With this generation finally in its last lap looking back isn't it nuts how few games Microsoft had?

[Bruceleeroy]

First things first this isn't an MS bashing thread as I think they have turned things around as a company marvelously especially when you consider where they started this gen. Its pretty much a miracle but damn this thing from a 1st party perspective had so few games. I really noticed it because before Gears 5 came out I upgraded to an X1X and got one for one of my good friends so we could play co-op and it didn't disappoint. Absolute blast of a game and so much better than 4. After playing that he asked me what other games I recommended. We tried Sea of Thieves but weren't really into that so then I suggested he get Forza Horizon which he liked but only played for a little. Now we're back to Call of Duty Warzone and flipping through Gamepass and seeing a lot of the games that came out I would say I really had a great time with 3 games:

1) Sunset Overdrive
2) Forza Horizon 3
3) Gears 5

Everything else was just kind of okay. Ori was beautiful but I don't like the combat very much so its not really my thing and Halo was a letdown over the years I feel like nothing really came out. Since I had the other two systems I didn't really notice since there was more than enough games to distract me. I think the only other system that I played so few games on was probably the Wii-U. As a 3rd party machine the X1X is my most played console by far and I think next generation things should be way better for them on the software front but it really is crazy when you look back at what they actually released during all this time. Meanwhile with Sony and Nintendo I don't even know how Ill get to the backlog of just the exclusives they have. If you only had an Xbox you would have missed out on some of the best games that really came out this generation. At this point I'm actually more amazed how well they have been able to turn things around without really having a flagship IP to do so. This is my random readers digest ramblings for the night.

 

[Deleted member 59109]

Pretty much the only Xbox exclusives that really appeal to me are the Ori games, and one of them was ported to Switch. Ori 2 looks good but I'm not going to buy an Xbox One for it

 

[Unkindled]

No mention of Ori? Both of them were a blast. I would put them in my top 3.

 

[Bruceleeroy]

No mention of Ori? Both of them were a blast. I would put them in my top 3.

Click to shrink...

I haven't played the second one yet but the mechanics of the first didn't really pull me in. Not Ori's fault as the only Metroid I even like is CSOTN

 

[Liquid Snake]

Random ramblings? Yes, but I think a metric shit ton of people echo your exact feelings — there's just no way around it — Microsoft hasn't had a great generation from the software standpoint. Almost all of their big games (outside of Forza Horizon) failed to deliver the outstanding quality that captures gamer mindshare.

That being said, Xbox One X is a great piece of hardware and it has become my favorite place to play third-party offerings. GamePass, 4k, great rewards program. The future of Xbox is looking promising, but it's taken a lot of work to get there.

 

[Peek-a-boo!]

I used to be a blinkered Xbox fanboy for sixteen long years, until the Xbox One came along.

First time I had ever thought about looking on the 'other side of the fence', and boy, am I glad I did!

When you know the games are better elsewhere, that's when you start to realise how silly it is to be loyal to just one company/manufacture like I stubbornly used to be...

No mention of Ori? Both of them were a blast. I would put them in my top 3.

Click to shrink...

Read the OP again.

 

[Ivanovic]

It's the first console I can remember which didn't have a single exclusive that interested me. They pretty much gift wrapped this generation in a golden box and handed it to Sony on bended knee

 

[Deleted member 20852]

I don't have an Xbox One and the reason definitely is the relatively small number of interesting *new* games. Especially as Cuphead and the first Ori have ended up on the Switch too. One thing they have going for it is the wide backwards compatibility. There are a lot of gems I missed on 360 that I could have access to.

 

[Dictator]

I get the feeling TVTVTV and kinect dev priorities squandered the first 3 years of dev this gen at MS. Only then were they like 'oh, yeah....'

But as I say that, early gen games like Killer Instinct, have such an amazing quality, Imo, better than you would think given how boring and flashy the early gen game period was.

 

[Mekanos]

Pretty much the only exclusive I would ever buy an Xbone for is Rare Replay, a collection of old games that were mostly developed before Microsoft acquired Rare. I'm curious how they will turn this situation around next gen.

 

[RespectThySole]

I honestly can't say that any of the XB1's exclusives impressed besides maybe Sunset Overdrive. That's pretty wild.

 

[jaymzi]

Where's the graph for the Xbox 360 generation?

I could have sworn seeing something similar last generation where they start strong with 1st party games and then as the years go by it became less and less.

 

[DidactBRHU3]

Sea of Thieves
Ori
Gears 5
Forza Horizon series
Halo 5 MP
Halo Wars 2
Sunset Overdrive

Not a bad gen at all for me.

EDIT: Killer Instinct was bloody amazing too.

 

[DeliciousSunnyD!]

Yeah, for sure. Microsoft's exclusive software drought was kind of disappointing, especially juxtaposed against Sony and Nintendo. That said, I bought an Xbox One pretty much exclusively to play Halo 5 so I don't regret it, especially since I think H5 is one of the best multiplayer games of the generation (if not the best). If I wouldn't have played Titanfall on PC, that would have been another game worth owning the system for me too.

Them going in on backwards compatibility and allowing you to download and play all of your 360 Arcade/downloaded titles made it also worth it in the end too.

Those factors, plus Red Dead Redemption II in native 4K (still incredibly impressive) made owning an Xbox One X worth it in particular.

I got really lucky and was able to trade up both my 360 towards the original Xbox One (right before H5's release, well after the removal of the Kinect), and my base Xbox One towards an X both at the most opportune times. For both of the Xbox One hardware I traded the previous Xbox hardware towards, I essentially got 2/3rds of the price towards the new machines, so paying essentially $150 towards each the base XBO and the One X at the points in which I bought them was incredibly worth it, despite my overall limited playtime with them in comparison.

Also, the Elite is probably the best controller ever built, which is another positive.

 

[Illusion]

I was interested in Sunset simply because Insomniac worked on it and that's it.

Scalebound had my interest but they dropped that game hard and they showed it off too early.

Even now there is nothing coming from the studios that interests me. I'm just so far out of their demographic and that's fine with me. There are two other console makers who make games with my taste of games.

 

[electroshockwave]

It's pretty shocking considering this generation is going to last about as long as the previous one. Cuphead and Ori were both on my list but I have them for Switch now. Sunset Overdrive is the only one I'd still be tempted to get the console for. And I guess I'd get Forza Horizon once I did but otherwise I have too much to play elsewhere.

 

[fontguy]

It's Microsoft's lost generation.

Mattrick and co. just demolished everything so completely that they had no choice but to devote themselves to rebuilding and preparing for the next generation.

 

[Bruceleeroy]

I get the feeling TVTVTV and kinect dev priorities squandered the first 3 years of dev this gen at MS. Only then were they like 'oh, yeah....'

But as I say that, early gen games like Killer Instinct, have such an amazing quality, Imo, better than you would think given how boring and flashy the early gen game period was.

Click to shrink...

I think you're right but ironically probably my favorite game - Sunset Overdrive was early on and I feel like there was way more momentum in that first year but they had such a negative public image it hurt those games standing out

 

[PRrambo_]

Definitely feels like they lacked games. Backwards Compatibility and Gamepass kinda became the highpoints of this gen for Xbox hardcore. On social media a lot of them admit to only caring about playing 3rd party games regardless.

 

[Vire]

Ori 1
Ori 2
Gears 5
Forza Horizon 4
Halo 5 MP

That's really it for me in terms of games I really enjoyed. An expensive console for around four or five games...

 

[GamerJM]

I think I might sell my X1, which is really impressive considering I've never thought about doing that for another console. I really don't see myself coming back after this generation for any of its exclusives (whereas every other console I see a reason to return to the original hardware for something), especially since I play on PC now too.

Sunset Overdrive is great stuff though. Between that and Spider-Man Insomniac really stepped it up this gen.

 

[Xx 720]

It might of been fugly but I played the shit out of Dead Rising 3, was a blast. But yeah, outside of Sunset Overdrive and Forza Horizon, I think MS dropped the ball this gen but seem bullish for next gen, my PC awaits

 

[TechnicPuppet]

I disagree completely. They've had and continue to have great games going into the last year of the console. They also have great variety.

They are only lacking in narrative driven action games of which there are billions anyway.

 

[GamerJM]

Edit: Double post due to internet connection issues on my end

 

[Linus815]

You aren't exactly breaking new ground here considering MS themselves acknowledged this issue.

 

[Deleted member 59126]

Cuphead is a solid game

 

[Eeyore]

This software drought wasn't just this gen (which led off with Microsoft having arguably a better exclusives lineup at launch than Sony with how many third party deals they did), it started at the end of last gen. Certainly I think a part of that is them pivoting hard towards Kinect seeing how successful it was but at the same time you wonder what was going on behind the scenes.

I get the feeling TVTVTV and kinect dev priorities squandered the first 3 years of dev this gen at MS. Only then were they like 'oh, yeah....'

But as I say that, early gen games like Killer Instinct, have such an amazing quality, Imo, better than you would think given how boring and flashy the early gen game period was.

Click to shrink...

Yeah it's sad I'm not into fighting games because by all accounts Killer Instinct is an unmitigated success as far as a F2P fighting game goes. Would be a no brainer to have another one ready by launch for the Series X.

Cuphead is a solid game

Click to shrink...

Wasn't Cuphead self published? Did Microsoft fund the game? I'm always confused on the details of the game.

 

[DeliciousSunnyD!]

I'm not sure what it is, but I didn't really care for Sunset Overdrive from the (albeit very little) bit I played. And I typically am a big fan of Insomniac. Really though, I didn't really care much for either of Insomniac's big games this generation, SO or Spider-Man.

Definitely think people shouldn't have slept on Halo 5. At this point, it's probably too late to hop into it (the only people left playing are almost assuredly people who are way too good), but man, for almost 2 years it was basically the only game I had played. I crashed hard on Destiny, falling out of it like an addict drops a nasty drug habit cold turkey, and then H5 showed up at the perfect time and filled that multiplayer void that I really needed filled.

I played Destiny almost exclusively for the PvP multiplayer and I'd gotten so sick of the increasingly demanding rat race that the game had become to remain relevant and competitive within the multiplayer. Then H5's elegant, classic Arena multiplayer showed up and it was the perfect alleviating pallet cleanser for me to wash away the bad taste that Destiny had become for me. Just a shame I couldn't get my friends to follow.

 

[VeggieBurger]

their games just couldn't find a lane this gen. their GAAS stuff was hit or miss, def not nearly as big as third party GAAS stuff. they didn't have the cinematic game appeal like Sony and their Gears and Halo couldn't act like Mario and Zelda do for Nintendo. they didn't really have the weird experimental stuff either. their plans for gamepass and backwards compatibility is super smart tho and could get them to a place where a weak first party doesn't matter as much

 

[Phendrana]

I generally like to buy all three consoles. Kept waiting for there to be a reason to buy the Xbone, but it never came.

Curious to see how things go next gen.

 

[Stinkinmushroom]

Didnt have an xbox one but would have loved it for these:
Sunset Overdrive
Cuphead
Ori
Forza Horizon 4

 

[Gundam]

There definitely could have been more.


While my interest across the board is inconsistent, 2020 is a pretty sizeable lineup before next gen even launches.

 

[Imitation Of Life]

I disagree completely. They've had and continue to have great games going into the last year of the console. They also have great variety.

They are only lacking in narrative driven action games of which there are billions anyway.

Click to shrink...

List some of these high quality narrative driven single player focused AAA games. Most publishers are focused engagement and MP.

 

[Vire]

I could have more easily forgiven the production output if their marquee franchises were on top of their game to level that Halo 3 or Gears 3 were in the past. Even the releases we got for those were like 7/8 out of 10's.

At least Game Pass came out of this whole thing...

 

[TechnicPuppet]

List some of these high quality narrative driven single player focused AAA games. Most publishers are focused engagement and MP.

Click to shrink...

What?

 

[Soap]

I remember at the start of this generation/end of last generation that there was a popular belief that exclusives were no longer important and that you could sail through on strong third party support. It seems Microsoft bought into that and it was a huge mistake.

 

[Segafreak]

I've never seen a console this barren of exclusives. It is so bad the only reason I wanted a 1X is to play my ogXbox/360 games in 4K. Sunset Overdrive is one of my favorite games of this gen, Cuphead was amazing and really looked forward to Scalebound. Other than that and the Forza Horizon games? It's just empty. There is Ryse and Quantum Break but those games range from mediocre to bad, very forgettable.

With Sony and Nintendo every year there is like a few big trophy games to look forward to, but with MS, ever since Phil took over and the studio acquisitions I'm still waiting for that "greatness awaits" moment happening.

And about those studios, if it's not their established IP, recently MS game studios track record for new IP is not so good. State of Decay 2, Sea of Thieves, Bleeding Edge all have yellow Meta scores.

 

[Necron]

Indeed. At least things look better going into next gen, though.

 

[Imitation Of Life]

What?

Click to shrink...

You said there are billions of these games. List them in comparison to other genres.

 

[Darkstorne]

Also Bethesda Game Studios, compared to last gen.

Also Bioware, compared to last gen.

Also Rockstar, compared to last gen.

I think it's more an indication of how well Sony coped with increased dev times and costs, rather than how poorly Microsoft and so many others handled it. Ubisoft is another publisher that performed incredibly well this gen thanks to their studio management.

 

[DeliciousSunnyD!]

I generally like to buy all three consoles. Kept waiting for there to be a reason to buy the Xbone, but it never came.

Curious to see how things go next gen.

Click to shrink...

I'm also someone who buys all of the consoles in a generation, and while the Xbox One's library was definitely limited, I do think it's still a worthwhile system to own. Especially the One X, which is the best console hardware this generation, ironically.

Gamepass + their investment in backwards compat, allowing players to download their 360 digital library definitely makes it worth it. And it's for sure the best third party games console (though I'm never really much of a third party game player outside of Rockstar).

A One X is definitely worth the investment if you have an HDR 4K tv, had a decent library of titles on your 360 Gamertag, and/or are interested in Gamepass.

The base Xbox One (S) is not worth it at this point, no.

 

[JusDoIt]

I only own one console with a weaker exclusive lineup, and that's the Vita.

I'll buy the Series X if it has a new KI tho.

 

[zeuanimals]

Sea of Thieves
Ori
Gears 5
Forza Horizon series
Halo 5 MP
Halo Wars 2
Sunset Overdrive

Not a bad gen at all for me.

EDIT: Killer Instinct was bloody amazing too.

Click to shrink...

That's kind of a depressing list.

 

[Theorry]

Killer Instinct and that was even a launch game.
Also Quantum Break is one of my favorites.

 

[Anti]

Well let's hope they get it together next gen and they stop releasing the typical "perfect Gamepass games"

 

[Yautja_Warrior]

Their exclusives are the reason I didn't get an Xbox this gen.

Halo, Gears and Forza are great but I've lost interest in them over the years and except for Ori, their other new exclusives have been a mixed bag compared to Sony and Nintendo's exclusives.

Hopefully the Series X will get some much better quality new IP's going into next gen.

 

[Jesb]

Yesh I'm not even sure why anyone was buying it. Horrendous exclusives in comparison to any console ever released the last 20 years.

 

[Psamtik]

Forza Horizon 4 is my favorite exclusive (treating Windows and XBox as a unified platform) of the generation, so they had that.

 

[TheZynster]

yes.....microsoft this gen was unreal. A console that basically will be known for services more than its games. That's fucking sad.....and I love my X.

 

[SuikerBrood]

Sea of Thieves, Ori and the Will of the Wisps and Forza Horizon 4 are among the best games I've played on pc the past few years.

So, I'm not that unhappy about it at all. Gears Tactics is looking good too.