A few years ago the narrative around Sony and Microsoft was set. Sony was elite, Microsoft was doomed. The fans were saying it, the media were saying it. As an Xbox player it was quite deafening.
The Xbox was a shit console. There were no games. Microsoft was anti consumer. It was only a matter of time before Xbox was closed and sold off by Microsofts big wigs.
However, since Phil came on board, and was backed by the Boss, it has slowly clawed back at the narrative.
The XOX, buying studios, Gamepass, and now the next gen has rolled out with Microsoft having the more powerful console, Zenimax deal has closed and Gamepass is getting big third party additions every month, its now hit a point where the negative attention is well and truly on Sony. The press and their own fans are turning now.
Why is Sony closing studios while MS is buying them?
Why hasnât Sony created a GP of their own?
Why isnât Sony being more open about the PS5 tech?
Even crazy fanboys are starting to turn.
Its been very interesting to see the gradual turn. It was slow to happen, but it is happening.
This was my final message for that other thread.
The box will be devalued, but the ecosystem will rise in value if this true . For this generation I will have to put away the âxbotâ mentality and realise that ms wants the gamepass brand to become an eponym(google it) much like netflix with streaming, pampers with diapers and coca cola with coke beverages. You can already see the seeds of that, everybody keeps saying, âsonyâs gamepass or sonyâs version of gamepassâ. They want to take over so much that even if a disney plus or hbo max were to show up in the later years itâd be too late for them. EA and ubisoft i think understand that,but theyâve hurt themselves by cranking out rehashes of the same franchises every year and diversity is needed to keep a game subscription alive. I think I might just invest in a PC and faster internet for mobile streaming if this is the future though. However, I also think because of this I expect by this time next year MS will be matching or dwarfing sonyâs output in terms of games and I am not gonna complain about having more games.
Its just shown me that many parts of the internet are full of fanboys.
Xbox and playstation are not that different, they are just at different stages,
They both have been through similar stages.
However Microsoft being like 1000x richer then sony allows them to have different goals.
This is the 2nd gen microsoft are attempting to expand there installbase. On the other hand sony seem content on battleing it out for the 250million available console installbase.
I thought when spencer talked about reaching a billion gamers it was just marketing talk, but I think they have the insight and data to know a billion gamers is possible, and they have the money and resources to pull it off.
When we think of it like that it really puts the importance of playstation in the market into perspective.
When you read some of the gaming forums like GAF and ERA, you see long time Sony fanboys changing their tune.
A year ago they were arrogant, laughing and pretty content with their lot.
When the XOX came out, and it was a super console in all regards with hardware and innovations, power was no longer a good selling points.
Then when MS put efforts into back compat going all the way back to OG Xbox, they said no one cares about those old jaggy games. Then MS gave enhancements in resolution and performance. They went quiet.
When Microsoft was out front giving all their info on the XSX including specs and the actual console, while Sony was silent, it was a sign that Sony was confident and didnât need to preach. The PS5 would have VRS, Mesh Shaders, SFS and ML because they were RDNA 2 features, and it would get them by default. The fact that Sony wouldnât confirm it when DF asked meant nothing. But then it turns out the PS5 isnât full RDNA 2 and doesnât have those features. When MS bought Zenimax there was no way they wouldnât keep selling them on PS. Then that was debunked. I could go on.
You now see those same fanboys screaming about Jim Ryan and why he needs to go. He is destroying the PS. They need to be buying more studios instead of closing them like they are. Where is the Gamepass alternative?
Why are they putting games on PC?
Even known Sony shills in the media are writing scathing articles about the PlayStation.
This isnât a console war post, but as a Xbox player who put up with this since the end of the 360 era, and seeing how Sony was untouchable, its quite interesting watching the shift.
The fellas and gals at Microsoft who played apart of this revival must go to sleep at night with a smile on their faces. It was a long, expensive investment which is finally starting to take shape.
Its nice that some are recognising that these companies are just the sum of there decisions and there is not some inherent âfor the gamersâ core belief either company has over the other.
If you go back and watch sony E3 2014
Its so clear that 90% of what they said was just salesmanship, back then folks at gaf actually believed that sony were on there side and microsoft were not.
Its also rather amusing that the era mod âtransistorâ made that thread âYour favorite platform sucks and thatâs OKâ, like when theres this negative playstation news hes all like âthey all have problems, lets just be happy gamersâ but when all the shit its going xboxs way its all free game.
Anyway I figured out a long time ago era is sony biased, its an irrelevant place anyway.
I get that, but I think the two big gaming forums are alot like Gaming magazines, podcasts or media articles. It represents the gaming community.
I think if you can say that NX Gamer is a bit Sony biased, then I canât see an issue in saying a forum is biased.
So long as you arnt just making threads to rag on them, and its just mentioned as a part of the community that should be ok?
Jim Ryan made me not buy a new Playstation console for the first time in 20 years. I never considered Xbox as an option. It was Sony and Nintendo every gen for me.
I actually decided to buy a Series X and Game Pass last summer. It was at that point I realized how much stress the direction of Playstation was causing me. I noticed myself asking for Sony to be more like Microsoft with things like Game Pass. Thatâs when it dawned on me: if I liked what Microsoft was doing so much, why not buy their console instead? Immediately I felt a sense of relief and peace after that. The bad news coming out of Playstation stopped effecting me (well, mostly - store shutdowns were a gut punch) and the constant stream of good news from Xbox only reinforced my decision.
This week I am seeing a lot of Playstation gamers reaching the same point I did last summer. The store shutdowns and recent news that they are wasting one of the best studios in the industry on a remake of an 8 year old game on top of the rumours of Kojima partnering with Microsoft and just a week after the MLB fiascoâŚI canât imagine how frustrating this is for people who have already bought their PS5âs and feel âlocked inâ.
The atmosphere in the Playstation thread on the other forum compared to the Xbox thread is like night and day. One thread is full of disappointment and infighting while another is full of excitement and happiness. The narrative really has changed.
Jim Ryan is the worst thing to happen to Playstation in a long time and he has to go.
Its amazing to watch isnât it. And irony is that the same people who were saying things like âGamepass is bad for the industryâ are the same ones demanding now that Sony get a similar service. The same ones saying âXbox game studios are second rateâ are now screaming for Sony to buy new studios. The same media outlets who were praising Sonyâs AAA third person adventure games are now writing articles about how Sonyâs focus on these AAA third party adventure games are costing them talent and causing angst in their studios.
The same people who were saying Phil Spencer was full of talk and not good at his job are calling for Jim Ryan to resign.
The best thing Xbox has done in the last decade was hire the guy in charge of Netflixâs marketing, their communication and marketing has improved A TON in a year or a year and a half. I would even argue Xbox has better communication than PlayStation these days, which would have impossible to think two years ago.
Its not about what a random says on twitter. Its about the vibe and feeling around Xbox now. Its extremely positive. People can start to see what the pay off will be in a couple of years. Its so positive infact it has put pressure on Sony to up their game. And for the Sony fans, this is only good news for them because Sony will now have to react and they will gain benefits from that. Wether its new studios, new exclusives or a Gamepass equivalent, its all good for them.
Outriders and MLB The Show launching on GP day one along with the consistent improvements MS has made to functionality and backwards compatibility have gone a long way.
The Xbox vibe has been positive for a few years. Itâs only if you take your validation from external places that any of this is relevant. Weâve all known Xbox is on an upward trajectory for a fair while now. You donât need other places or the media to confirm your own knowledge.