No Maddens X1 will do just fine, heres why:

"Yeah but the continued rationalisation of a forced camera and additional $100 price tag"

-The camera is welcomed by all who are interested in gaming beyond just a graphic upgrade. Kinect v2 retails for $400 so in fact included in X1 package we are getting a helluva bargain.

"Microsoft nor the author knows the meaning of the words "fixed" or "redeemed"."

All of thr DRM policies have been reversed= fixed. Normal gamers without an axe to grind who really wanted an X1 but were not in favor of those changes are satisfied and will buy an X1=redeemed. It seems its you who does not understand the meaning of fixed/redeemed.

"Major Nelson stated that forum posters weren't engineers, and that MS couldn't just "flip a switch" to circumvent drm checks"

-Thats just simply saying it is a big decision thats OVER HIS HEAD he is just a PR guy but common sense dictates it would require a lot of re-thinking, re-coding and careful implementation of current policy and code at the hardware level, the reversal came weeks later and micro/X1 engineers are likely still finalizing the NEW FIRMWARE CODE for the DAY ONE PATCH/UPDATE its not magic its hardwork and late nights for engineers/coders= So in conclusion it is a FACT that its not just flipping a switch but when you are pre-programmed to think micro is evil everything is a conspiracy and lies to you.

"I'll say it again, the system was not very well planned to be received by the gaming faithful and Sony prematurely forced their hand in Feb of this year."

-A console that launches 1 week after ps4 in the US, 1 week before in most of the big Euro markets, has the better quality and quantity of next gen exclusive games, has actively made small upgrades to specs which is unheard of when you are have production issues and is a console that aims to do more with kinect, tv integration, media and will bring full use of dedicated servers also incorporating the cloud so far in ways no other console has, all this DAY ONE, while a company far less ambitious with its Gaikai service wont even be available at launch, hell I still remember when FCC suddenly became the measuring stick for a console being ready, then we find out X2 passed before ps4, now the guys like you are still grasping a new straws to make it look as if the X1 is rushed meanwhile dony wont even confirm the share buttons youtube uplaod, come to think of it micro has shown and talked about X1's specs and functionality in alot mote detail than sony= if that is not ready compared to their competition then I dont know what is?

JokesOnYou, such a fitting name, lol. Wow, hook line and sinker they've sold you on a bag of goods. Best of luck with that.

Edit, little mistake I meant "X1" in the last paragraph above.

ZBlacktt, how original, never heard that before but I guess its much harder to debate logically. lol, when in doubt just fall back on "Xbot", "you work for micro", or wait, wait "haha the Jokes On You!" yeah you got me.

Yeah because a console gen that will last the next 10+ yrs is going to be determined by sold out preorders that are a DIRECT REFLECTION of how many each manufacturer CAN PRODUCE prior to launch that will ALL sellout to a few million hardcore gamers over the course of 1-2 months, thats cool but the other 120+ months what will happen?...oh my bad nevermind preorders is whats most important.

They have doubled their pre-orders compared to the Xbox 360...sounds pretty redeemed to me.

@Bundi But the xbox one isn't competing with the 360, it's competing with the ps4, so that's irrelevant and clearly one of those kinds of "facts" that gets pulled out when meaningful numbers don't tell the story they wish to portray.

@JokesOnYou 10 years? No chance. If anything the next generation will be shorter than the last and Microsoft aren't going to want to drag on into the 2020s with hardware that already struggles to live with 2012 PC hardware.

Exactly. They act like they are angry former and loyal Xbox gamers who have suddenly lost all respect for Microsoft and can't understand why you have not. It kills me they have no clue we can see every word they ever say in their comment history.

Nope that's not it. I read all the "pos" articles, I am just not so easily swayed, MS will have to go above and beyond to earn back my business after the RROD and all the crap with the new system. Got rid of my 360 in 08 they've not done anything to make me regret that decision

@Sitdown

In a lot of ways Sony did force Microsofts hand, here's why; if Sony had said nothing one way or another concerning the planned policies they intended to implement, best believe Microsoft wouldn't have been so quick to start reversing their intended vision for the Xbox1, regardless of how low the pre-order were for the Xbox1, because regardless of what anyone including Microsoft could say, everyone was under the assumption that Sony was also going down the same route! The PS4's pre-order wouldn't be anywhere near the level they are now, because the jury would have still been out concerning Sonys plans on policies, thereby not posing a major threat to Microsoft.

At this very moment the Xbox1 would have had the industry in a catch 22 situation! Because they would have been able to dictate the direction of the entire industry. People with too much power, that they use to control and instill fear are called Dictators! The restriction, policies, and demands that Microsoft tried to impose on gamers, developers, the industry as a whole, were nothing short of a "DICTATORSHIP" of gaming.

Here we have those still spouting on about how they wish Microsoft had been clearer on their presentation of their message.....Well here it is! Notice how the popularity of Xbox brand has also ushered in some of the extremist measures and restrictions known to gaming to date!? If Microsoft could monetize every aspect of gaming they would! The always online feature was a means to that end!

What happened to gaming being fun? I'll tell you what happened to it! Microsoft happened to it, now it's becoming more like a costly chore to have fun.

These declines are on the back of extra revenue received from releasing games like Forza horizon 5 on PlayStation. So I’m being sarcastic here when I said they should go back to exclusives. Killing off a revenue stream from Ps5 sales will only make things worse

Contractual agreements are not the same as “gentlemen” agreements. If you think that they work with their distributors a month before production then their entire business model is trash. They work with companies like nvidia constantly for building the graphics cards they need. They work with companies that build motherboards years in advance. This is what proper business planning does.

They are not buying components on a whim like a consumer. So again, considering the ram isn’t a singular module and is integrated into the motherboard I highly doubt they wouldn’t have a final schematic that they are supposed to be building around.

If they are delaying production another 3 years then it’s obvious again this is an after though project and is just trying to be responsive to their bad execution they had the last 14 years.

It also isn’t far fetched to use their failure to produce first party titles the last 7 years including the highly anticipated games I mentioned all being cancelled. That they would continue to you know… lie

Yeah with FSR 5 they should be able to offer a much cheaper version of Helix.

Series S is what has killed Xbox Series so... Will they dare?

The factors are largely external. Covid and Russia-Ukraine war causing inflation led to the first price increase in 2022.

Then we get Trump's tariffs increasing hardware prices, AI boom causing a RAM crisis, war on Iran causing a worldwide fuel crisis which impacts the cost of everything.

Gaming doesn't exist in a vacuum. The last few years have been a shitshow and lot of it was definitely avoidable.

LucasRuinedChildhood,

For sure. No disagreement on the external factors doing a lot of this. Where I have to gently push back however is on two fronts:

1. The pandemic definitely caused some issues: asynchronous development was a big issue and really complicated timelines and affected game quality. At the same time, when it comes to price hikes, it's really difficult to know what was genuine necessity and what was taking consumers for a ride. The pandemic brought about "stag-flation" which was increasing prices and stagnant wages, which was a problem caused by supply chain constraints. There was also "Greed-flation", where companies that were slightly affected or had no issues took advantage of the situation and squeezed everyone citing supply chain issues when there were none.

2. It's definitely true that the tariffs, AI boom, and RAM crisis were all things enabled by tech broligarchs throwing money at this caricature of a world leader, one of them being Satya Nadella. I don't think Sony and Nintendo have contributed much to this problem if at all, but Microsoft's Nadella I feel was instrumental in causing every one of those issues. Microsoft as a company contributed to both candidates (though they gave Harris 4x as much if I recall), but Nadella was all in on letting AI run wild. He paid for unregulated AI, and got a war that's not a war (even though Trump called it that at least five times on television) that screwed up helium access. So for me, I feel that one of the players in the gaming industry is a key architect of these issues, and for that reason I struggle a bit to think of it as "external".