Microsoft's diverse E3 games lineup couldn't hide Xbox One's biggest flaw

By Matt Brown
last updated

Microsoft's E3 2017 press conference was packed with impressive games, but there was something clearly absent from the show: first-party titles.

Microsoft recently wrapped up its E3 2017 showcase, outlining the biggest additions to the Xbox One lineup for the upcoming year and beyond. Despite the debut of Xbox One X, its new flagship console, the games took up the majority of the company's big E3 event last Sunday.

This year's event was crucial for Microsoft, with the need to kick-start the foundations for a new high-end console. As a piece of hardware tailored to enthusiasts, Microsoft's approach was on watch over the course of the show.

One console fits all

As with any hardware announcement, to push a premium console you need a premium library of games. Microsoft wasn't reluctant to let software dominate its E3 presence, with 42 upcoming titles showcased over the course of a nearly two-hour long show. From the opening of its press conference, Microsoft continually accentuated the sheer diversity in its E3 2017 offerings for Xbox One. Touting the "largest and most diverse games lineup" in the platform's history, the company continued to hammer home software offerings through back-to-back trailers.

As with any hardware announcement, to push a premium console you need a premium library of games.

I'll give credit where credit is due - Microsoft hosted one of its most game-centric press conferences in the history of the Xbox platform. There were games spanning all major genres. There were games from all corners of the globe. Games even varied hugely in scale, with exclusives from Microsoft's in-house teams, third-party publishers, and independent developers. From the unveiling of 4A Games' Metro: Exodus to the adorable Super Lucky's Tale, Microsoft managed to cover most its bases.

Microsoft hosted one of its most game-centric press conferences in the history of the Xbox platform.

Ultimately, Microsoft showed off some outstanding titles, proving a vast and diverse lineup of games to establish its new console. Between the games and enhancements coming to Xbox One X, it's a shaping up to be a compelling device for gaming enthusiasts, despite a somewhat controversial price point. However, even with its assortment of games on stage, there's a void that still remains within Microsoft's current lineup.

Changing the attitude to first-party

While a range of diverse games was welcome, this year's E3 showcase also managed to highlight one of the Xbox One's biggest problems. At this point, it's increasingly clear that Microsoft has a problem with its image as a first-party publisher.

Microsoft's first-party efforts weren't in the best place ahead of E3, following the shutdown of numerous "Microsoft Studios" developers and big-budget projects. It feels like the company's lineup has been misguided for some time, with only its largest pre-established franchises truly thriving. This past week only solidified those concerns, through both the titles showcased and their on-stage presentations.

Today, the Xbox One lineup in its current state looks rather weak. Although Xbox One owners will get a slew of "launch exclusives" from external studios later this year, "Forza Motorsport 7" and "Crackdown 3" are the only two major first-party titles. There wasn't even a tease of games to come, leaving consumers with little of a roadmap for projects expected in 2018.

Microsoft has a problem with its image as a first-party publisher.

It's also hard not to criticize how Microsoft went about presenting its first-party lineup, in a move that pushed its upcoming blockbusters onto the sideline. Relying almost entirely on third-party offerings, the first-party releases were almost pushed into the background with their short trailers and demos. A fair number of third-party games were given substantially more screen time, with Anthem, Assassin's Creed: Origins and Metro: Exodus each receiving their own in-depth on-stage demos.

While the Xbox 360 gained a reputation as the platform for first-person shooters back in the day, Microsoft continues to diversify the lineup going forward. This shift was most noticeable this year, with both Halo and Gears of War, entirely absent from E3 – a first in the console's history.

Xbox head Phil Spencer previously addressed its first-party strategy going forward, detailing a movement to strip down to the "core" of Xbox lineup. Learning from previous mistakes, Microsoft is planning to rework the Xbox One catalog and avoid announcing projects still in the early stages of development. However, Microsoft now walks a fine line between approaching announcements with caution and alienating its dedicated fan base.

If E3 proved anything, it's that there's a huge number of interesting games on the horizon for Xbox One. With dozens of developers already on board to leverage the power of the Xbox One X, the console should be backed by a strong lineup of games when it drops this fall. However, with such a reliance on cross-platform games and timed-exclusives, the current promises of the platform struggle to stand out to the average consumer.

Matt Brown
Matt Brown

Matt Brown was formerly a Windows Central's Senior Editor, Xbox & PC, at Future. Following over seven years of professional consumer technology and gaming coverage, he’s focused on the world of Microsoft's gaming efforts. You can follow him on Twitter @mattjbrown.

174 Comments
  • How many first party titles are you expecting?  Are we due for Halo 6 (even though "Finish the Fight" was 10 years ago in Halo 3)?  Forza is there, Crackdown is there, etc... Do you want MS to get into a yearly EA / Activision-esque Yearly Release For The Same Game schedule?  IF they move to that model, do you expect them to be GOOD games as opposed to COD 50, 51, 52, 53?  Do you want more pay to play / pay to win crap?  Precisely what were you expecting that you didn't see?
  • New AAA first party IP. Like Horizon Zero Dawn, Nier, Bloodborn, Detroit become human, Days Gone, Untill Dawn, Scalebound...
    You want more?
  • While it's great that Sony has those exclusives three of those sold a million copies on a 60 million user base. Exclusives are great but it's hardly what sells the system. Two of them aren't even out yet. Microsoft has backtracked on too many games that were to come out so I believe they are holding things closer and when it's almost time for release we will hear about it. I'd rather be given a few months notice than waiting for 10 years for a game that is coming. 
  • You don't get it.  Exclusives sells console. Having bigger support, diversity and library has ALWAYS been important in consoles generation.    3rd party games like COD, FIFA, BF, NFL also boost PS4/XB1 sales.
    NLB The Show 17, Persona 5 or Nioh or Horizon: Zero Dawn didn't provide a boost on XB1 sales because they aren't on XB1. PS4 owners have been getting exclusives/console exclusives regularly. I really though XB1 gamers would also want that type of support on their platform. Reading some of the comments I guess not...
  • We have been getting support. I liked quantum break, sunset overdrive, the forza series, ryse but the majority did not and MS pulled back. I know they have more games coming and I'd rather hear about games coming soon rather than having a last guardian or final fantasy versus situation or hell kingdom hearts 3. Third party support is still king and people bought the games on PS4 because it could do 1080 when the X1 struggled it was the biggest complaint and why a lot of people left Xbox. That and the always on and the terrible way MS announced it and requiring Kinect. The majority simply do not give a damn about bloodborne, horizon dawn, nioh and neir. With TEW2 and Wolfenstein 2, I have plenty to look forward to. 
  • There has been a drought of exclusives for years no and these fans are just making all sort of excuses.
    What were they doing in the last 2-4 years so that we don't get many games now? 
    Spencer's comment suggest that there won't be new games in the next 2 years. How have we got in this stage? What guarantee do we have that there will be loads of new games in 2-3 years and not just the usual Halo 6, Gears 5, Forza 8, FH 5. What this means is that there aren't many exclus or 1st party support to look forward to when XB1X comes. People might as well delay a possible XB1x purchase because MS cut their investment in making new games and we don't have any guarantee there will be a lot of new first party games in 2-3 years. You want to mention last guardian or kingdom hearts, but ignore other games. The last guardian went through development hell but they announced it again in 2015 it released this year. In 2015, they announced 
    - Nier automata, 
    - Horizon: Zero Dawn, 
    - Nioh
    - Gravity rush 2
    - Yakuza 6
    - Matterfall
    - GT sport All have either come out or will come out this year. There are games like Knack 2, Everybody's Golf, MLB The Show 17 that were also added in this year's lineup. We have a whole bunch of games in early 2018 and we know a whole lot more games coming up. It's a totally different story with MS.  You want to keep saying majority don't care about games like horizon, then by your logic majority of people don't care about games because of the 60m PS4 owners none have sold more than 30m. It is the collective strenght of a lineup that makes a system attractive. Like you I can look out for TEW 2 and Wolfenstein 2 but I can also look out for all these other exclusives. And out of all those there are some for me some for other PS4 gamers. Enough for everyone...
  • I don't care about Knack2 and Everyone's golf...
    Give me Anthem, Deep Rock Galactic, Ashen, Middle Earth, Ori2, Super Lucky's Tale, Cuphead, Brawlout, Enter the Gungeon. I will leave my old xb1 in my office to cloud sync play with my new xb1x.
  • I have to agree with DestroyMe.
    Those exclusives only sold a million on a 60 million user base...
    Let's rewind a lilo.
    xb1 had a bad e3-13. There was uncertain strategic and policies, talked about blocking 2nd hand games and Don even told people not to get a xb1, go grab a xb360 instead.
    And then Sony backstab MS With a vid.
    If you've read the news, those bad taste last for years.
    What's more? xb1 is not only more expensive but its specs is weaker. Why choice xb1 for cross platform 3rd party games? COD, BF, FIFA, NFBL, witcher, dragon age inquisition, etc are the one that's driving sells. To sum it up.
    1. e3-13.
    2. both consoles sold at the same time.
    3. There was no BC/FC, free-unlimited-cloud-sync, xpa, etc strategic to prevent people jumping ship.
    4. xb1 is more expensive + weaker spec.
    5. friends dragging more friends. Persona or Nioh...
    If you look at the numbers... a small group of people buys those. They don't buy 2 or 3 ps4s.
    Or do you think Persona and Nioh gamer don't overlap? Each title generates 1m ps4 sales?
    Everyone who wants to play BF or FIFA, will need a new console. (BF and FIFA's audiences hardly overlaps) I have only 1 ps4 exclusive. Horizon Zero Dawn. I've somehow given up PSStore (and Steam) after MS's BC/FC announcement (plus other benefits, e.g. unlimited-free-cloud-sync, region-hot-swap, xpa, etc) I do have gaming desktop, gaming notebooks, surface pros and I do carry Bluetooth xb1 gamepad in my bag. Looking forward to a 6" portable win10.arm!
  • Nier, Bloodborne, Detroid become human and Until Dawn are not from sony First Party Studios. Most of these are bought exklusives. You know, the thing people would kill Microsoft for..... like bought exklusivity for tomb raider.
  • If you watch Phil Spencer's interview with GameSpot (I think it was gamespot) he explains about why they aren't pursuing such deals with third parties any longer. He's looking at the industry as a whole, not just from the Xbox POV. Exclusivity whether timed or things like skins he's not interested in any longer. The games coming to Xbox first are because the developers are choosing to stagger their launches, mainly indies, because of the support they've received from the ID@Xbox program and the like, along with the ease of use for the development kits. Only the first party studios now will not be developing for other consoles, if any third parties only want to develop for the Xbox then it will be by choice, not because Phil gave them a backhander. He basically want's studios to be able to maximise their revenue by releasing on as many platforms as possible, that way they can put much more into the game.
  • Timed deals are timed deals. Whether for indie or not. MS were proudly claiming "launch exclusive" because they knew for sure the studios weren't launching on other consoles at launch. The only way to be sure is if there was some kind of deal or agreement. Let's not try to find excuses to MS. Recent actions and announcements shows that they are putting a lot less effort into making games and prefer these kind of deals as they are probably cheaper...
  • Not every indies have manpower to dev / debug / support different platforms @ the same time tho.
  • There is a difference between investing enough money for making a game on their system and paying relatively less money so that a third party game gets delayed on other platforms and mislead people/gamers in thinking they are exclusives. One is investing money to make games, the other should be considered anti-gaming/anti-gamers.
  • Satya Nadella has decided to retrench the Xbox gaming studios. LOL
  • I have four boys, from 10-15. Years ago, used to enjoy watching the four of them play on split-screen Halo and other FPS games that had multi-player on-screen capability. Seems the only focus these days (like the pic in this article with the single controller) is the "one" in Xbox One. So much potential still in it being a home central device, but doesn't look like it's designed to be appealing as such.
  • Not isolated to Xbox, though. PS4 suffers in mostly the same way. I'd say the only one of the big players that seems to be pushing local multiplayer is Nintendo with the Switch.
  • Yeah the Switch definitely pushes that and I can highly recommend picking one up. This is Nintendos strongest year one games line up in a long, long time and they removed my concerns about 2018 pretty well at E3. The Wii U was painful during those first 12 months and I gave up on it. I'm also getting a One X even though I hardly get time to play because it looks brilliant and I want that premium experience for the precious time I do get to play - I have so many games I WANT to play on my Xbox One just not the time right now
  • IMO, Switch is WAY too fragile to hand to a child, at least unsupervised.  Still, I applaud Nintendo for at least keeping some of that stuff alive, even though the only Nintendo title I will ever play as an adult is the Kart stuff.
  • I disagree I think the switch is very well made and I would not be scared to drop it. Unlike a tablet or phone. I have been impressed with the switch though Nintendo are back to what they do best imo with the switch and that's make something different to the other 2 but make it work and give you quality ips. Nintendo announcing metroid 4 and a full Pokémon game for the switch really puts them in the driving seat as metroid done right with good mp could be it's halo and we all know how well Pokémon games sell. Nintendo moving to an all in one console for me is what the wiiu should of been.
  • Think about it. I used to have my friends and relatives to play halo. We had so much fun for hours... But now If I want to play with them it means EACH of us needs a XB1 + the game + XBL subscription. That's a whole lot more money. MS proudly claimed they have made a record $400m on Halo 5 and it's product (including microtransactions...). And that even though it's the lowest rated main Halo game in metacritic and even if it's estimated that the sold the least out of any main Halo.
  • btw, In the interview, 343 said split screen will be in Halo6.
  • Is it possible that MS is just holding info back so that they have big announcements closer to launch? Idk I'm just asking.
  • That's possible, but if we expected something else closer to the Xbox One X's launch, we would've likely heard something at E3. While there is significant third-party support, they don't have that 'killer exclusive' to drive the console at launch.
  • There are also huge events like PAX Prime still coming up. Being in our backyard (Seattle) MS sometimes likes to announce things there.
  • We have to go back to history to see how likely that is or not. Ask yourself this. Over the years, where were all the major announcements by MS made? Is PAX bigger and more covered than E3? 
  • I'll be playing Middle Earth Shadow of War (a killer 3rd party game) on my xb1x and Alienwares (and on old xb1 if I decide to leave it in my office).
  • Unlikely. Given Microsoft's recent practice of fairly lengthy teases just dropping a new major title without warning wouldn't be that likely. Forza is about the only game Microsoft seems to be able to announce and ship in a short period of time.
  • How is it unlikely if Phil Spencer himself said in many interviews that's what they aim for (announcing closer to a launch date)?
  • It's unlikely because that's not what MS, Sony or other company do or have done. They need a certain amount of time to hype the game and create excitement. It's not because Spencer says something that it's necessarily true. He also said he doesn't want 3rd party deals and their conference was packed by timed indie games. We got to remember Spencer still works for a company and he is marketing and trying to sell his products;
  • Maybe those indies code on pc and xb1 is an easy port (every xb1 can be turned into dev kit now and both run win10), porting to another console requires manpower to do QA / debugging.
  • Here is the thing though, there has been a drought for years now. What were they doing 2-3 years back? Usually when you have so much hype around a new console you would have the games to go with it or at least tease and get people to look forward to upcoming games. Here it just looks like there isn't much coming. So many people were saying "just wait for E3" they'll kill it or "They held the games back for Scorpio. At E3 they'll announce it all".  That was clearly not the case. 
  • Why does this matter if the third-party games are good and popular with Xbox owners?
  • The reason people are seeing it as negative is 3rd party devs may not make 100% use of One X performance because there's no point in them making it any better than PS4 Pro
  • If they make the game look better on PS4 Pro when it is currently the most powerful on the market, they will for Xbox One X. 
  • Not necessarily. I seem to remember quite a few direct ports from PS2 to XB with little upscale from the more power. I would hope its not the case, but consider how much people like to bash MS and see it fail, I can see it happening and the console blamed for it.
  • I'm not talking ports. I'm talking new titles. Devs take the time to make their product work on the PS4 Pro, which has a pretty low adoption rate when compared to PS4, then Devs shouldn't mind taking advantage of the XoX.
  • And THAT is the lunacy of people continuing the chase after speeds and feeds.  It's just ridiculous.  So, what you seem to be suggesting is that if users know a device is "capable" of more, even if they are perfectly satisified with the game play and experience of a game, they will whine and complain because this otherwise great game doesn't take full advantage of the potential of a console.  This is just stupid. 
  • Even if they've already have the high-res resources? They do make pc games right?
  • Totally agree with this comment...who cares who *makes* the games as long as they are good and the ones people want. Really don't understand this apparent need for 'first party.'
  • It is the same reason people want first party phones: first party anything is expected to be better, utilize hardware and software better than 3rd party anything due to everything being done in-house with the greatest access to code, info and features that 3rd parties may not have access to. I like my Alcatel Idol 4s but it would have been such a better phone if it had access to 1st party software and hardware features such as PureView technology, algorithims and more.
  • This isn't exactly true. Alcatel has just as many engineers, programmers, etc. that could have made the phone better as Microsoft. They opted not to. First party really does not mean a whole lot other than one thing -> expensive. And that PureView technology that you wish you had, I don't think it is doing a whole lot for Microsoft at this time. Why did Alcatel not just go straight to the source and work out a deal with Zeiss?
  • That's a geeks perspective.
    As long as the games are good, who the fk cares, not me
  • True enough.
    I'll be enjoying Middle Earth and Blood&Wine (got busy and when I have time, I moved onto other games) on xb1x.
  • I couldn't agree with you more.  And it doesn't matter whether we're talking console games (which I have no interest in) or PC games (which the only thing I play).  If a game gives me the enjoyment factor I'm looking for, I don't care if it fully utilizes every nth of capability of my machine.
  • Who cares? How about people who invest in a XB1 because they believed the exclusive message and that MS put $1b into making exclusives. The need is MORE GAMES.  The question is about MS investing money to create a games. A much smaller company are making a lot more games than MS. Let me ask you, is it wrong to ask MS to make games? Don't you want MS to invest in making fresh new games, new IPs more diverse games, more choice? Does this sound bad? Don't you think if they do that gamers & gaming wins?
  • If the games are good, fun, and entertaining we couldn't care less what company makes them. If the game is fun then I'm getting a return on my investment to buy a XB1. Don't care what company makes the game.
  • @toddpart
    This ^
  • Yeah, while PS4 owners get the same "fun" game PLUS a whole lot more to choose from because Sony is Investing much more in making games. I would have thought gamers would want more games... I guess not.
  • Then I guess I'll plead ignorance or say I must not be 'hardcore' enough. I've been an XB1 owner since launch and cannot think of a single game that my sons or I wanted but couldn't play because it was exclusive to PS4. Have never had either son *wish* they had a PS4 to play some game either. I couldn't name a PS4 exclusive if you offered me $100 to do so.
  • I think it's good when someone admits he isn't shortcomings.  PS4 has many high rated exclusives, I guess you don't know what you're missing out on... Oh well...
  • Persona or Nioh...
    If you look at the numbers... a small group of people buys those. They don't buy 2 or 3 ps4s.
    Everyone who wants to play BF or FIFA, will need a new console. (BF and FIFA have different target audiences) I have only 1 ps4 exclusive. Horizon Zero Dawn. I've somehow given up PSStore (and Steam) after MS's BC/FC announcement (plus other benefits, e.g. unlimited-free-cloud-sync, region-hot-swap, xpa, etc) I do have gaming desktop, gaming notebooks, surface pros and I do carry Bluetooth xb1 gamepad in my bag. Looking forward to a 6" portable win10.arm!
  • You're mostly a XB1 gamer but you have a PS4 and have an exclusive. I don't see many people who mostly playes on PS4/PC need to buy a XB1.
  • You do know PC gaming has many downsides right? * No instant-on.
    log into windows -> move your cursor from the other side of the screen to the game icon -> click, click -> steam launch -> steam sync -> game launch -> game save sync -> game menu -> more mouse actions -> select save -> load save -> load resources -> unpacking resources -> "might not be" where you left it 2 days ago
    That's many seconds vs "turn on your console -> A -> exactly where you left it"
    I get better thing to do. * It's more complex (billions of combination of user installed app, background services, driver, etc), you will run into problems sooner or later. And this is why I only buy branded gaming desktop and notebooks. Let people do my QA. * Users do fumble around graphic setting before playing. * etc, etc. > You're mostly a XB1 gamer 
    Correction. I use to buy games from different stores (including Steam), now only from MSStore because of all those benifits from MS's ecosystem.
  • You already posted something like this before. * No instant-on.
    You do know PC has a sleep mode. And either way I don't like wasting power. * It's more complex
    It also provides more option, modes, more open, more optimization/customization... * Users do fumble around graphic setting before playing.
    Don't need to. It's an ADDED option. + for PC * etc, etc.
    lol ok "> You're mostly a XB1 gamer 
    Correction. I use to buy games from different stores (including Steam), now only from MSStore because of all those benifits from MS's ecosystem."
    How is it a correction? You are mostly a XB1 gamer. That's present.
  • I'm not hard core enough either. As a gamer youtuber, I'm glad there aren't any exclusives right now. I have so many games to catch up on. Exclusive titles I do end up supporting, but I'm playing thru backlog of xbox one 360(compatibles) and Steam games. I'm for sure Microsoft is working on something in the back. They just chose not to show any teasers. Too many games coming out this fall.
  • Too many games coming out this fall? huh OK
  • Well... it's now a few exclusive from PSStore vs all other games from MSStore imo.
  • Why are you trying to spin it the other way? Third party games are ther XB1 players will get it and so will PS4 players. The question is about MS investing money to create a games. Let me ask you, is it wrong to ask MS to make games? Don't you want MS to invest in making fresh new games, new IPs more diverse games, more choice? Does this sound bad? Don't you think if they do that gamers & gaming wins?
  • Perhaps Microsoft is letting 3rd parties have all the attention on purpose to attract developers, saying that developers are more important than Microsoft's in-house works. I don't think it's a bad message to send. 434
  • That is actually a fair point - while Microsoft will always have something in the pipeline for its console, there's been a lot of controversy surrounding third-party adoption in recent days. Sony does have a fair share of deals with this year's biggest titles though, so will be interesting to see which developers leverage the hardware.
  • like MS relied on OEMs to build mobiles, we saw how well it went.
  • OMG Microsoft seriously cannot win with people. Announce tons of first party titles, get flak for not having enough 3rd parties involved and is therefore doomed. Announce tons of 3rd party games and how much interest there is from developers, get flak for not having enough 1st party titles presented and is therefore doomed. Seriously, this is what we are going to do for any announcement from Microsoft? How come Sony does not get the same treatment? Popular to hate on Microsoft? I am seriously considering leaving WC, these articles keep getting worse and worse.
  • It seems that whiny millenials hellbent on whining more write for this site.  Nothing is ever good enough; unless they are fanboys... then they will defend any pile of crap with a large pricetag (see: Apple)
  • +1
  • Agreed Summer _Moon, what a stih article
  • It is kinda odd that it wasn't so long ago people were bemoaning the lack of indie support for MS and Xbox. Indie development was apparently the lifeblood of the gaming industry. Where passionate creatives brought to life new and innovative ideas or breathed life into old games by taking advantage of modern platform features. What happens when MS announce an absolute truckload of indie support and development? Media/Forums are all like 'WTF is with this indie sh*t? I want industry deadening safe AAA shooters and sequels!!'
  • didn't Jez cover this already :/ its like reading the same thing again.
  • Little bit of deja vu huh. I keep looking around wondering what just changed, but I have not spotted it yet
  • How many people even play First Party titles? This stuff is overrated already and needs to STOP, this gaming media needs to stop there **** with "where's the games" bullshit, it's like watching CNN for video games, all biased! Me personally I rather they take there time and give me a bug free game and let me finish my other games!
  • How many people even play First Party titles? This stuff is overrated already and needs to STOP, this gaming media needs to stop there **** with "where's the games" bullshit, it's like watching CNN for video games, all biased! Me personally I rather they take there time and give me a bug free game and let me finish my other games!
  • "Microsoft's E3 2017 press conference was packed with impressive games, but there was something clearly absent from the show: first-party titles." A website centered around Microsoft spreading lies and slander. I watched the show, and I saw first-party titles. They were not CLEARLY ABSENT as you put it.
  • This article would mean something if any numbers supported 1st party exclusives as being something that really pushes console sales, and they don't.
  • LOL! That's one of the reasons Xbox is behind PS4 in terms of sales.
  • And oif course you can back that up? Because I can show you numbers that say only a fraction of people that buy a console buy the exclusives. 30m xboxes sold, yet around 10% (or dratically less) copies of any exclusive have been sold. So tell me how exclusives are responsible for selling all these consoles.
  • Word of mouth.
    It matters, the perception matters. You are picking between two devices. You don't have to buy the game to be convinced your choice between two consoles is better.
  • I have only 1 ps4 exclusive. Horizon Zero Dawn. I've somehow given up PSStore (and Steam) after MS's BC/FC announcement (plus other benefits, e.g. unlimited-free-cloud-sync, region-hot-swap, xpa, etc) I do have gaming desktop, gaming notebooks, surface pros and I do carry Bluetooth xb1 gamepad in my bag. Looking forward to a 6" portable win10.arm tho. For me, it's few exclusive from PSStore vs all other games from MSStore.
  • It is one big reason, Uncharted 4 sold 9 million units and horizon that is a new IP sold more than 3.5 million units, most multiplatform games don't sell this much.
    There are even games like Ratchet & Clank that got basically 0 marketing but still sold more than 1 million units. Even if exclusives aren't a reason to why the PS4 is selling well, it is still the major reason for hardcore gamers why a console is better than the other and the Xbox One is definitely worse.
  • First off, you don't speak for all hardcore gamers. I've been a gamer nearly my entire life, and exclusives don't sell everyone (including hardcore gamers). As for high sales, uncharted is in 4th place for sales, the next highest selling exclusive is the last of us in 13th place for sales. Cherry picking a game doesn't make your argument. It's not much different on Xbox, 5th place is Halo 5 and gears of war is in 12th place. The exclusives are NOT responsible for most of the sales of the consoles. Yes if Halo suddenly went to Sony (I know a pretty much impossible scenario) there would be some fanatics that would cross over. And yes there are some outliers to everything, so some poeple only bought a PS4 for Uncharted, or another exclusive, but you can't tell me that Uncharted 4 made PS4 sell close to 30 million more units than Xbox if only 9 million copies were sold.
  • I have gaming desktop, gaming notebooks, surface pros and I do carry Bluetooth xb1 gamepad in my bag. Think I'll be getting a 6" portable win10.arm for XPA. Am I hardcore? I have only 1 ps4 exclusive. Horizon Zero Dawn. I've somehow given up PSStore (and Steam) after MS's BC/FC announcement (plus other benefits, e.g. unlimited-free-cloud-sync, region-hot-swap, xpa, etc). ps4 was a better choice because it's cheaper + better specs. Tech changed, it's now some exclusives vs all other games.
  • You got to look at history and logic. History: The NES (bigger library) beat the Master System 
    The GB (bigger library) beat the Game gear 
    The SNES (bigger library) beat the Genesis
    The PS1 (bigger library) beat the N64 
    The PS2 (bigger library) beat the Gamecube and XBox 
    The DS (bigger library) beat the PSP 
    The Wii (bigger library) beat the PS3 and XBox360 
    The 3DS (bigger library) beat PS Vita 
    The PS4 (bigger library) beat XB1 and Wii U Logic: COD, FIFA, BF, NFL also boost XB1 sales.
    Persona 5 or Nioh or Horizon: Zero Dawn didn't provide a boost on XB1 sales because they aren't on XB1. Also, when choosing a console to buy a COD, FIFA, BF, NFL, people might buy one platform knowing that there are
    games like Persona 5, Nioh, Horizon... on that platform and not on the other. You got to also look at diversity in games. When chosing a console, there will be the argument that PS4 has more games. There will has more support from Sony in having games. There will be the argument that PS4 has a more diverse library. Also there is the argument that you don't need to buy a XB1 to play MOST XB1 games, you need a PS4 to play PS4 exclusives.
  • Correlation =\= causation. There are many factors that played out, especially in the very early systems, that caused them to succeed. So unless you can provide raw data that proves their library was the defining factor, your argument is invalid. As for your logic, there isn't much there to be honest. The ps4 exclusives barely sold in comparison to the overall sales of the system. If they didn't exist, the ps4 still has more sales than the Xbox.
  • And there is NO WAY you can prove what you are saying. Can you prove that if PS4 didn't have exclusives it would have sold this much more than XB1? The collection of individual exclusives & the diversity helps. I know I'm one of those who bought PS4 for its exclusives. I'm not buying EVERY exclusives Sony is making but I buy the one that I want to play. The simple fact that you need to buy a PS4 to play one of the many exclusives PS4 offers and you don't need to buy a XB1 to play most XB1 games is enough logic that you need. You are trying to bring individual sales to try to prove how useless exclusives are but you are totally ignoring that the PS doesn't have just one exclusive. It has a whole bunch. Unless you can prove that most of PS4 gamers doesn't have at least one console/sony exclusive in their library than whatever you're saying is useless. There is a reason why MS kept/keeps using "Exclusive" in their presentation. It's because it does matter. They wouldn't use useless terms in their presentation. They aren't dumb you know...
  • Rewind a lilo.
    xb1 had a bad e3-13. There was uncertain strategic and policies, talked about blocking 2nd hand games and Don even told people not to get a xb1, go grab a xb360 instead.
    And then Sony backstab MS With a vid.
    If you've read the news, those bad taste last for years.
    What's more? xb1 is not only more expensive but its specs is weaker. Why choice xb1 for cross platform 3rd party games? COD, BF, FIFA, NFBL, witcher, dragon age inquisition, etc are the one that's driving sells. To sum it up.
    1. e3-13.
    2. both consoles sold at the same time.
    3. There was no BC/FC, free-unlimited-cloud-sync, xpa, etc strategic to prevent people jumping ship.
    4. xb1 is more expensive + weaker spec.
    5. friends dragging more friends. Persona or Nioh...
    If you look at the numbers... a small group of people buys those. They don't buy 2 or 3 ps4s.
    Everyone who wants to play BF or FIFA, will need a new console. (BF and FIFA audiences hardly overlaps)
  • COD, BF, FIFA, NFBL, witcher, dragon age inquisition, etc may drive sells but it does on BOTH platforms.
    The exclusives only drives sales on ONE platform. When a person has to choose between two consoles there is this argument that comes into play. The console with the most games, the most exclusive.  There is a reason why MS kept/keeps using "Exclusive" in their presentation. It's because it does matter. 
    Please reply, this if it didn't matter why are MS using "exclusives" in all their conferences?
  • Both consoles released at the same time, and if you are the pioneer who wants to play COD, which will you choose?
    a) cheaper + better specs b) more expensive + weaker specs? Both platforms had nothing to keep people from jumping ship. Isn't this simple math?
    If you are the 2nd or 3rd wave... there's c) friend factor to consider. Nioh sold .6m, hardly driving any console sales.
  • Many reasons and exclusives is one of them. .6m? Didn't they say it sold 1m worldwide? Either way it doesn't matter. Those who wanted to play Nioh HAD to buy a PS4. It just adds to the library and the reputation that PS4 has more games/more exclusives. And that Sony puts more effort into making games. You didn't reply. Why is exclusive so important word used in MS's conference and all conferences over the years? 
  • It's not that I care about how they label those games...
    But I do know 1 thing, not everyone who buys games come to forum and tell people how they love or hate.
    So, you can see a lotta people (critic?  the master race? hardcore gamer?) calling COD shxt, but it still sells. And you have people (fans) praising Okami, Persona, Nioh or Nier a masterpiece! A Must buy! But it's not selling.
    There are Miku or Toho's hardcore fans on the internet expressing how it's famous and how people love it, but look at the sales...
    It seems not many ps4 owner want to play Nioh then... (1m might be shipment? or maybe they count the digital copies in) majority prob don't even know Nioh or Persona exist, or they've heard it but when they walk into the store, pick it up, look at the boxart... put it back. How company label those games doesn't really matter imo. Exclusive or not, commercial and game itself matters more. Why they advertised this way in the conference then? I've no idea and I don't care, maybe because of you people? But it matters little in the reality.
    Phil also said in the interview, exclusive or not, no matter.
  • I'm not asking you, what's your personal opinion or whether you care or not about how they label games. I'm saying that if exclusives isn't important why do you think they are using the word?
    You are the one who says it doesn't matter. This big companies keep using it because it MATTERS TO THEM. They have the real numbers, they have actual market research, they know what sells and what helps sells console. No offence but I think these companies knows a bit more what they are selling than you or me. And sorry but Spencer is all over the place. He will tell something, and the opposite later. In 2015 he said "My strategy is more around our own first party franchises, and investing in franchises that we own".
  • In 2015 when ps4 had had less exclusives it was topping sales, so Yes I can prove it.
  • More exclusives??? LOL It's not by making things up that you'll be able to prove something... XB1 AAA exclusives prior to 2015
    Forza 5
    Sunset Overdrive XB1 AAA exclusives in 2015
    Forza 6
    Halo 5 PS4 AAA exclusives prior to 2015
    Killzone
    Knack
    Infamous Second son
    Driveclub PS4 AAA exclusives in 2015
    Bloodborne
    The Order: 1886
    Until Dawn
  • So now we're pushing back the goal posts and only including AAA. I can see now that you're just going to continue to be delusional. 
  • I've just read your post and it's hilarious how you want to bring indies yet you don't post a list to back your claims.
    Typical...
  • Spencer has said that he has focused more on getting the hardware right the past few years.  The product of that is the Xbox One S and the Xbox One X.  I think we all can agree that the hardware has been corrected.  He said in an interview at E3 that there's plenty of first party stuff in the pipeline and we'll hear about it in the future. There's another reason why they stressed third party games at E3 - there's not much of a gap in sales between games for both consoles.  The Xbox One has a significantly higher attach rate and many of the games sold on Playstation are first party products.  This actually leaves thirs party sales for companies like EA and Activision about even.   It's also worth noting the time given to indie developers.  It's possible that some of those properties will be bought by MS at some point or that the developers themselves could be bought. Ori and the Wil of the Wisps is a third party game, but it's one that's never going to Playstation.  Super Lucky's Tale is and its study is an asset they could conceivably buy at some point too.  This is what they did with a game called Halo.  They did it with Gears as well. There's also been some rumor that Square Enix is interested in selling off the Tomb Raider, Deus Ex, and Hitman assets so they can refocus on their RPG core.  So there may be an option there as well.   I think we'll see them do more of a first party push later in the year.  They wanted to show off third party and indy titles compared to Sony showing more first party.  That makes them more of a friend to other developers and they realize that Nintendo lost a lot of third party development because their consoles were too focused on first party.  
  • " there's not much of a gap in sales between games for both consoles.  The Xbox One has a significantly higher attach rate"
    Sorry WHAT? Do you have proof of that or are you making things up? But your post is about speculation. MS investing in new assets... when they have recently closed down studios they owned, or cancelled games they invested in... And about your last paragraph. Please don't get your hopes too high. History has shown us that E3 is where MS does most of their announcements. They know they lack exclusives so they decided to make a number of small deals with indie studios and decided to mislead gamers by inventing and using a new phrase "console launch exclusive" or something  
  • Im waiting for the article "This is what the Original Xbox Should have been from the start"
  • Clickbait title and lame article.
  • So people aren't allowed to criticise MS? People aren't allowed to ask and want games? Aren't we ALL gamers!! Are the interest of a company that important to you?
  • Xbox One X was only first announced a year ago. So, its understandable that games like Halo 6 and Gears of War 5 will need more development time to take full advantage of the extra power and capabilities that Xbxox One X offers. So,vreasonably its understandable that they didnt make a showing this past E3. But I guarentee that we'll see something from these franchises by next E3. And while exclusives do play a huge role in a consoles success, they are not the only means by which gamers entertain themselves. Third party titles like Metro Exodux, Assassins Creed, State of Decay 2, PlayerUnknowns Battlegrounds (did we forget about that?), CoD WW2, Shadow of War, and the stunning ANTHEM (as well as other 3rd party titles and indies) will keep us enjoying Xbox One X until more first party titles are released.
  • You're talking about Gears 5 and Halo 6. But don't you want MS to make more games? Is it really that bad to ask more games? Reading some of the comment here it seems like it's a sin to want more games.  If there is a drought of exclusives is because MS hasn't invested enough for years now. Is it bad to ask a mega rich company to put more money into making games when the smaller Sony makes more games than them?
  • Wouldn't Sea of Thieves also fall into this? Last I checked, Rare was owned by MS (unless I missed some news). Or does that not count because it's been announced before? With Sea of Thieves, I'd say that's pretty decent. 3 titles, all with potential. And they're diverse. Forza is clearly an epic One X tech demo. Sea could be quite the multiplayer experience and is a new IP which is refreshing. Crackdown 3 could be quite the sandbox mayhem. This also leaves those big hitters of Halo and Gears the opportunity to shine next year. If I only bought those 3 titles, I'd have a pretty decent year of gaming ahead of me. Could it be better? Yes, but yes is always the answer to that question. I'd say it's sufficient.
  • Well both State of Decay 2 and Sea of Thieves are now releasing in 2018 (: So outside of the yearly Forza installment, there's only Crackdown 3 (which was given only a couple minutes on the show). So it is passable and they should both be great games, but a lot less hard-hitting than previous years.
  • I think it's about new announcements. What was there besides the yearly Forza? Crackdown announced in 2014!! Sea of thieves in 2015!   MS announced:
    E3 2015
    - Recore (indie game)
    - Gears 4
    - Sea of Thieves Gamescom 2015
    - E3 2016
    - Forza Horizon 3 (Yearly Forza)
    - State of Decay 2 (indie game that could well end up on steam) Gamescom 2016
    - E3 2017
    - Forza 7 (Yearly Forza)
    - Next Ori (indie game that could well end up on steam)
    - Super Lucky's tale (indie game that could well end up on steam) I'm glad you think that's sufficient.Personally I want a lot more. I think the offering is pathetic specially if you compare that of its closest rival. (Don't make me post PS4 list, it doesn't look good for XB)
  • Listen people. These articles need to stop. Maybe you haven't noticed, but management has changed, and so has the attitude of the company. Everything in life takes time. Especially things of perfection and precision. When I look at surface, windows 10 and even Office, I wouldn't worry too much about Xbox one. They're going a different direction and they're probably trying to change the business model with a category defining practice as it comes to games. They seem to like that word alot these days. Lol 😁 "category defining"
  • MS has learned the hard lessons and is now focusing on quality over quantity and good on them for it
  • Exactly. The company is made up human beings just like you and I and they need time to do things right.
  • Who is going through downvoting everyone for actually saying something that makes sense?
  • I couldn't agree more. I'm glad they were even able to show off a new console without using Gears of War and Halo to influence us. They were able to do it with the console alone and they still had alot of first party titles and 3rd party!
  • It's good they managed to impress you. Actually I think they managed to get convince a whole lot of MS/XB fans before they even showed the console. The real question is have they been able to convince non-XB/MS fans or people that haven's got the console. Personally they haven't impressed me much. I wouldn't buy the console even if it was 250 bucks.
  • When have they had quantity though?
  • If no one says a thing, nothing will move or change. Criticism bring changes and most of the time it's positive changes. The drought has been going on for years and it's still going on even with the coming of the XB1x.
  • Personally, I think Sony should also do PSPA, GamePass, BC/FC, free-unlimited-cloud-sync, region-hot-swap, etc.
    Sony did nothing for consumers, it's the same old console strategic. VR hype? That's a joke (almost like 3d TVs). If you sits on a sofa... your head can only turn THIS much. That leaves you only ONE control scheme. It's a lotta limitations for dev and for users.
  • Oh please. Sony has PSNow but I don't want Sony to do gamepass or PSNow. I don't want the future of gaming to be renting old games. That's an horrible idea imo. Sony does FC. BC? Yeah sure that's a nice feature.  Unlike MS, Sony is taking risk and invest on VR and VR games. If you think it's a joke it's just your opinion and subjective. The fact is that Sony are investing in gaming... But please don't come here and say Sony doesn't have features and do nothing for the consumers. Remote play, stream PS4 content on multiple screen, Share play feature, Ability to change internal HDD, PSVR... But more than all of these Sony invest in GAMES!!! This is what people buy consoles for. GAMES!!!
  • PSNow... steaming... not every country's internet is as cheap as asian country you know? e.g. Australia.
    Do you want to PSNow on you mobile on the train? or xpa on your Surface Pro / 6" win10.arm?   If people care about the "exslusives", so much, Nioh wouldn't be 0.6 mill. Exclusive or not, people only care about if there's game they want to play and you should go look at the figures.   If you wanna talk about VR... Well... I've tried a few. Zero Latency, Vive, Oculus, PSVR. (Except Zero Latency, we have the other 3 in the studio, I'm a game programmer in a major studio). What is MS-AR?
    (actually, the software behind it is what's important, MS-AR or MR... doesn't really matter) 
    The software scans the environment, then user can pin stuffs in the space, and it allows user to walk around and interact with the objects. (You can even do holoportation) 
     
    What is MS-MR? Same as MS-AR (using the same software / lib), but the only difference is, MR's screen isn't transparent. 
    How do you see your table or a bowl of chips on the table then? By rendering 3d objects as replacements. 
    How do you see your friends then? By Rendering avatars. 
     
    Can MS-AR do MS-MR? (Theoretically) Sure, just make sure your rendering covers every inch of the viewable area. What is Vive? 
    Same as MS-MR but without the environment-scanning. What is PSVR / Oculus? They are Vive without cameras that track your position in a room.  So, PSVR and Oculus... if you sit on a couch, wired or wireless, you can only turn your head THIS much, we're not owls. Cockpit mode control scheme is your only option.
    How's that good for living room gaming?
     
    With MS's tech, if you can map your world,
    How bout a 4 player PowerStone game on your 3d-scanned-table? (need 4 headsets of course) 
    How bout... RTS on your table with friends, beers and bowl of chips?
    Can you do the same with Vive? Most likely... will end up head bumping, beers and chips flying.
    Well... PSVR/Oculus cannot even do what Vive does.
  • "Exclusive or not, people only care about if there's game they want to play and you should go look at the figures."
    Right. Nioh just adds up in the game's libary and reputation that PS4 has more games and diversity. And that's a great argument when you're looking to buy a new console. GAMES.  I'm not sure what's that big VR/AR/MR talk. MS spent 15 min showing Hololens in E3 2015. Nothing here in E3 2017. I wouldn't get to excited by MS showing new tech. Remember project Milo with kinect and that fake presentation? Remember illumiroom just around the time MS announced the XB1? I'm still waiting for the power of the cloud that would make the XB1 3 or 4 times more powerful... LOL
  • I'm not overly concerned about titles that are made directly by Microsoft studios, I mean I don't really know or see Sony made ones anyway...as long as they got the system, I know there will be games. It's not like they won't make them, why is everyone born insecure? 😓
  • People asking for more games are insecure?  You may be fine with the drought but other people aren't and ask MS to provide more. The competition is killing it by providing a whole lot MORE games for their customers. Please tell me what's wrong to ask for the same from MS? Isn't more games better for gamers and consumers? Or is it a bad thing to want more games?
  • The reality is that they do need that exclusive showcase title to really show off what the X can do that would justify that $500 price tag. Something that really gets down to the metal and extracts every bit of performance out of the machine. 
  • There's a lot of talk of devs not using the True 4K of the Xbox One X. But if it's as easy as Microsoft says it is, why can't they just port the PC 4K game to the Xbox One X I wonder. Supposedly all the coding is already done, so why bother lowering it to match the PS4P...
  • Don't show me a game that won't be released before next E3.  Thank you Microsoft.
  • The thing is - games can get delayed so even if it was supposed to be available this year, it may get pushed back. So in the grand scheme of things showcasing something before hand doesn't change anything.
  • That's what happens when you reduce the resources and coding hours available to studios as well closing studios. The first party line up suffers and they add to the stigma that people associate Microsoft with.
  • Microsoft really need to stop this kind of chat dead in its tracks. I see this apathy towards first party titles as a dangerous undermining of the confidence in the platform.
    The parallels to what happened to Windows phone are pretty easy to draw and we all know what happened there.
    I can quite easily imagine Satya viewing the Xbox division as non-core and him cutting back on investment on the software side in order to increase the short term margins. This of course will damage the longer term prospects for Xbox and kill that profit stream.
    I've just moved over to Android for mobile and fear that I'll be making a similar move for gaming in the near future.
  • lol it seems like every time there's a launch or an announcement from someone of any kind all we see is a "lack of third party support". So here is Microsoft with a ton of third party support out the gate for E3 and now there's not enough FIRST party support. Haha
  • Are you serious? Third party games would always come on XB1. First party games is what makes the system different.  I can play all games coming on XB1 without EVER owning a XB1. Can't say the same of PS4.
  • But you cannot play Middle Earth Shadow of War on ps5, continue playing on Alienware notebooks and continue playing on your old ps4 in your office.
    You canoot play Enter the Gungeon on ps5 → Surface Pro → ps4 in your office → 6" win10.arm docking on a gamepad. Cloud sync from Sony's not free either.
  • PS5? Have I missed something? Why are you talking about a PS5? It's not even announced. I don't have surface. I'm not sure what your post was all about...
  • ps5 as xb1x and ps4 as xb1s. I can play Middle Earth Shadow of War on xb1x, continue playing on Alienware notebooks and continue playing on my old bx1 in my office.
    I can play Enter the Gungeon on xb1x → Surface Pro → xb1 in my office → 6" win10.arm docking on my gamepad.
    Cloud sync from MS is free and has unlimited storage. I haven't play Blood & Wine. I got busy, and then I moved onto newer games.
    Can I play B&W on PS5? Not without a re-release if there's no BC. Also you'd have to buy the main game again... Can you sync save file between PS4 and PS5? Scott Pilgrim vs. the World - The Game is not BCed yet... but this game will never get a remake. It's a rare genre in this era, a good game that will not go outdated. BC is the only hope. xb1x2 is not announced yet too, but everyone knows xb1x2 will run xb1x, xb1, xb360 and xbOg games. Can you give me a reason to buy game from PSStore?
  • Already replied you...
  • IMO there is nothing to alarm here. But, if Microsoft had at least one big budget first party game lined up in E3, we wouldn't be having this discussion. I am also worried about success of those Japanese exclusive games. Its a big gamble in my opinion looking at the market share in Japan.
  • What Japanese exclusives? 
  • I thought we all agreed that first party games were bad for the industry? I could be wrong but I swear this website had that article, or maybe it was something Spencer said. Now we don't have enough first party and we're upset about it? Isn't it a little dumb of us to want what isn't healthy for the industry?
  • The answer is pretty simple. It's because it's Microsoft. If it was Sony there would be praise for getting so many 3rd parties on board.
  • @Summer_Moon Ah the victim card. Next you'll talk about media bias. LOL Keep defending MS's lack of interest in making game and in gaming... That's what company "fans" do... :)
  • Jesus, u just sound like a ******. Going thru your comments, ppl are arguing with you is like arguing with a brick wall. You just won't back down like a triggered ms fanboy who can't accept just having "Super Lucky Tale" as the only exclusive. Calm the **** down. That's the case for Microsoft this year's e3. Accept it, or stick to your Sony console. Some of us are invested in Microsoft products, so we stick to Microsoft. We're aware of Microsoft not having any exclusives right now but we're not going to walk away like a *****. MS as loyal fans like sony and Nintendo do. It's not about making excuse, it's the loyalty of fans. And the rest of you Ms fanboy, stop feeding his ego. Go thru his comments, he sounds like a whiner compared to all of you who didn't get Halo 6 this year.
  • Yeah, that's why I stopped. Although for the record I did try pretty hard to argue with him :) lol. Then I saw the rest of his comments and realized he is a troll
  • @onysi hmm Loyalty to a brand or a company. At least between the insults and unlike some of your fellow MS fans, you're being honest. At least you own up that you'll support MS no matter what, unlike other people who makes excuse and try to say exclusives aren't important and they rather have 3rd party timed deals than more first party games. I'll never understand people being corporate loyals. I buy products that fulfill my needs. I want companies to make products for us consumers. I don't want consumers to be slaves of these companies... But hey at least you're honest. Well done to you for the honesty...
  • WHAT?? A company investing money to make games is bad for the industry? WOW There is a limit to trying to defend MS. Zelda, Horizon, Halo, The last of us, Uncharted, Gears,.... are bad for the industry? WOW.  In 2015, Spencer himself said they need more first party studios... 2 years later they announced nothing new... 
  • Come on really? They showed what they needed to a number of studios weren't on stage. I believe 6 studios including The Coalition and 343 didn't even have a part. I mean look at Sonys conference. There was little games for this year. And they showed hardly any first party titles and what they did show many have been disappointed by. I've seen many Sony fans rate Sonys conference the worst they have seen. This is not MS fans saying it. Well known Sony fans. Phil said they will share more stuff at Gamescom. And Tokyo Game Show later in the year. As an Xbox gamer this has to be the best time we have had. The exclusives on offer looked amazing. Ori is simply one of the greatest games I've ever played. The fact we have a 2nd one coming literally won the show for me right there and then
  • Do you have link saying that Spencer said they'll be showing stuff at Gamescom and Tokyo Game Show or are you making that up?
  • As expected no links. Guess you made something up again.
  • A few new exclusive AAA IP first or 3rd party would have done miracles...that is all..they nailed everything else. 
  • I like how Microsoft only showed us game which will be available within the year, unlike Sony who a good section of their games won't be available till the latter half of 2018 and in to 2019.  Phil Spencer explained the reasoning behind this in a few of his E3 interviews and they are wary as to not repeat the Scalebound debacle from last years E3.
  • Yeah but most of the stuff MS showed are also coming on PS4.
  • But you cannot play Middle Earth Shadow of War on ps5, continue playing on Alienwares and continue playing on your old ps4 in your office. You canoot play Enter the Gungeon on ps5 → Surface Pro → ps4 in your office → 6" win10.arm docking on a gamepad. Cloud sync from Sony's not free either.
  • PS5? Have I missed something? Why are you talking about a PS5? It's not even announced. I don't have surface. I'm not sure what your post was all about... 
  • Didn't notice this is the same guy... I'll re-post here then. -------------
    ps5 as xb1x and ps4 as xb1s. I can play Middle Earth Shadow of War on xb1x, continue playing on Alienware notebooks and continue playing on my old bx1 in my office.
    I can play Enter the Gungeon on xb1x → Surface Pro → xb1 in my office → 6" win10.arm docking on my gamepad.
    Cloud sync from MS is free and has unlimited storage. I haven't play Blood & Wine. I got busy, and then I moved onto newer games.
    Can I play B&W on PS5? Not without a re-release if there's no BC. Also you'd have to buy the main game again... Can you sync save file between PS4 and PS5? Scott Pilgrim vs. the World - The Game is not BCed yet... but this game will never get a remake. It's a rare genre in this era, a good game that will not go outdated. BC is the only hope. xb1x2 is not announced yet too, but everyone knows xb1x2 will run xb1x, xb1, xb360 and xbOg games. Can you give me a reason to buy game from PSStore?
  • We both have no idea what the PS5 will be like, so I wouldn't speculate on that. Anyway, let me ask you something. Did you buy XB1 before E3 2015? I bought a PS4 very early knowing fully well that it wasn't BC. A LOT of people crazy and shout about BC now didn't mind buying the XB1 which had no BC.  I hardly ever played old gen games on a new gen console. I think it's a nice feature, but that's not what I play new gen console for. I would rather want a console maker to invest in making new games than one that doesn't and prefer to find out ways to make its customers play old gen games.
  • No word from Sony for their future lineup and policies, so, I switched to XB family.
    Would Sony offer cloud sync unlimited? and free of charge? I doubt.
    Would Sony do PSPA for me to continue on my Alienware or portable 6" win10.arm? Unlikely. How about Region-hot-swap?   If there were BC and FC policy back at e3-13, people would've taken their 2nd thought before jumping ship.
    Why wouldn't you? If a console is cheaper + better specs + ok with 2nd hand market?   Back to the Q. I bought most things day 1. I buy games across stores (even from Steam), now only from MS.   Blood&Wine isn't old (and it's a good DLC). I just didn't have time for it and when I had it, I moved onto newer games. I still think I'll pick it up later. And when I did, I can play it on xb1x.
    Anthem looks like a good game, I could've also missed it's DLC too, I'm certained that I can play it on xb1x2.   ps: "Scott Pilgrim vs. The World: The Game" is a rare one in this era. It's a good game, will not go outdated, and it's still fun playing with friends.
    It'll never get a remake, BC is its only hope and when MS BCed it, it will be there forever in my library. BC has its value.
  • No word doesn't mean they won't do it. :)
    Sorry but what's PSPA?  "If there were BC and FC policy back at e3-13"
    Why do you keep mentioning FC? That sentence is just weird or doesn't make sense to me. For me, you're hyping XB1's BC more than what it really is. Right now it's like what 30% of the X360 games and it's mostly arcade or smaller games. You talk about how "Scott Pilgrim vs. The World: The Game" will be there forever in my library. 
    Well, Halo reach or Uncharted 3 are in my library right now. And I didn't need BC for that. My games don't magically disappear when a new console comes along... 
  • While first party exclusive games are nice and icing on the cake, it is clear that the Xbox One X console is a very capable 4k gaming device.  People who want to buy a console that is fully 4k capable would realize that the Xbox One X is the best choice.  If however you're in the Playstation ecosystem then people would gravitate towards the Playstation 4 Pro.  However a realistic view of the Playstation 4 Pro is that it doesn't truly do 4k, it's like the mp3 of gaming consoles, it promises graphics that are "perceived" as 4k. A hundred dollars over the cost of the Playstation 4 Pro to truly have 4k gaming, plus a 4k Blu-Ray optical drive and the ability to have a console that is up to date and will be current with major technological trends over the next few years is not a hard decision.  As far as the Xbox One X as expressing the current state of technology, my only real question is, will it support Dolby Vision? edit:   of course it supports HDR10, but it seems as though it will not support Dolby Vision.
  • Ah the power argument to justify lack of first party. PS4 pro already had games at native 4K. XB1x will have games that are not in native 4K. While XBIx is more powerful, we are yet to see what the difference is going to be with real major 3rd party games.  Either way it doesn't really matter to me. History has shown that as far as console sales goes game library has a much bigger impact than power. 
  • Your response is sloppy.  I've stated that the Xbox One X is a capable 4k console that embodies current tech and is therefore future proofed for a reasonable amount of time.  First party releases will come to the Xbox One X and people are overlooking the fact that the launch titles optimized for the Playstation 4 Pro were few in number.  Speaking of the Playstation 4 Pro, it's a machine that embodies compromise.  The three different graphics options for Rise of the Tomb Raider is an example of that. For those people that prefer playstation exclusives, fine.  However I'll have no concerns buying an Xbox One X rather than a Playstation 4 Pro and I am looking forward to an Xbox ecosystem that reaches all the way back to the first Xbox's library of games. ...  and Guest aotf, welcome to Windows Phone Central.  I see that you've been here since February and given the amount of comments you've made on this thread you must have a lot of time on your hands.  
  • Right now we have no idea of what the extra power actually mean. It's ok, I expect MS/XB fans to stick to XB no matter what. I've been going through various forums and comment section and most of the people looking forward to XB1X are XB/MS fans who already mostly game on the weaker XB1. I would think that for these people it's more about brand loyalty... Oh, you looked me up? I'm not sure why you call this Windows phone central, but thanks for the welcome. I did post a lot on this topic but it's mostly because I'm shocked at the amount of fanboyism people are showing. Criticising MS and asking for more game is a sin to most of them. I would have thought gamers want more games. I guess it doesn't work like this for fanboys.  
  • It's clear because nothing in Sonys conference was even close to 4 titles in MS conference for visuals. Not close at all.
  • Sorry what? Are you bringing subjective arguments? Are you also going to say (like Spancer) you were blown away by Minecraft in 4K?
  • I'm sorry. Anthem, Forza 7, Metro Exodus in particular had no comparison from any PS4 Pro game at Sonys conference. Bit even close. Not even close in terms of visuals.
  • Well... I used to buy games from Steam, PSStore and MSStore. But now only from MSStore. Because Ms's strategic / ecosystem has convinced me. Investing in PSStore is waste of money and time. Horizon - Zero Dawn is the only exclusive I have on ps4. I don't care about Persona and Nioh. Game programmer myself, I don't buy games (esp coming from a major dev) that use old-gen-programming-concept. Only indie can play that card.
  • Well that's the whole point right there. It's ok if you don't like every PS4 exclusive/console exclusive. Even if you're a XB gamer, you still need to buy a PS4 to play the few you care about. I play on PC/PS4/Wii U and I'm good at the moment. I don't need to buy a XB1. I'm looking more at a switch than a XB1.
  • Course you do. Every Sony fan says they have a gaming pc. It's just PC sales say they are all talking BS.
  • @richard Sony fan? LOL hardly. Unlike you I'm not a company fan. Am I talking bs? I own and finished MS's Quantum break. I'm hyped for MS's Age of Empires remaster, and that was one of my favourite (if not the favourite) moment of E3. so please unlike you I don't make up stuff...
  • But now, it's a few exslusive against all other games. Would average gamer / household buy a console for just 1 or 2 exclusive?
  • There are who would, but honestly it's not about 1-2 exclusives. It's just that when you hear that one console has a bigger library it just helps.  Gamers who want to play all games buy console for exclusives. I think casuals don't care much about framerate and performance. If you say this system has more games and more diversity it's a much bigger selling point than cloud sync unlimited, Region-hot-swap and other stuff you're talking about...
  • A lot of us are already in the ecosystem of either Playstation or Xbox and unless you really care about a particular exclusive, you're going to stay in the ecosystem you've been in.  I have a Playstation 3 for "Beyond Two Souls" and I'd buy a Playstation 4 for the remastered "The Last of Us".  Other than that I'm not particulary thrilled with Sony's exclusives and I've played a lot of Halo and Gears and I'm interested in Cuphead. So unless you really care about a particular exclusive, you'd probably focus more on which console is more powerful and where your friends play.  That power advantage was with Sony for the Playstation 4 and Playstation 4 Pro, up to now.  However with the Xbox One X, the advantage is clearly with Microsoft and Sony will need to respond.  So if someone is new to consoles or not particularly enmeshed in one ecosystem, if they were concerned about buying the most powerful console and the one that is future proofed for the time being, that's really the Xbox One X.  Given that the Xbox One is running a variant of Windows 10, I'd be surprised if the development for the Xbox shared a lot of similarities to developing for PC.  I am also impressed that Microsoft will be able to open up titles from the original Xbox for play on the Xbox One X. So unless one is really set on a particular Playstation exclusive, the best console on the market is going to be the Xbox One X.  Being able to play Xbox titles all the way from the first Xbox, to the 360 and the Xbox One is quite an accomplishment.   At one point I'd be interested in getting a Playstation 4, but I can tell you, that I have little interest in getting the Pro.  $100 more for the Xbox One X and you're getting a console that's not a half step, marked with compromises and destined to be replaced by another model.  The Xbox One S is the half step in the Xbox catalog at this point, but the Xbox One X represents a full stage at which further models will be iterations.  In other words it is a relatively future proofed point for the Xbox evolution.  A clear analysis would come to that conclusion and it is a significant factor in deciding what to buy.
  • Actually, it doesn't work like that. It is as much as a perception than "interest in one or two exclusives".
    When a casual looks at it I doubt his priority is framerate, resolution... 
    It's far more basic. 
    So what goes around is "PS4 has more games", "PS4 has more exclusives", "PS4 has more highly rated exclusives", "PS4 has more variety", "Sony is investing more into making new games", "The PS4 has WAY more upcoming games"...
    These are much more important to them then "power". And I don't see them spending MUCH more money for that. When it comes to gamers. If power (performance, framerate/resolution) was and is the priority then the person would already be on PC. If he has a "weaker" PC upgrading to a 1070 or 1080 isn't much more than getting a XB1X + paying to playonline + generally more expensive games + fewer games + closed environement... In all forums and comment sections all over the internet, most of the people excited about XB1X are XB/MS fans. I don't thing I've seen a person who used to mostly play on PC or PS4 say he'll change and buy a XB1X. So for me it does sound like brand loyalty more than upgrading to have the more powerful console. The "exclusive" argument does count. Why do you think MS used the word "exclusive" so many times in their presentation? No offence but unlike you they have the real numbers, they have market research, they know what sells and what helps sells console. 
  • For me, as long as Forza is around, there is another Xbox in my future. Hey, I'm easy to please!
  • If MS doesnt release a slew of new First party games, then it is what it is. I still play my old favs, like COD-BO2, Borderlands 2,RB6VEGAS, My newer Favs NFS 2015, DYING LIGHT and The Division has kept me satisfied. Also I'm happy to have backwards compatibility of my 360 game and soon to have BC of my OG Xbox games. As Ice Cube would say " Today is a good day "
  • Competition and Diversity are good for us players, don't really care about who will win and i gess there's won't be a winner any time soon, every company has plenty of good games to play and that's fine. Buy any console you feel is good for you, they all have their own good and bad sides, i would own them all when i can...
  • It's actually smart. Very smart of them. See people assume that a new system comes out and it's going to be 4k and have all this power, but developers will keep developing for the lowest denominator. This is exactly what was said by Sony. Microsoft is proving to the world that third party developers are all about using all the power they can get out of a console. It's not just going to be First party games. And now more third party developers see the interest and likely will jump on board too. In the meantime MS is doing something great behind doors with Halo.
  • Oh yeah it is smart. 
    Don't invest enough in making new games. Invest little money on small indie studios to get timed deals and mislead people in thinking these games are exclusives. 
    ofc they screw up gamers and gaming in the process, but hey great for the investors.
    I guess we can call it For the inverstors. Also you'll have their fanboys who cares more for the company than gaming who will defend them all the way no matter what they do, so great...
  • That's what you got from Phil and E3?????? Every single exclusive title showed was out in the next 12 months. That means next E3 every single first party and exclusive game will be never before seen at E3. The new approach is one I welcome. To many times are games shown at multiple E3s before they come out. It's crazy. Look at Sonys show. Probably the worst I've ever seen from them. Little in the way of first party games of interest. And the majority of their conference we won't see in the next 12 months. Basically last years Sony E3 had a load of titles that we haven't seen yet. And weren't even at this years conference. There was 6 big MS studios that had no stage presence at E3 2017. All working on content. All First Party. And we know Rare have 2 teams. It's about time the big 3 stopped showing games 2-3 years before they arrive.
  • What I took out of E3 and Spencer is what they gave. 
    As far as console exclusives, they announced: E3 2017
    - Forza 7 (the yearly forza)
    - Next Ori (Indie game that could end up on steam)
    - Super Lucky's tale (Indie game that could end up on steam) E3 2016
    - Forza Horizon 3 (the yearly forza)
    - State of Decay 2 (Indie game that could end up on steam) E3 2015
    - Recore (Indie game)
    - Gears 4
    - Sea of Thieves It's a totally different story for Sony. While I agree they didn't announce much, for me the show was a much better than what MS showed. Let's consider this year:
    In 2015, they announced 
    - Nier automata, 
    - Horizon: Zero Dawn, 
    - Nioh
    - Gravity rush 2
    - Yakuza 6
    - Matterfall
    - GT sport All have either come out or will come out this year. There are games like Knack 2, Everybody's Golf, MLB The Show 17 that were also added in this year's lineup. We have a whole bunch of games in early 2018 and we know a whole lot more games coming up. Unlike MS, Sony have a history of making announcements on other shows (gamescom, PGW, TGS, PSX). So there WILL be more announcements. MS are launching a new console, there has been a drought in the last few years, this was the perfect time for them to show first party, but instead it looks like they just focused on timed deals with indie studios... What were they doing in the last 2-4 years so that we don't get many games now? 
    Spencer's comment suggest that there won't be new games in the next 2 years. How have we got in this stage? What guarantee do we have that there will be loads of new games in 2-3 years and not just the usual Halo 6, Gears 5, Forza 8, FH 5. What this means is that there aren't many exclus or 1st party support to look forward to when XB1X comes. People might as well delay a possible XB1x purchase because MS cut their investment in making new games and we don't have any guarantee there will be a lot of new first party games in 2-3 years. PS: You've already lied many times, so I won't believe anything you say until you prove otherwise. When you say " the majority of their conference we won't see in the next 12 months", it sounds like more bs from you.
  • You really are a console fanboy aren't you. I think you should take a deep breath. Take your head out of Sonys arse. Sony had a poor E3. By alot of peoples standards all over the internet. Watching Sonys conference this year was like oh ok i can play that sometime in the next decade. Lol. Your a known MS hater so why do you bother on Xbox Articles?? Because you like Console wars. Cue death march.
  • lol insults. Did you even read my post I actually agreed that Sony didn't announce much. Unlike you I can trash any company any time. I don't worship a company. LOL You really got to take this worshipping thing to a lower lever. There is no need to insult people just because they criticise your beloved MS with facts. I know facts can hurt as you can't debate facts but still, get a hold of yourself. MS is just a company... 
  • As a racing fan i was disappointed with the wait for a good current gen racer. 2017, still no Gran Tourismo. Now, I am a happy Forza and Xbox S owner, and would love to get an Xbox one X to experiance true 4k racing on a colsole. Forza M7 looks incredible and other 4k titles would be just icing on the cake. Consoles are not cheap, but this Xbox one X has some incredible features.