BacklogBrad

I feel like we have been over this dozens of times already.

Microsoft is not going to keep the service around for this long if it's not profitable. They are probably the most profit conscious company in the world and its been almost a decade, they would have axed this so long ago.

Let me know when it's someone in the accounting department questioning the sustainability.

If we have to spend the better part of a decade wondering if it's sustainable for one of the most profit conscious companies in the world then it probably is sustainable.

If it was not sustainable then they would have canned it years ago.

Playing halo 3 and reach splitscreen with my roommates in college on a massive projection screen in our dirty party torn basement.

Halo infinite has been my favorite halo game though. I love love love that game.

I'm almost to the point of just going all in on pc. I buy and play most games there now. I'm hoping xbox makes the full plunge on pc architecture for their next console or at least gets the full xbox store and library on a pc app. I don't plan on purchasing a playstation next gen and haven't fully decide yet but leaning towards skipping the switch 2.

I just don't see the appeal of a closed eco system with a monthly charge for online gaming. Seems insanely outdated.

Between the cost of making a game and the popularity of the switch, games should stay in this current spec range for years to come.

Let nightdive remake the old game and see how interested people are in the franchise. I don't think this game was going to be very popular.

I think the spiderman games eventually make it to xbox. It makes too much sense to sell those to as many people as possible. And I hear Disney likes money too.

Nascar games are a guilty pleasure of mine. Heat 5 is pretty fun, especially with a steering wheel.

I bet Matt and Phil do that choreographed dance at every developer meeting. Execs gotta butter them up whenever they visit.

I wouldn't put too much stock in internal reviews.

@Millionski xbox said specifically that they are making the hardware. There will probably be other 2nd party devices too.

But a windows based xbox made by xbox would in fact be an xbox. No one will ever convince me otherwise. It's wild to move the goalposts so far to say that the xbox made device is not actually an xbox. It's pretty wild to think an official xbox branded device isn't an xbox too but I will that slide.

The steam deck is designed as a gaming device with a gaming UI and is every bit as much of a gaming console as ps5, series x/s, switch.

@Millionski I was making fun of all the people that thought or still think xbox is leaving the console space simply because they put games on Playstation.

Xbox has literally said the exact same thing that they are committed to hardware but people still insist they are leaving.

I don't actually think playstation or xbox are going to be leaving the console space.

Based on past discourse, the only logical conclusion from this is that Playstation plans to exit the hardware business and focus solely on its software.

Or they are starting to think like Microsoft and like the idea of more game sales and money.

My takeaway from yesterday is that they canceled two games that were not going to make it to release in a reasonable time frame if they did at all. Games that already have had long development cycles and almost nothing to show for it. Games in very bad states.

Sometimes it doesn't work out, they definitely tried to make it work in both cases. I bet cancelations happen a lot more than we realize behind the scenes. Maybe don't reveal games until there is a little more validity to their existence. Had they not shown us that these games exist, they might have cut the cord much earlier and they would be years into the next project instead of square one or shut down.

Its still pretty revealing that a minute of footage was so doctored just to be shown. It clearly wasn't just showing the best parts of a largely playable version. They struggled to get a minute of footage to show. This game was never in a good place.

It's not surprising that this game was canceled. Brand new studios are very hard to start up and a huge reason why buying studios is so much better.

It will definately help if heckdivers 2 sells well on xbox but I think sony will be looking at xbox for more titles in the future. Making the games available to more potential buyers makes too much sense not to do it.

People told me it would never happen but here it is. This will not be the last time playstation ports a game to xbox.

Multiplatform is the future.

Good news that he is staying! Xbox is better off with him in charge. "Anytime soon" is open to interpretation but hopefully he's got years ahead of him at xbox.

It would be interesting to know how many are able to get rehired within the company, within the industry, and how many find a new industry.

More than 9000 people only being 4% of Microsoft is pretty wild.

@NishimuraX what kind of made-up, subjective term is traditional console hardware? Shouldn't every generation have a goal of innovating in some way?

Is the switch traditional Nintendo console hardware? The xbox one with the focus on bringing all forms of entertainment onto the gaming console, the first disc based consoles, the first ones to offer digital games, etc....

People will still try to say xbox hardware is dead.

Had to go with Warcraft but Crypt Custodian and the Alters were both excellent. Easy A for one of the few months that don't have a new 1st party release.

The most surprising thing is that xbox gave them so much time to try to work this one out. It shows how much confidence a game like sea of thieves will get a studio from the execs.

@Medic_alert oh you mean sell Rare and their legacy titles. It sounded like sell them rights to everwild specifically.

I think Rare is doing well as their live service machine. Sea of thieves is easily the most successful thing they have ever done.

@Medic_alert what value does the name and ip hold? What's the incentive for anyone to buy the rights to that? I would argue that calling a game everwild, scalebound, etc at this point would negatively impact its future. Nintendo would be better off with something original or it's wide array of existing ip.

@Exerion76 the 360 era was awful from xbox's perspective. Very few 1st party games, an absolute dumpster fire of a console with a 50% fail rate. It was arguably the worst piece of hardware the industry has ever seen.

The 360 era was the golden age for publishers like Ubisoft, EA, etc. but certainly not xbox. They are in a much, much better place now.

I would flip the list upside down. I like 7-10 way more than 1-6.

I love grounded. I can't wait to dive into the second one.

The sad part is that we will be playing new xbox 1st party hardware 20 years from now but still listening to people claim xbox is dead.

I can't imagine what it's like to see xbox sign a long term contract with AMD to make hardware and only days later claim that xbox hardware is dead. What is it like to think like that?

I assumed they would have had an external studio handling the remaster, which is likely just a free upgrade for xbox while bringing the game to ps5.

@Questionable_Duck they have clearly explained what gamepass is to consumers. It doesn't take an advanced degree to understand a subscription service. Netflix for games, I think everyone can wrap their heads around that.

AAA blockbuster system-seller is a subjective made up title. They have released big titles in Gears, Halo, forza in the last 10 years and had plenty of others like Starfield.

Why would any consumer want the traditional console model to carry on unchanged? It was due for a drastic overhaul years ago. Buy box a to play these games and box B to play those games, while these games are only on pc and other games are only on plastic box C and the next boxes wont be backwards compatible yada yada yada. I am glad xbox is pushing the industry towards multiplatform and pc integration. I am more excited about xbox's future than the other console business lines.

My thoughts are usually if the original is still great then a remake is not necessary. Black Flag is still fun in its original form and I enjoy going back to it from time to time.

I don't think I will pay anything close to full price for a remake of a game I still enjoy in original form. When it gets to that $20 or less range I will probably check it out. Oblivion has kind of cemented this stance of not getting too excited even when it's a remake of an absolute favorite of mine.

I disagree. They are right to pivot to something else when it's not working. Its also good to have multiple fronts to the business instead of picking one lane and only doing that. Gamepass, for instance, I don't think anyone wants that to be the sole focus with exclusive games/content just for the subscription.

Should we expect Sony to keep focusing mainly on live service games since that is the lane they chose? No it's not working, pivot to something else. Businesses should be fluid.

Ubisoft is a great example of a company sticking to its lane through thick and thin.

Civ7
Doom dark ages
Avowed

Playing a lot of warcraft 1-3 and some civ7.

I want to see the pc integration continue and see that pc app keep getting improved. I eventually want a big picture type of mode that makes the gaming experience on pc to have a similar UI to xbox consoles.

@Raccoonius. h e🏒🏒blade 2

It's annoying that launching the warcraft games from the xbox app is seemingly worse than launching a steam game in the xbox app. Steam games just launch right into it but "launching" the warcraft games just brings up the game page in the battle.net app then you need to click the launch game button in that app. I wish that would bypass the need to click play in battle.net.

@Millionski I don't think this is the end result that this feature will take on the pc app. I imagine a big picture type of mode is coming.

They said the xbox ally UI will be available on the other rog ally models so I'm assuming it will be available for any device to install.

@Millionski similar to GOG Galaxy was my takeaway. If you install a game on steam or epic, it will show up on the installed list of the xbox app and you can launch it there.

@-taco as long as they are play anywhere titles you can play your owned xbox games otherwise they are limited to the console as things currently stand.

Ninja theory might be on the chopping block. I have a feeling heckblade 2 was more expensive and didn't do as well as they hoped. I wouldn't be surprised if they scale back their next effort a bit.... if there is one.

I am playing around with it now. It looks like all my currently installed games from Epic and Steam are available to launch from the Xbox app (GOG games are not showing). I tested the launch for a handful from each platform and it worked fine.

The big takeaway so far is that you need to install the Steam/Epic games from those apps first then you can launch them from xbox. This is pretty disappointing, I hope they eventually make it so I can see all the games I own on those other platforms and Install them to the pc directly from the xbox app. But it is nice to just need to open the one app and see all the installed games (minus GOG) in one place.

I exited the xbox app and reopened and this feature is no longer working lol. Just gamepass games showing as installed. I see why it's insider only. So who knows if I even saw the full extent of this feature when i thought it was working

I dont see the appeal of their service. If you are willing to wait 12-18 months for the 1st party content then you might as well buy the game at sale prices. I wouldn't want to pay a monthly subscription to rent their 1-3 games per year well after they release.

Gamepass is still way more appealing especially if you have access to different devices like pc, handheld pc, meta quest, etc. I am regularly playing off of the same save on 3 or more different devices.

@Medic_alert there already is a Series S toaster. It puts the xbox symbol on your bread, which actually looks pretty good.

https://www.ign.com/articles/xbox-series-s-toaster-where-to-buy-2024

I'm not a fan of Kojima games or Death Stranding 1. If it comes to pc gamepass again I might give it try. Otherwise I'm probably passing on this one.

Im not seeing any update available yet (I am in the insider program) but I'm excited to try this. It always felt like there should be an all in one launcher from Microsoft on pc. I will definitely test this on my desktop and rog ally when the update comes through.

This is the best xbox has ever been and the future looks even better.

@PushButtons I'm still annoyed they didn't make psvr2 backwards compatible. That was the sole reason I switched to a different vr platform.

I still need to finish the very good gamepass game crypt custodian. I'm also replaying a few older titles. Far Cry 4, dead island riptide, hot wheels unleashed, and resident evil 4 remake.

Gamepass on the quest 3 is pretty good.

It weird how much I like playing non vr games with a vr headset. I am way less distracted with the headset on. Just like the ROG Ally, I'm not really interested in an xbox branded version of something I already have though.

Skyrim vr is still my favorite vr experience.