E3 was just a reflection of Xbox's decline since 2010. Microsoft has had an obsession with selling Xbox as a service like they do Windows, and even Windows isn't doing that great.
@@sammiches6859 EXACTLY. people have simply forgotten the way that the Xbox 360 ended its run, because of management's obsession with their stupid gimmick toy camera. Xbox 360 had five 'good' years, and i put in scarequotes because all five of those years, there was no 360 design that didn't self-destruct. so even at their best, they were selling defective hardware. AT THEIR BEST. and that interval began in 2005 and ended promptly in 2010
@@WeeWeeJumbo The original Kinect for the 360 was a big success , no matter how much this fact may trigger some people in the fanbase it's the simple truth, it sold over 25 million units, easily the best selling add on for a console of all time ( it surpassed the Sega CD the previous best selling add on ). What Microsoft failed to understand was that by 2013 casuals that loved stuff like the Wii and the Kinect were all playing games on they're phones now , forcing people that just wanted to buy the Xbox One to also buy the new Kinect whether they wanted to or not was the real mistake.
That's what happens when a company does not listen and decides it's a good idea to take a massive dump on their customers. I went back to them after a while because I liked the One S and their policies at the time but many people just forgot about them and it solidified Sony's position.
It was the games and other things they did w xbox live arcade and such. Just felt they cared more and wanted to try. 1v100, the avatars, and even if got the greatest Kinect too.
I can't get over how badly microsoft fell off after the xbox 360. They completely squandered the position they were in trying to chase their digital only dystopia.
It’s stuff like this why people (myself included) are giving up on their consoles, and why some are even giving up on the brand altogether. The spencer interview during the redfall incident last year is the straw that broke the camel’s back for me personally. It’s clear they have no interest in making games unless they make grand slam dollars - they only have an interest in being a publisher and a platform holder. The future of xbox will definitely be in 3rd party, pc gaming, and cloud gaming. Their consoles maybe have one or two generations left most likely.
I don’t disagree with anything you said…. And yet, I still prefer it to PlayStation. I have a lot of reasons for that but I just hate ps look and feel.
@@leeartlee915 The cool thing is that we can all like what-we-like... and we do not have to explain why we feel that way. It's your free time, your money you spent on the console, and your money you earn that you spend on whatever games you like. That holy union of man and video-game... *sniff* it should never be questioned. Only celebrated. ❤
@@mr.selfimprovement3241 I was mainly addressing his statement about “giving up on consoles”. Like you said, there’s beauty in video games. It just makes me sad when I hear people are giving up on it. For example, Adam talks ALL THE TIME about how he is done with console games the moment you can’t buy physical. Now, is that someone who loves video games or someone who loves collecting video games? Because they are two, distinct, things.
@@leeartlee915 Very true my friend. I actually feel the same way about some people in the hardcore physical crowd. I've got one foot in each camp as someone with my old hardware, but also plays a lot on PC (steam). But it's their choice, and I respect that. Luckily for you and me, we get to decide if we find enjoyment in the digital landscape or bow out. For me, I feel like we are going back to the days when most people did not own their games. We went to a store and rented them, had a wonderful experience and then moved on. That's a tough sell for a lot of people who did not grow up that way, or who are attached to the collectors angle of our hobby. I don't think they are wrong at all - but I realize that I either fall on that hill with them, or find my own path in the new landscape. And I've chosen my love of video games over my love of physical ownership.... ofcourse, at the same time I no longer pay full price for ANYTHING (and I'm buy way less games). But again: it's people personal choice. We don't have to understand it - just respect it.
@@leeartlee915 I agree and feel the same way: but we have to respect their choice. Luckily, you and I get to decide whether we bow out like them, or carry on in the new landscape. As a kid who grew up never owning my games until I was a teenager, renting titles every single weekend for a few bucks, experiencing them, and then moving on.... it feels like we are heading back to that era. Some guys just can't separate the game/experience, from the physical medium it's printed/shipped on. And that's cool - I just know that if you and I don't accept the digital landscape, then we will be forced to bow out too. You either adapt or be left behind. It's not like my old games or hardware are going anywhere.
Another thing MS did wrong with the Xbox One was only releasing it in a few select markets which meant that for a year gamers in my country couldn't buy an Xbox. No wonder Playstation has remained market dominant since then!
top three things that'll kill xbox.. 1. Play Anywhere 2. Over reliance on game pass 3. Needlessly buying every studio All of this was all so painfully predictable, its ridiculous.
Become Disney, take on the problems of being Disney. Yeah that checks out. You have the monopoly, now what do you actually do with it? How do you manage it?
Also not utilizing those IPs they bought is another issue. Those people got Blue Dragon and Lost Odyssey and to this day did not make a franchise out of any of those.
The first two would be amplifiers if they had decent exclusives. The reason buying every studio and publisher was needless is because they're too chicken to throw some money in. They see the profits of Tencent and they want the same quick turnaround and recurring flow of cash. They want all the profits of those big titles and none of the overhead.
@@Peak_AussiemanThe problem is their shareholders want money coming in like the rest of Microsoft and similar to Tencent. It would be easy to exploit all of their IPs, but they don't want to put in hundreds of millions of dollars after Starfield and others. Because the people running the show are used to making money from business, they have no idea how to make money from entertainment like Sony and Nintendo. If they were like Sony, and found some talent to throw some money at in exchange for good exclusives and little overhead, they'd probably sell more Game Pass and Xbox.
As an Xbox fan for years I think this is one the most unfortunate times to be around. The problem I think is like a multi-headed hydra. The times during Covid convinced a lot of developers that they can finally push for a world without physical media. The problem is that not everyone (including myself) wants this and due to some areas with terrible bandwidth it’s also not feasible for everyone. Also without actual games and an incentive who the hell would want the system? The lack of exclusives for someone like myself makes it hard to go all in when I know I can find stuff in other places. I don’t want game pass and it sounds like a lot of people don’t want it either. It’s unfortunate though because Xbox has so much going for it and by some of the dumb decisions it makes it hurts them. Let’s hope they can get back to games and not this mixed messaging. I sure do miss the 360 days
Sounds like they're back to their old ways of not prioritizing exclusives and unique games to keep the xbox console interesting in the name of profits. I personally don't use game pass because my game library is better than it and I want to own my games physically. Things were looking up for exclusive games with the new studios but now it sounds like a step backwards.
@@nickm5419. In my opinion, better than the Xbox one, let's face it, the first 2 Xbox consoles were great, after that, not so much, well I don't know about the series x because I don't have one and have no plans on getting one, I'd say the Xbox 360 era was the last best generation of video games
Adam, I swear NOBODY on this site, not even gaming historian channels can entertain me as much as you do when talking video game history. There's something about seeing someone so in love with their passion and explaining it that makes it even more fascinating.
The Kinect was a huge success initially, just not long term. The 360 suffered in it's last years because they put too much focus on it and it let the PS3 outsell it. Then the forced kinect concept with Xbox one killed it off for good. People were officially over it because of that lol
The Console market is not growing. It peaked in 2007. PC and mobile are much bigger and are still growing. 16+ million PS5s are not turned on despite the alleged Console sold. Did Sony scalp their own Consoles? A Japanese business analyst stated that Sony is inflating the number of Console sold, and that many PS5s are hibernating in warehouses in Japan. This doesn't help Square Enix to sell more copies of Final Fantasy
@@startrafficklol i have relatives in Japan and they said PS5s is kinda selling well there so most of these stories is crap plus the FF7 Rebirth sales is doing well for an exclusive game but for Square’s its not also console market didnt peak in 07 when PS4 and Switch sold 200mil units plus 50mil units from PS5 recently lol
*laughs in PC gaming, never having touched a video game console in years* Also imo controllers are worse than keyboard and mouse, except for very niche genres of games.
@@Freak80MC xbox controllers are great on PC. I got the series elite X and I really like the textures they put on all of it. Microsoft should focus more on PC accessories
On a side note, I think the mic feels too "professional" when I've always appreciated your channel as being informal and just having a natural conversation. The mic makes it feel like a podcast instead of just chatting. I honestly prefer the sound of the audio the other way too. It sounded more natural and less filtered. The audio quality from the mic is good and all but again, it makes it sound like a podcast or radio show.
E3 2013 was something that they never really recovered from and a generation later, now I just question why Xbox isn't third-party already. And I didn't know this, but maybe it's a blessing in disguise that an American company can't buy a foreign company seeing the recent closure of Tango. Not to mention, Microsoft's history with buying companies and screwing them over years later.
I disagree, they never recovered from *_Don Mattrick._* Before E3 2013, Xbox 360 had gone from a massive lead that had lasted the majority of the generation... to Microsoft pushing the Kinect hardware, crappy software, a horrible redesign of their dashboard pushing television and movies! In that short time, Sony's previously meandering PS3 hardware began to erupted in sales, and exclusive releases from Naughty Dog and Insomniac leveled the base by the time E3 2013 even was announced. The fact is that in 2013, the XBOX 360's sales has slowed to a crawl, while Sony was still actively growing past their install base. The writing was on the wall, and they had already lost the next generation by the time Don Mattrick uttered those famous words: _"We have a product for those people [who don't want always online]... it's called XBOX 360!"_ People forget this, and the only reason I am as aware of this myself - is that during that time I was working as a editor at FUTURE publishing (Diff Davis Prior) for PlayStation: The Official Magazine, and we were charting the sales internally from our sister publication Official Xbox Magazine. E3 2013 was just a physical manifestation of the companies ethos at that time. It was a giant presentation, kiosks, and interviews from management - all plastering for the world to see, what the culture within XBOX had become. It let people know that under Don Mattrick, the Kinect, apps and multimedia integration was just the first step in a big shift towards your cable box.
@@mr.selfimprovement3241 I hear you. I still can't comprehend why Don thought screwing over fans (or at least trying to screw them over) with those restrictions was going to go over smoothly and then on top of that, doubling down when folks had problems with their "game" machine. It doesn't really help much that not too long afterwards, he literally left Microsoft. "I made a mess that I don't want to clean up... see-ya."
That was more than 10 years ago. Spencer has had enough time to recover. Nintendo did it twice after Gamecube and Wii. It’s time to stop blaming Mattrick.
@nsgames24 He thought they could make money like they did with Windows (and ironically that has been in decline since 8 as well) while copying Sony's success with multimedia features. I seriously doubt they did any market research before structuring the console that way.
AAHAHAHAHAA! YES! The Sega Saturn actually mattered to a company! The Sega Saturn is capable of playing optical media such as games and VCDs with an Mpeg card, Floppy Disks in Japan, and even a rudimentary printer that can take Composite images of your gameplay... You could already make content from your Saturn 10 years before TH-cam's very existence.
Have to say, Xbox kinda lost me when all the stuff happened with the Xbox One in 2013. Even when they improved a lot, they never came back for me. Went over to the PS4 and Nintendo and never really felt like I am missing something. They tried so hard back in the day with the OG Xbox and the 360 to fill the gap Sega left, but man they dropped the ball afterwards. No exclusives and so on... I think a lot player went the same way I did and will never return because of it
@@jerryk3280 Or maybe a lot of folks just didn't want that at the time. It's not a matter of "folks not being ready". It's just nowadays people are more accepting when tech companies take away features it seems. Everyone saw this coming.
The sound is better for sure (which is nice for podcasts or for folks who listen to you w/o the video) but the mic's setup affects the free form "coffee talk" style your videos were so great at. I'd invest in a high end air mic, expensive but thats prob the middle man there. Also XBOX is desperate, and the CoD news reflects that today
You do make a good point that game streaming isn't panning out for them financially. It's clear that a lot of corporations have looked at Netflix and other streaming services and thought it was a killer business plan, but it's also a plan that isn't necessarily working for Netflix.
Xbox used to be very focused on the quality and comfort in the 360. The concave triggers on the controller, the stellar Xbox live gold party system, the wireless steering wheel, backlit chat pad, achievements and wireless earpiece. If it hadn’t been for the RoD fiasco they would have dominated the generation. Nowadays they are using the same basic controller design 18 years later without having any really features or gimmicks to separate from the competition, allowing Nintendo and Sony to catch up with arguably better and more fully featured controllers and consoles. It’s almost as if the Kinect embarrassed them so much, that they are afraid to design anything that looks different from a fridge or a vcr. Xbox acts like people will just buy their consoles but never has an answer for why they should other than BC, gamepass, and free cloud save data. People used to prefer 360 games because the controller was comfy and you could achievement hunt. Now there’s really no reason to buy an Xbox game over PS5.
Excellent video discussion that summarizes a big chunk of why I choose to play everywhere but Xbox. The brand and strategy needs to be completely reworked, but it’s hard to imagine how feasible or likely that is with much the brand already is invested with things like Act/Bli and the game pass model.
It’s sad when you look back to what the original Xbox was all about. And also people don’t seem to understand how big and important halo was/is. If halo dies so does Xbox and that’s pretty much what is happening.
I was listening to you in the background, and your voice sounds very similar to Destin's, I thought it WAS Destin Legarie for a second. Also similar amount of wisdom concerning the industry. You make good videos, thank you.
@@AdamKoralik You don't sound like that guy. lol. Mraltoid just need to turn up the volume or get new speakers. Adam, you sound like the _figureitout_ guy, and that's the only person they should ever claim you sound like! Also Pissed off Mickey Mouse sometimes. But these kids will never know.
Even though I've been an Xbox fan since 2001, it really stinks that they bought some of my favorite AA developers like Arkane, Double Fine, inXile, Obsidian, Ninja Theory, Tango, etc. Phil assured developers that this time would be different, they even put out videos assuring fans around the time of the acquisitions (I distinctly remember one from Double Fine), but it was only different then because they needed smaller, less expensive content for Game Pass. Now that Game Pass hasn't panned out and they're going back to the blockbuster AAA model, these developers are on borrowed time. This is just as bad as Embracer's acquisitions and I hope Microsoft gets the same treatment from the press. Arkane Austin and Tango Gameworks are just the first dominos to fall. This is the same Microsoft that shut down FASA (Crimson Skies: High Road to Revenge), Lionhead (Fable), etc. Hopefully they'll at least give some of these studios the option to get out before shuttering them like they did with Toys for Bob.
They let Toys for Bob become independent. Not really the same as shutting down studios. That said, the entire industry is going through this shift, because the ROI on games isn't there for most games. The free to play model makes more money than the majority of big AAA budget games.
Its all really simple. The thing about Xbox is that it basically puts 0 effort into carving out a identity or a place on the market. Its not like the console or the games necessarily suck but they are simply not the best option in any way that actually matters. Is it the best place for multiplats like the 360 was? No, not really. Does it have a huge lineup of exclusives? Absolutely not. Does it offer the best online/services? Again, not really. Is it the cheapest? Maybe, but only if you normally buy one or two games per year. Compare that to the PS3 that despite its many shortcomings at least it could answer confidently yes to some of those questions. Xbox just sort of is there and while its not doing anything terrible its also not doing anything great. Thus Nintendo and Sony easily overshadow it even if the actual difference isn't great, its still enough to pull people away from the xbox brand.
I like your idea for gamepass. But I think I would take it a tiny step further. The amazon prime model sounds good, but they could treat it as "if you pay for gamepass you can have this new game release at a discounted price". I think they screwed up at including too many on the service. It would still come down to the fact digital "ownership" is not ownership. IDK, we'll see what they end up doing
Their gaming revenue is basically on par with Windows. So the perfect combination would be the current and any future versions of Windows running on Xbox. Effectively turning Xbox into a mid - high range PC. With native keyboard and mouse support. Which also makes Xbox an open and consumer friendly platform.
I guess I understood their plans more than the crybaby children who wined at the xbox one launch but I was looking forward to many things they had planned, like family game sharing on digital titles
Xbox needs to rebrand to gamers and utilize their incredible backlog, and developers, like Rare, and Japanese games. Good insight on Japanese law, I didn’t know there we’re against buying companies in Japan, however if they owned Sega, and revived them that would be amazing, however I don’t trust they can do that anymore unfortunately
Same, has all the negatives of digital distribution plus more. I can't stand seeing people always being "Should've been on Gamepass Day one". Well look happening now that your games aren't getting made because you are lazy and cheap!
@@AdamKoralik I remember when even apple was trying to get into the console thing. For a while there it really did seem like PC's where just though of as expensive word processors - with the real graphic intensive innovations being made in dedicated platforms. I think that is actually the well were Graphics cards sprung up. Initially, massive 'add-in' graphics processor cards where themselves tiny game consoles... even Sega bothered to produce a bunch of Genesis-on-a-board, Saturn-on-a-board, dreamcast-on-a-board cards. I still remember all the news from japan leading up to the PS2's launch of Ken Kutaragi calming their new console was the most power super computer on the planet, and that they were in talks to sell them to NASA and the Japanese government for weapons defense systems (to replace those boring ol' IBM super computers). lol. I miss Ken.
For me I noticed that PC was outdoing consoles around 1997. I’m console through and through but during the PS1 era I was gaming between my Mega Drive and the family PC. The PC could do everything the PS1 could do and more. Games like the X-wing series were phenomenal 3D space sims, with CD quality music and full voice acting. However, what put me off ever just going PC only was the speed and convenience of consoles like the N64 (4 player local coop after school with friends was brilliant) and the fact that so much could ‘go wrong’ with compatibility issues on PC. Consoles didn’t suffer from that.
Dude, when I heard about Y2K, I was 10 years old. I thought all our computers in the house were like going to shut down, so I started changing all the clocks on our family PC and my old DOS laptop to the year 1984. lmao.
Maybe it was unique to where I lived but as a kid in the early 90s, most people I knew did have a PC and we played lots of games on them. DOS games were graphically superior and the different sound cards added to this because you got different sounding music depending on the card you had. Opl 3 vs general midi as well as creative Labs, gravis, ensoniq etc: great times
It's not unique to you. It was completely normal to have a family PC in an average middle class family in the US or Western Europe by the 90's. Before the IBM compatibles became dominant by the mid-90's "home computers"/micros (C64, ZX Spectrum, MSX, Amstrad CPC 464, Atari St, Amiga etc.) were also very popular, especially in Europe. They were arguably even more geared towards gaming than the typical 90's "family PC", at the same time the so-called "video game crash" of the mid 80's happened in the US. Gaming on all kinds of computers has just as much history as gaming on consoles, or even gaming in the arcades for that matter. The console/micro divide was ironically less clear cut in the 80's: both were similarly affordable on balance for example (e.g. a bit more expensive hardware but cheaper software for micros). But all of this is something Koralik often glosses over because it doesn't fit his narrative or it's not concretely based on his own experience. I've watched this channel for the better part of a decade and let me tell you that this guy is notorious for talking out of his ass. He makes bold assertions with hardly any reference to actual evidence and pontificates over-confidently about things he has the same Wikipedia-tier cursory understanding of as any of us do. It would be fine as entertainment if it wasn't so grating at the same time. The whole story of "Don Matrick and co." in Japan in this video is another good example. Do you seriously think they just walked into a "show and tell" with no prior idea about what games were selling in that market and were horrified of Cave shooters (the gold standard of bullet hell) and Idol Master? I'm also skeptical about the "Microsoft is afraid consoles will take over the PC" narrative. Since we're in Anecdote Central on this channel I can share my own; I was reading magazines around 2000 where the PS2 was marketed as an "entertainment catalyst" for the living room, i.e. a games, DVD and music player fitting for the entertainment center. PCs, as we know, were always sold as the productivity option first, the "home office" machines that sit on a desk next to the printer, but also do other things like gaming, and other hobbyist activities. Mice on consoles were typically for specific genres originating on PC that benefit from that type of input like dating sims, adventure games, visual novels, FPSes and Mario Paint. Keyboards on the DC, PS2 and GC were there basically to accommodate online multiplayer, MMOs and light browsing (lest we forget Typing of the Dead). It's more likely Microsoft wanted a slice of the gaming industry pie and saw it as a market with big growth potential (which it definitely was).
What's odd is my OG, 360, One and X all work fine. I had 2 PS4s end up as jet engines due to thermal paste/heating issues. That's actually part of what helped me decide on the X vs PS5, my personal pains with the PS4. That being said, my PS2 works great all these years later. Loads REALLY SLOW but it's from the launch, I can't even remember how long ago that was 😂
@@ps5professional hmmm... Maybe it's because I'm playing almost entirely digitally. Do you watch a lot of movies or...? Only asking because I thought the laser was pretty much doing nothing outside of installing and authenticating the disc. I could be 100% wrong about that... It's just that all the disc ever seems to do is allow me to play, feels like it sits idle otherwise 🤔
I find it a little humorous that XBOX shut down the the Japanese games that were being made. I was a PS guy and the only reason I got a 360 was because of all the shmups on it. And when I got my newest console in November of '23, it was a PS4 (I'm a late adopter). Again I only got it because of all the shmups I was seeing for it. I know that I'm not their primary demogaph, but that's why I'm not terribly concerned with modern game consoles. But I still love listening to your thoughts on the industry, it's interesting to see what it's doing and where it's going, but I've got over 40 years of games to enjoy so I don't have any personal stake in what happens.
Xbox/PS2/Gamecube/GBA to 360/PS3/Wii/DS/PSP era were the greatest era of gaming for all platforms, now, its not as exiting or varied anymore. Main platform is now PC for everything and Nintendo system for the exclusives.
Thank you for breaking it down for us. Because the higher ups in Microsoft only speak in codes. Your Explanation of the madness that Microsoft has created .has been very motivational to Us , the consumer of Xbox users . I agree to , Microsoft is trying to buy time , to figure out whats next for them first , before We the consumer know it by 2nd hand . Im glad i subscribed to your channel. You broke down this madness way much easier then what Microsoft has done. I thank you personally for having a good You tube channel that has a purpose to guide gamers , in the right direction. ❤🐒
So glad the mic will be gone exept for rare occasions and covering up the light when you do have to use it.😌 Nice compromise, i think you did a good job at meeting people half way!
IMHO I don't think the Xbox saved PC gaming. There were so many amazing and iconic PC games in the 90's that there was no way PC gamers, NVidia, AMD, Intel, and (probably most importantly) Valve, would have ever left the platform to die. I do think some at MS saw $$$ and didn't want to lose out on the console market, as other MS execs wanted nothing to do with, and wanted to shutdown the Xbox division.
I love my series X. I use it WAY more than my ps5. There’s a few reasons for it but the main one is I much prefer the controller…. And the OS…. And just how software is organized on it.
@@Pedro_The_Necowill those physical games need some kind of server validation in the future? I thought the console itself literally needs to connect to the Internet to initialize?
360/PS3 was the last great console generation, the last few gens have been disappointing. I barely play on my series x & when I do I use it for its backwards compatibility. it will be my last xbox, although I think xbox will be reduced to an icon on the windows 11 desktop. I mainly use Steam on Linux & it works great.
I'm genuinely surprised someone else here also uses Linux and Steam. Don't get me wrong, I still have retro consoles- but I sold everything newer than the Xbox One and really have not looked back except for the crazy prices computer parts were at.
Yep. In my mind I've told myself I'm happy with the systems and games i currently own. I dont see the newer stuff as better than what I own. And I'm a working adult so I cam buy whatever I want.
@@FritzTheWolf I got sick of windoze nonsense years ago & the thought of my operating system data mining me creeped me out. Best thing I did was drop windows.
@@lee5111 Right I think everyone hates the practices done by big companies. The way I see it is everything that the average consumer would purchase does all this, so what I think most people have done is kind of just accepted this is how it is. Granted the available ways of bypassing all this can in some ways sacrifice convenience. My speculation is that we'll evolve from an era of convenience to a time where everyone's holding companies more accountable. Not sure how long it'll take, but I'm doing my part by getting a PinePhone and daily driving Linux on everything.
I was talking to one of my friends here in Japan recently and found out he bought the 360 way back when. I was totally shocked (he's the only person I've met who had the 360) but he was really into SHMUPS back in the day. Well, he ended up selling it eventually because he got tired of having to buy games online for it - he felt left out going to retail stores and seeing mountains of Nintendo and PlayStation stuff and then a tiny corner of 360 games - if he was lucky. Of course, he never looked back. The Xbox One and Series X were heaps worse than that even when it came to physical stuff. I still can't fathom how come Miscrosoft was so out of touch and couldn't realize how important retail space mattered here.
Similar situation in my part of the world nowadays: you'll see shelves after shelves of PlayStation and Nintendo games - and maybe a shelf or two for Xbox titles - at most.
Hopefully, when the Next Generation comes out, it might be better than this current generation, although who really knows it's just that I really want to make Xbox great again to overtop PlayStation which is something I want.😥
Na they are adding Call of Duty to game Pass straight. They will just raise the Game Pass Ultimate Pricing. They will also most likely add a new tier. The next system will be a PC hybrid like the PC handhelds and they will have a handheld too (allegedly)
It's amazing how one sentence can kill an entire brand, that makes me wonder if Xbox would've been better off going the PS3 route and actually trying everything to recover the brand, or if they should've just abandoned the console market completely and went to a 3rd party publisher, at this point I mainly want them around so Sony and Nintendo don't have total monopolies, but it's hard to say what could've happened had things played out differently
Microsoft should continue making great xbox controllers, PCs, and throw their games on steam and take the sega approach. You wouldn't have to pay for game pass anymore.
I think you are 100% on the money in this one, MS has always been a Software house, Xbox should just be a platform and they should let others do the hardware if they want to (like a Steam Deck style thing).
Speaking personally, I haven't bought an Xbox since the 360. That was a great console honestly, even despite the RROD issue - I have about 250 physical games for mine. If they had dropped all the dumb policies and just iterated on that and said "we're gonna do a 360 but twice as powerful and more reliable", the Xbox One wouldn't have turned into the complete disaster it was. I remember watching all the outrage when they first revealed it and it stopped me buying one. I do own a PS4 and a Switch though, and I will likely be buying a PS5 soon and Switch 2 at some point.
You forgot Candy Crush/Mobile aspect of the Activision deal. I don't think Microsoft is going to make any drastic changes to Game Pass until at least a year after the big Activision/Blizzard and Bethesda games launch into the service. If the service doesn't see substantial growth from games like COD being there day one then they will make some big changes. I think brining their older franchises to PS5 and Switch is their partial solution to help offset the cannibalization of their game sales. That's also why big games like COD, Diablo, and Minecraft will remain multiplatform, because they'll make their money off the other platforms will having them as a potential draw to Game Pass. It's really a win win, because they'll either get massive sales or an influx of Game Pass subscribers.
Strange that this wasn't mentioned. Per court docs Satya had his bonus tied into Game Pass sub increases. After missing 2 years on bonuses, Satya untied his bonus from it. To me that was huge indicator that a shift was coming.
As a long Xbox fan and someone who mainly plays and buys games only on Xbox i am serious concerned and confused about the future of the brand. I am not against Ms pushing for 3 party i don’t mind people on other systems playing Xbox/Ms games….however i know that we on Xbox will never get PlayStation or Nintendo exclusives like ever. Whit this being said over a period of say 5-6 years when sales of xbox continue to fall will they continue to support it and make xbox consoles? I am not a fan of cloud gaming and i never will be i am sorry. Pc on the hand is not for me i like console experience and if that dies(which i don’t think it will) i will stop gaming like i am getting older anyway Thanks for video man i have been following for years keep it up
Not sure about the Japanese law thing. Microsoft tried to buy Sega in the late 90s, but they turned down the offer according to Sega. So Microsoft wouldn't do that if the law prevented them.
The industy insiders basically said that xbox was such a small part of Microsoft's portfolio , the higher ups didnt care much about their financials and they had lots of autonomy. Now the acquisitions mean xbox is huge , so theyre under more scrutiny to make cutbacks. I agree with the changing model. I expect game pass to be less generous in the future (more games , higher prices, more tiers).
I'm enjoying my X. It's great for BC and multiplats. Huge library plus Gamepass, never manage to clear out my backlog. I'm happy but I get why many aren't. I do have to hop over to the computer whenever I want to spread managed democracy. That's a legit bummer. We also got our first PC in 92, because my sister needed it for college. We were one of the only familys in our neighborhood with one.
I built a computer a few weeks back for one reason and one reason only, I was getting fed up with my Series S, and ill tell you why. Basically ever since a good few months back whenever I tried joining a friends online party to chat with them, it would show me connecting to the party, while everyone else was connected and perfectly fine, then it kicks me out the party. Whats weird is that its just my Xbox that had that issue, if I joined my phone or my laptop, it works fine, but the second I leave the party and join on my Xbox, it has the problem again. It got to the point where I basclically had to hard reset my Xbox, plug it out. Reset my internet, plug back in my Xbox and turn it on, then connect to the wifi, and it worked for a good bit, then it had the issue. I don't know if its my internet or my Xbox is somehow defective, but I got so fed up with it I built my own computer for around $500-$550, and honestly it was the best thing I could've done.
Gamplaywise videogames peaked during the DC/PS2/GCN/XBox era. There still isnt any game that plays as good as Ninja Gaiden for the original XBOX. Modern single player games are more like movies. and many of them are full of bullshit that does not improve the gameplay. no xbox next gen? Couldn't care less. consoles died when they became just average pcs during the xbox one and PS4 era. cannot tell you how I miss the old ps1, n64, dreamcast days when every company had an different approach and every hardware felt unique. So glad that I was a gamer during that era.
As soon as they announced the Xbox One as an entertainment system with Online DRM, That's the day Xbox truly died. I mean they're better off as a Publisher. Because all our current Xbox purchases will one day be inaccessible. They don't care about preservation, or let alone Physical media. Gamepass is their main focus. And I expect more games to come to Playstation and the upcoming Switch.
i really like my series x for the simple fact i can play my original xbox and 360 games but i recently found out if my console hasn't been online for quite some time i'm unable to launch my backwards compatible games that i "own" (granted i own the phsyical copies but the series x plays an emulated build). this really bummed me out and made me somehow regret purchasing the series x because it is not future proof in that regard once the xbox servers are down.
I also gotta say, as others are saying in the comments: I LOVE Game Pass for PC. Just about no reason to own an Xbox console; just an Xbox controller and my PC that I already have. I'm constantly finding new fun indy games, just as well as bigger titles, every week, that I never would've have purchased or played otherwise. Such a fantastic service for me personally
I'm still waiting to buy Xbox Series X once they drop to $200 or $250 with games! The One X is probably a year away from being found at Goodwill's and thrift shops.
Fun Fact : Sega is actually an American Company that got moved to Japan!!! So when people say the "Japanese Gaming Giants" Nintendo, Sony, Capcom, Konami, etc., etc. they also Wrap in Sega with all them, but Sega is that one guy wearing a Disguise the BIG Glasses & Fake Mustache Disguise; kinda like in Movies where they're chasing them. "Hey did you see where that guy went?" "Yeah he went that way!" "Lets get him!"
Funny that Sega and Sony walk opposite path now. While Sega is actually an American Gaming company that got moved to Japan, Sony Interactive Entertainment is a Japanese Gaming company that got moved to America.
great video. I had known about MS first attempt at a console with the MSX computer in Japan and thought the company was ONLY worried about losing it's gaming market to the consoles and Apple (original publisher of Halo). I never considered the bigger picture of consoles becoming more like computers and, eventually, becoming the dominant platform.
I think I remember you taalking about some of this stuff ten years ago when I first discovered your channel! I bought a Series X last blackfriday for a great price and bought one game for it just to play something on it intending to eventually get game pass but as time goes on Microsoft hasn't really done anything to get me excited to get gamepass and I've ended up using it mostly for 4K blurays (I should have just got a standalone 4K player for much less and better quality playback tbh). Some one speculated they might eventually allow steam on the Xbox which would be cool and give me a reason to game on it but honestly I think that's highly unlikely to happen.
I know people love to hate on Xbox and game pass with it but for someone like me who can’t get in front of his main tv most of the time, playing games via cloud on my iPad has completely changed my gaming habits. So there are things MS is doing that are really cool. I know they’ve also been making a lot of mistakes but it’s not like they have been failing 100% of the time. At least imo.
For me charging for live was a deal breaker. Xbox/360 both required it when Sony and Nintendo didn't. Now we're stuck with it for all consoles. Unlike Adam I do play online quite a bit and this practice has moved me to pc.
It’s sad that the gaming industry is going through way it is altogether. I do not want a world where everything is digital and you don’t have any way to play without internet. I have great fast internet but it still takes hours sometimes just to download an update that the console did not update automatically like it was suppose to and then I don’t get to play with any friends for upwards of 30 min or more. I miss the old days of gaming.
I prefer without the mic to be honest. For me it sounds a little off compared with the old setting. Glad you are going back for the most part. Always enjoy and with interest listening to your strategy and business history and possibly company stories. Always very realistic and not far off what happened eventually. Me as a PlayStation gamer dislikes the PS+, Gamepass and other subscriptions. In my opinion it's hurting the game market. Hi-fi Rush is definitely a game i'm gonna buy when the PS5 Pro comes out. A new game I.P. that really surprised me. Too bad the studio closed just after the PS5 version was released. Definitely not deserved. Not surprised about it. Not the first time Microsoft is screwing over with Game series and studios.
as an xbox fan game pass is good but if it causes damage to developers and causes situations like this i'd prefer for xbox to disappear and just become a publisher with the studios they bought instead of trying to push a subscription service that will never live to their expectations and continue to kill studios.
Thanks for the history lesson Adam. And thank you for the video. As for my thoughts, well... I honestly think you're right in terms of the Amazon Prime model. But I also think that Microsoft is going to turn Xbox into a PURE streaming service. That is to say everything streamed to you from the Cloud, no downloads, local installs. Just stream to your device (PC, Phone/Tablet, TV, etc, etc...). Scares me honestley, but I think that's where Microsoft is headed.
Definitely keep the mic. Who cares about it being in the shot, it's just a wall behind. In an untreated room, you get a lot of room echo when recording from far away, like all your previous videos. With a dynamic mic like this you almost get none of it. Stick the cable to the arm with some velcro or tape and it's all good.
Oh, and FYI: Last year Japan eased regulations surrounding mergers and acquisitions -- including acquisitions by foreign companies -- so while Sony, Nintendo, Square Enix, Capcom, etc. are unlikely to be acquired by a foreign entity, it's not as "impossible" as you've suggested. Reuters published an article on 08/31/2023 titled "Japan releases new M&A guidelines to promote takeovers, consolidation" that reports on these changes and contains links with further information, if you're interested.
The ghost of E3 2013 still looms over xbox.
E3 was just a reflection of Xbox's decline since 2010. Microsoft has had an obsession with selling Xbox as a service like they do Windows, and even Windows isn't doing that great.
@@sammiches6859 EXACTLY. people have simply forgotten the way that the Xbox 360 ended its run, because of management's obsession with their stupid gimmick toy camera. Xbox 360 had five 'good' years, and i put in scarequotes because all five of those years, there was no 360 design that didn't self-destruct.
so even at their best, they were selling defective hardware. AT THEIR BEST. and that interval began in 2005 and ended promptly in 2010
@@WeeWeeJumbo The original Kinect for the 360 was a big success , no matter how much this fact may trigger some people in the fanbase it's the simple truth, it sold over 25 million units, easily the best selling add on for a console of all time ( it surpassed the Sega CD the previous best selling add on ).
What Microsoft failed to understand was that by 2013 casuals that loved stuff like the Wii and the Kinect were all playing games on they're phones now , forcing people that just wanted to buy the Xbox One to also buy the new Kinect whether they wanted to or not was the real mistake.
T.V!!!!
That's what happens when a company does not listen and decides it's a good idea to take a massive dump on their customers. I went back to them after a while because I liked the One S and their policies at the time but many people just forgot about them and it solidified Sony's position.
Microsoft needs to "Figure it out!"
SO does Sony
Why do you think they don't have a plan?
Their path forward is a path forward of some kind, and I hope we enjoy it.
@@JonBonZombie indeed...
@@YerNewUncle 🤣🤣🤣👍
I miss the 360 days. Much more exciting
It was. After 360 xbox brand died to me.
Because of the games? Or..?
It was the games and other things they did w xbox live arcade and such. Just felt they cared more and wanted to try. 1v100, the avatars, and even if got the greatest Kinect too.
@@cardman1031 thanks, I don't disagree
I can't get over how badly microsoft fell off after the xbox 360. They completely squandered the position they were in trying to chase their digital only dystopia.
It’s stuff like this why people (myself included) are giving up on their consoles, and why some are even giving up on the brand altogether. The spencer interview during the redfall incident last year is the straw that broke the camel’s back for me personally. It’s clear they have no interest in making games unless they make grand slam dollars - they only have an interest in being a publisher and a platform holder. The future of xbox will definitely be in 3rd party, pc gaming, and cloud gaming. Their consoles maybe have one or two generations left most likely.
I don’t disagree with anything you said…. And yet, I still prefer it to PlayStation. I have a lot of reasons for that but I just hate ps look and feel.
@@leeartlee915 The cool thing is that we can all like what-we-like... and we do not have to explain why we feel that way. It's your free time, your money you spent on the console, and your money you earn that you spend on whatever games you like. That holy union of man and video-game... *sniff* it should never be questioned. Only celebrated. ❤
@@mr.selfimprovement3241 I was mainly addressing his statement about “giving up on consoles”. Like you said, there’s beauty in video games. It just makes me sad when I hear people are giving up on it.
For example, Adam talks ALL THE TIME about how he is done with console games the moment you can’t buy physical. Now, is that someone who loves video games or someone who loves collecting video games? Because they are two, distinct, things.
@@leeartlee915 Very true my friend. I actually feel the same way about some people in the hardcore physical crowd. I've got one foot in each camp as someone with my old hardware, but also plays a lot on PC (steam). But it's their choice, and I respect that. Luckily for you and me, we get to decide if we find enjoyment in the digital landscape or bow out.
For me, I feel like we are going back to the days when most people did not own their games. We went to a store and rented them, had a wonderful experience and then moved on. That's a tough sell for a lot of people who did not grow up that way, or who are attached to the collectors angle of our hobby.
I don't think they are wrong at all - but I realize that I either fall on that hill with them, or find my own path in the new landscape. And I've chosen my love of video games over my love of physical ownership.... ofcourse, at the same time I no longer pay full price for ANYTHING (and I'm buy way less games).
But again: it's people personal choice. We don't have to understand it - just respect it.
@@leeartlee915 I agree and feel the same way: but we have to respect their choice. Luckily, you and I get to decide whether we bow out like them, or carry on in the new landscape. As a kid who grew up never owning my games until I was a teenager, renting titles every single weekend for a few bucks, experiencing them, and then moving on.... it feels like we are heading back to that era. Some guys just can't separate the game/experience, from the physical medium it's printed/shipped on. And that's cool - I just know that if you and I don't accept the digital landscape, then we will be forced to bow out too. You either adapt or be left behind. It's not like my old games or hardware are going anywhere.
Another thing MS did wrong with the Xbox One was only releasing it in a few select markets which meant that for a year gamers in my country couldn't buy an Xbox. No wonder Playstation has remained market dominant since then!
top three things that'll kill xbox..
1. Play Anywhere
2. Over reliance on game pass
3. Needlessly buying every studio
All of this was all so painfully predictable, its ridiculous.
Become Disney, take on the problems of being Disney. Yeah that checks out. You have the monopoly, now what do you actually do with it? How do you manage it?
Also not utilizing those IPs they bought is another issue. Those people got Blue Dragon and Lost Odyssey and to this day did not make a franchise out of any of those.
The first two would be amplifiers if they had decent exclusives. The reason buying every studio and publisher was needless is because they're too chicken to throw some money in. They see the profits of Tencent and they want the same quick turnaround and recurring flow of cash. They want all the profits of those big titles and none of the overhead.
@@Peak_AussiemanThe problem is their shareholders want money coming in like the rest of Microsoft and similar to Tencent. It would be easy to exploit all of their IPs, but they don't want to put in hundreds of millions of dollars after Starfield and others. Because the people running the show are used to making money from business, they have no idea how to make money from entertainment like Sony and Nintendo. If they were like Sony, and found some talent to throw some money at in exchange for good exclusives and little overhead, they'd probably sell more Game Pass and Xbox.
@@sammiches6859 right, and it won't work out that way. Tencent and Chyna are a different beast entirely. But yes, no exclusives does play a role too.
As an Xbox fan for years I think this is one the most unfortunate times to be around. The problem I think is like a multi-headed hydra. The times during Covid convinced a lot of developers that they can finally push for a world without physical media. The problem is that not everyone (including myself) wants this and due to some areas with terrible bandwidth it’s also not feasible for everyone. Also without actual games and an incentive who the hell would want the system? The lack of exclusives for someone like myself makes it hard to go all in when I know I can find stuff in other places. I don’t want game pass and it sounds like a lot of people don’t want it either. It’s unfortunate though because Xbox has so much going for it and by some of the dumb decisions it makes it hurts them. Let’s hope they can get back to games and not this mixed messaging. I sure do miss the 360 days
Sounds like they're back to their old ways of not prioritizing exclusives and unique games to keep the xbox console interesting in the name of profits. I personally don't use game pass because my game library is better than it and I want to own my games physically. Things were looking up for exclusive games with the new studios but now it sounds like a step backwards.
Speaking of xbox, the xbox 360 turns 20 years old next year, time really does keep on slipping into the future
almost 20 but still so FRESH
@@nickm5419. In my opinion, better than the Xbox one, let's face it, the first 2 Xbox consoles were great, after that, not so much, well I don't know about the series x because I don't have one and have no plans on getting one, I'd say the Xbox 360 era was the last best generation of video games
@@LonnyHimself Series X feels like Xbox One X 2
I actually love hearing you talk about history. Its relaxing.
ASMR style!
Adam, I swear NOBODY on this site, not even gaming historian channels can entertain me as much as you do when talking video game history. There's something about seeing someone so in love with their passion and explaining it that makes it even more fascinating.
My pleasure!
The Kinect was a huge success initially, just not long term. The 360 suffered in it's last years because they put too much focus on it and it let the PS3 outsell it. Then the forced kinect concept with Xbox one killed it off for good. People were officially over it because of that lol
My opinion is that gaming WAS a console at home, IS a console at home, and WILL BE a console at home. Everything else has come and gone.
The Console market is not growing. It peaked in 2007. PC and mobile are much bigger and are still growing. 16+ million PS5s are not turned on despite the alleged Console sold. Did Sony scalp their own Consoles? A Japanese business analyst stated that Sony is inflating the number of Console sold, and that many PS5s are hibernating in warehouses in Japan. This doesn't help Square Enix to sell more copies of Final Fantasy
PC > home console
@@startrafficklol i have relatives in Japan and they said PS5s is kinda selling well there so most of these stories is crap plus the FF7 Rebirth sales is doing well for an exclusive game but for Square’s its not
also console market didnt peak in 07 when PS4 and Switch sold 200mil units plus 50mil units from PS5 recently lol
*laughs in PC gaming, never having touched a video game console in years*
Also imo controllers are worse than keyboard and mouse, except for very niche genres of games.
@@Freak80MC xbox controllers are great on PC. I got the series elite X and I really like the textures they put on all of it. Microsoft should focus more on PC accessories
I think the mic is fine, no problem at all
On a side note, I think the mic feels too "professional" when I've always appreciated your channel as being informal and just having a natural conversation. The mic makes it feel like a podcast instead of just chatting. I honestly prefer the sound of the audio the other way too. It sounded more natural and less filtered. The audio quality from the mic is good and all but again, it makes it sound like a podcast or radio show.
Long live physical media. Stop buying digital games that are available in physical copies unless it's a games as a service game.
E3 2013 was something that they never really recovered from and a generation later, now I just question why Xbox isn't third-party already.
And I didn't know this, but maybe it's a blessing in disguise that an American company can't buy a foreign company seeing the recent closure of Tango.
Not to mention, Microsoft's history with buying companies and screwing them over years later.
I disagree, they never recovered from *_Don Mattrick._*
Before E3 2013, Xbox 360 had gone from a massive lead that had lasted the majority of the generation... to Microsoft pushing the Kinect hardware, crappy software, a horrible redesign of their dashboard pushing television and movies! In that short time, Sony's previously meandering PS3 hardware began to erupted in sales, and exclusive releases from Naughty Dog and Insomniac leveled the base by the time E3 2013 even was announced.
The fact is that in 2013, the XBOX 360's sales has slowed to a crawl, while Sony was still actively growing past their install base. The writing was on the wall, and they had already lost the next generation by the time Don Mattrick uttered those famous words: _"We have a product for those people [who don't want always online]... it's called XBOX 360!"_
People forget this, and the only reason I am as aware of this myself - is that during that time I was working as a editor at FUTURE publishing (Diff Davis Prior) for PlayStation: The Official Magazine, and we were charting the sales internally from our sister publication Official Xbox Magazine.
E3 2013 was just a physical manifestation of the companies ethos at that time. It was a giant presentation, kiosks, and interviews from management - all plastering for the world to see, what the culture within XBOX had become. It let people know that under Don Mattrick, the Kinect, apps and multimedia integration was just the first step in a big shift towards your cable box.
@@mr.selfimprovement3241
I hear you. I still can't comprehend why Don thought screwing over fans (or at least trying to screw them over) with those restrictions was going to go over smoothly and then on top of that, doubling down when folks had problems with their "game" machine.
It doesn't really help much that not too long afterwards, he literally left Microsoft. "I made a mess that I don't want to clean up... see-ya."
That was more than 10 years ago. Spencer has had enough time to recover. Nintendo did it twice after Gamecube and Wii. It’s time to stop blaming Mattrick.
@@ramsesgarcia8461
He's the main reason why Xbox is the way it is, nowadays.
@nsgames24 He thought they could make money like they did with Windows (and ironically that has been in decline since 8 as well) while copying Sony's success with multimedia features. I seriously doubt they did any market research before structuring the console that way.
Wow. Adam getting a mic is the audio equivalent of going from 5th gen to 6th gen.
Now, what happens when he learns to set up compression on that mic?
Man, your videos always give a great perspective on topics like this and always give me new insight into whats actually happening.
AAHAHAHAHAA! YES! The Sega Saturn actually mattered to a company! The Sega Saturn is capable of playing optical media such as games and VCDs with an Mpeg card, Floppy Disks in Japan, and even a rudimentary printer that can take Composite images of your gameplay... You could already make content from your Saturn 10 years before TH-cam's very existence.
Have to say, Xbox kinda lost me when all the stuff happened with the Xbox One in 2013. Even when they improved a lot, they never came back for me. Went over to the PS4 and Nintendo and never really felt like I am missing something. They tried so hard back in the day with the OG Xbox and the 360 to fill the gap Sega left, but man they dropped the ball afterwards. No exclusives and so on... I think a lot player went the same way I did and will never return because of it
Xbox One was too ahead of the curve when they released it. I guess a lot of folks weren't quite ready.
@@jerryk3280 Lol... of course. Especially with always online, used-Game DRM and the fantastic Kinect 🥲 Way too ahead indeed.
@@jerryk3280 Or maybe a lot of folks just didn't want that at the time. It's not a matter of "folks not being ready". It's just nowadays people are more accepting when tech companies take away features it seems. Everyone saw this coming.
@@jerryk3280 Of course. Especially with always online, used-game DRM, the fantastic Kinect and a lousy first party line up... Way too ahead indeed. 😂
@@LostKawaii and yet all consoles are the same to this day interesting isn't i?, btw ms stop all of those on 2014 ,10 years ago...
The sound is better for sure (which is nice for podcasts or for folks who listen to you w/o the video) but the mic's setup affects the free form "coffee talk" style your videos were so great at. I'd invest in a high end air mic, expensive but thats prob the middle man there. Also XBOX is desperate, and the CoD news reflects that today
You do make a good point that game streaming isn't panning out for them financially. It's clear that a lot of corporations have looked at Netflix and other streaming services and thought it was a killer business plan, but it's also a plan that isn't necessarily working for Netflix.
From MS perspective there probably looking at how much money they have spent and wondering why the Series S/X is selling worse than the Xbox One
Xbox used to be very focused on the quality and comfort in the 360.
The concave triggers on the controller, the stellar Xbox live gold party system, the wireless steering wheel, backlit chat pad, achievements and wireless earpiece. If it hadn’t been for the RoD fiasco they would have dominated the generation.
Nowadays they are using the same basic controller design 18 years later without having any really features or gimmicks to separate from the competition, allowing Nintendo and Sony to catch up with arguably better and more fully featured controllers and consoles.
It’s almost as if the Kinect embarrassed them so much, that they are afraid to design anything that looks different from a fridge or a vcr.
Xbox acts like people will just buy their consoles but never has an answer for why they should other than BC, gamepass, and free cloud save data.
People used to prefer 360 games because the controller was comfy and you could achievement hunt. Now there’s really no reason to buy an Xbox game over PS5.
Excellent video discussion that summarizes a big chunk of why I choose to play everywhere but Xbox. The brand and strategy needs to be completely reworked, but it’s hard to imagine how feasible or likely that is with much the brand already is invested with things like Act/Bli and the game pass model.
Always appreciate your level-headed, calm, and informative takes around gaming news and drama, thank you!
It’s sad when you look back to what the original Xbox was all about. And also people don’t seem to understand how big and important halo was/is. If halo dies so does Xbox and that’s pretty much what is happening.
I was listening to you in the background, and your voice sounds very similar to Destin's, I thought it WAS Destin Legarie for a second. Also similar amount of wisdom concerning the industry. You make good videos, thank you.
I must admit I don't know who that is. But thanks!
@@AdamKoralik You don't sound like that guy. lol. Mraltoid just need to turn up the volume or get new speakers. Adam, you sound like the _figureitout_ guy, and that's the only person they should ever claim you sound like! Also Pissed off Mickey Mouse sometimes. But these kids will never know.
What a coincidence i was just watching a blue puppet man talk about the same topic now you?
What fun 🍿
I saw that too. I didn't realize the blue muppet was even aware of Xbox's existence. I'd only heard him talk about Nintendo before.
@@ressljs Arlo’s reviewed Starfield and Elden Ring and a few others. But his favouritest thing is Paper Mario and Pikmin, that is true
Even though I've been an Xbox fan since 2001, it really stinks that they bought some of my favorite AA developers like Arkane, Double Fine, inXile, Obsidian, Ninja Theory, Tango, etc. Phil assured developers that this time would be different, they even put out videos assuring fans around the time of the acquisitions (I distinctly remember one from Double Fine), but it was only different then because they needed smaller, less expensive content for Game Pass. Now that Game Pass hasn't panned out and they're going back to the blockbuster AAA model, these developers are on borrowed time. This is just as bad as Embracer's acquisitions and I hope Microsoft gets the same treatment from the press. Arkane Austin and Tango Gameworks are just the first dominos to fall. This is the same Microsoft that shut down FASA (Crimson Skies: High Road to Revenge), Lionhead (Fable), etc. Hopefully they'll at least give some of these studios the option to get out before shuttering them like they did with Toys for Bob.
They let Toys for Bob become independent. Not really the same as shutting down studios. That said, the entire industry is going through this shift, because the ROI on games isn't there for most games. The free to play model makes more money than the majority of big AAA budget games.
Its all really simple. The thing about Xbox is that it basically puts 0 effort into carving out a identity or a place on the market. Its not like the console or the games necessarily suck but they are simply not the best option in any way that actually matters.
Is it the best place for multiplats like the 360 was? No, not really.
Does it have a huge lineup of exclusives? Absolutely not.
Does it offer the best online/services? Again, not really.
Is it the cheapest? Maybe, but only if you normally buy one or two games per year.
Compare that to the PS3 that despite its many shortcomings at least it could answer confidently yes to some of those questions. Xbox just sort of is there and while its not doing anything terrible its also not doing anything great. Thus Nintendo and Sony easily overshadow it even if the actual difference isn't great, its still enough to pull people away from the xbox brand.
Don really did an awesome job f almost killing the brand Xbox
I like your idea for gamepass. But I think I would take it a tiny step further. The amazon prime model sounds good, but they could treat it as "if you pay for gamepass you can have this new game release at a discounted price". I think they screwed up at including too many on the service. It would still come down to the fact digital "ownership" is not ownership. IDK, we'll see what they end up doing
Their gaming revenue is basically on par with Windows. So the perfect combination would be the current and any future versions of Windows running on Xbox. Effectively turning Xbox into a mid - high range PC. With native keyboard and mouse support. Which also makes Xbox an open and consumer friendly platform.
the xbox one drm is a funny thing because we still talk about it today but major nelson in the xbox documentary talked how it worked in episode 5
I guess I understood their plans more than the crybaby children who wined at the xbox one launch but I was looking forward to many things they had planned, like family game sharing on digital titles
I like the mic. I don’t understand everyone’s issue.
It’s intrusive
I really don't want to have to leave xbox behind but if they give up on physical media and just want to be a streaming service I'm out
Xbox needs to rebrand to gamers and utilize their incredible backlog, and developers, like Rare, and Japanese games. Good insight on Japanese law, I didn’t know there we’re against buying companies in Japan, however if they owned Sega, and revived them that would be amazing, however I don’t trust they can do that anymore unfortunately
Microsoft clearly has to get their shit together but closing Tango was a bad move!
Great video. I like the length of the video and the topic.
I hate the focus on gamepass. I just don’t agree with it I’m not interested in subscriptions.
Same, has all the negatives of digital distribution plus more. I can't stand seeing people always being "Should've been on Gamepass Day one". Well look happening now that your games aren't getting made because you are lazy and cheap!
@@dstreet3818 anyone with half a brain could see this coming. Just completely unsustainable
Same
I wouldn't take someone who says "Microsoft should just buy Nintendo" seriously regardless of what Japanese laws are.
EA should buy Nintendo.
(I'm joking!!! it's a joke!!! put the pitchforks and torches down!! hahaha).
If anything, Sony should buy Xbox, and Sega and Atari should come back for real. Then maybe we could go back to having real competition.
@@sammiches6859Sony doesn’t need to buy xbox they have no high demand exclusive ips. Halo is dead. Gears is dead.
Ur adopted
@@sammiches6859 xbox: die. sony do whatever. sega: buy konami and make them good again.
I am a 80's kid and we got our first PC in 1999 because it was Y2k ready
Mannnnnn, I wish I had brought up the Y2K thing.
Same
@@AdamKoralik I remember when even apple was trying to get into the console thing. For a while there it really did seem like PC's where just though of as expensive word processors - with the real graphic intensive innovations being made in dedicated platforms.
I think that is actually the well were Graphics cards sprung up. Initially, massive 'add-in' graphics processor cards where themselves tiny game consoles... even Sega bothered to produce a bunch of Genesis-on-a-board, Saturn-on-a-board, dreamcast-on-a-board cards.
I still remember all the news from japan leading up to the PS2's launch of Ken Kutaragi calming their new console was the most power super computer on the planet, and that they were in talks to sell them to NASA and the Japanese government for weapons defense systems (to replace those boring ol' IBM super computers). lol.
I miss Ken.
For me I noticed that PC was outdoing consoles around 1997. I’m console through and through but during the PS1 era I was gaming between my Mega Drive and the family PC. The PC could do everything the PS1 could do and more. Games like the X-wing series were phenomenal 3D space sims, with CD quality music and full voice acting. However, what put me off ever just going PC only was the speed and convenience of consoles like the N64 (4 player local coop after school with friends was brilliant) and the fact that so much could ‘go wrong’ with compatibility issues on PC. Consoles didn’t suffer from that.
Dude, when I heard about Y2K, I was 10 years old. I thought all our computers in the house were like going to shut down, so I started changing all the clocks on our family PC and my old DOS laptop to the year 1984. lmao.
Imagine if everyone who was fired just opened up the studios again.
No
Great vid, interesting views, I do think they might have a reserge this holiday when they announce the call of duty in game pass
Maybe it was unique to where I lived but as a kid in the early 90s, most people I knew did have a PC and we played lots of games on them. DOS games were graphically superior and the different sound cards added to this because you got different sounding music depending on the card you had. Opl 3 vs general midi as well as creative Labs, gravis, ensoniq etc: great times
It's not unique to you. It was completely normal to have a family PC in an average middle class family in the US or Western Europe by the 90's. Before the IBM compatibles became dominant by the mid-90's "home computers"/micros (C64, ZX Spectrum, MSX, Amstrad CPC 464, Atari St, Amiga etc.) were also very popular, especially in Europe. They were arguably even more geared towards gaming than the typical 90's "family PC", at the same time the so-called "video game crash" of the mid 80's happened in the US. Gaming on all kinds of computers has just as much history as gaming on consoles, or even gaming in the arcades for that matter. The console/micro divide was ironically less clear cut in the 80's: both were similarly affordable on balance for example (e.g. a bit more expensive hardware but cheaper software for micros). But all of this is something Koralik often glosses over because it doesn't fit his narrative or it's not concretely based on his own experience.
I've watched this channel for the better part of a decade and let me tell you that this guy is notorious for talking out of his ass. He makes bold assertions with hardly any reference to actual evidence and pontificates over-confidently about things he has the same Wikipedia-tier cursory understanding of as any of us do. It would be fine as entertainment if it wasn't so grating at the same time. The whole story of "Don Matrick and co." in Japan in this video is another good example. Do you seriously think they just walked into a "show and tell" with no prior idea about what games were selling in that market and were horrified of Cave shooters (the gold standard of bullet hell) and Idol Master? I'm also skeptical about the "Microsoft is afraid consoles will take over the PC" narrative. Since we're in Anecdote Central on this channel I can share my own; I was reading magazines around 2000 where the PS2 was marketed as an "entertainment catalyst" for the living room, i.e. a games, DVD and music player fitting for the entertainment center. PCs, as we know, were always sold as the productivity option first, the "home office" machines that sit on a desk next to the printer, but also do other things like gaming, and other hobbyist activities. Mice on consoles were typically for specific genres originating on PC that benefit from that type of input like dating sims, adventure games, visual novels, FPSes and Mario Paint. Keyboards on the DC, PS2 and GC were there basically to accommodate online multiplayer, MMOs and light browsing (lest we forget Typing of the Dead). It's more likely Microsoft wanted a slice of the gaming industry pie and saw it as a market with big growth potential (which it definitely was).
Great vid dude. I think this analysis is spot on
I've been waiting for this video! Haven't watched yet but saved it for later when I'm not drunk. 😬
What started killing the Xbox was the horrible disk drives 😓 .... My PlayStation 1 and 2 with still working drives, same with 3 and 4 .....
What's odd is my OG, 360, One and X all work fine. I had 2 PS4s end up as jet engines due to thermal paste/heating issues. That's actually part of what helped me decide on the X vs PS5, my personal pains with the PS4.
That being said, my PS2 works great all these years later. Loads REALLY SLOW but it's from the launch, I can't even remember how long ago that was 😂
My original Xbox hasn’t been any bother but I recently had to replace the power supply on my one x.
You should open them and check if the caps are fine. The laser's not the only thing that goes bad in Xbox drives.
I know, right? My Series X disc drive refused to work just after one year of owning it
@@ps5professional hmmm... Maybe it's because I'm playing almost entirely digitally. Do you watch a lot of movies or...? Only asking because I thought the laser was pretty much doing nothing outside of installing and authenticating the disc. I could be 100% wrong about that... It's just that all the disc ever seems to do is allow me to play, feels like it sits idle otherwise 🤔
So weird that you posted this discussion now. I was binging a lot of your old initial Xbox One impression videos last week from like 10 years ago.
It never gets old hearing you take potshots at Mattrick lol
Don should have to have _"He Died on the Hill for Kinect"_ on his gravestone one day.
@@mr.selfimprovement3241That's brutal.
A rental service for digital titles would be awesome and is long overdue in my opinion
I find it a little humorous that XBOX shut down the the Japanese games that were being made. I was a PS guy and the only reason I got a 360 was because of all the shmups on it. And when I got my newest console in November of '23, it was a PS4 (I'm a late adopter). Again I only got it because of all the shmups I was seeing for it. I know that I'm not their primary demogaph, but that's why I'm not terribly concerned with modern game consoles. But I still love listening to your thoughts on the industry, it's interesting to see what it's doing and where it's going, but I've got over 40 years of games to enjoy so I don't have any personal stake in what happens.
Xbox/PS2/Gamecube/GBA to 360/PS3/Wii/DS/PSP era were the greatest era of gaming for all platforms, now, its not as exiting or varied anymore. Main platform is now PC for everything and Nintendo system for the exclusives.
Thank you for breaking it down for us. Because the higher ups in Microsoft only speak in codes. Your Explanation of the madness that Microsoft has created .has been very motivational to Us , the consumer of Xbox users .
I agree to , Microsoft is trying to buy time , to figure out whats next for them first , before We the consumer know it by 2nd hand .
Im glad i subscribed to your channel. You broke down this madness way much easier then what Microsoft has done.
I thank you personally for having a good You tube channel that has a purpose to guide gamers , in the right direction. ❤🐒
So glad the mic will be gone exept for rare occasions and covering up the light when you do have to use it.😌 Nice compromise, i think you did a good job at meeting people half way!
Why is it hard for Microsoft to understand people buy consoles for THE GAMES!!!
I had a Sega Saturn, great console ahead of its time.
IMHO I don't think the Xbox saved PC gaming. There were so many amazing and iconic PC games in the 90's that there was no way PC gamers, NVidia, AMD, Intel, and (probably most importantly) Valve, would have ever left the platform to die. I do think some at MS saw $$$ and didn't want to lose out on the console market, as other MS execs wanted nothing to do with, and wanted to shutdown the Xbox division.
I can't stop buying xbox games they are super cheap at the moment. I don't care what people say the xbox series x is an absolute beast 😤 ❤
Yeah, specially physical! I've been getting so many cheap physical NEW (as in unused) games!
I love my series X. I use it WAY more than my ps5. There’s a few reasons for it but the main one is I much prefer the controller…. And the OS…. And just how software is organized on it.
@@Pedro_The_Necoare you talking about Xbox one games?
@@leeartlee915 some Xbox one, some cross gen, some Xbox series X games.
@@Pedro_The_Necowill those physical games need some kind of server validation in the future? I thought the console itself literally needs to connect to the Internet to initialize?
Great video, man. Also, I totally don’t mind the mic, sounds better / doesn’t distract imo
360/PS3 was the last great console generation, the last few gens have been disappointing. I barely play on my series x & when I do I use it for its backwards compatibility. it will be my last xbox, although I think xbox will be reduced to an icon on the windows 11 desktop. I mainly use Steam on Linux & it works great.
I'm genuinely surprised someone else here also uses Linux and Steam. Don't get me wrong, I still have retro consoles- but I sold everything newer than the Xbox One and really have not looked back except for the crazy prices computer parts were at.
Yep. In my mind I've told myself I'm happy with the systems and games i currently own. I dont see the newer stuff as better than what I own. And I'm a working adult so I cam buy whatever I want.
@@FritzTheWolf I got sick of windoze nonsense years ago & the thought of my operating system data mining me creeped me out. Best thing I did was drop windows.
@@lee5111 Right I think everyone hates the practices done by big companies. The way I see it is everything that the average consumer would purchase does all this, so what I think most people have done is kind of just accepted this is how it is. Granted the available ways of bypassing all this can in some ways sacrifice convenience. My speculation is that we'll evolve from an era of convenience to a time where everyone's holding companies more accountable. Not sure how long it'll take, but I'm doing my part by getting a PinePhone and daily driving Linux on everything.
I was talking to one of my friends here in Japan recently and found out he bought the 360 way back when. I was totally shocked (he's the only person I've met who had the 360) but he was really into SHMUPS back in the day. Well, he ended up selling it eventually because he got tired of having to buy games online for it - he felt left out going to retail stores and seeing mountains of Nintendo and PlayStation stuff and then a tiny corner of 360 games - if he was lucky. Of course, he never looked back.
The Xbox One and Series X were heaps worse than that even when it came to physical stuff. I still can't fathom how come Miscrosoft was so out of touch and couldn't realize how important retail space mattered here.
Similar situation in my part of the world nowadays: you'll see shelves after shelves of PlayStation and Nintendo games - and maybe a shelf or two for Xbox titles - at most.
Hopefully, when the Next Generation comes out, it might be better than this current generation, although who really knows it's just that I really want to make Xbox great again to overtop PlayStation which is something I want.😥
Na they are adding Call of Duty to game Pass straight. They will just raise the Game Pass Ultimate Pricing. They will also most likely add a new tier. The next system will be a PC hybrid like the PC handhelds and they will have a handheld too (allegedly)
I was referring to exclusivity son.
It's amazing how one sentence can kill an entire brand, that makes me wonder if Xbox would've been better off going the PS3 route and actually trying everything to recover the brand, or if they should've just abandoned the console market completely and went to a 3rd party publisher, at this point I mainly want them around so Sony and Nintendo don't have total monopolies, but it's hard to say what could've happened had things played out differently
Microsoft should continue making great xbox controllers, PCs, and throw their games on steam and take the sega approach. You wouldn't have to pay for game pass anymore.
I think you are 100% on the money in this one, MS has always been a Software house, Xbox should just be a platform and they should let others do the hardware if they want to (like a Steam Deck style thing).
Speaking personally, I haven't bought an Xbox since the 360. That was a great console honestly, even despite the RROD issue - I have about 250 physical games for mine. If they had dropped all the dumb policies and just iterated on that and said "we're gonna do a 360 but twice as powerful and more reliable", the Xbox One wouldn't have turned into the complete disaster it was. I remember watching all the outrage when they first revealed it and it stopped me buying one. I do own a PS4 and a Switch though, and I will likely be buying a PS5 soon and Switch 2 at some point.
No longer a fan of Xbox after the 360 so whatever happens to it… meh lol
You forgot Candy Crush/Mobile aspect of the Activision deal. I don't think Microsoft is going to make any drastic changes to Game Pass until at least a year after the big Activision/Blizzard and Bethesda games launch into the service. If the service doesn't see substantial growth from games like COD being there day one then they will make some big changes. I think brining their older franchises to PS5 and Switch is their partial solution to help offset the cannibalization of their game sales. That's also why big games like COD, Diablo, and Minecraft will remain multiplatform, because they'll make their money off the other platforms will having them as a potential draw to Game Pass. It's really a win win, because they'll either get massive sales or an influx of Game Pass subscribers.
Strange that this wasn't mentioned. Per court docs Satya had his bonus tied into Game Pass sub increases. After missing 2 years on bonuses, Satya untied his bonus from it. To me that was huge indicator that a shift was coming.
I never get tired of hearing the story about how Microsoft messed up the Xbox 360 in Japan
As a long Xbox fan and someone who mainly plays and buys games only on Xbox i am serious concerned and confused about the future of the brand.
I am not against Ms pushing for 3 party i don’t mind people on other systems playing Xbox/Ms games….however i know that we on Xbox will never get PlayStation or Nintendo exclusives like ever.
Whit this being said over a period of say 5-6 years when sales of xbox continue to fall will they continue to support it and make xbox consoles?
I am not a fan of cloud gaming and i never will be i am sorry.
Pc on the hand is not for me i like console experience and if that dies(which i don’t think it will) i will stop gaming like i am getting older anyway
Thanks for video man i have been following for years keep it up
Not sure about the Japanese law thing. Microsoft tried to buy Sega in the late 90s, but they turned down the offer according to Sega. So Microsoft wouldn't do that if the law prevented them.
That's not what happened. Sega went to Microsoft with a partnership offer, not a merger, Microsoft turned them down.
The industy insiders basically said that xbox was such a small part of Microsoft's portfolio , the higher ups didnt care much about their financials and they had lots of autonomy. Now the acquisitions mean xbox is huge , so theyre under more scrutiny to make cutbacks. I agree with the changing model. I expect game pass to be less generous in the future (more games , higher prices, more tiers).
I'm enjoying my X. It's great for BC and multiplats. Huge library plus Gamepass, never manage to clear out my backlog. I'm happy but I get why many aren't. I do have to hop over to the computer whenever I want to spread managed democracy. That's a legit bummer.
We also got our first PC in 92, because my sister needed it for college. We were one of the only familys in our neighborhood with one.
I built a computer a few weeks back for one reason and one reason only, I was getting fed up with my Series S, and ill tell you why.
Basically ever since a good few months back whenever I tried joining a friends online party to chat with them, it would show me connecting to the party, while everyone else was connected and perfectly fine, then it kicks me out the party.
Whats weird is that its just my Xbox that had that issue, if I joined my phone or my laptop, it works fine, but the second I leave the party and join on my Xbox, it has the problem again.
It got to the point where I basclically had to hard reset my Xbox, plug it out. Reset my internet, plug back in my Xbox and turn it on, then connect to the wifi, and it worked for a good bit, then it had the issue.
I don't know if its my internet or my Xbox is somehow defective, but I got so fed up with it I built my own computer for around $500-$550, and honestly it was the best thing I could've done.
Gamplaywise videogames peaked during the DC/PS2/GCN/XBox era. There still isnt any game that plays as good as Ninja Gaiden for the original XBOX. Modern single player games are more like movies. and many of them are full of bullshit that does not improve the gameplay. no xbox next gen? Couldn't care less. consoles died when they became just average pcs during the xbox one and PS4 era. cannot tell you how I miss the old ps1, n64, dreamcast days when every company had an different approach and every hardware felt unique. So glad that I was a gamer during that era.
As soon as they announced the Xbox One as an entertainment system with Online DRM, That's the day Xbox truly died.
I mean they're better off as a Publisher. Because all our current Xbox purchases will one day be inaccessible.
They don't care about preservation, or let alone Physical media. Gamepass is their main focus.
And I expect more games to come to Playstation and the upcoming Switch.
i really like my series x for the simple fact i can play my original xbox and 360 games but i recently found out if my console hasn't been online for quite some time i'm unable to launch my backwards compatible games that i "own" (granted i own the phsyical copies but the series x plays an emulated build). this really bummed me out and made me somehow regret purchasing the series x because it is not future proof in that regard once the xbox servers are down.
I also gotta say, as others are saying in the comments:
I LOVE Game Pass for PC.
Just about no reason to own an Xbox console; just an Xbox controller and my PC that I already have.
I'm constantly finding new fun indy games, just as well as bigger titles, every week, that I never would've have purchased or played otherwise.
Such a fantastic service for me personally
I'm still waiting to buy Xbox Series X once they drop to $200 or $250 with games! The One X is probably a year away from being found at Goodwill's and thrift shops.
A good Xbox Series X bundle might help its sales significantly...
A colourful Hi-Fi Rush bundle for example... well, it's too late for that now.
Fun Fact : Sega is actually an American Company that got moved to Japan!!! So when people say the "Japanese Gaming Giants" Nintendo, Sony, Capcom, Konami, etc., etc. they also Wrap in Sega with all them, but Sega is that one guy wearing a Disguise the BIG Glasses & Fake Mustache Disguise; kinda like in Movies where they're chasing them.
"Hey did you see where that guy went?"
"Yeah he went that way!"
"Lets get him!"
Funny that Sega and Sony walk opposite path now. While Sega is actually an American Gaming company that got moved to Japan, Sony Interactive Entertainment is a Japanese Gaming company that got moved to America.
Yes it originated in Hawaii, but they were moved to Japan a long time ago.
great video. I had known about MS first attempt at a console with the MSX computer in Japan and thought the company was ONLY worried about losing it's gaming market to the consoles and Apple (original publisher of Halo). I never considered the bigger picture of consoles becoming more like computers and, eventually, becoming the dominant platform.
I admit, the MSX doesn't get nearly enough historical credit.
Xbox from 2001 through the release of Halo Reach in 2010 was fantastic. Since then, meh.
I think I remember you taalking about some of this stuff ten years ago when I first discovered your channel!
I bought a Series X last blackfriday for a great price and bought one game for it just to play something on it intending to eventually get game pass but as time goes on Microsoft hasn't really done anything to get me excited to get gamepass and I've ended up using it mostly for 4K blurays (I should have just got a standalone 4K player for much less and better quality playback tbh). Some one speculated they might eventually allow steam on the Xbox which would be cool and give me a reason to game on it but honestly I think that's highly unlikely to happen.
I know people love to hate on Xbox and game pass with it but for someone like me who can’t get in front of his main tv most of the time, playing games via cloud on my iPad has completely changed my gaming habits. So there are things MS is doing that are really cool. I know they’ve also been making a lot of mistakes but it’s not like they have been failing 100% of the time. At least imo.
For me charging for live was a deal breaker. Xbox/360 both required it when Sony and Nintendo didn't. Now we're stuck with it for all consoles. Unlike Adam I do play online quite a bit and this practice has moved me to pc.
It’s sad that the gaming industry is going through way it is altogether. I do not want a world where everything is digital and you don’t have any way to play without internet. I have great fast internet but it still takes hours sometimes just to download an update that the console did not update automatically like it was suppose to and then I don’t get to play with any friends for upwards of 30 min or more. I miss the old days of gaming.
Audio so much better, hope you can find some way to keep it
I had no idea the Xbox 360 was kind of an otaku machine in Japan! That seems so random to me. Great analysis in the video by the way!
I prefer without the mic to be honest. For me it sounds a little off compared with the old setting. Glad you are going back for the most part.
Always enjoy and with interest listening to your strategy and business history and possibly company stories.
Always very realistic and not far off what happened eventually.
Me as a PlayStation gamer dislikes the PS+, Gamepass and other subscriptions. In my opinion it's hurting the game market.
Hi-fi Rush is definitely a game i'm gonna buy when the PS5 Pro comes out. A new game I.P. that really surprised me. Too bad the studio closed just after the PS5 version was released. Definitely not deserved. Not surprised about it. Not the first time Microsoft is screwing over with Game series and studios.
as an xbox fan game pass is good but if it causes damage to developers and causes situations like this i'd prefer for xbox to disappear and just become a publisher with the studios they bought instead of trying to push a subscription service that will never live to their expectations and continue to kill studios.
Thanks for the history lesson Adam. And thank you for the video. As for my thoughts, well...
I honestly think you're right in terms of the Amazon Prime model. But I also think that Microsoft is going to turn Xbox into a PURE streaming service. That is to say everything streamed to you from the Cloud, no downloads, local installs. Just stream to your device (PC, Phone/Tablet, TV, etc, etc...). Scares me honestley, but I think that's where Microsoft is headed.
Definitely keep the mic. Who cares about it being in the shot, it's just a wall behind.
In an untreated room, you get a lot of room echo when recording from far away, like all your previous videos. With a dynamic mic like this you almost get none of it.
Stick the cable to the arm with some velcro or tape and it's all good.
Another great video adam
Always good analysis from Adam, really enjoyed that vid 👏
Oh, and FYI: Last year Japan eased regulations surrounding mergers and acquisitions -- including acquisitions by foreign companies -- so while Sony, Nintendo, Square Enix, Capcom, etc. are unlikely to be acquired by a foreign entity, it's not as "impossible" as you've suggested.
Reuters published an article on 08/31/2023 titled "Japan releases new M&A guidelines to promote takeovers, consolidation" that reports on these changes and contains links with further information, if you're interested.
Actually yes I would very much like to read about that.
I actually like the mic. Keep it.