HonestHick

Hey!!!!! We are back to TV TV TV!! How i missed you Xbox One!

@NEStalgia Yeah i agree, i mean of all the features Google and Apple have that i do like, i could care less about a video chat call app. I rarely to ever use it. Now there are some apps and features on my iPhone i couldn’t live without. There are some on Android i like as well. But a video chat? Thats just not exciting to me.

Well this week PSN has been down, Xbox has been down and Verizon phone service down. Seems like a lot in one week.

@NEStalgia Some people use things like Zoom and other apps. I rarely video call anyone on video, but i do prefer the Apple apps to googles. So again i would never switch. It’s not a hassle was my point both google and apple have software that makes switching phones super easy and task free.

@GamingFan4Lyf People just stuck to their PlayStations - just like people stick with their iPhones with every generation because it's too much hassle to change over to Android.

Hassle maybe, or in many cases they don’t like Android or Xbox. They like playing on PS and have no need. They enjoy exclusive features to the iPhone like FaceTime etc etc. More People switch every year from Android to iPhone vs the other way around. Same with PS and Xbox more people are leaving to the other platform and thats what MS need’s to worry about. Their answer to that is simple, PS talks less and normally put’s out high rated games. Xbox is always talking and confusing everyone, bringing their games to PS won’t help. But at the very least MS talk when it’s someting that needs to be said. This Gen has been a lack of high rated games and a message to the player base that is more confusing than solving world peace.

@Titntin Yeah makes sense to me, i too own all 3 consoles. So sometimes when a game hit another platform it’s not so exciting for me as it would be for others with 1 or 2 consoles. So I get what you are saying for sure. Yeah i thought you would appreciate the efforts MS has done in Japan on those titles. I surely did and hope others understand the work and cost behind that. It’s more than the average person would think. I know you know this very well. Better than myself even. Well i understand what you mean pulling for Xbox and not MS corp. as a 20 year plus Mac and Apple user i have no love for MS. I mean i want Xbox to be good and around. But if windows went away tomorrow i wouldn’t bat an eye. Hahaha

@CallMeDuraSouka yeah back when i was on Wi-Fi it was spotty as well. They need to work on that a lot going forward. The PS5 Pro included Wi-Fi 7. Which is nice but of course the user would need a router that has Wi-Fi 7 to fully take advantage of it. I am much happier in this new setup with both my Series X and PS5 being hardwired. The upload speed on PS5 is weaker than Xbox. By a lot actually, but the download is around the same hardwired. I would like to see MS push for faster download speeds all the way around as i have been digital only for 10-12 years now.

@Titntin i did think it was nice to see Xbox spend the money for Japanese voice acting in upcoming games. Such as Indiana Jones. That is something that cost a lot of money and of course time. You would know that better than me of course working with game development. That shows they care about the region and want the best experience for their players there. It’s a region most say MS should just give up on and instead year after year they just make little strides to continue to improve there. The handheld will help more than the console. Overall it was an average show, i agree with you there wasn’t much there for me. But i never been a huge Japan game fan outside of Nintendo.

I have 1000mbps download and 1000 upload. As long as everything is working ok from AT&T and the Microsoft server side it’s really fast. I can download a 70gb game in 10-12 mins. BUT… MS has work to do on its store and the Server side. Plus they need better Wi-Fi in the console. Now i am lucky and hardwire but for many people Wi-Fi is needed. PS5 and PS5 Pro have excellent Wi-Fi and Series X is way behind, something i would like to see change on the next Xbox.

@funkhouser i know what you mean the quieter buttons was also one of my favorite upgrades coming to it as well. I still love the controller, just want some upgrades to it and the list seem to have a lot of really good things. I am disappointed it’s not out either. But if the November 2026 rumor is true then that’s not all that far away and we will likely see MS launch the new console with this controller and a new Ui. Someting the Series consoles didn’t do and took some heat for in the press. I don’t see many changes coming to series as the work and new updates will all be centered around launching an exciting new console and handheld.

@funkhouser Sebile? I think they are holding that back to launch with the new console at this point. It will make a bigger impact coming with the new console. I do want it tho. I liked the leaked specs on it.

Forget the X button, it’s the left thumb stick that is in the wrong spot on the PS controller. Hahaha

@i mean don’t get me wrong, it’s not a good look that Xbox don’t have the game. But again it is selling 80% or more of its volume in China on PC’s. That said i think MS needs to make sure it’s not missing major releases as it just makes the PS stronger and gives YouTubers more ammo to make videos of why Xbox is doing poorly. So i get your point and at some point this will come to Xbox but i am not sure what the audience looks like there for this game.

Of those 20 million over 85-90% of the sales were on PC i would suspect. It’s not like it’s a run away success on PS5. I don’t know the new numbers but when the game was at 10 million it was reported only 1.5 was on PS5, and 8.5 million was on PC. As in that region PC is way more popular.

@themightyant i hear ya, for the games i like to play, it’s been a little dry. Also some of the types of games i like just aren’t being made as much cause everything needs to be a soul’s game now. Which i pass on no matter what. However i am someone that log’s in 1000 hours into Diablo 4 and counting. I log big hours into Gears of War. So when those big titles for me do come out i get my money and entertainment out of them 10 fold. So i am still happy with what i have to play, but i do think it’s time for cross gen to slow down and I think it’s time for this generation to get a few of it’s key game that the generation will be know for out to the public soon. Namely one of them will be GTA 6, hopefully still on track for 2025.

@Gkobz of course they are already talking about next gen consoles, how else are we going to get PS5 remastered games? I kid i kid, yeah this generation has been a lame duck so far. Hopefully they pull out 1-2 good years and then head into next gen.

So the rumor i read was true. They are going to leverage StarCraft. I heard they want it on the handheld in Japan and MS thinks they can grow player base in Japan with that combo and i agree. If MS is smart with all the IP they have they can be a force. This is great news and i will listen to that guy a little more cause he thought SC would be the way MS would excite Japan.

@Fiendish-Beaver yeah i want to try and get the Dual sense 30th PS1 and i will leave it in the box. Be worth a few dollars in a few years. I don’t do a lot of collecting or re selling tho. Not really my thing but sometimes i like to collect. It’s why i don’t miss physical games. I like not having the clutter.

@Fiendish-Beaver yeah not sure what to expect on it. Sure would be nice. I think we will get controllers. But not sure about a console. I could be way wrong.

@Fiendish-Beaver Oh i know you have all that. I have the controllers. Never did get the console and now i am mad i didn’t. I really hope we get some cool gear for E-Day.

Design lab is so cool, i have never made one yet. But i want too. They better do a Gears of War E-Day special controller. I will for sure buy that. Overall tho, i stick to the stock Black. I do however like the white Series X. It’s slightly tempting. But i really don’t need it. These ones shown today do nothing for me tho.

I would buy Viewtiful Joe. I loved that game on GameCube. Otherwise not much jumps out at me. Even tho they have done a really good job bringing back older titles into the modern era. Not as easy as it seems it would be to do. Plus Capcom is raking in cash off them so i have to suspect we get a couple more.

@OldGamer999 yeah i think they are going to have a good 2025. They have the lineup to do it. How much of it will they keep to Xbox/PC is the question. I am not sure what if any will come to PS. I have a feeling Disney made sure the Indiana Jones had a bigger audience. Marvel don’t have to do that with Sony as much cause Sony has given loads of money to them already and signed up for even more games. Doom coming to PS5 is just a given. Doom is just not an exclusive IP. It is always on all devices and I suspect will continue to be. I watched a good video yesterday saying Xbox has a real chance in Japan, and i was like what? Then it went on to say how big RTS games are in Japan and there is a rumor that MS wants a handheld in Japan with a StarCraft game on it. Saying that could be the only way MS get’s some money out of Japan and it makes some sense. So we have to see what they do but they have the IP’s, infrastructure and of course cash to make it happen. But this is MS after all and what they can mess up they will mess up and more so it seems. I am here for the ride tho.

@OldGamer999 Yeah we are big Gears fans. I think it will be really good. Some insiders said when they seen it it was the best looking game they ever seen. I believe it will be. Plus i think it will play well cause they all do. With Marcus and Dom as the main guys this is shaping up to be super good in my opinion. To be honest as i know you are fed up with Xbox and i get it, i am getting there too, only i will stick with them for my set of reasons. But it’s not like Sony is lighting it up like they did with the PS4. They have as many cancelled games this gen that i can ever remember, Concord was a mess, we are getting PS4 games remastered. Outside of the Marvel licensing they really don’t have anything new and amazing out. Not saying that to take pressure of Xbox cause they need to do better as well. But this gen is coming down to who stinks less not who’s winning. Gears and a good to great Fable game can go a long ways compared to Horizon being remastered.

This is the only game i truly want this gen so bad the day’s seem like weeks counting down to its release. I hope the game brings back the competitive pro series the franchise used to have. I hope it moves consoles and does great for the IP. I believe it will cause this developer is top class. This and Doom should have 2025 looking really good for team green. Now if Fable is a hit then wow that’s a huge year for Xbox. But this is the game, it has to be great as a life long Gears fan.

@NEStalgia i don’t touch their games since Halo. Halo was to be a MAC exclusive until MS seen it and paid good money for the IP and team. It went well for them of course but man how Bungie has fallen, i can’t believe Sony paid as much as they did for them. Granted they wanted their knowledge as much as the games. But their knowledge is now living off the past “success” of destiny. Which i don’t like but credit where it is due they did make the game last a long time which in that genre is not an easy task. But they better do something good soon or Sony is going to break them up and put them into other teams. Wow would that make the money they spent seem even worse.

@NEStalgia and Apple Inc was the founder of most of its talent as we all know Halo was intended to be a Mac game. MS bought it and Bungie did well and then KABOOM, Bungie is now a studio i wouldn’t pay anything for their games. I always disliked Destiny and this Marathon game, ouch i think that one could sink more money down the Concord drain.

@themightyant no it wouldn’t hold it back cause the software for say Diablo 4 wouldn’t be the console version, it would run the PC version and scale. That would be my guess. As everything would just be PC software. However you made a point that i too thought about and that would be how well optimized and well would the software run and we see some PC ports having issues from time to time. That is the real deal breaker on this strategy. But this looks to be the direction MS is going and it makes sense. The Xbox will be a lower powered but easier to use PC, kind of like it is now only it will run PC software and the hardware will be open to other manufacturers. In time we will see if this is their winning formula, but i think for the position they are in, it makes the most sense.

@abe_hikura @themightyant the rumor is MS is going to lease out the UI to other hardware manufacturers and they can build a Xbox also. So when the PS6 comes out, maybe it does have a slight edge. But Asus builds a more powerful Xbox. Or Dell comes out with a $1000 dollar alien ware Xbox. Cause the next Xbox is said to be even more PC able than the Series consoles. So whatever the base power level is from MS can’t be under done by the others makers, but can be pushed further. Making the console really feel like PC. So i don’t think the “Xbox” will be behind in power, and it will get the software to run the PC version and not the console version. This is a good strategy cause it cut’s down the console software work needed for dev’s.

I played and beat Astro Bot on PS5. Great game. But that controller still hurts my left thumb and just isn’t as comfy as the Xbox controller. But it’s clear the Xbox is shrinking in mindshare on the console front. I would prefer if MS is going to let Sony have the high end market to themselves to release a MS controller for Sony so i can play my PS with a “Xbox” controller. Change out the ABYX for the PS symbols. Change the X home button to a PS logo and for the love of all things gaming get rid of the useless touchpad that makes the controller on PS5 to wide. Then and only then will i buy and play all my games on PS. But yes these numbers are awful and at this point all i want from MS is Gear of War E day and maybe fable if it turns out good.

@nomither6 no clue my friend. That was just a dumb move when they had Sony on the ropes. They were that close to keeping all those 360 fans and at the least only being outsold in Japan and a few European markets. But we are talking they gave HUGE chunks of players back to Sony with the Xbox One. We would have better competition in the industry right now if they would have released a great follow up to the 360. They gave away all the hard work 360 did from them, i just can’t believe it in many ways. Now with the Series consoles they are just a bag of mixed words and confusing us all the time. I still don’t know what their plans are for the series consoles and we are 4 years in.

@nomither6 i couldn’t agree more buddy. I too have the 360 as my greatest of all time. Me and my friends were all in different parts of the country at that age. We used Xbox live to play games together on the weekends and it was just different and special. Gears of War just became gears and beers weekends with the friends. I loved the console and can’t believe the follow up to that was TV TV TV. It just don’t make sense.

I just read every single comment on here. What happened to Xbox? Seeing all your memories and mine. I could see and feel what it felt like again back then. Then the 360 was so great. Xbox one and Series consoles just got so turned around from what they were doing and just how great Xbox was. I mean it still is in many ways, but man those OG and 360 days were special. Some of my favorite memories in all of gaming and i started on Super Nes.

@NEStalgia yeah i don’t think the Portal is for me, thats why i didn’t snag one. I do want Switch 2 of course and Xbox Handheld if they finally announce it in 2025. Which they might. Phil has hinted at it so many times now. It’s coming i just ain’t sure when.

@StylesT portal any good in your opinion? I don’t have one but i seen 3-4 of them at Best Buy the other day and was tempted. Most people seem to like it. Doesn’t look that comfy to hold but again i have to ask cause i have never held and played one before.

I got mine when they launched the smaller controller and played Halo for hours on end with friends. I loved the OG. Well built too, mine never broke or failed in any way.

@RetroMan71 i see no reason to believe this console will have many games on it running 4K 60fps so thats all i care about. There is plenty of games to play, i just want a certain performance for them. This console can and should achieve that. The video on what it did for a game that wasn’t running well on the base is pretty good stuff to me.

@Titntin Heck yeah buddy, once you sell all that the Pro will be mostly free update. I too am going to sell my PS5 and the SSD 1TB i have in it. So the Pro upgrade will hurt a little less. Haha

Yeah i hear you about GP, both the pro’s and con’s of it. Most of the games on it don’t suit me. So thats why I care less and less about it, but for some people it’s a wonderful value. I just think MS really needs to get on a roll and soon. It’s been 4 years now and the console lacks many games that really excite me. I am still supporting it of course as i had said, but the Pro will be my main place now. I too want the dev’s to get their money and not lose jobs, i always consider the health of the industry as i care for it deeply. 😊

@Titntin Yeah i know you have owned a lot of video game hardware in your life and know the industry very very well. So to say this has been your least played shows a little of just how bad the Series lineup has been for you and many others. Sony’s not releasing new games every 3-6 months but man, seems like half or more of the life cycle of the Xbox has just had nothing. With Avowed pushed to 2025 even this year is a bit dry. Like i said i really want Gears of War E day and if that comes to PS and runs best on Pro. That will leave me with very little to play on Xbox. I thought south of midnight looked good. But yeah get the Pro and i am too. From the looks of things it will be a monster console.

@Titntin agreed, the price of the Pro is a little high, but the performance is starting to show a little online already and when more and more games start to really show it’s power it’s going to be nice. I hope i get mine day 1.

Yeah the cuts are sad. Especially cause there isn’t much time left to get a new job in time for the holidays. Crazy to think the holidays and the shopping is closer than i think about it. I hope MS figures it all out and gets some great games out. Cause i like my Series X. But this has been another pretty dry year. Then the big elephant in the room is Gamepass. Seems to be a strong leak out there of MS saying COD needs to boost GP numbers in a big way as the service has largely not grown much at all lately. Might have even shrunk a bit that i don’t know. So what happens if COD don’t grow GP much, which i guess that it will. But say it doesn’t, what happens? Xbox is in odd times right now i think it’s fair to say.

@OldGamer999 i hear ya, i am going to hang onto Xbox as i do like it, but i want to be clear that i will be getting a PS5 Pro and playing my games on that machine more times than not. Sorry not sure i can play my shooters on that controller. Everything else will be on Pro. I have been on the record for months now saying the Pro console is for me. It’s not for everyone and many don’t have the TV to fully need it. But i am liking what i am seeing in some videos I’ve watched recently on the Pro. It’s going to be a monster.

@GADG3Tx87 not everyone!! I am loving the PS5 Pro. Watching videos on it about how the power is going to be used as well as just the overall performance i will get with it. It’s going to be awesome. Sure i wish it was $600 but i will be preordering it. MS on the other hand they need to get some games out and some good ones. GP is not growing and the hardware sales are shrinking to the point i think it’s a say bet to say they won’t outsell Xbox One. They need to get it together and quick.

@MrMagic they did say that. Even tho the court and MS knew they weren’t going to keep everyone. There is no need for duplicate positions. But they did say that.

@OldGamer999 Agreed buddy, i will get Switch 2 for the exclusives, as i always do with Nintendo Hardware. I think it will be a great system and give some extra performance to their lineup. Sure only one Mario game but i loved that game and beat it twice and collected everything. Really enjoy it.

PS5 Pro i will be getting also and for sure playing Doom there if it’s pro enhanced. Runs best and has better effects and experience. I will be playing some stuff on Xbox as i won’t just leave them completely, but they better win me over more with the next gen cause Series consoles have had a lot of mistakes and bad marketing and PR speech. I still can’t believe they would end a show with a just one more thing and that one more thing is ending a Xbox show with an announcement of a big game coming to PS5. That was a slap in the face to a lot of us Xbox guys. To me that was a bigger slap in the face than the Pro’s $700 dollar price tag. Time will tell, but i am going to start being more critical of Xbox going forward. The free passes on mistake after mistake has worn me thin. Not trying to be negative. They just need to do better. 😀

@NEStalgia agreed mobile gaming largely from Apple dominates the true gaming dollar. iOS is the leading money maker for App Store developers. So I get that, but thats a different audience and not why Sony made a Pro console nor target.

Nintendo games are just so different i don’t even touch when they are up or down. They are the kiss of death or jackpot. They go from rags to riches. Not from a IP standpoint, and market demand for those titles. But Nintendo is their own best friend and foe.

I mean i am caught playing devils advocate here maybe more than i want too, cause i see your points, but if no one is pushing this tech then is it not ready or is it just not needed or is it time to see advancement. I don’t think i can say. I agree consoles need to play to their strengths more and not push $700 price points to prove their points. Sony miss this price badly. I agree. But i love MS and Sony and pushing gaming forward in terms of tech, and what not and i think we agree. But within reason, take Astro Bot for example. It’s so much fun and so good.i am loving it. Best game of the generation in my opinion. It’s so console spot on. It ain’t trying to push above its consoles design. I see your points, i see and hear many others points both for and against it all. But there’s not a one size fits all in a creative industry. They are all chasing money but in different ways. Point is for me PS5 Pro is over priced but i want it. I think MS is smart to say no, we don’t sell enough hardware now. We don’t need that to add to the problem. Sony is fine cause the base console will sell really well.

@NEStalgia i agree with that mostly, but some devs see the sales in high end games with large budgets and stories. They see those cheap meta games as peanuts. Be that right or wrong, the budgets are going to the selling paying customers and they see it as the ones that want the industry pushing forward. Again be that right or wrong. Nintendo aside cause they march to them and them only. The largest pool of money wants high end games and stories in 4K 60. The ones that don’t want live service and sports games. Then you have the candy crushers. So plenty of options to take but the console market wants a little of all it. They can do that but there has to be more compromise to your point. I really like the Pro minus the price. It’s $100 high for what i think it will do. But they also need to show more of what it will do and can do. Cause in 9 mins with 2 of those talking about base PS5 won’t do that. The price aside the presentation was bad for a console like t this cause it’s not easy to show FPS and textures over YouTube.

@NEStalgia I slightly disagree cause gamers and YouTubers are blasting games like Starfield for being 30fps. More recently Avowed being 30fps etc etc, Again why not 60. Well cause the silicon at $499 is not giving that performance, you want it? It cost. Now i don’t think Sony should have gone $700. But it cost to get that performance and these companies, MS and Sony all talked about 60fps this gen and it isn’t happening and gamers are calling it out. PC hits 60 and above easily, 30 isn’t a thing over there unless it’s a potato. Yet that cost. I am not defending Sony’s price, nor am i saying every game on console can hit 60fps. But people wanted it and still do. This is our best answer for it and it’s not great cause it’s not good performance to price ratio.

@NEStalgia LOUD SIREN NOISES WO WO WO!!!!

Apple defender gets out of his car, do we have a problem here sir? I am getting calls of attacks against the most powerful tech brand on planet earth. LOL thats lame, someone, namely you will make fun of me for that.

Yes yes i love Apple, they sell me and billions an experience that is not achievable on other platforms. iMessage alone is one of the most powerful software features in the world. It’s a reason people won’t switch. I don’t think a video game company wants or can be Apple. Apple has saved lives on its Apple Watch, has products that simply change the industry and what people are creating and how they create them. Magazine covers being made from Apple Pencil artist on iPad the list goes on and on. For those that don’t like Apple and their “high” prices, they won’t get what i am saying. But a Samsung galaxy can and often times does cost more than a iPhone netting less benchmarks. MS Surface matches their prices or exceeds them to MacBooks. Apple has “affordable” entry points into their ecosystem, hence they are on their way to being worth 4 trillion. They collect all the money from all range of users. I think Sony missed the price on this console. $600 was the number and they missed it. But i do think Consoles are chasing something and it’s not Apple, i think it’s gamers asking for more and more but not truly wanting to pay it for it’s R&D and end cost with mark up. Sony has to make back their cost , not to this extent haha, but here we are. Apple wasn’t nearly the worldwide influence they are now back when Sony launched a $600 dollar PS3. This is a Sony problem and not Apple.

@Banjo- all great point and welcome to another great TV enjoy that new LG TV they are so so good. I agree with you. I think Xbox is here to stay in their hearts at MS. But in the gamers mind i think they are slowing going backwards to think the Series consoles likely won’t outsell the Xbox One is a tad worrying. But I think the next console/ PC in a box model will work well for them. I hope it does, i am buying it haha. But this gen i will rock PS5 Pro for most titles such as GTA 6. Xbox will be what i need it for until i see their next plans. They have the studios to make some great titles and i agree i don’t know nor does anyone if more or what titles are coming to PS. But they leave that door open saying things like we have a business to run and more is on the way. CEO at MS saying he don’t like exclusives and wants games everywhere. Well how does that make a person buying a Xbox feel. Sure Sony will support PC, but i would eat a BBQ possum if Sony ever brought their titles to XBOX. It just won’t happen. Call it stubborn or whatever, but it’s not going to happen cause Sony wants high console sales to support their business. They don’t want people jumping ship. They know console players won’t leave in the 20’s of million to PC. Sure they might lose some but not enough to make it not worth making consoles. Xbox on the other hand, they need to get it right with the next one or they are down to what 25-30 million units. Not sure that cuts it.

@Secryt very well said. I agree if they don’t that looks petty and if they do we all jump there. They are backing themselves into a corner that i don’t see the out. Maybe i am wrong but it looks like they are weakening the brand more and more.

I too have LG Oleds. I have a 65 inch C2 in the media room and a 55 inch C3 in the downstairs living room. When you invest into this type of tech all extra power matters. I don’t love the price of the PS5 Pro, i thought it should have been $599 and i don’t do physical media so i don’t need the drive. But yeah i mean i do think giving up mindshare catches up with you in time. Sony spent $750 million dollar rumors have it to have GTA 6 exclusive marketing. They are going to market the PS5 and PS5 Pro with the largest game maybe ever, but for sure this Generation. How long can MS sit back and be like we have GP? Sorry thats not enough fight in the fight. You know as well as i do Sony is going to speak from the rooftops about having better looking and performing games, even if most people hate the price. MS is going to say play Indiana Jones on GP. I don’t want to beat a dead horse here or get ahead of myself, cause i like Xbox, but you can only not fight for us for so long before you have nothing but Cloud and PC left. Sony Smells blood in the water and even with the high price they will make sure they grow their install base off GTA 6 deals and other games. Don’t even get me. Started on BG3 missing Xbox at launch, you know just a game of the year title. Those are good looks buddy is all i am saying. By the way how much you love that LG Oled. They are so insanely good. I might even get a 48 or 42 inch so i can sit close and play hahaha