Topic: The everything Xbox thread

@ThanosReXXX I'm curious what their numbers are. They weren't expecting 1X numbers to approach 1S numbers....I wonder how reality is lining up. So far, here it feels like 1X is the new hotness for core gamers but for the mass market, the cheap 1S is "the XBox."

"Or they split in half, with one side protesting the "Americanization" of their country and its habits, and the other side being all for it. The same thing happened with things like Halloween and the commercialization of Valentine's Day. And the Dutch do like their freedom of speech and protesting rights... "

Resist! Resist like there's no tomorrow! The toilet flushes the same direction on both continents. I envy your ability to be outside the last decade of flushing.

@redd214 Yeah, that's it exactly. Granted, there's no need for them to dominate as long as they remain in the conversation. They only ever dominated because Sony blundered COLOSSALLY on PS3 launch. Yeah Sony only took back the market because MS blundered colossally on X1 launch, but that was their window and they didn't really hit the ground running....they did what MS does best: Cost cutting for bottom line maximization. Close all the dev studios! Who needs exclusives, we have contracts! Sony will blunder again but never so egregiously I think. MS needs to carve a wider niche for itself though. When people can choose between Nintendo and Sony and get access to tons of games on each that no other platform has, the X1 looks less appealing in that that choice locks them out of games the other two offer, but doesn't really open many new options. That's the big hurdle for MS. They HAD the talent pool......and sent them packing. That's the sad thing.

@NEStalgia yeah one thing I've realized is the video game market is very cyclical some are up when others are down and vice versa. Has always worked like that but imo if Microsoft doesn't fix that issue they are basically ensuring themselves to be a perennial bronze medal winner lol.

@NEStalgia No man, you confused Europe with Japan and Australia. Only they have those wrong-turn flushing devices...

@redd214 Games are only part of the equation: in general, and as such also for the video gaming industry, action and business strategies are the main factors that make or break the success of a company. And like I said: Sony can't rest on their laurels, so they will simply HAVE to do something.

I'm a sales & marketing professional myself, in the IT sector, and besides gaming being one of my hobbies, it's actually pretty similar to the IT market, which is part of where my point of view comes from and why I think and say what I do. Profession nearly always influences personal opinions or points of view in some ways...

Either way, I firmly believe Microsoft isn't going to screw up again, and is going to be much better prepared next time around, so Sony can't do another "let's wait for Microsoft to screw up their new console launch" and they better come out firing on all cylinders, or they will most definitely not be able to hold on to their number one position.

That's just the way it goes. Nintendo will always be third or a good second, but the other two must change thrones every generation, according to various marketing laws and principles...

@ThanosReXXX cool man I'm in sales as well (financial) have been since I was a teenager haha! Games are a bit more than a hobby for me as well I watch from an investment opportunity perspective as well. Not going to dkg in further than that on a forum but you get me drift I'm sure 😉Either we will see what happens excited for E3!

@redd214 Ha, always nice to find a colleague. I won't call you sales tiger or tell you that coffee is only for closers, though. WAY past those kind of shenanigans at my age...

@ThanosReXXX coffee for closers lol, love that movie!!

Just read that xbox is getting Discord integration. That's a pretty good get. Hopefully it goes to others as well. Would be cool to be able to message people between consoles. Not holding my breath though.

@redd214 For me, that wasn't just a movie. At a couple of sales offices where I used to work, they actually had a sign saying that stuck to the coffee machine...

As for Discord: taking all the hum drum concerning cross play into account, Sony probably isn't going to play ball with cross-system messaging either...

@ThanosReXXX yeah that's why I said not holding my breath. Nintendo should really look into though if the haven't been. Would be a simple way to solve their glaring lack of communication options on the switch without too much effort I would assume.

@ThanosReXXX I see Sony as having recently adopted (or reverted to) Nintendos' tried and true philosophy of "unique software drives hardware." I think they have to "do something" to stay ahead of MS, but I think the something they're opting to do is concentrate on content. Which is wise....21st century Sony is more of a content company than a hardware company. That's their core strength, so it's smart to focus on doing what they do well. That content focus so long as they're not technologically far behind (and they're not...better base model, worse premium model) seems to be driving sales still, and unless MS surprises with a renewed interest in content that dynamic will keep working until the tech falters. I'm not saying no PS5 in 2020, but I'm saying they don't need to pull an "NX" to distract momentum in 2018, their content focus already differentiates them favorably from MS even without the best hardware. Early announcing PS5 risks putting people on the fence about diving in right now. And MS CAN'T do any hardware announcements since X1X isn't even a year old, so Sony knows where MS will be for some time. Announcing now tips too many cards to MS when it's unnecessary. I would be totally shocked if anything were announced by either firm.

@redd214 @thanosrexxx The sound you hear is just me gnashing my teeth....nevermind the noise....

@redd214 I wouldn't be too worried about Nintendo implementing anything cross platform nowadays, seeing as they have been quite the forthcoming party in that regard, unlike Sony, so the only thing left to ponder is if Nintendo will adopt Discord or not. I'm going to take a bet and I'll say that they will. On what time scale, I don't know, but it'll come eventually. And it would indeed be a good solution for them, so there's that as well...

@NEStalgia Well, from what I've seen, the scales are ever so slowly tipping back towards Microsoft, mainly due to their plus points on their excellent online service, which they expanded with Game Pass and of course that backward compatibility, which if certain names in the business are to be believed, is going to go from strength to strength in the years to come, so what that translates to for me is obviously more Xbox 360 compatibility, but also more original Xbox titles.

Especially the latter interests me. Recently, I tried out Black, a still wonderful first person shooter with some unique features (made by the original team behind the Burnout racing games), that looks and plays considerably better, even on the One S, so that certainly will be something for longtime Xbox owners to look forward to.

And I wasn't implying that Microsoft is going to lift any curtains soon, but what actually IS true, is that Sony must act, plain and simple. I can keep repeating that, and people can ignore it all they want, but it is true. You don't stay number one by just sticking with content or services; you need to go above and beyond, so either they buy away a couple more exclusive games or even development teams, or they push new hardware so that it'll be ready in 2020. The latter is more likely, since A: there's always new hardware in development, and B: that is also taken into account budget-wise.

Acquiring new games/developers, to make them Sony-only, isn't and would probably also cost them WAY more money.

I will agree that they don't necessarily need to announce anything this year, but next year will most definitely be the time to act. Not in a "do or die" kinda way, but definitely in an "act or lose the position" kinda way...

So, you keep gnashing those teeth and flushing your toilet the right way around, while I'll be relaxing in my comfy sofa, while eating some popcorn, and watching the theory become a reality...

I'll tell you "I told you so" in about three years, when Microsoft will once again be the leading platform.
It's simply inevitable.

@ThanosReXXX I'll play devil's advocate (don't I always? ), and say that any tipping of scales back to MS has little to do with their features, and more to do with the fact that they released the first major exclusives in years, namely, Sea of Thieves, regardless of its inclusion in Game Pass or not. That definitely raised interested again. I still believe Nintendo has it right: Software drives hardware. And that's where MS has been pushed to second fiddle.

And yeah, I think 2020 is totally reasonable for a PS5. I just don't think they'll SAY anything about it for another year or more. For now they'll drive interest with more exclusives. I also think PS5 will be PS4 backward compatible because MS is pushing them to have to (if they don't do that, the pendulum really WILL switch back to MS!)

USUALLY I tend to favor the underdog....so if MS is leading I'll have less interest in it than I do now PS3 was just so.......bad........for the first 2/3 of it's life it was unavoidable to jump to X360 MS and Sony fighting over who gets to lead is like watching an Ugly Contest.

@NEStalgia Software drives sales, yes but the key nuance is that it's only part of the equation, as I already mentioned before to our other discussion partner. If the hardware isn't appealing enough in whatever way, be that powerful, innovative or what have you, then those software sales won't come either, so they're more of a second tier sales driver.

I personally also don't see and believe anything super-enticing in Sea of Thieves that would make it a system seller. Actually far from it: people were more enthusiastic about it when it was announced than when it finally arrived, so I don't see it shifting massive numbers, to be honest.

As for Microsoft and Sony fighting, I still adhere to my own tag line in these forum topics here, since it does still apply so very much:

'The console wars are like boobs. Sony and Microsoft fight over which ones look the nicest and Nintendo's are the most fun to play with.'

It's kinda like my version of two dogs fighting over a bone, and the third one running away with it...

P.S.

So, if I ever want to get to know the actual voice behind the madness, I'd have to hope that Sony wins again next generation, so you'd finally buy that Xbox One X?

Right, I'm definitely getting an Xbone in the next month or so.

I just started buying the entire Xbox 360 library of exclusives. I searched ebay and saw how cheap so many of them were so figured why not.

Just bought Fable 2 and Gears of War 2 for £3 each. Eat that current gen!

@DarthNocturnal

The bottom and sides are way important on boats. Roof is optional.

@ThanosReXXX Oh, certainly. But right now, we know where XBox is going to be for a few years (they'd tick off everyone here if they changed platforms AGAIN in the next few years!), and so does Sony. Fortunately for Sony, their hardware is perfectly appealing. The cheap one is better than MS's cheap one. Their expensive one isn't as good as MS's expensive one, but it's notably cheaper, and has a deeper library of big titles all on a platform way better than MS's base model, and "reasonably" below MS's premium. It gives MS a big enough sea to swim in, while Sony has a perfectly stable dam before their ocean...."don't change horses in midstream" and all that

LOL, oh, I may still buy it before then. Depends on pricing. And how much "I want" can override "I have no actual use for or time to use this"

@NEStalgia Well, if by the cheap one you mean the original, black Xbox One: that almost doesn't exist anymore, so that equation goes out the door. The One S is now the standard model, and then there's the X for all the thoroughbreds out there.

And weirdly enough, almost in an alternative universe kinda way, the PS4's entire line has one inexplicable, glaring omission compared to both models of the Xbox One, and that is that it doesn't have the superior media drive, which for all intents and purposes should have been incorporated in the PS4, NOT in the Xbox One.

And the fact that the Pro is cheaper is simply because it's considerably less powerful, so you get what you pay for: the obvious lesser of the two premium flagships of these respective brands.

And I know all about the wanting it vs having no actual use for it. I've bought two new consoles in two consecutive years, while I actually find myself having less and less time to spend on them...

Is Blinx The Time Sweeper worth picking up on Xbox one backwards compatible, never got around to playing it back when it first released on the original Xbox?

@DarthNocturnal That game is an absolute must-have, if you ask me, and it indeed gets a lot of praise from many media sources as well, and rightfully so. Only steer clear if you really dislike on-rails shooters, otherwise, I'd say give it a go and you probably won't be disappointed.

I still own and love it, so for me it's a no-brainer.

And now that we're talking about recommendations, from the first wave, I could easily also recommend Black, Crimson Skies, Ninja Gaiden Black, Prince of Persia: Sands of Time, and if you're a Star Wars fan Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic.

From the upcoming second wave, I can easily recommend Blinx: The Time Sweeper, Breakdown, Conker: Live & Reloaded, The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind, Hunter: The Reckoning, Jade Empire, Panzer Dragoon Orta, SSX 3, Mercenaries: Playground of Destruction, and again all the Star Wars games, if you're into that (they're going to support backward compatibility for Star Wars Battlefront, Star Wars Battlefront II, Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy, Star Wars Jedi Starfighter, Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic II, and Star Wars Republic Commando).

And all these games are going to be looking, and running considerably better than on the original hardware. Microsoft had this to say about it:

"These Original Xbox games will feature enhanced visuals in their backward-compatible guise, and will display at up to 4X the pixel count on Xbox One and Xbox One S, and up to 16X the pixel count on Xbox One X."

@mowerdude If you don't mind a game with some growing pains, and one that is quite the challenge at certain points, then you might like it. And the graphics and music are great, especially for that time, and the time manipulation mechanic used in the game is also quite unique for a platformer. But ultimately, it's your own choice, obviously.

The second one was a bit better, because it addressed some of the issues of the first game, but I found both of them to be good games.

Here's a video review:

@DarthNocturnal And here's a Panzer Dragoon Orta review for you. Might help you decide...