The negativity I was mentioning was about the Xbox plan in general. The actual plan is to sell more Xbox One S, not Xbox One X at this time. You can be positive about what is actually in the hardware but be critical about software. I should have been more clear in mentioning the negative criticism towards Xbox and not just the software.
I understand you are excited about your new PlayStation 4 with playing a game that came out over a year ago, a game that came out earlier this year and a game that we both know honestly is not coming out in the time frame they are saying for next year.
It also depends what you are looking for in E3. Are you looking for what is really coming out in the next 12 months or is it more for beyond that. Sony has a habit of showing projects that go beyond the 12 months which does get many people excited. For 2017, it is 2 expansion packs to popular games and a re-remaster/remake to a PS2 game. Majority will be on the backs of third party, for both platforms. Microsoft has Forza Motorsport 7 and Crackdown 3.
I understand what you are saying and you do make some good points.
First, it's important to understand that I don't have some console warrior-esque allegiance to Microsoft or Sony. I'm a huge fan of Microsoft, Nadella, and the Xbox division (also a huge fan of Azure and Windows). I use their services and purchase their products. I think Sony is pretty much a joke of a company outside of the Playstation division and I think their Playstation execs are arrogant arses. I play video games as a form of entertainment, not as a form of supporting one company or another. This means, I will purchase/use the console that offers me the most entertainment. It's really that simple.
Here is where I am going to disagree with you, "The actual plan is to sell more Xbox One S, not Xbox One X at this time." That's not accurate. The goal of the Xbox division and largely Microsoft as a whole is to move users from single purchases to recurring purchases e.g. Xbox Live, Office 365, Azure et. al. When it comes to Xbox, the primary services are obviously Live and Games Pass. Both of those services are available on the Xbox One, the Xbox One S, and the Xbox One X. Microsoft's goal is to get user paying for those services by first selling them a console...any console. Microsoft didn't invest millions into the development of the Xbox One X in order to not sell them from day one.
Unfortunately, Microsoft has made a couple of huge mistakes with the 1X. The first mistake is pricing. $499 is too high, and yes $100 makes a huge difference. At this point in the generation, Microsoft has done an amazing job releasing services and features that are pretty great e.g. EA Access, Games Pass, Mixer/streaming integration, Looking for Groups etc. etc. They also have a pretty good library of console exclusives. Lots of gamers who have been Playstation only this gen were really interested in the Xbox One X. Everything I mentioned before plus being a beast of console is really attractive to those who flipped from the 360 to the PS4 this gen. Not at $499 though. It's too high of a price point.
It's also too high of a price point when it's competition is the PS4 Pro, which is selling for $399 (probably $350 with a pack in this fall when the 1X launches).
The second mistake is making the USP "4k games". It's great that the 1X is a premium product and fun to talk about how good the games look at 4k. Here is the deal, very few people have a 4k tv. From what I can tell estimates were at 15% for the end of 2016. My guess is that over half of the people considering or actually buying a 1X will be using it on a 1080p tv. Now, outside of 4k games, what's another reason to get the 1X? There literally isn't one. The obvious answer would be Xbox exclusive games. Well, there are very few of those. You mentioned Crackdown and Forza 7. Ok sure those will be great games (Forza will be great...Crackdown....maybe). Two games will not influence people to the 1X. Ok, what about 2018? How does the first half look? Not good. On that same note, people aren't going to buy a 1X because there are apparently 22 indie games coming out that will launch first exclusively on the Xbox.
Sure, the 1X is a beautiful beast of a console. Unfortunately, Microsoft gave no one outside of a few people a reason to purchase the 1X.
I understand you are excited about your new PlayStation 4 with playing a game that came out over a year ago, a game that came out earlier this year and a game that we both know honestly is not coming out in the time frame they are saying for next year.
It also depends what you are looking for in E3. Are you looking for what is really coming out in the next 12 months or is it more for beyond that. Sony has a habit of showing projects that go beyond the 12 months which does get many people excited. For 2017, it is 2 expansion packs to popular games and a re-remaster/remake to a PS2 game. Majority will be on the backs of third party, for both platforms. Microsoft has Forza Motorsport 7 and Crackdown 3.
I would suggest not going the games route.
As you mentioned, yes I am excited for a game that came out over a year ago, a game that came out earlier this year, and a game that is stated to come out in the first half of 2018. On a side note, you can't logically say Spider-man is not coming out in the first half of 2018 and then expect Crackdown to not get delayed.
You know what else I am excited about? I'm excited for the all of the PS4 exclusives that came out earlier this year. I'm excited about the PS4 exclusives that will come out the first half of 2018, and I am excited about the PS4 exclusives that will get announced at PSX this year.
You know what I am not excited about? I'm not excited that the Xbox "exclusives" are 22 indie games having console launch exclusivity on the Xbox. I'm not excited that, according to Phil Spencer, new exclusives are still two to three years out.
I think Phil is doing a great job, don't get me wrong. This generation is the generation of rebuilding for the Xbox division. It started out crashing and burning, now they are doing everything they can to turn things around. In my opinion, they are succeeding. I don't agree with some of their 1X decisions but for the most part the Xbox division is doing a pretty dang good job. Unfortunately, the rebuilding stage is hardware, services, then games. Right now, they are finishing up working on hardware, they are killing it with services, and they are starting on games. Games will come in a few years.
I'm a simple man though, I want to play games now. That means, the PS4 is my main console for the foreseeable future.
The negativity I was mentioning was about the Xbox plan in general. The actual plan is to sell more Xbox One S, not Xbox One X at this time. You can be positive about what is actually in the hardware but be critical about software. I should have been more clear in mentioning the negative criticism towards Xbox and not just the software.
I understand you are excited about your new PlayStation 4 with playing a game that came out over a year ago, a game that came out earlier this year and a game that we both know honestly is not coming out in the time frame they are saying for next year.
It also depends what you are looking for in E3. Are you looking for what is really coming out in the next 12 months or is it more for beyond that. Sony has a habit of showing projects that go beyond the 12 months which does get many people excited. For 2017, it is 2 expansion packs to popular games and a re-remaster/remake to a PS2 game. Majority will be on the backs of third party, for both platforms. Microsoft has Forza Motorsport 7 and Crackdown 3.
