Official Xbox One Thread

[GohanX]

Okay. At what price will you bite?

[bbobb]

$5.00

[Yoshi]

Ideally $250ish. Definitely sub-$300.

[EvilMog]

$5.00

Same price I would buy a Switch or a DS for!

[GohanX]

I'll keep an eye out, although I'd expect the Gears bundle to be the more likely one to get discounted.

[Chux]

As if some consolation prize for Sonic Mania running like hot ass for me, REVENGEANCE is now backwards compatible.

[GohanX]

OH SHIT, that's huge!

*edit* Just remembered I have the PS3 version.

[Geo]

As if some consolation prize for Sonic Mania running like hot ass for me, REVENGEANCE is now backwards compatible.

Thanks to GAF for also pointing out that the DLC is free as well:

Blade Wolf
https://marketplace.xbox.com/en-US/P...7-6c2d67f3fd4d

Jetstream
https://marketplace.xbox.com/en-US/P...4-8c2aa0312232

Edit: Apparently these were made free quite some time ago, but I missed it.

[Geo]

Crackdown 3 delayed to Spring 2018.

My first thought at this news obviously wasn't very positive for the Xbox brand for either Microsoft or their consumers, especially with this title previously set to release alongside the new Xbox One X console on November 7th. But disappointment and a bad look aside, I do think this could be the right move.

First and foremost, if the game needs more time, that explains the necessity of the delay, even if this only increases skepticism as well as concern in the quality of the game itself and when/if it does actually release. That this news comes very nearly two months to the day that Microsoft went on their E3 stage and announced the November 7th release date, doesn't inspire any more confidence - firmly declining already - in the direction of the Xbox brand and the initiative of Microsoft Game Studios. But they need to get this right, especially when some of their established IP seem to be losing impact if not relevancy, and their new projects have failed in development thanks to their decisions.

Putting that aside however, the two biggest games this holiday season are Destiny 2 and Star Wars Battlefront 2. They're going to be monsters, Super Mario Odyssey is going to be big too though exclusive to its new hardware, and you can likely throw Assassin's Creed Origins in that mix - even if I personally become less interested the more footage I see of that game - as well. And then of course the perennial big sellers in FIFA, NBA 2K, and Call of Duty.

With those big games and many more releasing through the end of the year, that's why it makes all the sense in the world for Sony to hold back their relevant first-party software until the first half of 2018, considering they are the leading platform catering to all of that software with their player base and on top of that, have a number of exclusive marketing and/or DLC deals with those blockbuster third-party titles. They want to repeat what they have in 2017 with releasing successful, notable titles throughout the entire year.

So while Xbox One is far from the leading or most exciting platform, and doesn't have those exclusives in games/DLC/marketing, they are getting those third-party games that are going to dominate the fall season through the holidays. (The platform breakdown for those games will be interesting, EA Access could help with Star Wars Battlefront 2 for example, but the Destiny player base has already seen what happened with the original game in terms of exclusive content.) Taking notes from Playstation as well as Nintendo with the launch of the Switch, particularly when to no surprise those consoles are handedly outselling the Xbox One, Microsoft needs to do a better job of delivering quality software throughout the year as opposed to droughts eventually leading to a packed holiday season.

Crackdown 3, if it will be a quality game, helps serve that purpose along with Sea of Thieves, State of Decay 2, and other games that Microsoft have scheduled for the first-half of 2018. And frankly, I question how much Crackdown 3 would have stood out and succeeded in the upcoming Fall game season, I would think its prospects are better in early 2018.

Though seeing how they've handled the announced release date of Crackdown 3, it's hard to put much stock in those other release dates/windows. And as much as the delay of Crackdown 3 only two months after announcing its release date at E3 reminds me of Nintendo with the Wii U in a way, to be quite honest, that's par for the course with current game development. These games aren't easy to develop and they take time.

Now that said, it's up to Xbox to not only deliver the best games they can but also market the breadth of those quality games, including that time of the year. Halo Wars 2, released in February of 2017, had the impact of a wet fart. Not that I have faith in them to deliver, but they need to do better.

The one thing is that, leading into E3, I fully expected Microsoft to release Project Scorpio - now the Xbox One X - by the release of Destiny 2. Perhaps it wasn't at all possible from a production standpoint, but to me you have to have that new console on shelves when arguably the biggest seller of the year is out, especially: (1) if my only selling point for the new hardware is delivering the best version of that game (The PC version releases later, and likely debatable with the Sony exclusive marketing deal); and (2) Destiny 2 and other popular games coming soon afterward can influence a hardware-buying decision.

Unless there's a massive change of plans announced at Gamescom next week, they're not doing that, and now they aren't even releasing Crackdown 3 on the same day. A $500 machine is a hard sell as it is, nevermind if Sony gets aggressive with the PS4 Pro which they likely will, but on top of that you're asking consumers (if not already too invested in another ecosystem) to wait weeks to play the big games on that $500 machine. I don't know what to say about it frankly, it's not a thought process that's easy to understand.

If this is a niche product, which it likely is given the price of the machine and what the conversion to 4K TVs in homes is, that's fine. The PS4 Pro hasn't set the world on fire at all. But when it's the only thing about the Xbox brand that generates any kind of excitement whatsoever at this point, and it was so front and center to their E3 presentation and to what they have said/will say overall, then it shouldn't be a niche product for them. It doesn't add up, and hopefully they don't drop the ball hard.

[Diff-chan]

Crackdown 3 didn't get a great reception at E3. Probably makes sense to delay it, although it's been floating around forever.