BionicDodo

@MaxC I take your point, but the flip side of being bought up by a bigger company is often more creative meddling from the new owner and we'll have to see some more Double Fine games before we can judge if the purchase has brought about better games. I still think that the game player in general doesn't benefit from Microsoft and Sony buying up devs and making their releases exclusive.

"the acquisition of multiple game studios, so the player is always winning."

Does platform holders buying up game studios really benefit 'the player' in general?

@themightyant Yeah, I use howlongtobeat as well. My '120+ hours' was basically the main story times for each game added up. I figure if I do ever get through all of them then some are going to be simple play through and with others - probably the ones I enjoy most - I'll spend more time on side stuff and mini games. Not sure I'll ever have time to give Yakuza 5 more than a main story run through!

I have Yakuza Kiwami 1 and 2 installed on my Xbone and will install 3-5 later today. I'm currently playing through 0 on PC.

I'm not sure where I think I'm suddenly going to find a spare 120+ hours to need all of these queued up though!

I believe this is he first month since I subscribed where I actually want all four games! Most months I want one at most. Good stuff.

Wow, that's a lot of Yakuza. Pretty amazing to be able to play the whole series on Game Pass.

I wonder if DOOM Eternal has cross save with PC... I'm part way through on Xbone but much prefer playing FPS with keyboard and mouse on PC.

The blu-ray app on the One S is pretty shoddy with some crashes and audio sync issues (not present with same disc on another player). For some reason mine also seems to fail to read most DVDs and some 4k discs. Never had a problem reading a standard blu-ray though.

Obviously this game could still slip up... but man, all the right words are on this page for it to be a great one!

I get how buying a studio brings an established team and established IP, but Microsoft could consider just buying a building in Japan and hiring a load of top quality developers to form a new studio to develop new Japanese IP.

I am looking forward to finally trying Celeste, although I hate the Xbone controller for 2D games as I find the d-pad often does't do what I want it to do. I have a big arcade stick that works, but would love a reasonably priced 8bitdo style controller for 2D games. Sadly the Xbone has barely any compatible 3rd party controllers like that.

@FraserG Clear as mud! I've always found the lack of 3rd party controller options for Xbox One an issue. There are dozens available for Switch. I just want to use something like an 8bitdo M30 for 2D games.

Edit: I've seen the Hori Fighting Commander but that always seems hard to find in the UK and the PowerA Fusion is way overpriced.

Yeah, it's really weird that a controller with an Xbox button and 'Designed for Xbox' on the packing isn't compatible with Xbone. I'd love a retro styled controller for playing 2D games as I hate the Xbone pad for them.

@JetmanUK Where did you pull your quote from? The article says the opposite:

"developers tend to prefer working on consoles rather than PC due to 'only having to deal with one hardware', whereas PC development can be much more complex."

Wow, a lot of people here kept the faith with Microsoft despite apparently getting burned time after time!

I've only ever owned an Xbox One S and never had an issue with it. If I'd have gone through five faulty 360s I doubt I'd have been back for the One!

I used to enjoy playing multiplayer Pro Evo in all those same situations you describe, but we were never that bothered about it being the latest game. I'd pick up a Pro Evo cheap late in the season every few years. Never got consecutive year's releases and never at full price. I can't bring myself to pay £50 for a game that I know will be available under £10 in less than six months time.

Good to see someone out there is having an exciting day though. I'm feeling a bit depressed about pandemic life myself and could do with something exciting like this to cheer me up.

It will come down to price. Swapping a hard drive in a PS3 or PS4 is easy and this looks to be too. I'd rather have a cheaper hard drive that takes 10 mins to fit (a one off job) than a more expensive one that takes 2s to install.

In all likelihood, I wouldn't be able to afford a replacement/expansion drive for either machine, so I probably won't have to worry!

Always fancied giving Brutal Legend a go. Just need to finish a few other things first...

"But, as is always the case when a new console generation comes along, there's going to come a time when you don't plan to use it anymore"

Speak for yourself! This may be true for a new generation that offers full backwards compatibility, but I still have original Master System, NES, Mega Drive, SNES, Saturn, N64, Dreamcast, PS2, Gamecube, Wii, PS3 and Wii U consoles connected up at home, along with my Switch, PS4 Pro and Xbone S.

@nessisonett Earlier and later. 94 and 95 had the fighting removed at the NHL's request. Fights came back in 96.

Yeah, I often think people are a little hard on GWG, but looking at this lineup Microsoft really need to put it out of its misery sooner rather than later.

I have no plans to buy either a Series X or PS5 anytime soon, but it occurs to me now that I will probably get a Series X to replace my One S at some point, even if I decide to get a PS5 first. As it will play all Xbone games, and run them better than the original hardware, it is a logical pick up when prices drop a bit, even if I have a PS5 and am not interested in any exclusives.

I get the feeling this may end up being like Super Mario 3D All Stars... Lots of panic about pre-orders and shops selling out and then the thing is readily available on supermarket shelves on release day.

I have a reasonably inexpensive Phillips 4K TV. It only does 60Hz. Hopefully, by the time I can afford a Series X or PS5 (and have cut my backlog down to the point where I have time to play the games) I will also be able to afford a lovely new 55" 4K 120Hz OLED TV.

I've only actually played the Ultimate Edition of the first game, so that one wins by default. Didn't really do anything for me though, so I haven't gone on to play any of the others.

I'm too cheap to spend more than £40 on a new game! Luckily I'm way behind with a huge backlog of massive games, so won't need a new console for some time.

That said, I remember when Master System games could be as much as £39.99 and then SNES games were £59.99. With inflation those are more than the new PS5 games!

Lucky it will support HOTAS, as I already bought a stick to play this game! Like someone else said though, I'll be playing it on PSVR. The VR level in Battlegrounds was simple yet amazing. This should be an incredible experience.

I've heard the argument that there aren't any good VR games a few times, but for me this is a lot of good games... Pistol Whip, Astro Bot, Polybius, Moss, Beat Saber, Blasters of the Universe, Tetris Effect, Rez Infinite, Transpose, Paper Beast, Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes, Statik, I Expect You to Die, No Man's Sky, Resident Evil 7, Battlezone, WipEout, The Exorcist, Minotaur Arcade Vol.1, Sprint Vector, The Persistence, Trover Saves the Universe, Ghost Giant, Red Matter, Blood and Truth, Sairento, Pixel Ripped 1989 and 1995...

So it looks almost identical to an Xbox One S, has a controller that looks almost identical to a One S and has a name that's almost identical to an Xbox One S....

Microsoft didn't learn from Nintendo's confusing naming and marketing of the Wii U, did they?

Shame this is an Xbox only poll as my favourite was the original game from way back when.

@KelticDevil @sixrings I'm almost surprised that Microsoft haven't already adopted the mobile phone strategy and said that the Series X is 'free' with a 24 month Game Pass sub at $30/month.

It feels like both want to charge $499 but are worried that the other one is going to do a price announcement mic drop, like Sony did to Sega, and announce $399, so neither wants to go first.

@NEStalgia Haha, at this point I half expect the shelf labels to say "Take the console home and we'll let you know what you owe us once we've seen what the other guys are charging for their box."

Bring on September 10th and Hotshot Racing.

I know this year has been much disrupted by COVID-19, but at times it has felt like Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo have all been doing some kind of announcement boycott without telling anyone why.

Maybe they are looking to copy Sega's hugely successful no-warning Saturn Western launch...

I started Jump Force but couldn't get into it at all. Already uninstalled it, so no great loss. Huge 3rd party games like RDR2 need to be played the minute they come out on GP or you risk it getting removed when you're half way through (not an issue for people with enough spare time to binge their way through a game if required, I guess).

I somehow own Crusader Kings 2 on Steam (Humble Bundle maybe?) but have avoided playing it for years as I don't want to deal with the loss of sleep, health, job, family, friends.... Now I have to hide from CK3 too!

Crusader Kings 3 is getting some incredible reviews. Feels like a big coup for Game Pass PC.

Really enjoyed Mania. Of the semi-modern ones I enjoyed Colors and would happily buy an HD remaster of that.

Brilliant news, can't wait for this. I knew that it would be coming to Game Pass.

I like Game Pass, but I do find I'm kinda scared to start a big 3rd party game unless it has just come to the service. Short games and games that can be dipped in and out of whenever are fine, but I don't want to sink 10 hours into a 20+ hour game and find it has gone. I don't have the free time I used to, so can't just marathon to finish a game when its removal is announced. Still a great value service though, especially at the crazy prices you can often get it for by buying codes online (I think I got something like 3 years at under £4/month for Ultimate).

I thought no Harvest Moon was an actual Harvest Moon anymore? Aren't the games now called that just junk made by the Western license holder of the HM name and the real series are now known by their Japanese title of Story of Seasons?

I love the look of this game, and was planning on buying it, but I can't help but feel that it has Game Pass written all over it, so I'll probably wait and see if that happens. Or maybe I'll get it on Switch...

Battletoads on Xbone and MS Flight Sim on PC.

I saw the headline and grabbed my controller to turn on the Xbox... Then spotted that the only two available in the UK were already in Games With Gold. Damn.

While I didn't often have an issue actually buying BC games (except Daytona which had to be bought in a browser), seeing the prices when looking through sales used to be a right pain. Good to see it finally sorted.

OutRun 2006
Ridge Racer 6
Spider-Man 2
The Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction
Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena and Escape From Butcher Bay

While I am more concerned with gameplay than the technical side of gaming, it still surprises me that simple cartoonish games like this can't hit 60fps on Xbox One S.

I'll take anything that isn't a racing game. There have been far too many of them recently, especially rally games.

Ah man, not Blazing Chrome! I've enjoyed that game and I play it for quick bursts here and there. I guess I'll have to buy it.

Voted Cyberpunk. I am super excited for Squadrons, but that one is 100% going to be played on PSVR.