NishimaruX

@HonestHick

"By no way am i saying MS don’t have dirt on their shoes"

But you are absolving them of accountability.

Microsoft may not have loaded the gun by themselves, but they certainly pulled the trigger.

The story has made the national news

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c36yy27rnpeo

@Titntin

The levels of delusion on display from certain quarters is astonishing isn't it?

I very much doubt any of the developers cut loose will go onto to thrive and their current projects will be thrown into development Hell or cancelled altogether.
It's pretty obvious that, as you say, Microsoft cut them loose to lesson the layoff numbers.
They're pulling a "wasn't us guv!" when these studios inevitably close their doors.

@Sol4ris

Only Microsoft can loose 4 game studios, layoff 3200 employees and then have the gumption to dress it up as some sort of truly visionary decision

Funny part is those on these pages cheering it on as some revolutionary step deserved of praise.

Talk about drinking the Microsoft koolade. 😂

@themightyant

How can you say you value backwards compatibility all the way back to Xbox and not allow discs?

Because they'll twist the narrative to suit their position. They likely won't continue to support physical media, but in their mind Microsoft will state they support backwards compatibility through allowing users to "digitise" their physical collection.

As an idea I like it, but you can be assured it's this digitisation of ones physical catalogue that will be the angle Microsoft will use to show their "continued support" of BC.

@Titntin

Its upper management that are responsable for the output of their teams and who should take the fall if they change their mind or don't do an effective job - not the workers doing what they were asked to do

Absolutely. Unfortunately in any business it's always the little people that have to pay the price. Always has been, always will be.

That aside it's those in here championing and/or defending thousands of job loses due to a misplaced sense of brand loyalty that I find utterly contemptible.
It's a new, all time low for the common gardener fanboy/corporate cheerleader.

I would go as far as to say the mindset has a Vicky Pollard level of mentality to it - "Yeah but, no but, yeah but..."

@Titntin

So when they were buying ABK and stated that there would not be huge layoffs because of their actions it was a complete and utter fabrication

Of course it was. What's shocking, though, is that everyone not just fell for it they cheered it on!

If Microsoft pulled up in a car and asked these clowns if they'd like to see some puppies they would jump straight in.

Decided to do something different yet not different this weekend game wise

Putting my current playlist on hold I reinstalled Fallout 3 GOTY and after spending a few hours modding the Hell out of it, (visual overhauls, animations, weapon upgrades, Pipboy enhancements and many others), I dived in.

The game has lost none of its charm and remains a true classic. Just reached Megaton.

@Fiendish-Beaver

Indeed. The time for taking a stand has long since past.

@Savex

Seconded. A tidy little series

Slain Back From Hell is decent with a fantastic soundtrack, although like an arcade action platformer from the 80s as hard as a coffin nail.

@oopsiezz

All it really shows is that the 7th generation was the last true period for physical media for game consoles before digital distribution became the norm.

Interestingly I was reading a bit of gaming news elsewhere and it seems that in spite of everything PC gaming is experiencing massive growth, with industry reports projecting PC revenue to surpass consoles by 2028 and the player base on track to exceed one billion.

I honestly don't believe the traditional game console is long for this world. A very good point from Windows Central:

"Aside from rising costs what have they evolved into other than a mid-range PC-esque device that's locked down to one store? One That requires subscription fees just to play online? Running software you can't control?"

With the removal of physical media altogether now more likely than ever I'm beginning to question what really is the point of a game console these days?

@Balaam_

Come on, RROD aside the 360 was a damn good console - and I say that as someone who has only dipped their toe into game consoles over my 40 odd years of gaming.

I've owned a handful of consoles over the years, mostly bought for games I couldn't get on PC. The Xbox 360 is one of the few consoles which I had a genuine enthusiasm for. Still have one, boxed away, with around 30 games.

@MTR54

Fair. 😂

As a veteran gamer I do miss the arcades of the 80s and then waiting to see how arcade ports of classics fared on the home computers via the brilliant and passionate game journalism of Crash, ZZap, Your Sinclair etc.

Yes Commodore, Spectrum and Amstrad fans would argue over which was best, but the venom we see today definitely wasn't there. The internet has a lot to answer for.

Sounds like the console ports of Shadowrun aren't up to scratch. I have the games on GoG and they're pretty good.

Full Throttle is also a classic. As par for the course with types of games it's frustrating vague and wonderfully engaging in equal measure.

Well that's different...

Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 - Still chipping away at this fantastically engaging, humorous, yet knowing RPG.

Atomfall - Still very much enjoying this game, but as my abilities increase the easier it's becoming, a little too easy in fact. I still employ a bit of stealth because I enjoy doing so, not because I need to.

Layers of Fear (original) - Having now completed all three outcomes I can put to bed this curiously entertaining, if not entirely scary, horror title - although it did catch me out a handful of times!

Purchased a couple of OG Xbox titles for the Series X, namely SSX 3 and Dead or Alive Ultimate.
Both are excellent and I was pleasantly surprised when I saw that they were available for the platform for under £10 each.

Also finally got around to buying Firewatch via GoG for the excellent price of £2.99

@NeoRatt

Music has gone digital only, movies have gone digital

Er, no.

I bought a new release vinyl and CD just this past week. I've also bought several very new movies on Blu-ray this last month.

Physical console games may very well be on the way out as it was with PC, but new releases on disc for music and film continue to be released and very regularly.

And what's all this nonsense about flat earthers? 😂

As for your second post, even as a digital game buyer since physical PC became a thing of the past you come across like a corporate shill, a publisher's wet dream.

@CallMeDuraSouka

I genuinely laughed out loud at that meme. Brilliant. 😂

@themightyant

Like the faster then light drive in the Red Dwarf episode "Legion"

"You know what they say, it does work!"

@Sol4ris

Agreed. Microsoft being the only player to cling onto physical games media might sound great to the minority still clinging on, but financially it will be a hill to climb.

Add to that the recent reveal of a digitisation plan for previous physical media I firmly believe Helix will not support physical media at all - not even with a disc drive sold separately.

@MTR54

I'm 71 years old now been playing video games for a long time

I salute you, sir. At 53 I thought was a veteran. 🤘

@PROPS

I don't like taking the risk, as it could be a scam; though I have a couple a friends that do it and swear by it

Your friends are correct. I've never once been scammed in years using key sites. Eneba is a great site worth checking out. I've saved a small fortune.

@ToxicRageDude

Would also be interested in what percentage of Steam keys are sold outside Steam and Humble Bundle

As a PC gamer and a member of several dedicated communities, mostly private, quite a few. In fact there's whole communities dedicated to finding and supporting legitimate key sites.
For myself I've thousands of games across Steam and GoG, but few were bought direct. With Steam I'd say less than 10% of my catalogue were purchased directly via Steam and I'm not alone.

Piracy is a problem, no question, but we're not all pirates.

As for launchers? Never had an issue with them myself. Its only a page and a quick log in.

Truth is console gamers and PC gamers have more in common than you might think, particularly where employing faux-rage and having a meltdown on the internet over nothing is concerned.

@General-Foley

Yes, that needs to happen long term.

@oopsiezz

A disc that requires internet to play is no different than digital, it just has extra steps. When the servers go down, all your games are gone. When the servers go down, your disc becomes an $80 frisbee

While true of games that require mandatory online 24/7 to function it is [currently] only a small percentage. The majority, I believe, only require an initial internet connection and patch and once done work perfectly fine offline.
I certainly know from experience that every single game i have on Steam works offline. GoG? Well, having downloaded all the offline installers I don't even need the Galaxy launcher - which is slower moving than a nun's first curry.

However, the panic about a mass exodus of servers is misplaced. If it were to happen the games industry would collapse overnight. The industry is too connected for the industry to allow this to happen.

Maybe during a zombie apocalypse everything would shut down perhaps, but then you'd have bigger concerns than whether Halo was still playable. 😉

@General-Foley

The best thing XBOX is doing is the disc to digital program so that people can carry their library over to the disc less console and retain their physical collection

I agree this is a a very good idea from Xbox, surprisingly good in fact. All it needs is to be extended to 360 titles (which i believe it isn't at the moment?)

@PROPS

I only buy my games on sale and really avoid trying to pay full price

Thing is you don't have to pay full price, even during the launch period. There are plenty of legitimate key sites that are cheaper than buying direct.
When you're on the high street shopping you don't buy the first thing you see, you shop around for a cheaper alternative.
I honestly don't know why more people don't employ this when buying digital games. It literally makes no sense.

@Titntin

That does seem to be the case.

@Titntin

Clearly.

I just find it bizarre these people cling to their chosen narrative about price even when presented with options and prices contrary to what they firmly believe.

"The most I've spent on a new release this year is Crimson Desert, £38" (https://www.eneba.com/gb/store/crimson-desert-game-keys?srsltid=AfmBOooNhaxxUrpcK-FiqU3i85sQAlE1XCnxd7pjfipdLggClSPHv_XL)

GuyinPA75- "Ok, if wish to over pay for games that's your choice"

WTF? I feel like the lass in The Fast Show who would come up with a solution to a problem, but all the blokes would ignore her and act like she isn't even in the vicinity. 😂

@GuyinPA75

Doesn't bother me. I've disposable income, plus I use Eneba for my games and apply a little patience. Haven't paid more than £50 for a new release in years. In fact, the most I've spent on a new release this year is Crimson Desert, £38.

GTA 6 will be the first game I spend more than £50 on in, as I say, a long while.

You need to learn to shop around, adopt some patience and not be so reactionary.

@GuyinPA75

I've said it before, while I can certainly appreciate the sentiment behind holding such a position this really is cutting off one's nose to spite ones face.

Granted there's a whole bevy of previous generations and retro games to enjoy, but missing out on future releases altogether just to make a point? Take it from me, a PC gamer of 3 decades, the industry won't care one jot if a handful of vocal gamers on a website or two decide to abandon gaming because of the shift to digital.

@FraserG

That's good to know. Cheers for the update.

So much for Asha being the "saviour of Xbox". Good grief. 🤦

@Sol4ris

On a side note I haven't had chance to get stuck into South of Midnight. Maybe over the weekend. I'll keep you posted and, as promised, will let you know how I get on.

Only GTA 6 for new releases for me for the remainder of the year.
I've games to finish and some to even begin, including recently bought South of Midnight and Crimson Desert, the latter of which will be a huge time sink.

@FraserG

That's why I highlighted that such a scenario is only being reported and not confirmed at this stage.

As a predominantly a PC gamer I look at Helix and the probability of it leaning more toward PC than console and think, yes, physical media very likely won't be a thing. At best an add on drive.

It's a bitter pill to swallow, but this is the way its going for consoles.

Funnily enough unlike a lot of PC gamers I still use optical drives so I can burn any new music CDs I buy to my PCs harddrive, but outside of that it has no use.

Reports are coming in from various sources that Helix will not have a disc drive.

Of course these are just reports at this time, but I wouldn't be at all surprised if Helix is digital only, particularly as it leans into the PC arena.

That's a cool feature. As others have said here's hoping they extend the program to Xbox 360. I've a few 360 games boxed away that could use this treatment.

@Sol4ris

Again I agree with your point, however coming from a sales and marketing background the vast majority of consumers only see one thing - the brand, and the PlayStation name has a lot of clout.

@fatpunkslim

PS requires you to connect every 30 days or the game becomes unusable

I don't game on PlayStation and even I know that's absolute twadle.

Good grief, do your research before commenting. 🤦

"Sony's 30-day requirement is actually a one-time online check-in for newly purchased digital games, implemented to prevent refund fraud. Once your console connects to verify the purchase, the game receives a permanent offline license and does not require another mandatory check-in"

@Kaloudz

Music did it. Movies did it

Er, no, they did not, even in light of Netflix, Spotify and co.

New release across DVD, Blu-ray, CD and vinyl continue to be regularly released - far more regular than video games. In fact I'm willing to bet physical music and film will still be going strong long after console games have packed their bags.

Either that or I imagined buying Paradise Lost's newly released album on both vinyl and CD just the other week from HMV...🤔

@Sol4ris

And just like that, Helix will be a 100% the better option for next-gen compared to PS6

Arguably yes, but the masses, particularly amongst the younger generation, won't care one iota as they're already fully onboard with digital games.

@ZeD

Very true. I witnessed the decline of physical PC gaming. It was much as it is now with console - denial, an unwillingness to accept reality and so forth.

But it happened nonetheless.

@Weebleman

The casual market won't care and younger generations dont either

This ☝️

I was shot down only just the other day for saying that physical media on consoles was coming to an end and well, here's another slice of evidence that this is what's happening.

It was always an inevitable outcome.

I love a good horror game, (there are literally tonnes of superb, short, first person horror titles on Steam that few know about), and Kojima's PT was superb, (believe it or not it can still be found as a download for PC).

While not a huge fan of Kojima's work I'm very much interested in this.

@DesertRanger

Yes that's fair. I guess I'm just looking at it from my position with a very high-end rig at my disposal.

I'm genuinely interested to see what Helix is about.