Microsoft rumored to be buying...... [2020-04, 2020-07, 2020-11]

[fehu]

It circled at least as of rumor, because I learned it IIRC almost in early 2000, and I'm not an insider.

 

[ChuckeRearmed]

You are stating the obvious as if it can work as a counter argument that can paint it in a positive light.

Because I don't consider Bethesda's purchase as something bad - being primary as PC gamer MS at least respects PC gaming these days. It will be available to more players than ever and not locked up in a 400$ wallet garden. If Sony purchased Bethesda - and Sony wanted to do that too - it would be a tragedy and a disaster for gaming world. With MS it will probably be a better world. Not to mention Sony's approach to modding.

But of course Sony started to treat PC slightly slightly better - I recall PS fans claimed that PC folks should celebrate than Sony threw a bone to PC gamers by releasing Heavy Rain and compared that event to MS releases on PC, but also some people felt bad for Horizon release on PC (it not like Sony fans lost something, yet they still felt bad. Literally felt. Being a PC mainly person, nobody disrespects PC community more than PS folks and Sony these days. At least Sony - under pressure I think - realized that PC market is becoming strong. Even with their releases Sony is no different these days from MS from the days of Halo 2, the period where MS was rightfully blamed for not supporting PC.

Looking at the general state of communities on the Internet, it seems PS4 generation really made some folks feel entitled to have all the games (which has never been the case in a console world).

P.S. I recall that some Sony fans felt bad for release of Horizon on PC. I mean, literally people felt bad not because they were deprived of the game, but because some other people would be able to play that game. It was hilarious.

P.P.S also it seems like MS is trying to build a good reputation among gaming community - probably they - finally - realized that their old bad reputation prevented them from having more success.

 

[PSman1700]

Because I don't consider Bethesda's purchase as something bad - being primary as PC gamer MS at least respects PC gaming these days. It will be available to more players than ever and not locked up in a 400$ wallet garden. If Sony purchased Bethesda - and Sony wanted to do that too - it would be a tragedy and a disaster for gaming world. With MS it will probably be a better world. Not to mention Sony's approach to modding.

While i agree on some points, Sony is actually improving regarding having their games on pc too. Even the PS boss mentioned something along those lines. Restricting studios having games to just one platform isnt going to last anyway and they know it. Reach more people usually means more profits.

nobody disrespects PC community more than PS folks

Ye noticed that, no idea why to be honest. PC isnt a direct competitor even to PS, sony actually releases their games on the platform. They wouldnt if it was their competitor.

Even with their releases Sony is no different these days from MS from the days of Halo 2, the period where MS was rightfully blamed for not supporting PC.

MS also started out like Sony now, with some appearing on PC, slowly everythings there. Never have there been so many Sony games on pc as since the 2013 generation. Im not only talking about first party AAA exclusives but sony games in general, for example Predator, Tetris effect, Detroit etc etc.Not to forget things like Godfall, and games that are 'console exclusive' which usually means a pc version day one or shortly after.

 

[Tkumpathenurple]

If Sony purchased Bethesda - and Sony wanted to do that too - it would be a tragedy and a disaster for gaming world. With MS it will probably be a better world.

It wouldn't be a tragedy and a disaster, it would be disappointing at worst. These are entertainment products. Most of them shallow and vapid. In a worst case scenario of Sony buying Bethesda and making all of their games PlayStation exclusive, you'd have to find one of dozens of other games in which you can dress up a digital doll, give it a name, and set out on a journey to save a fair maiden from a terrible baddie. No disasters anywhere in sight.

Looking at the general state of communities on the Internet, it seems PS4 generation really made some folks feel entitled to have all the games (which has never been the case in a console world).

I've read plenty of comments from PC gamers whining about not being able to play PlayStation games on PC. People can go tit for that on that sort of thing for days and get nowhere.

It's not the PS4 generation that's created this entitlement, it's a growing cultural problem (not limited just to gaming,) whereby autistic, online-conditioned, adult-infants throw their toys out of the pram every time they don't get everything they want. Yet they don't realise or appreciate just how good they have it. They don't really have any worries, and they don't really have lives, so they use media to plug the gaps, granting them the means to have some degree of drama when some cynical corporation decides to chase money by slapping some tits on a previously male character.

 

[Nesh]

Because I don't consider Bethesda's purchase as something bad - being primary as PC gamer MS at least respects PC gaming these days. It will be available to more players than ever and not locked up in a 400$ wallet garden. If Sony purchased Bethesda - and Sony wanted to do that too - it would be a tragedy and a disaster for gaming world. With MS it will probably be a better world. Not to mention Sony's approach to modding.

Sony doesnt have the capacity to buy a company like Bethesda and didnt so thats a big if. A big assumption, a scenario that isnt worth talking about (edit: what we know for a fact is that Bethesda was an independent multiplatform studio. Now they arent and where and what they release is subject to MS's desires). You are making also too many assumptions about how it will treat the IPs in the future or how they will treat IPs of other big companies if purchased or if the competition will continue to exist in the future and you omit how competition pushed games on each platform to differentiate them.

But of course Sony started to treat PC slightly slightly better - I recall PS fans claimed that PC folks should celebrate than Sony threw a bone to PC gamers by releasing Heavy Rain and compared that event to MS releases on PC, but also some people felt bad for Horizon release on PC (it not like Sony fans lost something, yet they still felt bad. Literally felt. Being a PC mainly person, nobody disrespects PC community more than PS folks and Sony these days. At least Sony - under pressure I think - realized that PC market is becoming strong. Even with their releases Sony is no different these days from MS from the days of Halo 2, the period where MS was rightfully blamed for not supporting PC.

Looking at the general state of communities on the Internet, it seems PS4 generation really made some folks feel entitled to have all the games (which has never been the case in a console world).

P.S. I recall that some Sony fans felt bad for release of Horizon on PC. I mean, literally people felt bad not because they were deprived of the game, but because some other people would be able to play that game. It was hilarious.

P.P.S also it seems like MS is trying to build a good reputation among gaming community - probably they - finally - realized that their old bad reputation prevented them from having more success.

That sounds like fanboy small talk and dont even want to bother

 

[chris1515]

Because I don't consider Bethesda's purchase as something bad - being primary as PC gamer MS at least respects PC gaming these days. It will be available to more players than ever and not locked up in a 400$ wallet garden. If Sony purchased Bethesda - and Sony wanted to do that too - it would be a tragedy and a disaster for gaming world. With MS it will probably be a better world. Not to mention Sony's approach to modding.

But of course Sony started to treat PC slightly slightly better - I recall PS fans claimed that PC folks should celebrate than Sony threw a bone to PC gamers by releasing Heavy Rain and compared that event to MS releases on PC, but also some people felt bad for Horizon release on PC (it not like Sony fans lost something, yet they still felt bad. Literally felt. Being a PC mainly person, nobody disrespects PC community more than PS folks and Sony these days. At least Sony - under pressure I think - realized that PC market is becoming strong. Even with their releases Sony is no different these days from MS from the days of Halo 2, the period where MS was rightfully blamed for not supporting PC.

Looking at the general state of communities on the Internet, it seems PS4 generation really made some folks feel entitled to have all the games (which has never been the case in a console world).

P.S. I recall that some Sony fans felt bad for release of Horizon on PC. I mean, literally people felt bad not because they were deprived of the game, but because some other people would be able to play that game. It was hilarious.

P.P.S also it seems like MS is trying to build a good reputation among gaming community - probably they - finally - realized that their old bad reputation prevented them from having more success.

They direspect no one. This is a company and they create revenue and do a profit. They aren't friend of Sony consumer or other consumer. Playstation division doesn't earn most of the money they generate selling their own game. If it was the case, they would release everywhere. Most of the money comes from the PSN with third party royalties on game, DLC, and microtransaction sales. Xbox, Steam, GOG or Epic game Store are competitor. This is business, nothing more, nothing less.

This is cool to release some of the game later when the commercial life is finished, they have something to lost. And they do it because they think they can earn some money from this without losing the money coming from the core business. I would not be surprised if they release little by little the PS4 backlog on PC and later the PS5 backlog when they release a PS6 or they go full cloud. MS has its own store on PC and the OS generate money for them. If it was not the case they would not release the game there.

 

[eastmen]

They direspect no one. This is a company and they create revenue and do a profit. They aren't friend of Sony consumer or other consumer. Playstation division doesn't earn most of the money they generate selling their own game. If it was the case, they would release everywhere. Most of the money comes from the PSN with third party royalties on game, DLC, and microtransaction sales. Xbox, Steam, GOG or Epic game Store are competitor. This is business, nothing more, nothing less.

This is cool to release some of the game later when the commercial life is finished, they have something to lost. And they do it because they think they can earn some money from this without losing the money coming from the core business. I would not be surprised if they release little by little the PS4 backlog on PC and later the PS5 backlog when they release a PS6 or they go full cloud. MS has its own store on PC and the OS generate money for them. If it was not the case they would not release the game there.

I think its fair to want MS to buy a company over Sony or Nintendo because of a higher likely hood of it coming to steam , xbox and xbox pc . MS has been releasing almost everything day on date on both platforms. Until Sony / Nintendo do the same its hard to argue that it would be more consumer friendly.

 

[ChuckeRearmed]

MS also started out like Sony now, with some appearing on PC, slowly everythings there.

You could technically explain it that MS wanted to gain the market share in console market. Being underdog at least can explain certain stuff. It is not like Sony's money hatting time exclusivity for the games that would come to PS anyway due to it being a market leader.
And MS was blamed for that and even now still some folks - rightfully - blame MS for their past shenanigans with PC gaming.

Sony doesnt have the capacity to buy a company like Bethesda and didnt so thats a big if.

According to some rumours sony wanted to pay 5 bil for Bethesda and MS increased the bid to 7.5.

This is cool to release some of the game later when the commercial life is finished, they have something to lost. And they do it because they think they can earn some money from this without losing the money coming from the core business. I would not be surprised if they release little by little the PS4 backlog on PC and later the PS5 backlog when they release a PS6 or they go full cloud. MS has its own store on PC and the OS generate money for them. If it was not the case they would not release the game there.

I don't think they will be release a lot more PS4 games to PC. PS5 will probably provide more games to PC on the later date. Regarding MS Store...I do believe that MS will purchase Valve sooner or later. Sony it seems more into EGS though.

They direspect no one. This is a company and they create revenue and do a profit. They aren't friend of Sony consumer or other consumer. Playstation division doesn't earn most of the money they generate selling their own game. If it was the case, they would release everywhere. Most of the money comes from the PSN with third party royalties on game, DLC, and microtransaction sales. Xbox, Steam, GOG or Epic game Store are competitor. This is business, nothing more, nothing less.

Actually it reminds me of the argument I always hear on the Internet that if Sony does it - it is a business. MS does it - it evil. I understand that what Sony is doing is for their own profit, it is just what MS is doing is for the profit too. And that would not be problem if the same attitude towards both, but - due to bigger sony community - Sony gets a free pass, while MS - doesn't.

 

[PSman1700]

Until Sony / Nintendo do the same its hard to argue that it would be more consumer friendly.

Consumers.... but think studios/developers too. Kojima expressed he wanted to break free and have his game to a broader market.

Xbox, Steam, GOG or Epic game Store are competitor. This is business, nothing more, nothing less.

If those where competitors they wouldnt release games on those platforms.

I don't think they will be release a lot more PS4 games to PC. PS5 will probably provide more games to PC on the later date. Regarding MS Store...I do believe that MS will purchase Valve sooner or later. Sony it seems more into EGS though.

A Sony/PS ceo already said we can expect more PS games on pc. MS buying up valve seems long sought though. Their way to big. Could aswell buy playstation.

 

[ChuckeRearmed]

A Sony/PS ceo already said we can expect more PS games on pc. MS buying up valve seems long sought though. Their way to big. Could aswell buy playstation.

We'll see. I do think that MS + Valve would be a nice combo though, considering what Epic is doing with EGS.

 

[eastmen]

We'll see. I do think that MS + Valve would be a nice combo though, considering what Epic is doing with EGS.

Might as well just buy CD project red. It would be a lot cheaper and you get a quality store plus developer.

 

[ChuckeRearmed]

Might as well just buy CD project red. It would be a lot cheaper and you get a quality store plus developer.

I always forget that they also have a store, though MS already owns an obscure store (Windows Store), adding another one won't do good
Also nobody will touch CD Project Red now or in the nearest future - its price is too inflated.

 

[liams]

if microsoft couldnt buy valve theres no point buying anyone else to get a store with more presence on windows, they should just do what epic is doing and have exclusives and the like. After making the game store easier on the eyes of course.

 

[Deleted member 11852]

Not to mention Sony's approach to modding.

I'm not sure what approach you mean? Fallout and Skyrim both support modding. The modding scene on PS4 is a more limited than on Xbox, but not because of some arbitrary Sony policy but because some media codecs (like MP3) used in many mod assets are not part of the PS4 SDK and would require specific licensing.

Sony threw a bone to PC gamers by releasing Heavy Rain

Heavy Rain, Beyond Two Souls and Detroit Become Human were games by Quantic Dreams. Sony did publish those games on PlayStation but Sony do not own the games. The same is true with Death Stranding.

I don't know that Microsoft will be a better owner for Zenimax's studios than Sony would be. My fear with Microsoft is we've seen how they treat developers when they has an important IP, they limit the developers to cranking more out Halo and Gears and Fable and Forza and none of those studios ever released an original/different IP again. That said, I'm hoping Microsoft will crack the whip a bit more with Bethesda Game Studios and we'll see more Bethesda RPGs, i.e. Starfield, Fallout, Elder Scrolls!

 

[ChuckeRearmed]

if microsoft couldnt buy valve theres no point buying anyone else to get a store with more presence on windows, they should just do what epic is doing and have exclusives and the like. After making the game store easier on the eyes of course.

I am actually curious why did not Microsoft do that. I mean EGS arrived later - as far as I recall - yet it was able to gain much bigger foothold than Microsoft Store which existed...I am not sure since when actually. Since Windows 8?

I'm not sure what approach you mean? Fallout and Skyrim both support modding. The modding scene on PS4 is a more limited than on Xbox, but not because of some arbitrary Sony policy but because some media codecs (like MP3) used in many mod assets are not part of the PS4 SDK and would require specific licensing.

I am not sure if it now allows externals asset or not or even if it is limited to only paid mods or something. It had some different issues rather than MP3.

Heavy Rain, Beyond Two Souls and Detroit Become Human were games by Quantic Dreams. Sony did publish those games on PlayStation but Sony do not own the games. The same is true with Death Stranding.

Well, Death Stranding was announced like timed exclusive for PS from the very beginning no? It has never arrived to Xbox though (probably money hatted).

I don't know that Microsoft will be a better owner for Zenimax's studios than Sony would be. My fear with Microsoft is we've seen how they treat developers when they has an important IP, they limit the developers to cranking more out Halo and Gears and Fable and Forza and none of those studios ever released an original/different IP again.

It is not like it is different for any other big franchise. Game 1, Game 2, Game 3, etc. etc. Big franchises are either milked or die. Alone. Bethesda will fit just fine though.

 

[Deleted member 11852]

I am not sure if it now allows externals asset or not or even if it is limited to only paid mods or something. It had some different issues rather than MP3.

Not that I'm aware. All of the limitations I know of due to codec support for graphic and audio assets. I'm happy to be corrected if you provide details..?

Well, Death Stranding was announced like timed exclusive for PS from the very beginning no? It has never arrived to Xbox though (probably money hatted).

If by "money hatted" you mean Sony gave Hideo Kojima a game engine and enough money to develop the game he couldn't have without funding, sure. But perhaps you know something specific?

It is not like it is different for any other big franchise. Game 1, Game 2, Game 3, etc. etc. Big franchises are either milked or die. Alone. Bethesda will fit just fine though.

Sony have a habit of giving their franchises some legs but not relentlessly cranking out sequel after sequel. Look at Naughty Dog. They've crunched through Crash Bandicoot, Jak and Daxter, Uncharted and The Last of Us. Look at Insomniac, they're crunched through Spyro, Ratchet & Clank, Resistance, Fuse, Sunset Overdrive and Spider-Man. You get the odd outlier like Polyphony (Gran Turimso) and Santa Monica Studios but the latter does a lot of third party studio support and co-developed games like Everybody has Gone to the Rapture, Fat Princess, Journey, Sound Shapes and The Unfinished Swan.

Creatively, it must be tedious to only work on genre and IP. Like eating the same food every day.

 

[Moik]

I remember the buzz about Microsoft's offer to Nintendo when some book (Opening the Xbox) mentioned it. I remember it as Nintendo's president thought it was a joke at first, but mulled it over in several meetings. Didn't know they were so dismissive of it though.

Found an archive of a writeup of the original gamers.com article: https://web.archive.org/web/2014011...cene.com/xbox1data/sep/EpkppFVAZAjBjGvsNN.php

"Nintendo's U.S. president Minoru Arakawa wasn't sure what to think when Microsoft made the offer. "I was surprised," Arakawa admitted. "We didn't need the money. I thought it was a joke."

Nontheless, Arakawa and Nintendo of America took the offer seriously and brought discussions to its corporate office in Japan. "Some Nintendo executives seemed interested and the meetings went on through the winter," the book describes. "The parties met six or seven times. Microsoft wanted Nintendo to drop its GameCube console and get behind the Xbox. But Hiroshi Yamauchi, the aging CEO and Nintendo, didn't like the idea. By January 2000, the talks were over."

 

[ChuckeRearmed]

Sony have a habit of giving their franchises some legs but not relentlessly cranking out sequel after sequel. Look at Naughty Dog. They've crunched through Crash Bandicoot, Jak and Daxter, Uncharted and The Last of Us. Look at Insomniac, they're crunched through Spyro, Ratchet & Clank, Resistance, Fuse, Sunset Overdrive and Spider-Man. You get the odd outlier like Polyphony (Gran Turimso) and Santa Monica Studios but the latter does a lot of third party studio support and co-developed games like Everybody has Gone to the Rapture, Fat Princess, Journey, Sound Shapes and The Unfinished Swan.

Creatively, it must be tedious to only work on genre and IP. Like eating the same food every day.

ND had like 4 Uncharted games...Last of Us had 2, God of War has 4, Infamous had 3. In general it feels generational - like all the same titles in a single generation, then brand new ones (single one from the past gen to attract people) in the next generation etc. That creates the diversity (kinda) + add third party deals and Sony Playstation has a nice lineup (thought it feels heavily skewed towards 3rd person games).

If by "money hatted" you mean Sony gave Hideo Kojima a game engine and enough money to develop the game he couldn't have without funding, sure. But perhaps you know something specific?

It reminds me about SF5 situation (and the topic about SFV actually now started to appear more often due to Bethesda's event). So I agree it is kinda arguable whether it is money hatted or not - it came to PC too though. But it has the spirit of money hat

Not that I'm aware. All of the limitations I know of due to codec support for graphic and audio assets. I'm happy to be corrected if you provide details..?

I found some old articles and there were also discussions on Reddit etc.
https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/...ox-one-pc-how-to-install-mods-special-edition

After some initial back and forth between Bethesda and Sony, the PS4 version of Skyrim will feature mod support, but will only allow assets that already exist within the game - so don't expect anything like Thomas the Tank Engine Dragons on PS4.

As a result, there has been a large gulf between the number of mods available on both systems - 38 on PS4 versus 119 on Xbox One. Meanwhile, the storage space reserved for mods on each console is also different - 5GB on Xbox One, and 1GB on PS4.

As our story on the news mentions, mods should mostly consist of text changes that can be as small as 1MB, so expect creations like a level editor with new quests and dialogue, or changes to how the world behaves, than anything new and unusual.

Of course it is nowhere near PC (I had skyrim with 100GB+ of mods only), still I don't feel like Sony's limitations were just API related. Though just like with Crossplay we can argue that being a market leader it can do whatever.

 

[Deleted member 11852]

ND had like 4 Uncharted games...Last of Us had 2, God of War has 4, Infamous had 3. In general it feels generational - like all the same titles in a single generation, then brand new ones (single one from the past gen to attract people) in the next generation etc. That creates the diversity (kinda) + add third party deals and Sony Playstation has a nice lineup (thought it feels heavily skewed towards 3rd person games).

You didn't read my post did you? Try again. Also your point about generation changes is not correct. Uncharted spanned PS3 and PS4, as did The Last of Us. Ratchet and Clank will spann PS2 to PS5, but not neither franchise was relentlessly cranked out sequel after sequel like Halo, Gears of Fable.

I found some old articles and there were also discussions on Reddit etc.

That does not confirm what you claimed. Try again.

 

[ChuckeRearmed]

You didn't read my post did you? Try again. Also your point about generation changes is not correct. Uncharted spanned PS3 and PS4, as did The Last of Us. Ratchet and Clank will spann PS2 to PS5, but not neither franchise was relentlessly cranked out sequel after sequel like Halo, Gears of Fable.

Fable had 3 games basically, Gears & Halo had 5 or 6 (I don't count remakes and off shoots). You talked about not cranking sequels yet I stated that Uncharted had 4 games, GoW had 4 etc. If those are not sequels than what?

That does not confirm what you claimed. Try again.

Claim of what? I said that Sony has limited support of mods.