Weebleman

Not sure why the last one got removed as I absolutely was not flaming or arguing anymore than the other persons comments who remain; but I was just highlighting that using figures from 2025 for Microsoft and then using figures from 2023 onwards for Sony makes your argument falter as its not a like for like comparison.

Happy new year

@fatpunkslim I mean id be interested in the data but it seems to just link briefly to your file and then straight to porn. Id probably remove that mate and get a proper one.

@Master_Cthulhu70 care to break down that booming eco system they got going when next to nobody is buying into it?

@themightyant apologies you got dragged into the silliness. Hope all is well with you and the family.

@fatpunkslim I repeatedly said there were highlights which were outweighed by negatives.

By all means, run the spreadsheet my friend. Happy to have a look.

@fatpunkslim there is a huge difference in stating what you percieve as facts and actual factual statements.

Id argue that the blinkered view you hold means you view these 'facts' through a slightly distorted lense. Seeing the good and bad as a whole benefits everyone and makes people/companies push to be better.

The other facts are that MS now puts all its games on rival platforms. This would not happen if they were succeeding. This is confirmed by Phil Spencer previously stating to Parris in a tweet that he chuckled when he saw Parris had figured out their plan. For clarity, the statement Parris made was 'you dont spend 7.5 billion to not make them exclusive' in relation to Bethesda. They are now shipping tentpole franchises - Gears, Forza and Halo - on the box they paid 7.5 billion, and 79 billion in terms of ABK, to keep games off.

They doubled the price of gamepass and locked day one releases behind the highest tier. This would not happen were it succeeding to planned levels.

Their console sales fell off a cliff which likely led to the consequences detailed above. As Phil said, they lost the most important generation, meaning the one where people built digital libraries.

Their new 'premium' box is likely going to cost a fortune due to the ongoing ram crisis. This will affect everyone, but only MS are positioning their console as a premium box that already had expectations to be close to a grand. This is speculation. Just to clarify the difference with facts.

While it may appear that I dump on MS, i actually enjoy what they put out. I like games as opposed to the box that plays them or the company that provides them. Competition breeds innovation and we reap the benefits of this. Yet it factually has not been a good year overall for MS/Xbox. There have been some lovely highlights, but unfortunately they appear to be in the minority this year. Hopefully its a different story next year.

Happy new year to you and yours to my friend and, as always, good health to you to.

@Darylb88 yep, gamepass is panning out so well they just had to double the price of it and lock day ones behind a top tier.

Going swimmingly over there 👍

@fatpunkslim let's just call it there my man as I cant keep up with the gymnastics.

All the best to you and yours.

@fatpunkslim they laid off 15,000 people dude and shut some highly established, and frankly, highly regarded, studios. Compare that to Sony laying off around 1600 and its apples and pears.

All redundancies suck to be clear, but to say its blown out of proportion is an insult to those affected by them.

@fatpunkslim They all get negative press, but xbox had a lot more this year. Sony and Xbox shuttered and canned things throughout the year (lest we forget the debacle of Concord), yet every week was something for xbox.

For every negative xbox sales update, Sony/nintendo mainly recieved a positive sales update. The PS5 Pro price was soon put aside when MS increased a 2tb series x to cost even more.

The indiana jones going to PS5 articles, Forza going to PS5, etc... while all positive for a publisher (Microsoft games), it is not positive for xbox in the slightest.

I know you will never agree. Ive seen you spinning things faster than a windmill on the Scottish coast during my time here, so i expect no different here.

On a side note, hope you and yours had a good Christmas (if you celebrate), or just a nice break if not.

And let's be honest, if it was going as well as planned these games wouldn't be cross platform and gamepass wouldn't be doubling in price.

I dont think this is a positive thing at all. The bulk of articles are price rises, lay offs, poor sales, games going cross platform, etc...

Articles were folks were saying they arent being stocked in places and articles denying these articles.

You'd have to be pretty blinkered or just a pure fanboy to think this has been a good year for them. As demonstrated above.

Merry Xmas all!

Folks are getting real heated over this one i see. Both decent games for me. GT7 is the better one imo but that doesn't mean FM is a bad game.

Absolutely awful news. Just not words. RIP

@Markatron84 every article should just be titled 'GAMES' from now on 😂

@swedetrap its weird as I struggled with Tsushima yet, after absolutely burning myself out on AC Origins to the point I couldn't bare 5 minutes of any that followed, I really loved Shadows.

I havent played Yotei yet because GoT was a struggle to get through for me, but I do intend to try it at some point. Lovely game to look at, it just felt a bit copy and paste with the battles, settlements and side quests (for me personally).

Not to say that any are bad games or your opinion is wrong, of course. The fact we all like different things makes the world far more interesting.

Aren't they just 'Games' as opposed to xbox games? I thought this was going to be about highest rated xbox games, or is there another article on the way as we head to the new year?

If not, I think i have an idea for article to pop out before new year... 😂

GT7 in Vr is one of the most phenomenal racing experiences I have ever had in a game. Its just unbelievable.

Saying that, it does saddens me that FM basically got left to rot as its a wonderful game.

Imagine a world where Microsoft had budget constraints.

@Fiendish-Beaver man, im sorry to hear all what happened to you and for the loss of your wife. Always remember you have friends on places like this and im glad you found gaming, otherwise I wouldn't get to read your posts on it. Raising a glass to you and yours my man.

@ZeD Its more of an action game than a souls like according to the developers. Devil May Cry was thrown out as a comparison if I remember rightly.

Subtle amazon... real subtle 😂

Its pretty crazy that its took so long to have this in the app. Glad its there now though.

@OldGamer999 Quadruple A!

Next year... again.

My personal game of the year is Death Stranding 2 but I really hope Split Fiction picks something up.

Im also aware Clair Obscura will clean up though.

I mean, he cant exactly turn around and say 'no' can he.

@Fiendish-Beaver I just read it, apologies sir. I was scrolling while waiting for the kids to come out of school and threw my 2 cents in.

Never long winded mate, well thought out and explained clearly is how i read your posts.

Each sale is someone entering a competitors eco system. Once they see the games they buy carry to the next system, they ain't gonna walk away from them.

Now when you say it ended up working out amazingly well for Microsoft...

@themightyant its still part of the project. Just looking at a multi platform release apparently, which is not a bad thing and hopefully we see more of this for the China project stuff.

@ThCajunAsian exclusives and consoles were important for xbox right up until they didnt generate enough sales of the console. Then its all about the players and no walled gardens waffle. Anyone that buys into this being xbox's plan all along is absolutely blinded by brand loyalty.

@fatpunkslim I think you are missing his point.

Also, it isnt +45% in subscribers going up. Its just the percentage of subscribers using streaming. This could be for 5 minutes, 5 hours, 5 days, who knows.

@Fiendish-Beaver's point is that without the detail, it means nothing. And hes right.

If thats 45% of the current userbase it means nothing as its zero growth. Words are the only thing MS are able to produce more of at the minute because its a constant stream of drivel from their execs.

@Striker21 The problem is that while folks wait for the new xbox to launch, more and more are building a digital library on PS. Selling the console is a small challenge for MS compared to getting folks to walk away from their library of games. As soon as they here they can carry them over, they will go where they can keep using them.

What a game. Absolutely loved every minute of it.

Ooooooooo what a palaver

@Tasuki good old Pete. I always forget he ended up at Liverpool FC. A winding career path if I ever saw one.

@Tasuki I always find it funny that xbox were all about exclusives, even buying up publishers and literally saying they would make their games exclusive, right until it didnt move the needle on sales and subs.

Now suddenly exclusives dont matter and they want us to believe they did it for us because they're good people.

Utter utter nonsense.

Insert LOUD NOISES gif

DS2 is my personal game of the year but fully expecting E33 to get its flowers across the board.

Surprised Split fiction or Indy isnt in for game of the year. Split Fiction was superb. I bounced off Indy but I know it’s very well thought of in most circles.

@Lup i mean, calling them a fanboy is just as short. I just meant that once folks start using terms such as pony and xbot they get tarred with the same brush as those they are trying to highlight as its fanboy lingo.

Like I say, I dont disagree with your point as im pretty sure theres plenty out there on both sides of that fence. Lord knows we all see them

No ill will intended my man.

@Lup You have a point in what you are saying, you just lose it when you throw silly fanboy insults about is all.

Nobody doubts there will be hardware, its just what type of hardware it is.

Same as nobody doubts you can take your console games with you, but if the majority are streamed then its a big old nope.

@Lup you do realise that the second you throw Pony in your sentence you instantly become the same thing on the opposite side, dont you?

@Questionable_Duck emulation is entirely possible, they did it with the X/S. Although I would highlight that nobody at MS has said the word native yet. Back compat, yes, but no mention of if it will be native.

In terms of PS6 games, I imagine they will release on PC at a later date, which is fine, but I dont see everything day and date. Plus it wont have my PS library. Im not fussed about things in one place. Im old enough to have many a day swapping scart leads over to play another console. Picking up another pad and switching hdmi's is a breeze 😂.

I do agree windows store will be front and centre but, judging from the premium foreshadowing, I imagine that most folks picking the next xbox up will know all to well how to put steam on it. They will also know games are much cheaper on steam, cutting MS and their 30% out all together.

There is zero chance developers will skip steam, regardless of the cut MS offer. The only ones that will are possibly MS, but as they're releasing everywhere, why would they.

All of this is theoretical of course, only time will tell, but I get a feeling this isnt gonna be what folks think.

@Questionable_Duck but my SX will play my xbox library. So thats covered. If the steam box is cheaper I will get that and still access everything.

Why would a developer put money into developing an xbox port for a machine that operates on windows, steam, etc... It will literally just be a PC version. There will be no xbox operating system. Same as the ally. It will be an app that looks like xbox playing PC versions. While I fully imagine it will be completley back compatible, it will be windows gaming. There will be no xbox port as there wont be an xbox os. If its its next gen only it will be via windows os, cross gen games aside with back compatibility playing the 'last gen' xbox version.

@Cakefish The price of this thing will be the big decider for me. As I say, I mainly use steam for indies so I dont need a powerful, high end machine to benefit from them. This would be a great side box to a new PS as it will cover everything for me personally.

I also mentioned in another chat that xbox games as we know them wont really be a thing next gen as they will just be the PC versions. Companies like Rockstar release these versions much later than a standard console version. How will this impact the next box as it will rely on PC releases for them, rather than a straight console port.

Lovely read that @FraserG, glad youre enjoying it. Also, love a good hardwood floor. Kudos.

@Kezelpaso touched on a point i was discussing the other day in that, if xbox goes the PC route next gen, which is pretty much a given, there will be no 'xbox' versions as such as they will be PC versions. What's your thoughts on this in terms of games like GTA where PC versions often follow quite some time later than standard consoles?

@Questionable_Duck my xbox SX plays my xbox games, my ps will play any new xbox games, this will let me play my steam library (mainly indies) on the tv. I see zero reason for me to buy a new xbox.

Lets not forget, there will be no next gen 'xbox' games. They will all just be pc versions.