RentedPanda

Started Dispatch this morning, I've been looking forward to it for a while, and now have some time

@Fiendish-Beaver thanks for the reveal! I have not played any Zelda games, it's a blind spot for me. I have my son's copies, but I have so much backlog, and I hear they are quite a commitment

@Fiendish-Beaver what was the one switch game? I know it's off topic, but I'm really curious now.

On topic, I like that the feature exists. I primarily game via console while my son has a new gaming pc as his go to. A couple of times now, he has checked out a game via my GP ultimate sub (either on console or GP PC), then purchased to play on pc going foward, continuing the existing save

I played A Game About Digging a Hole over the break. I did not contribute to the numbers for the other games.

Took advantage of the dollar for a month of gamepass offer to play that game, Keeper, Ball x Pit and try a bunch of others. I think this coming weekend is the end of the dollar month, sadly

@ILuvGames it would be great if we heard that there was something else in full development. I always hear they are a small studio, so wasn't sure if anything was truly ongoing during Keeper development. Thanks for keeping my dream afloat!

More realistically, I'm interested in updates on Clockwork Revolution

I know it is extremely unlikely with Keeper having just released, but I would love to hear that a subteam at double fine has already started a new small project. For me, that would be a great surprise. Again, I know it is not likely. It's just my hope

@Titntin if you already have gamepass, lost in ransom the eternal die is a fun rogue lite, a lot like Hades in its progression systems and game play, but different enough to be interesting. I never finished it but I enjoyed my time with it

@Coletrain it looks like Outlaws is not in premium, unfortunately, unless there was a typo/omission. Looks like the only one that is not on premium in this announcement

I have been interested in Little Nightmares, but I don't like stealth games. Maybe I am wrong, but it reminds me of Bramble, which I liked for vibes but not mechanics.

I'll probably check out Brews and *****, if it can pull me away from sinking all my gaming time into Halls of Torment and Ball x Pit

I have picked up Nier Automata and Griftlands. I think that's it for me. Maybe one last check before it ends....

This year, I think there are already some big releases in March. If I had only 1 game to launch, and it wasn't a huge IP, I'd probably be looking at May or June. Maybe try to time after summer game fest?

If you're in a position like xbox, launching Gears, Halo and CoD this year, spacing these shooters out will be interesting. I would not want to bunch them up, and then you want to avoid GTA - assuming it is not delayed again. So I would be going for one in Feb/March, one in June/July, COD in its usual spot in Q4. Then they have RPGs to space around those (Fable, I'm assuming a Fallout remaster, probably forgetting something), which don't overlap with the shooters, but I would still want to space out for gamepass and other reasons.... doing their launch planning would be a fun Sim!

For me, across all platforms:
Mario and Rabbids, Sparks of Hope
[Redacted]
Steamworld Heist 2
Shady Part of Me
Dave the Diver
Avowed
South of Midnight
To a T
Creepy Redneck Dinosaur Mansion 3
Tactical Breach Wizards
Neva
Paranormasight
Revenge of the Savage Planet
Herdling
Donkey Kong Bananza
Creepy Redneck Dinosaur Mansion, Reraptored
Yet Another Zombie Survivor Game, early access version (finished all available modes)
Dead Take
Inkshade
Promise Mascot Agency
Keeper

@White_oyster I recently took the 1 dollar offer. I have about 5 or 10 games I want to check out in that time. I'll cancel in a week or 2 and I believe it just runs out as normal (suppose I should double check, but there was no time commitment I saw) Might be a good way to stretch your gaming dollar and dip into a few games, see if they are worth a purchase, or complete a shorter game or 2 (Keeper is on my list). I suppose I am not helping them make their not-30% though...

Tempted by RE4 remake and Original Sin 2. I played OS but never finished. I held off 2 figuring it was just too long a commitment. But 15 dollars, I kinda want to check it out

@rhyno_888 if Sony were to start porting beyond PC, my thought is they would go to Switch first, due to the large install base. Xbox Ally and future iterations - if the rumors are true - will already be able to play PS games via their PC ports. But we will all just wait and see what happens

I have only played a handful of new games, and am not one for ranking things, but would like to shout out a few indies/smaller games I liked:
Promise Mascot Agency
Inkshade
Creepy Redneck Dinosaur Mansion 3 (and Reraptored)
Dead Take

None of these things address a problem. Gamerscore and achievements are already on a dashboard I can see on my machine or my phone. Why waste resources to do the same thing slightly differently? (Assuming they actually use AI and don't just rename the existing functionality) There are legit uses for AI, but stuff like this is pretty much The Emperor's New Clothes - this is so great, you must see how great it is, right?!?

@Fiendish-Beaver I like the game, but bounced off because I don't like stealth mechanics in general. I will go back, as what I played was fun. The Star Wars of it is excellent!

Much has been written on gaming trends showing free to play games like Fortnite and Roblox dominate time played, you have the multi player and live service stuff people are committed to, subscriptions, and many other alternatives to traditional full price games (sales, great indies at lower prices). So these comments by Ubi are no surprise

The real question is, will there be a new hardware fandom sister site to PureXbox, PushSquare and NintendoLife?

I wonder if Devolver is still committed to a day and date counter release? As someone who could not care less about GTA, seeing whether Devolver was serious and curiosity about what they might drop are the only things that impact me about the delay

I think I confused Dead Static Drive with the October shadow add, was it Pacific Drive? I am interested in Dead Static Drive, but will need to check reviews (or just wait until I renew my GP)

@RagnarLothbrok was the commitment thing about a handheld? I thought it was for a "traditional " console, but wasn't following closely, as I don't plan on buying into the next generation

@RegnumSolipsi they saw another player in the market and didn't attempt to buy them outright. That's pretty innovative for MS these days, in my opinion.

Kidding aside, it seems like a smart decision, de risking the hardware side while they concentrate on the user experience. I think shrinking the Windows footprint while providing a positive, mostly seemless user experience seems like the innovative part (arguable as to how innovative this is, but it was an issue that needed addressing, from what I understand)

At least we know it will be a curated experience. Nothing is worse than an uncurated console experience

3 fun games, although there have been many great adds lately to take their places

@RiverGenie I expect you are right about it being a puzzle platformer at its core, but I had fun for a minute imagining it as an immersive Sim in the vein of Deus Ex, or stealth combat like, "metal gear, but you're a lighthouse"

Psychonauts 2 for me, just wanted to shout out Costume Quest, which was a charming, bite sized rpg with some fun mechanics. I wanted to love Brutal Legend but never went back after a few hours with it. I should give it another shot. I've enjoyed many of their games and look forward to Keeper

The thing that boggles my mind is that someone in MS must have signed a deal with Ubi and thought this was a good idea. Unless maybe it has something to do with the Ubi deal for cloud streaming rights or whatever from the Activision merger. Still weird to include even if that is the case

My sub lapsed in Sep, I was planning to work on my backlog then come back. That plan has changed. Unless I can buy ultimate gift cards at currentbprice and redeem later, in which case maybe I pick up a 3 month card now. Probably not worth the bother

@Nighto4 yes, what you say is right. Hades launched on Switch then came to PS and XBox 6 or 12 months later. It was available on pc prior, but I did not have a pc and the time and remember pre ordering on Switch. If I recall, when it launched on Xbox, it was day 1 on GP

@Lup same here. I think I saw Rogue Waters was also 50% off right now

I don't understand these dev comments. Are they saying if you bought the game, you are more likely to stick with a bad opening or flounder with difficult and unexplained mechanics? I don't think they mean that, but it is how I read it. I did try the game and bounced at the beginning of the first mission after the tutorial and intro, because I could not figure out the brawling (I am bad at games). If I had paid full price I would have been ticked off. But maybe I would have stuck with it?

I'll check out Mina for sure. Maybe the Echo game as well, I was not aware of that one before this article, but it sounds interesting

@BAMozzy I hear you, but I would just say that finding new work for a project team is maybe not so easy as flipping a switch. Embrace could keep paying them, but that is not sustainable long term unless they have work on the horizon. As to whether they could flip to another internal project, I guess that depends on the project's needs and the specific roles available from the unexpectedly free team. Again, I'm not blaming MS. I'm just saying decisions have consequences which may include ripple effects outside of MS proper. I know if my company suddenly switched vendors, changed or canceled service needs, the current vendors would be impacted

@BAMozzy as I understood the article, the impacted team was working on an MS game (perfect dark) which MS canceled. Having no project to move them to, crystal dynamics has laid them off. MS didn't lay these people off, but I don't think you can say MS has nothing to do with this. I'm not saying MS decision was good or bad, or if the game could have been saved with better MS management, just that their decisions impacted this partner/contractor

@Cruxis I've heard good things about Legend of Dragoon, but it's a blind spot for me. So, I'm with you, I'd probably check it out if Atari (or anyone) brought it back.

Also just read that Atari acquired a majority stake in Thunderful (if I understood it - the price seemed way too low for that, so maybe I misread it) Article said this happened a while ago pending board approval, and the board has now approved. They are making a lot of moves

I might check out The Knightling. Usually the free play weekends do not have things I would check out, or they are already on ultimate, so this is a nice surprise

Re releasing is one thing, but how much money do these bring in? I wonder if this has to do with Atari CEO recent comments about doing more partnerships around old IP, like with Nightdive. Maybe their partners have interest doing something with these game worlds?

Gotta feel bad for these folks. It's like the Super Bowl gets rescheduled to their opening night. Demon school looks good, this is a good reminder to wish list it

Deep rock survivor has been on my steam wishlist for a while. I am taking a break from gamepass to work on my backlog, but when I come back there is going to be a lot to play on the service

@fbnaulin we'll always have Half Life 3...

I don't understand this about the devs, "you pay me an hourly wage and put my game on your service" thing. For most of the people working at a studio, is this different from the non sub model? Exec leadership aside, are huge bonuses based on sales common? From what I have read, it isn't the norm. So I am not sure what he's trying to say

Not sure - whatever CoPilot recommends, I guess

@Kezelpaso do you really not have a crystal ball, or are you just protecting your sources?

I would like to try both of these, but my gamepass backlog alone is formidable. Do I keep pushing in The Alters? Do I ever try Rogue Trader? Play more Blue Prince than the single run I have tried? I haven't played Doom in decades, but Dark Ages sounds good... But these sound fun, maybe they jump the queue... then there's Wheel World and Fallen Feathers coming soon. Gotta make some decisions. And finish Tactical Breach Wizards on Steam to get back to XBox in general

@Rob3008 you should read Press Reset if you want a good overview of studio management and crazy doings. The bar is set pretty high by 38 Studios and others, but maybe Rare could be in the discussion

I had not heard much on wheel world, but that description sounds fun. I may give it a shot. None of these are 100% my kind of game but I could see any of them being fun if I have the time to give them a chance

@Jenkinss I'm glad someone said it!