2014 definitely ended on a high for the Xbox One console. Beating the sales of its predecessor, the Xbox 360, by 50% at its equivalent life cycle point, and being the best selling console in the US for both November and December meant the year could not have finished much better for Xbox One and Microsoft. For those yet to make the jump to Xbox One, there is yet another offer to entice you over. Mike Nichols, Corporate Vice President of Marketing for Xbox, is on hand to give you a quick run through of the offer.
Microsoft's Mike Nichols talked about Google Stadia, stating that while they may have the infrastructure to pull it off, they lack content as they don't have the same connections with developers and publishers that Microsoft can boast.
The instant pickup and play aspect is the most appealing part to me. Going to a friend's house and instantly playing a game is cool.
I don't think saving a few minutes of install time is worth the trade off of always playing with lag.
I can deal with it if it means not having to bring my Xbox with me. Besides I would only use it for Single Player and Co-op games. Like Sea of Thieves. I would love to grind Sea of Thieves while on the go. Same for Mass Effect. I've been playing through it again.
As long as the input lag is consistent it will be perfectly fine for most games. Just not fastpaced multiplayer games.
@Spurg
"He's not talking about psnow though"
No, he is talking about xCloud and the same principle applies:
"You won’t necessarily need a device over time, but you’ll get the best experience with local processing power."
You guys need to temper your expectations.
Spurg
That has to be one of the dumbest comments. The same issues will apply to all streaming services.
@Spurg
Any streaming service will have additional input lag and won’t match the experience that you will get by playing a game locally.
“Microsoft CFO Mike Nichols also went on to reiterate that regardless of the availability Project xCloud, the ‘local’ experience users can get on an Xbox console or Windows PC will remain superior to the cloud in terms of quality.”
Straight from Microsoft themselves.
@Razzer and MasterCornholio
Was wondering if anyone else picked up on that. They may have buried the lede not making that the headline. I know it's a "duh" observation, but it's rare to see Xbox downplaying the cloud to promote their product over a competitor's.
@Neonridr
There is always going to be hardware... I'm not sure what your talking about, even if it's not a traditional console you still need some sort of network enabled device and a screen.
@RauLeCreuset
What are you talking about? It's not unusual at all to see Microsoft downplay a competitor... What is strange is seeing them do it to someone other than Sony in the gaming space. Hopefully Google calls them out on their B.S. when they do it.
I think Sony and MS can learn a thing or two about Instant play. Downoading the game, patches and updates with out actually waiting is the only thing Stadia has going for it, and something that both companies can learn from.
@AngelicIceDiamond
On PS4 you can usually start playing the game instantly off the disk as it installs. And digitally you normally only have to download the first part before you can start playing, so how long that takes just depends on internet speed. And that's f you can't pre-load it of course.
@Neonridr still not a fair tradeoff if the game is unplayable due to input lag
I can beat Sekiro bosses through PS4 Shareplay, I'm sure google will have a better infrastructure than Sony so I'm not worried about lag.
@Servbot41
Share Play has nothing to do with Sony, that goes over your own internet. or network if you were playing over lan or wifi.
@brrdat
Don't be ignorant...
Obviously there is latency from a TV or a controller ect. But the difference is that on hardware the latency is very low and it's generally very very stable as in it's always the same amount of delay. Over the internet there is more delay and it's very random. And streaming is added onto any other delay the hardware you use. So streaming is ALWAYS going to have more latency than local.
Phil is literally telling you streaming is going to have lag if you would take the time to read the article.
@Srhalo
"What are you talking about? It's not unusual at all to see Microsoft downplay a competitor... What is strange is seeing them do it to someone other than Sony in the gaming space."
Reread what I said. I never said it's unusual to see them downplay a competitor. I said it's strange to see them downplay the cloud to promote their product over a competitors.
@Neonridr
You mean also never get to enjoy opening a brand new console that we get hyped up for years before launch? That's a big minus for me.
@srhalo
«A few minutes»
If you’ve got the disc it might take a few hours depending on you internet and the size of the patch, but if you’ve not got the disc you might have to wait 6+ hours.
It’s only a few minutes if you ignore the updates and the online part of the game.
@orbital71 "lag is always the killer for anyone who is a true gamer"
You don't speak for us all, a 'true' gamer will game under any conditions necessary.
I like owning my shit, and duh it is not a replacement, just an option. Local is still the way to go.
Until a game winds up delisted because Fox, Universal ect, suddenly decided they don't want to renew a license to a publisher for the use their works.
Gateway MT6706 2008
If it's a game you casually play I can see the appeal of pick up and play, but you forgo quality. The display will never look as good as a 1080p or 4k local install. Frame rates won't be as good. Lag will be present. I don't know about the rest of you but when I get a new game especially a Triple A title I wanna play it in the best quality available.
Exactly, 4K 60fps over an average bandwidth connection, my connection would be crying at me.
Yeah going to a friends house to play vs. games with lag like an online game is priceless.
lol MS mentions always online gets a major backlash, Google is doing it and "sounds good to me"
What happened to all those DRM fanatics that were dead against "not really owning the games, and having to be always online?"
Microsoft survived with a huge lack of compelling exclusives on the backs of their money bags. Why can't Google do the same?
They can...
Microsoft’s biggest asset is their investment in gaming “media”.
So they sell any idea while controlling the negativity and to whom it is directed to.
F'n EXACTLY!
Perhaps MS should not throw shade on Google Exclusives!
I mean really!?!
Not really throwing shade. If you're asked what differentiates from your competitors, you're expected to have an answer.
@ThinkThink
OK, OK...It was a terrible MS answer, not shade.
Similar to Trump pointing at Joe Biden "uncomfortable embraces".
"Grab e'm by the pussy" I guess.
Ms did have exclusives this gen though they started off pretty strong and fell off towards the tail end. It’s not the same as having none.
Although that's totally true it's not what's being said. Lack of compelling exclusives isn't the same as lack of content. In the console space Sony is way ahead, but MS doesn't have a shortage of games, just exclusive games. It's quite close to Nintendo considering Nintendo exclusives are offset by it's lack of multiplats like Red dead, DMC 5, RE2, etc. which are on Xbox.
I think what MS is saying here is that Stadia hasn't shown a lot of content in general, and establishing relationships with publishers that MS/Sony/Nintendo have had for decades is not going to be quick.
MS had the benefit of strong 3rd party support. As of now, we don't really know if Google has that. Stadia is its own platform, so some action has to be taken to actually port to the games to it. I'd imagine it can play PC coded games alright, but if it has any kind of supplemental features like achievements or PC application connectivity, then that will have to be accounted for in some way.
Because Xbox already has a huge amount of 3rd party support. There is no lack of games overall. Just a lack of exclusives.
Stadias biggest problem is not only exclusives it's 3rd party support because it's another additional platform that they need to develop for. Who's gonna waste resources to develop for a platform that doesn't have a consumer base? They would literally only be losing money. Google is gonna have to pay a lot of money to developers to get these games. Which they do have but even if Google covers all the costs. There is no money to be made because there is no Consumer base and there isn't gonna be anytime soon because it's a streaming only platform. So they are gonna have an extremely hard time to convince most developers. Especially the big ones.
The only way I see it being somewhat viable is if it's gonna have a subscription service like Gamepass. But anyone who actually pays $60 to only be able to stream a game is an idiot.
With Xbox and xCloud. 3rd parties don't need to build separately. Their games are already compatible with xCloud. All they need is a checkmark.
Consumers can play games that they already own on Xbox on their smartphones via xCloud. And Consumers that only play on xCloud have the option to play their games that they bought on xCloud on Xbox or PC if they decide to get one.
Microsoft has all their bases covered. Stadia is going to have an extremely steep uphill battle. xCloud just seems to be the only viable option right now both for Developers and Consumers.
YouTube, which is what Stadia uses, is the second largest website on Earth. Number One is Google itself.
You aren't thinking. Their potential user base is as high as its gonna get. Period. Full Stop.
Stadia will have more 3rd party support that you can count and will eclipse Xbox in short order and before Xcloud launches.
How would they only be losing money? Because its not called xbox? LOL.
Google will not have to pay a lot of money to get these games. YouTube's audience is beyond anything that Microsoft can offer. Ubisoft is already shown that its ready to go. More will follow.
Microsoft is already losing this battle and they know it.
Eonjay you're funny because in reality who is all gonna jump on Stadia? Besides what "fans" does google have in reality is this gonna convince parents moms and dads? Scratch that just the average gamer in its entirety? As far as Im concerned YouTubers themselves are on the fence about Stadia and are more intrigued about Xcloud because of MS has a good long proven track record with 3rd party. But its like Said who are these "fans" that will guarantee to support Stadia right out the gate. Tell you this it won't be fans like Sony or MS waiting outside to buy their next console.
Third parties aren't "loyal" to Microsoft they are "loyal" to money.
What ever system is the most profitable is where the publishers will go, they will go anywhere there is money.
And in Google Microsoft has met it's match, because Google can money hat just as much as Microsoft can.
@Srhalo
Developers WILL go where the money is. And that is on xCloud, definitely not on Stadia. Like I said, there is no customer base. No customer base, no money to be made.
Major publishers will test the waters to see if it can sell. Google has enough reach, and a huge ecosystem to get potential customers. It's hard to say who they service may click with, or if it'll click at all, but Google will get some 3rd party support. It may not be as much as the console makers, but it'll be something. Google is also likely paying for some of the porting to be done, so there is less expenditure to the publishers themselves. It's no different than when Sony released PSNow, except that the games have to be ported to the platform. I'd imagine that's not going to be hard to do, and that Google likely already has DX and Vulcan API's available to run on the system, and given that it's a cloud system which isn't as specialized as consoles are, it can probably run much of the same code that you see on consoles. PC games shouldn't have any issue if they're created with DX, so for relatively little money, publishers have a potential revenue stream which doesn't require they invest in physical releases, or risk losing money since the games are likely to be ports early on. Over time, Stadia may be considered to get games day one with other platforms, but I'm assuming that Google will have a paid "ownership" system, or some way to rent games. I can't see them getting that for something like Game Pass is now for the same reason MS isn't likely to get those from 3rd parties.
How u going to talk about content when ur own console has a total of 22 true exclusives and yet to released a game of the year contender lol you call crackdown 3 content lol game died 1 week in lol
Wow is it really 22? I would have thought it is even way less. Halo 5, sunset overdrive and a forza game come to my mind.
Content is different from exclusives. Look at how many games are on Xbox period, it's a lot about 980 at the moment. Microsoft already has partnerships in place with Capcom, Ubisoft, EA, Activision.. so on.. Google has to build all of that from scratch. That's the point they were making. It's not easy to convince a third party to test, produce, and release their games on a new platform.
Microsoft on Stadia: Google Has Infrastructure but Lacks Content.
PlayStation on XBox Live: Microsoft Has Infrastructure but Lacks Content.
Replies(4)@Lost whatever that means. Since hes clear talkin about 3rd par...whats the use ppl like him love looking stupid. Purposely, woefully stupid. I guess you like being made fun of. Thats the cost of being a super dunce fanboy.
Chief marketing officer Mike Nichols explains Microsoft's "forward-leaning pivot" in how it has viewed its game studios this generation, and why it just added five more to the operation.
They showed teasers with no gameplay, they back tracked previous statements and are living off of Halo/Gears/Forza, and they showed a bunch of third party stuff. I honestly don’t see how this differentiates this E3 from their previous ones?
“We don't have any plans specific to Xbox consoles in virtual reality or mixed reality.”
So false advertising last year? And less gaming options for their fanbase. Not sure how people are ok with them backtracking on that too.
The reason why I think peoole are okay with them backtracking on VR is, watching the VR space right now, few people actually give a shit.
I still believe in VR and mad props to Sony for trying, but to me that stuff is obviously at its infancy. I don't see a compelling reason to jump in and no one hardly talks about it and no clear killer apps exist for it.
As for E3, well MS smashed it even in terms of the quality of those usual 3 titles. The halo engine looks mad impressive, Forza looks even more impressive and best in class by miles and Gears looks especially great.
Then of course you have the 5 studios and whatnot. It was a great E3 for me.
“I don't see a compelling reason to jump in and no one hardly talks about it and no clear killer apps exist for it.“
That’s why Sony is in the place it’s in now with leading 1st party in quality and quantity. Many studios being supported by the current fanbase now on PC and/or PSVR will make bigger and better games next gen...some exclusive obviously.
And we all only saw gameplay for Forza, which was really cool, but that’s literally it. Can’t play announcements or engine rendered cutscenes. But I guess that’s the cup of tea MS knows it’s fanbase would enjoy at E3. To each their own.
And with PSVR, Oculus and more being so successful in their “infancy”, I’d say plenty of people give a shit.
Ok i agree that VR might not have enough interest for another company to risk diving in. However "smashing it in terms of quality of those usual 3 titles"???? How bro? Seriously they didnt show ANY gameplay of Halo or Gears at all. Halo might not even be a FPS for all we know. Its not Halo 6 so we dont know whats going on with that. Just a trailer. Gears is likely using the same engine as part 4 so why wasnt there any gameplay of that either? I dont understand how you can think they killed it. As far as acquiring Ninja Theory, thats up in the air for most people because of what MS did to Rare. The other studios they bought were mostly 2md party to them anyway. I dont see it but if thats exciting i guess man.
So, MS only cares if it means they can make money? Let others lead the way, MS can jump in later?
You're comment may come off as credible, but didn't they also falsely advertise Halolens for Minecraft the year before that? You know....to detract from VR that Sony was releasing, that people were excited for?
MS didn't pull out because of lack of interest, it's because they knew they wouldn't sell enough consoles to support third party hardware.
Before MS pulled the plug on 3rd party VR support, I recall how many people were so hyped for the much better hardware, and Sony's hardware was pre-school in comparison. But now it's all about how VR is not that desired....yet more big developers are making VR games. More people are buying VR. There are tons of games available on VR, and they aren't just demo experiences anymore.
Forza on the X1X, with VR, would be awesome. Driving in VR is a whole new experience. But I guess not enough people want that.
I didnt see jack $h*t that made me interested in xbox. At least for this generation. They FN announced that theyre working on a new console(s). Why would i get xb1x or anything knowing that when nothing is even ready for a gameplay reveal? It was a fantastic presentation & great games by other companies. Thats not anything to be happy about in my eyes. 2.5D battle toads had a damn title screen & release date yet nothing with the engine or concept art or whatever for a game like that? They arent fooling me with promises ever again. If anyone really believes 343 are the right people for Halo after all this, fine. More power to you. I dont see anything about evolving 1st party at all. Ninja Theory is their best team they bought. The rest were already close partners with lackluster resumes
So much for fanboys thinking that Microsoft was allegedly giving up on the Xbox brand
GameReactor caught up with chief marketing officer Mike Nichols after the Xbox conference to learn more about the many announcements made including the new Halo, Gears titles and studio acquisitions.
Xbox One has a very big triple A lineup this year
Quantum Break, Halo 5, Fable Legends, Forza 6, Rise of the Tomb Raider, State of Decay remaster, Halo ODST remaster
Well, Xbox One can hardly look behind to 2015 until next year.
For weeks I have been hearing about Xbox One not having any games to kick off the 2015 year and all I see is game announcement after game announcement we have
Idarb just released
Smite coming soon beta shortly after a release
Dungeons and dragon Neverwinter beta shortly after a release
Pneuma:Breath of life February
Ori and the Blind Forest March
Screamride March
State of Decay Year One April
Forza 6 ???
I truly believe Xbox One will have a great year the amount of Diversity and options is fantastic.
Sweet can't wait , so much fun to be had again this year.
Quantum Break might not see the light of day until 2016, Fable Legends is meh no one is waiting for that lol and i thought Tomb Raider was timed exclusive?
Either way I hope Microsoft keeps pushing the envelope and trying to garner back that fan support it lost with its initial message. I like the big change it was forced to do and how it is turning out the best for gamers. Bring those games! we want them!!!