Feffster

@Millionski - Patience is a virtue my friend. It’s inevitable remasters of 2-3 are coming in due course - this is just Microsoft milking millions of $ from PlayStation owners, and why wouldn’t they?

I’ve never been a huge Gears fan but I’m happy to see this and will play when it drops onto Gamepass. I think you’d have had to be living under a rock to not expect Gears to end up of PlayStation so I really don’t get the surprise or disappointment.

This will sell well and that means the rest of the series will get the remaster treatment, so that’s good right?

And if Microsoft want to do a remaster of a remaster to bring it up to speed for modern consoles then that’s fine too - by comparison, how many times has Sony released and re-released The Last of Us at this point?…

One complaint - I’m drowning in games at the moment. Gamepass has been on fire for a while now.

I’m in the U.K. and I’ve been lucky to have gift cards on a couple of previous occasions. Sadly not third time lucky on this occasion. Nice for those that get a freebie.

It’s amazing how problems can exist where there aren’t any. Imagine this in a parallel universe - would WE be moaning if God Of War/Spiderman/TLOU were being released on Series X but the physical version only had 20GB on the disc.

I think we’d soon get over ourselves!

@Sol4ris - I noticed a patch for Atomfall earlier this week….not sure if anyone knows if that fixed the sound issues?

@RamiBalek - sorry, I just think of it as number 5 - I meant Lost Legacy.

I’ve not played TLOU p2 yet - just the first game, which I really enjoyed. You’re right, these games should be on Xbox too and would sell really well. Not going to happen anytime soon though and you can see why Sony don’t want to do that. I’ll pick up TLOU p2 on sale somewhere down the road, likely on 5Pro but who knows, maybe I’ll end up playing it on PS6 or even XBPrime if the PC version works on there.

PlayStation 5Pro - completed Uncharted 5 last night, not as good as 4 but it warmed up after the halfway point. Next up R&C Rift Apart, more God of War and Wipeout Omega Collection. Also need to check out RoboCop on PS Plus.

XSX - looking forward to South of Midnight next week but until then F1 2024, AoE4, and Forza Horizon 4 (just realised that’s quite a few 4s)

Have a good one everyone.

I’ve never properly played a Borderlands game (aside from a quick blast of the first game back on XB360) - so look forward to giving it a try. I can’t believe the humour can be as bad as High On Life - one of the most annoying games I’ve ever had the misfortune of playing.

I’d like all the CoDs Xbox One era onwards. Not bothered about the XB360 ones, unless they can give them a resolution bump.

@Millionski @Fiendish-Beaver - interesting debate, and I agree with many of the points raised/discussed. It will be fascinating to see how this plays out. Personally, I do think that Microsoft brought much of this upon themselves (as @Millionski suggests) - but as to whether Gamepass becomes just First Party or ‘Gamepass Light’ I’m still unsure.

And I guess we have to be careful what we wish for. My simplistic brain told me that if Microsoft closed the ABK deal we would see all CoD and all the ABK back catalogue arrive quickly onto Gamepass (still hasn’t happened and yet we are paying more every month). If Microsoft does eventually go fully third party and gets Gamepass onto PlayStation then we might think we only need one console going forward, but would the cost of Gamepass just rise by 30%+ overnight? (if it did then it would effectively wipe out any ‘saving’ over the lifetime of the console).

@Fiendish-Beaver - I would love to see some actual facts on this, ie the actual cumulative number of Gamepass games available month by month. As to whether the quality is better or worse I guess that’s all down to a matter of opinion- for me personally, I consider the service has improved in the last six months but totally understand if some might disagree.

Maybe there’s also a move to make a larger proportion of the games on Gamepass First Party, thereby reducing down the expenditure going forward. I’ve no evidence that might be happening, but if you look through the titles available on Gamepass it is quite striking how many of them are now from Microsoft’s own studios.

Mmmmm, that brings back memories. One to keep an eye on me thinks.

I wish I could but my very slow internet connection means it’s unplayable for me. And sadly there’s no option at the moment to upgrade to a faster connection where I live. A real shame, it looks like a great title.

@Rog-X - absolutely agree and well said. I’m almost embarrassed that I haven’t had to pay for Gamepass Ultimate since November and I’m not due to pay anything until June at the earliest (Reward Points) - ok they’ve nerfed it a bit going forward, but at worst it’ll make Gamepass half-price….£90 a year for access to 400+ games including all first party on release is nuts.

@Residentsteven - I’m fully aware it isn’t completely free - hence the use of inverted commas above. My point is not about debating the pros and cons of Gamepass (which, incidentally, is excellent value) - I’m simply adding a bit of conjecture to say that if I was Microsoft then I’d be building in a bit more timed exclusivity to differentiate between the options available to gamers across the various platforms.

Anyway, as others have rightly pointed out, this is hardly ‘news’ to any of us and it affects me very little as I own XSX and PS5Pro.

No issue with ports to other consoles but still not sure I completely understand why they wouldn’t want to add in a period of exclusivity for all releases - say 12 months. Yes, PS5/Switch owners would know the games are coming, but would also be aware that their Xbox owning mates were able to play them ‘Free’ and First (on Gamepass).

Great stuff, was only wondering the other day when we might get a new track added.

Sad news, I’ve enjoyed the content. Good luck mate👍

@themightyant - probably safe to say it will be a little bit sharper than Series X (2160p vs Series X’s 1800p). If there’s anymore headroom still available then likely it’ll just be an adjustment to the Ray-tracing and shadows. Still a fine looking game on Series X regardless.

Personally, I’d be more interested to see how Starfield might run on a Pro. If it could get to a smooth 60fps then I might be tempted to double dip if it got ported.

Unrelated question….if you buy a Microsoft game on PS5 does that give you a free PC version of the game (as per many Series X/S purchases)? If it does then that would be a brilliant way of subtly bringing gamers towards the Xbox ecosystem (assuming the next generation Xbox is a PC/Xbox hybrid).

I’ve been playing other things but had a brief look at launch. Although the gameplay was smooth (Series X, performance mode, VRR, 120hz tv) the early cut scenes sometimes ran run at a lower rate (perhaps 30-40fps). Is this something that has now been addressed or is it still an issue?

@Cakefish - you may know this already but just in case you don’t - there’s a ‘hack’ to run all The Orange Box games at 60fps on Series consoles (do a Google to find the YouTube video). You will need access to an XB360 and the game on disc, but if you have got that it is definitely worth the bother. I played through Half Life 2 on Series X at 4K60fps last year and it still holds up superbly. Wish they would just patch and re-release the game digitally and I’d buy on day 1.

Haven’t played it before but have heard great things. An absolute no-brainer to try on GP, plus the file size is only 426mb so it downloads in under a minute even on my rubbish connection. Happy Days.

No interest in GTA6 so please don’t delay Fable because of it. My advice would be to get it out the door ahead of GTA6 - otherwise how long do you delay?….a month, two months, a year?!….GTA6 will have insane demand and the longest of long tails (however little I think of it).

@FraserG - thanks Fraser. I was hoping there would be but couldn’t remember if they’d said they were skipping a year.

Gamepass really is ridiculously good value - back in the day I’d have bought Avowed, Doom TDA, Fable and CoD2025 on release and may well have been tempted by South of Midnight and Outer Worlds 2 - and that’s without all the third party stuff like Sniper Elite, Atomfall, Wuchang Fallen Feathers, etc.

Is there no CoD in 2025?

@Elbow - maybe just call the next console Xbox 720. A nod back to the cool days of XB360 and gets a 7 into the name (as opposed to 6 in Sony’s next PS).

OG Xbox with Halo. The Silent Cartographer remains one of the greatest gaming moments I’ve ever experienced, right up there with Shamus on Atari 400. I sat out the Xbox One/PS4 generation but love my Series X - hopefully Xbox will remain a thing through the rest of my gaming lifetime.

I will give the balanced mode on Series X a spin but will almost certainly prefer performance mode with VRR - give me extra frames over a bit more detail any day of the week. Good to have options though and each to their own personal preference.

50ish hours is more than enough for me, especially as I usually take at least twice as long as ‘normal’ to complete most games. Sounds like a very solid release from Obsidian, this is the fourth review I’ve read in the 8-9 range of scores.

Roll on next Tuesday!

Looks like it needs more polish, lots of screen tearing and the framerate isn’t always smooth (not just the stop motion bits) in the footage shown. Still two months until release, so hopefully there’s enough time.

I don’t mind the stop motion animation just so long as it is restricted to cut scenes, and the opening video looks really well done.

Looking forward to trying on Gamepass.

@FraserG - I’ve not used them but think Age of Empires IV supports mods.

Series X - Halo Wars 2, Far Cry New Dawn, AoE4
PS5 Pro - Astro Bot Playground, Wipeout Omega Collection and a bit more God of War. Downloaded, played and deleted the F1 demo - very underwhelmed by the so-called Pro enhancements.

Have a good weekend everyone.

@RiverGenie - well said. Early access isn’t for me but fine for those that want to pay for it.

Great news, hopefully it stays within the VRR window to make a stable experience at 60.

@IOI - that’s very interesting. I’m not particularly bothered about what games are playable where but I do hope Xbox continues as a platform. It is pretty odd if there’s a shortage of Xbox hardware worldwide as seems to be the case.

If Microsoft do want to exit hardware and go third-party then I can’t fathom what the plan is with Gamepass or everyone’s (Xbox) digital libraries? Got to be something else on Microsoft’s agenda, I just can’t work out what.

@FraserG - much clearer (even for my pea-brain!) Thank you 👍

Also worth knowing that it now ‘Gen 9 aware’ - so there’s no need to run it off internal SSD or expansion card, it works just fine off an external SSD.

Nice upgrade. I’ve been playing on Series X this morning and to my eye it looks sharper than it was (with FPS boost) and no frame drops. Not sure if it is 4K or 4K with dynamic res - although it looks fine it is obviously an older title so some of the details are not as good as you’d see in a new release.

Gameplay - yep, there will be the usual copy & paste criticism of Ubisoft games being copy and paste (there’s something beautifully ironic about that) but this is a decent FPS. If you like FC5 then consider this a smaller but enjoyable (and standalone) expansion.

Series X - I’ve got to stop playing AoE4 - I can’t seem to go 24hrs without it drawing me back for yet another skirmish. Also playing some Sniper Elite Resistance- enjoyed the first level but finding it tough going on the second (I’m new to this so any gameplay tips welcomed, thanks)

PS5 pro - God of War. Didn’t think this would be my thing but I’ve enjoyed it so far. Still a very long way to go. Also dipping in and out of WRC Generations.

@themightyant - spot on mate, they always seem to get it in the neck from gamers but you have to hand it to them for ongoing support - they’ve upgraded AC Odyssey, Origins, Syndicate, FC5 and now FC New Dawn without charging us a penny for the privilege. Some would say that’s what should happen, but there are plenty of examples (Rockstar anyone?) where it simply doesn’t work like that.

Excellent news, really made a difference to FC5 when they bumped the resolution back up to 4K. Hopefully this is the same.

@Alstil - welcome to the party! I was in a similar position a few years back after completely skipping the Xbox One/PS4 era. Series X and Gamepass got me back into gaming. You are spoilt for choice now - enjoy 👍

I own Series X and PlayStation 5Pro so I’m fine with it (and the inevitable arrival of Starfield, Gears and Halo on ‘rival’ platforms). Im just still not sure what the end game is.

Short term it is easy to see the logic, more ££s. Longer term I’m not so sure - maybe 1.they’ve given up on consoles and beyond this gen will become a third party publisher (gradually winding down console support and Gamepass); or 2. They are confident that next-gen their ‘console’ is 100% PC compatible and they have a plan to transfer game libraries and Gamepass subscriptions to it.

When I say Day 1 obviously I mean Day 1,3 or 5 😃

I’m not convinced about the strategy (longer term) but I’m over it already. The only thing that matters to me is that Microsoft continue to pump out lots of quality content.

I have the option to buy some games on PS5 Pro but I’d rather play everything Day 1 on Series X with GPU.

@FraserG - thanks mate, and good luck! 👍

@FraserG - thanks for clarifying Fraser. My comment wasn’t a dig at you (or Pure Xbox) - I just think that it isn’t necessarily clear messaging (and presumably you are repeating the way Microsoft themselves make the announcements).

If you think about it logically you can see why Joe Public would be baffled -

Microsoft: “Game A is coming to Gamepass for Series X/S”
Microsoft: “Game B is coming to Gamepass for Console”

Gamer: “I have Gamepass and an Xbox console, does that mean I get the game to play Game A and Game B?”

Microsoft: “That depends, which console do you have?”
Gamer: “I have a Series X. Does that mean I get both games because it’s a bit weird you mention Series X/S specifically with Game A, but mention ‘Console’ with Game B - does that mean Game B is only available for last-gen consoles or is it on all consoles?”

Microsoft: “Er, no. Perhaps we should spell it out a bit more clearly.”
Gamer: “Oh, believe me, you should.”

Microsoft: “Well first of all, when we say Console we actually mean ‘all Xbox consoles, well more specifically all Xbox One consoles and all Xbox Series consoles, but not original Xbox consoles or Xbox 360 consoles’ - hope that’s clear?”
Gamer: “Much better. As I have a Series X I’m assuming I get both game A and game B?”

Microsoft: “Well that depends…”
Gamer: “On what?”
Microsoft: “Which level of Gamepass do you have?”
Gamer: “Gamepass Standard”
Microsoft: “Well no then, you get neither but on another occasion it could mean you get one, or both”
Gamer: “Clear As Mud, & Thanks - For Nothing!”

@FraserG Sorry to be dim, but what does it actually mean when a game becomes available on ‘Console’ ? (eg does it mean available on all Xbox consoles regardless of which Gamepass subscription they have?)

I’m fascinated to see what they do next. I have Xbox and PlayStation but can not for the life of me understand what Microsoft are trying to achieve.

If someone had set out to destroy third party sales on their own store, reduce sales of their own consoles and erode the c30M customers signed up to Gamepass then I can’t imagine a better strategy than the one they’ve been employing in the past 12 months.