Questionable_Duck

@datamonkey Of course they weren't. Didn't Satya Nadella say last year that they were trying to "redefine" what it means to be an Xbox fan? That clearly didn't work out for them.

Microsoft needs to try the exclusives strategy again, even if most of the games are only timed exclusives, but this time they need to be in it for the long haul and actually let their acquisitions bear fruit. I don't want Microsoft to flip-flop with their strategies over and over again. If they genuinely release several system-selling games as Xbox exclusives and STILL fail to sell consoles, then I could understand them going back to the current multiplatform approach.

However, I don't want to see them release one divisive game like Starfield, and then give up on the exclusives strategy entirely, all because it didn't sell that many consoles.

@Kobeandodom If they're that desperate, then maybe not

@cragis0001 I agree. Hiring Mena Sato Kato was a good first step, in my opinion, but they need to get more Asian talent on their side.

During the OG Xbox and 360 days, Microsoft actually had a studio called Microsoft Game Studios Japan that primarily consisted of local Japanese talent and helped with getting Japanese games on Xbox (they also made some games of their own, I believe). They should consider doing something like that again, maybe for all the major gaming markets in Asia this time.

If Shuhei Yoshida joined Xbox, he could probably help with a lot of Xbox's woes in Japan and Asia at large

@Banjo- Kiln is basically Microsoft's Drag X Drive, though I think this game had more passion put into it than that Nintendo title

Given that they specifically talk about accelerating "growth where organic paths are too slow," I wonder if this means they're looking into acquiring studios in Asia again? Not sure if that would be a great idea, since I think Xbox is big enough as it already is, but we'll see what happens, I guess

Btw I do NOT want Xbox to acquire any more publishers, after seeing what happened with ABK. But maybe an independent studio or two would be nice

@Jenkinss Nintendo and Sony actually had some pretty edgy marketing during the GameCube/PS2 era. Have you seen that poster of Mario with the tribal tattoo on his arm?

https://www.reddit.com/r/Mario/comments/1j8zdl5/do_any_of_you_remember_the_lawless_time_of_2004/

There was also that infamous case of Sony using a real decapitated goat as a part of a promotion stunt for God of War 2:

https://www.standard.co.uk/hp/front/slaughter-horror-at-sonys-depraved-promotion-stunt-with-decapitated-goat-7178355.html

You're right, though, that just because everyone else was doing something, doesn't mean it gave them the justification to shift to corporate, sanitized marketing during the Don Mattrick era. But even the Kinect stuff was a case of Microsoft just copying what the biggest leader in gaming (Nintendo) was doing at the time. Little did they know that this strategy would backfire for both Nintendo and Xbox

@Jenkinss The only reason why every company abandoned the edgy marketing gimmick of the 90s and early 2000s is because everyone was trying to do it all at once, to the point that it got kinda boring and oversaturated

I genuinely think that if Microsoft started doing edgy marketing for Xbox again like they used to do back in the day, it would be a net benefit for them. So long as everyone else doesn't copy the same exact shtick, that is

@HonestHick Thank you, I really appreciate the kind words! I like reading your comments on Push Square and Pure Xbox too btw

@J_Mo_Money True 😂

Same could be said for the Xbox guys who were all in with the multiplatform strategy. I think a decent amount of them will go back to bragging about exclusives now.

@IronCrow86 Funny how the same people celebrating Xbox games coming to PlayStation are now all like "meh, I never cared about Xbox games anyways" (which obviously isn't true, considering they were touting how much money Microsoft has been making on PlayStation as proof they can never go back to exclusives). They're doing the same exact thing they just criticized PC gamers for doing when Sony decided to walk back on PC releases.

Granted, the Xbox userbase has also had its fair share of hypocritical sentiments, but this is something that pretty much every platform fanbase does

@pamonmedia Since there weren't a lot of people who subscribed to Game Pass just for CoD in the first place, I don't think there will be a lot people who'll unsubscribe. Also, CoD fans may still sub to Game Pass for older CoD games. Activision notoriously doesn't discount the games much on digital storefront, so unless you want to buy physically, you'd still save money by playing this year's CoD on Game Pass next year

Honestly, I don't mind the change. I guess Bobby Kotick was right about CoD on Game Pass being a bad idea.

The only concern I have is that this may lead Microsoft to reconsider putting other major games, like The Elder Scrolls 6, on Game Pass at launch. So long as they don't do this with any first-party game other than CoD, I'll be perfectly fine with this. I only play CoD for the campaigns anyway.

Worth noting that this is still an improvement over what Activision offered pre-acquisition, because older CoD games rarely ever came to subscription services like Game Pass (PS Plus received a few, I think). Modern Warfare 2019 hadn't been available on any subscription services since its release, up until this month. At least to my knowledge. Heck, it wasn't even available on GeForce Now!

@Markatron84 You know, the thing that really baffles me is that Microsoft still hasn't added Xbox Game Studios logos to their Bethesda and Activision games.

Sony just released Marathon, and guess what, despite the game being self-published by Bungie, it still has a giant PlayStation Studios intro every time you boot it up on Xbox. That's what Microsoft should be doing with all of their games, whether they're published by Xbox Game Studios or not. They need some brand synergy.

@BacklogBrad Ehh, I dunno, I would argue that Xbox hasn't had a system selling game in more than a decade. And that's not solely because no one wants to buy an Xbox (even though there are a lot of people that truly think that), but also because Xbox hasn't released an outstanding, generation-defining game in a long time.

Halo Infinite and Starfield were both really good games in my opinion, but it's evident that many people do not share the same opinion that I do. Both games were controversial among their respective fanbases, they weren't exactly universally lauded games like Breath of the Wild, God of War (2018), etc. were.

Hi-Fi Rush and Indiana Jones WERE almost universally-lauded games, but the first game was far too niche and low-budget to be a system-seller, while the second game was already confirmed to be multiplatform prior to its Xbox release and thus not a true exclusive.

If Xbox had a series of amazing, 10/10 AAA games that released back-to-back and all appealed to a large audience, then I think they would be able to convince people to buy their consoles. So long as said consoles aren't all $1000, that is.

I actually thought this was a pretty decent showcase, for what it's worth. Yes, no games from any major developers, but if you were looking for cool indie games, then I think you may find something you're interested in here. Way better than the recent Triple I showcase, at least

You make good points, @Fiendish-Beaver and @PsBoxSwitchOwner, but I can't see Sony allowing a subscription service that contains major day-one releases to be available on PlayStation. It is nothing but a lose-lose situation for Sony, and is only beneficial for the owner of the subscription service.

The only Game Pass I could ever see Sony allowing on PlayStation is a version of the service that has no day-one games whatsoever. So basically a Microsoft version of what EA Play and Ubisoft+ are on PlayStation right now.

Also, making 2-3 bucks a month from a few million subscribers is a lot less money that Sony would make, compared to if people just bought the games on PlayStation outright.

@Fiendish-Beaver Sony wouldn't allow that to happen imo, it would harm sales for Xbox games on PS5, while Microsoft gets to make most of the money. I believe Sony had previously rejected Game Pass on PlayStation during the ABK trial.

That said, if a version of Game Pass on PlayStation didn't include any day-one titles whatsoever, I could see it happening.

Worth noting that the EA and Ubisoft subscriptions on PlayStation do not have any day-one games either (even though Ubisoft+ does include day-one games on Xbox).

@Balaam_ This is a pixel art game that could run on Switch 2 or PS4, is this really a problem that should happen?

It seems there's some major problems with this game on Series S (game-breaking save bug that's going to get fixed tomorrow, as well as unfinished ending cinematics only on this console for some reason), so I guess I'll hold off on playing the game until these things get fixed, despite the good reviews

Glad you understand @Fiendish-Beaver, and appreciate the kind words @Feffster!

@Fiendish-Beaver No worries. Maybe I kind of misunderstood what you're saying, as well.

You said this in one of your previous comments; "I think the problem is that Microsoft have tasted some success with some of their former exclusive games releasing on PlayStation, and none of those games have been day one releases"

Reading this, I thought you were implying that Microsoft hasn't released any games on PlayStation day-one yet. So I responded to point out that, yes, they have actually released some games on PlayStation simultaneously so far, and none of them have been particularly successful.

But, after reading your comment more carefully, I now realize that you weren't saying "they haven't released any games on PlayStation day-one." Instead, you were saying that none of the successful PS5 ports so far were day-one releases, which is true. So apologies for the confusion here.

@Coletrain In this context, I think it means Xbox and PC (including Steam). Microsoft isn't gonna stop doing PC ports, especially not when their next console is literally a PC-console hybrid

@Fiendish-Beaver They have released some games day-one on PlayStation already, though, and none of them have been particularly successful. Gears of War: Reloaded, Ninja Gaiden 4, The Outer Worlds 2, and Doom: The Dark Ages didn't exactly sell gangbusters on PlayStation

People liked Xbox Live Arcade a lot, but it's worth noting that Microsoft put a lot of restrictions on indie devs at the time. It's why developers, such as Hello Games and Phil Fish (the creator of Fez), were notably critical of Microsoft's policies back then. They both decided to make games primarily for non-Xbox platforms because of it.

@theduckofdeath @Elbow It was also free, so it's not like the game had some licensed content that prevented them from legally selling it anymore

Stuff like this keeps happening all the time. I guess there's a cost to making a game available on digital storefronts that we don't know about. Because there have been many times where the publisher just decided to say "sorry, we don't feel like selling the game anymore" and wiped it from the Xbox store, even though there was no licensing issues they had to deal with.

@Fiendish-Beaver It stands for turn-based strategy

@RegnumSolipsi I've never heard of this game either. And I normally consider myself knowledgeable about the OG Xbox era of video games. Welp, I guess I'll give it a go at some point

@Balaam_ "Weak tech" and "inferior versions of games" are basically the same thing, so no point in repeating that twice.

The AI criticism makes little sense because that wouldn't be a problem exclusive to the Series S.

No physical media is a fair point, however. But you can get many digital games cheap on Xbox thanks to key resellers and the like.

If you're okay with abandoning physical and you don't need the best tech available, I think the Series S is still a good deal for what you're getting

@themightyant @Fiendish-Beaver No problem! And yep, everything has gone by so quickly lately. It really feels like the Concord debacle happened just yesterday. But the game is nearing its second anniversary.

Man, it has really felt like to me that this console generation in general is only just getting started, but it's actually nearing its end. Crazy...

And, for sure @Fiendish-Beaver, time gets faster and faster the more you get older.

@themightyant @Fiendish-Beaver Guys, I know time flies fast, but Concord did not come out in 2025. That was a 2024 game, so it wouldn't be accounted for in these rankings

@shiny-enzo All very good points tbh! Appreciate the write-up. I actually agree with you more on the subject than disagree

@Jenkinss What is your favorite RPG of all time?

@Cakefish The funny part is that the sale itself is called the "This is an Xbox offer." Are they taking shots at Sarah Bond?

@Jean_McClane Minecraft Dungeons is somewhat unique in that regard because there aren't a lot of kid-friendly ARPGs or Diablo-likes

So I guess Forza Motorsport will be one of the only permanent Xbox Series exclusives this gen, alongside Redfall, Microsoft Flight Simulator (2020), Gears Tactics, Halo: Infinite, and... The Gunk? Maybe Keeper, too, but I imagine that'll get ported to PlayStation and/or Switch 2 eventually.

@Jenkinss Agreed. While in the broader scheme of things, the PS3 did sell better than the 360, if you look at things from Sony and Microsoft's perspective, it's clear that the PS3 was a commercial disappointment and the 360 was a massive success. Sony lost, like, 60 million users from the PS2 era. I bet they were expecting the PS3 to sell as good, if not better, than the PS3 at first. Microsoft, meanwhile, probably wasn't expecting the Xbox 360 to do as good as it did. They wanted to beat PlayStation at their own game, yes, but I don't think they anticipated that they would have been able to do it so quickly.

The PS3 still did very well in Europe, Japan, and other territories, but it was crushed by the 360 in North America

I will say, though, that I think Sony ended things off on a better note than Microsoft did. During the second half of the PS3's lifespan, Sony did a really good job rebuilding their reputation and making compelling exclusives that people loved. Microsoft kinda did the opposite. Thanks to Don Mattrick, they started shifting away from the core gamer audience and doubled down on stuff like the Kinect in an attempt to capture Nintendo's audience. Even still, Mattrick's screw-ups weren't enough to harm the 360's sales by a major amount.The Xbox One, however? Well, we all know how that ended up...

@Weebleman It's only because people were asking tbf, I don't think they would be going out of their way to say this if people didn't find it hard to believe.

Am I the only one who's kinda shocked at how much older he looks? Like, wow, it makes 𝘮𝘦 feel old

@fatpunkslim If Starfield performs better than some of Microsoft's other day-one games, like Doom: The Dark Ages and The Outer Worlds 2, then maybe, just maybe, Microsoft will decide to keep at least some of their games exclusive to Xbox for a year or two

@SuntannedDuck2 No, they're not disc compatible because Activision never released physical copies of Marvel Ultimate Alliance 1 and 2 on Xbox One or PS4. They were digital-only ports. And since the 360 versions of the games aren't backwards compatible, you can't play them on modern Xbox consoles unless you already have them in your digital library.

To make matters worse, those ports were only available for sale for two years. So the amount of people would could buy them was very limited

@Fiendish-Beaver I'm of two minds on this. On the one hand, yes, it makes Ultimate feel even more overpriced than it already is. But, at the same time, it's good that Premium subscribers aren't missing out on too much. Really, Ultimate is only needed when there's a new AAA game you want to play on the service day-one. Like, say, Fable.

@FraserG Speaking of games getting announced for Xbox, I think it may be worth bringing this to your attention:

https://x.com/BryanBstra/status/2033892611367297418?s=20

Apparently, some code was found in a recent Wuthering Waves update that suggests the game is coming to Xbox! So hopefully we'll see it on the platform sooner rather than later

Have no idea why Sonic 06 is in the top 10, considering that game was awful. Why do people want it to be backwards compatible?

@Felinox They already ported Ultimate Alliance 1 and 2 digitally to Xbox One, they would just need to relist them rather than make them backwards compatible

@Gemini53 It wasn't even the same week, it was the same day, as a matter of fact

By the way, I'm having the same problem too, not getting any notifications on my comments

@Jenkinss Yeah, The Last Remnant skipping Xbox was wild. They couldn't even bother making it back compat at least, like they did with Infinite Undiscovery (another Square Enix JRPG that's exclusive to the 360).

That and the Resonance of Fate remaster skipping Xbox were big disappointments for me. Especially since The Last Remnant was even ported to mobile phones, of all things.

But it's too late for these two games to get ported so, ah well. Unless they get added as part of the potential back compat update from Microsoft later this year (assuming they do add new games), there's no hope of seeing them on modern Xbox consoles.

Interesting that it's not releasing on PlayStation... Maybe Microsoft paid for the port?

@carlos82 It's going to be a console that plays PC games. Or a PC that plays console games. Whatever wording suits your boat.

The next Xbox will be different from other PCs in that it will be able to play all of your Xbox console library, including games that are not natively available on PC like GTA 6.

If it was just a PC without absolutely no distinguishing factors, it wouldn't have a custom chip set. It'd just have a standard AMD/Intel CPU instead.

@carlos82 The Xbox Helix will have a custom AMD chip set, though, so it won't be just a PC