Bleachedsmiles

@Cashews Heh when switch and PlayStation owners boot up Minecraft they’re not thinking Xbox. Hell, I’d be surprised if the majority of Xbox owners even know Minecraft is a ‘first party’ game

Xbox are barely a 3rd thought in Japan if console sales are any indication. So I’m not sure about being in hearts and minds (maybe for the few hundred that pick one up each month)

EA and Ubisoft don’t face the struggle of trying to sell a western console to them. I’ve no idea what their plans are for Japan. I would assume both have seen some form of success. But, like Minecraft, I wouldn’t say a Mario + rabbids has gamers instantly think Ubisoft over there (probably more so than Minecraft and Xbox tbh)
I wouldn’t say ea and Ubisoft don’t have a ‘way in’ though when their games are on platforms that do sell in Japan. Unless you know something I don’t and they don’t allow ea/Ubisoft games there? I think it be fair to say more opportunities for them to have a Japanese hit than for Xbox with a game tied to its consoles 🤷🏻

Don’t do it. Don’t feed hope destined to be ridiculed in 3 months time. Everybody and their dog knows that it’s referring to the PC version. Xbox will be lucky if it sees FF7 remake next year…it certainly ain’t gonna be seeing this. That bags long been spent

@Cashews Minecraft is available on everything. They’re not selling Xbox’s on the back of it. If MS want to go the third party route then yes, they’d probably have some success in Japan. My comment was relating to the xbox console.

Still blows my mind they released this almost year delayed game (£70rrp) without brightness settings…let alone HDR settings.

Game has so many little problems that all add up it’s crazy the lack of polish that’s there for something from Bethesda that’s so clearly put effort into being polished. Simple things like pause walking animations of NPCs when you’re engaged in a conversation…so you’re not being constantly moved out of the way or having them in the way.
Have Npc not try and talk to you when you’re already in a conversation. So you don’t feel like a schizophrenic whilst you’re following somebody who’s trying to feed you plot

And then there’s the not so simple things… loading screens I don’t personally have a problem with… till I have to face them constantly because my ships decided to turn sentient and just take off as soon as I land.
Or I suddenly decide I’ve had enough of this life and throw myself in the air to face palm a barrier and be told i need to load back to my ship

And I’ve been pretty lucky with bugs I’d say.

God knows what this game was like a year ago

Geez just give up on Japan already. If they haven’t taken to Xbox by now they never will. Japanese like Japanese products. Xbox could have every JRPG on it…unless it’s exclusive it’s doubtful it will make any meaningful impact. The best chance Xbox has of making any roads in Japan is teaming up with sega and rebranding Xbox for the Japanese (the ‘Sega Xbox’ at the start of a generation would have been ideal). But that’s not going to happen.

In the meantime they keep losing hold of western markets outside of America.

This is the problem with MS, they’re always chasing what they don’t have before focusing on what they do.

Nobody has suggested that Phil Spencer said all games would hit 4K 60 with RT… so no idea what you’re going on about there

Keep the topic on point. We’re talking about this game - where he directly said it would be 4K 60fps with RT on series x. I suppose we can move the goalposts and say he was talking about a brief moment in a menu screen, if you like.

@BAMozzy if it made sense Phil Spencer wouldn’t have been boasting 4K 60fps with RT to sell the game, surely?. Doubting his statement made sense, of course - it’s Phil Spencer
Always something with Xbox games isn’t there

Let’s be honest, it’s a cop out answer. They’re not there because it would have been too much work. Getting AI companions to react correctly with them. Enemy AI to react correctly to them. Navigating terrain. Keeping a decent framerate. Increasing loading. And risking players more easily pulling back the curtain and hitting barriers.

It’s a shame. And would have certainly made over encumbered exploring less of a pain. But ultimately it seems to always put you pretty close to anything of interest

Everything so far has said great care has been placed. Of course, the less platforms you have to focus on the better you’re able to concentrate that focus - this also works as an argument against series s and pc day 1 too if we’re using it as a positive for exclusively not coming to the other current gen platform

Very early days but the only bugs I’ve seen so far has been a few floating objects that were supposed to be on a table. And the camera moving during a conversation (think I was getting pushed out of the way)… been a stark contrast to bethesdas previous games ‘day 1’

As a rule I do always quick save often. Anybody who’s played a Bethesda game should have learned that lesson by now

@TheSimulator LA Noire came out 12years ago. If that was the standard to leap on a decade ago we should have photorealistic faces by now.
It didn’t become the standard though. Different game ended up doing different things, using different engines, prioritised differed artistic choices.

We can only judge against the current standard. Do the NPCs in starfield stand up against GTA 5 current gen? I’d say so. Cyber punk current gen? I’d say so. God of war current gen? I’d say so. Horizon current gen… not quite 🤷🏻

Ok so been playing since it went live at 1am…so 2 hours now. Just having a little break to see others first impressions of it.

For me it’s definitely made a good first impression. Instantly what strikes you is just how pretty this game is. From the lighting to the Npc faces (a lot has been made of poor npc faces but these are a clear leap above fallout 4 and stand up well against any game I’ve played this gen 🤷🏻). The animations are also a clear leap above previous Bethesda titles.
Infact id go as far to say it’s one of the few games that has looked ‘current gen’ so far this generation. The amount of little details going on (I swear I could even see some breath from an Npc against her visor as she spoke to me)…environments cluttered with ‘stuff’…as is the norm with Bethesda rpgs.
The whole look to it is clean clinical 70s sci-fi movie.

The voice acting has also stood out so far.

The gun play seems solid… I wouldn’t say as fluid as cod. But better then fallout 4s. I’ve not experienced too much of it yet.

The space combat I’m not too sold on yet…mainly because I’m not really sure I get what I’m supposed to be doing with the management side of things yet. Nor getting the most out of my mobility.

The loading screens…going from world to the ships controls there’s like a second where it loads in. Going from space to the first place you’re told to land there’s a loading screen…probably about 10-15 seconds. I can imagine they’ll be pretty common but not much of a big deal. Could be wrong.

So far, enjoying myself 👍

I’ll be shocked if it’s even out on this generation of consoles tbh

To achieve the near impossible task of avoiding spoilers. Day 1 on gamepass should really mean day 1!

I’ve done it before with Last of us 2… I’m ready for this mission 🫡

Where as the Series s is at the beginning of the end

Sounds like it’s coming along nicely. Also sounds like it’s still a way off… wouldn’t hold your breath for a 2023 release like rumoured tbh

Jesus, finally. Been waiting for this. Hopefully it’s a decent polished version now when it does eventually hit

Not expecting the world with this but it really does look like it could benefit from a delay and more polish

Hopefully everything is shown (and communicated to be) running on a series x.

Good signs for stalker 2 being there. Looking forward to seeing more of that

Do we really need another behind the scenes for hellblade 2 though? It’s time they showed some genuine gameplay that isn’t limited to walking in a straight line. It’s been years now since gameplay was first shown

Definitely looks better than the gameplay footage they previously showed.

I will never understand people who are playing ‘racing sims’ like these not in cockpit view though…. Looks so alien to me.
And I really want to see if ray tracing shows advantages with rear view mirrors… or if this gen is still going to off stripped down tracks etc in your mirror

@RIghteousNixon erm yes. I never said it was…

Promising news for the game… and hopefully means it’s here sooner than we think. My moneys still on early 2024 but would be pretty awesome if it’s on gamepass over Christmas

To date we’ve seen games release day 1on series s at 30fps and 60fps on series x. We’re also only now starting to move away from ps4 support for 3rd party (trust the series s isn’t holding crossgen games back).
So I think the question is, going forward, how stringent is MS on parity… I don’t for a second think series x version of starfield is limited to 30fps because of the series s etc…but, as devs finally focus on current gen from the ground up the game between them will have to either widen…or skip Xbox altogether (3rd party).

I do think a split screen game is an outlier though.

Unfortunately MS have more series s customers than series x ones… so dropping the s is not going to be an option for 3rd party.

End of the day, they’re charging £70 for these games…do the work, or don’t ask for the money 🤷🏻

@Sifi as they always would have if gold still existed. Correct?

@Moonglow @Banjo- They literally just raised the price of gamepass - we’re all paying more.
They literally just removed the option of getting cheap gamepass ultimate via gold - we’re all paying more
They literally just removed gold games and replaced them with games gamepass subscribers already had - we’re now getting less games, regardless of quality

🤷🏻

Add to that the fact that gold finally gets dropped and we’re still paying a mp paywall… time to party 🥳

Ah gamepass core…where every gpu subscriber celebrated having ended up paying more for less game. Good times

Is this open world? After Elden ring I don’t think I have the patience anymore of going back to linear souls games. This game does look impressive though…

@TheGrizMan placing disappointment over the visuals shown so far on Twitter and fanboys removes all responsibility on how MS and turn 10, and as a result…media, have placed great emphasis on this games visuals

Xbox have set the target and will have dug their own grave if this game comes out looking as underwhelming as those screen shots and the actual gameplay we’ve seen suggest

Had some good times at the start with the Xbox community…everybody on mics playing PGR online was a highlight. P2P gaming in cod when a host would leave in a mentally unstable state because they died too much…abruptly ending the game, least offered laughs.

It does blow my mind though how console gamers have so gladly accepted still paying to unlock mp in their games…seeing these games raise in price to £70. Seeing the EXACT same games on pc day 1 without a paywall whilst publishers push crossplay as a selling point… never once do we see gamers questioning why MP is still behind a paywall. It’s really no wonder they’ve rebranded Gold as Gamepass over killing Gold completely

@iplaygamesnstuff yeah nobody with sense should be celebrating this move… MS have basically kept gold, but removed it’s only actual value - getting cheap Gamepass. For the purpose of boosting their GP numbers so shareholders can see the leap after spending 69billion.

I remember last year the speculation was always that MS was going to hand Sony a killer blow in ending the MP paywall by dumping gold altogether. Today, on twitter, I see those same people that pushed that speculation celebrating that we’re still being changed for mp… only now instead of 3 monthly games you keep we get 25 games that rotate god knows when, and lose the chance of cheap GP. Yeah feels like a W to me 🤷🏻

Completely stupid naming conventions by Xbox continues to confuse - shocked

@GamingFan4Lyf you should check out the Ricky Gervais show on YouTube. Or An idiot abroad… you’ll soon get an idea of who Carl Pilkington is and see why he’d be a perfect replacement for Steven Fry from the original games 👍

I am. But if it’s not 4k 60fps with ray tracing on series X I’m going to join the backlash against it - they’ve dug a hole for themselves

@GamingFan4Lyf unfortunately I think it was probably just for the benefit of the trailer. The only thing giving me hope is that you don’t waste an actor like Richard Ayoade on simply a boss fight without any room for comedy there - least I hope they wouldn’t.

What would also be very welcome would be if every boss/key character is a uk comedian… I’m thinking Matt Berry playing an ego driven cowardly king. Imagine Ricky Gervais as the very final boss… oh man, Carl Pilkington should be the new narrator!

Needs more work = we leave ABK now and don’t need to offer generous incentives for people to sub to GP anymore we hope

Almost reads like writings just finished… god knows how far away this game is. That’s the double-edged sword, particularly with Xbox, of wanting ‘surprises’ at these shows… worse when a trailer plays as well as fable did.

The positive thing is it looks like the writings on point. And it would be pretty awesome if bosses in this game do actually introduce themselves ‘office mocumentary style’ before you fight them… pretty unique adding personalities to bosses beyond ‘bad guy’. Be a shame if that’s just for the sake of the trailer imo

UK about to get screwed over the only way we know how - pay the price rise…get non of the benefits… celebrate like we won🥳

Great games to take inspiration from (setting high expectations). And great news confirming it is actually more rpg than shooter.
Hopefully it’s not too far out

I hope to god this ends up being a 3rd person detective game set in the blade runner universe.
I also hope we’re not years away from getting whatever it does turn out to be. I can’t believe the blade runner ip has been ignored in gaming for so long.

On a side note, what the hell happened to The Last night???

@BooBreaker the best game of last gen is now f2p - Rocket league. Check that one out.

I’m taking a break and relaxing for 2 weeks. Have loads to play.

Last night I played some halo online for the first time in over a year…getting into a game still takes far longer than any cod but some welcome improvements have been made to it since I last played. Also, it’s easy to forget just how nice looking that game is.

Playing through …
Zelda Tears of the kingdom
Planet of Lana

Planning on going back to…
God of war Ragnarok
Spiderman miles morales
Elden ring

Interesting how you’re correct, we’ve never seen an activision game on Gamepass… seen quite a few on psplus over the years though.

Wonder if that lays credence to PlayStations marketing having blocking clauses in them from titles appearing in GP - genius move

I don’t believe at any point the fact that activision games have/are/coming on psplus was brought up during the trial? Having never been on GP?
Strange considering COD is literally this coming months psplus big game…timings perfect for it

Get a trailer proudly saying 2.6.26 maybe…

If it’s not Banjo or Conkers I’ll personally sulk

The offering of GP the last few months has been really lacking…especially comparative to what Sonys been offering on their psplus extra sub - this month far cry 6, and next month call of duty black ops Cold War (funny)
I remember start of the month being told just wait till after the showcase, they’ll be an influx of quality and big titles… I don’t know what happened there. A need for speed game that’s released for the benefit of EAPLAY?

I think MS needs to start stepping it up a gear. Starfield, and the end of the distraction of abk court cases, can’t come soon enough

@GamingFan4Lyf I had no idea it had even been released, let alone coming to gamepass. I remember seeing the first reveal trailer and thinking it looked gorgeous and to keep it on my radar.

Obviously something happened…going by those screenshots, and the fact that I forgot about it.

Still intrigued to give it a try

@Benjamin I imagine it will be like the first one just more of it and prettier. Anyone expecting God of War or any of Sony’s cinematic 3rd person action games, will be let down…I can’t imagine gameplay being anywhere near as fluid as those games have in between their cinematics.

Those wanting something to finally show off the power of the series x thought will be pleased. It’s set to be one of the best looking games this gen. Of course you can expect countless posts from PlayStation only gamers pointing out that it’s only 30fps with this many pixels…but that won’t remove much from the spectacle it’s set to be

Great deal if they produce the goods. At this point Hell Blade 2 has probably costs more than MS paid for the studio.

As always though, getting ip is one thing…retaining talent is another. I’d like to see MS do more investments in people… extend contracts, less contractors, and bonus incentives to hit targets…both for deadlines and in sales.

He’s apologised for his shocking competitive attitude at the start of this gen.

https://youtu.be/Uhfz1VegV90

Whenever I see I price rise a month after comments that gp subs haven’t seen More growth on console… the first thing I think is ‘gamepass is more than substainable’.

Best thing to do is just enjoy the ride whilst it’s lasts… as I wouldn’t be surprised if another tier gets announced soon at a greater price with activision games on it, if this abk deal goes through… although us uk gamers don’t have to worry about that