XSX vs PS5

[nachobro]

but you can already play ms' two biggest ips, minecraft and cod, "anywhere — including PC, the cloud, the Nintendo Switch, and the PS5".

why would sea of thieves or hi fi rush be the games to murder the xbox, especially if you can already play those on pc and the cloud?

[Nintex]

The difference is those were already multiplatform.

Microsoft started to dismantle Xbox exclusivity 8 years ago when they released Quantum Break on PC and they've been chipping away at it ever since.
But the big IPs like Forza, HALO, Gears of War remained Xbox exclusive or closely tied to the Xbox brand on PC. 

Once they lower the bar to releasing Xbox "exclusive" games on PS5 and Switch, the Xbox will lose a lot of its appeal and there isn't much left to begin with.
If they released RARE titles and HiFi Rush on Switch the Xbox fanbase could probably 'cope' with it. After all the Switch is a different market.

When they start releasing games on PS5 as well, the console war is over. Sony is unlikely to return the favor and release games on Xbox.
It signals that Xbox has given up their fight against Sony. Which is ultimately bad news for Xbox owners as third parties will take this into account when deciding which platforms to choose and Xbox is already losing out on big exclusives like Final Fantasy.

The pitch for the Xbox Series X as the most powerful console with big AAA exclusives thanks to the acquisition of development studios was far different from what it has become.
Most things that made Xbox unique are either broken (Quick Resume), worse than before (third party support/optimization, XBLA), dissapointing (Forza/HALO/Starfield), MIA(Gears of War/Perfect Dark/RARE etc.) or cancelled (Backwards Compatibility program) and the Series S is the albatross holding everything back. If I had known it would end up like this I would've bought a PS5 or stuck to PC instead.

[nachobro]

the combo of xbox and steamlink home streaming has done alright for me this gen. only thing I'm really missing is final fantasy games. 

perhaps its just luck of the draw, but not seen issues with quick resume, and weirdly it seems to have improved for me. yakuza 8 saves are uploading and working across consoles without ever closing the game which feels like something that wasn't happening with older games.

doubt id go back to sony consoles as i really dislike the controller and still feel burned from ps3 digital purchases being lost to time forever.

When they start releasing games on PS5 as well, the console war is over. Sony is unlikely to return the favor and release games on Xbox.

can't say ill be lamenting not having access to their cinematic catalog of garbage. fwiw, sony does put mlb the show on xbox though. but in general i'm not seeing the catastrophe you are from a few multi-platform titles.

[Potato]

https://in.ign.com/xbox/201739/news/xboxs-next-gen-consoles-reportedly-coming-in-2026-will-also-launch-a-nintendo-switch-like-dockable-h

Xbox’s next-gen console is reportedly set to launch in 2026. Moreover, Microsoft is planning to release two devices, and one of them would be a dockable handheld console similar to the Nintendo Switch.

The rumour stems from Xbox community member Magg on the XNC podcast (as spotted by media publication AltChar). Magg alleges that Xbox will be releasing these future consoles in 2026, but added that this plan might change. Magg did not reveal more information about the rumoured Xbox handheld console, however. Elsewhere, Jez Corden, a reliable industry insider for Xbox-related stuff, reported that Microsoft recently gave the go-ahead for several Xbox hardware, implying that Xbox is not planning on leaving the console hardware landscape.

Whatever happens, there are some "insiders" that have burned their reputations.

On another note, a 2026 launch of anything other than a "pro" mid-gen update would be laughable since that would leave only two more years for the release of any worthwhile software to define this generation as anything more than PS4.5/XB One.5.

[Nintex]

Lots of conflicting information. What we know is that the Surface team is now in charge of Xbox hardware.

The new Xbox might just be off the shelf parts. That's the only way I can see a third party Xbox from MSI, ASUS, Samsung etc. being viable.
Changing Xbox to a sort of 'minimum spec' PC requirement based on certain features and offering a streamlined Windows OS that basically offers the Xbox UI/UX experience on a PC.

It would finally close the gap between PC and Console gaming if you could just run Xbox as an app on your PC. However, it would introduce a lot of issues that regular PC gaming suffers from or it would mean poor optimization on the old Xbox Series S|X. 

But since the new PC-handhelds are already moving in that direction and AMD is focused on those low-cost / mid-performance APUs anyway I guess that is where MS is headed hardware wise. For the US market the Surface team could just redesign the box and refresh the parts every few years. In the EU you could just play the Xbox games on PlayStation, Switch 2, PC or a third party licensed Xbox device.

[nachobro]

surface team is the safest place for it that's the only ms hardware that's stuck around for years other than xbox

[Nintex]

The different RAM speeds were a big flaw in the design of the Xbox Series X, especially strange because the GameCube had the exact same flaw and Ryzen <3 fast RAM. 
I wonder if kneecapping the most powerful console with slow RAM had something to do with this decision apart from that streaming box they never got to market.

The Surface Team did lose their top guy to Amazon though.

[Nintex]

On another note, a 2026 launch of anything other than a "pro" mid-gen update would be laughable since that would leave only two more years for the release of any worthwhile software to define this generation as anything more than PS4.5/XB One.5.

[RetiredSkunk]

PC + Nintendo continues to be the only solution. Fuck these bloated ass consoles.

[nachobro]

-PS5 is entering "its latter stage of life cycle"

this console generation sucks. its been crossgen the entire thing so far with barely any current exclusives

[Nintex]

With Sony and Microsoft throwing in the towel Nintendo has a huge opportunity if those March reveal rumors for the Switch 2 are true.

Anyway, the big issue with COVID was not just delays but also that very few new games started development.
So this gap in the PlayStation line-up makes sense, especially since they backtracked on some GAAS projects too.

[Nintex]

https://www.inverse.com/gaming/xbox-exclusives-town-hall-meeting-palworld

To illustrate the idea of Xbox on every screen, Microsoft showed images of Palworld on tablets, TV screens, monitors, and handheld devices.

I believe the "problem" with this strategy would be that Microsoft could never ever develop a game like Palworld because they would never hire the guys that made it and if they did they wouldn't pass their first performance review. Not to mention they wouldn't dare to risk potential lawsuits with Pokemon-like designs.   

Not to mention that the XCloud service just isn't very good. Long queues, input lag and Xbox Series X level hardware maxed out at 720p or 1080p. It was neat in 2021 but has aged already.
Geforce Now is much better, you can basically "rent" an RTX 4080 rig and stream at 4k basically without lag, it's quite impressive.  

Overall Nvidias streaming stuff just seems way better, I use Moonlight Game Streaming to stream my PC to my TV these days which uses the same protocol as the Nvidia shield (comes built in with any Geforce).

[nachobro]

Microsoft showed images of Palworld on tablets, TV screens, monitors, and handheld devices.

how is this a new strategy? you can do this right now legit feels like yet another ms attempt to rebrand the existing and pretend its brand new

[benji]

I'm pretty sure they literally touted that as a potential Xbox One/Windows 8/Windows Phone thing over a decade ago.

[nachobro]

the xbox app on win 8 let you do in-home streaming from the xbox one, i played a good chunk of mgsv like that

[Nintex]

I remember Smartglass which was fucking useless

[Potato]

Fuck this generation. What a joke. Hopefully Microsoft completely blown out up with some idiotic cloud announcement.

[Nintex]

This new subscription model will allow us to focus on increased GAAS revenue by consolidating our cross platform diverse and inclusive teams on a global scale with strong franchise potential for future media environments adjusting to the latest market environment.





Have fun, Enjoy your videogames

Gabe!, Stop copying my homework!

[Nintex]

Nintendo rn 

[Nintex]

00:00 Introduction
00:51 Exclusivity
05:28 How does that apply to future titles?
06:26 1st party games and Xbox Game Pass
08:20 Activision Blizzard Games are coming to Xbox Game Pass
08:53 Why isn't this a change in Xbox strategy?
10:42 How is multi-platform availability good for business?
12:36 How does Xbox want to keep up with the industry?
14:38 Gaming communities
17:41 Xbox hardware
18:48 Game libraries and preservation
20:46 What does Xbox stand for today?
22:44 Outro


Lol we did it, they backtracked. 4 games multi-platform but they won't tell which

[nachobro]

four games...all this for four games.  

other stuff:

"no change to how we think about exclusivity"
all first party will be on gamepass day one, gamepass will not be on other consoles
diablo 4 march 28 on gamepass -- rest of actiblizz games will roll out over time
"we're already one of the largest publishers on playstation and nintendo"
new hardware coming for holiday, next gen in planning -- biggest hardware jump between generations
sounds like current/old games will remain compatible with next gen, phil used windows compatibility with software as an example
ms is going to keep play anywhere and wants to expand giving game licenses on both xbox and pc

[Nintex]

Biggest year of Xbox

[nachobro]

well if nothing else, this thing cemented that xbox is the gamepass console. they pushed that so goddamn hard throughout this whole thing

[HardcoreRetro]

Damn, I can't believe they went third party.

[Nintex]

I can't believe they're going to be stuck with this early 2000s placeholder cool MTV brand.

Remember folks, gamers always win. Xbox has learned to play nice again because of our collective outrage and we're getting the biggest most powerful and most next generational Xbox that was ever Xboxed in history yet.

You know what to do if those clowns dare increase the price of GamePass just because they're giving us the entire Activision/Blizzard Library for "free".

[nachobro]

wtf u talking about

[Nintex]

The new 34 million GamePass subscription number is actually rebranded Xbox Live Gold + GamePass.



Anyway I noticed the same thing with GP as I did with Netflix. People sub for a game, finish it, unsub again and resub when something else interests them.

[Nintex]

There is this one neat trick Sony and Microsoft can do to sell more 4 year old boxes.

Drop the fucking price.

Before consoles were $499 and controllers $80 folks would own multiple consoles to play the exclusives.

[TylenolJones]

Don’t forget about $80 a year to play online

[Potato]

A few thoughts:

• The video game community should call out all the dickhead "in the know" rumourmongers who peddled misinformation and lies. (They won't).
  
• Microsoft should publicly execute their PR staff for letting the rumours get completely out of hand to the point retards were selling their consoles in anticipation of them going third party.
  
• I would snap up a dockable Series S portable pretty quick.
  
• Sony saying they expect PS5 sales have peaked and they are preparing for next gen is hilarious and stupid given that this generation has failed to launch in any significant way whatsoever.
  
• Nintendo must be laughing at these recent developments while still selling shitloads of ancient hardware and rolling out game of the year candidates that sell bucket loads.
  
• Valve and the other portable PC hardware makers are laughing at the console industry making themselves an absolute laughing stock.