@CunningPig @S1ayeR74 The CMA are using official Nintendo comments, Nintendo's been saying for a long time that they're not competing with Sony or Microsoft.
@SplooshDmg Live service is the biggest thing to blame for the problems with Babylon's Fall and you can see the same damage with a lot of other live service games, even flagship franchise games like Halo Infinite.
With even Sony extremely eager for live service to be their focus, it feels like live service will eventually cause a gaming crash similar to the one in 1983.
Do note that 4 of these songs are unlocked via winning the weekly limited time Seasonal Championships.
Week 1: Language - Porter Robinson
Week 2: Nocturne - Keeno
Week 3: Ingrid is a Hybrid - Dusky
Week 4: A Moment Apart - ODESZA
I don't like the concept of limited time song unlocks and the overall setlist is too heavy on Horizon Bass Arena but it's nice having songs like Bored to Death back.
I hope Goldeneye drops next week as part of the Bond 60th anniversary celebrations. NSO Expansion Pack didn't get a N64 game in September which is a promising sign for Goldeneye.
If 2TB was at this price back at launch I would've considered getting it but 2 years later it feels like the Xbox lineup isn't interesting enough to justify any expansion card.
Games With Gold started in July 2013 after Don Mattrick nosedived the Xbox brand into oblivion with the XB1 reveal and E3 2013 making things worse with the infamous "buy a 360" answer to those who don't have internet access 24/7.
Given the state of Games With Gold now, I wouldn't be surprised if June 2023 is the last batch of games.
Will replay the missions I didn't get the skulls in but that's about it in terms of achievements I'll get associated with mission replay.
The stream showing off campaign co-op showed that mission replay is part of how campaign co-op works so if co-op is on time then so is mission replay. Both could be delayed, just not mission replay by itself.
Reach for sure. Pretty much perfected gameplay mechanics, the newer modes (Invasion debuting in Reach and Firefight which had recently debuted in ODST) were absolutely fantastic and the campaign is the best in the franchise (ODST is a close 2nd).
I would say Halo 5's multiplayer is slightly better in terms of gameplay as I really liked the addition of Warzone, spartan abilities and what promethean weapons add to the sandbox but the campaign is bad and microtransactions are microtransactions (though Halo 5's microtransactions are nowhere near as bad as Infinite''s microtransactions) so overall Reach is a much better game.
I think ODST would've been the strategy that would've worked best for Infinite. Instead of FTP multiplayer, the multiplayer being the continued support for MCC and Halo 5 (the ODST physical copy came with Halo 3 multiplayer) meanwhile Infinite's focus being on campaign and PvE.
Given what we already know about 2023 for XGS and that Starfield will probably be delayed to avoid clashing with TotK, I only think 1 or 2 of these will release in 2023. Probably Hellblade given it got actual gameplay last year.
I think looking at the NSO Expansion Pack timing, we can deduce that this releases in 2022. NSO Expansion Pack gets 1 N64 game per month, September's game hasn't been announced yet but we know the following games are coming later in 2022:
Pilotwings 64
Mario Party
Mario Party 2
4 months, 3 games so from that it's pretty clear than Goldeneye is also a 2022 release.
I wouldn't be surprised if Deathloop doesn't appear this year given if the game isn't mentioned at all, the PS+ Extra/Premium presence next week would give the impression Sony had timed exclusivity for subscription presence on top of the 1 year normal timed exclusivity.
I think the surprise Game Pass reveals would be more Japan focused rather than Deathloop appearing. So stuff like MH Rise for PC Game Pass, Bravely Default II, Shin Megami Tensei V, etc.
I'd prefer a MCC style collection, the multiplayer experience of the 360 games are either only finding bots or you come across a load of cheaters that warp all over the place with infinite ammo and much faster than usual fire rate. A MCC style collection would allow PC players to experience the campaigns and allow Xbox players to relive the multiplayer.
I really liked how there was only a small gap between announcement and release for Forza Horizon games (it was always announce at E3, release in Fall/Holiday the same year). While Fable has been announced for over 2 years at this point, it would be cool if the re-reveal to launch cycle was close to the FH cycle.
@EvilSilentFrame Not exactly lie but they did use smoke and mirrors on the whole "legacy" thing. The way it was worded strongly suggested that games like Elder Scrolls 6 and Fallout 5 would be coming to PS because the franchises have a legacy there but that's not the case.
That's what Phil Spencer is doing regarding these acquisition statements, where the most common interpretation of the statements are something that benefits all platforms but you look a lot deeper and the actual meaning is something which only benefits Xbox. For example, what he means regarding still releasing CoD on Playstation is likely that the FTP multiplayer experience releases on Playstation but the single player campaigns are only on platforms which have Game Pass.
It's good that a regulatory body is finally calling Microsoft out on these smoke and mirror attempts.
It further seems like Microsoft sacrificed Halo to acquire CoD, what a huge shame. As for split-screen cancelled, it looks like another situation where ditching the XB1 would've gone a long way to resolving problems.
I'd honestly go for Forza Horizon 5 Expansion 2 to be honest, that is technically TBA meanwhile all the games listed here at the moment I'm not interested in.
The presence of Minecraft Legends but absence of Forza Motorsport, Redfall and Starfield makes me think that if there aren't delays out of the 12 month window that the timing is something like:
@Richnj I agree it didn't need to compete with CoD, I was looking more that from 2015 onwards CoD was the shooter franchise for Playstation but if Killzone/Resistance/SOCOM stayed CoD would've been a shooter franchise for Playstation (still the biggest but just an option).
It's like how there'd still be plenty of people who would buy Nintendo hardware for JRPGs like Xenoblade and Fire Emblem even if the Pokemon franchise ended with Scarlet/Violet.
@Richnj CoD is easily to blame for the end of Killzone, Resistance and SOCOM. Sony got the CoD marketing and timed exclusivity deal in 2015 then following that they released 0 FPS/TPS games.
Sony's right when they say CoD is in a league of its own but they are to blame for that. What Sony did was the equivalent of if Microsoft killed off franchises like Halo and Gears in 2009.
I don't think it'll be shadow drop, September has Grounded and Microsoft seems to want to aim for that 1 1st party release a month release setup. I'm leaning towards early December.
July - As Dusk Falls + Hot Wheels DLC August - ? September - Grounded October - ? November - Pentiment + Halo Infinite Season 3 December - ?
It can't be August because of the exclusivity deal and October would be rather busy for Xbox if the acquisition passes by then so they'd probably save Deathloop for December along with FH5 expansion 2.
Xbox in general has been rough since April, not just Game Pass. Like big showcases usually act as a beacon of hope for a platform but the Xbox Showcase in June felt very off and the Gamescom lineup also seems off. Makes me think that Microsoft are heavily relying on the Activision acquisition going through sooner rather than later to get a massive quantity of games added to Game Pass in one drop. It wouldn't improve my opinion of Xbox but it would for others.
@Rangers420 Unfortunately Microsoft is too busy buying up everything instead of improving what they already have. I'd absolutely rather have had a situation where Halo Infinite was the best Halo game and MCC didn't have microtransactions than the outcome where Halo is killed off because buying Activision gives Microsoft CoD for example.
@Kaloudz I definitely remember Forge competitions for MCC (Halo 2 Anniversary) and Halo 5 to create maps that would appear in matchmaking. Forge maps also appeared in Reach and 4 but don't know if they were maps created by the community.
@themightyant I think the biggest benefit Forge will give for the general player is more maps. Instead of 2 maps every 6 months we'll likely see a load of player created maps from Forge added into the multiplayer matchmaking rotation. Forge would create other benefits as well but not if there isn't a custom games browser launching alongside it and we've heard nothing about that.
@Royalblues When the Yakuza games came to Xbox, PS+ Extra/Premium didn't exist so SEGA knows that Game Pass helped the franchise be a big success on Xbox. Persona's popularity on Xbox is yet to be seen.
@Royalblues What I think happened was all PS+ Collection games had to be relicensed because of the new tiers (extra/premium) and Microsoft prevented Persona 5 from being relicensed because of the Game Pass deal for Royal to try to show that Xbox players care about JRPGs.
Microsoft does exactly the same though like Persona 5 got removed from PS+ Collection a month before Persona 5 Royal was announced for Game Pass and Bethesda games got removed from PS Now after Microsoft acquired them.
February: Focus on February - August, tease a few games that are further out
June: Focus on June - December, tease a few games that are further out
September: Focus on September - March, tease a few games that are further out
Further out shouldn't be years away though, stuff like the reveal of Metroid Prime 4 at E3 2017 and Bayonetta 3 at Game Awards 2017 were way too far in advance. Stuff like Bayonetta 3 reappearing in the September 2021 Direct is better fit (the game releases in October 2022) for "further out".
@Markatron84 Almost a decade ago, this was part of Don Mattrick's infamous XB1 vision plan. Series X|S era seems to very much be Don Mattrick's XB1 vision visualized but with a few tweaks.
PS+ Essential is a lot better than Games With Gold and with 360 games ending in October, Games With Gold will be even worse.
As for Game Pass, PS+ Extra and PS+ Premium I'd say PS+ Extra is the best of the bunch currently. Game Pass has been on the weaker side since April meanwhile PS+ Extra has been strong since its start in June.
PS+ Premium is the weakest of the bunch given the classic games collection is very limited and the PS3 games should be native. Also currently (though will be fixed in the future) there's the PAL mess for subscribers in regions like Europe that used to have PAL
While FH5 is a good game (and Hot Wheels is a good expansion), I agree that something felt off about FH5 but I'd say the same about FH4. I think it's down to the live service push, both FH4 and FH5's focus is the Festival Playlist (i.e. complete tasks every week to unlock new collectibles) meanwhile FH3 was centralized around the story campaign.
That live service push is the way a lot of Microsoft's games have turned towards like people don't even play the objective in Halo Infinite because they have challenges to unlock which involves killing with a specific weapon.
Game Pass lineup has looked rough since April, it does feel like Microsoft heavily relied upon Redfall + Starfield + Activision acquisition for this year (the former 2 of which are now 2023).
@uptownsoul There was a massively different tone between the Xbox Showcases in 2021 and 2022. 2021 was "here's an insane amount of games coming to Xbox and Game Pass in the near future including a few highly anticipated 1st party titles" meanwhile 2022 was "everything got delayed to 2023 or later, everyone panic".
I wonder if Microsoft will consider bringing back the backwards compatibility program. The vast majority of backwards compatibility Activision games are CoD (OG Xbox and 360 era Activision was so much more than just CoD unlike nowadays) but perhaps with the acquisition it'll make adding non-CoD easier.
Have another big batch of games including non-CoD Activision games and more non-Activision games alongside it.
Otherwise the big Game Pass drop after the acquisition is going to be like 20 CoD games and 6 non-CoD games which wouldn't be a good look on Xbox.
Still don't care about Activision games but the idea of backwards compatibility possibly returning is exciting.
With backwards compatibility games for GWG ending in October, I think having some games from the November 2021 batch for August and September would be a nice send off.
I'd have to give it to FH3 Hot Wheels, FH5 Hot Wheels felt too short in comparison and I liked both Hot Wheels expansions more than the other FH expansions I had played.
Comments 1,010
Re: Turn 10 Wants To Know What Features You'd Like To See In Forza Motorsport 2023
@MattT3142 My prediction is similar:
Re: Microsoft Bites Back As Sony Reveals New 'Call Of Duty' Concerns
@CunningPig @S1ayeR74 The CMA are using official Nintendo comments, Nintendo's been saying for a long time that they're not competing with Sony or Microsoft.
Re: PlatinumGames Would Still Be 'Very Happy' To Work With Xbox On Scalebound
@SplooshDmg Live service is the biggest thing to blame for the problems with Babylon's Fall and you can see the same damage with a lot of other live service games, even flagship franchise games like Halo Infinite.
With even Sony extremely eager for live service to be their focus, it feels like live service will eventually cause a gaming crash similar to the one in 1983.
Re: Forza Horizon 5's Anniversary Update Is Loaded With Classic Content
Do note that 4 of these songs are unlocked via winning the weekly limited time Seasonal Championships.
I don't like the concept of limited time song unlocks and the overall setlist is too heavy on Horizon Bass Arena but it's nice having songs like Bored to Death back.
Re: All New Releases Coming To Xbox In October 2022
I hope Goldeneye drops next week as part of the Bond 60th anniversary celebrations. NSO Expansion Pack didn't get a N64 game in September which is a promising sign for Goldeneye.
Re: Xbox Seagate Expansion Cards Heavily Discounted At Amazon (UK)
If 2TB was at this price back at launch I would've considered getting it but 2 years later it feels like the Xbox lineup isn't interesting enough to justify any expansion card.
Re: Xbox Games With Gold For October 2022 Announced
Games With Gold started in July 2013 after Don Mattrick nosedived the Xbox brand into oblivion with the XB1 reveal and E3 2013 making things worse with the infamous "buy a 360" answer to those who don't have internet access 24/7.
Given the state of Games With Gold now, I wouldn't be surprised if June 2023 is the last batch of games.
Re: Halo Infinite Campaign Co-Op Achievements Revealed Ahead Of November Launch
Will replay the missions I didn't get the skulls in but that's about it in terms of achievements I'll get associated with mission replay.
The stream showing off campaign co-op showed that mission replay is part of how campaign co-op works so if co-op is on time then so is mission replay. Both could be delayed, just not mission replay by itself.
Re: Talking Point: Is Halo 3 The Pinnacle Of The Franchise So Far?
Reach for sure. Pretty much perfected gameplay mechanics, the newer modes (Invasion debuting in Reach and Firefight which had recently debuted in ODST) were absolutely fantastic and the campaign is the best in the franchise (ODST is a close 2nd).
I would say Halo 5's multiplayer is slightly better in terms of gameplay as I really liked the addition of Warzone, spartan abilities and what promethean weapons add to the sandbox but the campaign is bad and microtransactions are microtransactions (though Halo 5's microtransactions are nowhere near as bad as Infinite''s microtransactions) so overall Reach is a much better game.
Re: Halo's Joseph Staten Says He Would 'Love To Do Something Like ODST Again'
I think ODST would've been the strategy that would've worked best for Infinite. Instead of FTP multiplayer, the multiplayer being the continued support for MCC and Halo 5 (the ODST physical copy came with Halo 3 multiplayer) meanwhile Infinite's focus being on campaign and PvE.
Re: Xbox September 2022 Update Adds Tons Of Features, Including New Game Install Options
It's nice that the update fixed the bug of delisted games not appearing in the library like Forza Motorsport 5.
Re: Rumour: Xbox Initially Planned To Launch 9 Exclusives In 2023
Given what we already know about 2023 for XGS and that Starfield will probably be delayed to avoid clashing with TotK, I only think 1 or 2 of these will release in 2023. Probably Hellblade given it got actual gameplay last year.
Re: GoldenEye 007 Officially Announced For Xbox Game Pass
I think looking at the NSO Expansion Pack timing, we can deduce that this releases in 2022. NSO Expansion Pack gets 1 N64 game per month, September's game hasn't been announced yet but we know the following games are coming later in 2022:
4 months, 3 games so from that it's pretty clear than Goldeneye is also a 2022 release.
Re: Fingers Crossed, We're Getting Multiple Xbox Game Pass Reveals This Week
I wouldn't be surprised if Deathloop doesn't appear this year given if the game isn't mentioned at all, the PS+ Extra/Premium presence next week would give the impression Sony had timed exclusivity for subscription presence on top of the 1 year normal timed exclusivity.
Re: Halo Infinite Review-Bombed On Steam After Recent Developer Update
Both Halo Waypoint and the games' servers are down. I tried to play some of the Yappening event but server error messages kept appearing.
Re: Xbox Might Be Teasing Game Pass Announcements For TGS 2022
I think the surprise Game Pass reveals would be more Japan focused rather than Deathloop appearing. So stuff like MH Rise for PC Game Pass, Bravely Default II, Shin Megami Tensei V, etc.
Re: Soapbox: Gears Of War 2 Deserves 'The Last Of Us' Style Remake
I'd prefer a MCC style collection, the multiplayer experience of the 360 games are either only finding bots or you come across a load of cheaters that warp all over the place with infinite ammo and much faster than usual fire rate. A MCC style collection would allow PC players to experience the campaigns and allow Xbox players to relive the multiplayer.
Re: Halo Infinite Players Discover Split-Screen Exploit On Xbox Series X|S
Judging by other things like tank gun and flyable Pelican, this'll probably be patched out in the next update.
Re: Xbox's Matt Booty Is 'Excited' To Show The New Fable Game
I really liked how there was only a small gap between announcement and release for Forza Horizon games (it was always announce at E3, release in Fall/Holiday the same year). While Fable has been announced for over 2 years at this point, it would be cool if the re-reveal to launch cycle was close to the FH cycle.
Re: Xbox's 'Approach' With Starfield Is Leading To More ActiBlizz Scrutiny
@EvilSilentFrame Not exactly lie but they did use smoke and mirrors on the whole "legacy" thing. The way it was worded strongly suggested that games like Elder Scrolls 6 and Fallout 5 would be coming to PS because the franchises have a legacy there but that's not the case.
That's what Phil Spencer is doing regarding these acquisition statements, where the most common interpretation of the statements are something that benefits all platforms but you look a lot deeper and the actual meaning is something which only benefits Xbox. For example, what he means regarding still releasing CoD on Playstation is likely that the FTP multiplayer experience releases on Playstation but the single player campaigns are only on platforms which have Game Pass.
It's good that a regulatory body is finally calling Microsoft out on these smoke and mirror attempts.
Re: 343 Reveals What's Coming To Halo Infinite In Late 2022 & Early 2023
It further seems like Microsoft sacrificed Halo to acquire CoD, what a huge shame. As for split-screen cancelled, it looks like another situation where ditching the XB1 would've gone a long way to resolving problems.
Re: 343 Teases New Halo Infinite Event, Starts September 6th
I enjoyed the Yappening events of Halo Wars 2 and MCC so I'm sure the Infinite event will be more crazy modes like on those 2.
I do wonder to what extent the late August content (e.g. mission replay, online co-op) has been delayed though as today is the last day of August.
Re: Talking Point: Will Microsoft Replace Xbox 360 Games With Gold?
I think it'll just be 2 XB1 games similar to how ditching PS3/Vita games on PS+ back in 2019 didn't improve the PS4 output.
Re: Xbox Games With Gold For September 2022 Announced
A strong sendoff for pre-XB1 games being part of Games With Gold.
Re: Pick One: Which Of These 'TBA' Xbox Games Are You Most Excited For?
I'd honestly go for Forza Horizon 5 Expansion 2 to be honest, that is technically TBA meanwhile all the games listed here at the moment I'm not interested in.
Re: Xbox Unveils Schedule For Thursday's Gamescom 2022 Livestream
The presence of Minecraft Legends but absence of Forza Motorsport, Redfall and Starfield makes me think that if there aren't delays out of the 12 month window that the timing is something like:
Re: Halo Infinite's Battle Royale-Lite, Last Spartan Standing, Is Leaving Matchmaking
@Dezzy70 It was meant to be late August but that seems unlikely given how a specific release date hasn't been set yet and it's late August now.
Re: id Software Says It's Hard At Work On Its 'Next Big Game'
@Richnj I agree it didn't need to compete with CoD, I was looking more that from 2015 onwards CoD was the shooter franchise for Playstation but if Killzone/Resistance/SOCOM stayed CoD would've been a shooter franchise for Playstation (still the biggest but just an option).
It's like how there'd still be plenty of people who would buy Nintendo hardware for JRPGs like Xenoblade and Fire Emblem even if the Pokemon franchise ended with Scarlet/Violet.
Re: id Software Says It's Hard At Work On Its 'Next Big Game'
@Richnj CoD is easily to blame for the end of Killzone, Resistance and SOCOM. Sony got the CoD marketing and timed exclusivity deal in 2015 then following that they released 0 FPS/TPS games.
Sony's right when they say CoD is in a league of its own but they are to blame for that. What Sony did was the equivalent of if Microsoft killed off franchises like Halo and Gears in 2009.
Re: Xbox Is Adding Lots Of Bethesda Games To PC Game Pass (August 18)
Some of these games came to OG Xbox/Xbox 360 but weren't added to backwards compatibility. How is this fair?
Re: Talking Point: What's Your 2022 Game Of The Year So Far?
I've only bought FF Origin and Sonic Origins this year so far on Xbox so I'll go for FF Origin. If DLC expansions counts then FH5 Hot Wheels for sure.
Across all platforms, top 3 so far would probably be:
1. Xenoblade Chronicles 3
2. Fire Emblem Warriors Three Hopes
3. Portal Companion Collection
Switch this year is insanely good.
Re: PSA: Deathloop Could Potentially Hit Xbox Game Pass In Under A Month
I don't think it'll be shadow drop, September has Grounded and Microsoft seems to want to aim for that 1 1st party release a month release setup. I'm leaning towards early December.
July - As Dusk Falls + Hot Wheels DLC
August - ?
September - Grounded
October - ?
November - Pentiment + Halo Infinite Season 3
December - ?
It can't be August because of the exclusivity deal and October would be rather busy for Xbox if the acquisition passes by then so they'd probably save Deathloop for December along with FH5 expansion 2.
Re: Xbox Game Pass Is Hurting Right Now, But Larger Forces Are At Play
Xbox in general has been rough since April, not just Game Pass. Like big showcases usually act as a beacon of hope for a platform but the Xbox Showcase in June felt very off and the Gamescom lineup also seems off. Makes me think that Microsoft are heavily relying on the Activision acquisition going through sooner rather than later to get a massive quantity of games added to Game Pass in one drop. It wouldn't improve my opinion of Xbox but it would for others.
Re: Xbox Accuses Sony Of 'Paying' To Block Games From Game Pass
@Rangers420 Unfortunately Microsoft is too busy buying up everything instead of improving what they already have. I'd absolutely rather have had a situation where Halo Infinite was the best Halo game and MCC didn't have microtransactions than the outcome where Halo is killed off because buying Activision gives Microsoft CoD for example.
Re: Halo Infinite's Forge Mode Will Be A Game Changer, According To 343
@Kaloudz I definitely remember Forge competitions for MCC (Halo 2 Anniversary) and Halo 5 to create maps that would appear in matchmaking. Forge maps also appeared in Reach and 4 but don't know if they were maps created by the community.
Re: Halo Infinite's Forge Mode Will Be A Game Changer, According To 343
@themightyant I think the biggest benefit Forge will give for the general player is more maps. Instead of 2 maps every 6 months we'll likely see a load of player created maps from Forge added into the multiplayer matchmaking rotation. Forge would create other benefits as well but not if there isn't a custom games browser launching alongside it and we've heard nothing about that.
Re: Xbox Accuses Sony Of 'Paying' To Block Games From Game Pass
@Royalblues When the Yakuza games came to Xbox, PS+ Extra/Premium didn't exist so SEGA knows that Game Pass helped the franchise be a big success on Xbox. Persona's popularity on Xbox is yet to be seen.
Re: Xbox Accuses Sony Of 'Paying' To Block Games From Game Pass
@Royalblues What I think happened was all PS+ Collection games had to be relicensed because of the new tiers (extra/premium) and Microsoft prevented Persona 5 from being relicensed because of the Game Pass deal for Royal to try to show that Xbox players care about JRPGs.
Re: Xbox's Gamescom Show Falls On A Very Important '007' Anniversary
I'm going to guess no because Nintendo haven't given Advance Wars a new release date yet.
Re: Xbox Accuses Sony Of 'Paying' To Block Games From Game Pass
Microsoft does exactly the same though like Persona 5 got removed from PS+ Collection a month before Persona 5 Royal was announced for Game Pass and Bethesda games got removed from PS Now after Microsoft acquired them.
Re: Xbox To Host Gamescom 2022 Livestream Later This Month
@themightyant Nintendo has the best approach:
Further out shouldn't be years away though, stuff like the reveal of Metroid Prime 4 at E3 2017 and Bayonetta 3 at Game Awards 2017 were way too far in advance. Stuff like Bayonetta 3 reappearing in the September 2021 Direct is better fit (the game releases in October 2022) for "further out".
Re: Rumour: Elden Ring, GTA 5 And More Headed To Xbox Cloud Gaming
@Markatron84 Almost a decade ago, this was part of Don Mattrick's infamous XB1 vision plan. Series X|S era seems to very much be Don Mattrick's XB1 vision visualized but with a few tweaks.
Re: Talking Point: How Would You Compare The New PS Plus To Xbox Game Pass?
PS+ Essential is a lot better than Games With Gold and with 360 games ending in October, Games With Gold will be even worse.
As for Game Pass, PS+ Extra and PS+ Premium I'd say PS+ Extra is the best of the bunch currently. Game Pass has been on the weaker side since April meanwhile PS+ Extra has been strong since its start in June.
PS+ Premium is the weakest of the bunch given the classic games collection is very limited and the PS3 games should be native. Also currently (though will be fixed in the future) there's the PAL mess for subscribers in regions like Europe that used to have PAL
Re: Soapbox: Forza Horizon Is Spinning Its Wheels, So Let's Bring Back The Best Racer On Xbox
While FH5 is a good game (and Hot Wheels is a good expansion), I agree that something felt off about FH5 but I'd say the same about FH4. I think it's down to the live service push, both FH4 and FH5's focus is the Festival Playlist (i.e. complete tasks every week to unlock new collectibles) meanwhile FH3 was centralized around the story campaign.
That live service push is the way a lot of Microsoft's games have turned towards like people don't even play the objective in Halo Infinite because they have challenges to unlock which involves killing with a specific weapon.
Re: These Seven Games Are Coming To Xbox Game Pass (August 2-11)
Game Pass lineup has looked rough since April, it does feel like Microsoft heavily relied upon Redfall + Starfield + Activision acquisition for this year (the former 2 of which are now 2023).
Re: Xbox Series X And S Have Been Next-Gen 'Market Leaders' In The US
@uptownsoul There was a massively different tone between the Xbox Showcases in 2021 and 2022. 2021 was "here's an insane amount of games coming to Xbox and Game Pass in the near future including a few highly anticipated 1st party titles" meanwhile 2022 was "everything got delayed to 2023 or later, everyone panic".
Re: The Exciting Prospect Of ActiBlizz On Xbox Game Pass Is Starting To Feel Real
I wonder if Microsoft will consider bringing back the backwards compatibility program. The vast majority of backwards compatibility Activision games are CoD (OG Xbox and 360 era Activision was so much more than just CoD unlike nowadays) but perhaps with the acquisition it'll make adding non-CoD easier.
Have another big batch of games including non-CoD Activision games and more non-Activision games alongside it.
Otherwise the big Game Pass drop after the acquisition is going to be like 20 CoD games and 6 non-CoD games which wouldn't be a good look on Xbox.
Still don't care about Activision games but the idea of backwards compatibility possibly returning is exciting.
Re: Your Xbox Series X|S Will Soon 'Boot Up' Even Faster
Series X load up is currently sluggish compared to the Switch so the update is appreciated.
Re: Talking Point: What August 2022 Xbox Games With Gold Do You Want?
With backwards compatibility games for GWG ending in October, I think having some games from the November 2021 batch for August and September would be a nice send off.
Re: Pick One: Which Is Your Favourite Forza Horizon Expansion To Date?
I'd have to give it to FH3 Hot Wheels, FH5 Hot Wheels felt too short in comparison and I liked both Hot Wheels expansions more than the other FH expansions I had played.