HonestHick

@Dalamar73 that makes sense i think the last time i seen Steam deck numbers it was like 3.78 million or so. But yeah i do agree with you that the Xbox handheld likely will be fairly niche. I can’t see it exploding to insane sales. If the Switch 2 is fairly good at most games i would want to play on a handheld. I think that would be enough for me. As even when i was a little kid, i never got into handhelds all that much. They were here and there for me. I even owned the PSP and Vita and barely used them. I am excited to see what MS comes up with of course and i am sure the nerd in me will at some point snag on. But it won’t need great battery life for me as gaming on the smaller screens for the type of games i like won’t see much action.

@Dalamar73 in fairness no one in the history of handhelds has ever been close to Nintendo handheld numbers. Nintendo is simply unbeatable in that area. Has been and likely forever will be.

But Steam Deck is only sitting at a little over 3 million in sales. I think the Xbox handheld can easily out pace that. Not to mention that is the lifetime sales of Steam deck which is what 3 maybe pushing 4 years old at this point.

@Fiendish-Beaver first and foremost thank you for your service. It is often times a thankless job that so many people need and rely on. Sorry to hear about your injury. I wish you day’s without pain as much as they are possible my brother.

My sources are the huge channels that do nothing but Gears. They get it right more than wrong let’s just say. Not sure if that is reliable but it’s largely correct. They said no PVP a month to 6 weeks ago and now it’s breaking news. So there’s that in their favor. They also said a slide move is possible and if so that will be in PVP as well as campaign. Giving it a new feeling with movement. Maybe they want that too to be a part of PVP, plus have all players in one spot to buy skins and micro transactions. As for Horde they said they believe it to be there but can’t yet confirm. So i am hopeful they are right. Again this collection is more for younger Xbox fans and of course PC and PS5 to get caught up for E-Day. So even tho it upset me to hear no PVP, i can understand why.

@shoeses GTA 6 will move a huge chunk of those players on last gen consoles. Now that we are starting to finally get the bigger titles that only run on PS5 and series X. I suspect we will see loads of players coming in. However you could still be right that the Series X and PS5 will still sell well as it’s rumored the next Xbox PC hybrid will be $700-$800 and we know the PS6 will come in fairly high as well if the Pro is anything to go buy. Neither Sony or MS are willing to subsidize the hardware at a loss anymore.

@Steel76 the console is rumored to boot full windows but not run on it. It will run Xbox Os on a windows kernel, much like it does now for plug and play support. So it’s much cleaner and easy going that what you are thinking with just windows 11 as the dashboard. That i wouldn’t be a fan of and MS knows console players don’t want that. Phil don’t even want that, he said it about the current handhelds on the market.

This will be a Xbox ui over windows kernel like now. But it is rumored to be able to boot full windows 11. So you could use it just like a series X like we do now. But also boot up windows and do spreadsheets in word or Excel and load steam and Epic games store. Also it will give PC dev’s a baseline to code games to which they don’t have at the moment. It was even said older Xbox games will have the flexibility to play with the graphics settings and frame rates. So i am highly interested. If it get’s rid of the online paywall then it’s even that much more exciting. The battle between MS and Steam begins. With Steam unable to run some of the biggest live service games due to anti cheat code. Hence it don’t run COD. Point one in favor of Windows. MS has a chance here to do something really ground breaking and exciting for players. But they must execute properly. Something they are know to be 50/50 with.

@Fiendish-Beaver Yeah something don’t add up on that. No way they have that many. I mean it don’t take away from the fact your stats are awesome. But i agree something don’t seem right on that. I know me and you sure have put in a ton of time on Gears 5. I quit playing it when Diablo 4 came out and I did close to a 1000 hours on D4. Now i am scaling back on it. I got 30 hours in on avowed and went from liking it to not liking to liking it again haha.

As for the Gears collection not having PVP. I know it sucks for us players that care so much for it. But it is rumored to have Horde and of course Co-Op. the reason they aren’t doing it is they don’t want to spilt the player base and servers for collection and E-Day. Which i mean makes some sense. The collection seems to be positioned as only a way to catch up players on the story. The big game is of course E-Day. Again i can see the reasoning for it but as a super fan i am a disappointed of course. But i will be getting the collection day 1 and playing them all over again. When E-Day drops i will likely take a vacation from work. It’s my biggest game of the generation.

@Fiendish-Beaver HAHA yeah buddy! I am playing Gears 5 PVP again cause all week or so it’s been Gears of War talk. I am still after 2000 hours having fun with it.

I just want the collection in unreal engine 5 looking as good as it can. That will be great to lead new players into E-day. Which some that have seen it say’s it the best looking video game they have ever seen. Time will tell on that. But as a Gears of War fanatic, i can’t wait to see both in action.

@Cakefish A long while back i read someone saying MS is planning to ditch the online paywall for next gen. If that’s true and it likely is as it’s now all PC with an under the TV skin for plug and plug. That would be a HUGE advantage going into next gen. Myself and many millions around the world would all do a happy dance. Haha 😀

@OldGamer999 Phil has already said they are underway on console development. Sara Bond said big tech leap. They aren’t going to spill to many more beans on Specs, dates etc. that would tip to much of the plans before process’s are finished. In time we will get the reveal. Until then Series consoles continue to get games and GP continues to build up its library.

@Millionski thats my thing, my work gives me a Windows Laptop. I can of course only use it for work. But thats all i would want to do with it. Windows sucks. I use my IPhone, iPad Pro with Keyboard as my daily driver and have an older MacBook Pro. There is nothing i need or would want with Windows. Once i shut off my work laptop i am so happy to be away from that OS. I want to see and hear more of how this would work. Cause i have my doubts on some of it, but there is a lot to like about it as well. At least on paper as we don’t have the details and likely won’t until 2026 as it nears its 2027 launch.

@cragis0001 as they say time flies when your having fun.

So i did some digging on the collection and lot’s are saying they are hearing it will have co-op but no PVP. But the reason why makes sense. The rumor is the collection will not be out long by itself. E-day will hit shortly after. Not sure about that. But they continues to say the reason is MS doesn’t want to split the online PVP community up between collection and E-day. That makes sense but of course it’s deeper than that. E-day PVP will for sure have skins, weapon skins, and other things to buy live service style. So they want the player base on there buying that. Again makes sense. Plus i still hear there might be a slide feature in E-day wether that makes it into PVP or not we don’t know. So it’s looking all but confirmed PVP will not be there but Co-op will be and as for Horde mode it has been quiet on that front. It’s a day one buy for me as it’s my favorite IP in the world of games. But E-Day is the real excitement for me as i love PVP gears.

Still waiting for them to do the Elite 3. Just hope it get’s lot’s of love in the quality control department. That alone is really all it needs. But the standard Xbox controller stands as my favorite controller and i own all 3 consoles. I buy all my games on Xbox cause of the controller. This one tho does nothing for me and i don’t even need to hold it to know that.

@cragis0001 I would love to see it happen actually. I think it’s a great idea for us hardcore gears fans. Time will tell, we should know a lot more about Gears this June and of course next year is the 20th year of gears of war. So lot’s of news should be happening soon. I can’t wait to see it all unfold.

@cragis0001 i heard this rumor a few months back on my gears of war channels i follow. I didn’t put much stock in it but now that we are seeing it more this month. I suppose the guys i follow with gears channels know a good amount as well. That bring me to this SLIDE. The rumor on the channel was in E-day there will be a new slide move mechanic. The person said he is trying to find out if it will be in PVP or just campaign. Well my mind goes to what if the slide mechanic is a way to make PvP feel new and fresh to players. Maybe the plan is when E-day comes out they will slowly bring over the 1-3 maps with the slide move making the maps feel new. Plus for the Pro players this will excite E-sport players. I am liking where your thoughts and ideas are at and again i think you made one of the best idea’s i have heard yet and again i follow every outlet of Gears there is. Well played friend, i hope you are right and i hope the slide move is correct as well.

@cragis0001 i really hope thats the plan. It makes perfect sense. I would really love that as a hardcore Gears player.

@cragis0001 thats a great question actually. I never thought of that. That could work. I am a huge GOW fanatic. So whatever is best for the IP i am all for. Plus the multiplayer is a bit old and hard for new players to get into. Most would just return to COD and Fortnite. So i look forward to see if E-day brings something new to multiplayer for Gears or sticks to the basics for the hardcore fans like myself that has played Gears 5 multiplayer for over 2K hours. But i really like your idea with that. I never even thought of them doing it like cod.

@Kaloudz Agreed. I don’t see them leaving Hardware. Will it be different? Sure, will it launch before PS6, i would say yes. But it’s coming and I think it will look very much like a PC and maybe even let us open it up for smaller upgrades like seen on a gaming laptop. But i am looking forward to the new controller. I absolutely love the Xbox controller layout. It’s perfect. So any updates and improvements is really exciting to me. Can’t wait to learn more about the next Xbox and looking forward to all the great titles coming out in the next few years. As you said they are hitting that stride now with a lot of games coming.

I still don’t think Xbox will leave the hardware game. But if they did and they didn’t bring their controller to PS. Then i would buy a Razer laptop with a 5090 in it. I am starting to throw a few dollars a month back on the side to save up just in case. While i prefer to be on Xbox over PC. I can’t see myself gaming only on the PS controller. It’s not my favorite layout. It’s ok, but not something i would play Shooters and others on. So i would go PC and Xbox controller. But i think we continue to see Xbox consoles. But they need to find a way to get excitement around their hardware and they seem to be making that tough at the moment. Sadly cause i love my Series X.

@themightyant agreed !! We all know it can be done. But yeah i think Rockstar is far too focused on GTA money which i understand but RDR2 still has a large fan base. If they wait until next gen and then make RDR2 with 60fps and better draw distance and textures etc etc. i would happily buy it. If thats the plan. But to do nothing with the game seems like a big waste. I feel like all i want in the video game industry is a pipe dream these days. I want Gears of War collection in UE5 and 60 fps RDR2. 😀

Good to hear congratulations and all. Now your first job is to make RDR 2 60fps on Series X. Don’t i wish.

@Banjo- Thanks buddy, yeah i knew most of that and i am searching every inch of the map for items so i can level up my gear, it helps for a little while and then i am in area’s with loads of guys that are 2 skulls or more tougher. I am still playing it cause i want to love the game but the combat choices and leveling choices aren’t my favorite.

It’s getting a little long in the tooth. I mean there is only so much they can do new with the last gen still involved. At some point we need a new engine with new ideas and such. I will be playing Battlefield when it comes out next year just to see what it is capable of running on PS5 and Series only.

@PsBoxSwitchOwner agreed. They should try another one cause there is enough there to like or in my case not like. It’s an odd title for me. Cause i do have 30 hours in it. But the combat and lack of armor is killing it for me.

@Ricky-Spanish i couldn’t have said it better and it is my favorite game ever made. So you hit the nail on the head. I do wish it had a 60fps update. Or even a new release will all kinds of bells and whistles upgrade, I’d gladly pay for it. But it’s the best. I could only play RDR and Gears of War the rest of my life and still be an everyday gamer.

@nomither6 if i had any good sense i would tap out too. I just want the first 3 games in unreal engine 5 so bad i keep the hope up every year. I will say if it’s not at this year June show case alongside E-day then i don’t think the collection is coming.

But it makes so much sense to have a collection. Why would anyone on PS5 or PC want to play E-day when they don’t even have most of the story on PC and none of it on PS. So i mean the need of the collection is there. But pretty soon i will tap out with you brother haha

@PsBoxSwitchOwner i agree with that. Good way to say it. Thing is i really want to like it cause at times i do. But the leveling up and the overall side missions being either way to easy in combat or to high is annoying.

@RiverGenie i will give it another try tonight, cause i want to like the game, but i don’t like how all the quest seem way out of reach. 2-3 skulls on a lot of them. My axe is great, my shield is even great. But my armor is basic and i think that is one issue. Thanks for the tips,, i do cook some but i am not eating before a big fight. I need to try that.

After 30 hours i am just done with this game. The leveling sucks. Every side quest i try and do is 2-3 skulls and a beat down. Can’t get better armor, my weapons are good and leveled up but that does very little. I like the world and the graphics but the combat is absolutely trash! You can’t block with a shield cause there are enemies hitting you from all sides. I wanted to like this game but it’s beyond mid.

PLEASE PLEASE be Gears of War Marcus Fenix Collection!

Can’t wait to play this. Once i seen the horse riding, i thought is this going to be open world a little like RDR2 but in fable world. That would be a killer game. Also the graphics on this look insanely good. Playground games is a top notch dev team.

@Fiendish-Beaver well thanks for sharing the news with me even tho it’s bad news. Sad to hear he’s gone. His voice has brought some much fun and laughs to millions of Gear’s heads like us. Dizzy is also my main character i play with and on the other side i use General Raam.

@PsBoxSwitchOwner i didn’t say i thought it would have no ad’s but there have been some talk of a light Ui for Xbox os. But i would suspect it will have at least GP ad’s. Which i mean make sense if Xbox os will be on things like non MS handhelds and other devices.

It’s kind of a moot point now, as we know Xbox Os is in the works to work across multiple devices from Consoles to PC’s and of course handhelds. So it will all change next gen. Some even suggested it’s “light” meaning less bloat and ad’s. So that will be nice.

In it’s current form i still find it the fastest and less clicks then the PS Ui. However the achievements tab is wordy and kind of basic and boring in my opinion. The Ui is old cause it’s windows 8 themed from Xbox one. The store pics and achievement pics need to be 4k, i won’t even get started on all the junk at the bottom of the Ui that was added and is not customizable or able to be deleted. So yes there are many things it would need if it were to be used again but we know Xbox Os is the future and we might even get a look of it sooner than later as Steam Os is looking to expand to handheld PC’s and it’s rumored console.

Please give me RDR2 upgraded on console. I could play RDR and Gear of war only for years on end without playing anything else. Yes those two IP’s mean that much to me. I have 2000 hours in Gears 5 multiplayer. RDR2 i was around that or a little under i believe. Point is those are my two games that i would pay for any major update to and would buy new hardware or anything else needed to play them in the best way possible that’s not PC. Even tho the 8K RDR2 that looks photorealistic made me strongly consider tapping into the retirement funds to build that rig HAHA

@Kaloudz i agree they are stronger in the software side of things, but in fairness they are hurting in yearly hardware unit sales. Which stinks cause the Xbox 360 is, was and always will be my favorite console of all time ever made by any company. But the hardware we all know had its issues. The Series X is rock solid design and functions amazing. If Xbox can figure out its hardware and get it out to more gamers next gen then i ask all those doom and gloom people where is the weakness? They have near 40 studios owning some of the biggest IP in gaming not named Mario or Zelda. Great services and features. Sony as much as i like my PS5, they have none of that and lately they can’t seem to get a game past the cancelled stage. Sure that will change in time, but they said it themselves they are dry on big new idea’s for new IP. Well it shows trying to turn GOW into a live service game and saying Concord would be their Star Wars. Can we say out of touch? They will sell forever on name brand alone. Heck i even buy one even tho i pay it 85% less than my Xbox. But again i think MS needs to figure out it’s hardware plans and thats largely the only thing missing.

@OldGamer999 the only thing i can think of is the Xbox Series X loses like $150 per unit sold. Maybe with the all white digital they are trying to find ways to lower cost and find the right number of units they need in regions around the world before they appear on shelves again. But please my friend take that with a HUGE pinch of salt cause i am guessing. Purely a guess and not intended to sound like i know that. However i do know they lose a lot per unit on the series consoles and next gen they will sell for either cost, or a slight margin or loss. But it won’t be this big of a lose for sure. I can’t wait to find out more out what Xbox will be doing hardware wise next gen in a few more years. One thing i do think we will see is a Xbox Os that is used on many devices meaning anything running it is a Xbox much like anything running windows is a PC.

@Kaloudz @OldGamer999 is am playing Avowed and Ninja Gaiden Black 2 right now on GP. It’s unbeatable value. NGB2 is really good and i can’t imagine playing that on that the Dual sense. The Dual sense is to tall and wide for my hands to quickly adjust to a fast game such as NGB2. Avowed is coming along i got 5 hours in and enjoying it. It’s so good to look at i roam around to find all the chest boxes but also just to see the landscapes they built. Xbox never won the console war on hardware sales. It was always Xbox live on the OG, or Achievements and cross game chat on 360. And now we have had GP the last 2 generations as the difference maker along with quick resume. My point is Xbox being the 3rd console it has always sold like a 3rd console outside of 360, not to mention Xbox is dead and leaving the hardware business has been said since the OG and here we are. Sure things aren’t looking great for hardware for Series consoles, but i suspect they hit 40 million at the end. They ain’t leaving 40 million consoles behind when they have PC, Cloud Mobile and Nintendo and PS money on top of it. Now get the other OEM’s in on making Xbox’s and that could be a big thing, everyone talks about Nintendo in Japan and for good reason but guess what is growing like wild fire in Japan? PC and mobile. What if a Asian company like Samsung made a Xbox that catered more to that area’s needs in the form of a PC running Xbox Os? That likely would sell more than MS’s own Xbox. Don’t give up hope yet. Phil said the hardware has to appeal in order to sell. Could this be the plan?

@Titntin I too have it at an 8. It’s lovely to look at and i do enjoy playing it but… to many times i walk into an area of enemies are double my level and smash me. I am not finding the most powerful or meaningful gear yet, again only 3.5 hours in. But i do like it a lot. It has potential to patch a few things and get me to a 8.5 in the future for sure. 😀

I still wish they would have kept some games exclusive with new IP’s and of course Halo, Gears, Forza, Fable etc. of course bring Doom and others that have been on PS and Nintendo. If that didn’t drive anything hardware wise then i suppose there’s no other position for them to turn to other than this. Avowed is Awesome, Indy was a huge success. The games are starting to come and they are 80 plus meta games, thats what you win gamers over with. At any rate the PS5 has become the PC of the console space cause it plays all games now you just don’t know when they will release there. Starfield being one of the longer ones not on PS5 yet and that surprises me no announcement for it yet. Avowed as well has noting pointing towards a PS release but i am sure in time it will. Not going to lie i would like to see what the Pro would do for Avowed cause it’s a really pretty game. I am running it Balanced mode.

I played 3 hours last night and am really enjoying it so far. Hope it continues to do well. I love how people say Rare is trash now and all Sea of thieves continue to do is sell and be played.

I’m around 3 hours in and really really enjoying it. It’s a beautiful world and the combat is heavy and feels great. However i am only level 4 and run into areas with level 11’s and get hammered. Trying to grind and find better gear. Otherwise this one is shaping up to be a game i spend a lot of time in. Keep the updates coming.

2 hours in and am enjoying it so far. Graphics are good. I am running it in Balance mode as i have a LG C3 Oled. Runs it really well and i do stop to take in the art from time to time. I like the heavy weight feels to the attacks. Can’t wait to dive in more and see more of the world.

This is a tough one, cause on one hand it’s Fable coming back after a long lay off. It would shine a lot easier in its own slot. But GP and the rest of the year could use its services. GTA 6 is going to be a monster for years or even a decade to come. My gut say’s avoid GTA, my heart say’s i really want to play Fable this year. One ting is for sure this is the best attention Fable has gotten since part 2. I expect it to be good. But we have seen good games get blown out before by a mega release.

I want to give Avowed a try, i think it’s a great looking world and some of the best graphics yet. I watched it on my 4k monitor and wow it looks really good. There’s a few things I’d like to see them patch and.i am sure they will. But it looks fun. I might dive in here soon!

@themightyant but we aren’t having a 5 year cycle, we will be at 6 years IF it launches in 2026 which it likely could or maybe get announced and launches in early to mid 2027 ahead of PS6. At that point it’s a 6 to 6.5 year cycle which is about right. But yes sadly a lot of games can’t be made in 7 years like the PS2 and PS3 and Xbox 360 years.

I will for sure try and get the next Xbox day 1 for sure. PS6 i will wait for the Pro or until they have enough exclusives i want to play cause thats all i use my Nintendo and PS consoles for. Should be exciting and i am looking forward to seeing and hearing more on it in the near future. Also exciting is the new controller and Xbox os.

@Cakefish EXACTLY to both your points! The next Xbox has long been rumored to be a custom built PC with Xbox os for ease of use. Thus letting other manufacturers make hardware and of course the games are just built for PC’s. This is MS going in its own new dierction away from Sony and somewhat Nintendo and they have been doing their own thing for a long time.

Yeah i think MS and Sony both have their SOC’s locked in with AMD and likely will be the same. Sony can’t change that last min as it’s been reported work is already underway on PS6. So no time or money to change those specs much if at all. Good points made tho and yes i agree but i think it’s all going to get very interesting as Xbox and PC blend together. NOW, if and it’s a BIG IF the rumors are true of Xbox getting rid of the online pay wall is a thing as it would make sense cause it’s a PC. That is a nice selling point to Sony.

@CadErik we will see, i agree it might be a slow adoption rate outside of the hardcore players. Myself i will do my best to get it day one. I am excited to see and use Xbox os and of course the new controller. The graphics hopefully get a quick upgrade for Gears of War E-day as that will still be largely what I’ll be playing online. At least a 1000 hours haha

@themightyant I don’t completely disagree with you. However Covid hurt software this gen. Slower adoption rate due to the shortage of consoles also played a part in more cross gen titles i would assume. But you are right in the sense that games are taking longer and we will likely see less big hitters per console than we did in the past. We ain’t getting 3 Gears of wars like the 360 or 2 uncharted games on PS3. Just takes to long now. So i get that point but that won’t slow down the hardware teams pushing the latest innovations at price points that make sense for their brand. The name of the game on console is power to price performance and we normally see that now in 6-7 years. This would be right in line with that. Many PS4 users didn’t even pick up a PS5 cause they were still getting games. GTA6 should move some Xbox One and PS4 users over. Before they know it, the PS6 and next Xbox will be out running GTA6 way better.