Xbox Head Phil Spencer Gives His Reaction To Halo Infinite's Campaign Footage

I went it looks pretty good, until I play it could move up to incredible.
What I would like to know is it going to be like destiny campaign wise and get added to with updates and dlc campaign missions, taking you to new areas and new baddies etc?

Glad it has been well recieved. If there was ever a studio that needed some love it was 343. Some of the hate directed towards them was so overblown and uncalled for. Everyone makes mistakes in life and it looks like they took the criticism and delivered us an awesome game. So kudos from me and roll on December

That year delay was clearly put to good use. I'm sure the development teams for most games would love to be given that type of time when they need it vs asking them to patch it up as best as possible and get it out the door.

I still don't understand how they didn't see the issues last year before showing it off but I'm glad that they took the massive decision to hold it off a year. A lot of cash lost and a lot of issues with partners who all had infinite themed products ready to go a year ago.

I'm sure many of you have already but I'd recommend a second (or tenth) watch of the gameplay reveal.
There's SO much in there that multiple viewings are a real treat 😁

You can see the XGS potential coming alive slowly. We had Psychonauts 2, Forza Horizon 5 is I think just over 2 weeks away. Halo looks pretty good. It's slowly coming together.

You know, just two years ago, before the unveiling of the Series X, if you told me that the Xbox brand would make this much of a comeback, and garner this much goodwill, I would have laughed.

I was and am still a huge Xbox fan, but there is no denying the laughingstock it had become over the course of the last generation. It was to the point that even though I was convinced that the internet would laugh at the design of the Series X, they were actually quite receptive of it.

It's crazy, I didn't quite like the design of the X when it was first revealed, and I was so sure that people would laugh at it, and the exact opposite happened with the 5... I thought the design was good, but people trashed it. Weird.

What I mean to say, is that I'm glad the die hard Xbox fans kept the dream alive. I love the ecosystem, the games, and the community And the passion from these developers oozes in their games. They are all top-quality games, no matter what people convince themselves, and games that I enjoy more than any other, and Halo is the pinnacle of all of these positive points (so is Forza Horizon 5).

Sorry for my rambling. I'm just amazed at what's been happening with Xbox these last two years.

We just have to remember portions of these were not gameplay and was CGI.

@Dezzy70 I said pretty good because incredible is a strong word & I'm still not sure how I feel about the open world design for this halo

@Royalblues
I totally agree and it has certainly changed at Xbox HQ for the better.
The series x console form factor wise is far better than the PS5 having owned a PS5 it is bigger, more fan noise, you have to screw a stand in and open it up to add ssd memory, Also plug the controller in to update its firmware.
Also firmware wise I now have VRR,ALLM, Dolby vision and atmos. All in 4K at 120fps. all working perfectly with my series x with my LG C1.
I could not ask for more there.
There is a but, but finally we are getting the software which has taken to long. But now we are on a software roll, they need to keep it up into 2022 and beyond.
No matter what we say and be it game pass or console sales, software is the thing that really does the business for sales.

@Dezzy70 That's been my bet since we all caught first glimpse at E3 years ago. Those games as service are huge money makers if they get off to good start and are successful. No need sink money into developing sequels. Just keep same game and only roll out DLCs for years.

Look at Destiny. Constant overpriced DLC that severely lacks content, plus kids with parents credit card. Anyone can do the math. Lol

@Royalblues I wholeheartedly agree with your points and views. I however loved the design of the series X. I’m weird about what I like my house and art and entertainment to look like. It just blends into the entertainment area. From a function standpoint it’s spot on. Agreed with the Xbox fans seemingly coming back to the brand after leaving 360 and going PS4. I like PlayStation miss their controllers. Dual sense is better but the sticks next to each other just don’t do it for me. Yes I have one and it looks awful next to the series x in my opinion but I want to be able to play all the games. So I have to have it. But I love the energy in the Xbox right now. Really think they are poised to gain back some gamers and make a good run with the series consoles.

@Dezzy70 I agree my PS5 is just not as good to me. I did like the 4K dashboard out of the box. As i to have a LG C1 65 inch and outside of my switch don’t want to see 1080P on it. The update to the Xbox has been great to a 4K dashboard. Plug and play memory to me is a huge win and I’m tech savvy. If the software keeps up and 3rd party games run better Xbox has the lead for me easily. Just the fact I like the controller better alone. Sonys controllers just don’t do it for me. It’s the placement of the thumb sticks. It’s good to see team green getting it right.

@Rural-Bandit @Dezzy70 Thanks for the kind words, you guys, and for not rolling your eyes at my wall of text lol. I do agree with you guys that the design of the Series X is better than the 5. When I got the Series X last year, I was able to set it up quickly, and I took a photo of it on my desk, and it blended in with all of my other things. My brother just got himself a 5, and did the same, and it just looks clunky. The thing is that at the time, people would find any and every reason to hate on Xbox, that I thought they'd find a way to do the same to the design of the Series X, and vice versa with PS5. I can't wait to try out its controller, but in my opinion, the Xbox controller just has everything I need.

I'm not going to make a comparison post though. I am jealous that you have the C1, as I have the CX. How are the brightness levels? did they ever find a way to improve that? I don't know if you're into Forza Horizon at all, but that will give you the most out of your TV. I've seen TV comparison videos that used the initial drive from FH4 to showcase the abilities of various TVs, including the CX.

@Rural-Bandit
Controller wise I always preferred Xbox off set thumb sticks and the triggers especially for racing games.
Got myself an elite 2 controller Saturday and wow the tensions in the thumb stick I adjusted to top stiffness and the paddles on fps, no turning back for me now.

@Royalblues
The C1 is great but the CX is as well and the CX just got the Dolby vision 4K 120fps update.
Brightness is very good for an OLED and once settings are adjusted etc, it is picture perfect for me.
I’m FH5 mad, so can’t wait for my download to open up at let me play. All 115gb of FH5 goodness.

@Dezzy70 @Royalblues I have To agree with Dezzy here RoyalBlues the C1 is amazing and I’ve never had a tv bigger than 50 cause I always lived in an apartment. Now that I have a house I got the 65, so that to has made it so enjoyable. But Dezzy is right you are sitting pretty with the CX, Oled is just so good on the eye to me , cause I like color accuracy and not just screen brightness. If I’m watching a football game at my buddies house on his Samsung the grass looks like Mario tennis vs real grass outside or on my oled. You have a great setup , enjoy it buddy. Dezzy you said it perfectly for Xbox controllers. I just love the placement of the thumb sticks , no wasted space for a track pad. To me way better bumpers and triggers , better grip on the sticks. Etc etc. I do however like on the dual sense how soft and quite the button presses are.

@Rural-Bandit
Spot on there, I used to have a Samsung Q90r very good tv, but not as good as the C1 and also no Dolby vision etc on the Samsung and also always had hand shaking issues with the Samsungs.
The OLED hand shakes perfectly with everything single thing I connect to it.
I still have my Samsung q950t sound bar and once set up correctly it is one amazing sound bar.
It actually works better with my LG OLED than it did with my old Samsung tv, work that out. 😂

@Dezzy70 haha thats funny buddy , go figure even LG tv works better than the Samsung for their own sound bar. Samsung makes some really nice tv’s , i could argue Sony makes better color accuracy on the same tech. Sony uses engineering for more than brightness than Samsung does in my opinion. But going forward it’s all oled for me. Can we say one more time xbox is back, series x is just really really good and the true successor to the 360. No more media machine and all games and features. 360 had party chat and achievements, series x has quick resume. Really like the halo campaign today.

Wow this looks amazing!!! I am soo hyped about this game.
This game will be the reason i wi buy a series X. Been playing at my brothers house but now i want one.
Halo looks so clean and fresh.

@Rural-Bandit
Sony used to be the tv masters. But not now.
I had an A80J before I swapped it for the LG C1, best decision I made.
Sony are lazy and money grabbing with their TVs.
Only 2 hdmi 2:1 ports out of four.
No ALLM , no VRR, bad Dolby vision implementation, not very good hand shaking.
Do not release promised updates or take almost a year.
LGs colour and motion has now caught Sony TVs up and with all the extra features that should be standard on a top end tv are there with the LG.
Sony are now third in the tv market and it’s just desserts, they are not tv kings anymore and definitely don’t deserve to be.
It’s funny how this generation how their PS5 has the same missing features at the moment.
ALLM, VRR, Dolby vision etc.

To me, Halo: Infinite won't win awards for its visuals and won't even be the 'best' looking game on console this year. The artstyle is that 'almost' want to be 'realistic' but with a cartoonish look so Character models and animations look very 'gamey'. The 'human' character we keep seeing really doesn't look 'great' when compared to many other games.

That being said, its a marked improvement over 2020's showing. Not just the improvements to lighting, but to texture detail, the significant 'pop-in' reduction of shadows (makes the world less flat too),objects etc.

However, I don't know what platform that was running on. If a very high end PC for example, then how much compromise is needed to run on 'consoles'? Will the Consoles suffer from culling distant shadows, objects etc so the world looks 'flat' and things constantly popping into view?

The 'artstyle' itself looks like an Indie studio went for 'AAA realism' but fell well short. However, that can work too IF everything is 'consistent' and solid. Ghost of Tsushima isn't ultra-realistic either with a stylised look to the world that verges on realism, but its the stability and consistency that makes it work. So I am not criticising the artstyle and this trailer does a LOT to show a massive improvement to the consistency and solidity of the world.

I'm glad its on Game Pass as I can 'try it' and make up my own mind about Halo Infinite, whether 343 have 'saved' the franchise and made the right choices. All I can say is that the 2020 trailer had put me off from wasting space and time downloading to my 'limited' storage but the 'new' trailer at least makes me want to give it a go...

@Dezzy70 that’s a good point. They are missing those features on both. Yeah I used to love their tv’s. But didn’t even consider it over the LG, pure gaming TV the C1 kinda sits in a class of its own. Also thanks for bringing it up they only have 2 HDMI 2.1 ports. That’s just foul to me. No way for that kind of money will I take only 2 ports.

@Rural-Bandit
I used be a bit of Sony user with most of electronics but not anymore.
They have slipped and missed to many balls in the AV market. The last straw was the A80J TV for me and also the way they used low latency Dolby vision in their TVs, however 5 years later on 2021 they have finally addressed that. 😂

@Dezzy70 yeah I don’t do much Sony other than PlayStation which if that business for them ever slowed down the company would be in trouble again. I’m a Apple , LG , Sonos guy at the moment. The C1 just speaks for itself , and the Sonos Arc sound bar is incredible, i also have two Apple HomePods for music and they pair in Stereo mode and really fill a house up with 360 directional sound. The guy at best buy was showing me some Sony and Samsung soundbar’s that were more expensive than the Sonos arc and truthfully for what my ears could hear weren’t better. Not that I’m a audiophile cause i assure you im not . But i can hear and I wasn’t that impressed for the extra money or even if they were the same price.