@Banjo- Right, Tiptup is why I suspect trademarks: he's effectively an Xbox character now, yet he can stay in- but I strongly doubt that this minor character's name has been trademarked. (Or, I suppose the more subjective issues of importance and prevalence could have been the deciding factor.)
Has it been confirmed that Nintendo owns DP/SFA? I thought it was speculation. If true, though, it could be simply that Nintendo got to keep all scenarios and code from games that their characters appeared in (i.e., anything Donkey Kong or Star Fox). That would explain how they got DKR.
But even if they do own SFA (and Krystal, and apparently Tricky), it seems less likely that they own, say, the unused content that stayed on the N64. Or any other characters used and unused alike: Scales, Drakor, Randorn, Shabunga, and so on.
@Banjo- Common knowledge has been that Nintendo owns the Donkey Kong characters (including the Rare-designed Diddy and Krunch), whereas Rare (and by extension, Microsoft) owns Banjo and most of the actual content of the games themselves. But the reality would seem to be more complex than that.
It's safe to say that Rare got to keep Banjo in the end, despite what the 1997 manual says. (He's in several Xbox-exclusive games, for instance!) That lines up with his removal from DKR DS. But then, if Rare still owns certain characters in DKR DS, then it's interesting that they got to stay in, even though Banjo and Conker had to go. A trademark issue, perhaps?
Considering all this, I can't even imagine how convoluted the rights must be for Dinosaur Planet!
@y2jarmyofficial Yeah, and Rare already took 2-3 years to make each game, even back in the N64 days. But they used to have several studios working on different projects at the same time, which allowed for the rapid-fire release schedule. Apparently, they stopped doing that at some point? (Unless one studio is stuck doing Sea of Thieves content for a full decade, and another studio is locked in the basement at Microsoft HQ, doomed to work on avatars, Kinect, TVTVTV, or whatever else no one wants to do!)
@Banjo- I just looked in the manual for DKR DS, and it says: "Copyrights of Game, Scenario, Music and Program, reserved by Nintendo. Copyrights of certain Characters reserved by Rare."
So did some IP change hands around the acquisition by Microsoft? Obviously, the copyright info from 10 years later is more likely to be accurate, but it's interesting.
PS: On a related topic, I also noticed recently that Sega owns the code for F-Zero GX, with the soundtrack being owned and licensed by Daiki Kasho, and many other elements apparently being jointly owned with Nintendo. Not like we're going to find full-fledged legal ownership documents in our instruction manuals, but there seems to be a lot of interesting info right under our noses!
@Juanalf Yeah, it seems a little odd to call it a partnership. "We have a great partnership with Microsoft: they let us have their games, and we... uh, have a great partnership with them in return."
In all seriousness, though, MS does benefit by selling way more copies of Cuphead, Ori, etc., than they would by locking them to Xbox only. And I don't know how much Nintendo gave them for Banjo-Kazooie in Smash, but it's basically free money for MS.
And I'd hope that in return, Nintendo would be willing to at least loosen up on their Rare-developed games (especially the ones that MS partially owns), but I'm not holding my breath!
@Dan1283 With Rare... I believe there's a lot more to the story, but yeah, they clearly felt some pressure (external or self-imposed) to make changes to better conform to the Xbox dudebro image at the time. And then their output dropped from 2-3 games every year to what, 1 game every 8 years?
Do you think there's any company out there that could manage some of the business and hardware sides of Nintendo better than Nintendo themselves, though? Nintendo's obviously doing really well, regardless, but many of us are frustrated to see their quality exclusives shackled to weak hardware that can't do them justice. Or banished to the Nintendo Vault for decades at a time. I'm not sure Microsoft is the one for the job, but there must be someone.
I somehow never heard about this until now, surprisingly! (Or maybe not so surprising, since so many early adopters apparently never noticed, either?)
I definitely wasn't a day one purchaser, though: between the whole announcement/launch fiasco(s), the technical performance, and the price, I stayed far away in 2013. It was five years later that the combination of Halo MCC, Rare Replay, and a robust back compat catalogue (plus a nice price drop!) won me over.
@abe_hikura The great thing about options is that they're optional! Those who want worse gameplay and slightly better graphics can have that, and the rest of us can just ignore the setting.
And conversely, if the devs intend for a game to be a 30fps "cinematic" experience by default, there's another, smoother option for those of us who aren't interested in that default. It's win-win, with next to no downside!
@Princessmadllama Game optimization does seem to have taken a big hit in recent years, but rather than "lazy devs", we're likely looking at a mix of:
higher budgets, longer development times... and overly tight deadlines to mitigate the previous two factors!
bigger, more complex games, meaning it's not as feasible to spend time optimizing every little thing
a shift towards the "real" versions of effects, like ray tracing and real-time shadows, as opposed to clever approximations
I could also point towards a growing acceptance of poor framerates, long loading times, and overly large installations, but these all go back 10-20 years, and if anything, we've recently started to bounce back on 2/3 of these issues!
PS: I have to call out those Zelda specs: Both N64 Zeldas ran at 20fps, not 30, and they weren't doing 12,000 polygons per frame. IIRC, Majora's Mask sometimes broke past 5,000 in Clock Town, but it tended to slow down when that happened.
@GuyinPA75 Digital Foundry keeps us informed. If people want to run with that information and fuss over it (which they absolutely do!), then that's on them, not on DF.
Personally, I don't care about all the nitpicking regarding resolution, AA, ray tracing, and other visual details, but whether a game is capped at 30fps or not is absolutely a big deal to me, and I always look into that (via DF or other means) before buying games. But that's just me, and everyone is free to ignore that info if they don't care!
@evan23 Yeah, I don't think a lot of people get that there's always some degree of compromise- you can't have an expansive world with all of the latest graphical bells and whistles, and 4K, and 60/120/144fps, all at the same time. Especially not on mid-range hardware.
Of course, optimization and careful choice of priorities both go a long way, and I'll be the first to point this out whenever someone goes "oh, this game had to be 30fps because-".
But it was clear from the initial UE5 demo, as well as the Matrix demo, that current consoles can't harness all of the latest tech without cutting either resolution or performance.
@Wheatly As far as I'm concerned, this became clear as soon as Assassin's Creed: Valhalla was revealed to run at 30fps on Series S (though I believe they patched it later).
Series S would be quite appealing if it actually delivered the full Series X experience, just at a lower resolution, as the early claims went. But no, a considerable handful of games now play worse than their X counterparts, blurring the line between current- and last-gen experiences. This new split-screen development is the next logical step on that path... with the conclusion ultimately being that Series S retires a couple of years before the X.
The issue with MGS1 isn't that PS1 graphics look bad today, but that it's shown running in its original 240p, which looks awful on any modern screen. Most ports and emulators offer options to play in 1080p/4K/etc., and this makes things a lot cleaner, regardless of the quality of the assets themselves.
Xbox obviously doesn't need a straight port, but it does need a 60fps patch. I assume that the PS4 and especially Switch versions will still be 30fps, with no upgrades, and that kills any chance of a simple remaster happening anytime soon.
It's cool that Microsoft is doing this, and it has a lot of potential to be pro-consumer, while cutting down on waste as well!
Are they not selling the membrane that goes under the buttons, though? I've rarely seen the actual buttons on a controller wear out- it's always the membrane that tears after enough use.
Also, these parts look like they'll be about $30-40 once they're available in Canada... that's much less than a new controller ($80?), but maybe just a bit too close to the price of one that's on sale. Still, it's a great start!
It seemed like barely anyone I knew had an Xbox back in the day... I was very late to the party, but I have to say the OG Xbox is a very cool system!
I got a couple of dying Xboxes for free, and tried to fix them, but had no luck... I guess they technically count as my first Xbox console, though. First one I bought new was Xbox One S, however.
First Xbox memory is of some of my fellow teens at the time, arguing whether Halo is the most enjoyable activity in existence or not... let's just leave it at that.
Lots of retro games??? "As part of the cloud-based Antstream Arcade" Oh.
The pricing sounds like a great value, if you're into cloud (or even subscription) gaming. But I want to buy and keep my games, not get a subscription that vanishes as soon as I stop paying for it! And of course, this has the additional issues brought on by streaming.
@DdG1408 It's great that the whole set is finally coming to more platforms, but the original MGS doesn't really replace Twin Snakes or make it redundant, seeing as the latter has much better graphics, running at 60fps- not to mention all of the other changes (whether good or bad, they still make it different)!
By the way, has the resolution of these games been confirmed, besides MGS1 (plus MG1 and MG2, of course) being an eye-gouging 240p at 30fps? I'd expect 4K60 on Xbox, seeing as this is a separate release from the backwards compatibility versions.
@NEStalgia Yeah, if anything, I'd say PC gaming peaked during the past generation (2013-2020). Driver and compatibility issues were at a minimum (only case I personally encountered was Deadly Premonition), and even the lower-end cards were well above what the consoles were offering.
Now, between ridiculously high GPU prices, all-around terrible optimization, and consoles being good again, PC isn't quite as attractive as before.
That said, the whole thing about PCs not lasting as long as consoles is a misconception: Yes, if you NEED to be on the cutting edge, then you have to upgrade constantly, and also replace your whole rig every few years. But if you just want a decent gaming experience- which must be the case, if you'd consider a console- then you can easily get 5-10 years without upgrading.
I'm still rocking a GTX 960, a lower mid-range card that I got 8 years ago. Is it too old to run the latest games at 60fps? Yes, but it still fares better than its rival consoles (base Xbone and PS4), and isn't too far behind today's lower-end Xboxes and PCs. Had I splurged on a 980 (or waited another year for the 10 series), I'd be golden.
RDR needs a 60fps upgrade, one way or another. I'm assuming that FPS Boost somehow didn't quite work perfectly. (Wasn't a similar or identical technique successfully used on the 360 emulator, Xenia, as well as on RPCS3?)
A full remake, though? Maybe not quite as redundant as The Last of Us, but still unnecessary at this point.
@BrilliantBill Oh yeah, those character models are pretty bad, even compared to other games from that year (or from 5 years earlier, for that matter).
I wonder if the rigging system could allow for the models to be swapped out for higher-poly versions, at least during cutscenes. Basically a more in-depth remaster, without rebuilding everything from scratch. Because now that you mention it, H3 was really jarring at first, especially seeing the downgrade in Johnson's face compared to H2 Anniversary!
You consider H1 Anniversary's cutscenes to have aged poorly compared to Reach and H4, though? It didn't strike me as having issues, whether compared to the others or on its own (besides changing H1's art direction a bit much), though I did start with H1A before moving on to the later ones.
@BrilliantBill The 10 years figure definitely made sense in the past... Resident Evil and Conker's Bad Fur Day received remakes after just 6 and 4 years, respectively- and the audiovisual upgrades were more than enough to justify it. There are plenty of other games from that era that arguably deserved remakes in the '00s as well, for graphical and gameplay reasons, because things were changing so quickly.
But now? Wasn't Halo 3 still perfectly enjoyable and accessible in 2017, a decade after its release? And why wouldn't it still hold up on its 20th anniversary as well? I don't think games have evolved much since 2007, though I'm curious if you feel differently- and why.
@Banjo- MGS 2 and 3 are listed as the HD Collection versions, so it'll basically be the original graphics, but in HD. 1080p60 seems likely, since the 360 and PS3 were able to do 720, but the trailer's quality is too low to tell.
Not sure why they're showing off MGS1 in its original 240p. Are they really not going to make it HD as well? (Either way, I think it's hardcoded to 30fps.)
Yeah, Twin Snakes is a full remake of MGS1, but Nintendo's involvement apparently prevents it from being ported to anything but a Nintendo system... not like they've been jumping to release it on Switch themselves.
@Zoidpilot4 I really hope they capture what made the original Perfect Dark so good. Part of it was that wacky side that you mentioned, but Zero was also wacky, and it somehow missed the mark. I think the original had just the right amount of wackiness, with a bit of subtlety and restraint- maybe that's it? Or maybe it's just that it was a certain British flavour of weird.
I'd also be down for a more serious thriller sort of spin on things, but it would have to be handled well, and feel somewhat authentic to Perfect Dark. Definitely looking forward to seeing how this turns out!
PS: The N64 needed a RAM upgrade to run Perfect Dark. That's what the Expansion Pak was.
@Feffster Why be sorry for them? Maybe we should be jealous instead, as they can play their games on bargain-bin potatoes, and not be bothered at all by how these games run. It sure would save a lot of money!
@Enigk Haha, what I meant by "brings back" was using Godsmack's music in another Prince of Persia game- I had no idea whether they were still around. Good for them, I guess?
@SuntannedDuck2 Some good points, and some great choices. I always hear about how Blur is an underappreciated gem, and though I'd completely forgotten about Pitfall, I'd heard it was pretty good as well. I'd definitely pick them both up if they were on BC. Probably a few others that you mentioned, too.
Gunvalkyrie is already available, though: both via the disc and through the store!
I wish Microsoft would revisit the back compat program in general. Not just so I can play my physical games in HD (though that is a bonus!), but so I can buy more of the classics that I missed. Too many games are exclusive to a dead console, or their PC port is delisted.
Some candidates that come to mind: Chronicles of Riddick Condemned 2: Bloodshot Outrun 2/2006 Simpsons Hit and Run/Road Rage Vexx XG III
There were others that I would have wanted, but I just ended up getting physical copies. MS's loss!
System Shock 2 was really compelling, and it drew me into its world and gameplay systems more than Bioshock did (the latter was still great).
SS1 is pretty rough around the edges by today's standards, though. It'll be great if this remake makes a classic more approachable without sacrificing its core identity- but I still hope to finish the original first!
I still feel like the Controller S is underappreciated (getting neither the praise of the One/Series, nor the nostalgia and mockery of the Duke), but I have to admit that the newer controllers are better overall.
The black and white buttons are fine for what they are, but they can't beat the conveniently-placed bumpers found on everything from the 360 onward.
@Ashadelo An MGS1 re-remake, you mean? You'd think that really would be the ideal place to start, though, seeing as the 2004 remake is still stranded on the GameCube to this day.
Or even the original Metal Gear, since that's the most archaic (for obvious reasons). I know it's not as well-known worldwide as MGS, but you'd think being Solid Snake's debut title and including Big Boss would both be major draws now.
@Sam_TSM I remember the early 2000s, too, how we played Super Smash Bros. (1 and Melee), F-Zero (X and GX), Mario Kart DD, Metroid Prime, Sonic Adventure (2 and DX), Mario Party 5, and countless 8- and 16-bit games of the previous decade or so. All 60fps. And I wasn't even into PC gaming back then, but those who were would have a few things to say as well!
It's fine if you don't notice or care about 60fps (it sure simplifies things!), but many of us do notice and care, and preferred 60fps long before it became a mainstream buzzword.
@Widey85 I've heard accounts like this from a few others, and I find it baffling: your eyes can pick out minute details, but you're less sensitive to motion? I'm close to your age, and I'm the opposite: 60fps every time, no matter the resolution sacrifice, as the smooth motion (or lack thereof) is always noticeable. A 720p TV looks perfectly fine to me, as long as I don't put my face right up to it.
Not a criticism- I just find it interesting and surprising!
@theduckofdeath Wouldn't the "30fps is fine" people be the ones who get left behind?
On a more serious note, the difference between 30 and 60 is something that more people are consciously aware of and vocal about these days- such that the naysayers think that 60fps is some sort of new fad or trend. 60fps was the norm twice before (the pre-3D era, and the 6th gen or "PS2 era"), but it only broke into mainstream awareness just recently. Third time really is the charm!
@Widey85 Fortunately, you do get smaller bonuses every few weeks until you work up to the 20-week streak. If I'm not mistaken, it's the same amount, but spread out over a few milestones. (Something like 250+500+750+1000.)
@SplooshDmg Not sure how several companies have made this exact mistake, instead of learning from each other. Fans: "Give us a sequel to [great game]!" Company: "Okay, here's a lame mobile/pachinko thing, which is based on [great game]."
@Banjo- I would've said to press View, but if that just opens the general settings, then I have no idea. I wonder if the UI for per-game configs isn't there yet, or if it's just hidden well.
@Banjo- I hear ya. Grew up with Nintendo (and Sega, to a lesser extent), but was driven away by their decisions- first creative, and now business. Ah, well, still lots of great stuff out there!
On desktop Dolphin, you'd right-click the game and open its Properties. Then go to the AR Codes tab and paste in the new code, along with a descriptive name. Make sure that code has a check box in the list after you've created it, and also make sure your main Dolphin settings have "Enable Cheats" checked. It should be a similar process on Series X, now that it has a proper GUI, but I haven't used it.
@Banjo- This Action Replay code makes the Wii version run at 60fps: 04773008 00000000
I'm not sure that the tech itself is the reason for the change in licensing, as opposed to some wording around the platform definitions, but yeah, MS (and Sony) clearly did something different this past gen, ensuring that the games would carry forward. I figure that the PS3/360/Wii distribution agreements were all made around those specific systems, but MS and Sony decided to future-proof their stores with broader licensing terms the second time around. Meanwhile, Nintendo just kept on doing what they were doing, and now all of the Wii U and 3DS stuff is gone.
@shoeses Different platforms do have different contracts, at least as far as the game rights themselves are concerned. Like how all of the Xbox One games (including the BC library) transferred straight over to Xbox Series consoles without renegotiation, whereas the OG/360 titles had to be negotiated and added individually to get them on the Xbone in the first place... despite already being available on the Xbox 360 store in many cases!
I am just speculating, but I do find it surprising already that Sonic & Sega Racing is still available, considering its soundtrack, and it seems like that could be a tricky area to work with.
@Banjo- The native PC port looks great, though it doesn't have Banjo and Kazooie. You could also try running the Wii version in Dolphin. Its graphics aren't as good as the PC/360 versions, but it still looks nice in 1080p or 4K with the 60fps code. (This does require a fairly beefy CPU, but I think the Series X or equivalent is up to the task.)
And yes, Microsoft's engineers getting Xbox 360 (or even original Xbox) games to run at full speed or better on the Xbox One is some incredible technical wizardry, and not something I would have thought possible!
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Re: Nintendo Boss Showers Praise On 'Great Relationship' With Xbox & Microsoft
@Banjo- Right, Tiptup is why I suspect trademarks: he's effectively an Xbox character now, yet he can stay in- but I strongly doubt that this minor character's name has been trademarked. (Or, I suppose the more subjective issues of importance and prevalence could have been the deciding factor.)
Has it been confirmed that Nintendo owns DP/SFA? I thought it was speculation. If true, though, it could be simply that Nintendo got to keep all scenarios and code from games that their characters appeared in (i.e., anything Donkey Kong or Star Fox). That would explain how they got DKR.
But even if they do own SFA (and Krystal, and apparently Tricky), it seems less likely that they own, say, the unused content that stayed on the N64. Or any other characters used and unused alike: Scales, Drakor, Randorn, Shabunga, and so on.
Re: Nintendo Boss Showers Praise On 'Great Relationship' With Xbox & Microsoft
@Banjo- Common knowledge has been that Nintendo owns the Donkey Kong characters (including the Rare-designed Diddy and Krunch), whereas Rare (and by extension, Microsoft) owns Banjo and most of the actual content of the games themselves. But the reality would seem to be more complex than that.
It's safe to say that Rare got to keep Banjo in the end, despite what the 1997 manual says. (He's in several Xbox-exclusive games, for instance!) That lines up with his removal from DKR DS. But then, if Rare still owns certain characters in DKR DS, then it's interesting that they got to stay in, even though Banjo and Conker had to go. A trademark issue, perhaps?
Considering all this, I can't even imagine how convoluted the rights must be for Dinosaur Planet!
Re: Nintendo Boss Showers Praise On 'Great Relationship' With Xbox & Microsoft
@y2jarmyofficial Yeah, and Rare already took 2-3 years to make each game, even back in the N64 days. But they used to have several studios working on different projects at the same time, which allowed for the rapid-fire release schedule. Apparently, they stopped doing that at some point? (Unless one studio is stuck doing Sea of Thieves content for a full decade, and another studio is locked in the basement at Microsoft HQ, doomed to work on avatars, Kinect, TVTVTV, or whatever else no one wants to do!)
Re: Nintendo Boss Showers Praise On 'Great Relationship' With Xbox & Microsoft
@Banjo- I just looked in the manual for DKR DS, and it says:
"Copyrights of Game, Scenario, Music and Program, reserved by Nintendo. Copyrights of certain Characters reserved by Rare."
Pretty clear-cut. But the original N64 version said:
"©1997 Rare.
[Diddy Kong is a] trademark of Nintendo.
Diddy Kong, Banjo, and Krunch characters licensed by Nintendo."
So did some IP change hands around the acquisition by Microsoft? Obviously, the copyright info from 10 years later is more likely to be accurate, but it's interesting.
PS: On a related topic, I also noticed recently that Sega owns the code for F-Zero GX, with the soundtrack being owned and licensed by Daiki Kasho, and many other elements apparently being jointly owned with Nintendo.
Not like we're going to find full-fledged legal ownership documents in our instruction manuals, but there seems to be a lot of interesting info right under our noses!
Re: Nintendo Boss Showers Praise On 'Great Relationship' With Xbox & Microsoft
@Juanalf Yeah, it seems a little odd to call it a partnership.
"We have a great partnership with Microsoft: they let us have their games, and we... uh, have a great partnership with them in return."
In all seriousness, though, MS does benefit by selling way more copies of Cuphead, Ori, etc., than they would by locking them to Xbox only. And I don't know how much Nintendo gave them for Banjo-Kazooie in Smash, but it's basically free money for MS.
And I'd hope that in return, Nintendo would be willing to at least loosen up on their Rare-developed games (especially the ones that MS partially owns), but I'm not holding my breath!
Re: Nintendo Boss Showers Praise On 'Great Relationship' With Xbox & Microsoft
@Dan1283 With Rare... I believe there's a lot more to the story, but yeah, they clearly felt some pressure (external or self-imposed) to make changes to better conform to the Xbox dudebro image at the time. And then their output dropped from 2-3 games every year to what, 1 game every 8 years?
Do you think there's any company out there that could manage some of the business and hardware sides of Nintendo better than Nintendo themselves, though? Nintendo's obviously doing really well, regardless, but many of us are frustrated to see their quality exclusives shackled to weak hardware that can't do them justice. Or banished to the Nintendo Vault for decades at a time. I'm not sure Microsoft is the one for the job, but there must be someone.
Re: Nintendo Boss Showers Praise On 'Great Relationship' With Xbox & Microsoft
@GeeEssEff When I read Bowser's statements, I hear them in a gruff Scott Burns (Bowser from Super Mario Sunshine) voice.
Re: Less Than 1% Of Xbox Players Own The Coveted 'Day One' Achievement
I somehow never heard about this until now, surprisingly! (Or maybe not so surprising, since so many early adopters apparently never noticed, either?)
I definitely wasn't a day one purchaser, though: between the whole announcement/launch fiasco(s), the technical performance, and the price, I stayed far away in 2013.
It was five years later that the combination of Halo MCC, Rare Replay, and a robust back compat catalogue (plus a nice price drop!) won me over.
Re: Digital Foundry's Lies Of P Review Points Out One Clear Performance Mode Winner On Xbox
@abe_hikura The great thing about options is that they're optional!
Those who want worse gameplay and slightly better graphics can have that, and the rest of us can just ignore the setting.
And conversely, if the devs intend for a game to be a 30fps "cinematic" experience by default, there's another, smoother option for those of us who aren't interested in that default. It's win-win, with next to no downside!
Re: Forza Motorsport Launches With Three Performance Modes On Xbox Series X
@Princessmadllama Game optimization does seem to have taken a big hit in recent years, but rather than "lazy devs", we're likely looking at a mix of:
I could also point towards a growing acceptance of poor framerates, long loading times, and overly large installations, but these all go back 10-20 years, and if anything, we've recently started to bounce back on 2/3 of these issues!
PS: I have to call out those Zelda specs: Both N64 Zeldas ran at 20fps, not 30, and they weren't doing 12,000 polygons per frame. IIRC, Majora's Mask sometimes broke past 5,000 in Clock Town, but it tended to slow down when that happened.
Re: New Starfield Test Suggests It Could Run At 40-60FPS On Xbox Series X
@GuyinPA75 Digital Foundry keeps us informed. If people want to run with that information and fuss over it (which they absolutely do!), then that's on them, not on DF.
Personally, I don't care about all the nitpicking regarding resolution, AA, ray tracing, and other visual details, but whether a game is capped at 30fps or not is absolutely a big deal to me, and I always look into that (via DF or other means) before buying games. But that's just me, and everyone is free to ignore that info if they don't care!
Re: Immortals Of Aveum On Unreal Engine 5 Is 'Cutting Edge', But Overall Xbox Visuals Suffer
@evan23 Yeah, I don't think a lot of people get that there's always some degree of compromise- you can't have an expansive world with all of the latest graphical bells and whistles, and 4K, and 60/120/144fps, all at the same time. Especially not on mid-range hardware.
Of course, optimization and careful choice of priorities both go a long way, and I'll be the first to point this out whenever someone goes "oh, this game had to be 30fps because-".
But it was clear from the initial UE5 demo, as well as the Matrix demo, that current consoles can't harness all of the latest tech without cutting either resolution or performance.
Re: Immortals Of Aveum On Unreal Engine 5 Is 'Cutting Edge', But Overall Xbox Visuals Suffer
@RIghteousNixon True. Of course, there will be new features, effects, and visual standards by then, and the struggle will start all over again!
Re: Baldur's Gate 3 Confirmed For Xbox In 2023, Series S Version Ditching Local Co-Op
@Wheatly As far as I'm concerned, this became clear as soon as Assassin's Creed: Valhalla was revealed to run at 30fps on Series S (though I believe they patched it later).
Series S would be quite appealing if it actually delivered the full Series X experience, just at a lower resolution, as the early claims went. But no, a considerable handful of games now play worse than their X counterparts, blurring the line between current- and last-gen experiences.
This new split-screen development is the next logical step on that path... with the conclusion ultimately being that Series S retires a couple of years before the X.
Re: Konami Drops 18 Minutes Of Metal Gear Solid 1 Gameplay Ahead Of Xbox Debut
The issue with MGS1 isn't that PS1 graphics look bad today, but that it's shown running in its original 240p, which looks awful on any modern screen.
Most ports and emulators offer options to play in 1080p/4K/etc., and this makes things a lot cleaner, regardless of the quality of the assets themselves.
Re: Microsoft Announces The Xbox 360 Store Will Close In July 2024
Not bad for a console that's older than the Wii!
I still wish MS would reopen the back compat program and add more games to it, though.
Re: Rockstar Announces New $50 Port Of Red Dead Redemption, But Xbox Doesn't Need It
Xbox obviously doesn't need a straight port, but it does need a 60fps patch. I assume that the PS4 and especially Switch versions will still be 30fps, with no upgrades, and that kills any chance of a simple remaster happening anytime soon.
Re: Activision May Have Access To 'Lost' Transformers Titles After All
Were the past comments about losing the source code actually wrong, or was the error simply that they upset Activision?
This is more of an apology than a correction.
Re: Microsoft Now Selling Xbox Controller Replacement Parts
It's cool that Microsoft is doing this, and it has a lot of potential to be pro-consumer, while cutting down on waste as well!
Are they not selling the membrane that goes under the buttons, though? I've rarely seen the actual buttons on a controller wear out- it's always the membrane that tears after enough use.
Also, these parts look like they'll be about $30-40 once they're available in Canada... that's much less than a new controller ($80?), but maybe just a bit too close to the price of one that's on sale.
Still, it's a great start!
Re: Talking Point: What Are Your Earliest Xbox Memories?
It seemed like barely anyone I knew had an Xbox back in the day... I was very late to the party, but I have to say the OG Xbox is a very cool system!
I got a couple of dying Xboxes for free, and tried to fix them, but had no luck... I guess they technically count as my first Xbox console, though. First one I bought new was Xbox One S, however.
First Xbox memory is of some of my fellow teens at the time, arguing whether Halo is the most enjoyable activity in existence or not... let's just leave it at that.
Re: Ubisoft Reportedly Cancelled 'Immortals Fenyx Rising' Sequel Earlier This Month
So Ubisoft releases what looks like a Zelda rip-off, people are understandably skeptical, and then it turns out to actually be good.
And now they're surprised and disappointed that everyone wasn't rushing out to buy this on day one?
Re: Xbox's 'Biggest Content Drop In History' Sees Over 1400 Retro Games Arrive Next Week
Lots of retro games???
"As part of the cloud-based Antstream Arcade"
Oh.
The pricing sounds like a great value, if you're into cloud (or even subscription) gaming.
But I want to buy and keep my games, not get a subscription that vanishes as soon as I stop paying for it! And of course, this has the additional issues brought on by streaming.
Re: Metal Gear Solid Master Collection Vol.1 Officially Arrives On Xbox This October
@DdG1408 It's great that the whole set is finally coming to more platforms, but the original MGS doesn't really replace Twin Snakes or make it redundant, seeing as the latter has much better graphics, running at 60fps- not to mention all of the other changes (whether good or bad, they still make it different)!
By the way, has the resolution of these games been confirmed, besides MGS1 (plus MG1 and MG2, of course) being an eye-gouging 240p at 30fps? I'd expect 4K60 on Xbox, seeing as this is a separate release from the backwards compatibility versions.
Re: Microsoft Is Expecting Two New PS5 Models In The 'Near Future'
@NEStalgia Yeah, if anything, I'd say PC gaming peaked during the past generation (2013-2020). Driver and compatibility issues were at a minimum (only case I personally encountered was Deadly Premonition), and even the lower-end cards were well above what the consoles were offering.
Now, between ridiculously high GPU prices, all-around terrible optimization, and consoles being good again, PC isn't quite as attractive as before.
That said, the whole thing about PCs not lasting as long as consoles is a misconception: Yes, if you NEED to be on the cutting edge, then you have to upgrade constantly, and also replace your whole rig every few years. But if you just want a decent gaming experience- which must be the case, if you'd consider a console- then you can easily get 5-10 years without upgrading.
I'm still rocking a GTX 960, a lower mid-range card that I got 8 years ago. Is it too old to run the latest games at 60fps? Yes, but it still fares better than its rival consoles (base Xbone and PS4), and isn't too far behind today's lower-end Xboxes and PCs. Had I splurged on a 980 (or waited another year for the 10 series), I'd be golden.
Re: Microsoft Is Expecting Two New PS5 Models In The 'Near Future'
All of the good announcements really are coming from Microsoft lately.
Now they're the ones announcing new PlayStation hardware!
Re: Red Dead Redemption Rumours Point Towards Upcoming Remaster
RDR needs a 60fps upgrade, one way or another. I'm assuming that FPS Boost somehow didn't quite work perfectly. (Wasn't a similar or identical technique successfully used on the 360 emulator, Xenia, as well as on RPCS3?)
A full remake, though? Maybe not quite as redundant as The Last of Us, but still unnecessary at this point.
Re: Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag Remake Supposedly In Development At Ubisoft
@BrilliantBill Oh yeah, those character models are pretty bad, even compared to other games from that year (or from 5 years earlier, for that matter).
I wonder if the rigging system could allow for the models to be swapped out for higher-poly versions, at least during cutscenes. Basically a more in-depth remaster, without rebuilding everything from scratch. Because now that you mention it, H3 was really jarring at first, especially seeing the downgrade in Johnson's face compared to H2 Anniversary!
You consider H1 Anniversary's cutscenes to have aged poorly compared to Reach and H4, though? It didn't strike me as having issues, whether compared to the others or on its own (besides changing H1's art direction a bit much), though I did start with H1A before moving on to the later ones.
Re: Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag Remake Supposedly In Development At Ubisoft
@BrilliantBill The 10 years figure definitely made sense in the past... Resident Evil and Conker's Bad Fur Day received remakes after just 6 and 4 years, respectively- and the audiovisual upgrades were more than enough to justify it.
There are plenty of other games from that era that arguably deserved remakes in the '00s as well, for graphical and gameplay reasons, because things were changing so quickly.
But now? Wasn't Halo 3 still perfectly enjoyable and accessible in 2017, a decade after its release? And why wouldn't it still hold up on its 20th anniversary as well? I don't think games have evolved much since 2007, though I'm curious if you feel differently- and why.
Re: Metal Gear Solid Master Collection Vol.1 Officially Arrives On Xbox This October
@Banjo- MGS 2 and 3 are listed as the HD Collection versions, so it'll basically be the original graphics, but in HD. 1080p60 seems likely, since the 360 and PS3 were able to do 720, but the trailer's quality is too low to tell.
Not sure why they're showing off MGS1 in its original 240p. Are they really not going to make it HD as well? (Either way, I think it's hardcoded to 30fps.)
Yeah, Twin Snakes is a full remake of MGS1, but Nintendo's involvement apparently prevents it from being ported to anything but a Nintendo system... not like they've been jumping to release it on Switch themselves.
Re: Metal Gear Solid Master Collection Vol.1 Officially Arrives On Xbox This October
@Banjo- Seeing as the previous HD collection already ran at 720p 60fps, the Switch should be able to get good results.
Re: Metal Gear Solid Master Collection Vol.1 Officially Arrives On Xbox This October
The NES games are unironically a big draw, as I already have the others.
Re: Xbox's Matt Booty Has Played The Perfect Dark Reboot And Is 'Very Excited'
@Zoidpilot4 I really hope they capture what made the original Perfect Dark so good. Part of it was that wacky side that you mentioned, but Zero was also wacky, and it somehow missed the mark. I think the original had just the right amount of wackiness, with a bit of subtlety and restraint- maybe that's it? Or maybe it's just that it was a certain British flavour of weird.
I'd also be down for a more serious thriller sort of spin on things, but it would have to be handled well, and feel somewhat authentic to Perfect Dark.
Definitely looking forward to seeing how this turns out!
PS: The N64 needed a RAM upgrade to run Perfect Dark. That's what the Expansion Pak was.
Re: Starfield Will Run At 4K / 30FPS On Xbox Series X, 1440p / 30FPS On Series S
@Feffster Why be sorry for them? Maybe we should be jealous instead, as they can play their games on bargain-bin potatoes, and not be bothered at all by how these games run. It sure would save a lot of money!
Re: Ubisoft's New Prince Of Persia Game Is Getting Blasted On YouTube
@Enigk Haha, what I meant by "brings back" was using Godsmack's music in another Prince of Persia game- I had no idea whether they were still around.
Good for them, I guess?
Re: Ubisoft's New Prince Of Persia Game Is Getting Blasted On YouTube
@Enigk Now watch as Ubisoft grants you a monkey's paw wish, and brings back Godsmack instead. That's not modern, is it?
Re: Talking Point: Is There An Xbox Classic You Wish Was Backwards Compatible?
@SuntannedDuck2 Some good points, and some great choices. I always hear about how Blur is an underappreciated gem, and though I'd completely forgotten about Pitfall, I'd heard it was pretty good as well.
I'd definitely pick them both up if they were on BC. Probably a few others that you mentioned, too.
Gunvalkyrie is already available, though: both via the disc and through the store!
Re: Talking Point: Is There An Xbox Classic You Wish Was Backwards Compatible?
I wish Microsoft would revisit the back compat program in general. Not just so I can play my physical games in HD (though that is a bonus!), but so I can buy more of the classics that I missed. Too many games are exclusive to a dead console, or their PC port is delisted.
Some candidates that come to mind:
Chronicles of Riddick
Condemned 2: Bloodshot
Outrun 2/2006
Simpsons Hit and Run/Road Rage
Vexx
XG III
There were others that I would have wanted, but I just ended up getting physical copies. MS's loss!
Re: System Shock Remake Hits PC Today, Xbox Version Coming 'In Due Course'
System Shock 2 was really compelling, and it drew me into its world and gameplay systems more than Bioshock did (the latter was still great).
SS1 is pretty rough around the edges by today's standards, though. It'll be great if this remake makes a classic more approachable without sacrificing its core identity- but I still hope to finish the original first!
Re: Poll: Which Xbox Console Had The Best Controller?
I still feel like the Controller S is underappreciated (getting neither the praise of the One/Series, nor the nostalgia and mockery of the Duke), but I have to admit that the newer controllers are better overall.
The black and white buttons are fine for what they are, but they can't beat the conveniently-placed bumpers found on everything from the 360 onward.
Re: Metal Gear Solid 3 Remake Is Reportedly Coming To Xbox After All
@Ashadelo An MGS1 re-remake, you mean?
You'd think that really would be the ideal place to start, though, seeing as the 2004 remake is still stranded on the GameCube to this day.
Or even the original Metal Gear, since that's the most archaic (for obvious reasons). I know it's not as well-known worldwide as MGS, but you'd think being Solid Snake's debut title and including Big Boss would both be major draws now.
Re: Redfall Will Only Run At 30FPS When It Launches On Xbox Series X And S
@Sam_TSM I remember the early 2000s, too, how we played Super Smash Bros. (1 and Melee), F-Zero (X and GX), Mario Kart DD, Metroid Prime, Sonic Adventure (2 and DX), Mario Party 5, and countless 8- and 16-bit games of the previous decade or so. All 60fps. And I wasn't even into PC gaming back then, but those who were would have a few things to say as well!
It's fine if you don't notice or care about 60fps (it sure simplifies things!), but many of us do notice and care, and preferred 60fps long before it became a mainstream buzzword.
Re: Redfall Will Only Run At 30FPS When It Launches On Xbox Series X And S
@Widey85 I've heard accounts like this from a few others, and I find it baffling: your eyes can pick out minute details, but you're less sensitive to motion? I'm close to your age, and I'm the opposite: 60fps every time, no matter the resolution sacrifice, as the smooth motion (or lack thereof) is always noticeable.
A 720p TV looks perfectly fine to me, as long as I don't put my face right up to it.
Not a criticism- I just find it interesting and surprising!
Re: Redfall Will Only Run At 30FPS When It Launches On Xbox Series X And S
@theduckofdeath Wouldn't the "30fps is fine" people be the ones who get left behind?
On a more serious note, the difference between 30 and 60 is something that more people are consciously aware of and vocal about these days- such that the naysayers think that 60fps is some sort of new fad or trend. 60fps was the norm twice before (the pre-3D era, and the 6th gen or "PS2 era"), but it only broke into mainstream awareness just recently. Third time really is the charm!
Re: New Microsoft Rewards 'Custom' Feature Could Have Major Benefits For Xbox Users
@Widey85 Fortunately, you do get smaller bonuses every few weeks until you work up to the 20-week streak. If I'm not mistaken, it's the same amount, but spread out over a few milestones.
(Something like 250+500+750+1000.)
Re: Leaked Clips Of Two Classic SEGA Remakes Appear Online
@SplooshDmg Not sure how several companies have made this exact mistake, instead of learning from each other.
Fans: "Give us a sequel to [great game]!"
Company: "Okay, here's a lame mobile/pachinko thing, which is based on [great game]."
Re: This Week's Xbox Charts Show The Power Of Backwards Compatibility
@Banjo- I would've said to press View, but if that just opens the general settings, then I have no idea.
I wonder if the UI for per-game configs isn't there yet, or if it's just hidden well.
Re: This Week's Xbox Charts Show The Power Of Backwards Compatibility
@Banjo- I hear ya. Grew up with Nintendo (and Sega, to a lesser extent), but was driven away by their decisions- first creative, and now business. Ah, well, still lots of great stuff out there!
On desktop Dolphin, you'd right-click the game and open its Properties.
Then go to the AR Codes tab and paste in the new code, along with a descriptive name.
Make sure that code has a check box in the list after you've created it, and also make sure your main Dolphin settings have "Enable Cheats" checked.
It should be a similar process on Series X, now that it has a proper GUI, but I haven't used it.
Re: This Week's Xbox Charts Show The Power Of Backwards Compatibility
@Banjo- This Action Replay code makes the Wii version run at 60fps:
04773008 00000000
I'm not sure that the tech itself is the reason for the change in licensing, as opposed to some wording around the platform definitions, but yeah, MS (and Sony) clearly did something different this past gen, ensuring that the games would carry forward. I figure that the PS3/360/Wii distribution agreements were all made around those specific systems, but MS and Sony decided to future-proof their stores with broader licensing terms the second time around.
Meanwhile, Nintendo just kept on doing what they were doing, and now all of the Wii U and 3DS stuff is gone.
Re: This Week's Xbox Charts Show The Power Of Backwards Compatibility
@shoeses Different platforms do have different contracts, at least as far as the game rights themselves are concerned. Like how all of the Xbox One games (including the BC library) transferred straight over to Xbox Series consoles without renegotiation, whereas the OG/360 titles had to be negotiated and added individually to get them on the Xbone in the first place... despite already being available on the Xbox 360 store in many cases!
I am just speculating, but I do find it surprising already that Sonic & Sega Racing is still available, considering its soundtrack, and it seems like that could be a tricky area to work with.
Re: This Week's Xbox Charts Show The Power Of Backwards Compatibility
@Banjo- The native PC port looks great, though it doesn't have Banjo and Kazooie. You could also try running the Wii version in Dolphin. Its graphics aren't as good as the PC/360 versions, but it still looks nice in 1080p or 4K with the 60fps code. (This does require a fairly beefy CPU, but I think the Series X or equivalent is up to the task.)
And yes, Microsoft's engineers getting Xbox 360 (or even original Xbox) games to run at full speed or better on the Xbox One is some incredible technical wizardry, and not something I would have thought possible!