Zoidpilot4

@Chaotic_Neutral thanks for replying was asking because I genuinely wanted to know. Sorry about your motion sickness, must make gaming hard sometimes =(

Put it in context at you'll see why they said this, and yeah, xbox has always been third place.

This article is gonna attract the worst trolls

@Chaotic_Neutral so you haven't been playing games for long then?

@Bleachedsmiles I agree somewhat but I genuinely don't think it will mater so long as the game is as good as it looks. If it surpasses skyrim then it's perfectly safe as a great game, maybe game of the generation. Frames per second are second to whether a game is great or not. I'm sure you've played terrible games at 60fps.

Aaaargh too positive, he's a liar and I hate his hair. 30fps is like playing games from the dark ages, what am I a peasant? I want hyper realistic 5D graphics that run at a 100000000fps or I'm selling my xbox and buying a dreamcast.

Seriously, the fact Howard is THIS excited, and Microsoft feel confident in raising gamepass prices, means they've got a hit. Not just one hit, though. A series of hits. Feels like the xbox reboot is happening

Jim Ryan is basically doing what abusive partners do when they threaten to kill themselves if things don't go their way.

Reading the extracts of the filing and it's clear that FTC don't have a leg to stand on, and that Xbox are providing facts. Also, those strange "gamers" flaunting that "email" have been told to suck eggs by the judge, as they tried wriggling into the court with the FTC. Not actually suck eggs, but as in they were told no. This judge seems to be fair and level headed.

https://twitter.com/FOSSpatents/status/1671847812986998785

An extract

"Microsoft is the third-place console maker (out of three), and any increase in market share as a result of this merger will lessen market concentration by making a straggling competitor more competitive."

More console competition is a good thing.

"with respect to the proposed geographic market, the FTC erroneously limits the market to the United States, when in reality both Microsoft and Activision compete in dynamic global markets"

"Leaders of both Microsoft [REDACTED] similarly, have identified PC gaming as a meaningful alternative (and competitor) to console gaming."

The redacted part must be "and Sony"

"At the outset, cloud gaming is a feature of various types of gaming services but is not itself a distinct gaming product. The fact that cloud gaming uses a different technology to deliver content ,,, does not render cloud gaming a separate antitrust product market."

"To the extent this market for device-agnostic cloud gaming exists, Xbox does not compete in it. Of the very small segments of gamers who use Xbox cloud gaming, four in five do so on Xbox"

"The Supreme Court has never addressed whether harm to 'potential competition is a viable theory of section 7 liability.' ... (noting that 'there is no possible way to predict just what would happen' had a challenged transaction not occurred)"

"at the end of the day, the FTC’s challenge is designed to protect the dominant console provider—Sony—from increased competition that would flow from a merger of two entities that lack market power"

"the FTC wrongly implies that Xbox misled the European Commission about its intent regarding future Zenimax titles. The European Commission took the extraordinary step of responding directly when the FTC made this claim in its administrative complaint in December 2022"

Xbóx has no incentive to foreclose. "But even if Xbox could be expected to make Call of Duty or other Activision content exclusive to itself, the FTC has not shown that such exclusion would harm competition as opposed to other competitors in the console market."

Microsoft explains that the FTC must show a substantial lessening of competition is likely to occur, but "a 20% chance of rain does not mean that rain is 'likely.'"

The Microsoft-Activision filing is less heavily redacted than the FTC filing. It has a higher density of arguments for how the court can resolve the case.

They don't have to prevail on each of those arguments; one hole per market proposed by the FTC is enough.

(Extracts from Florian Mueller on the thread regarind the FTC case)

I played this on PS5 and really liked it, until it crashed. I would have started it up again but heard Xbox might be getting it, and I prefer achivements to Trophies, so will wait. That said, it's a really cool game, feels like a classic Playstation game from the PS1 era.

@Kaloudz you're the exception hahah

@Ryu_Niiyama that's a rational and sound logical thing to do =)

This comment section has everything, Sony fan boys, fake casuals, armchair experts, and fake outrage. Kind of depressing to see.
I mean, does anyone here even enjoy games? Or do they just want to complain and cry and scream about something that isn't even that big of a deal. Subscription service raises price, so what? Cancel it if you don't like it. Xbox could sell their exclusives without it, then see what happens. Ugh

@Fiendish-Beaver Fake outrage is hell of a thing. This won't bother 99% of the subscribers and people will still sub for starfield.
But the Internet will shout because that what it does. Remember when Xbox was dying? Haha

Going by the comment count I thought there was this hube backlash but its just a few people having a conversation haha.

Price increase was expected and not an issue at all. If anything it highlights xbox is getting serious

YES! I already have 2 and 3, so this has made my day

@LordFunkalot I saw that, the new Mario 2d game, man I'm gonna be poor in October haha

My heart just dropped oh my god I am excited, metal gear 1, the nostalgia dose might kill me. Yes to this a thousand billion times. Yes. Jeeeesus, I can't wait. This year of gaming news has been insane. What's that then,
Starfield in September,
Spiderman 2 October
Forza October
Metal gear 1 October
And yes I'll be playing mgs 1 on xbox, it'll be the right thing to do hahahaha

@nathanSF I LOVE Cyberpunk, played it day on on series X and was one of the lucky ones who didn't see any game breaking bugs, or barely any glitches, it ran well for me. Such an immersive game.

@Fenbops It's weird. Like, are you having fun on your console, if yes, then what's wrong? If no, then maybe gaming isn't for you.

Not you, but you as in those who want a refresh. Just to be clear hahah

@47AlphaTango Do you own an xbox? And can you prove what you just said? Any links to videos would be cool. Genuinely, would like to know if what you said is true

Well, it make sense. I guess. Not sure what he means by mid gen though? It's my understanding that to create a console that can meet the high extremes of a PC would be either too expensive to make or too expensive to sell, and so where we're at, console wise, is somewhere in between of a high end gaming PC and previous gen of consoles.

@WallyWest so I read your comment, thank you for responding. I get the concern now, and historically you're right, when big corps buy big, they cannibalise quality and take advantage of the consumer.
However, personally I don't believe that will happen with xbox. I think basing on what's happened to other corporations can't be used as fact in regards to what xbox will do if they aquire Activision. You can assume, or make a hypothetical argument against, but until it happens, we just don't know.

That said, I completely understand your point now. Can I ask if you have an xbox?
If not, I understand even more so, why this deal will worry you. I have both consoles, well three, and my concerns tend to fluctuate. Sometimes I worry Sony will push xbox out of the ring, with their aggressive exclusive deals and past history on undercutting the competition like they did dreamcast. Sony can be vicious and cruel.
Then I worry about xbox using its money to push Sony out of the ring, as it looks like Sony will hit a slight dry spell, I worry xbox will use starfield, gamepass and this deal to push them out.
I don't want to see either company lose, but I also recognise they're both as big and bad as each other.

So, I kind of just have to enjoy the games, and have fun with what is there now. I experienced the death of the dreamcast which was my favourite console. Playstation was ruthless and in the end I got a ps2. Its business, I'm afraid. Sometimes someone has to lose and for a long time it looked like it would be xbox.

Which brings me to my other point, I kind of feel Sony forced xbox to get this aggressive. In the past they boasted their ps2 would take over the living room space, directly and openly threatening Microsoft, which in turn forced Microsoft to make the xbox. Ever since then, they've been taking shots at each other. Make sense as xbox was created to fight Sony for the living room dominance.
I don't think for a second Sony will suffer if xbox gets the deal, but I do think xbox might suffer if they don't.
I can't ignore that Sony trier to get a year exclusivity with starfiled, amongst other games. Make no mistake, Sony are also trying to kill xbox.

I guess it gets muddy and unfair when someone provides moral immunity to one side but not the other. That might be why a lot of people on here are arguing with you. Just an observation, but I could be wrong, my brain ain't normal haha.

In summary, I get your concern, and the historic facts are a good enough reason to debate it, but I don't think it's enough to convince me xbox will suddenly do the same mistakes. If I'm wrong, I'll apologise.

Thank you =)

@WallyWest why is it unhealthy? And please keep to facts. I'm no good with opinions etc

I have autism so that's why I asked for facts, not to try argue etc

Also I'm going to bed but will read it tomorrow morning.

@UltimateOtaku91 also didn't know how much Sony gets from cod. Now it makes a whole lotta sense why Jim would fight to stop it. That's a lot of money =o

@UltimateOtaku91 it sounds like live services are vital, and potentially the king maker of casual gamers.
Question is, will they be any good?
I'm assuming if Sony is putting their all in it, probably yes.
I hope the deal goes through for xbox still, mostly because I think Sony is at its best when they compete, and also I love gamepass.
But now it make sense why people who prefer Sony are more concerned about the deal. Thanks for the context

@UltimateOtaku91 Phil seemed clearly affected by the bad press of redfall so I agree with you, they don't wanna shake that hornets nest by going back on their word.
Do you think maybe because Sony seems invested in live service games they don't want xbox to take away the attention by announcing cod games on gamepass, which are heavily multilayer?
Or is it just business to oppose it? I guess opposing it makes sense. As much as I disagree with Jim Ryan, I'm pretty sure he's only doing his job.

Can I also say that Jim Ryan should be there in person. If he's going to sling mud, at least be man enough to make it stick.

Okay so now I'm nervous, but here's my thinking. Xbox seems to be getting off its feet and with a strong showing, it's gonna be okay without Activision.

If the deal don't go through prepare for the mega march of doom and gloom featuring all your favourite trolls haha.

Phil said it won't affect their plan but it will slow down the road to their end goal, which is mobile.

That said, I believe the deal will go through, and I also believe its possible UK get diddly squat, which means I'll have to move to new Zealand, or somewhere else

From what I've heard on here, it looks like it'll go through, with or without CMA.

All that aside, I'm not worried about xbox, it has an awesome line up of studios to the point Booty even said there are lots more, and even possibly more directs, and reveals in places such as Games con.
In fact, I'd wager that after starfield, people will be adopting a series x or s as a secondary consoles for exclusives like Fable and Clockwork (is that what it's called?) And xbox will change its tune on console sales haha.

But anyway, at least this is happening sooner than later. Can't help feel xbox wanted it this way, openly talking about closing the deal so FTC trap itself in a date it wished to avoid, clearly wanting to stall the deal to death because they're weak and have no real grounds to fight.

With all that said, I'll still find myself nervous over the coming weeks haha

Ooooh this looks fun

@Kaloudz It'd be cool if another developer took on the concept. I love a good heist, just not like that haha

@Kaloudz dated sounds right. If I played it on the 360 days I'd have probably enjoyed it more haha

@Kaloudz that makes sense. Haha poor NZ, I always think of Flight of the Choncords, where Murray's office has posters advertising New Zealand as "they shot Lord of the rings here", I can imagine they're just happy to be in the news for something.

Joking aside, thanks for explaining this. I can imagine MS pulling Activision out of the UK, which would probably ironically force Sony to concede that they weren't ever really concerned as much as they said they were. Of course, I can imagine that, but I might be wrong. =)

@Kaloudz yeah I couldn't get along with pay day either =( I really wanted to because the concept is fun.

@Kaloudz I would have loved to seen Diablo a day one release.

After the amazing releases we've had, a couple of dry spells (for me personally) ain't so bad. September starfield pretty much makes the entire sub worth it haah

Does it even matter if New Zealand opposes the deal or not?

@themightyant That makes perfect sense, thank you for explaining that in a clear way.

It will be interesting where Gamepass is at after Starfield and hopefully the aquistion of Activision

@awp69 I agree, most of the games they get do tend to be games that Gamepass already has, or had. I guess what makes Gamepass stand out is the day 1 games, including the upcoming Starfield. I'm assuming Xbox are slowing down because they want to start focusing on quality, instead of quantity. But that's just a guess.

I wouldn't be surprised if Sony are making grabs for games before Gamepass can.

This is the type of competition which benefits us gamers

@themightyant Do you think this is because they plan to focus on more of their own produced games? Or is Sony getting their first? Either way, it's really interesting, and benefits us gamers

@Cherip-the-Ripper I agree, if it wasn't for the hurdles we'd be having a massive influx of Activision games. It's still to come I hope...

This is amazing, but is it just me or is PS Plus beating Gamepass to the punch recently, I mean, there has been some awesome additions this month, Fary Cry 6 AND Rouge Legacy 2.

That's not to say Gamepass is doing bad, it just seems to have settled down in terms of oomph. Then again, Redfall was only last month and had it been as great as they wanted it to be things wouldn't feel so flat.

Not long until Starfield, so I guess that also has to be taken into account.

Still, as a PS plus and Gamepass subscriber, I'm eating very well haha

Bit unrelated but why is there so many argumentive (mostly Sony but not all) users on here who have a huge issue with someone having an opinion, and then bashing you for being a fan of xbox while on an xbox site? It's not like I'm going over to push and starting arguments. Is there no way to monitor this? Sorry, its just a massive shame. Feels like I've got to keep blocking. This is why I don't bother trying to mix with humans, and I thought a site about xbox would be safe, but no, so many bitter argumentive "gamers" choosing to take offence so they can have some weird opportunity to indulge in delusional superiority. They even go as far to tell you the games you like are wrong. Even when you say it's your personal opinion they got a problem with it. Ugh, I hate it.

To the writers/admins, you do an awesome job with this site and I'll probably stick around to read articles like I use to.

Just a shame how toxic online gamers can be. The worst ones are the ones who pretend to be all natural but they're here to sow seeds of negativity and attempt to gaslight and argue with everyone.

Okay. Anyway. Blah

Starfield, haha.
Fable.
Oh my, avowed (you guys should do an article updating what the dev said, how avowed graphics are early and will be upgraded)

@Knightmere thank you! The way some people gush over it, but the numbers don't lie

I've never seen the appeal to VR, and I love how a certain site tries to inject so much energy into selling it, and certain fans will hold it as the next big thing, but the sale numbers don't lie, although tell them that and they'll be all like "it's part of their 4D chess plan" haha.

I'm joking. Mostly, haha. I don't want VR to be the norm, there's something about it I can't quite put my finger on, maybe it's the extremely short battery life, or the gimmicky (at times) games, or the impractical way it has to be played. I prefer a controller, a TV, and a comfy chair.

These are just my personal preferences and opinions. It's okay if you disagree with me

@PhileasFragg Redfall ain't Skyrim, or Fallout, and you know very well those games were huge sucesses, still adored today, played by over 60 million. Redfall and 76 do not equate the high quality of their other games. So obvious where your head is at, and that's cool but don't push your cogntive troubles on the rest of us. Let's leave it there, or I'll block, my life is too good and I'm far too happy to interact with trolls, negative agents, and fanboys

@Thumper it wasn't meant to be sarcastic or sneering. Sorry, I'm autistic, I have been told I can come across cold, blunt, and yes sarcastic, but that's not what i was feeling nor trying to convey. I did say don't worry about it as I thought my opinion might have affected you....

And yeah, the Internet is a nasty toxic world. I hate it too. Imagine having a brain wired like mind, it's a minefield

Reading back, I think what confused me was you said you didn't understand my frustration with digital foundry, but I thought I had explained that clearly and could not understand how you didn't understand, and with the limited scope of understanding other humans I thought it best to say I couldn't help you understand, as literally I couldn't. My wife pointed out this sounds like I'm saying it in a way where I'm being arrogant, and could imply I think you're stupid, but I don't think that at all. I don't know. I imagine you're clever, most gamers are i my experience. Sorry if I upset you or made you feel annoyed. Its just my brain is wired differently, but I am working on it.

@PhileasFragg you're so wrong hahahahaha

@Lastatopiny I think it's safe to assume console centric sites will attract those passionate about said console, so long as they don't go over to the other sites starting up crap, I don't see the problem. Purexbox, implies it's an xbox fan site. Pushsquare, implies playststion, though their site meake headlines about xbox to stir up their demographic.

It makes it hard for someone who enjoys all consoles, but I suggest blocking them. That's what I do to the Sony fans who come here to try negate everything about xbox.

Personally I love all video games, all consoles. Owned and played nearly all of them. Love them all. Simple

With all what's coming out it's probably a blessing in disguise, gives them a chance to shine at a less blinding time

@Thumper I think my point was clear enough, if you don't understand it I can't help you, but don't worry about it, it's just an opinion

I loved the 2nd one, really hope the 3rd comes out soon.