Hi guys.

As many of you know I am a big fan of the Xbox 360 (still ;)) and I am currently totally happy with the console and as I have always said I want to finish my backlog first before I enter next-gen (read: current-gen). I got The Stick of Truth 2 weeks ago for 360 for 5 € to finally get the game that is responsible for my Avatar.

So what I really want to say is that I guess MS really has a perception problem when it comes the Xbox One. Of course there was the disastrous launch, thanks to Don Mattrick, the hated Kinect, the "design", the HDMI in which nobody uses and generally people had an image of the Xbone not really being a gaming machine.

Even more so there was talk about the hardware itself and by now everyone knows the Xbone is of course way more capable than PS360 but Sony did a better job (and had a bit of luck) designing the PS4 hardware.

But what is, well, sad? Perhaps not the right word... Strange? Perhaps fits better. What is strange is that MS doesn't really care about very good looking first party games - something that was always important to Sony, since PSX. They always managed to convince people so that they think "well, if I want the best graphics, I go Playstation".

What I mean is that in my opinion, resolution aside, Ryse, a launch game, is to me the best looking Xbone game. STILL. That doesn't mean other games don't look good, though. Forza 5 was 1080p60, on a console which has an image of not being able to render games at 1080p, and it was a launch game. But it shows. Yes, the game had a few cuts from the E3 demo (although of course this is always exaggerated in forum talk but that's how the world turns). The road to 1080p60 is of course preferred for racing games, yet Driveclub is praised for its graphics, the general public doesn't care for 60fps.

Forza Horizon 2 can look very good at times but the devs tried to create a very big open world racer and again, it shows. It is impossible to polish such a game with bells and whistles compared to a track racer (and in less time).

Halo 5? Hell, why did they go 60fps? Yes, it is objectively better for a fps to render at 60fps so from a gameplay point this is absolutely the right direction. But who wants it? People are already moaning about Halo 5 not having splitscreen at all (no matter if they had ever played it, though ;)) or why it has dynamic resolution. Well, design decisions to make the gameplay better but with this they sacrifice what seems way more important to many people: eyecandy.

And even games in their roadmap, I don't see any game besides RotTR, which is 3rd party, that really even tries to show which graphics are possible on the system which seems to be very important.

MS doesn't even try to have and finance a game like Uncharted 4 which looks absolutely amazing. It's a combination of good hardware, passionate devs and especially a lot of money thrown into a project. But the result is that people see the gameplay demo and think "wow, this is a game I want to play".

I mean we all can argue how much fun we have with a certain game or not. This shall not lead to a discussion whether Driveclub is a bad game, Forza is better, Uncharted 4 gameplay looks dull...

But in the end you also sell games because of presentation and this is where MS, in my opinion, totally sucks when it comes to first party.

Arguably there is still no single game (in my opinion) that looks better than Ryse, over 1 and half year after launch. That doesn't mean the system isn't able to do better graphics, of course it can. But I don't see when we will see one. Yes, the hardware is worse than the PS4 but that doesn't mean the machine can't do better.

TL;DR: It's sad Ryse is still the best looking games and I don't see any game topping it graphics wise. MS concentrates on the "wrong" things.

So, what do you think?

Considering one of my ever-favourite Playstation games is Infamous 2, and that game has decent graphics, I don't see "not showing graphical powerhouses" as a problem. Surely, I'd appreciate them even more if they pushed for more ambitious graphics, but it ain't a problem for me.

Getting their priorities straight is MS's first party problem. You just quoted Halo 5 lacking splitscreen in order not to sacrifice fps fidelity. Well, that's a huge blow to me.

Graphics do not make good games. Gameplay makes a good game, visuals merely improve how it looks to the eye.

In terms of gameplay Ryse is quite dull and basic compared to games like sunset overdrive.

I know graphics doesn't make a good game. But graphics still have to convince people to buy a system. And MS doesn't really care to even make a "looker" like The Order 1886 (no matter how bad that game is), Driveclub or Uncharted. These games are still popular, no matter how good or bad they are. I don't say that graphics make better games, definitely not, but they make people believe in a platform as worth spending money to.

Well ... wait a minute, though. Let's be honest about the situation. Prior to the Xbox One, Microsoft's first-party output was way behind Sony's in terms of quantity. That seems to be changing, at least somewhat, so perhaps that judgement should wait awhile.

Also, it's not like you can just pull an Uncharted 2 out of nowhere and blow everyone away. That doesn't happen overnight and it doesn't happen without spending a lot of money. Even with those ingredients, it still might not happen. Sometimes your pieces fit together, sometimes they don't.

Perhaps Black Tusk was supposed to be Microsoft's Naughty Dog. Maybe they were going to pull out the next Uncharted 2. We might never know, as they appear to be a dedicated Gears studio now, and seem to be working at a very fast pace.

It is to many and I understand it completely. I had a lot of fun playing Halo co-op with my girlfriend. But they decided to go 60fps which should be applauded but the sacrifices to achieve it...

Also, sure, on a dedicated gaming forum I don't expect many people buying games only because of presentation (although I think many still do ;)) but we are not representative at all, if you consider how many consoles were sold last-gen.

Thing is, right now, Sony has the "lookers", no matter how you put it. If they have better or more games is a different question. Also quantity wasn't what I was mentioning in the OP.

People don't buy perhapses or eventualities, they buy especially what they see, and Sony is doing a way better job when it comes to presentation of their own games (leave aside they already have the better looking multiplatform games and this won't change).

Well, i have to disagree when you say they should drop 60 fps for good graphics. No, no one should...ever.

You have to make up your mind on what you want games to be. Do you want them to be movies or do you want them to be interactive worlds? In my view gameplay is and always will be what a game is for. 60 fps makes a clear difference in responsiveness and connection to the game world. A bit more pollies? A bit more spicy special effects? When you play the game years down the line you wont even notice those things anymore. You will notice that it plays like walking on a spiky road.

No, i dont think that is the problem with Xbox exclusives.

The problem is that they all went for the same look and feel. Also, that the one that is different, Fable, got gutted into useless spin-offs. They need more colouful games. The grey, brown and realistic can't always be the answer.

Also, look at how Nintendo exclusives like Bayonetta and Xenoblade manage to look amazing without all the horse power of the new consoles. A good art design makes great strides and the general public can't tell nor cares about wich tech is behind it, they care about how pleasing what they are looking at is. If anything RYSE is actually the perfect example of a game everyone already forget because graphics don't leave an impression without good gameplay. The order is also in the same ballpark.

This isn't an issue at all.

Sony ''lookers'' are no better looking than Xbox One exclusives.

Really?

Where is the 30fps 1080p racer that looks better than or even equal to DC? No, FH2 doesn't. Yes, the game looks good and it is absolutely fantastic what they achieved with an open world racer. I also don't say it's a worse game, definitely not. It's a very good game and I think I would have much more fun with FH2 than with DC but it's a game that is especially built around presentation.

And this is only one example. No need to list even more, in my opinion.