HonestHick

@Sakko I was wondering that myself. On my Ps5 the Spring Sales started but not on my Series X. I don’t have steam but sounds like even they are live. There’s not to much i need but i like to at least look.

@Fiendish-Beaver i actually never did try any of those games as I’m afraid i will get addicted to it like i am in real life. I used to play Super Black Bass on the Super NES when I was young.

@OldGamer999 yeah they need to capitalize on Sony and Nintendo being quiet this year. Plus outside of Switch 2, i don’t think Sony and for sure MS don’t have a game that can over shadow GTA 6 if it comes out in 2025. I honestly think Sony is just going to throw out some more marvel titles and wait for GTA6. Unless we see something with Naughty Dog. All their other studios seem to be coming off canceled projects and probably need more time. At the June showcase we need to see Perfect Dark, Fable and Gears 6 all looking next gen.

@OldGamer999 i can agree with that. We need some killer titles on Xbox for sure. I think once we see Gears 6, Fable and a few others we will see the power of the Series . Heck even Hell Blade 2 looks crazy good. Xbox needs to create something big to go along side their 3 core games. Just not sure what that would be.

@OldGamer999 yeah i think that is a good strategy. Launch first with some killer games and build up some momentum and then keep a killer title back for when PS6 launches to keep some hype around Xbox. Should be all good. Happy to hear them continue to double down on more hardware is coming.i prefer their ecosystem more than the others.

I played around 12 matches online this month and it was still very fun. Some newer maps i haven’t played. Gameplay is very good, they just didn’t have the content drops early. Otherwise a very good Halo game.

@Fiendish-Beaver just happy you are alive and well my friend. Gaming is a great hobby. I just did my outdoor hobby this morning which is bass fishing and wow is my arm sore from casting. Probably hit up the Xbox here in a few.

@OldGamer999 i just watched a video and it leaked that last week Phil Spencer pulled a in house MS meeting with all the teams and said we are NOT leaving the console hardware market and plan to be around another 10-15 years with hardware and games. So unless that changes and i don’t think it will cause they are going to rake in cash on the studios here soon. We will have a Xbox until we are old with arthritis in our hands and fingers.

@OldGamer999 We’ve been waiting. I want Marcus Fenix collection and then Gears 6. That would give us plenty of Gears to play for a long while. Time will tell, i have a feeling for better or worse we find out this June.

@OldGamer999 the same for me i would go Series X controller and then the Switch Pro then Dial Sense. I mean console sales matter and of course getting great content on the box matters. But funny enough with Sony having nothing for 2024, at the end of this year it could be the Xbox with the most exclusives. For all the Doom and Gloom we could have the most to play on Series consoles. Plus we don’t know about June showcase yet, so maybe even more to come in 24 and early 25. So things can change and normally do in this industry. MS has around 40 studios at work. So let’s see what we get and if we don’t get Gears of War Marcus Fenix collection i am going to throw a fit. Just saying.. Haha 😀

@armondo36 they didn’t own it to make more is the problem. When BD came out MS owned less than 3 studios. They were paying for dev’s to create for them. Now they own a lot of IP’s so i am sure we will be seeing loads of sequels from well received games.

@OldGamer999 I agree it would be a business decision. I also agree since 360 the Xbox has struggled to get its footing on the console space in the way we want and i think even they had planned. The thing is for me, i still love the controller, i still love the Ui outside of the Ad’s. It’s still where i prefer to play most games and forget about the business side of it. I think since talking about video games is such a big deal today we have forgotten how to just enjoy what we enjoy and let the business do what it does. It’s good to be informed of course. But i have to remind myself to live for today and what makes me happy at the moment and not worry about 2-5 years from now. As long as Xbox has a way to play the games i like and the controller and online experience with my friends i care to enjoy then i am going to be there. As i like to say if i survived the Wii-U i can find the fun in anything if i try.

@OldGamer999 Bingo. And remember it was Phil that went to them and said let’s not get rid of console gaming. Oh and by the way we need close to 100 billion dollars for studios for content to compete. So i am sure when they hand over 100 Billion dollars it’s not just one person’s (Phil) say. I know you know that, but many others don’t. Phil loves gaming and Phil loves Xbox. We are all human and make mistakes but for my money he is trying and the console business and gaming in general is a very hard line to walk.

I’ll say early 2026. Rockstar isn’t afraid to delay their games to get them to the point they feel safe to release. Not to mention it doesn’t hurt that GTA5 still prints money. So not like their feet is held to any fire pre say.

I’ll even throw in Red Dead as another source of great income to Rockstar. I believe GTA6 get’s a small delay.

I’ll stick to my Series X i got now even tho i havent bought a disk in 10 years. There’s just nothing here new for me. I DO however want the revised controller if it’s still coming and I’d snag two on day one. Sadly no leaks on that controller tells me they might keep it for next gen, hope I’m wrong.

@Fiendish-Beaver i agree with that in terms of Phil is just the messenger. The higher up’s at MS just spend around 100 Billion cash on all the studios they bought up. They want a quicker plan as to how to get the cash coming in and it might not be growing GP one person at a time. I still think they do come out with another console but it won’t be the console we know now. It will be much different. Sony and Nintendo will continue doing what they are doing cause well it’s working, for now at least. I have all 3 and a Mac computer and an iPad. So i don’t PC game and have a little interest in it but not much. Honestly these days i just want good games and where they land isn’t that important to me. I know what i like from Nintendo, so thats all good. PS5 has been my most used PS since the PS2. However i still don’t love their controllers but Dual Sense is better than any Dual shock for me. I’m a controller snob. It’s what lets me interact with the worlds and characters dev’s create. Some will say it’s not a big deal to them and thats fine, but for me the Xbox controller is still king. Hope they are around for a long time to come, but you make a great point in saying 2 years is a long time away. Heck in this business a month is a long time. I respect the heck out of you and your takes and always have, but I’m hoping your wrong on your feeling. But if you were right, i wouldn’t be surprised.

@Fiendish-Beaver not sure they do that to be honest. They are releasing a next gen console and maybe a handheld alongside it. I do think they will go back to the OG Xbox plan and make it more of a PC. Rumor is MS is looking to go with Intel and NVIDA in the next Xbox. So i think Xbox hardware goes back to being a PC in console form. There is little reason for them to leave hardware at the moment but the moment cloud is a major player for the causal gamer, then i could see them saying Xbox is cloud and PC only. Not saying you are wrong, heck anything could happen in this industry and we all know that. But i think they stick around the hardware game for another 10 years as other tech and trends continue to play out.

@NEStalgia the branded earbuds were for sure odd. Yeah Steam is good at what they do and thats not making controllers. I had no interest in their box. But if they and MS team up it could be really good. Time will tell but i think the next Xbox is going to really shake things up and as you have said go back to the vision of PC

Not in love with it in white. But if they don’t release that rumored controller, i am going to be really mad. Just for the quieter buttons alone i want it. But i am sure the hardware team is all hands on deck for the handheld and then next gen hardware. So they throw this white series X out and call it done for this generation could be the play at hand here. Series S owners should watch out for any trade in promos to get this series X.

@NEStalgia my PS5 Pro excitement has cooled a bit. Once i seen that that couldn’t overclock the CPU to 20% i was like this isn’t what i need. I am fine with today’s graphics but i want 60 fps. The Pro won’t cut it. So i am sure i will get one just cause i can sell mine for 50% or so of the cost. But it’s not as exciting of an upgrade as i would have hoped for. Yeah i think if Steam did that same thing today it would take off. But at it’s time and the way it was delivered it just didn’t catch. Nvida and intel is rumored to be the choice for the next Xbox and i hope it’s true. It would set some separation from Xbox and PS. But time will tell if the money matches the enthusiasm from MS.

@NEStalgia long story short for MS. Go back to intel and Nvida. Leave AMD to Sony. This gives the Xbox an advantage of better computing capabilities. Open up the PC branding of Xbox and windows working together like they intended from the start. Let more mouse and keyboard games onto the Xbox (world of Warcraft) i mean WOW on my Tv would be a happy day and something PS can’t do. I am considering selling my 55 inch LG C2 Oled and downsizing to a 42 to sit closer and try and get myself more into a PC gamer mindset. I have since the launch of this gen been on a 65 and 55 inch LG Oled. Time to downsize, and i really want to see Xbox leverage their advantages. All this doom and gloom and somehow i still love my Series X. Sure they need some big games to hit and they have a few this year even tho they aren’t ones i care much for. But… if that Marcus Fenix Gears of war collection is real. I won’t touch my PS or switch for a year.

@MrMagic @cragis0001 “again Sony released the PSP Go years before the digital Xbox One & now has the PS5 digital. Sony wanted to charge second hand gamers a fee to play there first party games online like EA with there online pass back in 2010 but abandoned the idea. Again the idea was before the Xbox One release”

I mean this is true and in the end the Xbox one vision become the normal the next gen after in more ways than one. All companies want more profit margins and less overhead. Digital does that.

@MrMagic i wouldn’t be if i were you, here’ why. As much as we all agree Nintendo just does their own thing and marches to the beat of their own drum for better or worse. This is what MS is trying to do with the Xbox. Go their own different way and carve a path for them. So if Sony plans to stick to the traditional console experience than that is their path and we have 3 different ways to play and that is good. There is little reason for MS to chase Sony the same reason Nintendo decided not to in the end. Gives us more options and i find it to be more of a good thing than a bad. Thats just my take of course. 😊

@MrMagic traditional console gaming is killing itself. Xbox is just part of it not the main reason. I didn’t say you said it was MS fault for Sony’s weak profits, but it proves the point that the traditional console market is even hard for them and they are the leaders in it. Xbox pushing an all digital market is tied to where the industry is going and of course options of how and where to play the games. Sony launched an all digital console and their numbers show 75% or more of their players are buying digital. PC has been digital forever and of course so has mobile gaming. Players that want to hold onto physical media are a small faction to the industry now and while i hope it sticks around for a few more years for them. It’s on life support as even big box retail stores don’t see the profit in stocking it on their sales floors.

@NEStalgia 100% agree with you. I said a while ago MS and Sony battling for the same customer was always trying to feed a family of 5 with 2 pieces of bread. Meaning the hardcore market is small and this is why mobile gaming is so big. Cause there is 10,000 people that pick up candy crush on their iPhones for 20-30 mins a day for every 1 hardcore gamer like ourselves. Consoles are already PC’s in a box minus the software. So all MS is doing is leveraging their software (windows) and other store fronts. Which is smart. I agree with the potatoe PC being a huge number cause again it proves Phil’s point. Most younger gamers now want a device that does more than play games and can be taken anywhere and not locked to a room and a certain tv. Hence consoles aren’t growing and they are selling to the same age group that has been buying them since the 90’s. I like the idea of MS going back to the PC side of things and i think the console space is on life support until cloud is good enough to take a huge section of gamers away from it. I have been saying for years the future will be cloud and Pc. It caters perfectly to the two types of gamers. Cloud isn’t ready yet so console still seems like the next best place and thats great for now. I like that the industry is shifting, I’m excited to see what Xbox does now more than ever cause they are now in position with all their studios to take chances and have games to bring in money to support those chances they are taking. Meanwhile on PS we know what we are going to get after all the cancelled GAAS games. It’s back to one and done single player games that have a budget and used game market issue. Nintendo Switch 2 is a wild card cause at some point players are going to want better online and features. Forget power, Nintendo has proven time and time again they make fun games and power don’t matter for those games. But younger crowds love social and interactive online features that Nintendo is like 15-20 years behind on.

@Fiendish-Beaver MS wants to be where the younger crowd of players are. Mid 30’s to 40 year old players are still a bulk of console sales and thats why it’s not growing. Most younger teens are happy with a cheaper laptop or mobile. Not a $500 dollar box they can only play games on and only in one spot of the house. I have been saying for a few years now that the future is cloud and PC. cloud for the basic play once in a while gamer and PC for the hardcore gamer. Cloud isn’t ready to replace console just yet. So MS is just waiting it out cause they can afford to and Sony is wondering how much of a console drop off will they see when it happens. If MS turns Xbox back into a PC and it runs everything that would be about the most future proof plan they’ve had in a while in my opinion.

@MrMagic Xbox was made in the first place to get windows into more homes and blur the lines a little between PC and console. Looks like they are coming back to that after not getting it right in just the walled garden console market. Everyone wants to put Sony’s mistakes on MS or Xbox. MS didn’t tell Sony to make a near 300 million dollar super hero game that Marvel takes a cut from. Sony’s 2 biggest problems are they don’t know how to make multiplayer games or refuse to and stick to one and done trade in single player titles and problem number 2 is their fans only want one and done trade in single player games. So i am not sure what Sony can do to help their rising costs of development. Cancelling all their work on online games didn’t help them either cause now there is a gap in in house developed games. Again none of this is MS’s fault. The same it’s not Sony fault MS launched the One and upset its fan base they built with 360.

@Cikajovazmaj MS budget will be more than ok due to the ABK money that is coming in. But certain studios within MS have to make sure their budgets are in line with what they are creating. Overall the industry is coming adjusting to an odd time in recent world history with the covid lockdowns. Then the other part is just not having good leadership and keeping projects in line and on budget. I do think it will settle down again at some point. But the only thing the tech industry is known for is constant change and the video game industry has been changing since the first day it arrived.

@MrMagic it looks like it for sure as a push to PC. I don’t know if MS is trying to do anything to the PS. Sony has to figure out their budgets, if they do that they can keep to their walled garden and do really well as they are still the console name worldwide. But Sony themselves had said they are coming to PC. Well if they are doing that then they are in Microsoft’s world a little and they know that.

@NEStalgia You literally just said yesterday before this report came out that Xbox needs to bridge PC and console. I agree that the only way forward for them. PS is going to continue to be the console leader and Nintendo is more of a Toy Company them console maker in my eyes. They sell 2GB games as fun and it works well for Switch. I see them being just fine. Sony on the other hand is going to have to figure out how to make their budget work and MS just has to crack the code of being that PC/hybrid and all 3 should live well. Things are about to end as we know them after this generation. PC is to big to ignore and Xbox is no longer going to just make a console.

@Fiendish-Beaver i tried to explain this to him a few weeks ago. If all the games go to PS. Xbox will be out of the hardware game as we know it in 2 years or less. Heck i might not even keep my Xbox if just Gears of War go to Sony. Not to mention all the first party games. MS is just trying to find a way to getting hardware moving or to be done with it. Which i can’t blame them since the Series consoles haven’t even crossed 30 million in sales and we are almost half way over with the gen.

@NEStalgia of course he said that windows is butt. HAHA

Yeah with a good sale price many pre builds are only like 5% more and with the insane GPU prices sometimes even cheaper. I’ve been doing a lot of reading into it. Yeah i would love for Xbox to just be a PC that works and i don’t have to mess with it. To be able to play the few Sony games i do like on a PC box alongside MS’s games would be the end game for me. One thing i think is sure. MS didn’t just pay all these devs and battle court cases around the world to be like we are out of the industry or stopping hardware. The handheld Xbox would be a day one for me. That could really be the ultimate second SKU for them and then have the powerful console alongside it. I just want the quieter revised controller that was a May 2024 rumor. Not so sure we see the handheld for a while.

@GuyinPA75 you sounds like me buddy. As much as i think the Dual sense is the “best” Sony controller ever. It’s still not all that comfy in hand. All the dual Shocks cramped my hands and i don’t care for the stick placement, being convex vs concave and the triggers aren’t as good as Xbox’s. So controller wise i am a big Xbox fan and can’t wait for the revised one rumored to hit this year.

@NEStalgia i agree. Trust me when i say you won’t see many if any Xbox gamers saying they will just wait for GTA6 to come to GP. That is a game that will sell and many others would to if we could just get some damn games this gen. There hasn’t been many standout’s yet to get. So people just double down on playing more COD, Fortnite and FIFA. Look at me i am almost at 800 hours on Diablo 4 cause since it launched there hasn’t been much to take me away from it. Especially if it’s $70 dollar and waiting for patches to even work correctly. I am waiting on a sale for Cyberpunk 2077 now that it’s complete and runs well. I will buy the ultimate edition with the DLC and take a D4 break. I also agree that with how popular PC gaming is and the fact Xbox was suppose to be alongside PC from the start. Let’s get back to that. Heck even myself that is about as hardcore Apple as it get’s is considering a PC at this point. Can i built my own? Probably not but i will get a pre build on sale from Alienware and call it a day. Heck sometime a pre build now is not even much more in cost. Thats kind of a first from what i know.

@Divide_and_Wander same i want to give it a try before i buy. I waited for the 2.0 patch and DLC to see what the final review was. No need to talk about the launch. We all know how that went. But i knew the game would see its final shape at some point and I would want to jump in. The free trial tells me yes or no.

I have a 1TB Seagate card in my Series X and i also have a PS5 with a 1TB M.2 drive and so far i am fine on both as there simply for my play style not been many games to buy and play for me this gen. If Xbox release’s a 2TB digital series X i will get it as i dislike physical media for almost 10 years now for my personal experience. So i would take the extra TB with whatever else small upgrades the box will include and i will get the PS5 Pro and live with that until next gen.

More interested in Avowed, but i am sure DD2 will be decent numbers as fan’s have waited a long time for it.

When the deal with Sony is over. MS needs to promote COD as much as they can and get them all into GP. That could move the needle a little for them. It won’t move 10’s of millions of consoles but it should move a few million i would hope.

@Olliemar28 i love those games. Those were some of my most played on 360. Great games to point out.

Heck yes, i was wondering if the Series X and PS5 would get the ray tracing upgrade. I am already level 100 for season 3 so i guess now is the time to grind for better gear and stats and try and kill Uber Lilith the only achievement i don’t have unlocked.

I always wanted to try it. Nice it came to GP.

It is clear to me that they are going to remaster this game and resell it for full price. Otherwise this 60fps patch would have been here by now. It’s a masterpiece and my favorite game series of all time but it kills me that they still haven’t given it any Series X love in almost 4 years.

@Phil-Spencer-Gate as long as i get more and more Xbox Hardware life is good. I do agree Sony at some point will need to be on PC and it could even become day and date at some point. That i am not sure about but wouldn’t surprise me either way they go about it. GP should get loads better when all the ABK stuff hits not to mentioned more and more day and date games. The service in 3-4 years should have a load of titles on it from first party and of course the rotation of 3rd party. I am all good as long as they continue to push Xbox Hardware. Now if this handheld rumor is true i would snag that up real fast also.

@Phil-Spencer-Gate i get it, but i would hate to lose my Xbox consoles in the future. I really like their platforms even tho they aren’t selling so well. I like my PS5 but the controller is uncomfortable for me at times. I understand MS’s position with selling software and making loads of cash, heck just the money they will make from ABK will be insane. Throw in all the other teams and there is little reason not to think they will be the market leader in revenue across the industry. I just hope they stick around as long as consoles are a thing. I believe we will see Sony bringing more and more titles to PC, but they will not share with Xbox. They just won’t do it as it would give players a reason not to get a PS. In a perfect world i could play the Last of Us on Xbox, cause at the moment that is the only series i really love on PS. GOW and Spider-man are good but not sure i would buy a PS just for those 2.

@MrMagic it’s either that or the rumored handheld but it’s not a next gen yet. To early for that. Series X still has plenty of juice left for a few more years. But i will be selling my PS5 for a PS5 Pro.

@Phil-Spencer-Gate then why is Xbox hardware down and in Europe it’s like 44-46% down. This shows me they have missed on something somehow. I love my Series X, i want to know they aren’t going multi platform with their titles so there is a reason for players to buy an Xbox. It’s that simply. If they say Halo and Gears and others are coming to PS then Xbox sales will be worse than the Dreamcast or Wii-u and now all we have is PS at the high end and Nintendo. I want all 3 doing well and MS is just not doing well with hardware right now and it concerns me. Not trying to be negative but we have to call the numbers like we see them. They must turn their hardware sales around and the only way to do that is great games that people must buy into Xbox or PC to play and not PS. GP as it gets more and more games might grow some more but subscription services are down all over right now. People seem to be burning out on them. I hope GP grows more tho as it is a great service.

@Burnfeeling agree with your post a lot. I am one of those people that would enjoy a new console every 5-6 years not 7-8.

@Banjo- as for Nintendo i agree as we have stated on here before. I love their games but the direction they need or choose to take on the hardware and services is just not for me. But i think they are more than ok as they have a young player base that will always like Mario and the crew. I am not sure the Switch 2 will outsell the Switch but i wouldn’t be shocked to see it do extremely well. Even more so if it can have enough power to play some more modern games well say like PS4 ports. As for MS i want to be optimistic cause they have large pockets and some good tech. But man after all this talk of them bringing more games to other devices and the Series consoles selling less so far than Xbox one. I am just shaky on what it is they need or can do to at least be within the ball park of PS console sales and brand awareness. Xbox is mostly alive and well here in the USA tho trailing the PS5 by 6-7 million units but elsewhere in the world is it a beat down. If for some reason Sony runs out of money i could see them looking to an Apple, Google, Amazon etc etc. who wouldn’t want to be a part of a successful world wide known brand in PS? Someone would help them. So i think there is a spot for all 3. But MS is going to be pulling up the rear if they don’t stop shooting their own toes with bad marketing and bad PR speech that confuses the player base as to what they are going to do. Thats my take on it. But i just think MS could and should have done more this gen to win back gamers lost in the last gen. GP aside and buying studios it’s been a little odd messaging lately.

@Phil-Spencer-Gate i just want to know if Gears will or won’t be on PS5 was my question. I know it will be on GP and Xbox. I am hoping it’s only on Xbox so they can use those titles to get attention to the Xbox platform. As far as MS getting the cash for its games, i am all good with that but what does that do if we get Redfall and Starfield? Indiana Jones is an older character that younger kids today could care less about. While i think it will be a good game it won’t make many younger console player sub to GP. The older market that likes Indiana Jones is already on GP. Avowed i am interested in but it hasn’t show AAA wow factor, but i am sure it will be solid. That is the issue i have with Xbox at the moment there seems to be no postive momentum around the brand, only questions as to if more of their games are coming to PS. Thats just an odd look for a company to have. It can’t be making gamers around the world saying they are ready to invest into Xbox as a platform this gen or next. That scares me. PS5 Pro and GTA6 is going to widen the gap even further. Phil Spencer said it himself they can’t out console PS, but to have us all sitting around waiting to see if Gears and Halo are coming to PS isn’t what i thought he meant by it.

@Pigrotto 2000% agree with that. I have 600 plus hours in D4 and still sometimes don’t get certain gear pieces i want. The only achievement and trophy i don’t have is killing Uber Lilith. Which requires better gear than i normally get in a season. I bought it twice, Series X and PS5. Play it just about every day, but the Gear drops are frustrating and while i don’t mind a decent grind, some times this is turning into a win the lottery type of grind and that i don’t care for.