Feffster

Re COD - isn’t there another way it could work with Gamepass? - eg

Older COD come to Gamepass
New COD costs £/$70 on Day 1 to those not on Gamepass
Those on Gamepass can buy it Day1 and get a 50% discount
After, say, 6 months the latest COD will be on Gamepass

• those that can wait will get it after 6 months, those that can’t get it at a discount and those not on Gamepass can leave it alone or buy it just like they do now.

No big surprise as all the video presentations have been ultra-widescreen and 30fps, but I can’t say I’m a fan of either decision. I think it would have more impact if they presented the cut scenes in ultra wide and the gameplay was left in 16:9 (with a performance mode option for those that prefer to play their games that way).

Hooked on PGA Tour (sorry, as I was typing I clocked that’s an appalling pun) and also enjoying Fallout 4. Star Wars JS to be added to the backlist and SOTTR too. Excellent month for GP.

Again? That’s not necessarily the point is it?….Some of us tried at 30fps but gave up - this is a Godsend to us and we will be playing through for the first time.

Great news. My eyes had to give up after about 10 hours. Looking forward to restarting my Starfield adventure. This is like a new game drop for me. Happy days.

“New display modes on console”……..mmmmm, I wonder. 🙏

Tried quality mode last week and it does drop a few frames here and there - presumably DRS saves the day in Performance mode by lowering the resolution when things get busy.

I’m sticking with Performance mode - haven’t noticed a single stutter so far and perfectly sharp enough (presumably 4K apart from the odd drop when DRS kicks in).

Performance all day long for me. I don’t want to do 30fps anymore, would love to see a performance mode added for Starfield and the upcoming Hellblade 2

@Duck_Farmer @SpecialT - if you are playing HL2 (or Portal) from The Orange Box on Series consoles then remember to take advantage of the unofficial mod that allows you to play at 4K60fps. There’s a YouTube video to explain how. I recently completed HL2 on Series X and it looks and plays brilliantly for an older game. Portal not too shabby either!

Still pretty generous imo (easy to ‘pay’ for 6-8 months of Gamepass Ultimate over a 12 month period). Difficult to grumble about that sort of generosity.

Great news. Look forward to giving Brands Hatch a go today. 25GB reduction is very welcome too.

@ZYDIO - I agree that might be an option, I think the DF video said something similar too.

@ShadowofTwilight - I can assure you I’m not desperate for it to happen (and if I was then I’d simply go and buy a PS5). I’m just saying there’s a suggestion that the next Xbox will effectively be a PC (by another name). Joining the dots beyond that isn’t too tricky.

All pointing towards stronger PC links and/or architecture. The recent Digital Foundry video covered this and for the first time Microsoft’s strategy now seems to make sense. If they can make the front end more of a console than a PC experience then they can achieve a master stroke which solves backwards compatibility, removes (or at least massively reduces) the cost of converting to PC and maybe even makes PlayStation games playable on Xbox (ie the PC ports of those PS games). If they can pull that off then that would be genius.

@abe_hikura @TheGrizMan - I have concerns too but much less so since watching the Digital Foundry discussion on alternative stores appearing on Xbox hardware. I think that’s the first time I’ve understood there might be method in Microsoft’s strategy. By next-gen (possibly, but less likely, later this gen) we might well see Xbox being able to access a vast library of PC titles, and feasibly even PlayStation titles (that have been ported across to PC).

Plenty of speculation but interesting and worth watching if you haven’t seen it.

Enjoying EA PGA Tour Golf, a bit of Toy Soldiers HD & a smattering of Forza Motorsport for good measure. Have a good one all.

I don’t understand why modern games like this aren’t built to be scalable with a performance option built in as standard. I accept there was an argument that it couldn’t be done for Starfield as it is CPU limited, but for a game like this…..come on, really?

I know some will say there’s no difference but it is chalk and cheese for me and my eyes, especially playing on a large OLED display.

Enjoyed the first one and completed it on Series X. I was looking forward to this but my (old!) eyes suffer at 30fps so really hope there is a performance mode option patched in later. Not completely convinced about the ultra-widescreen look either - don’t mind for cut scenes, but not for gameplay.

Nice, I've been hoping the golf game would drop. Good year so far for GP.

I've never played before - do others recommend? I think I read this had performance issues at launch - does anyone know if they have been improved/sorted since?

@RexPowercolt - I almost gave up yesterday when trying to register but finally got past the ‘are you a human’ checks and got an account registered. I’m glad I did as I’m beginning to enjoy the game which surprised me as I thought it wouldn’t be for me.

Quite how Xbox have taken 6 months to get Diablo IV onto Gamepass and not address these front end frustrations is almost unbelievable. Yes, it’s not rocket science and once you’ve got registered it works fine, but why put these hurdles in the way? Why isn’t it a seamless process to link our Xbox account to a Blizzard one? After all, we playing on a console (which is supposed to make life easy). Just to show you how stupid the registration process is there was initially an option to link to a PlayStation account but not one for a Microsoft/Xbox account.

How dumb is that?!

Anyway, rant over….I’m looking forward to exploring more of Diablo’s world. & Happy Easter weekend everyone, go steady on the eggs.

@NEStalgia - well said and I agree with much of what you say. From a personal viewpoint I’m not expecting them to confirm that there will be a guarantee about a certain number of future generations of console, I appreciate that’s not realistic. I watched the recent Podcast with interest and the attempts made in it to address the concerns of Xbox customers.

Despite the assurances made in that Podcast the rumours/speculation keep on coming. I don’t think Microsoft has been clear enough in their response, but that’s just my opinion and I appreciate others may see it differently.

@TheLastHarbinger - except they absolutely have not “tackled the matter head on” - the current and continued clumsy messaging is leading to a loss of confidence in the Xbox brand. A loss of confidence may lead to a loss of (Xbox) customers, etc, etc

I’m invested in the Xbox brand, all I’m asking for is clear messaging about the future to allay concerns rather than the constant stream of unclear drivel that Phil and co seem to spout. I don’t think that’s too much to ask for.

@hoffa007 - yep, timed exclusives because of pre existing contracts. I mean for future titles in those franchises of course.

Just imagine an alternate world (one where the head of Xbox actually knew what s/he was doing!)...

"The following games and franchises will always remain exclusive on console to Xbox users: [insert games/franchises eg Halo, Gears of War, Forza Horizon, Forza Motorsport, Indiana Jones, Microsoft Flight Simulator, Age of Empires, Starfield, Avowed, Fable, etc]

The following games/fanchises will release on other consoles - but only after an Xbox console exclusivity period of not less than 24 months [insert games/franchises eg Sea of Thieves, Pentiment, Hi-Fi-Rush, Grounded, Deathloop, Ghostwire Tokyo, etc]

The following games/franchises will release simultaneously on Xbox and other selected consoles but will be included DAY 1 on Xbox Gamepass - Call of Duty, Diablo, Quake, Doom, Castle Wolfenstein, Elder Scrolls, Fallout, etc]

There are more than can be included and I'm not suggesting the categories aren't up for debate - but Xbox need to make the messaging clear, knock all these rumours on the head once and for all and do it in a manner that shows strength to the Xbox brand.

Rather than stoking the fire why doesn't he just give perfect clarity on the subject?

I'm not against some games making their way across to other platforms but these constant rumours and innuendo are like death by a thousand cuts - and Phil Spencer and his team are responsible as their messaging is as clear as mud.

All I want to know is that my hard earned £s are not being wasted by spending them on the Xbox store - i.e. Xbox is going to exist going forward and I'm not suddenly going to find the rug has been pulled (from beneath my digital library).

Really enjoyed playing through the Titanfall 2 campaign on Series X (FPS Boost bonus too).

Number 3 announcement next month please 🙏

Mine is back. Almost disappointed!….thought (longer term) it being missing might reduce the backlog 😃

Unbelievable. Did they learn nothing from the fiasco when then launched Ghostwire Tokyo on Xbox?

I have no objection to this game appearing on PlayStation but it is another schoolboy error if it runs better on that platform.

Toy Soldiers HD, Forza Horizon 4 and a bit of Flight Sim - all on Series X.

Indy, Avowed then Hellblade 2 (provided it has a performance mode). Flight Sim deserves some love but it is a storage killer.

And what about 2024 Call of Duty?….not everyone’s cup of tea, but isn’t it now ‘first party’? (even if there’s something weird going on with Microsoft not dropping ABK games onto Gamepass)

I just want them to say something that shows me my digital library won’t be unusable and worthless when we get to next-gen. Otherwise why would I spend any more of my hard earned £s on their store?

@abe_hikura - well said. For me you’ve hit the nail right on the head.

@Widey85 - totally agree. Sounds like a hastily arranged damage limitation event being cobbled together.

Not a good look for Team Green. Ironically, I’ve been multi platform in nearly every previous generation, right back to Atari 800 and CBM 64, but this gen I’m just Series X - thought it was all I needed.

I thought Microsoft might use ABK games on Gamepass to drive console sales, but nearly 4 months after the acquisition there’s still no sign of anything happening there. Meanwhile PS5s are selling like hotcakes, so it’s not like console sales overall are in decline.

I’m nearly all digital nowadays. As much as I’d like to think physical has a place for game preservation I think 5-10 years from now it’ll be virtually all digital and a decade or so after that it’ll be the same for streaming. I didn’t see that coming 10 years ago when I had a bookshelf full of 360 games.

B for me, enjoyed it but not quite as slick as last year.

Indy looks cool, looking forward to Hellblade and Avowed but it would have been good to know what hardware everything that was shown was running on…

@Kezelpaso - I’d love more titles added too. I’ve recently played through Half Life 2 on my Series X (The Xbox 360 Orange Box version) and it can be modded fairly simply and perfectly to 60fps (at 4K). I might have missed it, but I don’t recall Pure Xbox covering the news of the mod - yes, it is only possible for a minority of people and isn’t official but it is a nice work around for Xbox users that are interested in making a classic game run brilliantly on Xbox Series consoles in the same way that FPS boost improves performance.

Far cry 4 crashed several times for me (Series X) so I requested a refund and got one immediately. Good service.

It would be great if you could add more details to the list such as whether resolution is affected by 120hz mode. For example Grid Legends runs on Series X at 4k 60fps but 1440p 120fps (and lower graphical fidelity).

Choice is good - but often it is confusing!

@eire-shabba - yes, playing via The Orange Box and the recent ‘mod’ to give 4K60fps.

Getting towards the end of Half Life 2 on Series X. What a game (yes, I’m a bit behind the times!) Merry Christmas everyone.

Bioshock, The Orange Box and Halo Wars. All games I still play to this day (& now enhanced) on Series X.

More than I thought! - just checked and 16 games purchased. Only £46 ‘cash’ spent, the rest was Microsoft rewards. All digital.

@AlwaysPlaying - too true!

lol, I remember an era when you were just glad a game actually loaded (from a tape)….you could wait ages and the game would crash at 99% loaded, or just randomly and repeatedly as you were playing.

Ok games still crash but for 99.9% of the time the modern gamer is living a life of luxury. Sometimes we need to remember that.

@AlwaysPlaying - cracking game.

@gravelmonkey - agreed. I’m 2/3 of the way through and loving every minute. The recent unofficial fps boost for Series X/S makes it play like a modern remake and the graphics hold up brilliantly at 4k60fps.

Half Life 2 on Series X. Now running better than ever

For clarity you are not restricted to three searches on Bing in 15 minutes - you just get three searches that receive a 3 point reward in those 15mins (and that’s if you’re affected by the cooldown).

Strangely I was affected for week or so but as long as I now allow a couple of seconds between searches I now get rewarded, up to the 90 point daily maximum.

I find all this penny-pinching from Microsoft really odd after they’ve just spent 67billion on ABK. And the cooldown period will most likely have the exact opposite effect that Microsoft are seeking - they want us to use Bing as a default search engine and for me at least it was working - but if users are not going to get points then why wouldn’t they just go back to using Google?