MX vs ATV legends, Red Dead Redemption 2 & GTA V expanded and enhanced edition.
If I was allowed a top 5 I'd keep the same 3 as above but add Starfield & Diablo 4. This collection of games would keep me content on an island for sure.
RDR2 alone is a staggering accomplishment in world design, gameplay & storytelling. Truly one of the BEST games of the entire Xbox One /PS4 generation. I've done one playthrough back in 2021 on PS5 and now I'm currently on my second playthrough this time on XSX (it's absolutely brilliant, it looks and plays so well on Series X way better than it does on PS5 mainly due to the broken HDR on PS5 and the upscaled checkerboard upscaled 4K (PS4 pro version) compared to Series X that runs the game with a native resolution at 4K resolution at 30fps with no HDR issues. I'm absolutely amazed RDR2 hasn't been patched or remastered for Series X. It's such an amazing game that it deserves more love than it's gotten. Although we know Rockstar was working on a remaster for current gen it was shelved in order to "put all hands on deck" for GTA VI. I'm hoping after GTA VI is released we get a remaster it even an expanded and enhanced edition lol!
Diablo 4 is another game I have fallen in love with, I didn't know if I was going to like it very much but man was I wrong. I'm so glad it came with my Series X lol the replayability with that game is great & if you add on online functionality then you have endless fun.
GTA V is the best selling game of the last 15 years. It's remarkable to think about honestly, I beat the game when it first release on PS360, then I beat two more times on PS4 & now I've replayed the story twice with the expanded and enhanced edition. Once on PS5 and Once on Series S. I am planning on another playthrough at the end of this year this time on my Xbox Series X lol it's a game I enjoy playing and beating about once every 18 months or so. Every time I play I discover something I had never seen before and it really is incredible to think GTA V was developed on PS360 consoles. Just imagine what GTA V could've been had they had the power of the Series S back then yet alone XSX/PS5 lol it's incredible to think about the impact that game has had. GTA VI will be on another level when it's released simply because it will be made from the ground up with current gen in mind. Sorry got carried away lol.
Starfield is another game I was on the fence about until I actually sat down and sank time into it. Now 170 hours later I have traveled the galaxy and beyond. The game has been so much better since the release of the 60fps patch on Series X then I have begun my NG+ playthrough although I'm on a break to enjoy some other games but I will absolutely be back especially once shattered space DLC hits.
TLDR Xbox has some brilliant games I'd enjoy being stuck on an island with, happy gaming ✌️
When it comes to hardware I genuinely hope we see the Xbox Sebile controller revealed for a holiday 2024 release. That controller has the features that should've launched with the Xbox Series X|S. I think it's high time Xbox updated their base controller the same way Sony went from the DS4 to the Dual Sense controller.
My second hardware wish is a stretch I know, but I would ABSOLUTELY LOVE to see an Xbox handheld console. I want a portable Xbox that can play my entire library of games. I've invested in the Xbox digital ecosystem since the 360 era and the thought of an Xbox handheld console that can play all those games is enticing. I haven't gotten a steam deck cuz I don't use steam and even though the ROG Ally is great with PC gamepass, I'd much rather have a dedicated portable Xbox console. If the console launched with an AMD Z1 Extreme or it's successor with at least 16GB of LPDDR5X RAM along with a 512GB Gen 4 NVMe SSD. The console would be able to run games natively & would be a day one purchase for me.
As far as games go, I'm so HYPED for Gears of War 6! I've been a fan of the series since day one & Gears 5 definitely took the series up a notch. The game is incredibly beautiful and the gunplay is still solid, the story was better than I expected it to be so it's exciting to see where the series goes from here!
Next up is something I don't expect to see but would definitely like to see more of and that's the Fable Reboot. The Fable Trilogy is one of the most memorable games from my childhood and I'm excited to see more.
State of Decay 3 is one of my most anticipated Xbox games. I NEVER expected State of Decay 2 would infect my life for a couple hundred hours but it surely has. There's something about it that just feels really good, it's not too realistic & I think that's what makes the survival effect much more fun.
Last but not least is the rest of the games I'd like to see updates on! Tower borne, 33 Immortals, clockwork revolution, Outer worlds 2, Stalker 2 Heart of Chernobyl, everwild, contraband and south of midnight. There's so many amazing looking games coming to Xbox, I can't even begin to stress how excited I am for the showcase lol I really hope we something cool shadow dropped (Starfield update). I'd also like to see the old COD games be added into the gamepass library.
@FraserG while Geoforce Now is great & the idea of being able to play PC games on console is really freaking cool. It seems results may vary. what I'm EXTREMELY excited about is being able to play your PURCHASED Xbox Series X|S games via Xbox Cloud Gaming. We know Microsoft has been working on this feature for some time now but all we have is "we're hoping for a 2024 release" as far as a release is concerned. While remote play serves me incredibly well, some places Xbox cloud gaming just works better. I'm guessing it has something to do with server locations and stuff like that. I hope we get more information soon, it's been almost 2 years since the announcement of being able to play your owned library of games via Xbox Cloud Gaming.
@Banjo- you know I've noticed the past 12 months the anti-Xbox rumors have spiraled out of control. People literally make stuff up & the certain "gaming news sites" run full fledged articles based on BS rumors. It's ridiculous and I tell people, trust me you don't want Xbox dead. If PlayStation was the sole high end console maker, the games industry would be screwed because they'd corner the market and make us pay even more than we already do.
I truly believe Xbox is on an upswing. If we look at quality releases for 2024 Xbox takes the cake. Hellblade 2 while not the best game ever is a good game. Avowed I have a feeling is going to be a lot of fun to play, Obsidian tends to make games I enjoy so I'm optimistic about it! It's also REALLY cool to see COD under the Xbox umbrella for the 1st time in over a decade. Whether people want to believe it or not COD is going to boost Xbox significantly. Half of the PSN player base is still on PS4, Xbox is in a great spot to take advantage of those gamers. Offering COD on gamepass PLUS an entry level console that outperforms the PS4 for a fraction of what a PS5 costs there's a real opportunity to get players on Xbox. I was brought back to Xbox through the Series S & since then I've gotten a Series X plus got my wife a Series S. The Xbox ecosystem IMO is superior to that of PlayStation & this is coming from a PS5 owner who enjoys PlayStation games. Anyways there's a TON of positive possibilities and opportunities for Xbox in the coming months and years and I'm excited to watch Xbox bounce back from all the negative drama.
My Original Xbox never died in the 6 years I had it, I was also one of the few lucky ones who got a launch day Xbox 360 that lasted 6 years before I replaced it with a 360 slim. Xbox One day one edition lasted from launch day until last year when the HDMI went out. That 500GB launch model lasted a true decade with ZERO issues. I've had my Xbox Series S for 2 years now with no issues and I take that console with me when I'm out of town. I've had my Xbox Series X almost 6 months now & it's probably the sleekest best designed console I've ever owned. My PS5 on the other hand, I've had almost 3 years now and it's HOT AF all the damn time lol, never had an issue but it definitely runs hotter than the Xbox Series X. Long Live Xbox ✌️
@Banjo- I'm right there with you. Gamepass ultimate has given me the ability to play games I would've NEVER gone out and bought. It's completely expanded my horizons especially as far as indie titles are concerned. Even though I'm subscribed to XGPU I still purchase new games that aren't on the service and even some games that are on the service for example I own Diablo 4, Star Wars Jedi Survivor, Dead Island 2 & Starfield. I still love owning games & gamepass just adds even more value to the Xbox ecosystem for me personally. In fact, I've been purchasing most 3rd party games on Xbox instead of PlayStation lately mainly because I've found better prices on Xbox (CD keys also). Also the fact that everything I bought on 360 & Xbox One was there for me immediately when I got my Series X|S consoles is just amazing. Anyways, gamepass is brilliant and Xbox is awesome! Can't wait for June 9th ✌️
@BIG3 I'm right there with you, I don't think it's necessarily GoTY material but it should at least be nominated. Nija Theory succeeded in telling a beautiful yet horrific story (over the course of 2 games). Hellblade 2 specifically showcases what can be done when you take people who are passionate about their art and allow them to work together to build something unique and masterful. Hellblade 2 is NOT your typical "game" in fact I went into it with s blank slate and open mind. I told myself this is an experience and when you look at it that way the game hits better. Art is absolutely subjective but for me there's no denying that Hellblade 2 is a fantastic piece of art!
I started playing Starfield again last week in anticipation of the new update. I've got over 100 hours with the game and I can honestly say this new update is a game changer! The 60fps performance mode on Xbox Series X is so much better than I had anticipated. I honestly expected something similar to what we got with Fallout 4 but damn I couldn't have been more wrong! Starfield is now smooth as butter, I've yet to see a dramatic drop in resolution even when fighting a bunch of enemies & the only issues I've seen so far is the occasional hiccup which again isn't as bad as I expected it to be. Aside from the performance of the game, the quality of life improvements are staggering. The updated maps actually make the game far more accessible & it adds much needed depth to actually find places you may have skipped over with the old maps. Finally the biggest and best update for me is changes to gameplay, I have made it to where my character can carry a substantial amount of stuff without becoming encumbered. Even though this does -6xp I negated that drop by making ground enemies slightly harder.
Overall Starfield is much more fun to play. The game looks great, 60fps is smooth as butter & the quality of life updates make it a game worth investing time into. Starfield is a game with so much to do, explore and kill. The main quests are amazing and the side quests are just as good if not better! If you haven't given the game a shot and you enjoy Bethesda style RPGs then I definitely recommend it! Happy gaming ✌️
@Banjo- while I absolutely LOVED the original Dying Light I actually enjoy the sequel better, now this hasn't always been the case. At launch the game was in an extremely rough state BUT over the past 2 years the game has been fleshed out (pun intended) in so many ways. They've updated the parkour movement so advanced players can run with zero assists, although assists are there for players like me lol they've added new enemies, characters, stories and best of all firearms. The game truly feels like the Dying Light sequel is fan deserved. I hope you guys play the 1st one fall in love and get to experience the 2nd one! Happy gaming ✌️
I'm actually right there with you! I watched that entire interview and nowhere did it seem like she was hinting at "moving away" from Xbox hardware, in fact the contrary. I'm actually really bummed out by "Pure Xbox" lately. Most of the articles they post now just criticize our platform to hell & the comments section is filled with ppl who'd like to see Xbox die. For an Xbox centered website it's honestly pathetic. Why not write articles about the new Xbox mobile store launching in July or how Xbox actually has some good games planned for 2024. NOPE let's "read between the lines" and make a nothing burger for click bait. SMH pure Xbox used to be so great cuz I'd come in here and see people that actually enjoy Xbox & their games and now it's become a place to "hate everything Xbox" cuz it's the cool thing to do lol every major game websites are doing the same thing. "Death of Xbox" I can tell you right now if Xbox dies leaving Sony in charge of the high end console market we're all effed in the AAA!
Also the shutting of studios is heartbreaking, it's not an Xbox problem though it's a games industry problem. 2K (GTA, Red Dead Redemption, NBA 2K) just had massive layoffs. Embracer just shutdown a bunch of studios. And PlayStation shutdown studios less than 6 months ago and made massive layoffs even to studios like insomniac who's been carrying the PS5 most the generation! In fact it happened right after Spiderman 2 broke records for PlayStation. Everyone acting like Xbox is a villain it's capitalism that demands growth at all cost. It's Microsoft executives answering to share holders, it's not the 'Xbox division' making these decisions. I feel bad for all the devs that lost their jobs and not just from recent Xbox closures but from industry wide layoffs. It's extremely sad our industry has come to this challenging time but I truly believe it'll rebound just as it has before. I just wish people could see that the industry itself is hurting right now.
@NEStalgia thanks for the response, I'm glad someone else feels similarly as I do regarding the whole situation. I'm not abandoning ship because I've got decades invested into the Xbox ecosystem just as I have decades invested into the PlayStation ecosystem. I hope when the June showcase comes we get some more insight into what exactly they're planning going forward. I know from the 2021 showcase until now we have some amazing games coming to Xbox! Something that absolutely NOBODY talks about lol anyways, Long Live Xbox & happy gaming ✌️
I feel like Xbox only ever gets negative criticism no matter what they do. They release exclusives like Halo infinite, Forza Motorsport and Starfield and the immediate articles following are negative. Microsoft decides to put some community driven games on PlayStation and switch and immediately it's negative doom and gloom. (Sony is doing the exact same thing, games aren't making ENOUGH time as exclusives which is why PlayStation exclusives are being brought to PC platforms but when Sony does it they're cheered as opening games to more people). Microsoft announced their Xbox Games Showcase & rather than let fans be excited immediately news outlets take a Jez Corden theoretical tweet as 'insider sources' and run negative articles for a 24 hour period before backtracking but the damage was done. I've NEVER seen the industry skew this hard towards the death of a successful gaming company in my 25+ years of gaming.
It's extremely irritating and unfortunate all at the same time. I'm a PROUD Xbox owner. In fact this generation has been the best Xbox generation to emerge since the 360 days, after watching the 2022 Xbox showcase my wife and I went out and bought 2 Xbox Series S consoles. When we did that three of our gaming buddies went out and bought their own XSS consoles so we could all play amazing games together. Late December, I decided to get the Diablo 4 Series X bundle & man I'm so glad I did. I genuinely love the Xbox ecosystem, the backwards compatibility, the fact I can purchase digital games outside of the Microsoft store, the fact I can play so many Xbox 360 games with added bonuses like auto HDR and frame rate boost, not to mention the party chat features on Xbox are superior to that of the Switch or the PS5. I should also mention my wife and I also own our own PlayStation 5 consoles, why? We love gaming lol but as gamers we can also see when something just isn't right & since 2022 I've witnessed a high percentage of articles criticizing Xbox as of their evil capitalism methods are some how much worse than Sony's evil capitalism methods but in honesty I'm not sticking up for corporations because they don't care about us, they only care about shareholders & their bottom line.
I'm trying to bring the Xbox community together to stand up and say hey, we love our Xbox consoles! There's millions of us & it bums me out when I see so many comments on mainstream gaming sites claiming the Xbox community is non existent & nobody plays Xbox & nobody cares if Xbox dies, well that's not true. I care, not for Microsoft or corporations, but for gaming. If Xbox were to die leaving Sony as the sole high end console maker they would control the market and without competition they will screw over consumers WORSE than they already do! (They recently removed Horizon Zero Dawn from PS Plus extra because it's speculated they're going to release a HZD remaster, so don't allow gamers to play the game on the catalog make them buy the remaster) Practices like that would only get WORSE without Xbox. We've seen the leaked documents showing Sony wants to charge more for games and the likes of that.
Anyways TLDR, I don't want Xbox to die. Also, I'd like the Xbox community to stick together & be kind to one another. I hope people takes time to think about how many great experiences Xbox brings to gamers around the world and without it, the gaming world would absolutely be a darker less fun place to play. Long Live Xbox, happy gaming! ✌️
I use quick resume on just about every single player game I play! MX vs ATV legends, Gears of War, Red Dead Redemption 1+2, GTA 4 + GTA 5, plus just about every Xbox 360 game I own I use quick resume with. It's probably one of the BEST next gen features of them all imo, it really feels magical to pick up EXACTLY where you left off like nothing happened!
@ParsnipHero I'm right there with you, Halo Infinite has steadily become better and better over the past couple years since launch. Firefight has truly added another level of awesomeness to the Halo Infinite experience. I'm excited to see where 343 takes the next Halo entry, until then Halo infinite is my go to for an extremely smooth, modernized Halo gaming experience.
Control Ultimate edition on my Xbox Series X is on another freaking level, I originally beat control on my PS4 pro but the next gen update REALLY has made the game so much better looking! The atmospheric dread that lurks around the corner and the ever changing house of horrors keeps you on your toes. Control is a fantastic game and the ultimate edition gives me DLC I've never played before so cheers to gamepass ultimate once again knocked it out the park! Long Live Xbox, happy gaming ✌️
It's a shame Microsoft dropped the ball with the Xbox one because the Kinect really was an incredible piece of tech. Unfortunately the poor marketing, horrific DRM policies & lack of gaming focus put a major hamper on the Xbox one.
If things were different and the Kinect was utilized as well as it was during the 360 era I'd absolutely LOVE to see what a modern day iteration of Kinect could do when connected to the Series X|S. I could only imagine how cool the Kinect could've been paired with modern camera tech, AI tracking, facial recognition & the significantly more powerful hardware of the Series X|S (compared to the Xbox One). I'm sure DEVS would've come out with some super cool games! Wish we could've seen what Kinect was truly made of, it's super cool to see it used to this day!
I fully expect Microsoft to ensure the future of Xbox hardware. If they don't the speculation alone will do massive damage to the brand. I fully expect them to announce certain games going multiplatform but NOT all of Xbox 1st party games will be available on other systems. I think it'd be a shame to see the demise of Xbox hardware and the ramifications would be extremely negative especially when you consider how awful Sony has been recently to its PlayStation fans. If PlayStation was the ONLY high end console maker they'd fully be able to control the market and they already want us paying $100/game so the Xbox competition is good for the gaming community. Long Live Xbox
@FraserG so what happened to Microsoft rewards? Those points were pivotal for my family as we used those points to help us get gift cards to put towards games as well as Game pass Ultimate, I noticed they really nerfed the rewards app and it's like WTF man those points were making gaming more affordable for my family. I'm glad we still get points for purchases but it's sad they're making earning extra points harder
My 2023 Xbox GoTY list: Diablo 4 Phantom Liberty DLC Jedi Survivor Baldurs Gate 3 Alan Wake 2 Hogwarts Legacy Dead Island 2
My list isn't necessarily in order because you can't compare a game like Hogwarts Legacy to a game like Diablo 4 lol that being said, 2023 had some fantastic games released. 2024 looks to be another stacked year & I'm hoping we start to see the fruits of Microsoft's studios buying spree. The Xbox exclusives for 2024 already look better than PlayStation, in fact I'm extremely disappointed with my upcoming PS5 games list. The only thing I'm looking forward to is Final fantasy 7 remake part 2, Sony hasn't announced any 1st party exclusives for 2024 either so there's not much to look forward to IMO. With Xbox 2024 looks a lot better with Avowed, Stalker 2, Hellblade 2 and south of midnight. There maybe even more Xbox exclusives but these are the ones I'm personally interested in! Long Live Xbox, Happy gaming ✌️
@BacklogBrad after watching Phil Spencer on that 30 minute podcast where he outlined what to expect regarding the acquisition of ABK, I truly believe that Xbox is going to make Activision better. Phil Spencer literally said, "I want to empower the DEVS so that they can make the games they WANT to make. I want them to know failure is okay, we at Xbox want you to be free to take risks and make the games you enjoy making." After I heard him say that I got TRULY excited. For almost a decade now Activision has delegated it's devs to focus on assisting in the development of COD to ensure $billion dollar annual releases. I hope Microsoft allows the DEVS to step away from assistance with COD so they can focus on games they want to make, whether that's bringing back existing IP of development of new IP altogether, the possibilities are so much better under Xbox leadership than it was under Activision. I believe the future is bright for Xbox, we've seen them consistently double down on games and 2023 was the first time I saw an Xbox showcase that had more 1st party single player exclusives than PlayStation has which is really a testament to Phil's direction of Xbox. Sony is now struggling since Jim Ryan made everyone focus on Games As A Service for the last 3 years and we're now finally hearing about studios being upset because it's not what they want to create & they're having trouble because the studios have no idea how to make GAAS games. This is the reason we've seen factions all but cancelled because it didn't fit the "love Service" mold that Jim Ryan wanted which is why they put Bungie on as support but it's still not looking good. It's going to take Sony a while to bounce back from this major blunder while Xbox picks up the slack and is releasing incredibly brilliant AAA games for the next few years. I'm definitely excited to be apart of Xbox again! I got my Series S last year and it's the 1st Xbox console I've owned since I got rid of my Xbox one in 2015. Long Live Xbox ✌️
@JetmanUK same here I wish I had gotten them day one edition but back in 2013 I got the PS4 day one & about 9 months later is when I finally picked up my Xbox one. This current generation I'm rocking both the PS5 + Xbox Series S combination which has been brilliant TBH. I was expecting the Series S to be an awful console (due to online hate) but I've been pleasantly surprised. I'm also extremely stoked on the future of Xbox, they have so many amazing games coming over the next 2 years while on the PlayStation side I have nothing to look forward to and I doubt it'll get better knowing Jim Ryan mandated 60% investment go into live service games while only 40% goes into the kind of exclusives that made PlayStation the powerhouse it is today. Extremely unfortunate, Long Live Xbox ✌️
I truly believe cloud gaming will control to grow especially within the next 10 years. Internet access is getting better by the year even in rural America. I live in a tiny Oregon town that had only satellite or 1 cable provider as options, over the course of 5 years we now have multiple ISP and I now have gig speed fiber Internet, something I couldn't fathom 8 years ago when I moved here. This is just one example and I know a massive amount of Americans don't have access to high speed Internet but it has been steadily improving. With Star Link proving low orbit satellite Internet is good enough for online gaming & the fact that Amazon is launching their own AFFORDABLE low orbit satellite Internet which is great for people living where they don't have access to high speed Internet.
I personally use Xcloud way more than I anticipated. I use it to try out games before downloading them to my Series S, I also use it to play games on my Galaxy Tablet when I'm not home. Streaming games has gotten so much better over the years and it's only going to get better as time goes on. I'm glad Microsoft has made Xcloud available to it's gamepass ultimate subscribers & I can't even imagine how awesome it'd be to play Activision games via the cloud. I imagine playing through classic COD campaigns right from my tablet lol Long Live Xbox ✌️
@OldGamer999 people told me to wait until level 20 to play mantis but I did it at level 15 and it wasn't too difficult. Reading this list I'm halfway through the main quest at 30 hours (I've done a few side missions so maybe like 25 hours spent on the main quest) still crazy though. I'm scared to finish the main quest but I have to remind myself this isn't like other games, I'll still have tons of stuff to do lol (this is my first Bethesda game). Starfield has become my favorite game of 2023 beating out Hogwarts Legacy. I plan on playing this game as long as it keeps me entertained. Happy gaming ✌️
Xcloud is one of my favorite features of my gamepass ultimate subscription. I stream games on my Xbox to conserve precious SSD storage space or to try a game before downloading it. I also use the Xcloud feature when I'm away from home, it works extremely well on my Galaxy Tab S6 lite which has a 10.1inch HD+ display. I haven't tried starfield on Xcloud yet as I've been enjoying it on my Series S but I'm sure I'll play the cloud version at some point. I'm honestly extremely grateful for cloud gaming. For instance, Forza horizon 5 is one of my favorite racing games but it's too massive to have installed on my Series S so for the last 6 months I've been playing Forza exclusively via the cloud & it plays extremely well.
Side note, Starfield is my favorite game of 2023 beating out Hogwarts Legacy. I've got 22 hours played and I feel as if I've barely scratched the surface. With Todd Howard stating that mods will come to console early 2024 I plan on playing Starfield for years to come. I can't even imagine how awesome the mods will be with creation kit 2 (imagine a mod that allows NPCS to use generative AI to give you in depth conversations on quests or a mod that streamlines ship building lol possibilities are endless). Happy gaming ✌️
@ArmoredMore deathloop was phenomenal & is one of those rare games I decided to play/beat twice. I beat it once on PS5 when it first released then I beat it again on my Xbox Series S when it finally arrived on gamepass. That game was amazing & I hope they make a sequel someday.
I'm about 7 hours into the main quest in Starfield, I'm playing on Xbox Series S & so far it been nothing short of amazing. It's by no means perfect, it starts slow as hell but already at 7 hours I can tell this game is going to be great. The thing that gets me is how much potential this game has, they can basically tell infinite stories and have infinite DLC down the line. I believe this is just the beginning, starfield will get better with time & I'll be there on some planet exploring something cool lol happy gaming ✌️
@InterceptorAlpha finally someone who actually understands what's going on! People are so quick to just claim the Xbox series s is the worst console ever and that it's holding back the current generation. That can't be the furthest from the truth, the thing holding back the current generation is cross-gen games and the last generation consoles. As developers get more used to these new consoles we will start to see more games utilizing the power of the Xbox series x as well as the Xbox series s. I'm personally looking forward to starfield on my Xbox series s LOL and the haters, most of them don't even own a series s or have ever even played on the console itself. If they did, they know first hand the console is actually impressive for its price point.
I'm really looking forward to this deal getting done! I'm not too concerned about COD or Diablo but I'm eager to see what happens to other IP that Activision has put on the back burner. I'd love to see Tony Hawk's underground remastered or remade or just a reboot of the series entirely, I'd also love to see something done with guitar hero games, Activision ran them into the ground but they were fun and I'd like to see at least one on Xbox series consoles and the same goes for Skylanders which at one point was making billions until Activision ran it into the ground. I'm so damn excited to see what Microsoft does with Activision going forward ✌️
Absolutely not, a Series X 'pro' would be redundant at this point. We haven't even seen DEVS fully utilize the power of the current Series X or even the PS5 for that matter. Microsoft and Sony should focus on growing their console bases so DEVS can focus on optimizing games to the best of their abilities. Most games so far this generation have been cross gen so I'm assuming once last gen is gone for good we'll finally start to see games that look and feel truly significant on current gen consoles. Happy gaming ✌️
Does this mean I'll actually find a match in black ops 2 on my Xbox series S? I sometimes play against bots when the nostalgia hits but it'd be nice to play with real lobbies again. I hope zombies gets players again OMG 😱
I still play regularly, the experience is so much better on Series S compared to Xbox one. The 60fps performance mode makes everything better. The Story mode is amazing and I like to complete the story once every couple of years and to this day I still find something new lol I just started GTA online about 2 months ago after not playing it since 2019 and there's so much fun stuff to do now. I enjoy private sessions with my friends and family. Happy gaming ✌️
I hope to every deity ever known to man that this is TRUE! We need a RDR REMAKE for Xbox Series X|S consoles and I also hope we get a native next gen remaster of RDR2 because as it sits it's one of the BEST games ever made but it'd be so much better with native ports that took advantage of the SSD and some other touch ups to make the game look and run better on current gen consoles.
I've been a gamepass subscriber for about 2 years now (I subscribed before I bought my Xbox series S so I could play Halo infinite, the master chief collection, Forza Horizon 5 & gears of war with my little brother. I played via cloud on my Samsung tablet and he played from his Xbone). Now that I've had my series S about a year now I can honestly say game pass ultimate is worth it and then some! I play and try more games now than I ever had before thanks to gamepass!
@Kaloudz I'm genuinely excited for what's to come in the coming months and years for Xbox. I'm so happy that I decided to purchase an Xbox series S for my wife and a series S for myself. We've had our consoles a little over a year now & for me it's the first Xbox I've owned since 2015 and it's my wife's first Xbox ever so we've been enjoying playing through the amazing gamepass catalog. Although last year didn't see enough releases I do believe the turning point is here, I am so happy Microsoft & its acquired studios are finally going to be releasing some amazing titles for Xbox I'm the coming months and years! I'm looking forward to fable, starfield, ever wild, avowed, state of Decay 3 and hopefully a sequel to gears 5 or a soft reboot of the series. Happy gaming ✌️
@LoquaciousB I've noticed the same issue, my Xbox series can download multiple games while my PS5 downloads just one game in the same amount of time lol
In my own personal experiences I have found that my Xbox series S downloads games much, MUCH faster than my PS5. I have gig speed fiber optic internet with a WiFi 6 router & both my Xbox series S and my PS5 are hardwired with cat 7 cables. When testing network speeds my series S on average gets about 960Mbs download with 200Mbs upload. When downloading games that speed usually shows at 667Mbs but it fluctuates sometimes faster and sometimes a little slower.
The same connection using the same internet with the same router & cables on my PS5 however results in a much different picture. When testing the speeds on my PS5 I get on average about 807Mbs download & 55Mbs upload which is still plenty fast but slower than the Xbox. When it comes to downloading games the difference is magnificent, the PS5 only shows about 50Mbs when downloading a game which is horrendous in comparison to the Xbox series S which literally shows 10 times the speed when downloading games. Just very weird and I was wondering if anyone else has noticed these things?
All I can say is that it's about damn time. My Xbox series S is in desperate need of more SSD space. I just couldn't fathom paying $220 for 1TB of storage when I paid $250 for the console itself & especially when I just recently added 1TB of SSD storage to my PS5 for $89. The cost was just ridiculous and TBH that's the number one reason I haven't added extra storage to my series S. I reckon the $79 dollar 512GB storage option will be the route I take as It'll give me the ability to store a few more games. The only games I currently have on my series S that I don't remove is Fortnite, Hogwarts Legacy, Star Wars Jedi Survivor, GTA 4 and MX vs ATV legends. Can't wait until this becomes official, happy gaming ✌️
I still believe it'll go through, it may take awhile but I do believe eventually the deal will go through. Why? There's enough big money players that want the deal to go through, if it was just Microsoft & Activision by themselves then I'd say this deal is probably dead but we're talking about Nvidia, Nintendo and many others who WANT this deal to go through which is why I believe the deal will go through. Happy gaming ✌️
I recently played through gears ultimate edition & the QOL updates were definitely appreciated. I also decided to play through gears of war 2 on my series S & it was so much fun. Those games still hold up incredible well especially when the game boosts are considered. That being said a gears collection with fully remastered (better yet remade) gears trilogy would be absolutely phenomenal! I can't imagine it not performing well as gears of war constantly ranks among the BEST Xbox games ever made. I hope we get some sort of modern collection simply because the games are too damn good to let them just die with the Xbox 360. Happy gaming ✌️
I'm looking forward to playing Redfall on my Xbox series S, I preloaded the game a couple of months ago & now that all the fallout has happened IDK if I should just try it out now or wait until it gets patched to take care of all those bugs. I love arkane I love all their games, even beat Arkane Austin's death loop twice. I am EXTREMELY bummed to see this game flop. I'm bummed for Arkane & even more bummed for Xbox. Everyone now is saying Xbox is doom and gloom and going to quit making consoles and blah blah blah. I don't believe they at all, they make billions/year from their gaming sector so even though I believe they need to make more games & they need to focus on quality control as well focus on the Series X|S. Happy gaming ✌️
@Kaloudz I was just about to say it seems like the EU decision is going to weigh more heavily than the UK's decision. I think with all the countries in south America that have approved the deal on top of a major swatch of countries across Europe leaning towards approving the deal I think this is more important than the UK decision. I honestly also believe that the UK may reverse their position down the line especially since we know that decision has been appealed and I suspect their position to change as more companies and countries continue to back the acquisition. Long Live Xbox lol happy gaming ✌️
@BAMozzy I'm right there with you man, I'll be playing Redfall day one. I've been playing games 27+ years now & I can honestly say back in the day it wasn't an issue & if I shunned every game because of the lack of 60fps I'd miss out on some truly incredible games. I think Redfall will be a fun co-op experience and the 60fps mode will give me something to look forward to lol. I will say I think DEVS should absolutely target 60fps on current gen consoles (Series X|S, PS5) even if that means lowering resolution (dynamic 4K or 1440p would be fine, hell even 1080p if need be). Happy gaming ✌️
I'll be ecstatic when Microsoft buys Activision blizzard. I'm so sick of Activision blizzard being such a lame duck company that only cares about money rather than treatment of their DEVS and their games. I'm hoping under Microsoft we will see COD become better because as it sits it's just not even close to the quality of other games on the market.
This just goes to show what I've said all along & what has been proven when DEVS actually take the time to optimize for the Xbox series S. What people fail to realize is that when making games that have to run on hardware that was released a decade ago, scaling becomes the main issues. When DEVS can focus solely on utilizing the architectures found in ALL current generation consoles (Zen2 CPUs & RDNA 2 GPUs) I believe we'll see some truly stunning games. I've already been blown away by the series S. I play on a 4K display and the console does a great job of upscaling games (we know for a fact it's not designed to run games at native 4K resolution). People love to hate on the series S but now that I've had my Xbox about a year now I can honestly say it's worth every penny and I freaking LOVE my Xbox series S. Happy gaming ✌️
I chose EA play as I am accustomed to it with my gamepass ultimate subscription BUT truth be told I also really enjoy Ubisoft games. I wish that Ubisoft+ would be apart of gamepass ultimate because I can't justify another monthly gaming subscription on top of my gamepass ultimate & PS plus extra subscriptions. I am holding out hope we will see some sort of Ubisoft+ collaboration with Xbox gamepass. Happy gaming ✌️
@Murray I think it's funny when certain DEVS complain and other DEVS actually put in the work to optimize and say the series S is not a hindrance to game development. I genuinely hope to see DEVS putting in the work for the console. I am a series S owner and so is my wife and we both love the console very much & have been blown away by what it's capable of so far. I don't think we've even seen games take advantage of everything it has to offer yet TBH. I also own a PS5 & I don't think we've even come close to seeing what the XSX and PS5 have to offer simply because cross gen games don't count. I'm not talking about 4K resolution or 60fps I'm talking about next gen gaming engines that simply can't run on last gen consoles (I know most engines are scalable but I want to see things that aren't even scalable to last gen).
The series S is more powerful than people realize. We have to understand that most anything developed on series X can be scaled down to run on the series S. I hear ppl whine about GPU but in reality that's not really the bottle neck as assumed because the series X is designed to run games at 4K resolution with 60fps and ray tracing it absolutely NEEDS the extra graphical grunt but when running games at 1440p and 1080p you realize that the series S GPU is more than capable. The series X|S have more in common with one another than they do differences & I've read from certain DEVS that bringing games to Series S is extremely easy but it does take time and if DEVS take the time to optimize for the console I think there's a lot of performance we can see out of the series S. Happy gaming ✌️
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Re: Talking Point: If You Had To Limit Yourself To Three Xbox Games, What Would They Be?
MX vs ATV legends, Red Dead Redemption 2 & GTA V expanded and enhanced edition.
If I was allowed a top 5 I'd keep the same 3 as above but add Starfield & Diablo 4. This collection of games would keep me content on an island for sure.
RDR2 alone is a staggering accomplishment in world design, gameplay & storytelling. Truly one of the BEST games of the entire Xbox One /PS4 generation. I've done one playthrough back in 2021 on PS5 and now I'm currently on my second playthrough this time on XSX (it's absolutely brilliant, it looks and plays so well on Series X way better than it does on PS5 mainly due to the broken HDR on PS5 and the upscaled checkerboard upscaled 4K (PS4 pro version) compared to Series X that runs the game with a native resolution at 4K resolution at 30fps with no HDR issues. I'm absolutely amazed RDR2 hasn't been patched or remastered for Series X. It's such an amazing game that it deserves more love than it's gotten. Although we know Rockstar was working on a remaster for current gen it was shelved in order to "put all hands on deck" for GTA VI. I'm hoping after GTA VI is released we get a remaster it even an expanded and enhanced edition lol!
Diablo 4 is another game I have fallen in love with, I didn't know if I was going to like it very much but man was I wrong. I'm so glad it came with my Series X lol the replayability with that game is great & if you add on online functionality then you have endless fun.
GTA V is the best selling game of the last 15 years. It's remarkable to think about honestly, I beat the game when it first release on PS360, then I beat two more times on PS4 & now I've replayed the story twice with the expanded and enhanced edition. Once on PS5 and Once on Series S. I am planning on another playthrough at the end of this year this time on my Xbox Series X lol it's a game I enjoy playing and beating about once every 18 months or so. Every time I play I discover something I had never seen before and it really is incredible to think GTA V was developed on PS360 consoles. Just imagine what GTA V could've been had they had the power of the Series S back then yet alone XSX/PS5 lol it's incredible to think about the impact that game has had. GTA VI will be on another level when it's released simply because it will be made from the ground up with current gen in mind. Sorry got carried away lol.
Starfield is another game I was on the fence about until I actually sat down and sank time into it. Now 170 hours later I have traveled the galaxy and beyond. The game has been so much better since the release of the 60fps patch on Series X then I have begun my NG+ playthrough although I'm on a break to enjoy some other games but I will absolutely be back especially once shattered space DLC hits.
TLDR Xbox has some brilliant games I'd enjoy being stuck on an island with, happy gaming ✌️
Re: New Starfield Mods Allow Xbox Series S Version To Reach 120FPS
Xbox Series S is definitely becoming the little console that could lol it really is a great piece of tech 💯
Re: Our Predictions For The 2024 Xbox Games Showcase
When it comes to hardware I genuinely hope we see the Xbox Sebile controller revealed for a holiday 2024 release. That controller has the features that should've launched with the Xbox Series X|S. I think it's high time Xbox updated their base controller the same way Sony went from the DS4 to the Dual Sense controller.
My second hardware wish is a stretch I know, but I would ABSOLUTELY LOVE to see an Xbox handheld console. I want a portable Xbox that can play my entire library of games. I've invested in the Xbox digital ecosystem since the 360 era and the thought of an Xbox handheld console that can play all those games is enticing. I haven't gotten a steam deck cuz I don't use steam and even though the ROG Ally is great with PC gamepass, I'd much rather have a dedicated portable Xbox console. If the console launched with an AMD Z1 Extreme or it's successor with at least 16GB of LPDDR5X RAM along with a 512GB Gen 4 NVMe SSD. The console would be able to run games natively & would be a day one purchase for me.
As far as games go, I'm so HYPED for Gears of War 6! I've been a fan of the series since day one & Gears 5 definitely took the series up a notch. The game is incredibly beautiful and the gunplay is still solid, the story was better than I expected it to be so it's exciting to see where the series goes from here!
Next up is something I don't expect to see but would definitely like to see more of and that's the Fable Reboot. The Fable Trilogy is one of the most memorable games from my childhood and I'm excited to see more.
State of Decay 3 is one of my most anticipated Xbox games. I NEVER expected State of Decay 2 would infect my life for a couple hundred hours but it surely has. There's something about it that just feels really good, it's not too realistic & I think that's what makes the survival effect much more fun.
Last but not least is the rest of the games I'd like to see updates on! Tower borne, 33 Immortals, clockwork revolution, Outer worlds 2, Stalker 2 Heart of Chernobyl, everwild, contraband and south of midnight. There's so many amazing looking games coming to Xbox, I can't even begin to stress how excited I am for the showcase lol I really hope we something cool shadow dropped (Starfield update). I'd also like to see the old COD games be added into the gamepass library.
Long Live Xbox, happy gaming ✌️
Re: Yes, There's A Way To Play World Of Warcraft On Your Xbox Console
@FraserG while Geoforce Now is great & the idea of being able to play PC games on console is really freaking cool. It seems results may vary. what I'm EXTREMELY excited about is being able to play your PURCHASED Xbox Series X|S games via Xbox Cloud Gaming. We know Microsoft has been working on this feature for some time now but all we have is "we're hoping for a 2024 release" as far as a release is concerned. While remote play serves me incredibly well, some places Xbox cloud gaming just works better. I'm guessing it has something to do with server locations and stuff like that. I hope we get more information soon, it's been almost 2 years since the announcement of being able to play your owned library of games via Xbox Cloud Gaming.
Anyways, long live Xbox! Happy gaming ✌️
Re: Microsoft Confirms That Black Ops 6 Won't Require A New Tier Of Xbox Game Pass
@Banjo- you know I've noticed the past 12 months the anti-Xbox rumors have spiraled out of control. People literally make stuff up & the certain "gaming news sites" run full fledged articles based on BS rumors. It's ridiculous and I tell people, trust me you don't want Xbox dead. If PlayStation was the sole high end console maker, the games industry would be screwed because they'd corner the market and make us pay even more than we already do.
I truly believe Xbox is on an upswing. If we look at quality releases for 2024 Xbox takes the cake. Hellblade 2 while not the best game ever is a good game. Avowed I have a feeling is going to be a lot of fun to play, Obsidian tends to make games I enjoy so I'm optimistic about it! It's also REALLY cool to see COD under the Xbox umbrella for the 1st time in over a decade. Whether people want to believe it or not COD is going to boost Xbox significantly. Half of the PSN player base is still on PS4, Xbox is in a great spot to take advantage of those gamers. Offering COD on gamepass PLUS an entry level console that outperforms the PS4 for a fraction of what a PS5 costs there's a real opportunity to get players on Xbox. I was brought back to Xbox through the Series S & since then I've gotten a Series X plus got my wife a Series S. The Xbox ecosystem IMO is superior to that of PlayStation & this is coming from a PS5 owner who enjoys PlayStation games. Anyways there's a TON of positive possibilities and opportunities for Xbox in the coming months and years and I'm excited to watch Xbox bounce back from all the negative drama.
Happy gaming, Long Live Xbox ✌️
Re: Talking Point: Which Has Been The Most Reliable Xbox Console For You?
My Original Xbox never died in the 6 years I had it, I was also one of the few lucky ones who got a launch day Xbox 360 that lasted 6 years before I replaced it with a 360 slim. Xbox One day one edition lasted from launch day until last year when the HDMI went out. That 500GB launch model lasted a true decade with ZERO issues. I've had my Xbox Series S for 2 years now with no issues and I take that console with me when I'm out of town. I've had my Xbox Series X almost 6 months now & it's probably the sleekest best designed console I've ever owned. My PS5 on the other hand, I've had almost 3 years now and it's HOT AF all the damn time lol, never had an issue but it definitely runs hotter than the Xbox Series X. Long Live Xbox ✌️
Re: Xbox's New 'Activision Blizzard Sale' Includes Lots Of Call Of Duty Discounts
@Banjo- I'm right there with you. Gamepass ultimate has given me the ability to play games I would've NEVER gone out and bought. It's completely expanded my horizons especially as far as indie titles are concerned. Even though I'm subscribed to XGPU I still purchase new games that aren't on the service and even some games that are on the service for example I own Diablo 4, Star Wars Jedi Survivor, Dead Island 2 & Starfield. I still love owning games & gamepass just adds even more value to the Xbox ecosystem for me personally. In fact, I've been purchasing most 3rd party games on Xbox instead of PlayStation lately mainly because I've found better prices on Xbox (CD keys also). Also the fact that everything I bought on 360 & Xbox One was there for me immediately when I got my Series X|S consoles is just amazing. Anyways, gamepass is brilliant and Xbox is awesome! Can't wait for June 9th ✌️
Re: Poll: What Do You Think Of The Graphics In Hellblade 2 For Xbox Series X|S?
@BIG3 I'm right there with you, I don't think it's necessarily GoTY material but it should at least be nominated. Nija Theory succeeded in telling a beautiful yet horrific story (over the course of 2 games). Hellblade 2 specifically showcases what can be done when you take people who are passionate about their art and allow them to work together to build something unique and masterful. Hellblade 2 is NOT your typical "game" in fact I went into it with s blank slate and open mind. I told myself this is an experience and when you look at it that way the game hits better. Art is absolutely subjective but for me there's no denying that Hellblade 2 is a fantastic piece of art!
Re: Starfield Comparison Shows Differences Between 30FPS & 60FPS Modes On Xbox Series X
I started playing Starfield again last week in anticipation of the new update. I've got over 100 hours with the game and I can honestly say this new update is a game changer! The 60fps performance mode on Xbox Series X is so much better than I had anticipated. I honestly expected something similar to what we got with Fallout 4 but damn I couldn't have been more wrong! Starfield is now smooth as butter, I've yet to see a dramatic drop in resolution even when fighting a bunch of enemies & the only issues I've seen so far is the occasional hiccup which again isn't as bad as I expected it to be. Aside from the performance of the game, the quality of life improvements are staggering. The updated maps actually make the game far more accessible & it adds much needed depth to actually find places you may have skipped over with the old maps. Finally the biggest and best update for me is changes to gameplay, I have made it to where my character can carry a substantial amount of stuff without becoming encumbered. Even though this does -6xp I negated that drop by making ground enemies slightly harder.
Overall Starfield is much more fun to play. The game looks great, 60fps is smooth as butter & the quality of life updates make it a game worth investing time into. Starfield is a game with so much to do, explore and kill. The main quests are amazing and the side quests are just as good if not better! If you haven't given the game a shot and you enjoy Bethesda style RPGs then I definitely recommend it!
Happy gaming ✌️
Re: Dying Light Is Ridiculously Cheap Right Now On Xbox, And It Has A Free Next-Gen Upgrade
@Banjo- while I absolutely LOVED the original Dying Light I actually enjoy the sequel better, now this hasn't always been the case. At launch the game was in an extremely rough state BUT over the past 2 years the game has been fleshed out (pun intended) in so many ways. They've updated the parkour movement so advanced players can run with zero assists, although assists are there for players like me lol they've added new enemies, characters, stories and best of all firearms. The game truly feels like the Dying Light sequel is fan deserved. I hope you guys play the 1st one fall in love and get to experience the 2nd one! Happy gaming ✌️
Re: Talking Point: Is Sarah Bond Hinting At Eventually Moving Away From Xbox Hardware?
@Ricky-Spanish awesome American Dad name BTW!
I'm actually right there with you! I watched that entire interview and nowhere did it seem like she was hinting at "moving away" from Xbox hardware, in fact the contrary. I'm actually really bummed out by "Pure Xbox" lately. Most of the articles they post now just criticize our platform to hell & the comments section is filled with ppl who'd like to see Xbox die. For an Xbox centered website it's honestly pathetic. Why not write articles about the new Xbox mobile store launching in July or how Xbox actually has some good games planned for 2024. NOPE let's "read between the lines" and make a nothing burger for click bait. SMH pure Xbox used to be so great cuz I'd come in here and see people that actually enjoy Xbox & their games and now it's become a place to "hate everything Xbox" cuz it's the cool thing to do lol every major game websites are doing the same thing. "Death of Xbox" I can tell you right now if Xbox dies leaving Sony in charge of the high end console market we're all effed in the AAA!
Also the shutting of studios is heartbreaking, it's not an Xbox problem though it's a games industry problem. 2K (GTA, Red Dead Redemption, NBA 2K) just had massive layoffs. Embracer just shutdown a bunch of studios. And PlayStation shutdown studios less than 6 months ago and made massive layoffs even to studios like insomniac who's been carrying the PS5 most the generation! In fact it happened right after Spiderman 2 broke records for PlayStation. Everyone acting like Xbox is a villain it's capitalism that demands growth at all cost. It's Microsoft executives answering to share holders, it's not the 'Xbox division' making these decisions. I feel bad for all the devs that lost their jobs and not just from recent Xbox closures but from industry wide layoffs. It's extremely sad our industry has come to this challenging time but I truly believe it'll rebound just as it has before. I just wish people could see that the industry itself is hurting right now.
Re: Reaction: Xbox's Push Towards 'Microsoft Gaming' Looks More Drastic Than We First Thought
@NEStalgia thanks for the response, I'm glad someone else feels similarly as I do regarding the whole situation. I'm not abandoning ship because I've got decades invested into the Xbox ecosystem just as I have decades invested into the PlayStation ecosystem. I hope when the June showcase comes we get some more insight into what exactly they're planning going forward. I know from the 2021 showcase until now we have some amazing games coming to Xbox! Something that absolutely NOBODY talks about lol anyways, Long Live Xbox & happy gaming ✌️
Re: Reaction: Xbox's Push Towards 'Microsoft Gaming' Looks More Drastic Than We First Thought
I feel like Xbox only ever gets negative criticism no matter what they do. They release exclusives like Halo infinite, Forza Motorsport and Starfield and the immediate articles following are negative. Microsoft decides to put some community driven games on PlayStation and switch and immediately it's negative doom and gloom. (Sony is doing the exact same thing, games aren't making ENOUGH time as exclusives which is why PlayStation exclusives are being brought to PC platforms but when Sony does it they're cheered as opening games to more people). Microsoft announced their Xbox Games Showcase & rather than let fans be excited immediately news outlets take a Jez Corden theoretical tweet as 'insider sources' and run negative articles for a 24 hour period before backtracking but the damage was done. I've NEVER seen the industry skew this hard towards the death of a successful gaming company in my 25+ years of gaming.
It's extremely irritating and unfortunate all at the same time. I'm a PROUD Xbox owner. In fact this generation has been the best Xbox generation to emerge since the 360 days, after watching the 2022 Xbox showcase my wife and I went out and bought 2 Xbox Series S consoles. When we did that three of our gaming buddies went out and bought their own XSS consoles so we could all play amazing games together. Late December, I decided to get the Diablo 4 Series X bundle & man I'm so glad I did. I genuinely love the Xbox ecosystem, the backwards compatibility, the fact I can purchase digital games outside of the Microsoft store, the fact I can play so many Xbox 360 games with added bonuses like auto HDR and frame rate boost, not to mention the party chat features on Xbox are superior to that of the Switch or the PS5. I should also mention my wife and I also own our own PlayStation 5 consoles, why? We love gaming lol but as gamers we can also see when something just isn't right & since 2022 I've witnessed a high percentage of articles criticizing Xbox as of their evil capitalism methods are some how much worse than Sony's evil capitalism methods but in honesty I'm not sticking up for corporations because they don't care about us, they only care about shareholders & their bottom line.
I'm trying to bring the Xbox community together to stand up and say hey, we love our Xbox consoles! There's millions of us & it bums me out when I see so many comments on mainstream gaming sites claiming the Xbox community is non existent & nobody plays Xbox & nobody cares if Xbox dies, well that's not true. I care, not for Microsoft or corporations, but for gaming. If Xbox were to die leaving Sony as the sole high end console maker they would control the market and without competition they will screw over consumers WORSE than they already do! (They recently removed Horizon Zero Dawn from PS Plus extra because it's speculated they're going to release a HZD remaster, so don't allow gamers to play the game on the catalog make them buy the remaster) Practices like that would only get WORSE without Xbox. We've seen the leaked documents showing Sony wants to charge more for games and the likes of that.
Anyways TLDR, I don't want Xbox to die. Also, I'd like the Xbox community to stick together & be kind to one another. I hope people takes time to think about how many great experiences Xbox brings to gamers around the world and without it, the gaming world would absolutely be a darker less fun place to play.
Long Live Xbox, happy gaming! ✌️
Re: Talking Point: What Are Your Favourite Quick Resume Games On Xbox Series X|S?
I use quick resume on just about every single player game I play! MX vs ATV legends, Gears of War, Red Dead Redemption 1+2, GTA 4 + GTA 5, plus just about every Xbox 360 game I own I use quick resume with. It's probably one of the BEST next gen features of them all imo, it really feels magical to pick up EXACTLY where you left off like nothing happened!
Re: Xbox Signs Yet Another 10-Year ActiBlizz Deal, This Time With UK Mobile Network
@BacklogBrad couldn't have said it better my friend
Re: Poll: How Are You Getting On With Evil West On Xbox Game Pass?
It's not a bad game, does it feel like an older game? Yes it does but to me it's part of its charm. The weapons and abilities are cool though.
Re: Talking Point: Xbox Fans, Are You Still Enjoying Halo Infinite In 2024?
@ParsnipHero I'm right there with you, Halo Infinite has steadily become better and better over the past couple years since launch. Firefight has truly added another level of awesomeness to the Halo Infinite experience. I'm excited to see where 343 takes the next Halo entry, until then Halo infinite is my go to for an extremely smooth, modernized Halo gaming experience.
Re: Poll: What Do You Think Of 'Control' On Xbox Game Pass?
Control Ultimate edition on my Xbox Series X is on another freaking level, I originally beat control on my PS4 pro but the next gen update REALLY has made the game so much better looking! The atmospheric dread that lurks around the corner and the ever changing house of horrors keeps you on your toes. Control is a fantastic game and the ultimate edition gives me DLC I've never played before so cheers to gamepass ultimate once again knocked it out the park! Long Live Xbox, happy gaming ✌️
Re: Amazingly, Xbox's 'Kinect' Is Still Being Used For CT Scans In Hospitals
It's a shame Microsoft dropped the ball with the Xbox one because the Kinect really was an incredible piece of tech. Unfortunately the poor marketing, horrific DRM policies & lack of gaming focus put a major hamper on the Xbox one.
If things were different and the Kinect was utilized as well as it was during the 360 era I'd absolutely LOVE to see what a modern day iteration of Kinect could do when connected to the Series X|S. I could only imagine how cool the Kinect could've been paired with modern camera tech, AI tracking, facial recognition & the significantly more powerful hardware of the Series X|S (compared to the Xbox One). I'm sure DEVS would've come out with some super cool games! Wish we could've seen what Kinect was truly made of, it's super cool to see it used to this day!
Re: Talking Point: What Do You Expect To See From Microsoft's Update On The Future Of Xbox?
I fully expect Microsoft to ensure the future of Xbox hardware. If they don't the speculation alone will do massive damage to the brand. I fully expect them to announce certain games going multiplatform but NOT all of Xbox 1st party games will be available on other systems. I think it'd be a shame to see the demise of Xbox hardware and the ramifications would be extremely negative especially when you consider how awful Sony has been recently to its PlayStation fans. If PlayStation was the ONLY high end console maker they'd fully be able to control the market and they already want us paying $100/game so the Xbox competition is good for the gaming community.
Long Live Xbox
Re: How To Complete All Xbox Game Pass Quests In 2023
@FraserG so what happened to Microsoft rewards? Those points were pivotal for my family as we used those points to help us get gift cards to put towards games as well as Game pass Ultimate, I noticed they really nerfed the rewards app and it's like WTF man those points were making gaming more affordable for my family. I'm glad we still get points for purchases but it's sad they're making earning extra points harder
Re: Pure Xbox's Game Of The Year 2023: The Results You Didn't See
My 2023 Xbox GoTY list:
Diablo 4
Phantom Liberty DLC
Jedi Survivor
Baldurs Gate 3
Alan Wake 2
Hogwarts Legacy
Dead Island 2
My list isn't necessarily in order because you can't compare a game like Hogwarts Legacy to a game like Diablo 4 lol that being said, 2023 had some fantastic games released. 2024 looks to be another stacked year & I'm hoping we start to see the fruits of Microsoft's studios buying spree. The Xbox exclusives for 2024 already look better than PlayStation, in fact I'm extremely disappointed with my upcoming PS5 games list. The only thing I'm looking forward to is Final fantasy 7 remake part 2, Sony hasn't announced any 1st party exclusives for 2024 either so there's not much to look forward to IMO. With Xbox 2024 looks a lot better with Avowed, Stalker 2, Hellblade 2 and south of midnight. There maybe even more Xbox exclusives but these are the ones I'm personally interested in!
Long Live Xbox, Happy gaming ✌️
Re: Xbox Signs Yet Another 10-Year ActiBlizz Deal, This Time With UK Mobile Network
@BacklogBrad after watching Phil Spencer on that 30 minute podcast where he outlined what to expect regarding the acquisition of ABK, I truly believe that Xbox is going to make Activision better. Phil Spencer literally said, "I want to empower the DEVS so that they can make the games they WANT to make. I want them to know failure is okay, we at Xbox want you to be free to take risks and make the games you enjoy making." After I heard him say that I got TRULY excited. For almost a decade now Activision has delegated it's devs to focus on assisting in the development of COD to ensure $billion dollar annual releases. I hope Microsoft allows the DEVS to step away from assistance with COD so they can focus on games they want to make, whether that's bringing back existing IP of development of new IP altogether, the possibilities are so much better under Xbox leadership than it was under Activision. I believe the future is bright for Xbox, we've seen them consistently double down on games and 2023 was the first time I saw an Xbox showcase that had more 1st party single player exclusives than PlayStation has which is really a testament to Phil's direction of Xbox. Sony is now struggling since Jim Ryan made everyone focus on Games As A Service for the last 3 years and we're now finally hearing about studios being upset because it's not what they want to create & they're having trouble because the studios have no idea how to make GAAS games. This is the reason we've seen factions all but cancelled because it didn't fit the "love Service" mold that Jim Ryan wanted which is why they put Bungie on as support but it's still not looking good. It's going to take Sony a while to bounce back from this major blunder while Xbox picks up the slack and is releasing incredibly brilliant AAA games for the next few years. I'm definitely excited to be apart of Xbox again! I got my Series S last year and it's the 1st Xbox console I've owned since I got rid of my Xbox one in 2015.
Long Live Xbox ✌️
Re: Less Than 1% Of Xbox Players Own The Coveted 'Day One' Achievement
@JetmanUK same here I wish I had gotten them day one edition but back in 2013 I got the PS4 day one & about 9 months later is when I finally picked up my Xbox one. This current generation I'm rocking both the PS5 + Xbox Series S combination which has been brilliant TBH. I was expecting the Series S to be an awful console (due to online hate) but I've been pleasantly surprised. I'm also extremely stoked on the future of Xbox, they have so many amazing games coming over the next 2 years while on the PlayStation side I have nothing to look forward to and I doubt it'll get better knowing Jim Ryan mandated 60% investment go into live service games while only 40% goes into the kind of exclusives that made PlayStation the powerhouse it is today. Extremely unfortunate, Long Live Xbox ✌️
Re: Ubisoft CEO Explains Decision To Buy ActiBlizz Cloud Rights From Xbox
I truly believe cloud gaming will control to grow especially within the next 10 years. Internet access is getting better by the year even in rural America. I live in a tiny Oregon town that had only satellite or 1 cable provider as options, over the course of 5 years we now have multiple ISP and I now have gig speed fiber Internet, something I couldn't fathom 8 years ago when I moved here. This is just one example and I know a massive amount of Americans don't have access to high speed Internet but it has been steadily improving. With Star Link proving low orbit satellite Internet is good enough for online gaming & the fact that Amazon is launching their own AFFORDABLE low orbit satellite Internet which is great for people living where they don't have access to high speed Internet.
I personally use Xcloud way more than I anticipated. I use it to try out games before downloading them to my Series S, I also use it to play games on my Galaxy Tablet when I'm not home. Streaming games has gotten so much better over the years and it's only going to get better as time goes on. I'm glad Microsoft has made Xcloud available to it's gamepass ultimate subscribers & I can't even imagine how awesome it'd be to play Activision games via the cloud. I imagine playing through classic COD campaigns right from my tablet lol Long Live Xbox ✌️
Re: Starfield: All Main Missions List
@OldGamer999 people told me to wait until level 20 to play mantis but I did it at level 15 and it wasn't too difficult. Reading this list I'm halfway through the main quest at 30 hours (I've done a few side missions so maybe like 25 hours spent on the main quest) still crazy though. I'm scared to finish the main quest but I have to remind myself this isn't like other games, I'll still have tons of stuff to do lol (this is my first Bethesda game). Starfield has become my favorite game of 2023 beating out Hogwarts Legacy. I plan on playing this game as long as it keeps me entertained. Happy gaming ✌️
Re: Xbox Cloud Gaming Employs 'Wait Times' In Response To Extreme Starfield Demand
Xcloud is one of my favorite features of my gamepass ultimate subscription. I stream games on my Xbox to conserve precious SSD storage space or to try a game before downloading it. I also use the Xcloud feature when I'm away from home, it works extremely well on my Galaxy Tab S6 lite which has a 10.1inch HD+ display. I haven't tried starfield on Xcloud yet as I've been enjoying it on my Series S but I'm sure I'll play the cloud version at some point. I'm honestly extremely grateful for cloud gaming. For instance, Forza horizon 5 is one of my favorite racing games but it's too massive to have installed on my Series S so for the last 6 months I've been playing Forza exclusively via the cloud & it plays extremely well.
Side note, Starfield is my favorite game of 2023 beating out Hogwarts Legacy. I've got 22 hours played and I feel as if I've barely scratched the surface. With Todd Howard stating that mods will come to console early 2024 I plan on playing Starfield for years to come. I can't even imagine how awesome the mods will be with creation kit 2 (imagine a mod that allows NPCS to use generative AI to give you in depth conversations on quests or a mod that streamlines ship building lol possibilities are endless). Happy gaming ✌️
Re: Starfield's Game Pass Upgrade Is Currently The Best-Selling Item On Xbox
@ArmoredMore deathloop was phenomenal & is one of those rare games I decided to play/beat twice. I beat it once on PS5 when it first released then I beat it again on my Xbox Series S when it finally arrived on gamepass. That game was amazing & I hope they make a sequel someday.
Re: Starfield's Game Pass Upgrade Is Currently The Best-Selling Item On Xbox
I'm about 7 hours into the main quest in Starfield, I'm playing on Xbox Series S & so far it been nothing short of amazing. It's by no means perfect, it starts slow as hell but already at 7 hours I can tell this game is going to be great. The thing that gets me is how much potential this game has, they can basically tell infinite stories and have infinite DLC down the line. I believe this is just the beginning, starfield will get better with time & I'll be there on some planet exploring something cool lol happy gaming ✌️
Re: Phil Spencer 'Would Love To Find Solutions' For Xbox 360 Games Being Delisted In 2024
The only game I really want for my Xbox Series S that I can't seem to buy is left 4 dead 2 SMH 😑
Re: The Xbox Series X Is 'At The End Of The Beginning', Says Phil Spencer
@InterceptorAlpha finally someone who actually understands what's going on! People are so quick to just claim the Xbox series s is the worst console ever and that it's holding back the current generation. That can't be the furthest from the truth, the thing holding back the current generation is cross-gen games and the last generation consoles. As developers get more used to these new consoles we will start to see more games utilizing the power of the Xbox series x as well as the Xbox series s. I'm personally looking forward to starfield on my Xbox series s LOL and the haters, most of them don't even own a series s or have ever even played on the console itself. If they did, they know first hand the console is actually impressive for its price point.
Re: Microsoft CEO: Xbox Remains 'Confident' About Activision Blizzard Acquisition
I'm really looking forward to this deal getting done! I'm not too concerned about COD or Diablo but I'm eager to see what happens to other IP that Activision has put on the back burner. I'd love to see Tony Hawk's underground remastered or remade or just a reboot of the series entirely, I'd also love to see something done with guitar hero games, Activision ran them into the ground but they were fun and I'd like to see at least one on Xbox series consoles and the same goes for Skylanders which at one point was making billions until Activision ran it into the ground. I'm so damn excited to see what Microsoft does with Activision going forward ✌️
Re: Talking Point: Would You Be Interested In Buying A New Xbox Series X Model?
Absolutely not, a Series X 'pro' would be redundant at this point. We haven't even seen DEVS fully utilize the power of the current Series X or even the PS5 for that matter. Microsoft and Sony should focus on growing their console bases so DEVS can focus on optimizing games to the best of their abilities. Most games so far this generation have been cross gen so I'm assuming once last gen is gone for good we'll finally start to see games that look and feel truly significant on current gen consoles. Happy gaming ✌️
Re: Classic Call Of Duty Matchmaking Appears To Have Drastically Improved On Xbox
Does this mean I'll actually find a match in black ops 2 on my Xbox series S? I sometimes play against bots when the nostalgia hits but it'd be nice to play with real lobbies again. I hope zombies gets players again OMG 😱
Re: Poll: Are You Still Enjoying GTA 5 In 2023?
I still play regularly, the experience is so much better on Series S compared to Xbox one. The 60fps performance mode makes everything better. The Story mode is amazing and I like to complete the story once every couple of years and to this day I still find something new lol I just started GTA online about 2 months ago after not playing it since 2019 and there's so much fun stuff to do now. I enjoy private sessions with my friends and family. Happy gaming ✌️
Re: Red Dead Redemption Rumours Point Towards Upcoming Remaster
I hope to every deity ever known to man that this is TRUE! We need a RDR REMAKE for Xbox Series X|S consoles and I also hope we get a native next gen remaster of RDR2 because as it sits it's one of the BEST games ever made but it'd be so much better with native ports that took advantage of the SSD and some other touch ups to make the game look and run better on current gen consoles.
Re: Poll: Will You Stay Subscribed To Xbox Game Pass After The Price Hike?
I've been a gamepass subscriber for about 2 years now (I subscribed before I bought my Xbox series S so I could play Halo infinite, the master chief collection, Forza Horizon 5 & gears of war with my little brother. I played via cloud on my Samsung tablet and he played from his Xbone). Now that I've had my series S about a year now I can honestly say game pass ultimate is worth it and then some! I play and try more games now than I ever had before thanks to gamepass!
Re: Phil Spencer Teases Multiple Games That Weren't Shown In This Year's Xbox Showcase
@Kaloudz I'm genuinely excited for what's to come in the coming months and years for Xbox. I'm so happy that I decided to purchase an Xbox series S for my wife and a series S for myself. We've had our consoles a little over a year now & for me it's the first Xbox I've owned since 2015 and it's my wife's first Xbox ever so we've been enjoying playing through the amazing gamepass catalog. Although last year didn't see enough releases I do believe the turning point is here, I am so happy Microsoft & its acquired studios are finally going to be releasing some amazing titles for Xbox I'm the coming months and years! I'm looking forward to fable, starfield, ever wild, avowed, state of Decay 3 and hopefully a sequel to gears 5 or a soft reboot of the series. Happy gaming ✌️
Re: Xbox Download Speeds May Receive A Boost As Part Of New Update
@LoquaciousB I've noticed the same issue, my Xbox series can download multiple games while my PS5 downloads just one game in the same amount of time lol
Re: Xbox Download Speeds May Receive A Boost As Part Of New Update
In my own personal experiences I have found that my Xbox series S downloads games much, MUCH faster than my PS5. I have gig speed fiber optic internet with a WiFi 6 router & both my Xbox series S and my PS5 are hardwired with cat 7 cables. When testing network speeds my series S on average gets about 960Mbs download with 200Mbs upload. When downloading games that speed usually shows at 667Mbs but it fluctuates sometimes faster and sometimes a little slower.
The same connection using the same internet with the same router & cables on my PS5 however results in a much different picture. When testing the speeds on my PS5 I get on average about 807Mbs download & 55Mbs upload which is still plenty fast but slower than the Xbox. When it comes to downloading games the difference is magnificent, the PS5 only shows about 50Mbs when downloading a game which is horrendous in comparison to the Xbox series S which literally shows 10 times the speed when downloading games. Just very weird and I was wondering if anyone else has noticed these things?
Re: Xbox Leak Suggests Two New 'Western Digital' Expansion Cards Are On The Way
All I can say is that it's about damn time. My Xbox series S is in desperate need of more SSD space. I just couldn't fathom paying $220 for 1TB of storage when I paid $250 for the console itself & especially when I just recently added 1TB of SSD storage to my PS5 for $89. The cost was just ridiculous and TBH that's the number one reason I haven't added extra storage to my series S. I reckon the $79 dollar 512GB storage option will be the route I take as It'll give me the ability to store a few more games. The only games I currently have on my series S that I don't remove is Fortnite, Hogwarts Legacy, Star Wars Jedi Survivor, GTA 4 and MX vs ATV legends. Can't wait until this becomes official, happy gaming ✌️
Re: Poll: Do You Think The Xbox ActiBlizz Deal Will Still Go Ahead?
I still believe it'll go through, it may take awhile but I do believe eventually the deal will go through. Why? There's enough big money players that want the deal to go through, if it was just Microsoft & Activision by themselves then I'd say this deal is probably dead but we're talking about Nvidia, Nintendo and many others who WANT this deal to go through which is why I believe the deal will go through. Happy gaming ✌️
Re: Talking Point: Are You Hoping Xbox's 'Gears Collection' Is Real?
I recently played through gears ultimate edition & the QOL updates were definitely appreciated. I also decided to play through gears of war 2 on my series S & it was so much fun. Those games still hold up incredible well especially when the game boosts are considered. That being said a gears collection with fully remastered (better yet remade) gears trilogy would be absolutely phenomenal! I can't imagine it not performing well as gears of war constantly ranks among the BEST Xbox games ever made. I hope we get some sort of modern collection simply because the games are too damn good to let them just die with the Xbox 360. Happy gaming ✌️
Re: Talking Point: What Do You Think Of Redfall So Far?
I'm looking forward to playing Redfall on my Xbox series S, I preloaded the game a couple of months ago & now that all the fallout has happened IDK if I should just try it out now or wait until it gets patched to take care of all those bugs. I love arkane I love all their games, even beat Arkane Austin's death loop twice. I am EXTREMELY bummed to see this game flop. I'm bummed for Arkane & even more bummed for Xbox. Everyone now is saying Xbox is doom and gloom and going to quit making consoles and blah blah blah. I don't believe they at all, they make billions/year from their gaming sector so even though I believe they need to make more games & they need to focus on quality control as well focus on the Series X|S. Happy gaming ✌️
Re: Ukraine The Latest Nation To Pass Xbox's Activision Blizzard Acquisition
@Kaloudz I was just about to say it seems like the EU decision is going to weigh more heavily than the UK's decision. I think with all the countries in south America that have approved the deal on top of a major swatch of countries across Europe leaning towards approving the deal I think this is more important than the UK decision. I honestly also believe that the UK may reverse their position down the line especially since we know that decision has been appealed and I suspect their position to change as more companies and countries continue to back the acquisition. Long Live Xbox lol happy gaming ✌️
Re: Six Games Are Confirmed For Xbox Game Pass In May 2023 So Far
@BAMozzy I'm right there with you man, I'll be playing Redfall day one. I've been playing games 27+ years now & I can honestly say back in the day it wasn't an issue & if I shunned every game because of the lack of 60fps I'd miss out on some truly incredible games. I think Redfall will be a fun co-op experience and the 60fps mode will give me something to look forward to lol. I will say I think DEVS should absolutely target 60fps on current gen consoles (Series X|S, PS5) even if that means lowering resolution (dynamic 4K or 1440p would be fine, hell even 1080p if need be). Happy gaming ✌️
Re: Xbox Signs Yet Another 10-Year ActiBlizz Deal, This Time With UK Mobile Network
I'll be ecstatic when Microsoft buys Activision blizzard. I'm so sick of Activision blizzard being such a lame duck company that only cares about money rather than treatment of their DEVS and their games. I'm hoping under Microsoft we will see COD become better because as it sits it's just not even close to the quality of other games on the market.
Re: Indie Dev Reminds Us The Xbox Series S Is Capable Of 4K, 120FPS
This just goes to show what I've said all along & what has been proven when DEVS actually take the time to optimize for the Xbox series S. What people fail to realize is that when making games that have to run on hardware that was released a decade ago, scaling becomes the main issues. When DEVS can focus solely on utilizing the architectures found in ALL current generation consoles (Zen2 CPUs & RDNA 2 GPUs) I believe we'll see some truly stunning games. I've already been blown away by the series S. I play on a 4K display and the console does a great job of upscaling games (we know for a fact it's not designed to run games at native 4K resolution). People love to hate on the series S but now that I've had my Xbox about a year now I can honestly say it's worth every penny and I freaking LOVE my Xbox series S. Happy gaming ✌️
Re: Poll: Would You Rather Have EA Play Or Ubisoft Plus Included With Xbox Game Pass?
I chose EA play as I am accustomed to it with my gamepass ultimate subscription BUT truth be told I also really enjoy Ubisoft games. I wish that Ubisoft+ would be apart of gamepass ultimate because I can't justify another monthly gaming subscription on top of my gamepass ultimate & PS plus extra subscriptions. I am holding out hope we will see some sort of Ubisoft+ collaboration with Xbox gamepass. Happy gaming ✌️
Re: Developer Suggests Xbox Series S May Struggle To 'Keep Up' With AAA Game Demands
@Murray I think it's funny when certain DEVS complain and other DEVS actually put in the work to optimize and say the series S is not a hindrance to game development. I genuinely hope to see DEVS putting in the work for the console. I am a series S owner and so is my wife and we both love the console very much & have been blown away by what it's capable of so far. I don't think we've even seen games take advantage of everything it has to offer yet TBH. I also own a PS5 & I don't think we've even come close to seeing what the XSX and PS5 have to offer simply because cross gen games don't count. I'm not talking about 4K resolution or 60fps I'm talking about next gen gaming engines that simply can't run on last gen consoles (I know most engines are scalable but I want to see things that aren't even scalable to last gen).
The series S is more powerful than people realize. We have to understand that most anything developed on series X can be scaled down to run on the series S. I hear ppl whine about GPU but in reality that's not really the bottle neck as assumed because the series X is designed to run games at 4K resolution with 60fps and ray tracing it absolutely NEEDS the extra graphical grunt but when running games at 1440p and 1080p you realize that the series S GPU is more than capable. The series X|S have more in common with one another than they do differences & I've read from certain DEVS that bringing games to Series S is extremely easy but it does take time and if DEVS take the time to optimize for the console I think there's a lot of performance we can see out of the series S.
Happy gaming ✌️