Why I Believe Xbox Will Be The Preferred Console This Generation

There was a time when Xbox was rising out of nowhere and going from strength to strength, we saw Microsoft unveil the original Xbox with the launch of Halo: Combat Evolved. We saw Xbox 360 and Halo 3 take the console to many homes across the world and became the most popular console.

Xbox was on top of the world, you could say slightly ignorant too because in 2013, Xbox would suffer one of the biggest presentation flops the gaming industry has ever seen. The company started to forget why they were so successful and what mattered most at the heart of it all: we, the gamers.

The majority thought Xbox was done for, nothing seemed to be going right for them, Halo 5 was the worst game in the franchise among fans due to its story, Gears of War 4 had a mediocre story that didn’t pull fans in like the original trilogy and certain console exclusives were delayed for extended periods or right out cancelled altogether. Anybody remember Scalebound?

Xbox was humbled and through all the tests and trials they faced, one thing remained; their perseverance. 2014 saw a new Head of Xbox, a light at the end of the tunnel, in the form of Phil Spencer. They say it takes a great leader to turn the tide when no one else thinks it can be done. If the Master Chief is Halo’s knight in shining armour, you could say Phil Spencer was the equivalent for Xbox.

He was a man who engaged with the audience, he really cared about what gamers had to say, he realised it was about listening to the community that made them successful to begin with. Each and every year when E3 came, we began to see small but crucial steps being taken by Phil. We began to see Xbox continue to hold E3 Briefings and engage more with the community while Sony started to drop out of E3 and act like they had it in the bag.
Having the frank, honest discussions such as realising that more console exclusives were needed, more game studios were being introduced in partnership with Xbox and giving more recognition and platform space to smaller indie developers. Phil welcomed game developers from all walks of life, it wasn’t about the household exclusives anymore, but about how Xbox can start to work and give back to the community and to its faithful gamer audience that stuck with them despite the failures.

Going in the Right Direction

A picture of Phil Spencer hosting the Xbox E3 2018 Briefing Conference

Here are some of the foundational frameworks laid down by Phil Spencer in the space of just seven years that I believe will draw more gamers and the general audience to Team Xbox this generation.

• Backwards Compatibility - Truly Xbox is the King when it comes to delivering backwards compatibility, you can play games from all three previous gens on your current console. It's never been done and unheard of, gamers love this.
• Xbox One X - "The World's Most Powerful Console." It really was at the time and being a mid-generation upgrade it demonstrated the power & put the PS4 Pro to shame.
• Partnership of Five Game Studios - The Initiative, Undead Labs, Playground Games, Ninja Theory & Compulsion Games.
• X-Cloud Gaming Service - This allows Game Pass members to play all their games on the go via their phone or PC.
• The Xbox Game Pass - One of the biggest weapons I believe they have in their arsenal today. PS Now can't touch this.
• Acquiring Zenimax Media - Their biggest investment to date containing eight studios. Future exclusives, anyone?
• Xbox Developer Mode - Something not many were aware of, but this lets you turn your Xbox into an emulation beast.
• The Xbox Series X|S - Learning from the Xbox One X, next-gen comes in strong with the powerhouse of Series X.
• Xbox Velocity Architecture - Improves how Xbox Series X loads game assets from storage, known as asset streaming, while reducing the space those assets occupy on the drive.

From the blueprints listed above, I'm going to discuss the four most critical ones that will aid Xbox this generation like never before since they were introduced.

Xbox Game Pass

Not many people realise this, but with the recent global pandemic, Xbox and their idea of Game Pass was one of the most godsend opportunities that can set them up to a triumphant victory this generation. Why is this so important now than at any other time before? Because the next generation of gaming also brings us at a higher cost for videogames, just a standard edition of a game on PS5 retails at £69, with deluxe editions selling for £79 and ultimate editions going for £100.

Gone are the days when you only had 2-4 AAA titles being released, nowadays you have more games than you can count, and not enough time to play them all. You end up deciding which ones you'll play for definite and which you'll have to miss during the year. But even if you had three games releasing in the space of 2-3 weeks, think of the cost.
For three standard edition games on PS5 you'd be paying £207, and not everyone will have the luxury to pay for all these games, more people will be inclined to Xbox's Game Pass value for money service. For £10.99 you get the Xbox Gold membership, access to multiplayer, crossplay between Xbox and PC, party access to chat to friends and best of all, access to over 100 titles, that keep getting updated, with many titles coming as a Day One release on Game Pass, titles such as The Outer Worlds and Outriders.

This is why I believe Game Pass is Xbox's secret weapon, something I'm certain will not only appeal to gamers but the general audience too. Who wants to fork out £69 when you can play and try it out on release day with Game Pass?

Acquiring Zenimax Media

Picture: Google Images - "Zenimax and Bethesda join Team Xbox."

Nobody saw this one coming. I remember walking into work and having people who weren't huge gamers like myself asking me if I knew about this. Xbox acquiring Bethesda for $7.5 billion dollars, I was stunned. But at the same time, it brought a surreal thought to the forefront of my mind, and that was just how serious Phil Spencer and Xbox were about their commitment to their gamer audience, and the community who have supported them through their restructure and rebuilding of the brand.

My next thought was, imagine The Elder Scrolls VI, Starfield, the next DOOM, and future titles being exclusive to Xbox, I was mind blown. We see a huge blueprint being put down to establish the brand to bring more popular exclusives. One thing I know for sure, if The Elder Scrolls VI does become exclusive to Xbox, many people would buy an Xbox just for this massive title. Are you starting to see what I'm seeing yet? Team Xbox is taking all the necessary steps to be what it once was, the favourite son among gamers.

Xbox Series X|S + Developer Mode

Now that the next-gen consoles have been released, and getting hands-on time with the Series X, I can see just how well Xbox has done right off the bat, the Series X is quite small, even though in the photos and videos it looked a lot bigger. But on closer inspection, its form factor is unique and impressive compared to its previous predecessors. A perfect fit to be put away in a corner next to your TV or monitor, it hardly takes up much space. And its counterpart, the Series S, is even smaller and takes up even less room. Whereas the PS5 looks like its cousin, the PS3. It's big and clunky and takes up way more space especially if you're trying to fit it into a TV cabinet.

Next let's talk about Power. The Series X at launch is being dubbed 'The World's Most Powerful Console' and they aren't lying. If you check out the specs you'll see the fact that the Xbox Series X is more powerful than the PS5. The Xbox Series X features a faster processor, clocked in at 3.8 GHz, and a better graphic processing unit (GPU) that's a minimum 1.875 teraflops more powerful than the chip inside the PS5.

More power means that in the long run developers won't be limited, they'll have the ability to do more and utilise the Xbox taking full advantage of their games on the console. Similar to what was done when Xbox One X came and demonstrated the difference compared to the PS4 Pro.

Finally, there's something called 'Developer Mode.' Did you know that with the Series X|S you can turn your Xbox into an emulation beast? That's right, you can play games for the NES, SNES, N64, PSX, PS2, PS3, GameCube, PSP, and the Wii. Still thinking that Xbox can't overtake the PS5 this generation? This news had spread like wildfire across the gaming community, for £249 not only can you get a next gen console, but Xbox is one console for every videogame now. There is a one-off fee of £20 which will allow you to access this mode on Xbox but after that you're good to go.

In summary, what we are seeing is that Xbox is committed to showcasing things like never before, which makes gamers and the community who supported them all the more reason to be proud of. When you have a console that is more backwards compatible with PlayStation than PlayStation itself, you can't help but find the funny side to it, realising just how far the underdog has come since their downfall. It's a really interesting time, and I'm rooting for the underdog to come back this generation and give Sony something to sweat about, and I truly believe we all win if that's the case.