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@Jenkinss Yeah they had said they wanted the game multiplat for ages. I think that coupled with their recent announcement that they have made enough money from HD2 to self publish their next game meant Sony will be more inclined to allow it to keep on their good side for future projects.

@darylb24 So if the next Xbox does go the PC route then I assume it will have zero games that interest you? Becasue PC doesn't really have generations and games are playable on older machines (within reason). How about The Series X, are all its games meaningless because you can also play them on the much weaker Series S?

This mentality of games not counting on a newer console if they are also available on the older or weaker console is utterly ridiculous. A good game is a good game regardless of the devices you can play it on.

@Kaloudz Not for consoles but there is a fan made remake called Black Mesa on PC which is very good. Its not an exact remake as they improved some areas, and they heavily expanded and improved the final act of the game on the alien homeworld.

Shame its never transitioned to console but I imagine its way beyond their knowledge

@WildConcept6 I think PS6 will carry on with the optional drive stye, and personally I think its a very clever, practical solution to a modern problem. One SKU that can easily be sold at two price points if they package a bundled box.

If they somehow manage to use the same optional drive as the PS5 then this would be even better for the consumer in the long run. I'm not sure if that would happen however due to the effect it would have on deisgn and income.

Starfields greatest achievement was making people concerned for TES 6 since Bethesda have fallen a long way with Todd Howard believing his own hype.

Im still 50/50 on this. Blade, much like Spawn or punisher, is a comic character than could easily be used to make a 18+ game that really has an excuse to get dark bloody and gritty.

However Marvel are unlikely to want a game that alienates a large amount of the younger audience and a watered down Blade could easily suck.

I can also see it being cancelled down the line as the film is dead in the water which is going to limit the characters appeal.

Always felt the aquisition was a bad idea and nothing has changed my mind. I had a slim hope that maybe I would be wrong and maybe, just maybe, microsoft would revisit IP's or realise that you don't need to gouge customer wallets constantly.

Sadly the gouging has got worse and Acti Blizz are more greedy now than ever before. D4 and WoW being the standouts of pure greed. The games are decent but the naked greed on display does sour the experience somewhat.

@Fiendish-Beaver were they presented with a similar service on the PlayStation, they would jump at the chance. It is only because they do not have those first-party games on their service day one that they find it so objectionable...

I think both can be true at once. GP is a good deal for the consumer, provided you like the games. People can take advantage of it when its offered, they can also believe its ultimately harmful for the industry in the long run. It doesn't have to be one or the other.

@PushButtons Except you are not paying $500 for old and inferior tech. Unless the PS4 was a handheld device and I clearly missed something for all those years.

Yes handheld tech will always be behind console tech, which in turn is behind PC tech, but its still modern within its niche. Trying to compare them all is pointless because at that point everything is old tech compared to a PC with a 5090.

As others have said the worst thing about all of this is the fact that its looming over people's head and they know without knowing. Worse when its then subject to leaks, rumours and reporting.

Its typical scummy corpo behavior to leave staff hanging until they decide to announce, when in reality the decision has probably already been made.

@Neither_scene I think they lump the whole gaming area into one for their financials and it was their 3rd biggest area last I saw. I think a huge portion of that was solely from the Actiblizz buyout which boosted gaming revenue a lot.

Hopefully the layoffs are not to major

@Weebleman As you say they all wan't our money and this idea that one company is altruistic, and the others are greedy is nonsense. The reality is if they were not trying to get more out of us they wouldn't be very good at their jobs.

Honestly anyone who has spend any time dealing with Microsoft licencing would see exactly how bad they are for it. They want every penny out of you they can get.

@Moby What complete and utter guff. Do you honestly think Phil Spencer funded almost $90B worth of investments over 10 years without access to Microsofts main cheque book.

Its those investments that have allowed Xbox to course correct recently and none of it would have been possible without access to the parent divisions wealth. Its why the Nadella is so heavily involved now because that spend clearly came with added oversight.

@Ricky-Spanish You are not alone

When Space Marine 2 launched they did the same for and deisgned 1 SX and 1 PS5. All I could think was how much I would rinse a Warhammer collector for if I had one of those, because they would sell for so much money.

How long before they sell it 😂

Things like this are very cool, its also winning the jackpot if you sell it to the whales.

@Fiendish-Beaver Lots of places do cross platform games also where you redeem it via a code on say Epic, but it requires you to have Origin and the game actually loads via that. If anything its more annoying than just opening the right platform in the first place, but you have to use both for it to work.

Its become more prevelant with free games via Prime / Epic etc where it seems to be a requirement for the game being free. As it drives people to be aware of their platform.

@Ricky-Spanish Different games, different genres, different review.

Edit: Its only like how Balatro got a 9. its a great game, but you can't hold that 9 against bigger AAA 9's. They are both deserving on their own scales.

@theduckofdeath it's more that if I want to play a pad game, I'm doing it on the sofa with the big screen and sound system. If it's mouse and keyboard I'm sitting at my desk upright.

I've just never found myself thinking of I wish I could also pay borderlands or similar on console. So the benefit sounds decent on paper, but has no value for me at all.

PC would be my main one for anything MS based, but obviously that may now also include PS5 with them being multiplatform.

I have always said that play anywhere has no real value to myself however as I buy and play a game on the platform I prefer to play it on, which is dictated by the control option. Having access to Age of Empires / Diablo / Doom on Console would be about as useful to me as having Dark Souls / Nioh / Resident Evil on PC.

It all just feels like the new strategy is to slap a badge on something and call it an Xbox. It's the least exciting strategy then could have chosen.

As for the potential of a hybrid PC I don't see anything there to excite me, it will be a costly weak PC. I would rather see real console innovation.

@Fiendish-Beaver PC gaming is nowhere near as simple as that ...

I tried saying this ages ago and it fell on deaf ears as people gushed in excitement at the idea of the full PC library on a console. I recently played Dead Space 1 on my PC again and it was a bugger to get running, as are many older games, because of stupid things like resolution.

The other thing I have had crop up a lot on older games is they won't boot correctly if my 360 controller in plugged in. You have to unplug it, load the game then reconnect it.

PC players accept this stuff as standard, console players will not.

As to you other various posts about steam the other thing I was thinking tonight is would they want to curate the games available to be played on an Xbox platform. Steam has a lot of very questionable titles (Sex with H**ler etc) that I don't think MS would want people playing or streaming on their Xbox Eco system.

@PsBoxSwitchOwner @General-Foley I agree if they try for a hybrid PC Console the price will be high. The price will be to high for the majority of console players who just want a simple box. PC players would not be bothered by the cost, but wouldn't scoff at the idea of a weak PC.

I really think the market for hybrids is a bit like the market for Surface devices, or the old alienware PCs. They might be fancy but hardly anyone is actually willing to pay over the odds for them.

@Ricky-Spanish And the major elephant in the room is that final fantasy just isn't that big a game anymore!

This is just a bad take on every level.

FF14 is a major success and widely considered the second place MMO after WoW.
FF7R has been the game to get on a system for a few years, as shown by the hype of it arriving on Switch 2 / Xbox.
FF9 has had fans clamouring for the long rumoured remake.
FF Tactics was a well received remaster this show season.
MTG have just done a FF collab which has been a big hit.

But sure no one cares about FF anymore.

@Fiendish-Beaver I do agree though that many people will be looking to play FF16 on Game Pass is (when) it finally comes over because, and we see it in these forums all the time, there are many, many people that pretty much only play games on the Game Pass, so yes, people do have different buying habits here.

I think this is really the only answer and goes back to the article the other day about PS+ vs GP and which is better for the health of the industry. There is no doubt that GP is a good deal for the consumer, providing you like the games ofc. However it is a legitimate worry for the industry, especially if devs just decide a platform is not worth targetting. Maybe this is where a Hybrid PC solution will work but that has its own rake of issues to consider.

Its the never ending circle of people saying GP saves them money to spend on more games, but the reality plays out in the comments every single time.

"I will wait till its under £20 or on GP"

@bazchillin SoP imo had the best combat of all the action based final fantasies and was a blast to play. The job system worked so well into the combat and was far more engaging than 15, 16 or the remade 7's.

The main downside to SoP was that some of the areas looked very garish (crystal tower) and the town bit between missions felt like it was thrown together by an intern in 5m. I would love to see a proper title with that more involved combat style tho.

Unlikely for 2027 if for no other reason than you don't drop all your major franchises in the final year of a generation.

@Coletrain people say they want the device, but I think often what they want is the idea of the device without pesky reality getting in the way. They want a handheld with 6h worth of battery playing 1080p at 60 frames that all comes in a nice round £400 price. The reality of what you end up with quickly dampens the hype when you need to part with the cash.

@Kaloudz I also still think we are a far way off an all streaming future. Companies having the tech is one thing, but its all for naught if the user infastructure is not in place to support it (or not cost effective).

This to me is just another sign of Microsoft wanting to get back to focussing on Software and services, which is where they have most expertise. They really do not care about hardware, they never have, software and subscribers is key.

The real concern as others have said is that if Xbox became just another PC, by different makers, then optimisation is going to be a issue.

@Millionski I do agree that the increase in games is to much, I don't however see it pushing more people towards gamepass. The service has been there plenty of time already and sub numbers are stagnant. The value is subjective, but arguably the worth has been there for ages without any major increase.

I worry that as more games appear on the system the service will actually start losing value rather than gaining it. I know this sounds the wrong way round, but with greater content they will continue to increase the price, but you still only have the same amount of usage time. This mixed with the constant increase for constant growth will see the price becoming unsustainable.

For me the future is just waiting 6-12m and picking the games up in sales for $40. There has not been any major generational increases for a decade anyway so even with waiting games are still fresh, and arguably better as complete / patched versions.

@Ricky-Spanish I have no clue what is the big difference between OLED screen and LED screen??

Visual clarity is the main difference due to true blacks and vivid colours, increased brightness, also no light bleed makes the image sharper overall. The problem is you only really notice the difference after using one. When you go back LED panels just seem very flat in comparison.

I had no real issue playing on my old 55" LED panel, but since getting the LG C3 I also wouldn't ever go back.

Unless the Rog gets a price cut then I can't see it coming in less than the current models. I would not be surprised at £650 and £900 in the current climate, and aside from die hards I think the price will put a lot of people off.

The idea of handhelds is great but if you want high end graphics, processing power and semi decent battery life then its not going to come cheap.

@GamingFan4Lyf See i was not a fan of the combat in Remake as I really disliked how the agro always tended to focus on the character you controlled at any given moment. It did however feel much better in Interlude as Yuffie has way more in her toolkit than any of the base characters.

For me the best FF action combat has been Stranger of Paradise and I would love to see a mainline title or remake fully embrace that style of combat. All the characters felt fun and maxing out multiple job trees to unlock advanced classes was pretty fun.

@Lup Ive not played any of the remakes, but did play the originals back in the day. The games themselves are pretty fun and easy to pick up and play at as basic level.

Thhey can get more challenging however as the main issue I found is the terminology used if you are not into skating. It can take ages to learn what moves are what and how many points they are worth.

@Kaloudz Adamantoise in 15 was such a troll by SE, yes it was kinda realistic seeing as you a trying to damage a walking mountain, but my god it was long.

I have not played the pocket edition, I also never got around to trying the Comrades mode either. Its on my list as a game I do want to replay with all the DLC as the world was very enjoyable and looked great.

Neverwinter Nights 1 and 2 are great games but unfortunately they just don't hold up as well as the Infinity Engine CRPG games. They beauty of the older games is that the hand drawn backdrops retain a look and feel which is timeless. Earlier 3D games however always look and feel very much a product of their time. Still a great set of games however and some of the expansions where great.

They need to look at redoing Temple of Elemental Evil as that was a brilliant D&D adventure thats always overlooked due to using a different campaign setting and 3.5 rules. It also feels the most realistic to how D&D should play out where every fight you risk dicing with death.

Of all the games to launch at $80 this one is a very poor choice and bound to get pushback as the original was just mediocre. If it was something like Forza 6 then it would probably slip under the radar, or be generally more acceptable, but OW2 is just not the game to stick the increased price tag on.

Edit: The other issue with $80 games is that GP will also likely increase inline with the retail price increases

@Kaloudz 100%. I loved my time with FF15 and rated it very highly but the story is so jarring, especially if you watched Kingsglaive before it which massively highlights the utter destruction of the kingdom... oh well STAG WEEKEND TIME!

Yeah I am not sure what the plan is for FF9. The rumour was it would be remastered but retain its classic turn based style. I played it recently however and I am not sure how well it would hold up with such a limited remaster.

The game is very linear and the open world map is a clever trick as they just hid the linear paths as linear paths on a map. It certainly lacks the quality of hidden extras that the FF7 / 8 world maps held.

I enjoyed the setting, and it was good, but I think rose tinted glasses really help me remember it as being better than it was.

@Kaloudz Yeah its just another word for summons that Yoshi P seems to like using.

The game is darker than most entries but I personally wouldn't say its to dark. Its just more grounded as a medievil story of warring states in a dying world.

I would say its kind of the polar opposite of the FF15 story where his kingdom is destroyed, the world is at war and yet no one seems stressed and we still have time for cooking quest at the campsite, and every other frivolity imaginable.

@-taco If it helps every single game in the series is its own game and they are not linked in any way at all. Some games do have sequels but they are all marked under the same title like FFX and FFX-2, so just pick one and play away.

The main problem is that everyone has their own opinion on which games are best so its impossible to get a deifinitve list of best to worse. FF12 for example is very highly rated by some and I would rate it as one of the worst, Likewise FF15 is dislike by many but I really enjoyed the Brotrip

@Kaloudz FF16 was a decent enough entry that just lacked some bits that people say make it a FF title. The combat is well done and each eikon brings with it a new style of combat akin to the DMC5 weapon / character styles. The characters are well done and the set piece eikon battles are truly incredible, especially if you have an OLED to really make the colours pop.

The main issues with the game imo are that elements have no real function in the game. Each eikon has its associated element but for all intents and purposes it just a different colour of magic bolt that all do the same thing. Status effects are in the game but they only introduce them one a time and they never overlap, so each zone just has 1 status for that area. In FF mode (NG+) then they are there from the start and all present at once and it feels like how the game should have been from the start. The only other issue is the sidequest pacing towards the end is horrific, but it makes sense. You unlock movesets from beating eikons and obviously the story progresses as you defeats eikons. So in order to get plenty of use out of the later ones the side questss also increase towards the end. The issue being a lot of them are kind of boring, and not worth doing - but also you need to do them imo.

Still worth a play through imo and I actually preferred it to FF7 where the combat in the first one just didn't really work for me at all.

Nothing really got me excited as a lot of the games where already known about, there was a fair amount of DLC and a smattering of MMO / Live service updates. They should have shown the thing in reverse as it started far better than it ended which didn't help the showcase at all.

The most interesting game shown was Dawnwalker but they didn't really show much more than previous, and I am not fully convinced by what they have shown. The premise of proper slavic horror vampires should be good if they manage to make the writing and gameplay decent.

My main concern is there seems to be a lot hanging on the fact this studio has 4 ex Witcher devs so its being hyped up to surpass Witcher 3 quality and I don't think it will.

FF16 is a decent story and one hell of a visual showcase but still has the main problem that you have to finish the game in order to play what feels like the intended version. Had they allowed Final Fantasy mode from day 1 I think it would have been better received.

Probably a C+

Started of well but definitely hit a lull in the middle. Nothing was shown that made me think instant buy so that knocks it down a touch.

I would say it went SOP then Xbox and SGF in last place. Nioh 3 carried it as my game of the weekend, and the demo being Shadow dropped was excellent.

@Ricky-Spanish Voicing opinions is fine, as we all have them and it can lead to healthy discourse. The problem is when people push their opinions as objective facts just to further a console war narrative without offering any proof of said facts other than their feelings.

@Kaloudz In all fairness I don't think MS ever said there was no issue with the SS, they instead made a cover your own arse statement along the lines of "Its not due to issues that have been raised to us". And that can be taken in a few ways... its straight up not an issue, we don't believe it should be an issue, its not an issue thats been reported to us in a specific way.

They have also never put out a firm statement saying "yes we know there is a exclusivity deal and as such it will be 1 year delay." They instead used at leading statement to deflact any criticism back to their rival that instead promoted journalists and fans to turn this issue into a console war conspiracy theory

I have aways said I believe the only deal was Sony allocated resources to assist production and that resulted in their version being ready first. They also likely only did that to keep up a steady pipeline following the gaas push fallout.

@GeeEssEff Thankyou for pointing this out, a voice of reason

@LogicStrikesAgain Steam does utterly dominate the PC space as a central library for games. GoG, Origin, Epic, MS Store all exist but have never posed any real threat at all. Epic came the closest but its main use is the free games, and the others are also mainly used for free games /deals via Prime or Humble. GoG is the only one with a unique feature as they still promote DRM free game, albeit to a lesser extent now.

Battlenet is a bit of an outlier in that it gets a lot of use, but its got maybe 15 games on there and its main feature is that its linked to your blizzard account which links you across all their games. Ie you can talk to you WoW buddies whilst playing Diablo.

Steam is number one and its just just due to it being the oldest, or having great sales. Features like Discovery, Chat, Profiles, Workshop, Reviews, Discussions all contribute to making it far better than any other platform out there currently.

@Kaloudz I would say the best order is to play them in release order, but you do have to accept that there is some wierdness.

@Kaloudz Yeah the whole metal gear series timeline is all over the place, but it almost needs to be that way for it all to make sense. It also doesn't help that the series features clones off the main character to add extra confusion in there.

Great games and well worth a play for any one who likes Rogue Trader or the Pathfinder games. The Bhaal spawn saga is very well written and its really nice that the story flows nicely between the two games. The story does have a link to BG3 also which provides some nice context to the story.

Hopfully they add Icewind Dale 1&2 and Planescape in future for people also as they are all gems.

@Kaloudz Yeah, Its a remake of 3 but also the first in series from a narrative standpoint.

@Kaloudz Thats fair enough man I had the exact same with MGS Delta. I loved the original game but the trailer for that just felt like a downgrade to the original. I am not sure if it was the visual style or the cut but it felt borderline ridiculous in places.