"The PlayStation Studios exclusives felt that little bit closer and more tangible than their Xbox counterparts, especially in the impressive gameplay footage of Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart and Gran Turismo 7. It had a simple pitch: if you want to play these games, buy a PlayStation 5."
"Yet, when push came to shove, the company didn't seem willing to promise anything beyond Halo would actually get an Xbox One version, and a follow-up tweet from Xbox marketer Aaron Greenberg passed the buck to studios rather than settle the matter."
"we still can't be sure that we have seen a game running on Xbox Series X."
For someone like me it’s just deeper than a “pitch”.. I don’t care if the game can be played on pc or a phone I don’t care how true of an exclusive the game is.. what I did care about was playing it on a console on my tv, that’s the only “pitch” I need to get my attention..
Then you get my money when you produce the game I want to play.. I bought the Xbox one day one and yes with Kinect,500$.. then I bought x, another 500$.. the only game from 1st party that I truly enjoyed was forza horizon and sunset overdrive, gears was ok and that’s about it..
I played the waiting game while dumping money on Xbox.. waited an entire generation... and now it’s probably another 500$ and you deliver halo to us looking like that, when it’s weeks away from launch?!
All those studios purchased and you had no mic drop for the launch of the “most powerful console” and again halo looked like that? All this damn time and you still need more time to even get 1/5th of what Sony did this entire gen..
I think everyone is forgetting that we are in a pandemic world. Halo is not some small DLC expandable game it is a massive game. Halo looks fantastic and that was a year old build. I can't wait for the final product. I think most people are going to forget about this reveal.
Definitely understandable frustration on your end. I also bought a day 1 xbox, watched as Kinect went from a pack-in to obscurity/obsolescence, and so few exclusives of consequence that I can count them on one hand with fingers to spare. I haven't downloaded/watched the 4k/60fps stream for Halo Infinite yet, so hard to say if the graphics quality was a result of the 1080p stream and artifacts or if it's indicative of the final product.
That said, It's very safe to say their vision for the future is Game Pass (and xcloud). While we'll have to wait some time for a lot of those exclusives to come through from all these studios, Game Pass does make a grand statement about their plans for the future.. services. How that all plays out in the long run, only time will tell, but at this time it does appear that Playstation has a more traditional and likely effective approach for the short-term. Once Xbox Game Studios exclusives really start hitting and you just get all of those games with Game Pass, it's going to be very intriguing to gamers.
If it comes down to deciding which console to buy first though, Xbox definitely didn't do much to make their case against the PS5.
You really swallowing Greenbergs excuses and running with them aren't you haha.
"I think everyone is forgetting that we are in a pandemic world"
Sony has managed to finish and ship 2 huge games right at the height of the pandemic and Microsoft can't even capture some current footage from Halo? Sure /s
The pandemic talk goes out the window when it applies to every studio out there. PlayStation developers are dropping current-gen games that look better than AAA next-gen games, their first-party trailers on PS5 look amazing, and even on Xbox Remedy's Crossfire Campaign look great. Xbox had the audacity to show up to this with CG, alleged In-Engine, and PC builds for nearly all of their games after just being blasted about it 2 months ago, and promising to do better. They have done nothing but lie and misdirect for nearly a decade with the promise of having Xbox first-party being diverse and competitive in AAA gaming, and with the new acquisitions it may happen, but clearly not for another 1 - 3 years, aka more waiting.
Xbox has gone this entire year without a notable release outside of Ori, and prior to that Gears 5, WTF and WTH have they been doing. Halo 5 came out in 2015, it's 5 years later and this is their Halo. They tried to say it last-gen wouldn't hold back Series X and Halo, but obviously that was a lie, or in their case a spin because it couldn't hold the game back since it was already being developed with the XBO / XBO-X in mind first and bumped up to Series X.
The Xbox division is just lost when it comes to games. They are simply making Games as a service and buying studios to add more content to their ultimate goal GamePass, even if it means not caring about competition in quality anymore. They're perfectly fine with having mediocre - above-average games so long as they can be played for years and profit through expansions and DLC, which is unfortunate for the talent and teams that want to push their medium and art forward.
And I personally don't think it's a bad business model as far as overall gaming is concerned, but it is a bad business model for someone who has a console to sell because the millions of gamers who might have picked up a Series X if something they saw something that truly impressed them, are now better off downloading GamePass and using XCloud or building a gaming PC where they get all of the Xbox games and PC exclusives as well.
I truly don't understand the mindset they have, because the hardware in the Series X and even the rumored Series S are great. But if you to just get your games dumped to GamePass and in as many hands as possible, just release the Series S as it's going to be cheap an Entry cost, and therefore, easily in the hands of millions upon millions and keep upgrading your console with a new model every 3 - 4 years as you're rumored to be doing.
It's this simple, im buying both just like last gen. PS for exclusives and Xbox for the best visual and performance version of multiplats.
95% of the games I play (like most gamers) are multiplatform games like COD, GTA, APEX, Elder Scrolls, FIFA, Battlefield, The Witcher, Far Cry, Just Cause, Final Fantasy, etc. If they run better on Xbox then I will buy that version 🤷♂️
"Halo is not some small DLC expandable game it is a massive game"
Perhaps you missed the talk from 343 where they said this is actually the direction they're going with the game. They're making Halo into Destiny.
The reasoning that Halo isn't some small DLC expandable game doesn't hold much weight when there are games which are also in the same vein as Halo, and manage to impress much more, and most of them are current gen games, and most of them already look better than Halo did. H:I had resolution and frame rate, but not much else. No, it didn't look as bad as some people say, but what was shown is far down the scale of high end, and it certainly isn't setting any bars. For a game franchise that is arguably MS flagship IP, one should expect more than a basic design that lacks polish or attention to finer details, and they should expect at least a passable level of quality in terms of graphics, AI, physics, and object interactivity. Things severely lacking in the Halo demo.
And a year old? Where did you pull that number from? They said it's an old build. If MS seriously went to show off their next gen with a year old build, then they are just stupid. I'd say this build is maybe at most a month or two old. I'd even go so far as three given the Covid situation right now, but there is absolutely no reason for them to have to use a build that old for this show just because Covid was happening. Builds can still be made in ways that don't involve getting everyone in the studio.
"Halo looks fantastic and that was a year old build."
for the most powerful console with 12TF, supposedly 500mil budget and "the most ambitious game 343i has created", NO, it isn't! who are you trying to fool here? even the last CoD looks WAY better on the base PS4.
"we still can't be sure that we have seen a game running on Xbox Series X."
Yet didn't Phil Spencer show an image or video of him playing a game on the series X in his living room?
So yet another lie from Phil when Halo, a game coming in less than 4 months doesn't even have XSX footage. Phil most likely had a PC hooked to his TV out of view. It wouldn't be the first time.
Shameful behaviour from the so called boss of a gaming company.
And xbox fans are still trying to convince people that the original Hellblade 2 trailer is in game XSX footage. SMH
I'm sure the game runs on XSX at this point. They wouldn't be waiting this long to be doing console testing or builds. But, if they don't have the PC version optimized, which is generally easier than console optimization, then it doesn't bode well for the console. Some of the issues in the Halo demo weren't GPU power related either, but rather issues with actual core design implementations. If the XSX is more powerful than the PC they ran this on, then it doesn't mean those things will be fixed. It's also reasonable to assume that adding RT onto the graphics, if the game was having issues and needed to be at this level to run, it's not going to help with the graphics themselves. It may help with the rather basic lighting they had for the game.
To me, if a company has to start making lots of excuses after their show, they did something wrong. Yeah, there is some element that the community can be a**holes, and often take things out of context or blow things out of proportion, but there is a difference between clarifying an issue, and just trying to curtail the negative responses.
What I see from MS is them trying to mitigate the negativity more than I see them trying to clarify the misinterpretations. The reason for this is because they seem to at least passively admit that they didn't meet expectations, and are trying to reason their way out of it by hoping that people will give them another chance with some new information that is brought to light. Unfortunately for them, what they're asking people to consider aren't things that would have changed or fixed the criticisms that people are lobbing at them right now.
I've seen some within the Xbox fan base not being so kind to them right now. If this were just a bunch of irrational Sony fans trying to bring down the XBox, MS could have a different reaction. But when their actual user base seems discontent, and upset, then they have a problem, because those were the best people to market the console to early on. If MS stumbles out of the gate, they're going to have a much harder time getting those subs they so desire.
Xbox show was better than the Sony show maybe by a fraction presentation wise. And the whole gamepass day one stuff is cool but still they absolutely FAILED on presenting anything that personifies what they’ve adveritised.
BBC Holy grail articles, a fucking velocity architecture ad, Jason Ronald interviews, Phil Spencer saying he’s confident in what they have etc etc
For the only real gameplay to be Halo Infinite which idgaf what you say cannot fix some of the fundamental problems it has. Jank animations, 360 era grappling hook... I mean... it sounds like he’s attaching a mf Jeep Wrangler tow line to a tree branch to clear the road and item pull looks like when a MF wumpa fruit goes to Crash Bandicoot...*clink* *cringe* I just at least thought a new engine would make it at least look like air exists in the Halo Universe.
I agree...but just barely imo. What they failed to do however was demonstrate games running on SX to the masses, and since it was a SX event, then it was a fail. They only had a better show than Sony imo because of the games announced, especially from a first party perspective...but the vast majority of those games came with CGI and very little gameplay.
Oh. Okay. I'll host a game conference and announce a bunch of games if it's that easy to get your money.
They shoved streamers and social personalities in our face. Didn't show SX footage, or any gameplay footage for the majority of everything. Other than Halo, every other game is essentially a cgi trailer for a game that is 2-3+ years away. They shoved as much as they could in to this show to fluff it up, and god the distractions are out of hand. Youtubers, streamers, pointless dev talk, and games irrelevant to fixing the problem of xbox games because they're so far away from release. Terrible.
It's also terrible when agenda pushers fake objectivity with things like "it's close" or "slightly better". We're not stupid. We know about discord, party chats, and snapchats. It's blatantly obvious when the usual handful come on here saying exactly the same assessment despite how clearly forced it is.
And as for games announced. Hardly any exclusives. Timed exclusives after Phil lied, again, acting like he was above that now. And. What big AAA exclusive announcements were there? What big games were announced? They "especially from a first party perspective" won you say. List me all the AAA exclusives announced for the first time. The only big one is Fable. We always know Forza is coming. Now list me the small exclusives that are really so great looking.
Despite the event being a failure in terms of selling us a Series X at launch, we have to give Microsoft credit for their diverse lineup:
Everwild Forza Microsoft Flight Simulator Psychonauts 2 Crossfire X Stalker 2 Warhammer Tell Me Why Fable Grounded The Gunk Avowed Halo: Infinite The Ascent The Medium Scorn Hellblade 2 ...... and many MANY more things that haven’t been announced
For 15 years Microsoft has been the “NO GAEMZ” platform. No one can say that anymore. Of course we need to DEMAND better, but we can’t pretend that Microsoft hasn’t made large-scale improvements to Xbox Game Studios.
I think the whole no games thing gets misconstrued massively all platforms have games that’s what 3rd party are for they all have first party offerings as well or they should do but it’s about the quality of the 1st party output. If you can play the 3rd party stuff anywhere the 1st party stuff needs to be top notch and it really hasn’t been for an entire gen now. The games are looking promised grounded is my personal favourite something fun and original but waaaaay to early to say on majority of games for next gen even Sony ones however things like horizon I have no doubts about.
At logic not worth debating. Xbox had a great lineup.
We have a lot of games.
Halo Infinite Fabled Forza Crossfire X EverWild Stalker Warhammer Dark Tide Avowed State of Decay 3 Gears Tactics Flight Simulator The Gunk The Medium Call of The Sea Grounded The Outerworlds DLC Second Extinction Scorn The Ascent Wasteland 3 Project Mara Hellblade Senua's Saga Tell Me Why Psychonauts Dusk Falls BattleToads Grim Fandango Day of the Tentacle Full Throttle Age of Empire III Age of Empire IV
Those games still didn't release, half come on PS5 eventually, some have questionable quality and others are mediocre. Flight simulator is amazing but won't really attract gamers. It's also quite expensive if you want a bit more content. Forza is consistent but most others it's wait and see.
Wait and see to be dissapointed happened to much for many xbox/pc gamers when it concerns Microsoft games.
It is about quality not quantity BOI. Library will eventually expand by 1st or 3rd party. But nothing will take place a good game, just like how nothing is taking place Forza Horizon 2,3,4 on X1. Or nothing is taking place of UC4, GOW, HZD, BB, GOT, etc on PS4.
"Xbox show was better than the Sony show maybe by a fraction presentation wise." Lol please, give me a break. Outside of that abysmal Halo Infinite showing and Psychonauts 2 Microsoft showed literally NO gameplay. Sony showed gameplay for Rachet and Clank, Returnal, and GT7. Where was the Forza 8 gameplay? Fable? HellBlade 2? State Of Decay? Where were they? Nowhere, that showing was a JOKE. I was LAUGHING the entire time. All that 12TF talk that Phil Spencer and his fanatics where beating their chest about just to open up with that LAUGHABLE, ABYSMAL, Halo Infinite gameplay LMAOOOOO!
Don’t get it twisted the Xbox line up is still MUCH more appealing for this Holiday. Halo will still be a fun game regardless of its disappointing presentation, every game most likely will perform better on Series X.
I’m merely judging this showcase. They didn’t hit it on the head like they absolutely needed to. Now they are scrambling. It went from going to steal the show at e3 to “its old footage on PC guys” When it comes to Halo.
I have a feeling that Spider-Man is probably going to be a bigger draw this holiday than Halo. Maybe if MS killed it with the demo they just had it'd be a different story. Chances are, given how good the first SM game looked, and how good it was, that when they finally do show something, it's going to catch a lot more attention.
Halo may sell well itself, because it isn't exclusive to the XSX, but I don't think it's going to be a driving factor for XSX sales this holiday. At least not on a system seller level scale.
Honestly neither really have IMO and so rarely do with their usual launch games. While the new Spider-Man 1.5 game sounds fun... at launch for the PS that’s really all there is. Xbox, I mean Halo will be one the Xbox One so there’s no real need to upgrade yet there either. If the PS5 is priced right and has BC right out of the box, then I’ll probably go that route first just so I can trade in my loud af ps pro.
Yeah but do they mean by most “popular” titles? Is it mainly just 1st party? Will digital only games transfer? There’s a lot left they need to explain on that feature.
You are correct, but that's not what was said. The PS5 will have a PS4 and PS4 Pro boot mode, which will allow the vast majority of PS4 games to be playable unless there is some kind of peripheral issues, just like Series X not having compatibility with Kinect.
The difference is that Sony can afford to have a sparse launch lineup due to 20 years of worldwide goodwill with fans.....Microsoft doesn’t have that luxury.
Xbox has a massive fan base here in the US. If priced right and Halo is it a hit, it could just as easily rival the PS5 for sales here stateside. For as poorly as the Xbox One performed this gen, it didn’t get outsold at nearly the ratio one would assume it should have here. Goodwill and PR, are a year to year thing in the video game industry, where you have all the momentum, and blow it by saying “people will work more hours to buy one” to the RRoD to one of the worst online security breaches ever to presenting a system that’s always online with a useless camera at a $100 more...
Who said Sony's lineup is sparse? Everything Sony showed is likely to launch before the end of 2021, where as half the list of Microsoft games aren't going to release before 2022.
It blows my mind to see people talk like Sony isn't going to have games, they have had a non-stop train of games especially if you look beyond the big AAA GOTY contenders to things like Dreams Concrete Genie Erica ect and PSVR games like Astro Bot, Iron Man VR, The inpatient ect. as well as all the remasters.
The last Spider-Man game was more of a system seller than the last Halo game. Last available numbers put SM as selling twice as many copies as the last Halo, and Sony saw a significant surge of PS4 sales at it's release, and through the holiday season.
I think you may be over-estimating the appeal that Halo has to sell systems any more. There is a pretty decent sized community for the franchise, and they're very committed to the franchise as a whole, but that community isn't as big, and MS doesn't have the same appeal that it used to to drive additional sales with that franchise as a figure head.
They did. Gamepass. Quality games cant be made for services. It takes 4, 5,6 years to make. Those Kind of high profile games dont work with services that need games and more games
MS priority is getting as many people to sign up for Gamepass as possible. From a business standpoint its great revenue $$. This is MS we are talking about here. It just seems like they don’t prioritize quality gaming content
Too much pre rendered and cgi than actual gameplay, and with 4 months from release I haven't seen enough to convince me that Series X is a day 1 purchase. All those studios and hardly anything to show gameplay wise. I think I'll go with Playstation 5 until Xbox can get their act together.
I will get one for flight sim and Forza those two game will do me for a couple of years , takes me ages to finish anything not to mention my bc games pile.
MS doesnt care about hardware like they used to. Look how fast they killed off the X after they pushed it as the worlds most powerful console. They only care about gamepass subs. The show was a commercial for gamepass. Nothing more.
Euro gamer and DF are extreme xbox fans. When ever they do their x300 x500 zoom nonsense to show da X version better than ps4pro their voice is full of pride and look even they are coming out with disappointment
It's almost reminding me of post E3 last gen. MS was doing pretty decent with hype for X1. Press was happy with them. Fan base was OK with them for the most part. Sony fan boys were antagonizing them. Some rumors of always on crop up, and the sony fans go into attack mode, while the defense comments come into play, and the media talks about it, and it's implications, albeit in very shallow ways. Heck, even I defending MS against rampant reactionary statements as if it were a forgone conclusion they'd do always online.
And then suddenly, not only was it always online, but it had oppressive DRM and cut out the used game market....oh, and Kinect...although that was already known.
Suddenly, everyone was against them. The Sony fans were having a field day. Xbox fans were upset or even furious. The media who had been bending over for MS all gen suddenly was against them, and in some cases actually doing good journalistic work. It was like the entire gaming community was united in a common consensus....the first time I've seen it since Jack Thompson tried to get violent games banned.
Obviously things went back to normal eventually, although who was "winning" had changed in terms of general community preferences. The last event seemed to shake some confidence, but this event seem to shatter it completely.
I still see some hold outs, but just like after the X1 launch E3, I see long time Xbox fans be very upset, or completely silent.
Last time they got over it. I wonder if they'll do the same this time if they start to see the flaws in MS, and come to understand what people have been criticizing MS on all gen. Because what I saw from this show, is that MS really just doesn't get it, and doesn't really know how to provide for their customers. If the big franchises aren't going to deliver, are these guys really going to be willing to try and justify a console purchase with the other games shown? I've known hardcore gamers for a long time, and I know how they think. As a general rule, the types of games they're pointing to are at best the filler games for all these lists that get made. They aren't the ones used to showcase why one should get a console on their own.
I'd say they haven't made the case for it at launch. A year or 2 after yeah. Then again it's like that every gen. Last 2 gens consoles wasn't worth it year 1. With Halo being cross gen and PS5 not having any must play titles at launch. I'd wait. However I now make more money than ever and the prices are no longer a big deal to me as long as it's $600 max. So unlike the last couple gens I play to jump into next gen day 1. But the old me would wait a year or 2 when the consoles $400 with a bundle and $100 trade in credit. To being it to around $300.
The Halo footage was good IF it was just an Xbox One game but the fact its releasing 4 months from now on Series X marketed as a 12TF behemoth console and they show us sub standard footage running on PC like wtf! Phil loudmouth Spencer all talk no substance.
The game probably wouldn't look as good on the OGX1. It certainly won't have the 4K resolution, or likely the 60fps. X1X could probably look as good as what was shown in the demo.
Truth is, they're building this game for a lot of platforms. 4 to be exact. And one of those has quite a variety of hardware to account for.
Personally, I think the only thing this demo had going for it in the graphics department was the resolution and frame rate. It didn't look terrible or anything, but it didn't look anywhere close to what I'd expect from a big AAA franchise.
What I really like about Sony that they don't talk much, and when they talk they inform you. As example their last event, when people just wondered about Spidey, they answered quickly and briefly, and most importantly so informative, everyone knows by now that the new Spider Man game is equivalent to Uncharted Lost Lagecy and Infamous First Light. Other than that, the event was clear. MS is doing the exact opposites, a lot of talking, less quality, and they show something they don't explain it at all, leaving the media at wonders of mysteries.
Microsoft game studios has been releasing mediocre games for a few years now, so it was reasonable to expect that they were holding down all their titles for an incredible Series X launch/launch window.
Sadly, that doesn't seem the case. Halo Infinite looks unfinished, Forza is "early in development" and most of what they showed were heavily edited cinematics.
They gave up midway through this generation....you would expect them to be more prepared for the next 🤷♂️
They gave up last generation. The same war cry existed in the last 3 years of the 360 about how they were focusing on next gen and that is why their AAA exclusives were dry. And it has not been fixed yet.
Most of the hype surrounding this event was because Xbox One/ One X was lacking great games, Most gamers were thinking Microsoft was saving it for Xbox Series X. And boy they were so wrong. LOL
It's pretty apparent now that Microsoft really doesn't care about pushing hardware, which is very strange because they obviously spent a lot in research and development to deliver two next gen consoles, if the rumors about Lockhart hold true. Microsoft is all about services...gamepass ultimate, xcloud, etc., and this is further demonstrated by them dropping the numbered sequels for games like Fable, Forza Motorsport, and coming right out and saying that Halo Infinite is following the Destiny type 10 year plan, with updates to the Halo Infinite universe rather than new numbered Halo games.
It won't be surprising if most if not all of their first party titles follow this direction. Sony and Microsoft are diverging in what they are offering consumers....I don't really mind, tbh. Better they each do their own thing than just copy each other until the end of time.
"Walk lightly and carry a big stick." MS needs to stop touting about the most powerful console, the biggest launch lineup, etc and just deliver very aolid AAA games. They can have all those things they mention, but if top games are not prioroty, then they will sputter like this gen.
The pandemic excuse doesn’t wash with me, Nintendo and Sony have dropped 5 exclusives between them during the same pandemic MS couldn’t capture 10 mins of recent Halo footage.
Starkly different approaches:
"The PlayStation Studios exclusives felt that little bit closer and more tangible than their Xbox counterparts, especially in the impressive gameplay footage of Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart and Gran Turismo 7. It had a simple pitch: if you want to play these games, buy a PlayStation 5."
"Yet, when push came to shove, the company didn't seem willing to promise anything beyond Halo would actually get an Xbox One version, and a follow-up tweet from Xbox marketer Aaron Greenberg passed the buck to studios rather than settle the matter."
"we still can't be sure that we have seen a game running on Xbox Series X."
Then there is that.
Xbox show was better than the Sony show maybe by a fraction presentation wise. And the whole gamepass day one stuff is cool but still they absolutely FAILED on presenting anything that personifies what they’ve adveritised.
BBC Holy grail articles, a fucking velocity architecture ad, Jason Ronald interviews, Phil Spencer saying he’s confident in what they have etc etc
For the only real gameplay to be Halo Infinite which idgaf what you say cannot fix some of the fundamental problems it has. Jank animations, 360 era grappling hook... I mean... it sounds like he’s attaching a mf Jeep Wrangler tow line to a tree branch to clear the road and item pull looks like when a MF wumpa fruit goes to Crash Bandicoot...*clink* *cringe* I just at least thought a new engine would make it at least look like air exists in the Halo Universe.
Honestly neither really have IMO and so rarely do with their usual launch games. While the new Spider-Man 1.5 game sounds fun... at launch for the PS that’s really all there is. Xbox, I mean Halo will be one the Xbox One so there’s no real need to upgrade yet there either. If the PS5 is priced right and has BC right out of the box, then I’ll probably go that route first just so I can trade in my loud af ps pro.
They did. Gamepass. Quality games cant be made for services. It takes 4, 5,6 years to make. Those Kind of high profile games dont work with services that need games and more games
Facts. They are letting me know get ps5 first. Since ps5 will have better lineup and next gen graphics