Microsoft Exec: ‘It’s Almost Impossible To Become Stale Because Our Consumers Don’t Get Stale’

The question of keeping things fresh is doubtless one that haunts the executives at every major company- see, if you lose the ability to surprise the customer, you risk becoming stale.

[Overload]

http://www.reactiongifs.us/...

Microsoft's main franchises are getting stale and consumers feel the same way.
http://www.neogaf.com/forum...

(This link lead to 3 charts posted by Microsoft on their websites containing XBL most played titles of last week in US, UK and WW.)

Just look at the position of the Xbox exclusive games on that chart, the games are under performing heavily, especially Gears of War 4. Star Wars Battlefront and Rainbow Six Siege is played more on XBL than Gears 4, Halo 5 and Forza Horizon 3 in the US.

I'll repeat myself, Rainbow Six Siege is being played more than Gears 4, Halo 5 and Forza Horizon 3 in the US.

Rainbow Six Siege was released December 2015.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wi...

[Kribwalker]

Battlefront was on sale for $20, and just released on EA access. Of course it is gonna do good when it is now free to play. There is nothing wrong with these games being ranked in the top 30 for games played, as there are a lot of games out there. Hell, I've been playing
Destiny
Dishonoured 2
Ff15
FH3
Gears 4
Battlefront
BF1
Far cry primal
Recore
Halo 5
TF2
Dead rising 4
Mafia 3
In the last week and a half. There's others in there as well, but it doesn't mean games are under performing based on a weekly ranking of games people are playing, you keep reposting the same list like it proves games undersold based on it, which is completely false

[Overload]

Star Wars Battlefront was released Nov 2015.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wi...

Halo 5 was released Oct 2015.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wi...

Rainbow Six Siege was released December 2015.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wi...

[Kribwalker]

https://www.vg247.com/2016/...

[trooper_]

Um...most of them are multiplat. It doesn't justify the lack of new IPs from Microsoft.

[GamingIVfun]

Microsoft has grown stale in so many ways, the first party games that they over hype almost always feel under developed with exception of the Forza games and Sunset Overdrive an Gears of War 4, the forza games being the only real standout but unfortunately is the kind of games that doesn't move a lot of systems. Sunset over drive is not a good game really (I didn't enjoy it). Gears Of War 4 being a really fleshed game that was actually great did not sell as well as previous games and it 's better than the previous games, plus you can buy it on PC, same with the newest Forza game.

The biggest problem is marketing and even management, I think they have lots of bad decisions and broken promises and they have made good decisions that probably came too late.

They are not the leader in Online gaming anymore, PSN, Steam, Xbox Live are on pretty much equal footing. Anyone that says they aren't are just blowing smoke up their own asc.

They've abandoned Kinect, DirectX 12 made no difference, the network computing thing that was supposed to make there games better didn't happen (can't remember the name of it).

If Microsoft wasn't the backer of Xbox it would have disappeared a long time ago, they practically give them away to increase sales, there no way they are making money on hardware, they are probably losing a great deal of money on hardware, they spend extreme amounts of money on advertising, so much advertising that it is just white noise to most people. Most of there games are marked down within a week of release, almost always cheaper than the PS4 or even PC version. most of the new Xbox One S consoles bought were replacements for the old console (thousand of old Xbox One's for sale on Ebay and at Gamestop). I replaced mine with the new Xbox and sold my old one on ebay, it took a month and a half to sell it, only after marking my price down did it sell. Kinda like microsoft does year round.

[moegooner88]

Facts are facts, and the newest iterations of MS best selling franchises didn't sell as well as their predecessors.

[game4funz]

Kinda hard when those numbers where astronomically higher then many other ips.

[lastking95]

I bet you $1000 you're wrong. Halo 3 is the best selling halo but guess what's #2? and guess whats on pace too past #2(shouldnt have to tell you lol)

N4g where 5+million in 3 months=growing stale. Where selling more faster than previous titles=selling less 😂

[LastCenturyRob]

Facts are facts they are still selling amazingly well.

[moegooner88]

@lastking launch sales speak for themselves , even with a higher install base, the games sold less. That shows how stale some of these franchises have become. But keep charging your defence shield, you use it a lot these days.

[bluefox755]

They didn't rate as well either, with the exception of Forza Horizon. Gears, Halo, and FM, all got the second lowest scores in their respective franchises with the latest iteration.

[XanderZane]

Neither did Sony's newest iterations. So are their games getting stale as well? They've sold twice as many PS4, but sales for their 1st party games are down from previous ones.

[Christopher]

Can't we say the same thing for Sony's franchises? Killzone Shadow Fall? Second Son? Latest Ratchet & Clank reboot? Uncharted 4?

[moegooner88]

And did you see a Sony executive saying what she is saying? No ? I was referring to the hypocrisy of her comments that's all.

[darthv72]

What was that people kept saying about PS3 games not selling so good...? Oh yeah, they have legs, it just takes time for them to stretch and grow.

Same could be said about the xb1 games. I'm new to it this year and there are lots of games from the prior years that interest me so I will be going back through the catalog while also looking forward to what's coming down the line.

Not everyone buys the latest game when it comes out. some like to take their time and get to it when they are ready. So what might be considered stale to some is still fresh and new to me as I had not played it before. But that's just me.

[JasonKCK]

Didn't Sony release Uncharted 4 this year? Also most games played on the PS4 are multiplats.

[xX-oldboy-Xx]

yep - I hear it sold quite well.

[BizarroUltraman]

All those games are the top played games on PS4 aswell. GTA 5, Overwatch, Destiny, Rainbow, Black Ops 3....

Edit: I went on Xbox store to check top games played: MS has 4 games in Top 20
Minecraft, Gears 4, Halo 5, Forza Horizon 3.

PS4 Store Top played games: Sony has only 2 games Top 20 Blood borne and Until Dawn

These are facts not something I made up!
So are you disagreeing with Facts?

[Unspoken]

Thankfully NeoGAF only represents a small subset of english speaking Sony fans which dont represent the whole community. So no, you dont present facts, you're biased in Xbox articles and its clear as day.

3rd parties doing well? Same on Playstation if not more.

Grand Turismo failed long ago, sorry you cant play a great racing game anymore.

[Overload]

What are you talking about?

The link from NeoGAF leads to 3 links from Microsoft's website showing the XBL user activity from the US, UK and WW.

Here they are.
https://www.microsoft.com/e...
https://www.microsoft.com/e...
https://store.xbox.com/en-C...

[Mr Lahey]

"What are you talking about?
The link from NeoGAF leads to 3 links from Microsoft's website showing the XBL user activity from the US, UK and WW. "

And the crowd goes mild.. ;)

[YEP414]

I love the same Xbox one franchise halo,gears,tomb raider, forza, dead rising ..state of decay, Xbox nation keep them coming every year!!! Nobody complain about call of duty and them same lame sport franchises 2k and the show

[Kiwi66]

How about putting up a ps most played list for comparison

[Condemnedman]

it will be indies they have stacks of them

[Condemnedman]

2

[Condemnedman]

1

[Condemnedman]

got to love it when ms haters rush to Ms threads always the same with their lists of proof. praise the Sony 🙌

[Condemnedman]

your just assuming every one buys the same games over again! stop with your anti ms hate troll. funny how all the repeat offender don't get their posts blocked.

[Letthewookiewin]

Xbox is stale period.

[crazychris4124]

Forza Motorsport is stale. I really hope they step it up with the 7th game. If not take a break and try something new.

[Gazondaily]

Its stale even though it's so well received? What's to step up then?

Playground Games tried something new and got a 90+ metacritic title. People however keep lumping them in with the other forza games.

So maybe the Motorsport series can take a break simply to build hype. But in terms of quality it's regarded by many as the king of racers.

[Overload]

Let me remind you what actual royalty looks like.

"Gran Turismo 6 exceeds 5 million sales, series total over 76 million"
http://www.teamvvv.com/en/n...

Gran Turismo 10,850,000
Gran Turismo 2 9,370,000
Gran Turismo 3 A-spec 14,890,000
Gran Turismo Concept Series 1,560,000
Gran Turismo 4 Prologue 1,400,000
Gran Turismo 4 11,760,000
Gran Turismo 5 Prologue 5,350,000
Gran Turismo PSP 4,650,000
Gran Turismo 5 11,950,000
Gran Turismo 6 5,010,000

Total 76,790,000

[uptownsoul]

@Septic

I just got Forza Horizon 3 & it is really good. But I'll ask you this...At what point will over-saturation kick in with Forza (both Motorsport & Horizon-which I like better)? And its not just the amount of games (because we know Gran Turismo has dropped a ton of games), its more about the recent continuous releases. At some point laws of demising returns will start kicking in

[RosweeSon]

Well received critically and with the fans who are of course gonna buy it year after year but sorry majority think it's stale, horizon 3 looks great but it's 3rd game in series that started a few years ago the main series is on 7? They turning into the new Fifa or similar yearly churn. Don't need a new racing game every year if you make a great one with some depth, Gran turismo says hello. A good 2-3 years between games.

[freshslicepizza]

now kindly add the metacrtitic scores for the gt series since gt3. why are we only talking about sales? the wii sold more than the xbox 360 and ps3, are you now suggesting you prefer that over those other 2 consoles?

[objdadon]

Forza motorsport is definitely getting stale but the forza horizon series is still fun and fresh. I'm having a ball will horizon 3 but i did skip horizon 2 though.

[Overload]

@JasonKCK

If Gran Turismo came out every year, people would say it was stale too. Everyone jokes about how long GT games take to come out, but it is one of it's greatest strengths. It coming out is an event, not just a yearly expectation. It also focuses on it core demographic, not trying streamline everything (like having rewind mechanics) to get better scores.

As for the decline? GT5 did 11M and GT6 did 5M with no promotion on PS3 when the PS4 came out and pulled better numbers than any Forza game. I wouldn't call that a decline personally. Gran Turismo Sport's performance should give a decent outlook to the possibility of the series being in decline.

[Gazondaily]

Grant tourismo takes years between releases and recent outings havent matched the quality of Forza. If the quality of Forza suffers them fine, it should take a break.

Bit when we're coming off the backs of FM6 and FH3, you're saying we shouldn't have these games?

[Overload]

Of course I think Xbox should have them, I think it was a good decision to have Playground make Forza Horizon to try to at least rotate the series bi-yearly. But, they don't even own Playground, so who knows what will even happen with that situation in the future.

[freshslicepizza]

odd, overload keeps ignoring how gt has reviewed lower and lower since gt3 yet acts like since they take so long its a good thing. doesn't appear to be and highlights how poorly managed the games are. they take years yet have to include old assets and not have every car of premium quality for example. sony pushing psvr but sport will only have select cars and tracks?

if it is such an event then why is the series in a decline as far as ratings go since gt3 and lets not hear excuses about how the last one sold half as much as the one before because it didn't have any promotion? makes no sense, you just said each one is an event. selling half is not good no matter if it still sold 5 million. if sony is worth 20 billion but 10 years ago they were worth 40 billion thats good because 20 billion is still a lot? now i have heard everything but i guess scrambling is good as long as you do whatever it takes to promote playstation over xbox to keep the console wars alive.

[Gazondaily]

@moldy

"odd, overload keeps ignoring how gt has reviewed lower and lower since gt3 yet acts like since they take so long its a good thing"

Precisely. GT5-6 took how long to release? You'd think that with all that time we were looking at some masterpieces but to be bested by a bit annually released racer that funnily enough, most playstation fans, say needs a rest, is quite funny.

[XanderZane]

@Overload
Unfortunately sales aren't what makes a game great. Makes a publisher/developers money, but the games can still not be great. Just look at CoD. Which probably has outsold GT series by now. So is CoD royalty as well?

[rainslacker]

@Septic

A PS3 GT game didn't match the recent outings of a racing game on a console much more powerful? Who'd have thought that was a possibility.

[fenome]

Screw all this, I just want another Burnout. Lol

[Dragonscale]

@Overload, theres been nearly that many Forza's just this gen lol.

[nowitzki2004]

FH is great, Forza though is getting very stale, but imo traditional racing games need a long break because in general they are all getting stale.

[Bigpappy]

Car games just don't sell as times pass. But Forza is the current king of racers. So whatever "set it up" means, they are already there. They improve the engine and gameplay every 2 years.

[GrimReaperGamer]

Mario Kart is the King Of Racers in my opinion.

[YAO-BLING]

stopped reading after king of racers.. lol wow.

[TKCMuzzer]

But it's pretty much the same game, so much so it could just be DLC and updates (pretty much like Fifa could be and COD).
Gran Turismo by it's nature is it's own hype machine. They release so few in terms of annual cycles in generates more hype. GT 6 didn't sell to well (For a GT game) because it was not long after GT 5 which means any changes are less noticeable and this goes for any game.
Car games do sell as time passes, I think Driveclubs sales have continued very steadily over time and pretty much most Gran Turismo's have legs. The difference with Forza is that MS don't give the game time to have any legs as gamers know another one is just around the corner.
Forza Horizon is great and it's the kind of racer that the PS4 could do with (or another open world Burnout). But if MS continue to run with it as a common release then it to could suffer from boring its audience. Sometimes, less is more.

[YEP414]

Forza never stale!! Maybe not your cup of tee

[XanderZane]

It's not stale for me, especially when racing with friends online. Turn 10 should think about taking it to a new level though. There's still a lot more they could do with the Forza series. GT has been the same forever. Probably why GT6 had such low sales.

[XanderZane]

Feel that way about GT. GT6 looked nice, but that was about it. That game went stale after GT4 and has yet to recover. God of War? Same thing. GoW:A was meh.

[FallenAngel1984]

Have Microsoft seen how Halo 5 and Gears of War 4 sales and reviews pale in comparison to their predecessors?

[freshslicepizza]

i'm sure they have but will never admit it. they need to try and create new ip's that are good and if a game doesn't sell like hotcakes like sunset overdrive they should still support it. come out with a new lost odyssey too while they are at it. microsoft needs to stop running things like activision where they want to run the ip's to the ground and not have a diverse line-up to fall back on.

[TheColbertinator]

@moldy

Agreed.

[Phill-Spencer]

Agreed!

[Why o why]

Bang on

[Perjoss]

I'm not sure how likely a Lost Odyssey 2 is, all those JRPGs that released on the 360 were part of a push by Microsoft to become popular in Japan, now that has failed I feel its unlikely we will see a LO2. Having said that Mistwalker the people that made LO have teamed up with Silicon Studio the people that make the Bravely Default games (and regardless of if you're a fan of playing RPGs on the 3DS or not they are really good games!) and are working on an unannounced title, hopefully its something for consoles and not an iphone or handheld game. I hope its at least a game for the Switch as I'm not a huge fan of playing games on tiny screens.

[Deadpooled]

What's this? Mouldybread talking sense? Is the world ending???

[bluefox755]

Wait what? Did you give your account to someone else?

[RosweeSon]

Thing is could see gears a mile off 3 was the end Judgement saw to that and even Epic said bye! Sold up and who buys it Microsoft ;( of course because it's their big exclusive but if it's dried up and it's only the hardcore gears fans these days what about the other 70 million gamers from last gen. Halo/Forza. They looking at 15/20 million max!! Per one of them games and that's majority fans of the series the rest of us who don't overly like those series (although I'm enjoying halo collection a lot) they need to get some new games stop churning out the old guff give it all a break so it feels fresh again not just like a standard sequel or worse DLC.
It's all good having a retro option i.e. BC or PS2 classics and ps now etc but you need to have a heavy stream of new and original games coming through as well, why I went with playstation. Sure they've got sequels but it's not the same ones every year. Last God of war was a few years ago same with Gran turismo, last guardian took a generation... of consoles. Uncharted is done. Fact is tho it's not a new game each and every year and if it is it normally goes one way downhill due to complacency and cruise controls

[Bigpappy]

Gears fans wanted M$ to buy and make a new Gears.

[RosweeSon]

Yet for the first 2-3 years of this gen they went stale.

[BigGamersSmallTalk]

Love how the best arguments in the comment section are all based on VGChartz nonsense. Fact is, Halo 5 hit over 5 million in sales within the first 3 months per Frank himself.
Titanfall 1 sold amazingly well on Xbox One, the second flopped for various reasons. Microsoft has done a fantastic job at getting out old favorites like Gears, Halo and Forza, and new amazing IP like Sunset Overdrive, Ori, Quantum Break, ReCore and next year Scalebound and Sea Of Thieves.
Fantastic job all around, never a dull moment on the best box.

[DigitalRaptor]

"Best box" - LMAO, still fighting the good fight.
It's okay you can keep saying that, but having far less games, less diversity, and lower rated games that you have to wait 10 months of the year for is not a good number of signs that it is the better box. I won't contest your deep set personal opinion. You're 100% entitled to that, but it doesn't jive with the facts.

Fact is, Halo and Gears (while still considered good) have absolutely declined in quality as Microsoft's golden geese. You may talk about and give credit to MS "focus" on new IP all day long, but if those new IP are continued flops and Xbox consumers are not interested in supporting them enough to see sequels, or future exclusives from these third-party developers on the platform, then what is the darned point in saying all is well and good, dude? And really is that TINY sprinkle of mentions all that there really is?

Titanfall sold incredibly well on Xbox One AND PC because it's the kind of game that would have made major moves as an actual long-term exclusive shooter for Microsoft. Xbox had Halo: Combat Evolved, Xbox 360 had Gears of War, and Xbox One has..... nothing that is even remotely comparable. Titanfall would have been that very game, if EA hadn't seen PS4 as a missed opportunity. Titanfall 2 really should have been released early 2017 like the original game was instead of packed in with bigger shooters of the year, but that's neither here nor there.

I guess it's all well and good for you folks to jump on the down/gloom bandwagon when Amy Hennig leaves Sony's #1 studio, but... all is fine and dandy at Xbox and they're making incredible effort for new IP, when they've closed and/or canceled 8 first-party studios and projects in one foul swoop, earlier this year: https://twitter.com/vg_dave...

[Condemnedman]

for me it's the best box I don't give a rats arse about the ps4 and "All The diverse" games you guys go on about but check the charts and it's still the same games selling on both consoles not. where did the last guardian debut in the charts? you guys are all mouth lol

[Overload]

"Love how the best arguments in the comment section are all based on VGChartz nonsense."

Ummm, the link I provided links to Microsoft's own posted charts from their website of what's played most on XBL in the US, UK, and WW.

[kdmitchell_toh]

I wanted to chime in here. Played most on XBL is kind of limited, isn't it? There are tons of players who in fact don't play on XBL. I have half those games and I do not play online due to the toxic nature of online gaming. Also, that doesn't take in account the massive resurgence of those games due to people getting new consoles and games for the holiday. Check those out again when we're 2-3 months into 2017.

On the other front with GT. I'll partially again, yet many forget that this is also due to Japan gamers. They love Gran Turismo, yet despite Forza one-upping the series on many occasions, don't give it a chance. Those skewers the numbers quite a bit.

Hell, I'll be the first to complain about MS's lineup and their new IPs. I've been saying for a while that their new stuff isn't what gamers want. Halo is crap and has been since Bungie left. Gears of War 4 is good, but it's still too similar to the previous titles. Forza is the only title that performs exceptionally and even then, FM5 was just terrible.

Yet, we can say the same for Sony's IPs as well. The difference is they have so many and they have most of the gaming markets on their side. The Xbox brand, from day one has had an uphill battle. I'm still surprised that the X360 did as well as it did.

[Razzer]

You used the word "amazing" with Recore and Quantum Break in the same sentence. FYI.

Or maybe PlayStation folks have a different standard for "amazing"?

[game4funz]

Yes they do.
Playstation folks think playstation games are always amazing and xbox games not. Same vice versa.

[Razzer]

Not really. Some are just more delusional than others.

[Cohagen420]

No, they're based on actual numbers and all the new IPs sold like garbage. Why else would they end up bringing their games to PC midway through the generation? You guys are incredibly stupid.

[rainslacker]

Well...you've proven that despite MS consumers not getting stale, their arguments certainly are.

And I will concede that does fall on both sides of the console war fence.

[guyman]

"Best box" - No, certainly not if you looking at it from a games perspective (which is why we buy a console)

That list just proves how poor microsoft have been in investing in new ip and exclusive games as compared with sony. It's still pretty much halo, gears, forza which have become stale and less appealing than previous entries. There is no variety here. it's a pity because games like sunset overdrive and quantum break were pretty good, sunset being my favourite and most memorable xbox one game. Recore was not a good game.

Sony on the other hand have clearly dominated in the exclusives department.

The last guardian
Uncharted 4
Ratchet and Clank
infamous second son
Killzone shadowfall
Driveclub
the order 1886
Alienation
Resogun
Bloodborne
Guilty gear sign + revelator

Q1 2017 alone:

Nioh
Kingdom hearts 2.8
Horizon
gravity rush 2

Scalebound is the most promising game on xbox side, but other than that there isnt much to talk future wise about besides an 8th Halo, 6th gears of war and forza (7+ entry)

[gamerswin24]

Recore amazing huh? Lol rightttt Sea of thieves will be OK and Scalebound no one knows. Your hyperbole is insane and infused with fanboy wishful thinking. Recore is mediocre at best. None of them touching or coming close to Sonys top offerings let alone the sheer number of exclusives.

"Fantastic job at getting out old favorites" lol haha what a spin. No its called relying heavily every two years on the same stale, template IPS every two years with few new IPS or innovative ones. I just bought an Xbox One S for Christmas and omg IDK what ppl were talking about in regards to the Halo mp, it is just so mehhh. IMO even COD Infinite is better and way more fun. The campaign in Halo is decent but I stopped playing the mp after few hours I couldn't bare to do so. The talk of Halo i am now certain is just fueled by fanboy nostalgia of something that once was but is no longer. Next I will try Gears and hope I'm not disappointed.

Fight the good fight Master Chief :) But we don't believe you.

[gamerswin24]

Bg116....

Come try me fanboy. Pm me and I'll add you, maybe we can play few matches and you'll change my mind :) Sorry but after playing Uncharted 4 mp, BF1, TLou, and others, Halo mp feels weak and outdated to me. I'm open to seeing the light though :)

[GamerGT]

I'm willing to bet if Ori, Quantum Break, and ReCore was also on PlayStation those games would have sold what they were truly worth. I've learned this gen that the PlayStation community just loves videogames in general. I mean seriously almost 50 million in just over 3 years. Also with the reviews argument: Just because a magazine or game review site grades a game based on their opinion doesn't mean the gamer will share that same opinion. That's just fact. If a gamer enjoys a title than that do. If they don't they don't. Final note: can't wait for what 2017 has in store.

[The_Sage]

Uhhhh... What? We don't get stale? Never realized I was chip like.

[tdogg]

ok so i rarely comment when there's a fanboy war going on but can someone explain to me why do some of you people on here hate xbox so much? i mean even the good news that comes out for xbox you guys still find a way to try to turn it upside down. As a owner of both consoles i myself will never just own one console a gen. I love sony's exclusives and love xbox online gaming and a few of there exclusives

[WeAreLegion]

It's interesting. The tide shifts all the time. With most of the older users leaving to sites like Reddit or even Facebook groups (less toxicity), it's mostly younger users who pop up on N4G these days. So, you see a lot of fanboyism because of that. They are impressionable and like to be on a "side".

This generation, Xbox has been the punching bag on here. You go back to '05 and it was Xbox fans running this place. It evened out around '09 or '10. The reason is... There are simply MORE PlayStation fans right now. Notice how well the PS4 is selling? Well, that's creating new, young fans.

Try to ignore it. Talk to users who are interested in discussion and not looking to get a rise out of anyone.

[laoboy_Smoke]

I think I may be able to shed SOME light to ur question.. I think there are many variables to why MS gets a lot of hate.. Things like tha rrod epidemic and buying major exclusive dlc like tha GTA one back in tha ps360 era rubbed a lot of people tha wrong way (not saying its a bad thing, business is business) but a lot of people feel like they brought that corporate bs to tha gaming industry IMO.
I myself know as bad of a rep MS has they've done just as much good for tha industry as tha others companies have done.

I say to each their own.. just never stop gaming comrades! ✊

[RosweeSon]

I was with Xbox 360 for 9 years various consoles due to failures wasn't doing it again this gen. I did have a Wii and PS3 and I get all consoles and generally always have 2 like yourself but Xbox one I don't know about the first couple of years as wasn't interested they had a good E3 last summer but then gone quiet again.
Bought myself the gears Xbox one s but wow it's slow mini PC for sure I want a games console and this is slow specially as I've got the upgraded one, one download at a time can't download patches at the same time the store is a mess I'm not a fan of gears halo forza. They are all ok but don't have the same quality found elsewhere.
Never been a fan of halo but the collection has been great 1 level left of halo 2 (never played it) then do 3 again (I did have a 360 after all) then nail 4 might grab 5 if not halo'd out. Wanna check forza horizon 3 done gears 4 and sold it. Got sunset overdrive and rare replay to go. I really enjoyed quantum break myself done it on hard 1000/1000 but now I'm getting through that little lot, Crackdown 3 looks good... when Scorpio arrives other than that. I'll be on my switch/3ds/Vita/PS4 and Wii U. Selling my Xbox by march/April max and see how E3 goes get myself a new telly sometime in new year and might consider a Scorpio to show it off... if they have some top end games to go with it... so far I'm doubtful as Crackdown 3 has been going for a year or 2 on Xbox ones innards sure they swap it over and jazz it out but it'll be another year or so before we get too end Scorpio games so that's 18/24 months until Xbox are gonna be blazing again?... I'll wait it out whilst not paying for gold I'm not a massive online gamer and they all do it even 3ds just some are slower than others PS4/Xbox1 barely a difference. Xbox one is not the one this generation. They simply upgraded the Xbox 360 and said yeah £40 a year again for gold please they didn't even wanna give games with gold away for first 6 months or so. 💰💰💰 when really it should be about the games. Also if they just continue down the windows 10/PC Route I'll be even more disinterested, I buy games consoles for games not so I can say I own a gaming PC which I've never done I had a PC that played games like counterstrike but that got left back in last millennium I'm not paying every 6-12 months to upgrade this upgrade that and all the faffing around... no thanks.

[rainslacker]

I think I hate MS. I have no problem with the Xbox itself.:)

[gamerswin24]

Your really asking that? Go into any comment section that has to do with Nintendo, Sony or Xbox and ppl all have their opinions and some hate blindly. This isn't N4G versus Xbox this happens with all the systems.

Beyond that you actually have ppl that own all systems but wish they didn't waste their money. Just because you don't own all systems or do and still like one more than the other does not make you a not a "true gamer". I now own an Xbox One S bcus I bought it for my son and I can honestly say that playing Halo, some multiplats that I already own on PS4 as well and dealing with the atrocious ui and slow installs I would not have bought it for myself. Even the resolution differences ppl say are minor are noticeable to me. BF1 on ps4 and Xbox one is a big difference in resolution to me.

By the way if you truly own both consoles that "online" gaming statement wouldn't even be mentioned. I see no percievable difference in the way games play online in Xbox or PS. This isn't 1998 anymore. I play Uncharted mp, Infinite Warfare, etc.... With no perceivable lag or dropped connections ever. I played Halo, BF1 on Xbone same way but Titanfall had some lag oddly enough (and I know it was an issue previously bcus I saw articles about it).

And Microsoft gets the hate bcus they were very anti consumer about the whole RROD situation last gen, lied about it until they were taken to court then made to remedy it. They started Xbox One with whole DRM fiasco and were forced to change that. And the major one for ppl is not investing in new quality IPS or offering a variety of games. Relying too much on just Halo, Gears and Forza.

Now they have won hearts back with BC, great offers and trying to cater more to gamers and that's good.

[Dragonscale]

@tdogg, you mean like when the good news comes out for PS4 and the xbox fans try to turn it upside down.

Or had you not noticed.

[trooper_]

It's not hate. Microsoft needs to step their game up in the games department.

[q8kik]

It's like one those speeches in shounen anime's :D

[XXanderXX]

The minute you folks become complacent am gonna be pissed .
So let me be clear never settle and always aim big $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

[DarthZoolu]

God damn right! I stay fresh!

[StormLegend]

What MS thinks "Our fans don't get stale, they love everything we do! Let's release the same games 3-4 more times!!

[lastking95]

Like uncharted 4, gow 4, gt 100, ff20 ultra remastered remixed edition lol

@Stogz like sunset, ori, sot, recore, scalebound, qb, cuphead? Or do these not exist? No duh its multiplat i should throw resident evil, mario, pokemon, cod in too. The point is many games have seen as much or waaaaaaayyyy more sequels yet i dont hear the "give it a rest" or its become stale line for those games. Pffft hypocrites. 3 games that are the best in their genre push the boundary and always adding new things yet you're complaining? Its not the only games on the system so cut the bs. And yes it's a good idea if A. Its quality is still there (it is) B. Bank is still coming in (it is)

@ rachel more hypocrisy so sequels are okay now? Lol btw SOME OF THOSE ARE GETTING SEQUELS 😂 your not even worth my time after that.

[Stogz]

Difference is there are many newer, different games coming between them. Can't say the same about xbox unfortunately. Also, what is ff20 ultra blah blah blah, is that supposed to be final fantasy? Cuz that's multiplat. Also, Sony hasn't dedicated 3 studios to making the same games over and over. Do you really think that's a good idea???

[Rachel_Alucard]

And none of those games on you listed for Xbox will ever see an exclusive release or the light of day again, what happened to titanfall? Back in 2007 the biggest first party games to own were Halo, Gears, and Forza, shadowrun, crackdown, and Lost oddessy. Today its just Halo, Gears, and Forza. Nothing they've made in the past 10 years has been sustained long enough to give it a sequel or was either killed off outright after repeated failures(fable). Now they're stuck shooting out one off titles and more of the same 3 releases. They aren't even made by the original teams anymore, you just have 2 people like Rod Ferguson and Frank O Conner from the old team running 2 studios named after the franchises they are built to only develop until the studio goes under or they quit. Even if you wanna argue about sequels at least they are all made by the studios that created them originally.

[Liqu1d]

Uncharted 4 is the end of the franchise, GoW is changing a lot from previous installments, GT Sport is a sim racer so there's very little you can change but they're targeting esports and GT Sport is looking to be a console iRacing.

[fromchildren]

And that is true, the consumers don't feel that the games offered on Xbox are stale, and that's all that matters.
Xbox owners happy, Microsoft Happy. Win and Win.

[WeAreLegion]

You have to get creative, Microsoft. Sony and Nintendo switch it up all the time. (See what I did there?)

Nintendo does new things with old franchises and we love that! Sony mostly tries new franchises when they feel they are done telling a story in a current franchise. We love that, too!

What's important is they're both going out on a limb to bring us fresh experiences. Microsoft hasn't been doing that lately. If they do, we'll all be more than happy to support them again.

[rainslacker]

I think MS tries, they just seem to drop the ball on generating the hype outside their fans on the forums. Their marketing for anything other than forza, halo, or gears, and whatever big game they have some marketing partnership with is abysmal.

QB they did pretty good marketing, but it's a drop in the bucket, and it's not enough to really turn around the perception that they are being diverse.

I dunno. I think MS likes to take some good diverse games, but then when they focus on them, they try to put them on too high a pedestal and it distracts from all the other stuff they may have. Things like Ori got overshadowed by QB for example. They just do some sizzle reel or quick mention of those cool games they support, and then jump right to the big 3 for them.

MS biggest problem, besides actually taking more chances on diverse games, is getting the message out, and to some degree is being consistent. It's great to have a game like SSoD, but if that's the only game that will attract the target market, there's nothing for them to look forward to in the future. If you love games like QB, then what's next in the genre? When you compare it to say Sony, you know they had Heavy Rain, which led to Beyond, which is now coming to Detroit. So the consistency is there to know that it's not a one off attempt at attracting the customer, but that you will get support through the generation, and there is a stable base on what to expect from the console.

That is what people mean when they say all MS has is Forza, Gears, and Halo. because that's about all you can consistently expect them to release and support.

[lastking95]

I guess crackdown 3 isnt doing anything new huh? qb doesnt exist. Scalebound? Figment of the imagination lol. God war 4....whats the story about again? Lbh gow 3 is where that franchise story ended. Whats gt doing new? Forza stay doing new things still waiting on gt that isnt a previous title clone with better graphics but ofc you're blind to facts lol. So wheres the new? Halo 5 made history with it's forge (when you can recreate an exact copy of a classic mission in a mp map creator you made history) adding the best weapon balance to date, most playlist, the best thing since firefight, new mechanics without breaking the core mechanic that make halo what it is. Ya it wont be stale.

vv you contradicting yourself show me another games thatdid what crackdown is attempting? Dont worry I'll wait. QB and SB are new ip, you claim ms is doing nothing but same rehashes and nothing new in those rehashes.

Exactly gow 4 is milking. It's story and basic premise ended in 3 so what do you do? Pull one out the donkey aka milking. Thank you.

Rofl wont even bother with the gt/turn 10 comment best you can do?

😑 no 💩 i never said it was new hell halo had forge before 5. 5 perfected it and used a recreated mission as an example. Show me another fps map creator that can allow you to recreate and reenact a mission of a planet blowing up or a movie scene? down to the smallest detail? Dont worry I'll wait. Stale based off sales? Sold more than 1, selling faster than 2 and reach and on pace to outsell 4 (which btw is the #2 best selling halo i recall ppl saying halo 4 sales were poor and if you look its sitting at #2.) 5+ million in 3 months damn ppl hate it😂

I was just naming random new ip to prove a point not every single one. Yes sunset is their best new ip (ori maybe) but marketing had nothing to do with it. There was plenty of ads and was even bundled. Many had the wrong impression of sunset. Many thought it was a kiddy game (i asked many friends who hadnt played it what their thoughts on it were) i tried to tell them it was far from kiddie, had southpark style comedy and was even rated M. But ppl only saw the cartoony graphics and instantly assume it was for 8 yr olds and because it was M it wasnt getting the kids buy so its sales didnt take off for that reason not marketing.

[WeAreLegion]

No, Crackdown 3 isn't doing anything new. That's correct. I'm looking forward to it, but it's not doing anything new.

Quantum Break did...live action, like 90s games?

Scalebound is another Platinum game. Same as the rest. Kamiya has been a hack since Clover shut down.

God of War PS4 is significantly different. Did you even watch the trailer? It's a new storyline. New gameplay.

GT Sport comes out next year. And it's something the franchise has never done. Especially focusing on eSports. They realized the franchise was getting stale with 6 and corrected it. When will Turn 10?

Forge is history? You realize map editors have been in shooters for decades, right?

It clearly IS stale, based on sales. People are tired of it. The same with Gears of War. Judgement should have taught them that. Look at God of War Ascension. Sales were down. People got tired of it. They had to change things.

You didn't even mention Sunset Overdrive, the best XBO exclusive and one of the most original games of the generation. I love that game. But they didn't market the game correctly.

[gamerswin24]

Once you mentioned Crackdown 3 lol haha aka vaporware that was mentioned years ago offering the mighty power of the cloud but has since disappeared, I stopped reading your comment lol

However just to name a few Sony exclusives that have had more variety and innovation than all Microsoft IPS put together last gen and coming this gen :)

Warhawk
Starhawk
Little Big Planet (took that whole build, create, share level design on consoles to another level. Forge is not on the same level or the same as building entire worlds as LBP does, nor does it have the physics and customization involved. Little Big Planet also was the first to allow ppl to share their levels by searches based on popularity, creations of the day etc not having to solely type a players gamertag lol so archaic. )
Journey
Demon Souls
Tear Away
Mod Nation Racers
Heavy Rain
Dreams
Wild
Tomorrow Children
Gravity Rush

There's a lot more but my point is proven when it comes to variety and innovative IPS no one is doing it like Sony.

I'm laughing at the Crackdown 3 comment lol Crackdown is chilling with Deep Down.

[lastking95]

@gamerswin
Sequel ips that switched it up not new ips.

Stopped reading at crackdown? Why is that? Oh because you couldnt think of anything doing the same.

Wtf! little big planet was released in 2008 halo 3 was released in 2007 so htf was lbp the one to start map creating and sharing when halo been did it as well as others before the game even released 😂 im done with you after that comment shows you know 💩 fanbiys at their best

[GamerGT]

If Microsoft even had developers that alternated their work like naughty dog does between Uncharted and The Last of Us, for example then we can have 343 not only may Halo/ Halo Wars but maybe also a whole other IP even if it's surprise! Another shooter. Same with whose making gears these days. Instead of anticipating Gears 5 next year how about a new IP they can introduce along with the launch of Scorpio. This will open up the PlayStation's audience and the fence sitters to at least look at XBOX again.

[343_Guilty_Spark]

That's pretty arrogant to say

[Overload]

Completely agree. I didn't even get into that, but I definitely thought that.

[fromchildren]

In America! the place where Xbox thrives
and apparently America=the world

[noksucow73]

It's sad that so many people flock to these articles to post dislike for the xbox. Makes me really think the n4g community is more anti xbox and pro sony. I enjoy both but I prefer xbox. I don't go out of my way to bash the Playstation brand. Certain games appeal to others more.

[PistolsAtDawn]

Xbox has been doing a fantastic job this gen. They shot themselves in the foot out the gate, but since then have been making al the right moves every chance they get. Currently it is my favorite of all the consoles this gen. It's where I do all my multi-plat gaming for various reasons: I like the UI and Controller best on X1 and they have the best gaming network...X1 may not always have the highest res/fps among console versions, but so far that has never made a big enough difference to really care...but with Scorpio...it will keep all the "Pros" and lose the "Cons"...it will also have the best graphics hands down while keeping the UI/Controller/Network advantages...it will also pick up the best options as far as VR devices (and the only AR option). PS and Nintendo will continue to have good exclusives to play, but X1's future is no slouch in the exclusive category either...in fact it has just as many if not more depending on your taste (if you're not into obscure JRPGs). All in all, X1 is doing well now, and has a really bright future. Great time to be a gamer.

[MagicBeanz]

lol, oh Microsoft.

[hahaha]

I am guessing jumping ship from Xbox One to PS4 is still a form of moving. Right?? So the statement of consumers don’t get stale is correct.

[SaveFerris]

Consumers don't get stale, but game franchises certainly can. When that happens, consumers will move on to something else.

[rlow1]

Read the article and how has it become safer? If Sea of Thieves is not a possible new trail blazer then I don't know what is. They took on risks of new franchises, while those games didn't ignite like a Gears of War did when it was first introduced, they still were an attempt to bring something new to the table. I will agree that MS hasn't really had that "Big Gears" moment n quite a while, or something that really lights the fire this generation. Hoping 2017 will be different for them.

[r3f1cul]

yea because that type of complacency is going to make you an industry leader :( no wonder i havent enjoyed any of the major microsoft franchises in a long while now :/ i still play the yearly forzas because its the only driving game i find consistently good and the year break gives me just enough time to recharge the ole driving jones ... but halo has been pretty bad to at best mediocre forever now, gears is just more of the same and that got old 2 seriously's ago, recore was kinda meh decent fun but nothing ground breaking, quantum break missed the mark on most fronts, same with ryse son of rome... literally the best thing to come out was inside which despite being absolutely brilliant isnt a console mover and is only timed so basically not even applicable to the argument sadly ... notable mention was sunset overdrive which was all good and fun but seemed very very niche to me even tho i enjoyed it i doubt we will ever see another one :/ all this is coming from an xbox player since about 6 months into OG xbox ... it sucks but i have to admit the controller and achievements system is really the only thing i still prefer on the xbox :/

[Psytrix]

To be stale, would entail that they were fresh in the first place.

[Artemidorus]

Millennials

[SynestheticRoar]

Microsoft has been wearing the same three dresses for the last five years. Your ass is as stale as F#$%, You still have the most zealous devoted fans on the planet.

[YAO-BLING]

Delusion at its finest people!

[3-4-5]

* I have an XB1 as my main console/system. It's where I'd play most of the games I can find on any console.

Sports games or FPS....I'm most likely playing them on the XB1.

I just got a PS4 too, and also have a Wii U.

Nintendo & Sony just have more interesting 1st party IPs.......especially Nintendo.

* Microsoft doesn't have that but they could have.

* Microsoft had Ensemble Studios who made the Age of Empires series (arguably one of the best gaming series of all time especially for PC).......they had them make Halo Wars, and then disbanded a team who never made a bad game.

THAT is how Microsoft does stuff sometimes and it makes no sense.

They took RARE.....and made them make Kinect games.

* Two Legendary studios destroyed by Microsoft and the Xbox division of the company.

* I'm a huge Xbox fan though....more so a video games fan, but I love and have owned all the Xboxs but I have to admit that their IP's don't excite me that much,

Forza & Forza Horizon are amazing.....after that there isnb't much.

Halo hasn't been great since Reach...4 sucked and 5 was made for 10,000 e-sports gamers and ignored the 10 million other fans that don't want to play e-sports.

* They just keep making bad Top level IP decisions.

They make really good decisions elsewhere but they are lacking in the IP department.

Nintendo had more good IP's in the 80's than Microsoft ever has combined and Sony has a good solid amount as well.

It's my one main complaint of my XB1.....A lot of the games I play on it are 3rd party but it's an awesome 3rd party console.

* I'm buying a Nintendo Switch for Nintendo games....and hopefully some 3rd party as well like Dragon Quest XI.

[King_Lothric]

I think Microsoft can make a better case just if they stay quite and not make these kind of comments that are obviously not real.