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@TruestoryYep You may have missed what I meant. I was saying how the same people that create rules for wether 1st party / 3rd party exclusives count are usually the same people who claim PS games are not exclusive if they go to PC, but refuse to apply the same standard to XBox because MS is also windows. Its goal post shifting and nothing more just for the sake of fanboi wars.

I didn't say BMW and SH2 where exclusive, I simply said they are out on PS so it make no sense to say its been a bad year, given that both are potential GOTY shouts. If you can play 90% of the likely GOTY choice on a platform, that platform has clearly not has a year of no games or poor games.

BMW has been confirmed that its coming to Xbox and that was never in question from its original inception. SH2 on the other hand is a time limited console exclusive but they have not confirmed that it will go to other platforms at this point, just that it could. Its pretty much like FF7R in that regard, no longer exclusive does not equal confirmed game.

@Sifi They will never change their view on 1st party because its the only arguement they have to limit exclusives. 3rd party or 1st Party, if you can only play it on one machine, then it makes no difference. Its on the same level of nonsense as PS exclusives don't count if the game is also on PC, but Xbox do as "Xbox is PC"

I would not be surprised to see Silent Hill 2 as a nominee in GOTY and possibly even BMW as an outlier. So there is no universe in which people can say PS has had a poor selection of games available this year. There is likely only 1 GOTY nominee that was not available on PS5.

Personally I think Astrobot will take the crown and it would be very well deserved for Asobi and nice to just see an old school good fun platformer take the spotlight.

@Fiendish-Beaver "All I think this rumour actually means is that Microsoft will not be making the same mistake again"

I am with you on this, the PS announcement at the end of the Indy trailer was a comically large blunder. Hey guys be excited for this game coming to Xbox...or play it on our competitiors better selling machine 3 months later.

In future they will just announce them going over as a side event a few months later so the games follow 6-12 moths later with less pomp. I would imagine 12m for games like Starfield, Forza and 6 months for less As you say I would put bets on Blade going to PS because its a Marvel IP which will sell well on PS, and the bean counters at MS care move about what the shareholders get in the near future and not the long term.

@LogicStrikesAgain "Also Playstation might have helped them with development, leading to them being able to release that version earlier."

Thats always been my take on the matter. I suspect the game was having trouble and it was looking like the date would be pushed back on both consoles. This seems likely as neither the PS or the PC version are particularly well optimised. Sony then stepped in with money and resources on the proviso that they had all hands on deck causing the XB version to wait and run behind a few months.

Its the situation that balances all the statements, including the numerous "its not a traditional exclusivity deal as we know it". Its also fine imo, If a company steps in to assist then they are going to want to see a return on that.

@themightyant I think Christmas 2027 would be about right. You could even push that to 2028 if we are not getting massive upgrades. That said I do reckon Xbox will shoot early and that it will be a huge mistake. It won't draw the players over and as you say would be eclipsed in about 18months.

If they do go for 2026 then it will be intersting watching all the Pro is pontless crowd suddenly change their mind for what would be a very similar level of power machine.

@PsBoxSwitchOwner You are right, GP subs are predominantly console based which is why they need to console to do well. As much as people tout GP-PC as a reason why consoles dont matter, the simple reality is its barely made a dent in what is a much larger market.

@Romans12 And a total number of subs over 47m. Or do we just not mention the bits that upset peoples feelings?

Bethesda have been on a slow decline since Morrowind. They peaked by creating a hugh world rpg which forced you to get invested in the game if you wanted to play it well. The issue is that they would not get away with tha style of game now, obtuse travel, levelling which could ruin your character etc. Shivering Isles for Oblivion was excellent but I found the base game to be a bit dull and KotN was also kinda boring.

As for the games not meeting expectations they can pin that blame squarely on Todd as he is unable to keep his mouth shut. If they want to set peoples expectations then stop saying dumb stuff like "it just works" when it really means "It will work 18 months after release"

@Fiendish-Beaver I loved Darksiders 1 but found number 2 to be a real slog due to the gaming rule of three applying to every aspect of the game. Also I don't think the loot system really added anything that the original was missing. And the less said about 3 the better.

Really hope 4 is worth the wait

@OldGamer999 It should be around £640 as £534 is pre Vat and Sony have no control over that, nor do they get any of it. It just looks worse as UK pricing shows tax and US doesn't. That doesn't address the £59 difference as no way is shipping that much in bulk. I reckon £649 should have been the price point for balance.

@MinervaX good work showing the price fluctuations in $. I know there are other factors in play but the UK price being $264 more is ridiculous. Is is due to something like sales tax not being shown in the US but part of the final price in the UK?

Not sure how it works in america compared to the UK / EU

@Sol4ris There is no doubt its expensive, but in fairness I honestly don't think competition will have any impact on prices going forward. I would not be surprised to see the next Xbox / PS6 also sitting around the £700 price as standard. If gamers want everything running at 4k @ 60fps then the prices have to increase or you get another generation thats out of date before it even launches.Even the switch 2 is sounding like its going to be £500 for a device thats closer to last gen than current gen.

@awp69 I was referring to the DF direct on youtube from a day ago (its on the link you sent) when they did not confirm it being exclusive at all. And I would say it matters greatly because in the editorial Rich says journalists have said there is a deal and they have heard the same from good sources, yet in the video says there are reports of a rumour but stops short of saying they have heard it also and doesn't challenge when the other commentator says they don't believe the deal rumour.

So which is it? since they are not even sticking to the same version themselves it brings credibility into question.

@awp69 Funny how they do not mention this secret deal they have confirmed once in the recent DF direct. They do however mention lots of other potential issues but not once do they say there is an exclusivity deal.

@Widey85 and worth noting that if this the case then MS could have likely done the same. I recall when BG3 was having issues they also said they had to really hound MS for assistance. So if thats the case they can hardly complain for choosing to do nothing.

@NEStalgia ahh NWN2 I remember when that released I upgraded my GPU and the box was advertising NWN2 as the new shiny game and that this card was powerful enough to run it well... It still ran like a bag of spanners until I upgraded again a few years later. Great game but such a horrendous mess.

@Mustoe I would lean toward utter nonsense for timed exclusivity but with maybe a kernal of truth that is being wildly thrown out of context. I Imagine its probably something like Gamescience where struggling with optimising the game in general and Sony threw some cash / expertise their way to make sure the game was able to go on time.

Something along those lines would ring more accurate to me as by all accounts the game is not even well optimised on PC and is relying on much more powerful setups to brute force performance.

@Ralizah "Final Fantasy just isn't THAT big of a brand anymore, and S-E's lacking support isn't going to tank a major console line."

As much as I love FF and have played pretty much every game in the series, plus the sequels and the spin offs I would have to agree with you here. The series is nowhere near as popular as it used to be and attempts to reinvent the series in 15 and 16 seem to lose as many, or more fans than they gains. For every new fan who like action conbat gain they seem to lose an old fan who just wants turn based atb.

I also reckon the statement from SE is likely very misleading and will still be entirely dependant on the level of work required from them. I can't see them porting remake / rebirth or FF16 as it would be a lot of work, but would not be surprised if they port stuff like the pixel remaster collection as its probably much simpler and would sell.

@PhileasFragg Its also just happened yesterday on the new expansion for WoW. They have never done it before and decided to do it for this expansion. Can't help but think they were following suit of the new owners as they decided it before the buyout was complete but after it had been announced.

Its just very scummy behavouir to cash in on fomo

@PhileasFragg welcome to horse armour 2.0

@Banjo- It was heavily reported due to leaks in 2022 that the split was around 75% SS and 25% SX. Since then its been reported that sales on consoles since 2022 are closer but its still like 60% SS and 40% SX. Its worth noting that sales since 2022 are slower in general, so yes we do basically know the SS has outsold the SX by a substanial amount even if we don't have the exact figures. That said if you take the numbers on VGchartz as rough figues then the SS is about 69% of total Xbox sales.

"Anyway, the next Xbox has been confirmed to be the biggest technological leap ever, so no point in discussing this."

But if you really want to play the we don't know game then we absolutely don't know that the next xbox will be the biggest technological leap ever as no specs have been announced outside of hype talk.

@cragis0001 its not the franchises I am trying to put down, I agree the cinematic playstation games would review as well on Xbox as they did on PS despite people calling them "Sad Dads" or "Walking Simulators". What I was questioning is how many would buy them new when Xbox consoles are selling at half the volume of the PS5.

If we take your numbers and half them is it really worth the extra work making a game run on 2 sku's of the series brand for 0.5 - 1.5 million extra sales. Where as the flip side makes more sense, if it was viable to make a game for 28 million consoles then porting it to the bigger market will more than likely turn a profit.

@Banjo- The alternative to a console is not a gaming PC, thats just nonsense. Consoles have always offered a reasonably high level of entry at a acceptable price where as PC's offer superior settings but you can be damn sure you will pay for it. Some people they will move to a PC but the chances are more likely that they would have been spending that money previously on multiple consoles.

SS users (the majority of Xbox's sold) are not going to swap from a £250 console to a £1500 PC as the natural next step.

@cragis0001 PS will not release on Xbox unless they can ofset the extra dev costs on potential sales, something its much easier for Xbox to do as PS has the better sales, a single console and players used to buying games.

@Savage_Joe Its right up there with Mike Ybarra leaving MS for Blizzard, Bigging MS up during the buyout then leaving Blizz as soon as the ink was dry on him being a MS employee again.

Having a PS5 and PC I still think I am unlikely to play this, but if I do it will be on the PC via steam because of the poor decision to make the game 1st person, which make mouse and keyboard more preferable. I think they are even aware about the backlash to 1st person which is why they tried to address it with some nonsense in that showcase.

@K1LLEGAL The thing is that its will never be £120 as the average gamer has a huge backlog of games already, so unless they are super bothered about day 1 then its more likely to be anywhere between £40 and £60 for the pair down the line depending on how much you are waiting to play.

@OldGamer999 100% agree that MS need the console to keep GP going. People alway make the point that GPU is also available on PC but ignore that the takeup by the PC base is negligable when you consider the size of the PC market. If its not working now then its not suddenly going to rocket when other stores are better.

@TheSimulator Phil is not in control anymore. He may have a title but its clear from the recent radio silence that the overlords have taken his legs out form under him.

You pay a premium to be part of an eco system so there shouldn't be adds of anytype on any intro dashboard. Even game offers should be limited to when you are in the store, or on the store part of the dash.

This is basic and should apply to all platforms.

@WhiteRabbit If they were right, and they are so convinced they are, then why would MS not have just put out a clear cut statement saying as much.

People now are so eager to believe the fanciful if it fits their narrative.

@Steel76 Game science did announce that the game needed futher optimisation for the series consoles, but did not explicitly say that it was on the S only. Given that the situation with the SS has cropped up a few times however, it would not be surprising if it was the issue.

As usual however some people are refusing to believe Game Science and assuming that they are just covering for Sony throwing money around, which is embarrassing and laughable.

@GamingFan4Lyf Nice, basically the same as me but you have the newer model of processor. It should play everything for a good couple of years since the 4080 / 4090 are overkill for 1440p

Yeah mine is desk based in my room, at the old house had a second lounge with a sofa and a TV which the desk was right next to so I could throw the input there if needed. But I find the desk is fine for most things, and honestly better for some.

Now you gotta get yourself the expensive peripherals that PC gamers love so much 😅

@Mustoe If only PC would allow you to use a controller.. maybe one day we can all be living that dream

@GamingFan4Lyf You setting it up in a main room and using like a console or going for a desk based setup?

@NEStalgia I will join your ridiculous input device club as I just upgraded to a G502 Lightspeed X Plus and they deffo aint cheap

@armondo36 As I explained you are trapped because if consoles are gone then you are not going to have every publisher making games choose 1 single streaming platform. Its wishful thinking to imagine them all banding together to offer you all the games for the low price of 1 subscription. It will go exactly the same way as TV with a service for each publisher all charging £20+ a month.

And if you think companies will will make it easy to swap between them for a month at a time flipping back and forth based on new releases then you are very naive. People are for the most part lazy, and companies make it frustrating to unsub because they don't want you to leave. Mix that in with the fact that companies would hide everything behind premium tiers and you would find it a bleak future where you are paying way over the odds for a worse service.

Also you have to factor in paying more for the premium fibre to run all this well, because in the UK that would be costly. Sure you would be able to access everything from your TV, but the costs would spiral rapidly.

@armondo36 ahh yes exactly like how when Netflix originally came out and all companies banded together in this utopia where we were no longer trapped, and had access to every film, every series all for the low price of one single subscription. /s

Instead of being trapped on 1 plastic box you will be trapped on a subscription service where you only have access to a handful of games whilst 5 other subscription services offer the same at an ever increasing value whilst the value offered decreases. Its already happening, it won't get better. its only going to get worse.

@Fiendish-Beaver It is looking more like they could drop the next Xbox in 2026, but I wonder if they will class it as a next generation or just something like the Series NeXt so its kinda new, but also still not.

Where as I think with the Pro sony could keep the Generation going a touch longer and still be running the 5 for a good while. Then the 6 will blow the Xbox out of the water given that I bet the neXt will not be much different to the Pro.

@Pabpictu I have a gaming PC, its a 4070 setup so I know exactly what they are like and still say they are far more complex than a console. Even if you ignore the OS differences adding complexity you still have to address Drivers. Depending on your card make you do need to get drivers and keep them up to date because windows will occassionally "helpfully" install drivers without the GPU program that has the setting. Or windows helpfully resetting audio settings after major patches.

Then you have peripherals which most people will have on a gaming rig. Logitech mouse, you need to set up G Hub. Corsair Keyboard and Headset, Also set up iCue. Razor gamepad, get that razor app loaded also. If you want any RGB control then again thats through extra apps.

Anyone commenting on a site like this is by default an enthusiast and probably would have no issue with that stuff. But the point is that the majority of people are not enthusiasts and by that standard PC's are nowhere near as simple as consoles, and likely never will be if you want to keep the benefits of it still running like a PC.

What a load of crock to excuse them being terrible at something. There is no world where the company that buys out publishers like a kid in a sweet ship is also the scrappy underdog who just needs a break.

This is just a pity statement to excuse there own poor decisions.

@WhiteRabbit The notion that consoles are dying is funny as the people commenting are enthusiasts who will happily buy a gaming PC.

They then conveniently ignore the fact that parents will continue to buy the simplest solution for their kids which is a huge chunk of the console market. Consoles are easy, cheap and rarely require fixing.

@Pabpictu Having a console is nothing like owning a PC with installations / updates. Sure games updates but everything is done seemlesly in the background and automated for the most part on a console.

You don't have to deal with driver errors, windows errors, 3rd party installations to manage mods and everything else that PC's have as an increased level of complexity.

I have always been a PC gamer and a console gamer and both have their benefits, but the notion that a PC is as simple as a console is not even remotely true.

@Fiendish-Beaver Some people will go to great lengths to deny persistent rumours, even when those spouting the rumours have proven track records...

You are forgetting that magical qualifier of them only having a good track record when the rumour is good news. When its bad news they apparently know nothing 🤣

@OldGamer999 Their terrible presence in the UK is made worse by the push to digital also. MS are not advertising the console and then when you go in stores they don't bother stocking many games as MS is training people to buy digitally. Even in second hand stores like CEX their presence is utterly diminished. Which matters because even in the world of internet shopping, retail shelf space is stil powerful advertising.

Its all well and good people claiming that MS know where the money is and are chasing GP. But this week they have admitted that GP is not doing as well as they want and the best way to grow GP would be to grow the console install base, which won't happen when your average non gamer is losing awareness of the brand.

The cycle of Microsoft

Rumour comes out. Fans say nothing is confirmed, wait for the press release. Microsoft deny with rumour with peak PR lingo. The rumour turns out to be true and fans defend it using a loophole.

I just hope they don't start messing about with WoW since they now control that also.

@NEStalgia You have to love Copilot, we are moving our finance package at work to Dynamics BC365 and during the training this week we were shown how to write a simple report from a 4 word phrase.

All used the same 4 words, got 4 different reports... some not even relevant. Good Job Microsoft

Publisher wise they should be fine, the only concern is how they have handled some studios recently with closures and how much of that is influenced from the higher up corpos. Its will be intersting to see how Ninja Theory are handled following Hellblade 2 not exactly setting the world ablaze given how others were treated.

Hardware wise I think it would take something amazing for them to ever offer meaningful competition. On paper people may like to say they have the bet console, but when sales are lowest the perception of the consumer says the opposite.

Game pass I think will probably get worse overtime or just become a primarily microsoft game studios product. Similar to how all sub platforms seem to decline over time.

They should be fine but I think the real focus will shift over all to being a publisher, and gamepass as a publishers own platform with some guest spots.

@Ilyn I saw above a complaint about the little speaker in it, but thats one of the bits I love. I find it so immersive when the radio chatter comes through the speaker rather than the TV.

@Mustoe Your not wrong there, however even controllers is subjective imo as I genuinely prefer the PS5 stick placement, mainly because I have years of getting used to them. I use a XBOX pad on PC but thats mainly because its better supported being windows.

@OldGamer999 not really sure a most wanted list for game fest says much when Sony didn't really turn up in any real meaningful way.

It's been two weeks and I can barely even remember anything shown