Banjo-

@Chip-Douglas I had not watched the films until I played Indiana Jone and the Great Circle. I loved them, and realised that Temple of Doom Inspired the mine cart races of Donkey Kong Country 😂. I haven't played the DLC yet. I played the game on Series X Game Pass, so I'll get the Digital Premium Edition to own both.

@Chip-Douglas Indiana Jones and the Great Circle is one of the best games of the generation. Definitely, it deserves more than the 6/10 score given here. 😊

Is it a free upgrade only until the release of the new version? I'm not complaining; I didn't expect this from Rockstar, but I want to know what (original or remake) and when to buy. I read that the Series version is better than the PS version and that this is the first free third-party upgrade for a backwards compatible Xbox 360 purchase. Rockstar giving us a treat, finally. There are also a lot of rumours about a Red Dead Redemption II upgrade!

@Questionable_Duck Thanks. According to the store they were not upgraded, but they were, via FPS Boost.

Funny, I have the three of them digitally, but haven't played them. I'm more interested in the technical upgrades. Aren't they 60fps already on Series X|S, thanks to the Xbox One X upgrades, or are they 30fps-only and were never upgraded?

@galson Yep, you'd better focus on one at a time and you'll enjoy them more like that. Unlike the PS versions, X/X-2, XII, XIII-2 and XIII-3 are 60fps on Xbox, which is great.

@galson Absolutely right. I will play Xenoblade Chronicles 2 and 3 someday because I liked X. I'm curious about Final Fantasy VII Remake. I guess being a third of the full story is why some people don't like it as much. I already purchased XVI Complete Edition. I'm playing all Final Fantasy games on Xbox, now I'm busy with XII. 😁

@galson I'll also buy those on Xbox soon. The first Xenoblade Chronicles, with its empty maps, chaotic combat, dragging story and pointless side quests, must be one of the most overrated RPGs. Xenoblade Chronicles X improved all that, but I haven't played the others.

@Skufry I have the GameSir G7 HE Wired Xbox Controller which is excellent except for the D-pad, which is hard. It has 2 back buttons instead of the 4 that the Elite Series has, but they are more reliable. You can customise the controller with the Gamesir Nexus app available for Xbox and Windows.

@MrFrosty I recommend you Sonic Frontiers. It has classic soundtracks as unlockables that you can play while playing the game. The camera and gameplay are polished and it's a huge improvement after the disappointing Sonic Forces that has an awful level design. Sonic Frontiers just lacks some Sonic flavour, I mean the colours, enemies and themes, but it's my second favourite after Sonic Generations - I have the Xbox 360 version which plays at 4K 60fps on Series X - and Frontiers also has some retro stages added to the mix. It's fun to play and to complete and the story is good and makes sense!

GTA V and Final Fantasy XVI Complete Edition.

Why no colour buttons? 😒

@LostInBlue0 That's absolutely right. Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolt is not a conventional platformer, but once Banjo has trained a bit and you find more pieces to build vehicles, it's extremely satisfying to beat challenges and records. It's one of my favourite Rare games, too.

I don't know about the other The Smurfs games, but Mission Vileaf is a very good one.

Next-gen Xbox being backwards compatible and Microsoft being the best at this make me buy any Xbox game I like, but Play Anywhere is essential for gaming handhelds, so I can see myself enjoying the feature if I get one. It's a very nice bonus. Most likely, next-gen games will all be "Play Anywhere", since there will be one version for Windows and Xbox.

@theduckofdeath Talking about frame rate, I was never able to beat the final boss of the original game on N64 because of it, I guess, but I beat it on Xbox, no problem. Rare's shooters are creative and fun. If you or anyone else uses the developer mode, play Goldeneye 007 (Xbox 360 version) on Series X|S on Xenia emulator.

@EvilSilentFrame Seeing Fatal Frame back with a full-blown remake is the best news of the year. 😊

Silent Hill 2 & 3 HD must be one of the few collections available on Xbox that I haven't bought, because of the glitches and lack of graphical effects, and because I was hoping for new remasters or remakes. I've only played Silent Hill Shattered Memories on Wii.

There are some things I prefer about these games compared to today's offerings, which doesn't mean I don't have a blast playing modern Call of Duty campaigns. Rare's games in particular have excellent soundtracks and addictive and challenging gameplay. I liked Goldeneye 007 more than Perfect Dark, and Perfect Dark Zero more than Perfect Dark. All of them are remarkable examples in the shooting genre and history.

The cancellation of Perfect Dark 2, unlike other cancellations, didn't make any sense. Crystal Dynamics fixed what the messy The Initiative started, so they could just have finished it. Who thought it would be better to ditch it? I loved what was shown in the last trailer (except Joanna's "modern" face) and the music was cool and gave me those Perfect Dark vibes. Microsoft refused to sell the IP to a publisher that asked for it, so perhaps there's still hope.

Other two Rare games that people should give a try on Series X|S are Grabbed by the Ghoulies, pure arcade fun, and Jet Force Gemini which, once you get used to the mechanics, becomes another addictive game to beat and complete.

@HarmanSmith Nice to hear from you and that you're also looking forward to it!

I will update the official thread with the pre-order and deluxe goodies.

@GoldenPants Xbox is not disappearing, but becoming the biggest video game ecosystem: Xbox + PC stores.

@EvilSilentFrame I pre-ordered the digital deluxe edition of Fatal Frame 2 Crimson Butterfly. 📸

@Bob_Tempura Konami never fixed the HD collection on Xbox 360 and they probably ordered the remake of 1 right after 2. It's a shame, because these efforts are huge compared to others like the remasters of 2 and 3, so if there's something wrong, it should be fixed. I hope that the developer at least noticed what's wrong and improved this port.

@swedetrap I think you have to wait until it's the 21st at midnight.

Wow, nice to have a huge discount at launch after waiting for one year for the PS console exclusivity to end. The Deluxe Edition has the same 50% discount, so not sure if I should get that.

My first purchase in this sale has been Final Fantasy XVI Complete Edition, which has a 50% discount for the first time.

@CallMeDuraSouka If you need a comfort, have a look at Nintendo's sales. 😂

@InfamousOrange It's because the original version is a Xbox 360 game that, although supported by Xbox One and Series X|S unlike the PS3 version by PS4/5, is still a Xbox 360 game. What the newer consoles do is translate the code, becoming a virtual Xbox 360. They can improve the game in terms of resolution and frame rate, but the saving system is still the original one. It is actually identified as Xbox 360 cloud storage by the Xbox 360 games running on Xbox One and Series X|S, so the games are able to save as intended without errors.

@Cikajovazmaj Indeed. Most developers say it's very easy to develop for Xbox, it's just that Sony fans can always find mediocre developers complaining, like you can find the butthurt indie bashing Xbox because they didn't strike a Game Pass deal.

"The days of players being locked to a closed-off console ecosystem are starting to feel antiquated."

That's right and players will benefit the most of it. Next generation, Xbox ports won't be necessary. All games are made for Windows and Xbox Magnus will just play those with no specific build or Windows version like on Xbox One and Series X|S.

Nice. I suspect that Microsoft has their own handheld in the works to go with the next home console Magnus.

@acmiguens Yeah, I realised. I'd like the next console to be called Xbox Magnus like the code name, but knowing Microsoft, it might be called Xbox X-Cloud Win or something like that.

@acmiguens What kind of question is that? On Xbox, of course! 🤣

You can check the price history here, changing the country and currency on the top side of the page:

https://xbdeals.net/us-store/search?search_query=red+dead+redemption

You can check any game and see how cheap it is on sales, and filter by Xbox One and Series X|S

I don't think Rockstar, Microsoft and Sony are worried. People will play on the console they own as they have been doing since 2013 when GTA V was released, with this game still on the top 10 on the Xbox and PS charts, believe it or not. Overshadowing other software seems more logical, but now that most sales are digital, I don't think it's as important. The "This game will fail because of GTA" is an old statement from a physical era of boxes on the shops' shelves. One thing that could happen is that people that have an Xbox One will upgrade to Series S or X to play the game, same for PS4 players upgrading to PS5, because the game is current-gen only.

@FraserG Does the Xbox 360 version grant the extra content mentioned in the article without owning the DLC of the Xbox 360 version? Because then we can just get that in the next sale. If not, I'll just get the new version.

I know it sounds like unnecessary doubt, but in the past there were some games that only granted a free upgrade if you had the game of the year or deluxe edition.

Finally! @HonestHick I was waiting for 60fps before playing the first and second games. Now they need to patch the sequel.

I like that Square Enix is focusing on its home teams. This is the opposite of Sony that is more focused on the American teams. Square Enix as the owner or publisher of Western studios hasn't worked as well, although I believe most of the redundancies that have happened in the industry are related to customer service, distribution, marketing and such things, since most of the studios were oversized and they needed to scale down. That's why all the big publishers have done this, unfortunately.

I'll get it on Xbox because I loved I and II and they looked and played better than on Switch where I started the first game. I'm delighted to finally see all Square Enix on Xbox!

This generation is the most atypical that I've lived, but it looks like everything is getting better in terms of options and competition. It's great to see Valve releasing a home console after the handheld market no longer being a Nintendo monopoly thanks to Steam Deck and the multiple gaming handhelds that came later, such as the brand new Asus Rog Xbox Ally X, and now the home console market is going to look similar in a few years, which will make PS the awkward proposition as a walled garden with no exclusives, not even first-party. Solid choice for those Sony fans with huge PS libraries, obviously, but I guess being an Xbox site, most users here have the biggest library on Xbox, and so I'm also happy to see Microsoft pioneering this hybrid concept of console-PC that allows more freedom (free online?) and – according to rumours but not confirmed – third-party stores. This would mean that the next Xbox would be the most powerful console and support the Xbox and the PC libraries, on top of Game Pass and having frequent digital sales that cover first and third-party games. In any case, the best thing that could happen to Xbox is merging the Xbox and Windows PC development, no longer requiring Xbox ports. Play Anywhere was the first step on Xbox One, but I'm sure that next generation there will be one Windows version for all gaming PCs and Xbox consoles. Being the best at supporting backwards compatibility, this is the ideal outcome that Xbox fans could hope for.

Great article. I agree with the comments above. Series X is the best console of the generation, regardless of sales. Its hardware and software capabilities are unparalleled: design, quality, performance, Quick Resume, enhanced and free backwards compatibility, FPS Boost, free cloud saves and the fastest and most responsive digital store.

Nice to read what Xbox users think for once. Most Pure Xbox articles are full of comments from people reminding the world that they don't like Xbox and, for some weird reason, they write on a daily basis about it.

As others have said, this is coming "soon" so it's not related to another PS device. If Sony is considering abandoning Steam and starting its own PC store just to prevent the next Xbox from running Sony's games, an idea worthy of the biggest Sony fanboy's dreams, but somehow credible, Sony's going to hit a very thick wall. They would alienate PC players, including those that supported Sony games on Steam.

@fatpunkslim It absolute seems so. They will probably swallow their pride and use Steam and other third-party stores on day one, as the money, infrastructure and security for their own PC store might not be worth it, considering their limited software output and that third parties would likely favour Steam and Epic.

The future of Xbox and PC is the same version of Windows for gaming, regardless of how many Asus units are manufactured or sold. There's no doubt that this Windows for gaming will be one of Microsoft's legs from now on and that it will get better as it's tested and updated.

Xbox consoles run a version of Windows since Xbox One. From now on, it's going to be the same software and game builds on all devices: consoles, PC and gaming handhelds, with backwards compatibility added to Xbox consoles. This is why the future of Xbox is brighter than ever before. Asus Rog Xbox Ally X is for Microsoft a software test, a premium (and successful) beta of the future of Xbox on all devices.

@Cakefish Somehow it's sad that by good we mean uncensored, these days.

@HonestHick With so many devices that can be used for casual gaming, it's not as players are priced out. Consoles, handhelds, phones, tablets, TVs... Xbox Cloud has been improved significantly and it's included in all tiers, with the specific PC tier currently hidden under an arrow on the official site. You can tell that Cloud is fully supported and a bigger part of the Xbox business going forward, with PC and console being merged for traditional gamers and for staying competitive.

The news are excellent indeed and while not all of it has been confirmed by Microsoft, the different rumours point at the same direction. A console is always more efficient than a PC, so we can expect to see top-end performance on the next Xbox for one quarter of what a top-of-the-line PC costs. The gaming handhelds will obviously be more power-aware, but I'm impressed with the performance of Asus Rog Xbox Ally X. There will be different options for playing Xbox, PC and even Sony games. I know we both are looking forward to the premium and backwards compatible Xbox!

@ILuvGames Yeah, games are the important thing and it doesn't matter what games we play and on what system(s). Gaming is supposed to be for fun. Some people here gives those tragic vibes, though.

@ILuvGames Well, there are more Sony fans than Xbox fans on Pure Xbox, as you can see. 😂

@ILuvGames Great comments, #79 👌. I love Halo Infinite, it's my favourite Halo, but the first one is also very special. It has some of the best level design in the series. Yes, I know some levels are empty and repetitive, but I mean the design of the battles, enemies and battlefields, some of the best I've seen in my life. I'm looking forward to its remake. The only one I disliked is 5 and 4 is so-so. Something got better at 343 Industries/Halo Studios, fortunately.

@HonestHick Yes, I'm with you, I think that their handheld will be dockable. No reason not to, it's literally sending video and audio data through a USB-C port that it needs anyway. I also love what has been leaked today, if true. I mean, nothing that has been leaked today is surprising and goes along every other rumour: a powerful console that you can leave as an Xbox experience and that runs the same game builds as a PC, but with settings and hardware optimised for gaming, plus third-party stores for PC gamers. Free online is the only thing that seems new. I suggested it as a possibility and someone here got mad.

The Rog Xbox Ally X was of course the first step of that light Windows for gaming, a necessary step to achieve better performance while being the most compatible OS. The other bit I love and that was confirmed by Microsoft so I had no doubt about it, is the backwards compatibility, my favourite Xbox One and Series X|S feature. That aside, I think it's great for most of us that it will be a powerful console and not somewhere in between like the rumoured Steam Home and Switch 2. The difference here is that players can still choose to play on cheaper devices or platforms that they own via Cloud.

Back to the handheld business, if they want to do what Asus did, could be the cheaper model versus Steam Deck and Switch 2 and the high-end model versus premium handheld PCs.

@Coletrain I like handhelds, but I definitely prefer playing on a console connected to a big OLED TV and with an Xbox controller in my hands. The Series X in that regard has been perfect for me during the last 5 years. At least, they nailed the hardware!