@SMJ You can search, but there shouldn’t be so much junk that the eshop is basically eslop. Like I said, you basically have to know what you’re looking for to find something decent. It’d be better for quality if there were stringent rules again.
@SMJ I dunno. I’ve played around 200-ish NES games and the bar of quality was a little higher in those days than currently and there were some clunkers back then too.
I feel very tempted to get this one. If only Saturn Bomberman was on there… it’d require no thinking if that was the case. It’s so cheap and I love the games, but I’m trying to save my eshop credit for things later… I am trying to be strong, but the lack of compelling games so far this year is making me weak. Lol
@Fiendish-Beaver This is 100% it. I was browsing the eshop with my son the other day on Switch and it was embarrassing. All the AI slop and hentai games are ridiculous on there. It’s impossible to find quality games on there if you don’t know what you’re looking for.
Last night, I browsed the upcoming games on PS5 with my wife and it was the same thing. I suspect I’m not the only one that feels that way when I’m searching games with my family. I get that not all gamers are family-based, but is there really that huge an audience for those types of games? I feel like PlayStation and Nintendo may be LOSING sales for indie games due to their lack of quality control. Steam has all the same junk on it, but I dunno, it feels like Steam has the courtesy to filter it at least.
Xbox is honestly probably getting an advantage with games like this due to their lack of slop and hentai games. 15 years ago when I was poorer and younger (and when Xbox was a larger platform and my preferred platform), I know if I had $5 in my wallet, I’d usually check around on a random night when I wasn’t playing anything and take a chance on a random cheap game, so I totally get the strategy for this developer. It’s smart and I’m glad that people still do what I used to do!
I do miss that Nintendo seal of quality approach to games sometimes though.
I bought Battle of Asciion on the Steamdeck and that’s a neat little curio. I’m mostly playing “waiting for Mario Tennis to come out next week.” I’m feeling ready to play my “first big game of the year.”
I have eshop credit on the Switch and Bomberman is looking more appealing than it probably should because I’m ready to buy something good. I might do it. I started watching my son play Monster Hunter Stories 3 yesterday too and I suspect we’ll continue.
I fully expect to never resub to GP. When they announced the price hikes, they only announced things I wouldn’t want and asked me to pay more. Create good games and I’ll play them on PlayStation, Switch, or Steam.
I wonder how successful this strategy will be at large, as I am curious how casuals will feel. I can see having multiple stores on a console as something alienating to a segment of gamers that just want the console experience to be as simple as possible. We’re a bunch of enthusiasts on here, so, to me, it sounds intriguing, but I can’t help but think about accessibility for people that aren’t as dedicated as we all are.
I love my Steamdeck, for instance, but I know my family can’t use it without me setting things up for them, which makes them usually opt for easier platforms to use and make remarks on how they’d play it more if it was easier.
Also, if the next Xbox is basically a PC with a PC price with an Xbox UI as is rumored, what market exactly are they targeting? That would pivot Microsoft from competing with Nintendo and Sony to Steam, which seems sort of like an odd, less profitable pivot. Odd Microsoft does, but less profitable? I can’t see Nadella wanting that…
@shiningpikablu252 I think Rockstar will do things on their own if recent history is any gauge. Xbox definitely won’t grab them, given how the Xbox brand is performing. Nintendo would be an odd choice, given how little Rockstar has pared with Nintendo historically. Rockstar seems most comfortable with Sony and we have some awareness that Sony is basing their release schedule around GTA6 this year, but I could see Rockstar feeling like they’re bigger than relying on Sony for marketing now. They even snubbed Geoff Keighley for that initial reveal.
I could honestly see Rockstar putting out an announcement the same day as Geoff’s summer showcase to undermine his relevance and the relevance of the rest of the industry at large. And they’d announce it the day before it happens.
Honestly, if you’re a casual that hasn’t kept up with games, that’s an A tier month. Death Stranding, Resident Evil Village, and The Sims 1 and 2 are all absolutely essential gaming. Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound is a strong retro style title and The Talos Principle 2 is an exceptional puzzle title. With Star Wars Outlaws, you’ve got a decent mainstream title. Mio is a day 1 artistically sound metroidvania, if flawed in its difficulty balance. Warhammer 40k Space Marine 2 is just far past its peak to have a second life with Gamepass too. I could go on, but I think that’s enough. There’s nothing for me here to push me to sub, but if you’re a Gamepass only gamer, as many are, the last month had variety, diversity, quality, and quantity.
Indika’s honestly a perfect fit for Gamepass to get more exposure. It was a bit janky at launch, but there’s genuinely no other game that is exactly like it. It plays like the dreams of vintage art cinema if influenced by retro video games. Highly memorable, but certainly not for everyone.
My Little Puppy is my game of the weekend. I started playing it with the wife and kids last night and it seems to be a short one. I imagine there’s a possibility I’ll complete the game and have yet more gaming time this weekend as the wife is sick and I expect she may want to rest rather than do our weekend plans, but I’m not sure what else I may play just yet.
Never played World War Z, but you convinced me to give this one a shot for this. I love TWD, but the games are usually awful, so I’m happy to give it a shot, given the largely positive review
@dskatter it is annoying, especially when there’s a chunk of consumers now that actively won’t purchase something that is tied to AI. There’s a growing sentiment that AI content is slop. I don’t like Satya, but I do agree with him that AI content isn’t merely slop and certainly does have potential; HOWEVER, and it’s a huge HOWEVER, if consumer sentiment is increasingly growing anti-AI and the most successful AI content is slop, that makes touting AI as the strength of business less and less viable as consumers reject it.
Prepare for more layoffs at Xbox with this news. 5% is a large chunk to be down given the chunky price increase of Gamepass. That means the subscriber count dropped pretty significantly. Given how Xbox has been ran since Activision purchase, those numbers don’t align at all with the unrealistic financial goals Xbox was hoisted with.
I’d honestly love that. I like showcases that get us a lot of information, but Developer Directs are genuinely fun to watch when you’re excited about one of the games.
My son got a Portal for Christmas and was so excited! …but he practically never uses it. The Portal attach rate is impressive, but I wonder how widespread its use is.
As for my gaming library, my Xbox and PS5?libraries have been digital for a little more than ten years. I have some physical Xbox One games and some physical PS4 games, but I went mostly digital with Xbox in maybe 2012 and by 2020, I was fully digital everywhere outside the Switch, which I’ll remain physical with until I can no longer do so.
@OldGamer999 @Weebleman It’ll definitely reach people that don’t really game so much and I suspect it’ll be a massive hit. Most people, after all, only play F2P live service games, EA sports, CoD, and GTA. I’d honestly expect that PS2 is the most successful console of all time as a huge part because GTA and Rockstar were in their prime and launching games yearly.
Don’t get me wrong. I love Rockstar’s output and GTA is a series I’ve enjoyed a lot. It’ll be the biggest seller in 2026. I just think it may not be the critical darling previous GTA games were or that RDR was. I think there’s been a huge shift in culture for what games were in 2013–or even 2018–and 2026.
I think it’s probably because it launched in December when gaming media typically slows to focus on GotY. I’ll check this one out, didn’t realize it was already out.
Calling it now: GTA6 is, has been, and will be overrated. I have a feeling it’ll be the zeitgeist we think it will be, but people will be more critical, so it might not be the direct smash it might’ve been if it released maybe five years ago when people weren’t as primed to tear games apart. Fable, on the other hand, already had that issue and seems to be gaining traction now as something that might be better than people expected. The surprises are what delight gamers now.
Played the Rubato demo on my Switch 2 last night and I just have to remark about that because it was utterly fantastic and I’m looking forward to buying the full game in March now.
But, for the weekend, I’m working today and my birthday party’s tomorrow, sooo… I’m sure we’ll play some form of party game tomorrow. Jackbox or Mario Party or something along those lines.
With my birthday being so close, I’m sort of using that to play more games than usual. I did finally start Terranigma after years of wanting to see what it was about and it’s a really beautiful 16 bit JRPG. I’d really like to start the Seance of Blake Manor tonight. I was also able to find Vib Ribbon recently and that’s been a definite go-to game for me. Man, do I wish Sony would revisit Vib Ribbon and Parappa… That’s a wish for the birthday candles…
It honestly looked fantastic. I can’t wait to see more. It looks like it absolutely will carry the torch for what the series was and will be going forward.
Also, how crazy is it that Peter Molyneux is also releasing a game this year? Wouldn’t it be wild to Peter Molyneux’s game vs Fable for GotY?
We still no next to nothing about Xbox’s release slate this year unless it’s truly back heavy, which, given that GTA is allegedly incoming, that doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. I imagine we’ll probably get an update on this one in the summer in some capacity. We don’t even know about Gears or Halo, which are 2026 titles, so I’d imagine the ones without slated dates will get an update when they get an update. I’d like to see this one, but who knows? Clearly there’s more showcases to come as the release dates weren’t exactly all over the Developer Direct
I think the time has come when “Too Big to Fail” is over. Don’t buy it. Let them hurt from it. They got greedy with cutting corners with CoD and they had the worst launch in 17 years for the series. Let Forza have the same fate if they’re not giving a reasonable price for it. If the DLC is $60 in scope, it is, but I doubt it.
Bought both of these already to play on my Steamdeck for on the go play. Honestly, they both hold up really well in 2026 and they run far smoother than they did on my rig from ages ago AND I’d argue that both games are a better experience than Sims 3 and 4, even though 3 and 4 are more modern experiences.
8/10 for me. Fable looks fantastic and Beast looks really interesting. I’ll get them both… on PlayStation. I’m still meh on Forza. Kiln… I love Double Fine, but that doesn’t look like one of their better games.
I wonder if the surprise game will be Witchbrook. If it’s a “smaller indie game,” but also “ambitious,” that would sort of fit the bill if the rumors are accurate and it missed its winter 2025 release slate with no update, though it was advertised as a Gamepass title. It’s big enough for the showcase, I’d say, but small enough that it’d surprise those that haven’t followed the game for years.
It’s Life is Strange. I’m preordering it. I know everyone’s going to complain about it and meanwhile my wife and I will have fun with it just like we did with all of them so far.
I think it’ll hit with a thud on 1/26 and they’ll see how feedback is and make a call from there. These types of games are really expensive to make and it doesn’t make sense to delay it if it’s feature complete already. Delaying it won’t change how people feel about it, but word of mouth could.
I think I still have a few of these in storage. Child of Eden is disc only? I swear, I feel like I played it a year or two ago digitally? I could be wrong. Man, I love that game.
The Misadventures of Tron Bonne, perhaps. I’m really considering finally starting my Terranigma playthrough as well. The Seance of Blake Manor is sitting on my backlog, calling to me too. My cousin asked me to pick up this game called Fretless too and said it was basically a game made for him and I specifically when we were 14, so I’m sort of compelled to learn more.
No intention on renewing currently unless there’s a big stock of games I’d like to try and there’s a deal for a single month to try before I buy basically.
Remake was released five years ago on a previous generation of hardware and I’d say there’s still less than a dozen games released since it that have felt as massive. It’s an absolute classic and, if you love it, Rebirth is even better. Hopefully Xbox players can get to enjoy that one later in the year too.
Wishlisted and ready to purchase Day 1. I know Molyneux is full of it and full of himself, but he’s always made good games. I sort of miss the auteur era of gaming.
If you’re able to find one cheap and you’re subbed for xCloud, Xbox One can still play everything on the Series consoles. Sometimes through streaming, the games can play just about as well on the One as the Series X too if you’ve got a stable enough internet connection, or at least they could two years ago. When I unsubbed last summer, streaming was honestly a bit rougher, probably due to more people using the service (the Stadia era and early xCloud era of streaming games was underrated). Regardless, it can still reach that capacity. I’ve honestly used my Xbox One to play more Series exclusives than my S this generation, just because of its convenient placement in my house. It’s a solid machine.
Will be playing the Metal Gear Solid board game tonight with friends. Got my Steamdeck with me in case we do a bit of Arc Raiders too.
Tomorrow, I’d like to play more of the DQ7 demo too and maybe start Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn. I’d still like to start The Seance of Blake Manor with the wife too.
Realistically though, I’d not be surprised if I play some NES games and Cast ‘n Chill instead. I’ve been having more fun with my NES library than my modern library the last couple months. I’ve been loving exploring the lesser known games in the catalog. Things like Panic Restaurant, Whomp ‘Em, and even Japan only games like Mitsume Ga Tooru. One of these days soon I’m going to hop to the SNES too. As an American, I missed out on Terranigma. I’m definitely going to find time to play it this year. January could be a good month.
There’s so much to play! I’m glad nothing is coming out for me til Mario Tennis and RE9. I get so caught up in new releases sometimes that looking back feels so good right now.
It’d be cool if there was a cross remake of Fallout 3 and New Vegas where you have the same character in both worlds. I know that doesn’t really make sense, but I thought it would’ve been cool as a kid (though I was an adult when they both came out) and I still do.
@Balaam_ Everyone has different pillars, I suppose. Fable’s been dormant for ages though, so it makes sense why it may not be a pillar to some. To me, Fable’s more important than Forza and Gears, only second to Halo.
Guessing Clockwork Revolution is the fifth game. State of Decay would be nice, but it’s a meme now. Would be interesting to see Xbox pull a Pragmata at TGA and subtly drop that games are coming to Switch 2 after not being previously announced.
I anticipate Xbox is shifting to being a PC-based entity again, just where there’s more avenues to play the games, ie handhelds, phones, tablets, etc. Why invest in a mainstream console infrastructure if Sony and Nintendo can do that and you can make more money off of your games being sold on there?
Let’s face it: Xbox’s consoles right now are like a third shift employee that gets paid to hang out with a dozen regular customers a night rather than actually pushing any merchandise. Meanwhile, the cloud infrastructure is first shift and software is second shift.
I’m aiming to buy fewer games and play the games I buy. I reduced my purchasing in 2025 and still ended up buying more than 50 games and two consoles… I’m going to buy zero consoles in 2026 and try to purchase less than 30 games. I’m also going to aim to enjoy gaming more this year than last year. I sort of felt like I forced myself to play a few trendy games last year and I’m just really not going to try to keep up anymore unless I really like the games.
Maybe this is the weekend I finally tackle that Pragmata demo. I think I’ll play some Counter Strike and Cast ‘n Chill. I feel like going back to Sektori, Earthion, and Toree Saturn too for the fun of it. I bought Zak McKraken and the Alien Mindbenders yesterday too for old time’s sake. Maybe I’ll indulge in a classic for a bit. I don’t anticipate I’ll be playing anything consistently til February, so I’m just going to have some fun.
@Grumblevolcano This sounds pretty reasonable as there has been news circulating that people have tried the Starfield update. I think there’s more evidence to this being Bethesda’s current baby than a Fallout 3 remaster. Is there any proof on the Fallout 3 remaster? As much as I’m not really a remasters kind of guy, I know I won’t be able to resist that one.
An update on Clockwork Revolution, State of Decay, or Fable would be nice. I wouldn’t be surprised if the Plague Tale game gets a shout too. The Dev Direct is usually one of the best showcases of the year.
Comments 2,437
Re: Two Of Next Month's Xbox Game Pass Titles Now Have Free Demos
Downloading them both!
Re: Xbox Has A Top-Three Most Wishlisted 2026 Game On Steam Right Now
Subnautica is more popular than RE or Forza? That’s a surprise to me!
Re: Replaced's Final Previews Are In, And We Could Be In For A Big Surprise On Xbox Game Pass
This sounds like it was tailor made for me. Can’t wait to see if that turns out to be the case!
Re: Indie Publisher Spends $0 Marketing Their New Game, Sells Most Copies On Xbox
@SMJ You can search, but there shouldn’t be so much junk that the eshop is basically eslop. Like I said, you basically have to know what you’re looking for to find something decent. It’d be better for quality if there were stringent rules again.
Re: Indie Publisher Spends $0 Marketing Their New Game, Sells Most Copies On Xbox
@SMJ I dunno. I’ve played around 200-ish NES games and the bar of quality was a little higher in those days than currently and there were some clunkers back then too.
Re: Super Bomberman Collection Gets 'Very Positive' User Reviews Following Surprise Release
I feel very tempted to get this one. If only Saturn Bomberman was on there… it’d require no thinking if that was the case. It’s so cheap and I love the games, but I’m trying to save my eshop credit for things later… I am trying to be strong, but the lack of compelling games so far this year is making me weak. Lol
Re: Indie Publisher Spends $0 Marketing Their New Game, Sells Most Copies On Xbox
@Fiendish-Beaver This is 100% it. I was browsing the eshop with my son the other day on Switch and it was embarrassing. All the AI slop and hentai games are ridiculous on there. It’s impossible to find quality games on there if you don’t know what you’re looking for.
Last night, I browsed the upcoming games on PS5 with my wife and it was the same thing. I suspect I’m not the only one that feels that way when I’m searching games with my family. I get that not all gamers are family-based, but is there really that huge an audience for those types of games? I feel like PlayStation and Nintendo may be LOSING sales for indie games due to their lack of quality control. Steam has all the same junk on it, but I dunno, it feels like Steam has the courtesy to filter it at least.
Xbox is honestly probably getting an advantage with games like this due to their lack of slop and hentai games. 15 years ago when I was poorer and younger (and when Xbox was a larger platform and my preferred platform), I know if I had $5 in my wallet, I’d usually check around on a random night when I wasn’t playing anything and take a chance on a random cheap game, so I totally get the strategy for this developer. It’s smart and I’m glad that people still do what I used to do!
I do miss that Nintendo seal of quality approach to games sometimes though.
Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? (February 7-8)
I bought Battle of Asciion on the Steamdeck and that’s a neat little curio. I’m mostly playing “waiting for Mario Tennis to come out next week.” I’m feeling ready to play my “first big game of the year.”
I have eshop credit on the Switch and Bomberman is looking more appealing than it probably should because I’m ready to buy something good. I might do it. I started watching my son play Monster Hunter Stories 3 yesterday too and I suspect we’ll continue.
Re: Report: Microsoft Is In The Early Stages Of 'Expanding' Xbox Game Pass
I fully expect to never resub to GP. When they announced the price hikes, they only announced things I wouldn’t want and asked me to pay more. Create good games and I’ll play them on PlayStation, Switch, or Steam.
Re: 'We've Been Talking To Microsoft' - Epic Games Wants Its Store On The Next Xbox Console
I wonder how successful this strategy will be at large, as I am curious how casuals will feel. I can see having multiple stores on a console as something alienating to a segment of gamers that just want the console experience to be as simple as possible. We’re a bunch of enthusiasts on here, so, to me, it sounds intriguing, but I can’t help but think about accessibility for people that aren’t as dedicated as we all are.
I love my Steamdeck, for instance, but I know my family can’t use it without me setting things up for them, which makes them usually opt for easier platforms to use and make remarks on how they’d play it more if it was easier.
Also, if the next Xbox is basically a PC with a PC price with an Xbox UI as is rumored, what market exactly are they targeting? That would pivot Microsoft from competing with Nintendo and Sony to Steam, which seems sort of like an odd, less profitable pivot. Odd Microsoft does, but less profitable? I can’t see Nadella wanting that…
Re: We'll Start Seeing More GTA 6 This Summer Ahead Of November Launch, Says Take-Two CEO
@shiningpikablu252 I think Rockstar will do things on their own if recent history is any gauge. Xbox definitely won’t grab them, given how the Xbox brand is performing. Nintendo would be an odd choice, given how little Rockstar has pared with Nintendo historically. Rockstar seems most comfortable with Sony and we have some awareness that Sony is basing their release schedule around GTA6 this year, but I could see Rockstar feeling like they’re bigger than relying on Sony for marketing now. They even snubbed Geoff Keighley for that initial reveal.
I could honestly see Rockstar putting out an announcement the same day as Geoff’s summer showcase to undermine his relevance and the relevance of the rest of the industry at large. And they’d announce it the day before it happens.
Re: Pick One: What Was Your Favourite Xbox Game Pass Addition In January 2026?
Honestly, if you’re a casual that hasn’t kept up with games, that’s an A tier month. Death Stranding, Resident Evil Village, and The Sims 1 and 2 are all absolutely essential gaming. Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound is a strong retro style title and The Talos Principle 2 is an exceptional puzzle title. With Star Wars Outlaws, you’ve got a decent mainstream title. Mio is a day 1 artistically sound metroidvania, if flawed in its difficulty balance. Warhammer 40k Space Marine 2 is just far past its peak to have a second life with Gamepass too. I could go on, but I think that’s enough. There’s nothing for me here to push me to sub, but if you’re a Gamepass only gamer, as many are, the last month had variety, diversity, quality, and quantity.
Re: Xbox Game Pass: All Games Coming Soon In February 2026
Indika’s honestly a perfect fit for Gamepass to get more exposure. It was a bit janky at launch, but there’s genuinely no other game that is exactly like it. It plays like the dreams of vintage art cinema if influenced by retro video games. Highly memorable, but certainly not for everyone.
Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? (January 31 - February 1)
My Little Puppy is my game of the weekend. I started playing it with the wife and kids last night and it seems to be a short one. I imagine there’s a possibility I’ll complete the game and have yet more gaming time this weekend as the wife is sick and I expect she may want to rest rather than do our weekend plans, but I’m not sure what else I may play just yet.
Re: Review: Xbox Game Pass Shooter World War Z Delivers Fun The Walking Dead Shenanigans In Latest DLC
Never played World War Z, but you convinced me to give this one a shot for this. I love TWD, but the games are usually awful, so I’m happy to give it a shot, given the largely positive review
Re: Microsoft CFO Admits Xbox Revenue Was 'Below Expectations' In FY26 Q2
@dskatter it is annoying, especially when there’s a chunk of consumers now that actively won’t purchase something that is tied to AI. There’s a growing sentiment that AI content is slop. I don’t like Satya, but I do agree with him that AI content isn’t merely slop and certainly does have potential; HOWEVER, and it’s a huge HOWEVER, if consumer sentiment is increasingly growing anti-AI and the most successful AI content is slop, that makes touting AI as the strength of business less and less viable as consumers reject it.
Prepare for more layoffs at Xbox with this news. 5% is a large chunk to be down given the chunky price increase of Gamepass. That means the subscriber count dropped pretty significantly. Given how Xbox has been ran since Activision purchase, those numbers don’t align at all with the unrealistic financial goals Xbox was hoisted with.
Re: Xbox's Blizzard Team Announces Multiple Showcases Laying Out The Company's Future
@Jenkinss More than 20 years ago now, we were saying that about StarCraft Ghost. I want to believe it’s real this time.
Re: Xbox's Blizzard Team Announces Multiple Showcases Laying Out The Company's Future
I’d love to see the future of Starcraft? Is there a future of Starcraft?
Re: Rumour: Xbox Might Be Planning A Second Developer Direct Showcase For 2026
I’d honestly love that. I like showcases that get us a lot of information, but Developer Directs are genuinely fun to watch when you’re excited about one of the games.
Re: In The US, 66% Of Xbox Series X|S Sales Were Digital-Only In 2025
My son got a Portal for Christmas and was so excited! …but he practically never uses it. The Portal attach rate is impressive, but I wonder how widespread its use is.
As for my gaming library, my Xbox and PS5?libraries have been digital for a little more than ten years. I have some physical Xbox One games and some physical PS4 games, but I went mostly digital with Xbox in maybe 2012 and by 2020, I was fully digital everywhere outside the Switch, which I’ll remain physical with until I can no longer do so.
Re: Fable Could Finally Be Xbox's Big 'Game Of The Year' Contender, But There's One Problem
@OldGamer999 @Weebleman It’ll definitely reach people that don’t really game so much and I suspect it’ll be a massive hit. Most people, after all, only play F2P live service games, EA sports, CoD, and GTA. I’d honestly expect that PS2 is the most successful console of all time as a huge part because GTA and Rockstar were in their prime and launching games yearly.
Don’t get me wrong. I love Rockstar’s output and GTA is a series I’ve enjoyed a lot. It’ll be the biggest seller in 2026. I just think it may not be the critical darling previous GTA games were or that RDR was. I think there’s been a huge shift in culture for what games were in 2013–or even 2018–and 2026.
Re: Why Is Nobody Talking About One Of The Best Xbox Exclusives Of 2025?
I think it’s probably because it launched in December when gaming media typically slows to focus on GotY. I’ll check this one out, didn’t realize it was already out.
Re: Fable Could Finally Be Xbox's Big 'Game Of The Year' Contender, But There's One Problem
Calling it now: GTA6 is, has been, and will be overrated. I have a feeling it’ll be the zeitgeist we think it will be, but people will be more critical, so it might not be the direct smash it might’ve been if it released maybe five years ago when people weren’t as primed to tear games apart. Fable, on the other hand, already had that issue and seems to be gaining traction now as something that might be better than people expected. The surprises are what delight gamers now.
Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? (January 24-25)
Played the Rubato demo on my Switch 2 last night and I just have to remark about that because it was utterly fantastic and I’m looking forward to buying the full game in March now.
But, for the weekend, I’m working today and my birthday party’s tomorrow, sooo… I’m sure we’ll play some form of party game tomorrow. Jackbox or Mario Party or something along those lines.
With my birthday being so close, I’m sort of using that to play more games than usual. I did finally start Terranigma after years of wanting to see what it was about and it’s a really beautiful 16 bit JRPG. I’d really like to start the Seance of Blake Manor tonight. I was also able to find Vib Ribbon recently and that’s been a definite go-to game for me. Man, do I wish Sony would revisit Vib Ribbon and Parappa… That’s a wish for the birthday candles…
Re: Opinion: Xbox Dev Direct 2026 Was Great, And One Game Clearly Stole The Show
It honestly looked fantastic. I can’t wait to see more. It looks like it absolutely will carry the torch for what the series was and will be going forward.
Also, how crazy is it that Peter Molyneux is also releasing a game this year? Wouldn’t it be wild to Peter Molyneux’s game vs Fable for GotY?
Re: Xbox Studios Boss Shares Update On Progress For State Of Decay 3
We still no next to nothing about Xbox’s release slate this year unless it’s truly back heavy, which, given that GTA is allegedly incoming, that doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. I imagine we’ll probably get an update on this one in the summer in some capacity. We don’t even know about Gears or Halo, which are 2026 titles, so I’d imagine the ones without slated dates will get an update when they get an update. I’d like to see this one, but who knows? Clearly there’s more showcases to come as the release dates weren’t exactly all over the Developer Direct
Re: Forza Horizon 6's Controversial Game Pass Upgrade Costs As Much As The Game Itself
I think the time has come when “Too Big to Fail” is over. Don’t buy it. Let them hurt from it. They got greedy with cutting corners with CoD and they had the worst launch in 17 years for the series. Let Forza have the same fate if they’re not giving a reasonable price for it. If the DLC is $60 in scope, it is, but I doubt it.
Re: Xbox Has Just Quietly Added Two Sims Classics To PC Game Pass
Bought both of these already to play on my Steamdeck for on the go play. Honestly, they both hold up really well in 2026 and they run far smoother than they did on my rig from ages ago AND I’d argue that both games are a better experience than Sims 3 and 4, even though 3 and 4 are more modern experiences.
Re: Poll: How Would You Grade 2026's Xbox Developer Direct?
8/10 for me. Fable looks fantastic and Beast looks really interesting. I’ll get them both… on PlayStation. I’m still meh on Forza. Kiln… I love Double Fine, but that doesn’t look like one of their better games.
Re: Xbox Developer Direct 2026: Event Date, Start Times & What To Expect From The Showcase
I wonder if the surprise game will be Witchbrook. If it’s a “smaller indie game,” but also “ambitious,” that would sort of fit the bill if the rumors are accurate and it missed its winter 2025 release slate with no update, though it was advertised as a Gamepass title. It’s big enough for the showcase, I’d say, but small enough that it’d surprise those that haven’t followed the game for years.
Re: Life Is Strange: Reunion Finishes Max & Chloe's Story On Xbox This March
It’s Life is Strange. I’m preordering it. I know everyone’s going to complain about it and meanwhile my wife and I will have fun with it just like we did with all of them so far.
Re: Talking Point: Do You Think The Game Awards FPS 'Highguard' Will Actually Hit Xbox Next Week?
I think it’ll hit with a thud on 1/26 and they’ll see how feedback is and make a call from there. These types of games are really expensive to make and it doesn’t make sense to delay it if it’s feature complete already. Delaying it won’t change how people feel about it, but word of mouth could.
Re: 50 Backwards Compatible Xbox Games That Are 'Disc Only' In 2026
I think I still have a few of these in storage. Child of Eden is disc only? I swear, I feel like I played it a year or two ago digitally? I could be wrong. Man, I love that game.
Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? (January 17-18)
The Misadventures of Tron Bonne, perhaps. I’m really considering finally starting my Terranigma playthrough as well. The Seance of Blake Manor is sitting on my backlog, calling to me too. My cousin asked me to pick up this game called Fretless too and said it was basically a game made for him and I specifically when we were 14, so I’m sort of compelled to learn more.
Re: Talking Point: How Do You Feel About Xbox Game Pass In 2026?
No intention on renewing currently unless there’s a big stock of games I’d like to try and there’s a deal for a single month to try before I buy basically.
Re: I've Never Played Final Fantasy 7 Before, But I'm Liking The Remake On Xbox So Far
Remake was released five years ago on a previous generation of hardware and I’d say there’s still less than a dozen games released since it that have felt as massive. It’s an absolute classic and, if you love it, Rebirth is even better. Hopefully Xbox players can get to enjoy that one later in the year too.
Re: Xbox Legend Major Nelson Announces He's Been Laid Off From Unity
Xbox could use someone with his marketing talent.
Re: Fable Creator's 'Masters of Albion' Gets Official Release Date, But It's PC-Only At Launch
Wishlisted and ready to purchase Day 1. I know Molyneux is full of it and full of himself, but he’s always made good games. I sort of miss the auteur era of gaming.
Re: Rumour: Ninja Theory's 'Project: Mara' Was Just A Concept, Hellblade 3 Could Be Their Next Game
That would be extremely disappointing…
Re: Xbox Game Pass Players Are Getting A Fantastic Survival Horror Experience Next Week
Village is better than 4, in my opinion. I know it’s not a common opinion, but it’s the second best game in the series, behind only 7.
Re: Is It Worth Buying An Xbox One In 2026?
If you’re able to find one cheap and you’re subbed for xCloud, Xbox One can still play everything on the Series consoles. Sometimes through streaming, the games can play just about as well on the One as the Series X too if you’ve got a stable enough internet connection, or at least they could two years ago. When I unsubbed last summer, streaming was honestly a bit rougher, probably due to more people using the service (the Stadia era and early xCloud era of streaming games was underrated). Regardless, it can still reach that capacity. I’ve honestly used my Xbox One to play more Series exclusives than my S this generation, just because of its convenient placement in my house. It’s a solid machine.
Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? (January 10-11)
Will be playing the Metal Gear Solid board game tonight with friends. Got my Steamdeck with me in case we do a bit of Arc Raiders too.
Tomorrow, I’d like to play more of the DQ7 demo too and maybe start Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn. I’d still like to start The Seance of Blake Manor with the wife too.
Realistically though, I’d not be surprised if I play some NES games and Cast ‘n Chill instead. I’ve been having more fun with my NES library than my modern library the last couple months. I’ve been loving exploring the lesser known games in the catalog. Things like Panic Restaurant, Whomp ‘Em, and even Japan only games like Mitsume Ga Tooru. One of these days soon I’m going to hop to the SNES too. As an American, I missed out on Terranigma. I’m definitely going to find time to play it this year. January could be a good month.
There’s so much to play! I’m glad nothing is coming out for me til Mario Tennis and RE9. I get so caught up in new releases sometimes that looking back feels so good right now.
Re: Poll: In Order, Which Games Are You Most Excited For At The Xbox Developer Direct?
1. Fable
2. Beast
3. The surprise
4. Forza
To be honest, Forza doesn’t do much for me. Fable, I’m already sold. Beast looks like it could be really cool and I’m always down for surprise games.
Re: StarCraft, Wolfenstein 3 & Fallout New Vegas Remake Could All Be In The Works Over At Xbox
Took them long enough to finish Starcraft: Ghost.
It’d be cool if there was a cross remake of Fallout 3 and New Vegas where you have the same character in both worlds. I know that doesn’t really make sense, but I thought it would’ve been cool as a kid (though I was an adult when they both came out) and I still do.
Re: Xbox Reporter Teases What Might Be Shown At Developer Direct, Including A Potential Surprise
@Balaam_ Everyone has different pillars, I suppose. Fable’s been dormant for ages though, so it makes sense why it may not be a pillar to some. To me, Fable’s more important than Forza and Gears, only second to Halo.
Guessing Clockwork Revolution is the fifth game. State of Decay would be nice, but it’s a meme now. Would be interesting to see Xbox pull a Pragmata at TGA and subtly drop that games are coming to Switch 2 after not being previously announced.
Re: Feature: 30 Xbox Series X|S Games To Look Forward To In 2026
Is Beast of Reincarnation an Xbox exclusive?
Re: Xbox Console Sales 'The Worst On Record' In 2025 As Microsoft Shifts Focus (UK)
I anticipate Xbox is shifting to being a PC-based entity again, just where there’s more avenues to play the games, ie handhelds, phones, tablets, etc. Why invest in a mainstream console infrastructure if Sony and Nintendo can do that and you can make more money off of your games being sold on there?
Let’s face it: Xbox’s consoles right now are like a third shift employee that gets paid to hang out with a dozen regular customers a night rather than actually pushing any merchandise. Meanwhile, the cloud infrastructure is first shift and software is second shift.
Re: Talking Point: What Are Your New Year's Resolutions For Gaming In 2026?
I’m aiming to buy fewer games and play the games I buy. I reduced my purchasing in 2025 and still ended up buying more than 50 games and two consoles… I’m going to buy zero consoles in 2026 and try to purchase less than 30 games. I’m also going to aim to enjoy gaming more this year than last year. I sort of felt like I forced myself to play a few trendy games last year and I’m just really not going to try to keep up anymore unless I really like the games.
Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? (January 3-4)
Maybe this is the weekend I finally tackle that Pragmata demo. I think I’ll play some Counter Strike and Cast ‘n Chill. I feel like going back to Sektori, Earthion, and Toree Saturn too for the fun of it. I bought Zak McKraken and the Alien Mindbenders yesterday too for old time’s sake. Maybe I’ll indulge in a classic for a bit. I don’t anticipate I’ll be playing anything consistently til February, so I’m just going to have some fun.
Re: Xbox Developer Direct Has Always Had A Surprise, But What About January 2026's Showcase?
@Grumblevolcano This sounds pretty reasonable as there has been news circulating that people have tried the Starfield update. I think there’s more evidence to this being Bethesda’s current baby than a Fallout 3 remaster. Is there any proof on the Fallout 3 remaster? As much as I’m not really a remasters kind of guy, I know I won’t be able to resist that one.
An update on Clockwork Revolution, State of Decay, or Fable would be nice. I wouldn’t be surprised if the Plague Tale game gets a shout too. The Dev Direct is usually one of the best showcases of the year.