I think it's a bigger problem that their few AAA studios are 'locked' to making sequels for the same old IPs 343 to Halo, Turn 10 to Forza, The Coalition to Gear of War and Lionhead to Fable.

Only problem for me is that they cant get here fast enough and I want to see actual gameplay in the trailers.

Yes and no. I don't say they don't care about graphics in general but they don't make it a top priority.

And I think it is always hard to say something "the majority of gamers don't" or "do". The majority of people buy Samsung smartphones. But why? Are they better than Xperias?

I say that, especially in the beginning, you have to make people buy your system, convince them to buy your system. Especially if it is proven the hardware is not as capable as your direct competitor. And MS didn't do that. Perhaps it is missing something like "Gears" from last-gen, something that makes people think (at least "simple" people) "wow, I have to get that!"

I don't think we have to argue that graphics are a major part why people buy consoles. That is why we have new consoles, that is why The Order 1886 topped UK charts, that is why everyone is blown away by UC4.

Of course it is not the only parameter, though.

I agree with Ka-pi on this. They also need to produce more exclusives.

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Graphics is an issue for MS's first party games ?

Doesn't matter much anyway's since the power of the X1 will keep it in the shadow of the PS4 for a good long while ...

Microsoft is damned if they do and damned if they don't since consumers will always be comparing to the games on the PS4 so you might as well live with it ...

Getting a fair portion of exclusive games that are visually comparable to the PS4 on the X1 is asking a lot ...

Outside of Halo, Gears and Forza (sort of, didn't the last one only sale 800,000) their exclusives don't sale. Fable is free to play now (don't know how it sold before).....Sunset Overdrive most likely won't get a sequel (would've sold better on PS where Insomniac does great), it's easily the best XONE exclusive so far and it failed to make sales. Getting a timed exclusive deal on Tomb Raider could be seen as good, but majority of Xbox gamers don't buy those type of games. Look at the sales of the last one.
Maybe presentation is the problem, because they have issues trying to get new series going because they barely get any support by their market. Or maybe the general Xbox gamer is only interested in games with guns.

Main reason I can't wait for Scalebound and Quantum Break....they seem different and interesting.....until then it's shooters, shooters, timed exclusive and pretty much an annual racer. Until Scalebound which looks awesome so far, my One isn't getting much use. Maybe just the Halo campaigns.

Graphics create good first impressions... So, that part is right.

But, gameplay is what makes real memories. The problem for MS is that most of their games are not unique in any way. So, they are not remembered for either graphics or gameplay.

Didn't previous Halo games run split screen at 60fps? Don't see why that's an issue now.

And if it's between split screen at 30fps or no split screen at all, why would anyone in their right mind prefer the ladder?

60fps is definitely not why that game lacks split screen.

Yeah, we all know this but without showing that even on less hardware you can create great visuals the image of the Xbone is even worse than it should be. I don't say they should have comparable graphics, that is simply not possible in terms of technology. But they could try to make a game look good and "high-production value" in a certain way. For example UC4 demo is technically nice but also you can see how much money is thrown at it. The level of detail requires time and therefore money which ND seems to get.

I don't say MS doesn't put a lot of money into Halo 5 but I guess it would have even more general appeal to masses if they had gone 30fps "with bells and whistles", it's hard to transport the benefit of 60fps, especially if it cuts away bells and whistles.