mikeangry

Looks like Warner Bros need a cash injection to fund their next live-service failure.

this Xbox upgrade also removes online features from the original release, so be aware, in case you still want that

I think there are a few things to consider with this Steam Machine launch -
1. Just like Legion Go S, there will likely be more powerful Steam Machines from Lenovo, ASUS, etc. and this is simply the most affordable SteamOS based gaming PC.
2. SteamOS is simply a better and more mature PC OS for gaming. And unless Microsoft heavily invests in Windows optimization (outside of what Xbox is doing), the next Xbox will simply launch with an inferior OS. (Note that Sarah Bond indirectly announced in the Xbox-AMD partnership that the next Xbox will run Windows and not XboxOS)
3. Given the specs they announced, the Steam Machine will be more affordable than the next Xbox (especially since Steam is subsidizing it, unlike what Xbox plans to do).
4. Steam Machine will likely become the lowest denominator for the future of PC gaming, just like Steam Deck is for handhelds.
5. Given the current pricing structure of GamePass tiers, the only reasons not to consider the Steam Machine and the SteamOS for your future gaming are the live service games (Call of Duty, etc.) and Xbox PC games.
6. Hypothetically speaking, since it is RDNA3 based, it would be an eligible option (but only) if Xbox were to open up their backwards compatibility solution. Xbox might still enforce Windows to run their backwards compatibility solution, which will require dual-booting the Steam Machine. However, if this happens, the Steam Machine will likely only be able to run Series S games.
7. Since Steam is heavily investing in hardware, this will influence game businesses to come up with anti-cheat solutions for Linux, although this can still take years to come to fruition.

While I wish luck to the developers, this game is nowhere near Bully. It is essentially a teenage student simulator that clearly looks like a generic simulator game where you are controlling a bad teenage kid. Although it might seem like Bully, the similarities end there. The trailer showed no NPCs interacting or bullying one another. There were no classes. There were no weapons similar to bully. There were no games. All that was shown were some close-up eerie dialogue shots and very basic fight scenes with no ability to grab or do combos. The map looks like some grid blocks and that's it.

this is how much they respect the 25 years of audience that built the brand
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q5IJn83bV_8

@FrenchVaniIIuxe it is coming to PS5 on 20th November.

@TrollOfWar They probably didn't want to hurt the sales of Silent Hill f during this duration.

@InterceptorAlpha Unless they go cartoonish like Call of Duty, weapon skins are fine. They have to recoup the massive development budget somehow and the maps they are adding seem amazing so far.

@BAMozzy IMO traditional XboxOS is not actually Windows, but only tiny part of it (the firmware, the hypervisor, etc.). What we have with ROG Allys and probably the future Xbox will be Windows, which can have a sort of Game Mode that doesn't load most of Windows Desktop things but still complete Windows. And given how much they were able to optimize this semi-loaded Windows on ROG Allys, it makes no sense to load Xbox OS differently. So I believe, we will get an iteration over this version of Windows, instead of something else. The upcoming voice controlled features for Windows 11 might be a glimpse into why Microsoft wants Xbox with Windows to be the center of the living room. But I agree with your emulation analysis.

I know my view is a bit pessimistic, so I hope yours is the one we see

@BAMozzy I think you are a little bit too optimistic with your ideas since the reality is a lot more limiting.
1. Xbox Ally doesn't boot into something else, it simply doesn't load the Windows Desktop (which can be perceived as partial loading). That's it. There is nothing more to it than that. Dual boot or a separate app was what people thought would end up in Xbox Allys, however, it is quite clear Xbox wants to put Windows front and center. In the AMD-Xbox partnership video for the next Xbox, Sarah Bond said it as much "We are going to ensure Windows is the no.1 platform for gaming". I believe they will iterate what we got on Xbox Ally and two years later we will have the exact platform for the next Xbox. Nothing special than that.
2. I agree that they want to sell Game Pass subscriptions since they want recurring revenue, but I think mandatory Game Pass Essential for 'Online Social Gaming' would get significant backlash since no Windows device has ever had to pay for online gaming. Instead, they would likely rely on enlarging Game Pass' rotating library to entice new users.
3. Emulating the Series X console would be a monumental task since the next Xbox won't be twice as powerful in raw performance as Series X was to Xbox One. You might come out right with it still, but my guess is that for Series X games, they are going to initially rely on Xbox Play Anywhere, and maybe after a few years when the general hardware becomes significantly powerful, they might emulate it.
4. I have no idea if they want to support physical games and how.

@BAMozzy at times I think their backwards compatibility strategy for this future Windows based Xbox is simply Play Anywhere and the rest to be accomodated via cloud streaming.

Most (but not all) of the games that get added to Game Pass are also added to Play Anywhere program.

Isn't KeplerL2 the same "leaker" who claimed Xbox cancelled its handheld because according to them, AMD demanded a minimum order of 10 million units? That rumour spread like wildfire only to be shut down by a more reliable leaker Jez Corden with his words "isn’t even slightly true"

https://insider-gaming.com/xbox-handheld-amd-10-million-units/

So TIME wrote this -
"Launching in October, the handheld can play compatible games from across a user’s PC or Xbox library"

Say what you want about the device, but it cannot play the Xbox library. There are too many caveats to that - cloud streaming, play anywhere, etc. which do not cover even half of what people have in their libraries.

Xbox Wireless Controller - Save 20% at Microsoft Store (Claim by 25/09/2025) is not available to me in Canada. Can someone else please confirm?

@Batfan2425 This is for those who have Gamepass Ultimate but don't own a console (or maybe even a PC). Essentially it is Microsoft's take on Amazon Luna or Google Stadia.

So now AMD will be the best graphics platform for those classic games and Nvidia is (and likely will be) the best graphics platform for the newer titles. That makes my future purchases a lot easier, great! /s

Will Rise of Tomb Raider become Xbox Play Anywhere? I own the trilogy on Xbox and thus got the 1st and 3rd game on Xbox PC app through Xbox Play Anywhere.

@Kaloudz I saw the developer interview with SkillUp in one of his Friends Per Second podcast. It is certainly ex Witcher 3 devs, but they also mentioned they want to redefine RPG storytelling, which currently is quite linear. Let's see it they actually make this even more immersive.

I hope the Xbox handheld has an OLED

@Kaloudz time has nothing to do with the content. I don't play these games but compared to MK11, this one had nearly half the add on content.

@OldGamer999 I only agree to the part that Nintendo doesn't have the same super-realistic art style that other studios have.

But to say the hardware is holding that back is a serious underestimation of the Switch 2 specs. PS4 was 1.8 tflops with a slow hard drive, higher target resolution and old upscaling or ray tracing technology hardware units. Switch 2 has similar hardware compute but with much faster storage, lower target resolution and modern technologies. Your argument is seriously undermined by the existence of Cyberpunk 2077 on the Switch 2 platform.

@OldGamer999 this article is probably for people who might have thought Switch 2 is somehow comparable to Series S, with the difference being their final resolution targets, 1080p vs 1440p. And while you might have already known that is not the case, the vast majority is simply unaware.

What this article certainly missed is highlighting how Switch 2 is only as powerful as PS4/Xbox One S, with only tensor cores enabling it to punch above its weight class (in terms of modern upscaling and raytracing technologies).

Microsoft refurbished is the worst out of the bunch in the sense that their refurbished products do not include standard warranty (which everyone else does while theirs is merely few months) and then they push you towards purchasing (third-party) insurance to get that period of warranty (that again should have been included in the base price).

More likely that PlayStation will get the port and Rockstar will simply skip Xbox like they did for Red Dead Redepemption

Non-existent pedestrian count, yeah sure that sounds like Grand Theft Auto lol

I would like to see more than just villains on the streets and a game where I have to strategically investigate and plan my moves.