StonyKL

@TrueAssassin86x Think Sony paid for a year exclusivity then MS just bought the whole company so they decided it was a waste of everyone's time and money so agreed to no more exclusives and to work together in making best games possible....
ha ha ha ha

This looks like doom 3 for grandads! But I won’t complain because it’s so slow that I may have a fair chance at getting through it. And the ai look so stupid it gives me more than a fair chance.
Liking the concept though.

@gingataisen Lol! Yeah was sort of my point. I loved LOU2 (on my 4th play through!) but if Hades beat it in the awards then can’t wait for the GP release!

Happy that LOU2 won the people’s game of the year as it’s one of my favourite games ever but as Hades win BAFTA goty can’t wait to try it out when it hits GP.
The awards just shows me how many great games I’ve still to play yet.

Ok - I've never played Yakuza games. Any of them. It sounds like I should. I like the sound it's an open world but only a small map. My biggest problem is where to start as there's just so many of them and I have no idea what the order is and they just seem like a complete mess of a series. I get the impression 0 isn't the first one in the series? Or is it?
Somebody tell me which one I should start with as it feels like I'm missing out on something big.
@Kurusu you sounds like the person to ask. Tell me which one I should start with to get me into the series and I'll finally bite the bullet!

I just want one controller where the battery lasts more than a couple of play throughs. Have to charge up my Duracell rechargeable batteries every couple of days. Possibly because I've been playing Doom3 using the chainsaw which has constant vibrate on, to the point where I try walking through the game switching weapons just to save battery life on the controller. Screw in-game inventory management - this controller has in-game battery management!

On a serious note though I see MS do a battery pack I can put into the controller but I can't find an official charge station to match it. There are some non-official ones I can see but I'd rather get an MS official product - can anyone recommend any products to solve this?
I've seen the Pro-charging stand on the MS website but it doesn't say what it's charging? The Plug and play charge battery? If so thats £20 for the battery and £40 for the charger? That doesn't seem right. Does the rechargeable battery come with the Pro Charge? There's no info on the site?

I read this as being multiplayer games will all be free on Xbox? I though these games were already free to play. Am confused. Doesn’t bother me as I have GPU but could have sworn these were free already otherwise they technically aren’t free to play games?

In a very odd way this is kinda hilarious after all the 'smart delivery' for the win comments over the past weeks - but in truth its very odd and will surely be fixed some how down the line. With the xbox being so much easier to upgrade than the playstation the only reason can be Sony have paid them to do this? Perhaps a 1 year exclusive deal perhaps?

Feels like all the games that deserved awards all got one and everyone can go home happy

@gollumb82 I think the gameplay mechanics of Skyrim are much better than Oblivion and it feels a lot more accessible as well - however I think I'd actually enjoy Oblivion more if they were both remastered to current consoles graphically and had the same controls.

This is hilarious but so true of games of old. Similarly I have never managed to complete Skyrim due to bugs but its one game I've always wanted to complete but found the coding more difficult to navigate through than the game itself. So now I both love and hate Skyrim at the same time!

@gollumb82 I'd have imagined Oblivion is pretty dated now and would have recommended going straight to Skyrim but Oblivion is what got me into RPG territory for the first time so I have a soft spot for it.

Been reading an article on the 'other site' that the load times for next gen have gone from over a minute to just 4 seconds. That's absolutely crazy. Really is a window into the future of this generation of instant load times. This improvement for me is much better than any other improvements.

@BlueOcean @Krzzystuff Out of interest do you think MS may eventually start allowing Game Pass on PS5 or Switch/Switch Pro? Part of me think they never would as it would basically mean no point in the Series X (unless they want to end with hardware), but then if they did they would make a crazy amount of money and would probably take a chunk of the PS Now sales with it.
Also the selfish in me would love the ability to get all the Sony exclusives, MS exclusives and the extra stuff from GP all on one machine.
Then the other question is would Sony block GP on their machine to stop it?

@AgentGuapo I agree that I have no idea how GP really works and how it will change the industry going forwards. Is it sustainable? Who knows but MS must think so or they wouldn't spend so much money buying everyone out there for this reason. Its certainly different to how Netflix works I think. I assume they tend to have deals with studios and fund some projects themselves - they don't spend billions of dollars buying up all the studios (or do they?).
But I'd assume MS have worked it all out. Either that or they are happy to take a crazy loss just to try and end their competitors then they will rise from the ashes with a new monopoly on gaming and only 1 choice left in gaming. Theirs! (cue evil laughter....)

Personally think MS taking all the control isn't necessarily a good thing. Don't get me wrong, it certainly could be, but MS haven't really had the highest of quality if past history is to go on (this can be said of many MS related products but for this specific example I'm thinking One X and Kinnect years along with not much quality games over that period).
This it the reason they are trying to buy quality that already exists - hence this acquisition. I'd be happier they left the decent companies alone and just 'stood on the shoulder of giants' so to speak piggy backing on their work rather than try and change them to be the 'Microsoft' way.
But who knows. Maybe they will improve what these companies have already been doing?

This is incredible news. I've held off playing Prey for ages after playing about an hour on a couple of occasions. This will definitely get me back in for the third attempt. Really enjoyed the first hour too, just never stayed with it for some reason.

@gollumb82 same here! Feels like blasphemy to say that on here. But the best thing about GP is I’ll still try the new halo and who knows, may like this one!
Crazy thing is right now I’m loving playing zoo tycoon with the kids and Doom 3 when they’re in bed. To me thats GP in a nutshell 🤣

@elpardo1984 yeah I agree. Just in the “take as long as you want” camp.

@gollumb82 exactly what I meant - down to personal opinions. Why I said some may disagree.
GOWR and HFW are the second game in their series so it’s a bit harsh to say it’s more of the same when Halo is game number 351 in the series and will be more of the same and deliberately so.
Starfield I have no idea what it will be other than in my head it’s Skyrim in space so definitely interested but priority for me is it works - hence I hope they take their time and don’t rush it.

@Senua lol - If PS5 gets Deathloop, Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart, Kena, God of War: Ragnarok & Horizon Forbidden West in 2021 then some people may disagree!
I don't see Starfield releasing 2021. Reckon it probably would have if Cyberpunk never happened, but Bethesda may need to stop releasing broken, bug ridden games and I expect it will take a year longer than originally planned to get those bugs to an acceptable level.
At least let the Cyberpunk debacle clean up companies like these and be a win for gamers.
Still not sure about Halo either. With all the changes they've had to make to make it next gen quality it will probably also take a bit longer to get it ready. I expect the same will likely happen for God of War: Ragnarok & Horizon Forbidden West for Sony too.

Yes! This is exactly what I was asking for in my last post. A choice to have the suspend game option (a la PS4 last gen) or Quick resume which has been a ball ache for me.
Saying that I've been jumping between Doom 1, 2 and 3 and has worked brilliantly for these games (even though these games have excellent save options internally).
To be fair if games had a better save / checkpoint structure going on it wouldn't really be an issue at all. And with the crazy fast load times this gen will offer Quick Resume would probably needless.

Time to finally get through Prey. Tried twice to play this one and only managed about 30 mins in each time. Perhaps 3rd time's a charm. Especially at 60 fps.

This sounds exactly my cup of tea. Would never have tried it without game pass so great news.

Microsoft and the Xbox right now remind me of a football team that completes a load of transfers in the summer window and raves about having the best team in the league without seeing their team play a single game that season.
Yes I've bought into the hype but its easy for Phil to rave about how great he and Xbox is but they need to start producing the goods in the way that a football team needs to win trophies. Not a single decent new game has been released yet with The Medium being okay and I've struggled to get into it.
We need the Xbox to BE great and not for us to be told it WILL be great eventually.
But like I said, I'm in on the hype train but just waiting for it to pull into the station....

I'd like them to give an option to have this functionality on or off with the off option allowing for a single game in pause mode a bit like the PS5 does. Assuming this would result in improved reliability I'd much prefer that.
Obviously I'd much prefer the full Quick Resume functionality but it needs to work all the time not just sometimes or its completely pointless. I just don't use it because I can't trust it so have to assume I'll lose progress unless I get to a full save point in my game.

Think I'll finally given Evil Within a go. And probably go through Wolfenstein again. Exciting times although I hope they don't replace other potential game pass games as these games are very old and most of them have been played to death 10 years ago.
May even give Skyrim another go and see if I can actually complete it on my 4th platform. Every time it bugs out and I can't physically complete the game. 360 (think it was the game that RROD it), PS3, PC, PS4, PSVR (although stopped because it made me feel sick!). Perhaps Series X will be the edition that I can actually finish it....yeah no chance I'm trying that again! 😂

There isn't really anything there that interests me. Scorn has potential but not at all hyped for it. For me the biggest release by a long way will be when MS announce the completion of Zenimax acquisition and all their games are suddenly released on Game Pass.

I get the impression of all the games in this list that actually come out in 2021 only Halo will be remembered at the end of the generation.

What is the problem they are talking about here? I have issues trying to turn the controller on. Sometimes It won't turn on and have to keep trying for a while. Is this it? It's a little annoying but not too major atm, so long as it doesn't get worse.
Also think I've had drift on it but not sure. Same with my DualSense. May have had drift on that on one occasion but difficult to know if it was drift or I'd drunk a bit too much that one time.
Just seems to me the latest gen of controllers are of debatable quality (esp when you include joy con in the conversation) but I've said my piece before on how plasticky the controller feels. I can hear it through my headphones which is often off putting. No chance I can play the Series X in bed without waking the Mrs!

@Dezzy70 Pretty sure SF2 was more than this on the snes! I remember it being £100 but that was possibly with a 'converter' to play Japanese import versions. I do recall paying £60 for Super Mario All Stars on the snes when that came out. Had to join pocket money with my sister so we could afford it!

£70 is too much in my eyes, but not a big problem as all games come down in price, and usually by a lot and very quickly.
The only game I can recall buying day 1 in last several years was Last Of Us 2 but only because I wanted to play before the spoilers and that was still £45 under a year ago.
Thanks to GPU and PS+ I won't be needing to worry about these crazy prices anyway.

This tit for tat outdoing each other between Sony and MS is great. Sony this year giving Control ultimate edition, Final Fantasy 7 remake on plus, Ratchet and Clank for free - so MS respond with Watch Dogs Legion on GP. I'll just sit back and let them both out do themselves and reap the rewards.....

"For those that don’t know, Moa are giant bird type creatures found in Halo: Reach"
😂
Unless I'm mistaken, also a giant flightless bird that existed in New Zealand until they were hunted to extinction but not as interesting to put on the side of a tub:
"Finally taste what the native New Zealand inhabitants tasted hundreds of years ago".
So basically turkey burger flavour. Doesn't sound as delicious as it claims in this article though.

Looking forward to wondering the streets catching Pokemon in these fetching headsets. I'll ooze style, class and personality all at the same time...

Memories for me are having a crazy long internet cable going across 3 rooms to play COD multiplayer, leaving the pub with my mates at last orders knowing I’d be playing online til early hours, being absolutely amazed by Oblivion until it caused my RROD. Heartbroken and end of my MS love affair until my Series X last month.
Also loved super bomber man on that thing as well. Bought a red ray drive at some point. Remember those things! Think I had Children of Men. Wonder if they still exist somewhere 🤣

Whatever you do don’t get an Acer monitor for Series X. I’ve complained before but I can’t get 4K or HDR working even though both work fine with PS5 and PC. I guess Acer and MS aren’t friends!

@101Force thanks for the recommendation. Have Control from PS+ so no rush for that one but definitely need to play at some point as it keeps getting mentioned as a must play game.

@Insightful too late just started it and its already gripped me. Btw you mentioned quick resume earlier. Don't get too excited for that yet. It works about 50% of the time for me. When it works its amazing, when it doesn't you curse why you didn't save just in case (I'm looking at you Jedi Fallen Order!). One for the future though definitely.

@Mamabear thanks for the info. Will have to assume games won't come back then.

@GamingFan4Lyf Yep counting on it

@Insightful Ha! Nice you've got your Series X!
Titanfall 2 I'd recommend. Started Jedi Fallen Order and although its pretty decent I struggled to get into it.
You recommended Quantum Break I think. Now I've stopped The Witcher until its on sale I'm torn between that and FF7R which just came from PS+ today. Actually, probably should start Quantum Break just in case it leaves GP

@Insightful Yeah sounds like its gets sold for under £5 now and again. Will probably wait for that then. Its not really my type of game but I really started getting into it properly so was gutted to see this article.

Argh! I've just started Witcher 3 about 2 weeks ago! What are the chances!
My first experience of GPU and the first 'big' game I start playing I have no chance of getting through it. I know its against the 'house rules' to say anything remotely negative about GP but ARGH &%^$&£!!!
Yes I can buy the game - its not a massive price, but that wasn't why I bought a year subscription to GPU.

I'm guessing this isn't a common occurrence but just bit me the first month I've had an Xbox and GPU so just a bit of bad luck.

Do games come back on often? So I can try getting back into the game in the not too distant future? If so how long do they usually take to return?
Guess I'll have to start something else then and cross fingers it stays on.
Perhaps there is a long term scheduling of when games leave. Does anyone know?

EDIT: So this is a dilemma. Looks like its £24.99 on Xbox store and 20% off reduces to £20, but its £4.99 on PS store! I would definitely have bought this for £4.99 on Xbox store but feels a bit harsh to buy for £20 'on offer' for such an old game. Don't really want to start it again on PS5 either. Guess I'll wait for it to come back on GPU in the future and move onto something else. Haven't played Gear 5 before. Maybe thats next.

I'm not actually expecting anything interesting from this. We know what is expected in the short term and its not that much, but I'm happily working my way through the game pass games right now so no problem for me.

Wow. Slim pickings! Have GPU so not really bothered with such a poor offering but to be honest its still feels like free games for nothing some how so shouldn't really complain.
Maybe only feels poor when comparing with the PS Plus offerings which I will actually be looking forward to this month. In all honesty the combination of GPU and PS Plus these days suggests I should never need to buy an actual game ever again!

It is a shame Bloodborne was PS exclusive as if it was multi plat a lot of Xbox owners would have absolutely loved it, especially as they don't really have anything like it that I can see. As one of my favourite games ever I would love more people to have played it.

I really hope this isn't exclusive to any platform as FromSoftware are one of those studios that everyone should get to experience.

@joey302 Yes would love to try Fear again but it seems a little pointless as it won't have aged well and will tarnish my memory of it. Perhaps they should spend time making a new game in the franchise. The biggest issue right now is the lack of new games for the latest consoles and not lack of being able to play old games. We have thousands of them already.

Been a while since I played roulette. Remember children, house ALWAYS wins.

My first question will always be "have they fixed the AI and transporting police". Those sound terrible and worryingly don't seem like defects to me. Watching the GTAV vs Cyberpunk on YouTube makes Cyberpunk gameplay look terrible in comparison. And thats a game from 2 generations ago.

@LtSarge This is an interesting argument. I agree that Sony, like Nintendo, is focussed for exclusives however I'm not sure if it would affect Sony so much as MS which is opposite to what you are saying. In reality at the moment only a handful of exclusives have moved over and the majority are still only on Sony platform and the games are several years old. I'm not building a PC at twice the price of a PS5 to potentially get their games several years down the line.

I've bought both the PS5 and Series X as that covers me for everything I want to play between the two as its cheaper to get a Series X than it is a PC and the PS will have loads of exclusives I can't do without. If Sony follow MS and release all exclusives day 1 then I don't see the point in buying either a Series X or a PS5 (or future gen consoles) - may as well put all that money into a PC, select your favourite controller between the two companies and you're covered for everything.

Oddly in my scenario, the PS exclusives is what has kept me with consoles and buying the Series X. Is it possible Sony going to PC would negatively affect MS sales in the process?

@Kalvort that would be perfect. Still not played it yet!

Hoping for Cyberpunk as it’s probably the only way I’ll play it. If not then wouldn’t mind either of GTAV or Red Dead 2

Zelda botw one of my favourite games of the previous gen and comparisons for Fenyx Rising is enough for me to want to try it. Perhaps once it’s a bit cheaper I’ll bite but definitely something to look forward to.

This may be quite telling as many may not want an upgrade to their game if they are thinking of upgrading themselves for a resale purpose. May give a hint of who is working on remasters possibly...

Will this scratch my Turok itch? I like the look of what I've seen so far so why not!

@armondo36 Every exclusive from either side of the 'divide' causes the same amount of 'losing minds'. The biggest annoyance is in scenarios where games are 'taken away' from a console by a rivals money bribe - like this. Tomb Raider is another example and that deal certainly damaged Tomb Raider - and possibly will happen with Final Fantasy.

Bethesda buy out is slightly different because its many IP's that have now been taken away from a console and ones that sell well too.

But to suggest one set of console owners go crazy when there are exclusives but the others are polite and content is as hilarious as one football team fan suggesting all fans of their rival team are ignorant, barbaric fools while fans of their team are perfectly fine individuals.
Unfortunate for you to hear but we're all the same people and owning a particularly shaped and coloured computer system that pretty much do the exact same thing doesn't really change who you are as a person, no matter how much you object to that idea.

@Luigia did not know that this was not on xbox or that it was on PS+. Means I own this game and didn't realise. Might have to give it a try then. Always sounded interesting but wasn't going to spend money on it. Thanks to PS+ I have about 300 games I never knew I owned - bit like GPU when I heard the 5 games leaving this month. Have scoured GPU and didn't even realise those games were even on there.