Jordan1278

@fatpunkslim Technicaly both games avowed and outer worlds 2 were very good. Outer worlds 2 at least from a technical standpoint was very impressive, maybe the best use of unreal engine 5 i have witnessed so far, so i don't think that what you say about obsidian's games being technically inferior is valid.

Avowed was a magnificent game my favourite this year, i also liked outer worlds 2, can't say i was thrilled though.

Really loved this game, the best game i have played this year, beautiful world and characters that you get attached to, well writen story and characters and maybe one of the best and most addictive combat systems i have experienced in a first person rpg. Congratulations to the developers.

What are you talking about i live in Europe and series x consoles have completely vanished from stores, they are not available anymore, you can't even find the series x with a disc drive in stores, digital series x never even appeared in my region and noone from Microsoft cares to explain to consumers why this is happening. These people just don't seem to care at all.

Microsoft should at least exhibit the minimum of respect towards its customers which are not only potential buyers of its current and future hardware but also buyers of everything xbox related, including software(games) subscriptions etc, by clarifying why the hell its consoles are nowere to be found in retail stores, its like they don't even exist anymore, especially the series x and this phenomenon occurs globally. At least they owe us an official explanation why is this happening. I am an owner of both a series x and s and having great fun with both consoles, but this attitude of theirs pieces me of so much that next generation not only i am not going to buy a Microsoft console, i doubt if we will be able to find one with the loss of trust that retail stores have towards Microsoft, but i am also not going to buy anything xbox related games, subscriptions nothing at all. I am going to do that because and i don't think i am a minority here i want to play xbox first party games on my xbox console, why buy an xbox first party game when my playstation will have more than enough of its own first party games to keep me busy. What those big executives at Microsoft don't seem to get is that the damage that they have caused to their hardware market and brand as a whole, will push away customers not only from their hardware but also from everything xbox related, games, subscriptions, everything. Their strategy is going to prove to be destructive, hardware is the pillar on which everything else is based upon, if consumer trust in your hardware is completely lost, all else is going to gradually deteriorate as well. Thats called brand damage and this has a negative effect on everything related to your business not just hardware.

The big question is, supposed i want to buy the new xbox console, is going to be supported the way it should by the parent company? Is it going to be easy to find in the physical retail stores or because retail stores have lost trust in the brand, it will be difficult to even find it available? Personally i will keep a close eye of how the machine is doing in its first year after launch and then i am going to decide whether to buy the new xbox or not.

The series x i will say it one more time is non existent in retail stores, either retail stores have completely lost trust in the brand and they just don't have them available anymore or Microsoft has slowed production of the console. I believe that my first assumption is closer to the truth or maybe both are correct. With that attitude towards their hardware business i really cannot fathom how this company is going to sell its next gen console. Another weird thing regarding their marketing tactics is that since they profoundly don't care whether they sell consoles or not its like they don't even care if they sell gamepass subscriptions, because increasing the sales of their consoles would mean new gamepass subscriptions.

Will we be able to find this supposed next gen xbox console on store shelves when it comes out or is it going to vanish in a couple of years like the series x has? The series x has turned into a ghost console, it is supposed to still exist but no retail store has it available. Whatever these people at Microsoft say has no credibility to the consumer any more and this is because they have severely damaged the xbox brand. I own both the series x and s and i am really loving their hardware and that's why their complete disregard for their products piece's me off.

Its holiday season and they didn't not even bother to offer even a basic discount on the series consoles, not to mention adverise them on tv or any kind of promotion whatsoever. They have complete disregard for their current hardware and thats the reason why they have damaged the xbox brand as a whole. Thats not going to help them sell their nextgen hardware. Their marketing was and is still is a mess, very difficult to interpret their way of thinking.

I have seen footage of ass creed shadows on the series s and it looked very impressive, i think series s has its limitations but in general its a very capable machine considering its price tag. When games are well optimized fot it the results are pretty good.

Thats very nice to hear because i really love playing on my xbox console. It be nice to know though why for example the series x console has completely vanished from retail stores. I am saying that because if you want your next gen hardware to suceed you must also treat your current hardware with respect.

Very useful article and pretty impressive lineup indeed.

Is it possible to play the game solo;

The way this company treats its hardware its no surprise hardware sales keep falling. The fact that is most indicative of this situation is the fact that retail stores are emptying their selves when it comes to series consoles which is really a same. Specifically the series x from what I am reading is almost impossible to be found, this is really a shame for such a capable machine.

I am really fond of the company but the fact this title is one of many multiplayer focused titles that fail should be a cause for concern for companies that keep creating these type of games(multiplayer,live service etc). People loved alan wake 1 and 2, that's why they were also commercially successful, same with control,people are eager to hear about its sequel. Maybe consumers prefer more single player,.campaign focused games.

Surely some of those rumors are fake or exaggerated but the reality is that Microsoft has had such a terrible marketing and messaging that they have severely damaged consumer trust in their brand as a whole. This will not only make it difficult to sell their current or next gen hardware but also anything xbox related, this is why damaging your brand is the worst thing you can do to your business. They have made one mistake after another these last few years in their messaging,the level of incompetence of those managing the brand is something that you don't see very often, its really disappointing...

The words weird and irrational are the ones that perfectly describe Microsoft's marketing. I have been a console gamer since childhood, its the first time a company is silently withdrawing a console from the market without even having launched the next one. This is what is happening, they probably have significantly slowed or even halted production of series consoles and that's why its difficult to find them in stock. They should at least inform consumers that they are doing so out of respect for those that have bought their machines and keep supporting them, i own both a series x and series s consoles having completely skiped ps5 this generation, maybe i was wrong. The big question here is why should anybody bother buying a new xbox console first party or third party since Microsoft is treating its hardware like that. They should at least realise that besides further confusing and disappointing their consumers the worst thing is that they are losing the trust of all the point of sales of their products, meaning the various retail stores. This will result in Microsoft launching a new console and most retailers would not even bother to add it on their stocks. I see no ratonale in Microsoft's actions.

I live in Greece and while up until now there has been no stock shortage in major retailers, while you can relatively easily find series s consoles, the series x is nowhere to be found. Really it difficult to understand what these people at Microsoft are doing.

Doom the dark ages!

I said it before, i will say it again owning a series console is the greatest value for money a consumer can find at the moment. Yes xbox's first party games are coming to other consoles too but this doesn't change the fact that series owners can play these games day one for free with gamepass ultimate while on ps5 or switch they have to pay full price. Especially if you consider that xbox's first party studios are on fire puting out high quality games at a constant pace this raises the value of the series consoles even more, i really don't get it why people don't understand this. Microsoft's confusing messaging is to blame for this. Lastly, like you said in your article there are lots of games on xbox that are not available to other consoles yet and they have been on the market for a long time.

I really loved Avowed, so a dlc for that will be very good news. Also some news on Everwild would be nice.

I really like their hardware and its a pity their console strategy is getting more and more confusing. Owning a series s or x console is good value proposition mainly due to gamepass, especially if you think that their studios have launched a lot of great games to the market the last couple of years and they are going to have a constant stream of great games in the near and distant future, games that the consumers will be able to buy just by having a gamepass ultimate subscription, while on other consoles they will have to pay 80 dollars or more after the recent price increases. So yes i would consider buying a series console because i still think its great value. Lets not forget that Sony also raised its prices and so did Nintendo.

Microsoft once again does everything in its power to NOT sell its consoles. I have never seen such an an orthodox marketing from a corporation before! Its really a pity for the people that like playing games on their platform. They really don't give a damn about their hardware, instead of lowering their prices or at least keep them stable to make it more enticing to consumers they try to push people away from their consoles even more..

Its the olny far cry title i haven't played. It would be interesting to play it on gamepass but i suppose the graphics are going to feel really obsolete, its a decade old game. Maybe if they had upgraded the graphics a bit it would be more enticing.

I agree as an xbox series x owner the specific promotion felt a bit weird. We xbox console owners should not forget though that we are going to be playing this game for free through game pass ultimate, while on PS5 they will have to pay 70 or 80 euros(i am from Europe) to play it. Same thing goes with many other great first party games, some of which are still exclusive to the series consoles and pc like avowed which by the way is excellent and south of midnight which is also very good,starfield etc,etc.If you put aside the "console wars" mentality that exists for decades and seriously think about it the series consoles have the strongest support than any other console at the moment being also the greatest value for money a consumer can find these days. Why buy a Ps5 when i can play every Microsoft first party game day one and for free on my xbox console plus loads of excellent third party games(clair obscure for example) some of them also day one on gamepass. Yes Microsoft wants to make money like everyone else, Nintendo for example is putting out games at prices way above average but if you think about it Microsoft's new strategy benefits the xbox console owners more than anybody else and my opinion is that maybe because they can afford it, their xbox platform(series consoles) is by far the most consumer friendly out there.

I am playing Avowed and i am having a great time with it. The game has a captivating world with wonderful graphics, interesting characters, amazing world design and one of the best combat systems i have seen in a game. I don't understand what a hell is wrong with some reviewers that did this game injustice. Gamespot scored this game a 6 if i am not mistaken, which is extremely unfair for this game, in my opinion it deserves at least a 9 out of 10. I am playing it with gamepass ultimate and still i am seriously considering buying it. Thus far its the best game i have played this year.