Cakefish

@Kramlar path tracing. It’s the future of games but is ridiculously demanding. Even an RTX 5090 has to make compromises in resolution and frame rates when utilising path tracing.

Likely. I don’t see why they’d officially announce it now if the current plan wasn’t 2027. It Osborne effects the already struggling XSX|S.

@Millionski yeah it certainly will be a much more interesting comparison than XSX vs PS5 is. The key question is whether I actually effectively already have a Helix at home with my current DIY PC…

All depends on how it functions vs a standard PC. Could be cheaper for me to convert my current DIY build into a living room PC myself. It would need to offer functionality my current PC can’t, on top of backwards compatibility, to be a compelling investment.

The issue is that this means my Xbox library meets a definitive dead end once this hardware launches. There’s no advantage to Xbox app vs Steam. None at all. Well, aside from redeeming Rewards points for gift cards, but Microsoft has scaled that back massively lately.

So that leaves me in an odd spot really with my XSX. If my future library is going to live on Steam then logically I should probably start switching over now for consolidation purposes. Though that would mean my XSX will be left neglected in the meantime, which I really don’t want to happen…

@Fiendish-Beaver also Steam’s community and library management features are 1000 times superior to any other storefront.

As I already have a PC more powerful than Helix (well I’m assuming an RTX 5070 Ti and R5 7600X3D are comfortably more powerful), the key question for me is what’s the advantage of this device vs taking a bit of time and money to simply convert my existing PC into a mini ITX SFF build? And keeping my XSX for backwards compatibility with my Xbox library. The custom version of Windows needs to seriously impress for this to be worth the investment.

Neat! Very cool to have the rumours finally officially confirmed! 🎉 😀

With the news of Sony pulling back from PC I’m feeling a bit more conflicted about Helix honestly, simply because I already have a desktop PC so in that light maybe a PS6 makes more sense — which makes Helix kinda redundant. I do still love the concept of a living room PC that can natively run Xbox games though. No mandatory multiplayer subscription will naturally be a colossal advantage over Sony’s offering and Steam is simply the best digital store in existence.

Enjoy everyone! Unfortunately my game pass ultimate expired a couple days ago 😢

@Millionski yeah I’m feeling the same way. The chances of me buying a PS6 just shot up substantially. And if I’m buying a PS6 then I probably won’t need an Xbox Magnus. Pretty grim outlook for Xbox here.

Big news that’ll impact me greatly. My PC had almost effectively become a de-facto PlayStation as I’m using it primarily to play all games I can’t access on Xbox. God of Wars, Horizons, Kenas, Stray etc. and I have Stellar Blade, AI Limit, Ratchet & Clank, Uncharted still on my Steam wishlist. I do use it for PC exclusive indie games too, but Sony’s AAA/AA games were the ones justifying the high end hardware that I invested in. So this really could change my purchasing plans in future honestly…

Sounds good! Shame my Ultimate expired literally yesterday though, unfortunate timing 😭

@Fiendish-Beaver didn’t you get the memo? We’re supposed to be a hivemind. Differing opinions disrupt the functioning of the mother brain.

@Fiendish-Beaver haha I know the feeling, they really know how to play into those addictive compulsions with the Rewards quests! I feel sad that my rewards streak is ending, but logically I’d be spending exponentially more keeping my subscription active than I’d get back in points. Have to look at the bigger picture.

I’m like you, I’ve found myself mostly ignoring the game pass library in recent years in favour of my owned games library. The problem I find with game pass is it’s trying to be jack of all trades but ends up being master of none. My favourite genres aren’t well represented in the library because Xbox is trying to appeal to as broad an audience as possible.

How long are you still signed up for?

My Game Pass Ultimate expired today. The end of 3 years of the legendary 1:1 Gold to Ultimate conversion deal. All good things come to an end eventually and that’s it, game over now.

I’ve bought some stackable codes for Essential and I’ll think I’ll just stick with that tier for now. I don’t see much point to Ultimate when the majority of games I play either aren’t on the service or get added years later.

If the prices hadn’t risen so much within the past few years I’d have stacked it again, but it’s got to the point where I can’t justify the cost anymore for how little I actually use it.

If you want console to have any chance of succeeding drop the mandatory need for Essential subscription for multiplayer games and price match the XSX with the PS5. Seriously.

I agree with the folks saying it’s too late. Horse has already bolted, to add to the metaphor party.

It’s ironic that Xbox concretely committed to no exclusives just as PlayStation allegedly has decided to ditch PC ports of single player games.

Nice! Next we need custom wishlist sorting like Steam has please.

With the suspiciously timed news that Sony has allegedly decided to scale back their PC support the future of Xbox certainly looks more uncertain (even assuming the pivot to PC strategy is executed well to begin with). I guess it depends how much quality output Sony can achieve now they’ve moved on from their disastrous live service obsession and just how nerfed their future PC support will be.

I'm a little concerned, but still have some optimism.

I guess it depends how much of the recent struggles were driven by Phil and Sarah vs Satya, who of course remains the top dog. And if it’s the former, how much free rein will Asha actually get in course correcting (assuming she herself has any desire to).

It’s a paid service so yeah you’d hope subscribers would actually be using it for its intended purpose lol

I meanwhile have not been. Not because I don’t want to but because I just don’t have time. I’ve simply been too busy playing games that aren’t on Game Pass.

My Ultimate expires 3rd March and I’m really going to have to properly mull over whether it’s worth renewing as the last game I played via Game Pass was Keeper in October. I just can’t keep up!

So I think I might just settle for Essential. Maybe Planet of Lana 2 can convince me to go for one more month, we’ll see…

@BAMozzy I know what you mean and I don’t disagree, but I do think that first party and third party terms kinda lose much of their meaning when PCs are involved, because it’s an open platform. No one would say a game like Indiana Jones is first party on a desktop PC but then suddenly becomes third party on a Steam Deck, just because the latter is Linux based. It’s always been terminology used when talking about the world of consoles, I’ve never really seen it in the context of solely PC gaming. I know next gen will blur the lines on this as we expect a PC built directly by Microsoft. I guess the difference will be that the hardware is designed in-house and with OS-level modifications to have a controller friendly UI, as opposed to any other bog standard PC.

@BAMozzy I don’t really know what you’re trying to say because you’re agreeing that ASUS ROG Xbox Ally isn’t first party hardware.

My iPhone and iPad are literally Xboxes because they can run xcloud games, but they don’t fit the criteria of first party Xbox hardware either.

It’s funny he uses ROG Xbox Ally as the example because it’s actually ASUS hardware lol

@eduscxbox Fable and Forza 6 too. Halo devs said Halo will forever be a PlayStation franchise from now onwards. Cat is out of the bag. Expectations have been publicly set. If Gears of War E-Day isn’t multiplatform I’ll eat my hat. Also Satya and the board of directors have seen the money generated by multiplatform and they won’t let that go. Satya specifically has been constantly beating the multiplatform drum and the new Xbox lady reports directly to him. That’s why I think it’s simply too late to change course now, they’re already in too deep.

It’s too late lol

Every major IP is now on PlayStation. You can’t undo that. The point of no return has already been crossed. The hardware sales have already tanked. Game over. Multiplatform is here to stay, we all know it.

Ditch the mandatory requirement for Game Pass Essential, price match the PS5 (expandable storage included), and get rid of dashboard ads if you want a major competitive win for consoles. It’s the only realistic path forward.

This new hardware has been ‘coming soon’ for two years already thanks to extended rumour cycles 😭

The word ‘soon’ has lost all meaning lol

• Have the XSX price match the PS5 in all regions, for both the digital and physical editions, and do a proportional XSS price cut too.
• Subsidise the Expansion Cards to more closely match the current standard NVMe SSDs market price.
• Make online multiplayer free for all games. Revamp Essential in some other way to compensate for the lost ‘value’.
• Copy many more store/community features from Steam. It’s the premier global storefront for a reason.
• Strictly enforce a quality mandate amongst first party studios that no game can perform better on PS5 vs XSX (PS5 Pro excluded for obvious reasons).

There’s nothing that can realistically be done about exclusivity, we’re already past the point of no return in that regard. So compensate for this disadvantage by making XSX|S compelling for other reasons.

I still think it’s a bit weird that Phil left before the 25th anniversary. With it being merely 9 months away I just assumed he’d remain on for that and then leave on a high note.

@Fiendish-Beaver the thing really is DOA if it doesn’t even offer basic backwards compatibility. A key pillar Xbox has built their brand upon for the last decade. If it really is just Windows 11 with the Xbox FSE overlay slapped on top and can’t play any XSX games then there’s simply no reason for me to buy it when I already have a gaming PC (which I can convert into a mini ITX SFF build if needed to play on the TV in the living room). Who would such a device appeal to? It’d be so insanely niche that it’d be pretty much instantly become irrelevant in the market. I’ve gotta keep holding onto hope that when Sarah said it’d be fully backwards compatible that she actually meant those words and wasn’t intentionally misleading us. Cloud streaming does not count as backwards compatibility!

Lowering the price to match the PS5 would be a start. Not really much else I think they’ll realistically be willing to do to save the XSX|S from the current doom spiral in hardware sales and I don’t think there’s a high likelihood they’ll be willing to price match the PS5. The exclusive ship has obviously already sailed, so that’s not up for debate. This is all just a bunch of PR waffle really. Actions speak far louder than words, so I’ll believe it when I see it.

I’m sceptical. Seems like a coordinated effort to scapegoat Sarah. Which isn’t to say she didn’t push for the ‘everything, everyone and their dog” is an Xbox strategy, but she would’ve needed sign off from Phil and Satya to go ahead and clearly they loved the idea. So no, I don’t believe for a second that she was the sole architect of the current Xbox situation. And as for Microsoft being disappointed at hardware sales… lol no. They knew exactly what they were doing. It was all intentional to slowly wind down XSX|S. You don’t bin off exclusives, raise hardware/game pass costs, and explicitly market how you don’t need to buy an Xbox and then expect no repercussions from those actions. They’re not that stupid. As for supposed change of direction, I don’t buy that either. What can they even realistically change course on? The multiplatform ship has already well and truly sailed. XSX|S sales cannot meaningfully recover. It’s all just fluffy but ultimately meaningless PR talk. Satya is still in charge at the end of the day.

@IOI yeah he did seem to lose his soul over the last few years. His heart didn’t seem in it anymore after the Activision buyout.

@Millionski yes this focus on AI is concerning. Xbox feels like a very different brand from when I bought my XSX in 2021, only 5 years ago.

@RBRTMNZ seems Sarah peaced out after getting snubbed from the top job by the AI drone. Choosing to give no public statement implies she’s got beef with how this all went down.

Phil didn’t even want to stay on a few months longer for the 25th anniversary that they’ve been hyping up?

Sarah’s gone too.

Replaced by an AI executive who previously worked for Meta.

I have a bad feeling about this…

@GuyinPA75 yeah it’s just I’d to play Planet of Lana 2 when it comes out. I guess I’ll see how I feel when the time comes. Assuming the reviews are good for the game!

My Game Pass Ultimate expires 2nd of March. They added in all these extra rewards quest perks over the Essential tier last year and now they’ve made them all worth less in one fell swoop. Something I’ll have to consider when I decide whether to renew Ultimate or simply stick to Essential.

@Neither_scene that’s exactly what I mean, sorry if it wasn’t clear. Price it too high and the audience will end up being very niche. So I suppose it ends up being a question of just how mass market Microsoft want this device to be.

@fatpunkslim for HBM3E. HBM has hardly ever been used in consumer gaming products because it is much more expensive than GDDR memory and the latter does the job well enough, even for flagship GPUs like the RTX 5090. I would be flabbergasted if Microsoft would use such premium memory in their Xbox products, when they could use them in their much more profitable enterprise products instead and are currently crazy in love with everything AI.

@Fiendish-Beaver I suppose they will use the APU in cloud server farms too, so can make return on R&D investment that way. Something that only just came to my mind. So yeah I suppose selling X number of units isn't as important as it would've been otherwise.

10 million is probably very optimistic considering Series X has sold roughly the same as the Wii U at a much lower price point than we're all expecting this device to be. The market for a four figure priced Xbox will be significantly smaller than that still!

I don’t really see how the PC pivot helps Microsoft here really. Yeah it allows them to target much higher price points, but all that means is a much more niche audience. The number of PC folks with 5090s and 9850X3Ds is relatively small in the grand scheme of things. There’s no easy way around this issue. Hardware needs to be affordable whether it’s PC or not. If not enough folks buy it then they won’t get the return on investment on R&D, so there’s a fine balance to be struck, they can’t price it to the moon.

Kena was my favourite and it’s exclusive because of course it is 🫠

At least I can get it over on Steam, which I definitely will be.

@themightyant when you add up all the countries then Little Nightmares 3 almost certainly did get over 500 reviews in total, but it still doesn’t explain how it beat out Split Fiction which not only had multiple times as many reviews but also rated significantly higher overall. Germany was the most sceptical country I could find and they rated the paid version 4.8 and friend pass version 4.7! Most other countries awarded an average of 4.9! It makes no sense to me. Xbox snubbing Hazelight for some reason 😤

Just makes you wonder how may other deserving games ended up getting snubbed too by whatever wacky criteria they’ve used here.

@ILuvGames it’s my brother so I trust him, but we’d be doing it online rather than via local coop because we live opposite sides of the country!

You know what I’m confused how Split Fiction isn’t on this list for the highest rated category. It’s 4.9 stars with 2.5K ratings in US and 4.9 stars with 592 ratings in UK (I also checked Canada, Australia, France, Germany, Italy, Brazil and all versions are highly rated there too). How the hell did Little Nightmares 3 beat it? I enjoyed LN3 but come on, what is this list? 😮

@TuscanUK it’s probably because the store categorises Warzone as an ‘edition’ of Black Ops 7 (or more accurately vice-versa). So the ratings are skewed by Warzone, which is more highly rated than the separate store listings for BO7 especially in countries such as India (4.2 star rating). It’s stupid that the ratings are counted this way for COD and BO7 is seemingly unfairly buoyed up by Warzone, but it’s the only logical explanation I can come up with.

@FraserG I’m still getting the bug where the Store gets amnesia and forgets I already told it that I’m happy to get notifications for my wishlisted games. Almost every single time I launch the Store it asks me if I want notifications for the wishlist, the ‘don’t ask me again’ tickbox does nothing 😭

I’m still signed in, maybe because I (begrudgingly) verified my age a while ago using face scan.

Sounds good, but the Push Square reviewer has said that it doesn’t look like Friend Pass is supported at launch. So that’ll have to be a purchase for later in the year then.

@somnambulance earlier announcement so people have had longer to add to their wishlist and also a significantly cheaper asking price which always helps popularity

@Fiendish-Beaver yeah totally understand what you mean. I like the console experience for the controller + TV style of play. The new system needs to replicate the current experience closely but also needs to offer the full capabilities of a PC. Tricky balance, really hope they succeed!