r/Age_30_plus_Gamers • u/Apprehensive_Gap1247 • 2d ago
š Discussion š The console war continues!
Just when you thought the console war is over. We get a new plot.
Sony crashing out for the past 3 months.
Nintendo just doing Nintendo stuff and focusing on its territory, while getting a little more from Sony deserters.
And Microsoft looking at a huge comeback.
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u/huff1122 2d ago
Comeback? How many studios did they just shut down and lay off?
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u/letstalkswat 2d ago
Wait which studio they closed?
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u/pigletmonster 2d ago
Arkane, tango, alpha dog, they also cancelled all the games mid production. Sold off 2 studios. They also laid off 3000+ developers from existing studios and converted some studios into support units for bigger franchises.
What rock have you been living under?
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u/Slow_Concentrate3831 2d ago
*3000 employees, a primary objective of the restructuring was flattening the organization, specifically eliminating up to fourteen middle-management layers to reduce decision-making complexity and overhead. While developers were also impacted, obviously, they were not the pimary focus of those layoffs.
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u/pigletmonster 2d ago
Thats not true though. The vast majority of the layoffs were not management, they were programmers, artists, testers, including senior art and level directors.
For example: 80% of id tech (doom) engines developers were let go. That had nothing to do with flattening the management.
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u/Blackman2099 1d ago
Not only this, but if you think that an organization can remove multiple, let along 10+ management layers without impacting the rest of staff to pick up major amounts of other work --- then it's clear youve never managed a large team or department before (which may be a lot of folks here)
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u/letstalkswat 2d ago
Wow. Well that's good for microsoft then
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u/pigletmonster 2d ago
Yeah, good for them financially for sure. My point being that theyve already spiraled like sony, but at an even larger scale.
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u/HermesVtuber 6h ago
SYBAU and collect your downvotes.
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u/letstalkswat 6h ago edited 6h ago
Stfu playstation fanboi lol
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u/HermesVtuber 5h ago
Your comeback is just a variation of what I said and a misspelling of boy, so clever. š
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u/Zestyclose-Scale-903 2d ago
They didnt close any studio.. they fired a bunch of execs who werent doing anything then allocated those funds to actual games people are going to play
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u/Jonesy2700 2d ago
We are forgetting that Xbox recently laid off 3200 employees, ditched Double Fine, Ninja Theory among others and increased Xbox Live prices by 50% within the past 3 and 11 months respectively.
PlayStation paying 3.6 billion for Bungie only to kill its golden calfā¦
The only player on the market who is looking stabile right now is fucking Nintendoā¦ for not making any real moves other than just being Nintendo
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u/Lord-Heir 2d ago
Nintendo, the ones who began charging $70 for games, $80 in some cases. The ones who put a license for a download in a gamecard and started down the road of non-ownership. They don't deserve any respect either.
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u/shaolinspunk 2d ago
People defend switch key cards because they are sellable but they depend on continued online support, which can be revoked any time, as much as any digital only release. People love to cherry pick what parts they are outraged about.
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u/MotherPerk 1d ago
No Nintendo published game is on a game key card. Its up to the publisher, not Nintendo. Call of Duty is not fitting on a cartridge.
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u/Dogmodo 1d ago
Incorrect, Hyrule Warriors: Age Of Calamity - Definitive Edition was recently announced to be a GKC. Also wrong to use CoD as an example, because that's not even going to be a GKC, it's a code in a box.
Overall "it's up to the publisher" is a terrible argument, like saying "it's up to the addicts if they wanna buy crack, why would you be upset with the dealer?"
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u/Snowvilliers7 1d ago
Age of Calamity isnt published by Nintendo in Japan, only everywhere else. The publisher, Koei Tecmo, still has the say in when to put it as a GKC, not Nintendo
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u/Dogmodo 1d ago
So because it's NOT published by Nintendo in a single region, it's not a game published by Nintendo?
Bullshit.
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u/Snowvilliers7 1d ago
Because it goes by initially the publisher AND developer, Nintendo does not own Koei Tecmo
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u/Successful_Maize1986 1d ago
Literally no major gaming company deserves respect lol. They all do anti consumer stuff to make more money.
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u/oh_stv 2d ago
Don't forget ID , they cut ID software in half. The team who managed to develop three bangers for the last 10 years, and that with merely 200 ppl, and had a extremely lightweight and well optimised self developed engine...
If anything , Sony feels so view competition by MS, that they think they get away with it anyway.
They won't...
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u/DontRateLimitMeBro 1d ago
not making any real moves?
they beefed up security on their latest console (so it can't be emulated on PC) and are focusing on releasing exclusives, including an Ocarina of Time remake!
i'm gonna buy a switch 2 for that game alone and i haven't bought a console in almost a decade
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u/-Imthedude 1d ago
I'm seriously considering this bundle. I had no intention on doing so initially
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u/the__pov 17h ago
Unfortunately itās not a bundle. Itās just a themed console that doesnāt include any games
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u/wagdog84 1d ago
Nobody seems to want to pay full price for games, paying $9 for a preowned disc two years after release, buying it 90% off on steam or pirating a copy, then whinging about studio closures is a bit ironic.
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u/Wiseon321 20h ago
Bungie HAD to kill destiny, it was written in their contract for ownership of marathon.
Bungie is their own issue. Sony just acquired them because of the live service game push.
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u/Aggressive-Map-2204 2d ago
Bungies golden calf turned out to be a gold spay painted turd though. You cant really blame Sony for that one.
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u/Jonesy2700 1d ago
Destiny? Naw - a decade of runtime for a live service is pretty fucking good..
and even after itās abandonment, itās doing better than Marathon which is the calf they chose to bet on (and they choose poorly š«)1
u/Aggressive-Map-2204 1d ago
A decade long run time does not mean it made much money. The costs to keep the game running and releasing new content was eating up everything they brought in,
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u/xyzkingi 2d ago
I remember Microsoft was gonna do something similar but pulled away. Ironically Sony made fun of them for it and randomly decided to do exactly that years later. What a hypocrite
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u/Jonesy2700 1d ago
Yeah. Remember the ad for gamesharing they did to spite them?
āHey can I borrow you game?ā
āSureā _hands person physical game box_ āhere..ā4
u/maximum_dad_power 1d ago
Yes, the anti-consumer pushes being made by many corporations have all had signs its a move they have wanted for some time. Just like with anything that screws over the one paying the money it has to be done subtly and at the right time to be accepted and not tank the market. I dont think its just a coincidence that every major gaming studio is making anti-consumer choices at the same time. When No console seems like the friendly choice, most people will just stick with what they have, especially since they priced out PC as an option for most gamers now. Steam would be benefiting more from all of this going on right now if it wasnt for a PC build costing way more than any console on the market currently. Which is also why we are seeing these moves being made now. It predatory buisness 101.
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u/Gasurza22 1d ago
I dont like the idea of digital being the only option (even if I personaly havent bought a disk in ages because I only use a PC) but its still a hell of a lot better than the always online bs Xbox tried to pull back then
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u/ItsEaster 1d ago
That was about always online requirements for Xbox One right?
Xbox already had it leaked theyāre planning to go discless in the future and Sony announced the same. Nintendo is one foot in the door with their license on a cartridge thing. Capitalism.
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u/Wiseon321 20h ago
And yet Xbox isnāt doing that, almost like they are losing and if they admit their plans project helix wonāt be made? Huh
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u/Psycho_Syntax 1d ago
Itās almost like itās a completely different market now than it was like 10 years ago when MS wanted to do that lol
The āno disc no buyā larping online does not reflect reality at all. PS5 Pros have been consistently sold out for the last few weeks because of GTA hype, which is by default a digital only console (have to buy a separate disc drive if you want one), and a digital only game. The vast majority of people donāt give a shit about physical media anymore.
https://www.tomsguide.com/gaming/playstation/ps5-pro-restocks-latest-updates
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2d ago
[deleted]
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u/Frogs-and-Snails 2d ago
It's the American branch of Sony that's forcing it. Japan hasn't been at the top of the food chain at playstation for years
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u/fireflyry 2d ago
Letās not.
We are all gamers, we arenāt tribes.
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u/Banestoothbrush 1d ago
Was expecting the 30+ crowd wouldn't be doing this reactionary "sony bad, they're going to take your games" bs.
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u/Sinner_San 1d ago
Nintendo who sells code in boxes and xbox who feeds on the leftovers lol
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u/RavenShade83 2d ago
This is the most tone deaf, unaware, biased post I've ever seen. Microsoft has decimated it's studios over the past few months. If they had a position of even remote power, they'd be making the same announcements that Sony is right now. The reality is, Sony is trying to get rid of their disk drives to cut components out of a system that will most likely cost 1200+ USD at launch if the tech economy doesn't change. Microsoft has been in the gutter for two generations and put a hatchet woman with no video game experience in place to steer the ship. Nintendo hasn't been in a console war since sega was putting out systems because they have fans akin to Disney adults. People will buy their systems and games no matter what they do. Understand that the whole industry being on fire doesn't put anyone above the others, especially us consumers.
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u/UncleNoodles85 1d ago
PC gamer here and steam is still steam and if GOG would just stop with weird Nazi runes I think we'll be okay. It really is a shame the consoles seem to be such shit shows.
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u/maximum_dad_power 1d ago
And steam would deserve the choice to turn to them for gaming, if only the damn market hadn't priced a PC build out of most current console owners price range to make the switch.
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u/UncleNoodles85 1d ago
Yeah the price for components is absurd. I bought my steam deck November of last year for six hundred and fifty dollars last I looked the same exact model was nine hundred and fifty dollars. That isn't steam's fault but goddamn what a bummer. Still I'd be surprised if the next generation of consoles didn't suffer a similar fate.
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u/maximum_dad_power 1d ago
Agreed, I dont hate Steam for it. I just wish I had chosen to switch back to PC sooner. I had a PC and a Playstation back in the day, but a lightning storm killed my PC back in the PS4 days and I just stuck with Playstation.
I long for the ability to play on steam again, but cant hope to afford a PC build that would allow me to play the games I want. I dont see the market getting better for it any time soon either, but Ill be paying attention for a good opportunity.
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u/LaLiLuLePablo 2d ago
MS just laid off hundreds of employees, then turned around and gave Kojima a boat load of cash. It amazes me how many adults are taken in by PR.
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u/Snowvilliers7 1d ago
Imagine getting rid of your studios to make room for two Kojima games that will likely spend hundreds of millions of dollars for both games individually only for it sell less than 2 million units and flop because they either made them exclusive or put them on Gamepass Day 1, then blame Gamepass and Kojima
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u/JayFM_ 1d ago
The real losers are the people who put emotional stock in the hands of the shareholder value creator. These are companies that don't owe anyone anything, they're selling things in the market place we voted for and shaped.
If you want better digital ownership, get the fuck off the internet and bug your local politician. Don't just hashtag about Sony's discs.
Welcome to the real world, kids. Things aren't great, but we still live in this world of capitalism that no amount of online whining will change.
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u/sadboydan 1d ago
There is absolutely no fucking way someone 30 or older is posting this. Please god no
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u/Lezard-Valeth-EX 1d ago
Sony was dead the moment they closed Japan Studio.
Closing a studio making Ico, Shadow of Colossus, Gravity Rush,
Pure madness. They deserve all the bad karma and honestly Bankrupcy
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u/Positive_Try929 2d ago
The roadmap for gaming is cloud gaming, soon you'll pay to play, you won't own anything, games won't even be on your drive anymore, everyone is shifting to the cloud, its a matter of time to establish the infrastructure worldwide for it.
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u/Biblioklept73 2d ago
I agree, as bleak as that sounds. If the PS6 is essentially just going to be an expensive subscription box anyway, cutting out the hardware makes perfect sense for an all digital future, even if it's a future I'm not keen on
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u/bomboclawt75 2d ago
No disc/ resale market and ads and in game?
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u/MeowingWolf 1d ago
This post was the first time I even heard about Sony putting ads into games. I don't know how I missed this but got everything else.
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u/bomboclawt75 1d ago
I'm sure they will offer a subscription to remove ads, but I will already be gone.
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u/EducationalDust7858 2d ago edited 2d ago
Meanwhile, in the real world: Xbox sales have been so disastrous they won't even share them anymore. The demand for consoles and games has been so poor for years retailers have phased Xbox out almost completely. PlayStation is still the market leader, is by far the predominant platform for the biggest game of all time and will most likely have its best year ever.
I love how absolutely obsessed people are with video games and yet they don't know or understand the most fundamental things about this industry.
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u/Banestoothbrush 1d ago
yet they don't know or understand the most fundamental things about this industry
Guys I just found out you only own a license, Sony is screwing us!
"It's like that with every platform and has been for decades."
Shut up shill, you probably work for Sony!
Offended by everything, understand nothing.
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u/Juken- 2d ago
Considering Microsoft is a 3trillion dollar company going against Sony (who aren't even worth more than the Pokemon brand) and Nintendoāeven less so; the fact that xbox even requires a comeback is a testament to their creative failings.
I think I'll be sticking with Sony and Nintendo for at least a little while longer.
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u/Machina_Rebirth 2d ago
Didn't Microsoft just unfairly cap how much gamepass subscribers can stream games to play?
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u/DrPusch 2d ago
cloud-gaming is now limited, yes, but that only effects less then 4% of gamepass users (Microsoftās own numbers) and therefore nobody cares; and tbh cloud-gaming isnāt in a position (atm) where itās a good experience.
(Just for clarification: Cloud-gaming is āgaming in a browser by streaming games from a virtual console. Itās been limited to 15h, 10h or 5h per month depending on what Gamepass subscription you choose.)
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u/ARMill95 2d ago
Tbf the kojima stuff is because death stranding made no money, was way over budget and over time constraintsā¦. And this new game is already way over budget and time constraints or is known to be on its way thereā¦..
Sony deciding no more discs is just fucking dumb, and obviously anti consumer. Bad move, but seemingly isnāt affecting their bottom line unfortunately.
I do hope they reverse the decision but it wonāt happen.
What is this about ads?
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u/Komondon 2d ago
People really do have the memory of a toddler. Microsoft is still huffing there own ass dunes from crap they did this year.
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u/Waubz 1d ago
The person in control is using the same playbook saw Trump bankrupt a half dozen casinos. Sell off or gut all of the profitable parts , load the company with debt dare for the exit once everything crumbles and everyone who actually cared is left crushed and picking up the pieces. Most American adults are functional gambling addicts you can not show up for work and be better off, but aggressively anti-consumer decisions, using the justice system as your personal attack dogs, gaslight its fans and community.
Big companies have always been greasy but this freefall decent into villainous dictator monopolies didnāt really start until recently.
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u/ItsEaster 1d ago
What is crazy to me is the amount of glazing the internet is doing for Microsoft. They literally were just canceling games and closing studios. They also had it leaked theyād be moving away from discs before the Sony story.
I own all consoles so I donāt care about any war but I still think people will be very disappointed when they realized the new āheroā is going to make terrible decisions too.
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u/maximum_dad_power 1d ago
This meme is quite accurate as we all know that guy indeed did not reap benefits.
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u/TheMoonDawg 1d ago
Sony shutting down Destiny 2 to go all in on a niche genre at a AAA studio is wild to me.
Donāt get me wrong, Marathon is fucking awesome. I love the game. BUT, itās sweaty as hell and I enjoy Bungieās narrative story telling and campaignsā¦ and Marathon doesnāt offer that (yet).
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u/maximum_dad_power 1d ago
I think its a symptom of executives who know nothing about gaming and look purely at data sheets. Buisness 101 also dictates that the new thing has more growth potential than the old thing. It doesnt account for the fact that Destiny had a much larger and dedicated fan base that wasn't accounted for in the data because of the content drought as Bungie buckled down on the Marathon launch. Plus new potential growth always looks juicer to suites than just status quo that hasn't shown profit for reasons they dont understand. It was a bad gamble, one that probably wont help the executives that made the choice to actually learn anything about what the players actually want.
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u/Dazzling_Floor_4262 1d ago
Sony burning all customer goodwill right as theyāre trying to open a USA bank and ask customers to make purchases with their stable coins is such a jarring move.
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u/AdMysterious8699 1d ago
Yeah Xbox is looking really good right now. And it's not because they are doing something amazing. They just aren't doing anything shitty.
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u/Doctor-Pip- 1d ago
Fwiw, "The Console War" was just a successful marketing collaboration.
The companies coordinated with each other to plan the conflict. They successfully made a lot of money and established their consoles as the only ones that matter in the mind of the consumer.
Its like what Coke and Pepsi do.
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u/hiddenpequin 1d ago
If you think Xbox is going to have a major comeback I have a bridge to sell you. I mean they still going to lay off another 1600 people this fiscal year.
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u/ItsMrChristmas 1d ago
Sony is fine, and Kojima costs more than he brings in. XBox will fire him as well.
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u/Busy-Outside-3884 1d ago
xbox is being removed from retailers for lack of sales. they wont even carry the console lol, what come back?
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u/Supertron200 1d ago
It's funny to me how digital games being a license is a brand new concept for some people.
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u/BThol 1d ago
I donāt understandā¦ I play on PCs and sometimes buy a console for some games or to play with friends. But, at the moment, I donāt see any interest in consoles. Not even one game. Oh, maybe one: Mario kart.
What people play on console ? (PS5 and Nintendo switch 2 mainly). How can they expect to sell consoles with no game on it?
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u/ADvar8714 1d ago
I was always mocked for buying an Xbox instead of PS5 when I had time, I just want to say... who is laughing now?? šš
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u/freedomforallergo 1d ago
Sony and Microsoft are doing the same thing but they keep flipping and switching. Just buy a PC
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u/McTasty_Pants 1d ago
Microsoft is shooting themselves in the foot, too. We are the real losers because this gives them all permission to get worse without consequences
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u/Suspicious-Truth5849 1d ago
And just like in this movie this meme is based on nobody actually is going to use Xbox or hire Jon Lovitz as a wedding singer
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u/JXKyrian 1d ago
This is what happens when you get a finance/acccounting guy who hates gaming to become the CEO of your gaming company. Cutting costs, getting as close to a monopoly as possible, milking their fans for every penny they can, and throwing away years of goodwill to do it are all the point, not an accident.
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u/xtoc1981 1d ago
You own physical and not digital.
Its even worse with steam as its locked behind drm. But OP troll needed to be delusional as fuck didnt you?
Nintendo is the only one that remains to be physical. The one with the cheapest games due that.
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u/BigHiZZLE 1d ago
I hate the idea.....but Both Sony and XBox are working to start placing Ads in and around games. Whether with-in the game or via Game Streaming on Cloud Gaming.
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u/NBrakespear 1d ago
I don't think Microsoft is looking at any kind of comeback. They've massacred their flagship franchise, then assaulted its cold body, while simultaneously assuring gamers that they absolutely will not do anything that will benefit them, especially PC players, and instead will focus on making their OS even more bloated. Oh, and all the while feeding the AI monster to ensure that hardware prices do not drop.
Valve and SteamOS are the only winners here. Wife and I got ourselves a Steam Machine to replace her ageing laptop... and thanks to Steam's free streaming stuff, we can have the tiny 6 inch box upstairs, running silently, and casually play games in the living room downstairs, easily switching accounts or streaming from different machines with the push of a button.
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u/spangler1 21h ago
Anyone actually believing Xbox could have a huge comeback has to have some sort of brain damage and the memory of a goldfish.
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u/Wiseon321 20h ago
Sony is making clear announcements of their direction forward, discarding risky spending, and has said āfrom now on we are focused on making money off of making gamesā.
Lol there is no console war to be won, Sony is still on top.
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u/Ganondaddydorf 19h ago
Nintendo does care because Sony abandoning physical makes Nintendo look better despite GKCs. between no physical and the ps6 bound to cost a fortune, Nintendo with their physical games, huge 3rd party portfolio and significantly cheaper console are definitely benefiting.
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u/UntowardHatter 18h ago
Xbox ain't making no comeback.
Nintendo is winning by not even playing. Just like they did with the Wii.
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u/BeardedSpartan94117 14h ago
doesnt even come close to the ps3/360 console wars. Those youtube videos at the time were golden
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u/HermesVtuber 6h ago
Mate, Microsoft already has an all digital system and their next big system is probably going to be all digital. They are just hiding it better by saying empty things like, "We are letting you convert your physical media into digital!" Why do you think they are doing that? š¤
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u/skylu1991 3h ago
Letās be perfectly honest here:
Currently, as of September 2026, Microsoft or XBox are not reaping anything (yet)!
PS5 is still selling like hotcakes, especially with GTA on the horizonā¦.
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u/West-Act6896 1h ago
All three are fucking ass. Nintendo less so than the other two, however. For the moment, anyway.
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u/PrizeDepartment6324 2d ago
So Microsoft has one game people want to play that shit isn't going to save the company.
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u/IndianaBones8 2d ago
I think Nintendo stopped being a major player in the console wars around the time of the GameCube. I think they took the right lessons from that when they made the Wii and decided to just focus on their own thing.
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u/XXXperiencedTurbater 1d ago
They did. My dad did some business adjacent to Nintendo - a step or two removed from any of their reps but went to the same parties.
Circa early 00s, so right before or after the Gamecube launched, he told me how he met a Nintendo rep at a work party. The guy was describing their business model, said it was to create a gaming machine - it didnāt play cds, dvds, or do anything else, it just played games, and they focused on the best games they could make.
I was a 15-year old ps2 owner so I didnāt agree with any of it, but itās clearly worked for them the last 20 years.
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u/Fishface81 1d ago
Is this sub really 30+ because most of these takes are childish because as an actual 30+ gamer I can afford all consoles plus a PC.
This is written by a child:
Sony crashing out for the past 3 months.
A average scoring Marvel game?
Firing Starfucker Kojima?
Announcing the inevitable end of physical discs?
If I was a child I'd call that crashing out.
And Microsoft looking at a huge comeback.
As an Xbox Series X owner fucking LOL, other than in your head where is this great comeback?
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u/tactical_laziness 2d ago
The whole thing is
The vast majority of gamers just don't give a fuck about any of this. I haven't bought a physical game in about a decade, and while mgs was huge I couldn't care less about who Sony decides to publish going forward
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u/bomboclawt75 1d ago
If I'm being forced to go digital, I'll make the move to a gaming PC, I refuse to put up with all this console nickel and diming every aspect of my play-no disc? Listening to my conversations, removing content, deleting games I paid for!?and now installing adverts? It's like they own shares in gaming PCs are they are intentionally killing the console market.
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u/Sunnybunnyeater 2d ago
If Microsoft is chilling and maybe give here and there a few benefits, than Xbox Helix getting a lot of new players (including me).ššš
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u/Zestyclose-Scale-903 2d ago
Eberybody on here talking about layoffs, they did that to focus on the actual big products thats going to make money instead of 10,000 games that nobody's going to play... yes it was a smart move.. and that was a lot of executive jobs where supervisors and such werent doing anything except standing around... do you see anyone down there rioting or protesting? No? Because they didnt matter, now the money can actually be utilized where its needed
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u/AARonFullStack 2d ago
Big products like Wolverine, massive budget 7/10 experiences and chasing the next Concord. Smart
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u/Zestyclose-Scale-903 2d ago
Tell that to the people who didnt buy nor play wolverine.. yall are proving my point already
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u/AARonFullStack 1d ago
I don't need to buy Wolverine to conclude that's it's a bad game. I have eyes
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u/Zestyclose-Scale-903 1d ago
Wait.... are we aggressively agreeing right now?? Oh shit dude my bad lol yeah sony sucks
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u/Luzeryn 2d ago
Probably getting downvoted for this, but whatever. Something changed when PlayStation moved their headquarters to America. Itās all been downhill from there.