101Force

This is along the lines of putting out a new game console and Sega should know better.

In my opinion Microsoft should have marketed the Series S as a "family" or "party" console, similar to how the Wii was marketed, rather than as a "budget" console, so I can't say I'm too confident in their ability to market a handheld console well — especially since it will be up against both the Switch and SteamDeck successors.

The takeaway here should be wear your helmet.

A shame to see Nerf Legends go, but it was more of a shame that it didn't feature local deathmatch play, similar to Perfect Dark or GoldenEye.

It would be nice if this would work running off of a regular USB, rather than requiring the internal hard drive, given the limited capacity.

Dungeons & Dragons: Chronicles of Mystara is a fantastic beat 'em up with local co-op. Just sayin'.

The Xbox Series S was the first Xbox console I bought, and it will be the last. I won't be transitioning to Sony's or Nintendo's consoles though, when the next console generation starts I'll move over to SteamOS or ChimeraOS and employ a bit of the "patient gamer" mentality so I don't break the bank on PC specs.

If Microsoft had executed the Series S alternative well I might be hyped for this, but I don't feel they did so I'm pretty skeptical.

You just need to look at Prey to see that Microsoft didn't know what they had when it came to Arkane Austin. The game has gained a bit of a cult following and is frequently cited as one of the top games to play for new Game Pass subscribers. If Microsoft had any sense they would have asked Arkane Austin to develop a 2D, metroidvania remake of the original game (ideally using pixel art, but honestly they could have re-used assets from the original game and people would have still loved it) and then a sequel. They had the makings of something beautiful but Microsoft missed the forest for the trees.

@BAMozzy I understand the current market, but you asked why I am "so focussed on 'old' games" and I told you. I'll probably be moving to a PC running SteamOS or ChimeraOS since there are plenty of legacy games with local multiplayer and mods/virtual network solutions for many modern games too.

@BAMozzy Why? I mostly play games with local co-op — it's the only reason I own a console specifically — which is a feature that is significantly more common in older titles, such as those that have yet to be added from the acquisition.

If only they did something (or licensed third-parties to do something) with their many dormant and forgotten IP...

I feel they could attract a lot more interest with a million than offering it as a cash prize, eg:

• Funding the development of implementing local multiplayer in popular Xbox 360 or Xbox One games that previously didn't have it (although it would likely have to be Series X|S users only, as there were probably technical reasons it wasn't implemented in the first place).
• Funding development of unique DLC for Game Pass subscribers specifically.
• Funding initial development of third-party developers working on dormant/forgotten Microsoft IP.

@Trmn8r : The only claim I made here is that Tencent's acquisition of Ubisoft won't relieve Ubisoft from "having to cater to investors", and you responded to that, remember?

@Trmn8r : So you're saying the CCP will oppose the profit-driven shareholder demand of a video game company listed on the Hong Kong stock exchange, potentially reducing the company's profitability, because it benefits their propaganda and information harvesting agendas? I don't think that makes much sense, but if true we'll surely hear complaints from Tencent's foreign shareholders in the next few years anyway.

@Trmn8r : Let's assume the CCP cares about a video game company — even though it's nonsense — so what? The point I was making to @acmiguens is that if Tencent acquires Ubisoft that doesn't mean Ubisoft won't have to answer to shareholder demand or US private equity groups because Tencent is a publicly-traded company on the Hong Kong stock exchange. And what reason does the CCP have to oppose the demands of Tencent's shareholders? Assuming the CCP has any interest in Tencent, it's their profitability that interests them.

@Trmn8r : You don't have to take my word for it, there are plenty of market trackers online with institutional shareholder listings for Tencent, and many of those shareholders are US entities: Renaissance Group, MMBG Investments, Madison Asset Management, Azimuth Capital Management, Douglas C. Lane & Associates, etc. etc. etc.

Bear in mind that unlike the Beijing stock exchange, the Hong Kong stock exchange is completely open to foreign investors.

@acmiguens : Tencent is a publicly-traded company on the Hong Kong stock exchange and some of its largest institutional shareholders are located in USA.

@GamingFan4Lyf : I think the big advatage this has over native PC releases for the emulation community is local multiplayer, which is often not present in PC releases but can be found in a number of Xbox One titles.

Three-player local co-op?!??!? Nice.

Final Fantasy III, IV, V, and VI are the best the series has to offer, in my opinion (although VII, VIII, and IX are excellent too).

It's a shame it isn't an "HD-2D"-like remake.

I'm genuinely surprised services like this are profitable, given the prevalence of emulation, and it disappoints me that these retro games aren't released without some reasonable enhancements where appropriate — proper 16:9 support, local co-op added, remixed levels, etc. etc.

It's even worse for Borderlands 3 and Tiny Tina's Wonderland, where the store lists 2-4 player local multiplayer as a feature, but on the Series S only 2-player local multiplayer is possible. And if you played Borderlands 1, 2, or The Pre-Sequel you might not even pick up on this, since 2-4 player local multiplayer is possible on the Series S for those games.

I don't agree with that.

It is possible for Elder Scrolls 6 to meet my expectations and the expectations of the majority. But they need a cohesive vision — both for the overall game and for individual regions — that prioritizes environment, story-building, characters, combat, and having fun.

I'll give the expansion a shot, but the more I play the base game and read about the expansion, the more I realize the game should have centered on a single star system with six to seven extremely well-crafted, Earth-like planets (and their moons), along with a few space stations and a few colonies in unusual environments, such as on a so-called "ice giant".

@BAMozzy : With SteamOS and its variants growing in popularity, I'd argue that Microsoft needs to change their business plan though. Microsoft should release a "gamer's version" of Windows to compete with Steam, where Microsoft could put the spotlight on their own store and attract buyers of the OS itself with its better compatability, while Xbox "consoles" would become more of a PC standard for developers to aim for and to compete directly with Sony by selling machines at cost that are locked to the new OS.

I got no problem with upscaling — when it's implemented well — but for the price I wonder how many people would prefer to get a PC, even if it has "less power" by comparison, since that comes with the possibility of a significantly larger game library, an array of emulators, game mods, fan-translations, etc. And thanks to operating systems like SteamOS, ChimeraOS, and the upcoming Playtron OS, you can have a console-like experience if you want one too.

The point of "exposure" is to get lucrative deals from companies that can afford big payouts... like Rockstar Games.

I'm of the opinion that smaller studios will offer more stability for employees and franchises in the future. Larger studios are having a difficult time gauging success, partially due to shareholder demand and partially because they're in new territory, eg: the line between success and failure on a streaming service is confused when the game is produced (or paid for) by the service provider.

Loading times are the biggest problem for Minecraft now...

Aside from a few established franchises and their respective genres, Microsoft should be prioritizing genres that the more popular third-party titles fail to deliver in addition to games with optional local multiplayer because that's one of the main differences between consoles and PCs at this point.

I wonder if the Tsujimoto family pushed him out too.

The lack of local multiplayer is a real disappointment, especially since this game has a lot of potential to draw in Terraria players and local multiplayer is a selling-point for that game on consoles.

All third-party titles, still no major titles from Microsoft or its subsidiaries, eg: Minecraft. I think that will be the policy going forward...

With more and more Xbox "exclusives" appearing on Sony's and Nintendo's consoles I don't imagine these will sell too well unless they receive a significant price-cut or they're opened up with additional PC functionality, eg: Something I could run my DAW or graphics program on.

The Broken sword series is awesome and I'd definitely buy a remake of the first one, although it would be nice if they tweaked a few of the puzzles so they made more sense / were easier.

The decline in local multiplayer games on consoles is one of the reasons I'm considering going PC in the next few years. The backlog of games that support local multiplayer, many of which can be expanded with mods and map packs, in addition to the options afforded by emulation, make it a clear winner.

I'm looking forward to this, Control was brilliant!

Microsoft should follow suit with their dormant / unused IP.

Unless you've never played the original games before, Voxel Doom and Doom Infinite are arguably the best ways to play these games now.

Considering the game is being released on Game Pass, where people have the luxury of waiting to get into the game while they get through their backlog — which for many is the point of Game Pass — I can't help but feel Microsoft should be holding their first-party developers to different standards if they want to encourage communities and long-term interest in their games.

The lack of local multiplayer is a disappointment and there are a handful of in-game mechanics that were changed for the worse, but overall it's a major upgrade over the previous version in most ways. It should be stressed that enough in-game mechanics have been changed to make this a very different game from the original and I suspect some people won't like that.

Hopefully that means single-player games based on World of Warcraft which emphasize specific character classes and historical event in the franchise's lore.

The Verge ran an article yesterday titled AMD is becoming an AI chip company, just like Nvidia where it's said:

"AMD just announced its second quarter 2024 earnings today, and the highlight was this: nearly half the company’s sales are now data center products — not chips for personal computers, not game consoles, not embedded chips for industry or vehicles."

So while I'm concerned with what will become of Xbox — will my Series S become a paperweight that nobody wants? — I'm also concerned about what will become of game consoles in general, it's hard to believe this won't have an impact. It's a shame gaming PCs are generally more expensive than their console equivalents, as that route is an obvious solution.

Whatever Microsoft is planning, I hope they don't leave people who bought into the hardware component of their ecosystem feeling overlooked or discarded.

It's hard to say, there's a couple factors at work that weren't really an issue before the Series X|S released:

• GPU / APU manufacturers are now prioritizing the AI and big data markets, which will probably affect the costs and availability of new GPUs / APUs.
• In the last few years several countries — including the 10 countries responsible for 77% of video games sales — have passed legislation to make high-speed internet available to all their citizens, making cloud gaming / game streaming services a lot more viable.

And on top of that, it's unclear what Microsoft's strategy going forward is going to be: Are they going to lean into the console market or exit the market in favour of sales on PC? Or are they going to create a "gamer's variant" of Windows to compete with SteamOS, making Xbox "consoles" little more than a baseline PC standard for developers to aim for? Or are they going to do something else altogether?

The show was well-received and Microsoft should learn from Paramount's failing as a TV/movie streaming service when it comes to their own services and studios.

@Utena-mobile : I couldn't agree more. At this point I plan on transitioning from consoles altogether to a PC running SteamOS or ChimeraOS — but not for a couple years still, when I expect a mini PC with an RX 7600M XT eGPU or a Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 APU to be a lot more affordable. Sure, it will be a couple generations behind in the PC market by then, but it will be enough for me. The only exceptions for Xbox that I might still buy are games that have local multiplayer on consoles but not on PC.

I have a hard time believing all 113 people (and counting) that voted in the poll have actually tried it out, especially since it's only been out for a week and most visitors here have an Xbox console...