Microsoft Gamescom 2014 Conference - Impressions

[Rubieno]

So... what did you think of the conference?

 

I'd say it had a pretty bad start but that Tomb Raider announcement made up for it.

They did a good job showing many exclusives, but there was, for me, too much focus on Halo (again)

 

Ruben

 

PS: Why is the CoD bundle 500$ and the Sunset Overdrive bundle 400$?! I know that CoD has a special edition, but it's still BS 

Edited August 12, 2014 by Rubieno

[Parker]

The Sunset Overdrive bundle is only $40? I'll be buying a few of those! 

 

Hopefully the conference will be on YouTube later as I didn't get to see it. I'm interested in some Xbone exclusive coming out this year and I'd like to see some actual gameplay. 

 

 

Parker

[D-Tron]

The reason why the CoD bundle is $100 more is because it has a 1TB hard drive.

[Rubieno]

The Sunset Overdrive bundle is only $40? I'll be buying a few of those! 

 

Hopefully the conference will be on YouTube later as I didn't get to see it. I'm interested in some Xbone exclusive coming out this year and I'd like to see some actual gameplay. 

 

 

Parker

Yeah, I corrected that lol

There are definitely some exclusives coming out that are worth getting, but I'm not getting an Xbox for them

[Rubieno]

The reason why the CoD bundle is $100 more is because it has a 1TB hard drive.

Ow, I didn't know that... Thanks for the info

[MarsipanRumpan]

The Conference was what I expected, but the Tomb Raider news made me sad. (Playstation fanboy here)

But overall it was perfect for the Xbox gamers, and im happy for them! Good job showing their Exclusives. A bit jelous at Sunset Overdrive!

Now im looking forward to Sony! Hopefully gonna show off some excellent stuff!!(Bloodborne finally ysjdoffjskldf)

Edited August 12, 2014 by MarsipanRumpan

[soniq]

I thought it was alright, but I watched it at work without sound, so...

 

Not sure how many of these are exclusives but The Escapists, Space Engineers and Screamride looked fun.

Glad that Below will come the PS4 apparently. ("Console-first on Xbox")

 

The TR exclusivity was a bit disappointing but for me it only means I can play it once and be done with it instead of having to grind out multiplayer and collectibles.

[madbuk]

My impressions?

 

Fuck Square Enix. If I wasn't such a diehard fan of TR, I wouldn't be buying Temple of Osiris when that releases. 

Thank god my brother has an Xbox One. I can ask to borrow it from him one day.

[xVolloxx]

Disappointment , iv'e been looking for a reason to buy an Xbox One and it just doesn't come

i'm mainly interested in the games and the exclusives aren't good enough for me to purchase

a whole new console , while some do look interesting for me they aren't system sellers . 

[Berryjammy5]

quantum break. ANOTHER shooter. see, this is why indie games are on the rise.

[Rubieno]

Quantum Break doesn't look that interesting to me... I think that it'll be special in the beginning but will get old pretty fast

[Bendelow4]

quantum break. ANOTHER shooter. see, this is why indie games are on the rise.

It's funny because I remember back at E3 2013 and they showed Quantum break for the first time and it looked like it was going to be this amazing game and from what I saw today looks average at best

[D-Tron]

quantum break. ANOTHER shooter. see, this is why indie games are on the rise.

Really? It looked really interesting and different when I first saw the previews. Didn't expect it to be a shooter. That's kind of a disappointment.

[voodoo_eyes]

The only impression I got from what I saw (didn't see the whole thing, just an hour maybe), was that every company representative that was to introduce a new game and talk about it seemed nervous as hell. Not being able to finish a single sentence without either stuttering, choking or talking nonsense. Which has been something quite common with these events lately. I get it that not everyone is decent at speaking in public in front of a large crowd, hence why they should at least try and put someone out there who is comfortable doing so.

Apart from that I wished they'd show some actual gameplay, and not pre-rendered garbage that they're trrying to market as actual gameplay (sunset overdrive and halo... etc.), but then again maybe some games had that, as said before didn't see the whole thing.

 

Anyhow, some cool games coming out for xbox owners.

[CandiBunni]

The only impression I got from what I saw (didn't see the whole thing, just an hour maybe), was that every company representative that was to introduce a new game and talk about it seemed nervous as hell. Not being able to finish a single sentence without either stuttering, choking or talking nonsense. Which has been something quite common with these events lately. I get it that not everyone is decent at speaking in public in front of a large crowd, hence why they should at least try and put someone out there who is comfortable doing so.

Apart from that I wished they'd show some actual gameplay, and not pre-rendered garbage that they're trrying to market as actual gameplay (sunset overdrive and halo... etc.), but then again maybe some games had that, as said before didn't see the whole thing.

 

Anyhow, some cool games coming out for xbox owners.

When have they ever tried to market CG as actual game play for S.O or Halo? Of all the Halo gameplay shown, as far as the MCC goes, it's all been in-game. They've shown CG cutscenes yes, but never once said that was "actual gameplay". Now, I haven't seen any possible S.O gameplay from the event, but from what has been shown before, none of that looked like CG.

[Carville87]

Quantum break was really disappointing it's just a shooter with the ability to slow time

Sunset overdrive and now tomb raider are the only games that interested me

[Berryjammy5]

Really? It looked really interesting and different when I first saw the previews. Didn't expect it to be a shooter. That's kind of a disappointment.

 

well, all i saw was freeze time, move spots, shoot, freeze time, move spots, ect. im sure they have more tricks up their sleeves, but it wont stand out to me from all the other shooters.

[GoldenShaka]

i just saw a few minutes, but the concept of Wild liked me a lot. Another game to the list when i buy the PS4.

[YoChiink_]

MS is trying to make up for its shady launch of the Xbox One and they're doing a great job imo, and im a sony fanboy I already know that COD bundle will entice thousands of little kids to buy Xbox Ones so thats good for the ps4 community I predict that next year Xbox and Playstation are going to be neck in neck in terms of sales, is this the comeback of the Xbox One?

[kidhero99]

MS is trying to make up for its shady launch of the Xbox One and they're doing a great job imo, and im a sony fanboy I already know that COD bundle will entice thousands of little kids to buy Xbox Ones so thats good for the ps4 community I predict that next year Xbox and Playstation are going to be neck in neck in terms of sales, is this the comeback of the Xbox One? I ho

I honestly hope not

[Demigod]

MS is trying to make up for its shady launch of the Xbox One and they're doing a great job imo, and im a sony fanboy I already know that COD bundle will entice thousands of little kids to buy Xbox Ones so thats good for the ps4 community I predict that next year Xbox and Playstation are going to be neck in neck in terms of sales, is this the comeback of the Xbox One?

 

I hope so, I love healthy competition. The underdog always rises during these occasions, and I dont know why, but ive felt Sony (just the PS brand) is starting to act like their cocky old arrogant selfs again.

 

OT: I really did enjoy the MS conference and although both of them had great shows, I think Sony edged it a bit. I disliked MS's beginning with that whole Fifa Legends thing that dragged on but they made up for it with the game.

Edited August 17, 2014 by BasickAlphabit

[kidhero99]

Sure you don't build a first party stable overnight, but in MS' case when they hell are they going to start?

Lets recap:
Started Turn 10, who went on to make Forza, the one truly original IP from Microsoft to ever succeed.

Bought Bungie when Halo was months from release, had them port it to Xbox, cancelling a much hyped PC version which did later arrive, not to mention the Mac version Bungie had been promising.

Purchased FASA as part of another acquisition in 1999. After doing very little with the Shadowrun and MechWarrior IPs on the Xbox family of consoles closes FASA in 2007, licences out all their worthwhile IPs to small studios.

Bought Rare in 2002, since they have mined the Perfect Dark, Banjo, and Conker IPs with zero success, made one new mascot IP for Xbox 360's launch that never got a follow up despite being a pretty solid (kid friendly) game (Kameo, FYI). Have since been largely relegated to Kinect titles, weren't even the ones who made the Killer Instinct reboot.

Purchased Lionhead in 2006. Proceeded to have them make nothing but Fable games, including a crappy Kinect Fable game. Stopped making PC versions entirely, games progressively got further and further away from the original concept for Fable. A large number of staff has been laid off over the past two years, another large group up and left with Molyneaux, which if it was anything like his departure from Bullfrog to found Lionhead constituted his core staff he's had everywhere (i.e. the real talent in the studio). Making yet another Fable game that is even further removed from the original premise.

Started up 343 studios as a replacement for Bungie when Bungie wanted out as opposed to eternally making nothing but Halo. Now 343 makes nothing but Halo, only not as well as Bungie. The game they wouldn't let Bungie make, Destiny, is now the most pre-ordered game yet. Winning?

Disbanded Ensemble Studios, Aces Studio, MS Flight Team, MS Victoria Studio (never released anything) and Carbonated Games. Have in the last several years purchased BigPark (absorbed into MS Game Studios), Twisted Pixel (who's next game was a full blown stinker), Press Play (nothing of note, so basically shuffling deck chairs with this and closing Carbonated).

Also, Black Tusk isn't new. It's Microsoft Vancouver. They just cleaned house and renamed it after Vancouver went years without finishing anything. Black Tusk is doing an admirable job keeping that history alive.

This is just a quick sample of how MS has handled their first parties. Forza is the only new IP they've generated and maintained worth a shit in their entire time as a console first party. Everything else was bought, mismanaged, and typically shuttered.

Buying their way into the industry with the Xbox with Bungie, Lionhead, etc. is one thing. Sure, you need meaningful exclusives and that was the fastest way to get them. They've been in the console business for nearly 13 years now though. The proof is in the pudding. Microsoft has never shown a commitment to developing their own legitimate first party stable. They closed much of what they did start with the Xbox during the X360 generation because Sony's failure to deliver with PS3 allowed them to pick off former exclusives and have a comparable 3rd party library at a lower price, so they weren't needed. The only significant reinvestment they've ever shown in software development was for Kinect, which they've now pulled back on nearly completely as well.

Microsoft brings nothing to this industry other than dump trucks of money. They're in the video game industry for all the wrong reasons. Making and selling video games is a secondary part of the business model and that has been the case from day one. Originally it was a Sony denial tactic. As Sony fell on hard times and the X360 emerged as a successful product they used XBL to turn it into a marketing push where their real customers were advertisers and games were just the gateway to get people in the door looking at all the ads. The XB1's original concept took this to the next level planning to have Kinect effectively mining data from within our homes while we lived around the system. Obviously the blow back was too great to continue that little project, but that was the original intent and Microsoft stated as much during a conference for their advertising partners.

Instead of this (which probably cost them $50M or better), Titanfall (which also likely cost them $50M or better) the stated NFL deal at $400M, and buying the Gears IP from Epic (likely a solid $50-$100M price tag) Microsoft could have funded over a half dozen of the biggest, most expensive AAA exclusives EVER. They gave the NFL more money for a fantasy football app than Take 2/Rockstar spent on Grand Theft Auto 5. Let that sink into your head when you excuse their lack of first party studios as "taking time".