@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!
Buying a One S at a nice discount, and then binging on Halo MCC and Rare Replay.
Finding out that all kinds of random '90s gems that I had missed, like Guardian Heroes, River City Ransom, Radiant Silvergun, and Monster World IV, are available for a few bucks each.
Playing 2v2 on Halo 2's Colossus, after someone decided to set it to 50 kills and give us all energy swords. Maybe that's a normal and popular config (I'm a n00b at Halo in general), but it made for some Mario Party-esque hilarity and tension.
@nomither6 That's basically what I meant, but I must not have expressed it clearly. The ambition is one of the things that stands out about the Adventure-era games in general (Heroes a little less so), and it was really impressive in SA1 especially.
And yeah, 06 had lots of potential, which is good... but that's also what hurts, as I can see what it could have been. Yeah, the story was always going to be kind of weird and lame, but there are some cool level designs, graphical touches, music tracks, etc., all throughout this game.
I've likened the Adventure vs Boost styles to Goldeneye vs Call of Duty, respectively. Sure, the latter is more polished and has a lot of spectacle, but there's less freedom, and it's ultimately less interesting to me.
PS: I guess P06 (the unofficial PC port of 06) is fully playable now, if not done yet? I tried an earlier build, and liked what I saw.
@themightyant If we're talking about something like Dead Rising 1, then sure, that feels very much like a PS2 game, and not even a late one.
But in general, I might just be too used to 5th-gen and earlier standards to really be bothered! (Or maybe I'm just forgetting, and I'll suddenly be hit with how clunky everything is, the next time I play a 360-era title.)
@nomither6 The potential of Sonic '06 might be what hurts the most, as I greatly prefer the Adventure style over the boost formula that almost everything has followed since then. But 06 basically sank that whole sub-series with its horrible execution- or should I say, it horribly and violently executed the sub-series?
@themightyant Yeah, that was a pretty dark time for technical performance. After an all-too-short generation where 60fps was the norm and loading times were typically ~5 seconds (and many of the games still looked great!), the 360 and PS3 felt like a big step back. And the next gen might've been even worse, since it normalized loading screens of over 30 seconds- despite jumping from DVDs to HDDs as the main storage medium.
I basically sat out that generation (Nintendo wasn't doing much that I cared for, either), but it has been nice to finally catch up on some of these on more capable hardware (PC) and enjoy them in a form that's easier on the eyes!
Not sure what you mean about outdated design, though. I was under the impression that games became fully "modern" around that time. But maybe just I'm too old-fashioned to notice.
@old-dad It's almost unfathomable how many games used to come out in the 6th and 7th gens (aside from the fact that we saw it firsthand, I mean). We're talking about large, flagship AAAs here, and the same series could get 2-3 quality entries in a single generation; now, we might have a single entry over the course of 2-3 console generations! (See: The Elder Scrolls, GTA, Mario Kart, Metroid Prime, Devil May Cry, Donkey Kong, Fable, etc. etc.)
@Elbow If you happened to get Hydro Thunder: Hurricane and one other game that I forget (possibly Daytona?) on sale, then you can thank me for giving in, buying the games at full price, and immediately unlocking sales for those titles ever since!
I already have physical copies of Conker and Blinx, though, so you're on your own this time. (I still have plenty more games that I might trigger a sale on later.)
Finding out that FPS Boost was happening. Such a great feature, and pretty well unprecedented in the industry. I don't know if Xbox knows how important this and back compat in general are (safe to assume MS HQ doesn't!), but back compat was the thing that really sold me on the Xbone, and FPS Boost almost got me to buy a Series X as well. If only it didn't cost $650 up here.
But yeah, this is an area where MS is really leading the industry (barring PC, obviously), and they should be doubling down on it, while their competitors should be following suit. At least in my opinion (and if they want me to buy more of their stuff).
And I'm in a similar spot, where there's not much need for handheld gaming in my life. If I have time to play, I probably also have a bigger screen and a proper controller handy.
A handheld that plays my existing PC (or maybe Xbox) library is more tempting than a dedicated system like a 3DS or Switch, since I know I could just jump into a game for a few minutes here and there, and then pick it back up on a proper setup once I'm at home. But there hasn't yet been quite enough reason to justify even that.
@GamingFan4Lyf Yeah, definitely a complexity thing. 2D games like this are usually the first ones to be playable, thanks to their relative simplicity. MVG even points out how Sonic Mania is a common one to see when emulation/translation layer projects get going, as it was also one of the first games (if not the first) to run in a PS4 emulator.
Minecraft is particularly interesting and impressive, given that it's 3D and already looking pretty accurate... even if it's hardly anyone's first choice for a game we want to see emulated!
@GamingFan4Lyf Probably more like 99%! But isn't it still worth releasing that 1% of the library from its console-specific shackles?
Even if you don't care about Halo 5 or whatever, I guarantee that there will be (or most likely already are) those who look back on it with nostalgia: "OMG, Halo 5 was my childhood!", etc.
PS: I do agree that it's less appealing than emulating a console with lots of exclusives. But not pointless!
Comments 291
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!
Re: Talking Point: Looking Back, What Are Your Fondest Memories Of The Xbox One Era?
Re: It Might Be Old, But The Xbox 360 Is Still An Amazing Console In 2024
@nomither6 That's basically what I meant, but I must not have expressed it clearly. The ambition is one of the things that stands out about the Adventure-era games in general (Heroes a little less so), and it was really impressive in SA1 especially.
And yeah, 06 had lots of potential, which is good... but that's also what hurts, as I can see what it could have been. Yeah, the story was always going to be kind of weird and lame, but there are some cool level designs, graphical touches, music tracks, etc., all throughout this game.
I've likened the Adventure vs Boost styles to Goldeneye vs Call of Duty, respectively. Sure, the latter is more polished and has a lot of spectacle, but there's less freedom, and it's ultimately less interesting to me.
PS: I guess P06 (the unofficial PC port of 06) is fully playable now, if not done yet? I tried an earlier build, and liked what I saw.
Re: It Might Be Old, But The Xbox 360 Is Still An Amazing Console In 2024
@themightyant If we're talking about something like Dead Rising 1, then sure, that feels very much like a PS2 game, and not even a late one.
But in general, I might just be too used to 5th-gen and earlier standards to really be bothered! (Or maybe I'm just forgetting, and I'll suddenly be hit with how clunky everything is, the next time I play a 360-era title.)
Re: It Might Be Old, But The Xbox 360 Is Still An Amazing Console In 2024
@nomither6 The potential of Sonic '06 might be what hurts the most, as I greatly prefer the Adventure style over the boost formula that almost everything has followed since then. But 06 basically sank that whole sub-series with its horrible execution- or should I say, it horribly and violently executed the sub-series?
Re: It Might Be Old, But The Xbox 360 Is Still An Amazing Console In 2024
@themightyant Yeah, that was a pretty dark time for technical performance. After an all-too-short generation where 60fps was the norm and loading times were typically ~5 seconds (and many of the games still looked great!), the 360 and PS3 felt like a big step back. And the next gen might've been even worse, since it normalized loading screens of over 30 seconds- despite jumping from DVDs to HDDs as the main storage medium.
I basically sat out that generation (Nintendo wasn't doing much that I cared for, either), but it has been nice to finally catch up on some of these on more capable hardware (PC) and enjoy them in a form that's easier on the eyes!
Not sure what you mean about outdated design, though. I was under the impression that games became fully "modern" around that time. But maybe just I'm too old-fashioned to notice.
Re: It Might Be Old, But The Xbox 360 Is Still An Amazing Console In 2024
@old-dad It's almost unfathomable how many games used to come out in the 6th and 7th gens (aside from the fact that we saw it firsthand, I mean).
We're talking about large, flagship AAAs here, and the same series could get 2-3 quality entries in a single generation; now, we might have a single entry over the course of 2-3 console generations! (See: The Elder Scrolls, GTA, Mario Kart, Metroid Prime, Devil May Cry, Donkey Kong, Fable, etc. etc.)
Re: The Original Xbox Is Now 23 Years Old, But It's Still Relevant In So Many Ways
@Elbow If you happened to get Hydro Thunder: Hurricane and one other game that I forget (possibly Daytona?) on sale, then you can thank me for giving in, buying the games at full price, and immediately unlocking sales for those titles ever since!
I already have physical copies of Conker and Blinx, though, so you're on your own this time. (I still have plenty more games that I might trigger a sale on later.)
Re: Microsoft Is Now Advertising Pretty Much Every Gaming Device As An Xbox
This is reminding me of Apple's "What's a computer?", and that's not a good thing.
Re: Talking Point: What's Your Favourite Memory Of The Xbox Series X|S Generation So Far?
Finding out that FPS Boost was happening. Such a great feature, and pretty well unprecedented in the industry. I don't know if Xbox knows how important this and back compat in general are (safe to assume MS HQ doesn't!), but back compat was the thing that really sold me on the Xbone, and FPS Boost almost got me to buy a Series X as well.
If only it didn't cost $650 up here.
But yeah, this is an area where MS is really leading the industry (barring PC, obviously), and they should be doubling down on it, while their competitors should be following suit. At least in my opinion (and if they want me to buy more of their stuff).
Re: Talking Point: What's Your Favourite Memory Of The Xbox Series X|S Generation So Far?
@Lofty1985 See, the problem there was that the PS5 is just a giant router (look at it!), and routers are prone to getting fried by surges.
But how many times have you heard of a well-ventilated mini fridge getting zapped during a storm?
Re: Rumour: Xbox May Be Gearing Up To Reveal Handheld Device In 2025
@Balaam_ I got a chuckle out of this, so thanks!
And I'm in a similar spot, where there's not much need for handheld gaming in my life. If I have time to play, I probably also have a bigger screen and a proper controller handy.
A handheld that plays my existing PC (or maybe Xbox) library is more tempting than a dedicated system like a 3DS or Switch, since I know I could just jump into a game for a few minutes here and there, and then pick it back up on a proper setup once I'm at home. But there hasn't yet been quite enough reason to justify even that.
Re: YouTuber MVG Takes A Look At New Xbox One Emulation On Windows PC
@GamingFan4Lyf Yeah, definitely a complexity thing. 2D games like this are usually the first ones to be playable, thanks to their relative simplicity. MVG even points out how Sonic Mania is a common one to see when emulation/translation layer projects get going, as it was also one of the first games (if not the first) to run in a PS4 emulator.
Minecraft is particularly interesting and impressive, given that it's 3D and already looking pretty accurate... even if it's hardly anyone's first choice for a game we want to see emulated!
Re: YouTuber MVG Takes A Look At New Xbox One Emulation On Windows PC
@GamingFan4Lyf Probably more like 99%! But isn't it still worth releasing that 1% of the library from its console-specific shackles?
Even if you don't care about Halo 5 or whatever, I guarantee that there will be (or most likely already are) those who look back on it with nostalgia: "OMG, Halo 5 was my childhood!", etc.
PS: I do agree that it's less appealing than emulating a console with lots of exclusives. But not pointless!