Coletrain

@Ricky-Spanish I probably didn't explain well but I meant that because of the black bars the pixel count was lower, because less screen real estate was there, but yeah visuals are always subjective - sounds like me and you had totally different experiences which is kinda cool 😎

Just to avoid the "OMG God of War is coming to Xbox all you ponies suck it" rhetoric, what I HOPE this means is working on their own PC launcher that has synergy with console save files and stuff. I.e., an ACTUAL platform instead of "hardware as a platform"

@Ricky-Spanish what, on a series x it looked poor res for you? I took some screenshots during my play through and they looked incredible!

I know DF tried to pixel count it but if you compare it to something else that presents in 1080p I don't think it would be comparable. Mind you, I still like 1080p as a resolution, looks sharp from my viewing distance

@Ricky-Spanish I think the 1080p ish resolution was due to the black bars but in terms of pixel density it was closer to 1440p on the OG version. Still, it was a heck of a looker!

I think all the reviews are fair here. It's a real experience and you sort of love what it's doing or you hate it. Regardless, I think it should be experienced by most hardcore gamers, as with the ol' headset on and some Dolby surround for headphones there's truly nothing else like it (as you can tell, I was a fan)

@Weebleman I haven't had any issues personally. It keeps me signed into Google, MS (and Xbox), Steam, GoG and Epic.

Graphics-wise it's great, it's a sharp 7" screen with fast response times, you can run AAA games on med to low settings at 900p and not notice a drop in quality. For indie games, incredible, high or ultra settings can be used when available (something like The Lost Crown will do 1080p ultra 120fps at 15w.) It replaced my switch OG for indies very quickly due to better prices on steam and free games through Amazon prime.

And if you're into it, runs emudeck just fine too.

@Weebleman OG ROG owner here. They're not too bad as long as you can dock them. You update armory crate, myasus and windows itself but it rarely gets in the way or stops games running if you don't do it immediately. Battery life is by far the bigger issue!

Thanks, Sony. Anyway, back to E33 and Blue Prince on gamepass

@Lup yeah very good point with persona, more should have copied it sooner!

After replaying ff7 this year on switch, I can confirm that searching for Yuffie in those damn forests with 3x speed is an absolute blessing compared to the painstaking waiting for random battles in 1997 🤣

What E33 and Persona got right that took a while to filter through, was transitioning from totally random battles as you're exploring to visible enemies that you chose to engage with (or not)

E33 is a great game to revive the genre though, incredible story which is kinda what they're about!

"Can you verify my age in GTA mister?" Is gonna be the new "I'll give you a tenner to get me booze and ciggies from the corner shop mate"

To echo some of the comments it just doesn't need a remaster. Or a sequel really. Such a special franchise sometimes deserves to exist in the annuls of time rather than risk a bad sequel!

@Kaloudz yeah I'm totally on board with you when it's cosmetic, if you remember though when loot boxes first starting appearing they were usually integral to success (I'm looking at you, battlefront 2 👀) which is very predatory!

I think we're probably same era, I started with master system, mega drive, PS1 etc. but let me put it this way, I still watch 99% of my TV shows at 1080p and unless HDR is involved I genuinely can't tell the difference between that and 4k. It's more noticeable in games (especially with how UI and HUD looks) but man, I played last of us pt2 on PS4 and it's better looking than most things that come out in 4k.

E33 is a cool case to consider. If you look properly when you're playing you can see so so SOOO much aliasing and poor textures, but it doesn't matter because the gameplay and the story are incredible. Such an affecting game (in fact you first recommended it to me on here!) so I totally overlook the tech issues. And I'm so here for more stuff like that!

@Kaloudz re: #18 I don't think we've caused this as consumers. We pushed back on lootboxes and MTX because they were predatory in a lot of cases and pay to win in others (FIFA was horrendous for this and still is!)

As for us pushing for graphical fidelity, I'd argue that 4k was actually pushed on us as consumers and that's the point at which development starts getting protracted. Now Devs are trying to code more fine detail and higher res assets causing massive delays, but not out of demand, just because that's how they see the progression of tech. Honestly, if 1080p was still mainstream for TVs studios would all be better off right now and we'd be none the wiser!

@Millionski it's definitely a landmark, and I don't think the brand will suffer in the long term if they do more multiplat. Still the defacto console in probably every country in the world that isn't Japan

This was a good video. Basically DF telling Black Shamrock that they were wrong. Particularly the comment that 60fps games from series s would port easily to S2, which might be true but only where DLSS is working from a very low baseline

I still don't think porting single player games fits in with their business model right now, but it does make sense ready for next gen. Happy to be proven wrong and Helldivers 2 port is probably a bigger moment than we realise, sticking to my guns that the only one I actually want is GT7 though 🤣

@Ricky-Spanish I tried E33 at 30fps and it looked great, but it made parrying far too difficult for my middle aged hands lol

@BAMozzy so my mum, who is 70 and plays candy crush, doesn't spend a penny on it mind, never played anything even close to a console or PC in her life, is a good barometer of how successful Microsoft gaming is? Just because they acquired King? Not really though is she.

It's just a way for Nadella to tell investors how big the whole thing has got with this ABK acquisition. It's absolute tripe, and has nothing to do with Microsoft gaming.

For the record I don't hate COD and I adore Pentiment. But let's just agree to disagree on these numbers being in any way worthwhile as a way of knowing how well Xbox gaming is doing. When Amy Hood predicts to that the financials will decrease in Q1 2026, you can bet that King sales have jack all to do with it

@BAMozzy FFS it's like arguing with a brick wall. I did NOT dispute the meaning of MAUs I said it is inflating the figures and doesn't relate to the gaming picture that I or you for the matter operate in.

Honestly, I don't know why you insist with these walls of text when you have no idea what point I'm making anyway pal

@BAMozzy did I dispute that a mobile player was a MAU? No, I didn't. I said it inflates the figures.

And yes, as an Xbox gamer I very much do want to see how that translates to console and PC users without mobile. My PERSONAL OPINION is that presenting these figures like this is BS because it presents a mobile player as no different from a hardcore gamer like me, so it tells me nothing interesting about my hobby and it's success

@BAMozzy which was exactly my point, in that including mobile users (NOT game pass cloud mobile), which is the biggest market in gaming BY FAR inflates that figure significantly.

I want to see what is gaming revenue Vs MAUs for real games, not trash mobile games, regardless of if Microsoft have now inherited them through ABK.

@Weebleman ah, so even when I turn on my PC I'm a MAU. Makes it even weirder to say this alongside gaming revenue in articles then

@BAMozzy I'm not taking about people playing GP on phones though mate, there literally wouldn't be enough subscribers to even slightly affect the 500m MAU claim. I'm on about these numbers including people playing King games on mobile and tablet, not me playing cloud on an iPhone

@themightyant yep, very fair points mate

I like Xbox PC for now, but eventually I'd like if everything was just labelled as "Xbox" if things are amalgamated. Maybe keep a tagline like "Also available on Xbox Series" for cross-gen gaming

@Ricky-Spanish no offence taken bud, no disputing how successful the gaming division has been at all and I'm a huge Xbox fan now.

I'm thinking more that the total addressable console and PC market that can access Xbox games (let's just ignore grannies and kids playing candy crush on iPad for a minute lol) is probably 500m on its own, so when they say that stat alongside gaming revenue and services growth, its just misleading

@BAMozzy mobile does matter because it's a huge market and isn't comparable to the types of games on console/PC. I'm not disputing the numbers, I just find it disingenuous not to split the figures

@Ricky-Spanish just on about those 500m MAUs bud, not doing conspiracy theories. I don't use this forum to bash Xbox, quite the opposite

@themightyant I just mean by the comment that including mobile F2P games massively inflates the stat. I'd be more interested in knowing MAUs for game pass and paid for Xbox/PC games TBH, it gives us a better comparison for engagement Vs Sony and Nintendo

500m MAUs needs to be scrutinised. That's more of less bigger than all console market combined. Bet it includes people playing candy crush

@VoidPunk I don't like that they fired turn 10 but as a game, FM8 was trash. Low effort, nothing fun to do. Once I was over the initial thrill of it being a new game I drifted away quick.

I mean that we (consumers) are still being supported with games, I was replying to a comment around someone being worried about hardware sales affecting Xbox consumers. Not sure what you mean about the Xbox exclusives losing $100 though sorry

@huroma yeah hard to really form an opinion isn't it. My hope is that a complete alignment of Xbox console and PC takes place so that only one game needs to be coded for, at which point hardware sales don't matter.

Failing that, it's ps6 really, for all the things I don't care for with ps right now you at least know they're gonna be supported

@huroma I'd be more concerned if we weren't getting game support. I know there are a small number of specific examples like no rest for the wicked, Wu Kong and delays on BG3 (can't say I care much about the first two TBH) but then you have things like square enix back in the fold, marketing rights for ninja garden 4 and metaphor, and I'm like...nah this is fine right now.

@Elbow hell yeah it does. It was one of the main motivators for me when I moved from PS4 to XSX

@Millionski I think naughty dog would chart high too. They and Insomniac are top tier in terms of technical ability

@fatpunkslim no no, I saw that news several times over. Generated a lot of clicks I'm sure!

I agree, Sony will follow at their own pace, but it's not their business model right now. Don't get me wrong, I'm not in the camp of "if you think that means god of war and the last of us you're a simp", but one job listing means nothing in terms of broad strategy. Now Helldivers 2, that's more a signal of intent

@TrollOfWar no, not at all, it would be a great move for consumers! I'm more meaning how it's used for fake engagement and baiting instead of genuine discourse

Yeah I mean it's good for MS but really only FH5 is an Xbox game, the rest are typically multiplat studios acquired by MS (and that takes nothing away from Machine games, Indy was excellent)

Problem is this will lead to online posturing from "influencers" saying look Sony you're so dumb you should do multiplat too, but that's just not their business model

@Gabrie Xbox is sort of integrated with PC store already, the achievements on play anywhere titles are the same. But yeah I get you, you want basically a unified interface so they both act identically. I'll be honest, it's not miles off now from my experience

@dskatter you must see the UK news online and just think "what the hell is your government doing to you"

We are wondering the exact same thing, because we certainly didn't vote for Orwellian politics!

It has a hell of a legacy to live up to, but it's unfortunately been over hyped to the point where people won't be happy unless it's a proper masterpiece now.

It'll be good, because it'll be like the first game, but probably not worth the delays!

Verrrry excited to see what the ROG is all about, MS having a stab at an OS layer optimized for handheld is a big thing

@Banjo- haha I was gonna guess at Psygnosis and wipeout, that's what become Liverpool right?

Probably would want gran turismo just with Forza dieing on its backside, but honestly I'm not really wanting any of the Sony games. Would have bought a ps5 if I did. I burned out on cinematic 3rd person action adventure story games during the PS4 era.

Still, really cool to see them at least planning for this kind of thing, I don't think it devalues the brand because it's already so, so strong

Should be a strong Gamescom, go team green!

@Nintendo4Sonic completion stats on trophies and achievements are very rarely high. Usually below 30%. Can we take from that that non game pass users also don't finish games?

Stop talking Nadella, nobody cares. We just want your grubby mitts to stay away from the game studios

@themightyant I think they all had frame pacing issues, that's always my worry with UE5 (or 4 for that matter!)

@themightyant any shooters off top of your head that use UE5? Kinda makes me think that FPS multiplayer games have their own engines for a reason