Titntin

Im glad they got to extend the player base and make more money, the dev team must be re energised. I would expect that 1 million was the top end of their estimates, but I doubt we will ever know what they expected..

Cant believe how expensive these are! Not gonna see any sales spike with these units unfortunately. I expected better value at this point in the cycle.
Better off buying a cheap second hand one on ebay... Its where my series x is going and I dont imagine it will cost a lot.

Always nice to see new accesability options and so the controller is a really welcome showing.
I was going to write who on earth wants to play hide n seek in a car racing game, but I can see at least two comments where the mode appeals to the writter. Its not for me, like a great deal of forza 5 mp content, its lost its focus for me.
Im looking forward to trying the Diablo expansion when it launches... I bought it a while ago.

Given how small plantery areas are, Im not sure the vehicle has as much use as people imagine? However, it was fun enough in mass effect, so for anyone still playing this, they may get some fun!

There were enough games to be interesting if it were a 30 minute show. Spread over 2 hours it was a yawnfest.
It didnt give us any new big hitters, but I enjoyed some more details on upcoming titles, and some of the smaller titles looked worth keeping an eye on..

Ive been concerned over 1st person view since it was announced.
The lack of gameplay shown is concerning, especially since the little pieces we have seen have seemed pretty 'meh'.
I have no doubt though that they will craft a fun story and hopefully that can make this a compelling play as I want the game to succeed.

Playing it on ps5 now, Im really enjoying it. You can always get %16 off psn credit, so £46.20 for a day 1 AAA seems good value to me.
Shame the xbox port is delayed... when it arrives its well worth having a go!

@Scummbuddy
Im pretty open mate, happy to see what I see, but Death Stranding 2 is a new title Im expecting to see and enjoy, so I guess I should have mentioned it.
Sometimes Im desperate to see new stuff, but my backlog is huge right now and Ive just started Wukong this morning. Additionally there are lots of titles Im looking foward to playing in the remainer of the year, such as the star wars game, the new aC game and Astrobot.
When I feel like Ive almost too much to play anyway, im just happy to watch and see what they serve. Even if there was very little, its not going to matter much for me right now..
As for xbox... they have lost me already. I didnt renew GP last september and havent switched on my series x since. I agreed with my wife last night that we sell it. If MS do retain any exclusives I feel I cant live without, I could always play them on my PC, but thats looking less likely with each passing month. Its a genuine shame for a platform Ive played from its start, but I hope the studios have a solid future as 3rd party devs..

Diablo 4. Slogging through the campaign and enjoying it.
Wukon is coming on Tuesday, so as long as it performs well on ps5, Im there!
Whatever you guys are playing, I hope you have fun 😊

I never used any of these when I had GP, so I don't miss it now.
BUT, if you play these games, thats plenty of extra value!

Looking forward to this, it seems like it's taken forever!
For anyone with PSN, its launching to that service, but it looks worth the purchase. At least I hope so!

We've all known for some time that the 'hardware platform' is dead. I think they will make a scaled down PC with a slim OS, and a handheld, but to make the mega bucks they need to concentrate on being the 3rd party publisher they now are.
It was pretty clear this would happen when so many were cheering for the activision buy out - I always said there's no extra games for Xbox via this route, and lots of pressure to publish everything 3rd party and maximise profits.

I take no pleasure in any of the above. I liked the 3 hardware platforms we had and believed they all had a place. Moreover, Xbox having some autonomy from the main corp really worked for me and allowed them so much more control. Shareholders couldn't give a stuff for loyal fans, they only want ever increasing profits and that don't come from looking after fans.

Looking forward to this. Not a huge Keighley fan, but I dislike almost anyone doing this kind of role, he's better than corp execs presenting games, even if only by a little.

Hoping for some good surprises. Would also like to see updates on 'Plucky Squire', feels like I've been waiting a while for it....

Mafia is its own game, and its pretty good. It is absolutely not like GTA unless you have never played GTA and inviting that comparison seems pretty silly.....

Cant stand it. For me, its another reason to ditch xbox. My choice, please dont be offended, I respect your choices too.

This is clearly for software engineers? Talk about jumping to conclusions...

Shame. I've never used it myself, but I know a lot of people used the rewards program to try and get more value.
The optics of the changes they are making are quite clear. How people come out to shill for this change is beyond me....

Thanks for this piece - it was a good read and I appreciate it.
Really enjoyed playing this when it was first released and I'd recommend you check it out if the prospect appeals. Not setting the world on fire, but a solid 8/10 from me!
Looking forwards to their next project

Its another 'just wait till next year' moment. Thats easy to bear if xbox is your main platform as there are some really good 3rd parties to take up the slack (again.)
But if your xbox is there for exclusives, as mine is, then its also fair to be dissapointed.

Ive pretty much hung onto my series x with Avowed in mind. Indie in 1st person is not exciting me and I consume 3rd parties elsewhere, so this is real bad news for me. Im considering selling now, its not been used all year.. what a shame..

I cant believe anything this guy says. Seriously, would you buy a used car from him? Thought not.

Phil is so backseat these days, but much as I didnt subscribe to the 'cult of Phil' at least I often believed what he was saying. What has happened to him?

@Mustoe Not for me. I have a great £4k PC, but never play games on it. Cant stand it as a platform.
I'm not saying that's going to be everyone's experience, but gaming for me is sitting in front of my TV on the Sofa, switching on the console and playing within a minute or two. That never happens on a PC no matter how much you try and streamline it. You always have a driver to update, you need to access several store fronts, I often have incompatibility issues (especially with MS store front games, even if they perform without glitch via Steam). So many PC games are subject to poor 'stutter' and to get the best for each game you have to play with a huge set of variables or look up your favourite sites recommended settings. Then there's the fact that it's a furnace as soon as your GPU starts getting to work - it's a terrible place to play games for me, despite mine having its own LG C1 oled to play through. I will always have a high power PC, but I will always turn to a console to chill with a game.

@GuyinPA75
Hey if dying in a video game is that stressful for you, you have the wrong hobby mate!
I grew up playing schumups and the like. Death is simply a sign that you need to figure out a better strategy, not that you need to throw a tantrum.

But I digress. The humongous sales figures for the title more than prove it doesnt need to change for those people who cant handle dying. But also its true that there are loads of titles these days where winning is essentially just staying the course, pushing forward or hitting a parry button at the right time, so there are loads of easy titles for those who do not wish to think, strategise or learn skills as well - and I enjoy many of them. Horses for courses as they say. The popularity of more challenging titles clearly shows there is a big market for those who don't want passive entertainment.
Have a good one.

@GuyinPA75 Your characterisation of how to win a Boss fight in Elden Ring shows quite clearly that you have not played it. I wouldn't put myself through that either, but fortunately the game doesn't require that at all.
I guess maybe if you are attempting a really strong boss and you are minimal level maybe you would need to do some of that, but the whole point of it being open world is so that you simply do not need to do any of that. You can go elsewhere engage with other characters, do other objectives and come back when you are strong enough to get stuck in without any of that nonsense.
I've never completed another 'souls like game' precisely because I couldn't go elsewhere and get stupid strong like you can in Elden Ring. But I completed this beauty three times and never ever used a summons or relied on any help of any kind and my reflexes are definitely nearer my age of 60 than early twenties.
What you are describing is not what this game is. I should just say I'm referring to the game and not the DLC as I have not played the DLC yet.

At 25 million sales, the studio doesn't need to take any lessons in how to create a winner from someone who has not even played its titles.

@Mustoe I still remember the anticipation of watching the tape loading in with all its pretty colours and then hoping you wouldn't get an error before 'Knight Lore' launched!

I'm afraid the hardware sales have been quite obviously going in this direction for some time. Like some others I wander just how much commitment we have to another console... it wouldn't be the first time they have said one thing and then done the other. We can pretend this is OK because we want to play it through a fire stick, or a samsung TV, but most of us who visit this site would not find that option compelling right now, so I'm sad that Xbox might not have a machine in the race in a few years. Xbox is far from my favourite place to play games, but I feel the market is in a better place with them offering some competition, so I lament that it has come to this.
Xbox were always after the casual market though and having a box for the hardcore gamers is not where never ending profit growth lies, so I guess this was always inevitable. Still sux though.

From all the previews I've seen, they have created a rich star wars world to explore, and that's the main reason I'm here.
I don't need them to reinvent gaming genres with every release (which is just as well!) I am likely to be very happy with well tried mechanics in such a busy breathing world, and on that basis alone, this is a definite buy for me.

@GuyinPA75 Thats fine mate, Im advising someone that it is extremely enjoyable if you put the effort in. If you simply like free rides, then avoid it, this is not final fantasy.
The only reason Id encourage anyone at all is that this is an exceptional game that rewards on many levels. Ive played and been obsessed with video games since their inception when I was a teenager. Ive owned just about every games machine since the Atari vcs and spent more than 2 decades making AAA games for all the big players. Elden Ring is one of the best examples of games craftmanship Ive ever seen or played, and I dont make that statement lightly. A game with no effort could never hope to match the feelings you experience playing this, and overcoming challenges is part of that equation.
Acting offended that a game might offer a challenge seems like an own goal to me, but if you prefer your games to be non thinking movies, you have that choice too. I can also play and enjoy such games, but they never reward you the way this does.
We are just 'chewing the fat' of course... have a great day!

@-MadMax-
Thats amazing that they don't encode these offsets - I had no idea, thank you.
This is rudimentary code protection, its astonishing they haven't got it covered....

@johnK Never completed a Souls game and I'm 60 in 3 weeks.
But I Finished this game and did it 3 times for the platinum (no save scumming here).
You can over level in this game to the point where its doable - I believe I was level 420 last time I played and I needed to be to allow for my age old reactions
This game was totally worth the effort. I understand it if you never do of course, but this game can be done even by us oldies and I can say I absolutely loved every second of exploring this fantastic world. Its well worth the effort.

@Kezelpaso Cheers for the answer dude - that makes perfect sense!

Why insist on saying it makes changes for Xbox? This is the patch note for all platforms - would it really hurt your identity so much to say so?

Regardless, it's good to see them continually trying to fix bugs and come up with the best balance for us.

Looking forward to this, but only cause I have PSplus. It would need to prove a lot to me to get me paying for it....
It is a shame the beta is not on Xbox, as without a GP release, that the place it needs to be tested to ensure those paying for it get good value...

I hope this pays off for them. I was much more impressed with the last trailer than others, so I've every reason to be optimistic.

In many ways it's a shame that they need this help. Playground is pretty good at what they do, but could do with a game from another genre under their belt. I can only assume Eidos Montreal is now involved as they have a lot more experience in the kind of worlds Fable is building.....

Fingers crossed for this project.

I can't imagine anyone is holding their breath waiting for this release? Mind you, its consistently still selling bucket loads, even though I've no idea who it will be selling to, so what do I know?

Putting such a large game on a renting service for a small period is simply there to harvest some more longer term players rather than add value to the service. It's clearly a strategy that works well though!

Mafia definitive edition is already on ps plus, and a 7.99 game, so its pretty likely they will add that one. Its a lot of game for the money, def worth a look..

Much to my surprise, Diablo 4 is getting played. Its ok, but nowhere near as different to its predecessors as I expected.
Also still finishing a career in the latest wrc rally game and codemasters have proven their worth on that one. Its not above critiscm, but its a great rally game..
Ive bought no one wants to die - I hope I play some of that.

Whatever you are playing, have a great weekend.

@BAMozzy Thanks for all the info, though you must know Im aware of all that as I have and use a decent PC. Even if I play Forza on it, I do so through steam 😊

Ok, if this the new way of deciding whats an xbox, then i guess every fire stick and samsung TV counts? Its quite clearly rediculous, but it would seem rediculous wins the day in the world of misinformation....

Calling this an Xbox handheld simply because it runs windows is a huge reach. Is every single PC an Xbox then, since all of them running windows apparently fulfil this criteria?

This particular WINDOWS handheld is a pretty decent device, but is very expensive. I guess if you have the money - that extra battery life is key to this unit and definitely very desirable for a machine of this type.

@themightyant Yes mate, your quite right of course
There have certainly been some discrepancies between what was said and what has happened. We probably all expected that would be the case, but it is ammunition for any legal challenges - though I don't expect any of them would achieve much at this stage

@themightyant I'm not sure these type of discounts are a major issue?
If you buy your psn credit on shopto for example, you can normally save between 12 to 16% anyway, so I doubt if anyone's overly jealous of a %10 discount.

Or maybe they are, I'm often surprised by peoples reactions these days...

@FraserG Nice of you to link to proof. But you know the modern landscape, once people have a conspiracy theory going, little things like 'the truth' are not going to derail it! I wish it were otherwise..

@Trmn8r Whatever, at this point, with you clearly reading whatever you wish to read, this conversation is pointless.
I've gone out of my way to make sure I wasn't 'blaming' GP. But its certainly a consideration as it was clearly a big part of how they managed expected income, so its worth factoring in to any look at how the budgets were managed.
I have many many reasons to question GP's viability without having to link it to the demise of Humble, and have expressed several times that I believe it has devalued games and is certainly a factor in why so many devs, studios and publishers are struggling. I chose not to renew last september and have never regretted that decision.

Have a great day.

@Trmn8r No of course not mate, I did not try and link it to GP except to say that all income avenues appear to have been covered so its a shame that wasn't enough. That doesn't damn the GP publishing offering which still clearly gives studios exposure they can build on and cash they can rely on.
@Ryu_Niiyama Thanks for enlightening me, though to be fair, if I had read the article more closely I should have known! It certainly helps to know the devs are all OK

What a real shame. I was hoping game pass releases would help studios to survive challenging times, but if Humble are not able to survive with so many GP releases, it does call into question whether that's a business model that can sustain development.
Either way it's sad to see more Devs out of work and looking for new jobs, I hope everyone affected land on their feet.

@eduscxbox I refer you to your own comment -"What kind of logic is that?"
You're making no sense at all- avengers films - wtf?

I clearly don't just want to hate on the game or I wouldn't have stated it was a major shame, or have spent 80 hours playing it.

Your clearly not making any sense at this point - if you wish to suggest that less than half of GP players trying your biggest release is somehow a huge win, then you go right ahead.
Any one capable of more critical analysis will clearly see this was not the huge hit that MS anticipated and hopefully use this experience to ensure their next games are received with more universal praise, which I would be happy to see.

@eduscxbox
Or you could think that at '14 million players' more than half of GP subscribers didnt even bother to try it for nothing.
It's done poorly and no amount of hand wringing nonsense can disguise that fact.
It's a major shame as I've previously liked that studios output, but it just wasn't good enough. I gave it 80 hours, but then uninstalled and would never go back.

Thanks Fraser, I really think I might enjoy this as I'm a huge F1 Fan.
I'm not currently on GP so I might just need to stump up the cash and dive in, so I appreciate your review and thoughts..

I'm on the fence about 1st person gameplay. It doesn't look right somehow, but I hope to be convinced once we can play.
It's a good looking game and bound to have some great set pieces, so I hope I feel involved. Fingers crossed that this one delivers!

Its an astonishing admission. Its also a sign that they've simply given up in some territories, which is a shame..

We can all have our views on gp worth, but that has little to do with the article or the point the ftc are making. In arguing for the aquisition, Microsoft made some commitments that they didnt keep. Microsoft lied. Its like saying the sun came up... they continually lie and have done so since the 80s.

For the record, I still see GP as the biggeset value in gaming for someone who consumes many games, like myself. Its pretty self evident. However, it has completely devalued new games and I firmly believe it is partially responsable for many studios closing due to poor sales - most xbox users when presented with a good new game say 'Ill wait for it to come to GP.' Cant say I blame them.
However, as a personal choice, and as these lay offs affect many of my old freinds and colleagues, I chose to not renew my sub last september, and now I even buy gp games elsewhere rather than sub for a month..my choice.