Topic: General Xbox Series X|S Thread

@Balta666 Awesome, thanks for the link. I figured it being delisted wouldn't be a problem, I have a few physical copies of backwards compatible games that were delisted, Forza Horizon 2 for example and it works fine. I know if there was any digital only DLC I can't get unless they happened to release a physical Ultimate Edition. I just wasn't 100% sure it was backwards compatible and didn't want to waste the time tracking a copy down.

This is why I don't think MS will make their OWN handheld Gaming device as they can let Asus, HP, Acer etc make their OWN windows based gaming Handhelds that will automatically have access to Game Pass for PC and Cloud streaming options too.

MS could Licence these too - either allow them to use Xbox branding to help sell more (like Turtle Beach Xbox branded headsets or Seagate Xbox branded Expansions) or even promote them with 1-3 months of 'free' Game Pass for PC codes in the box so you have 'games' to play straight away - no need to spend more 'buying' games to play on it - if you don't own 'PC' games.

Between this, Steam Deck, AyaNeo, Mobiles/Tablets (and any gaming accessories that turn those into handheld gaming devices), there are numerous options to Play Xbox games on the Go so I can't see MS needing to make their OWN.

This is interesting to see how Cyberpunk can run its 'highest' RT mode on various 'weak' GPU's - even if at a 'Console' like 30fps.

What is 'interesting' to is that compared to 'most' current GPU's in the majority of gaming PC's today (not the very latest, top tier GPU's), Streaming proves to be the 'best' option to get the most playable version of Cyberpunk in its 'highest' tier RT mode because it runs at 60fps or above 'most' of the time and even the 'extra' lag incurred by streaming doesn't hurt as much as the Lag/latency incurred at 30fps.

It makes sense when most 30fps games have around 120ms input latency, 60fps tends to be around 70-80ms (of course varies from game to game) and streaming adds about 5-10ms so at 60fps, it feels more like 60fps (70-80ms) and more responsive, better to play than 'natively' at 30fps.

Therefore, all those XB1/X owners could actually benefit by playing games via Game Pass Streaming than play natively. XB1X may well have the sharper image, but streaming could offer much richer, denser and/or RT lit visuals supersampled down to be 'softer' at 1080p, but far less pop-in. Its a 'big' upgrade over 'sub-1080p' and barely holding 30fps versions on XB1S to play Series X visuals at 1080/60 through their consoles.

I wonder how long before They build 'super' Gaming computer servers that are far more capable and connected to super chips to handle the most complex Physics, AI, Ray Tracing etc (even use AI to help in the game) that 'no' domestically available hardware could run locally or 'offline' so the ONLY option is streaming...

I know that some games 'rely' on streaming - Flight Sim for example but feels 'different' because it does have 'offline' content that 'looks/feels' the same - it doesn't matter that the 'world data' is streaming in inc the actual weather in that area etc - not on disk - it still 'relies' on streaming to play the main part of it.

I still think there is a future for Hardware and don't really want to see Streaming as the 'main/only' real option - can't see it for at least a 'decade' but as a viable option, an 'entry' way to play games or even a 'compliment' to a main platform (like streaming a game before you decide whether to download/install, use it to play where you can't with PC/Console, etc) I can only see it getting 'better' and growing in users - which will also encourage more investment and improvements. I just wonder how long it will be before 'Streaming' can offer a 'better' experience than whatever 'Hardware' they can cram in a box to 'sell' at an 'affordable' price for what it promises and punches above its price point like Consoles are designed to be.

GeForce now arguably can offer 'better' than a $500 Series X/PS5 console - Cyberpunk with the highest tier Visual Quality at 60fps and over...(mostly)

Anyone know when the preload is for Last Case of Benedict Fox? Still no pricing or preload that I can tell.

RARE said everwild might release in 2023, look forward to it, but I not sure exactly how the game plays, I really hope it is good I'm a big RARE fan

Hey all,
This article from Eurogamer points to an important thing that I think is helpful if everyone is informed about:
https://www.eurogamer.net/phil-spencer-there-is-no-world-wher...
A quote from the same article:
"There is no world where Starfield is an 11 out of 10 and people start selling their PS5s," he said. "That's not going to happen."

But why not? Why wouldn't great first-party games from Xbox move the needle? According to Spencer, Xbox's fate was sealed after it lost the last generation.

"We lost the worst generation to lose in the Xbox One generation, where everybody built their digital library of games," Spencer said.

"We want our Xbox community to feel awesome, but this idea that if we just focused more on great games on our console that somehow we're gonna win the console race, doesn't relate to the reality of most people.

@BrilliantBill What he is saying is that there is NO world where people will give up a whole generation+ of their Digital Libraries on Playstation built up over the last gen to play new 'Xbox' games like Starfield, Fable etc. Even if most of the games are multi-platform releases, if you bought for PS4 (as most gamers did because Xbox One didn't sell well so had far fewer users), they are still 'locked' to the Playstation generation. So its not just Playstation 'exclusives' they would lose and we know Sony had by far the 'best' (at least from a critical perspective - many winning or nominated for Game of the Year) and most numerous exclusives, but every game they owned from last gen.

It wasn't a 'complete' reset with this Gen. People have a LOT more to lose by switching these days. At the start of the PS4/XB1 era, with no Back Compat (at launch or ever on PS4), it was a 'fresh start' and everybody 'lost' their games to start 'fresh' on PS4/XB1. We know how bad MS 'screwed' up - although was really ahead of the curve but gamers weren't ready for the 'digital' era in 2013. Now you can buy a PS5, Series X and your entire 'digital' library (as well as 'discs') from last gen come with you. That could be £/$1000's worth of games that people don't want to 'Lose' by switching platforms.

The 'only' real hope is that they can 'encourage' others to 'play' in some capacity. Its probably why the Series S exists too - a 'cheap' console that maybe Playstation gamers would pick up to play the exclusives, but still 'lose' out on 3rd Party sales as they buy those on PS5. The other aspect is those 'new' gamers coming into 'console' gaming for the first time, those with no digital history. But even then, those gamers have at least a 'decade' of games to choose between because these consoles also have last gen games and we know Xbox wasn't as 'strong' so even if 'Starfield' was an 11/10, its not going to pull gamers away from Playstation with Spider-Man, Last of Us, God of War, Horizon, Ghost of Tsushima etc as well as Spider-Man 2 coming 'soon'.

Xbox would need a LOT of AAA 'bangers' on Consoles to compete with all the AAA bangers from the PS4 gen onwards that PS5 offers. Its not 'Starfield' vs a 'single' PS5 title, but ALL the exclusive titles you could play so even if Starfield is the best game 'ever', PS5 owners aren't going to sell PS5's and 'switch' to Xbox so Xbox can close the console 'gap'- that's not going to happen.

@BAMozzy Fair enough you elaborated pretty well on what he meant. I believe Xbox's games will probably be a strong presence on both Xbox itself and PC over the next years. But my point remains that is important people understand that regardless of success of the next 3 or 10 Xbox exclusives, the status quo of the gaming market is not going to radically shift in any direction. With every news on this website and on twitter we have the bajillions of pundits presenting their "quick hack" to defeat PS. That is an approach and idea that has just become grating at this point.

@BrilliantBill I don't disagree at all and its clear that MS understand that they can't really compete in Console Sales wars and therefore aren't going to have some 'miraculous' game (or selection of games) that will suddenly see 'Xbox' catching up and/or overtaking Sony/Nintendo in terms of units sold.

At best, they can hope to encourage people to jump into their 'ecosystem' in some capacity - even if its just via Cloud. If they get the ABK deal through, even if they made 'every' game Exclusive, its not going to make Playstation gamers 'jump' to Xbox and give up their Library on Playstation, abandon all those 'exclusives' - inc those coming like Spider-Man 2, Wolverine, Final Fantasy 16 etc - hence NO jurisdiction has 'blocked' MS based on 'Hardware' gaming and the CMA's argument that it would give MS an 'unassailable' advantage in Cloud is 'ridiculous'. If Sony wanted, they could start their own 'cloud streaming' service with Many more games in their Library from PS1 onwards, more 'exclusives' as well. EA, Ubisoft, SE, WB, TenCent and 'all' the other Publishers and their owned IP's aren't ALL on Game Pass so could start their own 'cloud streaming' to compete.

Its a bit like saying Netflix had a monopoly because they started Streaming and therefore no-one else had a chance to compete against ALL the content Netflix had - yet Amazon, Disney+ etc have all competed successfully. MS/Xbox only has their 'own' IP's and Studio's they can guarantee on Cloud - which leaves 1000's of other games owned by various other companies that 'could' start a 'competing' cloud service. If Sony started one, I doubt it would be 'windows' based and would have its own 'unique' library of games - but Sony (and the other Publishers who are 'Sales' focussed) don't think Cloud is right for them - as it would 'hurt' sales of Hardware & Software, therefore affect their Sales focussed business model.

The reality is that its not Starfield vs 'Spider-Man 2' for example, its the 'entire' Library of games you can play on 'Xbox' vs the entire Library of games on Playstation - you aren't spending $500+ just to play a single game and if Starfield is the 'only' must play on Xbox, its not going to pull people away from the many more games on Playstation.

I have been saying for years, before the current gen started that MS is not competing for Console sales, not trying to be the best selling hardware - hence you get day 1 releases on PC/Cloud too - both affect Console and Software sales. They have a 'different' business model - more service based. But Sales are also not the ONLY metric...

Worth checking out this Interview of Phil Spencer and Matt Booty with Giant Bomb, will get the time Stamps ready It's great to see them talking so openly and freely about Xbox and games and just experiences, it's a wonderful insight, makes me feel good about Xbox, that is a good thing.

Link: https://youtu.be/ykXaj1d1jXY

Phil Spencer and Matt Booty about 1hour 15mins in, Time staps are in the video on youtube etc

Thanks

Hi everyone.

Any chance someone could answer a query for me?

I've had the same Xbox profile for about 10 years. I have game pass tied into my phone contract also (all under the same email address)

I'm looking to start my Xbox profile from scratch. Is there any way I can do this using the same email address and will my gamepass subscription carry over?

I missed the big VR discussion three days ago and honestly that's for the better because I would have probably wasted a lot of time telling people how VR isn't really that niche.

This forum isn't super active, but I dont know where else to put this so off we go.

It's weird how Microsoft hasn't embraced VR on the Xbox side since it's already big on Windows. They could capitalize on that by having cross-VR-titles on PC and Xbox, since the Series S can absolutely run them. They could have a leg up in the VR race but instead they're playing it safe, which is fine, but it seems like a lost opportunity to me. They can buy multi-billion dollar companies, but won't take a small risk and start supporting their franchises with VR? Hell, I'm certain that Starfield is gonna get VR support on PC, officially or not, so why not just go all in?

@HotGoomba In a nutshell MS said that VR right now is still a niche thing.

@HotGoomba Its still 'niche' and not that 'popular' as a 'percentage' of the user base. Take PSVR which sold 5m unts with 120m+ PS4 users - that's less than 5% of the market. With Xbox, if they only sold to 'less than 5%', that would be significantly 'lower' sales of VR headsets - with a LOT of R&D costs, prototyping, Press/Review/Publicity units, Dev Kits etc etc to recuperate too.

Of course they 'could' tap into the Windows VR - but on Console - you expect games 'Optimised' specifically for the Hardware to deliver a simple 'plug & play' solution. Without bespoke software, its not going to appeal to the 'VR Curious' either - not worth the 'risk'. It may not be worth the Costs and on-going costs of developing software (costs they can invest into making non-VR software) etc to try and make VR successful.

Maybe in 5yrs, they will feel differently, but as much of a 'success' you feel VR may well be, its still 'niche' in terms of the overall gaming market and how the Majority choose to play games.

If anyone has had a chance to delve into Punch Club 2 would you be able to tell me if stat degradation is back in the game?

@BAMozzy yeah I'm thinking of grabbing the next version of the ROG phone for streaming. Currently 7 ultimate is the best one, I'm happy to wait for the 8 and finally pick one up. Makes sense, I hate my current Samsung.

@themcnoisy Each to their own of course - I tend to use my RoG Ally for 'on the go' Streaming and my mobile is used as a 'traditional' mobile and my Samsung S10+ is more than adequate for my needs.

I'd rather not rely on 'touch screen' controls myself so the Ally suits my needs 'better' and at £700, is 'cheaper' than most new Phones. I don't bother to try and stream over Mobile Networks as these are more 'limited' on Bandwidth and therefore capped to 720/60 where wifi/hardwired Internet connections are limited to 1080/60.

I must admit, I do like some of the RoG phones but have a 'better' solution for my needs/preferences and I'd only be buying a Phone to replace a phone that does 'everything' I want a Phone to do but as I said, each to their own - at least we have 'options' as a consumer these days.

So with game pass core, do I get to keep the games with it or is just for lend every 3 months?

@Ninfan It's Gamepass you don't keep the games you play them as long as you have tbe service and they are available, just like Netflix.

@Ninfan You'll have 'access' to around 25+ games 'every' month as long as you remain Subscribed to Game Pass Core. Those 25+ games are 'only' playable whilst you are Subscribed AND they remain in that curated list of Games available.

If a Game remains in that curated list for 3months or more, as long as you 'keep' your Subscription active, you can 'keep' playing - but if its due to be rotated out, then you'll lose access unless you purchase. You won't get Starfield or Forza on the day they release with Game Pass Core - its a curated list of selected games from Game Pass you can play at 'no' additional cost whilst you remain Subscribed to 'Core' (which you must have anyway if you wish to play Online with Friends) AND those games remain 'available' in that curated list. As soon as they leave GPC or you cancel your Subscription, you'll lose access unless you choose to purchase.

I don't think they have stipulated how often Games will be 'changed' in that list but I don't expect them to completely change all 25+ games in one month - some games could be there for 'months and months', others rotated out after a month or two...