Stocksy

My fave type of game is arcade racing/driving - and I didn’t buy this…. This shows how bad a job they did marketing and launching this, it looked like Burnout meets Fortnite and seemed too much reliant on gamers to make stuff and that’s bottom of my list. Open world, arcade racer with take downs would have been enough, add in a crash junction mode and people would have been all over it. It’s such a shame.

If you chat to fans of steamdeck most will tell you that their gaming habits changed the day the bought one, it’s not for everyone, (I have a few mates IRL that sold theirs) but the majority have sunk way more hours on steamdeck than they would a conventional console, with mobile game huge too… you can see why Xbox decided to go this route. Xbox only fans… (pun not intended but whatever) will love this device as they feel loyal and invested and also discover how easy it is to enjoy other games on this device. It’s clearly a brilliant device and if loyalty and the logo is important to you, it’s a no brainer, but other devices would do very similar for less money. I can’t wait for the next leap up in the handheld gaming, I sink so many hours into the steamdeck and know the next SD or XBox/PC device step up will be huge.

@Kieduss you are done with a game coz of other fans?!? What?

Did they ever add to the short campaign or is it still over in 6-7hours?

Never went back after that terrible launch.

@Banjo- agreed fella - even if the next gen Xbox is £1k if it lets me put in all my old disks and play every game back to classics like Rallisport and the buffy game from the OG Xbox I’ll be delighted. If it’s no disk drive and not got ability to play the game that are old and in license hell I’ll be less impressed, but if it can play steam again I’ll be all over it.

I’m not against this handheld. I just don’t like the marketing or phrasing with it. I can see why some people love it. A Xbox handheld you could play your digital games would be way cooler. Same reason I didn’t love the portal but it was £200 and clear only ever claimed to do one thing and that was never be a PlayStation

@eduscxbox talk about a victim complex, I own every generation of Xbox, I own over 800 physical Xbox games and hundreds of digital games. It’s not bias.

I own multiple Xbox’s of every gen up to current where I only have on series X.

Questioning X box isn’t a crime and isn’t a bias and again you are just twisting my words and logic. Why? Coz it breaks your narrative

Imagine not being able to cash in on the Forza franchise. What a botch job 😂 Xbox have made some terrible decisions but this is up there

Genuinely never understood why people insist on hating on remakes that change stuff. Especially on older games. Wanna play the original play the original

@Banjo- exactly a PlayStation portal. The name tells you what it is.

An Xbox series X can’t play every Xbox game. The steam deck arguement is stupid.

This is an Xbox that you can’t install Xbox games on.

It’s a pc handheld I’m not sure why anyone can’t grasp that. It shows that calling it an Xbox has even confused intelligent savvy gamers like yourself

@Banjo- a PlayStation is literally called a portal! It’s never claimed to be a PlayStation and a steam deck you can install to it from steam.

I don’t understand why people can’t grasp why people think it’s disingenuous to call this “an Xbox”

They’ve learnt they can’t break into sell massively shipping consoles against - Sony and Nintendo and the know the other devices (gaming PCs and steamdeck etc) are also gaining momentum so they will milk their core base that refuse to look past Xbox.

It’s a bold tactic. Calling it premium and charging loads will appeal to horrible influencer types and they’ll lean into that. Ironically giving units away to those style people and trying to create some FOMO….

It’s emperor’s new clothes, nothing is an Xbox except an Xbox and people are going to be disappointed and be put off.

It’s a shambles of a campaign I’m so confused why they have doubled down on it

@PipOwO difference is they watch the WHOLE movie. Then they give awards. This gives it meaning. People didn’t play the whole game. Pointless.

Are these multi platform titles or Xbox exclusives? How odd a game no one has played has won GOTY. What utter hype up nonsense

When I was a lad if we got fobbed off with a 3rd party controller you knew you were gonna get hammered. “Ugh not this controller, I’m gonna be oddjob” often spoken. 😂 nowadays they want twice as much for a 3rd party controller. The game is gone.

@FraserG fair dues. I can see where you are coming from then. I think it’s such a tough device to review. So many * sort of side issues that you have to be aware of - like you say you almost have to approach it in a bubble and ignore all the issues or take them as a given. I appreciate the reply and your honesty.

I like Fraser and love pure Xbox. But 9 out of 10? A near perfect handheld Xbox?

Honestly?

@Weebleman but loads of us pointed that out years ago and were shot down as haters. Xbox keep painting themselves into a corner and people that don’t like the resulting bad choice between two bad choice decisions are still labelled haters.

They could not paint themselves into a corner for once. It’s not like mircosoft don’t make enough money.

You mean us genuine Xbox fans that said the Activision deal was gonna be bad and were shot down as “haters” were in fact right. Well I never

@Weebleman they left the loopholes open to keep those vocal online cheerleaders on board. Especially during the takeovers. The takeovers were always awful for the industry but the greed of the freebie Xbox gamepass gang meant they refused to see it. Cheering on every terrible decision Xbox made. Now they are seeing what many of us told them. It’s clear the loopholes and free rides were gonna end. Prices were gonna rise and service was gonna be reduced. This was all obvious

They know they have a core base that’ll say “it’s too many games” but cmon who wants to play all these games. Or plays many of these games for long. It’s sounds like they think bloating GPU is the key to getting people to pay 30 dollars a month. People were using points, using loops holes and then defending the service as brilliant. Now people will be paying 30 a month and no loop holes or points will they be as “team Xbox” as they were? Will a 7 hour campaign or heavy reliance on dlc expansions or live elements for the Xbox heavy hitters be as acceptable? I’d suggest not. Getting a load of 10/15 dollar indies or cheaper that people wouldn’t have bought or wouldn’t be interested in won’t be the draw they think.

I cancelled my GPU when the last stack I had ran out and I’m playing more games than I did. Buying games I wanna play when I wanna play them. It’s been way way better for me personally.

@NeoRatt this is the most sensible reply on here. It’ll be a great device. It’s an upgrade for those that have used and loved their old device, the Xbox association is a bit of a red herring, especially for those on the go and the price is huge, however if you use it a lot it’ll justify the price very very quickly, I’m still hobbling on with my steamdeck and I’ve used it for 1000s of hours at this point so I could justify the cost here, I’ll be the first to admit I want to see more of the OS and how much tinkering it needs, I’m not a big fan of PC gaming (even though I have literally 1000s of games over multiple store fronts) and I think the steam OS on the deck is the thing many rundown but for many it’s why we love the deck. Simple clean and No fuss. You can get in and set loads up to work different things or you can just use as a steam machine. Click install and play a game.

@BAMozzy you tried (and failed) to patronise anyone with a steamdeck, you tried and failed to justify why you want a device just coz it has and Xbox sticker on it and you ended up proving that mental gymnastics are alive and well. Anyone that owns and uses a steam deck is well aware of what the machine is capable of and what level of tinkering is needed to achieve certain things, also we are well aware of what other portable machines can do, they’ve been about for years now, we know what the benefits are of a steam OS vs a Windows OS…… only those blinkered would believe someone that owns a steamdeck doesn’t understand what a steam deck does. A portable machine that relies on all of its UPSs being only useable when you have a very good stable internet connection will defeat the object of owning a portable machine in the first place. Each to their own and I’m sure this will sell very well. Just as the PS portal did.

It’s not even close to being an Xbox. If it was an Xbox and you know, when portable, played Xbox games this would be DAY ONE…… as it stands no thanks. I’ll wait for the next steam deck and the current one is doing fine for now.

Concepts like this are ridiculous. Most of us can’t enjoy a proper gaming experience streaming on our sofa on stable and decent internet. Nevermind in a travelling car. Ridiculous tbh

@Stoned_Patrol purexbox gave it 6/10.

The length and price criticism I get. What I don’t get is the “more of the same” uh duh, that’s what DLC should be an extension of the main game. Extra/expanded story, maybe a few new weapons and depending on game cosmetics. There shouldn’t be great reinvention in the dlc from the main game.

I don’t get it in wider terms either. The 007 gameplay just came out and two of the biggest criticisms seemed to be “it’s hitman with a wig” which is just because it’s same engine and same people as the footage was nothing like hitman in tone and then it’s 007 - uncharted, Tom raider (insert any 3rd person game) what? You can say that about any 3rd person game. It’s 3rd person. I don’t want every 3rd person game to reinvent the wheel, I was action and adventure and different stories and settings. So they will look alike no???

Anyway….

Length and all in a sewer has alarm bells ringing for me but it’ll be a fun play through either way.

The mental gymnastics to justify why this is a great price and device is lunacy. It’s got an Xbox logo on it which is enough for some.

It’s not an Xbox. It does and won’t attempt to play your Xbox games. The point of a handheld is to be able to play portably. Yes a lot of people will also use on their sofa - but this is only an Xbox when you have a good (or very good internet connection).

It’s a windows handheld device. This is not new.

It’ll be a great device. People love these sorts of devices. For me a steamdeck does for me. In a few years I’ll upgrade from a steamdeck and assess the best device at the time, I want a nice interface that works as a handheld

This isn’t aimed at Xbox coz it’s not their fault alone, this is the worst gen we’ve had. The slight graphical and performance upgrade gen. Genuinely. Hope for next gen are on the floor. Luckily I have a backlog to keep me going for years

@Coletrain that’s the keep. Simple interface that makes it look like a console but allow for tinkering.

I hope they nail it but I think it’s an Xbox skin on a slightly better device than we can already buy

@Coletrain that’s exactly what it should be. It should boot into a Xbox style OS with the ability to just click install on compatible games. Plus apps for Steam etc in the Xbox OS or at least ability to have installed games appear. Then a button to get to windows.

Genuinely think whilst some of us can fiddle and want to most will want to be able to have a Xbox experience which is boot install and play.

It’s why the steam deck have been so popular it’s so so easy to use

@Coletrain it’s why I like the steamdeck. The OS just works. No fiddling ( I have fiddled and got things working outside of it obviously) but I really don’t want a windows OS experience on a handheld and if it doesn’t actually allow installable Xbox games I’m failing to see the point really. Integration would be key for many.

@themightyant that was the issue with all the hype from the players and those in favour - this was never about getting all those games on gamepass. This was about candy crush income and COD income. The income streams are huge. Gamers decided they were gonna reap rewards and I genuinely never saw any evidence that was promised.

Playing it weekly on steamdeck and often on Xbox. Same as Forza H4. Both epic games. Especially on steam deck. So much to do and unlock.

Clocked up nearly 150 hours on steam deck and probably similar on XSX what a game. Won’t get for ps5 until on a sale as I’ve played it so deeply twice. But a no brainer purchase for anyone that doesn’t have an xbox but has a ps5. It’s a monster of a game. Generational game

Surely this would have been awesome news just like the Bethesda or Activision deals??? Everyone here loves 3rd party companies disappearing….

Oh hypocrisy…. I get ya.

I was against Bethesda and Activision and I was against this….. I’m consistent, informed and sensible.

Others should try it

They already forgot about us.

After huge gaps in the schedule over last few years it’s a bit cheeky to say “no you are getting too many games” 😂 but it was always gonna happen. Xbox have limited the amount of games they can put out a year. Whilst stacking IPs.

Some really hot takes in here. Reverse the situation and brands and then see if you still feel the same.

I see people making the opposite points to they were when this gen launched just coz it’s suits their console preference now.

I felt the same then as I do now no matter which company is doing what.

Stay true to yourself not the brand

People that played to game “the game is good and I’ve enjoyed”

People that haven’t played the game “it’s junk and too late to fix it”

Lol

@cardcrusher29 first level I failed the stealth and just blasted my way through and I passed the mission. I haven’t played more yet but it seems you don’t have to do all stealth if you don’t want.

@Lup I know you didn’t ask me but I’ll answer anyway. Depends on the game and price. I have gone for gold here. Not ultimate as the extra money is two attires and there are plenty of attires in the game. I rarely buy games day one so if I do it means I really want them and then often I do like to see what I get extra. College football I went with thr MVP bundle mainly coz i got cheaper credit and then with it getting madden included in meant it was £55 a game which was a lot cheaper than it by itself. I wouldn’t have bought madden this year but went for it anyway.

@Altaria_97 this. Some games you know you will enjoy universe and feeling…. If it’s a 7 and an open world Star Wars game for me that’s gonna be more like a 9.

@Mustoe why not they do….. same as eurogamer. Most of us have our own score in built adjuster from years of reading reviews and learning certain bias from certain reviews and sites. I know with certain games I can take off or put on a few points depending on what the review says and who says it.

I’m surprised so many people read a review of a game they were. Excited for and say - 7 out of 10 shame I was looking forward to this. As if 7 is a bad score.

Kudos to the reviewer. Didn’t fall into the YouTube “have to hate this game” trap. Got why a lot of us love Star Wars and explained everything I wanted to know without spoilers. Excited for my copy to arrive. I appreciate you for this review.

The comments on games make me laugh. “Doesn’t do much new” GOOD. I wanted an open world game that plays a bit like uncharted but in the Star Wars universe. Don’t reinvent the wheel. Sounds like I’ll have plenty of fun with this.

I’m sorry Quake and Xbox studios do not need to be using limited Run. Same as Star Wars games. Ridiculous. Small indies and one man band games are where Limited run has a place

I’ve not been excited by a CoD for years it’s not gonna change now/ for it to be Xbox’s only big title would be a disaster in gaming terms

5 games in 4 years. What was their output in the 4 years before the take over?

Massive super impressive update free on gamepass. 2 comments. On an Xbox site. Says it all really.