Anxiouz
20-Jun-2023(#1)
I was wondering why Xbox chatter got quiet but I see the old thread got closed (due to lack of activity I presume?). Spinning this back up.
I'm excited about some of the Xbox stuff coming later this year (can't wait for Forza to finally get here!) but for my gaming tastes GP has been pretty terrible most of this year. My son is getting a lot of mileage out of it but he and his friends jump games a lot so it works out great and makes for a nice deal.
Archer
4-Apr(#161)Groo wrote:> Maybe they should drop forced support of the Xbox Series S.
>
> The Series X has been in the $300-$350 range New many times making the Series S key
> value $300 not a value. Instead MS doubled down and released a Series S 1TB for $350.
> Worthless from day 1.
Yeah, they are killing the XS because of the SS support. Its pathetic. I know the S is cheaper and more people bought it because of that. But it makes owning an X pointless. All games run way worse on the X than a PS5. Even their own games they just released on PS5 run better on PS5 than the damn X.
benstylus
* 4-Apr(#165)TalonJedi87 wrote:> And that’s probably all MS cares about at the end of the day. Those lucrative subs.
>
With the recent discussion that the game pass deals for developers have gotten a lot skimpier, I can't imagine they were actually making much money on it.
They just wanted the explosive growth and kept throwing money as the subs kept coming in, but now that things have hit a bit of a plateau, they have no idea what to do next. (Because apparently "make amazing games" is off the table)
ryanflucas
5-Apr(#169)I'm not too disappointed. Games still look good on my X.
Groo
5-Apr(#170)I am playing Hogwarts Legacy and Diablo 4 on mine. SX still Got the Green on the inside.
PizzaTheHutt
7-Apr(#174)TalonJedi87 wrote:> There’s still a handful in my collection that are missing from BC and
> I’m hoping that they’re going to once and for all just announce that every single
> game will be playable from Xbox and Xbox 360 on modern Xbox consoles.
I don't know if this means they're adding more games though. Back in 2021 they specifically said "we have reached the limit of our ability to bring new games to the catalog from the past due to licensing, legal and technical constraints." (technical being the games that require peripherals).
https://news.xbox.com/en-us/2021/11/15/70-new-back... Staraang
25-Apr(#179)Downloading it now. Fallen Order wasn’t perfect either but definitely was a lot of fun. I’m hearing good things about Survivor. I was playing RDR2 but going to pause that and play this because I only have a few months left on my GPU sub and not sure if I want to renew.
Simon_Belmont
27-Apr(#183)Staraang wrote:> Finally! Been waiting for Jedi Survivor to make it to Gamepass. Letting people here
> know in case they were considering buying it. Supposedly coming out on Thursday.
>
Is it less challenging/easier than the 1st game? I had to rage quit the 1st one because i got stuck on some of the more harder Souls-like sequences. I'd like get back into it with the sequel.
Staraang
27-Apr(#184)Simon_Belmont wrote:> Staraang wrote:
>> Finally! Been waiting for Jedi Survivor to make it to Gamepass. Letting people
> here
>> know in case they were considering buying it. Supposedly coming out on Thursday.
>>
>
> Is it less challenging/easier than the 1st game? I had to rage quit the 1st one because
> i got stuck on some of the more harder Souls-like sequences. I'd like get back into
> it with the sequel.
Didn’t try it yet, hope to be able to play this weekend. You should give the first one another whirl. I’m not even that great of a gamer but managed to muddle through it. You’re almost certainly a more hardcore gamer than me and can likely beat it if I can.
I would get frustrated too and had to try some sequences particularly boss battles repeatedly. I found the key is to build up your skills. Initially I tried over and over to beat some enemies when I first encountered them. Nearly ragequit myself until I realized some of them are nearly impossible until you’ve leveled up especially by acquiring some of the really powerful attacks.
I’ll try the 2nd game out and report back.
Staraang
28-Apr(#185)Alright, got to play Survivor some. Got past the first boss and it's overall quite similar in gameplay to the first game. Overall mechanics and controls are the same and just as good as ever. Some of the camera angle issues are still there but I know this was a bigger deal to others than me. The stances and new skills are cool. There haven't really been any significant puzzles yet. So far I wouldn't call the game especially difficult but a big part of that is I'm already familiar with the controls and some of the fighting tactics.
The thing that struck me most especially when I started the game is how the graphical detail of the environments has been improved. Coruscant looks amazing. So far I'm enjoying the story but it's really just getting started so we'll see how it goes.
benstylus
7-May(#189)Heavyd814life wrote:> The entire industry has a HUGE cost problem.
It seems to be pretty much entirely western studios getting axed.
Even when Japanese companies like Sony are cutting, you don't see news about anyone at Polyphony Digital for example facing job cuts. Instead you hear about Naughty Dog (American), Insomniac (American), Guerilla Games (Dutch), and London Studio (British).
Maybe it's not the entire industry that has the cost problem.
(Insert smug looking Nintendo picture here.)
DCGX
7-May(#192)Archer wrote:> Microsoft has shutdown four Bethesda studios, Arkane Austin, Tango Gameworks, Alpha
> Dog Games, and Roundhouse Studios. The closure of Arkane Austin, means the people
> who paid for the premium edition of Redfall will now not get the DLC they paid for
> (which is already over a year behind schedule). And Alpha Dog is the team who made
> all the modern Doom games. And Tango Gameworks is the team that made Hi-Fi rush,
> which was a massive hit. And Roundhouse is just being merged into Zenimax Online
> to work on ESO.
Alpha Dog only did the 'Mighty Doom' mobile game, not the reboot and 'Eternal.' I played about 10 minutes of 'Mighty Doom' before I couldn't take it anymore. Arkane Austin is a shock, but I think Tango Gameworks was heading this way already. Most everyone behind their major releases had already left, including the founder. Maybe there just wasn't enough creativity there anymore. I'm speculating of course.
I do agree there's a inflated budget problem, but I don't think it's just games. We've seen this in film for a couple of decades already.
I also don't think it's on the consumer either. The industry was a glut, especially the PS4/Xbox One era, with remasters and half-baked re-releases that no one asked for that big publishers were trying to make a quick buck on, and we're still seeing that a little. But new IPs just take time, AAA or not. That does lead to over-inflated budgets. That fact is, and this is more obvious in games than movies, tech is expensive. Games aren't hour long 2D hops from the 80s and 90s anymore that 10 or less people could make. To make a cinematic game takes a lot of tech and a lot of money. Though some indies are finding a better balance.
People complain about it, but I think SEGA has it right with the 'Like a Dragon' series. Sure there was some low moments and padding within certain entries, but for the most part, that whole series is at the top of cinematic story telling, with, for my money, some of the best narratives in gaming, but they reuse assets like there's no tomorrow. I'm guessing one of those games is a fraction of the cost to make than any of Sony's narrative games, yet their stories stand right next to them.
Feeb
7-May(#194)TalonJedi87 wrote:> I mean, I guess it’s the same application for the movie And film industry. Instead
> of creating new original ideas, they just are now relying on existing IP’s and
> rehashing and creating requels and reboots galore because it’s the safer route
> and they are simply banking on peoples nostalgia. And let’s get real folks, Nostalgia,
> like sex, sells and is one hell of a drug.
Entertainment is the opium of the people. It is the blue pill of a soulless world.
Slickriven
7-May(#195)This is unfortunate for those involved, but I don't see how it's much different vs. what's been happening to EA, Embracer, Square-Enix and others, i.e. I don't think explicitly blaming M$ nor the merger with Bethesda made this worse necessarily. Seems likely that Bethesda and ActBlizKing were going to shrink anyhow. Not absolving crummy execs either, plenty of blame to go 'round. The pandemic caused studio's to grow and demand for games went up when the world was in lockdown, that ended, economy hasn't recovered, games are absurdly expensive to make, especially when trash like SBI and Blackrock DEI crap gets crammed into the mix. Plus overall gaming is likely shrinking a bit for a number of different reasons. Not trying to open the DEI/SBI can here, but it's a growing factor in the industry and right or wrong, lots of gamers are rejecting it and that's having effects on sales.
Specifically for these 3 studios:
Arkane Austin - Redfall was a huge screwup for a very hyped game that surely M$ and Bethesda wanted/expected more out of. Prey and Dishonored earned them a rep that they completely tarnished with Redfall.
Tango Gameworks - Hi-Fi Rush was solid and their previous The Evil Within games were good too, but Hi-Fi should've gone to PS5 sooner and like someone else said, the founder left and surely many other key talents followed him.
Alpha Dog Games - Mighty Doom was alright, it was a phone game so what does one expect. I played it a good while ago but I simply don't spend real $$ on mobile games.
Bleed_DukeBlue
* 7-May(#197)Redfall was not that bad. It was worse than Dishonored 2, and the expectations were too high for Redfall to meet them, but it was fun. It’s even less of a big deal given that it was on Game Pass day one. Arkane Austin deserved better.
Anxiouz
7-May(#198)I just read that Alan Wake 2 still hasn't recoop'd it's dev costs. I feel that it being digital-only significantly impacted sales, but general consensus seems rather positive for the game and it sold well enough. But this would have sunk other studios. That's a pretty scary business to be in.
Hi-Fi Rush is great, and I can't imagine that studio is all that big? But if profits weren't strong enough MS just doesn't want the risk and with hardware tanking, and all that spent acquisition money, they need to build a bit of a war chest.
DCGX
7-May(#199)Anxiouz wrote:> I just read that Alan Wake 2 still hasn't recoop'd it's dev costs. I feel that it
> being digital-only significantly impacted sales, but general consensus seems rather
> positive for the game and it sold well enough. But this would have sunk other studios.
> That's a pretty scary business to be in.
I loved the first 'Alan Wake,' but I still primarily purchase physical and I know a vocal minority spoke out against the choice of digital only. That said, I fully expect a physical release once all the DLC is out. What really hurt AW2 was being an Epic Store exclusive. Not being on Steam is was really hindered its sales. I wonder if they count the money they got from Epic as part of re-couping devs costs or not. I'm guessing not.
> Hi-Fi Rush is great, and I can't imagine that studio is all that big? But if profits
> weren't strong enough MS just doesn't want the risk and with hardware tanking, and
> all that spent acquisition money, they need to build a bit of a war chest.
I played this on Game Pass, like most. I'm guessing, over the past year, Microsoft is finding that putting these games on Game Pass is severely affecting sales and the breakdown of subs is not making up the cost difference. It's another game that I would've bought physically in a heart beat, and was excited for the announcement from Limited Run Games that they will be doing the physical, even if it is LRG. Hopefully that still happens. I understand the thought process of having smaller games being perfect for a subscription service, I agree with that to an extent, but it doesn't seem to be worth the cost even with smaller budgets. Who knows at this point. I think Microsoft has worked themselves into a corner with Game Pass. That I could've told them from early on.