Too difficult to tell. There's sensible arguments that can be made both for and against staying in the console business. All I know is I prefer consoles, have bought every Xbox and will continue to do so as long as MS remains in the console business, which is hopefully for a good, long time.
@stinkyx I don't think they wrote themselves into a corner, there's directions they can take this. I just think it was stupid and unnecessary and the cynical part of me wonders if it wasn't done, to some extent, to annoy the older part of the fanbase. Doubt it, but that always crosses my mind with modern devs.
I want to say the Gears of War series has been handled well by MS because I like 4 a lot and, overall, also really enjoyed 5. However, the choice segment at the end of 5 was beyond stupid, harmed the game a little bit and has me very concerned about future entries in the series. That part was a bunch of developers thinking they're smarter and better storytellers than they actually are. Completely unnecessary.
The countdown sale was really nice, I was able to get Psychonauts 1, 2 and Brutal Legend. Came to just over $18 total. Cool to see another big sale so soon.
MS, Sony, Nintendo have always been scummy companies but if you like to play video games on consoles, they're the only options so it means they can get away with stuff like this. It's nice to see a dev calling MS out, too bad no lessons will be learned by the giant corporation about getting better. Of course, the talking heads who run the company love to preach to others about that same thing.
@shoeses @Kang81 Yeah, eventhough I don't like seeing major publishers get bought out by one of the console makers, I can't say I'll be that disappointed if MS takes some of the studios that were put on Call of Duty support, and has them develop their own games again. A new Tony Hawk game would be awesome. And while it's a long shot, I don't think a new Transformers would be totally out of the question. If nothing else, though, just have High Moon do something that isn't Call of Duty, the studio is too good to be relegated to just that.
The two I'd love see, if the licenses can be sorted out, are Transformers: War for Cybertron and Fall of Cybertron. The former might be a bit more difficult because there was no remaster but FoC did get a Xbox One release, at the very least it'd be cool to see that version of it back up for purchase.
No, because there's still games being released for Xbox One. And thanks to backwards compatibility I still play plenty of Xbox One games whether it's favorites of mine from the early part of the Xbox One cycle or games for the system that I never played before.
Dead or Alive 2 Ultimate. One of the best fighting games of all time that still holds up today. Back in 2004, it was tops, imo. DoA 2 on the Dreamcast was already a fantastic game but the graphic overhaul made it even better. For the time, too, it was packed with plenty of unlockables that, these days, you have to pay $5+ to get.
So far, Cyberpunk 2077 Phantom Liberty DLC. Might make a few more purchases over the next day or two. Looked like some of Double Fine's games can be had at good prices. Also considering getting RoboCop.
Yes, not as much as when it first came out but I'm still going through the main story. I got sidetracked by other games but definitely going to start playing this more again soon. It's my favorite Xbox console exclusive of the year.
Xbox is not going to catch PlayStation any time soon and MS shouldn't even focus on that. As long as Series X/S sells better than the Xbox One did, that's all that matters.
Didn't jump on the Xbox bandwagon until summer 2004 when I bought an original Xbox to play Chronicles of Riddick: Escape From Butcher Bay. Since then, I've owned every Xbox and the 360 era was easily the best. MS' first party, despite not being as big as it is now, was at its best in terms of creativity and quality output. There were intelligent moves made with which third parties, Western and Japanese, to align with and for the first few years of that gen 360 was the clear choice to play any multiplatform release on as devs took a while to get to grips with PS3. Online gaming? Xbox was where it was at.
I have fond memories of the original Xbox as well, even if I didn't own one until later on I had friends who owned one so I got to experience the best of what it had to offer. PS2 dominated the era but there were a lot of games that wouldn't have been made available outside of PC if not for Xbox and there were also some Japanese companies, mainly Tecmo, that preferred to put its games there because of the more powerful hardware.
The Xbox One era was a dark period for Xbox, a few highlights here and there in the early years but quickly faded, I do think the Series X/S is already better than the One (I game on XSX as much as I do PS5 which is a huge turnaround from last gen) but it's still far from where the brand was at in 2001-2013.
Nope. Closest I ever came to buying an Xbox console on launch day was the 360 which I got two weeks after release (was in college at the time and got lucky when I was home for Thanksgiving break, went over to Gamestop one day and they had a system in stock). Would've bought the One on launch but MS messed it up early on.
I only play the single player campaigns in every game I buy, never really been into multiplayer other than some co-op TMNT and Streets of Rage back in the 16-bit era.
Yeah, I bought the system a couple weeks after launch, no issue until a bit over two years, red ringed in January 2008. Got it fixed for free and had no trouble afterwards. Lasted me until I traded it in to help fund a purchase of a 250 GB Xbox 360 slim in 2011. Wanted wifi, more storage and all that good stuff.
Was interested the game would review on this website. Been playing it since launch, it was one of my most-anticipated games as I'm a longtime fan of 2D Sonic. Definitely my favorite entry in the series since Colors and Generations but I guess that's not saying much as the series was mostly trash after 2011. Still, Frontiers was a very solid game last year as well and with this making it two good outings in a row it seems like things are finally on a good path. Definitely room for improvements but there's a great foundation so that should mean good things going forward.
Got my copy today, I love 2D Sonic games so it was always a day one buy for me. @Kezelpaso Hope you guys have a review planned, always interested to see what people who write for PX think of new releases.
Loving it so far, at the moment in my top 5... 1. AC 2 2. Brotherhood 3. Syndicate 4. Mirage 5. Origins 6. Unity 7. Revelations 8. Odyssey 9. Valhalla 10. 4 11. Liberation 12. Rogue 13. 1 14. 3
These are the ones I've played, know there's a few I'm missing. Even the games lower on the list I really enjoyed.
Got it for the PS5 and love it so far. Mentioned it when commenting on other articles but I'm one of the few who didn't burn out on the old AC formula and I'm very happy it's back. Sometimes less is more. Fully expect most AC games going forward will be like Origins, Odyssey and Valhalla but hopefully Mirage performs well enough that Ubisoft will see fit to continue budget releases with the old formula in between the bigger RPG-focuses entries.
As others have mentioned, should've been doing this, for all Xbox consoles, for a while now. Game Pass is an excellent deal no matter which version of the Series line you get. I tend to buy games outright if it's one I know I'm going to like but for ones I'm the fence about, GP is a great risk-free investment.
@InterceptorAlpha That definitely factors in. I've always felt like I have more control when playing Forza so that's going to lead to a better experience.
@JetSetRennie I liked most of Rare's 360 games as well. Heck, I didn't even think Perfect Dark Zero was that bad, but I know I'm in the minority on that.
@NeoRatt I have to admit that I'm, unfortunately, not too confident MS will play its cards right. I'd love to be wrong as I'm a big fan of Xbox (been with the brand since the original) but the current leadership leaves a bit to be desired, imo. Feel like Xbox hasn't really been at the top of its games since the days of Peter Moore and Shane Kim in the early part of the 360 era.
@NeoRatt The best thing that could come out of this acquisition is Banjo-Kazooie 3 from Toys for Bob. It's the perfect combination of IP and studio. Hopefully Phil Spencer makes it happen.
Good. Industry consolidation is not a positive in the long term and MS isn't the only offender so I'd hope Capcom keeps this same energy if it was Embracer, Tencent, Sony, Google or any other company (especially a Western one) that comes knocking.
Top 3. 1. Street Fighter 6 2 The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom 3. Starfield
I don't count re-releases of older games so Metroid Prime Remastered and Resident Evil 4 remake are left off the list (awesome games, though, highly recommended to fans or people who never experienced the originals). My top 3 is also still subject to change with Super Mario Bros. Wonder, Assassin's Creed Mirage, Sonic Superstars, Spider-Man 2 and Forza Motorsport set to come out among a few others.
Comments 2,074
Re: Talking Point: Do You Think Xbox Will Ever Stop Making Consoles?
Too difficult to tell. There's sensible arguments that can be made both for and against staying in the console business. All I know is I prefer consoles, have bought every Xbox and will continue to do so as long as MS remains in the console business, which is hopefully for a good, long time.
Re: Talking Point: Has Xbox Done A Good Job With Gears Of War So Far?
@stinkyx
I'm hoping sometime in 2025 at the latest. Would really like it to release this year but that might not be possible.
Re: Talking Point: Has Xbox Done A Good Job With Gears Of War So Far?
@stinkyx
I don't think they wrote themselves into a corner, there's directions they can take this. I just think it was stupid and unnecessary and the cynical part of me wonders if it wasn't done, to some extent, to annoy the older part of the fanbase. Doubt it, but that always crosses my mind with modern devs.
Re: Talking Point: Has Xbox Done A Good Job With Gears Of War So Far?
I want to say the Gears of War series has been handled well by MS because I like 4 a lot and, overall, also really enjoyed 5. However, the choice segment at the end of 5 was beyond stupid, harmed the game a little bit and has me very concerned about future entries in the series. That part was a bunch of developers thinking they're smarter and better storytellers than they actually are. Completely unnecessary.
Re: BG3 Players Getting Banned On Xbox Is 'Annoying And Uncool', Says Larian Studios
@Fenbops
True.
Re: Xbox Unveils Another Major Two-Week Sale, 300+ Games Included
The countdown sale was really nice, I was able to get Psychonauts 1, 2 and Brutal Legend. Came to just over $18 total. Cool to see another big sale so soon.
Re: BG3 Players Getting Banned On Xbox Is 'Annoying And Uncool', Says Larian Studios
MS, Sony, Nintendo have always been scummy companies but if you like to play video games on consoles, they're the only options so it means they can get away with stuff like this. It's nice to see a dev calling MS out, too bad no lessons will be learned by the giant corporation about getting better. Of course, the talking heads who run the company love to preach to others about that same thing.
Re: Xbox Owner Receives Year-Long Ban After Uploading Baldur's Gate 3 Clips
Scumbag move by MS and it's insane that there are some people defending this.
Re: Five Activision Games We Want To Become Xbox Backwards Compatible In 2024
@shoeses @Kang81
Yeah, eventhough I don't like seeing major publishers get bought out by one of the console makers, I can't say I'll be that disappointed if MS takes some of the studios that were put on Call of Duty support, and has them develop their own games again. A new Tony Hawk game would be awesome. And while it's a long shot, I don't think a new Transformers would be totally out of the question. If nothing else, though, just have High Moon do something that isn't Call of Duty, the studio is too good to be relegated to just that.
Re: Five Activision Games We Want To Become Xbox Backwards Compatible In 2024
The two I'd love see, if the licenses can be sorted out, are Transformers: War for Cybertron and Fall of Cybertron. The former might be a bit more difficult because there was no remaster but FoC did get a Xbox One release, at the very least it'd be cool to see that version of it back up for purchase.
Re: Talking Point: 10 Years Later, Would You Consider The Xbox One Era Officially Over?
No, because there's still games being released for Xbox One. And thanks to backwards compatibility I still play plenty of Xbox One games whether it's favorites of mine from the early part of the Xbox One cycle or games for the system that I never played before.
Re: Xbox Sparks Fury Over Using AI-Generated Art To Promote Indie Games
I'm no lover of the push for AI taking over everything but as usual the reaction from Twitter morons is over the top and ridiculous.
Re: Pick One: Which Is Your Favourite Xbox First-Party Release Of 2023?
For me it's...
1. Starfield
2. Forza Motorsport
3. Hi-Fi Rush
Had a great time with all three of these games. Starfield was the big surprise for me because I've never really liked any Bethesda RPGs.
Re: Talking Point: What's Your Favourite Xbox Remake Of All Time?
Dead or Alive 2 Ultimate. One of the best fighting games of all time that still holds up today. Back in 2004, it was tops, imo. DoA 2 on the Dreamcast was already a fantastic game but the graphic overhaul made it even better. For the time, too, it was packed with plenty of unlockables that, these days, you have to pay $5+ to get.
Re: Merry Christmas And Happy Holidays From The Team At Pure Xbox!
Merry Christmas, hope everybody has a good day.
Re: Poll: What Were The Best Xbox Game Pass Additions In 2023?
1. Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Main Who Erased His Name
2. Starfield
3. Hi-Fi Rush
4. Forza Motorsport
5. GoldenEye 007
Re: Talking Point: What Have You Bought In The Xbox Countdown Sale 2023?
So far, Cyberpunk 2077 Phantom Liberty DLC. Might make a few more purchases over the next day or two. Looked like some of Double Fine's games can be had at good prices. Also considering getting RoboCop.
Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? (December 23-24)
Xbox Series X - Sonic Superstars, Rumble Roses XX
Switch - Super Mario Bros. Wonder
PS5 - Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name
Re: Here Are The Top 10 Xbox Games Of 2023 According To Metacritic
@Banjo-
Seems like 5 is going to be the next Resident Evil remake, unfortunately. Code Veronica is the one that should get it.
Re: Poll: Four Months Later, Are You Still Playing Starfield?
Yes, not as much as when it first came out but I'm still going through the main story. I got sidetracked by other games but definitely going to start playing this more again soon. It's my favorite Xbox console exclusive of the year.
Re: Report Claims Xbox Series X|S Sales Have Fallen By Around 15% In 2023
Xbox is not going to catch PlayStation any time soon and MS shouldn't even focus on that. As long as Series X/S sells better than the Xbox One did, that's all that matters.
Re: Poll: What Is Your Xbox Game Of The Year For 2023?
1. Street Fighter 6
2. Sonic Superstars
3. Starfield
4. Forza Motorsport
5. Hi-Fi Rush
I never count remakes/remasters and kept the list strictly to games I played on Xbox, otherwise the list would be a little different.
Re: Years Later, Some People Still Believe Xbox Is Working On A 'Gears Collection'
Gears is my favorite Xbox first party franchise so if there ever is a Marcus Phenix Collection, I'd buy it day one for sure.
Re: Poll: What Do You Think Of Like A Dragon Gaiden On Xbox Game Pass?
Haven't beat the game yet but I'm probably a little more than halfway through. Love what I've played so far, another great game in this series.
Re: Poll: Which Has Been The Best Generation Of Xbox So Far?
Didn't jump on the Xbox bandwagon until summer 2004 when I bought an original Xbox to play Chronicles of Riddick: Escape From Butcher Bay. Since then, I've owned every Xbox and the 360 era was easily the best. MS' first party, despite not being as big as it is now, was at its best in terms of creativity and quality output. There were intelligent moves made with which third parties, Western and Japanese, to align with and for the first few years of that gen 360 was the clear choice to play any multiplatform release on as devs took a while to get to grips with PS3. Online gaming? Xbox was where it was at.
I have fond memories of the original Xbox as well, even if I didn't own one until later on I had friends who owned one so I got to experience the best of what it had to offer. PS2 dominated the era but there were a lot of games that wouldn't have been made available outside of PC if not for Xbox and there were also some Japanese companies, mainly Tecmo, that preferred to put its games there because of the more powerful hardware.
The Xbox One era was a dark period for Xbox, a few highlights here and there in the early years but quickly faded, I do think the Series X/S is already better than the One (I game on XSX as much as I do PS5 which is a huge turnaround from last gen) but it's still far from where the brand was at in 2001-2013.
Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? (October 28-29)
Xbox Series X - Sonic Superstars
Switch - Super Mario Bros. Wonder
PS5 - Assassin's Creed Mirage, Spider-Man 2
Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? (October 21-22)
Xbox Series X - Sonic Superstars
Switch - Super Mario Bros. Wonder
PS5 - Assassin's Creed Mirage, Spider-Man 2
Re: Less Than 1% Of Xbox Players Own The Coveted 'Day One' Achievement
Nope. Closest I ever came to buying an Xbox console on launch day was the 360 which I got two weeks after release (was in college at the time and got lucky when I was home for Thanksgiving break, went over to Gamestop one day and they had a system in stock). Would've bought the One on launch but MS messed it up early on.
Re: Most Forza Motorsport Players Sticking To Single-Player, It Seems
I only play the single player campaigns in every game I buy, never really been into multiplayer other than some co-op TMNT and Streets of Rage back in the 16-bit era.
Re: Talking Point: Did Your Xbox 360 Ever Get The 'Red Ring Of Death'?
Yeah, I bought the system a couple weeks after launch, no issue until a bit over two years, red ringed in January 2008. Got it fixed for free and had no trouble afterwards. Lasted me until I traded it in to help fund a purchase of a 250 GB Xbox 360 slim in 2011. Wanted wifi, more storage and all that good stuff.
Re: Review: Sonic Superstars - A Modern Take On Sonic's Classic 2D Games
Was interested the game would review on this website. Been playing it since launch, it was one of my most-anticipated games as I'm a longtime fan of 2D Sonic. Definitely my favorite entry in the series since Colors and Generations but I guess that's not saying much as the series was mostly trash after 2011. Still, Frontiers was a very solid game last year as well and with this making it two good outings in a row it seems like things are finally on a good path. Definitely room for improvements but there's a great foundation so that should mean good things going forward.
Re: Roundup: Here's What The Critics Are Saying About Sonic Superstars
Got my copy today, I love 2D Sonic games so it was always a day one buy for me.
@Kezelpaso
Hope you guys have a review planned, always interested to see what people who write for PX think of new releases.
Re: Talking Point: Assassin's Creed Fans, Where Does Mirage Rank For You?
Loving it so far, at the moment in my top 5...
1. AC 2
2. Brotherhood
3. Syndicate
4. Mirage
5. Origins
6. Unity
7. Revelations
8. Odyssey
9. Valhalla
10. 4
11. Liberation
12. Rogue
13. 1
14. 3
These are the ones I've played, know there's a few I'm missing. Even the games lower on the list I really enjoyed.
Re: Talking Point: What Do You Want To See From Xbox & Activision Blizzard?
The most obvious thing to do is have Toys for Bob make a brand new Banjo-Kazooie platformer.
Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? (October 14-15)
Xbox Series X - Starfield, Forza Motorsport
PS5 - Assassin's Creed: Mirage
Re: Assassin's Creed Mirage Becomes Ubisoft's 'Biggest New-Gen Launch' So Far
Got it for the PS5 and love it so far. Mentioned it when commenting on other articles but I'm one of the few who didn't burn out on the old AC formula and I'm very happy it's back. Sometimes less is more. Fully expect most AC games going forward will be like Origins, Odyssey and Valhalla but hopefully Mirage performs well enough that Ubisoft will see fit to continue budget releases with the old formula in between the bigger RPG-focuses entries.
Re: Xbox Is Bringing Out A New 'Series S Starter Bundle' This Month
As others have mentioned, should've been doing this, for all Xbox consoles, for a while now. Game Pass is an excellent deal no matter which version of the Series line you get. I tend to buy games outright if it's one I know I'm going to like but for ones I'm the fence about, GP is a great risk-free investment.
Re: Talking Point: Early Access Players, What Do You Think Of Forza Motorsport So Far?
Haven't played too much but what I did, I enjoyed.
Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? (October 7-8)
Xbox Series X - Starfield
PS5 - Assassin's Creed Mirage
Re: Well, The Forza Motorsport Vs. Gran Turismo 7 Comparisons Are Already Rolling In
@InterceptorAlpha
That definitely factors in. I've always felt like I have more control when playing Forza so that's going to lead to a better experience.
Re: Talking Point: One Month On From Launch, How Are You Feeling About Starfield?
It's one of my favorite games of the year so far and probably my favorite RPG since Mass Effect 1.
Re: Well, The Forza Motorsport Vs. Gran Turismo 7 Comparisons Are Already Rolling In
GT 7 is better in visuals but Forza, for whatever reason, has always been more fun to play and that remains the case with the latest game.
Re: Microsoft Unveils New 'Heritage Collection' Of Xbox 360 Merch
@OldGamer999
One of the best time periods for gaming, no doubt. The 360 is one of my top 5 favorite consoles all-time.
Re: Forza Motorsport Premium Upgrade: Everything You Need To Know
I'm a big fan of the Forza games, Motorsport and Horizon, and always get the new content anyway, figured I'd get this to get the early access.
Re: Talking Point: Is Forza The Best Racing Franchise Of All Time?
Mario Kart for me. But Forza is a close second.
Re: FTC Continues To Challenge Xbox's Takeover Of Activision Blizzard
@JetSetRennie
I liked most of Rare's 360 games as well. Heck, I didn't even think Perfect Dark Zero was that bad, but I know I'm in the minority on that.
Re: Capcom Would 'Gracefully Decline' Any Acquisition Attempt From Xbox
@NeoRatt
I have to admit that I'm, unfortunately, not too confident MS will play its cards right. I'd love to be wrong as I'm a big fan of Xbox (been with the brand since the original) but the current leadership leaves a bit to be desired, imo. Feel like Xbox hasn't really been at the top of its games since the days of Peter Moore and Shane Kim in the early part of the 360 era.
Re: Capcom Would 'Gracefully Decline' Any Acquisition Attempt From Xbox
@NeoRatt
The best thing that could come out of this acquisition is Banjo-Kazooie 3 from Toys for Bob. It's the perfect combination of IP and studio. Hopefully Phil Spencer makes it happen.
Re: Capcom Would 'Gracefully Decline' Any Acquisition Attempt From Xbox
Good. Industry consolidation is not a positive in the long term and MS isn't the only offender so I'd hope Capcom keeps this same energy if it was Embracer, Tencent, Sony, Google or any other company (especially a Western one) that comes knocking.
Re: Talking Point: Where Does Starfield Rank In Your Top Games Of 2023?
Top 3.
1. Street Fighter 6
2 The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
3. Starfield
I don't count re-releases of older games so Metroid Prime Remastered and Resident Evil 4 remake are left off the list (awesome games, though, highly recommended to fans or people who never experienced the originals). My top 3 is also still subject to change with Super Mario Bros. Wonder, Assassin's Creed Mirage, Sonic Superstars, Spider-Man 2 and Forza Motorsport set to come out among a few others.