XSX vs PS5

[Nintex]

https://www.eurogamer.net/digitalfoundry-2024-hellblade-2-looks-like-the-most-visually-ambitious-unreal-engine-5-game-yet

The preview encode is fortunately high enough quality that we can make out individual pixel edges in a few moments, with results coming in between 1296p and 1440p or thereabouts, though with the letterboxing effect, it's more like 2304x964 to 2560x1070. However, transparencies operated on a further reduced resolution, so geometry occluded by these effects is also of a lower pixel count. This is a time-honoured way to save GPU performance we've seen across multiple generations now.

They're actually doing the RE4 style letterboxing for Hellblade 2

[HardcoreRetro]

The most powerful Xbox yet. Delivering games at a targeted 30fps and *lifts glasses and squints* 964p.

[Potato]

Fulfilling the promises of 1080p/60fps of the Xbox series Xbox One Xbox 360 generation.

[Nintex]

Xbox hardware down a wooping 30%. 

Overall, gaming revenue is up 51 percent, bolstered by the additional Activision Blizzard revenue, which contributed 55 points of net impact. That means without Activision Blizzard, Microsoft’s overall gaming revenue would have actually declined this quarter. The newly acquired division recorded $1.97 billion in revenue during Q3, but the cost of integration, transaction costs, and other costs of revenue all total $980 million. With other operating expenses ($1.34 billion), it calculates to an overall operating loss of $350 million for Activision Blizzard.

Xbox content and services would have only been up a single percent without Activision Blizzard, so it’s clear that this giant purchase is already having a big impact on Microsoft’s overall gaming revenues.

Nadella is happy with their results on PlayStation

[Potato]

Charges for cancelled projects.

Lol, shoulda backed the Switch Squenix. Nintendo always made you plenty of money. Sony has had you up against the wall for decades.

[Nintex]

If I had to guess it includes Just Cause 5, which was somehow left behind at Square Enix after they sold the Eidos stuff to Embracer (who shut it down shortly after).
Just Cause 5 was supposed to ship this year. I imagine the budget would be at least $50 million.

The rest is probably the smaller/lesser known IPs, with the exception of the 'cheaper' 2D-HD titles (Asano recently got promoted so unlikely his stuff got axed). 
They probably had more 'AA' tier HD games like Babylons Fall, Star Ocean, Harvestella and Chocobo GP in development.

The total value of cancelled stuff seems to be ~$130 million.

[Nintex]

[Potato]

The idiots in the tech media are finally starting to admit what we all have known for a while

https://www.tomsguide.com/gaming/this-has-been-the-worst-console-generation-ever-but-these-7-ps5-games-have-almost-saved-it

I’m not being hyperbolic when I say this has been the worst console generation I’ve ever experienced. More than last-gen, this console cycle is oversaturated with remakes, remasters and especially cross-gen titles. 

I’ve owned a PS5 since launch, but I still have trouble justifying its existence since there are so few “current-gen” titles available for the system. Things are even worse for the Xbox Series X, which has even fewer true exclusives, but that’s a whole other conversation. Regardless, this console generation has been a major disappointment for me.

[Nintex]

I don't understand how but learning about all the behind the scenes stuff from my bro has made it clear to me they didn't see this coming, at all. They really expected to have their cake and it eat too, in other words that expanding to more platforms and storefronts would increase sales and not just split the same consumers across multiple platforms. As well as sellling remakes and remasters first and sequels second. 

Even on the hardware side it was sort of a shock because supply couldn't keep up with demand for a long time (also why they decided to increase the price mid gen instead of lowering it).
Microsoft didn't think Xbox would sink this fast, so their games showcase this year will likely have many PS5 announcements as well.

He also said there is a significant drought of AAA games coming up because of the many cancelled projects. 

Anyway I remain convinced it all has to do with pricing and hidden costs on the console side on one hand and the generational leap not being impressive or very interesting on the other.
During the 2008 - 2012 economic recession gaming did very well because it was a cheap form of entertainment. Same reason why Switch and Steam exploded during COVID.

[Potato]

Video games and cycling are two industries I have a passing interest in. Both experienced massive booms during COVID. Many companies in both industries thought the good times would continue to roll and invested heavily expecting the COVID demand to be the new baseline. Both industries are mega fucked with failed businesses all over because they couldn't predict what happens when an obvious bubble bursts.

[Nintex]

Yep there a bunch of industries like this. Food delivery and Streaming services too, completely decimated.

Now that the bottom is dropping out they all have themselves to blame.
Could've kept prices lower, could've prevented scalping, could've treated devs better, could've shipped games in a working state, could've prevented fracturing the market with a bunch of storefronts, could've not turned everything into GAAS, could've not censored games, could've not made them lame and gay.

Some studios and publishers quickly fixed their mistakes with patches and whatnot and those efforts should be praised but overall it just feels too little too late.
Sony is now messing up Helldivers II, making a PSN account mandatory, something that the Steam player base just doesn't like. 

I think it's not the one thing but merely a thousands cuts that make folks less excited about new releases and gaming in general. People are legit surprised when games launch in a perfectly working condition.

And it's really weird when you stop to think about it, development tools are better than ever and there are basically no technical/storage limitations to make any game unlike during the days of the Saturn and N64.

[MMaRsu]

Don't fall for it Nintex. It's just fake outrage created by Twitter engagement clowns and grifters like Asmongold.

There is nothing bad about having to link your psn account lol. Who the fuck cares. It takes five minutes and you can fill in whatever information you want. Create a fake email. Jesus christ. It's like these morons forgot how to use the internet and not fill out your personal information for every goddamn account you create.

And then you have clowns who literally think because you link it to your Steam account, if Sony gets hacked they can get to your Steam details.

JESUS FUCKING CUCKING CHRIST

[Nintex]

I don't mind it myself but I can see why folks have a problem with it changing after they already bought and played the game. Especially those in regions where you can't sign up to PSN or like in the UK where these services require you to upload your photo ID because of silly government regulations. 

For a PvP game this sort of makes sense but for a PvE game where you shoot hordes of bugs and bots it's kind of silly to demand accounts and sign ups. 
Especially when it wasn't necessary before. 

The reason I play mostly on Switch is that it is entirely frictionless. I seldom have to deal with any sign ups or even patches. 

Sony clearly put this in to 'regulate' who can play the game as this allows them to ban or limit people from playing in certain regions. 
Overall I think push back against this is good, people that make these decisions are cut from the same cloth as those that add draconic DRM measures to Mega Man games.

[Potato]

The bait and switch aspect of it is the problem here.

[MMaRsu]

I don't mind it myself but I can see why folks have a problem with it changing after they already bought and played the game. Especially those in regions where you can't sign up to PSN or like in the UK where these services require you to upload your photo ID because of silly government regulations. 

For a PvP game this sort of makes sense but for a PvE game where you shoot hordes of bugs and bots it's kind of silly to demand accounts and sign ups. 
Especially when it wasn't necessary before. 

The reason I play mostly on Switch is that it is entirely frictionless. I seldom have to deal with any sign ups or even patches. 

Sony clearly put this in to 'regulate' who can play the game as this allows them to ban or limit people from playing in certain regions. 
Overall I think push back against this is good, people that make these decisions are cut from the same cloth as those that add draconic DRM measures to Mega Man games.

Uk requires that for every service you need to make an account for. Sucks to live in that hellhole. Don't se how that's Sony's fault.

There really wasnt a bait and switch when day one it was stated on the Steam Store page an account is required, even when you booted up the game you got the link option where it stated its required.

People just can't read anymore.

Not saying they couldnt have handled it better

[Puffy Fucking Baby]

You don't need to upload a photo ID for a psn account in the UK? I haven't ever done such a thing

[Nintex]

It's for age verification on new(?) accounts

[Puffy Fucking Baby]

oh right, seems wack.

they usually roll this kind of shit out for existing accounts too

[RetiredSkunk]

Console gaming

[Nintex]

[Nintex]

What a mess

[RetiredSkunk]

Listening to the Giant Bombcast about it now. Haven't listened to it in years.

Omg it's terrible. Rat dog barking the entire time. Though one dudes half naked girlfriend walked by the camera. That was nice.

[RetiredSkunk]

How does Phil Spencer still have a job? Asking fr.

[RetiredSkunk]

Legit this dude on giant bomb said if we were in a system other than capitalism, this would not have happened

[Nintex]

Phil Spencer is just the corporate mouth piece.

Satya watched how Xbox quickly became the top publisher on the PlayStation Store (because there wasn't much competition and a hit TV show). So now they're doubling down on blockbuster multi-platform games. Why develop quirky GamePass games or immersive sims when you can sell more Call of Doodies and Cape Shit on PlayStation?

These are not the last studios to close. I mean, what's Ninja Theory going to do after they ship Hellblade II?

[RetiredSkunk]

NT is done. I can 100% Gurantee that. 6 years to develop what will amount to an 8 hour niche title.

I honestly think Spencer believed his initiative would save Xbox. He's just too much of a dumbass to execute it. So now after 70b$ and everyone else at MS looking at the division, it makes sense their direction took such a drastic turn.

Either way, keep malding console plebs.

[Nintex]

I think Xbox just got sidelined by AI and current conditions are very unfavorable to how they've always operated.

Microsoft wants something cool to spend money on(regardless of the cost) because most of their business is boring. Especially during the 360 days Xbox did a lot for their brand and innovation. Not to mention they tried to tie it in with other stuff like their TV/Music streaming, Smartglass, Cloud technology and Kinect when the Xbox One rolled along. You could even argue that Xbox Live was the start of what has eventually become Teams. 

Now ESGs/DEI are trending in corpoland so Xbox is gay and not 'cool' and AI is hot among investors but AI is already 'cool' by itself, they don't need Xbox to sell it.
An AI chatbot on Xbox is just not going to be this revolutionary thing that's going to inroduce folks to AI on a level that Co-Pilot in Word would and things like Ray Tracing and FSR just don't work well enough on the boxes they have out there today compared to the upcoming PS5 Pro / PC GPUs nor are some additional reflections or high framerates that exciting. The Xbox business has also depended a lot on third party developers from Assassins Creed to Mass Effect and Call of Duty. And third parties just haven't delivered this gen either (especially those closely aligned with MS/Xbox like EA).

Xbox was always about taking what is trending or popular and shipping it fast with tech and usability improvements. However, none of the things trending now like Asian mobile games, Fortnite, ARPGs, handheld devices, Nintendo are their strong suit or can be replicated or bought easily and shipping fast has gone out the window. They are trying with things like the HALO TV show but they can't just copy Elden Ring as easy in 2024. In the past they would expand on Resident Evil 4 with Gears of War within 2 years, make a car game with a Jeremy Clarkson cameo in 18 months, develop a half baked Wii Sports clone in less than a year or cut a last-minute deal for an exclusive Tomb Raider game just in time for the holiday season.

[Nintex]

[Puffy Fucking Baby]

it always seemed like vapour ware anyway

[Nintex]

- Voluntary buyout offers to some Zenimax staff
- Booty considered studios and resources spread 'too thin'
- Tango was doing a HiFi Rush 2 pitch (the rumor of Tango staff leaving to join Mikami is false btw)
- Arkane was going back to immersive sims
- GamePass growth stalled
- Considering another GamePass price increase (lmao)
- Considering not putting COD on GamePass (it would hurt COD revenue too much) 
- Cuts at Xbox Games Studios expected next
- Further drops in hardware/software sales expected
- Just 1% annual growth of Xbox business without Activision
- Possible announcements for PS5/Switch during Xbox Showcase
- Uncertainty among staff about the future of Xbox
- Likely to bring more games to PS5

It seems like a lot will hinge on this holiday season with a new COD, Starfield expansion and Indiana Jones. 
If a possible HiFi Rush 2 sequel is considered 'too far out' to focus on... yikes.

Are they hiding something in the books I wonder? Maybe a couple million unsold Xbox systems they need to write off in the near future?