Yeah it really is that small.  I remember watching a video where Phil Spencer was talking about listening to their fans.  The person interviewing him specifically mentioned that Playstation has the beloved MLB The Show while Microsoft does not.  Phil Spencer replied by saying that he hears his fans and he knows that they want a game like MLB The Show on the XB1 but then replied with the fact that they simply do not have the necessary amount of game developers for this to happen.

He then stated that they have to prioritze what games are going to be made.  In other words, Phil Spencer hears their fans that they want these beloved franchises to come to the XB1 but they simply dont have the time.  You can imagine that Microsoft and Sony try to snatch up all of the best game developers and then pay them to make exclusive games just for them.  That is why you see Sony so heavily invested in indie developers because then those developers will make games exclusively for them in the future.  Just look at Santa Monica Studios as an example.

So now you can begin to understand that Microsoft is doing everything and anything that they can to make games for their console.  But they can't pump out games faster than the developers can make them.  So instead, they invest money into franchises like Minecraft, timed exclusivity for Tomb Raider, or games like Titanfall.  **SIde Note** interesting read: http://www.totalxbox.com/75303/microsoft-saved-titanfall-from-cancellation-claims-report/

I believe what happened is that during the PS1 and PS2 era, Sony snatched up all of the great game developers at the time when Microsoft wasn't nearly in the game market.  Take a look at the games that are owned by Microsoft Game Studios and that which is owned by Sony Computer Entertainment:

http://www.microsoft.com/games/mgsgamecatalog/

http://www.g4tv.com/games/publishers/sony-computer-entertainment/5718/

Or they could have just bought sega and own franchises like Bayonetta, vanquish, virtua fighter, yakuza...etc. Or the could have done a squreenix and ended up owning IPs like duex ex, hitman, tomb raider..etc. So much more and better things they could have done that would resonate more with gamers and the Xbox brand than what they did.

Whats really funny, is that sony is making more games and more new IPs than MS and sony supposedly has less money to throw around. Don't wanna make this a sony ms thing, just pointing out that teher were much better ways to have spent that $3B than the way they chose to do it. 

Well if they can spend 2.5 billion dollars on an indie developer, you would think they could hire some more people to make their games...

They are not doing everything and anything at all. Great developers are losing their jobs left and right these days. Why not go after them instead of buying timed exclusivity and content for certain games which does nothing for the consumer in any way?

Oh I completely agree that they could have spent that 3 BILLION with a "B" on better things than Minecraft or the NFL as you mentioned.  I am actually shocked that they turned down a game like Bayonetta since those game developers were asking for someone to invest money into the franchise.  The last company that I expected to shell out money would have been Nintendo.  The only problem with owning franchises like say...tomb raider might be a bad decision.  
I say this because everyone here saw the backlash that Microsoft got when they announced that Tomb Raider was "exclusive" to the XB1 come holiday 2015.  Everyone was in outrage!  But then we later found out that it wasn't exclusive exclusive...

It's a crappy article since the author doesn't seem to really know how to even use the X1, but it's that persons opinion. I find it very strange for Gamespot not to recommend buying a console though, all three have some great games on offer imo.

As a gamer, I'd rather they waste money on Minecraft and kinect and leave 3rd parties alone.

I mean I dont have any knowledge of which developers are losing their jobs other than I do know that some of them are.  I also know that some of the console game developers are now seeing a bigger potential profit in making games on mobile devices.  

The other thing to note is that a lot of the great developers are also being snatched up by currently successful game developers like Naughty Dog.  I have also read articles where these game developers are creating new studios, which seem to be the indie developers nowadays.

The only thing that I can see Microsoft doing in the future is by winning over some of the indie developers that will make games exclusively for the XB1.  

There are news about companys cutting staff and development studios being closed down every other day. Irrational Games is an example. Grab these people before they form an indie company, makes a hit and you have to pay 2.5 billion dollars for them...

I was thinking the same thing. This is not a great way to appeal to the Xbox userbase and stuff like this certainly doesn't encourage MS to advertise on their site. What is the goal other than annoying some of thier readers/viewers?

More time was spent bitching about the interface than talking about games. They're out of touch.

woo one guy mentioned Wii U more interesting that XBOX ONE.

Wii U saved!!!