Good Job with Scorpio Microsoft – Now Show Us Some Games

After almost a year of speculation and excitement, the specs for the Scorpio have finally been revealed. Microsoft gave Digital Foundry access to the system to look under the hood and test its capabilities. And they walked away with nothing but good things to say. It’s a perfect starting point for Microsoft to try and salvage this lost console generation and hopefully reverse the third console jinx.

While everyone is still giddy about how powerful the system will be, I’m just sitting over here waiting for game announcements. Being powerful is a valuable asset, but by itself means nothing. When is Microsoft going to start trickling out information on games? Save the showcase for E3, but how about a trickle?

All I keep hearing and seeing when Scorpio talk pops up is how PlayStation’s days are numbered because “more power”. Nobody seems to talk about the games (or lack thereof) Microsoft has in the pipeline.

And when I hear all this talk about power I’m just like:

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/496310821415219857/

I had no interest in buying an Xbox One until I found out Rise of the Tomb Raider was a timed exclusive. With that, plus the desire to play Sunset Overdrive, I finally decided it was time to buy an Xbox One (the price cut helped also). So I bought an Xbox One and when Fallout 4 day came, I got the new Tomb Raider because timed exclusive or true exclusive I’m not going to wait to play a game I really want to play.

Crazy right? Buying a system for its exclusives?

Since I got the Xbox One bundle that came with the Halo collection I got to play through the numbered Halos, a game series I haven’t played since Halo 2 on the original Xbox. And you know what happened? I couldn’t wait to play Halo 5. While I found the game ultimately disappointing because of the story I still enjoyed the gameplay (seriously, Hunt the Truth Podcast set up everything so perfectly, at least the first season did, and they screwed it up).

I never played Gears of War until I played them on Xbox One. Great games. While I still hold out hope another Vanquish gets made someday, they are adequate replacements. Ori and the Blind Forest was another fantastic game I played thanks to the Xbox One. Same goes for Quantum Break.

What’s the point of this little personal history lesson?

I was content with just having a PlayStation 4…until I wasn’t. The reason I wasn’t was because of the games that became available only on the Xbox One console (unless I had a capable rig), nothing else. Quantum Break, Tomb Raider, and, when they were making it, Scalebound were games I watched closely because I knew that I wanted to play these games. Scalebound was the biggest reason I considered an Xbox One in the first place. Still bummed it got canceled.

I am hopeful for more games coming to the Xbox in the future. It’s not going to be all doom and gloom from me. When Phil Spencer spoke to IGN on Unlocked he talked about his pride in the upcoming games lineup this year and also some surprises they were keeping a lid on until the time is right.

More important than the hints on Unlocked was his trip to Japan. Which according to Phil Spencer himself was a worthwhile trip. Hopefully he wasn’t just blowing smoke and secured a few good games. Who knows? Maybe a developer turns into a second party machine like the relationship Microsoft had with Sega on the original Xbox. Through that Xbox got games like: Panzer Dragoon Orta, Shenmue II, Gun Valkyrie, and Jet Set Radio Future to name a few.

Even with a solid games lineup of third and first party titles. I still don’t know if that’s enough to sell the Scorpio to people that already have Xbox Ones because…they already have Xbox Ones. Even if the price is right for the Scorpio, the Xbox One and Xbox One S will without a doubt be marked down to make room for the Scorpio. Sony will most likely come up with something to make sure they keep a strangle hold on this generation.

And let’s not forget about Nintendo. The new Mario, if it comes out this year, will most likely launch near the Scorpio if history is any indicator and if Scorpio does indeed launch in November. Nintendo tends to launch its big game in November to be part of the holiday rush. The Switch will also have built up a decent library by then and will, in all likelihood, still be cheaper than the Scorpio.

All I have left to say is I hope Microsoft does turn its fortunes around with the Scorpio. If the Big Three come out firing on all cylinders at the same time, we all win.

Share this article: