While FH5 is a good game (and Hot Wheels is a good expansion), I agree that something felt off about FH5 but I'd say the same about FH4. I think it's down to the live service push, both FH4 and FH5's focus is the Festival Playlist (i.e. complete tasks every week to unlock new collectibles) meanwhile FH3 was centralized around the story campaign.
That live service push is the way a lot of Microsoft's games have turned towards like people don't even play the objective in Halo Infinite because they have challenges to unlock which involves killing with a specific weapon.
Game Pass lineup has looked rough since April, it does feel like Microsoft heavily relied upon Redfall + Starfield + Activision acquisition for this year (the former 2 of which are now 2023).
@uptownsoul There was a massively different tone between the Xbox Showcases in 2021 and 2022. 2021 was "here's an insane amount of games coming to Xbox and Game Pass in the near future including a few highly anticipated 1st party titles" meanwhile 2022 was "everything got delayed to 2023 or later, everyone panic".
I wonder if Microsoft will consider bringing back the backwards compatibility program. The vast majority of backwards compatibility Activision games are CoD (OG Xbox and 360 era Activision was so much more than just CoD unlike nowadays) but perhaps with the acquisition it'll make adding non-CoD easier.
Have another big batch of games including non-CoD Activision games and more non-Activision games alongside it.
Otherwise the big Game Pass drop after the acquisition is going to be like 20 CoD games and 6 non-CoD games which wouldn't be a good look on Xbox.
Still don't care about Activision games but the idea of backwards compatibility possibly returning is exciting.
With backwards compatibility games for GWG ending in October, I think having some games from the November 2021 batch for August and September would be a nice send off.
I'd have to give it to FH3 Hot Wheels, FH5 Hot Wheels felt too short in comparison and I liked both Hot Wheels expansions more than the other FH expansions I had played.
Between the Xbox deal and the Playstation deal, it seems like Discord will be used as the solution for crossplay voice chat. Don't see Discord coming to Switch though as Nintendo did that NSO mobile app solution to voice chat.
@Bleachedsmiles Given 1st party is the only thing Microsoft can truly control, Phil Spencer is likely referring to the 1st party lineup in that comment. Their original schedule was probably similar structure to last year, something like:
1st half of 2022 - Goldeneye
July - As Dusk Falls
August - Redfall
September - Grounded (leaving early access), Deathloop
From the stream mission replay looks exactly how I'd hope it would be, looking forward to getting the rest of the skulls whenever the update goes live.
@BAMozzy For Nintendo, the 1st party lineup for the same time period (E3 2021 to what would've been E3 2022) was:
Game Builder Garage (June 11th 2021)
Mario Golf Super Rush (June 25th 2021)
Skyward Sword HD (July 16th 2021)
WarioWare Get It Together (September 10th 2021)
Metroid Dread (October 8th 2021)
Mario Party Superstars (October 29th 2021)
Pokemon Brilliant Diamond/Shining Pearl (November 19th 2021)
Big Brain Academy Brain vs. Brain (December 3rd 2021)
Pokemon Legends Arceus (January 28th 2022)
Kirby and the Forgotten Land (March 25th 2022)
Switch Sports (April 29th 2022)
Mario Strikers Battle League (June 10th 2022)
With 3rd party exclusives such as Shin Megami Tensei V and Triangle Strategy supporting it.
Switch definitely has the much more consistent 1st party lineup of the three by far and this has been the case for most of its lifespan. But if you want to play 3rd party multiplatform games, you're better off with PS5, Series X or PC/Steam Deck as a lot of 3rd party stuff skips the Switch so it balances out.
@uptownsoul That's what happens when there's no evidence. Microsoft has been very much smoke and mirrors since 2017 so trust is probably wearing thin with plenty of people.
I feel the best route for Battlefield at this point is taking a long break from new games and do remasters instead (especially the 2 Bad Company games and Battlefield 3).
@Royalblues We already know about a live service Naughty Dog game, a standalone TLoU 2 Factions game which started off as a multiplayer mode for TLoU 2 but scope expanded such that it became standalone. But yeah, going deep into live service territory was the whole point of the Bungie acquisition.
@Royalblues Jim Ryan's made it clear that live service is the future he plans to take PS. For example 12 live service games for 2022 - 2024 is a lot (only 1 has happened so far (MLB The Show 22), for some reason he doesn't count GT7 as live service when it clearly is).
I'd guess stuff like GoW Ragnarok, Spider-Man 2 and Wolverine are games that were greenlighted before Jim Ryan took over and the big AAA blockbusters PS is loved for will eventually disappear.
@Cherip-the-Ripper Deathloop and Ghostwire Tokyo both have 1 year exclusivity but the absence of both in the showcase makes it seem like Microsoft can't talk about Xbox version until the exclusivity is over (September 14th 2022 and March 25th 2023 respectively) so there'll probably be a bit of a gap between the exclusivity ending and the Xbox release (I'd guess October 2022 for Deathloop for example).
@Cherip-the-Ripper I think it's probably connected to the FFVII 25th anniversary stream. If June goes by without FFVII Remake then Xbox is probably never getting it.
I ranked it C, saw the warning saying everything was revealed in Sunday's showcase and then they surprise give an update on a few games not in Sunday's showcase. I do feel that the main thing that prevented it from being better is the fact that Sunday's showcase was very disappointing.
It's rather odd seeing all these Halo crossovers but not much happening with Halo Infinite. Like at the Xbox Showcase, the Halo content wasn't some announcement for Infinite but rather the Pelican for Flight Sim.
I feel Microsoft still haven't gotten the balance quite right but they're getting there. If you took out Overwatch 2 and Diablo 4 the pacing would've been better.
I think Nintendo's going to announce it in a Direct, June's NSO Expansion Pack game ends up being the already announced Pokemon Snap (the last NSO Expansion Pack game that was revealed in September 2021) and then the next batch of games includes Goldeneye, Banjo-Tooie, Perfect Dark, etc.
My favourite announcement, FH3's Hot Wheels DLC was the best part of Forza and this has potential to be even better judging by the trailer and the blogpost.
@NEStalgia We actually currently know more for upcoming Playstation Studios games than Xbox Game Studios when it comes to games with release windows. Only looking at official announcements (no rumours):
Xbox
As Dusk Falls - 2022
Grounded 1.0 - 2022
Redfall - 1st half of 2023
Starfield - 1st half of 2023
PS
Spider-Man Remastered (PC) - August 12th 2022
TLoU Part 1 - September 2nd 2022
Spider-Man Miles Morales (PC) - Fall 2022
Uncharted Legacy of Thieves Collection (PC) - 2022
God of War Ragnarok - 2022
TLoU Factions 2 - 2023
Spider-Man 2 - 2023
You may wonder why I didn't include Deathloop and Ghostwire Tokyo, well 1 year timed PS exclusivity doesn't guarantee that Xbox release will be straight after the exclusivity ends. Also I included PC ports because Microsoft included AoE 4 in all those 2021 XGS lists even though it's not on console.
Anyway you'd hope things would be clearer on the future of Xbox after today's showcase.
Rare Replay for PC perhaps with the 360 games included in the collection rather than the Xbox approach of loading up the 360 games? Rare Replay and Halo 5 are the only non-Kinect XB1 games that aren't on PC and are still purchasable on XB1.
If true, this makes the July 2020 Xbox Showcase even more questionable. Microsoft really should've used the Nintendo 2020 approach back then and had:
Close 1st party content be shadow drop announcements (Tell Me Why, Outer Worlds DLC, Grounded)
Psychonauts 2 trailer be saved for 2021
The 3rd party games be in Microsoft's variant of "Partner Showcase"
The 1st party games with no release window saved for initial reveal in the 2022 Xbox Showcase (Forza Motorsport, Everwild, State of Decay 3, Avowed, Fable)
Halo Infinite delayed to holiday 2022 and gameplay reveal appear at the 2022 Xbox Showcase
@Daniel1221 @pip_muzz You could also interpret it that the crazier expansion launches in Spring/Summer and the normal expansion launches in Winter.
FH2 Fast and Furious - March 2015
FH3 Hot Wheels - May 2017
FH4 Lego - June 2019
FH1 Rally - December 2012
FH2 Storm Island - December 2014
FH3 Blizzard Mountain - December 2016
FH4 Fortune Island - December 2018
I do wonder though with FH4 probably being delisted in September 2018 due to 4 year licensing if expansion 2 ends up being Lego in Summer 2023 instead of a normal expansion.
@Bleachedsmiles Back in April it was announced that online co-op (network) was targeted for late August and local co-op (split screen) was targeted for some point during Season 3 (which starts November 8th).
@Krzzystuff There were a few areas that went on too long like the FH5 segment and the part between FH5 and Redfall but for the most part it had good pacing. Would say the Nintendo Direct was a better showpiece for how a showcase should be though.
I'd guess August release coinciding with the 25th anniversary, it would also fit in with the NSO schedule as June's game is almost certainly Pokemon Snap but nothing afterwards is known.
I think it'll be fine but those expecting answers to the long list of 1st party games announced in 2019-2021 with no release windows will be disappointed.
@somnambulance Feels like Halo Infinite, Everwild, Hellblade 2, Forza Motorsport, State of Decay 3, Avowed, Fable, Perfect Dark, Outer Worlds 2 and Redfall were announced way too early (Starfield and Elder Scrolls 6 also were but those were announced before the acquisition).
Given how all signs seem to be pointing towards Square Enix being acquired by Sony, I'd guess if the Epic exclusivity is longer than 6 months (i.e. if it doesn't release on Xbox in June) that it never comes to Xbox.
Only covering June 1st-7th suggests that there'll be shadow drop Game Pass reveals at Summer Game Fest on June 9th (not just the Xbox Showcase on June 12th).
I'd much rather prefer the extra power and I'd imagine at some point in the next few years there'll be some extremely power hungry games (judging by World, a Monster Hunter for PC/PS5/Series X|S comes to mind for example).
I'd say the original Xbox. It was big back in the day but the gigantic success of the Xbox 360 means the original Xbox is kind of forgotten about nowadays. XB1 is definitely the most disliked but even though I've had fun with it (mostly around 2015-2017), I don't think its done enough to deserve being called underrated.
Comments 1,067
Re: Soapbox: Forza Horizon Is Spinning Its Wheels, So Let's Bring Back The Best Racer On Xbox
While FH5 is a good game (and Hot Wheels is a good expansion), I agree that something felt off about FH5 but I'd say the same about FH4. I think it's down to the live service push, both FH4 and FH5's focus is the Festival Playlist (i.e. complete tasks every week to unlock new collectibles) meanwhile FH3 was centralized around the story campaign.
That live service push is the way a lot of Microsoft's games have turned towards like people don't even play the objective in Halo Infinite because they have challenges to unlock which involves killing with a specific weapon.
Re: These Seven Games Are Coming To Xbox Game Pass (August 2-11)
Game Pass lineup has looked rough since April, it does feel like Microsoft heavily relied upon Redfall + Starfield + Activision acquisition for this year (the former 2 of which are now 2023).
Re: Xbox Series X And S Have Been Next-Gen 'Market Leaders' In The US
@uptownsoul There was a massively different tone between the Xbox Showcases in 2021 and 2022. 2021 was "here's an insane amount of games coming to Xbox and Game Pass in the near future including a few highly anticipated 1st party titles" meanwhile 2022 was "everything got delayed to 2023 or later, everyone panic".
Re: The Exciting Prospect Of ActiBlizz On Xbox Game Pass Is Starting To Feel Real
I wonder if Microsoft will consider bringing back the backwards compatibility program. The vast majority of backwards compatibility Activision games are CoD (OG Xbox and 360 era Activision was so much more than just CoD unlike nowadays) but perhaps with the acquisition it'll make adding non-CoD easier.
Have another big batch of games including non-CoD Activision games and more non-Activision games alongside it.
Otherwise the big Game Pass drop after the acquisition is going to be like 20 CoD games and 6 non-CoD games which wouldn't be a good look on Xbox.
Still don't care about Activision games but the idea of backwards compatibility possibly returning is exciting.
Re: Your Xbox Series X|S Will Soon 'Boot Up' Even Faster
Series X load up is currently sluggish compared to the Switch so the update is appreciated.
Re: Talking Point: What August 2022 Xbox Games With Gold Do You Want?
With backwards compatibility games for GWG ending in October, I think having some games from the November 2021 batch for August and September would be a nice send off.
Re: Pick One: Which Is Your Favourite Forza Horizon Expansion To Date?
I'd have to give it to FH3 Hot Wheels, FH5 Hot Wheels felt too short in comparison and I liked both Hot Wheels expansions more than the other FH expansions I had played.
Re: Xbox Dev Teases 'Really Exciting' Future For Discord Partnership
Between the Xbox deal and the Playstation deal, it seems like Discord will be used as the solution for crossplay voice chat. Don't see Discord coming to Switch though as Nintendo did that NSO mobile app solution to voice chat.
Re: It Might Be A Mistake, But Far Cry 6 Is Being Advertised For Xbox Game Pass
@Bleachedsmiles Given 1st party is the only thing Microsoft can truly control, Phil Spencer is likely referring to the 1st party lineup in that comment. Their original schedule was probably similar structure to last year, something like:
Re: It Might Be A Mistake, But Far Cry 6 Is Being Advertised For Xbox Game Pass
@Rmg0731 Game Pass and PS+ Extra/Premium being essentially trials for their own subscription service which is coming to PS and Xbox later this year.
Re: Halo Infinite's Campaign Network Co-Op Flight Is Now Live
From the stream mission replay looks exactly how I'd hope it would be, looking forward to getting the rest of the skulls whenever the update goes live.
Re: Release Of GoldenEye 007 For Xbox Reportedly 'Still In Limbo'
If that is the reason, it likely won't appear until Nintendo gives Advance Wars a new release date.
Re: Xbox's Phil Spencer Celebrates 'Bungie Day', Shares Kind Words For The Studio
@shamirqushairi Insomniac for Sony, Monolith Soft for Nintendo and Playground Games for Microsoft.
Re: Xbox Game Pass In 2023: The Full List Of Everything Announced So Far
@darkswabber This article is about 2023, not 2022.
Re: Aaron Greenberg Teases 'A Lot More' Unannounced Xbox Games In The Works
@BAMozzy For Nintendo, the 1st party lineup for the same time period (E3 2021 to what would've been E3 2022) was:
With 3rd party exclusives such as Shin Megami Tensei V and Triangle Strategy supporting it.
Switch definitely has the much more consistent 1st party lineup of the three by far and this has been the case for most of its lifespan. But if you want to play 3rd party multiplatform games, you're better off with PS5, Series X or PC/Steam Deck as a lot of 3rd party stuff skips the Switch so it balances out.
Re: Aaron Greenberg Teases 'A Lot More' Unannounced Xbox Games In The Works
@uptownsoul That's what happens when there's no evidence. Microsoft has been very much smoke and mirrors since 2017 so trust is probably wearing thin with plenty of people.
Re: Battlefield To Bring Back Story Campaign In Future Title, Says EA Job Post
I feel the best route for Battlefield at this point is taking a long break from new games and do remasters instead (especially the 2 Bad Company games and Battlefield 3).
Re: Five Years Later, Game Pass Is Still Growing Alongside Xbox Game Studios
@Royalblues We already know about a live service Naughty Dog game, a standalone TLoU 2 Factions game which started off as a multiplayer mode for TLoU 2 but scope expanded such that it became standalone. But yeah, going deep into live service territory was the whole point of the Bungie acquisition.
Re: Five Years Later, Game Pass Is Still Growing Alongside Xbox Game Studios
@Royalblues Jim Ryan's made it clear that live service is the future he plans to take PS. For example 12 live service games for 2022 - 2024 is a lot (only 1 has happened so far (MLB The Show 22), for some reason he doesn't count GT7 as live service when it clearly is).
I'd guess stuff like GoW Ragnarok, Spider-Man 2 and Wolverine are games that were greenlighted before Jim Ryan took over and the big AAA blockbusters PS is loved for will eventually disappear.
Re: Halo: The Master Chief Collection Might Be Adding Microtransactions
The future of Xbox looks increasingly ugly, seems to be the case of everything you loved about Xbox is being killed off.
Re: After The Xbox Showcase, Game Pass Is Looking Stacked In 2023
@Cherip-the-Ripper Deathloop and Ghostwire Tokyo both have 1 year exclusivity but the absence of both in the showcase makes it seem like Microsoft can't talk about Xbox version until the exclusivity is over (September 14th 2022 and March 25th 2023 respectively) so there'll probably be a bit of a gap between the exclusivity ending and the Xbox release (I'd guess October 2022 for Deathloop for example).
Re: These 20+ Games Are Coming To Xbox Next Week (June 20-24)
Very weird that the 2nd half of June Game Pass games haven't been announced yet.
Re: Poll: What Was Your Favourite Moment Of 2022's Xbox Games Showcases?
Hot Wheels DLC for sure, the expansion itself looks fantastic and I'm also really looking forward to what the community is able to create.
Re: Two More Games Announced For PC Game Pass With June & July Dates
@Cherip-the-Ripper I think it's probably connected to the FFVII 25th anniversary stream. If June goes by without FFVII Remake then Xbox is probably never getting it.
Re: Poll: How Would You Grade The Xbox Games Showcase Extended 2022?
I ranked it C, saw the warning saying everything was revealed in Sunday's showcase and then they surprise give an update on a few games not in Sunday's showcase. I do feel that the main thing that prevented it from being better is the fact that Sunday's showcase was very disappointing.
Re: Halo & Fall Guys Crossover Leaks Ahead Of Free-To-Play Xbox Launch
It's rather odd seeing all these Halo crossovers but not much happening with Halo Infinite. Like at the Xbox Showcase, the Halo content wasn't some announcement for Infinite but rather the Pelican for Flight Sim.
Re: Reaction: Credit Where Credit's Due, We Got Plenty Of Gameplay At The Xbox Showcase
I feel Microsoft still haven't gotten the balance quite right but they're getting there. If you took out Overwatch 2 and Diablo 4 the pacing would've been better.
Re: Talking Point: When Are We Going To Hear About GoldenEye 007 For Xbox?
I think Nintendo's going to announce it in a Direct, June's NSO Expansion Pack game ends up being the already announced Pokemon Snap (the last NSO Expansion Pack game that was revealed in September 2021) and then the next batch of games includes Goldeneye, Banjo-Tooie, Perfect Dark, etc.
Re: Forza Horizon 5 Hot Wheels Expansion Launches This July On Xbox
My favourite announcement, FH3's Hot Wheels DLC was the best part of Forza and this has potential to be even better judging by the trailer and the blogpost.
Re: Poll: How Would You Grade The Xbox Games Showcase 2022?
I ranked it "D". The next 12 months is looking rather grim and the only exciting announcements in that showcase were:
The upside though is the absence of Goldeneye means there may actually be a Nintendo Direct in the next few days.
Re: Rumour: The New Forza Motorsport Won't Be With Us Until 2023
@NEStalgia We actually currently know more for upcoming Playstation Studios games than Xbox Game Studios when it comes to games with release windows. Only looking at official announcements (no rumours):
Xbox
PS
You may wonder why I didn't include Deathloop and Ghostwire Tokyo, well 1 year timed PS exclusivity doesn't guarantee that Xbox release will be straight after the exclusivity ends. Also I included PC ports because Microsoft included AoE 4 in all those 2021 XGS lists even though it's not on console.
Anyway you'd hope things would be clearer on the future of Xbox after today's showcase.
Re: Rumour: Banjo-Kazooie Revival To Be Announced At Xbox Showcase 2022
Rare Replay for PC perhaps with the 360 games included in the collection rather than the Xbox approach of loading up the 360 games? Rare Replay and Halo 5 are the only non-Kinect XB1 games that aren't on PC and are still purchasable on XB1.
Re: Rumour: The New Forza Motorsport Won't Be With Us Until 2023
If true, this makes the July 2020 Xbox Showcase even more questionable. Microsoft really should've used the Nintendo 2020 approach back then and had:
Re: Fresh Doubt Cast Over The Existence Of 'Gears Collection' For Xbox
It would be a shame if it isn't real, the 360 games have big issues with the multiplayer. Matches that aren't only bots are filled with hackers.
Re: Xbox Plans To Release At Least 5 Exclusives Within The Next Year
@themightyant As Dusk Falls is still under the Xbox Game Studios branding though so it's probably counted.
Re: Xbox Plans To Release At Least 5 Exclusives Within The Next Year
As Dusk Falls, Forza Motorsport, Redfall, Starfield, Gears collection
Re: Forza Horizon 5's First Expansion Has Leaked On The Steam Store
@Daniel1221 Hot Wheels was a separate map from the main Australia area in FH3 so maybe you get taken to the same island?
Re: Forza Horizon 5's First Expansion Has Leaked On The Steam Store
@Daniel1221 @pip_muzz You could also interpret it that the crazier expansion launches in Spring/Summer and the normal expansion launches in Winter.
FH2 Fast and Furious - March 2015
FH3 Hot Wheels - May 2017
FH4 Lego - June 2019
FH1 Rally - December 2012
FH2 Storm Island - December 2014
FH3 Blizzard Mountain - December 2016
FH4 Fortune Island - December 2018
I do wonder though with FH4 probably being delisted in September 2018 due to 4 year licensing if expansion 2 ends up being Lego in Summer 2023 instead of a normal expansion.
Re: Forza Horizon 5's First Expansion Has Leaked On The Steam Store
The Hot Wheels DLC in FH3 is my favourite part of the Forza franchise so this would be fantastic.
Re: Halo Infinite 'Campaign Network Co-Op' Flight Begins This July
@Bleachedsmiles Back in April it was announced that online co-op (network) was targeted for late August and local co-op (split screen) was targeted for some point during Season 3 (which starts November 8th).
Re: Report Details 'Several Big Xbox Announcements' Happening This Thursday
@Snake_V5 Because Summer Game Fest is on the 9th, there'll be plenty of people who intend to watch Summer Game Fest but not the Xbox Showcase.
Re: Xbox Expected To Feature 'A Lot Of Gameplay' At Next Week's Showcase
@Krzzystuff There were a few areas that went on too long like the FH5 segment and the part between FH5 and Redfall but for the most part it had good pacing. Would say the Nintendo Direct was a better showpiece for how a showcase should be though.
Re: Someone Recently Unlocked An Achievement In GoldenEye 007 For Xbox
I'd guess August release coinciding with the 25th anniversary, it would also fit in with the NSO schedule as June's game is almost certainly Pokemon Snap but nothing afterwards is known.
Re: Talking Point: What Are Your Expectations For The 2022 Xbox Games Showcase?
I think it'll be fine but those expecting answers to the long list of 1st party games announced in 2019-2021 with no release windows will be disappointed.
Re: Xbox Game Pass Will Be Getting More 'Surprises' In June 2022
@NEStalgia I think Sony's strategy for non-mobile will be:
Re: Fable Producer Responds As 'Downscaling' Rumour Gains Traction
@somnambulance Feels like Halo Infinite, Everwild, Hellblade 2, Forza Motorsport, State of Decay 3, Avowed, Fable, Perfect Dark, Outer Worlds 2 and Redfall were announced way too early (Starfield and Elder Scrolls 6 also were but those were announced before the acquisition).
Re: Xbox Game Pass Will Be Getting More 'Surprises' In June 2022
Given how all signs seem to be pointing towards Square Enix being acquired by Sony, I'd guess if the Epic exclusivity is longer than 6 months (i.e. if it doesn't release on Xbox in June) that it never comes to Xbox.
Re: These Six Games Are Coming To Xbox Game Pass (June 1-7)
Only covering June 1st-7th suggests that there'll be shadow drop Game Pass reveals at Summer Game Fest on June 9th (not just the Xbox Showcase on June 12th).
Re: Xbox Dev: We All Miss Snap Mode, But I Don't Think It's Coming Back
I'd much rather prefer the extra power and I'd imagine at some point in the next few years there'll be some extremely power hungry games (judging by World, a Monster Hunter for PC/PS5/Series X|S comes to mind for example).
Re: Talking Point: Which Is The Most Underrated Xbox Console To Date?
I'd say the original Xbox. It was big back in the day but the gigantic success of the Xbox 360 means the original Xbox is kind of forgotten about nowadays. XB1 is definitely the most disliked but even though I've had fun with it (mostly around 2015-2017), I don't think its done enough to deserve being called underrated.