TheOldHunter4K

As of today, my Ultimate has lapsed, so will be going through the 3 recently re-released Yakuzas and Baldurs Gate 3, all on PC.
I had an offer for £300 and account for series X from someone but said no as I really want a console for GTA6, big TV gaming. Yes, just for that.

Not surprised at all.
I would be interested to see what the actual sales figures for series s/x compared to PS5 for festive season.
I'd bet less than 20%.

I would be very glum if Xbox was my only way to game.

Some good points made everyone, both for and against the future of Xbox.
@Fiendish-Beaver makes the most sense.👍🏼
I want there to be another Xbox, certainly.
Same as another playstation.
Cos competition is healthy.
But time and again Microsoft SEEM to be doing everything it can to kill it's own sacred cow. Whether that be low levels of stock, ultimate price hike, and more.
I would like to know the amount of PS5 sold against Xbox these last couple of months, I bet it's a huge gulf.

The PS5 and Series X will very likely be my last consoles, whatever the next generation is pricewise and specs.

To quote someone above, console gaming on ANY platform just isn't the same as it once was.
For many factors.

So glad I recently got a great PC before the RAM price gouging.
That's where I'll lay my hat.

Influencers.

To not be yourself, not give your honest opinion, whether something is utter garbage it must be hyped no matter what.
For clicks. For payment.

One of the lowest common denominators of social media.

Reminds me of Comical Ali, Muhammad Saeed al-Sahhaf. Look him up.😄

Dodged the price increase in autumn by a matter of days it seems.
Bought 32gig of DDR5 that now, for exact same chips are at least £80 dearer, some even more.

@Fiendish-Beaver
Really good. Everything just works. New or old. Max 1440p for sweet spot, everything on max or ultra, doesn't challenge it. Only thing I hope to get soon is a 32+ inch monitor, got 27 at mo👍🏼
Got it from overclockers, didn't mind paying over the odds for pre build. £1300. Though the same rig has gone up £50+ on there now.

Consoles have been the most, of my gaming time. 2026 will be very different, as has the last 3 or 4 months since getting my PC, cheaper games, by a lot, (or free).
Giving up the convenience of gaming on the sofa to the PC in the spare room, worth it to me.

@Brigurugi
Spot on.
Downloaded day one, gave a good few game a go, then deleted.

There's retro and there's tat.
Unfortunately, the bulk of what's on there is the latter.

Played a bit, got bored double quick of the filming mechanism, the beginning interaction with the whiny mum didn't help.

Deleted it and read the plot on Wikipedia, ah, thought so, a rip of some of Stephen Kings stories, Tommyknockers, Needful Things, also a bit of 2000AD.

But there we go.

Dispatch, 2 chapters to go.
Then start Lost Records at some point.

Some good some bad and some ugly.

Biggest what the hell was the; my name is, my name is, my name is... Agent 47.

Wuchang Wabbit looked cool.
And that Souls clone.
Both paid games.👍🏼

Other than that, nothing I would even consider buying or downloading on GP.

E33 is a great great game.
Story, controls, graphics, sound, everything. The tale it tells, grown up writing, I call it.
Well deserved win for a new and relatively small developer.

If Rockstar keep being Rockstar, yes, it could be delayed, and delayed again.

Anti union, mass sacking of developers, management hubris etc.

@Gabrie
I agree, partly.
£23 a month, £276 a year is definitely a luxury spend.
Loaded are selling 12 month Ultimate codes for just under £119.
That's just under £10 a month.

With all the extra gubbins, THAT price makes it 'worth it'.

And compare THAT lower price to the other 2 platform offerings, it blows em away.

Cool, not a bad selection, 3 or 4 decent ones I'll play.👍🏼
The rest, just filler.

Couple of rounds of BF6.
Given COD a swerve this year.
Ghost of T on the PC, where also got Dispatch to start.

Oh, and 2 more episodes of 1883 to go, great series.

For those that haven't ever played it, and this is your first time, in my opinion one of the best games I've ever played in me over 40 years of gaming.
Great story, characters, setting, everything.
And to go in playing it in the best state, (possibly), I hope you enjoy as much as I did originally.👍🏼

I got my Series X for £350 from CEX, 5 year warranty, boxed, perfect condition, they now priced at over £410 for same.

Time this goes on sale, my PC will be a year old, and the Steam Machine will still be a much lower spec, and the PC isn't a top of the range beast as it is.

I reckon it'll release for £550.

Cyberpunk got released in a bad state cos management and shareholders rushed it.

GTA being delayed is cos management/owners have been sacking the devs en mass.

Tad different.

It's just ok. Completed it last weekend.
Won't be doing NG+.

It's not an option on the survey, but my answer is "yes, I will play it for free at some point on PC" 🏴‍☠️🦜

Finished ninja 4 earlier this afternoon that was just ok, a bit of the new map on BF6 this evening, that's been good.
Outer worlds 2 on the series X and ghost ofTsushima DC on PC, both not been started.

It was good, well, ok.
Played it for free on PC a couple of months ago.
Just not a fan of the constant backtracking, need a key go get key, repeat. Gets in the way of a great story.
Just my opinion, don't have a poo because of it.

Exclusives are moot with a PC with means to access these titles.

Gamers reaping the benefits of the price hike. FFS.
While I'm at it, seems I was right about the day one dross starting.
Have you seen the games coming up in next couple of months, 90% mobile tat.

Also, cannot agree more with Loaded deals.👍🏼
I believe they are selling Turkish codes.
That work in UK and rest of Europe.

Could be wrong.

Xbox game > Push square > Xbox tax

As others above have mentioned, they do a review, positive comments, deduct the tax, (1 or 2 points), score given.

Cool, I've never played zero in me puff, so that'll be good. All other remakes have been excellent.

After reading the hyperbolic review on this site, I watched Linus Tech Tips' review, amongst many others.

https://youtu.be/_XhDRAq4YO8

Long story short, not an Xbox in any sense despite the branding, and way overpriced.

Mass effect trilogy, red dead 1 and 2 all naughty dog stuff, Witcher 3...twice.

Gta5, half life 2....thrice.
.
.
Bloodborne NG+7

I'd pretty much agree with review and score, the campaign was good/ok, the multiplayer is as good as was hoped from the beta... No, it's better actually.

And yes, turn off cross play.

Got it for less than £50.
Campaign is ok, like the others, not excellent and not crap.
MP is exactly as I want it to be.

I'm happy.

As we're talking about Gamefarce, it's definitely worth noting that Loaded com are selling 12 month codes for £125, anyone thinking of staying on that tier, that is a great deal, just over a tenner a month, I'll be getting a year of essential for £40 in January.

Anyway, back to the plot, I fear it's all indie-like stuff from what seems like basement coders in the horizon, blops7, ninja 4 and outer worlds 2 have been on the 'coming soon' for many months. They have to really pull something AAA out in December, or at the latest January, otherwise it strongly confirms it''ll be 75 day one releases of 16 to 32 bit-a-likes.

There have been some very good games this year, as many of the varied comments above attest to.
Despite all the negative, such as pricing of GP, the very future of Xbox as a console brand amongst others, it's still all about the GAMES.
So, to pick just one.. oh the pressure...

Erm

MINDSEY3.

I got BF6 for less than £50, so I'll be playing that for the foreseeable from Friday.

It'll finally be a reason to put the Series X back on for some couch play in quite a while as me gaming PC has taken up all gaming time for a couple of months.

Most of 'em will be c grade dross.
I reckon 1 'big' game a quarter, the rest... Pah.

As of right now, this AM, Loaded.com are selling 3 month Ultimate codes for £36.

If any of you are thinking of staying on Ultimate, £12 a month is quite a bit cheaper than Microsoft's £23 a month mugging.

EDIT: check out shopto, they have a LOWER price than Loaded, as of 8am.

All things considered, I've slept on it and MAY drop down to Essential in the new year, IF I stay subscribed. £40 for the year, just over £3 a month.

Ultimate, with all the 'added extras' holds no interest to me, even at £12 a month.

Though that £40/£3.33 price will probably change before January I'm sure.

Been a shed load of comments here, and none of them positive, as rightly so.✊🏼

Here's a number crunch for you....

Xbox top tier in the UK is gonna be £276 a year.

Playstation top tier is £120 a year.

That's a difference of nearly 79 percent.

Now, unless PlayStation put a massive price hike on, and soon, It's a hard ask to say that all the new unwanted gubbins and access to games day one is worth such a difference.

What say you all?

@Fiendish-Beaver
As far as I'm aware, you have to let your current subscription expire, wait a day, then you can join again on any tier.

I'm sure someone else will chip in if not correct.

I'll see what the UK price for 3 month Ultimate is on loaded.com as I never pay direct for it, so usually it's a 30(ish)% discount on full price.
If it looks unreasonable once Loaded put their prices up, which they'll have to, I may tune out entirely.
I have until 9th January to decide, by then I'll have had 3 months of what the 'new' Ultimate has to offer, though on first look, I don't feel confident.

No real loss as a gaming PC and FitGirl has become my go to for gaming.

Unfortunately, for me, the only words that spring to mind with a large proportion of Gamepass games is... Direct to video.

And yes, some people loved direct to video releases.

@Fiendish-Beaver
Good point about stores/codes.
I buy keys from them for the odd bits n bobs. For example, last week I got Infinite Wealth for less than £20, for the deluxe version. (Steam.). Far as I could tell, that is nearly 3 times that price on the other 2 main console storefronts.

Will start playing later this evening.
Bought it late yesterday.
Passed me by when it first came out
Only £9, and I really enjoyed RoboCop.
A relatively smaller studio than some others, but one that has a lot of love for the period and the films they're based on.

Yeah, I wouldn't be surprised if it's on Gamepass within the next 3 months.
But I just finished Wuchang and thought this'd do as an immediate change of pace.

@EdgarTheBug
I didn't see a single belly button.

I'll get me coat.

I'll give it a go, if it has a lot of sliding around, it'll be uninstalled double quick.
Turn off cross platform for an even playing field, same as BF6 beta, which I've enjoyed thoroughly.

Actually, that's what was missing from the recent movie Warfare, sliding around.. FFS.

As someone above has mentioned, it'd be better if it came with a rechargeable pack.
You pay X for a pad and then 20 quid on top for the battery packs, official ones anyway.
I've got 2 pads with the high capacity venoms, they last for ages before charging.
Using AA's isn't very green and surprised MS still pushing from a non environmental perspective.
(Just off to me tyre incineration factory)

Enjoyed what I've played, been in since 9am launch, BF3/4 vibes, turned off vignette, film grain etc, balanced played better for me as performance had screen tearing on Series X.
Vehicles, environmental destruction, large maps oh and not sliding around on yer arse, dressed as Butthead like COD, FFS.

I probably won't buy it day one, as it'll have a load of map packs and extras trickled over the first year, and be on sale within 6 months if that.

Wuchang......on GAMEPASS!!! 🎣🎣🎣

Same as above.
Series X, me.
Prioritize frame rate, no screen tearing or judder.
Honestly think that Push square 'mini review' was a bit dismissive.
Maybe because their target audience has to pay for the game, whereas on the other platform, it's on Gamepass.
Having both systems, I will of course play on the platform where I'm not forking out £50+.

All in all, good game👍🏼

@IronMan30
They do indeed, just over 1.5%.
And JPMorgan have over 5% share.

Won't change a thing.