1) Run every XB and PC game.
2) A really good UI making it like a console experience. Simple management.
3) Better then current high powered handhelds at battery life.
I don't see how you can pack a powerful device into a small high resolution screen at a low price. It has to be a premium device not a budget device to meet its technical goals. It will price a lot of people out, but unfortunately that is how it will be.
More options for gamers. Each person can decide whether they want one themselves or not. Me, I spend a lot of time travelling in planes, ferries, and vehicles so I will definitely pick one up. My current ROG Ally gets a lot of good use.
I would say MP depends. If they were to release e-day for the holidays with MP I would say it would be fine just being the campaigns. Then build previous Gears MP into E-Day MP.
@neillaw
I am not sure what your comment is getting at. It is a stated estimate that 6 mln people played the game. As with almost every game there are a significant amount of people that choose not to continue to play it after 15 minutes. I heard a stat once that less than 20% of gamers ever finish a campaign in any game.
It is the same as saying an estimated billion people ate at McDonald's last year. Is that inclusive of people like me who didn't like the food?
I have no problem with the number and amount of games MS is releasing. I do want to see the games move from 8/10 to 9's and 10' though. If it take more time I am fine with that.
There are a lot of AAA studios with 5+ year development cycles now. That is how the game industry is for a new AAA game based on a new/highly updated engine and with original content.
@somnambulance I don't see this as much different then the film industry. Movie of the year is usually something not a lot of people actually watched during its theatre run or didn't even release in theatres. The live services in movies are the constant sequels for popular franchises.
To me there is art and there is sports gaming. The story/campaign games are the art and the live services and multi-player games are the sports. Story/campaign games may not be much in the market but they are still worth making and can be profitable. Just not as much as sports gaming.
I once worked for a major music publisher. They gambled on a a lot of music acts because only 1 out of 30 signed would make money and 1 out of every 200 signed would make enough money to justify the publisher staying in business. The problem is that no one can ever figure out which one is the 1 in 30 or one in 200. So, they had to take a chance on a lot of acts. It is the same in gaming. There are not a lot of games that make a lot of money, but the ones that do are justification for everyone else to make their games.
I think Microsoft is well positioned for go-forward gaming success. Between UE5 and other purchased publishers/developers MS has great tech to make games. And they invested heavy in Live Services so that is also in great shape, Not to mention gaming infrastructure like the cloud, gamer profiles, and streaming.
I just hope MS starts to stay the course as they currently are moving towards. And not make yet another major direction change. It is good to be agile, but a brand is built on a reputation, and a reputation is built by being consistent in what you do.
I think the last few MS games have been pretty good from a quality perspective. They could be better I think but overall, most of their new games are playable.
If they want their review scores to increase I think they have to ship games in a bit better first day state though. To me that is the difference between 7-8.5 out of 10 and 9-10's.
I like the direction MS is headed but, they need to sustain the direction for years and not keep changing it. MS has tried things and often gave up too early on some stuff and way too late on others. I think the choice to bundle Kinect with XB One was a bold move but it was also a brutal failure. It increased the price of the console too much.
I was hoping that MS would rotate development between Rise of, Age of, Halo Wars, and Gears Tactics IPs. Not to mention I would like to see another Toy Soldiers style and a Japanese style RTS game as well from them. It would give them a six year cycle for each franchise. Which I think is about right for these types of games.
The problem in the RTS genre is that RTS games that tend to follow profound evolution (single person to fully modern society) do really well, but other RTS style games don't seem to do as well. aka Civilization and Age of games seem really popular but Gears and Halo not so much.
@Kaloudz I agree with your post entirely but there is also another part to the story which is that publishers/developers for too long have shipped incomplete or bug ridden games to gaming customers. I don't think a lot of people would push back on the costs so much if gaming publishers/developers shipped relatively bug free and complete games on day one. I for one, have been seriously tainted by games shipping in a much less than ideal state. Put out quality content on a consistent basis and I would buy a significant amount more. Right now it is almost like gambling when you buy a game on day one... Is this going to be a treat or a major disappointment because the publisher/developer brought it out a year too early?
I would expect expect that further innovations in networking and cloud co-processing will make streaming a primary way to play games as consoles continue to become more and more expensive. The economics improve a lot for a struggling family to stream rather than buy a console. Consoles had two advantages in the past. 1) A dedicated gaming/entertainment UI, 2) Cost made consoles the go to gaming/entertainment device over PCs. With MS making every device capable of having a dedicated gaming/entertainment UI and the economics of consoles becoming more and more expensive, consoles are losing their advantages quickly.
The advantage of streaming though is becoming greater and greater. As networks get faster streaming becomes more viable. And not needing to buy a new dedicated device every 3-8 years is very attractive from a cost perspective. How does a family struggling with constant inflation justify a $600-900 console over any streaming device that can connect to the Internet? Sure there will be people that take gaming seriously and want the dedicated gear just like any other hobby/sport, but then there is the 95% of people that gaming/entertainment is just one of many hobbies they do and the less they pay for it the better.
I expect by the end of the next generation not a lot of people will care about consoles anymore. They will be seen as costly and redundant. Most people will stream games, and then the rest will buy PCs for the dedicated experience. If not next generation, the generation after. It is not a matter of if consoles will be replaced by streaming it is when.
Consoles have had a good run. But they are coming near the end of their cycle as a technology that people will want. I have gamed for decades and my preference is to play campaign/story, single player, or co-op games. Streaming is pretty much there for me to do that without having to buy dedicated console gear. I still primarily play on my console devices, but I am seriously consider whether I need to buy a next console or not.
@Medic_alert It is just logic really. If you target the lowest platform with your development then the rest of the platforms should be a breeze.
Developers who target the strongest platform first are just really dumb. It is like saying "Let's build a Ferrari spec and put it in a Toyota Corolla". Hmmmmmm why didn't that work?
@Prestige-worldwide Agreed. But, this is an XB site (In fact PureXbox lol). If people are no longer interested or feel victimized by XB, I would encourage them to "move on" and join the PS or whatever community they want to join next.
People can whine all day, but with how successful MS appears to be with multi-platforming their games I don't see them caring too much what these people are saying. Maybe, it is time they move on and switch to the community they are going to next rather than making whining and toxic posts here.
I would also encourage Pure Xbox to no longer act as if every game that releases on another platform is somehow news. MS is clear. They have no sacred franchises that they won't ship on other devices. To me, these articles qualify as stoking the fire more than being actual news. Let's talk about Doom, Avowed, and the rest of the games we are getting this year. Not a bunch of people crying after decisions have been made.
@Valhura Actions should be based on facts not emotions.
Your post is void of facts other than it sounds like you don't like MS first party content and I can agree that MS was light on good content both last generation and to start this generation.
If you are not getting an XB next generation then I am not sure why you feel it necessary to comment on this site anymore. Personally, if I was leaving XB next gen I wouldn't care about coming back to post here.
@IOI
I don't know how we can be a victim when nothing has been taken from us. The exact opposite, now that AKB is a MS company, their games come to GamePass on Day One now.
The only people killing the XB platform are people who get overly dramatic about MS shipping games on other platforms.
I really liked listening to the whole info in that discussion.
He also likened Sony to HBO, MS to Netflix, and Nintendo to Disney. That makes sense.
He also said that none of these vendors make their money on the consoles. Again, that is known to be true. It is the content and services where the money is made.
@TanaDax
I never trust the advertising. Been in gaming for many, many generations and every single one of the vendors literally lie in their marketing. That is a big problem now-a-days. People trust social media and marketing more then the trust looking for facts and making choices based true facts. That requires research, correlating truth to reality, having trust with verification, and determining what is real.
I have a few rules when it comes to consoles and what I hear:
1) A game is not real until it has at least a release year within the current year (Even then you may see a 6 month delay... aka Avowed).
2) Console marketing is all BS. Best console ever, best performance leap, resolution games will run at, it is all BS. Their statements are for games like Pac-man not the AAA console pushing titles.
3) Until a game releases and it is known to be stable for a few months, I don't buy it. Too many times I have been burned by a release corrupting a save or the game just being a mess on release.
@wildcat_kickz And MS get some extra profits, the game will get more followers, and probably some money back to Machine Games so they can make another great game. Wins across the board.
@JustinTimberlake To me the difference between PS and XB is not hardware but the cost and experience of the system.
First, on cost. I feel like XB costs me less than PS would with GamePass, the general price of games, and I can buy the hardware cheaper.
Second, on the experience. I like XB online experience better, I think the profiles/gamerscore model is better, and I like the dashboard better than PS.
I don't like all those on PS, therefore I choose XB. To me game selection is only one aspect of owning a console.
@InJeffable
I think Judgement was a really good multi-player and co-op game, but as a campaign story I really felt it was weak sauce. One, it was really short, and two it felt like they took multi-player games types and strung them together to make a campaign story.
I think the best Gears stories were the first three. I felt four was a milking exercise, and I felt 5 boldly tried new things that didn't work the best but at least they tried.
I hope E-Day goes more back to Gears roots. Gritty story, gritty and technical gameplay, and awesome multi-player where horde mode is really, really fun!
I think the S is a very good option. I have one on a 1080p TV I own. Why would I buy an X for a TV that can only do 1080p. You look at most TVs below 40" and there is very few that do 4k. Yes, PC monitors go 4k but TV wise, only a few.
I think MS did fumble it a bit on the CPU, memory, GPU balance, but generally this was a good start. And like Phil said, there are a lot of devices where games run, and many of them are a lot less than an S. Games are built to run on almost every hardware configuration now.
I would love to see another S in the next generation. There are many cases where I would buy it. Heck I would love to see an XB hardware bundle... Buy the next X, S, and handheld in a boxed bundle and get $100 off. Would buy it no questions asked.
If gamers want to talk about something and the gaming news wants to pick up on a cause relentlessly how about any of the following:
1) Microtransactions ruining what would've been a great game.
2) Why games ship day one as flawed messes seemingly void of any level of testing.
3) Why isn't Sony and Nintendo shipping games on XB?
4) Have you bought a new game on day one lately? Have you seen the price? coughcough.
5) Why is online required for almost every game now?
I could go on and on... MS shipping their games on other platforms is not the biggest issue in the gaming or XB world.
I can see here that a lot of people are passionate on this topic. But, at the end of the day I think MS is doing the right thing. I am sure they are doing it for their own profit, but the reality is that this breaks down the, "I need to buy this device to play a certain game". I would expect both Nintendo and Sony shareholders to see this and say, "why aren't you doing this too because we could make more money?". I would be willing to say that within about 5 years, there won't be exclusives anymore on any platform. The world will have moved on from something that was anti-consumer and created a whole world of "console wars".
People that cling to this will just be disappointed in the same way that gaming has gone to digital distribution and microtransactions are here to stay. The reality is that these things make publishers more money and the reality of shipping games on as many platforms as possible does the same.
I would also think that in 10 years there won't be consoles anymore. Gamers will either stream from the cloud or dedicated console devices will be replaced by much more flexible PCs. PCs don't have near the limitations of consoles and they don't have the same problems they used to when installing games. I can setup a single PC with a lot of different multi-monitor configurations to play games. Consoles don't give near that capability.
This is what I hate about this generation. The storage devices just don't have enough space. I would love to have my entire collection on a few hard drives connected to my XB. But, no, you have to have a lot of games on the special storage, and a good portion of those games are over 100 Gb each. NVMe is great, but we need 10 Tb storage sizes at a decent cost for it to be useful.
@Smackosynthesis
Microsoft is far from the number one sellers of PCs yet they still sell Surface PCs. There are a bunch of different reasons why a company chooses to be in a marketplace selling their products.
I for one will pick up the next XB. Their multi-platform game strategy does not affect my the choice. I will also buy PS6 and Switch 2. But, my primary console will be XB for the foreseeable future because I like the platform, its services, and there are a lot of great games on the platform. Nintendo platform and services are just poor, and I do not like PS services and platform as much as XB.
This generation may be the last console generation anyhow. I expect within the next 10 years most games will switch to streaming and people will just buy TVs and those TVs will be designed to stream games really well.
@trev666
Cloud gaming continues to improve a lot. MS is investing in it and I wouldn't doubt that in the next 10 years consoles are dead and replaced fully by cloud gaming available on almost any device you can buy.
I would expect that cloud gaming will evolve to continually to improve performance/lag over the next 10 years to the point where you cannot tell the difference between something that you are running from the cloud vs. running locally. In fact, with AI, I would expect that cloud gaming will be even better then the local experience.
I like that MS has so much content now. I don't think we will see anywhere near 10 major games this year though. It would be nice if I am proven wrong, but honestly, I would be happy to see 4-6 really amazing games then 10+ major games where half were rushed out before they were truly ready.
I don't know why people felt this year was turbulent. There was a lot of noise but MS released some highly anticipated content in CoD (Best CoD in years to me), Hellblade II, Indy, Flight Simulator 2024, and Diablo IV content. We also started to see the trickle release of Activision Blizzard games on GamePass.
There was also a lot of good news to come with Avowed, Perfect Dark, Fable, South of Midnight, State of Decay 3, and Gears of War E-Day. Yes, they don't have release dates, but the games look like they are coming along nicely.
Then there was also some good news from 343 on the studio switching to UE. And at the end of the year screen shot of Everwild from Rare.
If you ignore all the negative press (that honestly does not truely affect XB gamers unless you want it to) around XB games shipping on other platforms, this was a solid year for XB. In fact, I would say they did much better than both Sony and Nintendo by a significant amount. And there is much more to look forward to on XB this next year then both Sony and Nintendo.
I have dived into both CoD and Indy this holiday season. I have played a few hours in each. Both seem to be good quality games so far. I shunned CoD a lot since Ghosts because of quality but this one seems much better. As for Indy I had trepidations about it being a FP game but all is forgotten now that I am playing it.
Hopefully this put all the MS studios on track for future releases. There are a lot of MS studios now, consistently putting out games that rate 80+ will be a key to future success. If they can put out an 80+ game 3-4 times a year that will build the XB brand a lot. Then bring out great hardware next generation and hopefully XB will gain some additional momentum.
I find I am buying less and less games and spending less and less in total. First, there is not a lot of innovation out there right now with tried and true formulae used in many games. Second, the price of new AAA games is ridiculous so I have to wait for sales. Third, I am tired of games shipping as buggy messes for the first year and waiting for them to go through enough fixes for the games to be decent enough to play. Finally, GamePass allows me to try before I decide to buy helping me make more informed decisions on what to buy.
@Balaam_ I think a game's art style has to match its game play and story. Until we get a picture of what the actual game is like I won't be judging the art style. I wouldn't call see of thieves all that great of an art style but it fits the game really well. Unfortunately, my expectations are very high on this game since it has been in development for so long. Just hope it lives up to the development time.
@neoxmahi That was an unfactual rant about what you think is happening. The facts are:
1) The XB business financially is doing very well. 2) Microsoft has already committed to making next generation consoles. 3) I don't know where Phil has lied. He has actually been pretty clear that there are no red lines to shipping games on other platforms. No console vendor exec has ever been fully truthful. They all make promises that the next console is the greatest and that every next game is something never seen before. They also say their games are exclusive, now console exclusive, and next it will all become timed exclusives. 4) You base your arguments on the perception that there are still console wars. There is no such thing anymore. Yes, Sony, Nintendo, and MS compete against each other, but there is no reason to believe that any of the three are going anywhere other than into a next generation. Just like all three have for the previous four generations. The console vendors have been stable for about 20 years now. The longest period of console vendor stability ever.
I don't think anyone knows what lies ahead with any certainty. But one thing is clear, MS is in gaming and with its purchases of publishers over the past 10 years since Mojang, they are going to be making games for a long time to come.
The only question is going to be what platforms sell the best. And even console sales are becoming irrelevant because a lot of gamers game on PC, console, and portable platforms not just consoles. Don't get me wrong, I prefer gaming on console because of its simplicity, but the reality is the I like my PC rig too, and I like my Asus ROG Ally. I don't always get the big TV to game on so at times I end up on the other platforms. As long as MS offers GamePass and still makes a console I will continue to buy their games, console platform, and services. GamePass just makes sense financially even just for MS games. The XB console has been my primary platform for two decades now and has most of my gaming history, and I like a lot of games MS makes. I can buy the games on other platforms but I choose to buy them on XB because I prefer the platform.
Every reviewer is entitled to their opinions. I don't like herd reviewers that just give a game a good score because it was made by a specific developer, in a specific series, or because everyone else says it is good. Everyone has different tastes and some people don't like certain games. Nothing wrong with that. I tend to use reviews as general guidance. Meaning I don't bother looking at a game where everyone is scoring it below 6 out of 10. Anything equal or higher means I will consider the game based on what I see in the community once it has released. There are some games that score well but just don't seem to connect with gamers and then there are others that score OK, but really build a following.
Given Machine Games history and the review scores I am apt to give Indy play time on GamePass to see if I enjoy it, If I really like it I will pick it up on sale at some point when the price is equal to the value I am getting from the game.
There is no way I buy a game at full price anymore. Prices have gone to a state where I cannot justify purchasing games on day one that are usually bug ridden, messes. I don't expect that from this game, but after the Cyber Punk fiasco I no longer take the chance.
@MeanBeanEgg There are over 2 Billion gamers planet wide. That means with 110 mln gamers PS has 5.5% of the total market of people who play games on devices. With AAA games getting more and more expensive to create it becomes imperative that they target the broader market of gamers. Otherwise, their profit margins per game will be less than Microsoft and shareholders will start to ask why can't they get to Microsoft margins. Nothing is about the right or advantageous thing to do. Everything evolves around shareholders and money the shareholders make.
I don't know how Series S plays into this if we start the new generation with consoles and a handheld console.
At the end of the day most game developers ship on PC as well. There are many lower end PCs that are less than console specs running games. Developers will typically target the broadest audience possible to sell their games. If hardware sells, game developers will make sure their games work on it.
This is a standard article I have seen every 3-6 months since November 15, 2001. I never see articles validating or questioning whether Sony or Nintendo will continue to make hardware.
Next we will get news articles that the sun rose today.
As for physical discs, oil for the plastics, trees get cut for the paper in the covers, ink is required for the print on them, and discs are made with polycarbonate which requires a bunch of chemicals and gases that need to be acquired. And in the end you still need the servers for the constant game updates developers deliver.
@MeanBeanEgg I still believe in options. XB I think provides the most options for gamers. Especially on how and where I can play my games.
PS: I do really like the controllers having the option for batteries. Makes it easy when my rechargeables die, don't have to plug it in to the console. Just switch rechargeable batteries or put in regular batteries.
One other thing about digital distribution is that it is better for the environment. No manufacturing of discs, no physical resources required for distribution, no trucking those discs to stores, and no people buying those discs with physical money anymore. Everything is digitally accessed and downloaded. You are doing the environment a favour by buying your games online only.
Personally, I thing the special editions should just end. To me, there is little value in special editions without the disc. If they want to do collectibles, then they should move digital as well.
Newspaper/books first started digital distribution, music was next, movies went after that, and now gaming is completing the move of media to digital distribution.
People can whatever we want but physical distribution is dying off. There are people growing up not even knowing what physical distribution is. I used to do my rounds to EBGames (GameStop) and Best Buy once a month to see the latest releases. I can't remember the last time I did that for games. Have not walked in to GameStop for literally years. Best Buy the only time I go there is to see a physical sample of an electronic I am looking to buy. Then, I order online.
The other issue with physical distribution is game size. As games eclipse 150 GB more and more (for 4K games, 8k games will probable eclipse 1 TB) it requires too many disks for the games to be unfeasible to distribute physically.
I have a collection much bigger then that pictured in the article. My X360 collection eclipses 2,000+ physical games, but I saw the writing on the wall when MS started XBLA and start to move digital. My XB One collection is almost completely digital, and my XB Series collection is entirely digital. I would've preferred physical stick around but it is dying.
There are a lot of advantages to digital. I travel a lot so it is easy just to download some games to my ROG Ally and play them or now play (some of) my games on xCloud. I also have fixed XBoxes where I just download games too. Since storage is not large enough for my entire collection, digital makes it easier to put the games I want to play on my XBox. Don't have to find or have the physical disc. Just go to My Library and decide what I want to download. No matter where I am the whole thing just depends on a decent Internet connection. Which is almost always available if willing/able to pay for it now.
All I need is my Phone, ROG Ally, and iPad and a decent Internet connection and I can access all my digital media anywhere in the world!
This generation of hardware has been out for 4 years. It is not like these developers do not know what they are capable of doing.
If you know hardware isn't as good, why wouldn't you make that hardware the lead platform for development. This is like driving a Ferrari and then driving a Toyota Camry and wondering why it doesn't go as fast. Duh!
I can understand people thinking the hardware isn't as performant as other hardware. But let's be honest, even the Series S runs circles around Switch. We are not talking 40-400% differences here between X and PS5. The actual difference between an X and PS5 is probably in the 5-10% range.
This just sounds like the developer made mistakes by not scoping their game to the hardware they would ship the game on. Being someone who runs tech projects myself, that is pretty stupid if you ask me.
Microsoft's ongoing support for games on all their released consoles and the ability to still run the 360 and onward games/consoles is one of the reasons I continue to stay with XB as my primary console. I know that if I invest in it, MS will support it for a very long time.
Comments 1,052
Re: Talking Point: Will Xbox Manage To Create 'Something Legendary' With The Next Halo?
I think the next Halo is the last really good shot the franchise at having a future. They have to get it right or 343 needs to go another direction.
Re: Five Things An Xbox Handheld Needs To Include When It Releases
1) Run every XB and PC game.
2) A really good UI making it like a console experience. Simple management.
3) Better then current high powered handhelds at battery life.
I don't see how you can pack a powerful device into a small high resolution screen at a low price. It has to be a premium device not a budget device to meet its technical goals. It will price a lot of people out, but unfortunately that is how it will be.
Re: Report: Xbox Handheld For 2025 Being Made By ASUS, Will Feature Console-Like Interface
More options for gamers. Each person can decide whether they want one themselves or not. Me, I spend a lot of time travelling in planes, ferries, and vehicles so I will definitely pick one up. My current ROG Ally gets a lot of good use.
Re: Multiple 'Gears Collection' Rumours Now Suggesting PVP Could Be Skipped Entirely
I would say MP depends. If they were to release e-day for the holidays with MP I would say it would be fine just being the campaigns. Then build previous Gears MP into E-Day MP.
Re: Avowed Estimated To Reach 6 Million Players In First Month On Xbox & PC
@neillaw
I am not sure what your comment is getting at. It is a stated estimate that 6 mln people played the game. As with almost every game there are a significant amount of people that choose not to continue to play it after 15 minutes. I heard a stat once that less than 20% of gamers ever finish a campaign in any game.
It is the same as saying an estimated billion people ate at McDonald's last year. Is that inclusive of people like me who didn't like the food?
Re: Xbox Says It's Got A 'Bunch Of Stuff' It Hasn't Even Announced Yet
I have no problem with the number and amount of games MS is releasing. I do want to see the games move from 8/10 to 9's and 10' though. If it take more time I am fine with that.
There are a lot of AAA studios with 5+ year development cycles now. That is how the game industry is for a new AAA game based on a new/highly updated engine and with original content.
Re: Xbox & PlayStation Owners Are Obsessed With Live Service Games Right Now
@somnambulance
I don't see this as much different then the film industry. Movie of the year is usually something not a lot of people actually watched during its theatre run or didn't even release in theatres. The live services in movies are the constant sequels for popular franchises.
To me there is art and there is sports gaming. The story/campaign games are the art and the live services and multi-player games are the sports. Story/campaign games may not be much in the market but they are still worth making and can be profitable. Just not as much as sports gaming.
I once worked for a major music publisher. They gambled on a a lot of music acts because only 1 out of 30 signed would make money and 1 out of every 200 signed would make enough money to justify the publisher staying in business. The problem is that no one can ever figure out which one is the 1 in 30 or one in 200. So, they had to take a chance on a lot of acts. It is the same in gaming. There are not a lot of games that make a lot of money, but the ones that do are justification for everyone else to make their games.
Re: How Microsoft Managed Xbox Brand 'Is Not My F**king Fault', Says OG Xbox Creator
I think Microsoft is well positioned for go-forward gaming success. Between UE5 and other purchased publishers/developers MS has great tech to make games. And they invested heavy in Live Services so that is also in great shape, Not to mention gaming infrastructure like the cloud, gamer profiles, and streaming.
I just hope MS starts to stay the course as they currently are moving towards. And not make yet another major direction change. It is good to be agile, but a brand is built on a reputation, and a reputation is built by being consistent in what you do.
Re: Microsoft CEO Commits To Producing 'Great Quality Games' As Xbox Expands
I think the last few MS games have been pretty good from a quality perspective. They could be better I think but overall, most of their new games are playable.
If they want their review scores to increase I think they have to ship games in a bit better first day state though. To me that is the difference between 7-8.5 out of 10 and 9-10's.
I like the direction MS is headed but, they need to sustain the direction for years and not keep changing it. MS has tried things and often gave up too early on some stuff and way too late on others. I think the choice to bundle Kinect with XB One was a bold move but it was also a brutal failure. It increased the price of the console too much.
Re: Talking Point: Five Years On, Would You Want To See A Gears Tactics 2?
I was hoping that MS would rotate development between Rise of, Age of, Halo Wars, and Gears Tactics IPs. Not to mention I would like to see another Toy Soldiers style and a Japanese style RTS game as well from them. It would give them a six year cycle for each franchise. Which I think is about right for these types of games.
The problem in the RTS genre is that RTS games that tend to follow profound evolution (single person to fully modern society) do really well, but other RTS style games don't seem to do as well. aka Civilization and Age of games seem really popular but Gears and Halo not so much.
Re: Marvel Rivals Publisher Confirms Mass US Layoffs In New Company Statement
@Kaloudz
I agree with your post entirely but there is also another part to the story which is that publishers/developers for too long have shipped incomplete or bug ridden games to gaming customers. I don't think a lot of people would push back on the costs so much if gaming publishers/developers shipped relatively bug free and complete games on day one. I for one, have been seriously tainted by games shipping in a much less than ideal state. Put out quality content on a consistent basis and I would buy a significant amount more. Right now it is almost like gambling when you buy a game on day one... Is this going to be a treat or a major disappointment because the publisher/developer brought it out a year too early?
Re: Phil Spencer Says Xbox Is Done Trying To Convince PS5 & Switch Players To Move Over
@FraserG
So, what you are saying is that all PXB cares about clicks rather than gaming journalism. OK. Duly noted.
Re: Xbox Reporter Says Series X|S Successor Has Been 'Fully Approved' By Microsoft
I would expect expect that further innovations in networking and cloud co-processing will make streaming a primary way to play games as consoles continue to become more and more expensive. The economics improve a lot for a struggling family to stream rather than buy a console. Consoles had two advantages in the past. 1) A dedicated gaming/entertainment UI, 2) Cost made consoles the go to gaming/entertainment device over PCs. With MS making every device capable of having a dedicated gaming/entertainment UI and the economics of consoles becoming more and more expensive, consoles are losing their advantages quickly.
The advantage of streaming though is becoming greater and greater. As networks get faster streaming becomes more viable. And not needing to buy a new dedicated device every 3-8 years is very attractive from a cost perspective. How does a family struggling with constant inflation justify a $600-900 console over any streaming device that can connect to the Internet? Sure there will be people that take gaming seriously and want the dedicated gear just like any other hobby/sport, but then there is the 95% of people that gaming/entertainment is just one of many hobbies they do and the less they pay for it the better.
I expect by the end of the next generation not a lot of people will care about consoles anymore. They will be seen as costly and redundant. Most people will stream games, and then the rest will buy PCs for the dedicated experience. If not next generation, the generation after. It is not a matter of if consoles will be replaced by streaming it is when.
Consoles have had a good run. But they are coming near the end of their cycle as a technology that people will want. I have gamed for decades and my preference is to play campaign/story, single player, or co-op games. Streaming is pretty much there for me to do that without having to buy dedicated console gear. I still primarily play on my console devices, but I am seriously consider whether I need to buy a next console or not.
Re: Xbox Series S 'Greatly Helped' With Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 Development
@Medic_alert
It is just logic really. If you target the lowest platform with your development then the rest of the platforms should be a breeze.
Developers who target the strongest platform first are just really dumb. It is like saying "Let's build a Ferrari spec and put it in a Toyota Corolla". Hmmmmmm why didn't that work?
Re: Poll: How Would You Grade The First Month Of Xbox Game Pass In 2025?
This was a good January for me. Still playing through Indy, and now NG2 Black. And then next month Avowed. I have to try and keep up!
Re: Soapbox: As A Huge Forza Fan, I'm Fine With Horizon 5 Going To PS5
@Prestige-worldwide
Agreed. But, this is an XB site (In fact PureXbox lol). If people are no longer interested or feel victimized by XB, I would encourage them to "move on" and join the PS or whatever community they want to join next.
People can whine all day, but with how successful MS appears to be with multi-platforming their games I don't see them caring too much what these people are saying. Maybe, it is time they move on and switch to the community they are going to next rather than making whining and toxic posts here.
I would also encourage Pure Xbox to no longer act as if every game that releases on another platform is somehow news. MS is clear. They have no sacred franchises that they won't ship on other devices. To me, these articles qualify as stoking the fire more than being actual news. Let's talk about Doom, Avowed, and the rest of the games we are getting this year. Not a bunch of people crying after decisions have been made.
Re: Soapbox: As A Huge Forza Fan, I'm Fine With Horizon 5 Going To PS5
@Valhura
Actions should be based on facts not emotions.
Your post is void of facts other than it sounds like you don't like MS first party content and I can agree that MS was light on good content both last generation and to start this generation.
If you are not getting an XB next generation then I am not sure why you feel it necessary to comment on this site anymore. Personally, if I was leaving XB next gen I wouldn't care about coming back to post here.
Re: Soapbox: As A Huge Forza Fan, I'm Fine With Horizon 5 Going To PS5
@IOI
I don't know how we can be a victim when nothing has been taken from us. The exact opposite, now that AKB is a MS company, their games come to GamePass on Day One now.
The only people killing the XB platform are people who get overly dramatic about MS shipping games on other platforms.
Re: Former PlayStation Exec Says 'The Game Is Changing' As Xbox Goes Multiplatform
I really liked listening to the whole info in that discussion.
He also likened Sony to HBO, MS to Netflix, and Nintendo to Disney. That makes sense.
He also said that none of these vendors make their money on the consoles. Again, that is known to be true. It is the content and services where the money is made.
Re: Former PlayStation Exec Says 'The Game Is Changing' As Xbox Goes Multiplatform
@TanaDax
I never trust the advertising. Been in gaming for many, many generations and every single one of the vendors literally lie in their marketing. That is a big problem now-a-days. People trust social media and marketing more then the trust looking for facts and making choices based true facts. That requires research, correlating truth to reality, having trust with verification, and determining what is real.
I have a few rules when it comes to consoles and what I hear:
1) A game is not real until it has at least a release year within the current year (Even then you may see a 6 month delay... aka Avowed).
2) Console marketing is all BS. Best console ever, best performance leap, resolution games will run at, it is all BS. Their statements are for games like Pac-man not the AAA console pushing titles.
3) Until a game releases and it is known to be stable for a few months, I don't buy it. Too many times I have been burned by a release corrupting a save or the game just being a mess on release.
Re: Microsoft CEO Chimes In As Indiana Jones Surpasses Four Million Players On Xbox & PC
@wildcat_kickz
And MS get some extra profits, the game will get more followers, and probably some money back to Machine Games so they can make another great game. Wins across the board.
Re: Xbox Is 'Evolving' Rather Than 'Losing' Its Identity, Says Phil Spencer
@JustinTimberlake
To me the difference between PS and XB is not hardware but the cost and experience of the system.
First, on cost. I feel like XB costs me less than PS would with GamePass, the general price of games, and I can buy the hardware cheaper.
Second, on the experience. I like XB online experience better, I think the profiles/gamerscore model is better, and I like the dashboard better than PS.
I don't like all those on PS, therefore I choose XB. To me game selection is only one aspect of owning a console.
Re: 'People Can Fly' Becomes Official Co-Developer For Gears Of War: E-Day
@InJeffable
I think Judgement was a really good multi-player and co-op game, but as a campaign story I really felt it was weak sauce. One, it was really short, and two it felt like they took multi-player games types and strung them together to make a campaign story.
I think the best Gears stories were the first three. I felt four was a milking exercise, and I felt 5 boldly tried new things that didn't work the best but at least they tried.
I hope E-Day goes more back to Gears roots. Gritty story, gritty and technical gameplay, and awesome multi-player where horde mode is really, really fun!
Re: Xbox Boss Dismisses Idea Of Removing The Series S Parity Clause
I think the S is a very good option. I have one on a 1080p TV I own. Why would I buy an X for a TV that can only do 1080p. You look at most TVs below 40" and there is very few that do 4k. Yes, PC monitors go 4k but TV wise, only a few.
I think MS did fumble it a bit on the CPU, memory, GPU balance, but generally this was a good start. And like Phil said, there are a lot of devices where games run, and many of them are a lot less than an S. Games are built to run on almost every hardware configuration now.
I would love to see another S in the next generation. There are many cases where I would buy it. Heck I would love to see an XB hardware bundle... Buy the next X, S, and handheld in a boxed bundle and get $100 off. Would buy it no questions asked.
Re: Xbox Is 'Evolving' Rather Than 'Losing' Its Identity, Says Phil Spencer
@Isolte
Completely agree with you.
If gamers want to talk about something and the gaming news wants to pick up on a cause relentlessly how about any of the following:
1) Microtransactions ruining what would've been a great game.
2) Why games ship day one as flawed messes seemingly void of any level of testing.
3) Why isn't Sony and Nintendo shipping games on XB?
4) Have you bought a new game on day one lately? Have you seen the price? cough cough.
5) Why is online required for almost every game now?
I could go on and on... MS shipping their games on other platforms is not the biggest issue in the gaming or XB world.
Re: Xbox Will Continue To Ship More Games On PlayStation And Nintendo
I can see here that a lot of people are passionate on this topic. But, at the end of the day I think MS is doing the right thing. I am sure they are doing it for their own profit, but the reality is that this breaks down the, "I need to buy this device to play a certain game". I would expect both Nintendo and Sony shareholders to see this and say, "why aren't you doing this too because we could make more money?". I would be willing to say that within about 5 years, there won't be exclusives anymore on any platform. The world will have moved on from something that was anti-consumer and created a whole world of "console wars".
People that cling to this will just be disappointed in the same way that gaming has gone to digital distribution and microtransactions are here to stay. The reality is that these things make publishers more money and the reality of shipping games on as many platforms as possible does the same.
I would also think that in 10 years there won't be consoles anymore. Gamers will either stream from the cloud or dedicated console devices will be replaced by much more flexible PCs. PCs don't have near the limitations of consoles and they don't have the same problems they used to when installing games. I can setup a single PC with a lot of different multi-monitor configurations to play games. Consoles don't give near that capability.
Re: Talking Point: Xbox Series X|S Owners, How's Your Storage Looking In 2025?
This is what I hate about this generation. The storage devices just don't have enough space. I would love to have my entire collection on a few hard drives connected to my XB. But, no, you have to have a lot of games on the special storage, and a good portion of those games are over 100 Gb each. NVMe is great, but we need 10 Tb storage sizes at a decent cost for it to be useful.
Re: Microsoft's 'VP Of Next-Gen' Seems To Think That Xbox Console Hardware Isn't Under Threat
@Smackosynthesis
Microsoft is far from the number one sellers of PCs yet they still sell Surface PCs. There are a bunch of different reasons why a company chooses to be in a marketplace selling their products.
I for one will pick up the next XB. Their multi-platform game strategy does not affect my the choice. I will also buy PS6 and Switch 2. But, my primary console will be XB for the foreseeable future because I like the platform, its services, and there are a lot of great games on the platform. Nintendo platform and services are just poor, and I do not like PS services and platform as much as XB.
This generation may be the last console generation anyhow. I expect within the next 10 years most games will switch to streaming and people will just buy TVs and those TVs will be designed to stream games really well.
Re: Xbox Cloud Gaming: How It Works, Accessing Your Games, And All Supported Devices
@trev666
Cloud gaming continues to improve a lot. MS is investing in it and I wouldn't doubt that in the next 10 years consoles are dead and replaced fully by cloud gaming available on almost any device you can buy.
I would expect that cloud gaming will evolve to continually to improve performance/lag over the next 10 years to the point where you cannot tell the difference between something that you are running from the cloud vs. running locally. In fact, with AI, I would expect that cloud gaming will be even better then the local experience.
Re: Talking Point: Will 1 Vs. 100 Ever Make A Comeback On Xbox?
@McL92
If you look at gaming revenue by company for 2024 it would seem like Microsoft is perfectly fine with that...
https://data40.com/articles/largest-gaming-companies-ranked-by-revenue-2024/
Re: Xbox's Big Surprise For Developer Direct Is Reportedly A Legendary Japanese IP
Sony announces its next AAA game from Naughty Dog and it is coming to XB on Day One!
LOL. Wishful thinking.
Re: 10+ Major Games That Xbox Could Be Preparing To Release This Year
I like that MS has so much content now. I don't think we will see anywhere near 10 major games this year though. It would be nice if I am proven wrong, but honestly, I would be happy to see 4-6 really amazing games then 10+ major games where half were rushed out before they were truly ready.
Re: Rumour: Xbox Has Even 'More' Games Planned For PS5, It's Claimed
I wonder why this is news anymore. The assumption should be that if MS publishes a game it is going to ship on XB, PC, and PS at the very least.
Re: 30 Xbox Series X|S Games To Look Forward To In 2025
Looks to be another solid year of new content for XB! Hopefully this is now the new normal for XB!
Re: Talking Point: Looking Back At A Turbulent But Productive Year For Xbox
I don't know why people felt this year was turbulent. There was a lot of noise but MS released some highly anticipated content in CoD (Best CoD in years to me), Hellblade II, Indy, Flight Simulator 2024, and Diablo IV content. We also started to see the trickle release of Activision Blizzard games on GamePass.
There was also a lot of good news to come with Avowed, Perfect Dark, Fable, South of Midnight, State of Decay 3, and Gears of War E-Day. Yes, they don't have release dates, but the games look like they are coming along nicely.
Then there was also some good news from 343 on the studio switching to UE. And at the end of the year screen shot of Everwild from Rare.
If you ignore all the negative press (that honestly does not truely affect XB gamers unless you want it to) around XB games shipping on other platforms, this was a solid year for XB. In fact, I would say they did much better than both Sony and Nintendo by a significant amount. And there is much more to look forward to on XB this next year then both Sony and Nintendo.
Re: Xbox Dominated The US Gaming Charts In Indiana Jones' Launch Week
I have dived into both CoD and Indy this holiday season. I have played a few hours in each. Both seem to be good quality games so far. I shunned CoD a lot since Ghosts because of quality but this one seems much better. As for Indy I had trepidations about it being a FP game but all is forgotten now that I am playing it.
Hopefully this put all the MS studios on track for future releases. There are a lot of MS studios now, consistently putting out games that rate 80+ will be a key to future success. If they can put out an 80+ game 3-4 times a year that will build the XB brand a lot. Then bring out great hardware next generation and hopefully XB will gain some additional momentum.
Re: Poll: How Many Xbox Games Have You Actually Bought In 2024?
I find I am buying less and less games and spending less and less in total. First, there is not a lot of innovation out there right now with tried and true formulae used in many games. Second, the price of new AAA games is ridiculous so I have to wait for sales. Third, I am tired of games shipping as buggy messes for the first year and waiting for them to go through enough fixes for the games to be decent enough to play. Finally, GamePass allows me to try before I decide to buy helping me make more informed decisions on what to buy.
Re: Xbox Fans Treated To Surprise 'Everwild' Appearance Ahead Of The New Year
@Balaam_
I think a game's art style has to match its game play and story. Until we get a picture of what the actual game is like I won't be judging the art style. I wouldn't call see of thieves all that great of an art style but it fits the game really well. Unfortunately, my expectations are very high on this game since it has been in development for so long. Just hope it lives up to the development time.
Re: Pure Xbox's Game Of The Year 2024
@neoxmahi
That was an unfactual rant about what you think is happening. The facts are:
1) The XB business financially is doing very well.
2) Microsoft has already committed to making next generation consoles.
3) I don't know where Phil has lied. He has actually been pretty clear that there are no red lines to shipping games on other platforms. No console vendor exec has ever been fully truthful. They all make promises that the next console is the greatest and that every next game is something never seen before. They also say their games are exclusive, now console exclusive, and next it will all become timed exclusives.
4) You base your arguments on the perception that there are still console wars. There is no such thing anymore. Yes, Sony, Nintendo, and MS compete against each other, but there is no reason to believe that any of the three are going anywhere other than into a next generation. Just like all three have for the previous four generations. The console vendors have been stable for about 20 years now. The longest period of console vendor stability ever.
I don't think anyone knows what lies ahead with any certainty. But one thing is clear, MS is in gaming and with its purchases of publishers over the past 10 years since Mojang, they are going to be making games for a long time to come.
The only question is going to be what platforms sell the best. And even console sales are becoming irrelevant because a lot of gamers game on PC, console, and portable platforms not just consoles. Don't get me wrong, I prefer gaming on console because of its simplicity, but the reality is the I like my PC rig too, and I like my Asus ROG Ally. I don't always get the big TV to game on so at times I end up on the other platforms. As long as MS offers GamePass and still makes a console I will continue to buy their games, console platform, and services. GamePass just makes sense financially even just for MS games. The XB console has been my primary platform for two decades now and has most of my gaming history, and I like a lot of games MS makes. I can buy the games on other platforms but I choose to buy them on XB because I prefer the platform.
Re: Sony's New $320M 'Alliance' Has Left Xbox Fans Breathing A Sigh Of Relief
@PSDeckSwitchOwner
This is an XB site. You know that right?
Weird, how I have never seen bad articles about Sony buying a publisher on PlayStation sites.
Re: Indiana Jones And The Great Circle Review Roundup: Here's What The Critics Think So Far
Every reviewer is entitled to their opinions. I don't like herd reviewers that just give a game a good score because it was made by a specific developer, in a specific series, or because everyone else says it is good. Everyone has different tastes and some people don't like certain games. Nothing wrong with that. I tend to use reviews as general guidance. Meaning I don't bother looking at a game where everyone is scoring it below 6 out of 10. Anything equal or higher means I will consider the game based on what I see in the community once it has released. There are some games that score well but just don't seem to connect with gamers and then there are others that score OK, but really build a following.
Given Machine Games history and the review scores I am apt to give Indy play time on GamePass to see if I enjoy it, If I really like it I will pick it up on sale at some point when the price is equal to the value I am getting from the game.
There is no way I buy a game at full price anymore. Prices have gone to a state where I cannot justify purchasing games on day one that are usually bug ridden, messes. I don't expect that from this game, but after the Cyber Punk fiasco I no longer take the chance.
Re: As Xbox Expands Its Reach, Former PlayStation Boss Talks About The Viability Of Consoles
@MeanBeanEgg
There are over 2 Billion gamers planet wide. That means with 110 mln gamers PS has 5.5% of the total market of people who play games on devices. With AAA games getting more and more expensive to create it becomes imperative that they target the broader market of gamers. Otherwise, their profit margins per game will be less than Microsoft and shareholders will start to ask why can't they get to Microsoft margins. Nothing is about the right or advantageous thing to do. Everything evolves around shareholders and money the shareholders make.
Re: Xbox Handheld Has A Big Potential Advantage Thanks To The Series S
I don't know how Series S plays into this if we start the new generation with consoles and a handheld console.
At the end of the day most game developers ship on PC as well. There are many lower end PCs that are less than console specs running games. Developers will typically target the broadest audience possible to sell their games. If hardware sells, game developers will make sure their games work on it.
Re: Xbox Analyst 'Doesn't See' Microsoft Ditching Hardware Despite New Marketing Campaign
This is a standard article I have seen every 3-6 months since November 15, 2001. I never see articles validating or questioning whether Sony or Nintendo will continue to make hardware.
Next we will get news articles that the sun rose today.
Re: Xbox Fans Plead With Microsoft: 'Don't Forget About Us Physical Gamers'
@GuyinPA75
Microsoft, Google, and Amazon are all striving to make their data centers carbon neutral. You can see Microsoft's efforts here:
https://azure.microsoft.com/en-gb/explore/global-infrastructure/sustainability/
As for physical discs, oil for the plastics, trees get cut for the paper in the covers, ink is required for the print on them, and discs are made with polycarbonate which requires a bunch of chemicals and gases that need to be acquired. And in the end you still need the servers for the constant game updates developers deliver.
Re: Xbox Fans Plead With Microsoft: 'Don't Forget About Us Physical Gamers'
@MeanBeanEgg
I still believe in options. XB I think provides the most options for gamers. Especially on how and where I can play my games.
PS: I do really like the controllers having the option for batteries. Makes it easy when my rechargeables die, don't have to plug it in to the console. Just switch rechargeable batteries or put in regular batteries.
Re: Xbox Fans Plead With Microsoft: 'Don't Forget About Us Physical Gamers'
One other thing about digital distribution is that it is better for the environment. No manufacturing of discs, no physical resources required for distribution, no trucking those discs to stores, and no people buying those discs with physical money anymore. Everything is digitally accessed and downloaded. You are doing the environment a favour by buying your games online only.
Personally, I thing the special editions should just end. To me, there is little value in special editions without the disc. If they want to do collectibles, then they should move digital as well.
Re: Xbox Fans Plead With Microsoft: 'Don't Forget About Us Physical Gamers'
Newspaper/books first started digital distribution, music was next, movies went after that, and now gaming is completing the move of media to digital distribution.
People can whatever we want but physical distribution is dying off. There are people growing up not even knowing what physical distribution is. I used to do my rounds to EBGames (GameStop) and Best Buy once a month to see the latest releases. I can't remember the last time I did that for games. Have not walked in to GameStop for literally years. Best Buy the only time I go there is to see a physical sample of an electronic I am looking to buy. Then, I order online.
The other issue with physical distribution is game size. As games eclipse 150 GB more and more (for 4K games, 8k games will probable eclipse 1 TB) it requires too many disks for the games to be unfeasible to distribute physically.
I have a collection much bigger then that pictured in the article. My X360 collection eclipses 2,000+ physical games, but I saw the writing on the wall when MS started XBLA and start to move digital. My XB One collection is almost completely digital, and my XB Series collection is entirely digital. I would've preferred physical stick around but it is dying.
There are a lot of advantages to digital. I travel a lot so it is easy just to download some games to my ROG Ally and play them or now play (some of) my games on xCloud. I also have fixed XBoxes where I just download games too. Since storage is not large enough for my entire collection, digital makes it easier to put the games I want to play on my XBox. Don't have to find or have the physical disc. Just go to My Library and decide what I want to download. No matter where I am the whole thing just depends on a decent Internet connection. Which is almost always available if willing/able to pay for it now.
All I need is my Phone, ROG Ally, and iPad and a decent Internet connection and I can access all my digital media anywhere in the world!
Re: Cities: Skylines 2 Dev Struggling To Get Xbox Version Running For Game Pass Release
I really hate these types of articles.
This generation of hardware has been out for 4 years. It is not like these developers do not know what they are capable of doing.
If you know hardware isn't as good, why wouldn't you make that hardware the lead platform for development. This is like driving a Ferrari and then driving a Toyota Camry and wondering why it doesn't go as fast. Duh!
I can understand people thinking the hardware isn't as performant as other hardware. But let's be honest, even the Series S runs circles around Switch. We are not talking 40-400% differences here between X and PS5. The actual difference between an X and PS5 is probably in the 5-10% range.
This just sounds like the developer made mistakes by not scoping their game to the hardware they would ship the game on. Being someone who runs tech projects myself, that is pretty stupid if you ask me.
Re: It Might Be Old, But The Xbox 360 Is Still An Amazing Console In 2024
Microsoft's ongoing support for games on all their released consoles and the ability to still run the 360 and onward games/consoles is one of the reasons I continue to stay with XB as my primary console. I know that if I invest in it, MS will support it for a very long time.