Microsoft "Officially Welcoming Bethesda to Team Xbox"

[JPDunks4]

With all the reports of Sony aggressively seeking out Exclusivity on 3rd party games, or locking content away from other platforms for their PlayStation Advantage, rather than Microsoft dealing with it on a case by case situation and having to either bid against Sony or deal with Sony constantly advertising about the content they are locking away from Xbox, Microsoft just straight up bought the entire Publisher to say Fuck You, deal with hoping you get access to all this content now.

 

I'm not sure I'd get my hopes up too much about the biggest new titles coming to PlayStation now.  Their best bet is to force PlayStation owners to Sub to Game Pass and stream the games rather than releasing them on Playstation.

[Comet]

11 minutes ago, nublood said:

The more I think about it, the more I think this is kind of a dick move by Microsoft. Snatchin’ up studios and everything. Am I wrong? But what is “right and wrong” in this juncture. At the same time I know this is a Chess game. And that being said I just gotta wonder what Sony’s next move is.

Do they need a next move? They’ve been investing and fostering unique first party development for decades now. 

[Brian]

Xbox Is Primed To Reclaim Its Identity As A Console For RPGs - GameSpot

WWW.GAMESPOT.COM

---

Following several studio acquisitions, Microsoft is primed to release several possibly prominent RPGs onto Xbox Series X/S and Xbox Game Pass Ultimate.

 

[stepee]

7 hours ago, ManUtdRedDevils said:

Phil working on getting XCloud on iOS. My kishi is ready. Make it happen

 

Nice, doesn’t sound like any progress has been made yet really, but at least they are going to try to make something work. Hopefully nvidia can too. 

 

And my kishi is ready as well as it just came in today! Pretty excited to finally have it. It’s so much more comfortable and usable than using a controller clip. It’s weird those seem like they would work on paper but it’s just not comfortable and too heavy. You also can’t comfortably hold it close to your face which then makes the screen too small. This is miles better, even if it could feel a little more quality for the price.

[Commissar SFLUFAN]

 

[Littleronin]

I woke up this morning a bit surprised by this then got to thinking about the last time I bought a game by any of their studios on a console and I think it was all the way back to a Star Trek game on the PS2. 

[Commissar SFLUFAN]

[SoberChef]

2 hours ago, JPDunks4 said:

 

Isn't the new Bungie DLC Day and Date in Game Pass?

The base part of "Beyond Light" is day & date on Game Pass however for the FULL breadth of what is included for each season, then you have to buy that extra bit of DLC separate.

[Keyser_Soze]

7 hours ago, skillzdadirecta said:

Sunset Overdrive was an Insomniac game that was exclusive to the 360.

 

2 hours ago, morph89 said:

*Xbox One 

 

Hey, it's been a long generation.

[Xbob42]

Y'all are crazy if you think MS is gonna spend $7.5 billion to buy up a publisher like this and NOT give Sony a taste of its own exclusives game. Maybe it'll be timed for 6 months to a year (or maybe a few years?) or maybe they'll just port Skyrim to PS5 with exclusive DLC like an Elder Scrolls 6 t-shirt for your hero.

MS has consistently played the long-term game since Phil took over, I don't think they're in some huge rush to recoup that investment by giving up a massive advantage they just paid for to get a little more money back more quickly. Although they could be trying to go for a Game Pass-on-PS5 ploy, as it's clear their end goal isn't getting people on Xbox hardware, but paying for subs.

[skillzdadirecta]

41 minutes ago, Keyser_Soze said:

 

 

Hey, it's been a long generation.

Seriously... That game is so old I thought it WAS a 360 game 

 

In other news, Microsoft buying Zenimax is not a monopoly says legal expert

 

Quote

Following the news of Xbox’s major studio acquisition, some commenters wondered if this deal would be subject to investigation from antitrust authorities. But whereas the Disney Fox merger was an example of horizontal integration, the Xbox Bethesda deal is a vertical integration, which is more complicated from an antitrust law perspective, and historically has not been an issue for antitrust investigators in the entertainment content space.

A horizontal merger — which is what the Disney/Fox deal was — is when two competitors within the same market are combined. In contrast, Xbox/ZeniMax’s vertical merger is an example of where a distributor of content (Xbox) purchases a content producer (ZeniMax).

“Vertical mergers, which is what this is being referred to for the purpose of anti-trust laws, are historically less of a problem for anti-trust regulators,” says David Hoppe, Managing Partner at SF-based Media/Tech law firm Gamma Law.

“[With vertical integration] you can still have concerns over consumer choice and monopoly pricing. But those concerns are going to be much diminished because you’re still going to have independent competitors.”

Problems with vertical integrations have the potential to arise when these deals impact competition. Hoppe says there’s a hypothetical argument that console exclusives can negatively impact competition, “For example, if Microsoft buys every great game studio then people wouldn’t want to buy a PS5.”

But console exclusivity has not been an issue for either the Justice Department or even other competitors within the video game industry.

 

[crispy4000]

3 hours ago, JPDunks4 said:

With all the reports of Sony aggressively seeking out Exclusivity on 3rd party games, or locking content away from other platforms for their PlayStation Advantage, rather than Microsoft dealing with it on a case by case situation and having to either bid against Sony or deal with Sony constantly advertising about the content they are locking away from Xbox, Microsoft just straight up bought the entire Publisher to say Fuck You, deal with hoping you get access to all this content now.

I see it more as the latest skirmish of an ongoing conflict.  Microsoft was already escalating when they bought Ninja Theory and Obsidian, IMO.

Since the PS3/360 generation started, we've been through 'exclusive marketing rights' to 'timed exclusive DLC' to 'timed exclusive release' to 'timed exclusive console release' to 'bought exclusive IP rights' to 'bought the developer' to 'bought the publisher.'  Each of these is still, in essence, a Fuck You to the other side.  The only real exceptions are when the developer remains autonomous, and seeks necessary publisher funding for their game to materialize, or for indies who don't have the resources for simultaneous releases.
 

[number305]

The story on Microsoft quickly switched from - they have no games to - it's no fair if they don't share their games with us! 

[Xbob42]

16 minutes ago, number305 said:

The story on Microsoft quickly switched from - they have no games to - it's no fair if they don't share their games with us! 

Yup, they just flipped the script and flipped the bird in one fell swoop. You know those memes with the screenshot of each game that'll have the PS5 screenshot be a Youtube video are gonna sting the Bethesda PS5 fans.

[skillzdadirecta]

1 hour ago, crispy4000 said:

I see it more as the latest skirmish of an ongoing conflict.  Microsoft was already escalating when they bought Ninja Theory and Obsidian, IMO.

Since the PS3/360 generation started, we've been through 'exclusive marketing rights' to 'timed exclusive DLC' to 'timed exclusive release' to 'timed exclusive console release' to 'bought exclusive IP rights' to 'bought the developer' to 'bought the publisher.'  Each of these is still, in essence, a Fuck You to the other side.  The only real exceptions are when the developer remains autonomous, and seeks necessary publisher funding for their game to materialize, or for indies who don't have the resources for simultaneous releases.
 

What about the obvious and blatant nationalism of Japanese developers exclusively supporting the PS2 during the PS2/OG XBox period?

[Duderino]

1 hour ago, number305 said:

The story on Microsoft quickly switched from - they have no games to - it's no fair if they don't share their games with us!

As someone who owned an N64 and not a PlayStation back in the day I can relate.  Loved many of Square's SNES games but was disappointed to see none of their output come to the console I owned at the time.  Not exactly the same as Sony buying Square, but for the generation they were basically exclusive to Sony.

 

I don’t share that same enthusiasm for the Zenmax games but I get it.  Microsoft didn't foster these studios.  They purchased them.  Nothing is inheritely wrong with that, but neither are people feeling disappointed.  The question of what is "fair" though should be eliminated from any discourse on the subject.

[SaysWho?]

9 hours ago, Littleronin said:

I woke up this morning a bit surprised by this then got to thinking about the last time I bought a game by any of their studios on a console and I think it was all the way back to a Star Trek game on the PS2. 

 

For me it was Doom 2016. Skyrim of course, but I never bought Elder Scrolls Online, Fallout 4, or Fallout 76. 

 

I was looking forward to Starfield and the next Elder Scrolls, though. Even if they didn't have the financing deal, I'd just finance on the Best Buy card. Since they're both years out, it should be easy and even cheaper than now to get one.

[number305]

 

[SaysWho?]

17 minutes ago, number305 said:

 

 

[Commissar SFLUFAN]

10 hours ago, skillzdadirecta said:

Seriously... That game is so old I thought it WAS a 360 game 

 

In other news, Microsoft buying Zenimax is not a monopoly says legal expert

 

 

 

It's not a monopoly in the least, but I fundamentally disagree that the acquisition is a purely vertical integration.  Microsoft -- through its Xbox Game Studios -- is BOTH a content producer and a content distributor and they acquired Zenimax/Bethesda another content producer/content distributor.

[Littleronin]

2 hours ago, SaysWho? said:

 

For me it was Doom 2016. Skyrim of course, but I never bought Elder Scrolls Online, Fallout 4, or Fallout 76. 

 

I was looking forward to Starfield and the next Elder Scrolls, though. Even if they didn't have the financing deal, I'd just finance on the Best Buy card. Since they're both years out, it should be easy and even cheaper than now to get one.

For me it was just that I tend to buy their games on PC. 

[JPDunks4]

I do love seeing some on the internet saying how garbage Bethesda/Zenimax is now that Microsoft bought them.  No one likes those games, all overrated.

 

The new Doom and Wolfenstein games have been some of the better FPS I've played in a long time.  I heard ton of praise for Prey and Dishonored games.  The Elder Scrolls and Fallout games maybe a mixed bag for some, but there's a reason Skyrim has been rereleased on every platform imaginable.  And we all know the new Elder Scrolls will generate insane amounts of hype.

[crispy4000]

8 hours ago, skillzdadirecta said:

What about the obvious and blatant nationalism of Japanese developers exclusively supporting the PS2 during the PS2/OG XBox period?

The PS2 era was the most one-sided console generation since the NES in terms of install base.  PS2 sold 155 million.  Xbox and Gamecube sold <25 million apiece.   Nintendo and Microsoft were less than 1/4th of the console market combined.  People tend to forget that.

So I don't blame any publisher for focusing just on the PS2 considering the gulf there.  It's like complaining that Japanese developers didn't support the N64 enough.  It can't merely be chalked up to bias.  They threw their eggs in the basket that made the most sense.

 

You also saw several developers and publishers skip over either the Gamecube or Xbox in their efforts to be multiplatform.  It was Nintendo who typically got the short end of the stick.

[crispy4000]

7 hours ago, Duderino said:

As someone who owned an N64 and not a PlayStation back in the day I can relate.  Loved many of Square's SNES games but was disappointed to see none of their output come to the console I owned at the time.  Not exactly the same as Sony buying Square, but for the generation they were basically exclusive to Sony.

 

I don’t share that same enthusiasm for the Zenmax games but I get it.  Microsoft didn't foster these studios.  They purchased them.  Nothing is inheritely wrong with that, but neither are people feeling disappointed.  The question of what is "fair" though should be eliminated from any discourse on the subject.

 

Absolutely.  You could also think back to when Microsoft bought out Rare from Nintendo.

[JPDunks4]

I was always a Nintendo guy, never owned a PS1 or PS2 until they were like $99 Slim models at their end of life.  Never owned the OG Xbox.

 

My favorite games on SNES were all Squaresoft's games.  Chrono Trigger, Secret of Mana, FFIII.  So when they abandoned Nintendo and all those games were on PlayStation, it definitely was a let down.  I turned into a Multiplayer gamer though with Goldeneye, Mario Kart 64, Star Fox 64, WCW vs NWO, ect.  The 4 player support on N64 made me quickly forget about the RPG's I was missing.  I did eventually play them years later when I got the Slim models.  I liked FF7, but my interested died out during FF8 and the scaling enemies.  Never played anymore FF after that.  I played Chrono Cross but it never impressed me at all compared to Chrono Trigger, and felt very generic and forgettable.

[SaysWho?]

7 minutes ago, crispy4000 said:

 

Absolutely.  You could also think back to when Microsoft bought out Rare from Nintendo.

 

And that was also met with, "They suck anyway and aren't as good as before." In Rare's case, they were right for quite a while! Oh, the look on my face playing Perfect Dark Zero.

 

For Bethesda, we'll see. Fallout 76 seemed kind of meh and Fallout 4 didn't set the world on fire, but Starfield and the next Elder Scrolls could be something special, especially since I looovvveee futuristic shit. Their quality will really determine if I get an XBSX. Well, that and Avowed.

[crispy4000]

7 minutes ago, JPDunks4 said:

I liked FF7, but my interested died out during FF8 and the scaling enemies.  Never played anymore FF after that.

 

Thankfully the series never returned to that.

  

7 minutes ago, JPDunks4 said:

I played Chrono Cross but it never impressed me at all compared to Chrono Trigger, and felt very generic and forgettable.

 

That's the thing about Chrono Trigger.  Few games compare to it well.

Chrono Cross was a very unique game all said and done.  Far from generic, just not as unique as Trigger's hook was at the time.

 

[SaysWho?]

1 minute ago, crispy4000 said:

 

Thankfully the series never returned to that.

  

 

That's the thing about Chrono Trigger.  Few games compare to it well.

Chrono Cross was a very unique game all said and done.  Far from generic.

 

 

Cross has the Arni theme, doe

 

 

 

[crispy4000]

3 minutes ago, SaysWho? said:

 

Cross has the Arni theme, doe

 

 

 

Intro sequence.
 

 

The feels.

[crispy4000]

 

[JPDunks4]

2 hours ago, crispy4000 said:

 

Thankfully the series never returned to that.

  

 

That's the thing about Chrono Trigger.  Few games compare to it well.

Chrono Cross was a very unique game all said and done.  Far from generic, just not as unique as Trigger's hook was at the time.

 

 

 

Yeah, I literally don't remember anything about Chrono Cross.  It might be due to the fact I played it when I wasn't quite as into gaming, and I played Chrono Trigger when I was younger and way more invested.  I also played through Chrono Trigger like 50 times to get all the endings and different branching story lines.  Loved that damn game.  

[crispy4000]

Just now, JPDunks4 said:

 

Yeah, I literally don't remember anything about Chrono Cross.  It might be due to the fact I played it when I wasn't quite as into gaming, and I played Chrono Trigger when I was younger and way more invested.  I also played through Chrono Trigger like 50 times to get all the endings and different branching story lines.  Loved that damn game.  

 

You really should give Dragon Quest XI a fair shot when it comes to Games Pass then. (Dec 4)

 

It may not give you Chrono Trigger vibes, but if you've mostly ignored JRPGs since the early PS1 era, it could respark something for you.

[JPDunks4]

1 minute ago, crispy4000 said:

 

You really should give Dragon Quest XI a fair shot when it comes to Games Pass then. (Dec 4)

 

It may not give you Chrono Trigger vibes, but if you've mostly ignored JRPGs since the early PS1 era, it could respark something for you.

 

Yeah, I plan to, I pre-ordered it already to show support other than Game Pass.

 

I played through Lost Odyssey on 360.  I enjoyed it for the most part.  I also bought Blue Dragon but never got around to playing it, still in the back log.

 

I plan to play through FF7 Remake sometime soon.  I also have Secret of Mana 2 or whatever from the pack that was on the Switch to try and play through soon as well.

 

I think I fell out of love with the Final Fantasy series with all the damn confusing numbering.  I didn't know what was what, and never owned Sony consoles really so just moved on without worrying about them.  FF9 and FFX i think were pretty well received at the time, but I never had much desire to try them.

[Keyser_Soze]

2 minutes ago, JPDunks4 said:

  FF9 and FFX i think were pretty well received at the time, but I never had much desire to try them.

 

9 is the best one out of the Playstation 1 days.

[Commissar SFLUFAN]

2 hours ago, crispy4000 said:

 

 

I watched that earlier today and came to the conclusion that Kyle was DEFINITELY the "brains" of that operation.

 

The "Microsoft should buy BioWare" comment earned a guffaw from me.