kuu_nousee

We are in full on GamePass Ultimate nonstop game drops. Oblivion remake being real and Doom looking too good to pass up. Converting my Core time to Ultimate will just save me too much money now.

If we get some physical editions with full games on disc(s) I'll consider buying later whatever is found out.

@BacklogBrad having reservations is one thing with a spotty dev but with the way you said it would only make sense from someone that never preorders anything consoles, games, nothing.

ID quality is up there with some of the best with gameplay. Length, pace, bosses, melee/movement systems, music are the only variables here.

It will be one of the most optimized games released also, ID is up there with Sucker Punch, Kojima, and Nintendo EAD. Weird to go after ID of all Microsoft devs.

Got mine delivered today already. It's easily the best looking custom controller I've seen since the Rise of the Tomb Raider custom 360 controller.

Standard controller is one for the best controllers this whole generation. The Wrap and the Elite.. I dunno how they left the design stage. And the standard gets DLC the other two don't get...fine with me as only one worth buying here.

The age old problem related to America and Microsoft being an an American country: Extreme violence is acceptable but any sight of too much skin is a red flag.

Can't we finally grow up?

I think incentivising publishers using it should have been the plan all only if they were moving to win32 apps for Xbox and PC. This is more 'a little too late' as it is a great idea but just very poor execution.

They have been dragging their feet too long and being able to play Xbox console games natively on PC (when every hardware moves to being a PC Windows and it will) is going to be an extreme pain point for customers. Right now it looks like they have no solid plan.

A key (game disc) is one thing that helps resell of course but there is a huge reasons why PS5 and Switch are very popular worldwide: full playable game builds in a sold box (disc/card).

Xbox is almost skipping this exclusively for 1st party and most of third party now too. Most discs are only 50GBs too so that means if Xbox game builds are on disc it's multiple with means disc swapping for installation too.

Xbox brand is on the death knell of physical media, and it sucks.

The only obvious ones are God of War and The Last of Us games.
Maybe Sackboy.

PC-
The First Bersker Khazan demo to finish or until early access is available then continue.
XBOX-
Maybe finish up Elden Ring SotE too.
Ps5-
More Death Stranding or nothing.
Switch-
F-ZERO 99 or nothing.

Besides Doom TDA & NJ4 there is nothing I want announced by Microsoft except in the "Upcoming" area. So basically next generation console territory. No reason for me to have GamePass Ultimate unless we get a continuous investment in brand new indies.

Yep this also @Contimaloris for PlayStation Studios too. Death Stranding 2 is the only thing in the short-term I care about and it will soon be to PC (and maybe Xbox?).

And we are a few weeks away from knowing if Nintendo stockpiled games/IPs for Switch 2 launch or are they gonna be dry on exclusives for the next year or two.

@Kilamanjaro 1TB is a death knell for a console in 2026/2027/2028.

Minimum 1.5tb but more than likely 2tb for the base SSD. Games are consistently becoming larger and larger.

I'd hope we get a 1tb for handheld and 2tb for console. With a higher tier console with a 4tb SSD. Especially in 2027 or later.

Store is great generally, Search is super fast, "desktop" main place of interaction well, it sucks. It's different than PS and Nintendo just worse.

Seamus rarely has been wrong, especially about Xbox brand or hardware and this proves it.

Hopefully they go all in on a wide but decently powerful ARM (CPU) + Nvidia or Intel (GPU) for the next Xbox. Something like this type of future hardware and interesting software features I think that will also translate great to a portable machine like a Switch as well at low end parts/speeds.

The only tricky thing is emulation from x86 to ARM of previous generations. If they go AMD all in APU like now or PS6 I'll just skip unless there is something extremely compelling with software. PlayStation now has a technology (pssr) that they will continue which Xbox doesn't have. Hard times for Xbox leaning too much on GamePass, lack of physical, and borderline no exclusives. I have hundreds of digital and disc Xbox games (300-400) but I need something really compelling to keep buying their new platforms/games next gen.

Fall 2002 me with a PC & PS2 only came to college to find tons of people were playing Halo LAN in dorms. Learned how to use a Duke, started to wipe the floor more than half the matches either 1st or 2nd in FFA games and bought me an Xbox Dec 2002.

Started byying most games on Xbox moving forward (some on PC or PS exclusives) and here we are at the crossroads of the brand 22 years later.

Good for the silly discourse that has been happening over the last 4 years.

But I find it incredibly stupid for the long-term image of the brand not having any game exclusives, besides what came/is from past consoles.

It's almost like that Xbox brand is frozen in time and the new Xbox brand is a "3rd party game making hardware having platform/store for game entitlements" brand. Don't dislike it really but it makes me not interested in their future.

Agreed and agree with most here "the content and pages" are great. The base navigation that's a total other story and could be completely overhauled and gutted.

Perfectly fine as long as you DON'T loose next generation console buyers, lower than expected current generation console buyers and GamePass subs dewindling.

All are pointing towards all are happening on top of that no real exclusives moving forward, also the outlook for disc game releases almost non-existent for Xbox, and they continue to be the worst at being a platform for streaming locally and via cloud vs their competition.

The only positives going for Xbox are good/great games happening and most newer 1st party and some 3rd party with PlayAnywhere. They still have so much to fix.

Easily the best game shown and potentially best game this year (if GTA6 slips).

Very glad Microsoft is taking Ninja Gaiden a serious IP still for Xbox in general. The other games looked pretty good as well.

Best showing of games in a show for Xbox in 5+ years.

Expecting Dragon Quest XII since it's logical game coming not released.

I hope it's Ninja Gaiden though as a another reboot in 3D makes the 'moat sense' for a Japanese Xbox game first announced for Xbox. It would be more exciting for more people overall.

I thought this was known, guess not officially via foundational testing.

Multiple new leaks are no 2026 isn't happening.
Sony is ahead of design and Microsoft hasn't committed to hardware design.

Unless these new leaks are planted by Microsoft to throw everyone off from their true plans of course.

@TheGameThrifter this is where I'm at also. Sure they still can make a handheld but why would/should they unless they are just "doing anything and everything" for profits?

I'd bet the R&D for a handheld is still quite costly though.

Since Xbox doesn't make exclusive games anymore they should/better/forced do so by Microsoft to make some profits. Xbox hardware isn't, and GamePass is slowly sliding away from them.

Switch 5 & PS5 added for MCC software.

Some of the last decent 1st party AAA exclusive games to be honest. Good to remember more exciting times. This year is the turnaround year for Xbox 1st party games with a glimpse of it in late 2024, sucks all the exclusives are now no more due to horrific marketing and deals for years. Let's just hope they don't fumble being a 3rd party publisher.

Exoprimal and Insurgency are 2 big losses.
I'd rather lose Hellblade 1&2 than those two games.

I'm sure if Xbox didn't buy Activision/Blizzard they would be the #1 buyer.

If Sony bought they just make games exclusive, Nintendo doesn't make sense with their hardware class, and someone like Valve doesn't align too much.

I think EA and Ubisoft together could be "better" situation than most if Ubisoft needs to be purchased. The best case is someone completely a private buyer if it has to happen.

It's about time. Final Fantasy 16 is whatever imo as it isn't a very good FF game.

Final Fantasy 7 Remake, Rebirth, and maybe the third game day one is very exciting as the first two are great games. Even if I personally had some issues with both.

Better have PlayAnywhere or I expect Xbox Series X discs for retail. No excuses Square and Microsoft no ***** around anymore.

If Doom TDA, South of Midnight, and any of the following: Gears E-DAY, Perfect Dark, or Fable are all in 2025 along with a new Call of Duty then that's a pretty big year for Microsoft Games Studio and the Xbox brand.

Yep just allow all Xbox disc games to be used on Series X in BC. That's it, there's the past IT JUST WORKS.

Yep that's what happens when you buy a service. Just common sense.

I'm done with GamePass (Ultimate) just buy the games new disc for console or discounted keys if they are Play Anywhere for console/PC.

To be honest there won't do anything (besides old PC games only on the Xbox PC app, not even on Xbox console).

Likely the only thing coming is another Call of Duty ..maybe.

@FraserG I get that but the biggest reason to move to another generation is CPU change. Which the PS5 Pro did not do of course. Also likely the biggest reason why Xbox didn't besides the original S & X start of gen plans and the huge slowdown of console sales in the last year.

"Prime" is probably just the internal codename like "Scarlett" was. We got a Xbox One X name instead.

Also PS5 Pro is just a RDNA3.5 GPU and with a year of 2026 Microsoft could get a full RDNA4 GPU (since it will release on PC within Q1/2 2025) plus having future hardware and features from UDNA graphics generation from AMD and their own custom hardware Microsoft engineers wants to include. AMD has a history of allowing future hardware and features for both PlayStation and Xbox consoles.

Will it be less than $500 USD? Yeah no way, it will probably be $599 USD without a disc drive in fall 2026, if it makes 2026 and not slip to 2027.

It needs to be at least Hall Effect or hopefully TMR sticks. If so and most of these features pan out it's a great start versus what Series consoles had as a standard controller.

I'm looking for more software and hardware surprises even more wild than Quick Resume to keep Xbox console owners.... you know Xbox console owners next generation. Otherwise it's PC/Switch 2, PC/PS5->PS6, PS5->PS6/Switch 2 for most people.

After all these years (almost 2 generations) just like ~15 exclusives. I really hate to say this but Xbox is just a island PC in a console box.

Without some big incentive to get an Xbox console next gen the console space for Microsoft is a total loss moving forward. I need more than GamePass and more than just some games being PlayAnywhere. If we are going fully digital we need all new Xbox games to work on the new console and PC, no exceptions. We need digitally 'owned' OG Xbox, 360, One, Series games to be playable on PC as well. Without exclusives you need other big reasons to keep spending money on this ecosystem.

Been here since almost the start of the Xbox brand and beta tested Xbox Live this is feeling like they are wanting to become a 3rd party company without a dedicated console.

@Lup it was top 5 for me this year, but also majority of gamers don't buy physical media like me either so...yeah.

We live in an age of most games that are AA-AAA games are by third parties and land in a middle ground where the divide is large for ranking games from #10 though #4 of top 10 games every year. This was bound to happen one good/great game is completely missing/shafted.

Next generation 'Xbox' branded console hardware is likely the LAST 'Xbox' console. Either the brand will fade into irrelevance vs Nintendo & Sony (& Steam for that matter) or move to branded 'GamePass' branding for hardware.

I'd be shocked if we even have an Asus, HP, Acer , etc. branded 'Xbox' "console sized'/portable PC after 'next-gen Xbox'/PS6 generation.

The only exception for this is Microsoft just eats all the cost and losses on extremely low sales on hardware.

Don't care, just release either games that have been delisted (Activision Marvel or Transformers games) or actual new games to the Xbox ecosystem.

@Steel76 this is exactly what I've tried to explain to people. Yes Series and PS5 have been good from launch until year 2 or 3 but consoles are NOTHING like they used to be during 360/PS3/Wii and before. At a likely halfway or further already in life we are set to have seen mostly the best graphics available on this hardware.

Now everything is spec'd out COMMON PC parts as semi-custom APUs based on laptop CPUs with desktop-like GPUs smashed into the APU.

This means there is very little time on 'waiting to see what developers do'. Unless a new game engine optimizes features for consoles or a developer builds a brand new in house engine to cater to consoles we hit the peak within the last year (year 3) into the generation. If Unreal 5 only beefs up new features (which require even more powerful hardware) the consoles won't be able to take advantage until a 'next gen consoles' happen.

This is why I don't understand why people wait to buy into next generation consoles. They don't get price cuts like 10-20 years ago and the highest graphics potential happens within the first few years (sure games of equal or slightly better could happen in a year 5/6/7/etc) so there is nothing to really wait on, especially with backwards compatibility is included with previous generation games.

@Sol4ris you can or don't even have to be a GamePass subscriber and we get small ads AND console turning on to FULL SCREEN ads to games you did buy, have access to via GamePass, or will never buy.

I hate the ads on the Xbox with an absolute passion. It almost makes me want to just go into offline mode so the ads cannot load.

Let's just be real here too this means screw you to most if not all new games getting physical releases even though the most powerful Xbox has a disc drive.

Can't have one great thing (GamePass) without destroying something (disc games) else unlike how PlayStation & Nintendo operate. They both sell plenty of digital games but still give OPTIONS for most games released new.

Rough, but here we are most Xbox gamers don't care about ownership. So he's not wrong, it is what it is and we miss out.

The biggest game known for 2025 on Xbox (Avowed is there but seems more AA) and it's directly on PS5. It's fine since the first one was on PlayStation but after Indiana Jones this month and playing Flight Sim 2024 here and there why would I turn on my Xbox? A disc game here or there for a 3rd party release is likely all. Very few disc Xbox games these days so the dust might be collecting very soon.

@Tainted I'm glad to hear others think it is a 9/10. Isn't that a good thing? Some select people don't think it is, o well. The only solution for 'fixing' reviews are group reviews for sites with a collective score to get a balance... Otherwise again subjective and don't treat one site as the end all be all for alignment of everyone's opinions.

@FraserG This is one article I didn't expect to blow up here tbh for a popular IP for first party on GamePass with great performance on console and not the worst review if you omit just the score. It still seems like it's worth playing for fps or Indy fans, especially with other sites reviews taking into consideration as well.

I'm more pissed off the physical copy is one 50gb disc and not multiple so the full game isn't playable without a download (likely full redownload of the whole game). That's WAY more of an 'issue' than a review score.

Much better than the past 2-3 years, mainly just due to to BLOPS6, FS2024, Stalker2, and Indy all smashed into the fall of 2024.

Sucks I gave up after spending money for ultimate for years mainly just playing through the Yakuza series. That is the only thing I don't regret with the sub. Hey at least everyone now benefits, I'm too far gone to be paying their Ultimate sub. They burned me for too long so I'm back to buy what I want and discs only.

For Xbox? They could announce the next console but with what is going on with supply, China banning some imports, potential tarrifs for US incoming... I don't think we will have anything shown at all. Only thing that would make sense is maybe more on Gears E-Day or Doom The Dark Ages with potential release dates.

Pretty much everyone preaching what I've said on and off since forever. The worry this gen of current gen games on disc for Xbox games is the last/end. Next gen might have an external disc drive (extra cost) for previous gen games but sounds like that's it at best. If they do any games on disc next gen I'll be completely and utterly shocked then I'll be there for the console to support it.

GamePass 'poisoned the well' for game sales and well more specifically disc Xbox game sales. The less disc based releases happened the less now newer games came to disc so then "Smart Delivery" games are primarily happening with cross gen lasting way too long without Series X builds on a single 50gb disc and here we are in "Xbox Series gen disc botched hell" for new disc releases. You have to go to doesitplay, looked at a reddit list someone put together with community help for testing since doesitplay barely bothers with Xbox, or just take the chance with buying and finding out how bad a new game "on disc" ends up for each release that does make it to disc for Xbox.

Rarely are Series X games full playable start to finish without the internet nowadays for a large download due to the 50gb disc limit unless the publisher pays for 2-4 discs printed. Which happens but not often. Especially 1st party games that you want to keep but nope Microsoft cheaps out to save a few dollars per copy on games Halo Infinite and Starfield without multiple discs, just absolutely shameless.

Microsoft takes 30% of the cut from publishers on the Xbox store itself.....you put your store on another store that's what is going to happen.

Literally any game stuck at 30fps.
If the power is there on console why also end at 60fps give us 120fps upgrades.
End of story.