Awesome announcement and their choice for the first 4 games is boss! Only other one I would've liked to see as a starting point is Mechassault. Still holding out hope both of them will get the BC treatment someday even if just on Xbox.
Honestly no skin off my sack. I've been 100% digital since 2014 and I've never had an issue with pricing. The great thing about Digital games is you'll never have to worry about copies becoming rare or scarce, so if you really don't like the price of a game, don't buy it at launch. If nobody buys it, either the price will drop and it'll be available to snag without issue or the studio will be forced to shut down. Either way, they learn their lesson for the future.
I have a very short list of games that I would be willing to pay $60 for at launch. My list of games for $70+ games flat out doesn't exist unless it's a Collector's Edition or something I pledged for on Kickstarter. I'm not going to fuss about a game launching higher than my price point. I'll buy it when I buy it.
Got my Collector's Edition in the mail yesterday and put my Hyperkin Duke controller to the test to make sure everything is up to snuff. I'm ready to go!
@Mr-Cage I wish the world was in a better place right now. I could never in good conscience bring a child into the world in its current state, but there are times where I do wish I'd had a kid that I could have shared my hobbies and interests with. Having a dad that was into videogaming and computer tech would've been amazing growing up. Maybe I'll adopt some day and blow their mind with all of the crazy memorabilia I've collected over the decades.
Probably won't get to play it early since I'm unfortunately an adult with a job and responsibilities, but I did buy the collector's edition because I'm an adult with a job and money! Should be delivering sometime today actually! Can't wait to read the manual!
Also got my Hyperkin Duke controller out of storage so I can play Halo CE the way it's meant to be played.
Shy of finding a way to natively run all Xbox and 360 games on the Series X/S without the need for emulation and licensing, I doubt there's anything they could come up with worth writing home about.
So she wants to turn Xbox into the Candy Crush and Minecraft machine? That sounds like the kind of terrible apocalyptic future we've all come to expect at this point.
As long as she uses those profits to find smaller and more individualistic games from other studios, fine, but this strikes me more as she wants to capture lighting in a bottle twice. Everything is going to become about those games and hopelessly banging her head on the wall try to make other games that mirror it like Sony keeps trying to do with these GaaS titles.
When are they going to learn it's not something you can force. You need to be progressive, have a good idea, and be in the right place at the right time. Nothing but luck is going to win over the minds and hearts of gamers and we are a fickle and prickly bunch.
Honestly surprised she didn't mention Infinity Ward by name, as well.
I have to say this is a major bummer for me. Avowed, like most major IP, had some growing pains in the 1st entry, but it was still a solid enjoyable experience and a sequel almost certainly would've knocked it out of the park.
It's a good idea having multiple studios working on major IP instead of letting them go ignored for a decade, but from the studio that managed to give us 3 releases last year alone, I don't understand why Avowed needs to sit on the back burner.
2nd worst news of the day after learning iD had a pitch for Perfect Dark in the works...
I'd be fine with this, but personally after Spyro I would rather see TFB take on Conker personally. Conker has been needing a sequel for far longer than Banjo has and having an online multiplayer component would make it a more contemporary player in the modern field.
Not surprised honestly. Obsidian is the only studio acquisition that has really consistently put out content since they came under the Microsoft banner. Their last few titles might not have been the biggest hits, but they were all solid well-designed games.
Avowed has potential for growth as a franchise now that the groundwork has been laid out (and would really benefit from a more free-range Elder Scrolls style sequel) and Grounded 2 is a lot of fun even just being in Early Access, so the final release should be a blast once it lands.
I think the biggest thing Microsoft needs to learn from Obsidian is to reduce their budget and scale them back to being a AA studio again. Plus they can always fall back on making them a Bethesda B-Team. They very clearly know what they're doing with FO: Vegas and could easily fit in to an Elder Scrolls or Fallout developer while Bethesda works elsewhere.
I wasn't going to play a Call of Duty game regardless of whether or ended up on GamePass or not. The last CoD I bought was CoD3. I rented Modern Warfare through GameFly and hated it. Haven't been back to the series since.
I've been with the Xbox for 25 years and I'm honestly just tired at this point. I can't keep up anymore and every time it seems like they're starting to turn things around, they immediately swing left and make things so much worse. I'm just done.
@Balaam_ Well Halo Studios is already technically a restructure from 343, so they haven't really put their development chops to the test yet. Been a bit of controversy behind the studio from people that are no longer employed there, but axing or restructuring now would be admitting there's truth to the allegations and they definitely won't do that.
Rare I could see downsizing, but not an outright cancellation. They're the only successful GaaS Microsoft has been able to produce so far. Its a difficult market to break into and getting harder with every release, so I can't see them sitting themselves in the foot just yet.
So far the only studios that don't seem to be in danger are Coalition, Mojang, Halo Studios, Playground, and Rare. By time Microsoft is done with this slash and burn, they're going to have lost every studio they've acquired in the last decade and they're going to end up being back where they started with Xbox not having any games and only a half dozen studios pumping out endless sequels to the same 5 IP they've always relied on.
Maybe instead of endlessly shutting down studios for taking too long and spending too much they should focus on actually directing their teams and start pushing them to actually do *****. Development times this generation are ridiculous as it is and downshifting to a half dozen games throughout the studio is going to be the death knell for the Xbox brand.
I would rather see ABK released back into the wild than give up any of the current Xbox Studios teams. That studio transaction is the entire reason Xbox is having the troubles it's having and I would give anything to reverse that stupid decision. ABK would've been better off dying under its own poor decisions.
Neither. I'll pick up the $30 Bargain Bin version . Got plenty of other games to play while I wait for the price to drop and it's not like they're going to support the game with post-launch content anyway. The full experience will still be there 2-3 years from now when they've abandoned the game in favor of milking the online mode again.
Used Rewards points to pay for both. Bought the Series X in the first wave when Pre-Orders went live. Picked up the Series S for my wife a year later so we could keep gaming together.
The only value of Series S is as a Cloud Streaming device; Otherwise it's just a nuisance that is interfering with the quality of Series X and PS5 multiplats because of that feature parity Clause and the requirement that every game must be developed for both.
The Series X and PS5 both still have plenty of potential and could easily run another 10 years (which is going to be necessary if hardware prices don't come back down to a reasonable level) but the Series S needs to be phased out if that's going to happen.
@themightyant I really got lucky. I bought a Laptop for $2200 less than a month before these RAM shortages started jacking everything up, so I at least have a computer that can play 99% of games at recommended settings. Haven't been phased out of the industry yet, but I know it's coming.
I'd have sworn the $50 print bump was only going to take it up to $400. Mudt not be remembering the launch cover properly 'cause I'm thinking it was $350.
Jesus. Didn't realize the Switch 2 had gone up that much, as well. Absolutely insane and definitely a sign that Series X is probably going to be the last gaming platform I ever own. Between hardware costs climbing and the quality of games having been in decline since 2010, the industry just isn't worth it anymore.
Hell, the best games coming out these days are Indie titles they couldn't run on an Xbox 360 or older. What's the point of paying for overpriced hardware when we couldn't just stayed where we were two generations ago.
I will be sad to not get to play this one since Kojima is an amazing developer and Death Stranding is undoubtedly my Game of the Generation back in Gen 8.
@Fiendish-Beaver Friend, you are not alone. I was psyched at the idea of getting a Titanfall-style Single Player. Than I remembered Splitgate and realized what this was going to be. Going on my list of massive bummers in 2026.
At least we still have No Law going for that Cyberpunk Emulation. I still have high hopes for that one!
I know I shouldn't be surprised since Infinite and MCC both had them, but I was really hoping there wasn't going to be a LASO Achievement this time around. I'm excited to finally have some more Halo achievements to work toward after a 5-year drought, but LASO has never been my favorite way to play the series. Guess I know what I'm dedicating 2 weeks of my life to doing again...
I'm on blackout for the series, so I haven't looked too much into anything, but I'm curious if we'll be able to do LASO out of the box like we did in Master Chief Collection or if we'll have to discover and unlock all of the skulls before you can attempt it.
Also why so many skulls?! There are only 13 levels. That means we're averaging about 3 per level.
I don't know about AI, but SOMETHING needs to be done to fix the AAA industry because AA and Indie are kicking its ass in terms of quality and entertainment. Pretty graphics and high resolution don't mean anything if the game is a buggy, broken, generic, soulless, and unenjoyably wreck. When you go into development on a game with a checklist of objectives and no passion or drive to experiment, you're going to get corporatized slop. It's the paint-by-numbers of game development and any studio that subscribes to this development process deserves to fail and be shut down.
Yeesh. Sad that the most interesting thing for me in the entire show was the Star Fox remake and Stellar Blade being ported (where's the Xbox version, dammit?!)
Sadly Switch 2 is already looking to be a repeat of the first Switch. 90% of it's library is going to end up being ports of games released on other platforms 5-10 years ago. Just a generation of Nintendo playing catch-up with the competition...
Everything else just... I have no interest. Final Fantasy, Kingdom Hearts, Fire Emblem. It's all just kind of... whatever.
While I have no lost love over the cancellation of an entry in the oversaturated horror genre, I am disappointed that Ninja Theory is stuck on the Hellblade franchise at this point. With games like Enslaved, Devil May Cry, and Heavenly Sword under their belt, I know they're capable of more and want to see more variety from the studio. If Obsidian can balance 3 differently different games in one year, surely NT can manage more than a couple different licenses in less than a decade.
@Fiendish-Beaver Fair point, though I would be worried if the fans who paid to go watch an Xbox-dedicated showcase live don't already own at least one of the current Xbox models.
I give it a B. Got 8 games on my list. Strong start, lull in the middle, strong ending. The "One more thing" was a huge misstep and the lack of BC announcements or any acknowledgment or support for classic Xbox Franchises in its 25th anniversary hurt it overall.
My list: Fable, Halo CE, Join Us, DOOM Revelations, Crazy Taxi, Minecraft Dungeons 2, Vivarium, and Spyro: A Realm Beyond.
Wondered when Yooka-Laylee was gonna get the Kart treatment. Neato! Been too long since we had a good Karting game. Only step left is to be featured in the next Super Smash Bros. game. Just a matter of time now
I'm confused. Didn't we already get this with the Hitman HD Pack? The only difference is Blood Money was replaced with Contracts, but Contracts was mostly just a rehashing of the 1st game. All of these games are already playable on the Series X/S, so I'm not sure who this is for.
Well... I got 2 1/2 games to be excited about at least. gen ATLAS and Wolf Among Us 2 are both on my hype train. Stellar Blade 2 is a big hopeful as long as it ends up on Xbox, but I'm still hoping for a surprise drop of the original on Xbox tomorrow.
Overall, I give it a C. Would've liked a couple more games to be excited for, but my gaming tastes and genres of preference rarely receive any love these days, so it's to be expected.
Still better than Sony's show, though. Best thing to come out of that was bringing Psi-Ops to PS4/PS5 (which has me hopeful for BC support on the Xbox and potentially a sequel in the near future.)
Cautiously optimistic about this one. His previous 2 games were amazing (Never played Ico) so I'm hopeful this one will be another masterpiece as well.
Xbox has the Fallout Series, which has been one of the best received videogame-based Series of all time. They also have the Minecraft Movie that was a massive success.
Going forward there is a Grounded Animated series in the works, Gears of War is getting a Netflix Adaptation and an animated series, and both Fallout and Minecraft are returning with more.
If the new Fable game does well, I wouldn't be surprised if there's a series in the works there, as well, to try and capitalize on the Game of Thrones and Witcher void.
I don't know why I keep thinking this is a Battlefront mod. Something in my brain keeps making me forget it's a turn-based strategy game. What the hell am I trying to remember?!
@Banjo- Personally I have no interest in Sony or any of their goings-on. I've been Team Xbox since 2001 and Playstation has had so few noteworthy releases this generation that I haven't even reached the point of considering buying one late-gen as an exclusives machine. The only game on PS5 I want to play is Death Stranding 2 and I'm just going to wait for the inevitable Xbox release or at least a decent Steam Sale.
That being said, Xbox as a brand has had so much content and value over the last 25 years that it amazes me they could only be bothered to dig out 3 of their IP for the quarter-century celebration as a platform that defied the odds by challenging the Big 3 and even surviving where Sega could no longer persevere. The Halo remake excites me because I've always been one of the biggest Halo fans around, but it's disappointing they went with another remake and not a sequel to Infinite or an original entry. Forza and Gears have also never interested me personally, one of my greater struggles with the Xbox brand over the years since I know how successful they've been as a whole. Meanwhile you have Fable delayed, Perfect Dark cancelled, Sunset Overdrive no longer a usable IP. Crimson Skies, Brute Force, Mechassault, Tao Feng, Fuzion Frenzy, Conker, Kameo, Blinx, Phantom Dust, Crackdown, Viva Pinata, 1 Vs. 100. All of these major franchises that are associated with the Xbox brand and they couldn't bring out any of them?
She sure has a lot to say. Be nice to see her start backing up those words, though. Sunday should hopefully serve as a nice sampler of what's to come.
Still not happy that they decided to delay Fable in what's been a relatively dead year of gaming so far. Xbox's 25th should've been a big deal, but a Halo Remake, Forza sequel, and Gears Prequel really isn't much.
The most exciting announcement I saw in that show was Psi-Ops getting ported. Hopeful that means either an Xbox port or BC support to be announced soon. Also reassuring to see that the franchise isn't completely vaporware. Maybe we'll finally get the conclusion I've been waiting 20 years for.
Psyched for Jurassic World Evolution 3. Been running out of things to play, so that might be the push for me to finally reactivate GamePass now that they've brought the price back down to a reasonable level. Hopefully we have Halo releasing in the next couple months, as well.
Soooo... if GTA6 is delayed to 2027, can we get Fable back in 2026? I would much rather have it right now. GTA can wait a little bit longer since I'm not even convinced the game actually exists at this point. I'm prettycertain it's like Flat Earth Theory and is a hoax that has gone too far to admit to at this point.
Still, I don't get why they can't just release it a little earlier. Do Halo in July, Gears in August, and Fable in September. That puts a two-month gap between all of them and GTA6. Just sucks because there's pretty much nothing coming out for the rest of the year. I've got Halo and GTA on my list and I'm pretty much done for 2026...
Meh. Never cared for Witcher and would've preferred a Cyberpunk Expansion personally. So much potential to fill out the world with new content and it feels like they barely scratched the surface with a single expansion that largely limited itself to a new region that wasn't even included in the original game.
@Skinny-Pete Don't know actually. Bought my Series X first and bought the Series S as a 2nd console for my wife, but we just ended up sharing my Xbox instead. I've personally never used the Series S to know if there's much difference.
Honestly, though, I'm sure it's negligible. Only real difference I notice between my Xbox One X and the Series X is load times and I don't have to hard reset my console nearly as frequently.
Meh. I have a Series S along with my Series X, but it's been collecting dust since I bought it. It's not a bad option for allowing people to keep playing into the new generation at an affordable cost, but otherwise I just don't see much point to it.
Comments 283
Re: Xbox Announces Backwards Compatibility For PC, First Four Games Revealed
Awesome announcement and their choice for the first 4 games is boss! Only other one I would've liked to see as a starting point is Mechassault. Still holding out hope both of them will get the BC treatment someday even if just on Xbox.
Re: Physical Sales Graph For The Past 20 Years Highlights Just How Much Gaming Has Changed
Honestly no skin off my sack. I've been 100% digital since 2014 and I've never had an issue with pricing. The great thing about Digital games is you'll never have to worry about copies becoming rare or scarce, so if you really don't like the price of a game, don't buy it at launch. If nobody buys it, either the price will drop and it'll be available to snag without issue or the studio will be forced to shut down. Either way, they learn their lesson for the future.
I have a very short list of games that I would be willing to pay $60 for at launch. My list of games for $70+ games flat out doesn't exist unless it's a Collector's Edition or something I pledged for on Kickstarter. I'm not going to fuss about a game launching higher than my price point. I'll buy it when I buy it.
Re: Halo: Campaign Evolved Release Date, Release Times & Early Access Details For Xbox & PC
Got my Collector's Edition in the mail yesterday and put my Hyperkin Duke controller to the test to make sure everything is up to snuff. I'm ready to go!
Re: Talking Point: So, Are You Getting The Premium Upgrade For Halo: Campaign Evolved?
@Mr-Cage I wish the world was in a better place right now. I could never in good conscience bring a child into the world in its current state, but there are times where I do wish I'd had a kid that I could have shared my hobbies and interests with. Having a dad that was into videogaming and computer tech would've been amazing growing up. Maybe I'll adopt some day and blow their mind with all of the crazy memorabilia I've collected over the decades.
Re: Talking Point: So, Are You Getting The Premium Upgrade For Halo: Campaign Evolved?
Probably won't get to play it early since I'm unfortunately an adult with a job and responsibilities, but I did buy the collector's edition because I'm an adult with a job and money! Should be delivering sometime today actually! Can't wait to read the manual!
Also got my Hyperkin Duke controller out of storage so I can play Halo CE the way it's meant to be played.
Re: Xbox Teases Potentially Major Console Update That Will Be 'Worth The Wait'
Shy of finding a way to natively run all Xbox and 360 games on the Series X/S without the need for emulation and licensing, I doubt there's anything they could come up with worth writing home about.
Re: 'They Will Report Directly To Me' - Mojang And King Singled Out By Xbox Boss
So she wants to turn Xbox into the Candy Crush and Minecraft machine? That sounds like the kind of terrible apocalyptic future we've all come to expect at this point.
As long as she uses those profits to find smaller and more individualistic games from other studios, fine, but this strikes me more as she wants to capture lighting in a bottle twice. Everything is going to become about those games and hopelessly banging her head on the wall try to make other games that mirror it like Sony keeps trying to do with these GaaS titles.
When are they going to learn it's not something you can force. You need to be progressive, have a good idea, and be in the right place at the right time. Nothing but luck is going to win over the minds and hearts of gamers and we are a fickle and prickly bunch.
Honestly surprised she didn't mention Infinity Ward by name, as well.
Re: Report: Xbox Cancels Avowed 2 And Puts Obsidian To Work On New Fallout Game
I have to say this is a major bummer for me. Avowed, like most major IP, had some growing pains in the 1st entry, but it was still a solid enjoyable experience and a sequel almost certainly would've knocked it out of the park.
It's a good idea having multiple studios working on major IP instead of letting them go ignored for a decade, but from the studio that managed to give us 3 releases last year alone, I don't understand why Avowed needs to sit on the back burner.
2nd worst news of the day after learning iD had a pitch for Perfect Dark in the works...
Re: 'It's A Franchise We Love' - Toys For Bob Keen To Work With Xbox On Banjo-Kazooie Game
I'd be fine with this, but personally after Spyro I would rather see TFB take on Conker personally. Conker has been needing a sequel for far longer than Banjo has and having an online multiplayer component would make it a more contemporary player in the modern field.
Re: Poll: Which Xbox Console Have You Collected The Most Physical Games For?
Original Xbox for sure. I've got almost 4x the number of games on my 360. 190 physical games on Original Xbox to 48 on the Xbox 360.
Re: Journalist Claims Xbox Is 'Keeping' Obsidian Following Rumours Of Potential Closure
Not surprised honestly. Obsidian is the only studio acquisition that has really consistently put out content since they came under the Microsoft banner. Their last few titles might not have been the biggest hits, but they were all solid well-designed games.
Avowed has potential for growth as a franchise now that the groundwork has been laid out (and would really benefit from a more free-range Elder Scrolls style sequel) and Grounded 2 is a lot of fun even just being in Early Access, so the final release should be a blast once it lands.
I think the biggest thing Microsoft needs to learn from Obsidian is to reduce their budget and scale them back to being a AA studio again. Plus they can always fall back on making them a Bethesda B-Team. They very clearly know what they're doing with FO: Vegas and could easily fit in to an Elder Scrolls or Fallout developer while Bethesda works elsewhere.
Re: Xbox Reminds Game Pass Members To Buy Modern Warfare 4 If They Want To Play It Day One
I wasn't going to play a Call of Duty game regardless of whether or ended up on GamePass or not. The last CoD I bought was CoD3. I rented Modern Warfare through GameFly and hated it. Haven't been back to the series since.
Re: Xbox Issues Statement After Pulling Out Of Project Fantasy
I've been with the Xbox for 25 years and I'm honestly just tired at this point. I can't keep up anymore and every time it seems like they're starting to turn things around, they immediately swing left and make things so much worse. I'm just done.
Re: Xbox's State Of Decay 3 Studio Could Be In Trouble Right Now
@Balaam_ Well Halo Studios is already technically a restructure from 343, so they haven't really put their development chops to the test yet. Been a bit of controversy behind the studio from people that are no longer employed there, but axing or restructuring now would be admitting there's truth to the allegations and they definitely won't do that.
Rare I could see downsizing, but not an outright cancellation. They're the only successful GaaS Microsoft has been able to produce so far. Its a difficult market to break into and getting harder with every release, so I can't see them sitting themselves in the foot just yet.
Re: Xbox's State Of Decay 3 Studio Could Be In Trouble Right Now
So far the only studios that don't seem to be in danger are Coalition, Mojang, Halo Studios, Playground, and Rare. By time Microsoft is done with this slash and burn, they're going to have lost every studio they've acquired in the last decade and they're going to end up being back where they started with Xbox not having any games and only a half dozen studios pumping out endless sequels to the same 5 IP they've always relied on.
Maybe instead of endlessly shutting down studios for taking too long and spending too much they should focus on actually directing their teams and start pushing them to actually do *****. Development times this generation are ridiculous as it is and downshifting to a half dozen games throughout the studio is going to be the death knell for the Xbox brand.
I would rather see ABK released back into the wild than give up any of the current Xbox Studios teams. That studio transaction is the entire reason Xbox is having the troubles it's having and I would give anything to reverse that stupid decision. ABK would've been better off dying under its own poor decisions.
Re: Poll: If You're Buying GTA 6, Are You Getting The Standard Or Ultimate Edition?
Neither. I'll pick up the $30 Bargain Bin version . Got plenty of other games to play while I wait for the price to drop and it's not like they're going to support the game with post-launch content anyway. The full experience will still be there 2-3 years from now when they've abandoned the game in favor of milking the online mode again.
Re: Roundup: All The Xbox Reveals From The June 2026 Capcom Showcase
Another year. Another missed opportunity with not remaking the two Dino Crisis games...
Re: Poll: How Much Did You Pay For Your Xbox Series X|S Console?
Series X - 2020 - $0
Series S - 2021 - $0
Used Rewards points to pay for both. Bought the Series X in the first wave when Pre-Orders went live. Picked up the Series S for my wife a year later so we could keep gaming together.
Re: Here's How The New Xbox Prices Compare To PS5, Switch 2 & Steam Machine
@Ooccoo_Jr
The only value of Series S is as a Cloud Streaming device; Otherwise it's just a nuisance that is interfering with the quality of Series X and PS5 multiplats because of that feature parity Clause and the requirement that every game must be developed for both.
The Series X and PS5 both still have plenty of potential and could easily run another 10 years (which is going to be necessary if hardware prices don't come back down to a reasonable level) but the Series S needs to be phased out if that's going to happen.
Re: Here's How The New Xbox Prices Compare To PS5, Switch 2 & Steam Machine
@themightyant I really got lucky. I bought a Laptop for $2200 less than a month before these RAM shortages started jacking everything up, so I at least have a computer that can play 99% of games at recommended settings. Haven't been phased out of the industry yet, but I know it's coming.
Re: Here's How The New Xbox Prices Compare To PS5, Switch 2 & Steam Machine
@Skinny-Pete @Ooccoo_Jr
I'd have sworn the $50 print bump was only going to take it up to $400. Mudt not be remembering the launch cover properly 'cause I'm thinking it was $350.
Re: Here's How The New Xbox Prices Compare To PS5, Switch 2 & Steam Machine
Jesus. Didn't realize the Switch 2 had gone up that much, as well. Absolutely insane and definitely a sign that Series X is probably going to be the last gaming platform I ever own. Between hardware costs climbing and the quality of games having been in decline since 2010, the industry just isn't worth it anymore.
Hell, the best games coming out these days are Indie titles they couldn't run on an Xbox 360 or older. What's the point of paying for overpriced hardware when we couldn't just stayed where we were two generations ago.
Re: "They Said That I'm Crazy" - Hideo Kojima Says Many "Big Companies" Rejected His New Horror Game Before Xbox Snapped It Up
I will be sad to not get to play this one since Kojima is an amazing developer and Death Stranding is undoubtedly my Game of the Generation back in Gen 8.
Re: Titanfall-Inspired Shooter 'EMPULSE' Makes Its Xbox Debut Next Week
@Fiendish-Beaver Friend, you are not alone. I was psyched at the idea of getting a Titanfall-style Single Player. Than I remembered Splitgate and realized what this was going to be. Going on my list of massive bummers in 2026.
At least we still have No Law going for that Cyberpunk Emulation. I still have high hopes for that one!
Re: 'It's Going To Be Pretty Brutal' - Jason Schreier Reveals More On Upcoming Xbox Layoffs
I love how Emo Chief always gets used as the thumbnail for these kinds of articles. Happy 4 lives on in perpetuity.
Re: Full List Of Xbox Achievements Revealed For Halo: Campaign Evolved
I know I shouldn't be surprised since Infinite and MCC both had them, but I was really hoping there wasn't going to be a LASO Achievement this time around. I'm excited to finally have some more Halo achievements to work toward after a 5-year drought, but LASO has never been my favorite way to play the series. Guess I know what I'm dedicating 2 weeks of my life to doing again...
I'm on blackout for the series, so I haven't looked too much into anything, but I'm curious if we'll be able to do LASO out of the box like we did in Master Chief Collection or if we'll have to discover and unlock all of the skulls before you can attempt it.
Also why so many skulls?! There are only 13 levels. That means we're averaging about 3 per level.
Re: Xbox CEO Asha Sharma "Doesn't Believe" GenAI World Models Will Replace AAA Games
I don't know about AI, but SOMETHING needs to be done to fix the AAA industry because AA and Indie are kicking its ass in terms of quality and entertainment. Pretty graphics and high resolution don't mean anything if the game is a buggy, broken, generic, soulless, and unenjoyably wreck. When you go into development on a game with a checklist of objectives and no passion or drive to experiment, you're going to get corporatized slop. It's the paint-by-numbers of game development and any studio that subscribes to this development process deserves to fail and be shut down.
Re: Roundup: All The Biggest Xbox Reveals From June's Nintendo Direct
Yeesh. Sad that the most interesting thing for me in the entire show was the Star Fox remake and Stellar Blade being ported (where's the Xbox version, dammit?!)
Sadly Switch 2 is already looking to be a repeat of the first Switch. 90% of it's library is going to end up being ports of games released on other platforms 5-10 years ago. Just a generation of Nintendo playing catch-up with the competition...
Everything else just... I have no interest. Final Fantasy, Kingdom Hearts, Fire Emblem. It's all just kind of... whatever.
Re: Roundup: All The Biggest Xbox Reveals From The PC Gaming Show 2026
I'm so ready for Exodus! I really hope it turns out to be the next big franchise in gaming.
Also psyched for a refresh on the original Thief. Not nearly enough entries in the stealth genre these days.
Also curious about Rivage. Love a good time loop story and this one definitely has my curiosity piqued.
Re: Xbox Studio Ninja Theory Confirms 'Project: Mara' Has Been Cancelled
While I have no lost love over the cancellation of an entry in the oversaturated horror genre, I am disappointed that Ninja Theory is stuck on the Hellblade franchise at this point. With games like Enslaved, Devil May Cry, and Heavenly Sword under their belt, I know they're capable of more and want to see more variety from the studio. If Obsidian can balance 3 differently different games in one year, surely NT can manage more than a couple different licenses in less than a decade.
Re: Xbox Fans Go Wild As Asha Sharma Gives Free Consoles To Everyone At FanFest LA
@Fiendish-Beaver Fair point, though I would be worried if the fans who paid to go watch an Xbox-dedicated showcase live don't already own at least one of the current Xbox models.
Re: Xbox Fans Go Wild As Asha Sharma Gives Free Consoles To Everyone At FanFest LA
Free consoles in this economy? Microsoft will never recover from this financially. Lol.
Re: Halo: Campaign Evolved Gets July 2026 Release Date For Xbox, PC & PS5
Yes please! I'm psyched to play these new levels. Never even considered the possibility of Sgt. Johnson making a comeback in a big way!
Edit: Collectors Edition pre-ordered and paid in full. I'm ready to go!
Re: Poll: How Would You Grade The Xbox Games Showcase 2026?
I give it a B. Got 8 games on my list. Strong start, lull in the middle, strong ending. The "One more thing" was a huge misstep and the lack of BC announcements or any acknowledgment or support for classic Xbox Franchises in its 25th anniversary hurt it overall.
My list: Fable, Halo CE, Join Us, DOOM Revelations, Crazy Taxi, Minecraft Dungeons 2, Vivarium, and Spyro: A Realm Beyond.
Re: Roundup: All The Xbox Reveals From Day Of The Devs 2026
Wondered when Yooka-Laylee was gonna get the Kart treatment. Neato! Been too long since we had a good Karting game. Only step left is to be featured in the next Super Smash Bros. game. Just a matter of time now
Re: Three Classic Hitman Games Are Getting Remastered For Xbox In 2027
I'm confused. Didn't we already get this with the Hitman HD Pack? The only difference is Blood Money was replaced with Contracts, but Contracts was mostly just a rehashing of the 1st game. All of these games are already playable on the Series X/S, so I'm not sure who this is for.
Re: Poll: How Would You Grade The Summer Game Fest 2026 Showcase?
Well... I got 2 1/2 games to be excited about at least. gen ATLAS and Wolf Among Us 2 are both on my hype train. Stellar Blade 2 is a big hopeful as long as it ends up on Xbox, but I'm still hoping for a surprise drop of the original on Xbox tomorrow.
Overall, I give it a C. Would've liked a couple more games to be excited for, but my gaming tastes and genres of preference rarely receive any love these days, so it's to be expected.
Still better than Sony's show, though. Best thing to come out of that was bringing Psi-Ops to PS4/PS5 (which has me hopeful for BC support on the Xbox and potentially a sequel in the near future.)
Re: Shadow Of The Colossus Creator Unveils 'gen ATLAS' For Xbox Series X|S
Cautiously optimistic about this one. His previous 2 games were amazing (Never played Ico) so I'm hopeful this one will be another masterpiece as well.
Re: Xbox Boss Wants To Create The 'Number One' Gaming Company By 'Resetting The Business'
@TheSimulator
Xbox has the Fallout Series, which has been one of the best received videogame-based Series of all time. They also have the Minecraft Movie that was a massive success.
Going forward there is a Grounded Animated series in the works, Gears of War is getting a Netflix Adaptation and an animated series, and both Fallout and Minecraft are returning with more.
If the new Fable game does well, I wouldn't be surprised if there's a series in the works there, as well, to try and capitalize on the Game of Thrones and Witcher void.
Re: Star Wars Zero Company Releases For Xbox In August 2026, Gameplay Revealed
I don't know why I keep thinking this is a Battlefront mod. Something in my brain keeps making me forget it's a turn-based strategy game. What the hell am I trying to remember?!
Re: Xbox Boss Wants To Create The 'Number One' Gaming Company By 'Resetting The Business'
@Banjo- Personally I have no interest in Sony or any of their goings-on. I've been Team Xbox since 2001 and Playstation has had so few noteworthy releases this generation that I haven't even reached the point of considering buying one late-gen as an exclusives machine. The only game on PS5 I want to play is Death Stranding 2 and I'm just going to wait for the inevitable Xbox release or at least a decent Steam Sale.
That being said, Xbox as a brand has had so much content and value over the last 25 years that it amazes me they could only be bothered to dig out 3 of their IP for the quarter-century celebration as a platform that defied the odds by challenging the Big 3 and even surviving where Sega could no longer persevere. The Halo remake excites me because I've always been one of the biggest Halo fans around, but it's disappointing they went with another remake and not a sequel to Infinite or an original entry. Forza and Gears have also never interested me personally, one of my greater struggles with the Xbox brand over the years since I know how successful they've been as a whole. Meanwhile you have Fable delayed, Perfect Dark cancelled, Sunset Overdrive no longer a usable IP. Crimson Skies, Brute Force, Mechassault, Tao Feng, Fuzion Frenzy, Conker, Kameo, Blinx, Phantom Dust, Crackdown, Viva Pinata, 1 Vs. 100. All of these major franchises that are associated with the Xbox brand and they couldn't bring out any of them?
Re: Xbox Boss Wants To Create The 'Number One' Gaming Company By 'Resetting The Business'
She sure has a lot to say. Be nice to see her start backing up those words, though. Sunday should hopefully serve as a nice sampler of what's to come.
Still not happy that they decided to delay Fable in what's been a relatively dead year of gaming so far. Xbox's 25th should've been a big deal, but a Halo Remake, Forza sequel, and Gears Prequel really isn't much.
Re: Roundup: All The Biggest Xbox Reveals From June's State Of Play
The most exciting announcement I saw in that show was Psi-Ops getting ported. Hopeful that means either an Xbox port or BC support to be announced soon. Also reassuring to see that the franchise isn't completely vaporware. Maybe we'll finally get the conclusion I've been waiting 20 years for.
Re: Roundup: All The Biggest Xbox Reveals From The MIX Summer Showcase 2026
Damn! Got excited that Wild Blue Skies might be coming to GamePass. Oh will.. Day 1 buy for me. Glad we finally got a release date at least.
Re: Xbox Game Pass: All Games Coming Soon In June 2026
Psyched for Jurassic World Evolution 3. Been running out of things to play, so that might be the push for me to finally reactivate GamePass now that they've brought the price back down to a reasonable level. Hopefully we have Halo releasing in the next couple months, as well.
Re: Xbox Delays Fable To February 2027, And It's Basically Because Of GTA 6
Soooo... if GTA6 is delayed to 2027, can we get Fable back in 2026? I would much rather have it right now. GTA can wait a little bit longer since I'm not even convinced the game actually exists at this point. I'm prettycertain it's like Flat Earth Theory and is a hoax that has gone too far to admit to at this point.
Still, I don't get why they can't just release it a little earlier. Do Halo in July, Gears in August, and Fable in September. That puts a two-month gap between all of them and GTA6. Just sucks because there's pretty much nothing coming out for the rest of the year. I've got Halo and GTA on my list and I'm pretty much done for 2026...
Re: The Witcher 3 Is Getting A Brand-New Expansion On Xbox, 12 Years After Release
Meh. Never cared for Witcher and would've preferred a Cyberpunk Expansion personally. So much potential to fill out the world with new content and it feels like they barely scratched the surface with a single expansion that largely limited itself to a new region that wasn't even included in the original game.
Re: 007 First Light Xbox Frame Rates Revealed, Including Series S
@Skinny-Pete Don't know actually. Bought my Series X first and bought the Series S as a 2nd console for my wife, but we just ended up sharing my Xbox instead. I've personally never used the Series S to know if there's much difference.
Honestly, though, I'm sure it's negligible. Only real difference I notice between my Xbox One X and the Series X is load times and I don't have to hard reset my console nearly as frequently.
Re: 007 First Light Xbox Frame Rates Revealed, Including Series S
@Skinny-Pete
Meh. I have a Series S along with my Series X, but it's been collecting dust since I bought it. It's not a bad option for allowing people to keep playing into the new generation at an affordable cost, but otherwise I just don't see much point to it.
Re: 007 First Light Xbox Frame Rates Revealed, Including Series S
That thumbnail, though...