@NEStalgia Wii U took too long to get the massive system sellers, look at it:
NSMBU (November 2012) - NSMB2 was released 3 months earlier for 3DS so impact is lessened
Wind Waker HD (September 2013)
Super Mario 3D World (November 2013)
Mario Kart 8 (May 2014)
Smash Wii U (November 2014)
Mario Party 10 (March 2015)
Splatoon (May 2015)
Super Mario Maker (September 2015)
Twilight Princess HD (March 2016)
Note: In March 2015, NX was announced.
The smaller titles like Pikmin 3, Wonderful 101, Tropical Freeze, Bayonetta 2, Yoshi's Woolly World, XCX, etc. would've benefited more if the system sellers came earlier.
This is what Sony is doing, getting their big system sellers IPs in early on the PS5. In year 1 you'll have Spider-Man, Horizon, Gran Turismo, Ratchet & Clank, with more probably announced soon. Meanwhile Series X year 1 so far is Halo Infinite and nothing else, even the previously PC exclusive Gears Tactics and Flight Simulator could be before Series X launch..
@NEStalgia Again, not really. By that logic, nothing sells consoles, because it's always more than one factor that goes into making them a success. You're way exaggerating the importance of one important factor to try and argue that it's not an important factor at all. It's disingenuous.
It'd be like this conversation happening
Person A: The cheaper console in a generation almost always ends up selling better than the more expensive one.
Person B: REAAAAALLY? Wasn't the Ouya cheaper than the Xbox One, PS4, and Wii U?
Person A: Well, yes, but it also lacked in so many oth--
Person B: That dusts it. The Ouya was cheaper, and nobody bought it. People don't go for the cheaper console!
That's true. But I do still think it highlights the importance of the platform above the games. Switch had great games....those great games lined up post PSXBone launches.....but people didn't choose the hardware. Even though those same games arriving years into Switch sell like crazy. People wanted the games, but they refused to buy the hardware to play those games because the platform wasn't as appealing as PS4 (XB was down for the count at that point.)
I still strongly suspect either console will be available in 2020 if you're not one of the "lucky few" preorders, and inventory will be playing out of stock catch up for probably another 8 months after, or more. Yet looking at the two, I'm still finding PS5 to be the less intriguing one. It's only real selling point as a positive differentiator is those exclusives. I mean I have to be in on XB anyway, I have a 300+ game library that all comes over with me and gets some enhancements. And I bought nearly all of them years after I bought the PS4 first......the platform itself is just nicer, even if I've on average spent more hours on the PS4 just because of some specific Japanese games (ironically, PS or PS/PC exclusives, that are not Sony's own games.)
Finished Gears 3. Really brilliant game. What a great example of how to make a trilogy. Each game feels standalone whilst still feeding into a larger story.
I realize Gears 4 and 5 are kinda a separate story. I might go and do the Halo collection before I start on Gears 4.
I'd say it's 3 or 4 factors that decide this stuff. Not necessarily all equally weighted though:
1) Big exclusives, and the timeline in which they appear.
2) Inherent appeal of console and its features (includes things like backcompat, portability)
3) Price
4) Momentum of past name recognition. (if the PS4 was really good, a lot of people will assume the PS5 will be too, even if it's not)
In year 1 you'll have Spider-Man, Horizon, Gran Turismo, Ratchet & Clank, with more probably announced soon. Meanwhile Series X year 1 so far is Halo Infinite and nothing else.
How do you know that all those PS5 exclusives will be released within one year and how do you know that Microsoft will only release one game during the same period of time?
@NEStalgia Thanks and same to you! I agree about your remark about exclusives interest fragmentation as well and that happens on all consoles.
Wii U has proven that there are only 13 million of unconditional Nintendo fans in the world but Switch is attractive to a broader market as a handheld/hybrid even or because of having Wii U ports, not just as a Nintendo product, which kind of proves that it's not all about exclusives or brand but it's also about the hardware, pricing, popularity, friends, etc. Switch didn't improve things much compared to Wii U and it's, actually, a more restrictive system with more expensive software, no applications and no free online but its portability makes it a winner although it still hasn't surpassed DS, GB, GBA, PSP and 3DS. The Animal Crossing New Horizons numbers are Wii-like, though, I still can't believe them.
The most important part of your writing is that, as usually, it contains a lot of facts that most die-hard fans and "ultra nerdcore" users tend to ignore because they see everything from the same perspective, e.g., how Xbox One has been more successful in subscription and software sales, that is, revenue, than what they think just looking at the total number of PS4 and Xbox One units sold.
The next generation is something that we've never experienced before. Nintendo will be two generations behind in power terms with a hybrid console slightly more powerful than 360 and PS3, two generations before Series X and PS5. I'm not saying that it's a bad commercial strategy because it has worked well for three years and it's not a home console but it's going to be unusual, at the very least. It's like Nintendo going the Android/iOS way with their own devices and storefront.
Microsoft is going Phil's way with the most powerful console, xCloud, Game Pass, Play Anywhere and even Steam, focusing on software and subscriptions revenue while spoiling console gamers once again with free remasters and free backwards compatibility. More importantly, investing a huge amount of resources on studios and games to get those relatively important exclusive games that also nurture Game Pass which is the best video games deal.
Also a new thing is Sony leaving portables behind, the opposite of Nintendo, while becoming part of what Microsoft is, a console and software seller and hoping for people to jump from PS4 to PS5 with a PS4 DLC standalone game and, of course, the cinematic and visually pleasing exclusives that they will release over the years but not at launch and taking baby steps in the streaming business under Microsoft's umbrella.
All three companies are going a different way next generation. Obviously, Nintendo and Microsoft but also Sony. I foresee a more balanced generation, regardless. Basically, because Nintendo and Microsoft are not messing around at all like they were in 2012-13.
@BlueOcean The other interesting thing is that if Switch proved one thing, its that the majority of people interested in playing games, are not in fact interested in power, graphics, etc. That's the industry's self-fulfilling prophecy. If we focus only on graphics and power everyone will want graphics and power. Everyone is focused on graphics and power and we just give them what they want!
But Switch is "the next GameBoy" with a TV connection. And by sales alone we can tell what the game playing public really wants is just a GameBoy with a TV connection. It shouldn't be surprising. Nintendo's handhelds have been the most, or nearly the most, popular devices every single generation. We keep comparing it to Nintendo's ever less relevant home consoles, but its trajectory really just matches their normal handheld business, with more popularity due to the fact that....it can connect to a TV, and looks good enough, and many people don't really need or want more than that.
So in a way PSXBox is playing to their smallest niche yet, and have to do well by their niche. The niche is big so long as games like FIFA and COD are still not coming to "a GameBoy". But that power-focused consumer group is likely to be smaller than it was, with Switch a viable alternative that's good enough for most, and streaming becoming a contender eating at that niche as well. MS knows how to treat its small niche well, but Sony is used to mass market...and they've never been good at dealing with niches (Experia, Vita, PSP Go...) I don't think streaming will take over for a while....and when it does I think we'll deal with a really awful shakeup once Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Disney, Netflix enter that arena. Sony and Nintendo probably just go third party at that point. That's a bleak future where MS's cloud services are the "least evil" of big tech controlling everything.
Apple has so much cash they could buy Nintendo and Sony Corp outright and not even notice the loss on their quarterly. If they also bought Disney they'd have to apologize for some losses for the quarter. That's what you can do when you sell a $600 laptop as an $1800 fashion accessory.
Strange era when "Micro$shaft" is your last line of defense against the abyss.
PS5 and XSeX still seem to be going the same direction as far as hardware and marketing. MS is leaning on the value of services to draw people, Sony leaning on the interactive cinema experience.
And of course there will be a new VR headset for Sony and probably not MS. Phil has said as long as it's not wireless he doesn't see it happening. I'm of mixed mind. I'm actually a fan of PSVR, and I really like mine...and it does need an upgrade....but then we're talking probably $1k or more for the "complete" hardware package, and that's not thrilling.
@BlueOcean Horizon is confirmed for 2021. GT7 is launch window; rumours are saying it's going to be a launch title. And Ratchet & Clank doesn't have a release date yet, but I doubt it's something they'd announce more than a year and a half in advance. Especially since it's one of the games we've seen the most of. I think it's safe to assume that everything in that PS5 presentation is 2021, except for that Square Enix game.
I think Demon's Souls will also appear some time in 2021, possible January or February. That's when they like to release Bluepoint remakes.
@Octane Yeah, that's the point though for some reason I thought Ratchet & Clank was confirmed 2021 (rewatching the trailer, it was no release year). Sony gave expectations for what to expect over the 1st year of PS5 in the June PS5 event and more will probably come in the next event. Meanwhile the July Xbox event was mostly no release year titles so could be 2022 and beyond for all we know which would also fit what Microsoft said a while back about crossgen support for 1 or 2 years. The stuff that did get a release year were mostly releasing before Series X launch.
Christ, Demons Souls, Spider-Man, Gran Turismo, Horizon, and R&C in its first year on the market? Sony really is gunning to establish early dominance this generation.
@Ralizah it's in line with what they promised years ago....when they abandoned PS4 to only the remaining games they'd announced years ago, so it's believable.
MS's lack of launch titles isn't surprising. Their strategy was to NOT do much first party for X1, and have only been building studios for 2 or 3 years so that isn't going to pay off yet. The question isn't tit for tat comparisons of launch lineups but what they CAN offer at launch to make it compelling.
I'm still of the opinion that this is too soon for XBox's new console...they should have kept going on X1X for a few years and built out their studios, then come out and blown the doors off PS5 with newer hardware that wouldn't make sense for Sony to revise mid-gen to match. Sort of a repeat of OG-X vs PS2/GCN - launch late and go for power. Then Sony would have had to fight with exclusives against power, and MS would have had their launch lineup in place.... A company like Nintendo can't pull something like that off, but MS has the deep coffers they could have deficet spent a few more years to make a major move in 2 years or so. I think they rushed into the new gen to head off PS5 too soon, before they had their studios ready, and raced into a new gen right after launching X1X. Tying themselves to PS's release calendar for the "generation" means they're playing catch-up rather than biding time and forcing Sony to play catchup. Not sure why they did that. Yes they'd have lost some money in the short game, but in the long game it would have worked, and MS has the cash to do it.
But...they did what they did, and it works out well....they'll be on their back foot again trying to put their best foot forward, which seems to work out well for us. Plus when Sony abandons PS5 in a few y ears to focus on PS6, XSeX will start getting its wave of exclusives
VtmB 2 has been delayed to next year .... They're promising to update us as soon as they can! Bit of a shame but better to do that than launch full of bugs & problems
If it looks at all like the rumors and is around $/£300 then I think it will do very well. Could well produce graphics of the same quality as the Series X but at 1080P/1440P
If it did 1440 that would be pretty incredible............just after I buy a 4k@60 monitor.... instead of the 1440 curved, because VA panels are sucky still, apparently. That'd be a cool price, though a little awkward in that that would place it somewhat below X1X in some regards despite being newer. I love my X1X, but I can't help but think it was still a mistake to release X1X and XSeX like 3 years apart.
@redd214 Darned ranting fans spoiled it for everyone else! Cool if they actually have enough XSeX's to fill demand in November (when has any launch done that though?), but it's kind of funny that they now have no key launch title at all for their console because the internet ragebase wanted it to be what they wanted or not at all.
Oh well, maybe they can dispense some Minecraft DLC that "requires the true power of XSeX!" to appease them.
@NEStalgia well when you pound your chest for years saying you have the most powerful console and your biggest/first game you show off doesn't look a whole lot better than games from 5+ years ago its understandable. I've said before I think it looked fine but I'll be playing it at 720/1080p max anyways so doesn't bother me, but it's completely understandable why people were very underwhelmed.
Well, at least they're delaying Halo Infinite instead of rushing it out to market in time for the holiday season. Which has happened one too many times in the industry. cough Sonic '06 cough
I should get a PSP. Or a GameCube. Or a GBA. Or a PS2. Or a...
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