Out of any of them, I though Double Fine would be.. uh, fine. They've always been lean and even published indie games, but if this is how it's starting off as they go back to independent... yeesh. I hope they end up okay, both DF and those who were released.

One "good" thing from this mess is that this absolutely means this gen is going to last much longer. Which is a silver lining, because this gen has yet to do much to justify itself.

Way too much. Shadow Labyrinth, Killing Time Resurrected, Night Slashers: Remake, Epic Mickey Rebrushed, Ankora Lost Days, Bramble: The Mountain King, Calico, Crime Boss: Rockay City, Shantae Advance: Risky Revolution DE, Dead Space DE, Day of the Tentacle, Final Fantasy IV, Full Throttle Remastered, SYNDUALITY Echo of Ada, Buckshot Roulette, Kingdom Hearts 3+Re:Mind Concert Edition, Summer In Mara, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre Content Pass Edition

..And I still have a couple extra games I'll scoop up with rewards points built up due to the sale. Already finished 5 of the games on this list too (they were very short.)

@Fiendish-Beaver I bought Hell Is Us a month or so back, I've been tearing through the backlog lately so its about up next to play.. a little annoyed it's on GP now after buying, but I'll just chalk it up to throwing support behind a game that's shaping up to be a cult classic.

So I'm not really a Halo guy (though I did love the original so this might win me over), but I have to admit.. when the US Fanta event was underway I grabbed the Chief skin immediately. I actually really like how it looks and I'm sure to get a few "what are you WEARING?" reactions from friends for the inevitable play through co-op, which makes it all the better.

This'll be very interesting for how they plan to make this work if you're playing multiplayer games. Ads are awful, though, so if this ever dares creep up into the paid tiers I'll absolutely stop using it.

The unfortunate reality is that digital is convenient. Not perfect, of course, but convenient. No need to go out to buy a game (or wait for it to arrive), no having to deal with discs or cartridges or failing disc readers in systems (the 360 was notoriously garbage with this).

It's just slapped on a hard drive and you can buy it at any point in the day/night from the comfort of your living room or wherever you play. I haven't bought a disc in years and I've kind of been glad in some cases not to have to deal with it anymore. This won't be the most popular opinion though and I know the drawbacks are still quite large.

This beta will determine if I go all-in and pre-order the $100 edition or just wait for the GPU release. A lot riding on how this plays. Gears is what, mostly, brought me to Xbox all those years ago.. its hard to ignore that its a ride or die for me.

I want Xbox to survive, and if that means eliminating day 1 releases for BIG 1st party games, so be it. 3/6/12 month delayed releases onto XGP is fine.

Just something to undo the unbelievable flood of blood Phil Spencer caused AND steered the ship down over the last few years.

I can vouch for Epic Mickey. It's not a difficult or challenging game by any means, but it's a fun little trip through real legitimate forgotten Disney history. And shockingly, Disney poked fun at itself with an entire level made out of old Mickey Mouse merchandise that makes up a literal mountain of garbage called Mount Mickeyjunk.

Running and jumping across old, broken SNES copies of The Magical Quest starring Mickey Mouse is both amusing and surprising. Never thought I'd see Disney acknowledge stuff like that.

A bunch here. Resident Evil Village; just finished Shadow of Village difficulty. Gonna try to mop up collectibles and 100% it. Also playing Epic Mickey, never got to try it when it first dropped so this remake/remaster is a wonderful time. Beatdown City Survivors inbetween those-- it's so difficult but it's fun still.

@HelloCraigo The Mound looks incredible, Ace Team has been on fire since 1999. Would you recommend it?

@Fiendish-Beaver Maybe they would have. You know the term 'too many cooks spoils the broth'? If not, it basically means putting more people on a specific project doesn't automatically mean it'll be better-- sometimes it's actually the opposite. Though it probably wasn't the case for iD, so I'm contradicting myself here, but it's always good to remember more people doesn't always mean better/faster results.

...Not justifying job cuts saying this (especially for idTech that's a very bad situation even if they still have people working on it), that's still bad. My only point here is that I do believe they can still put out great stuff.

@Millionski I think it's been talked about before, they added Bethesda titles since they thought it would cause a surge in GP subs, but it didn't really move the needle. Or if it did, it was negligible. That's why they've been sporadic with Activision games being added.

Now as to why Acti games are added at such random intervals, I don't have any clue, but my only guess is they're adding games that aren't selling as well.. at some random glacial pace.

@Deformedpye I think that would be the Skate games, those seem a lot more realistic, the first two anyway. No one can skate in real life like in THPS lol

@Millionski I think there's licensing issues, or games that are still selling well years after release are excluded.

@Tasuki ..Because of a Tony Hawk game getting pulled last minute from game pass? ..Are those the straws you're really grasping for?

Honestly more surprised they were considering it to begin with. I'm sure if they really tried they could get it to work but it'd sure look horrid. Probably a better choice overall, though a shame for anyone actually looking forward to it on Xbone.

@Balaam_ Yeesh.. you must be fun at parties. I'm only joking of course, it's your own personal preference; I don't mean any actual insult. Multiplayer modes are fun to unwind and play with friends, it's been a staple of my friend group to every so often hop into a Gears game to do 2v2 or 3v1 etc. (I used to be really good with the sniper.)

Narrative/story focus is always important, but there's nothing wrong with extra modes. Longevity for the game, and I feel you dismiss a lot of technique/skill potential that comes up in multiplayer. How you deal with each situation varies every time, since rarely, if ever, will a multiplayer match ever play out in exactly the same way. It's good to help make you think on your feet and in the moment, and that's before working in any advanced tech like wallbouncing-- which is a real thing and it turns Gears into a fast-paced blitz on par with a Dragon Ball Z fight. It's kind of like a situation of not seeing the forest for the trees, making your own little stories and memories that come to mind whenever you/see particular maps again. I have a lot of fond little memories like that built up over the years in Gears multiplayer! (And other MP games, really!)

Edit: Just to add for extra clarification. I prefer single player games, but when a multiplayer game/portion of a game hooks me, it does pretty hard. I can see the value of both.

Beast and Grave Seasons are on my list for sure. I loved the original Plague Tale but have yet to play the sequel, and with more and more and more games always coming, plus summer sale.... its almost horrifying how much I have waiting for me.

60fps as a minimum is excellent! I recently have begun lugging my Xbone when I stay with my brother as he's sick, and it's such a staggering drop from my Series X. 30fps at best, which of course I wouldn't expect top notch framerates on it with stuff like Dead by Daylight, but it reminds me of PUBG having a pretty choppy 30FPS on the Xbone.

Glad to see even the "heaviest" option is running 60 now.

My wallet! My poor wallet! ... is gonna keep crying cause I'm busting it open for some of these.

@Tintin I was so genuinely put off by Ubisoft's initial marketing that I ignored it for the longest time.. but I think at this price, after all the rave reviews, it might be time.

Cool additions, don't think I've ever heard of most of them but I like that. Also great to see Square Enix completely embracing PA

...I'm not doing it here because I'm certain it would get my comment removed for obnoxious spam, but I did mentally follow through with the 30 hoorays!

Gamerscore fodder games annoys me, it's essentially shovelware in a lot of cases.

On the flipside, games like Dead by Daylight, games that have run for 10+ years with constant major, meaningful updates should not have a limit on the amount of Gamerscore it can add over time. IMO if they changed how it works for games like this, you can only add 250-500 gamerscore every 3 months BUT you no longer have a limit on the amount of points (so in theory the game could have 15,000 achievement points to earn after several years) it would be much better.

With this said, it would also need to be something Xbox themselves approve on a game by game basis. That way we avoid this new store meta of crap games made to boost gamerscore.

That would be... what? Every person who plays Candy Crush, logs into CoD, WoW, or Minecraft? Plays Skyrim? Watches a series/movie based on their games?

It sounds insane but it actually reads as very boring, but delivered in a way that makes it sound like Michael Scott wrote it. Which is not a compliment lol

She really should triple check what she's writing or having written for her to make sure it doesn't make Xbox sound like Dunder Mifflin

@NishimaruX This bothers me too. The higher-ups that all had a hand in causing this sort of thing should be tossed out, and I guess some of them have but it should be a whole house cleaning really. The actual talent making these games shouldn't be affected by the incompetence of those above.

@Tasuki They are all to blame, but I would be very surprised if Satya was the one to tell Compulsion, Ninja Theory, Rare and The Initiative to take 5+ years on games that would never be super huge blockbuster hits (..or even release, in the case of the latter two), or if he was the one that told developers to ignore fan requests and instead just work on more niche passion projects for 4+ years in the case of games like Kiln and Keeper, and whatever Project Mara was supposed to be.

Satya absolutely has some blame, so does Amy Hood, and so does Sarah Bond with her abysmal 'Everything is an Xbox' marketing push. It's not Phil's fault alone, but he set up some of the huge dominoes that ended up toppling over here.

@NishimaruX Double Fine was already in a decent place before the buyout, I don't remember hearing anything about them struggling before the initial buyout. I do think they'll be fine, they were even a publisher before it. They know how to survive.

Undead Labs is the one I think will struggle though, yeah. Unless they've found a buyer but even then their glacial development compared to what they've released is their own fault.

@Tasuki Watching as she sadly has to clean up the rubble from Phil Spencer's colossal blundering.

But unlike under Phil's tenure, every studio here was given the chance to go independent. They weren't just shut down and only given the chance to be bought AFTER horrid backlash.

This is actually better than I expected. No closures at least, though the huge amount of job cuts is awful.

Now with this said, Xbox should never purchase another dev team.

@dskatter TMNT Splintered Fate started as an Apple Arcade game but its genuinely a great game. I've picked it up on multiple systems/platforms. I'm not always scared away by a game starting life on mobile, though sometimes you can see it from a mile away like STL..

For what it's worth, Funko is basically gaming junk food. Mindless, not particularly great, but can still at least give a decent time if you want a game that isn't very complex. Those kinds of games are great after playing something very in depth, a good palette cleanser.

Not sure about Star Trek. Looks like a mobile game ported to console, which isn't the worst thing ever..

Sniper Elite V2 Remastered is also on sale. 75% - not as big of a deal but sharing incase anyone is looking to scoop up a ton of Sniper Elite games!

Only saw this after the update but I would've been shocked if Obsidian was shut. They're Xbox's most consistent dev and have even stated they keep their budgets on the smaller end which modern Xbox must be thrilled about. It's not like NT or Compulsion taking half a decade for one game.

Which, again, doesn't mean it's good either of these other companies may shutter, just that it wouldn't be surprising their slowest performers get chopped.

I figure Sony is doing this because physical sales are just drying up completely for them. I think only Nintendo still has a strong physical games base, but they've been doing their best to kill that too with Game Key Cards.

After this it'll be smaller companies like LRG (ugh) to ship physical editions of games, and that'll probably dry up over time too.

Well doesn't Xbone/Series download the game, then run them in an emulator? I feel like it would be the same thing for these, just that the emulator client would be a native Windows app. Though if it's just for ROG and Helix, that would answer one question on just how they plan to make this potential emulator play nice with all the hardware out in the world..

Wow, why are they suddenly shoving tons of older CoD games onto gamepass? I thought they might add an old one every year at some point to "offset" the lack of a new CoD but this is just adding a new one every few weeks, now!

The only surprise is that it took this long for Blade to come up in a discussion about being cancelled. Not surprised if this happens; not saying it's a good thing, just not surprised.

I've seen Joel (Vinesauce) play this! It looks very fun, and I think I'll try it when it drops.

I would be surprised if this game even hits a consistent 30FPS. Rockstar has never cared about extreme optimization, they've always let newer hardware do it for them.

I genuinely wonder how they'd convert the rapid painting/drawing mechanic to work fluidly on a controller. Maybe they already have, I haven't played it, just watched friends play. It just seems like that aspect would be a huge pain with a controller.

This is the first proper new Turok game since 2008, right? Crazy to think how long it's been, but I hope this one is good. I have a friend who LOVES anything dinosaur related, he'll probably lose himself in this game for ages.

@Tasuki Absolutely not. Phil Spencer is the grim reaper who set up all these dominoes, overspending and under delivering while chasing audiences that were indifferent to his pet projects. Everything* happening right now is because of Phil, this is his downfall.

Make no mistake, I'm not fanboying Asha. She could very well be prepping to slam that final nail into Xbox's coffin with her full might, but the console prices going up aren't her fault.

Edit: 10-hours-later edit. Obviously the component crisis is not Phil's fault, so previous price increases on the consoles aren't his fault either. I hope most people understood when I said "Everything", that wasn't included, but I'm just ultra-clarifying to be safe.

@Fiendish-Beaver It does surprise me that people are expecting them to be back when this is a prequel. I'd bet they cameo in the campaign to some extent even if its just a name drop, but expecting them to be a major focus is silly. And you are right, it's like any long running series with a new entry, it's not going to please everyone.

@Fiendish-Beaver Honestly it wasn't just that people disliked Kait and Del. Gears 4 was quippy, almost unbearably so. The three leads constantly cracking jokes that didn't really fit the tone. 5 kind of moved in a different direction where they made Kait insufferable like they were comically over-correcting from 4. The actors involved are great, I LOVE JD's actor and I was unbelievably excited since I love the Starz Spartacus series, and I think he did a fantastic job filling the lead role after Andy Whitfield passed away, may he rest in peace. Del's VA can give a good performance, and Laura Bailey is one of my favorite VA's in general. I still crack up thinking about her lines in the Crayon Shin-Chan english dub.

It was honestly just that the writing didn't fit. Too quippy, too unfitting, it wasn't Gears.

And this is why this generation is going to be extended. If not, then they really are trying to kill the brand.

Xbox only reacts to these bad news claims when they end up being true, so now I believe it.

@Fiendish-Beaver I am glad you enjoy the newer games. I really loved 4's multi-player, as it ran on an ultra refined version of Gears 3. Smooth as butter.

But with that said, I again will say I'm glad you enjoy the new entries. I don't want to dislike them, they just do so many things that felt more like desperate trend chasing rather than innovating on what Gears of War could or should be.

@AI-Generation I noticed that too. Honestly kind of concerning, I don't know why there's hype for another remake of Halo 1 from a team notorious and seemingly only capable of grasping defeat from the jaws of victory.

Maybe Gears will pick up closer to release. I hope so, but maybe there are many like me who were so burned by Gears 4 & 5 that they don't trust it yet.

I like wrestling games but I stopped supporting them when they, or I guess Take Two, accelerated the server shutdowns for the older games. I like going back to older games and revisiting what I made, trying matches with friends, and just reminiscing about The Good Ol' Days™ — you get maybe two years of life now with these new releases. Not worth it anymore.

@Pigrotto I heard good things about New World, and actually was looking to pick it up around the time they announced the shutdown. Huge shame as it seemed really decent, Amazon just couldn't get out of its own way.

So it might be sacrilege but I generally never customize a fleshed out character in single player unless it's a blank slate like the Saints Row boss. I like playing them the way the character designers intended them to look.

So unless the Ultimate edition is doing more than just character cosmetics and some vehicle wraps, I'm not biting. I'll have to see some footage of the exclusive stuff to see.

So I'll probably get the regular edition. A Take Two shareholder might weep into their diamond encrusted pillow at that, but that's fine. They'll be okay.

Late reply, but I love it. I double dip on certain games that have Play Anywhere. It isn't a total replacement for Steam IMO, as for example if I think I'll want to mod the game I'll get it on Steam and maybe double dip at massive discount later.