awp69

BTW, I went outside and, yes, I can confirm that grass is real. I repeat: The grass is real!

I’m working until 6 pm EST so no affect on me at all. Hope it’s back up by that time!

So Friday was PSN outage day. Now it’s Xbox’s turn. Let’s hope it gets resolved quicker than PSN was.

Damn these reviews are tempting me to pluck out $20 for the upgrade to play early. Must. Stay. Strong.

This is awesome. That said if this is what they’re counting on to make Helix backward compatible, it sounds they have a long way to go. I’m probably being overly pessimistic and maybe there are already a lot more than these working. But they wanted to get a few out to the public to test the waters.

Still impressive and including achievements is the cherry on top!

Yeah, I don’t know. I got Wreckreation and it’s fun and does give the Burnout vibes I was looking for. But I just don’t think this dev has the resources to create the kind of polished Burnout experience they are looking for.

And Wreckreation isn’t that old. Why aren’t they updating that to make it what they want from a “sequel”?

A lot of people online saying Matt Booty needs to shut up and Xbox really needs to get him out. He is really a carryover from the bad management team that led to the mess Xbox is in. I’m not one who follows the mobs on X but, in this case, I kind of agree.

I’d like to play it early but I usually only get the upgrades when it includes major content like expansion DLCs that I would be buying later anyway. This just has frivolous stuff that I could care less about. So nope, not this time.

@FreasurePlanten If I remember it correctly it was one of their PS Plus Essential titles that don’t rotate out (like Xbox Gold games were). So I suspect they’ll get to keep it.

Not sure how those deals work but probably a bit more like “ownership” (but not really ownership). There’s Gold games that have since been delisted but are still in our libraries.

@FraserG It’s got an 87 on OpenCritic. Really been looking forward to this one!!

@FreasurePlanten I think it’s been on there for a while so licensing may have been good at the time it was added.

Yes, they are saying there are issues with the licensing that Activision and the Tony Hawk Group are working on. It can’t come to GamePass until those are resolved.

I think it’s getting harder to get those mid 90s scores. Doesn’t seem like there are as many 10s slapped on games. I wouldn’t be surprised to see GTA VI get some 10s even if it doesn’t deserve it because, well, it’s GTA.

@Nightcrawler71 This is exactly why I use OpenCritic over Metacritic. One score no matter what platform the review was written for.

Doom The Dark Ages - Revelations, while DLC is almost an entirely new game, also has 90 on MC and OC.

Been a good year and lots of first party stuff to come!

Ascend to ZERO, which is already getting nice reviews, and Denshattack! both look awesome and looking forward to them.

Looking forward to Denshattack! and Ascend to ZERO, which has been getting nice reviews. Still eatin’ good on GamePass!

With all of the other cuts and studios sold, etc., this is really the only thing MS has come out and said was inaccurate. So that makes me lean more towards believing them.

If they were having people out in force trying to justify or play down everything else, that would be a different story.

Oh, and I doubt you will see this story on Push Square, where they’ve had a billion articles about Xbox’s impending doom including several articles about id Software.

@SMJ No idea. These are just straight ports of what Xbox already has. Not remasters.

Played a bit of Tamasmika last night — fun quirky, fast-paced shooter.
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Why are there so many comments on this post about the actions Microsoft has taken this week? They have nothing to do with this article and there are a plenty of other articles to have those discussions.

Josh Sawyer was the director of New Vegas too so this is actually great news IMO! Seems like that fact was buried when that’s the lead news.

@oopsiezz Gee. You really practice what you preach huh? Calling games “slop” or
mid doesn’t mean they are bad games to everyone. How does anyone know if they aren’t going to like a game without playing it? People shouldn’t degrade a line up just because it’s not for them. The developers of these games put effort into them and they are well liked by a lot of people on Steam so obviously you can’t speak for everyone.

I just think subscribing to GamePass gives you the chance to try different games. But if you don’t like the games they put on it, just cancel the service.

I like to try different games and have found a lot of good games I may never have known about on GamePass. I see nothing wrong with encouraging people to try different things.

Your comment is “sad” for game developers trying to make a living doing something that you may not like but others may. Don’t understand why you can’t get such a simple concept. Games that YOU don’t like may still be good games.

I could see people’s points about “slop” if all these games were trashed by Steam players. But they aren’t. So saying they are slop is insulting to both those who made them and the players who like them.

Funny how everyone quickly judges all of these games to be awful “slop” when all of them have very positive reviews on Steam (used PC since many are new to console) or are day one and have positive feedback from demos.

Tamashika - 79% positive
Ascend to Zero - Day one (no reviews but positive feedback during Steam demo fest)
PBA Pro Bowling 2026 - 92% positive
Quarantine Zone The Last Check - 83% positive
Mavrix by Matthew Jones - 81% positive
FixForce - 96% positive
Fogpiercer - Day one but demo has 92% positive
Planet Crafter - 95% positive

A shame how many people miss out on good games simply just because they are not big AAA titles. I’ll be at least trying all of them.

Also looking forward to Denshattack! (curious why it wasn’t listed).

Not attacking anyone’s opinion. Just thought it may be helpful to some to know that most of these were well received on Steam. Can’t always judge a book by its cover. 😀

The number of employees losing jobs is lower than the reported number because that’s the number of jobs Microsoft is cutting. Some of the jobs will continue with the newly independent studios. Others with the whoever bought two of the studios.

@IronMan30 Four of them aren’t closing. Two are going independent and the other two are being sold.

This is actually better news than I expected with studios being spun off or sold rather than just outright closed. I hope all employees affected by the layoffs find new positions.

Right now Sony doesn’t seem to be doing anything to make a less painful transition to all digital. If they don’t do anything and Xbox does the disc to digital program, that alone will be a huge win for MS IMO.

Just seems like these journalists are throwing darts at a board of Xbox studios. I’m not putting much weight into some of this until we actually hear it from Xbox.

I’m not sure why anyone would root for Xbox completely shutting down unless you want 10s of thousands of people to lose their jobs. Because like it or not that’s what will happen vs. 1000-1500 if the studios mentioned are shut down or sold. No one should lose their job but unfortunately that isn’t an option with how Xbox was mismanaged under previous leadership.

These layoffs suck and Microsoft no doubt completely mismanaged Xbox. But the new management team basically is left with two choices: let the entire Xbox division go under and 21,000+ people lose their jobs or make painful cuts like these to slim down and see how if Xbox can survive.

Obviously they should have never let it get out of hand to begin with with so many studio purchases. It was unmanageable and ended up doing the opposite of its intention if they wanted to be able to compete more.

And I’m sorry but if a studio hasn’t put out a game in 7+ years, there’s problems there. Have to keep what is working and get rid of what’s not.

It all really sucks but I honestly am hoping MS does whatever it’s planning this week because I’m just tired of all the rumors and article after article about this.

Of course, I hope anyone affected by the layoffs find jobs and that some of these studios survive either through other companies stepping in or going independent. Just end this cycle of speculation and rumor.

@Tasuki Hey, I’m just going by what this very article says.

@Tasuki Word is that it isn’t Asha driving this but CFO Amy Hood.

Reviews for games on GamePass are the worst. You’ve got people who think every game should be COD on there trashing every game. It’s just sad.

@Fiendish-Beaver I’ve only played a few hours of it via the demo on PSN (saves carry to full game). But I had fun with it and will play some more when it releases in PS+ Extra next week.

Still not crazy about the way you craft weapons but the combat makes up for it. I did, however, hear it gets Souls level of difficulty so glad it’s on PS+ to check out and drop it if it gets too hard for my liking.

Supposedly they saying that MS was selling more Xbox Series machines than they can produce. Well, this will probably solve that problem.

Yeah, it has great reviews on Steam so definitely looking forward to checking this out.

@Fiendish-Beaver If you really took a look, even those smaller games you don’t think are good, very, very few games on GamePass have below a 70. I think the average score would be 70-80. Some months 80+.

For instance, you might look and see a game like Junkster on the service this month and think it’s probably trash. But it’s got a 74 on OpenCritic with reviews saying it’s a love letter to classic 3D platformers. I gave it a try and liked it myself.

I really do wish there was an average score for GamePass games because I think a lot of people would be surprised. Just because a game is for kids or doesn’t have incredible graphics doesn’t necessarily make it “slop”. There’s a wide variety of games to appeal to everyone on the service.

The guy is an idiot and has a grudge against Microsoft due to MS stopping support of Moon in light of all the reports of poor workplace conditions and abusing their employees. He’s become a joke in the industry and the media needs to stop giving air to the slop coming out of his mouth.

Sure there is some filler but there are so many excellent day one games on GamePass that it more than justifies a sub.

Are third party games like Persona 6, Stranger than Heaven and Beasts of Reincarnation “slop” along with first party games Forza Horizon 6, Fable and Gears of War e-Day? Name any month and I can name well reviewed games that month on GamePass.

Not only that but it continues to introduce me to gems like Lunar Abyss that I might have never played before and am so glad I did.

@FraserG The Halo X account now says this was just a mistake in the FAQ post.

“We incorrectly stated that PlayStation Plus is required for local co-op splitscreen play. Local splitscreen co-op requires a PlayStation account for each player but does not require a PlayStation Plus account.”

@IronMan30 Of course, most of those PCs are running on operating systems made by Microsoft and GamePass also is available on them. They have more than just vested interest in PC compared to other console makers.

Regardless, I think they likely mean console exclusive. Just like Sony would put on games in their own trailers for first party and third party games that were console exclusive to PS5 but were also on PC.

Not a big deal to most of console gamers, many of whom bought a console to begin with because of ease of use vs PC.

Honestly, this all really sucks but even listening to the video, Xbox has grown way too big and unmanageable. (And they have themselves to blame)

So they have to make big cuts to right the ship. I hope all of these studios survive, but in the end it may be what saves Xbox.

If they can become a more lean entity, they can focus on making games like Halo and FH that will be profitable. FH 6 made over $6 million in its first month and half of that was still Xbox sales.

While I hope things work out for the studios and employees affected, maybe the future of Xbox can have a better outlook and change the tide.

I should have downloaded First Light on my Laptop to get that $10. But I’m not sure it could run it even at the lowest settings, lol.

@Banjo- Oh, sorry, Junkster.

@MinervaX76 It’s not the fault of GamePass. It’s also on PS5 and PC. Steam has been showing less than 400 concurrent players for it.

I imagine the studio took the GP deal because they were in dire straights and needed an injection of guaranteed money.

Whatever the case, I’m about halfway through the game and am absolutely loving it so was devastated to hear this about the devs. It had gotten me wondering what they could achieve with a bigger budget. Won’t have the chance to see that sadly.

Played some of this last night and it’s pretty fun. Maybe geared toward younger gamers but I have enjoyed it nonetheless. Nice mix of platforming, combat and puzzles that often use building. That last part sets it apart but overall the game gives me a Ratchet and Clank vibe. Worth checking out!

@Balaam_ Forza Horizon 6 sold over 6 million copies split almost evenly between PC and Xbox. So if it’s a huge game, yes, Xbox players will buy games and not just play them on GamePass.

I still don’t understand why all the old Activision games weren’t just dropped onto GamePass at once. Maybe there’s more to it contractually or something else we aren’t aware of.

@FraserG The dev’s X account for Shift at Midnight still has a pinned post that the game is launching on GamePass on 6/17. Not sure if MS just missed it in the announcement?

Find it odd that it seems to have handling similar to Forza Horizon but gives you penalties for going off track. (And honestly that’s one of things I hate the most about “sim” racing games, lol.)