Why Xbox? I want to know what makes you love the brand!

Gaming
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This seems to me like a question which has probably been asked around these parts before as it feels like an important one. We spend so much time talking about Xbox, we rarely share WHY we are talking about Xbox. What we have here at XboxEra is a very precious thing: a gaming forum solely comprised of Xbox enthusiasts and devotees.

As we all know, this isnt exactly the case elsewhere on the internet. Most online gaming communities are flooded with Playstation stans, Nintendo lovers, and even PC players. Their numbers seem so much larger in comparison at times, which absolutely necessitates the existence of a haven like XboxEra

Im sure many of you own other platforms. Im a big Steam fanboy myself, and grew up on Nintendo/Sony years before the original Xbox (my fav console ever) was birthed. These days, I champion the Xbox brand like no other. It will forever be my #1 platform of choice. I dont even bother following what PS/Nintendo are up to these days.

What makes you cherish Xbox above the competition? Is it the exclusives? GamePass? Are your friends fellow Xbox players? Are you an old Sega kid looking to give the other guys the bird? Does anyone here only own an Xbox?

I wanna know. Share your Xbox love with pride, homies. :triumph:

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The game styles originally available on Xbox resonated more with me than the other platforms. That’s why I got into the platform to begin with.

The reason I stick with it are all the steps Microsoft has taken and shown us how they will support the platform (now and forward going). I trust in their vision and execution.

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Xbox has the best hardware, features, services, as well as games relative to my tastes.

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I’m a Commodore guy in my heart and always will be. But they are no more, sigh. After that PC and Xbox is the next best thing to a PC. I also like their services and games most, especially the racing games. With my setup between console and laptop I can switch seamless, all is so nicely integrated. And Microsoft respects my purchases, most of my 360 and OG Xbox discs and downloads still work on Series X and look even better. No other platform holder does that, Valve comes closest with Steam Deck.

For japanese and Nintendo stuff i own a Switch. Sony? I had a Vita, was not half bad. Otherwise I have no interest in their hardware, services and games. They just suck imo.

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OG xbox was basically Dreamcast 2. Thats the reason, I was a complete Sega fanatic and had all their consoles.

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Halo, Xbox Live, and COD4 all pulled me in, I will never forget the times and memories of Halo 3 custom games.

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For me, it’s basically money. And games, of course. But money.

Last gen I had a PS4 because it was the “default” choice for videogame. But games are very expensive here in my country. Like, a lot. So being a “hardcore gamer” (don’t know any other word to describe lol) it was not so great for me. I buy a game, beat it in like 3 weeks ~ a month and then won’t have any other game to play until 3 or 4 more months because I had to save money.

Then, I was introduced to Game Pass by a friend that used to be subscribed to it on PC. I tried it out and freaked out with how many awesome games I could play paying so little (it’s kind of cheap here in Brasil). The first game I played was The Outer Worlds. I beat the game in a month and thought to myself “With the price of this game alone, if I had bought it on PS4, I could pay for 3 to 4 months of Game Pass subscription”. After that, I basically never turned on my PS4 anymore.

Then I started to do a research about Xbox, it’s studios and exclusive games. Ended up learning that they own Obsidian, the studio that made one of my favorite games from the 360 gen: Fallout: New Vegas. Then, by the end of the year they announce the acquisition of Bethesda and it was set: I’ll go for Xbox this gen.

Not sure if I LOVE the brand, but it really helped me to keep my beloved hobby of games. It made me play even more than before (I’m someone that doesn’t like to spend too much time playing the same game, so I kind of always beat games fast) and discover awesome games that I would never buy because each purchased had to be something very safe because, as I said before, games are expensive here in my country.

Now I’m a happy Xbox Series S owner looking forward to awesome games from XGS and Bethesda :slight_smile:

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The ecosystem and the controller! Their commitment to game preservation. Adding backwards compatible for each generation is amazing! Not charging me crazy amounts of money for remakes and remasters. Finally buying studios to have a huge 1st party presence!

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I don’t love the brand. I love the experience of gaming with Xbox. It’s the complete package, when compared with the competition. I’m also still big into Nintendo stuff, for example, but with them it’s really just some of those great first-party offerings.

With Xbox, the software (Fable, Forza, Gears, Halo) & hardware (360, 1X, Series X) has always been more to my personal preference. The Elite controller is the best I’ve ever held. Services like Game Pass are undoubtedly wonderful, borderline unmissable value for money. Backwards compatibility & things like Auto HDR, FPS Boost, Smart Delivery & cloud backups for my save files make owning a digital library feel hassle free, rewarding & secure (I really love this part).

When you add new Xbox first-party studios like Arkane, Bethesda, Double Fine, Inxile, Ninja Theory, Obsidian & Playground, who I’m either a huge fan of already or fast becoming one, it’s just everything basically. It’s everything about the ecosystem. I’m mainly (but not exclusively) an Xbox gamer because everything about the ecosysyem feels good to me. I love the experience.

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Gears of War, achievements, Xbox Live and the controller.

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I am playing mainly racing and first person games. And GTA. That’s why Xbox is good for me.

Though I am PC guy first.

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I’ve owned every version of Playstation and Xbox since the PS1 released until recently where I’ve settled on just one console (Series X). Ultimately I’ve found that Xbox caters more to my tastes than Playstation. Not to mention things like BC and Game Pass which have really enhanced the value of Microsoft’s consoles in my opinion.

But like most people, I was really affected by Halo and Fable. They were experiences wholly different than what I had experienced prior to their releases and both games really influenced my tastes as I got older. I have more fond experiences with XBL than I did with Playstation, too. Not that I have an extensive friend’s list–heck, I’ve basically been a solo player my whole life. But, the majority of my gaming time has been spent on Xbox Live so that’s played a role too.

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I loved the Xbox OG mainly because of Halo, Ninja Gaiden and the amazing Sega exclusive (loved the 3 other systems of 6th gen as well). The console was a beast hardware wise and had so many cool games, from PC ports to niche/smaller Japanese exclusives…as a solely console gamer it was mindblowing to be able to play games like DOOM 3, Half Life 2 and Riddick on a console. I wasn’t into online play until around 2005 when I started playing Halo 2 via XLink but at 2006 when I got my Gears 1 360 bundle everything changed with the combo that was Gears and XBL. XBLA was also a big reason I loved my 360, so many great memories from some Summer of Arcade line-ups. Then Xbox One happened and got disappointed by the whole pre-launch fiasco and how weak the hardware turned out, still bought the system at the end of 2014 and enjoyed it but it wasn’t until the One X that I was full on again on Xbox. Of course Game Pass is amazing and I have discovered so many great games via the service.

I am still rocking an One X but I hope that until the end of the year I will be able to get a Series X. It looks like this generation will be Xbox’s best by far with all the talented studios that MS got plus it’s nice to see MS going all in on gaming this time around. Also Phil understands what the ecosystem lacks (like Japanese support) and things on that front are getting better and better and I am so happy about that! This generation is gonna be amazing. :gimme:

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Achievements!!! - This is the #1 thing for me, the hunt for gamerscore is what got me on board with Xbox and continues to keep me invested.

Backwards compatibility - I really like the ability to return to old classics, Xbox is doing an amazing job right now of keeping old games relevant and valued.

Smart Delivery/cloud saves/overall ecosystem - Every time I interact with one of my Sony consoles (PS3, PS4, or Vita - no PS5 yet), it just feels so fiddly. There’s always some obstacle to what you want to do or systems that don’t interact the way you’d expect. On Xbox everything just works.

Controller - The Series X controller is my favorite controller ever, I hate using the Dual Shock 4. Haven’t tried a Dual Sense yet but I really hope it’s an improvement because the DS4 is awful. XSX controller is perfection.

Games - In the 360 generation Gears of War was my series. Not as much of a Halo guy. I am huge into Bethesda and WRPGs in general, so now with the Bethesda acquisition making Xbox my home is a no-brainer. I do like JRPGs a lot too and wish Sony didn’t have such a lock on series like Final Fantasy.

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Shooters, RPG’s (western, the real ones since 20 years ago) and online games, what else can you ask for?

I don’t 100% remember why i changed from Playstation to Xbox with their first console already, i guess Online was a big factor, but it was well worth, all these hours of pure fun with Midtown Madness online mode… please Playground bring that saga back.

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I’m a glutton with a small wallet. I want lots of experiences and my money is worth more here.

Gold → Game Pass Conversion, just GP by itself, MS Rewards, Bing Rebates, third-party retailers and cheaper store credit, it all adds up! That’s what got my interest. I’m on year 2 of my initial 3 years of GPU ($100 in on that $150 investment) and I’ve eaten like a king.

A quick glance of my spreadsheet tells me that since I re-entered the Xbox ecosystem, I’ve earned

  • about $700 in Rewards points (sorry non-US friends!)
  • 5 free months of GPU (could have been 9 if I had started earlier)
  • $70 in rebates.

My partner was even able to fully pay a nice fat warranty on his new Surface device using the points I badgered him into racking up!

I could have just spent $500 dollars in necessary hardware (re-gifted the Xbox One X I got for $250 but looking at eBay tells me I might have been able to just recoup that :sweat_smile: ) and $150 in subscriptions and still gotten an amazing value. I poured a lot of that saved money back into the ecosystem for a few peripherals and to rebuild my library digitally. Couldn’t find everything of course, but it’s pretty great to have

I also feel like I get treated better as a customer. The BC initiative and good refund policy are big factors in that. It made me feel like it was worth it to rebuild my library, that my purchases would be honored and actually improved. I just about hit the ceiling when I read that BC actually improved the games in some cases. Made me pretty annoyed at my orphaned PS3/P/V games and saves. I was pretty leery of Microsoft in particular because of that whole ebook thing they handled pretty poorly but they seem to have changed in this regard.

This last gen kinda dampened my enthusiasm for games, but it’s stronger than ever now. I looked back at the games I played on my PS4, here are the ones that really hit:

Summary
  • MGSV
    • Until Dawn
  • The Witcher 3
    • Persona 5
  • Yakuza 0
  • Dishonored 2
  • NieR Automata
  • Deus Ex: Mankind Divided
  • Prey
  • Dragon Quest XI
    • Marvel’s Spider-Man
    • Death Stranding
  • Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night
  • Control

Not a ton of exclusives there. I just had a look at my TrueAchievements history and I enjoyed almost that many games in the time between getting an Xbox One and getting a Series X (March-November 2020). And I believe all but one were on Game Pass (outlier was Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, got the version with all the content DLC for $25)

I’m playing more games than ever before, that I find more fulfilling, for a fraction of the cost. The extras (free cloud saves, quick resume, robust ecosystem, cloud gaming, backwards compatibility, and so on) are nice but it really just boils down to “I’m feeling that spark again.”

The joy is back and a part of it is that when I look at cool upcoming games, I don’t have to worry about the budget as much. There’s a chance it’ll come to Game Pass, I have credit saved up, I can buy credit for less than MSRP, I get points and money back. The worst thing that happens is that it skips Xbox :laughing:

I was a Nintendo fanboy for the earlier part of my life. Had their consoles and handhelds exclusively until I went off to college and got myself a PS2. I still get every Nintendo system and adore their first party, but it’s by no means my main hub. My friends all thought I was being a weirdo when I looked into the Xbox side and decided I would switch. Now some of them admit that my hunch has borne out and I gave advice to a few of them for how to get the most bang for their buck :wink:

And yeah, going back to the Xbox controller after a generation of pretty much just Dualshock just felt right. I will get a PS5 eventually, maybe when a revision comes out, maybe at the end of the gen so I can catch up on what I missed. It won’t be anything other than an exclusives box, though. It’s not that Sony lost me (though I don’t approve of several of the choices they’ve made), it’s that Microsoft courted me successfully.

Edit: oh my god I didn’t realize I had written so much.

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The Series X is my first Xbox console and I made the jump from Sony (since PS2) for a number of reasons from $70 games (one and dones) to having a bleak future post Zenimax acquisition (I knew MS wasn’t done). Game Pass was ultimately the deciding for me, the value is unmatched and Sony instead of trying to compete treats their customers like idiots by saying stuff like it’s unsustainable and that it’s not good for the industry instead of providing any value for their customers.

The writing was also on the wall when Sony shut down their studios like Japan Studio and forced their studios to make Uncharted and TLOU remakes (to maximize profits and we see it happening at even greater scale now 10+ live service games) and showed no interest in experimenting… I just didn’t have much faith in Sony moving forward while MS was mostly making all the correct moves.

In short, I don’t have any loyalty to any company if MS starts moving in the wrong direction I would leave the Xbox and find another product but so far they’ve mostly made all the right choices.

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Halo The Ecosystem most of my friends are on the platform Like the controller The preservation of games even though it aint perfect still way better than on other systems The promising future

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Is going to sound a bit weird, but I’m a huge fan of competition and always side with underdogs. I still use Nvidia products but I always cheer for AMD to do good in GPU space because I’m not a fan of Nvidia practices. I am the same way with Xbox/PlayStation. However, I am really excited for future Xbox properties and currently PS doesn’t have much in the future that isn’t a sequel to PS4 games. I just really hope Xbox can continue to improve in Japanese game department.

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I initially got hooked with the OG Xbox as I owned all 3 consoles at the time but Xbox is the one I bought last but ended up playing the most since it had the best version of 3rd party games and Halo as well as PGR just rocked to be honest!

360 gen was the GOAT to be honest, dont think i need to explain thay one.

Xbox one had a rough start, but what kept me was MS’ dedication to making it better, the quality of their services as well as the constant push for all of our ganes and purchases to be available and playable going forward. The fact that they respect our purchases makes me feel confident in their product line for the long term and is now the main reason, along with Gamepass of course, why I stuck with Xbox.

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