• axby@lemmy.ca
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      9 months ago

      I couldn’t understand why this would be anything besides good news, but I guess they’re worried that the hardware won’t get as much focus?

      (I’m out of the loop, I play PC games now and haven’t bought a console since the Xbox 360 back in… 2008 or so? I forget)

      “It’s so easy to see Xbox is killing its hardware and putting a stake in the heart of it by doing this,” he said. “And there’s no going back… it’s dead.”

      He later tweeted: “Xbox could have killed Game Pass, say buy our exclusives and focus on our hardware and that’s 100 percent the better idea [than to] SAY LETS KILL EXCLUSIVES AND put Halo on PS5. The outrage would be half of this and guess what you might be back to having a healthy business.”

      It still seems like an over reaction to me. Exclusives have always seemed bad. I’m just glad games are getting released on PC, though I haven’t played many AAA games in a while.

      • nanoUFO@sh.itjust.worksOPM
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        9 months ago

        I don’t get it either, consoles now are just cheap locked down PC’s. I don’t even mind if steam games come out on epic and I really really do not like epic, but it’s like a non issue for me. I don’t see how this is much different except people are worried sony is going to get a monopoly if xbox exits the space?

          • steeznson@lemmy.world
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            9 months ago

            Hey! I got that trash Xbox for a little over £100 from UK ebay including shipping. That’s a good value proposition, and I’ve been happy with it given the amount of time I spend gaming these days.

        • axby@lemmy.ca
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          9 months ago

          Ah, the comparison to Epic helps me understand a bit… maybe. Are they simply worried about PS5 “winning” and Xbox disappearing? I don’t worry that Steam will ever disappear because of Epic and don’t care if they get games (in fact I have an epic account just to claim the free games, but I don’t really play them because they don’t support Linux). But if Steam did disappear in favour of Epic, I would be pissed. I wouldn’t care if there’s a merger or rebranding as long as Linux support and my existing library is maintained.

          Even still… worst case, they buy a PS5, and get all the same games and more? A friend of mine switched from Xbox to PS and thought it was pretty good. I do prefer the Xbox thumbstick placement over PS5, though. I guess they’d also lose their Xbox friends/following/achievements/etc. Though surely it would, at worst, be merged into PS.

          But still, even if you’re worried about this backfiring and Xbox disappearing… it seems worth the risk, to me. Presumably there are some good PS exclusives that could come to Xbox?

          I’m really trying hard to figure out how this isn’t just fanboy whining and I’m coming up short. I’m interested in other ideas!

          • sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works
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            9 months ago

            The main thing is Gamepass, but there’s no way Microsoft will stop pursuing Gamepass on consoles, and I doubt PlayStation would allow a competitor to it’s own subscription service on their platform (and Microsoft wouldn’t want to split revenue with them).

            So I don’t see the hardware going away anytime soon. So all this means is more cross platform access to games, and it might encourage Sony to reciprocate.

      • ampersandrew@kbin.social
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        9 months ago

        No exclusives and it seems like a clear path to no Xbox. No future for the Xbox and it seems like a clear path to losing access to all of your digital content that only works on Xbox. These are the reasons I stopped buying consoles a long time ago, but I understand this to be a large part of the outrage. Me personally, I just see a market where Sony runs away with a monopoly if Xbox isn’t there to keep them in check, and I thought this was why the ABK purchase happened in the first place.

        • sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works
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          9 months ago

          Counterpoint: Gamepass. I doubt Microsoft wants to split revenue on that with Sony, and I doubt Sony would allow a competitor to their own subscription service anyway.

          So I don’t see Xbox hardware going away anytime soon, though it could change to a stripped down Windows PC instead. But they’re going to have some inexpensive Gamepass system.

      • Omega@lemmy.world
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        9 months ago

        So, I main Playstation, although I have all of the consoles. Exclusives often times get extra funding, time, and resources to make them extra polished, since they are representing the console. Often costing more but drawing more console sales in the process.

        No competition means less reason to put more money into exclusives. Lower costs to maximize profit.

    • Redacted@lemmy.world
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      9 months ago

      For most, I think It’s due to the rumours that Microsoft could pull out of making Xbox hardware altogether, not because people don’t want others enjoying Xbox games.

      That would enable Sony to form a monopoly over the high-end console market, which is never good for consumers. Xbox users also have concerns surrounding how they would be able to access their 20+ years of games, friends, achievements, clips, etc. if that were to happen.

      • nanoUFO@sh.itjust.worksOPM
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        9 months ago

        Microsoft could just continue working on their steamOS copycat and then just let other manufacturers make Microsoft boxes. I think the future is heading more towards that then locked down consoles. Also Microsoft could make an xbox app that basically has all that old data.

        • Redacted@lemmy.world
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          9 months ago

          Yeah that’s what I’m hopeful for, was going to suggest the same.

          Only reason I bought a Series X was because it was cheaper and nicer form factor than upgrading my PC. Tbh ended up liking it more than I expected due to Game Pass, Microsoft Rewards and QoL stuff like Quick Resume but will likely just go back to PC if these rumours turn out to be true.

    • ADHDefy@kbin.social
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      9 months ago

      Seriously. I’m always psyched when a great game gets ported to any other console. I’m a PC player, I don’t even play on consoles (except Switch), I’m just happy more people get to experience games that made me happy. Exclusivity makes sense for the console makers, but from a consumer perspective, it’s fucking stupid. It’s so weird to me that people defend it so fiercely.

  • Skelectus@suppo.fi
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    9 months ago

    How in the hell can someone be offended for this?

    I guess it makes their xboxes less special.

    • Hairyblue@kbin.social
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      9 months ago

      Some people said the same thing about gay marriage.

      Dumb bigot: “The gays are marrying? Now my marriage is not as good”

      • jacksilver@lemmy.world
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        9 months ago

        The difference with the analogy you’re making is that the significance/value of my marriage is not dependent on other marriages. My Xbox continuing to get support does however depend on M$oft valuing their hardware. Opening up their exclusives seems like they’re communicating that they don’t care about hardware sales (therefore the hardware itself) as much as game/software sales.

        So the reason why I’m concerned if they decide to go this route is that they won’t maintain the hardware I own. That’s probably not 100% accurate and I “technically” knew the risk when I bought it, but still not a great feeling.

        Overall though I’m anti exclusives, so longterm I would hope it’s a good thing.

    • GBU_28@lemm.ee
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      9 months ago

      They don’t want to see “their” brand get tarnished. If the same games run in multiple platforms, people can see direct comparisons of a product, and get an idea of the true power of different market offerings, no excuses. These fanbois love excuses

    • body_by_make@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      9 months ago

      The only reason at all to own a console at this point in time is the exclusives and which console your friends have, which is influenced by exclusives.

      • ampersandrew@kbin.social
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        9 months ago

        It’s also a cheaper/easier point of entry, though I think we’re rapidly heading to a future where all gaming is done on something that’s just a PC, whether that’s Windows, something that’s good at hiding that it’s just Windows, SteamOS, or something else.

          • ampersandrew@kbin.social
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            9 months ago

            But it doesn’t run Alan Wake 2 at 4K. The Steam Deck is great value, but a console gets way better bang for your buck when output to a television, and at around the same price. Gaming PCs need to close that gap.

      • MudMan@kbin.social
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        9 months ago

        Ah, welcome time traveller. Can you take me back to 2008 with you? It was so much nicer there.

        Seriously, every multiplayer game I’ve played the last few years has cross-platform play, both them and Sony have been making PC ports for ages and the reason I own a Series X is that it’s quietly the best set-top media player out there, price-to-performance, and a cheap, convenient platform to play games on a TV.

        I mean, if this is a prelude to them no longer making hardware I’d be bummed out, but not for those reasons.

  • skweetis@kbin.social
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    9 months ago

    People are weird. But also, as an old, the influencer economy is so funny to me. Either they’re accepting money/gifts/promotion to “influence” on behalf products, in which case they are just going to stop taking the money? Or they’re editorially pure and they’re just going to stop supporting a product they have previously genuinely endorsed because more people can enjoy it? It’s all dumb.

  • mindbleach@sh.itjust.works
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    9 months ago

    The console wars have been over for a while. You know who won? Developers.

    Developers, developers, developers.

  • dylanmorgan@slrpnk.net
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    9 months ago

    Xbox only ever existed to sell software because MS sees themselves as a software company. Sony will hold on to game exclusives because they sell consoles and Sony sees itself as a consumer electronics company.

    The idea MS would kill the Xbox hardware (or even let it fall significantly behind PS hardware) is hard to swallow even if they license Xbox to 3rd party hardware makers. Much like they make the surface pro as a reference machine for windows touch computing, the MS made Xbox would certainly continue to be made as a reference unit to show players how Xbox gaming should behave.

    • MudMan@kbin.social
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      9 months ago

      No, listen, get with the program. You’re supposed to be very, very mad that a brand is losing its exclusives. You’re also supposed to be very, very mad if any PC storefronts ever fund a game to sell as an exclusive, unless they’re Steam. You’re also never supposed to acknowledge the contradiction.

      You’re being a gamer wrong.

  • raiun@lemmy.world
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    9 months ago

    Why would an influencer pull support over nothing officially announced yet? Most likely true but sounds like an out to me.

  • gullible@kbin.social
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    9 months ago

    “Major Xbox,” oh, are they updating the Xbox? Maybe buying another company? “…influencers,” and you lost my interest.