@Lup I had to do a double take, I thought Wild was an RTS. I've tried hard to play that genre and just can't. (Anyone who can, I am in awe of you.)

That said, while I don't know if I'm buying it now I AM wishlisting it. Thank you for the recommendation

I think it's time I jump on Cronos. Haven't even finished my Silent Hill 2 playthroughs for all the endings, but, its calling to me.. if you told me a month ago I was going to actively be interested in Bloober games I'd have told you that you were insane...

Also, could the article be updated to include the date this sale ends? Thank you!

@Markatron84 Hey, in the beloved Garfield & Friends cartoon from the 80s, he was quite the active feline. Not willingly, mind you, but he was!

@shiningpikablu252 Nermal is a shoo-in for the nightmare level lol

Garfield is sort of a comfort character for me, so I'm definitely keeping an eye on this.

I do appreciate Xbox saying "just because you don't care for it, doesn't mean it's a bad game" - I feel that way about a good few games. I've never been able to get into Dark Souls, for example, but I would never say it's a bad game. I just can't get into it.

Not getting any of the actual useful parts of Nitro really sucks. I guess I'm not surprised, they weren't going to give that up for "free", but Discord is already incredibly stingy.

Wow. Wet being on the list is surprising! That game and Mirrors Edge were both the reasons I finally moved away from exclusively playing on Nintendo hardware. I've ended up gettijg 1000 and the Platinum Trophy on both 360 and PS3 for wet. Part of me still wants to document some of the oddities between versions, but.. seeing that listed, and so high no less, makes me happy.

Replaying Silent Hill 2 Remake for achievements and alternate endings. Slowly chipping away at Death Stranding again, and some Dead by Daylight inbetween.

@Markatron84 To be fair, just slotting in a "oh yeah we just canned the studio that made this but here's DLC, LOL" would be in poor taste.

Not that I'm defending Nacon. Pretty scummy of them.

I have an incredibly short list of developers I will buy games day one from, and that's basically just Grasshopper Manufacture.

Big publishers not only devalue their games not long after release- (for example, Silent Hill f is already 50% off and it released about 6 months ago? WTF)- but genuinely aren't worth the asking price at release when they're all but guaranteed to be miserably buggy.

It was already a hard sell to get me to buy games at $60- $70 is just guaranteeing I'm not bothering until a massive discount drops. That's also not even factoring in all the DLC. There's just no way that 99.999% of modern devs are going to get me to pay $90+ on a single game that's probably unfinished and without DLC as of the time of payment.

Thats interesting. I only just got used to the original Series X startup (got one at the end of December.)
I DO like the color scheme, easy on the eyes. Could they not add a variety of startup boot screens? Or does Sony have a patent for that? I'd love to boot up and see the original 360 boot screen from before NXE/ the eye straining disaster that was 2011's all white flashbang extravaganza.

Edit: Also, it seems the sound will be less jarring which will be nice when I boot it up at night-- it won't feel like the THX's little brother is trying to burst my speakers.

I tried to give copilot the benefit of the doubt, but when I asked it things it got them wrong almost every time. Useless in cases where the issue isn't a well discussed topic the bot can cherry pick from. Not that that is much of a surprise, but good riddance to the forced inclusion.

Even Cortana was better than that.

@Leopold It's a public speaking thing. I don't know exactly why, but Reggie Fils-Aime did the same thing and always had those 'crab claws'. I don't know if it's a learned thing and helps with public speaking, but it is notable. I guess if it helps though, more power to 'em. God knows I'd internally combust if I was put on stage to speak in front of tons of people, so anything that helps I'd take.

Although it shouldn't be surprising, it is almost kinda sad. With money getting tighter, it's harder and harder to justify a new console for a lot of people.

@SmokeEmAll It's genuinely not about 'half gamers'. It's a budget/price thing. Though yes, it is unfortunate that the Series S has kind of kneecapped this gen, it was also made for people that just can't afford the Series X. With that logic you could say anyone who bought the Switch 1 or 2 should stay away, since those are massively behind.

@Skinny-Pete I've had that on my list for ages! Might get to it after I wrap up Silent Hill 2 Remake.

It's such a long shot but I'm going to add Silent Hill Downpour to this list. It already is backwards compatible but Konami pulled it due to music licensing.

I dunno. It's still important to keep the game around. It might be a long shot to ask xbox to step in and help, but it is for the initiative...

@moodmatcha The problem with this is that servers for all games will have drastically shortened lifespans. The Xbox 360 servers would absolutely go as soon as the fee is removed, and from there older games would continually begin to pile up with server shutdowns on console, specifically Xbox.

Then, smaller games like Kiln and Bleeding Edge would very likely shut down within a few years of release, if they didn't set the world on fire.

What? What? Why. Wtf? Weren't they consistently putting out good stuff and selling well? What the hell?

If anyone from Xbox is listening: DO NOT BUY ANY MORE PUBLISHERS/DEVELOPERS JUST BECAUSE THEY'RE POPULAR.

Just-- if you are going to buy developers, buy the ones that work with you. I DON'T mean "work with you" as in those that release games on your platform, but actually help develop games for you. If you need an example: Eidos Montreal, who are helping you with both Grounded 2 and Fable.

Look at how Nintendo acquired Monolith (the japanese company; known for Xenoblade.) Monolith do a LOT of support work for other Nintendo-owned studios, but Nintendo also allows them to work on their own games. Monolith is honestly the secret weapon Nintendo has with just how much work they do for all of Nintendo's games.

Monolith Soft has done the heavy lifting on: Breath of the Wild, Animal Crossing, Splatoon, Mario Kart World, on top of making their own games.

If you are going to buy studios, buy studios with THIS in mind. Those that you have GOOD history with, and can help with other projects AND can work on their own smaller-scale games in-between.

I'm not saying buy Eidos Montreal, I'm just saying THIS is the kind of thing you need to look at. Support studios, talent, established history and knowledge of how Xbox develops games, not just name recognition.

I am one of those people who complains about the oversaturation of hero shooters, so you'd think something like this was tailor made for me. Gotta be honest, the pots/overall teeming isn't really my kinda thing.

But, like with Highguard, I need to actually try it before saying anything for sure. I have this downloaded, just haven't gotten around to it yet.

Bethesda and Acti games remain multiplat. MAYBE some exclusive games from them if it's a case where these games would not have been made without Xbox funding.

Big games need to stay exclusive. Multiplayer only games should be multiplat (Kiln, Helldivers 2-- only comparing them I'm the sense they're both multiplayer focused games with no real single player.)

Stuff like Forza... I dunno
It does well in both platforms.

Halo and Gears should stay console exclusive. So should single player focused big games like Fable.

OH! Thank you thank you thank you, I absolutely would have overlooked this. Metal Slug games are hypnotic, the detail in the animations and environments is insane. ...I absolutely suck at the games, but adore their styles still. Gonna grab all of these.

...This reminded me I also forgot to grab Metal Slug Tactics during the last sale-- though that's a different genre entirely to these.

This is really cool. Another bundle option for one of the Gamepass tiers, sure, but Asha has been doing a lot of cool stuff-- or, at the very least, been very vocal and upfront about things.

I'm sure the other shoe could drop at any moment and it'll get bad, so I'm trying to look at this with cautious optimism-- but jeez, this feels nice.

I remember her, I think... was she involved with the Halo rail shooter arcade game? She appeared at an Xbox showcase for something around that time..

Hope her next job is one she loves.

@SargeCassidy Is it really? Even on Win 10? I might reach out.

Good catch! I hope this extra spotlight helps get their attention. As someone who is fully on board preserving every game possible, stuff like this is huge. Now I just wish GFWL titles were still accessible... (it was inferior to Steam, yes, but I had progress in a few games with it. Would be nice to be ableto finish them up.)

@ILuvGames I have not but I'm willing to give it a look. I am also looking at The Medium, though I have a feeling it might be a mixed bag. Seems to be a release before SH2, so it may be before they really sat down and got their act together.

Lately I've been on a huge Dead by Daylight kick.

I also started Silent Hill 2 Remake. For the longest time I paid it no mind because it was made by bloober, who I regarded as one of the worst developers of the current era. So certain was I, that I paid no mind to the rave reviews across the board.

Well.. finally tried it. Despite knowing it was beloved by many, I'm genuinely shocked by how good it is. Bloober and 'good' coexisting is still difficult to grasp. It's so weird.

I won't say it's a perfect remake... but even with my exceptionally low bar I'm really surprised by this game.

@Pigrotto I still need to try Elex. I bought both, I remember a lot of things happening around time of the release and I just got distracted. Might be time. PB were fantastic.

I've had Gothic for ages on GOG. Always planned to get to them, mostly as a 'rainy day' kinda game. I played the RISEN games and adored them to pieces, though I was sad 3 was such a weird departure from the first two.

Need to give these a go. Maybe this is finally the time to try them out.

Piranha Bytes was great. Still furious at Embracer for shuttering them.

Bethesda and Acti should stay multi-plat.

Gets a bit iffier with other studios they've bought. Used to say those "homegrown" studios should stay exclusive but that's... just Coalition and 343--Halo Studios, whatever. And since it seems like most studios are going to be 'one game per generation' from now on, that's curseword-all for exclusives.

I dunno. Regardless of what people say, exclusives are important. It's why people go to consoles.

If they do go back to exclusives, they do need to keep Play Anywhere/PC releases at the forefront. Still in their own store, still giving value.

(If anyone from Xbox is reading... Minecraft Dungeons and Legends SHOULD be Play Anywhere! Why are these two magically excluded?! I'm not repaying for Dungeons on console after I bought it on PC, when your entire push has been about NOT having to do that with Xbox published games since ~2016)

@Banjo- Even with Ultimate, the rewards points are still pretty stingy. You have to be a whale with gamepass ultimate games (like buying games on the service, DLC, or microtransactions. I've bought some auric cell packs for Dead By Daylight on Xbox, and it gives me a TON of points in return) to get anything of note from that.

If COD gets dropped, which is fine, game pass prices must go back down. Non-negotiable. Either it stays or prices lower.

Obligatory thank you, I know sifting through the store or TA's sale list is exhausting and incredibly time consuming. Your efforts are appreciated.

TMNT Splintered Fate is VERY good, I haven't played other roguelites/likes so I can't say how they compare but it's really fun. It's layered and continually unravels more depth as you repeat runs, and new story and enemies mix in too. And the music is just-- I can't explain how good it is but it's like a row of chefs kissing their fingers. Excellent stuff.

@Questionable_Duck That should be the point of the Xbox Live fee. Keeping these older games up and running, the servers paid for by the monthly fee.

Microsoft developed Aegis Wing in house. Why was it delisted in the first place? wtf

I genuinely dread for my wallet. There's a lot here I missed out on/waited for a sale...

Not My Little Pony! Nooooo!!!!!

...is what someone out there is saying. Not me though.

Still have my Rock Band 2 gear and a GH3 controller in storage. Dread having to dig them out and do something with them.

That stupid citrus-y Master Chief is so dumb that it wraps back around and I love it. I might actually buy a can of Fanta just to try and get it.

This might get me to re-re-re-re-replay it. I've played it wayyyy too many times. Still need to actually play the others. Beat 2, just wasn't the same as the first game.

EM is one of if not the best AAA studio. This sucks. They also worked on Deus Ex HR/MD games.

She's saying and doing all the right things so far... cautious optimism continues. I don't think she should be judged either way until she's at least had a year under her belt, so that's a long way off still.

Whenever I see that image of Jack Baker I always think it's a Kane & Lynch screenshot, haha.

I'm playing Nobody Wants To Die. Narrative single player game, futuristic retro-noir (odd combo for sure) that's really interesting. Death is illegal in a future where immortality has been achieved.

It's basically just a walking sim with some extra steps, but it's enjoyable.

A lot of these look really cool. I think The Expanse, Grave Seasons, Stranger Than Heaven, and maybe Alien Deathstorm are my big picks. Not sure how I feel on Serious Sam.. I really want to like the games but they always boil down to hold backwards/kite sideways and M1/right trigger for hours on end until credits roll. Gets super dull for me.

Was that Aaron Paul doing the post-trailer date/console info drop for The Expanse? wtf

@Bmartin001 Getting ahead of yourself a bit though aren't you? Not trying to talk you down, just a lot of the games in here aren't coming for a few months at least.

Christ. Rocket Racing closing down isn't a surprise, it never really took off. Still a shame. One of the Festival modes getting axed is really painful though, as I love the normal Festival mode and it feels like that's on borrowed time.

And Ballistic — Epic really sent it out to die and refused to give it more than couch cushion change for support. I'm actually mad about that, I LOVED Ballistic.

@Tasuki I have nothing against Diablo, I just sometimes like to play games that aren't drowning in bleak misery.

And I say that as a Dead By Daylight player lol

@shiningpikablu252 I didn't even consider that. That makes way more sense, thank you. Not sure why I didn't connect the dots.

I LOVED Dungeons, so I'm really excited for this. I wonder if it'll be like Legends and it'll actually all run natively in Minecraft itself (the Bedrock Engine), instead of being an Unreal Engine 4 project (so weird..)

if it's in Minecraft itself, then I can really see it having long legs and thriving with mods and community support. Man, if I can allow myself to be optimistic... this is gonna rule.