blinx01

@Krysus
I think even at 720p, Steam Deck would struggle majorly with Flight Sim due to being very heavy on the CPU usage.

@Grumblevolcano
It's not in Game Pass according to this article; https://www.windowscentral.com/crossfirex

The multiplayer is F2P and the campaign is included as part of a Premium Battle Pass at launch.
Remedy are doing the campaign and Xbox is working with Smilegate on the multiplayer and publishing the game for them.

I like the idea, but like the user above me said, it's more expensive for the middle model than a Series X or PS5 in the UK.
The base model is pretty pointless as you'd be lucky to fit one AAA game on 64GB and the storage is slow compared to the 2 higher models.

All the best to them though.
The idea of playing native Xbox and PlayStation PC ports on the go is a superb prospect.
Wouldn't shock me if Phil Spencer pushes even harder to get Game Pass on Steam now.

So you know how movies and TV basically transitioned over to be mostly part of big streaming services?
They still have options to actually purchase and own them either digitally or physically. Same for music.

So yes, you'd probably have less people buying games than now, but that's part of an industry evolving.
Developers will still get paid either method.

Do we know how much "streaming bandwidth" it requires?
Makes me wonder if this will struggle for people with lower internet speeds?

I wonder when it will launch?
October we have Battlefield, Nov probably COD and maybe late Nov/early Dec Halo Infinite.
Surely it needs to launch before those big franchises come out to not get lost?

For a portable this is an excellent bit of kit.
You can play Xbox PC games and PlayStation PC games on the go natively vs Cloud solutions.
MS just need to implement Game Pass within Steam and we are on to a winner for a proper native Xbox portable machine.

My main issue with the PS5 DualSense controller is the left analogue stick needs swapping positions with the d-pad.
The design hasn't been changed since the original PS1 DualShock, when d-pad was still heavily used for movement.
Makes it very awkward to play FPS games.

Other than that, a superb controller only outdone by the Xbox Elite Series 2 controller, which obviously costs a hell of a lot more.

@GamingFan4Lyf
Problem with that game is it played like a platformer from 20 years ago.
If Banjo is to be properly rebooted it needs to feel modern with a nod of the hat to the past games.

Not quite sure how they plan to approach this.
They obviously have no dev studios, so they have no chance of competing with Game Pass.
Relying on 3rd party devs as the only source of games is VERY costly, especially if they don't plan to increase the sub price of offer another tier...

@NEStalgia
I've played through all of FF 13 on my Series X and I didn't feel or notice any obvious frame drops.
I haven't played much of FF13-2 or Lightening Returns though, so can't comment on the performance there.

VR is still just a novelty experience and Phil Spencer knows that, hence he says they are watching everything unfold on Windows.

He also hits the nail on the head by hinting the worst thing you can do is lock an expensive device like a VR headset to a console, hence him mentioning Oculus Quest 2 as something they could potentially use with xCloud, meaning no console involved.

@LtSarge
Yep.
I think thanks to Game Pass, we are seeing more and more Japanese games coming to Xbox that we would have never seen otherwise.
Game Pass eliminates the worry about lack of game sales as they probably get money up front and any actual game sales are a nice bonus on top.
Fingers crossed for Persona on Xbox.

I wonder if they'll just drop the entire trilogy at once or drip feed them?
Lightening Returns is the last is the trilogy and the worst of the bunch.
FF 13 and 13-2 are actually really good games and feel like remasters with the One X enhancements.

I've already played Persona 5 Royal on my PS5 but I'd love it to come to more platforms.
Just look at the success the Yakuza series has had after being included in Game Pass on console and PC.
SEGA have already stated they want Atlus games to be multi-format and launch day and date worldwide going forward, so there is hope.
I'm sure Game Pass money will help increase the chances so they won't have to rely on purely game sales. Will also help them out big time for their marketing of the Xbox in Japan.

I think the writing was on the wall with the deafening silence from the devs until now.
Shame Xbox owners have to wait, but it is what it is.

£90?
So if your mates are stuck on last gen, this is the only way to play with them since there's no cross play. Brilliant...
Exactly the same with Battlefield 2042 as well.
Disgusting anti-consumer BS that I won't be supporting.

@awp69
Well, the PS4 version is in PS Now starting this month, so either Sony beat MS to the punch, or we'll get the Series X/S version at a later date to help promote sales for the sequel?

Or how about they just replace the main character like how Yakuza recently did?

@uptownsoul
Jez Corden isn't an insider, he's a reporter.
He has documents showing they are/were for sale and has shown them to other people.
That means the documents he has are probably outdated.
That or WB are being very coy.

Stick it up their backside.
I'll be skipping it this year.
Not paying £70 for an annual game.

@LtSarge
The other issue is that they did try to reive Banjo with 'Nuts and Bolts' on 360, but it wasn't what fans wanted from the series.
The other issue is a lot of the original Banjo team are at Playtonic now.
So I honestly think a different studio would have to take on Banjo, like with how The Initiative is taking on Perfect Dark.

@FatalBubbles
Here's a quote to debunk that;
"EVO's business developer, Mark Julio, took to Twitter after the acquisition to clear up that the tournament will still be open to all platforms".

Both would be great acquisitions in terms of what Game Pass is missing.
TT could be put on family friendly games like Banjo and Viva Pinata, or get the LEGO license directly and do LEGO versions of Xbox IPs.
NR could be put on a Killer Instinct game over maybe Mortal Kombat vs. Killer Instinct game.

Either way, if both are for sale, MS would be crazy to miss this opportunity.

Makes sense.
If they want to truly unify Xbox as an eco-system as consoles and PC, then you can't be charging customers to play online on one but not the other.
At the same time, they won't want to throw a big revenue earner out the window unless they have a replacement making up for that loss of money.
Maybe by 2023.

My personal GOTY so far.
Superb game with lots of replicability.
Hopefully the future DLC is story based on not Mercenaries, as that was the only let down of the game for me.

On the fence with this.
I also own a PS5 and this is only £53 digitally.
Not sure to buy on PS5 or just wait it out until it hits Game Pass next year.
Pretty much 50/50 between this and Tales of Arise for my September fix.

So tempted to use my MS Rewards to get the Tune Squad controller, but I'll resist the urge for now!

@UltimateOtaku91
Yep. It's 100% this.
They've probably seen the discontent from PlayStation fans recently and want to get them into the Cloud Gaming aspect at least to try it out considering it's $1/£1 for 3 months for new subscribers currently.

Very weird how it's just one game.
Expected another batch, even if it would be 10 or so.

" although only the Tune Squad variant will also be sold outside of North America"

Very disappointing.
Does the rest of the world not exist? LOL

RIP the AC franchise.
It was a run ride.

All I can say is for the FF7 Remake PS4>PS5 save file transfer and upgrade, I had to guide my friend step-by-step as he didn't have a clue! Sums it up really.

After the HUGE let down of The Avengers game and all the live service nonsense, this game caught me off guard.
They seemed to have nailed the personality of the characters and have avoided the 'cosplay' look The Avengers game suffered from.
Lots of games coming out around the launch of this, but I might pick it up if it reviews fairly decently.

Thanks Game Pass...
Not long finished Yakuza: LAD, now I'm 8 hours into Doom Eternal and now they drop this a day early.
I need more free time!

I can see them putting ads into any F2P games they have and trying to justify the reasoning, but after the UFC 4 fiasco, I doubt they'd risk putting them in actual retail games.

The issue for MS is they don't have any available studios to make these types of games.
You could argue Rare, but they seem to struggle to manage Sea of Thieves and Everwild.
So they either need to outsource or buy specialized studios.
They already have a few IPs like Banjo, Viva Pinata, Kameo etc.

@BearyBad
Thankfully, that seems to have changed since E3. Literally everything shown is being released in the next 12-18 months.

Unfortunately, Everwild seems to be a culprit of trying to build excitement for the brands future before the game is anywhere near close to being ready.

@FatalBubbles
No, due to it being an OG Xbox game.

I'm sort of bouncing between Doom Eternal and Conker on my Series X right now.
Can't believe how good Conker looks with those X enhancements for a 2005 game!
And Doom Eternal looks and feels superb with ray tracing at 60FPS. Brutal game though!

The way they speak is as if Halo has had a load of stinkers put out by 343.
Halo 4 is at 87 on Metacirtic released in 2012.
Halo 5 is at 84 on Metacritic, released in 2015.
We've not had a Halo game for 6 years.

The hype is there.
The entry barrier for the game is the lowest there's ever been for the series.
I'm confident 343 can deliver an amazing multiplayer experience. It's just the campaign I hope they pull off, since we've seen little of it.

Love this Reward Scheme.
Been doing it for about 3 and a half months after using my previous balance and I'm on just over 71,000.
That's from one 6,000 bonus for buying RE Village and all the rest are from the free elements like searches, quests etc.
Love it!

@ResoluteCustoms
£183 is actually about right at current prices.
For example, the Samsung 980 PRO 1 TB PCIe 4.0 M.2, which on paper meets the specs for use as an internal PS5 expandable storage (when activated and Sony confirm), is currently £180 on Amazon on offer vs £192 retail price. And that's a non-custom solution.

Luckily, if these are too expensive, you can just use a regular HDD/SSD and move games back and forth when needed.

@swedetrap
The problem I've found with Digital Foundry now they've 'made it big', is rather than focus on stuff viewers actually want to see, they've been given free reign to cover whatever they are interested in personally.
I find Thomas Morgan is the only one that covers the interesting stuff on DF these days.
For most other games, I have to go look elsewhere on Youtube, which is a shame.

Sony have the marketing deal and timed exclusive stuff with all COD games, so makes sense for both MS and EA to align with Battlefield.

@Krzzystuff
Search for the games in the store. They are available to download for free now.
Just downloaded Conker.

@CrazyJF
I'd assume they are still in the phase on investing to boost subscriber counts, but who knows for sure?

Last time we heard they had 23 million subscribers as of April 2021.
If we assume all of them are paying full price (they won't be, but that will be the long term goal), that would be almost £253 million a month in revenue.
Over £3 billion a year.

Honestly wouldn't surprise me if he Sarah Bond takes over eventually if she's still at Xbox by the time he retires.
She seems to be very instrumental in all things Xbox and was even featured in the Windows 11 reveal as part of the gaming segment.

All I can say is good luck to Blooper.
They have the talent but they've never had the budget, so hopefully Konami are helping them in that department.

And I just hope the Japanese dev on the other Silent Hill project is Tango Games.
Imagine a Silent Hill game directed by Shinji Mikami? Oh my...

@themightyant
Mostly due to sales on all those games ranging from 33% off to 50% off.

Sea of Thieves is 33% off on Steam plus the Pirates of the Caribbean free update launched.

Forza Horizon 4 is 50% off on Steam plus popularity boosted thanks to #5 shown at E3.

Halo MCC is 50% off on Steam plus probably hype of Halo Infinite at E3.

Not personally a fan of their games but I recognize quality.
Great news for the studio as it means financial stability and hopefully bigger budgets for future games.
Nice business from PlayStation.