Yeah I will pass. Was disappointed by Halo Infinite. I have other games to play.

They should have made the controller Duke style 🤣

I will.proabably grab a controller or two but I dont need a Series X besides I am not big on the console being all translucent.

Just more of the same for me this weekend.

Forza Horizon 6 (Series X) The winter season is upon us and that means a new set of seasonal challenges to do. Along with that I will probably go do some things off my Discovery Japan list so maybe I can get the last 4 barn finds I need.

Borderlands 4 (Series X) I have been neglecting this game since Forza Horizon 6 came out so hopefully this weekend I can get some things done in it. Vex is coming along nicely ane I am still having a blast with this game.

So what exactly is this game? Is it Runescapes take on like Minecraft style? Is it an MMORPG? a Fortnite Clone? kinda of hard to figure out what it is.

If they were a part of Infinity Ward back during the golden era of CoD I would say you have something, but being a part of Infinity Ward during the worst CoD years is not something to brag about.

I dont know about anyone else but I am definitely getting The Crew vibes from Clutch.

I thought TMNT Last Ronin was cancelled.

@NeoRatt Right, thats how I feel with PS. To be honestly I buy Nintendo consoles for their exclusives Mario Zelda etc. I have always been that way Nintendo was my primary console the I had another console whether that be a Genesis, Playstation or Xbox. The deciding factor for me between Playstation and Xbox was price not exclusives. Funny enough I am not big on Xbox or Playstation's exlcusives. Not big on Halo or Gears dont like Uncharted or Horizon Zero Dawn. For me buying a PS or Xbox was so I could play GTA, Madden, CoD etc. thats why I had a Wii and an Xbox 360 because I wasnt going to play the price for a PS3 that Sony wanted in the beginning. Then I went for Wii U/PS4 because I wasnt going to pay MS a hundred dollars more for a console with a device I wasnt going to ever use. Funny enough I went with Series X because I was lucky enough to be able to get one during the pandemic, but then it could have just been easily a PS5.

I get what you say about having all games on one console for the convience factor which yeah having no exclusives would solve that problem. I mean if Nintendo had GTA or Madden or CoD equal to the other cosoles then I would have bothered with Sony or MS. But yeah thats exactly why people are so hell bent on exclusives because like I said they want validation as to why they bought an Xbox instead of a PS and the easiest for that is exclusive games. I mean come on you dont hear to many people saying I bought the Series X because I like the look of it over the PS5 or I got the Series X because its more powerful. You mostly hear I got a PS becuase I like God Of War or I got an Xbox so all my friends and I can play Halo together.

But yeah I agree I like having my Gamertag all in once place now which is why I am more inclined to buy Xbox since I have 3 generations of Achievements and such versus one with Playstaton. It's also why now I am playing more third party stuff on Xbox even if it has a Switch port like The Adventre of Elliot or Final Fantasy Pixal Remaster cause I want that stuff on my Gamertag.

@Questionable_Duck Sorry dude hate to break to you but I am not doing anything to discredit Asha, this is how corporations work. You have one person at the top with the ideas good or bad and you either go with those ideas or you end up like Phil Spencer. People like Asha are just mouthpiece someone to appease the public and help with the companies public image.

After Xbox's buyout of Activision-Blizzard they became more corporate in their thinking because after spending all that money the uppers needed to recoup their loses. If you cant see that I am sorry. But just because someone is telling the truth be it bad or good doesnt mean they are being negative. Its just the truth.

@NeoRatt I hear what you are saying and I guess that how some people look at it. Again its valadation Xbox owners are looking for and thats the hardcore Xbox fans. Its cause Sony and Nintendo fanboys use that as a argument piece. Well Sony has Uncharted and Nintendo has Pokémon what does Xbox have and Xbox owners cant argue that so in their eyes thats a point for Sony and Nintendo.

Let's honest it wasnt her that ditched it it was her uppers that told her to do it and they just did it as a token to mend players relationships. It was a bone they just tossed to pacify us players. You watch some big AI company throws a sack of money their way and it would be back on there. And Sharma will just stand there with that dumb look on her face saying well our numbers showed that players wanted it back.

@Balaam_ I must say its so refreshing to read a comment by someone who is fooled by what Sharma and her gang are doing. Nice to see someone else who isnt fooled by Sharma's words.

@NeoRatt My personal thought, exclusives are a dead concept. If I were a dev I personally would want as many people as possible to play my game no what machine they use to play it on. As owner of a studio I would want as many people who can play it to generate more income its simple. I mean yeah look at how much money Nintendo makes on an exclusive like Mario Kart for example or Zelda and yeah that translates to Switch sales but think how much money they are leaving on the table by not having those games on Xbox or PS for owners of those consoles. With the rising prices of consoles its goong to get to the point where most people aren't going to.be able to.afford multiple consoles they are going to go for the console that most appeals to their needs.

Also another proven fact is, its software that makes money not consoles. People only purchase that Gen console once and I am not talking about upgraded models like Pro consoles thats a different scale, but general you buy a console once, the games on the other hand its money coming in for each game. I mean look at Sega since they left the console business they have managed to stay relevant.

The we need exclusives chants is mainly the hardcover Xbox fanboys who for whatever reason want to punish people who want to play on Playstation or Switch or PC. Its that my thing is better then yours and I need validation that my selection is better then yours thinking that creats it, and quite honestly that kind of thinking is what hurts the gaming community the most.

@TheGameThrifter Phil didnt take away exclusives, the uppers did. By the time Phil left he had no power and they dumped him because his vision of Xbox didnt go along with theirs. They wanted a Yesman and they weren't allowing Phil to do what he knew had to be done. They gave him all that power after Don Mattrick left he fixed Xbox but the moment tbat thier ideas and his didnt align they threw him under the bus and brought in someone who would work with them and make their ideas look good to the Xbox fans. This is how corporations work. You can tell Phil had enough by how quiet he was at the end.

@darylb24 She may acknowledge them but unless her bosses oks it then she wont do anything about it. By her saying she acknowledges its giving Xbox fans that glimmer of hope without saying yeah its happening and thats what she was hired to do where as Phil would just go silent on it rather then telling us something to pacify us and treat us like we are stupid.

Yep I knew it. This is what I have been saying all this time about Sharma. Basically the higher ups want to put games out on all consoles which makes sense, in the end it means more money for them and Microsoft is a software company first and foremost. So shes going to basically make it sound good and try to sell us the idea why non-exclusives is a great idea. This is why she is where she is and why they kicked Phil to the curb.

@Skinny-Pete Yeah I remember only a handful of games hand the driver seat view back in the day at least on home consoles. I remember in the arcades though there were alot. I use to go back and forth between the views if you could but after while I just stuck with behind the car.

@Skinny-Pete Yeah driving with the camera outside the car just comes naturally to me in a video game. I am guessing it comes from playing older racing games like Outrun, Rad Racer, Top Gear and such back in the day and there was no option of driver seat view.

@Skinny-Pete I actually play with the camera slightly behind my car. Yeah its not realistic but I like seeing my ride. I spend all the time customizing the look that I feel that its would just he a waste of time if I cant see my car. Also I like to take in the sites of the world around I cant really do that with the driver seat view.

I am at level 62 and have 68 cars. Mostly I have been doing the season Playlist which reminds me new season today. I mostly been doing the Discover Japan stuff. I do have all the Treasure cars and most of the Barn finds. I did take a couple days off from FH6 to play some TTRPGs with some friends bit I am looking to get back into it this weekend.

I am getting more The Crew vibes from this game rather then Forza Horizon, which isnt bad. I really enjoyed The Crew and was quite upset at Ubisoft for pulling the plug on that game. I thought they were going to add an offline mode but appearently they never did. Still this might be a good replacement to The Crew.

@Elbow Yeah I was beginning to think it was one of those games that would be on the service forever. Guess its time for me to purchase the deluxe edition. 🤣

I have always heard that these were good games but never got a chance to play them. Its werid to think how long the Toy Story franchise has been around with the first games coming out for the SNES and Genesis and the current movie games coming out on current gen consoles.

I dont use quick resume so I dont need to worry about that. Still I wonder if my roommates file is ok. She was playing last night and the Series X crashed. Instead of checking it she just decided to go to bed. My son is playing it now though and his was fine.

@FraserG Ah ok. To be fair I havent logged on in a while due to concentrating on other games I wanted to finish before FH6 comes out. Sadly when it comes to MMOs I just dont have time for them anymore and tend to forget that, which is why I probably missed the shutdown announcement.

@RiverGenie Investors where probably expecting more purchases from the in game store. They probably had a projected goal and it didnt make that goal so they are shutting it down.

As I said earlier they expect WoW numbers but when they dont get them.......

@Sindayl Yeah I was shocked when I read that. I enjoyed the game on both Xbox and PC and put some hours into it, the only reason I didnt was because at the time I was pretty busy with well life.

The problem is most CEO's except an MMO to do WoW numbers out the gate much like they expect a FPS to do CoD numbers. When they dont they pull the plug cause its a failure in their eyes and like you said aint making them the billions they thought it should. Ah well another great game dead before its time. In a way it reminds me how Ubisoft handled XDefiant.

I didnt realize New World: Aeternum was shutting down.

Forza Horizon 6 (Series X) Still enjoying the sites of Japan. There is so much to do in this game that its going to keep me busy for awhile.

Borderlands 4 (Series X) Still working on Vex though I have slowed down on it due to FH6. Got her to level 18 now.

Well yeah, because Sharma is doing her job, shes just relaying the Xbox uppers ideas in a positive way and these fools are falling for it.

I mean let's be honest what has she done for the consumer since she took over. Changed the Xbox logo, announce project Helix, knock $5 off Gamepass (which still costs more then when Phil Spencer was in charger). Where's the exclusives, and the backwards compatibility additions? She's all talk no action.

Yeah when even Call of Duty doesnt want to release near or right after GTA VI you know other developers are going to do the same.

So basically cause his bosses wont let him. What a corporate stooge.

@Runex2121 Currently I own a Series X and S, and Switch. No interest in a PS5 especially now what the price is, same with Switch 2. Maybe I will get a used Switch 2 down the road but the only thing that interests me on there is Mario Kart World.

I still have a PS4, and a bunch of older consoles like SNES for example and I have a gaming laptop so I am not hurting for games.

If anything my laptop should be good for a few more years so anything that I want to play on Helix I could probably use that.

Its just crazy how greedy these gaming companies have become. No other form of media has gone up in price as much as video games. I dont see Blu-ray players becoming $700 to $1000. Yeah I get that gaming has become the biggest money maker in media but now they are just getting greedy.

Back in the day I use to get all excited for the reveal of the next CoD game. Now it's Tuesday for me.

My only concern for this is how much will the Steam Machine cost now?

At this rate I am not going to be upgrading to the next gen whenever that is. With Nintendo raising prices on Switch 2 and Sony with the PS5 I am afraid at what Project Helix or whatever it's called will be priced at. These gaming companies are out of control and quite honestly its getting ridiculous the prices they are expecting people to pay for a hobby.

Lucky for me I have alot of games in my backlog to keep me busy on the current consoles for years, hell I even have PS4 games that I havent got to yet. So if these gaming companies dont cool it I just may not even worry about the next gen and just play what I have in my backlog.

Yeah they have been talking about DQ XII for five years now and we barely see anything. I am thinking this is another vaporware project.

I forgot that they left Playground Games, would explain which Forza Horizon 6 turned out better then 5. Still i dont think FH 6 has anything to worry about. I think the biggest thing that made FH6 so big was the setting. So unless they game has some sort of aging setting I dont FH6 having much to worry about.

Its funny that they claim that its the biggest FH launch ever yet our forum for it is dead. I would have expected some activity on it with people discussing the game, what they found, tunes, they did, what their favorite car is etc. Doesnt make sense at all if this is supposedly they biggest FH launch.

I want to play Baulder's Gate 3 but I just dont have time for such a huge game.

If by 2026 you mean game that came out in 2026 then yes. If by 2026 mean a game you first played in 2026 regardless of what year it came out then thats a hard one as I am really enjoying Borderlands 4 right now just as much as Forza Horizon 6.

@NintendoByNature Have you tried Forza Horizon 6 yet? Fantastic game if you enjoy that sort of thing.

A couple open world games for me this weekend.

Forza Horizon 6 (Series X) Just got my first wristband. Mostly been exploring the beautiful countryside of Japan. So much to do and I am loving it. So far found a few barn cars and a couple treasure cars while exploring.

Borderlands 4 (Series X) Really enjoy exploring the world of Kairos. Right now I am doing side missions to get my backpack upgraded. I have Vex right now at level 15.

Its easier to understand stand 20 days rather then 3025 hours. I hope that the make it an option to change it to either or.

I was wondering about the Drivatars difficulty, I thought I was out of practice or something and had to crank down the difficulty lower then what I usually have it on in other FH games.

Its not surprising live service games are decling unless of course you are Fortnite, and they might be too I dont honestly know since I dont follow them. Even the once juggernaut Call of Duty is seeing record lows the last two games. Then you have games like Arc Raiders, XDefiant, and Marathon where a decade ago would be popular and have steady numbers for month or even years afterwards but now die 6 months later.

Its just that people are tired of the live service model kids that grew up on Fortnite and CoD dont have mommy's and daddy's bank account to buy all their skins anymore or their income is going to adult stuff. This new generation of kids arent so much into live service games.

So we can wear a t-shirt to remind us what was once an Xbox exclusive?

@NeoRatt Right but you can clearly see that she is just a mouthpiece for the PR department. As much as I liked Phil and Phil was for the consumer which sadly corporate bosses dont like. You can tell at the end where they took Phil's power away and he basically couldnt do anything. He didnt agree with them so all he could do was choose silence.

Sharma on the other hand knows where her meals are coming from and isnt going to bite the hand that feeds her and thats what corporate wants, someone who makes them look good and makes their ideas look good no matter how bad they are. In that aspect Phil just couldnt. It was just that his ideas and the corporate bosses ideas didnt line up and sadly that was hurting the brand. Since obviously the corporate big wigs arent going to go it had to be Phil.

Yeah ok for a corporate stooge I guess she is doing good but let's be honest she's no Phil Spencer and is just doing what the uppers want.

Well I hate how you take people's money Play Asia and never send them what they ordered and then refuse to give a refund or replace the item.

@FarmDog08 @Kingleo31 The problem wasnt Phil it was the direction the the people above Phil were going. The This is an Xbox campaign, and putting games on competing consoles you can tell Phil wasnt happy about thats why he was so radio silent. Because the people above him neutered him he was powerless to do anything.

And what any corporate big wig does when an idea of theirs fails and makes the brand look bad they find a fall guy and Phil was that guy. I think at that time Phil was just burnt out and had enough he wasnt able to do what he wanted to do and so he left.

As for Sarah Bond it was clear that she was to be Phil's successor but MS corporate didn't want a power struggle they wanted a yes man so in comes Sharma. She's just a PR mouthpiece to make the corporate big wig idea's look and sound good, basically tell us what we want to hear.