@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.
No chance a racing game would ever crack even my top 5. Pragmata holds my GOTY spot right now with Death Stranding 2 and Directive 8020 behind it and in a year with Halo CE, Fable, Minecraft Dungeons 2, 007 First Light, GTA6, Agefield High, & BeastLink, I doubt FH6 will even be an afterthought in my yearly review.
Honestly beyond the exclusives and BC support, the only other feature I really want is snap mode or (preferably) a picture-in-picture that doesn't take up the entire side of my screen. Being and to run Peacock or YouTube while I grind out achievements would be amazing.
Haven't even heard of 7 of the 10 games on the MC Top 10 list... Also criminal that Pragmata didn't make the cut considering it's easily the best thing to come out of 2026 so far (Not just counting videogames, but everything in general.)
Early access? I don't even plan on playing the game at its official release. Just doesn't interest me. Didn't like FH4 or FH5, so I'm not expecting much from this one either. FH3 was the last one that really held my attention.
Just with 1st-party IP , I want Sequels, Prequels, Reboots, Spin-Offs, whatever... for Conker, Spyro the Dragon, Viva Pinata, Kameo, Mechassault, Crimson Skies, Perfect Dark, Brutal Legend, Soldier of Fortune, Tao Feng, Brute Force, Phantom Dust, Bloodwake (using the Sea of Thieves engine!), & Vigilante8.
A little more off the wall since they're not Microsoft, but not necessarily tied with major publishers either. I would love something new from IP like Advent Rising, Breakdown, Phantom Crash, Psi-Ops, Dino Crisis, Steel Battalion, Jet Set Radio Future, Chromehounds, Shenmue 4.
If they're smart, they'll also snag marketing rights for the Hogwarts Legacy sequel and show off something for that game to ride on the hype of the Full-Cast Audiobooks that just released and the HBO reboot coming later this year.
Absolutely criminal that Mechassault and Brute Force aren't already BC considering they're Microsoft-owned IP...
Also sad that pretty much none of my votes even charted...
Voting Round 1:
MechAssault
MechAssault 2: Lone Wolf
The Godfather
Scarface: The World is Yours
Burnout 3: Takedown
Blood Omen 2
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Chaos Bleeds
Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena
Metal Arms: Glitch in the System
Voting Round 2:
Jet Set Radio Future
Stranglehold
Singularity
Alpha Protocol
The Simpsons: Hit & Run
Phantom Crash
Anarchy Reigns
Dark Sector
Front Mission: Evolved
Ninety-Nine Nights
Curious about this one. Always thought the Yakuza games were a bit too campy and over-the-top, but this looks like it might dial it back a bit. Definitely gonna keep an eye on it.
Most games these days are barely worth more than $20. The last 2 games I bought Full Price were Hogwarts Legacy and Hitman 3.
My rule of thumb is I get to buy 2 full-price games a year. If there's anything that interests me enough in the year (typically tied to a few specific franchises), I'll splurge on it as long as it has steady and consistent reviews (GTAVI and Fable are the only games announced this year, but GamePass eliminates Fable from that list.) Everything else will wait until it goes on sale for $20 or less.
@Fiendish-Beaver I do believe exclusives are something the industry ultimately needs to move beyond, and that consoles should succeed based on their own merits. In that sense, Microsoft’s philosophy makes sense. The problem is that it only works if every major competitor is willing to play by the same rules. If one company releases all of its exclusives on competing platforms while others continue keeping their content locked to their own ecosystems, consumers are naturally going to gravitate toward the platform offering the most content. That completely undermines the strategy.
Unless some form of industry-wide standard or legislation around multiplatform publishing were ever introduced, which would be incredibly difficult to define and enforce given how nuanced these situations are, exclusives will likely remain a necessary evil.
What makes the situation especially unfortunate is that Microsoft actually recovered from its “no worthwhile exclusives” reputation from the 2010s. By the time they finally had exclusives people genuinely wanted to play, they were already launching those games on PC and signaling eventual PS5 releases. At that point, many consumers simply decided to wait instead of investing in Xbox hardware. It’s hard to convince people to buy a new console for games they know they’ll eventually be able to play elsewhere.
I'm in total agreement. I thought Infinite had a solid setup for an interesting new chapter in the Universe. I thought they did a respectable job setting up the new plot while closing off the setup from H4/H5 without completely ignoring that it happened. With a sequel that has moved past the Created plot and into the Banished/Fallen story entirely, I think the potential for a strong sequel is great.
Where I think I butt heads with a lot of the community is I want a much smaller focus on multiplayer and more on the Single Player this time around. I think a setup like we have in the Borderlands games would be a good direction. It keeps a pseudo-open world design, but more easily allows them to branch out into different Biomes and even more to other planets if necessary.
Was never a fan of any of their titles personally, but I can see the effort that went into their games and I understand why people enjoyed what they made. It's always a shame to see a creative and passionate team like this taken down by finances or politics. Hopefully they can pull through or land on their feet quickly.
Absolutely not. This needs to stop. We don't need every studio locked down under a single publisher banner. We need to go back to the days of 2nd and 3rd-party contracts. Allow studios to exist under their own independence and publishers should do what they're supposed to do and just publish.
This would give studios the freedom to develop what they want without intrusive oversight and publishers are free to support the studios they want to foster good relations with without the risk of a studio being mercilessly cut down after their game hits the market. This is the only way we're going to stop seeing studios like Tango punished for doing a good job or Bioware being turned from one of the most talented teams in the industry to a hollow garbage-spewing shadow of its former self.
Hopefully this is the beginning of the end for this flat and boring monochromatic logo BS that every company has gravitated toward this past decade. Such a painfully boring trend, especially after the colorful and creative designs of the 90's and 2000's.
Now lets see what we can do about the flat and generic 'Rows of pictures in boxes' UI design...
The subs they lost at the $20 price point must not have been significant at the time because they obviously thought they could get away a $30 price point not much later. The lost subscriptions at that time were no doubt offset by the price hike in a way that the $30 sub did not manage to recover. Regressing back to the $20 price tag won't bring back all of the subs they lost, but they're hoping it will bring them back to a leveling off point. For $22 a month, I can certainly justify firing my subscription back up.
Removing COD AND dropping the price back down? This is a win-win for fans! I cancelled my sub back in October, but I will more than likely resub sometime in the next couple weeks once I've cleared Pragmata from my playlist.
Definitely looks good on Asha, but people need to remember the shareholders are calling the shots. Phil was done dirty by being forced into a lot of the decisions the brand was forced to make and it seems like they're scapegoating him by giving her more free reign, but I have no doubt they'll do the same thing to Asha in due time.
Honestly the only thing stopping me from going over to Playstation is the controller. If Sony were to release an official controller with Asymmetrical analogs, I think they would see a large surge of players from the Xbox side. Hoping Xbox can get it together before it's too late, but I'm still not overly confident about putting the AI lady in charge in an industry that is notoriously anti-AI.
Sad it doesn't have Play Anywhere support. I would love to see it running on my new Laptop, but if I have to choose between the two, I'm getting the Xbox version.
Comments 260
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...
Re: Poll: So, Is Forza Horizon 6 Your Favourite Game Of 2026 So Far?
No chance a racing game would ever crack even my top 5. Pragmata holds my GOTY spot right now with Death Stranding 2 and Directive 8020 behind it and in a year with Halo CE, Fable, Minecraft Dungeons 2, 007 First Light, GTA6, Agefield High, & BeastLink, I doubt FH6 will even be an afterthought in my yearly review.
Re: Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth Xbox Preload Now Live, And The Download Is Absolutely Massive
Damn. Guess I need to get back in there and beat the first game soon. I hear the 2nd part is much more longer and more open.
Re: Xbox Fans Share Their Top 10 Requests After Day One Of Player Voice Feedback
Honestly beyond the exclusives and BC support, the only other feature I really want is snap mode or (preferably) a picture-in-picture that doesn't take up the entire side of my screen. Being and to run Peacock or YouTube while I grind out achievements would be amazing.
Re: 'Xbox Presents' Was The Most-Viewed Livestream Ever On Xbox's YouTube Channel, And By Some Distance
Didn't even know that show was happening at the time. I still haven't watched any footage from it since I was never a Yakuza fan myself.
Curious why viewership was so high for this one...
Re: 50+ Games Are Reduced By 90-95% In The Latest Xbox Sales, Including Some Unlikely Gems
Neat. Finally nabbed Leisure Suit Larry. That'll make for a few fun evenings. Nothing else here interests me except a couple I already own.
Re: Xbox Takes #1 Spot In Metacritic's Top 10 Video Games Of 2026 So Far
Haven't even heard of 7 of the 10 games on the MC Top 10 list... Also criminal that Pragmata didn't make the cut considering it's easily the best thing to come out of 2026 so far (Not just counting videogames, but everything in general.)
Re: Talking Point: So, Did You Cave And Buy Early Access For Forza Horizon 6?
Early access? I don't even plan on playing the game at its official release. Just doesn't interest me. Didn't like FH4 or FH5, so I'm not expecting much from this one either. FH3 was the last one that really held my attention.
Re: Talking Point: What Dream Reveal Would You Like To See At The Xbox Games Showcase 2026?
Just with 1st-party IP , I want Sequels, Prequels, Reboots, Spin-Offs, whatever... for Conker, Spyro the Dragon, Viva Pinata, Kameo, Mechassault, Crimson Skies, Perfect Dark, Brutal Legend, Soldier of Fortune, Tao Feng, Brute Force, Phantom Dust, Bloodwake (using the Sea of Thieves engine!), & Vigilante8.
A little more off the wall since they're not Microsoft, but not necessarily tied with major publishers either. I would love something new from IP like Advent Rising, Breakdown, Phantom Crash, Psi-Ops, Dino Crisis, Steel Battalion, Jet Set Radio Future, Chromehounds, Shenmue 4.
If they're smart, they'll also snag marketing rights for the Hogwarts Legacy sequel and show off something for that game to ride on the hype of the Full-Cast Audiobooks that just released and the HBO reboot coming later this year.
Re: These Are The Top 10 Xbox Backwards Compatibility Requests After 350,000 Votes
Absolutely criminal that Mechassault and Brute Force aren't already BC considering they're Microsoft-owned IP...
Also sad that pretty much none of my votes even charted...
Voting Round 1:
MechAssault
MechAssault 2: Lone Wolf
The Godfather
Scarface: The World is Yours
Burnout 3: Takedown
Blood Omen 2
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Chaos Bleeds
Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena
Metal Arms: Glitch in the System
Voting Round 2:
Jet Set Radio Future
Stranglehold
Singularity
Alpha Protocol
The Simpsons: Hit & Run
Phantom Crash
Anarchy Reigns
Dark Sector
Front Mission: Evolved
Ninety-Nine Nights
Re: Xbox Dedicates Entire Showcase To Stranger Than Heaven, Releasing Winter 2026 On Game Pass
Curious about this one. Always thought the Yakuza games were a bit too campy and over-the-top, but this looks like it might dial it back a bit. Definitely gonna keep an eye on it.
Re: More Than 50% Of Hardcore Gamers Don't Buy Full-Priced Games Anymore, Survey Finds
Most games these days are barely worth more than $20. The last 2 games I bought Full Price were Hogwarts Legacy and Hitman 3.
My rule of thumb is I get to buy 2 full-price games a year. If there's anything that interests me enough in the year (typically tied to a few specific franchises), I'll splurge on it as long as it has steady and consistent reviews (GTAVI and Fable are the only games announced this year, but GamePass eliminates Fable from that list.) Everything else will wait until it goes on sale for $20 or less.
Re: Xbox Founder Invited To Microsoft HQ By Asha Sharma, Says It Was 'Amazing' And 'Bizarre'
@Fiendish-Beaver I do believe exclusives are something the industry ultimately needs to move beyond, and that consoles should succeed based on their own merits. In that sense, Microsoft’s philosophy makes sense. The problem is that it only works if every major competitor is willing to play by the same rules. If one company releases all of its exclusives on competing platforms while others continue keeping their content locked to their own ecosystems, consumers are naturally going to gravitate toward the platform offering the most content. That completely undermines the strategy.
Unless some form of industry-wide standard or legislation around multiplatform publishing were ever introduced, which would be incredibly difficult to define and enforce given how nuanced these situations are, exclusives will likely remain a necessary evil.
What makes the situation especially unfortunate is that Microsoft actually recovered from its “no worthwhile exclusives” reputation from the 2010s. By the time they finally had exclusives people genuinely wanted to play, they were already launching those games on PC and signaling eventual PS5 releases. At that point, many consumers simply decided to wait instead of investing in Xbox hardware. It’s hard to convince people to buy a new console for games they know they’ll eventually be able to play elsewhere.
Re: Talking Point: After Halo: Campaign Evolved, What Do You Want Xbox To Do With The Series?
@Fiendish-Beaver
I'm in total agreement. I thought Infinite had a solid setup for an interesting new chapter in the Universe. I thought they did a respectable job setting up the new plot while closing off the setup from H4/H5 without completely ignoring that it happened. With a sequel that has moved past the Created plot and into the Banished/Fallen story entirely, I think the potential for a strong sequel is great.
Where I think I butt heads with a lot of the community is I want a much smaller focus on multiplayer and more on the Single Player this time around. I think a setup like we have in the Borderlands games would be a good direction. It keeps a pseudo-open world design, but more easily allows them to branch out into different Biomes and even more to other planets if necessary.
Re: Nacon's RPG Studio Seemingly Shutting Down Following Financial Troubles
Was never a fan of any of their titles personally, but I can see the effort that went into their games and I understand why people enjoyed what they made. It's always a shame to see a creative and passionate team like this taken down by finances or politics. Hopefully they can pull through or land on their feet quickly.
Re: It's Been Years Since Xbox Acquired A Studio, But It Sounds Like They're Considering It Again
Absolutely not. This needs to stop. We don't need every studio locked down under a single publisher banner. We need to go back to the days of 2nd and 3rd-party contracts. Allow studios to exist under their own independence and publishers should do what they're supposed to do and just publish.
This would give studios the freedom to develop what they want without intrusive oversight and publishers are free to support the studios they want to foster good relations with without the risk of a studio being mercilessly cut down after their game hits the market. This is the only way we're going to stop seeing studios like Tango punished for doing a good job or Bioware being turned from one of the most talented teams in the industry to a hollow garbage-spewing shadow of its former self.
Re: Xbox Unveils New Logo And Explains How To Make It Your Series X|S Background
Hopefully this is the beginning of the end for this flat and boring monochromatic logo BS that every company has gravitated toward this past decade. Such a painfully boring trend, especially after the colorful and creative designs of the 90's and 2000's.
Now lets see what we can do about the flat and generic 'Rows of pictures in boxes' UI design...
Re: Roundup: Here's What Was Revealed At The ID@Xbox April 2026 Showcase
Nothing for me unfortunately. Going back to Pragmata for a bit. Wake me when something interesting happens.
Re: Xbox Rewards Adds Brand-New 'Birthday Gift' Feature With Special Benefits
@Altaria_97
Same. My birthday was a week ago, so just missed out on the treat. Guess we'll try again in a year...
Re: Xbox Announces Price Reductions For Game Pass Ultimate & PC Game Pass
@Balta666
The subs they lost at the $20 price point must not have been significant at the time because they obviously thought they could get away a $30 price point not much later. The lost subscriptions at that time were no doubt offset by the price hike in a way that the $30 sub did not manage to recover. Regressing back to the $20 price tag won't bring back all of the subs they lost, but they're hoping it will bring them back to a leveling off point. For $22 a month, I can certainly justify firing my subscription back up.
Re: Xbox Announces Price Reductions For Game Pass Ultimate & PC Game Pass
Removing COD AND dropping the price back down? This is a win-win for fans! I cancelled my sub back in October, but I will more than likely resub sometime in the next couple weeks once I've cleared Pragmata from my playlist.
Definitely looks good on Asha, but people need to remember the shareholders are calling the shots. Phil was done dirty by being forced into a lot of the decisions the brand was forced to make and it seems like they're scapegoating him by giving her more free reign, but I have no doubt they'll do the same thing to Asha in due time.
Re: GameSir Unveils Tarantula Pro For Xbox & PC, Described As 'The Best Xbox Controller In Symmetry'
@Sol4ris
Honestly the only thing stopping me from going over to Playstation is the controller. If Sony were to release an official controller with Asymmetrical analogs, I think they would see a large surge of players from the Xbox side. Hoping Xbox can get it together before it's too late, but I'm still not overly confident about putting the AI lady in charge in an industry that is notoriously anti-AI.
Re: Pragmata Release Date, Release Times & Everything You Need To Know On Xbox
Sad it doesn't have Play Anywhere support. I would love to see it running on my new Laptop, but if I have to choose between the two, I'm getting the Xbox version.
Re: GameSir Unveils Tarantula Pro For Xbox & PC, Described As 'The Best Xbox Controller In Symmetry'
I think they made a mistake. The left analog stick is in the wrong place. We're supposed to be moving forward, not backwards.