A positive Xbox article, seems like a miracle

Gaming
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I get the first part but at the same time, Microsoft concentrates on the overall platform and eco-system where as Sony concentrates completely on their console so not really much of a surprise. Starfield and Forza Motorsport probably had minimal impact because those who love Forza and those who don’t will do the same as always while with Starfield, I think the majority of players are on PC which is obviously going to lessen Xbox Series console sales but as long as the player engagement is there which it is, im sure that Microsoft is more than happy and satisfied.

2023 was the best year for me as an Xbox fan. I love Starfield as it’s my game of the year and generation thus far and perhaps more importantly, made me a huge fan of Bethesda Game Studios where as prior to Starfield, I wasn’t. Hi Fi Rush was great and came out of nowhere which to be honest evens out the disappointment of Redfall but meh, not every game is going to hit so no biggie. One mediocre game out of 10+ isn’t going to do anything in the grand scheme of things.

2024 is looking great as well with Hellblade 2, Towerborne and Avowed for me personally among other games like Ara and Flight Simulator 2024.

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22

Redfall will never be a Great game, but it could become a good A stock game after a few revisions. We have seen worth debut that lead to ok redemptions (Recore ?).

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Perhaps but the game is what it is and in my mind, better for Arkane Austin to wrap it up and move on to their next project especially since Redfall isn’t an actual live service game so no reason to support it like a Rainbow Six Siege or No Man’s Sky. Just my own personal opinion though.

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They do raise an interesting point that as part of game pass it will always be accessible to players on the service, and so there is a bonus incentive to improve upon the game.

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Yeah, okay but it depends on the game and the foundation/core of the game which when it comes to Redfall, I just don’t see it. At least Sea of Thieves had the foundation day one but lacked content, same for Halo Infinite MP while SOD 2 was mostly technical issues. They all had the foundation and core there. None of them needed to go through a re-design which at that point, you would be better off moving on to the next game anyway.

Not every game from Microsoft needs to be a decade long game or if it flops early, it must be saved. No. Sometimes, just need to let it go. Most importantly though, it’s not what I would consider a live service game like SOT or SOD 2 or even HI MP modes.

What could they possibly add to get players into the game? My thought process is that the core just isn’t there so regardless of what they add, it wouldn’t make any difference and even if it did, it would be so minimal that if anything would end up being a waste of time.

No one here was more hyped and looked forward to Redfall than me but nah, it’s not it. Way too many issues/negatives and barely any positives. For me, it was a 6.0/10 at best and is my last ranked game of this generation #45 to be exact. It’s on the bottom because the only positives I saw in the game was the art style which looks good but graphically and visuals overall, it looks dull and bland. Gameplay/combat was perhaps the game’s best aspect but that’s only because everything else comes up so short that it wins by default. Shooting felt good even at 30FPS when I played and completed the game and draining the Vampires health bars and then having to stake them was cool but that’s basically it. There’s simply no depth or substance.

Story and character wise, my goodness, horrible. Only the Saints Row reboot gives it a run for it’s money in this aspect. The setup is Ubisoft like. Take out some outposts, kill the leaders to get the main vampire at the end and that’s it. The way the story is presented is horrible, characters are mediocre at best and the layout and whatnot is just UGH. Great ideas, horrible execution in my opinion.

Again though, the worst thing about Redfall is that I don’t believe the game design/foundation/core is there at all and because of that, no amount of extra work or content or whatever is going to change that and even if they wanted to do a complete re-design, at that point, just do a sequel.

But this is just my own personal opinion. I just want to see Arkane Austin move on sooner rather than later with Dishonored 3, Prey 2 or a new IP. I don’t care which. Just move on.

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I agree with you! There are games simply not worth saving.

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2023 was the year I was hoping XBox console would push on and it didn’t it went backwards that was really got to me.

To give Xbox credit they got the ABK deal done more hardware is coming online and the Game Awards showed what’s coming for Xbox fans while SONYs offering looked limp in comparison

Nice to see SEGA looking to launch its own fightback too.

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Paul Tassi has always been even keel and he was a great guest on the Xbox Era podcast.

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Yeah, I can understand the console aspect but let’s be honest, Microsoft knows that they’re not catching Sony in this regard world wide so for them better off building everything now for the future instead of trying to get a minimal gain.

Microsoft also seemed to save a lot of their hardware for the Fall/Holidays which makes sense because few if any people were going to buy an Xbox for Redfall. Getting the ABK deal done and showing MORE of what’s coming to Xbox will only help the brand in the long run.

Agree with the Sega part too.

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30

This ZERO sum winner take all mindset is ridiculous and needs to stop. Xbox can be 3rd place in console sales FOREVER and EVER and still sell enough consoles to make money and make it worthwhile to serve their console base.

Xbox will probably always have 40-60 million consoles each gen that is MORE then enough for MS to support, then add in all the non consoles aspects of the Xbox Ecosystem and the entire XBOX ECO system package will be one of the better revenue generators in all of gaming even IF Xbox is 3rd place in sales.

It would be like telling Pepsi to close up shop because they will never sell more then coke even though Pepsi has such a diverse portfolio of products that still make a ton of money.

It’s this gamer mindset of someone MUST WIN and others MUST LOSE that is ridiculous.

MS has setup the Xbox brand to be so diverse that it does not depend on console sales to stay afloat.

That should be a relief to Xbox owners as they are pretty much safe no matter how the game industry ebb’s and flows.

While for Sony if their Sad dad walking sim portfolio of games ever grows out of favor with gamers as trends change they are fucked. Sony’ tried to pivot towards GAAS and that has blown up in it’s face while MS already has at least a half dozen highly successful GAAS, now MS will turn to fill the SP game gap which will give them a much broader package of games for users.

Xbox is setup much better for the future than Sony is, they have such a diverse gaming business that it does not falter due to one or two changing trends and they have their hands in every aspect of gaming.

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31

While I agree with you in general, as an Xbox fan and more importantly a console only gamer, I DO want to see Microsoft take console gaming WAY MORE SERIOUSLY and actually WANT to be #1 regardless of if they get there or not. That’s all im saying.

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In an ideal world that would happen but in a world where people are buying Sony consoles just cause they say Sony on them because they have a nut job fanbase then you eventually have to work within the reality you have. Let’s face it Sony is going to sell 70+ million consoles just because the box says Sony PlayStation and that is pretty much all Sony needs to do. They have nurtured a crazy fanbase over the decades and nothing MS can do will undo that.

If MS did not diversify and change business models and kept just trying to out do Sony by doing what Sony does then Xbox would be dead.

You can sell hardware and make it worthwhile but its smart to not hinging your entire business on exact hardware sales. I find that a comfort in investing in the Xbox eco system. They will survive and my games purchases will go with me regardless of the fate of a single piece of hardware. If gaming ever gets to a point where local console hardware is not a thing I have more confidence in MS in that world then Sony that is for sure.

Xbox tried for several gens to match Sony at Sony’s game and that did not work. A pivot was needed and if they did not pivot that would have been done in the industry.

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I never said to pivot or change business directions. I love their business direction because the more money they make, the more I will get out of them.

I disagree in regards to trying for several generations. They matched them with Xbox 360 and let’s be honest, Xbox One would have continued that if they didn’t do their always online, TV/TV/TV and no used games garbage. Subtract Kinect and go to $400. I easily believe that Microsoft would have kept their momentum from Xbox 360. But they did what they did.

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You simply aren’t going to beat Sony in hardware console sales, beating their heads against the wall trying while the Sony fanbase just buys whatever Sony puts out and even raising console prices after launch and raising service prices doesn’t slow them down. Sony could literally put a piece of shit in a box and sell millions of them just due to brand loyalty. As a consumer that is bad for me.

It’s also becoming less and less relevant over time. Also you simply can’t ignore MS’s first party now. They have a pretty big portion of modern gaming in their corner as a first party. That will play out over the next 10 years and when all MS devs start hitting their stride it will be an constant supply of heavy hitting games.

The obsessions some have with console sales like some win or lose sports league is out of hand in the gaming community and needs to be reeled in some.

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Again, I agree with you for the most part. I just want Microsoft to ACT like they want to be #1 in console sales even though they know and we know that’s not going to happen. See what im saying?

You talk about Microsoft’s massive first party studios and well, this is how they CAN build up the console market share because they will have games that people want to play and let’s be honest, unless you’re a hardcore PC gamer, you’ll always choose the $500 box over $3000+ for a high end PC.

So I do believe that Microsoft can gain some market share console wise. Will they ever be #1? Probably not but that doesn’t mean that they should just give up on it or just accept/settle for where they’re at because that is a losing mentality/mindset which can do much more damage to your brand.

As for the sports reference, I am a sports fan (49ers baby!!!) and when my team is bad and doing nothing to improve the team, I stop watching and won’t support them because why should I? It’s all on them and Microsoft first. I can’t do anything to support your stuff if you don’t give me reasons as to why I should.

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MS’s future first party should be enough for any non nutjob gamer to take them seriously and invest in their eco system. It’s going to be hard not to given all the studios they have now, it will be pretty impossible to avoid MS in the gaming industry going forward even if it does not dramatically change console hardware sales.

Console hardware sales are becoming more and more irreverent over time and yes one day their certainly is a vision that we may not need these local boxes anymore. I’m certainly mentally ready for these hardware wars to stop splintering the gaming community. It is tiring and REALLY neuters my enjoyment of gaming as a whole when so many in the community are toxic and bickering all the time about made up war crap…

I’ve been playing consoles since the late 1970’s then went into PC gaming then back to consoles. I look forward to a hardware irrelevant future. I like video games and like sports but I keep them separate. Rooting for a plastic box like I root for a sports team is a waste of time and effort and just leads to negativity in the gaming space.

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No more consoles wouldn’t end the wars at all. It would then become the APP wars. lol

Microsoft’s first party should be taken seriously and for the casuals who play on PlayStation, they would switch based mainly on where their friends are playing. If a few friends switch, then that individual is much more likely to switch. It’s definitely not impossible to switch platforms.

I went from PS/PS2 to Xbox 360 to PS4 to XSX as my primary gaming console so if I can switch, so can any casual gamer out there. They just need the reasons to do so. And when you start a new generation, it is the best time to get them to jump sides.

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I hear you and often feel the same. Often wondered if PC-only player simply laugh about this nonsense all day. I myself left another big forum for a while because no day would pass without another MS hate thread and I just was fed up by all these terrible bad faith takes. People say they would never get affected by such negativity but honestly, I sometimes find it hard to look beyond the dooming myself.

Now what to do? I can recommend to check out places like r/patiengamers if you want to get away from all that industry talk. It‘s purely about the games in that subreddit, albeit focusing on older titles, so I do miss the “industry-free“ talk about newly released stuff there. But it’s a good place to go to. On here, I also learned from a fellow member how to mute certain threads. It can help to steer you to topics that are about the games only. Sometimes you have to help yourself, I guess, and recognize that lots of folks unfortunately seem to tie too much of their identity to that plastic box.

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I don’t want Xbox to better SONY myself. I just wish the Series X sold in higher numbers to what it did this year that’s all.

Xbox could and should have done a lot better but it seemed the ABK deal was taking all its time and resources and Xbox looked to play the victim card to help get the deal done.

I must say though there does seem to be a big shift now with online retailers doing deals and even XBox themself’s knocking over 100 Euros off the Series X .

I bet there is a big uplift in sales for December. Please keep this going next year XBox Team :).

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Just got another positive one from GameRant about 50 day 1 launches in GP in 2023 as well