Just keep it around, but up the quality. I have no reason to want Game Pass, and no interest in it either, so why would I subscribe to something that I'd hardly ever use? Being able to play online with friends and the odd freebie is all I need, so I'm good with GwG.
And besides: I definitely HATE being pushed/forced into something, so that's never going to happen anyway. If they would simply stop GwG, then I'll probably just revert to a "silver" subscription, only playing solo and offline.
But having said that, if they fully integrate it into GamePass and we keep the free games, then I could probably be tempted to come to the dark side...
@Trainer You're very welcome. I hope you enjoy the game. Pro tip: when you're playing, you'll collect energy for a so-called "event bar", which is displayed underneath the bumper of your car.
When it's blue, you'll trigger only minor events, but when it's completely in the red area and the bar is full, you will unleash hell on the competition, and entire parts of the track will change or collapse. It's tons of fun, especially when playing with friends.
To all arcade racer fans: if you don't own Split/Second yet, get it now. Seriously, you won't regret it, because it's one of the best arcade racers of the last decade.
Pffff.... Yay to the human race and the wonders of evolution in combination with social media tech...
If only I actually had an ACTUAL Infinity gauntlet...
@nessisonett But why spend a whole 5 minutes to actually research things when you can revel for hours on end in your downward spiral complaining about it instead? Good times, aye?
@NEStalgia Well, I most definitely didn't know about him from that long ago, so I'll have to take your word for it. I guess the Nintendo-related interview was just an entirely unique and solitary moment, then. And not one representative of how he apparently really is.
Then again: if the entire company is/was like that, he should have felt right at home and would never have had any incentive to leave, so you've then got to question what the hell happened behind closed doors for that to happen. Egos colliding? Anyway, accurate or not, I'm glad I only know him from Gears of War and the Zelda interview, and other than that, I don't need to delve any further into how much of an awful person he potentially is.
I've enjoyed the Gears games and I always enjoy people becoming just as giddy with childlike enthusiasm as me, when they talk about anything Nintendo or Zelda related, so I'd rather remember him for that.
On an unrelated side note: I read your comment in the other Bethesda article, about the ZeniMax board, and it definitely made me crack a big smile. On the other hand I also find it hugely annoying to see some people continuously grasping at straws and/or coming up with all kinds of weird theories and calculations about why Bethesda's games will/should stay multi-platform.
It's just not going to happen, because this is about the long game, not about a single generation, much less a handful of software titles. But I guess some sour or delusional Sony supporters will just never understand that.
Far as we now know, Phil Spencer will honor the contracts concerning games already announced for PS5 before all this happened, but other than that, it's up to him and Microsoft which games they will release on other platforms, if any.
With an almost record-breaking purchase like that, I'd dare to wager a bet that multi-platform releases will be VERY few and far between.
@NEStalgia Funny you should mention our mutual friend, because that was exactly who I had in mind when I posted that part of my comment.
As for Cliff Bleszinski: I never saw him as always being a d-bag: ever since I saw him being interviewed at E3 quite a few years back, when he was still part of Epic Games, I saw a genuinely playful and enthusiastic glint in his eyes when he started talking about the Legend of Zelda games, when asked about his inspirations and childhood favorites. He came across as utterly sincere, respectful to Nintendo and open-minded. And seeing as that was my first impression of him, that is what has been stuck in my mind ever since.
Perhaps you missed that particular interview back then. Not that it was a must-see, but at least you'd understand my point of view on the matter.
Unless of course you wouldn't have believed a word he said...
@NEStalgia I hope you didn't forget to mention to that first guy that Fable is made by Peter Molyneux (without the extra 'a' you added)
Ratchet & Clank is a kiddy game, though. Much like how people always say 3D Mario games are. And seeing as R&C is also kind of full of juvenile humor and things, it deserves that label even more so.
But that doesn't mean that they can't be great games: one label doesn't exclude the other, so people shouldn't really take offense at it largely being a kid-friendly game. It's not a grey-brown shooter after all...
On a side note: I do sometimes wonder where Cliff Bleszinski went wrong. He used to be this great, enthusiastic Xbox developer who also happened to be a MASSIVE Zelda fan and Nintendo supporter, but along the way, especially after he parted ways with his former employer, he seems to have gathered a LOT more hate.
Although I really, really like the Age of Empires games and their spinoffs, I don't think I'll put any new iteration high on my to-buy list, seeing as they're such massive time sinks, and time to spend an awful lot of hours on gaming is something that I just don't have anymore.
Besides, I already have a MASSIVE backlog that I'll never even finish in this lifetime...
I personally think (and expect) that the statements made by Phil Spencer so far are simply meant to be politically correct.
They'll obviously honor past agreements/ongoing projects, so those will be the so-called "some titles", but anything else is fair game and will more than likely be exclusive.
And not just because of them having spent so much money on the 2nd biggest takeover in the gaming industry EVER...
@Medic_Alert Yeah, I know what you mean. That feeling of achievement was already there with ISS '98. I had the N64 version, obviously, but I suppose that was more or less similar to the PS1 version, although the sound/music would probably have been better on the latter.
Either way, back to my point: even on the N64, the Fifa games were already going for style over substance, what with the sponsored soundtrack being up front and in your face, and of course the licenses.
I literally spent hours upon hours editing player names in ISS, just so that I could play with the "real" players, so that scoring with them would feel more "as it should be" instead of playing with a team consisting of bastardized or non-existent names.
But other than that, it always felt more solid, more grounded in the game, as it should be. And fast forwarding to now, it certainly hasn't gotten better, what with all the micro-transactions and what not, only being able to get certain players by using such schemes.
And there's a lot of hypocrisy as well: legendary players are exempt from being banned from the game due to drug or alcohol abuse, or any other kind of controversy, but current players are. And some even for decidedly uncertain convictions.
@Medic_Alert I've tried several of the more recent outings on both my Xboxes (still on last gen, so the ones I tried are the Xbox 360 and Xbox One versions), but I just couldn't get into them. They always feel "off" to me, and I couldn't quite put my finger on it, until I read your comment and thought "yes, that's it!".
The last actually good Fifa that I played, was probably a Euro 20xx game on the GameCube. I always used to buy both soccer games all the time, so for example on the N64 I have all Pro Evo and Fifa games, but after that, I started to lean more and more towards PES.
I also don't like how they always have to add some new kind of gimmick to the game, instead of solely focusing on improving what's already there.
@101Force Dragonlance would be a dream come true for me, seeing as it has always been my favorite series. I've read practically all the (original) books and played most of the games.
@Medic_Alert I couldn't have described it any better. Nail on the head right there. Fifa is just a style over performance kinda game, not a footy game for the purists among us. Unfortunately, it'll never release its stranglehold on licenses and clubs, and it'll always remain the more popular game in the eyes of the general public.
I was tempted to select PGA, because it's still the best golf game out there, but ultimately I went for PES, because contrary to popular belief AND popular votes, PES is simply THE best football/soccer game there is. Fifa with all it's fancy shenanigans just doesn't even come close.
Hardcore footie fans will ALWAYS choose PES over Fifa, and they all understand why.
Ah, Phil... You still have my respect, but you kinda lost me there when you mentioned not "getting" the N64 controller...
As for people not buying the Wii and/or Wii U, I can understand to some extent people skipping those. The Wii was too inclusive if you will, trying to get EVERYONE and their granny to start playing video games, and sure enough, even in the care center where my grandmother used to live, they had a Wii in the main room next to the TV, so that certainly didn't garner much interest from core gamers who were either looking forward to a GameCube HD, or were already slightly disappointed with the whole GameCube era to begin with.
And then there was the Wii U, which was just a complete mess of mixed messages and horribly bad marketing, but at the same time, as a proud owner of both consoles, I can confidently state that those people that did skip those consoles, missed out on some truly wonderful and unique games and experiences.
The Switch has become somewhat of a Wii U repository of sorts, so the missing out of those titles has somewhat diminished, but there's still plenty of titles that were not ported and some titles that are just SO much better with two screens, that even a better looking or potentially smoother running Switch version still can't compete.
One of my personal favorites is LEGO City Undercover. Using the GamePad as police radio was simply brilliant and really added to the experience.
@Flurbdurb Aw man, you can't just post pictures of the Blades. I still miss them WAY too much. #thehurtisreal
All kidding aside though, I wouldn't even mind if there would have been an option to add the original Blade theme to current Xbox One/Series X menu. Or even to the good old Xbox 360. I'd put it back in a heart beat. It was so nostalgic and such a great moment to be an Xbox owner. Good times, for sure.
For the links to the programs mentioned in the video, just go to the YouTube page itself. Just give the video a watch, to see if you think you could easily perform the tasks mentioned, and if not, perhaps there's someone else in your family or circle of friends who might be able to help you with it.
@Odium Just check out 8 Bit Flashback's video about adding 300 games (yep, no typo: 300 games, although it's better to add considerably less, like 185 max, to account for enough space for save slots for all of them) to the SNES Mini and you'll see how easy it is.
@Odium Well, seeing as all of the Minis released so far, are super easy to hack, you can personalize them all you want. I most definitely did with my SNES Mini...
Haven't gotten around to modding the NES and the Genesis Mini yet, but in time, these will be personalized as well.
Grabbed it! Must have missed it the first time around. Probably had a week or so during 2017 in which I didn't have an active Live Gold account, because it didn't show up as a title that I already owned.
So, teaching your little one all about the classic video games huh? Good on you. Always nice to incorporate others into gaming history. Goes best with the very young ones as well. The older ones will just wonder out loud why the heck you'd even WANT to play such ugly and simple games...
As for Atari favorites: me and my cousin played a lot of Sky Dive, H.E.R.O., Pitfall, the infinitely wrong version of Pac-Man, Dig Dug, Sky Diver, Zaxxon, Combat, and River Raid as well.
Good times, for sure.
As for mini consoles: seeing as I never had a NES or a SNES (my first own console was an N64, before that I was locked firmly in the Amiga home computer camp), I bought both of these when they became available. And later on, I added a Sega Genesis Mini and a Neo Geo Mini arcade cabinet to the collection.
Here's hoping that more minis are on the way. I'm also still looking to get the PC Engine/Turbografx-16 mini. I also never had that one in real life, but I got to know it much later on, through emulation. Some pretty decent games are on there as well.
@Odium Ah, well, then we shouldn't be too far apart, age wise. (it's in my profile, in case you're curious) Personally, I started gaming on a Pong home console, on a portable black & white TV, and after that, we moved on to the Atari 2600.
Great times, all of them. But don't go and try to explain today's kids that you actually had fun and excitement while using a simple paddle controller to move a very basically drawn bat vertically across the screen, trying to bounce a square dot past the other player's bat on the other side of the screen. Let alone on a small, color-less screen...
@Odium It sure is. If you do decide to get it, I'll be looking forward to your findings/review/verdict. No rush, though, seeing as there's a LOT of stuff on there to watch and digest, even though by now, you'll probably know most of these old titles anyway.
Still fun to revisit, though. In some ways, it may very well have been the best console generation.
@Odium If you do, then I'm almost certain that you won't regret it. It's 4 DVD's in total (GameCube, Xbox, PS2 and PC) and all discs combined are guaranteed to offer many hours of unique show floor material, game videos, presentations and what not. It's like being there all over again...
@Dezzy70 Trust me, he's for real. If he were Japanese, he'd be Miyamoto's long lost brother. Not a single ambiguous word to be found in any of his speeches or interviews. It's just that even a captain of a ship can't control everything, so here and there, mistakes were made, but in general, I think they're still on course towards whatever end goal they're trying to reach.
And with Microsoft's deep, deep pockets, they'll reach it regardless of whatever may come.
@Dezzy70 Perhaps. I don't see that happening just yet. Besides Game Pass, there's still too much focus on the hardware side of things, and they also just recently confirmed getting the whole backwards compatible program up and running again, so I wouldn't even be surprised if we'll still see another console appear, after the Series S/X have run their course.
EDIT:
And Phil is not just a good PR guy or a friendly face. WAY more importantly, he's genuine, something VERY rare in almost any kind of business, because sales & marketing speak is more often than not laced with ambiguity and reading between the lines.
And I should know: I've been in IT-related sales & marketing for well over 16 years now. It's relatively easy for me to separate the bullsh***ers from the real people.
@Dezzy70 Yeah, kinda agree, but it's still weird. Initially, Phil was saying and doing (the essential part) all the right things, but of late, they're dropping balls left and right. It is annoying when they've made such great progress up to that point.
Oh, well. Here's hoping something good will ultimately come of it.
@Dezzy70 This is all the more puzzling if you take into account that on the previous generation, Microsoft actually had the upper hand in the Blu-ray player department, so why they screwed this one up is beyond me.
@Odium Well, even though chances are slim, stranger things have happened, especially of late. I for instance never expected a re-release of one of my other OG Xbox favorites, Stubbs the Zombie, and yet here it is...
Fun fact: I still own a limited edition E3 2005 DVD box that, among other things, features some of the earliest released footage of Advent Rising. I still watch it every now and then.
@Stonecarver No offense taken, so no apologies needed. You did misunderstand, though: what I meant was that the digital "freebie" doesn't add any extra value whatsoever, and doesn't feel like an added incentive/trigger to me to persuade me to get this controller.
I wasn't criticizing the controller but the free emote that you get with it. I just find it stupid, and a prime example of today's disposable society. The Fortnite crowd and such will probably be cheering wildly in favor of these kinds of offerings, but to me it means absolutely nothing.
I do like the controller, so I wouldn't need any promotional extras to persuade me to get it, and in my humble opinion, it also shouldn't be necessary to add anything extra. It's already a limited edition controller, so that in and of itself should already be more than enough of a promotion towards triggering the target audience.
P.S.
I'm in IT-related sales & marketing myself, so perhaps I'm also looking at this with a slightly different view compared to the average person. That might clear things up a bit more, perhaps.
@Hordak @Odium Well, that makes three of us for Advent Rising, then.Loved that game and I definitely wouldn't mind seeing it being added to the BC list.
@everynowandben Wow, these still work? That's actually a pleasant surprise. But you'd still need to view them on a TV or monitor, right? If so, then the comic book reader option is probably still the more user friendly option...
@Stonecarver Not dramatic at all, just kinda annoyed, is all. Admittedly, I'm in a bit of a mood these days, due to all the COVID restrictions and all, so that's probably seeping through as well.
But having said all that, I honestly don't see any added value in getting a free emote when buying a controller, much less see it as an added incentive to buy said controller, so to me personally there's no added value to it whatsoever.
Wow, the state of the f-ing world today: get a free, bloody useless and totally disposable, non-tangible "emote", when buying an almost $100 controller...
And that is supposed to persuade people? (shakes head in disbelief)
@everynowandben On a side note: I think I'm going to try and see if I can free up some time to play a bit of the first game this weekend, because even though I can agree with clunky gameplay, I don't vividly and/or specifically remember it having bad animations, although it also depends on what you specifically meant by that.
For now, I interpreted it as being stuttery, having a bad frame rate or something to that extent, but feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.
Comments 531
Re: Talking Point: Should Xbox Continue Its Games With Gold Initiative?
Just keep it around, but up the quality. I have no reason to want Game Pass, and no interest in it either, so why would I subscribe to something that I'd hardly ever use? Being able to play online with friends and the odd freebie is all I need, so I'm good with GwG.
And besides: I definitely HATE being pushed/forced into something, so that's never going to happen anyway. If they would simply stop GwG, then I'll probably just revert to a "silver" subscription, only playing solo and offline.
But having said that, if they fully integrate it into GamePass and we keep the free games, then I could probably be tempted to come to the dark side...
Re: Deals: All 30+ Classic Xbox Games In The Xbox Spring Sale 2021
@Trainer You're very welcome. I hope you enjoy the game. Pro tip: when you're playing, you'll collect energy for a so-called "event bar", which is displayed underneath the bumper of your car.
When it's blue, you'll trigger only minor events, but when it's completely in the red area and the bar is full, you will unleash hell on the competition, and entire parts of the track will change or collapse. It's tons of fun, especially when playing with friends.
Re: Deals: All 30+ Classic Xbox Games In The Xbox Spring Sale 2021
@FragRed Here you go, pal:
https://marketplace.xbox.com/en-gb/Product/Split-Second/66acd000-77fe-1000-9115-d802425607e7
And be sure to grab the free add-ons as well.
Re: Deals: All 30+ Classic Xbox Games In The Xbox Spring Sale 2021
To all arcade racer fans: if you don't own Split/Second yet, get it now. Seriously, you won't regret it, because it's one of the best arcade racers of the last decade.
Re: NieR: Automata Is Getting Review Bombed On Steam After Game Pass Version Makes Improvements
Pffff.... Yay to the human race and the wonders of evolution in combination with social media tech...
If only I actually had an ACTUAL Infinity gauntlet...
@nessisonett But why spend a whole 5 minutes to actually research things when you can revel for hours on end in your downward spiral complaining about it instead? Good times, aye?
Re: Industry Insider Expects Bethesda's New IP Starfield To Launch This Year
@NEStalgia Well, I most definitely didn't know about him from that long ago, so I'll have to take your word for it. I guess the Nintendo-related interview was just an entirely unique and solitary moment, then. And not one representative of how he apparently really is.
Then again: if the entire company is/was like that, he should have felt right at home and would never have had any incentive to leave, so you've then got to question what the hell happened behind closed doors for that to happen. Egos colliding? Anyway, accurate or not, I'm glad I only know him from Gears of War and the Zelda interview, and other than that, I don't need to delve any further into how much of an awful person he potentially is.
I've enjoyed the Gears games and I always enjoy people becoming just as giddy with childlike enthusiasm as me, when they talk about anything Nintendo or Zelda related, so I'd rather remember him for that.
On an unrelated side note: I read your comment in the other Bethesda article, about the ZeniMax board, and it definitely made me crack a big smile. On the other hand I also find it hugely annoying to see some people continuously grasping at straws and/or coming up with all kinds of weird theories and calculations about why Bethesda's games will/should stay multi-platform.
It's just not going to happen, because this is about the long game, not about a single generation, much less a handful of software titles. But I guess some sour or delusional Sony supporters will just never understand that.
Far as we now know, Phil Spencer will honor the contracts concerning games already announced for PS5 before all this happened, but other than that, it's up to him and Microsoft which games they will release on other platforms, if any.
With an almost record-breaking purchase like that, I'd dare to wager a bet that multi-platform releases will be VERY few and far between.
Re: Industry Insider Expects Bethesda's New IP Starfield To Launch This Year
@NEStalgia Funny you should mention our mutual friend, because that was exactly who I had in mind when I posted that part of my comment.
As for Cliff Bleszinski: I never saw him as always being a d-bag: ever since I saw him being interviewed at E3 quite a few years back, when he was still part of Epic Games, I saw a genuinely playful and enthusiastic glint in his eyes when he started talking about the Legend of Zelda games, when asked about his inspirations and childhood favorites. He came across as utterly sincere, respectful to Nintendo and open-minded. And seeing as that was my first impression of him, that is what has been stuck in my mind ever since.
Perhaps you missed that particular interview back then. Not that it was a must-see, but at least you'd understand my point of view on the matter.
Unless of course you wouldn't have believed a word he said...
Re: Industry Insider Expects Bethesda's New IP Starfield To Launch This Year
@NEStalgia I hope you didn't forget to mention to that first guy that Fable is made by Peter Molyneux (without the extra 'a' you added)
Ratchet & Clank is a kiddy game, though. Much like how people always say 3D Mario games are. And seeing as R&C is also kind of full of juvenile humor and things, it deserves that label even more so.
But that doesn't mean that they can't be great games: one label doesn't exclude the other, so people shouldn't really take offense at it largely being a kid-friendly game. It's not a grey-brown shooter after all...
On a side note: I do sometimes wonder where Cliff Bleszinski went wrong. He used to be this great, enthusiastic Xbox developer who also happened to be a MASSIVE Zelda fan and Nintendo supporter, but along the way, especially after he parted ways with his former employer, he seems to have gathered a LOT more hate.
Perfect description of Halo lore, by the way.
Re: Age Of Empires Event Coming Next Month, According To Industry Insider
Although I really, really like the Age of Empires games and their spinoffs, I don't think I'll put any new iteration high on my to-buy list, seeing as they're such massive time sinks, and time to spend an awful lot of hours on gaming is something that I just don't have anymore.
Besides, I already have a MASSIVE backlog that I'll never even finish in this lifetime...
Re: Video: Here's A Look At The Xbox 360 Blades Dashboard Working In 2021
Aw... not ANOTHER Blades article. Why all this torment? I still miss them dearly. I positively HATE the new Windows 10 look.
" ...often described as possibly the best user interface in Xbox history by veteran fans of the brand."
Possibly? POSSIBLY??? Ab-so-f-ing-lute-ly!!!
Re: Talking Point: What Do You Think About Certain Bethesda Games Being Xbox Exclusives?
I personally think (and expect) that the statements made by Phil Spencer so far are simply meant to be politically correct.
They'll obviously honor past agreements/ongoing projects, so those will be the so-called "some titles", but anything else is fair game and will more than likely be exclusive.
And not just because of them having spent so much money on the 2nd biggest takeover in the gaming industry EVER...
Re: Rumour: EA Motive Is Working On An 'Established IP' That Will Make Fans 'Happy'
It had better be a James Bond game...
And a good one at that.
Re: Major Nelson Teases 'Special Things' Planned For Official Xbox Podcast Next Week
@MarkD01 Ah, darn. You're right. Must have had more drinks than I thought this weekend...
Re: Pick One: Which Of These '2021' Xbox Sports Games Is Your Favourite?
@Medic_Alert Yeah, I know what you mean. That feeling of achievement was already there with ISS '98. I had the N64 version, obviously, but I suppose that was more or less similar to the PS1 version, although the sound/music would probably have been better on the latter.
Either way, back to my point: even on the N64, the Fifa games were already going for style over substance, what with the sponsored soundtrack being up front and in your face, and of course the licenses.
I literally spent hours upon hours editing player names in ISS, just so that I could play with the "real" players, so that scoring with them would feel more "as it should be" instead of playing with a team consisting of bastardized or non-existent names.
But other than that, it always felt more solid, more grounded in the game, as it should be. And fast forwarding to now, it certainly hasn't gotten better, what with all the micro-transactions and what not, only being able to get certain players by using such schemes.
And there's a lot of hypocrisy as well: legendary players are exempt from being banned from the game due to drug or alcohol abuse, or any other kind of controversy, but current players are. And some even for decidedly uncertain convictions.
Re: Major Nelson Teases 'Special Things' Planned For Official Xbox Podcast Next Week
@FraserG Erm... it's actually Larry Hryb, not Hyrb.
I'll see my grammer Nazi-self out now, thank you.
Re: Pick One: Which Of These '2021' Xbox Sports Games Is Your Favourite?
@Medic_Alert I've tried several of the more recent outings on both my Xboxes (still on last gen, so the ones I tried are the Xbox 360 and Xbox One versions), but I just couldn't get into them. They always feel "off" to me, and I couldn't quite put my finger on it, until I read your comment and thought "yes, that's it!".
The last actually good Fifa that I played, was probably a Euro 20xx game on the GameCube. I always used to buy both soccer games all the time, so for example on the N64 I have all Pro Evo and Fifa games, but after that, I started to lean more and more towards PES.
I also don't like how they always have to add some new kind of gimmick to the game, instead of solely focusing on improving what's already there.
Re: There's A New Open World Dungeons & Dragons RPG In Development
@101Force Dragonlance would be a dream come true for me, seeing as it has always been my favorite series. I've read practically all the (original) books and played most of the games.
Re: Pick One: Which Of These '2021' Xbox Sports Games Is Your Favourite?
@Medic_Alert I couldn't have described it any better. Nail on the head right there. Fifa is just a style over performance kinda game, not a footy game for the purists among us. Unfortunately, it'll never release its stranglehold on licenses and clubs, and it'll always remain the more popular game in the eyes of the general public.
Re: Pick One: Which Of These '2021' Xbox Sports Games Is Your Favourite?
I was tempted to select PGA, because it's still the best golf game out there, but ultimately I went for PES, because contrary to popular belief AND popular votes, PES is simply THE best football/soccer game there is. Fifa with all it's fancy shenanigans just doesn't even come close.
Hardcore footie fans will ALWAYS choose PES over Fifa, and they all understand why.
Re: Phil Spencer Says Xbox Could Never Have Designed A Console Like The Nintendo Wii
Ah, Phil...
You still have my respect, but you kinda lost me there when you mentioned not "getting" the N64 controller...
As for people not buying the Wii and/or Wii U, I can understand to some extent people skipping those. The Wii was too inclusive if you will, trying to get EVERYONE and their granny to start playing video games, and sure enough, even in the care center where my grandmother used to live, they had a Wii in the main room next to the TV, so that certainly didn't garner much interest from core gamers who were either looking forward to a GameCube HD, or were already slightly disappointed with the whole GameCube era to begin with.
And then there was the Wii U, which was just a complete mess of mixed messages and horribly bad marketing, but at the same time, as a proud owner of both consoles, I can confidently state that those people that did skip those consoles, missed out on some truly wonderful and unique games and experiences.
The Switch has become somewhat of a Wii U repository of sorts, so the missing out of those titles has somewhat diminished, but there's still plenty of titles that were not ported and some titles that are just SO much better with two screens, that even a better looking or potentially smoother running Switch version still can't compete.
One of my personal favorites is LEGO City Undercover. Using the GamePad as police radio was simply brilliant and really added to the experience.
Re: Random: Bizarre 'Test Game' Appears On The Public Xbox Store
Well, that's 50 seconds of my life that I'll never get back...
Re: Microsoft Reveals 'Mesh' Mixed Reality Platform, Compares It To Launch Of Xbox Live
@rjejr No, not really. Well, maybe subconsciously...
Innocent little me actually thought you might find this interesting, considering the train of thought we were already on.
P.S.
It wasn't because of dragging me into an NLife article, but into a Pokémon article. Pokémon, of all things! Especially the average comments section on NLife concerning that very topic: yegh!
Re: Microsoft Reveals 'Mesh' Mixed Reality Platform, Compares It To Launch Of Xbox Live
@rjejr I'll just tag you, to draw your attention to this article, seeing as we were already discussing similar topics...
Re: Random: Xbox Fans On Twitter Are Reminiscing About The Good Old Xbox 360 Days
@Flurbdurb Aw man, you can't just post pictures of the Blades. I still miss them WAY too much. #thehurtisreal
All kidding aside though, I wouldn't even mind if there would have been an option to add the original Blade theme to current Xbox One/Series X menu. Or even to the good old Xbox 360. I'd put it back in a heart beat. It was so nostalgic and such a great moment to be an Xbox owner. Good times, for sure.
Re: 'Can’t Drive This' Steers Frantic Co-Op Action Onto Xbox Next Month
How to lose all your friends in one week: play this game with them and then blame them for not being able to build you a road fast enough...
Re: The Deal Is Done, Codemasters Is Now Officially Owned By EA
"This is the beginning of an exciting new era"
More like the beginning of the end...
"EA, swallow EVERYTHING"
Re: Guide: Every Original Xbox Game You Can Play With Backwards Compatibility
@Odium Long as you follow all the steps exactly as mentioned, it should literally be a matter of less than an hour's work.
I've done it several times now, switching out games until I ultimately had the collection that I wanted.
I also kept all the originals on there.
Re: Guide: Every Original Xbox Game You Can Play With Backwards Compatibility
@Odium Here, saves you the search:
P.S.
For the links to the programs mentioned in the video, just go to the YouTube page itself. Just give the video a watch, to see if you think you could easily perform the tasks mentioned, and if not, perhaps there's someone else in your family or circle of friends who might be able to help you with it.
Re: Guide: Every Original Xbox Game You Can Play With Backwards Compatibility
@Odium Just check out 8 Bit Flashback's video about adding 300 games (yep, no typo: 300 games, although it's better to add considerably less, like 185 max, to account for enough space for save slots for all of them) to the SNES Mini and you'll see how easy it is.
Re: Guide: Every Original Xbox Game You Can Play With Backwards Compatibility
@Odium Well, seeing as all of the Minis released so far, are super easy to hack, you can personalize them all you want. I most definitely did with my SNES Mini...
Haven't gotten around to modding the NES and the Genesis Mini yet, but in time, these will be personalized as well.
Re: Xbox 360 Game Darksiders Is (Kind Of) Free To Claim Right Now
Grabbed it! Must have missed it the first time around. Probably had a week or so during 2017 in which I didn't have an active Live Gold account, because it didn't show up as a title that I already owned.
Re: Guide: Every Original Xbox Game You Can Play With Backwards Compatibility
@Odium Haha, yeah. Indeed...
So, teaching your little one all about the classic video games huh? Good on you. Always nice to incorporate others into gaming history. Goes best with the very young ones as well. The older ones will just wonder out loud why the heck you'd even WANT to play such ugly and simple games...
As for Atari favorites: me and my cousin played a lot of Sky Dive, H.E.R.O., Pitfall, the infinitely wrong version of Pac-Man, Dig Dug, Sky Diver, Zaxxon, Combat, and River Raid as well.
Good times, for sure.
As for mini consoles: seeing as I never had a NES or a SNES (my first own console was an N64, before that I was locked firmly in the Amiga home computer camp), I bought both of these when they became available. And later on, I added a Sega Genesis Mini and a Neo Geo Mini arcade cabinet to the collection.
Here's hoping that more minis are on the way. I'm also still looking to get the PC Engine/Turbografx-16 mini. I also never had that one in real life, but I got to know it much later on, through emulation. Some pretty decent games are on there as well.
Re: Guide: Every Original Xbox Game You Can Play With Backwards Compatibility
@Odium Ah, well, then we shouldn't be too far apart, age wise.
(it's in my profile, in case you're curious)
Personally, I started gaming on a Pong home console, on a portable black & white TV, and after that, we moved on to the Atari 2600.
Great times, all of them. But don't go and try to explain today's kids that you actually had fun and excitement while using a simple paddle controller to move a very basically drawn bat vertically across the screen, trying to bounce a square dot past the other player's bat on the other side of the screen. Let alone on a small, color-less screen...
It'll probably hurt their little brains...
Re: Guide: Every Original Xbox Game You Can Play With Backwards Compatibility
@Odium It sure is. If you do decide to get it, I'll be looking forward to your findings/review/verdict. No rush, though, seeing as there's a LOT of stuff on there to watch and digest, even though by now, you'll probably know most of these old titles anyway.
Still fun to revisit, though. In some ways, it may very well have been the best console generation.
Re: Guide: Every Original Xbox Game You Can Play With Backwards Compatibility
@Odium If you do, then I'm almost certain that you won't regret it. It's 4 DVD's in total (GameCube, Xbox, PS2 and PC) and all discs combined are guaranteed to offer many hours of unique show floor material, game videos, presentations and what not. It's like being there all over again...
Re: Next-Gen Comparison Highlights Blu-Ray Issues On Xbox Series X
@Dezzy70 Trust me, he's for real. If he were Japanese, he'd be Miyamoto's long lost brother. Not a single ambiguous word to be found in any of his speeches or interviews. It's just that even a captain of a ship can't control everything, so here and there, mistakes were made, but in general, I think they're still on course towards whatever end goal they're trying to reach.
And with Microsoft's deep, deep pockets, they'll reach it regardless of whatever may come.
Re: Next-Gen Comparison Highlights Blu-Ray Issues On Xbox Series X
@Dezzy70 Perhaps. I don't see that happening just yet. Besides Game Pass, there's still too much focus on the hardware side of things, and they also just recently confirmed getting the whole backwards compatible program up and running again, so I wouldn't even be surprised if we'll still see another console appear, after the Series S/X have run their course.
EDIT:
And Phil is not just a good PR guy or a friendly face. WAY more importantly, he's genuine, something VERY rare in almost any kind of business, because sales & marketing speak is more often than not laced with ambiguity and reading between the lines.
And I should know: I've been in IT-related sales & marketing for well over 16 years now. It's relatively easy for me to separate the bullsh***ers from the real people.
Re: Next-Gen Comparison Highlights Blu-Ray Issues On Xbox Series X
@Dezzy70 Yeah, kinda agree, but it's still weird. Initially, Phil was saying and doing (the essential part) all the right things, but of late, they're dropping balls left and right. It is annoying when they've made such great progress up to that point.
Oh, well. Here's hoping something good will ultimately come of it.
Re: Guide: Every Original Xbox Game You Can Play With Backwards Compatibility
@Odium Well, just in case you're seriously interested, here you go:
The eBay one does look a bit better, but also costs more, so I figured I'd put both links up and let you decide for yourself.
Re: Next-Gen Comparison Highlights Blu-Ray Issues On Xbox Series X
@Dezzy70 This is all the more puzzling if you take into account that on the previous generation, Microsoft actually had the upper hand in the Blu-ray player department, so why they screwed this one up is beyond me.
Re: Random: TikTok User Shocks Viewers By Painting Her Boyfriend's Xbox For Valentine's Day
"At least, that's what one TikTok user thought when she pained her boyfriend's Xbox One console."
She most certainly did pain his Xbox One, because that MUST have hurt...
Re: Guide: Every Original Xbox Game You Can Play With Backwards Compatibility
@Odium Well, even though chances are slim, stranger things have happened, especially of late. I for instance never expected a re-release of one of my other OG Xbox favorites, Stubbs the Zombie, and yet here it is...
Fun fact: I still own a limited edition E3 2005 DVD box that, among other things, features some of the earliest released footage of Advent Rising. I still watch it every now and then.
Re: Guide: Every Original Xbox Game You Can Play With Backwards Compatibility
@Odium Indeed. Would love to see what they could do with the story in a re-imagined form, but that will probably just remain wishful thinking.
Re: Grab A Pulse Red Xbox Series X Controller, Get A Free Sea Of Thieves Emote
@Stonecarver No offense taken, so no apologies needed. You did misunderstand, though: what I meant was that the digital "freebie" doesn't add any extra value whatsoever, and doesn't feel like an added incentive/trigger to me to persuade me to get this controller.
I wasn't criticizing the controller but the free emote that you get with it. I just find it stupid, and a prime example of today's disposable society. The Fortnite crowd and such will probably be cheering wildly in favor of these kinds of offerings, but to me it means absolutely nothing.
I do like the controller, so I wouldn't need any promotional extras to persuade me to get it, and in my humble opinion, it also shouldn't be necessary to add anything extra. It's already a limited edition controller, so that in and of itself should already be more than enough of a promotion towards triggering the target audience.
P.S.
I'm in IT-related sales & marketing myself, so perhaps I'm also looking at this with a slightly different view compared to the average person. That might clear things up a bit more, perhaps.
Re: Microsoft To Merge ZeniMax Into New Subsidiary Called 'Vault', But Only Temporarily
@NEStalgia Considering this latest update, you can now rest easy again...
Oh, and thanks for not tagging me in your reply.
Re: Guide: Every Original Xbox Game You Can Play With Backwards Compatibility
@Hordak @Odium Well, that makes three of us for Advent Rising, then.Loved that game and I definitely wouldn't mind seeing it being added to the BC list.
Re: Deals: All 30+ Classic Xbox Games In This Week's Sale (Feb 9-16)
@everynowandben Wow, these still work? That's actually a pleasant surprise. But you'd still need to view them on a TV or monitor, right? If so, then the comic book reader option is probably still the more user friendly option...
Re: Grab A Pulse Red Xbox Series X Controller, Get A Free Sea Of Thieves Emote
@Stonecarver Not dramatic at all, just kinda annoyed, is all. Admittedly, I'm in a bit of a mood these days, due to all the COVID restrictions and all, so that's probably seeping through as well.
But having said all that, I honestly don't see any added value in getting a free emote when buying a controller, much less see it as an added incentive to buy said controller, so to me personally there's no added value to it whatsoever.
Re: Grab A Pulse Red Xbox Series X Controller, Get A Free Sea Of Thieves Emote
Wow, the state of the f-ing world today: get a free, bloody useless and totally disposable, non-tangible "emote", when buying an almost $100 controller...
And that is supposed to persuade people? (shakes head in disbelief)
Re: Deals: All 30+ Classic Xbox Games In This Week's Sale (Feb 9-16)
@everynowandben On a side note: I think I'm going to try and see if I can free up some time to play a bit of the first game this weekend, because even though I can agree with clunky gameplay, I don't vividly and/or specifically remember it having bad animations, although it also depends on what you specifically meant by that.
For now, I interpreted it as being stuttery, having a bad frame rate or something to that extent, but feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.