Why I Fear The Fall of Xbox One

[Arnoxthe1]

So it looks like the current way Microsoft's going, the PS4 will seize a whole lotta of business from the Xbox. Now, normally I wouldn't have any problems jumping ship from the Xbox to the PS. But there's a problem. Whatever could that be, you ask? Well, I'll tell you.

Microsoft has the rights to a lot of good IP's. For example, everything Rare has ever made, they have the rights to. Gears of War, Mass Effect, and, most importantly to Xbox fans such as I, Halo. If the Xbox One fails, it will drag all those awesome franchises down with it. We may not see them for a very long time, if ever.

No doubt there are some of you who will say, "I don't care about those games." And you know what? I wish I didn't either. That's the problem. While I don't want Microsoft to get away with their horrible console decisions, I also don't want some of these IP's to die. That's what I fear. Does anyone else feel the same?

 

[The Selkie]

I think Mass Effect came out for the PS3 too? It'd be a shame to lose Halo if I end up switching, but for me Gears was over with gow3.

 

[BeeGeenie]

As much as I don't care about those particular IPs, you have to realize that if someone thinks they're worth having, they'll buy the rights from Microsoft. And they'll probably be able to get them for a song once the XBone puts Microsoft's market price in the toilet.

If Xbox dies, then they might have to sell the rights to someone competent. Everybody wins.

The worst that can possibly happen is they'll sell the rights to EA, and then we're no worse off than we are now.

 

[Arnoxthe1]

If worse comes to worse, Microsoft can sell their IPs and cut their loses.

No they won't. For example, they've had the rights to Freelancer for a long freaking time and they've just sat on it, not doing a single thing with it ever since the game first came out even though thousands of people (http://www.petitiononline.com/FLPet/petition.html) want a sequel. If they won't do anything with that IP then they won't do anything with any IP that doesn't sell adequately enough.

 

[badgersprite]

If those IPs are on a sinking ship, they'll jump ship.

Exclusive brands and properties don't last forever anyway. They aren't going to tie themselves to a single console if it isn't in their best economic interests. That's why we have Final Fantasy games on Xbox consoles and Bungie games headed for the Playstation. When Sega tanked, it partnered with other companies so now we have Sonic games and the likes being made again.

Properties like this aren't going to die with any one particular console or console maker.

 

[IllumInaTIma]

Unless Microsoft is run by little kids who cry "I'M GOING HOME AND I TAKE MY BALL WITH ME!", they won't just sink or abandon their IPs. If shit will really hit the fan they are more likely to sell their rights rather than just burn them. It's not a schoolyard for god's sake.

 

[OpticalJunction]

The xbone isn't going to do that badly. The microsoft brand and xbox brand still have a lot of pulling power, and the casual masses will eat it up.

 

[Zeh Don]

Microsoft aren't to fall, they're not going to go bankrupt. The Xbone is bad, but it's not going to sell 1,000 consoles and die. It's simply going to fail in comparison to the Playstation 4. The bad press surrounding the Xbone is pretty intense, but they didn't murder a baby on stage.

 

[Arnoxthe1]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Studios#Owned_franchises_and_properties

^ That is everything that Microsoft owns, IP wise. As to selling the IP's see above example with Freelancer. If Microsoft keeps up this ****** behavior, you can say goodbye to all of those. And I didn't say Microsoft was going to fail. Of course not. I said their console and, by extension, Microsoft Game Studios might if it keeps going the way it is.

 

[J Tyran]

The only other exclusives of note Micorosft have are the Fable series (another franchise in need of a rest).

Fable isn't exclusive as a franchise, Fable 2 was when Microsoft Game Studios did the "fuck PCs!" thing shortly after Halo 2 and Gears of War hit the PC. Fable and Fable 3 where released on PC though.

 

[Mr.Mattress]

Microsoft won't pull out of the market because of one poor selling console, but if they did, I'm sure 95-99% of their franchises will find a nice new home. The Rare games (and maybe the company themselves) will be taken back by Nintendo, Halo will be given back to Bungie, Gears will go to Epic, Fable will go to Molyneux. Or they keep them all and make PC exclusives and compete with Valve and Steam.

But yeah, I'm more worried for Sony franchises then I am for Microsoft ones. The PS4 needs to do well, or Sony might quit. It'll definitely do better then XBone, but how will we define "Better" when the time comes?

 

[Arnoxthe1]

Mass Effect is EA, and multiplatform. If Xbone fails, that won't kill the Mass Effect series (though EA's dodgy financials might). Similarly, Gears is Epic. They've allied themselves pretty strongly with Microsoft, but there's no reason they couldn't take the franchise elsewhere if the console flops.

Halo? At this point, I'm kind of worn out on Halo. Halo 4 was a massive let-down, and I kind of think the series needs to be put on hold. As for Rare... you do know that Rare now is not the same as Rare of 15 years ago, right? We've already seen what happens when new-Rare try and make a follow up to one of their classic games. We get Perfect Dark Zero and Banjo Kazooie: Nuts And Bolts. Viva Pinata was pretty fun, but apart from that I don't think Rare is holding onto anything that is especially crying out for a sequel.

The only other exclusives of note Micorosft have are the Fable series (another franchise in need of a rest) and Forza. Apart from that, they've been relying on third-party games you can get on other consoles. Microsoft fucked up the last couple of years by not focusing more on non-Kinect first party exclusives, and it means they've got less IP to hold onto if sales don't take off for the Xbone. Compared to the other two, their library just doesn't compare.

That's true for Mass Effect and Gears of War. Shouldn't have included those in the OP.

When it comes to Halo, you have to give 343 some leeway. Pretty sure they're going through growing pains as a studio but now I think they have what it takes to make an amazing sequel to Halo 4. We should let them work on Halo 5 and see what happens before we condemn them to the chopping block.

Yes, I know Rare isn't the same studio it was and no one of the original studio has stuck with them. (most of them went on to Free Fadical which ahs long been shut down as well) However, for the new Rare, certain things have to be said in their defense as well. Perfect Dark Zero was a victim of too little time and the fact that they never had the complete Xbox dev kit at the time which led to some horrible design. Banjo Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts was absolutely brilliant and garbage at the same time. The core of the game, the vehicle building itself, was absolutely awesome. Multiplayer was really fun to screw around in too with a friend or 6. The rest of though... Yeah, it was bad.

You see, Fable has been made a perfect example of why one should never rush development. Seriously, look up how long it took to make Fable 3 (about a year or so) as compared to the other Fable's. If you look at the dev history, the dev times given got progressively shorter and shorter until they were forced to make a mediocre game with Fable 3. What Fable needs is a longer dev time (obviously) with the next game being a prequel to the original, chronologically speaking.

 

[Dirty Hipsters]

Mass Effect isn't an Xbox exclusive.

Gears of War finished it's story, so it's ok if it dies.

Halo finished its story, and started a new, less interesting story. It's a great IP, but it's really time to put it to bed, while it hasn't completely overstayed its welcome. By the time this next generation is finished, and we are looking past the Xbox One to the future, we'll probably be sick of Halo.

As for Rare, I don't even remember the last game Rare made. Wasn't it some shitty Kinect game? Microsoft isn't properly utilizing them, so it won't be a big loss if they go to someone else.

Seriously, at the beginning of this generation Microsoft had a bunch of AWESOME exclusives. Bioshock, Mass Effect, Halo, Gears of War, Crackdown, etc. Now what happened to them? Either they've already finished their stories and are now just coming out with prequels to try and stay relevant keep themselves from having to think up new games, or they've fucked off and stopped being exclusives. At this point there wouldn't be a huge loss in terms of IPs if there isn't a microsoft console after the Xbone.

 

[badgersprite]

Microsoft aren't to fall, they're not going to go bankrupt. The Xbone is bad, but it's not going to sell 1,000 consoles and die. It's simply going to fail in comparison to the Playstation 4. The bad press surrounding the Xbone is pretty intense, but they didn't murder a baby on stage.

Also, just from a practical standpoint, Microsoft isn't exclusively a game company. They might not really be doing their best in the last couple of years against Apple and the like but they can still afford to do somewhat badly in a console cycle without it being the end of that strategy or of that part of their company entirely. They have more strings to their bow than this.

 

[Emeight]

Mass Effect made it to the ps3 eventually. Halo was never my cup of tea, sorry. And as for Gears of War, i could'nt care less after that monstrosity "judgement", plus the fact that Cliffy B. left.

 

[Requia]

Microsoft made games before the Xbox too, they'll keep making them after.

 

[Dirty Hipsters]

Microsoft made games before the Xbox too, they'll keep making them after.

This is a good point actually. It might be nice of Microsoft fucked off with their dodgy hardware altogether and just remained as a publisher.

 

[MrWunderful]

the console is still 6 months away folks.

it "might"fail in comparrison to the ps4, but casual folks will still buy plenty of units.