Exactly. I was trying to hold out on getting the Wii U because of a massive amount of droughts due to no mulitplats. The exclusives were good, but I knew it wouldnt be supported for much longer.  Once I got the switch and found out about Mario Kart 8 coming I knew this new console would pick up the pieces because Nintendo would port old wii u games. The switch is everything and the perfect companion to my PS4 (which my Xbox One used to be). Exclusives are value propositions to entice you buy a console. Once you lose the value proposition, the hold you have over the consumer will dissipate unless you have something else another platform doesn't possess. This is where secondary features like online and ui come in. Exclusive games are primary value propositions.

I wasn't disagreeing with that, there were a ton of factors that allowed the Xbox 360 to thrive as well as it did.

Still. It is hard to argue with the evidence I presented that an exclusive game can shift consoles and did shift consoles for the Xbox 360... A luxury the Xbox One hasn't had yet.

We were talking about Microsoft's investment in gaming in general.
Microsoft purchasing Mojang is an investment by Microsoft into gaming, to call it otherwise is nonsensical.

That is because they were inefficient. It felt to me that they never really had the freedom they should have had to really shine and actually make games outside of the Fable universe, I would have loved to have seen a return to Black and White, it could have made an excellent Kinect game.

Fable Anniversary was a remake in the Unreal Engine 3, the art style of Fable 1 was already pretty good, so in my opinion... The visual jump wasn't as radical as say... Halo: CE to Halo CE: Anniversary.

...But all told... They did make some of my favorite games of all time and I would have loved for them to have stuck around.

With the Fable 4 rumors floating around though, I am interested to see how another studio takes on the Intellectual Property.

 I would rather see the studio's spun off into independent entities rather than shut down completely.

The closure of Ensembles meant that a TON of talent ended up going elsewhere... Like Robot Entertainment.
The closure of Lionhead meant that some talent ended up in Microsoft's competitors hands, aka. Sony.

Who gives a shit? You are clasping at straws.

I never said that wasn't the case. But it doesn't mean I am not allowed to criticize the lack of features that are announced well in advance.

And the biggest factor was failures with PS3.

A single game rarely causes a massive shift. I mean people see Goldeneye and Halo 1 as pivitol games for those consoles, but the consoles still sold relatively few. Wii U had some great content, still didnt shift shit.

Yeah, I was focused on Xbox gaming investments from the inital billion you mentioned. Minecraft wasnt that. But whatever, not important.

I recall Sony looking like heroes for showing interest in Lionhead employees, then the Driveclub studio was shut down shortly after. So much talent everywhere.

I grasp at straws and its a response to your whining. If you whine on a forum I can respond.

Maybe its your monitor thats lacking. Think about it.

Makes you wonder how far the Xbox 360 could have pushed if it didn't have the PR nightmare aka. Red Ring of Death.

Nintendo and Sony realise this. Which is why they often have big hitter after big hitter smashing it out of the park.

Don't forget the evidence of the big uptick in console sales after Halo 3's launch that I presented, do that heaps of times all generation long, it adds up.

Fact is, Microsoft is loosing sales as the lack of exclusives is eroding it's brand image, why would someone buy an Xbox One if the Playstation 4 has the bulk of Xbox One games plus so much more?

Other companies took interest as well. There was a ton of talent at Lionhead, they made some of my favorite games of all time, that's for sure.

I never said you weren't entitled to do so.
But your whining of my purchasing decision will ultimately change nothing, I would still buy an Xbox One X today if I didn't have one and I would still complain about where it falls short, that is my right to do so. Don't like it? Stiff shit.

Or maybe the Xbox One X has shit support from Microsoft? Common display standards should be supported from the very beginning. 2560x1440 is the same aspect ratio as 4k and 1080P, many games are also rendering at that resolution, it's stupid how that feature wasn't baked in from the start.

Looking at the Alpha patch notes, there is still no mention of 1440P support coming either. Shame on Microsoft. Shame.

For other forum/internet readers out there: Don't buy an Xbox One X if you have a display that exceeds 1080P and isn't 4k.
That includes 2560x1600, 2560x1440 (2k), 5120x2880 (5k), 3440x1440, 3840x1600, 2560x1080 resolutions. Instead, buy a PC or a Playstation 4, you will be better off.

I don't see XB1 doing over 60 million unless MS fails to release an XB2 by Winter 2020. 

It has terrible visual design though. Everything in Halo 5 is too bright, and calls attention to the player. It's the same problem as the mud brown shooters that we got last gen, only this time it has to do with too much as opposed to not enough color. On the bright side though, Halo has a good foundation for an art direction, lore, gameplay etc. 

Xbox 360 may have performed even better had RROD not happened. But we do know 360 thrived thanks to failures with PS3.

Based on VGChartz, the sales disparity for 06 and 07 aren't that significant. It was 1 million higher even though Halo 3 sold nearly 7 million in months. Its possible a lot of Halo fans had their 360 in anticipation of that game. That was also the year for AC, Bioshock, CoD:MW, Forza 2, and even Gears was still selling well. Hence, it took a lot more than Halo 3 to make 360 the success it was AND it didn't just rely on exclusives.

2008 saw a nice sales boost for 360, but that was also the year it hit $199, it was still a lot cheaper than PS3, and a bunch of notable games launched that year as well. So I give some credit to Halo 3 for the 360's success, but so much more to PS3's failure.

I agree more exclusives wouldn't hurt the Xbox brand, but it has notable content you aren't giving it credit for.

Common TV standards are supported by the X1X. The same goes for the standard X1, from what I've seen its only designed to support 480p, 720p and 1080p.

Again, you say people with (gaming) PCs shouldn't buy an X1X. You should have took your advice, you would complain less.

I don't anticipate a new console by 2020, from Sony or MS. The mid gen upgrades bought them some time.

If Sony does go for 2020, I think MS would just follow up in 2021 with a more powerful box, while the X1X could be their budget option.

People are torn on Halo 5's presentation. Compared to other 60 fps shooters it looks great and the lighting is impressive. But I understand your gripes with the "brightness." However, I gladly take that over the "brown shooters."

I'll take a game with brown environments and bright colorful enemies. I'll take a game with bright environments and dull brown enemies. As long as I can instantly tell the difference between something I'm supposed to be shooting at and something I'm not. When the enemies and the environment look the same, it's the video game version of trying to read dull grey text on dark grey paper. 

I agree.
Halo 4 had great visual design that added a ton of atmosphere... Halo 5 was a regression in that aspect.

The brightness was likely a bid to try and appeal to E-Sports, they tend to like bright and vibrant colours as it appeals to observers, it's easier for them to keep track of everything that is happening on-screen, downside is... Everything will look washed out and cartoony.

Hopefully as Halo 5 hasn't exactly set the E-Sports world on fire to say... The same degree as Overwatch, they take visual design more seriously with Halo 6.

Well. That's disingenuous. We know the Xbox 360 thrived because of a ton of different factors and not just limited to Sony dropping the ball.

Halo 3 still caused console sales to increase. That's the evidence.
If one game can do that, what could a dozen highly coveted exclusives do?

Price was a big factor for the Xbox 360, which is why my position has been the Xbox 360 succeeded for a range of reasons and not exclusive to Sony screwing up.

Name them.

What a coincidence. They are also common monitor display standards.
Not sure what your point is here, considering Microsoft has pledged to support standards which aren't common in the TV sphere?
Because Microsoft has recognized a ton of people actually use their superior PC displays to play their consoles on.

I am just complaining at the time frame to add such basic support in, I shouldn't have to wait months. - Until then, the Xbox One X is a glorified 1080P console for me.

No. I will buy every console. And there ain't nothing you can do about it. Don't like it? Stiff shit. Deal with it.

And the bright side is... I can see where these machines fall short and criticize them, I don't live in a world of ignorance, the other bonus is that I can help steer people to buy the appropriate device for their needs or debate with people about various aspects.

I am not a blind supporter of any platform. I hate all consoles equally.

Agreed. Anytime before that, there just isn't likely to be the technological jump to warrant a next-gen machine.

The biggest upgrade that we could get from a console if it drops before 2020 is on the CPU side of things, the Xbox One X and Playstation 4 Pro's CPU's are garbage, Zen would be a massive boost.

Xbox One X will never be a budget option.
It's vapor chamber cooler, it's 384-bit memory bus and it's comprehensive power delivery is a testament to that.

Not everything in Halo 5 is 60fps though.
Lighting is indeed impressive. Particles can also look impressive at times.

But the muddy textures (Except the cliff textures), brightness, shadowing, geometry detail, resolution and so on... Left much to be desired.

Halo 4's presentation was almost universally praised, it pushed the 360 to it's limits. (Mostly thanks to baked details.) Halo 5, not so much.
Still, with the criticism out there now... And with the Xbox One X on the playing field, there can't be any excuses for Halo 6.

Honestly it truly is a shame that XB1 and Wii U couldn't match their predecessors in quality content. MS better hope it is just cyclable, and allow the XB2 to knock it out of the park like Nintendo did with the Wii U/ Switch situation.