Start of the gen it also make a lot of sense when bundled.

If you go there as a casual gamer or someone that really like to game but have limited budget, there is plenty of people like that, and you have one option of PS5 and Series X let's say at 499 (both selling at loss) and you have to put forth extra 60 bucks for new games, and let's say you have to buy 3 games during the first year to have something to play, that means 680 bucks upfront (without even accounting for mp costs).

Now same person see Lockhart for 399 with the option of 0 upfront payment if they sign for a 5 year GP plan and that comes with all the GP library of BC X1 plus added games of GP on launch (like Halo let's say).

Even if long term they end up paying 50-100% more on the HW because of the finnancing when the person see 0 upfront and small monthly payments, let's say 25 bucks (15 for subs and 10 for console) he is certainly be interested by that.

I know there's a lot of value there, but what's stopping anyone from just sticking to their ps4/xone? There are 150m gamers out there playing on current gen consoles who are probably perfectly fine with what they have. Its up to MS and Sony to show the value of their new consoles and persuade them to upgrade. If very few people do that, it will be a long, long time before we'll see AAA games designed specifically for next gen consoles. The only way to do that is with great games that can only be played on next gen.

GP is fantastic and all, but does it really have the games that'll persuade anyone to upgrade to a next gen console? Someone who buys a $200 Lockhart will likely be most excited about the big blockbusters like GTA6, COD etc. All games that probably won't be on GP for years, if at all. That's why I'm saying GP offers good value but its also a double edged sword when it comes to building a next gen installbase, and getting the big developers on board.

Nothing, as there isn't anything stoping anyone from keeping their PS3 and not buy a PS4, still people buy them.

All MS blockbuster games are and will be on GP day one, several high profile third parties are also on GP so people would be enticed by it.

True but people bought a ps4/Xone because games were coming out that could only be played on those consoles, while support for ps3/360 was drying out. Console generations have been like that since forever and everybody is fine with it. However, for the first time in gaming history we have a console manufacturer that is doing things completely different. They're making their new console more like an optional upgrade, while we can just play all their exclusives on Xone, XoneX and any half decent pc on GP too. Of course there will be the 3rd party games but how long do you think it will take before the big guns like GTA6, COD, BF6, AC etc. will be on GP? It can literally be 2024 before there'll be any games on GP that require next gen hardware.

Sony has showed stuff like Spider Man, HZD2, which are huge franchises, and if you want to play them you absolutely have to buy a ps5. While MS hasn't shown anything that requires a next gen console. Sure, if you want to play the best possible version in 4k and 60, or even, 120 fps. But isn't that just like the X1X and ps4 Pro because not many thought it was worth upgrading over.

Imo what MS should do to beat Sony's conference is simply show exclusive AAA games that can really only be played on Series X or a super high-end pc. And even through a crappy 1080p Youtube stream, it should be crystal clear why they aren't going to be on Xone too. I really hope they can do that, but I just don't see how with their whole cross gen/platform strategy thing in place.

I know there's a lot of value there, but what's stopping anyone from just sticking to their ps4/xone? There are 150m gamers out there playing on current gen consoles who are probably perfectly fine with what they have. Its up to MS and Sony to show the value of their new consoles and persuade them to upgrade. If very few people do that, it will be a long, long time before we'll see AAA games designed specifically for next gen consoles. The only way to do that is with great games that can only be played on next gen.

GP is fantastic and all, but does it really have the games that'll persuade anyone to upgrade to a next gen console? Someone who buys a $200 Lockhart will likely be most excited about the big blockbusters like GTA6, COD etc. All games that probably won't be on GP for years, if at all. That's why I'm saying GP offers good value but its also a double edged sword when it comes to building a next gen installbase, and getting the big developers on board. There's a shit ton of games on GP but none of them requires people to buy a Lockhart, let alone a Series X. As they can all be played on the Xbox people already have. 

That's true. MS's 1st party exclusives are obviously the major draw for GP and I know there's a lot of value there. But from all those games you just mentioned, how many of them will require a super fast SSD and a RTX graphics cards?

Look, I'm not here trying to upset anyone and I know not everybody shares the same opinion as me as to what next gen games should be about. I know there are plenty of people who swear by playing 4k on 120hz monitors and were probably super impressed with Dirt 5 running in 120fps. But personally, I just care more about a noticeable leap in overall immersion. I expect to watch a crap quality 1080p Youtube stream in July and still come away impressed because it still shows a generational leap. 

That's why I can't stand all the things I keep hearing from Phil and why I think a 4Tflops Lockhart with half the RAM, is a terrible idea. I know its consumer friendly and all. But if you see how developers are able to optimize on consoles, where even a single unlocked cpu core can make a difference, I just find it hard to believe that it's not going to limit the ambitions of multiplatform games across all platforms. Especially once we get into the middle of the generation and developers are starting to test the limits.

MS has already been enhancing BC games without the devs input. You already mentioned RDR, that was Microsoft's doing.

"we saw Gears of War Ultimate Edition operating with a 2x resolution scale on both axes, taking a 1080p game all the way up to native 4K. It's an evolution of the Heutchy Method used to bring Xbox 360 720p titles up to full 4K, with often spectacular results. Crucially, the back-compat team does all the heavy lifting at the system level - game developers do not need to participate at all in the process." 

Now they are talking about adding HDR to older games.

"This was a show-stopping moment. It was indeed Fusion Frenzy - an original Xbox title - running with its usual 16x resolution multiplier via back-compat, but this time presented with highly convincing, perceptibly real HDR. The key point is that this is proposed as a system-level feature for Xbox Series X, which should apply to all compatible games that don't have their own bespoke HDR modes - and as Marais demonstrated, it extends across the entire Xbox library."

https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digitalfoundry-2020-inside-xbox-series-x-full-specs

False. Gran Turismo 6 release when PS4 was launching, and some other games. Third Parties put crossgen for the first year or two for a long time already.

And considering how low the sales for X1 were (and that base model was the most sold) then it is quite possible that a very good deal on Lockhart will make it people want to buy it because with GP, they can expend very little and enjoy all exclusives for X1 "for free" while still being able to play the whole 9th gen. Also that will still be a major upgrade against base X1.

Will MS do this strategy with Lockhart "for free" on a multi year contract of GP? We don't know yet. Will it work out? We have no way to be sure. But I think there is a lot of potential. Lockhart for 100 less than PS5 and XSX 100 more would give they almost certainly a major defeat, but on a contract with GP with an attractive price it would potentially do very well.