Scrubchub

Definitely time for me to return to my PC gaming roots for the next gen. Straight into the TV, wireless everything, Steam big picture. This whole generation has just been a bit anti climactic so just feels like it's time for something new.

That's quite a big potential price range. If it's 800 then there's a decision to be made, 1200 and I'm well out. To be honest, I've been looking at PCs the last couple of weeks anyway.

I started watching it a couple of weeks back and think it's quite good. I actually didn't realise that the 2nd season isn't on Netflix UK until reading the comment above which is a bit annoying as everything I've read has said to get through the 1st for the much better 2nd. Hopefully it's on its way!

Day of the Tentacle - just an absolutely bonkers piece of ingenious creativity, and very funny as well.

"Price hikes are never fun for anybody."

Hmm, I wonder what you bought with your bonus last financial year, you shilling, soulless corporate mouthpiece.

Great - but what games are they?! Utterly meaningless news without that bit of context.

And let's be honest, there's only so many hours in the day to play anyway.

@Banjo- thanks for that link. Was pulling my hair out just trying to find a list of games on each tier!!! It's almost as if this whole thing is designed to be as confusing as possible so everyone sticks with the one tier that hasn't been renamed....

@AndroidBango here's hoping. No time for trolls like them.

@Markatron84 I've just spent an enjoyable half hour speccing up a PC on PC Specialist. I'm not going to do anything knee jerk but this is, without doubt, my last console generation.

4 games leaving Gamepass, while 4 million gamers leave Gamepass (and counting).

@GuyinPA75 sorry, but reposting that in every article about this is utterly pathetic.

Well done you though, I'm sure you feel wonderfully vindicated.

I'm really not sure but it sure as hell won't involve paying the best part of three hundred quid a year to rent games.

At the moment I'm just putting another month of Ultimate on to take me to mid November, let the dust settle etc.

After that I'll probably go for Premium but may do a conversion.

What a confusing, convoluted mess. Well done Microsoft.

@Mincey0 I've always been a fan of PC gaming since I was a kid playing Commander Keen on my dad's 386 sx with 4mb of RAM (I remember getting an upgrade to 8mb!). With the ability these days to use a PC basically exactly like a console from the couch then it is basically impact to ignore that option.

@Mincey0 that's what I'm finding really frustrating. The fact that they've also changed the names at the same time for extra confusion is soooooo cynically done. But the most expensive tier is still good old 'Ultimate'?! Clearly just hoping people will give up in the confusion and stick with Ultimate to save their sanity.

And funnily enough I was in CEX yesterday looking at the old AC games. You could get a good selection of those for £30 - most of the series in fact. And cheaper again on eBay.

@Banjo- yes but with the biggest initial outlay. Also, you can't redeem PC Gamepass on console. I'm not sure how it works - redeem PC Gamepass on PC, upgrade to Ultimate, then will your linked account on console also be upgraded? My word, this is so overly complicated.

Premium tier with a CD Key to bring it below £10 a month is looking a no brainer.

@Mincey0 that's the thing that really annoys me - is so staggeringly convoluted. There are still some decent deals to be had through conversion but it does require a high initial investment.

PC gaming has never looked more attractive to be honest.

@brettvsgodzilla just been thinking this through - there wouldn't be much point in the conversion if you're converting it Premium instead of Ultimate as you'd only be saving the difference between 1 month's worth of Premium vs Ultimate. So if you're doing the conversion it would be to Ultimate.

@brettvsgodzilla sorry just replied to you on the other thread as well!

To be honest, I don't know! But that will certainly be my next line of enquiry tomorrow morning! Like others have said, that seems to be the tier to go for. Can live without day ones.

@brettvsgodzilla in the UK you can get EA Play for 1 year for £20 from Argos. That would give you 1 year of Ultimate for £75 before. Now it's £82 for 7 months. Still worth it for me, but only just, and it's a decent outlay almost twice a year.

Sorry if you aren't in the UK and this is therefore irrelevant!

So, I can get a key for 12 months of Core for £40 and a key for 12 months of EA Play for £20. I had it all worked out that EA Play was the way to go. Now I really can't be bothered. How can they possibly think something this staggeringly convoluted is a good idea?!

Maybe I'll wait a few days for someone less lazy to work out the best deal on Reddit.

Edit - ok EA Play will give you 7 months of Ultimate if you buy 3 years of EA Play at £60 (Argos in the UK) plus the conversion at 1 month of Ultimate. So £82. Which is just under £12 a month. Not bad, but a hell of a hike from the sun £7 it was before this wonderful news.

3 years of Core/Essential will give you 14 months of Ultimate after conversion. That is available for £120 in the UK on CJs CD Keys amongst other places. So with the conversion to Ultimate, that will work out at a smidge over £10. A bit better but a considerably bigger outlay at the outset.

PC Gamepass will give 23 months if you buy 3 years, again at CJs CD Keys at £50 per year. This will work out as the biggest outlay initially but will be £7.50 per month.

This is all based on UK retailers and prices.

Hopefully I haven't completely fudged the numbers here, but I've tried. Sizable caveat is that the prices of the keys I'm using may go up with this news (which is basically a guarantee).

They've crapped the bed with this one. Too expensive, too convoluted. Going to have to give it a miss once my subscription runs out.

Gamepass was what had me in the Xbox ecosystem, so once I'm not using that then it'll be a jump over to PS for me to enjoy some of those exclusive games we hear so much about.

Found my 9 year old boy playing Hogwarts Legacy which inspired me to go back to it. Really lovely bit of escapism and looks fantastic. Hoping for the sequel announcement sooner rather than later.

Beyond that - Stalker 2 has firmly sunk its teeth into me. The vibe is the polar opposite of Hogwarts so a nice contrast.

And as always, the racing wheel may come out for some more Forza Motorsport.

@SuBLiMe83 yes, absolutely! I try to go through my Play Later tab and just update it, taking off the things that I don't feel I'll get to and replacing them with shiny new additions. I play as much as I realistically can but would like just another hour or two a day. Maybe that'll happen as my kids get older.

@themightyant that's the reality of Gamepass I guess. Same for me - I would have an interest in this but the backlog is so long I probably won't even bother looking at it.

@Isca I put about 80 hours into Valhalla and by the end I was so done with it that I haven't gone back to the DLX, which I bought early on when I was loving it. It's been a good couple of years so maybe time to try again. That game is just so ludicrously massive and bloated though. I feel that if they had some outside consultants or something that could have told them to rein it in then it would have benefited. Like an author with an experienced editor just cutting the chaff.

Anyway, I'm fully into Stalker 2 now. What a great game. Brutal, rough around the edges, sometimes just plain unfair. But really enjoying it despite that.

@Fiendish-Beaver as someone else said, it's a top 3 game the franchise. It's also a great pirate power fantasy in its own right. Great game.

Would be a shame off they removed the modern world stuff as it was actually quite good in the original. Could be pretty much completely bypassed but if you put in some time to it then it was a good addition.

@Ricky-Spanish it's clearly not, though, is it? Maybe nothing to your taste, but that is an objectively decent selection of games.

There's been months where there hasn't been anything that I fancied but I didn't label it as 'lame'.

Been wanting to try Hades for years now but haven't got around to it. Will definitely try it now.

Can't wait for Frostpunk 2. The first one is an absolutely brilliant game, and worked well on Xbox as well. Try it if you haven't yet. It's bloody hard work though.

I bought one earlier this year as a secondary machine in the spare room for when I don't want to watch the TV - or when my partner is watching some god awful true crime 'documentary'. Only cost me £110 as it didn't have a controller but I've got plenty of those already so snapped it up.

It's a great machine. Runs everything well enough to be as enjoyable as they need to be. There is absolutely a noticeable dip in performance compared to the X (sometimes I move from one machine onto the other so can really see the difference). The most noticeable for me is just the resolution. But do I enjoy the games less? I don't think I really do to be honest. It plays everything just fine.

Good machine, and I'd be perfectly happy if it was my only Xbox.

PS - I quickly bought an external hard drive for it as that 512gb is simply inadequate in this day and age. But you could cope if you needed to.

Edit - even at £300 I think it's a good buy. You're getting all the current gen games. However, a second hand top of the range console would be my preference at that price.

Silksong (which is hard) and Stalker 2 (which is hard). A bit of Forza Motorsport with the wheel to just mellow things out a bit.

Having these on Gamepass is dangerous for me - I've been FM 'sober' since 2018 and it is difficult each year not to cave in and buy it. But when it's fluttering its eyelids at me from Gamepass...... can I resist? Hopefully, as if they sink their teeth in then they suck up time like nothing else I've ever experienced in my life.

Good game, just for me the gameplay loop wore a little thin - it's really just moving through some very good looking combat arenas and having conversations with the various members of your party. I started to find it boring after about 40 hours but intend to go back to it at some point.

Personally, I didn't see any particularly 'woke' elements to it. Always baffled me that so much of the criticism centred on that as it really isn't a significant part of the game unless you're hyper focused on it.

@brettvsgodzilla Avatar is a good game already but if you're interested then there is a 3rd person mode update coming in December - always felt like it should be 3rd person so may be worth holding off starting it!!

Feel like something new. Maybe time to try Stalker 2 (held off when it was released to wait until it's properly sorted). Or maybe I'll treat myself to AC Shadows in the sale.

Bounced off a few things recently so feeling like I need to get stuck into something new.

Played a couple of hours and so far it's excellent. Looks fantastic and the music is wonderfully atmospheric. Combat is, like the first game, simple but satisfying. This may sound strange for such a challenging game but there is something very comfortable and inviting about it, like the first one. Probably the art style and soundtrack and the mysterious vibe of the world, but I just find it quite relaxing to play.

Agree with the posters above though about the map; I really don't see what benefit it brings by not having the map from the start as it is a labyrinthine game by design. But after I found the map vendor, and worked out where to farm for currency, then it is much more enjoyable exploring.

Anyway, it's great. Very much in the, 'if you like the first one then you'll like this one' camp.

Well certainly no problems now - successfully downloaded on my Series X and my S in the other room (I want to make sure I can play this tonight without worrying about someone wanting the TV!). About to settle down to it for a couple of hours. Can't wait.

Looks a bit light at first glance but when one of the games is the new Hollow Knight then that alone should keep me busy for the month......

Frostpunk is an absolutely brilliant (as well as frustrating and really bloody depressing) game. Can't wait for the sequel.

@jumpin_jeeps exactly the same for me. Used to suffer from motion sickness dreadfully with games like Doom when I was a kid (the original!) but haven't for years. But with this one, it hit me like a ton of bricks! Made me feel sick as a dog so quickly gave it up.

I enjoyed the Veilguard for about 40 hours but to be honest it started to drag. The gameplay loop just isn't varied enough to sustain the epic runtime. But I am planning to go back to it after a break.

Definitely worth a try as it's good fun and (imo) looks great.

Apparently, there's a lot of woke stuff that players are force fed but there was nothing that I found to be worth getting irate about.

@Enigk same as me - PoP is one of the main franchises of my entire childhood (especially the 2D) so would love to like this but the roguelite aspect is off-putting.

Anyway, going to keep it simple. Bought Resi 4 Remake in the sale so just taking my time with that slice of gaming perfection, just like the remakes of 2 and 3 before it. Gaming doesn't get much better, in my humble opinion.

Just don't get there with these games. Used to have what was quite clearly a..... problematic relationship with this franchise. It was an undoubtedly unhealthy borderline obsession that definitely impacted on my wider life.

Alternatively, do go there. Because they're awesome.

Never more than about 15-20 games, and that includes the little ones like Roblox, Minecraft, Among Us and PvZ that my son likes. I don't like to completely fill the hard drive personally so I only ever have a 3 or 4 'big' games on at once. I tend to play one game at a time anyway to be honest so I cope comfortably with the relatively small hard drive.

I'll certainly get it at some point. Great series so far.

@Ricky-Spanish Bioshock Infinite is just amazing - the last couple of hours where all the narrative threads start coming together and the whole picture starts to form is just unreal. Amazing, amazing game.

Loving playing through the Gamepass CoDs at the moment, with WW2 currently being my favourite and BO6 being my least (not keen on the weird, trippy levels). At the moment on MW2 which I was surprised to see had a fairly lukewarm reception seeing as I'm finding it excellent. Though it does seem to be a recurring theme that every CoD has to have at least one or two teeth gnawingly frustrating, poorly thought out sections.

Just MW3 to go after that so just going to smash through them. Then I have the Quarry, Robocop and Resi 4 from the sale.

@Kaloudz I haven't played it since the GameCube to be honest (I remember it blowing my mind at the time) and recently played the 2nd run of Resi 2 Remake which I honestly believe is one of the greatest games ever made. So I reckon this one is about as safe a bet as it gets!

Need to wait for pay day but want a few things - the Quarry, Resi 4, Phantom Liberty just off the top of my head. There's also the Switch Online sale that has a few things.

That is actually a great addition and may tempt me to go back and try the harder difficulties. Whether or not I can take the ending again is another matter - the story's conclusion messed me up.

Really wanted to work through the CoD campaigns but to be honest I spent a few minutes looking at them, didn't understand what to download, saw the ludicrous, 350gb download size and didn't bother.

CoD WW2 was just nice and simple, so played that and thought it was fantastic. Will get around to it one day but that last time I had that much space on the hard drive was probably the day the console first got taken out of the box.

Love playing PvZ with my 9 year old son so will definitely be getting the remaster.