

Not everyone fks with computers though. The disc is still the best way as a console player. Period.

Tacoboto1d 17h ago

How do Sony and Nintendo feel about these discs from 2001-2013?

Don't be stupid, you know Xbox is the best at this today.

+ Show (3) more repliesLast reply 1d 17h ago
Hofstaderman2d ago

Nobody wants this. Sales or the lack of it in the case of XBOX is very telling. I wonder how the adorably all digital series X will fare. Adorably dismal perhaps?

crazyCoconuts2d ago

Only time will tell, but for from someone like me suspecting that Xbox is trying to gracefully exit the console market, that "forward compatibility" team is trying to get Xbox games playing on Windows PCs. I mean, it's nice that they're not planning on exiting with a "enjoy your games while the hardware still works" message, so that's nice. They still have a brand to protect via Microsoft so probably feel obligated to have a better exit strategy.

Xeofate2d ago (Edited 2d ago )

That is not their plan, their plan is to transfer users accounts to the cloud.

Phil Spencer himself said as much a few months back, plans could have changed but I think people are reading way too much into one statement where Phil said he would allow Epic on xbox because he wants to be able to sell xbox games directly on other platforms. Aka, instead of selling Sea of Thives through PSN he wants to have an xbox store to sell his games on PlayStation without giving PlayStation any money.

Again, it's extremely unlikely that Phil plans to put PC on xbox and licensing would prevent them from just giving out other publishers games purchased on xbox copies of thier games on PC, Microsoft does not own their games.

crazyCoconuts1d 5h ago

The thing that doesn't align with the cloud strategy is the giving up on exclusives. You'd still need strong exclusives for cloud streaming - it's still a "platform" , just with a lower upfront hardware investment. I feel like they've learned what PS learned with PSNow long ago. We're not ready to stream games and it's only gonna lose them money to try at this point

FinalFantasyFanatic1d 13h ago

I would love that, I'd buy up some of the Xbox games if they could run on PC, like the Rare Replay, Lost Odyssey and Dead or Alive Ultimate, probably a pipe dream though.

Show all comments (43)
370°

Could Xbox Soon Become The Next Dreamcast?

Microsoft's future in the video game space is murky right now, so let's break it all down.

Read Full Story >>
thegamer.com
ApocalypseShadow14d ago (Edited 14d ago )

Not anytime soon. But they're on that path.

One thing not mentioned in the article is Microsoft's money bags. If Sega had Microsoft's money, they would have still been around as a hardware manufacturer. Xbox as a platform only survives because of the money bags. They can continue making consoles for the core and port to PC.

The multiplatform strategy is only the result of arrogance and misguided leadership that blew up in their face. They thought gamers would jump on Xbox in droves if they knew that many of their favorite games would be only on Xbox. But that's not happening at all. Sales didn't increase. They decreased. Why? Because the dumb asses thought giving away these expensively made games in a cheap service would also turn the tide.

Gamers on other platforms are willing to buy quality. They don't need to be handed nearly free games in a service that aren't even finished and sometimes average in their development. Gamers buy Nintendo games. They buy Sony games. Microsoft groomed their base to not buy games. Even the quality ones. It has always been their plan to go digital. But most gamers still like single player gaming. Still like physical releases.

Microsoft's problem has always been that they don't produce high quality games at the same output as Nintendo and Sony. Actually, they should be producing quite a lot more because they're worth over 2 TRILLION. How they don't have more is ridiculous and no excuse. Buying publishers to take away from competition only backfired. Because it still takes millions of dollars to continue to make those games from the publishers they snatched. Their only choice was to crawl back to their competitors to help sustain those developers because Nintendo and Sony platforms were the ones buying games.

Am I sorry for Microsoft? Hell no! They deserved last place for putting in the least effort. They deserved the fallout for buying up the industry and didn't make a single blip on the radar against their competitors where they now need those same gamers they took away games from to support them. Part of it may have been to cash in on their competition. But the result is the slow death of their platform. They may go 3rd party. They may keep making hardware. I don't give a shit about them to worry about it. I only give a shit about the destructive nature of their industry moves that only negatively affect gamers. They could sell and drop out of the industry and I wouldn't blink. Probably laugh. But not blink. They deserve whatever comes to them. At least Sega put in the effort when it came to games. They just had poor leadership. Microsoft has poor leadership and barely makes memorable games. That's a killer combination. And not in a good way.

Cacabunga14d ago

That would be an insult to Dreamcast.. it had a crazy line up of legendary critically acclaimed games.

Crows9014d ago

I was thinking the same. Dreamcast had incredible games in such a short amount of time. It was truly exceptional.

darthv7214d ago

...and yet all those great games were not enough to sway people from the looming release of the PS2 at the time. Sony just has that kind of brand loyalty.

Cacabunga13d ago

Darth

I do not agree.. Sony had even better games thanks to an unprecedented 3rd party support..
DC had amazing lineup but 90% were arcade games..

88313d ago

@darth:
And Sony showed off "The Emotion Engine" and their real time demos that made everyone think they would miss out on REAL next gen 128bit magic if they jumped in before PS2s polygon pushing monster (and early lack of anti-aliasing with a healthy heap of shimmer + DVD playback) stepped up. PS2 was a fantastic system though with amazing games.

+ Show (1) more replyLast reply 13d ago
blacktiger14d ago

That's not true. Just because Microsoft has the money doesn't mean Microsoft can allow xbox to bleed entire Microsoft money. It doesn't work like they. Also SEC will be watching and investor won't allow it. Lot of reasons why Microsoft can not continue even if they wanted to. SEC regulations is expensive.

fr0sty14d ago (Edited 14d ago )

Exactly this... Microsoft is a publicly traded company, mostly owned by their shareholders (Approximately 59.24% of the company's stock is owned by Institutional Investors, 7.73% is owned by Insiders and 33.03% is owned by Public Companies and Individual Investors.). Their shareholders call the shots on the business decisions, and their shareholders want one thing and one thing only, for their stock price to go up. Losses do not make stock prices go up... so if the division continually posts losses on hardware, but shows profits on software and services (which has been the case with Xbox its entire lifespan, for over 20 years now), the shareholders are going to grow impatient and demand they stop making hardware and focus on the only thing that has ever made them money, software and services.

When Microsoft bought Blizzard and Activision for almost 100 billion, I knew that was the nail in the coffin for Xbox as a console... as the shareholders were going to expect a quick return on that investment, and when it didn't materialize, they were going to be out for blood... out to force Xbox to sell those games on as many consoles as possible, "and while you're at it, sell those first party exclusives that aren't selling well on other consoles as well... hell, just stop making consoles and sell games."

If there is another Xbox console generation, it will definitely be the last, but I doubt there even will be one at this point. I think the Xbox division planning on it just in case, but I don't think the project has been greenlit from Microsoft itself. The rumors that they have not yet even secured the chips needed from the chip fabrication facilities ties into this.

shinoff218314d ago

While I usually agree with you . Alot of what was said can just also be asked before any of that.

How long will the shareholders wait? It doesn't appear long at all

Babadook713d ago

I think I get your point. Like just because MS has money does not mean they are content to throw it away on a dying ecosystem. Xbox has to be profitable or “what’s the point?”

ifinitygamer14d ago

Money bags, yes, but are we ignoring that Xbox actually makes a profit on games and GamePass? Hardware is often a loss leader, and they're probably making profit 4 years into the life cycle, but games and services revenue have been very profitable while other parts of Microsoft's business is struggling. Say what you will about the quality of those games, of course, but this is kind of a reverse Dreamcast situation, where the console was dragging down the company and put it at risk of shuttering entirely. Killing that console saved the business and allowed it to continue to make games on multiple platforms. In this case, the service is very profitable, as are the games, and they're also double-dipping into Multiplatform to extend this further, while their hardware is just sort of what they believe to be the best for gamers and their own titles (whether that is the case or not...)

fr0sty14d ago (Edited 14d ago )

The issue is, they aren't selling enough hardware to make their exclusives profitable, and now that they've bought half the gaming publisher/dev industry, they have no choice but to go third party to make a profit... and that is making their shareholders take a real close look at their hardware division under the microscope... why keep making the hardware if the software is all that is making them money, and they continually, generation after generation come in dead last with hardware sales?

Look at a game like Spiderman 2... if it had been an Xbox exclusive, with the amount it cost to develop, it would have been a huge failure... simply not enough consoles out there to sell it on. They would have been lucky to break even.

ifinitygamer13d ago

@fr0sty agreed completely, which is why they're hedging by releasing other games to multiplatform, plus they have PC to make up for the difference in a lot of ways, which is why their games are not complete money pits. It brings up the question of whether or not those exclusives would drive sales of consoles, though. Let's say Spiderman 2 was an Xbox exclusive, it would certainly have pushed console sales, though who's to say how much is anyone's guess.

fr0sty13d ago

That's why you can't rely on just one exclusive, Sony has always delivered on a wide range of solid exclusives, even this generation (even if they haven't been strong on the first party exclusives, they've made up for it with third party). They don't rely on just one "system seller", they have a portfolio of them.

13d ago
JBlaze22613d ago

ApocalypseShadow To be honest Sony has more of a chance to go 3rd party because like you said Microsoft has money, Sony does not. Sony does not have games, Only games they have come from 3rd party. Sony has been losing money for years and you. Saying Microsoft has been putting the least effort just proves you have no idea what's been going on. All Sony has done is repeat and recycle, never innovating or doing something new. All Sony has is brand loyalty nothing else and it shows.

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LG_Fox_Brazil14d ago

Not sure about that. It's been two decades and I still think about Power Stone, Shenmue, Crazy Taxi, Jet Set Radio, Seaman and others, but I'm not sure I'll remember Xbox Series X/S games in a few years from now... Maybe I'll remember about the franchises that the Xbox brand spawned, but I don't believe that the Xbox Series lives up to the late Dreamcast or even to the Xbox name itself. I do have great memories about the 360 with Blue Dragon, Gears 2 and Lost Odyssey though

isarai14d ago

Nah, sega actually makes good games

Becuzisaid14d ago

No, Dreamcast was ahead of it's time and most still have very fond memories of it that had one. It also had some good games on it even in it's short lifespan. Xbox has none of these qualities.

Profchaos14d ago

I remember it coming out at the time in a really bad place they hit the market before the PS2 but it was during this transitional time when Sony was promoting the power of the PS2 and so many of the Dreamcast games were awesome but often third parties simply ported the PS1 version increased resolution and performance but rarely fully utilise the capabilities of the console.

I think in the end bad marketing done it in and like the GameCube so many people are fond of it now but at the time it was looked at in the lense of the day and it didn't stack up.

Personally I miss Sega in hardware they took risks that many companies won't

Becuzisaid14d ago

I never owned it, and got the PS2 right when it launched. But there were certain games it had that I was always jealous of that I didn't have access to - Sonic adventure, crazy taxi, power Stone, code Veronica, shenmue, skies of Arcadia. I always thought it was a really cool machine though. I've never heard a bad thing about it though from those that had it.

FinalFantasyFanatic14d ago

I only ever saw one Dreamcast, and that was one my friend owned, pity I never got to play it, I wonder what games he had for it?

It would be nice if some of those games got ported to modern systems.

Profchaos14d ago

Oh man sonic adventure on the Dreamcast made me so jealous as a huge sonic fan on the mega drive who also moved to PlayStation 2 I never got the chance to play it back in the day either. The Dreamcast in Australia where I am was always relegated to the smallest corner of EB Games it was kind of a strong first indicator that things were not going well at the time.

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Microsoft Rewards app on Xbox and weekly streaks to be killed off soon

Microsoft has announced the Microsoft Rewards app on Xbox will be discontinued in April and has confirmed that weekly streaks will also be coming to an end.

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