IDK I'm not a big Microsoft shill but look at the studios they are closing. Hellblade was ok but it was never going to move millions. That is ok but you have to have a tight budget and get the thing out on time and turn a profit.
SOD they haven't released a game in a decade. Their not making the next Skyrim or Fallout SOD 2 was fun after a ton of patches but it wasn't earth shattering. One of the keys to resting on your laurels is you have to have laurels in the first place.
After looking at the Blade news their over budget and behind on the schedule. I'm sorry that would be unacceptable in almost every for profit business the only place there are no consequences for that is the public sector.
I liked Phil but he was a piss poor manager ABK wasn't the downfall its not holding these guys to the fire.

My rant is over but just look at one other example avowed when they advertised it they said it was their Skyrim then they went long on time and didn't deliver anything close to that experience.
I'm sorry Microsoft has the right to say times up hippies deliver something viable. This is why you need a guy in the room that's not some crazy artist type. A guy that will say sounds great how much is that going to cost and how long is it going to take? Dreamers are great but they need to be constantly reined in.

what's the game in the picture?

couldn't care less now due to the fable nonsense

@BacklogBrad 100% agree they took the cowards way out. fable should be one or two in reasons to buy an Xbox like the first fable was. instead of blitzing TV with adds and saying we have a hero to stop those GTA criminals they said we'll just wait till there is no one to face.
I understand GTA is going to be huge but take it on.

@Fiendish-Beaver do you really thing GTA would even affect fable? I have no interest in GTA to much foul language to play when kid is awake. Fable though I'm stoked for

@Tasuki I absolutely love the changes to d4. I started with the launch story and am going to work my way through it I'm lvl 36 on the paladin now. He is really fun to play and ya the new skill tree system is so much better.

@RiverGenie I'm loving the paladin my problem with diablo 3 and 4 is when they launched I didn't care for the classes. in 3 the crusader fixed that and in 4 the paladin is awesome.
my guy feels like capt america or thor from the avengers especially with some of the sound effects.
I started the game from the very begining again just to get a refresher.

playing crimson desert still! and the fabulous paladin in diablo

greedfall was good also

@Lup they made technomancer and 2 games that started with an e elex I think right. I really liked those crazy jank but honestly fun.

@ILuvGames @Tasuki I only played through the first dungeon then I hit a wall of tiredness. however, the new skill trees are awesome.
don't quite understand how to progress the season stuff but I'll figure it out.

@FraserG thanks and no worries. you are def allowed to have a life.

@Tasuki ya after I installed it there was another update. I wish it would have just done it all at once

@RiverGenie @FraserG two questions so it's 6pm here in central time is it out now? and I have always wondered if I do at @fraserg just like that does it work or do I have to do @FraserG for it to work?

I'll be playing windrose and crimson desert. maybe a little wwe 2k 26 I couldn't get it refunded so I have to do some major grinding to get the nwo guys who I paid for to unlock. stupidest season pass yet def last 2k game I ever buy GTA included.

@darylb24 I really enjoyed the game. I did not know they were making a second one.

@HonestHick I liked the one I bought the launch edition and then the scorpio edition.
but the paying to borrow games from your friend and the tv nonsense

@HonestHick @Fiendish-Beaver again I don't really care who started it or who gets credit. what I do care about is the tone from mcsft towards the box has changed.
I hope they continue down this path.
I'm Xbox through and through starting with the OG. I'll never give up but they need a cognisant long term plan that they are going to follow through on.
I honestly thougt the Xbone marketing at first could never get out done but this is an Xbox raised the bar.
I hope their new long term plan is to kill it in the console division.

@ilyn honestly I don't care who is making it happen. I think Xbox became dangerously close to zune levels of extinction and they seem like their righting the ship.
@we will really never know * hope they continue on the new course.

@Fiendish-Beaver I agree with you to a point. I do think she is having an effect maybe phil was to nice and she's just ill sick my ai terminators on you if you don't agree.
Or Sarah was the devil a PlayStation mole that tried her hardest to ruin Xbox.

@abe_hikura I love the base game idk but it's what I was expecting from them it exceeded all my hopes and dreams for it. the one area I didn't like or understand was the loading screens.
after all the changes they have made I'm loving the game even more.

OG Xbox, Xbox 360, Xbone, Switch, Xbox scorpio, Xbox series x, all worth it minus xbone

@Rob3008 the bosses are tougher the regular mobs are arpg like. however once you learn how to block and dodge the bosses have movements that you can learn. I only really struggled on one guy and I think that was more due to space limitations.

@Titntin I feel like between desert and fable my gaming time is already spoken for this year.

@FarmDog08 the loading times make such a huge difference that darn elevator on citadel was a killer.
the first was always my fav. Andromeda comes in close second I just reloaded it on the x but with crimson taking my time who knows when I'll get back to it.

@Titntin ya it's a blast
I'm playing crimson desert and putting in hard wood floors in the office. got the old carpet ripped out and the room spackled and repainted. working on the floors now.

@Bob_Tempura ya I have to agree the way they have listened and reacted in a positive way is pretty amazing by today's standards.
I have 3 days total time played and still haven't felt any boss was terribly unfair and I stink at souls like combat.
The gorilla boss in the first main city was rough at first then I sat down and just watched and waited for my openings and got through it.

@VeganH so I'm going to counter one thing. the Xbox controller is 100000 times better then the PlayStation controller to me anyhow. the PlayStation controller is uncomfortable.
of all the consoles it goes Xbox, switch pro controller then ps5 controller.
maybe the dual sense is somehow fancier in what it does but the actual layout of the controller is terrible.

to be clear I'm Xbox for life but I just don't understand the swing all the sudden.

so this is my question. Was phil mia managing Xbox or was all the bad things Sarah bootys fault? I don't understand why all the changes now?

might be the worst nickel and dime game I have owned trying to get a refund.

@IOI I use the Xbox PC app a ton with the rog and my pc it is terrible. up till recently if you tried to download a game like starfield it could take days.
it has gotten a lot better but they used to treat it like the red headed step child!

@Titntin @RiverGeni I agree with Titntin synopsis I haven't come across anything else except that one thing. I failed it like 3 times then just really focused and hitting the timed part makes a major difference, but I also mashed like crazy for the last try. I'm never doing it again though.
I hope they add a hold button down feature.

@datamonkey here's the thing though it has a story and so far it makes sense. it's 1000 times better then bdo in that department. there is no choices kliff does what he wants but I understand what's going on.
the side quests have really good acting and their stories make sense.
the last quest I did before calling it a night had a coherent rich in detail quest.
I would say it's more akin to a diablo story then a chose your own adventure story. you're heavily railroaded

@Aniscape lol poor npc. thanks I'll try fishing tom. just got my but kicked by reed devil. going to bed with the taste of failure.

@Aniscape can you explain the fishing thing pretty please? I hear you on the fable thing if this keeps me occupied till the great.

@Tasuki totally agree i play grim dawn or diablo 3 with out them.

@awp69 I agree on that arm wrestling thing I for a few scarry moments thought I was totally stuck.
I would give it 9/10 so far.
the bosses o have fought so far have been really enjoyable I was a little worried about them being to hard for me and other then one being a cake walk as long as I go in prepared they have been perfect difficult. they can def kill me easily but I have not felt them being unfair.
I did run into these weird crab things on the side of a cliff that drop abysmal stuff they are tough sons of guns.

@Tasuki I play the first one with my wife and six year old. it's right up there with mario brothers in the group family friendly tons of fun category.
super excited for this next one.

@RiverGenie so take this with grain of salt but that was the only qte I came across that was hard so far. I am just not going to do the arm wrestling going forward I don't need that stress on my hands. I hope they ad some accesibilty features soon.

@RiverGenie there is an arm wrestling spot very early in the game that requires some crazy button mashing. the timing part wasn't to bad but the button mashing I thought was going to stop me in my tracks. I don't think you can advance without beating the guy.
it's mash x the hit a on time at certain intervals.

@IOI ya I just unlocked the camp I am having a ton of fun. I really am surprised by how well it performs and the story has actually been decent so far. right now I could see getting a lot of hours out of it.
score wise 9/10 for me currently fishing being broke cost it 1.

crimson desert and having a blast. the music is so good.

I couldn't figure it out I tried a bunch of steps. so I just caught a bunch by hand. cooking for the win.

@IOI @Aniscape have either of you guys had any success in fishing I think the reel in control is busted.

I had great performance on the x. so far the story has not been really disjointed like I was expecting. the inventory has also not been as bad as it was made out to be. Maybe it gets worse.
I do like having to learn things like actually find the merchant before they show on the map.

enjoying it so far. runs great in series x. going to try the rog tom just to see how it does.

@fatpunkslim that's funny ac origins and Odyssey are 2 of my fav games, but I just can't get into anything that they made after due to ubi fatigue

@Nightcrawler71 a trusted reviewwr I watched did say some bosses are tough, but that you can leave and comeback and he made a comment about cooking enough food to handle the challenge idk. I'm a little worried about the boss fights too I'm just not good at souls like combat not saying it's to that level.

I know I'm in the minority here, but starfield is such a good game. some of the quests are so good and most are really good. I enjoyed the terramorph quest chain and some of the other random stuff like getting a job or being a debt collector so much fun.