themightyant

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.

@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.

@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.

@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.

Hey, we read it all [your comments] - just know, we are working on even more.

That's about as vague a statement as he could have made while still fanning the flames. ES6 was announced at E3 2018.

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.

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.

They gave 7s to:

• Gears: Reloaded, Outer Worlds 2, Ninja Gaiden 4, Quake 2, Oblivion: Remastered (edit)

They gave 6s to:

• Hellblade 2

The average score they give to Xbox games is 7, rounded off.

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'.

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.

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.

@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.

Looks kinda cool.

But would I want it in my house? Hell no!

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.

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.

@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.

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.

I feel very split on this.

• 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.

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.

@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.

I imagine they will release the complete edition when the next DLC reportedly "Terran Armada" releases.

@PipOwO then call it “Best in Show” not “Game of the Year”, words have meaning.

Flip-flip, flip-flop...

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.

Another +1 for Jusant. A short but sweet adventure. Well worth a play, or a buy imo.

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.

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.

The point many reviews are making is it ISN'T like the first game. Massively stripped back in a lot of ways that made VTMB a cult classic. Whether you like the game it actually is, will be subjective.

I'll come back and read the review once i've played it. I'm quite excited to be going in to playing a game almost completely blind. When do we ever do that nowadays?

@Questionable_Duck @Banjo- Thanks guys, this was the info I was after. It's almost a shame I was on Ultimate not Console when the change happened, but I do use cloud and other online features.

@Questionable_Duck How much do they charge you per month for it?

@Kezelpaso Of course PC too. doh! It's all a bit of a mess with all the four main tiers and what is and isn't in what.

BTW does anyone know if there is there still a hidden "Console" tier for those that never unsubscribed? Or has that been removed with the latest changes, or earlier ones? (I know it was being grandfathered for a while, but don't know if/when it ever actually disappeared)

@Kezelpaso I assume this is just Game Pass Ultimate today right?

I'm kinda amazed how little we know about this game. Like @RiverGenie said i'm not even sure what genre of game it is.
With Game Pass I find that quite exciting, we are all going in blind.

But as a business decision I think it could easily backfire, I just hope it doesn't lead to problems for DoubleFine.

Nice. Would be great to see this supported across more games. Not just graphical presets but also UI ones so the text and UI is legible on small screens as this is currently an issue in a lot of titles.

@Sindayl Because a lot of people got tired of all the peripherals we had, used a few times, and then gathered dust. The perfect world would be to do BOTH though, have a bespoke peripheral and allow phone use.

@theduckofdeath Believe what you want to believe my good man but there was nothing absolute about my post. I just want Xbox to do better with sticking to their plans and communication then these rumours will not take root. They are creating an environment that enables that. Happy gaming.

I thought this Dave2D video was the best companion piece to the Pure Xbox Review. Helpful seeing the UI, user experience etc.

@Fiendish-Beaver I would assume it's the same as the ROG Ally, and other USB-C or Windows based PC handhelds, whereby you just need a standard USB-C to HDMI box/cable.

THIS cable works with most devices i've tried up to 4K@60fps and has a secondary USB-C port to charge the device at the same time. But obviously I can't confirm it works with this.

Pretty much as expected the base model is getting very mixed reviews and the high end model is getting strong reviews. I'm glad the Ally X is a good bit of kit for the right user.

Personally i'm most excited to see what they learn from this for future iterations and future Xbox consoles.

2-3 hours on performance mode isn't bad for this sort of device.

And 2 hours on turbo is certainly better than the OG ROG Ally which was around 1 hour.