@Pusher2021 I tend to play games on the go that are not overly dependent on latency. Strategy games, story adventures, puzzle games, and simple platformers. I do take my switch when I travel too.
Hotel networks are hit and miss. Some are 9 out of 10, Others, are not so good. It is getting better, and highly dependent on the quality of the hotel you are in.
I prefer my home TVs with my consoles too. Have 7 TVs all at or over 55" between my two places (Amassed TVs over a 10 year period). One TV is 1080p and has my XSS. I have three others with XSX, and the rest I run firestick. The firestick is about the same as XB Cloud on my 6G iPhone.
One of my places is about to get 3 Gbps with my ISP. I will switch to that and I am hoping it improves the cloud gaming experience.
@Pusher2021
I've been buying XBoxes, PS'es, and Nintendo consoles since the start. I travel a lot and live in two places. XB is the only platform that makes it easy for me to game. Whether I am waiting in an airport or at whatever location I am at. To me this is all about flexibility to play anywhere, at anytime, on almost every device I own. Without these capabilities my ability to game would be maybe a few hours a week. With these capabilities I add a few more hours of gaming time each week.
I have an XSX, XSS, Razer Kishi V2 for my iPhone, Asus Rog Ally, iPad, a Surface Go, a smokin' i9 PC, and Fire Sticks on every TV I own. I can game on any of these devices! And I do based on where I am. I even carry a firestick and controller with me wherever I travel, because that Is all it takes for me to plug into a hotel TV and get the big screen experience.
I think this was a good decision, simply for the fact that they can pour their R&D efforts into the next console to make it a bigger leap forward. Also keeps less different hardware out there easing development for developers who have enough different hardware specs to code to. Finally, it saves me money by not wanting to buy the latest and greatest device. That money will be spent in games rather than new hardware.
@dskatter All this storage needs to be more affordable as well. I do not like the fact that both SSD and NVMe are so expensive as compared to SATA traditional drives.
Here we are 4 years after this generation of consoles are released and game sizes keep ballooning while storage on the consoles is just going up in comparatively small increments. It is super disappointing to me that we don't have affordable expansion cards that are equal to the largest SSD drives. aka I would like to see at least 8TB NVMe expansion drives instead of a measly 2 TB.
I hate managing storage. It takes away from my gaming time and is just a super annoying task. One of the reasons I game on console is to get away from managing the device. With these super small and high priced expansion cards it is making console gaming look more and more like PC gaming.
@SodaPop6548
I do agree with what you are saying but in Perfect Dark and Indiana Jones you are comparing single player only experiences (at least that is only what is announced so far) with single + co-op + multi-player experiences.
It is one thing to build a collection of single player experiences but it is yet another to take a bunch of co-op + multi-player experiences over a decade in the making and trying to mash them into one collection. I still think MS should've did better, but it was not an easy task and if you think about it that is still one of the only collections out there that combined many different single, co-op, multi-player experiences into a single game experience.
I am going to add to the percentages later this week. I used love CoD. Around Ghosts that love disappeared. Time to give it another chance since it is part of GamePass.
I don't think it was as terrible as people say. My understanding is a lot of the studio core left during Redfall development because they were not aligned with the kind of game Redfall was.
So, if a lot of the core left and we all know how well Redfall did, what was left to build tradition Arkane Austin games?
@shoeses Integrating Activision into XB is no simple task. Activision had their own gaming network for their games. I would think that XB is integrating the XB/Activision network together. Also, Activision had its own inflight projects. XB would not just cancel them all and start XB based projects. They have to integrate the Activision core technologies with XB technologies. Finally, Activision made zero effort to get on GamePass. Therefore XB has to make changes necessary for game pass to work with Activision games. And finally, Activision had their own standards as to what to put in games. XB supports a lot more things like adaptive controllers, etc.
You add all these things up and probably more and just publishing Activision games onto Gamepass is not what they are doing. Instead they are integrating games into XB as XB standard games and releasing them as they are ready.
I really like that Microsoft has been dedicated to this game for so long. I like it when a publisher stands behind its games like they have with this one.
After the latest Halo team video I am excited about what they are doing and where they are heading. Don't care what names are behind it, I just want more good things to happen.
@Wisegamer I do agree with your comment as things sit today. But I also believe at some point there is an end to consoles as we know them today. Frankly, consoles are getting too expensive and their advantage in the market is disappearing.
If I could buy a PC and run it in "XB UI" mode I would not bother buying a console anymore.
Finally, I think streaming will eventually become a primary way to distribute games because of their growing size and fast storage hardware not keeping up with that size. Also, streaming will continue to improve, probably to the point you will not be able to distinguish it from a locally running game.
But this is all a ways off. Lucky to get here in the next 7-10 years.
Typical XB reporting. You get a whole video about Halo switching to UE5 and the studio rename, and instead of the graphics, and other aspects of the video all people talk about is whether the game is going to PS5.
I see these fix and feature lists and they keep validating why I don't even consider buying games on day one anymore.
I get excited for new games, but I don't want to play alpha and beta games, I want to play complete and stable games with only the inevitable minor issues.
And by the way where is Disney in all this ensuring quality on their IP? Shouldn't the license hold ensure the game meets a minimum brand quality level?
@somnambulance I like that they keep updating the game, but I would have loved to see campaign DLCs launch about every one to two years until the campaign was through the full Halo ring. They left the campaign off perfectly to keep adding to it and growing the story on this ring. Totally missed the opportunity.
@Vaako007 I am not sure what DEI modernist culture has to do with anything. I think we are looking at more a state of the industry as a whole.
Personally, I think the problems in most gaming companies has been it has become acceptable to release beta/alpha games on day one and flog them as ready for release. I used to buy games day one, now, I am lucky if I buy a game in year one. I prefer instead to wait til the game patching stabilizes and operates more as a final product.
Also, game pricing is interesting now-a-days. Take Deadrising remaster as an example. It is selling on day one today more than it did on day one when I bought it in 2006! How can a game that was touched up sell for more today than on its original release when they spent years to build the engine and all the assets for the game from scratch?
You can try and blame DEI and stuff like that, but really this comes down to an industry where it was growing, growing, growing and companies were making ridiculous management choices. You go into a regular office and it is cubes, offices, and coffee rooms. No snack bars, no games, no lounges, no fitness rooms, etc. And regular companies watch every cent they spend. In the gaming industry the people were demanding posher and posher work environments. To me, gaming has been living high on the hog for far too long and now reality is coming down on the industry finally. DEI modernist culture may play a part but I think this is a natural adjustment to an industry that lived like kings for too long and now they are paying the price.
I love Capcom's new games and their remakes. But Capcom remasters are just blatant money grabs. If you have not played Deadrising I would suggest getting the XB One Remaster instead. It is way cheaper and I doubt there is really much real difference.
I love my Rog Ally. Wish the batteries would last longer but that really is the only issue. Played many games through by installing them on it. Still not big on xCloud although it is improving.
I think the number of different device I can play on is a real differentiator for XBox.
To me this is proof that we need more than one high powered console it the marketplace to keep the major vendors in check with each other. If Sony were to rule or Microsoft then we would see pricing skyrocket. The fact that both are in competition keep prices from rising dramatically.
It wasn't too long ago that the target price for consoles at this stage of the generation was about $199 and $299. A $699 console is ridiculous.
@Vordus I would prefer if DoubleFine continues to be creative and decides on their own what they want to do. I like that they are not afraid to take chances and risks on new games. Would love to see another new IP.
@MrMagic I don't think the acquisition of Activision is causing this round. This is a general industry trend that studios and publishers are cutting jobs.
We see these large games where you have to commit a significant part of your life too. I miss the days where the focus was on story and game innovation instead of putting gamers like gerbils in a spinning wheel endlessly taking their money in one microtransaction filled game.
And wouldn't it be great if a game shipped on day one as a complete package that had very few bugs and didn't feel like you were buying an alpha or beta game?
And when you finished a game you were actually finished until a new sequel came out?
At one time, I bought games very often. At least four per month. Now, I have more or less stopped buying games unless the game is focused around a story/campaign, it has a definitive start and end, does not require microtransactions to progress at a decent pace, and is a decent price.
@Frmknst Simply every corporation will do whatever it can get away with to take consumer dollars. Anyone believing that any corporation is here solely for consumer benefits and not to load shareholders pockets with money is seriously not in touch with reality.
None are really worse or better than others. Their sole existence and goals are to make as much money as possible. The more they addict someone to their offerings the more they make and the more they make the more pressure shareholders put on them to make even more money.
@robe That is an easy answer. Corporations will and have always done what is best for them.
I think what Phil is getting at is that for gaming to have growth the entire business model needs to evolve as it has for for decades now.
It is no longer feasible to ship a game on one platform because they are so expensive to make.
The way games are made needs to be re-evaluated because what we are seeing is longer and longer times to make original new games. And many frameworks and game engines are becoming more and more mature. But they need to go into new directions to innovate. Things like AI.
The storage requirements of games keep getting larger and larger but storage tech isn't keeping up. I used to put all my games on a few hard drives, connect them to my console and life was great. Now, with the NVMe storage systems and all games coming out requiring them I can't keep my entire collection (not even close to it) local.
Like it or not more than 50% of all games are sold digitally now.
With networks continuing to get faster and faster and more accepted, cloud gaming will get more and more viable as the standard way to game. I can see most casuals thinking, "Why buy a console when I can just cloud stream?". Especially since inflation has made it harder and harder for people to afford consoles. And by the way $199 consoles are a distant past even near the end of generations.
All these add up to major changes in how the gaming industry works and delivers games.
MS makes their games available mostly on XB first. Then, on other platforms. The MS games are available on GamePass day one which is a huge benefit. On the other platforms, gamers are paying to play each game.
This gives MS more dollars as profit and to invest in making games better as well. I don't see where XB gamers are losing at all.
This multi-platform thing was inevitable I think both Sony and Nintendo will eventually have to go here too. If they don't their games won't sell as well and their games will take longer and longer to make or they will have to charge more and more to look as profitable as MS.
Shareholders don't care about console exclusives. They care about how much money they get on their investment. And if MS is making more because their games are multi-platform then shareholders are going to demand the same from Sony and Nintendo. It is that simple.
@Pabpictu Honestly, I don't understand the urgent issue. The drama is difficult to justify for me. I bought an XSX and am very happy with the device. I am also happy with all the games, GamePass, the XB network, etc. The only thing that truly disappointed me this year so far was Hellblade II wasn't as good as I wanted it to be. And maybe the delay of Avowed to next year. But I would rather MS ship a high quality game then a hot mess.
I was skeptical of the first person view in Indy, but the gameplay trailers have won me over. I expect a solid 8.0 to 8.5 game. Don't expect it to be generation defining. They are using their tried and tested game engine. The engine has proven solid and flexible with Wolfenstein.
@WhiteRabbit I do agree that 60 fps or more is a great target. But this is a choice by game developers. Consoles keep getting faster and faster. Next generation 60 fps will be a given probably in every game. This generation it is still a trade off the developers make.
People act as though 30 fps is garbage. Less than 10 years ago 30 fps was pretty much all that could be done in a AAA game.
Yes, I have Returnal and I enjoyed playing through the game, very repetitive but a real great gameplay experience. Astro Bot looks like it will be cute and fun, but appears void of any great story.
Yes, there is more to games than visuals. To me, it is the whole game experience. Controls, gameplay, sound, visuals, story, etc. I have yet to play any game on any platform this generation that has combined all those elements into a near perfect game. To me, every game has come up short in one aspect or another as the generation has unfolded.
@WhiteRabbit First, they are a 3 trillion dollar company.
Second, I would rather they spend on games then on marketing. Sony has released pretty much nothing new from their first party studios this generation. All games to date have been evolutionary releases on existing game engines. They are marketing well, but they are really lacking new and truly next gen games from their biggest studios. Microsoft is not exactly lighting up the generation yet either but at least their studios are releasing new games that are on heavily updated or new engines.
@GuyinPA75 At the end of the day no one is forcing anyone to subscribe to GamePass. All you have to do is go into your profile and cancel it. I cancelled my Netflix subscription last year, MS is coming very close to me cancelling my GamePass subscription.
I am not going to defend what MS did. To me, it is not good.
But, the FTC is full of BS here. The reason behind this has nothing to do with MS market power. This is a trend we are seeing through the industry. Almost every subscription I subscribe to including, Netflix, Amazon, Spotify, Nest, etc has gone up in price over the past six months. There was this little thing called inflation over the past two years. Companies have to pay their employees more because of it, and we all know the companies are not going to swallow that increase, they are going to pass it on to consumers. These are the simple facts.
I don't like it, but that is how the economy works.
As with everything now-a-days, the first version is barely a beta worth using to play. They will fix it about two more revisions of firestick and the service down the line.
With day one quality being what it is, I find it incredibly hard to even think about pre-ordering a game...
I don't know why anyone would put themselves through the frustration of day one games. The last time I pre-ordered day one was for Cyberpunk 2077 and CoD Black Ops Cold War. Cyberpunk's release is well documented. On BO Cold War the game kept freezing on me when I went on the infiltration mission in Russia and the helicopter arrived.
Before that the previous pre-order was Batman Arkham Origins, got 10 hours on day one into the game meticulously going through and my save corrupted. Found out next day it was a known bug.
@nomither6 I am glad that there is one AAA game that killed only and is still doing good. But, the vast majority of games seem to think online is a key to success and when push comes to shove they invest more in online than in single player.
@themightyant There many reasons why I think S is doing well. First is cost. It is the cheapest way to get a powerful console. Second, I think would be TVs. Most smaller TVs are only HD, so there is not much sense buying an X if your TV is only HD and you intend to keep it that way. Finally, as a secondary console. If you primarily game on PS or Switch and decide to buy an XB secondary console to play some of the exclusive games, you probably see S as a cheap way to do that.
Personally, I bought an S for my one and only HD TV. No need to have an X when an S will do on a secondary gaming TV.
Games are rolling out pretty consistently and are from a variety of genres. I think 2024 is doing fine.
For XB itself I think they are doing fine as well. Some new console offerings coming, a new IP before the end of the year, Hellblade II already released, and constant support for live service games such as Flight Simulator, Elder Scrolls, Forza Motorsport, etc. is also providing gamers with additional things to do. To me their showcase in June was the best since the FF surprise announcement back in the 360 era.
The problem with these platforming IPs is that there is a lack of creativity bringing the genre forward. Most of the platforming games guide you through a story and challenges with collectibles along the way that help you through the game in different ways. Platformers need to figure out how to make themselves relevant in different ways going forward to broaden how many gamers want to play them.
Gaming has gone through different phases in my life. When I was young I played games in almost all my spare time. When I had a family gaming was still there but didn't have the time I had when I was young. My kids are in the graduation phase from high school and university and I am getting more time but not gaming much because I am in a lifestyle transition from the big home with a family to the home I will probably have until I retire. I expect once I get done this transition I will start to get more gaming time. It is one of my hobbies. But, I am no where nearly as competitive and I don't have the reflexes I had earlier so not much of an online gamer. Much more enjoy a great story and a game that isn't overly challenging to get through. Gone are the days of 100% percenting achievements and being able to do games like Souls and twitchy MP games like Street Fighter, etc. In are the days of games that have a great story, make me think to get through them, and at least involve some talent to get through the story. Only a few games will I strive to get 100% achievement completion as long as they are not a full on commitment for weeks/months.
As I am getting older I am facing the reality that my health depends on a balance. To me gaming is more mental than physical, but I will also need the physical me to avoid the big issues like heart disease, stoke, cancer, etc. My advice to people is that too much of any one thing is not good. Gaming to me is an important hobby, but so is getting outdoors, eating healthy,, and physically being healthy. No one approach fits all and you need to do research to figure out the balance you want in your life for gaming.
More devices where XB games are available = More XB gamers = more XB games. I like this a lot. I have a 7 TVs between two homes. I buy firesticks for all my TVs. The ability to play on firestick will save me having to buy consoles for every TV.
@Scummbuddy
MS doesn't tell studios what games to make from what information is available publicly. There are certain studios that are allocated to specific IPs for sure.
Redfall was in development before MS even took over the studio so it can't be said the studio was doing something MS told them to do.
@Mustoe
MS cannot delay games forever. I would think that the studio would've been asked when the game would be ready. MS delayed the game a year. They can't delay a game forever. And judging by my personal experience with the game it would've taken several more years to make the game a truly great experience.
@tho_mi To be fair they purchased more than two publishers. They also purchased a bunch of individual studios before that.
To also be fair creating games is obviously changing and taking a lot longer. Sony has always been considered a great gaming content delivery company. Naughty Dog, Guerilla, Sucker Punch, etc. have all been pretty quiet this past few years. The only developer that seems to be delivering consistently this generation is Insomniac and it is pretty obvious they are just enhancing and improving their engine while putting a new story/paint job on it.
I think a lot of studios have been struggling with the new platforms and what they can potentially create for them. The new platforms allow for massive scope games and a lot of new capabilities. In past generations games taking advantage of new capabilities have taken longer and longer to create. I expect the entire industry is having a similar problem.
By buying so many publishers/studios I think MS has enough total studios that they can generate content consistently. Sony is now much smaller on content creation and it is showing. Their internal studios are struggling to ship new content with frequency.
Comments 1,052
Re: Microsoft Is Now Advertising Pretty Much Every Gaming Device As An Xbox
@Pusher2021
I tend to play games on the go that are not overly dependent on latency. Strategy games, story adventures, puzzle games, and simple platformers. I do take my switch when I travel too.
Hotel networks are hit and miss. Some are 9 out of 10, Others, are not so good. It is getting better, and highly dependent on the quality of the hotel you are in.
I prefer my home TVs with my consoles too. Have 7 TVs all at or over 55" between my two places (Amassed TVs over a 10 year period). One TV is 1080p and has my XSS. I have three others with XSX, and the rest I run firestick.
The firestick is about the same as XB Cloud on my 6G iPhone.
One of my places is about to get 3 Gbps with my ISP. I will switch to that and I am hoping it improves the cloud gaming experience.
Re: Microsoft Is Now Advertising Pretty Much Every Gaming Device As An Xbox
@Pusher2021
I've been buying XBoxes, PS'es, and Nintendo consoles since the start. I travel a lot and live in two places. XB is the only platform that makes it easy for me to game. Whether I am waiting in an airport or at whatever location I am at. To me this is all about flexibility to play anywhere, at anytime, on almost every device I own. Without these capabilities my ability to game would be maybe a few hours a week. With these capabilities I add a few more hours of gaming time each week.
I have an XSX, XSS, Razer Kishi V2 for my iPhone, Asus Rog Ally, iPad, a Surface Go, a smokin' i9 PC, and Fire Sticks on every TV I own. I can game on any of these devices! And I do based on where I am. I even carry a firestick and controller with me wherever I travel, because that Is all it takes for me to plug into a hotel TV and get the big screen experience.
Re: Xbox Boss Provides Multiple Reasons Why A 'PS5 Pro' Competitor Isn't Necessary
I think this was a good decision, simply for the fact that they can pour their R&D efforts into the next console to make it a bigger leap forward. Also keeps less different hardware out there easing development for developers who have enough different hardware specs to code to. Finally, it saves me money by not wanting to buy the latest and greatest device. That money will be spent in games rather than new hardware.
Re: WD Black's New 2TB Expansion Card Is Good News For Series X|S Owners
@dskatter
All this storage needs to be more affordable as well. I do not like the fact that both SSD and NVMe are so expensive as compared to SATA traditional drives.
Re: WD Black's New 2TB Expansion Card Is Good News For Series X|S Owners
Here we are 4 years after this generation of consoles are released and game sizes keep ballooning while storage on the consoles is just going up in comparatively small increments. It is super disappointing to me that we don't have affordable expansion cards that are equal to the largest SSD drives. aka I would like to see at least 8TB NVMe expansion drives instead of a measly 2 TB.
I hate managing storage. It takes away from my gaming time and is just a super annoying task. One of the reasons I game on console is to get away from managing the device. With these super small and high priced expansion cards it is making console gaming look more and more like PC gaming.
Re: Talking Point: 10 Years On, It's Been A Mighty Turnaround For Halo: Master Chief Collection
@SodaPop6548
I do agree with what you are saying but in Perfect Dark and Indiana Jones you are comparing single player only experiences (at least that is only what is announced so far) with single + co-op + multi-player experiences.
It is one thing to build a collection of single player experiences but it is yet another to take a bunch of co-op + multi-player experiences over a decade in the making and trying to mash them into one collection. I still think MS should've did better, but it was not an easy task and if you think about it that is still one of the only collections out there that combined many different single, co-op, multi-player experiences into a single game experience.
Re: Xbox's Rod Fergusson Explains The Team's Original Plan For Gears 6
I just want great games and Gears E-Day looks great so far!
Re: Apparently, More Than 50% Of Xbox Series X|S Users In The US Played Black Ops 6 Near Launch
I am going to add to the percentages later this week. I used love CoD. Around Ghosts that love disappeared. Time to give it another chance since it is part of GamePass.
Re: EA & BioWare Aren't Making Any DLC For Xbox RPG Dragon Age: The Veilguard
@InterceptorAlpha
I will rate the game on whether I enjoy it or not. Not whether it has DLC or not.
I am sure they will release bug fixes and patches. To me, that is supporting a game.
DLC is not support, it is additional content.
Re: Arkane Founder Says Xbox Shutting Austin Studio Was 'Stupid' And 'Not A Good Decision'
I don't think it was as terrible as people say. My understanding is a lot of the studio core left during Redfall development because they were not aligned with the kind of game Redfall was.
So, if a lot of the core left and we all know how well Redfall did, what was left to build tradition Arkane Austin games?
Re: Microsoft's Xbox Gets Another Revenue Boost From Activision
@shoeses
Integrating Activision into XB is no simple task. Activision had their own gaming network for their games. I would think that XB is integrating the XB/Activision network together. Also, Activision had its own inflight projects. XB would not just cancel them all and start XB based projects. They have to integrate the Activision core technologies with XB technologies. Finally, Activision made zero effort to get on GamePass. Therefore XB has to make changes necessary for game pass to work with Activision games. And finally, Activision had their own standards as to what to put in games. XB supports a lot more things like adaptive controllers, etc.
You add all these things up and probably more and just publishing Activision games onto Gamepass is not what they are doing. Instead they are integrating games into XB as XB standard games and releasing them as they are ready.
Re: State Of Decay 2 'Legacy Awaits' Is The Game's Final Major Update On Xbox
I really like that Microsoft has been dedicated to this game for so long. I like it when a publisher stands behind its games like they have with this one.
Re: Halo Veteran's Return To The Series Is Just Speculation For Now
Honestly, who cares whether he comes back or not?
After the latest Halo team video I am excited about what they are doing and where they are heading. Don't care what names are behind it, I just want more good things to happen.
Re: Xbox Cloud Gaming Will Reportedly Let You Stream Your Own Games Very Soon
@Wisegamer
I do agree with your comment as things sit today. But I also believe at some point there is an end to consoles as we know them today. Frankly, consoles are getting too expensive and their advantage in the market is disappearing.
If I could buy a PC and run it in "XB UI" mode I would not bother buying a console anymore.
Finally, I think streaming will eventually become a primary way to distribute games because of their growing size and fast storage hardware not keeping up with that size. Also, streaming will continue to improve, probably to the point you will not be able to distinguish it from a locally running game.
But this is all a ways off. Lucky to get here in the next 7-10 years.
Re: Xbox To Start Selling Games 'Directly' On Android App Next Month (US)
Glad to see progress in getting rid of mobile store monopolies.
It is ridiculous that apple and google put a 30% tax on people simply to declare purchasing of an app is safe.
Re: Tomb Raider 4-6 Remastered Is Real, Comes To Xbox In February 2025
Be nicer rather than just a lame remaster to actually remake these games and modernize them.
Re: Talking Point: Does Xbox's 'New Dawn' For Halo Mean The Series Will Come To PS5?
Typical XB reporting. You get a whole video about Halo switching to UE5 and the studio rename, and instead of the graphics, and other aspects of the video all people talk about is whether the game is going to PS5.
Re: Star Wars Outlaws Patch 'Tweaks' Stealth Again, Improves Performance On Xbox
I see these fix and feature lists and they keep validating why I don't even consider buying games on day one anymore.
I get excited for new games, but I don't want to play alpha and beta games, I want to play complete and stable games with only the inevitable minor issues.
And by the way where is Disney in all this ensuring quality on their IP? Shouldn't the license hold ensure the game meets a minimum brand quality level?
Re: Halo Infinite Is Getting Third-Person Mode Later This Year
@somnambulance
I like that they keep updating the game, but I would have loved to see campaign DLCs launch about every one to two years until the campaign was through the full Halo ring. They left the campaign off perfectly to keep adding to it and growing the story on this ring. Totally missed the opportunity.
Re: Report: Ubisoft Is Considering A Buyout From Tencent & Partners
@Vaako007
I am not sure what DEI modernist culture has to do with anything. I think we are looking at more a state of the industry as a whole.
Personally, I think the problems in most gaming companies has been it has become acceptable to release beta/alpha games on day one and flog them as ready for release. I used to buy games day one, now, I am lucky if I buy a game in year one. I prefer instead to wait til the game patching stabilizes and operates more as a final product.
Also, game pricing is interesting now-a-days. Take Deadrising remaster as an example. It is selling on day one today more than it did on day one when I bought it in 2006! How can a game that was touched up sell for more today than on its original release when they spent years to build the engine and all the assets for the game from scratch?
You can try and blame DEI and stuff like that, but really this comes down to an industry where it was growing, growing, growing and companies were making ridiculous management choices. You go into a regular office and it is cubes, offices, and coffee rooms. No snack bars, no games, no lounges, no fitness rooms, etc. And regular companies watch every cent they spend. In the gaming industry the people were demanding posher and posher work environments. To me, gaming has been living high on the hog for far too long and now reality is coming down on the industry finally. DEI modernist culture may play a part but I think this is a natural adjustment to an industry that lived like kings for too long and now they are paying the price.
Re: Poll: Did You End Up Buying The Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster For Xbox?
I love Capcom's new games and their remakes. But Capcom remasters are just blatant money grabs. If you have not played Deadrising I would suggest getting the XB One Remaster instead. It is way cheaper and I doubt there is really much real difference.
Re: Talking Point: Xbox's Forza Horizon 2 Changed The Open-World Racing Game 10 Years Ago
Every release of Forza Horizon has been great. Have spent literally hundreds if not over a thousand hours playing these games.
Re: Xbox Has Begun Including Handhelds In Promotional Images
I love my Rog Ally. Wish the batteries would last longer but that really is the only issue. Played many games through by installing them on it. Still not big on xCloud although it is improving.
I think the number of different device I can play on is a real differentiator for XBox.
Re: PS5 Pro's $699 Price Was 'Easier Decision' Due To Lack Of Xbox Competitor, Says Analysis
To me this is proof that we need more than one high powered console it the marketplace to keep the major vendors in check with each other. If Sony were to rule or Microsoft then we would see pricing skyrocket. The fact that both are in competition keep prices from rising dramatically.
It wasn't too long ago that the target price for consoles at this stage of the generation was about $199 and $299. A $699 console is ridiculous.
Re: Xbox's 'Double Fine' Studio Dismisses Idea Of Making New Banjo Or Conker Games
@Vordus
I would prefer if DoubleFine continues to be creative and decides on their own what they want to do. I like that they are not afraid to take chances and risks on new games. Would love to see another new IP.
Re: Xbox Is Cutting 650 More Jobs, Confirms Phil Spencer In Letter To Employees
@MrMagic
I don't think the acquisition of Activision is causing this round. This is a general industry trend that studios and publishers are cutting jobs.
Re: Xbox Legend Major Nelson Asks For 'More Varied Experiences' At Lower Price Points
We see these large games where you have to commit a significant part of your life too. I miss the days where the focus was on story and game innovation instead of putting gamers like gerbils in a spinning wheel endlessly taking their money in one microtransaction filled game.
And wouldn't it be great if a game shipped on day one as a complete package that had very few bugs and didn't feel like you were buying an alpha or beta game?
And when you finished a game you were actually finished until a new sequel came out?
At one time, I bought games very often. At least four per month. Now, I have more or less stopped buying games unless the game is focused around a story/campaign, it has a definitive start and end, does not require microtransactions to progress at a decent pace, and is a decent price.
Re: Microsoft Says Native Xbox Cloud Gaming App Remains 'Impossible' On Apple Devices
@Frmknst
Simply every corporation will do whatever it can get away with to take consumer dollars. Anyone believing that any corporation is here solely for consumer benefits and not to load shareholders pockets with money is seriously not in touch with reality.
None are really worse or better than others. Their sole existence and goals are to make as much money as possible. The more they addict someone to their offerings the more they make and the more they make the more pressure shareholders put on them to make even more money.
Re: Phil Spencer On Game Exclusivity: 'We Have To Anticipate There's Going To Be More Change'
@robe
That is an easy answer. Corporations will and have always done what is best for them.
I think what Phil is getting at is that for gaming to have growth the entire business model needs to evolve as it has for for decades now.
It is no longer feasible to ship a game on one platform because they are so expensive to make.
The way games are made needs to be re-evaluated because what we are seeing is longer and longer times to make original new games. And many frameworks and game engines are becoming more and more mature. But they need to go into new directions to innovate. Things like AI.
The storage requirements of games keep getting larger and larger but storage tech isn't keeping up. I used to put all my games on a few hard drives, connect them to my console and life was great. Now, with the NVMe storage systems and all games coming out requiring them I can't keep my entire collection (not even close to it) local.
Like it or not more than 50% of all games are sold digitally now.
With networks continuing to get faster and faster and more accepted, cloud gaming will get more and more viable as the standard way to game. I can see most casuals thinking, "Why buy a console when I can just cloud stream?". Especially since inflation has made it harder and harder for people to afford consoles. And by the way $199 consoles are a distant past even near the end of generations.
All these add up to major changes in how the gaming industry works and delivers games.
Re: Reaction: Indiana Jones And The Great Circle's PS5 Announcement Marks A Bold Step For Xbox
I don't see anything wrong here.
MS makes their games available mostly on XB first. Then, on other platforms. The MS games are available on GamePass day one which is a huge benefit. On the other platforms, gamers are paying to play each game.
This gives MS more dollars as profit and to invest in making games better as well. I don't see where XB gamers are losing at all.
This multi-platform thing was inevitable I think both Sony and Nintendo will eventually have to go here too. If they don't their games won't sell as well and their games will take longer and longer to make or they will have to charge more and more to look as profitable as MS.
Shareholders don't care about console exclusives. They care about how much money they get on their investment. And if MS is making more because their games are multi-platform then shareholders are going to demand the same from Sony and Nintendo. It is that simple.
Re: Xbox Lists 'Announced' First Party Games In New Social Media Graphic
@Pabpictu
Honestly, I don't understand the urgent issue. The drama is difficult to justify for me. I bought an XSX and am very happy with the device. I am also happy with all the games, GamePass, the XB network, etc. The only thing that truly disappointed me this year so far was Hellblade II wasn't as good as I wanted it to be. And maybe the delay of Avowed to next year. But I would rather MS ship a high quality game then a hot mess.
Re: Talking Point: How Hyped Are You For Indiana Jones On Xbox Series X|S?
I was skeptical of the first person view in Indy, but the gameplay trailers have won me over. I expect a solid 8.0 to 8.5 game. Don't expect it to be generation defining. They are using their tried and tested game engine. The engine has proven solid and flexible with Wolfenstein.
Re: Sony PlayStation 'Regrettably Outspends Us', Says Xbox EMEA Marketing Boss
@WhiteRabbit
I do agree that 60 fps or more is a great target. But this is a choice by game developers. Consoles keep getting faster and faster. Next generation 60 fps will be a given probably in every game. This generation it is still a trade off the developers make.
People act as though 30 fps is garbage. Less than 10 years ago 30 fps was pretty much all that could be done in a AAA game.
Yes, I have Returnal and I enjoyed playing through the game, very repetitive but a real great gameplay experience. Astro Bot looks like it will be cute and fun, but appears void of any great story.
Yes, there is more to games than visuals. To me, it is the whole game experience. Controls, gameplay, sound, visuals, story, etc. I have yet to play any game on any platform this generation that has combined all those elements into a near perfect game. To me, every game has come up short in one aspect or another as the generation has unfolded.
Re: Sony PlayStation 'Regrettably Outspends Us', Says Xbox EMEA Marketing Boss
@WhiteRabbit
First, they are a 3 trillion dollar company.
Second, I would rather they spend on games then on marketing. Sony has released pretty much nothing new from their first party studios this generation. All games to date have been evolutionary releases on existing game engines. They are marketing well, but they are really lacking new and truly next gen games from their biggest studios. Microsoft is not exactly lighting up the generation yet either but at least their studios are releasing new games that are on heavily updated or new engines.
Re: Microsoft Says FTC Is Being 'Misleading' In Response To Xbox Game Pass Criticisms
@GuyinPA75
At the end of the day no one is forcing anyone to subscribe to GamePass. All you have to do is go into your profile and cancel it. I cancelled my Netflix subscription last year, MS is coming very close to me cancelling my GamePass subscription.
Re: FTC Calls Out Xbox's New 'Degraded' Game Pass Tier & Price Increases
I am not going to defend what MS did. To me, it is not good.
But, the FTC is full of BS here. The reason behind this has nothing to do with MS market power. This is a trend we are seeing through the industry. Almost every subscription I subscribe to including, Netflix, Amazon, Spotify, Nest, etc has gone up in price over the past six months. There was this little thing called inflation over the past two years. Companies have to pay their employees more because of it, and we all know the companies are not going to swallow that increase, they are going to pass it on to consumers. These are the simple facts.
I don't like it, but that is how the economy works.
Re: Antstream Arcade Celebrates One Year On Xbox, Reveals 'Most Played Games' So Far
I love Antstream Arcade on XB. I would love it on PC as well but there is no lifetime purchase option there.
So, I am limited to just playing it on XB.
Re: Xbox Gaming On Amazon's Fire Stick Is Getting Mixed Feedback So Far
As with everything now-a-days, the first version is barely a beta worth using to play. They will fix it about two more revisions of firestick and the service down the line.
Re: Talking Point: Do You Ever Pre-Order Xbox Games Anymore?
With day one quality being what it is, I find it incredibly hard to even think about pre-ordering a game...
I don't know why anyone would put themselves through the frustration of day one games. The last time I pre-ordered day one was for Cyberpunk 2077 and CoD Black Ops Cold War. Cyberpunk's release is well documented. On BO Cold War the game kept freezing on me when I went on the infiltration mission in Russia and the helicopter arrived.
Before that the previous pre-order was Batman Arkham Origins, got 10 hours on day one into the game meticulously going through and my save corrupted. Found out next day it was a known bug.
Day one is dead to me.
Re: GTA 5 Dev Talks Cancelled Single-Player DLC, Says It Was 'Really, Really Good'
@nomither6
I am glad that there is one AAA game that killed only and is still doing good. But, the vast majority of games seem to think online is a key to success and when push comes to shove they invest more in online than in single player.
Re: GTA 5 Dev Talks Cancelled Single-Player DLC, Says It Was 'Really, Really Good'
It is a sad state we are in that even one of the biggest games in the market has to prioritize online over the single player experience.
Does not bode well for continued single player centric games.
Re: Xbox Series X|S Appears To Have Passed 600K Sales In Japan
@themightyant
There many reasons why I think S is doing well. First is cost. It is the cheapest way to get a powerful console. Second, I think would be TVs. Most smaller TVs are only HD, so there is not much sense buying an X if your TV is only HD and you intend to keep it that way. Finally, as a secondary console. If you primarily game on PS or Switch and decide to buy an XB secondary console to play some of the exclusive games, you probably see S as a cheap way to do that.
Personally, I bought an S for my one and only HD TV. No need to have an X when an S will do on a secondary gaming TV.
Re: Talking Point: How Do You Feel About 2024 On Xbox So Far?
Games are rolling out pretty consistently and are from a variety of genres. I think 2024 is doing fine.
For XB itself I think they are doing fine as well. Some new console offerings coming, a new IP before the end of the year, Hellblade II already released, and constant support for live service games such as Flight Simulator, Elder Scrolls, Forza Motorsport, etc. is also providing gamers with additional things to do. To me their showcase in June was the best since the FF surprise announcement back in the 360 era.
Re: Don't Get Your Hopes Up About Banjo-Kazooie, Suggests New Xbox Rumour
The problem with these platforming IPs is that there is a lack of creativity bringing the genre forward. Most of the platforming games guide you through a story and challenges with collectibles along the way that help you through the game in different ways. Platformers need to figure out how to make themselves relevant in different ways going forward to broaden how many gamers want to play them.
Re: Talking Point: Has Your Gaming Slowed Down As You've Got Older?
Gaming has gone through different phases in my life. When I was young I played games in almost all my spare time. When I had a family gaming was still there but didn't have the time I had when I was young. My kids are in the graduation phase from high school and university and I am getting more time but not gaming much because I am in a lifestyle transition from the big home with a family to the home I will probably have until I retire. I expect once I get done this transition I will start to get more gaming time. It is one of my hobbies. But, I am no where nearly as competitive and I don't have the reflexes I had earlier so not much of an online gamer. Much more enjoy a great story and a game that isn't overly challenging to get through. Gone are the days of 100% percenting achievements and being able to do games like Souls and twitchy MP games like Street Fighter, etc. In are the days of games that have a great story, make me think to get through them, and at least involve some talent to get through the story. Only a few games will I strive to get 100% achievement completion as long as they are not a full on commitment for weeks/months.
As I am getting older I am facing the reality that my health depends on a balance. To me gaming is more mental than physical, but I will also need the physical me to avoid the big issues like heart disease, stoke, cancer, etc. My advice to people is that too much of any one thing is not good. Gaming to me is an important hobby, but so is getting outdoors, eating healthy,, and physically being healthy. No one approach fits all and you need to do research to figure out the balance you want in your life for gaming.
Re: Capcom Announces New Dead Rising Remaster, Likely Coming To Xbox Series X|S
Loved the game but would rather see a full remake rather than just "yet another remaster".
Re: Xbox Is Bringing Cloud Gaming To The Amazon Fire TV Stick
More devices where XB games are available = More XB gamers = more XB games. I like this a lot. I have a 7 TVs between two homes. I buy firesticks for all my TVs. The ability to play on firestick will save me having to buy consoles for every TV.
Re: Xbox Patent Reveals What 'Keystone' Streaming Device Might Have Looked Like
@FarmDog08
I have a ROG Ally and it is pretty good to play all XB PC Games.
Would love to see MS enter the fray and deliver something with stronger battery life and better performance.
Re: Former Redfall Studio Head Already Looking Forward To What's Next
@Scummbuddy
MS doesn't tell studios what games to make from what information is available publicly. There are certain studios that are allocated to specific IPs for sure.
Redfall was in development before MS even took over the studio so it can't be said the studio was doing something MS told them to do.
@Mustoe
MS cannot delay games forever. I would think that the studio would've been asked when the game would be ready. MS delayed the game a year. They can't delay a game forever. And judging by my personal experience with the game it would've taken several more years to make the game a truly great experience.
Re: Xbox Already Planning For 'Great Showcase' Next Year As Team 'Hits Stride' In 2024
@tho_mi
To be fair they purchased more than two publishers. They also purchased a bunch of individual studios before that.
To also be fair creating games is obviously changing and taking a lot longer. Sony has always been considered a great gaming content delivery company. Naughty Dog, Guerilla, Sucker Punch, etc. have all been pretty quiet this past few years. The only developer that seems to be delivering consistently this generation is Insomniac and it is pretty obvious they are just enhancing and improving their engine while putting a new story/paint job on it.
I think a lot of studios have been struggling with the new platforms and what they can potentially create for them. The new platforms allow for massive scope games and a lot of new capabilities. In past generations games taking advantage of new capabilities have taken longer and longer to create. I expect the entire industry is having a similar problem.
By buying so many publishers/studios I think MS has enough total studios that they can generate content consistently. Sony is now much smaller on content creation and it is showing. Their internal studios are struggling to ship new content with frequency.