Coletrain

Tariffs this, trump that, cost of living blah blah blah. This was caused by MASSIVE overinvestment in gaming because COVID made it seem like a quick and easy place for investors to make a buck. Then suddenly the market "matured" (or rather, got caught by it's own ludicrous ambitions) and the investments went away.

The result is the huge amount of layoffs we are seeing recently. This isn't a political or societal issue; as is always the case with layoffs, it's mismanagement and the ever unachievable goal of growth growth and more growth

If you can't make your game work properly on console you shouldn't release it. I'm sorry. It this isn't an engine issue it's a developer overcomitting on features that can't return a stable frame rate, which is essential for consoles.

My sentiment on this applies to mgs delta and oblivion remastered also. I'm not talking about games that are dropping a few frames here and there by the way, just games that clearly can't run without wild fluctuations

That's awesome. When I'm not subbed to ultimate I never see a decent reason to get core (not a huge multiplayer guy) but cloud gaming is something I use a lot when subbed.

Will depend on which games it applies to Vs what I own, but I'm definitely happy with this news!

I am genuinely interested in this one. Hope the music is tailored towards the teenage pop rocker in me

The only console I actually would want right now would be a S2 OLED. I'd happily stretch this gen out longer than normal, XSX is perfect for me.

The demo was incredible, this is a buy for me

I think I just want to reiterate on this thread, what a great product the Xbox ally x is. But the prices are absolutely INSANE. Despite the freedom it offers, and performance looks like it'll be great, it's a handheld PC. Nobody should feel like this is good value compared to a series x, ps5 or even switch 2. Save your money, game elsewhere, and wait for Asus, Xbox and everyone else to sell things for reasonable prices again. The world has gone MAD

I am not welcoming either game, but I'm welcoming what it symbolises. Goodbye walled gardens, it's been nice knowing you.

I'm convinced by the product but the price is going to kill it for me. But the X looks incredible. Stick with OG ally for now

@RiverGenie I did the same. I appreciated playing a piece of history, and I loved the story parts, but the gameplay doesn't grab me which is annoying because I can tell they're well made

@GeeEssEff nice. I'm not sure it'd play ball for me, my only "PC" is a Rog ally and it just won't do the visuals justice for this!

@Nintendo4Sonic I was expecting £50. £70 would be fair if they'd done a bit of a remake and added new story, but hey that's just my expectations based off of recent stuff. Oblivion remastered was 50, mafia the old country (similar length) was 50, seemed fair for this to be too

As much as I'd love to replay this one, £70 for a one-to-one remake is not happening. Deep sale next year for me!

Visually looks great though, so well done to the devs

@WildConcept6 PC next to my TV is not what I'm looking for with two feral children nearby to knock it over and spill milk on it 🤣

I think I'm just in that place (and of that generation) that I like the comforts of a console experience, but now the rumours of PC storefronts have made me greedy for the best of both worlds...

@WildConcept6 it's got me THINKING about PC builds for the future, but I'm not one to enjoy sitting at a desk or using KBM so seems almost redundant. I've got my fingers crossed that steam or MS make a PC/console hybrid that alleviates this issue entirely!

@WildConcept6 yeah good point, I got Lost Crown on Steam actually because it was priced lower than Xbox...

Other stuff though, I've had fun with death stranding directors cut, FF pixel remasters, cuphead, blue prince, south of midnight etc etc. Value is so subjective but I find myself enjoying lighter titles handheld, and AAA fare on the XSX. So it's a nice combo, but I couldn't buy the Xbox Rog ally X and be happy for a full generation

Edit: and xcloud stuff runs great too, much better than on a phone, so that's a good thing if you're into GP ultimate I guess

@Kaloudz hmm what's a good way to put it. You know 7 or 8 years ago when we all bought a switch alongside our Xbox or PS4? That's how handheld PC gaming feels to me. A supplement, an extra choice, but certainly not a series X replacement.

I love it don't get me wrong, play anywhere is great when I'm not in the mood for the TV, but I wouldn't necessarily want to run through FF16 in full on it over a console. But a FF pixel remaster, or a PoP the lost crown? Perfection 🤠

@Millionski i hope it comes with it to be honest. They presented it as showing these tags for games that reach 30 and 60fps (which I'd say are obviously console equivalent targets), and I know it's only a menu screen to you and me, but to a new user they might have no idea how to set the right frame rates or settings etc.

I do like it as a blueprint for the next gen though

I was hoping that they would have optimised settings that could be auto applied. Hopefully that's coming down the line

@kmtrain83 I'm sure it'll come today or tomorrow but not at ONL, it didn't feature yet

@Runex2121 I dunno man, that's gonna be an expensive game pass device. You're almost better off with a series s and xscreen lol. Who knows, the device might surprise us all

@ThCajunAsian all signs point to the white Xbox ally being a poor product for anything other than indie titles IMHO. Like @weebleman quotes from DF, what is the point!

I do like the look and specs of the black model though, but it'll be a cold day in hell before I pay those prices for a handheld

@Mcp2023 this is true, I have a z1e ally and 1080p is a moot point outside of indie gaming. 900p can be a bit of a sweet spot for AAA fare if you're ok with 30fps (which I am on that screen, the LFC is excellent) but at 720p I find the UI starts to lose clarity on most things

@Fiendish-Beaver again, true. The only logical way I can think around it is pure advertising on the dashboard, putting the MS or Xbox store front and centre.

But again, I wonder if it's simply a moot point at this stage. If that model isn't really working for them then anything sold via "Xbox" is a bonus

Unfortunately I didn't see anything that interested me personally (unless we're counting silksong), but I have to say that despite not being a fan of the genre, Chronos the new dawn looks cool

Begs the question, why not just use a 720p panel for the white one? Games still look sharp on steam decks and they run at 800p

@Fiendish-Beaver I'm not convinced Steam on console would be a massive issue for MS, even if users did have a preference for it.

I know that getting 70% is obviously worse than 100%, but you have to assume that the vast VAST majority of Xbox recent success is in software sales on other platforms. I honestly just don't think they care at this point, it's a gamble but if they pull of pc under a TV with a console like experience then it's one of the most transformative products ever released.

I share your concerns broadly because it is such a gamble, but this is Microsoft were talking about, nothing is off the table for them anymore

@Millionski yeah I'm super intrigued. Not by the chip itself, but the NPU...what will it be for...fsr 4? Back compat? Tell me you swines!

@somnambulance imagine trying to explain anything Kojima has produced to a child 🤣 happy for you though man, I've genuinely considered it a few times but found that MS rewards makes my Xbox gaming cheap as chips (plus I still love my switch OG, feels practically lightweight now but massive when I got it 7 years ago!)

@DonnieTACO oh man, yeah I agree Clair Obscur is incredible, but that's more 00s retro. Sea of Stars is like 80s & 90s retro vibes which I'm super into. Ninja gaiden ragebound and Shinobi Art of Vengeance are up my alley too, that kind of stuff.

Shame it didn't grab you, but at least with E33 you had a banger of a distraction. If it's not GOTY then the whole thing is rigged lol

@Millionski yeah I've got the normal Rog ally and anything that isn't super graphics heavy plays well on monitors (as long as you find a good frame rate lock) at 1080p. 'grats on your upcoming purchase, I'm jealous!

@GuyinPA75 no arguments from me on the evils of that man. He is truly a world class *****

@GuyinPA75 there's a method in the series S madness though that's very Microsoft. It may have held back some console games, but the design is to make games scalable (which let's face it, is already done on a lot of PC games so that people with 8gb or lower GPUs can play) for the cloud push, which uses those S profiles.

I think I'll personally look back on the S fondly for the incredible design and form factor, and for giving next gen gaming a cheaper entry point (which is now all but gone, there's the nadella greed creeping in)

@somnambulance really nice way to look at it to be fair. My problem with Nintendo games is finding the time to fit THEM in so I just haven't upgraded to S2 because I don't have the bandwidth, but I really do admire your decision. Bet it took some serious thinking time to drop a main!

@somnambulance Nintendo as a main is something I've considered before (especially with the kids), but I'd feel like I was missing out on too much stuff. Gta6 for one!

XSX is such an incredible console, I really wish it had done better because as a piece of hardware it deserves to. Silent, unassuming, just gets on with making my gaming awesome.

I am NOT ready for next gen yet 😭

@FraserG took me 45 hours to feel like I'd seen it all, worth every minute!

Sea of stars is a beauty for any retro RPG lovers, shove GP that one is worth a purchase it this is you!

@SMJ a good partner to have. They make great products. All that remains to be seen is if Xbox outsource to OEMs for next gen 👀

Got a couple of venoms for 15 quid, they tend to last for about 15 hours a charge, much preferred to my old dualshock 4 from last gen

Already have a Rog ally z1e that I picked up new for just £320, so not for now but the xbox ally x in a couple of years on a deep sale would be a welcome upgrade

Can someone tell gamesir that the exchange rate isn't exchanging on this one, outrageous dollar to pound difference!

@ilyn I agree wholeheartedly. E33 takes it, DS2 close 2nd.

Re: Blue Prince. As someone deep into the post game puzzles, I can confirm that RNGesus is kicking my ass!

Wonder if this is the devkit issue that DF have been talking about. Mind you, I do think it's not a particularly natural home for a gritty war shooter (even if it does have silly skins)

@RiverGenie ah that's disappointing to hear. I did like 3 but the missions repeated too much, the atmosphere and music, story all spot on though. Just dragged on a litttttle too long.

Deep sale it is!

@RiverGenie how would you compare it against mafia 1 or 2? (Let's ignore 3, totally different game!)

I'm interested at deep sale price if it's on the level of those games

@ilyn astrobot looked a worthy winner to me. Not hating on BMW mind, it looks fine, but weird how it just came out of nowhere to be a part of the conversation.

Hoping for E33 or blue prince to win it this year, both outstanding at what they do

@ilyn I do like the memes of Brits conquering everything 🤣 maybe that could be a good game for us with a historic twist

With this game though, weren't the vast VAST majority of sales in China? But it was celebrated as a worldwide success!

Really we can point to certain parallels with the shift to music streaming, but the strongest one to me is that like with songs, there are too many games for them all to do well. So the best games and songs do well, and the rest go where they were always gonna go with or without streaming...into obscurity.

Also, games cost a heck of a lot to buy now. Does anyone really think E33 would have sold anywhere near the numbers it has at £70? Game pass helped a bit, sure, but the Xbox marketing and low price point would have been bigger factors in it's success (as well as being a great game anyway)

Anyway, the point in trying to make is that gaming subscription models aren't likely to be the ruin of this industry, they're probably going to become the saviour of it in the short-term whilst Devs figure out how to reduce cost and pipeline.

Was already excited to see remake intergrade running on Xbox, and also MGS delta should be great. But I had totally forgot about High on Life 2, yes please!

No, but not because of all the furore around it last year, just because it doesn't look very good compared to other games of it's ilk.

I'll never get why it was so lauded in the west, surely this was just a big deal in China