Spaceman-Spiff

Here's hoping they manage to figure out a way of live streaming the event that doesn't look like trash! The compression of live streams on YouTube is awful.

@Pigrotto Why would you feel sympathy for him?

@101Force Good to know! Do you happen to know if the soundtrack was ported as well? Loved the music in that game...

Shadowrun on the SNES was a fantastic game, and so I was very disappointed when the 2007 version turned out the way it did. I didn't actually know there were other isometric style entries in the series.

@Cherip-the-Ripper The only way gamepass ever features on a Nintendo console is if MS buys Nintendo, but perhaps the broader Switch owning public don't realise this.

Not sure why Nintendo Switch owners would be lured to Game Pass because of Call Of Duty. It was never on their system in the first place...

@Widey85 Good point! I hadn't really considered that as a reason but it makes sense.

I kind of wish developers/publishers would stop announcing games years away from release. What's the point?

Does anyone know if this supports co-op play?
Edit: It doesn't. Still looks very promising though, Prey is one of my favourite games.

I keep looking out for Sekiro but even at 50% off £30 is still a lot of money for a three year old game... I only paid £14 more for Elden Ring at launch, and that was a physical copy with collectible postcards etc.

@OldgamerDave Dwelling on the tech side of gaming is one of the things I enjoy most about it! Hence why I am a big fan of DF. Not because of any console war thing just because I'm interested in how it all works and why some games look/run better than others even though they are using the same hardware, or vice versa. But yes I agree that it only goes so far and it of course shouldn't get in the way of enjoying excellent gameplay.

@themightyant I think you are right about where the focus goes for many devs, and I'm sure for Elden Ring From Software developed with the PS5 in mind much more than the Xbox. But I'd still be interested to know more details! Especially as both PlayStation and Xbox are very similar this generation from a hardware perspective. For me it's like having two PCs with largely similar spec, with GPUs from the same manufacturer, but the PC with slightly higher specs runs with a performance disadvantage. Wouldn't that be questioned?

@Savage_Joe But saying that the PS5 architecture and Mark Cerny are both awesome because Mark Cerny says so isn't what I would call definitive analysis. I would just like to hear some independent thought on the issue from those with no vested interest.

@Savage_Joe But whose theory is this? It sounds like the sort of conjecture formed in Reddit threads rather than based on actual expert analysis. As far as I remember the Series X hardware and architecture was widely praised upon release. I just think it would make an interesting article for an established games journalist to take on - someone with contacts in the development community who could be used to shed light on what precisely is going on.

It surprises me that there hasn't been an in depth investigation by DF or anyone else about what exactly is going on with Series X performance in multiplat games. Almost without exception, Series X seems to exhibit worse performance, despite on paper offering more power. Vague talk regarding the state of the development tools aside, there really hasn't been an explanation that specifically gets to the heart of what is going on. I would love to be able to pick the brains of some developers to find out exactly where the bottlenecks are, and why it's seemingly so difficult to get the most out of the machine.

A kind of open world but with what sounds like wide-linear gameplay? Yes please.

@RevGaming I can't see any harm in having an easy/normal/hard option though, like most games.

@Rangers420 That's fair enough, to be honest I was criticising the marketing for both machines more than I was criticising your comment!

@blinx01 That's a good explanation, albeit one that would be oddly retrograde for a modern engine. Not that I would be surprised.

@Rangers420 On that basis people should also expect every Series X game to be 4K 120fps...

Again, I would argue that if there is enough headroom to offer a 60fps+ mode on Series X then it should also be possible to offer a locked 60fps with DRS that goes above 1080p. This would be far preferable to most people I would imagine.

If their sole aim here is to "preserve content", I'm sure I've got a spare USB stick they could borrow.

@MaccaMUFC This new generation was meant to allow games to run at much higher frame rates, but unfortunately every time a new console is released new game engines designed to push high end PCs are also developed and push us back to console games running at 30fps. So I wouldn't hold your breath for 60-120fps AAA games ever being the norm on console.

@Chaudy Yeah... I'm playing the first one at the moment and around 3 hours in I'm not loving it. Very slow pace, long dialog breaks every 5 minutes and combat feels rudimentary at best. Will persevere for now as it should be right up my street, but I'm hoping it gets better.

Here's hoping that there are hundreds of scalpers out there who have suddenly found themselves with thousands of pounds worth of consoles that they can no longer sell at inflated prices. Merry Christmas you filthy animals, and a happy New Year.

Prey.
What. A. Game

@ParsnipHero And, to address your point more directly, yes I can appreciate what you're saying, however the cut scene stutter issue was highlighted almost a month ago - before either the multiplayer or campaign were released.

@ParsnipHero Don't get me wrong, I'm fully aware that this is very much a first world problem I have! It's not even that the cut scene stutter bothers me that much. It just feels like a signifier of how much the pendulum has swung towards multiplayer in recent years for many devs. I'm old (mid-thirties) and miss the days of tent pole campaign releases being the thing that everyone got excited for, rather than whatever shiny helmet or dance move was being offered if you won enough xp somewhere. Bah!

@Bobobiwan It feels like a lot of the focus has been and continues to be on the multiplayer rather than the campaign. As someone who could not care less about the multiplayer this is disappointing.

What about an update for the campaign to fix the cutscene stutter?

@Odium Ditto! Not sure how I feel about my prized Series X being taken over by a four year old though...

But will anyone with Game Pass be playing this instead of Halo?

I still think there's an argument for console exclusives. Look at Nintendo's games, which consistently make the most of the hardware in often interesting and innovative ways. Is he saying that Wii Sports should also have been designed to work using a controller on an Xbox or PlayStation, just in the name of having "no boundaries" for players? It's one thing if the hardware is basically identical across platforms but I certainly don't want that to be the norm going forward. Hardware innovation breeds software innovation.

@CrazyJF Yes to Mistborn and The Expanse. You have fine taste sir.

@StonyKL Absolutely. Awards like these are just popularity contests and bear little relation to the actual quality of a title. I'm just surprised Fortnite didn't make a clean sweep.

A Tesco recently opened near me and - get this - it would cost me over £200,000 to buy everything! What a rip off!

Eurogamer are sounding a bit less enthused in their preview, and I've seen a few different mentions of the base clearing aspects of the gameplay feeling repetitive fairly quickly, but overall I am still cautiously optimistic.

@Deadcow I think it's fair enough to hope for new ideas, improvements and mechanics to appear in a new entry to a long running series of games. After all, if you don't do that then all you have is the same game as before in a new location, which for some might be enough but for others perhaps not. I haven't played the game of course but I was hoping that the messy map and overwhelming number of constant new tasks etc found in FH4 might be streamlined and cleaned up for a more coherent and enjoyable experience, but from the various reviews I've read that doesn't seem to be the case. I'll still play it of course and make my own mind up, but I think the reviewer is justified in being a tad disappointed that the criticisms levelled at the previous entries haven't really been addressed.

Unpopular opinion? I kinda prefer the old graphics! They look more natural and realistic to my eyes, the lighting in particular. The close up of the face for example just looks like they decided to shine a torch at him to make it look more dramatic and contrasty. Similarly the metal ramp in the final comparison looks more naturally lit and not so shiny in the original screenshot - much more like I would expect a military grade metal material to look. I think the new graphics still look fantastic, don't get me wrong, and some of the texture work is obviously improved, but I was never in the camp that hated how it looked last year if I'm honest.

@Rural-Bandit I hope you're right! I'm still really looking forward to it, just hope they've forged their own path with the gameplay rather than following the open world herd like so many other games.

@SacredPYRO Exactly my concern regarding the open world. The use of the term "outposts" has me a little worried this might be Halo: Far Cry edition.

Well of course, I mean whose mind doesn't immediately leap to the Wu Tang Clan when thinking about anime style action RPGs?

Can anyone more familiar with the game explain why it's being released in this way? I'm not aware of any other Xbox game being previewed like this while it's being developed.

OK so they've got the haircut right but what happened to his face?

Didn't Nintendo pull this with the Super Mario 3D Allstars Collection? Only with them they weren't even remasters just lazy emulated ports, and still they charged full price. Compared to that I guess this is a bargain...

I know Halo multiplayer is important to a lot of people, but as someone who is solely interested in the campaign this continued and extended focus on multiplayer has me concerned. It feels like the game is being setup as a multiplayer first and foremost, which also happens to have a campaign tacked on. I hope I'm wrong.

"One annoying Xbox specific issue is them being blocked when somebody appears online or an achievement unlocks" - I always turn subtitles on and have found this to be an issue on many games, but there is an easy fix. You can change the position of the achievement banner in the Xbox settings (I forget exactly where), so I have the banner appear at the top of the screen and keep the bottom of the screen clear for subs.

@norwichred Interesting! I would have thought just making a game using Mario's likeness would have been enough to get the lawyers excited, then again I really can't pretend to understand how the law works in these situations.

How has Nintendo not taken this down yet?

It worries me that the default setting on Series X will be 30fps though. Maybe some will go for that to get the extra graphical bells and whistles but for me 30fps for a racing game is pointless. So I'll be interested to see how much of a leap over FH4 it really is when running in 60fps mode at lower settings.

What a perfect way to make PS5 players feel weirdly snubbed while giving absolutely nothing of value to those playing on Xbox. A real win win.