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If Microsoft offered only Halo/GOW/Forza as exclusives, would Xbox still be viable?
- Thread starter maxcriden
- Start date
Maybe? Specs aren't always the defining factor though. Price and accessibility as well. Xbox only exists in USA and maybe a little bit in the U.K. They can't really break a ceiling unless they make a significant shift in their approach.
Outrun
Member
You have to do better than that.
Check my output please.... All of my output. I posted earlier today that we should not condemn Sony for the Studio Cambridge closure... But feel free to cherry pick mate.
Sorry OP,
If MS only produce Halo Gears and Forza. Things look bleak.
MorshuTheTrader
Neo Member
Not without something else compelling enough to draw users. This could be significantly cheaper price, more power, unique online functionality, etc. If its simply on par with whatever the competitors are doing, but with no exclusives to draw in customers, then it won't last long.
DeaconKnowledge
Member
No.
That would make them Nintendo. Nintendo can barely do it and they have a much larger stable of franchises from which to draw. They have so many they SOLD some to Microsoft via Rare and still have a ton.
Microsoft has mined Halo into the ground. There's been a Halo on the market every 3 years minimum. A marquee franchise cannot survive long term as a system seller with so many iterations.
The XBOX 360, MS' most successful console, limped to third place worldwide even with MS hustling their asses off to get third party exclusives. a MS console with less third party software and only Halo/Gears/Forza on the back end? Dead in the water.
None of those make a dedicated console, and two of those have machines that don't prioritze gaming as their number one aspect.
That would make them Nintendo. Nintendo can barely do it and they have a much larger stable of franchises from which to draw. They have so many they SOLD some to Microsoft via Rare and still have a ton.
Microsoft has mined Halo into the ground. There's been a Halo on the market every 3 years minimum. A marquee franchise cannot survive long term as a system seller with so many iterations.
The XBOX 360, MS' most successful console, limped to third place worldwide even with MS hustling their asses off to get third party exclusives. a MS console with less third party software and only Halo/Gears/Forza on the back end? Dead in the water.
None of those make a dedicated console, and two of those have machines that don't prioritze gaming as their number one aspect.
TylerDurden4321
Member
Does it? They haven't really changed anything, just added more content (and different locations). I think the Forza fans are kind of tired to drive the same cars with not too much difference between game iterations.
Compare the changes from FM5 to FH3 in the driving model, graphics and sound with the changes from FM2 to FM4... there really hasn't been much progress or new features. It's just more content.
JB2448
Member
For many, many people on this forum, where the money we spend on video games is usually significantly higher than average, unless we're looking at a situation where Scorpio changes the game, the ideal gaming setup for future is looking like a capable PC, a PlayStatoon 4, and a Switch. Since the way this topic is worded can include Xbox as a service or software platform on Windows (which Microsoft seems like it wants to do with the Xbox app and Store app on 10?), this situation is doubly so. In this case, yeah, of the games in each franchise are worth purchasing, as far as we're concerned, yes. For the mass market? It depends on how Microsoft markets its third party partnerships.
RichiRamjag
Member
Wasn't that hard!
In regards to my other statement, that's what I saw yesterday, but if I'm wrong, then I apologize.
Jawmuncher
Member
It'd be pretty whack for me, and I love Xbox.
Outrun
Member
Yeah, I understand that businesses need to take calculated risks.
But someone needs to look at MS's calculations and frankly ask why are not better decisions being made.
They need to do a post-modem on some of the projects they passed on, and see how they can better spend money pissed away on Scalebound, Tomb Raider, etc....
They want to make money. Fine. But they need to invest more wisely I think.
Look at Bungie.
They should have let them make Destiny and also create 343i to continue Halo.
Bizarre is also one I feel got away.
Let them make BLUR as an exclusive. If it succeeded then you have a new IP. If not, PGR5 beckons.
HeisenbergWW62
Banned
Considering my friends who are Xbox gamers seem fine with those and the occasional other exclusive, I don't think losing that occasional other one would bother them
Outrun
Member
My apologies. I should have been more positive in my first post.
SomewhatGroovy
Banned
Maybe? I didn't buy the Xbox One for its exclusives. It's the console I also spend the most time with. I turn my PS4 on when an exclusive I'm interested in comes out. The last time I logged onto PSN was right when Uncharted 4 came out.
RichiRamjag
Member
No worries, its early and I shouldn't have been so nasty about it.
If you look at Sony and Nintendo, they are driven primarily by their gaming divisions as a company. For Microsoft, the gaming division has been a big red mark on their budget for over a decade, and it's still not very profitable. Doesn't make sense for the company as a whole to really prioritize that division. If you look at it from that perspective, their decisions make more sense.
JaredLetoJoker
Banned
Not at all
Chase Lebowski
Member
Going with Halo, Forza and Gears over and over again is the reason this generation I only have a PS4.
RichiRamjag
Member
Overall, the only way I could see them continuing on in that situation would be if they pushed more third m-parties toward play anywhere, but I don't see that happening. PC players also don't seem to be flocking to windows store in droves.
OrbitalBeard
Member
Would it be viable for a large portion of NeoGAF? No.
Would it viable for the average US and UK consumer? Maybe.
I would hope Xbox wants to expand beyond those two markets though.
Would it viable for the average US and UK consumer? Maybe.
I would hope Xbox wants to expand beyond those two markets though.
I don't care about Gears so I'll only talk about Forza (Motorsport+Horizon) and Halo.
If they keep their very high quality, then yeah. If they became just "as good as" multiplats or even worse, then no. Exclusives make just a small portion of the whole lineup nowadays, so I'd rather play the excellence.
I know people love hyperboles, but FM6 is the best sim-cade racer on next-gen, FH3 is possibly the best arcade racer ever made and Halo 5 is one of the best mp fps I've ever played (and a very unique one).
I also can't stand symmetrical sticks, seriously, the ds3 made my hands hurt too much when playing any kind of shooter.
If they keep their very high quality, then yeah. If they became just "as good as" multiplats or even worse, then no. Exclusives make just a small portion of the whole lineup nowadays, so I'd rather play the excellence.
I know people love hyperboles, but FM6 is the best sim-cade racer on next-gen, FH3 is possibly the best arcade racer ever made and Halo 5 is one of the best mp fps I've ever played (and a very unique one).
I also can't stand symmetrical sticks, seriously, the ds3 made my hands hurt too much when playing any kind of shooter.
It's certainly not impossible for this to happen but there is a huge volume of Sony exclusives covering a ton of genres, some of which have no or very limited presence on Xbox. I mean you are basically saying someone doesn't want any of the below games (not even close to exhaustive):
Bloodborne
World of Final Fantasy
Uncharted 4
MLB The Show
Yakuza series (going forward)
Persona 5
Dragon Quest Builders
Nioh
Gravity Rush 1 and 2
King of Fighters XIV
The Last Guardian
Horizon: Zero Dawn
Not to mention other future games like God of War, Detroit: Become Human, Spider-Man, The Last of Us 2, Ni no Kuni 2, and Ace Combat 7.
That is a LOT to give up, not to mention if you have a modern PC it's highly likely the Xbox exclusives will also be there.
TBiddy
Member
Correct in that NeoGaf wouldn't buy it. But I absolutely think it would be viable for most other people. The big sellers are almost always multi-platform, and unless you need to play Uncharted/TLoU/Souls and stuff like that, the Xbox would be just fine.
The average gamer sticks to GTA, Minecraft, FIFA/Madden/NHL and shooters. As long as they are offered, it wouldn't matter that much. I mean, it's not like the current exclusives are doing any wonders for Microsoft.
CassidyIzABeast
Member
According to most they already do this so yes.
Yeah, that's what I'm wondering myself - I guess that's sort of what I'm trying to determine. Are the majority of people getting an XB now doing so because it has these three franchises?
Replying to both of you here--
Yeah, that's what I'm trying to parse out, I think. It's hard to put my finger on it exactly, sorry to not be terribly articulate about this. But, these players who don't care about gaming outside of a very limited bubble--
(A) are they going to keep playing games forever? Like are these the kinds of players who will stick with gaming forever? Maybe that sounds odd.
(B) I'm curious if people will still use XB to play MP games will bother if PS systems are cheaper.
Please see (C) just below also.
(C) To the friends list question, will people still care about that if PS systems are cheaper and if they lose interest in just one of the three franchises listed? Or if they only care about MP to begin with?
What exclusives does Sony have? I'd say the Naughty Dog games as you mentioned. Then also maybe stuff like Infamous, Bloodborne, Driveclub, surely others I'm not thinking of... they aren't games that appeal to me so they don't readily come to mind for me. But I think there's more beyond ND.
I wonder how much the future will really see people move to high end PCs unless they become much cheaper and are advertised as plug and play with your TV for the layperson, like specifically advertised that way.
That's a good question. I wonder then if they'd become a publisher and not a platform holder. Depends how much money the XB brand is making. Wasn't it losing money for a long while? Is it still?
I agree. I wonder how much it would shrink in this scenario alone, then, as well.
Yes. I don't know how well these sold, though, but I thought they're comparatively niche so I left them out of the premise. (I absolutely loved Ori, BTW, just played it.)
I promise you there is no agenda at all. As I said in the OP, I own an XB1 and not a PS4. I am merely interested in the console business and whether we are potentially going to see a Microsoft exit resulting in a two competitor console industry.
Deputy Moonman
Member
/thread and a shit one at that
Edit: but so I can get my participation grade, my answer is yes. But of course MS should continue putting out other games. What kind of dumb ass hypothetical is that...
Not really; it definitely maintained very strong sales from inertia, but PS3 got to catch up pretty well and I think by the time the Xbox One and PS4 were out they had (barely) passed 360's sales. More importantly, this got a ton of people to jump ship and really cripped the Xbox One as the follow-up.
Same here, but mines reduced to just Killer Instinct - Which to be fair I could just play on the PC.
Begun, the list wars have.
Valve has 3 games as a service that they work on. According to Steamspy in the past 2 weeks more then 10 million steam accounts have played Dota 2, more then 9 million steam accounts have played CSGO and more then 2 million steam accounts have played TF2. Don't pretend Valve is the same as Google or Apple just because they don't work on the games you want them to.
wapplew
Member
Which mean platform with only Halo/Gears/Forza is viable, and MS focus on GaaS is the right path.
Complicated
Banned
Would be fine if they were still a good place to play third party games with friends, and keep offering the console hardware and software that they do. Xbox will never just be those games though.
I think enough people in this thread have answered the question in the affirmative. Yes, it would - most play only those games or third party games anyway. That has certainly been my experience with the friends I have with the machine
It's actually pretty surprising to me. Somehow Nintendo survives the same way, and that is all I play on those machines as well
It's actually pretty surprising to me. Somehow Nintendo survives the same way, and that is all I play on those machines as well
brokenbeans
Banned
The Scorpio could be 10 times the XB1 with the 3 franchises listed and it still won't be enough, shit chuck Crackdown 3 in and whatever Rare makes and it still won't be enough for me.
RichiRamjag
Member
Something magical about those Nintendo games though. I can't help but smile when I get on mario kart.