Posted February 5 I'd buy a Gears collection on PS5 in a heartbeat. If all of this is true, I'd expect to see some of Rare's back catalogue showing up on Nintendo consoles. Viva Pinata (console versions) were crying out for the Nintendo audience. Also, seeing how well TOTK done, they should port over Banjo: N&B. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted February 5 1 minute ago, Hero-of-Time said: I'd buy a Gears collection on PS5 in a heartbeat. The idea of being able to Platinum games like Gears makes me shudder, it feels super strange. This timeline is getting weirder all the time. But also, how could I not buy some of these titles for the sheer weirdness of it all? 5 minutes ago, Hero-of-Time said: If all of this is true, I'd expect to see some of Rare's back catalogue showing up on Nintendo consoles. Viva Pinata (console versions) were crying out for the Nintendo audience. Yeah, this is a great shout. I'd be curious to see if Rare releases specifically got physical releases (there's just that vibe to their back catalogue, just seems to slot in perfectly with that Nintendo vibe) if they were to come over, and also if they only came over to Nintendo consoles and not PlayStation. It just seems like the smart move for curation: Nintendo gets some Rare games, PlayStation gets the games like Starfield which are likely going to be too much of a hassle to get on Switch 2. 7 minutes ago, Hero-of-Time said: Also, seeing how well TOTK done, they should port over Banjo: N&B. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted February 5 47 minutes ago, Hero-of-Time said: Also, seeing how well TOTK done, they should port over Banjo: N&B. Found the person who wants to kill the Banjo series again! 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted February 5 2 hours ago, Choze said: Odds are other companies will look at getting into the console market if this is confirmed. MS were the main reason companies like Samsung and Nintendo opted out. No one wants to touch an industry once large tech companies settle in. Sony doing well is a bit of an anomaly. The games side is easier and more profitable. I hope the industry can recover from the massive amount of consolidation. Tech companies should get more pressure to demonstrate the value they create. More importantly positive value and not just leeching off the world. Technological Innovation is quite slow nowadays compared to the past. Within the traditional console sector? I seriously doubt that… The barrier to entry is way too high now for anyone to really come in and have a realistic chance of mainstream success. AAA games and console hardware is just too big, too complicated and too expensive for anyone new to join now. You could easily spend over $100 Billion and still fail to even get a foot in the door, let alone carve a decent slice of the market. This isn’t the 90s or even early 2000s anymore. The console market is locked off to new competitors now. When even the literal richest company in the world, with almost 25 years of console manufacturing experience can’t hack it? What makes you think that anyone else stands a chance? Now, competition in other fiefdoms? Like low-end streaming/mobile devices? Or handhelds? Not impossible. But a genuine PlayStation competitor? Impossible. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted February 5 On the one hand, lack of competition would be bad. Sony would be unchecked in this space and could more or less do what they wanted, at least until a competitor comes along. I'd say that this could mean Sony could go all digital next gen without competition, but ultimately Microsoft are going that way already anyway with their new console refreshes. And on the other hand, Microsoft have acquired a bunch of studios and already have started to make their (once multiplatform) games exclusive, so Microsoft becoming platform-agnostic would mean a bunch of titles would be available to me again. So a bit of a mixed bag, this. Either way, I think we can agree that Microsoft are not good at the home console game. They aren't great at managing studios and ultimately have never been able to recover from E3 2013. That really was the start of the end. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted February 5 More worried about MS's super publisher status. The move has hurt the industry and now their own Xbox fans so much. The lack of any denials or clarification today Monday, is bewildering. Tech companies have really made a mess of things. Especially in entertainment. Apple have a 200m flop currently for example. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted February 5 (edited) Phil Spencer has commented, planning a business update event for next week: Quote We're listening and we hear you. We've been planning a business update event for next week, where we look forward to sharing more details with you about our vision for the future of Xbox. Stay tuned. The only reason I can think to make us wait a full week is so that they can finalise some of the things they thought they wouldn't need to for another 2-3 months. It's the right call if they get the messaging right and everything is explained, but that's a long time to wait. But holy crap it's happening. Edited February 5 by Julius Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted February 5 The only reason I can think to make us wait a full week is so that they can finalise some of the things they thought they wouldn't need to for another 2-3 months. It's the right call if they get the messaging right and everything is explained, but that's a long time to wait. But holy crap it's happening.Yeah, a week is basically the minimum they feel they need to quickly get their messaging/communication ready after the unplanned leaks. We know then that the leaks are basically true or true enough since he's posted this. Interesting times. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted February 6 (edited) 7 hours ago, Julius said: Phil Spencer has commented, planning a business update event for next week: The only reason I can think to make us wait a full week is so that they can finalise some of the things they thought they wouldn't need to for another 2-3 months. It's the right call if they get the messaging right and everything is explained, but that's a long time to wait. But holy crap it's happening. Oh shit, it’s real… It’s Dreamcast all over again! Fucking hell, I can’t believe they’re just straight up giving up on consoles so suddenly! I thought this would be a slow transition over the next decade, not literally overnight! We’re about to witness history here. Edited February 6 by Dcubed 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted February 6 https://www.resetera.com/threads/universo-nintendo-new-nintendo-direct-next-week-between-february-12th-and-15th.813381/ Aaaaaaannnddd it looks like the February Nintendo Direct will be happening at around the same time as well… … this can’t be a coincidence. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted February 6 1 hour ago, Dcubed said: https://www.resetera.com/threads/universo-nintendo-new-nintendo-direct-next-week-between-february-12th-and-15th.813381/ Aaaaaaannnddd it looks like the February Nintendo Direct will be happening at around the same time as well… … this can’t be a coincidence. Alternatively, it could. 1 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted February 6 Microsoft will probably officially announce the next Series X hardware revision (the one with no disc) at the same time. 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted February 6 There's a lot of people across various social platforms saying this is the end of Xbox in the hardware sector, and that they are going full-on 3rd party. I don't see that happening, well at least not this generation anyway. How many consoles have they sold, something like 23-24 million or so. Gamepass subs, approx. 20 million. It's near enough a sub per console, so abandoning hardware may tank Gamepass subs here. Have heard rumours of a Gamepass refresh, with games possibly not coming to Gamepass Day 1 (well, at least not AAA titles). 2013 E3 wasn't a good year for Xbox, and 11 years later, they are still feeling the sting from that. However, what they revealed then is how this generation (and future generations) are heading. Gamepass is a sub service with no real ownership of titles, you need to be online now and again for Gamepass to check if you can play what you've downloaded. Best guess is next week, the rumours of some Xbox exclusives coming to other platforms is confirmed. They confirm the Series X all digital is coming around summertime, and emphasis Gamepass is their forefront on Xbox platforms. You can still purchase games, but only digitally going forward. You only have to read various media outlets to find that places in America are clearing Xbox games from shelves, only a matter of time before what's left of GAME does the same (and maybe online stores such as ShopTo). Xbox wants their games on as many platforms as they can, which is always a good thing. They're stance will change, could go more the Surface route of "works best on our platform" and have 6 months to a year of exclusivity before games are considered for release on other platforms. If Xbox was to leave hardware and focus on being software and sub first, that would potentially allow Sony to go full throttle in this area. They could do basically what they want (could charge £100 a game if they wanted) and that could be dangerous. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted February 6 Microsoft will probably officially announce the next Series X hardware revision (the one with no disc) at the same time.Yep, exactly what I thought. Disguise some other bad news (digital only for both) as some good news while the audience is distracted by the multiplatform announcements. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted February 6 (edited) I have a series X but i stopped paying for the subscription stuff after i bought PS Premium and i didn't want to pay for three subscriptions to online services at once. I don't really play it all that often or as much as i thought i would have. I do enjoy the Forza games though so I wonder whats going to happen to them in maybe a couple of generations from now if Microsoft really does stop manufacturing consoles later down the line. Edited February 6 by martinist Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted February 6 Technically, the only sub i pay for is PS+ Premium. I get Nintendo's Online+ Expansion through a friend group, we payed 2 years worth so only cost me about £14. I get Gamepass through EE as a "perk", and it's Gamepass that is used the most out of all 3. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted February 6 2 hours ago, Jimbob said: Have heard rumours of a Gamepass refresh, with games possibly not coming to Gamepass Day 1 (well, at least not AAA titles). The problem with this is that MS have conditioned their userbase to no longer buy games. Not having their games on GP day 1 will more than likely cause an uproar and possibly push people to cancel subscriptions. 3 hours ago, Jimbob said: 2013 E3 wasn't a good year for Xbox, and 11 years later, they are still feeling the sting from that. Thing is, Phil Spencer has been in charge long enough now to be shouldering the blame for what potentially could be happening here. They made acquisitions left and right but have nothing really to show for it other than a list of studios that they own to plaster on a powerpoint presentation. Gamepass was the big play here and it ultimately didn't move the needle for them, nor did the likes of Halo Infinite and Starfield. For me, Phil Spencer is to blame for a lot of what has gone wrong with the brand over the past several years. MS should have been more hands on with the studios that they own, especially with ones that were in charge of their biggest IPs. For example, 343 showed time and time again that they weren't up to the task of carrying on Bungie's legacy with the Halo series and yet the series just kept getting handed to them. You could also argue that they haven't really pushed their franchises forward or evolved them in the way that they needed to. Look at what Nintendo done with Zelda or Sony with God of War. Old franchises that were given a new lease of life by injecting them with new ideas. Microsoft have still just relied on the usual Forza/Halo/Fable/Gears line up and that wasn't going to cut it anymore for most gamers. The acquisitions they made were no doubt partly driven by how creatively bankrupt Microsoft's own studios had become and it was far easier to just go out and buy someone than to instead sort out the rot and get your teams back on track. 4 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted February 6 (edited) 2 hours ago, Hero-of-Time said: The problem with this is that MS have conditioned their userbase to no longer buy games. Not having their games on GP day 1 will more than likely cause an uproar and possibly push people to cancel subscriptions. Thing is, Phil Spencer has been in charge long enough now to be shouldering the blame for what potentially could be happening here. They made acquisitions left and right but have nothing really to show for it other than a list of studios that they own to plaster on a powerpoint presentation. Gamepass was the big play here and it ultimately didn't move the needle for them, nor did the likes of Halo Infinite and Starfield. For me, Phil Spencer is to blame for a lot of what has gone wrong with the brand over the past several years. MS should have been more hands on with the studios that they own, especially with ones that were in charge of their biggest IPs. For example, 343 showed time and time again that they weren't up to the task of carrying on Bungie's legacy with the Halo series and yet the series just kept getting handed to them. You could also argue that they haven't really pushed their franchises forward or evolved them in the way that they needed to. Look at what Nintendo done with Zelda or Sony with God of War. Old franchises that were given a new lease of life by injecting them with new ideas. Microsoft have still just relied on the usual Forza/Halo/Fable/Gears line up and that wasn't going to cut it anymore for most gamers. The acquisitions they made were no doubt partly driven by how creatively bankrupt Microsoft's own studios had become and it was far easier to just go out and buy someone than to instead sort out the rot and get your teams back on track. Completely agree. I think most of it all it shows a lack of care for actually creating games and game development in general. There's very little new they've developed from scratch over the last two generations that has been on a big scale - i.e. not just games released from studios they recently acquired and weren't involved with from the start. They are a company that pretty much subtract and we've seen with their acquisitions that they're actually walling off content and making things worse for people who just want to play previously multiplatform games. Spencer has been at the helm for so long and has ample opportunity to reverse this. The most bizarre thing for me has been to see that he's had supporters over the past decade. I suppose when people see Game Pass, which has been heavily subsidised by Microsoft in terms of the promotional £1 upgrades and subscription stacking, people have attributed that great value to him? The costly subsidising will no doubt have been a decision for Microsoft to sign off on rather than him, just like the decision to (likely) go multiplatform is probably out of his hands, too. The real decisions he's actually been able to make, like starting game developments from scratch, or supervising game development closely - clearly he never made those decisions. Edited February 6 by Sheikah 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted February 7 https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-02-07/ftc-knocks-microsoft-over-activision-blizzard-layoffs-in-court?leadSource=uverify+wall US FTC not giving up. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted February 8 https://www.installbaseforum.com/threads/media-create-sales-week-4-2024-jan-22-jan-28.2362/post-228583https://www.businesstoday.com.tw/article/category/183015/post/202401240002/ Quote It is understood that the two major game console operators, Sony PlayStation and Microsoft Xbox, are facing the challenge of lower than expected sales during the Christmas season last year and high inventory. In order to clear the inventory, Sony has notified the supply chain, including assembly company Hon Hai, power supply industry Delta Electronics and Opto, that the first quarter of this year's PlayStation order "half cut" from about one million units per month to 500,000 units, while Microsoft even told assembly companies Pegatron and Hon Hai, power supply companies Qunar and Opto that "the first quarter of the Xbox complete shutdown". Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted February 8 (edited) Been thinking about the news we've had since last weekend a lot today, and I've got some particular questions I want to throw out there to get some other thoughts: • is Phil Spencer still at Xbox this time next year? So the word going around has been that there's something of a schism internally at Xbox, which isn't hard to believe at all given the mixed messaging we've had from interviews given by different individuals high up at Xbox and Microsoft. I would assume Phil was on the side of seeing the vision of Game Pass as a reason to buy into the Xbox ecosystem through, whereas it would seem like Microsoft folk have been pushing back against this in different ways (becoming platform agnostic, focus on service and cloud, etc.), so if he's not ousted, well, it wouldn't create a great atmosphere. It's also a case of the latest round of leaks seemingly coming from someone on the side of Xbox and seeing the vision through, not being happy about the decisions being made. • will next week's update be a video or a post? I'm 50/50 on this one. Xbox has had bottom tier communication for YEARS, to the point that while I think the normal and better decision would be releasing a video to put a face and emotion to the news, they don't have anyone to deliver news like this anywhere near the level of their "rivals", so maybe a post would be the smart choice. • is this part of the reason why we've seen them bleed talent as of late? Mikami. Hines. Ibarra. All left within the last 12 months, Ibarra following the ABK acquisition and Hines following previous leaks which showed some tension over the thought of Starfield coming to only one platform. Mikami's seems like a standard retirement, but also – if you were smart, you'd contractually tie that talent down, right? • what do you actually think is going to be said next week? I think they confirm some of the earlier leaks which have become more solid as of late, like Hi-Fi Rush and Sea of Thieves coming to other platforms, maybe even offering up a release date for Hi-Fi Rush. I think there's a good chance they reveal an actual window of exclusivity for Bethesda and other upcoming titles, and I think the sweet spot is 1 - 3 months after launch (but the real sweet spot would be day and date purely for the zeitgeist if Game Pass isn't coming to other platforms and they'll be available as individual titles elsewhere, which they'll probably pivot to eventually), but realistically I think it's more like 6 - 12 months. I think there's a small chance that they mention plans for legacy titles to come to other platforms are in the works, and to stay tuned for news on that. I think they dispel this current line of speculation that Xbox hardware is going away, confirming new hardware is in the works (if this is a video I think you get the digital Series X announcement, if not then I don't think it's announced for now). I think if this is a video that they do all of this under the guise of "we here at Xbox see a unique opportunity with the talented studios we house to bring our games to all gamers, everywhere" and "Xbox Series consoles will remain the best way to play Xbox games, and the best way to experience Game Pass". Curious where other people might land on some of these. Edited February 8 by Julius Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted February 9 (edited) Honestly? We may well get the first announcement during next week’s Nintendo Direct. The timing already matches up so flawlessly that they may well just latch onto Nintendo’s audience; especially if Nintendo and Microsoft have already come to some sort of behind-the-scenes deal (which would be an extension of their already existing relationship). As for Phil Spencer? He has already been pushing this multiplatform future for some time now. I could absolutely see him turning up in a Nintendo Direct. I can’t see him being SO against the idea of a multiplatform future that he would quit in protest; I think he’d have to be forced out. Edited February 9 by Dcubed 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted February 9 Honestly? We may well get the first announcement during next week’s Nintendo Direct. The timing already matches up so flawlessly that they may well just latch onto Nintendo’s audience; especially if Nintendo and Microsoft have already come to some sort of behind-the-scenes deal (which would be an extension of their already existing relationship). As for Phil Spencer? He has already been pushing this multiplatform future for some time now. I could absolutely see him turning up in a Nintendo Direct. I can’t see him being SO against the idea of a multiplatform future that he would quit in protest; I think he’d have to be forced out.I think being forced out becomes more and more likely. He hasn't steered Xbox to success and at some point the higher ups will surely want to replace him. He has really squandered his time at the helm of Xbox when he should have been working to kick start development of new big games. Also it wasn't long ago that Spencer was saying in an interview that titles like Elder Scrolls would be exclusive in the sense that they'd only come to platforms with Game Pass. So for them to go traditionally multiplatform is actually a change in strategy, not something they were intending all along. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted February 9 Bosman nailing it as always, this gave me a good chuckle: The last point about a very vocal subset of fans wanting Xbox to return the loyalty they've shown them is a bit too accurate 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted February 10 https://www.installbaseforum.com/threads/media-create-sales-week-4-2024-jan-22-jan-28.2362/post-228583https://www.businesstoday.com.tw/article/category/183015/post/202401240002/ It is understood that the two major game console operators, Sony PlayStation and Microsoft Xbox, are facing the challenge of lower than expected sales during the Christmas season last year and high inventory. In order to clear the inventory, Sony has notified the supply chain, including assembly company Hon Hai, power supply industry Delta Electronics and Opto, that the first quarter of this year's PlayStation order "half cut" from about one million units per month to 500,000 units, while Microsoft even told assembly companies Pegatron and Hon Hai, power supply companies Qunar and Opto that "the first quarter of the Xbox complete shutdown". Maybe a price cut incoming?I would totally buy a PS5 then. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
