Why does everyone have to speculate what they really think the reason is?
The guy is retiring not going to another company. So his intentions are probably financial and career accomplishment based rather than dissatisfaction. Pretty hard to top everything he has done at Bethesda.
@aria10000 LOL. Friday right after all the papers were signed AKB asked what they could do to bring value right away. Phil said, fix this really annoying store issue please. And before the end of the day the patch was out!
@Benjamin
I would like to see Banjo Kazooie. But to me, Forza Horizon has everything PGR had and a ton more.
Rather than having just a few tracks Horizon has literally hundreds in its open world with a ton of variety. The style points in Horizon are way better than PGR, and Horizon has way more cars, not to mention the general open world, story mode and a ton of other features.
As for AKB remakes... None. Give me new IPs or new games in series please. I am tired of remakes, remasters, and rehashing.
There are three things I want from this acquisition. Not sure if any will happen anytime soon.
1) Battle.NET to become part of XB Network Gaming Platform.
2) Pitfall as a modern IP similar to Uncharted and Tomb Raider.
3) World of Warcraft and StarCraft beyond PC.
At the end of the day the only genres MS seems to be still weak in after this acquisition is Action-Adventure and JRPG games. Everything else they have strong IPs in.
There is a ton that happens in the background of these things politically. CMA should not be airing the dirty laundry here. I am sure there is a lot of dirty laundry with the CMA as well. Otherwise there would not have been a miscommunication on what it would take to get the deal approved.
For some reason MS thought it would get approved. For some reason CMA thought they were clear on what it would take to approve it.
@RIghteousNixon Agreed, you have to reward the people that bought the game and played it on GamePass day one. They were given a poor quality game and should be able to play an improved version as soon as it is ready.
They can start a marketing campaign to try and get an uptick in players at any time. They don't need a patch release event to do that.
@Kaloudz
It seems obvious to me that Rare has done a massive change in direction with Everwild. We don't know how far along they were when the change was formally made and how big of a change it was to what they were doing. Also, AAA games are taking longer to make now-a-days. There are a lot of quiet studios out there.
To me, the game gets done when it is done. As long as MS consistently delivers at least 4 AAA games per year, I am not concerned about any one studio's development hells. I am more concerned what is happening across all studios together. With AKB acquisition next week hopefully 4 AAA games per year should not be a stretch.
I can for sure understand that but there is always a console with an issue in every generation and developers have to code to it. The only way this becomes a non-issue is if everyone uses the same hardware for everything.
I like that MS provided a lower cost next gen console. They tried something new here and I think it is good. Next gen they need to do better but this gen is this gen and developers have to live with the hardware that is out there. People need to stop crying over the spilled milk and move forward.
The alternative would be to skip XB but obviously they think there is a significant fan base there, so suck it up and make the game work on the hardware rather than whining about something that cannot be changed.
@Kaloudz To me, all exclusives are bad. I don't care whether it is Forza, Starfield, Gears, Halo, God of War, Uncharted, TLOU, GT, Horizon, Mario, Zelda, Metroid, Duck Hunt, etc.
I do not understand why people like to buy specific hardware for specific content. I reward vendors (by purchasing their stuff), based on how broadly I can use their hardware to run or play all the software I want to use. I have no loyalty to a specific hardware platform. I have loyalty to the specs of the hardware, the form factors, and the services I can get from the hardware.
The hardware is a conduit for me to play games, run software, and subscribe to services I want. I do not care too much about the look of the hardware or what is inside. I care about it being the appropriate form factor to do what I want it to do.
This is understandable given covid the past few years. A bunch of projects got delayed or stopped. Covid ends and all the studios make big progress and are now ready to ship games that should've shipped over the past two plus years. Publishers realize the onslaught of games and start delaying content to next year to spread out the goodness.
Gamers live happily ever after with constant new and high quality content over the next few years!
@awp69 Agreed. Everyone has their faults and issues. But looking at where XBO was in 2014 and where XB in general is now it is hard to argue with what he is setting up. I know a lot of people think things happen overnight, but they don't. It takes time to change a direction especially the direction XB was heading.
When Phil took over XB had very few internal studios, just a few successful IPs at that moment, and the sales of XB were deteriorating fast. He has grown the internal studios to 15, stabilized sales and it is growing, introduced GamePass, and this year we have started seeing good new XB games like HiFi Rush and Starfield.
I agree that cloud gaming has advantages. BUT they need to make it better than it is today. There needs to be co-processing with the end user device so that things that need local optimization are optimized and things that are better processed centrally are processed centrally.
Also, need to work on lag and latency. You get games like God of War, the Souls type games, etc. where one mistake can really cost you in gameplay. They need to get rid of the problems around that.
Once those are solved cloud gaming will become more and more embedded into gaming.
@Gamer83 Agreed. Many talented studios across all genres of games at XB now. They should use the studios to their strengths and build games in those strength areas on IP they have already. And at times develop new IPs mixed in. If XB plays its cards right they will become the force in gaming. But, they have to play the cards right.
@Kaloudz
I can't say I love his games either. But, I do play them through them (except Death Stranding) and I do get that he is pushing boundaries more then any other AAA game maker. I see most of his games as just above average from a gaming perspective. But from an art perspective I see the makeup of his games as very high end abstract art.
His games add artist diversity in a good way to the AAA games industry. Not everyone will like his stuff for sure, but he brings a certain crowd to the table for each game he makes. And that crowd is unique and loyal fans that think his games are the best by far. And that crowd isn't a standard XB fanbase so hopefully he brings new gamers to play on XB too.
At the same time, I would expect his game to be a timed exclusive on XB. I would expect it comes to PS one or two years after it ships on XB. Because his core fanbase is on PS and only PS.
I think with AKB, XB needs to stabilize things for a little bit and ensure that the studios and publishers acquired are all working in unison on XB related projects.
I want to see them constantly releasing triple AAA games every 3 months all throughout the year on a consistent basis.
They need to make changes at AKB. Call of Duty is still an important game but MS needs to bring the ability to deliver other AKB franchises... Especially, Activision IP like Skylanders, Crash, Tony Hawk, Guitar Hero, Spyro, Prototype, and I would love another Geometry Wars! Even a revitalizing of Pitfall, Zork, and True Crime would be awesome!
@Moby Agreed. Redfall is 56 on Metacritic. There are a lot of games way worse then Redfall that are well abouve 56 on Metacritic. I think the game isn't great, but it isn't as low as 56 either. More like 70-75 in my books.
I am really happy that MS will now own Diablo, World of Warcraft and Call of Duty. I like all three franchises, but all three have had a lot of issues the past few years. Hopefully MS gets all three back on track in a positive direction.
@Feffster
Redfall is just one game. I am not sure why gamers are focusing on Redfall. HiFi Rush was shadow dropped and is a really good game. People should be talking about it more. And Starfield is meeting expectations which were sky high. I also expect Forza Motorsports will meet expectations too. So, XB exceeded with HiFi Rush, failed with Redfall, succeeded in meeting insane expectations for Starfield, and will probably meet expectations for Forza Motorsport this year. Also, released Minecraft Legends that is meeting expectations and Age of Empires IV found its way to XB. And we are seeing continued Halo Infinite MP seasonal content, Sea of Thieves is like the energizer bunny of new content, and Forza Horizon 5 got new content. As an XB gamer we have seen a lot of really good content this year. And finally, XB got Ghostwire.
Don't get me wrong, I was disappointed with Redfall. But, it is hard to knock XB when they have had a lot of really good successes this year. Not to mention a much improved XB dashboard on console.
And today, it looks 99.9% certain XB will now also have Activision-Blizzard-King in the next month. Later, in retrospect this may be seen as a very pivotal and positive year in the history of XB.
@Kienda Agreed, SE has lost all respect from me. I used to get excited about FF games and now I just hear about them and don't care. There are franchises I see as third party and that should always ship on all platforms possible FF is one of them. I don't know how they felt that PS exclusivity would help them. Even with a Sony money hat.
I think that SE is not going to do all that well on XB in the near future and unless they are willing to stick on XB for about 5 years, they just won't gain traction or loyalty from XB gamers.
I certainly have no plans to play any SE games on XB any time soon and I see no rush to play them.
@sixrings Many people can't see any difference between HD and 4K even on a large TV like yours (I also have a 75" Samsung). TV processors also help to reduce the difference between HD and 4K native feeds. Some of the highest end TVs pretty much make the difference between 4K and HD not discernable with the naked eye.
If money is an issue, to me the Series S is a very good choice.
I agree with the issue on cost of the expansion cards. They are ridiculous, but in a few years they will continue to get cheaper and cheaper as they are mass produced more and more. LOL. in 1993 I installed 6 full height 5 1/4 SCSI hard drives in a system and we thought it was an insane amount of storage and each drive cost $7,500 USD! Now companies give away 128 GB SD USB drives as freebies that are 20x times faster. Same will happen to these nVME drives over time as they become used in every computer.
As I have gamed for a long time, I have been finding less and less satisfaction in many AAA games the past few years. This isn't because they aren't good, it is more about the ability to just pick up and play. Games that require dedicated time because they need you to be dedicated solely to them for 100's of hours don't gain my favor, but if a game allows me to pick it up and play it a few hours at a time over months is much more valuable to me. Turn Based RPGs are pick up and play typically. So, I like that. LOL. I am still playing Tales of Arise and haven't quite finished it yet, although I am nearing completion.
I would say 95% of people would not know the difference between Series S and X if put in front of them. I think that is a good thing.
This is like buying a luxury car vs a mass produced sedan. Most people will buy sedan because it is affordable, does what they need a car to do, and they don't want to spend the money on a luxury car. People buy the luxury car because they are serious about comfort, status, or their vehicles in general and/or have the extra money.
I like the choice to spend more or less but still be able to play all next generation games.
But, MS needs to keep this up and keep it up consistently. This won't mean a thing if MS doesn't keep releasing high quality AAA games. At least two per year that close to or exceed 85 on Metacritic.
I am sure not much has changed based on the leaks. I expect more or less everything that was leaked. The only debatable one is Ghostwire 2 in my opinion. I would like to see it, but I am not sure the first one was successful enough for a second one.
I do expect a mid-generation refresh, I expect a all-digital Series X, and we already know most of the games leaked.
Finally I do expect a new controller to have hepatics comparable to the latest dual shock (LOL. I have some pretty worn controllers and have been waiting).
@iplaygamesnstuff Honestly there was nothing surprising in the entire leak to me.
I expected they took a run at Nintendo. Sony's Dual Shock hepatics are way better than XB so it makes sense to improve that (plus other things), a mid gen console fresh was started in the XBO/PS4 generation, and the Bethesda stuff was all known info for the most part (and the dates were stale anyhow).
I used to love every release of Final Fantasy and wanted it ASAP. But, since the FF7 Remake, FF XIV, and FF XVI exclusivity I haven't went and played a single Square Enix game. Going to take a few more years or bargin bin discounts to get me to pick up another Square Enix game anytime soon.
I like that they are giving people options. Hopefully, in 10-15 years gaming consoles will be quantum computers and we won't need any of these settings.
But, until then, the reality is that the real world is still too hard to fully simulate for any console and therefore we have to have trade-offs.
Interesting that there is no 120 fps option. There must be a ton of computing for the car simulation under the covers. The more realistic everything about how the cars drive is, the better to me.
@Benjamin Personally, I don't value trophies near as much as achievements. But, over time both trophies and achievements have become less and less meaningful as some gamers brag about their achievement/trophy collection and you dig in and they are just playing games that hand out achievements/trophies like water.
It would be nice if there was a gaming community council deciding on whether a trophy/achievement list should be accepted or not. And should be based on the principles that you have fully played all the content of a game and discovered the best and most unique things in the game.
@Grumblevolcano While the deadlines have past, MS was clear that years of investigation and appeals were unacceptable. Really at the end of the day the deal is ending up with a 3.5 month delay. That is OK.
If it goes significantly past October I would expect MS to walk away at some point. But, I agree that we should all be dubious as to what people say through the press and what companies say.
I read an article today on the 9 most slimy professions... 1) Lobbyists, 2) Telemarketers, 3) Members of Congress, 4) Car Salespeople, 5) State Office Holders 6) Business Execs, 7) TV Reporters, 8) Advertising Practitioners, 9) Newspaper Reporters.
While I am sure a lot of these people are legit and just bunched with the worst, we should use a critical view when listening to these people.
I think when Phil talks about giving gamers choice this is more about accessibility through form factors then true choice.
He isn't promoting to put all the MS games on Sony or Nintendo consoles. He is promoting the ability to play in a variety of different ways on different form factors for XB. aka XB Console, Cloud, PC, Tablet, and Phone.
As long as Sony and Nintendo insist on keeping their games exclusive to their consoles MS has every right not to ship their first party games on the other two consoles.
First, I just want to say to any of you gamers out there that are allowed to play games for more then a few hours a week... I am super jealous. With Diablo IV, Baldur's Gate 3, Starfield, and soon Forza Motorsport I am swamped for the rest of this year and well into next. I wish I was back to my younger days where I could pick up a game and play it straight for a few days and declare it done. I will return to those days, just not in this decade. LOL.
Back to the topic though. Diablo IV. Crawling through this campaign meticulously.,
For Halo Infinite as an example there are a lot of Halo gamers that don't get into the game for story and just play multi-player. I still think the story completion percentage is low there, but there are things that affect the story completion percentage as well. I am not trying to defend Halo Infinite. I enjoyed the campaign/story but I know many others did not. I see Halo Infinite as a salvaged game. It was not going to be a good entry but the year+ delay made it into an ok game. Going forward 343 has to give up on their own game engine and adopt UE or the ID engine for Halo.
@themightyant
I don't think completion % is a good measure on games. To begin with some games are harder and take longer to get achievements than other games. And also some games are more multiplayer oriented for their achievements then single player, etc. There are a number of reasons why completion percentages are low on certain games. One reason can also be that people didn't like the game. But dating back to XB360 I have over 1,500 games with achievements. There are many games I like but have a low completion percentage in them.
Microsoft measures XB success primarily based on engagement. They have been clear with that. If 6 mln people have downloaded Starfield to play it then that is really great initial engagement. Keeping that engagement will be seen over time and can't be assessed immediately. For example, I spent two hours in Starfield earlier this week, but I am still creeping my way through Diablo IV's story/campaign so I am going to park Starfield until Christmas probably when I can give it the time it deserves. Just because you don't spend long at a game when it comes out, does not mean you don't want or like the game. There are many reasons gamers park a game and yes one of them is that they don't like it.
Frankly, the best indicator of how good a game really is, is 6 months from now is the game community still strong or has it mostly moved on and forgotten about the game. That is not a tangible measure, but things like number of new you tube videos continually coming out, positive talk of the game in the media, and additional player counts over time will help us understand that.
Personally, I think 6 mln downloads can be considered an initial success. But, the test of time will truly decide success or not.
@GamingFan4Lyf I like to think of exclusives as fairly black and white. To me, there are only a few categories of exclusives that you can mix and match.
1) Timed exclusives, where the game will eventually ship on another platform. 2) Console exclusive where a game ships only on one of the big three consoles. 3) Full exclusive, where the game only ships on one platform.
Now-a-days Sony is shipping more and more timed/console exclusives. Microsoft almost never ships a full exclusive and hasn't for years. Nintendo first party games are pretty much all full exclusives.
Exclusives are bad for consumers and marketing tools for console vendors.
I am all for improving games that need improvement. But, why not ship a game that is solid on day one?
What a concept.
I do like Microsoft's dedication in getting this game to where it should have been on day one. But, at the same time delaying it 6 months or a year could've made the game much better.
@Cashews Glad to see you know everything about everyone in the gaming industry.
I went to the Linkedin page. She has been with Sony for 19 years and throughout that time has been heavily involved in business development and business relations. Looks like she is not a horrible hire. A horrible hire would be someone new, a no name, and inexperienced.
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Re: Bethesda's Longtime Publishing Head Pete Hines Is Leaving The Company
Why does everyone have to speculate what they really think the reason is?
The guy is retiring not going to another company. So his intentions are probably financial and career accomplishment based rather than dissatisfaction. Pretty hard to top everything he has done at Bethesda.
Re: Xbox Is Fixing An Annoying Issue Related To Microsoft Store Updates
@Markatron84
The $69 bln bug fix!
Re: Xbox Is Fixing An Annoying Issue Related To Microsoft Store Updates
@aria10000
LOL. Friday right after all the papers were signed AKB asked what they could do to bring value right away. Phil said, fix this really annoying store issue please. And before the end of the day the patch was out!
Re: Activision Says Xbox Can 'Take Games In The Library And Remake Them' Post-Acquisition
@Benjamin
I would like to see Banjo Kazooie. But to me, Forza Horizon has everything PGR had and a ton more.
Rather than having just a few tracks Horizon has literally hundreds in its open world with a ton of variety. The style points in Horizon are way better than PGR, and Horizon has way more cars, not to mention the general open world, story mode and a ton of other features.
As for AKB remakes... None. Give me new IPs or new games in series please. I am tired of remakes, remasters, and rehashing.
Re: Talking Point: What Do You Want To See From Xbox & Activision Blizzard?
There are three things I want from this acquisition. Not sure if any will happen anytime soon.
1) Battle.NET to become part of XB Network Gaming Platform.
2) Pitfall as a modern IP similar to Uncharted and Tomb Raider.
3) World of Warcraft and StarCraft beyond PC.
At the end of the day the only genres MS seems to be still weak in after this acquisition is Action-Adventure and JRPG games. Everything else they have strong IPs in.
Re: CMA Criticises 'Tactics Employed By Microsoft' Despite Agreeing To ActiBlizz Deal
There is a ton that happens in the background of these things politically. CMA should not be airing the dirty laundry here. I am sure there is a lot of dirty laundry with the CMA as well. Otherwise there would not have been a miscommunication on what it would take to get the deal approved.
For some reason MS thought it would get approved. For some reason CMA thought they were clear on what it would take to approve it.
Re: It's Finally Over! Activision Blizzard Is Now Officially Part Of Xbox
Nice! Another publisher guaranteed to release all their games on XB platforms.
Re: Redfall's Huge New Update Is Getting Impressive Feedback So Far
@RIghteousNixon
Agreed, you have to reward the people that bought the game and played it on GamePass day one. They were given a poor quality game and should be able to play an improved version as soon as it is ready.
They can start a marketing campaign to try and get an uptick in players at any time. They don't need a patch release event to do that.
Re: Sea Of Thieves Has A New Developer Working On Season Ten Cosmetics
@Kaloudz
It seems obvious to me that Rare has done a massive change in direction with Everwild. We don't know how far along they were when the change was formally made and how big of a change it was to what they were doing. Also, AAA games are taking longer to make now-a-days. There are a lot of quiet studios out there.
To me, the game gets done when it is done. As long as MS consistently delivers at least 4 AAA games per year, I am not concerned about any one studio's development hells. I am more concerned what is happening across all studios together. With AKB acquisition next week hopefully 4 AAA games per year should not be a stretch.
Re: Alan Wake 2 Dev Explains Two Biggest Challenges Of Working With Xbox Series S
I can for sure understand that but there is always a console with an issue in every generation and developers have to code to it. The only way this becomes a non-issue is if everyone uses the same hardware for everything.
I like that MS provided a lower cost next gen console. They tried something new here and I think it is good. Next gen they need to do better but this gen is this gen and developers have to live with the hardware that is out there. People need to stop crying over the spilled milk and move forward.
The alternative would be to skip XB but obviously they think there is a significant fan base there, so suck it up and make the game work on the hardware rather than whining about something that cannot be changed.
Re: After Almost Two Years, Next Week Could Be The Finale For Xbox's ActiBlizz Takeover
Hopefully they close next week, then MS throws us a bunch of AKB games on GamePass for Christmas!
Re: Kojima Shares Snaps Of Phil Spencer & Co. Visiting During Tokyo Game Show Week
@Kaloudz
To me, all exclusives are bad. I don't care whether it is Forza, Starfield, Gears, Halo, God of War, Uncharted, TLOU, GT, Horizon, Mario, Zelda, Metroid, Duck Hunt, etc.
I do not understand why people like to buy specific hardware for specific content. I reward vendors (by purchasing their stuff), based on how broadly I can use their hardware to run or play all the software I want to use. I have no loyalty to a specific hardware platform. I have loyalty to the specs of the hardware, the form factors, and the services I can get from the hardware.
The hardware is a conduit for me to play games, run software, and subscribe to services I want. I do not care too much about the look of the hardware or what is inside. I care about it being the appropriate form factor to do what I want it to do.
Re: Phil Spencer Thanks PlayStation Boss For His Contribution To The Video Game Industry
As a Playstation owner I am happy to see this guy leave. Not much greatness has come from Playstation this generation yet.
Very few new IPs and a bunch of sequels building upon existing game engines.
Re: 2023 Has Been So Strong That Publishers Are Now Delaying Games To 2024
This is understandable given covid the past few years. A bunch of projects got delayed or stopped. Covid ends and all the studios make big progress and are now ready to ship games that should've shipped over the past two plus years. Publishers realize the onslaught of games and start delaying content to next year to spread out the goodness.
Gamers live happily ever after with constant new and high quality content over the next few years!
Re: Random: Xbox's Phil Spencer Autographed A PS5 Cover At Tokyo Game Show 2023
@awp69
Agreed. Everyone has their faults and issues. But looking at where XBO was in 2014 and where XB in general is now it is hard to argue with what he is setting up. I know a lot of people think things happen overnight, but they don't. It takes time to change a direction especially the direction XB was heading.
When Phil took over XB had very few internal studios, just a few successful IPs at that moment, and the sales of XB were deteriorating fast. He has grown the internal studios to 15, stabilized sales and it is growing, introduced GamePass, and this year we have started seeing good new XB games like HiFi Rush and Starfield.
Re: It Sounds Like Capcom Is Considering Raising Its Game Prices
@JokerBoy422
I agree the Capcom has released some really good new games in the past many years. And the RE Remakes are really good too.
But the Deadrising, RE, DMC, and Dragon's Dogma remasters were complete rip-off ports.
Re: Ubisoft CEO Explains Decision To Buy ActiBlizz Cloud Rights From Xbox
I agree that cloud gaming has advantages. BUT they need to make it better than it is today. There needs to be co-processing with the end user device so that things that need local optimization are optimized and things that are better processed centrally are processed centrally.
Also, need to work on lag and latency. You get games like God of War, the Souls type games, etc. where one mistake can really cost you in gameplay. They need to get rid of the problems around that.
Once those are solved cloud gaming will become more and more embedded into gaming.
Re: Capcom Would 'Gracefully Decline' Any Acquisition Attempt From Xbox
@Gamer83
Agreed. Many talented studios across all genres of games at XB now. They should use the studios to their strengths and build games in those strength areas on IP they have already. And at times develop new IPs mixed in. If XB plays its cards right they will become the force in gaming. But, they have to play the cards right.
Re: Kojima Shares Snaps Of Phil Spencer & Co. Visiting During Tokyo Game Show Week
@Kaloudz
I can't say I love his games either. But, I do play them through them (except Death Stranding) and I do get that he is pushing boundaries more then any other AAA game maker. I see most of his games as just above average from a gaming perspective. But from an art perspective I see the makeup of his games as very high end abstract art.
His games add artist diversity in a good way to the AAA games industry. Not everyone will like his stuff for sure, but he brings a certain crowd to the table for each game he makes. And that crowd is unique and loyal fans that think his games are the best by far. And that crowd isn't a standard XB fanbase so hopefully he brings new gamers to play on XB too.
At the same time, I would expect his game to be a timed exclusive on XB. I would expect it comes to PS one or two years after it ships on XB. Because his core fanbase is on PS and only PS.
Re: Capcom Would 'Gracefully Decline' Any Acquisition Attempt From Xbox
I think with AKB, XB needs to stabilize things for a little bit and ensure that the studios and publishers acquired are all working in unison on XB related projects.
I want to see them constantly releasing triple AAA games every 3 months all throughout the year on a consistent basis.
They need to make changes at AKB. Call of Duty is still an important game but MS needs to bring the ability to deliver other AKB franchises... Especially, Activision IP like Skylanders, Crash, Tony Hawk, Guitar Hero, Spyro, Prototype, and I would love another Geometry Wars! Even a revitalizing of Pitfall, Zork, and True Crime would be awesome!
Re: CMA Approval A 'Significant Milestone' Towards Xbox Merging With Activision Blizzard
@Moby
Agreed. Redfall is 56 on Metacritic. There are a lot of games way worse then Redfall that are well abouve 56 on Metacritic. I think the game isn't great, but it isn't as low as 56 either. More like 70-75 in my books.
Re: UK CMA Grants 'Preliminary Approval' Of Microsoft's Activision Blizzard Purchase
I am really happy that MS will now own Diablo, World of Warcraft and Call of Duty. I like all three franchises, but all three have had a lot of issues the past few years. Hopefully MS gets all three back on track in a positive direction.
Re: CMA Approval A 'Significant Milestone' Towards Xbox Merging With Activision Blizzard
@Feffster
Redfall is just one game. I am not sure why gamers are focusing on Redfall. HiFi Rush was shadow dropped and is a really good game. People should be talking about it more. And Starfield is meeting expectations which were sky high. I also expect Forza Motorsports will meet expectations too. So, XB exceeded with HiFi Rush, failed with Redfall, succeeded in meeting insane expectations for Starfield, and will probably meet expectations for Forza Motorsport this year. Also, released Minecraft Legends that is meeting expectations and Age of Empires IV found its way to XB. And we are seeing continued Halo Infinite MP seasonal content, Sea of Thieves is like the energizer bunny of new content, and Forza Horizon 5 got new content. As an XB gamer we have seen a lot of really good content this year. And finally, XB got Ghostwire.
Don't get me wrong, I was disappointed with Redfall. But, it is hard to knock XB when they have had a lot of really good successes this year. Not to mention a much improved XB dashboard on console.
And today, it looks 99.9% certain XB will now also have Activision-Blizzard-King in the next month. Later, in retrospect this may be seen as a very pivotal and positive year in the history of XB.
Re: Poll: How Would You Grade The Xbox Tokyo Game Show 2023 Event?
@Kienda
Agreed, SE has lost all respect from me. I used to get excited about FF games and now I just hear about them and don't care. There are franchises I see as third party and that should always ship on all platforms possible FF is one of them. I don't know how they felt that PS exclusivity would help them. Even with a Sony money hat.
I think that SE is not going to do all that well on XB in the near future and unless they are willing to stick on XB for about 5 years, they just won't gain traction or loyalty from XB gamers.
I certainly have no plans to play any SE games on XB any time soon and I see no rush to play them.
Re: As Of Last April, Xbox Series S Accounted For 75% Of Microsoft's Current-Gen Console Sales
@sixrings
Many people can't see any difference between HD and 4K even on a large TV like yours (I also have a 75" Samsung). TV processors also help to reduce the difference between HD and 4K native feeds. Some of the highest end TVs pretty much make the difference between 4K and HD not discernable with the naked eye.
If money is an issue, to me the Series S is a very good choice.
I agree with the issue on cost of the expansion cards. They are ridiculous, but in a few years they will continue to get cheaper and cheaper as they are mass produced more and more. LOL. in 1993 I installed 6 full height 5 1/4 SCSI hard drives in a system and we thought it was an insane amount of storage and each drive cost $7,500 USD! Now companies give away 128 GB SD USB drives as freebies that are 20x times faster. Same will happen to these nVME drives over time as they become used in every computer.
Re: Baldur's Gate 3 Dev Reacts To Suggestion That Xbox 'Misjudged' The Game's Potential
As I have gamed for a long time, I have been finding less and less satisfaction in many AAA games the past few years. This isn't because they aren't good, it is more about the ability to just pick up and play. Games that require dedicated time because they need you to be dedicated solely to them for 100's of hours don't gain my favor, but if a game allows me to pick it up and play it a few hours at a time over months is much more valuable to me. Turn Based RPGs are pick up and play typically. So, I like that. LOL. I am still playing Tales of Arise and haven't quite finished it yet, although I am nearing completion.
Re: As Of Last April, Xbox Series S Accounted For 75% Of Microsoft's Current-Gen Console Sales
I would say 95% of people would not know the difference between Series S and X if put in front of them. I think that is a good thing.
This is like buying a luxury car vs a mass produced sedan. Most people will buy sedan because it is affordable, does what they need a car to do, and they don't want to spend the money on a luxury car. People buy the luxury car because they are serious about comfort, status, or their vehicles in general and/or have the extra money.
I like the choice to spend more or less but still be able to play all next generation games.
Re: Starfield Has Already Surpassed 10 Million Players
It is really good that Starfield is a success.
But, MS needs to keep this up and keep it up consistently. This won't mean a thing if MS doesn't keep releasing high quality AAA games. At least two per year that close to or exceed 85 on Metacritic.
Re: Phil Spencer Issues Statement In Response To Massive Xbox Leak
I am sure not much has changed based on the leaks. I expect more or less everything that was leaked. The only debatable one is Ghostwire 2 in my opinion. I would like to see it, but I am not sure the first one was successful enough for a second one.
I do expect a mid-generation refresh, I expect a all-digital Series X, and we already know most of the games leaked.
Finally I do expect a new controller to have hepatics comparable to the latest dual shock (LOL. I have some pretty worn controllers and have been waiting).
Re: 'Biggest Leak In Xbox History' Reveals New Console Plans, Upcoming Games & More
@iplaygamesnstuff
Honestly there was nothing surprising in the entire leak to me.
I expected they took a run at Nintendo. Sony's Dual Shock hepatics are way better than XB so it makes sense to improve that (plus other things), a mid gen console fresh was started in the XBO/PS4 generation, and the Bethesda stuff was all known info for the most part (and the dates were stale anyhow).
Shock level zero for me.
Re: Square Enix Gives Hope To Xbox Fans With Short 'FF7 Rebirth' Exclusivity Window
I used to love every release of Final Fantasy and wanted it ASAP. But, since the FF7 Remake, FF XIV, and FF XVI exclusivity I haven't went and played a single Square Enix game. Going to take a few more years or bargin bin discounts to get me to pick up another Square Enix game anytime soon.
Re: Gallery: Here's A Closer Look At The New & Old Graphics In Tomb Raider 1-3 Remastered
Honestly I would've preferred a remake of these games with modern tech.
Re: Tomb Raider 1-3 Remastered Arrives On Xbox In February 2024
Yet another remaster. How surprising.
Re: Forza Motorsport Receives High Praise In First Round Of 'Hands On' Previews
I am always cautious with previews overhyping games. Take Redfall as an example. There were a lot of media outlets saying it had GOTY potential.
Re: Forza Motorsport Launches With Three Performance Modes On Xbox Series X
I like that they are giving people options. Hopefully, in 10-15 years gaming consoles will be quantum computers and we won't need any of these settings.
But, until then, the reality is that the real world is still too hard to fully simulate for any console and therefore we have to have trade-offs.
Interesting that there is no 120 fps option. There must be a ton of computing for the car simulation under the covers. The more realistic everything about how the cars drive is, the better to me.
Re: Xbox Apparently 'Wants' To Overhaul Achievements, Someday
@Benjamin
Personally, I don't value trophies near as much as achievements. But, over time both trophies and achievements have become less and less meaningful as some gamers brag about their achievement/trophy collection and you dig in and they are just playing games that hand out achievements/trophies like water.
It would be nice if there was a gaming community council deciding on whether a trophy/achievement list should be accepted or not. And should be based on the principles that you have fully played all the content of a game and discovered the best and most unique things in the game.
Re: 'Xbox Mastercard' Launches This Month, A New Credit Card From Microsoft & Barclays
This is nice, but they have to get rid of the yearly points redemption limit if this is in place.
Re: Xbox Boss Reiterates Platform Exclusives Will Be Determined On A 'Case-By-Case Basis'
@Grumblevolcano
While the deadlines have past, MS was clear that years of investigation and appeals were unacceptable. Really at the end of the day the deal is ending up with a 3.5 month delay. That is OK.
If it goes significantly past October I would expect MS to walk away at some point. But, I agree that we should all be dubious as to what people say through the press and what companies say.
I read an article today on the 9 most slimy professions... 1) Lobbyists, 2) Telemarketers, 3) Members of Congress, 4) Car Salespeople, 5) State Office Holders 6) Business Execs, 7) TV Reporters, 8) Advertising Practitioners, 9) Newspaper Reporters.
While I am sure a lot of these people are legit and just bunched with the worst, we should use a critical view when listening to these people.
Re: Xbox Boss Reiterates Platform Exclusives Will Be Determined On A 'Case-By-Case Basis'
I think when Phil talks about giving gamers choice this is more about accessibility through form factors then true choice.
He isn't promoting to put all the MS games on Sony or Nintendo consoles. He is promoting the ability to play in a variety of different ways on different form factors for XB. aka XB Console, Cloud, PC, Tablet, and Phone.
As long as Sony and Nintendo insist on keeping their games exclusive to their consoles MS has every right not to ship their first party games on the other two consoles.
Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? (September 9-10)
First, I just want to say to any of you gamers out there that are allowed to play games for more then a few hours a week... I am super jealous. With Diablo IV, Baldur's Gate 3, Starfield, and soon Forza Motorsport I am swamped for the rest of this year and well into next. I wish I was back to my younger days where I could pick up a game and play it straight for a few days and declare it done. I will return to those days, just not in this decade. LOL.
Back to the topic though. Diablo IV. Crawling through this campaign meticulously.,
Re: Starfield Is Now Bethesda's Biggest Game Launch Of All Time
@themightyant
Agreed with all you said.
For Halo Infinite as an example there are a lot of Halo gamers that don't get into the game for story and just play multi-player. I still think the story completion percentage is low there, but there are things that affect the story completion percentage as well. I am not trying to defend Halo Infinite. I enjoyed the campaign/story but I know many others did not. I see Halo Infinite as a salvaged game. It was not going to be a good entry but the year+ delay made it into an ok game. Going forward 343 has to give up on their own game engine and adopt UE or the ID engine for Halo.
Re: Starfield Is Now Bethesda's Biggest Game Launch Of All Time
@themightyant
I don't think completion % is a good measure on games. To begin with some games are harder and take longer to get achievements than other games. And also some games are more multiplayer oriented for their achievements then single player, etc. There are a number of reasons why completion percentages are low on certain games. One reason can also be that people didn't like the game. But dating back to XB360 I have over 1,500 games with achievements. There are many games I like but have a low completion percentage in them.
Microsoft measures XB success primarily based on engagement. They have been clear with that. If 6 mln people have downloaded Starfield to play it then that is really great initial engagement. Keeping that engagement will be seen over time and can't be assessed immediately. For example, I spent two hours in Starfield earlier this week, but I am still creeping my way through Diablo IV's story/campaign so I am going to park Starfield until Christmas probably when I can give it the time it deserves. Just because you don't spend long at a game when it comes out, does not mean you don't want or like the game. There are many reasons gamers park a game and yes one of them is that they don't like it.
Frankly, the best indicator of how good a game really is, is 6 months from now is the game community still strong or has it mostly moved on and forgotten about the game. That is not a tangible measure, but things like number of new you tube videos continually coming out, positive talk of the game in the media, and additional player counts over time will help us understand that.
Personally, I think 6 mln downloads can be considered an initial success. But, the test of time will truly decide success or not.
Re: Starfield Being An Xbox Exclusive Allowed For Greater 'Focus', Says Todd Howard
@GamingFan4Lyf
I like to think of exclusives as fairly black and white. To me, there are only a few categories of exclusives that you can mix and match.
1) Timed exclusives, where the game will eventually ship on another platform.
2) Console exclusive where a game ships only on one of the big three consoles.
3) Full exclusive, where the game only ships on one platform.
Now-a-days Sony is shipping more and more timed/console exclusives. Microsoft almost never ships a full exclusive and hasn't for years. Nintendo first party games are pretty much all full exclusives.
Exclusives are bad for consumers and marketing tools for console vendors.
Re: Here's What's Included In The Xbox September 2023 Update
@dreadful
Agreed. That is truly what it is
But if you behave online there shouldn't be a problem.
Re: Original God Of War Director Puts Starfield In Their 'Top 3 Games Of All Time' List
@Cashews
I like DMC and Bayonetta too. I got into DMC later, but purchased Bayonetta on day one and didn't stop til I was done the game.
I agree that GoW felt boring at times. And that peaked in III, and Ascension. But the last two are very good games deep on story and great gameplay.
Re: Original God Of War Director Puts Starfield In Their 'Top 3 Games Of All Time' List
@Cashews
God of War is a great series of games. III, and Ascension were disappointments. But, the past two reboot games are great action-adventures.
Re: Bethesda Insists Redfall Will Improve, Compares Launch To Fallout 76 And Elder Scrolls Online
I am all for improving games that need improvement. But, why not ship a game that is solid on day one?
What a concept.
I do like Microsoft's dedication in getting this game to where it should have been on day one. But, at the same time delaying it 6 months or a year could've made the game much better.
Re: Sony Veteran Becomes Xbox's New Director Of Partnerships In Japan
@Cashews
Glad to see you know everything about everyone in the gaming industry.
I went to the Linkedin page. She has been with Sony for 19 years and throughout that time has been heavily involved in business development and business relations. Looks like she is not a horrible hire. A horrible hire would be someone new, a no name, and inexperienced.
Re: Saints Row Dev Volition Shut Down By Embracer Group
It is always not good when gaming industry staff lose their jobs. Too bad because I really like the Saints Row series.
Re: Sony Veteran Becomes Xbox's New Director Of Partnerships In Japan
@Cashews
You do realize that this person was head of Sony mobile gaming, and not Japanese partnerships right?
(Not that is any better. Sony is not a significant mobile presence).
Personally, people come and go at these company's all the time. Unless the person is a true gaming legend I do not know why it is so news worthy.