Comments 429

Re: Xbox Announces New 'Project Helix' Console, Says It Will Play PC Games

mac_da_man

@themightyant

Thats a lot of games, I totally get that it would be nice to have it all on "one" place. I prefer counch and TV + console but nothing is really keeping me from getting a PC hooked to my TV instead except that its expensive and I dont want all the extra work that comes with PC gaming. And that Playstation changed strategy with their single player games... So if this PXbox is good, nicely priced and has good software I might get one and have a ps5/6 for the exclusives. Could be awesome!

Re: Next Xbox Console Could Be Affected By PlayStation Pulling Back On PC

mac_da_man

@fatpunkslim

For not caring about playstation games, you seem to care an awful lot going by your comments. Sony is in a position where they can do these things now as Xbox is trailing so far behind. It may not be a good thing or something we like, but its better to face the facts and not do some impressive mental gymnastics to try and spin it into something its not.

Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? (February 28 - March 1)

mac_da_man

AC Shadows - Claws of Awaji - I've finished the story content, which was very good and I really enjoyed returning to this game, its awesome imo. Its also story content I feel everyone who finished the game should play, without spoling anything ๐Ÿ™‚

Marathon Server Slam - I've played 5-6 rounds and its not a bad game by any means, the gameplay, movement, gun handling and that is very good which is to be expected but then the rest is not as good, UI is a mess and I dont really see myself playing a game like this for very long as I just dont see what would keep me invested in the long run. But its early days and that might change, Im not getting it at release though, but maybe down the line. We'll see.

Other than that, not much gaming this week and next week we're on a skiing trip so I'll be on the Portal but havent decided what to play yet. Hope you all have some tips for me ๐Ÿ™‚

Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? (February 21-22)

mac_da_man

A bit of shocking gaming news yesterday with both Spencer and Bond departing Xbox and the boss of AI taking over. Not sure if thats a good thing but time will tell i guess. Anyway, the games we've been playing is why we are here so:

High on life 2 - I've finished the game and I had a blast playing it. There are some very hilarious moments in various missions that had me laughing out loud (of course, its subjective but still). Im also impressed with how different the missions are, not all are brilliant but many are really cool imo. The only complaint I have is that the end part of the game could have been a bit better as it dragged on a bit but other than that, it was a very fun game imo, however its not a five star game without flaws and its certainly not for everyone just so you know. Perfect game to be on a service though ๐Ÿ™‚

AC Shadows - Claws of Awaji - I havent really decided what to play next but remembered that I hadnt played Claws of Awaji yet. After a bit of a struggle remembering the controls (I actually managed to die more than once... wtf!) Im back to enjoying this awesome game again. Love it. Its really beautiful and it plays really well, also love to switch between the different playstyles of Yasuke and Naoe. Going to enjoy this revisit ๐Ÿ™‚

Have a great weekend!

Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? (February 14-15)

mac_da_man

I've finished and platinumed Fallout 4 since last week, and I've enjoyed it more than I expected. Part of that is that it finally runs good with 60 fps and no lag or super long loading times, it was pretty bad on og ps4 when the save files got big. I also played the Far Harbour DLC, which was very good. Last time around I had to give up due to the suffering it put my poor ps4 through. Now I'm really hoping the next Fallout game focuses more on the story and side missions and exploration, which are the strong points of the game imo. Also hoping we'll get the remasters of Fallout 3 and NV sooner rather than later so I can get lost in the Wasteland again ๐Ÿ™‚

High on Life 2 - We've resubbed to Game Pass Ultimate as me and my son both wanted to play this and he also wants to play Star Wars Outlaws and Avatar so I figured its worth a month or two of GPU. Anyway, the game seems pretty good avtually, I'm not far in but I've gotten the skateboard which makes gameplay more fun, the art style is great and the humor is more of the same which is also good (although very dependant on your kind of humor). The performance on the Series S isnt the best though, its not a stable 60 fps but close, but the image is very blurry and glitchy etc and its annoying. Still, the game is fun and the FPS is stable enough to make the game enjoyable so I'll stick with this version ๐Ÿ™‚

Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? (February 7-8)

mac_da_man

Except for trying the Pragmata demo, which is very promising but I'm a bit concerned the hacking while fighting gets old fast, I've paused all other games and only been focusing on:

Fallout 4 - I've been continuing my journey through the wasteland and I'm a bit surprised that I'm enjoying it as much as I do, given the the game suffers from a couple of flaws and imo is weaker than 3 and NV. I think one obvious part of that is that exploring the wasteland is awesome, but also that I dont remember all the details of the story or the different factions, and I have forgotten many of the side quests too and some of them are pretty good and that makes it all feel fresh. I'm at the end of the main story/stories (doing all the endings, then the platinum) but I havent decided which end to stick with. Probably BoS ๐Ÿ™‚

Re: Talking Point: One Year Later, How Do You Feel About Xbox RPG Avowed?

mac_da_man

@theduckofdeath

For me things like arrows dissapearing after a few seconds, cups and small things not being interactable etc etc breaks the immersion to much in an RPG, even if other things were fine. Combine that with NPCs standing still all day etc etc it just didnt match my expectations, especially from a developer like Obsidian when these things have been around in RPGs for many, many years.

Re: Talking Point: One Year Later, How Do You Feel About Xbox RPG Avowed?

mac_da_man

It has some strong parts but for me the beautiful but static world and immersive breaking lack of physics and stuff like that made it difficult to enjoy as an RPG, it could have been much better imo. Its also a problem with me having the expectations that those things would be there, instead of going in blind and enjoying the game for what it is. All in all I'd say 6-7/10!

Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? (January 31 - February 1)

mac_da_man

Its been a bit of a mixed bag since last week

Resildent Evil Village - Despite my weak heart and tiny balls I managed to finish the game ๐Ÿ˜… Thank ***** it didnt get worse than House Beneviento as that would have been to much for me... its very hard to play games and hide behind a pillow at the same time ๐Ÿ˜‚ Very happy it dropped on Plus so I could give it a go, very good game and I enjoyed it a lot despite some near heart attacks and such!

I've also given both Arknights Endfield and Highguard a fair try but neither of them is really good enough to be worth my time. They're both pretty okayish games though, so others may like them better than me. Highguard has some potential but for my own part they would need to make some big changes to get me back, the gunplay and worldbuilding was nice though.

Fallout 4 - Watching the show made me want to play Fallout 3 or New Vegas but since the remasters/remakes seems to be years away, I decided to play Fallout 4 instead as I've only played it once before. Its the weakest of the three imo but its nice to play the ps5 version, 60 fps makes the gunplay a lot better and its still great to explore the Wasteland and all that but I also remember why I only played it once. Feels like the first real step in the wrong direction for Bethesda. Hopefully Fallout 5 and Elder Scrolls 6 will be ***** awesome and that they've learned their lesson with this and Starfield. But, I'll finish Fallout 4 and might even go for the platinum ๐Ÿ™‚

Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? (January 24-25)

mac_da_man

Cyberpunk 2077 - Finished the Phantom Liberty DLC, which is very good imo, chose two for me new endings and picked the one where you basically go back to Night City and continue from where you were before you went to Dogtown, which was pretty neat as I got to finish the game of with my favorite ending with Panam. As I've said so many times before, this is such an awesome game despite some flaws imo and one of my all time favorites. Probably not the last time I do a full playthrough either ๐Ÿ™‚

Resident Evil Village - Perfect game to drop on Plus for me, been close to buying it several times but I've been unsure if I have the balls to play it so figured I'd wait. And thankfully, its not as scary as I feared meaning my tiny balls can handle it, and on top of that its very good. Iยจve met and defeated the tall lady it was so much fuss about some years ago (cant say much about that, I'm all over Panam so... ๐Ÿ™‚). Looking forward to continuing the game. But I'm not ***** playing it in VR, that would be the end of me....

Far Cry Blood Dragon - when I need a breather from Resi 8 I've been playing Blood Dragon. The new 60 fps patch was a great excuse to revisit this classic, which has aged a bit but its still very good imo and I like the old school humor in it.

Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? (January 17-18)

mac_da_man

Iโ€™ve been playing a few different games this past week instead of focusing on one or two games. I think its mostly because Iโ€™ve already finished my current โ€mainโ€ game and feel a need to switch things up a bit moreโ€ฆ Anyway, the games:

Cyberpunk 2077 Iโ€™m now in Dogtown, and the Phantom Liberty dlc is really good imo. Love going from a story mission to doing some gigs to a nice date with Panam ๐Ÿ˜ CD project har really added some nice small bits and things to do over the years. As I said last week, one of my favorite games ever!

Epic Mickey Rebrushed - Never played this back in the day, so didnt know what to expect. Its about good enough to keep me playing it but not that much more.

Subside PSVR2 - this is pretty good. Looks great, its immersive and fun. Great combo!

Pirates VR Jolly Roger - it was cheap, ok? All this talk about the Black Flag remake made me want to be a pirate again. This game does let me be a pirate sure, but its pretty bad so Iโ€™ll probably drop it and wait for Black Flag instead ๐Ÿ˜’

NHL 25 - visited a mate a while back and after some beers we always end up playing some NHL game and I got my ass kicked which usually doesnt happen so Iโ€™m secretly going to practice a bit until next time we meet and then Iโ€™ll crush him ๐Ÿ˜ˆ

Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? (January 10-11)

mac_da_man

Mafia The Old Country - so I picked this up a week and a half ago and I've finished the story which I really enjoyed and I'm now finishing up the last few trophys for the platinum. The game is a bit on the slower side which I dont really mind, I found the voice acting and the setting to be really good, the game looks great and the recently added free ride mode gives some extra things to do. Overall a really good game imo.

Cyberpunk 2077 - again?? well... yeah Met an old mate of mine over a beer recently who had just finished the game for the first time and was lyrical about it so I was hit by a strong desire to start a new game and finish the main story and then replay Phantom Liberty which I've "only" played once. And it feels really awesome to be back in Night City, sure its not a perfect game and there are some missed opportunities but I just love it. One of my all time favorites

Re: Pure Xbox's Game Of The Year 2025

mac_da_man

Thats a solid list of games and I agree on many of them and absolutely on the number 1 ๐Ÿ™‚ not all the other games though, but that what makes all the lists so interesting!

Re: Talking Point: What Games Are You Playing Over Christmas Break?

mac_da_man

Not going to start anything new (not planning to at least) since its typically more time spent with family and friends over the holidays doing other activities but Iยดll play some co-op with the family, like Sackboy, Lego Horizon, Sonic Racing etc and play games like Battlefield 6 or revisit some old favorites if Iยดll have some time for myself

Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? (December 20-21)

mac_da_man

Dispatch - finished and platinumed! Such a good game, really enjoyed pretty much everything about it and playing through the different choices felt rewarding. Looking forward to what they do next!

Now with Christmas coming I'll be spending less time playing games and more time with family and friends so I wont start anything new for a while, which is nice timing as I dont know what I want to play next. Hoping to get some inspiration from all the comments here ๐Ÿ™‚

Happy Holidays!

Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? (December 13-14)

mac_da_man

Red Dead Redemption PS5 - I've been wanting to replay RDR for a while so the PS5 version dropping on Plus meant it was time to grab the hat and get on the horse again. Its not the most impressive remaster but it gives me the best version of the game and its still a very good game, however after maybe 5-6 hours I just felt like I had my fill. I remember much of the game and this version adds nothing new and its not a remake either so.... I can always pop in now and then and for a short while, maybe play a round of poker, so I'll take this sweet stroll down memory lane and ride off in to the sunset!

Dispatch - after all the great reviews I just couldnt wait any longer. I've finished my first playthrough late last night and its a really, really good game. The graphics style, humor, feeling etc is top notch. Maybe the actual dispatching and hacking got a bit tedious towards the end but I cant wait to start over and make some other choices. Very good game, very nice to see this kind of game be successful ๐Ÿ™‚

Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? (December 6-7)

mac_da_man

Basically the same as last week;

Dying Light: the Beast - been pretty much playing only this which means quite a few hours so I've managed to finish and platinum it, and I've really, really enjoyed it. Its not quite as good as the first, and its not without its flaws, but the combination of all its parts makes it a really good game. It was all I hoped for and more, which is probably why I got so obsessed with it., Fun gameplay, combat, exploration and story and some good side missions and a sprinkle of goofiness made this great fun!

LEGO Horizon adventures - been playing with my daughter and we're having fun. It looks amazing, gameplay is decent and a great game to play with a kid but not something I would play by myself much as its a bit simple and repetetive but weยดll se how long she wants to keep playing - hopefully we can finish it!

Next up I'll try the Red Dead Redemption remaster ๐Ÿ™‚

Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? (November 29-30)

mac_da_man

This past week I've focused on

Dying Light:the Beast - and I'm really enjoying it. Its obvious it started as a DLC as the map is smaller compared to the other games. Its not as good as the first game imo, but I like it quite a bit more than the second and Iโ€™m having a blast playing it. For me its one of those 7/10 games that is just so much fun to play I totally overlook some minor flaws here and there. Story is fine, side missions are varied, exploration is fun, parkouring is great, being out at night is scary as ***** especially when the volatiles come for you and popping zombie heads is awesome ๐Ÿ™‚

Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? (November 22-23)

mac_da_man

Update since last week ๐Ÿ™‚

Alan Wake 2 - finished and platinumed! I'm very happy with myself that I decided to play this even though horror/scary games are really not my thing anymore ๐Ÿ˜… Ended up really, really enjoying this game! Almost started a new game plus immediately after finishing (you'll get why) but decided that would take to long and my curiousity was killing me so I watched some YouTube videos instead ๐Ÿ™‚ Very well written story imo!

Thank goodness youre here - been waiting for this to drop on plus, so very happy it finally did! Its brilliant, so fun and so worth a playthrough. Finished and platinumed in about 3 hours maybe, brilliant game ๐Ÿ˜ƒ

The Crew Motorfest - so I left it with some trophies unpopped, one was an online trophy and it was a bit of a pain finding games and more importantly filling them with enough players as the trophy requires you to destroy three opponents in one game but with the game being on Gamepass there was suddenly new players so I finally got that trophy and then the platinum, so that was nice! Very good game imo!

Dying light: the Beast - picked it up in the sale. Loved the first but not the second so was a bit hesitant about this until I watched TheRadBrad play it on YT praising it and saying it was a lot more like the first game than the second. I'm only like 1-2 hours in but is seems very promising so far ๐Ÿ™‚

Have a great weekend

Re: This Xbox Game Studios Adventure Deserved More Nominations At The Game Awards 2025

mac_da_man

@FrenchVaniIIuxe

Huh? Then reconsider

Yes, Ghost of Yลtei has almost certainly made its developer money already. Hereโ€™s why:

Sales Performance: The game sold over 3.3 million copies in its first month after launching on October 2, 2025. At a standard price of $69.99 (with higher-priced deluxe and collectorโ€™s editions also available), that translates to roughly $230 million in revenue from standard editions alone, not counting deluxe/collector editions and regional variations. [ign.com], [techradar.com]

Development Budget: According to interviews with Sucker Punch leadership, Ghost of Yลteiโ€™s development budget was similar to Ghost of Tsushima, which cost about $60 million to make. Even if marketing costs were substantial, the game had already generated over $140 million in revenue just three days after launch, meaning it had likely recouped its development budget twice over by then.