Wow, even Xbox people expect Xbox to be dead last AND Sony to be the No1.
And what is so funny about getting 2nd behind two of the most innovative (although outdated) consoles ever? Even more so when the Switch has been on the market for 3,5 years longer and basically includes everybody interested in a 3DS successor?
Just out of curiosity: were you also laughing when the PS1 launched, a new entry in the consoles world, and Nintendo lost to it? Going by how you write, you were probably not born yet.
It's always so funny (or sad) that Nintendo becomes relevant for you guys, whenever your precious Xbox is incapable to "fight the fight" on it's own.
I was just messing around with what I posted as I have never encountered a PlayStation extremist before the Savant user. Just wanted to play into it a little bit as I find it humorous.
Joking aside and being realistic, I expect Xbox to finish 2nd or 3rd worldwide depending on if you're including Nintendo Switch. I do expect Microsoft to "win back" North America and cut the gap in Europe by around half. I do see them being the best they've been in Japan in general but only once their X-Cloud streaming service takes off there. I do include Nintendo and Switch. The only issue is that it launched in March 2017 which was in the middle of last generation and if they release Switch 2 in the middle of the current generation, it's hard to decide because instead of being lined up with Sony and Microsoft, they're in the middle. I do prefer to include them because it increases the competition and will make Microsoft and Sony do better. Or at least, that's what should happen.
Also, while Savant likes to believe im an Xbot or whatever, the reality is that in general, I play favorites to both. You can go to XboxEra and im certain that not a single user there would even think of calling me an Xbot. If anything, they would probably call me a Pony since I do tend to favor Sony's games because they're what I prefer where as Microsoft kind of does the opposite. I even received a one week "silencing" a year ago for hyping up the KOTOR Remake and bashing Microsoft for passing on it which as of yesterday, has blown up in my face.
Back to Microsoft and Xbox, I do believe that Game Pass will be dominant by the time this generation ends and for them, while they care about the console sales, it's more about the platform and eco-system and if they can more people invested into Xbox via the TV Game Pass App and X-Cloud, then for the Xbox brand, it will be a massive success for Microsoft. Coming into this generation, I expected Xbox to be way better than they were last generation and for the most part, they have been. I expected Microsoft to be competitive but not to where they could "win" the generation in sales overall. I don't see that happening simply because they don't concentrate on only console sales which will lessen the amount sold as there will be people who buy into Xbox and Game Pass via Streaming and the TV App. There's also the fact that outside of North America, pretty much everywhere else is an uphill battle for Microsoft. Realistically, I just want to see them improve, do better and close the gap.
Last generation, Sony outsold Microsoft 2 to 1 minimum. This generation, thus far, it's been around 1.5 to 1 which is already an improvement. I simply don't want to see Microsoft get crushed like they did last generation. I just want them to improve, win at least in NA which I do believe they will and just close the gaps elsewhere because after last generation, they took several steps backwards and it's not going to be fixed overnight. This generation in my eyes is more of how to structure and setup everything for future generations. It's not even for now or this generation. Microsoft is in it for the long term as opposed to trying to just sneak out a "win" or something and as a gamer and Xbox fan, I understand this because it makes sense and is what I would be doing.
I have a few minor issues with Microsoft and Xbox. I don't like the dashboard, wish it had HDR, etc. but these are minor and for the most part, not all that important whatsoever. What is obviously important and a major issue of mine with Microsoft and Xbox thus far is the mismanagement of their internal studios and not being able to get at least ONE AAA exclusive shipped out this year. Add in the horrible launch and empty first half of 2021 and on paper, it should be a slaughter in favor of Sony but in reality, it hasn't been. It's been amazingly close for the most part with Microsoft and Xbox doing better than expected considering the fact that they can't seem to ship out an AAA exclusive to save their lives. Perhaps even bigger than this issue is the fact that Microsoft never seems to have a Plan B, C or D. It's either Plan A works or it doesn't. For example, Microsoft announced Halo Infinite at E3 2019 as a Holiday 2020 launch to be lined up with their next generation console and while some could argue that they didn't put an actual release date on the game, in actuality they did because you knew it would be the same date as the when the consoles launched.
That obviously didn't work out and they obviously didn't learn from their mistakes because they did the same thing with Starfield. 11/11/22. 18 months out. Same as Halo Infinite. No backup plan whatsoever. And obviously, this didn't work out either. I truly believe that Spencer didn't see the game or know of any issues until right before the delay. They were in that auditorium and you can just look at the pictures they took and posted on Twitter. You can see Spencer and others weren't exactly thrilled.
This is part of the major issue. There's way too much leeway given. Microsoft and Spencer specifically should be looking at every game's progress every three months once it enters full production. But sadly, I don't think Spencer is hands on at all which is a mistake in my opinion and for Booty, I simply believe that he's overwhelmed by all the studio acquisitions and two publisher acquisitions which as of now is just one until the ABK deal closes.
Next part would be where Microsoft only focuses on Game Pass and while I understand why, it shouldn't be their only focal point. They rarely get timed exclusive games and even when they do, they're either AA or Indies and for a short duration. Usually 6 months or less. Also, they don't go after AAA titles for really any kind of exclusivity. One other note is that they don't seem to go after third party AAA titles for even marketing deals anymore which is a mistake in my opinion. For two reasons - first, if Sony gets the marketing for every major AAA third party game, that eliminates it from being on Game Pass for at least a year minimum as Sony does include a clause in their marketing deals which I don't blame them because it's smart business and second, the casual consumer will simply associate these games with only PlayStation so even if they're on Xbox, it won't matter because majority of consumers won't even realize it because they're casuals and barely if at all pay any attention to any of this shit.
But they did have an amazing second half of 2021. I would give launch to Sony and PS5. I easily 2022 to Sony and PS5. Even im looking for more PS5 exclusives to play because Microsoft has nothing for me this year. But Microsoft and Xbox was better in 2021. Before the generation started, I always believed that Sony would have the better first half of the generation which thus far, they have while Microsoft would have the better second half of the generation because even though their exclusives have been delayed and there's issues here and there, at some point, the exclusives will be released and I simply don't see Sony being able to match the output especially when they do tend to take 5+ years for nearly every exclusive.
This is all my own personal opinion. For me personally, no defending anything, Microsoft fucking sucks right now in regards to their exclusive game output. But it is what it is. I can't do anything about it. All I can do is the same as what Microsoft is doing - ride it out. If 2023 is finally the year where everything starts to click exclusive game wise and they nail Redfall, Starfield, etc. then in all honesty, no one is going to give two shits about 2022 being dead. If they don't, then that's an entirely different story but as of now, I will give Microsoft and Spencer the benefit of the doubt simply because coming into this generation and this was pre-Bethesda, I always said that I would give them the entire generation to prove their worth to me. Despite a dead 2022, im not going to change my outlook. In fact, when I make a decision or say something, for better or worse, I stay with it. I don't change it.
On another note, one other major issue Microsoft needs to eliminate is their DRM setup. When I install a disc based game, I shouldn't have to connect online to "verify" the disc in order to play the game. This shit while understandable on one hand is still beyond horrible on the other. I don't see them eliminating this even though they should. Putting a game disc in my PS5 and simply being able to play it after it installs without any online connection or verification is exactly how it should be in my opinion.
Hope this makes things clearer and apologies for coming off as an asshole last night.
