HonestHick

@Fiendish-Beaver PS5 has the best controller of any PS console for me and yet it still isn’t my favorite. Not sure i can ever main console the PS for that reason. I’d have to go PC over PS5 for some games just so I could use the Xbox controller. .

@OldGamer999 it would be great to have it in 2025. I was thinking they might go Collection in 2024-2025 and then 2026 is the 20th anniversary and they would drop gears 6. If they drop Gears 6 in 2025 then i hope tue collection is shadow drop at the June event or shortly after so that collection get’s it time to shine and bring in new players.

@NEStalgia you made a ton of good points. I just want Xbox to be more clear. They need to hire someone to speak for them. They are in their own way. Of the 3 consoles it’s the Xbox we never know what to expect and not in a good way. I still think it would be a waste of everyone’s time at ABK & others if MS bought them, gave them new tools to work with, made them part of the MS company only to tell them in less than 5 years they are going to just make games for PC and PS and Xbox is leaving hardware. So in my heart and mind i still think we are going to see some kind of hardware, but we have no idea as to what it will look like and i think it’s safe to say it probably won’t compete with PS, so they might not be able to sell enough of them to skip brining Gears and Halo to PS consoles. 10 years or less of that and they would just go 3rd party. So i am still confused as ever as to what the roadmap looks like for Xbox. They have options and of course studios and money. But how do they want to use that? Your points all make a lot of sense and i hope some of those come true.

@Fiendish-Beaver as much as i know you hate to write that and as much as i hate to admit your right…. You’re right. Many more titles will be coming to PS5-PS6. The question is how and when do they do Halo, Gears and others on PS. Cause that is going to send ripple effects through the internet for weeks if not months. What is that announcement going to look like? Plus it will ensure that no other company would be able to come in and compete with PS at the high end. Unless Nintendo ever decided to get back into powerful consoles and that is just not going to happen. Sure if they did MS would bring the games to them, but it’s just not the Nintendo way to compete on specs with PS. Xbox has just backed itself into a corner and i think the only way out is PC. But that begs the question if anyone would even care. Most will just be on PS or Steam. MS will be the 3rd wheel for a few hardcore Xbox fan’s that will be left. I will try and make a happy ending to this. If MS is bringing its games to PS, can they bring the controller too? Cause that is what i would miss the most is the off set thumb sticks and the Xbox controller. Just make the same controller with the PS button symbols and I’d be ok. 😊

@Grumblevolcano that very well could be the future. It’s hard to tell cause we don’t have the roadmap just yet. But if they are targeting 2026 then it won’t be to long before we hear about what the plans are.

@NEStalgia yeah i agree financially the games industry is in an odd place. Now i do hope the Xbox sticks around and i can largely avoid PC and play on a Xbox PC console and the handheld. That would be the best way forward for me. I don’t know much about the egpu so i couldn’t say. But i think the handheld will go on the side to the console and build a better ecosystem. It’s my guess anyway.

@Broosh yeah i only ever played that once and never came back to it. But it was mostly fun but a little rough on controls.

@DoomGuy_117 @OldGamer999 as they should be there is a real chance we see a lot of heavy hitters. The one title that was on the leaked document that i rarely see people talk about is the Elder Scrolls 4 oblivion remake. Maybe that get’s shown off. The target date from the leak would line up. Now the game i want the most is the Gears of War Marcus Fenix collection. Then Gears 6 in 2026 for the 20th anniversary. Overall there is almost 10 AAA big titles that they could show off here. That would be one of the best showings for the brand ever.

@NEStalgia i think Sarah Bond already gave the blue print alongside Phil’s love for a handheld. It’s all but been confirmed that we will see the biggest leap in a console cycle ever. So that screams a console and not handheld. Then Phil saying when he is away he wants the Xbox Ui, friends list and achievements, progress on a handheld. So it seems like we get both which would be the ecosystem i think MS is trying to create.

I will be honest i built a PC online that i want and it hit $3,800 and that didn’t include the case or monitor. I am saving up for it just in case the negative rumors of Xbox leaving hardware is true. Which i hope it’s not. PC just feels like the future and one were i can enjoy the games i want running in the performance i desire. About time i save that much money tho i will be getting a 5090 instead of the 4090.

My favorite IP all time. I would love to see the first one remastered and then a patch for RDR2. But this game is an all around classic and one of the best 360 titles ever. I don’t even like DLC as a thing, but this game has one of the best DLC’s ever made.

@NEStalgia i on purpose clicked on this article to scroll and find you to say yet again.. why is Square doing widescreen on FF16? We have laughed, discussed and scratched our heads on that discussion. I just played the game yesterday and really tried to see an area where i thought ok maybe here it would be cool… and no. I could not cause that’s not what the world is built for. Man i can’t wait to see someone boot that up on their widescreen display and all they see is a closed off section of the map. They are going to really be upset. Every time i build my dream PC setup online just to see what it will cost me. I always skip over the widescreen monitors.

@FarmDog08 for sure, i too am hardwired but to have this baked in and ready for handheld would be huge. I can’t wait to learn more about what MS’s plans are for the Xbox Handheld. I am excited for it as it’s something i have wanted from them for a long long time.

Give some of those people a job working and updating Red Dead that never gives any love to its fan base. Give people a chance to work. Letting this all goes seems foolish for a company swimming in money.

@Fiendish-Beaver Holy crap that is AWESOME! I never even seen these before. That thing is worth so much money and only going to go up. 500 is very limited for anything. You are a mega fan. Thanks for sharing. Wow now that is cool.

That will be great for the Xbox Handheld. Does nothing for me personally but i think it’s a nice UI feature and i am sure someone will get good use out of it. 😊

@GamingFan4Lyf say no more, i understand brother. HAHA

@GamingFan4Lyf for gaming the LG Oled is hard to beat. I have 2 in the house and love them. 120 VRR, 4 HDMI 2.1 ports. Game optimizer. Nvida and AMD compatible. I have nothing but great things to say about my 2 sets. Wouldn’t trade them for anything on the market at the moment for gaming. 😊

@NEStalgia Gears 6 and the rumored collection is targeting 60 fps also using unreal engine 5. I think the lid is about to blow off starting in June going forward. Dev’s are catching up finally.

@Fiendish-Beaver yeah for sure. The ball is starting to roll now. They have a lot of titles in the works at Xbox and we will start to play some this year and next. Should be good going forward.

It looks like a done deal that we are getting a handheld Xbox. This is exciting to see. I think it could be really really good. Phil has already said what he would want in a handheld and i agree. It’s the reason i don’t own any of the ones on the market now. Fix those issues and it’s a winner for me.

@Fiendish-Beaver yeah your Gears collection is impressive for sure. I knew it would be. I can’t wait to see if they do anything for the Series X.

Yeah the rumors of the Marcus Fenix collection is heating up. One thing that makes sense is when they make a Gears announcement there is always two at a time. It was Gears 4 and Ultimate edition then it was Tactics and Gears 5. So if they announce Gears 6 then the second would be Marcus Fenix Collection. Wow that is a huge get for Xbox. This will bring new players and PC players into the original trilogy. Plus build hype for Gears 6. This is what Xbox needs, get their heavy hitters out in the open and show they have great games coming. Excited for the June showcase more than ever.

I like that. Now just get rid of the Ad’s and this is the best Ui Home Screen in the business.

@DoomGuy_117 it would be awesome. I am hopeful we see their new controller at least. It’s been silent on that since the leak. Plus we are seeing that some of those leaks were changed. So hard to tell if it’s still in the works. Gears has had some nice console and controller editions in the past. 😀

I think we might see Doom from I.D even tho i wish it was a Quake reboot. But there are a lot of projects in the works at MS, hard to tell what ones they show and which ones they let bake in the oven longer. I would expect to see Avowed with a release date, Indiana Jones with a release date and i think we should see some Fable gameplay. Then it will be all about COD. Which some say COD this year is adding a new movement controls, whatever something like that looks like. Plus they got an extra year to work on this game, so it should be polished and on point.

@Fiendish-Beaver i like your list. All you forgot was a Gears theme skin wrap for series X and a limited edition Gears controller. Think we are being to greedy…. Nah!

I really think it’s now or never for Marcus Fenix collection and i ain’t saying that just cause June is around the corner. I say that cause if Gears 6 is coming late 25 or 26 they need time for the Marcus Fenix collection to be marketed, played and hype built back in to the series then release 6. Otherwise they would be crowed on each other. Throw in the fact that some trusted sources in the industry has said the collection is real and it’s already being play tested internally. That was months ago, so it could be closer to finished than expected. I hate to say it but it’s now or never for this collection and 2 years in a row i have waited for it in both June showcases and got nothing. Your thoughts?

I only need 2 things from this show and every thing else is a welcomed bonus. Gears of War Marcus Fenix Collection and the new controller that originally said it was for May. But it might be nice to show it off at the show. Haptic feedback and a speaker on the controller while chainsawing a locust in unreal engine 5 is just my dream setup. Other excitable titles would include Fable and Perfect Dark.

@Ricky-Spanish it’s rumored to happen at the June Showcase with older COD titles. Have to wait and see but i think they will drop some of those for sure with the announcement of Black Ops Gulf war this year. As for other ABK games on GP there’s no telling when we may see any of those.

I want to like this game cause i am an action RPG fanatic. Over 770 hours into Diablo 4. Diablo is and always will be my favorite ARPG. But i want to like this but from what i have seen i am not sure of the combat. Think it might be something i need to feel and play and not just see on video.

Sounds to much like a phone. I do love the sound Xbox use’s for achievements over the PS trophy. Tho both are enjoyable to get. Wonder when we will hear about the updates they have planned for achievements. They have lightly talked about it since around the launch of Series X.

@NEStalgia we’ve talked about this in great length already. I think Xbox sticks around in hardware even if the hardware is different from what we have today. Also i think the handheld is them saying we aren’t leaving. What i mean by that is if they were on the fence of staying in hardware or leaving, why not just throw out a Series X2 in 2026 and see what happens? Why go through all the work and expense of making a handheld just to leave? Maybe i am wrong on that take but it doesn’t make sense to invest into more hardware if your 50/50 on sticking around. Also did people really think as soon as the pen signed the paper for owning ABK that the next day sales of hardware and games were going to just explode onto the scene? This ABK deal will take a year or longer to start showing how financially impactful it will be. Throw in games like Gears, Avowed, HellBlade 2, Fable and State of decay and that is money on top of ABK games. That has to look decent even if by then they are only at 40 million consoles and PC. Then COD rights come over and all the games go to GP and who knows maybe 5-8% of PS owners say hey i want in on that. That is growth opportunities. Look i don’t like to see exclusives leave the Xbox brand anymore than the next guy on here saying they don’t like it. But as long as Xbox is raking in cash and Sony is stuck with tight budgets things aren’t all doom and gloom for Xbox. But again this hole they were in due to Xbox One and a slow start with AAA games on Series consoles will take some time to dig out of. The questions is do they have the tools to dig and i think the answer is yes.

I just want to hear more about Vessel of Hatred for Diablo 4. Looking forward to it. Just hope MS get’s rid of Battle.net and makes it all into the MS/Xbox account.

@ShadowofTwilight the moment Sony and MS showed they need PC gamers to float the bill for game development should have been a sign for ya, but the second is the console market isn’t growing with the younger crowd. It’s not what they are growing up on like you and i and many on here. They grew up playing on a tablet/phone that is a tough crowd going forward to have them buy a box that only plays games that are $70 a piece. The last example is the life support comment , once Cloud is 90% as reliable as console. The casuals that buy a PS console for FIFA and Madden are going to just stream that game on the tv they already have and be that in the next 10 years or 15 it’s coming. After all those examples the future growth plan for consoles don’t look great. Which makes me sad cause i plan to be a console gamer until the end. But when you look at technology and where casuals and the up and coming 10 year olds will be in 15 years it’s not looking great for consoles.

@OldGamer999 Yeah Nintendo is sitting in a good spot. As long as they can make games cheaper than the other 2 and sell them in the large numbers they do. They will be more than ok for a long time. I am excited to see what the Switch 2 is all about.

@OldGamer999 thats my point is that not every thing in Sony land is roses and sunshine. Sure they are selling a good amount of units. They always do. But they are to heavy leaning on Marvel games which takes a large cut of the profits. We also don’t know when and what the next blockbuster AAA’s are from Sony outside of marvel titles. So while i don’t think any of the big 3 are in trouble, they all still face some issues and most of those issues are dev costs and how long it takes to make games and then getting gamers to play them right away and get the cash coming back in.

As for Xbox, everyone is saying ABK is the only reason they did well and it’s largely true. But something to think about is that the only big games of 2024 so far for Xbox. Once we get avowed, Indiana jones, HB2 and many others going into 2025-2026 and getting more from ABK deal. Now those numbers are going to be not only more balanced but very large.

Consoles as we know them are on life support. There is bound to be some changes coming to the area for both Sony and MS. But i do not think MS throws in the towel now. They said before they wish they would have stuck it out with windows phones. That tells me they are just going to throw away Xbox. Sure they need to get their console sales up. Sure they need to start hitting on AAA games. But that is about to start in May with HB2 and really shouldn’t slow down much from there, so lets judge all this in the next 12 months and see where they are at, but i think the money will be right and the struggle will be moving more console units, which in turn won’t make them more money but won’t loose them the kind of money the old strategy would.

@Kooky_Geezer PS shareholders at the moment have their hands full trying to figure out how Sony can make more than 30 million dollars on a $300 million dollar game. Hence they lost 10 billion in stocks. They may also be worrying about all the canceled live service games and where the next big game that will make money is coming from. Then if they have the energy maybe they are laughing at Xbox. Kind of have to take care of your house before worrying about the neighbors.

Well i am a little nervous about this cause Nadella wants exclusives to be a thing of the past as we heard him say on past interviews. I think it’s Phil saying to him if we do that we could lose our platform. Then Nadella see’s this money haul and it’s not even the heavy hitters. As an Apple user it was Nadella that said we must bring everything to the Mac. This could be scary my friends.

@nomither6 360 controller was so so good. Fit my hands perfect. I like the other Xbox controllers i am just wishing they would build them a little better. Not so loud for one would be nice. Glad you found one you like and works for you.

@NEStalgia my question to that is do Japanese gamers care about higher spec games enough to make Xbox handheld standout? Yes some do but they have a PS for that. Most don’t and they have a switch for that. Leaving Xbox as the American company they rarely give any attention too.

I am still in slight favor of mid gen consoles (Pro’s) cause the tech we get in a console is 2-3 years at least old then it runs for 7 years. So we are looking at 10 year old tech. At least the Pro bumps it up some for those that choose to want the extra fidelity. But then the question comes in as to how many dev’s take advantage of it since it’s a 80/20 spilt. Unlike PC where it’s you have a better card you can adjust the settings and see what you paid for. Which is much nicer. So for that reason if we don’t see much out of PS5 Pro. Then i hope it’s the last cause while i do appreciate the extra power and am willing to pay for it. What good does it do for me if only 25% of my owned games use it.

Now i do hope if Xbox consoles become more PC, we get a chance to pay for more power on console if we choose too. As for the handheld that won’t be an option and thats ok. I will be just happy with what it gives to me. Also i want to see Xbox get more aggressive with its messaging for GP with COD and others. I think that can take a mere 10% of PS4 COD players away. Only the hardcore know of the value of GP. It’s time for MS to tell the casuals. Cause while it will help the home console. I could see better marketing of GP helping the handheld even more. People on mobile type devices love value and options to more games.

@NotoriousWhiz yeah i too have been fairly fortunate. None of my controllers outside of 2 Xbox series controller has gotten drift. But i played loads of hours on those. 600 hours of Diablo 4 and a good amount more on shooters. So i wasn’t that upset. PS5 controllers for me are holding up. I only play a few Nintendo exclusives and so far those are ok for me. But i see and read many stories of some folks on their 4th or 5th controller for said company and that is just way to much. Glad your’s is holding strong 😊

@nomither6 this we know. But it would be nice to see controllers take a more premium approach. I am a controller fanatic. To me it’s what makes the console next to the games. I didn’t buy an Xbox on launch cause of the controller (Duke) then we they shrunk it, i got it and be here ever since. I don’t remember those controllers breaking much at all. Minus people throwing them at lan parties losing in Halo.

@NEStalgia that’s interesting to learn more about EU gaming trends. Didn’t know most of that. Did know that they love PS over there and that’s fine and all. Just think MS could do better there and needs to try and start something marketing wise to shift a few boxes. My dad liked high end stuff. So it rubbed off on me. We had all Sony TV’s growing up. I then bought around 4-5 of them on my own. Turned to LG and i won’t say i wouldn’t go back to a Sony tv in the future. But it will have to lure me in more ways than it’s a Sony. They do have great color accuracy and lead in motion. But for gaming LG has kind of taken over as the TV to have.

The New CEO of PS will be interesting. Not sure how that is going to go. One thing is for sure he or she better figure out Bungie before that becomes a 3 Billion dollar waste. Destiny is a mess and marathon looks like it could go either way. PS5 Pro in my opinion will be $600 as most of it isn’t using high end tech. It’s stuff that came down in price a lot since 2020 when the base came out. There is simply not enough there to see on screen to justify above say $650 tops. I won’t pay a dollar over $599.99. Not worth it, and with 2 Pro’s now for PS, it begs to question will some users wait on PS6 and just assume there will be a pro in a few years? Whether there will be or not, Sony is setting their users up to wait. Tho most of use Pro buyers are hardcore and won’t wait for the Pro and just buy the 6. But as much as i do like Pro models they tend to muddy the waters a little. MS seems to be right this gen and not make one and start earlier development on its true next gen replacement.

I am not sure a handheld Xbox in Japan would matter cause it’s Xbox. Plus they will just buy Switch 2 over anything. I could see the Xbox handheld doing better than the Xbox console. But not sure thats saying much.

@NEStalgia thats true about Sony being expensive tho. I used to only buy Sony stuff when i was a kid. Cd players, TV’s etc etc and it was always more. Sure they do a lot of their own chips and advancements in some of these. But they are and always have been a large mark up company. Apple is also.

Google sells nice things sometimes, i just throw them in there on name sake. I do think Sony will shoot for making the Pro high end pricing. I just hope it don’t need a stand to lay flat. Like seriously Sony stop with needing a kickstand to lay the console flat.

If Xbox didn’t mess up in Europe the console sales would be more even. Sony still ahead but more even. As it is now Europe is Sony land by a wide margin and i don’t see MS getting it back any time soon.

@NEStalgia thats a great question. My guess is cause Sony and MS and others sell an expensive to make console for losses and make it back on us paying for online play and 14 controllers a gen from them breaking. If they didn’t break we might only buy 2. Again im guessing, but this new rumored Xbox controller better be built better. It won’t but i can hope.

@NEStalgia yeah good point on the cd keys to digital. That reminded me of a lot of info i read and long forgot. I do agree that the console makers will just let digital continue to take over and stores not offering physical and say well there’s nothing else we can do for you physical players. Kind of pawn the blame off when Sony and MS both wish they could be all digital now. Disc drives are expensive and not used in barely anything these days. I remember when Apple launched the first Mac without a drive. Then i sat in my first newer truck and it didn’t have a cd disc player. I was like it’s over. Gaming is next. Well…. That is taking its time.

Sony’s UMD’s vs GameCube’s mini disk, who wins worse media?
I’ll go UMD but Nintendo sure didn’t learn from what beat them down the first go around.

Rouge games, Battle Royal and Soul’s games i will repeat get ZERO dollars from me. I like hard games, i normally start out a game on normal and if i like it i go back and beat it on harder settings. I don’t find the fun in starting over at level 1 every time i die. There’s such a thing as modern technology and it’s called check points. I love the dev of Returnal. They made some great smaller titles on PS in the past. But Sony of course want’s all games selling at high sticker price. They have moved into luxury pricing cause they see Apple and Google and others doing it and customers paying it. But gaming is different. Look at the Dual Sense Edge, for what it is they could have charged $150-$160 and sold more of them, not to mention the dang thing never goes on sale like the Elite.

Yes Mobile can sell to so many more users. Consoles will never have a billion plus user base. I still think Apple is going to sit back and control a large chunk alongside google of gaming as mobile continues to get more strong and run higher fidelity games.

Thats cute and all. But i am waiting for MS to announce the new revised controller with haptics, quieter thumb sticks and buttons etc etc. the leak showed May 2024. I am wondering if they aren’t doing it no more or maybe pushed it to the June Showcase.

@Rangers420 yeah i know what you mean. The Halo collection did well over the years for them and we Gears fan have been asking for this for years now. It would be a great way to get people excited for the show and of course bring the games to PC. Just seems like a huge win. June should answer our questions.

@Fiendish-Beaver i hear ya there. I am hoping we see it. It’s been rumored for a long time and would hold us over until Gears 6. As a bonus i want to know if they are still coming out with the new controller. How cool would it be to hear the chainsaw on the controller. With better haptics. June Showcase is going to either have me sitting on the moon or crying under the covers in bed HAHA

Thats great and all but i want to see Marcus Fenix collection to hold us over for 2 years while Gears 6 is in development. It will catch up new players in time for the show. Many people have said they have seen it and it’s in play testing. So i am not sure why it’s not been confirmed or denied yet by MS. June showcase should tell us. If it’s not there it ain’t coming. They don’t need it in 25 if Gears 6 is coming in 26.

@NEStalgia “Also it shocks me among those that defend it also boast of buying physical and selling their games”

I would like to further add on this great piece. GP don’t make dev’s no money but yet they say things either like I’ll wait until it’s $30 bucks or snag it used. I mean i ain’t here to tell people how to spend their money but at the same time how the heck does that make the dev’s anything more than GP?

I wanted to try Returnal but all these Rouge and battle royal and soul’s games just drive me nuts. Again maybe my age. But i either want to play a fast paced shooter. Story driven game or action RPG. But i do not want to see level 1 over and over and over and over and over. Like i did with Hades.

Someday’s i miss physical i ain’t going to lie. I have been digital on all 3 for a decade now. But i just don’t want to buy a bunch of physical and have the drives taken out and i am stuck with them. Remember when steam allowed studios to let CD keys turn your physical into digital copies? I really think we are nearing that on Xbox and even maybe PS. Your thoughts on that?

@NEStalgia yeah pricing is an issue with a lot of games. But this one flat out isn’t a $70 dollar game. But Sony will be Sony and squeeze those dollars. Especially cause they don’t have many games coming in this price range for the rest of the year. I still think the $70 dollar game increase hurt a lot of games this gen. Sony fans might not admit it or say GP players don’t buy games. But lots of players just won’t do $70 for multiple titles a year.