I'd buy that in a heartbeat. I've been wondering why on earth we don't have diskless consoles already.
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Xbox Game Studios |OT4| When everyone plays, we all win
- Thread starter Figments
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Gamepass has really changed the way I consume content, at least for single player games. I'm playing so many more games than I used too. So many games that I wanted to play but didn't. So many games that I would never have bought because they are out of my comfort zone.
I think gamepass is a year or 2 from hitting 10 million subs.
I think gamepass is a year or 2 from hitting 10 million subs.
We're all guilty of it :)
Just that in this thread we can take rumours and suggestions as fact then there's the fallout/disappointment when it doesn't happen. I'd love Xbox to build a team around him I just don't think it will happen.
Because gamers are very conservative and like "ownership" - even though all you actually own is a plastic box and disc with half a game and no patches these days. Did you not see the backlash when the original plan for XBO was announced?
Also a discless console has to have some kind of unique selling point - in addition to a lower price, it needs to have a very small form factor to differentiate itself. But if the rumours of the discless XBO are true, it'll basically just look like a S but without a drive, which is missing the point IMO.
Lol wut? I never implied that but I believe MS will do what makes the best sense to them and their consumers.
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There is validity in wanting them to wait it out, and see if their current purchases bear fruit. There are, however, two problems.
1. Microsoft waited way too long to start taking the Xbox division seriously. It's caused a massive problem in their first-party lineup, as well as their exclusives in general.
2. If they wait too long, someone else could swoop in and buy them. Imagine if Microsoft, hypothetically, bought Insomniac after Sunset Overdrive, or funded a sequel after it came out. That would cause big problems for Sony as they either lose a huge partner, or Spider-Man takes longer to create.
That's pretty much how it feels to own a disk these days. It will require you to download an obsene amount of data to go with it anyway so why bother?
Kind of curious about how easily they could shrink it down. Obviously they worked magic with the one x but that required a unique and expensive cooling solution. By keeping the S form factor they can probably just slash the price rather than doing something fancy.
I could really see Microsoft aquiring Skybox Labs - they nearly exclusivly worked on Microsoft IP's
Kinda off preloading games onto the next console (btw, that should happen with a small external drive that they hand you with your purchase):
I wonder if Game Pass and the benefits of beating Sony to the punch may make a slightly earlier release of next gen Xbox with a longer "launch" window feasible. If they still pack in a trial for Game Pass, any 1st party game that actually launches with the console becomes a pack-in (and wow what a hell of a pack-in Halo Infinite could be). That's absolutely not a bad thing.. but.. dropping all of your 1st parties in the same month, especially into a crowded holiday release window seems like bad business. You risk Titanfall 2-ing your smaller games.
So.. what if they pushed up the release of JUST Anaconda to mid-late Summer 2020, 1-1.5 months after E3. With the console, you have a set of 3rd party exclusives along with two big 1st party releases (maybe Halo + Ninja Theory's game or Fable, if that's done). You wouldn't necessarily have the masses jumping on it, but then the price would be out of reach for them anyway. So, if the lineup is exciting, then MS has taken the first whack at making an impression - precisely with the super fans and hardcore users who would be most likely to evangelize for you. Additionally, release the console at no cheaper than cost of manufacturing, but pack in 3 months of game pass (right up to the start of the holidays) as an incentive that first month.
This then gets people to try out game pass right away as you continue to launch day and date a string of big 1st and 3rd party games onto the service at a clip of two-three a month - almost like Summer of Arcade back in the day. Then, holiday season hits with the release of PS5, timed to take advantage of the buying frenzy. This.. is when Lockhart gets released. The price will undercut Sony's console significantly, but it will still benefit from the positive press that the Anaconda has been receiving for the first few months. Additionally, new consoles (of both SKUs) bought at this time will also include a month of Game Pass, meaning that anyone who buys a new console suddenly has all of the new games they've been hearing about available right away for no extra money.
I think this staggered release of consoles and games would be a good way of highlighting the various strengths of the Xbox ecosystem in the next gen - power advantage on one console, price advantage on the other, renewed 3rd party dev support, a bunch of 1st party studios, some really pro-consumer subscriptions, and the promise of compatibility and interoperability through and through. I think that speaks to pretty much the whole array of console owners (and perhaps further, if you work in xCloud). And, it does it while promoting some MS 1st party that might otherwise get buried or overlooked their chance to shine - and even to drive game pass subscriptions.
I wonder if Game Pass and the benefits of beating Sony to the punch may make a slightly earlier release of next gen Xbox with a longer "launch" window feasible. If they still pack in a trial for Game Pass, any 1st party game that actually launches with the console becomes a pack-in (and wow what a hell of a pack-in Halo Infinite could be). That's absolutely not a bad thing.. but.. dropping all of your 1st parties in the same month, especially into a crowded holiday release window seems like bad business. You risk Titanfall 2-ing your smaller games.
So.. what if they pushed up the release of JUST Anaconda to mid-late Summer 2020, 1-1.5 months after E3. With the console, you have a set of 3rd party exclusives along with two big 1st party releases (maybe Halo + Ninja Theory's game or Fable, if that's done). You wouldn't necessarily have the masses jumping on it, but then the price would be out of reach for them anyway. So, if the lineup is exciting, then MS has taken the first whack at making an impression - precisely with the super fans and hardcore users who would be most likely to evangelize for you. Additionally, release the console at no cheaper than cost of manufacturing, but pack in 3 months of game pass (right up to the start of the holidays) as an incentive that first month.
This then gets people to try out game pass right away as you continue to launch day and date a string of big 1st and 3rd party games onto the service at a clip of two-three a month - almost like Summer of Arcade back in the day. Then, holiday season hits with the release of PS5, timed to take advantage of the buying frenzy. This.. is when Lockhart gets released. The price will undercut Sony's console significantly, but it will still benefit from the positive press that the Anaconda has been receiving for the first few months. Additionally, new consoles (of both SKUs) bought at this time will also include a month of Game Pass, meaning that anyone who buys a new console suddenly has all of the new games they've been hearing about available right away for no extra money.
I think this staggered release of consoles and games would be a good way of highlighting the various strengths of the Xbox ecosystem in the next gen - power advantage on one console, price advantage on the other, renewed 3rd party dev support, a bunch of 1st party studios, some really pro-consumer subscriptions, and the promise of compatibility and interoperability through and through. I think that speaks to pretty much the whole array of console owners (and perhaps further, if you work in xCloud). And, it does it while promoting some MS 1st party that might otherwise get buried or overlooked their chance to shine - and even to drive game pass subscriptions.
they Can Change the design and Make it Smaller than the X and Cheaper than the S
So then they Give us the Option to Buy discless or with Disc and people won't complain
Glen Schofield studio would be interesting but seriously we need to assume every studio lead that leaves their studio is automatically going join up with Microsoft. While I think him and people like Jade Raymond are fantastic leads, there is absolutely no evidence that they were even consider by MS.
you need to Add Stop after we need.....
and yes you are right people here always Go wild..they need to Stop Talking with out evidence or inside information
I was almost at the point where, based on the stuff people were saying here, that it was basically confirmed and I'd missed some big news!
No. We are only speculating. Factually there is nothing that points to the conclusion either Raymond or Schofield are joining Xbox. The only knowledge we have is that Phil mentioned several times they are looking for these kind of industry talent - and both are free on the market.
Well yeah, but the way people are talking about it in this thread - further speculating what game they might be creating lol.
The thirst is real.
Kinda surprised about the size of Playful. They have 50+ people working there. Currently they are working on a PSVR exclusive called 'Star Child'
But we still have that rumor about them working on a MS IP game.
https://www.playfulcorp.com/careers.html
But we still have that rumor about them working on a MS IP game.
https://www.playfulcorp.com/careers.html
Right and that's a fair point that you don't expect that to happen, but regardless you project that they think having such messaging means that they must assume a sub 90 would be an L, and I think that's a very strong assumption without a lot of backing. These are veterans and they must acknowledge those harsh realities they have in front of them, so I don't see why you should correlate a marketing message (not only to the the players, but to finding developers as you also have to really fight tooth and nail to hire and scale AAA teams) that they must have ridiculously high expectations internally. Creating a AAAA studio to me doesn't necessarily scream that it's first output has extremely high expectations, because it can also mean incredible technical scope, time-to-market, content production capacity etc none of which necessarily can directly and realistically benchmark immediately against an MC score, at least on the first outing.
That said, I think we have put enough effort in this discussion, as to my knowledge they've already withdrawn from the "AAAA" term and all of their active job listings and communication have only "AAA" in them (my guess is it could have been a bit difficult to pitch for potential candidates joining the studio, and something that for everyone in there hard to believe in, and people devs really want to be associated with such bullshit if it indeed doesn't feel like something they believe in) :)
Jez said on Rand's podcast that he's seen the design and it looks just like a Xbox One S but without a drive.
Hmm ok, didn't know that. Bit unlikely though, since a big chunk of the machine would then be empty space.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/kynanpearson/
Former creative director of Bluepoint and Playful is a studio creative director at '???' in Dallas/Forth Worth, Texas.
He is also a former lead designer at 343.
Former creative director of Bluepoint and Playful is a studio creative director at '???' in Dallas/Forth Worth, Texas.
He is also a former lead designer at 343.
He was lead multiplayer level designer for Halo 4...
Not sure that's really something you want on your CV.
God i hope they dont do this, there will be so much backslash if they attempt to kill retailers with this movement. Physical games still sell a lot
Well if it doesnt say studio head, I am skeptical, this guy would need a bigger presence above him.
Me looking for evidence that all these linkedin posts with question marks have remotely anything to do with Microsoft Studios.
Oh, I agree. It is probably nothing. But he has a history with Microsoft, both via 343i and Playful.
I think it's also worth noting (which has been done before) that Nintendo benefits from the infrastructure that MS can offer, and MS benefits from overall reach.
Also, in terms of Ninty worried about loss of sales from games in both ecosystems, there's the case that on a plane or train (with slow internet) XCloud might not be viable, meaning "local" portable gaming still has its place.
Hell, with analytics the two could work out a deal that if a user is XCloud through Switch (and non-MS) hardware exclusively that Ninty gets a percentage boost of the revenue share.
I see it as free Azure use across Nintendo's gaming efforts, maybe some Live infrastructure for voice chat and whatnot, in exchange for XCloud on Switch. Throw in a 10% revenue share if the user is accessing the service ≥80% through a Switch and I don't see why not (armchair analyst, lmao)
Also, in terms of Ninty worried about loss of sales from games in both ecosystems, there's the case that on a plane or train (with slow internet) XCloud might not be viable, meaning "local" portable gaming still has its place.
Hell, with analytics the two could work out a deal that if a user is XCloud through Switch (and non-MS) hardware exclusively that Ninty gets a percentage boost of the revenue share.
I see it as free Azure use across Nintendo's gaming efforts, maybe some Live infrastructure for voice chat and whatnot, in exchange for XCloud on Switch. Throw in a 10% revenue share if the user is accessing the service ≥80% through a Switch and I don't see why not (armchair analyst, lmao)
Interesting find. I don't know if it has something to do with Microsoft Studios as the timeline doesn't add up imo to be a new studio, but you never know.
Normally this is true. Expanding too fast can result in a lot of waste, not enough support for those who need it and eventually the bottom falling out. Happens in business all the time.
Few things to consider in this situation:
- Wasn't an overnight decision. Spencer has been teasing this was coming for a few years. They restructured, added another layer of videogame management, added internal support teams and focused everyone who is under Nadella that's in the game division to only be in be game division. No longer diluted by Windows.
- Every studio they've either purchased or are building is self sustaining. Microsoft is targeting studios with good leadership and taking hands off approach. No changes to these companies structure, culture or pipelines. No traditional corporate integration. They're buying these studios almost the same way an outside investor would with the one caveat being they control the platforms their products go to.
I wouldn't say this is trying to kill retailers, and personally I'd love it if it were true. The only system I still buy physical games for is the Switch, and I do that begrudgingly. I'd love a cheaper, potentially smaller Xbox I could justify as a second console for my office or treadmill or something.
For what it's worth, physical games made up something like 20% of game sales in 2018 in the US. It varies country to country, but it's certainly on the decline.
*As long as discless is an option, not the only option. I'd love a discless console, but I know some people still want physical games. I also have an X that I use for blu rays and stuff, so discless wouldn't replace my current Xbox fully.
Why would it be an attempt to kill retailers? It would just be another option, and a great one for 2019. There are already many people out there who are all or mostly digital, especially now with subscription services, and if they could get a cheaper and more reliable (less mechanical parts) console for less money, perhaps they would. The rest can still get the traditional version. Not giving people that option won't make them go physical for some reason, they will just have to pay more for features that they won't use.
Nah. This thread is hot because it allows wild speculation. And wildly speculating that Microsoft is talking to every available studio and established free agent isn't that wild. We have to assume that someone at Microsoft is having talks...even if no deal gets done. Just like when there's any top free agent in MLB that fills a position of need for the Yankees...it's safe to assume they'll at least be making a pitch. Microsoft leadership wouldn't be doing their jobs if they weren't at least investigating or kicking the tires on just about any rumor we've suggested that's somewhat sensible. Many of those won't turn into anything but there should be smoke all over.
This is uncharitable to say the least.
Regardless of where this person is working or what they're working on, just because they weren't a right fit for Halo doesn't mean they're completely worthless going forward.
Halo 4 was a supremely well made game. It just wasn't a good Halo game.
Hey, I'm one of the few people who really likes Halo 4.
The maps, however, are straight up bad. It's not that they just don't work with Halo - they also don't work with Halo 4.
with regards all to the various dev talent, I agree that its too early and too vague to assume these people have been snapped up by MS, however don't think someone from MS hasn't been on the phone, this quote from Ryan Payton comes to mind:
full article: https://waypoint.vice.com/en_us/art...-untold-history-of-halo-an-oral-history#ulf-5
full article: https://waypoint.vice.com/en_us/art...-untold-history-of-halo-an-oral-history#ulf-5
Halo 4 is probably my favorite single player Halo as someone who loves the extended fiction. Multiplayer wise, yea, it wasn't amazing but maps like Haven, Monolith and Skyline were absolutely incredible. I remember everyone raving about Skyline when it was first released and was blown away that more people weren't talking about Monolith.
Agree. Also agree there's no substance behind these rumors but it's fun to think about any top industry talent getting freedom to make their dream game. Especially a guy like that who's a fan of things many of us are fans of.
You've got a right to your opinions. I don't think those maps were bad for any game, but the faults you can find it are rooted in the game's identity crisis.
Regardless, I think we can do better than writing off devs completely based on a project we didn't like we can only observe from the outside.
I enjoyed parts of it.
But my issues with the game, aside from the outrageous mismanagement of the lore, are rooted in it not being a good Halo game.
In all other aspects, it's first in class.
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