This is an easy question to answer: everything!! The console was great and the games were incredible. New ip's were given the chance to shine, little to no remasters and remakes keeping us locked in the past. Everything felt fresh and new and exciting. Developer released games that players wanted to play and gave us new experiences. We weren't 6 or 7 games deep into franchise that had clearly ran out of steam 3 games ago. Woke agendas weren't pushed in to games to spread political messages. The xbox 360 era was so good because it was geared towards gamers. The eras that have followed (especially xbox) have to get consumers of other media to jump to xbox and they've forgotten that first and foremost xbox is a platform to play games. That has been lost in the pusuit of money. We'll never have a gaming era like the 360/PS3 era again. Those times have gone........

Not sure how many I've got but I've certainly got some for games I've never played. Anybody came across this?

I think this spells the definitive end of Forza Motorsport!! The first was a game changer for the genre and Forza 2 was (in my opinion) perfection, my favourite racing game of all time, but let's be honest here. The series has been on a decline for a while at the same time as Horizon has been getting better. It's a shame, but it is what it is 🤷‍♂️

"xbox are on to something herex you do realise this is a setup for next gen to be all digital right? Like it's not just PlayStation doing this? The only difference is Xbox are being stealthy while PlayStation are just upfront about it. You wont be be able to buy physical next gen so this feature will soon become more or less redundant........

I just want a modern way to play PGR 3&4 and Need For Speed Most Wanted

You really expect them to buy another IP and hire the devs all while making massive redundancies? That sounds exactly like something Xbox could pull off 🤦‍♂️

Typical American company 🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️

At least it shows that it's apparently easy for Xbox to implement this once given the go ahead by the publishers.

All these people that think the transparency is anything to do with making players feel valued is quite frankly laughable. They're no better than PlayStation. All they care about is your money, except where PlayStation are practically upfront about how much of a tw@t they are, Xbox are doing it subversively. You think any of this disc to digital is for the players more than it is to their bank balance. They've effectively admitted to an all digital next gen console and yet because they haven't been a bombastic about it they don't get the backlash Sony face. It's ridiculous how blinded people can be by actions instead of seeing the meaning behind the actions.

Shame they cancelled it on PS5 just to appease a loud minority of people who don't understand how a game company makes money and that they need that money to keep making the games they do. I'll probably still get it Xbox just because it's Gears but for Xbox to lose out on the money it would have from the Playstation audience just because fanboys cried is ridiculous. More money made to put towards the next game can only ever be a good thing, but no.

The fact it even affected physical games is concerning, especially when you see the direction gaming is heading!!

Xbox fanboys need to stop crying and realise that without Xbox releasing games multiplayform there will be no more Xbox. Stop bitching about multiplatform releases when they're keeping your system alive. Xbox needs Sony, Nintendo and Steam at the moment and there is nothing that can be done to change that until Project Helix is here the hopes and prayers of Microsoft are answered and fans flock back to Xbox. That is highly unlikely in this digital era when game libraries are tied to systems that have bigger install bases now.

Xbox thought they found a loop hole to get PS5 games on Xbox by giving Helix access to the PC library. Sony aren't stupid and have decided to close that loop hole. Did anybody at Xbox expect anything different? If they did, they're as foolish as the Xbox fanboys clamouring for exclusives to come back to Xbox. It's all about making money and Xbox doesn't have the player base it once had do exclusives can't make the money they once did. Sony makes enough money to not need their games on Xbox and Xbox don't make enough to not need their games on PlayStation. It really is simple to understand

Why should we change our settings to stop annoying ads after we've paid 100's for their consoles and games. If we want a McDonald's then most functioning adults know where they are, we don't need pointless ads

Again, more style over substance. Just focus on Project Helix and make a good console and games again, that's all we really want.

So just more style of substance then..... Funny how yhe smaller things can appease some people. How about they get back to making better consoles like they did with the 360?

Wnat if I played FH5 on PS5 and the rest on Xbox?

To play what exactly......? Mine has been gathering dust since Forza a d Gears released on PS5, and with Halo coming too I see no reason to turn fhe Xbox back on for a while. They've announced no new games, no new console features, nothing is being updated, what are you getting excited about???? At this point in time it's all just words and everyone is losing their minds over Xbox again. Game Pass destroys game sales, so publishers end up with less revenue, meaning their nexy games have smaller budget, they charge you more for Game Pass for them blowing $60 billion on Call of Duty, because no way did they want Actision for anything else and even that has caused a u-turn for CoD on gamepass, proving my previous point. There is nothing to be excited about from Xbox. Project Helix is being touted as a premium project which is definitely going to have a premium price point which will have everyone complaining again. No games announced to get overly excited about. They have nothing but words

Oooh wow, well done. It's a decade old game, now lets make Series X games better shall we, you know the games people actually want to play.

This is a very good move. I really liked Xbox during the 360 gen but they have fumbled everything they've done since. The "this is an xbox" campaign was an awful idea. How can you be a gaming hardware manufacturer and then tell consumers you don't need to buy our product to play our games, it's never made sense 🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️ Hopefully Xbox can get back to something like it used to be but I really can't see it happening unfortunately. The PS4/Xbox One gen was the one neither side could afford to lose due to the increase in digital sales and people now being reluctant to switch console because their library of games can't go with them.

It makes sense to ditch it. It was never a good idea. I understand they tried to promote the Xbox brand to get more people go play their games, but a console manufacturer that was already struggling, to have a campaign that quite literally translated into "you don't need to buy an Xbox to play Xbox" was monumentally stupid on every imaginanble measurable scale. Xbox has been on the decline since the announcement of the one and that slide doesn't appear to be stopping any time soon. I loved my 360 as I could play Halo, Gears, Forza and I bought my Series X to still play these games, but my Series X is nothing more than an ornament now, it's rarely switched on. I have Gears and Forza on PS5 and already looking forward to Halo releasing, so I wonder what is the actual point of owning an Xbox now. Their best games are all on competition hardware and you can get almost everything else on PS5 as well. I think "this is an Xbox" was actually a massive blow to the brand and I don't think they can recover from that.

Has the performance been improved on Series X in the last 12 months or so? I had Starfield but the performance of the game really put me off so I sold it. Would be interested in playing again if it plays better than before.

Why is James an Add-on??? He's a main character of Thomas!!!! The nostalgia on this one is hitting hard, can't wait to try it 🤣

People saying it diminishes the value of the Xbox brand are missing the point. They are struggling to sell consoles, the value of the xbox brand has already diminished to the point that was even necessary in the first place. It's been a downward spiral since Don Mattrick's spectacular fumble on the Xbox One reveal. You look at Xbox (former) first party titles and they're nowhere near as good as what is offered by PlayStation PS4 games with a basic PS5 upgrade look better than most Series X games. This campaign may have been slammed by the fans but it isn't the reason that Xbox is in decline. Lack of imagination and quality in the games, lack of inginuity or invention (Sony always bring something new with each console or controller). They made the same mistake Sony made when they messed up the PS3, they took their dominance for granted and became arrogant and sloppy.

I would love to see PGR 3&4 on backwards or even revived and modernised.

They already said their next console will be a "premium experience with a premium price tag". At least they're trying, but it's already too late. Those consumers they lost to PS4 after the 360 won't be going back, they have over a decade of digital content that they can't just pick up and take to Xbox, why would they go? Just to play PC games? When was the last time you saw a PC exclusive game be the game that everyone wants to play? It just doesn't happen. The ability to play PC games will be almost redundant within a few months of launch. Nobody cares.

You talk about Halo Xbox long term legacy, Xbox doesn't have a long term legacy anymore. They messed that up with the absolutely insane decision made around Xbox One and debacle that followed. With digital being as big as it is now and PlayStation absolutely wiping the floor with Xbox for 2 straight generations now, they can't recover. People are less likely to move now seeing as their game libraries are tied to 1 console. Going back on the decision that have already been made will destroy what's left of Xbox. Fans need to understand that Xbox is business and businesses don't take customer sentiment into consideration when making decisions surrounding money. Sharma may say she "hears" the fans, but hearing and listening are 2 completely different things. Don't be fooled by her words, they think they're smarter than the average fan and will say whatever you want them too to keep you onside.

I got my Xbox One in 2014 and wasn't even worth my time then really. Just from own personal opinion, I already had a PS4 and that was so much better than the One. The one always seemed clunky and slow to navigate, download speeds were absolutely awful and just as today the first party games to those on PS4 just weren't good enough. My Xbox One quickly became an ornamental piece sat next to my PS4 and eventually even my Switch One. The same is true now for my Series X. The overall experience of using the console is better but it is again lacking games and those it does have just aren't up to the standard of PS5. Again my Series X just sits with my PS5 and Switch 2 collecting dust. The most disappointing thing of all though is the fact the Xbox 360 was an amazing console from the day I got it and Xbox just seemed to have dropped the ball on everything they've released since. They had the glory days of the 360 and haven't reached the same standards since.

Call of Duty is too big to fail............... Apparently........

It's working now for those of us with the 360 bc version

I absolutely love PGR 3 & 4 and would absolutely love them to be backwards compatible but that ship has quite obviously sailed off into the night

I think they're trying to guage how people feel about 1st party releases. They keep saying exclusives are a thing of the past but gamers say they aren't. Xbox are desperately trying to stay relevant in the console market.

@TheGameThrifter the thing is they're only saying they aren't interested in exclusives anymore is because they can't sell consoles so their exclusives don't sell. They bought Activision thinking it would sink PlayStation but it didn't work quite exactly as they planned. All this "we don't like exclusives" is nothing more than a cover story for their continued abject failure since the reveal of the Xbox One.

Any Xbox fanboy should be happy about this. Without making the jump to PlayStation there would be no future for Halo, Gears, Forza etc because Xbox simply can't shift the console numbers needed needed to make these games a viable option for development anymore.

@Kaloudz i agree on that. Their wording sughests this is the last game. They said they'll continue to support this game, but if there was going to be any more games I would think they would have said "support the franchise" instead.

I'll be waiting for reviews first, there may be a reason it's been priced this low. It looks good but good trailers don't always translate into good games

@DeadmeatSWE not every game has to be 60fps to be considered optimised considering that nearly every game has its best graphics in 30fps. Sounds like you're complaining about an issue that only exists in your mind

@Techno92LFC maybe those at Xenia have been told to keep quiet by MS? Would make sense if they want to keep this announcement under wraps until next year

Is there any point in me holding out hope for PGR 3&4 to ever get BC??

@Fiendish-Beaver I've never downloaded it from Gamepass, maybe I received the code by mistake, who knows 🤷‍♂️. No complaints here though 😀

I don't believe you need to have a digital copy of the game. I have the physical version and received my code last night

It seems like everyone wants to be a Switch but won't actually make one 🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️

I like it a lot. Gave it 8/10. Personally I prefer the slower pace compared to Eternal. I know it's not to everyone's taste but I like it.

I would like it if when I highlight a game on the home screen it doesn't cover the background with an image of the game that's highlighted. They give us the ability to use customer backgrounds but rarely ever get to see the backgrounds because more often than not you've got a game highlighted and they just take over the screen

Sounds good until you realise the only reason this is possible is because of the absolutely massive amounts of PS5 consoles sold compared to Xbox. If Xbox weren't selling their games on PS5 they'd barely have any software sales. This isn't a comment from PlayStation fanboy point of view either, I have PS5 and Series X, but "dominating" is a rather strong way to put it when you put it into context.

So what if we own the physical version of ultimate do we get the free upgrade?

Or maybe this is Xbox pricing people out of buying games and going to game pass instead. Its certainly a risk worth taking at this point for Xbox, they have nothing to lose.

Also the price of EVERYTHING else is going up why should your hobby be any different. You aren't special.