It was a graphical showcase and somewhat of a technical demonstration of the PS4 power, but I wouldn't say it was a flagship. Guerilla Games weren't that well regarded and selling major numbers before Horizon, Killzone had good scores and grahpics but not that high sales.

Its not just about the launch titles, though. People pick one next gen console over the other based on the promise of what's to come. Sony maybe didn't have games like Uncharted 4 and Bloodborne ready at launch, but they did show them almost from the very beginning. It gets people excited, creates a desire and it works, even if people have to wait 1 or 2 years to actually play them. Sony will do the exact same thing with GOW2, HZW and whatever else they'll show in August.

With MS's strategy it will just be a lot harder to get us hyped for next gen the way Sony's games will. I mean Halo Infinite did pretty much the opposite. I think it looked like a great game, but did it really make me want to rush out and buy a Series X at launch? Not really, I'm afraid.

The way things are, they are practically giving Sony a 2-year head start for building a next gen install base. By then most people have either bought a ps5 or want to buy a ps5 because their buddies are all playing on it. MS is fine with that as they're banking on GP, but a small install base typically means too much risk for AAA exclusives and less overall support from developers. 

Well yes I’m aware I’m just thinking of that one game that is day 1 associated with buying the console. In that regard it was KZ. Like how Ryse or Forza 5 depending on who you ask was associated with Xbox One. Looks like It’s essentially Halo up against Spiderman, despite their differences. Both will be the day 1 face of the console. 

Ok, so yes calling it a flagship is wrong, but we both can agree that so far MS wants Halo to be the reason to want an Xbox (be it One or Series X) and Sony is with Spiderman MM, unless in the next couple months they show more stuff.

Fair enough, yes my flagship label was wrong. I just meant “day 1 face of the console”. 

As much as I don't care about Halo and it is crossgen and Spiderman have sold more than it this gen, I would guess Halo have more power to move Series X than MM to move PS5. Thankfully first couple to 6 months people buy because of loyalty or future shows so it may not affect much the sales.

Yup that’s how it goes. Brand power spillover from this gen is going to play a much bigger role. Halo Infinite can be the best looking game I’ve ever seen, that ain’t gonna help much in Europe/Japan. 

It's a fitting tweet for a company who hasn't found an answer to a pressing question in the last seven years. Microsoft's defeatist attitude shone through in last week's Xbox event - I haven't watched it, but I know enough - so it's no surprise that one of their guys wants to pretend that the console war is over in order to distract from hardware sales. Microsoft wasn't in a bad position to challenge Sony's PS5, but instead of going on the offensive and being daring, they more or less quietly accepted their role as a distant third in the global console business.

That's not to say that the XSX will sell worse than the XB1. It will do better, because the XSX is merely unspectular and can bank on Game Pass (gaming for cheap matters, just look up how Steam centralized PC game sales for the most part), unlike the XB1 which sucked butt. That's an improvement for sure, but Microsoft didn't want to go any extra miles. If you want to win, you have to show that you want it. Spencer and friends showed none of that.

This stands in stark contrast to the Xbox 360 era where Microsoft seriously aimed to have the best-selling console and celebrated their NPD wins time and time again. Good hardware sales mean good software sales and high subscription rates, so of course it's important to sell as much hardware as possible. This hasn't changed. What has changed is that Microsoft doesn't want to hear about it anymore. That's because they couldn't figure out how to be winners.

I don't remember you doing it in the forum, but I find it curious that almost no game on the MS show had a release date but we have had some of the Xbox fans saying MS stopped showing games over 1 year before release in this gen and complaining of Sony doing it, now they haven't complained MS done it.

Myself I love that we get early announcements and know what is to come.

Europe with several countries in crysis may be fertile ground for Gamepass and in near future Xcloud.