@BustedUpBiker I always play these games on novice or beginner, i just like winning all the time without a challenge. (And I put hundreds if not thousands of hours into each of these games)

Sadly, even on novice, I came in 3rd in one race in a championship series. I was shocked. The drivatars are better this time around for sure. That said, it felt good to lose a little, so maybe ill up the difficulty a bit to make it more challenging, play differently than in the past games.

That said, its a great game so far.

@Millionski is it an ally or ally x?

I prefer 30fps myself, but am able to get a very stable 60 on my x ally x with minor tweaks. The ally though in not sure would have enough horsepower.

All I want is a new Mech Assault. Its a pipe dream I know, but it would be glorious.

@GuyinPA75 Id disagree. Having to get up to put physical media into a drive or change the media greatly reduces any benefit it may have. Also, scratches, warping, etc.. can impact readability and render it useless. If you convert it to a video file on a pc then its no different than digital, just with one extra step.

I want this, ive been all digital for generations and honestly, physical is so dated and redundant these days anyway. (PC has been essentially all digital for a while)

Also, lets not make believe that the real reason play asia is upset is because they essentially lose a segment of business.

Always hated console wars and never cared about exclusives. As a consumer, Id benefit from having fewer places to go to enjoy games.

I wouldnt call it caving, I always buy the top edition of forza games because I know ill get 200+ hours out of them.

So yes, I picked up premium via preorder and have already sunk 4-5 hours in. Its a solid title, very much a forza horizon game.

Got a couple of hours in today via my xbox ally x. It plays very well and looks amazing. Still too early for an opinion, but I am enjoying driving through Japan. Brings back lots of memories of my 5+ years there.

I just want the mech assault games. Or a Mech Assault 3?

This list doesnt surprise me, but it does disappoint me.

Ive put hundreds of hours i to each of them, looking forward to hundreds more in fh6.

Maybe they can add a bonus for the motorsport games too? Played(bought) all those as well.

@Vidorra There are different types of games for different folks. I prefer FH games over MC games anyday, though I do like the MC games as well, just not the same. I love the Forza Motorsport games as well.

Preinstalled mine last night on my xbox ally x, will do the same on my series x today.

I am happy they shifted away from the every year release pattern for forza games, makes these a bigger event. (and saves me money since I always buy the top package)

Very excited for this one.

All good news, but am I the only one who would have no clue which video was the "upgrade" if not for the fps count?

Also, still loving my xbox ally x, its already outlived my steam deck honeymoon window duration by 3 months.

I know many will like the steam controller, but I dont even need to try it to know its not for me.

I dont like side by side analogues and I dont like the touchpads.(I had a steamdeck, hated them on that)

I love remasters and remakes, just not black flag.(I really did not like black flag)

I want to see a lot of games remastered or remade. Mech Assault would be great. Phantasy Star 1-4, Eternal Champions, Chrono Trigger, Sega Rally, General Chaos, Sewer Shark, and so many more.

So its still not fun then. Black flag is my least favorite of the modern ac games. Unity was much much better, even at its launch.

@Grumps859 Quite simply, why? Does it matter that games stand out? Or that new games have more value? Whats the benefit to me, the average consumer?

I see this as a solid win for consumers. I dont play cod mp, and as such, have no need for day 1 access. If for some reason I do play it, itll be a match or two once every other year. They shaved $5+ off for just CoD.

Maybe they can trim down the selection to 200-250 titles and lower it a bit more. Less selection means less overload and more actual gametime.

They have been making rewards worse and worse over the past few years to the point where I no longer actively even look at them. I have bing installed, but recently uninstalled edge as well as it was not working well with my iphone 17pro.

Hopefully this update moves them in a positive direction. Though its not like they have any competition with both gold points and the stars programs now gone.

I think im on their banned from free stuff list despite being a day 1 xbox owner and someone who has spent entirely too much on the ecosystem. (And being an insider)

Ive never gotten anything from them over the past 25 or however long it is years. Aside from a couple of things everyone got.

Someday though, someday......

Too expensive? Ya. It feels like the price went from $15 a month to $30 a month overnight. And they justified it by adding things we really didnt need or would have been better adding as optional upgrades.

That fortnite thing is a prime example. I have and will never play fortnite. I couldnt care less about fortnite. Yet if I want fast cloud streaming or access to pc and xbox or I happen to like day 1 releases, Im stuck with fornite junk. I could say the same for EA or Ubi items, though I use both of those I usually buy my ea and ubi games early so they hold little value for me.

Sometimes simple is better. Give us access to cloud streaming and 100-150 games on pc/xbox for 5-$10 a month. Other frills are nice but unessential.

@GeminiX53 How so? I have absolutely no concern over the xbox as a brand. Ive never cared about exclusives nor the brand as a whole.

I buy all consoles/handhelds, always have. If a game is on something great, if not ill buy it where it is. If xbox shut down tomorrow Id have no concerns.

I dont really get why people are concerned about multibillion dollar corporations and their consumer products.

@Weebleman I think we view integration differently is more the case. To me, as long as I can access them via the dashboard(via app) and then am taken back, that is a level of integration.

Its not fully integrated, as in them operating as the same store, which I never would have even considered to be a feasible response.

At the end of the day, I am satisfied with what is currently in place with the current level of interoperation. It honestly feels no different than going to an icon for the ps store or ns store in those platforms. They are all just buttons on the dashboard.

@Weebleman Yeah, but once purchased its seamless and i think its silly to expect a full integration. I have an xbox ally x and its extremely easy to load buy, and then use the app to play whenever.

I personally just pick a store if i want to buy something and go with it. Who wants to spend all that time in a store?

@GeminiX53 if the current xbox ally x has integrated those stores i dont see why helix woudlnt.

I have loved every horizon game, and they keep improving. I know a lot of people feel 5 was a step back, but I don't. It looked and played better, and the world itself was well crafted.

I feel like each of the games has its own charm and that is location. I don't have ties to any of the locations prior to the upcoming one (I lived and drove in Japan for 5+ years), so no sentiment tied to them.

4 is an absolute classic though, I love the mountain and seasons.

Ive had my Xbox ally X since launch as well and can pretty much say I feel the same as the author here with the exception of work (Since I don't use mine for the office)

Id add that since I do most of my gaming on a portable, that my Xbox Ally X has become indispensable to me. I pair it with my Switch 2 and Im good to go.(I have a portal too, but the connections that used to be great on that are now pretty bad, so its more of an ornament these days)

The Play anywhere games are great, and while Im cancelling my GamePass, its been great to have on it as well. (I want to be more focused in my gaming, gamepass makes me play 500 things and never complete any of them)

Ive been playing a lot of Battlefield 6 and Dragon Quest VII reimagined, the handheld never bats an eye and the games look great. I sold off my steamdeck after 2 years because I never used it past the first month, I was afraid this purchase would be the same, but atleast at the 6 month mark, its night and day different.

Hard to say really, but if I had to choose Id go with the OG Xbox. It had so much going on for it and I know many who still use one today.

From its openness to things like playing your own tracks for racing games, to it being the first with a bundled in HDD and Online system.(Key being bundled in, as in, actually useful) It started so many things for gamers, and it still does those things well today.

Also, I prefer its design over the 360 and series consoles. It looked more like a console than some weird box under your TV. It was strong looking, not artsy. I can actually say Ive thought about pulling the guts out of my series X and putting it into an OG Xbox shell. The Series X is just too innocuous, and my Series S is more like a toddler's machine.

I love the xbox app, this new store is nice too though. Only store i dont like is steam, which just seems to shovel garbage everywhere.

This generation really benefits the early adopters. I bought my series s, series x, ps5, ps5pro, switch 2, and xbox ally x all day 1. All but the switch are now more costly. I probably wouldnt replace any of them if one broke at current prices aside from the switch 2. $900 is insane for a ps5 pro. (I have the disk drive too, making it over 1k in todays money.) Thats a car payment, its too much for me and I do very well. I cant imagine people making under 100k a year thinking this is affordable in todays economy.

As someone who bought morrowwind and spent 20 minutes on it before selling it back, and bought 5 different copies of skyrim but never played more than 5 hours into any of them, I can soundly say that oblivion is my favorite. Put hundreds of hours into that one. Just a good game all around.

Calling it now, itll be $1500+ and a niche product. They are essentially selling a premium pc that plays bc xbox games natively.

There is no reason to make xbox only games for it, so thats just what will happen. They want a new segment of the market with the xbox ally x and helix.

This direction is msft exiting the console wars. Xbox exclusives are gone, but dev costs are going to be lower since they dont need to port to xbox. Itll be interchangeable with any pc which is good or bad depending on your view.

I imagine we will see this come in at $1500-$2000 as well, given the xbox ally x was 1100 and will likely be going up.

My gut is telling me given all the language used by msft that they are leaving the mass market and going for pc plus premium markets. Pc(software sales) will cover majority revenue while the device will be focused on the niche group not covered by nintendo or sony.

@antonioacm DF is fine, ive always looked at them as a source of info, not opinion.

I like the work they do, but make up my own mind on what the results are. (Ie stutter is meaningless to me as is most input lag and upscaled res. I look for constant dips over 15fps and extreme visual issues)

I was going to do xbox, but phils retirement has moved it to the ps5 pro. I just cant trust the xbox brand right now. Is get the pc version for the xbox ally x, but id prefer to have it day 1.

@RBRTMNZ I was an exec in a company a while back and my boss retired, I found out who the next person was and resigned on the spot. Was the best choice I could have made.

Im not a black woman, but its not hard for educated people with a good track to wait out opportunities and improve your life. She will do great Im sure and land something great very quickly.

And the last actual gamer is gone at xbox.

Ive loved the brand until this past year or two, but its been pretty rough. The xbox ally x is the highlight, but it can operate without xbox to be honest.

I have very little faith in the head if ai running xbox. I usually embrace change, but this one is a bit of a hit.

@Gemini53 A job is an individuals responsibility. While it's sad for people to lose jobs, we all need to be prepared for that possibility. Im not going to concern myself with a loss of others or my job due to AI. Not as a consumer.

@IOI I can play a plethora of xbox games via streaming either on the cloud or remote play. So yes, via remote play, I absolutely will be able to play gta 6 at launch. Pretty sure there is a pc version as well.

As I said, it may not be your preferred way, but it is playing those games and it does it quite well.

Glad I cashed in all my points last week.

@IOI I have a switch 1/2, ps5 pro, series x, and sold off my steamdeck, and I wouldnt trade my xbox ally x for any of them. Its expensive, but its an amazing device.

It does play xbox games, just not in your preferred way. The os is solid as well. Ive had no hardware issues with mine, but it did take a little tweaking.

@Gemini53 Id disagree with that statement. I couldnt care less if a game is made by a human, robot, goldfish, or anything else so long as its good. I couldnt name a single game creator outside of uematsu and ive been actively gaming since the mid 80s.

Im willing to bet that most people are the same.

Im not sure of the industry as a whole, but it seems to me that it would be better to just have developers as contract employees with completion times as opposed to making them permanent staff. Then there are no surprise layoffs, and the id you need the debs you can pay them more to stay. Right now it seems way too one sided in favor of the employers.

At this point id say the employment agreements are essentially meaningless to the employee. (They usually get severance, but typical severance for non senior level execs is often 1-2 weeks per year served, which is nothing if your developing for 1-3 years)

Looks amazing. So happy its 2d, i cant get into 3d cv games. I just hope it plays like sotn.

@Friendly Free in a horrible sense. I hate the ads and love the dailys and other games. They charge a stupid fee to remove the ads and add the other features at a monthly clip. (I think its $9 a month)

I tried going free before and lasted all of 2 days.

@jedinite value is subjective. I like gamepass, have no issues with $30 or even $50 a month, but they are adding things i dont care about to a tier that has one thing that drives value for me. This diluted the value and makes the offering worse to me.

People are justified if the product increases in price and reduces in value.

So, I read this as "pc gamepass is getting a price increase" since they will merge it with a more expensive tier.

Giving me less of what i want for more money.

Im letting my 3 months run out from yhe xbox ally x purchase, no intention of renewing outside of a potential pc gamepass.(i play a lot of solitaire)

I dont want more things, i want fewer at a better price.

Have this on ps5, was not happy with the game. So many mandatory side quests that were incredibly annoying.(im looking at you chocobo catch)

I am actually stuck on one such case in chapter 11 and refuse to play anymore.

That said, take away those and its a pretty good game. Enough to where I may be convinced to pick it up again if its xbox play anywhere compatible so I can go between the ally xbox x and series x.

Love it. I planned on picking this up on my ps5 pro, but play anywhere makes it an xbox purchase so I can bounce between my ally xbox x and series x.

I was one of like 3 people that never liked golden eye, even on the n64.

I was playing ki gold instead at that time. (I also didnt like mario 64, bought pilot wings at launch instead)

So naturally I say meh to the rerelease.