BrilliantBill

@Tasuki It was announced a good while ago that it won't happen.

@Balta666 Official numbers are impossible to get because majority of its player base is on Xbox or Gamepass on PC etc. Halo will always have at least a baseline of dedicated users playing it (I can get matches for Firefight in Halo 5 in under a minute today!). I hope the resurgence for Infinite also comes. I would hop back the day they add Firefight.

@Widey85 I mean, in a good year where they have a good BF game (happens rarely but yeah) and FIFA, the numbers must be very impressive. EA still has some diversity in its portfolio compared to Acti which is just a CoD producing machine at this point.

Well, I guess it is about time games like Hellblade 2 and Avowed show themselves (to be fair we did get a gameplay section from H2 so not aiming to whine too much here). Some of the games I am most excited about however, Gears 6, Mass Effect 5, Remedy's remake of Max Payne 1 and 2 are a long ways off.

It's a cruel world out there.

@WallyWest Ideally the collection is also meant to bring 2 and 3 to PC community, also opening them up for mods etc.

@Tharsman So far leaving last-ten was not about using the power of next-gen to the max, rather about getting it to just run. Cyberpunk, Gotham Knights, Redfall etc. The devs struggled to the moon and back running them on 12TF gpu of a Series X, imagine telling them it has to run on the OG Xbox One :/

Their art style of stylistic realism never gelled well with my tastes, so for the most part I haven't properly played any of their games. I have played early sections of Dishonere 2 and Prey both of which didn't really grab me much.
Either way either their games are massively overrated or there are qualities to them I couldn't/didn't appreciate.

@TakeItEasy The Bungie-loyalists would never accept that Halo can be a good game if not made by the OG Bungie people (all of whom wouldn't want to touch it with a 5 meter long stick and are eager to work on anything but HALO). Next to that you have 343 making amateurish mistakes like promising a split-screen after 5 and then saying that they honestly couldn't make it work. Constantly adding fuel to this chaotic fire.

Quick check, these cards can also be used with Series X yes?

@Kaloudz As I predicted... 😂

@Kaloudz I mean, at this point you can clearly imagine Phil mentioning it in some interview a month or two from now about what they learned from launching Redfall in this state and he will probably even say its on him and he should have pushed for the game to launch in a better state. Problem is that this "learning phase" probably never ends with Xbox.
I think the summary of everyone's reaction to Redfall and state of Xbox is also this: with Xbox we have a brand with no proper structure and "reliable" output so everything is random. You may get a graphically stunning game like Gears 5 or get a terrible one like Redfall. You may get a great game shadow dropped like Hi-Fi Rush that is GOTY material, or get a half-finished Halo after 6 years. You may shadow drop a game like HiFi rush out of nowhere with no marketing, while the game you announced with the console reveal itself (Hellblade 2) is still in the oven. The list can go for eternity. It is just wait and see.

@TakeItEasy Back in the good old PS3 days people blasted through Crysis 2 on PS3 at like 15FPS and frame rate was not half as big a deal. Not that it was ideal, but this constant bickering about frame rate and frame rate stability is honestly some "PC Master Race" extremism at this point. Specially with games that are not a competitive FPS or something.

@uberdaddypig I mean, people install mods on PC to fix many games or make them better so.... in a way yes?

@NEStalgia I think many studios either have an ancient engine that is crap but they know how to use it and hold it together with spit so they use it (Bethesda, Bungie etc) or they try to write their own engine which will fail and be a mess and they will switch to UE (CD Projekt, 343). A third case is also a studio is forced to use some engine and they don't like it but use it anyway and game is a mess anyway (Bioware with Anthem and Andromeda).

Destiny clone number 7894 incoming.

@BAMozzy Yes, definitely the immersion and love for a franchise can make up for some of the more basic errors or odd things about a game.
I mean, while it is certainly true that Sony can adjust their linear/offline games to a specific hardware and such. I think most of your analysis is ultimately making up excuses for Xbox devs. In general Sony has also managed to launch Ragnarok and Horizon 2 on two platforms and squeeze good performance out of both. In many examples their games later also released on PC and ran on a range of hardware too. The issues of Xbox developers with development efficiency/optimization/graphics are a little beyond such analysis. Also regarding the online aspects, at least Halo infinite proved that the online side of the business is also not up to the gold standards.

@StylesT I think where Sony manages to stick the landing is the graphics and polish. Many of the hyped games of today are essentially a combination of 3 or 4 other games held together by duct tape. For me Star Wars Fallen Order is probably the most overhyped game I have ever played, it is literally just a mod of Uncharted with stormtroopers and force powers thrown in and a handful of combat bits lifter from Souls games.
Horizon, at least the first one, did have some genuinely novel ideas and approach (Animals but they are robots being one). But what carries it is the insanely good graphics and polish.

@BAMozzy Yeah, I think everyone knew the game wasn't "that AAA" the company needed and that is why the marketing was light. Microsoft was already in the mode to reduce their sunken cost. It is is probably another one of those games that is kinda good in a year where no one cares about it except a select dedicated fanbase.
I think the only thing that prevented from from seeing it as an L (as the youth say 😂) was the idea that Arkane hasn't exactly released a bad game before.

The amount of pressure on Starfield to be the Xbox saviour just increased by 1000%. Reading the Gamespot review however, I guess they are being a tad too harsh. Some of the critical points don't really make much sense.

Never been a fan of the Metroidvenia so I saw myself out.

Xbox doing good work in UI. But the mountain of work ahead of them is still huge. They need a better achievement system and equivalent of a "Platinum" trophy.

I am fully embracing the greedy corporate machine of live-service games by playing Destiny 2 and R6 Siege, being a complete noob in both but gradually working my way up. I will probably also try to play Arkham Asylum and finally beat it after a dang number of years.

@GodofCapcom Honestly they don't have to make up for 20 years of only Halo and Gears as in those years when Halo and Gears did well Xbox was actually beating Sony fairly consistently. This Gears/Halo bashing needs to stop. If anything they should double and triple down on Halo / Gears / Forza and Fable.

@Titntin Honestly if Xbox properly uses its existing devs and these studios actually release 1 triple-A game every 3 years they will be fine. At this point they just can't see the forest because the trees are blocking their view.
They have the resources and the studios. They could own ABK and Ubisoft both and still be in the same third place if those studios don't actually make games or everything they make has parity over all platforms.

@EvenStephen7 Trick is that this deal was more about Microsoft making money off of CoD and mobile games etc than it was about Xbox gamers getting great games anyway. Bethesda deal and the Ninja Theory etc provide Xbox gamers with proper console-exclusive games. This deal was/is already promising parity all over the place anyway. The sole benefit is getting that overpriced CoD game on GP yearly. It would be nice. But I originally wanted CoD exclusive on Xbox, that would have been the banger.

@SplooshDmg That can still happen, Xbox will probably buy a lot of studios with the money that is remaining in their pocket now. But the benefits of it will certainly not arrive in this generation. It will be that "I plant trees under the shadow of which I never sit" situation.

@Kaloudz Oh boy, we need a lot more popcorn or tea or vodka or whatever (depending on what takes your fancy) as we watch the rest of this crazy ride unfold.
I think the problem is that size of the deal is a little too big. Microsoft could have easily bought 7-10 smaller good developers (Remedy, Crytek etc) without all this regulatory mess and built its Avengers team of game developers. It worked pretty fine with their initial shopping spree (where they bought Ninja Theory and others) and it is also what Sony is doing one step at a time. But I still applaud their guts for going for arguably the biggest publisher straight.

@SplooshDmg I mean, their games are "critic darlings" as far as I know. Their Dishonoured games were loved by critics. Then they did Deathloop for Sony and got a lot of spotlight. Now after being bought by Xbox their games are supposed to fulfil a very difficult role as AAA console exclusive.
Probably back when they started developing Redfall it was going to be some basic co-op shooter deal. Their games clearly do not have the graphical show and the catching story/gameplay presentation that a console exclusive needs to have. Starfield is probably also not a stunning looking game, but Skyrim looked like a PS2 game and it did just fine. So that is another story.

@somnambulance Yes Sony marketed that game so hard that it made me cringe every time they showed it. But at the end of the day a lot of marketing doesn't make a bad game better. But marketing can push more people to play a good game. At this point it is just wait and see to find out what happens with Deathloop.

@Wheatly It is a whole other can of worms to discuss why those games are not perceived to be "at the top" anymore. But I take a solid Gears/Halo game over some experimental fantasy that a dev team experiments with for years only to release something nobody is eager to play. Most of the "innovation"s under Xbox are at least like that. Grounded, Hi-Fi Rush, etc come to mind.

@Wheatly It is a tired discussion at this point but Coalition and 343 have been made from the start to work on Gears and Halo. Everyone hired by them probably either loved/liked working on the said franchise or clearly knows what the direction of the studio is and has resume and taste and expertise that benefits these franchises.

Also, both franchises are the pillars of Xbox brand and largely popular with the fans of the console. As a result the only studios made for developing the games should not be put to work on something else IMO. It basically makes no sense whatsoever. Also both games are solid and respectable in their respective genres (FPS AND TPS) and they fill a niche that to this day Sony has no presence in, so it is logical to lean on them and focus on developing Halo/Gears.

@GamingFan4Lyf I think there is nothing stopping them in taking a "both choices happened" approach. Mass Effect handled it pretty well with the Ashley/Kaiden choice and carried it from the first game all the way to the third game. Unless a AAA Xbox 1-st party is somehow short on budget they should be able to carry over both choices to Gears 6.

@somnambulance To me personally, no Arcane game has ever looked good in previews. They don't exactly make the most handsome-looking games thanks to their odd art-style (which is essentially just Dishonered's art style) and middling graphics. The whole gameplay and design of their games is also hard to get. Pair that with the fact that Xbox has basically decided to do no marketing on its games and just release them into the wild to see what they are made of (except maybe Infinite that had some marketing and was on the back of every Series X box a whole year before its release). The game is not in an optimal place.
But on the other hand, they seem to be loved by critics and Sony contracted them for a exclusive with Deathloop, even the most hardcore Xbox fan should admit that Sony knows what makes a good exclusive game. So we just have to wait and see I guess.

@SplooshDmg Specially if you have some live-service style game that you play very regularly you probably always have a huge backlog where 10 games are added every year and only 2 are finished and removed from the backlog because you are mostly playing that one game.

I mean, even without the Xbox exclusives it is probably still better value than Ubisoft+. But as a Halo/Gears enjoyer it would take some serious convincing for me to stay subscribed the whole year.

@Sebatrox Yes... * insert "It's been 84 years" meme *
I am most excited into digging into Black Ops campaigns and giving Infinite Warfare a second chance. I kept up with MW games fairly well.

I have a dream that one day I can catch a 60% off on a CoD game that isn't from 2014 or something.

I saw the rumour on reddit was published alongside mention of how Microsoft upper management is unhappy with the state of Xbox and gave HiFi Rush as an example. This clarification leaves the bigger item still open.

Given the size and impact of this small game I think it is much discussion about nothing. It is not like it was a flagship console seller. Even if it was a total failure it would be an experiment worth doing. The

@Bleachedsmiles Yeah, every time you record a clip and share it, the game is degraded to X360 resolutions somehow. Doesn't help that most games somehow run worse on Xbox despite superior hardware to begin with.

@Kaloudz Probably not, but if the strategy and direction of brand is set in a very solid way. It doesn't matter that much who comes next. I assume Sarah Bond is the next one in line? And I mean...Bond...Sarah Bond.😂😂😂

@Fenbops I am too old for these types of characters to be cool.

@GamingFan4Lyf Yeah probably a matter of priorities.

@Kaloudz I mean, the fact that Microsoft fired a third of the studio alongside the entire upper management that "resigned" basically means it is not the same thing now. We have a bit of a "Ship of Theseus" thing on our hands.
Generally yes, first-party studios do collaborate and help out. Problem is that under Xbox apparently, The Coalition is the only one that has a clue what they are doing.

@Kaloudz Problem is that outside of maybe Gears and Forza most other games are either new IP, reboot, or semi-reboot. Meaning that with each game dev team starts from scratch and doesn't recycle much. If you want games to come out fairly quickly you need to find a formula and a tech stack and stick to it. That is basically true for all games that are released regularly, like CoD, AC, Far Cry, and even something like Horizon FW and GoW Ragnarok. They build on existing work instead of starting from scratch (looking at our default whipping boy 343 Industries 😂).

I am still wondering why it didn't get a delay to meet its 60fps mode at launch. I feel like Microsoft is pushing the devs to release. Which is a good thing.

I mean, I understand why people are concerned, but you are days short of getting the entire ABK on your console subscription and you are worried about some indie games a sum total of 19 people were going to play?
Probably these skips happen because resources are tight on indie dev teams and there are 2 times or even more PS units than there are Xbox consoles.

@Trmn8r But isn't Square's western line-up (Tomb Raider etc) already with Embracer group or some other Chinese giant? I think when we say Square today we only mean their Japanese side.

It could be a very high-detail UE5 thing. The question is what hardware did it take to run it like that?

@Kaloudz Considering that the voice actor (Steve Downes) is 70something years old, it is logical that if you want to wrap up the arc of MC do it fairly quickly, and preferably over the course of either one very long game or two shorter games. Then when all is done and settled, both he and the voice actor for Cortana can retire from their roles so that there is a clean break.

The future Halo reboot should also probably be something like the Modern Warfare reboots. Where you experience broadly the same events and characters but also slightly different.

Winds of change...

@grumpypotato Staten has a permanent legendary status after the original Halo trilogy and seems like a genuinely great person. Bu honestly, it is not really known how good Staten's creative work is after Halo Reach right? He was mostly a bit like Rod Fergusson, somebody that went into troubled studios and helped them wrap up the game and ship it. His work on Destiny in Bungie was supposedly scrapped and he left/was fired and Destiny's success of today probably has little to do with his work.
Finally, his time in 343 probably did a lot of good and I think without him the game would have been far worse but again, I doubt his presence in the last year of that game's development largely changed whatever good or bad qualities Infinite had.

@Kaloudz Disclaimer: I might sound angry in this text but I am not.
FIRST WE FINISH CHIEF'S STORY AFTER INFINITE!
Halo has already gone through a new direction between 3 and 4 (new art design, focus on Chief as a human etc), then through another harsh pivot into Sci-Fi space opera in 5 and also a spiritual reboot in Infinite and another art design change, granted it was a return on original art-design but still. I strongly feel a complete hard reboot, while cool, can be a very bad thing right now. The franchise needs to make "one last game" and fully conclude Master Chief's saga before going crazy with more new ideas.

None as I have basically bought/own everything I wanted to play so far. Need the new games!

@FraserG Thank you for the quick reply. Appreciate it!