ilyn

They really should not be allowed to aquire any more studios for a long time as this mass consolidation of the industry is in no ones benefit. Also it hardly worked out great in the past. In general I would much rather see a returm to companies simply partnering with studios for a game and leaving them independant.

@darylb24 You are reading into things far too much if you thing having an opinion on picture A or Picture B is salty.

Much prefer the older one as it looks more modern. The new one already manages to look aged due to the effects.

That is utterly vile, I wonder how bad the designs they rejected were if that's what they went with.

I don't think the SS would be a good buy at this point unless you can pick one up dirt cheap. Only because at this moment we don't know exactly when the generation will come to an end, and whilst I think the SX will retain some support, I don't think we can for sure say the same for the SS. If we knew there was another 3 years in this gen then it would be different but right now everyone is guessing until we get rock solid confirmation.

I don't see how this would make sense when games are still struggling to meet sales expectations, and GP is a large part of the sales issue. Also I do think that if they add more tiers you will end up with a confusing service overall. It needs to be simple and easy to understand, but I also think they need to rethink the day 1 proposition.

@Coletrain Apologies when I said not convinced I was more referring to how the game reviews on release. If we get another Skyrim level game, and it was exclusive, then I would for sure agree that it would help shift hardware. However I am not convinced that BGS will stick the landing which in turn will make it less of a system seller.

@bad2388 Its not really MS forcing Sony out of the PC market rather than the PC market has not really been worth the effort or brand negativity that Sony has received from it. The only games that have really done great are live service and those games are not going anywhere. For the Single player story games however its a different story as they have just not had the impact that was expected.

@Coletrain 10 years ago I would have put TES6 as a system seller for sure. Now however I am just not as convinced that current day Bethesda can crank out the magic they had for TES3, 4 & 5. I think FO4, FO76 and SF just left a lot of people questioning if BGS are long past their prime.

@Coletrain I think a big problem is that at the rumoured prices of the next consoles MS don't have a single system selling game that would really do the numbers. COD is probably the closest but I don't think even that would pursuade people to purchase the Helix if it was exclusive only. Its a problem for all three big players, but I think the expected price of Helix makes it more of an issue for MS.

@Questionable_Duck I think all of those game you mentioned would have been fine to stay as exclusives because you are correct in that they didn't sell well anywhere. Very few people would lose sleep at not being able to play OW2 on PS5 for example. However I would also question if they sold well enough at all in the current market. We always hear figures like 3m players, but when up to 80% of those players are GP its a lot of money being missed, so i am not sure they can lose any extra.

There is just no point in releasing any game around the GTA release window. Whenever it releases it will steal all the oxygen from everything else in the room. All articles, streamers and award ceremonies are going to glaze the game hard and its all we will see for at least a month.

I can't see them dropping the higher tier if people are already paying for it. I suspect it's more likely that they will add a cheaper on boarding level with zero benefits. The only chance of them dropping the price would come along with removing content and I doubt that would go down welll at all.

I am still curious to see how they are going to manage GP with Helix. If they remove content now, and helix doesn't require GP as people are assuming, then they will be leaving a lot of money on the table.

@Cakefish I know asking for complete ad removal from dashboard is unrealistic

The sad thing is it should not be unrealistic at all. You should have the option to disable al ads including Store ads if you choose. There is no time where ads should be pushed on to people who have paid for a device, where they also pay a sub for additional features.

@Fiendish-Beaver @VisitingComet1 for my take, I wonder if MS have a developer repository where ideas that devs have worked on / created are sat in a dead zone that have just never implemented. If thats the case then Asha could be pushing roll out of work that was just sat doing nothing which would still be a success, but also could explain some of the timeframe questions.

Either way the end result are good for the players, and i guess thats all that matters in the end.

@themightyant The loot system in Darksiders 2 really did drag it down so much from the original Zelda style of gaining gear when you needed it. The sequel also massively leaned into the rule of 3 which ended up making the game design feel much older than it was.

Sadly Darksider 3 was also pretty poor, but i remain hopeful that somehow 4 will return to the original style.

@Weebleman I get that people 'try before they buy'

I know some people will try before they buy, but I always think they muct surely be in the minority. Its just natural to put the money elsewhere if you have been given something for "free" as part of a sub. The sheer volume of games also makes it far less likely that people will ever go back and replay older games, further reducing the likelyhood of spending further.

@ZeD ofc they would, PS is incredibly critical of sony, far more than NL or PX are of their respective platforms.

Honestly it's good to see and pretty much what I expected. As a hardware brand Xbox is struggling and Helix will see those numbers drop further as it's just going to be a pricy PC. I always assumed they would do better with software however as they bought out the market and it's their bread and butter. They can still do better and I hope they do as they are now the main player in the publisher market.

@Crymaxx I’d even come back to WoW myself if it was included in XGP Ultimate.

As a long term wow player I 100% understand that sentiment but I can't see them changing it as both subs do well individually. WoW is charging between £9.99 and £8.69 a month depending on if you sub for 1 month or 3, 6, 12. I think they only way you see that being put on GP is with a big price rise to match.

I also don't think it would be great value for players as MMO's demand so much time that you would not get as much value from the other aspects of GP, such as Day 1 and the game catalogue. I know when I was heavily into wow I could easily spenc 2-3h a night on just that which leaves very little time for anything else.

I imagine the netflix option would likely be tied into the Ultimate tier with a minor saving like £2-3 a month off for having them both. That way it works as an upsell as most people will already be paying for netflix, but far less for ultimate. So it would not be a terrible idea and would possibly help Netflix also since dodgy sticks are only becoming more popular.

Perk picking sounds good as a concept, but I don't think it would work well or be a good idea. You would naturally have an imbalance in what perks where chosen, which in turn would lead to an imbalance as to where the funds get allocated. All told I think you would just end up alienating more users as they felt their package was now worth less than another users package because they valued the less popular option. Or the flipside resentment of feeling your payment was propping up a perk you had no interest in during dry periods.

The expanse was a brilliant show but I am a little concerned about how well it will convert into a game.The world lends itself to a slower paced style of story telling where combat is not as common, but when it happens its very quick and very brutal as space combat should be.

That said I trust Owlcat to hopefully knock it out of the park, but also expect it to be better 6m down the line when they patch out their usual bugs.

Oblivion was good but it was probably my least favourite of the three as the world was a bit generic. The shivering isles was incredible as a final DLC however. I think Morrowind has the more interesting world despite being dated. The lack of fast travel made it great to explore but it was a product of it's time. Skyrim however was probably the most fun to play overall.

@fatpunkslim @shiny-enzo Except that proves absolutely nothing at all.

81 on Xbox from 100 reviews
81 on PC from 50 reviews
84 on PS5 from 23 reviews (Enhanced version)

1) The difference in the number of reviews alone can cause a discrepency in overall rating. The fact PC and Xbox match is just a coincidence and nothing more.
2) Different reviewers reviewed the games on different platforms, different reviewer, different opinion. Had sites like eurogamer, IGN etc all reviewed it twice but with 10% higher marks for PS5 you would have a point, but thats not what happened.
3) Its a different version with 60fps, new difficulties, photo mode, dev commentary and general fixes / polish. All of these could easily add a point here or there overall. PS5 just benefitted from having this version reviewed whilst Xbox and PC had the orginal version.
4) Its 3 points different which again is a small margin of difference easily covered by any or all of the above factors.

Also shall we forget the Indiana Jones review from PX vs PS where a PS review site marked the game noticably higher than and Xbox review site. Are Pure Xbox now part of the Xbox Tax conspiracy?

For clarity I am happy starfield is doing well, its not for me but it sits firmly in the category of good games. For some that will tip to great, for others it will tip to mid. I just don't except the nonsense that is a global conspiracy of all reviewers agreeing to punish xbox, except for the times they don't ofc.

@fatpunkslim The Xbox tax is not a thing no matter how many times people claim it, and honestly that last sentence just ruins what would have been an otherwise good post by bringing console warring into it.

@NeoRatt See I don't think its that surprising at all because regardless of size MS is like any other business. If someone has has a black mark by their name you tow the company line so as not to put a target on your back. So I fully expect everyone else to remain silent, whilst the one guy with nothing to lose bigged her up.

@Shinato2024 Having to play to a certain part in any game before you can explore is fine. Plenty of games do that and its not an issue, its on the devs however to make getting to that point a great experience. If they force you to play through dull content for 10h to reach good content then they have made a big error.

It all comes down to how much time a person can commit to a title. If you game 8h a day then you might be fine spending a day to reach that point. If your a parent who only gets to game 2h a day at most then taking a week to reach good stuff is a bigger issue.

@Banjo- You say it was bashed for whatever reason but then also say.

I'd say that the first ten hours are boring and I didn't even care about the characters on screen, but then it starts to get better and better.

It's also very likely that people just binned it off if the intro didn't hook them, rather than because its Xbox. Its the age old debate of how long should you play a game because someone says it gets better 10, 20, 50 or 100 hours in. All media, whether games, films or shows, needs to be good from the outset or you will lose a huge part of your audience.

@NeoRatt I read the silence more as she was the sacrificial lamb hung out to dry. Phil had nice words to say about her, but he is the one who no longer needs to tow the company line.

Personally I find it ridiculous how quickly everyone has been to believe that one person was to blame for every bad decision whilst deifying her boss who will have signed of on every change.

I would go with Microsoft Xbox, and it just gets called xbox. It's short, it's simple and it's too the point. It's also that long since the original that no one is confusing them.

Also it's not cringe which a lot of the suggested names are. It's the classic case if fans thinking a name is great and it's actually cheesy as hell.

@Weebleman your also running one app to open another app which opens the app you wanted. Which from a resources point also makes little sense to me.

@kmtrain83 Not exactly a video game but my friend uses AI to upload RPG source books to and has them create a campaign for him to solo play using 3-4 characters. It has being getting better but still suffers from the issue that all AI starts making stuff up when it doesn't know the rules, or can't find them.

I doubt we will ever see AI so advanced that it can do everything because unfortunately like humans when it can't do something it still tries to blag and bodge it.

I don't really think much will change. We know the new device will land at some point and general thoughts are it's going to be pretty niche. As such I think they will continue primarily as a publisher providing gamers everywhere. GP will continue to fall in value as they slowly phase it down, whilst milking the die hard subscribers. Ultimately they are heading for an all windows future which is fine. It just holds no interest for me as I would always rather custom build a PC

Not played it on GP but the platform makes no difference, it's a solid 9/10 game regardless. It won't click for everyone but it's still one hell of a game and worth the download to try.

@Millionski @Gemini53 I have a gaming PC and I will openly admit that I have been one of the PC can be a faff crowd albeit more when referring to the back catalogue. Current PC games can be fine but if you go back 10 years or so then you can quite easily run into issues where games just fall over because you pushed the resolution past 1080. I recently had it on Dead Space where it was awkward to boot due to resolution and having a game pad plugged in.

The issues are not insurmountable, but for console only games they could be a major issue. PC can just do wonky things that PC players will happily solve and work around. I think console players looking at the back catalogue of PC could get a shock however.

@jesse_dylan They do it with every article and game of every genre. Its just to help drive traffic to the site by throwing in Xbox. NL and PS do the same for the same reasons.

@Gemini53 To me the rewording of build for whats next with mobile, laptop, handheld, TV, Console all showing says the vision has not really changed much at all. It just looks like the direction is exactly the same, but we tweaked the wording. It also has a wiff of throwing Bond under the bus and laying everything at her feet, whilst not really changing the strategy at all.

Cyberpunk is well worth a play for anyone who has not yet given it a go yet. The world is visually great and I really liked the interactions with Johnny Silverhand (Keanu) who played a much bigger part in the story than I originally expected.

@TrollOfWar I looked at those and I honestly wish they had a filter that you could remove all 0/10 review scores to see a better aggregate. I get people may not enjoy a game and rate it as a 3 or 4 if they really just do not enjoy it. 0 however is just such and idiotic score solely used by people with an agenda to bomb any game and make silly claims about DEI.

A 0 score should be resereved only for games that basically will not run at all.

@PsBoxSwitchOwner I don't think the PS6 will be close to that. I predict they will aim for the 500-600 mark and utilise pssr3 at that point to create a system that does 4k60 with no real issues. They don't need to shoot for the moon when that is more than enough for most gamers.

Below $1000 is wishful thinking imo, I still say it could easily hit $1500 but suspect it will land in the $1200 - $1500 margin. The GPU and RAM alone will be a huge chunk of that budget before you even start to factor in main board, storage, PSU, Cooling etc.

It won't be cheap, but I also suspect the leaked specs will be downgraded closer to the time if costs keep as they are.

@Cakefish Off topic but thanks for just reminding me to rewatch Lee & Herring moon on a Stick

@Globo They need to do something, and they also need to adress the amount of Day 1 that they promised to deliver this year as I personally think it added to the cost increase whilst offering consumers very little extra.

If i remember correctly they stated they would add around 78 Day 1 games to GP which works out as one every 5 days roughly. At that point the cost clearly rises but who is actually able to finish and start a new game every 5 days. Increasing the offering sounds great on paper, but consumers didn't suddenly gain 50% more free time to play these extra games.

The only person I can think off who games that much is @Fiendish-Beaver, and I imagine even he would struggle to keep up with that amount of games. A smaller amount of curated games for a lower price would sit better with most players I imagine.

@dskatter In fairness Slay the Spire 2 was always going to do incredibly well after the following the original got.

Niche as cost alone will drive away the majority of casual gamers who went PS5 digital or Series S for a cheaper experience. If the leaked specs are even remotely close then I think we are talking $1500 for this device, possibly more, and that will not fly for the average family.

Amongst hardcare gamers we could all say we would spend that money but they reality is we are not the majority in this market, casuals are and they will determine the success.

Im interested to hear more as its new tech, but I already have a gaming PC and would have zero desire to get a branded one over a custom build. Still curious to see how their plans for specs etc and more importantly cost as that will be a biggie. If they wanna claim premium in the PC world then I imagine around $1500, and less and its not really a premium PC.

@Gemini53 I right with you there on Nintendo exclusives. I missed on the switch this time as I couldn't justify the expense. Prior to that however I had a N64, Gamecube and Wii all just for Zelda. Obviously I got other games on them also but Zelda is a huge draw.

@Millionski apologies I may have not explained myself well. What I meant was that it's a very niche benefit that's mainly built up by the minority, but had very little impact at a wider level.

As you say it's their only feature, but I don't think it's a feature that really does any heavy lifting. I would go so far as to say they could remove it overnight from future games and it would not affect much at all

Another classic from @fatpunkslim. The next Xbox is nothing but rumors and yet those rumors are nailed on perfect. But this is just a rumor with no confirmation.... This is why you get so much flak

@Millionski I wouldn't even say play anywhere is a major draw. PS do have it covered in a fashion with the portal, but I don't think it's a major feature that defines any device at present. I think it's a case of most people still play a game in one place where it plays best so getting it on all platforms is a feature that sounds more worthwhile that it is for most players.

I completely agree tho that they need to find something that makes them unique and stand out from the crowd.

@TrollOfWar Just got around to listening to that DF Direct today and its interesing. They seem to think nothing will really change, but it will be sold as a new direction simply because we don't know anything. I think they are right and it will still be a PC box to focus on windows and the console will not return ever to that classic console device because they can't compete in that market.

@Fiendish-Beaver I think the problem is that people know exclusives matter, but choose to bury their head in the sand by pointing out that the top sellers on platforms are multiplatform. The just purposefully mislead themselves, and the issue, rather than accept the point that exclusives do sell consoles.