Nintendo is very much competing and they have a 3.5 year head start on Generation 9.  The console war is only over for Microsoft.  When they say "The console war is over" they mean "for us".

Hmm personally I think Switch is gen 8 as a mid gen substitute for the WiiU. But I mean they aren’t competing for specs and top 3rd party games like Sony and MS are now. They just doing their own thing. MS is doing that too but is still very much competing in the traditional sense as well. 

What about people like me who HAVE all of those games? Sometimes on multiple consoles? I think about it and look back, and I recently picked up The Witcher III WIld Hunt with all its DLC on PS4 for like I think 20 bucks. Given how long the game takes to complete and how much content is there, that alone is worth, what, 3-5 months worth of gameplay? Same with Red Dead Redemption 2. If I mainline that game, I'm looking at 6+ months worth of my time and I got that digitally for a measly 50 bucks (Canadian, remember.) GamePass is a good deal and I'll never say otherwise, but have you considered the reality that a lot of people already HAVE a lot of the games that are on it? 

If you're just getting into videogaming and have never collected games or regularly sell your games, then there's no deal better. but for people like me, people with hundreds of games (maybe thousands in total) both physically and digitally already, the chances of something coming out on the system that I don't already have but want is pretty slim. Furthermore, Xbox Live and PSN both have 'free' games that you keep for as long as you have their services and I've accumulated dozens of games at least on PSN that I'll have for as long as I have PSN. 

In fact, the more I actually think about it, the clearer it is to me (and clearly to others) that really the only reason to buy gamepass is, once again, Microsoft's first party titles. Honestly, I went into this post ready to be apologetic and compassionate about the service, but the more I think about it the more it sounds like smoke and mirrors. again, the deal IS good, but that doesn't mean the value is the same to everyone. it'd be nice to pick it up and play on my PC or something, but with how many games I already own physically and digitally as well as all the stuff I have on PSN and Switch and Steam...95% of the stuff on GamePass is stuff I already have, don't want, or will never play again. The only games I'd personally get GamePass for are, ironically, stuff like Sea of Thieves. Stuff I'd NEVER buy for myself because I think it's a pretty bad game, but would still be fun to play with my brother and our group of friends. I'd pick up the Halo games for the same reason, I don't like Halo but I'd LOVE to play co-op with my buddies. 

and dammit, I think I just flip-flopped again as I think about that. GamePAss is less about having games of your own and more about communal games everyone owns. If everyone has Sea of Thieves...then what harm is it to boot it up and play coop? Even if you don't like Halo or Forza, you can still play it with your buddies if the opportunity comes up. If you wanna play TitanFall but didn't want to buy a whole game just for the online mode (Well, then I'd recommend titanFall 2, but you get the point), then download it on GamePAss and have a go at it! 

See? This is why this debate isn't dead yet. I do agree that all three major companies have vastly different goals, but at the same time, like...if that's the case then why does Microsoft need its own console? 

I'm rambling. I keep going in circles, but that's where it seems like this is all ending up. It seems a lot of people have reiterated the same thing over and over again, but I'll say it myself. Sony is the traditional console manufacturer with dozens of high fidelity games. Switch emphasizes couch multiplayer and family games as well as portability, and Microsoft cares more about its services. the thing is, if that's the case, making a console just sounds like a drain on Microsoft's funds. The 'service based goods' business model is at odds with their stake in the console market, don't you think? 

Hey you do you. Like I said those game I mentioned were high on the most played charts. There’s always people that didn’t play those games. I have myself spent much more time playing 3rd party games then first party on GP. 

Bold: First and foremost the console is meant to get as much of 3rd party game sales as possible over the course of a generation. The real money maker every gen. Sorry but it’s silly to imply they can just walk away from that. Imo Game Pass is the one thing that sets their console apart from Nintendo and Sony.

As for Pc, they can push it there all they want, it’s not the console market and just another space they can plant roots where Sony largely isn’t following. Regular sales are still alive and well, Steam charts are a prime example where Grounded, Halo MCC and Sea of Thieves are getting plenty of action from people who just aren’t ready for a subscription.

People have this “one or the other” mentality. That MS is so invested in GP and therefore have to abandon everything else. They a big boy corporation, they can and are doing both. 

Still we have Xbox fans here saying they putting the games on PC doesn't impact the Xbox sales and others that say Phil never ment he isn't concerned about Xbox Series X sales... interesting indeed.

Funnier though is seeing Phil saying about locking game behind a device but going there and paying for timed console exclusivity.

But yes Console war is over to MS because they know they can't win.

I don't think they can do both. I'm sure Series X will have plenty of great games and Halo will probably be one of them. But at the start of a new console generation, that simply isn't enough. MS needs to create a desire for their new console by showing us what those 12Tflops and SSD can do. But twice in a row now, MS has shown us that their all-inclusive strategy gets in the way of that.

Just read this quote again...

"The fact that there will be no fully exclusive Series X games takes away one of the big motivating factors behind buying the console. It has also sparked a conversation around whether first-party studios will feel able to make the most of the new machine if they need to keep the old one in mind when developing their games. Microsoft feels strongly that it won't be an issue, but even if it is, in the minds of Spencer and his team, that small negative is more than offset by the benefits of being available across platforms.

Game Pass subscribers, which now total more than 10 million customers. If Microsoft turns around to those 10 million people and says that they have to buy an expensive new box in-order to access the next set of big Xbox games, that might result in decent console sales, but will likely hurt its subscriber base. That isn't an acceptable outcome to the company."

GP is great but if you could choose right now between playing 2-year-old, current gen games and a bunch of Indie titles. Or... play Halo Infinite, specifically designed for Series X with jaw dropping visuals that we conceive to be impossible on current gen consoles. What would you pick?

Still we have Xbox fans here saying they putting the games on PC doesn't impact the Xbox sales and others that say Phil never ment he isn't concerned about Xbox Series X sales... interesting indeed.

Funnier though is seeing Phil saying about locking game behind a device but going there and paying for timed console exclusivity.

But yes Console war is over to MS because they know they can't win.

I don't think they can do both. I'm sure Series X will have plenty of great games and Halo will probably be one of them. But at the start of a new console generation, that simply isn't enough. MS needs to create a desire for their new console by showing us what those 12Tflops and SSD can do. But twice in a row now, MS has shown us that their all-inclusive strategy gets in the way of that.

Just read this quote again...

"The fact that there will be no fully exclusive Series X games takes away one of the big motivating factors behind buying the console. It has also sparked a conversation around whether first-party studios will feel able to make the most of the new machine if they need to keep the old one in mind when developing their games. Microsoft feels strongly that it won't be an issue, but even if it is, in the minds of Spencer and his team, that small negative is more than offset by the benefits of being available across platforms.

Game Pass subscribers, which now total more than 10 million customers. If Microsoft turns around to those 10 million people and says that they have to buy an expensive new box in-order to access the next set of big Xbox games, that might result in decent console sales, but will likely hurt its subscriber base. That isn't an acceptable outcome to the company."

GP is great but if you could choose right now between playing 2-year-old, current gen games and a bunch of Indie titles. Or... play Halo Infinite, specifically designed for Series X with jaw dropping visuals that we conceive to be impossible on current gen consoles. What would you pick?