Matthewnh

I do not play games as much as I used to, simply because - I suspect much like most other people - I can no longer find the time. The perils of getting older.

I work, though not as many hours as some, and have other responsibilities. Like everybody else. But no children, though.

What free time I have, is now divided between gaming, reading, or watching a film. But I suppose the positive side is that this does make me value my free time much more.

But also, the games I play have changed. I now play rpgs and adventure games much more than I used to. I guess I want to be involved in a story, rather than just a quick action fix.

The two games I have played most this year are Hogwarts Legacy, and Avatar Frontiers of Pandora. Looking forward to Dragon Age 4, and Black Myth Wukong.

Mass Effect 3 - The Citadel

Mirrors Edge - Pure Time Trials

@Lup I did not enjoy Trespasser as much as I enjoyed exploring the area with the Avvar. (The Jaws of Hakkon)

@Kienda

Play Dragon Age Inquisition.

I can thoroughly recommend it.

The Dragon Age games have a continuous narrative running through them, so you will probably have a better grasp of the story for having played the previous instalment. It will also help you understand who your various companions are.

I am sure there will be some sort of recap, but the “recent events” of Dragon Age Inquisition are going have a direct impact upon the plot of Veilguard.

I still want to call it “Dreadwolf”. Ha Ha.

Plus, the original Dragon Age game (360) is probably the greatest computer RPG ever made.

@Banjo-

Yes. I really enjoyed it.

It perfectly captures the atmosphere of the films. It is fair to say that the game is simply a Far Cry clone, with a coat of blue paint. However, the recreation of the world of Pandora is just stunning, and the exploration feels natural.

I explored the map, not for the usual Ubisoft checklist of stuff, but because I genuinely wanted to see what was over the next hill.

The idea of clearing installations and camps, in order to heal the surrounding wilderness, and thereby gain access to its resources - this was very clever.

But honestly, I love the Avatar movies as well. If you do not enjoy those films, then you would be unlikely to enjoy 50-odd hours exploring Pandora.

I finished the Avatar game recently.

Have the Season Pass for it, so it is good to know that there is more content coming soon.

This is apparently called “The Sky Breaker”. I wonder just what that title means.

A sequel to Quantum Break?

The remake of Knights of the Old Republic?

Something else entirely, that is neither a sequel, nor a remake.

What am I playing this weekend?

Nothing.

Moving house the day after tomorrow, so everything is in boxes right now. So, ask me again in a few weeks, once I unpack.

I am curious to see what Starfield is like now, mind you.

And I seriously recommend keeping the boxes for your consoles and other electronic equipment. You never know when it will come in useful.

Right now, I am not playing anything at all.
My Xbox is away, in its box.

Once I move house, and unpack - in a few weeks - I will probably restart Starfield. From the beginning.

The update might actually make it feel like a completely different game.

I had a PS3. Played Saints Row 2

Loved that game.

Wanted to play the first Saints Row game. So I bought a basic 360 Arcade.

Then I added a few other Xbox exclusives. Halo is the one really remember.

Every generation since, I have had both a PS and an XBox.

But I always seem to buy the Xbox first.

The series x was certainly easier to get hold of than the ps5.

I would like to, but I cannot. Not right now.

I move house in about two weeks. So everything is boxed up.

I know that I will undoubtedly have a lot to do, once the move is finished - but I will definitely restart Starfield once I get the chance.

Or, more likely, start over from the beginning. Again.

This sounds fabulous. What more reason do I need to boot up Starfield, and give it yet another go?

Except that I can’t. The Xbox is…well, in its box.

I move house in two weeks. So this is going to be one more thing, of many others, that I can look forward to.

Have not played Jedi Survivor. Played Fallen Order, though, and it is very good.

Playing this weekend - Avatar Frontiers of Pandora PS5 version though). Not playing anything on Xbox at the minute.

But I will get back into Starfield once this new update kicks in.

Might be tempted to give Starfield another go.

I quit trying to while get off that ship that is full of treasure. Literally died dozens (perhaps hundreds) of times. Then I gave up.

This might tempt me start again. But I would probably start again from scratch. I am determined to finish the game at some point.

Got to try and complete the Avatar game first of all, though.

This is good news.

The more people playing these different titles, the better.
The rivalry between the two consoles is unnecessary.

Will Forza, Gears, Halo, and Starfield make the jump to PS5?
Will Spiderman swing onto Xbox Series X?

In the end, more choices for gamers can only be good.

I have owned both an Xbox and a PlayStation for the last three generations. Happy to play games on both consoles.

Started reading the article.
Got as far as the second paragraph. “Clear absence of a disc drive”.

No, thank you. I will give this a miss.

I have a Series X.

Internal storage is 69% full. 244GB remaining.
1TB Storage Expansion Card is 69% full. 285GB remaining.
5TB External Hard Drive 24% full. 3.5 TB remaining.

Basically all of my Series X games are either stored on the Internal Hard Drive or the Expansion Card, for the faster storage.

Most Xbox One games are on the external HDD.

I have a total of 55 games on my library. But I did have a bit of a purge recently, and got rid of a few I no longer played very regularly,

The first Xbox I bought was the 360 Arcade.

I bought it to play Saints Row.
I had lots of fun with the madness of Saints Row 2, on PS3. And wanted to play the original game.

I subsequently discovered great Xbox games like Halo.

When the next generation arrived the first console I bought was the Xbox One.

And I also bought a Series X before I got my PS5. But that is possibly because the PS5 was not exactly easy to get hold of at the time.

Even now I still have a handful of 360 games on disc, that I still play.

Dragon Age, Mirrors Edge, Red Dead Redemption

I only replaced the 360 versions of the Mass Effect games once the Legendary Edition arrived.

Even now I think most of their games I own are remakes of older games.

I stopped playing a while ago.

Finding Kryx’s lost ship was fun. But getting off of it proved impossible. After thirty-odd attempts to leave, with no way to breathe the now-toxic atmosphere.

Not at all fun. So I simply gave up. Haven’t been back yet.

Kinect was a clever piece of hardware.

I did not have any actual “Kinect” games, and did not really have a lot of room, and with motion control you the need space to move around.

But being able to control the Xbox One with my voice, that was cool. I enjoyed that. Now it seems that almost everything else is voice-activated, except for the xbox.

I use to have PSVR, on the PS4, but only ever used it to play movies in 3D

Is it even possible to connect (no pun intended) a Kinect sensor to the Series X? Probably not.!

I agree.
Mass Effect Andromeda was brilliant, and totally under-rated. I enjoyed the fact that they tried something new.

The game needed to have the planned DLC, to answer so many questions. For instance, we never did find out what happened to the Quarians. Hopefully the next game will bring some answers, and not just try to ignore Andromeda altogether.

I have been waiting for this game for so very long, that I am sceptical that it shall ever see the light of day.

After waiting for years, all i can say is that it had better worth the wait.

At the time, this was exactly the kind pirate adventure game I was looking for. But that was then - I have no idea what the ultimate end product will finally look like now.

Nope, that never happened to me. I guess I was one of the lucky ones.

I had the 360 Arcade. I wonder if that made any difference? Replaced my 360 eventually, of course. But I still have a few original games for it, around somewhere.

I have had no problems at all, so far. I get a little lost, sometimes. But I have been saving regularly. Starfield really does seem to have launched in excellent condition. Unless I have just been lucky, so far.

Had early access, so been playing for a few days. Slowly got that hang of it. The story takes a while to really get going. The general feel of it is Mass Effect, mixed with “Firefly”. The world building is incredible, and once I had played through the first few hours, I started again.

Now that I have got the hang of it, and the story is starting to open up, I am thoroughly enjoying every minute of it. Cannot wait to see what happens next.

Really impressed by the scale, and the attention to detail, so far. About five hours of play, yesterday. Exactly the same sense of wonder I got from playing Frontier (Elite II) on the Amiga, years ago.

Just got to Constellation.

Then I went a little too far from safety, and got slaughtered. So now that I understand how it all works, gonna start from scratch. I haven’t missed much, so I can play without having to learn again.

I agree that better map way- pointing might be a good idea. Got lost wandering around New Atlantis. Sounds like I’m not the only one.

Yes. It works. Just used the store code for the Premium Edition content, and the game launches. So I also have a nice steel book case to use, once the disc version arrives next week.

I joined GamePass Ultimate. Thanks to all of the community here, for recommending it. And downloaded Starfield.

I had preordered the disc edition from Amazon, and the Premium Edition Upgrade, download code, too. The premium content code should arrive within the next few hours. Should give me early access, right? While I wait for the disc version to arrive next week.

Got a scary email from Amazon, which suggests that even they are not sure it will work. But I shall let you know.

Redeemed the code for the Premium Content, and yes. It works. Played for about 45mins. Really impressed so far. Just landing on the first new planet.

So looking forward to this game. I am sure that it will live up to the hype. My premium edition upgrade arrives on Friday. Can’t believe that is only two days away, now. Glad to have that day off work.

The reason I bought a 360 was to play Saints Row. (The very first Saints Row game)

I was a huge fan of SR2 (on the PS3) but the earlier game was only ever released on Xbox. So I found a cheap 360 arcade version.

I bought an Xbox One before buying a PS4, and had already bought a Series X before finally managing to buy of a PS5.
but part of that was because the Series X was easier to get ahold of.

The good thing is that once I had a 360, as well as a PS4 I could buy exclusives for both consoles. Something I continue to do, even now.

Well, I have already preordered Starfield.
Will buy the new Forza, but not straight away.
Assassins Creed Mirage looks amazing.
I have the special edition of Avatar Pandora preordered (for the PS5 - yeah I know)
I also fancy the remaster of Metal Gear Solid - not sure how well remastered it will be though.

And that should keep me going for most of 2024 I should imagine.

Very cool trailer.

Can I just point out that space is a vacuum, so the gunfire and explosions should be silent. Somebody had to say it.

I do kind of like that Starfield wrap. Looks nice.
But I really already love the look of the Series X the way it is. It is just a pity that I have not got enough space to stand it upright.

It seems that some people simply like to complain. It is simple, tidy, and effective.

Reminds of the fuss last week, when the Xbox home page/front end changed as well. And changed for the better, in my opinion.

If they had added a lot more to the menu, I guarantee that these same people would complain that it was too cluttered.

Edit - I just clicked on the message/tweet (whatever they are now called) and it loaded the picture full screen. It looks amazing.

Downloaded Starfield on GamePass. Also bought the Premium edition (£105) from Amazon which is arriving Thursday the 7th.

But at least I can get a head start. Passing the time with Dragon Age.

Both RDR2 and GTAV are brilliant games, and I have played them both many times.

Bear in mind that I do not play Red Dead Online, nor GTA Online.

But for the sheer level of detail involved in the world-building, I have to say that Red Dead Redemption 2 comes out on top. Just.

I still have disc editions of about ten xbox 360 games.

Dragon Age, Red Dead Redemption, Mirrors Edge, and a few others.

The only one I have as a download is Fable. So I am hoping there will be an updated disc edition of that, at some point. There was talk of a Fable remaster, wasn’t there?

I also have about a dozen PS4 games, all of which seem to run on the PS5 (at least for now). Only two of those are downloads. So yes, if there are older games that you still want to play, then try and buy physical copies of them now. The good thing is you should be able to find most of them quite cheaply.

Mine has just started downloading about five minutes ago. It is 100GB download, but I have a feeling that this is not quite all of it. And is not even playable for another three weeks yet.

We have all waited this long, so I am happy to wait a little longer.

Oh, just in case somebody suggests that I am “fanboy” for my previous comment (@28) I not only have a Series X, but also a PS5. There are great games on both consoles.

I am neither a Microsoft fanboy, nor am I a Sony fanboy - I am just a gamer. I find it odd that we should have to defend our hobby like this, especially from members of “own gaming community”.

The “My Games and Apps” tab is now in the little menu, top centre of the screen. So rather than pressing down, you now press up, instead.

Easy. I really don’t know what people are complaining about.

I cannot be the only person who actually thinks that this is an improvement. Can I?

I agree that there are a lot of adverts, but I will likely only ever pay attention to the very top five rows, and do not care about anything underneath that. And (sarcastic) you do realise the very first adverts you see are a list of FREE GAMES?

Top row is all the games and apps I have played recently. As usual.
Second row is the store.
Third row is FREE games - don’t care about this one.
Fourth row is Quick Resume - in my case, right now Dragon Age Inquisition
Fifth row is my Starfield pin, getting ready for September
Sixth row is friends and community

I will probably never even look below that.

That’s good news. Makes a change from things being delayed. Will probably be very busy, you know, with Starfield.

But I will definitely get this at some point. The Arabian setting looks amazing.

To be fair, the only other AC game I have enjoyed was Origins. But this looks fun.

@Darylb88

Nice one.
Thanks, I would not have thought of that.
A few weeks to go yet, so lets see what happens.

Edit, checked it all out, and joined Game Pass Ultimate, because it seems like a really good deal.

Thanks again.

Stupid question, but this is only for the digital version, I guess?

Preordered the “Premium Edition” from amazon, at the end of July. It is looks like the disc-based Standard Edition, but with a download code for the Premium content stuff.

Release date for Premium edition content says Sept 1st, and the rest is being released (and delivered, I imagine) a week later.

I suppose this means that I technically won’t have “Early Access”?

@Destoroyah2021

Thank you.

I have cleared a lot of room on the 1TB Expansion Card,
There is at least 500GB of free space on that, so I should be fine. Thanks.

And, there is really nothing else coming out after this that I am really interested in, so I will be fine.

Looking forward to my pre-ordered Premium Edition, arriving in three weeks time.

I just want some idea of how much space I should clear on my hard drive. I think it’s going to be a lot.

I can’t say that I really notice the haptic feedback on the PS5. On Astrobot, yes, but that was basically a giant “tech demo” for the PS5, so of course they went all in. The only other time I noticed haptic feedback and trigger resistance was on Hogwarts Legacy, and Spiderman. It just doesn’t seem to get used often enough to make a difference. Also, when it first happened, you think “Cool”, but then you get used to it, so it loses it’s impact. Honestly, it’s a nice gimmick, but that’s all. Maybe if software developers actually made full use of it, properly, then it might make a difference. But who knows?

As for the new version, “DualSense Edge”, forget it. They are £200 each. Never paying that much for a controller. Sure, I got the Elite controller, for the Xbox One, but that wasn’t as expensive.

I don’t think I would ever buy a console without a disc drive. But perhaps I am in the minority. That goes for both the PS5 and Series X. If either Microsoft or Sony stopped making consoles with disc drives, that would be the day that I stopped buying them.

So, they expect us to pay full price for an old game, that can be found very cheaply these days. This is not a remaster, nor is it a remake. It is simply a re-release. What is the point? As we all know, the original 360 version runs perfectly well on the Series X.

So the obvious question is “Why bother?”
And the obvious answer “Greed”.

But this also means that the supposed remake or remaster, or rebuild, or whatever - is never going to happen.

If it means another Hogwarts game, with the same quality - and the same attention to detail - then I’m definitely interested. There is no need for a Hogwarts Legacy sequel, though. That story was wrapped up nicely. So a new story, please, in the same sort of era. I know, I’m not asking for much, am I?

Ha ha. Just suddenly realised I’m showing my age now a bit. My first experience of computer gaming was actually playing the original “Elite” on my best friend’s BBC Microcomputer. Correction - watching him playing it. Must have been about 1987?

Preordered my copy online over a week ago. Premium edition for about £120. But that price might come down, before release. Really looking forward to this. Getting huge “Elite” vibes from it. I can remember the amount of time I sank into “Frontier” on the Amiga.