Its not the 7th gen anymore so people are really looking for different experiences when they choose a gaming system and I have to say that I love seeing both Nintendo and Sony releasing high profile titles to rave reviews that people will look back on as defining moments in gaming.

The competition of great 1st party titles should be the identity people associate with the brand and actually the driving force behind you wanting to buy a console or not. I remember not buying a PS3 until a few years after its launch but that games like Infamous are what sold me on the system and a game like the new GoW makes me want a PS4 over the XboxOne. Microsoft needs to do a 180 on their 1st party studio situation to draw attention away from what both Sony and Nintendo are currently offering

Microsoft's Xbox division is a lot like Nintendo in some ways. They've often looked to win market share by bringing something new to the table. Xbox Live, Kinect, the original Xbox One blueprint. It makes me wonder if they plan to introduce another gimmick/innovation for next gen--and if that will be a boom or a bust.

Really, though, the most meaningful victories for Xbox came from doing what Microsoft itself is famous for doing--buying success. Bungie and Halo, Gears exclusivity, Lionhead, Rare. If they really wanted to climb out of the hole they're in now, it will be with money.

I don't think they're looking to buy big developers, though, not unless the right opportunity lands in their lap. That really isn't cost effective and I don't think they care that much about adding more single player IP to their repertoire. What they're probably doing right now is looking at small companies that are working on games-as-as-service properties. I think we're going to see GaaS exclusives either through direct acquisition or using Microsoft's server network as leverage. That's what Microsoft wants the most.

Well they could do what Nintendo did with the wii u. Cut support short and save up for the switch launch. I think next gen Microsoft will do bad if they don't launch with everything they have year 1

I dont think thats what he meant.

Basically what hes saying is that even though things werent looking good for PS3 in the first few years (heavy financial losses, massive shrinking of install base/marketshare, ton of 3rd party exclusives going multiplat, etc) Sony did not give up and throw in the flag early (Saturn, Xbox, Wii U, Vita), instead they invested a lot into 1st party development & services and cranked out a bunch of big 1st party games and introduced PS+ late in the systems life.

On the other hand, over the generation Microsoft had kinda reeled back on making big hardcore exclusives and was focusing more on their expanded audience they got with Kinect.

This strategy was also prevalent with their successors initial reveals in 2013, PS4 was all about being the console for hardcore gamers while XBO was more concerned with Kinect and being an all-in-one entertainment device.

The way Sony & Microsoft handled the late years of PS3/360 along with the reveals of PS4/XBO helped significantly in Sony regaining consumer confidence in the PS brand and the opposite effect for Xbox.

Would be crazy if XBO didnt get at least 1 more Halo & Gears game.

360
2006-Gears of War
2007-Halo 3
2008-Gears of War 2
2009-Halo 3: ODST
2010-Halo Reach
2011-Gears of War 3/Halo Anniversary
2012-Halo 4
2013-Gear of War: Judgement

XBO
2014-Master Chief Collection
2015-Gears Ultimate Edition/Halo 5
2016-Gears of War 4

2017 was the first year since 2005 that didnt have a major Halo/Gears release so i assume we will see one of them this fall and the other next year.

I think they will come full force on next gen

Halo 6 will seal off Xbox One

Gears 5 as lauch title for Xbox Infinity

This is true.  By the end of last gen, brand perception for Playstation was as high as it had ever been during the PS3 era.  On the other hand, brand perception for Xbox was already trending downward for a number of reasons well before the XO launch fiasco.  Obviously, this wasn't as meaningful as the XO flub itself but I would say that it was a contributing factor to the PS4's breakaway success.  

The problems for Xbox really precede the XO.  The Kinect fab kind of put a bandaid over the situation but that proved to be temporary and focusing too much of their attention in that area made things worse in the long run.  I don't know who should get the blame, or even if it should be spread around equally, but there has been some very poor planning among Xbox and Microsoft brass.

I agree that their strategies were opposite each other as the last half wore on. Microsoft got too fat and cocky and let that idiot Don Mattrick take the reigns and he promptly began driving the bran into the ground. Sony, on the other hand, hired a bunch of great marketing guys who came up with the whole Kevin Butler thing. They redesigned the system into something people actually wanted to buy etc. 

But still, Xbox 360 was the number one selling console of the seventh generation in the US so, I'm not buying that any of this had an impact within that generation in that particular territory. Maybe it allowed for what happened to Xbox One, but nothing really changed sales wise in until then.

That's what she said.

They have essentially told us this.  So, yeah, seems about right.