Weebleman

@HelloCraigo best of luck man.

@Millionski this year's one seems a bit of a quick fix to test the waters but it's not for me. I'd prefer a straight up xbox handheld in the vain of the vita (rip) than a reskin of one that's already out. Plus, rog ally isn't exactly cheap so I'm not sure i see the point to be honest. Feels like a bit of a cash grab until a better, refined thing comes along.

Appreciate the response though my man

So this will just be a rog ally with an xbox advert on it, not an xbox handheld, as you can already do all of these things on an existing rog ally.

Thats a pass from me. The 2027 one is the one ill keep my eye on.

It's kinda depressing that it feels like MS screwed the pooch to the point they just decide to ignore a generation and move on.

I'm all for new tech but can anyone really say they used what we all bought to it's full potential?

I'll hang fire for more details. There's been rumours and reports on rumours, yet everyone is now throwing out things in this thread like they have the exact details of the system. They don't. Nobody does outside of MS. Let's wait and see what's coming and, more importantly, what it costs.

A TV friendly PC is great but it all comes down to cost. If you want an all singing box under there, then you best start saving.

If you go for a budget PC at a console price then it's pretty pointless.

Then you have to look at letting folks access other store fronts such as steam, epic, gog, etc... Buying from these literally cuts off any money from the sale from MS.

So many questions that only time will answer I guess. My money is the next xbox will be a handheld and a streaming box.

@IOI while done a different way you get the same result. Just open an account registered in Turkey, japan or another country, set the console as your main, buy a localised psn voucher and you can buy games cheap as chips and play them on your own.

Not that I condone this behaviour, of course.

I suppose this was a bubble that would inevitably burst at some point. I know of many folks both on Xbox and PSN that purchase from other store fronts and save a fair amount.

Xbox one 2013

Xbox series X 2020

A month or so ago they had signed off on the specs and now there's dev kits? I just don't buy this one bit unless it's a portable using the same dev kits.

The drums were my go to. I have a feeling there's zero chance of getting a new kit though.

I had to delete this game as i would probably have ended up losing my job, family and home to the 'just one more run" urge.

@Cakefish the problem with this is while subs are up 30%, revenue from subs was actually down.

This means that others have dropped the sub otherwise revenue would increase in line with the sub increase. Not saying numbers have dropped, they are likely still plateaued around the same.

Edit: correction, revenue from services actually increased but only by 2%. So while subs went up by 30% on PC, revenue was 28% less. So they clearly lost subs somewhere or the revenue would show much higher/similar growth. Likely this will be balanced out by folks subscribing short term to play a game and then not resubbing.

Gamepass is still clearly bringing money in, but the 1 billion a quarter is revenue that doesn't deduct costs. Would be interesting to see what the actual figure is with development costs, etc... deducted.

Just for reference: https://gamerant.com/xbox-game-pass-revenue-record/

@themightyant oh there's no denying the value if you use GP a lot, even at full price. It just makes me chuckle when the more feral of supporters don't give them any money for it.

while I absolutely agree you should use every loophole, i never understand when people sing about the value of gamepass when they aren't even paying for it. Of course it's good value if it's free, but I kinda think it's part of the bigger problem.

@Titntin even if by some miracle it did turn up next year, I highly doubt it will stem the current trends for them. Without even considering the exclusivity of games, at present folks are just building digital libraries on the machine they have at the minute. Another console may hold a game they want but its an uphill struggle to get them to fork out for a 2nd box for a couple of games or, alternatively if they only buy one console, walk away from their libraries.

Like you, I've been gaming long enough to hear all the 'biggest generational leap' talk a million times. We've reached a point where there are no generational leaps anymore in consoles. They need strong features these days and even then, are they enough to make people leave their library. As long as Sony make it clear that all your games go with you, then folks will buy whatever comes next for them. It happened last gen when xbox dropped the ball and we are seeing the results of that this gen.

I will definitely pick up whatever xbox put out next (the handheld talk has my eye) but i think it's gonna be more or less the same sales patterns as we see now.

And hey, as long as they keep making games, we'll keep playing them. Just maybe not in the places we thought at the start of this gen.

@dreadful The amount of money COD makes on other platforms pretty much guarantees it will always remain on them.

@Millionski as an aside, it's nice to have a good conversation about these things on here for a change without the usual accusations from some.

Appreciated my man.

@themightyant 100% agree that Sony need competition. The last thing we need is an arrogant Sony phase again

@GuyinPA75 if sexy Julian gets involved that console will sell like a sh*t bird flying to the liquor store

@Millionski really? I thought he was the opposite. I'd be curious to hear his and @themightyant think. @fiendishbeaver what say thee

@Millionski I'd go late 27. They haven't even designed it yet, just signed off on the tech in it

@Millionski never gonna happen with the stage it's at

@Millionski there's no way we get next gen boxes anytime soon. It was reported recently that the new box had been signed off at the very early stages. That ain't arriving for a few years yet

@Cakefish a lot happened in the last 12 months that hit people right in the wallets.

Edit; also worth noting jan 2024 was a five week sales period. Jan 25 was 4 weeks. Wont make much difference but it will a little.

Let's be honest, nobody likes spending in January and I'm sure most purchases will be done the month before for christmas

@Fiendish-Beaver I was just reading that on EG. It sheds a very different light on the info that was given yesterday

@Millionski the simple answer is because that's where the majority now have their digital libraries after the last gen. The majority of purchasers (casual folks) simply won't drop it for GP

@TheEstablishment while I don't necessarily disagree, it just saddens me that as gamers we are all celebrating revenue rather than games.

The fact everybody now refers to Xbox as a brand and not a console tells you everything you need to know.

As a brand it is flying, as a box it it is not.

One thing that stood out to me in the quote is they say games can 'be played on any screen with Xbox'. They refer to Xbox as an entity here rather than an item (eg. any screen with 'an' Xbox). Which makes me think all these games are gonna be going everywhere. Which is cool as I'd be down for playing some on the switch 2 when I grab one.

@fatpunkslim at this point I just read your comments in absolute wonder at the somersaults.

@MonsterMike I read the first sentence of your comment, glanced at your profile pic and all I can here is that sentence being said in the same tone as 'let the boy watch'.

I could see them releasing an xbox only version of GP on PS/Switch as its current format simply won't fly. Either way, it's clear that we are likely going to be saying day and date on everything with newer games now that the strategy has been confirmed. If that keeps xbox around then it's no bad thing.

@fatpunkslim I’m not defending anyone bud, you said…

‘ Well, it's a practice that everyone did, but not at the same level as PlayStation, which has always played a lot on ambiguity.’

And I was just curious how you landed at that when they both do exactly the same. I’m not fussed what the games on as I have them both, so it literally holds no bearing to me as I can play any game I want regardless of the box that runs it. I was just trying to understand your logic is all.

Edit: you also mention marketing for COD. Didn’t Xbox have the previous marketing agreement prior to Sony. Xbox also had timed exclusivity for dlc maps. Again, they both do the exact same thing.

Also, GTA 6 isn’t out and no marketing has been announced.

@fatpunkslim im interested as to how the level was different when Xbox events only say Xbox and ps events only say ps? I mean, to me, it seemed exactly the same on both sides of the coin. Curious to understand how you thought one was more so.

@PsBoxSwitchOwner it's weird that games getting an average of 70's or 80's are classed as bad games. Just silly logic. These folks must miss out on so many good games because another person's opinion doesn't match their own.

@Hurblyburbly basically some folks think games get a review scores lowered because it's on xbox/gamepass.

Utter nonsense.

@OldGamer999 you should be good with 60 in vrr. They said performance mode has some cut backs visually (things like lumin reflections, foliage, etc...) but it didn't seem to be anything that would put me off if I'm honest.

Performance is up and down at 60 but no issues with vrr

@OldGamer999 digital foundry recommend the 40fps mode but, if i remember correctly, you have a vrr tv so you should be golden.

These are both day ones on ps plus as well, which is unusual to have them arrive on both subs.

@Fiendish-Beaver I'm a big fan of 40fps as you get all the bells and whistles of quality mode at a much more smoother frame rate than you would expect from an additional 10 frames.

@Kaloudz that could be a solid spot there my friend. Solid spot indeed.

@Tyrant_T103 they didn't say they were exclusive either. That's how these things work for any of the box makers

@Ricky-Spanish I know what you mean. It just feels off. I'm loving the setting and music of this one and like you, I will probably switch the stop motion effect off from the get go.

Never understood why folks preload a week in advance. I get it when someone has a slow connection speed but for others, couldn't you do it the day before and use the storage for something else you can play in the meantime?

@Ricky-Spanish I'm unsure on it myself. Looks lovely in the cutscenes, I'm just not sure how I feel about it in actual gameplay.

@Ricky-Spanish apparently there's an option to turn off the stop motion and let it run 'normal'. You can also turn off the fights completely which feels a bit like they aren't really needed.

Looking forward to this though as the setting and mood is right up my street.

Looking forward to this one. Not 100% sold on the stop motion gameplay but cutscenes look lovely with it. It's nice they let you turn it off though and choice is always welcome.

40fps is my go to option when it's available so it's good to see another game using it.

Not sure this is gonna be one for me but I hope it turns out well for all the folks looking forward to it!