The Annual E3 Microsoft press conference thread, 2017 edition
How did this game never get a sequel? Was it due to the death and dismemberment of FASA?
Having a bit of trouble grading it really. No, I am not buying and X but that actually has almost nothing to do with price. I lack a 4k TV and I will not participate in the "mid-gen" upgrade cycle without better information on how long something will be good for. I really don't see anything that MS could have done to get me back at the moment short of a console exclusive of epic/ must have proportions. Something which is very rare these days.
I would still give it a B-. $499 doesn't really translate as sticker shock to me. Just more than the casual/ price sensitive audience would want to invest but not so much as to put off people with $ and high end electronics already. They didn't show any games that I really want, but I didn't expect them too. I thought it was well paced. Game after game rather than paid minor celebrity after paid cringe-worthy minor celebrity. They did show a lot of games that all looked pretty decent even if they did not appeal to me personally. I thought they did just fine. Just not earth shattering.
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I thought your point was there's a sizeable market for XBOX. That needs explaining if you want to convince people you're right.So you're saying that consoles (or indeed anything) doesn't sell less at a higher price? That every iPad and console and TV out there could be $50-100 (10-20%) more expensive without any loss of sales? All these companies throwing profit margins away! Quick, contact the Wall Street Journal and tell them the principal of Price Elasticity is no more!
D
Deleted member 13524
Guest
I enjoyed the pace of the presentation, it was games+games+games just like it should be.
It was nothing like "TVTV Sports TVTV Kinect TVTV" flop of 2013.
But in the end I do think Xbox's issue of not having enough high-profile AAA exclusives persists. It was really cool to watch a new Porsche being shown at the presentation, but I'm pretty sure Forza doesn't have the same audience size as God of War, The Last of Us, FFVII Remake or Insomniac's Spider Man (and maybe even Ni No Kuni and Kingdom Hearts?). The only IPs from Microsoft that match these above are probably Gears of War and Halo, but we saw none of those here.
Plus, has Microsoft generated any new big IP this gen that is GOTY-worthy, akin to Horizon Zero Dawn and Bloodborne? Quantum Break failed to hit the 80 metascore mark, Re:Core was a critical failure all around, Scalebound was cancelled.. Am I missing something here? Sea of Thieves is a new franchise, but it just doesn't look very good so far.
The price to me seems about right for the hardware but wrong for a console.
Microsoft was in a position to make the XboneX into a spectacular value proposition if it ran Windows 10 or at least accepting all UWP apps. It would be the perfect HTPC and unleashing PC capabilities into it would put everyone and their dogs running after the console to put it their living room.
And then they could make the console compatible with standard USB peripherals like keyboard+mouse, take some of their PC-only IP and bring back some of the strongest RTS franchises that they own like Age of Empires or Rise of Nations/Legends. That would definitely be a "here's something we can do that the competition can't".
Making it console-only makes it a PS4 Pro competitor, with better hardware and visuals in one hand but worse catalog and much more expensive on the other.
But for me, the white elephant in the room was the complete absence of Augmented Reality or VR. On one side we have Microsoft championing and co-developing accessible and high-end AR/VR headsets for Windows 10. On the other side we have the Xbox team completely ignoring AR/VR at E3. What the hell?
Microsoft even owns the rights for what is probably the most VR-friendly franchise, which is MechWarrior and all Battletech-related games.
Had they shown the XboneX playing a MechWarrior 5 alpha build with a VR headset, everyone would be talking about how PSVR was doomed. So here's another missed opportunity.
I think Phil Spencer did a lot of good for the Xbox franchise, but he can't seem to make any progress in breaking down all the inertia that persists between Microsoft's factions. XboneX lacking windows and VR is just another proof of that.
It's fascinating how easily you're able to mock and judge what seems to be the greater part of the gaming population.
If 50-100 bucks doesn't make any real difference for 4K TV owners, then you think Scorpio will beat the PS4 Pro in sales as soon as it releases and by a wide margin, right?
Come next holidays, we'll see how the XboneX fares in sales against a $350 PS4 Pro then.
It was nothing like "TVTV Sports TVTV Kinect TVTV" flop of 2013.
But in the end I do think Xbox's issue of not having enough high-profile AAA exclusives persists. It was really cool to watch a new Porsche being shown at the presentation, but I'm pretty sure Forza doesn't have the same audience size as God of War, The Last of Us, FFVII Remake or Insomniac's Spider Man (and maybe even Ni No Kuni and Kingdom Hearts?). The only IPs from Microsoft that match these above are probably Gears of War and Halo, but we saw none of those here.
Plus, has Microsoft generated any new big IP this gen that is GOTY-worthy, akin to Horizon Zero Dawn and Bloodborne? Quantum Break failed to hit the 80 metascore mark, Re:Core was a critical failure all around, Scalebound was cancelled.. Am I missing something here? Sea of Thieves is a new franchise, but it just doesn't look very good so far.
The price to me seems about right for the hardware but wrong for a console.
Microsoft was in a position to make the XboneX into a spectacular value proposition if it ran Windows 10 or at least accepting all UWP apps. It would be the perfect HTPC and unleashing PC capabilities into it would put everyone and their dogs running after the console to put it their living room.
And then they could make the console compatible with standard USB peripherals like keyboard+mouse, take some of their PC-only IP and bring back some of the strongest RTS franchises that they own like Age of Empires or Rise of Nations/Legends. That would definitely be a "here's something we can do that the competition can't".
Making it console-only makes it a PS4 Pro competitor, with better hardware and visuals in one hand but worse catalog and much more expensive on the other.
But for me, the white elephant in the room was the complete absence of Augmented Reality or VR. On one side we have Microsoft championing and co-developing accessible and high-end AR/VR headsets for Windows 10. On the other side we have the Xbox team completely ignoring AR/VR at E3. What the hell?
Microsoft even owns the rights for what is probably the most VR-friendly franchise, which is MechWarrior and all Battletech-related games.
Had they shown the XboneX playing a MechWarrior 5 alpha build with a VR headset, everyone would be talking about how PSVR was doomed. So here's another missed opportunity.
I think Phil Spencer did a lot of good for the Xbox franchise, but he can't seem to make any progress in breaking down all the inertia that persists between Microsoft's factions. XboneX lacking windows and VR is just another proof of that.
This depression feast here is hilarious. For what? 50-100 bucks more than you guessed? As if that makes a real difference. If you can't afford that you can't afford the 4K TV nor the games anyway. Seriously, what do you actually expect here?It's as if you people buy a price and not a product.
It's fascinating how easily you're able to mock and judge what seems to be the greater part of the gaming population.
If 50-100 bucks doesn't make any real difference for 4K TV owners, then you think Scorpio will beat the PS4 Pro in sales as soon as it releases and by a wide margin, right?
Come next holidays, we'll see how the XboneX fares in sales against a $350 PS4 Pro then.
Michellstar
Regular
When they axed Scalebound, Phill hinted that in the end this would pay off, and they could focus in more content, still waiting...
While the press conference itself may not have done much to showcase Xbox One X and the differences in games... I think the bigger picture is when fall comes and Digital Foundry starts running comparisons of the latest AAA games. People forget that we will be hitting 4 year mark of Xbox One/PS4....It's going to be tempting to a lot of console-centric gamers that want to have the best...especially among the hardcore. Also consider trade-in deals for old consoles...
RancidLunchmeat
Veteran
Since I know everybody was waiting on my thoughts...
Ultimately, I'm glad I decided to build a PC when Nvidia launched their 10 series GPU's, because as I expected - all future MS exclusives will be W10/XB. Most AAA titles are also released on PC (I really can't think of any recent ones except for RDR that wasn't), which leaves only co-op games I want to play with friends on Live as the population for games I'd purchase for that system. I didn't see enough of them, so I guess my XB1 will continue to be mainly a "Skype box". Of course, even that is only because of Kinect so I don't doubt that many owners simply have no reason to boot their XB1.
Crackdown - is it just me or did they change their art style? Maybe it was just the presentation but it was way more cartoony than I remembered. It always had that cell-shaded style but it looks like they really took it to the extreme. I don't remember that from previous E3's.
SoT - Some of us have had this discussion in PC about playing Alpha and Beta versions, and I'll say I'd probably be as excited as some here if I didn't have exposure to the game.
SoD2 - Really can't believe they didn't mention, let alone focus, on the main selling point which should be a persistent co-op world. SoD but with Co-Op! That's why I'm excited, but they didn't show that.
OG BC - Received just about the biggest pop from the crowd. Reading the comments on here, I guess some were confused by the fact that the audience knew the "reveal" the instant the OG Xbox Logo appeared on screen and had quieted a bit by the time Phil actually spoke the words and they showed Crimson Sky. Personally, I don't see the point - the games weren't digital so they don't exist in our virtual libraries, are there really that many people that still have original discs? Do major chains like GameStop even carry OG Xbox used titles? I'm thinking the winners here are flea markets, Goodwill, etc... the same kind of places that sell you a box of VHS tapes for $2.
Price - Too high for anybody with a computer less than 5 years old. They'll all get more mileage out of that $500 by upgrading their PC. The fact that they saved the price until the end, and that it wasn't on a slide it was only mentioned verbally by Phil and only once, tells you exactly how well they knew that price would go over with the crowd.
Color - really disappointed that nobody wanted to go down that rabbit hole with me, I think we all probably would have lost with the "gun metal grey" or whatever color it actually is, but that was probably the biggest surprise of the show for me.
Ultimately, I'm glad I decided to build a PC when Nvidia launched their 10 series GPU's, because as I expected - all future MS exclusives will be W10/XB. Most AAA titles are also released on PC (I really can't think of any recent ones except for RDR that wasn't), which leaves only co-op games I want to play with friends on Live as the population for games I'd purchase for that system. I didn't see enough of them, so I guess my XB1 will continue to be mainly a "Skype box". Of course, even that is only because of Kinect so I don't doubt that many owners simply have no reason to boot their XB1.
Crackdown - is it just me or did they change their art style? Maybe it was just the presentation but it was way more cartoony than I remembered. It always had that cell-shaded style but it looks like they really took it to the extreme. I don't remember that from previous E3's.
SoT - Some of us have had this discussion in PC about playing Alpha and Beta versions, and I'll say I'd probably be as excited as some here if I didn't have exposure to the game.
SoD2 - Really can't believe they didn't mention, let alone focus, on the main selling point which should be a persistent co-op world. SoD but with Co-Op! That's why I'm excited, but they didn't show that.
OG BC - Received just about the biggest pop from the crowd. Reading the comments on here, I guess some were confused by the fact that the audience knew the "reveal" the instant the OG Xbox Logo appeared on screen and had quieted a bit by the time Phil actually spoke the words and they showed Crimson Sky. Personally, I don't see the point - the games weren't digital so they don't exist in our virtual libraries, are there really that many people that still have original discs? Do major chains like GameStop even carry OG Xbox used titles? I'm thinking the winners here are flea markets, Goodwill, etc... the same kind of places that sell you a box of VHS tapes for $2.
Price - Too high for anybody with a computer less than 5 years old. They'll all get more mileage out of that $500 by upgrading their PC. The fact that they saved the price until the end, and that it wasn't on a slide it was only mentioned verbally by Phil and only once, tells you exactly how well they knew that price would go over with the crowd.
Color - really disappointed that nobody wanted to go down that rabbit hole with me, I think we all probably would have lost with the "gun metal grey" or whatever color it actually is, but that was probably the biggest surprise of the show for me.
Nah, this was MS' chance . They blew it and I have to admit that this is the first time that I am starting to believe that the next 2-3 years will be the last for ms as a console maker. The tiny budget that the Xbox division has these days compared to what Sony is spending which is evident in everything , from the non-appearance of any big budget titles with just about every MS collaboration with a second party being dead to the insane price for a Polaris+jaguar based console in 2017 to MS' anemic e3 presence ( apparently their booths are 1/3 of sony's ) at an e3 where they introduced a new console , to Sony having secured marketing rights to every big third party title ....the signs are too many to ignore.
Michellstar
Regular
Their position in the market, have price those 2/3 party deals out of the picture. So i thought (foolishly now) that they would up their 1p portfolio.
Yep, I think along the line as well, they´ve made a bunch of indie deals, mostly timed exclusivity, and nothing more...
They´ve been working in a tight budget and I think the ps4pro/scorpio are products of the failed 20nm node, and AMD tricked each other to get this deal.
D
Deleted member 13524
Guest
Back in 2013, Microsoft announced a $1B investment for Xbox exclusives only.
It's definitely not a problem of lack of investment.
But seeing the success of their exclusives so far, it does look like there's very little return from that investment. All exclusive games from that $1B in deals back in 2013 should have seen the light of day by now, at least in trailer form, but apart from Quantum Break there's little to show so far.
We'll know if the Switch is successful after it passes the ~7 million sales mark and not before. Sure, the consoles are flying off the shelves right now but at this point they would be regardless if Nintendo had launched a Surface Pro equivalent for $200 or a Moto G equivalent for $400.
MS invest money, but mostly towards their already successful IPs like Gears, Forza and Halo. Don't get me wrong, these have their place (Forza Horizon 3 was one my favorite games last year), but they need to at least try and create something new that can rival those titles. Sony is doing that, Nintendo doesn't have to (they've been selling Zelda, Mario and co. for decades now), it's almost as if MS is trying to use the same model (as Nintendo) but their IPs are not as strong imo. Funny thing is, Nintendo has launched a new and successful IP on their platform recently (Splatoon), and now it's getting a sequel.
Gamespot did that two weeks ago. Odd for the media to that specifically for scorpio but not for ps4 pro... PC master race craps on everything...
Michellstar
Regular
Yes, Fall 2018 is going to look barren, There´ll be a Forza Horizon whatever and nothing else for 1P
Halo/Gears are 2019 minimum and no in the same year for sure
Silent_Buddha
Legend
I think they learned their lesson about revealing new IP projects too early. Would there have been any internet blowback if Scalebound had been kept under wraps until 1 year before launch? The cancellation would have gone completely unnoticed then. There's certainly something to be said for generating hype for exclusives by showing something years ahead of time, but the potential there for negative publicity if development doesn't go according to plan is huge.
Heck, while watching TotalBiscuits Snarkathon, he commented that while MS was only showing stuff that would be released in the next year it's different how Sony shows things years in advance. His wife then chimed in about how it's nice to see things ahead of time, but Sony has pissed her off at times by cancelling projects they've shown at E3 in the same way that Scalebound being cancelled pissed her off.
I think MS just decided to play it safe and only show things that are basically finished or almost finished.
Personally, I think how 4A Games decided not to reveal anything about Metro: Exodus until they a few months before release is the right way to go. It caught me by surprise, but I KNOW it's going to release, and more importantly, I don't have to wait 58923764897 years (slight exaggeration) before I can play it.
Regards,
SB
Michellstar
Regular
They brought that into themselves trying to pass a 1Tf machine as a current gen machine.
And imposing 1080 in their 1p
Sea of Thieves looked better to me, that Ubi game looked like Black Flag without the Assassin parts, I've played that game already. Sea of Thieves looks like it'll be more fun when playing with friends, and it looks different to other pirate games.
Silent_Buddha
Legend
Yes, oddly enough Sea of Thieves looks to have more realistic ship to ship combat than Skull & Bones.
It's also crew based ship combat versus non-crewed ship combat. In other words, in Skull & Bones, boarding is just a calculation and a cutscene. In Sea of Thieves, you actually have to board the enemy ship and fight their crew.
The setting is similar, but the execution and gameplay is radically different.
That said, I think both games will be great. And look forward to playing both of them.
Regards,
SB
