Not really. Nothing of this generation has been "worth the money." And I bought my Series S and Series X consoles years ago back before Trump became president again, tanking the economy and causing Microsoft and everyone else to raise all their prices.
Sony has long been a rip-off, and while the original Switch couldn't be considered because it is practically antique at this point and nowhere near close to what could be considered anywhere close to the "current" generation, Nintendo really came out and blew away all the competition with the reveal of the Switch 2 in terms of thoroughly ripping their customers off.
From this point on, I don't think anything will even be "worth it" from now on. Might as well consider getting a mini PC for my main TV and install RecalBox or Batocera on it; I do not like the direction modern gaming is going at all. And that includes everything from hardware/software prices to game design of modern games themselves.
That is a bullsh*t answer and is nothing more than an excuse. You're developing for a console; not PC. If Xbox cannot support the game, then keep it on PC and forget about it. If you are going to develop a game for console, assuming it is even feasible to begin with in the case of a native PC game, then you need to develop it within the constraints of that hardware. If you cannot do that, you do not release the game on that console at all. It's really not a difficult concept to grasp, and developers and publishers have been successfully making business decisions on the platforms that they can and are willing to support based on the specs of the hardware for literally decades on a case by case basis.
This non-answer does absolutely nothing to sway me towards spending a penny on this game.
@DennisReynolds Iwata was a Japanese man working for a Japanese company which has to abide by Japanese law, and Japanese laws are much nicer to employees than other countries. You wouldn't see the same thing happen at Nintendo of America--ever--that's for sure. And that is because in most places, the law doesn't require it.
That future Microsoft was working toward... where the new Xbox is just an upgrade over the last, like upgrading a PC, is here. Only, I don't think anyone expected the old Xbox to continue on as old as it has, effectively competing with the latest and greatest. But here we go... not only does the system have among the greatest backwards compatibility through emulation and enhancements spanning multiple generations--its "forwards compatibility" appears to be pretty damn good as well.
I have both a Series S and a Series X, and even I sometimes wonder why--I mean, hell, I still have my Xbox One X and it still not only works so well, but it is still so relevant today. I think Microsoft really just knocked it out of the park with that one, and the lines between generations really are blurring.
I don't miss it but at the same time, although I am a Game Pass Ultimate subscriber, I am not a fan of subscription services in general. When they can offer you what they want when they want, and if you didn't know about it, you missed out. Games with Gold was worse in the sense that you only had a couple weeks to find out about and claim a game, but just bad as Game Pass in that if you stop making payments, well... it's all gone, poof, away with the rest of the service.
Games with Gold or Game Pass, I always just buy outright the games that I want. I don't like playing their stupid little games of teasing "ownership" behind some paid service.
@Banjo- The reason I brought up Windows/PC versions of these games being available is because the Xbox itself--being a Microsoft console--runs a version of Windows with DirectX, so if Square already did the work to port it to PC it's not like they'd have to do a lot to get it on Xbox.
It's upsetting that Octopath Traveler 2 and the Final Fantasy Pixel remasters won't be on Xbox, but at the same time it's semi-understandable in that JRPGs probably don't sell the greatest on the console and, I'll admit, playing them on it just somehow feels out of place. Also, companies have chosen their platforms to develop and release their games for since the very beginning, so the fact that a major Japanese company chose to sit out on its latest JRPG releases shouldn't come as too much of a surprise. They're in it for the money, and if they didn't feel their past releases did well enough, it doesn't matter what you want them to release their games on. Still, it couldn't have been that difficult to just whip up a quick port (after all, they're on PC), and the fact that they're on literally everything else is concerning.
As for Oxenfree 2... who cares? I'm not interested in that game on any platform. It not releasing on Xbox doesn't affect me in any way.
I'm only just now starting to enjoy the benefits of 60 FPS gaming. To be honest I often just stick to 4K with a lower framerate, because even games running at "lower" framerates these days play a lot more fluidly than most anything in previous generations. Sonic Frontiers is so far the only game I decided to play in 60 FPS/performance mode instead of 4K/resolution mode so far; in most cases the framerate is good enough as is these days and I'd rather make use of my TV's full resolution if I can.
I didn't know that a game running at a locked, fluid 30 FPS as intended on weaker hardware of the generation was an "issue." Although to be fair, I don't see why the Series S shouldn't be able to run the game at 60 FPS, it's not exactly the most graphically-intensive game out there. I would like to see them patch a 60 FPS mode in if possible, but if not it's no big deal--play on Series X if you really want the best out of gaming.
It certainly needs to be an option like it is on the more powerful consoles though. If the system can't run the game at a nearly flawless 60 FPS, and worse, struggles to hit it or even stay close, then making 60 FPS the default and only mode would be a very bad thing. As it is, it runs and feels great on Series S. I think Sega likely did the right thing here, as long as it's not just an oversight.
You can't just slap a framerate target of 60 FPS on there and call it a day. It has to actually run good.
Normally I am okay with a solid, but lower, framerate. However, not in this case; not for systems that have barely even been on the market for even two years, haven't even got close to being maxed out, and whose "next-generation features" proudly include 4K@60FPS among their highly-coveted features that that they use to to try to persuade you to spend anywhere from $300-500 to upgrade from the previous generation. Some of which, to this day, are still hard to find in the wild (PS5, Series X in many cases...).
Give it maybe another 5-6 years, when the systems are on easily within the second half of their market life; when they have been pushed to their limits by several AAA games, and are really starting to reveal their limitations in the real world. Only then will a target of 30 FPS be even the slightest bit acceptable on a console whose marketing literally promises 4K/60FPS.
Think a transition period... the time period when the Xbox Series X|S and PS5 are approaching the end of their marketable life and the launch of their successors are imminent.
Comments 13
Re: Talking Point: Do You Feel You've Had Value For Money With Your Xbox Series X|S?
Not really. Nothing of this generation has been "worth the money." And I bought my Series S and Series X consoles years ago back before Trump became president again, tanking the economy and causing Microsoft and everyone else to raise all their prices.
Sony has long been a rip-off, and while the original Switch couldn't be considered because it is practically antique at this point and nowhere near close to what could be considered anywhere close to the "current" generation, Nintendo really came out and blew away all the competition with the reveal of the Switch 2 in terms of thoroughly ripping their customers off.
From this point on, I don't think anything will even be "worth it" from now on. Might as well consider getting a mini PC for my main TV and install RecalBox or Batocera on it; I do not like the direction modern gaming is going at all. And that includes everything from hardware/software prices to game design of modern games themselves.
Re: Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 Dev Explains Why The Game Can't Be Downloaded In Full
That is a bullsh*t answer and is nothing more than an excuse. You're developing for a console; not PC. If Xbox cannot support the game, then keep it on PC and forget about it. If you are going to develop a game for console, assuming it is even feasible to begin with in the case of a native PC game, then you need to develop it within the constraints of that hardware. If you cannot do that, you do not release the game on that console at all. It's really not a difficult concept to grasp, and developers and publishers have been successfully making business decisions on the platforms that they can and are willing to support based on the specs of the hardware for literally decades on a case by case basis.
This non-answer does absolutely nothing to sway me towards spending a penny on this game.
Re: PSA: Microsoft Is Discontinuing The Xbox Game Pass Mobile App In November
Good riddance. It is clunky, a waste of screen space, and just plain dumb to have two apps for one game console. I will not be sad to see it go.
Re: Prince Of Persia Dev Explains Why Sands Of Time Remake Is Still Two Years Away
So... will we have to get used to not owning our games by the time this one is finally released?
Re: Phil Spencer On Recent Studio Closures: It's About Running A 'Sustainable Business'
@DennisReynolds Iwata was a Japanese man working for a Japanese company which has to abide by Japanese law, and Japanese laws are much nicer to employees than other countries. You wouldn't see the same thing happen at Nintendo of America--ever--that's for sure. And that is because in most places, the law doesn't require it.
Re: Talking Point: 10 Years Later, Would You Consider The Xbox One Era Officially Over?
That future Microsoft was working toward... where the new Xbox is just an upgrade over the last, like upgrading a PC, is here. Only, I don't think anyone expected the old Xbox to continue on as old as it has, effectively competing with the latest and greatest. But here we go... not only does the system have among the greatest backwards compatibility through emulation and enhancements spanning multiple generations--its "forwards compatibility" appears to be pretty damn good as well.
I have both a Series S and a Series X, and even I sometimes wonder why--I mean, hell, I still have my Xbox One X and it still not only works so well, but it is still so relevant today. I think Microsoft really just knocked it out of the park with that one, and the lines between generations really are blurring.
Re: Talking Point: Three Months Since It Ended, Are You Missing Xbox Games With Gold?
I don't miss it but at the same time, although I am a Game Pass Ultimate subscriber, I am not a fan of subscription services in general. When they can offer you what they want when they want, and if you didn't know about it, you missed out. Games with Gold was worse in the sense that you only had a couple weeks to find out about and claim a game, but just bad as Game Pass in that if you stop making payments, well... it's all gone, poof, away with the rest of the service.
Games with Gold or Game Pass, I always just buy outright the games that I want. I don't like playing their stupid little games of teasing "ownership" behind some paid service.
Re: 'No Xbox' Begins Trending On Twitter As Another Game Skips The Platform At Launch
@Banjo- The reason I brought up Windows/PC versions of these games being available is because the Xbox itself--being a Microsoft console--runs a version of Windows with DirectX, so if Square already did the work to port it to PC it's not like they'd have to do a lot to get it on Xbox.
Re: 'No Xbox' Begins Trending On Twitter As Another Game Skips The Platform At Launch
It's upsetting that Octopath Traveler 2 and the Final Fantasy Pixel remasters won't be on Xbox, but at the same time it's semi-understandable in that JRPGs probably don't sell the greatest on the console and, I'll admit, playing them on it just somehow feels out of place. Also, companies have chosen their platforms to develop and release their games for since the very beginning, so the fact that a major Japanese company chose to sit out on its latest JRPG releases shouldn't come as too much of a surprise. They're in it for the money, and if they didn't feel their past releases did well enough, it doesn't matter what you want them to release their games on. Still, it couldn't have been that difficult to just whip up a quick port (after all, they're on PC), and the fact that they're on literally everything else is concerning.
As for Oxenfree 2... who cares? I'm not interested in that game on any platform. It not releasing on Xbox doesn't affect me in any way.
Re: Feature: 120FPS Is Quickly Becoming A Game-Changer On Xbox Series X
I'm only just now starting to enjoy the benefits of 60 FPS gaming. To be honest I often just stick to 4K with a lower framerate, because even games running at "lower" framerates these days play a lot more fluidly than most anything in previous generations. Sonic Frontiers is so far the only game I decided to play in 60 FPS/performance mode instead of 4K/resolution mode so far; in most cases the framerate is good enough as is these days and I'd rather make use of my TV's full resolution if I can.
Re: Talking Point: What's Your Favourite Thing About Xbox Series X|S After Two Years?
The library. More specifically, backward compatibility.
Re: SEGA Responds As Sonic Frontiers Suffers Performance Issue On Xbox Series S
I didn't know that a game running at a locked, fluid 30 FPS as intended on weaker hardware of the generation was an "issue." Although to be fair, I don't see why the Series S shouldn't be able to run the game at 60 FPS, it's not exactly the most graphically-intensive game out there. I would like to see them patch a 60 FPS mode in if possible, but if not it's no big deal--play on Series X if you really want the best out of gaming.
It certainly needs to be an option like it is on the more powerful consoles though. If the system can't run the game at a nearly flawless 60 FPS, and worse, struggles to hit it or even stay close, then making 60 FPS the default and only mode would be a very bad thing. As it is, it runs and feels great on Series S. I think Sega likely did the right thing here, as long as it's not just an oversight.
You can't just slap a framerate target of 60 FPS on there and call it a day. It has to actually run good.
Re: Reaction: Is 30FPS Good Enough For An Xbox Series X|S Game?
Normally I am okay with a solid, but lower, framerate. However, not in this case; not for systems that have barely even been on the market for even two years, haven't even got close to being maxed out, and whose "next-generation features" proudly include 4K@60FPS among their highly-coveted features that that they use to to try to persuade you to spend anywhere from $300-500 to upgrade from the previous generation. Some of which, to this day, are still hard to find in the wild (PS5, Series X in many cases...).
Give it maybe another 5-6 years, when the systems are on easily within the second half of their market life; when they have been pushed to their limits by several AAA games, and are really starting to reveal their limitations in the real world. Only then will a target of 30 FPS be even the slightest bit acceptable on a console whose marketing literally promises 4K/60FPS.
Think a transition period... the time period when the Xbox Series X|S and PS5 are approaching the end of their marketable life and the launch of their successors are imminent.