January NPD 2019

[zorg1000]

curl-6 said:

zorg1000 said:

I agree, I have nothing against the Xbox brand but it does seem redundant. Like you said, all of its games can be played elsewhere and they don't have the 1st party offerings of Nintendo/Sony and it doesn't really have any unique hardware features. It's basically just a system for Halo, Gears & Forza fans.

I think at this point it's most important aspect is that they keep Sony in check. 360 stealing away half of PS2's audience caused Sony to not repeat those same early mistakes of the PS3 days and vice versa, PS4 stealing back a significant amount of that audience has caused Microsoft to not make the same mistakes they did with XBO early on.

They also keep going back and forth making their online services better and better. Xbox Live/PS Network, PS Plus/Games with Gold, Remote Play/Play Anywhere, PS Now/Game Pass, etc. They cause each other to step up their game and keep improving.

Very true, competition is good for us gamers and keeps the industry from stagnating or getting too anti-consumer. Only thing is that Xbox aren't doing a very good job of actually competing at the moment, lulz. At least the Switch is keeping things getting too monopolistic. 

Ya but look at the total 180 they have done from the DRM fiasco. They went from Kinect required, always online, no used games to Play Anywhere, Game Pass and even allowing cross play with Nintendo.

They also bought like 7 studios in the last 2 years so while this hasnt caused XBO sales to explode, the combination of these things can potentially put them in a better position next-gen, especially if Sony does get cocky again and make PS3/XBO level mistakes at launch.