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.

@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.

@Fiendish-Beaver Well, being a videogame console, it is full of concessions by definition, no? Every generation they trail far behind PC and the gap widens as soon as the console launches. Building an actual PC is always the path to the state of the art tech & performance.

Are we really going to speculate on this every day until an announcement with official details? On every YT channel and website? It gets old. We don't know much and the rest is made up.

@Lup The industry has exalted a string of cinematic titles that don't do anything new. Ones that take directly from existing popular media and games.

@Fiendish-Beaver A more detailed breakdown would be welcome. Sentiment, origin/outlet (website, country), frequency, author, number of articles per event, source report/rumor factual or debunked/misleading.

Sony PS had more than "some" negative events in 2025 — they're just downplayed or ignored.

@Sketcz Yeah, Frame City Killer was previewed (in magazines) for OG Xbox, and was cancelled. I was looking forward to it.

@gamma64 The team failed. They spent millions (perhaps $100 - $200 million or more), 6+ years, and did not complete even a viable product. Crystal Dynamics wanted more time and a $100 million additional funding. No doubt confidence was low that the game would be delivered in 1-2 years on that budget. They were several competing projects and MS cut their losses.

I confused this with Body Cam.

Frame City Killer

@datamonkey If your annual salary went down even 5-10%, you wouldn't be happy about it. They want to move in the opposite direction.

The cheating has been intolerable since the beta.

@Vordus Seems like they played it safe. The Pip-Boy "boy" image is pretty recognizable. Maybe when it sits in the case, it looks like the screen of the Pip-Boy. Can't buying these, anyway — an Elite Series 3 has to be 1-2 years out.

I don't think I own the original in digital format, only physical. Time to double check.

Toal Chaos, BF6, Arc Raiders, and some BOPS7. I also tried Absolum.

Call of Duty 2 followed by PDZ.

PA has been highly important to me since its inception. It isn't a new feature.

@Runex2121 Yeah, the button does look a little strange and can be overlooked. It's a XB1 radiating from both ends, I guess. Even me who knew it was possible (I remote played a Destiny raid from console to PC 9-10 years ago) had to double check.

@Runex2121 There is a button for remote play on the dashboard (console to handheld), but no option for "PC to handheld", which is weird. The button is just above the notification bell.

@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.

@Romans12 I still say MS should have locked down Bioware and Pandemic back then (for starters).

I tried the demo on Steam a couple weeks ago. This game is cool. Wolverine's moves were a little samey look. Capt. America was cool because he has a shield throw, shield bash, kick, block/counter, special, and bunch of other distinct-looking stuff to combo into.

I bought Octopath II and put dozens of hours in before putting it down. One day I will return to complete it.

@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.

Ultimate. I've always been on Ultimate and shall remain on Ultimate tier for years to come.

The gameplay is fantastic. The series pedigree is there, so that is an excellent start. The combos have been simplified (and reduced?) when compared to NG2, but the battles are still fantastic. The graphics are a little underwhelming and the new guy's design pales in comparison to Ryu.

I gave NG4 a 9/10 as the game is hugely challenging and a ton of fun. I've been a fan of the series since the 80's and the OG Xbox revival was one of the greatest returns ever. I'm playing on Hard difficulty, and I dare any of you try Purgatory on "Hell" difficulty. After hours, I got to the third wave. LOL

I bought this SH2 Remake on Steam at some point and haven't gotten around to playing it. The games are piling up! Silent Hill f will have to come first as I beat this on PS2 almost a quarter-century ago.

I can't say that I'm surprised to hear this or about the GTA VI delay.

I bought S.T.A.L.K.E.R 2 Ultimate edition on Xbox and Steam. Otherwise, there 's no way I could finish it in time.

I don't like it, but what are we going to do about it? LOL. MS wants to make more money and there's no justification for exclusives that beats it in an argument. Besides, we knew it was coming — the rumor & "news" mill taunts these type of things daily.

These articles have become shameless. Sheer desperation for traffic. We are reporting on B-to-B pricing now? How much did each employee's PC cost? Let's complain about the supplier.

Dev kits are for running dev code on a machine close to the target. They are business tool used for generating MONEY.

Are any of you old enough to remember what PlayStation dev kits cost? Between $20k and $25k. Not ever developer needs a dev kit. The device is used for project after project. You only buy more when your studio has a need.

Xbox Series can be converted to dev kits. That has been a thing since the 360. ID@Xbox is another source for (free) dev kits.

@Lup This game is fun. I have it on Steam.

I bought it and setup with most of my PC storefronts (forgot about Amazon Prime Gaming). While I have a couple Steam Decks, they don't handle other stores well and are not capable with every game, Steam or otherwise.

The price was no issue, though clearly any discount is always welcome. (Pay ME to take it!) I was able to shave off $60 between Best Buy rewards, CC discount, and Edge browser cashback.

@Vaako007 They complain because they feel entitled to launch-day releases from what has become the most prolific game publisher...for under $20/month. They complain because they're irrational and self-righteous. Some want to dump on Xbox and/or Microsoft, some can profit from it. Others are just Debbie Downers and complain about everything in life. The internet is mechanism to disseminate their overall dissatisfaction.

There have been Xbox "fans" on this very site complaining that "Ultimate doesn't include DLC" and "Ultimate releases are not really day-one because there is a 2-to-5-day early access in the premium option." You will never win with people that insist on being unreasonable and miserable. You have to leave them behind.

A large segment may think that if they complain enough, MS will roll back the price hike. IMO, with an increase that significant, new value added to the service, and several big games coming over the next year, it is not going to happen. The hike was deliberately large for both added value and coming added value. NTM, the price was low for 7 years to entice more people to join. PC Game Pass is cheaper for the same reason.

I paid for Ultimate for the first time since the 3-year conversion (which was an Xbox Live membership, which I was paying for anyway) a couple weeks ago. That was to push expiration from 11/2027 to 8/2028 after the price hike. From 6/2023 to 11/2027 are all (legitimately obtained) rewards points redemptions. Ultimate is worth it, but if they give you a path making it cheaper, why not take advantage?

@themightyant You have resorted to absolutism and false equivalency.

You, I, and everyone else here knows that the misinformation thrown out about MS/Xbox is deliberately negative and at high frequency. If and when there are rumors about Sony or Nintendo, they are positive (accurate or not, fabricated or not) and presented in a positive light. There is a concerted effort to erode perception of the brand no matter what they are doing.

Along with PS fanboys in threads, comment sections, and media, there are disgruntled and obtuse Xbox "fans". Anyone who still believes that Microsoft should force their recent game production purely through a console is obtuse. Yet these people are bitter, claim to understand that games need players, yet still clutch onto selling more Xbox consoles by force. Count a number of YTbers among them.

Some are angered by the Game Pass (ULTIMATE) price increase. These people are entitled. Xbox knows what games are coming Q4 and next year; they know what games were added this year. The reason for such a large jump is to push some people out of Ultimate tier as much as to set charge in line with its worth. No one has to park themselves in Ultimate all year — we are free to use rewards points and/or buy games individually.

The games media and YTbers are leaning into the profit motive. Some are all in — have no credibility. Their livelihood is directly tied to traffic & views, whatever scruples they once had are eroded on a daily basis. More channels means more competition, while gaming sites have been struggling for 25 years.

@Jenkinss Do they stock laptops?

@themightyant The media and the internet actively campaign against Xbox and that is irrefutable. They show a disdain for the companies and their products. Sony and Nintendo are protected. The news driven 80-90% by MS, between the platforms. When these people don't get the traffic they need, they make something up.

If you don't think the Xbox Ally X is fairly priced at $1000, then don't buy it. Plain & simple. Every person is not meant to own every game and device just on a whim. Perhaps you and others are not familiar with Republic of Gamers, but that is ASUS's high-end line, and ASUS is already a higher end brand.

The same goes for Game Pass. So many feel entitled to the Ultimate tier. There are several avenues to playing those games. If any of those people were truly price-conscious, they would have earned MS rewards points and not paid at all...for years from now.

McCaffrey is a parasite, just like the others. He's 45+ year old man who remains awkward and uncomfortable in his own skin.

I was in my local Walmart's electronic section on Thursday or Friday for a different purpose. I did go into the PS/Xbox aisle, and everything seemed normal. Neither had a larger presence than the other. There were 2-3 Series X on the bottom and about 2 Series S I could see on the top (could be more behind those).

@Tasuki I need to go back and complete Avowed. The combat and aesthetic were awesome.

Expedition 33 is my pick. I believe it and Silksong will absorb most of the votes at this point. There a number of games coming late in the year, and that is not on their side. I really liked Rogue PoP, as well. This year saw a swath of good game released, with more to come.

@FrenchVaniIIuxe The device is expensive and most people here already have a Series S|X. NTM, all the people that are not Xbox fans that come here due to personal failings.

I own and/or have beaten most of those games on some storefront. There are a couple I could try. Generally, this was not added for me.

I own STALKER 2 on Steam and Xbox, and Alen: Dark Descent...somewhere. No sweat. I'll try Nine Souls some time soon.

I'm good for 2+ years. Regardless, I would not be leaving; the price would have to jump way higher, and they can't hit that level safely.

For the record, I agree that the 50% jump was abrupt and clumsy. Personally, $10 a month is negligible, but a company can't make such a huge jump in a service price without friction and turmoil. Better to split it up "$3, $3, $3" or "$5, $5" over years.

What is sad is that so many of you are still focused on console sales, in 2025, on an Xbox site. "Growth" means increase in total presence. They're apparently making more money and more partnerships in Asia.

They don't make money on console sales; they are likely still losing money on each console sold. Xbox sought out other avenues to sell their games. Why put a $500 barrier at every turn between you and the customer? There's already the cultural barrier in Asia.

I bought it on Steam, not realizing it was Play Anywhere on Xbox.

@SeaDaVie Yeah. For starters, if you examine the APU, the Series X has 16 more Compute units which are full RDNA2. The CPU is a faster version in the same class.

@somnambulance Expedition 33 was about the dangers of grief after tremendous loss. That was conveyed expertly throughout. Even when you know learn the truth, it only deepens your understanding of the despair the family has sunken into. The quest how holds up a mirror to it. The game is the total package and its development has the "underdog team shows up the big dogs", "David vs. Goliath" spirit the media loves, to boot.

The Writers faction is not missing — it simply a smaller budgeted game. We've seen this in plenty of games and even movies & TV. The game is focused on the realm of Lumiere.

As for the gameplay, are we really going to choose now to indict a game on using gameplay elements seen somewhere else before? Every PS game from Uncharted on through Astrobot is using gameplay (and story) elements distinctly seen somewhere else before. That certainly didn't hold them back in the eyes of the media.

Did Nintendo even develop the Mario & Luigi series you mentioned? Sea of Stars also has some similar mechanics, and that game is beloved by many. Similarities were not a held against it. My favorite part of that game was finding and defeating opponents in the "Wheels" board game.

I'll be playing all the games you mentioned at some point this year. Well, except for DS2 and the Nintendo titles. Silksong is excellent; I'm currently playing through on Steam Deck and Xbox. While I bought Hades 2 some time ago (May of last year), I haven't gotten around to starting it.

I use an Elite on PC, and it has not changed for me. Windows is up to date. The Xbox app is up to date (external Delta). Short tap brings up the game bar, long press does nothing, holding down shutdown the controller.

@Lup Ninja Gaiden 2 Black was fantastic. The story in the series doesn't matter much — there are demon lords coming to take over Earth, and Ryu must stop them. I've got to go back and finish OG Ninja Gaiden Black.