somnambulance

My Xboxes are DVD players and multimedia machines rather than something I use regularly for gaming at this point. Haven’t heard any complaints from my kids while I’m at work and I know they were going to watch a movie today!

It’s almost like it’s a good thing to hire people that are actually passionate about the industry rather than people that want a salary large enough to feed a small country while thousands are being laid off. Hmm.

@CallMeDuraSouka I agree. We keep hearing how digital is the future because physical isn’t selling. Can we see the data that shows a comparison? Toss in some revenue from large scale used game sales outlets as well. Let’s see the whole picture.

Last year, we were getting data that people were buying less than one game a quarter. If that’s true, what does the industry actually look like? Where is the actual engagement?

There’s so many numbers that are missing to make a comprehensive assessment here.

I say this as someone who largely purchases games digitally too. I just think there’s a lot of incomplete data being shared to argue one way or the other and I haven’t seen anything that feels fully rounded.

Aren’t we also seeing trends that show that people in general are only buying a few games a year too? To me, this doesn’t exactly read like physical sales are just down, but overall sales are down while overall income is up thanks to microtransactions if we zoom a little further out at the big picture.

She says this as if she has been any part of their success. I’m sorry, but every time she speaks on these things, it feels like empty suit speak.

Day 1 is the only selling point of Gamepass, in my opinion

The only flaw in this argument is that Moore believes that people will buy home computers instead of buying consoles when home computers are also spiking in price and suffering with the same issues. If people can’t afford consoles, they can’t afford high end PCs, they can’t afford high end TVs. If items aren’t affordable, people will just simply stay with their outdated tech and the industry slowly corrodes.

If there isn’t innovation to make tech more accessible, tech will stop selling. The consoles of the future will show us a pivot in what they bring to the table. If I were to guess, I’d say the world might be ready for the infrastructure Stadia was bringing to the table. If Sony or Microsoft did it, there would be larger brand faith if it’s a more affordable option in comparison to expensive boxes. There’s more longterm money in subscriptions than in boxes. Fully digital, cloud-based gaming is the future. Either that or mobile will start to grossly outpace the console market.

Rhythm Heaven Groove for sure. It’s just such a relaxing, fun, casual game that eats up a little bit of free time.

@CallMeDuraSouka Bethesda’s slowed down ever since Fallout 4 realistically. The time between most of their games was 2-3 years before that while releasing consistent expansions. After Fallout 4, it took 4 years for Fallout 76 and that one launched in an embarrassing state. If we remove 76 from the equation, it took 8 years to get Starfield. That’s a crazy long development time. By these time tables, it makes me think ES6 will release in 2031-ish.

Whether 76 is a different team or not, they are resources used by the studio and it does pivot a studio’s headspace having something like this.

If they aren’t exclusives, there’s no point to own an Xbox next generation. If they aren’t making exclusive content, what other selling point will they use?

@Balaam_ Totally agree. Oblivion Remastered, to me, only highlighted how old the game felt all these years later. I’d rather they save the resources and make new games than give us a 7/10 experience of a game that used to be a 10/10 decades ago. This reeks of “We need to cash grab to sustain the not yet started development cycle for Fallout 5. Please be patient. Hopefully we’re all still breathing by the time it releases. We know that you were a kid when we released the last game, but your grandkids will love the new one.”

Hopefully Elder Scrolls 6 sees the light of day before Skyrim is 25.

I sort of think Fallout 76 ruined Bethesda because it has the responsibility of running a continuous content machine in the live service aspects of that game. I know a lot of people love it, but their development times have diminished a lot since that one.

It was HALO.

Been playing since the beginning.

Personally, I think the top brass at Microsoft is actually the problem, especially when their enormous bonuses are public knowledge and they profit over job loss.

Responsible leadership is absolutely something I’d like in businesses going forward, especially in gaming. We need to shoot down the golden parachute mentality of this business.

I totally understand the desire for mass profitability, but we’re at a point where we, as a culture, are forgetting collective sustainability and legacy content creation. Satoru Iwata showed us that gaming CEOs can do the right things for the sake of employees and course correcting the business. His decision to put the fans and his employees first over himself worked long term and Nintendo rebounded with a robust platform and lineup after failure from it. This kind of thing should be an inspiration, not an anomaly.

@Millionski for me, Alan Wake 2, Final Fantasy 16, and Tears of the Kingdom were 10s. Dave the Diver, Mario Wonder, RE4, Pikmin 4, and Root Bear were 9s for me. Hogwarts Legacy, I want to give a 9, but there’s some things that make me feel it’s just one of the best 8/10 tier games I’ve experienced. That’s just my opinion, of course. If I listed all 8s, we’d be in for a long list. 2023 was excellent. It’s one of the only years that I really struggled putting together a top 20 list because there were too many good games.

BG3, for me, I can’t rate. I had a bad experience with it due to technical issues at launch. The game would crash, I’d lose data, my saves disappeared, my wife and I tried to play co-op and the game was stuttering and her character just stopped existing at one point, the game just overall ran like junk on PS5 and it clouds my opinion on it. I can tell it’s an excellent game and I can see why a lot of people love it, but I had such a bad experience playing it that I dropped it and don’t want to go back. If I couldn’t tell it was obviously an incredible game and I got unlucky, I’d give the game an incendiary rating, but I just sort of acknowledge it as a game others love rather than myself. It’s not the game that ran the worst for me all generation at least. That honor goes to Atomic Heart on my Series S.

@johnedwin I mean, results may vary for anyone, but 2026 has been the best year for gaming since the incredible 2023, in my opinion. While we’ve not had a 10/10 all year yet, we’ve had far more 9/10 and 8/10 tier games. It’s been a far more consistent year than most years this generation. Might be the second best year of the generation for me and we’re only halfway through. The majority of GotY candidates tend to release in the second half of the year too.

I still own a copy of Kelly Slater on my PS2. It’s an alright game for an hour or so. I think, of the b-tier extreme sports games though, I preferred Shawn Palmer’s Snowboarding. I seriously put hours and hours into that one and I know it wasn’t a great game.

I miss when people played 5/10, 6/10, 7/10 tier games without relying on reviews to tell them what they like and the industry let developers make risks. It was a fun era, OG Xbox and 360.

I doubt Xbox is going to make the pivot to endorse physical media when they’ve been the most digital platform for several generations now. It would be less profit margin, but as I type that… I could see them doing it more. They brought back exclusives for the influencers and I guess they could do the same for a piece of plastic for the sake of “being visionary and seeing the needs of their consumers.” Get ready for that Helix physical copy of Candy Crush!

Left GP after the price hike and I’m not planning on returning since the layoffs. I mean, the studios that made the most GP style games are gone now. Arguably, since the price hike, the value of the service has gone down, even after they lowered the cost again. 2026 has had the worst lineup for the service and I just don’t see Microsoft doing the right things to restore confidence in me or others that have left. GP just ain’t what it used to be and I doubt it ever will be “the best value in gaming” again unless the industry radically changes. Xbox has a huge uphill battle for some of us right now.

Microsoft seems oblivious to the fact that their rhetoric and reputation have alienated a lot of people. You don’t talk about how much you’re going to expand your profit margin immediately after laying off thousands.

@themightyant No kidding. Minecraft honestly sort of plays better on the 360 in some ways than it does on modern consoles because it is just the pure game. I hope the template for Xbox’s future goes beyond what can be most easily monetized.

I wish the teams success going forward. Honestly, especially after Tango got cut, seeing four really solid studios get the axe is even more heartbreaking. It almost feels like the studios and games I directly like are targeted these days. I can honestly say that Xbox has cut the studios responsible for 4 out of my top five Xbox Games Studios games so far this generation (Psychonauts 2, Hi-Fi Rush, Deathloop, South of Midnight). They specifically cut studios that make solid single player experiences that should cater to what Gamepass is. I’m glad the studios are still around, but I suspect that this wasn’t out of kindness, but rather because their independence is cheaper than severance and comes with a tax write off similar to how the layoffs probably equate to a bonus for executives next quarter.

Hopefully Obsidian and Bethesda can return to their former glory. I’m sort of worried about them longterm eventually being reduced to live service studios supporting Grounded and Fallout 76.

Honestly feels like they cut out half the studios I cared about with Xbox today. Bethesda’s got a lot more responsibility now than before.

@CoolDadTx You’ve got that right. Wouldn’t be surprised if the executives are getting cumulative bonuses right now that exceed the added wages of the terminated employees. The way these layoffs have been announced is incredibly cold and is being spun as a visionary reset of the brand by her. It reads like Satya wrote the memo himself. I don’t know how any of the employees can feel secure in their positions.

Realistically, at least Double Fine still exists and OD is still being funded. It’s still far too soon to know what Asha’s Xbox will be. I can’t say I’m particularly fond of this direction so far.

I think Xbox is legitimately considering physical only now because Sony had such incredible backlash last week. Xbox has been the most digital platform for three generations, so changing their stance on it now would certainly be an interesting choice. They know they can keep the physical card in their back pocket to appease everyone too after the big layoffs are finally announced.

Voted for FF6 because anytime more people get the chance to play one of the finest games ever made, it’s a win.

Granted, it’s been almost a year now since I’ve been subbed though and I don’t really miss it…

360 for sure. Physical games were super cheap in the 360 era, so it was easy to get a bunch. I used to buy and sell games all the time too, felt like I never really spent a lot to play a lot back in those days because of the resale, trade, and borrow scene.

@Millionski definitely disagree, but I also don’t like Gears. Feels like the last few Gears games have been divisive as well though too. I’d not be surprised if Gears is in the same position as Halo, but I’ll bet too that Gamepass canabalized far more Halo Infinite sales than Gears 5, but that’s more a timeframe thing than anything else.

@Savex Infinite was solid, but incomplete to me. It felt designed to have campaign expansions and it’s sort of weird that didn’t happen, but realistically I really enjoyed Infinite too. This has been a weird generation in gaming where I felt like I was too harsh on earlier gen games, but I didn’t know that the generation would be so front loaded. I hope the Chief can survive this onslaught. I think Forza and CoD might be the only currently viable games to Asha and that’s downright dystopian level to me. 😅

If Halo isn’t the keystone for future Xbox, I frankly have no idea what kind of vision there is for Xbox’s brand future. Master Chief is Xbox’s Mario.

Hearing all these rumors, it’s about time Xbox gives us a game plan for the future. I mean, with Sony slicing off its foot yesterday, what better time to jump on a grenade, especially when we know it’s already there?

Thank god this one is safe. This game is basically the only reason I still own an Xbox Series S. I suspect it may be safe because the game’s nearly complete rather than any other reason (and because Kojima actually knows how to run a functional business that can make high end games while making a profit, even though his games are niche), but I’m glad either way. Hopefully we see an update by the end of the year.

Let’s see the actual strategy then. So far, the strategy seems to be “Let’s burn the whole division to the ground.”

It’s June 30th. Can we just know what’s going on now for sure instead of speculation? It’s bad. Microsoft, just confirm the injury already, so we know whether or not we should grab our torches and pitchforks or not yet.

Realistically, I just hope they keep funding OD at this point. If that gets pulled, I’m actually out on Xbox. Sort of sad that there’s only one game keeping me in at this point. I almost feel like Asha’s coming in to close doors rather than open them. We need clarity for Xbox’s vision, not showcases for projects they’re axing.

Standard edition. Ultimate is basically a bunch of cosmetics.

I beat Star Fox day one, but now my son is playing it, but he needs help sometimes, so I’m sure there will be some of that. I might play it again too. It’s fantastic.

Outside that, Dave the Diver: In the Jungle is a huge hit for me. Also one of the best games this year, even though it’s a DLC. It seriously feels almost like a sequel. And then there will be a bit of Root Bear too.

@lechugajr No kidding. When I look back on the last 6 years, the economy is just such a steaming pile. 6 years ago, I could say, “What the heck? I want an Xbox because I just want one.” Little thought, little investment.

Half a decade later, my paychecks may be bigger, but they sure ain’t going as far. Nowadays, individual games are a thoughtful purchase. I’m paycheck to paycheck now. I miss blowing money for fun! 😂 It’s not like I’m spending my money on new things. If anything, I’m spending it on less things. Sorry to complain and ramble!

My Series S was $200 in 2020. I don’t recall how much they were retailing for or what the particular deal was that made it so cheap, but I know that’s what I paid. I remember thinking the Series S was a steal and it was easy to convince my wife into us buying one just for me to play Halo, even though we already had a PS5. It was a simpler time.

I don’t feel bad that Xbox is having record low sales though. They’ve alienated their base so much the last generation and kept a steady stream of price hikes going. I can honestly say that this is the lowest I’ve ever felt in wanting to buy an Xbox console again.

At these prices, are they even still selling Xboxes? I’ve said it elsewhere, but I think we’ve entered the era where something like Stadia could succeed as an alternative to overpriced boxes

@Millionski I think if console manufacturers overprice the next generation, they will tank the industry. A lot of what is happening now happened in the 80’s and I suspect there’s either going to be a lesson learned or a repetition of history. Nintendo may come out the victor again by being an affordable alternative to Helix and PS6. Microsoft knows if they push too hard on price, they’ll push people right into mobile gaming. Then again, we may be totally wrong that the next generation is going to specifically be a box connected to a TV.

Realistically, if Google would’ve waited for Stadia until now, they’d actually have an ecosystem that’s ready and willing to have it. I could see Xbox having the tech to do something similar as a more affordable option in contrast to the box and it would play right in to the xCloud format. I think Xbox will choose to innovate.

@Millionski I suspect Xbox has a chance to shake up the market by undercutting an expensive PS6 by potentially hundreds of dollars. Imagine how much the balance of the industry would shift if PS6 launches at $1000 and the Helix launches at $600. It’d be an equalizer. I suppose we’ll see where things go from here.

Honestly, the Steam Machine completely confuses me. It could’ve been a necessary disruption to the console industry, but it releases as a totally niche product for what audience? It’s not for the people looking for a console experience because they’re priced out. It’s not for the PC audience because they’re probably using a more powerful kit for cheaper. It’s literally only for the Valve faithful, which doesn’t make a whole lot of sense as a business proposition. They’ll sell out on the first batch and then sales will stagnate. I mean, as popular as the Steamdeck is in gaming circles, it never really disrupted the handheld market the way it seems to us, given that we’re all dedicated gamers. Sure, there’s competition with the Steamdeck with things like the AllyX, etc, but these are far smaller scale selling items than consoles.

That said, the Steam Machine will do nothing in comparison to consoles. I thought it would, but it won’t. The price guarantees it’s a niche, enthusiast only item. The difference is that I believe the Helix will still attempt collecting a mainstream audience. Very different audiences. Most console gamers won’t care about the Steam Machine. Valve had a chance to make a machine that may have been able to bank on peoples’ dissatisfaction with PlayStation and Xbox, but instead opted to gouge the Steamdeck’s price and alienated their base in the process who, for the longest time, extolled that Valve was a far more ethical company that cares far more for their consumers than other companies in gaming while prepping this release. We’ve been given evidence this is false and then they announce this a month later in a convoluted way about how it’s not a console, but also not really a PC. It doesn’t make much business sense to me to sell to only Gabe’s most faithful, but what do I know? Clearly Valve has made sound business decisions in the past. Just not sure this is one of them.

Everyone keeps talking about how Xbox is just going to make a luxury device because of how trends have been today. Xbox has talked about affordability a lot. They want to win back their ecosystem. That doesn’t happen with a $1000 console. They know that. We should know that too. They don’t want to launch a console that loses money point blank. If the price of consoles is too high as well, that incentivizes people to jump over to mobile gaming as well. Xbox has definitely brought up that the real competition is Tik Tok, Amazon, Facebook, etc in a race to secure time. I suspect Xbox may release Helix with a better price point than people expect. If Helix can undercut PS6 too, that puts them in place to run instead of walking. Microsoft has more tools at their disposal than most companies do and I think that may play in their favor this time. They’ve got to be far smarter with launching the Helix.

OD is my most anticipated game. Period. I own an Xbox for this one at this point. I hope we get some new info soon on it.

@Fishmasterflex96 definitely agree. Honestly, Gamepass could’ve worked far better as something else. I got a Playdate over the weekend and it comes bundled with several games and you get a steady stream of 2 new games a week. This approach probably would’ve been a better thing for the Game Pass service, but of course, then it’s limited with what it could provide. Games With Gold, basically, but on a weekly basis and with expiring titles. That’s probably what I would’ve done if I was making the service. Gamepass has a huge quality issue and that’s because it needs content for the sake of content.

@Fishmasterflex96 Of course it’s not, but it’s still entertainment at the end of the day. If there’s not something that justifies people wanting to use the service month to month, its easy to see it as something to use to play a first party game for cheaper then unsub and rinse and repeat. That’s not sustainable either.

I sort of agree with him. It’s far too easy to unsub to Gamepass, feel like you aren’t missing much and also feel like you’re saving money by buying games instead. Gamepass has had periods of strong quality, but, for the most part, a lot of the games on the service truly have been on the weaker end of the spectrum and the first party games have been inconsistent in terms of quality of Xbox.

But realistically, Netflix is the same these days, so they did succeed in making the Netflix of gaming. The only problem is that money’s tighter, so people are leaving their subs behind for groceries and gas.

Vote with your wallet, people. Let them know this is a bad deal.

@HelloCraigo Would definitely watch your videos again if any of the Hookshot higher ups are looking at this comment! 😁

Unless they change this, they’ve lost my sale. I wanted to play the game co-op with my son and we share an account. I’m not making another account for him, PS+ or Xbox. Terrible business decision. Greedy.

Sharing an account with a friend is what got me into the Xbox ecosystem in the original Halo 1 days. Crazy how it goes full circle. Red Ring of Death style though.

It’s Father’s Day weekend and… my wife already spoiled what she and the kids got me. I was expecting The Adventures of Elliot sort of, but no… She went and got me a Playdate, so I’ll be exploring the world of my new console this weekend.

And Dave the Diver: In the Jungle too. Definitely that one. Fantastic expansion to start.

@Fiendish-Beaver To put it bluntly, it looked to me like they were calling you a Sony Pony. Lol.

And I agree with you there. If we don’t speak our opinions on the company, they may never be heard. They may never be heard anyway, but at least we’ll all listen to each other rant. 😂