I'm generations passed, there was usually a "killer app"--that one "must own" game that people bought a console just to play.

Pokemon made the aging Gameboy a phenomenon all over again. Many people bought the original Xbox for Halo and Halo 2, alone. Street Fighter 2 dominated arcades in the 90's and one year exclusivity made the SNES a must own.

Is that still possible? Is there simply too much to play and a single game won't matter as much? 

Well, I'd say Zelda Botw on Switch is doing that to some degree, of course not as extreme as others have and that Pokémon on Switch has a big chance to really up swing Switch sales even more than they are already.

Minecraft showed me the power of a single title that got people to buy something to play it. I'm not sure if that would be as easy to do with an platform exclusive title these days though.

These games can still appear, but maybe just not having as big effect as they did in the past. Just in this gen, Youkai Watch came out of nowhere and pushed 3DS sales in a similar way than Pokemon did (at least in Japan).

Straight to the point, I like the Xbox One but it just doesn't have that "synergy" that other consoles have. If they can pull off an addictive exclusive game, will it be like Pokemon or Kinect and create phenomenal sales or is it too late?

Knack...





Ohhhh i think wii titles were the killer app for wii... i mean every nursing home just gotta have one

I think ZeldaBOTW proves the answer is yes.

I don't think so, but depending on when their next console launches, it wouldn't have to. Splatoon is a really good example of a really popular IP that didn't exactly move units on the Wii U. However, the reception from the playerbase and the playerbase itself was strong. Splatoon 2 was great support for the Switch due to this, especially (I'm assuming) in Japan.

So ultimately, I don't think it matters too much for Microsoft whether or not software moves units, so long as the software gets a large, active, and continually trending userbase with great reception.

I don't think it not being exclusive disqualifies is. People bought the Switch largely to play Zelda. This includes many Wii U owners. That's what a killer app is - software that almost exclusively pushes the exceptional success of its hardware. BotW did that for Switch. So exclusivity doesn't really matter - theoretically even a multiplat can be a killer app. For example, I'd say COD4 was a 360 killer app.

Depends on what you mean by 'make a difference' ?