My take: I think some are complaining for the sake of complaining about losing Games with Gold. The selection has been very poor, and honestly, we get better games added to Game Pass regularly. We don't get to keep them permanently, but how many of those games people are happy about "owning" are on a permanent backlog and never played?
My actual issue here is the pricing. Placing everything in a bullet list to make it easier to compare:
Core: 9.99 - 25 games, online play
PC: 9.99 - full GP PC library
XB: 10.99 - full GP XB library, no online play
Ultimate: 16.99 - full GP PC and XB library, + EA Play games console online play
This is a very non-nonsensical grouping. The value of the Core tier seems to be entirely around online play, and they seem to expect players to just upgrade to Ultimate if they want to play online.
A much more logical tier list, IMO, would be:
All XBox Game Pass tiers unlock online play
Core 6.99: only includes first party games **after a year**, no third party games (similar to EA Play)
XB: 10.99 - full GP XB library
Ultimate: 16.99 - full GP PC and XB library + EA Play games
@J_Mo_Money I say Diablo is 50/50 chance of either being there quickly only for xbox, or taking a while to be added.
All PC games will take a while, since PC Game Pass integration will require some sort of tech hurdles for Battle.net to recognize Game Pass accounts. It's not unlike how it took a while for EA games to be added to Game Pass PC.
There is also a high chance that games like Diablo 4 might be held back until Battle.net is integrated with Game Pass PC before they enter Game Pass Xbox.
@J_Mo_Money PlayStation indeed wanted that, its on the email i linked, but we dont know if Xbox wants that.
Microsoft upper management wanted this deal to make money immediately out of the door, they seem more interested in money than its benefits to Xbox. I could see them not agreeing to the early termination so they can have an excuse to keep the games from Game Pass for 2 more years, and earn more money via a combination of higher profit share and users still needing to buy new entries on Xbox for the next two years.
Very curious if this also means they agreed to terminate early their marketing deal. Under that deal, MS gets higher royalties but cant add new CoD games to Game Pass at least until 2025.
@Kaloudz meh, only saw one dude do that. Then again, I replied with sourcing quick enough. Had I gone out with my day and come back tomorrow, the usual suspects (that I have not blocked yet) would have likely also joined in on it.
@Kaloudz I don't blame them, it was a very very hectic week and this is not the only thing the Push Square staff has had to pay attention to during the week. I'm sure Liam had much more on his plate, and was not able to look at every single bit of info that came up during the hearing.
I seriously hold Liam in high regards.
I on the other hand have been able to ignore most other game news and just look at this stuff during that week (and my day work, but thankfully it was a VERY lite work week.)
If Jim had not been such a baby, they would had managed to secure absolutely all existing IP remained on PS, not just CoD.
We now know that Phill actually offered that for all IP that had shipped on PS4, meaning also all future entries of games like Crash and Spyro. But no, Jimmy wanted everything, even Bethesda games, to sign a deal. Now, they only end up getting CoD.
Edit:
I was asked for source on this offer in Push Square, so figured I'd post it here too:
I continue to stand behind the written agreement I sent you on January 31, 2022 with my signature memorializing our commitment to Sony. The agreement would keep all existing Activation console titles on Sony, including future versions in the Call of Duty franchise or any other current Activation franchise on Sony, through December 31, 2027. That includes content and feature parity, as well as making it clear that we would not feature any timed-exclusive releases of such content on Xbox consoles.
Regarding Bethesda, I was making a more general point during our discussion that the equal treatment of Bethesda games would be logical subject for the parties to discuss because it involves some of the same concerns as the availability and/or unequal treatment of Activision games. We would welcome discussing this subject as part of an agreement that advances the two fundamental principles discussed above.
@Total_Weirdo you should be ashamed of yourself. Wanting a better deal in games for yourself does not, and should never, be a priority over PlayStation gamers being able to make fun of Xbox having no games!
I dare bet this is not a topic that will be covered on PlayStation focused sites, despite it being specific about how PS players are getting a better game.
New CoD games might not show up until 2025, but we are likely going to start seeing older ones show up. Those games still sell, so their addition is not insignificant.
@DoctorJohnDisco it’s explained in the article. Just as when you record a clip, this report will include the last 60s of gameplay and include voice chat. It’s not an invasion of privacy, that privacy is lost the second you decide to speak to another party.
Reporting anything just because they “didn’t like it” will be unlikely to result in action taken against you, just time wasted by mods watching gameplay clips.
If someone is worried that they do use inappropriate insults and slurs, well, then they should indeed be worried about listeners not liking what they said.
Even if the acquisition closed tomorrow, chances are it would take between 3 and 4 months for ABK games to start being added into GP, and they would not all be added at once. We saw the same with ZeniMax, not all games got added overnight, nor at once.
I'm in no rush to play this, my backlog is huge, but anyone that still is holding up thinking it will make it into GP soon, should just buy it unless they are OK waiting potentially until late fall.
Not really. I have taken days off where I end up only playing video games, but that’s never been the reason. Like, if Christmas is on a Thursday, I might take Friday off and make it a longer weekend, spend that time just relaxing and mostly just video gaming.
@somnambulance As far as I can tell, Moon Studios and Xbox are still in good terms. The goal was not acquisition, but being able to work together in the future, even if not on an exclusive basis.
@somnambulance rumor I heard before was that Ori came to the Switch because the development studio really wanted it to come to the switch and MS allowed them because they wanted to stay in friendly therms.
@NEStalgia they withed PS5 kits pre-anouncement from Mojang, so I would not be shocked if they withed pros from them too.
I also think Sony was paranoid, its not uncommon in the industry to make contracts that forbid the sharing of information on stuff like this. I mentioned it before but Samsung and Apple had a similar relationship for many many years. These days Apple uses TSMC, though.
Also, Sony (in court) claimed their biggest concern was not the specs, but "innovations" like all the new Dual Sense (battery munching) features.
Edit: on the cloud front, i dont think it maters much. As it stands, I think those racks only render 1080p, or at least that's what they will stream out. They are not as high fidelity as playing on an actual Xbox, regardless how good your internet is.
I own a pair and wish I had an excuse to buy a second pair, not due to this low price but because I want the Starfield edition ones, but I dont.
To be clear: I dont love these because of the audio quality, I am no audiophile (in fact, I am a bit deaf) but the killer feature on these things is audio-mixing. You just wont find a good quality set of headphones that will be able to connect to your Xbox and your phone at the same time.
If like me, you love listening to a podcast while playing some big open world adventure, grinding turn based fights on an RPG, or playing some other non-narrative games, then these are a steal at $100, even more so at $50.
The only con is they only work with xbox + one additional bluetooth source. If you are a multi-console owner, you would need a different (and more expensive) solution from some other manufacturers.
Have not read the entire comment section, but did read enough to see a lot of over-reaching. Microsoft expecting new PS5 models is just that, an expectation. Microsoft does not know there will be two models, but we all have heard enough rumors and MS hears the same.
At the same time, I see some that still believe the last statements from Phil mean there wont be a mid gen "pro" xbox model, and that also is running with an assumption based on a very narrow statement. Phil specifically said they didnt feel consumers or developers needed a Pro xbox, but he never said its not happening. He was very careful at navigating that question, leaving room for it to exist without it turning out to be a lie.
If I was a gambling person, I would put money that there is internal research being done on a mid-gen Xbox pro refresh. Even if they don't decide to launch it, that thing is very likely under development and ready to be revealed as counter to any PS5 Pro reveal, but not earlier.
@GeeEssEff The Xbox dashboard itself will show you the percentage of users that completed an achievment, and its accessible via public API. Sites like True Achievements will count both, the percentage of users that earned it, and a higher value based on the percentage of Xbox users that register within the site (basically, some achievement hunters, I myself am not registered on that site).
Another point of reference: Pentiment is a game that is considered good by anyone that actually played it, but only:
13.33% of users finished Act 1. 9.48% of users finished Act 2. 7.47% of users finished Act 3 (think this is the end of the game).
Persona 5 Palace 1: 28.58% Palace 2: 20.93% Palace 3: 17.59% Palace 4: 15.68% Palace 5: 13.12% Palace 6: 12.00% Palace 7: 10.91% Palace 8: 7.25% Watched the ending: 8.91% (palace 8 is optional based on how you played the game.)
Note I might have miscounted the achievements, trying to be as spoiler-free as possible. That's the problem with looking this stuff up, achievement names can sometimes by very spoileriffic.
@Reptilio The combat bits were definitively the weakest link. The punch-gun thingy was a bit awkward. At some point I realized i was better off trying to run past dangers than facing them, and that might have been their original intent.
There was one boss fight near the end that I found was actually quite fun, leading me more to think the clunkyness of the combat might in most segments might have been a poor but intentional choice, in an attempt to encourage fear and survival instincts over a desire to kill everything.
Thing is, in some spots you just have to kill some things with those poor tools, or so I felt anyways.
I highly suspect the majority of people who tried it fell off it pretty fast
The majority of players fall of the majority of games, even critically acclaimed ones, rather fast. If 152k players beat the game, that's 152k very satisfied Game Pass subscribers.
Note these are estimates based on exactly 2 million users (number stated "passed" and I doubt they mean exactly 2 million and one players) and achievement data all being entirely synced at the time of this writing (as far as we know, the percentages might be calculated hourly, daily, or weekly.)
These stats are a bit lower than bigger well received games, but don't seem extremely low IMO.
For reference, A Plague Tale: Requiem, a critically acclaimed game:
This sounds very strange. UBisoft, I don’t think, is in the habit of making “remakes”, and this game is recent enough to be OK.
So far UBisoft has mostly done remasters that are practically faithful ports. Given this is just a rumor, would not be surprised if that’s what this ends up turning out to be.
@themightyant My original point, the one I think you first replied to, is that Xbox is in a situation where two things are actively happening:
A) The platform is not big enough to be able to negotiate, or counter-negotiate, exclusivity deals that are considered market-movers. B) The platform being so far back results in many smaller titles skipping the platform because they don't see the benefit of developing niche games for an already too-limited audience. Each one of these might not be a market mover, but in aggregate, their absence becomes very noticeable.
@themightyant There are plenty of developers that skip platforms without the need of a deal, and this is [likely] due to a combination of smaller install base and perception of "what xbox players like". Many niche games, especially ones that come from Japan, tend to skip because they feel the install base is not large enough to make the "niche of the minority" not worth to target, and that in turn creates perceptions in the market.
Of the top of my head, Capcom has skipped Xbox at least two low-investment games: The Mega Man Battle Network collection and the Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trilogy. I would make an argument over Square Enix games many claim are not exclusive too, but some argue there is more going on there.
The judge practically already said there is no “imminent or irreparable damages” when she told the FTC that not only did MS agree on keeping the game on PlayStation, but also there is already a deal with Sony for this years CoD so it’s impossible for MS to do anything right now to hurt Sony or the industry.
Keep in mind the only reason they can provide a temporary injunction is if the FTC can prove “imminent and irreparable damages”.
This does not mean the news are over, MS gets to close the deal, but should FTC manage to prove a case (all the way to the Supreme Court, incredibly unlikely) they can force MS to sell or spin-off ABK back into independence, even if it’s at a loss.
@Banjo- Oh the whole "would you make cod exclusive" question was golden.... "i prefer not to say" before rewording to "dont have enough information"... that screamed "of course i would make it exclusive in a heartbeat!!"
@Banjo- I understood your point, I just went on a bit of a tangent and tried to expand on it not meaning to argue but because I know its the kind of point others will cling to nitpick why anything she decides today will be "wrong", unless she accepts to block.
BTW, I think we get her decision today... I was originally thinking she would grant the temporary block, since it allows for the legal procedure to go through its natural route, but after this clown show, I highly doubt it. Also, this whole week has felt like a real lawsuit. I don't know why, I get the impression usually these temporary block requests are not as active as this one, but then again, I usually just read about them after the fact and never follow them closely.
@SplooshDmg in addition to my Steamdeck, I also bought a Logitech G cloud on the cheap a while back, because it has the potential to dub as a Switch-like device, on games that don't require a lot of quick inputs (like RPGs, real ones, not FFXVI.) If only all my Xbox digital purchases were available for streaming.
I just wish Xbox had a proper handheld "client" with native support even if supporting it was optional to developers and not mandatory as it is with the Series S. Maybe they manage to miniaturize components enough, or create a compatible enough mobile chip, that we end up just getting a portable Series S at some point down the line.
I hear you on PC cloud saves, unfortunately it only seems to work with games that are "play anywhere", the ones that once bought entitle you with both, Xbox and windows stores versions of the game. Agree the xbox team should work on replicating across-the-board cloud saves for non-play-anywhere games.
@SplooshDmg @Banjo- I think its important for this case that the judge is not involved in gaming as that means no bias. I would not say "she does not know what they are talking about. They know the important parts: this is an entertainment media, and some of the content is available for multiple platforms, with multiple features and price points that the user can lever to make their choice of purchase.
Hell, I'm a gamer and I buy most rpgs on switch, not because I relate them with Nintendo more than Xbox, but because of the portability and me preferring to play such games on the move. Although tangent: I have started to shift that to Steam thanks to the Steamdeck. The combination of Steamdeck + Gaming PC result in even greater flexibility. I do hope a future iteration of the Steamdeck comes with its own dock, one that is more integrated into the design so it can actually just "land" on the dock instead of plugging a cable on the top.
@Banjo- sadly the Nintendo testimony was shown bribing closed doors. Press didn’t get access to it.
@SplooshDmg she herself is a live witness that if she was in the market for a gaming system she might pick a Switch over the others over its portability features!
@BeerIsAwesome fair enough... what we talking about again? oh wait I meant the Command and Conquer... that were actually good, yea that's what I meant!
Not surprising. ABK and 2K have been very well on the record about their opinions on Game Pass. 2K has been more vocal, at the same time they also think its a great marketing tool for short periods, as we seen some back catalog 2k titles show up for a few months.
Microsoft, just hire Playtonic Games to make a Banjo game that mixes up the crafting systems of Nuts and Bolts with the open-world platforming Nintendo made for Bowser's Fury!
@GeeEssEff its very hard to get younger friends to give anything made in the 80s the time of day (or night).
I covered this earlier, but almost all the "creativity" xbox showed during the 360 gen was outsourced. I posted this a while back, bit lazy to look it up, but almost every exclusive game during that gen was made by a third party. Some were financed and owned, others were simply timed exclusives. Even Gears and Project Gotham Racing were made by third parties.
The only games made in-house were Halo, Fable and the few games Rare made. As their third partners got acquired by bigger publishers, and as they lost market share in the next generation, it became harder and harder for them to be able to cut deals that didn't involve complete game financing, unless they found a struggling studio willing to sign a deal to get the money they needed to finish their titles.
Sony timed exclusivity is not always just a year. They been more aggressive all the time, and extremely secretive about the terms. As its been said plenty of times, look at FF7 remake. We did somehow find out Forspoken was a 2 year exclusivity deal (that by virtue of its failure, will likely never get ported to other consoles.) Sony was investing hard on big and promising new IPs, beyond the usual 1 year deals.
On the point of "gaming for everyone", its just a marketing pitch. Its never meant to imply they want everyone on every console playing every game. They have always followed those lines with very specific disclaimers about "platforms where game pass exists" and the like. They have been very clear on their extended communications they mean that you don't need an Xbox to play their games day on launch day, you can buy an affordable PC, or you can just stream it if that's what you want. But its still a self-relevance thing.
They also have stated they would bring their games to any platform that accepts Game Pass, and its not that crazy of an idea. It's not like bringing PSN to xbox, its more equivalent to allowing EA Play on PlayStation. Game Pass on PlayStation, for example, would certainly only include Xbox published games, no third parties.
And yes, I understand some would see it more positively if they simply worked their way "organically", but its not a realistic expectation. Nintendo has managed recoveries from stumbles before, but only because they already own some of the biggest IPs in the world: Mario, Pokemon, Zelda, among many others.
BTW, I am not saying Xbox should be allowed to buy anything indefinitely. I feel there is a spot where they should be prevented from further publisher acquisitions. What point that is, depends on the size of their next acquisition. If its Sega, I would draw the line there, and not allow them to pursue any acquisitions that are not for specific small studios. If its something smaller, like Devolver or NIS (just examples)? Yea that barely moves the needle.
@Baler Yes, Nintendo. I didnt make the statement, Sega's COO did.
I doubt they are as cranky at Nintendo as they are at Sony, though.
Don't forget: Nintendo also has Xbox owned games on their online service, and 2 characters in Smash Bros. The only company out there fighting it out with everyone is Sony.
@mousieone If Nintendo states at any point, in any form, they see Sony as a competitor, that's basically the end of the FTC case, because it becomes obvious Sony insists to exclude them out of convenience (to make themselves look as leaders to investors, and to make MS look stronger than they are.)
@GeeEssEff I do realize you stated it was your knowledge, i was not meaning to be a smart ass. Basically the same way I would had said I would "rectify" if a friend told me he had not seen Back to the Future.
Yes, even when adjusted for inflation, Psygnosis acquisition would had not been as much money but that's because gaming was much smaller back then. The point is Sony needed to bully itself into the industry. Xbox has been trying to just inch itself in for multiple decades, and it could had worked had Don Mattrick not happened. But now they are in a position where they either have to bully themselves into a competitive position, or lag so far behind they can never consider themselves competitive. Sadly, as much as it can be "fine" to be a small player, in the gaming world, if you are small enough you generate a vicious cycle of abandonment by third party developers. The longer they are that far behind, the harder it is to organically become competitive, and the more expensive it becomes to "bully" yourself to a decent position.
At the end of the day, MS would had not approved the money be used for this acquisition of anyone could have thought of a more profitable investment, or an investment that would yield more growth. Finding such investments is harder than it might sound, though. That's how they ended up with that much money in hand, because they could not find what to invest the money on. And no, charity is sadly not an option.
@mousieone Sometimes even silence speaks volumes. I just hope we get to hear anything about their stance about the Switch not being seen as "competitor". I'm pretty sure Nintendo sees Sony as competition.
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Re: Xbox 'Game Pass Core' Reportedly Replacing Xbox Live Gold This September
My take: I think some are complaining for the sake of complaining about losing Games with Gold. The selection has been very poor, and honestly, we get better games added to Game Pass regularly. We don't get to keep them permanently, but how many of those games people are happy about "owning" are on a permanent backlog and never played?
My actual issue here is the pricing. Placing everything in a bullet list to make it easier to compare:
This is a very non-nonsensical grouping. The value of the Core tier seems to be entirely around online play, and they seem to expect players to just upgrade to Ultimate if they want to play online.
A much more logical tier list, IMO, would be:
Re: Microsoft & Sony Sign Binding Agreement To Keep Call Of Duty On PlayStation
@J_Mo_Money I say Diablo is 50/50 chance of either being there quickly only for xbox, or taking a while to be added.
All PC games will take a while, since PC Game Pass integration will require some sort of tech hurdles for Battle.net to recognize Game Pass accounts. It's not unlike how it took a while for EA games to be added to Game Pass PC.
There is also a high chance that games like Diablo 4 might be held back until Battle.net is integrated with Game Pass PC before they enter Game Pass Xbox.
Re: Microsoft & Sony Sign Binding Agreement To Keep Call Of Duty On PlayStation
@J_Mo_Money PlayStation indeed wanted that, its on the email i linked, but we dont know if Xbox wants that.
Microsoft upper management wanted this deal to make money immediately out of the door, they seem more interested in money than its benefits to Xbox. I could see them not agreeing to the early termination so they can have an excuse to keep the games from Game Pass for 2 more years, and earn more money via a combination of higher profit share and users still needing to buy new entries on Xbox for the next two years.
Re: Microsoft & Sony Sign Binding Agreement To Keep Call Of Duty On PlayStation
Very curious if this also means they agreed to terminate early their marketing deal. Under that deal, MS gets higher royalties but cant add new CoD games to Game Pass at least until 2025.
Re: Microsoft & Sony Sign Binding Agreement To Keep Call Of Duty On PlayStation
@Kaloudz meh, only saw one dude do that. Then again, I replied with sourcing quick enough. Had I gone out with my day and come back tomorrow, the usual suspects (that I have not blocked yet) would have likely also joined in on it.
Re: Microsoft & Sony Sign Binding Agreement To Keep Call Of Duty On PlayStation
@Kaloudz I don't blame them, it was a very very hectic week and this is not the only thing the Push Square staff has had to pay attention to during the week. I'm sure Liam had much more on his plate, and was not able to look at every single bit of info that came up during the hearing.
I seriously hold Liam in high regards.
I on the other hand have been able to ignore most other game news and just look at this stuff during that week (and my day work, but thankfully it was a VERY lite work week.)
Re: Microsoft & Sony Sign Binding Agreement To Keep Call Of Duty On PlayStation
If Jim had not been such a baby, they would had managed to secure absolutely all existing IP remained on PS, not just CoD.
We now know that Phill actually offered that for all IP that had shipped on PS4, meaning also all future entries of games like Crash and Spyro. But no, Jimmy wanted everything, even Bethesda games, to sign a deal. Now, they only end up getting CoD.
Edit:
I was asked for source on this offer in Push Square, so figured I'd post it here too:
Link
Phil wrote:
Jim wrote:
Re: Xbox Activision Blizzard Deal Officially Approved In Turkey Amidst Ongoing FTC Battle
@Total_Weirdo you should be ashamed of yourself. Wanting a better deal in games for yourself does not, and should never, be a priority over PlayStation gamers being able to make fun of Xbox having no games!
Re: UK CMA Delays Decision On Xbox ActiBlizz Deal Until August
They will close regardless what the CMA timeline is, as long as the 9th circuit does not extend the temporary block in the US.
Re: Everspace 2 Is 'Better' On All Platforms Because Of Xbox Game Pass, Says Dev
@Jaxx420 it would be covered if the headline was “we felt we lost sales”, though. You know that’s true.
Re: Everspace 2 Is 'Better' On All Platforms Because Of Xbox Game Pass, Says Dev
I dare bet this is not a topic that will be covered on PlayStation focused sites, despite it being specific about how PS players are getting a better game.
Re: FTC Appeals Court's Ruling Permitting Microsoft's Acquisition Of Activision Blizzard
@mousieone exactly this.
I see MS and ABK working overtime and closing this deal over the weekend, if not the second the current temporary stay expires.
Re: Xbox's ActiBlizz Deal Seems Closer, But Some Game Pass Arrivals Could Be Delayed
New CoD games might not show up until 2025, but we are likely going to start seeing older ones show up. Those games still sell, so their addition is not insignificant.
Re: New Xbox Feature Will Allow You To Report Inappropriate Voice Chats
@DoctorJohnDisco it’s explained in the article. Just as when you record a clip, this report will include the last 60s of gameplay and include voice chat. It’s not an invasion of privacy, that privacy is lost the second you decide to speak to another party.
Reporting anything just because they “didn’t like it” will be unlikely to result in action taken against you, just time wasted by mods watching gameplay clips.
If someone is worried that they do use inappropriate insults and slurs, well, then they should indeed be worried about listeners not liking what they said.
Re: Xbox Wins FTC Court Case As Judge Denies Preliminary Injunction
@Snake_V5
Well... it seems the CMA changed their mind, so it made a difference.
Re: Microsoft And UK CMA Agree To Pause Legal Battle Over Activision Blizzard Deal
Finally! This can finally be over with!!!
Re: Blizzard Reiterates That Diablo 4 Isn't Coming To Xbox Game Pass For Now
Even if the acquisition closed tomorrow, chances are it would take between 3 and 4 months for ABK games to start being added into GP, and they would not all be added at once. We saw the same with ZeniMax, not all games got added overnight, nor at once.
I'm in no rush to play this, my backlog is huge, but anyone that still is holding up thinking it will make it into GP soon, should just buy it unless they are OK waiting potentially until late fall.
Re: Talking Point: Have You Ever Taken A 'Day Off' For Something Xbox Related?
Not really. I have taken days off where I end up only playing video games, but that’s never been the reason. Like, if Christmas is on a Thursday, I might take Friday off and make it a longer weekend, spend that time just relaxing and mostly just video gaming.
Re: Hi-Fi Rush Team Was 'Undecided' On Platforms Prior To Xbox's Acquisition Of Bethesda
@somnambulance As far as I can tell, Moon Studios and Xbox are still in good terms. The goal was not acquisition, but being able to work together in the future, even if not on an exclusive basis.
Re: Hi-Fi Rush Team Was 'Undecided' On Platforms Prior To Xbox's Acquisition Of Bethesda
@somnambulance rumor I heard before was that Ori came to the Switch because the development studio really wanted it to come to the switch and MS allowed them because they wanted to stay in friendly therms.
Not sure how much truth there is to that.
Re: Microsoft Is Expecting Two New PS5 Models In The 'Near Future'
@NEStalgia they withed PS5 kits pre-anouncement from Mojang, so I would not be shocked if they withed pros from them too.
I also think Sony was paranoid, its not uncommon in the industry to make contracts that forbid the sharing of information on stuff like this. I mentioned it before but Samsung and Apple had a similar relationship for many many years. These days Apple uses TSMC, though.
Also, Sony (in court) claimed their biggest concern was not the specs, but "innovations" like all the new Dual Sense (battery munching) features.
Edit: on the cloud front, i dont think it maters much. As it stands, I think those racks only render 1080p, or at least that's what they will stream out. They are not as high fidelity as playing on an actual Xbox, regardless how good your internet is.
Re: Xbox Wireless Headset Receives Massive 50% Discount At Walmart
I own a pair and wish I had an excuse to buy a second pair, not due to this low price but because I want the Starfield edition ones, but I dont.
To be clear: I dont love these because of the audio quality, I am no audiophile (in fact, I am a bit deaf) but the killer feature on these things is audio-mixing. You just wont find a good quality set of headphones that will be able to connect to your Xbox and your phone at the same time.
If like me, you love listening to a podcast while playing some big open world adventure, grinding turn based fights on an RPG, or playing some other non-narrative games, then these are a steal at $100, even more so at $50.
The only con is they only work with xbox + one additional bluetooth source. If you are a multi-console owner, you would need a different (and more expensive) solution from some other manufacturers.
Re: Microsoft Is Expecting Two New PS5 Models In The 'Near Future'
Have not read the entire comment section, but did read enough to see a lot of over-reaching. Microsoft expecting new PS5 models is just that, an expectation. Microsoft does not know there will be two models, but we all have heard enough rumors and MS hears the same.
At the same time, I see some that still believe the last statements from Phil mean there wont be a mid gen "pro" xbox model, and that also is running with an assumption based on a very narrow statement. Phil specifically said they didnt feel consumers or developers needed a Pro xbox, but he never said its not happening. He was very careful at navigating that question, leaving room for it to exist without it turning out to be a lie.
If I was a gambling person, I would put money that there is internal research being done on a mid-gen Xbox pro refresh. Even if they don't decide to launch it, that thing is very likely under development and ready to be revealed as counter to any PS5 Pro reveal, but not earlier.
Re: Gory Game Pass Adventure 'Scorn' Hits 2 Million Players As An Xbox Console Exclusive
@GeeEssEff The Xbox dashboard itself will show you the percentage of users that completed an achievment, and its accessible via public API. Sites like True Achievements will count both, the percentage of users that earned it, and a higher value based on the percentage of Xbox users that register within the site (basically, some achievement hunters, I myself am not registered on that site).
Another point of reference: Pentiment is a game that is considered good by anyone that actually played it, but only:
13.33% of users finished Act 1.
9.48% of users finished Act 2.
7.47% of users finished Act 3 (think this is the end of the game).
Persona 5
Palace 1: 28.58%
Palace 2: 20.93%
Palace 3: 17.59%
Palace 4: 15.68%
Palace 5: 13.12%
Palace 6: 12.00%
Palace 7: 10.91%
Palace 8: 7.25%
Watched the ending: 8.91% (palace 8 is optional based on how you played the game.)
Note I might have miscounted the achievements, trying to be as spoiler-free as possible. That's the problem with looking this stuff up, achievement names can sometimes by very spoileriffic.
Re: Gory Game Pass Adventure 'Scorn' Hits 2 Million Players As An Xbox Console Exclusive
@Reptilio The combat bits were definitively the weakest link. The punch-gun thingy was a bit awkward. At some point I realized i was better off trying to run past dangers than facing them, and that might have been their original intent.
There was one boss fight near the end that I found was actually quite fun, leading me more to think the clunkyness of the combat might in most segments might have been a poor but intentional choice, in an attempt to encourage fear and survival instincts over a desire to kill everything.
Thing is, in some spots you just have to kill some things with those poor tools, or so I felt anyways.
Re: Gory Game Pass Adventure 'Scorn' Hits 2 Million Players As An Xbox Console Exclusive
@Titntin
The majority of players fall of the majority of games, even critically acclaimed ones, rather fast. If 152k players beat the game, that's 152k very satisfied Game Pass subscribers.
Re: Gory Game Pass Adventure 'Scorn' Hits 2 Million Players As An Xbox Console Exclusive
@GeeEssEff
556,800 earned 1st un-missable achievement (27.84%)
556,800 earned 2nd un-missable achievement (27.84%)
439,600 earned 3rd un-missable achievement (21.98%)
214,600 earned 4th un-missable achievement (10.73%)
186,800 earned 5th un-missable achievement (9.34%)
162,000 earned 6th un-missable achievement (8.1%)
152,800 earned 7th un-missable achievement (7.64%)
152,600 earned 8th un-missable achievement (7.63%)
152,600 earned 9th un-missable achievement (7.63%)
152,000 earned final un-missable achievement (7.6%)
Note these are estimates based on exactly 2 million users (number stated "passed" and I doubt they mean exactly 2 million and one players) and achievement data all being entirely synced at the time of this writing (as far as we know, the percentages might be calculated hourly, daily, or weekly.)
These stats are a bit lower than bigger well received games, but don't seem extremely low IMO.
For reference, A Plague Tale: Requiem, a critically acclaimed game:
55.09% finished chapter 1
35.41% finished chapter 2
29.84% finished chapter 3
26.96% finished chapter 4
25.41% finished chapter 5
23.71% finished chapter 6
22.47% finished chapter 7
21.84% finished chapter 8
20.90% finished chapter 9
19.52% finished chapter 10
19.08% finished chapter 11
18.70% finished chapter 12
18.37% finished chapter 13
18.29% finished chapter 14
18.02% finished chapter 15
17.76% finished chapter 16
17.61% completed the game
Re: Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag Remake Supposedly In Development At Ubisoft
This sounds very strange. UBisoft, I don’t think, is in the habit of making “remakes”, and this game is recent enough to be OK.
So far UBisoft has mostly done remasters that are practically faithful ports. Given this is just a rumor, would not be surprised if that’s what this ends up turning out to be.
Re: Microsoft's CEO Isn't A Fan Of Console Exclusives, Blames Sony
@themightyant My original point, the one I think you first replied to, is that Xbox is in a situation where two things are actively happening:
A) The platform is not big enough to be able to negotiate, or counter-negotiate, exclusivity deals that are considered market-movers.
B) The platform being so far back results in many smaller titles skipping the platform because they don't see the benefit of developing niche games for an already too-limited audience. Each one of these might not be a market mover, but in aggregate, their absence becomes very noticeable.
Re: Microsoft's CEO Isn't A Fan Of Console Exclusives, Blames Sony
@themightyant There are plenty of developers that skip platforms without the need of a deal, and this is [likely] due to a combination of smaller install base and perception of "what xbox players like". Many niche games, especially ones that come from Japan, tend to skip because they feel the install base is not large enough to make the "niche of the minority" not worth to target, and that in turn creates perceptions in the market.
Of the top of my head, Capcom has skipped Xbox at least two low-investment games: The Mega Man Battle Network collection and the Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trilogy. I would make an argument over Square Enix games many claim are not exclusive too, but some argue there is more going on there.
Re: Xbox Could Expect FTC Injunction Verdict As Soon As Next Week
The judge practically already said there is no “imminent or irreparable damages” when she told the FTC that not only did MS agree on keeping the game on PlayStation, but also there is already a deal with Sony for this years CoD so it’s impossible for MS to do anything right now to hurt Sony or the industry.
Keep in mind the only reason they can provide a temporary injunction is if the FTC can prove “imminent and irreparable damages”.
This does not mean the news are over, MS gets to close the deal, but should FTC manage to prove a case (all the way to the Supreme Court, incredibly unlikely) they can force MS to sell or spin-off ABK back into independence, even if it’s at a loss.
Re: SEGA Remains 'Very Close' With Xbox, But Isn't Open To Acquisition Talks Right Now
@NEStalgia
I'm too lazy to do this, but want to photoshop a version of the box that uses the Devil May Cry logo font to spell "Final Fantasy 16"...
Re: SEGA Remains 'Very Close' With Xbox, But Isn't Open To Acquisition Talks Right Now
@Banjo- Oh the whole "would you make cod exclusive" question was golden.... "i prefer not to say" before rewording to "dont have enough information"... that screamed "of course i would make it exclusive in a heartbeat!!"
Re: SEGA Remains 'Very Close' With Xbox, But Isn't Open To Acquisition Talks Right Now
@Banjo- I understood your point, I just went on a bit of a tangent and tried to expand on it not meaning to argue but because I know its the kind of point others will cling to nitpick why anything she decides today will be "wrong", unless she accepts to block.
BTW, I think we get her decision today... I was originally thinking she would grant the temporary block, since it allows for the legal procedure to go through its natural route, but after this clown show, I highly doubt it. Also, this whole week has felt like a real lawsuit. I don't know why, I get the impression usually these temporary block requests are not as active as this one, but then again, I usually just read about them after the fact and never follow them closely.
Re: SEGA Remains 'Very Close' With Xbox, But Isn't Open To Acquisition Talks Right Now
@SplooshDmg in addition to my Steamdeck, I also bought a Logitech G cloud on the cheap a while back, because it has the potential to dub as a Switch-like device, on games that don't require a lot of quick inputs (like RPGs, real ones, not FFXVI.) If only all my Xbox digital purchases were available for streaming.
I just wish Xbox had a proper handheld "client" with native support even if supporting it was optional to developers and not mandatory as it is with the Series S. Maybe they manage to miniaturize components enough, or create a compatible enough mobile chip, that we end up just getting a portable Series S at some point down the line.
I hear you on PC cloud saves, unfortunately it only seems to work with games that are "play anywhere", the ones that once bought entitle you with both, Xbox and windows stores versions of the game. Agree the xbox team should work on replicating across-the-board cloud saves for non-play-anywhere games.
Re: SEGA Remains 'Very Close' With Xbox, But Isn't Open To Acquisition Talks Right Now
@SplooshDmg @Banjo- I think its important for this case that the judge is not involved in gaming as that means no bias. I would not say "she does not know what they are talking about. They know the important parts: this is an entertainment media, and some of the content is available for multiple platforms, with multiple features and price points that the user can lever to make their choice of purchase.
Hell, I'm a gamer and I buy most rpgs on switch, not because I relate them with Nintendo more than Xbox, but because of the portability and me preferring to play such games on the move. Although tangent: I have started to shift that to Steam thanks to the Steamdeck. The combination of Steamdeck + Gaming PC result in even greater flexibility. I do hope a future iteration of the Steamdeck comes with its own dock, one that is more integrated into the design so it can actually just "land" on the dock instead of plugging a cable on the top.
Re: Football Manager Dev Praises Xbox Game Pass, Announces Major Plans For FM24 & FM25
Universal dislike, I tell you!!!
Re: SEGA Remains 'Very Close' With Xbox, But Isn't Open To Acquisition Talks Right Now
@Banjo- sadly the Nintendo testimony was shown bribing closed doors. Press didn’t get access to it.
@SplooshDmg she herself is a live witness that if she was in the market for a gaming system she might pick a Switch over the others over its portability features!
Re: Elder Scrolls 6 'Projected Release Is 2026', Claims Microsoft Lawyer
Would bet that projection is based on older Zenimax esrimates that also expected Starfield to launch in 2021.
Re: 'Blade Runner' Is Getting Its First Brand-New Video Game In Over 25 Years
@BeerIsAwesome fair enough... what we talking about again? oh wait I meant the Command and Conquer... that were actually good, yea that's what I meant!
Re: 'Blade Runner' Is Getting Its First Brand-New Video Game In Over 25 Years
@BeerIsAwesome There was a very... very bad remaster recently.
Re: SEGA Remains 'Very Close' With Xbox, But Isn't Open To Acquisition Talks Right Now
Baler wrote:
from the article:
Read between the lines.
Re: Activision Boss Admits He'll Have To 'Agree To Disagree' With Microsoft Over Xbox Game Pass
Not surprising. ABK and 2K have been very well on the record about their opinions on Game Pass. 2K has been more vocal, at the same time they also think its a great marketing tool for short periods, as we seen some back catalog 2k titles show up for a few months.
Re: As Banjo Kazooie Turns 25, Xbox Is Still Keeping Us Waiting For A Revival
Microsoft, just hire Playtonic Games to make a Banjo game that mixes up the crafting systems of Nuts and Bolts with the open-world platforming Nintendo made for Bowser's Fury!
Re: Microsoft's CEO Isn't A Fan Of Console Exclusives, Blames Sony
@GeeEssEff its very hard to get younger friends to give anything made in the 80s the time of day (or night).
I covered this earlier, but almost all the "creativity" xbox showed during the 360 gen was outsourced. I posted this a while back, bit lazy to look it up, but almost every exclusive game during that gen was made by a third party. Some were financed and owned, others were simply timed exclusives. Even Gears and Project Gotham Racing were made by third parties.
The only games made in-house were Halo, Fable and the few games Rare made. As their third partners got acquired by bigger publishers, and as they lost market share in the next generation, it became harder and harder for them to be able to cut deals that didn't involve complete game financing, unless they found a struggling studio willing to sign a deal to get the money they needed to finish their titles.
Sony timed exclusivity is not always just a year. They been more aggressive all the time, and extremely secretive about the terms. As its been said plenty of times, look at FF7 remake. We did somehow find out Forspoken was a 2 year exclusivity deal (that by virtue of its failure, will likely never get ported to other consoles.) Sony was investing hard on big and promising new IPs, beyond the usual 1 year deals.
On the point of "gaming for everyone", its just a marketing pitch. Its never meant to imply they want everyone on every console playing every game. They have always followed those lines with very specific disclaimers about "platforms where game pass exists" and the like. They have been very clear on their extended communications they mean that you don't need an Xbox to play their games day on launch day, you can buy an affordable PC, or you can just stream it if that's what you want. But its still a self-relevance thing.
They also have stated they would bring their games to any platform that accepts Game Pass, and its not that crazy of an idea. It's not like bringing PSN to xbox, its more equivalent to allowing EA Play on PlayStation. Game Pass on PlayStation, for example, would certainly only include Xbox published games, no third parties.
And yes, I understand some would see it more positively if they simply worked their way "organically", but its not a realistic expectation. Nintendo has managed recoveries from stumbles before, but only because they already own some of the biggest IPs in the world: Mario, Pokemon, Zelda, among many others.
BTW, I am not saying Xbox should be allowed to buy anything indefinitely. I feel there is a spot where they should be prevented from further publisher acquisitions. What point that is, depends on the size of their next acquisition. If its Sega, I would draw the line there, and not allow them to pursue any acquisitions that are not for specific small studios. If its something smaller, like Devolver or NIS (just examples)? Yea that barely moves the needle.
Re: SEGA Remains 'Very Close' With Xbox, But Isn't Open To Acquisition Talks Right Now
@Baler Yes, Nintendo. I didnt make the statement, Sega's COO did.
I doubt they are as cranky at Nintendo as they are at Sony, though.
Don't forget: Nintendo also has Xbox owned games on their online service, and 2 characters in Smash Bros. The only company out there fighting it out with everyone is Sony.
Re: SEGA Remains 'Very Close' With Xbox, But Isn't Open To Acquisition Talks Right Now
@Banjo- Think its going on right now, no clue who is being a witness right now. I been following on and off via The Verge here:
https://www.theverge.com/23768244/ftc-microsoft-activision-blizzard-case-news-announcements
Re: SEGA Remains 'Very Close' With Xbox, But Isn't Open To Acquisition Talks Right Now
@mousieone If Nintendo states at any point, in any form, they see Sony as a competitor, that's basically the end of the FTC case, because it becomes obvious Sony insists to exclude them out of convenience (to make themselves look as leaders to investors, and to make MS look stronger than they are.)
Re: Microsoft's CEO Isn't A Fan Of Console Exclusives, Blames Sony
@GeeEssEff I do realize you stated it was your knowledge, i was not meaning to be a smart ass. Basically the same way I would had said I would "rectify" if a friend told me he had not seen Back to the Future.
Yes, even when adjusted for inflation, Psygnosis acquisition would had not been as much money but that's because gaming was much smaller back then. The point is Sony needed to bully itself into the industry. Xbox has been trying to just inch itself in for multiple decades, and it could had worked had Don Mattrick not happened. But now they are in a position where they either have to bully themselves into a competitive position, or lag so far behind they can never consider themselves competitive. Sadly, as much as it can be "fine" to be a small player, in the gaming world, if you are small enough you generate a vicious cycle of abandonment by third party developers. The longer they are that far behind, the harder it is to organically become competitive, and the more expensive it becomes to "bully" yourself to a decent position.
At the end of the day, MS would had not approved the money be used for this acquisition of anyone could have thought of a more profitable investment, or an investment that would yield more growth. Finding such investments is harder than it might sound, though. That's how they ended up with that much money in hand, because they could not find what to invest the money on. And no, charity is sadly not an option.
Re: SEGA Remains 'Very Close' With Xbox, But Isn't Open To Acquisition Talks Right Now
@mousieone Sometimes even silence speaks volumes. I just hope we get to hear anything about their stance about the Switch not being seen as "competitor". I'm pretty sure Nintendo sees Sony as competition.