@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.
@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.
@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.
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.
They need less vague statements and to lay out exactly what they want and how to achieve it. They keep throwing out lots of words, but they don't mean anything specific and everyone can read what ever they want from it. That will just lead to more disgruntled fans long term as it gets interpreted as false promises.
A great game well worth playing as Night City is a joy to behold. There was a lot of arguing back and forth about if its an RPG or a or action game as many felt the RPG title was misleading, but its good either way you look at it.
That said I am in agreement that the majority of people interested probably all ready jumped in on it, but still a decent add for those who haven't.
Cancelling Campaign Evolved after announcing it would be just another nail in the coffin of poor decisions. If they want to reverse strategy going forward then thats fine, and a whole different story. But reversing on this would not be a great look and would just see them flooded with even more negative press.
That aside I think MS are in a very different position to Sony when it comes to exclusives, and how they need to treat them. MS may have more money overall, but they also have a smaller console base to sell to. This is made worse when you factor in gamepass which draws away from Day 1 sales, or sales in general. Sony getting access to an extra 35m would be good, but they have to balance that against what fans want. For MS they get access to an extra 90m users and that figure is harder to ignore after they have already tasted the income it can generate.
@Fiendish-Beaver The haptics and the controller speaker really add to games in such a major way in my opinion. The light can also be good to a lesser effect. Not got Requim yet but I recently played SH2 and that made great use of the speaker by having the radio static play through it. At points it gets so loud that it obscures the sound from the TV and helps ratched up the tension no end. They also have the light switch from Green>Yellow>Orange>Red in sync with your health.
As a publisher they will continue to do well but they also need to get the balance between quality and quantity right. 7 and 8s are still good but they should be aiming for 9s every time.
As a platform I think they are going under. The PC box will not be huge success imo as the price will likely cut a huge chunk of their current consoles players out. Meanwhile PC players are not going to entertain over a proper build.
I see gamepass then either being slowly sunset and they just focus on the sales.
@Globo If they got a system out early that was a significant upgrade from the Pro and still sat in that same price range then yes it would likely gain traction. However the chances of that happening are slim.
In reality a super premium model will likely be very expensive, a that cost has just increased with the recent ram issues. That price will along with the much smaller userbase will make it a niche device. Whilst the budget version likely won't move the needle enough to warrent it being a upgrade. Also It all assumes Sony just sits back and does nothing, which they wont.
Honestly I have no issue with a non gamer being the CEO as you want them in the role for their business knowledge. However don't make a clearly fake account and try to pass it off as genuine. Its cheap, lazy and just comes across as clownish, and we are all intelligent enough to recognize it for what it is.
Very sceptical about the truth in the details of this report, as the timing is all very suspect. Sarah was given no chance to speak on her way out, no one mentioned her in any of their emails. In fact the only one to even give her a nod, and thanks, is also on the way out of the door. Some thing just doesn't fit the all amicable story being spun.
That aside "This is an Xbox" was always a top tier garbage campaign regardless of whose idea it was. It made no sense at all because an Xbox is an Xbox, end of story. My Mobile, TV, PC, PS etc are not an Xbox just because I can choose to play CoD, Forza, Indy on them.
If nothing else the guy deserves respect for turning things around years ago and giving it his best shot. It was clear that he was always passionate about Xbox and gaming in general, but ultimately he was fighting an uphill battle. He had some good ideas like Gamepass and aquiring studios, and they helped keep it going this long, but it was all just never quite enough.
Given the poor sales of the Xbox One gen, and dropping further with the Series it was always clear that oversight would arrive and you could tell when it did as Phil suddenly became a toothless tiger with much less visible interest.
Ultimately however I can't see the new heads doing a better job, and think it will only go from bad to worse. It not a great time for Xbox at all sadly.
@Coletrain I think they did acquire then for that very reason, but I wonder if after being acquired both parties wanted something different for their future. Sony wanted them to keep making remakes, Bluepoint wanted to do their own original content.
Don't get me wrong I am not defending Sony as the talent at Bluepoint was great. Demon Souls was an incredible remake, as were all their previous games. Bloodborne also would have been a money spinner for Sony if Bluepoint made it. However I do think there is just something more to this that is not being shown currently, or likely ever will be.
@Coletrain By all accounts that seems to be a major part of all this. Sony don't really tell studios what to make, but instead studios pitch what they want to make. Of course that comes with the caveat of if it goes wrong....
If the studio who were experts in remakes decide internally that they had no interest in remakes any more then its not as simple as saying "they should have given them Bloodborne". For all we know they simply might not have had the chops to make original content and this is the unfortunate end result.
Its sad to see them go and is a huge loss, but I don't think its as simple as angry fans are making it out to be. The only small glimmer of positive is that hopefully some of the staff will be moved to other studios for projects like the GOW remake, where their skills can shine.
@Gemini53 The bubble has to burst eventually. Its not that AI will suddenly go away, but at present every man and his dog are jumping in on it hoping they will be the first to solve it and make all the money. Meanwhile the amounts of money that are being thrown at it are staggeringly stupid, and thats what can't continue. At some points companies will have to bow out and realise they are never making a return, the worry is if something goes wrong the.
As for the downfall of society, its just the latest robotic production line and in another decade there will be another. Any form of tech has an effect on employment and in turn creates more jobs doing something else. Im not meaning to sound heartless here, its just something that has been said about every techological advance in history.
@OldGamer999 Its not a waste of money as they have to keep hammering that nail against the competition. MS have the funds to buy anything they want, and regulators would not stop them. This was shown when MS bought up some pretty big companies and suddenly made games exclusive. That gamble failed for them but its why Sony still has to be proactive about it.
Its just business and you don't stop targetting your competition because if they can steal more of the 35m series players than thats a win.
@Fiendish-Beaver SH Townfall looked fantastic. I always wonder if it is as simple as the novelty of it looking very british, and like places I have visited. The painted pebble dash render, sea front and small alley ways just drew me in to the style they were going for instantly.
Really happy they are exploring the SH franchise by branching out to other areas
@eduscxbox Its very unlikely that they will release for Xbox if the PCbox plans are true. They would just stick to PS / PC release the games on steam and Xbox players would be able to access then that way. There would be very little point making the effort for a specific port if the game could just be accessed another way.
@Fiendish-Beaver I think the issue with the series consoles is that they would also need to source ram for them at a higher cost. I seem to recall there was a report recently which said Sony had memory stockpiled for consoles, whilst MS did not.
It puts them in an awkward place of increasing prices on 5yr old hardware, keeping current gen with no new production runs or launch a new expensive machine early. They don't really have any good options open to them.
I can't help but think that various badged levels of machine will end up causing more damage to the brand identity. We already saw that there was confusion with the SS / SX with casual purchasers. Any one who comments here would clearly know, but it needs to be remembered that we are the minority when it comes to understanding the specs.
Having multiple price point sku's means you end up with a scenario of "your performance may vary" where a game will not be getting the same results. Im playing this game on my Xbox its great I get 60fps... nah it sucks im getting 40 fps and weird graphics issues.
Personally I think they would be better just having the single machine spec that is targetted, regardless of the price. Just pick a target and go for it rather than this scatter shot approach trying to cover all bases.
I foresee yet another increase as they will put all the good stuff in ultimate, and just keep hiking that one up to cover the day one stuff plus what ever else is added. WoW would be a simple sub for them to add with more cost as it's in their control.
I think PC Game pass will just be phased out and everything will become the normal one also.
They need to do something popular, I just doubt they will.
@Fiendish-Beaver I too have a good PC upstairs but have found myself playing on the console more and more because I like the ease of just pressing a button and im in the game. The other big shift was I bough a LG C3 with a soundbar about 18m ago and that really helps to elevate gaming beyond my 1440 monitor. I tested both with Resident Evil 2 and my PC which is more powerful looked worse than PS. I could of course get a bigger better monitor but its harder to justify that when compared to a TV.
I still use the PC for heavy RPG's, shooters but find its getting fired up less and less for gaming.
@Fiendish-Beaver Sorry there might have been some confusion, as I am mostly in agreement, what I was meaning is that people with only a console background who are more casual gamers would likely still use the Xbox store due to limited knowledge / convienience. How I think there is a real concern abou those users being turned off by sticker shock mixed with marketting they won't really get. I think that will have the effect of pushing these people away.
Where as the more knowledgable crowd will flock to steam, Epic, GoG if those platforms are made available, with Steam being the major one. @themightyant did make a very good point however that MS could try and make if difficult to use those stores. However I still think there is a real issue that those more invested in that market would just build themselves a Micro or Mini ATX system if they really wanted a small living room device.
Ultimately I can see the next box being like surface devices. Well designed bits of kit but with very limited sales in the wide scheme of things. Meanwhile MS will continue to be a hugely succesful publisher with the Xbox Game studios brand.
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Re: Xbox's Starfield Is Already One Of The Top Three Pre-Orders On PS5
@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.
Re: Xbox's Starfield Is Already One Of The Top Three Pre-Orders On PS5
@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.
Re: 'I'm Of Two Minds' - Todd Howard Gives His Thoughts On Xbox's Leadership Changes
@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.
Re: Starfield Gets Major Free Update & New Expansion Next Month, Alongside PS5 Release
@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.
Re: Starfield Gets Major Free Update & New Expansion Next Month, Alongside PS5 Release
@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.
Re: 'I'm Of Two Minds' - Todd Howard Gives His Thoughts On Xbox's Leadership Changes
@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.
Re: Talking Point: What Should Xbox Call Its 'Project Helix' Console?
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.
Re: With Project Helix On The Horizon, Xbox Is Now Letting You Add Games Manually On PC
@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.
Re: Talking Point: What Do You 'Expect' From Xbox Over The Next Five Years?
@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.
Re: Talking Point: What Do You 'Expect' From Xbox Over The Next Five Years?
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
Re: Talking Point: Xbox Game Pass Players, What Do You Think Of Cyberpunk 2077?
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.
Re: Xbox Reveals New Details On 'Project Helix' Next-Gen Console, Says Devs Will Get It In 2027
@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.
Re: Two Games Are Available Today With Xbox Game Pass (March 10)
@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.
Re: Microsoft's 2026 GDC Booth Showcases An Impressive Look At The History Of Xbox Consoles
@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.
Re: Two Games Are Available Today With Xbox Game Pass (March 10)
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.
Re: Marathon's Final Reviews Are Mostly Being Held Back, So Here's What Xbox Players Are Saying
@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.
Re: Tech Journalist Predicts A Price Of 'At Least $1,000' For Xbox Project Helix
@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.
Re: Tech Journalist Predicts A Price Of 'At Least $1,000' For Xbox Project Helix
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.
Re: Xbox Must Live Up To Expectations Of Fans Who Have 'Counted On Us', Says Microsoft Boss
@Cakefish Off topic but thanks for just reminding me to rewatch Lee & Herring moon on a Stick
Re: Microsoft CEO On Xbox's Future: 'We'll Always Invest In Gaming'
@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.
Re: Marathon's Final Reviews Are Mostly Being Held Back, So Here's What Xbox Players Are Saying
@dskatter In fairness Slay the Spire 2 was always going to do incredibly well after the following the original got.
Re: Talking Point: Will 'Project Helix' Be A Niche Device, Or An Xbox Console For The Masses?
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.
Re: Xbox Announces New 'Project Helix' Console, Says It Will Play PC Games
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.
Re: Xbox Head Doubles Down On The Importance Of Console, Says It's A 'Reference Experience'
@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.
Re: Xbox Head Doubles Down On The Importance Of Console, Says It's A 'Reference Experience'
@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
Re: Next Xbox Console Could Be Affected By PlayStation Pulling Back On PC
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
Re: Xbox Head Doubles Down On The Importance Of Console, Says It's A 'Reference Experience'
@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.
Re: Xbox Head Doubles Down On The Importance Of Console, Says It's A 'Reference Experience'
@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.
Re: Xbox Head Doubles Down On The Importance Of Console, Says It's A 'Reference Experience'
They need less vague statements and to lay out exactly what they want and how to achieve it. They keep throwing out lots of words, but they don't mean anything specific and everyone can read what ever they want from it. That will just lead to more disgruntled fans long term as it gets interpreted as false promises.
Re: Xbox Is Teasing Something 'Very Cool' For Game Pass This Month, Possibly Cyberpunk 2077
A great game well worth playing as Night City is a joy to behold. There was a lot of arguing back and forth about if its an RPG or a or action game as many felt the RPG title was misleading, but its good either way you look at it.
That said I am in agreement that the majority of people interested probably all ready jumped in on it, but still a decent add for those who haven't.
Re: Opinion: Xbox Should Consider Cancelling Halo: Campaign Evolved For PS5
Cancelling Campaign Evolved after announcing it would be just another nail in the coffin of poor decisions. If they want to reverse strategy going forward then thats fine, and a whole different story. But reversing on this would not be a great look and would just see them flooded with even more negative press.
That aside I think MS are in a very different position to Sony when it comes to exclusives, and how they need to treat them. MS may have more money overall, but they also have a smaller console base to sell to. This is made worse when you factor in gamepass which draws away from Day 1 sales, or sales in general. Sony getting access to an extra 35m would be good, but they have to balance that against what fans want. For MS they get access to an extra 90m users and that figure is harder to ignore after they have already tasted the income it can generate.
Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? (February 28 - March 1)
@Fiendish-Beaver The haptics and the controller speaker really add to games in such a major way in my opinion. The light can also be good to a lesser effect. Not got Requim yet but I recently played SH2 and that made great use of the speaker by having the radio static play through it. At points it gets so loud that it obscures the sound from the TV and helps ratched up the tension no end. They also have the light switch from Green>Yellow>Orange>Red in sync with your health.
Re: Poll: How Optimistic Are You Feeling About The Future Of Xbox?
As a publisher they will continue to do well but they also need to get the balance between quality and quantity right. 7 and 8s are still good but they should be aiming for 9s every time.
As a platform I think they are going under. The PC box will not be huge success imo as the price will likely cut a huge chunk of their current consoles players out. Meanwhile PC players are not going to entertain over a proper build.
I see gamepass then either being slowly sunset and they just focus on the sales.
Re: Xbox Says 'Hardware Announcements Are Coming Up' As Team Looks Ahead To Next-Gen
@Globo If they got a system out early that was a significant upgrade from the Pro and still sat in that same price range then yes it would likely gain traction. However the chances of that happening are slim.
In reality a super premium model will likely be very expensive, a that cost has just increased with the recent ram issues. That price will along with the much smaller userbase will make it a niche device. Whilst the budget version likely won't move the needle enough to warrent it being a upgrade. Also It all assumes Sony just sits back and does nothing, which they wont.
Re: Xbox CEO Shares Her Three Favourite Games Of All Time, Along With Her Gamertag
Honestly I have no issue with a non gamer being the CEO as you want them in the role for their business knowledge. However don't make a clearly fake account and try to pass it off as genuine. Its cheap, lazy and just comes across as clownish, and we are all intelligent enough to recognize it for what it is.
Re: Xbox's 'Pivot Away From Console' Had Been Failing And Questioned At Microsoft, Claims Report
Very sceptical about the truth in the details of this report, as the timing is all very suspect. Sarah was given no chance to speak on her way out, no one mentioned her in any of their emails. In fact the only one to even give her a nod, and thanks, is also on the way out of the door. Some thing just doesn't fit the all amicable story being spun.
That aside "This is an Xbox" was always a top tier garbage campaign regardless of whose idea it was. It made no sense at all because an Xbox is an Xbox, end of story. My Mobile, TV, PC, PS etc are not an Xbox just because I can choose to play CoD, Forza, Indy on them.
Re: New Xbox Head Suggests Bringing Back The Blades Dashboard In First Social Media Posts
@GeeEssEff 49m and still not banned... what is the world coming to when you can call people a potato freely
The fact you did this to make a point is brilliant btw
Re: Phil Spencer Announces That He's Retiring From Xbox
If nothing else the guy deserves respect for turning things around years ago and giving it his best shot. It was clear that he was always passionate about Xbox and gaming in general, but ultimately he was fighting an uphill battle. He had some good ideas like Gamepass and aquiring studios, and they helped keep it going this long, but it was all just never quite enough.
Given the poor sales of the Xbox One gen, and dropping further with the Series it was always clear that oversight would arrive and you could tell when it did as Phil suddenly became a toothless tiger with much less visible interest.
Ultimately however I can't see the new heads doing a better job, and think it will only go from bad to worse. It not a great time for Xbox at all sadly.
Re: Sony's Bluepoint Games Might Be Gone, But We'll Never Forget Their 'Impossible Port' For Xbox 360
@themightyant cheers for the confirmation, I knew they had said it recently but was not aware it completely predated the acquisition also.
Re: Sony's Bluepoint Games Might Be Gone, But We'll Never Forget Their 'Impossible Port' For Xbox 360
@Coletrain I think they did acquire then for that very reason, but I wonder if after being acquired both parties wanted something different for their future. Sony wanted them to keep making remakes, Bluepoint wanted to do their own original content.
Don't get me wrong I am not defending Sony as the talent at Bluepoint was great. Demon Souls was an incredible remake, as were all their previous games. Bloodborne also would have been a money spinner for Sony if Bluepoint made it. However I do think there is just something more to this that is not being shown currently, or likely ever will be.
Re: Sony's Bluepoint Games Might Be Gone, But We'll Never Forget Their 'Impossible Port' For Xbox 360
@Coletrain By all accounts that seems to be a major part of all this. Sony don't really tell studios what to make, but instead studios pitch what they want to make. Of course that comes with the caveat of if it goes wrong....
If the studio who were experts in remakes decide internally that they had no interest in remakes any more then its not as simple as saying "they should have given them Bloodborne". For all we know they simply might not have had the chops to make original content and this is the unfortunate end result.
Its sad to see them go and is a huge loss, but I don't think its as simple as angry fans are making it out to be. The only small glimmer of positive is that hopefully some of the staff will be moved to other studios for projects like the GOW remake, where their skills can shine.
Re: ROG Xbox Ally X Gets Its First Price Increase, Limited To One Region For Now
@Gemini53 The bubble has to burst eventually. Its not that AI will suddenly go away, but at present every man and his dog are jumping in on it hoping they will be the first to solve it and make all the money. Meanwhile the amounts of money that are being thrown at it are staggeringly stupid, and thats what can't continue. At some points companies will have to bow out and realise they are never making a return, the worry is if something goes wrong the.
As for the downfall of society, its just the latest robotic production line and in another decade there will be another. Any form of tech has an effect on employment and in turn creates more jobs doing something else. Im not meaning to sound heartless here, its just something that has been said about every techological advance in history.
Re: Silent Hill: Townfall Not Coming To Xbox At Launch, Along With A Few Other State Of Play Titles
@OldGamer999 Its not a waste of money as they have to keep hammering that nail against the competition. MS have the funds to buy anything they want, and regulators would not stop them. This was shown when MS bought up some pretty big companies and suddenly made games exclusive. That gamble failed for them but its why Sony still has to be proactive about it.
Its just business and you don't stop targetting your competition because if they can steal more of the 35m series players than thats a win.
Re: Silent Hill: Townfall Not Coming To Xbox At Launch, Along With A Few Other State Of Play Titles
@Fiendish-Beaver SH Townfall looked fantastic. I always wonder if it is as simple as the novelty of it looking very british, and like places I have visited. The painted pebble dash render, sea front and small alley ways just drew me in to the style they were going for instantly.
Really happy they are exploring the SH franchise by branching out to other areas
Re: Sony Is Hosting A Huge State Of Play This Week, Do You Think We'll Get Any Big Xbox Reveals?
@eduscxbox Its very unlikely that they will release for Xbox if the PCbox plans are true. They would just stick to PS / PC release the games on steam and Xbox players would be able to access then that way. There would be very little point making the effort for a specific port if the game could just be accessed another way.
Re: Microsoft Apparently 'Expects' The Xbox Series Era To Last, Despite Next-Gen Plans
@Fiendish-Beaver I think the issue with the series consoles is that they would also need to source ram for them at a higher cost. I seem to recall there was a report recently which said Sony had memory stockpiled for consoles, whilst MS did not.
It puts them in an awkward place of increasing prices on 5yr old hardware, keeping current gen with no new production runs or launch a new expensive machine early. They don't really have any good options open to them.
Re: Report: Xbox Working With OEMs To Build Next-Gen Options For 'A Range Of Price Points'
I can't help but think that various badged levels of machine will end up causing more damage to the brand identity. We already saw that there was confusion with the SS / SX with casual purchasers. Any one who comments here would clearly know, but it needs to be remembered that we are the minority when it comes to understanding the specs.
Having multiple price point sku's means you end up with a scenario of "your performance may vary" where a game will not be getting the same results. Im playing this game on my Xbox its great I get 60fps... nah it sucks im getting 40 fps and weird graphics issues.
Personally I think they would be better just having the single machine spec that is targetted, regardless of the price. Just pick a target and go for it rather than this scatter shot approach trying to cover all bases.
Re: Report: Microsoft Is In The Early Stages Of 'Expanding' Xbox Game Pass
I foresee yet another increase as they will put all the good stuff in ultimate, and just keep hiking that one up to cover the day one stuff plus what ever else is added. WoW would be a simple sub for them to add with more cost as it's in their control.
I think PC Game pass will just be phased out and everything will become the normal one also.
They need to do something popular, I just doubt they will.
Re: 'We've Been Talking To Microsoft' - Epic Games Wants Its Store On The Next Xbox Console
@Fiendish-Beaver I too have a good PC upstairs but have found myself playing on the console more and more because I like the ease of just pressing a button and im in the game. The other big shift was I bough a LG C3 with a soundbar about 18m ago and that really helps to elevate gaming beyond my 1440 monitor. I tested both with Resident Evil 2 and my PC which is more powerful looked worse than PS. I could of course get a bigger better monitor but its harder to justify that when compared to a TV.
I still use the PC for heavy RPG's, shooters but find its getting fired up less and less for gaming.
Re: 'We've Been Talking To Microsoft' - Epic Games Wants Its Store On The Next Xbox Console
@Fiendish-Beaver Sorry there might have been some confusion, as I am mostly in agreement, what I was meaning is that people with only a console background who are more casual gamers would likely still use the Xbox store due to limited knowledge / convienience. How I think there is a real concern abou those users being turned off by sticker shock mixed with marketting they won't really get. I think that will have the effect of pushing these people away.
Where as the more knowledgable crowd will flock to steam, Epic, GoG if those platforms are made available, with Steam being the major one. @themightyant did make a very good point however that MS could try and make if difficult to use those stores. However I still think there is a real issue that those more invested in that market would just build themselves a Micro or Mini ATX system if they really wanted a small living room device.
Ultimately I can see the next box being like surface devices. Well designed bits of kit but with very limited sales in the wide scheme of things. Meanwhile MS will continue to be a hugely succesful publisher with the Xbox Game studios brand.