SuntannedDuck2

It's a fair idea (August 4th as of posting this) but eh. The app or launcher, not the best crossbuy/free offering and games most people know if they care about them or not and to access them that way.

None of what I care about is there and don't have them on Xbox anyway.

Still for those that have them, sure it's a fair offer. But eh.

I mean even besides the audience pulling away from Smart TVs they were always going to offer Smart TV brands the app over time. Whatever value, lineup, easy appeal with other IPs to other audiences.

It works ok, last I remember.

The console will be niche but around for however long till they move on from it and the unique features will be gone hardware side to just whatever the case with the service and cloud. Sigh. Can't wait to not care and move on. The games aren't appealing, the services aren't appealing, easy pass. I've got the knowledge/experiences and I'm not interested. I understand it, that's good enough for me to not be interested.

Microsoft has put Windows or Office on everything, why wouldn't they Xbox? I'm not surprised. Core audience likes the box, they will ofer it till there isn't enough of that audience caring about the console anymore and will be ahead of the curve with TVs or Phones to game on and ditch the console. Which is sad, the console has unique features the others don't but most players don't care.

Minecraft put itself on every device it could before the Marketplace and Bedrock and that was before the Microsoft purchase pretty sure, or maybe was influenced by it more with that purchase. I forget. It was PC Java, Pocket Edition Mobile, 360, then whatever other platforms wide spread from there of Pocket Edition on everything, console on everything and such.

Audiences either care for games, a box or playing anywhere they can.

Microsoft from web browsers, to Java to anything they can make services and products on everything, they always have and will.

Even their investments of companies, they have so many you can read a Wikipedia or any other pages and sources and it is a long list that goes on for a while. They have so many company buyouts or deals many times a year, a few months a year. It's nothing new.

Heard it was a thing, didn't think much of it. Haven't been using my Xbox One in a year and even then I login to Microsoft services anyway so like it matters to me.

360 games offered is great, all the Games for Windows Live and SecureROM or StarForce garbage on PC games from that era ruined a lot of games back then unless devs removed it in re-releases on PC.

So 360 versions is great for many of these, not all but still.

That and Xbox has more games to offer, BC program wasn't going to add more just branch out to platforms they haven't offered them to for audiences to get access to, might as well as they would be just sitting on Xbox and with not as many potential customers after a while. Digital or the disk copies.

It's a fair game, had interesting ideas, it has respect from me. That's about it though.

I thought it was fair, there was fair Indies at the end of it people ignored because they'd never heard of them which says a lot more about audiences then the game's offered. XD

I didn't sub, had no reason to, but knew a few of the Indies and they were good offerings. It was an audience preferences situation more then a company one.

Now it's Gamepass Core and many of them either cycle out, are worth nothing or played before games. Good for newcomers, people pay for online anyway, not as much a cloud saves storage situation as other platforms are.

I mean what is there to say, other tiers are what people are after, the business model is what it is now and has it's moments. Still don't care for it. I barely uise my Xbox other then a few apps not on PS/Switch and otherwise back compat. I haven't used my Xbox One in a year, I have no touched a Series X and have it in the building. XD Even since Gamepass got unsubbed by others around me, barely used the console, no need for cloud either since not subbed.

I'm still using my 360 for OG Xbox back compat and 360 games. Games that actually interest me I'm collecting. Says a lot doesn't it how boring modern gameplay is in modern games, business models are fair but I've got plenty to research and play then care what modern is doing

It's not nostalgia, I'm researching modern and old all the time, every genre. I'm not emotional about games. I'm researching and having fun for my own reasons with games I've never heard of or played, it's not oh the old platform. I know their game design, their differences and go between both modern and old like it's nothing it isn't a challenge for me to go between them at all. I'm not seeking modern controls or controller layouts and complaining how old games feel to play at all, I play to what they were and get around them and love their more creative gameplay ideas that are gone now or very very rare in modern games.

Not a 'time to come back to'. But have fun with game design I know doesn't happen as much on modern platforms. On and off but more rarely.

I'm not the target audience on modern platforms and most devs would hate me and my opinions anyway, so like it matters. XD

I can look at platformer Indies (aka audiences that are too nostalgic and stupid to see what's different or care about characters and worlds not the platforming gameplay/movesets, what the genre is good for yet never happens anymore, says a lot about audiences and devs then anything really) and people will go what, while I look at a game inside and out, others have their views/preferences and can't look deeper, that's on players, not me who looks at all sides and doesn't care what people say of their narrow view they focus on with games and I care about my preferences but also look at all sides, praise what I respect/praise and trash the parts I don't. I'm not going to praise to appeal to people. Some people can't handle it or understand.

Gears 2 I think as got 1 and 3 later, got Judgement, got 4 maybe near launch or later while Gears 5 played via Gamepass. I haven't played Tactics but I respect it. Maybe one day I might.

Not cared for the remasters for Xbox One/Series so have my 360 copies instead.

Yeah I don't care for the series that much. I had more fun with games that felt like Gears in movement and how they did their cover system compared to 6th gen cover systems, (aka other 7th gen shooters I mean as I'm collecting and playing them) with other mechanics that are more fun then playing Gears.

I've tried playing Gears 1 a few times and I just can't get back into it, It's just not very fun for me to replay.

I don't hate the series I just don't find it that fun as other games of the past are, not just because they are new to me they just have more fun ideas in them not just the same ideas and the story, even besides the artstyle.

Gears 5 while not great had fair ideas in it. Gears 4 was fine. The older ones just don't have that fun of level design. The split paths is fair every so often, the chainsaw and other weapons are fine but the levels just aren't that fun anymore. The ideas are ok but just don't do much for me.

List copied to comment on:
Fable 2 (fair)

Banjo-Kazooie (Rare Replay so why not just put that on PC?)

Banjo-Tooie (same as Kazooie)

Fable 3 (fair)

Sonic Unleashed (I mean, sure, did it have a PC version at all? Otherwise sure I guess)

Gears of War 2 (was offered for people with Gears 4 anyway, PC didn't get that at all, did Gears ever go to PC at all the 360 entries? Or was that just a Halo 1 and 2 thing)

Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts (same as Kazooie)

Gears of War 3 (same as Gears 2)

Lost Odyssey (Yes it's a good game, I have the disks same with Blue Dragon, I haven't played them much but I see the appeal, that or any other RPGs on OG Xbox/360, cough Kingdom Under Fire, or any others they could add to the Xbox not just PC)

Ninja Gaiden Black (the collection exists but yes not the same without it)

There is plenty of other better games to offer to PC though, PC versions or Xbox games on PC. This is a rather boring list.

Otherwise as we know this is PC ports, and sure I get it not expanding the console list but even still.

Really? Well that's not that exciting, where is Kingdom Under Fire series at all?

Brute Force?

Raze's Hell?

Blinx 2?

So many games I could list and none of them.

Infinite Undiscovery even?

All the generic surface level games where is the other stuff from OG Xbox/360 here?

Burnout Revenge sure but even still.

I have a fair amount of them sure and they are good games, but even I wouldn't care less for many of them regardless going to PC.

I'm not getting Scaler for 6th gen offered, Behaviour couldn't care less. I'm glad I even got Battle Engine Aquila for PS2 on PS4/PS5, Ziggurat just didn't bother with Xbox back compat for some reason.

No Activision Anthology as wasn't on OG Xbox but no effort made there only what streaming? It was on PC though.

Also Banjo is in Rare Replay, people aren't suffering. Rare Replay is likely cheap these days, offer it on PC then.

Most of the others I mean licensing much?

I'd love for Sega racing games or any others on there but even I know they won't happen. Capcom, Namco, etc.

Even PGR 3 and 4 weren't offered. Race Driver Grid isn't but Grid 2 and Autosport were.

Forza Motorsport 3 or 4 weren't.

There is plenty of surface level games and niche games but nope we get the same generic ones recycled and even more so to PC.

There is a reason my taste in games is not the current market (good thing too it's trash), or even back then either. Even with collecting nowadays and expanding on yes many of these big games and niche ones.

It's understandable but Xbox had worse games so to me there wasn't much point. Third parties sure if they cared but 1st party didn't very quickly.

The games got worse so why would I want to support many of them?

Indie or AA/AAA, they make bland games I'm not going to buy them. Digital or physical. XD

Also customers got lazy, wanted to save money, time putting the disk in because companies won't let us use the disk and install but not use the disk.

People are pathetic.

They don't care what they have access to as long as it's easy, they play it, move on and don't care from there till they move on to the next one.

Fair for the upgrade in salary, but I don't know. I'd want to turn other companies around or make the most of things. Not for the money. The company decisions matter more to me then the money.

If it has boring modes it's not the ultimate arcade racer then is it. Burnout had stand out modes, Outrun 2 had stand out modes, most others are generic these days.

A new studio can maybe change things but it likely won't. They will have the same mentality as every other studio, waste my time with garbage progression, modes and more. They can be veterans but they will still make a safe game with graphics/physics first and the modes will be super bland and boring. That's how games are today, they are that pathetically obvious that's why I don't buy many.

Wait wait Wrecrreation 2 were framing this as? Lol yeah what an upgrade. XD The 1st game was bland as ever anyway. No thanks. XD I wouldn't write a headline for this game at all. Wreckfest 2 better be good but even the 1st game was just alright as a Flatout successor and even then it was 'ok' not great. It had 'personality' but lacked modes and the driving/tracks were fine, but the progression was so boring. I bought no cars or upgrades and did half the content, on purpose. The other vehicles are 'fine' but don't add anything they are just 'playable' for something new to see on screen/control a bit different. They don't do anything with them that exciting. Kickstarter or THQ funding it was 'fine'.

Wrecreation had potential and blew it. So a sequel won't change what garbage they made. DLC won't either. Updates won't at this point.

They are going after the market without actually making a compelling product? Why bother THQ/Nordic/Embracer. your wasting money on a product no one really wants. I'm all for niche audiences enjoying things but the game was just pathetically bad. I'm usually respectful to some games, but when they are that bad they aren't redeemable.

I'll wait till Stuntman Hollywood, that will be a stand out game and not for the licenses they are the less of interest to me, just a Stuntman game being fun and different is enough for me in this boring range of games in the industry right now. Returning IP or not it better land. Racing/driving games are so trash and boring these days.

If it's a Forza Horizon clone or any other open world with bland modes, easy pass. I don't play garbage.

I'll keep playing Inertial Drift, my only favourite modern arcade racer so far. Others have been tolerable or boring. Distance I haven't played yt and has it's own other goals anyway.

@SodaPop6548 Agreed, oh yeah moving to SSDs was worth it, so they can waste shoving ads inbetween with our networking/game loading.

It's been a while since games during loading screens like Splatoon 1 Squid Jump, Ridge Racer or Tekken of the past with Rally X or Galaxian when the Namco patent was relevant till 2015 (besides Test Drive Overdrive that had Pong during it's loading screen during that patent).

But ads, that's what we all want right? Sigh.

Companies never learn. They want to reach people and that's fine but 1 billion, they need bots to reach that number. Their convincing isn't very 'convincing' at times.

Well 2K Sports or other free platforms with ads between the game, streaming services.

We can guess any possibilities of ads/paying for inputs and more. It'[s becoming less a joke.

Companies think were dumb and want to keep testing our limits for their garbage games and bad services. Can't wait.

I don't remember how much GeForce Now is with it's queues low tier compared to the other tiers but even still. If it's mostly ads not waiting in the queue then yeah that's just bad. But it's cool to not play a game locally right despite some of the benefits? Sigh.

Companies inspired by others more and more with bland results to show for it. Not surprising. It's however much of the world these days.

Companies don't think for themselves anymore. I'll keep thinking up my own game ideas from thin air, devs won't and keep recycling things to 'compete', forget standing out anymore, that's long gone.

So banners? Or in-between launching? Or in the UI of the service? But not impacting the 'gameplay' flow. When the games are already pretty boring. I research things for myself not an algorithm/service with weak 'this my suit you' that is so far off. Eh play times, ad times. XD

I can't even get a back compat filter but we get this garbage? No wonder Xbox dashboard/eshops sucks & I never want to use them.

Just have bots playing games, Microsoft you want 1 billion, use bots, inflate your own egos. XD Or fake numbers.

Can't wait for things to change & we can say 2K sports games pioneered ads in games breaking up gameplay. Sigh.

They will charge us for anything in the games of inputs, ads, etc.

Games are already at their basic point of stats/movesets/level design, etc. what more money do they want? I already find games boring. We aren't mobile gamers. We have quality standards console/PC gamers.

They will push anything till next wave of newcomers eat up anything as normal. Companies are pathetic. Quality standards are a joke & have been for years. Games are very boring & not worth my time at all. Indie, AA, AAA, it's design mentality. It's just worse.

I already don't care about streaming services and what conent they offer. The games aren't compelling at all.

So why would I want to play Xbox's strategy of few devs left of Rare, Playground, Mojang, Obsidian, etc. & 2 publishers making large scale games to monetise sounds very boring. XD

Sure the smaller creative studios tried but their games just weren't for me either even if I was willing to for niche games. South of Midnight/Hi Fi Rush are most likely my thing & even then I haven't bought/played them.

What is this some Sega Forever idea? Not same but still.

I mean sure I get it to make accessible free with ads, we have enough ads in Xbox dashboard & menus anyway, got to have more. XD

Reach they tried via the cloud to phones, service, screen, internet connection, etc. Didn't work, Gamepass prices sure even if some stuff should also be cut for FTP games that don't need to be there other then 'advertising those big FTP games are in service' why? Who cares, a waste of money just to advertise Fortnite in Gamepass. XD Sure.

So many Xbox app licenses still sitting there as well. I'd be sad to see some go but even still. They are sitting there.Will Helix continue those?

Back compat on PC is cool but otherwise. What is there for me to care about? They have opened up enough options with Play anywhere & more sure.

But the games are still not worth my time no matter how much they open up options.

Make games compelling I'll play them. Not via a service.

Hardware is good, features are fair, prices are high 'situations' these days. Wasn't even interested in 9th gen, have access to them. Never touched Series X once. PS5 few times but didn't care. Don't have Switch 2 yet.

Still on PS4/Xbox One/Switch 1 & older. Modern gaming is not interesting Microsoft. Sony, Nintendo.

But even if they did/didn't change how tiers work.

I mean. Sure I won't forget what an Xbox is. Sure Impulse Triggers/Quick Resume is good (not using as I don't do Xbox games digitally only back compat).

Sure I enjoy the box. Sure other options are fair to offer.

But the games are just not compelling. So '1 billion players;' yeah good luck with hitting that ceiling & not being satisfied till they have all 7 billion people+ on the service. XD Magically having a phone & accessing XCloud/Gamepass.

Not only a great feature but a great starter lineup too. I'm impressed. If only they could offer Blinx 2 via back compat. Oh well happy to play the original on a 360 instead.

Still only OG Xbox to start, fair I guess as a smaller library to make back compat for PC and was for Xbox One/Series.

It is funny it didn't perform well, sure I get it was a launch title and all the Xbox 2013 stuff but I mean it inspired Hellblade and GOW or others to do that camera and combat/indicators.

I hated Ryse Son of Rome for those reasons. The combat/camera angle and more was so annoying. I hated GOW 2018 for it. I haven't played Hellblade at all.

I still have Ryse but no way do I want to play it at all. I only got a few areas in before I went nah I'm sick of this. Crytek has their quality sure, but no way is gameplay so awkward a thing I want to deal with and I'm ok with awkward controls on old consoles/controllers. So I'm ok with different, but I hate many modern character feel, controls/tutorials still being bad Indies (no matter the staff size, they need to look at how games work for controls, not visuals, and worlds/ideas, it's getting annoying, mentality of developers always annoys me more and more with their stupidity to think more on more important things) or AAA/AA and just the bad camera angles and combat or anything. They are so presentation first and story telling but the most annoying controls.

Modern gaming is so trash.

Xbox dashboard changes are so minor I barely even notice that's how bland I find late 2010s/2020s UI design I just yawn at it all the time.

So I don't understand the point of this, or many of the updates. Functionality maybe, but visually I couldn't tell you they are so forgettable or unclear to me.

If it's the game title and file size, versus just file size and more art shown. Sure. I guess. XD

Very cool, Vita homebrew still offering great potential.

@Banjo- True to experience it through that. I never liked OLED. Vita it made sense as games were made with it in mind while LCD 2000 models it's pixelated. It's why I prefer the Switch doing OLED later the games aren't ruined. Even Nintendo doing the XL models of devices just don't look bad while for Sony they just don't look good.

That and i never liked OLED. The extra colours/lighting and blacks never interested me at all.

I use an OLED Vita as it's the one with my 16GB card that came with it and use for whatever online features or other stuff, same with PS TV when I get the 4GB card I bought and didn't use with my 2000 model.

But otherwise I'd still use my 2000 model with the 1GB for saves but it's stick is annoying and it's an offline in mind one for me. I could hack it but never cared to. It is on a hackable worthy version. Not that I intended on it, it just was a surprise it was.

@Gabrie Agreed, playing PSP I was like ok the controls aside I got used to (not oh it has 1 stick nonsense I see everywhere, I got by with the controls, same with PS1 or OG Xbox games with the white/black buttons playing on 360 with LB and RB), and others.

I went sure the screen/HUD and more were well formatted from PS3/360 or PS2/PSP/Wii versions.

Vita though or Switch yeah it was clear many just did not care and made TV first screen ported to handhelds and it sucks.

Even Wii U that was clear with forget how the response time was quicker or any other aspects. Readable sure, but care to focus on it's possibilities nope.

Many menu heavy and stats are just too small.

Not sure how Portal fairs really maybe better. I haven't used it enough to know as I didn't care for one, no dual screen, no interest for me. It's a worse Vita remote play in terms of settings too I find cough streaming for resolution but not remote play settings itself I think. Sigh.

Borderlands 2 on Vita for me it wasn't the frame rate, I was used to Coded Arms on PSP, or emulation slow down or whatever else.

it was the HUD scaling/text size even on the highest setting.

Switch is just as bad and more wide spread of UI that's just 'memorise' this and unreadable.

How people get by on Switch Lite is beyond me. They have better eyes then I do that's for sure.

A cool feature but even still.

Then again PS Vita TV would be more suitable. But that's almost like if I used remote play on my phone from a PS4/PS5 and went, I'll be stupid about this and cast my phone back to the TV, just for the fun of it. XD It's to see it being possible and how things go but nothing more in a practical sense.

Unless people can pull it off on their Vitas and see the details I wouldn't try it either.

Still people have had their Wii U Gamepads connect to things so (I think Moonlight it's called, I don't mod consoles at all just the name come across one time), who knows what other devices people allow with XCloud in the future.

Seeing as the niche games didn't meet expectations, shocker. But to me even for being those types I would care for I didn't even care for them.

So having Horizon, Sea of Thieves (Everwild would have if continued), the Blizzard/Activision games, Minecraft, and whatever else with support studios, or others from the 2 publishers cut back further and further while the 'business relationship' talking ones or 'bigger IPs then the rest' they will have fewer and fewer IPs and want us to 'convert' yeah because that's how we all cared right?

We will all just bend over for fewer IPs, the surface level of cut of for IPs and just support only those because were all humans with no taste what so ever right? That's how business works right easy donations and hour counts to businesses. This is why numbers don't work. They do but they don't. There is limits.

With the rest gone. What's the point?

Why don't they just make a bunch of bots and be done with it. XD That's what they want, fake players to fit sales or gamepass play time right? Engagement. Just use bots. Make up the 1 billion players right? It's like printing money forever. Just make bots. They can't satisfy the ceiling they have hit or lost, so why not. XD

They have the numbers but the numbers are also clear.

Players attitudes are also clear.

I don't need numbers to know that.

I supported niche IPs here and there. They went away, so did I.

I jump around genres, consoles, whatever.

Oh big studios and the 'few live service or the racing game or other IPs with the other model of singleplayer/multiplayer and whatever other content, that pulls it off when Motorsport they ruined the business model on which is their own fault. I would have supported it if they didn't ruin it.

They can milk Gamepass but it's just a waste.

They can change tiers, they can remove stuff that doesn't need to be there cough Fortnite and Roblox.

Customers want to save money, but games and the 'same userbases' that are being milked for purchases of games, DLCs and whatever else.

Will just keep noticing the games are for them or not, sales will go down. There is reach/getting noticed and the sales falling for any big games that aren't MP.

The worse games, boring games, IPs that had value and studios being cut back, what's the point?

TV shows and games just suck as it is of quality and ideas anymore.

While i have plenty in my mind, and a large backlog of games I'd rather play from 5th to 8th gen primarily.

Indies I can tolerate that aren't trash or trend following weaklings that want money and not a good idea to attempt the trends/genres at all which is MANY OF THEM.

Artstyles and stories are not good enough for me. Gameplay is and gameplay died 2 console gens ago for me. 7th gen was the last of it.

I already stopped caring about PS5/Series as it is.

I'll wait it out for Switch 2 and PS5, I don't care about Xbox other then news stories and if I play my 360/Xbox One for back compat or apps on Xbox One I feel like. That's it.

Part 2:
Online with those that have posted suitable enough information, or like myself making wikis about current era stuff (in gaming at least with little niche corners of it with old games or modloaders or whatever).

I mean covering the many little details about Gran Turismo games to Pitfall Lost Expedition, FMV dating sim wikis.

To Minecraft fan modloaders (more then 10 and most people think there are 1 to 4). Or random projects.

I've covering beta era modloaders that are new because I care, most in the community are so modern version focused while I'm covering mod updates and wikis to share my knowledge/play around with them.

In some cases it's fun not just for having free real estate on advertising it if I care to, but because I just enjoy covering all the possibilities they offer. The views are my last thought.

While playing and collecting/researching retro games.

I don't have to but I choose to.

@ilyn Very sad but not surprising either. I knew what a VHS was, Betamax, 4 and 8 tracks I hadn't heard of I had to watch old tech Youtubers on those.

HD DVD I think I did too, but even then more obscure formats is expected, CED, Video CD, CD Video, CDi, DVD RAM, DVHS, the format the way around briefly during HD DVD/Blu-ray.

Obscure consoles, failed ones, etc. That stuff just happens of course.

I mean I'll never have a conversation about it with people but I couldn't care less. XD Information I find is more compelling anyway.

But I mean so much is documented/most people couldn't care less to use it for information just socialising or whatever is shoved in their faces, so not surprised, regardless of age of people.

We live in an era where many past generations things do come around again or never ended but are just continued niches. Music and clothes for sure are. That or some countries it's continued and others dropped off.

I have had odd moments where it's like yeah I know about the Namco NeGcon PS1 controller. Of course I know. Game mechanics, past trends, controllers, consoles, random features, gaming via satellite and more.

I had to research that, Playlink, SmartGlass I knew of but never used, I still have the 360/One app on my Desktop.

Games for Windows Live.

Many things past people by.

I love the idea of Pocket PCs/PDAs, I get we don't need them but even still.

Pagers as well. I'd heard about them before at least and how the way people used them and had so much they had to carry in some jobs where they were needed.

Cassettes I knew about.

But then again I've used CDs/DVDs before, knew about chat rooms and forums yet never used them but I do forums on and off related to some games or fan communities/hobbies, not just Reddit and other social media I only look at briefly.

Ah time before the internet got to where it is now, smartphones and more.

So most of my knowledge is either I used it when having a consoles, hearing about it from people that lived through it, or other devices (using 90s/2000s cameras was a time for sure), movies/TV series or somewhat music, photo albums and such.

How many's experience with it of some generations is just oh a TV show set in whatever era covers it, if they care to at all or just the 'popular stuff' the bare minimum. Let alone songs. When many songs are recycled per licensing, or remixes by other artists or whatever all the time. Some generations/types of people just can't be bothered while the rest of us look for our selves and don't need an algorithm.

Preference is preference but lack of research is any person's choice.

Or the rest is because I care about tech history, entertainment history and YT channels that cover it so to me I care so much to go out of my way and over research.

Most people don't care and stick to their own generation or whatever other social nonsense is going on in the world or their own little spaces/corners. They have such boring lives.

Only those of us that are interested in what happened in the past in history books, or wiki wise make the information happen care.

Banjo is good but I'd take a new Space Station Silicon Valley (that was mentioned a while ago now and now nothing, doubt Take Two/2K care at all, no idea Malice either the Argonaut game published by Mud Duck or the other publisher and Mud Duck was a budget publisher from Take Two I think) or anything else with their own base ideas, or new ideas.

I'd take a new Blinx game, or Voodoo Vince, or any other Xbox platformer, racing game, or any other genres/IPs, etc. Even Sneakers or Tork could be reworked but I doubt they will. Who many people say of whatever those IPs are of relevance.

I'd take a new Raze's Hell even. Racing games that aren't about car licenses, and has 'good' progression for once, even the non licensed ones are super boring.

I'm not getting a new Scaler.

Pitfall Activision still has and does nothing with it. They want a new Indy, Tomb Raider, Uncharted, Tad, etc. like Pitfall is it, but they do nothing with it. They have an explorer character IP right there for using, and do nothing with it.

Plenty of platformers with fair ideas worth exploring. I care about gameplay not characters or nostalgia.

I technically go more into Yooka Laylee then I did Banjo or Conker in terms of progressing through the games.

Far more interesting IPs I'd care for with other ideas (I know as I actually research or play/collect them/buy them), then Banjo. Banjo is good but even the many Indies have surface level platformers and I can't be bothered to support them.

It has me wonder in what way? They don't charge for updates, they offer fan content or their own content on a marketplace, even the Java EULA has to use 3rd party hosting programs for hosting the fan content on there and their own programs for money or dontations if fan creators do so.

So I mean what more do they want with the base game?

Compared to the Minecraft Dungeons 2 and however Legends turned out, or the 4J Studios other game that is Minecraft like but also very different I remember but don't think much of.

Minecraft is the biggest game on the planet besides GTA, Fornite, Roblox and Tetris various iterations.

So what more do they want. The updates are hit and miss or boring.

People mod the game all the time.

They have private servers or major 3rd party ones.

Realms as an offering for 1st party server options.

What more can they monetise without annoying players?

Other then more interesting updates, charging for boring updates won't help people be interested.

They can control servers more as that will make people move away.

Fan content is what intrigues people a lot to play the game.

A subscription for the game is a bad idea and will pull people away from it more and more. That will have maybe more than the amount of Gamepass numbers drop entirely from people giving up on the game. That's not a good look.

Charging for old versions or any versions is not worth it as people will just get the versions they want or give up entirely (at least on Java, it's latest versions only on Bedrock).

They have the game on literally every platform and did even the Apple TV, Fire TV, many phones or other platforms. It was on everything, even the Raspberry Pi, it was just the mobile or console versions ported to everything that was current.

What more do they want to do?

Make more skin packs? Mashup packs (aka skins, worlds, texture packs, audio if need be all in one), anything based on any licenses like Fortnite tries to do with skins, seasons, etc.

What more can they do?

1 surprised they hadn't already been put to that prior and 2 so much for their other IPs I guess. They tried, it's always about numbers regardless of their output.

Well they have 7 million people to convince. XD Good luck with that. A whole week of billions. XD

In seriousness. They can try but Xbox is not Windows or Office. The games are hit and miss. The service is 'there' with options.

Either way, if they make the most of the 'IPs they focus on' sure, but the rest of us will go for Indies, or wish for the other IPs to get some focus.

Part 2:
Boring Indie trending games I find just lacking creativity to make money. Some are 'good', most are money making bland design clicking through engine lack of creative ideas games. They are trying but aren't very strong games yet, that's not a bad thing they are trying, just not very exciting.

I know I research consoles, genres (all of them), games, IPs, popular and niche as well as licensed games, shovelware and peripherals.

So to me I see a bunch of emotional/nostalgic idiots and go yeah so what. Buy an old console, oh too lazy for 2nd hand market.

Oh complain about prices of 'particular' popular games not the cheap easy ones no one cares about.

People are lazy, want emotional stimulation and are plain and boring.

Why else do plain games sell, because people are plain and boring and anything else is either something they adapted to later or too much for them to pay attention to back then let alone still now.

People are boring.

I'm gameplay first I've played every genre and setting/story, I couldn't care less. I still say if a game sucks or is decent for what it is licensed, shovelware, niche gems and popular games and deserving it.

I have played, researched or otherwise between many hack n slashes, shooters, racing, puzzle games, etc. plenty among studios, publishers, whatever budget. It's up to their creative minds and players to have a brain open enough to such creativity.

So a bunch of licensed games or the Tony Hawk O2 era other sports games Activision made.

While some licensed games are good sure.

While many popular IPs sure. I mean I've been playing many of them and they are good, but 'simple' lol. I beat Rango the movie game for 360 and had a great time with it. I beat it during Dec 2025/Jan 2026, same as NFS The Run on 360 Dec 2024/Jan 2025.

I haven't finished Toy Story 3 on Wii yet (yes it has the toy box unlike PS2/PSP/DS versions) it is the HD version content wise but downgraded. I know how Wii versions fair.

Simple times for people sure, they were younger, it was nostalgic/emotional, blah blah blah, but simple games, not in the slightest. I play them all the time, I don't care what people's emotions are. I'm experiencing it, others are looking and moving on.

The Xbox is the cheapest to buy for but oh they want their PS2 or GameCube versions. Then do that. XD

Does 'simple movesets' in modern games count as to me they do. Movesets/level design with abilities to me is WHAT I WANT in games. Cough like Echoes of the End, I'd rather play it and Knack over God of War Norso era that's for sure.

Not RPG stats, busy work garbage missions open world or linear games that are trash, boring and pathetic with no depth. Graphics/story and padding is not depth. Gameplay mechanics are, level design is.

Moves in skating games is 'depth' but in a platformer it's not as it's a kids game, sure because a genre based on movement is that? Tell me the logic behind this? XD Because it's just not correct or degrades the genre. Most are action adventure games then platformers anyways at least these days because the sandboxes or the linear levels are so bland I refuse to buy them, Indies included they have no movesets or level design of depth or engaging ideas just generic personality locations and NPCs.

Yes because RPG like quest design was 'depth' it was overly done padding, that's volume, not depth.

Plenty of shooters PS3/360/Wii had mechanics, 8th gen they dumbed them down , some are still good but many are boring. That's not 'simple' old games. XD

I played Singuarlity loved it, it may have had a COD like feel but with mechanics and story telling it was the furtherest from that and it's 4 endings were worth my time same as Splintercell Conviction's 2 endings (yet to play the rest of the series as I have them physical). Playing Inversion, it's very Gears but with gravity abilities, Gears doesn't have that.

Fracture allows moving the environment in certain ways.

Something different from survival games with manipulating the environment. But again mostly one offs, besides the Army of Two trilogy or others here and there sure. With other mechanics. Immortals of Aveum may not have been it and Titanfall 2 was good in it's ways but still. Atomfall/Atomic Heart, etc. have their moments.

Again, simple times when they were younger sure, but I buy old games all the time as well as modern games. I've had more fun with their 'depth' of mechanics, personality/more, not modern rubbish design.

Not just AAA games that are standardised organised or experimental but 'fit trends' so they aren't really having that AAA/AA creativity of PS3/360 era and before.

@Dart-TheRedDragoon Fair, though I'm assuming I never do to better back compat filtering listings of those.

I didn't get a response from my Outlook feedback suggestions months ago. I doubt they care of functionality/cosmetic suggestions I gave and put in fair detail.

I mean I know I won't even get discount day ordering filter on Switch 1/2 eshop. If Xbox can do the same sure of those in a wishlist or sale pages for filtering by that.

Part 2:
Impulse Triggers of Xbox One/Series is great, I hate the Series controller grip, the Xbox One S/Bluetooth one was enough, Series controllers I hate it it's like sand or too far of a grip compared to other grips. It's like having the grip on a floor mat put onto a controller its terrible.

Share button sure it makes sense, not a bad thing to have it, it is fair over the software method I barely used on Xbox compared to PS4/Switch 1.

Groups I use more on Switch 1 then I did on Xbox One.

I just buy whatever digital PS1, PS2, PSP not PS+, back compat on Xbox One. No interest in services, no way am I going for NSO either.

I do think some of them are pretty cool, but the games are so uninteresting of 9th gen, I didn't like much of 8th gen and 9th gen is even more boring of games, trends, game design is basic and more story/graphics, nostalgic Indies with none of the gameplay skill just good enough to make games of code, art, click and drag, it's fine for them to get started but it's not very exciting of games to play. They are too basic, too boring. The odd Echoes of the Ends or others come along but most are bland.

I have no reason to care at all for either box. Switch 2 mouse mode isn't that exciting either but I'll still get it to see how game upgrades are (maybe or just test the translation layer effectiveness for 'some' I mostly buy 3rd parties and the niche 1st parties, the popular ones later, otherwise Gear Club Unlimited 3/Grid Legends Deluxe on Switch 2, Ride 5/6 or odd other games on PS5 maybe but even then I can wait), but the IR was eh too. Touch screen/gyro do the job, HD Rumble was boring and underrated, too situational to easily see through. Even the PS4 Dualshock 4 vibration scaling in Azure Gunvolt/Clannad (a visual novel on many platforms) used it well.

When there is less then 10 games on PS5/Series I'd want, and I wanted 2 key games and have 100s of Switch 1 games, still going with old consoles/handhelds.

Impulse Triggers of Xbox One/Series and PS5 Dualsense Haptics/Tension Triggers are much better then HD Rumble.

8th/9th gen are boring, so why would i upgrade? Price isn't the issue for me, it's high sure but the consoles are so boring.

Part 2:
Sure they have options but the employees having that kind of time, life and work while panicking if they even get a buyer and the others go eh just move away instead of dealing with the stress/already unknown of the studio going anywhere anyway. Those that maybe are safe enough to leave versus those who can't or those who want to stick with the company (but the 'who can't' seems more likely in some cases).

Sure they spent a lot of time/money and decision making already and clearly didn't think about the leadership/culture of such a big company and thinking it was a safe haven when it isn't. Says a lot about some employees too. Let alone other employees making the same game different ideas they couldn't/different license or just the same game without the license. So the games are still boring of gameplay ideas, thanks veteran devs you haven't changed just different budgets now. How wasteful. Is it rude yes, but think about it make an appealing 'game' not a movie. If you want to make a movie, make one, not a game.

That's on the employees/leadership there but it's also on Microsoft for giving them freedom to make whatever, fill out Gamepass, step in sometimes not others and confuse people or what we customers/players hear at least. Give them budgets and yet they had to compete with publisher studios, support studios and more by the end.

Unless a Rare being stuck with Sea of Thieves, Playground/Turn 10 in the Forza Motorsport (gone)/Horizon or Fable side of things.

I think most of the Microsoft original studios or small scale purchased ones would all be gone by this point and only ABK and Bethesda would be left, so if they pulled away, Microsoft would have no studios.

Funny how that works. Microsoft are showing themselves really, remove the small, keep the big, maybe support studios may go but they'd cut employees from them or expect other results of MTX or other things and only the big multiplayer games, not so much singleplayer let alone small scale ones.

Well wishing the employees/the company the best but yeah that much money, even when spreading to other platforms. I mean, all the 'not big publisher studios' going away is just Microsoft in a way stabbing the smaller studios in the back really

Watching videos on the 'organised' nature side of some I can see what they were getting at. I get it with being on point and not taking so long and more, but I mean, with how bland the games are at PlayStation but creative and varied but not that much more appealing at Xbox of the smaller studios. I mean. What else do I say? Is it a bit rude yes, but I mean, they made games that fit trends, is still appealing to them but many of us just weren't interested, or the marketing wasn't great or whatever else. They weren't products many were interested in.

I find the OG/360 games more appealing and even many of those are less talked about as well even for back then let alone now. That's not me just doing research or 'oh they are old' so they are more interesting, in some cases they are not because they are old.

I don't like 9th gen gaming, so if the gameplay is boring, I'm not interested in their story, music, artstyle, etc. anyway. That's just it game developers. Not matter the world building, inspiration, culture, whatever, if your gameplay isn't appealing I won't play.

Same with Indies. I won't play many of them either, many of them have really safe gameplay too. Still not playing them.

I'll play FMV games and other stuff but again it needs appeal of gameplay or how it goes about the genre or dev vision. I play all genres then I expand out to others and then narrow down the ones i like and I like more then I've not wanted to again.

There may have been others on the side or given opportunities and a '100 day' or whatever limit lets say. But come on even with the 'opportunities' and the 'make the project you want, find a buyer and find new work' is a bit suffocating and rude in a way. It sounds passive aggressive really. While also being realistic.

But also in a 'we only want big companies around so forget the small ones or alter your approach/budgets. Which wouldn't have changed much anyway really. Not just for the staff wanting big budgets to make such games, but even if they made small Indie team scale games, Microsoft still wouldn't be happy as they aren't 'big enough return' still for a small budget even low cost.

Me: None as I don't care for PS5/Xbox Series right now. 2017+ Vita 200 ($100 I think), 2018 Wii U ($140 I think), 2020 New 3DS XL ($140 I think), Switch 1 OG model in 2021 ($300 used, weird I know but different regional prices), among variations of consoles/handhelds, 1st N64, 1st PS1 Classic, 1st Retron HD, SNES Classic.

Otherwise older consoles/handheld games/PS4/Xbox One/Switch 1. That's how boring 8th/9th gen was. Expanding genres, even FMVs this year, that's how pathetic I find 9th gen I'd rather play FMVs on 8th gen or Indies of varying genres (wait on 9th gen only ones), tactics games/dungeon crawlers since last year/hack n slashes/arcade racers/party games/visual novels, & more.

Others around me: Launch price, 1 Series X. Have 1 Xbox One VCR/1 Xbox One X. I think Xbox Series even besides Gamepass has been used the least compared to the Xbox One & even then we used it so little but I've used it a fair bit more due to back compat or odd Xbox One games here & there even for my small Xbox One library at around 30 or so (1/3 my PS4 library and I find PS4 hit and miss, better OS layout, eh game line up still, half or less the 1st parties interested me and they go with the boring formula, Xbox has variety but I find interest in them less and less each year/console gen), as much as some of my retro libraries are around 1 to maybe 10 to maybe 30, to under 100.

PS5 launch model at launch price, later (one of the reduced heatsink versions) maybe launch price of it or a few weeks out from it, Slim near it's launch price. None since.

No Switch 2 yet I'll get one later I'm not fussed.

I ignored 3 discounts of PS5s at a big retailer as I can't be bothered to get one myself, it's not appealing at all. Neither is Series X or Series S, they are good hardware, eh prices, ok peripherals (PSVR2 is good, Portal is a joke software wise of no dual screen and joke resolution targeting for streaming and not remote play itself, WIFI5 like come on even if accessible to some regions not even WIFI6 models? what a joke of a remote play device, I'm ok with a remote play device it's just not a very good one).

No Shapes biscuits would interest me in an Xbox Series, or others with Gamepass, no interest in Microsoft or any other reward programs. I'll do Nintendo surveys for games and give feedback on the games, but that's about it. The platinum coins are worthless.

On the OS side Quick Resume is cool for Xbox Series, I think Series S was a fair idea, I respect it. That and I don't mind old gen versions too, did on PS2/PSP/Wii, now VR/mobile are the only unique versions platforms. Series S is a fair option for people who it's intended for. I'm not as I want physical and digital not digital only, but the lower power doesn't disappoint to me I think it's fair. Most of the tech features don't interest me of RT, HDR, I find them boring and uninteresting. Graphics I can see the differences, still don't care. Gameplay is boring. Artstyles are fine but wasted on boring gameplay.

Cards are hit and miss on PS5, quiet PS5 well Xbox One had that and I still keep it to that quiet/POST off setting.

Part 2:
Yet a streaming service with TV shows has easily many garbage ones people jump to or quality ones.

Music they are past around all the time anyway so it's different there.

Games have to be 'played' let alone interesting not just throw it on in the background whether they care or not, if the gameplay, visuals or story are boring who cares to play them?

Games are like watching a physical comedy tv show/movie, or reading subtitles, you have to watch it to understand/play it or you will miss it, not a dialogue focused show you want to watch but could easily skip or average ones/documentaries you can put on in the background.

Well when they want 'an IP out' not 'this game that appeals to millions' (even then those bland multiplayer games have a ceiling of audiences as well) easily, just whatever variety. It shows.

I questioned a genre, or other tiers type but even I know that would be worse. It'd be too cable subscription like of channel bundles and not work that well.

OG Xbox/360 had better variety but barely anyone talks about them or played them. Their modern variety isn't much better. Sony has a formula and I moved on, even then 'not part of the formula games' didn't interest me either as their directions annoyed me more then impressed me, with any of those series.

So I've been to Nintendo since. Sure their business model isn't good either but at least the niche and popular titles are solid enough and the controller gimmicks are 'decent', not as good as the past. Even Sony's the engineers try but the games are just eh.

Microsoft has theirs but not as much and the games are 'fair' or excellent. It varies. But the excellent ones don't appeal to me so I'm not the target audience for them. Hi Fi Rush/South of Midnight are stand out but even still. I haven't bought them or played them.

Fable I hope is good but I'm not that kind of RPG person.

Others vary. Forza Motorsport sucked and well so much for that series. Horizon doesn't interest me and looks boring to me but I expect other creativity and that isn't in modern racing games so I play ones from 20 years ago that I've never heard of or popular ones I also never got to play. Racing games are not just cars/real locations, I've seen plenty of mechanics/progression systems in older racing games that make me go wow that's looks like fun.

Same with platformers or shooters of the past 360/PS3/Wii and older gens. Whether the console/controller gimmicks or standard game cores/ideas.

it's just silly. They look at other companies of music, social media, movies, tv, merch, etc but miss the point. Not many of them are that interesting or lack depth.

They need more, variety is fine but they need to be interesting. They have creativity but not ones I want to play and even then their audiences (PS5, Switch 2, Series or Gamepass) just don't appeal that much.

3rd party deals vary or people have played them already.

They want numbers and to compete with every other industry and it's just unrealistic, the ceilings have been hit or not well coordinated to find people interested, aren't interesting of what's there or they expect numbers that don't exist and want some 10 billion people to exist on this planet or more yet don't for such millions and the price reduction (other things still in the service that should have been cut but weren't).

Ads/trailers I haven't seen in a while so I need to check them again to be sure what they are going for not just articles.

They give them flexibility and it shows. Even I'm not that interested in many of them and I like variety, but the gameplay ideas are just not my thing in the modern era, they feel lacking and basic so I don't buy any of them.

Story/artstyle isn't good enough for me and never has been the past few years/decade or longer. I've been collecting since 2017 so for me it's one of those things where I'm gameplay focused the entire time or more fair with retro games, modern ones no excuses.

They want many audiences, but they want the 'everyone' audience. So to them that means many hardcore, casuals and niche audiences all interested, constant numbers.

Hardly exciting if the multiplayer is just 'style' or 'feels' like it but another generic multiplayer shooter with bland level design.

I enjoyed Titanfall 2 for it's campaign having stand out moments. BUt it's multiplayer didn't do much, sure the mechs and sure the 1st game's story didn't do much with that model.

But many games have style and 'feel' like other games but they lack in compelling maps, or compelling abilities or movesets whether class based or not and just weapon loadouts. Where is the map gimmicks? Whether grounded, or not, where are they? The modes, why the same safe modes? Why would i care?

@SodaPop6548 Other then a business relationship or just whatever deal they had or 'enough to fill out Gamepass' it seemed odd to me too.

I think they were trying with their games and funding sources prior then went oh we have an opportunity here and went we get a budget to do whatever we want then struggle to make something but they all have this 'were comfortable now or we can have whatever budget then struggling' and it doesn't magically work that way.

Well if Double Fine doesn't want to be a kickstarter/whatever funding studio, and is a support or a deal like Toys for Bob but in their own way sure. But otherwise or other studios and their IPs, their visions, their budgets, their support and strategies to not get comfortable, anything can happen with each of them. Current IPs, whatever role they play, etc.

Ninja Theory playing it safe is fine but a 3rd game, cancelling this one which I only remember the name not what it was aiming for I mean. Sure. They need to scale things down, they get too ambitious and it's a bit awkward they need to scale down for the team size especially they need to be more reasonable what they want to make for their size, let alone not overdo the 'themes' it's getting ridiculous, we get the point and the potential or scaling down seems to be wasted.

Mara could have been fair but what do I know, I barely remember the trailer let alone what they were going for. Otherwise not that fussed what they are working on. Never played a Hellblade game but don't really want to even if the 1st game seems fair. I enjoyed Heavenly Sword, Enslaved and DMC stand alone so to me they were great.

They don't have other IPs as the others I assume were owned by the publishers. They did good with the OG Xbox game, Heavenly Sword for PS3, Enslaved was good but no idea if Bandai Namco owns the IP. DMC standalone was a fair game I liked the ideas in it.

Disney Infinity 2.0 levels.

Hellblade since. I am not a fan of the Ryse Son of Rome, Hellblade, God of War 2018+ camera or combat angle it just didn't work for me.

2nd Hellblade went too far of the themes/making the viewer feel things and whatever story it had, the combat and gameplay seemed to be more basic and bland, they want to make movies with Microsoft money, sure but it's just not worth it.

Naming it Senua is fine for the sake of not having a name for it yet (assuming then Project Senua or whatever the next one is to rebrand, reboot the series or whatever else they plan on if it's a 3rd or not).

But even still they need to get back on track. 2 was just weird. 1 felt like it was balanced enough. The series had an idea yet became a series and just stopped making series other then 'we have 1 IP and don't know what else to do other then continue it for the sake of it' not really a clear direction really.

They need to get back on track.

Sure Donotod's new game isn't Remember Me but to me it seems like they are in a way getting back on track with a bit more to it then just Life is Strange for a decade (not a bad thing though).

Also Plague Tale and Senua to me are just having more confusing titles.

@Jaxx420 I enjoyed it too the gameplay ideas were interesting and the story while different was ok.

DMC is not just on PS3/360 but definitive edition or whatever it's called on PS4 and Xbox One so people can play it there if it's still digitally a thing or physical if have a Series X and Xbox One around to play it that way. I played the PS3 version and while the 8th gen version is better for certain things I think (I forget what it added or changed) I wasn't disappointed playing it on 7th gen.

Well Beenox is a COD support studio right? Or were they working on this when they worked on Nitro Fueled prior. I forget who worked on Crash Rumble. Toys for Bob I think did then sort of dropped off it. The mobile game by King was around the same time or earlier then that I think.

People thinking the IP wasn't out regularly enough clearly can't do a Wikipedia, company website or prior articles search at all? Sigh. Let alone the PS/Xbox stores or physical copies listings on any website (articles, 2nd hand stores, 1st hand market stores) for what's available up to a certain point. Research is not that hard. I do it all the time and I collect/research video games for free of my own self interest whether games i care about, new ones never heard of.

I make mod update posts for free in my spare time. XD

Vicarious Vision is a Blizzard side of things now with Diablo 2 remake and maybe support studio? Otherwise they did the Tony Hawk 1 and 2, or 3 and 4 I think as well. So who knows.

So in terms of main studios that worked on Skylanders or Crash/Spyro I don't know what to think. Maybe another team was working on Crash while the others on Spyro at Toys for Bob? But wanted Independence and licensing to not be thrown around like Activision did with Spyro Reignited prior even with Sanzaru or others helping out too with that?

The animation may look good and 'impressive' sure, but at the same time the 'lack of interesting ideas' is still the case in many 8th/9th gen games compared to the 7th gen shooters I'm collecting and preferring to play with more exciting ideas. Sigh.

It could be something of an Army of Two or others co-op game if they go about it well, but even then many others still have more compelling 'movesets' and 'mechanics' the thing many devs forget to put effort into, only wanting to make movies you play and I don't care, I don't find any of them 'fun' and make them generic humans to play as or generic level design that doesn't have anything exciting going on. Not any interest weapons, gadgets, whatever else even, progression. Sigh.

The dynamic sure of such characters could be good story wise, but the gameplay looks generic. I don't find many memorable, yet I've remembered or wanted to buy and collect more 7th gen and older games for a reason, they are more exciting. i can play Gears or COD feeling movesets and still they have interesting gimmicks as abilities or fair level design.

They want to be movies or reality and I'm just not interested in playing that at all. I want a video game to play with video game abilities and scale ideas.

Also is this a 'Crossfire' game at all? If so they really need to try a bit more. They may get there eventually, but I don't know. I see potential just not sure.

It looks like Stuntman to me, just without the director saying what to do telling you, so who knows. The set pieces look fair for what is there. This is the type of 9th gen game I've been waiting for. More games like this any day. If only other genres pushed for gameplay forced 'games' not books/movies as 'games' with basic gameplay.

I don't expect some crazy Back to the Future creativity I assume they will be close enough to the license then some jumping between time periods constantly but who knows.

That aside the main movies you want to hope are good (fake ones or is it all licensed which is expensive but if they think it will get people interested instead of DLC for them?)

With 'hollywood' you'd be questioning what will appear to match that subtitle and how expensive this revival of the series will be.

I'm excited for this game but even still, what they do with the stages/levels, the IPs, how much they have to go for.

I care about the game/series not the licensed stuff at all, it's a nice bonus but not a selling point to me at all.

So they better make it worthwhile of level design, obstacles, set pieces and more, the series always had potential though.

For an obstacle course, time trial, stylish driving combo. Which many people have played racing games for times, many have the PGR series in the past or any other stylish driving, or Burnout and the close encounters there for things. We just don't get games like that anymore, or they are inspired but don't have enough of their own creative angle to it. So Stuntman returning sure it's another IP returning but it had it's own ideas/style and it's great to see.

A straight 'game' is what I want, it will have DLCs later let be real here, with 'Hollywood' in the subtitle, it will for sure.

I just want 'games' not movies, games, games like Stuntman make sense as it's playing out vehicle scenes in movies but that's fine that's what the series is about and framed as. If they have particular challenges I'd be fine with that but if it's just main campaigns of each film that's ok too.

It's just guessing what the content/progression/framing will be that's all.

@Banjo- True but it's why Sony cut most of their creative studios, the ones other western leaders or Yoshida didn't cut.

Microsoft bought a few that were too particular of art and those that have adapted well, or those that take too long, so it's easy to see the ones that fit each of those molds.

Double Fine and Ninja Theory.

Rare stopped making more particular games (whether we count Kinect or not in that) to just Sea of Thieves or Everwild when that was active.

Coalition has been Gears, the agent game cancelled before Gears 4 and whatever else they connected with.

Asobo has Plague Tale and Flight Sim and has connected with Microsoft since Xbox One.

Bethesda takes a while, id does their thing and Romero Games are or aren't a thing anymore I forget why was it more money for their next project or something else many articles back? The Doom mobile game studio went with the other Arcane Studio or Tango.

Tango is with PUBG owners I forget their names right now and so on with their new open world we saw recently but they aren't related to this of course.

Arcane's remaining studio is working on whatever right now? Will they make another live service who knows? Or something creative for a particular audience again?

State of Decay 3 took way too long to happen and had a pointless trailer to let us know it existed years ago, compared to the recent info on it/trailer (I didn't watch it and I need to).

Compulsion did South of Midnight so depending what they make next but again isn't a big seller but fills out Gamepass. But I'd put them or Ninja Theory similar to House Marque for Sony one of those particular types they have around due to deals they made on whatever terms.

Whilst Double Fine/Media Molecule I go hmm how much have they got?

I don't even know what Vicarious Vision is doing just being a Blizzard support studio at this point?

Toys for Bob working on Spyro independently so as a licensee I guess or whatever the deal is there?

Beenox, Raven and I think it's High Moon are COD support staff, while Infinity Ward, Treyarch and Sledge Hammer make the main stuff for COD.

Wow team, Diablo and Overwatch for Blizzard make the money they need I assume?

Zenimax however Elder Scrolls Online goes.

Machine Games made Indy so whatever their next project is?

Probably others missing but that's off the top of my head.

They are too big, spinning them off, hardware, can they handle it on their own or different formatting from Microsoft (however the deal/spinning off would work).

Bethesda getting their act together, Zenimax and Activision seem to do it right but Bethesda takes too long.

What people/studios stay or go, who will be their HR? Who will be their QA testers, who will be their other staff in other areas? Who knows. That's the stuff I wonder? I assume many of these companies have theirs but Microsoft also has enough of them in many other departments as it is. What is Microsoft support and which is individual publishers/developer studios staff?

The console if they can gauge enough tiers or whatever deals of hardware and not make another 3DO situation of blueprints but high priced as they don't make money on the software unless Microsoft makes a deal with them?

Gamepass they going for family, genre, Indies, other possibilities, like a cable package? The sports channel, the documentary channel, the family channel, comedy channel? Whatever they can come up with in a particular way with enough correlation?

Or enough high to low tier hardware and enough cores locked or not maybe to make it less awkward of hardware scaling?

What IPs, who knows. Which have audience potential. Will they use the back compat website votes as a sign, the licensed ones they skip and the others they see who has voted enough to gauge? They need data not just comments and vocal responses all the time?

Focusing on what ones they have already and only those? Or the odd multiplayer or other singleplayer ones if they can?

As we all know having the same IPs forever can be tiring no matter which way they bend them.

Who knows. They have plenty to use it's just which ones they see something in. The casual ones maybe, maybe not (likely not due to the way casuals move on quickly and where they are already anyway when they do care), the hardcore audience ones they know people will be passionate about or moved on, so it's a bit tough there but a more likely audience to consider of people interested.

What Blinx, Voodoo Vince, Pitfall (compete with Uncharted/Tomb Raider/Indy/Tad, etc.), Project Gotham Racing, Forza Motorsport, Kinect IPs I doubt unless they can rework them in such a way. Kingdom Under Fire (if not tied to the South Korean developer that's an MMO studio these days), the Japanese IPs, whatever else they have from Rare. Old IPs they can modernise? Later era ones they can offer again? Banjo even. I can go either way there but still.

Age of Empires/Zoo Tycoon spin offs maybe? Or just keep to what they had? Age of Empires/Flight Sim seem to do well.

Phantom Dust? 1 vs 100 or whatever it was? Fusion Frenzy as I don't think Blitz owned it and well they aren't around anymore either.

What genres? What tone? What audience? What gameplay? What setting? What themes? What artstyle?

@eduscxbox Agreed, everyone goes oh COD all the time, 1 COD in China, 2 King aka the mobile developer, that's a mobile side Microsoft doesn't have to work out with the Halo or others they did back in the Windows 8/360/Xbox One days that clearly people forget those isometric Halo games (or others). But they cut the Doom mobile studio so there is that.

Many of us don't care about mobile but we know it makes money. Candy Crush or if other King IPs are worth it as well.

It's like with Gameloft, they make a ton of money making easy games fitting random audiences for an arcade racer with Asphalt series, or a COD clone audience or anything easy for a life sim/farming games. People ignore them, or hate them, but their methods work. King covers whatever they cover in comparison.

Depends what they work on of IPs, new ones, old ones, fill out the catalogue. Keeping people around is one thing, getting the data of people is another factor but even still trying to get different audiences interested is one thing, them interested in more then 1 thing is tough.

Spyro and Crash aren't much of large audiences compared to a COD or others but at the same time if they want a family audience to be attracted to Gamepass then that makes sense.

They need a good mix of family IPs, teen IPs and mature IPs.

If by demographic/tone and more.

If by what gameplay well that's another factor I guess.

That or further audiences, racing game fans (when Forza Horizon appeals to them while to me or others they don't and they ruined Forza Motorsport themselves).

With Activision do they care to revive a Pitfall when they have Indy license for however long?

Could look at many Rare, Microsoft, Activision, Blizzard, Bethesda/Zenimax and other studios IPs or new ones and bring them to the ecosystem, PC, Xbox, or mobile.

Easing development you'd assume for all platforms to make easy porting whether hardware or code bases to transfer to.

There is multiple IPs or audiences or angles we could look at this.

Whether large selling only IPs? Or small ones that get people in and to explore more or only jump in for a bit for whatever they have.

I mean Toys for Boys is a licensee at this point and not under Activision but a Microsoft/Activision deal with their Independence.

It really depends what modern only IPs they work on focusing on, or older ones they bring back assuming it's a sizeable audience that cares at all too.

I can explore many IPs of the past and have many on disk, the few PS2 related ones I never expected to be available on modern platforms digital for $15 my region/PS+ Premium or Deluxe.

State of Play, Summer Game Fest, Future Games and Xbox Showcase.

I'll be disappointed in all of them but what else is new. Back to browsing eshops and collecting retro games I care about with ideas of gameplay (story/OSTs I can tolerate) I care about then anything shown at any of these.

It's cool they get highlighted..... that's the end of that sentence.

This era feels like an industry I don't respect anymore.

I read articles with week gaps nowadays then I did months ago because the news is just so bland and boring but I 'want to keep up' but not in a FOMO way, the news isn't that exciting anyway to care to read it. XD

Not a thing against the article writers/research done, it's just the news is just so uninteresting at this point and the products are so boring I couldn't care less.

Even showcase periods like this I still don't care, I should, but I don't.

I'll maybe skip the showcases and just read the articles summarising them. You all do a great job with it (if I find the right articles of course XD). None of the games I'll care about anyway.

I'll get my copy of Rhythm Heaven Groove in July and that will be it.

Part 2:
What Minecraft Dungeons 2 will be 'something' I don't care about it. I enjoy Minecraft and modding it/making mod update posts/wikis. But Dungeons and Legends were not very good, attempts sure, but not very good. I'll get Legends eventually but Dungeons eh.

Other games will take time, what updates for Kiln/others of MP kind I won't care about anyway. New singleplayer games better be good I've only seen '3' of whole Series gen & even then I can skip them.

That's about as much 3rd parties I'd care about to get on 9th gen even & I'm saying 1 party IPs (Hi Fi Rush, South of Midnight & maybe Gears Tactics I need to look into more) from Xbox here of the '3'. So that'd be what 6 games? EA WRC, Ride 5 & 6. Aveum, Forspoken, Atlas Fallen were 'fine' so that's 9 (others around me have them already).

PS5 what the peripherals are 'fair' (Xbox Series has quick resume. Impulse Triggers were Xbox One, a share button was fine for Series controllers, would have liked another feature but oh well, but not that exciting, yes 'necessary' then the software solution as the only option) but 1st party is trash and the 'non cinematic games' I would care for are just as uninteresting compared to PS4 and I didn't even like PS4 or Xbox One but they still had IPs or peripherals that were more compelling of ideas, game design, offering possibilities or the controller features. PS5 they are 'fine' but even still.

I had more Switch 1 1st party (niche IPs) or Vita ports, MSX games, Wii/DS ports or whatever else of 'Indies I can tolerate' to consider still not a lot but even still. 9th gen is a joke. I don't even think much of Switch either. But it had the games I wanted, I think the IR is underused, docking it is fine but I can dock or HDMI/VGA cable anything from years ago, who cares. Touch screen/gyro already were good anyway. I don't think the 'big' IPs are that 'great' on Switch, they are just ok.

Modern gaming needs some better stuff for game design or console/controller features. I'm very bored of it and reading articles abut the business side is fine but it will take time to happen. Just sick and tired of the same 10+ articles being the same thing 5 times or more with minor details.

It's something but what Gamepass reduction of COD/pricing, but not Fornite/Roblox, sure that was really 'effective' they can lower it and remove those, come on. Backtracking projects isn't ideal, we all know the next wave they can not the current plans. But who knows.

Like GeForce Now (even if kind of has a point), why would people use those to play those games? Cloud sure to play it that way isn't bad, not ideal but not bad. But Gamepass? Why would they bother? It's on other platforms for free, not needing a subscription. Others offer cloud of it, that's a feature. Gamepass offering it is not a benefit.

The morale/messaging is fine so far but we still know and are 'waiting' on the big stuff. It takes time, what will hit, miss or hurt the most is what I'm waiting on.

Logo change/font is nothing to me. Cosmetics mean nothing.

Other then the Gamepass change that's still too high and didn't reduce the other factors people didn't care about.

Or an outage indicator that I do respect the idea of, more then the 'cosmetic' dashboard changes not navigation/layout/functionality (I know why but still annoys me). I can't think of much else that's happened as to me I've had 'weeks' of jumping on and off articles now because nothing really to me has happened in the news for me to care so I take week gaps now and look at whatever interests me. XD That's how repetitive and uninteresting its been in gaming.

It's something but the messaging is still 'something'. Sure it's been what 3 months or so? So I don't expect a lot in 3 months but even still.

3 months and the same news articles written 5 different ways is getting really annoying.

These showcases will show games, but also their 'messaging' which is probably what I want to know.

Sure in the works stuff takes time the next wave, but even still.

The impactful stuff, the showing, not 'saying the most vague things'.

Sure planning takes time, seeing much worth in it too no doubt but I mean. I'm still waiting.

I haven't been impressed for 2 console generations now, regardless of leadership. Same with PS4, I didn't like it at all.

Sure PS3 had worse start and changed it up but even if the business side was eh I still cared for the games/features even if devs had to support a lot of things for it.

To me 7th gen is the end, maybe 6th gen when game design was actually more interesting not dumbed down. Sure 5/6th had it's 'cinematic/realistic focused games' but they weren't as annoying or boring as 7th to 9th let alone Indies being so bland either.

8th/9th is just game design and business decisions I haven't cared for at all. 10th will be the same.

Until the major stuff, I haven't seen anything that exciting yet. It's prep/planning and that's fine, but it isn't really interesting yet. I couldn't care less what most they have done so far at all, regardless of a fair amount in a short time span.

So they have done things sure, an outage indicator, great stuff, I think it's a good feature. Logo, eh, font, eh, other supposed things we 'may see'. Who knows yet. It's still too early or others are further out anyway.

The dashboard still is the same and sucks, it's cosmetic, but who cares. Functionally it won't change because they can't. I hate the navigation and refuse to use it I hate it. So why would I want to use a terrible UI. Yes I hate the PS5 UI too. PS4, 360 (Xbox One was ok for a few of them), Wii U, handhelds and under I prefer, I don't like modern UI garbage navigation or visuals.

I know UI functionality is what scaling of selectable areas, doesn't mean I don't want it to have more flare, not be so basic I want to laugh at the graphic designers/artists for not having to do much at all.

The whole streaming/device UIs look like placeholders or someone's first UI with some gradient/boxes to it. But 'professionally' done. Wow, look how basic they are. With outlines around each square/rectangle that sucks to see what I'm highlighting or other terrible icon use. XD

Yeah I hate modern UI design it's trash. Has been since flat design was used in the 2010s, 2020s UI design is even worse and I'm sick and tired of flat design, no amount of graphical details to a bunch of squares/rectangles is going to change that. The flare is not there.

Back compat who knows what they can or can't do of licenses, or just 'upgrade the ones that already exist' for Helix which is more suitable then old game licenses if companies care at all.

Logos I don't care about at all. I don't like the recent ones anyway over the last 2 consoles they are so bland.

The morale is 'fine' but I still couldn't care less if the actions aren't that exciting anyway.

The impactful stuff I care for. It's what I'm waiting for.

The games in progress we still have to wait on/to pass for what's next.

Helix.

What anniversary stuff.

What is safe, what is dramatic.

Surveys are fine, but what are they 'actually going to do with that info/'can' act on either'. If they can't some I can understand. I'll be reasonable there of things out of their hands. But things they can are what I care about.

Most of these are fair small things, but I could use the platform, or look at the actions of the department and I'd be like oh I so noticed.

I mean I can skip the news for the week and not even notice because I'm not really reading it till week gaps nowadays, that's how little I notice or care because the current era news is just not that interesting. Some of it is but I can still skip it.