I heard that argument about smoking. I smoked for 20 years, one day I gave up, no patches, pills, sucky plastic tubes, carrot batons or anything else. Forgive me if I care not for people with less willpower anymore, or don't it really doesn't bother me.

Cool story. I beat alcoholism the same way. Doesn't mean I don't understand how people can be sucked into it. Also doesn't mean I'm a dick about it.

If being a dick about things mean a society where it's not necessary to have "this packet of nuts may contain nuts" signs on packets of nuts, then I am all for it. Unfortunately the dick in society has been tamed and more or less removed.

Hah hah, I can see your point...

thats why i was asking, i think for microsoft there are more suitable studios to purchase compared to obsidian. its strange that they want obsidian?

Microsoft hasn't understood games on a fundamental level since Peter Moore left. Dan Mattrick steered the division away from games, allowing Sony the chance to catch up and essentially tie them last generation before sinking the Xbox One with the TV focused design, and now they're just pumping out uninspired entries into their three franchises. If you're not a fan of Halo, Gears of Forza, there's literally NO reason to get an Xbox One. Meanwhile, after Sony's initial fuckups with the PS3, lessons were learned, the company refocused on what brought people to the previous two systems, and now they rule the roost with no real competition.

Honestly, if they WERE to buy Obsidian, I'd not be surprised if the remaining talent joined Feargas of the door, some into retirement or non-gaming jobs, others to another indie studio. Like EA, no one is going to sell to MS anymore unless they're just cashing out.

Honestly, I can't help but wonder at what point investors start telling MS to get out of the console business. It's mostly been a wash for them.

I think the control over customers and software provided by the Xbox platform is still very appealing to them. Just think of all the crap they originally wanted to pull off back when they announced it, regarding DRM, mandatory online requirements, bans on used games sales, fucking surveillance cameras in your living room... And as far as I know, they still have a firm grip on the US console market. It's no secret that was their main focus all along, with all of the TV related features, American Football etc.

They're trying to do the same thing with Windows 10 and their built-in store, but that doesn't seem to be taking off, because freedom is one of the strongest aspects of PC gaming, and most of us ( or at least the older users ) aren't willing to give that up.

Microsoft wants to buy everything up and anyone out , been like that for years ...

How about they 'bought' a decent new boss/ CEO or whatever they call that person that pulls all the strings , good old Bill wasnt that bad afterall compared what mickesoft is pulling now ....

Obsidian had a good run, too bad they (MS) didn't decide to buy Gearbox. :/

EA is the all time destroyer of great IPs, and trumps that list of games easily. EA's list is littered with PC royalty:

1. Bullfrog
2. Mythic
3. Maxis
4. Origin
5. Westwood

I am sure there's more, but it's hard to top this list.

EA can only aquire and buy out / up every competitor it sees as a threat :D
what good game ( no fpp / shooter or 3d / racing) did EA create themselves ?
I know kiddies love the Sims , i dont like them, all my cousins ( male/female) love those sh tty games....
so i am outnumbered. :D

Anyway the chances we will get any GOOD games EA has(no need to name which games)
are ZERO .... they only release the she ites they want to release not the games we want to have:D
So we are definitely NOT going to get the games here DRM free , not in this life anyway .

Well, the PS4, while not COMPLETELY destroying them in the US, is comfortably ahead here too.

http://www.vgchartz.com/article/276688/ps4-vs-xbox-one-vs-switch-usa-lifetime-salesapril-2018/

Combine this with the rest of the world comfortably going "nothankyou.jpg" one has to wonder how long this charade goes on.

The problem with the Xbox One is that it's the "dudebro" console, but all those "dudebro" games are also on the PS4, with the obvious exception of Halo, Gears and Forza, and the latest Halo and Gears weren't what you'd call barn-burners.

If MS thinks that Ninja Theory and Obsidian, two developers who are about as far from the mainstream as you can possibly get, are going to even begin to move the chains, they're even more out of the loop than I thought they were.

Interesting, I never bothered to look at actual sales charts for the consoles. Funny how there are zero Xbox games among the top sellers for non-US regions.

That's actually one of the reasons why the Xbox One is the least interesting to me, compared to the PS4 or Switch -- Arguably Sony and Nintendo always had a stronger, more unique portfolio of exclusive games. Even if you like the genres which are popular on the Xbox, you can find similar games on all platforms, or even play the very same games on PC.

And maybe that's why they bought Ninja Theory, Obsidian and those other small studios, because they're trying to diversify their portfolio of exclusives? At least outside of the US, the dudebro content of sports, TV and pew-pew games doesn't seem to cut it.

I wonder how long before BioWare joins the list. I'd be surprised if it didn't happen by this time next year.

It's amazing when you look at it, really. Even in the US, there are very few Xbone X game in the top list. I'm looking at the week ending Sept 01, and they only have five in the top 20, compared to nine for PS4 and six for Switch. Considering what the stranglehold the 360 had on the region before, it's quite shocking.

http://www.vgchartz.com/weekly/43345/USA/

The problem with the Xbox One is that its identity is tied ENTIRELY to online multiplayer, and as we're seeing, that has a ceiling. I hope for their sake that Ninja Theory and Obsidian work for them, but I'm not holding my breath. Obsidian is probably on its way to hollowing out like Rare did, and Ninja Theory has never really moved the needle in any region. They need to make games to sell the platform the way Sony does and figure out how to get Japanese developers on board again, or the Xbox Two is only going to slip further south. In a year or two, we're looking at the PS4 hitting 100mil, and MS still hasn't cracked 50.