Topic: MS @ Gamescom 2015

Lets be honest, the Xbox is lagging behind in terms of sales in Europe - personally I don't know the figures but I believe its significant. Considering how good MS's E3 was, I guess I was expecting at least similar if not more to try and close that gap - especially as Sony themselves are not in attendance (although with all their 3rd Party deals, they certainly have a presence).

MS kicked off with its big 3 - the games we knew about but were not at E3. However if you compared these to some of the reveals at E3 like Gears 4, ReCore, Sea of Thieves, Fable Legends etc, I really think Gamescom for MS wasn't as exciting or enticing. Halo, Forza and Rise of the Tomb Raider had a showing at both. I guess the biggest 'new' announcement was for Halo Wars 2 but that does seem more 'niche'. Whilst it was good to see some 3rd Party software, I can't say that Homefront looked good. Its campaign and MP didn't look particular gen 8 and the game play itself seemed very generic too - so I do wonder if it will compete with the 'big names' in FPS gaming. I really can't say that Halo interests me anymore. The campaign doesn't look that appealing to me and seems quite a long way from the original concept/vibe. The teaser and r/l trailers indicated a more darker feeling too but the gameplay seemed more 'cartoonish'. I am not a fan of the MP and as far as I am concerned, Halo was always about the campaign/story first and foremost. The original Halo as well as 2 (on console at least) felt like a campaign with a 'bonus/added' MP for those select few that invested in 'Gold' - Gold certainly wasn't as popular then so they had to focus more on the campaign. 343 however seem to have shifted the focus to MP and the way it was presented at Gamescom, I couldn't help but think they were trying to be 'CoD' now that franchise has switched platform.

Forza 6 does look good but like all sim racing games, I find they get a bit repetitive after a while. Go round a track for several laps and then move onto the next similar looking track. The Dynamic Weather and night racing though could make this the best and most complete Forza but I know that there will be 'lots' of additional DLC car packs etc that may look different but ultimately still drive similarly to other vehicles in the game. I may wait until they bring out a GotY version with all DLC/Cars etc or just pick it up when its very cheap.

Of the games I am intending to buy this year for XB1, 2 of which are 'old' games in Rare Replay (a nostalgic trip through my life in gaming as I have had 90% of these) and GoW: Ultimate Edition (Not my favourite of the Gears campaigns and still have the 360 version). The other is Tomb Raider (loved the reboot and been wanting a sequel ever since). Fallout 4 may get bought but I can't see myself having the time to play an RPG with all the other games I will be buying. I prefer to get these when the game releases are 'quiet' so summer. Games like CoD:BO3, SW:BF, Mad Max (as well as Uncharted: Nathan Drake Collection) are likely to bought for PS4 because of the 3rd Party deals - I see little reason to buy for XB1 when it has less or delayed content and potentially not quite as impressive visually. I know resolution isn't a major concern and certainly not an over-riding factor in my decision making but if everything else was 'equal' (content, frame rate etc), then it would be a consideration - and yes I can clearly see a difference on a 55" 4k TV! Its less significant than the extra or earlier access to content though.

Gamescom really didn't have the 'wow' factor or strength of showing that E3 did from my perspective. We already knew about Backwards Compatibility and the Win10 UI but having a 'date' albeit narrowed down to a month of arrival didn't have the impact of the announcement. I don't use my Xbox for TV and have DVR on my Sky so that announcement fell flat for me. I think if MS had demoed something more with Hololens, showcased the new Win 10 UI and Cortana in real time, maybe even demoed some of the games being played across XB1 and PC it may have helped bridge the gap in Europe. I really felt MS needed to go bigger and better than E3 as they are losing ground over PS4 every week. With Sony opting not to attend directly, this was a great opportunity to try and turn the tide and start to close that ever increasing gap.

So of those that also own an Xbox One or thinking about getting one, What did you think of MS's Gamescom briefing? Do you think they did enough to try and close the gap on Sony's European dominance? If you haven't bought an XB1, did they do enough to entice you?

I think with games these days @BAMozzy the development time for anything other than the yearly franchises, is so crazy and the new exciting big team releases so thin on the ground there's absolutely no point in anyone attending this conference. Between e3, pushsquare and the playstation experience I really dont need to watch anymore conferences.

As for Microsoft, and I think Sammy reported this correctly, microsoft lean too much on the same games all of the time. Halo - no thanks ive had enough. Forza - yawn. Gears - please no. Quantum break to me looks like Alan Wake and lets be honest between the neat story and some cool sections Alan Wake was 8-10 hours padding.

Crackdown - enjoyed this, collected every hidden and agility orb. But I enjoyed it through adversity and forgave its many flaws as there was nothing like it. First Light was like it though, Lego marvel is like it now as well, Even Minecraft has mods like it. So that doesn't pack nearly the same punch. Every game is now a collectathon it seems.

I might come across as harsh but as an xbox gamer for 2 years at the end of gen 6 and a predominant 360 gamer last gen - i have zero interest in the same old games with more convoluted ridiculous stories thrown in.

Not many games developers these days make yearly games - there are a few like those behind the sports games like Fifa, PES etc and it seems Assassins Creed too (if its made by the same developers every year). Certain Franchise Like CoD is now handled by 3 development studios with each having 3 years to make a game. I don't know exactly how many studios each manufacturer has working for them but I am not expecting a plethora of 'new' exclusives year after year after year. I enjoy the conferences - not just from a MS or Sony perspective but because of ALL the developers too. Even if they have nothing 'new' to announce after E3, they often have something 'new' about certain games to show or talk about. This can change how I feel about certain games. I was disappointed about the loss of Space Battles in Star Wars: Battlefront but the new Fighter Squadron mode (revealed at Gamescom) looked great for example.

I agree that Microsoft do seem to have certain franchises locked to developers - Like 343 for Halo, the Coalition for Gears etc that to me seems wrong. I would prefer them to have more artistic freedom to develop games that they want to make instead of being locked into a franchise. I can't see Sony telling Naughty Dog to make only Uncharted or Guerilla Games to make Killzone. I don't feel that MS lean to much on these myself though. They are I guess the most popular and probably the biggest of MS's exclusive franchises but I don't see these as being that different from some of Sony's too - Gran Tourismo, Killzone, Uncharted etc all with at least 4 games. Gears of War has only produced a trilogy so far and 1 spin off - same as Uncharted really (the Golden Abyss). I know Forza seems to be a 'yearly' franchise but there are 2 different games in this - Forza Motorsport and Forza Horizon - both made by different developers. From my perspective, Halo has changed since 343 took over. Under Bungie, the game was also a great single player experience - in fact the first was an award winner because of its campaign. The fact it had an MP was a 'bonus' for a select few that had 'Gold' but as the majority of Original Xbox owners didn't own it, they bought it for the campaign. It seems that 343 want it to be more about the MP and MS want it to replace CoD in their eSport agenda. I really enjoyed Alan Wake - probably because I am a fan of Stephen King and this is very similar to his work. I did find the American Nightmare a bit boring though. Its game play though was quite unique. Quantum Break looks nothing like this apart from the perspective and has guns but I just don't think much to the overall concept. Crackdown was a fun game, 2 was very poor by comparison and 3 just leaves me with more questions than answers. I feel destruction was shoe horned in because they could rather than because it merited it. As for being a 'collectathon', a LOT of games are and have been long before Crackdown. Whether its collecting a certain number of 'coins', 'rings' etc on a level or finding every treasure, intel, collectible etc for a trophy/achievement.

I buy a lot more 3rd party games a year than I do Exclusives. I don't see that MS are doing that much different from a lot of the big publishers in the fact that they are releasing a lot of big name franchises fairly often. Even those that appeared to be 'forgotten' are coming back soon with games like Doom, Tony Hawks etc. Looking ahead at the next 6-12 months, I can see a few 'new' IP's I want but a lot of sequels and existing franchise games being bought too. This is no different whether I have just a PS4 or XB1. I expect that a fair few will have some convoluted and/or ridiculous story and that as I have said is not 'exclusive' to just MS.

@BAMozzy "really enjoyed Alan Wake - probably because I am a fan of Stephen King" my favourite books are the stand and the running man. But his recent books are absolute turd.

I must admit, I haven't read any of his most recent books - the last was probably 2006's 'Cell' but I have 20-30 of his books in hardback. My favourite is probably the uncut version of the Stand too and I really enjoy his collections of short stories (Skeleton Crew, Night Shift, Nightmares and Dreamscapes etc). He still continues to win awards though for his books but I just don't have the inclination to read novels anymore.
I still think Alan Wake has a very 'Stephen King' feeling about it and one from his 'Golden Years'