Topic: General Xbox Series X|S Thread

@Banjo- Absolutely! I’m happy that the showcase had at least two games that interested me. Usually I just watch these showcases for fun or to pass time, and by the end I go “I’m not going to play any of these, but that was fun to watch” because of my tastes in platformers and rhythm games (which rarely appear in these types of events) but this time I actually want to try out some of the games there. Even though there weren’t really any Rare games (besides that short Sea of Thieves appearance) that Perfect Dark reboot is apart of an IP they made, so I’ll absolutely want to give it a go when it releases. I love anything that’s connected to Rare! Hopefully that 2025 to 2026 release window IGN gave during a report of the game last year is true. Someone on another game forum said the reboot seems to have taken some ideas from a cancelled sequel to the original (regarding some story info and the setting) so if they are getting inspiration from that, that’s cool!

The fact they have so many models now is amazing. I think that all-digital Series X was actually known for a year since a document featuring it was leaked during that whole FTC drama (though the console looked significantly different) but I didn’t expect them to show off two more versions at the end.

@Pastellioli Two prototypes were leaked, the 1TB All-Digital Xbox Series X (white) and the cylindrical 2TB All-Digital Xbox Series X (black), but they replaced the cylindrical model with the 2TB Special Edition Xbox Series X (Galaxy Black). Confusing, that's why I write the full names LOL.

Rare helped in the development of Killer Instinct 3 and Battletoads (2020), so it wouldn't surprise anyone that they have at least provided original ideas for the Perfect Dark series and that would be great, indeed! 😊

@Banjo- oh, those all-digital Series X consoles were separate? I thought they were the same and they just changed the appearance of the cylindrical one! The original appearance of the black one looked cool though…I would have liked to see that one get released to market. It looked really sleek in that document.

@Pastellioli The white model was photographed and the black model was part of Microsoft's slides. The difference is the shape and the storage. They manufactured the white model because there are photos and we have seen it, but the cylindrical model was probably never manufactured. It looks sleek, yep.

@Banjo- I did actually see the screenshots of the white Series X, I think those actually appeared online months before this show happened. Anyway, the consoles look pretty cool. Nice to see both options for physical and digital users!

Also state Deep Dive podcasts coming up for MGS: Snake Eater, ARA & Age of Mythology, WoW: the War Within and Indiana Jones and the Great Circle...

After the Xbox Games Showcase 2024, what game(s) are you looking forward to the most?

Me? Perfect Dark, Gears of War E-Day and Doom The Dark Ages.

@Banjo- I’ve already said it, but Perfect Dark. Surprised that a triple-A (or as their calling it, “quadruple-A”) game appealed to me a lot, given that I prefer games that are decades old, shorter and smaller.

@Pastellioli Perfect Dark was the first trailer that I replayed today. I was a bit worried about this project, but I have to say that I'm thrilled now! I was more excited about Fable until yesterday.

@Banjo- Absolutely. Speaking of that, I need to progress in the original game. Tried playing it back in December and I didn’t finish the first level.

@Pastellioli The first Fable game is awesome. I think that Perfect Dark became my most anticipated game yesterday. 😁

@Banjo- There are certainly a couple of games I need to play before some of these new titles drop in the future! I plan on trying to play through the original Perfect Dark games, complete Nuts and Bolts (since it’s the only Banjo game I’ve never completed) and possibly trying the original Fable too. It’s going to be fun! That showcase definitely rejuvenated some of my interest in these games.

To be honest, I'm looking forward to the rest of this year and feel more 'reassured' 2025 will be a cracker. Perfect Dark and Doom both look interesting and very different FPS games - liked PD's game-play too - very secret agent and mobile too. Doom looks like crazy slaying mayhem and fun...

I'm glad they are going back and putting the War back into Gears of War with E-Day - but I do think they ought to make a DLC add-on for Gears 5 to conclude that in the 'near' future at the very least. I know it could be 'difficult' to start '6' after 5, but they could do a 'Light' and 'Dark' conclusion based on that end for example, conclude that Storyline and enable them to 'move on' as this 'new' Coalition. Gears 5 will be on Game Pass for years so new 'Gears' fans too will want a satisfactory end...

I've been burnt too many times to be 'excited' for something you expect to be 'ready' on the day you expect only for 'delays' and/or unfinished cash grabs that I can't get excited for 2025+ games yet, but they were making me feel more a lot more confident in the value I'll get from Game Pass in the next 18months+. Many games I'll likely be excited for closer to launch, but with Indy, BO6, Avowed, Stalker 2 etc coming in the next half a year to be 'excited' for, plenty of time for the others in 2025 LOL...

Whether I play on Console or PC, it looks like I'll have something to play for 'free' and on Day 1 too. BO6, Stalker 2 and Indiana Jones are probably the 'most' excited for at the moment. I enjoy the campaign & round based Zombies and not paying £70 for it is a reason to be excited. Avowed looks interesting too and FS24 looks more interesting than just 'flying' a plane but not sure its my thing.

I'm not a SoD player, but I also thought SoD3 looked pretty interesting but Fable is looking incredible and I think really capturing the 'snarky Brit humour' of the Originals too so far. Atomfall caught my eye too - another very 'British' setting/game. South of Midnight left me conflicted, the cut scene animation stutter style is off putting, but the game-play looked far more fluid and quite interesting.

Plenty of games coming up in the next few months to be excited for and plenty that I'll want to know more about. The next 18m is looking rather Good - and this is 'just' MS games coming to Xbox/Game Pass to keep me Subscribed for and playing on their platform.

@Pastellioli All very good choices. The Xbox version of Perfect Dark is a massive technical improvement, much more enjoyable on Xbox than on N64. I know because I beat the game on both. The final boss on N64 is almost impossible because of the frame rate! I also liked Perfect Dark Zero. Of course, I love the game that started it all, Goldeneye 007. I beat the N64 version and the Xbox 360 remake on Series X in developer mode.

@Pastellioli
I can relate to that. The PD and golden eye games objective system boggled my mind at first since I was more used to 6th gen era shooters like max payne where you just move from point A to point B. Thankfully the gun play was very addictive and the games are not that long.

@Yousef- Yep, Goldeneye 007 and Perfect Dark are challenging of course, especially the harder difficulty modes, but the missions are not long and they have a variety of objectives. Modern shooters, some of them I like, but not many are at that level of level design and quality.

@Yousef- I loved the way PD and Goldeneye tackled difficulty. Instead of just making enemies more Bullet Sponges and/or you becoming far more delicate and fragile, they added more objectives you had to complete. Instead of just opening a gate for example, you may have to turn off Alarms, hack some system, turn the power on etc to be able to open the gate.

Modern game design would just make the enemies tougher or more numerous, reduce your health to the point that any damage means death, but the 'objective' remain the same regardless. Also, you did get rewarded for beating missions on the highest difficulty with unlockable cheat Codes, Characters and a couple of new maps too. Now that 'content' is sold rather than rewarded...

Ok! Just finished the first level in Perfect Dark and it’s pretty good so far. I think why I got stuck on the level and quit playing the game my first time was because I didn’t know how to open doors, which is probably the most video game journalist thing I’ve ever done lol. I’m pretty bad at playing Rare’s games on my first try and I only get better at them later when I use walkthroughs.

I had to use walkthroughs for some of the Banjo-Kazooie games and Conker’s Bad Fur Day when I first played them, though the walkthrough for the latter helped me the most since it’s pretty difficult to play thanks to it having junky controls. I tried replaying the War segment earlier today and it’s way too hard with how bad it controls, so I just stopped playing it. The shooting in that game is so dreadful actually…

@Pastellioli if it’s any consolation, I can definitely relate to a lot of this. PD felt really “foreign” to me at first but I managed to get the swing of things better. I would argue i had an easier time with banjo because of me beating Mario 64 in advance, so a lot about banjo was instantly recognizable.

@BAMozzy yup! It’s certainly a fun design choice braun teaser. While theres some merit to making enemies stronger, especially if the game was designed around it, it can definitely reek of laziness. Extra objectives can potentially add a ton of fun value to some missions, changing the way you play in general can unlock a new side of the game for you.