Microsoft Gamescom 2017 Conference

[Silent_Buddha]

I'm too used to get "oh and one more thing" at press conferences

I was really expecting a windows 10 VR hardware compatibility or something. We know the Acer specs are a good match for xb1x, maybe software isn't ready yet, or maybe they are waiting for xb1x userbase to build up before launching an expensive peripheral. Or getting deals with VR devs to port.

At one of their developer things when they unveiled the VR headset partnerships for low cost VR headsets, they mentioned Windows 10 VR coming sometime fall of 2017 and potentially Xbox related VR stuff sometime in 2018.

I believe the feeling is that they want to see how the Windows 10 VR thing pans out with the low cost headsets before seeing what to do with a potential console VR roll out.

Regards,
SB

 

[BRiT]

ID@XBOX montage video:

Unruly Heroes
Hello Neighbor
Path of Exile
Raiders of the Broken Planet
Fable Fortune
Tacoma
Cuphead
PlayerUnknown's BattleGrounds
BattleRite
Strange Brigade
Black Desert
Train Sim World CBX Heavy Haul
RoboCraft Infinity
Conan Exiles

 

[BRiT]

For those who haven't caught the video yet, here's the recap from Xbox Wire that has a more extensive write up of the event: https://news.xbox.com/2017/08/20/xbox-at-gamescom-2017-recap/

 

[Nesh]

MS seems to do a lot of things right. Except one thing.....where are the new games that will make me want an XBOX?
There are a lot of indie games announced. They will be available on PC , pretty much everyone has a PC, and arent the kind of games that require demanding hardware nor would it make much of a difference playing them in 4k.
A great deal of multiplatform (or some minor exclusive PC+XBOX) games shown at the event arent eye catchy in general.
The X is marketed as a technological beast that will deliver the gamer new immersing experiences. Where is the mind blowing content?

 

[Scott_Arm]

MS seems to do a lot of things right. Except one thing.....where are the new games that will make me want an XBOX?
There are a lot of indie games announced. They will be available on PC , pretty much everyone has a PC, and arent the kind of games that require demanding hardware nor would it make much of a difference playing them in 4k.
A great deal of multiplatform (or some minor exclusive PC+XBOX) games shown at the event arent eye catchy in general.
The X is marketed as a technological beast that will deliver the gamer new immersing experiences. Where is the mind blowing content?

I agree about the lack of in-house high-end titles. They've dropped the ball massively in terms of producing content for their console. In terms of the indies, I actually don't think a lot of people have computers that can run all of those games. Lots of people have laptops with intel gpus, and unless they have one from the last couple of years it's pretty tough to run anything in a remotely reasonable way. They'll get a much much better experience from a console, even Xbox One S.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

There are a lot of indie games announced. They will be available on PC , pretty much everyone has a PC, and arent the kind of games that require demanding hardware...

A significant proportion of the titles in that trailer wouldn't run well on my integrated graphics. My choice is a dedicated GPU or console. Although if that's your argument (get a cheap GPU instead of an Xbox) then I agree. I'd be better off buying a £150 graphics card than an XBox One, and a £300 graphics card instead of an XBOX.

 

[iroboto]

AAA 1st party is a desert. But a lot of people pre-ordering is really looking for the jump i quality in 3rd party games.

Going from weakest to strongest console is big appeal for folks with money. And with 1080p DSR all enhanced titles as 16AF for all native and BC titles, you've got good overall value cherry picking the titles you want to play.

 

[Nesh]

AAA 1st party is a desert. But a lot of people pre-ordering is really looking for the jump i quality in 3rd party games.

Going from weakest to strongest console is big appeal for folks with money. And with 1080p DSR all enhanced titles as 16AF for all native and BC titles, you've got good overall value cherry picking the titles you want to play.

First day buyers arent always the best indicator especially when the supply is limited.

 

[Jay]

I had low expectations of gamescom, and they may have just about met it.
That's not to say that I think for the wider audience (i.e. not me) that it wasn't very bad.

I think most here know my views on how bad I think their marketing and messaging has been, and this just carried it on.

I think that the 1X will sell well for the first few months regardless. Which may help them get into the new year where they can start a fresh and be on a roll.
Or they could do same as the 1S and just let it fizzle out.

Minecraft special edition, that needed to come out last year or early this, now the cost pushes it closer to the 1X.

Should have still showed crackdown 3 mp, just a vid to show that it's still alive and impressive. Having nothing regardless of delay makes people more suspicious of the mp now and the game as a whole.

They still have a week to try and get some good messaging out, so it will be interesting to see how it goes.

Hopefully they've calibrated the 1X displays, yea may sound stupid but last thing they need is it to not show well on the show floor. Wouldn't be surprised if they calibrate them and then have half on the wrong input.

I'll need to look through thread to see what games they have running on the 1X on the floor.
People hands on could be what helps save gamescom for them.
Still waiting for the comparisons that they said they would give, didn't expect that on the stream, but have little hope to see it this week either.

 

[Scott_Arm]

Crackdown 3 didn't look great at e3, so I'm not surprised it wasn't shown again.

 

[Jay]

Crackdown 3 didn't look great at e3, so I'm not surprised it wasn't shown again.

That was single player.

The tech demo/alpha from couple years ago looked pretty good.
The destruction is what would look good more so than the graphics themselves.
I'm not talking about showing 5-10mins either, just a 30sec clip even.

 

[iroboto]

First day buyers arent always the best indicator especially when the supply is limited.

Right, my apologies, I'm referring to upgraders in my commentary. Will need to wait after launch day to see how many are new to the ecosystem.

No one is sure what extremely limited supply is, all I know is that the Special edition is only available through pre-order. Standard edition is launch day forward.

So the real test is how long it takes for them to open up standard edition pre-orders.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

The tech demo/alpha from couple years ago looked pretty good.
The destruction is what would look good more so than the graphics themselves.

The problem there being the tech was only ever shown over LAN, not over the internet. It's never been demonstrated working over the internet so we've no idea what level of destruction is achieved in real-world play and how different that is to other games with destroyable environments. There's also a question mark as to how much long-term fun there is beyond the levelling-a-city gimmick. Plenty of reasons for people to be sceptical, and the lack of noise from MS suggests they aren't that enthusiastic themselves, preferring to talk about other titles that they see as more popular.

Can anyone recall a similar flagship game that wasn't bigged up but turned out big regardless?

 

[Jay]

The problem there being the tech was only ever shown over LAN, not over the internet. It's never been demonstrated working over the internet so we've no idea what level of destruction is achieved in real-world play and how different that is to other games with destroyable environments. There's also a question mark as to how much long-term fun there is beyond the levelling-a-city gimmick. Plenty of reasons for people to be sceptical, and the lack of noise from MS suggests they aren't that enthusiastic themselves, preferring to talk about other titles that they see as more popular.

Can anyone recall a similar flagship game that wasn't bigged up but turned out big regardless?

Due to everything you've said, that's even more of a reason to show it.
To alleviate those worries, or reset expectations.

If it really is a no go.
Show the 30 sec clip with it looking pretty good, then cancel it next year.

At least then goes to early next year without the negative shadow that it's currently throwing.

Sweep it under rug next year when few exclusives get released.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

Due to everything you've said, that's even more of a reason to show it.

Precisely. Hence what seems the mainstream logic at the moment that what they have to show just isn't god enough. That's the logical reason not to show it, because it'd do more harm than good. And the delay, to make it better so when it is shown, it'll impress.

 

[Scott_Arm]

Precisely. Hence what seems the mainstream logic at the moment that what they have to show just isn't god enough. That's the logical reason not to show it, because it'd do more harm than good. And the delay, to make it better so when it is shown, it'll impress.

Yep, showing it is only a good idea if the game is in a good state. I have zero good feelings about this one.

 

[Jay]

Precisely. Hence what seems the mainstream logic at the moment that what they have to show just isn't god enough. That's the logical reason not to show it, because it'd do more harm than good. And the delay, to make it better so when it is shown, it'll impress.

Truth is I was talking about faking it or to put it in general terms a vertical slice.
running on a lan, with a single building falling down.

Then next year deal with the standard claims of downgrade or cancel it.
At that point doubt it would make a bigger crater than it is at the moment.
Early next year got a few exclusives to bury it under if necessary.

But if it is as broken as you think, yours is the more honest approach I guess

 

[mpg1]

Microsoft has not really had a good go of it with first party this gen...Lionhead Studios...Scalebound...not letting the "physics in cloud" nonsense die before they managed to attach it to Crackdown 3...even Sea of Thieves looks a bit iffy.

They have turned a lot of things around with regards to Xbox but their decision making on 1st party titles has been bad. I'm not sure how they turn it around. My impression is Microsoft is more interested/natural in simply being a services platform than content creators.

 

[RancidLunchmeat]

That was single player.

The tech demo/alpha from couple years ago looked pretty good.
The destruction is what would look good more so than the graphics themselves.
I'm not talking about showing 5-10mins either, just a 30sec clip even.

I'd agree with everything you and Scott both have said. Which is why I have very little confidence in the future of CD3. Single player didn't look good, and MS has refused to show any followup to great MP footage that is now years old.

Troubling, in my opinion.

 

[ultragpu]

As much as I like to play Gears 4, Forza Horizon 3 and Quantum Break all in 4k HDR day one on the X, I just don't think it's currently worth the price. After all I've finished them numerous times on the One already so the incentive is not that big. Also need to see some DF comparisons with the Pro, if the improvements are not significant then I might just make do with the Pro for multiplats before PS5 comes or X drops price. If by now MS's pipeline has something like Alan Wake 2, Halo 6 or even a new graphics heavy hitter AAA exclusive for the near future I would day one the X in a heartbeat, but man none of those announced titles (Crack Down 3, Sea of Thieves, Cuphead or PUBG) interest me at all. We'll see, we'll see.