Doesn't surprise me really.

1) Most of the people who have bought 360's now know what to expect from the console in terms of exclusives: new XBLA titles, and some bold shooters. Sprinkled with a bit of Fable.

2) A big budget game this late in the cycle doesn't make sense because...

3) ... because Microsoft plans on unveiling a new system within the next two years. They will focus their "gaming" efforts as launch titles for the 720. You don't want to dwarf 720 sales by having a lot of AAA exclusives come out for a system prior to your new one.

4) Microsoft plans to appeal to the casual buyers *again* because there are people out there that want to use it as a multimedia device but are looking for more options.

I don't think MS will put more effort into games before releasing the 720 outside of what they already announced. By working on media features that lays the groundwork for the 720.

The original Xbox had mostly PC exclusives, which I am sure most of them already had and the PS2 covered the exclusives on the console end. The PS3 has most of the games the 360 has, and PC covers the majority of PC's exclusives. Why should the Japanese buy the 360 again? The 360 was launched a year ahead of schedule to gather most of the offerings the PS3 was already scheduled to have before them and make deals with third parties. The Japanese also did themselves a favor dodging the bullet of the large failure rate of 360's. It had to be 60% at the highest worldwide which is horrible. The lowest Microsoft admitted to was 40% then it grew to 50% and more.

I can't wait to test this strong titled launch. Microsoft has never had one and neither has Sony.

It's bad business. Sooner or later people will move on to other platforms which are actually giving them new gaming experiences.

You think Microsoft can launch and sustain a new console with just more Forza and Halo + Kinect and 3rd party support? Sooner or later people will get tired of that.

NEW IPs are needed. If MS is cares about gamers they are developing some new IP for Xbox 720. If they were smart they'd launch new IPs on 360 and carry that momentum over to the 720.

Yep. Microsoft has kind of exploited the weakness of the gaming industry, in which the majority of sales don't come from the gamers. Give the gamers a little fun to give yourself a solid base and then let the third parties do all the work. Microsoft doesn't operate like a gaming company, but rather a smart, profitable American corporation who knows how to draw money out of people by any means necessary. Less money on games, more money on marketing. Kinect never came before the Eye toy, but everyone never knew the Eye Toy existed when the device was made primarily for them. Microsoft had the Kinect everywhere a casual would look in America which is smart. Americans will buy anything as long as it is a new fad during the holiday season. At this point it doesn't matter what the gamers want, they could launch without focusing on them and still survive. I made a joke today that Halo is their pacifier for the gamers, because if they bitch all they have to do is say STFU and put a Halo pacifier in their mouth. lol

@S.T.A.G.E

Hindsight is never a justification for forethought. You can argue after the fact that you made the right decision, but you never know how things play out in advance. The reality is that the Japanese consumer went to great lengths not to buy the 360. Overlooking price points, library, and availability. In other words prior to knowing about the hardware issues. There wasn't any overwhelming justification to wait for the PS3, and a lot of justification to not wait.

Thats true, but I didn't trust Microsoft last gen either. Their first party was generic and thoughtless, XSN was a failure and all their great third party and handful of good first party games were already on PC (Save for Halo 2). I had the Xbox, PC, Gamecube and the PS2. Most of my console time based on exclusives was spent on the PS2 and Gamecube and eventually I sold my Xbox. KOTOR, Jade Empire were my favorite games on the Xbox last gen and when I found out they were on PC I sold the Xbox without much thought knowing there are greater games beyond Microsoft. Most of my friends here in America boasted that the Xbox had best graphics when I sold my Xbox....and I said "Great...it's still has no games". Thats when they shut up, just like most of the mindless people argue about the PS3's offerings vs the 360's. It still hasn't changed. I know who the gaming company is. 

I like this post. Sony should think about creating a successful RPG/JRPG/ or something that's not like ME and skyrim.

LMAO!!!!

Also for people saying Sony cares about gaming about as much as MS.....no they care more. Just because they are both companies doesn't mean they have the same goals. Sony has an extensive Dev community. Look at Journey, Unfinished Swan. They are both made by third parties taking help from Sony Santa Monica studios. Sony has done similar stuff for infamous, LBP, Uncharted etc etc. When it comes to gaming Sony has an amazing approach, something MS definitely doesn't have.

Sony could have tried to make Sorcery kiddish. But they didn't, look at it, it's been two years since reveal at E3 and the fact that a mere Move title was allowed dev time of that length is an amazement in itself. Remember what happened to Milo?

You could try and say, "oh, it's all because Sony just sucks at business" or whatever, but the fact is baby, they are different. They have been relatively games and gamer friendly this gen compared to MS, who starting with releasing consoles with known reliability issues and XBL gold sub, and ending with a motion control device that makes games less complex, increasing gold sub costs and reducing the no. of exclusives that they actually used to deliver.

There are lots of other stuff, like for eg Ensemble being no more, XBL dashboard, advertisements even when you pay for the sub, blah blah blah.

I will stop here, thank you very much. I realize that this might have not been related to the thread, but I would rather say it when there's been a discussion relating to it.