antstephenson

Generally very good.
Only marking it down to a B as it is a bit light on 2024 content (nearly all 2025), no shadow drops, no date for GoW (could be years away!) and no Everwild.
Otherwise, it hit all the right marks.

@Pusher2021

Yes! Ripping CDs to the OG Xbox was great!
Had a real nice playlist for driving around in Project Gotham.
Now I have Amazon Music on my Xbox, which I can play in the background, but... I wish newer consoles and games could figure out a way to integrate music streaming services so you can switch/skip tracks (or change playlists) whilst within the game.

Towards the end of the OG xbox's life they were selling them for about £70 in my local game store.... That, plus the fact I could get Halo and Project Gotham dirt cheap had me sold.
A lot cost, low risk purchase.

Then went 360 a couple of years later.
Skipped xbone... went PS4.
Tempted back to Series X after missing Halo, Forza and Gears.

@PsBoxSwitchOwner

Reasons (not mine):

1) I'll get PS coz mates all have one.

2) Marketing. In the UK PS marketing has been very visible. But Xbox... nothing. It's like they're not even trying. I swear younger kids probably haven't even heard of Xbox here.

3) Hardware design. As an old fart, I love the series X design. It fits unobtrusively and tastefully into our media centre... and has a satisfactory spouse acceptance factor 😆. The PS design, whilst not to my taste, probably looks very cool to a 13 year old boy pestering his parents for a new console.

4) Something about Xbox just ain't "cool"... whatever that is. Not that I think PS is cool. But I think for teens that the Xbox has more of a corporate stink to it... and probably perceived as a bit boring. A bit like owning an Acorn Electron (for those old enough to know what I'm gibbering on about).

I had the OG Xbox, then the 360... Swerved the xbone and got a PS4... then had a big decision to make on the current gen. I gambled on Series X. Had some good times with it... but still not sure if I've made the right decision. The uncertainty around the future of Xbox, due to its poor performance relative to PS, has me wondering what I'll do next gen.
PC is not the answer for me... I like gaming from the couch with a simple console.UI.

@husker42c

Yep, that's why he ended up putting Linda Yaccarino in as a puppet CEO... and that's going about as well as you'd expect: https://www.theverge.com/2023/9/28/23895150/linda-yaccarino-code-conference-2023-x-twitter

@Kaloudz

There's a Zero Build mode... It's great (I can't be bothered to try and master the building mechanic)

So... early days, but enjoying it so far.

I tried FM7 a few years ago and got bored VERY quickly and couldn't get into it... but this new game has got me engaged quickly.

As long as the content keeps coming (and players keep populating the servers), this game's a winner.

Nothing spectacular, but it's everything it needed to be and that's just fine 🙂

EDIT:
I've never been much of a sim racer... always leaned a bit more arcade... but this has a chance of converting me!

Perhaps, like Forza Horizon 5, so much focus was put on scale that fun got a little bit (but not entirely) forgotten about.
Still, at least the feedback seems generally positive and it's not another Redfall.

I guess (over time) Xbox could move resources and game development away from AB to it's other in house studios and then say they don't have any AB games because they are now being made by studios x, y and z... or will there be something in the small print to stop that?

Apologies for me being a bit thick, but I have questions...

Does this licensing deal apply to UK market only... or worldwide?

Does this mean AB games will be able to be downloaded to play on Gamepass... but not streamed (streaming would be through Ubi sub only)?

Here's a thought...

TV streaming services are removing content (even stuff they generated themselves) to get tax-write offs.
There is content that becomes totally unavailable... and could never be seen again.
Could we see them same things happen with games streaming (whether Xbox, PS or other services)?

@Moonglow
Yep, I don't have a problem with it leaning into 2024... as long as they can (a) deliver on it and (b) have enough product that can reliably be delivered in 2025 for them to show at the 2024 showcase 👍

2022 and 2023 are what they are and I think we're all past that now... looking forward to great content in the future (hopefully) 👍👍👍

@Cashews

I thought kids these days all played Fortnite and FIFA as soon as they are old enough to hold a controller?

Thinking back to my Xbox 360 days, there would be an awful lot of very young kids screaming abuse down their mics when I was playing CoD 😆

Really good presentation, but leans very heavily into content scheduled for 2024.

1) Xbox needs to make sure it doesn't all start slipping to 2025
2) Need to deliver on quality
3) In next year's showcase they've gonna have to have their 2025 pipeline sorted to show us something we haven't seen already (Perfect Dark, Indiana Jones, Gears... plus proper gameplay and deep dive for Fable... and maybe some ActiBlizz stuff, if the deal goes through).

@Baler

Dude, you've trolled me before on here over culture war stuff... not cool.
I'm sure you're capable of being a better person... chill and enjoy the weekend.

@Jaxx420

I'm a bit long in three tooth... 51 years old... but, I've learned to roll with the times 🙂
Holding on to old certainties will only cause frustration.
Change is inevitable... often necessary... and occasionally good.
"Go with the flow" is a secret to a long and happy life... "Change ", "different", "new"... It's all ok 👍
And if occasionally it doesn't work... well it's just a video game 🙂

@Jaxx420

C'mon dude... please don't drag the culture wars stuff into this.
Let's try and keep this forum a happy, friendly and positive space 👍
Great to have everyone here sharing opinions (including you), but let's keep the divisive political stuff out of this nice little corner of the interwebs 🙂

A solid B.

Overall a great quantity, and range, of very promising games.

Drops from an A because...

Dull Forza trailer (but still confident game will be decent).
Too many games in 2024 and could end up sliding to 2025 (so until dates a nailed on, it's all a bit "jam tomorrow").
Also... we need to wait and see if the games actually deliver. After Redfall's poor reception, Xbox needs to show they can deliver AAA winners.

That's enough of the negatives though... Overall, I thought it was a fun showcase and full of promise (just get it all delivered Phil!).

This looks like a winner... it's a long way out though 😟
Definite Bioshock Infinite feel.

I like the aesthetic and feel of this.
Looked a bit stuttery though... was it supposed to be stop motion style, or was it poor frame rate?
Promising though 👍

Not much to see here.
But that's fine... the game aint gonna be here until at least 2025; so y'all hold your whining until we get a real look at the game.
The cinematic was an entertaining enough way to kick off the presentation though 👍

Didn't know much about this, but looks good and will deffo give it a go 👍

This looks chill... Gonna have to get me an expansion card though 😆

Weirdly dull trailer... but the footage they've shown previously gives me some hope for this.
Finally a date! 👍

@Kaloudz
Fortunately I have been substance free since 2006... But, going to the cinema off my nut used to be a bit of a hobby!
I do NOT recommend watching the French film "Hidden" starring Juliet Binoche while mashed... although I was perfectly fine watching David Lynch's Eraserhead, so go figure! 😆

I also do not recommend answering the door while off your face... I did once and had what felt like an EXTREMELY long and very awkward conversation with some Jehovah's Witnesses 😆😆😆

@Kaloudz

I also saw Signs at the cinema... but I was high as f___ and can't remember any of the film.

I do remember try to negotiate my way down the stairs after the film... have you seen the scene in Wolf Of Wall Street where Jordan Belfort is trying to get to his car 😆😆😆 it was a bit like that!

I do also remember the commercials before the film...
One was an advert for British Telecom, which had Jarvis Cocker hanging from a lamppost.
The other was for a beer and had a minotaur in it.
Both quite entertaining when you're tripping b___s 😆

Don't do drugs kids... Just say no!

I don't think there will be a significant mid-gen refresh... at least not in terms of performance.

Maybe a black Series S and a white Series X... Maybe also a Series X without the disc player

As for PS... Maybe a smaller and more refined design.

However, rather than a mid-gen performance bump, I think the next gen might arrive a year or so earlier instead... I suspect MS already have their eye on what that is going to look like.

I'm gonna ride my Series X until the next proper gen arrives.

After loving FH4, I found 5 to be kind of dull and lifeless.

I was ready to uninstall, but waited to give the rally expansion a go... and it's great!

The rally expansion feels closer to what the main game should have (and could have) been.

It's a shame that the game is taking up 100gb+ of my valuable storage space just to play the rally expansion though!

@Smigit

TBH, i'm expecting Seagate and WD to exactly match each other on price... I think the only difference for the consumer will be which one has stock availability at any given time.

Currys (UK) now listing 2tb at £199... But showing as out of stock.

I'd feel happier about dropping serious coin for a 2tb card if I knew it would also be supported on the next gen of consoles.

More "just wait and see our amazing future"...
It's all a bit "jam tomorrow" isn't it.

Xbox knocked it out the park with the Series X hardware and came up with a great proposition with Gamepass... then they have massively fumbled the ball with delivery of AAA games.
I liked Halo Infinite to a degree, but it definitely has its shortcomings.
Same with FH5.
Motorsport has been MIA for too long to get excited about.
Redfall has been poorly received.
TBH, Starfield needs to be pretty amazing, otherwise I think there's gonna be a lot of mutiny in the community... and I honestly really worry about Starfield (my hunch tells me it's gonna be a bit messy... hope I'm wrong).

I'm not about to go back to Sony (I did go to the dark side last gen for the PS4), but Xbox really need to get their 5h!+ together when it comes to delivering games.
Sorry, but no kid is rushing to their mum saying "please can I have an Xbox, I wanna play Pentiment!"... Nah, as decent as Pentiment might be, they want to play Spiderman.
Xbox/Phil need to fix game delivery quickly to stay in the business... Satya Nadella's patience ain't gonna be infinite.

@Sebatrox

Cheers, I'll give it a go later (I'm busy pretending to work at the moment 😆).

Anyone else get motion sickness from this game?

I had to stop about 30 seconds into the gameplay to turn the motion blur off... didn't really help, so not sure I can play this game at all

Maybe if/when it upgrades to 60 FPS the motion sickness might be less of an issue for me? 🤷‍♂️

That price? For that selection?
They are so detached from reality it's hilarious.
I'm trying to imagine the internal meeting they had when the price was floated .. I can only guess the underlings at Ubi are to scared of their boss to call out this nonsense.
TBH, even if they half the price in a couple of months, I think they'll struggle to get traction.

Improvements over the base game...

Crowd noise and cowbells make for more atmosphere (base game has a dead feel to it).

Tracks have more twists and turns making for more interesting racing and overtaking opportunities.

Small changes which have made a HUGE difference... Hope this acts as a pointer to the next FH base game.

@sjbsixpack

Not quite the same handling as Dirt 5, but still fairly easy, fun and accessible (especially if you go into the settings and tweak the handling to your preferences).

Try these settings:

Braking: anti lock on
Steering: standard
Traction: on
Stability: on

That should get you about as close to Dirt 5 as it can get.
Just need to set the Drivatar difficulty to whatever level is appropriate for you 👍

Not too deep into the rally expansion yet, but so far... YES!

This feels like a big improvement over the base game (which feels kinda dull/dead).

Maybe one day we get a standalone Forza Rally game!

Also a city street racing Forza Metro (similar to PGR) would be nice too.

Now I want Lego F1 !

Assuming Redfall, Starfield and Motorsport were originally targeted for release last year 2022 (at least internally by MS, if not all publicly)... then where/what are the games that should have been coming in 2023 (that's probably have been pushed to 2024 or beyond? Everwild? Fable? Something else?

Love my Series X as a piece of hardware... but the games side has been a bit of a let down.
Loved Forza Horizon 4... but not 5
Loved Halo Infinite initially... but the maps they have subsequently added feel poor and half-arsed.
The previous Motorsport got pulled from gamepass AGES ago and still no firm date for the new one.
I suspect a new Gears is years away (guessing 2025 earliest).

I'm ok for gaming, as I have a lot of third party stuff keeping me busy.
But MS can't rest on a bunch of old gamepass games if they want people to stay loyal.
Hopefully Redfall and Starfield up the quality.
Then Phil needs to drive a better cadence for studio output (there's only so much of the delays you can blame on covid and I think the time for excuses is done).

@Kezelpaso
You definitely should try it again.
I didn't get on with it when I first tried it due to the building aspect of the game.
But, when they introduced the "zero build" mode... game changer (literally 😀).
It's so much fun in that mode.

Plus, the Unreal Engine 5 upgrade means it looks great.

Give me a huge and detailed city based map... Tokyo, London, New York, whatever, with lots street racing (a la Project Gotham).
It can still take detours into city patks etc to mix things up a bit.

Oh, yeah... and give us some "blur" mode races with power-ups.

This has to mean Game Pass cloud gaming becoming available on Switch.

I honestly can't see MS building scaled down versions of all CoD content to run locally on Nintendo hardware.

Imagine if in return one day we could get Nintendo cloud gaming becoming available on Xbox...

PGR (loved PGR1 on my OG Xbox and PGR4 on my 360).

Halo + UE5 ? Sounds good to me 👍👍👍

I am SO disappointed by the lack of an imminent arrival for Forza.
Guessing they are holding it back to sell Xbox bundles at Christmas.

Fox News: Entertaining the deranged since 1996.

I'm starting to think that MS won't be able to get this deal over the line.

I'm more than ok with that though... I would rather the money was spent on developing new IP at their current stable of studios.

All we want are the firm dates for Forza, Starfield and Redfall... they could do that in a tweet.

Roll it into gamepass and give us one game a month that we get to keep.
Doesn't have to be a new (or a AAA) game... something old-ish that people are no longer buying, but decent of quality, would fit the bill.