abe_hikura

I'm sure Phil himself has intention of mandating AI use, his boss on the otherhand...

FBC has a decent foundation. Its just isnt structured well and light on content.

It needed some kind of intro narrative getting you through the maps the first time and then dropping you into the ongoing threat, give it a Helldivers 2 map conflict and "meta narrative", with different parts of it coming under attack and players rallying to quell it and earn extra rewards (vs doing what they want)

Granted this would have messed with their anti-fomo ambitions but hey.

I really would like to understand this move, surely existing dev kits is one of the places you'd want to eat the costs, the last thing you want is making it harder for dev ship games for console/gamepass.

Reviews are falling exactly where I expected.

1. Amazing handheld PC.
2. Bad Xbox.

And expensive.

Should it get a deep discount then I'll leap at it but I can't afford throwing that kind of money at anything.

@Cakefish that too can't be a good sign.

As a lot of us were saying in the other story, regardless of the actual validity of the rumours, people are believing it, and that's a bad sign.

@Grumblevolcano @Cakefish it dose seem to be MS's thing. Do something that generates some posertivity and they stand on a rake, and then when trying to deflect from it they stand on another and just keep doing it, over and over.

@Cakefish that's a very good point, regardless of the actual validity of the rumour, people are believing it.

Someone could "leak" Sony or Nintendo was quitting consoles tomorrow and no one would believe it.

Kinda generic response, particularly since it adds unnamed "other retailers".

Retailers selling PS5 and Switch versions of Xbox games could still count as being "partners"

Not that I'm saying the stores are dropping Xbox or not.

Considering the massive stink Sony made about Xbox possibly putting CoD perks on gamepass as "unfair" that's "fun".

If this had dropped along side the "side story" dlc I'd have jumped on it.

I will use this when I inevitably get the dlc

Erm.. the winged bird has a crotch arm

@AverageGamer and they couldn't get the metrics from any of the other Windows handhelds like the previous RoG Ally?

I don't understand why MS would have to partner with a ASUS to make a handheld to fix Windows on handhelds.

Now I'm not saying the report was true, but MS "refuting" it... We've been here before.

Xbox was "committed" to Kinect, to VR on One X, to first-party exclusivity, to native handheld, to studios they closed, games they cancelled, and staff they let go.

They are always super committed right until the moment they do a 180.

Man, I really need to start playing Stalker 2

I really want to play Jump Ship, but the confusion about it being on Game Pass gave me whiplash. It's a lot harder to convince my group to fork over cash.

But it having a trial might mean I'll be able to suucker them.

@AverageJoseph yeah seems like just usual MS speil. I did see someone suggest it might be something to do with epic game store, like Gp users getting access to play anywhere versions of the free games they give out every month.

@AverageJoseph
Acording to the article on here about the fortnite pass being part of GP

Microsoft also says this is "just the beginning of Xbox and Epic’s work together toward an open gaming ecosystem where friends can play and create together, anywhere, across devices"

@Weebleman "im pretty sure somewhere in Sony there is someone sat rubbing their hands, just waiting for the moment to increase there prices as well."

I saw someone yesterday that the "free market" has changed, instead of putting pressure on each to keep prices low, it's flipped and its now clawing as much as it can, trying to find the line where customers break and stop.

Based on what Xb said about Epic, I'm guessing the real meat of its gamepass inclusion isn't just Fortnite pass, that's just the bit they had laying around to add for the price rise but boy "we're jacking up prices for Fortnite" doesn't hit well.

I'd love for an Xbox version of PC Game Pass (remembers that was what GP started as,) but I suspect that would gut the higher tiers.

I really do appreciate that they actually added something with this price rise (adding cloud streaming to the other tiers, Ubisoft classic to ultimate)instead of just jacking up the price (or removing stuff like day 1 titles), but ultimate's sticker price is just too damn high for a monthly sub.

@Banjo- So for the sake of clarity.

-Let Ultimate run out.
-Join Core
-Load up Core for (up to) 36 months' worth
-Convert to Ultimate.

@Banjo- CD keys rebanded to Loaded for some reason

@Banjo- So codes from the likes of Loaded?

Ultimately I just want the ability to play day one games, cloud streaming was a nice extra, even EA Play was nice but with how much Ultimate is gone by, I'm struggling to justify it.

I do think the total amount of stuff they are giving is somewhere between fair and acceptable, but that sticker price.

It's like the company that makes my mini paints do this huge bundle that represents a massive saving but I can't afford to drop the 200 for it, regardless of just how good a deal iit is.

@Scrubchub @Sindayl Not going to lie, the first thing that came to mind when I saw "What's leaving gamepass..." was "gamers".

This is one of those things where I can see the supposed "value" from all the bits they stuck together but the actual number is just too high. I will likely have to treat this like Disney Plus, sign up for a month and run away.

I wonder if this is part of our subs or a code like the perks. My daughter would use the crap out of that if its a code.

@fatpunkslim I would be very surprised if Phil's had much input on this happening or not, I wouldn't be surprised if he's the reason Ubi is being included, "you have to give them something"

Don't get me wrong, it's insane there's another price rise, and I do think the per-month price may now be unacceptably high considering there is no equivalent to PC gamespass.

But at least this time, there's an actual increase in content for ultimate subscribers, granted it's a bunch of old Ubisoft games, but at least it's something unlike the previous times where it was "erm costs? pay us more?"

I hope this is the start of more games getting retroactive play anywhere.

I'm really interested to see how Alien works "flat". having played the VR version, I just don't see it working anywhere near as well without it.

@Pichuka97 @EVIL-C I don't think firing either of them would solve anything. This seems to be coming from Papa Microsoft, they started losing the AI race and started nuking Xbox costs (consoles, studios) and maximising profit (selling games everywhere).

Spencer has been getting quieter and quieter ever since that "four games" presentation. No more random check-ins, no more spot the clue in the background interviews, he appears to hype up the next live stream and disappears from view.

If they go, the next two will be selected for "aligning with Microsoft's targets and interests" and not saving the Xbox brand.

Seems weird to remake a random entry.

Considering the amount of people I know have another console and then the Xbox as a "gamepass" machine it makes sense it has lower total play time.

@themightyant agreed, when my main game isnt GP, I tend to download something like CoD, some disposable, something I can do a mission a day earn the points and go play something else afterwards

It's weird that they are doing these native ports of k1 and k2 alongside the DC of 0 and not doing an English dub like they did on 0 DC.

I am basing this on the fact the upcoming Switch 2 versions of k1 and k2 don't have a dub.

I think horror games are one of the few places where I don't worry so much about short playtimes, horror is all about ratcheting up the tension and releasing it. Over an extended time, that stops working as you adapt.

@Banjo- I bought the premium upgrade when the game released. In the end Xbox said they couldn't see it on my purchase history but I could see it on mine, and by the time they accepted the combination of that, a video of me loading the DLC and my home xbox settings, and my back statement showing the payment, it was "too late".

Lesson learned, don't buy DLC for Gamepass games. Granted I never expected to have access to the DLCs after the games left GP, I saw it as tipiing the developers for games I enjoyed but now, I don't trust Xbox's book keeping.

@Ricky-Spanish It kinda annoyed me that I got the Gears Reloaded code instantly because of the Forza thing. I already have the Ultimate Edition, that's not going anywhere I don't need reloaded, but I very much needed the Forza code because I bought DLC for the gamepass version, and that's useless now unless I find a disk copy for a reasonable price.

@Ricky-Spanish I never got the Forza code either, I chased Microsoft about it and I got bounced around and told to wait until "it was no longer possible" to supply me a code.

Got the prompt on the store but no sign of a chat message (last one I got was about the age check thing)

I had planned to be playing Jump Space, but apparently, there was some confusion, and it's not on Game Pass.

Xbox: Helldivers 2, CoD MWII campaign, and Mad Max.
Switch: Grand Bazaar, Silksong, Yakuza 0

@OldGamer999 If I was Sony on the run up to christmas I'd make a big deal about how at least "for now", we won't push prices further but how the "environment is challenging" and how in 2026 it may be revisited.

Instant sales rush over Christmas.

@GamingFan4Lyf Indeed, and I think that's why they are focusing so much on this ATM. They have to squash the frustrations gamers have with Windows before Steam's translation layer gets too good to ignore.

@BAMozzy Steam is reportedly readying SteamOS consoles, and supposedly PCs.

Whilst the console is the logical expansion to Steamdeck, the SteamOS PCs have to be about take advantage of the growing PC gamer frustration with Windows.

Wasn't this already a thing?

A good start.

I will need it to support GoG titles and actual PCs, though.

@GamingFan4Lyf I have to assume that's coming, if they want to (foolishly) compete with Steam, this has to be on "full fat" PCs. I'm guessing the "resolution" check is to stop people using it on "actual" PCs for now.