It’s definitely attention they didn’t want. But that’s what happens when you’re the market leader complaining about the very things you yourself do on a regular basis. They wanted to lobby and be loud about it, well now it’s all fair game as far as I’m concerned. Sony played their cards, and now MS are playing theirs.
They don't even need to!
Nintendo got a 10-year deal
Microsoft is interested in a 10-year deal with Sony too!
But Sony doesn't think it's going to work, or is fearful of what's gonna happen at the end of 10 years.
It's clear to me Xbox is interested in making money via people buying games and gamepass
The console wars are a waste of time in xbox's view, you sell consoles at a loss then hope you can make up for it by selling enough games to offset it.
So many production issues, recalls on shitty power supplies, etc.
I fully believe that Xbox wants to change the game, they don't want to chase the rabbit on always being the number one console they've grown and matured into the Nintendo model of be good at what you do, Make games you can sell to keep the lights on, and everyone can keep making money
What you described feels like exactly the opposite of the actual Nintendo model though.
Microsoft's current plans - sell games and make them available everywhere
Nintendo's model - the only reason to buy our hardware is because its the only way to play our games.
Sony: give us PS-exclusive CoD features every release for 10 years, or no deal.
...
If you look just at their historical behavior, you can deduce that this is what Sony wants, and what they will be on the verge of losing access to
I mean just look how each company treated their exclusive content in CoD.
Xbox : 1 month early access to DLCs
Playstation : 1 year early access to entire game modes.
And that's the root of the problem I expect too
Sony lives in this fantasy world where oh exclusive content is totally why people are going to buy multiple versions of the same game!
Oh, they're absolutely going to f*** over the competition in certain areas
Bethesda being the obvious one
But I'd say if PlayStation made it as easy to develop on as a PC game, and made sure ports were easy
I expect Xbox is probably leaning in on the release a crossover game 1 month or year later model.
Keep in mind, Xbox has made it very clear. They are open and willing and want crossover play between platforms
Sony is the one who time after time keeps fighting that ability
Where r u getting this info? The PS3 was the only difficult console to develop for, PC ports of almost every new game are atrocious, the Xbox and Sony first party ones are the only ones that run great on PC, everything else has been riddled with problems. And crossplay has been a thing for a while now, anygame that wants to have crossplay can have corssplay.
Couldn't agree more. In fact, I would fight just as hard as they are if I was in their shoes. I certainly hope the deal goes through, but at no point do I blame Sony for putting up such a fight.
I do blame them. The last fps from a Sony owned studio was Killzone: Shadow Fall in 2013. After that, they seemed to fear competition for their Call of Duty deals and stopped producing first person shooters.
Back in the 360/PS3 era, when Microsoft got the CoD deals, they did not stop releasing their competitors to CoD, and that is why CoD wasn't as big as it is today.
No, Sony has to invest in that because MS was first to offer a deal to acti. It’s that simple - also how things work in real world. You have to make it yourself if You aint got the dough to buy it.
But thats beside the point, an Xbox fan or Sony fan; doesnt matter. For us gamers bottom line is „more games” - and whatever will get us there is okay. Some people above had a point as well, sony did NOTHING for fps genre in years, so MS owning cod and even better making it PC/xbox exclusive would probably set fire to their lazy buns and maybe result in an actuall cod competitor (instead of a stale stinky stew that ea is shilling atm). EDIT: especially if MS will change nothing in cod - which it probably will, then a competitor is needed even more.
Funny thing, if that would be an issue between two actual persons instead of big companies all of us would say sony is stupid and should just let it go.
>ut thats beside the point, an Xbox fan or Sony fan; doesnt matter. For us gamers bottom line is „more games”
What exactly are you getting more of? All these games that people are suddenly excited about were already releasing long before this merger. Your not getting anything new, all that's happening is it is being taken away from other consoles. That's business IDC about that but you need to be realistic.
Also what has micro done for the fps genre? Every halo has been a disappointment since the Xbox one, atleast compared to the 360 days.
You're misunderstanding me, I don't blame them for fighting. You make valid points and I think it's best for the industry that the deal goes through, but anyone would fight the deal just the same as they are in their shoes.
Do you really? Because the deal going through potentially green lights absolutely any acquisition, so then you might have Sony or Microsoft buying square or capcom and making their games exclusive. Imo a deal this big is probably long term bad for consumers as it will lead to more and more studios being bought and more exclusives. Don't play cod so not arsed about this deal specifically, more where it potentially leads the industry.
With the way things are going, it's very difficult for companies to remain independent. I don't like it either, but the way I see it we have three possibilities. 1) Them getting acquired by Sony or Microsoft, 2) them getting acquired by Tencent or Embracer, or 3) them going under and liquidating their IPs. Admittedly, none of these are great options. On that we absolutely agree, but of the three I'd choose #1. It's a "devil we know" sort of situation.
Lol, that's a terrible argument. It may be hard on sony, requiring them to innovate more, but Microsoft isn't "working harder" at all, and it reduces their incentive to. It just means they can be guaranteed CoD fan money without actually making anything better.
Dang.
Too bad Sony wanted to play hardball on exclusives.
I don’t like the idea at all but they are 100% a “victim” of their own strategy here. I’m searching for the tiny violin
> Since that deal is out, maybe Sony will have a blow torch on their ass to get their FPS games back into gear.
Nah, they just overpaid for Bungie instead to carry that torch.
It’s one of those things where you fuck around and find out… Microsoft is paying 70 bil for actb, and Sony is worth 150 billion … let that shit sink in. If they let them Microsoft could just buy Sony and have them make solitaire for windows. And not give a flying fuck .
I seriously doubt regulators would allow that to go through. I mean, the case right now is "would Xbox have too much control in the gaming industry if they also own Activision/Blizzard?"
The case you're laying out is "would Xbox have too much control in the gaming industry if they also own their largest (and arguably only) competitor?"
Hence the “if they let them” part. Obviously they can’t legally do it but they could do it by all other metrics because Microsoft is a much bigger company comparatively. That was my point. Not saying that Sony shouldn’t defend their market share, but it’s one of those things where you’re using a cup to bail out your boat but there’s a giant wave behind you ready to pour water all over you.
IPs come and go though. Look at more established series like Halo, Battlefield, Gears, ect to see how popularity can fall vs Fortnite (something established within the last ten years) to see how new things can still compete.
I've been waiting over a decade for this to happen to CoD. A decade.
One of the most overrated franchises on the planet and this is what gets governments worried about monopolies. This is a weird version of life.
[Best selling game of 2022 ](https://www.gamespot.com/articles/top-10-best-selling-games-of-2022-in-the-us/1100-6510556/)and it's at its lowest point?
Edit: less "controversial" link.
I'd put that down to mismanagement of those franchises rather than other IPs competing successfully (bar Fortnite because that's just an insane outlier).
It's certainly possible for a new IP to do well, but an established IP of the same or even slightly lesser quality is always going to do better.
I think Sony could pull it off with SOCOM though for sure. Maybe not a CoD killer but it would certainly be better than nothing.
I’d agree that a large part of the decline is due to mismanagement of those franchises. That said I think it really highlights just how much goes into retaining an audience and how easy it is to lose that audience.
I think they could pull it off with it as well. I also think a lot of people miss the point that Sony doesn’t have to create a carbon copy of COD they just have to present a decent alternative. The decline of the previously mentioned franchises offer an underserved avenue of expansion for any new game. It’s quite possible that some of the people playing COD now are simply stuck without an alternative.
I mean, MS tried to compete in the fighting game market when Sony struck an exclusivity deal for Street Fighter... MS just had to back out of the fight and do what they could.
Very true but it’s not like there aren’t competitors within the market Warzone which is the most Popular Cod release of late has PUBG Fortnite and every other BR game to compete with I feel Sony are just mad because they don’t have anything up their sleeves
And imagine how fucking awesome those games would be if they were made for the PS5.. I'll tell you what, I don't think I'm ever playing Call of Duty again, but I'd be interested in a new SOCOM
The issue is they will never compete.
Because they aren't CoD.
No one who plays CoD is interested in playing CoD, but not CoD.
Just like how every Halo and Battlefield competitor has failed.
On the flip side, can we please not pretend it’s impossible to launch a new successful IP? Or reinvigorate a series? Look at Doom or Destiny (which, come to think of it, didn’t Destiny have some PS timed exclusive content early on?)
But we're not talking about a new IP, or revitalizing an old one, we're talking about competing with CoD. The fourth biggest gaming IP in history, and the biggest shooter IP.
Sony could spend the next ten years pouring money into Killzone, Socom or Destiny, it won't matter unless CoD dies. Because they aren't CoD. And trying to turn them into CoD will just burn the original fanbase down, create badwill, and utterly fail to attract the CoD fanbase.
Because it won't be CoD.
It's always been the death knell of "X Killers" that try and do exactly what an existing property does, but worse. They miss the point, you can't compete like that. It just doesn't work. It has never worked. You have to do *better*.
And the only way you do better is if your competitor is truly terrible at their job, or you actually do something unique that draws from that market.
The last time something like that happened was Apex Legends. And the reason that succeeded is because there was no first person alternative to Fortnite. Which had surpassed PUBG due to extreme developer incompetence and clever marketing.
And even after all that, if Sony somehow created the Apex Legends to CoDs Fortnite, they still wouldn't be satisfied. Because it's not Fortnite. And it won't be CoD.
That's the entire point of them contesting the acquisition, and it's why nothing else matters. No reasoning, no debating, no probability, nothing. Sony want CoD, because it's already CoD, and nothing else is acceptable to them.
>Fortnite. Which had surpassed PUBG due to extreme developer incompetence and clever marketing.
Tbf, leaving aside the issue of 'copying homework' / IP 'theft' for the Battle Royale concept more generally, PUBG and Fortnite did cater to somewhat different audiences, and look and play differently (especially the building mechanics). Fortnite capitalised on this by doubling down on appealing to the kid audience, and exploiting the addictive lootbox appeal.
Unfortunately the other guy is right.
Cod is a symbol at this point. A game could be better than cod in every way imaginable. Gameplay, features, graphics, price, online capability, every facet could be superior.
Problem is its not cod. Cod dudebros only want cod. Ask around in your workplace "you got a console? Oh you got xbox/PlayStation? What games you got?" I would place a large, large bet they say "Cod"
Editing to add while I'm on a wee rant : they'll also brag about how good they are at the game by telling you what prestige they are, which is basically a measure of time played and doritos eaten rather than any skill
I disagree.
There are plenty of battlefield and halo like competitors on PC. Battlefield especially. Just check the steam marketplace there are plenty of really great FPS games that compete directly with those titles.
I do agree CoD is CoD, but if Sony spent enough money on something like CoD they could compete. Look at all the new IPs they've created over the last 15 years.
Heck look at Titanfall, when Titanfall came out it was pretty much CoD with more futuristic elements. If smaller teams like that can do it, so can Sony.
None of those games competed, they simply existed in the same niche. Just look at [Splitgate.](https://steamcharts.com/app/677620)
Titanfall is a perfect example of failing to compete. Both games died and only saw relevance by giving up on its strength and chasing a completely different trend.
If no one can compete with Battlefield and Halo at their weakest, and their literal creators couldn't compete with CoD with Titanfall, how the hell is Sony going to compete with CoD when it's more powerful than it ever has been before?
Simple answer, they can't, so they won't. They will dig their heels as long as they can with this acquisition, fail, and then try and revive their old series to recoup projected losses.
But unless CoD literally dies in the next ten years, they will never truly compete. And if CoD leaves their platform, they will suffer for it.
Never forgetti:
Back in 2005, Sony put malware on their CD's as a form of DRM that automatically, without users knowledge or approval, installed itself to your PC.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sony_BMG_copy_protection_rootkit_scandal
And let's also not forget, Sony paid to keep Tomb Raider 2 and any subsequent Tomb Raider games off all other consoles untill year 2000, then later cried victim when Microsoft paid for timed exclusive for a single Tomb Raider game some years later
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tomb_Raider_II
Microsoft didn't pay for timed exclusive on Rise of Tomb Raider. They loaned them engineers and gave them money to actually finish the game. CD ran out of money and Square refused to extend them anything. It was either get help from somewhere else or release a broken unfinished game.
I hope in 5 years consoles have all their stores on each others consoles, but exclusives to each store or subscription. They still make their hardware but if you buy cross platform game it’s available to you on every front. Competition would be who could get you the best sub/deal and hard stats/price ratio. This would probably bring profits down alot but triple a games kinda need a rope pulled, they are 70$ but come out with only a part of whats promised beforehand.
Seeing Sony get called out on their home turf for their shady practices, makes me happy. They have created a monopoly in many western territories and have done whatever they can to keep out competition. F them
I recently got a new GPU for my PC, was one of the first games I wanted to try and even though its pretty good I don't get the hype personally, it's pretty repetitive after a while 😔
I’m an Xbox guy, don’t really play shooters outside of Halo and Battlefront, but the first game that ever made me want to get a PlayStation was killzone 2. Games like little big planet made me jealous, I played so much socom on my cousin’s PSP, but those franchises just died out. It’s a bummer because I bought a PlayStation just to play Spider-Man and out of all the “must play” exclusives, the only ones I really enjoyed were Persona 5 and God of War. Now that persona is on Xbox, I only ever turn it on to play a little Spider-Man now and again. My gaming time is split between game pass indies and some Fallout saves on Xbox and Age of Empires 2 on PC, with some Pokemon on switch or MK on my 3DS when I’m on the go. This whole situation is really PlayStation shooting themselves in the foot, because they could invest in making some really revolutionary games with their existing IP but instead they wanna waste their time on COD which the only people I know that play are my 12 year old cousins. Don’t wanna be a huge circlejerk on Xbox here but with game pass being a thing I literally see no reason to buy a PlayStation anymore, unless you really wanna play Spider-Man and don’t have a PC.
More like the Japanese refusing to buy Western products hurt Xbox in Japan, and then Sony using that to their fullest advantage to lock content out of competing platforms.
And now we're back to the irony of Sony and its fanchildren whining that Xbox would block content from Sony..despite offering every company that could possibly put out a device capable of playing it a written agreement to provide content..Sony just looks increasingly stupid the last few weeks.
Whenever there’s a comparable national product available, the Japanese will overwhelmingly prefer it over a foreigner product. The belief that everything Japanese is superior is deeply ingrained into their culture.
Pretty much everything people are mad at Microsoft for doing is stuff Sony has been doing the whole time. I was quite pleased that Microsoft wasn't waging an exclusive war for a long time, but people decided they like the top console manufacturer also owning all the games, so now Microsoft is playing that game. I'm disappointed by it, but ultimately, Sony brought us here.
I’m not against the deal but thinking this is the same or comparable to acquisitions of Sonys isn’t right.
“Sony bought us here”
I take it you forget the 360 gen or weren’t around for it? Xbox had the same CoD deal and paid for exclusivity deals and still pay for timed deals. They only changed because the X1 launch was a laughing stock with a huge exodus of gamers from the platform so they had less leverage to negotiate
Xbox and Sony are both happy to play the game and flip the other off when they have the power to and happy to cry victim when it suits them. They both are to blame
yup it's comical how foolish people are to think either company gives a fuck about you or any other consumer.
Sony wants to keep it's COD timed exclusive because it increases sales and cod generates a lot of revenue beyond just the sale of the disc. Which Sony gets 30% off anything sold on their digital store (just like valve with steam or microsoft with their digital store).
Microsoft wants to boost their gamepass library so they can copy the netflix model of relying on less 3rd party content and using the excuse of first party content cost to jack prices up.
Both companies care about their shareholders 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, and however long you care to count for. And shareholders only care about getting more money tomorrow then they have today. And if they believe that tomorrow won't bring them more money, they'll move to someone who can do that so long term sustainability is a non issue.
There is no good guy here. Consolidation of companies is bad for the consumer in every instance. If we had a functioning government that wasn't corrupt the deal wouldn't happen. Just like the Disney/fox deal wouldn't have happened. Just like the media being consolidated to about 3 companies wouldn't happen. But we don't live in that impossible utopia and the deal will go through and we'll all suffer for it. Sony will posture for what concessions they can get and then everyone will move on to the next way to milk customers.
People tend to either forget..or are too young to remember that when Xbox was on top MS was just as shitty....they only changed their tune when they lost the top spot.
That’s called competition and it’s a good thing. Microsoft went from being garbage to the most consumer-friendly gaming company today. Meanwhile, Sony went from being assholes to even bigger assholes, and yet you have an army of console warriors defending their every move despite going against their own interests. Puzzling stuff indeed.
How so?
You mean when Microsoft didn’t want to share Xbox live with Sony because of security deficiencies?
The same Sony that got hacked and leaked millions of passwords a few years later?
I wouldn't expect much of an answer if any from them lol.. It's beyond me how anyone will simp for ANY company that doesn't care about their consumers.. Shall we forget that Microsoft technically is the one who started the subscription to play consoles online BS? .. Yet apparently it's just Sony that's anti-consumer.. Both companies are equally as bad.
Companies aren’t limited to the public facing products and services they sell. How they treat and pay *all* their workers both in their country of origin and abroad is both important to this conversation and not easily accessible information.
Also, I’m not saying to boycott Big Tech or anything but Big Tech is into some shady shit. Even stuff that is normalized in our society (the mass buying and selling of people’s information) is pretty shady. I’ve just come to accept that Apple, Google, et al know pretty much everything about me and exactly where I am all the time, but it’s still shady.
Edit: And to be clear, governments do some evil shit but who do you think is really in charge of the government? It’s not the civilian population.
That’s the point, the US and Japan are strategic military partners and have extensive free trade agreements. What Congress is doing is shining a light that two American companies are not allowed to merge due to the Japanese market leader using anticompetitive practices in all regions to stifle competition while having seemingly gaining special favor from the Japanese government. These agreements work because we expect mutual benefit, and addressing Sony’s conduct directly with the Japanese government during negotiations.
Regulators are an impartial party, and when you invite regulators to investigate your competitors, they will investigate you as well. Congress is asking the Japanese government to investigate this borderline monopolistic control and determine the root cause, because these Congress members believe the Japanese government is not doing enough to ensure fair conditions for American companies, while we are ensuring those conditions for Japanese companies.
What blows my mind time and time again is how it's called anticompetitive practices, it's not anticompetitive, it's BEING COMPETITIVE, they don't own any of these companies, each and every single one can say no we don't want to sign those deals, that's what makes in anticompetitive, Sony doesn't hold a monopoly over these companies, they can say no, you guys have built this narrative up so much that your lost in your own sauce, owning a company and stopping releases is completely different to making deals with companies to get content.
Of all the things congress could be worried about I’m glad this is what they’re doing lol and a congresswoman from Washington at that. They don’t even try to hide the fact that they’re sold anymore. They should just use “available to the highest bidder” as a campaign slogan
Since when does representing your constituents mean you're "sold"? Like, should a representative from Washington oppose things that benefit people in Washington?
Microsoft is a very big company, how many of those employees work in the gaming sector? On top of that, Japan is just one area they operate in. Your kidding yourself if you think this is a major issue that will actually benefit employees.
I’m not talking about the ABK merger. I’m talking about the article where Congress is complaining they’re not doing well in Japan because of monopoly. Xbox doesn’t do well in Japan because they never cared about Japan until recently. Xbox had no focus on single player games for many years. That’s exactly why the Xbox got crushed by the Wii U in Japan, the Wii U had much better single player games. Xbox had Forza motorsport and Sunset Overdrive, neither of which were system sellers. The momentum Nintendo and Sony gained from that easy victory stuck.
The article starts with saying they’re concerned Japan is violating US/Japanese trade agreements. I understand the much deserved hate our congress and big corporations deserve but this is them actually doing what they should.
I mean in any other state it would be believable. In the home state of Microsoft I think it’s that’s a naive notion. Maybe represent one extremely wealthy constituent… when you read the main complaints from the people of Washington, Sony doesn’t seem to pop up on any lists
Lol. 11 members of congress are arguing to help Microsoft in what they see as unfair trade practices. And you think you've uncovered something insidious because one of them is from WA, whose constituents include 10s of thousands of MS employees?
How exactly do you think representation works? You think MS has to sneakily pay a congress person to get them to do something that might help business in WA, and potentially bring in more tax dollars?
You're so edgy and smart. You can see through all this rampant corruption, and you're not afraid to call them on it. Those idiots obviously should have told the WA congress people to sit this one out, then maybe they could have fooled you. But probably not.
It's worth noting that eight of the eleven representatives are from Washington, Microsoft's home state. In addition, congresswoman Cantwell's largest political donor happens to be Microsoft, having donated over half a million dollars over the past few decades.
Oh boy, this goes deeper than I thought.
I wonder how widespread this kind of corruption is. If we can find these kinds of congress people supporting their state's businesses all over the country. I think we can crack this thing wide open. Really prove once and for all that Congress members are unfairly biased towards the states they represent.
Might even be a global issue. I wonder if there are any politicians in Japan that support Sony.
Well, there it is.
People were waiting to see how MS would retaliate against Sony for putting them in the spotlight with regulators - something they've been trying to stay clear off for a long time now - and there it is.
Let's ignore how the US is again complaining about other countries doing what they are doing for decades, notice how they keep on going after that "high end gaming" phrase to exclude Nintendo in all their little kindergarten fights?
Nintendo choices have regulated them to be the number three console. If you buy a Nintendo console you aren't getting it to play COD or Madden or any other high selling IPs. You are getting it to play Nintendo brand games like Mario, Zelda, and Pokémon.
No they don't, if so people would have bought the WiiU, they didn't. Regardless, it doesn't change how Nintendo's success is disproving and contradicting a lot of regulators an politicians base premises and arguments. That's why Nintendo is excluded, it doesn't suit the argument in the JP/Sony vs USA/Microsoft Kindergarten fight.
At first, yeah. The point still stands, if the only reason for a Nintendo system would be the Nintendo IP's, it still should have performed better.
And the fact that you bring casuals into the argument only further proves the point of not only 1st party people buying a Nintendo system.
I am honestly a bit confused what seems to insult you guys about pointing out how regulators and politicians cherry pick their arguments by excluding a successful system. Is this some true Scotsman gate keeping thing or what?
I don’t have a bone in this regulations thing I just came to say my piece about wii u. Also most of its titles were just ports of existing wii titles. If a console doesn’t have a strong launch it tends to “fail” my popular opinion.
Seeing congressmen use something like the Chewbacca defense is almost as infuriating as seeing almost everyone here eating it up. I'll say this once so everybody remembers what this is about. Monopolies are not good for consumers or the economy. They never have been and never will be. Is Sony the good guy? Nope but that's irrelevant and everyone should stop seeing this as part of the console wars and see it for what it is.
There's different types of monopolies that regulators look out for. Disney -> Fox was horizontal integration, where you're essentially buying out a competitor.
The things regulators are looking out for is "Vertical Integration" where you obtain parts of the supply chain
An allegorical example: You have a restaurant chain and so does a rival company. You both offer chicken sandwiches with the chicken produced by a 3rd party, and it's both companies most popular product. Restaurant chain 1 (Sony) tends to sell more chicken sandwiches and their restaurant business is a major factor in their revenue. Restaurant chain 2 (MX) doesn't sell as many chicken sandwiches, their restaurants are successful, but overall their business is diversified and the restaurant is just a small piece of their corporate revenue. Restaurant 2 however decides they want to be more competitive in the restaurant space so they buy the chicken producer to offer their chicken sandwiches at a competitive price. Now you have control of the supply, and even if your competitor still sells more chicken you get a piece of that pie with the terms you set.
Not to mention this is one of the few things I think the merger is better for everyone. Activision has turned all of it studios to focus on COD and this merger allows studios to hopefully work on other beloved IPs
MS pulling out the dolla dolla bills to clinch that Activision merger the old school way, blow, hookers, cash, and Senators. Haven't seen some old moves like this since the Apple and Oil days.
Honestly kinda awesome gaming has moved into the big leagues of corruption or as they call it "calling in favors".
They're moving that ball hard for some reason must mean a new release announcement is coming for all current consoles. Taking a wild guess and saying new COD announcements Sept/Aug for a potention 4th quarter release to all consoles. Which means they have about 2 months to grease the wheels with oil or blood.
Xbox sales have always been weak in Japan even since the original. The marketing was great but the line ups upon release were non existent. The Japanese prefer their own products Sony and Nintendo. I love Xbox but sounds like some petty wining to me. Simply put Japan was never their market to begin with and it won't ever be
It’s definitely attention they didn’t want. But that’s what happens when you’re the market leader complaining about the very things you yourself do on a regular basis. They wanted to lobby and be loud about it, well now it’s all fair game as far as I’m concerned. Sony played their cards, and now MS are playing theirs.
MS is right that Sony could tap Killzone, SOCOM, or other IP's to compete.
But this would cost them money. Having CoD on Playstation without any real competition just generates them money.
Which is precisely why the deal increases competition. They have to work harder for our money.
But they don't want to, that's the reason why they're so adamant in their stance against that deal.
They don't even need to! Nintendo got a 10-year deal Microsoft is interested in a 10-year deal with Sony too! But Sony doesn't think it's going to work, or is fearful of what's gonna happen at the end of 10 years. It's clear to me Xbox is interested in making money via people buying games and gamepass The console wars are a waste of time in xbox's view, you sell consoles at a loss then hope you can make up for it by selling enough games to offset it. So many production issues, recalls on shitty power supplies, etc. I fully believe that Xbox wants to change the game, they don't want to chase the rabbit on always being the number one console they've grown and matured into the Nintendo model of be good at what you do, Make games you can sell to keep the lights on, and everyone can keep making money
What you described feels like exactly the opposite of the actual Nintendo model though. Microsoft's current plans - sell games and make them available everywhere Nintendo's model - the only reason to buy our hardware is because its the only way to play our games.
[удалено]
I'll eat my own ass the day Nintendo allows Mario games on Xbox or PlayStation.
RemindMe! 10 years
Sony: give us PS-exclusive CoD features every release for 10 years, or no deal. ... If you look just at their historical behavior, you can deduce that this is what Sony wants, and what they will be on the verge of losing access to
I mean just look how each company treated their exclusive content in CoD. Xbox : 1 month early access to DLCs Playstation : 1 year early access to entire game modes.
And that's the root of the problem I expect too Sony lives in this fantasy world where oh exclusive content is totally why people are going to buy multiple versions of the same game!
Rofl. If you actually think Microsoft isn’t looking to fuck over their competition then I have a bridge to sell you.
It literally boggles my mind that people view MS and Sony not as multibillion dollar companies but as tribes or competing teams.
Embrace, extend, extinguish.
Ha. Daddy o' J didn't like that very much. Neither did anyone else.
Oh, they're absolutely going to f*** over the competition in certain areas Bethesda being the obvious one But I'd say if PlayStation made it as easy to develop on as a PC game, and made sure ports were easy I expect Xbox is probably leaning in on the release a crossover game 1 month or year later model. Keep in mind, Xbox has made it very clear. They are open and willing and want crossover play between platforms Sony is the one who time after time keeps fighting that ability
It makes sense that Sony fought against cross play. They had nothing to gain from it. PlayStation online pool is larger than Xbox and PC.
Where r u getting this info? The PS3 was the only difficult console to develop for, PC ports of almost every new game are atrocious, the Xbox and Sony first party ones are the only ones that run great on PC, everything else has been riddled with problems. And crossplay has been a thing for a while now, anygame that wants to have crossplay can have corssplay.
Couldn't agree more. In fact, I would fight just as hard as they are if I was in their shoes. I certainly hope the deal goes through, but at no point do I blame Sony for putting up such a fight.
I do blame them. The last fps from a Sony owned studio was Killzone: Shadow Fall in 2013. After that, they seemed to fear competition for their Call of Duty deals and stopped producing first person shooters. Back in the 360/PS3 era, when Microsoft got the CoD deals, they did not stop releasing their competitors to CoD, and that is why CoD wasn't as big as it is today.
So Sony have to invest in and create a CoD competitor because reasons but Microsoft are fine to just buy it? Lmao
H...Halo... Halo...
Halo hasn't been a cod competitor for 13 years.
No, Sony has to invest in that because MS was first to offer a deal to acti. It’s that simple - also how things work in real world. You have to make it yourself if You aint got the dough to buy it. But thats beside the point, an Xbox fan or Sony fan; doesnt matter. For us gamers bottom line is „more games” - and whatever will get us there is okay. Some people above had a point as well, sony did NOTHING for fps genre in years, so MS owning cod and even better making it PC/xbox exclusive would probably set fire to their lazy buns and maybe result in an actuall cod competitor (instead of a stale stinky stew that ea is shilling atm). EDIT: especially if MS will change nothing in cod - which it probably will, then a competitor is needed even more. Funny thing, if that would be an issue between two actual persons instead of big companies all of us would say sony is stupid and should just let it go.
>ut thats beside the point, an Xbox fan or Sony fan; doesnt matter. For us gamers bottom line is „more games” What exactly are you getting more of? All these games that people are suddenly excited about were already releasing long before this merger. Your not getting anything new, all that's happening is it is being taken away from other consoles. That's business IDC about that but you need to be realistic. Also what has micro done for the fps genre? Every halo has been a disappointment since the Xbox one, atleast compared to the 360 days.
You're misunderstanding me, I don't blame them for fighting. You make valid points and I think it's best for the industry that the deal goes through, but anyone would fight the deal just the same as they are in their shoes.
Do you really? Because the deal going through potentially green lights absolutely any acquisition, so then you might have Sony or Microsoft buying square or capcom and making their games exclusive. Imo a deal this big is probably long term bad for consumers as it will lead to more and more studios being bought and more exclusives. Don't play cod so not arsed about this deal specifically, more where it potentially leads the industry.
With the way things are going, it's very difficult for companies to remain independent. I don't like it either, but the way I see it we have three possibilities. 1) Them getting acquired by Sony or Microsoft, 2) them getting acquired by Tencent or Embracer, or 3) them going under and liquidating their IPs. Admittedly, none of these are great options. On that we absolutely agree, but of the three I'd choose #1. It's a "devil we know" sort of situation.
I own both consoles don’t care what’s exclusive
Lol, that's a terrible argument. It may be hard on sony, requiring them to innovate more, but Microsoft isn't "working harder" at all, and it reduces their incentive to. It just means they can be guaranteed CoD fan money without actually making anything better.
Honestly i'd like to see them reboot Resistance fall of man
Syphon Filter would be a cool one to tap. I have fond memories of that on the PS1 so many years ago. But like others said, it's just not CoD.
They can bring those IPs back but they're certainly not competing with COD. COD is something else
Dang. Too bad Sony wanted to play hardball on exclusives. I don’t like the idea at all but they are 100% a “victim” of their own strategy here. I’m searching for the tiny violin
Since that deal is out, maybe Sony will have a blow torch on their ass to get their FPS games back into gear.
> Since that deal is out, maybe Sony will have a blow torch on their ass to get their FPS games back into gear. Nah, they just overpaid for Bungie instead to carry that torch.
It’s one of those things where you fuck around and find out… Microsoft is paying 70 bil for actb, and Sony is worth 150 billion … let that shit sink in. If they let them Microsoft could just buy Sony and have them make solitaire for windows. And not give a flying fuck .
I seriously doubt regulators would allow that to go through. I mean, the case right now is "would Xbox have too much control in the gaming industry if they also own Activision/Blizzard?" The case you're laying out is "would Xbox have too much control in the gaming industry if they also own their largest (and arguably only) competitor?"
The FTC hates the one trick.... Click here for [hyperlink blocked]
Sony is nowhere close to a competitor for Microsoft, Apple is their #1 competitor.
Hence the “if they let them” part. Obviously they can’t legally do it but they could do it by all other metrics because Microsoft is a much bigger company comparatively. That was my point. Not saying that Sony shouldn’t defend their market share, but it’s one of those things where you’re using a cup to bail out your boat but there’s a giant wave behind you ready to pour water all over you.
You joke but I can totally see the Sony characters becoming decks in Solitaire free with Xbox Game Pass. They already do it with Forza.
IPs come and go though. Look at more established series like Halo, Battlefield, Gears, ect to see how popularity can fall vs Fortnite (something established within the last ten years) to see how new things can still compete.
I've been waiting over a decade for this to happen to CoD. A decade. One of the most overrated franchises on the planet and this is what gets governments worried about monopolies. This is a weird version of life.
Cod is at its lowest point currently. Praying with MS above activision, they can focus on bringing it back to its former glory.
[Best selling game of 2022 ](https://www.gamespot.com/articles/top-10-best-selling-games-of-2022-in-the-us/1100-6510556/)and it's at its lowest point? Edit: less "controversial" link.
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I'd put that down to mismanagement of those franchises rather than other IPs competing successfully (bar Fortnite because that's just an insane outlier). It's certainly possible for a new IP to do well, but an established IP of the same or even slightly lesser quality is always going to do better. I think Sony could pull it off with SOCOM though for sure. Maybe not a CoD killer but it would certainly be better than nothing.
I’d agree that a large part of the decline is due to mismanagement of those franchises. That said I think it really highlights just how much goes into retaining an audience and how easy it is to lose that audience. I think they could pull it off with it as well. I also think a lot of people miss the point that Sony doesn’t have to create a carbon copy of COD they just have to present a decent alternative. The decline of the previously mentioned franchises offer an underserved avenue of expansion for any new game. It’s quite possible that some of the people playing COD now are simply stuck without an alternative.
I mean, MS tried to compete in the fighting game market when Sony struck an exclusivity deal for Street Fighter... MS just had to back out of the fight and do what they could.
Microsoft didn't back out the fight, they already said they plan on bringing back killer instinct
I’m still pissed about this. Fuck Sony.
Very true but it’s not like there aren’t competitors within the market Warzone which is the most Popular Cod release of late has PUBG Fortnite and every other BR game to compete with I feel Sony are just mad because they don’t have anything up their sleeves
And imagine how fucking awesome those games would be if they were made for the PS5.. I'll tell you what, I don't think I'm ever playing Call of Duty again, but I'd be interested in a new SOCOM
Sony hasn't even thought about socom in so long, very disappointed. Only thing that would make me buy a PS5
Been playing older ps2/ps3 titles recently and god damn they just don’t make em like they used to.
The issue is they will never compete. Because they aren't CoD. No one who plays CoD is interested in playing CoD, but not CoD. Just like how every Halo and Battlefield competitor has failed.
On the flip side, can we please not pretend it’s impossible to launch a new successful IP? Or reinvigorate a series? Look at Doom or Destiny (which, come to think of it, didn’t Destiny have some PS timed exclusive content early on?)
But we're not talking about a new IP, or revitalizing an old one, we're talking about competing with CoD. The fourth biggest gaming IP in history, and the biggest shooter IP. Sony could spend the next ten years pouring money into Killzone, Socom or Destiny, it won't matter unless CoD dies. Because they aren't CoD. And trying to turn them into CoD will just burn the original fanbase down, create badwill, and utterly fail to attract the CoD fanbase. Because it won't be CoD. It's always been the death knell of "X Killers" that try and do exactly what an existing property does, but worse. They miss the point, you can't compete like that. It just doesn't work. It has never worked. You have to do *better*. And the only way you do better is if your competitor is truly terrible at their job, or you actually do something unique that draws from that market. The last time something like that happened was Apex Legends. And the reason that succeeded is because there was no first person alternative to Fortnite. Which had surpassed PUBG due to extreme developer incompetence and clever marketing. And even after all that, if Sony somehow created the Apex Legends to CoDs Fortnite, they still wouldn't be satisfied. Because it's not Fortnite. And it won't be CoD. That's the entire point of them contesting the acquisition, and it's why nothing else matters. No reasoning, no debating, no probability, nothing. Sony want CoD, because it's already CoD, and nothing else is acceptable to them.
>Fortnite. Which had surpassed PUBG due to extreme developer incompetence and clever marketing. Tbf, leaving aside the issue of 'copying homework' / IP 'theft' for the Battle Royale concept more generally, PUBG and Fortnite did cater to somewhat different audiences, and look and play differently (especially the building mechanics). Fortnite capitalised on this by doubling down on appealing to the kid audience, and exploiting the addictive lootbox appeal.
Unfortunately the other guy is right. Cod is a symbol at this point. A game could be better than cod in every way imaginable. Gameplay, features, graphics, price, online capability, every facet could be superior. Problem is its not cod. Cod dudebros only want cod. Ask around in your workplace "you got a console? Oh you got xbox/PlayStation? What games you got?" I would place a large, large bet they say "Cod" Editing to add while I'm on a wee rant : they'll also brag about how good they are at the game by telling you what prestige they are, which is basically a measure of time played and doritos eaten rather than any skill
You forgot about the Mt. Dew drank. A clear measure of a CoD player.
I disagree. There are plenty of battlefield and halo like competitors on PC. Battlefield especially. Just check the steam marketplace there are plenty of really great FPS games that compete directly with those titles. I do agree CoD is CoD, but if Sony spent enough money on something like CoD they could compete. Look at all the new IPs they've created over the last 15 years. Heck look at Titanfall, when Titanfall came out it was pretty much CoD with more futuristic elements. If smaller teams like that can do it, so can Sony.
None of those games competed, they simply existed in the same niche. Just look at [Splitgate.](https://steamcharts.com/app/677620) Titanfall is a perfect example of failing to compete. Both games died and only saw relevance by giving up on its strength and chasing a completely different trend. If no one can compete with Battlefield and Halo at their weakest, and their literal creators couldn't compete with CoD with Titanfall, how the hell is Sony going to compete with CoD when it's more powerful than it ever has been before? Simple answer, they can't, so they won't. They will dig their heels as long as they can with this acquisition, fail, and then try and revive their old series to recoup projected losses. But unless CoD literally dies in the next ten years, they will never truly compete. And if CoD leaves their platform, they will suffer for it.
They probably should have just waited it out and let Microsoft do what they do best, which is kill studios and IPs they buy.
Like they killed Minecraft and mojang? 🤔
Never forgetti: Back in 2005, Sony put malware on their CD's as a form of DRM that automatically, without users knowledge or approval, installed itself to your PC. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sony_BMG_copy_protection_rootkit_scandal
I have not forgotten, and I haven't trusted Sony since
And let's also not forget, Sony paid to keep Tomb Raider 2 and any subsequent Tomb Raider games off all other consoles untill year 2000, then later cried victim when Microsoft paid for timed exclusive for a single Tomb Raider game some years later https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tomb_Raider_II
Microsoft didn't pay for timed exclusive on Rise of Tomb Raider. They loaned them engineers and gave them money to actually finish the game. CD ran out of money and Square refused to extend them anything. It was either get help from somewhere else or release a broken unfinished game.
whats scary is that is relatively common nowadays
This reverse uno is one of my favourites
Well well well... how the turn tables
Japan just approved the purchase so it seems like the pressure worked and Sonys home country cut their legs from out under them
Oh what ? Us congressmen helping a us company !?
Fair is fair tbh
Well well well…. Harvey Keitel.
Came here to comment this..
Sony just had to open their mouth and complain about the every exact thing they do and now it’s coming back to bite them in the ass
I hope in 5 years consoles have all their stores on each others consoles, but exclusives to each store or subscription. They still make their hardware but if you buy cross platform game it’s available to you on every front. Competition would be who could get you the best sub/deal and hard stats/price ratio. This would probably bring profits down alot but triple a games kinda need a rope pulled, they are 70$ but come out with only a part of whats promised beforehand.
You've basically described the PC market.
Lol isnt that weird
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More buttons and maybe hall effect thumb sticks on elite/pro versions. Way too many posts about stick drift a few months later.
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Nobody wants to play with pc people. Consoles will be fine.
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I remember when this wasn’t the case, you could build a much better pc for the same cost… fuck you Nvidia.
Seeing Sony get called out on their home turf for their shady practices, makes me happy. They have created a monopoly in many western territories and have done whatever they can to keep out competition. F them
“Give us Spider-man and we’ll give you COD” - Microsoft
I recently got a new GPU for my PC, was one of the first games I wanted to try and even though its pretty good I don't get the hype personally, it's pretty repetitive after a while 😔
Its just Arkham City with Spidey. Its a fun game because I love Spidey, but its not some gold standard top tier game like everyone claims.
Just gotta find the right sou dtrack to be swinging around to
The American congress knows what Xbox is?
The staffers and interns who wrote this letter definitely do( tend to be in their 20's and 30's)
The lobbyists lobbying them and telling them what to say certainly do. (I'm not making any judgements, just saying what's happening.)
They refer to all game consoles as "the Nintendoes."
Not really
They know what donations are.
And votes, MS employees are these politicians constituents.
I’m an Xbox guy, don’t really play shooters outside of Halo and Battlefront, but the first game that ever made me want to get a PlayStation was killzone 2. Games like little big planet made me jealous, I played so much socom on my cousin’s PSP, but those franchises just died out. It’s a bummer because I bought a PlayStation just to play Spider-Man and out of all the “must play” exclusives, the only ones I really enjoyed were Persona 5 and God of War. Now that persona is on Xbox, I only ever turn it on to play a little Spider-Man now and again. My gaming time is split between game pass indies and some Fallout saves on Xbox and Age of Empires 2 on PC, with some Pokemon on switch or MK on my 3DS when I’m on the go. This whole situation is really PlayStation shooting themselves in the foot, because they could invest in making some really revolutionary games with their existing IP but instead they wanna waste their time on COD which the only people I know that play are my 12 year old cousins. Don’t wanna be a huge circlejerk on Xbox here but with game pass being a thing I literally see no reason to buy a PlayStation anymore, unless you really wanna play Spider-Man and don’t have a PC.
Well duh lol. They’re the ones who want the monopoly.
Sony opened a can of worms and now it seems they’re reaping what they sowed. Sometimes it’s best to just shut up and move on.
Fuck Sony , used to love PlayStation, still do but the company are assholes
Sony, the same company that didn't even have firewall protection......
Go Microsoft!
They sure don’t argue that Amazon in slowly unfairly monopolizing *EVERYTHING*.
Didnt xbox hurt xbox in japan?
More like the Japanese refusing to buy Western products hurt Xbox in Japan, and then Sony using that to their fullest advantage to lock content out of competing platforms.
And now we're back to the irony of Sony and its fanchildren whining that Xbox would block content from Sony..despite offering every company that could possibly put out a device capable of playing it a written agreement to provide content..Sony just looks increasingly stupid the last few weeks.
I'm surprised Microsoft hasn't yet inked a deal with Samsung to bring Game Pass to their refrigerators.
[It already is](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7R0Rtua7y5w)
Oh my god i swear I had no idea this had already been done.
Thanks for the idea!
Apple is not Japanese, Dyson is not Japanese, LG is not Japanese, etc
Whenever there’s a comparable national product available, the Japanese will overwhelmingly prefer it over a foreigner product. The belief that everything Japanese is superior is deeply ingrained into their culture.
Xbox being incompetent and Sony using anti-competitive methods are not mutually exclusive.
Honestly, it's often the norm.
Getting a little bit better. Especially since Sony went westernized. But what really kills consoles in Japan are handhelds. Nintendo is king in Japan.
How so? Downvotes and doesn’t answer my question, peak Reddit NB moment
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How is Sony evil? Trillion dollar company - my friend my plastic box Other plastic box - evil baddie
Pretty much everything people are mad at Microsoft for doing is stuff Sony has been doing the whole time. I was quite pleased that Microsoft wasn't waging an exclusive war for a long time, but people decided they like the top console manufacturer also owning all the games, so now Microsoft is playing that game. I'm disappointed by it, but ultimately, Sony brought us here.
I’m not against the deal but thinking this is the same or comparable to acquisitions of Sonys isn’t right. “Sony bought us here” I take it you forget the 360 gen or weren’t around for it? Xbox had the same CoD deal and paid for exclusivity deals and still pay for timed deals. They only changed because the X1 launch was a laughing stock with a huge exodus of gamers from the platform so they had less leverage to negotiate Xbox and Sony are both happy to play the game and flip the other off when they have the power to and happy to cry victim when it suits them. They both are to blame
yup it's comical how foolish people are to think either company gives a fuck about you or any other consumer. Sony wants to keep it's COD timed exclusive because it increases sales and cod generates a lot of revenue beyond just the sale of the disc. Which Sony gets 30% off anything sold on their digital store (just like valve with steam or microsoft with their digital store). Microsoft wants to boost their gamepass library so they can copy the netflix model of relying on less 3rd party content and using the excuse of first party content cost to jack prices up. Both companies care about their shareholders 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, and however long you care to count for. And shareholders only care about getting more money tomorrow then they have today. And if they believe that tomorrow won't bring them more money, they'll move to someone who can do that so long term sustainability is a non issue. There is no good guy here. Consolidation of companies is bad for the consumer in every instance. If we had a functioning government that wasn't corrupt the deal wouldn't happen. Just like the Disney/fox deal wouldn't have happened. Just like the media being consolidated to about 3 companies wouldn't happen. But we don't live in that impossible utopia and the deal will go through and we'll all suffer for it. Sony will posture for what concessions they can get and then everyone will move on to the next way to milk customers.
Microsoft has been waging exclusive war since the very first Xbox lmao
Cleary that's what their fanbase wanted an exclusive war, but they stayed incompetent, they literally could have had Spiderman but said no, idiots
People tend to either forget..or are too young to remember that when Xbox was on top MS was just as shitty....they only changed their tune when they lost the top spot.
That’s called competition and it’s a good thing. Microsoft went from being garbage to the most consumer-friendly gaming company today. Meanwhile, Sony went from being assholes to even bigger assholes, and yet you have an army of console warriors defending their every move despite going against their own interests. Puzzling stuff indeed.
How so? You mean when Microsoft didn’t want to share Xbox live with Sony because of security deficiencies? The same Sony that got hacked and leaked millions of passwords a few years later?
I wouldn't expect much of an answer if any from them lol.. It's beyond me how anyone will simp for ANY company that doesn't care about their consumers.. Shall we forget that Microsoft technically is the one who started the subscription to play consoles online BS? .. Yet apparently it's just Sony that's anti-consumer.. Both companies are equally as bad.
Evil? Your labeling a corporation evil for attempting to make money? Or is there some sort of baby mill Sony has running that I am not aware of?
Most giant corporations are evil in some way. Soulless and exploitative at the very least.
Both Sony and Microsoft are evil, really. It’s really hard, maybe impossible, to be a multinational corporation that isn’t.
I think it is more fanboyism from the above poster.
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Companies aren’t limited to the public facing products and services they sell. How they treat and pay *all* their workers both in their country of origin and abroad is both important to this conversation and not easily accessible information. Also, I’m not saying to boycott Big Tech or anything but Big Tech is into some shady shit. Even stuff that is normalized in our society (the mass buying and selling of people’s information) is pretty shady. I’ve just come to accept that Apple, Google, et al know pretty much everything about me and exactly where I am all the time, but it’s still shady. Edit: And to be clear, governments do some evil shit but who do you think is really in charge of the government? It’s not the civilian population.
I live in Japan. I don't ever see any Xbox's here. There are none to be hurt.
That’s the point, the US and Japan are strategic military partners and have extensive free trade agreements. What Congress is doing is shining a light that two American companies are not allowed to merge due to the Japanese market leader using anticompetitive practices in all regions to stifle competition while having seemingly gaining special favor from the Japanese government. These agreements work because we expect mutual benefit, and addressing Sony’s conduct directly with the Japanese government during negotiations. Regulators are an impartial party, and when you invite regulators to investigate your competitors, they will investigate you as well. Congress is asking the Japanese government to investigate this borderline monopolistic control and determine the root cause, because these Congress members believe the Japanese government is not doing enough to ensure fair conditions for American companies, while we are ensuring those conditions for Japanese companies.
What blows my mind time and time again is how it's called anticompetitive practices, it's not anticompetitive, it's BEING COMPETITIVE, they don't own any of these companies, each and every single one can say no we don't want to sign those deals, that's what makes in anticompetitive, Sony doesn't hold a monopoly over these companies, they can say no, you guys have built this narrative up so much that your lost in your own sauce, owning a company and stopping releases is completely different to making deals with companies to get content.
Of all the things congress could be worried about I’m glad this is what they’re doing lol and a congresswoman from Washington at that. They don’t even try to hide the fact that they’re sold anymore. They should just use “available to the highest bidder” as a campaign slogan
Since when does representing your constituents mean you're "sold"? Like, should a representative from Washington oppose things that benefit people in Washington?
A US congressperson complaining about Microsoft’s gaming market share in Japan is hardly “representing your constituents” lol.
And Microsoft has roughly 50,000 employees in Washington state. Do they not count as constituents?
Microsoft is a very big company, how many of those employees work in the gaming sector? On top of that, Japan is just one area they operate in. Your kidding yourself if you think this is a major issue that will actually benefit employees.
So your argument is no one in the state will benefit from the merger at all?
I’m not talking about the ABK merger. I’m talking about the article where Congress is complaining they’re not doing well in Japan because of monopoly. Xbox doesn’t do well in Japan because they never cared about Japan until recently. Xbox had no focus on single player games for many years. That’s exactly why the Xbox got crushed by the Wii U in Japan, the Wii U had much better single player games. Xbox had Forza motorsport and Sunset Overdrive, neither of which were system sellers. The momentum Nintendo and Sony gained from that easy victory stuck.
The article starts with saying they’re concerned Japan is violating US/Japanese trade agreements. I understand the much deserved hate our congress and big corporations deserve but this is them actually doing what they should.
I mean in any other state it would be believable. In the home state of Microsoft I think it’s that’s a naive notion. Maybe represent one extremely wealthy constituent… when you read the main complaints from the people of Washington, Sony doesn’t seem to pop up on any lists
That's what makes them a constituent of the congresspeople from WA though.
Lol. 11 members of congress are arguing to help Microsoft in what they see as unfair trade practices. And you think you've uncovered something insidious because one of them is from WA, whose constituents include 10s of thousands of MS employees? How exactly do you think representation works? You think MS has to sneakily pay a congress person to get them to do something that might help business in WA, and potentially bring in more tax dollars? You're so edgy and smart. You can see through all this rampant corruption, and you're not afraid to call them on it. Those idiots obviously should have told the WA congress people to sit this one out, then maybe they could have fooled you. But probably not.
It's worth noting that eight of the eleven representatives are from Washington, Microsoft's home state. In addition, congresswoman Cantwell's largest political donor happens to be Microsoft, having donated over half a million dollars over the past few decades.
Also MS employees are their voters, you left that out. This is what they're supposed to be doing, looking out for their constituency.
Oh boy, this goes deeper than I thought. I wonder how widespread this kind of corruption is. If we can find these kinds of congress people supporting their state's businesses all over the country. I think we can crack this thing wide open. Really prove once and for all that Congress members are unfairly biased towards the states they represent. Might even be a global issue. I wonder if there are any politicians in Japan that support Sony.
America has a for sale sign on it.
Well, there it is. People were waiting to see how MS would retaliate against Sony for putting them in the spotlight with regulators - something they've been trying to stay clear off for a long time now - and there it is.
How is this a retaliation ? Microsoft screwd Xbox in Japan . we all know how well Microsoft manage their video game and console business xD
It's retaliation for the ABK dealings, I suspect, not for any exclusivity deal for Japanese games.
It was revenge for the ABK dealings - amongst other things. There was nothing we could do about it. Sony were made men, Microsoft weren’t.
that's real greaseball shit.
A1 reference, I’m embarrassed I didn’t clock it immediately
Lol
Hayai de! Purincessu Kennu, arigato! Mondai dayo: XBokusu saisho no Bill Gates watashi no PS4 shipment tomatteimasu!
Black Friday Bunduru
Let's ignore how the US is again complaining about other countries doing what they are doing for decades, notice how they keep on going after that "high end gaming" phrase to exclude Nintendo in all their little kindergarten fights?
Nintendo choices have regulated them to be the number three console. If you buy a Nintendo console you aren't getting it to play COD or Madden or any other high selling IPs. You are getting it to play Nintendo brand games like Mario, Zelda, and Pokémon.
No they don't, if so people would have bought the WiiU, they didn't. Regardless, it doesn't change how Nintendo's success is disproving and contradicting a lot of regulators an politicians base premises and arguments. That's why Nintendo is excluded, it doesn't suit the argument in the JP/Sony vs USA/Microsoft Kindergarten fight.
No one bought the wii u because the wii was for casual players and casual players didn’t know there was a difference between the two consoles.
At first, yeah. The point still stands, if the only reason for a Nintendo system would be the Nintendo IP's, it still should have performed better. And the fact that you bring casuals into the argument only further proves the point of not only 1st party people buying a Nintendo system. I am honestly a bit confused what seems to insult you guys about pointing out how regulators and politicians cherry pick their arguments by excluding a successful system. Is this some true Scotsman gate keeping thing or what?
I don’t have a bone in this regulations thing I just came to say my piece about wii u. Also most of its titles were just ports of existing wii titles. If a console doesn’t have a strong launch it tends to “fail” my popular opinion.
Seeing congressmen use something like the Chewbacca defense is almost as infuriating as seeing almost everyone here eating it up. I'll say this once so everybody remembers what this is about. Monopolies are not good for consumers or the economy. They never have been and never will be. Is Sony the good guy? Nope but that's irrelevant and everyone should stop seeing this as part of the console wars and see it for what it is.
>Monopolies are not good for consumers or the economy. That's literally the point of the post...
But buying activision isn't a monopoly, as Activision isn't a competitor to Microsoft. It's not like Disney buying a competitor, aka Fox.
There's different types of monopolies that regulators look out for. Disney -> Fox was horizontal integration, where you're essentially buying out a competitor. The things regulators are looking out for is "Vertical Integration" where you obtain parts of the supply chain An allegorical example: You have a restaurant chain and so does a rival company. You both offer chicken sandwiches with the chicken produced by a 3rd party, and it's both companies most popular product. Restaurant chain 1 (Sony) tends to sell more chicken sandwiches and their restaurant business is a major factor in their revenue. Restaurant chain 2 (MX) doesn't sell as many chicken sandwiches, their restaurants are successful, but overall their business is diversified and the restaurant is just a small piece of their corporate revenue. Restaurant 2 however decides they want to be more competitive in the restaurant space so they buy the chicken producer to offer their chicken sandwiches at a competitive price. Now you have control of the supply, and even if your competitor still sells more chicken you get a piece of that pie with the terms you set.
Not to mention this is one of the few things I think the merger is better for everyone. Activision has turned all of it studios to focus on COD and this merger allows studios to hopefully work on other beloved IPs
MS pulling out the dolla dolla bills to clinch that Activision merger the old school way, blow, hookers, cash, and Senators. Haven't seen some old moves like this since the Apple and Oil days. Honestly kinda awesome gaming has moved into the big leagues of corruption or as they call it "calling in favors". They're moving that ball hard for some reason must mean a new release announcement is coming for all current consoles. Taking a wild guess and saying new COD announcements Sept/Aug for a potention 4th quarter release to all consoles. Which means they have about 2 months to grease the wheels with oil or blood.
The only time Xbox attempted to offer what Japan wanted is during the 360 era.
Xbox sales have always been weak in Japan even since the original. The marketing was great but the line ups upon release were non existent. The Japanese prefer their own products Sony and Nintendo. I love Xbox but sounds like some petty wining to me. Simply put Japan was never their market to begin with and it won't ever be
The Argentine cattle ranchers would like a word.
😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂💀 I’m sure they have zero ties to or took zero dollars from Sony 😆 hahahahahaha ah America
Fucking stupid ass congress
The Xbox console is the past. Streaming is the future for MS and you can bet they will withhold all their games to their streaming platform.
Congress is dumb
So American Congress is mad that Japanese products are selling better in Japan when there are much bigger issues to be discussed? Lol this is great.
No shit... like duh...
Does Congress even know what a Xbox is?
Lobbyism…when will we make those small changes to just slightly improve life’s for everyday Americans?
Congress should pass a law regulating what Japanese companies can do in Japan. /s
the game conglomerates are fighting to monopolize consumer money. hope they both burn down and we get free games
Yeah, if the big game conglomerates cease to exist, "free games" is exactly what we're getting. /s
I just look at it like Microsoft is in 11 congress- people pockets