Banjo-

@jesse_dylan I didn't buy it on Switch but a friend has it, so I tried it. On Series X (S too, probably), the graphics look much crisper and much more beautiful, not to mention that the Xbox controller is ergonomically perfect. This is why I'm excited about the Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster collection coming to Xbox, not confirmed yet but very likely.

I'm happy to see Octopath Traveller 2 coming to Xbox and Game Pass. The first one looked so much better on Series X than on Switch and, in my opinion, plays better with an Xbox controller. So I'm the opposite of some players, I prefer a proper controller and screen than grabbing the Switch and dealing with its buttons for dozens of hours. I always thought that handhelds are better for quick sessions of racing, etc.

I'm also happy about the other Square Enix games coming to Xbox like Visions of Mana. I bet that the Pixel Remaster collection is the next choice!

You mean like a praying mantis with wings and blue lasers as eyes? 🤣

@FraserG Thank you. I love you.

Imagine this: Rare and Playtonic working on new Banjo-Kazooie game. Original director and designer Gregg Mayles leading the project. Freelancer Grant Kirkhope working on the soundtrack. Blizzard Albany (formerly Vicarious Visions) remaking the classics.

@Master_Cthulhu70 It's a relief to read happy Xbox users posting here, because most of the "news" and threads are pure drama and anti-Xbox propaganda. Most of the comment sections have become ridiculous.

I also think that the Xbox ecosystem is the best and I don't have a single reason to leave it. There is a great number of Xbox Game Studios making games of different genres, not just shooting and racing games like before. I'm also looking forward to the next controller that is supposed to launch before October, right before the rumoured launch of Series X All-Digital Edition.

Despite those comments that compare consoles sold as if it equalled revenue difference, Xbox will be fine. As you said, Call of Duty will be a success for Xbox. Since most PS players are still playing on PS4, it's a good opportunity to get some of them on Series S|X, because Game Pass Ultimate includes online and the game. Perhaps the refresh models will help. It's also an opportunity for Xbox to be more popular as a "casual" console next generation. Sony has revealed that the console exclusives aren't selling enough and they are becoming a multiplatform publisher for not just PS but also PC and who knows what else. The charts back it up and reflect that most PS users got the console for Call of Duty, Minecraft, GTA and FIFA/Madden. The console market is limited but, in the end, all these changes will be beneficial because it will more balanced and stable and not as aggressive.

@xboxjapanfan Cool! I want to go there at least once and see the culture myself and try the genuine Japanese food. 😁

Final Fantasy XIII that is 4K on Series X and that I'm loving.

They probably wanted to release a last-gen version because many people still play on last-gen consoles. One of the unexpected outcomes of the acquisition was that Microsoft and Nintendo signed a 10-year agreement (like Sony) to bring Call of Duty to Nintendo consoles. How will that happen? Black Ops 6 don't have a release date. Maybe they'll announce it on 9th June. It may launch in October 2024 and Nintendo Switch 2 before March 2025. So, I assume that Call of Duty will be released as a cloud version on Switch like other games. The next Call of Duty should be current-gen and not cross-gen, so it will also be a cloud version on Switch 2. 🤣

@GamingFan4Lyf The interesting thing is that Microsoft owns Crash and Spyro, so it's like Toys for Bob is a second-party studio now unless they create a new IP, but then Microsoft might decide not to invest in that. I assume that the Crash and Spyro projects would be Xbox exclusives, but who knows.

@AlwaysPlaying Also, "There aren't any single-player narrative games" and then complain about Hellblade II being linear and cinematic.

@BacklogBrad That's Nintendo's strategy. They pay studios to make their games to minimise risks and costs, but in Nintendo's case some of the magic is gone that way.

@UltraGuy And I will make my own Toys for Me and apply a 60fps update for Spyro Reignited Trilogy and Crash Team Racing.

@OldGamer999 Now you can relax and be positive about this 😁.

These rumours are not fun or innocent because they spread a lot of artificial negativity around Xbox online.

Call of Duty will be successful inside and outside Game Pass. Minecraft is always on the top-selling charts on every platform, in spite of being one of the most popular titles on Game Pass. The same will happen to Call of Duty. It will also be very profitable because they don't have to include it in the $1b budget for third-party Game Pass deals, but Microsoft owns it.

The acquisition was more expensive than its market value, but if you check what ABK makes per year, it won't take many years for Microsoft to have recouped the acquisition cost. Finally, although I understand that some people aren't happy about Microsoft owning ABK and I respect that, ABK were looking for buyers before Microsoft outbid and I don't think you would have liked the other bidders more.

@Pastellioli Right! Those rumours are vague, some of the people spreading them backtrack, some of them use the sentence "it was considered/discussed" as an excuse when they are wrong, but still most of those baseless rumours are spread as if they were true, not paying any attention to the official sources and assuming that if it's on more than one website, it must be true.

@Fiendish-Beaver I don't mean the minimal price hike of Game Pass before the ABK acquisition but, as you know, I'm replying specifically to your point #3 and I'm correct, because Microsoft was asked in court if they were going to increase the price of Call of Duty or the subscription because of its addition and they said no, so I'm not speculating. A price hike of any subscription, not just Microsoft's, may happen in the future and it wouldn't be the result of a lie or a plan one year earlier.

About #4, the addition of future Call of Duty games to Game Pass depending on the results of this one joining Game Pass, do you think that they will stop adding first-party games to Game Pass? Well, that's completely out of question because it has been clarified several times by Microsoft.

Although the future is unpredictable per se, all that I have written is officially confirmed, while your comments are speculation or address speculation by unofficial sources (youtubers, click hunters, "leakers", fanboys, etc.)

@Fiendish-Beaver About your points, #1 and #2 were false rumours and pure speculation. #3 was denied by Microsoft in court. #3.5 is not applicable at all and is moot, because nobody should assume that a possible and future price hike of any subscription was planned one year earlier and is the result of a single factor they vaguely addressed in the past.

Otherwise, everyone would be able to say that they were right about all this speculation, because they can always say "it was considered", it was discussed", "they changed their mind", etc. The real leakers don't use vague reasoning and indefinite periods. They know specific facts, know when they will happen and they happen.

If the fourth point is the only one that turns true in the future, it doesn't mean that it's the result of any "trial" or "plan", but a business decision that considers the evolution of their whole business and competition, like Sony's decision when they increase their pricing considerably or decide to include or not first-party games in their subscriptions.

Just as I was saying: every single first-party game on Game Pass at launch as confirmed by Microsoft several times this year and no additional tier for Call of Duty. I don't know why the negative rumours gain so much traction and are so widely spread and believed. Of course, there will be deluxe editions and add-ons bundles like with any major release.

EDIT: Price hike is just another of the negative rumours and these rumours are pure speculation.

@xboxjapanfan It's good to have your point of view here because of Xbox not being popular in Japan. Are you Japanese or just live in Japan, if you don't mind the question?

@RetroMan71 Right. On the other hand, we get dozens of articles about the same games with very little new information. There are many games that are worth checking out and are not covered at all, so we don't know that they exist or that they have been released for Xbox.

@AlwaysPlaying I would like more coverage of minor titles on sites like this.

Where is @xboxjapanfan? 😉

I don't know if I wrote it correctly.

It's interesting indeed seeing what Xbox fans there like and I often wonder how many of them are Japanese and how many are not.

Note: I like many Japanese games.

Sega's games are always welcome. 👍🏻

@awp69 Wow, that would be great. Another big hitter on Game Pass.

@Nexozi Right. That's exactly what a lot of people do, they buy the add-on bundle and don't buy the game because it's on Game Pass and first-party games don't leave Game Pass. They also get the DLC cheaper at launch. Moreover, they need a subscription for playing online.

Funny because Telltale's The Walking Dead series is awesome. I hope that buyers don't mix Telltale's games up with Flux's game.

It does what it needs to, set the mood for the next Xbox show. Marketing finally started after a very long acquisition process. Since the majority of Call of Duty players are on mobile and PC, the game will be successful inside and outside Game Pass.

The intriguing part will be the PS/Xbox ratio (if officially revealed). Exactly the same as the previous games or will some PS players switch platform? I don't mean the PS crowd visiting us on a daily basis, but those that only buy a PS for Call of Duty and Fortnite and those playing on PS4. Besides, will this game be cloud-based on Switch because it's technically impossible on the old tablet or will it be ported to Switch 2?

This entry looks quite different from the others, but very happy that it's coming to Xbox and it might be great.

@jesse_dylan Game Pass deals depend on the price. I think that we will have Octopath Traveller II on Game Pass at launch because it will be on Xbox over one year later and the first one was on Game Pass the day it was released for Xbox. Since the Pixel Remaster collection was released in 2021-2022, it wouldn't surprise me to see the games added to Game Pass as well, as it would mean new money. I'm happy as long as they are available on Xbox!

You make a good point about Dragon Quest III being the first game chronologically, but the series creator teased remakes of I and II in 2021, after the remake of III was revealed.

https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2021/05/dragon_quest_creator_teases_possible_hd-2d_remakes_of_the_first_two_games

Moreover, from another site:

Midori thinks that Dragon Quest HD-2D won’t just be Dragon Quest III, but will actually have the full Roto Trilogy. And the Roto Trilogy, invariably referred to as the Loto Trilogy or Erdrick Trilogy, counts the first three Dragon Quest games.

Fingers crossed.

@Vaako007 Microsoft revealed that they spend around $1b on third party deals for Game Pass every year and they earn over $5b with 34+ million subscribers. Call of Duty can only increase those numbers and they don't have to pay anything else. Every Call of Duty sale on another platform is also extra revenue they didn't have before, 70% on PS and a higher percentage on Windows (depending on the store), the biggest market.

Game Pass had a minimal price increase before the acquisition. I don't think that they will increase the price when Call of Duty launches. The current situation is that Game Pass almost never includes DLC nor the top-end editions except, paradoxically, a third-party game that got all its content included in Game Pass Ultimate (plus free perk), Persona 3 Reload (worth £85/€$100!). My bet is that Game Pass will be the same price after Call of Duty and that all the extra content will be available separately, with premium add-ons bundles like Forza (10% off if you are subscribed). Multiplayer will be also included in Game Pass because that's the most popular mode and keeps people subscribed.

@JoyfulFire They rushed the last game because it was being developed right before the acquisition, turning DLC into a new release, apparently so the bigwigs could reap the benefits. In spite of that, it was another commercial success. I just hope that the next game has a good campaign properly developed by the dedicated teams and that other ABK teams are able to focus on other IPs like Spyro, Crash and Tony's Hawk.

@Foxx_64740 Exactly! One could argue that it was worth reporting because there was no recent output about it from any official source or it was not clear enough but, in this case, Microsoft had stated exactly the opposite of what those rumours were saying and not once but twice this year, "you get every single one of the games we build day one in Game Pass." They can't be more specific than that.

@dreadful I agree with you completely and that's how it should be on consoles. PC is a different scenario because the hardware options are many and depend on the budget.

@BRT15 "why would you believe anything these execs say?"

Just one question, would you rather believe rumours (with lies potentially included) instead? What is more reliable?

The news today are, "The rumours were lies and the official statement 'you get every single one of the games we build day one in Game Pass' we didn't give any credit to was right."

Perhaps not malicious, but just rumours and lies widely spread without a single official confirmation or source, when there were several official statements confirming exactly the opposite.

Exactly what Microsoft had stated, "Game Pass is a gaming subscription, you get a whole portfolio of games, but importantly you get every single one of the games we build day one in Game Pass."

I have played all the games and I don't know why some people write Halo Infinite off. It has an excellent campaign and solid multiplayer. It's one of my favourites. The only bad ones are 4 and 5, especially 5. Too much Cortana, too much Hollywood and too much nonsense, not to mention the worst and most repetitive gameplay and enemies and an awful level design.

There is something very special about Bungie's Halo games and it's the level design and the strategy involved and also the shooting and how the enemies react. 343 Industries didn't get or understand any of that and they ruined the gameplay, but then something changed, whether it was them or the people helping them, and they learnt their lesson and made a great Halo game, Infinite.

343 Industries just need to make a brand new Halo game on UE5 and create a new campaign with the writers of Infinite.

@AverageGamer Right. They were also very efficient optimising games for Series X and S like Gears 5.

In spite of the fact that I like videos about games and technology, Thomas Morgan makes the most boring videos I've ever watched in my whole life. At least here there are other two, but won't bother watching. John Linneman makes great videos, though. Highly recommended.

This will help those games that struggle to run at 60fps and I assume that it will also be Switch 2's life jacket.

Lots of studios have been helping others: Rare, The Coalition, Id... That's why it's unfair to say what the heck The Coalition and Id have been doing. The only studio that I think that has been doing nothing is The Initiative before Crystal Dynamics came to their rescue. Maybe some art concepts and sketches...

@anoyonmus It has.

@anoyonmus The news in this case is that the trailer reads "Dragon Quest HD-2D: The legacy begins" and that means more than "III", in my opinion. So today, they not just confirmed the platforms Xbox, Windows, PS5 and Switch, but also teased that it's not "III" but "the legacy", like the series creator teased in 2021:

https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2021/05/dragon_quest_creator_teases_possible_hd-2d_remakes_of_the_first_two_games

@undarlegt At least, three years in development and the engine was created years earlier for Octopath Traveller. A trilogy on the same updated engine seems likely. The teaser reads, "Dragon Quest HD-2D: The legacy begins." That means more than "III", right?

@FarmDog08 Moreover, Dragon Quest has never been available on Xbox before, only XI S: Echoes of an Elusive Age - Definitive Edition, Builders 2 and Infinity Strash.

I'm glad that the third-party exclusives are over! Square Enix was the last big company making these Xbox exclusions deals with Sony and finally we can leave all that behind and enjoy their new and old games on Xbox. The Dragon Quest remakes and the Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster collection are the ones I'm more excited about. Bring them on!

@OldGamer999 All I said is that you posted on another thread that you watched a walkthrough on Youtube instead of playing the game included in your Game Pass subscription. The review is just someone's opinion and his reviews are usually too subjective. If Hellblade II is 5 hours long, then why didn't you try it? It's not 5 hours long, all games can be speed-run, but it took me 8h 43m, not looking for collectibles. The reviewer said it's a solid 8 hours adventure. Are games not worth playing because they are 8 hours long? It doesn't make any sense, especially if you are subscribed to Game Pass.

Combat is not clunky, it's semi-scripted and the manual parts are brutal and challenging like a Souls game. It's not a "half-arsed" game either, but the most impressive game of the generation. According to you, all Xbox games are, even those that haven't been released.

You are free to not play Xbox games or criticise those that you have played, but why do you bash games that you haven't played? Why do you write games off that haven't been released like Avowed and Indiana Jones? It doesn't make any sense. Nintendo and Sony don't make better games, they make games that you apparently like more, that's all. The only solution to your problem (you post everyday the same thing) is selling your Xbox since you're not playing Xbox games and don't intend to, because you think that they are awful, even though you haven't played them or have not been released.

@ZYDIO

Do you ever actually play and enjoy games or you just analyze them to death until you're pissed off?

@OldGamer999 posted on another thread that he watched a walkthrough on Youtube instead of playing the game included in his Game Pass subscription, so I guess it's the latter.

@Ralizah My joy-cons are fine because I play Switch docked except for one vacation I brought it with me, but it's outrageous how cheaply made and expensive they are. For playing Switch I use a Brook adapter and an Xbox controller and mapped the buttons accordingly.

All of them since the original Xbox One have been quiet and reliable, but I didn't have the Xbox 360 that, I assume, is the least reliable, especially the early model. On the other hand, my PS4 sounds like a jet engine which is funny because it's the jet black edition. It also ejects discs randomly and that is worse than you can imagine because it means that the console closed games immediately, wasting hours of Kingdom Hearts playthroughs. It also outputs a weird random video blackout that lasts half a second.

Nintendo is the brand that I have bought (or been given) the most and I had issues with the Wii that output green pixels but was replaced and the first Nintendo 3DS that also had a weird colours GPU issue, but was also replaced for free. The SNES, N64, GC, New 3DS and Wii U still work fine. My Switch v.2 is also fine, but I bought it last year (replacing the Lite) and haven't used it much.

@carlos82 That's a solid choice.