@TrollOfWar @Weebleman Totally agree they will have to find a way to make this work, I'm just not sure of the HOW part.
Re: using the XBox One BC solution... I sincerely hope NOT. That only accounts for a small proportion of the Xbox 360 & OG Xbox libraries. From memory this is about 25% for 360 and 6% for OG Xbox. That is not a decent solution. Imagine not being able to play 75% of your series X games on neXtbox... not going to happen.
I imagine (/hope) they will have something far more robust in mind that will cover almost all the games barring a few outliers.
@TrollOfWar Emulation is a pretty flawed solution. i.e. Even on the highest-end PCs you can only emulate up to two generations ago (PS3/X360) and even then most games don't work. Xbox One and newer emulation basically doesn't work yet.
@Weebleman My guess is they do one of three things
Build in a translation layer (this isn't the same as emulation) but it could convert Xbox code into compatible Windows code. This is the same as what Steam Deck uses (Proton) translating Windows to Linux .
Some sort of dual boot where they have Windows and Xbox OSs and silently boot into one or the other depending on what game needs to be played. They could in theory do something similar to Quick Resume but rather than restoring games into parts of memory they restore an OS.
They entirely merge the Xbox and Windows OS for Xbox. They already share a lot of similarities.
The neXtbox's success is going to hinge on a lot of factors. e.g.
How well they merge console and PC.
Will it play with the convenience of a console i.e.
"it just works" as an Xbox with PC games too.
pre-compiled shaders
pre-optimised settings
all updates/UI/settings handled in a unified way not via Windows
remove Windows bloat and improve performance
Games
Can they get all their studios in line and output top quality games frequently including a handful of generation defining ones.
Will ANY of them be exclusive? If they ALL appear elsewhere then it's a FAR less enticing proposition. Why did I buy a Switch 2 Day 1? It certainly wasn't for the hardware... exclusives still matter to consumers, even if they don't to their business model.
Will ALL our Xbox games play on it. (within reason)
Will ALL the other PC libraries play on it (within reason)
Price
Is it going to cost $1000+? If so what other options are there?
Will Game Pass increase again before then?
If they can tick most of those boxes then they are in a good position.
@MrStark I was literally discussing this with a mate last weekend at the pub. I'm not sure it's as simple as just writing better stories, though it would help. Gameplay trumps story in most gamers book.
But when I look at the best Xbox Game Studios games vs the best PS Studios (or Nintendo) games I think Xbox are not far off... but PS Studios are often just a few percentage points better in most areas which adds up overall. For example their games are usually highly polished, less buggy and feature complete at launch. They usually push tech boundaries more than most Xbox games.
While they focus on presentation I think people also usually underestimate how good the gameplay is in games like Spider-man, God of War, TLOU2, Astro Bot, Horizon, Ratchet & Clank, GT7 etc. How good it FEELS to: swing the city as Spider-man; how it never gets old to recall Kratos' axe or swing it; pick up a million bits in Rachet; or feel the joy in Astro. It's the little details that elevate the whole experience. This is what Nintendo has perfected. It's what elevates games like Silksong or Expedition 33. If I had to put my money on one thing it is this more than good stories.
I think Xbox Studios aren't far off at all, but they likely just need to be given another 6 months to polish the hell out of their games, trim any unnecessary fat, launch feature complete, and make the whole experience just a little bit better in all areas. They are often so close, but just lacking a little something extra.
Wishing him well with it. For all the BS he has spouted I still have a soft spot for Peter, too many great experiences I played for decades - Populous, Fable, Dungeon Keeper, Syndicate, Black & White, Theme Park and more. He may have sullied his own reputation with his antics, but he will always be a gaming legend, few gaming leaders have such a strong CV.
@Banjo- obviously all this has to be taken with a large pinch of salt. But while I’m excited about this reported news it also sounds a long way off. The report says their own handheld will come “eventually” as Microsoft had “sidelined their own Xbox handheld plans” initially.
If true it’s unlikely to launch as a cornerstone of next gen, releasing at launch like the series s, and will be a device that comes out later instead. That’s a different proposition to what was previously reported and discussed.
I think this matters as Xbox is trying to sell this unified, play anywhere experience and a handheld at launch playing all the same games, like Switch / 2, would help to sell that ideal. But they can’t seem to make their mind up on a clear strategy and continue to flip-flop in their decision making. This is an ongoing perception problem for Xbox that they need to fix as people like to know where they stand.
If true this is great news as it was the more console like handheld I was more interested in.
But it also doesn’t sound imminent and if delayed as stated it’s unlikely to launch alongside the next gen console which was reportedly the initial plan, so it sounds like a long way away. Time will tell.
@BacklogBrad Emulation is never perfect, and requires plenty of computational overhead, it's highly unlikely they will be able to emulate XSX on Xbox Next and get smooth results... even emulating Xbox One may be a struggle.
Bear in mind even on highest end PCs we are more than a generation behind on decent emulation. E.g. The best PS4 emulators only play a few hundred games, most with issues, and it's not really AAA releases it's indie and 2D titles. (See MVG video here for more info).
So no, I don't believe Microsoft will be EMULATING all our libraries from previous consoles on Xbox Next. But what they MAY be doing is using a compatibility / translation layer (like Proton/Steam Deck) or some form of dual booting in the background where they effectively run the Xbox codebase and the XBO and XSX games will run through that. That makes a lot more sense, but not emulation.
@Questionable_Duck While anything is possible, it would only complicate it even further to have one set of rules for console users and another for next-gen console/pc users. Hence it would make a LOT more sense to have the same structure everywhere. Either online play will be free for everyone or it won't.
I agree with you PC Game Pass will probably disappear, they need to simplify their offering.
Making online free again is a logical step if they are uniting console and PC, as online play is free on PC. (Although it also comes with a lot more issues. E.g. Cheaters, modders etc.)
But they will lose a lot of "Game Pass" subscribers from the bottom tier if online is they make online free, as multiplayer is all a lot want.
@BacklogBrad I agree it’s great, when it works. But it’s hard to make a requirement for third parties, you are effectively saying give multiple key codes for different platforms with one purchase, it would be entirely reasonable for them to want more money for that.
The trouble is right now play anywhere only covers a small portion of our libraries, you can’t just continue playing ALL your titles on the go, unlike something like the Switch. Until it’s that easy and we don’t have to think about it, until “it just works”, then it’s a nice to have bonus but not the killer feature imo.
@RiverGenie that’s good to know, thanks. But I’ll still wait for patches, I’d rather play games at their best and there’s plenty else to play in the meantime,
I’ll probably wait for some major patches, that grass pop-in just metres in front of the camera is highly distracting in performance mode. Breaks immersion. Hopefully that will be patched once they have optimised the game better.
No problem, it’s been inevitable since it was clear they were becoming a multi-platform publisher. More people playing games is a good that imo.
Though I think Xbox should still have some exclusives, they play an important part in deciding which console to own. That needs to be balanced. But Halo which is usually a multiplayer game makes sense across platforms, this will get PS players into the series ahead of the next entry.
Facts. Sadly TikTok, YouTube and other doom scrolling content is eating up more and more of people’s time, especially the younger generation. It’s a real problem for gaming.
@Balaam_ agreed that vegetation LOD jump is awful. My hope is it will me fixed once they better optimise the game. Personally I am going to wait, plenty of other games to play on GP.
On paper it’s pretty cool there is new content… but I haven’t loved what 343 / now Halo Studios have done with the franchise, hopefully this is additive and doesn’t ruin the tempo. Cautiously exited.
Looking toward to playing this classic yet again - I’ve lost count of how many times - and for more players to have a chance to play it. Hopefully Halo Studios are up to the task.
Glad it mostly runs well on Xbox where i'll be playing it on Game Pass, but that's no excuse for a shoddy PS5 port. Both the base and PS5 Pro versions are subpar.
The 'mostly' refers to the truly awful grass animation draw distance which you can see in the video at 3:40 and is highly distracting. Frankly I'd rather they didn't animate the grass at all rather than have it start animating so close to the camera... or at least give us a toggle.
@Banjo- Fallout 4 is getting a remaster and it's a good game i'd recommend if you liked Starfield and Skyrim. But it's also a shame this isn't Fallout 3 remastered, or Fallout: New Vegas Remastered (and debugged) as those to me were superior games overall.
And yes it was a very choppy 30fps on last gen (and even worse on X360!) still amazing games. Hope you enjoy.
Very sensible on AI, whether HIS bosses at MS agree is another question. Let creatives use it as a tool if they want to.
More broadly creative freedom is a fine balance. In a perfect world you would just leave creatives to create... but it's not a perfect world and every studio and team is different. Some will need more oversight than others to stay on track, within budget and hit all their deliverables. But it's hard to put a fixed timeline on the creative process, it can't be fixed in stone. At the same time we don't want another Redfall or Perfect Dark situation. Every project is different.
The hope is if you have hired the right producers this should happen on a studio level, but in some cases it may be necessary for XBox to take a firmer hand. Same with Bungie for Sony for example.
@Sol4ris Bad day at work and people talking nonsense! Just pulling false figures out of their arses and then calling them facts. I have very little tolerance for that when it is so easily disproved. At least I usually try to back up my side with some actual numbers.
But you are right I should log off and play games. Good call. Thanks.
@Fiendish-Beaver So let me get this straight Forza Horizon 5 gets 9.2 on Metacritic JUST on PlayStation. OK. So where is the mythical Xbox tax? Similar with Indy with an 8.8.
Individual reviews are one person's opinion, much like Pure Xbox scoring Indiana Jones a 6. I fail to see where the issue is. So what if Push Square scored it a bit lower, they typically do for most games according to Metacritic, that just means they are a bit stingier.
@Banjo- I forgot to type Oblivion remastered, my bad, but if you included in the average it would still only bring it down to 7.71.
@Sol4ris Push Square reviewed Yotei a 9 not a 10. But keep making up fake news. As for who is doing the rounding, Banjo suggested it. I wouldn't personally.
So let's go to facts then. Best scores they have ever given Xbox games are two 8s and one 9
Inaccurate AGAIN! Here's the actual facts and figures.
Push Square gave 9s to:
Sea of Thieves and Hi-Fi Rush.
They gave 8s to:
Indiana Jones, Doom The Dark Ages, Tony Hawks Pro Skater 3+4, Call of Duty: Black Ops 6, Grounded, Pentiment, Forza Horizon 5, Age Of Empires 2 DE, Heretic & Hexen.
Is it? They actually gave a 9 to both Sea of Thieves and Hi-Fi Rush, but keep making up false narratives.
Out of interest how do you get your heads around Pure Xbox scoring Indiana Jones a 6? Were they trying to bring Xbox scores down too? Conspiracy! Xbox Tax! etc. Whereas Push Square gave it an 8.
As for the outcry of Push Square scoring Forza Horizon 5 an 8 (how DARE they!)... you know who else scored it an 8? Pure Xbox.
@fatpunkslim I agree FSE is still early stages, as I said, and i'm excited to see where it goes.
But i'm not sure you get a "less optimised experience" on Bazzite, Bazzite is a much smoother handheld UI overall, much more polished than FSE is right now which is still in early stages. As for features Bazzite supports many features FSE doesn't right now like proper instant resuming of games.
As for versatility you absolutely CAN install games from all the PC stores on Bazzite an other Linux systems, it was likely this and Steam Deck loaders that do similar that inspired Xbox to go down this route. It isn't a new idea, it's only new for a closed platform to consider it. And yes you can install apps like Discord on Bazzite... not sure where you are getting all your info on this.
But the key thing is you don't have to have either/or you can dual booth Windows and Bazzite easily. Use Bazzite for better performance, many features FSE doesn't have and use Windows for other features Bazzite doesn't have and kernel based anti-cheat games that won't run on Linux.
But the main point of my post, was to point out how inefficient Windows 11 is, even the FSE version. Whereby even running through a compatibility layer is much more efficient on Linux, that REALLY shouldn't be the case and Microsoft have a lot of work to do here, else the competitions handhelds will run much better on the same hardware.
Don't misunderstand, Windows is great in some ways, the fact it's backwards compatible with so many eras software is to Microsoft's credit, but the downside to that is their code is bloated and thus slow. It's woefully inefficient. For the handheld there's still a lot of work to do here.
The Xbox Ally X is a good bit of kit with quite a lot of work still to be done. A good first effort. Though DF got something wrong, Xbox did include the shader pre-compilation at launch but it’s only on a few dozen titles for now. They corrected this after the video.
But it’s also pretty telling that Microsoft didn’t send Digital Foundry, of all people, the low end Xbox Ally unlike some other reviewers. I’d steer clear of that device.
@fatpunkslim you are right the benefit of running windows over SteamOS or other Linux OS like Bazzite are that more games are compatible, especially games with Windows kernel based anti-cheat like competitive multiplayer FPS (BF6, COD, Fortnite). Though personally I’d question why you’d want to play those competitive games on a handheld where you are at a distinct disadvantage. But each to their own.
However I disagree about games being optimal on Windows. The trouble is, even with their optimised FSE version of Windows 11 for Xbox Ally systems it STILL is not performant versus Linux OS, despite those using a compatibility layer. The problem is still Windows.
People have already installed Bazzite (Linux) on the Xbox Ally X and seen better results especially at the useful 17W performance mode (see here) e.g.
KCD2 averages 47fps on Windows but 62fps on Linux (Bazzite)
Hogwarts Legacy averaged 50fps on Windows but 62 on Linux
While the gains are more modest in some other games or at other power draw modes (e.g. HogLeg is 60fps on windows v 65fps in 35W Turbo mode) the general trend is that running Linux on the Xbox Ally X still gives you a sizeable performance boost.
At the end of the day the problem is still windows and there’s still plenty of work for Microsoft and Xbox to do here. But it’s a step in the right direction, it’s a good first attempt, but not the finished article. I’m fascinated to see how this goes over time.
@kmtrain83 That B&O analogy is fair. But they aren't taking away being able to play your access to your games on XBO or XSX if the next gen is too expensive and you don't want to get the next Xbox you can keep playing them all there and play new games elsewhere.
For a quick comparison, the high-end current-generation PS5 Pro already costs £1000. Assuming you want one with a disc drive.
FYI PS5 drive was reduced to £69.99 in the UK so PS5 Pro (£699) + a drive is just over £750 RRP not £1000. Or you can shop around and find it for £758 as @Weebleman said.
@kmtrain83 I have friends with powerful PCs, who play on TVs, and I see what they can achieve on their hardware, it's a significant step up in many cases over even PS5 Pro. By the time next gen rolls around if Xbox can hit that sort of step-up then I think it WILL be very noticeable.
Whether the added cost is worthwhile to you is completely subjective and dependant on your disposable income and level of interest, but personally as an enthusiast who likes the cutting edge, but doesn't like all the faffing with PCs, this is quite exciting to me.
But I respect that most people don't want to or can't afford that sort of hardware and this will price them out. That's a real shame, hence why I said I was split on this.
Bear in mind I think it will be expensive for a console, but quite cheap when compared to comparably performing PCs, with the added benefit of the convenience of console vs PC.
On the one hand this is only going to price some people out and make the Xbox hardware ecosystem more niche.
On the other hand if they can deliver PC like graphics, PC games AND older Xbox games all on the same platform then i am willing to pay a premium for that and it seems like a smart way to differentiate the Xbox brand from the competition.
But being able to play our existing Xbox libraries is crucial or it's DOA. I wonder if they will have some sort of dual boot for this or if they will use a technology similar to quick resume to hold the other OS in storage so that it can quickly be loaded into memory when needed.
@Kezelpaso Personally I think Starfield is a step back in game design compared to their earlier titles so there's only so much they can do.
The last DLC seemed like it was attempting to answer some of the fundamental problems with the base game i.e. just one planet with things to actually explore, but they still got so much wrong. It wasn't a bad game or bad DLC, but was bad by Bethesda standards. I don't expect that to change with the next DLC, but i'd LOVE to be wrong.
Now, we're not exactly sure how these games have been judged given that neither of them are out and fully playable yet, but we're going to assume they won based on early looks and hands-on previews.
Peak 2025 when an unreleased game wins GOTY!
We're regressing aren't we. lol
For their release cadence I suspect they have multiple remakes in development at the same time (as they did with 2 & 3) so it doesn't mean RE0 is necessarily next.
No. While I think the Ally X is generally a great bit of kit I'm not really in the market for yet another handheld - I have both a Steam Deck OLED and a Switch 2 already. Especially not at that price.
But if I didn't own any of those I MIGHT be more interested, though I suspect I still wouldn't buy, between all the reviews i've seen there are enough problems right now that waiting for a second iteration of both hardware and software seems like a smart decision. There's still many things to iron out, but I like the direction, and in 5 years it may well be THE device to have.
Fun game. Keep meaning to replay it. Did they ever fix the stuttering whenever text came on screen that DF previously reported on? I haven't kept up with the updates.
Comments 7,976
Re: Microsoft CEO Says Xbox 'Wants To Innovate' With Its Next-Gen Console
@TrollOfWar @Weebleman Totally agree they will have to find a way to make this work, I'm just not sure of the HOW part.
Re: using the XBox One BC solution... I sincerely hope NOT. That only accounts for a small proportion of the Xbox 360 & OG Xbox libraries. From memory this is about 25% for 360 and 6% for OG Xbox. That is not a decent solution. Imagine not being able to play 75% of your series X games on neXtbox... not going to happen.
I imagine (/hope) they will have something far more robust in mind that will cover almost all the games barring a few outliers.
Re: Microsoft CEO Says Xbox 'Wants To Innovate' With Its Next-Gen Console
@TrollOfWar Emulation is a pretty flawed solution. i.e. Even on the highest-end PCs you can only emulate up to two generations ago (PS3/X360) and even then most games don't work. Xbox One and newer emulation basically doesn't work yet.
@Weebleman My guess is they do one of three things
Re: Microsoft CEO Says Xbox 'Wants To Innovate' With Its Next-Gen Console
The neXtbox's success is going to hinge on a lot of factors. e.g.
How well they merge console and PC.
Will it play with the convenience of a console i.e.
Games
Price
If they can tick most of those boxes then they are in a good position.
Re: Poll: How Would You Grade The October 2025 Xbox Indie Showcase?
Just caught up. B- / C+. Lots of games but not many new ones I’m personally interested in.
Re: Ninja Gaiden 4 Performance Is Impressive But Xbox Series S Visuals Suffer, Says Digital Foundry
@MrStark I was literally discussing this with a mate last weekend at the pub. I'm not sure it's as simple as just writing better stories, though it would help. Gameplay trumps story in most gamers book.
But when I look at the best Xbox Game Studios games vs the best PS Studios (or Nintendo) games I think Xbox are not far off... but PS Studios are often just a few percentage points better in most areas which adds up overall. For example their games are usually highly polished, less buggy and feature complete at launch. They usually push tech boundaries more than most Xbox games.
While they focus on presentation I think people also usually underestimate how good the gameplay is in games like Spider-man, God of War, TLOU2, Astro Bot, Horizon, Ratchet & Clank, GT7 etc. How good it FEELS to: swing the city as Spider-man; how it never gets old to recall Kratos' axe or swing it; pick up a million bits in Rachet; or feel the joy in Astro. It's the little details that elevate the whole experience. This is what Nintendo has perfected. It's what elevates games like Silksong or Expedition 33. If I had to put my money on one thing it is this more than good stories.
I think Xbox Studios aren't far off at all, but they likely just need to be given another 6 months to polish the hell out of their games, trim any unnecessary fat, launch feature complete, and make the whole experience just a little bit better in all areas. They are often so close, but just lacking a little something extra.
But yes better stories might help too.
Re: Masters Of Albion Will Be Peter Molyneux's Final Game, And A Chance At 'Redemption' For The Creator Of Fable
Wishing him well with it. For all the BS he has spouted I still have a soft spot for Peter, too many great experiences I played for decades - Populous, Fable, Dungeon Keeper, Syndicate, Black & White, Theme Park and more. He may have sullied his own reputation with his antics, but he will always be a gaming legend, few gaming leaders have such a strong CV.
Re: Microsoft Reportedly Still Has Plans To Make Its Own Xbox Handheld
@Banjo- obviously all this has to be taken with a large pinch of salt. But while I’m excited about this reported news it also sounds a long way off. The report says their own handheld will come “eventually” as Microsoft had “sidelined their own Xbox handheld plans” initially.
If true it’s unlikely to launch as a cornerstone of next gen, releasing at launch like the series s, and will be a device that comes out later instead. That’s a different proposition to what was previously reported and discussed.
I think this matters as Xbox is trying to sell this unified, play anywhere experience and a handheld at launch playing all the same games, like Switch / 2, would help to sell that ideal. But they can’t seem to make their mind up on a clear strategy and continue to flip-flop in their decision making. This is an ongoing perception problem for Xbox that they need to fix as people like to know where they stand.
Re: Microsoft Reportedly Still Has Plans To Make Its Own Xbox Handheld
If true this is great news as it was the more console like handheld I was more interested in.
But it also doesn’t sound imminent and if delayed as stated it’s unlikely to launch alongside the next gen console which was reportedly the initial plan, so it sounds like a long way away. Time will tell.
Re: Xbox Journalist Says Microsoft Has Another Showcase Planned For November 2025
@BacklogBrad Emulation is never perfect, and requires plenty of computational overhead, it's highly unlikely they will be able to emulate XSX on Xbox Next and get smooth results... even emulating Xbox One may be a struggle.
Bear in mind even on highest end PCs we are more than a generation behind on decent emulation. E.g. The best PS4 emulators only play a few hundred games, most with issues, and it's not really AAA releases it's indie and 2D titles. (See MVG video here for more info).
So no, I don't believe Microsoft will be EMULATING all our libraries from previous consoles on Xbox Next. But what they MAY be doing is using a compatibility / translation layer (like Proton/Steam Deck) or some form of dual booting in the background where they effectively run the Xbox codebase and the XBO and XSX games will run through that. That makes a lot more sense, but not emulation.
Re: Huge Xbox Report Details 'Ambitious' Next-Gen Console With Free Online Play
@Questionable_Duck While anything is possible, it would only complicate it even further to have one set of rules for console users and another for next-gen console/pc users. Hence it would make a LOT more sense to have the same structure everywhere. Either online play will be free for everyone or it won't.
I agree with you PC Game Pass will probably disappear, they need to simplify their offering.
Re: Huge Xbox Report Details 'Ambitious' Next-Gen Console With Free Online Play
Making online free again is a logical step if they are uniting console and PC, as online play is free on PC. (Although it also comes with a lot more issues. E.g. Cheaters, modders etc.)
But they will lose a lot of "Game Pass" subscribers from the bottom tier if online is they make online free, as multiplayer is all a lot want.
Re: Xbox Journalist Says Microsoft Has Another Showcase Planned For November 2025
@BacklogBrad I agree it’s great, when it works. But it’s hard to make a requirement for third parties, you are effectively saying give multiple key codes for different platforms with one purchase, it would be entirely reasonable for them to want more money for that.
The trouble is right now play anywhere only covers a small portion of our libraries, you can’t just continue playing ALL your titles on the go, unlike something like the Switch. Until it’s that easy and we don’t have to think about it, until “it just works”, then it’s a nice to have bonus but not the killer feature imo.
Re: Poll: So, Are You Playing The Outer Worlds 2 In Early Access?
@RiverGenie that’s good to know, thanks. But I’ll still wait for patches, I’d rather play games at their best and there’s plenty else to play in the meantime,
Re: Poll: So, Are You Playing The Outer Worlds 2 In Early Access?
I’ll probably wait for some major patches, that grass pop-in just metres in front of the camera is highly distracting in performance mode. Breaks immersion. Hopefully that will be patched once they have optimised the game better.
Re: Talking Point: How Do You Feel About Halo: Campaign Evolved Launching Day One On PS5?
No problem, it’s been inevitable since it was clear they were becoming a multi-platform publisher. More people playing games is a good that imo.
Though I think Xbox should still have some exclusives, they play an important part in deciding which console to own. That needs to be balanced. But Halo which is usually a multiplayer game makes sense across platforms, this will get PS players into the series ahead of the next entry.
Re: Xbox Has More Competition From TikTok Than PlayStation, Claims Microsoft Exec
Facts. Sadly TikTok, YouTube and other doom scrolling content is eating up more and more of people’s time, especially the younger generation. It’s a real problem for gaming.
Re: Fallout 76 Is Officially Getting A Native Xbox Series X|S Version In Early 2026
@NORTHERN_beat thanks, my bad, it’s just a repackage of all DLC with some fan content it seems. Will have to see if that is worthwhile.
Re: Phil Spencer Addresses AI & Developer Creativity At Xbox Game Studios
@Exerion76 “don’t you ever quote me to me!” lol.
It’s a very well produced video that’s sadly a little too close for comfort.
Re: Digital Foundry Delivers Its Verdict On The Outer Worlds 2, With Xbox The Clear Console Winner
@Balaam_ agreed that vegetation LOD jump is awful. My hope is it will me fixed once they better optimise the game. Personally I am going to wait, plenty of other games to play on GP.
Re: Xbox Details All Of The New Content Packed Into Its Halo: Campaign Evolved Remake
On paper it’s pretty cool there is new content… but I haven’t loved what 343 / now Halo Studios have done with the franchise, hopefully this is additive and doesn’t ruin the tempo. Cautiously exited.
Re: Halo: Campaign Evolved Officially Announced, Coming To Xbox In 2026
Looking toward to playing this classic yet again - I’ve lost count of how many times - and for more players to have a chance to play it. Hopefully Halo Studios are up to the task.
Re: Bethesda's Todd Howard Teases Future Projects At Fallout Day 2025
That's about as vague a statement as he could have made while still fanning the flames. ES6 was announced at E3 2018.
Re: Digital Foundry Delivers Its Verdict On The Outer Worlds 2, With Xbox The Clear Console Winner
Glad it mostly runs well on Xbox where i'll be playing it on Game Pass, but that's no excuse for a shoddy PS5 port. Both the base and PS5 Pro versions are subpar.
The 'mostly' refers to the truly awful grass animation draw distance which you can see in the video at 3:40 and is highly distracting. Frankly I'd rather they didn't animate the grass at all rather than have it start animating so close to the camera... or at least give us a toggle.
Re: Fallout 76 Is Officially Getting A Native Xbox Series X|S Version In Early 2026
@Banjo- Fallout 4 is getting a remaster and it's a good game i'd recommend if you liked Starfield and Skyrim. But it's also a shame this isn't Fallout 3 remastered, or Fallout: New Vegas Remastered (and debugged) as those to me were superior games overall.
And yes it was a very choppy 30fps on last gen (and even worse on X360!) still amazing games. Hope you enjoy.
Re: Phil Spencer Addresses AI & Developer Creativity At Xbox Game Studios
Very sensible on AI, whether HIS bosses at MS agree is another question. Let creatives use it as a tool if they want to.
More broadly creative freedom is a fine balance. In a perfect world you would just leave creatives to create... but it's not a perfect world and every studio and team is different. Some will need more oversight than others to stay on track, within budget and hit all their deliverables. But it's hard to put a fixed timeline on the creative process, it can't be fixed in stone. At the same time we don't want another Redfall or Perfect Dark situation. Every project is different.
The hope is if you have hired the right producers this should happen on a studio level, but in some cases it may be necessary for XBox to take a firmer hand. Same with Bungie for Sony for example.
Re: Roundup: Here's What The Reviews Are Saying About Xbox's The Outer Worlds 2
@Sol4ris Bad day at work and people talking nonsense! Just pulling false figures out of their arses and then calling them facts. I have very little tolerance for that when it is so easily disproved. At least I usually try to back up my side with some actual numbers.
But you are right I should log off and play games. Good call. Thanks.
Re: Roundup: Here's What The Reviews Are Saying About Xbox's The Outer Worlds 2
@Fiendish-Beaver So let me get this straight Forza Horizon 5 gets 9.2 on Metacritic JUST on PlayStation. OK. So where is the mythical Xbox tax? Similar with Indy with an 8.8.
Individual reviews are one person's opinion, much like Pure Xbox scoring Indiana Jones a 6. I fail to see where the issue is. So what if Push Square scored it a bit lower, they typically do for most games according to Metacritic, that just means they are a bit stingier.
Re: Roundup: Here's What The Reviews Are Saying About Xbox's The Outer Worlds 2
@Banjo- I forgot to type Oblivion remastered, my bad, but if you included in the average it would still only bring it down to 7.71.
@Sol4ris Push Square reviewed Yotei a 9 not a 10. But keep making up fake news. As for who is doing the rounding, Banjo suggested it. I wouldn't personally.
Re: Roundup: Here's What The Reviews Are Saying About Xbox's The Outer Worlds 2
Banjo- wrote:
Inaccurate AGAIN! Here's the actual facts and figures.
Push Square gave 9s to:
They gave 8s to:
They gave 7s to:
They gave 6s to:
Actually the average of all those is 7.71 which if you want to round it off is an 8. But who is counting eh???
Please do just a LITTLE research before posting false news solely based on emotions. Especially if you are going to claim they are 'facts'.
Re: Roundup: Here's What The Reviews Are Saying About Xbox's The Outer Worlds 2
ElectricWizard wrote:
Is it? They actually gave a 9 to both Sea of Thieves and Hi-Fi Rush, but keep making up false narratives.
Out of interest how do you get your heads around Pure Xbox scoring Indiana Jones a 6? Were they trying to bring Xbox scores down too? Conspiracy! Xbox Tax! etc. Whereas Push Square gave it an 8.
As for the outcry of Push Square scoring Forza Horizon 5 an 8 (how DARE they!)... you know who else scored it an 8? Pure Xbox.
If you look for negativity you will find it.
Re: Roundup: Here's What The Reviews Are Saying About Xbox's The Outer Worlds 2
Looking good, I haven't been entirely sold on what they showed, but looking forward to finding out for myself.
In other news ghosts, like the Xbox Tax, aren't real folks.
Re: Sarah Bond: Our Next-Gen Console Will Be 'Very Premium' & Informed By ROG Xbox Ally
@fatpunkslim I agree FSE is still early stages, as I said, and i'm excited to see where it goes.
But i'm not sure you get a "less optimised experience" on Bazzite, Bazzite is a much smoother handheld UI overall, much more polished than FSE is right now which is still in early stages. As for features Bazzite supports many features FSE doesn't right now like proper instant resuming of games.
As for versatility you absolutely CAN install games from all the PC stores on Bazzite an other Linux systems, it was likely this and Steam Deck loaders that do similar that inspired Xbox to go down this route. It isn't a new idea, it's only new for a closed platform to consider it. And yes you can install apps like Discord on Bazzite... not sure where you are getting all your info on this.
But the key thing is you don't have to have either/or you can dual booth Windows and Bazzite easily. Use Bazzite for better performance, many features FSE doesn't have and use Windows for other features Bazzite doesn't have and kernel based anti-cheat games that won't run on Linux.
But the main point of my post, was to point out how inefficient Windows 11 is, even the FSE version. Whereby even running through a compatibility layer is much more efficient on Linux, that REALLY shouldn't be the case and Microsoft have a lot of work to do here, else the competitions handhelds will run much better on the same hardware.
Don't misunderstand, Windows is great in some ways, the fact it's backwards compatible with so many eras software is to Microsoft's credit, but the downside to that is their code is bloated and thus slow. It's woefully inefficient. For the handheld there's still a lot of work to do here.
Re: Random: This Custom Xbox Series X Looks Amazing, And Fits Right In For Halloween
Looks kinda cool.
But would I want it in my house? Hell no!
Re: Digital Foundry Analyses ROG Xbox Ally X In New Review-In-Progress
The Xbox Ally X is a good bit of kit with quite a lot of work still to be done. A good first effort. Though DF got something wrong, Xbox did include the shader pre-compilation at launch but it’s only on a few dozen titles for now. They corrected this after the video.
But it’s also pretty telling that Microsoft didn’t send Digital Foundry, of all people, the low end Xbox Ally unlike some other reviewers. I’d steer clear of that device.
Re: Sarah Bond: Our Next-Gen Console Will Be 'Very Premium' & Informed By ROG Xbox Ally
@fatpunkslim you are right the benefit of running windows over SteamOS or other Linux OS like Bazzite are that more games are compatible, especially games with Windows kernel based anti-cheat like competitive multiplayer FPS (BF6, COD, Fortnite). Though personally I’d question why you’d want to play those competitive games on a handheld where you are at a distinct disadvantage. But each to their own.
However I disagree about games being optimal on Windows. The trouble is, even with their optimised FSE version of Windows 11 for Xbox Ally systems it STILL is not performant versus Linux OS, despite those using a compatibility layer. The problem is still Windows.
People have already installed Bazzite (Linux) on the Xbox Ally X and seen better results especially at the useful 17W performance mode (see here) e.g.
While the gains are more modest in some other games or at other power draw modes (e.g. HogLeg is 60fps on windows v 65fps in 35W Turbo mode) the general trend is that running Linux on the Xbox Ally X still gives you a sizeable performance boost.
At the end of the day the problem is still windows and there’s still plenty of work for Microsoft and Xbox to do here. But it’s a step in the right direction, it’s a good first attempt, but not the finished article. I’m fascinated to see how this goes over time.
Re: Roundup: Here's What The Reviews Say About PowerWash Simulator 2 On Xbox Game Pass
I'm not sure I want to play it... I know how many hours I sunk into PWS1. Maybe i'll save it for a super-stressful day.
Re: Sarah Bond: Our Next-Gen Console Will Be 'Very Premium' & Informed By ROG Xbox Ally
@kmtrain83 That B&O analogy is fair. But they aren't taking away being able to play your access to your games on XBO or XSX if the next gen is too expensive and you don't want to get the next Xbox you can keep playing them all there and play new games elsewhere.
Re: Sarah Bond: Our Next-Gen Console Will Be 'Very Premium' & Informed By ROG Xbox Ally
Matthewnh wrote:
FYI PS5 drive was reduced to £69.99 in the UK so PS5 Pro (£699) + a drive is just over £750 RRP not £1000. Or you can shop around and find it for £758 as @Weebleman said.
Re: Sarah Bond: Our Next-Gen Console Will Be 'Very Premium' & Informed By ROG Xbox Ally
@kmtrain83 I have friends with powerful PCs, who play on TVs, and I see what they can achieve on their hardware, it's a significant step up in many cases over even PS5 Pro. By the time next gen rolls around if Xbox can hit that sort of step-up then I think it WILL be very noticeable.
Whether the added cost is worthwhile to you is completely subjective and dependant on your disposable income and level of interest, but personally as an enthusiast who likes the cutting edge, but doesn't like all the faffing with PCs, this is quite exciting to me.
But I respect that most people don't want to or can't afford that sort of hardware and this will price them out. That's a real shame, hence why I said I was split on this.
Bear in mind I think it will be expensive for a console, but quite cheap when compared to comparably performing PCs, with the added benefit of the convenience of console vs PC.
Re: Sarah Bond: Our Next-Gen Console Will Be 'Very Premium' & Informed By ROG Xbox Ally
I feel very split on this.
But being able to play our existing Xbox libraries is crucial or it's DOA. I wonder if they will have some sort of dual boot for this or if they will use a technology similar to quick resume to hold the other OS in storage so that it can quickly be loaded into memory when needed.
Re: Microsoft Is Reportedly Increasing The Cost Of Xbox Dev Kits In Latest Price Hike
To be honest as a BUSINESS expense this isn't really a huge deal in the face of all the other monthly / ongoing studio costs.
E.g. it's around $10k - $15k+ per employee per MONTH as a burn rate in the USA. So a ONE OFF cost of $500 is peanuts by comparison.
Re: Rumour: Xbox Won't Announce Starfield For PS5 Until 2026, It's Claimed
@Kezelpaso Personally I think Starfield is a step back in game design compared to their earlier titles so there's only so much they can do.
The last DLC seemed like it was attempting to answer some of the fundamental problems with the base game i.e. just one planet with things to actually explore, but they still got so much wrong. It wasn't a bad game or bad DLC, but was bad by Bethesda standards. I don't expect that to change with the next DLC, but i'd LOVE to be wrong.
Re: Rumour: Xbox Won't Announce Starfield For PS5 Until 2026, It's Claimed
I imagine they will release the complete edition when the next DLC reportedly "Terran Armada" releases.
Re: Two Upcoming Xbox Game Pass Titles Win Big At Australian Game Awards Show
@PipOwO then call it “Best in Show” not “Game of the Year”, words have meaning.
Re: Microsoft Passes The Buck To Asus For ROG Xbox Ally's Price Tag
Flip-flip, flip-flop...
Re: Two Upcoming Xbox Game Pass Titles Win Big At Australian Game Awards Show
Peak 2025 when an unreleased game wins GOTY!
We're regressing aren't we. lol
Re: Report: Resident Evil 0 Remake In Development For Release After Requiem
For their release cadence I suspect they have multiple remakes in development at the same time (as they did with 2 & 3) so it doesn't mean RE0 is necessarily next.
Re: Three Games Are Leaving Xbox Game Pass In Late October 2025
Another +1 for Jusant. A short but sweet adventure. Well worth a play, or a buy imo.
Re: Poll: Are You More Interested In The ROG Xbox Ally Now That Reviews Are Out?
No. While I think the Ally X is generally a great bit of kit I'm not really in the market for yet another handheld - I have both a Steam Deck OLED and a Switch 2 already. Especially not at that price.
But if I didn't own any of those I MIGHT be more interested, though I suspect I still wouldn't buy, between all the reviews i've seen there are enough problems right now that waiting for a second iteration of both hardware and software seems like a smart decision. There's still many things to iron out, but I like the direction, and in 5 years it may well be THE device to have.
Yet I hope those that did purchase enjoy theirs.
Re: Control's New 120FPS Mode Tested In Latest Digital Foundry Analysis
Fun game. Keep meaning to replay it. Did they ever fix the stuttering whenever text came on screen that DF previously reported on? I haven't kept up with the updates.