7 Years Later, Has Microsoft Kept Its Xbox 360 Promises?

Certainly it did, but not necessarily in the ways that Microsoft promised. Xbox 360 was a great gaming device, one that Microsoft continually improved upon in a way that was unheard of in the game business until this generation. It constantly added significant new features, upgraded the user experience and moved from an also-ran to a major player, forcing the competition to follow suit. The PlayStation 2 you bought in 2001 was the same exact machine in 2005, but the Xbox 360 you bought that year would be unrecognizable now. Xbox 360 did change everything.

[Donnieboi]

Not enough exclusives in the final half of the current gen. Sorry but that's true talk.

[defiance187]

I do agree but i think that those resources were moved to the next Xbox is why and it will pay dividends next gen.
I think their strategy has been sell to the core for 5 or so years then sell to the casuals for 3 or so when the price is lowered while gearing up for the core again in the next gen.

[Donnieboi]

For 3.5 years?? Sony will have plenty of games for PS4, and they didn't need to gimp on the ps3's amount of exclusives. That's no excuse. Microsoft dropped the ball for the last 3 years. 720 is no excuse, when we see that PS3 is getting A LOT of games this year by Sony, even though it's also having a good amount for PS4 games this year too.

I'm no fanboy of any one company, but seriously I lost faith in Microsoft as a hardcore game provider.

But I still won't click dissagree--because it's your opinion, and besides, Microsoft might really switch it up and come hard next gen.

[jimbobwahey]

At the end of the day it all depends on what exclusives you prefer. In the past 6 months or so Microsoft has put out Halo 4, Gears of War Judgement, Forza Horizon and Battleblock Theater. I've enjoyed these games a lot and still do.

In that same time period, the only game from Sony that I've found worthwhile is God of War Ascension. Sony didn't put out any exclusives that I enjoyed throughout the entirety of 2012 either so for me, Microsoft is providing much more on the exclusives front.

[NeverEnding1989]

Defiance, you got it.

Microsoft has by far the most first party studios. Most of which are are working on unannounced titles. Going by this, the Xbox Infinite launch lineup may be the greatest lineup. Ever.

And fortunately for Xbox gamers when it comes to games it's about quality, not quantity. I'm still waiting for a Halo killer on the Playstation.

[Soldierone]

@NeverEnding, actually they have about the same.

MS has 19 and Sony has 15. At least 5 of Microsoft's first party developers are currently working on Kinect titles, or "family" casual crap. At least 2 of the other studios simply help the other studios with projects. Only 2 studios have a "major release next generation project" listed. That leaves 343 which will probably make a quick Halo titles for the nextbox, and MAYBE Lionhead will make a Fable title for it.

Meanwhile what are Sony studios doing? They already have InFamous, Killzone, and other AAA titles announced and other studios working on unannounced next generation titles. Meanwhile these same studios have current generation titles coming like The Last of Us..... Plus a lot of them are doing Vita titles as well.

Will MS have a lot of games for next generation? Maybe, but its going to be overwhelmed with Kinect crap. two sports titles, two "family" titles, and other "kinect based titles."

Edit: Also that number for Sony doesn't include 2nd party exclusive studios. They very well can get even more games from Insomniac and Quantic Dream.....

[Y_5150]

"I think that those resources were moved to the next Xbox."

Haha yeah right! Right now Microsoft is doing the worst out of the big three When it comes to bringing on the exclusives and that has been happening for years now. Their increase on focus on Kinect has primarily caused this and this new console announcement seems to be the only thing to reassure people if not, bye bye Xbox.

[Bathyj]

Ive no doubt the resources were switch to XB3. My question is why should I support a console that MS itself only supports for half its lifecycle?

If I fall for it again it will be my own fault. It would be the 3rd time in a row and I'd have to say I was a very slow learner. If your hand keeps getting burnt, stop touching the stove.

The only reason I would, and probably will fall for it is because I actually WANT there to be more than one relevant console. I would prefer if Sony WASNT the only one looking after gamers, so I remain ever hopeful, but seriously, MS needs a change of attitude and to refocus on the consumers that made this industry viable in the first place.

[insomnium2]

"I think their strategy has been sell to the core for 5 or so years then sell to the casuals for 3 or so when the price is lowered"

Funny thing is that there are many many people in here who would NEVER admit such a thing.

@bathyj

I agree. I think a wait-and-see-approach is best when it comes to X720. There is a huge possibility that MS will continue with casuals.

[nukeitall]

The thing people often don't get is MS consistent strategy at attempting to make 3rd party successful.

They create the platform and improve the platform so that 3rd party can flourish.

Just look at the amount of features you get and how well Xbox LIVE works. Then look at the competition.

It is clear as day, where the investment is put into.

[gaffyh]

@nuke - but that advantage will be meaningless next gen, because Sony learned a lot from the PS3 and because of that PS4 will be able to offer a lot of online features that the PS3 couldn't simply because every online feature was an afterthought, whereas on the 360 it was part of the console's design. In addition, the x86 architecture, and the fact that Sony won't be 1 year late to the party means that third party support will be pretty equal across the board, but we've already seen Indie developers flocking to Sony like never before.

I have absolutely no doubt that MS will have a very strong launch line up. But the fact that they've pretty much given up on the game support in the last three years proves to me that they just want people to get invested in the ecosystem and then give up on them. The only reason they've made any games for the 360 in the past couple of years is due to pressure from Sony. On e other hand, if you look at PS2, it still had major exclusives at the end of it's life cycle with NO competition, AND had some games even when PS3 was released e.g GOW2, SOTC, Okami (I think). And now they are proving this again with two major exclusives in the second half of this year.

That's why I wouldn't hesitate to invest in a Sony console early, but I will think twice about the 720, because of he reasons above and the RROD fiasco.

[MaxXAttaxX]

@nukeitall

You're saying they were busy making the platform and XBL better for third-parties? That's your spin?
How does that keep their first-party game developers from making games?

[Denethor_II]

"I think their strategy has been sell to the core for 5 or so years then sell to the casuals for 3 or so when the price is lowered while gearing up for the core again in the next gen."

I think you're delusional.

[nukeitall]

@gaffyh:

"but that advantage will be meaningless next gen, because Sony learned a lot from the PS3 and because of that PS4 will be able to offer a lot of online features that the PS3 couldn't simply because every online feature was an afterthought, whereas on the 360 it was part of the console's design"

You are assuming MS isn't moving forward, making further enhancements.

"But the fact that they've pretty much given up on the game support in the last three years proves to me that they just want people to get invested in the ecosystem and then give up on them."

In what way has MS given up on "them". I mean the games are still released, and MS is providing further tools to enhance that experience.

"That's why I wouldn't hesitate to invest in a Sony console early, but I will think twice about the 720, because of he reasons above and the RROD fiasco."

We already know that about you. Nothing would make you invest in an Xbox.

@NathanExplosion:

"How does that keep their first-party game developers from making games?"

By MS putting their money i.e. resources on building out the platform and supporting it properly. You know, researching what features are useful and introducing them in a useful fashion.

[MaxXAttaxX]

You support a gaming console with games. Xbox 360 has been around for almost 8 years. How many resources could they possibly be spending at this time researching features? You gotta quit the bullsh**.

[ShinMaster]

The "X" in Xbox is a variable. It could be a gaming box or a cable box or anything, unlike PLAYstation. And considering Microsoft admitted that they didn't intend to get into console gaming in the first place, it is safe to assume that the Xbox brand is a Trojan horse designed to infiltrate your living rooms.

That is why after the brand's newly gained success, Microsoft priorities quickly started to change with less core gaming support and more focus on the casuals and "entertainment" apps.
Just look at what takes priority at their conferences these past few years. They don't care about you. They care about the masses.

The reason why you don't see Sony doing this is because they have smart TVs, Blu-ray players and other hardware in homes which already give people access to all of these entertainment apps Microsoft has been pushing on the Xbox, so they can focus more on gaming with the PlayStation.

[defiance187]

To all the people above who went apeshit over my comment."I think" is imperitive and not the same as believing, knowing, etc, but it does take an average 3.5 to 4 years to build new engines and make new games. I'm not talking about recycled updated engines. Also during this time of low quantity exclusives as you would say, quality is a subjective matter, MS also had a major restructuring of all their studios and brought on more new studios than they killed. This is what brought me to that thought and is but one possibility, and TY Donnieboi for not fanboying out. You are one of the few. I do agree that it is no excuse just a possibility. For the record I don't like any of you xbots, sony fanboys, or you PC elitists i have owned pretty much every system since the atari 2600, so keep your childish BS to yourself and only open your mouths if you have something intelligent to say.

[gaffyh]

@nuke - LOL, right that's why I have one broken 360 and one working one on my TV stand. That's why nothing would make me invest in an Xbox...what?

I wasn't directing my comment at you, just at certain things you said. MS is bound to have pushed forward with new technologies, but we can only decide whether those advances are good enough when they are announced. I was very impressed by the features that Sony showed for the PS4, because they announced a lot of things that were unexpected, so the ball is in MS' court now.

We'll see on May 21st I guess, can't wait to see what they show off.

[AkatsukiPain]

I have to agree with u. I know alot of die hard xbox fans would deny that having more new exclusives doesnt matter to them but if that were true then, "What is the real reason we buy a console for?" To me if exclusives really dont matter then there really is no point in having 3 different consoles.

Shinra Tensei

[Bigpappy]

Better online, cross game chat, better 3rd party game performance, preferred controller, more friends have it, Less mandatory installs, Kinect, more market place choices... those are just some of the other incentives people might choose when they picked up 360 over PS3. But 360 had a lot of exclusives that no one bought. That is because they were not what 360 owners wanted to play. I am yet to buy a game simply because it is exclusive. Anyone who just buys game simply because they are exclusive, need to stop wasting good money on crap games. I only buy and play games that seem worth while to me. If all exclusives were as good as GOW, Halo, Uncharted... you might have a point. But most are not.

[AkatsukiPain]

@Bigpappy

You have a point but at the end of the day, "GAMES" is what really matters & as ive stated, if exclusives really dont matter then there really is no point in have 3 consoles.

Shinra Tensei

[defiance187]

@AkatsukiPain
Totally agree and want all three to do well for only through competition will gaming advance.I do like Forza, Gears, and Halo. I also like Uncharted and God of War. I also prefer XBL over PSN, but these are my opinions. Every consumer has to decide for themselves what is worth their dollar. With that said if MS, Sony, Nintendo, or even Steam do anything to I find egregious I will drop their ass like a bad habit.

[Ravenor]

Tell me all about Starhawk and Twisted Metal, how important were they?

[jimbobwahey]

This has been my problem with Sony's exclusive games for the past couple years, they've all been terrible except for Uncharted 3.

I know other people feel the same as well because nobody bought them. Starhawk, Twisted Metal, PlayStation All-Stars were their exclusive games for 2012 and they all flopped.

[maniacmayhem]

Exclusives are important, but only as important as they are relevant. You can bring out 20 exclusives but if only three out of those twenty are good then what's the point?

A lot of people on this site are short sighted and are constantly using the "exclusives" excuse to fuel their little agenda. But in the outside world is where the real truth lies and we see what game consumers really want from both consoles.

[Ravenor]

I enjoyed Viva Pinata, Alan Wake, Forza Horizon, Blue Dragon, Banjo N&B and the first Ninety Nine Nights (There was barely anything to play when the first NNN came out).

Don't get me wrong, I like Twisted Metal and I supported it. My point was how this site is a constant deluge of people talking about how important exclusives are, yet they are never advertised or supported by Sony and the faithful.

But of course, Kaz forbid any of you ever look inwardly at yourselves and whether or not you practice what you preach.

[majiebeast]

If Sony franchises dont sell then how come Twisted metal managed to spawn 8 games?

The fault with Twisted metal ps3 lies solely at eat.sleep.play, the demo they released didnt work and then after the game launched online didnt work and it pissed me off. Also Jaffe left before the game launched doesnt really inspire confidence in a game if the lead director leaves. Even with all that Jaffe has said Sony found the game a moderate success so it made a profit prob low budget small studio helped with that.

The playstation gamers dont buy games is the biggest myth in gaming at this point. Sony has more succesfull franchises then Microsoft who are resorted to release the same 1s every year. While Sony is pumping out 3 new IP's this year alone, next to the recurring franchises they have.

But yeah Playstation gamers dont buy games... The company that releases more games just so they dont sell it all makes sense...

[StreetsofRage]

Bingo. You hit the nail right in the head.

The whole argument about Sony having more exclusives is mute considering a lot of them poorly delivered. More doesn't mean better. Of course, the fanboys will argue this to death. Their is always somebody with their huge lists of exclusives that has games that barely hit the top 50 in sales like All Stars or LBP Karting. These 2 games seriously flopped.

Like I always said, The 360 has quality, the ps3 has quantity.

[Hicken]

They were still important, even if they didn't sell tens of millions.

But here's the thing: SOMEBODY bought them. It's been rare- can you name one game, actually?- that a Sony exclusive hasn't AT LEAST broken even.

It seems the only people who expect every exclusive to sell 5+ million are the ones who HOPE they don't. I guess these people forget that even most multiplats don't sell millions. All those movie tie-ins and Disney show cash-ins sell a few hundred thousand copies, and that's across multiple consoles.

But I guess acknowledging that would make the "point" you're trying to make more difficult to accept.

All that aside, it's exclusives that draw me. When and if I get a Wii U, it will be because of Bayonetta, Project X, and the like; it WON'T be because of Miiverse or Arkham City. I will get a 360 for Lost Odyssey, Vesperia, and others, NOT for Call of Duty or cross game chat. Got my PSP for Crisis Core, my DS for TWEWY, my PS3 for GT5.

C'mon, are you REALLY arguing that exclusives aren't important because EVERY one doesn't sell millions upon millions?

[jetlian]

Ravenor hit a nerve and majie was hurt. He was talking about 2012. Like someone up above said in the past 6 months gears, halo and forza hit.

Sony had very little all last year. I still play 360 more than ps3 or wii. Online is better, UI is better and games are still better.

[neoMAXMLC]

lol @ all you "Microsoft is all about quality over quantity" preachers. Is that why their latest 3 game releases of the usual Halo, Gears and Forza have been the lowest scored games in their respective franchises yet? Two of which were also the slowest selling? For every amount of "quality" games Microsoft release can be matched by Sony's amount of exclusive releases. But we also get many of these so-called "irrelevant" IPs that " no one cares about" on top of those other big releases. If there's a fanbase and Sony continues to support that fanbase no matter how niche they are then how can you possibly see that as a bad thing?

I swear some of you 360 fanboys grasp at those straws pretty tightly.

[DigitalRaptor]

I have to completey agree with Hicken here.
-

I hear the constant Xbox fan argument that "Sony is quantity and MS is quality". How does that even make sense? Do Sony not have AT LEAST the same amount of quality exclusives as MS, because to say they don't is an absurdity.

It's like no-one has noticed that the BIG, BRASS MS exclusives that you all call "quality > quantity" have been the lowest scoring in their respective franchises? And also the slowest selling.

-

The second argument I hear is that Sony exclusives don't sell so they are irrelevant. This is laughable because I know for fact that many of the multiplatform games you Xbox guys buy and support and tell us all are better than most exclusives, they don't sell near as well as the Xbox exclusives you always bang on about.

I mean just check out how little the awesome 3D DOT GAME HEROES sold:

"According to Famitsu magazine, 3D Dot Game Heroes sold 17,300 units in Japan by the end of 2009, making it the 463rd best-selling game of the year in that region.[14] Atlus USA reported in October 2010 that 3D Dot Game Heroes sold 160,000 units, greater than six times the amount they had anticipated."

Yet it was more successful than was anticipated and has hundreds of thousands of fans. Yet, that's irrelevant to Xbox fanboys because it didn't sell more than 2 million. See what I mean?

-

I mean really, what's it going to be?

Sony breaks even AT LEAST with every exclusive they provide. That's because they don't spend marketing assets on every game and they don't give each game the same budget that GT5 or Uncharted has for example.

Starhawk and Twisted Metal are relevant to the people that bought them. It's not like 20 people that bought them. It's 10s and 100s of thousands. That's a fanbase whether you want to call it irrelevant to prop up your poorly put together arguments or not.

It's so hypocritical, because so many of the multiplatform titles that you guys support don't sell particularly well either.

And guess what? Sony have AT LEAST broke even with their "poorly performing" games. Did they meet Sony expectations? Nope, but did Sony even bother marketing any of them well??? There you go.

These games add to the diversity of their portfolio and they can put the money that they DIDN'T LOSE back into their productivity pot. And the gamers that put hundreds of hours into these multiplayer games don't have the rug pulled from under them like MS does. They are still a company who support risks despite some of their under-performing software.

[Soldierone]

Alot of the above comments can be responded to in one easy way:

It's easy to market and sell ONE game, compared to 3 to 7 games.....

Combine all the sales from Sony's exclusives, and they easily match the sales from the very few exclusives MS released....

And finding a few duds as examples is a terrible excuse. Twisted Metal did bad because it came from a terrible studio that had huge promises, but instead sat are their arse the entire time and did nothing. Don't see Sony working with them now do you?

What about Resistance, Killzone, InFamous, Gran Turismo, Heavy Rain, Uncharted, The Last of Us..... Quality over quantity my arse. Sony explores and finds quality, sure every single one isn't "AAA" but hey we still get to play them. It's a lot better than waiting for either Gears or Halo to release all the time..... Come up with something new, and support new talent and stories.

[MrBeatdown]

@maniacmayhem

"A lot of people on this site are short sighted and are constantly using the "exclusives" excuse to fuel their little agenda."

And a lot of people on this site try to downplay quality games to suit their own little agenda.

Some people pretend that if a game doesn't sell Halo numbers, it's worthless. If it doesn't get a 90 or above on Metacritic, it's worthless. If it's not advertised on soda cans, it's worthless.

You'd have to have an agenda to act like only three out of twenty exclusives are any good, when the reality is, the vast majority of the games people bring up in the exclusive argument did well critically.

Starhawk and Twisted Metal, two games from 2012 that people like to crap on or brush under the rug, are rated 77 and 76 on Metacritic, compared to 79 and 80 for Gears and God of War, putting them just two to four points shy of the so-called "relevant" games. Even AllStars and LittleBigPlanet Karting... the weakest of the notable exclusives in a slow year for PS3, still managed to earn a 74 and a 73.

So that begs the question... What exactly is your standard for "good" anyway?

What's really amazing is that you act like people who talk up those games have an agenda, as if scores like that suggest the games are crap that nobody should be interested in.

But you can keep telling yourself the games aren't any good. Me and plenty of others will keep playing them and talking about them, because we enjoy good games, even if they aren't as "relevant" as the super big budget, explosive action sequel to the greatest super-realistic epic space war shooter of all time and even if we can't get 15 minutes of double XP from every bag of potato chips we buy.

Fortunately for some of us, our preferences, recognition of quality, and enjoyment of a game isn't driven by how many million people bought or didn't buy it, so we can see the value in a publisher that is willing to try something that is new, innovative, or risky, and isn't afraid try something that isn't guaranteed to be a Halo killer.

[AngelicIceDiamond]

@Donnie Ok? MS never promised new Ip's late this gen?

Either way I'd say yes.

[showtimefolks]

first 4-5 years their message was we are for core gamers than all of the sudden they cared more about casuals and apps on xblive along with advertisement or being a cable box

first 4-5 years A
last 3 years d-

bought 360 at launch but instead of making me a day one buyer for their next system instead i am more cautious than ever before

i have a fear MS will talk about kinect and media box and always online more than actual games on may 21st and i don't mind being 100% wrong on this prediction

[Peanuts110]

Not to many kid games. Got the wii for the kids. Much more kid friendly system.

[ALLWRONG]

"Not enough exclusives"

In the real world outside of N4G the 360 has the most exclusives. Not just in games ether.

[dedicatedtogamers]

Heck, 3 years later, has Microsoft kept its Kinect promises?

I have yet to see a "hardcore" Kinect game that wasn't complete trash.

[ErzaScarlet]

I agree cause I haven't heard any new news regarding kinec lately, but I'm pretty sure they will in the next gen.

[FantasyStar]

"Rise of Nightmares" was a pretty good game.

[Peanuts110]

Kinect needs too much space to use. That's one of the main problems for me. Just a gimmick device that got me in the wallet.

[stragomccloud]

I don't really care. I had a lot of fun with my 360~

[guitarded77]

Interesting look back at some quotes, but this can be done with any of the big three. They use bold statements about the potential for their hardware, and while they may be able to do the things they say, there may not be enough financial incentive to do those things. Still, they should address the statement as potentiality, and not assert.

[Serjikal_Strike]

Started strong, ended weak

[MikeyDucati1]

I see the Microsoft PR campaign is in full effect. A reveal must be coming soon.

[hazelamy]

some of the things they said back in the early days of the 360, and what they actually did.

"feedback is more important than motion controls"
they then launched kinect, where you get no physical feedback.

"it's a games console"
now it seems to be a media centre that also plays some games, of course all the media apps are kept behind a gold wall, pay ms a sub to pay somebody else a sub, i still can't understand how people are ok with that part.

"the 360 will be remembered as the most reliable console ever".
do i need to tell you what happened there?

now they they have done some good stuff.
the indie games service was great.
just a shame it now seems to be an afterthought for ms who seem obsessed with non gaming services, which annoyingly for most of the world seem to be restricted to the us.

and they did let the BBC Iplayer be used by anybody with a 360, mind you that was only because they had no other choice, it was either let everybody have it or they couldn't put it on 360.

they have had some quite frankly fantastic games in the past, i don't know if the precipitous drop off of titles is due to the upcoming next gen or if they have actually shifted their focus more to the other media functions, i guess we'll get an idea about that in may.

[Max-Zorin]

I just hope their next conference is different. Otherwise N4G will never move on.

[duckmysick]

..sigh.. I wish they would just drop out already. I know people like the Xbox, but they have burned me too many times.
They want to "win" the living room, but make you pay for it on top of everything you already have to pay for, it doesn't make sense. ..and I think a couple of people are forgetting about a little thing called cross game chat that the PS4 will definitely have for free. That's why they keep trying to separate themselves from Sony and justify the Xbox live price by adding shit like pizza hut and red box as if there aren't a million ways to watch a movie already on live. And as far as exclusives go.. Please.. Gimme a f#$%&*g break

[Peanuts110]

I'll most definitely get a PS4 first this time around. With the defects that the first Xbox360s had RROD. I don't trust that M$ will come out with a durable system first time around. I'll let the hardcore Xbox fans put the machine through it paces and when the do their first revisions then maybe I'll consider to pick one up.
M$ controls too much content with XBL. Love Sony PS3/PS4 they are not trying to gouge and nickel and dime their customers, like we see with M$. I trust Sony will come out with a strong and stable console.

[josephayal]

I'm very happy with my Xbox 360

[mochachino]

Maybe 360 promises, but Kinect promises were outright lies.

[_FantasmA_]

Sorry but killing your first system after just 4 years is not good business. Recycling 2 generic shooters for you next console with a 33-66 percent failure rate is even worse business. 3rd console, well lets just say you can't fool me 3 times!

[ThatCanadianGuy514]

They came out swinging and secured some fantastic third party IPs.

Then when they mostly went multi they shifted to casual overdrive.And why wouldn`t they? Everywhere you look you see 360 fans preaching the microsoft gospel no matter what.

Why bother spending money producing quality games when your fans would literally gobble up whatever slop they served them, and, ask for more.

Hold microsoft to some accountability and maybe you could get some respect out of them.Or, you know, keep giving them your money to use your own internet connection.