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Microsofts openess vs Sony and Nintendos closed door policy. What do you prefer?

azertydu91

Hard to Kill
Even though Microsoft and the Xbox is consistently in last place in my eyes, I do respect the importance they put on backwards compatibility and preservation of older games, something both Sony and Nintendo don't care as much about.
That is a totally objectively good point in regards to MS, it has nothing to do about openness but half of OP's posts aren't either so it is not a problem.
 

Riky

$MSFT
Beat GIF by Xbox
It's going to be a great year when MS can just shadow drop GOTY contenders like this.
 

Dane

Member
Whatever for me, Microsoft has been pretty more comunicative with the community since 360 days, perhaps even OG Xbox. Nintendo has always been more quiet, Sony being arrogant in the 2000s is what created a smug part of the fanbase.
 
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azertydu91

Hard to Kill
Every video game forum is going to have warriors. GAF is no different. In my experience, GAF is no worse than most. We have plenty of fans of consoles on all sides who are not warriors. That's why the warriors are easy to spot.
At least here, besides some that have a persecution complex, people don't shriek and scream micro agression at everything that you might be saying like on another forum.
 

Maverick074

Banned
As others have said, Microsoft kind of has to be open about their plans because they're in a worse position than Nintendo and Sony
Nintendo has Pikmin 4 and The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom coming up, with possibly more to be announced in the upcoming Direct, and Sony has Marvel's Spider-Man 2, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, and Silent Hill 2
But Microsoft?
Halo's in a worse position than ever before
Gears of War doesn't bring the same excitement it did before
Fable is nowhere to be seen
Perfect Dark is nowhere to be seen
Forza is really the only reliable hit that they have
 

Thebonehead

Banned
Every video game forum is going to have warriors. GAF is no different. In my experience, GAF is no worse than most. We have plenty of fans of consoles on all sides who are not warriors. That's why the warriors are easy to spot.
Console Warriors are passé

GPU warriors are where it's at these days
 

SaintALia

Member
I don't think this is 'openness', this is just marketing.

Microsoft had a more (paper specs) powerful platform and went harder on promoting that fact. When either SOny or Microsoft think they have the edge hardware wise, they promote that heavily, because having a more powerful machine appeals to the base both target.

Nintendo has different marketing tactics and demographics target, there's not much point in pointing out hardware differences too much, and it's not like they had the edge over Sony or Microsoft in a while either.

When the N64 launched I still have a couple gaming magazines explaining the N64 featureset and what they actually did and Nintendo reps talking about the hardware.

Can't really say which marketing tactic works better, it depends on each company's situation at the time, marketing demographic and what they think their base will respond to and of course on the current exec and marketing exec's sensibilities.
 

Topher

Gold Member
At least here, besides some that have a persecution complex, people don't shriek and scream micro agression at everything that you might be saying like on another forum.

Agree. Thankfully mods are starting to crack down on the persecution complex nonsense. But yeah, the craziness elsewhere is not a problem here. I think a lot of folks here take that for granted.
 

Maverick074

Banned
This is as GOTY contender as Stray was, as in: it isn’t.
True
Every year, the game awards pick one indie game to nominate for game of the year to avoid looking like COMPLETE corporate dicksuckers but everyone knows it was never expected to win
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom already has a way bigger chance of winning GotY than Hi-Fi RUSH
 
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ZoukGalaxy

Member
Microsoft is like a "friend" full of promises who talks to you all the time saying: I do this, I will do this, I did this, next year I will do this, I will be better, I'm working on it...

Sony/Nintendo is a "friend" who doesn't talk so much or doesn't at all and then, all of suddenly they talk to you "Hey, look, what I just did"

You guessed, I prefer the last method.
If they really want to talk, just make a Microsoft Direct with transparency and real news.

More acts, less talk.
 
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Ok let’s be honest here. Microsoft is not open AT ALL. They hide all relevant metrics regarding Xbox and hide behind fluff like engagement. They then proceed to make a lot of PR stunts to make them seem like top dog and cool but it’s all performative and empty. They also pay people to shill for them in all social media and are very shady about it. They also pretend everything is fine with their game development and go radio silent for years and most of what we hear are shady bad news rumors.
So, how is Microsoft open vs Sony and Nintendo?

Engagement is THE most important metric.

Without engagement, we will have Japan like situation everywhere. Casuals will abandon consoles and flock to mobile.

Poor Japanese gamers I feel bad for them. Local developers served them boredom. Hopefully they will rebound and make some engaging stuff.

Nice visuals can go only so far in maintaining interest.
 

Nydius

Member
Meh, close the thread mods. Thought it might have been an interesting topic.
Nah, you opened the floodgates. You don't get to call the mods for a lifejacket.

This is irony, right?
I wish it were. A few years back I decided to see what the Xbox Ambassador program was all about. It sounded great on paper -- gamers helping gamers -- but it became clear that it really wasn't that at all. Their Discord is brand cultist to the point where I watched their mods kick people out for even mentioning Sony or Nintendo in civil discussions. I watched them organize Twitter mob campaigns where "Ambassadors" would go after someone critical of Microsoft by repeating variants of the same line ("Xbox is for the gamers and supports inclusiveness and accessibility across their platforms", or some such -- it's their Ambassador oath they make all Ambassadors 'sign').

The Ambassador program is PR brainwashing of their fans and then exploiting said fans to do their marketing for them on social media.
Lest anyone feel the need to accuse me of lying about being in the Ambassador program, here's a shot of my bio with my level 2 Ambassador badge.


You don't wanna go two years back. It will be a massacre. MS was publisher of the year 2021.
What people like you never mention in the "Publisher of the Year" claims is that it's a completely made up accolade by metacritic. METACRITIC! A result that was skewed by including the PC-only Age of Empires IV and by adding Flight Simulator as a separately reviewed product when it released on Series X. Take those two out and do an apple-to-apple, console only, comparison for that year and suddenly the scores are quite different.

I bet you can't tell me who their publisher of the year was in 2020. (Sega). Or 2019. (505 Games). See how absolutely pointless that "accolade" is?
 

Swift_Star

Banned
Engagement is THE most important metric.

Without engagement, we will have Japan like situation everywhere. Casuals will abandon consoles and flock to mobile.

Poor Japanese gamers I feel bad for them. Local developers served them boredom. Hopefully they will rebound and make some engaging stuff.

Nice visuals can go only so far in maintaining interest.
Showtime Lol GIF by Desus & Mero

Sure, dude.
I wish it were. A few years back I decided to see what the Xbox Ambassador program was all about. It sounded great on paper -- gamers helping gamers -- but it became clear that it really wasn't that at all. Their Discord is brand cultist to the point where I watched their mods kick people out for even mentioning Sony or Nintendo in civil discussions. I watched them organize Twitter mob campaigns where "Ambassadors" would go after someone critical of Microsoft by repeating variants of the same line ("Xbox is for the gamers and supports inclusiveness and accessibility across their platforms", or some such -- it's their Ambassador oath they make all Ambassadors 'sign').

The Ambassador program is PR brainwashing of their fans and then exploiting said fans to do their marketing for them on social media.
Lest anyone feel the need to accuse me of lying about being in the Ambassador program, here's a shot of my bio with my level 2 Ambassador badge.

Scared Saturday Night Live GIF by HULU

That doesn't sound good at all.
 

Klayzer

Member
Nah, you opened the floodgates. You don't get to call the mods for a lifejacket.


I wish it were. A few years back I decided to see what the Xbox Ambassador program was all about. It sounded great on paper -- gamers helping gamers -- but it became clear that it really wasn't that at all. Their Discord is brand cultist to the point where I watched their mods kick people out for even mentioning Sony or Nintendo in civil discussions. I watched them organize Twitter mob campaigns where "Ambassadors" would go after someone critical of Microsoft by repeating variants of the same line ("Xbox is for the gamers and supports inclusiveness and accessibility across their platforms", or some such -- it's their Ambassador oath they make all Ambassadors 'sign').

The Ambassador program is PR brainwashing of their fans and then exploiting said fans to do their marketing for them on social media.
Lest anyone feel the need to accuse me of lying about being in the Ambassador program, here's a shot of my bio with my level 2 Ambassador badge.



What people like you never mention in the "Publisher of the Year" claims is that it's a completely made up accolade by metacritic. METACRITIC! A result that was skewed by including the PC-only Age of Empires IV and by adding Flight Simulator as a separately reviewed product when it released on Series X. Take those two out and do an apple-to-apple, console only, comparison for that year and suddenly the scores are quite different.

I bet you can't tell me who their publisher of the year was in 2020. (Sega). Or 2019. (505 Games). See how absolutely pointless that "accolade" is?
There was a time when a lot of fans of Xbox, accused Metacritic of being biased against Microsoft's games. Now the tables have turned, i suppose.
 

yurinka

Member
I dunno the way he said "we believe in generations" and then proceeded to show a bunch of games, most of which turned out to be cross-gen
In that in that interview he explained that -and why- were going to keep supporting PS4 during several years after the PS5 release and he never said that they were going to avoid crossgen games, in that interview or anywhere else.

Regarding the 'we believe in generations' bit he said it when mentioning that he wanted to see the games using the PS5 new features like shorter loading times, haptic feedback, adaptative triggers, 3D audio etc. Something that all the PS5 do, including the crossgen ones.
 
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DryvBy

Member
Open? They say every year this is the year that Xbox is going to have it's best time. That's not a good thing lol.
 

GhostOfTsu

Banned
I wish it were. A few years back I decided to see what the Xbox Ambassador program was all about. It sounded great on paper -- gamers helping gamers -- but it became clear that it really wasn't that at all. Their Discord is brand cultist to the point where I watched their mods kick people out for even mentioning Sony or Nintendo in civil discussions. I watched them organize Twitter mob campaigns where "Ambassadors" would go after someone critical of Microsoft by repeating variants of the same line ("Xbox is for the gamers and supports inclusiveness and accessibility across their platforms", or some such -- it's their Ambassador oath they make all Ambassadors 'sign').

The Ambassador program is PR brainwashing of their fans and then exploiting said fans to do their marketing for them on social media.
Lest anyone feel the need to accuse me of lying about being in the Ambassador program, here's a shot of my bio with my level 2 Ambassador badge.
Not surprised by any of this. These ambassadors are everywhere and they make every gaming community unbearable.
 
I think a middle ground. Phil Spencer is quite open, but it’s clear he talks out both sides of his mouth. PlayStation just don’t use any recognisable faces to do PR.

Adam Boyes and Layden were really refreshing for PlayStation.
 

EDMIX

Member
MS is in a situation where they are about to be 3rd for the 3rd time....

Nintendo and Sony have a proven history where they literally can say nothing UNTIL its time to show a game because they have a strong trust with gamers regarding quality.

So...its MS right now that is rebranding and restructuring and showing they are gaming this time around, its up to them to not shut the fuck up, they kinda have no choice now.

I mean shit, why would Sony RIGNT NOW need to tell you Spiderman 2 will be a massive hit? They have 30 plus million units sold to prove that.

Why would NINTENDO need to fucking scream to you every day about Zelda? They have 27 million units sold....


Its MS that needs to convince people they have changed, they have a hit, they are different etc. Most times I'm against marketing shit so early, but in MS case...it makes sense. They need to do that now as many might have already made up their minds on PS and Nintendo, MS needs to show them that this time will be different. Nothing in their past can sell XB today.


They also sold the least out of the 3 in their past, thus they need to tell and show people that investing in XB is the right choice this gen.
 

Klayzer

Member
I think a middle ground. Phil Spencer is quite open, but it’s clear he talks out both sides of his mouth. PlayStation just don’t use any recognisable faces to do PR.

Adam Boyes and Layden were really refreshing for PlayStation.
Maybe Sony should bring back Kevin Butler, VP of PR could be his new title. Speaking of which, I thought those commercials were hilarious.
 

Snake29

RSI Employee of the Year
Whatever for me, Microsoft has been pretty more comunicative with the community since 360 days, perhaps even OG Xbox. Nintendo has always been more quiet, Sony being arrogant in the 2000s is what created a smug part of the fanbase.

Outside of all their brainwashed fanboys. MS markering doesn’t really work for the mainstream.

They talk to much and they engage too much with the wrong people on social. They do not come out very professional. You can clearly a difference on social between both companies.
 
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LakeOf9

Member
I don't think words exist in the English language that could convey how few fucks I have to give about "openness" or "closeness" of a corporate suit at a billion dollar (or more) company.

Sony and Nintendo executives may be less "charismatic" and their business policies are trash, but their games and systems are top notch. Microsoft seems to get every single thing right except for the, you know, games. I don't give a shit how many "gamer points!!1!" Spencer accrues from his fanboys online, if he can't deliver the games - which, seven years into his tenure, he has totally failed at - then I have no fucks to give about his platform.

Jim Ryan may be obnoxious and Nintendo might love overcharging through the nose, but at least they both consistently deliver actual great GOTY and GOTG caliber games. When was the last time Xbox gave me that? That's what I care about, not "openness" or "closeness"
 

vj27

Banned
I just wanna add I’m doing a Linux class for my major and all my professor does is shit on MS and Apple for having a closed binary OS. Like he be verbally mad at them, just find it funny regarding this topic of who has the most open walled garden lol.

But yeah I prefer the Xbox route, I remember when people were mad at Xbox for doing the play anywhere thing but I thought it was the coolest thing in the world that I could pick up where I left off on my gaming laptop. Definitely helped me finish my games during my (somewhat) long distance relationship. Could just bring my laptop and pick up exactly where I left off on gears 5 or halo infinite. I genuinely think they all should do this if there’s a pc version of a console game. Just makes my life easier by allowing me to game when and where I want to.

Edit: oh ok so we’re not talking about like how accessible the games are we’re talking about marketing 🤨. Kind of a non issue topic OP, marketing doesn’t improve my gamer-ability feel me lol.
 
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Topher

Gold Member
yeah but a dry year for Sony with no major holiday releases that year.

It isn't unusual for Sony to not release games during the holidays. Miles Morales launched with PS5, but in the prior years Ghost of Tsushima, TLOU 2, God of War, Days Gone, and even Spider-man were not holiday releases. The lone exception was Death Stranding in 2019.

Correction. Death Stranding in 2019 and God of War R in 2022 were exceptions.
 
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Pelta88

Member
I wish it were. A few years back I decided to see what the Xbox Ambassador program was all about. It sounded great on paper -- gamers helping gamers -- but it became clear that it really wasn't that at all. Their Discord is brand cultist to the point where I watched their mods kick people out for even mentioning Sony or Nintendo in civil discussions. I watched them organize Twitter mob campaigns where "Ambassadors" would go after someone critical of Microsoft by repeating variants of the same line ("Xbox is for the gamers and supports inclusiveness and accessibility across their platforms", or some such -- it's their Ambassador oath they make all Ambassadors 'sign').

The Ambassador program is PR brainwashing of their fans and then exploiting said fans to do their marketing for them on social media.
Lest anyone feel the need to accuse me of lying about being in the Ambassador program, here's a shot of my bio with my level 2 Ambassador badge.


WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK?

I knew it was a crazy program to be a part of. I had heard rumpurs of some weird shit. But this? This needs it's own thread, titled:

"I used to be a XBOX ambassador, here's what behind the scenes is actually like"
 

Klayzer

Member
It isn't unusual for Sony to not release games during the holidays. Miles Morales launched with PS5, but in the prior years Ghost of Tsushima, TLOU 2, God of War, Days Gone, and even Spider-man were not holiday releases. The lone exception was Death Stranding in 2019.

Correction. Death Stranding in 2019 and God of War R in 2022 were exceptions.
I swear, supposed gamers act like they have amnesia when it sutes them. Sony's modis operandi have been to let their third party partners shine during the holidays.

Most of their big releases have been in the first or second quarter of a calendar year.

Hell, on this very site, like clockwork "concerned gamers" were making topics about "how will Sony compete with whatever holiday title Xbox was releasing".
 

Topher

Gold Member
I swear, supposed gamers act like they have amnesia when it sutes them. Sony's modis operandi have been to let their third party partners shine during the holidays.

Most of their big releases have been in the first or second quarter of a calendar year.

Hell, on this very site, like clockwork "concerned gamers" were making topics about "how will Sony compete with whatever holiday title Xbox was releasing".

Yeah, folks made a big deal about it in 2021 but it was just console warrior noise really. Somehow HFW missing 2021 by a couple of months ruined the whole year or some such drama.
 

phil_t98

#SonyToo
It isn't unusual for Sony to not release games during the holidays. Miles Morales launched with PS5, but in the prior years Ghost of Tsushima, TLOU 2, God of War, Days Gone, and even Spider-man were not holiday releases. The lone exception was Death Stranding in 2019.

Correction. Death Stranding in 2019 and God of War R in 2022 were exceptions.

So you’re saying it wasn’t a dry year for Sony released games? Gran turismo was delayed from that year, god of war ragnarok was delayed that year also. Horizon forbidden Wes was also delayed.
 

Topher

Gold Member
So you’re saying it wasn’t a dry year for Sony released games? Gran turismo was delayed from that year, god of war ragnarok was delayed that year also. Horizon forbidden Wes was also delayed.

You said before it was a dry year due to "no major holiday releases". I'm saying that doesn't really matter. If all those games were released in 2021 then 2022 would have been a "dry year". But no, R&C and Returnal do not make for a "dry year". It wasn't a fantastic year either though. I'd say it was a good, not great year for Sony.
 
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Kumomeme

Member
accessible? more like they trying to build pr front since they doesnt has anything else to showcase.

its like politicians. say or behave like what people wanted despite subpar output.
 
How can MS be considered open? they mention a game in development, then the say nothing for a while then you hear its canceled, we have years of "next year will be the best year for xbox", 180's from Phill Spencer and half truths, just because they appear in interviews more often doesn't mean they are more open, in fact it appears they do that to obfuscate the situation
 

phil_t98

#SonyToo
You said before it was a dry year due to "no major holiday releases". I'm saying that doesn't really matter. If all those games were released in 2021 then 2022 would have been a "dry year". But no, R&C and Returnal do not make for a "dry year". It wasn't a fantastic year either though. I'd say it was a good, not great year for Sony.

a year were Microsoft released a decent amount of games and got publisher of the year is a dry year for Sony. the games they released were good but only 2 of them that year. last year for Microsoft was terrible.

that year they had planned to release god of war raganrok and gran turismoe and both delayed
 
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Shubh_C63

Member
I prefer good finished products with a firm release date.

The "communication" with publisher and gamers is useless and only acts as internet discussion catalyst.
 
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