Feffster

^ actually I lied….just remembered I do the daily quiz things on Bing too. Quite good fun while I’m slurping my morning cuppa!

The last 3 months it has paid for my GP ultimate, so no complaints (auto redeem 10,500points per month). I imagine it will comfortably cover the subscription cost of my GPU for 8-9 months of the year with very little effort - I search on Bing, open the Xbox app when I remember and play games on my series X. Nothing else.

Avatar, Toy Soldiers HD, Halo Wars, GRID Legends and FH4 - all on Series X.

I’d like to see some of the older CoD games finally drop onto Gamepass, I think we’ve been patient long enough now.

Got mine via the Xbox app this morning (didn’t receive an email). Couldn’t redeem the code at the Xbox store but it redeemed fine via the website. A shame it will have to be withdrawn from Gamepass but Microsoft have handled this well.

FH4 (and thanks for the token Microsoft), Toy Soldiers HD and EA Sports footy - think I need to up the difficulty, beat Arsenal 8-0 this morning playing as Accrington.

Much more optimistic. Interested to see what they do next gen. Software output ramping up nicely too.

Absolute top game. I still play it regularly and love the changing seasons and in-race changing weather and lighting - the way the early/late sunshine reflects off the snow and ice and the way a race can start in heavy rain/snow but clear by the final lap into glorious sunshine is something that is done better in this game than any other. Of course, the ‘arcadey’ feel to the racing makes it accessible to play and a blast to most (but I get that those who prefer a sim may find it not to their liking).

I thought the delisting would happen one day, but not until FH6 was announced. Good work by Microsoft by offering the game for free to those who have bought content in the past. I believe I’m correct in saying they did similar with FM7 when it too was delisted.

I can see me still playing this for years to come. An all time classic console racer that will be missed on Gamepass.

Getting a bit weird now that these ABK games are still not on Gamepass. Won't be long before it is a year since the acquisition.

And why are videogame journalists not asking Microsoft what their intentions are regarding these older games? The IGN/Phil Spencer interview was an open goal to ask what's happening.

@themightyant - I think we are comparing apples and pears? The Eurogamer headline was presumably just designed as click bait to get a discussion going (which, fair play to them, it did!) The actual install size is listed as 122GB on the Xbox store. The 320GB install isn’t referring to the base BO6 game (which is what most of us will be installing).

Anyway, it is what it is….I’m not overly fussed how big it ends up being - I will download, play, delete and move on. Simples!

@themightyant - the implication (yesterday on Eurogamer ) was that you’ll need a 320GB install to play Black Ops 6 on Xbox. That was misleading as the install includes a lot more than the just base game and things that won’t need to be installed.

I haven’t played any of the recent COD games but can agree they are big files.

My post above was simply alluding to the prospect that Flight Sim 2024 may well be even bigger. It wasn’t a criticism of that game or what it is striving to achieve, just a speculative observation about file sizes.

So, more fake news then - Eurogamer was full of it yesterday with tales of a 320GB install. It was obvious that was for the whole nine yards complete with MWII, MWIII and BO6.

I have no interest in the multiplayer so I will just install, complete the campaign once or twice and then uninstall.

Flight Sim 2024 might be interesting though…

Watched this morning and highly impressed. My only criticism is the continued lack of any news re ABK games on Gamepass. As a minimum I think they missed a trick by not releasing at least one or two old Black Ops games onto GP, just to whet our appetites.

@EdgarTheBug - I think the 300GB thing is a bit misleading. That’s for the entire app and MWII and MWIII as well as Black Ops 6. I think the Series version of BO6 is about 85GB and the cross-gen bundle c120GB (so hopefully not quite as ridiculous as some are making out).

I’m not bothered about the always online thing for this title - I’ll play through the campaign once or twice on Gamepass and then uninstall anyway.

Had a stake through its heart the minute it was pushed out the door. I’d still like to know which individual made the call not to delay its release, that person is culpable for the ensuing embarrassment and the ultimate demise of Arcane Austin. Shame on you whoever you are.

Is this only going to benefit Unreal Engine 5 games or could FSR 3 be rolled out in wider updates for other titles? Just wondering what other games might benefit if this is patched in….Robocop (Unreal Engine 5?) springs to mind. If it can be patched to other titles then how about Avatar or maybe even Starfield, & there must be others with inconsistent 60fps issues.

@FraserG - good work mate. A lot has been said about the reward system being nerfed over the last year but actually it remains very generous. I’m set on auto-renew for GPU and it easily covers my subscription for 8-9 months of the year (I click on the daily Bing quiz questions, always search on Bing instead of Google and most days, but not all, I play on console and try to remember to open the Xbox app). That’s it - doesn’t seem overly strenuous to get free Gamepass Ultimate for most of the year.

@OldGamer999 - I’m guessing yours is a newer (and better) set than mine, but I’m really happy with my Sony OLED (A80J) - 120hz, vrr, excellent quality visuals, motion and sound. I had an LG C series prior to the Sony and I know they are recommended for gamers but I’ve found the Sony is superior for gaming, movies and general tv. Enjoy! I’m playing Starfield and a few rounds of PGA Tour Golf this weekend.

Well of course it'll be on Gamepass, as @Banjo rightfully says Sarah Bond confirmed it recently. Can you also how think just how stupid it would be if COD Direct (following the upcoming Showcase) revealed that the next game wasn't going to be on GP. Surely even Microsoft wouldn't be that daft.

Halo for me. What a game (and it still holds up today via The Master Chief Collection).

Starfield and PGA Tour Golf on Series X. Have a good w/end all.

Absolutely loving it. I dropped off the launch game after c11hrs as my eyes now have trouble with 30fps. This update is transformative, way better than I dared hope for - running it at 60fps at 120hz with VRR. Yes, there’s some frame rate hitches, but by and large it runs very smooth, and I’m looking forward to exploring more of the planets and storylines.

@InterceptorAlpha - I think that will be my preferred choice too. Do you know if setting to 120hz but running at 60fps makes any difference? (I generally leave my Sony OLED at 60) - I appreciate the 40fps mode won’t work unless the setting is 120hz but I don’t want to use that option.

Anyway, delighted there is now a 60fps mode and already enjoying an enormous upgrade. Glad I went for a VRR Tv too. Happy Days!

Only a matter of time before I have to admit defeat....too many good games and too little time!

@themightyant - I appreciate that, thanks. And I agree we’ve seen plenty of evidence of reports/rumour being exaggerated or misinterpreted by the gaming community over recent months.

@Banjo- thanks, and you said it much better than I did! 👍

@themightyant - I’m not here to pick a fight, just expressing an opinion.

My opinion is that plenty of the journalistic speculation around gaming turns out to be inaccurate. Just because multiple sources state that something may or may not be happening doesn’t make it true - groupthink isn’t necessarily a good way to come to an outcome and often results in poor decisions and conclusions.

Anyway, let’s agree to disagree on this point 🤓

@themightyant - I guess we’ll never know as none of us are privy to internal discussions at Microsoft (I’m making the assumption that no one on this forum actually works for Microsoft at the Xbox division). The point I’m making is that this was all conjecture, speculation and innuendo - there’s no shortage of that around Xbox at the moment and plent of it is absolute BS. I get that sometimes MS brings it on itself. What struck me from yesterday’s report on this website (re The Verge) was the “I’m told this”, “It is my understanding that” line of journalism that is all too commonplace (and often inaccurate) without actually quoting a verified source.

Maybe it was a discussion, maybe it wasn’t (it also seems likely they had these discussions way before even making the ABK offer, or during the acquisition process). Maybe they discussed the weather or what to have for lunch or what their next acquisition target might be - none of which we actually know without being privy to those internal discussions. That’s the main point I was seeking to make in my comment above.

Nice clear messaging from Microsoft, something they aren’t typically renowned for.The Verge had this totally wrong then - remember that the next time something is ‘rumoured’ by them.

Re COD - isn’t there another way it could work with Gamepass? - eg

Older COD come to Gamepass
New COD costs £/$70 on Day 1 to those not on Gamepass
Those on Gamepass can buy it Day1 and get a 50% discount
After, say, 6 months the latest COD will be on Gamepass

• those that can wait will get it after 6 months, those that can’t get it at a discount and those not on Gamepass can leave it alone or buy it just like they do now.

No big surprise as all the video presentations have been ultra-widescreen and 30fps, but I can’t say I’m a fan of either decision. I think it would have more impact if they presented the cut scenes in ultra wide and the gameplay was left in 16:9 (with a performance mode option for those that prefer to play their games that way).

Hooked on PGA Tour (sorry, as I was typing I clocked that’s an appalling pun) and also enjoying Fallout 4. Star Wars JS to be added to the backlist and SOTTR too. Excellent month for GP.

Again? That’s not necessarily the point is it?….Some of us tried at 30fps but gave up - this is a Godsend to us and we will be playing through for the first time.

Great news. My eyes had to give up after about 10 hours. Looking forward to restarting my Starfield adventure. This is like a new game drop for me. Happy days.

“New display modes on console”……..mmmmm, I wonder. 🙏

Tried quality mode last week and it does drop a few frames here and there - presumably DRS saves the day in Performance mode by lowering the resolution when things get busy.

I’m sticking with Performance mode - haven’t noticed a single stutter so far and perfectly sharp enough (presumably 4K apart from the odd drop when DRS kicks in).

Performance all day long for me. I don’t want to do 30fps anymore, would love to see a performance mode added for Starfield and the upcoming Hellblade 2

@Duck_Farmer @SpecialT - if you are playing HL2 (or Portal) from The Orange Box on Series consoles then remember to take advantage of the unofficial mod that allows you to play at 4K60fps. There’s a YouTube video to explain how. I recently completed HL2 on Series X and it looks and plays brilliantly for an older game. Portal not too shabby either!

Still pretty generous imo (easy to ‘pay’ for 6-8 months of Gamepass Ultimate over a 12 month period). Difficult to grumble about that sort of generosity.

Great news. Look forward to giving Brands Hatch a go today. 25GB reduction is very welcome too.

@ZYDIO - I agree that might be an option, I think the DF video said something similar too.

@ShadowofTwilight - I can assure you I’m not desperate for it to happen (and if I was then I’d simply go and buy a PS5). I’m just saying there’s a suggestion that the next Xbox will effectively be a PC (by another name). Joining the dots beyond that isn’t too tricky.

All pointing towards stronger PC links and/or architecture. The recent Digital Foundry video covered this and for the first time Microsoft’s strategy now seems to make sense. If they can make the front end more of a console than a PC experience then they can achieve a master stroke which solves backwards compatibility, removes (or at least massively reduces) the cost of converting to PC and maybe even makes PlayStation games playable on Xbox (ie the PC ports of those PS games). If they can pull that off then that would be genius.

@abe_hikura @TheGrizMan - I have concerns too but much less so since watching the Digital Foundry discussion on alternative stores appearing on Xbox hardware. I think that’s the first time I’ve understood there might be method in Microsoft’s strategy. By next-gen (possibly, but less likely, later this gen) we might well see Xbox being able to access a vast library of PC titles, and feasibly even PlayStation titles (that have been ported across to PC).

Plenty of speculation but interesting and worth watching if you haven’t seen it.

Enjoying EA PGA Tour Golf, a bit of Toy Soldiers HD & a smattering of Forza Motorsport for good measure. Have a good one all.

I don’t understand why modern games like this aren’t built to be scalable with a performance option built in as standard. I accept there was an argument that it couldn’t be done for Starfield as it is CPU limited, but for a game like this…..come on, really?

I know some will say there’s no difference but it is chalk and cheese for me and my eyes, especially playing on a large OLED display.

Enjoyed the first one and completed it on Series X. I was looking forward to this but my (old!) eyes suffer at 30fps so really hope there is a performance mode option patched in later. Not completely convinced about the ultra-widescreen look either - don’t mind for cut scenes, but not for gameplay.

Nice, I've been hoping the golf game would drop. Good year so far for GP.

I've never played before - do others recommend? I think I read this had performance issues at launch - does anyone know if they have been improved/sorted since?

@RexPowercolt - I almost gave up yesterday when trying to register but finally got past the ‘are you a human’ checks and got an account registered. I’m glad I did as I’m beginning to enjoy the game which surprised me as I thought it wouldn’t be for me.

Quite how Xbox have taken 6 months to get Diablo IV onto Gamepass and not address these front end frustrations is almost unbelievable. Yes, it’s not rocket science and once you’ve got registered it works fine, but why put these hurdles in the way? Why isn’t it a seamless process to link our Xbox account to a Blizzard one? After all, we playing on a console (which is supposed to make life easy). Just to show you how stupid the registration process is there was initially an option to link to a PlayStation account but not one for a Microsoft/Xbox account.

How dumb is that?!

Anyway, rant over….I’m looking forward to exploring more of Diablo’s world. & Happy Easter weekend everyone, go steady on the eggs.