Titntin

@cragis0001 Ive bought PS5 games from digtal retailers at a discount? I always buy my psn store credit for a minimum of %15 off.
It wouldnt take long to show regulators that those deals are available, but I assume they are looking at something slightly different..

@HonestHick Id be gratefull if you have a source on the 16 billion offer for valve, as your quite right, Ive not seen that.
It strikes me as a pitiful offer tbh, given the size of the market valve controls, but doesnt mean it didnt happen and Id like to read more.
I do spend every day reading game biz sites and developer websites in addition to the normal news outlets, so I do try and approach tthese conversations with some knowledge. Im at least not willfully ignorant 😊

@AverageGamer I'll state catagoricaly that this is definitely not their plan.
They are never entering a software selling market hoping to nickel and dime a profit from hardware. No way on earth thats a Microsoft position.

@HonestHick Thats because you are telling people something you dont know.
This is surely a place where people can discuss their thoughts and ideas as adults. Theres no need to think people who have different thoughts are giving you backlash, I dont understand your frustration.
I hope you are correct, but I fear you are wrong. Surely thats not unreasonable to state in a comments section under a rumour story?

@themightyant
Maybe, but I dont see that. Their stated aim has been to grow their own storefront on pc and mobile. Giving steam on your hardware ensures very few would use it imo.
Plus they would be giving away 70%..they only get 30% of what another store would sell.

@cragis0001 Unless the EU want to chase Sony and Nintendo for the same situation, then a point made in an old investigation is not likely to put Microsoft off, is it? They sold the bulk of this gen as digital, with no options of where to buy and I dont see any regulators calling foul?

I still dont see why they would do this as no one would buy from them.
Dont get me wrong, as a long time steam user it would make me more interested in the machine, but Id still take a bet it wont happen.

@PJOReilly 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

My fave was avowed and Id rate that an 8 myself.
Indy was a good game but gave me motion sickness so had to be played in small doses.
Doom seems excellent and might be my highest rated, but Im early in the game, so I cant rate it yet.
These are all good games though, none are a huge flop.

Always happy to see whats coming, whats not to like?

Keeping my expectations in check mind you, Ive never felt they were the amazing 10s that many people have in the past, but MS shows have been good and Im hoping that continues.

Ive had a visitor overnight, so Ive not been able to play much apart from a few Forza Horizon 5 races. Been watching F1 today, but now thats finished maybe some Doom, if not its Expedition 33.

Hope you're all having a great one!

Really enjoying it. No platforming, double jumps and all the stuff I disliked in the last title. I can play this without having a spinning head and it feels meaty and more reminiscent of the the og doom games I loved so much.
Im early in my playthrough, but it feels like a good 8/10 title to me and Im happy to be playing it..

@HonestHick Thanks for that! I hadnt heard those rumours, so its been interesting to hear.
Im not so sure I believe them mind, I dont think steam is likely to be for sale or be valued that low, but never say never, crazy stuff happens. I didn't didnt think theyd buy ABK only to publish everywhere either, but here we are.
Completely agree that Store Fronts are where its at, which is why I didnt think they would side load steam on new machines. Irrespective of how I feel as a consumer, its interesting to watch all these positions emerge and be discussed.

Oh, and yes Id heard something about a potential new Sony handheld too. As you rightly suggest, Id skip that one too 😊

@PJOReilly I still havent played the dlc! Im not sure I understand why 🤷

This isn't my favourite genre as my reactions are getting shot, but this is a great list, and the ones Ive tried are clearly good games even if they are beyond me 😀
Mind you, Elden Ring is an all timer for me and I platinumed that so Im not immune to the charms of the genre!

@Cakefish Lol, neither of us really know mate. Industry knowledge doesnt help you guess that much.. I just know MS brutally follow the path to maximum profit!

@Cakefish
Maybe you like to assume rumours are true, but having seen this business unfold since it started, and having twenty years as a top dev myself, I know that rumours are just that and are more often wrong than right.
It's clearly not profitable for microsoft, so it will clearly not happen. They are not making hardware platforms so that others can make the bulk of the profit.

Obviously neither of us have an inside line on what's happening, but I would just say that I've followed Digital Foundry since its inception, have had several in person talks with Richard in the late 90's and can show you many times when they have gotten something wrong or made the wrong assumption. They are excellent in terms of their technical acumen, but they have proved many times they are not always correct when it comes to rumours.

Time will tell of course, and as a steam user myself I'd like to be wrong. But unless MS cut a partnership with Steam, which is highly doubtful seeing as they are laser focussed on developing and promoting their own store fronts, it just won't happen.

Lets park this for now and we can return to it in the future when one of us can say 'I told you so!' 😊

@Cakefish The whole point of having a hardware platform is to take your cut of the software sold on it. Having steam on your platform will inevitably mean you'll never sell on your own store and would be commercial suicide. I can't see that happening, and as a steam user, I'd like it very much...

@FraserG Thanks for the reminder Fraser, maybe that one will be the TV PC I'm hoping for
Failing that, as long as no games are locked into the eco system I'm all good anyway, and could finally ditch the controllers I dislike and that my wife won't use

I genuinely think MS are making a huge mess of this. Those of us wrapped up in this business will always understand the offerings, but for more casual buyers, having too many offerings and platforms is more of a turn off than an on, and it's hard to see how these ideas will help the hardware turn its fortunes around. ATM it seems like 'tick every box and product and see what sticks'. The fact that no one from Xbox has explained what their strategy is for the future is a bad sign imo. Again though, I hope I'm wrong and they know exactly what they are doing...

I don't use handhelds and restricting their hardware so it can work in a handheld mode simply means I won't buy a new Xbox.

I hope this is not true, but if it is, then at least I don't need to buy anything more from Xbox as they will no longer offer 'state of the art' gaming - unless of course you like gaming handhelds, in which case this might make you very happy.

Ive enjoyed some excellent games on the series x, and game pass has ensured Ive spent very little to do so.
I buy my 3rd party games on ps5 though, which I prefer and play most, but Im glad I have a series x as my game pass machine.

Great to see the ongoing support for the game.
But surely Avowed was a once and done game? I did everything in my first playthrough, and thoroughly enjoyed it, but I dont feel the pull to return?
Still this is great for new players. Im glad they worked on the fog of war clearing - it became tedious running back and forth across the map every 20 ft, just to get the fog of war on the map cleared properly 😄

The claymation animations and aesthetic are as wonderful as ever.
Perfect gp game, as Im not convinced enough to spend money! 😄

One of the true greats, it was worth full price and at this price everyone should play it....

Only a couple of titles I would want to try here, so I still intend to unsub after doom. Its £90 for the rest of the year and there is no value in it for my tastes.
The advantage of MS forcing me to pay monthly is that I'm not committed and once I've played the titles I was interested in (been good for last 6 months) I can drop it. Subnautica 2 is the only title I think I'd play, but I can own the title for lot less than the sub.

@Fiendish-Beaver Congrats on getting your collectors edition! You must have quite the collection at this point
I was a big fan of the original game too - I still had reflexes and enjoyed shooters at that stage! I remember modding the original with Samples from 'the Simpsons', and how much fun we had playing that version on games nights... happy days.

It would appear that this one is slowed down a little and I'm very keen to try it as I might really enjoy it if it's a little less 'spinny'. This is where GP shines for me as I can try it now and buy it if it turns out I'm enjoying it and playing it with no issues..

Just one of the many reasons I dislike Microsoft - I preferred it when the Xbox division had some autonomy, but those days have gone.
They are not the only ones who do this, but its another classic example of why capitalism is only there to feed the wealthy.

Not without some compelling software.
I dont use portables ever, and as a docked machine its offering the chance to play old games in a worse technical state than I have already. Mario kart world and the donkey kong game are its got right now and I dont need to play them yet.
Once we get lots of nintendo bangers, it will have more appeal to me.

No way I buy a Borderlands game for £80, no way in hell.
Might consider it when its flopped hard and been sold for £25, but Ill happily just let it drift by.

I bought this but cant play it in its current state. Fortunately, theres a ton of other titles competing for my time, so hopefully this will be in a better state once im free...

As a campaign GOW2 is really hard to beat...

@Ricky-Spanish Im sorry? I dont think I understand your question?
I havent said im bothered by other people enjoying expedition 33 as well as myself, indeed Im delighted its been such a success, especially for a smaller dev team.
If Ive implied otherwise I certainly didnt mean to.

Not my type of game, but Ill enjoy checking it out on GP anyway!
Maybe Ill get hooked 😊

I shall try and finish off Expedition 33, which Im enjoying and glad I bought, but dont love in the way so many people do.
Im looking forward to returning to AC Shadows, which I was enjoying very much.
For some light relief, I shall be racing in Forza Horizon 5 on the ps5 pro. Ive put hundreds of hours into it on Xbox, but racing with the subtle feedback on dualsense and racing without the annoying pop in @ 60hz has been a treat, and I can race with my wife who has her own pro and disliked playing with the xbox controller.

Also waiting for Doom on GPU, which has had an amazing 6 months!

Whatever you are playing this weekend, I hope you have fun!

Congratulations to Microsoft gaming, by buying the biggest dev houses in the buisness they are now producing some of the most loved titles in gaming.
To make decent money on that, they need to sell everwhere and their own platform becomes a sacrificial lamb to chasing shareholder demands. I think thats a shame for xbox, but if you are rooting for shareholders profits, maybe thats sucess to you.

Sony make plenty of money, record profits in fact, from people selling games on their platform. Thats the point in having a successful hardware platform. They are getting 30% of everything sold, for zero funding or risk. Im sure they are more than happy to take that money no matter whos selling...if its sold on a playstation, its a sucess story for Sony.

Ive no problem with both MS and Sony making plenty from Microsofts 3rd party publishing strategy. I just wish MS wasnt screwing its hardware platform over in order to achieve it.

@Ricky-Spanish Yeah this will look phenomenal on all platforms Im sure!

@Ricky-Spanish It was confirmed by Rockstar that it was captured on og ps5, not a pro. Be interesting to see what additions they add to the pro...

@RadioHedgeFund You really didnt see much then. They stated quite clearly in the trailer it was all captured on a ps5, so your speculation about it being on a high end pc is nonsense.
However I have sympathy for your viewpoint on the game itself, so far it seems more of the same and that they have not broken the mold..... Ill still take it, Rockstar make open worlds better than anyone else.

For those waiting for a handheld, this will no doubt be exciting.
However, when you consider the entire handheld pc market (including steam deck) is about 6 million, it becomes clear this is a very niche product, and its not something I would want mysef. 36w TDP is impressive though...

Whats more interesting to me, will be the software os and how the interface is handled as this might give us an indication of how they would configure a TvPC such as many of us expect to be the next xbox...

Excellent. Im very much up for this, I remember the first game with a lot of affection 😀

Noted the ps5 release.... Weird still to think of it on playstation...

Loving the game. I did buy it despite having GP, but mainly as my wife wants to play this game as well so I bought elsewhere.
Playing these sort of games on GP is exactly what the service is all about!

@Cherip-the-Ripper I was really enjoying it and Im real keen on getting back to it, but I put it to one side to play Expedition 33.
Im not sure that was the right choice tbh as Im not as enthused with that title as everyone else seems to be!
If you are tired of the open world ubi formula, AC Shadows wont change your mind despite a little tinkering with the way your goals are presented. But Im enjoying the story and the stealth and its an amazing setting - Im just enjoying being in the world 😀

As a console games pass machine, the Xbox is the only one, so its easy to recommend if you consume lots of different games and are happy to sub.
Its harder to make a case for it now if you consume less games and tend to buy your games. If it has no exclusives, it makes more sense to have a ps5 if your not gonna sub to Game Pass.

With GP having been particularly good lately, having a great console to play it on is a no brainer and still worth.

Expedition with a bit of Forza 5 again. So much to play!

Whatever you are playing this weekend, I hope you have fun!

@GuyinPA75 Yeah, £7 a month for core to play online. You get some old titles to play which might be a draw for someone? Online is not my chosen way to play, so I could manage without.
But Xbox is my GP machine, I dont buy games in this eco system (except fh4), so without gp my series x would be an fh4 machine.
£20 per month is probably my limit for regularly subscribing, and I'd guess maybe an uplift for uk would be £19.99, so hopefully I'll still get to use my xbox!

@donv2135 "if in that case go ahead and go to pc instead of flip-flopping"
I've had a £4k rig for years. I dislike playing games on PC and very rarely do. Far prefer consoles.
If I do anything, I'll dump Xbox and just continue with our two PS5 pro's, which will play all titles and offer the best performance on console.
I'd rather Xbox were in the fight though...not Microsoft Gaming.

@andrewsqual It never was. I bought two of them

If they jack up GP prices again it will just make it easier for me to dump it for good. I don't want to play many of their titles like COD or Stalker 2, and I buy titles I really want like Expedition 33 and Oblivion remaster,so it's just not worth it.

Typical Xbox - gets lots of things right and starts to make progress, so shoots itself in the foot again. SMH.

Hey we're making much more money now, so lets put prices up by ridiculous amounts.
Not a good look.
Next GP price increase incoming?

If you like city builders, don't sleep on Anno 1800. I played it when it got added to the PS service and was surprised by just how good it was...
Never liked COD and pretty sure I never will, but I hope people enjoy it.

Great result! It shows what acquisitions and publishing elsewhere can do for the money flow, and the PC GP subscriber increase must have been a really pleasant surprise.

Much as its good for Microsoft, I'm not sure this is good for Xbox in terms of the hardware platform, but I'd be happy to be wrong on that.