Eejay

@ElPadre666 Hey raider! See you topside 👍

@Simu001 Don't worry, they'll soon have an IA for that - not sure about the 'paying you' bit, though...😀

The kick in the teeth for me is that MS have consistently resisted VR headset support of any kind for the Xbox, as they said the technology isn't where it needs to be for console.
And yet, here they are, fully supporting VR on a competing platform.

I know whatever comes next xbox wise, be it console or PC hybrid will probably support VR, but in the meantime, xbox users will effectively have the most feature stunted version of the sim, and that seems a pretty poor way to treat customers who have supported MS's latest generation of hardware.

@Questionable_Duck Woo-hoo!

Wow, didn't expect to read this today! Great news - fingers crossed for ATS too. 😀

I'm one of the crash sufferers, unfortunately. It looks great but I only managed one complete game without it freezing and dropping back to the dashboard. Some others were having hard crashes that shut off the xbox completely.
We have three xboxes in the house and mine (launch SX - wired 500mbs) was the only one with issues. One affected user on reddit said he has had the problem in BF2042 and it was apparently never fixed

I'm not sure how widespread it is, but there there seems to be a fair amount of us. Not that you'd know from most of the previews PX is the only site I've seen mention it, (and I actually shot them a message over the weekend highlighting the problem).
The slightly unfair thing was that, with no way to level up, there was no hope of unlocking the challenge skins.
I ended up feeling a wee bit Sqidward in the 'looking out the window' meme.

What I managed to see was really good though.👍

@Ricky-Spanish Never doubted you for a minute!😂

Isonzo is surprisingly un-bad, although I own it from a sale ages ago.

Edit: Also, tomorrow's Gamepass announcement is going to be Crash 4.
Ricky-Spanish said so, and I'm going to hold him to it.😀

@johndoe89 Benoit Sokal, who was the creator and driving force behind the Syberia games has since passed, so I see this more as them trying to have the existing games all playable on modern hardware and polished up, to honour his legacy.
As to whether there will be completely new games in future remains to be seen.

I see a few folks mentioning Flight Simulator here and, while l certainly wouldn't discount it, l think that, of all Microsoft's exclusives it would be the most problematic.
Asobo seems to struggle to handle development on two platforms as it is, with Xbox being in many ways far from ideal currently. Adding in a third on a completely new system would seem to be pushing things to far.
Add to that potential issues with Sony okaying a 3rd party marketplace and I'm just not sure.

I would definitely welcome it, as as far as i see it, the more simmers the better. I actually switched from PlayStation this gen purely for MSFS, but without the involvement of an additional studio I think it would be a major task.

That's exactly what they would say, though...🤔😀

23rd September GTA6 release confirmed, then?😀

"Won't somebody think of the children!?" who, ironically, if they were into the originals, and therfore the target audience of these new games - are now adults.🤔

Yes, still playing this daily. I uninstalled FS2020 when the new one released, as it was taking up about 3/4 of my storage space on Series X.
FS2024 is great - if everything comes together, which unfortunately it often doesn't.
The streaming is potentially great for xbox, with it's limited memory, but at the moment it's just too inconsistent. Even the menus appear to be streamed, which gives everything a slightly janky feel.

Things are improving though. The marketplace is finally live and steadily filling up with new products and updates for 2020 ones - and apparently, with sim update 3 we should be able to choose to physically download various elements of the sim to reduce the streaming load.
So yes, I reckon it will be great in time, but using it at the moment can often feel like the sim is actively fighting against you.

I had a quick look at it last night, and it seems really good, but I've actually uninstalled it just now - I'm still absolutely immersed in KCD2 and know from past experience I can't play both at the same time without getting the controls all mixed up in my head.

@GuyinPA75 100% agree. Look at Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 - development started back in July 2019, but it wasn't announced until April 2024, less than a year before it released. It gives folks just enough time to look forward to it, and means the developers don't get pressured into releasing a game unfinished, because it's "taking too long ".

I'm surprised there aren't more positive comments here, to be honest. I've bought it and I'm absolutely loving it so far. That said, KCD1 is comfortably in my top 5 games ever, so I kind of expected to like it. It's exactly what I wanted it to be: more of the same but on a grander scale and with far more polish. Part 1 was a kickstarter, and I think a lot of the stuff that they couldn't do because of budget have been realised here.

@VoidPunk Are you talking about the same-sex relationship possibility for Henry? If so, that seems to be something that is really easy to ignore unless it interests a given player.
Henry was shown to be in a relationship with a girl in the first game (depending on player choices), and Hans Capon - who was a real historical figure (and was indeed actually only 15 at the time of the games) went on to marry and have children, so to me the 'canon choice' if you will, is clear.

@Ricky-Spanish Yep.

Yeeah...That's just the sort of thing someone rejoining Obsidian to ostensibly work on a new game that isn't Fallout New Vegas 2, but is in fact rejoining Obsidian to work on precisely Fallout New Vegas 2 would say...🤔

Almost had me there! 😃

Is it really a remaster if its using UE5 though?
Wouldn't that qualify more as a remake if it's in an entirely new engine?🤔

Dreamcore on the 16th as well, apparently.
It's a Poolrooms/Backrooms type game, but one of the more polished ones, supposedly.

Flight Simulator 2024 for me. Sure, it had a rough launch (what doesn't these days, it seems), but the potential for the future is awesome.

Love Flight Simulator, and bought my Series X just for 2020.

I went out for a drink with pals tonight because I suspected I'd be a ***** show 😀

I should imagine that the reason could be something to do with the game's increased reliance on content streaming. The reduced file footprint is possible because most elements are held server side - far more than FS2020.

Either the servers are not ready, or perhaps Microsoft is wary of having outlets review the game on almost empty servers, and giving a false impression of how they might actually perform on launch day? 🤷‍♂️

It's probably been said many times before, but Kingdom Come Deliverance is a must play at that price.
Absolutely one of the best games I've ever played imho, and an ideal time to jump in before the follow up in the new year.

NFT?
No F***ING Thank-you.

I definitely have mixed feelings about this.
I owned a PS4 Pro last gen, and didn't regret the purchase at all. I moved to Series X purely because of Flight Simulator (being an PC simmer back in the day) and again, don't regret it.

I do though, wonder how Xbox's perception in the gaming space may be further affected when, inevitably, Xbox studios games release on PS5 Pro running and looking better than on their "home" system.

Also, with Flight Simulator 2024 coming shortly, I can't help but think what could be with a hypothetical Xbox Series X 'X'.

No love for Flight Sim 2024? Absolutely my most anticipated game this year - especially after the previews the other day.

It's actually a shame for me that Stalker 2 drops so close, but they should compliment each other nicely.

"It's just going to be a strategy that works for us"

...and, you know, not our xbox buying userbase.

Does anyone know if Flight Simulator 2024 is expected to make a showing?

...I mean, on xbox - rather than PS5? 😉

I had heard of this, looked forward to it for ages, and then, with the passage of the years, forgotten about it due old age and senility...😂

Modern gaming is fun.

I have a slightly self inflicted disappointment with this:
I've played Mafia2 (PS3) & Mafia3 (PS4), and also bought Mafia1 on Series X.

However, when the Gamepass thing was first announced, I misread it as all three being added, and was looking forward to a decent version of 2 (the PS3 version didn't have grass of cloth physics, iirc).

Again, totally on me, but still...😪😂

Can we play Brutal Doom now with this one?

Ah well, time to admit my guilty pleasure then - I've played Dreamlight Valley since it came on to Gamepass. I find it's the perfect cozy chill out game, and I pop in to my little village most evenings, at least to see what Scrooge has in his shop.

As a 51 year old man, it's not something I would have thought I'd be into, but I'm none too happy with the idea of losing my wee town, so I guess that'll be a purchase. 😅

Not bothered in the slightest. Flight Sim 2020 was the reason I bought the Series X, and 2024 looks leaps above that.
I'm not actually sure that many people realise that this is a completely new game, and not just an update - I really can see people being blown away by it if it's as good as it seems.

Would be happy to see a bit more of Flight Simulator 2024 - it looks insanely good

@CutchuSlow Agreed. A cloud only teir makes sense given the recent Fire Stick support, but beyond that, the incessant tinkering just makes it look like they don't have confidence in thier product, and don't know what they're doing with it.

@rustyduck 5 hours, with a cut off if you get too far through the story.

@EdgarTheBug Yep, I remember when the first rumblings of "The video game industry is bigger than Hollywood " started, and actually thinking it was a good thing that our hobby was so popular.

What we're witnessing now is the logical endpoint of that.

What a horrible state the video game industry is in.
It's like developers are sat with a gun to their heads as they work, knowing that unless they produce the "most successful game ever", it's all over for them.

So they're forced to emulate the few other mega popular titles out there, and as the market is saturated by everyonedoing the same, sales are rarely high enough. It's a horrible, creatively bankrupt vicious circle.

Best wishes to everyone affected.

I've been loving this so far. I've been restricting myself to one per night, to make the goodness last longer. On to the final one tonight, which sounds like it's going to be a doozy.

I was a bit disappointed last week that David Lynch's announcement turned out to be new music (still good), and not Twin Peaks S04, but this more than makes up for it - Gordon Cole would be proud!

@Trmn8r Yep, Henry VIII was pumped for it, apparently.

The main reason I have the Series X is for Flight Sim so my issues are kind of self-inflicted 😀.
With the main game, world updates and about £700 of add-ons, it takes up roughly half my storage on it's own.
Just had to remove Halo Infinite to put on Dragon's Dogma 2.

@Dandare4479 Yeah, this really needs to feel like Topspin - it's no good to just brand a generic tennis game and hope that'll be enough.
TS had a very unique feel, and I suppose this new one will either nail it or not. Just have to wait and see.

@G1lbo I'm going to say yes, but don't quote me on it. Should be in the cloud.

@Halucigens Same here, I hate to think how much I've spent on peripherals and add ons (realistically over £1200).
FS2024 looks like an improvement across the board and, unless it's announced tomorrow that it's coming to PSVR2 I'm not really too bothered what happens.

@Titntin As far as I know, Infinite Wealth isn't on Gamepass, sorry to say.

I'll stick with the 2D commander, thanks - harder to hit when he turns sideways...

Woohoo! - we dodged a bullet there, folks.

@Widey85 I'm two weeks away from my next 2,500 streak bonus.. 😧