Point taken but the PC player base is WAY larger than Xbox.
They will if they want to sell consoles.
Microsoft Xbox Discussion Part II
- Thread starter Gardner McKay
- Start date
Point taken but the PC player base is WAY larger than Xbox.
They will if they want to sell consoles.
JimmyApples
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- Sep 24, 2021
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I’m sorry, but this is a really rough take. There’s plenty of reasons people choose Xbox over PC, most notably money and portability.
As of June 2021, Gamepass has 27 games rated 90+, 58 games rated 85-89, 123 games rated 80-84 (Metacritic). Sure, there’s ‘fluff’, but there’s also TONS of quality games.
First of all, Sony released Avengers on PS Now, not as one of their games of the month. But you also proved my point. Avengers on PS Now was one of the services biggest releases. For Gamepass? It’s not even their most intriguing release of the day…on an off-month. The two services are not comparable.
Beau Knows
Registered User
Maybe they'd sell more consoles if they didn't release their games on PC, but they'd also lose out on all the PC game/game pass sales.
There's also value to that whole "eco-system" idea - if you have games pass on your PC you can buy an xbox and you can use that subscription to play games online together with your wife/gf/roommate/whatever.
Microsoft literally does not care if you play their games or sub to Gamepass only on PC. They’re getting your money either way.
Mikeaveli
Registered User
Microsoft definitely does not care as much about console sales at this point. Obviously the console allows them to milk more money out of people on average due to third party game sales + Xbox Live Gold, but the thing they are most concerned with right now is getting as many Game Pass subscribers as possible and the PC is just too massive of an install base to ignore. There's a reason why even Sony is beginning to come around and port their games over.
And again I have to ask, what exactly does exclusivity bring to the table for Xbox gamers? The answer: you can now brag on Twitter about your platform's exclusives. The fact is that exclusivity has literally no benefits to the consumer and criticizing Microsoft for doing something that is actually good for us makes no sense to me.
And again I have to ask, what exactly does exclusivity bring to the table for Xbox gamers? The answer: you can now brag on Twitter about your platform's exclusives. The fact is that exclusivity has literally no benefits to the consumer and criticizing Microsoft for doing something that is actually good for us makes no sense to me.
No it’s about selling consoles. Xbox has been an experiment from the start and while they get operating system software, finding and growing new game development talent is still a foreign concept to them.
Exactly.
Beau Knows
Registered User
Maybe they'd sell more consoles if they didn't release their games on PC, but they'd also lose out on all the PC game/game pass sales.
Commander Clueless
Apathy of the Leaf
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Their actions suggest that console sales are not their priority so much as Game Pass subscribers.
You are free to disagree with their strategy of course, but their goals have shifted this generation.
Since we've heard that console sales don't make that much money and the games and subscriptions do, I suppose there's a certain logic there, no?
As a consumer and PC user, I would argue it is for the better in my own personal case. It certainly got me back into the Xbox platform where I probably wouldn't have been otherwise.
Jovavic
boohoo, Pens "fans", BOOHOO
If you've been out of the Xbox sphere for awhile (like me) and don't have a gaming PC, would you recommend I build a PC that gives me Series S power or just buy a Series S? The X is unwanted, I don't own a TV that would be optimal for it nor do I really care about the differences between 30FPS and 60FPS, ray tracing, or any other graphical things.
I own a PC, PS5, and next Gen Xbox. I hardly play the Next Gen Xbox because There’s not that much I can play because most of the games are already on the other platforms. Xbox doesn’t have exclusives and next Gen Games like Returnal, Kena, Ghost of Tsushima, Both Spider Man games, etc.
As an Xbox console owner I want that exclusive game that was made for the console. At the Original Xbox launch it was Halo and it showed off what the console could do.
PS5 started with Rachet and Clank and that showed off the full capabilities of the PS5.
I have yet to see anything that was designed for Xbox only. And from what their CEO has been saying lately he realized this screw up and is righting the ship.
Beau Knows
Registered User
GPUs can be hard to find at decent prices right now. For it's price, the Series S is actually pretty impressive in terms of specs. You'd save a good chunk of cash (in the short term at least) by going with the Series S over a similarly powered PC.
Obviously PC's have other uses, and you can play games that aren't xbox titles. So it may or may not have more value for you to justify the extra cost. But if you're just looking to play Halo, Forza, etc the Series S is an affordable way to do so.
Commander Clueless
Apathy of the Leaf
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PCs are more versatile, but given prices and availability, the answer is probably Series S.
Sure, I agree. Xbox first party games has been an issue since the 360 days, and they've definitely tried to start addressing that with massive studio purchases.
That said, they aren't bound to the console and it was a major problem with the One as well, so I guess I'm not sure what connects that to Game Pass being an issue?
The problem with the series S is it's insanely underpowered it plays a ton of new games at like 720p, with that said if you're not going to expand the storage, probably a series S is the way to go.
If you are, memory cards basically double the cost so it might make getting a PC worth it.
With that said, setting up a PC for couch gaming is a different animal than console so you'll need to do some extra work
JimmyApples
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It’s baffling to me that people are using Microsoft’s pro-consumer stance on exclusivity as a slight against Microsoft
Jussi
Registered User
Its only Sony fanboys that say this. The same ones that say Xbox gamepass sucks or that they all having gaming PCs.
Microsoft's biggest problems with their Next Gen Xbox/GamePass are:
- Microsoft has a LONG, LONG history of not being able to recognize or develop new Talent for games. They just back up a truck load of money to a studio and buy them out. It's a classic MS tatic.
- Xbox Series X|S has no big draw to buy a console as many of the games are either PC exclusive or PC and console exclusive. Why? The majority of the games can be found on Steam or PlayStation. Why should I buy one?
- For the first time since it's inception, Xbox GamePass Ultimate on Console never had any perks until they made the Battlefield Beta open to their subscribers.
- Not all external hardware works with X|S. One of the biggest bonuses pf PS is that it's REALLY external hardware friendly. Xbox is not.
This is coming from someone who plays PS, Steam, and Xbox.
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JimmyApples
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I have access to all three, as well. So no bias here.
It doesn’t really matter if Microsoft develops a game or buys a studio to develop games for them…they are all under the XGS umbrella, exclusive to Microsoft systems, and their profits go directly into Microsoft’s pocket. Don’t forget that Sony purchased their two best studios - Naughty Dog and Insomniac. Buying studios is nothing new.
Why buy an Xbox Series X instead of just buying a PC? Cost. I don’t know if you know much about specs but to build a gaming PC equivalent to the power the Series X gives you, you’re looking at 2-3 times the price.
Xbox offers quick resume, smart delivery, FPS Boost and cloud gaming. Look up the mess that was moving your Avengers PS4 file to your PS5…Xbox is seamless. Look up the entire Horizon Forbidden West original upgrade path. Same with GoT. As far as I’m concerned, Xbox is the #1 place to console game. They dropped the ball with the Xbox One, but Phil Spencer just gets it. And that E3 presentation was maddddd
Mikeaveli
Registered User
My point was that the experience for console users does not change if PC gamers can also play the video game. When Death Stranding came out on PC a few months after launch, did the game suddenly become less enjoyable for the people playing on PS4? No, it's exactly the same game, just more people are able to enjoy it on another platform.
If you want to argue that putting out games exclusively on Xbox would boost console sales, yes that is true. However, they would also miss out on the ability to sell their games and subscription service to a much wider audience than just Xbox owners. And more importantly it's bad for us, the consumers. Personally I don't really care about how many Xbox consoles Microsoft can sell. I just want to be able to play the games on my hardware of choice and Microsoft delivers on that front while the other console manufacturers do not.
Here is the beauty of Microsoft's business model: You did not have to buy the Xbox. You could have played all their games on PC without spending extra money on a console. If I bought an Xbox I would be in the same position as you, basically never touching it. That's why I didn't buy one.
I get that you want a first party game to really show off the console's capabilities. The thing is that the game does not have to be designed for Xbox only to do that, it only requires that the game be optimized for it. After all, these consoles are essentially gaming PCs at this point and while they offer great price to performance the next gen consoles aren't exactly cutting edge. Especially now that DirectStorage is supported on Windows.
Microsoft essentially locks their games to their platforms. It just so happens Windows is one of their platforms. I don't think Halo Infinite will run on Linux or Mac.
- Aug 24, 2011
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Xbox still doesn’t have any kick ass exclusives that make someone NEED to buy a Series X. Gears and Forza aren’t cutting it for me and I’m hopeful at best that Infinite won’t be yet another 343 f***up of the Halo franchise. PlayStation has plenty of games and franchises that I’m intrigued to play.
Ghosts of Tsushima
Horizon
Spider-Man: 1, MM, and 2
God of War franchise
The Last of Us
Ratchet and Clank
Give me the Xbox equivalents to those. You can’t. I’ve been an Xbox customer since the original in 2001. I love it. I think the controller and online community is hands down better than the PS and I’m a huge Halo fan. Just those things alone might be enough to keep me playing Xbox forever but it sucks seeing all the cool games on a system I don’t have.
Oh coooool MS bought Bethesda…they’ve done so well with recent Fallout games and are even worse than Rockstar with their never ending pimping of Skyrim. There isn’t a real reason to buy a Series X still. Having played on my current setup and then at a friend’s with a nicer TV I didn’t notice much of a graphical difference. There aren’t any games that demand your attention and their console-seller, Halo: Infinite, went through major delays, isn’t ready yet, and won’t even be fully ready with a campaign and forge for months.
This is crap. If I’m wrong then I would love to hear what exclusives you’re currently enjoying on the Series X. Anything from this list?
Here are the Games Coming Exclusively to Xbox in 2021 - Xbox Wire
Ghosts of Tsushima
Horizon
Spider-Man: 1, MM, and 2
God of War franchise
The Last of Us
Ratchet and Clank
Give me the Xbox equivalents to those. You can’t. I’ve been an Xbox customer since the original in 2001. I love it. I think the controller and online community is hands down better than the PS and I’m a huge Halo fan. Just those things alone might be enough to keep me playing Xbox forever but it sucks seeing all the cool games on a system I don’t have.
Oh coooool MS bought Bethesda…they’ve done so well with recent Fallout games and are even worse than Rockstar with their never ending pimping of Skyrim. There isn’t a real reason to buy a Series X still. Having played on my current setup and then at a friend’s with a nicer TV I didn’t notice much of a graphical difference. There aren’t any games that demand your attention and their console-seller, Halo: Infinite, went through major delays, isn’t ready yet, and won’t even be fully ready with a campaign and forge for months.
This is crap. If I’m wrong then I would love to hear what exclusives you’re currently enjoying on the Series X. Anything from this list?
Here are the Games Coming Exclusively to Xbox in 2021 - Xbox Wire
You can find the Sony thread using the below link.
https://hfboards.mandatory.com/threads/sony-ps5-2.2786217/unread
Its on Steam so it actually might through SteamOS.
But I honestly like what Microsoft is doing. My only thing is I consider this the honeymoon phase as I said before. Gamepass is just way too good a deal with way too many good games. Theres just no way its going to last. Its like when Netflix was amazing for like 5 bucks a month. Now its like triple that with filler garbage.
Similar to Netflix, hence the big emphasis on creating/buying exclusive content to hold their market share in that realm. I was just pointing out Microsoft has a bigger emphasis on supporting PC due to their primary business than other platform holders, and obviously also have a massive leg up on their competitors when it comes to cloud.
I will say with Microsoft buying Obsidian, iD, and Machine Games, it has increased my interest in potentially buying a series X or investing in a gaming PC, when the next exclusives from those companies like Wolfenstein, Doom, potentially Quake and Outer Worlds 2 become exclusive. But for now I’ll just be on Switch and Sony (another driving point is building a PC is ridiculous right now).
