BacklogBrad

Its impressive how much asus has been working to improve their handhelds. I have the og model and it's come along ways. Most of these brands release it and forget about it but they have been constantly updating it.

I have no interest in these games. Playstation is getting a poor introduction to one of the best multiplayer franchises of all time. They are not putting their best foot forward with the new audience.

These campaigns should have been paid dlc for the Master Chief Collection.

The magic of showcases has worn off. I think I liked it better when every announcement was saved for the e3 event. Now its one decent announcement padded with enough filler content to make a 30-60 minute show.

Didn't they lean heavily on AI for that poorly received gta collection a few years ago?

Surely they used AI in some capacity for this game.

I wonder if that is why xbox downloads are way slow for me right now. Tested steam and epic to compare and it was just xbox being sluggish.

Not noticing any other issues just download speeds.

The next xbox will play playstation games natively and Nintendo games if you fancy yourself a pirate. Exclusivity is dead.

This will have access to more games than any console in history.

I imagine they will have the r&d team constantly having handheld prototypes ready for when they deem the time is right. It probably comes down to the performance vs cost. I doubt they wanted an official xbox handheld at the cost of the asus xbox x but weren't willing to sacrifice that much performance for a $500-600 one. And asus can act as a test run.

Either way it will be fun to watch the "xbox hardware is ending soon" crowd try to maintain their fallacy.

@themightyant its time to stop thinking about the plastic xbox under the TV as a separate platform than the xbox app on pc. That era is ending very soon. Next gen will most likely be a full pc and your xbox purchases will work everywhere. It sounds like they have official emulators ready to make the entire current xbox library playable.

The future is bright for xbox and xbox gamers.

If this report ends up being true then pretty much all of my wishes for next gen xbox will have been granted.

Love the play anywhere focus. I hope that becomes a requirement.

That's an impressive week of games. Strike force 3 and bmx streets are the most intriguing to me.

Playstation releases like 1 game per year so yeah not much competition there.

The only sad part for me is that xbox seems to be following playstation/nintendo down that route where they keep re-releasing games that were already updated. They expect us to be wallets out excited for another marginal update. Even with gamepass not making me buy this game, it is only getting a meh from me on excitement levels.

@CaptainCluck MCC doesn't exist on ps5 and ps5 is the whole reason this remake exists. They are giving the new players a neutered version of Halo and they will never get another chance at a first impression with these players.

MCC and Inifinite could use the ps5 player base. Unless those are getting ported to ps5 soon (fingers crossed), this game should have had pvp.

What a missed opportunity. It should have pvp. That is what halo is at its core.

Forza motorsports doesn't seem like the type of game that needs a new release every 3-4 years. Hopefully they keep updating this one.

Horizon is for the casuals and motorsport is for a smaller, more dedicated fanbase.

They will have to wait until it hits the premium tier to add me to the player count or download count or whatever number they are pushing these days.

@TheGameThrifter is that why xbox is just this year setting all time records for monthly active users? Because people are "leaving"????

@TheGameThrifter ah the "golden age" of xbox 360 when they had three 1st party franchises and paid other companies to not release games on other platforms. Not to mention a console that flat out didnt work. That era was the golden age of Ubisoft, ea, and Activision but a black eye for xbox.

Blame the failures of xbox one and beyond on whatever you want but the fact is nothing drove people away faster than the 360 that bricked on them shortly after purchasing it.

Couldn't care less about the game going to ps5. Exclusives are a cancer. I wish they were putting infinite and MCC on ps5 so the new players could join in multiplayer.

Feels like another pointless update to an already updated game in regards to xbox. Hopefully this one performs better than the last two. Im not that excited for the game in general. I might give it a try whenever the heck it hits premium but also might just pass.

My new guitar has captured most of my attention. I plan on playing some civ 7 and silent hill 2 as well.

Maybe a few rounds of halo infinite too.

Introducing Halo to a whole new audience and leaving out multiplayer is a wild decision. Master chief collection and or infinite would have been a better choice to port to ps5. Hopefully the updates bring it on par with every other modern shooter, these players will not have the rosy nostalgia glasses on when they play it.

For xbox users it is yet another case of an update to an already updated game.

I like the approach of letting the dev teams decide if/when they want to use AI. I also have no issue with AI being used in general. AI in the hands of the creative people will be used to benefit the project.

I am of the belief that if anyone other than AI made things like the end credits then human skills and time were wasted.

They still haven't fully reached the potential for the xbox anywhere but they are getting there. Personally, I like the direction away from a one dimensional box under the tv.

I wonder if this is the first instance in gaming history where the cost of a dev kit was a news story run by every gaming outlet. I cant recall ever seeing anything about how much developers have to pay for a console dev kit.

There is a certain stink to this story. It has that 'make anything remotely negative for xbox into the lead story for the week' stink.

This has a very low impact on xbox players.

Stole this from someone on Twitter

As of today, the ID at Xbox program will deliver an #Xbox Series devkit free of charge.

• Developers who do not need extra processing headroom can use their local Xbox Series console as a devkit.
• The GDK (game developer kit) is free of charge on GitHub and officially supported by MSFT. A developer can start on the GDK without even applying for ID at Xbox, or spending any money up front.

@Krzzystuff xbox has pretty much confirmed that there will be a console made by microsoft. If it really is the pc hybrid then it would probably be a version of windows and anyone could use it even on our own pc builds.

I am curious what the form factor will look like. Will it be customizable like a full blown pc that we can upgrade things like memory or will all that be proprietary stuff?

There is a very high probability that there will be multiple models available. Xbox themselves might have a series s type of console or they could let 2nd party handle the lower models. I fully expect there to be a wide range of pc consoles branded as xbox available. There should be options in all price ranges. This is the benefit of having an open platform, we will be able to decide how powerful/expensive we want our console to be. Very exciting future for xbox.

I liked each of the first two. They didnt have the endless replayability that tropico or cities skylines have but they were very enjoyable.

I will check this one out but maybe not at full price.

I love Starfield. I completed the main quest line 4 times and have a 5th ng+ that I go back to here and there. Another classic from bethesda.

Not surprising that xbox didnt want to subsidize the machine so it could be sold at a loss. You are getting what you pay for which is a premium best in class handheld pc. If you want a cheaper/worse pc handheld, there are plenty of options out there.

I wouldn't be shocked if the next generation of xbox consoles has the actual Microsoft made product for around $800 and a wide range of 2nd party "xbox" consoles in all price ranges from something like $500 to $1500.

Not worth the price for a minor upgrade over my Steam deck or OG rog ally.

South Park: the fractured but whole
The evil within
Dead Space 3
Wreckfest

Im excited to check this one out.

@RiverGenie I have rennsport downloaded on steam. I will give it whirl before 1.0 releases to decide if there is any sort of foundation for a full price game. Based solely on user reviews it sounds a bit rough but we'll see. Multiple reviews call it mobile game quality.

-edit- my quick 15 minute impression was pretty low for early access version. Forced to create a profile (email, name, username and password) with an external website. No AI cars in singleplayer, just lap times. Pretty weak graphically for a sim racer. Playablility and graphically it is multiple tiers below forza/gran turismo. It has some Assetto Corsa vibes but seems inferior in every way. And AC is often on sale for $1.99.

The steam page says it will remain free to play after early access ends so that will be interesting to see if console versions are actually going to be $60. If that ends up being the case, it will be an easy pass since I already have the game on steam.

"Will the game be priced different during and after early access?

The game will remain free to play. The prices of in game content might be subject to change."

@RiverGenie rennsport is free to play (not sure if that will carry over to 1.0 release) while project motor sport is going to be $60. I usually dont like the free to play model but no harm in giving it a try.

Project motor sport looks good though. I wishlisted it but probably won't go full price on it, planning to wait for the $20-$30 range.

I have a soft spot for cheap racing games.

It's sad that people still flock to the console sales as the only metric of success when we know 2/3 of gamers buy 2 games or less per year.

It's wild that such a casual targeted game is dominating on pc. Everyone is going to PC these days.

Is the docked experience still a nightmare like with the OG Ally? I found that a mouse and keyboard were essential to even attempt docked mode. Some games were a real hassle to get it to recognize an actual bluetooth controller as the input instead of the handheld "controller". Then you get random pop-ups or the need to sign in to one of the launchers or publisher acct. Even though docked mode puts it into turbo mode, I was seeing worse performance in some games than undocked.

I dont think windows is that bad in handheld. It is totally usable with the touchscreen. Docked is a whole other story.

Im really excited for this one. I think a realistic Sim like iracing is perfect for nascar which has oddly always had arcade leaning racing games. I plan on buying the game at steam launch which is early November. That will make it easier to use my wheel rig. Hopefully this is the start of a long running and quality nascar franchise.

Iracing has pricing structures that worry me. This is supposedly a standalone experience so it shouldn't ever get a monthly sub like iracing but it does look like it will be riddled with cosmetic skins and other small nickle and dime dlc stuff. I wish that would mean legacy drivers like Richard petty, dale Earnhardt, Jeff Gordon, etc. but it sounds like it is limited to alternate skins for current drivers.

This is what happens when we let the bluesky/twitter crowd control the narrative. We get false doom and gloom rumors designed to get traction on social media. Media sites get in on the click bait profits and the consumers are left wondering where the misinformation ends and truth begins.

All the time. I tend to play 3-4 games at a time and at least one of them is a replay. Im big into retro emulation so I end up doing full replays of a ton of really old games. I would guess something like 40% of my games are replays.

Some games I play yearly. Pumpkin Jack is downloaded and ready for its annual halloween week playthrough.

Im excited for nascar 25 by the iracing team. Hopefully nascar finally gets the realistic Sim it needs (without the iracing price structure). Probably going the steam route which doesn't release until november so I can use my wheel.

Keeper, Blood west and space elite force also have my attention but to a lesser extent.

I didnt care for it in the betas so I am probably passing. Maybe if I still have ultimate when it hits ea play but that's unlikely. If multiple friends buy it soon and want me to join their squad I might reconsider but that's looking unlikely.

I am curious if the campaign is as bad as it sounds. I typically enjoy "bad" military fps campaigns so I am intrigued.

Im leaning towards doom the dark ages or civ 7.

Sounds like the campaign is dreadful again.

They totally paid for or lobbied for that spot on Time's list. Most news/magazine awards or lists are bs.

Fingers crossed for a pc hybrid. It's probably the only thing that would draw me to another console from xbox or playstation.

I like the lobbies sticking but the skill based matchmaking should be improved upon instead of removed. This only rewards the best players.