Krzzystuff

Just rolled credits on Quantum Break and I'm finishing up the alternate paths on a Injustice 2. Then I'm doing a pallet cleanser with Planet of Lana or HiFi Rush before I start MK11 finally. Take that backlog!!!

Bought the series X for gamepass. Was saving up for a PS5 and then I just got won over slowly by gamepass and the back compat. No looking back since then.

@Savage_Joe I don't think they will be making a Series S like console next gen. I expect it will be a replacement for the X and maybe a streaming only device but from a developer standpoint it's just one console to develop for.

First party needs to show off what the S can do to prove to the community it's not the box, it's just lack of Dev time being committed to it. As others have said already Xbox is the smaller install base and requires extra work so they won't be prioritized, they will likely need to work with devs earlier in the process to show them how to easily utilize the S. But by showing it running a next gen game at an impressive performance should take an excuse away from the console warriors that it just can't do it.

@InterceptorAlpha the black series s isn't a different SKU for the devs as it's the same guts with more memory. Series S is the majority of the sold consoles so it's not getting replaced. They won't be making a third SKU with different guts. This is it for the gen asides from more memory and maybe smaller sizes. Sorry but your idea is horrible, you're thinking that basically killing off support for the majority of your install base is a valid plan? I'm not sure if you're serious but if you are.... you're not good at business.

@InterceptorAlpha how would adding a 3rd sku make things better? The S is here for the whole gen and it is what it is. They won't do and "pro" versions this gen. Maybe more storage, smaller sizes, but same specs.

@Sol4ris I do think if it was just the X we wouldn't be having these delays though. So yes they are in 3rd but if it wasn't for the series S they wouldn't be holding back these titles. The S is still the weak link in the chain. It's why I really hope 1st party can deliver on it.

@RazputinAquato either way, the series S better shine on first party games to show that it's the devs not the system. And I don't think they will have 2 skus again. Likely a stream box n a proper system so there's just one to develop for.

@Pimpernel I definitely don't think we'll be getting two skus again next gen and expect the cut off between the generations to be much faster. It does seem that devs are still focusing on PC n Sony first and Xbox is being left to the end due to the series S.

I hope that first party can show some great stuff on the series S to show what it can actually do when it's utilized.

They are definitely returning a lot of titles previously in the service. Seems lighter offerings until the quarterly big game(s) drop

@InterceptorAlpha the S is the larger install base so it's not going anywhere. I'm not techy so can't actually say if it's holding things back or if it's just more work but I do wonder if they will have the 2 sku approach again next gen. We will have to see if first party can actually start utilizing all the features talked about at launch and show that the S can handle current gen games. I believe it's hard for them to send support teams since they haven't utilized it internally yet from what we've seen.

But it's here to stay for this gen and adding more SKUs won't make things better as the base Series S will still exist in the market.

@Feffster I just got my email for the one month GPU code and my buddy got his like 5 hours ago. So it's all going to be processed today just give it some time.

@Cacky_Raphael they did reinstate it for a few hours but it turned out that they accidentally loaded 3 month codes for the price of one month. Hasn't been up since they took it down again. I have points ready to go for more GPU time so hopefully it's reinstated at some point. I have over 2 years stacked but would like to just keep it going.

Trying to wrap up Quantum Break. Just finished act 4 so on the last one now. Really a fantastic game.

Lot of folks were speculating that Square was supposed to be purchased by Xbox before ABK once the poorly redacted details got spilled on acquisition targets. So if Square was expecting to be purchased and all of a sudden they were left high n dry it would explain the rumours about their relationship getting really poor and it being xboxs fault. Also might be why square had to offload the NA studios on the cheap just to get debt off their books. A bit tin foil but timing seems to line up.

Does anyone have that ability to buy GPU gift cards with rewards points or is it out globally? I know they put the 1 month cards back as an option a few weeks ago but it was actually 3 month codes so they took em down again.

I think it's cuz it had 2 female leads out of the 3 videos? Lol not sure what level of trolling he was going for

@x3King84 pretty sure this is just to save face for the CMA. They could have closed around them but that would definitely give them a lot of unwanted bad blood and scrutiny in the UK when they do their next acquisition.

Personally I'm petty and think they should have closed around them and just not changed anything in the UK until the CMA decision. They sat on their hands until the last second and then started to try and actually work on a solution when they realized they were going to be stuck holding the hot potato. Now the rest of the world has to wait because they failed at stalling it out of existence. Thanks Nigel!!!

I don't get fomo so it's odd to me to play extra to play something a few days earlier. If you are into that go for it. Ill likely play it months after as Q4 is always crazy with work and my gaming time will shrink.

Yeah they had alot of complaints about the text size from the beginning. I can understand your frustrations with it.

Was planning on playing Avengers story at some point, I'll see if I can squeeze it in but i still haven't finished Ascent either lol. Ah well

@Markatron84 it's definitely Fitbits issues but for a small studio they definitely did a great job hopefully they learn from this one and make a great overall game next time. Graphics were amazing but it had difficulty spikes, small text, and it was really annoying that you can't adjust your weapon upgrades afterwards. I didn't realize you could only fully upgrade one weapon until I was well into the game and already upgraded some weapons from earlier in the game.

So thing about this is that regular console gamepass is a great deal now because you don't need gold on top of it but GPU is basically getting a price hike because you getting gold included was a big part of the savings. So this better keep the prices locked in for a bunch of years.

I'll give the game a go but the type of game isn't my jam really. Currently the climax of ABK is just killing anything else in gaming it seems and then starfield is stealing the show after that. I hope they do some marketing push for the game and I'm sure it will be a hit in the sim racer crowd....but definitely not a game for casuals.

They definitely need to keep making great games for select fans vs trying to get mass appeal on everything so I'm hoping the sim racers are pumped.

Pretty sure this is a way for the CMA to save face here. MS will close the deal over the weekend/Monday and CMA will determine that the additional remedies that they strongarmed MS into make the deal viable. They got a victory for consumers....CMA rules!

@Wilforce I mean they chose a judge for a trial and after she didn't give them their way because they couldn't fabricate convincing arguments they are trying to appeal. I don't know about stifling innovation but she's definitely after a personal agenda. I agree that large corporations that take advantage of employees and tax breaks aren't good for the world. But not sure this is a battle against that here.

Anyways, who's excited for Diablo in gamepass?

@GuyinPA75 I'm pretty sure Kahn is going before Congress tomorrow abd is at risk of contempt of Congress (no clue what that is) if she doesn't provide requested documents related to other FTC dealings. Pretty sure the government is backing her on either side as this is about American companies merging with an openess to unions. At this point can she be held liable for mishandling of tax payers dollars? Really is a personal agenda regardless of facts.

@GamingFan4Lyf it's all about Diablo! And StarCraft.... bring StarCraft to console

I'd wait for the actual announcement from Xbox then listen to anything that the CMA or FTC say as they clearly have no clue what's going on here and just make stuff up to suit their needs.

If Sony has a deal that specifically mentions no CoD in gamepass then yeah it won't happen unless Xbox decided to break that deal and pay Sony a fee. But these are multi year marketing deals usually right? When would they have signed it last, were they doing anti gamepass clauses then?

It could be 2025 but it also could be day n date, it's all about the contract.

@Banjo- I think the "concessions" will just be the exact same deal that MS agreed to with the EU. I don't see Microsoft giving them anything significant ad in all honesty it's the reputation of the CMA that's looking to save face here and needs MS to throw them a bone.

What I'm actually curious about is whether that 10 year deal is still available for Sony or if it's gone now. Sony needs to decide if they want to share all their fantastic engineering (I still think they slapped that thing together last minute to boost it's power) with Xbox for the next CoD. It's no longer Xbox holding CoD from playstation, it's going to be playstation refusing it or bending the knee and sending them dev kits over.

Aaaannnnndddd it's a done deal finally.

Diablo is coming to gamepass!!!! Except for those currently under the CMAs protection? Clearly they gotta do a settlement as MS was already signaling they would close around them. World knows the UK is an island.... don't need to highlight it in this merger.

I've recently taken a day off to just play games to chill out. Quickly discovered that my adult version of a day to play games was from 8:30-2:30 cuz gotta get kids from school at 3.... adulting sucks.

They definitely had some fantastic deals/way's of getting you into Gamepass on the cheap. This is a very drawn out version of the drug dealer saying that the first one is free to get you hooked on the product. Gamepass is still a massive value proposition to most folks even at regular price, but a price increase always sucks.

Again, if you have MS reward's in your area start using them abd get free Gamepass that way and look out for the discount sales for the 3 month cards. I haven't seen them in Canada but I know that the US seems to get deals on them at least once a year.... w*******

I've tried it for a quest the last time it was in GP but only played a bit. Driving sucked ass is what I recall.

@Sol4ris I wish I had gamepass when I was a kid....then again I might have turned out a lot differently in life if had all these games and time to play them.

It sucks end of the day but they already said it's coming and it's a corporation doing corporate things. If you have rewards in your area use them for free GPU time, 10.5K points if you auto redeem. I have almost 2.5 year's stacked and it keeps growing. So going to play for free for as long as I can.

@Belkan lol at the rate I play games it will likely take me a decade to finish a single playthrough.

I wasn't pumped for this game at all originally because I tend to avoid long games due to limited gaming time...but man after that direct I'm going to have to get into the game.

I'll likely wait a bit post launch to complete some more of the backlog to allow for some patches but I think I'm going to be putting some time into this thing.

So with the CAT being very annoyed with the CMA abd their blatant attempt at stalling this deal out of existence will the deal be in a closable state of the judge rules in favour of Xbox here? They can just close and move forward?

"How did Bikini Bottom get so mucky?!"I'd tell you but I'd probably get banned. Just open for so many inappropriate comments here.

@Suda52 so Sony by locking up Starfield without buying Zenimax is totally organic and okay but MS buying Zenimax and making it exclusive is bad?

Xbox was in a situation where they had to buy publishers to secure content so they did. Now it's Sonys turn to react. They will be more than okay, don't worry. Jimbo said so

@GuyinPA75 value is different to everyone. I absolutely love gamepass and wouldn't be gaming outside of crappy mobile games without it. Thing is we both get to choose how to spend our time abd money. We're both correct even though we're on completely opposite sides of the spectrum. You do you, I'll do my thing and so will everyone else. But it's good to realize that a lot of people enjoy gamepass and it's great for them.

@Suda52 they don't have the same amount of coin but they didn't and still don't have an issue paying and using their market power in console gaming to keep games away from Xbox and making it a weaker console.

If Phil didn't convince Satya to invest in Xbox it's pretty clear they would have folded and there wouldn't be a Gen 9 Xbox. So now they have that investment and Sony just has to reap what they sowed. They can compete and will do so... resulting in more value for their gamers. They will lose market share and that will force them to react. Sony isn't a victim here, they just a bully realizing they ain't that tough after all.

@Krysus Redfall was all under the Zenimax guy so that one's on Phil n that guy no booty. Also with that mentality having him in acquisitions would empower him more no? I thought he was I charge for all the games as well and wanted his head as well after the Redfall incident, still don't know who was to blame for Halo, but he just looks after the pre Zenimax Xbox studios I'm pretty sure. So Halo launch debacle aside they've been rather good.

@Suda52 legit Sony was spending Xbox out of the market with the exclusivity deals. The punching bag hit back and Sony is the victim all of a sudden? Both are corporations after our money so one shouldn't ever befriend either but come on...Sony is getting some of its own medicine and all of a sudden Xbox is a bully lol. I say keep hitting back. End of the day real competition is only beneficial for the consumer and Jimbo already said that they "will be okay, more than okay" post merger.

PC stuff aside....it's good news for me n my series X? If it was partnered with Nvidia would my console experience be worse off? Or us this a console nothing burger?

Lol i like how it's "hopefully". It's a cost cutting measure and it also kills the second hand market for a one n done game. An accidental benefit is less plastic waste but that's just a byproduct of the financial benefits.

@Hellostranger having things exclusive to gamepass sounds like a horrible idea.

@Fishticon wait....if it's not a cult why did i have to drink green Kool-Aid????

If you're fortunate enough to be in an area with rewards points you can be playing for free or almost free. I have 2+ years of GPU stacked up and it keeps growing. Personally gamepass is what really brought me back to gaming so I'll be subscribed to it for the foreseeable future. Can't say forever cuz you never know what a corporation will do.... but for now.... no plans of unsubscribing.

FTC is getting completely destroyed in this case. I honestly wonder if their lawyers even believe in their case. It's supposed to be about competition and consumers but absolutely everything has been about Sony. I don't know if I've heard them mention a customer once (i haven't listened to the whole trial to be honest).

I don't know if this will even require that last day of testimony, we might actually have a verdict in June on this.

Question now is....will Diablo be in gamepass before summer is finished?