Elbow

MS can't buy them, but they could do a partnership, couldn't they? Offer to fund or publish a few games in exchange for permanent gamepass inclusion.

I dont want anyone buying Ubisoft if possible, but trying to think of best case scenarios outside of that.

I LOVED HOTD2 and I'm going to be incredibly critical of this. Played it to death as a kid on my dreamcast... sshh don't tell my mom.

@Markatron84 The ultimate irony is that Halo was the Halo killer.

But I really think this will lead to an accelerated death for Xbox consoles. Especially if they plan to release another console... what do they think is going to happen?

I sincerely doubt an Xbox version of World of Warcraft would be done. The game runs on a staggering amount of legacy code that they delicately have to work around. The one thing I can appreciate about WoW is how much is actively going on at all times, even if there are no players around, and the constant building on top of previous content endlessly. And I can't imagine they could get something like WoW running on a new system without it being a Fallout 76 tier nightmare at release.

The closest I could truly see is it getting a cloud version, with some Xbox/Bnet link.

@themightyant I think Spencer confirmed without outright saying that pressure is on them now after the Activision buyout. I don't know where exactly the line is drawn (rumors that there are no lines, everything can come to rival platforms) though it's all but been said out loud that the money they spent on Acti is expected to be returned doublefold, and quickly.

@Medic_alert If it's available, I probably do. I bought Bomb Rush Cyberfunk on my One.

It's not just an Xbox problem, there are still TONS of PS4 users as well. These consoles will not die while receiving a steady release of games and the current gen systems only get a trickle of true generation exclusives. (Not referring to first party, just Series/PS5 only.)

I genuinely don't see an end to this until the next generation.

This used to pay out insanely well ($25-$30 a month) but has increasingly stripped away ways to earn/amounts while massively increasing the time it takes. I still do it, mind you, but it's a far cry from where it was in 2023. Notably they really clamped down around the time of the Activision buyout getting closer/finalizing.

I also want to argue that it's not free, because they're taking your data/information/search usage in exchange for the pennies. It's definitely not free, even if it isn't trying to grab your wallet. Hence why they ban anyone doing "fraudulent" or blatantly useless searches just to fill out their daily search limit. They aren't getting the necessary data from those.

@Fiendish-Beaver I'm pretty much in the same boat. Curious about Unknown 9 but not $30-60 curious. Here's hoping Bamco pull through on my prediction for a summer sale!

@Fiendish-Beaver Not many people played it so reviews will be scarce. On the bright side, Bandai Namco is the publisher, and they're the Japanese Ubisoft when it comes to putting their games on sale. I can almost guarantee Unknown 9 will be 75% by the Summer sale, or have a price reduction to the point that 50% off is in the range of $10-$15

Just a reminder, Everwild was announced in 2019/2020. As an Xbox One title. It's been going for five/six years since announced. That level of development hell is worrying. Especially since around the time of this games announcement Rare said they were becoming a "new IP factory".
Im not trying to spread doom and gloom, I just wonder what in the world has been going on with this game?

@InterceptorAlpha Oh yeah, that glorified fanfic was weird...

The ONLY reason I would accept them saying no is because of Halo still being in the works at Paramount during development of this series. aka: Paramount had a lot of control and sway.

If Microsoft said no of their own volition, I won't be surprised but I'll be heavily disappointed. Do everything but what people want.

Hmm.. besides the inevitable "play my backlog" response, I think actually I might finally sit down and try to play an RTS. I've always been intimidated by the genre, and while I love the Command & Conquer: Renegade spinoff (I still play it to this day! There are dozens of us, dozens!, still on servers!!) I've always been scared off by the proper C&C games. Never been that great at them... but maybe this is the year that changes.

Or, realistically, I'll still suck at them but at least manage to beat Red Alert 2.

Well this is good, Xbox has really been hurting for a win. Ending the year on a happy note!

The genuinely crazy part is that Everwild was announced as an Xbox One game... and now it might be one of the final games released on the Series consoles, as we're in the final year's for that system. Development problems are an understatement.

I've bought a lot of digital games this year. I'm talking absurd numbers. It's also at a point where I live in such a small place that I could not hold/keep more physical games with me like I could in the 360/PS3 days.

I picked up the Mega Man X bundle, No Straight Roads, and the absurdly titled "Marsupilami: Hoobadventure". There are a few other games I have my eye on, but these were the first.

Currently playing No Straight Roads on xbox! It's a rhythm combat game, a MUCH lower budget than Hi-Fi Rush but it also came out three years before Hi-Fi. The game is a bit on the shorter side and is rough around the edges but it has so much heart that it easily makes up for it. Also, the music in this game blows Hi-Fi's non-licensed music out of the water.

This game is also currently like $6 on Xbox and Steam due to the Christmas sales. If you've wanted to try another game like Hi-Fi, give this one a look! Even just take a peek at a trailer to see if you might be interested. I love this goofy little game, it oozes charm and passion.

Also, I'm playing a bit of the absurdly-titled Marsupilami: Hoobadventure. It's a very competent Donkey Kong Country Returns clone, though a bit on the easier side. Nice for low stress sessions or to chill out.

@TTgowings I still haven't seen that, but it's been showing up in my recommended feed via clips. I think I'm gonna watch it over Christmas week.

I do find it amusing that Walton Goggins has become a common name with Fallout. I remember watching Sons of Anarchy... he had quite an interesting role that he put himself wholly into. He's an impressive actor.

I am also surprised Bethesda has managed to salvage the sinking ship that was 76. Six years strong with no signs of ending, that's truly impressive after that nearly universally despised launch. I just wish that silly Battle Royale mode was still in the game... it's a dumb enough concept in a game like this to get me to play it for ages.

Even if not at a potential January event we have to hear something about Everwild and Contraband sometime this year. They've been around for ages with nothing to show for them, which is crazy to think about.

As well as likely getting a release date for South of Midnight, these are the three things I think are basically mandatory for some kind of announcement this year, even if not release dates for the first two games I mentioned.

While the implications of "everything is an Xbox" bothers me, I'm glad there are people actually seeing the good in it. There will be no surprise to hear my admittance that I have a doomer perspective, but it comes from a place of concern for Xbox, not hate.

I want this to be good. This is the one announcement in recent years that has really caught my attention, I just don't know if they tightened up the combat since the last preview. It looked, from previous footage shown, like the worst aspect of the game.

@Ricky-Spanish Judging by your confusion, you're a good guy. Unfortunately there are some people out there who take delight in such awful things. It's a real thing that I'm not going to elaborate on, but humans suck. Real bad.

@Markatron84 Well I never said the story was great.... because yeah that alone really brings the rating down a good bit

@Utena-mobile The whole thing feels like the monkey's paw curl. Xbox gets the most developers they've ever had, gearing up for an unspeakable amount of things on the way, annnnnnnnd they just spiked their console out the window onto the freeway.

@Bionic-Spencer Unrelated but BC 09 was amazing. So underrated. Great name. I've got the physical OST on my shelf.

@Utena-mobile It really does, and the most frustrating part is that we know the why's. It's really, really clear to see how it went wrong multiple times in the span of 12 months.

@Banjo- good LORD what in the world. How can they keep going with that kind of mounting debt?

@Banjo- Are Sony actually in the red? Of course Concord was a huge blow and Lego Horizon seeming... to just exist. But i havent heard that they're in panic mode. Im not doubting you either, just surprised to hear.

It's really disheartening. Sure, they're releasing a new console, but what's the point if there will be no exclusives? That's what you need to draw people in. For some reason Phil really hates that idea.

How do you plan to grow gamepass while scaring off your current player base? You can't have your cake and, um, romance it too. You have to pick a lane and commit. Sony and Nintendo know that...

I just don't know how they think they can swoop in and take Steam on when they have nothing special to offer. No exclusives, shaky track record, a smaller library, and a pretty poor PC app. There's no world where a Lethal Company releases on this handheld and takes the world by storm with Xbox's current blundering.

@DarthCvrle66 As others have stated, Sony has already done this with MLB The Show. Granted, this was apparently a demand from the license holders (port to everything and keep the license or do nothing as we take it elsewhere.)

And there may be suggestions that Sony had a similar deal with LEGO. It couldn't just be on PlayStation, hence a Switch and PC port. If Xbox comes 6 months after, we'll know there was some intentional delayed release. Though I also wouldn't be surprised if Sony played hardball and demanded Xbox be excluded. That's a hill they'd love to die on.

Shame they couldn't make it work, but they obviously aren't skipping Xbox physical because it's funny. An alternative to this in the future might be to crowdfund the required total $ required to print the minimum amount of disc's.

Dire days for physical only.

I will say that the surprise would have been if Outer Worlds 2 WAS exclusive. It wasn't even a Microsoft game to begin with, and it released on everything to boot. Xbox continuing that is not a surprise.

"Home grown" games like Avowed are where my concern lies.

Despite the fact SS got so much wrong, this is a huge plus. Any game, good or bad, should not be lost to time or made inaccessible.

@Utena-mobile Creative does this, but unfortunately they've shackled so much of each mode into Battle Royale that they can't make each mode optional. It would be a really smart idea though, my likelihood of ever running Rocket Racing again is somewhere around hell freezing over.

I'm actually really excited about this mode. Putting the game modes in Fortnite rather than making an entirely new game can help with variety. I really get bored to tears of just playing battle royale.. and I adore the Festival mode. More variety is just a good thing, so long as it's high quality.. which unfortunately Rocket Racing was not. I really, really, really hoped it was going to be their take on Mario Kart, not just timetrial tryhards.

Plus playing as Donatello (TMNT) and sniping someone trying to plant the bomb at B site will be something I can say has happened in my life. This game just generates the dumbest meme tier fanfic at every corner and I am guilty in loving it.

@Markatron84 And that's a perfectly understandable reaction!

....Just gotta take the good with the OH GOD IT'S BAD IT'S BAD.

Hey, as painful as it is to admit, Wolfenstein 2 is not their last proper release... Youngblood should never be forgotten, @Kezelpaso !

A herculean amount of effort went into that game. Just... y'know. Not where it mattered.

Sports Illustrated??? Game reviewing?? That's perhaps even more puzzling than The Thing itself.

@dreadful Hey I've talked with people that bought an Xbox One X only to play Skate 3, or Borderlands 2 at buffed resolutions. What is weird to one person might be the only or major interest for another.

As long as he's enjoying himself, and I hope he is with that many hours put in, that's what matters.

Wow, some unexpected picks in here. Never thought I'd see Bonkers get any kind of modern release.

Which Aladdin/Lion King games are these? Because they're already available to purchase and download, both Genesis and SNES versions.

And Goof Troop! Such a great game, the music was fantastic.

I thought he went to PlayStation, I remember his infamous outburst at the server issues. Cool to see that time played, but DAMN that's a lot of hours for football.

Microsoft Solitaire Collection is your #1 game for 2024!
...Okay. That's not what I expected, I did play it a lot though. It's a very soothing game.

Total time: 1,572h | Games played: 143 | Achievements: 1,504
top 2% for time played, top 1% for Gamerscore, top 1% for achievements unlocked
Note my time is shared between my old Xbox One and my current PC.

The stupid thing is all these companies trying a free-to-play game and expecting it to IMMEDIATELY get Fortnite money. Even they had to slave away and throw multiple hail mary's to get to that level. Hell, Epic/Fortnite had to grovel out of court with PlayerUnknown/Bluehole over a breach of contract.

You need to aim low with your expectations and budget accordingly, and work towards going higher. I don't know why every company fails to understand that, except maybe Hi-Rez, though they've been nosediving hard as of late. (RIP Realm Royale)

God I remember back in 2009 I was playing Dark Sector with my friends and we'd pause after commercials to watch the Spike game awards while talking about it over party chat., then start another match. Even back then we hated it lol.

Probably Indy and/or Xbox announcing more ports to PS5.

I'd buy it. Shenmue is a janky prototype to Yakuza, but I still love the games.

@Edwirichuu lol that's not the point, thanks for ignoring it completely. They could've not released an Xbox One version if they are this incompetent at supporting it. It's on them to provide a working product if they put it up for sale on Xbox One.

More than anything, I'm surprised Batman is still selling so well. Not that it's a bad thing, not at all. It's just surprising-- who hasn't bought Arkham Knight at this point? (..Plenty, I'm sure, it's just always surprising to see!)

I've been wondering when this was going to drop. I'm going to hold off on a day 1 purchase juuuust in case this turns into another BLOOD incident, but I'm really excited for this. John Carpenter even endorsed this game back when it came out, which I think makes it canonical?

(Edit: If you're curious what "Blood Incident" means, it refers to a weird situation where Nightdive botched the release of another game they remastered. They DID fix the issues with patches, but it released as a weird mess. Summary of the incident in this youtube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EkG29e-nE-A )

@Millionski If you think what he said is gloom and doom (it wasn't, it was some mild criticism and concern), you might faint from shock at comments in other articles where Xbox gets torn down to the bone.