Comments 2,639

Re: Xbox Fan Shows Off White Digital Series X Ahead Of Upcoming Launch

JayJ

Personally I am not a fan of white consoles, they rarely seem to age well, yellowing over time seems to be all too common. It's partly why I went out and bought a black 1TB Series S while I still could pick one up new, I wanted to get the xScreen attachment and have an all-in-one travel Xbox and I think it just looks so much cleaner all black.

Re: Forza Motorsport Celebrates One Year Anniversary With Major Update

JayJ

Well I guess they're finally making this more like the game it should have always been. What a mess it's been though, terrible launch and I am still not a fan of the always-online requirement. Yeah you can technically play it offline but in doing so you are basically playing a bare basics demo version of the game without any of the cars you bought and customized.

Re: Review: Starfield Shattered Space (Xbox) - Bethesda Fumbles A Big Chance To Reignite Starfield's Thrusters

JayJ

@Banjo- It's funny how they removed one of my comments, especially considering how I usually try to be mature and respecting but honest. I guess they really don't like me being critical of Hookshot and IGN around here.

But yeah, PJ has often been one of the critics here at Hookshot sites that I find myself usually disagreeing with. I mean that's just life, you won't always view things the same way as others, but I think it's wise to take note of people you often have polarizing views with so you know to not take them as an authority on how to view things. That's just the nature of media though, there is no true correct or wrong opinion.

Re: Five Games Will Leave Xbox Game Pass In Early October 2024

JayJ

Everspace 2 is the kind of game where it could never really hold my interest, especially when I got games like No Man's Sky and Starfield that actually have planets I can land on and a lot more depth. I think the roguelike elements to the first game was what gave it it's own appeal, which is lost in this sequel. Still, it can be fun for some space combat as it's really focused on that.

Scorn was a really interesting looking game with a cool looking art style but I hated playing it. It's like they tried to make it look like it could have been a fun FPS when in reality it's just a really slow and morbid/depressing first person puzzle game.

With the F1 manager games it's like I really like F1, but I only really enjoy it as a game when I can race the cars.

Re: Talking Point: Xbox's Forza Horizon 2 Changed The Open-World Racing Game 10 Years Ago

JayJ

I still like going back to the game. A total classic. Looks great on the Series S with an xScreen. Forza was the reason I was such a fan of the Xbox One back in the day, there was nothing quite like it anywhere else, even the mainline forza games were in a league of their own that gen, as GT7 basically took the entire generation to release, and I now consider it to be more of a PS5 game than anything.

Re: Xbox's Sarah Bond Initially 'Clashed' With Phil Spencer When Working Together

JayJ

@GamingSince84 Yup some people are simply always trying to fish for any excuse to hate on Xbox and it's like if you want to do that on some Playstation or generalized gaming site, whatever, but to be coming to Xbox sites and doing that, it's like do you really expect to not experience any pushback? They're the kind of people who are always looking for any excuse to start a fight only to cry foul when someone tells them to stop or go away.

Re: Poll: How Much Would You Pay For An Xbox Series X Pro?

JayJ

Honestly I wouldn't even bother right now given how few games we got that seem to demand that. I'm at the point where I would rather just invest in a gaming PC if I am going to be spending a lot more money like that on another game console that doesn't offer any sort of new platform for me. These existing consoles have been expensive enough for what they are as it is.

Still, $600 with a disc drive would be far more appealing than Sony's $700 console without one.

Re: Reaction: PS5 Pro's Extortionate Price Justifies Xbox's Lack Of A New Console

JayJ

Keep in mind how the $700 price tag doesn't even include a disc drive or vertical stand. With those two items added, plus tax, it comes out to about $900. NINE HUNDERED US DOLLARS! Even more expensive for people in Europe apparently.

That's just ridiculous for a game console. Might as well just put that towards a gaming PC. The Series X seems to standout as having the best value right now. With the PS5 Pro you will need to count upon developers coming out with a new "Pro" mode update to take advantage of it for the games you like. Meanwhile if you got a gaming PC you can just instantly take advantage of the power it has with any game simply by adjusting the settings yourself.

I have no idea why anyone would bother with one of these, especially given how few games we got this gen that seem to truly push the existing consoles to the max.

Re: The Crew 2 Is Discounted By A Ridiculous 98% On Xbox Right Now

JayJ

Well if they add an offline mode I guess that won't make it a bad purchase, but we'll need to see it first. I have no idea why it took them so long to finally allow us to play our games offline, especially when the majority of their experience is single player anyways. I actually really like the concept for The Crew and it's sequel, better maps than Motorfest as well. A shame they couldn't come to their senses with the original, but I guess the company hitting hard times financially has made them reconsider their strategy. For a dollar though hard to go wrong here if you got any interest in racing/driving games.

Re: Review: Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown (Xbox) - An Open World Racer That Needed More Time To Shine

JayJ

@norwichred Yeah modern gaming has definitely become a real mess, between all the always-online requirements and the seemingly constant mega-patches that can sometimes be bigger than the entire install for a game, it's just a real pain in the butt sometimes to try and keep up with new games. I have also been going back to old 360 games lately and been finding it amazing how much more fun they can be. Back then games simply worked right off the disc and they just seemed to make them more enjoyable as well. You had a finished product right away and didn't have to worry about a need for constant updates or online services. That and I think the 360 really aged well, being made for early HDTV's they still look good on a modern 4K display.

Re: Review: Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown (Xbox) - An Open World Racer That Needed More Time To Shine

JayJ

I loved the TDU titles, still love to play them to this day, but I had my doubts about this one. First problem I have is the always-online requirement. That killed The Crew and I am pretty sure it's going to eventually result in a situation where the first two TDU titles will still be playable while this will one day not be.

Then there's simply the fact that this isn't made by the same people, and it's probably going to feel like a game that's cashing in on the reputation and fanbase for the first two games.

I mean what I really love about the first two games is how real the driving felt. Like the maps were basically a 1:1 representation of the real island locations, a mile of driving and distance was true to life, different locations spread out really took as long to drive as they probably would IRL. It's the only open world game I can think of like that. Playing The Crew really showed off the difference there, where everything is scaled differently and the distance between locations was nothing like it is IRL. I mean sure that was a compromise that needed to be made as they had basically the entire US as their map, but still, definitely took away from what I liked about TDU.

Re: It's Been 365 Days Since One Of The Biggest Releases Of The Xbox Series X|S Era

JayJ

I always absolutely loved the concept of this game. Elder Scrolls and Fallout has always been my thing, and this is basically those games in space, and I love space games. Only problem was how rough it was at launch, but you know what was also rough at launch? Cyberpunk. Guess what, I also consider that to be one of the best games this gen. That's the thing about these games, and I think everyone forgets how rough Skyrim and Fallout 4 were when they launched as well. It took a while to become a game I would want to play regularly, but it appeals to my interests like nothing else right now.

Re: Forza Insider Program Launched By Turn 10 To 'Drive The Future' Of The Series

JayJ

Sadly I have given up on the new Forza Motorsport already, and not due to a lack of me giving it a chance. I downloaded it back when it launched, deleted it, then downloaded it again months later after it supposedly had some big game changing updates. Still disappointed, deleted it again. Now I'm just done, moving on and going back to Gran Turismo 7, Assetto Corsa Competizione, and Forza 7 for my track racing fixes.

I say this all as a massive Forza Motorsport fan since the series originally launched. The always-online nature of it is what really ruined it for me. Getting rid of the leveling requirement really helped me enjoy it some, but at the end of the day, not having access to any of my cars if the game is offline is what makes the whole thing feel like a waste of time and effort.