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its been an entertaining week so far GAF

thanks

First thing I do in the morning now: grab a coffee and check GAF to get updated on the shitstorm.

 

[Elysium44]

I hope after this, no matter how long it takes for these loonies...that everyone truly understands its a plastic box with some parts inside that plays video games.

Just, buy the games you want, where you want, buy the plastic you want but don't be emotionally attached to that plastic or the company behind it.

I kinda hope they palm it off to asus or msi or whoever and I may get my dream of buying a 1000 dollar xbox os themed steam machine type box I can plug into my telly.

Just need MS to sort the os out and the apk to make my games run.

But man. Being this crazy over people being able to play games wherever they want is wild.

It isn't just plastic. People who have had an Xbox for 20 years like me, have gone on a long gaming journey and yes it is emotional and there is nothing wrong with that at all. Humans get attached to things, to particular games, to a particular community - Xbox is where our memories are, where are friends are. This is now in danger of all going away. Of course people will be concerned about that. It isn't a fridge or a washing machine, getting emotionally attached to a particular brand of those would be weird, but gaming is unique. It's a big part of a lot of people's lives. All these comments who think they are clever saying 'it's just plastic' are really stupid.

 

[digoutyoursoul]

First thing I do in the morning now: grab a coffee and check GAF to get updated on the shitstorm.

Shit, shower, shave, coffee, GAF

 

[HeWhoWalks]

Maybe you should have.

"Or maybe you should've stayed the fuck outta Jackson"!

 

[Killjoy-NL]

It isn't just plastic. People who have had an Xbox for 20 years like me, have gone on a long gaming journey and yes it is emotional and there is nothing wrong with that at all. Humans get attached to things, to particular games, to a particular community - Xbox is where our memories are, where are friends are. This is now in danger of all going away. Of course people will be concerned about that. It isn't a fridge or a washing machine, getting emotionally attached to a particular brand of those would be weird, but gaming is unique. It's a big part of a lot of people's lives. All these comments who think they are clever saying 'it's just plastic' are really stupid.

Such is life.

You suck it up, accept it and move on.

 

[clarky]

Wank, Shit, shower, shave, coffee, GAF

Corrected that for you.

 

[RespawnX]

They're not stumbling out of anything they got deeper in it instead.

What exactly went well for them this generation?

Forza Horizon 5 is by far the best arcade racer on market
Sea of Thieves runs successfull GaaS since last generation
Hi-Fi Rush was a great niche fan service with high impact on media
Starfield even it wasn't perfect is a big title (with hopefully long update strategy)
Flight Simulator is a showcase of tech this generation (but niche)
Age of Empires IV even after some issues at the beginning is a great successor of the series
Groundes was/is one of the best survival games in past years
Gears Tactics is a great spin-off
As Dusk Falls was reviewed as one of the best story experiences in years (but niche)
Pentiment was a nice adventure (but niche)
And even Halo Infinite is a great game

On the downside we have:
Halo Infinites fucked up multiplayer strategy and scope
The controversy around Starfield, won't deny
A vampire game I forgot
Minecraft Legends nobody asked for
Forza Motorsport was the next Motorsport entry with big issues #EarlyAccess

Most people are too busy throwing mud instead of simply looking at things with a bit of distance.

But ...
a) There is no game that was recorded as "extraordinary", therefore a lot of coverage is with some kind of negativity
b) Sony has already pushed and built up community building on social media much better and strongly the last generation
c) The problems of the last generation are still very much present and have permanently damaged the Xbox brand
d) The titles are also released for PC and the group coverage for Xbox and PC isn't negable
e) Game Pass cannot grow fast enough to compensate for the cost
f) The Xbox ambassadors have a lot of very toxic people who hurt the image of the brand focusing more on destructive fan bullshit than constructive community building. Somebody gonna tell Greenberg he is bad in his job?

That just my two cents

 

[Chuck Berry]

 

[DryvBy]

 

[FewRope]

One week for this chinese guy to ruin everything lmao

 

[Celine]

Well that's not really news, the biggest third-party game on Nintendo Switch is owned by Microsoft (Minecraft).

 

[Borowski_1]

The fact that takes them one week to announce something that's been decided weeks or months ago, and after all the chaos and missinformation going around, is baffling

And yet, i'm sure the message won't be clear

It's probably be "some will be exclusives, some won't" BS again

 

[Jakk]

The fact that takes them one week to announce something that's been decided weeks or months ago, and after all the chaos and missinformation going around, is baffling

And yet, i'm sure the message won't be clear

It's probably be "some will be exclusives, some won't" BS again

This again. I would really like to know what do you expect them to do when they are forced to announce something early. Giving themselves at least a week to prepare is the most logical thing they could have done.

 

[Mr Reasonable]

The fact that takes them one week to announce something that's been decided weeks or months ago, and after all the chaos and missinformation going around, is baffling

I think it all points to them not having made a decision weeks or months ago and in fact being forced to comment on what are mostly speculative comments.

 

[Yamisan]

Didn't even know he was still around tbh.

 

[Clear]

The plain fact is we all failed to see this coming despite it should've been obvious that if MS' had the will to spend 2/3rds of Sony corp's market cap on snapping up ABK, then we were exiting "business as usual" territory.

 

[Astray]

More, not all. And once they recouped the losses, whose to say they won't make the franchises exclusive again?

Lol if things like Gears or Starfield become big sellers on PS5 and Switch 2 then they will never ever turn down guaranteed money in exchange for maybe getting console share.

It's also a door you can't completely close once it's open.

 

[DJ12]

The fact that takes them one week to announce something that's been decided weeks or months ago, and after all the chaos and missinformation going around, is baffling

And yet, i'm sure the message won't be clear

It's probably be "some will be exclusives, some won't" BS again

I think the decision was made very recently and the original plan was to drop the news in March/April.

They didnt account for someone inside, probably Greenberg, being upset and leaking it to all his twatterati gimps.

The plain fact is we all failed to see this coming despite it should've been obvious that if MS' had the will to spend 2/3rds of Sony corp's market cap on snapping up ABK, then we were exiting "business as usual" territory.

Speak for yourself, I and many others saw this coming 3 years ago

 

[Zheph]

The plain fact is we all failed to see this coming despite it should've been obvious that if MS' had the will to spend 2/3rds of Sony corp's market cap on snapping up ABK, then we were exiting "business as usual" territory.

You missed the acquisition thread?

 

[FewRope]

The chinese guy has updated the PlayStation part of his resume, I think is for real over and Sneakers was 100% right

 

[Clear]

You missed the acquisition thread?

Speak for yourself, I and many others saw this coming 3 years ago

Check my post history, I've been as critical/analytical as anyone of the whole Game Pass strategy.

However, I don't think many people anticipated (1) the speed of change, and (2) specifically them re-tooling their existing business model within a standard generational cycle.

My suspicion was that change was going to happen "outside-in" as in their old business would be gradually deprioritized in favour of their new software and services model. This is starting to look very much like the inverse, where they are aggressively changing their core (console) model to a support position behind publishing and distribution.

Its certainly a different sort of pivot than I expected because its so destructive to the brand perception and identity of the Xbox business.

 

[DJ12]

Check my post history, I've been as critical/analytical as anyone of the whole Game Pass strategy.

However, I don't think many people anticipated (1) the speed of change, and (2) specifically them re-tooling their existing business model within a standard generational cycle.

My suspicion was that change was going to happen "outside-in" as in their old business would be gradually deprioritized in favour of their new software and services model. This is starting to look very much like the inverse, where they are aggressively changing their core (console) model to a support position behind publishing and distribution.

Its certainly a different sort of pivot than I expected because its so destructive to the brand perception and identity of the Xbox business.

Something had to happen when they were selling for 350 and still getting beaten by the switch, which almost everyone knows is coming EoL now.

 

[ByWatterson]

Wow this Hail Spencer Song aged well

 

[kruis]

The chinese guy has updated the PlayStation part of his resume, I think is for real over and Sneakers was 100% right

Yep. Now it says:

"Manage a high-performance team on Go-To-Market strategy for Microsoft Game Content in Asia.
Portfolio range includes Xbox Game Studios, Activision, Blizzard, Zenimax and Bethesda."

The bit about "... across PC, Xbox, Playstation, Switch and mobile" has been deleted.

 

[FewRope]

Yep. Now it says:

"Manage a high-performance team on Go-To-Market strategy for Microsoft Game Content in Asia.
Portfolio range includes Xbox Game Studios, Activision, Blizzard, Zenimax and Bethesda."

The bit about "... across PC, Xbox, Playstation, Switch and mobile" has been deleted.

It cannot be more obvious at this point

 

[JohnnyFootball]

I mostly find it amusing how Microsoft has bought big developers, but after their peaks. Bethesda made Skyrim, one of the best selling all time games, but has been on a decline since. Arkane made great games like Dishonored and Prey, but their senior devs that made those games great have since left. Blizzard was once an industry darling, over a decade ago. Jeff Kaplan leaving years ago was a crucial blow as he was the heart and soul of Overwatch. Activision has been on a decline the last few years and their stock valuation was tanking until Microsoft announced a buyout.

Had acquisitions like this been made at their peak, this would have been a lot bigger than it ended up being.

I've said it many times, that Microsoft is far more likely to run these studios into the ground than to allow them to prosper. Their track record with first party studios is THAT poor. I take no joy in saying that. That fact made me not like the acquisition. Had Microsoft had half the track record of Sony in first party studio management I would have been much less against ABK/Bethesda.

That is where Sony has been brilliant. They acquired Naughty Dog, Sucker Punch and Insomniac at their best. Bungie on the otherhand, appears to be the acquisition they fucked up on.

 

[Humdinger]

The more I think of this, the more I feel that everything remains kinda the same, pretty much. With the only downside being reduced XS consoles sales. Which was going to happen regardless of this transition anyway.
[...]

The only downside to any of this is that it would significantly erode Xbox hardware adoption, I am thinking like Steam deck levels of yearly adoption at its worst, so basically sub 5M sales per year. But I believe MS knows this, and they do not care. What they want to do is sell games, and sell gamepass. [...]

Okay, but I think that's a pretty significant change, at least from the standpoint of the Xbox console and brand. Granted, the console wasn't selling terribly well before this, but if rumors are true, it would mean a greatly accelerated downfall for the Xbox hardware and brand. Sort of like the memes of taking Old Yeller out back. I don't think it will be that extreme -- they aren't going full third-party next week. But it's one thing to be lagging in the sales race and another to drastically undercut incentives for people to buy the system. Maybe the system was struggling, but now you've accelerated that downward momentum; you've put it into a higher gear. That seems like a big change to me.

I think of the "social" effects, too. You are going to alienate a lot of the Xbox faithful. Plenty of them will feel misled and discouraged by this. Some will jump ship. Some will wonder what might happen to their game libraries or whether it's smart to continue to buy games (not that they're doing this in droves now, but you'd be giving them less reason to). So you're having a destabilizing effect on your core fanbase. That's pretty significant, too.

 

[JohnnyFootball]

This again. I would really like to know what do you expect them to do when they are forced to announce something early. Giving themselves at least a week to prepare is the most logical thing they could have done.

"We have heard rumors about first party games coming to PS5 and Switch. We want to confirm that there is some truth to that and will have more to say next week as part of Microsoft's long term strategy."

That's literally it. That took 30 seconds to type.

 

[poppabk]

Funny how you say you own the 3 consoles, but are "worried" only about lack of competition for Sony.

Is Nintendo not competition?

If yes, your premise dies right there. If no, then why aren't you worried about Nintendo themselves having no competition?

Go ahead and square that circle without being obviously biased...

edit: I think you might be the one that is too young, as I think most would argue the PS1 / PS2 were the golden age of Playstation, with the PS2 becoming the highest selling console of all time.

Errrm have you seen how much Nintendo charges for their hardware relative to the tech? The prices of their 1st party games years after release? The prices of their consoles in probably their last year before the new one? How they quickly embraced $70 for Zelda even though production costs haven't sky rocketed for them like the other consoles? How they embraced charging for online even though they do the bare minimum? How are you enjoying Mario Kart 9?
Although they are all competing for our time and money the lack of a direct comparator for Nintendo has definitely allowed them to go a little off the rails.

 

[JohnnyFootball]

I think the decision was made very recently and the original plan was to drop the news in March/April.

They didnt account for someone inside, probably Greenberg, being upset and leaking it to all his twatterati gimps.

Speak for yourself, I and many others saw this coming 3 years ago

I hope he was the one to leak it. Nadella should not only fire him, but force him to do the walk of shame as he is escorted out the building,.

 

[Jakk]

"We have heard rumors about first party games coming to PS5 and Switch. We want to confirm that there is some truth to that and will have more to say next week as part of Microsoft's long term strategy."

That's literally it. That took 30 seconds to type.

Come on, no one in Spencer's position would ever write something like that. Everyone on here would be bitching how "some truth" is a vague statement. Like I think Microsoft/Xbox deserves a lot of criticism but this is just bizarre.

 

[AV]

"We have heard rumors about first party games coming to PS5 and Switch. We want to confirm that there is some truth to that and will have more to say next week as part of Microsoft's long term strategy."

That's literally it. That took 30 seconds to type.

Brother, he did confirm that there was some truth to it. You don't say "we hear you and we'll have more to say about the future of Xbox next week" if nothing's changing.

 

[JohnnyFootball]

Okay, but I think that's a pretty significant change, at least from the standpoint of the Xbox console and brand. Granted, the console wasn't selling terribly well before this, but if rumors are true, it would mean a greatly accelerated downfall for the Xbox hardware and brand. Sort of like the memes of taking Old Yeller out back. I don't think it will be that extreme -- they aren't going full third-party next week. But it's one thing to be lagging in the sales race and another to drastically undercut incentives for people to buy the system. Maybe the system was struggling, but now you've accelerated that downward momentum; you've put it into a higher gear. That seems like a big change to me.

I think of the "social" effects, too. You are going to alienate a lot of the Xbox faithful. Plenty of them will feel misled and discouraged by this. Some will jump ship. Some will wonder what might happen to their game libraries or whether it's smart to continue to buy games (not that they're doing this in droves now, but you'd be giving them less reason to). So you're having a destabilizing effect on your core fanbase. That's pretty significant, too.

Xbox is in a no-win situation. There is no stating otherwise. They bet the farm on Gamepass and expected 100M subscribers, I do not know how ANYONE with a functioning brain thought that was feasible. Last we heard, they have 30M. As of right now, we have no evidence that those numbers have changed in the positive direction for Xbox.

Who knows how many of those are paying the full $16.99 a month vs. how many stacked with conversions. They aren't selling consoles and that is who would subscribe to Gamepass. PC players arent going to do it in significant numbers and those who's only option to stream games aren't going to move the needle. It seems like Tim Stuart may be the only one at Microsoft and says, "this aint working"

 

[JohnnyFootball]

Brother, he did confirm that there was some truth to it. You don't say "we hear you and we'll have more to say about the future of Xbox next week" if nothing's changing.

I know. Did you not read the post I was responding to?

 

[Loope]

Agreed.

Was just comparing it to the other PS gens, which all sold 100+M.

Yes, true. I had a X360, it RROD, always liked Ms consoles but never bought one after that, but we should give recognition to what they achieved to do turning it around (Sony with the PS3 that is).

 

[AV]

I know. Did you not read the post I was responding to?

I did, not really following you here, but if we're on the same page fair enough.

 

[Cyberpunkd]

It isn't a fridge or a washing machine, getting emotionally attached to a particular brand of those would be weird, but gaming is unique. It's a big part of a lot of people's lives. All these comments who think they are clever saying 'it's just plastic' are really stupid.

I start to wonder what makes it really unique. I am right now on another year of skiing, my kids are starting to really get it, I can imagine us going together down the slopes , sharing this moment in a few years, then in the evening sitting for dinner talking about all the great slopes we had during the day.
The equipment? I don’t give a damn. Don’t care about the brand of skis, my jacket, my googles, the feeling never crossed my mind. They are tools that help me enjoy the sport and share my passion with my family.

 

[MisterXDTV]

Xbox is in a no-win situation. There is no stating otherwise. They bet the farm on Gamepass and expected 100M subscribers, I do not know how ANYONE with a functioning brain thought that was feasible. Last we heard, they have 30M. As of right now, we have no evidence that those numbers have changed in the positive direction for Xbox.

Who knows how many of those are paying the full $16.99 a month vs. how many stacked with conversions.

This is a big point, you could get a year of GPU for less than the price of a SINGLE game using the Live Gold->GamePass conversion

Many stacked 3 years in advance that way

 

[yurinka]

Well that's not really news, the biggest third-party game on Nintendo Switch is owned by Microsoft (Minecraft).

On playstation too (CoD)

Last we heard, they have 30M.

The only number we got from MS since January 2022 has been 25M. As I remember the last time was in the courts.

This is a big point, you could get a year of GPU for less than the price of a SINGLE game using the Live Gold->GamePass conversion

Many stacked 3 years in advance that way

The thing is that 3 years later after they stopped doing that most people didn't renew because it'd mean to pay over $200/year.

 

[DJ12]

I hope he was the one to leak it. Nadella should not only fire him, but force him to do the walk of shame as he is escorted out the building,.

 

[Setsuna Mudou]

Errrm have you seen how much Nintendo charges for their hardware relative to the tech? The prices of their 1st party games years after release? The prices of their consoles in probably their last year before the new one? How they quickly embraced $70 for Zelda even though production costs haven't sky rocketed for them like the other consoles? How they embraced charging for online even though they do the bare minimum? How are you enjoying Mario Kart 9?
Although they are all competing for our time and money the lack of a direct comparator for Nintendo has definitely allowed them to go a little off the rails.

Somehow Nintendo copied the cost base for games on the PS5 and Xbox, was that a coincidence?

If they aren't competing with the other 2, why not charge $100? $150? $500 per game? If they are so isolated and with no competition, why price exactly the same as the... "competitors"?

I just chimed in for the sake of fairness, because most takes here seem to isolate 1 company as the target of concern, only after I mentioned it some posters started looking at Nintendo finally.

I'm no Nintendo fan btw even if I have their hardware.

 

[MisterXDTV]

The thing is that 3 years later after they stopped doing that most people didn't renew because it'd mean to pay over $200/year.

3 years haven't passed yet...

Who did that is subscribed until 2025-2026 and they won't pay a dime until it runs out

 

[Setsuna Mudou]

It isn't just plastic. People who have had an Xbox for 20 years like me, have gone on a long gaming journey and yes it is emotional and there is nothing wrong with that at all. Humans get attached to things, to particular games, to a particular community - Xbox is where our memories are, where are friends are. This is now in danger of all going away. Of course people will be concerned about that. It isn't a fridge or a washing machine, getting emotionally attached to a particular brand of those would be weird, but gaming is unique. It's a big part of a lot of people's lives. All these comments who think they are clever saying 'it's just plastic' are really stupid.

I understand to some degree only... Because people enjoy a certain echosystem I can fully understand why they want it to be successful.

The problem I have with these takes is that there's absolutely no rumor indicating Xbox is leaving the hardware market. The same games and friends list and whatever will still be accessible. The only difference is that Microsoft is not appealing to the majority of the gaming population, so they have no other option to recoup the investment than releasing their exclusives on the competitors' machines.

All you lose is some kind of "bragging rights" in internet discussions about exclusive lists. And yes, probably a natural conclusion is that over time with 1 console having all the games, more and more people will transition to it. For the common user that is not into console wars, this is a non-topic, no one gets hurt except for the most rabid fanboys.

And for that reason...

 

[Elysium44]

I start to wonder what makes it really unique. I am right now on another year of skiing, my kids are starting to really get it, I can imagine us going together down the slopes , sharing this moment in a few years, then in the evening sitting for dinner talking about all the great slopes we had during the day.
The equipment? I don’t give a damn. Don’t care about the brand of skis, my jacket, my googles, the feeling never crossed my mind. They are tools that help me enjoy the sport and share my passion with my family.

For gaming, the equipment dictates what you can play and with whom, so it's rather different to other pursuits like skiing where any brand will do. This seems obvious.

 

[Elysium44]

I understand to some degree only... Because people enjoy a certain echosystem I can fully understand why they want it to be successful.

The problem I have with these takes is that there's absolutely no rumor indicating Xbox is leaving the hardware market. The same games and friends list and whatever will still be accessible. The only difference is that Microsoft is not appealing to the majority of the gaming population, so they have no other option to recoup the investment than releasing their exclusives on the competitors' machines.

All you lose is some kind of "bragging rights" in internet discussions about exclusive lists. And yes, probably a natural conclusion is that over time with 1 console having all the games, more and more people will transition to it. For the common user that is not into console wars, this is a non-topic, no one gets hurt except for the most rabid fanboys.

And for that reason...

Of course there is. Okay, not in so many words, but it isn't hard to join the dots and figure out that it would be an inevitable consequence.

 

[Bert Big Balls]

I'm way out of the loop with this. What's going on, are Xbox jacking it in?!

 

[yurinka]

3 years haven't passed yet...

Who did that is subscribed until 2025-2026 and they won't pay a dime until it runs out

Not for the last ones who did it, but yes for the ones who did it over 3 years ago.

The problem I have with these takes is that there's absolutely no rumor indicating Xbox is leaving the hardware market.

The rumor is there.

But MS has been slowly moving their gaming focus out of their console hardware since many years ago step by step, slowly. So probably they'll continue doing it step by step: I think what they'll do now is to keep future all ABK and Zenimax games multi, a few of them (mostly new IP) after a timed console exclusive, and to make some MGS titles timed console exclusive.

I assume they'll only announce that, and then in a year or two more they'll announce no timed exclusives for ABK, Zenimax (all full multi day one) plus all MGS getting timed exclusivity and some of them even being full multi day one.

Then they'll announce that in addition to their own next gen Xbox hardware other 3rd parties will also make Xbox hardware. And relatively soon after a disaster release of the next gen, they'll discontinue their 1st party hardware keeping there the 3rd party one plus announcing that going forward all their games would be multi day one.

 

[spons]

I'm way out of the loop with this. What's going on, are Xbox jacking it in?!

Possibly. We won't know until next week's "business event" that got announced after massive leakage from journalists and other people.

 

[Gamezone]

Next week can't come soon enough.

 

[Bert Big Balls]

Possibly. We won't know until next week's "business event" that got announced after massive leakage from journalists and other people.

Woah, holy shit. That's crazy (if true).