Support NeoGAF

[mayham2199]

So now they've realized how important it is to have a collection of high quality exclusives if you want to sell console hardware?

They've always known how important it is. They just don't care about selling consoles anymore. They can't sell the amount of consoles they need to make that side of the business profitable so they are changing strategy.

 

[reinking]

Exclusivity has always been the key.

In 10 years exclusivity won't exist. Games are too expensive and development too long to keep giant AAA games on a single platform. Microsoft is already basically a 3rd party publisher and Sony will follow sooner, than later.

Let's ask Nintendo....

 

[MayauMiao]

Nintendo:

---

 

[yogaflame]

No shit.

That's why it'd be smart for Sony to move towards exclusivity again, with Xbox becoming a 3rd party publisher.

That is why, I hope Sony will go back to the principle of truly exclusive games just like Nintendo of not porting its exclusives to PC. I don't mind if there are xbox, or nintendo or pc exclusives of there own. That what's make the industry beautiful in the past , and true quality, more choices, and competition comes out.

 

[drotahorror]

Releasing 2 consoles at the start of a new gen when there should have only been one didn't work either.

 

[EN250]

Excellent strategy, must be why FH5 is coming to PS5 with most of the Series exclusives as well

 

[SteadyEvo]

Bahahaha! Didn't Bond come out recently and brag about the biggest generational leap next time right when they put all their exclusives on PS5?

WTF?

Be thankful MS is picking up their slack

 

[Justin9mm]

WTF LOL.. I'm laughing so hard at this title. Exclusivity was always key, what do they mean now? For so many years people have been saying where are the Xbox games and if Phil and the rest of the team didn't know this from day 1.. They are dumb as a fucking brick!

 

[VAVA Mk2]

But you are putting your exclusives elsewhere now?

 

[Ebrietas]

MS had the most success with Xbox 360 (particularly the first half of the gen) when they followed this strategy.

But it's too late now. Nothing can save their console business.

 

[Justin9mm]

Ecosystem and libraries are important.

Like Phil Spencer said, people built their digital libraries during the PS4/XBO generation, getting people to switch is now an impossible task.

The gaming industry has matured and Nintendo and PlayStation are the coca-Cola and Pepsi of the console business.

Ah, but which one is Coke and which one is Pepsi?

 

[TheAmazingSpiderMan]

M

 

[{insert code here}]

Gonna be wild when the Xbox5/PS6 launch and all of the MS first party games (including CoD and ES6) are next-gen exclusive to the Xbox5 .

 

[gaheris]

Power race didnt help the OG Xbox, but it did help the OG PS2 against the Dreamcast. Xbox came out almost 2 years after PS2 came out in Japan in March 2000. By the time Xbox came out, Sony had effectively killed Sega.

Power race did help the Xbox 360 attract the hardcore who in turn attracted casuals and made it the defacto console for CoD. Granted it was also exclusives, but every single game for the first few years ran better on the 360.

Power race helped Sony win the generation after a relatively lean first few years. It was not the only cause, but it definitely helped.

Power race this gen didnt materialize because MS had a retarded console that they overshipped while undershipping the so-called most powerful console. Not to mention, completely botching the launch with poor performing launch titles. Had they focused on one console and managed to ship a decent amount of units of that 12 tflops console, things might have been different. Especially considering just how no one could find the PS5 in the early days. The only console on shelves was the 4 tflops shitbox and no one wanted it. That 12 tflops XSX was a great fucking console despite the early issues and would've at least helped them keep up with the PS5 had they focused on shipping more than the PS5.

And lastly, and Nintendo fans dont like to hear this, but the power race effectively knocked Nintendo out of the console market. They realized they couldnt fight the power war and literally bowed out making handhelds literally 2-3 gens behind in power. Yes, they are selling more than ever, but they dont have the massive piece of the pie Sony and MS carved out of these massive CoD, Fifa, Madden, AC, RDR2, and GTA releases. Because they simply couldnt compete on power anymore.

Why would Nintendo care about fighting over the same audience as Sony and Microsoft, they built their own market without needing 3rd party support. They have the IP, institutional knowledge, innovation and history that can't be matched. They don't have to care what any of the other companies do or who they target. They got the family market down in a way Sony and Microsoft would kill for. Nintendo is important because they are getting the next generation of gamers into the fold year after year which benefits the entire industry. That's why it's sustainable, they don't always succeed but they are willing to try new things, and introduce unique concepts because they keep their costs under control and make money on everything because they don't have anything else. They could compete on power but why would they, they are unique enough that they don't have to and that's why Nintendo succeeds.

 

[hououinkyouma00]

They are a confusing bunch.

I mean while I agree, Seamus left Xbox 23 years ago.

He's not wrong though. Microsoft started killing the Xbox brand back in November 2016 when they started their Play Anywhere initiative.

 

[EverydayBeast]

God of war ragnrok released on ps4 and wasn’t compromised by graphics, you’re seeing cross gen games sell well and while that’s offensive to graphic whores games like Jedi survivor, god of war crush on underpowered systems. We need to see where Sony and Microsoft go with power, and graphical steps.

 

[Ashamam]

Why do people link derivative articles? The original article by Videogamer which in turn is just a summary of that publications upcoming podcast is here.

Xbox creator Seamus Blackley believes modern Xbox's "narrative around being more powerful is not helpful today” as gaming technology plateaus

Xbox creator Seamus Blackley speaks on the current marketing attempt to push the brand as the "most powerful" console available.

www.videogamer.com

Even the summary imo lacks full context, wait for the podcast.

 

[Felessan]

The moment they lost power battle it became "unimportant"
Every part matters - number of exclusives, their quality and of course power/it's utilization too. The gap in quality of multiplatform, and 3rd party games make majority on MS/PS platforms, sway people into direction of more powerfull/better tools console.

 

[evanft]

HOW DOES PHIL SPENCER STILL HAVE A JOB?

I swear a magic eightball could make better decisions at this point.

 

[thismeinteil]

The power race never worked. Neither does getting a head start. You need three things. Compelling HW, that definitely doesn't have to be the most powerful. A great games lineup, both first and third party. And a reasonable price. Having the most powerful HW has never worked.

 

[geary]

Ecosystem and libraries are important.

Like Phil Spencer said, people built their digital libraries during the PS4/XBO generation, getting people to switch is now an impossible task.

The gaming industry has matured and Nintendo and PlayStation are the Coca-Cola and Pepsi of the console business.

Bingo...I wouldnt change Steam where my big library is no matter what other platform appears.
Xbox lost the war when the digital arise and people build their library of game elsewhere.

 

[CLW]

Like Phil Spencer said, people built their digital libraries during the PS4/XBO generation, getting people to switch is now an impossible task.

This is the mentality of a LOSER and dead wrong. Very few gamers actually care about playing their old games they have already played and beaten.

IF Xbox was capable of putting out more and better legit exclusives they could gain share. Unfortunately they have been incapable of making quality and have ZERO exclusives thus there is ZERO reason to own the console

 

[Danjin44]

Good games are the key.

 

[SHA]

WTF! I give my opinion piece and becomes a headline the very next day.

 

[Boss Mog]

Like I've said in other threads, it's crazy how MS was able to completely destroy everything they built with the 360. The 360 set them up perfectly to dominate gaming in the following gen but they crashed and burned instead with the XB1.

 

[sendit]

Imagine convincing your core audience in to thinking having previously exclusive Xbox games as PC day 1 releases was a good idea.

 

[RetroGamingUK]

Bingo...I wouldnt change Steam where my big library is no matter what other platform appears.
Xbox lost the war when the digital arise and people build their library of game elsewhere.

Nintendo are likely going to have their best transition in history too.

Switch games, both physical and digital will all work on the Switch 2.

 

[Kiya's Guard]

Exclusivity? The thing they are ditching in order to attract more public to their subscription service?

 

[BlackTron]

No wonder he is no longer at Xbox. Ideological differences

 

[TheThreadsThatBindUs]

IP ownership matters. Nintendo has IP that moves product. The others do as well. But if Nintendo released sub par property it could affect their sales.

Yup.

The WiiU proves your point perfectly.

 

[BlackTron]

I get the confusion but check youerself boys. Current Xbox management is not saying this. The guy who designed the first Xbox is saying this. Get a grip.

 

[AJUMP23]

Yup.

The WiiU proves your point perfectly.

Switch shows WiiU had great software, bad form factor and terrible marketing.

 

[OmegaSupreme]

Now?

 

[TBiddy]

No wonder he is no longer at Xbox. Ideological differences

He left 23 years ago not long after the original Xbox released. I doubt it had anything to do with the change in rhetoric that we see now.

 

[BlackTron]

He left 23 years ago not long after the original Xbox released. I doubt it had anything to do with the change in rhetoric that we see now.

As soon as I used "ideological" I'd hope anyone would know this was an opportunity to crack a joke. In this thread I've already specified he just designed the first Xbox.

 

[Isurus]

Lots of folks not actually reading the article here. Seamus hasn’t been with Xbox for over two decades. While he makes a good point, this isn’t a mixed message from the Xbox team.

All that said, it’s hard not to shake your head when thinking about what MS has done with the Xbox platform and brand, so I forgive folks for jumping to conclusions quickly.

 

[onnextflix5]

They can’t do true exclusives anymore, they need the money flowing from other platforms unless they start focusing only on AA titles. AAA games is too expensive for exclusivity. Sony do ports as well but can manage with PS+PC since PS5 is bigger than Series. MS can’t do just Series+PC. Nintendo can do true exclusives because they don’t go for that AAA market and because they have a 160m userbase. We’ll see how they do after Switch 2 launch, I bet they’ll do last gen ports for a long time.

They can do it if they wanted to, but unlike Sony the ceos at ms don’t understand gaming, watch them crash and burn the Xbox within 5 years.

 

[Nonehxc]

Bahahaha! Didn't Bond come out recently and brag about the biggest generational leap next time right when they put all their exclusives on PS5?

WTF?

Seems like they are going the exact opposite route of this. No exclusives, chasing power.

According to this, Ninty doing it right.

Of course.

They jumped from their sinking generational ship to the others generational ships.

At least our SEGA had dignity, they had huge internal problems(more like an all out corporate internal war) and tried everything and the kitchen sink for years, releasing marvelous and varied games&systems before dying fighting an honorable death as a hardware manufacturer and putting their exclusives on others only AFTER their demise.

Meanwhile Trillion Dollar company can't bribe enough(paid shills, free shit for zealots, Ubercheap gamepass, heavily subsidized consoles) and enough people to bail out water so they resort to not bribe but sell full price on the competition...which I foresee it's gonna go all kinds of marvelous.

 

[dcx4610]

We could have told you that 20 years ago. This includes PC.

There's a reason why you had to own both a SNES and Genesis. An N64 and a PlayStation. If I can play the exact same games on different hardware and they are virtually identical, why do I need to own your machine? Sony, until recently, at least had several exclusives. So when you have the choice between a PS5/Xbox, it's pretty obvious which system you should buy.

You have two options - Make a console/PC hybrid with the new Xbox and fully lean into being a PC that can run Steam and other apps or, go exclusive crazy and give people a reason to own your console.

 

[Fess]

They can do it if they wanted to, but unlike Sony the ceos at ms don’t understand gaming, watch them crash and burn the Xbox within 5 years.

I don’t think they can, 25m users and it doesn’t sell, it’s not enough for AAA with 5+ year long dev times.
They started doing late PC ports last gen to get more money, wasn’t enough, so then they did day 1, and it wasn’t enough, and now they do PS / SW ports too. If that’s still not enough they’re in big trouble.

 

[Dr. Samuel Hayden]

He's right. Current Xbox leadership are clowns.

 

[TheThreadsThatBindUs]

Switch shows WiiU had great software, bad form factor and terrible marketing.

How does the Switch show that the WiiU had great software?

The Switch has demonstrably superior software to the WiiU. If anything it shows that the WiiU as a product in totality was a failure.

The WiiU had all the popular brand-name IP, but the games were lacklustre, the console was too gimmicky and for sure the marketing was terribad.

 

[A.Romero]

This guy hasn't released a game for over 20 years, he is not even in the game industry anymore and wasn't even a part of Microsoft during Xbox's golden era (360 days).

I'd take his opinion with a grain of salt.

 

[AJUMP23]

How does the Switch show that the WiiU had great software?

Best selling games on Switch, Mario Kart, BOTW, and Mario O all started as WiiU games. And several other WiiU games sold amazingly on Switch.

List of Wii U games ported to the Nintendo Switch system

This is the list of games originally released on the Wii U system ported to the Nintendo Switch system. This is thought to be a notable move, being that the Switch is the direct successor to the Wii U. Note: This list does not include games that were initially ported from a prior third-party...

nintendo.fandom.com

 

[ZoukGalaxy]

*meanwhile somewhere in a far far away galaxy *

"And this is why, here at Xbox/Microsoft we are going to the publish all our exclusive games on every devices"

 

[Alebrije]

Every time someone from Microsoft speaks these days

 

[kevboard]

so... is everyone at Xbox just not talking to eachother? the fuck is happening?

 

[TBiddy]

As soon as I used "ideological" I'd hope anyone would know this was an opportunity to crack a joke. In this thread I've already specified he just designed the first Xbox.

Sorry - can be hard to spot jokes in writing!

so... is everyone at Xbox just not talking to eachother? the fuck is happening?

I'm sure they did, when he was employed 23 years ago.

 

[Sooner]

It's never worked.

PS1 won because of the games. N64 was more capable many ways.

Xbox and GameCube were both more powerful than PS2, yet PS2 out sold them and Dreamcast all combine, more than five times over.

PS3 was more capable than 360, but harder to develop for. 360 came very close to outselling the PS3. The Wii out sold both and was significantly weaker.

PS4 was more powerful than Xbone. And it outsold it 2.5 to 1, but it wasn't because of the power difference. The One X was more powerful than the PS4 Pro.

Console power specs matter, but they are way down on the ladder of importance. Exclusive games are, by far, the most important, followed by price.

 

[Dorago]

"It's not because we haven't made a good game since the 360, it's because the console wars don't matter."