https://twitter.com/reaver_troll/status/1696691040164667744?s=20 I think things like this have a lot to do with it too.
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There are a number of biased game media out there, and they continue to give Sony a pass. But one thing is for sure, narratives change fast. Not long ago, it was Xbox has no games. Now thats gone. The Sony fanboys will turn the heat up on them if they see Xbox players eating well, and they arnt.
When the supposed PS5 Pro releases the new narrative will be “Xbox has weak hardware!” Like the early part of Xbox 1/PS4 gen.
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Rightly or wrongly, Sony gets leeway because they have BEEN delivering consistently for years, so when they have an off year (or two) they get more slack. Xbox hasn’t been doing that so they don’t get as much leeway. I’m not saying it’s right but it just is what it is.
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Nah there is more to them delivering on their sad dad games for years. When Have you seen anything like this posted by a Journalist just before the release of a big Sony exclusive? https://twitter.com/ParallaxStella/status/1696616371604557906?s=20
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Yeah, it’s hard to argue against general media bias against Xbox when you see people in the media going out of their way to let you know about their mostly negative thoughts on a game they haven’t played yet.
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This is so fucking bizarre.
And people said I was imagining things a few years ago when I said media is biased and that there is a cult…
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She’s allowed to have an opinion based on what she’s seen so far. She’s no different than most of the other posters on this forum (me included) who are expecting it to be great based on what we’ve seen.
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Just odd how we never see this kind of thing happen for any other big release for the other consoles at all. Perfectly acceptable to go on these tangents for Xbox because…reasons I guess.
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She hasn’t even played the game yet and is saying the gunplay looks bad (no details here where she could have elaborated on this like some people like CoD gunplay, some like Arma realism, etc.) and that there is not enough lore (again hasn’t played the game how does she know?). I understand the UI critique if you don’t like health bars but she doesn’t even know if there are ways to change that in game yet or if that’s even the default setting. Just a weird post overall imo.
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Ok, but why does this not happen for the next blockbuster from Sony or Nintendo? I dont remember any posts (with even the text in a jpg!) on social media like this for the last Zelda.
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Of course she’s allowed to have an opinion, that’s not what bothers me. It’s the constant need to remind people of that opinion that just happens to be negative right before the launch of the game. Whether it’s an attempt at engagement or whether it’s simply innocuous, doesn’t really matter to me since that entire website in general seems to have a hate bug up their ass about Xbox. I’m choosing to leave my “benefit of the doubt” at home for anything related to IGN and anyone who works there.
Is that fair? Probably not, but I’m just exhausted by all of the bullshit.
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Ryan McCaffrey the day before Spider-Man 2 releases: " Well, I haven’t had a chance to play it yet, but based on trailers, the combat feels floaty, there are too many collectibles, and the main story is too short. 7/10"
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She is, but she’s also making assumptions on the story, lore and Bethesda’s world design without any information. She could have just as easily said what has been shown so far didn’t appeal to her because it wasn’t what she was looking for in a game.
My excitement for the game is about the usual things Bethesda does in their games, and my hope that most of their mechanics will be there going by the Showcase. I’m not going around saying that the story is going to be the best thing Bethesda has done since whatever, from a presentation that didn’t go into more detail about it.
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Sony’s biggest issue moving forward, currently hidden by PlayStation’s sales momentum, is that they haven’t properly future proofed themselves. Just look at 2024. There’s some good stuff coming out that’s been announced, but it’s either Sony publishing a title from an outside studio, or a Money Hat. Yeah, the strategy works for now, but what happens in the future if Team Ninja takes a Game Pass bag next time, like they did with Wo Long? Or if Phil Spencer and/or the new person in charge of Xbox’s Japan push repairs the relationship with Square Enix to the extent the next big Final Fantasy title is Day One on Xbox?
Compare it to Nintendo and Microsoft. Nintendo merged their console and handheld pipelines into one, released a console with an incredible, unique hybrid form factor that has proven absurdly dominant in Japan and a strong number 2 AT WORST in every other territory worldwide, and have varying sizes to their new games so that don’t all take numerous years to make. This has resulted in a steady stream of first party titles. They’re set.
Xbox, though it has taken a while to get where they want, has decided to embrace the subscription model, using a combo of a home console, PC, and mobile via streaming, to deliver access to a first party lineup that has been built with huge acquisitions, with a targeted release cadence of one per quarter that they should be hitting soon. In addition, they make deals with third parties that augment Game Pass, while the releases from their internal studios are the main seller. They’re almost there, but they’re practically set.
Sony’s strategy with their internal studios was to make exclusively huge, graphically impressive games. When they realized that those games took far too long to make to release at a decent rate, they now think that pivoting into an incredibly crowded Games as a Service market is the way to go, several years too late. In the meantime, they’re still heavily reliant on third parties, while Microsoft’s purchase of Bethesda, who gave the PS5 two of its earlier timed exclusives, and Activision Blizzard King, who have this little game named Call of Duty that Sony had the marketing rights to, have made Sony realize they their current position is more perilous than it may initially appear. Couple that with today’s announcement of PS Plus price hikes, and Sony, though at the top now, ain’t set. They’re a tall Jenga tower.
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You can go the other way and say that those who are Xbox centric in the bigger publications are fair and objective.
It’s just the Playstation leaning journalists play to their crowd.
https://twitter.com/nib95_/status/1696846290716377391
IGN’s last 10 Xbox first party game reviews vs metacritic average.
Minecraft Legends - 70/71 Redfall - 40/56 Pentiment - 100/88 FH5 Rally - 80/77 Hi-Fi Rush - 90/89 Grounded - 90/82 As Dusk Falls - 90/77 Halo Infinite - 90/87 (your review) Forza Horizon 5 - 100/92 Deathloop - 100/88
IGN 85 / Metacritic 81
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The problem is that you can combine all of those games and quite honestly, they don’t even come close to Starfield in terms of what they mean for Microsoft, Bethesda and the platform and eco-system of Xbox. Starfield also represents a potential shift, huge momentum and fear among PlayStation fanboys who want to see Sony stay dominant.
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I was pointing out that IGN Xbox reviewers actually are more than fair.
This is pretty standard in essentially any industry though.
When you are the strong market leader or one of them and you have built up a reputation of quality over decades, you get a lot more slack. Droughts don’t affect you as much because the users know that the next time when it comes will be amazing.
Nintendo and Sony are both like that. Xbox has the potential to do that, Starfield can be a good start.
The Xbox One era massively damaged good will with users and it takes time to build that back. The gap between Horizon and Spider-Man 2 sucks for them but they KNOW Spider-Man will be great so the wait is tolerable.
Xbox is currently building that back up but it takes a ton of time to build that good will.
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