GADG3Tx87

PlayStation: Announces PS5 Pro and everyone hates it.

Phil Spencer: Hold my beer...
Cuts more jobs.

What's the point? They have pretty much less than a 1% presence in Japan and they blew their only real shot they've ever had when they shut down Tango. AFTER Tango launched a successful anime game. They will never be forgiven for that.

Or it could just be due to the technical difficulties of getting it to run on the Series S as per Microsoft's demands like they said it was so they skip Xbox entirely as some other developers have done to not deal with the headache. Just a thought.

Edit. Btw, it's not reportedly it's rumoured. Probably best not make your headline look like it's a fact when it's unknown. Just saying.
Terrible journalism. This may be an Xbox centric site but you should probably get your facts strait first.

Total snooze fest in my opinion. They didn't really show anything we didn't already know about. There almost didn't really need to be a show. And with Phil Spencer's ending interview I'd argue it's done more damage than helped the brand. leaving a lot of people less confident in investing in Xbox than before. Say what you want about Sony but atleast their users know where they stand. Xbox have no roadmap or clear goal for the future. And it stops me from wanting to invest in their platform with buying games, the way I still prefer to do things.

@Kobeandodom
Because the devices you're comparing go way beyond just apps when it comes to making a choice when that was your point in comparing phones to consoles. And I'm showing all of the aspects to consider that differentiates two mobile platforms that makes your argument a ridiculous comparison in two vastly different situations. When making that choice there's so much more to consider than you suggested beyond merely apps when it comes to these two ecosystems. But you didn't grasp that because you're trying to simplify two completely different avenues to justify a choice in gaming consoles.

Sooo, where were the 'big surprises' that were a 'must tune in for?' they were so excited about? I must have blinked and missed them.

Remember folks. Don't take Aaron Greenberg seriously.

Because... "More Cinematic" right? That's the dev code word for it these days. Or could it be the discrepancy that as per Microsoft rules it has to be playable in Series S and they prioritized that for that reason.

@Kobeandodom
Terrible comparison because when it comes to the mobile world apps aren't the main focus. With an iPhone you're literally locked in to Apple's world and to make the most of it need their extras. It doesn't play nice with a Windows PC in which you need a tongue of third party programs for things like wireless file transfer, you have to use air pods rather than the plethora of options available. It's heavily integrated with MacOS rather than any other external software options. And good luck getting it to play nice with anything other than an apple watch or iPad. An android phone works with literally everything. And Google is heavily integrated into everything including MacOS software options. And that's the main focus. Be in 'Apple's Walled Garden' or have an almost infinite set of options if you're hardware and software agnostic.

So comparing that world to Xbox is entirely different.

You've got to wonder if the end goal is to ditch Xbox as a hardware platform slowly. 20 years ago before the original Xbox Microsoft approached Sony and Nintendo because they just wanted to distribute games. In the wake of 'Games for Windows Live' failing to the growth of Steam. They only built a hardware console because both platform holders wanted nothing to do with them.
If Microsoft over the next few years end up distributing all their first party IP's on other platforms in the console space then they don't have to deal with the R&D on hardware manufacturing. Competing with a platform holder that outsells theirs every time. Maybe, maybe not. We'll see what happens.

@GamingFan4Lyf
I read that as a subtle way of saying Microsoft have taken the reigns from him and he's just a mouthpiece. Going on about "giving back to the company" is a shrewd way of saying "Microsoft wants to see a profit that we're not delivering"

@FatalBubbles
Guess so. I'm not sure it's worth that much though. I might wait for a sale which if a lot of people feel that way won't take long. Hi-Fi Rush and Sea of Thieves went on sale fairly quickly on PS5.

@BacklogBrad
I said this yesterday as you did. For all we know without official word Disney might have stepped in and changed the terms of the exclusivity deal. or maybe not. No one knows.

I've already put Indianna Jones in my PS5 wishlist for when the date drops. I'll just wait for it there.

@FatalBubbles
Announced where? Because I've seen no indication of a confirmed price.

Hidden meaning behind the asterisk. *DLC Timed Exclusive for PS5, Coming to Xbox at a later date

Kidding, relax in kidding.

So when all those leakers were saying Xbox games going to PS5 announcements it wasn't Forza or Gears or anything it was Indy. So, wrong. Unless there's other upcoming news we don't know about in the pipeline.

@GhanaViking Yeah maybe. But the AAA 70 region would be a DoA drop for that game. I doubt it's justifiable.

I really don't see why they were hyping this ONL up. It was an indy fest. No pun intended, referring to indies. I never listen to Aaron Greenberg.

@GhanaViking
You think this game will be 60/70? Nah I'd place a bet in the 40 range at most. It's not a AAA

@Sifi Within 4. It's for Spring

At this point I no longer care about 'exclusives' in either direction. PS5 is currently my primary console because I've bought a lot of games on it and my friends are there. But at this point in Xbox's case I treat every game as 'timed' until they say otherwise. I'll buy my games primarily on my PS5 unless there's a 'must play' on Xbox that doesn't release anywhere else at some point.

Maybe I'm in the minority of people that feel this way but if your paying any kind of premium subscription then you shouldn't have ads on your premium service or product. So Microsoft make money out of the consumers for subscriptions and companies for sponsored ads that the provider is paying them for. And seeing this just reminds me of 2013.

"TV, TV, TV, Sports, Sports, Sports, Ad's, Ads', Ad's,... And then some games. Maybe" 🫤

Same thing I thought when I played it 6 years ago when it came out. It's a'ight. Not the best of modern remakes. Don't really see how a six year old game is newsworthy. It's unlikely new subscribers will be scrambling over to GP for an old game they can own for a fiver.

Hats off to RE4:R as the king so far of modern remakes. Unless Dino Crisis comes back.

@OldGamer999
Exactly! If it ain't broke don't fix it. Something Microsoft try to do all too often these days and fail horribly. And going for super duper graphics and technology will mean a super duper price that many might not be able to justify hence shooting themselves in the foot, again..

Anyone who wanted to play this game in the six years and countless sales since it's released likely has as this point so I wouldn't consider this anything to shout about it a selling point.

I remember when Phil Spencer said a few years back "with GamePass we will release a triple-A game every three months." That guy is full of s**t. I said it then and now. They can't even get games out yearly most of the time and 90% of the time end up delaying them. And we're supposed to expect a good Gamescom? Yeah, ok there's pretty much nothing on the horizon. Just the usual hot air from Microsoft.

And when Phil Said "we will be the market leader by 2030" 😆 good luck with that. The way you're constantly a blunder and a joke you won't even be here in 2030 let alone the market leader, Phil.

The best way to save money is... Drum roll please 🥁🥁...

To not pay it and unsubscribe. Supporting these practices of price hikes and taking things away, charging more for less will have them further pushing the boundaries to see what they can get away with.

Every time they say "case by case basis" which is more often than not these days, that's exec talk for.. "We ain't got a f***ing clue what we're doing".

These days Xbox has less direction than a blind man in a hall of mirrors. And it's not a good look.

He also said "Xbox players can expect games to launch exclusively on Xbox". I notice how you left that part out.

Suggesting nothing is off the table.

Xbox on Every Screen.
-Phil Spencer.

I'm sure he said that not long ago. It'll be wild to boot up Halo on a PS5. It'll feel weird but I'll do it for the kicks. 😂

@BacklogBrad
Again, Sony holds the movie rights against Disney as leverage and if you do a search from two years ago you'll see they use that leverage. So it'll be that easy to keep Spiderman exclusive because Disney won't want to lose the biggest character in the MCU. You don't seem to understand that. I'm sorry man, but the Sony Spiderman games won't be on Xbox. It's literally a system seller.

@BacklogBrad
Source? Because I've literally not heard anything about that other than wishful thinking. And it's HellDivers not heckdivers.

@BacklogBrad
PC doesn't compete with PlayStation so putting their "first parties" there doesn't affect their console business. Xbox is a competitor. And Sony don't publish first party titles on Xbox.

@BacklogBrad
Agree to disagree. But I think you'll be disappointed because where Sony have leverage over Disney and are very protective over keeping big games that will bring in hardware sales as console exclusives.

@BacklogBrad
They literally got Disney to back down over a dispute they had 2 years ago by threatening to remove Spider-Man from the MCU. And the revenue that character brings in from the Marvel movies is a much bigger risk than pushing for Spider-Man on Xbox. Disney make way more money from the character being in the movies, which Sony have the control over. Sorry, but it's highly unlikely to almost certain the Sony's Spider-Man games will ever appear on Xbox.

@BacklogBrad
Not gonna happen. Sony hold the movie right to the Spider-Man character and have Disney over a barrel. A while ago Sony threatened Disney they would remove Spider-Man from the MCU over a spat about the franchise. So Sony would simply use their leverage to make sure that never happens. Meaning Disney can't use Spider-Man in the movies without Sony's approval.

So he'd rather spend his time getting revenge in Fallout 76 and hiding away than fix the damage Xbox is in? Gotta love those priorities.

@Fiendish-Beaver @FraserG
Maybe, but I just grew tired of all the broken promises and lies. And the feeling that he's never been held accountable for any of it. I feel like Xbox is in a worst position than the damage Don Mattrick left and as the head of Xbox it's his responsibility. Just my thoughts.

Phil has been eerily absent and gone in the wind while all this has been going on. Just like he was when they wouldn't clear up the rumours about games going over to PlayStation.

He's probably working on his next big PR speech to make it seem like everything in Xbox land is fine and dandy and they'll rise again like a phoenix to become bigger than god or whatever crap he'll come out with that'll turn out to be another piece of crap in the next two years.

He has mismanaged Xbox plain and simple. All the other big names are defending him but where is he to defend himself? Coward.

It's not that big of a suprise. Didn't Phil Spencer say when he went on his shopping spree that he won't be taking games of existing IP's that were always there away from PlayStation? And the rest are a "case by case basis". This could be the first honest thing he's done where he actually delivered on a promise.

All the recent controversy makes Xbox look worse than it did in 2013. After all these years of people saying "he's just trying to fix Don Mattricks mess!" And yet it's looking like Phil will end up leaving Xbox in a worse state than when he got it. Some people seem to worship him because he wears gaming t-shirts, but I've always believed he's nothing but talk and full of corporate double speak.

Queue the next generation when we get 10 years of "But, but... Sarah Bond is just trying to fix Phil Spencer's mess!"

I don't see Xbox recovering. Not this time. Especially with more reports of incoming cuts, price increases and porting their first party games to other platforms.

Xbox is a shadow. Microsoft Gaming Studios is coming.

The company that said they wouldn't raise the console price when Sony did. The company that said they wouldn't increase the game prices when Sony did. And only weeks after saying it they did both?

And the desperate attempt to push more people to GP by doubling the price of XBLG. (Albeit they backtracked after the outrage and said "we're still learning")

I believe this news based on their track record. Xbox is plummeting fast.

@jFug
Good point. Fair shout.

@PassePartout
Who said anything about it being my wish?

With all the news the last few days, NOTHING is going smoothly at Xbox. I'd honestly be worried for the future of the Xbox division at this point if I was an Xbox only gamer. It's a disaster over there.

And yet everyone assured me that consolidation was good for competition and the industry as a whole. I can safely speculate that if Xbox attempt to acquire any other big publishers or developers they'll be met with even more scrutiny from the CMA and FTC.
I said it then that they can't even handle the studios they already have. And it's starting to show.

But... They're saving the industry! That's what the internet told me...

First they buy ABK, then they lay off thousands of employees and now shutting down studios, and porting games to PlayStation?

Can we stop cheering for consolidation now? Looks like we're not getting The Evil Within 3 and there goes Xbox's only chance at the Japanese market.
They don't have a clue.

@Ver
Phil Spencer paid $7bn for Zenimax and $69bn for Activision. So far there is zero proof that future Elder Scrolls, Fallout, Spyro etc will come to PS or Nintendo. CoD has been forced over the FTC trials.

It's kinda like the time Phil Spencer paid MASSIVE money for two huge publishers for ALL of their IP's to be exclusive. We were all outraged over that, right?

@Banjo-
That's pretty much what I was getting at. Even if they might publish to playstation it's not all doom and gloom because there's still a reason for the console to exist while tapping into Sony's install base at £70 per game as opposed to a subscription that Sony would be dead against from a competitor.

Personally I'd be interested in Halo multiplayer and would pay full price. I always preferred it over the likes of CoD, battlefield and overwatch and such. I'm not interested in StarField personally though.

Well, Phil did say "we want to bring games to more gamers not less" and wants "gamepass on every screen"
Now while Sony won't allow gamepass on playstation if hell froze over Xbox needs to recoup that money plain and simple. so making PS players pay full price by publishing to Sony's big install base while those on Xbox gets the same games for a low monthly fee isn't such a bad idea. Best of both worlds really. Xbox gamers get the "netflix of gaming" treatment and the stubborn folk who never planned on switching throw money at Xbox too. Which in turn will sustain gamepass.

Other lines by Phil recently. "We want to be the market leader by 2030" think about this, if he tapped into Sony's 100-ish million install base this time next year he could literally say they have the biggest audience in gaming combining Nintendo's audience, Sony's audience and Steam's audience just by publishing while still keeping the Xbox console space alive for it's primary users.

Maybe that's the plan, maybe it isn't. But it would be a good one because Xbox users lose nothing they weren't already getting. And if gamepass adoption truly has stagnated and as we know Xbox console sales are dismal it's a really good move for them.