Your argument is establishing a false narrative for what "bargain bin" games are. You are adhering to a very specific meaning for the term, while ignoring other relevant meanings. Equating bargain bin titles to "crappy games," what does that even mean? "Crappy" how? It's a vague, subjective term with no real meaning.
Bargain bin games are literally that have been discounted to an extremely low price from their original cost. Even fantastic, critically acclaimed games, can and eventually do, end up in the bargain bin. By definition, Titanfall 2 being sold for $5, would be a bargain bin title.
And stop saying "nobody wants this" or "nobody cares for that." Stop projecting and speak for yourself, not everyone, as it is impossible. It shows your bias and your disingenuous attempt to sway the argument in your favor.
The program is called "Games with Gold," meaning you will get free games with an XBL Gold subscription - it is a self-explaining title. The fact that you need an XBL subscription is already assumed, as this program has been in effect for many years and this is a gaming site, you know, for gamers that should already be aware of this information, but even so, GS literally explains this in the article:
"The Games with Gold are included with your Gold subscription, which enables Xbox Live online play. But you're also a Live member if you have Game Pass Ultimate, which entitles you to Game Pass games on Xbox One and PC."
You are conflating 2 separate issues - paying for the games vs paying for a subscription in order to have access to the games for free. The games are free and yours to keep forever, and their total cost over a year will easily surpass the cost of the subscription.
@Thanatos2k: "Actually, the OP was talking about exclusives. Playstation exclusives are actually exclusive. Microsoft has none anymore. Because of the PC, which is obviously relevant in any such conversation about exclusives, namely Microsoft's lack of them. Try and keep up."
- Yes, OP is talking about exclusives, and he is talking about MS and Sony, with a quick anecdote about Nintendo in the old days. PC is never even mentioned, so stop trying to twist the narrative like OP was talking about exclusives as a whole across all platforms.
oh, and I'm keeping up just fine, and you just contradicted yourself in the above statement. You say Microsoft no longer has any exclusives due to offering their games on both xbox and PC, yet this simply changes the exclusivity from "xbox exclusive" to "Microsoft exclusive," since those playing on PC will be playing on Windows, which MS owns...
Sure, you can get into things like running Windows games on Linux with programs like Wine, but if you want to take the argument there, we might as well just bring up torrents or modded consoles, since now you would be discussing accessing things in ways they aren't designed to be accessed. ============
"It's obviously relevant when talking about which platform to purchase, especially when looking at a platform that has no exclusives."
- again, no, it is not relevant to the OP, since PC was never a part of the equation. I also deconstructed your reasoning of "xbox is useless if you have PC," but you consistently seem to ignore that and the context it brings.
"Sales numbers showed having the most powerful console is irrelevant if you're not the most powerful platform - because the PC is an even more powerful platform and thus the people that actually care about performance will be playing their multiplatform games there." ===========
- And what exactly do you mean by "most powerful platform?" What standard(s) are you measuring on, because you give no context as to what you're actually talking about. If you aren't talking about power specs-wise, then what are you talking about? I can tell you that the xbox ecosystem is plenty "powerful," due to all the features it offers. Game Pass alone brought in over 1 million subscribers, and that's before it went to PC. It's all largely irrelevant anyway, because as I I already stated, whether their exclusives are on the most powerful console (which they are) or the most powerful platform (which they also are) MS wins in either case....
Xbox also tends to be the console of choice for multiplatform gaming among those who own both PS4 and xbox. Why did Xbox One X sell so well? I mean, it' was a $500 mid-gen upgrade for the system that "has no exclusives," right? Because a lot of people bought one to do the majority of their gaming on xbox, again, because it is the most powerful console (and because of the value they can get through Game Pass,) and use their PS4 (if they have one) as essentially an "exclusive box."
Also, as I addressed in the details of my orginal post which you continue to ignore, multiplat gaming is more than just playing on the "most powerful platform" (again, wtf does that mean?...) there is a social aspect, such as playing with friends, where you will need the same platform to play together.
So please, could you actually elaborate on what "most powerful platform" actually means? =========
"So weird you're talking about sales as if it's only a person opinion that Microsoft failed utterly with their console strategy this gen and not a fact, which it is."
- actually, it's not that all... I brought up sales, because it relates directly to what you are implying- that no one will buy a system with "no exclusives." Buying or not buying things relates to sales, and your argument of why "xbox is useless because PC," or in other words "why there is no reason to buy xbox," simply does not apply to the majority of the consumerbase. It all comes down to sales - that's why exclusives even exist in the first place, however, they are not the be-all-end all of who buys what and how many. I have attempted to add context as to why it is completely valid and rational to own both an xbox and a PC, despite the exclusives, but you just resort back to exclusives again. Your argument is situational, not commonplace.
The majority of the demographic that is in the market to purchase the next Xbox console, is going into it with the mindset of either:
1. buying an xbox day one 2. deciding whether to purchase an xbox or a PS5. 3. going to buy both, with maybe deciding which to purchase first.
PC doesn't even enter the arena, because most console gamers are just that - console gamers, and they have no interest in playing PC games, which begins to illustrate how your "xbox is useless because their exclusives are on PC argument," isn't the "nail in the coffin "or the "financial suicide on MS's part" that you think it is.
"It's not Xbox vs Playstation. Only people intentionally trying to obfuscate the point try to pretend it is."
- the OP absolutely was talking specifically about xbox vs playstation. That is where the context lies and I pointed this out already. Maybe you are focusing on some generalized argument, but that is not the case here, and frankly, not the case the majority of time when speaking about which console has which exclusives.
"All platforms are always available, and PC is more viable than ever. I have mine connected to my 65 inch 4k TV via HDMI. And I can connect a PS4 controller to my PC. It plays better than a console ever would."
- Of course it plays better, but that's neither here nor there. PC are open-ended, where the only liming factor to what you can achieve is essentially your wallet. How much did your rig cost, because I guarantee it cost substantially more than what the next-gen consoles will cost, and they will be offering comparable if not better results.
"I repeat, as long as Microsoft continues to not have exclusives on a platform that does not play games the best, there is no reason to own an Xbox."
- but they already do this... They have the most powerful console available AND they play on PC, so they play games on the most powerful platform, regardless how you look at it. And as I previously stated, I gave context as to the relevance of having MS exclsuives on both xbox and PC, and how it ultimately is not going to have any substantial negative impact on xbox sales and/or tip the console gaming demographic against them. I also gave valid reasons to own both a PC and an xbox for gaming.
You seem to be taking your personal situation/opinion and applying it as a response to a global argument, ignoring variables that do not apply to you. It doesn't work that way... Your reasoning does not apply to majority, which ultimately is all that matters in sales.
That looks like something that Apple would call their iBin. lol
Also, that name is unattractive as buck. Might as well have called it Xbox One X Max. lol
Yes, because "PlayStation 5" is such a captivating name that just rings creativity... "Series X" sounds like a name given to any number of other products, be it phones, computers, cars, cameras, guitars, etc. Sure, it's not very unique, but "unattractive?" I think you are using the wrong word.
That's such a situational, low-hanging fruit argument, that actually misses the point. The context of the comment you responded to was "xbox vs playstation" in terms of why to choose one over the other and in particular, on the topic of exclusive games. Having a PC and being able to play xbox exclusives on PC, still doesn't allow you to play them on PlayStation, which is the crux of the argument.
That being said, your reasoning only applies to Xbox exclusives. What if somebody has friends that all play on xbox and they want to play multi-plat games, the games that make up 95%+ of all games played, with them? That person is also going to need an xbox, as they can't play a game like Borderlands 3 on PC, with friends on xbox.
In addition, in order to play these upcoming next-gen games on PC, you would 1.) need to be a console gamer that also plays PC games. 2.) have a high-end PC capable of running them. And 3.) prefer playing console games on PC. All three of these caveats would place you as either an outlier among the console gaming community or not really a console gamer at all, which, as stated, is what the discussion is ultimately focused on.
Hell, even among PC gamers, most do not have high-end rigs capable of playing at 4K, let alone 4K/60fps, which the next consoles will be doing. According to Steam stats, nearly 65% of users play at 1080p, with less that 2% playing at 4K and less than 1% at 2k.
So when context is applied, being able to play Xbox exclusives on PC has no bearing at all on which console is better, and ironically, actually serves as one more feature xbox has over PS. The only time this argument is relevant is when PC gamers are deciding on which, if any, console they want to buy, and even then, doesn't make owning both an xbox and a PC irrational or redundant.
For context, I have been playing PC games for over 20 years and played them exclusively for over 10, which is about as long as I have also been building PC's, so I'm no console/xbox fanboy.
@Deedubau: This is the main reason I always choose xbox. I look at it like a scale - on one side, you have exclusives. On the other, you have everything else. Everything else matters more to me than exclusive games, especially considering the only exclusives I ever really care about, are PC games.
How is taking the steps to prepare them for having an exclusive games library for the start of the next-gen, Not doing them any good?
And the "Xbox doesn't have exclusives because of PC" is a short-sighted argument and even disingenuous, as it only affects those who have both a gaming PC and an xbox or just a gaming PC and seeing how the majority of console gamers don't also own a gaming PC nor do they want to even play on PC....
The "exclusive games argument" has largely been acknowledged as a console issue, even back to the days of Genesis vs SNES. Bringing a third-party such as PC into the argument as an attempt to "debunk" the claim that "xbox doesn't have exclusives," forgoing context in favor of pedantry and technicalities to prove a point, is both petty and disingenuous.
The "trend" of bringing PC into the discussion when it serves to better one's argument on console issues, while otherwise is largely disregarded, just adds to the disgenuiness, especially when you look at the history between PC and console, where arguments of which has better games, which has better graphics, m/kb vs controller, etc. were all generally summed up by the console community as "PC's aren't consoles, so it doesn't matter." Apparently however, now it matters...they are correct though - PC's aren't console, so being able to play xbox games on PC isn't a jab or detriment against xbox. It is really neither here nor there to the actual issue, which is my next point.
The context behind MS saying games are "xbox exclusives" is coming from a console perspective, since that's what Xbox is. It's talking in terms of it's competition - the medium where the majority of their current playerbase is focused around, and letting players know, that you cannot play these games on Playstation or Nintendo - that's the point.
Finally, the vast majority of PC gaming is done on WIndows PC, so why would MS be in competition with the PC gaming market? Why would bringing up that you can play xbox games on PC somehow be a knock against MS or even Xbox? All MS did by offering xbox games to PC, is broaden the exclusivity term from "xbox exclusive" to "Microsoft exclusive."
@idkhowtoplay007: If you have been attention over the past year with moves Microsoft has been making, then you would know that yes, it is indeed coming along.
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