@Ricky-Spanish It’s only for Play Anywhere titles, which A) is only digital, and B) is nowhere near every digital title. We cannot pretend this is the handheld we were hoping for. Getting access to the Steam versions of older Playstation titles on a more expensive version of the Steamdeck is not the same as PS owners getting all our games on the day (and running at higher quality!). I’m willing to accept this generation and the last are lost generations for Xbox but if we all keep demanding better, then there’s no reason they can’t turn it around for the next generation and start competing with the other consoles. We cannot keep pretending to be content with our Shelbyville lemons. Surely!
@Ricky-Spanish I'm not sure - I feel like we have to stop pretending it's an Xbox when it won't have our libraries on them. I couldn't believe when I read we'd have to buy all our games all over again. I mean...what on earth is the point? We need to demand better from Xbox.
I've started to feel like I go on this website to actively feel depressed these days. Bless naive me this time 2 years ago thinking the upcoming Starfield would turn things around for Xbox...
@Questionable_Duck I'm not sure! I personally never got a huge amount of satisfaction seeing Xbox buy up a ton of studios, because there's an emptiness to the success that follows. Like the Saudi football leagues buying up the top-tier players, when there's been no ground-up nurturing (you are absolutely right about Bethesda by the way, I'd forgotten just how long they'd been part of Xbox).
I also still don't see the benefit of non-exclusive 1st party titles. I certainly remember how embarrassing it was a few years back seeing fellow Xbox fans boasting about the success and accolades and GOTY nomination of Deathloop because it was 1st party, despite the fact that at the time it was only on Playstation and couldn't even be played on Xbox; it was genuinely degrading.
I think I'd be appreciate it more if non-exclusives like COD and Doom helped fund more exclusives for us. We still do have exclusives (and I noticed a couple in the showcase over the weekend), but crucially the titles that remain just on the Xbox console don't seem to be the big hitters, the system sellers, the Indiana Jones-type games. Again, I'm grateful for South of Midnight and Avowed this year, but we just don't have anything that's going to rival Yotei, or Mario Kart, or Death Stranding 2 or even possibly Donkey Kong this year, and I'm beyond being sick of it.
I know the exclusives argument is starting to feel like a lost cause, but it's why people buy consoles. And if Xbox is moving away from that and focusing on Game Pass, that just feels so hollow. It's difficult to be a fan of that - it's like if you had a friend who was super into Netflix. It'd be weird!
@Questionable_Duck I think I disagree. Yes, the new Doom is fantastic, and Outer Worlds 2 looks sure to be a step-up from the first, but we're not going to see them nominated for GOTY. South Of Midnight and Avowed are decent enough 6/10 games but we won't remember them by the end of the year. You're right in that 12 is a lot of games, but I just don't see the titles from newly acquired studios as being 'Xbox titles' - in the same way that if PS inexplicably acquired Capcom out of the blue, nobody would really see Resident Evil as a Playstation achievement. In terms of the studios that Xbox have nurtured for far longer, the output really is disappointing.
Oh, come ON, we have to stop doing this. Are we genuinely doing '2026 will be the year of Xbox?' How do we fall for this time and time again? We have to demand better from Microsoft.
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Re: PSA: Silent Hill 2 Is Still Due For Xbox Once PS5 Exclusivity Window Expires
@Ricky-Spanish It’s only for Play Anywhere titles, which A) is only digital, and B) is nowhere near every digital title. We cannot pretend this is the handheld we were hoping for. Getting access to the Steam versions of older Playstation titles on a more expensive version of the Steamdeck is not the same as PS owners getting all our games on the day (and running at higher quality!). I’m willing to accept this generation and the last are lost generations for Xbox but if we all keep demanding better, then there’s no reason they can’t turn it around for the next generation and start competing with the other consoles. We cannot keep pretending to be content with our Shelbyville lemons. Surely!
Re: PSA: Silent Hill 2 Is Still Due For Xbox Once PS5 Exclusivity Window Expires
@Ricky-Spanish I'm not sure - I feel like we have to stop pretending it's an Xbox when it won't have our libraries on them. I couldn't believe when I read we'd have to buy all our games all over again. I mean...what on earth is the point? We need to demand better from Xbox.
Re: PSA: Silent Hill 2 Is Still Due For Xbox Once PS5 Exclusivity Window Expires
So exciting to play this a year after everyone else did. Woo...
Re: PSA: Silent Hill 2 Is Still Due For Xbox Once PS5 Exclusivity Window Expires
@Ricky-Spanish Well, they will be for PS and Nintendo. Just not for us Xbox players.
Re: Xbox First-Party Handheld Plans 'Essentially Cancelled', Claims Report
I've started to feel like I go on this website to actively feel depressed these days. Bless naive me this time 2 years ago thinking the upcoming Starfield would turn things around for Xbox...
Re: Phil Spencer Says 2026 Is Going To Be 'A Really Special Year' For Xbox
@Questionable_Duck I'm not sure! I personally never got a huge amount of satisfaction seeing Xbox buy up a ton of studios, because there's an emptiness to the success that follows. Like the Saudi football leagues buying up the top-tier players, when there's been no ground-up nurturing (you are absolutely right about Bethesda by the way, I'd forgotten just how long they'd been part of Xbox).
I also still don't see the benefit of non-exclusive 1st party titles. I certainly remember how embarrassing it was a few years back seeing fellow Xbox fans boasting about the success and accolades and GOTY nomination of Deathloop because it was 1st party, despite the fact that at the time it was only on Playstation and couldn't even be played on Xbox; it was genuinely degrading.
I think I'd be appreciate it more if non-exclusives like COD and Doom helped fund more exclusives for us. We still do have exclusives (and I noticed a couple in the showcase over the weekend), but crucially the titles that remain just on the Xbox console don't seem to be the big hitters, the system sellers, the Indiana Jones-type games. Again, I'm grateful for South of Midnight and Avowed this year, but we just don't have anything that's going to rival Yotei, or Mario Kart, or Death Stranding 2 or even possibly Donkey Kong this year, and I'm beyond being sick of it.
I know the exclusives argument is starting to feel like a lost cause, but it's why people buy consoles. And if Xbox is moving away from that and focusing on Game Pass, that just feels so hollow. It's difficult to be a fan of that - it's like if you had a friend who was super into Netflix. It'd be weird!
Re: Phil Spencer Says 2026 Is Going To Be 'A Really Special Year' For Xbox
@Questionable_Duck I think I disagree. Yes, the new Doom is fantastic, and Outer Worlds 2 looks sure to be a step-up from the first, but we're not going to see them nominated for GOTY. South Of Midnight and Avowed are decent enough 6/10 games but we won't remember them by the end of the year. You're right in that 12 is a lot of games, but I just don't see the titles from newly acquired studios as being 'Xbox titles' - in the same way that if PS inexplicably acquired Capcom out of the blue, nobody would really see Resident Evil as a Playstation achievement. In terms of the studios that Xbox have nurtured for far longer, the output really is disappointing.
Re: Phil Spencer Says 2026 Is Going To Be 'A Really Special Year' For Xbox
Oh, come ON, we have to stop doing this. Are we genuinely doing '2026 will be the year of Xbox?' How do we fall for this time and time again? We have to demand better from Microsoft.