@Gabrie Achievements for WoW have only ever been an in game feature, and even those were only included in later expansions. I highly doubt they would make an exception for the handful of players that may try this on a handheld.
@BacklogBrad Been watching a few follow ups from streamers who where also involved behind the scenes more ahead of Forever and apparently the early announcements were two fold. In part the announced everything they were working on as a rebuttal to the MS cuts. If the fans know everything that is coming then the hope is it puts more pressure on MS to keep the teams secure.
For Diablo specifically it was to let people know they are returning to the old style as D4 just didn't land as they had expected. D4 is a good game but the endgame is limited and they have lost a lot of ground to PoE2 which is getting very well received and will only get better with the 1.0 free release in December.
@Llamageddon I think your suggestion makes sense and its why I have always felt PS+ is the better model, despite being a worse offering for the consumer (debatable ofc based on a user preferences, but lets not go down that road 😂).
No matter how good a deal is for the consumer it also has to be healthy for the company, and for the wider industry at large. As you say some smaller indies can be supported on sub services day 1 and I think that's a great thing. However for AA and AAA i think they should follow 6-18m later depending on the title. Taking away those sales on Day 1 is a huge blow and I think platforms should actively be supporting game sales to support studios.
I would say it's similar to the PS disc issue, which I think will be the same for Xbox. I prefer choice, but if an industry change helps studios by limiting the resale market and removing the costs of physical then I can understand why it is happening.
@Llamageddon As above not aimed at me, but if I had to pick one then I would say exclusive are more important than Day 1. They provide reasons for people to choose platforms and I think are healthier for the industry in general.
It is just a rumour and should be noted as such, but Microsoft also haven't denied anything. They have simply said we have nothing to announce at this time so nothing will change. If we do have something to announce then things will change, because thats how announcements work. Essentially it's a yes we have been discussing options, every option is on table and it may still come to pass in some form or another.
Personally I think it will be somewhere in the middle. It's likely there will be an Ad plan plus a family add-on at a premium cost on top of a standard sub. I also think Day 1 will see a down turn but could stay in some form as its phased out or shrunk to a manageable limit. Maybe they limit it to MGS and we don't see as much 3rd party or ActiBlizz.
Either way it still not debunked completely as all we know is that they have nothing to announce today.
@Simu001 Yeah I was not to happy about the Skyborn being paid content but I jumped in anyway. I was always going to buy the WC3 DLC so having the Pack which contained everything with extras and some game time at least made it an easier pill to swallow.
Looking forward to the Beta this week so I can see how all the classes feel with their changes.
Classic was always the only option if they wanted to bring WoW to consoles as its the simplest version of the game before it started being about difficulty. As such Forever would be the game that would fit, but I still think they would be a way off making it on consoles, and if it was going to happen then I am sure they would have pushed to get it ready now.
Also whilst it could be possible I imagine it still would not be great for certain activities like PVP where M/KB would have a distinct advantage
Not sure how I feel about Diablo 5 as 4 has barely stretched its legs and doesn't feel old in any way. I feel like they could expand that world a lot more rather than cash grabbing with a new game
I have a couple of things on the go at the minute as I am not fully settled on a single game (which is unusual for myself). I also made myself a Batocera setup for the living room using a HP NUC I relocated from the office.
Champions Return to Arms - PS2, via Batocera Final Fantasy VI PR - PC Pathfinder: Kingmaker - PC
and I still need to properly looks at the Nioh 3 DLC on PS5 as I got distracted with emulation. I am also looking at grabbing a Wii plus remote and Mayflash Dolphin Bar for Batocera so I can tackle a few Wii games again, so let the distractions continue.
@Weebleman @RTGX It maddening how many people still don't understand that hardcore gamers are not the bread and butter of the industry just because we choose to read about it in our spare time. It's the exact same in online games where the terminally online players think all decisions should be made in their favour, whilst refusing to acknowledge they are normally less than 5% of the player base. Casuals will always be the backbone of the industry.
Pretty much as suspected, if you are footing the bill then you name the terms. If that's not acceptable then someone else can foot the bill, especially when you are likely to get the game regardless.
You may not like it but every single company would act the same because they act in their best interests. If MS now gets timed exclusivity they are no better or worse than Sony, they are just doing what benefits them.
@Llamageddon Personally I find there are more quality games coming out than I have time for and I would only actually care about a platforms financials if they were going bust.
Aye 100%, People talk about years being weaker with no games and it baffles me. Every year we just keep getting more and more games, from even more studios, with ever increasing variety. If anything the market is now too saturated due to the amount of content we get. Its created a scenario where its just not possible for most games to make it big.
Taking chances with games used to pay off for the big guns when they had less competition. Now with so many games out there and ever increasing budgets it feels like the smarter move to play it safe with AAA, and let the smaller studios take the risks on AA or indies. I imagine that's a part of what we are seeing here.
@Llamageddon You are wasting your breath as no matter how much evidence is provided he will always claim otherwise as its his whole schtick.
PS can post their highest profits and stopping support of 1 game means they are struggling. Xbox on the other hand are open about terrible accountability margins and recently parted ways with 5 studios, and they are clearly the healthiest they have ever been.
If the game was in a good place then they likely wouldn't have dropped it. The fact that they have dropped it probably hints that its not in a good place, or is burning through budget,
Either way the only way we will ever know is if / when the game releases as until then we quite literally know nothing about it.
You can always trust in a gaming companies ability to find the rake when their competitor is suffering negative press. I swear the big three must all be in cahoots sending round emails letting each other know its their turn next.
It's a bit disappointing as I was expecting something a bit longer, especially because I always considered the life sim elements of Fable to be the most boring.
I will pick it up at some point but will wait for a price drop rather than throwing £70 at it.
@Titntin I don't think they are being harsh as they call the combat out as being a severe negative. I think its more a case of them using a wider range on the score scale. Unfortunately I think far to many review sites now associate 7 with a mid game so basically stick to 8's and 9's and will never go below 7 which for them is a bad game.
@Rimebreaker I would imagine its an optional install, but it could possibly vary by platform. I would guess new purchasers will have to buy the remaster meaning it will include the patch by default. Old purchasers should hopefully have access to just update their version or not.
For me Efficiency sounds like the replacement buzzword for cutting specs. Essentially less memory, less storage, no drive to make the device more cost efficient, but it will come at the cost of sacrificing some power. Of course if Helix uses upscaling tech like Sony did with PSSR2 then you can cut some specs to fake better looking results without the raw power.
As for affordability I suspect it will just be payment plans direct, which are nothing new, but will likely be available direct from MS. I would expect them to leverage any payment plans in their favour by adding in things like GPU as part of the package to boost numbers across the board. I don't think they will necessarily charge more, but will make it so you have to sub to their service as part of the contract.
@BattleMonkey In that instance I would assume you will just outright lose the licence if the stolen copy was activated. Realistically any personal insurances should cover you to replace a copy rather than placing the onus on MS.
Diablo 4 is decent enough but I find the seasons get old pretty quickly and there is not enough difference between builds and class balance each season to keep you playing long term. Barbarian is a key example where you may alter a move or two, but outside of that you pretty much always take the same three shouts for every build.
I would love to see Blizzard make Warcraft 4 but I don't think it will ever happen as they are to heavily tied into WoW now and want all story beats to happen there.
@Coletrain What I don't understand is how MS are able to do this for MS accounts, but for Blizzard accounts (who MS now own) you still need to provide proof. It beyond stupid how my 21 year old Battlenet needs proof to show I am over 18.
Lets be real this is the same company who regularly gets stuff wrong by large margins due to their methodology. Not sure why sites still take them seriously as news instead of tagging it as rumour, which is basically what it is.
@FraserG If you want to give it a go and remove some of the daunting aspect then I would recommend looking up some build guides for characters. I would say the biggest failing in the game is you can't see what each class / subclass will get at future levels when you are planning out your character. For example knowing that Thief Rogues get an extra bonus action at level 3 which is a huge upgrade for Open Hand Monks.
Some of the best builds will double, triple or even quad class which is a headache when trying to plan them out.
@FraserG The major upgrade came at the very end of the support cycle when they added 12 new subclasses which added quite a lot to the gameplay. Big shout out to the Death Domain Cleric which I made Shadowheart into for my evil run. They also give lots more options when you multi-class for synergies.
The other changes mainly related to the endings. They added some additional ending scenes for certain NPC's who felt like they had been forgotten. They also fleshed out the endings for the Dark Urge by adding more variety. It was welcome but doesn't really transform a play through until the credits roll.
@Mr-Cage Why aren't any of the people effected commenting?
Very strange considering the poll isn't it?
Probably because a very very small minority of users actually comment on any posts, both here and PS. Would be interesting to know what the % of active commentators is compared to users.
@Banjo- That matches what I had seen previously, I think it was around 2024 when the SX overtook the SS as the more popular machine. In the earlier years it was massively skewed in favour of the SS due to stock shortages and a large amount of people grabbing an SS as a gamepass secondary console when they were much cheaper.
@lacerz I had to explain to some of the girls in the office what 4 tracks / 8 tracks were the other day and they were just looking at me like what is this ancient technology. I did also have to explain what a cassette was to one of them also, which certainly makes you feel old 👴
@Fiendish-Beaver Yeah I had a look at some of their earlier titles just before and I didn't realise they had also made The Bard's Tale (2004) which was a game I really enjoyed. It was not AAA by any standard, but it was still a little gem. I fear that is what will be lost with this push. We just won't see those quirky AA games which may not be the best sellers of all time, but often get remembered more fondly as just being fun.
Whilst I would prefer physical to stay around because choice is better, I do find it comical that companies like this are trying to act like they really care about consumers and their rights. What they really mean is "we don't like this future as it will impact our business model". Which is a fine and legitimate concern, but lets be honest they give as much of a fig for consumer rights as any other business.
@Questionable_Duck Personally I wouldn't put much stock in what people say online. Lots have also said they will give up gaming completely, and we know that won't happen. The news was fresh and people were making grand statements in the hope it would force Sony to panic and change direction. In reality most people will just grumble, accept it and then carry on.
Whilst Avowed was of no real interest to me I am not sure I love this idea of MS stripping back to their main 6 IPs, even if I understand why. It just feels a bit boring and safe overall and doesn't really fill me with confidence for the future. Surely its also going to lead to bored devs who want to explore ideas and not just make another iteration of insert big IP.
@Fiendish-Beaver I would agree that I think inXile could be in for a rough time once Clockwork Revolution releases. The game might be decent enough, but I think it will be another that just won't do enough to justify the studios existence long term. When you see some of the bigger studios being hit, I think they have to be in the future firing line. Sadly if they are it will also be worse as it would be also make people question the exclusivity decision.
@Banjo- I haven't said they need to beat steam. My point was how you said they should just make their PC games exclusive to their platform, i.e locked to Xbox store. That has never worked out brilliantly for the various store in the past however with exclusives, and PC players are a far more fractious bunch of gamers. If MS went full exclusive on their store only then I think the only thing they would see is less sales overall as a form of rebellion.
What I think they need to do is keep the games available on the multiple different platforms but figure out a way to make their platform something that players want to use. They need to incentivise users to want to use the Xbox store rather than enforcing it, as that will just go against the grain with PC players.
As for the adding games from other platforms I genuinely don't see it as a selling factor for PC gamers. I might seem a novel idea for console users but its been doable for years on other platforms.
@Banjo- I think part of the concern there is that a lot of PC gamers will simply ignore a game if it doesn't come to steam. We have seen it in the past with the likes of Epic where gamers will just happily wait for 12m and play the game when / if it arrives on their platform of choice. Its similar to how a lot of users use Epic as a free games store but buy on Steam to keep their paid libraries in one place.
I would say that its also much easier to ignore games on PC for two additional reasons.
1) the PC market plays different games and more widely embraces indies and fads led by streamers. The top played games on Steam for example are not new AAA's , its still the likes of Counterstrike and Rust.
2) The PC market has far more good quality games at better price points which again makes it easier to ignore the latest games on locked platforms.
So it turns out it was not "fake news" after all. The studios have been spun out or sold off as expected and Arkane is also on the ropes. The only rumour not to happen was Obsidian, the rumour that was denied very rapidly by Jason. As expected however, right on cue the "fake news" crew are out to say its not all that bad actually.
It a sad conclusion to everyone involved, hopefully they find success as indies or under new management.
@beltmenot As an old school pen n ' paper player I enjoyed how the game played and that the world felt like the Shadowrun universe I remembered. However the console ports are frankly awful so if you can play them on PC that would probably be better.
@Fiendish-Beaver I think the fact that Marvel cancelled the Blade film also hurt the project and didn't bode well for the IP. Blade is a lesser known Marvel character to anyone below 35 as they won't have been around for the older films or when he was prominent in the original Spider-Man animated series. As such it likely wouldn't have had the same impact that games like Spider-Man had or Wolverine will in the future.
I think the idea could have been a clever one to licence a cheaper hero franchise knowing a film was about to bring him back. Unfortunately after The Eternals it became clear that people don't care as much about the lesser known characters.
The two statements do nothing to to contradict one another. IGN made a statement based on their data which we should assume to be true as they have no reason to lie. You can certainly make the argument that affiliate link data is basically worthless but that doesn't mean its false. For XB they may have had record pre-orders but that doesn't mean anything either, other than its selling well on their platform. PS could still be out selling them 4-1, 6-1, 8-1 and they would have no way of knowing. This is a great example of MS rushing out a press statement that just makes them look silly when they would be better rising above it and keeping quiet.
@themightyant Yeah ofc, and I do agree with that and have said the same myself on many posts, so I choose my words poorly there.
It was more that I think the Resistance franchise should be revisited and I think Bungie would have the expertise to do it, and do it well. However as you say they would have to want to do it. Whilst I do not play many shooters I agree that a good single player story based shooter with bonus multiplayer is what's missing from Sony's slate.
@themightyant I think they could be put to the task of reviving the Resistance franchise either by remakes or a new title. Insomniac are not going to get around to it and it would play to Bungies skill set.
I utterly loved the arcade version of pod racing where the only controls where two throttle sticks, one for each engine. It was incredible and we used to play it loads when we went bowling. Unfortunately it has forever ruined any other version of pod racing because the controls on a pad just don't cut it the same.
@Skinny-Pete Whilst you are correct that no one actually knows how the next generation will pan out, because non of us have crystal balls. We can however look at the past 20 years and make an educated guess based on the trends and what each device is currently suggesting they will offer.
Every generation of Xbox has seen then lose about 30% of their user base and even MS have previously said they lost the generation that mattered when people built up their digital libraries. I suspect PS5 will hit 100m lifetime and Series may hit 40m as both will get a boost from GTA, however I suspect the lions share from that will be PS.
Helix will easily outsell the Steam Box but that was always likely imo, however I don't think the overall trajectory between Xbox and PS will change much at all into the next generation. PS will be looking at 90m+ lifetime while MS will be happy with 20-30m.
@Fiendish-Beaver Yeah especially when you consider than the Steambox is comparable in performance with the PS5 / SX and its still far more. I honestly do not understand why people think the device is going to be earth shatteringly powerful, but still be in the comfortable range of a £600 console.
If the Helix is as powerful as they suggest and lands at £1500 then it will be better value for money than the Steam Box, but that doesn't means it will sell in large volumes. It's going to be a device for the enthusiasts, which is fine, but people need to be real and accept they are not the majority.
I predict Helix will be significantly more expensive than the Steam box if they are targetting this premium device which keeps being touted. MS will have better buying power than valve but I also don't think they will be willing to go all in on a massive order for a device which is going to be niche. Their market share has eroded with each successive generation and its likely to continue with the Helix, which will affect any contracts for components.
Unless they make significant cut backs to the rumoured device then I can see this thing being another £200 over the steam box, likely more.
There has never been a doubt as to whether game pass is good value if you like the games. So I don't think the question should be is it good value. A better question imo is if it good for the industry in the long run.
If I am understanding this correctly they are saying you require an account to be set up for a guest player for offline couch co-op for a single player campaign?
Not really played and couch co-op in years but if that's the case then it's incredibly sucky. Harvesting data for no reason should get called out without debate regardless of platform.
@VeganH whilst I agree in principal that online should be free on all platforms, I am not sure it would be a good idea. MS have confirmed how low the profit margin.(Accountability margin) Is for Xbox, so I don't think this would be the correct time to throw money away by making online free. In future maybe but right now it would just be throwing money away.
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Re: World Of Warcraft: Forever Appears To Play Amazingly Well On The ROG Xbox Ally X
@Gabrie Achievements for WoW have only ever been an in game feature, and even those were only included in later expansions. I highly doubt they would make an exception for the handful of players that may try this on a handheld.
Re: Roundup: All The Biggest Reveals From Blizzcon 2026, Including Two Massive Announcements
@BacklogBrad Been watching a few follow ups from streamers who where also involved behind the scenes more ahead of Forever and apparently the early announcements were two fold. In part the announced everything they were working on as a rebuttal to the MS cuts. If the fans know everything that is coming then the hope is it puts more pressure on MS to keep the teams secure.
For Diablo specifically it was to let people know they are returning to the old style as D4 just didn't land as they had expected. D4 is a good game but the endgame is limited and they have lost a lot of ground to PoE2 which is getting very well received and will only get better with the 1.0 free release in December.
Re: Xbox Responds To Rumour That Game Pass Could Drop Day One Releases In 2027
@Llamageddon I think your suggestion makes sense and its why I have always felt PS+ is the better model, despite being a worse offering for the consumer (debatable ofc based on a user preferences, but lets not go down that road 😂).
No matter how good a deal is for the consumer it also has to be healthy for the company, and for the wider industry at large. As you say some smaller indies can be supported on sub services day 1 and I think that's a great thing. However for AA and AAA i think they should follow 6-18m later depending on the title. Taking away those sales on Day 1 is a huge blow and I think platforms should actively be supporting game sales to support studios.
I would say it's similar to the PS disc issue, which I think will be the same for Xbox. I prefer choice, but if an industry change helps studios by limiting the resale market and removing the costs of physical then I can understand why it is happening.
Re: Xbox Responds To Rumour That Game Pass Could Drop Day One Releases In 2027
@Llamageddon As above not aimed at me, but if I had to pick one then I would say exclusive are more important than Day 1. They provide reasons for people to choose platforms and I think are healthier for the industry in general.
Re: Xbox Responds To Rumour That Game Pass Could Drop Day One Releases In 2027
It is just a rumour and should be noted as such, but Microsoft also haven't denied anything. They have simply said we have nothing to announce at this time so nothing will change. If we do have something to announce then things will change, because thats how announcements work. Essentially it's a yes we have been discussing options, every option is on table and it may still come to pass in some form or another.
Personally I think it will be somewhere in the middle. It's likely there will be an Ad plan plus a family add-on at a premium cost on top of a standard sub. I also think Day 1 will see a down turn but could stay in some form as its phased out or shrunk to a manageable limit. Maybe they limit it to MGS and we don't see as much 3rd party or ActiBlizz.
Either way it still not debunked completely as all we know is that they have nothing to announce today.
Re: World Of Warcraft Might Be Coming To Console As New Xbox 'Controller Support' Revealed
@Simu001 Yeah I was not to happy about the Skyborn being paid content but I jumped in anyway. I was always going to buy the WC3 DLC so having the Pack which contained everything with extras and some game time at least made it an easier pill to swallow.
Looking forward to the Beta this week so I can see how all the classes feel with their changes.
Re: World Of Warcraft Might Be Coming To Console As New Xbox 'Controller Support' Revealed
Classic was always the only option if they wanted to bring WoW to consoles as its the simplest version of the game before it started being about difficulty. As such Forever would be the game that would fit, but I still think they would be a way off making it on consoles, and if it was going to happen then I am sure they would have pushed to get it ready now.
Also whilst it could be possible I imagine it still would not be great for certain activities like PVP where M/KB would have a distinct advantage
Re: Roundup: All The Biggest Reveals From Blizzcon 2026, Including Two Massive Announcements
Not sure how I feel about Diablo 5 as 4 has barely stretched its legs and doesn't feel old in any way. I feel like they could expand that world a lot more rather than cash grabbing with a new game
Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? (September 12-13)
I have a couple of things on the go at the minute as I am not fully settled on a single game (which is unusual for myself). I also made myself a Batocera setup for the living room using a HP NUC I relocated from the office.
Champions Return to Arms - PS2, via Batocera
Final Fantasy VI PR - PC
Pathfinder: Kingmaker - PC
and I still need to properly looks at the Nioh 3 DLC on PS5 as I got distracted with emulation. I am also looking at grabbing a Wii plus remote and Mayflash Dolphin Bar for Batocera so I can tackle a few Wii games again, so let the distractions continue.
Re: Sony Dropped Kojima's 'PHYSINT' Over Budget, Profits & Timed Exclusivity Concerns, Sources Say
@Weebleman @RTGX It maddening how many people still don't understand that hardcore gamers are not the bread and butter of the industry just because we choose to read about it in our spare time. It's the exact same in online games where the terminally online players think all decisions should be made in their favour, whilst refusing to acknowledge they are normally less than 5% of the player base. Casuals will always be the backbone of the industry.
Re: Sony Dropped Kojima's 'PHYSINT' Over Budget, Profits & Timed Exclusivity Concerns, Sources Say
Pretty much as suspected, if you are footing the bill then you name the terms. If that's not acceptable then someone else can foot the bill, especially when you are likely to get the game regardless.
You may not like it but every single company would act the same because they act in their best interests. If MS now gets timed exclusivity they are no better or worse than Sony, they are just doing what benefits them.
Re: Xbox Is Officially Taking Over From PlayStation On Hideo Kojima's New 'PHYSINT' Game
@Llamageddon Personally I find there are more quality games coming out than I have time for and I would only actually care about a platforms financials if they were going bust.
Aye 100%, People talk about years being weaker with no games and it baffles me. Every year we just keep getting more and more games, from even more studios, with ever increasing variety. If anything the market is now too saturated due to the amount of content we get. Its created a scenario where its just not possible for most games to make it big.
Taking chances with games used to pay off for the big guns when they had less competition. Now with so many games out there and ever increasing budgets it feels like the smarter move to play it safe with AAA, and let the smaller studios take the risks on AA or indies. I imagine that's a part of what we are seeing here.
Re: Xbox Is Officially Taking Over From PlayStation On Hideo Kojima's New 'PHYSINT' Game
@Llamageddon You are wasting your breath as no matter how much evidence is provided he will always claim otherwise as its his whole schtick.
PS can post their highest profits and stopping support of 1 game means they are struggling. Xbox on the other hand are open about terrible accountability margins and recently parted ways with 5 studios, and they are clearly the healthiest they have ever been.
Re: Xbox Is Officially Taking Over From PlayStation On Hideo Kojima's New 'PHYSINT' Game
If the game was in a good place then they likely wouldn't have dropped it. The fact that they have dropped it probably hints that its not in a good place, or is burning through budget,
Either way the only way we will ever know is if / when the game releases as until then we quite literally know nothing about it.
Re: Xbox Is Officially Putting Time Limits On Cloud Gaming For Game Pass Members
You can always trust in a gaming companies ability to find the rake when their competitor is suffering negative press. I swear the big three must all be in cahoots sending round emails letting each other know its their turn next.
Re: 'Literally Play It Forever' - Playground Games Confirms Fable Will Take 20 Hours To Beat
It's a bit disappointing as I was expecting something a bit longer, especially because I always considered the life sim elements of Fable to be the most boring.
I will pick it up at some point but will wait for a price drop rather than throwing £70 at it.
Re: Roundup: Here's What The Critics Are Saying About The Blood Of Dawnwalker
@Titntin I don't think they are being harsh as they call the combat out as being a severe negative. I think its more a case of them using a wider range on the score scale. Unfortunately I think far to many review sites now associate 7 with a mid game so basically stick to 8's and 9's and will never go below 7 which for them is a bad game.
Re: The Witcher 3's Phenomenal DLC Is Now Completely Free On Xbox Ahead Of Remaster
@Rimebreaker I would imagine its an optional install, but it could possibly vary by platform. I would guess new purchasers will have to buy the remaster meaning it will include the patch by default. Old purchasers should hopefully have access to just update their version or not.
Re: Gallery: Here's A Look At The Xbox Booth At Gamescom 2026
I am here for The Big Green Button Prizes which seems the big win is a human head in a display box 😳
Re: Asha Sharma Says 'Efficiency' And 'Affordability' Are Top Of Mind For Xbox Project Helix
For me Efficiency sounds like the replacement buzzword for cutting specs. Essentially less memory, less storage, no drive to make the device more cost efficient, but it will come at the cost of sacrificing some power. Of course if Helix uses upscaling tech like Sony did with PSSR2 then you can cut some specs to fake better looking results without the raw power.
As for affordability I suspect it will just be payment plans direct, which are nothing new, but will likely be available direct from MS. I would expect them to leverage any payment plans in their favour by adding in things like GPU as part of the package to boost numbers across the board. I don't think they will necessarily charge more, but will make it so you have to sub to their service as part of the contract.
Re: Xbox Disc To Digital Announced, Supports Thousands Of Physical Games At Launch
@BattleMonkey In that instance I would assume you will just outright lose the licence if the stolen copy was activated. Realistically any personal insurances should cover you to replace a copy rather than placing the onus on MS.
Re: Blizzard Is Now 'Top Performing' Xbox Studio, Mostly Due To Overwatch and Diablo IV Success
Diablo 4 is decent enough but I find the seasons get old pretty quickly and there is not enough difference between builds and class balance each season to keep you playing long term. Barbarian is a key example where you may alter a move or two, but outside of that you pretty much always take the same three shouts for every build.
I would love to see Blizzard make Warcraft 4 but I don't think it will ever happen as they are to heavily tied into WoW now and want all story beats to happen there.
Re: Xbox Rolls Out Mandatory Age Verification To Access 18+ Rated Games In Australia
@Coletrain What I don't understand is how MS are able to do this for MS accounts, but for Blizzard accounts (who MS now own) you still need to provide proof. It beyond stupid how my 21 year old Battlenet needs proof to show I am over 18.
Re: Halo: Campaign Evolved Is Getting Some Surprising Sales Estimates For Xbox, PC & PS5
Lets be real this is the same company who regularly gets stuff wrong by large margins due to their methodology. Not sure why sites still take them seriously as news instead of tagging it as rumour, which is basically what it is.
Re: Five-Time GOTY RPG Has Just Been Added To Xbox Play Anywhere
@FraserG If you want to give it a go and remove some of the daunting aspect then I would recommend looking up some build guides for characters. I would say the biggest failing in the game is you can't see what each class / subclass will get at future levels when you are planning out your character. For example knowing that Thief Rogues get an extra bonus action at level 3 which is a huge upgrade for Open Hand Monks.
Some of the best builds will double, triple or even quad class which is a headache when trying to plan them out.
Re: Five-Time GOTY RPG Has Just Been Added To Xbox Play Anywhere
@FraserG The major upgrade came at the very end of the support cycle when they added 12 new subclasses which added quite a lot to the gameplay. Big shout out to the Death Domain Cleric which I made Shadowheart into for my evil run. They also give lots more options when you multi-class for synergies.
The other changes mainly related to the endings. They added some additional ending scenes for certain NPC's who felt like they had been forgotten. They also fleshed out the endings for the Dark Urge by adding more variety. It was welcome but doesn't really transform a play through until the credits roll.
There were a few other tweaks but nothing major.
Re: Talking Point: How Much Has The Xbox Outage Affected You?
@Mr-Cage Why aren't any of the people effected commenting?
Very strange considering the poll isn't it?
Probably because a very very small minority of users actually comment on any posts, both here and PS. Would be interesting to know what the % of active commentators is compared to users.
Re: Xbox Project Helix Vs. PS6 - Data Firm Reveals Its Forecasted Sales Figures For Each
@Banjo- That matches what I had seen previously, I think it was around 2024 when the SX overtook the SS as the more popular machine. In the earlier years it was massively skewed in favour of the SS due to stock shortages and a large amount of people grabbing an SS as a gamepass secondary console when they were much cheaper.
Re: Video Game Retailer Urges Xbox To 'Stand Behind Consumer Choice' By Supporting Physical
@lacerz I had to explain to some of the girls in the office what 4 tracks / 8 tracks were the other day and they were just looking at me like what is this ancient technology. I did also have to explain what a cassette was to one of them also, which certainly makes you feel old 👴
Re: Report: Xbox Cancels Avowed 2 And Puts Obsidian To Work On New Fallout Game
@Fiendish-Beaver Yeah I had a look at some of their earlier titles just before and I didn't realise they had also made The Bard's Tale (2004) which was a game I really enjoyed. It was not AAA by any standard, but it was still a little gem. I fear that is what will be lost with this push. We just won't see those quirky AA games which may not be the best sellers of all time, but often get remembered more fondly as just being fun.
Re: Video Game Retailer Urges Xbox To 'Stand Behind Consumer Choice' By Supporting Physical
Whilst I would prefer physical to stay around because choice is better, I do find it comical that companies like this are trying to act like they really care about consumers and their rights. What they really mean is "we don't like this future as it will impact our business model". Which is a fine and legitimate concern, but lets be honest they give as much of a fig for consumer rights as any other business.
@Questionable_Duck Personally I wouldn't put much stock in what people say online. Lots have also said they will give up gaming completely, and we know that won't happen. The news was fresh and people were making grand statements in the hope it would force Sony to panic and change direction. In reality most people will just grumble, accept it and then carry on.
Re: Report: Xbox Cancels Avowed 2 And Puts Obsidian To Work On New Fallout Game
Whilst Avowed was of no real interest to me I am not sure I love this idea of MS stripping back to their main 6 IPs, even if I understand why. It just feels a bit boring and safe overall and doesn't really fill me with confidence for the future. Surely its also going to lead to bored devs who want to explore ideas and not just make another iteration of insert big IP.
@Fiendish-Beaver I would agree that I think inXile could be in for a rough time once Clockwork Revolution releases. The game might be decent enough, but I think it will be another that just won't do enough to justify the studios existence long term. When you see some of the bigger studios being hit, I think they have to be in the future firing line. Sadly if they are it will also be worse as it would be also make people question the exclusivity decision.
Re: Obsidian, id Software & Others Confirmed To Be Affected By Xbox Layoffs
@Banjo- I haven't said they need to beat steam. My point was how you said they should just make their PC games exclusive to their platform, i.e locked to Xbox store. That has never worked out brilliantly for the various store in the past however with exclusives, and PC players are a far more fractious bunch of gamers. If MS went full exclusive on their store only then I think the only thing they would see is less sales overall as a form of rebellion.
What I think they need to do is keep the games available on the multiple different platforms but figure out a way to make their platform something that players want to use. They need to incentivise users to want to use the Xbox store rather than enforcing it, as that will just go against the grain with PC players.
As for the adding games from other platforms I genuinely don't see it as a selling factor for PC gamers. I might seem a novel idea for console users but its been doable for years on other platforms.
Re: Obsidian, id Software & Others Confirmed To Be Affected By Xbox Layoffs
@Banjo- I think part of the concern there is that a lot of PC gamers will simply ignore a game if it doesn't come to steam. We have seen it in the past with the likes of Epic where gamers will just happily wait for 12m and play the game when / if it arrives on their platform of choice. Its similar to how a lot of users use Epic as a free games store but buy on Steam to keep their paid libraries in one place.
I would say that its also much easier to ignore games on PC for two additional reasons.
1) the PC market plays different games and more widely embraces indies and fads led by streamers. The top played games on Steam for example are not new AAA's , its still the likes of Counterstrike and Rust.
2) The PC market has far more good quality games at better price points which again makes it easier to ignore the latest games on locked platforms.
Re: Xbox Announces 3,200 Job Losses And Four Studio Departures
So it turns out it was not "fake news" after all. The studios have been spun out or sold off as expected and Arkane is also on the ropes. The only rumour not to happen was Obsidian, the rumour that was denied very rapidly by Jason. As expected however, right on cue the "fake news" crew are out to say its not all that bad actually.
It a sad conclusion to everyone involved, hopefully they find success as indies or under new management.
Re: Five More Games Have Quietly Been Added To Xbox Game Pass Essential
@beltmenot As an old school pen n ' paper player I enjoyed how the game played and that the world felt like the Shadowrun universe I remembered. However the console ports are frankly awful so if you can play them on PC that would probably be better.
Re: Journalist Claims Xbox Is 'Keeping' Obsidian Following Rumours Of Potential Closure
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Re: Journalist Claims Xbox Is 'Keeping' Obsidian Following Rumours Of Potential Closure
@BoyoArdee you nailed it my friend.
Re: As PlayStation Announces The End Of Disc-Based Releases, Will Xbox Follow Suit?
@Weebleman I always thought they should do an add on drive, or make the format the same as PS5 so that drive can be swapped to your new machine.
However i now doubt they will if it's looking like an all digital future. It sucks as it means no more CEX for cheap second hand games in the future
Re: Marvel's Blade Reportedly In Danger As Xbox Considers Shutting Arkane Studios
@Fiendish-Beaver I think the fact that Marvel cancelled the Blade film also hurt the project and didn't bode well for the IP. Blade is a lesser known Marvel character to anyone below 35 as they won't have been around for the older films or when he was prominent in the original Spider-Man animated series. As such it likely wouldn't have had the same impact that games like Spider-Man had or Wolverine will in the future.
I think the idea could have been a clever one to licence a cheaper hero franchise knowing a film was about to bring him back. Unfortunately after The Eternals it became clear that people don't care as much about the lesser known characters.
Re: Xbox Announces 'Record' Pre-Orders For GTA 6 In Response To New Report
The two statements do nothing to to contradict one another. IGN made a statement based on their data which we should assume to be true as they have no reason to lie. You can certainly make the argument that affiliate link data is basically worthless but that doesn't mean its false. For XB they may have had record pre-orders but that doesn't mean anything either, other than its selling well on their platform. PS could still be out selling them 4-1, 6-1, 8-1 and they would have no way of knowing. This is a great example of MS rushing out a press statement that just makes them look silly when they would be better rising above it and keeping quiet.
Re: Sony Issues Statement Announcing 'Significant' Job Cuts At Bungie
@themightyant Yeah ofc, and I do agree with that and have said the same myself on many posts, so I choose my words poorly there.
It was more that I think the Resistance franchise should be revisited and I think Bungie would have the expertise to do it, and do it well. However as you say they would have to want to do it. Whilst I do not play many shooters I agree that a good single player story based shooter with bonus multiplayer is what's missing from Sony's slate.
Re: Sony Issues Statement Announcing 'Significant' Job Cuts At Bungie
@themightyant I think they could be put to the task of reviving the Resistance franchise either by remakes or a new title. Insomniac are not going to get around to it and it would play to Bungies skill set.
Re: Round Up: The Previews Are In For Star Wars: Galactic Racer
I utterly loved the arcade version of pod racing where the only controls where two throttle sticks, one for each engine. It was incredible and we used to play it loads when we went bowling. Unfortunately it has forever ruined any other version of pod racing because the controls on a pad just don't cut it the same.
Re: What Does A $1049 Steam Machine Mean For Xbox's Project Helix?
@Skinny-Pete Whilst you are correct that no one actually knows how the next generation will pan out, because non of us have crystal balls. We can however look at the past 20 years and make an educated guess based on the trends and what each device is currently suggesting they will offer.
360 - 84m / One - 58m / Series - 33-35m estimate
PS3 - 87m / PS4 -117m / PS5 - 90m
Every generation of Xbox has seen then lose about 30% of their user base and even MS have previously said they lost the generation that mattered when people built up their digital libraries. I suspect PS5 will hit 100m lifetime and Series may hit 40m as both will get a boost from GTA, however I suspect the lions share from that will be PS.
Helix will easily outsell the Steam Box but that was always likely imo, however I don't think the overall trajectory between Xbox and PS will change much at all into the next generation. PS will be looking at 90m+ lifetime while MS will be happy with 20-30m.
Re: What Does A $1049 Steam Machine Mean For Xbox's Project Helix?
@Fiendish-Beaver Yeah especially when you consider than the Steambox is comparable in performance with the PS5 / SX and its still far more. I honestly do not understand why people think the device is going to be earth shatteringly powerful, but still be in the comfortable range of a £600 console.
If the Helix is as powerful as they suggest and lands at £1500 then it will be better value for money than the Steam Box, but that doesn't means it will sell in large volumes. It's going to be a device for the enthusiasts, which is fine, but people need to be real and accept they are not the majority.
Re: What Does A $1049 Steam Machine Mean For Xbox's Project Helix?
I predict Helix will be significantly more expensive than the Steam box if they are targetting this premium device which keeps being touted. MS will have better buying power than valve but I also don't think they will be willing to go all in on a massive order for a device which is going to be niche. Their market share has eroded with each successive generation and its likely to continue with the Helix, which will affect any contracts for components.
Unless they make significant cut backs to the rumoured device then I can see this thing being another £200 over the steam box, likely more.
Re: "The Catalogue Was Just Nowhere Near Good Enough" - Ori Creator Likens Xbox Game Pass To A "Slop Factory"
There has never been a doubt as to whether game pass is good value if you like the games. So I don't think the question should be is it good value. A better question imo is if it good for the industry in the long run.
Re: Halo: Campaign Evolved Has Some Weird Xbox Account Requirements For Local Co-Op
If I am understanding this correctly they are saying you require an account to be set up for a guest player for offline couch co-op for a single player campaign?
Not really played and couch co-op in years but if that's the case then it's incredibly sucky. Harvesting data for no reason should get called out without debate regardless of platform.
Re: Poll: What Do You Think Of Call Of Duty's Delay To Xbox Game Pass?
@VeganH whilst I agree in principal that online should be free on all platforms, I am not sure it would be a good idea. MS have confirmed how low the profit margin.(Accountability margin) Is for Xbox, so I don't think this would be the correct time to throw money away by making online free. In future maybe but right now it would just be throwing money away.