Banjo-

Besides what have been posted above, on Sony's subscription, first-party games take a long while to join the service, and that means more value on Game Pass. Offering a first-tier release on day one for one pound/euro/dollar is just ridiculous. They already have a free-to-play Call of Duty.

I agree with @Major_Player and @Fiendish-Beaver. It's still cheap to pay one month of Game Pass for the latest Call of Duty, but Call of Duty keeps topping the Game Pass and Xbox software charts many months after launch (same on the other platforms). Modern Warfare III is on second place on Xbox right now, just behind free-to-play Fortnite. I guess that it's a long-term investment and definitely profitable after the acquisition; but that doesn't mean that anyone should be allowed to play it for the same price as a rubbish mobile game. Besides, the engagement (active users and subscribers) of Xbox users is high, so it's working for Microsoft.

@fbnaulin I heard, but I don't know, but it's possible, and it's been discussed, but they might have ditched... If they don't change their plans, I assure you that...

I like this. He was not a fan of Rare's games, so better to have somebody else directing Rare. Gregg Mayles is a good candidate for boss of Rare, although I love his creative side -he's the creator of Banjo-Kazooie-. I hope that Craig Duncan is better at managing more general things as a middleman between Spencer and Booty.

Most of the negative comments I read about Sea of Thieves seem to come from people that haven't played it. It's a very polished game, it has been successful since it was released six years ago, the audio is incredible and, in my opinion, is the most beautiful game of the last generation.

@OldGamer999 I don't have issues getting achievements either and I always use Quick Resume, but for those complaining, the achievements are unlocked a bit later, so it's not like it's the end of the world.

@cragis0001 Thanks! That's extremely interesting because Apple is trying to circumvent the regulations and that should not allowed either, as it's another way to keep doing illegal practices in dirty ways.

@Simu001 @Nintendo4Sonic I would add Sonic Heroes to the list.

I wonder...will there be another warning screen like, these breasts are not inclusive enough? 🤔

@OldGamer999 I guess it happened because the times I used WiFi, the console was far away from the router, so it got disconnected and when I launched the game, the console said, "There is a change. The game will be closed." It must be something related to the cloud saves synchronisation, I am sure.

Cool! The original trilogy is 50% off at the moment, if you are interested (you should!).

@OldGamer999 Quick Resume is literally a game changer. Skipping logos, warnings and save file screens is priceless. You can completely turn off the console and it doesn't matter. However, I think I discovered why sometimes it doesn't work. Every time it failed, it was connected to WiFi (far away from the router), so I avoid WiFi and use Ethernet if possible. I also save before turning off the console, just in case.

@PhileasFragg I have a collection of CDs that I can only play easily on Series X, because PS don't read CDs. I have only a few physical Xbox games and none of them is an Xbox or Xbox 360 game, because I didn't have those consoles, so for me the disc drive is basically for BDs, DVDs and CDs. I wonder if all next-gen consoles will lack a disc drive. In that case, I will keep Series X even after getting its successor.

Halo Infinite, an unexpectedly excellent game after the most disappointing one.

Dolby Vision, Dolby Atmos and Quick Resume are the top features of this generation.

@WildConcept6 Some users were assuming that Microsoft would try to open a store to rival Google and made fun of it. What they didn't realise is that it could be part of the same Xbox app. Microsoft have already merged the two apps they had. In any case, this benefits consumers and should be celebrated, whether it's Microsoft or Sony.

@cragis0001 Right, I have mentioned previously how that was illegal, at least in this part of the world, but I'm happy that it is in USA, too. Apple will have to follow. In EU, Apple has been forced already, although they want to charge developers a greedy fee, so I hope that the fees are regulated too, otherwise they're a way to circumvent regulations.

@JayJ Right. I've read some of his reviews here and elsewhere and I disagree with most of them. Reviews are just opinions, but some reviewers are less biased and more reliable than others.

Three brilliant comments. The fear of missing out is so powerful and yet so absurd. I am patient because my backlog is huge. If certain games don't ever come to an specific console, I'll resort to PC, but it would probably be for games developed for old consoles. Third-party exclusives were wildly inconsistent, indeed. It kind of made some sense where consoles were something new, but now? Using Square Enix as an example, Octopath Traveller was everywhere but PS, Octopath Traveller II was everywhere but Xbox and eventually both were made available everywhere. Final Fantasy XVI is coming to Windows and then Xbox and the VII trilogy will be on Xbox eventually along with every other entry, but Sony and Square Enix thought it was a good idea for a while. It wasn't. That has been used as deceptive marketing and some fans still defend that. Like you said, they complain about streaming services not including everything, but they can pay one month and not change devices if they want to watch something else. Paying for excluding third-party games from an specific platform seems illegal in this part of the world and it will probably be, eventually.

Leaving the console wars behind is the future. Xbox realised that and now Sony knows that whatever they try, they won't be be able to reach their objectives, so they copy Xbox now. Sony has tried absolutely everything this generation: from "we believe in generations" to all games being cross-generation, from cinematic sequels to their own version of Fortnite, from console exclusives to Windows ports, from mobile attempts to the most expensive PS ever. Nintendo has been very lucky because of the massive success of Switch and because those full-priced Wii U ports were very lucrative. It seems that Nintendo could be an independent thing indefinitely or at least for longer than any other, but with so many young players on mobile, PC and handheld computers, not even they can assume that people will be hoarding hardware and paying extra for the privilege in the near future.

@WildConcept6 Right. In any case, most of the doom and gloom is painted by Sony fans or click hunters. Xbox is stronger than ever on the market because of their active users, subscribers, the sales on console and Windows (including Steam) and the addition of ABK. With a couple of dull sequels and remasters of remasters, I don't know how can anyone talk so positively about the PS5 catalogue, unless it's their first PS, but of course most console players are playing Minecraft, Call of Duty, Fifa (FC), Madden, Fortnite and GTA V. For console gamers, there is no better value than Xbox: free remasters, free enhanced backwards compatibility, FPS Boost, better pricing, Game Pass, Quick Resume, Dolby Vision, Dolby Atmos... so it's weird when they use Sony or Nintendo as a paradigm. That fandom and brand power are persistent, but Xbox is all right. I think that the future of the three console brands will be tied to PC and Cloud somehow and Xbox is already there.

Phil does not own Microsoft. He is a businessman but he is also nice and a gamer and I know what I am saying. Not even developers are usually this nice, even some indie developers have shown their true colours every now and then and I have also seen that. This industry has become much more toxic since social media exploded. You only have to read the comments sections like @fbnaulin implied. Sometimes, 99% of the comments are speculative and negative.

I have been saying this about Tango for months. The founder of the studio and, some time later, the main producers, his successor included, had left the studio before Microsoft decided to let them go. I am sure that Zenimax would have done the same if it was not part of Microsoft. Tango became headless.

Microsoft could have done what others do, buy, take everything away and sell out, but they kept what remained of the studio safe until another publisher was interested in them. They also agreed to sell the IP so Tango could continue what they started while working for Microsoft. It's important to remember that Tango is Japanese, so Microsoft could not move people to other teams like with the Western studios.

I have played all of their games but Ghostwire Tokyo, but it is on my play later list. I will always be interested in what Shinji Mikami does and although I don't understand why he founds studios and IPs and then leave, it's not my business and who knows, it has been suggested that there were strong disagreements amongst team members. As a (classic) Resident Evil fan, I will always be thankful and interested in his career and whereabouts.

@RentedPanda It's impossible to completely adapt on the fly because you're supposed to react instinctively and not think. I learnt the Sega/Xbox/PC layout after Nintendo/PS and I can't go back now. One interesting thing is that SNES had the accept/main button as B on the left. It was Nintendo DS what started the modern Nintendo layout (accept/jump with the right button). Nintendo 64, GameCube and Wii had special layouts. This means that Nintendo's configuration has changed several times and looks wrong to me, especially the current one.

Funnily, one of the first games I played on Xbox was Grabbed by the Ghoulies (Rare Replay) and there are some difficult button sequences that taught me the new default layout properly.

@fbnaulin Series X is more capable technically than PS5, but third-party games, even some Xbox games, seem to prioritise PS5, like last generation PS4 was the common denominator. I understand that if you're making a Pentiment port, you do your best and then update the original Xbox version accordingly, but the click bait sells conspiracy theories, lack of power or neglect. Microsoft is the villain in spite of being the most consumer-friendly.

In spite of that, some games still perform better on Series X because of the extra power and no throttle. Regarding Series S, I don't think it holds Series X back because all current-gen games are PC games and PC games are Windows games, but the reduced memory and GPU is a potential issue if developers are not willing to optimise resources and scale down the graphics proportionally. The development kit is the same and it's not like it's a Switch. Unlike PS, Xbox is a Windows "PC".

Games won't be optimised for the GPU-upgraded PS5 Pro properly. Its market share will be much lower than PS4 Pro. Next generation, games will likely be optimised for PC, that now includes handhelds and I don't mean third parties only but everyone but Nintendo. The future of video games is no longer a single platform, not even the PS because even though Sony ships a lot of hardware every quarter (reported as sold consoles), games are no longer selling enough copies on PS(5) and the only metrics that really matter are software/DLC and subscriptions.

Who would have thought it, Sega was right... I hate that each controller has a different configuration now. I got used to the Xbox layout quickly, it kind of makes sense (the A button on Gamecube is just as clever), so I bought an adapter for the other consoles (Switch and PS4). Now, Nintendo looks reversed (B, A), but Japanese read from right to left, so I guess it makes sense for them. The adapter also allowed me to skip the Switch pro controller and a second PS4 controller/battery after the awful PS battery died definitely.

It's surprising how some PS fans believe that PS5 Pro is the half-way point between this generation and the next in terms of technology and that it will make a difference in games like GTA VI. They are definitely going to be disappointed. Not just from a technical perspective, this being the equivalent of PS4 Pro but twice as expensive, but also because of the rough and automated levels of optimisation in software that will be served, basically, AI resolution upscaling and little room for frame rate improvements.

@Fishmasterflex96 In UK, but I'm sure that they won't hold games back in one region. I guess that they are cooperating with Microsoft, only difference being that Microsoft is getting a licence fee or a commission. Perhaps, another difference is that games will be available on Ubisoft Plus and Game Pass in UK. We will see.

EDIT: I read a bit more about it. Ubisoft pays Microsoft a fee for each of those ABK games (that belong to Microsoft) and Ubisoft is able to manage the streaming rights to those games on other subscription services. In other words, Ubisoft pays for the privilege of distributing those games on streaming services, for 15 years, but the games still belong to Microsoft and will be included in Game Pass worldwide.

Call of Duty will be massive, even Modern Warfare III was and it joined Game Pass eight months late. I think that apart from the rumoured new Game Pass tier (Cloud for mobile devices and TVs?), they might add more Activision games before Christmas. Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled, Crash Team Rumble and Spyro Reignited Trilogy sound like obvious choices. I would love a 60fps upgrade for Crash Team Racing and Spyro Reignited Trilogy, by the way. Sekiro or the Blizzard collection would be nice and, of course, the Tony Hawk's remasters, but they won't add everything at the same time. Crash Team Racing even has a Christmas circuit!

@AlwaysPlaying Since VII Rebirth and XVI had disappointing sales on PS5, I wonder if Sony also lost money with those deals. Obviously, sales weren't enough for Square Enix. On the plus side, Xbox will get the definitive edition of all of them and with better performance than the shockingly choppy PS5 temporary exclusives.

@MetalGear_Yoshi I wouldn't care much about the order, but Trials of Mana (remake of SNES game), Legend of Mana (remake of PS game) and Visions of Mana (new game).

@Beetlebum91 @Lup Right, the whole Pixel Remaster collection is 20% off on Xbox. I just bought it. I will wait for a sale that includes Visions of Mana because I want to play the other two first: Trials of Mana and Legend of Mana, both on Game Pass. If you want to play Secret of Mana, play the SNES version, the PC/PS4 remake is awful.

More Japanese support than ever, so excellent. Trials of Mana and Legend of Mana on Game Pass today, Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster available now and cheaper than on PS and Nintendo stores, Visions of Mana (deluxe edition includes a series BGM bundle) is just around the corner and demo of Metaphor: Re Fantazio is out now. Atelier and Dragon Quest remasters are coming to Xbox. It was also nice seeing more of Metal Gear Solid Delta and Indiana Jones and the Great Circle. So many great games...

@Nic-Noc20th-C @Cherip-the-Ripper @Elbow Greetings. I don't know any publisher as warring as Nintendo. In EU and UK they even challenged the law regarding customers' rights. That and everything discussed here and how they sue fans for making art, videos or whatever is disproportionate. It makes Nintendo less friendly and less nice than what the games they make represent. It breaks my inner child's heart because I grew up playing on Nintendo consoles.

@Cherip-the-Ripper Pokemon consists in collecting monsters and choosing what abilities to keep and what abilities to forget and having monsters with inherited abilities and that's the core mechanic of Shin Megami Tensei and also of the dungeon part of Persona (Shin Megami Tensei spin-off). Many Nintendo developers have revealed in interviews how they have been inspired by other developers and artists, yet they think that every concept and idea belongs to them, like when they wanted to patent shooting arrows mid-air.

Nintendo and Pokémon think they own the whole world. As if they haven't been inspired by others...

if it isn't perfect, it just doesn't get a 95 plus on Metacritic", a product can then be met with extreme criticism and deemed a "failure".

True and this is partly because some games are massively overrated (and underrated) depending on who is publishing them. Those overrated games aren't perfect either, but people use them as examples of what are considered quality games (and failures) and that's absurd.

Still some readers here think that Japanese games only sell in Japan and that Xbox is an alien system that doesn't run Windows and DirectX like most computers worldwide. Weird.

@NEStalgia I made a new thread for that. Check it out!

https://www.purexbox.com/forums/px_other_gaming/gaming_handhelds

@NEStalgia That's very interesting. You should write all this in the forum so it's not lost in the fleeting comments section.

No original Xbox, I had the Gamecube, but the Xbox One with Rare Replay. It was the greatest thing and I was no longer a kid.

Black Flag and Syndicate are the only Assassin's Creed games that still run at 30fps on Xbox. I welcome this update with open arms. Regarding Black Flag, I have mentioned it for a long time, there are reliable rumours saying that is being remade. Basically, people related to Ubisoft.

I'll get the next-gen Xbox, but an Xbox handheld can't come soon enough. The next Series S should be a hybrid system that you can connect to the TV and play on its own. The benefits of PC and console, just what Xbox is, but in Switch/handheld PC form. Just don't do what Sony with Portal.

@Elbow Yes, it's weird. The best thing about Banjo-Kazooie are the characters and the writing, not the N64 polygons 🤣. Add the good level design and all its art and you get one of the most beloved games. I can't think of any platform character with more potential than Banjo and Kazooie. The platform genre itself has a lot of potential unlike, for instance, flatter genres like beat 'em up, and even flatter genres can be interesting to play. Platfom is one of the genres with more potential, but not everyone knows how to make outstanding games.

@NEStalgia It's a shame that even Sony's PS5 games like Astro Bot have performance issues. It's shocking that the physics and AI are worse than generations ago because most developers care about the particles only.

Yes, Sony might launch their own PC store. It's what Nintendo will do if their next consoles aren't as successful, because I don't think that Nintendo would limit themselves to the Google and Apple stores and abandon traditional gaming in that case, but who knows. Next generation is intriguing already. Both Microsoft and Sony on the PC market and Nintendo could either go Switch or go Wii U.

@NEStalgia It has been reported that The Last of Us II Remastered would apparently launch on PC in 2025 alongside season 2 of the TV series. If Astro Bot launches on PC as the producer is considering, I think all Sony's games will, indeed. It is the full-blown version of the PS5 experience.

@Markatron84 Since I haven't said anything here about the 2D titles, Sonic Superstars is great except for the boss battles and of course Sonic 3D & Knuckles is the best. I wouldn't mention the multiplayer of Sonic Superstars as a negative, just something extra to be avoided. Also, get Frontiers, it's great 3D platforming with good camera and controls, nice story and excellent music, including retro playlists. It only lacks a bit of Sonic flavour, but a sequel could become the best thing ever if the world, enemies and rails are more Sonic and less neutral.

@theduckofdeath I have Game Pass since it started. The first first-party games that joined on launch day were Sea of Thieves, State of Decay 2 and Crackdown 3. I usually redeem two or three years of pre-paid codes. I have to renew it next summer. I don't expect a deal as good as the past ones, but it's been too good so far, so that's okay.

@NEStalgia Yeah, probably not all games and not at launch. I think that they lost more losing Activision and Square Enix's privileges, at least that's the impression I get. Losing their own games to PC doesn't seem so impactful to the masses although it is for us, the traditional gamers.

@NEStalgia Yeah, Sega is one of the third parties that supports Play Anywhere, at least with this game.

@NEStalgia When a console plus the software is more expensive than the alternative PC, it stops making sense, especially considering that PS subscriptions are expensive and much more limited than Game Pass and that you now get Sony's games on PC. The PS exclusivity was the main selling point of PS and that dies this generation.

Playing already, I love the Persona series so far.

@NEStalgia Redeeming the DLC code given as a Game Pass Ultimate perk is a definitive purchase, yes.

@HonestHick Yeah, even Mercy admitted that gamers aren't asking for more when he said that 75% of players choose performance mode. I think that what they are asking for is more PS5 games. 😁