After this past week, I'm really starting to dig Microsoft's strategy in keeping its fans interested in the Xbox brand. A couple of weeks ago, Nintendo had its first Direct in 1.5 years and what they showed after all that time was incredibly disappointing. Then shortly thereafter, PlayStation had its State of Play and they literally showed nothing new at all, just more trailers of the same games.
Xbox on the other hand gave us a roundtable of Microsoft and Bethesda representatives talking with each other about their future together. On top of that, they've been continuously dropping new additions to Game Pass week after week. Last week it was a bunch of Bethesda games and now they've announced stuff like Octopath Traveler, which has generated so much excitement revolving Game Pass.
The difference in strategy is clear as day. Microsoft knows that they don't have anything new to show us right now, so they aren't holding presentations like Sony and Nintendo who are showing us a bunch of old and/or uninteresting games and basically disappointing everyone by unnecessarily overhyping an event. Instead, they've been focusing on stuff that's actually interesting: the future of Bethesda under the umbrella of Microsoft and new additions to Game Pass. I mean I'm not even a constant user of Game Pass but even I got very excited to see games like Octopath and Yakuza 6 getting announced as part of this month's new Game Pass additions. That's how you generate interest, by thinking of different ways of appealing to your fans. Not this old regressive mentality of "just keep doing the same thing over and over again" like Sony and Nintendo. We've seen Microsoft behave like this in other areas as well, like how they are now focusing on Game Pass instead of pushing consoles. If you can't beat the competitors at what they do best, then try different things that you can do best. I love that about Microsoft.
I mean, just imagine how boring gaming news would've been this year thus far without Xbox. I genuinely can't imagine how it's like for people who only play on PlayStation or Nintendo. Nothing exciting is happening right now with those brands. It's actually quite comical to see Sony trying to fight back against Microsoft's massive announcements with stuff like Jade Raymond having established a new studio that's developing an exclusive game for PlayStation. So what? The game is very early in development considering she just left Google a month or so ago and just saying that a game is in development isn't going to generate interest. We don't even know what kind of game it will be. I just think these are such weak and desperate attempts by Sony. Satya Nadella has already stated that Microsoft is planning more acquisitions and we've seen Phil Spencer hinting at possible partnerships with third-party studios. Because of Microsoft's enormous amounts of resources, they can provide so much more content for their audience in comparison to Sony who can only offer so much, like timed exclusive titles. And that's all thanks to Game Pass. As long as Game Pass exists, we can always expect more great things to happen for the Xbox brand. That's why I find it more thrilling being an Xbox user because you can always expect exciting news, whether it's an acquisition, new partnerships, new game announcements or even new additions to Game Pass. Neither Sony nor Nintendo can't compete on the same level as Microsoft now that the company is actually going all out and expanding like there's no tomorrow.
There hasn't been a more exciting time to be an Xbox user than now.
@LtSarge i completely agree and am super pumped that I made the switch to Xbox this generation. So much crazy news going on which is great but I'm really having a hard time deciding what to play. I'm just trying to get some titles off my SSD so I can start something new. Fallen Order was the longest game I've played so far but I'm eyeing the outer world's as my next longer title. I've played so many smaller titles that i would have NEVER tried if not for gamepass...like never ever and i would have missed out on some gems. I'm just able to enjoy gaming at the moment without limiting my options due to budget constraints. With more of my friends joining Xbox and getting gamepass we can all try games together without additional costs. I can download a game I'm not really into just to play together and chat which is more important today due to covid restrictions and also one friend moved across the country out east. If I had to buy a $100 CAD game i didn't like just to virtually hang out with i wouldn't have done it lol.
I am sure MS 'could' show us something new IF they wanted. I don't think they needed too with the Bethesda news and new Headset launching. Even without any of the Zenimax Studios, there are a lot of options for MS IF they felt they needed 'something' to keep people talking about Xbox.
If we look at all the Xbox Studios and what we know, we know 343 is working on Halo: Infinite, Rare on Everwild, Ninja Theory on Hellblade 2, Turn 10 on Forza Motorsport, Obsidian on Avowed (and Outer Worlds DLC), Undead Labs on State of Decay 3, Playground on Fable (and no doubt Forza Horizon 5) and the Initiative on Perfect Dark. We don't know what the Coalition (Gears 6 probably), Compulsion, Mojang or InXile are doing. Of these, we have had nothing but a CGi reveal trailer for SoD3, Fable, Perfect Dark etc so they 'could' give us a gameplay trailer for example maybe some news, some game reveals (Gears 6? FH5??) and with Flight Sim due to launch this summer on console, they could make a 'console' trailer and give a release date.
We also know MS has a number of 3rd Party exclusives supposedly launching this year and beyond - Scorn, The Gunk, Warhammer: Darktide, CrossfireX, ExoMecha, The Ascent, Stalker 2 etc plus any 3rd Party games they have marketing deals with too as they did with Assassins Creed Valhalla.
Of course, they want to keep as much as possible for around E3. The Bethesda deal also means that they don't 'need' to talk about any of these games, let alone reveal new games, to create a 'buzz' around their platform. 4 months in and its been relatively quiet for a new generation in terms of 'exclusive' to next gen games for both Sony and MS. MS themselves though stated they have ~30 exclusives (1st/3rd party, full or timed exclusivity) releasing this year and yet we don't know when any of these are releasing. We have dates for R&C, Returnal, Deathloop, Kena: Bridge of Spirits, Ghostwire: Tokyo and some others are releasing on PS5. Yes I know some games have a 'window' like Summer 21, Holiday 21 etc but Sony have at least one exclusive every month until October - don't have any games (exclusive or otherwise) release dates pencilled in for the last two months yet regardless - but almost every month, Sony gamers can expect an exclusive - starting with Oddworld and Returnal in April.
Of course with the current state of the world, these dates can change - especially those more than a few months away but looking at the release schedule right now (subject to change when dates are given), there isn't a game releasing on Series S/X that doesn't release on the same day on PS5. Like I said, I know that MS has over 30 games expected to release this year exclusively to MS/Game Pass and some with an expected 'window' so it will change. However, it doesn't look like any of them will be releasing in the next few months as it seems MS are looking to E3 for their 'next' show. It would have been good to get some news about the next few months...
Yes, the long term potential of Xbox/Game Pass is incredibly exciting - more so now the Zenimax deal has gone through, but I want to know what my next 3-6months of gaming could look like, what 'new' experiences to look forward to. I know what my next few months on PS5 could look like...
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@Krzzystuff Yeah same here. I mean sure PlayStation has more games that I'm interested in than Xbox does, but here are two reasons why that doesn't matter to me: 1) We're seeing games like Kingdom Hearts, NieR: Automata, Yakuza, Dragon Quest XI, Octopath Traveler and possibly even Persona being added on Xbox as well as Game Pass. These games probably would have never been ported to Xbox if it weren't for the Game Pass money, which means we can expect more Japanese games to arrive on Xbox and that means less reason for me to stick with PlayStation. And 2) It's just more exciting supporting a company that's actually investing in new things instead of ones that are stagnant like Sony and Nintendo. Because that means more new content coming in the future and bigger incentive to invest in their current products as well as services, i.e. Series X/S and Game Pass.
You bring up a very interesting perspective regarding Game Pass and playing games you normally would have never tried. I was actually thinking about this yesterday, how Game Pass is helping gamers acquire a wider taste for games and stepping outside of their comfort zone by drastically reducing the main obstacle: the pricing. I just think it's wonderful because Xbox gamers are typically associated with shooting games, Western RPGs and so on. But now I'm seeing more people give indie games, JRPGs and simply different genres a shot and I think that stigma is slowly going away now. And once again, that's all thanks to Game Pass. It's done more for this community than you would expect. I for one am glad that this is happening because I'm a variety gamer, I love playing and discussing all kinds of games with people. When I joined this site last year, I was worried that my love for certain genres or series would go unnoticed here. But I think that won't be the case as more and more people use Game Pass and discover new franchises they knew nothing about, like Yakuza for instance. I'm really looking forward to seeing how Xbox and the community will change across the next couple of years due to all these changes.
@TheFrenchiestFry It's a weird one, if mainline Persona ended up on Xbox I'd imagine it would also come to Switch at the same time but on the other hand that would single handedly kill the SMT franchise as fewer people would care about Nocturne and SMTV.
@BrilliantBill I mean that's obviously a title meant for clicks and ragebait but also they aren't entirely wrong excluding The Medium, Halo if it even makes it this year and multiplats lol
It's just easier to pick on Xbox given their state going into the current gen despite Sony for a time having that problem with PS5 exclusives though they are coming now
@TheFrenchiestFry Well I honestly don't think Halo is going to miss this launch opportunity in the coming fall. Yes some parts of it may still come out unpolished but I am fairly certain the game will launch. For me the whole article was more about just getting some fire started (and now that I am here ranting about it I guess it succeeds lol)
@Senua Microsoft are doing so many great things for Xbox this gen with certain features like Smart Delivery, Auto HDR, Quick Resume etc. Buying 8 studios through ZeniMax Media so more exclusives will be coming and all on Game Pass day one. Games running and looking better on Series X. It is outperforming the PS5 in so many areas but it will never match it for sales and the amount of player base it has due to brand recognition and loyalty. Apart from that, what a time to be an Xbox gamer 😃
This reminds me of the good ol’ fond memories from checkerboard blurry generation(RDR2).
Looks like they are back just like how I’ve imagined. 😌
@Senua Certainly not the 'best' implementation of this technology but I do think it looks better than RDR2's implementation but compared to H:ZD and GoW, its implementation isn't the best. Its still 'good' though.
When DF compared CB2160p in Detroit on the PS4 Pro with the PC's 'native' 4k, it held up quite well - a little softer. In the end though, it compared very favourably with a native 1800p in that specific game which is still 'impressive' because the game is only rendering 'half' a 4k which is 4.1m pixels. 1800p is 6.5m pixels so it has more than 50% more to work with. In this case, its clearly not quite on a Par with the Series X 1800p but its still better than 1440p on the Series S.
I'd still rather have a CB 2160p than the 'equivalent' number of pixels rendered natively. The equivalent natively would be around the 1550p and I bet (if it were possible) to compare the difference between a native 1550p and CB 2160p, both rendering 4.1m pixels per frame, the CB version would appear to have the better image quality.
In the video above for example, on the PS5, half of the image is new for that frame and the other half is pulled from the previous frame and/or interpolated (depending on method and image) where as on Xbox, more than 3/4's of the image is 'new' for that frame and then it's 'upscaled' to fit the screen. There is literally more than 50% more 'new' pixels every frame. In theory, if you are NOT moving, a CB image should look exactly like native because the Previous frame aligns perfectly with the CB render. Its more difficult to align the Previous frame if you are moving around fast with objects, particles etc moving too. PS4 Pro had a built in 'Object Tracker' in the APU to improve CB performance - which is why maybe Sony's own studio's look better than 3rd Party software devs who are using in-engine software for Temporal Reconstruction.
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@BAMozzy There’s a good reason why Series X was able to render more pixels and produced an overall sharper image without using any form of CB. The developers probably didn’t find it necessary to implement checkerboarding for the Series X version to achieve similar performance target. Also once they start implementing optimisation features of Dx12 Ultimate and XVA, it will cleanup any occasional performance drops. Anyways I hope we get to see a DLSS-like solution very soon which right now looks even better than native rendering let alone old techniques like CB.
@Senua Not denying that there is likely to be a good reason that Xbox can push out more pixels but that doesn't always mean that its going to be the best image quality or best use of the available resources. In most cases, not all, CB Rendering is a better choice than native - hence its used.
DLSS obviously punches well above its weight too. The 4x increase isn't as good as native 4k but the 1440p results, in some areas, does look sharper and cleaner - but then it does have more info for DLSS to work with. Unless games utilise DX12 ML specifically to do something similar, it looks as though this will be limited to nVidias and AMD's Fidelity FX Super Resolution (FSR) is very different and doesn't use Machine Learning.
Based on what we have seen so far, CB implementations have varied and at its best, can be almost indistinguishable from Native at normal seating distances and in motion - its only when you get up close and study a 'still' - and often only after a transition because there isn't the information from prior frames to use.
DLSS is improving too and both of these techniques offer a tangible upgrade over running the game with a 'Native' resolution. Both improve the Image Quality without negatively impacting on the performance. If the PS5 version were using 'Native' resolutions, it would look worse or, if it matched the Xbox on Resolution, perform worse. DLSS lets gamers run games at say 1440p or 1080p but get a 4k image out without the performance hit running natively would do.
Essentially, all these methods are ways to 'upscale' a game running a lower resolution in engine. If you have a game running at 1440p for example, you can upscale to 4k, spread the pixels out evenly and interpolate to fill in the gaps. Use CB Rendering to render 'half' the image every frame and pull the rest from the previous frame - theoretically more accurate because you are using the pixels rendered rather than 'interpolating'. DLSS uses ML to 'predict' what the 'missing' pixels should be - the more info it has, the more accurate its prediction can be. DLSS is 'currently' the best because its predicting what colour each 'missing' pixel should be, CB is next because the image is already the right size (so no fine detail loss) and has previous frames to help ensure that the right pixels are used and the traditional method is the worst because all the gaps are interpolated.
If you have a Black pixel next to a White one, DLSS and CB would pick a 'black' or 'white' pixel (depending on the overall image) to fill in a 'gap' due to 'lower' OR CB type rendering, but a standard upscale would make that pixel grey - interpolating from the black on one side and white on the other. That's why things look 'softer' because the hard edge is gone. This is why these methods are 'better' than rendering the same pixel count and upscaling. If you haven't got a device capable of offering DLSS, at the moment, CB rendering is the 'next' best.
Obviously if you can render at 1800p and above with decent visual settings and still get the performance metric you want, its pointless to consider CB rendering. If you want to boost visual settings to the Max (or add RT for example) or increase the frame rate further, CB rendering is a better choice for a 4k Display than sacrificing the resolution to 1440p (or lower). Rainbow Six Siege uses CB to deliver a '900p' image on XB1, 1080p on PS4 and 60fps. That's essentially 800x900p on XB1 but the image quality is much better than the in-engine game is producing every frame.
Variable Rate Shading is almost the opposite of upscaling. What that does is look at the image, where the player is most focused and what areas are in shadow, in motion etc and reducing the resolution where it can. Instead of processing every single 4k pixel, some will be a '2x1' block, some a '1x2' block and others can be a 2x2 block - essentially a single pixel at 1080p. The Sky for example 'could' be 1080p, some shadows 'half' 4k and your character in the middle of the screen, native 4k. Another way of 'reducing' the workload for the GPU but instead of reducing the resolution 'evenly', this is more selective - reducing the resolution in areas that have minimal, if any impact and shouldn't be noticeable because the player isn't focussed on these areas.
There is a LOT of potential in the future and a lot of the technologies are either about 'boosting' the image quality of lower resolutions or reducing the quality of things to free up resources when running at higher resolutions. Mesh Shading is also reducing the quality (reducing the polygon count depending on where it is on screen and/or perceived distance away) and even culling objects too if they are behind another object. Of course you don't want a meteor with 10m polygons that only takes up about 100pixels on screen because its so far away but like VRS, these are about not wasting resources on things that the player can't 'see' or not looking at - being 'more' efficient with what does matter.
I am sure if you have a massive screen and can look really close, you may see some areas that look a bit lower res (VRS) or not as detailed/shapely (mesh shading - assuming it would run with no reductions - but realistically, the Dev would no doubt make a lower quality asset that gets swapped out at a certain point)
Point is, all these things are to make the image look and/or run better than the hardware alone could offer with Native resolutions. If you can't get a 'native' 4k 60fps, you can reduce the overall image quality and use CB, DLSS etc to make it look like its running at a 'higher' resolution or you reduce the Resolution or Polygon counts of specific areas or objects to reduce the amount of time processing those. If you can run the game at a Native 4k 60fps with decent settings, then you don't 'need' any of these. Add RT to that game, and then to keep 60fps, they can reduce the overall res and 'boost' image quality with CB/DLSS etc or reduce the res/quality of 'elements' to free up enough resources to get back to 60fps and that's what ALL these things do.
Its certainly going to be interesting. 4k is a massive jump up and these technologies really will help games. Native resolutions are not necessarily the best use of resources. As other games have shown, CB rendering can be incredibly close but not every developer/game engine does it as well as others. All these technologies though are about pushing the visuals and/or the performance beyond what the hardware could without them. The PS5 version is still better because it uses CB rendering than it would of been had the devs opted for a native resolution. I'd expect a 1440-1600p game without and the upscale on that would look noticeably worse - therefore, you would have to say they made the right choice...
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