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Microsoft really doesnt give a shit about pushing the medium forward. Their approach to winning the gen will reduce the quality of GAMES

Is Matt Damon right?


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Represent.

Represent(ative) of bad opinions
Seeing that damn Series S ad just now just ... lol

They tried the "release good games, sell consoles" approach Sony and Nintendo have been successful at for years, and it didn't win them the gen. So what did they do? They switched their entire focus to "services" and "value". Not games. Services.

They don't give a damn about advancing the medium we love. That ship seems to have sailed. It does not seem important to them anymore.

Poor studio management, entire calendar years without first party releases. Not investing in new IP, same promises every year, telling us to wait.

They make stupid fucking decisions:
  • Money hatting The Mid instead Silent Hill 2 (same devs).
  • Turning down Spider-Man as an exclusive on their platform.
  • Spending 100 million dollars on 1 year of Tomb Raider exclusivity. Sony bought Insomniac for 200 million. Be smarter.
They show up to a gameshow with 103 million viewers with a Gamepass Ad. Not a single update on a single game. Some of these games were announced in 2019.

They push the Series S (an underpowered budget console that, despite whatever Kool-Aid some Indie Studio head tells you to drink, will be responsible for limiting the potential of multiplat games for an entire generation) more than the Series X.

Phil's strategy is to literally buy out publishers, then put their most popular games on every. single. platform. From literal goddamn TV apps, to mobile, to weak machines like the Nintendo Switch.

If it was up to MS, they would buy Take 2, then require all GTA games to release on the Switch moving forward- Scaled down and downgraded to hell. Ambition and fidelity across all platforms would have to be limited. But hey, it sells, and gives gamers "options". Who fucking cares. Make a mindblowing product and sell it to its target audience. If you need to reach a more casual, younger audience... then invest in NEW IP.

Alright, Gamepass.

I'm not even going to mention much about this abomination. I'm going to let Matt Damon do the talking. Watch this clip.


Theres a cost for everything. You have to be blind or naive to not see the parallels between what is happening in Hollywood and what will happen with Gamepass.

Just replace those DVD's with games (and people no longer buying them because of Gamepass) and replace those types of movies he's referring to with: Quality AAA titles, new AAA IP, experimental AAA titles, etc. If the "Netflix of Games" becomes a reality, then studios will NOT see the need to, or be brave enough to green light certain games. Point blank. You are already seeing gamers complain about paying $70 for games. It will get worse as the gamepass model contiunes to grow. You can kiss your Hollywood Blockbuster AAA style games goodbye.

It seems Microsoft, especially as of late, has switched their focus entirely. What was once "make great games, sell them, invest in new IP to reach new audiences" approach is now a "make every single game playable everywhere, for free, regardless of quality."

This approach will hold the medium back. It will stagnant creativity, growth. Tech won't stop advancing, but NO ONE will be utilizing said tech to its full potential. Advancements in games will be hard to notice, devs will have to scale back their visions - All to make kids, casual gamers who keep FIFA, Madden and COD #1 for all of eternity happy while you and I play second fiddle and get fed sloppy seconds.

Phil needs to go.
 
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Represent.

Represent(ative) of bad opinions
This was the moment everything changed for them. The moment they changed focus from games to experiences, to now services. Since this image released their first party output has been abysmal.

2282071-kinectadventures_12956_screen.jpg
 

Kagey K

Banned
Seeing that damn Series S ad just now just ... lol

They tried the "release good games, sell consoles" approach Sony and Nintendo have been successful at for years, and it didn't win them the gen. So what did they do? They switched their entire focus to "services" and "value". Not games. Services.

They don't give a damn about advancing the medium we love. That ship seems to have sailed. It does not seem important to them anymore.

Poor studio management, entire calendar years without first party releases. Not investing in new IP, same promises every year, telling us to wait.

They make stupid fucking decisions:
  • Money hatting The Mid instead Silent Hill 2 (same devs).
  • Turning down Spider-Man as an exclusive on their platform.
  • Spending 100 million dollars on 1 year of Tomb Raider exclusivity. Sony bought Insomniac for 200 million. Be smarter.
They show up to a gameshow with 103 million viewers with a Gamepass Ad. Not a single update on a single game. Some of these games were announced in 2019.

They push the Series S (an underpowered budget console that, despite whatever Kool-Aid some Indie Studio head tells you to drink, will be responsible for limiting the potential of multiplat games for an entire generation) more than the Series X.

Phil's strategy is to literally buy out publishers, then put their most popular games on every. single. platform. From literal goddamn TV apps, to mobile, to weak machines like the Nintendo Switch.

If it was up to MS, they would buy Take 2, then require all GTA games to release on the Switch moving forward- Scaled down and downgraded to hell. Ambition and fidelity across all platforms would have to be limited. But hey, it sells, and gives gamers "options". Who fucking cares. Make a mindblowing product and sell it to its target audience. If you need to reach a more casual, younger audience... then invest in NEW IP.

Alright, Gamepass.

I'm not even going to mention much about this abomination. I'm going to let Matt Damon do the talking. Watch this clip.

[/URL]

Theres a cost for everything. You have to be blind or naive to not see the parallels between what is happening in Hollywood and what will happen with Gamepass.

Just replace those DVD's with games (and people no longer buying them because of Gamepass) and replace those types of movies he's referring to with: Quality AAA titles, new AAA IP, experimental AAA titles, etc. If the "Netflix of Games" becomes a reality, then studios will NOT see the need to, or be brave enough to green light certain games. Point blank. You are already seeing gamers complain about paying $70 for games. It will get worse as the gamepass model contiunes to grow. You can kiss your Hollywood Blockbuster AAA style games goodbye.

It seems Microsoft, especially as of late, has switched their focus entirely. What was once "make great games, sell them, invest in new IP to reach new audiences" approach is now a "make every single game playable everywhere, for free, regardless of quality."

This approach will hold the medium back. It will stagnant creativity, growth. Tech won't stop advancing, but NO ONE will be utilizing said tech to its full potential. Advancements in games will be hard to notice, devs will have to scale back their visions - All to make kids, casual gamers who keep FIFA, Madden and COD #1 for all of eternity happy while you and I play second fiddle and get fed sloppy seconds.

Phil needs to go.
You know, if Sony and Nintendo don't think it's the right path they don't have to follow it.

It's not going to hold the medium back, if they are walking the path alone.

The big bad boogeyman, isn't out to get you and different companies are free to try different things that work for them.

If MS does something you like you are free to support them on all the different options you listed. If they do stuff you hate, you are free to ignore them as you have always done.

It's not that hard my man.
 

Chukhopops

Member
Hell yeah the same rehashed arguments which have been made a million times.

Games are not movies.
Budget is not quality.
AAA budget inflation is what causes the media to become more stagnant and safer because every game needs to appeal to everyone and sell x million.
 
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Fredrik

Member
Lol there is no need to go full obnoxious fanboy and write an essay to get the point across that MS has messed up completely this year, even Ryan on Xbox-IGN lost it after TGA. Hopefully the silence means that their 23 studios will wrestle each other in the future over who gets to release their games and who has to wait for an empty space in the calender to not bloat the library.
I do think the swap to Unreal Engine 5 in many internal teams was a mistake. The engine clearly wasn’t ready for this gen.
 

Represent.

Represent(ative) of bad opinions
If anything Sony is doing more damage to the medium with how much it pushed the cinematic linear approach through the past decade.
So you think releasing games like God of War and Spider-Man are doing more damage to the medium than a subscription service that literally encourages gamers to laugh at the thought of buying games they are looking forward to? Gamepass has watered down MS first party output to pre OG Xbox levels. bruh
 
Yeah I don't very much like Phil he's always come off as a used car salesman to me and I don't understand the praise he gets Xbox would be a monster with Peter Moore at the helm and with Microsoft's full backing. I don't agree with your approach lol but some of the substance makes sense.
 
So you think releasing games like God of War and Spider-Man are doing more damage to the medium than a subscription service that literally encourages gamers to laugh at the thought of buying games they are looking forward to? Gamepass has watered down MS first party output to pre OG Xbox levels. bruh
The weird shit microsoft is doing with subscription services sucks but at least that isn't infecting actual game design.
 
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Theres always a bigger fish in the sea.
You can invest in mobile without watering down your bread and butter.

It's not a good sign for consoles, you know that right?

Digital camera manufacturers are shutting down left and right. You cannot take survival for granted.

We need games that masses would be interested in playing on consoles, wheather you like it or not.

What happened in Japan, if it happens around the world, be ready to say goodbye to your cinematic games as well.
 

clampzyn

Member
Series S limiting next-gen games while developers still have to make multiple graphical options for the PC that has weaker hardware than Series S? Whatever you think is the limiting factor for next-gen games it will be the platform that has to have multiple graphical option from low - mid - high - ultra coz that's where the budget allocation is being used.

Imagine SerieS X/Ps5 as the minimum requirement for next-gen games? 90% of the casual pc builds which unfortunately the major % of pc gaming build won't be able to play their game LOL
 
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Fredrik

Member
link? I like him. Would like to hear his thoughts

It's a bad sign when there were more Muppets at The Game Awards than Xbox world premieres. As someone who's been playing and covering Xbox for 20 years, I’m not sure I’ve ever been more baffled by the console-maker’s decision-making. I tweeted my frustration as soon as the industry's glitziest event of the year came to its awkward end, and if the hundreds of responses to that tweet told me anything, it's that this was no hot take. How could it be? Microsoft literally showed nothing for the year to come, despite promising us a huge 2023 at last summer's Xbox Showcase.

In June last year I foolishly declared the years-long exclusives drought over ahead of Microsoft’s fantastic Fall 2021. In hindsight, that period has been an exception rather than the new rule. Xbox fans suffered through an exceptionally dry year (shout-out to Obsidian’s fantastic, if niche, Pentiment, though!) and also had to watch PlayStation exclusives delight PS5 owners at The Game Awards all night long, from Forspoken to Final Fantasy XVI to Death Stranding 2.
He’s 100% right.
And even before TGA I realized that I had already swapped to main PS5 on console, simply because that’s where the best and coolest games has been this year. MS didn’t just drop the ball, their whole team left the field and has been sitting on the bench watching Sony playing by themselves.
 
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clampzyn

Member
Can't wait for devs targetting 12gb vram minimum cause we want next-gen experience, how many people in the PC space have 12gb vram on their gpu?
 

Kagey K

Banned
So you think releasing games like God of War and Spider-Man are doing more damage to the medium than a subscription service that literally encourages gamers to laugh at the thought of buying games they are looking forward to? Gamepass has watered down MS first party output to pre OG Xbox levels. bruh
Here's the thing. Spider-Man Man and GoW did nothing for actual gameplay over games that are on Gamepass.

You are conflating 2 things here.

If you want AAA movies with games you already played (Batman) then sure those seem better, but when it boils down to gameplay you can find better mechanics elsewhere.
 

ergem

Member
It’s all worth it if they can get the 2 billion casual gamers on board to play console games.

Unfortunately, it’s a lost cause. Console gaming is a subset of the whole gaming industry. At least Sony understands this.
 

Kagey K

Banned
Last time I checked Sony is winning due to stellar exclusive games so what you are on about?

Jimmy Fallon No GIF by The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon
No they are winning based on previous gen momentum.

Exclusives are such a small piece of the pie. I don't ever understand why people here praise them like they are the be all end all

Sure they shift some players, but for most it's best place to play/ where friends are on Cod/Fifa/Madden.

The best Sony exclusives are selling 20% of thier user base and that 20% are the hardcore.
 
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Represent.

Represent(ative) of bad opinions
Here's the thing. Spider-Man Man and GoW did nothing for actual gameplay over games that are on Gamepass.

You are conflating 2 things here.

If you want AAA movies with games you already played (Batman) then sure those seem better, but when it boils down to gameplay you can find better mechanics elsewhere.
Sony games have excellent gameplay. Ragnaroks combat is practically perfection in the genre. Spider-Man is probably the best comic book game ever. Bad examples.
 

clampzyn

Member
how many people in the PC space have an SSD that is faster than Series X/S have? A lot of them still use sata SSD, even HDD to store their games.

Now imagine devs requiring CPU of Series X/PS5 as minimum requirements while a lot of builds still fall between 4c/8threads || 6c/12threads even lower tbh. Profit goes bye bye, ez casual pc builds slideshow gameplay :messenger_grinning_squinting:
 
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Kagey K

Banned
Sony games have excellent gameplay. Ragnaroks combat is practically perfection in the genre. Spider-Man is probably the best comic book game ever. Bad examples.
Nope Batman exceeds Spider Man in every way, including being 1st to market.

It's fine to be biased, but don't be delusional.

I've seen too many complaints about Ragnarok for it to be perfection (but I havent played it so I can't personally say)

You still didn't tell me what either of them brought to the table that no other game has done though. Which is what I really want to address.
 
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clampzyn

Member
Nope Batman exceeds Spider Man in every way, including being 1st to market.

It's fine to be biased, but don't be delusional.

I've seen too many complaints about Ragnarok for it to be perfection (but I havent played it so I can't personally say)

You still didn't tell me what either of them brought to the table that no other game has done though. Which is what I really want to address.

Let's relax, this is a paid rant. :messenger_grinning_squinting:
 
No major releases in all of 2022
Haven't made a new successful AAA IP in the last 10 years...

Meanwhile Sony made

The Last of Us
Ghost of Tsushima
Horizon
Day's Gone

And popularized Marvel's Spider-Man

Has Microsoft even done anything to the level of Detroit Become Human, Bloodborne, hell even Knack sold 2 million copies.

Instead Microsoft looked at the success of the 360 and said, what software sold on the 360?

Call of Duty and Elder Scrolls... Let's buy Activision and Bethesda.

Honestly as cringe as the OP was, they're absolutely right about Microsoft and the danger GamePass poses to the industry as we know it today.
 

clampzyn

Member
Honestly as cringe as the OP was, they're absolutely right about Microsoft and the danger GamePass poses to the industry as we know it today.
How does Gamepass have anything to do with this? Developers are not forced to put their games on gamepass, they are paid, well if not, their games won't be there. And its not like games are permanent on gamepass, only xbox's studio games are permanent there.
 
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How does Gamepass have anything to do with this? Developers are not forced to put their games on gamepass, they are paid, well if not, their games won't be there. And its not like games are permanent on gamepass, only xbox's studio games are permanent there.

It's a copycat industry and subscription revenue is something all companies want because it is more consistent and less boom and bust.

If the industry follows on GamePass, it won't be a positive result.

But the reality is Microsoft isn't immune to the economic realities surrounding GamePass anymore than Google was immune to the technological realities surrounding Stadia. Amazon will similarly shutdown Luna. Not to conflate GamePass with streaming, but it's just a difficult model to keep up.
 

Fredrik

Member
Microsoft looked at the success of the 360 and said, what software sold on the 360?

Call of Duty and Elder Scrolls... Let's buy Activision and Bethesda.
And The Elder Scrolls 6 likely won’t release this generation or will arrive so late that it’s better to get the next gen port. And Sony has contracts in place for CoD that will last the whole generation.
🤷‍♂️

Could’ve bought Moon Studios, Asobo, Neon Giant, Ebb, Bloober, Splash Damage, Crystal Dynamics and helped funding some exclusives by Platinum, Team Ninja, Capcom, FROM etc for a fraction of that money. Phil just got awarded for being a great business man or whatever. I really don’t see why.
 

Kagey K

Banned
Captain America Lol GIF by mtv

Nobody had even HEARD about Spider-Man before Sony launched the PS4 game.

And if Days Gone is a « successful AAA IP » then how do you describe Sea of Thieves?
Fuck imagine, if people had heard of Spider Man previously he could have been a hidden Character in Tony Hawk, or had a huflgely successful ps1/N64 run even an Ultimate Spider Man game could have been made.

That would have been so cool.
 
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