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[GI.Biz | Opinion] How long can Microsoft float on goodwill?

Dude, she is an ambassador, and influencer to the brand. No need to defend beyond that. All gamers should be disgusted with these frauds no matter the brand.
She's a discredited advertiser. Fine with me.

What about the people claiming GOTY for other games months (or even years) before they're released? Happened literally ALL YEAR LONG in 2022. Literally over and over.
 
This is why:

https://www.gamesindustry.biz/phil-spencer-game-pass-leads-to-more-game-sales

But don't worry PC gamers on Steam will pick up the baton and attempt to keep things afloat. We got your back.
That's not everyone though.

Read the Hi-Fi thread, many were buying it while playing it on game pass to support the devs, but it'll never reach top seller status on Xbox because People like me exist, I play it on gamepass exclusively and will not buy it, I'm not made out of money.

Atomic Heart and RedFall will be in the same category.
 

ADiTAR

ידע זה כוח
If I were Microsoft, I would focus on focused short experiences like Hi Fi Rush, Pentimentl, etc. If they can start releasing small but fresh games like these every 2-3 months I think they will get more subscribers. Of course, do some big game every year or so.
 

DeepEnigma

Gold Member
She's a discredited advertiser. Fine with me.

What about the people claiming GOTY for other games months (or even years) before they're released? Happened literally ALL YEAR LONG in 2022. Literally over and over.
That's silly hype that has always existed. But there is a difference between fans, and people being "paid to" with every game said brand puts out with the illusion that it's grassroots fandom.
 
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They dropped this article at the worst time right after they dropped a 90 quality exclusive. Soon they need to start going “when will MS drop a AAA quality sad dad exclusive that is nothing alike those of another company” cause usually that’s what they mean. It’s not about variety but doing more of what they see as a “high quality games”.
 

DenchDeckard

Moderated wildly
Yeh but one problem, if it was actually "everyone" then that would be reflected in their quarterly results. What a shame.

It's funny that some of you want to suddenly act like you're some omniscient beings when it comes to gaming when in fact all you've done is back yourselves into the most limiting corner of the market. Please excuse me if I don't take the opinions of those who voted Halo Infinite as GOTY seriously.

I didn't vote halo infinite as goty, but ok.

I'm not sure what you are talking about. We need to see how microsofts year goes and just maybe it will be reflected in their quarterly results.

Also, I don't know what game you would vote as game of the year? Mine was elden ring last year and returnal the year before.

Ever thought you might have bad taste and your opinions are trash? ;)
 
That's silly hype that has always existed. But there is a difference between fans, and people being "paid to" with every game said brand puts out with the illusion that it's grassroots fandom.
If you say so. I've never even heard of this girl, and no one hyping up Hi-Fi Rush is doing it before the game even released.

God of War and Elden Ring were literally the most obnoxiously dominant, repeated, aggressive assertions that it would be GOTY over and over and over all year long to the point that other games could not even be entertained without being laughed at. You have to at least acknowledge that there's grounds for some potential hypocrisy here. Give me a break.
 

Sacred

Member
They're at the end of the line as they continue to lose players to PlayStation and PC. Everything is riding on Starfield, Fable, Perfect Dark, Avowed and Hellblade 2. If those games fail to deliver its over.
This is definitely not true.. it's over once Satya stops dumping money into the Xbox division and according to Phil and himself, that won't be anytime soon.
 
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DaGwaphics

Member
They almost have $2 trillion. They will goodwill until the cows come home.

This! Goodwill is cheap to them. :messenger_beaming:

Seriously though, with things balancing out and returning more to normal, they will need a regular supply of quality content. 2023 looks like it will be good for them in that department.

2022 was too dry, they got away with that at launch in 2020 and early 2021, but not so much in holiday 2022.

Hi-Fi Rush is amazing so the Xbox peops are well satisfied at the moment. Green rat mafia salute!
 
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DryvBy

Member
Microsoft is much less reliant on console sales compared to Nintendo and Sony.

You can play their library on pc. And you gamepass on both PC, mobike, and the Xbox one and one x for streaming next gen games.

But of course, if you're not first, then you are last.

I have a gaming pc, but still think about buying an Xbox down the line to use in my bedroom to continue the games I play on pc, and to be third party console games that's not on pc.

You're a PC gamer that's buying games on the Windows Store? Are you new to PC gaming?
 

DeepEnigma

Gold Member
If you say so. I've never even heard of this girl, and no one hyping up Hi-Fi Rush is doing it before the game even released.

God of War and Elden Ring were literally the most obnoxiously dominant, repeated, aggressive assertions that it would be GOTY over and over and over all year long to the point that other games could not even be entertained without being laughed at. You have to at least acknowledge that there's grounds for some potential hypocrisy here. Give me a break.
Bro. People in the thread gave some more of her history. It's not isolated to this one thing. But do you, playa. All of a sudden heads in the influencer sand we are.
 

Ozriel

M$FT
It's mostly Xbox people, Ambassadors, content creators etc. on Twitter I've seen really pushing the game hard. That's why my comment was focused on them. Steam is its own space, nothing really to do with Xbox or Game Pass.

It's completely false that most of the positive traffic for the game on Twitter comes from 'Xbox people'. It's selling well, and getting a very decent amount of players thanks to GP. And the reaction has been overwhelmingly positive. Why would social media traffic not reflect that?
"Steam is its own space" makes no sense as a comment since it's the exact same game on that platform.

I do think it be a sudden release and having a visual style not commonly seen these days has helped it with the Steam reviews though, even on top of it being a generally fun & solid game.

It's hardly a novel concept that the visual fidelity of a game plays a part in its reviews.

But when it comes to saying it's a GOTY contender or stuff like that, I feel that's too soon. The game JUST came out. Let's see how well it holds up in repeated playthroughs, what depth the game mechanics have, what secrets can be unlocked or how well it holds up in repeated playthroughs before saying it's a GOTY contender. Or what influence it may have on other games, before saying that. Or even if it'll remain the best-looking game of its visual style by the end of the year, stuff like that.

I'll just pipe up to say I've never seen you use these metrics in your own GOTY forecasts.
You think It Takes Two had to transform the industry before it won GOTY awards? Or Ratchet and Clank?


As for Starfield, look that's not the only big space game/RPG coming out this year. I'm not saying it doesn't have mass-market appeal but all the same, we know very little about the story, and it's going to be releasing in the same year as Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, Final Fantasy XVI, Street Fighter 6, RE4 Remake, Spiderman 2...you catch my drift? How much mass-market appeal does Starfield really have in comparison to THOSE games?

If Starfield hits the overall quality bar set by some of Bethesda's revered RPGs, The only games on this list that are certain to be bigger sellers than it are Spiderman 2 and Zelda.
LOL @ "It's not the only big space game coming out this year".
Gamers know Bethesda...there's a reason why Starfield is #3 on Steam's global wishlists even before Bethesda's upcoming deep dive.
 

GHG

Gold Member
I didn't vote halo infinite as goty, but ok.

I'm not sure what you are talking about. We need to see how microsofts year goes and just maybe it will be reflected in their quarterly results.

Also, I don't know what game you would vote as game of the year? Mine was elden ring last year and returnal the year before.

Ever thought you might have bad taste and your opinions are trash? ;)

Elden Ring was my GOTY, by quite some distance. I'm also enjoying Hi Fi Rush.

Maybe both our opinions are trash, but at least one of us doesn't feel the need to exaggerate and create sales pitches from said opinions when they involve a particular brand.

Marvel Studios Reaction GIF by Disney+
 

JohnnyFootball

GerAlt-Right. Ciriously.
This topic is bound to bring out the system-wars fanboys, but it looks to me like Microsoft is making big strides towards providing quality exclusive content - even if it is in smaller steps than some would like. That being said, there needs to be better studio management at Microsoft - there’s constant rumblings of internal game development milestones being missed, mismanagement of contracted employees, disgruntled former employees speaking out - which seems to be an aspect of business that Nintendo and Sony have become very good at avoiding (for the most part). Once Microsoft figures those problems out (and/or their acquisitions begin compensating for them), the narrative will change.
It's been "looking like this" for years. How anyone can trust that MS will finally figure it out is beyond me. I hope they do. Really. But they have lost the benefit of the doubt. I hope for the best, but expect the worst.
 
Microsofts 2022 is literally Sonys 2015..both happened at the same point in their respective generation (3rd year), too.

Both released a handful of 1st party offerings the year prior (Halo Infinite, Forza Horizon 5, Psychonauts 2, Deathloop, Flight Sim from Microsoft...and Driveclub, Infamous: Second Son, and MLB the Show from Sony).
And they both had little to zero 1st party output the following year (though Microsoft released Pentiment and technicaly Ghostwire Tokyo) having to rely on 3rd party due to delays..with Starfield and Redfall delayed by Microsoft and Uncharted 4 and Ratchet and Clank delayed by Sony (https://www.techradar.com/news/gaming/with-uncharted-4-delayed-the-ps4-lineup-looks-sparse-1295305)

This is a straight up, direct parallel..even down to the "indie slander" online (Sony was dubbed the IndieStation back then).

Uncharted started the party in May 2016 and now Redfall starts the party in May 2023. Well actually, Hi-Fi Rush has abaolutely started the party..and the 3rd party gamepass day and date line up for 2023 is utterly insane as well.

When games drop, nobody remembers when the games weren't dropping. That's how this shit works.
Usually 'when games aren't dropping' is when gamers should make an effort to discover some of the countless games they've been sleeping on, but most of people on here (and in media writing articles like the OP posted) aren't actually about that life at all.

Anyway, 2023 is off to a brilliant start.
 

Ozriel

M$FT
Having smaller, quality games is better than having mostly nothing. 2023 doesn't look amazing for Xbox, but it looks good enough for me to turn it on occasionally. A lot is riding on Starfield as the stand out title for them, but I am honestly not convinced it's going to do as well as they possibly want based on what we've seen.

Hmm. I guess everyone can only speak for themselves, but as a GP subscriber, a year that gives me Hi-Fi Rush, Redfall, Forza, Starfield, Lies of P, Atomic Heart, Wo Long, STALKER 2, Hollow Knight: Silksong, Minecraft Legends, AoE Console, Monster Hunter Rise, Benedict Fox, Ara and Flintlock is nothing short of amazing...and that's just with the assumption that there's no H2 2023 AAA releases.

2023 looks to be an amazing year for owners of all consoles, no matter where you play.
 
Bro. People in the thread gave some more of her history. It's not isolated to this one thing. But do you, playa. All of a sudden heads in the influencer sand we are.
Did you even read the first sentence of my post? This is when you know communication is literally pointless. The first sentence is literally just acknowledging that she's a sellout, according to you. There's no head in the sand. Totally acknowledged it up top, first thing. You ignored the rest of the post though lol. Rough.
She's a discredited advertiser. Fine with me.
I'm not disputing it and I don't care. Whatever minor influence she has is a joke compared to the massive onslaught of GOTY shilling that happened literally all year for God of War and Elden Ring, sometimes a year before it even CAME OUT.
 
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DeepEnigma

Gold Member
Did you even read the first sentence of my post? This is when you know communication is literally pointless. The first sentence is literally just acknowledging that she's a sellout, according to you. There's no head in the sand. Totally acknowledged it up top, first thing. You ignored the rest of the post though lol. Rough.
Yes. I read the condescending "if you say so..."

So we want to talk about communicating when you start off with a perceived handwave?
 
Yes. I read the condescending "if you say so..."

So we want to talk about communicating when you start off with a perceived handwave?
That's not condescending. I'm literally acknowledging what you said lol. There's no data or proof. Just going off your word. I didn't even contest it.

You guys are embarrassing with how quick you jumped on someone daring to call HFR GOTY after the embarrassing shilling that dominated 2022. And you still can't acknowledge it. That's just hype and it's fine. Hype is literally calling it GOTY before it even came out, before anyone even played it. It's 100x worse than anyone complimenting HFR. And it literally happened all year long.
 

sainraja

Member
You can just quote what I said, because it wasn't that. You have to exaggerate it and make it seem more negative.

And again, just look at the GOTY categories here on GAF since you guys all like data so much. Real similar phenomenon at the Game Awards with Stray somehow beating out multiple superior games for a totally unknown reason.
You generally seem reasonable with your posts, but your recent posts seem very, very odd. It's almost like, the only criteria a game has to reach for you to consider it any good is, that it has to exist on Xbox and it has to be exclusive. If it makes you feel better to think that "Xbox" only gamers are somehow more sophisticated compared to PS gamers, then go for it, lol. You can have that.

You are quick to downplay Stray which is not a typical AAA release simply because it came out on PS first. If that was on Xbox, like HOL and HR, then I feel like you would be singing a completely different tune.
 
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DeepEnigma

Gold Member
That's not condescending. I'm literally acknowledging what you said lol. There's no data or proof. Just going off your word. I didn't even contest it.

You guys are embarrassing with how quick you jumped on someone daring to call HFR GOTY after the embarrassing shilling that dominated 2022. And you still can't acknowledge it. That's just hype and it's fine. Hype is literally calling it GOTY before it even came out, before anyone even played it. It's 100x worse than anyone complimenting HFR. And it literally happened all year long.
My bad then, broski. Tone is definitely hard to parse over the internet or via text.

I never jumped on her, I just think it's slimy how companies use influencers and all of a sudden "#ad" no longer gets used on Twitter or Instagram the past several years when it used to be a rule.
 

DenchDeckard

Moderated wildly
Elden Ring was my GOTY, by quite some distance. I'm also enjoying Hi Fi Rush.

Maybe both our opinions are trash, but at least one of us doesn't feel the need to exaggerate and create sales pitches from said opinions when they involve a particular brand.

Marvel Studios Reaction GIF by Disney+

We both deffo have trash taste and opinions...I just see one of us exaggerating our sodium levels when the opposition to their their particular brand does something right and deserves some good praise.

Wink Hello GIF by Studios 2016
 
God of War and Elden Ring were literally the most obnoxiously dominant, repeated, aggressive assertions that it would be GOTY over and over and over all year long to the point that other games could not even be entertained without being laughed at. You have to at least acknowledge that there's grounds for some potential hypocrisy here. Give me a break.

BECAUSE THE DEVELOPERS OF THOSE GAMES HAVE A PROVEN PEDIGREE

It's not obnoxious when you have studios that have continued to deliver GOTY/GOTG caliber titles. What do you expect?
 
You generally seem reasonable with your posts, but your recent posts seem very, very odd. It's almost like, the only criteria a game has to reach for you to consider it any good is, that it has to exist on Xbox and it has to be exclusive. If it makes you feel better to think that "Xbox" only gamers are somehow more sophisticated compared to PS gamers, then go for it, lol. You can have that.

You are quick to downplay Stray which is not a typical AAA release simply because it came out on PS first. If that was on Xbox, like HOL and HR, then I feel like you would be singing a completely different tune.
I voted Neon White for best indie of the year and it's not even on Xbox. We're focusing on Xbox here because of the subject of the thread. Stray is worse than many indies last year, in my personal opinion. It was a banner year for indies.
My bad then, broski. Tone is definitely hard to parse over the internet or via text.

I never jumped on her, I just think it's slimy how companies use influencers and all of a sudden "#ad" no longer gets used on Twitter or Instagram the past several years when it used to be a rule.
Tone is tough, fair enough. No worries.
 
BECAUSE THE DEVELOPERS OF THOSE GAMES HAVE A PROVEN PEDIGREE

It's not obnoxious when you have studios that have continued to deliver GOTY/GOTG caliber titles. What do you expect?
HFR has executive producer that was the director of Resident Evil 4, and game director is the director of Evil Within 2. AND ITS ACTUALLY OUT SO PEOPLE CAN PLAY IT. God of War Ragnarok is from a director that has never directed a game, and was hyped up as GOTY for a year prior to release.
 
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DaGwaphics

Member
And to the people saying that Pentiment has a weak completion rate, I don't see it. The achievement for completing act 3 (Manu Propria) seems within normal ranges, if not a bit high. Maybe there is an achievement for a 100% completion that would take multiple replays on a branching game like this, but the Act 3 finish (end of your story) seems solid. Just more trolling from the goof troop. LOL
 
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HFR is from the executive producer of Resident Evil 4 and director of Evil Within 2. God of War Ragnarok is from a director that has never directed a game.

What are you getting at, exactly? Hi Fi Rush MAY Have had a decent amount of hype if people saw it a year ago. It had no hype because it was literally a ghost drop.

The fact that you question GoWR due to a director is ridiculous. That director was a significant reason GOTY 2018 was so good and has like two decades of experience at a massive studio with hundreds of people. It would be very unlikely for GOW:R to NOT live up to the hype given the studio's pedigree.
 
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Men_in_Boxes

Snake Oil Salesman
Can't write these headlines too much longer. The XBox drought is already ending (Hi Fi Rush) and we'll never see another drought remotely as long as we just went through. "XBox is fine" doesn't get the clicks though.
 
What are you getting at, exactly? Hi Fi Rush MAY Have had a decent amount of hype if people saw it a year ago. It had no hype because it was literally a ghost drop.

The fact that you question GoWR due to a director is ridiculous. That director was a significant reason GOTY 2018 was so good and has like two decades of experience at a massive studio with hundreds of people.
I feel like I don't speak English sometimes. I'm "getting at" the same point, over and over. Whatever extremely minimal shilling going on for HFR is a single grain of sand compared to the desert of extreme shilling that preceded the release of Elden Ring and God of War. Anyone trying to shame people calling HFR a GOTY candidate is a literal clown.
 

GHG

Gold Member
We both deffo have trash taste and opinions...I just see one of us exaggerating our sodium levels when the opposition to their their particular brand does something right and deserves some good praise.

Wink Hello GIF by Studios 2016

Oh don't worry, I give them praise when they deserve it. I play their games when they are deserving of my time. Its just that neither of those things happen nearly enough considering their resources.

The only thing that gets my blood pressure up are people who want to pretend these guys are doing the best job they can. The land of make believe sure looks like something, maybe I should join you some day.
 
I feel like I don't speak English sometimes. I'm "getting at" the same point, over and over. Whatever extremely minimal shilling going on for HFR is a single grain of sand compared to the desert of extreme shilling that preceded the release of Elden Ring and God of War. Anyone trying to shame people calling HFR a GOTY candidate is a literal clown.

And that would be expected.

HFR is a new IP, from a developer that hasn't had a gangbuster hit, and neither has the director in a long time. It's also got limited appeal due to being a quirky rhythm game (not discounting the game at all with this comment, btw, that's part of the appeal)

Elden Ring is a Souls game in an open world, the director is probably one of the most praised in gaming the past decade, and God of War Ragnarok is the follow up to the 20M seller GOTY of 2018 and a massive hit for SSM.

You act as if you should be shocked that Elden Ring and GOWR were hyped up and people were excited about them. Let me ask you a question - what's wrong with YOU that you weren't similarly excited for these massive games?
 
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And that would be expected.

HFR is a new IP, from a developer that hasn't had a gangbuster hit, and neither has the director in a long time. It's also got limited appeal due to being a quirky rhythm game (not discounting the game at all with this comment, btw, that's part of the appeal)
I'm not saying HFR hype should be equal size to those games. I'm saying anyone trying to shame people for calling it a GOTY candidate is a clown. Do you understand what I'm saying? Someone called it GOTY and I saw multiple comments about how its too early to say it and Xbox gamers are idiots or starved or shills for even suggesting GOTY this early, or many don't even play the game and say it. It's pathetic trolling. The rest of your post has nothing to do with what I'm even talking about.
 
I'm not saying HFR hype should be equal size to those games. I'm saying anyone trying to shame people for calling it a GOTY candidate is a clown. Do you understand what I'm saying? Someone called it GOTY and I saw multiple comments about how its too early to say it and Xbox gamers are idiots or starved or shills for even suggesting GOTY this early, or many don't even play the game and say it. It's pathetic trolling. The rest of your post has nothing to do with what I'm even talking about.

Anyone is free to have their own opinion of GOTY, but I think you may be misinterpreting what the poster said

I believe the main point the person made was that HFR will not be a GOTY at the end of the year based on the media opinion after we get Zelda, RE4R, FF16, Starfield, Spider-Man 2, and others that may not be announced, and they're right about that.
 

KXVXII9X

Member
Hi Fi Rush is good, but it's not Elden Ring good.
This is where subjective opinions come in because I feel the polar opposite. It is like people have different taste in things. Hi-Fi Rush is almost like they made a game tailored specifically to me. I thought up a game almost exactly like it a few years back with similar art style and everything.

Sadly, I couldn't get into Elden Ring no matter how hard I tried. I think us gamers can be a a bit hyperbolic when something really interest us, but it is genuine.
 
Anyone is free to have their own opinion of GOTY, but I think you may be misinterpreting what the poster said

I believe the main point the person made was that HFR will not be a GOTY at the end of the year based on the media opinion after we get Zelda, RE4R, FF16, Starfield, Spider-Man 2, and others that may not be announced, and they're right about that.
I'm not talking about remember_spinal remember_spinal . GOTY candidate to me means it will be in the top 10 games of the year. On the short list for GOTY. It's fine to not agree with that. I don't care what people's opinions are.

I'm talking about people saying Xbox gamers are shills, haven't played the game, or too starved to have a valid opinion, or that it's not appropriate to even suggest it now (while everyone is fine suggesting Spider Man 2 even though it's not even OUT). It's obviously appropriate to suggest GOTY candidates FAR BEFORE ITS OUT, but a game that is already out people are arguing you are doing it too soon? I'm calling out trolling. Dumb ass trolling. That's it.
 
I'm not talking about remember_spinal remember_spinal . GOTY candidate to me means it will be in the top 10 games of the year. On the short list for GOTY. It's fine to not agree with that. I don't care what people's opinions are.

I'm talking about people saying Xbox gamers are shills, haven't played the game, or too starved to have a valid opinion, or that it's not appropriate to even suggest it now (while everyone is fine suggesting Spider Man 2 even though it's not even OUT). It's obviously appropriate to suggest GOTY candidates FAR BEFORE ITS OUT, but a game that is already out people are arguing you are doing it too soon? I'm calling out trolling. Dumb ass trolling. That's it.

On your second paragraph, I don't really see many people taking that position.
 
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