datamonkey

@HonestHick “you have to spend money to make money”

My friend I don’t disagree with you but they spent nearly $100 billion on acquisitions the last whatever number of years and that hasn’t helped them.

Studio closures, game cancellations and an inability to decide what to do with the rest of their portfolio are the tip of this problematic iceberg. They haven’t recouped anywhere near the $100b investment let alone make make money. At least so far that is.

Was just looking at maybe picking up efootball as I used to love Konami’s old PES games, plus like the idea of having a footy game portable on S2.

Other than that still working through 007 which is taking a while as I’ve not been gaming much these last few weeks.

@cross717 I tend to agree, Xbox have such a wealth of studios and IP I’m surprised they don’t just go all in on developing and publishing. I could see them becoming massive that way without the burden of a flailing console business.

That being said it would be sad to see them leave the console space. I loved my OG and 360 and it’s good overall to have more competition to stop others becoming complacent.

I really hope this ends up being as good as I think it might!

@MrStark yes but Asha is head of Xbox and I’m sure she does want to sort the company out.

It’s Microsoft’s decision if they want to spin off Xbox. Not Xbox’s decision.

@themightyant when I read that I thought they’ll either a) hire more developers or b) use AI tools.

Seeing as layoffs seem to be on the table I doubt it’ll be a) so that leaves b)… in my mind anyway.

@Scottdevine53 no Microsoft should definitely not buy sega.

@ZeD ouch $500m revenue decline 😮 I wonder what the share of this was on gamepass and the hardware/software sales split…

@LostInBlue0 except by closing them they use it as a tax write-off.

I used to love listening to his podcasts back in the day with Laura and others. Good times!

I don’t understand what they mean when they say “we are increasingly becoming a platform.”

That’s interesting to me as what platforms are they increasing? They already have console, handheld, PC etc. I wonder if they’re insinuating new platforms like helix?

Has baffled me, any thoughts?!

@Banjo- agreed and that’s probably why I don’t play in handheld mode haha

I’m still holding out hope hori release some split pad pros for S2 which were decent on my old oled.

@Banjo- haha ok so you’re set by the sound of it! I can’t stand the joycon but the new pro controller has quickly become my favourite of all. It’s so comfortable!

@Banjo- out of interest I take it you have a pro controller on S2? Is an absolute must have in my opinion!

Surprisingly SGF was my favourite and I don’t think I’ve ever said that before!

It was clear a 50% price increase would result in less subs and I’m sure they expected it.

I can only think the reason it happened was due to the 30% profit margin target that was supposedly insisted on around that time.

I can see them implementing their own scaling solution as pssr2 has been brilliant on the pro. It’s a relatively easy and cost effective way to gain performance.

@FraserG greta effort with all this reporting dude, hope you get some rest at some point!

@Coletrain yeah me too man but I have a feeling we’ll be waiting a while for them!

@Coletrain I agree though that was the strategy before and Phil moved away from it for a reason. Maybe under Asha it’ll work better.

I would have thought keeping halo exclusive would’ve been better as it’s basically the biggest original Xbox IP and hasn’t already shown up on PS. Gears has, plus its multiplayer.

Thought it was excellent personally!

@CallMeDuraSouka “why make billions when we could make… millions” 😄

@AI-Generation I agree. I don’t need or want anything more than my pro is already giving me, especially like as you say pssr2 has taken it to the next level.

I’m not sure what Xbox or PlayStation can do to entice me to a new console.

@Nexozi ah ok sounds promising thank you. It would be good if the added a “dial down the cringe” setting 😂

@Nexozi I agree Horizon 5 dialogue was cringe, do you know if 6 improves on it or is the same?

This is a good example of how disjointed Xbox and their messaging is and has been for a very long time.

To be redacted from one exec to the next 24 hours later isn’t good. I appreciate they have to stop the leaks but an apology “owning” mixed messaging at this stage following lots of mixed messaging really isn’t a good place to be.

I find it interesting that not long ago everything was being sold as an Xbox and how everybody should be able to play all games now seems to be redundant. That’s absolutely fine but damn please get your messaging straight.

Love how the story flows so seamlessly. Love how I’m actually interested in the characters (which I don’t find with many games). The training section was one of the best of any game I’ve played, brilliantly done. The graphics and performance is superb (playing on pro).

On the flip side I find the combat good but a bit unresponsive, I’m sure I’ve pressed to block and it didn’t recognise my input quite a few times. The driving sections are sadly really bad. Maybe I’ve been spoilt with Forza but come on the driving controls are weird!

I actually really like that!

Very much doubt we’ll see either helix or ps6 but if we do I’d expect helix will show up first. I feel Xbox are more keen than Sony are to getting new hardware out.

I love fable and I love Richard ayoade but I sort of wish they hadn’t been combined. No doubt that’s an unpopular opinion though.

Totally agree them calling MS Microslop isn’t going to help their cause.

I kinda feel like she’s changing anything that’s easy to be changed to make it look like a lot’s going on. That’s great but there’s much more fundamental issues that need sorting in my opinion and this feels like smoke and mirrors to an extent. I hope she’s just as busy behind the scenes making more important decisions.

@InfamousOrange exactly this. I’ll be the same.

An optional drive would be best to ensure all are kept happy. After all didn’t Asha literally just say they want to cater to their core audience again?

@AI-Generation ah good to hear. The main thing I hope they improve on the next game is the enemy AI. They seem a bit dopey most of the time!

@AI-Generation I really loved the world Ubisoft created with FC6, hope you enjoy it!

Personally I rarely pay full price these days. I feel no need to play things day 1 and and am happy to wait for a sale. My backlog’s so big I always have loads to play.

It’s only certain franchises I get full price and day one for example Zelda, GTA and a few others.

@AI-Generation yes TSMC built a chip factory in Arizona I believe but it’s old tech and chips for older devices built there not the latest.

Funny I was also wondering if they’re going to update to the new logo on the game packaging seeing as that’s been changed recently?

I was one of the 5 people that enjoyed this game. I’m convinced if it wasn’t called Battlefield it would have been well received.

"recommitting to our core fans"

So is this an admission they weren’t committed to core fans before?

The switch 2 pro controller has ousted all other controllers and become my favourite surprisingly. It’s so comfortable!

I’m going for a round 90. It will be glorious

Brimful of Asha

It’s good prices have come down but am I the only one out here thinking Microsoft are just throwing s*** at the wall hoping some will stick?

I know Xbox have had a leadership shakeup who obviously deserve a chance, but they really seem strategy less.

@kmtrain83 no apparently everything isn’t an Xbox any more!

I’d love a FH4 release on switch 2 please xbox!

Does he mean switch or switch 2 port? Why is he comparing this to a switch port when there isn’t one? Isn’t it impressive anyway the game on current Xbox home hardware is being compared to a handheld in the first place?