RentedPanda

I feel like Sony showed the 3 or so best games they have which you already played if you were interested, running how they were advertised they should have run on the 5, with the promise of... maybe 3 new games that run like that until this gen ends, that would run just fine on my 5. Not very enticing

Very interested in Wild *****, it looks like my type of game. Will watch for reviews

Oh, looks like the name of the game is automatically censored. But yeah, that game

Hmm, maybe it's a silent exclusivity deal where they don't market the product and instead create an odd situation and let the internet do all the work in creating viral buzz. Everybody is talking about it, without a booth or ad. Saves advertising budget. I look forward to seeing web banner ads in the future just be blank, once this catches on

Nothing for me in what has been announced so far, so will be hoping for some other stuff while continuing with Dungeons of Hinterburg and other past offerings. Plus Astro Bot coming soon on PS, one of the rare times I have pre-ordered something

Voidtrain looks interesting! I'll definitely check that out, along with Indy and the Lost in Random game. The others are not my bag, although I may download goat sim for my son, we played the original a bit

Has anyone played steel rising? It is frequently on sale and looks interesting, but I'm not good at Soulslikes. Is it more Spoulslike or action - does it have difficulty settings or a way to grind if I struggle? And most importantly, is it fun?

@Blinx yes, the creator has been quoted about the poor sales. Which is too bad, but not unexpected, there being just so much competition these days. I have the original on ps3 but never finished it, and may pick up the remaster here, to see if it holds up and if I've gotten smarter: )

I tend not to buy dlc before I try a game, or before we even know what the dlc might be. Borderlands Presequel taught me that lesson

@MrFrosty I know what you mean, but I've done it a couple of times. With Nobody Saves the World, I enjoyed the game via GP and decided to send a few bucks direct to the devs (sort of, bur you get what I mean). I played it a bit. Game eventually left the service. I'm fine, no buyers remorse. I also bought dlc for physical copy of Spiderman, and later gave the game to a friend. For me it is fine because I rarely replay anything, and I know that when I make the purchase. It was always going to be a 1 time experience. If you are a big replayer, you probably want to buy rather than GP anyway. Whatever you decide, hope you enjoy the game!

Dustborn looks interesting. I have it wishlisted, but will wait on reviews and probably a sale. Not that the game isn't worth whatever full price is, I'm just cheap

McPixel 3 might be a good addition to this list. Not sure how it compares in total time, but achievements are generally not hard to get. I got all but a few without actively trying. I used it as a wind down game that also netted achievements toward the rewards points daily quests

Started Ava today. I like it! It is not exactly what I expected. I expected something like pokemon snap or maybe monster sanctuary, but it is not very similar to either. A bit of a surprise, and enjoyable so far

@theduckofdeath Man, I really liked the Blockbuster hybrid mail/store system. I had forgotten about that until I saw your post.

I think both Gamefly and Gamepass have merit, depending on the type of games you play and the pace you play at. For me, having 2 at a time would be fine, playing 1 while the other is in transit. But I also like the buffet style of gamepass, and generally the types of games it serves up, so it works for me

@user0
I voted non issue because there are already ads on the home screen which I ignore. What they are advertising - the ad content - is irrelevant to me. I'm slightly more likely to go to McDonald's than play COD, honestly,
so I guess I prefer it, even. Placement creeping into other area is a different issue
I do agree that aggressive marketing and inserting ads everywhere as a general thing is bad. But I did not see that in the question

I knew this was coming but it somehow snuck up on me. I'll download tonight or tomorrow, and check it out. Nice!

Realistically I don't have time to play more than Ava and some backlog, but that is a disappointing couple of weeks. Crash is nice, but it's a constant sale item, a dated remaster of dated games that should be considered back catalog anyway after the acquisition, not a new drop. Mafia, I have no idea, but seems like a similar case of dated remaster always on sale - maybe I am wrong, as I have no interesti n the franchise so they blur together. I was hoping for a fun surprise, like Pepper Grinder day 1 availability. But Ava is still a win, was looking forward to it

I don't play COD games, just not my thing. So if that ends up being it, I will be disappointed. I have no faith Indy or Towerbourne will release this year either, but I am optimistic something from xbox will come out that I like, or 3rd party gamepass fills the void. I've been a gamepass fan for a while, but starting to get cautious there with the confusion over Heist 2 being on it or not, price hike, shifting release dates, marketing ActiBlizz older titles as "new on game pass," as in my opinion they are back catalog and should not be considered as new content, just made available like all the other back catalog.
The value proposition is starting to slip for me personally

Wow, I need to add a few of these to my wishlist. Thanks for the article!

I'm disappointed. I feel like this lineup is focusing on their huge IP, most from the recent acquisition, none of which interest me: COD, flight sim, Starfield, WoW, Diablo. Not a surprise, but my worry is that this is the sign of things to come. Will every fall become about not stepping on COD launch, with smaller franchises filling out the calendar, assuming they release and are not subject to cuts and delays.

I never tried Airborne Kingdom. I feel like we got a lot in this management sim vein with this game, Wandering Village, Dungeons 4, and Steamworld Build (and another one - commonhood?) in rapid succession, and I checked out everything but this. It looked fun, though.

Lol. They are a funny bunch at MS. It is like they don't have access to a calendar.

This was what I was looking forward to most, of the first party lineup. Oh, well, I always have plenty to play.

I guess I take this with a grain of salt until officially confirmed

Looking forward to the eventual release of Fable: The Story of Xbox Project Planning

@Dan1283 not sure if your comment is about fear that the ecosystem and digital library could go away, or about gamepass providing plenty to play and potentially adding something you just bought. For both reasons, I try to limit purchases to only things I plan to play right away. If you are buying a game you really want to play immediately, it still makes sense, in my opinion

Not a lot of surprises. Personally I am most interested in Alan Wake 2 from this sale, which I didn't see on the list of top sellers, but I suppose it is pretty niche and more expensive than almost of these top 25 games except for Elden Ring. Not in impulse buy range yet

They should take a page from Sega naming, like the Saturn, and go with Uranus. The free publicity they would get...

Think of me what you will, but I consider myself a gamer who pays attention, and when I first bought my Series S, I bought a peripheral, I don't recall what (I think a charger of some sort) but it turned out I got the One S version, had to return it. So I vote confusing.

Sounds cool, like Bladerunner meets Case of the Golden Idol. Themes sound very Altered Carbon

Hoping to play some this weekend! Well, choosing between this, Flintlock and Dungeons of H

@DonkeyFantasy to be fair, the FTC never believed MS. They fought the merger and filed an appeal when they lost, as referenced in the article

Case of the Golden Idol and a little Like A Dragon on gamepass, Ghost of Tsushima on ps

@NEStalgia I'd say they have done all these things for better or worse. They have had promotions, one dollar entry fees, I think I let it lapse and got to return for a dollar, tried friends and family plans in some regions. And now the confused messaging....

Not really a surprise if they let the promo pricing and rewards freebies lapse. If they cannot get new subs, charge more for the people who already sub and hope they stay on. I'm subbed through next March, through rewards auto redeem and discounted codes. Then I'll have to decide if it's worth an undiscounted 20 per month. Assuming they don't just change the number of rewards points for auto redeem, in which case I likely will still earn every other month free

@Pac_Bot this makes sense. Similar for the last price hike

@themightyant no, but the new tier being priced between current console and ultimate price points, and most discourse being about the day 1 aspect, I was not sure where it would fall. But now I know, so thanks again (next time I should read the FAQ, was being lazy, as I am)

I think xcom 2 was my last physical pre order at a store. I tend to wait and buy physical on sale, or play on GP

@themightyant thanks for confirming re: EA only being on Ultimate. That is a bit of a factor for me, since their Jedi games, Dead Space and a few others have been a draw for me

Has it been stated whether EA Play is only with ultimate or will it be included with Standard?

@Ricky-Spanish I remember this too, I think it was around SGF when rumors were going crazy about price hikes and COD not being on GP, but, I'm too lazy to Google it

I think when my sub runs out I will take a break and reassess. I have a backlog across systems, maybe I will tackle that for a bit and see if I miss GP

I did not realize Golden Idol was on xbox. I have it on Switch but have not started it. May use GP instead for the rewards points

I had wanted to play Figment 2, but .... backlog. Maybe I'll check it out real quick before it goes. Coffee Talk 2 made me want to try some blue and red teas in a real shop. Still time for that, I suppose

Wow, first Skull and Bones and now this. Good time to be a fan of throwback pirate games with extraordinarily long development time lines

Flintlock is another missed from 2024, unless I'm missing it from the graphic.
I feel like there's not much buzz about it in general despite getting a surprisingly close release date. Maybe I'm alone in thinking it looked cool?
Or is it gamepass but not first party?

Oh, wow! I have been interested in this for a while

@TheGiraffe I think it was 25k units in 24 hours, so, I think off to a promising start. Plus, just the xbox launch numbers - they previously launched on other platforms. But even so, must be hugely exciting for a small team just to see that many people want to play the thing you made

I'm still clinging to the hope that in a surprise twist, your character is converted to Shadow the Hedgehog for the dlc. Until it launches, I assume everything to the contrary is a misdirect

Looks great, cannot wait!

I liked High on Life, but I can no longer go to Applebee's because of it. I liked Bramble ok, for the vibes. I could not get into Bookwalker, the gameplay did not click for me. I had high hopes for it, but not for me

Great month for me in terms of stuff I want to play, but trying to finish some others, so the one I have tried for more than a few minutes is Little Kitty 😺 I need to stop messing with Wartales amd Tsushima and get into some of these

@Decimateh I have not played SMT so take this with a grain of salt but my understanding of previous games is similar pokeman-but-with-demons familiar fighting but less focus on social sim than Persona. And I think the early games were more roam and find dungeons than hub centered. But again, dim memories of reviews and previews, not first hand knowledge

@Lup I played Benedict Fox just before they released a big update for it. Still a fun game when I played it, but hopefully the experience is even better when you check it out, if you find the time

For me the CoD graphic shows up under the Wholesome Games description for some reason, which made me chuckle. Not that CoD is that out there, just not what I would expect as the Wholesome Games poster child.

I look forward to reading recaps of all of these on this site! Plus, there is usually some xbox relevant cross platform news at Nintendo and Sony shows