The Future is with PS5, at least it is for me, unless Xbox completely changes all their polices.

When they started Play Anywhere, Win10 store was dead anyways and there were already millions of Xboxs sold, and console sales remained weak. If I don't have a Xbox or if Game Pass is on PC, I'll just play on PC either way, and won't need a Xbox. Even as it is today, I don't need a Xbox for its Game Pass cause of Play Anywhere.

Backwards Compatibility will mean nothing cause unlike Gen 7, basically everything Gen 8 is accessible on PC, plus our PS4's aren't going anywhere, just like my PS3 is still here, and my PS2, and my PS1. If I would have boycotted Game Stop earlier I'd have all my games as well.

What does that leave me? The PS4 Pro is completely fine for every game, even if X plays a very small percentage better than it and PC. Maybe some people bought X anyways like me, but it had Enhanced BC, including games not on PC/PS4, and had Game Pass just on Xbox, and unlike Xbox One, the Xbox 4 won't have any full exclusives. Plus Origin Access is way better than EA Access, leaving literally nothing to buy a Xbox for.

So if we have another price/performance like Pro vs X, but in the PS5 vs Xbox 4, and both have BC or Xbox only has BC, and every Xbox game is Play Anywhere and also on Win10's Game Pass, there will be zero reason to pick up a Xbox 4, definitely not as a 2nd console, especially when Switch is gonna be the must have 2nd console, and its likely getting access to PC's Game Pass via xCloud, so as PC/PS5 person, I'd be better off buying a Switch for Xbox games than Xbox.

Xbox won't change policies they see services over hardware. They earn an incredible amount through gamepass and gold it's obvious they are moving more towards software.

lol

Nuff. :P

SaltSlasher jumping ship? This is the biggest news of the console war!

I don't believe you dynamitecop..

Maybe wait and see what happens. I've got this theory that PS4 was supported exceptionally well this gen because MS stumbled and Sony was guaranteed a very large market share right from the off. I don't know that they would have invested so heavily in exclusives if that hadn't been the case. It might yet turn out that PC only is going to be the smartest option next time around.

9th gen is going to be ps2 all over again. Sony will lean in to protect its market position. Prepare for a blood bath. 8th gen was all but gifted to them, but Nintendo has taken a whole lot of the Japanese domestic support which is a far greater threat to the Playstation business than XBox is.

Sony has reaped handsome profits this gen. To stay competitive, they will raid the piggy bank.

Meh. I’m not at all interested in gaming on PC myself so this Play Anywhere Initiative by Microsoft doesn’t really influence me at all. As long as Microsoft continue to make a console and games that interest me then I’ll continue to purchase them. Anyway I’ll still very likely continue to purchase the other consoles as well like I usually do for their respective exclusive games.

Damn that's a real roundabout way of thinking

Might just be easier to buy an Xbox

My PS3 is gone. The flimsy piece of crap broke down when I swapped a Sopranos disc without exiting through the menu. Backwards compatibility is important. I'm glad most of my games are on PC, where I don't have to worry about it. I do expect the PS5 to be backwards compatible with at least PS4 games, but most of the exclusives aren't even games I feel compelled to replay. Sony is really overrated. I feel the Japanese devs (Nintendo, Capcom and FromSoftware) are putting out games with much more value.

@BenjaminBanklin said:

SaltSlasher jumping ship? This is the biggest news of the console war!

*Scratches head*

I don't remember SaltSlasher as a Lem. Are you sure he really was Lem? Cause I sometimes see him bashing Xbox One fewer times then he defends it. If so, then it looks like the Jokes on me.

Until Sony revamps the dual shock, the playstation will always be used as little as possible for exclusives.

Shocking heel turn from Nya.

Good. Don't buy one. Their current policies work for me and gamers who are not interested in purchasing another redundant piece of hardware with Play Anywhere.

I'm sure Sony will fudge up their lead.

Like they did with PS3.

$600 console at launch!!! Woooo!!!!

DynamiteCop Going PS5? Ditching xbox 2 for PC?

wow

I will not buy another Xbox, since I like to keep an up-to-date PC and Microsoft will allow me to play their games on it. As a consumer, I think that is fantastic. I really don't get where the criticism comes from. Microsoft has always made sub-par hardware. I really only want their software. It's great that they are allowing that to happen, and they will get a lot more of my money toward products they don't have to sell at a loss that way.

I completely agree and look forward to owning a Playstation 5 next to my PC!

@saltslasher: So, you need a PS4 and a PC in order to not have an XB1. Good to know.

@Steppy_76: 90 millions others disagree with you on that.

Yup. I've been a Sony guy all my life. I just prefer the exclusives on PS.

Obligatory "popular does not equal better" post.

How often is the most popular of any one thing the "best" of that category?

@davillain-: Since I got the X, my ratio of lem-defend has been much higher. Here I like no holding punches, but that is why I like it here, we can be as vile as we want.

This posts thoughts are me just planning out future, but I cut to chase, rather than blog about the experiences that led to these opinions.

I just don't see what the purpose of buying the Xbox 4 will serve if I make a PS4 my main with PS+. The few things you could name, I'll have 100% same thing on PC. If I buy a Xbox 4, it will be the Slim like 4 years in, yet, I want a Switch in like 3-4 years.

The other thing, a lot of this stemmed from making a list of games I plan to play, I have like 20 PS4 exclusives to play, do I want to play them, or dick around with whatever Game Pass gives me, like Crackdown, Ashe, and Below.

Um, ok then... buy a PS5 then.

If you have a PC, it makes no sense to own a Xbox One! And so with that, I see zero reason buying Xbox Scarlet if all MS going to port their games on PC. I have nothing against MS and if anything, they are doing me a favor by not buying their consoles anymore and that saves me room to focus on Nintendo consoles with their amazing exclusive.

Normally, I only mention to those who really want an Xbox console is to do it if you like Halo. But now that Halo Infinite is coming to PC, their is no reason to owning a next-gen Xbox aka Scarlet if you have a PC.

In short, MS isn't as good as they used to be on the Xbox 360.

PC/PS5/Switch is the perfect combo whenever PS5 arrives.

Why buy a gaming PC if you can just use and XB1X?

We should probably keep calm with these hot takes until we know more about the consoles.

At this point it points towards a lower end stream box and a higher end X2 where Xbox is concerned. I think Sony will have one base console more powerful than the X and on par with ms. The price point will be key for both.

SW, the place where MS offering many Options to gamers is a bad thing. smh... lol :P

"unless Xbox completely changes all their polices" So you mean there's still a chance?

lol :P

Xbox consoles have been my preferred console for multiplats every single generation since Microsoft first entered the market. Based on that track record and the fact that I hate PC gaming, I'm pretty sure I'll buy the next Xbox console unless Microsoft does something incredibly stupid like make it 100% streaming only.

And Nintendo makes my favorite games, so unless they suddenly stop making great games, I'll continue to buy their consoles.

The PS5 is the console that I'm the most unsure if I'll buy. I felt very burned by the PS4 since I hate how Sony is so focused on movie-games nowadays and is no longer providing the variety that they did in the PS1 and PS2 generations. Unless Microsoft screws up badly or Sony stops focussing so heavily on movie-games, I think that I will probably skip the PS5.

Unless you really don't care for PC gaming at all, there's nothing wrong going with Xbox One X. It is the most powerful console available in this current-gen after all.

Playstation + PC + Switch = Steak and lobster with buttery mashed potatoes. XBox is the dessert you thought you wanted when you ordered but don't really touch.

PC is like a buffet with a lot of low quality food you don't really want to eat...but eat anyway. PS4 is the main course, a quality steak and Switch is a nice side dish.

Xbox is the food that gets thrown away.

@StormyJoe: Gaming PC will give you all Xbox games plus all PC exclusives. If Xbox One X could play PC games, I'd be all for it.

But, you'd have to play games on a PC. yuck.

@StormyJoe: Yeah, that's why I console game only. It'd be nice if the X could get PC games since it's a Win 10 platform though. I hate touching my PC.

Don't you love when us so called lemmings actually bitch about MS and everyone else goes crazy with shock?

Look all of us a consumers first, before fans. Damn right MS fans will bitch about something we don't like or see proconsumer and encourage more people on all platforms to do the same. None of these companies are perfect or infallible and it's not our duty to damage control for any of them.

probably another 18 months until next gen and i am taking the wait and see approach. All smoke, mirrors and lots of rumors at this point, nothing more.

@SecretPolice: you know I had to read that in Ace Ventura's voice right?

Enabling Xbox to play PC games is something that I really hope Microsoft does next generation. Xbox is already running off of Windows, so I don't see why they couldn't enable the next Xbox to play Windows 10 PC games.

This would greatly expand the amount of games on the next Xbox and could be a big selling point to the millions of people that hate gaming on a PC but might be interested in some PC exclusives if they could play them on a console.

Just like the Steambox?

Phil wants gamepass on all system, owning an xbox at this point is a losing battle when execs dont want its exclusive to stay on one platform.

You should learn to understand how markets evolve... ATM, Game Pass is shared with PC, but it's only rumoured to be shared with Ninty. At the end of the day, MS is moving beyond being tied to a single console, and attempting to move their market to multiple systems, thus, multiple revenue streams.

@MonsieurX: Steambox was not marketed right. But yeah, a new Steambox would be nice.

@lundy86_4: Good for MS, bad for Xbox fans. Unless they open up Xbox to crossplay completely with PC and other systems. They still don't have FFXIV for some reason. Xbox will sell even less consoles than this gen, which sucks for owners. 3rd party games will unlikely be well optimized for a system that is selling way less than the competition. But like I said, it's smart for MS... Xbox will just be a part of a bigger ecosystem, and less relevant.

Not exactly.

I believe that there is a market for a console that can play PC games, but the key is that it still needs to be a console first and foremost, and have all of the qualities that people like about consoles while also having access to PC games.

What Valve tried to do with the Steam Machine ensured that it would not appeal to PC fans or console fans, so it had no market. And it was dead on arrival the second that Valve made the stupid decision to let several different hardware manufacturers flood the market with over a dozen different versions of the Steam Machine. That's not a console and is not what console fans want.

But a Xbox console that can also play PC games as an additional feature; that can be quite appealing to a lot of people.

After loosing tons of money buying the POS 360 at launch I don't think I will ever buy another console right off the bat. That being said, with the exception of me jumping to the 360 last gen (and the following burn I recieved) Sony's consoles have always had a leg up over Xbox and I've been satisfied with my Playstation purchases. Then again, if your like me and find shooters shallow and racing games boring, Microsoft doesn't really offer much to entice you over the competition.

Now that game pass is on PC if they do have an exclusive game I ever want to play, I would rather save myself the 500 bones on purchasing a console and play it in whatever setting I want, with whatever input device I want, and play it on PC.