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Bonus Round: Is Time Running Out For Xbox?

GT: The Bonus Round panel talk about Xbox One’s slow start and if the company can stay alive in the next generation of gaming

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SardoNumspa3368d ago (Edited 3368d ago )

Time isn't really the issue with the XB1.

The XB1 is rapidly getting left behind in installed base by the PS4. The PS4 is selling about 1 million a month right now while the XB1 is selling only about 170-180k a month. The PS4 is very close to doubling the XB1's worldwide installed base.

Graphical power
The XB1's graphics are so bad that there are constant speculations about magical SDK updates that will make the XB1 miraculously put out PS4 level graphics, secret graphics hardware hiding in the XB1 that Microsoft is just waiting to reveal to the console world, marketing BS about 'teh Cloud' making up for the wimpy XB1 graphics hardware.

Price
Even if the XB1 gets a desperation worldwide price cut of a 100 dollars it will still be massively overpriced compared to the massively more powerful PS4. Microsoft would need to cut the XB1 price down significantly below the PS4's just to make the system even an option in the eyes of consumers who are not going to pay extra for a inferior console.

Worldwide Support
The XB1 once again is almost entirely reliant on just the US and UK. The XB1 will be a non-entity in Japan. And the PS4 is already outselling the XB1 some 5-1 in mainland Europe while being massively supply constrained.

Exclusives
The PS4 has the largest and most diverse first party studio lineup supporting it. Along with pretty all of Japan for additional exclusives. And Microsoft alienation of indy developers have driven them en masse to PS4 exclusivity. Microsoft has the smallest first party studio lineup supporting the XB1 and they have switched a large portion of that to casual Kinect focused development that most XB1 fans are calling for them to dump from the system. The Xbox is once again forced to rely on paying PC developers for Xbox ports as substitutes for real exclusives.

So in a sense, yes time is running out in the sense that every day these problems will not get any better and the XB1 will continue to fall further and further behind. It is selling less than the Wii U now and unless something dramatic changes in 2014 it will have trouble hitting 5 million by the end or 2014 without some sort of massive desperation price cut.

Bigpappy3368d ago

Everything you said is reasonable except for those exclusives. So far PS4 exclusives have been lackluster. M$ is dominating in this area at the moment.

stiggs3368d ago (Edited 3368d ago )

SardoNumpsa

You spent a lot of time attempting to make pertinent points but unfortunately you undermined your own allegations by indulging in the use of irrational hyperbole.

"XB1's graphics are so bad"
"wimpy XB1 graphics"
"massively more powerful PS4"
"desperation"
"alienation of indy developers"
"casual Kinect focused"

Come on now SardoNumpsa, not one of those claims is accurate (except in your own head). The PS4 is certainly out-selling the XBOX One but the rest of your claims seem like fanboy wish fulfillment.

Why do certain individuals so desperately want the XBOX One to fail? Why would you want anyone's endeavor to fail? It certainly says a lot about the individuals on this site.

MrSwankSinatra3368d ago (Edited 3368d ago )

i agreed with everything you said except the graphics part. Xbox one graphics aren't bad they just aren't on par with the PS4 graphics. you act as if the xbox one has the graphics of Nintendo 64, like get real dude.

SardoNumspa3368d ago

The XB1 can only handle a game like Titanfall at a last gen 792p that is running a old Source graphics engine.

The PS4 is running Metal Gear at 1080p, while the XB1 can only handle 720p. That is 2.25x the resolution.

Forza had to suffer massive downgrades from the pre-release BS bullshots/footage just to get the game to run at 1080p 60fps.

The Xbox 360 at least was 200 dollars cheaper than the much more powerful PS3. And it had the luxury of Microsoft forcing third party developers to agree to gimping their PS3 versions to ensure 'graphical parity'. Sony has finally woken up and isn't letting Microsoft get away with that crap this gen.

3368d ago
gaffyh3368d ago

@Sardo - Your numbers seem off...

BX813368d ago

@ Sandra
Xb1 is also pushing wolfenstien at 60 fps and 1080p according to the devs. Must not be so important though.

SardoNumspa3368d ago (Edited 3368d ago )

The XB1 only sold 3 million worldwide by the end of 2013.

The XB1 only sold 140k in the US in January.

The XB1 only sold about 30-40k in Europe in January.

The XB1 sold 0 in Japan.

The XB1 was less than 3.2 million by the end of January.
So by 'all accounts' you mean random Xbox fans making numbers up.

Feel free to explain where these extra 100s of thousands of XB1s are being sold.

Madagascar?

Kiwi663368d ago

Why bring japan sales into your arguement when everyman and his dog knows xb1 isn't even being sold there so really that part is pointless, i don't get why people include japan in their comment talk about desperation

Calvin_ISA3368d ago

@Digital

Isn't it weird, that XB1 is only in 13 *chosen* countries, and yet it still has stock (to the brim) in ANY store you walk into that sells electronics? It is also being outsold by PS4 EVEN with its limited supply.

Ryse is a fixed camera game, which is FAR easier to push out pretty graphics on. Have you seen God of War on PS3!? Just wait for the next GoW, it will look mind-blowing, not that you will acknowledge it.

Finally, all those games you have listed are the only thing you have to look forward to in the next couple years, then SEQUEL AFTER SEQUEL; which, most people have started to notice.

BTW, Titanfall and Project Spark are both coming out on PC SAME DAY, so scratch those off your list, because let's be honest - we ALL have PCs.

BTW pt. 2, Sony has plenty of Studios who haven't even released info on their next games. Media Molecule. Guerrilla Game's new IP. What about SCE Japan's Last Guardian?

+ Show (7) more repliesLast reply 3368d ago
GribbleGrunger3368d ago (Edited 3368d ago )

How can a game journalist be so out of touch with reality? I'm not knocking Titanfall here because it HAS had plenty of promotions, but then to suggest that Sony has NOT promoted Infamous: Second Son is pure ignorance. In fact, I can't honestly believe he's been serious and can't help but think it's part of the Titanfall promotional push and he's deliberately trying to suggest Infamous: Second Son hasn't interested anyone. That couldn't be further from the truth. Is he REALLY that ignorant?

MightyNoX3368d ago

Try to flip the equation around. Compared to the 'Down your throat' ad approach of Titanfall, Sony's Infamous advertising must look non-existent by comparison...hence, his outlandish statement.

HiddenMission3368d ago

That's funny I've seen way more infamous adverts on TV than titanfall. I guess like all things it's based on where you live and how much TV you watch.

FlameHawk3368d ago (Edited 3368d ago )

No, he is right, you think he is wrong because you have been seeing so many inFamous Second Son related ads in the past week because literally, they have just started too advertise inFamous Second Son in the past week. And I agree, Sony has not been advertising inFamous, as much as Microsoft has been advertising Titanfall. I think this video is old, so it may have been made 3-5 days ago just when Sony barely started to advertise inFamous.

GribbleGrunger3368d ago (Edited 3368d ago )

There's a difference between advertising one thing more than another and suggesting one thing hasn't been advertised/promoted at all. I've seen promotions for this game for well over a month now, watched playthroughs, watched interviews, read about the game and the tech behind the game. You have to live under a rock to not have seen the huge promotional push behind Infamous: Second Son.

Gaf rarely talks about Titanfall but talks about Infamous constantly and it's the same for most other forums. We have now reached a bizarre situation where the hype for Titanfall is in fact being hyped.

FlameHawk3368d ago (Edited 3368d ago )

Posting videos do not count as advertisement, all games have interviews, you can read about every game, you act like only certain games get articles about them and get interviews. It's obvious the guy is exaggerating and I think he's saying that being compared to Titanfall, inFamous has not been advertised as much and that is why is he saying it's not being advertised. For the past 3 months I have seen many Xbox One advertisements and so many featured Titanfall, I have not seen inFamous advertised once until a week ago since they started that huge inFamous advertisement campaign. And in advertisement I mean when I'm watching TV and Hulu.

EDIT: Most people on GAF are people who own PlayStation consoles because guess what, most hardcore gamers own PlayStation consoles and most hardcore gamers are usually on gaming related sites. People who buy Xbox are usually the general consumers, which just play CoD, BF, Halo, Gears etc. Most of them don't go on gaming sites but that doesn't mean they don't exist.

GribbleGrunger3368d ago

Oh my God, I've never seen such ignorance in all my life. Some people are in for one hell of a shock this month.

Bigpappy3368d ago

Infamous just can't draw a crowd like a Titan Falls can. Doesn't have that wide appeal.

Godmars2903368d ago

And have you ever played any Infamous title?

pyramidshead3368d ago (Edited 3368d ago )

It's an offline game, by that definition it already has a wider appeal lol. Titanfall is restricted by connectivity, which is a huge problem. Think about all those people who would love to play Titanfall but can't because their internet is sucky. There's a reason why COD & BF ship with a, albeit mediocre, single player campaign.

Insomnia_843368d ago (Edited 3368d ago )

You mean it doesn't have that wide ridiculous marketing campaign? Seriously, have you seen that "Life is better with your titan" commercial? LOL They build this hype in you and then want you to think of these things as something that's part of your life, like if it was your pet or something. That's some serious marketing right there and it's beem like that ever since they revealed the game at E3.

Mention the first game on Playstation with a marketing campaign as ridiculous as that , you won't have any but you will find many GOTY'S.

When you reveal gameplay of a game and without saying a single word the crowd goes wild, THAT'S quality right there and it will sell by itself with little money going into marketing. GOW3, Uncharted, The Last Of Us come to mind.

Not everyone falls into marketing stunts.

DeadMansHand3368d ago

Lol, well, let's revisit this after March NPDs are in. Infamous is the first real exclusive for the PS4. Killzone was a launch title and admittedly had some issues. Now that the PS4 hype has caused a lot of gamers to buy the system they are all starving for a true, next gen game. Infamous will sell better than the last 2 installments for sure.

As the video said, Titanfall is on the 360 and there is not that much of a difference between the 360 version and the X1 version. A lot of xbox players are not going to spend 500 plus tax just to play Titanfall on the X1. I know quite a few ps3 owners who have been waiting for Infamous Second Son to make the nextgen jump.

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NYC_Gamer3368d ago

PS4 will come out with the most units sold but Xbox 1 could still have 2nd place

Fireseed3368d ago (Edited 3368d ago )

Most likely. One thing I don't understand about this how console war BS is why people think "Two enter, one leaves."

We see parallels in the smart phone market, where two heavy hitters go at it, and while one handily outsells the other... they both still exist.

Geekman3368d ago

What? I understand it takes more than one game to save a system, which I just told someone, but
A)It's selling enough right now to make a profit.
B)Even if it isn't selling a profit, it wouldn't die simply because of laggish sales. Else the Wii U would be dead by now.
C)You act like Titanfall is gonna flop.

mrpsychoticstalker3368d ago

This is every ps4 fan dream, unfortunately for them the future of xbox one is very bright.

Supporter of xbox one since day one original xbox.

Back-to-Back3368d ago

"Supporter of xbox one since day one original xbox."

Thats unfortunate...

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