Sounds good. I always enjoyed the first Gears because of how it balanced the 'scary' and action aspects. The second game on adopted a different tone that I didn't much care for in comparison. Haven't played a game in this series since the 00s as a result.
@Sol4ris Let's be real: the Series S needing to be supported has already delayed a few games, so it's a reasonable assumption to make. Weaker platforms take time to optimize ports for. Switch versions of AAA games sometimes take years to get right.
"Regardless of if this is true or not (but especially so if it is true), it genuinely impresses me how talented Microsoft is at consistently further damaging their brands. They make making themselves look bad into an art, it's honestly kind of impressive."
Same lol. It's practically performance art at this point. Very entertaining, and I mean that with zero malice.
@belmont I've never heard of a Game Boy breaking down in any way. My GBC from when I was a kid still works like new. When the bombs drop, all that'll be left in the rubble of the world will be small animals and Game Boys.
@Banjo- I have Split Pads I can use for undocked, but I like motion aiming in games like Splatoon and BotW, so they're not fully satisfying for me. Motion is good on the Pro Controller, but I'm playing undocked on my OLED model 90% of the time. Just glad my Lite has been resistant to these drifting issues.
Hopefully whatever the Switch 2 ships with is more robust.
@Banjo- I've had more issues with the DS line than any other piece of hardware. The hinge on my DS Lite broke after a few years. My OG 3DS scratched its own top screen thanks to the raised borders on the bottom. My nephew has has a shoulder button just stop working entirely on his 2DS. And one of my New 3DS units just stopped working entirely.
I also had to replace a Wii U GamePad, but that wasn't really the console's fault. A kid spilled water on it. I guess I just resent not being able to play my Wii U without the stupid tablet controller, even though I pretty much only used my Pro Controller after a while.
With Switch, the main unit is solid as hell, but those joycons keep having issues, dude. Only other controllers I've had any drift issues with were with 20 year old PS2 controllers.
Been a huge fan of binaural audio in games since I first experienced it in the PSP version of Corpse Party. Hellblade 1 made excellent use of it as well. Very much a highlight of the game experience. I have to imagine it's cool in the sequel as well.
Seems like the Microsoft equivalent of something like The Order: 1886, where it's a real technical spectacle, but the game underneath leaves a lot to be desired.
tbh even the first Hellblade wasn't particularly fun, but the immersive and nightmarish journey you (Senua) go on makes up for it. This sounds like a less potent version of that.
And yeah, the original was never a good choice for a sequel. It was like a very high production quality independent film... not really the sort of thing you make a series out of.
"Sales of switch/switch popularity can be atributed to quite a few things, including the 2020 bump, and zero stock on other consoles. A lot of it is marketing. people bought it like it was the first handheld gaming system ever....as though GB, GBC, GBA, DS, 3DS, PSP, Vita never existed. That's just marketing power and nothing more. The docking gimmick is great, but it won through marketing more than anything."
This is pure copium, come on. Obviously the strong concept and marketing were important, but people have to like the thing you're marketing in the first place.
Did Switch get a bump during the height of the pandemic? Sure. But it sold well before, and it sold well after, even as other consoles have become obtainable again. It has been consistently popular.
Switch isn't the first console that can be played as a handheld, of course, but it's the first major one that has allowed the user to play home console-quality games. Something Sony promised with the Vita, but which never materialized.
You don't have to like the platform, but acting like it's the beneficiary of some random level of popularity with casuals like the Wii because they couldn't buy PS5s is being deliberately disingenuous.
"The third party support is by nature just a worse version of things on other systems"
On the AAA front, sure. This isn't true at all when it comes to non-AAA software.
Notably, though, the third-party support is the best Nintendo has enjoyed since the GameCube.
"the price is high for the hardware though it fits a role"
The price was high enough for Nintendo not to lose money, but low enough to appeal to a market filled with more expensive hardware. The Series S is comparably priced, but the Series S is also almost nobody's first choice for buying a console. You want an example of a console people bought almost exclusively because the bigger ones were inaccessible? Here you go.
"IMHO most (not all) Nitnendo excluisives went downhill on Switch."
This is an extremely unpopular opinion. shrug For most series, many gamers, myself included, think the Switch entries represent the apex of those respective properties.
Also, I have news for you: BotW, Pikmin 4, Splatoon 2 & 3, etc. are also "actual Switch games."
The Wii U was a misfire from the start, centering all its resources on the stupid, expensive tablet controller almost nobody cared about to begin with and which the system wouldn't function without. It had some excellent games, but that's because it's Nintendo and all of their consoles (sans maybe the Virtual Boy) have some world-class software. I use mine mostly for its bc Wii games.
You asked why people like it, and I answered. You don't have to like it, of course, but for most people, Switch-era Nintendo is the company's new golden age. The numbers back this up. Nintendo has raked in more profit during this console generation than their other ones COMBINED, even adjusting for inflation.
@NEStalgia "I really don't understand why switch era Nintendo is so wildly praised in the Internet."
I mean, it's probably going to rocket past PS2 lifetime sales in, like, half the time, so it's not really a matter of the console just being popular on the internet.
On my end, I can't think of a console I've enjoyed more. It's an explicitly Japanese device with decent third-party support, tons of high-quality exclusives, and a concept/gimmick that amazed at launch and continues to be useful and make the console more accessible than its peers. Most of the games on it are lacking qualities that plague AAA titles on other systems.
It's honestly the first Nintendo console I could have absolutely mained on its own. There's always something fun to play.
@NEStalgia It would've made the PS5 an optimization nightmare like the Series S has been lol.
Nintendo is a demonstration that brand integrity and strong game design are more potent than inflated budgets for getting people excited about premium-priced products.
@NEStalgia Considering how much Playstation/Microsoft are struggling with costs and profit margins, it really is hilarious how enormous Nintendo's profits in the Switch era are.
@NEStalgia "things for Nintendo were twice as bleak as they are for Xbox now"
Not really. That's sorta like saying Sony was on the edge of the abyss due to the failure of the PS Vita.
Nintendo has always survived on the sales of its handheld console line. Aside from Wii, their home console sales were in freefall from generation to generation.
Also, the Wii U actually had a lot of great first-party games, unlike Xbox. Nintendo's ability to output fantastic software wasn't in contention like it is with a lot of MS' studios.
I mean, things are obviously much better now, but it's not like we wouldn't have gotten more portables from them in the future.
Big credit to Sony for keeping the PS3 and Vita storefronts up (after pushback) while Nintendo and Microsoft cast countless smaller, digital-only games into purgatory by closing their digital stores on 3DS, Wii U, and Xbox 360.
You don't have to pay hundreds of dollars over the course of a generation to play your games online or back up your saves.
You have thousands of older and indie games that'll never see console releases.
More stability in terms of availability of your digital purchases. ESPECIALLY when you consider services like GOG that'll let you just own the digital games you buy.
Way more freedom and customizability when it comes to control methods.
The option to play across a variety of device types, including handheld PCs, laptops, and desktops.
In general, cheaper prices when comparing across multiple storefronts.
Full freedom to mod most of your games.
Easy ability to emulate games from most older consoles. etc.
PC gaming is a life-style and long-term investment in the hobby outside of the confines of the increasingly exploitative ecosystems maintained by Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo.
Consoles are always gonna be cheaper and more convenient if you want a quick, easy way to play the latest thing, of course. They have their place.
Ultimately, though, none of these arguments will matter. People have preferences and will look past problems and hangups in order to maintain those preferences, because their tastes ultimately aren't driven by reason. Just look at how Sony's faithful have changed every single one of their talking points about why Playstation is the superior ecosystem since Sony has changed course this generation.
@JonBoyJ What's not to get? It's virtual photography. Fun challenging yourself to find amazing looking snaps. Fun editing parameters to bring out new elements of the shot.
@NEStalgia Steam is pretty consumer-friendly. Once they've ironed out this new system, I'm sure it won't be all that confusing to people.
The entire reason games end up being so much cheaper in general on PC is because of competition from a variety of storefronts. If you're just gonna stick to Steam sales and nothing else, then yeah, it's not gonna look much better than PSN or Xbox Live.
Although tbf, a big reason you have massive digital sales on console storefronts is because Steam popularized the idea in the first place.
For free from EGS, I've redeemed, among other things: Cat Quest II; The Outer Worlds: Spacer's Choice Edition; Ghost Runner; Saint's Row (the new one); Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy; A Plague Tale: Innocence; Murder by Numbers; Death Stranding; Bioshock: The Collection; Daemon x Machina; all three of the AAA Tomb Raider games; Control; various Borderlands games; and about 100 other indies I'm not gonna list out. I think they were also giving away GTA V at one point, but I missed that.
@NEStalgia I'll have to experiment with playing the game in offline mode on Steam when someone else is running it! That's an interesting question. Could be a neat loophole.
Steam sales are fine, but the majority of the good sales are coming from official key re-sellers like Fanatical and GMG, bundle deals, etc. If you don't mind slightly less above board storefronts, you can get tons of games at amazing prices.
That said, check Steam when one of its many storewide sales are happening, and tell me how many of those same games aren't heavily discounted then.
I've also noticed many games getting strong pre-release discounts on PC, but not on console. I bought RE2R for, like, 20% off before it even came out.
Oh, and you're getting your free games from EGS, right? I have no interest in shopping with them, but they're regularly giving away older AAA titles, new-ish indies, etc.
This confusion in strategy has been frustrating for years, and has also contributed to perceptions of Phil Spencer as being dishonest, since the company often behaves in contradictory ways. I'm happy to see Ybarra speaking plainly and from an informed position, as there's a lot of... gaslighting and self-deception in the Xbox community around issues of console sales, exclusivity, and so on. They need to pick a lane.
Microsoft can thrive in this industry without being part of the generational console manufacturers. That said, they need someone willing to impose limitations, deadlines, and so on to keep their teams in shape and on-track to delivering compelling commercial software products. Spencer's hands-off approach to management clearly hasn't been working. Hopefully there's a shift in leadership soon with the gaming division.
@Lanmanna I think Nintendo and Disney are comparable insofar as both have historically maintained a strong 'family friendly' image and rely heavily on the nostalgic appeal of iconic mascots in terms of merchandising.
Although I'd say Switch-era Nintendo is more comparable to 90s renaissance-era Disney.
Not putting CoD on GP day one doesn't make sense to me, because, as far as I understand it, they're not one and done games. People don't play CoD for the campaign. So wouldn't you want them to stay subscribed to Game Pass for months or years on end in order to play this game?
@NEStalgia Game compatibility with Linux is constantly improving with Valve's Proton push.
Yeah, it's not the most convenient OS for accessing PC games, but it's a viable option if you actually care about not filling Microsoft's coffers. shrug
I'll be sticking with Windows because convenience and familiarity are more important to to me, but it's quickly becoming a much more gamer friendly environment.
As people have said, plenty of games just... don't have Xbox versions. They probably don't expect to make a proper return unless Microsoft puts it on Game Pass. And you'll probably see less of them since Microsoft is clearly tightening the belt and isn't being as generous with GP deals these days.
Pretty sad to see the state of the brand these days, considering how instrumental Xbox Live Arcade was in popularizing indies in the first place.
It's been pretty clear for a while that they want their gaming brand to be hardware agnostic. Keep selling Xboxes as an option, sure, but also put Game Pass everywhere, expand into mobile, and sell first-party games on competing platforms.
They've pretty much given up competing in the home console space as is, so why not?
In this case, they probably want a continuity of experiences in terms of saves and game accessibility between platforms. Basically what they're already doing with PC, but across many different platforms.
@Ooccoo_Jr Nintendo has consistently been my refuge from the very worst practices in this industry. They're also the last ones to adopt terrible industry trends. Not perfect, by any means, but this generation has demonstrated why, for me, they're the last worthwhile bastion of console gaming.
Otherwise, I stick with PC and Valve, which is leagues ahead of Microsoft and Sony in terms of consumer-friendliness and features.
@NEStalgia I like being able to provide overhead for better performance by lowering settings and the resolution. I also like having my games tied to a more stable online service. And being able to play nearly everything on my Steam Deck. And customize controllers how I like (NEVER going back to playing games with shooting on consoles, ugh). etc. etc.
But yeah, the consoles will be your best option for cheap 4K gaming. I have no use for 4K, though, and am not really looking to increase my expenses unnecessarily.
Maybe it's the Nintendo fan in me, but I'm just not that concerned about visual fidelity.
@NEStalgia Eh. The GPU is good enough. For example, I can play Cyberpunk 2077 at med-high settings at 60+ fps with little issue. Elden Ring ran at decent settings with 60+ fps as well.
Actually, looking at benchmarking videos, it seems like pretty much every current-gen game with an adequate PC port runs well enough (around 60fps) on my setup, even if not all of them can be graphically maxed out at the same time.
Upscaling tech will also make it where older cards can perform adequately for longer. Although NVIDIA cards have a leg up with that, since DLSS is quite a bit better than FSR.
Although you are right that the majority of the games I play are lower spec. AAA stuff just doesn't appeal to me. But I do like having the ability to play those games if I want to.
You can save a LOT of money building modestly and not dumping resources down the 4K rabbit hole.
@NEStalgia Well, the GPU was under $300 (RX 6650 XT). Under $100 for my processor (Ryzen 5 3600). New mobo was probably $100 or so. RAM and SSD were a little over $100. My power supply was already adequate with my previous rig.
Budget build, obvs, but I'm only going for 1080p60.
@NEStalgia My setup has been doing pretty well for me since 2021 or so. My 2015 rig was pretty viable for around six years or so tbh. It's more expensive than just buying a console, but you also have a lot more freedom of choice. Especially if you build your own.
if you don't cheap out on components, there's no reason you even have to upgrade most of em when you change out your GPU, either.
@NEStalgia Dunno what to tell you. My drivers need to be updated once in a while, but otherwise, my PC doesn't give me any problems.
That's how it used to work. Within the last month, they added the Steam family group option in a beta release that allows you to share games you're not actively playing with other people in your group. Still not quite as good as game sharing on Switch, but makes sharing games on Steam much more doable!
Now, the kicker is that the developer can choose to opt out of this. So far, only the few EA and Ubisoft games I bought on Steam are excluded. No surprise there.
Ultimately, I guess, just go wherever you enjoy playing your games. For my part, I'm just too disgusted with Sony and Microsoft these days to want to play within their walled gardens. Valve has been doing so much cool stuff with their platform in the last several years: making Linux viable for gaming with their Steam Deck push; heck, putting the Steam Deck equivalent of the Switch OLED out for even more reasonable prices on the higher ends; allowing full customization for all of the major controller types, including gyro for PS and Nintendo controllers; allowing games that wouldn't be allowed on any of the other platforms; Valve's fair refund system; etc.
@NEStalgia You sound really traumatized by some old computer you used to own. Quite frankly, I spend as much time "maintaining" my gaming PC as I do my consoles. Install an update once in a while. I guess I do sometimes look up optimal settings for PC games, which takes all of five minutes, and it's done forever lol.
You can't play a Steam game from one account on multiple accounts at once, but you can enable a family sharing function that allows people to access your games that you aren't playing, and visa versa.
Buy a Steam Deck to go along with it, and you get a handheld that can run a gigantic chunk of the games on Steam, and the functionality is being worked on and improved constantly.
I mean, your choice, but it sounds like you're very tired of the dystopian realm the console gaming space is turning into!
Nah. Between Steam Deck and Switch/Switch 2 I'll have access to pretty much any game I want in portable form. I can't imagine what Microsoft would do to tempt me away from those ecosystems.
While I understand why it didn't, not launching on Steam was probably really, really bad for its sales on PC. I know I won't buy anything from the EGS.
Not doing even a small physical print run was also leaving money on the table.
Comments 606
Re: Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance Launches On Xbox To Fantastic Reviews
Unsurprising. The base game was already excellent, and this re-release seems to address the majority of its issues.
Game is running at a smooth 60fps on my Steam Deck. So happy this went multiplat!
@FraserG Did y'all not get a review code? I was surprised you hadn't posted a review of this alongside the other sites.
Re: Preview: Dragon Age: The Veilguard Is A Confident Return for BioWare
Jesus, this looks awful. We're such a long way away from the heights of Origins.
The fall of Bioware is one of the saddest happenings in this industry. They were probably the best RPG developer back on the 360.
Re: Gears Of War: E-Day Will Be Linear As Dev Focuses On The 'Scary Moments' Of Gears
Sounds good. I always enjoyed the first Gears because of how it balanced the 'scary' and action aspects. The second game on adopted a different tone that I didn't much care for in comparison. Haven't played a game in this series since the 00s as a result.
I'll definitely keep my eye on this one.
Re: Black Myth: Wukong Suffers Delay, But Only For Xbox Series X|S
@Sol4ris Let's be real: the Series S needing to be supported has already delayed a few games, so it's a reasonable assumption to make. Weaker platforms take time to optimize ports for. Switch versions of AAA games sometimes take years to get right.
Re: Report: Xbox Is Working On A Halo Remaster, Also 'Considering' PS5 Release
@BHPM
"Regardless of if this is true or not (but especially so if it is true), it genuinely impresses me how talented Microsoft is at consistently further damaging their brands. They make making themselves look bad into an art, it's honestly kind of impressive."
Same lol. It's practically performance art at this point. Very entertaining, and I mean that with zero malice.
Re: Atlus Quietly Removes Xbox Game Pass Mention For SMTV: Vengeance
It's probably coming. P3R hit GP, after all, and that's a bigger series. Atlus also has a history of accidentally leaking announcements via Instagram.
Re: Talking Point: Which Has Been The Most Reliable Xbox Console For You?
@belmont I've never heard of a Game Boy breaking down in any way. My GBC from when I was a kid still works like new. When the bombs drop, all that'll be left in the rubble of the world will be small animals and Game Boys.
Re: Talking Point: Which Has Been The Most Reliable Xbox Console For You?
@Banjo- I have Split Pads I can use for undocked, but I like motion aiming in games like Splatoon and BotW, so they're not fully satisfying for me. Motion is good on the Pro Controller, but I'm playing undocked on my OLED model 90% of the time. Just glad my Lite has been resistant to these drifting issues.
Hopefully whatever the Switch 2 ships with is more robust.
Re: Talking Point: Which Has Been The Most Reliable Xbox Console For You?
@Banjo- I've had more issues with the DS line than any other piece of hardware. The hinge on my DS Lite broke after a few years. My OG 3DS scratched its own top screen thanks to the raised borders on the bottom. My nephew has has a shoulder button just stop working entirely on his 2DS. And one of my New 3DS units just stopped working entirely.
I also had to replace a Wii U GamePad, but that wasn't really the console's fault. A kid spilled water on it. I guess I just resent not being able to play my Wii U without the stupid tablet controller, even though I pretty much only used my Pro Controller after a while.
With Switch, the main unit is solid as hell, but those joycons keep having issues, dude. Only other controllers I've had any drift issues with were with 20 year old PS2 controllers.
Re: Talking Point: Which Has Been The Most Reliable Xbox Console For You?
I got my 360 during the height of the RROD epidemic and never had a single issue with it, ironically enough.
Re: Skull And Bones Season 2 & Free Trial Announced As Player Numbers Dwindle On Xbox
They made a AAAA game when they should've made a AAAAA game. Pump up that budget!
Re: After Hellblade 2, Here Are The 10 Highest-Rated Xbox Games Of 2024 So Far
Solid year for Japanese games so far.
Re: Ninja Theory Explains Why Headphones Are So Important In Hellblade 2
Been a huge fan of binaural audio in games since I first experienced it in the PSP version of Corpse Party. Hellblade 1 made excellent use of it as well. Very much a highlight of the game experience. I have to imagine it's cool in the sequel as well.
Re: Review: Senua's Saga: Hellblade 2 (Xbox): An Incredible Spectacle That Lacks An Essential Hook
@Martinscavalo Agreed. How dare the writers have integrity and not praise a game just because Microsoft published it!
Re: Review: Senua's Saga: Hellblade 2 (Xbox): An Incredible Spectacle That Lacks An Essential Hook
Seems like the Microsoft equivalent of something like The Order: 1886, where it's a real technical spectacle, but the game underneath leaves a lot to be desired.
tbh even the first Hellblade wasn't particularly fun, but the immersive and nightmarish journey you (Senua) go on makes up for it. This sounds like a less potent version of that.
And yeah, the original was never a good choice for a sequel. It was like a very high production quality independent film... not really the sort of thing you make a series out of.
Re: Rumour: Xbox Planning To Bring More Games To PS5, Despite Some 'Unease' At Microsoft
@NEStalgia
"Sales of switch/switch popularity can be atributed to quite a few things, including the 2020 bump, and zero stock on other consoles. A lot of it is marketing. people bought it like it was the first handheld gaming system ever....as though GB, GBC, GBA, DS, 3DS, PSP, Vita never existed. That's just marketing power and nothing more. The docking gimmick is great, but it won through marketing more than anything."
This is pure copium, come on. Obviously the strong concept and marketing were important, but people have to like the thing you're marketing in the first place.
Did Switch get a bump during the height of the pandemic? Sure. But it sold well before, and it sold well after, even as other consoles have become obtainable again. It has been consistently popular.
Switch isn't the first console that can be played as a handheld, of course, but it's the first major one that has allowed the user to play home console-quality games. Something Sony promised with the Vita, but which never materialized.
You don't have to like the platform, but acting like it's the beneficiary of some random level of popularity with casuals like the Wii because they couldn't buy PS5s is being deliberately disingenuous.
"The third party support is by nature just a worse version of things on other systems"
On the AAA front, sure. This isn't true at all when it comes to non-AAA software.
Notably, though, the third-party support is the best Nintendo has enjoyed since the GameCube.
"the price is high for the hardware though it fits a role"
The price was high enough for Nintendo not to lose money, but low enough to appeal to a market filled with more expensive hardware. The Series S is comparably priced, but the Series S is also almost nobody's first choice for buying a console. You want an example of a console people bought almost exclusively because the bigger ones were inaccessible? Here you go.
"IMHO most (not all) Nitnendo excluisives went downhill on Switch."
This is an extremely unpopular opinion. shrug For most series, many gamers, myself included, think the Switch entries represent the apex of those respective properties.
Also, I have news for you: BotW, Pikmin 4, Splatoon 2 & 3, etc. are also "actual Switch games."
The Wii U was a misfire from the start, centering all its resources on the stupid, expensive tablet controller almost nobody cared about to begin with and which the system wouldn't function without. It had some excellent games, but that's because it's Nintendo and all of their consoles (sans maybe the Virtual Boy) have some world-class software. I use mine mostly for its bc Wii games.
You asked why people like it, and I answered. You don't have to like it, of course, but for most people, Switch-era Nintendo is the company's new golden age. The numbers back this up. Nintendo has raked in more profit during this console generation than their other ones COMBINED, even adjusting for inflation.
Re: Rumour: Xbox Planning To Bring More Games To PS5, Despite Some 'Unease' At Microsoft
@NEStalgia "I really don't understand why switch era Nintendo is so wildly praised in the Internet."
I mean, it's probably going to rocket past PS2 lifetime sales in, like, half the time, so it's not really a matter of the console just being popular on the internet.
On my end, I can't think of a console I've enjoyed more. It's an explicitly Japanese device with decent third-party support, tons of high-quality exclusives, and a concept/gimmick that amazed at launch and continues to be useful and make the console more accessible than its peers. Most of the games on it are lacking qualities that plague AAA titles on other systems.
It's honestly the first Nintendo console I could have absolutely mained on its own. There's always something fun to play.
Re: Rumour: Xbox Planning To Bring More Games To PS5, Despite Some 'Unease' At Microsoft
@NEStalgia It would've made the PS5 an optimization nightmare like the Series S has been lol.
Nintendo is a demonstration that brand integrity and strong game design are more potent than inflated budgets for getting people excited about premium-priced products.
Re: Rumour: Xbox Planning To Bring More Games To PS5, Despite Some 'Unease' At Microsoft
@NEStalgia Considering how much Playstation/Microsoft are struggling with costs and profit margins, it really is hilarious how enormous Nintendo's profits in the Switch era are.
https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2024/05/nintendos-profit-during-the-switch-generation-is-absolutely-wild
People laughed at them for years for developing cheaper games on underpowered hardware that doesn't lose them money, but look where we are now.
Re: Activision Is Opening A New Studio To Build 'Genre-Defining' Games At Microsoft
I guess now that Microsoft's games are gonna go to Playstation, it makes sense to design the sort of games people on that platform enjoy.
Re: Reaction: Xbox's Push Towards 'Microsoft Gaming' Looks More Drastic Than We First Thought
@NEStalgia I don't play games on the couch tbh. Not even my home consoles. I've consolidated my setup around a computer desk.
I know people do it, though. There are workarounds, for sure.
Re: Analyst Claims PS5 Outsold Xbox Series X|S Almost 5:1 Last Quarter
@NEStalgia "things for Nintendo were twice as bleak as they are for Xbox now"
Not really. That's sorta like saying Sony was on the edge of the abyss due to the failure of the PS Vita.
Nintendo has always survived on the sales of its handheld console line. Aside from Wii, their home console sales were in freefall from generation to generation.
Also, the Wii U actually had a lot of great first-party games, unlike Xbox. Nintendo's ability to output fantastic software wasn't in contention like it is with a lot of MS' studios.
I mean, things are obviously much better now, but it's not like we wouldn't have gotten more portables from them in the future.
Now if the Switch had failed...
Re: Microsoft Announces Dates For The Final Two Xbox 360 Store Sales
Big credit to Sony for keeping the PS3 and Vita storefronts up (after pushback) while Nintendo and Microsoft cast countless smaller, digital-only games into purgatory by closing their digital stores on 3DS, Wii U, and Xbox 360.
Re: Reaction: Xbox's Push Towards 'Microsoft Gaming' Looks More Drastic Than We First Thought
@NEStalgia In terms of PC:
etc.
PC gaming is a life-style and long-term investment in the hobby outside of the confines of the increasingly exploitative ecosystems maintained by Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo.
Consoles are always gonna be cheaper and more convenient if you want a quick, easy way to play the latest thing, of course. They have their place.
Ultimately, though, none of these arguments will matter. People have preferences and will look past problems and hangups in order to maintain those preferences, because their tastes ultimately aren't driven by reason. Just look at how Sony's faithful have changed every single one of their talking points about why Playstation is the superior ecosystem since Sony has changed course this generation.
Re: Hellblade 2's Photo Mode Looks Ridiculously Detailed In New Footage
@JonBoyJ What's not to get? It's virtual photography. Fun challenging yourself to find amazing looking snaps. Fun editing parameters to bring out new elements of the shot.
Re: Hellblade 2's Photo Mode Looks Ridiculously Detailed In New Footage
I got some crazy shots from the original Hellblade, but this level of customizability is... wow.
People with a lot of patience and an eye for a good shot are gonna be creating some wild screenshots with this game.
Re: Reaction: Xbox's Push Towards 'Microsoft Gaming' Looks More Drastic Than We First Thought
@NEStalgia Steam is pretty consumer-friendly. Once they've ironed out this new system, I'm sure it won't be all that confusing to people.
The entire reason games end up being so much cheaper in general on PC is because of competition from a variety of storefronts. If you're just gonna stick to Steam sales and nothing else, then yeah, it's not gonna look much better than PSN or Xbox Live.
Although tbf, a big reason you have massive digital sales on console storefronts is because Steam popularized the idea in the first place.
For free from EGS, I've redeemed, among other things: Cat Quest II; The Outer Worlds: Spacer's Choice Edition; Ghost Runner; Saint's Row (the new one); Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy; A Plague Tale: Innocence; Murder by Numbers; Death Stranding; Bioshock: The Collection; Daemon x Machina; all three of the AAA Tomb Raider games; Control; various Borderlands games; and about 100 other indies I'm not gonna list out. I think they were also giving away GTA V at one point, but I missed that.
Re: Reaction: Xbox's Push Towards 'Microsoft Gaming' Looks More Drastic Than We First Thought
@NEStalgia I'll have to experiment with playing the game in offline mode on Steam when someone else is running it! That's an interesting question. Could be a neat loophole.
Steam sales are fine, but the majority of the good sales are coming from official key re-sellers like Fanatical and GMG, bundle deals, etc. If you don't mind slightly less above board storefronts, you can get tons of games at amazing prices.
That said, check Steam when one of its many storewide sales are happening, and tell me how many of those same games aren't heavily discounted then.
I've also noticed many games getting strong pre-release discounts on PC, but not on console. I bought RE2R for, like, 20% off before it even came out.
Oh, and you're getting your free games from EGS, right? I have no interest in shopping with them, but they're regularly giving away older AAA titles, new-ish indies, etc.
Re: Square Enix To Include Xbox As Part Of 'Aggressive' New Multiplatform Strategy
@Banjo- I desperately want the equivalent of Pixel Remasters for the older, hard-to-access DQ games.
Re: Ex-Blizzard President On Xbox's Future: 'Xbox Can Find A Path To Great Success'
This confusion in strategy has been frustrating for years, and has also contributed to perceptions of Phil Spencer as being dishonest, since the company often behaves in contradictory ways. I'm happy to see Ybarra speaking plainly and from an informed position, as there's a lot of... gaslighting and self-deception in the Xbox community around issues of console sales, exclusivity, and so on. They need to pick a lane.
Microsoft can thrive in this industry without being part of the generational console manufacturers. That said, they need someone willing to impose limitations, deadlines, and so on to keep their teams in shape and on-track to delivering compelling commercial software products. Spencer's hands-off approach to management clearly hasn't been working. Hopefully there's a shift in leadership soon with the gaming division.
Re: Reaction: Xbox's Push Towards 'Microsoft Gaming' Looks More Drastic Than We First Thought
@Lanmanna I think Nintendo and Disney are comparable insofar as both have historically maintained a strong 'family friendly' image and rely heavily on the nostalgic appeal of iconic mascots in terms of merchandising.
Although I'd say Switch-era Nintendo is more comparable to 90s renaissance-era Disney.
Re: Xbox Reiterates Every First Party Title Is Coming To Game Pass 'Day One'
Not putting CoD on GP day one doesn't make sense to me, because, as far as I understand it, they're not one and done games. People don't play CoD for the campaign. So wouldn't you want them to stay subscribed to Game Pass for months or years on end in order to play this game?
Re: Reaction: Xbox's Push Towards 'Microsoft Gaming' Looks More Drastic Than We First Thought
@NEStalgia Game compatibility with Linux is constantly improving with Valve's Proton push.
Yeah, it's not the most convenient OS for accessing PC games, but it's a viable option if you actually care about not filling Microsoft's coffers. shrug
I'll be sticking with Windows because convenience and familiarity are more important to to me, but it's quickly becoming a much more gamer friendly environment.
Re: 'Animal Well' Is Exploding In Popularity, But Where's The Xbox Version?
As people have said, plenty of games just... don't have Xbox versions. They probably don't expect to make a proper return unless Microsoft puts it on Game Pass. And you'll probably see less of them since Microsoft is clearly tightening the belt and isn't being as generous with GP deals these days.
Pretty sad to see the state of the brand these days, considering how instrumental Xbox Live Arcade was in popularizing indies in the first place.
Re: Reaction: Xbox's Push Towards 'Microsoft Gaming' Looks More Drastic Than We First Thought
@NEStalgia
"And $150 of each of those PCs still goes to MS for the stupid Windows key."
Linux.
Re: Talking Point: Is Sarah Bond Hinting At Eventually Moving Away From Xbox Hardware?
It's been pretty clear for a while that they want their gaming brand to be hardware agnostic. Keep selling Xboxes as an option, sure, but also put Game Pass everywhere, expand into mobile, and sell first-party games on competing platforms.
They've pretty much given up competing in the home console space as is, so why not?
In this case, they probably want a continuity of experiences in terms of saves and game accessibility between platforms. Basically what they're already doing with PC, but across many different platforms.
Re: Recent Studio Closures Tied To 'Long Term' Health Of The Business, Claims Xbox President
@Ooccoo_Jr Nintendo has consistently been my refuge from the very worst practices in this industry. They're also the last ones to adopt terrible industry trends. Not perfect, by any means, but this generation has demonstrated why, for me, they're the last worthwhile bastion of console gaming.
Otherwise, I stick with PC and Valve, which is leagues ahead of Microsoft and Sony in terms of consumer-friendliness and features.
Re: Report Claims Xbox Is Planning More Cuts Following Studio Closures
lol What a nightmare.
I'm so glad most Japanese devs are safe from being swallowed up by these sharks.
Re: Former Blizzard President Gives Support To Phil Spencer Amidst Xbox Negativity
@NEStalgia I like being able to provide overhead for better performance by lowering settings and the resolution. I also like having my games tied to a more stable online service. And being able to play nearly everything on my Steam Deck. And customize controllers how I like (NEVER going back to playing games with shooting on consoles, ugh). etc. etc.
But yeah, the consoles will be your best option for cheap 4K gaming. I have no use for 4K, though, and am not really looking to increase my expenses unnecessarily.
Maybe it's the Nintendo fan in me, but I'm just not that concerned about visual fidelity.
Re: Former Blizzard President Gives Support To Phil Spencer Amidst Xbox Negativity
@NEStalgia Eh. The GPU is good enough. For example, I can play Cyberpunk 2077 at med-high settings at 60+ fps with little issue. Elden Ring ran at decent settings with 60+ fps as well.
Actually, looking at benchmarking videos, it seems like pretty much every current-gen game with an adequate PC port runs well enough (around 60fps) on my setup, even if not all of them can be graphically maxed out at the same time.
Upscaling tech will also make it where older cards can perform adequately for longer. Although NVIDIA cards have a leg up with that, since DLSS is quite a bit better than FSR.
Although you are right that the majority of the games I play are lower spec. AAA stuff just doesn't appeal to me. But I do like having the ability to play those games if I want to.
You can save a LOT of money building modestly and not dumping resources down the 4K rabbit hole.
Re: Former Blizzard President Gives Support To Phil Spencer Amidst Xbox Negativity
@NEStalgia Well, the GPU was under $300 (RX 6650 XT). Under $100 for my processor (Ryzen 5 3600). New mobo was probably $100 or so. RAM and SSD were a little over $100. My power supply was already adequate with my previous rig.
Budget build, obvs, but I'm only going for 1080p60.
Re: Former Blizzard President Gives Support To Phil Spencer Amidst Xbox Negativity
@NEStalgia My setup has been doing pretty well for me since 2021 or so. My 2015 rig was pretty viable for around six years or so tbh. It's more expensive than just buying a console, but you also have a lot more freedom of choice. Especially if you build your own.
if you don't cheap out on components, there's no reason you even have to upgrade most of em when you change out your GPU, either.
Re: Latest Rumours Suggest Perfect Dark Reboot Isn't Going Smoothly At Xbox
Games like this and Metroid Prime 4 illustrate the dangers of announcing games too early in development.
Re: Xbox Is Shutting Four Studios, Including Arkane Austin And Tango Gameworks
@NEStalgia Dunno what to tell you. My drivers need to be updated once in a while, but otherwise, my PC doesn't give me any problems.
That's how it used to work. Within the last month, they added the Steam family group option in a beta release that allows you to share games you're not actively playing with other people in your group. Still not quite as good as game sharing on Switch, but makes sharing games on Steam much more doable!
Now, the kicker is that the developer can choose to opt out of this. So far, only the few EA and Ubisoft games I bought on Steam are excluded. No surprise there.
Ultimately, I guess, just go wherever you enjoy playing your games. For my part, I'm just too disgusted with Sony and Microsoft these days to want to play within their walled gardens. Valve has been doing so much cool stuff with their platform in the last several years: making Linux viable for gaming with their Steam Deck push; heck, putting the Steam Deck equivalent of the Switch OLED out for even more reasonable prices on the higher ends; allowing full customization for all of the major controller types, including gyro for PS and Nintendo controllers; allowing games that wouldn't be allowed on any of the other platforms; Valve's fair refund system; etc.
Re: Xbox Is Shutting Four Studios, Including Arkane Austin And Tango Gameworks
@NEStalgia You sound really traumatized by some old computer you used to own. Quite frankly, I spend as much time "maintaining" my gaming PC as I do my consoles. Install an update once in a while. I guess I do sometimes look up optimal settings for PC games, which takes all of five minutes, and it's done forever lol.
You can't play a Steam game from one account on multiple accounts at once, but you can enable a family sharing function that allows people to access your games that you aren't playing, and visa versa.
Buy a Steam Deck to go along with it, and you get a handheld that can run a gigantic chunk of the games on Steam, and the functionality is being worked on and improved constantly.
I mean, your choice, but it sounds like you're very tired of the dystopian realm the console gaming space is turning into!
Re: Xbox Is Shutting Four Studios, Including Arkane Austin And Tango Gameworks
@NEStalgia The 4K Console Twins suck, dude. The sooner you switch back to PC and embrace Gaben as your Lord and Savior, the happier you'll be.
Re: Talking Point: Would You Mind If The Next Xbox Was A Portable Console?
Nah. Between Steam Deck and Switch/Switch 2 I'll have access to pretty much any game I want in portable form. I can't imagine what Microsoft would do to tempt me away from those ecosystems.
Re: Xbox Exec Hypes Up Hellblade 2 As Team Green Lays Out Launch Plans
@Ricky-Spanish I don't know what the point of making this tremendously different from the original would be.
Anyway, existing footage shows it's much in line with the original: grim, weighty, and atmospheric.
Re: Alan Wake 2 Still Hasn't Made Profit Despite Huge Critical Success
While I understand why it didn't, not launching on Steam was probably really, really bad for its sales on PC. I know I won't buy anything from the EGS.
Not doing even a small physical print run was also leaving money on the table.
Re: Fallout 4's Quality Mode Is Reportedly Bugged On Xbox Series X|S Right Now
Crazy to think it has taken console players this long to get a version of the game that runs at 60fps.