@Elbow JRPGs have always had their fans, but I think it's fair to say the Xbox 360 era wasn't exactly the genre's glory days. That title would go to either the SNES or PlayStation era, by most accounts.
Wouldn't you say that the Final Fantasy XIII trilogy was not exactly the peak of the franchise? Not only is VII on the PlayStation considered by many to be the best in the series, but it was drawing in tons of players in its day, even those who weren't diehard fans of the FF series or of RPGs in general. XIII... nowhere near that same degree, as far as I remember.
That's really the key: were mainstream audiences on board with JRPGs in the 360 era (2005-2013 or so), or was it more of a niche for actual JRPG fans?
PS: While Persona 5 is technically a PS3 game, it released in 2016, right in the middle of the PS4 era!
I couldn't bring myself to drop $650 CAD* for one Series X or $400-450** for one Nintendo Switch. Buying several of the same console (a surprisingly common practice) is just unthinkable! Different worlds we're in, or at least different priorities, I don't know.
@Kaloudz I had to look up what you were talking about, as it seemed random and odd that Popcap would be pushing expensive dolls!
Apparently, these Labubu dolls are by Pop Mart, not Popcap. The latter is a longtime maker of casual video games like Peggle and Bejeweled, and doesn't do any toys/dolls that I know of.
@GuyinPA75 Yeah, that much was obvious when PS2 was the dominant platform. You'd sometimes see GameCube exclusives brought over later on (and those had to be heavily cut down in their graphics and/or performance), but most of the time, the PS2 was the lead platform, and the GameCube/Xbox versions had relatively few advantages over it.
Though I can't agree with your very last statement. The X and S have basically the same CPU, the S's RAM limitations more or less line up with the savings of using a low render resolution (and low textures to match), and the X is often pushed pretty hard by today's games, even if they run in some form on the S. Only scenario I can think of where the S could hold game design back is where the X does something truly revolutionary in its gameplay, and that somehow relies heavily on its graphical muscle, rather than on CPU speed, and it can only run at 30fps on the X (so the devs can't just drop the res and fps to make it work on the S).
What does "fully utilised" even mean, in the context of gaming in the 2020s?
So far, we've gotten a lot of last-gen graphics, but actually running smoothly this time around. The true limit-pushers (like that Matrix demo) look impressive in stills, but perform like a PS1 game from the '90s (sub-30fps).
Gone are the days of breathtaking, game-changing generational leaps, but I'm actually mostly okay with that. Games have easily passed the point of looking good enough, so all they need now is to work well and run smoothly. If the game has PS4-era rendering tech, but runs smoothly, loads quickly, and doesn't have any major flaws like pop-in or smeary upscaling, then what's the issue? That's arguably maxing out the limits without straining them.
@Fiendish-Beaver Halo MCC is already 4K and/or 120fps on Series X (though presumably not both at the same time?).
Even the base Xbox One runs it at 1080p 60fps... sort of. It got an unwanted update a few years ago, which destroyed performance in the Anniversary mode, making only the original graphics mode viable for H1 and H2.
@-taco Just what I was thinking of. In this case, the enemy AI was probably really dopey, and if you went "off-script", they'd probably just stand there, swinging their fists at the air or something. Still technically real, but it gives the impression of the game being further along than it actually was.
See also: Sonic Adventure with its Autodemo in 1998. The game was technically playable by that point, but it was set up to play back the staff members' own gameplay performances, as allowing anyone else to play it would reveal all of the cracks in the collision detection, etc... come to think of it, that held true even in the retail release!
In all three of these cases, it was actual in-engine gameplay, and nothing like the outright fake CGI for Killzone.
@SuntannedDuck2 Yeah, it was a great program (and played a large part in my buying an Xbone in the first place), and it's too bad they haven't continued it further.
Back compat doesn't involve native ports, so lack of source code shouldn't be an issue (on Xbox or PlayStation), but some work would be involved in testing and troubleshooting (plus the 360 games, at least, reportedly have some form of recompilation involved), so I suspect that MS simply doesn't think it's worth it to pursue more games.
Obviously, offering compatibility with 20-year-old discs isn't making them any money, but since most of the games are available to purchase digitally, you'd think that would offset the costs decently enough. I don't know- I've bought a bunch of these games digitally, but maybe that's not really something that other people are doing.
@BAMozzy You mentioned that almost everyone has a device they can play Xbox on, and that many people will prefer to play on Xbox. No one's debating the first part of that, but will a large percentage of players actually want to buy from the Xbox store? I think you're underestimating Steam, in particular! Platform loyalty (esp. wanting to keep all your games in one place) goes both ways, too, and there are more players on Steam than on Xbox, so that could actually be to the Xbox platform's detriment, considering how large and entrenched their competitor is.
If MS actually sells a bunch of hardware at a loss, and then allows Steam to be installed on it, that sounds downright foolhardy to me. But this all depends on a bunch of hypotheticals. I get what you're saying, and the logic is there, but I'm just not convinced it'll play out the way you're predicting. But who knows?
About Linux, I've had very spotty results using Proton on my PC, and would not recommend Linux for gaming- IMO, Windows is mandatory if you want to play on PC. (That's a win for Microsoft!) But Steam Deck has been fairly popular so far, and we may see it continue to chip away at MS's market share. (Again, hypotheticals, speculation, etc. etc.) And if people are playing on Steam Deck, the fact that it has to use a translation layer to play a Windows executable is irrelevant: it's not a win for MS, since they don't see any money from that. And if there are more players on Steam Deck, that incentivizes the development of native Linux ports.
@BAMozzy That basically comes back to what I meant by "low stakes". Microsoft's hardware (whether made by them, or licensed) doesn't actually need to sell. If it does, great. If not, people are still in the ecosystem... well, potentially.
Like you said, stores like Steam are still competition- and I have to wonder if that competition is being understated. It's great (for MS) that they have so many different ways of making money at different points in the chain, but if someone buys a PC from a different manufacturer and then proceeds to buy all of their games through Steam (because why would they buy from the Xbox store instead?), then there's not a whole lot of money to be made by MS, is there? Sure, there's the OS, but they already have a near-monopoly, regardless of the gaming situation. No room for growth there. And as Linux gets a foothold (via Steam Deck), that pretty much shuts MS out from making money off those users: a typical Steam Deck user is not giving MS any money for the hardware, OS, or storefronts!
Of course, there's the software publisher side: if you buy an Elder Scrolls or Call of Duty game, MS is getting a cut, regardless of whether you buy it on Steam, PlayStation, or wherever. That's one area where they're undeniably succeeding! But if- hypothetically speaking- that becomes the only place where MS is making any real money on games, then why bother with platforms at all?
@BAMozzy I was completely unaware of that distinction! I don't have much need for a handheld game system at this point, but if there's an option that includes full-size controls, then that would be the one I'd check out first. Some people are bothered by larger systems/controllers, but I'm the opposite: I struggle with tiny devices like the DS Lite or the Switch Joy-Con. A bit of extra heft isn't going to affect the portability, so might as well go with the one that's comfortable (assuming all other factors are largely equal).
I don't know how much this will shift sales, though. Like I said, a lot of people seem to really value smaller/lighter form factors... and is the larger size even being promoted as a major talking point? I hadn't even heard it mentioned until now, after all. Maybe I'm just out of the loop.
@BAMozzy Regarding your first post (#11), you make a good case for PC gaming in general being amazing: the library is unmatched, the cost is much less of a barrier these days, etc.
But why should someone buy an Xbox ROG Ally specifically, and not any other PC or Windows-capable handheld?
Are you implying that they probably won't, but the stakes are so low (seeing as the success of MS's ecosystem no longer relies on it) that it doesn't matter? Not sure I disagree- just wondering, though.
Got to agree with the reasoning that the battle-hardened, snarky action hero that Leon has become is not a good fit for certain scenarios. (And the last thing we need is for him to become a saddened, weakened old man who has lost all of his confidence!)
I'd still welcome a sort of "Resident Evil 4-2", though, where 50-year-old Leon is kicking butt, spouting stupid one-liners, and generally being an '80s-style action hero again. But Requiem is clearly not that game.
@Banjo- It sounds like you fully played through VII, so I'm surprised that you'd still feel that way about it. The first bit (maybe a half-hour to an hour?) is like a bad Outlast knock-off, in my opinion, so I could see why you'd think it's too much of a departure if that's all you played. But before long, it really starts to feel like a proper RE, with the exploration, light puzzles, and resource management you'd expect. Of course, you can aim in first-person, but it still avoids turning into a full-blown action-fest.
@themightyant They've already got us acting as unpaid beta testers for Windows, so why not Xbox back compat as well? I actually wouldn't mind that one nearly as much! (Open the full library of OG/360 games for users, slap a disclaimer or option toggle to keep people from stumbling in accidentally, etc.)
@nomither6 I think I get what you're saying. I classify the digital/physical and subscription/ownership debates as two very different issues. I rarely listen to physical CDs, for instance, but I still keep a music collection that I own, as opposed to subscribing to a service. And I also buy digital games all the time, but GamePass doesn't appeal to me.
But doesn't Spotify fall squarely into the subscription category? I wasn't aware of an option to purchase music outright (like you can with iTunes). Once you stop paying, that music is gone.
Not that I hate subscription services, or can't see that they have their advantages! (Regarding Spotify in particular, it's especially tempting in that I've been wanting to catch up on the back catalogues of a bunch of '80s artists, and buying CDs in bulk just to see what I like probably isn't the best approach.) But I personally wouldn't make subs my main/sole method of enjoying media, that's for sure.
@nomither6 Hah, I hear you! I understand that many people are more casual about their media: throw out the old stuff, bring in the new. Rely on subscriptions like Netflix and Spotify, instead of keeping old CD/DVD/Blu-ray collections lying around. When games or movies are your sixth-favourite hobby, they don't get much physical space dedicated to them.
But man, that's pretty much unthinkable for me. I like to go back and revisit old favourites, and can't imagine the inconvenience of relying on the Xbone's limited back compat support, or hoping a certain movie (or game!) is on a certain subscription service, or putting up with Spotify ads.
PS: It seems that the average movie watcher is much more likely to value older movies (even if they don't keep them physically), whereas this doesn't hold true as often or as thoroughly for games, so there's that.
@FraserG @Techno92LFC The system they're using now is still emulation, but the differences are:
More horsepower to work with, especially on Series X.
Extensive QA, making sure that each title actually works properly.
Modern back compat does, in fact, still have emulation issues, but they're fewer and farther between than with the 360's solution. Some games ran poorly (BK: Nuts and Bolts) until receiving a patch, and some (Hydro Thunder: Hurricane's DLC tracks) still have severe graphical glitches, even now.
Not sure about licensing. Some games offer back compat only with a disc inserted, and aren't on the storefront. Does that mean MS could legally offer back compat for every game, as long as you own the disc? Maybe, but it wouldn't make sense financially to put in all that work. (If they truly couldn't, I assume it's because they're offering you a separate copy from the one on the disc.)
As for having to download the game from the internet instead of copying it off the disc, it could be that MS thwarted themselves with their own weird disc formatting . Xbone and XSX fully support normal DVDs, of course, but Xbox and Xbox 360 discs are formatted to be largely unreadable on normal DVD drives.
@Tasuki Scott Pilgrim starts out painfully sluggish, but it becomes a lot faster and easier as you start to gain upgrades- not to mention that there are more offensive and defensive options to work with.
I'm not sure that the game really benefits from this RPG-lite upgrade system, but it does become a lot more fun and worth playing if you stick with it for a bit.
@RadioHedgeFund It's just insane how much stuff Rare used to pack into their games- whether it's this, DKR, Banjo-Tooie, JFG, or even the ever-polarizing DK64, they put in a ton of content, modes, details, and extras, and I feel like they were trying to make the best game of all time- with each game they made!
I don't know, maybe this is the very thing that sank them: so many of their games had long, tumultuous development times. And they really haven't been the same since around 2001 or so. (A few would argue that Rare's quality has held up post-acquisition, but it's undeniable that they've been so much less prolific, at least!)
But man, that ridiculous ambition, scope, and willingness to throw in a bunch of stuff just because it's cool... it's a key part of the old "Rare Magic", in my opinion!
The monetization is a real turn-off, based on what I've heard. Wasn't it better before, and then changed to be extra aggressive more recently? It's a shame, as those who played it back in the day seem to remember it fondly. Plus, any game with a Nelson Everhart soundtrack can't be all bad!
I have to wonder: was it always this complicated (with all of the major publishers already having the knowledge and arrangements to easily navigate this stuff), or has Microsoft stepped back more recently, leaving more of the responsibility on the publisher?
Because it really doesn't sound like they care to make it easy to make physical media. (What a surprise!)
@vrubayka Thanks, I was clearly getting mixed up there. Maybe I was thinking of the way that the original version was only 30, and that it was sometimes advertised/listed as 60 due to the multiplayer. I don't know.
Though the comparison screenshots here are a little misleading, as they don't acknowledge that the Ultimate edition already runs at 60fps.
I was close to buying a Series X on sale, but ultimately didn't. This price increase puts it firmly in "no way" territory. The Canadian prices are even more insane, and then there's another $100 in taxes on top of that.
Never cared to play FC1 in particular (the tech is cool, but it sounds frustrating to actually play), though this is still a great discovery!
It does make sense that they'd try to do a standard port, considering contemporary games like Half-Life 2 and Doom 3 made it relatively intact, but I guess this was just a step too far. (Wonder how the RAM usage is when running this on that devkit. It probably sits far above the consumer model's 64 MB!)
@Cakefish That actually sounded pretty appealing in theory, especially for those of us who don't even have high-resolution screens to play on!
But the reality became clear as soon as AC Valhalla was revealed to run at 30fps on Series S. (I believe Ubisoft patched it later, but it was already obvious that this was just the first of many, many compromised experiences.)
@themightyant "the licenses to the games we bought are for Xbox not PC" Your PC is an Xbox now, remember? As are all of your devices. (Microsoft is truly playing 4D chess!)
@Weebleman @Kaloudz A regular 60Hz TV and console always have to update 60 times per second. If you're playing a 30fps game, the console just sends every frame twice to keep that 60Hz signal going, and it will look consistent. If your game is (shudder) 20fps, each frame will display three times.
But if the game is running at 40fps, it doesn't fit evenly into 60. You'll see half of the frames once, and half of the frames twice, leading to uneven pacing. This is why some people can tell when a game drops to 59fps, as it causes a noticeable stutter in the motion.
A 120 Hz TV doesn't have this issue with 40Hz, of course, since it can simply display each frame thrice! Or even better, a VRR TV actually changes its refresh speed to match the game. If the game is running at 51fps, then the TV will also run at 51Hz, making it look perfectly even.
I'd heard the same, but I found that vanilla NG2 is harder (and more "cheap") than NG1 Black. And most of the NES NG1, for that matter.
Unsure on what I'll do with the series from here: go back and try to finish II and Razor's Edge, start over with Sigma, or shift over to the remake. I don't have GP, so I won't just be hopping into NG2 Black on a whim!
@Kaloudz Sigma sounds a world apart from Ninja Gaiden Black and II, then! I'm normally a competent gamer (I beat the NES game, just as an example), but I felt that Black's difficulty was a little excessive, forcing me to focus on perfecting a single weapon instead of experimenting. This was on Normal; I knew about Ninja Dog mode, but it was never offered to me. NGII on 360 just drove me crazy, even on easy mode (Acolyte). I still haven't finished it. Though I largely blame it on having to wait 20 seconds to reload the stage after every death. If there was a simple "retry" option in the pause menu, it would've been much less of an issue. I wonder how NG2 Black will stack up in this regard.
@N00BiSH To clarify, I do agree with your original point, but only because of the mixed reception that Yooka-Laylee got (as it was a pretty faithful, if flawed, successor to BK). It makes no sense to use the audience's reception of spin-off titles as a way to gauge their opinion of the main series, though, and I don't think Tooie proves enough one way or another.
I'm confident that a Banjo-Threeie that properly respects and builds on the original game would be a success, both critically and commercially. It wouldn't please everyone, of course, but it'd do well. Of course, that all goes out the window if the devs decide to turn it into an online roguelite RTS royale with sport sim elements instead!
PS: I'm not averse to Nuts & Bolts as a game! It's just not Banjo-Kazooie at all, besides some surface-level presentation/homage elements.
@N00BiSH Tooie was very well-received in its day (90 on Metacritic, as an example!), and though its reputation has diminished a bit, that seems to be mainly to do with the huge levels causing excessive wandering and backtracking, not the BK formula itself. The original BK is still widely regarded as a true classic.
And then Grunty's Revenge was a scaled-down 2D rendition on the GBA (good for what it was, but it was never going to touch the original), and Nuts & Bolts wasn't even a platformer, so that doesn't mean much.
If you had said Yooka-Laylee, then I'd be inclined to agree with you! Though even there, not all of YL's criticisms were based on its faithfulness to the original material.
Many of us would be happy with a new BK, as long as it's good. And- I shouldn't have to say this- it should be a platformer, not a vehicle game with Lego building!
@SuntannedDuck2 I'm with you on wanting to see those later games make a comeback. However, I think an all-new Ecco game would still be great to see. Reviving an IP that's largely tied to the 16-bit era is very different from simply releasing those games again.
As far as re-releases, though, we've bought those old Genesis games already (maybe more than once!), and it's time for some Saturn, Dreamcast, Xbox, Model 2, Master System, 32X, Sega CD, etc. etc.! They have a gold mine of games and IPs, so I hope that the recently announced revivals do well, and that they continue to tap into their broader history- both with sequels/reboots and with straight remasters.
PS: Seeing as those stale Genesis games just got delisted, does that mean they're going to release them yet again? As apathetic as I am about getting to buy Kid Chameleon again, I do think games should be re-released and kept available indefinitely, if at all possible.
How are the standard, non-deluxe versions of 2K golf (or EA's series, for that matter)? I enjoyed Tiger Woods 05 a lot back in the day (and just recently picked up and got started on 04, in fact!), but those are complete games. The DLC nonsense of modern sports games is a big turnoff, though I'm not as bothered if it's just some cosmetics or something- which is what this mostly appears to be?
If they're struggling to bring the loading times below 20 seconds (which is literally on par with Sonic '06!), then it's probably not worth it. I've passed over many games on Xbone because of the unbearably slow loading. For an open-world game with streaming, 20 seconds for an initial load is more than fine. But if it reloads frequently (which this game probably does), just forget it.
PS: If there's a 20-second limit, then where do large, open-world games like The Witcher 3 fit in? Are there exceptions for games that rely on streaming?
@RadioHedgeFund This would not only make Series S ports higher-quality and easier to make (no getting painted into a corner like with Baldur's Gate 3), but Series X and PS5 would also benefit: if the S is getting anywhere near 1080p60, then that guarantees that the big consoles will get great results, even with minimal extra work!
...but people would complain that the games aren't pushing graphical boundaries, and that the Series S is holding the generation back.
The cycle continues: physical games skip Xbox due to low demand, so the target audience increasingly moves to PS5/Switch, so physical games skip Xbox due to low demand, so...
@GamingFan4Lyf It's great, because these are often the titles that needed a remaster the most- either because they're no longer available, or because technical issues are bringing them down.
It sure beats the "safe" bets like re-remastering The Last of Us or whatever!
@Feffster IGN says that, but their video shows it running at 30fps. Same with all of the other "60fps" videos out there. If you find real 60fps footage of it, please let me know! Unfortunately, I still have a last-gen potato, as there haven't been quite enough FPS boost games to convince me to get with the times!
@Feffster Nope, no reference to it being included in the FPS Boost program, nor are there any videos of it running at 60fps on YouTube. Unless this was a late addition (e.g, just this year), and it slipped under everyone's radar?
@TTgowings Keep in mind that most of the remaining 30fps games are from the Xbox One or earlier, though there are unfortunately some modern games as well that can't hold a constant 60fps. I'm with you in that I want everything to be 60fps minimum (and will give up the modern bells and whistles to get that, if necessary).
At least many of these newer ones are future-proofed with 60fps and/or uncapped options!
Alice: Madness Returns, Lost Odyssey, Crimson Skies, The Darkness, Conker, Black, MX Unleashed, Breakdown... the list goes on! Emphasis on back compat games, since most of those don't have a 60fps PC version available.
Too Human and the Crackdown series would be nice, too, but I get that there's not exactly a financial incentive there!
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Re: Expedition 33 Dev On Turn-Based JRPGs: They Became 'Uncool' In Xbox 360 Era, Still Haven't Fully Recovered
@Elbow JRPGs have always had their fans, but I think it's fair to say the Xbox 360 era wasn't exactly the genre's glory days. That title would go to either the SNES or PlayStation era, by most accounts.
Wouldn't you say that the Final Fantasy XIII trilogy was not exactly the peak of the franchise? Not only is VII on the PlayStation considered by many to be the best in the series, but it was drawing in tons of players in its day, even those who weren't diehard fans of the FF series or of RPGs in general. XIII... nowhere near that same degree, as far as I remember.
That's really the key: were mainstream audiences on board with JRPGs in the 360 era (2005-2013 or so), or was it more of a niche for actual JRPG fans?
PS: While Persona 5 is technically a PS3 game, it released in 2016, right in the middle of the PS4 era!
Re: Battlefield 6 FAQ Reveals Multiple Performance Modes On Xbox Series X|S
That's the way to do things!
Re: Talking Point: Should Xbox Bring Back Limited Edition Consoles?
I couldn't bring myself to drop $650 CAD* for one Series X or $400-450** for one Nintendo Switch. Buying several of the same console (a surprisingly common practice) is just unthinkable! Different worlds we're in, or at least different priorities, I don't know.
** up to $509 after tax
Re: Report: Reliable Leaker Details Two Unannounced Xbox Games Coming This Fall
@Kaloudz I had to look up what you were talking about, as it seemed random and odd that Popcap would be pushing expensive dolls!
Apparently, these Labubu dolls are by Pop Mart, not Popcap. The latter is a longtime maker of casual video games like Peggle and Bejeweled, and doesn't do any toys/dolls that I know of.
Re: Opinion: Xbox Series X Still Hasn't Been Fully Utilised Yet, But 2026 Could Be The Year
@GuyinPA75 Yeah, that much was obvious when PS2 was the dominant platform. You'd sometimes see GameCube exclusives brought over later on (and those had to be heavily cut down in their graphics and/or performance), but most of the time, the PS2 was the lead platform, and the GameCube/Xbox versions had relatively few advantages over it.
Though I can't agree with your very last statement. The X and S have basically the same CPU, the S's RAM limitations more or less line up with the savings of using a low render resolution (and low textures to match), and the X is often pushed pretty hard by today's games, even if they run in some form on the S.
Only scenario I can think of where the S could hold game design back is where the X does something truly revolutionary in its gameplay, and that somehow relies heavily on its graphical muscle, rather than on CPU speed, and it can only run at 30fps on the X (so the devs can't just drop the res and fps to make it work on the S).
Re: Opinion: Xbox Series X Still Hasn't Been Fully Utilised Yet, But 2026 Could Be The Year
What does "fully utilised" even mean, in the context of gaming in the 2020s?
So far, we've gotten a lot of last-gen graphics, but actually running smoothly this time around. The true limit-pushers (like that Matrix demo) look impressive in stills, but perform like a PS1 game from the '90s (sub-30fps).
Gone are the days of breathtaking, game-changing generational leaps, but I'm actually mostly okay with that. Games have easily passed the point of looking good enough, so all they need now is to work well and run smoothly. If the game has PS4-era rendering tech, but runs smoothly, loads quickly, and doesn't have any major flaws like pop-in or smeary upscaling, then what's the issue? That's arguably maxing out the limits without straining them.
Re: Rumour: Halo 1 Remake/Remaster Started Development In 2023, May Not Include Multiplayer
@Fiendish-Beaver Halo MCC is already 4K and/or 120fps on Series X (though presumably not both at the same time?).
Even the base Xbox One runs it at 1080p 60fps... sort of. It got an unwanted update a few years ago, which destroyed performance in the Anniversary mode, making only the original graphics mode viable for H1 and H2.
Re: Perfect Dark Developer Responds To 'Big Controversy' Over 2024 Gameplay Trailer
@-taco Just what I was thinking of. In this case, the enemy AI was probably really dopey, and if you went "off-script", they'd probably just stand there, swinging their fists at the air or something. Still technically real, but it gives the impression of the game being further along than it actually was.
See also: Sonic Adventure with its Autodemo in 1998. The game was technically playable by that point, but it was set up to play back the staff members' own gameplay performances, as allowing anyone else to play it would reveal all of the cracks in the collision detection, etc... come to think of it, that held true even in the retail release!
In all three of these cases, it was actual in-engine gameplay, and nothing like the outright fake CGI for Killzone.
Re: Xbox Next-Gen Console Plans 'Not Impacted' By Microsoft Layoffs
Why not scrap the next-gen console (or PC with an Xbox logo on it or whatever) and keep Everwild and Perfect Dark going instead?
Re: Talking Point: What Do You Want To See From Xbox In The Second Half Of The Year?
@SuntannedDuck2 Yeah, it was a great program (and played a large part in my buying an Xbone in the first place), and it's too bad they haven't continued it further.
Back compat doesn't involve native ports, so lack of source code shouldn't be an issue (on Xbox or PlayStation), but some work would be involved in testing and troubleshooting (plus the 360 games, at least, reportedly have some form of recompilation involved), so I suspect that MS simply doesn't think it's worth it to pursue more games.
Obviously, offering compatibility with 20-year-old discs isn't making them any money, but since most of the games are available to purchase digitally, you'd think that would offset the costs decently enough. I don't know- I've bought a bunch of these games digitally, but maybe that's not really something that other people are doing.
Re: Xbox Founding Member 'Not Pleased' With State Of The Brand In 2025
@BAMozzy You mentioned that almost everyone has a device they can play Xbox on, and that many people will prefer to play on Xbox.
No one's debating the first part of that, but will a large percentage of players actually want to buy from the Xbox store? I think you're underestimating Steam, in particular! Platform loyalty (esp. wanting to keep all your games in one place) goes both ways, too, and there are more players on Steam than on Xbox, so that could actually be to the Xbox platform's detriment, considering how large and entrenched their competitor is.
If MS actually sells a bunch of hardware at a loss, and then allows Steam to be installed on it, that sounds downright foolhardy to me. But this all depends on a bunch of hypotheticals. I get what you're saying, and the logic is there, but I'm just not convinced it'll play out the way you're predicting. But who knows?
About Linux, I've had very spotty results using Proton on my PC, and would not recommend Linux for gaming- IMO, Windows is mandatory if you want to play on PC. (That's a win for Microsoft!) But Steam Deck has been fairly popular so far, and we may see it continue to chip away at MS's market share. (Again, hypotheticals, speculation, etc. etc.) And if people are playing on Steam Deck, the fact that it has to use a translation layer to play a Windows executable is irrelevant: it's not a win for MS, since they don't see any money from that. And if there are more players on Steam Deck, that incentivizes the development of native Linux ports.
Re: Xbox Founding Member 'Not Pleased' With State Of The Brand In 2025
@BAMozzy That basically comes back to what I meant by "low stakes". Microsoft's hardware (whether made by them, or licensed) doesn't actually need to sell. If it does, great. If not, people are still in the ecosystem... well, potentially.
Like you said, stores like Steam are still competition- and I have to wonder if that competition is being understated. It's great (for MS) that they have so many different ways of making money at different points in the chain, but if someone buys a PC from a different manufacturer and then proceeds to buy all of their games through Steam (because why would they buy from the Xbox store instead?), then there's not a whole lot of money to be made by MS, is there? Sure, there's the OS, but they already have a near-monopoly, regardless of the gaming situation. No room for growth there. And as Linux gets a foothold (via Steam Deck), that pretty much shuts MS out from making money off those users: a typical Steam Deck user is not giving MS any money for the hardware, OS, or storefronts!
Of course, there's the software publisher side: if you buy an Elder Scrolls or Call of Duty game, MS is getting a cut, regardless of whether you buy it on Steam, PlayStation, or wherever. That's one area where they're undeniably succeeding! But if- hypothetically speaking- that becomes the only place where MS is making any real money on games, then why bother with platforms at all?
Re: Xbox Founding Member 'Not Pleased' With State Of The Brand In 2025
@BAMozzy I was completely unaware of that distinction! I don't have much need for a handheld game system at this point, but if there's an option that includes full-size controls, then that would be the one I'd check out first. Some people are bothered by larger systems/controllers, but I'm the opposite: I struggle with tiny devices like the DS Lite or the Switch Joy-Con.
A bit of extra heft isn't going to affect the portability, so might as well go with the one that's comfortable (assuming all other factors are largely equal).
I don't know how much this will shift sales, though. Like I said, a lot of people seem to really value smaller/lighter form factors... and is the larger size even being promoted as a major talking point? I hadn't even heard it mentioned until now, after all. Maybe I'm just out of the loop.
Re: Xbox Founding Member 'Not Pleased' With State Of The Brand In 2025
@BAMozzy Regarding your first post (#11), you make a good case for PC gaming in general being amazing: the library is unmatched, the cost is much less of a barrier these days, etc.
But why should someone buy an Xbox ROG Ally specifically, and not any other PC or Windows-capable handheld?
Are you implying that they probably won't, but the stakes are so low (seeing as the success of MS's ecosystem no longer relies on it) that it doesn't matter? Not sure I disagree- just wondering, though.
Re: Talking Point: What Do You Want To See From Xbox In The Second Half Of The Year?
Adding more games to the back compat program is definitely up there!
Though I think the original Xbox's library needs it more than the 360's.
Re: Capcom Explains Why Leon Isn't The Protagonist In Resident Evil Requiem
Got to agree with the reasoning that the battle-hardened, snarky action hero that Leon has become is not a good fit for certain scenarios. (And the last thing we need is for him to become a saddened, weakened old man who has lost all of his confidence!)
I'd still welcome a sort of "Resident Evil 4-2", though, where 50-year-old Leon is kicking butt, spouting stupid one-liners, and generally being an '80s-style action hero again. But Requiem is clearly not that game.
Re: Capcom Explains Why Leon Isn't The Protagonist In Resident Evil Requiem
@Banjo- It sounds like you fully played through VII, so I'm surprised that you'd still feel that way about it.
The first bit (maybe a half-hour to an hour?) is like a bad Outlast knock-off, in my opinion, so I could see why you'd think it's too much of a departure if that's all you played.
But before long, it really starts to feel like a proper RE, with the exploration, light puzzles, and resource management you'd expect. Of course, you can aim in first-person, but it still avoids turning into a full-blown action-fest.
Re: Reminder: The Xbox 360 Is Surprisingly Decent For Backwards Compatibility
@themightyant They've already got us acting as unpaid beta testers for Windows, so why not Xbox back compat as well? I actually wouldn't mind that one nearly as much! (Open the full library of OG/360 games for users, slap a disclaimer or option toggle to keep people from stumbling in accidentally, etc.)
Re: Reminder: The Xbox 360 Is Surprisingly Decent For Backwards Compatibility
@nomither6 I think I get what you're saying. I classify the digital/physical and subscription/ownership debates as two very different issues. I rarely listen to physical CDs, for instance, but I still keep a music collection that I own, as opposed to subscribing to a service. And I also buy digital games all the time, but GamePass doesn't appeal to me.
But doesn't Spotify fall squarely into the subscription category? I wasn't aware of an option to purchase music outright (like you can with iTunes). Once you stop paying, that music is gone.
Not that I hate subscription services, or can't see that they have their advantages!
(Regarding Spotify in particular, it's especially tempting in that I've been wanting to catch up on the back catalogues of a bunch of '80s artists, and buying CDs in bulk just to see what I like probably isn't the best approach.)
But I personally wouldn't make subs my main/sole method of enjoying media, that's for sure.
Re: Reminder: The Xbox 360 Is Surprisingly Decent For Backwards Compatibility
@nomither6 Hah, I hear you! I understand that many people are more casual about their media: throw out the old stuff, bring in the new. Rely on subscriptions like Netflix and Spotify, instead of keeping old CD/DVD/Blu-ray collections lying around. When games or movies are your sixth-favourite hobby, they don't get much physical space dedicated to them.
But man, that's pretty much unthinkable for me. I like to go back and revisit old favourites, and can't imagine the inconvenience of relying on the Xbone's limited back compat support, or hoping a certain movie (or game!) is on a certain subscription service, or putting up with Spotify ads.
PS: It seems that the average movie watcher is much more likely to value older movies (even if they don't keep them physically), whereas this doesn't hold true as often or as thoroughly for games, so there's that.
Re: Reminder: The Xbox 360 Is Surprisingly Decent For Backwards Compatibility
@FraserG @Techno92LFC The system they're using now is still emulation, but the differences are:
Modern back compat does, in fact, still have emulation issues, but they're fewer and farther between than with the 360's solution. Some games ran poorly (BK: Nuts and Bolts) until receiving a patch, and some (Hydro Thunder: Hurricane's DLC tracks) still have severe graphical glitches, even now.
Not sure about licensing. Some games offer back compat only with a disc inserted, and aren't on the storefront. Does that mean MS could legally offer back compat for every game, as long as you own the disc? Maybe, but it wouldn't make sense financially to put in all that work. (If they truly couldn't, I assume it's because they're offering you a separate copy from the one on the disc.)
As for having to download the game from the internet instead of copying it off the disc, it could be that MS thwarted themselves with their own weird disc formatting . Xbone and XSX fully support normal DVDs, of course, but Xbox and Xbox 360 discs are formatted to be largely unreadable on normal DVD drives.
Re: 10 Of The Most Intriguing Xbox Indies We Saw At Summer Game Fest 2025
@Tasuki Scott Pilgrim starts out painfully sluggish, but it becomes a lot faster and easier as you start to gain upgrades- not to mention that there are more offensive and defensive options to work with.
I'm not sure that the game really benefits from this RPG-lite upgrade system, but it does become a lot more fun and worth playing if you stick with it for a bit.
Re: Xbox's New Retro Classics Collection Features A PlayStation 1 Game
@ButterySmooth30FPS Let me guess, "PlayStation games are coming to Xbox"?
Re: Talking Point: 25 Years On, What Do You Think Of The 'Perfect Dark' Franchise?
@RadioHedgeFund It's just insane how much stuff Rare used to pack into their games- whether it's this, DKR, Banjo-Tooie, JFG, or even the ever-polarizing DK64, they put in a ton of content, modes, details, and extras, and I feel like they were trying to make the best game of all time- with each game they made!
I don't know, maybe this is the very thing that sank them: so many of their games had long, tumultuous development times. And they really haven't been the same since around 2001 or so. (A few would argue that Rare's quality has held up post-acquisition, but it's undeniable that they've been so much less prolific, at least!)
But man, that ridiculous ambition, scope, and willingness to throw in a bunch of stuff just because it's cool... it's a key part of the old "Rare Magic", in my opinion!
Re: Surprise! Classic MMORPG 'Wizard101' Has Released For Free On Xbox
The monetization is a real turn-off, based on what I've heard. Wasn't it better before, and then changed to be extra aggressive more recently?
It's a shame, as those who played it back in the day seem to remember it fondly. Plus, any game with a Nelson Everhart soundtrack can't be all bad!
Re: Xbox Developer Shares Insight Into Why Physical Releases Are 'Complex'
I have to wonder: was it always this complicated (with all of the major publishers already having the knowledge and arrangements to easily navigate this stuff), or has Microsoft stepped back more recently, leaving more of the responsibility on the publisher?
Because it really doesn't sound like they care to make it easy to make physical media. (What a surprise!)
Re: Xbox Announces Gears Of War: Reloaded, Releasing Summer 2025
@vrubayka Thanks, I was clearly getting mixed up there. Maybe I was thinking of the way that the original version was only 30, and that it was sometimes advertised/listed as 60 due to the multiplayer. I don't know.
Though the comparison screenshots here are a little misleading, as they don't acknowledge that the Ultimate edition already runs at 60fps.
Re: Xbox Announces Gears Of War: Reloaded, Releasing Summer 2025
Hard to believe they never boosted GoW Ultimate to 60fps until now!
(At first, I was thinking this re-remaster was completely redundant.)
EDIT: No, GoW Ultimate apparently got a 60fps boost to its campaign mode a few years ago, so this re-remaster doesn't seem to be a game-changer.
Re: Talking Point: Would You Still Buy An Xbox At Microsoft's 2025 Prices?
I was close to buying a Series X on sale, but ultimately didn't. This price increase puts it firmly in "no way" territory.
The Canadian prices are even more insane, and then there's another $100 in taxes on top of that.
Re: Random: Xbox Owner Discovers Evidence Of Unreleased Far Cry Port
Never cared to play FC1 in particular (the tech is cool, but it sounds frustrating to actually play), though this is still a great discovery!
It does make sense that they'd try to do a standard port, considering contemporary games like Half-Life 2 and Doom 3 made it relatively intact, but I guess this was just a step too far. (Wonder how the RAM usage is when running this on that devkit. It probably sits far above the consumer model's 64 MB!)
Re: Digital Foundry Impressed With Oblivion Remastered, But Xbox Series S 'Takes A Hit'
@Cakefish That actually sounded pretty appealing in theory, especially for those of us who don't even have high-resolution screens to play on!
But the reality became clear as soon as AC Valhalla was revealed to run at 30fps on Series S. (I believe Ubisoft patched it later, but it was already obvious that this was just the first of many, many compromised experiences.)
Re: GEX Brings Three Retro Games To Xbox This Summer, Here's A Look
I enjoyed these, but I still have the originals. Not about to double-dip unless they got these running in 60fps, which is very unlikely.
Re: Xbox Is 'Exploring' AI To Make Its Older Games Playable On Modern Hardware
@themightyant "the licenses to the games we bought are for Xbox not PC"
Your PC is an Xbox now, remember? As are all of your devices.
(Microsoft is truly playing 4D chess!)
Re: Far Cry New Dawn Getting 60FPS Patch Ahead Of Its Arrival On Xbox Game Pass
@Weebleman @Kaloudz A regular 60Hz TV and console always have to update 60 times per second. If you're playing a 30fps game, the console just sends every frame twice to keep that 60Hz signal going, and it will look consistent. If your game is (shudder) 20fps, each frame will display three times.
But if the game is running at 40fps, it doesn't fit evenly into 60. You'll see half of the frames once, and half of the frames twice, leading to uneven pacing. This is why some people can tell when a game drops to 59fps, as it causes a noticeable stutter in the motion.
A 120 Hz TV doesn't have this issue with 40Hz, of course, since it can simply display each frame thrice! Or even better, a VRR TV actually changes its refresh speed to match the game. If the game is running at 51fps, then the TV will also run at 51Hz, making it look perfectly even.
Re: Surprise! Ninja Gaiden 2 Black Launches Today On Xbox Game Pass
@Kaloudz "I heard that 1 is harder than 2"
I'd heard the same, but I found that vanilla NG2 is harder (and more "cheap") than NG1 Black. And most of the NES NG1, for that matter.
Unsure on what I'll do with the series from here: go back and try to finish II and Razor's Edge, start over with Sigma, or shift over to the remake. I don't have GP, so I won't just be hopping into NG2 Black on a whim!
Re: Surprise! Ninja Gaiden 2 Black Launches Today On Xbox Game Pass
@Kaloudz Sigma sounds a world apart from Ninja Gaiden Black and II, then! I'm normally a competent gamer (I beat the NES game, just as an example), but I felt that Black's difficulty was a little excessive, forcing me to focus on perfecting a single weapon instead of experimenting. This was on Normal; I knew about Ninja Dog mode, but it was never offered to me.
NGII on 360 just drove me crazy, even on easy mode (Acolyte). I still haven't finished it. Though I largely blame it on having to wait 20 seconds to reload the stage after every death. If there was a simple "retry" option in the pause menu, it would've been much less of an issue. I wonder how NG2 Black will stack up in this regard.
Re: Banjo-Kazooie Revival Would Be 'Instantly Hated' By Some Fans, Says Original Composer
@N00BiSH To clarify, I do agree with your original point, but only because of the mixed reception that Yooka-Laylee got (as it was a pretty faithful, if flawed, successor to BK). It makes no sense to use the audience's reception of spin-off titles as a way to gauge their opinion of the main series, though, and I don't think Tooie proves enough one way or another.
I'm confident that a Banjo-Threeie that properly respects and builds on the original game would be a success, both critically and commercially. It wouldn't please everyone, of course, but it'd do well. Of course, that all goes out the window if the devs decide to turn it into an online roguelite RTS royale with sport sim elements instead!
PS: I'm not averse to Nuts & Bolts as a game! It's just not Banjo-Kazooie at all, besides some surface-level presentation/homage elements.
Re: Banjo-Kazooie Revival Would Be 'Instantly Hated' By Some Fans, Says Original Composer
@N00BiSH Tooie was very well-received in its day (90 on Metacritic, as an example!), and though its reputation has diminished a bit, that seems to be mainly to do with the huge levels causing excessive wandering and backtracking, not the BK formula itself. The original BK is still widely regarded as a true classic.
And then Grunty's Revenge was a scaled-down 2D rendition on the GBA (good for what it was, but it was never going to touch the original), and Nuts & Bolts wasn't even a platformer, so that doesn't mean much.
If you had said Yooka-Laylee, then I'd be inclined to agree with you!
Though even there, not all of YL's criticisms were based on its faithfulness to the original material.
Many of us would be happy with a new BK, as long as it's good. And- I shouldn't have to say this- it should be a platformer, not a vehicle game with Lego building!
Re: Random: SEGA Files Trademarks For Classic IP, Is A Comeback Imminent?
@SuntannedDuck2 I'm with you on wanting to see those later games make a comeback. However, I think an all-new Ecco game would still be great to see. Reviving an IP that's largely tied to the 16-bit era is very different from simply releasing those games again.
As far as re-releases, though, we've bought those old Genesis games already (maybe more than once!), and it's time for some Saturn, Dreamcast, Xbox, Model 2, Master System, 32X, Sega CD, etc. etc.! They have a gold mine of games and IPs, so I hope that the recently announced revivals do well, and that they continue to tap into their broader history- both with sequels/reboots and with straight remasters.
PS: Seeing as those stale Genesis games just got delisted, does that mean they're going to release them yet again? As apathetic as I am about getting to buy Kid Chameleon again, I do think games should be re-released and kept available indefinitely, if at all possible.
Re: PGA Tour 2K25 Officially Tees Off For Xbox Series X|S This February
How are the standard, non-deluxe versions of 2K golf (or EA's series, for that matter)? I enjoyed Tiger Woods 05 a lot back in the day (and just recently picked up and got started on 04, in fact!), but those are complete games. The DLC nonsense of modern sports games is a big turnoff, though I'm not as bothered if it's just some cosmetics or something- which is what this mostly appears to be?
Re: Indie Dev Questions Whether Xbox One Is Worth Developing For In 2025
If they're struggling to bring the loading times below 20 seconds (which is literally on par with Sonic '06!), then it's probably not worth it. I've passed over many games on Xbone because of the unbearably slow loading. For an open-world game with streaming, 20 seconds for an initial load is more than fine. But if it reloads frequently (which this game probably does), just forget it.
PS: If there's a 20-second limit, then where do large, open-world games like The Witcher 3 fit in? Are there exceptions for games that rely on streaming?
Re: Rumour: Xbox Series S Could Have Big Impact On The Nintendo Switch 2
@RadioHedgeFund This would not only make Series S ports higher-quality and easier to make (no getting painted into a corner like with Baldur's Gate 3), but Series X and PS5 would also benefit: if the S is getting anywhere near 1080p60, then that guarantees that the big consoles will get great results, even with minimal extra work!
...but people would complain that the games aren't pushing graphical boundaries, and that the Series S is holding the generation back.
Re: Talking Point: What Are Your New Year's Gaming Resolutions?
My gaming resolution for the next while?
480i, as I want to start catching up on some of the OG Xbox games I've been accumulating.
Re: Croc Developer Insists There's 'Almost No Demand' For A Physical Xbox Version
The cycle continues: physical games skip Xbox due to low demand, so the target audience increasingly moves to PS5/Switch, so physical games skip Xbox due to low demand, so...
Re: The Thing: Remastered Launches On Xbox Following Mixed Initial Reviews
@GamingFan4Lyf It's great, because these are often the titles that needed a remaster the most- either because they're no longer available, or because technical issues are bringing them down.
It sure beats the "safe" bets like re-remastering The Last of Us or whatever!
Re: Almost 20 Games Will Be Delisted On Xbox In December 2024
@Pichuka97 You mean the modern(ish) 3D one, Golden Axe: Beast Rider?
Re: Talking Point: What Other Xbox Games Do You Want Patched To 60FPS?
@Feffster IGN says that, but their video shows it running at 30fps. Same with all of the other "60fps" videos out there. If you find real 60fps footage of it, please let me know!
Unfortunately, I still have a last-gen potato, as there haven't been quite enough FPS boost games to convince me to get with the times!
Re: Talking Point: What Other Xbox Games Do You Want Patched To 60FPS?
@Feffster Nope, no reference to it being included in the FPS Boost program, nor are there any videos of it running at 60fps on YouTube.
Unless this was a late addition (e.g, just this year), and it slipped under everyone's radar?
Re: Talking Point: What Other Xbox Games Do You Want Patched To 60FPS?
@TTgowings Keep in mind that most of the remaining 30fps games are from the Xbox One or earlier, though there are unfortunately some modern games as well that can't hold a constant 60fps. I'm with you in that I want everything to be 60fps minimum (and will give up the modern bells and whistles to get that, if necessary).
At least many of these newer ones are future-proofed with 60fps and/or uncapped options!
Re: Talking Point: What Other Xbox Games Do You Want Patched To 60FPS?
Alice: Madness Returns, Lost Odyssey, Crimson Skies, The Darkness, Conker, Black, MX Unleashed, Breakdown... the list goes on! Emphasis on back compat games, since most of those don't have a 60fps PC version available.
Too Human and the Crackdown series would be nice, too, but I get that there's not exactly a financial incentive there!