Topic: Xbox @ E3 2021 Predictions & Discussion

@KilloWertz I think the one JRPG you're thinking of is Eiyuden Chronicle, but not only is that a 2023 game apparently but also multiplatform like a good chunk of games shown during the showcase

It looks great and I'm glad Xbox is getting more consistent streams of Japanese content but if I didn't already have a good PC, most of the stuff that would make me seriously consider getting an Xbox, even a Series S are like years away and that's kind of the problem

There's still really not enough variety in my opinion and it's the kind of thing where Game Pass really made the games shown a lot more of a tempting sell because the games themselves were either lacking in some way for me or were a year/years off from release, or in the case of stuff like Eiyuden Chronicle and STALKER 2, also available or going to be available on other platforms

Also I think the reason Psychonauts isn't getting enough fanfare is that we've seen it at so many consecutive conferences at this point and I believe the game is still slated as multiplatform, so it might not be seen by a lot of people as a killer app for Xbox specifically

@TheFrenchiestFry I think there are two reasons for why they didn't show more single-player gameplay footage of Halo Infinite. First and foremost, I think they didn't want to risk causing another fiasco even if they have improved upon the visuals because people will just nitpick and analyse every single detail of the footage and compare it to last year's footage. Second, we've pretty much already seen what we can expect from the single-player component. You explore open areas, you use vehicles and a grappling hook to traverse the areas and so on. I honestly don't think we would've seen more new stuff if they had shown more single-player gameplay.

@KilloWertz I know there were games like that, but there should've been more. The show was dominated by shooters and considering how Microsoft is primarily known for shooters, they're really doing themselves a disservice by focusing on so many when Game Pass should be all about variety. Like when Spencer said "and there's one more thing" and it turned out to be another shooter, I just couldn't get excited even if it's an exclusive from Arkane.

Like why didn't they show Scorn or The Gunk? Those would've definitely made the show more varied.

@LtSarge It's not the fact they didn't show more of what we already saw that was the problem for me. The problem was this was the first showcase of single player after both the delay and the massive graphical overhaul that's been teased by 343 on social media, and the specific scene they chose to show during the showcase didn't do a good job for me at all at really showing off what exactly was different compared to last year, especially since it wasn't even gameplay. It was just an extended cutscene basically

@LtSarge Now that I have time to sit down and give a "proper" response unlike earlier...

Yes, there were a lot of shooters, but it's not like there weren't a variety of things otherwise. A racing game (Forza Horizon 5), two JRPGs, two platformers (Psychonauts 2 and Replaced), a western space RPG (Starfield of course), Flight Simulator, a 3rd person non-shooter (A Plague Tale 2), a snowboarding game, Diablo 2, Hades, 12 Minutes, Party Animals, and Somerville. Also The Outer Worlds 2 even though the combat is FPS. There was variety.

Regardless of whether it's a shooter or not, I think the most interesting part of it was the fact that it's another Bethesda studio game that's an Xbox exclusive. Like I believe I've said already, that part is interesting since that means there might be a good chance basically all future games from all of those studios will be Xbox exclusives. I was worried Xbox might do something as stupid as make at least a decent amount of them multi-platform, which would have been one of the dumbest things the company has ever done. At least right up there with the way they handled the Xbox One at first.

I will say you are not wrong that it's odd they didn't show anything from two games that are coming soon. Even if they were short trailers like The Ascent had, it would have been something. I'm not overly concerned as I'm only interested in Scorn, but still, a bit odd.

Overall though, I thought it was a pretty solid show. I was expecting a lot as if they had a horrible show, I likely would have bought another PS5 and just used my Series X for exclusives as it would have been clear they still didn't really know what they were doing. Love it, like it, or be disappointed by it, they definitely came out of it looking far better than they have been in a long time. It's time to put the #Xboxhasnogames memes to rest.

@TheFrenchiestFry But they probably did in a sense. Not campaign wise, but the multiplayer portion was highly likely in game, just stylized for a cool trailer. There was no hud obviously, but it looked like it would have been from the game and it definitely looked far better than how the game looked last time. It looked much more like a new gen game instead of footage from the MCC.

Should they have showed some gameplay? Yes, but I'd be shocked if they didn't do something similar to a State of Play for it at some point in the Fall to get the hype train rolling.

@KilloWertz Honestly I'm amazed you saw differences or discrepancies in that trailer because the choice of environment and camerawork basically made it so that for the single player showcase I couldn't even properly tell what had changed

It was better exemplified in the multiplayer I guess but the editing didn't really do it favors in terms of getting a good look at this supposed overhaul honestly

@TheFrenchiestFry Yeah, I was talking about the multiplayer footage in regards to the game looking a good amount better than it did before. At the very least, you could tell in the characters that it didn't just look like an old Halo from the MCC again. The single player footage was just cinematics as far as I could tell, and like I said, the one with him and the AI could have very well been pulled straight from the game. Doesn't help in terms of judging it graphically, but again, there seems to be a much better chance of this being a good game than last year. Obviously that footage had everybody highly concerned.

Was there enough there to say this is going to be a stunner of a game graphically? No, but I believe we are getting an actual "deep dive" with the multiplayer tomorrow, so we should get a better look then. At least that's what I gathered from what was reported after the show.

@KilloWertz Yeah I don't know. After the show I didn't feel impressed or anything and I honestly don't know why. Like all the games looked really good but most of them don't have an immediate appeal to me. I think it's also the fact that most games aren't even coming to Xbox One and I have no plans of buying a next-gen system anytime soon, especially when Sony is planning to release their heavy-hitters on PS4. It's kinda weird how both companies back-pedalled; Sony "believed" in generations and now they're focusing on both PS4 and PS5, while Microsoft wanted to bring games to both Xbox One and Series X/S and now they're mostly focusing on the Series systems. It's crazy.

It's kinda weird, but now a day later I actually feel like I care less about Xbox overall. Up until yesterday I liked PlayStation and Nintendo but had a special preference for Xbox. Now it's more or less the same for me across all three brands. The hype for Xbox has definitely died down for me now.

@LtSarge It may be that not much has changed in Microsoft's plans. The original plan may have been XB1 support post-Series X launch being a stopgap until xCloud was sorted out (upgrade servers to Series X and release on consoles) hence why they mentioned 1-2 years.

@LtSarge I'm really mystified by how negative you seem to be now after yesterday's show. I'm not arguing, and just calling it like I see it, but you went from being somewhat disappointed but still thinking it was a solid enough show to now all of a sudden basically not caring because some games are going to be new gen only when it's your choice to not get a Series X to play those games.

Still, there are still cross-gen heavy hitters coming. Forza Horizon 5 and Halo Infinite are both cross-gen, and so are Psychonauts 2 and. There's no reason why something that might come out at the end of next year (Starfield) has to be cross-gen. Still, basically everything that's in the Game Pass releases image you posted yesterday is cross-gen, so your reasoning now is baffling. Sable, Shredders, Flight Simulator, and Scorn are the only ones not coming to Xbox One in that (not counting PC exclusive Age of Empires 4).

Again, not looking to argue or say everybody has to be extremely positive about everything. Just giving my honest opinion on your last post.

@KilloWertz Not really that baffling that a person who doesn't own a system where most of the games are coming to is disappointed. What do you think people who only own PlayStation systems feel like when they hear e.g. that Bethesda games aren't coming to PlayStation? Happy? lol

Like as far as I'm concerned, I'm still going to be using my PS4 more than my Xbox One in 2021 and 2022 because there are so many cross-gen exclusives coming to it. I've already said numerous times in the past that I'm not planning on buying a next-gen system anytime soon and the reason is not only because of financial issues but also because I have tons of games I can play from my backlog. Naturally I want to play new games as well from time to time, which will happen on PS4. If Forza Horizon 5, Psychonauts 2 and Halo Infinite run well on base Xbox One, then that's great. But somehow I'm not as confident with Xbox studios making their games run well across all systems compared to PlayStation studios. Gears 5 for example was incredibly messy when I was playing it on my base Xbox One.

Also keep in mind that Spencer said they were going to focus on games on both Xbox One and Series X but back-pedalled just like Ryan did with PlayStation. The only difference is that PlayStation's back-pedalling is benefiting me more than Xbox's.

Finally, I'm not being negative. I've already acknowledged that the show had tons of great games shown. But that doesn't mean that I'm personally happy with that. It's one thing if I said "The show sucked and didn't have anything that appealed to me" like a lot of negative people are saying, and another if I say "The show had great games but I won't be able to play most of them so why should I feel happy?".

@LtSarge But once again, there's still plenty of games that are going to be cross-gen, including all of the biggest games that are coming soon. I get that you have more confidence in PlayStation Studios than Xbox Game Studios, but Playground Games has earned the right to be put next to them with great Forza game after great Forza game, so that's a heavy hitter there. My bad on not remembering you saying about not buying a next gen console anytime soon though.

Sony is better for backpedaling, which I'm fine with because I think people are being ridiculous, but Xbox is doing something bad when they really aren't? Whether you are confident in Xbox Game Studios making their games run good on the base Xbox One or not, they are still having plenty of cross-gen games. Criticizing them because you were flat out wrong in saying they aren't releasing enough cross-gen titles is wrong. Whether you believe they will run well or not is one thing, but they exist, making your point incorrect.

There's not much more I can say. The only legit point you made is that they may or may not run well, but they are there for you to play regardless. They didn't backpedal.

I'm hoping we can move past this at some point as I enjoyed talking to you on here, but I also can't just sit here while you say incorrect things either.

@KilloWertz https://www.vg247.com/2020/07/17/xbox-game-studios-cross-gen-...

"As such, head of Xbox, Phil Spencer, said that all games from Xbox Game Studios released in the next couple of years will be available on Xbox One, as well as Xbox Series X."

"“We want every Xbox player to play all the new games from Xbox Game Studios,” Spencer wrote."

"That’s why Xbox Game Studios titles we release in the next couple of years – like Halo Infinite – will be available and play great on Xbox Series X and Xbox One."

Since then they've announced that games like Avowed, Everwild, Fable, Hellblade II, Microsoft Flight Simulator, State of Decay 3, Perfect Dark, literally more than half a dozen Xbox Game Studios titles aren't coming to Xbox One. On top of this, Starfield, Redfall, Contraband and The Outer Worlds 2 that were shown during E3 are also not coming to Xbox One. They clearly back-pedalled, end of story.

@LtSarge A lot of those games will be 2023 and beyond outside of Flight Simulator and maybe Starfield if it makes it's release date. Still, a sizable portion of their catalog coming this year and in 2022 will be cross-gen. They are giving you what you want.

What I don't get is how the show from yesterday changed anything for you. If Gears 5 didn't run that great on your console, you had to know that there was a good chance at least some future titles you'd be interested in wouldn't either. Why were you so into Xbox if you have no intention of buying a Series X anytime soon, knowing that you might be stuck with a system that can't run the upcoming games that well? You have your reasons for not getting one or not being able to right now, and that's fine, but the timing of the change is odd given that the show didn't really show anything that should have changed things for you. Once again, there will be plenty of games that are cross-gen from now through 2022, which is the 2 year window.

@LtSarge Since they have the xCloud infrastructure ready and huge PC install base as well, I think they won’t lose out much on the business side.

@KilloWertz Which Xbox Game Studios titles are coming in 2022 to Xbox One?

Microsoft Flight Simulator isn't coming to Xbox One in 2021. Starfield isn't coming to Xbox One in 2022. Redfall isn't coming to Xbox One in 2022. There are multiple examples of Xbox Game Studios titles not coming to Xbox One. And what did Spencer say now again?

"“We want every Xbox player to play all the new games from Xbox Game Studios,” Spencer wrote."

"All the new games from Xbox Game Studios". Which means he lied and back-pedalled, just like Ryan. For someone who doesn't like it when others are incorrect, you sure do love being incorrect yourself.

What I don't understand is why you are so hellbent on defending Microsoft. This is the problem with people who think that just because Microsoft have done so many things right that they have never erred before. No matter how you twist and turn it, Microsoft has changed their stance regarding cross-gen titles. Because of this, most of their games won't appeal to me because I won't be buying a next-gen system anytime soon. However, it does seem that the majority of people seem to be fine with this, so it's all good for me, I'm not making it to be a bigger deal than it is.

The problem is that you've blown this discussion way out of proportion in order to suit your agenda. Go back up and read the three main issues I had with the E3 showcase:

"1) There were not enough games shown for 2021
2) There was not as much gameplay shown for certain titles (such as Starfield)
3) There was not enough variety in terms of games"

Those were the three main issues I had with the E3 show, not that the majority of the games aren't coming to Series X. I was already expecting that because we literally had a showcase last year where Microsoft mostly showed Series X titles. The problem is that we've drifted into this discussion because your stubbornness of not accepting the facts as I've presented them. This usually happens when people are so desperate to prove others wrong instead of contributing to a healthy discussion, which you are not doing in the slightest. You're just pushing a forceful narrative of how I should have loved Microsoft's E3 because what, I'm on an Xbox site? Does that mean I have to like everything Microsoft is doing and that I shouldn't have a free will of deciding what to like on my own terms? It's absolutely pathetic how hard you're trying to convince me that my feelings are wrong. I wasn't happy with the showcase, pure and simple. Is that so difficult for you to understand?

You ruined my mood yesterday and now you've done it again today just because you seem to value being "correct" and getting into arguments with people than making friends on this site. Consider yourself added to my ignore list. I don't want any people telling me how I should feel about bloody video games.

@LtSarge While I agreed that their stance seems to have changed from what was initially planned - even promised, I'm not sure he was deliberately trying to mislead with that statement about all games being cross gen: to me it reads like a dig at Sony with their announcement about generations (although not sure if this was before or after the Sony one). Even qualifying it with a "Where possible, ..." would've left some wiggle room for games that just couldn't run on a base One to be Series exclusive while still giving the impression they were committed to "not leaving gamers behind" . I'm sure Flight sim on consoles was always announced (or maybe is was rumoured) as being Series Exclusive on console, possibly even before this statement.

It's feasible that they did plan on making every game cross gen, but when it got down to it some of them just wouldn't be able to run at an acceptable standard and ultimately releasing games in that state would've probably been more harmful to their reputation than a bit of back-pedalling.

Seems that MS and Sony have exactly the same strategy in the end - look at it on a game-by game basis and decide from there - but for some reason decided that wasn't going to cut it and now they both look a bit foolish while backpedaling in opposite directions to meet in the middle! Arguably this is more to the detriment of Xbox user than Playstation as PS4 owners were expecting to have to buy a new console to be able to play the latest games - now, in many cases they don't have to. Xbox One users on the other hand, were expecting a couple of years where they'd be just fine with the current hardware, but now not so much.

@dmcc0 No this was before Sony talked about the whole "we believe in generations".

Again, I totally understand why they changed their mind. It's absolutely fine. I'm not making it out to be a bigger deal than it is. It's just when other people make you deviate from the main topic at hand and you're trying to explain yourself, it makes it look like you care about that subject a lot. But I genuinely don't, I just brought it up as one of many examples for why the E3 showcase didn't appeal to me.

If Microsoft can make better games for next-gen systems by dropping Xbox One support, then that's great in my eyes considering not many people had an Xbox One compared to how many people have a PS4. I play more on my PS4 anyway so it doesn't affect me that much. I'm already planning on buying a Series X in the future, just not anytime soon.

@LtSarge I guess they'll have to be careful if they do drop the Xbox One support too soon as I'm sure there will be some complaints from Xbox One owners about an increasing number of games on Game Pass that they won't be able to play.

As for the E3 showcase, I haven't really had a chance to watch for myself yet, but based on the headlines only really Forza Horizon 5 stood out to me as something I'm particularly looking forward to and I'll likely give Flight Sim a go, but I'm sure there will be others. The fact that nearly all the games announced were coming to Game Pass means I'll probably at least try some of them.

@LtSarge