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How Microsoft isn’t getting its deserved credit.

Danjin44

The nicest person on this forum
Call me old-fashioned, but I’m really only interested in games. Services and console specific features are of little interest to me. You give me great games to play and you’ll have my unfettered attention and gain my praise.
Same for me, I’m not loyal to Nintendo or Sony or Microsoft, all I care about is if they give me games I care about.

Games determines what system I’m willing to invest.
 
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Emedan

Member
Are you guys also going to ignore the last 2-3 years of the xbox 360 generation where they completely fumbled the bag as far as 1st party/exclusive games go or does that not count?

Because that's the momentum (or lack thereof) that they carried into the Xbox One generation and it's something they are still trying to fix now a decade later.

The "no games" and "Forza, halo, gears" associations didn't just pop up out of nowhere overnight. The rot was really allowed to set in.

But thanks for the weekend ad thread, I appreciate the effort.
No and I think there's where it all began. But that was due to Don Mattrick, but that's my point. It's not the same company today, culture takes a long time to change an the culture Mattrick instilled ruined a decade.
 

SlimySnake

Flashless at the Golden Globes
How Microsoft isn’t getting its deserved credit.

Microsoft have been investing huge amounts of money, time and thought in projects that are beneficial for us as gamers. Let’s just take a few examples.

GamePass.

Backwards compatibility.

Messaging.
Notice how you couldnt list ACTUAL games in your long post.

It's about games. Not services or messaging or games you played 15 years ago. MS has simply failed miserably in that venture. They are a video game company that is simply bad at making video games. Now they've admitted defeat and are going out there removing access to games on other consoles on games that were always coming to xbox consoles instead of spending those $100 billion on NEW games.
 

PhaseJump

Banned
Microsoft has plenty of credit.

9maBDi.gif
 

Emedan

Member
Sorry, some of you have not replied and mentioned specific games. I want to adress this. In some sense you're right, but I mentioned GP, I've played some of my favorite games this past year on that, Halo Infinite, Halo MCC, Psychonauts 2. I get your point though.
 

Fredrik

Member
Same for me, I’m not loyal to Nintendo or Sony or Microsoft, all I care about is if they give me games I care about.

Games determines what system I’m willing to invest.
They all have IPs I’m interested in so I invest in them all. Problem is, I get cranky when I’ve invested in something that don’t hold up to my expectations. 2020 was terrible. 2021, 2nd half, was great. 2022 has been awful.
At least next year should be good if they keep this digital quality going. 0101 🤖
 

GHG

Gold Member
No and I think there's where it all began. But that was due to Don Mattrick, but that's my point. It's not the same company today, culture takes a long time to change an the culture Mattrick instilled ruined a decade.

Blaming Don Mattrick for the state of their first party is a false narrative. He was the fall guy, the unlikeable face.

There is one person who has been consistent throughout the era where they have failed to deliver as far as games are concerned, and it's not Don Mattrick.

A certain someone took over their first party in 2008 and that's around the time when all the problems started:

He was named general manager of Microsoft Studios in 2008 and promoted to corporate vice president in 2009. He had previously run game development for Microsoft in Europe. He has been responsible for the full breadth of Microsoft’s internally produced games, from Halo to Kinect Sports.

 

Chukhopops

Member
Notice how you couldnt list ACTUAL games in your long post.

It's about games. Not services or messaging or games you played 15 years ago. MS has simply failed miserably in that venture. They are a video game company that is simply bad at making video games. Now they've admitted defeat and are going out there removing access to games on other consoles on games that were always coming to xbox consoles instead of spending those $100 billion on NEW games.
In the case of Bethesda, their games were indeed coming to Xbox… a year later since Sony paid for temp exclusivity on all current gen Bethesda games.

Complain about ABK if you must but Bethesda is just karma imo.
 

Emedan

Member
Blaming Don Mattrick for the state of their first party is a false narrative. He was the fall guy, the unlikeable face.

There is one person who has been consistent throughout the era where they have failed to deliver as far as games are concerned, and it's not Don Mattrick.

A certain someone took over their first party in 2008 and that's around the time when all the problems started:



[/URL]
I'm not convinced that's right. Cause I don't recall having these problems before Mattricks shift in the company? Perhaps I recall wrong, but his schtick was to garner to the casual market after Wiis success (as the businessman he is I suppose)
 

Beer Baelly

Al Pachinko, Konami President
Blaming Don Mattrick for the state of their first party is a false narrative. He was the fall guy, the unlikeable face.

There is one person who has been consistent throughout the era where they have failed to deliver as far as games are concerned, and it's not Don Mattrick.

A certain someone took over their first party in 2008 and that's around the time when all the problems started:




dave chappelle hate GIF
 

adamsapple

Or is it just one of Phil's balls in my throat?
Yeah but end up being a pain, for me at least. After an update everything side loaded stopped working.

Do you mean after a system update? I've had RetroArch installed on my system, I don't use it that frequently but I haven't had that kind of an issue yet.
 

GHG

Gold Member
Damn man why so salty over a simple thread :messenger_tears_of_joy:

Just ignore it...

Just providing the necessary feedback so that the strategy can be adjusted. Thank me later.

I'm not convinced that's right. Cause I don't recall having these problems before Mattricks shift in the company? Perhaps I recall wrong, but his schtick was to garner to the casual market after Wiis success (as the businessman he is I suppose)

Mattrick took charge of the division in 2010.

In terms of games Phil was responsible for anything that started development after 2008.
 
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I feel the consensus is that the lack of first party output is the main gripe here. Well then give MS credit for moving to remedy this complain as well no? I mean they're obviously aware of it and try to fix it.
Their "fix" is to make games that were already on Xbox no longer as available on PlayStation as well. That really doesn't help anyone except forum trolls.

They've had studios and franchises already. They've just been terribly managed for over a decade plus.
 
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adamsapple

Or is it just one of Phil's balls in my throat?
Mattrick took charge of the division in 2010.

So it tracks in line with the "last couple of years of 360" that you mentioned earlier.

Most of the second half of the XBO gen and first 2 years of the Series gen have been distancing it from the One debacle and it's great for them from a gamers point of view. They haven't reached the levels of first half of the 360 yet where they put in extra effort, but they're on the right track at least.



Just providing the necessary feedback so that the strategy can be adjusted. Thank me later.

Charlie Day Reaction GIF
 
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Fabieter

Member
can you make examples where Microsoft didn't get enough credit. ME thinks their goodwill and mindshare is through the roof rn actually more than Nintendo and Sony imo.
 

Neo_game

Member
IMO Microsoft hasn't done much at all. They are more interested in SS after announcing SX as 12f beast ? As other said they haven't managed to to make great games either for some time now. Covid probably affected everyone but their output so far is pretty bad. With Microsoft it is always wait next year
 

GHG

Gold Member
So it tracks in line with the "last couple of years of 360" that you mentioned earlier.

Most of the second half of the XBO gen and first 2 years of the Series gen have been distancing it from the One debacle and it's great for them from a gamers point of view.

Look at Xbox 1st party titles that started development from 2008 onwards then get back to me.
 

Bridges

Member
They really turned it around and are in a much better place than they used to be. I do think they get lots of credit for the things you mentioned, but are rightfully still dinged for weak 1st party offerings (obviously is getting better and will change once the new studios all start releasing games, but the detractors have a point that we have been waiting for this for what feels like forever at this point).


They're competitive in the space again after almost a entire generation of being worse in nearly every measurable area, they just need to follow through and actually start releasing games.
 

A.Romero

Member
Might be, but sometimes it feels like I'm back after the Xbox One reveal 10 years ago and I just don't feel that's valid anymore. It's like nothing has changed thought it all has.

Why you don't like MS? As an IT consultant I work with their products every day and I think they're best in business (Azure, Exchange, MS365)

Love Microsoft and they are doing a great job with their platform but everyone in the biz knows AWS is better than Azure :p
 

Umbasaborne

Banned
Once they start releasin more finished games (unlike halo infinite) they will get my credit. As of now this generation they have a lot of cg trailers and little else.
 

Emedan

Member
Just providing the necessary feedback so that the strategy can be adjusted. Thank me later.



Mattrick took charge of the division in 2010.

In terms of games Phil was responsible for anything that started development after 2008.
Hm don't know if that's fair, if you look at Phils track record the last few years, might not have been his vision?!
Their "fix" is to make games that were already on Xbox no longer as available on PlayStation as well. That really doesn't help anyone except forum trolls.

They've had studios and franchises already. They've just been terribly managed for over a decade plus.
Well then stop complaining about 1st party exclusives and Multi platform? The most effective way to build your stable is obviously to get established ones in no? I mean Halo got there that way, but I understad what you mean.
 

Umbasaborne

Banned
IMO Microsoft hasn't done much at all. They are more interested in SS after announcing SX as 12f beast ? As other said they haven't managed to to make great games either for some time now. Covid probably affected everyone but their output so far is pretty bad. With Microsoft it is always wait next year
Yep, ive been hearing “next year will be The Year” for the last 5 or 6 years at this point. I will certainly give microsoft credit for forza horizon 5 and flight sim last year, but so far they are seriously lagging behind everyone else when it comes to releasing games for their system. It doesn't help that so many of their games in development have news stories around them regarding studio mismanagement and what not.
 

adamsapple

Or is it just one of Phil's balls in my throat?
Look at Xbox 1st party titles that started development from 2008 onwards then get back to me.

I don't know how to track which games started development after 2008 but anyone can look up the list of games XBS published 2008 onwards, and between 2008 and 2010 they put out quite a bunch of bangers. And then after 2010~2011, Kinect happened and they had a big shift in what came out. Aka the Mattrick era.


They really turned it around and are in a much better place than they used to be. I do think they get lots of credit for the things you mentioned, but are rightfully still dinged for weak 1st party offerings (obviously is getting better and will change once the new studios all start releasing games, but the detractors have a point that we have been waiting for this for what feels like forever at this point).

They're competitive in the space again after almost a entire generation of being worse in nearly every measurable area, they just need to follow through and actually start releasing games.

(y)

They are in a much better state now than they were between 2011~2018. It's a big turnaround but there is more they need to improve on.
 
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PillsOff

Banned
Do you realize the only reason they are that consumer friendly is to monopolize n control the market n content?
The second they ll get what they want all this "messaging" ll be gone same as GP being a good "deal"
Enjoy it while it lasts
Somebody desperately wants to buy into this "corporate CEO is just a gamer like me n actually cares" bullshit, especially with Microsoft of all fucking companies
And i am sayin it as a GP user n Series owner.
 
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They still seem preoccupied with services and other side projects rather than making good games. Same they've been doing since midway through the 360 era. Since then it's only been empty promises and talking about their "vision for the future."
 

Topher

Gold Member
I don't know how to track which games started development after 2008 but anyone can look up the list of games XBS published 2008 onwards, and between 2008 and 2010 they put out quite a bunch of bangers. And then after 2010~2011, Kinect happened and they had a big shift in what came out. Aka the Mattrick era.

That's what I was thinking. Shit went sideways when Mattrick took over. Kinect.....everything fucking Kinect.
 

Kdad

Member
No and I think there's where it all began. But that was due to Don Mattrick, but that's my point. It's not the same company today, culture takes a long time to change an the culture Mattrick instilled ruined a decade.
You seem to be confusing Xbox division with the 'company'. Microsoft isnt, and has never been, a consumer centric company. A long history of anti trust and privacy issues should inform you of that. Dont' confuse xbox marketing with a change in culture...its a change in marketing.
 
Do you mean after a system update? I've had RetroArch installed on my system, I don't use it that frequently but I haven't had that kind of an issue yet.
Interesting. I was assuming it was a system update, one day everything I installed via those gamr13 links wouldn't load.
 

Chukhopops

Member
Do you realize the only reason they are that consumer friendly is to monopolize n control the market n content?
The second they ll get what they want all this "messaging" ll be gone same as GP being a good "deal"
Enjoy it while it lasts
GP price has been the same since it launched whereas literally everything else (games, consoles, accessories) has become 10-15% more expensive.
 

ReBurn

Gold Member
Are you guys also going to ignore the last 2-3 years of the xbox 360 generation where they completely fumbled the bag as far as 1st party/exclusive games go or does that not count?

Because that's the momentum (or lack thereof) that they carried into the Xbox One generation and it's something they are still trying to fix now a decade later.

The "no games" and "Forza, halo, gears" associations didn't just pop up out of nowhere overnight. The rot was really allowed to set in.

But thanks for the weekend ad thread, I appreciate the effort.
The start of the Don Mattrick era. Nobody is ignoring that. He's the guy that nearly killed Xbox. You just seem utterly devastated that he didn't make it happen.
 

gothmog

Gold Member
Why you don't like MS? As an IT consultant I work with their products every day and I think they're best in business (Azure, Exchange, MS365)
You might want to work with some other ecosystems. It's hard to tell an enterprise dealing with an aging Windows fleet that they're experiencing best in business products with a straight face.
 

SlimySnake

Flashless at the Golden Globes
Blaming Don Mattrick for the state of their first party is a false narrative. He was the fall guy, the unlikeable face.

There is one person who has been consistent throughout the era where they have failed to deliver as far as games are concerned, and it's not Don Mattrick.

A certain someone took over their first party in 2008 and that's around the time when all the problems started:



Don Matrick's xbox one year one lineup:
Ryse
Dead Rising 3
Titanfall
Killer Instinct
Sunset Overdrive
Forza 4

Phil Spencer:
ZERO next gen games
Halo Infinite
Forza Horizon 5
 

Elog

Member
From my pov they get alot of credit that for me has little value. I love good games. I lack time. My gaming hobby is not a costly item in my life - it is however completely limited by my available time.

In that context MS's whole value proposition to get access to a large catalogue of middle of the road type of games on the cheap (with a few good ones as well ofc) is simply not that interesting. Both Sony and Nintendo push their 1st party catalogue first and foremost - that has more value to me.
 
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IDKFA

I am Become Bilbo Baggins
I love my series S and enjoy Ganepass to a degree. I like the games they're putting out. I paid for their console and services. What more do you want me to do? Send thank you cards to the Microsoft executive team? Offer Phil Spencer a hand job?

Like Sony and Nintendo, these large companies only care about increasing their profit and squeezing as much cash out of consumers as possible. They don't deserve an online circle jerk.
 

JohnnyFootball

GerAlt-Right. Ciriously.
I give MS a ton of credit for many things, but I shit on them mercilessly for their game development issues and studio culture. Forza and Gears being strong exceptions, pretty much every major game under their envelope gets multiple delays, constant stories of mismanagement, etc. They seem to think that throwing money at these issues, fixes them, but it's culture and leadership and Matt Booty isn't getting it done. Games like Halo Infinite and Avowed are examples of this. I have LONG wondered how sustainable long term Gamepass actually is. With all the studios and resources they have at their disposal, there is no reason why they shouldn't have a 1-2 regular AAA release on their Gamepass schedule each year. Tell me they will get there all you want, but I won't believe it until I see it. Getting rid of Bonnie Ross could help, but who will she be replaced with? I'll say my favorite name.....see if you can guess who I am talking aboit....
Rodd Ferguson
. Hire him as the guy in charge of first party development and I'm inclined to believe a lot of issues would go away. They should consider hiring Sony vets like Jack Tretton or Shawn Laydon, who lead the charge in Sony putting a huge emphasis on 1st party.

I know I will get a ton of MS fanboys telling me that it will come. You've been telling me this for years, while Sony (for all their flaws) still manages to understand AAA exclusives and continues to put out 2-3 of them per year. I'd love nothing more than for MS to come close to that. Sony badly needs that competition as Jim Ryan is a jackass.
 

anothertech

Member
The best thing MS did for gaming was give us windows and indirectly Steam. The god of gaming platforms. For this, we all should be eternally grateful that we are not stuck with macintosh and apple shit show for our PC gaming needs.

That said, it's been a year with no first party exclusive game release on xbox, so the timing of this thread is mid tier trash level. Sorry OP.
 

PillsOff

Banned
GP price has been the same since it launched whereas literally everything else (games, consoles, accessories) has become 10-15% more expensive.
N it'll be several years till it will be transformed into paid hub for cencored, politically correct live service hell.
GP is pretty great as of now n ll be like that for some time, but this "greatness" is there as a tool for getting the market by it's balls
 
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The_Mike

I cry about SonyGaf from my chair in Redmond, WA
Gold. First they try to double the price, then they hand out scraps. Comparing to their competition this is a let down.

Comparing to the competition that was the leading company pushing more expensive games, make you pay for gen upgrades, increased their price on their console due to heavy inflation around the entire world, and a "Elite Equivalent" that costs almost the same as a Xbox Series S, which also includes a controller?

I mean, xbox trying to increase the price was a fucking shitty move NGL, but excluding it to Microsoft, given sonys changes in price point lately is hypocrisy
 
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