101Force

@Vaako007 : Of course they can price the service however they'd like, my point was their primary appeal to consumers is in the perceived savings compared to purchasing games outright — and failure to recognize that position in the market is sure to harm their business.

I wouldn't say the price increase is "significant" in this case, but I would say any and all subscription-based services should be mindful of price increases because they are ultimately an alternative to outright purchasing expensive games, ie: their primary appeal is in savings for the consumer.

I could see these price-tags being justifiable if either:

1. These games had enough content and depth for someone to spend a year with them, and they were enjoyable enough for people to want to.

2. These games were designed to offer substantial support for a wide variety of mods from the fan community.

The problem is that so many of these games don't really fall into either category, their price-tags are based on hype.

I've never played a Call of Duty game, but Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Remastered is apparently one of the best and it supports local multiplayer, so that's what I'd be checking out.

"...the next Xbox won’t be a closed system but a PC-based console."

@GamingFan4Lyf : Now that would be interesting.

If Microsoft produced a gaming orientated Windows OS — something that could be used solely with gamepads and provided a console-like experience — it would probably kill Steam OS and a lot of the alternatives. Support for NVidia GPUs and wider support for Windows-based games would be a game-changer in that market, and depending on how it's implemented it could have a huge effect on traditional gaming consoles too.

I'm all for maintaining compatability (and furthering backwards-compatability), but this seems like something Microsoft would do if they were adopting different architecture in the next generation, eg: an NVidia GPU or ARM CPU.

It depends entirely on the gameplay, genre, and (if applicable) the story.

Video games need history and cultural lessons like Cosmology of Kyoto — the game has similarities to Myst but takes place in feudal Japan. It portrays cultural and societal norms for the time, has voice actors that speak in an authentic dialect for the time, and portrays the beliefs that people held at the time as if they were real (because they were real to the people living then). It's a masterpiece and it's truly a shame that modern gaming hasn't learned anything from it.

But that's neither here nor there.

Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled

@NEStalgia : Isn't the Switch's GPU largely based on NVidia Maxwell? I don't think it's a very good metric to go by, considering the architecture is 10-years-old and NVidia didn't really take a (seemingly) permanent lead in the GPU market until 6 years later with the Ampere architecture. Mind you, it's hard to say what architecture would actually show up in an Xbox console considering Microsoft still has to make their consoles attractive enough to consumers to compete with Sony.

Call me crazy, but I wouldn't be surprised if the successor to the Xbox Series X|S abandoned AMD in an attempt to get an edge over the PlayStation 6, and to me that means either implementing an Intel CPU paired with an Intel GPU, or an ARM CPU paired with an NVidia GPU. And while the former could be advantageous if Intel cut Microsoft a deal — significantly more processing power for less — the latter would be a much safer bet, albeit more expensive.

Not without local multiplayer, I'm not. And with a name like Halo "Infinite" one would expect some degree of procedural generation for an endless supply of missions.

I enjoyed BL3 and BL:TTW, but the series peaked with BL2. It will be interesting to see if the change in ownership leads to better games.

I'm fairly certain the Xbox Series X|S could run a decent Android emulator and Google would be all over having the Play Store available on those consoles... and of course there are other emulators/storefronts that could be easily run, such as PICO-8.

EDIT: This makes me think Microsoft should just release a gaming variant of Windows to compete with SteamOS, and then release specialized PC "consoles" to compete with the Steam Deck and Steam Machines. It's not the approach I'd take with Xbox, but it's not without merit.

I've seen implementations of ray tracing that were truly impressive — so I wouldn't say it's a waste of time — but I've also seen ray tracing applied to games retroactively, eg: Half Life 2 and Portal, which I felt actually detracted from the game's aesthetic, so I wouldn't say it's the technical leap that manufacturers would have us believe.

But what I really want is local co-op in the Diablo II remake.

Speculations aside, in my opinion Microsoft can placate a lot of concerns and improve their business outlook by:

1. Directing first-party studios to focus on a mixture of established franchises and genres that Xbox consoles are lacking — it makes no sense to focus on genres that directly compete with their most prominent third-party developers.

2. Abandoning the strategy of the budget (Xbox Series S) and premium (Xbox Series X) models and focusing on a strategy of family/party-orientated (Xbox Series S) and premium (Xbox Series X) models — Xbox needs to further build its own niche rather than competing with Sony and Nintendo on Sony's and Nintendo's terms.

I'm sure there would be a lot of disagreement about how to achieve these goals, but broadly speaking I think this would be the best approach for Microsoft at this time.

I have high expectations for Elder Scrolls 6 simply because 5 set the bar relatively high to begin with, and Bethesda/Microsoft should learn a lot from the reception of Starfield, Baldur's Gate 3, and (when it's released) Grand Theft Auto 6.

Terra Invicta is the bees' knees.

In my opinion Microsoft should be using their first-party studios to develop genres that fall short among third-party releases to round out their console's appeal, and since there aren't too many Pokemon-like games being released this is an acquisition that could make sense... but I'd argue there are other genres that are both more popular and more lacking on Xbox consoles as well, so it certainly wouldn't be a first-choice.

I'm genuinely excited for this!

I'm sure most, if not all large gaming companies would love a cloud gaming future. It would eliminate piracy, eliminate unauthorized mods, eliminate caps on game sizes, and significantly reduce online cheating, not to mention create a monthly revenue stream. And with legislation in various countries underway to put high-speed internet everywhere, I think it's only a matter of a time until it's a reality for most of the industry.

Resident Evil 5's split-screen co-op is among my favourite multiplayer experiences.

There's not a lot I can say about this, except: ಠ_ಠ

@Martsmall : All three — console, PC, and xCloud — should be seperate services in my opinion, but thank you for the workaround.

It annoys me that as a Game Pass Ultimate subscriber I can't play a downloaded Game Pass game on my Series S and stream the same game with xCloud on a different device at the same time — I'm paying the higher price for GPU for additional services, aren't I?

Are they taking any of the IP they created with them, eg: Star Control?

The cynic in me think this will be followed by layoffs.

> Other enhancements are set to include "an improved heatsink" and "an upgraded Nexus card"...

What function does the Nexus card have?

Sure would be nice if they made it easier to access xCloud on the SteamDeck, Raspberry Pi machines, etc. through dedicated apps...

IF Microsoft ditches physical games with the upcoming mid-gen refresh or the next generation in 2026-7, I sincerely hope they consider selling limited-edition consoles capable of playing physical media and then licensing a third-party to sell physical media, such as Limited Run Games, for a premium.

Wasn't Spec Ops: The Line just removed from all stores — including the Xbox store — without any notice whatsoever?

If xCloud / Xbox Cloud Gaming were accessible through something like a dedicated RetroArch "core" it would bring modern gaming to a ton of people who would otherwise only be able to retrogame on cheap PCs and SBCs like the Raspberry Pi...

Cancelled games should be licensed out to other developers, including the assets for those cancelled games, to recoup losses and continue to capitalize on the work that's already been done. For that matter large publishers — I'm looking at you Microsoft! — should actively license out their dormant IPs to third-party developers.

@fbnaulin : It sure is, Terraria supports up to 4-player local co-op.

Note that Borderlands 1 / 2 / Prelude support up to 4-player local co-op on the Series X|S as well, and Borderlands 3 / TTW supports up to 4-player local co-op on the Series X (but unfortunately only up to 2-player local co-op on the Series S).

I feel like this article misses quite a few great games:

• Horizon Chase Turbo
• For The King
• 7 Days To Die
• Terraria
• Resident Evil 5
• Borderlands 1 / 2 / Prelude / 3 / TTW
• Castle Crashers
• Streets of Rage 4
• River City Girls
• Children of Morta
• The Escapists 2 (but sadly not the first one)
• most Lego games
  ...and quite a few other titles.

I'd love to see more stuff like this for Flight Simulator — fictional worlds, like this, but also historical presentations of the real-world as well.

If Microsoft exits the hardware business I hope they give us the option to wipe our Series consoles clean and install Windows on them. I think it's unlikely, but in a worst-case scenario I'd personally like to transition to PC gaming, where incidentally Microsoft could still get my business.

Having said that, a more realistic and optimistic hope is that I'd like to see Microsoft focus on developing first-party games that compliment the overall Xbox catalogue — filling in genre gaps — rather than directly competing with the more popular third-party games on their consoles.

A "business update event" doesn't sound like a good response to the rumours.

@GuyinPA75 : I'm not advocating for an all-digital future, I was merely commenting on how this article might relate to the "Brooklin" Xbox Series X refresh / successor rumours. But an all-digital future is clearly coming, regardless of your console of choice. From a publisher's perspective — not mine — the benefits outweigh the detriments: The size of digital games aren't limited to the degree that physical games are, digital games don't support a used market, it's easier to pivot towards subscription-based services, and all-digital platforms like Steam have already proven successful in the marketplace.

I wonder if this substantiates the rumours that the mid-gen refresher or successor to the Xbox Series X will be all-digital. At any rate, it's a shame that Microsoft (and other console developers) aren't looking at keeping physical media around for a bit longer, if even just for a premium price.

If it had gyro aiming: Probably.

If it had gyro aiming and Hall effect sticks: Definitely.

I suspect the Xbox Series X (and for that matter the PlayStation 5 and possibly the upcoming successor to the Switch) will be the last game consoles to support physical media, given how several major retailers are no longer carrying physical media and it ultimately benefits publishers more by cutting out the second-hand market (which game subscription services are poised to replace anyhow).

Until xCloud is available for the majority of smart TVs, gaming operating systems (eg: Batocera, ChimeraOS, etc.), smart phones, tablets, etc. and high-speed internet is commonly available everywhere (which is underway thanks to various legislation), then I think Microsoft will need a "Game Pass machine" and that's Xbox consoles.

It makes sense that Microsoft would pursue these games for Game Pass considering Baldur's Gate 3 is off the table and its popularity.

@InterceptorAlpha : The first one is basically the spiritual sucessor to Top Gear and we play a few tracks every game night in our house. I'm sure the sequel will be a blast too.

Hopefully the next-gen equivalent to the Xbox Series S is just as powerful as, if not slightly more powerful than, this generation's Xbox Series X.

A monopoly on what, exactly? This is just posturing and quite frankly insulting considering how many other acquisitions and mergers the FTC is turning a blind eye to.

I've got a suspicion that Microsoft's long-term plan for Game Pass is for Microsoft and its subsidaries to be the sole provider of AAA games on the service — hence part of the reason they're acquiring so many AAA developers — with indie games making up the rest of the library. If they're looking to reduce how much they spend on Game Pass directly while maintaining the same draw, that's one way to do it anyhow.

Wherever possible I would hope they use Resident Evil 5 as a template for co-op gameplay — it's such a blast — but I'm not holding my breath on that one.