wildcat_kickz

$70 for each game with map packs is hilarious. Still prefer the old CoD structure before battle passes and free post launch content???

@Tasuki Based on what? Splitgate servers are still up. It may not be a barnburner, but it's trucking along.

It's way too early to have any real opinions about Sharma, but it does seem like she's been provided a lot of rope to get things done. I'm very hopeful she can right the ship and get Xbox back on track as a major contender in the console space.

@FraserG I'm pretty sure the size restriction on PlayStation is a compliance thing with Sony; similar to their restrictions on external assets being used in mods. A huge downside to playing Bethesda games on PlayStation, but it is what it is.

@Banjo-

Sony has backtracked and changed plans more times than any other

Say what? You actually wrote that on an Xbox website? Microsoft is the reigning champ when it comes to backtracking.

I've been playing Remnant 2 on PS5 this past week and absolutely love it. Don't let the bad cutscenes scare you off - the gameplay is phenomenal!

Surprised lowering the price of consoles wasn't higher up.

I platinum'd this bad boy and still log in regularly. I really hope EA recognizes the amazing game they have here and make another.

I don't think that a lot of people don't understand the disconnect between a reviewer's perspective and an average consumer. Reviewers are looking for unique experiences to break up the monotony of playing game after game after game. Average consumers want a game they can sink their teeth into and, typically, want something a little more engaging. Neither take is wrong.

The modern brain-rotted internet mind thinks that a different opinion is automatically invalidated, paid for, evidence of some bigotry in one way or another, or something else that makes you feel morally or intellectually superior.

@FraserG Myst released in '93, just FYI.

@Jenkinss I also prefer the real actors (especially since Atrus is played by one of the Cyan founders), but it's well worth the trade-off for the drop-dead gorgeous real-time gameplay.

Riven is well, well worth your time. The world and lore of the fifth age is so freaking cool. Save yourself some headaches and look up the D'ni number system, though. They try to teach you in-game, but it's base 25, so good luck with that.

If Campaign Evolved is executed well, they should probably continue with remaking the trilogy, adding MP back in while they're at it, but I'd also really like to see a new game that isn't about Chief. ODST is probably my favorite campaign, so I'd selfishly love something similar to that or maybe even a third person game where you play as an ODST.

I've never really liked the ball, so I'll go with the OG logo!

I'd buy a Series S if it only had a disc drive to play my old 360 games. No way in Hell I'm buying an X just for the drive.

Xbox has such a weird "let's make our CEO a celebrity" thing going.

"The trailer was done by Blur, it was all pre-rendered, it represented a concept — our thoughts at the time of what might be cool to explore in State of Decay 3..."

Sounds like that should have been an internal pitch-deck, not a f**king CGI game announcement trailer.

Do these people never actually learn? Like, seriously?

I have MW2019 on PlayStation and would love to reinstall, but I have the disc version and it's a legitimate nightmare to get it installed. They reworked how they broke up file packages and the game basically doesn't work unless you install EVERYTHING, even the useless stuff. If the digital version ever drops to like $10, I'll probably pick it up again, but, alas, not before.

@Tasuki Completely disagree. MW2019 is my favorite CoD in the whole franchise. Absolutely love the gunplay, maps, and campaign. Personally, I've never been a fan of how the Treyarch games feel to play.

I've seen Starship Troopers over a dozen times - absolutely love it! Will probably have to pick this up.

The movie satirizes the novel's more "pro-military" themes, but I recommend the novel all the same. It's really good! Just make sure you're intelligent enough to understand that you don't have to agree with how a fictional civilization operates in order to enjoy a story. 😉

Advanced Warfare had a nice version of this, too.

Honestly, they should just call it the "Xbox." But, knowing Microsoft, they'll name it something nonsensical.

"Medieval Bohemia has never looked so beautiful." ..."Except in our sequel. Please buy that one too!" 😂

@Tasuki The only reason that The Show is on Xbox in the first place is because the MLB forced Sony's hand. The only reason that The Show was on Gamepass was because the MLB forced Sony's hand. Corporate altruism doesn't exist.

@Tasuki This isn't tethered to reality. It's pretty obvious that Sony thinks they'll make more money via a la carte sales instead of a lump sum from Microsoft. It has nothing to do with users on PlayStation. Not that complicated.

Absolute tragedy. 55 is far too young.

R.I.P.

I'm no fan of GameStop, but this is actually pretty great 😂

"We're thoughtful about how we approach that"

Interesting take, considering the state of the recent Switch 2 Skyrim release.

@Fiendish-Beaver That's certainly true, but it's not like Microsoft is a victim in this situation. They put themselves here through their own decision-making.

That said, I imagine every developer wants their games released everywhere. I'm sure it's even true for Sony first-party teams.

I am absolutely loving Arc Raiders. Most addicted I've felt to a game in a quite a while. Playing solo is fantastic for getting resources and quests done and then playing in a group is great for PvP.

Lol. I love that pretty much everyone agrees that Fable will be delayed again.

@Prof_Thiccboi Lol, what? Ethics are a weakness? That’s a seriously sociopathic hot take. Your last name Tate, by any chance?

@EVIL-C In general, I agree. I did stop buying physical this generation though. Too many games don't have the full package on disc and I got a little tired of having to switch out discs all the time. My middle-aged knees were complaining.

I do miss adding to the shelf collection, though.

This is obviously in response to lawsuits against publishers for deceptive advertisements. This isn't a new concept or practice, it's just new that they explicitly say you're buying a license.

@themightyant @Gen4Fan Even with physical discs, you're still just purchasing the license.

@ElkinFencer10 This may be why people are incentivized to engage in piracy, but piracy is never ethical. Two wrongs don't make a right.

@AverageGamer With all due respect, you're playing semantics and you know well what I mean.

If a game was released only on Xbox, Xbox 360, Xbox One, and Xbox Series, and never had a PC port, you cannot play that game on the Xbox Ally. If a game was released on PC and is playable on other handheld PCs, like the ROG Ally, you can play it on the Xbox Ally.

If you can't take your Xbox library with you to the Ally, it fills no purpose as an Xbox.

@AverageGamer What I mean is the Ally can't play any Xbox formatted games. It can only play PC versions of games, which makes it a PC and not an Xbox.

Say it with me, folks: The. Xbox. Ally. Is. Not. An. Xbox.

It is an Xbox-branded handheld PC. If it can't play Xbox games, it's not an Xbox.

Curious subtitle, considering Embracer owns the rights.

I'm just not a big Black Ops guy, so I'll probably be skipping this year, especially with BF6 coming out. I just don't really like how Treyarch games feel to play. It always seems like I'm on ice skates. I vastly prefer the slower pace and heavier feel of IW entries.

@Kaloudz They haven't said one way or the other, but my assumption is it will work similarly to BGS games, where activating mods forces that save file into a "modded" save, disabling all achievements going forward.

Edit: Wow, just realized your comment was from months ago 😂

Maybe a hot take, but with the exception of Sonic Team Racing, the Sonic racing games have been leagues ahead of Mario Kart since Sonic and Sega All Stars Racing.

@AverageJoseph That's a bummer to hear about FP2. I love the first game. Got it on a whim and ended up putting dozens of hours into it, buying all the DLC.

I wish they'd make a game in that universe that was more personal. Like, if they took the gameplay of The Alters and gave it a Frostpunk coat of paint.

@Fiendish-Beaver AC4 is definitely in my top 3 for the franchise. Well worth the playthrough. Regarding the modern day plot, they can definitely be good or bad depending on the game. For AC4 and Rogue, it didn't really work for me. It's first person and is just solving visual puzzles in a corp environment. You're an Abstergo employee who is recruited by the Assassins to essentially perform espionage at work, which sounds cool, but wasn't really implemented well.

I was tempted to get one when they were cheaper and before Xbox starting porting a lot of games to PlayStation, but at this point, it's a pretty hard sell.

I have an Xbox One and use it as my Halo campaign machine and as a means to access my 360 digital library, but haven't really found myself hankering for much else, sad to say.

Far Cry 4 is probably my favorite of the bunch. I loved the pseudo-Nepalese setting and thought Pagan Min was a fantastic villain. The story put the player at the center of the story, while also making you feel like an outsider. It also just took what worked in Far Cry 3 and expanded upon it.

@InheritNegative I dunno man. 300k-400k concurrents on a weeknight is crazy good. Not sure what you were expecting.

@Lup I disagree, in that I think he's referring more to 1st party devs and the bleeding effect. Bethesda, Activision, Blizzard, and Xbox Studios developers don't get a say in whether their games are on Gamepass day 1.

I think the argument of "no one is putting a gun to their head" is a pretty simplistic way of looking at the situation. What Layden is describing is a lack of inspiration incentive in the hearts of developers. The floor may be raised, but the ceiling is lowered. If you just work for a paycheck without the hopes of your work really exploding, you don't have a drive to push yourself to make something better.

Gamepass is great for customers in the short term, but I agree with Shawn Layden in that it is destructive to the industry, particular in the long term. His comparison to Spotify is apt.

I'm old enough to remember a time before Spotify and Napster when music was really valued. While it may have been harder to "break through," selling albums was a genuine revenue stream. Now, the vast majority of people don't feel they should have to buy music and musicians, because of this audience training, have to resort to putting their music on Spotify just for exposure, in hopes that it drives people to concerts. No one is putting a gun to their heads either, but the damage has been done on the grander, industry-wide scale.

@Millionski @Kaloudz I'm honestly just hoping for a D1 Remaster. Smaller game. Better game. Taken King > anything D2 😉

@Kaloudz I'd happily get back in if they released either a Destiny 1 Remaster or Destiny 3. But there are wayyy too many systems upon systems upon systems and insanely convoluted lore to get back into Destiny 2. I dropped off after year 1 and couldn't ever find a good onramp since then.

If you want to have a real exercise in frustration, try downloading MW2019. They changed the install packs multiple times, but didn't remove the old ones, so you're shooting in the dark trying to figure out what needs to be installed and what doesn't. In order to get the game to function properly, I had to install everything, which made MW2019 basically take up 200Gb. Absolute insanity.

@Kaloudz Highly doubt it. I don't think that movement actually has much weight in legal terms. If anything, it will only put pressure on future games to build offline modes in, rather than have past games patched.