GamingFan4Lyf

@PsBoxSwitchOwner Why should they? They were able to get a 10/10 experience without having access to this Paid DLC (which means you can too).

Dropping Score for the sake of spite against MTX practices is relatively petty when the reviewer got the full experience without having to spend an extra dime.

This game looks insane. But I am sure running on a high-end PC really helps with the look.

Not saying the console versions will be degraded significantly, but with UE5, it's always a gamble how they will turn out at launch.

I hope these games will be profitable.

I love Remedy, but I worry about the company as well. It's been taking losses and AW2 has yet to be profitable.

Part of me wonders if partnering with Epic actually ended up being detrimental to the financial success of Alan Wake 2 for two reasons:

Epic Store exclusive (majority of PC players use Steam)
Digital-only release (console players like physical releases)

Hopefully Rockstar doesn't do the same thing and we see Max Payne on all storefronts, plus physical.

@Nightcrawler71 Seems the PS5 resolves at a slightly higher resolution (it's reconstructed to 4K) but the Series X runs 2 - 3 frames higher than PS5.

XSX: hovers right around 40 on average
PS5: hovers around 38 on average
XSS: hovers around 35 on average

@InterceptorAlpha So, I found out something interesting:

Series X/PS5/PC use ray-traced global illumination.
Series S does not use ray-traced global illumination.
You can't disable RT on Series X/PS5 (and from what I have seen, the lack of RTGI isn't a huge downgrade)

Every other recent RE game lets you turn RT on/off. Why not Dragon's Dogma 2?! Maybe not taxing the system with RTGI would improve performance?!

It could just be a CPU bottleneck, though.

I would hope that such an option was tested on PS5/Series X and it was found that there wasn't much of a performance difference between RTGI On and Off, so Capcom just decided to leave it on for better image quality.

@InterceptorAlpha Seeing as how I have seen people say that this game drops below 30fps on powerful gaming rigs, I wouldn't hold my breath for 60fps mode. But one never knows - perhaps the engineers will discover some major issue with the game that gets patched out and has a transformative effect on the game.

One thing I do find interesting is that on PushSquare mentions the framerate issues in more than just cities on PS5 - but that could be that the reviewer just notices framerate issues more (some people are sensitive to it, others aren't).

I'll be interested in seeing the DF analysis of this.

I can't imagine a huge performance delta, but perhaps this is a title where Xbox has a more favorable outcome with regards to performance.

Overall, this game just sounds too overwhelming for me.

I recommend The Quarry to any horror fan out there.

NOTE: decisions and actions you make are less obvious as what would be considered the "correct path" than games in the Dark Pictures Anthology - perhaps that might be more frustrating to some as certain "correct" actions are "hidden" and not finding them could lead to a death much later in the game.

It's a fun romp, though!

I’m still very much looking forward to this game!

I tried the original somewhat recently (within the last year or two) and any improvement to the original is welcome as it aged like expired milk.

@rustyduck I’ll take a drive up there and report back (they’re about a 90 minute drive from me - without insane traffic that is common here).

I really want to like Bethesda RPGs, they’re just too overwhelming. Glad to see Bethesda continues to button things up…no matter how many buttons there are to fix.

That is gorgeous!

I can just hear "Prelude" looking at it.

I hope that any money that had exchanged hands to secure this Game Pass release was returned.

@TheLastHarbinger I'm not debating monopiles in gaming - no one has a monopoly in gaming.

I am merely pointing out how many studios and employees fall under Microsoft's gaming wing compared to Sony since you decided to say that Microsoft is "barely above Sony" which isn't the truth.

Microsoft is a huge publisher now because of Xbox Game Studios, ZeniMax/Bethesda, and ABK. Microsoft has a ton of studios under its belt, now. Nothing more, nothing less.

Microsoft itself has (as of 2023) 221K employees across all divisions. But I don't mention them because Consulting, Azure, Retail, Corporate HR, Microsoft 365, etc. don't have anything to do with gaming.

But if you want to talk revenue, King and Call of Duty money alone is a huge boost to Microsoft Gaming.

This just sounds like a terrible decision, if you ask me.

@kihaennem Microsoft Gaming incorporates Xbox Game Studios, ABK, and ZeniMax/Bethesda stuff.

Exclusive doesn't change the fact that Microsoft reaps the publishing benefits of all the games under its umbrella no matter where the games land...just like any other publisher.

@TheLastHarbinger 22 studios under Sony to 34 under Microsoft Gaming.

4000 employees under Sony to 20K under Microsoft.

Yup…”barely above Sony”

Maybe do a single-player focus game but then add a live-service Quidditch portion? I am sure that would be quite popular and enough to keep people playing for a while even well after the credits roll.

I have the luxury of being able to own all three systems. I love video games no matter where they are.

Believe me, I would love to be able to buy one box to play them all!

PC is about as close as one can get, but it's pricey to buy PC that plays everything and there is no real "convenient" couch setup for the PC-space.

@InterceptorAlpha 4 discs of the best JRPG of that generation!

@TheLastHarbinger Microsoft is also the largest game publisher in the world! But, no, not a monopoly...yet (I hope it never gets to be that way)

@HonestHick I like the first-party games Sony has put out. I like the third-party exclusives it manages to get (when it's helping to fund the game and provide technical support, but not paying just to keep the games off Xbox). I don't like Sony.

@rjc-32 Ah, maybe the file size difference could be the culprit. Sucks for a "meager" 500MB.

Then again, that would be a pretty hefty difference in game size to warrant 2 more discs when the PS5 version will probably have just an Install Disc and a Play Disc where the Xbox version will probably have 3 Install Discs and 1 Play Disc. Perhaps it's a combination of both Storage size differences and game data differences.

Interesting. I guess Microsoft is still using 50GB Blu-ray instead of 100GB Blu-ray? That's about the only explanation I can think why this will be double the required discs.

Odd choice seeing as how the Series X has a UHD drive.

"Neither monopoly or cut-throat competition makes the world a better place"

I wonder if he's taking jabs at both Microsoft and Sony in this comment.

@abe_hikura I had to look that one up. Wow, that is some really well-done animation for a slice of bread! Kudos to RGG Studio for that.

I rewatched the trailer after looking at that bread, and it doesn't surprise me that something as simple as bread looks that good. Everything looks extremely polished. I am sure the footage is from a high-spec PC, but it's a beautiful game.

I think it's UE5 since it was announced a while back that InXile was working with the engine.

That is an amazing texture for bread, though!

Talk about attention to detail.

I want to see the Xbox Quantum - the first Quantum video game console with unlimited power potential and the ability to send you to alternate dimensions - it also doubles as a pizza oven. 😛

I'll settle for more about Indiana Jones and perhaps some new details on Fable and Perfect Dark.

@eire-shabba Control was influenced by the SCP Foundation, so if you like that kind of stuff, then Control would be right up your alley.

I am glad Remedy has full...uhm...control over this IP. It would be nice if Remedy could also get full rights to Max Payne but I don't see Rockstar giving that up.

I wonder if Quantum Break will be next - very underrated title, if you ask me and I think a multi-platform release could help get a wider audience.

Must be a generational thing to kick up a fuss about going back to the office.

I have been lucky enough to have been working from home for a while now, but I wouldn't moan and groan if I was expected to work in an office again - it does have its benefits.

This is coming from a person who has had to commute an hour to an office for the better part of 12 years.

Would I prefer to be at home working? Absolutely - it's prevented our family from having to find after school care for my daughter.

Would I cry "foul" because I would have to go to an office every day? No, it's just the nature of work.

I work in software development and collaboration happens much more often when everyone is in the same office together to either ask for help or bounce ideas off each other.

Sure, there are messengers and online meetings, but it's not the same. I have people on my team I don't even really "know" at all because I only ever hear their voices during daily standup or the occasional call.

@luke88 The only time I ever play multiplayer is if my daughter wants me to play Mario Kart 8 with her.

But yes, it applies to all multiplayer games. I don't buy fighting games. I don't buy sports games. I don't buy games that revolve around multiplayer.

When I was in college, I enjoyed playing Quake and Counter Strike (back when it was still a Half-Life Mod) with people in the dorms. When I was in the Navy I played some Halo multiplayer with my shipmates when on deployment. I played a lot of Warhammer Online when it was still a thing and WoW.

After becoming a family man, though, I simply lost interest mostly due to time restrictions. I tried here and there, but I got no joy out of it and ended up hating it all together.

I just don't have the time to "git gud" against people who sit on the game all day. It's not fun for me anymore.

With the hour (if I am lucky) time I get to play games per day, I'd rather get lost in a single-player experience than deal with online toxicity.

If I do play any multiplayer (and that's a HUGE if), it would be co-op and not competitive.

@HonestHick I just hate that 40fps modes are tied to 120Hz because my TV can handle 40fps via VRR.

I hear you on older games. When I am taking a break from Final Fantasy 16 (e.g. missus is using the TV), I am playing PS2/Gamecube era and older games on my laptop. I am really going deep into gaming history. LOL!

@HonestHick I'd be interested in the results.

I don't have an OLED. My TV is a budget-friendly Vizio M7 Quantum. It's nice because it can support both Dolby Vision and HDR10+ as well as VRR and ALLM, but sadly, unlike the Quantum's that came out the following year, only a 60Hz display.

@HonestHick Dolby Vision is definitely a double edged-sword.

I think I might have figured out how to get even better results with Dolby Vision with regards to peak brightness (as it never seems to "pop" quite as well as using HDR10 and HGIG Mode (Game HDR in my Vizio).

I have a Discussion post about it that talks my thought process behind it - more as a guide and also for people to provide feedback for a sanity check. I'd be interested in your thoughts on this.

The bottom line is to essentially set your HDR Calibration to the Lowest and Maximum values (for any games that actually use the system calibration) and then, in the game, setting your HDR Peak brightness to the max (and lowest value to 0 if applicable).

The idea is that Dolby Vision for Games is supposed to act like it does for movies:

Essentially a min/max for the film that is set by whoever did the master could be higher/lower than the peak brightness/darkness that your TV supports so it adjusts accordingly.

The problem with games, the sliders for the games don't necessarily give you that information so the sliders could be "wrong". By setting everything to absolute min/max, you let Dolby Vision for Games work "properly".

https://www.purexbox.com/forums/xbox-series-x/dolby_vision_for_games_decoded

Lots of Diablo IV stuff in there.

Looking forward to finally seeing Direct Super Resolution (I feel like this has been in the works for years now).

It will be interesting to see 1) how it compares to FSR and DLSS and 2) if the Xbox Series X|S will actually be able to use it with the hardware-level Machine Learning capabilities (so far only AutoHDR uses it)

Too many “high priority” games in the pipeline to worry with this.

Plus…I hate multiplayer

I'm really looking forward to it. I liked the trailer, even if it only teased a few gameplay sequences (albeit with no HUD).

I only played the original Fable and I don't know if I ever finished it (too long ago to remember). I guess I don't know what a "Fable game" should be.

The only "two-way street" I see with Sony and Nintendo is the money Microsoft gets from game sales on those platforms (which is really all a company cares about anyways).

I want to try this, but unfortunately I created a character a long time ago to try the game and it seems like I am completely locked out now despite never actually doing much of anything at all.

It looks like I would have to create a whole new Square Enix account in order to try (despite the fact I unlinked my FFXI/FFXIV account from my main SE account).

Honestly, the way SE handles it's account systems is a little strange.

EDIT: So I created a new Final Fantasy XIV account with a different e-mail address. Why Square Enix has basically 2 different accounts is weird (one for the overall website and one specifically for Final Fantasy Online). Whatever...as long as I can still link the FF14 account to my main Square Enix Member account, I don't care.

"Xbox version in the back. No physical when it came to Xbox, but now when it is on PS5 it has a physical release. Give me a break, we are the most abused fan base"

Probably because Limited Run would have lost money on an Xbox-only physical release of the game. The PS5 and Switch are where a physical release will actually matter (actually, more the Switch).

I am sure this physical release was more about Limited Run seeing an opportunity rather than Microsoft campaigning for it (Microsoft would have been totally fine making this digital-only). So, Limited Run will prioritize the version that will make the most money for Limited Run.

@supercalifragilistic The entire game needs to have a green tint and the games artwork needs to have Xbox logos on everything! If they want to play the version that doesn't have all the branding, they need to buy an Xbox. 🤣

@themightyant "Regardless, as you said, if anyone can do it Microsoft can but I doubt it’s going to be as straightforward as you make out."

You probably right about that. But I do think somehow transitioning to full-on PC is the future of Xbox as it's something that plays into Microsoft's strengths - especially with developers simply abandoning dedicated Xbox console versions of games.

It still seems odd to me that it happens. I mean, the whole original concept for Xbox was to make porting a PC version easy. Heck, switching to an x86 architecture should have made that even simpler!

The PC versions will already have Series X controller integration and button prompts because it's like the defacto gamepad for Windows. The games already utilize DirectX. 3D Audio work is already done because Windows supports Sonic, Dolby Atmos, and DTS:X.

From an outsider's point of view looking in, most of the Xbox "work" is already done when a PC version is made. The only thing that needs to get "nailed down" are the graphical settings which is kind of also already done because of the PS5 version.

But, I am sure there is a bunch of other formalities and behind the scenes things that need to get done due to it being a closed system that are the hang-ups to make the Xbox "not worth" investing in right away (or at all).

@jesse_dylan Tell Me Why was also Don't Nod

@themightyant "If they break away from their custom AMD architecture and Xbox SDKs they will have to do the virtual machine type of BC again, this time for a much larger library, we'd likely see an even smaller percentage of games actually work."

Except...they wouldn't because they would use the PC version of the game. They don't need to use the X1 version or the Xbox Series X version and in many cases they don't need the X360 or OG version either. I understand using the PC-version essentially "kills" the console version, but it's still access to the actual game.

For X360 and OG Xbox they can use the PC versions of games where PC versions are available. There is no "Backwards Compatibilty" anymore - it's native PC code.

Look at Game Pass PC and look at the old games that are on there from the OG Xbox/X360 era: Morrowind, Oblivion, Psychonauts, Fallout 3.

Microsoft only need the Virtual Machine BC for games that don't have PC versions (Rare Replay, Blue Dragon, etc.).

The rest would be more about securing games that aren't on the Microsoft Store but may be found on things like Steam or GOG (Knights of the Old Republic, Sonic Generations, etc). OR simply working with Valve, Epic, CDPR to integrate with their services and transfer the console-license to owned games over to their repository (like when Bethesda moved all their games to Steam after the Bethesda launcher shutdown).

Save integration will be an issue, but there are a ton of games during the X1 and Series X era that support Play Anywhere/Smart Delivery, so really X360/OG eras are the areas of highest concern - especially for those who may have hundreds of hours in the X360 version of some games.

My Surface Book 2 with Nvidia 1060 can run pretty much any game from X1 and older. Series X|S class hardware could run everything the Microsoft Store has to offer (even if it's only at "console settings"). Any future Xbox "console" would have zero issues running any PC version of a Series X|S game and below.

So, again, regardless if Microsoft changes hardware manufacturers, using the PC versions means it doesn't matter what hardware Microsoft uses. The only part that requires modification is the Virtual Machine part for non-PC games.

@themightyant But that's work that would have to happen with a closed ecosystem anyways. So why not go ahead and do the headache now for PC so you never have to worry about it ever again?

The backwards compatibility on Xbox is nothing more than a Virtual Machine that also taps into the console hardware. For those games that don't have a PC-version, then make the Virtual Machine work in Windows that is relatively hardware agnostic (or just make it work with the Xbox "console" hardware). I feel like "Cloud-only" solutions for that would be met with backlash.

My whole thing is, if hobbyists making emulators can do it, a corporation who can pay people who have official access to proprietary technical details as part of their job can certainly do it too!

Time will tell, and it probably will be a slow transition. But the best platform for backwards compatibility is the PC.

So, if you really want to commit to game preservation than move to a platform where old games are still very playable without the need for making special backwards compatibility applications (but may need a small patch to address obsolete/unsupported technology).

I mean, I guess I am not surprised since it's basically the Pokemon game for original Pokemon fans who grew up.

Yes, I am aware this has more in common with something like Ark in terms of gameplay than Pokemon.

What I mean is an open world game with roaming anime animals that fight with you that also runs on more powerful hardware. I know the recent Pokemon games tried this open-world approach, but from my understanding were poorly optimized and didn't live up to expectations (not a Pokemon fan, so I don't know)

@jesse_dylan Good to know! I maybe have to give it a look, then.

@Krydle I have streamed using my Surface Book 2 (United States here with 300Mbps Verizon Fios) and I haven't had any issues. I am using a wireless connection.

I have tried a couple of games on my Series X using Cloud (so I didn't have to wait for download). It's a wired connection and it ran fine.

Image quality wasn't pristine just due to the nature of streaming, but there wasn't any input lag.

@themightyant If anyone can make it happen, it's Microsoft.

I mean, I wouldn't care if Microsoft abandons it all together, but I know some people would lose their minds if they suddenly lost access to games like Blue Dragon or Lost Odyssey. I think many of the available Xbox 360/OG Xbox games have a PC-release of some kind, though. I think all X1/XS have PC versions so it would be more about pulling those games into the Microsoft Store (or partnering with Steam) to have them available and relying on official Emulation (or the Cloud) for those games that don't have PC versions.

I never said it was "trivial" just that Microsoft should figure it out. I am sure it would be a ton of work. But probably no more work than engineering a new closed console with "custom" parts from...whoever. New SDKs. Porting/creating the UI to new system. etc. etc.

Going forward however, it will make things a lot easier as Microsoft only needs to work on hardware refreshes as the "console" spec gets outdated. R&D costs drop significantly.

Plus, I am sure developers would be happy to not have yet another closed-console system to deal with. Live service games won't need a whole new version to create when a new console comes out.

Consumers will be happy because the need to "upgrade" will be more about personal tolerable performance thresholds the "old console" can handle - and if they are only playing Fornite, Warzone, Valorent, etc., then they probably won't upgrade at all as those games stay pretty static in terms of technical requirements.

The biggest key though is to make it feel like a seamless transition for users, but an entire backend shift that benefits Microsoft and developers.

I don't care that these games are coming to other platforms; but since I get Game Pass Ultimate for free, I don't see a need to buy them elsewhere.

All the more reason Microsoft needs to figure out how to make the next Xbox be a PC rather than a closed system.

Here is what Microsoft needs to do:
1) Create a special Windows-based frontend for the console (just so people don't need keyboard/mouse to navigate).
2) Get the backwards compatibility working on PC (even if it's only available on the PC-based frontend)
3) Give developers the specific hardware specifications of their Xbox console for developers to test their PC versions of games
4) Figure out how to transfer all console libraries over to PC - whether through official X360/OG Xbox emulation or through actual PC-versions of available games.

Since developers already make PC-versions of games, all Microsoft needs to do is have developers test their PC code against the specific hardware. Remove the need for special licensing and devkits. No more "closed" APIs required to "port" to the Xbox.

If developers don't feel it's "worth it" to make a specific Xbox port, then remove the specific Xbox port and go to the developers on the PC side!

Oh and also add Steam integration with the side-effect that it can play Sony PC games - brute-force "cross platform" (though I am sure Sony would probably bully Valve into blocking its games from this special PC-based Xbox if this was possible).

Microsoft may not be able to "out console" Sony, but it can certainly "out PC" Sony.

Can't wait!

I need to brush up on how to play the game and how my character works! It's been quite a while since I even had Elden Ring installed.

Can't say I have enjoyed DONT NOD output as most of their games target a certain demographic that I am not a part of (angsty 20-somethings) and I have zero connection to their stories, but glad this is resonating with people!

@abe_hikura Being able to access the console library on PC would be a massive relief for Microsoft as it no longer has to make a "closed" console either.

That problem with developers not porting to Xbox because it doesn't sell enough? Gone because the Xbox can become a custom-frontend gaming PC and developers seem to always have a PC version.