Is competition important, or just the XBox?

Xbox does have new games, but no AAA as strong as Mario or God of war

@seaofsalt:

Well, for one thing, I have had a gaming PC a smidgen longer than Playstation has been a brand. Asinine, in my book, is this conviction that PC doesn't count as a viable gaming platform simply because Microsoft has a console swimming in its wake. So, miss me with the Sony fanboy talk a moment. I can only partially concede a point that there is such a thing as a "console gamer" because that's a wider consensus on here than half of the other stupid fuckery spoon-fed around here. Spades being spades and such.

Oh yes, Sea of Thieves did indeed come out. I acknowledged its existence in my OP. Microsoft acknowledged it at least two or three E3s straight. I believe it was "The most ambitious title Rare has ever made" or some such. State of Decay 2. Okay, there's a start, perhaps. It's not my kind of thing but I hope it turns out to be more than a half-hearted "I'm lost in a sandbox" survival clone with no production value. You probably think I don't mean that, but seeing a console run on participation trophies isn't helping anyone. Not even a "Sony fanboy like me."

Look, I'll break it down for you guys. An Xbox rolling over and playing dead isn't good for anyone. It's not good for any systems fanboys because it could be seen as a reason for a bunch of fat cats in Japan to not try as hard... and goddamnit, last generation, Japanese developers had to get on their goddamn grind to keep up with technology and trends happening in the West because XBox was a thing. THAT made gaming a lot better this generation all around. Just ask anyone with a few Sega titles in their Steam catalogue. Look at me, I'm going there. You have me 100% all wrong. No one gets brownie points from me for having like three or four "exclusives" (bastardization of the term notwithstanding) a year and phoning it home with some goddamn gen 6 and gen 7 titles every once in a while just to kick the ant pile to make sure the colony isn't DEAD.

If that makes me the bad guy? I will certainly ride into town wearing the black hat on that horse.

@calvincfb: do you only play AAA games then?

@boycie: no and this is not about me, it's about the average consumer behavior.

This kind of consumer prefer the platform that has the biggest AAA strong and exclusive content over the platform that has BC and minor games.

This is the main selling point of ps4 and switch.

PC's selling point is it's power.

Xbox has no real selling point.

Why would anyone choose the platform with less new games to play with no first party and strong legacy franchise over the platform that has all of this plus the most popular multiplats?

@calvincfb: that’s a whole different argument to lulz Xbox has no games

Also 30 million consoles sold is pretty good for a console with no selling points.

Plus, ps4 marketing strategy makes sure to put on the average consumer head that they're for the players and that greatness awaits.

These catch phrases make sure that PS4 stays on top of their game, Xbox has nothing like it.

Xbox has no marketing strategy.

@boycie: I'm not arguing Xbox has no games on a serious thread, I like talking about marketing.

"Hey, who's that funny lookin' character wearin' the black hat?"

HE'S...THE BAD GUYYYYYYYYYYY....

But I totally agree, when companies get complacent, we get lazy trash.

So why not just be honest? Why continue the train of exaggeration and hyperbole peddled in fanboyism? I mean we all acknowledge the state of the Xbox One, but no one aside from people who actually use one seem to honestly acknowledge the strides Microsoft has and is making to right their ship. It's just a bunch of nonsense left and right and it makes it hard to come to forums like this, not because I care, but rather because of how annoyingly petty and dishonest it is. If anyone has experience with basically anything Microsoft going back 30 years they would know how they operate, they throw things at the wall until they stick, that's just how they do business and the ones that do stick are cemented in place.

They generally always rectify their failings, they always try to do better when they've come up short, why are people acting as if this isn't a reality? Why are people acting as if this isn't a company notorious for bouncing back especially with everything evidenced within the Xbox division more assuredly being in the process of doing that?

@seaofsalt: I don't really feel that MS is trying, to be honest. They're only investing in BC.

Plus, I don't believe I should have pity on a multibillionaire company, they have money, they can't take care of themselves.

And this is system wars

They're investing in BC because it's something that is readily available to them and can be capitalized on in the immediate. New games are years long ventures, they already have some that have just come out and there are more on the way. On top of this E3 is only in two months and they've already outlined they're announcing new games previously unannounced so there's that as well. This isn't overnight, shifting from Mattrick to where they are now is a big transition and they're finally going towards ventures that are free of his intervention, and this is three years on. Crackdown 3, Sea of Thieves, State of Decay 2, those are the end of things ushered in under Mattrick and fostered by Spencer, what's coming next is of Phil's doing so we'll just have to wait and see what that is.

So, that's actually one of the most intelligent questions I've heard asked in all my years here in the System Wars. Indeed, we all know Microsoft's MO over the years, so "What do you expect?" is definitely a new direction and opens up a conversation that needs to be had. I mean, hell, when I mentioned that MSes corporate culture could be seen as an identifier for XBox, it wasn't some tongue-in-cheek backhanded comment.

We should absolutely go there. Hell, the XBox itself might find some answers there. We may also find the challenges there. I'll list the things I see.

1. The culture behind the XBox has changed dramatically from generation to generation. I'm not sure whether this new way of doing things is more in line with Microsoft's overall direction and strategy as a company, but the strategy has definitely cost them market penetration when compared to last gen. I will say there are lessons to learn in that and leave it open-ended.

2. No one/ very few people close their eyes and associate the word "XBox" with a progressive and imaginative machine that delivers a culturally diverse and inclusive message for a fantastically wide audience of people. Considering Windows is one of the few products on Earth that has its design informed by Anthropologists, how does a dudebro shooter box with a shrinking offering of first-party developer houses reflect the company that makes the plastic box with the electronic bits and bobs in it?

3. Perhaps most importantly, how does the culture behind the XBox or the way it does business enrich us as consumers and as gamers? Is it unfair to ask if their innovations have been enveloped or emulated by the industry and that the path forward is far more unclear now in that process? I mean I know it's a painful point right now being harped on by fanboys on both sides of the equation, but at the point where playing old games is being touted as innovation, perhaps some of the sword rattling is coming from a place where the question "What is next?" is being answered in a decidedly backwards way? I'll leave that open-ended.

4. What is fair to ask the gamers to tolerate? How much of this feckless bumbling by a super mega corp are we ultimately supposed to be on-board for? When do we start asking "What if someone else had that shelf space?" Yeah, the brand loyalist fanboys have been asking that since 2001 because they just want to hate. Forget those assholes for a moment. We, as gamers, are not an endless welfare check. We can, and have for many decades, voted with our wallets and have been allowed to vote "no." My biggest fear when I bought my first XBox wasn't "What if this super corporation ends up running everything in gaming?". We should have gotten over that when a super mega hardware corp like Sony actually did end up running damn near everything. My biggest fear was "What if it sucks, but they have enough money to not only not give a damn, but hurt gaming as a result?". Dude. Gods as my witness. I am asking myself that a LOT lately. Something other than SaltyButtHurtSonyFanboyLoLsCloudPowerDieCowDie would be a very welcome departure from what looks like on the outside looking in as a death spiral that has been casting shade left and right for a good while in TRUE 4K.

Feel me a bit more, now?

Competition is important as always. The PS1 and PS2 allowed Nintendo to make the iconic Wii and DS; they also allowed Microsoft to make the Xbox 360. The Xbox 360 allowed Sony to make the PS4.

Without competition, you get train wrecks and shitty products. Nintendo's lack of competition, aside from Sega, led to their worst enemy, the PlayStation; it also led to them losing third party. Sony's arrogance led to that embarrassing PS3 reveal. Microsoft's arrogance led to the flop of a console called the Xbox One. Lack of competition in the handheld market led to the 3DS; not that the 3DS is bad, but what a fucking useless addition that drives up the cost while adding no value. Kind of like the gamepad on the Wii U! Meh. At least it's cheaper and didn't take value away.

How original Shitgenja, another Xbox bashing thread.

<3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3

It's not hard these days.

Competition is good, but not necessary. It can wake competitors out of a funk and keep them on their toes. Xbox may be an unprofitable, shiftless money-sink these days, but their blind jealousy of Sony keeps the fires going and gives interesting results.