What does Microsoft have to do to steal Sony's thunder?

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AcidBrandon18

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#1  Edited By AcidBrandon18

I'm already all in with the PS4. So I'm wondering. What does Microsoft have to do to steal Sony's thunder? Microsoft doesn't really have the best first-party development aside from Halo and Forza. Could they supply enough solid first-party content this go around to turn the tide?

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artelinarose

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Free blowjob robot with every console.

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Grimluck343

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It's all about the games. I would imagine the hardware itself will be pretty competitive as far as features. They just need a strong showing of games.

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TheLighterDark

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Free blowjob robot with every console.

My thoughts exactly. This is the only way.

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rentacop

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Turning the paywall into an optional service like PS+ would be a very good first move.

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Blu3V3nom07

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#6  Edited By Blu3V3nom07

I get to punch any game developer once, or a they give me a free pony to keep and not punch. I can't have both, now.

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newmoneytrash

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#7  Edited By newmoneytrash

I don't know if there is much more they can do, really. Just do a lot of the same that Sony did and make that shit competitive. Maybe release more details? Show the console and maybe hint at a buying price? And hope that they have some exclusive IP's to show that isn't just Halo and Gears of War (a big Rare reveal would be nice, but I think that ship sailed a decade ago).

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ArbitraryWater

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#8  Edited By ArbitraryWater

A bottle of Steve Ballmer's tears with every system.

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Thandurin

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#9  Edited By Thandurin

They will probably release a new Gears of War and call it a day.

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Blu3V3nom07

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#10  Edited By Blu3V3nom07

Imagine if Every new Xbox Infinity, came with Banjo Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts 2, for free!! : O........

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AcidBrandon18

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Morbid_Coffee

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#12  Edited By Morbid_Coffee
  • Matching the promises made by Sony, or making more reasonable promises that are easier to keep.
  • Support from big third party companies. Sony brought out Squenix and Capcom. Microsoft needs something equally as big and saying "WE HAVE 343 AND HALO 5!" and "NEW COD THIS HOLIDAY" won't do it.
  • Price
  • A market plan to push unit sales outside of the US. Sony tried and succeeded at gaining the interest of the US market yesterday. Microsoft needs to try to do the same with Japan/Europe.
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jdh5153

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Sony has no thunder in my eyes.

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Sergio

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They would basically need enough first party games to rival Sony, then add third-party exclusives that aren't time-based. Simply having comparable specs won't suffice. I don't see them stealing Sony's thunder because what they need probably wouldn't be available at launch.

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DonPixel

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#15  Edited By DonPixel

developers developers developers developers!

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selfconfessedcynic

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My best guess?

$349

If they do that, it'll definitely be a "ball's in your court, Sony" moment.

After all, MS has always had games in spades (perhaps not the same amount of first party, but usually great third party, etc). Plus, the PSN looks to be evolving massively - I can't sit here and think XBL will fail to do so as well.

Chuck in an almost unmatchable price (from Sony's perspective) and you have yourself a solid gambit.

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Synthballs

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I get to punch any game developer once, or a they give me a free pony to keep and not punch. I can't have both, now.

Oh, Awesome. Come here Cliff Bleszinski.

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Funkydupe

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A lot of Sony's talk was about the "cloud"; and what they "wanted" to achieve "in the future". Most people don't sit on high speed internet. Most people don't share videos of video games online. Many don't even participate in any online social networks to get feedback of purchases and habits. I think Sony needs to show us that what happened to OnLive in terms of lower quality gameplay over the cloud and high latency won't affect their new "The Worlds fastest gaming network".

If XBOX brings more innovation to the table, moving up and away from how their current hardware looks, then they'll "win" the console battle this time.

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butano

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Seamless integration with Windows 8 and Windows Phone, a new Halo game, better Kinect functionality, and being able to stream games to any Windows 8/RT device.

What? A man can dream.....

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charlie_victor_bravo

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  • "Free" games with xboxlive gold (PSN+).
  • Backward compatibility.
  • New titles, cheaper games.
  • Better price.
  • Real console.

PS4 did not make that big of an impression and most stand out stuff was just visions of what it could do if...

That said, MS needs to step up their game and I am little skeptical if they have enough fight in them.

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flindip

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Price, would be the biggest hit. If they can make a machine almost as powerful, but at a more affordable cost that will hurt Sony.

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DarthOrange

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#22  Edited By DarthOrange

Get Superbot Entertainment on stage and announce they are making an exclusive fighting game for the next Xbox (maybe Killer Instinct?). That would be a huuuuge slap in the face to Sony. If not them then getting David Jaffe, Insomniac, Eat Sleep Play, or Lightbox Interactive would also be a bitch slap in the face at Sony for using Bungie and Mr. Blow.

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tourgen

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I don't really see it happening myself. But if they came to the table with all 360 XBLIG and XBLA games working out of the box that would be a good first step. Then actual feature parity with the PS4 hardware, which all rumors indicate they aren't there.

Then strip all ads from the interface and launch with Fallout 4 exclusive.

For both companies though it's just going to come down to all the details of the launch and how much bullshit their systems put you through just to play the games. I think the Wii U interface failure and frustrating detailed design decisions in the hw & sw are a pretty good roadmap of what not to do.

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EVO

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Microsoft's first parties pail in comparison to Sony's, so unless they have some amazing third party exclusives up their sleeve, or outdo the PS4 specs, I doubt they'll sway me.

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Funkydupe

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Video games, especially the ones purchased digitally needs to be priced way lower than they are today; this to encourage legitimate purchases over piracy across all platforms. Once the purchase of a console, we instantly look towards the current and future games and I do not want to see 50/60 dollar games, ever, for the new consoles when PCs has consistently been at 40/50 this generation with a lot more sales like the Steam Holiday Sale opportunities.

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RupertTheBear

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Id love to see Jenova Chen come out on stage with his game to counter the reaction of Johnathan Blow being on Sony and I would love to see what Respawn Entertainment is doing while bitch slapping Activision and their game Destiny

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deactivated-630b11c195a3b

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If the rumors about always online are true than they would have to do something pretty fucking incredible.

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reisz

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Launch at $139.99 Subsidised by a two (three?) year Xbox Live Platinum (because new live features) subscription.

Forza 5, Fallout 4, Skyrim GOTY edition with updated graphics and mod support. All launch titles.

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coakroach

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Lower price point, same or better performance, Kinect that works and a whole lot of exclusives.

I'm dying to know if they can pull it off.

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Sooty

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#30  Edited By Sooty

I have zero confidence in Microsoft doing much of anything. My Xbox 360 has been a Marvel vs. Capcom and Street Fighter IV machine for years, I don't want more Halo, Forza or Gears, so what else do Microsoft have? Judging from the 360 nothing. And the only reason I kept my 360 for those two games is because the PS3 got a bad port of MvC3 and SFIV had horrendous connection issues on PSN.

Vita remote play and instant on/off with the PS4. I'm pre-ordering as soon as I can.

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HarlechQuinn

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#31  Edited By HarlechQuinn

Jeff Minter as lead hardware engineer and host of the press conference. Only he will be able to fight the power of Mark Cerny.

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Rowr

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Unfortunately for Microsoft they seem to have rested on their laurels for the past few years in regards to quality original franchises. So I dunno, but it better be more than just some shitty video streaming family friendly bullshit. Hopefully they don't arrogantly phone it in like Sony did at the start of the last console cycle.

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WinterSnowblind

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@rowr:They absoutely have been resting on their laurels for the past few years, but hopefully that's exactly because all of their effort has been going into this new machine.

I don't expect them to be able to match the streaming stuff, but in order to one up Sony, they just need to have more games, particularly exclusives and preferably new IP's. Showing a bunch of multiplatform stuff isn't going to sell people and having nothing but Halo/Gears would be sad as well.

Having backwards compatability, an even stronger online infrastructure and dropping the Gold account requirement for online play would be massive wins as well.

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vilhelmnielsen

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It's all about the games. I would imagine the hardware itself will be pretty competitive as far as features. They just need a strong showing of games.

Absolutely. It's about spending time on showing games, and not wasting too much time on Facebook and Twitter.
Sony really lacked showing some games that were actually interesting. Watch_Dogs was cool, but we've already seen that.

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Oscar__Explosion

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#35  Edited By Oscar__Explosion

New IP's. Sequels can be okay as long as they don't dominate what will be out at launch.

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Dingofighter

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#36  Edited By Dingofighter

I'm actually kind of hoping Microsoft will just base their entire reveal presentation on Kinect games and Facebook/media stuff just to see how crazy that would be...

I'm not really sure what they could do that would really knock it out of the park, though. Price is really the only thing I can see them going for seeing as they aren't really known for strong first-party games and they don't really have anything else that could be easily shown at a presentation. After all, download speeds and stuff like that which they were much better at compared to Sony before isn't something you'll know before they are released.

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Ares42

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saying "WE HAVE 343 AND HALO 5!" and "NEW COD THIS HOLIDAY" won't do it.

While I wish that was true, I fear MS just saying "this is the CoD machine" would actually be enough at this point =/ Combine that with robbing Nintendo of the casual market they abandoned with Kinect and media integration and they're probably gonna be very successful.

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PokeIkzai

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Honestly probably just showing their console.

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newmoneytrash

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Honestly probably just showing their console.

On a rotating platform! With flashing lights!

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Nictel

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We had the bottom of an avatars shoe last time. Don't know how they are going to top that..

Kinect integration with windows and email. A "personal assistant" as it were: 'John there are 3 new unread emails, also Halo 5 is now available in the store. Shall I download it for you?'

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MooseyMcMan

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Banjo-Threeie.

Honestly, all Microsoft really has to do is just make a machine that isn't worse than the PS4, and lets your profile carry over, and they'll probably sell more units again this generation, because all the people who only had a 360 will just go out and buy the next Xbox instead of move over to PS4.

And I say this as someone who really found a lot of what Microsoft did with the 360 to be baffling (interface!), confusing (lack of hard drive for many 360s), and just downright dumb (Kinect).

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chrissedoff

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#42  Edited By chrissedoff

  • Matching the promises made by Sony, or making more reasonable promises that are easier to keep.
  • Support from big third party companies. Sony brought out Squenix and Capcom. Microsoft needs something equally as big and saying "WE HAVE 343 AND HALO 5!" and "NEW COD THIS HOLIDAY" won't do it.
  • Price
  • A market plan to push unit sales outside of the US. Sony tried and succeeded at gaining the interest of the US market yesterday. Microsoft needs to try to do the same with Japan/Europe.

I agree with everything you wrote except for citing Square Enix and Capcom as big gets. Those two companies have been making garbage games lately and their presentations were hype videos that might be representative of an actual game, probably years from now. Sony had way more promising stuff than that shown throughout the meeting.

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Sooty

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#43  Edited By Sooty
@chrissedoff said:

@morbid_coffee said:
  • Matching the promises made by Sony, or making more reasonable promises that are easier to keep.
  • Support from big third party companies. Sony brought out Squenix and Capcom. Microsoft needs something equally as big and saying "WE HAVE 343 AND HALO 5!" and "NEW COD THIS HOLIDAY" won't do it.
  • Price
  • A market plan to push unit sales outside of the US. Sony tried and succeeded at gaining the interest of the US market yesterday. Microsoft needs to try to do the same with Japan/Europe.

I agree with everything you wrote except for citing Square Enix and Capcom as big gets. Those two companies have been making garbage games lately and their presentations were hype videos that might be representative of an actual game, probably years from now. Sony had way more promising stuff than that shown throughout the meeting.

Capcom have released a lot of pretty great games this generation and single handedly brought fighting games back from the dead. Resident Evil 6 doesn't mean they are garbage, that's the only truly bad game they've released in a while.

Full list here of Capcom developed (some published) games:

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Sooty

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Banjo-Threeie.

Honestly, all Microsoft really has to do is just make a machine that isn't worse than the PS4, and lets your profile carry over, and they'll probably sell more units again this generation, because all the people who only had a 360 will just go out and buy the next Xbox instead of move over to PS4.

Microsoft haven't really sold more this generation though, the PS3 is on course to overtake the 360 and that's with it coming out a year earlier, I guess it depends when you consider this generation over. If Sony get more positive buzz with the PS4 (not having a lot of really bad ports would help) then I doubt the next Xbox will be outselling them, well, unless it's significantly cheaper, but then again the 360 was always cheaper than the PS3 and like I say, it's going to be overtaken worldwide soon.

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Hector

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My best guess?

$349

If they do that, it'll definitely be a "ball's in your court, Sony" moment.

After all, MS has always had games in spades (perhaps not the same amount of first party, but usually great third party, etc). Plus, the PSN looks to be evolving massively - I can't sit here and think XBL will fail to do so as well.

Chuck in an almost unmatchable price (from Sony's perspective) and you have yourself a solid gambit.

$349? How about $199 with a 2 year $14.99/mo Xbox Live subscription.

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cheesebob

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Price

More unique first party games (at least don't show Halo 5 or Forza 5 until E3)

The console actually shown

Backwards Compatibility and your Xbox Live account carries over

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SmilingPig

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#47  Edited By SmilingPig

If the next Xbox comes with a holographic screen... I will buy an Xbox and hook up my PS4 to its holographic screen.

Or if every Xbox comes with a free Durango truck I am all in.

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DarkShaper

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Put a mad scientist on stage and have him unveil an actual thunder stealing machine.

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Andorski

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To win me over? Drop the paywall, or at least make a payment option that adds services rather than restrict services to those who choose to go free. They also need to make gaming the central focus of the hardware. It's great to have all those video and music apps on the side, but they cannot have that take up as much space on the UI as they do on the current system. Overall though, they just need to give off the vibe that they want to serve their customers. They're currently just dicking around and making their userbase bend over for them. Paying for multiplayer is atrocious, and making people pay for Gold so they can use paid services like Netflix is just an added layer of mud on the huge turd of an online experience they currently sell.

To win the gaming community over? Get whatever series that's going to be the Call of Duty for the next generation and lock it up as an exclusive (or at least get the mindset that the game is an "Xbox game"). They already have the momentum of being the top console platform and have their current users locked in via their existing profiles on LIVE, achievements, and their friend's list. They don't need to convince people to come to their platform; they only need to convince people not to stray to the PS4 when the next generation hits.