I played Project Gotham Racing games to death on my OG Xbox and the ability to add my custom music to it as well. Got me through many a tough time. He will be sorely missed!

I think the other two will follow at some point (Nintendo will be last by a mile though) but probably in a different form with some caveats. Sony's disks not having the right serial I'd whatever the wording is to do it, they'll have to R and D their method to get it right so can see why MS are straight out of the blocks with it. But eventually they'll all follow suit in some way.

@Tasuki I mean I'm not sold on her either yet but your Asha hate is worryingly strong mate 😂 anyone would think you'd met her.

I get it - she's giving lip service at a time when things are being gutted. But she's either fixing problems caused by the previous leadership or she's adding to it. No one outside of MS really knows which way it swings yet. So I'd give her time.

@Banjo- like I say. Don't think too much of it it'll just get to you.

There are more divisive subjects out there right now. Climate Change etc. but this one is definitely right up there. Article alone was always going to divide opinion but rightly it's relevant to Xbox and posted here.

@Banjo- don't worry too much about it. When you talk about remote working vs in office it's touching on wellbeing and work life balance which is such a divisive subject in itself no matter what you say and how you word it, it is going to rub people up the wrong way. If I'm being honest with you looking at the comment I probably wouldn't have said it in that way but like you say it's a feeling. You are entitled to it as much as the others responding to you are entitled to theirs.

Like @Weebleman said and they are spot on. Don't go back and defend it it'll just wind you up. It's out there now. People will agree/disagree/get wound up. That's the internet.

Imo big tech should be pioneering being productive working from home. They are in the best place to do it. But it's an opinion. It's one of those subjects where people will always disagree.

It's always a minefield when articles go up about in office working Vs remote. Opinions are just far too divided on it. Always ends up with arguments.

@Sindayl If you have a link that says otherwise fair play but none have been more aggressive toward Sega than Nintendo. 90s proved that 😂 now that was console wars.

@Banjo- I would have thought Hulst getting let go would have preceded it. But it looks like someone somewhere high up at Sony is driving some sort of let's go back to basics initiative.

That can only be a good thing for gaming overall though whether you like them anymore or not.

My worry is what happens when those games hit and don't get the sales they are expecting. That's where the challenge is no matter if you are Sony or MS.

@Sol4ris couldn't agree more. When one falls. The quality overall will drop. Maybe not as much Nintendo these days they have diverted into their own space but the other two need to keep each other on their toes for quality to stay high.

@Mr-Cage also an element with both games of let's slag these off and drive clicks and website traffic which is kinda sad.

Starfield was a slow burner but I think it got damaged by all the hype. People expected more. Wolverine seems to have suffered from the same unfortunately!

@Banjo- I'd go as far as to say with their output Insomniac have carried Sony in this gen to an extent (Sucker Punch, Team Asobi and Housemarque have certainly helped of course) Beyond a remaster for example Naughty Dog have put nothing out. Nothing from Bend, Media Molecule etc.

I think they were entitled to play safe with Wolverine but everyone expected Spiderman ie open world free roam and all that jazz but I don't think the Wolverine universe suits it and they have taken flack for it which I don't think is fair.

I do believe the rumours around Sony recently wanting to revive dormant IPs though. May not say it openly but I do think they realise and are reacting to the negativity. Problem is they don't talk openly beyond investor calls these days. And they should have seen the negativity coming in the first place.

@fatpunkslim fair mate. I said in a reply to another comment ultimately it's all subjective isn't it? Hence I said I think you are overthinking. Maybe I'm wrong and you aren't time will tell! You have to back your own opinions though as I do mine and I respect that.

@fatpunkslim You are overthinking it.

Wasn't a viable option for Sega to bring them success? Yes it was. Was it forced yep but not viable? Look at them now. They have had a lot of success from it.

There isn't as much balance for Playstation either. They are reliant on hardware sales to be successful. They need a more closed ecosystem to do that. Microsoft are not anywhere near as reliant on that with Xbox.

Let's not forget Microsoft make a lot of money in the PC space outside of gaming. Xbox games going on PC doesn't hurt them in the slightest that's why Play Anywhere is such a win-win for them. Neither Sony or Nintendo could do something like that and not lose money somewhere.

@Sol4ris I think eventually Wolverine will be brought up to the same volume. It's all expectation and hype that does the damage.

Everyone expected Starfield to be on the level as the next Elder Scrolls. Everyone expected Wolverine to play the same way as Spiderman. Both got caught up in over hype and expectations and definitely in the case of Wolverine the leaks didn't help. Lots in common with both.

@Grumblevolcano that's fair and a good point. It's all subjective tbf so entitled to disagree with me and you make some really good points around the games with gold piece.

I'd certainly say Xbox Live while behind a paywall certainly paved the way with how online console gaming can work and work well though. Remember the PS2 online and how cumbersome it was?

@Sol4ris he's never been a fan of GP no loves to knock it 😂

Xbox has always been good at disrupting for the better though eh? Would PS Online and Switch Online be as good as they are if Xbox Live didn't change the narrative with how it can be done right? Nope.

Would PS Plus have improved without Game Pass existing and being as good as it is? Nope.

His underlying argument is sound and has some merit. But I don't think GP is relevant to it.

Xbox came in to disrupt and challenge an in the main, Japanese controlled industry. They are trying to disrupt again in a different way now. They'll always be good at that.

@fatpunkslim I agree with you for the most part but I also think you missed his point to a degree especially when you said PS4 proved him wrong. Which easily done tbh as the quote in the article is as clear a mud.

When he talks about being a publisher Vs a platform I think he's referring to being a multi platform publisher on console Vs being an exclusive platform. In that sense if you take PC out of the equation I think he's right it's difficult to do both.

He's also been out of the game for a while (no pun intended) and he's trying to stay relevant as you say so I do mostly agree there.

But the underlying argument of it being really difficult to be successful as a console platform and still publish games on other consoles and it's better to pick one over the other? He's not overly wrong there. Sega picked a lane in the end and it worked out really well for them in the long term.

If anyone is financially best placed to navigate both and make it work though absolutely that's Microsoft.

IGN and it's obligatory 8/10 as we can't be arsed aside (got to be some memes about their 8's floating around somewhere surely) had this preordered as a bit of gamble as a Star Wars nerd seems like it'll pay off thankfully!

@Banjo- I mean as soon as you mentioned the word Metacritic I ignored the rest tbh. Swear blind some will down review games on there just to drive attention to their respective sites.

Gears has never grabbed me sadly myself. I am not into cover shooters never will be but that's a taste thing. I have followed the franchise though so seems like they have gone back to the basics that made the first few tick which can only be a good thing.

@Mr-Cage I'm a Man Utd fan so I second you on the suffering with that one at the minute 😂 I'd say could be worse could be Spurs but watch them beat us on 10th haha.

Aye, the politics around the industry itself was probably worse in the early 90s to be fair but social media just makes it spread quicker these days and it's everywhere you look sadly.

Even down to the little subjective things like avoiding a game because x reviewer hates it.

@Mr-Cage problem is even those with experience in finance fabricate bs for clicks these days 🤣

Can't really trust anything you read these days. Kind of a case of just enjoy the games and what will be will be tbh lol.

@Jenkinss literally agree with every point you made there mate (not rambling either only way you could have put it)

But - it still wouldn't surprise me if MS moneyhatted exclusivity on this one despite tightening finances. Nothing surprises me with what MS and Sony both do anymore frankly.

@Banjo- hit the nail on the head there. And the incessant stream of Windows 11 "security updates" every day I log on at work I have to patch something 😕

I'm gonna catch a fair bit of slack for this.

Did we not know this was coming?

Sure its base on insider information but eventually they will have to cash in on the subs who go all in expecting everything day one

Game Pass is and still will be for a long time the bes sub deal in gaming but eventually MS will want to make more from it and those who were assuming first party games would stay day one and " free" - you are who they want to make money from.

@RTGX agree but looking above I have just got two people with engaging points well.....engaging

As I see it job done. Addressing your original point. You have to isolate PC and console gamers to a degree. Console gamers buy their preferred machine to do one thing - game.PC while it has as gamer base there is also a core who buy one to compute. So it doesn't compete directly in the gaming space in the same way.

Case and point while it will come to PC inevitably gamings biggest moneymaker coming on Nov 19th is skipping PC for now.

@RTGX it's speculation. Fraser may have insider info but they can always switch that up as we have seen in the past. She's been put in there to fix problems Phil created but I'd argue all he did was fix problems Don created (if you get the reference)

@Banjo- I bridged the two of you and yep Apple is the most limited but lets not get away from the original point. If you want pure gaming without the bs PC is the place to be. It's just also the most expensive.

Xbox want to bridge the gap - fine. But even if they don't most PC gaming rigs use Windows anyway so they still benefit regardless.

It's a win-win situation so they are focussed now on PR stunts to make Sony look bad. Money wasted. They are doing that on their own.

@RTGX nearly got the tag right it's @Banjo- done it so he can see.

Not at all. Your point was completely valid. If anything I only chipped in myself so it didn't get caught up in all the biting back going on in other posts 😂 it's mental.

I too have a PC spent loads on it but only use it for work which is where I come from with gaming platform side of things. It's not a console it's a computer. So PC gaming for me sits in a separate platform on its own. I don't think it competes with the rest because frankly as I'm sure you'll get, it doesn't have to.

@RTGX it's fine. You were both coming at it from different directions with similar opinions.

Far more civilised than the usual biting at each other we see on these sites (including this thread sadly) quite rare.

You just saw PC as a gaming platform when commenting. It's fine. I'd argue PC maybe isn't in that conversation as it's serves more than gaming. Xbox/PS/Switch are pure gaming platforms so when you look at what the best gaming platform is it's natural to only focus on those 3.

I'm probably going to get some PC master race replies no doubt but I know it won't be from you lol.

@Sol4ris now now Sony Defense is a term that should have died ages ago 😂 not that I disagree.

Flip it the other way though. His games since he left Konami are still awesome imo but haven't been huge on sales and cost a massive amount to make.. So is he wrong him having been better off at Konami in that sense? Maybe not.

@trev666 the amount of money they are going to have to throw to fund it - I can.

@Banjo- yeah the days of putting imo etc after everything should be over.

This one was different though. They had a good point too just came at it from a different direction. Civilised difference of opinion for a change.

As for the sock account looks like they have been here for a few months and I'm bored at work so thought let's test the sockness 😂

@YF28 There is one way to go back to a negative comment but that isn't it.

That's broad and disrespectful to imply all the people laid off were redundant and bloat (unless you happen to work high up at MS and can correct that of course) talking about people's livelihoods there fella.

@asdfghjklz she will have been involved in the lay off decisions but it won't have been her call. That is Satya's. She's been put in there to fix the brand rep (whether or not Phil did a bad job of course is always up for debate) and so far she's doing ok.

@RTGX I think you are right but I would suspect when he said best gaming platform he's referring only to console.

PC as a format isn't just a gaming platform as it isn't it's core function. I'm making an assumption but I doubt he was including PC in that comment. Which could mean in theory (and yep it's personal opinion) you could both be right at the same time. Mind blown 😂

@Jenkinss I would be surprised if it wasn't exclusive. He didn't just lean heavily on Sony's resources with the Decima engine he will have leant heavily on their Sony Pictures arm too.

MS will have to invest heavily to cover all of that. They've got the cash to do it but I would be surprised if they do that and let it go outside of Xbox/PC

I have it pre-ordered. I understand where the Push Reviewer was coming from with the combat but tbh Witcher 3s combat wasn't perfect. It's also something that can be tweaked via patches further down the line after fan feedback. That's the one plus of patches - gameplay tweaks.

Devs have been clear they want this to become a franchise even already teased the sequels so I'm expecting post launch support to be pretty active anyway.

As if the pre GTA 6 backlog wasn't bad enough 😯 this is going to have to be included for me lol

@somnambulance wouldn't put it past them but in this case it's unlikely. More likely they just have a marketing deal on it when it gets a release date.

@NishimaruX I mean console wars died in the 90s for me. Outside of Mega Drive Vs SNES (ohhh that was aggressive) if someone is pegging that fair enough.

Shooting the dog though? Leave that out of it lol.

@NishimaruX that's a bit harsh.

Fine someone maybe pro MS perhaps overly so. That's their opinion. But bringing death references into it. You must have had one hell of a spat with them at some point lol.

@fatpunkslim wouldn't worry mate. We may sometimes disagree but no issues with how you phrase your views. They get across.

@Yooka-Laylee last comment I think or we are both going well off topic lol.

I work in recruitment and yeah effort needs to be made there when using AI for CVs/resumes and whathaveyou.

I don't think the same effort needs to be made to forum comments. It's the content and opinions that matter there not the writing style.

@Yooka-Laylee he has mentioned before in previous comments English isn't his primary language.

Whether you agree with his opinion or you don't I'd cut him some slack on that bit. Won't be the only one using AI to engage on forums. It's very common.

@Bob_Tempura I remember when he first spoke about Project Ego that ended up being Fable and that famous quote "see a mountain in the distance, you can walk to it" pitched as open world - delivered as hub based. Classic 😂

Can't ever fault his enthusiasm though.

@Balaam_ the economies of scale are far more acute in gaming than in fast food. That's a really bad analogy.

I kinda understand what you are trying to get at though. But it's more complicated than that. If you look at the budgets involved in games these days they have gotten astronomical.

So for better or for worse. Got to stick to what sells.

@fatpunkslim similar to what happened with Lionhead really. Especially under Peter Molyneux. Great creative brain - less so on the practical side.

MS admitted as much as the time it was closed they were managed badly. Luckily this time they picked the kinder option and let them back out as an indie.

@MrStark the only criticism you could level at MS in this case is that they gave them too much freedom.

Problem has been since Psychonauts their output has been too niche to sell well in the modern market. That should have been recognised in my view when managing the studio.

To flip that the other way though. That's exactly why they are cutting studios loose now. To fix mismanagement and bad financial decisions.

@MrStark Ah fair. To be honest it was the last one (I think?) to have a disc drive that pulled out like a draw I was glad they sacked those off with XB1. PS2 and 360 both had issues ruining discs.

@MrStark Quietest console I ever owned was my OG Xbox. I was surprised as it was massive at the time but nigh on silent. Still is now.

Every Xbox 360 you bought? Did RROD get you there? I replaced mine 4 times but the machine itself as you say relatively quiet.

Problem with PS consoles has always been where the vents are and where air can get out. Series X for example if you have it vertical the vents being at the top of the console just works.