The Xbox Showcase + Starfield Direct Could Be the Start of a Long Xbox Winning Streak

ign.com:

Oh, how I’ve missed Confident Microsoft. You remember: it’s the version of the tech company that brashly broke into the console industry over 20 years ago, and then muscled its way to a near-draw with the PlayStation 3 thanks to the Xbox 360, aka the perfect console at the perfect time. Thanks to the well-documented and repeated mistakes of the Xbox One era, Microsoft has spent most of the past decade in a defensive stance, back on its heels and frequently apologizing to its customers for screwing up yet again. Even the start of the Xbox Series generation was fraught with supply chain nightmares and a 2022 that sapped every last bit of momentum that a promising 2021 built. And then there was Redfall, but let’s not pick at that scab again, shall we?

Instead, it’s time to celebrate the return of Confident Microsoft, which was on full display at last week’s Xbox Showcase/Starfield Direct double feature (an informal poll on my Twitter shows that most of you agree with that assessment). The first-party publisher is poised to go on an extended winning streak, and kicked that off by booting a chicken clear across the screen in the much-anticipated gameplay sneak preview of Fable, which made it undoubtedly clear that the wizards at Playground Games not only have their own definitive take on this beloved franchise (that Jack and the Beanstalk-esque twist genuinely made my jaw drop), but that the ForzaTech engine is capable of rendering more than just cars in a stunningly beautiful way. This reboot has the potential to make Fable bigger than it ever was, which is saying something.

Microsoft went 3 for 3 to start the show, in fact, finally announcing Compulsion’s new game as the third-person action-adventure South of Midnight, and