@alucard1001: As well, this is what MS has been working towards through this generation with their PC IDE tools and Play Anywhere. I think people are forgetting how many 1st party titles typically release with a console, and if they are any good in the first place. Third party titles, exclusive or not, get the money. There hasn't been a HALO at console release since...well, HALO. I'm not sure if MS has had more than 1-2 titles at launch since XBOX, when they made their own sports titles. The bulk of my launch purchases are always the latest basketball, football, maybe soccer, then whatever else might be good. Previous generations hardware left too big of a gap for this to be possible, not to mention swapping chipset architectures.
@zander80: I've played on PC since the '95 and consoles my entire life. Now that game libraries have all but converged, it comes down to a matter of preference. The freedom and performance of PC can't be matched. There are tons of older games for cheap and even new games provide the best version at discount prices. The only interference to that are console manufacturers paying for timed exclusivity. Some times PC games or one's PC itself have issues, though no major inconvenience.
I bought PS4 and One at launch, turned around and sold the PS4 because I really didn't think I should be buying either at the time. What MS has down with Play Anywhere is something I've clamoring for since the 360 days, only I want it for all titles. Games shouldn't shackled to console limitations. Gears 4 ran rough on even the One X vs. PC, though Gears 5 stepped up performance impressively.
With this announcement, I feel many commenters are being obtuse or at best, disingenuous. What 1st party launch exclusives were they truly expecting? How many were do you typically buy? No way was MS going to hold HALO: Infinite hostage -- it's been in development a long time, is more a late current gen release than a new gen title (though I'm sure the Series X version will be amped up). Artificially manufacturing exclusives isn't the way to go. Whether MS has exclusive deals with 3rd party publisher/developers for launch titles has yet to be seen.
Even Playstation exclusivity is a specter of a time long gone -- games like Yakuza, Nioh, Nier: Automata, Death Stranding all hit PC after a relatively short period. First party Sony exclusives have not proven enough to sway me.
I play primarily on PC these days. The main reason I may not buy a Series X at launch is I own a One X and PC. MS would have to delay HALO: Infinite's PC release to twist my arm a bit. The console is used for sports and fighting games, the convenience of playing simple games in the living room, backwards compatibility, any games not available for PC and entertainment apps.
@JustPlainLucas: Seems to me Microsoft is saying all their first party games (not including 3rd party exclusives) at launch will have a version that runs on XBOX One/S/X. Who will that version run? Scaled back to the appropriate degree. The point is to maximize sale of game units.
Let's face it -- recent console hardware generation's power leaps don't have the same impact. There is a similar trend with phones and PC hardware. Not that the leaps in power are not significant, but the previous hardware was fairly capable for core gameplay, mainly falling behind in performance. We will get the same game, for the most part, with better graphics and performance.
An Atari with all it's specs doubled may have provided a bigger bang at the time than we will see going into the next gen. RPGs went from pen & paper to the games we have today. Games get prettier and the core remains the same. Customers exult games largely for being exclusives, with the gameplay being lifted from the other titles. Toss in some story pieced together from chunks of every popular media and a 3rd person perspective, viola, the masses fall for it again.
Sure, Microsoft could arbitrarily lock a bunch of releases as Series X-clusives for launch, crank them up and pretend their could not be an XBOX One X version, say. That may appease people who need affirmation through that sort of thing. Development at this fidelity takes more and more time (here's looking at you, Star Citizen) -- doubtfully any game that could not be done in a lesser form on XBOX One would not be ready for Series X launch.
Besides sparse foliage in GTA5 and vault limitations for Destiny (which irked me), how many other instances were the previous generations an anchor holding back advancement? We never see major advances where they would be most impactful -- AI, collision detection, realistic physics, dynamic sound & materials. We hear buzz of ray tracing, and that is about it. Are crashes in Forza and other racing games ever going to approach the violence of a true car crash? Explosions and warfare, terrestrial and in space? No time soon. Devs make the same games, re-skinned, repackaged with a "new" story.
@nedrith: There should be no relenting by Epic. Standfast. It's a videogame and he can play another. Don't cheat ever again. Don't advertise cheating. The apology is owed to anyone else playing online competitve videogames, not so much Epic.
The kid is a fool -- he was being awarded free money for playing a game and he threw it all away. He did it to gain more views/subscribers/money and he is now cut off from a major source. Oh well -- at least he has his profit to this point.
@Jaxith: Seems like Ninja's rationale is that since streamers make a profit (a huge profit, in his case) from playing popular games, they should be granted concessions in cases like this so they can...hopefully continue making more and more money.
My question is, what the hell makes him think anyone should be rapidly making significant cash income from streaming games, and why would they be entitled to continue doing so?
Zero tolerance for cheating. Getting caught should warrant a lifetime ban. How is his status as a minor relevant? Who makes up the bulk of people playing videogames (especially this one)?
He knowingly used a third party app to cheat. He's advertising the app and the practice. Stop acting like this is some harsh punishment -- it's a videogame he can't play again; he's not being sent to jail. The idea that he may be popular from people watching other people play videogames is inane. A teenager (or anyone) banking on profiting from this as a "career" is preposterous.
@Vodoo: I've been on XBL for 15 years, look me up; "The DuckOfDeath". I'm also on PSN, Steam, Origin, UPlay. My brothers and I grew up playing wherever the games were, on multiple platforms each generation.
The majority of my purchases are on PC because most games are multi-platform now. I want to be in control of the best performance and peripherals, after being disappointed by consoles cycle after cycle. PC also has passive exclusives. I still buy consoles out of habit, and the inevitability of a few console exclusives or intentionally tanked/neutered PC multi-plat releases. I bought an XB1X to go with a new 4K TV, already owning an XB1 and tons of compatible games.
Being exclusive should never be a games more touted feature. From the way people act today, many seem to feel the opposite.
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