somnambulance

I hate to say it, but I’m hoping Bethesda bins the support of Starfield, so that we can get Elder Scrolls 6 in the next 20 years.

@AverageJoseph Admittedly, I’ve not played that one, but I will now. I’m not particularly a player of deck building games, but I’ll give it a shot

I bought the game on Switch. I’ll wait to resub to Gamepass til my son’s birthday next week since he wants that as a present.

That said, Silksong easily tops anything that’s been on GPU all year. While Death Stranding 2 will remain my GotY no matter what, Silksong even in the early goings is making a strong case of being my second favorite game this year

Silksong and then more Silksong and then more Silksong.

No, I will not. Never.

@BAMozzy I really appreciate your thorough response on the matter and I’ve definitely learned something reading this. It does make me wonder what the future holds for Xbox, whether they are using this as a beta test of sorts on developing what the next standard Xbox comes to be. Seems like portable is going to be the next push from MS and Sony, but it’ll be interesting to see how it is implemented and what the meaning of a console will be next generation.

@BAMozzy That’s good to hear the actual improvements over the basic Ally. The previous iteration was a decent device to me, but when I demoed it at a friends’ place, I just didn’t like the “feel” of it as much as say the Steamdeck or Switch 1 or 2. I am surprised these types of devices don’t override the UI to reduce the Windows waste though, you know? Even if it’s Windows-based, you’d think MS would streamline things just a bit. It does sound like an improved device, just with a lot of the same functionality concerns as previous devices in the Ally line.

In other words… it’s just another ROG Ally, just with some Xbox branding this time in an effort to sell hundreds of additional handhelds?

The novelty of Halo coming to PlayStation will dwarf this, I’m certain.

Y’know, I was curious about those Cronos and Hell is Us reviews and was thinking about maybe one of those being for me, but… then Silksong dropped that launch date and I think I know what I’m playing next weekend!

I’m just trying to beat Death Stranding 2 before Silksong. I don’t know if it’s going to happen, but I want it to!

Fable for sure. I’d love to see Halo too, but I’m not holding my breath on that!

The Rogue Prince of Persia is the best of the bunch here, in my opinion. August was sort of a weak month for Gamepass. At least the service looks to be picking up the next couple months.

I don’t think I’ll ever get the hype over games with the initials G.o.W. I mean that for the both of them.

I’m aiming to beat Death Stranding 2 before Silksong comes out, though I won’t be home for most of the weekend, so… yes…
I did bring my Switch 2 along with me though and so I’ll likely fire up UFO 50 and Chibi Robo in the meantime.

@Millionski Yeah, I basically agree with you. I can’t honestly say anything I’m excited for that’s exclusive to either platform in 2026.

But I do want the gimmicks, which is probably why Nintendo has been drawing me in. Drag X Drive and Welcome Tour aren’t classic games, but, man, do I appreciate when games feel unique and like authentically new experiences.

Will it come with a Samus costume like Skyrim had Link? I could see Starfield finding more success on Switch 2. I mean, Skyrim was practically on a second wave in the early Switch 1 era.

Honestly, the price is better than I would’ve expected. It’s still expensive to me and I’m not getting one, but I expected a far more ludicrous price. That said though, I’m not sure if it’ll be able shift people from other handhelds in this economy. I see this being an enthusiast’s device, same as the existing Ally rather than breaking through like a Steamdeck (which, let’s be real, is also mostly an enthusiast’s device still currently) or Switch 2.

@Millionski I’ve been buying multiple platforms for like four generations now. Right now, I can’t honestly say why I’d buy another Xbox or PlayStation in the future. I always liked Xbox AND PlayStation. It’s just that right now neither of them are prioritizing quality games, it seems.

Capcom is basically carrying the industry at this point, aren’t they?

Unbeatable was a real highlight for me. Outside Resident Evil, I think that’s the only game showcased today I’d like to buy at launch.

When I’d put Bubsy in my top 5 announcements today though, that says a lot about the current state of gaming, doesn’t it?

@Millionski Which basically means that neither platform will be as exciting in the future, unfortunately. I’ve never felt more distant from both Sony and Microsoft, personally, than I have over the course of this generation.

@Coletrain Death Stranding is easy to explain without talking about the characters! It’s a game where you play as a delivery man who is connecting the world with each stop he makes! My son got that! Lol.

But yeah I totally understand that. Until the second half of the Xbox One generation when I got the Switch and PS4, I was basically the same with my habits, but then Xbox just… didn’t really do much for a while with making exclusives, so I started playing other consoles, and with this generation, it just never felt like Xbox got back to what worked for me most. Ironically enough when I talk about a good first party and indie line-up, that’s what Xbox used to have in the 360 days and some of the Xbox One days.

@DonnieTACO Interesting perspective to me considering that Donkey Kong Bananza and Mario Kart World were both top shelf. I’d even go so far as say that DKB may be a 10/10 for me. Of the big three, I’d say Nintendo’s current line-up for the rest of the year is my favorite of the three. Death Stranding 2 is certainly going to be my GotY, but Switch 2 has woken up a bit of my interest in gaming again, just like the Switch 1 did years ago. It feels like first party and indies will be strong on the console.

I would hazard to guess Madden is on the front page since the franchise has been absent from Nintendo consoles for a full generation and it’s a selling point for people to return if they’ve been absent from the ecosystem. It’s not for me, but it would make sense why someone out there would find excitement from it.

@Coletrain it really took a lot of thinking time, and honestly this was the perfect year to make a decision like that. The first half of the year was almost certainly Gamepass-centric, but then it’s gotten sparse for a little while. Since getting the Switch 2 though, I’ve found that I can play more in portable mode right now and that the games I play are ok for my kids to watch. Only non-Switch game I’m playing is Death Stranding 2 and my son asked me one time, “Is this one even fun to play? I’m not sure if it is.” I said, “Absolutely, it is,” but it did give me some perspective too. Lol.

@Coletrain That’s my concern is missing games, but I just have more fun with their first party games and am frankly getting to a time in my life where I don’t have as much gaming time, so I’m going to have to be aware I can’t play everything I would want to.

On the case of GTA6, I’m honestly not even sure that’s one I’ll pick up at the moment. Given its nature (and how I can’t play it around the kids), the rumors of increased pricing, and my limited gaming time, I might skip it. It feels weird to say that, but I may have to admit it doesn’t fit what I can play right now.

For two generations, I’d have called Xbox my primary console, but so much damage has been done this generation that I’m not sure I’ll ever feel that way again. Granted, I never thought I’d be Nintendo first again, but the difference there is that Nintendo has the exclusivity of their IPs. I can’t honestly say that I have any interest in purchasing the next Xbox and I feel that they’re wrapping up this generation of consoles just when it feels they’ve finally started the generation within the last 2-ish years.

Reading recaps while I’m at work, of course.

Death Stranding 2 and UFO 50. I get the feeling I’ll be saying that every weekend until I beat Death Stranding 2. Unless we get a shadow drop of something truly exciting at Gamescom, I think this might be a lock til sometime in September.

@Ricky-Spanish I doubt they’d cancel it at this point. I do know it’s been in development for ages though. If I remember correctly, it’s been in development since at least 2018, so jeez you’d hope 8 years would be enough. If we weren’t told that Everwild and Perfect Dark were progressing nicely 6 months before they were both cancelled, I’d feel more at ease. 😂

Hopefully they’re just holding back on the game to allow it to release outside of the GTA6 release window? Hopefully that’s the issue.

@FarmDog08 Didn’t Team Cherry sort of deny that in saying that Xbox may have misspoken about it releasing with the Xbox Ally? I could be wrong, of course.

@Ricky-Spanish I felt the same about Fable not being on there. I’m sort of wondering if Fable’s in a rougher spot than we all realize. I mean, some games that we thought were in good shape were just cancelled recently, you know? But then again, Gamescom isn’t a Summer Games Fest/E3 or The Game Awards either, where trailers are more emphasized than actual hands-on gameplay, so Xbox could be saving the big guns for a more prominent venue.

No Silksong…. huh….

Going to be totally honest about this list… I’m skipping this year’s showcase for sure. A bunch of old games on other platforms, live service titles, etc. I think Keeper and Silent Hill F might be the only games I’m interested in on the list… that I haven’t played in some capacity.

I just want release dates for Fable and OD. I’d like to see Halo cross over to PlayStation and Switch too.

I just want Silksong’s release date from Xbox right now at this point. If Fable and Halo arrive, I’d like that, but I don’t expect it.

Not really expecting much from Gamescom. It’s a decent showcase, but it’s rare that we get something totally unexpected from the showcase. I’m more hopeful to see the rest of Nintendo’s first party line-up this year get release dates? Metroid Prime 4 is a bigger deal to me than GTA6.

Chicken made with generative AI is officially on the menu.

I played it at launch on my PS5. I had surgery around the time when it came out, so I blasted through it, and honestly enjoyed it a lot. It was a good distraction from some of the real life stuff I was dealing with at the time. The story is a little bland, but the gameplay’s solid. I’d say it might be my favorite modern AC game, even if I’m overrating it completely due to the circumstances in which I played it. Shadows is better looking, Valhalla’s more memorable, the story’s better in Origins, and there’s significantly more to do in Odyssey, but Mirage doesn’t overstay its welcome and it goes back to what made the series interesting in the first place.

Going to keep on keeping on with Death Stranding 2 and UFO 50 with a bit of Is This Seat Taken?

Oh maybe Drag X Drive’s beta too!

Jeez, everyone, calm down! This doesn’t mean there will be no more support. No, it means their marketing guy was part of the 50% laid off and Microsoft just forgot to turn the social media bot on.

Tony Hawk was my last Gamepass game before my sub ran out, so that one!

Seriously though, that’s the only one I had passing interest in this month.

Rare’s anniversary is celebrated just a few weeks after the team suffered layoffs and had their big project cancelled. Feels a little hollow seeing this. Hopefully the art wasn’t AI generated!

That’s fine with me. Keep putting resources into a new experience!

Maybe I’ll get back to Death Stranding 2 after putting it on hiatus for Donkey Kong Bananza. Realistically, I’m in no rush to play through it though, as I gotta be honest… that release slate in August and September isn’t calling my name right now.

Outside that, it’ll be Ninja Gaiden Ragebound and Time Flies, which I started both yesterday and it doesn’t seem it’ll take long to beat either of them.

@BattleMonkey Blue Prince was fantastic. It’s been a solid year for GP overall. I’ve enjoyed a lot of games on the service this year. My top 10 this year was almost entirely GP games until the Switch 2 launched. I just wish GP was still cheaper. It was a better value a few years ago. Hoping for some surprisingly solid indies to drop in the fall perhaps since that tends to happen.

@Millionski DK is absolutely insane as a game, isn’t it? I just finished it the other day and it made me happy in a way so few games have. I’ve decided to get all third party games on Switch 2 as possible for the time being. I love the machine, but I wish there were more games for it. To be fair to Xbox, I’ve not been playing as much PlayStation as in previous years either. This is the first year since 2017 where I’ve played more Xbox than PlayStation, but I suspect DS2 and Ghost may level that out.

@BattleMonkey Depends on the games, honestly. Since the Switch 2 came out, I’ve been mostly playing that. I’ve also been playing my PS5 a little bit too for Death Stranding 2. I haven’t used my Xbox since my GP sub ran out about a week or two ago. I sub to GP whenever there’s something I want to play on it that’s cheaper than buying the game, but otherwise I don’t tend to stay subbed full time. Xbox was my primary platform for about a decade, but I stopped doing so following the Switch 1 launch. I’ve drifted further from Xbox over the last decade or so due to their lack of focus on exclusives and first party games. I’ll definitely resub to GP at some point, but that’s certainly to be determined at this point. I wouldn’t say there’s anything else this year that’s calling to me right now, outside Silksong and Witchbrook, which I’ll buy both… physically if possible for Switch 2. Feels like I’m waiting for Halo and Fable for Xbox right now.

The month my sub ran out, huh? Guess that sends a good message to the executives about all the layoffs being a good idea.

@Questionable_Duck If any game could pull off the price hike, it’s CoD. Basically CoD, Mario Kart, and GTA may be the only games I could see people getting stuck with the hikes… but suck it up all the same.

It’s interesting to see people celebrate this when… honestly, this is The Outer Worlds 2. It’s still not really a massive release. I could be wrong, but $70 might still be a big ask. I’d imagine the preorders have been Concordian, which caused the price decrease, not “the public won” spin that they’re going to pull. But, even still, going down $10, I don’t think they’re going to be that much better.

I know a lot of people are upset on here, but I loved the Ori games and will gladly get this on Switch 2 day one.

Last game I bought on Xbox was the Midway Arcade Collection about 2 years ago. Before that, it was Dragon Ball FighterZ at launch. I basically only use my Xbox when and if I’m subbed to Gamepass at this point. I’m currently not, so it’s just sort of a Minecraft box for my kids at the moment.

Donkey Kong Bananza for sure. Playing the Switch again just makes gaming so much more convenient, as I’d gone back to playing Switch more heavily while my PS5 was in the shop and I sort of noticed I was gaming more, but bugging my wife less about it because it felt like I was gaming less due to shorter sessions. DK is absolutely fantastic, by the way.

I’d like to play more Death Stranding 2 though.

Honestly, both games are so good, it’s insane. It’s crazy how these two games are just so beyond anything else that’s released this year. Haven’t enjoyed two games in tandem so much since the crowded second half of 2019.

Always next year with Xbox…

Keeper by a wide mile for me. Not sure how I feel about Outer Worlds 2, no interest at all in CoD, and I’ll take a 2D Ninja Gaiden in Ragebound asap, but never particularly liked the 3D entries.