Cikajovazmaj

Damn, I just lost so many Xboxes at once due to no fault of my own.. what if I bought a TV because it was an Xbox?
Worst. Campaign. Ever.

I miss the days (arguably Nintendo is sort of still there) when these announcements were "more games, better, now" instead of all this modern PR newspeak.
Nothing against the Project Helix, I just wish gaming went back to being fun and simple.

Announcing the new console on a random Thursday.. okey dokey.
Not for me, bought a decent new PC recently (just in time before the RAMageddon), but good luck to them.

@themightyant library I feel is a big part of consumer decision making process for the next gen. However, MS has done a full generation of desentivising building a personal library through GP, which makes it much easier for users to jump ship from Xbox vs. other way around. This might bite them in the end.

Use Copilot to write and pad your resume, as you'll soon be needing it. Exit strategy is key

So.. at first I skipped the full interview because in general I don't always agree with everything Seamus says.
However, I got back to it today. Damn, I feel like he's spot on, very good take!

This is an Xbox campaign would have killed any brand, let alone already struggling one. It's not just failing to chase the customer of tomorrow, but also ultimately not having anything special to offer (much of MS cloud offering in the space is actually worse compared to competitors).

Valve should offer Phil a job.. or maybe Nintendo.

To be an intern paid to pad her gaming resume..
Seriously though, she does not have to be a huge gamer to be a good leader. Familiarization and domain understanding is enough, addiction is not a requirement.
Reggie is a great example, as I think he proves it's not about being most active gamer, it's about understanding what you are leading, selling, to whom, and what's the "unique catch" (aka. where your value truly is).

@betterthings that literally doesn't make sense. That line can only be conjured by forcing AI to use expression ray trace in your public speech/message, because you think that makes you sound like you know something about gaming. RT has probably been mentioned around the office no other explanation I can think of, honestly.

I've said this about Asha's message elsewhere, but it mirror's Satya's.. this crap is being generated by AI.. that's how soulless and meaningful these statements are

So this might not end up being a year of the xbox, brand has been stronger, and nextbox maybe ain't biggest technical leap in the history of console gaming?
On a serious note, never thought Phil was the most competent leader, he was often insincere and manipulative in public messaging.. but at least he had personality.

@Exerion76 you unfortunately have an unclear understanding of the situation. This is not about regular user protesting and voting with their wallet. As many of RAM chips as can be produced, they are already sold. It's about consumers trying to pay as much as AI bross can, to compete and get scraps to open market. Not buying won't impact producers, they are already maxing out their output.

P.S.
On topic, it's not easy to explain away a 1150USD handheld purchase. What are they thinking, my quite decent desktop PC cost 1050 euro during BF2025 (9060XT 16GB, 32GB DDR5 system).

@Gabrie I find this to be very mature take!
@fatpunkslim whatever MS might say, in practice they are still pushing AI too much, to a point of seriously jeopardizing quality and end user satisfaction with their products and services. By doing so they are risking way more than just money they pumped in, they are risking user confidence which is a long and gruesome process to rebuild.

I don't find this to be at least surprising. However, if service tiers allow that, I can see a future where GP get's PC version of these games, but not Xbox console version (install base is seriously shrinking).
Just my 2 cents.

I gave this game zero chance of success, and it seems it defied the odds and I was in the wrong. Good for the team (which has some bangers in their CV). I'll give it a go

@CallMeDuraSouka and the trophy for the most appropriate profile picture for the message thread goes to.... just awesome

@FraserG I'd argue due to the nature of the game (and content) GTA 6 will not win GOTY. It's very obvious GTA will be a hit and a joy to play (took their sweet time polishing), but my money is on GOTY being a safe established decent to everybody awesome to no one game.

Only game I was interested in before and after the direct.. looks very good.

Great 3-month review! Very often this is exactly info missing, past initial impressions if and how has device become the part of reviewers day-to-day. Good stuff.
Personally, I also tend to forget these handhelds can genuinely be a usable PC for majority of the users. Not everybody requires a workstation, and for a LOT of workflows they are just as good as a docked laptop.

Year of the Xbox, and it's the first one I'm totally ok with experiencing through PS5 and PC.
But seriously, it's shaping up to be an amazing lineup.

Going by this poll, people seem to have too much money. No other explanation for the results...

@Brigurugi this! GT7 is so much better for just being loved by it's players. Wonderful game indeed, every design decision in game has been made for the love of cars and that translates to player community too.
Unusually low percentage of people with "problems" trying to solve them through online bullying and general douchiness.

A lot of good technologies packed under that FSR Redstone banner. It's a bit disappointing internet is trying to show it in bad light for clicks, when it's the only real competition to Nvidia rule..
I applaud any innovation and hope they continue evolving this for years to come.

I've worked with many leaders over the years and there is one thing I happened to pickup on: leaders who give vague, generic, forever applicable but never actionable statements tend to achieve very little.
Practical, actionable, and value oriented leaders GSD.

Take that however you want.

Does it even matter anymore? It's just a number next to a box nobody is buying. Time to think about the next step..

@OldGamer999 to be fair, CoD was on a much healthier trajectory when Sony used it to promote PS. Right now, it would only feed into "out of touch" perception.
However, MS needs to rethink pricing and value proposition as these poor decisions are going to impact next generations starting sentiment.

South of Midnight is a perfect "game for impact". I can understand how art and music could move somebody, but at the same time the game underneath it is nothing unique. I'm aware of the irony, yes.
I wanted to like it more than I did, and realistically it's decent. Just nowhere near GOTY category.

@themightyant while I did hear about that I'm having hard time believing it. MS bread and butter is literally writing software and offering services (based on well defined abstractions and APIs).
It would be baffling if they would not be producing leading SDK and dev tools.

Title is a bit misleading... It's not development that is difficult, it's publishing. At least that's my understanding of prior examples and what this document would address.

@Gabrie while I do agree developers should be better at eliminating shader stutter, reality we live in still has that problem in current, future, and many past games. Making a workaround solution that circumvents the issue, I'm all for it.
On another note, doesn't steam deck have something similar already?

I can wait until they patch it and discount.. I'm sure it would make more sense to sell a finished game full price vs. on sale once you actually fix it, but what do I know, I'm not the numbers guy.
Jokes aside, this team is still capable of delivering the goods. I'm sure they'll get there.

Yeah, don't care. Back when I had XSS I really tried to like this game, but man it wasn't made for humans (rather going through all those menus, loading screens, sub-menus, more loading.. just wasn't fun).
Also, I don't see how it can be fixed through a DLC, it needs to be a different thing entirely to become engaging and interesting.
So, no need to port this one, please port the rest. TY

My one big complaint with Windows in general is how clumsy it is, because it has to support almost infinite number of hardware combinations.
And ROG Xbox Ally is the first step in moving that "experience" into handheld space. So no, I don't think using partner such as Asus was a good idea. Especially if Asus is just going to be one of partners. Keeping platform constrained and internally managed would have been better.

"Laws and regulations be damned, how come we can't change our subscription conditions however and whenever we want?" - what I assume Phil and the gang were shouting once they learned there are countries where customers indeed have rights.

@Questionable_Duck your time spent watching ads is not free. Or at least you shouldn't consider it free.

If it ends up being true, I'm starting to suspect this company is run by real mad men. Not just the fact it's not a great deal to begin with, but they are changing terms and tiers left and right with no clear direction.. it's impossible to feel well informed and confident as a user.

@Ricky-Spanish I care to disagree.
Prices for other services are usually market adjusted, but in my current location montly cost of internet connection, IPTV and Netflix COMBINED is the same as GPU. (optical link, full TV package, lowest Netflix tier)

It's not really easy to rationalize spending that same amount for a gaming sub I use maybe an hour daily.

Khm, I don't think the fan picked up on a fact that "modular" part is packed in just to artificially increase the value, but is in practice "diddley squat" useful and nobody would opt in. Therefore, no way

I feel like MS is thinking price/value proposition is still debatable, but I simply can't afford 30$ a month for gaming. And I don't even consider myself to be that poor on average

I'm worried about PX staff as MS basically nuking the brand they are reporting on is no fault of their own. Hopefully the gaming world grows elsewhere and everybody ends up being fine after a little bit of in office rebalance.

I'm sure somebody did the math and decided these prices would be competitive.. but man, last year I've used discounted PS Plus and bought games I really wanted outside of the service.. and have not spent total of 360 USD. That is wild!

@Gabrie honestly, MS is the offending party that should take action when it comes to Windows Store. It's abysmal.
As for the machine itself, glad to hear it's a good product. Can't afford/reason it myself with all the other gaming platforms I use, but as an all-in handheld option it seems to shine.

@PsBoxSwitchOwner couple of million would be a success for a PC handheld, at least going by historical data.
However, I do believe outside of SteamDeck 2, these particular ones have the highest chance to do so.

Universe has really wronged that game. Such an excellent metroidvania and a game in general. Hopefully everybody gets to play it.

@cburg my 350€ phone came with a case and a charger.. just saying.

@SaltySpitoon957 Technically Switch 2 is cheap compared to alternatives (but you are locked into Nintendo storefront).

Asus/Xbox have literally priced me out of getting this product. I just can't rationalize spending that much on a handheld (for the X).

I'm a bit concerned this is going to end up being another experience for "all gamers" like Netflix branching TV series, or such low interactivity, heavily directed content.
Hopefully not, but high visual fidelity + Unreal 5 suggests slower pace and limited freedom to roam outside of the beaten path.

@abe_hikura didn't MS do literally that a while back? Or I'm imagining things..