@GamingFan4Lyf I doubt the whole thing FTC hearings is going to have any impact on the relationship between Sony and Microsoft. This whole thing is only between their gaming division. Business will continue as usual for their parent companies. The real question is Jim Ryan relationship with Parent company Sony going forward.
@Titntin “ I was surprised and shocked that I could not buy dlc for 1 to 3, and remain puzzled as to why such iconic games are not given longer in the market place before being 'retired'.”
This is why licensing sucks. Games like this that rely so heavily licensing don’t get a shelf life it deserve since it so costly to maintain licensing. It also why these games tend to keep the price tag high. Forza Horizon 4 came out in 2018 and still cost $30 brand new.
@FatalBubbles 343 is still kicking cause they have Halo. Which still sells be the truck load even with their massive failure… Arkane Austin doesn’t have anything to fall back to for success. While Prey was “good” it sale numbers was terrible. So they have to try vastly harder to stay open.
@Romans12 Starting development doesn’t mean full production. It just means that they can put job ad for positions. They hadn’t even hired a writer until 2020. So while it started “development” 5 years ago, it only been in full production for probably less than 2 years.
@LX_FENIX Expecting a true fable style fable game in 2023 was always a huge ask. There was a lot of stuff from the earlier games that would probably rub the over sensitive 2020 crowd the wrong way. It was always going to be a completely different game with just the name stamped on
@Romans12 They haven't been working on it for 5 years. If you been following the game. it only really started development last year as they were still hiring people for key positions
@themightyant "You have to buy and own those Microsoft games separately and then ALSO pay a cloud subscription fee (£7.49 - £14.99 per month). It's far closer to the failed Stadia model except built on libraries where you might already own games (Steam, Epic etc.)"
You do know GeForce Now offers a free tier. There is no you ALSO have to pay a Cloud subscription. You can pay a fee if you want to play on 3080+ rigs, but a fee is not need if you just want to use GeForce Now. This is why GeForce Now won a massive victory over Stadia once they started adding F2P games like Fortnite and Dauntless
@Grumblevolcano Gears 5 is literally the best thing they have to offer from a straight visual perspective and performance perspective on PC. If you was going to jump to a new platform put your best foot forward which is Gears 5.
A real negative for this machine is the fact it running Windows 11. It may be nice to have native support for PC game and Game Pass . But that a massive negative in my book. Windows is not designed for these handheld devices and you’re gaming experience is really going to be affected by that.
Until one of these devices releases with SteamOS. I’ll stick to my steam deck.
An hour battery for something like Gears 5 isn’t bad. Some of y’all have way too lofty expectations for battery life on an handheld device running triple AAA games.
@lacerz I am guessing it because no one is brave enough to publish anything on the game. If you check, both of Digital Foundry videos is handled, not by the usual people who would handle big releases like this, but Rich and Oliver
@LX_FENIX You shouldn't be using what big name faceless company do to each other as an example. Cause I'm pretty sure the actual employees of each company don't feel the same way. Also, what she is talking about doesn't sound like roasting. It sounds like her peers are making actual hurtful toxic comments.
@Sakai “ Microsofts infamous hands off approach seems to work with some developers, and not with others.”
You know what funny about this. We yelled at Microsoft for generations that they need to be hands off instead beating developers with a stick like they did during Xbox and Xbox 360 generation. Now they’re hands off and letting the developers create what they want to create. It not work, so we’re back to beating developers with a stick. It almost like developers can’t be left up to their own devices and need to be micro managed.
@armondo36 “ there will need to be a MAJOR restructuring, possibly starting with Phil himself.”
Wasn’t there already a major restructuring? The moment he came into head of Xbox they did major restructuring allowing him more control over the brand, and placing him directing under Microsoft CEO. This is what has allowed them do so many of these purchases since they now had direct access to Microsoft bank account and was limited on spendings budget like before.
@NEStalgia Are you really using a turn based tactical x-com game with card based elements as reason that FF should be turn based? Talk about a bit of a stretch.
@Moonglow As a PC user, I wish our issue was as simple as the game not running at 60FPS. I have a feeling this is about to another craptastic UE port that will either eat VRAM, barely run at 60FPS, and will be a stuttering mess. I went ahead and canceled my preorder.
@Kaloudz Wasn’t it reported only recently that Gears 6 basically just started development? Sure it been forever since Gears 5, but it not like the studio haven’t been busy. They was working on The Matrix game, assisting with UE5 development, and was working on two other games that was cancelled due to their studio getting hit by the Microsoft layoffs.
@Kaloudz "I'm just speaking theoretically. Besides, I know a few folks from Ubisoft and they never have a bad thing to say. In fact Ubisoft, from my journo days, were the best people to work alongside."
Maybe years ago, I could have probably agreed with this, but not anymore. Especially after all the stuff that has come out and continues to come out about Ubisoft 's Toxic Work Environment that even they have acknowledged in annual financial document but continues to not be acknowledged by most people... Funny how blizzard is continually under fire but no seems to care about any other studio that is dealing with same thing.
"Regardless, as a consumer, all of what you said goes to the wayside. It's not appropriate. My relationship with Ubisoft (as a HUGE) fan, starts and ends at buying and playing their product. Whatever sits beyond that is a them problem, not a me problem. Same with any other dev."
Unfortunately, as some who works in the Tech industry and have multiple close friends who work for big name video game companies. My opinion on stuff doesn't just stop at consumer level.
@Kaloudz So, add more work for underpaid and under appreciated developers to do. There also the financial side of having two completely separate builds which remember Ubisoft isn’t exactly financially stable at the moment.
@rhyno_888 PlayStation is barely a competitor in the subscription service space. PlayStation main focus is still trying to sell you games at $70 a pop. Xbox focus is not selling you games for $70. Their focus is selling you a subscription to Game Pass which is literally trying to be the “Netflix of gaming”
PlayStation cloud gaming is also still limited to PlayStation and PC. You can’t stream to mobile devices, tvs… etc like xCloud. If you was able to stream this from xCloud to mobile devices would you still use Netflix? Most likely not.
Xbox is a direct competitor to Netflix now not PlayStation.
EDIT: It like Phil said, they’re not competing against Nintendo or PlayStation and have dismissed them. They’re competing against Google (RIP), Amazon… etc.
This is why the main concern for the ABK buyout is Microsoft gaining to much advantage in the cloud space.
@grumpypotato Nah. Microsoft is finally stepping and righting the ship. First Bonnie Ross, then Kiki Wolfkill, and now Frank O'Connor. Everyone who has been responsible for the failure of the halo franchise is now being shown the door.
EDIT: He responsible for bullcrap like: It's kind of like porn," "You know it when you see it."; We had people who we hired who hated Halo because of 'X,'”; Created the character mister chief who criticized player for not liking req packs.
@UltimateOtaku91 They've been trying to become a game publisher for a few years now. They own the developers that make Oxenfree, and have been the publisher for multiple mobile games like Hextech Mayhem: A League of Legends Story
@NEStalgia I wouldn’t say “It’s not the tech”. While UE is a great engine to work with. It also have never had the greatest history of fantastic performance when it came to consoles.There also the massive issue with UE games being a stuttery mess on PC the last 3-4 years. Gears game are probably the only games where I can truthfully say I’ve 100% been happy with their performance for an UE title. Which is why TBH I’m not happy with every one rushing to use UE, and everyone begging for title to be developed in the engine.
@TryToBeHopeful Yes. The game is good enough to stand on it own separate from the books or movie; and you don't to have watch or even seen the movies to understand the game.
@Dezzy70 Sony is too busy trying to their TVs and Mobile division afloat to worry about what Playstation is doing. Once it starts affecting their wallet then they'll tell Jim and his team to stay out of it.
@Green-Bandit I really hope that Microsoft never gets into the messy environment of license games. It would bring no actual real benefit to them. Having to share profits with the company who actually own the IP, contracts that consistently change, and more games that are finite on gamepass.
@species8472 I doubt we'll see something that like that cause then they can't get on stage a be like "This is the most accurate created sky for this region ever in a video game"
@AtlanteanMan What sane developer is going to spend their rendering budget on animals and humans in a racing game? That would be taking resources away from the stuff that is most important which is the car and tracks or environments.
@Cyberpsycho "Microsoft have absolutely no experience in producing films and TV shows or shown any interest"
I wouldn't exactly say that. They had Xbox Entertainment Studios which was a television and movie studio. Buying Netflix would allow them to continue that on a larger scale, and they wouldn't have to rely on 3rd parties like Paramount for stuff like the Halo Tv show, and they could have full control over the Gears of War Movie which is being made by Netflix.
@Spaceman-Spiff My money is on Gears of War. That the only big franchise that Microsoft has left that hasnt released anything new and shiny for the Series consoles.
@ZYDIO Stuff like Doom Eternal runs on the fantastic ID Tech 7 engine. This a UE4 which generally isn't a great engine to get absolute great performance out of unless you're Epic or The Coalition.
@BBB It probably is a case of not putting enough time and energy into "optimizing"... Especially with how straight forward gaming hardware and game development has became.
Throwing in curve balls like the Series S is not fun. Developers was probably hoping to just develop for the twins (Series X and PS5) this generation...
Comments 284
Re: Red Dead Redemption Rumours Point Towards Upcoming Remaster
@HonestHick “ This remake makes more sense for PS5 owners as RDR1 isn’t on PS5 due to BC issues with PS3’s cell.”
Not just for PS5 owners, but for PC gamers too. RDR1 never released on PC period.
Re: As Banjo Kazooie Turns 25, Xbox Is Still Keeping Us Waiting For A Revival
@EvenStephen7 Did you buy the Voodoo Vince Remaster in 2017?
Re: Xbox Was Thinking About Acquiring Square Enix Back In 2019
@Snake_V5 @K1LLEGAL Square Enix could have had all the money in the world to fund NFTs and the blockchain
Re: IO Interactive's New 'Project Fantasy' Game Might Be An Xbox Exclusive
@GamingFan4Lyf I doubt the whole thing FTC hearings is going to have any impact on the relationship between Sony and Microsoft.
This whole thing is only between their gaming division. Business will continue as usual for their parent companies. The real question is Jim Ryan relationship with Parent company Sony going forward.
Re: AMD Announces 'Exclusive' Starfield Partnership That Will Benefit Players On Xbox & PC
Everyone talking about DLSS, but this also mostly likely block stuff like frame generation and Nvidia Reflex.
Re: Forza Horizon 1 & 2 Are Shutting Their Servers On Xbox This August
@Titntin “ I was surprised and shocked that I could not buy dlc for 1 to 3, and remain puzzled as to why such iconic games are not given longer in the market place before being 'retired'.”
This is why licensing sucks. Games like this that rely so heavily licensing don’t get a shelf life it deserve since it so costly to maintain licensing. It also why these games tend to keep the price tag high. Forza Horizon 4 came out in 2018 and still cost $30 brand new.
Re: Xbox's Redfall Plan 'Right Now' Is To Keep The Studio Open & Working On Updates
@FatalBubbles 343 is still kicking cause they have Halo. Which still sells be the truck load even with their massive failure… Arkane Austin doesn’t have anything to fall back to for success. While Prey was “good” it sale numbers was terrible. So they have to try vastly harder to stay open.
Re: Fable Looks Jaw-Dropping With First In-Game Trailer
@Romans12 Starting development doesn’t mean full production. It just means that they can put job ad for positions. They hadn’t even hired a writer until 2020. So while it started “development” 5 years ago, it only been in full production for probably less than 2 years.
Re: Here's Everything That Was Revealed At The Xbox Games Showcase 2023
@Suda52 She said game play, cinematic, and immersive action... So it was a mix
Re: Here's Everything That Was Revealed At The Xbox Games Showcase 2023
@Suda52 There is also the Xbox Games Showcase Extended and Forza Monthly
Re: Here's Everything That Was Revealed At The Xbox Games Showcase 2023
@Suda52 They have to save something for gamescom. Plus, they showed gameplay last year for Forza and Hellblade.
Re: Fable Looks Jaw-Dropping With First In-Game Trailer
@LX_FENIX Expecting a true fable style fable game in 2023 was always a huge ask. There was a lot of stuff from the earlier games that would probably rub the over sensitive 2020 crowd the wrong way. It was always going to be a completely different game with just the name stamped on
Re: Fable Looks Jaw-Dropping With First In-Game Trailer
@Romans12 They haven't been working on it for 5 years. If you been following the game. it only really started development last year as they were still hiring people for key positions
Re: Hang On A Minute, Is Xbox ANZ Teasing Psychonauts 3?
@LaurenceJ1987 The second one only took so long cause Double Fine was a small studio with no funding. That isnt exactly the case any more.
Re: Phil Spencer Declares 'Big Milestone' As Xbox Debuts Four Games On Nvidia GeForce Now
@themightyant "You have to buy and own those Microsoft games separately and then ALSO pay a cloud subscription fee (£7.49 - £14.99 per month). It's far closer to the failed Stadia model except built on libraries where you might already own games (Steam, Epic etc.)"
You do know GeForce Now offers a free tier. There is no you ALSO have to pay a Cloud subscription. You can pay a fee if you want to play on 3080+ rigs, but a fee is not need if you just want to use GeForce Now. This is why GeForce Now won a massive victory over Stadia once they started adding F2P games like Fortnite and Dauntless
Re: Phil Spencer Declares 'Big Milestone' As Xbox Debuts Four Games On Nvidia GeForce Now
@Grumblevolcano Gears 5 is literally the best thing they have to offer from a straight visual perspective and performance perspective on PC. If you was going to jump to a new platform put your best foot forward which is Gears 5.
Re: Review: ASUS ROG Ally - The Xbox Handheld We've Been Waiting For?
A real negative for this machine is the fact it running Windows 11. It may be nice to have native support for PC game and Game Pass . But that a massive negative in my book. Windows is not designed for these handheld devices and you’re gaming experience is really going to be affected by that.
Until one of these devices releases with SteamOS. I’ll stick to my steam deck.
Re: Review: ASUS ROG Ally - The Xbox Handheld We've Been Waiting For?
An hour battery for something like Gears 5 isn’t bad. Some of y’all have way too lofty expectations for battery life on an handheld device running triple AAA games.
Re: Video: Digital Foundry Compares Last-Gen Hogwarts Legacy To Xbox Series S
@lacerz I am guessing it because no one is brave enough to publish anything on the game. If you check, both of Digital Foundry videos is handled, not by the usual people who would handle big releases like this, but Rich and Oliver
Re: Redfall Dev Reveals Sadness Over 'Mean Spirited' Feedback From Peers
@LX_FENIX You shouldn't be using what big name faceless company do to each other as an example. Cause I'm pretty sure the actual employees of each company don't feel the same way. Also, what she is talking about doesn't sound like roasting. It sounds like her peers are making actual hurtful toxic comments.
Re: Phil Spencer Says Xbox 'Needs To Improve' Its Development Process
@Sakai “ Microsofts infamous hands off approach seems to work with some developers, and not with others.”
You know what funny about this. We yelled at Microsoft for generations that they need to be hands off instead beating developers with a stick like they did during Xbox and Xbox 360 generation. Now they’re hands off and letting the developers create what they want to create. It not work, so we’re back to beating developers with a stick. It almost like developers can’t be left up to their own devices and need to be micro managed.
Re: Phil Spencer Says Xbox 'Needs To Improve' Its Development Process
@armondo36 “ there will need to be a MAJOR restructuring, possibly starting with Phil himself.”
Wasn’t there already a major restructuring? The moment he came into head of Xbox they did major restructuring allowing him more control over the brand, and placing him directing under Microsoft CEO. This is what has allowed them do so many of these purchases since they now had direct access to Microsoft bank account and was limited on spendings budget like before.
Re: Marvel's Midnight Suns Brings 'Excellent Tactical Action' To Xbox One This Month
@NEStalgia Are you really using a turn based tactical x-com game with card based elements as reason that FF should be turn based? Talk about a bit of a stretch.
Re: EA Details Major Star Wars Jedi: Survivor Update, Here Are The Full Patch Notes
@Total_Weirdo Let hope it more polished... Cause Breath of the Wild ran like straight crap on launch.
Re: Redfall Launch Trailer Welcomes Game Pass Players To Arkane's Vampiric World
@Moonglow As a PC user, I wish our issue was as simple as the game not running at 60FPS. I have a feeling this is about to another craptastic UE port that will either eat VRAM, barely run at 60FPS, and will be a stuttering mess. I went ahead and canceled my preorder.
Re: Cloud Gaming Platform Calls Out Decision To Block Xbox's Activision Blizzard Deal
@Widey85 The only one they ever had was God of War. Death stranding is an outlier as the PC version isn’t published by Sony, so it on Geforce Now.
Re: Cloud Gaming Platform Calls Out Decision To Block Xbox's Activision Blizzard Deal
@Widey85 Sony games aren’t offered on GeForce Now. The only Sony game on the service ever was God of War, and the was pulled 3-4 months after.
Re: Gears Of War Voice Actor 'Hasn't Heard Anything' About Gears 6
@Kaloudz Wasn’t it reported only recently that Gears 6 basically just started development? Sure it been forever since Gears 5, but it not like the studio haven’t been busy. They was working on The Matrix game, assisting with UE5 development, and was working on two other games that was cancelled due to their studio getting hit by the Microsoft layoffs.
Re: The Division 2 Dev Explains Why A Current-Gen Upgrade Is 'Unlikely'
@Kaloudz "I'm just speaking theoretically. Besides, I know a few folks from Ubisoft and they never have a bad thing to say. In fact Ubisoft, from my journo days, were the best people to work alongside."
Maybe years ago, I could have probably agreed with this, but not anymore. Especially after all the stuff that has come out and continues to come out about Ubisoft 's Toxic Work Environment that even they have acknowledged in annual financial document but continues to not be acknowledged by most people... Funny how blizzard is continually under fire but no seems to care about any other studio that is dealing with same thing.
"Regardless, as a consumer, all of what you said goes to the wayside. It's not appropriate. My relationship with Ubisoft (as a HUGE) fan, starts and ends at buying and playing their product. Whatever sits beyond that is a them problem, not a me problem. Same with any other dev."
Unfortunately, as some who works in the Tech industry and have multiple close friends who work for big name video game companies. My opinion on stuff doesn't just stop at consumer level.
Re: The Division 2 Dev Explains Why A Current-Gen Upgrade Is 'Unlikely'
@Kaloudz So, add more work for underpaid and under appreciated developers to do. There also the financial side of having two completely separate builds which remember Ubisoft isn’t exactly financially stable at the moment.
Re: Multiple Games Announced For Xbox Following April 2023's Nintendo Event
@rhyno_888 PlayStation is barely a competitor in the subscription service space. PlayStation main focus is still trying to sell you games at $70 a pop. Xbox focus is not selling you games for $70. Their focus is selling you a subscription to Game Pass which is literally trying to be the “Netflix of gaming”
PlayStation cloud gaming is also still limited to PlayStation and PC. You can’t stream to mobile devices, tvs… etc like xCloud. If you was able to stream this from xCloud to mobile devices would you still use Netflix? Most likely not.
Xbox is a direct competitor to Netflix now not PlayStation.
EDIT: It like Phil said, they’re not competing against Nintendo or PlayStation and have dismissed them. They’re competing against Google (RIP), Amazon… etc.
This is why the main concern for the ABK buyout is Microsoft gaining to much advantage in the cloud space.
Re: Multiple Games Announced For Xbox Following April 2023's Nintendo Event
@awp69 Netflix doesn't want to give xbox more ammo against them in the upcoming subscription/cloud gaming war.
Re: Halo's Longtime Franchise Director Has Left Microsoft
@grumpypotato Nah. Microsoft is finally stepping and righting the ship. First Bonnie Ross, then Kiki Wolfkill, and now Frank O'Connor. Everyone who has been responsible for the failure of the halo franchise is now being shown the door.
EDIT: He responsible for bullcrap like: It's kind of like porn," "You know it when you see it."; We had people who we hired who hated Halo because of 'X,'”; Created the character mister chief who criticized player for not liking req packs.
Re: Halo's Longtime Franchise Director Has Left Microsoft
Good riddance!
Re: Ex-Halo Lead Announces New Project After Leaving Team Xbox
@UltimateOtaku91 They've been trying to become a game publisher for a few years now. They own the developers that make Oxenfree, and have been the publisher for multiple mobile games like Hextech Mayhem: A League of Legends Story
Re: Redfall Will Only Run At 30FPS When It Launches On Xbox Series X And S
@NEStalgia I wouldn’t say “It’s not the tech”. While UE is a great engine to work with. It also have never had the greatest history of fantastic performance when it came to consoles.There also the massive issue with UE games being a stuttery mess on PC the last 3-4 years. Gears game are probably the only games where I can truthfully say I’ve 100% been happy with their performance for an UE title. Which is why TBH I’m not happy with every one rushing to use UE, and everyone begging for title to be developed in the engine.
Re: Xbox Is Giving Away A Free Harry Potter Movie To Lucky Users
@TryToBeHopeful Yes. The game is good enough to stand on it own separate from the books or movie; and you don't to have watch or even seen the movies to understand the game.
Re: Redfall Will Only Run At 30FPS When It Launches On Xbox Series X And S
@NEStalgia It supposed to be Unreal Engine 4
Re: Halo Veteran Joseph Staten Has Announced He Is Leaving Microsoft
@BrilliantBill Gamers relationship with Halo, as well as Destiny, is an abusive relationship.
Re: Sony Blasts CMA's Xbox Verdict As 'Surprising, Unprecedented And Irrational'
@Dezzy70 Sony is too busy trying to their TVs and Mobile division afloat to worry about what Playstation is doing. Once it starts affecting their wallet then they'll tell Jim and his team to stay out of it.
Re: Gears Of War Teams Up With Marvel Writer For Upcoming Netflix Movie
@Green-Bandit I really hope that Microsoft never gets into the messy environment of license games. It would bring no actual real benefit to them. Having to share profits with the company who actually own the IP, contracts that consistently change, and more games that are finite on gamepass.
Re: Soapbox: I Hope Forza Horizon 6 Goes In A Different Direction For The Series
@species8472 I doubt we'll see something that like that cause then they can't get on stage a be like "This is the most accurate created sky for this region ever in a video game"
Re: Soapbox: I Hope Forza Horizon 6 Goes In A Different Direction For The Series
@AtlanteanMan What sane developer is going to spend their rendering budget on animals and humans in a racing game? That would be taking resources away from the stuff that is most important which is the car and tracks or environments.
Re: Talking Point: Could Microsoft Be Interested In Acquiring Netflix?
@Cyberpsycho "Microsoft have absolutely no experience in producing films and TV shows or shown any interest"
I wouldn't exactly say that. They had Xbox Entertainment Studios which was a television and movie studio. Buying Netflix would allow them to continue that on a larger scale, and they wouldn't have to rely on 3rd parties like Paramount for stuff like the Halo Tv show, and they could have full control over the Gears of War Movie which is being made by Netflix.
Re: Mysterious 43GB Warner Bros. Game Discovered On The Xbox Store
@Decoy_Snake remaster of Origins in time for Christmas. Sign me up.
Re: Microsoft Is Dropping The Price Of Xbox Series S For Black Friday 2022
@BAMozzy Actually, you don't have to buy through MS. Xbox allows you buy cheap digital key of sites like Green Man Gaming and instant gaming.
Re: Xbox's Perfect Dark Reboot Going 'Extremely Well', According To Crystal Dynamics
@Spaceman-Spiff My money is on Gears of War. That the only big franchise that Microsoft has left that hasnt released anything new and shiny for the Series consoles.
Re: Ubisoft Racer 'The Crew 2' Will Soon Be Playable At 60FPS On Xbox Series S
@Brazenology Most likely, but it is what it is... This is why I moved away from fixed hardware.
Re: 'Evil West' Runs At 1080P & 30FPS On Xbox Series S, 4K On Xbox One X
@ZYDIO Stuff like Doom Eternal runs on the fantastic ID Tech 7 engine. This a UE4 which generally isn't a great engine to get absolute great performance out of unless you're Epic or The Coalition.
Re: Ubisoft Racer 'The Crew 2' Will Soon Be Playable At 60FPS On Xbox Series S
@BBB It probably is a case of not putting enough time and energy into "optimizing"... Especially with how straight forward gaming hardware and game development has became.
Throwing in curve balls like the Series S is not fun. Developers was probably hoping to just develop for the twins (Series X and PS5) this generation...