Gabrie

The other day I was talking to my dad about how bad movies are these days. He was complaining that everything is remakes, reboots, sequels, prequels...

I had to tell him, thank goodness you don't like videogames xD

Jusant is wonderful, and can be completed in about 4-5 hours. It's worth playing before it leaves Gamepass.

I finally bought one, and well, it's great on the one hand and disappointing on the other.

The hardware is wonderful, powerful, comfortable, and quiet, and the battery life is quite acceptable. It even makes me think that the price is justified for the technology it has.

But for me, the disappointing part is Xbox PC. It simply doesn't have enough games, neither the Xbox console games nor the ones that come to Steam. As a result, you have to install different stores, use other profiles, other achievement systems... As an Xbox ecosystem experience, this machine is hugely disappointing. They still have a lot of work to do here.

Oh no, I didn't know this controller existed before, now I need one.

I think that videogame reviews should disappear, as they serve more to confuse than to guide. Evaluating videogames is extremely subjective, and if you are guided by someone else's criteria, it is easy to end up investing money in a game that you don't enjoy, or worse, avoiding games that you might have loved.

That said, I hope to try it at some point, and hopefully it will make its way to Gamepass eventually.

I get the feeling that when a game doesn't get enough visibility, someone comes out and says something stupid in the media, they let it make noise, and then they clarify it later.

Before they mentioned Xbox, I didn't even know this game existed.

I grew up playing his games, Xbox OG and Xbox 360 would not have been the same without him, rest in peace.

Well, it makes sense. We live in the age of TikTok. Today's audience is oversaturated with stimuli, and the battlefield, no longer just video games, but all forms of entertainment, is to hold the user's attention for as long as possible and then find ways to monetize it.

If it doesn't add noticeable input lag, Auto SR could be very interesting, especially on these devices, where there is quite a difference in performance between running a game at 1080p or, for example, 720p.

For me, the big problem with Xbox Ally, or Xbox PC, is that too many games skip the platform. This creates the need to have multiple stores, mainly Steam, to access the full catalog, and this leads to the very unpleasant situation of having multiple profiles and games with different achievement systems. For me, this is a huge step backwards compared to an Xbox console.

If they find a solution to this, perhaps by encompassing the achievement system across all stores, linking accounts between Steam and Xbox, or simply convincing developers not to skip Xbox PC, this machine will be one of the best gaming devices on the market, far above what Sony or Nintendo offer, although of course, also at a significantly higher price.

@Friendly No idea, but it makes sense that it counts. If the 70 games are going to be on par with most Xbox/Activision/Blizzard/Bethesda titles, and games like Expedition 33, Persona, or Hollow Knight Silksong, the service should cost $100 or more to be profitable.

Wow, those are really impressive sales for Xbox, and quite moderate for PS5, given the console base. It makes you wonder.

Great review. Let's see if they reduce the price a little in the November sales, and I'll go for one.

Double Fine is proof of quality for me, I'll give it a try.

For me, making their exclusives multiplatform while others haven't put the Xbox platform in a situation of extreme mistrust, any move they make—layoffs, price increases—becomes a drama, while for other brands it's nothing more than a footnote in the news.

The thing is, I think they're right. The industry is seeing how everything points to exclusives and even traditional consoles disappearing. But we're not there yet. If it happens, it will be in 5-10 years, and it seems like they're determined to do it now. Xbox's timing with its decisions is terrible.

My opinion of this game is quite unpopular. For me, it's one of the most overrated games in Xbox history.

I think I completed it on my third or fourth attempt; I gave up on the first few tries out of sheer boredom. I never understood what was so special about it. It's a classic open-world sandbox mission game that doesn't seem to stand out in any way, except perhaps in its aesthetics and humor, but even then, not by much.

@Mastlander98 The sticks on the previous ROG Ally were pretty good, so I would be confident about that aspect.

@darkswabber Correct, day 1 on GPU and GP-PC.

I imagine it could also reach the other tiers, but after some time.

What I like about these games is the campaign, and no campaign justifies the excessive price, but when it's on Gamepass/EA Play, I'll give it a try.

Really, given how the industry has changed and how prices have gone up across the board, this Xbox Ally X is very attractive, very powerful with the Z2 Extreme, very ergonomic, with the new Xbox interface experience... And the price is relatively reasonable.

If the screen were 8 inches...

Have they added a difficulty selector or changed anything in this regard? The original had some really frustrating moments and bosses that made me give up on it.

I hope so. In general, I much prefer the Xbox ecosystem to what PlayStation and Nintendo offer. I'm convinced that if I buy another console, it will be the most powerful one, and honestly, I'd like that to be an Xbox.

@Kezelpaso Yes, you're right, it must be complicated because of the CPU, and probably other things too.

Although visually I don't notice a clear difference between the previous and current generations, apart from higher resolution, some more impressive lighting effects... and little else. It's not like with the X360 and the Xbox OG, where you could clearly see why an X360 game couldn't be played on the previous one.

The only exception I would mention is Flight Simulator, which I think is the only game that I can clearly see would not be possible on the XOne/PS4.

The difference between current and previous generation consoles is not very significant, at least in practice.

I believe that any current XSeries/PS5 game, by lowering the resolution and optimizing some effects, works without major problems on XOne/PS4.

Personally, I think that these types of devices are not worth it in the lower price ranges. Usually, people want to play the latest releases and do so at frame rates that allow them to enjoy them.

This is truly impressive performance for these devices. While it is not a significant improvement over the ROG Ally with the Z1 Extreme, it is a substantial leap forward compared to a Steam Deck.

The Xbox Ally X is likely one of the best options, even in terms of price, if you want to play the latest releases on this type of “console.”

I think it's fine that they clarify the language, although in practice it feels like buying a game, it's not really.

Once you're aware of that, I don't think it's a bad thing. I have a large collection of games on Xbox and Steam, and I see that in general they make an effort to maintain those licenses over time even if I change devices, so to a certain extent I feel secure having a digital library there.

A while ago, I would have said yes, definitely. But nowadays there are many brands that are making really spectacular controllers. I'm particularly impressed with Gamesir, I love their controllers, and they're not expensive at all.

So I'd say I'm interested in a Series Elite 3, but it has to be really good and offer some distinctive new features.

Day 1 for me, it's one of my favorite games from my childhood

I still have faith in Phil Spencer. I've heard him speak in many interviews in the past, and you can really tell that he loves this industry.

So I'm forced to think that all the disasters and incompetence plaguing Xbox come from executives in suits above him and the terrible financial pressure that comes with belonging to a titanic company like Microsoft.

@Fiendish-Beaver I agree, it's a shame that PlayAnywhere has so little use beyond indies and MS's own games.

But even so, games without PlayAnywhere, all those native versions for Xbox Series, Xbox One, Xbox 360, and even the old Xbox OG, are based on Directx libraries, which makes it much easier to run them on many different devices by only emulating the OS part.

So I think the continuity of the Xbox library is more or less guaranteed over time, although I also think MS still has a lot of work to do here.

@Fiendish-Beaver To create a digital library right now, Xbox or Steam seem much more secure to me than PlayStation or Nintendo. They don't have ecosystems as such, but rather closed platforms on specific hardware, which greatly complicates the continuity of digital libraries.

Xbox is in utter chaos, but at least the basis of creating an open ecosystem based on multi-platform libraries provides greater security for preserving purchases across devices. In fact, I think that before long we may see the Xbox console library running on Windows.

@themightyant There will be something, but I don't think we'll see anything beyond Xbox-Next and PS6 in terms of traditional consoles. I don't dare talk about Nintendo because in 2025 they still have cartridges, so anything is possible with them

I think what we're seeing right now in the video game industry is its own particular scenario, equivalent to what happened in the music industry before Spotify, or in the film industry before Netflix.

If there is an Xbox Next-Next or PS7, I think they will be very niche products, for people who are still playing games at an advanced age and forty-somethings like me xD

It doesn't matter much what they say at this point, I think it's a fact:

Xbox-Next will be the last Xbox console.
PlayStation 6 will be the last PS console.
Switch-Next could be last Nintendo console.

Whether we like it or not, I think that in 10 years very few people will still be buying a device to put next to their TV specifically for gaming. The younger generations are no longer interested in consoles, and I think we are heading straight for the cloud, apps on smart TVs, tablets, smartphones... as gaming devices.

In my opinion, EA Play added a lot of value to the service. But Ubisoft+ feels a bit irrelevant, with games that are of little value and not very appealing.

If titles like Assassin's Creed Shadow arrive in the coming months, I may change my mind. But in general, Ubisoft as a developer feels very exhausted, as if it can no longer release interesting titles.

Well, I find this quite interesting, it could be the gateway to Xbox for many users.

For example, I use Spotify for free with ads. Obviously, the ads are annoying, but since it's free, it allows me to access a music service that I wouldn't otherwise use. I think this could be the equivalent of Xbox for many casual users.

Although I think the 5 hour limit per month is ridiculous, if this model becomes established, it should be much more.

@jolteon23 On October 30, Microsoft will release a new quarterly report. Whether we like it or not, it will surely report large profits, with an increase in revenue from gaming related services.

It's a great idea, but the problem I see with it is that it complicates the choice too much, it's like a car configurator.

Those of us who are really into this hobby would appreciate it, but for most casual users, it's an additional layer of decision-making that puts them off.

If brands like Apple and Tesla have taught us anything, it's that simplifying options and treating the end user like a “*****” (no offense intended) is usually a good idea.

The service is amazing, I have no doubt about that, but no matter how good it is, it has become accessible only to a few.

It's like a Ferrari—no one doubts that they are amazing cars, but only a few can own one.

Gamepass was excellent for day-one games at an affordable price, but now the affordable tiers have lost the feature that made it most worthwhile.

GPU is still the best service, light years ahead of the competition, but now it's only for a select few. They have broken what made it so great.

Yesterday I was testing how the cloud is working after the update, and at 1440p it really seems indistinguishable from playing locally.

For some reason it makes me a little sad, but I think it's becoming increasingly clear that this will end up being the future of the industry.

I am very disappointed, but not because of Gamepass or the price increase specifically, but because of Xbox's management over the last two years or so, which has been an absolute disaster.

Until now, I had Ultimate and rarely bought games.

Now I'll continue with Ultimate, but I don't think I'll buy any more games on Xbox.

I'm still on Xbox because I have no other choice. I'm “held hostage” on Xbox. My entire gaming life is here: my profile, my achievements... But if I had the chance to export all this to Steam or PlayStation, I'd leave and never come back.

I don't know if they expect the number of Xbox Cloud players to skyrocket, but I've never had to wait to play in the cloud. I've always had the feeling that the number of players who have accepted the cloud as their usual way of playing is negligible.

In Europe, we have always had figures that are slightly higher or similar to those in the US. Applying a 1:1 conversion rate from dollars to euros, it was something we had accepted, whether fair or not,, but lately it is the US that is seeing high numbers. The Xbox Ally X, for example, costs “only” €899 here.

The truth is that right now the available game library is impressive, light years ahead of what other subscriptions can offer, I won't argue with that.

But they need to do something about the PC versions. Ubisoft doesn't even add Xbox achievements to the games, and that's unacceptable. Now more than ever, we have the right to complain and demand that they take care of these details.

Let me see if I understand this, it's confusing.

Basically, Ultimate gets Ubisoft+ Classic in exchange for costing $10 more?

I hope she doesn't mean that we should create a Steam profile and play the Steam versions, because we could do that anytime without needing to buy a PC with an Xbox skin.

What we really need is for these games, and many others, to come to the Xbox ecosystem and have Xbox versions, and whether it's through a console, the cloud, or the PC store, Xbox is still alive as a platform, and they shouldn't take us for fools by selling us a device that has games thanks solely to the Steam or Epic versions.

Honestly, it looks like an impressive machine, which is to be expected given the price.

If they can get developers to stop ignoring the Windows Store once and for all, it will be a truly impressive console.

I imagine that there will be a new controller for the next Xbox, and I imagine that the Elite 3 will be the premium version of that controller.

Although in my opinion they achieved perfection with the Xbox One controller, which for me is the best “traditional” controller out there, I think it's already perfect in terms of ergonomics and possibilities, at least for shooters and the most common genres.

The new features being added to modern controllers (back buttons, share button, touch surfaces, LED lights, etc.) detract more than they add, increasing weight and energy consumption, but nothing I consider truly useful.

For me, Expedition 33 is practically Lost Odyssey 2, or the closest thing we're going to get.