| hinch said:
One thing you're forgetting is heavy chip shortages. MS will be supplying their biggest market with more Xbox's (as they should) while PS its a bit more spread. The difference will be much greater once stock improve in the next year.
Also getting heavy 'globally in the US' vibes from OP lol.
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Exactly. Microsoft has a chance at the US (though I can't see the ratio changing all that much given their current trajectory), but worldwide? Not a chance. Microsoft has never appealed to the Japanese market and at this point it's a lost cause, and Sony has had a major worldwide appeal basically since day one. With PS1, they had discs and a very 'everyone can develop for our console' mentality. PS2 took the ball that PS1 made and ran with it, with a combination of longevity and quality games. PS4 allowed them to learn from their mistakes with PS3 and once again take a stranglehold, where PS5 is once again carrying on that momentum.
Right now, Ps5 is doing remarkably well. Better than any console before it. In mainstream media and places outside of heavily Xbox-leaning communities or groups, nobody thinks for a second that XSX is going to suddenly turn things around. The best they can hope for is parity in the US/UK. And, given that Sony is riding a wave of good will and success they rebooted with the PS4 on a console everyone seems to like, I don't see that momentum slowing any time soon.
As it stands, I think PS5 is going to marginally outsell PS4, Switch will either become the #3 best-selling console of all time or #1 depending on when Nintendo gives it the Old-Yeller treatment, and Xbox Series X is going to do marginally better than the Xbox One but not as good as the Xbox 360. Those are boring predictions, but that's what we're seeing. I am confident in that. Even if Microsoft turns things around, they've never been good at maintaining momentum. Every console they ever made tapered off in their final years regardless of how the next console does. Xbox? Solid 2001-2004, but practically nothing in 2005 because 360 was coming out. 360? Solid 2005-2010 or so, a very strong lifetime, but that left 2011-2013 as a nearly barren wasteland. Xbox One? Solid 2013-2016, but dropped off significantly in 2017-2020.
So where does that leave us? Well, uh...XSX has sold well enough, but like I said in prior entries in this thread, it has no games to call its own. The only games I know of that fit the criteria of 75+ on Metacritic and not available on Sony/Nintendo consoles (PC is fine) is Death's Door and Gears Tactics. I'm worried about Xbox because this time around they couldn't even get the launch right. Hopefully that allows them to absolutely impress in the console's final years (much like PS3 did) but history does not really support that idea. I'd like for it to be the case. I'd love for there to be three strong contenders in the market (I know people won't believe that statement given my history of being extra critical of MS/XB, but I swear it's true. I bought a 360 and One, and I'm eagerly trying to get a Series X for completionist sake), but all we have right now are empty promises. I would love for Elder Scrolls and Avowed and Doom and Wolfenstein and Forza and Gears and Halo and all the other promised games to come out, smash it, and give the console its much-needed boost, but right now we're almost a year into the console's life with virtually nothing to call its own.
Sony's got a lot of cross-generational stuff and all consoles have PC ports (As it should be), but Xbox needed to launch with Halo and all anyone could talk about was how bad HAlo looked so they delayed it 13 months just to make it presentable. You know what would have been a better idea? Delay the launch of Xbox Series X/S until 2021, give Sony 2020, Take that extra time to cram even more power into the Series X (Since they seem to think power makes games, it's kind of their schtick), then make a big deal when Xbox Series X launches with Halo Infinite and Gears Tactics and Forza Horizon 5. That would be a launch lineup ANYONE would drool over. Hell, I think it'd be funny for them to lean into the 'launching with the holy trinity' marketing. Self-awareness helps. And again, A Halo Game, a Gears Game, and a Forza game all launching with the console? Dare I say, that might be one of the best if not THE best launch lineup of all time.
Instead, it launched with nothing and went with a year-long drought. all it has is marginally stronger processing on multiplatform games and GamePass. Both of which are good, but not the system sellers they seem to think.
And for @LudicrousSpeed, who seems to think the excuse of 'games take a while to make' is a reasonable explanation for the drought...again, on paper that makes sense. But there's been a drought for 4 years already. Insomniac alone was able to release Miles morales, Update Spider-Man Remastered, and Release the outstanding Rift Apart all within one year. There's no way one relatively small company can release three amazing games in quick succession but 23 studios can't figure something out in 4 years. That's not good will, that's bad management. I honestly can't think of a better explanation. Games DO take time, but Nintendo and Sony were able to maintain a pretty solid pace throughout. Why can't Microsoft?
And until they can, the idea that Xbox will catch up to Playstation or Nintendo is, well, ludicrous.
**Edit** Just did some deeper dives/research and found out that Microsoft Flight Simulator and Twelve Minutes have also been finally released on XSX, so add that to the list (4 games) and add it to the 'ultimate XSX Lineup'. Halo, Gears, Forza, and Microsoft Flight Simulator with indie darling DEath's Door? Amazing. IT's also worth noting my requirements for inclusion on the list are, 75 or higher, 20 reviews, can't be on competing consoles but can be on prior generations of that brand or PC. Same rules apply to all three brands. So if a game was on WiiU or PC but isn't on PS or XB consoles? Counts. On PS4 and PS5 but not XB/NS? Counts. On XBO and XSX but not PS/NS? Counts. As long as it has 20 reviews. There were many games I found on Switch, PS5, and XSX that had like 8-14 reviews but I didn't add those to the above lists because, well, if they are so small only 8-14 outlets reviewed them, then they're not moving the needle. Plus it gets rid of a lot of tiny little nothing games that would gum up the works.
Last edited by Runa216 - on 29 August 2021
