Coletrain

Yep, I'm also in for this one, looks really cool

It's a game that I had my eye on (purely as a massive burnout fan) but the final reviews didn't look great. That said I am still interested in a deep sale pickup

Nice to see SoM and Blue Prince on this kind of list, I adored both

@TrollOfWar that's a very apt comparison. Especially because the Google pixel range from 4a onwards have been excellent pieces of kit, just nowhere near as popular as iPhones and galaxys.

It's a shame really, because there probably won't be any titles that ever show just how powerful the series X hardware is as they're always catering for lower hardware (I don't mean the series s by that, more base ps5 and lower end PCs)

@Fiendish-Beaver I could be wrong on this, but I believe that the incentive with play anywhere is the preferential terms of the MS store over the Xbox one, which I think is 88/12 rather than 70/30. Again, could be wrong, but that's what I'd imagine the incentive is

You have to wonder what it is people will gravitate towards in the end. Xbox is by far my favourite ECOSYSTEM in terms of game prices, rewards, play anywhere, free cloud saves etc.

But Sony and Nintendo make bespoke experiences which resonate more because they're focussed on a single piece of hardware.

I think Xbox becomes a wildly successful publisher and software OS provider in the near future, with hardware being just a little bonus

@TheGameThrifter only thing that seems to get a liiiitle bit better on series x is UE5 titles, and that's probably more down to Epic updating it than anything MS has done

@OldGamer999 I have a much younger brother in his mid 20s, him and his mates have been exclusively PC gamers since they were about 12/13. Could be the way the market is going, enough industry bods seem to think so anyway

Sunset overdrive and FFIX, used a small amount of reward points and spent £4.79. happy with both purchases!

If this was something MS cared about they'd be competing with Sony on black Friday prices to try and increase console owners. Clearly, the priorities have shifted and if this raises the prices again (more likely in the US than anywhere else, which have been more resistant to price increases) then they won't care.

They're likely moving more towards the components they need for the next gen

@ValentineMeikin it's on there now. Not an insider thing for Rog ally

@ValentineMeikin ah right cheers mate. I'm not using the insider program so guess I'll wait a little longer

This announcement had got me confused a little. So, as a normal Rog ally owner is this not coming out today?

Extremely important. Sometimes I just prefer a handheld night, even if it's on the same sofa as where the TV is. Can't wait to play ff7 remake hybrid style, and metaphor too when I get to it

@themightyant same, I just don't have a use for it right now. Steam prices are great, but this still just represents a different locked ecosystem to me, and I already have access to steam on a handheld

If anyone's ever been on the fence about PoP the lost crown I can confirm that for a tenner it's a steal!

@themightyant yep, not a chance it competes on specs with ps6 or nextbox. I'm struggling to see the long term vision other than a beta testing device for steam OS on the big screen!

I won't speak to American pricing because they've gone nuts. But a decent pre built in the UK with a 4060 or 5060 and last gen CPU, with 16gb ram and 1tb SSD might run between £600-850.

On that basis I'd say about £550 feels right for the 512gb model and £700 for the 2tb.

Don't think it'll challenge the current gen consoles but it's a really cool option, especially as a desktop gaming device. I really like the look of it as a 1080/1440p machine

@M20B25 yeah it was really unique and there's only really Xbox trying new things recently (I can see Keeper already mentioned in the forum), feel like if it was on ps5 it'd be in the mind sphere more and be included in the awards a lot more

@Medic_alert agreed. I can't remember the last time I paid full price for a game, it's almost never worth it

I've probably said this before, but they just need to make good hardware that people actually want if they're gonna succeed. Right now you just sort of look at the landscape and say "Valve has steam OS to get a few people on board, Sony has the market position already, Nintendo has it's massive longstanding IPs, so what is MS gonna bring to the table?"

If the answer is what I think it is, which is the most flexible ecosystem, then hardware sales are never going to be a focus for them. It's a good ecosystem though, can't fault it from a personal standpoint

I expect Xbox to cuddle up to the new Steam Machine and whisper in its ear: "you do it so much better than me. Teach me how to dance."

It's been a strange old generation but I've never played as many games for a long number of years. And I'm still yet to play BG3, Elden Ring and Metaphor, so it's gonna be a golden few years

Yeah this looked petty by Eurogamer. I totally agree with their sentiment but to devalue the hard work of hundreds of people who probably had no choice in the use of some AI was a pointless statement and a low blow

Great article as others have stated. I use my ROG Ally z1e and XSX the same way, like a more powerful Nintendo switch setup. And I also actively look for play anywhere games now (really looking forward to remake intergrade for this.)

I haven't seen much online about this, but I'd assume for the best docked experience you'd use a power supply for one usb-c port and for the thunderbolt I'd imagine you need a usb-c to displayport cable (as well as a VRR capable monitor with a displayport or usb-c DP input)

Anyone had a try with this to see if the features work on a monitor?

@Fiendish-Beaver then colour me sold on this, sounds excellent

@Fiendish-Beaver what's the general tone of the game? I can't tell if it's a fun or a serious game! The graphics always look gorgeous though...

@themightyant this is the most likely answer. MS are not know for leaving money on the table recently, so Reggie perhaps forgot to take the dev kit situation into account

FFS Xbox players, will you stop buying games. You know we only stick to game pass!

I certainly hope we do. Do MS though? They certainly are doing everything they can to drive potential new customers away

Awesome machine. Actually tiny enough to fit in all setups, significantly lower power draw than XSX/PS5 and a fantastic option for 1080p TVs and monitors. Also responsible for some pretty cool performance improvements on Baldurs Gate 3, so there's a decent legacy!

@OldGamer999 I still hope there's a place for it. I haven't had chance to play it but astro bot is a shining example of making something bespoke to the hardware (obviously moreso the controller than anything else), and I count studios like naughty dog and insomniac amongst my favourite Devs ever.

But yes, homogenised hardware does seem like the main direction of travel, with small tweaks for ps6

@OldGamer999 yeah you have to accept Nintendo as an outlier, which I don't mind one bit as they produce great games at lower fidelity.

To be honest, I find myself actively looking for good play anywhere games now so I can use my Rog ally as an Xbox switch

@fatpunkslim overall? PC. AAA gaming? Playstation. That's what makes me so curious

Everything pointing to this PC in a living room box future. Starting to wonder what the more frictionless Dev environment will be: PC or ps6

@Duck_Farmer I recently finished GTA4 for the first time since 2008 (or whenever it came out, I forget the year...) It's the one I'd forgotten the most, and many oh man does the story hit better the 2nd time around

@Odium it looks like what I wanted Octopath Traveller to be when it first came out some years ago on switch. Love that HD2D art style. Glad to hear it's good, I'm even more confident in it now!

@themightyant haha 100% mate, I'm sticking with just calling it Elliot so that the awful name doesn't overshadow my excitement for it

Elliot looks incredible. I'm a big FF fan too (and JRPG fan in general) so I've been super happy since they started this whole push.

@Xavier1415 I mean that they're more successful when they do something. Not that what they do is technically more advanced. I don't know why they are, I don't personally think they have a better service offering than Xbox, but they just do better out of it when they copy.

So no, you stop it.

I always think it's funny when rumours like this happen and you get the usual twitter grifters saying "ps copying Xbox again but it's a dead platform lololol"

Yeah, but whenever ps copy something they always do better out of it than Xbox anyway!

And I'm in the "no point PS doing a PC launcher" camp, not sustainable cost wise. Partnering with someone like Epic for cross buy would be a competitive move though

@Fiendish-Beaver yes I have to concur with comment #13. You could say that FH5 is a system seller, but that's gone now. I'd have also made a fine argument for Indiana Jones but that ended up being a bit divisive too!

The simple fact is (bourne out by sales figures) great software sells the hardware, and MS have exited that race now so we will never know if they could have taken on Sony more meaningfully next gen.

Although PC stores on a console like device, that could still be a surprise hit, but does feel more niche than mainstream

@Titntin it's all just preferences isn't it mate! I play ps5 at my mates house sometimes and I never know where my middle fingers are meant to go on the dualsense, as well as my left thumb always aching afterwards. He absolutely swears it's comfortable for him though!

@Kramlar haha same dude. "Dear Sony, I hate the shape of your controller but some of your games look quite good. More money here for you if you need it."

@WildConcept6 yeah you're probably right, suppose I don't even have a clue what the measure of success would be in sales terms for this thing.

They've got to release the numbers on these things soon surely! With the price being so high these just feel like artificial stock shortages

@Kezelpaso I agree, the F2P model of infinite's MP would work well on PS5. I don't know where you go after infinite other than to say, take a massive risk, do something leftfield and see if it sticks!

Infinite's campaign did sort of set it up for a new story arc, maybe one where chief galvanises the United colonies (or what's left) and takes the fight to the brutes!

Unless these are being developed in conjunction with each other and release quite quickly after campaign evolved, I can't really see that the rub is worth the green. Why would MS commission a new studio and then have it just do remakes of old games?

This plus MS rewards is what's keeping me from switching right now. Love playing stuff on the go (that isn't Nintendo!)

@hbkay don't worry, copilot will fix it