Is Microsoft The Most Consumer Friendly Game Company?

They're behind in sales, but is Microsoft doing more to please the fans they have?

[-Foxtrot]

No...

...

That's it really

[freshslicepizza]

who is the one who is now offering play anywhere titles, offers refunds on digital games that are played less than 2 hours and allows its customers to choose services like ea access. but please try and counter how nintendo and sony are both more consumer friendly and i will quickly show you how out of touch with reality you truly are.

[AspiringProGenji]

You think MS is doing all of that from the deeps of their hearts? Let me tell you buddy, they are doing all of that to gain momentun and their audience back. No company is as consumer friendly and you think. They just happened to do stuff more when they are losing. Is cancelling games consumer friendly too?

Sony and Nintendo are in a better position than Microsoft. MS has been doing fked up since the gen started with their anti consumer practices (DRM, Pre owned fee, forcing Kinect out your throats), while Sony has been actually very pro consumer countering all of that before they even were on top

And more importantly, they keep delivering games and investing heavily in their 1st party content with no sigh of complacency, VR, and so on. That is a consumer friendly as it gets. Sony doesn't have to mimick everything MS do. MS is the one that needs to worry about catching up

So who is the one out of touch of reality? I can see Nintendo and Sony having a Refund program too, but they don't need play anywhere or EA access to be consumer friendly. Being consumer friendly is mot waiting to be on the bottom to start doing cool stuff. If they were as consumer friendly, they would have done things better since the START of the generation

[Liqu1d]

Nintendo, Sony and MS aren't the only game companies.

[freshslicepizza]

@AspiringProGenji
"You think MS is doing all of that from the deeps of their hearts?"

you think sony kept lowering the price of the ps3 because they have a loving heart?

"Let me tell you buddy, they are doing all of that to gain momentun and their audience back. No company is as consumer friendly and you think. They just happened to do stuff more when they are losing. Is cancelling games consumer friendly too?"

is the cancellation of the last guardian on the ps3 consumer friendly too?

"Sony and Nintendo are in a better position than Microsoft. MS has been doing fked up since the gen started with their anti consumer practices (DRM, Pre owned fee, forcing Kinect out your throats), while Sony has been actually very pro consumer countering all of that before they even were on top"

nintendo is certainly not in a better position and this isn't about what games you like better, this is about who is CURRENTLY the most consumer friendly.

"And more importantly, they keep delivering games and investing heavily in their 1st party content with no sigh of complacency, VR, and so on. That is a consumer friendly as it gets. Sony doesn't have to mimick everything MS do. MS is the one that needs to worry about catching up"

making timed exclusive deals for psvr on resident evil is consumer friendly to you?

"So who is the one out of touch of reality? I can see Nintendo and Sony having a Refund program too, but they don't need play anywhere or EA access to be consumer friendly. Being consumer friendly is mot waiting to be on the bottom to start doing cool stuff. If they were as consumer friendly, they would have done things better since the START of the generation"

you can see sony and nintendo having a refund policy too? i thought sony doesn't need to mimick anyone? make up your mind.

http://www.eurogamer.net/ar...

good luck dealing with sony if you get hacked and nintendo is just lost when it comes to having your content tied to your account.

[Antnee534]

Steam

[343_Guilty_Spark]

@AspiringProGenji

Microsoft is a company not a person. The deep from their hearts talk is irrelevant, as their Pro consumer policies ARE something they are doing and something SONY is NOT. Get a grip.

[GTgamer]

Lmaooooo you should thank Sony for that.

[ShadowKnight]

Hmmm I would have to go with Steam

[TheGamingArt]

@moldybread, I'm honestly not sure who's been brainwashing you but high level overview, Microsoft has been trying to dominate the Living room experience for a long time now and it turns out, they're medium for having any remote success in this was gaming. They don't give a rats ass about gamers and if they dominated the market, would single handedly try to kill off the idea of console gaming. It's been fairly obvious since the 360 days and was made bluntly obvious on the Xbox One's launch. There's a reason there's hardly any 1st party studio investment by them..... that's not their priority at all.

[uptownsoul]

@moldybread -- "who is the one who is now offering play anywhere titles, offers refunds on digital games that are played less than 2 hours and allows its customers to choose services like ea access. but please try and counter how nintendo and sony are both more consumer friendly and i will quickly show you how out of touch with reality you truly are."

Sony (during this generation) doesnt heavily market AAA games and then refuse to let gamers buy & enjoy them

[Yetter]

And XBOX game pass

[Yetter]

@Antnee534 Have you ever had to deal with Steam customer service?? What a nightmare.

[QUIMICOMORTAL]

Who isn't offering new games? As a game company, not giving you new exclusives doesn't sound very friendly!

[Perjoss]

The play anywhere titles are terrible value because the price you pay for XB1 and PC license you're almost buying 2 games. If they were consumer friendly they would not charge so much extra for playing your game on 2 different platforms.

[Cohagen420]

Constantly lying and providing the worst 1st party exclusives with the most obnoxious executives, rrrright.

[Gwiz]

" and i will quickly show you how out of touch with reality you truly are "

You should've taken a long and slow thought about what you wrote there.

[Bruh]

@Aspiring

What a dumbass, regardless of why they did it, you literally drew a comparison and proved moldy's point correct in that among the 3 hardware developers they are the most consumer friendly.

[freshslicepizza]

@Perjoss
"The play anywhere titles are terrible value because the price you pay for XB1 and PC license you're almost buying 2 games. If they were consumer friendly they would not charge so much extra for playing your game on 2 different platforms."

what are you talking about? there is no surcharge and yet 5 people already agreed with you. lol.

[agent4532]

Darn! I was going to say Valve but you were referring console manufacturers.

[Why o why]

Are they trying to be. . Maybe. Were they pushed or did they jump doesn't matter too much if the net result is the same. My point is they started this gen as the most unfriendly company by a long shot. They had to change or die slow. . The best commodity a gaming consumer wants is games. . Ms seem to invest the least out of the 2 hd consoles on growing their own. . So for all their pros, there's cons too. . Give me games. . Services and other features are secondary. .

[Z501]

Who is offering more variety when it comes to games? Games, the single most important aspect of a games console.

[sinspirit]

@moldybread

"you think sony kept lowering the price of the ps3 because they have a loving heart?"

-What does this even mean? Sony sold PS3 at $500 and $600 when it cost over $800 to manufacture.

"is the cancellation of the last guardian on the ps3 consumer friendly too?"

-Is cancelling the last 3 years of 360's library to save games for XBox Ones launch consumer friendly? Ryse was meant for 360 a long time ago. Forza 5 was also an abominable rushed job that launched with day 1 DLC despite having less content and actually looking worse graphically, except in lighting.
-And, when they released Forza 6 they said they weren't going to do things like that anymore. Until after game reviews came out they updated it to have anti-consumer extra payments.

"you can see sony and nintendo having a refund policy too? i thought sony doesn't need to mimick anyone? make up your mind."

-He stated that Sony does not need to mimick everything MS does. They don't. MS is mimicking Sony and has been mimicking multiple platforms since they began. They have never been more pro-consumer. Just because they lately have more friendly additions to policies when they are in last place. Yes, Nintendo is in a rough spot. But, Wii U came after record sales of the Wii. The Switch just came out and sold extremely well. Their position is yet to be set so don't claim they are in trouble.

"good luck dealing with sony if you get hacked and nintendo is just lost when it comes to having your content tied to your account."

-Yes, they have to update some of their policies. Definitely. We can take criticism. But, as a gaming platform. Your console has failed you. When they learn to deliver NEW games without spending half their budget in advertisement, bragging every single step they can list a higher number than a competitor, hiding their numbers when they aren't doing good, and not have hidden practices(like Windows 10 leeching data off users to sell to 3rd parties) then you can talk.

-They started this generation with immense anti-consumer policies. 360 was quite anti-consumer as well. If Hitler or Stalin became good guys after what they did then would you forget? Probably, if their names were XBox.

[WickedLester]

Jesus Christ, does MS pay you to get on here and defend them?

You must be connected to this website intravenously where your thoughts are immediately converted to posts. It's the only explanation for your 24/7 paTROLLING of every Xbox related thread.

[Stogz]

You spent most of this past week telling people how awful brand warriors are. And look at you on this thread with giant paragraphs of your love for MS. This is why no one here takes you seriously. Biggest joke on this site.

[CoinOrc]

The most consumer friendly company is the company that releases the most exclusives, even exclusives that are "unpopular" and are not expected to sell. The most consumer friendly company is the company that doesn't cancel games.

[RosweeSon]

Games with gold was added as an after thought and mainly because they had to due to Sony Offering it, Nintendo may be behind the times but when they knocked £60 off 3ds I got 20 free games, did you get any free games when Microsoft looped off over £100 of the price of the console then removed Kinect (which will never get removed from bundle 🙄) also my Wii stopped reading certain discs (smash bros) console was well out of warranty, no worries Nintendo collected fixed it and sent it back to me within a week for free... I can tell you now Microsoft never would have done this I had 3 360's go in for repairs over the years if it wasn't in warranty it wouldn't have happened, Sony are are same when my Blu Ray drive went on my day1 PS3 they wanted 💰💰.
Xbox are by far the worst tho.

[Goldby]

mKing the consumers have to buy a new console just to enjoy HDR is not very consumer friendly.
Continuously putting out timed exclusives like dead rising 4 and rise of the tomb raider aren't consumer friendly moves.
Selling a new console wen their issue is lack of 1st party games isn't consumer friendly

[nX]

lmao nothing to see here guys, just moldy being the delusional troll that he is, really no point in arguing with someone who for some reason refuses to understand how reality works. I blame his parents for his stupidity.

[4Sh0w]

lol, the initial always on policy never happened and thus Xbox has easily been the most consumer friendly console this gen. Microsoft consistently provides more significant updates from fan feedback, they give more choice like EA Access which is very consumer friendly, BC has been very consumer friendly, play anywhere is very consumer friendly, digital refunds is very consumer friendly, and Microsoft's customer support is also highly rated, along with them being very transparent since the X1 launched.

lol, no Microsoft is not perfect but all companies have highs and lows still I'm not hearing any legit reasons why Sony is more consumer friendly....ahhh well it's expected Microsoft won't get fair credit on this site, Xbox fans should just be happy Microsoft is listening to their feedback.

[Death]

It's incredible the amount of people comparing "intent" with what is actually happening. In many ways Microsoft has had to step up their game with customers to try and regain marketshare. It's irrelevant to gamers why they are doing what they do, it's what they are doing that has an impact. Sony is doing what the fans want which is obvious when you look at the disagrees by the fanbase.

[AspiringProGenji]

This guy is a joke and provide no depth to any discussion he is in. All he does is twist anyone's words lol. Is TLG all you could come up with? Really?

Doing Refunds isn't mimicking MS. Steam does it. Many Online retailers do it too. Refunds may become standart as Digital content era comes. It is only natural that Sony and Nintendo will follow.

@4show

I like your comment more, and let me tell you that I'd be the first to admit that MS has done a lot of cool stuff. But that doesn't necessarily make them more pro consuner than others. You know damn well their intentions at first were nothing like this. All they been doing is recovering

CD project Red and Respawn are clear examples pf being consumer friendly: DLC and more content for fre from the start. Stuff they could be charging money and don't get them revenue giving it for free for the fans, not waiting until they are in a tough position.

As for Sony, you don't hear anyone praising their pro consumerism because they are not the ones with the sorry faces. I can provide you with lots of pro consumer stuff they do:

- PSX. A yearly event for the fans
- Doing polls on twitter asking fans what they want localize in the west. That is why Yakuza is becoming popular, d more titles to come

- taking risks with VR
- Investing heavily in 1st party studios , because who else they are publishing games for?
- two big firmware updates per year, they also listen to feedback

And My favorite of them all:
- Funding and greenlighting games that failed to meet huge sales. Yoshida admitted that not all games make profit, but they would still and supporting talent.

This are stuff you wouldn't expect from a company that is on top. Not always, and certainly not MS when they were on top last gen.

[Christopher]

CD Projekt, owners of GOG. They don't offer EA Access, but they do things absolutely no one else does. Including make quality games with tons of content.

[Why o why]

@4show

Lol. . . First paragraph read like something rookie would type. .

Again, they are trying but I do think they've been forced. Net result is better for their fans

[4Sh0w]

Why o Why

Again you guys keep talking about something that was reversed BEFORE 1 console was sold and because they were "forced"= all irrevelant to the end user.

I won't bore you with my thoughts of why I think X1 would of been a better console today with the original plans but either way the vast majority of gamers who don't follow gaming news like we do don't even know exactly what Microsoft plans even were. So again at the end of the day ps4 and X1 both began with basically the same traditional policies.

As for games well I'd agree as of late X1 hasn't been strong with new releases, that said ps4 was lacking for about 2 yrs out of the gate, and that's not just my opinion, there are 2015 ps
forums full of ps fans complaining about the lack of good AAA games, and too much focus on indie gaming by Sony, now all of a sudden after a couple great games and ps fans conveniently discount X1 games. Sure they might not care for the lineup and yes there are few stellar ps games that I think are top notch SP experiences, but outside of that the X1 overall catalogue of games is very good for my tastes, so to each his own.

Congrats to Sony for all of ps4 achievements but truth is if Microsoft has done any ONE thing very, very well compared to Sony this gen it has been to make the X1 platform the most consumer friendly. I remember many ps fans lecturing Xbox fans that if you accept that the other company is lacking in a particular area then theres no reason for them to change, so I say if you think Sony is fine with their approach to consumer policies vs Microsoft the cool, me I like Microsofts hustle in regards to consumer feedback, updates, BC, digital refunds and choice like EA Access have been the right approach for consumers. That said it doesnt hurt me at all to admit Microsoft needs focus more on delivering games, mostly they just need to do a better job of filling out the entire year with new games.

[Why o why]

4Sh0w

no....i actually agree with most of that. I thought you were making a joke with the pr speak and found it funny and lighthearted.

Like I said by hook or by crook ms became a better company and their path doesn't matter too much if the end result is better than before. Shouldn't mean we cant state why we feel ms was forced or disagree with the question either. Happy consumers is the bottom line so it begs to ask who's fans are happier...were here to play games so for me...my primary desire is games of high quality and variety like it has always been. Sony had to listen less than MS did so ms automatically gets the nod because they had more to fix and to their credit, are trying.

I stated that I thought the refund system was a win for ms when it was announced and that is extremely consumer friendly and should be across all consoles but cancelling games is not. This is the console gaming industry. Sony heard the fans wanted to use their externals and eventually gave that but they already allowed us to switch our internals so if MS then allow internal switches then thats 2 acts of gamer friendly goodness vs sonys 1 yet both would offer the same. For me, gamer friendly starts with games and gets fleshed out with services and perks. Its easier to listen when your so far behind the entity you want to be in front of.

I would be interested to hear why you feel that 'draconian' plan was the way to go . I'm always open to hearing differing points of views.

'As for games well I'd agree as of late X1 hasn't been strong with new releases, that said ps4 was lacking for about 2 yrs out of the gate, and that's not just my opinion, there are 2015 ps'

Sorry mate. That was a myth I keep hearing getting regurgitated like the x1 flew out of the gates with an abundance of excellence in comparison..dont let me list you brother. A lot of the indie downplay was coming more from the xbox detractors who were labelling the ps4 an indie station because all of a sudden sony had more.

[JasonKCK]

"No...

...

That's it really"

You clearly couldn't think of anything. Refunds alone top anything, then you have crossbuy, free BC, digital game share, GWG, Game Pass, external HDD support by demand, more updates, and more features.

[-Foxtrot]

What's the point blabbering on which will just give more ammo to insecure people for when they reply

[uptownsoul]

@JasonKCK - "Refunds alone top anything" -- WRONG...Over the past 7-8 years I've never heard anybody refuse to buy a digital game on consoles because they're wasn't a return policy.

Xbox has cancelled several major games that they heavily marketed. Sony, has not. And of all the things you've mentioned, NEW games being released (and not cancelled) matter WAY MORE

[JasonKCK]

Then you have Xbox Communities where ideas are created and voted on by the community.

Where's is Sony's equivalent of any of that?

[QUIMICOMORTAL]

Yes, they are only missing the games themselves!

[TheCommentator]

@ Foxtrot

What's the point of not providing evidence to support your view if you believe MS isn't the most consumer friendly?

I guess consumer friendly means removing PS Now from devices already sold to consumers? Banning accounts after consumers get refunds? Not honoring PS4 repairs on infested systems when they designed the PS4 to be a roach motel? You've got nothing which is why you say nothing, so move along and be done with it.

[-Foxtrot]

@TheCommentator

Because it's been said so many times in the past

You know this...but then maybe you just want to throw fuel into the fanboy debate.

[agent4532]

Microsoft had to copy Valve in other to become a more consumer friendly corporation.

Steam offers:

Videogame refunds
Sells games for cheap
Lets gamers handle the steam store through early access, greenlight

To me Valve/Amazon are by far the most consumer friendly corporations.

[TheCommentator]

@ Foxtrot

The points I made are directly towards the topic of the article, which is who cares more about their consumers. Do you consider my points to be pro-consumer or not? Do you consider them to be accurate? Honestly, if what Sony is doing offends you, maybe you should do something about it instead of turning a blind eye and crying fanboy when people like me point out that Sony isn't perfect.

[JasonKCK]

Ciporta1980 So you can buy a game on the PS4 and get a free PC version? PS4 has digital refunds? PS4 has Game pass and digital game share? How long did it take to get external HDD support? How many HDD's can you use? Does PSN+ give more AAA games than GWG?

Does Sony ask it's community for ideas and make it happen? <--- Why can't Sony do that one simple thing? Again... Where's is Sony's equivalent to that?

[Moe-Gunz]

Everyone in this comment section conveniently forgot the 2013 reveal I guess.

[SonyAddict]

And less games!

[omarja1405]

Judging from their history I think it's safe to say no.

[septemberindecember]

Care to bring out your reasoning, Foxtrot?

[nitus10]

A simple Google or even a Bing search will show you that Microsoft as a company can be quite anti-competitive with some of their practices being questionable and in some cases illegal (see the European Union cases). The company has also been fined over a billion dollars (USD) for some practices.

Want to check a recent (read still current) practice?

If you are running Windows 10 I suggest taking a look at the settings with regard to privacy. By default, all the settings are "on" and with some updates, all those settings are turned back "on" even though you may have turned them off. In fact is you care to look up the definition of Malware and then look at the privacy settings which as I have said before are turned "on" by default and Windows 10 ticks all the boxes.

If you don't have a problem with Windows 10 privacy then that is your prerogative but why have all the default settings as "opt-in" rather than "opt-out"? Please don't say this is for the good of the customer that will make you a Microsoft Shill.

BTW. I wonder why Windows 10 is only 25.36% or the market compared to Windows 7 (49.42%), Windows 8/8.1 (8.23%) and even Windows XP (7.44%) even though Windows 7 and 8.1 were allowed to upgrade to Windows 10 for free? https://www.netmarketshare....

[septemberindecember]

@nitus10

Excuse me, was I talking to you?

Also, you do realize that the topic was "game company". Maybe you should think a little bit before you bring out your avid hate for the Windows operating system into a topic about game consoles :)

[2cents]

Yes...

...

That's it really.

[DLConspiracy]

TLDR.

No really I think you actually have to be a customer for the most part to understand some of the consumer friendly things they do. Otherwise you are just sort of shouting across a battlefield and waving a flag still. Just saying.

[shinrock]

the best reply ever.

[Monster_Tard]

Sure in the past, but currently out of the big 3 I'd say they are the most consumer friendly and it's partly because they're still doing damage control over the bad pre-launch/launch of the Xbox One that still has some people soured over.

[LastCenturyRob]

Why not explain in detail your "no"...got news for you MS has done nothing cater to gamers since they reversed the poor launch of the X1..that's just facts, hater.

[DAEMONIFEAR]

Lol look at the big picture MS are 100% more consumer friendly then Sony and Nintendo combined! I bet you've not even looked into anything you just assume it like every other Sony/PC fan girl!

And for those that say MS aren't consumer friendly out of the kindness of their hearts lol first of all it's a business and secondly MS creates better products, features and services that the other's cannot compete with! All Sony has done is sell a damn console. everything else is failing! Lol

The big picture is Sony aren't all that comparing it to MS/xbox Sony's services, features and products are crap! If you think otherwise you're just ignorant and not looking at it without a bias fan boy attitude! Sony are a failing brand they have been now for around 5yrs regardless of the supposed success of 54mn console sales in which is that sales of the base PS4 no one is buying the PS4Pro due to the fact is has no actual benefit over the standard PS4!

So if you want to compare half ar*ed products, services, features and the worst consumer support out of all then go for it! I guess settling for less is more these days!

[MoonConquistador]

Read your own post back to yourself before expecting others to listen to this drivel.

I've seen salty misinformed posts on here everyday but yours takes some beating.

[mark_parch]

i think microsoft are doing more than the competition with things like backwards compatibility, ea access, game preview program, better free monthly games, digital refunds, play anywhere and mods. the reason for all this is probably because they are trailing in sales but the fact is they are still doing it when the competition isn't.

[Deep-throat]

Out of the three console makers? Absolutely.

Sony's customer service is bad

[EatCrow]

Glad I'm not the only one who thinks so... Customer service needs a ton of work.

[URNightmare]

I just contacted costumer service two weeks ago and it was very good!

[EatCrow]

@URNightmare
regarding what? Im curious. Did your account get hacked?

[URNightmare]

I would answer your question but your response makes me believe you're just a not. No point.

[omarja1405]

I'm beginning to think Sony has raped your mother & killed your father.

[GTgamer]

Do you even own a PlayStation

[septemberindecember]

I own a Playstation and I can attest to his statement. I even wrote something myself about it on this thread. Just because someone has a negative view on a particular aspect of a Company/thing doesn't mean they haven't tried it.

That is like when all those Nintendo fans say you haven't played Zelda when you have a few negative opinions about the game.

[Condemnedman]

so he has to own a console to have had dealings with Sony's customer service? defending much? they do pots of stuff don't be so childish

[subtenko]

Does he even game?
How does he sleep at night!?! O.o

[GTgamer]

@codemnedenman
Well if you don't own a Sony product how would you encounter their customer service I understand you and common sense must be strangers.

@septemberimdecember Never said any of that I'm just saying all he does is bash PlayStation so I would find it hard to believe he has encountered their customer service because a man with such a distaste for a company shouldn't own Any of their products.

[Deep-throat]

I own every PS console except PSP.

[QUIMICOMORTAL]

So, for those out of luck that fobs themselves in need of customer service you may be right!

For those who need actual NEW games (which should be everyone) M$ pretty much suck!

[notachance]

you're in US I guess?

here in my region it's the opposite, at least Sony has an official representative in my country, MS just has nothing, no games, no local customer support, no games, no dedicated local server, no games, not even official console seller nothing

hell even many gamers here don't know there's already another xbox released after X360, even though there are so many PC mustard race here.

[ILostMyMind]

Fact. Sony's customer service is terrible. Hard to get worse.

[URNightmare]

Keep deep-throating that MS pole!

[LordofYogurt]

Yup I have all the consoles and Sonys customer support BLOWS ASS. Seriously, my account got compromised and even after proving my identity I had to wait 1 week to get a damn password reset email. WHY DID IT TAKE A WEEK FOR THAT?!?

[nX]

Maybe because you're one of 20million people who had the same problem at that time? Just a stupid guess though, it was probably due to your manners and punctuation.

[LordofYogurt]

@nx

My manners are fine and punctuation is hardly an issue when you are TALKING ON THE PHONE.

Fuckin' smartass...

[Segata]

They gave me hell when PSN double charged me for a game called rain. No matter what they would not return my money. I once dropped my Vita. Cracked the screen and called them and again were dicks and took a long ass time to get it back to me. I never called MS. Sony in my experience has been terrible. Nintendo was so casual laid back and cool about it,not something I expected form them. SEGA was overly nice and sometimes went the extra mile back in the console days.

[Bennibop]

People seem to think their experience of dealing with a company whether positive or negative is how that company behaves towards everyone. That is not how it works! Personally I have had brilliant service from Sony (replaced out of warranty ps4 for free) and also Microsoft (rrod consoles.)

PS not sure why Sony should replace a vita because you dropped it, that is not covered by any warranty (including mobile phones.)

[Segata]

@Bennibop. I didn't have them replace the vita I paid them money to fix it. They just were difficult on the phone to get and give any info.

[MagicBeanz]

Not that you'd actually know.

[Imalwaysright]

100% agree on Sony's customer service. My PS3 phat got the YLOD with my Oblivion disk stuck in it so I call Sony's customer service to know what I had to do for them to be repair the console and told them that my game got stuck in it.

I send my PS3 to them and it took them more than 1 month to fix the console but my game was nowhere to be found so I called sony's customer service again. They didn't know of what I was talking about so I told them again that they had my game. Another week, another call and again, they don't know of what I'm talking about so I let them know that they have my game.... again! Another week, another call and I have the same exact dance with another parrot. Another week, another call, same dance but with a different parrot.... another week another call, same exact dance... 8 or 9 years later and I'm still waiting for MY game that I paid €70 for that y. Sony's customer service in Portugal is a disgrace.

[Mister_G]

Sony bad? That's not been my personal experience. I've not needed to contact them much (thankfully) but when I did I found them to be extremely helpful. Couldn't have asked for more.

[XiNatsuDragnel]

I disagree

[Next_gen_2015]

So paying $15 a month for PSnow to play old games is consumer friendly? lol

[Summons75]

Because Ryse and The Force Awakens just came off development and aren't old what so ever...

[Next_gen_2015]

@HarryPuttar

My point is, paying $15 a month to play old games is a scam...especially if i already own the game.

[Utalkin2me]

@Next_gen_2015

If you already own the game, why would pay to play. That would be stupid on your part. Ohhh right cause Sony forces you to pay for PSNow.....SMFH

[Next_gen_2015]

@Utalkin2me

Exactly. Why would anyone pay to play a game they already own? They should be able to play it for free...which is what MS is doing with backward compat.

[silvacrest]

It's not a scam if its a choice and a easy one to make

[InTheZoneAC]

I don't pay $15 for psnow, do you? Does anyone? I have my ps3, I have all the games I've bought from last gen and this gen.

[ILostMyMind]

Damn sony, who put a gun on your mother's head and threatened to shoot if you did not sign PSNow. 😡

They should assemble the servers, pay employees, license the titles and deliver everything for free. Who do they think they are to charge us for a service?

[Chevalier]

You know what I did to play my old games? I turned on my 360 and PS3 and popped them in and played all my old games. Its cool that BC is a good feature, but, I am sitting on piles of NEW games. Its a much nicer dilemma to figure which new game to play then play old systems. 360s and PS3s are dirt cheap as are their games, go buy one if it is what your going to complain about. How is it you guys complain about a feature you don't use, champion BC, but, are amazingly silent when Xbox One literally has no big exclusives to play? The Switch will be on its 4th major exclusive in its 5 month of release, PS4 has had over 1/2 a dozen top rated and selling games already and by the same time in June Xbox will have ONE exclusive of note.

GAMES are the first order business to deal with. You can't play any of those features you guys champion so much. BC doesn't bring anything new that hasn't been in generations past. All the refund policies, BC and other garbage does not change the fact that first priority should be games FIRST, not LAST like on Xbox One list of things to do. Seriously backwards train of thought.

[SegaGamer]

No, they are out for themselves just like any other company.

If Microsoft were selling more Xbox One's than Sony is selling PS4's, then i doubt these nice new features they have made available would even exist. They are being forced to do these things because they want people to buy their products.

So, them being consumer friendly isn't something they are doing out of the goodness of their heart, it is something they have been forced into doing.

It's nothing new though, it's something every company does in attempt to beat their competition.

[freshslicepizza]

so in other words yes, they are a consumer friendly company. you can try and confuse the message as much as you want about how they are only doing this because they are the underdog and so on but facts are facts. the irony of your statement would point to nintendo being pushed the furthest to be the most consumer friendly of them all, so are they? well i guess there goes that theory then.

[SegaGamer]

"so in other words yes, they are a consumer friendly company"

No, because it's completely fake and forced. They aren't doing it for our benefit, they are doing it for themselves. Swap around Sony and Microsoft's positions in sales and you would be seeing Sony trying the same tactics. It's what every company does when trying to gain ground on the competition.

[stuna1]

Serious question! Do you really believe that if Microsoft wasn't getting their ass handed to them that anything that you've mentioned would even be up for a topic of discussion? Hell to the NO! Everything and I mean Everything that Microsoft has done, is doing and, will do is in direct correlation to the position they put themselves in!

If gamers would have went along with Microsofts original plans, from the horses own mouth there wouldn't even be game sharing on multiple platforms!

Their would be required 24 hour sign-iins!

The Xbox 1 would be plastered with advertising!

Kinects would be monitoring station!

Used games would be relics of the past! And knowing this B/C probably wouldn't be a talking point in Microsofts strategy or would likely be behind some sort of paywall!

NetFlix would still be behind a paywall!

All the talk of The Cloud, DX12, Secret Sauce, Up Clock and hidden or Second CPU/GPU's would still be dominating the majority of discussions!

Scorpio would be a figment of everyone's imagination, because if Microsoft would have dominated this generation all the aforementioned things I listed would have become reality and none of the thing you stated would likely not have come to pass and people would be reaping the benefits of Microsoft's so called "Consumer Friendliness" disposition!/s

[MorpheusX]

Moldy Bread [Definition/ Urban Dictionary]

"a discolored, wrinkly, and stinky old person with acne problems."

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Wikipedia definition of MOLD:

"Molds are a large and taxonomically diverse number of fungal species in which the growth of hyphae results in discoloration and a fuzzy appearance, especially on food "

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moldy

(British mouldy)

adjective

1. Covered with a fungal growth that CAUSES DECAY, due to age or damp conditions.

‘moldy bread’

[Chevalier]

Doing something because you are forced does not make you better. Also another interesting fact, no one has nor will they ever come to my store and say I need an Xbox One because of BC, return policy or EA Access. I get people who do come and say they want to buy a system for GAMES, not features. No one has ever come to me and said features trumps any new games ever. Features aren't GAMES. You know the reason you buy a GAME system? GAMES. First priority = Games, 2nd, 3rd etc can be features .

[Lennoxb63]

When they were the only new console out (360) they were still adding new features to the console.

[ApocalypseShadow]

You mean features like adding *heatsinks* to the systems to prevent the worst console failure rate in history? Features like HDMI to the new systems but did nothing for the component system early buyers?

Features like the $100 Wi-Fi adapter that was built in for free on PSP,PS3 and the Nintendo DS? Features like the expensive HDD that on the competing system, you could go buy at a store and get more space for less , install it and not void your warranty?

Or you mean other features like adding pay walls to prevent you from using something basic like a Netflix app unless you bought an online gold subscription?

Which feature above did you enjoy the most?

[freshslicepizza]

@Apocalypse Shadow
"Which feature above did you enjoy the most?"

i enjoyed the ps2 features the most, the xbox was the same price, had a hard drive and was a lot more powerful. meanwhile sony was selling people a seperate broadband adapter and a $100 external hard drive at the time to be mainly used for final fantasy. oh, and a 4 player split connector while the gamecube and xbox both had them included.

but hey. look where we are today. one company telling its consumers they cant have options like ea access and telling its players how great and awesome it is they can crossplay with pc gamers but not other consoles. or how the ps4 pro was designed to keep gamers from going to the pc while they cap the frame rates and make sure everything runs the same as the ps4 when playing people online and hold back the potential of psvr because the pro cant have any exclusive content. no fallout 4 vr for you my friend.

oh and make sure you have at least $5 on your account when buying anything, apparently they cant figure out how to charge people for cheap themes and other sub-$5 items. and good luck trying to get your money back for any digital games you bought.

but please carry on Apocalypse Shadow acting like microsoft is the same company. sorry but they have changed, its just too bad sony's loyal fans continue to have to act like microsoft has to be their arch nemesis and haven't changed at all over the years.

[ShadowKnight]

@Moldybread

I find it funny you keep living in the past and always bring up PS2 and PS3 era to your argument. Last time I checked this is 2017. Stop living in the past.

You talk about the past more than anyone on here LMAO

[freshslicepizza]

@ShadowKnight
"I find it funny you keep living in the past and always bring up PS2 and PS3 era to your argument. Last time I checked this is 2017. Stop living in the past."

whats even funnier is how little you pay attention to what the conversation is about. apocalypse was talking about the ps3, but i guess you guys like to stick together and never question each other.

[Wallstreet37]

No they rushed out a system that was faulty, lied about it to consumers and then only admitted and corrected it until they were taken to court on a class action lawsuit in regards to rrod. Their extension of their warranty and including rrod in it didn't happen until hundred of thousands bought new 360s and the judge told them something had to give. It has even come to light they knew about The rrod issue way before they sold a 360 and still went ahead because they wanted to beat Sony to market.

Yeah consumer friendly lol at least half of those features Xbox one is adding to their system ps already had so their not as great as your making it. Pics as profiles, communities, calender meet ups etc have all been on PS for months:) bc is good though.

Again as all have mentioned they only have changed stance bcus of the @ss whipping Sony has given them. It's not being consumer friendly, it's trying to salvage their console market by trying to offer more. It reminds me how they tried to make everyone buy Kinect with Xbox one and lied and said they couodnt sell a Kinectless sku bcusit was embedded in the os lol few months later more @ss whipping they conveniently removed it. Sony is the one to thank as they are forcing them to make these changes :)

Amazon is a consumer friendly company. They are top of food chain yet when ever I complain about a late package (which is rare) or something wrong they immediately either give me at least a 20 dollar credit, item for free or some generous offer. My street fighter 5 ce edition that was like 110 on release was scheduled to come a day after I was suppose to get it.. You know what they did? Gave me it for 50 lol and I still got it same day. Thats consumer friendly

[Goldby]

@moldy
"one company telling its consumers they cant have options like ea access and telling its players how great and awesome it is they can crossplay with pc gamers but not other consoles."

and the other company is forcing is customers to buy a new console to get new features like HDR, when Sony gave it to all of it's customers.

How many games are cross platform play between MS and Nintendo? even on the WiiU? the only reason you and others still seem to think this is on sony is the fact that Ms is behind and is doign anything to get more sales.

heres the scenerio: your friends use playstation and being the devote MS defense force you are you dont have a PS4. and lets say that your friends all buy wildlands for its co-op. by making it cross platform play, Ms is winning by gettting at least on of those sales via Xbox, and possibly even an Xbox console, but sony doesn't gain anything from it. if anything they are loosing a sale because why buy the ps4 to play with my friends when i can buy my preferred xbox and still play with them.

i'll believe Ms when they announce a cross platform with a company that isn't beating them at every corner. show them that they are willing to possibly take a hit in sales, and then i'll believe that they are doign that for the consumer instead of the profit at the end of the year.

"oh and make sure you have at least $5 on your account when buying anything, apparently they cant figure out how to charge people for cheap themes and other sub-$5 items. and good luck trying to get your money back for any digital games you bought. "
WTF does that mean... like seriously. are you implying sony doesn't know how to have a digital storefront set up.. are you kidding me....?

[343_Guilty_Spark]

You say you doubt it? Well prove your unsupported claim.

[gangsta_red]

So if they aren't consumer friendly then why would they be forced to do anything?

"it's something every company does in attempt to beat their competition."

So every company tries to be more consumer friendly than the next because of competition?

....Am i missing something here, because that was the actual question the article gave...or are we talking about which company rescues little puppies from M13 and gives them collars made out of gold?

[rando]

no shit. its a company. they're all out for themselves. you can twist it as much as you like & say "they're only doing it because they're behind Sony..." the fact of the matter is... THEY'RE DOING IT & Sony isn't. also Nintendo is in LAST PLACE & they're not doing ANY of these consumer friendly policies Microsoft is doing. so your theory about a company "only doing this or that because their competition is ahead in sales" goes out the window.

[Suwarbox1]

"THEY'RE DOING IT "

Doing what? Cancelling games?

[agent4532]

Agreed and once the companies become profitable the companies forget about their consumer. Case in point Valve. No more daily deals during Steam Summer Sale, has not fixed early access, and refunding games is a pain in the butt

[aconnellan]

So wait, you're acknowledging that they're making worthwhile features and Pro-consumer decisions, but then downplaying it by saying "but they wouldn't be doing it if they were in the lead!"

Really? That's your argument?

It's no secret that every company wants and needs money, and of course MS is doing it all to gain consumer trust back after 2013, but that doesn't suddenly make their features anti-consumer or not worth using, and to suggest otherwise is ridiculous

[stuna1]

The argument is not the fact that they're doing it, it's the fact that they're prompted to do it! 2013 was a prelude to Microsoft's plans and they were as about as anti-consumer as possible! What's changed is the fact that they garnered the mistrust of not only their fanbase, but the gamer public in general.

Changing things is not in response of that mistrust, it's in response of them losing! As I said above if not for the fact Microsoft is losing the whole Xbox ecosystem would be completely different and the so called perks that some seem to think they have would be non-existant.

To add substance to the argument; Sony has been dominant the entire generation, but they didn't need to be prompted to deliver what matters! Games plus features. So why Microsoft need need to be prompted??

[TheDivine]

Doing what people wants only counts if its from the bottom of your heart like Sony offering us BC through ps now for 5 dollars an hour, or offering a better psn through charging for online, or deciding not to allow you to cancel preorders, or change your id. Those are from Sony's heart unlike stingy M$ offering refunds, free BC, buy a game once and own it on all future consoles and on PC. I see through M$ who is just trying to win back gamers hearts through doing what they ask and being consumer friendly. It doesn't count because they have ulterior motives unlike Sony who is basically a nonprofit, they just want to feed the poor gamers with games. Everything Sony does is ok and should be applauded where everything M$ does is for greedy grubby money so it doesn't count. N4G logic at its best.

[Imalwaysright]

"They are being forced to do these things because they want people to buy their products."

Shocking... oh wait that's business 101. That's why competition is fundamental to us the consumer. As a consumer it doesn't matter why they're doing, what matters is that they ARE doing it and I'm benefiting from it.

What? Do you people expect that any company does these things out of the kindness of their heart? None of them do! They all want your money and are in a competition to get it so If you're going to dismiss these practices because they're forced to do them then you have to dismiss ALL the pro consumer practices from any company that has ever existed because they exist because they want your money or because they're enforced by law.

[ApocalypseShadow]

This article is Bull$%#& damage control. It's because Sony is dominating them from every angle. It's not because Microsoft is the most consumer friendly game company. It's because they lost so much market share to Sony that their only choice to win *anybody* back is to put on a facade.

Even if there are those in this thread that try to imply otherwise, Microsoft is a shady company that misleads, misrepresents and lies to gain advantage. All while throwing money around. Check out this nonsense from the article...

***It started with Games for Gold. Microsoft’s helped ease the pain of having to pay for their premium online service by giving gamers free games every month. Microsoft released this program for the Xbox 360 but soon carried it over to Xbox One. Sony soon incorporated a similar program.***

B..S... Can you believe this rewrite of history? Can you believe this lie?Sony eased the pain of having to pay for online service by giving away games and Microsoft **copied** it. Not the other way around. What are you trying to pull article writer? Here more...

The article writer implies Sony's streaming service, PS Now, is BC. No. Sony is getting ready for the digital age by creating streaming services. They stream music, movies, live performances and now want games. Like Netflix because it's so successful.
https://www.musicbusinesswo...
https://www.bloomberg.com/n...

Those with a brain know why PS3 is not compatible with PS4 directly. A real journalist would know. Microsoft then copied and improved Sony's idea with downloading the games. Not because they're friendly.

Coming up with BS reasons why Microsoft is the most friendly console company is trying to overshadow their lack of games,lack of studios making games and the cancelation of games ready to come out. And contrary to to what some believe, EA access takes away from Sony's service of offering games, discounts, etc. Why would Sony let **one** company have their way on their platform because they don't want to add their games to Sony's service? If EA doesn't like it, let them make their own console. It's not EA's decision on what service is offered on Sony's platform.

Some here are out of touch on what matters which is making games for your platform and proving an outlet for third parties to make money on it. Sony does that above and beyond any generation Microsoft has been in. Ask yourselves, between Sony and Microsoft for each generation, which offered more for the gamer? Don't let some fools mislead you otherwise.

[freshslicepizza]

"It's not EA's decision on what service is offered on Sony's platform."

and appartently its not your decision to make either.

[ApocalypseShadow]

So, I'm right that the article is lying about Microsoft giving away games when Sony was the one that started it first.

I'm right that PS Now is not BC because if PS4 games are being added to it, where's the logic? PS4 backwards compatible with PS4? Doesn't make sense.

And, let's make this easy for you moldy. EA access is the **only** service by a third party on Xbox one. Why? Activision, Ubisoft, Square, etc have older games too. But EA has preferential treatment. Why? You're saying Microsoft is being consumer friendly with **one** company? Almost 3 years coming up in August but no other services like EA is allowed to since then?

The only conclusion is that EA was on board the used game DRM nonsense from the beginning with Microsoft. And when it failed to materialize, Microsoft gave EA VIP treatment to make amends after Sony surprised them both and freight trained Microsoft.

If no other service is offered but EA's, then it was a payback deal to keep them from supporting Sony more than them. And Sony denied EA access. Why should Sony give one company VIP treatment over all the other potential developers who want to make games for PS4? You're right. They **shouldn't** I'm glad you agree.

Making a couple of good moves after being humbled for being arrogant enough to try and take away gamers rights and losing to Sony doesn't make them consumer friendly. Just damage control after Humpty Dumpty fell off the wall.
https://m.youtube.com/watch...

[freshslicepizza]

@Apocalypse Shadow
"So, I'm right that the article is lying about Microsoft giving away games when Sony was the one that started it first."

sony did start giving the games away and i would know since i was a playstation plus member since it started. what you fail to mention is how playstation plus has eroded since then. the whole service was designed as a way to compliment your online experience, now it's just a tool to mask that its allowing you to play people online, much like how xbox live started. but here is the big butt, microsoft gave away free games time to time to gold members so in reality it wasn't sony who started the gifting. playstation plus also gave demo's and betas away, where are they now? it also supplied a monthly edition of news and inside information. now all its become is a place to get indie games some recognition since sony hardly ever gives away big titles any longer.

"I'm right that PS Now is not BC because if PS4 games are being added to it, where's the logic? PS4 backwards compatible with PS4? Doesn't make sense."

oh please, ps now was a marketing tool to act as an alternative, it only has ps3 games with slow adoption of new titles and bad pricing. its about as anti consumer as it gets from a company who pioneered backwards compatability. why doesn't the ps4 have ps1 and ps2 games backwards compatability? why because they can sell them to you instead, how nice of sony.

"Almost 3 years coming up in August but no other services like EA is allowed to since then?"

its also on the pc, it has nothing to do with microsoft. ubisoft also has their own uplay. ea has also opened the invitation to sony, seems like sony doesn't have a good record of getting back to people, including crossplay invites from games developers.? they can get valve on stage to announce crossplay with steam and the game portal but sony thinks its a bad idea to have console gamers playing against console gamers? want to tell me again how sony is so consumer friendly

" Microsoft gave EA VIP treatment to make amends after Sony surprised them both and freight trained Microsoft."

ea access came out a year after and was pitched to both sony and microsoft. the invitation is still out there to sony.

"Why should Sony give one company VIP treatment over all the other potential developers who want to make games for PS4?."

what vip treatment? xbox gets other games on its gold program too, its called choices. something you are not familiar with. on xbox gold you get xbox one and xbox 360 bc games and the choice to be a ea access member, how is this inferior to what sony offers? the only real value to playstation plus is if you have a ps4, a ps3 and vita (which hardly anyone owns). so tell me again how ps4 owners like yourself are benefitting from sony's stance to not allow ea access and to not allow ps3, ps2, ps1 games?

"Making a couple of good moves after being humbled for being arrogant enough to try and take away gamers rights and losing to Sony doesn't make them consumer friendly. "

what moves has sony done since then besides telling its customers ea access has no value while they try and sell playstation now to you? where is the investment from all that money they are now taking in for plus memberships while at the same time there is a decline in dedicated server supported games compared to last generation? yup, very consumer friendly. oh thats right, now they are being much like microsoft of the past, using that money to moneyhat timed deals like resident evil for psvr and other timed exclusive deals.

microsoft has become more consumer freindly while sony has done the opposite. facts are facts pal.

[ApocalypseShadow]

Keep lying to yourself moldy. You're bound to start believing yourself eventually.

Sort of like lying to yourself that you're a PC gamer. But everyone knows you're an Xbox fan hiding behind calling yourself a PC gamer because Sony has destroyed your beloved company in almost every way as you defend it day in and day out.

It would be like calling myself a T-Mobile fan but relentlessly defending Sprint against Verizon. Lol! Watching you try every day makes me giggle.

[ShadowKnight]

@Moldybread
Microsoft fate is this E3. If they don't bring the games it's over for them in the gaming industry. I think you should be more concern with that. Sony don't have no competition when it comes to games at the moment.

[Cohagen420]

It looks like they used that money to give us new quality games, dumbass.

[Chevalier]

Facts? No your opinion is subjective not fact.

You want a fact? Sony offers more GAMES and support their GAME system more than MS does. FACT. PS4 has had 1/2 dozen exclusives already this year. FACT. Nintendo will be on its 4th AAA game by month 5 of it launching. FACT. MS has as it is named ONE AAA game launched since October and by E3 this year. FACT. MS prioritize features to cover for lack of game support. FACT. It is ridiculous that you guys that champion MS and their backtracking ways instead of pushing for what is REALLY important. GAMES. FACT.

You guys should be asking where the hell the game are. Its YEAR 4!!! Yet you guys set that bar so low that even MS couldn't trip over it. Your priorities are beyond messed if FEATURES are more important than GAMES. You do know games are why you buy a game system right? No has nor will they ever walk into my game store and tell me they NEED an Xbox for EA Access, Refund policy, BC. The ONLY reason anyone has ever come to buy systems from my store are these 1) Price 2) GAMES and 3) where their friends are playing. You know the real reason to buy systems.

[Imalwaysright]

LMAO Apocalypse Shadow reply to your comment is sad...

http://cdn.teen.com/wp-cont...

[AmUnRa]

No, your not a PC gamer. Your a 100% xboxfanboy till the bone.

Stop lying, your exposed a long time a go. You only make it worse, nobody believes you only your fellowship of xbox fanboys.

[DigitalRaptor]

Wow, this moldybread character really is desperate.

Your theory about EA being on board with Microsoft's DRM policies which is why they're the only company doing such a subscription service is somewhat questionable to me, but even if it were actually true, moldybread is still making up just as many things, moving goalposts and drawing desperate conclusions based on nothing but years of pent up frustration... calling them "facts", and exposing his double standards about what is and isn't anti-consumer and/or acceptable for companies to do. And the whole cross-play thing he thinks Sony are to blame for, despite any real-world follow up data being completely absent from Microsoft's PR ploy is just as hilarious as the time he tried to make Sony look anti-consumer for lacking in support for mods for.... wait for it.... 2 GAMES, 2 YEARS later. 😂

I mean, he's literally making stuff up as usual because he really can't stand it when people like you and I criticise Microsoft. It annoys him to the point that he rages and exposes his hypocrisy for all to see. For example, he asks why PS1 and PS2 games are not backwards compatible on PS4... but doesn't question where the OG Xbox games are, or why are they instead being remastered on Xbone so that you have to pay for them. What a hilarious, unprecedented hypocrite moldybread really is. The irony and lack of self-awareness brings tears to my eyes. 😂

[freshslicepizza]

what am i making up? you gave no examples other than to dismiss everything out of convenience. sony is now the dictator and you still want to hold microsoft accountable for the past? lol, too funny. microsoft has changed but you guys haven't. microsoft went from the bad guys not wanting to play ball with anyone to now sony being called on it and they being the odd man out when it comes to crossplay. im sorry your hero has changed. yet i am the one now making things up? sony showed its true colors during the whole no mans sky scene not offering refunds and now microsoft offers refunds for digital games if they are played digital games under 2 hours, am i making that up too?

sony denied you ea access and calling it not very good value while they overcharged for playstation now and make a mockery of its pricing structure in the beginning? apocalypse talks about microsoft giving ea the vip treatment as to why he doesn't want sony to support it yet microsoft also gives out free games on gold from multiple publishers. you guys are just running around with your heads cut off not knowing what to do anymore to defend this company who has turned into the company you guys used to not like. now thats irony.

microsoft is also going the extra mile making sure all game engines run better on scorpio, what does sony do other than not permit ps1,ps2, and ps3 support on the ps4 and throttle back the ps4 pro power for months? oh yeah, they gave you a performance mode on horizon. going from a frame rate of 29-30fps on the regular ps4 to a rock solid 30fps. mark cerny is such a wizard, glad he came up with the 8tflop number to try and counter scorpios ability to do native 4k. great job.

[BlackTar187]

Moldy and some of these others are paid PR marketing employees. The shear amount of Xbox fanatics in the last 2 weeks is pretty telling.

[ludicrous]

Poor moldy but I see a trend:

The underdog always seem to be more consumer friendly while the one at the top doesn't need to be consumer friendly (x360 vs PS3, now reverse xboxone vs ps4). It sound like business as usual, but what about you as a user of the hardware? Do you want improvement or are you complacement with what they provide? That's why competition is a good thing, when there is no competition, corporate will just ran you over because they can (Sony, Ms, Nintendo, etc..). It seems you guys are leaning more toward complacement rather than demanding for improvement on which ever the system that you owned. Just because someone is doing great statistically doesn't mean they have no room for improvement, unless you mean to tell me that sells number justify for their negligence for improvement? How can improvement be bad for consumers? You guys don't talk about what good for the consumers as a whole but rather play the role of console warriors within your imaginary wars that been going on forever on this site.

[Chevalier]

Wow seriously how dumb is Moldy? PS4 has had cross play before Xbox. Now MS is so far behind they want to allow cross play. Of course they do! MS being able to cross play opens up their console to 60 million PS4 users and potential to market and steal Sony fan base. So their benefit is tripling their potential traffic off their network. Conversely Sony opens up their network for MS and 25 million Xbox is only a 50% increase. So yeah MS getting 200% more vs 50% more PS exposure makes NO sense to Sony. Seriously idiotic. Got to get whatever crack Moldy is smoking.

[freshslicepizza]

@Apocalypse Shadow
"Keep lying to yourself moldy. You're bound to start believing yourself eventually."

great job countering anything so i guess the truth hurts. sony has become what you didn't like much about microsoft, arrogant and leveraging its power.

"Sort of like lying to yourself that you're a PC gamer. But everyone knows you're an Xbox fan hiding behind calling yourself a PC gamer because Sony has destroyed your beloved company in almost every way as you defend it day in and day out."

really? just because you guys have nothing better to do than to have the xbox as your arch nemesis to keep the console wars alive nobody could possibly be a pc gamer. you guys suffer from some sort of superiroty complex syndrome. going from scorpio cant possibly be the same generation so its unfair to compare to it will be far too expensive to compare to not wanting to hear from pc gamers because thats not fair either. except of course to denounce any xbox games because they are on the pc, a platform you seem to fear if its ever being used to compare to the playstation. keep moving those goalposts pal.

"It would be like calling myself a T-Mobile fan but relentlessly defending Sprint against Verizon. Lol! Watching you try every day makes me giggle."

the way you guys go on about microsoft is just sad really and just goes to show how serious you are about your plastic $300-$400 boxes. this isn't about you being a t-mobile fan, its about you cherishing your flip-phone and hating anyone that comes in with a better phone because you have a little big planet case for it that can only fit on that model.

[Outside_ofthe_Box]

Your agenda is clear man. Stop trying to act like you're "above it all." You claim to be a PC gamer, but champion MS and Scorpio on daily and attack anything PS related on the daily.

♦ ♦ ♦ "what you fail to mention is how playstation plus has eroded since then. the whole service was designed as a way to compliment your online experience, now it's just a tool to mask that its allowing you to play people online, much like how xbox live started." ♦ ♦ ♦

I can see your objective analysis from your PC gaming perspective here...🤔
Both Live and Plus are services to access online play now. The free games are no longer the focus of Plus and that's because people weren't subscribing to it during last gen like they did Live despite Live not giving any games away monthly. If PS3 subs were as big as PS4 subs are now I doubt Sony would have put online play behind pay wall as there would be no incentive to do so. You call MS consumer friendly here, but call Sony anti-consumer for going MS's route instead of just giving credit to Sony for at least trying a consumer friendly policy first before putting online behind pay wall.

♦ ♦ ♦ "oh please, ps now was a marketing tool to act as an alternative, it only has ps3 games with slow adoption of new titles and bad pricing. its about as anti consumer as it gets from a company who pioneered backwards compatability." ♦ ♦ ♦

An unbiased PC gamer would totally say this...🤔

PS now was never BC. That's what people were speculating when Sony bought Gaikai though. PS Now is just Sony preparing for digital future without shoving it down our throats(how consumer friendly of them...). You should be happy that PS Now will bring PS titles to your PC. Isn't it gamer friendly of Sony to do this? 😜

♦ ♦ ♦ "why doesn't the ps4 have ps1 and ps2 games backwards compatability? why because they can sell them to you instead, how nice of sony. " ♦ ♦ ♦

Why doesn't XB1 have backwards compatibility for OG Xbox games? Is it because of the same reason you stated for Sony or is it because it might not be as easy as we think and there things on technical side of things that we don't know about? I think the latter is what someone who is objective would have concluded if you're asking me and the former is what someone with an agenda would have concluded.

♦ ♦ ♦ "they can get valve on stage to announce crossplay with steam and the game portal but sony thinks its a bad idea to have console gamers playing against console gamers? want to tell me again how sony is so consumer friendly" ♦ ♦ ♦

This is obviously politics. Not that I approve of it though. Sony should just allow it, but it ain't up to you or I to decide. Sony is open to crossplay , but only when it's convenient for them. Microsoft is in the same boat too. They could have been open to it last gen where console sales were a lot closer than it is now, but it wasn't convenient for them then, but now it this gen, but it isn't this time for Sony. If the sales were close and Sony still didn't want to do it, you'd have a point.

♦ ♦ ♦ "the way you guys go on about microsoft is just sad really and just goes to show how serious you are about your plastic $300-$400 boxes" ♦ ♦ ♦

For a PC gamer you sure tout Scorpio pretty hard and trash the Pro pretty hard too. Calling the Pro half assed, held down by the OG PS4, trashing Mark Cerny for not having boost mode in begining, etc etc etc. Funny thing you're a PC gamer so none of this should matter to you,yet you're as serious about $300-$400 plastic boxes as much as the people you are insulting.

[Silly gameAr]

The PR and shady articles have been in full swing ever since the specs of a certain console were released.

[TheOptimist]

Huh? Valve is a far more consumer friendly company than any of the other gaming companies

[Next_gen_2015]

Thats because the PC community will pirate games if they dont get their way.

[EatCrow]

Definitely yes. At least right now. What has Sony been doing that's been so consumer friendly? Other then grabbing more third party deals they haven't been doing much at all.

MS has been adding a ton more features. And it's features no one expected. So they truly are looking for ways to improve.
BC no one expected.
Adding games to Windows although some fanboys would be pissed they still did. Which is very consumer friendly.
Adding game pass is awesome.

So far they've been very consumer friendly. And I'm no fanboy. I'm totally aware this may be because they're second place in market share. But the numbers aren't really too different from last gen. They're still doing more or less as well as the 360 was doing so not much has changed.

We all know that company's are in it for the money. But last gen I don't recall Ps3 doing much of anything in terms of features. The one thing they had was free online which they removed for this gen and everyone accepted blindly but they also did start paying for permanent exclusive content for certain games like batman with the joker I believe. Very anti consumer and they were at the bottom for a while.

[KenichiEbina]

"What has Sony been doing that's been so consumer friendly?"

Delivering games, unlike M$. I love how this so called most 'pro consumer' company waited till the start of 2017 to tell everyone that scalebound has been cancelled to avoid affecting holiday sales of the system.

Timed exclusive ROTR and then BS messaging around it's exclusity. Such pro consumer company...

Has FiFa ultimate team legends exclusive for xbox platform, not even timed. Such pro consumer company.

[Suwarbox1]

Haha. Good points. Truly a pro consumer company.

[EatCrow]

1.) Xbox has games. Not as many but it does. Your point moot.
2.) BS messaging around ROTR exclusivity was resolved the same day it was revealed so not sure what youre referring to. But I'll take timed over permanent exclusivity any day as being more consumer friendly.
As far as fifa ...wasnt even aware that it was paid exclusive...didnt know the game even existed. Obviously against that.. Not sure what youre point is though.

[Suwarbox1]

"BS messaging around ROTR exclusivity was resolved the same day it was revealed

Only because of the backlash.

[rando]

Yep... Digital refunds, free Backward Compatibility. Game Pass. Play Anywhere. EA Access. free 360 titles you can keep forever even after Games With Gold expires... I can take it back to LAST GEN on 360 when I got Red Ring of Death they sent me a refurbished 360, NO QUESTIONS ASKED... when my PS3 got Yellow Light of Death with my brand new Metal Gear Rising stuck in it, Sony told me to send it in for repairs for 2/3rd the price of a new PS3 or go fuck myself... lol

[aconnellan]

Judging by the disagrees, you must be lying /s

[rando]

@ aconnellan: nah. N4G is just full of Sony fans who will downvote anything positive you say about Xbox.

[LoveSpuds]

I am based in the UK, my original phat PS3 got the yellow light within the warranty period and the service was excellent.

Following a few calls to Sony and running a few tests they arranged for a replacement. A courier turned up with a sealed container which he opened in front of me and handed me a replacement console in exchange for my duffer.

If they were billing you I suspect it was outside of the warranty period and therefore, what do you expect, it would be the same for any other consumer electronics product.

[trooper_]

You had one bad service so that means Sony is anti-consumer?

Never had any problems with Sony, even when my PS3 fat died.

[rando]

@ trooper_: that's $600 down the drain (the price at the time i bought it) PS3's were only $200-$250 new when mine broke & they were asking for $150+ to repair it. & it just broke for no reason.

when the same thing happened to my 360, MICROSOFT sent me another one NO QUESTIONS ASKED.

the point is Microsoft is more consumer friendly. Period. & have been for awhile. (even when 360 was leading PS3 in the U.S that was the case) that was the point.

@ LoveSpuds: "a few calls" it took me ONE call to Microsoft & no tests were ran. i think it was outside of the warranty period. it wasn't my fault. the "Yellow Light Of Death" is a defect that I shouldn't have to pay for. Microsoft didn't make me pay for Red Ring & I was YEARS past warranty. the point is Microsoft is more consumer-friendly... but because its Sony, I guess its all good & they can do no wrong lol smh

[trooper_]

Any company in the world had its share of crappy services. Doesn't mean that overall its crap.

[Dirtnapstor]

Why? Because now they're allowing for refunds? That in it of itself doesn't personify confidence....granted, consumers need to be more proactive and less wet-blanket when it comes to deciding what to purchase; but nonetheless, MS has miles to go before they regain face.

[Hedstrom]

They are all the same, the goal is profit. Sometimes in the short turn and sometimes in the long run. I would say their market position decides how "consumer friendly" they are.

[dilbig5]

Not really, no

[bumbleforce]

Progengi Nintendo has never been in a better position than ms. The switch is like vr it's a good gimik. Did great at first but vr isn't where it wants to be a year later. A year from now when Nintendo only has a few good games and sales slow down after the new console excitement let's talk then

[Yohshida]

Which Company has a Platform where users can offer ideas and the top ones are getting realized?

Enough said

[Majin-vegeta]

Which platform isn't cancelling games left &right?

[Yohshida]

Every Platform is cancelling games and closes studios. Love how every comment you ever post on this site is to downplay one side. Gotta love you

[Goldby]

Which company forced you to buy a new product to enjoy HDR? and to further emphasize Majins point. Which platform isn't cancelling their exclusives when their exclusive line up is very small and some are/have been time exclusives? which company is selling a new console instead of investing in game studios. which company is just focused on 3rd party multiplatform games looking the best, instead of bringing games to the consoel that play the best?

[DigitalRaptor]

The key difference here is that Sony allowed those studios to ship their games that they've poured their passion into for years. Those games found their way to an audience for the long term. Sony even showed ultimate respect to and helped Evolution find a way to retain their studio identity and culture at Codemasters. http://blog.codemasters.com...

Microsoft just wiped out most of their studios and internal projects in a single blow, all at once last year, with little to absolutely no respect to the devs. Especially Lionhead who didn't even find out they were all fired before the gaming media reported on it. Scummy Microsoft is scummier than most: http://wccftech.com/lionhea...

[omarja1405]

@ VideoGameLab

Agreed, Sony has realized many ideas from users to gamers & keep listening to their fans.

[Nasisbot]

Sony does this..

[MrSec84]

Sony has building the list, so things like the Crash remaster, Wipeout Omega Collection and numerous other games get brought back for customers.
Detroit Become Human got put into production because the Kara trailer had people begging for it to be turned into a full game.

TLG exists because people kept asking Shuhei Yoshida for it, same goes for Ni-Oh, Knack 2.
This is what Sony uses Twitter and other Social media platforms for.

[Yohshida]

Quantic Dream surely would have made a game next anyways or did they suddenly stop making games?
TLG, I give you that one. Ni-Oh was looking for a publisher and no-one ever was asking for Knack 2. Where is the Name change on PSN, the number 1 most requested "feature"?

[Goldby]

@Video.

its not that Quantic dreams is making a game. iits that they are making a game with Kara in it. people asked for Kara, and they are delivering on that.

[MrSec84]

Quantic Dream still works for Sony, people still asked for Kara to be made into a game.
I haven't been able to go to a comment thread on a forum where Knack is mentioned without multiple people asking for a sequel, I asked for one too because the first one was actually a fun game.

Name changes are one thing Sony haven't delivered which they maybe should have, but it's not an anti-consumer act, they're delivering games, features elsewhere, hell comparing Sony's track record since they made PlayStation they've been far ahead of Microsoft.

XB1's launch vs PS4's shows how Sony are far more customer focused.

[Yohshida]

"XB1's launch vs PS4's shows how Sony are far more customer focused"

offering a whopping 2 exclusives?

They are so focused, they even saved you from the evil EA Access and getting full MODs on Fallout or refusing to give us crossplay.

[Goldby]

@Videogame, where was MS last gen when sony was open to crossplatform play?

Why hasn't Ms (being so open to cross platform play) decided to make minecraft crossplatofmr with WiiU? afterall, they own Mojang now so it wouldn't be too hard?

Its one thing to say you are open to cross play, and another to actually show it. if sony is truly the issue and doesn't want it, they why hasn't every Minecraft game become cross platform except for Sony's? wheres the Xbox/Pc cross over, otr the xbox/window10 phone versions?

wanna know why Ms is soo open to cross platform gaming? becasue it would garner them sales yet most liekly take away sales from Sony.

why buy a ps4 and gameX when i can just buy GameX on my xbox and play with my friends.
heads up. you dont have full mod support on xbox for fallout. far from it. go play it on pc and then come back.

[DigitalRaptor]

@ VideoGameLab

Oh yeah.... a whopping TWO or I think maybe THREE games with mod support in almost 24 months.
Now that mods on console initiative was as impactful wasn't it? Just another prime example of Xbros making noise about what Sony is or isn't doing, and the end result being a damp fart.

Sony isn't refusing cross-play. Microsoft made a very clever PR ploy to hijack the gullible minds of their most loyal fans to frame Sony as "the bad guy". When in fact you look at what they said, they didn't provide any details about what kind of stipulations there were to what would go into making this possible, and Microsoft knowing full well that Sony would say "no" to something that they've not even attempted to negotiate on makes them look the heroes. It's amazing what happens when you divert yourself from the PR for just a few minutes. The only thing Sony has on record denied is EA Access.

[MrSec84]

So you're going to ignore that Microsoft wanted to force DRM on XB1 owners through their mandatory online "check-in" every 24 hours, charging $100 more for a weaker console and preventing people from being able to trade their games?

You don't get any more anti-consumer at the launch of a console than with what Microsoft were planning.
As for exclusives Sony had about 4, but they've consistantly delivered more than Microsoft have throughout the gen, it didn't take long for ISS to release after PS4's launch, Sony also never lied about major titles and their status as exclusives, Ryse and Dead Rising were repeatedly stated to be Xbox One only, yet they went to PC shortly after launch.

As for the EA Access I'm pretty sure Sony kept the service off of PS4 because they didn't feel it represented value only providing EA games for $5 a month, I admit it should be up to the consumer to decide, but that's one of a few things you can maybe argue, compared to the weight of the Xbox One launch policies and their clearly anti-consumer focus it's a very small factor.

Re: Fallout 4 mods, Sony wants quality control, which is clearly a pro-consumer thing, you don't want a game crashing, weird bugs or a potential virus affecting your system because the creator of a mod didn't vet it or the dev/publisher who made the core game didn't test out the feature.

As for crossplay Sony have stated they've been for crossplay for ages, there are plenty of examples of games that offer crossplay for PS4, your example here isn't valid.

[trooper_]

He ignores stuff he can't argue with.

[Yohshida]

Sony constantly refuses crossplay between ms and Sony. How is the pro consumer?
Bethesda has quality control too before a mod gets live on consoles. Now you are stuck with Mods half the space. Pro consumer.
You rather have a Company make decisiouns for you wether a Service is worth it or not?
Also love how you bought up stuff that never happened.
What about Sony trademarking lets play or dropping the vita or PS vr, which isnt even a year old.
As for launch exclusives, they had knack and Killzone. Ms had around 8 exclusives. Didnt take long for Titanfall either. Also Sunset , Horizon 2 and Master chief Collection in the first year just to Name a few. If it comes down to first Party IP, Sony got outplayed every year.

[Chevalier]

Videogamelab thinks features are what sells systems. Your name says GAME in it! Says PS got outplayed yet has the MOST, high rated exclusives, 1st/2nd/3rd party support. Yeah because that garbage Halo Wars 2 somehow beats out Persona 5, Nier Automata, Nioh, MLB 17, Horizon Zero Dawn?! Lol. Seriously get some games to play then come back and have this idiotic discussion. Features is all you got.

[Goldby]

@Videogame

reason why MS had 8 exclsuives at xbox one launch is cuz they bleed the system dry for the alst few years of 360.

PSVR isn't dropped, stop acting like a complete idiot and use some dam common sense. why are they still be manufactured, why is the highly anticipated Farpoint coming out soon if Sony already dropped VR?

Tell me Videogame, how is Ms consumer friendly by marketing rise of the tomb Raider as an xbox one exclusives? only for it to be timed. how is Ms pro consumer when they are doing another timed exclusive deal with dead rising, after phil the head states he doesn't believe in time exclusive deals.

how is Ms [pro consumer when they forced them to buy a brand new console just to enjoy HDR. like actually explain, defend that choice that Ms made for me please

[Yohshida]

@Goldby

So those games just don't count because you say so, oke.

Tell me how many PSVR are made by sony right now? They literally have no studio working on PSVR games we know of and even closed their PSVR hitmaker studio recently.

Rise and Dead rising timed are still coming to sony, meanwhile Sony moneyhatting Street fighter makes a multiple exclusive for ever. Also what about all those Indie games Sony pays to NOT release on X1? Of course those deals were bad, but other than those, MS dropped timed exclusive DLC bullsht. Sony on the other hand snacks every deal they can.

Do you really think you have HDR? Show me one video demonstrating HDR on OG PS4. JUST ONE PLEASE. Its not working dude.

[DigitalRaptor]

More lies and double standards from VideoGameLab.
Look at those pathetic excuses.

- I've covered the hilarious crossplay point in another comment.
- The mods agenda fell flat when a grand total of 2 or 3 developers in over 2 years decided it was worth it.
- You have a company who makes decisions for you whether a game being released is worth it or not.
- MS tried to force DRM on your physical disks and you're looking at a problem with a trademark. LMAO!
- Microsoft dropped the Kinect, and the Vita has more games than Kinect ever will.
- PSVR has more than one first-party game in production, you liar.
- Microsoft only had those "eight" exclusives available at launch because their Xbox 360 lineup was incredibly paltry and pathetic whilst Sony was heavily supporting their PS3 with first-party games up until 2013. This is a critical piece of the picture that Xbox fanboys regularly blank out. You know, it only takes a bit of critical thinking and honesty. Many of those XB1 exclusives were trash, many were undercooked and released early with performance issues, whilst Sony was letting their first-party studios make brand new ambitious IPs which take years and that has ended up with the amazing exclusive lineup we are seeing today. XB1 lineup is just fizzling out like it did after a few strong years of much, much better exclusive games on the Xbox 360.
- What about all those indie games MS pays to NOT release on PS4?
- MS has not dropped the timed-exclusive DLC. they just can't get it on games that make a manner of difference.
- Oh, and in case you missed it, Dead Rising 3 was money hatted and never coming to PS4.

You are so desperate that all of this has gone over your tiny baby head containing your tiny baby brain. You just got outplayed by someone who knows their stuff. Try harder kid.

[shinrock]

this ? will be ignored.

[trooper_]

Uh, that would be Sony.

Who's taking risks on new IPs? Sony
Who released games that appeal to a wide audience? Sony
Who is leading in sales? Sony

[Chevalier]

Where are the Games? The most requested thing on Xbox One? GAMES first, features 2nd, 3rd, 4th etc. Get your priorities straight. Year 4 and the ONLY thing you guys even have to defend your poor mans system is features! Not GAMES. Its called a GAMES console. GAMES not FEATURES. You know not a single person has approached me in my game store to buy a system for FEATURES over GAMES ever.

[Yohshida]

Dunno, maybe its because that article is about pro consumer decisions?
Play Anywhere
Bc
Mods
Refunds
Crossplay
Game Pass
Ea Access
Those are all about games. If you work in a game store, you would know this.

They released Halo Wars 2, Voodoo Vince and Cities Skylines with Conan Exiles, Path of Exile, Cuphead and Phantom Dust around the corner. For the other games we have to see e3 to know Releases.

[Suwarbox1]

If M$ is so pro consumer, why is it selling you garbage remasters like voodoo and phantom dust, instead of giving you OG BC?

[DigitalRaptor]

It's not pro-consumer to starve your previous console of games and decide to place the effort that should have been there on new console launch lineup that wasn't even ready yet (because they had to launch in the same month as PS4 to the detriment of the final product), moneyhatting third-party devs to launch exclusives on your console, and especially forcing them to crunch and release buggy, poorly optimized games to be ready for launch - as did happen with the Xbox 360 going into the XB1. It's then not pro-consumer to then remove choice from the gamers who bought your console for its exclusives not only to offer less and less of those games as time goes on, but to cancel them without asking your permission - as has happened on the XB1.

But I digress to respond to your hilarious list of games. Halo Wars 2... haha. Voodoo Vince is another lol, and as well as Phantom Dust should have been an original Xbox BC game considering you think it's anti-consumer to make people pay for their games again. Cities Skylines is coming to PS4. The rest... well you've been saying all your games are around the corner, for years, and half of those will be on PS4 within 12 months of them coming to XB1. What a desperate list to justify what is bordering on a drought.

[Chevalier]

@Videolab

"Play Anywhere
Bc
Mods
Refunds
Crossplay
Game Pass
Ea Access "

Interesting, as nice as those features are, I have never had any of those things come up in discussions about which systems to buy. You know you buy game systems for games right? If all you can talk about is a few features and thats your primary focal point your kind of missing the forest for the trees. Thats the point I was getting at. Features don't sell game systems, games do. You guys have so few games year round you lower the bar to the ground.

"They released Halo Wars 2, Voodoo Vince and Cities Skylines with Conan Exiles, Path of Exile, Cuphead and Phantom Dust around the corner. For the other games we have to see e3 to know Releases."

Around the corner? We are almost into the 5th month of the year and Xbox has barely anything. If remasters of Phantom Dust and Voodoo Vince are all that is available then I don't know what to say. Cuphead has been in development for how long? For all you know these games all come in the fall. Since October that's half a year and all we got is Halo Wars 2 and Voodoo Vince?! Seriously that is truly pathetic.

Just consider by the time E3 ends the Nintendo Switch will be onto its 4th AAA game! 5 months into its release that there is 4 major releases from the Switch and Xbox has what? Halo Wars 2, lol. Nintendo with Zelda, Mario Kart, Arms, Splatoon 2 destroys Xbox in exclusives. PS4 will be even further ahead in this regard.

[Chevalier]

" meanwhile Sony moneyhatting Street fighter makes a multiple exclusive for ever. Also what about all those Indie games Sony pays to NOT release on X1?"

Ono from Capcom said if Sony didn't pay for the development SFV wasn't going to be made. As for the rest of you BS comment, want to qualify your statement with links to all these indie games that are being money hatted to keep games of Xbox One?! Would love to see your proof. Because you said so isn't proof fyi. So lets see this proof.

[Yohshida]

Sure, the biggest fighting game wouldnt be made.

Look at our page, we spoke to the devs behind tricky towers about it.

[DigitalRaptor]

Oh look... the genius who has been trounced about 5 times already in this comments section says "sure" as his ultimate proof that Street Fighter V would not be made without additional support. Not only has Capcom has had to have help from two other publishers to have their games made this generation which is proof that they're hurting for money, but Yoshinoro Ono said that there was uncertainty about green-lighting the game and its validity would not have come under serious consideration for years.

If you thought that your "page" had the information you're talking about, you would have linked it. So please do. Then tell me how it's different to the way Microsoft makes deals to keep games off the PS4.

[Goldby]

Its scary that Videogames lab actually has some influence in our community through his website.

small... very small influence, but influence none the less. i really am curious to see if you lie as much in your articles as you do on these comment sections

[DigitalRaptor]

Ummm... Sony literally had a voting system for PlayStation features years in advance of Microsoft, and many have been realised. Sony also has created a hashtag that is actively monitored and researches what games PlayStation gamers want to see most on their platform, and many have been realised. Your argument fell flat completely and was utterly eviscerated from that point on, but your fanboy ass is still dragging its heels trying to hold on to desperate excuses as to why you think certain things matter more than others.

Which company this gen has lied to and deceived their consumer base the most since the start of this gen? Which company this gen sold their console with undelivered promises, and made them buy an upgrade to get what the base PS4 offers for free? Which company this gen has canceled games and closed studios that haven't even release games yet? Which company this gen has strung its gamers along for years and years on the promise of games that never saw the light of day? The answer to all of these is Microsoft.

Sorry, but trying to make one look worse than the other at this point is laughable.

[Chevalier]

" Look at our page, we spoke to the devs behind tricky towers about it."

Wait I thought you said there were a tonne of money hatting for indies to not release on Xbox? Then you come back and list a single example and are too lazy to even list a link to your OWN article apparently?! Gtfo.

Do you need to be reminded of the money hatting MS does? Dead Rising 4 just recently AFTER Spencer said he would rather spend on exclusives?! Rise of the Tomb Raider last year? GTA 4 and episodes, Skyrim, Star Ocean, Tales Of Vesparia, Bioshock, Mass Effect 1, Ninja Gaiden 1+2, Resident Evil 5 etc. Indies like Inside? Behemoth games?

Did you forget all that was done last gen and this current gen?! Seriously get your FACTS straight. Your whole crux of your argument was the indies and you couldn't even list more than a single example. A small indie game at that. Look at Inside recently coming to Xbox first for example.

[BrianOBlivion]

LOL!!!
Just f*ck right off with this ass-backwards spin. They are in the position they are in BECAUSE their long history of ANTI-consumer/pro corporate, pro-MICROSOFT tactics. What a crock of sh*t.

[rando]

things change.

[Chevalier]

Really year 4 did that change involve more games for Xbox? Nope.

[Sm00thNinja]

They're doing more for the Xbox community but they certai my aren't delivering games. The Xbox ecosystem has expanded greatly with features every month on regular, but Sony has games... and I'm a gamer.

[iofhua]

Fuck no.

[SaltyyBae]

Consumer friendly? M$? Maybe for people that live in 'America' only...

[jznrpg]

I live in U.S and I believe they suck here too

[TankCrossing]

What do MS do differently across the pond? I know the Design Labs controllers are US only, but wasn't aware of much else being different.

[TheColbertinator]

Sony and Microsoft both reek of greed and manipulation. However Microsoft is the lesser evil among them so they deserve some respect.

[AmUnRa]

O boy you xboxfanboys lost it, like totaly lost it. Its looks like your all brainwashed😖

[WharenPeace]

lol... no!

[Vasto]

Of course they are.

Games With Gold are yours to keep while Sony only lets you rent them. Let your PSN run out and the games are gone.

I will not support PSN until this is changed.

[KenichiEbina]

"Games With Gold are yours to keep while Sony only lets you rent them. Let your PSN run out and the games are gone. "

Same is the case for xbox one. Are you living under a rock or lying deliberately?

[Vasto]

That is BS.

If you download a Games With Gold that game will always be listed in your list of games to install whether you have Live or not.

If you download a PSN game that game will not be listed in your install list if you do not have PSN.

Where the hell have you been living?

[rando]

they're not lying, you're just uninformed. the 360 games you get to keep... forever... even after Gold expires. i've been getting 2 free 360 games every month for the last 2 years straight.

[Suwarbox1]

I think he was talking about xbox one games...... those you can't keep.

[AmUnRa]

Yeah and when you renew your PSN all the games on your HDD are yours to play all over again.

[omarja1405]

Sony will surely miss you. /s

[Kaneki-Ken]

I think you confusing Xbox360 with Xbone. Xbox360 you can keep all the game after gold ended while Xbone gold is basically like PlayStation Plus.

[Father Murder X]

What kind of question is this on a pro-Sony fanboy infested site? It MS sold all of their games for 19.99 new they still would hate.

[shinrock]

good ol PS4G!

[TheGamingArt]

Is this a joke, they're practically the anti-christ of gaming as a whole.

[SideNote]

Microsoft's customer service is amazing, and they did replace everyone's rrod at the time. Yes their pretty spot on really. Just wish they didn't jump console so quickly, but that has nothing to do with the question .

[AmUnRa]

O may god, are you for real? That BS and you know it. They replacing RRoD 360, cous the cord make them doing it. And the worst thing is before they start selling the 360, they knew it was faulty, keep dreaming your little dream boy.

[SideNote]

No, im a robot. I have no gender. Nor dreams. I am probably your girlfriends favorite toy.

[Malice-Flare]

probably, if you forget he fact that they attempted to reduce your rights of first sale doctrine when they launched the XB1 that is...

no company-for-profit does things altruistically otherwise refunds should have been there since the start of XBL/PSN...

[KenichiEbina]

One of the shittiest corps of the world.

[Retroman]

Noooooooooo, they only Pre-ten-ding to be consumer friendly
If MS was remotely friendly they would by now have library of games . Not wait until lost of xbox gamers to pretend to be consumer friendly to win them back . their goal shoulda been producing variety of games only.
Instead stuck on halo,gears,mass effect,destiny,forza ,assassin creed. 6 games hardly enough to call a library to keep anyone interested staying with MS ...........if ps1 only had 6 games constantly upgrade graphic only i would jumped on Nintendo 64 for variety .

[Nasisbot]

Consumer friendy and M$ are antonyms.

[jznrpg]

MS has pissed a lot of people off , they may be getting better but it's because they have to .They have burned their bridges with many
and it doesn't matter what they do. Also their games aren't very good .

[quenomamen]

lols

[XXanderXX]

If they've become consumer friendly good for them , But I want rip you're head off and stab you in the chest mentality against the competition . Enough with the Nice guy BS

[Skankinruby]

Lol whatever 'consumer friendly' moves they've made were out of necessity, not to be the more desirable products. If xbox's sales were even remotely close to ps4 you wouldn't see half the stuff you see right now.

[septemberindecember]

Well, on the customer service front I can tell you that Microsoft is much better in my experience. I've had to ask a refund from Sony twice and Microsoft twice. In the Sony situation I accidentally purchased Left Behind and The Last of Us for the PS4 not knowing that they were both included in just The Last of Us package (first refund). The second my friend purchased something on what he thought was his account, but it ended up being mine on his PS4. The first refund was easy, but the second time I asked for a refund it was much more difficult.

First, they had their chat completely blocked by me all the time. I'm not one that chats in regularly. They would always ask me to call, but I worked all the time and their phone hours just weren't the best for me, so I'd chat in at work. Finally, after a week of trying to get into a chat, one finally went through. They told me that they see the purchase and they will send this to a specialist and I should be notified within 3-5 business days.

Two weeks later I still hadn't heard anything from their specialist team. I tried chatting in, but they were still blocking me from the chat. Finally I woke up early one day and decided to call. They told me that they are processing the refund now and it should reflect on my account within 3-5 business days, which it finally did.

Meanwhile, both of the times I contacted Microsoft I was able to receive a refund pretty easily without waiting too long.

Tl;dr: I have experience with both of their customer services and Microsoft treated me better specifically in this respect.

[meka2611]

You fanboys are insane. What has Sony done compared to Microsoft? Games don't count because that is about negotiations between companies. Microsoft has listened to their fans the whole way through and delivers it within a couple weeks. Christ even for something as simple as youtube it took Sony a year to get on the ps4.

[Suwarbox1]

Even for something as simple as background music playback, M$ took years to do that. Funny how you ignore that huh?

Sony has listened to fans and gave them folders, external HDD support, background music playback, PSvue, great games quality and quantity, spotify, share play, remote play, faster install times, playGo, cross-buy, fast, clean and simple UI, no ads on UI unlike BS xbox UI, cross play with pc, Pub funds for indie devs, china hero project etc etc.

Sony has done nothing. M$ has done everything for its fans /s Fk outta here

[meka2611]

Ah you mean most of the features that they got from copying microsoft. And how long did it take to get those folders again? About a year again. Microsoft has the xbox one patched within a week when fans complained about the party setup, Sony can't boast that.

[Suwarbox1]

Oh you mean M$ copying features like BR drive, remote play, clubs that they copied from ps4 communities, forza that was GT wannabe etc etc

Both copy each other so what elare you even bitching about?

How long did it take for M$ to patch background music playback when fans were asking for it?

[SideNote]

Can't play music cd's on ps4. That's a wtf moment.

[MrSec84]

Games count because they're a product made for an intended audience, companies work to put out a product for a customer base.
Games are actually the primary intended use for a dedicated video games console and PS4 has more designed to take advantage of the hardware, the platform has more games, which are of significantly better quality.

Youtube could be used through the browser since launch, so it's not like Youtube wasn't accessible through PS4, you can't even argue that it's hard to use a web browser or anything and you could bookmark it's location for quick access to the site too.

Sony built the PS4 to be easy for devs to develop on from before launch, released a system with better hardware performance, for less money, didn't reveal their system with a mandatory 24 hour online check-in (DRM), superfluous camera system that could be used to spy on it's owner.

[meka2611]

Easy for devs, then why have developers stated xbox is easier. The xbox is more like a pc which is familiar to program to.

[MrSec84]

That's a lie, it's a fact that XB1's memory system and API were way harder to work with compared to PS4's, which is why Scorpio's memory architecture is identical to PS4's now, using a unified memory pool and software had to be altered to match Sony's more streamlined code design.
DX12 is only a thing because of how AMD shook up the API world by creating Mantle, Sony used GNM from the beginning which didn't bottleneck CPU workloads through single core communication to the GPU.

Sony designed PS4 in a straightforward way for devs from the start, not because they had to, but because it was better for developers, Microsoft didn't do the same for XB1.

[shinrock]

no one on here will give you a factual answer to Sony's consumer friendly ways.

[Aenea]

😂😂😂
😂😂

Microsoft and consumer friendly in one sentence! Amazing!

Yes, they are doing good things at the moment for the Xbox brand but please, MS never ever has been consumer friendly with anything they touched, it's all about money and doing everything to make more.

(yeah, I know, it is a business, yadayada, but MS has done some really shady things not related to Xbox, everyone knows that or should know that)

[Relientk77]

No... just no lol

[Gwiz]

They want friendly consumers...

[Iceball2000]

No, nuff said

[subtenko]

a nomination for the most ridiculous headline of 2017 goes to...

[Gwynbleidd]

That's an easy one: Yes of course!

[_LarZen_]

I'm a PlayStation fan. Got them all from the first to the newest model. But you Playstation fanboys here at N4G are so pathetic it's not even funny anymore.

[Suwarbox1]

Xbox fanboys on N4G are no better, in fact go to GT right now and look at the comments...

Love how it's always the sony fanboys targeted by these so called 'neutral' frauds.

[trooper_]

You call out one side and ignore the other? All fanboy fanatics are bad, either side.

[_LarZen_]

That's true.

[Silly gameAr]

smh at these silly articles.

[quiddd]

Couldn't you say that this perception of a "consumer friendly" Microsoft is a result their anti consumer start? Furthermore, had the intro to this generation netted better results for Microsoft, they wouldn't have changed.

[MorpheusX]

450°

Is Microsoft The Most Consumer Friendly Game Company?

WTF?!?!..........Hell no, Microsoft is the COMPLETE opposite of ANYTHING consumer friendly, you knew that b4 the thought to write this article ever entered into your mind.

Try like the Anti-Christ, or Satan, .......that's Microsoft in Reality..., Bill Gates is a Eugenicist

Definition:

The science of improving a human population by controlled breeding to increase the occurrence of desirable heritable characteristics. Developed largely by Francis Galton as a method of improving the human race, it fell into disfavor only after the perversion of its doctrines by the Nazis...

People like Bill Gates and Microsoft think there GOD, but there the damn Devil the Bible speaks of in Reality.

[Wikkid666]

Clueless idiot

[_-EDMIX-_]

Absolutely agreed have you read this guy's comment history? This person is literally psychotic.

I think he's part of some cult or something.

[MorpheusX]

@Wikkid666

Clueless Coward.

Anyone can make statements , can you EXPLAIN your statements?

No, your a boy so you cant, you HATE that I bring up things THAT SHINE THAT LIGHT on what you don't want people to think about, .......Keep your head buried in the sand, doesn't matter.

I'll keep talking about the TRUTH with a fearless resolve, you ANTS will keep getting your sensitive feelings stepped on.

I got big shoes boy, to big for you cowards.

Class Dismissed.

[MorpheusX]

@-EDMIX_

Uncle Tom Captain Coonery.

Get Out the Movie.

[AmUnRa]

What did i just read??
What het f**k has God to do with this? And what is Trump doing in there?
Theyre is something wrong with your way off thinking.

[MorpheusX]

@AmUnRa

Its not what you just read, its what you didn't read.

What you didn't read is what you always here on N4g.com, Brainwashed Parrots repeating there Fanboy nonsense......

Do some research, or not, I could care less.

This is Chess, not checkers

[Gunstar75]

It's actually exhausting; coming to this site and hearing the same one, same old fanwars!

Just stfu and game.

[MorpheusX]

Cant take the heat, get a new hobby, like sewing, I heard its pretty relaxing.

[Gunstar75]

Coming here isn't a hobby, stupid.

[Donnie81]

I think people give sony way to much of a pass. The fact that to buy a 50 cent movie on psn the other day I had to add 5$ to my psn wallet is about as anti consumer as you can get. If xbox did that people would be storming Redmond with torches and pitchforks but its ok for Sony to milk every dime they can from their supporters. Fact is xbox is a better value in many ways.

[MrSec84]

I've never had to do this with buying content when I've only had a few pounds in my PSN wallet or no money at all.
Considering you can put PS Plus and free 2 play games in your library with nothing in your wallet sounds like you're making this up.
I've done that on my PS4, PS3 and Vita, when I've had £0.00 or just a few pence.

[StormLegend]

Why does that matter so much? it's not like they took your money. You can still buy other things with the $4.50 ya know!

[Segata]

Not everyone buys that much on PSN. I almost never do on any service. I do remember once getting something that said 5 bucks but then the tax game. 5 dollars and 30 some cents. Well to pay that 30 cents of tax I have to spend another 5 dollars to have that 32 cents It's BS. Nintendo let's you buy for an exact amount even under 5 dollars. When Nintendo beats you on a online feature,you're doing it wrong.

[Jaqen_Hghar]

The one who tried to take away used games and make people stay online before Sony forced them to change by embarrassing them on a national stage? A man doesn't think so

[agent4532]

Microsoft turn around is due to gamers forcing Microsoft to change its ways.

[Artemidorus]

Had a big row with them for months after they claimed they couldn't help when I proven to them they were wrong.

Did give me the odd freebie that didn't cover the rest but they also didn't have to give me anything.

So it's a mixed reaction from me.

[Condemnedman]

some people will argue any old crap some of the comments are hilariously childish

[Maxor]

Its ironic, but now they are. Their policy with mods, crossplay and play anywhere are extremely consumer friendly.

[xX-oldboy-Xx]

hell no - no need to elaborate, gamers have long memories - well some do.

[Godmars290]

Consumer friendly now only because they did such a poor job of it beforehand.

[MehmetAlperTR]

really ?! Friendly ?!
do you remember the day that MS anounced Xbox One will not work if you dont connect online and will shut itself after 24 hours off line.. And the day they anounced about second hand games will not work on XB1 ?! and about TV !! TV !!! TV !!! .. And do you know that MS knows about RROD about Xb360 before they release their console ?.. Who wanted a paid service at first to play online ? MS right !! In the X360 era who wanted a money for a simple pixelated GAMER PICTURE !! common.. you think MS is friendly ?! then watch that maybe you ll remember that day https://www.youtube.com/wat...

[Godmars290]

Okay. So friendly so long as you pay them.

Sometimes, but then you just have to pay them more.

[feraldrgn]

No.
If you think they are, then you have short term memories & are only looking at one of their products.

[DarXyde]

They're definitely doing a lot to try restoring their reputation. Offering a lot of options, plenty of updates, the like. But I also think that shows just how unprepared they were in the beginning of this generation.

Make no mistake, they changed a lot. I would say the changes may be entirely positive ones. But at the end of the day, what will get the people on your side? If Sony's success is any indication, just make a great console with an online service that works and plenty of great games.

[Markusb33]

Oh yeah ms don't care about money it's all for the love of consumers

[DeadSilence]

No, where are the exclusives? That is how you please the playerbase not with some bs like Gold Acess or PS Now lmao

[InTheZoneAC]

they're like the abusive spouse and the op/article is like the victim that believes the abuser is the best thing since sliced bread.

[DJ_Professor_K]

They all do dirt they have all made statement out of pocketed let Susses one time or another it's business not friendship .
When coustmers are unhappy and number drop they do what they have to to get those number back up .

[DJ_Professor_K]

They all do dirt they have all made statement out of pocket let Susses go to their heads one time or another it's business not friendship .When customers are unhappy and number drop they do what they must to get those number back up it's about numbers money . I had a 360 with more then 100 arcade games easy after a few years I couldn't play ninja gaiden black and told me I had to buy it again and other problems with customer service:) and now I have a PS4 and so far they have been exceptional With all my valid problems
Ps: my Xboxlive name was sarge_dae I spent a lot of money with m.s and left a lot behind when I switched. Now Scorpio and a different attitude I will pick up one and hopefully all my old games. if I'm ever unhappy with a company I stop spending money so I don't have any problem
I speak with my Wallet

[Gman32]

Yeah thats because they had to after all that bad press in 2013 at the end of the day its just good business move for microsoft to do all this in cause reality none of them microsoft,sony,nintendo care about you just getting your money if sony wasnt doing so good they would be doing samething as microsoft is doing right now

[NicSage]

Let us not be foolish to believe any company is consumer friendly. Some may have less issues than another but do not forget that the all mighty dollar drives them as with any company.

[Gman32]

Yup

[zerocarnage]

@uptownsoul no Sony mite not of heavily marketed canceled games like ms who cancelled the projects instead of letting them be a continued drain on resources, but instead sony heavily marketed half a dozen games at least that actually got developed and ended up being obismal. The main culprit being no man's sky where developers false advertised and lied to gamers about features and gameplay, Sony in fact out of all the games developers made the worst mistake out there with the Dev of that game.

[MrSec84]

You realize Uptownsoul may not see this reply of yours right?

Can you list those games that were supposedly bad?
Technically NMS does what HG said it would, plus they're an independent developer so they're only really using their own resources and Sony paid money to make another game a reality for customers.
A bunch of customers enjoy the game, so technically Sony helped to make another game, which can be seen as a pro-consumer act.

Sony helping to fund or aid indies with development resources or advice for new studios to make games possible has a knock on effect by enhancing the industry which is very pro-consumer because it expands the market.

Coming back to NMS, that game sold well, continues to be improved, which if anything shows Sony invested wisely by them supporting Hello Games, it wasn't a big mistake and considering NMS is one title even if the end result was an unarguably bad game (it's a highly subjective point to focus on), it pales in comparison to Microsoft's anti-consumer 24-hour checks, high price for low value at Xbox One's launch and lack of trading at launch, Kinect being forced on customers and constantly listening to users is yet another massive mistake and unarguably anti-consumer factor in the Microsoft list too.

[BIGBOSS08]

Not even close. We all know what the real microsoft is like. Go back to 2010-2013. That's the real microsoft. Even back with the 360, when they wanted to beat sony they made all the right moves and once they got a sales lead they just became assholes. Sony are the opposite. They're miles ahead right now and I don't see much arrogance from them yet. They're still making all the right moves. Probably because they learned from the ps3 mistakes. Hopefully microsoft have learned too and keep making the right moves.

[NecoTehSergal]

HAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHA. Oh, wait, you're being serious? Let me laugh even harder then,

BAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAA

[LastCenturyRob]

Haters are going to hate and their are no haters more ignorant of just how MS has bent over backwards to gamers since the poor decisions leading to the less than spectacular X1 launch year than Sony fans...whatever. MS is doing great things for gaming and for their consumers and if Sony fans can't take it, Oh well.

[conanlifts]

In the past....no

At the moment....yes

In the future.... it depends what they can get away with.

[Segata]

um..no.

[Yohshida]

Noone says Microsoft is perfect. But if it comes down to pro consumers moves, they are ahead. The salty disagrees wont change that.

[MagicBeanz]

This is a joke right?

[FlyShootRaceSims]

All I can say is--they are on the right track.

[DAEMONIFEAR]

Compared to Sony and Nintendo yes 100%!! MS dealt with the red ring of death professionally by replacing peoples console for free and giving consumers 2yrs warranty on top of 12months store warranty with a free replacement!

Xbox now also comes with 2yrs warranty if any products stop working within then they replace it free! Something Sony and Nintendo do not do!

The services MS/Xbox offer for your choice are 100% miles ahead of Sony/Nintendo and the features are also incomparable! Along with fast great Xbox live support! PSN+ and Nintendo's online services have almost no support at all! If Xbox live goes down it's only for a short period not days, weeks or months!

I think a company that gives the option of digital returns is far superior to those that don't! And again Sony and Nintendo cannot compete! Sony have the worst consumer policies of them all! And it's the reason I left Sony behind!

So none of these things were made possible without the consumer support which again Sony and Nintendo cannot compete with and again is something that is almost non existent of those platforms!

So compare all you want but if you're not looking at it the right way then you've been blinded by who knows what! But I know where I stand after all the crap I went through with Sony and Nintendo! Enjoy your cheap half ar*ed products and services! ;)

[Goldby]

from Ms own website.

Warranty for xbox ones is 1 year, controller is 90 days, and if something happens to your xbox one and you send it in for repairs, you are no longer allowed to set up a class action lawsuit against Ms.

"So none of these things were made possible without the consumer support" ya nothing like protecting their own asses from another RRoD case

[power of Black]

Oh here we go again. If it's a gaming topic and each time someone mentions the word "consumer," it's as if a PC gamer muppet has something to say.

[bu3ouf91]

big no

[GamePeace]

No.

[StormSailor]

No way

Microsoft is more unreliable and one of the worst things that ever arrived in the gaming market. I will never forget the X360 RROD and the initial DRM idea of the Xbone

[RosweeSon]

Hell No, customer service is awful and if your console breaks your buying.

[Ryuujinjakka]

There's always a catch with MS.

[FyBy]

Its simpler than that. They have no other option to try to be at least :-)

[Mister_G]

Got a great money making idea. Setup a website which runs loads of stories like "Is Xbox best?" etc. and watch the money roll in, lol :)

[CrimsonWing69]

They sure weren't when the Xbone was unveiled, lol!

[Snk91]

They have to be now, given their position. But the breathtaking Scorpio will be something special though..

[81BX]

After being humbled they certainly are.

[Scatpants]

I think they'd have to release some games to be that.

[MilkMan]

NOPE!

[Father__Merrin]

xbox one is loosing badly, im not accepting microsoft doing refunds as some kind of half arse reason to stay with them. a ps4 is sufficient alongside a PC i wont be getting an xbox ever again as my main console

[ILostMyMind]

Please give us more Kinect, DRM, cancellations and a new console after three years that makes buyers of the previous model feel like idiots. It is the best for gamers.

[jokerisalive]

UMMMMM..........NO!!!!

[yeahright2]

Emphatically, no. conmen one and all. We've seen what MS's plans for gaming are should they be market leader. Pulling a "just kidding" now that they're firmly in a distant second place isn't enough for me.