S.T.A.G.E. said:
Sony can allow their devs to pump out new IP's because their devs have. Microsoft has tried and failed since they entered the gaming industry. This is why they keep their good games that they purchased like cards that are held so close to their vest. Without them they are strategically naked. |
Awhile back I poked through the 360's end-life library (looking, I believe, from October 2010 after the launch of Fable 3 right through to the pre-Xbox One launch,) aaaand yeah, not hard to see why it accrued its reputation as a shooter box, despite having a fairly diverse lineup in its early years. It wasn't simply a matter of having studios making Halo, Gears of War and Forza, given Sony has its own studios that focus on a single genre or series, but rather (in my opinion) that their attempt to make Kinect a smash hit overshadowed any thought of developing a diverse, in-house lineup. A handful of titles ported from PC- Minecraft, Witcher 2, a Toy Soldiers game, etc- helped even out the first party dip in variety a little, and Undead Studios partnered with Microsoft Game Studios- though perhaps just on a publishing basis- to release State of Decay in June 2013. It probably also saw a breath of fresh air when the Xbox One launched, as at least Titanfall, and possibly other Xbox console exclusives, would have ended up on it. But there was a very noticeable period where, if it didn't require motion controls, and it wasn't from a mega-selling franchise, it proooobably wasn't going to become a thing.
However, even though the Xbox One's library still isn't hefty enough for me to get on board (keeping in mind half the games I was interested in have ended up on PC, and that just makes me wary about waiting to see if the rest do likewise) I am optimistic that they at least won't repeat the same mistakes that contributed to the 360's drought. For one, they're no longer dominant in the only markets they really seem to care about, which should push them to remain as competitive as possible in all aspects instead of only focusing on proven, guaranteed moneymakers for regular games. Even if they do 'retake the US,' it will likely never be to the extent the 360 was on top; at that point, what with word of mouth and the sale effect of 'All My Friends Have One, Might As Well Get It Too,' the console could all but sell itself, with the PS3 always struggling one step behind with its smaller marketshare. In this case, things seem like they'll be far less cut-and-dry for either side in the U.S.
On top of that, they seem to have finally stopped trying to push the Kinect, not just with the inevitable unbundling, but by swinging their exclusive focus back to conventional, controller games rather than Kinect exclusive titles, which during the same period I mentioned earlier, were outnumbering regular Xbox 360 exclusives by a vast margin.
So, yeah! While I do think the 360 started to go down a rather unappealing path, I'm at least seeing signs- particularly with the announcement of less, um, shooterboxery titles like Sea of Thieves- that they're righting the ship. (Lawl, pun.) ^_^
Zanten, Doer Of The Things
Unless He Forgets In Which Case Zanten, Forgetter Of The Things
Or He Procrascinates, In Which Case Zanten, Doer Of The Things Later
Or It Involves Moving Furniture, in Which Case Zanten, F*** You.
