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2013 Microsoft versus 2020 Microsoft

HorseFD

HorseFD

Member
Oct 25, 2017
2,025
Melbourne
I agree with this, but I think messaging could have been much better if they just went with a different naming scheme than S and X again. I don't think it's as bad as the Wii U situation, because I think it's pretty clear to people these are new consoles, but it's still confusing.

Other than that, 2020 Microsoft have done a great job.
 
gremlinz1982

gremlinz1982

Member
Aug 11, 2018
5,331
Rodelero said:
They've gone from a console proposition you'd be mad to buy to one which every gamer should be seriously considering. There is still a missing piece when it comes to the Xbox business, but seven years ago it felt like all the pieces were missing. Logically now it feels like the high quality must have exclusives are on the way, we just have to wait a little longer.
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Hardware? Check.
Services? Check, check and check.
Software development teams, tech and IP? Check.
Games across varied genres? Check.

Only place Microsoft will/may lag is sales.
 
Budi

Budi

Member
Oct 25, 2017
13,883
Finland
Eeyore said:
I don't know, from what I've read Nadella is a pretty big asshole. But I guess that largely doesn't matter in business as sexism just seems sadly all too normal even in 2020.
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bingo said:
Can you link the article?
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I don't think assholes that often are able to self-reflect, learn and grow that well.
www.businessinsider.com

4 years after the CEO of Microsoft publicly flubbed a question on how women should ask for a raise, he has completely different advice

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said in 2014 that women who have "good karma" don't need to ask for a raise — they should get one naturally. Four years later, as he advocates for Microsoft to modernize across the company, Nadella shared a totally different piece of advice for women.
www.businessinsider.com www.businessinsider.com
www.geekwire.com

Satya Nadella’s ‘karma’ gaffe was ‘one of the best things that ever happened for Microsoft,’ says former board member who was on stage with him

It has been five years since Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella told Harvey Mudd College President Dr. Maria Klawe — on stage at a celebration of women in computing — that women shouldn't worry about asking for raises, and should instead rely on "good karma" and trust that the system will eventually...
www.geekwire.com www.geekwire.com
www.businessinsider.com

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella realized he had a sexist bias — here's how he confronted it

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella revealed to us what he learned in the wake of making a controversial comment about women's pay.
www.businessinsider.com www.businessinsider.com
www.thehindubusinessline.com

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella banks on gaming to counter gender-bias in STEM education

www.thehindubusinessline.com www.thehindubusinessline.com
 
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OldSilentHill

OldSilentHill

Member
Jan 16, 2020
277
Montresor said:
2013 Microsoft:
  1. TV TV TV, sports sports sports
  2. More expensive and weaker console
  3. Bigger console than competition. External power brick.
  4. Kinect pack-in
  5. Relatively strong launch lineup, including Ryse, Dead Rising 3, Crimson Dragon, Lococycle, Max The Curse of Brotherhood, Killer Instinct and Forza Motorsport 5. No 90 metacritic games, but they had actual first-party exclusives
  6. Console OS was unfinished
  7. Wanted to remove used games
  8. Wanted to have 24-hour check-in
  9. Messaging was not so great

2021 Microsoft:
  1. Huge focus on gaming
  2. More powerful console; price is in line with competition
  3. Has a 1080p/1440p version of next gen for much cheaper, the Series S
  4. Series X has smaller volume than competition, and includes internal power brick
  5. Series S is magnitudes smaller than even the Series X; also includes internal power brick
  6. Console OS is so "finished" that press is testing prototypes of the console 2 months before launch
  7. Is offering choice to its consumers. PC and game pass and Series X and Series S and xcloud
  8. Released multiple good games, including two 90 metacritic games (Ori 2 and Flight Simulator) and two 80 metacritic games (Gears Tactics and Wasteland 3)
  9. Only Gears Tactics available as a first-party launch game. Not a good set of first party launch exclusives
  10. Lots of amenities and quality of life featured at launch: BC, smart delivery, cross saves, etc.
  11. 23 first party studios
  12. Pretty good messaging
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Corrected.

Around 1 month doesn´t make a "2020 Microsoft". And it has a lot to prove still. But won´t deny it is promissing.
 
Funkallero

Funkallero

Member
Oct 28, 2017
1,791
Tokyo
I dunno, despite all the negative press in 2013 I went out and bought a One for its very good launch line up and launch window games but now, even if the communication seems better I don't feel compelled to preorder an SX 🤷🏻‍♂️
 
alstrike

alstrike

Banned
Aug 27, 2018
2,151
User Warned: Thread Whining
Oh wow another PR thread, I'm surprised Pikachu right now.

The next month and a half is gonna be really long...
 

Deleted member 32005

User requested account closure
Banned
Nov 8, 2017
1,853
BAD said:
These posts make zero sense. Game Pass is not at all required... most people on Xbox still only buy games and that is likely for a while as more people have yet to try it. And that's perfectly viable as many big games aren't on Game Pass.

And no, an optional SSD expansion is nothing like Kinect. You can move all non-Series games to a cheap external HDD to play from, or even Series games when you are not playing and don't want a download again for it. Far different than not being able to buy One without Kinect at all, and it putting them at a higher price while weaker last gen. This time they have the same price and storage size roughly as the competitor, but are more powerful.
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this is a good post. To explain more on the always online point, for me, gamepass is such a good value that MS won me back into their ecosystem. I'm getting a series S as a gamepass machine, so functionally it is an online only console. I'm not complaining either, its just a testament to the value of game pass. But at the end of the day, in my case, MS got what they wanted, and so did I.

As for the other point about the SSD, well the Series S, with only enough built in memory for a few AAA games, reminds me of two things. 1) That base xbox 360 (was it called arcade?) with no hard drive at all, and 2) vita proprietary memory cards. That being said your point about the external hardrive negates both of those, so I don't have anything to complain about lol.
 
regenhuber

regenhuber

Member
Nov 4, 2017
5,213
I bought an Xbox One at launch back then and I felt like a BETA tester tbh.

2013:
Sure there were some nice games to play (Ryse, Dead Rising 3, Forza 5) but the OS was terrible with missing features, Kinect worked only 80% of the time (which is more annoying than not working at all to me) and the graphics were shit compared to the PS4......
as far as TV, TV, TV goes.... here in Germany almost nothing worked properly let alone was properly localized.
Not a lot of people here who want to watch NBA games and play NFL Fantasy in PiP mode.... you know....

total waste of money imo got a PS4 for bloodborne and sold my X1 shortly after. Told everyone I know not to get a X1.

2020:
They come out with different SKU's for different audiences (love that). They have Gamepass, BC and a great online service.
None of this TV shit.
As far as 1st party games are concerned IMO the launch line up is weaker, but the potential is there for the remainder of this gen.

Rarely have I seen a company clean up it's act as much as MS. Looking forward to picking up my XSX in 6 weeks.

ianpm31 said:
2013 had a better launch lineup
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That's true if we consider Sunset Overdrive and Titanfall as "launch window games" it sounds kinda nice on paper.
BUT if we're being honest here:

- Ryse was more like a graphic card benchmark, gameplay was shallow
- Forza 5 was arguably the worst mainline Forza, riddled with MTX
- Dead Rising 3 ran poorly
- Titanfall was also on PC and lacked all the good shit TF2 had
- Sunset O was fun but not a system seller

And then the waiting began and lasted for a while.

Instead of having a so so frontloaded catalogue, I'd honestly rather focus on third party games for a while and get my exclusives down the line (kinda like what Sony did with PS4).

Moreover, I'd argue that the launch line up for XSX is actually pretty nice.
Not only does Gamepass give you plenty of games straight out of the box, Cyberpunk and Yakuza 7 are dropping too.
 
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indosmoke

indosmoke

Member
Oct 30, 2017
1,054
France
Lant_War said:
idXSbJ7.gif
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This gif will never not be funny.

The client tripping, the security guard holding the Xbox case and quickly realizing "nah, what's the point" lol
 
OneBadMutha

OneBadMutha

Member
Nov 2, 2017
6,059
Maple said:
2013:

- Steve Ballmer and Don Mattrick

2020:

- Satya Nadella and Phil Spencer
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Actually...
Balmer, Myerson and Mattrick

Equivalent positions to...
Nadella, Spencer and Booty

Mattrick was a goofball and terrible communicator but was nothing more than middle management in the big picture of gaming. Division had little autonomy under Myerson.
 
Yes

Yes

Member
Oct 28, 2017
848
Montresor said:
7. Wanted to remove used games
8. Wanted to have 24-hour check-in
9. Messaging was not so great
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I think whatever they were trying to come out with, got mixed in the messaging. Also the the reception was so negative and bashful it was turned against them big time. IIRC we never got to the real bottom of it before it was already deemed a shitty practise. In a way I'm thinking it was the very, very fragile vision of digital-only consoles and online world. They were somewhat ahead of their time and/or trying something OOTB and maybe fucked up their priorities.
 
tzare

tzare

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
4,145
Catalunya
User Warned: Thread Whining
Another thread about how great is MS. I mean, we do really need ones or two each day?
 

Raigor

Member
May 14, 2020
15,146
The major difference is that 2013 Xbox didn't have MS full backing and Don Mattrick was wack.

2020 Xbox has full support from Satya Nadella and they are no longer under Windows and they can operate more "freely".
 
thenexus6

thenexus6

Member
Oct 26, 2017
7,326
UK
I jumped ship as a long time Xbox owner due to how terrible their 2013 reveal was. In 2020 they are a total 180. I strong consider getting an Xbox again now.

The only stupid thing is the naming MS keeps using for their consoles.
 
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indosmoke

indosmoke

Member
Oct 30, 2017
1,054
France
PianoBlack said:
I have no idea what Phil's real thoughts were in 2013 but publicly supporting the company's strategy at that time is far, far weaker evidence of his thoughts than the strategy he's pursued when given the power to make decisions.
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100% this.

And yeah, the fact that the head of Xbox reports directly to the company CEO since 2017 is by far the biggest change between then and now.
 
Budi

Budi

Member
Oct 25, 2017
13,883
Finland
It's certainly an improvement. My personal interest towards Microsoft comes from the PC side. I did get the original Xbox used from a friend, but didn't really get much out of it. Besides Some fun nights with group of friends playing fighting games. Hoping Microsoft maintains their positive course. I think they are able to expand gaming to new audiences too with their services, (gamepass, cloud) prices and multiplatform focus. It's pretty exciting stuff.
tzare said:
Another thread about how great is MS. I mean, we do really need ones or two each day?
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You don't think we should take a moment to applaud Microsoft?
 
tzare

tzare

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
4,145
Catalunya
Budi said:
It's certainly an improvement. My personal interest towards Microsoft comes from the PC side. I did get the original Xbox used from a friend, but didn't really get much out of it. Besides Some fun nights with group of friends playing fighting games. Hoping Microsoft maintains their positive course. I think they are able to expand gaming to new audiences too with their services (gamepass, cloud) and multiplatform focus. It's pretty exciting stuff.

You don't think we should take a moment to applaud Microsoft?
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I do it every morning. I have the windows start up tune as my alarm. :P
 
inspectah

inspectah

Member
Oct 28, 2017
1,183
Germany
Really fascinating how MS has changed in the last few years.
My company was one of the first ones in Germany to fully go into the cloud with Azure/O365 and Intune client management and it's super exciting to work with all the new stuff they have for Admins.
 
Dewin

Dewin

Member
Oct 26, 2017
627
2013: everything about Xbox is shitshow, but they still have excl. games
2020: everything is great about Xbox, but excl. games are a shitshow

Lets hope in 2027 they have both.
 
LhommeCornichon

LhommeCornichon

Member
Oct 31, 2017
2,164
Paris, France
It's an incredible turn around, I still feel like this Xbox Gen was two gens (duck taped together ;) ).

I get why people might feel like Microsoft ain't trying harder but when you are deep in the ecosystem and follow everything it's mindblowing. They are all in for the long run and Spencer + Nadella is an incredible combo.
Coming from investors ready todrop the Xbox (and Surface btw) brand to spending billions on acquisitions and GamePass is... whoosh.
 
RedSparrows

RedSparrows

Prophet of Regret
Member
Feb 22, 2019
6,491
The launch window for the new consoles is certainly weaker in terms of releases, but this is all about direction of travel. It couldn't be clearer.
 
Adrifi

Adrifi

Attempted to circumvent ban with alt account
Banned
Jan 5, 2019
3,466
the Spanish Basque Country
The fact alone that you get all EA games and all Bethesda games with Game Pass is amazing and I'm sure someone like Don Mattrick would not have been for Play Anywhere, crossplay or Game Pass.
 
Butt-shot Katana

Butt-shot Katana

Member
Dec 14, 2017
1,314
BlastProcessing said:
At the end of the day, I think Mattrick was just running the plays the CEO called for them to run.

All of Microsoft has changed pretty noticeably since Nadella took over for Balmer, Xbox included.
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Most specifically, they're creating better hardware designs than Apple now.

When I moved to Mac, and for a long time afterward, it was the opposite.

I still can't even with Windows, but perhaps in a few OS releases...
 

Voodoopeople

Member
Oct 29, 2017
3,859
Dewin said:
2013: everything about Xbox is shitshow, but they still have excl. games
2020: everything is great about Xbox, but excl. games are a shitshow

Lets hope in 2027 they have both.
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To be fair, Xbox studios launched 2 X 90 MC rated games in 2020.

The curve is pointing the right way already.

Even if they only had a 25‰ hit rate from now on, Xbox studios will match or better that every single year. Even if they did absolutely nothing but left their 35 teams alone and just signed cheques.

It's the potential that's so exciting and why even in Japan people are (starting to get) excited.
 
Iwao

Iwao

Member
Oct 25, 2017
11,794
Vengeance said:
Because that's the only answer people can give you at this point. Games take time to make and their studio acquisitions came relatively recently. That's all there is to it really. What else do you want people to say? We've heard the "Xbox has no big launch exclusives" about a thousand times at this point.
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The majority of the XB1 launch exclusives listed in the OP were not made by Xbox studios though.

Brand management could and should have matched that output with the Series X/S.
 

Deleted member 49611

Nov 14, 2018
5,052
i was so ready to get an XB1 back then but MS blew it. this time around they've convinced me. Series X will be my main console this generation. I have not only lost interest in Sony exclusive games but feel they have majorly messed up the marketing of PS5. feels strange not really being interested in a Playstation console. I got the PS1/2/3/4 at launch or ASAP after it. i did preorder the PS5 but just really for the sake of it and incase I couldn't get an XSX. not sure if i am gonna keep the pre order.
 
Cliff Steele

Cliff Steele

Banned
Oct 28, 2017
4,477
Now the only thing they need to do is tighten the grip on their studios a little bit more. I'm of the impression that "let them do whatever and however they want" is not working out to great when it comes to games actually releasing on the platform.
 
Altair

Altair

Member
Jan 11, 2018
7,901
Iwao said:
The majority of the XB1 launch exclusives listed in the OP were not made by Xbox studios though.

Brand management could and should have matched that output with the Series X/S.
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Outside of KI I didn't remotely care for their 2013 launch lineup, so that's a meaningless comparison to me. Either way, I'll take 2020 MS over 2013 MS every single day even without a solid launch lineup. Their games will come, and I don't really need a reason to buy a Series X/S at launch since I play on PC.
 
Lothars

Lothars

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
9,765
Budi said:
You don't think we should take a moment to applaud Microsoft?
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Not really when it's the same microsoft that treated gaming with such contempt in the past, Will they keep going down the path they are where it seems like they have changed as a company for the better? Ideally yes but they have a lot to prove and history is certainly not on their side and if things don't go the way they want them to, I don't see them doing continuing in the way they are.
 
Gen X

Gen X

Member
Oct 31, 2017
987
New Zealand
I have high hopes that Cyberpunk will see me through for a while since this is the first time in my 40 years of gaming I won't be buying a game with a launch console. Whether I'll go back to it by the time this "free upgrade" releases is a different story.
 
floatingcoffins

floatingcoffins

Member
Oct 30, 2017
302
What they're doing now is reckless, poorly thought out and I'm afraid is just going to not work out in the long run. Personally, I think Microsoft would benefit more in the style of the strong, steady hand of Don Mattrick.

not really
 
Brinbe

Brinbe

Avenger
Oct 25, 2017
58,292
Terana
yeah. a less powerful and more expensive machine... pretty easy to see how they failed. and pretty easy to see the difference as soon as phil started. all the stuff he's talking about here for project scorpio is the DNA of the Series X.



it had to start somewhere and they're now bearing the fruits of what they built, especially (hopefully!) once the 1st-party games come rolling in.

and it's easy to see what happened with sony once guys like boyes/layden left. those were actual gamers tapped into communities like this. and that helped them recover after the ps3. now they're run by business folk like a ryan that don't even really play. they could be selling toasters or something for all they care.

and i can see this gen being more of a mix of the ps3/ps4 in many ways.
 
headspawn

headspawn

Member
Oct 27, 2017
14,608
Going back and watching their initial May Xbox One introduction video from 2013 is absolutely painful; anyone wanting to appreciate their current perspective, I'd highly recommended it though.
 
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