Better late than never as the saying goes. We all know what MS should have done differently at the beginning of last gen, but they didn't. Recapping history and arguing about that now doesn't do anyone any good. What I care about now is, what they are doing currently. It's on record, Xbox almost went under during the Xbox one. Instead of Phil waving the white flag, they decide to go the other direction. It could always be a lot worse, like no Xbox at all. Of course there are some people who would have preferred this, but I'm not even going to humor those console war clowns. 

You asked, what was the last critically acclaimed game. Hifi Rush meets this standard. If you played it, you would know this. Just because its no Spiderman or Mario in sales doesn't negate this fact. If you want Xbox to release a top seller, Starfield already did this. I guess this doesn't count because it's not critically acclaimed enough. At least Xbox is releasing new IPs. Something I hear Xbox doesn't do enough, but when they do and they are good, no one has nothing to say now. Goal post changing always seems to happen. Wonder why. 

It's not about goalposts set by me, the simple fact is these games are not getting the job done. Xbox needs killer apps and these games don't make the grade.

That and hi fi rush is on the PC and runs on a basic gpu.  Spider 2 and Mario are not on the PC.  The Xbox has no exclusives.

It is goalposts changing lol. You initially said, Xbox hasn't released a critically acclaimed game since 2021. When I point out they have from this year, you now change it to killer apps. Even though, I definitely consider Starfield a killer app. Not sure how it's not. 

They do have 17 games currently in the pipeline line that we know of. How many games do we know of from Sony and Nintendo? Just looking at the lineup, I'm way more excited by what Xbox has from their 1st party than Sony and Nintendo. 

Nothing wrong with PC and console release the same day. It gives more people the chance to play these games. While still having an incentive to buy a console if that is preferred by someone. 

PC players only need to wait a year or 2 to get Spiderman 2 and mostly all other playstation games. Nintendo is the only one doing traditional exclusives still. Sony is getting closer to day and date PC releases, especially with their gaas titles. Nothing wrong with them doing it either. 

This kind of knowledge falls flat when you know that basically both Sony and Nintendo have games they're working on too. That kind of numerological war is useless.

Simply to the contrary of Xbox, they don't reveal every single instance they have in their hand. Nintendo for example, has been keeping their hand more closely to their chest when it comes to announcing their upcoming games.

What matters is your upcoming calendar schedule of releases, not the trillion upcoming projects that won't see a clear release date before another 4 years.

In that sense, you'd be right to be excited for what Xbox is coming up with this next year because they seem to have a healthier 1st party schedule (if no delays) and have their most exciting line ups in years.

Nintendo is in a transitional phase from the end of a cycle to another after a banger year so it's understandable to see them coming with a lighter year and Sony does have an offering for this year even if we're not sure of it's full picture.

So, be happy. Xbox can finally maybe showcase a better year software wise than it's competitors !

Now, if it does happen and the hardware needle is still in decline, that'll just prove what the others were saying 

If you actually read my post you'd notice that no, I didn't say that. I asked it as a question. The fact of the matter is, games like Starfield and Hifi Rush are just not good enough; they have failed to keep hardware sales healthy.

And "17 games in the pipeline" is no good when your console needs systems sellers here and now. Series sales are in down severely year over year when its just three years old, when a system is supposed to be in its prime.

Nintendo and Sony routinely deliver big games that sell hardware; Microsoft needs to do the same if they want to stay relevant.

Basic knowledge means nothing if I don't know what they are. Of course they have games in development. It's really not that wild of a statement to say, I personally find Xbox has a more exciting lineup of games since we actually know what a lot of them are. 

Xbox still has a lot of games we don't know about. 

So you go full circle and basically agree with me about the bolded. 

It can also mean an earlier hardware release could be the right move if nothing is improving. 

MS is actively doing the things you are requesting them to do. You might not agree about these games, but clearly some people do.

I already acknowledge Xbox should have done things differently so I'm not sure why you keep repeating this tired statement. 

Clearly not enough people do though, if we look at Xbox Series sales. 

You may find it "tired" but it's the truth. What's tired is their repeated promises that they'll do better, only to continue to under-deliver.

Whether they decide to release a new Xbox or not will make no difference if their first party output remains weak. At this point, they're probably better off doing what Sony did with the PS3 and trying to ride it out and regain their audience's trust instead of risking pissing off the few who did stick with them by cutting the Series short.