I've just learned over the last couple years to never say never; not so long ago the idea of getting Xbox Game Studios titles on Switch at all seemed like a fantasy, but here we are.

So people buy the cross-gen games en masse on the old and the new hardware, so that the next games will not be cross-gen? What a cunning plan!

And that plan worked so perfect for the following COD games! No other cross-gen COD games after the new PS4 and XBO owners bought COD: Ghosts, right?

Mid gen upgrades weren't a next gen leap nor were they designed to replace base consoles. They share all games. Why do I have to explain this? MS's cross gen promise is only during a period cross gen games seem to have done well. Which is why they said two years, not half or all the gen.

You keep arguing people don't buy next gen consoles to play cross gen games. But there is plenty of evidence suggesting people do, because they want to play improved versions even if its mostly visuals and performance. Hence, you're denying reality.

Based on trends, its very possible the 2021 release of CoD could be a 8th gen game.

I didn't say major 3rd party titles will be on Gamepass in 2020/2021. I said 9th gen exclusives could be on Gamepass in 2020/2021. There are notable B to AAA games that have been on Gamepass months after release.

Even as cross gen content, 1st party games will help push Series X. MS and Sony consoles also rely heavily on 3rd party content. These aren't machines that move just on 1st party content, they aren't Nintendo devices.

Series X might be expensive at $599 US dollars like PS3. It's uncertain if the Lockhart will may at $200-300 lower. More importantly, games can be cross gen and still demonstrate what those new specs can do. Again, refer to BF4 for one of the best examples of 2013. PS3 version of BF4 holds up well but there is a lot of visual compromise and lower frame rate, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ccWtstrAgY.

Also, if Series X is considerably more powerful than PS5. It will also have the benefit of having the best multiplat ports.

MS actually has a long history of supporting Nintendo portables in some form with software. Probably has something to do with them never making a portable console.

I wouldn't be surprised if MS continues to support Switch in some form. I just keep expectations low on what it will be. I personally feel its a good idea for extra revenue.

Too many people are stuck in this mindset that a console has to outsell the other console to be successful. My debate in another thread was N64 vs PS1 and as much as the PS1 beat the N64, that doesn't mean the N64 is a bad console or a unsuccessful one. There is more to a console than just selling it to the masses. Example would be, how much profit and loss is in each console, how many are they producing, what is there target sales, there target audience, is the console going to generate subscribers and is the console going to have games etc.

MS is going the way of having 1 eco-system does all. The Series X is a premium product, its not meant to be for the masses, that we can assume will be the rumoured Lockheart console. Is the Series X going to have games? Yes, a lot of games, including BC and new games from there 14+ gaming studios and 3rd party will have a library miles bigger than the XB1 and PS4 launch library. Are Series X games going to benefit the hardware, Yes they will, don't expect identical ports, expect the Series X to wave some magic on the older games including effects like Ray Tracing, Native resolutions, higher frame rates and more bells and whistles, you know, how PC games have been operating for generations.

This debate of no game is being built from the ground up is nonsense. If the Series X is a solid console that does a lot of consumer friendly things than it will sell. Its not like if it doesn't sell well in its first year the system is going to disappear. These consoles are long term products and if a customer doesn't upgrade in there first year, they will most likely upgrade in there 2nd or third year. It all rounds out the same at the end of the day.

You know, logic and common sense.

Finally someone that makes sense. I also don't think Series X will be for the masses. The ps5 is said to cost around $450 to manufacture and Sony's main goal is to get at least 100m of them in people's living rooms. Which means they are probably willing to take a hit on each console sold and sell them for $399. MS has openly said they don't care if you buy Series X, as they can still reach their business goals if people keep playing on X1 and X1X. That's why I don't see MS willing to take a hit on each console sold and it will likely be a $599 (or more) niche product, that they'll try to sell through some kind of subscription payment plan. It's also the reason why they are not too eager to build games that'll take full advantage of the Series X's hardware.

From a business perspective I'm sure MS's new strategy makes sense and it will no doubt make them a lot of $$$$. But consumers don't care if a console is a financial success. They'll measure it's success based on how many of their friends are playing it. And which console has the best games, the exclusives are very big part of that. Now, I totally get why MS is "thinking out of the box" and are using next gen to set themselves up for their glorious Xcloud/GP future. But just like with Kinect, they're way too busy looking for ways to reach new audiences, that they're forgetting about their current audience. And it will come back at them like a fart in an elevator.

Even if Cloud gaming is the future, content and brand awareness will still be way more important than the technical side of things. If that does actually happen, the big 3rd party publishers will likely just pull their games from GP like we're already seeing on Gefore Now https://www.pcworld.com/article/3528757/bethesda-just-pulled-it-games-from-nvidias-geforce-now-and-that-sucks.html.

All of them, including Nintendo and Sony will move focus to their own Cloud gaming services. And in the end it will still be about which company has the best exclusive content. Is that really a position MS wants to be in? 

I know the mid-gen consoles weren't a next gen leap, but neither are cross-gen games. With a next gen comes a ton of cross-gen games and the promise of new games and experiences, but MS can't promise anything if they have nothing to show. If MS's goal was to push Series X consoles they could have just said nothing at all about the 2 years of cross gen thing and talked more about what kind of amazing next gen exclusives they have in the pipeline instead. Sony promises next gen games by actually showing them. In 2014 they were already showing off Uncharted 4, The Order 1886, No Man's Sky, Bloodborne, HZD, FF7 remake etc. Sure, you can say Sony shows off their games way too early, but it's the promise of games like that that'll get people to migrate. Not the cross gen games, which people will still buy but it's not the main reason why they;ll buy a new console.

And no the AAA 3rd party games don't end up on GP early. The games on GP are either older games that are already in the bargain bin, games that bombed and MS's exclusives, which are obviously the main draw. Didn't you say 3rd party games are mostly cross-gen in the first 2 years, so how can there be any true AAA next gen games on GP when those will probably come out in 2022 and end up a year or two later on GP?

I agree that BF is an exception where it didn't have parity with previous gen consoles. But you're forgetting that BF has always been a pc franchise that's been miles ahead of what was possible on consoles. BF 1942 already had massive maps and player counts on pc during the ps2 era and obviously wasn't possible on consoles. BF2 also never made it to consoles and BF3 was basically a different game on pc compared to the ps3/360 version. There aren't many, if any, AAA games likes that anymore on pc. Nowadays almost all games are designed with the lowest common denominator in mind.

They aren’t designed with the lowest common denominator in mind. Again I’ll point to your own source you used for Halo Infinite where you ignored all the stuff said about how XSX was the special class console and would be superior to Xbone and you instead focused on the one part that could potentially support your theory where Stinkles talked about the game running well on Xbone. He also said devs always target the best hardware. Multiple people here have told you devs don’t developer for the lowest power and “scale up”.

How many times do you need to be proven wrong in one thread 😆

MS doesn't have full blown exclusives to show off early because they're probably not even in development. MS's focus going into next gen is building GP subscribers, and not pushing Series X sales and making games for it that hardly anyone will be able to play on GP for the first couple of years. I'm sure they will have some cryptic cgi trailers with some logo's but I don't think they will show gameplay footage of a true next gen Gears for example.

There will obviously be a ton of 3rd party games but remember how they always do that during the launch of next gen consoles? People get all excited until they see it's also coming to previous gen, which is always disappointing. It's one of those things that nobody wants to hear and it usually takes at least 1 or 2 years before we start to see most AAA 3rd party games skipping current gen. That's why early on, it was gameplay of games like the Order 1886, Infamous, Driveclub, Shadowfal, Ryse, Forza5 that created excitement for next gen. Sure, they didn't exactly deliver but they were still a great promotional tool get people excited about next gen and took up a big chunk of Sony's E3 presence.

We will see what kind of games will be on GP. Right now it seems like a good way for developers to get people to notice their games that didn't sell well in the hope they'll buy their other games or DLC. Shadow of the tombraider for example has been pulled from GP, while Rise of the Tombraider is still there. Fact remains that MS's 1st party exclusives are the main draw. 

Yes, I do think it's a good thing that MS isn't keeping people in the dark about their next gen strategy. They've been pretty open about not caring how many Series X's they'll sell, not having Series X exclusives and their cross gen strategy with GP and Xcloud later on. So why are we still arguing about it like they never said any of those things? 

It's a bummer that we still haven't heard anything from Sony but it's pretty save to say that they'll do what they've always been doing. They won't say all their exclusives will be cross gen for the first 2 years, bring them to psnow and pc from day one and limit developers just so that ps4 owners and the average pc gamer can still play them. They'll do a complete reset and will do whatever they can to get people excited about the new tech and "force" them to migrate asap. Meaning they will announce a tolarable price of $499 max, show some launch ps5 exclusives and then get a standing ovation by saying they're all about the games as they show glimpses of true next gen exclusives like HZD2, Spiderman, GT7 a new ND/SM game and whatnot.