You made a great point there. Goopy has suggested X1 support won't end to appeal to more users. But the only way that makes sense is X1 games keep selling very well and perhaps Gamepass is extremely popular just on X1 devices.

If that was the case, then there would be no valid reason for MS to stop supporting X1. In reality, we know that won't happen, but in his head it seems too likely.

In retrospect, I would like Goopy to be right. MS makes an amazing 9th gen box, but the market forces MS to support X1 longer, maybe forever.

I’ll say what I believe to be the elephant in the room. Some users think that MS is spreading themselves out too thin and thus won’t give their flagship console the attention it deserves compared to Sony putting all their eggs in the PS5 basket.

I understand that point. To merely say MS is a big boy company and can support everything it’s doing is just talk. They have everything to prove so I get the skepticism.

Here’s the honest truth: Sony chokes out competition in gaming. Sega is out. Nintendo hasn’t made a traditional console since the GameCube. Wii/WiiU/Switch.... all underpowered consoles compared to Sony to keep costs low to sell at a reduced price. Each with a gimmick that sets it apart from the competition.

Now it’s clear MS has reached that “Nintendo 2006” point that they can’t compete on Sony’s terms. So let’s see where this goes. Honestly....so far so good. They acquired some of the best independent talent in the industry and really nobody can knock them for respecting gamers wanting more choices and options.

If changing Xbox from a strict console to a brand name that together, can hopefully overtake a single console from Sony, AND I get more core games with no causal fluff....bring it on :)

I don't even see that as a valid argument. I mean MS's goal in the near future is essentially making games that function on X1, but also look significantly better on Series X and PC. Engines being used right now seem to scale fine to accomplish that. It's why we see so many unexpected ports on Switch or PC getting console games while pushing graphics well beyond consoles.

Many 3rd parties support PC, Playstation, Xbox and sometimes Switch. So is supporting X1, Series X and PC somehow more difficult? Meanwhile the xCloud is just streaming X1, so that isn't additional port work.

I don't really agree with your analogy of MS being a new struggling Nintendo. I actually think the Wiimote was a fantastic gimmick that made their home console existence unique. I was confused why they moved away from that to make another traditional console... but with a screen on the controller. I've said it many times, the Wii U would have been successful if it just stuck with the Wiimotes.

MS could just keep making consoles and games only if they desired. It seems they get enough users to keep it viable. However, MS also owns Windows and they've always toyed with bringing those experiences to PC. I think it has become evident that supporting PC won't negatively impact Xbox consoles significantly if at all, so they've gone all in. Which is good because it appears their games actually do better between Xbox and PC combined. I argue they also wanted Xbox to compliment Windows (and its store).

Even if Xbox was competing better with Playstation, I feel the PC support should have happened sooner. Especially when you consider software is more profitable between both platforms and there are many people to reach around the world not using consoles. If xCloud increases revenue and userbase without any extra effort from game developers, great! These just seem like obvious decisions for MS.

I think you're being too optimistic with the 1 year thing. Isn't it clear by now that MS won't have any exclusives that'll really make good use of Series X until A: Those kind of specs become main stream on pc or B: They'll do the world wide release of Cloud and have it bundled on Samsung phones. Who knows how long that will take.

Sony is putting al their eggs in the ps5 basket, while MS is looking past the Series X and is focusing on Xcloud and GP at the expense of a traditional next gen console. MAybe I'm wrong and in a couple of years we will all be gaming in the Cloud, but I just don't believe in it. It's kinda cool that you can play high-end pc games on a mobile but that doesn't mean you should. I mean has anyone tried Geforce Now and is that really the future of gaming? 

Like I said, Series X will be extremely hard to sell when it plays the same games as the X1, X1X just better, and at 4 times the price. Obviously Series X will still get the 3rd party games, but those will be mostly cross-gen games in the first couple of years that usually don't look that different compared to last gen versions. There are always exceptions like BF4, but that was one of the few franchises that never compromised the pc version. BF3 for example also had a completely different multiplayer on pc than on ps3/360. However if you look at the ps4 launch games, most cross-gen games were designed with parity across all platforms in mind, and didn't look all that different compared that we've seen on ps3/360. While games like Infamous, Shadowfall, Driveclub and hell even Knack, did.

NFS Rivals and Call of Duty Ghosts last gen vs current gen

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pr6WHlvF8S0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJIWlYRbMw8

Driveclub vs NFS Rivals

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HG5F9oUoA4k

So again you’re trying to tell us that Microsoft will end up supporting cross gen games for longer than the timeline they laid out. So then it must be something that will be successful for them. Imagine trying to argue at the same time that an approach is both BAD for next gen and successful enough that MS will play it out for longer than they anticipated.

Also why are we comparing third party cross gen launch titles to a year later first party title 😆😆 You even say the titles you’re showing were aiming for parity. The Halo interview you reference throughout this thread literally says there won’t be parity. Hello?

I'm saying MS doesn't have a fixed time line for dropping cross-gen 1st party games. It'll depend on how quickly they will roll out the Xcloud because they believe people aren't going to need a new console at all when they do that. Basically you would be able to play Series X/ high-end pc games on a Xone or any other device for that matter. Combine that with GP and in theory you have the Netflix of gaming, which they want to bundle with Samsung mobiles: https://www.theverge.com/2020/2/12/21134167/microsoft-samsung-xbox-partnership-xcloud-cloud-game-streaming  This is why MS isn't too bothered if the Series X sells or not. 

MS really believes in Cloud gaming and GP, just like they believed in Kinect, and they are putting all their eggs in that basket. Personally, I think that's a big mistake because gaming and streaming movies are two entirely different things. But we'll see what happens. 

Except they do have a timeline, it was right in the same interview where Matt Booty IIRC confirmed there would be cross gen games. "one to two years from now" or something to that effect, meaning the end of 2021 at the latest. aka one year of XSX.

Also MS has said repeatedly that xCloud is not meant to be a replacement for hardware, will always be inferior to local hardware, and is more of a convenience. You're overreacting hard to xCloud in all of your theories while for MS it's just a nice optional service they can give to some gamers lol

One or two years sounds a bit vague to me. But yeah, by then the next gen should be in full effect and the "winner" of the next gen console race will probably already be determined. All 3rd party developers would have moved on from current gen and it wouldn't make sense to still support the X1. What they're not doing, though, is create a desire for next gen games from the start by at least having a couple exclusive launch titles that show what the Series X can do. You know something that every every console in history has had. 

All I'm saying is that selling Series X boxes is definitely not their main priority like it will be with Sony. And no, Phil Spencer didn't say Xcloud is something they'll do a bit on the side, it's their end game... 

Neither Google nor Amazon has publicly announced plans to launch a game console, but both are positioned to compete directly with Microsoft’s Xbox when it comes to what Spencer sees as the next great expansion in gaming.

“Amazon and Google are focusing on how to get gaming to 7 billion people around the world,” Spencer told Protocol. “Ultimately, that’s the goal.”

"Though game consoles like Xbox One and PlayStation 4 sell in the tens or, in the case of PS4, hundreds of millions, the real potential market for gaming, Spencer believes, is in the billions of people on Earth who don’t – or can’t – own a game console. "

https://www.businessinsider.nl/xbox-boss-says-xbox-now-competes-with-google-and-amazon-2020-2?international=true&r=US

You have to understand that not all gamers are the same. Series X appeals to those who want it. Same goes for Xcloud and GP. Sure there is some overlap but you have to try to understand that Xcloud is for people who would have never bought a Xbox in the first place. 

And hey, it’s all core games, so it’s hard to actually complain ;)

I know that buddy. There's nothing really wrong with GP and Xcloud, just like there was nothing really wrong with Kinect. It's the shift in priority with MS that is a bit worrying. The Series X sounds amazing and 12Tflops is pretty crazy. But for argument's sake, lets say that I am right and until Xcloud can run Series X games on a ton of different devices, we will not see any MS exclusive that'll make good use of all that horse power. Doesn't that kinda suck?