GamingSince84

Often. I've been 2016 Doom like 4 times. Must e played Fallout NV and Fallout 4 about 3 times each. Same for Skyrim and Doom Eternal. On my 3rd Vermintide 2 playthrough as a different character.

Sticking with it. I like being able to use the cloud up on multiple devices and I enjoy the library of games given to us in the ultimate tier, so I see no reason to leave. Does the price increase suck? Sure. Is it the end of the world? Nope, not even close.

I've been saying for years that the future of Microsoft is all about choice. You'll have a choice of a dedicated premium experience console that will deliver the Xbox experience in the best way possible. You'll have a handheld unit that you can take with you on the go where you may have some docking options for a more traditional experience. And lastly, you'll have a relatively light piece of hardware where you can stream games and content from that won't cost you an arm and a leg.

On top of that you'll probably see more handhelds and dedicated hardware from other manufacturers delivering the Xbox experience bundled with the ability to access other store fronts. So yeah, lots of options and a variety of flavors.

I've been replaying Doom: The Dark Ages for a second time as of late so I figure I'll be putting some time into that. I do plan to find time for grinding some trials in Elder Scrolls Online, too. Other than that, I'm currently playing Pokemon Legends: Arceus on the Switch and having a blast with it so I'll likely put in some time into that game as well.

No matter what anyone says, whether it be a former executive, journalist, fan, or whatever, Game Pass has been a resounding success and is making Microsoft billions of dollars and has millions and millions of monthly active users. Anyone holding onto the narrative that Game Pass isn't working out obviously doesn't understand business, or simply doesn't want it to succeed.

Sorry folks, but Game Pass is a big success and nothing anyone can say will change that.

I absolutely love the fact that the Xbox controller uses AA batteries. They're easy to replace, don't cost too much, and leaves the door open to use a rechargeable option if one so chooses.

Everyone year on black Friday I buy a brick of 40 AA batteries at a local store for $8 and I use them in multiple devices throughout my household. I currently have almost two full bricks worth of batteries that will likely last me a few years at the very least.

@Nexozi If they can figure out how to kind of "override" windows and make it so you never have to leave the Xbox environment, then I think it would help alleviate a lot of the headaches of PC gaming.

I've always hated how Steam never played nice with other gaming applications and often will override the controller and force it to do weird things unless you end process on Steam and close it completely. I've also never liked multiple launchers and how some games require their own launcher, it got tiresome managing all the different stores and launchers and managing not only settings in the games themselves, but also the AMD/Nvidia software for the GPU.

This definitely appears to be an Asus produced controller, probably with hall effect sticks and a few other technical additions to turns some heads. But, if this turns out being something huge, such as an Asus made console featuring the Xbox OS/skin, then I would absolutely fall out of my chair.

I'm all for OEM production on Xbox products as I fully believe the future of gaming is going to be choice. Choice of form factor (console, streaming stick, handheld, etc), choice of manufacturer (Microsoft, Asus, Acer, Dell, Razer, etc), and choice of where you access your content (Xbox, PC, Switch, PS, cloud, phone, tablet, etc).

The future of gaming is bold and exciting and I'm totally here for it.

I actually wasn't planning on even watching the event but all the talk about the Xbox Rog Ally, and the teaser posted yesterday by Asus for what looks to be a controller, has me fairly intrigued.

I don't think Microsoft will be going to in-depth about anything we haven't seen already as it pertains to games, but I want to know more about the Asus/Xbox handheld device and what kind of other hardware Asus may be working on.

Keep in mind, they would've grown a bit due to the Starfield release, Christmas console sales, and the merger of XBL with GP. My guess would be more in the neighborhood of 50-60M total subscribers post service merger.

People seem to forget about the XBL merger with the GP service.

@Kaloudz This game is chock full of people playing, especially on PC and Xbox-NA. I have characters on both PC and Xbox and there are always people running around questing in the overworld, and I've never had any issues getting into dungeon groups with people via the dungeon finder tool. ESO is definitely one of the most populated MMO's out there alongside WoW and FF14.

@jdwight1 The Series S isn't going anywhere since it's selling relatively well and serves as an entry point to Game Pass. I'd imagine it may get phased out once they release a Game Pass streaming stick bundled with a controller in the near future. I still believe the shelving of that project was a lie since they didn't want to bring any more attention to streaming during the ABK investigation before the deal was closed.

@Tasuki That's the idea. Xbox has been quite clear that they want their hardware to be much like a family of hardware where your accessories, accounts, and software, all carry over to the next and that the hardware is meant to be improved upon every few years or so. Think of it like a good, better, best scenario.

They're also not looking at just the console base. In order to succeed they're going to have to expand beyond, which is the idea with game pass. Make a service where any vertical or horizontal screen can deliver the information you need via the Internet and your going to expand your user base instead of just hitting the console ceiling. Game pass was a super smart idea for Microsoft and they're set up for such a bright future with it.

I consider all "eras" of Xbox to be over because Xbox has done such a great job at ensuring you can be an Xbox customer regardless of if your on the Xbox One, One S, One X, Series S, Series X, PC, smart phone, tablet, or smart TV. I sometimes access my Xbox games on the One S in my man cave, or on my PC on my 75 inch big screen, or on the go when I travel for work. So, to me, the Xbox One is every bit as relevant as it was in 2013, especially if I'm streaming games (which I love).

People can review bomb Starfield all they want but the bottom line is that the game is a success and there is nothing anyone can do to change that. It personally wasn't my cup of tea, but for those looking for a space RPG it will definitely scratch that itch. The only issue I see here is that the game was over hyped and no matter what released it was going to see these kind of reviews.

Everyone have a Merry Christmas! Hopefully you find something Xbox related under your tree this year!

@Sakai They mentioned that they didn't encounter the problem, and acknowledged that the issue was on Xbox's end and not the publisher. So there must be another reason it's withheld.

@BaldBelper78 Console sales mean nothing, especially when you're vision of the future is gaming services such as Game Pass and the possibility of a sub $99 streaming stick down the line. With Xbox, the console is just ANOTHER way to access Xbox games and services, which makes it simply just another piece of the puzzle. The console wars are dead, except to the sad and pathetic. I love that I could sell my Xbox right now and still access Game Pass and be an Xbox customer.

@GamingFan4Lyf I'll never understand the hostility, personally. I've experienced it since the early 90's when the Nintendo/Sega war was happening. It's like people can't be happy and just enjoy their games regardless of whatever console it may be. At the end of the day we're all gamers and the logo on my cheap piece of Chinese plastic means absolutely zip.

On another note: Ever notice how the console war bandits out there use such horrible grammar and can't seem to string together an intelligible sentence?

@GamingFan4Lyf @Mephisto2869 I'd assume that their console sales across the board would be higher if they didn't make it so easy being an Xbox customer without owning an Xbox. They ceded the console space to Nintendo and Sony and are solely focused on becoming a powerhouse gaming brand. When their 4th quarter financials come out and they post higher gains than the other companies then they'll have succeeded in that plight. Anyone who still cares about "console wars" in this day and age are sad neck beards who are still trying to figure out life, or don't have much of a life to begin with so they hang on something as sad as "console wars" to make themselves feel good. Why not just enjoy the games and relax a little?

@Mephisto2869 Remember, Xbox doesn't care if you own an Xbox so long as you're subscribed to Game Pass. You need to step back and realize that it's time to start viewing Xbox as a gaming brand and not just a plastic box. The console is only a small part of their business. I don't even own an Xbox console but I am absolutely in love with utilizing Game Pass on my PC at home and on my tablet when I travel. I stopped looking at Xbox as a console years ago and view them more as a services and software company. Remember, Microsoft is built upon software and services, their Xbox division is no different.

@Mephisto2869 If in today's video game market you're still using the "my plastic box sold more than your plastic box" method as the only metric for success than you're either a fanboy who's still stuck in 1995, or have a very poor understanding of how business actually works.

@Banjo- @Gamingfan4lyf : That's essentially how I put together the number I estimated. It's totally possible to be a little more, or a little less, but it's likely within that neighborhood.

@themightyant Starfield would have increased that fairly significantly, as well as purchased Xbox consoles since. Maybe not 40M, but close. Once Christmas hits I'm sure many of the new Xbox owners, or gaming PC owners, will likely sign up for the service and then there was the conversion of XBL into GPC. It wouldn't be silly to think that Game Pass has 60-70M total subscriptions across it's multiple tiers. The XBL conversion would've bumped it significantly.

Game Pass has 30M subscribers as of last summer, since then with the launch of Starfield and Forza, as well as people buying Xbox consoles for the holidays id imagine that they're probably north of 40M by now. Also, with the conversion of Xbox Live into Game Pass Core I'd image Game Pass is likely nearing 70M or so monthly subscriptions. That's a lot of cash rolling in every month.

@ebony-shabba Time will tell. I don't think Microsoft is going to care too much if people's Internet is as good as they'd like it to be if there is the opportunity to further capture the market and save some money on the backend. But you could be right.

This would require a lot of work, and likely a dedicated team behind it, but WoW on console is totally possible. It isn't as simple as copy/paste and program in controller support, but within a years time I could absolutely see an announcement being made that WoW is console bound. Maybe next year at one of the big gaming shows, or during the Xbox presentation in June, we could see an announcement that a console port is set for a holiday release? Who knows.

One thing I can tell you for sure is that WoW is eventually coming to Game Pass and ditching the dedicated $15/mo subscription fee. Absorbed those 5-10m WoW subscribers is most certainly on the radar.

As it pertains to all this discussion about MS leaving the console business....

I've been thinking that this could be a reality since around spring of 2021. The future of Xbox is undoubtedly Game Pass and they're already treating the Xbox console as simply just ANOTHER place to play, instead of being THE place to play, which was the first sign that a future without consoles may be in the cards for Microsoft. They don't need a console to be #1 as the business has changed greatly since the 90's and the "my box sold more than your box" narrative is stale and passe.

A light piece of streaming hardware, much like a Firestick or Roku, may be the future of Xbox since they're really after the Game Pass subscription more so than anything else. Let Nintendo and Sony have the premium console market and let MS focus on getting Game Pass onto anything with a screen and an Internet connection. MS could sell a stick bundled with an Xbox controller for $99 w/3 months of Game Pass included.

If I'm Microsoft I'd rather have 100m-150m (fingers crossed) monthly subscriptions with all that revenue pouring in on a monthly basis than focusing on producing expensive hardware that doesn't sell as much as the competitions. You're games will be available on Nintendo and Sony's hardware anyhow so you'll be making money there, alongside the Game Pass subscriptions, which would undoubtedly grow once you dump all the Activision/Blizzard stuff on the service alongside whatever other companies MS decides to buy as the years unfold.