Yeah, I think they had some fantastic ideas and I agree, I’d rather see them reach as high as they can, even if it might hurt the final result a bit. I mean, the final results, when everything’s working properly, were great. But it appears as though maintenance is going to be an issue going forward, sadly.
I think that there is a small percentage of people that didn’t quite get the memo that KI is back or what KI is or why it matters / why it’s good, etc. Even among fighting game fans, games can be easy to ignore, especially if they’re generating a metric ton of buzz.
However, I don’t personally conflate “being in your face” with “buzz.” KI, to me, grew slowly over time, and I don’t really think that TV commercials, banner ads all over gaming sites etc were going to change that much. I mean, they made seasons of the game FREE multiple times, so if you own an Xbox, there’s really only a small percentage of people that missed the game when it was available, haven’t heard of it, but definitely would’ve purchased it if they’d known about it. At least in my opinion.
I don’t know if it’s planning or shifting priorities or simply unexpected issues. The fact that IG is done with the game and MS is left to fix their code (not sure how much either side worked on the actual code for the game) tells me that while the contract model for these seasons was a compelling new experiment that they were trying out and constantly iterating on, it’s at least possible that the end game might’ve been a bit more vague or undefined than was anticipated early on.
Plus, and I could be wrong here, but MS DOES have a slight reputation for dropping things and moving on, whether fair or not. They’ve done it with two video game systems so far. They’ve done it with countless potential franchise IPs. Maybe I’m just used to how Sony and Nintendo do things, but they both seem to have a bit less of a graveyard of one-off or two-off successful titles that never get sequels or turned in to the full fledged franchises they deserve.
This is actually kinda what I was worried about with KI from the beginning. If we didn’t know the endgame and how long this game would go on, then how many seasons would we get? How many characters? What happens when it’s done? Well, to be fair to MS, they delivered on this game, no question. A great roster, great gameplay, tons of arenas, modes, etc. I have ZERO complaints there.
But even still, when it was over, it was over. Now that the game needs more maintenance, we’re finding that this likely isn’t the cut and dry exit that MS might be used to, and it seems to be causing problems. Now, I’m speculating here, and I almost certainly shouldn’t. I know that James has been engaging with fans on several issues with the game, so it’s not like were getting no response at all.
I just wonder how many people he has working with him to fix some of the issues going on with the game. I hope he (and his team) can get this stuff corrected, as it’d be a shame to have a game that was this well made “end” with a sour taste in people’s mouths.
Damnit, I feel like I agree with you all the time. Stop making sense to me lol. 
But yes, I feel this way too. I like Phil. I like how he interfaces with fans, I like the way he talks about Xbox and he seems genuinely excited and passionate about games and about doing the best job possible for Xbox owners. I love the backward compatibility initiatives and I think they’ve been executed to perfection thus far. Also, if it wasn’t obvious, I have nothing against the guy whatsoever.
I thought he did a great job of coming in after the Mattrick era’s unceremonious end, undoing many of the more unpopular decisions and working overtime to rehab Microsoft’s image in the gaming community, even if we probably knew back then that Sony was going to take this generation in terms of sales, and by a considerable margin.
But while all of that is great, and while we may never know all the things he’s doing behind the scenes and why, all we as fans have to go on are results, and in this regard, I think we can fairly judge him and the job that’s been done to this point.
While I’d say the first few years of Xbox One went really well, the last two or so years have been extremely weak in comparison to Sony and Nintendo and pretty weak overall from an exclusive content standpoint, and really, that’s why I own an Xbox. I also have a PS4, so while I like the Xbox controller, XBL and their overall ecosystem (which again, great job on, for sure), I feel like I’d be missing next to nothing if I only owned a PS4.
Here’s just a glance, a comparison between the retail releases of 2017 for Sony and MS:
Sony:
Gravity Rush 2
Tales of Berseria
Yakuza 0
Nioh
Horizon Zero Dawn
Nier: Automata
Hatsune Miku
Dragons Dogma: Dark Arisen
Knack 2
Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age
MLB: The Show 17
Hellblade (coming to XB1 in 2018)
Uncharted: Lost Legacy
Crash Bandicoot: N Sane Trilogy (coming to XB1 in 2018)
Gran Tourismo Sport
Dragon Quest XI
Compare this to Xbox One
Player Unknown’s Battlegrounds (beta)
Forza Motorsport 7
Halo Wars 2
Voodoo Vince Remastered
Super Lucky’s Tale
Cuphead (wasn’t retail, but still a major release for MS last year)
Here’s what Sony’s done so far in 2018:
God of War
Ni No Kuni 2
Dissidia Final Fantasy NT
Yakuza 6
Lost Sphere
Dragon’s Crown Pro
Detroit: Become Human
BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle
And on Xbox One:
Sea of Thieves
State of Decay 2
So, that’s roughly a year and a half, and while I know that’s not a huge sample size overall, it still feels like a long time when you’re an Xbox owner and you’re waiting for something great to play on your system. I mean, I hate to say it, but I should also point out that most of those Xbox One games that are listed didn’t review particularly well.
State of Decay 2 was knocked for being a buggy mess, Sea of Thieves got the “it could be really good… someday” tag, PUBG got rather lackluster reviews for all the bugginess it had, and while Forza 7 reviewed relatively well, I don’t think it’s scores were as high as in years past and a few of the reviews I read made note of some slight “series fatigue.”
So you have a lot of sixes and sevens, maybe an 8 or two, going up against more titles, many of which are 8 and 9 caliber on Sony’s end, with a few possible 10’s in there with God of War and Horizon: Zero Dawn. Has Xbox One had a single game come out on the system thus far that most in the industry would categorize as a masterpiece, 10/10 caliber game?
I don’t mean to sound angry, I’m not. I also don’t take any enjoyment in pointing stuff like this out and I definitely hate ripping on people that work hard to make our entertainment happen. I’m sure people at MS do the best they can, so I honestly feel like a jerk for even posting this stuff.
But with Crackdown 3 apparently struggling in development (if rumors are to be believed), some Japanese developers seemingly shying away from the system a lot more now, and not a whole heck of a lot else on the horizon that we know about yet, the last year and half combined with a somewhat bleak outlook for the future, at least at the moment, make kinda sad for my fellow Xbox owners.
It also makes me think that, as much as Phil talks a good game and puts on a great E3 conference, does well in interviews, etc, the results are a bit too far away from expectations. I feel like I’ve been standing at the station, waiting for the hype train to arrive for this system; the second wave of titles that should’ve come after the first few years where we had awesome stuff like Killer Instinct, Dead Rising 3, Ori and the Blind Forest, Sunset Overdrive, Forza Horizon 2, Halo 5 and Rise of the Tomb Raider (for a year).
I’d hoped that last E3 would’ve brought that wave, but it was mainly XB1X’s show, with some other stuff here and there, plus a bunch of multiplats like Assassins Creed Origins and what not. I’m really hoping that this year is the year that everything falls in to place; that whatever’s been in development during this long dry time is finally ready to be shown and that it’s all coming later this year.
I’ve heard rumors of a new Perfect Dark, a new Fable, and it wouldn’t shock me if they were bringing back another game from the past. I believe Phil said that they’d be showing an exclusive JRPG at E3 this year, and while Sony poops those out every other month it seems (okay, slight exaggeration lol), I’d still do a backflip and land awkwardly on my neck if they announced Lost Odyssey 2. I’m also sure Forza Horizon 4, Halo 6 and maybe even Gears 5 will be at E3 this year.
So I suppose there’s reason for hope, at least in theory. But like you, I WANT to be happy with MS. I like a lot of their franchises, and Killer Instinct in particular both made me a happy Xbox owner in the first few years, but has also sustained my appreciation for this system in its leaner years.
I just hope that MS and Phil can finally deliver the goods and usher us out of this desert, because if this year’s E3 conference looks anything like last year’s, I’m seriously going to start debating whether it’s time to sell my system and get a Switch, which I never in a million years would’ve thought of doing. But KI’s about 90% of the reason why it’s still plugged in, and a game from 2013 shouldn’t have to shoulder that kind of burden.
