Cikajovazmaj

@HonestHick respectfully, I don't agree.
Assuming this generation includes only XSX/S and PS5, PS5 had some bangers like R&C, FF7/16, Spider-Man 2, Astro... And while graphics evolution hasn't been breathtaking, load times and immersion have been taken to another level. Personally, I don't enjoy playing last gen stuff as much anymore.
It's really only that MS has dropped the ball when it comes to content and immersion side of things. There has been zero top-notch exclusives and controller (users interaction point) is unchanged from last gen.

I understand I'll be frowned upon for this comment, it's just how I feel.

@FraserG my hunch is that proper MS Xbox handheld is going to be targeting lower pricing, which might result in MS going out of their way to lock Windows down and disabling it being used as a regular PC (to avoid all complications steaming from that). Rog Ally for all it's faults in doing so can still be docked and used as any old PC.

Once this thing goes on a sale, I'm getting it. Seems like a really thought through product compared to alternatives (minus steamdeck, but that is sort of feeling underpowered now).

Did I miss the news, but it seems Frostpunk 2 was also delayed? (my GP app says it's supposed to be out today, and I was kind of looking forward to that, wondering why there is no coverage..)

Terrible naming. I've been in gaming for almost 30 years and I don't see myself as "average" user, but my wife plays only occasionally and almost bought One S instead of Series S. So it's not just grandpas getting confused. Same color palette and look doesn't help.

Glad it reviewed well, I really liked this from the trailers/images. Hopefully it joins GP at some point!

@Neither_scene you got that other way around, it's Xbox head of marketing for EMEA, aka. MS/Xbox employee overseeing the region of Europe, Asia and the Middle East. That means in public situations he is representing MS.
It is a part of this man's job to present a case for securing the funding for his region. If amount isn't sufficient it is either due to case not being persuasive enough, or MS actually not being able to fund it.
I bet you it's not the latter

Ignorant me, not having sympathy for the company acquiring worlds biggest publisher for 70 billion, crying about budget issues now.

Decided to try it for myself
Well, in my opinion, it ain't all that great. Rather, it could be good, but is unfinished.
Traversal (running, jumps, dodges, etc..) have weird animations that interact with environment in all the wrong ways. Fighting suffers from similar issues and animations are a bit lacking.
All of that is understandable for a AA game, but very unfortunate in a game that mechanically relies on precision and fluidity.
I have not played enough to comment on story or dialogue (but it seemed perfectly serviceable for as long as I played).

Eh, opened PS first and saw it was a "mini review".. that is never a good sign. Unfortunately, it fared even worse on PX.
Oh well, maybe I try it out for myself..

First off, I wanna say I kind of like Sad Dad Simulators. Not perfect, but can be fun.
However, Hellblade 2 was quite disappointing as a game (almost no actual gameplay, and realistically "experience " is just boring) and visually on XSS things get quite blurry. Given hype and development time I really expected more.

Ouuuuu, I love the wording there, games may come to Standard later, but they also may not..
Does that mean MS first party games are not guaranteed to be added to any other tier except GPU?
Noice

Yeah, I'm out. It already didn't make sense for me, as I don't get to play enough GP games for it to be financially smart.
But I'm happy for the people that seem overjoyed with this price hike, and hope you get another one soon.

5/10 for me. Gave it same score when it came out on PS Plus.. found it unpolished and a bit boring. Also, first 3-4 hours felt all samey.

@AlwaysPlaying I like that rule, makes sense.

@themightyant I have no idea what are you basing mostly "happily playing" info on. Every performance compromised port on Switch has sold considerably less compared to uncompromised platforms, metacritics score was lower, and user reviews have been vocal about the issues..
Maybe you know a few people who happen not to care? There are cases where property popularity/value outweighs the actual game (Pokemon, Harry Potter, etc..) but those are exceptions rather than a rule.

@themightyant Series S UE5 games have been rendering internally between 436p-900p. Higher end of that spectrum is fine, but lower is just not enough to produce a passable image for a 50+ inch TV output.
And I'm a big fan of Nintendo's potato, but that relies on a specific art style (as big N very well knows what they can and can not pull off). 3rd party ports for example are a mess on Switch, and I don't see too many people getting Switch to play those if they have a choice.
I do agree with the upgrade note, but somehow PC master race is willing and eager to pump money down the drain at a stunning pace (many of my friends find XSX/PS5 too expensive, while investing 2500 euros into a PC they use for browsing and gaming).

@RadioHedgeFund I would not agree completely. All UE5 games have been a mess on Series S as resolution that S can push is just too low for upscaling to be useful. But, majority of offerings works just fine.

@themightyant limitations of Series S and something like new Rog Ally X are very different in favor of handheld. Portable PC devices have room to iterate (vs. consoles that are locked in for 7 years cycle) and adapt to latest engines, and are far less affected by low resolution and upscaling artifacting.

All that said, Series S is a good device and there is a place for it in the market obviously. It's just that it has it's limitations and there is no reason to turn a blind eye to 'em (MS won't fix them in XSS2 unless acknowledged is my take I guess).

@PsBoxSwitchOwner agreed that it costs, but its a cost you shouldn't/can't eliminate. It's like deciding out of all parts of your car to eliminate tires. You can do it, but you probably shouldn't.
Running beta testing is supposed to inform behavior under load, bottlenecks, user interactions with platform and among themselves.. Validate gameplay loop outside of confines of internal cherrypicked QA team.
But, it might all be OK and they end up delivering good, polished experience.

Isn't that beta like critical part of September release? Or does September release become a low key beta launch marketed as full release now?
In my experience every time beta was cancelled what it actually meant was "we'll fix it on prod".

Looks much more like GT7 to me (which in turn means much cleaner and better).
I'm just interested in how people who said they preferred more realistic pre-update look feel now?

Disclaimer: it genuinely looks good now.

I'm not sure if I watched the same video, but I've understood it as basically not being good at all. Uncapped mod is running in 30-40 territory, which is not good enough for VRR, and is choppy on regular display. 120 mode is all over the place, 30-120, and image quality is very poor (this actually might just be a mod bug).
Either way, it's a nice experiment for power users and DF crew, but I don't see it as actually viable or useful.

Special thanks to Tango Gameworks and other who helped them survive rough patch there..
On a more serious note, I think they have a great lineup that is actually coming out just in time to push all those conversion opportunities to resubscribe as their pilled up years are finally running out. I don't know if that is on purpose, but if yes it's a master mind move on MS side.
And, while I do think Sony's roadmap is lacking in comparison, I believe Nintendo's, for the last year of the system mind you, was very comparable if not better.

Well deserved, justice served.
Lesson learned is that sequel needs even more micro-transactions and story removed, double down on the crazy.

Tried this out myself (although on a PS5) and I must admit it impressed. Basically makes the game completely playable. If they did this pre-release game would have probably been a decent success (it's actually not that bad, just average with pretty boring start/begining).

I've beaten "the game" (used very loosely here) on Series S, and can tell you it does not look great. Resolution is just too low, which is a shame because through grain you can see quality art.
However, what helped me was playing on the OLED TV. I've started playthrough on a 27" LCD gaming monitor and that looked terrible, full of noise and shimmer. TV meanwhile produced a more blurred but pleasing image.

For what it's worth Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown is my favorite game from that list. Such injustice that it didn't sell better.

@ridiculous_ties I mean, it drops to 615p most of the time.. it's just past the point of diminishing returns, which is fine as new games should target more powerful and common hardware (game looks incredible on X and decent PC). I just don't understand what Series S owners applauding the visuals see (or don't see), as it was clearly not the primary target.

@awp69 This is unbelievable information to me. I'm genuinely taken aback.
All PS narrative exclusives aside, Ghost of Tsushima I always believed to be a universally acclaimed great game. Like in every sense. Seems I was wrong.

Poll needs to be changed.. game looks very different on X and S. Stunning on X, but very low res and muddy on S. You can see that the art and design are beautiful, but the quality of the final rendered image is just too noisy due to poor FSR.

So I'm about halfway through on Series S and would like to leave a few comments:

• visuals on Series S are rough, really rough. Resolution drops low and FSR does not have enough data to work with. They also choose a lot of furry and hairy materials, grassy foliage, rainy backdrops.. all probably look wonderful on X, but are shimmering noisy mess on lower res machine. Unfortunately, this seems like a Unreal 5 engine signature.
• gameplay is more limited then I would have expected. Through most of the game character animations last for second (meaning you input forward and the character does moving animation that lasts few seconds). Movement is slow and through a very narrow corridor without logical boundaries (there are pebles Senua can't step over).
• combat is a repetitive chore. Would have been much better if cut completely.
• Senua as a character is still fun, her mental state and atmosphere work gloriously. There is potential for greatness if she was tied to a more "fun" game.
  All in all, after first 30 mins I actually thought it was better compared to my impressions as time moved on. If it was longer I probably wouldn't bother finishing :/

Tried the game finally, seems similar to the first one which is a good thing. Will see how it holds up over full gameplay.
That said, there is some delusion in this comment section if people are comparing a 5 hour visually stunning limited gameplay game to GoW:R, Spiderman 2, or HFW. If there were like 4 pillars of a good storydriven SP game, Hellblade checks 2/4, while the others check off 4/4..
I understand that sort of game is not everybody's cup of coffee, but as someone who happens to love that genre, you need to be realistic. There is just so much ingredients missing to be considered top of the genre.

I'd like to remind people that 7/10 is not terrible, it still reviewed as a good game, just not great one. Which is fine, Hellblade 1 had very limited mass appeal. Personally, I just hoped this one would be different and give Xbox a win, but it is what it is.
@BIG3 giving it a go? That is like 1/4 of a game...

Bit disappointed, won't lie :/ either way, it's still decent and I'll give it a try.
@PJOReilly There is no mention of Series S specifically in the review, any details you could provide on experience there?

Phil getting blamed for all this, sitting in his room, playing Fallout, preparing to nuke everybody..

Xss exists...
Starfield patch ignores it...
Xss fears for it's existence...

@NEStalgia you sir made me laugh so hard 🤣🤣
Thing is, and this might be because English ain't my primary language, but that is exactly how Xbox leadership sound to me when they were giving updates. Nintendo/Sony will publish a professional text, Phil will do an interview full of pauses, lapses, contradictions..

On a separate note, I happen to like PS design over XSX, exactly because it sticks out. XSX/S is just efficiently boring, it's a thing you stick in a server room. Reminds me of Silicon valley, when they were building Black box..

@Kevw2006 I mean, it's completely possible they have pivoted and changed strategy from hardware sales mid-gen. Actually, if that model was failing, that is the right and commendable move.
It's just that in my observer eye, the other metrics are failing too.

@themightyant I have trouble understanding how current situation can be seen as anything but grim. On it's own, this could be seen as a flop in transitioned from business model (hardware sales), unless we factor in that game sales for MS owned studios are down, GP subs are stagnating, studios are closing, strong owned IP-s have been absent (ex. Gears), brand communication and PR is on an all time low.. and 3rd party developers are taking notice and have started being vocal about financial feasibility of Xbox ports.
MS can still pump money and turn this around in the long run, and most likely will, but things are looking as bad as they can based on all measurable indicators.

Tried it a while back, didn't really feel it, but that doesn't mean it's not a great game. Happy more people will get to enjoy it.

@Lupaie79 actually, if Sony was to step in and work with them on their next game as a 3rd party exclusive, that would be huge. Unfortunately, I think they burned some bridges there by selling to MS (while under exclusivity contract with Sony).

@Feffster technically nice clear messaging would have been just saying "yes" instead of "it was titles from across the whole slate", but good enough
CoD won't really influence my decision though, as I've never purchased one or played for over an hour. But HiFi Rush sequel could have

Imagine being a studio at Xbox, getting proposed by stakeholders you should take on a "smaller game" project next.. You can't win. You do good (like Tango) you get axed. You do poorly (like Austin), you get axed.
The dev studio dream at Xbox seems to be basically playing politics to get yourself in a CoD support team position for job security.

It was clear from the initial announcement this game will never actually get made and published. Or at least not in a good/hit way.
MS starting a "super group" dev studio was a first hint they have no idea what they are doing, as anybody who managed a team in their life can tell you there is years of data and behavioral science evidencing they DO NOT WORK!

Honestly, I just hope people will "vote with their wallet" and make MS feel their disgust in the language they best understand - money. That's all

Probably should have held on this for a few weeks.. it will only anger people more, I know it does me.

Well said. Unfortunately, he's probably getting fired or demoted for speaking up :/

Redfall was a terrible game, if I'm honest. But huge part of that is not on studio. Even Phil said he expected scores to be in 80-85 region based on testing.. many people tied to projections and release schedule of that game should be fired (including Phil) before the actual dev studio.

They literally closed the only studio that created any good 1st party game for Series console (HiFi Rush if that was ever in question). WTF? That game was even nominated for GOTY if I remember correctly.

But ofc, they had to aquire ActivisionBlizzard.. yeah, I'm getting rid of my XSS as soon as my GP runs out (which is in less than 2 months) and ain't looking back!

Oh, I see they are patching Starfield in preparation of PS5 release..