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Xbox Series X games no longer defined by technology, says Matt Booty

A.Romero

Member
Nice job bringing the most powerful console in the world... To a competition where power doesn't matter.

I'm still eager to see what the newly acquired studios bring (specially the initiative) but in the meantime Microsoft is having a hard time showing what their role is in the market.
 
Microsoft, i love you and all but:

1) Stop talking. Just stop
2) Delay the XSX. Yes, it's difficult, but one step backwards, two steps forwards
3) Price drop every console you have to the absolute cheapest you can. Cut the legs off of the PS5 by offering the X at £100
4) Buy time, regroup, let your games be completed without rushing them - which at this point in time, your only option is to rush them.

Covid has messed up your plans, send the message, spin it how you want. Do these four, very difficult steps, then go quiet, with only monthly updates of how things are going.

Let the PS5 have the holiday season. Next year, launch the XSX in summer at a much cheaper price than the PS5 and mop-up from there.

You must sacrifice the skirmish of 2020, retreat, regroup and win the war, or you will lose another 7 years of sales
 
Microsoft, i love you and all but:

1) Stop talking. Just stop
2) Delay the XSX. Yes, it's difficult, but one step backwards, two steps forwards
3) Price drop every console you have to the absolute cheapest you can. Cut the legs off of the PS5 by offering the X at £100
4) Buy time, regroup, let your games be completed without rushing them - which at this point in time, your only option is to rush them.

Covid has messed up your plans, send the message, spin it how you want. Do these four, very difficult steps, then go quiet, with only monthly updates of how things are going.

Let the PS5 have the holiday season. Next year, launch the XSX in summer at a much cheaper price than the PS5 and mop-up from there.

You must sacrifice the skirmish of 2020, retreat, regroup and win the war, or you will lose another 7 years of sales
Please dont do any of this. Just release the XSX. Release Halo Infinite. Price the XSX the same as digital PS5. Begin next gen strong. People will buy the console. Gaming forums like this one are not representative of the consumer at large.
 
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Please dont do any of this. Just release the XSX. Release Halo Infinite. Price the XSX the same as digital PS5. Begin next gen strong. People will buy the console. Gaming forums like this one are not representative of the consumer at large.
I respectfully disagree and you're insane. Unless something drastically changes in the next 4 months, a change the likes of which this industry has never seen, Microsoft are fucked for the next 7 years.

They have little good-will to ride on, most of which was pissed away by the Xbone and the remained was laughed away by the Infinite reveal.

With a choice of consoles to buy, people will go the safe option and stick with the PlayStation.

Microsoft need to show their consumers that they've re-entered the 360 phase and not just continued the Xbone disaster.

We can bookmark each others' post and see how it plays out.
 

Psykodad

Banned
Please dont do any of this. Just release the XSX. Release Halo Infinite. Price the XSX the same as digital PS5. Begin next gen strong. People will buy the console. Gaming forums like this one are not representative of the consumer at large.
Things will be even rougher with the consumer at large. 😉
 
I respectfully disagree and you're insane. Unless something drastically changes in the next 4 months, a change the likes of which this industry has never seen, Microsoft are fucked for the next 7 years.

They have little good-will to ride on, most of which was pissed away by the Xbone and the remained was laughed away by the Infinite reveal.

With a choice of consoles to buy, people will go the safe option and stick with the PlayStation.

Microsoft need to show their consumers that they've re-entered the 360 phase and not just continued the Xbone disaster.

We can bookmark each others' post and see how it plays out.
Yeah we disagree and I won't question your mental state. There is no way for next gen to be like the last unless they focus on NFL games, TV, have a significantly weaker platform with no games, higher price and Kinect. Bookmark my post all you want. XSX and MS will be fine. The playstation fan 'concern' is noted and appreciated although I figured you guys would be too busy enjoying amazing ps4 games to notice or care.
 

JTCx

Member
Laughin stock? lol.
Dominos cheesy crust pizza. MMMM MMMMM :messenger_savoring:

giphy.gif
 
"We’re at a point where the technology is out of the way,” he says. “In previous generations, the hardware and its limitations would leave a pretty clear fingerprint on a game"

It's shocking how stupid they think gamers are. Does he think the HDD in the Xbox One is not a limitation? How about the netbook CPU and both of these components effects on Series X games?

Even a 2080 level GPU in both consoles has its limitations, they'll be blown away by Nvidia's and AMD's new cards.
 
Please dont do any of this. Just release the XSX. Release Halo Infinite. Price the XSX the same as digital PS5. Begin next gen strong. People will buy the console. Gaming forums like this one are not representative of the consumer at large.

Of course people will buy it but it's going to do worse than Xbox One, at least they wanted us to buy only that console to play its games. This gen they've given gamers every reason not to buy a Series X with PC cross release, XB1 cross gen and no first party true exclusives until 2022.
 

GHG

Gold Member
Also if they used the same play testers for Halo Infinite that they used for MCC then no fucking wonder.

Get new play testers, ones that will be honest, one's that have no familiarity or nostalgia for Halo or Xbox as a whole, ones that aren't arse lickers.

It's the same shit that goes on with the insider program betas/alphas. Legitimate negative feedback gets shouted out by fanboys who will just say everything is marvellous even when it clearly isn't, hence Sea of Thieves launched in the state it did.

The whole premise of the insider programme is broken. Your biggest (and "most loyal") fans should not also be your alpha/beta testers for your most important upcoming releases. You need impartial and honest feedback.

It wouldn't surprise me if 343 and the Xbox division as a whole went into that event thinking what they were about to show for Halo was good because all they had received was positive feedback from "insiders".
 
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longdi

Banned
Imo it is just a small portion of the core gamers making a big fuss about halo craig. Everything gets drowned out by this group of concerned gamers

Can you show us how the non hardcore community reception to MS show last week?

They did show tons of games.
And Booty Matt here wasn't damage controlling craig, just reasonable comments on where gaming will be in the next few years 🤷‍♀️
 
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M1chl

Currently Gif and Meme Champion
MS exec have too much freedom, instead of having some one PR department, they talk all they want and honestly as a forum dwelling nerd, I don't even know, what message they want let the world know. If the Xbox Series X launch would be my Bachelors work on Economic school, they would kick me out.
Well technically they did, I did it on second term.
 

bitbydeath

Member
Imo it is just a small portion of the core gamers making a big fuss about halo craig. Everything gets drowned out by this group of concerned gamers

Can you show us how the non hardcore community reception to MS show last week?

They did show tons of games.
And Booty Matt here wasn't damage controlling craig, just reasonable comments on where gaming will be in the next few years 🤷‍♀️

The problem was nothing (even pushing Halo aside) showed the power they’ve been touting.
 

supernova8

Banned
Microsoft, i love you and all but:

1) Stop talking. Just stop
2) Delay the XSX. Yes, it's difficult, but one step backwards, two steps forwards
3) Price drop every console you have to the absolute cheapest you can. Cut the legs off of the PS5 by offering the X at £100
4) Buy time, regroup, let your games be completed without rushing them - which at this point in time, your only option is to rush them.

Covid has messed up your plans, send the message, spin it how you want. Do these four, very difficult steps, then go quiet, with only monthly updates of how things are going.

Let the PS5 have the holiday season. Next year, launch the XSX in summer at a much cheaper price than the PS5 and mop-up from there.

You must sacrifice the skirmish of 2020, retreat, regroup and win the war, or you will lose another 7 years of sales

Sorry but that is a really stupid strategy.

Sony is already in a very strong position and you're advocating Microsoft to let Sony walk all over them for 6 months?
6 months is all Sony needs to destroy Microsoft as a credible competitor. If they can sell even close to 10 million units in 6 months (it's COVID, people are stuck indoors with nothing to do, don't underestimate the thirst), Microsoft is fucked in this console war.

What they need to do is release the console as is but delay Halo itself. There's nothing wrong with the actual Xbox Series X, it's just that Halo is in a shit state. Microsoft doesn't need to have Halo at launch. It's a nice to have but anyone being swayed from Playstation over to Xbox is not going to be swayed by Halo anyway (conversely, anyone buying an Xbox for Halo is buying an Xbox regardless of when Halo comes out).

The better option would be to launch it at the same time as Sony but be absolutely sure they are undercutting the PS5. Even if they announce their pricing first and Sony comes in cheaper, just announce a free game (download) with every system to make up the difference (and make it literally any game, pay the publishers if necessary). Bundle in 3 months of GamePass for free. Whatever it is.

But do not, for the love of all things good, delay the XSX launch.
 

Schmick

Member
The problem was nothing (even pushing Halo aside) showed the power they’ve been touting.
Is that to be expected in launch titles?

All you have to do is look at the specs on paper to see that the Xbox Series X and the PS5 are powerful machines.
 
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bitbydeath

Member
Is that to be expected in launch titles?

All you have to do is look at the specs on paper to see that the Xbox Series X and the PS5 are powerful machines.

Maybe. Even if it doesn’t live up to the power it’d be great to move on from focusing on that aspect of a console.
 

Zannegan

Member
To be 100% fair to Booty, if this was an interview given two hours after the event based on talking points cooked up days before, there was no way he could have foreseen or reacted to the backlash. Even so, it's a pretty bad look to have this statement come out just when consensus settles on blaming the X1 for holding Halo: Infinite back.

I get that they see gamepass as the future of their company, but subordinating their next gen strategy to that was a mistake. Now you've got grunty hardware but no next gen software to show it off (and an awful corporate corporate committee name that probably won't hurt, but sure isn't helping).
 

Dazfeeder

Member
Is that to be expected in launch titles?

All you have to do is look at the specs on paper to see that the Xbox Series X and the PS5 are powerful machines.
True but Ryse was a launch title and no other game on Xbone got near it, visually anyway.
 

ToadMan

Member
So games aren’t defined by tech limits and devs can fulfil their vision? And he’s applying that to Halo.

It’s curious he said the Halo style is driven by what fans want - yet judging by the reaction only a small minority are happy with it.

They need to find a better way to understand what fans actually want... and find a way to attract new fans.
 
Yeah we disagree and I won't question your mental state. There is no way for next gen to be like the last unless they focus on NFL games, TV, have a significantly weaker platform with no games, higher price and Kinect. Bookmark my post all you want. XSX and MS will be fine. The playstation fan 'concern' is noted and appreciated although I figured you guys would be too busy enjoying amazing ps4 games to notice or care.
Again, another mong calling me a Sony fan

I'm a Microsoft fan.
 
Sorry but that is a really stupid strategy.

Sony is already in a very strong position and you're advocating Microsoft to let Sony walk all over them for 6 months?
6 months is all Sony needs to destroy Microsoft as a credible competitor. If they can sell even close to 10 million units in 6 months (it's COVID, people are stuck indoors with nothing to do, don't underestimate the thirst), Microsoft is fucked in this console war.

What they need to do is release the console as is but delay Halo itself. There's nothing wrong with the actual Xbox Series X, it's just that Halo is in a shit state. Microsoft doesn't need to have Halo at launch. It's a nice to have but anyone being swayed from Playstation over to Xbox is not going to be swayed by Halo anyway (conversely, anyone buying an Xbox for Halo is buying an Xbox regardless of when Halo comes out).

The better option would be to launch it at the same time as Sony but be absolutely sure they are undercutting the PS5. Even if they announce their pricing first and Sony comes in cheaper, just announce a free game (download) with every system to make up the difference (and make it literally any game, pay the publishers if necessary). Bundle in 3 months of GamePass for free. Whatever it is.

But do not, for the love of all things good, delay the XSX launch.
Sorry, what happened with the 360 when it had a head start? It won the generation by a country mile, right?

No wait, it didn't.
 

quest

Not Banned from OT
Sorry, what happened with the 360 when it had a head start? It won the generation by a country mile, right?

No wait, it didn't.
It was the only time sony had competition. Microsoft should totally delay and let Sony build up a insurmountable lead like happened to the og xbox. Gtfo people Sony is going to win no matter what but a strategy of basically quitting wtf. Amazing the entitlement of the Sony warriors these days. My favorite tell Microsoft to be humble every 30 seconds. Then go bait, troll, drive by and dunk in every xbox thread trying to trigger people enough to get them to leave lol. I guess do as I say not as i do. What ever Microsoft should just shut up take it leave the market like humble sega and Nintendo!
 
Can we all just agree that the "PR doing PR fluffy bullshit, who would have thought" hand waive is tired and dull? It's not an excuse and makes people look willfully delusional while lapping up what they know is outright spin.

PR people should not be a fun house mirror of reality. Sometimes showings aren't great. Own it, do better, and they can stay quiet. Actions. Results. Not words.
 
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It was the only time sony had competition. Microsoft should totally delay and let Sony build up a insurmountable lead like happened to the og xbox. Gtfo people Sony is going to win no matter what but a strategy of basically quitting wtf. Amazing the entitlement of the Sony warriors these days. My favorite tell Microsoft to be humble every 30 seconds. Then go bait, troll, drive by and dunk in every xbox thread trying to trigger people enough to get them to leave lol. I guess do as I say not as i do. What ever Microsoft should just shut up take it leave the market like humble sega and Nintendo!
Are you fucking Retarded?

How many times do I need to say on this fucking forum that I'm not a Sony fan but a Microsoft fan, fuck me!

How insecure do you have to be to think its the 'Sony warriors' criticising Microsoft. They're doing fucking crap, their new console is a joke, the one was shit and the kinect was a waste of money.

Where did I say quit, where did I say leave the market?

You're saying Sony will win no matter what and you clal me a Sony warrior. Do You know why Sony will win no matter what? Because people like you refuse to hear how to improve and would rather pathetically limp on like a coward than stand up, have some humility and shore yourself up, ready for the battle ahead.

Don't reply to me because I won't be replying to.
 

MastaKiiLA

Member
Their messaging has been so heavy on being the most-powerful console, that this shift to platform as the focus is just too jarring. This is a pivot, not the original targeted messaging, and it shows. I feel like they're undercutting their eventual repivot back to being the most powerful console, once their next gen games are in a better state of completion. This smells like a rushed launch, and an attempt to match Sony's launch window by pitching a bunch of cross-gen games as a strategy, instead of an obvious contingency. That they had nothing to show that was truly next-gen tells it all. The closest they got was games already being developed for PCs. I'm starting to doubt that anything is actually optimized for the XSX this year. The real XSX games look to have a late-2021/early-2022 release window.
 

azertydu91

Hard to Kill
Yeah that Booty is right games are defined by imagination and not hardware and it showed at the showcase.
Do you want to see Xbox series X gameplay ?
cfb7333baf077d645810bef4eee5cd2f.png
 

Three

Member
Xbox is basically shooting themselves in the dick because morons like Matt Booty are put in the spotlight and spout insipid commentary that effectively downplays the need for a "next gen." If you don't see that, and if you expect his flawed arguments to create "positive and engaging" dialogue, then you're just as dense as he is.
Well you should be glad he is being honest about their strategy. They have made it painfully clear already that next gen is not their priority, subscriptions are. It was the same for the Xbox one and "we have a console for that it's called the xbox 360". XBL money was the strategy.

What's frustrating though are the fans shilling and denying the disadvantages of this to the player in terms of graphics and games. I have been arguing tirelessly with the same bunch of people that it would hold back games. I argued tirelessly that the mass market drives development. Financially it would not make sense to make a games for your low install base hardware and low spec devices will hold back graphics and games but just be higher res or fps. People argued with me there too. The xbox one x has been discontinued, the xbox one s hasn't. Halo infinite looks the way it does now on Series X. Do xbox fans honestly think devs are going to put effort into developing stunning graphics for the low install base long term when even MS aren't? You will get higher FPS and/or resolution at best.
 
Again, another mong calling me a Sony fan

I'm a Microsoft fan.
I never said you were or were not a fan but if you are advocating for them to delay the XSX and let PS5 release with no competition at all that isn't what a 'fan' would say. Delaying the XSX wouldn't be a good move for MS at all.
 
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martino

Member
I mean ....
A game in halo state , if it was produced by sony would have already delayed months ago.
We would have raged about it but for the best in the end
 

supernova8

Banned
Sorry, what happened with the 360 when it had a head start? It won the generation by a country mile, right?

No wait, it didn't.

I mean you're kinda proving my point. Even when Microsoft had a head start, and was cheaper than the PS3 they STILL couldn't beat Sony.

To be clear, PS5 probably won't have the best launch titles ever made but it's the promise of what's in store (plus actual footage of them) that has people hooked. In comparison you have Fable just getting a pointless CG trailer. This is the problem. Like I said, Halo isn't really even the issue. Halo is a good example of the issue but not the issue itself.
 
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Vawn

Banned
I mean ....
A game in halo state , if it was produced by sony would have already delayed months ago.
We would have raged about it but for the best in the end

I think that is a different philosophy - complete games meant to be played for a while vs Games as a Service. With a GaaS, publishers will release games months or years before they're fully complete with the understanding they'll be worked on for many years.

Usually, a game like Halo Infinite would be called a Beta. I give MS credit at least for not doing that. I don't think publishers should be allowed to charge for games in Alpha or Beta.
 
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