@Markatron84 Yeah, they still seem to think they can "cover the spread" that if they make enough LS games one will strike it big and justify it all. Seemingly forgetting we gamers don't have infinite time. The industry can't support to many of these forever games just as it couldn't support too many MMOs.
Somone will come up with some other way of milking cash and they'll rush to that. Instead of just making games and selling them.
@armondo36 "But don't be surprised if Sony does eventually port to Xbox"
Your not wrong but it's worth noting that right now Sony isn't porting their "new games" (live service titles excluded), they are making sure every possible sale is made on PS5 before launching on PC.
I think once they start launching games day and date on PC and their budgets swell again then they'll start looking at Xbox and Nintendo for "older" titles repeating the cycle again.
I'm sure this is the game Sony is going to be paying attention to as it's the first Xbox game on PS that "plays in the same waters" as their own games.
As I've said from day one, my concern about this push is not PS/Nintendo users playing these games. These are great games that more people should play. Even more so when it's a multiplayer live service game like Forza Horizon.
I support the concept of a platform-agnostic future, I don't think this is going to achieve that.
It's the unintended effects that give me pause. We've watched Xbox sales drop 30% quarter after quarter. I'm sure this push will do wonders for Xbox earnings but seems unlikely to boost console numbers. We've also seen third-party publishers look at platform sales and go "We're done" and support becomes dependent on being paid.
Suffice to say, I am really interested in how MS plans on winning the next-gen on "features". This could be more exciting than the actual performance of the thing.
@Ricky-Spanish it's a very marmite game, but there are certain amount if the negatively towards the game is from PS players who haven't played it, haven't even watched actual gameplay.
When it comes to PS I am sure it will be just as divisive but there will be some narrative of PS5 getting the fixed "superior version" and how it's "not actually that bad"
@K1LLEGAL It's probably the classic "it's not on my platform, so it's automatically poo" thing, once it's actually on their platform they give it a fair shot.
I expect the general tone around Starfield to shift when it goes MP.
We need a name for games like Sniper Elite Resistance, Farcry Blood Dragon/Primal/New Dawn, Spide-Ma: Miles Morales and the ACII sequels that are new games but not "ground-up new"
"Standalone expansion" is the closet we have but it doesn't feel right to call some of these games "expansions".
I think it would help with some people expecting this game to be full fat sequels being disappointed and sets a standard that could allow devs to not need to take 5 years to produce another game, maybe keep budget costs down a little
Is actually many people asking for 4k game streaming? I seem to recall people saying stadia Pro was only worth it for HDR, that streaming at 4k did more harm than good.
@carlos82 that's the issue with game streaming, too much outside your or even Microsoft's control will ruin it for you. I used to be able to use it reliably I could play "any game" on it but now in the same house, with the same internet, with the same devices half the time it's not worth playing anything isn't turn based.
I wonder if any of the "missing stuff" will get added back in, it's weird that what should be the definitive version of an amazing game doesn't have all of it.
(I expected Co-op to be dropped, multiplayer always seems to be gone in remasters)
In the image in my head of that interaction is the two studio heads are talking about it and Spencer forms like the liquid terminator "did I hear new Ninja Gaiden?"
I wouldn't be suprised but I suspect it might be two generations before we see it.
They've already ported games to PC, some even on day one, if budgets keep going as they are the only growth will be all games on PC, and then once stips giving them growth the only other places is Xbox and Nintendo.
@AverageGamer I get that development has gotten "that" but I simply cannot accept that a series that is, as a huge fan of the series, a collection of corridors. Now takes two studios almost an console generation to produce 1 title.
Now I know games like the Like A Dragon (lot of reuse), or Sniper Elite (not AAA), and overlapping development of the CoD and AC games are definitely make it seem worse but "2 studios= once a gen gears" seems like it should be a massive alarm bell for the industry.
@Isolte @Cakefish Obivously they can't force publishers to go back and give us PC versions of games we already have, but Microsoft could do it with the games they own. Like I don't think Halo MCC is on there, Bethesda/Obsidian/Inexile back catalogue don't seem to be (despite being on both console and PC gamepass) and well Acitvision games don't even seem to be in a hurry to be on gamepass, so them not having play anywhere integration isn't a shock.
@Isolte Yeah I suspect you don't get to spend 70 billion of business daddy cash, then spend more fighting legal battles around the world without strings getting attached.
@FatGuyInLilCoat Agreed, though to be fair to them, the MP stuff they did with Judgement was the same thing I heard people saying they wanted when playing Gears 1-3 multiplayer.
They still should have known better, mind but it was ideas plenty of people seemed to have.
Dose makes me wonder why they are needed, is the collation just incapable of making a Gears game on their own, or are they doing something else?
Like maybe E-Day is more akin Wolfenstein Youngblood, where another studio makes a side entry whilst the actual studio is working on their next project (one assumes Gears 6)
@oopsiezz Normally I'd agree with that and this whole "Super Duper Deluxe edition being on sale but the base game isn't" needs to end.
But honestly, I don't think I would have liked the Night Springs DLC anywhere near as much if I hadn't played them as part of the campaign i.e. bought the DLC after finishing the game. They gave me much needed vibe breaks from Alan's section
Just finishing up AW2 now, really loved that the DLC integrates with the campaign, to me it helps both the DLCs and the campaign. Slightly peeved that I bought it in the last sale and now they giving away AW-R with it. But hey that's how it works it's not like it's being added to gamepass after I bought it... right...?
"is my library of games safe, am I still going to be able to play the games?' and I think over the years, I'm proud of the commitment we've shown to respecting purchases on our platform through back compat, through Xbox Play Anywhere, through crossplay "
It's nice to know that has reached him. Except neither of those addresses the concerns people have about this direction and their existing libraries.
-Backward compat means nothing if there isn't a new console and the concern is if Xbox sales are in the floor "with exclusives" how much further they go without them, and just how far will it go before Microsoft doesn't want to make hardware. They didn't even want to pay to keep their sole Japanese studio, something they have spent their entire existence trying to get, so whilst it's good that he's confirming more hardware doesn't mean daddy MS doesn't pull the rug from under him (I'm sure Sega was working on new hardware too).
Play Anywhere is a perfect solution to that issue, of cause the problem there is that it only applies to a fraction of Xbox console games.
I hope they can do an official version of that fan app that lets you play X1 games natively in Windows, after all, they don't have to worry about protecting console sales anymore.
My concern is they are going to "protect" our libaries via the cloud.
@Cakefish them both being on the Player engagement too might suggest the former.
But the latter would explain why MS doesn't seem to care about Xbox consoles anymore. If people aren't buying as many games on Xbox then that's pretty much the traditional revenue model dead.
Gotta say I do think promoting a mystery addition was a good call.
The "problem" with the Xbox Dev directs was that unless your interested in those specific games then there was no reason to watch or get exicted about it (or talk about it online generating interest).
It's nice to have some excitement outside the not-E3 season and game awards.
@Kaloudz I used to live in a sea side town, learnt real quick to never have open food containers. Think I was 5 when I first saw a guy get his burger ripped from his lips, then try and chase them down
@Kaloudz Same here, I'm parked right next to the chimney and the temperature plummets the second the sun stops trying. I ended up getting one if those little tealight heaters. No idea if it's actually warming but I can pretend it is lol
@Kaloudz yeah apprently it's the mechanical part of modules. if they get dropped, clicked at a slightly weird angle, the pad gets left face down, too warm, too cold or basically anything and they just drift.
The hall effect pads use magnetic sensors instead and they can't fail that way (supposedly).
I'm not even sure how I'm the keyboard has changed but I'm hitting B and . When hitting space and spellchecker is apprently blind to rando Bs and .s.
@Kaloudz no slang just phone keyboard updating to be slightly off. Was supposed to be "Doing it"
From what I can tell the only DIY fix is replacing the whole stick module... that said my friend has a rubber band connecting the stick to his little finger that's just the right tension to keep the stick slightly off-center. Seems to work for him, though he dose have to take it off to restore blood flow lol
Other than the ammo/damage thing, I really enjoyed it, revisiting a map I knew devastated had a nice impact on me(I didn't even realise I liked Hope County that much).
I'm still disapointed that Farcry 6 didn't get its own Blood Dragon/Primal/New Dawn game. That expansion... wasn't the same.
Comments 1,649
Re: Review: Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 (Xbox) - A Brutal & Brilliant Medieval Epic, But You'll Need To Put The Time In
@HelloCraigo hey I'm cool with living with the consequences of my actions, it was being punished for the game crashing I wasn't cool with.
Re: Review: Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 (Xbox) - A Brutal & Brilliant Medieval Epic, But You'll Need To Put The Time In
Is the save system still "sleep" and rare drink?
Because I was really enjoying the first one until I went to a bed to save and it crashed and I lost a whole bunch of progress.
Re: Xbox Leaker Believes Gears Collection Is Real, Will Launch On PS5 Day One
Obviously, I'd play this via game pass but depending on what it actually included (bundle vs integrated like MCC) I'd buy it on Switch 2.
Re: MultiVersus Is Shutting Down, Less Than A Year Since Its Relaunch
@Markatron84 Yeah, they still seem to think they can "cover the spread" that if they make enough LS games one will strike it big and justify it all. Seemingly forgetting we gamers don't have infinite time. The industry can't support to many of these forever games just as it couldn't support too many MMOs.
Somone will come up with some other way of milking cash and they'll rush to that. Instead of just making games and selling them.
Re: MultiVersus Is Shutting Down, Less Than A Year Since Its Relaunch
@Markatron84 Of the people I've spoken to that seems to be basically true.
They try the game, think it's pretty good, decide to have a look at the store and DO THE MATH and decide there and then it's not worth it.
Re: MultiVersus Is Shutting Down, Less Than A Year Since Its Relaunch
Just release a paid version of the game.
I liked this but the pricing was insane and never spent a penny on it.
Release it as £60 offline edition with the characters and I'll buy it.
Re: Soapbox: As A Huge Forza Fan, I'm Fine With Horizon 5 Going To PS5
@armondo36 "But don't be surprised if Sony does eventually port to Xbox"
Your not wrong but it's worth noting that right now Sony isn't porting their "new games" (live service titles excluded), they are making sure every possible sale is made on PS5 before launching on PC.
I think once they start launching games day and date on PC and their budgets swell again then they'll start looking at Xbox and Nintendo for "older" titles repeating the cycle again.
Re: Soapbox: As A Huge Forza Fan, I'm Fine With Horizon 5 Going To PS5
@TheEstablishment Oh agreed I doubt Xbox is just going to say "womp womp. too bad. so sad" but there are still poor outcomes beyond that.
My worry in that scenario is they go "Look your purchases are safe right here on the cloud, ready anytime along as your paying gamepass"
Re: Soapbox: As A Huge Forza Fan, I'm Fine With Horizon 5 Going To PS5
I'm sure this is the game Sony is going to be paying attention to as it's the first Xbox game on PS that "plays in the same waters" as their own games.
As I've said from day one, my concern about this push is not PS/Nintendo users playing these games. These are great games that more people should play. Even more so when it's a multiplayer live service game like Forza Horizon.
I support the concept of a platform-agnostic future, I don't think this is going to achieve that.
It's the unintended effects that give me pause. We've watched Xbox sales drop 30% quarter after quarter. I'm sure this push will do wonders for Xbox earnings but seems unlikely to boost console numbers. We've also seen third-party publishers look at platform sales and go "We're done" and support becomes dependent on being paid.
Suffice to say, I am really interested in how MS plans on winning the next-gen on "features". This could be more exciting than the actual performance of the thing.
Re: Halo PS5 Rumours Resurface Following Forza Horizon 5 Announcement
@Ricky-Spanish it's a very marmite game, but there are certain amount if the negatively towards the game is from PS players who haven't played it, haven't even watched actual gameplay.
When it comes to PS I am sure it will be just as divisive but there will be some narrative of PS5 getting the fixed "superior version" and how it's "not actually that bad"
Re: Halo PS5 Rumours Resurface Following Forza Horizon 5 Announcement
@K1LLEGAL It's probably the classic "it's not on my platform, so it's automatically poo" thing, once it's actually on their platform they give it a fair shot.
I expect the general tone around Starfield to shift when it goes MP.
Re: Xbox Glitch Sees Alan Wake Remastered Get 100% Discount
@Kaloudz It might be because I already own AW2
Re: Xbox Glitch Sees Alan Wake Remastered Get 100% Discount
Looks like it's fixed
Re: January's Final Two Xbox Game Pass Titles Arrive This Week (January 30-31)
We need a name for games like Sniper Elite Resistance, Farcry Blood Dragon/Primal/New Dawn, Spide-Ma: Miles Morales and the ACII sequels that are new games but not "ground-up new"
"Standalone expansion" is the closet we have but it doesn't feel right to call some of these games "expansions".
I think it would help with some people expecting this game to be full fat sequels being disappointed and sets a standard that could allow devs to not need to take 5 years to produce another game, maybe keep budget costs down a little
Re: Xbox Cloud Gaming's Strong Momentum Continues With 'Record' Hours Streamed
Is actually many people asking for 4k game streaming? I seem to recall people saying stadia Pro was only worth it for HDR, that streaming at 4k did more harm than good.
@carlos82 that's the issue with game streaming, too much outside your or even Microsoft's control will ruin it for you. I used to be able to use it reliably I could play "any game" on it but now in the same house, with the same internet, with the same devices half the time it's not worth playing anything isn't turn based.
Re: Phil Spencer's Recent Gears Activity Has Nothing To Do With Rumoured Remasters
see I didn't see how him replaying the games meant a trilogy remaster was incoming in the first place, surely he'd wait to play that instead?
Like sure its one thing to replay a series before a new entry but replaying a series so you can... replay the series seems weird
Re: Ninja Gaiden 2 Black Updated On Xbox, Second Update Arriving Next Month
I wonder if any of the "missing stuff" will get added back in, it's weird that what should be the definitive version of an amazing game doesn't have all of it.
(I expected Co-op to be dropped, multiplayer always seems to be gone in remasters)
Re: Xbox's Phil Spencer Had A Big Role To Play In The Creation Of Ninja Gaiden 4
In the image in my head of that interaction is the two studio heads are talking about it and Spencer forms like the liquid terminator "did I hear new Ninja Gaiden?"
Re: Xbox Has 'Right Approach' To Exclusives & PlayStation May Follow, Suggests Ori Dev
I wouldn't be suprised but I suspect it might be two generations before we see it.
They've already ported games to PC, some even on day one, if budgets keep going as they are the only growth will be all games on PC, and then once stips giving them growth the only other places is Xbox and Nintendo.
Re: DOOM's OG Creator Praises Xbox Game Pass For Removing 'Barriers'
He's not wrong.
Take the Yakuza/LAD games. No amount of good review can offset their being 8 of the damn things. Even at discounted prices that adds up.
Flash forward to now after the games were on gamepass, I bought every entry since (except Ishin).
That simply wouldn't have happened without gamepass.
Re: 'People Can Fly' Becomes Official Co-Developer For Gears Of War: E-Day
@AverageGamer I get that development has gotten "that" but I simply cannot accept that a series that is, as a huge fan of the series, a collection of corridors. Now takes two studios almost an console generation to produce 1 title.
Now I know games like the Like A Dragon (lot of reuse), or Sniper Elite (not AAA), and overlapping development of the CoD and AC games are definitely make it seem worse but "2 studios= once a gen gears" seems like it should be a massive alarm bell for the industry.
Re: Xbox Is 'Evolving' Rather Than 'Losing' Its Identity, Says Phil Spencer
@Isolte @Cakefish Obivously they can't force publishers to go back and give us PC versions of games we already have, but Microsoft could do it with the games they own. Like I don't think Halo MCC is on there, Bethesda/Obsidian/Inexile back catalogue don't seem to be (despite being on both console and PC gamepass) and well Acitvision games don't even seem to be in a hurry to be on gamepass, so them not having play anywhere integration isn't a shock.
Re: Phil Spencer Shares His Aspirations For Xbox Before He Reaches Retirement
@Isolte Yeah I suspect you don't get to spend 70 billion of business daddy cash, then spend more fighting legal battles around the world without strings getting attached.
Re: 'People Can Fly' Becomes Official Co-Developer For Gears Of War: E-Day
@FatGuyInLilCoat Agreed, though to be fair to them, the MP stuff they did with Judgement was the same thing I heard people saying they wanted when playing Gears 1-3 multiplayer.
They still should have known better, mind but it was ideas plenty of people seemed to have.
Re: 'People Can Fly' Becomes Official Co-Developer For Gears Of War: E-Day
Dose makes me wonder why they are needed, is the collation just incapable of making a Gears game on their own, or are they doing something else?
Like maybe E-Day is more akin Wolfenstein Youngblood, where another studio makes a side entry whilst the actual studio is working on their next project (one assumes Gears 6)
Re: PSA: Alan Wake 2's 'Lunar New Year' Xbox Discount Includes Two Games & Two Expansions
@oopsiezz Normally I'd agree with that and this whole "Super Duper Deluxe edition being on sale but the base game isn't" needs to end.
But honestly, I don't think I would have liked the Night Springs DLC anywhere near as much if I hadn't played them as part of the campaign i.e. bought the DLC after finishing the game. They gave me much needed vibe breaks from Alan's section
Re: PSA: Alan Wake 2's 'Lunar New Year' Xbox Discount Includes Two Games & Two Expansions
Just finishing up AW2 now, really loved that the DLC integrates with the campaign, to me it helps both the DLCs and the campaign.
Slightly peeved that I bought it in the last sale and now they giving away AW-R with it. But hey that's how it works it's not like it's being added to gamepass after I bought it... right...?
Re: Xbox Is 'Evolving' Rather Than 'Losing' Its Identity, Says Phil Spencer
"is my library of games safe, am I still going to be able to play the games?' and I think over the years, I'm proud of the commitment we've shown to respecting purchases on our platform through back compat, through Xbox Play Anywhere, through crossplay "
It's nice to know that has reached him. Except neither of those addresses the concerns people have about this direction and their existing libraries.
-Backward compat means nothing if there isn't a new console and the concern is if Xbox sales are in the floor "with exclusives" how much further they go without them, and just how far will it go before Microsoft doesn't want to make hardware. They didn't even want to pay to keep their sole Japanese studio, something they have spent their entire existence trying to get, so whilst it's good that he's confirming more hardware doesn't mean daddy MS doesn't pull the rug from under him (I'm sure Sega was working on new hardware too).
Play Anywhere is a perfect solution to that issue, of cause the problem there is that it only applies to a fraction of Xbox console games.
I hope they can do an official version of that fan app that lets you play X1 games natively in Windows, after all, they don't have to worry about protecting console sales anymore.
My concern is they are going to "protect" our libaries via the cloud.
Re: Xbox Unveils The 'Excellence Awards' And Reveals All The 2024 Winners
@Cakefish them both being on the Player engagement too might suggest the former.
But the latter would explain why MS doesn't seem to care about Xbox consoles anymore. If people aren't buying as many games on Xbox then that's pretty much the traditional revenue model dead.
Re: Xbox Unveils The 'Excellence Awards' And Reveals All The 2024 Winners
@Cakefish evidently most of DAv sales was on Xbox.
That or it shows just how few games are actually sold on the platform that the "low performing" games can make the charts.
Re: Xbox 'Lunar New Year' Sale Now Live, 600+ Games Discounted
Can't really express how much I'm enjoying Alan Wake 2.
I do think having the Night Springs DLC side stories integrated into the campaign has really helped both.
Re: Poll: How Would You Grade 2025's Xbox Developer Direct?
Great show.
I think having the mystery of the unknown game really brought together the dev direct formula.
Would explain why the first and this one felt better than the 2nd where we all expected a shadow drop/reveal and nothing happened.
Re: Xbox Developer Direct 2025: Event Date, Start Times & Where To Watch The Showcase
@Kaloudz yeah I think they've really nailed down the core of it, it's time to expand and build on that.
The plague hearts are... Off, they feel like a solution to a problem that we don't see on our metaphorical side of the screen.
Re: Xbox Developer Direct 2025: Event Date, Start Times & Where To Watch The Showcase
@Kaloudz I can not wait to play SoD3. I need to revisit 2 as everytime I finished it they did some massive update that overhauled it.
Re: Xbox Developer Direct 2025: Event Date, Start Times & Where To Watch The Showcase
@Kaloudz I wouldn't be suprised if that was being kept for the summer showcase and then have a deep dive as part of the livestream afterwards.
Re: Xbox Developer Direct 2025: Event Date, Start Times & Where To Watch The Showcase
Gotta say I do think promoting a mystery addition was a good call.
The "problem" with the Xbox Dev directs was that unless your interested in those specific games then there was no reason to watch or get exicted about it (or talk about it online generating interest).
It's nice to have some excitement outside the not-E3 season and game awards.
Re: Xbox's First New Controller Of 2025 Is The 'Pulse Cipher' Special Edition
@Kaloudz I used to live in a sea side town, learnt real quick to never have open food containers. Think I was 5 when I first saw a guy get his burger ripped from his lips, then try and chase them down
Re: Xbox's First New Controller Of 2025 Is The 'Pulse Cipher' Special Edition
@Kaloudz beautiful, intelligent and can hold a damn grudge/deliver shinny rocks.
Re: Talking Point: Have You Been Tempted To Switch To Xbox Game Pass Standard?
The only GP Switch I'd consider making is to PC, it's cheaper but still has the new games.
Re: Xbox's First New Controller Of 2025 Is The 'Pulse Cipher' Special Edition
@Kaloudz that they are but then again at my old place we had ravens that would scream down the chimney if the bird feeder was empty.
Re: Xbox's First New Controller Of 2025 Is The 'Pulse Cipher' Special Edition
@Kaloudz Same here, I'm parked right next to the chimney and the temperature plummets the second the sun stops trying. I ended up getting one if those little tealight heaters. No idea if it's actually warming but I can pretend it is lol
Re: Xbox's First New Controller Of 2025 Is The 'Pulse Cipher' Special Edition
@Kaloudz yeah apprently it's the mechanical part of modules. if they get dropped, clicked at a slightly weird angle, the pad gets left face down, too warm, too cold or basically anything and they just drift.
The hall effect pads use magnetic sensors instead and they can't fail that way (supposedly).
I'm not even sure how I'm the keyboard has changed but I'm hitting B and . When hitting space and spellchecker is apprently blind to rando Bs and .s.
Re: Xbox's First New Controller Of 2025 Is The 'Pulse Cipher' Special Edition
@Kaloudz no slang just phone keyboard updating to be slightly off. Was supposed to be "Doing it"
From what I can tell the only DIY fix is replacing the whole stick module... that said my friend has a rubber band connecting the stick to his little finger that's just the right tension to keep the stick slightly off-center. Seems to work for him, though he dose have to take it off to restore blood flow lol
Re: Xbox's First New Controller Of 2025 Is The 'Pulse Cipher' Special Edition
@Kaloudz that is kinda like doibit in real life with angry squirrels in your trousers.
That's the thing with stick drift it's not a issue, until your playing just the right game for it to be annoying lol
Re: Far Cry New Dawn Got A Mixed Reception, But It'll Be A Great Addition To Xbox Game Pass
Other than the ammo/damage thing, I really enjoyed it, revisiting a map I knew devastated had a nice impact on me(I didn't even realise I liked Hope County that much).
I'm still disapointed that Farcry 6 didn't get its own Blood Dragon/Primal/New Dawn game. That expansion... wasn't the same.
Re: Xbox's First New Controller Of 2025 Is The 'Pulse Cipher' Special Edition
Love it, shame that due to the pile of drifting Xbox pads I won't buy any that doesn't have hall effect sticks.
Re: Xbox Fans Hoping For 'Marcus Fenix Collection' News After Phil Spencer Revisits Gears Classics
I don't see why he'd replay them "now" if a collection is round the corner.
Prepping for E-Day? But weird for a prequel but... well I've done that before.
Re: Resident Evil 6 ESRB Rating Spotted Ahead Of Xbox Developer Direct
I've always said RE6's "survival action" gameplay would be perfect for a new Dino Crisis
Re: Rumour: Leaker Names Multiple Xbox Games Potentially Releasing On Switch 2
@IronMan30 I would that an Xbox handheld could play my Xbox library as well as my play anywhere titles.
A dual-boot device makes sense. Play your console library on one OS, play everything else on another.
Re: Rumour: Leaker Names Multiple Xbox Games Potentially Releasing On Switch 2
I would be surprised if Starfield runs on Switch 2, well. With all that loading it could be a nightmare if the Switch 2 loads "much" slower.
Would be nice to get the rest of Elder Scrolls and Fallout on Switch 2.