Xbox Series S/X: Thread 03

[Cassius_Smoke]

To be honest, on most forums and chatter it's people complaining they can't get hold of a PS5. Even though the SeriesX is as difficult to get hold of, the PS5 seems to be the console of choice.
XBox needs exclusives to get people on board and at the moment, it's the PlayStation that has the edge. That, and people want to experience the dualsense.
I said before that I'm not a big lover of exclusives, but having played them this year I've got to say they are system sellers. The sequels to Horizon, GoW, Spiderman and GoT will all sell consoles.

GP might get up to 50 million by the end of the series life, but I think the console itself is going to land in 3rd place again behind Sony and Nintendo, for the 3rd generation in a row. Whatever Bethesda have coming out has to be a string of glitch free masterpieces to turn the ship round.
I say all this with heavy heart because the SeriesX is a goddamn killer machine.

[MartyG]

And again, in what world would those numbers be a failure?

The console market isn't a zero sum game.

[Neon Ignition]

The 360 sold those high numbers but the key is that XBO didn't. There's never been a three way super-market for consoles, MS only maintained that momentum during Sony's lowest point and it was losing that momentum before even the next gen was revealed. It was also dependant on factors that don't apply now. The Series S/X though is very much a continuation of more of the same from the XBO era and for some reason it feels like an urban myth developed around GP that it was rocket the platform in a way it never did for XBO.

35-40m is decent but I'd be sure that if MS hits a wall at that number again this gen either via hardware sales or GP subs then they'll consider this gen a failure considering the money they're sinking into trying to expand from last gen. It will all rest on market growth rather than always playing to the same crowd, given the business worlds fixation on it.

I know the usual line is why worry, we're not MS execs? But like Asura has gone over, whichever way GP shakes out it's likely to be one of the biggest deciding factors in the future of console gaming after this gen so it will impact us all in some way whether we sign up, it fails or succeeds

[MartyG]

I sincerely doubt they'd consider it a failure because they know it isnt a zero sum game. The only place people get fixated by some big numbers being slightly smaller than some other big numbers is on gaming forums.

The Xbox brand has been and continues to be a success for Microsoft, if it wasn't, they'd have thrown in the towel years ago as the critics have been wrongly predicting for just as long.

[Neon Ignition]

We know they already considered exiting, we're obviously deep now in them pushing all their chips into the middle of the table. It seems to be very much all bet on GP though. I don't see them bowing out in the coming tears but it'll never be allowed to be an endless pursuit for little or nothing either if the dice roll the other way

[Cassius_Smoke]

I hope it is a success. As a PlayStation owner it needs more competition.
But it needs to compete game for game. Hardware and GP isn't going to do it if there is no draw to the platform. MS are going for the multiplayer Esports type games, which is great for a USP, but you can get that on the PlayStation as well if you play Fortnite and others.

[MartyG]

It wasn't so long ago folk on this forum were predicting the death of consoles altogether. I'd wager things are ticking over just fine at Redmond: https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2...ight-for-years

[monel]

Here at OCP software we are proud to announce... RISE of the Robots 2000. Coming to an Edge magazine cover soon. It's the saviour of future gaming entertainment.

[nonny]

I love reading all this crystal ball stuff based on one number being 11% lower than the other...

It's telling that these numbers are taken from the financial year where the consoles launched, where Halo Infinite was delayed and where game pass didn't officially have any (many) platform exclusives pencilled in. Up to 30th June we had what? The Medium? It's the second half of this calendar year where the bigger roster of titles have been hitting the platform.

Until MS/Xbox come out with new official numbers I wouldn't be theorising anything off a target.

Anyway it is what it is, something to spin the wheels and discuss.

What I do know is Series X continues to sell out both here and in the US and Australia (hearing first hand from friends). I'm watching it sell out the minute it hits the stores here as well. Maybe not to PS5 levels, hard to tell. There is certainly still massive demand for it.

Equally I see in Japan Series S/X sales have already eclipsed Xbox One sales there. Not a hard number to beat for sure, but the console is selling well in a lot of territories.

I don't think Xbox is in a bad shape at all. In fact I would argue they're in a better position then they've ever been.

[Neon Ignition]

You had me till the last bit Xbox is lightyears from its 2007-2012 years status peak and I doubt it'll ever return to that either given the factors

It's certainly insane though that the PS5 and XSX remain hard to get hold of and are about to reach their first year anniversary.

https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/xbox-says-it-wants-to-make-more-playstation-style-blockbuster-games/

Matt Booty has said he wants Xbox to start delivering more Sony style AAA blockbuster titles. Makes sense too given they'll be the biggest subscription drivers if they start arriving.

[nonny]

I don't know I think they were lucky in the 360 era what with Sony fumbling the PS3 pricing and basically handing them a perfect start. They also relied heavily on 3rd party support and had well known hardware issues.

There was of course a stellar output of games but I think the way they're positioned now concentrating on gamers, having a lot of first party support and really well designed hardware... it's a better platform overall.

That's just my take.

In other news I just noticed my Series X. dashboard is now full native 4k... They rolled out the patch to boost it up from 1080p.

[Cassius_Smoke]

I don't know I think they were lucky in the 360 era what with Sony fumbling the PS3 pricing and basically handing them a perfect start. They also relied heavily on 3rd party support and had well known hardware issues.

There was of course a stellar output of games but I think the way they're positioned now concentrating on gamers, having a lot of first party support and really well designed hardware... it's a better platform overall.

That's just my take.

In other news I just noticed my Series X. dashboard is now full native 4k... They rolled out the patch to boost it up from 1080p.

ITz aBoUt Time THeY gOt A 4k DasHboArD, laGGIng beHinD SoNy!

I honestly don't notice its 4k on the ps5 really.

Sony does seem to be a bit 'Nintendo' here in hanging around behind the curve thinking the know better when it come to implementing tech. Xboxs 1440p,VRR and frame boost are very much needed on the PlayStation.

[wakka]

Putting the commercials of it aside, when MS were at their best for me was probably in the very early stages of the 360. I was absolutely blown away by that machine. It had so many incredible features and was a giant leap forward over what we'd had before.

It took PS3 ages to catch up to the quality and breadth of what Microsoft were delivering.

The Bone years were the doldrums for me in terms of hardware and content. I owned a One S and I liked it and Game Pass very much, but the whole first half of the gen was a complete fumble hardware-wise, and they never really got it together with software at any point.

They've obviously had a massive glow up hardware wise since, and I think Game Pass is a great USP. If they can finally get some games out that are up to standard, I think they'll be very well placed.

I think predictions of their impending doom are overstating it personally, although I see NI's perspective. But I don't think Xbox is going anywhere soon (and nor should it).

[nonny]

Well the Xbox One initial launch almost destroyed the brand entirely. It's actually amazing that they recovered.

For me they just utterly got the message wrong and in addition to that they were too focused on TV and trying to be the entertainment hub for your lounge with kinect driving everything.

To be fair you look at where we are now with smart home integration and they knew where the market was going but they absolutely forgot that it was gamers who were the core market.

For me they've almost come full circle now and have the right agenda and messaging.

[Lebowski]

ITz aBoUt Time THeY gOt A 4k DasHboArD, laGGIng beHinD SoNy!

I honestly don't notice its 4k on the ps5 really.

Sony does seem to be a bit 'Nintendo' here in hanging around behind the curve thinking the know better when it come to implementing tech. Xboxs 1440p,VRR and frame boost are very much needed on the PlayStation.

I don't think Sony is hanging back behind the curve, they had a massively successful model for selling games and consoles last gen and if anything its not slowed down so until it starts hitting their bottom line i don't think they need to do anything. Yes gamepass is the best deal in gaming but its come at a cost that cost has been games with gold has gone form being amazing to being dire, its kind of not theri fault as they have two serivces on the same platform that are in direct competition with each other.

PS+ Games continually offer big budget games from the last couple of years games like Final Fantasy VII Remake, Star Wars Squadrons, Wreakfest, and Control as well as brand new titles day one like Hell Let Loose, Oddworld Soulstorm and Marquette these games would all be gamepass games on xbox.