A Microsoft turn around? The importance of games in gaming.

[starcraft]

Fusioncode said:

Microsoft has a better lineup this year? Are we talking in terms of potential sales or quality. Because if it's the latter that's your personal opinion. PS4 has... Bloodborne, Until Dawn, Tearaway Unfolded, No Man's Sky, Dragon Quest Heroes, and Persona 5. That's fine to me. XBO has... Halo 5, State of Decay, ROTR, Forza 6, and Fable Legends. That's fine too. I don't think either lineup has some large advantage in quality. Sure you might like the XB1 lineup more, but again, personal preference. Bloodborne to me is a bigger deal than anything Microsoft or Nintendo has released but that's just my preference. I don't speak for the majority.

If we're talking sales then yeah, XB1's exclusive lineup will inevitably push more consoles. But not because it has more games, because it has precisely one game. Well the one that matters. Halo 5. Sure it's cute to think that Forza 6 or Fable or Tearaway is going to push consoles but they won't. Just like Sunset Overdrive, Forza Horizon 2, and LBP3 did nothing for their consoles. Halo 5 will sell consoles. How many? I don't know, maybe a little, maybe a lot. I figured MCC would done a lot better than it did so *shrugs*.

Then there's 3rd party marketing deals where Sony has been utterly spanking Microsoft this gen. So far they have deals for Battlefront, Batman: Arkham Knight, and Metal Gear Solid V. I think (and I could be wrong) that Battlefront will sell more PS4s than any single exclusive will do for their respective console this year. Microsoft on the flip side has been doing a very poor job with their bundles. How long are they going to keep that Assassin's Creed Unity bundle in circulation? Where was the bundle for Evolve? Or The Witcher 3? What's going on with the Call of Duty deal?

Will Microsoft take the US? Maybe. If they keep heavily undercutting Sony in price this gen they may eke out a win. I don't know. We'll see.

An opinion is an opinion is an opinion I guess. But whats important to note is that you certainly don't seem to think Sony has anything like the gaming advantage to justify the massive difference in sales.

I also think its important you raised the use of marketing deals. And it again goes to show how much marketing has impacted sales this generation, as opposed to the depth and breadth of games. Microsoft has done an appalling job with their marketing deals, Sony has done brilliantly.