Topic: The everything Xbox thread

Lol. Mid-working through all my notifications:

Great work, @Eel...

@NEStalgia No because "X" is the "premium" tag. They chose it for "Xbox One" and they chose it for "Xbox".

@NEStalgia Seriously? I expected more from someone with an intelligence level like yours.
The X in One X is clearly a type designation, NOT a series. It's LITERALLY an Xbox One, with a type letter added after it's series moniker, to signify that it's an Xbox One with an X-factor, namely it being considerably more powerful compared to the One S. Or is that a series S, then?

That's like saying that there can't be a Ford Challenger X and a Ford Series X, because "obviously", they're both the same, or should be, in the eyes of the needlessly (hopelessly?) confused people...

I think it will be a Wii U esque confusion. People will ask at retailers for the new Xbox, get confused between Xbox Series X and Xbox One X and then buy a PS5.

@ThanosReXXX Seriously listen to yourself! You can't possibly believe this naming is at all sensible when this conversation can even exist!

"Nono, the XBox One X is clearly XBox Series One and not XBox Series X because the X in One Xis a type designation, not a series designation unlike the X in Series X that is a series designation, as opposed to a type dsignation as pertains to the positioning of the letter X juxtaposed to other transitional letters within the congruent phrase."

This is retail branding. Big number. Colorful box. The thinking does not extend past this! If this conversation is even possible we have a total naming fail on our hands. There's really no way to work around that. Have you seriously never been to a Walmart on any continent in any of its regional flavors? I mean I expect this from the company that brought us Windows 8.1 and Windows 8 RT. But it's still a fail.

And yes, if a Series S exists we have the same trouble with One S. Which would have been very simple to avoid by just not using the letters "S" and "X".

I don't care if you can understand it. Do you think the people that thought a WiiU was a tablet controller for the Wii are going to understand it? Heeeeeeck no! And thus PS5 sells like hotcakes.

Why are all the "smart" people in the world entirely oblivious to simple reality?

@Grumblevolcano BINGO! You win an eCookie! @ThanosReXXX See this, real people in the real world understand these obvious things that marketing and executive thinkers seem to continuously miss. This is why every titan of retail is dying before our eyes.

@NEStalgia I love the name. If it's just "Xbox", then it already exists. And if it's series X, it could be the One X; you know, the upgraded One, but no, not One as in the first one, because that was the Xbox, the old one of course, not the new one

@ThanosReXXX @BlueOcean yer welcome 🧐

I haven't owned an Xbox since my three Xbox 360's(all of them died do the red ring of death hence why i went with a PS4 this generation)but these newly revealed Xbox Series X specs got me giddy as a school girl.

Here in Indonesia, most Indonesian keep calling any Xbox machines with just Xbox, doesn't matter it's Xbox 360 or Xbox One. 🧐

It's the same here in the U.S at least among the dinosaurs i hang with.

The real question is how many people's grandmas buy them a $500 console for the holidays. So how many people really are there to be confused.

The fact that the name of the device has caused so much... civilized discussion... is either marketing genius or insanity. But my problem with the Xbox Series X1 Platinum Halo Extreme Banana edition, MK 2 version 1.1.2 is the same as with previous releases. Microsoft doesn't offer much that is - to me - meaningfully different from the competition, where Nintendo has the Switch, a totally different beast, and Sony has more exclusive support and VR.

Maybe the Xbox Series Y version 4 MK9 Burgandy Gears of War edition, update 4 will be better in 2029.

Another point against Xbox Series X is size, if PS5 is a normal size device like the PS4 then more people will get PS5 because it fits where their consoles go.

This entire generation, Xbox One has pretty much been a worse PS4. Embarrassingly weak first party efforts, limited Japanese support, and a similar price for weaker specs made the system a no-go for me. Hard to see how the Series X (or whatever it's called) will change that.

I guess they'll be leaning on GamePass to push their ecosystem. If you have immediate access to a bunch of next-gen AAA games at launch by being a subscriber, and especially if the system undercuts the PS5 in terms of price, I could see them taking the lead early on.

@Ralizah I have a PS4 and Xbox One (the original and the X) and It has been exactly the opposite for me.

@Grumblevolcano If retailers do their jobs and know what to sell when people ask them for the new Xbox,
then I think they'll be just fine...

P.S.

The new Xbox can also be put on its side, so the size or form factor isn't really a problem either.

@NEStalgia No, just no. I've explained it three times now already, and it IS as simple as that when I, you or anyone else here understands it, then that's all that matters, because we are the potential buyers, so if we understand it, regardless of questioning the sanity of the name-giving, then who cares what other people, that we've got nothing to do with, will think or understand?

My Ford example was a perfect one, and you nicely circumvented that one. And need I remind you, I've got a marketing mindset, not just due to my professional experience. I understand that mine is not the average mindset, but still. I don't think that people are that dumb or dimwitted, that they're not going to get this.

Oh, and another crucial difference with the whole Wii U situation: contrary to Nintendo, Microsoft WILL spend enough money and campaigns on making the difference clear enough for all to understand...

And the Xbox team may be a part of Microsoft, but it's still it's own entity, and seeing as Phil Spencer is at the helm, I think they'll be more than alright. They really started getting into their own again with the One X,
and I don't think that they're now going to stray from that path, so they'll be more than fine.

@Heavyarms55 It's marketing genius, trust me. Phil Spencer knows EXACTLY what he's doing...

@Ralizah Weaker specs? On the regular One and One S only ever so marginally so, but the X was/is obviously the most powerful console of this generation, so it all depends on which model you'd buy or own.

And you can say whatever else you want about Xbox, but their online service, Live Gold and Game Pass included, is second to none, and combined with a far more complete and better working backwards compatibility program, something Sony could only dream of, they've built a VERY strong foundation over the years, which they'll more than likely build upon with the upcoming generation.

And the most obvious one: Sony's currently in the lead, so they run the bigger risk this time, because the only way they can go, is down, so they better bring their A game, or team Xbox will finally kick them off their little pedestal...

@ThanosReXXX Let's take these points one by one.

Now, sure. But for more than half the generation, Sony maintained a decent advantage in the power department. And, for the first couple of years or so, it also cost about 20% less. As a result, pretty much everything in built to run well on Sony's platform.

Timing is everything. I got an Xbox 360 last gen because it had a better selection of games and was decently cheaper. This generation, I got a PS4 for the exact same reason. Microsoft lost tons of sales puttering around at the start, which is why Sony is leading with... what, over 100 million consoles? Whereas, if it hasn't already happened, Switch is probably going to outsell the Xbone soon. It lost momentum big time and, besides holiday sales where Microsoft practically gives the base model away, it never regained its mojo.

Besides, the vast majority of people own the base consoles.

Sure, Xbox's online is more stable and provides more incentives than PSN. No argument there. Which might be important to people.

You know what else is important?

Install base. If you're playing an online game, you have an unquestionably larger pool of people to play with. Everybody is on PSN.

Library. Sony's first-party titles now rival Nintendo's in terms of how well they sell and how critically acclaimed they are. Sony has put out a LOT of hits this generation. Microsoft, for some reason, has only really put out a small handful of worthwhile exclusive games this gen, and almost all of them aren't even exclusive to the platform at this point. And, putting aside first party efforts, you have massively better third party support from Japanese developers. Now, that's improving a little bit, with Sega finally putting more of its games, like Yakuza Zero and Kiwami, on the Xbox One. But, in general, aside from the big companies like Capcom that almost always go multiplat with their games, it's a crapshoot as to whether some exciting looking Japanese game will even release on Microsoft's system.

Backwards compatibility is cool, but, imo, robust current gen support is far better.

Take this trend and extend it over time, and you have the difference between a system that gets everything and has some of the best first-party games and exclusives in the industry, and a system almost bereft of exclusives with major holes in its library.

Nah. People keep saying this, and I used to believe this logic, but here's the truth. Of the four generations where Sony has been a player in the industry, it has explicitly trampled the competition three out of four times with the PS1, PS2, and PS4. Brutally trampled in terms of sales AND library.

People make a lot of noise about how weak the PS3 was at the start of the last generation, and it was, but here's the thing: Sony still ended up practically winning that gen. It outsold the initially much stronger 360 (something Microsoft came nowhere close to managing with the One, despite it being in something of a similar position as the PS3 was last gen). It ended with a larger number of highly acclaimed exclusive games. Sony clawed their way back from the mouth of hell and managed to become king again.

They had to.

Sony literally wouldn't be a thing right now if it wasn't for Playstation. Their gaming sector is, by far, their most profitable. As such, the Playstation brand HAS to be successful. They have no alternative. So they're always going to make the best consoles with the best software support, because it's life or death for the company as a whole if Playstation goes down.

The Xbox brand is a hobby for Microsoft. They could probably sell zero units of their new Series X console and it wouldn't really matter, because the company's computer business is ubiquitous. There's no incentive for Microsoft to struggle to succeed, because literally nothing rides on their triumph or defeat. So they're free to keep giving their consoles weird names that confuse customers, giving up their exclusives, etc.

Sony is entering the next generation in a position of strength again, with a stable of amazing first-party properties that rival Nintendo's output (and decimate anything Microsoft will likely be putting out in the next few years), with so many PSN customers that just their online store took in more money last year than Nintendo did in its entirety, and with, imo, a more coherent vision for the next-generation. I have no idea what Microsoft will do with its oddly named console going forward, but I do know that, with the PS5, Sony wants to gain the lead early again, is developing some sort of 3D audio technology to work with its games, wants games to load almost instantly, and will continue with VR.

I'd love for Microsoft to knock the Playstation brand "off its pedestal," but I don't see that happening. And history suggests that, even if they screw up, they'll come surging back and pretty much reverse whatever damage was caused to them early on. So, if I had to bet on either company as a safe bet for having the best support going forward, Sony would easily be my choice.

Oh, that reminds me. Sony is also ahead in VR and game streaming as well. I don't know if those will become big factors next gen, but if they do, Sony will be leading the charge on them.

Oh geez here we go lol....

@Ralizah It's easy to be ahead in something, if you're the only one doing it...

All joking aside, though: Sony's VR is still in it's infancy. Like all other efforts, it's cool in its specific way, but ultimately, it doesn't even remotely come close to VR on a gaming PC.

Sony's supposed "win" with the PS3 only came after that generation was already fading out, so that's really nothing to brag about. They also recently outsold the Wii, but who the hell is still counting that generation, and the games featured on it? It's a win many years after all the other contestants have already finished and received their gold and silver awards, so it's a bronze medal at best.

And Microsoft, with the Xbox 360, had THE best multi-plat versions of that generation, something no amount of "sold more consoles in total" could ever fix, so there's that as well...

One rather big misconception is that Sony's PS4 was cheaper than the Xbox One: it definitely wasn't. What people either never realized, or simply (or for Sony fanboys: conveniently) forgot, is that Sony actually also wanted to offer a starting package with an online subscription and a camera, but because Microsoft flopped SO hard with that, they pretty much botched the entire launch, which Sony quite heavily capitalized on, by instantly removing their version of the pack-in motion camera, and their mandatory online subscription BEFORE they ever launched the PS4, so it only appeared that they had the better deal, and this is how they ACTUALLY got their head start this generation, NOT because they ACTUALLY had a better deal. Being $100 cheaper if you remove a motion camera and other stuff really isn't that difficult, after all...

So, what it basically was, is just smart and strategic marketing, which is the only real compliment they'll ever get from me, by the way.

Oh, and another VERY big misconception is that Sony would be nowhere without its PlayStation brand. Seriously, go look it up, and you'll find that what's ACTUALLY Sony's biggest revenue, is their insurance brand, but few Western people know this, because it's only active in Asia, so it's not common knowledge over here. So, PlayStation being their end all and be all, is categorically untrue.

And you REALLY shouldn't underestimate the power of a vast library of backwards compatible titles. It may not be something you're personally interested in, but Phil Spencer is DEFINITELY onto something, telling people they can, from now on, continuously keep migrating their ENTIRE game collection, built up until now, to each new console or platform that Microsoft will now release, and it definitely is something that the majority of Xbox owners/users are interested in, as witnessed by the effort that Spencer and his team have put into making it a reality, otherwise they'd just be pumping money into something nobody wants...

Sony has nothing comparable. From what is known right now, only PS4 titles will be natively supported, and anything older will only be offered through streaming services, whereas Microsoft offers the entirety of its Xbox One catalog, almost 70% of its Xbox 360 catalog AND a decent number of original Xbox titles all supported physically and/or digitally installed AND locally, so no streaming necessary, which is a FAR superior service. Then again: any and all of Microsoft's online services are superior, and always will be, because Sony will NEVER be able to equal Microsoft's online network capacity, let alone surpass it.

Instant loading is also a thing on Series X, so that's nothing new from Sony's side either. Both are actually just doing basically the same thing this time around, so it'll come down to the games, the support and the options, not so much down to the hardware.

And finally, I've said this plenty of times before, but in case I've never said it to you, or you forgot: I'm a marketing and sales professional myself, so I simply KNOW how that game works, and the ONLY simple truth is what I said earlier: if you're in the lead, then all you can do is fall down, because there is no more up, so it's only a matter of when, not a matter of if, so they WILL ultimately fail, mark my words. Maybe not entirely, but they will most definitely screw something up, or several things. Being in the lead makes you nervous, makes you look in the rear view mirror etc. etc.

None of which is conducive to actually staying in the lead, and besides that, Phil Spencer has done a LOT of good work these last couple of years, establishing the Xbox brand as THE go to platform for premium gaming with the One X, and he'll probably not be too keen on relinquishing that position to Sony, so that's just not gonna happen.