RIghteousNixon

@Utena-mobile

“ Xbox needs to stop this whole "we lost the console war, we're last!" crying.”

And they will once they win this case

@Cikajovazmaj

Only if you read what MS is saying at face value. As I stated up above, this is theater and MS is using everything they can to win this case. I would lose respect in them if they didn’t, especially after the way Sony has acted during all of this. Given the way this thing has played out, win at all costs. Sort the rest out after.

Of course, you’re entitled to disagree.

@Bleachedsmiles

Easier to defend? One of the arguments the CMA and FTC have been stating as a reason to prevent the deal is the idea that MS would just raise prices after the deal went through. For MS to turn around and do just that after the ABK deal would have been a terrible idea, at least in the eyes of regulators. There is a very good reason they did this the day before the trail started.

As a tech company, pissing in the face of regulators isn’t a smart thing these days, even if MS wasn’t planning on any big acquisitions after this. That info can be used against any future acquisition for years and years and years to come.

@PharaohTV

That’s because Lina Khan and her crusade against big corporations is highly frustrating. Still, to be expected and will very very very likely fail.

I’m just sad I can’t watch it. I expect MS’s lawyers to crush the FTC. I’m expecting a blood bath. Should have been on pay per view…

@PharaohTV

They are using Starfield because their case is sooooooo weak. It was actually kinda predictable they would go this route. They have very little else to fall back on. What was the FTC gonna come up with that the CMA didn’t? And MS’s lawyers hammered the CMA a few weeks back. It’s really all they have.

It’s theater, but they are in the theater this week. So why not play to your advantages. I would be doing the same exact thing if I were Phil. Get your point across any which way you can. Get this deal through any which way you can.

@NeoRaty

Ahhh, that works. Was gonna say, you’re missing some killer content brother. If you have the patience, certainly a good way to do it.

@NeoRatt

To each their own brother but damn you are missing out on some killer content if you just write off DLC altogether. I get that a lot of DLC could have been and should have been incorporated into the main game, but at the same time much of it is a legitimate addition to a game developed after and can add significantly to a game you like and some of it has been amazing.

This year will be worth it just for Starfield and Forza alone, both games I would have purchased day 1 if it weren’t for Game Pass. And I have already played Hi Fi Rush, Wo Long, Planet of Lana, Somerville, Atomic Heart, and a few others. Dead Space remake will be on by the end of the year. Just found out Texas Chainsaw Massacre is coming, a game I was looking forward too. I get to try out Exoprimal. I get that the service isn’t for everyone but damn it just continues to be hands down the best deal I have ever had in my entire life gaming wise. This price increase is meaningless to me.

Oh, it also saved me from buying Redfall, which I likely would have done if not for Game Pass. I was looking forward to that game. Game Pass, not only great at letting you play great games, but also great in saving you from buying some crappy ones!!!

@evan23

Absolutely it’s going to be different for everyone value wise. And yes, you can get games at a discount upon release..the $70 AAA figure is just a simple way to gauge the overall value. It’s certainly not something that is set in stone. You can just as easily say 3 roughy $45 dollar games or roughly 7 $20 dollar games.

That said, the VAST majority of Xbox users have Xbox Live, either separately or through Game Pass. Gamers who just play single player games and don’t sub to Live or Game Pass make up a tiny tiny fraction of overall Xbox users. Xbox Live’s overall numbers prove that unequivocally. So no matter what angle you come at it from, you simply have to factor in the cost of Xbox Live when looking at any price assessment for Game Pass, at least when dealing with the vast majority of people gaming on Xbox and I made sure to state that in my initial reply to you.

Basically, the difference for the vast majority of Xbox gamers between having Game Pass Ultimate at the new price point and not subbing to Game Pass will be roughly 144 dollars, using MSRP’s. Again, basically 2 full priced $70 AAA games a year.

@evan23

That pricing is a little misleading tho. Pretty sure the vast majority of Xbox gamers are going to get Xbox Live Gold, so they can play online, even if they don't have Game Pass. That alone is 59.99 a year. So most would be moving from paying $59.99 a year, for just Xbox Live and no access to any games, to Game Pass or vice versa. So basically from $59.99 a year to roughly $204 a year or $204 a year to $59.99 a year depending on if you are subbing or cancelling, a difference of roughly $144.

If you're gonna do a fair pricing assessment, that has to be factored in, at least for the vast majority of gamers on Xbox. So its really much more accurate to compare it to buying 2 AAA games a year. And of course, those are MSRP's. As everyone knows, its not hard getting deals and paying below MSRP. CDkeys currently has Game Pass subs as much as 46% off for 1 month and 29% off for 1 year.

@Jireland92

I am pretty sure most saw this coming. Its the overall timing of it that is throwing most people.

@Kingleo31

Then sell your console and move on. The Square Enix thing is likely not gonna change anytime soon, especially with Sony willing to do what it has to in order to get exclusivity on many of their titles. Anyone that is a big fan of Square should either be on a Sony console or at least be a multi console gamer.

As for their first party, everyone knows whats in the pipeline and everyone knows MS has had issues with first party for some time now. If there isnt enough on Xbox to make the wait worthwhile, than ditching the console and moving on just makes sense.

Myself, I would be gaming on my Xbox just for 3rd party alone. Vastly prefer the controller and just the overall ecosystem and 90% of the games I play are 3rd party. Add in Game Pass and first party, even with the problems, and sticking around is a very easy choice for me. I still think MS needs to do better in many areas, but all of the things I mentioned makes being patient a lot easier. For others like yourself, probably best to just cut your losses, sell your hardware and go elsewhere. You can always come back at a later time if any of those things change for the better.

@themightyant

Oh yeah, that doesnt bother me. If people want to pay a little xtra to get a few days head start, I am fine with that. As long as I can still play it day one for no extra charge.

@themightyant

Say what? People have to pay an extra $35 to play Starfield on Game Pass on day 1? Why havent I heard anything about this. If thats true, that changes a lot in regards to my view of Game Pass.

Are you talking about having early access to it, like 4-5 days, if you wind up upgrading to the premium edition? If so, what you said isnt accurate. Getting early access and still being able to play day 1 are 2 very different things.

@K1LLEGAL

I think they wanted to do it before the Activision deal is complete.

@Ooccoo_Jr

Considering MS now has 23 studios and that its first party output is going to increase significantly over the years, combined with $70 AAA pricing these days, I think that question is very easily a yes. As I said up above, if the Activision deal goes through, which I expect it will, you will have Diablo IV and Starfield this year. Those 2 games alone would get many to sub to the service. MS just has to make sure to release quality games. If they can do that, I dont think people would hesitate to pay the new prices so I dont think attracting new customers will be an issue at all. Looking at a $70 price tag on a single AAA game is a hell of a motivator.

@Ooccoo_Jr

Absolutely, it will depend greatly on just how much time someone has to game. If people have a small amount of time to game, Game Pass is probably not your best option. I only work 5 and a half months a year so I have an excessive amount of free time in the fall and winter months so Game Pass is fantastic for me.

That said, even if you were to just play 2 AAA games a year that you would have purchased at launch, it can make sense to subscribe. I assume most Xbox gamers, or at least a LOT, have their eyes on Starfield. Thats $70 right there for that one game, at least if you want to play it anytime soon after launch. I just cant imagine saying to myself, I'll just buy Starfield for $70 and buy any other games I want to play that year as opposed to just spending the money on Game Pass instead and playing it through there and getting access to a pretty massive catalog of games at the same time. Even if I didnt have the free time I do to game, with AAA games costing $70, it becomes much harder to turn down Game Pass and settle for just outright buying games.

If the Activision deal does go through, you have Diablo IV and Starfield. Those 2 games alone would basically cover the cost of the sub for the year. Anything else I played would just be a bonus.

Subscription services are the future of the market. People will still buy games, but people have become very comfortable with consuming content for a monthly price as opposed to outright owning it. Just look at the movie/tv market. Streaming subs dominate the market now. Sure, people still buy movies, but those numbers continue to fall year after year as people get more and more used to sub services.

MS will make whatever adjustments are needed, wether it be raising or lowering the price, introducing tiers like Sony, maybe even delaying 1st party titles for a couple months. Who knows which way it will go. We are still in the early days of sub services for gaming. One thing is for sure, its not going anywhere and its very likely that 10 years from now, the VAST majority of gaming content will be played through sub services.

@abe_hikura

Agreed. I fully expect Game Pass subs to continue increasing. In fact, and i have said this all along, I expect Game Pass will max out around 50 million subs by the end of the generation. I still feel that it will get at least close to that number by the time the generation wraps up.

@Tharsman

Its not just to make it seem cheaper, its so people can sub and unsub as they see fit. Some people in here are making it seem like you have to sub year round, which obviously isn't the case. Given the time frame games stay on the service, one could literally sub every other month and still have access to 100% of the games that come to the service. Buy games you want and play them in the months in between. There are lots of ways a cost conscious gamer could go about doing it. Nobody has to sub year round and many wont.

@Sakai

Yeah, I have been gaming since the very very beginning and I cant ever remember hardware actually going up in price as the years went on. Strange times indeed, but understandable given inflation and all.

Honestly, I am enjoying Indies and AA games FAR more than AAA these days. It seems more times than not, AAA games across the board wind up being a disappointment for me. Even games like God of War, which I did wind up enjoying, I was done with in a couple days and I will never pick it back up. Years of hype, years of waiting and its done just like that. I like the shorter playing times, I like the larger variety in the games themselves. So for someone like me, Game Pass has been absolutely amazing. Sure, I still play AAA and I still expect some AAA out of Game Pass, but that is not what I enjoy most about the service. I cant even tell you how many smaller indies type games i have played on Game Pass that I thoroughly enjoyed, which I never in a million years would have purchased or played otherwise.

As always to each their own. Game Pass is just another option for gamers. Some will love it, some like it, and some hate it. Personally, I love it and this price hike couldn't possibly be more irrelevant to me. It could have been a $5 hike and it still wouldn't have phased me.

@Ooccoo_Jr

Obviously that question will change with each person in here as no 2 people get the same amount of value out of Game Pass. How much you play, what games you play, how long you play them etc. will all factor into it. That being said, here are just some of the games i have enjoyed over the last roughly 2 years with Game Pass:

Guardians of the Galaxy, Tunic, Doom Eternal, Forza Horizon 4 & 5, Halo Infinite, Red Dead Redemption 2, Dead Cells, Ori 1 & 2, Hellblade, Pillars of Eternity 1 & 2, Hotline Miami, Outer Worlds, Gears 5, Everspace, A Plague Tale, Superhot, Superhot: Mind Control Delete, Carrion, Subnautica, Sniper Elite 4, Spelunky 2, Gears Tactics, Yakuza Remastered Collection, Yakuza Like a Dragon, Streets of Rage 4, Wasteland 2 & 3, No Mans Sky, State of Decay 2, World War Z, Rise of Nations, Day of the Tentacle Remastered, Full Throttle Remastered, Grim Fandango Remastered, The Show 21, The Show 22, Phychonauts 2, Resident Evil 7, Sea of Thieves, Serious Sam 4, Spiritfarer, Star Wars Squadrons, The Outer Wilds, What Remains of Edith Finch, It Takes Two, Star Wars: Fallen Order, Beacon Pines, The Forgotten City, Plagues Tale Requiem, Scorn, etc. Those aren't even all of them, but you get the idea.

So for me personally, Game Pass has been one of the single best deals I have ever had in all my years of gaming and I have been gaming since Pong.

I don’t think this will effect much at all. The people who love Game Pass, myself included, will have no problem with it. The people that like it but don’t love it, they will just sub and unsub based on what’s available and games coming to market, which is what most people do with subscription subs these days. My subs for streaming services is constantly rotating. HBO for a month, showtime for a month, Paramount for a month. Only Netflix and Amazon are year round for me. I think it was always gonna wind up being this way and MS knows that. A price increase of this magnitude isn’t gonna stop people from subbing for a few months a year. I see this changing very very little overall. I still see overall Game Pass subs increasing, especially with 70 dollar games now.

@Belkan

There is a big difference between the CMA and FTC. The CMA has the authority to stop a deal, the FTC does not. Only a federal court can block a merger in the US and the FTC's case is EXTREMELY weak. And MS's lawyers absolutely destroyed the CMA a few weeks back in its initial appeal. The CMA lawyer actually started stuttering almost incoherently it was so bad.

@MrGawain

Having MS as the only game in town? PS is currently killing MS in the gaming market. If any argument can be made about a particular company having a monopoly, its Sony. Of course, nobody has a monopoly and the regulatory bodies know this. The gaming market is extremely healthy and massively competitive. This is theater as the regulatory bodies want to crack down on big tech mergers, or at least appear that they are doing so.

@47AlphaTango

Say what? The preliminary injunction has not been granted. That’s what the hearing set for this week is all about. You’re getting ahead of yourself.

@AlwaysPlaying

This isn’t a warning shot for MS in regards to their size. This has been a warning shot across the bow of all tech companies about the overall future and ease of acquisitions. And that warning shot has been fired by not just the FTC, but most of the big regulatory bodies involved. they are cracking down on big tech mergers. Biden gave the FTC orders to challenge more big tech mergers, even if the FTC had little to no chance at winning. This is about the future of acquisitions in the big tech market, nothing more, nothing less. The FTC and CMA in particular were always going to challenge the deal. Sony could have been totally fine with it and they still would have challenged it.

Everything that can be said about this deal has already been said. This entire merger rests in the hands of the FTC at this point. Everything else is irrelevant. If the FTC wins, the deal is dead. If the FTC loses, which it will, the deal is done. The UK, New Zealand, etc are all irrelevant at this point. The stage is set, now it just needs to play out.

@FatalBubbles That’s cool. You do you brother. If you want to continue wasting time making comments about how you don’t understand why people enjoy things you don’t, have at it. It’s your life, you can waste it as you see fit.

And while I certainly appreciate your advice on not giving advice, I’ll continue to comment as I always have, especially when people seem utterly confused on basic common sense things.

@PhileasFragg

Says someone that clearly has no experience with Bethesda games. The vast majority of bugs for Bethesda games are not game breaking and aren’t even a hindrance to playing and enjoying the games. In fact, many of them are downright hilarious and only added to my overall enjoyment of their games.

It’s ok tho, it’s easy to spot the people that want it to fail. It wont. This is Todd Howard’s team and they excel at making compelling and amazingly enjoyable games. Bugs have NEVER held their games back from being amazing and the only ones claiming otherwise either never played them or are just trolling.

@FatalBubbles

You don’t have to find it fun. In fact, you don’t even have to click on the link and partake at all. You can pass right by such articles altogether.

There are tons of things in the world that others enjoy that I do not. I don’t run around asking why people enjoy them just because I do not. I focus on what I enjoy and leave the stuff I don’t to the people that do. You should try it.

It’s a smart move for MS. They need to get their affairs in order outside of VR before spending more resources elsewhere. We’re still a good 5-10 years away from VR starting to really become mainstream. They will lose nothing by sitting back and waiting for a more opportune time to enter the market.

VR will be huge someday, in a lot of markets besides gaming, and when all is said and done I fully expect MS will be one of the companies in the market. We’re just not there yet.

@FatalBubbles

It’s just a bit of fun. Jesus… some of you people really need to lighten up. It’s comments like these that make me thankful that people like you do not run gaming sites.

And according to this criteria, all subjective opinions are meaningless after all, it’s just someone’s opinion.

@FatalBubbles

You don't understand how people can take a guess at what a game will score? I don't understand how you cant understand that.

My guess, either a 9 or 10. Will just depend on that Bethesda x factor.

This really bums me out just for the fact that 70% of the people that made Prey are gone. Its basically a new studio employee wise. Hopefully they replaced that talent with people equally talented. I have my doubts...

Both Redfall and Halo took significant hits due to trying to do too much with multi-player. MS should stick with single player games from its single player studios. Its that simple. There, I fixed the problem MS. I'll bill you...

@rustyduck

Dude, your Xbox is in for a rough day that day. Not a chance Starfield is gonna be 60fps. Literally, not a chance. Still gonna be an amazing game imo, but you will have to settle for 30fps if you're gonna play it. Make sure you give it a proper burial afterwards.

Another month, another garbage selection for Games With Gold.

Won’t be able to get around to this until the fall so hoping it will be on Game Pass at that point. See no reason why it wouldn’t be.

@EvilSilentFrame

Keeping your expectations in check is a solid move. I do the same myself with any showcase like this. That said, this was a pitiful showing by Sony. MS gets lambasted when they have weak events and they should again if they have another weak one in a few weeks and it should be no different for Sony or Nintendo for that matter. Nothing wrong with being honest and this was honestly a tragedy for a first party showcase. Lets hope MS can beat this as Sony certainly set a very very low bar here.

As a 3rd party showcase, this would have been a decent enough show. It wasn't a 3rd party showcase, it was Sony's first party showcase, the first one in 18 months, and it needs to be looked at under that microscope. I believe in calling them like I see them and I have come down on MS on many occasions in the last couple years for various things, which I felt were fully substantiated. That said, this was a GARBAGE first party showcase. Anyone stating this was a good show, or even a decent show, looking at it as a first party showcase...well, those people are kidding themselves.

Hand down one of the single worst showcases for Sony I have ever seen. Literally, that showcase gave MS and XBox a reason to celebrate and make comical posts about all of the XBox games coming. An EPIC level fail from Sony. I am a multi-platform gamer and have been since Atari 2600, Coleco-Vision, and Intellivision. Again, I just call them like I see them and this showcase was a joke. Thats not hyperbole, that is just fact.

I'm no legal expert, but I have learned a few things by really keeping up with the Epic vs Apple case and now this one. There are some great sources of info out there like Hoeg Law on YouTube. That said, it all comes down to the FTC. If by a huge miracle they were to win in court, a HUGE HUGE understatement given how weak their case is, this deal will die. If the court sides with MS on this issue in the US, the CMA becomes irrelevant. Ok, maybe irrelevant is the wrong word, but literally not a chance in hell MS lets just the CMA hold up this deal and incur a 3+ billion dollar penalty. Its just never going to happen and one doesn't need a law degree to see that.

So unless the CMA gets some help stopping this deal by the FTC winning in court, its gonna be lonely and cold in the UK for the CMA. They are gonna find out just how little power they have against a big corporation like MS when the rest of the world is on their side. If the FTC loses...well, a single Sony fanboy has as much chance at stopping this deal as the CMA does at that point. In other words, no chance at all.

Unquestionably the best in the series in my book. Sure, newer iterations have various improvements to game play, but game play is just one aspect of the game. This has the best story and antagonist hands down and I’ll take that with decent game play over a weaker story and antagonist with slightly better game play all day long.

If you’re speaking just to the game play and nothing else, this is not the best game in the series. When taking into account every aspect of the game, no other Far Cry title comes close, at least not for me.

@Fiendish-Beaver

Xbox only has 50,000,000 gamers? If thats the case, how are there currently 120 million MAU's on Xbox Live?

@nomither6

You could just google it as there have been a few articles written about how the Xbox One was ahead of its time and they are spot on. First and foremost was its focus on tv. Modern consoles are used just as much for non gaming entertainment as they are for gaming now. They have absolutely become set top boxes used to control all of the entertainment in one's living room. MS just focused too heavily on it at the time. Another was voice control. People just weren't ready for it, but now we have Alexa's everywhere. Hell, I have one in my kitchen, bedroom and bathroom and using voice control is 2nd nature now.

The Series S is basically very very close to what the Xbox One was feature wise. It combines a UHD Blu-ray player with OneGuide TV functionality, access to apps such as Kodi and the ability to integrate OTA using the Xbox One TV tuner.

@themightyant

What you're failing to remember is that Sony had many of the same features lined up for the PS4 yet because MS went first with the reveal of the Xbox One and Sony saw the huge outcry from the fanbase, they had time to make changes before the reveal of the PS4. So had Sony actually gone first, the same thing could have happened to them. So it wasn't that Sony was super smart or had their hand on the pulse of gamers better than MS, its that they got lucky by MS going first with the Xbox One reveal and made appropriate changes for the PS4 reveal.

Looks great to me. I absolutely love Arcane. One of the most underrated developers out there imo. I wont be getting around to this till the fall as work keeps me too busy during the summer months. Hopefully by then the 60fps option will be available.

@Kaloudz

As has been the case with all of Arcane's games...

Still one of the best looking consoles I have seen to date. It was just too far ahead of its time with many features and the reveal was terrible.