Comments 1,051

Re: Bethesda Says Starfield Looks 'Amazing' With Nvidia's DLSS 5, But Don't Expect It On Xbox

theduckofdeath

@Th3_Highlander What do you mean? It will only run Nvidia hardware, likely 50xx series and up. We don't know how performant it will be with other settings considered. That is a small subset of people who can enable the tech. NTM, the computations are dependent from the native artwork. The devs/artists will still build the traditionally rendered models and scenes as a basis and for everyone with lesser hardware.

Re: Xbox Head Doubles Down On The Importance Of Console, Says It's A 'Reference Experience'

theduckofdeath

@Fiendish-Beaver I would like to see a breakdown of sales in dollars and units of the games that were ported to PS5 versus the same data on Xbox. Now, it has only been a couple years, still, it would be interesting to see.

A game like CoD would have a much bigger sales impact on PS5, especially with its inclusion in Game Pass on Xbox. Most games I'd imagine far closer in sales. Game Pass blows up player count, so not quite a fair comparison.

Regardless of difference in installed base counts of each console, how many of those consoles have owners that buy games regularly? The number may be similar across both consoles. The "extra" users become more relevant for sales of games like CoD and GTA.

Re: Silent Hill: Townfall Not Coming To Xbox At Launch, Along With A Few Other State Of Play Titles

theduckofdeath

@StylesT Sony fans always have to time travel back to RotTR for an example of Xbox paying for exclusivity. Whereas when arguing against Sony, anyone could start in the present and cite 3-5 examples per year. Without RotTR, they would have to go back GTA 4 DLC (if they are old enough to remember).

Regarding STALKER 2, yes, the studio is a foreign indie dev that lost parts of their team to war and were working under duress (bombing). Half the team and members of their families had to flee the country. MS aiding them during the development. Additionally, the STALKER series had remained a PC series all these years, and this was the first time it was coming to console.

The documentary chronicling the war and STALKER 2 development is something I think people should watch.

Re: Silent Hill: Townfall Not Coming To Xbox At Launch, Along With A Few Other State Of Play Titles

theduckofdeath

@OldGamer999 I agree with you there. There is little use I find in a separate Sony (or whomever) show today that does not showcase their own games. Nor should it be judged as if these games are Sony-produced. PS and Xbox third-party libraries have become virtually identical, save for a handful of games Sony continues to pay for exclusivity or interject themselves in the publishing. These are practices that should be admonished, as they cut of players from games and are often predatory. Sony's internal development efforts have been cut back.

Re: Report: Microsoft Is In The Early Stages Of 'Expanding' Xbox Game Pass

theduckofdeath

@fabio1 Fortnite crew may not be something that you or I use, but it offers a significant savings to many people. Xbox has the data — they know EXACTLY how many people on Game Pass were paying for Fortnite crew, and I think it safe to say we may be outnumbered. Anyway, prices go up over time, and you need to take advantage of any break MS or a retailer offers. No one interested in videogames should be caught off guard.

There's also the reality that MS/Xbox is releasing more and more games into Game Pass each year. They're piling up.

Re: Report: Microsoft Is In The Early Stages Of 'Expanding' Xbox Game Pass

theduckofdeath

@fabio1 How is it "worse"? More expensive for Ultimate, yes. They've added more services/features and more games. Every service goes up in price over time.

You don't feel it if you stacked for years ahead of time. Which anyone who is actually price-sensitive would think to do beforehand. On top of that I get $10/month back from Xbox and sometimes redeem for $25.

Who supposedly "left" the platform? Who in their right mind would go to PS5? Better to go PC. Reality is that you can be on multiple platforms at once.

Re: 'We've Been Talking To Microsoft' - Epic Games Wants Its Store On The Next Xbox Console

theduckofdeath

@Savex Well, everyone has been assuming and trivializing the effort to make an Xbox console that runs PC games. They want PC capabilities while somehow the device not being a PC. The simplest route would be for the device to run Windows 11/12 or a variant. The console-only folks act like their heads would explode if that were the case.

MS stripped down Windows to fashion the OG Xbox OS. We can assume they started over and did it again for 360 and Xbox One. This time, they would have to leave far more functionality intact. So, the question(s) remain if the next Xbox will optionally dual boot. We know it will run legacy games.

Windows will get some tweaking for games, regardless of if it is the sole OS for the new box(es).

Re: Talking Point: One Year Later, How Do You Feel About Xbox RPG Avowed?

theduckofdeath

@mac_da_man How was Avowed lacking in physics? The explosions effects to bodies and debris were very well done. Compact had weight and impact. The stuff that comes to mind to complain about is in most action/adventure games (e.g. laser-accurate projectiles, screened from your vision by enemies, passing harmlessly through enemy bodies to hit your character).

Re: In The US, 66% Of Xbox Series X|S Sales Were Digital-Only In 2025

theduckofdeath

Not a concern. These companies can sell an external drive and cut costs. I have a functioning One X and Series X that can play movie & game discs. One PC that still has a DVD R/W, with more drives in storage.

My physical games just take up space and the handful I bought this gen, swiftly emerged on Game Pass. I can't remember the last game I bought physically for PC. Maybe the original STALKER or FEAR.

Re: Roundup: Here's What Was Revealed At The Xbox Developer Direct 2026 Showcase

theduckofdeath

@Questionable_Duck The issue is that Xbox fans won't stop dwelling on the PS ports, PS fanboys sadly taunt them over it, and the media/YTbers uses it for traffic. The media refuses to acknowledge how well Xbox is doing nor how anemic PS production is. Even Xbox YTbers will yack for 10 minutes per video speculating on what will be ported to PS, day one, timed-exclusive, and so on. Xbox fans want to hear Xbox news & game discussion, not be reminded and antagonized by that nonsense.

Xbox and PS players have their minds in a console-focused vice. A console/system was always just a conduit to our homes/wallets. Spencer said, "it's just four games; it's only a test." Well, the test passed! The idea that MS should forego additional sales in the hopes that MS would eek out a few more million Series sales is irrational. Yes, I wanted to see Xbox hold back games, maybe 6 months to a year (or indefinitely), as much as any Xbox fan.

If you had a product to sell in stores, would you only transport it over roads & bridges you built and sell it in stores you own? Maybe to start out, but if production expands and the product catalog grows, you are going to have to look for additional avenues. Your company is not going to wait for new roadways and stores to be built, when zoning/permits land & construction costs and time are an issue. You will use existing ones.

I don't think people realize Microsoft is looking to dominate the game industry. They are looking to take over a large segment. Once they acquired ABK, it forced the question, "Why NOT sell more games on PS?" Even if exactly the same amount of people over there are likely to play/buy an Xbox game (ignoring Game Pass), that is double the audience. You pay a toll to use their roads & shelves, and the rest is profit. Five years in, with all the factors affecting the console & PC market (e.g. component costs, tariffs), there was no winning that argument in favor of exclusivity. No gradual increase to Series consoles was going to compete with the entire addressable console market right NOW and going forward.

Then there's Game Pass. Fantastic service. Some sales will be lost to the service, yes. Examine people's attitudes about it. They almost relish in weaseling out of a purchase by manipulating rewards and $1 deals and subbing for a month to rifle through a new 1st party game. If that's your attitude, you lose credibility complaining about PS ports at that point.

Oh...Before I forget, the FH6 Premium upgrade is $59.99. The Premium edition is $119.00. Up $20 for the first time since FH3. Looks like they threw in two car packs, though.

Re: Three Casual Xbox Games Arrived For 'Free' Over Christmas, Easy Achievements On Offer

theduckofdeath

@ThatFilbo I'm not sure if a significant amount of people care about achievements. The game itself the attraction. If Xbox games had some sort of achievement for getting all the achievements, that wouldn't spur me to any greater degree to pursue them. I guess it couldn't hurt.

People chasing achievements or trophies are likely using guides to pull it off, and that way of playing is of no interest to me. There's not much point to me if I'm enlisting help simply to check all the boxes off a list.

Re: Three Casual Xbox Games Arrived For 'Free' Over Christmas, Easy Achievements On Offer

theduckofdeath

@Fiendish-Beaver I like those, too. Well, I play every game on the highest difficulty, so completing it once means you get the achievements for all difficulties. Guessing what will be an achievement or otherwise hidden item (I don't look them up) and trying to pull it off blind can be fun.

I don't usually go back if I missed something, though. No need to get 100% of the achievements.

Re: Hands On: Perfect Dark Zero Is A Bizarre Time Capsule Of The Early Xbox 360 Days

theduckofdeath

@Banjo- I was a huge fan of PDZ back in the early 360 days. The harder the difficulty, the more enemy types and threats you faced. The mechanical problems it had were never addressed (not on XB1/Series or in RARE Replay), though they could have been remedied by a PC release. The cover system was unresponsive, and the aiming managed to be stiff AND loose at the same time. The frame rate needed to be higher and steady.

The cancellation of the new PD was rough, though I understand. The team spent years and likely 1-2 hundred million dollars spinning their wheels. Other projects showed similar progress and were canned.

As for the new PD's Joanna model...I admit that when she wingsuit'ed out of the plane, I said, "PERFECT DARK!" When she took off her helmet, I said, "Ugh!" out loud. LOL. It was an honest reaction.

Re: Poll: Now That The Dust Has Settled, Which Xbox Game Pass Tier Are You Subscribed To?

theduckofdeath

@PushinPetunias Ultimate has been worth it the whole time. It was cheap as hell. The price has gone up over the years and so have the offerings. People feel entitled. That why people mention "50%" increase rather than $10 increase — because $10 is a pittance. We are on a forum discussing videogames, for Christ's sake, not the price of bread.

People also conveniently leave out rewards points, which with legitimate use (no funny business) you could not ever have paid for Game Pass and have that continue for the next few years.