Comments 320

Re: 'Price Increases Are Never Fun For Anybody' Says Xbox Exec Defending Game Pass Changes

kmtrain83

@Questionable_Duck
It's true Clair Obscur, Silksong, and Blue Prince are all contenders, but their retail value is $100 combined to own, versus just renting access to them from Game Pass. If you are one and done type of gamer, I guess you could subscribe for a month or two and rush through them, and pay less overall. If they had physical releases like back in the day, you could also buy and flip used, for a slight net loss, but are they slowly eroding that market.

Re: Poll: What Are Your Plans For Xbox Game Pass After This Week's News?

kmtrain83

I’m paid for Ultimate through August 2027 when my son (who is the primary account holder on the Xbox ) goes off to college. I don’t know how much Game Pass will cost at that point. I still can’t get over the fact that this is just a rental fee. You don’t own anything. It will make more sense to be selective and just buy the games I want probably after they go on their initial markdown.

Re: Xbox Game Pass Is Getting A Major Overhaul With New Names, Games & Price Changes

kmtrain83

@Banjo-
Yes, I used one of those conversion deals before they closed the loophole on that to get 36 months for roughly the price of 13 months a couple of years ago. So I definitely know about taking advantage of their system.
In the end, though it’s just a rental cost like getting it from Blockbuster, because if I decide not to renew my subscription, all I have left are the memories. For the average gamer it’s a $700 Series X + $360 a year to rent games for let’s say five years that’s $2500. I just don’t know if you could call it “the best deal in gaming” anymore when you total it up like that.

Re: Xbox Game Pass Is Getting A Major Overhaul With New Names, Games & Price Changes

kmtrain83

It’s even worse when you consider the $30 per month versus a $60 or $70 game that the former is a rental fee and the latter is the ownership price. If you just care to rent and not own, then you could buy three $60 games a month and flip them when you’re done for $50 and that’s basically the same $30 net loss. But who goes through three $60 games a month? That takes a lot of time.

Re: Oblivion Remastered Is Getting A Physical Release For Xbox Series X

kmtrain83

I wish they had remastered Morrowind instead. That was my first TES game on Xbox. I completed that plus one of the expansions. I completed Oblivion and the expansions on PC later. I find myself wanting to go back to Morrowind, but I have no further interest in Oblivion. I also started Skyrim multiple times on PC, Switch, and Playstation, but I never got very far for some reason.

Re: Oblivion Remastered Is Getting A Physical Release For Xbox Series X

kmtrain83

@BAMozzy
I tend to agree with this prediction, although nobody can really say for sure what will happen 20-30 years from now. People point back to SNES games they can still play, but the digital infrastructure did not exist back then. Past performance does not equate to future results. Regardless, I wouldn't worry too much about a consumer purchase decision made today with that timeframe in mind. We're not talking about retirement planning; it's just a piece of entertainment.

Re: Rumour: Microsoft & ASUS Wanted To 'Further Subsidise' The Price Of The ROG Xbox Ally

kmtrain83

@WildConcept6
I’m sure ASUS knows what they’re doing since this is not their first handheld, and they also make gaming laptops. As far as them selling out, I think that has more to do with the limited supply in a niche marrket. Valve will not announce Steam Deck sales but after three years at a low price point they estimate maybe 4 million. Switch 2 sold that much in a couple of days. Microsoft also makes laptops, and it makes me wonder why they didn’t have the confidence a make their own handheld.under the Surface brand. Xbox Surface X.

Re: Rumour: Microsoft & ASUS Wanted To 'Further Subsidise' The Price Of The ROG Xbox Ally

kmtrain83

@WildConcept6
It is not easy to thread the needle with low power, long battery life, good screen, low weight, comfort, performance, and price.
Nintendo gets away with it because their audience favors a certain style of games that are not as resource intensive.
This ASUS device is swimming with the sharks in the PC Master Race gamer pool, where the competition is more fierce. PC makers do not want to lose money on hardware, because how else can they make up for it?

Re: Talking Point: So, Did You End Up Pre-Ordering The ROG Xbox Ally?

kmtrain83

I think I’m still 5 to 10 years away from wanting this kind of device. I already have a gaming backlog on PC and all 3 consoles. I don’t need a device backlog. However, if cloud and handheld PC takes off further, and if the traditional console concept slowly dies, then something like this could be one of my main drivers.

Re: ROG Xbox Ally Prices Finally Revealed, Pre-Orders Now Live

kmtrain83

@cburg
People complain about phone prices too.
And smart phones have stopped being a niche product about 5 to 10 years ago. Almost anything you do in life they assume you have one accessible.
Whereas this handheld gaming device is very definition of a niche.product.
For me, the prices are reasonable given what is out there in the marketplace. It’s just not something I need right now because I have so many other technologies that I would rank higher.

Re: The ROG Xbox Ally Is Rapidly Selling Out At Retailers Around The World

kmtrain83

@Phil-Spencer-Gate
This is an interesting prediction. One thing I wonder is if we will see a two tiered system of the "PC-hybrid" future. I believe PC-first gamers would be open to "console" experience but at an inflated hardware cost $600-1200. Whereas the more casual audience would settle for a built-in Xbox app on their smart TVs with no additional hardware costs, and just a streaming subscription -> I'm not sure how many years (if ever) the cloud-based format will avoid latency issues. For the ultra-hard core gamer, any degree of latency is a dealbreaker.
I do wonder if gaming will leave behing those parts of the world that can't afford $1000 for a device, or who don't have high speed internet. That to me seems like a regression, and not an expansion of the market.

Re: Microsoft Announces New Price Increases For Xbox Series X|S In The US

kmtrain83

@Banjo- @Banjo-
Yes It comes down to preference
I have experience with all 3 consoles, and enjoy them all in their own way .
My point was that we know how many each sold under the traditional prices and now if you raise prices it is more likely the marketplace will skew less in favor of the Xbox, which was already trailing behind.
It’s basic supply and demand economics

Re: Microsoft Announces New Price Increases For Xbox Series X|S In The US

kmtrain83

I got fairly lucky with Series S on sale at Target several years ago for $250 and 5% discount. I would not have entered the ecosystem at today's prices. I also stacked ~ 3 years of Game Pass for roughly the same price as would get less than 1 year now. At these prices you would do better with Switch 2 (just $50 more than Series S, but is portable, or PS 5 Pro if you want to be on the high end of console specs.

Re: Opinion: The Value Proposition Of Xbox Series S Is Better Than Ever In 2025

kmtrain83

I got it on sale at Target a few years ago at $250. I also loaded up 3 years of Game Pass when that was a thing. If it wasn't for these low price points, I would not have bothered. As it stands, it is still 4th place in our household in terms of hours played after PC > Switch > PS5 > Series S. I still like having it around though. I have no problem with the performance or graphics hooked up to an 85" TV. I thought Indiana Jones and Marvel Midnight Suns looked great.

Re: WD 2TB Xbox Expansion Card Drops To Lowest Price Ever At Best Buy

kmtrain83

I don’t bounce around between games so for me a slow external 2 TB on my Series S is enough. There is of course a significant waiting period to transfer games but if I’m going to be playing them for 50 to 100 hours then what’s a few minutes? Right now I have Indiana Jones playable with Starfield and Claire Obscur on the back up.

Re: Xbox's New Handheld UI Has Officially Been Announced For The Lenovo Legion Go 2

kmtrain83

@BAMozzy
This is an intriguing device to be sure. I feel it is aimed at a thin slice of the market that are willing to compromise on performance to get a couch friendlier version compared to a gaming laptop with a Bluetooth controller. The price is well above what I payed for my kid's laptop, although the spec are better (Lenovo Legion 5 Gen 6 17.3-in Gaming Laptop AMD Ryzen 5 5600H 3.30 GHz 6-Core NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 6GB 16GB RAM 1TB SSD) was on sale $857.49 in 2022. If I was to spring for this Lenovo or the ROG then it would likely also have to be docked at times as a laptop / desktop system. I don't know if I would buy this as well as a regular laptop which would double the costs into the 2-3 K range. By that point, the fact that I'm saving a few bucks as month by not paying for online/social features does not resonate. I also would compare to Xbox Series S that I got on sale at Target for $240 a couple years ago.

Re: ROG Xbox Ally X Can Reach 'Insane' FPS In DOOM: The Dark Ages, Says Analysis

kmtrain83

@Ricky-Spanish
I remain interested in this product, but I want to wait for pricing and reviews. My concern is as this march toward hybrid console – PC continues what we may end up with is high-end PC hardware up front cost combined with expensive software cost inherited from the console market. The worst of both worlds. I doubt most people will use a handheld Xbox as their primary gaming device, so it is an additional cost on top of things they most likely will still want or need including a traditional console and a PC for work and school.

Re: Talking Point: Has This Week's ROG Xbox Ally News Sold You On The New Handheld?

kmtrain83

The main sticking point for me as I also am in the market for a laptop PC next year and for the $900, I think the laptop would have more functionality.
I tried streaming Dungeons of Hinterburg to my 2019 MacBook Pro bootcamp load to Windows 10, Xbox app and it ran horribly. I didn’t bother trying anything else.
On the other hand, we got an Amazon Fire Stick HD Max on our upstairs TV and I played a game of FIFA at a pretty good estimated 30 FPS.
I’ll wait till this ROG device is out in the real world and see how it does

Re: Leaker Reveals 'Final Prices' For ROG Xbox Ally Handheld In The US

kmtrain83

@BAMozzy
Ok TBH, I did not do a "deep dive" as it seems you have done. I mostly reacted to the article from PureXbox "the cheaper one is meant for 720p gaming at lower graphical settings, while the more expensive one targets a 1080p resolution." With all this AI upscaling it seems that we can't just compare apples to apples like you could with Gamecube vs Xbox vs PS2. I am interested in this product, but I will wait for reviews and official pricing. I am not trying to dampen anyone's interest either.

Re: Leaker Reveals 'Final Prices' For ROG Xbox Ally Handheld In The US

kmtrain83

@WildConcept6
Hi yes I have an OLED Switch. My son has a Switch 2 with a 1080p screen. In order to get the 1080p on the ROG Xbox Ally X it will cost $899.99 USD, which is twice the Switch price. I appreciate there are other factors involved, not just screen resolution. That being said, since when have gamers who "care," not cared about screen resolution? It's one of the foundational criteria of computer graphics for half a century.