VideoGame_Discussion

Get the Xbox Elite controller if you can. I love mine, and I have two of them, one for each of my consoles. I like the weight of the controller, there’s a ton of customization options, and the obvious high quality of the controller. I did have the left bumper issue on one of my controllers, but that was 3 years after I bought it, and a local retro game store fixed me right up for $40. Still recommend the controller.

BucketofJustice wrote:

Thanks. I did end up ordering a red Elite 2 core controller, didn't want to miss out on the $96 sake price. I'll order a third party paddle pack from Amazon.

Hell yeah. Let me know how you like it once you get it.

The Robocop game is super on sale, but only on Xbox and only as part of a the Microsoft "Countdown" promotion. Previous games from these Countdown sales made it to Gamepass days or weeks after the sale.
Is it safe to presume that Robocop will end up on Gamepass or should i jump on this deal?

Same thing with Modern Warfare III, it's the cheapest i've ever seen a new release COD game so close to its original release date. I know there's a higher probably of COD coming to Gamepass due to the Activision/Blizzard deal going into effect Jan 1st. Would Microsoft bring COD to Gamepass as a giant F YOU to Sony?

Any thoughts or suggestions would be appreciated.

Also, if you took advantage of having PC Game Pass ( i did, there's a couple games on there that i don't have to buy on Steam now)...you can Gift 5 of your friends a 14 day trial with a $5 Microsoft gift card.
That's a nice gesture from Microsoft

M$ did say that CoD and Activision games in general would not come to GP right away. We all know they'll come eventually, but when and how (all at once, over time, rolling, will any show up in the base package, etc) is yet unknown.
Activision was well known for keeping the price of new games higher and avoiding good sales for a months after release, so MW3 being on sale so soon likely is more a sign of M$ ownership and possibly a reaction to the poor reception of the very short campaign, vs a sign is coming to GP... But that's purely a speculative guess on my part.

I'm with you though on really disliking buying a game that goes on GP or is a freebie from some service before I play it.

BucketofJustice wrote:

I love it. Why oh why did I wait so long?? Prime delivery is sucking right now so I got a set of the Scuf paddles, since that's all I could get within the 2 days (actually got them next day), and I'm trying to get used to not hitting the paddles on accident. The Scuf's are smaller and shaped different from the OEM paddles so they can be flipped and used in slots other than designed for. I'll probably use just 2 paddles for a while to adjust. So glad I got the Elite Series 2 though.

I’m glad you like it. It’s probably my favorite controller of the generation, and maybe all time. There’s a couple nit picks, but really that’s all it is and they feel great to hold and use. I keep the paddles on the back but I don’t have a profile on most of the time, so it doesn’t really matter.

https://www.ign.com/articles/microsoft-can-now-be-...

Xbox ceo says Microsoft can now be a multiplat publisher. Not quite saying the inevitable corollary.

Feeb wrote:

People who buy Xbox hardware from this point forward are suckers?

Or there won't be Xbox hardware from this point forward?

benstylus wrote:

Yes.

I love it, been saying this for YEARS!! But I was brushed off as some looney toon. Though I mentioned this before GP was even a thing, it just makes more sense now that it is. GP to be sustainable needs to be on everything it can... You you need to branch out and fine other sources of revenue to make up for the limited reach GP would have. The GP model right now is NOT sustainable. I think MS is better positioned as a 3rd party then 1st.

I’m not up on the details of the CoD stipulations. But I’m pretty sure there are some roadblocks to just saying “everyone pays for GP for CoD?” This is kinda the reason it met resistance. No one wants to do that.

Hmm was hoping/expecting more of an uncharted style gameplay with Indiana Jones. Definitely didn’t sell me on the game at all, but I’m not a big Indiana jones fan. Combat looked meh

Finn wrote:

Realistically, they could keep gamepass proprietary to Xbox / PC and make people buy the games on other platforms if they wanted to. MS can afford to play the very long game.

If they did that, then the future of Xbox is 100% digital starting with the next generation or possibly a mid-gen digital-only refresh. Next gen or the one after that I imagine they would be pushing hard for cloud everything too.

Gamepass on PS4 or Switch seems like it would be DOA. Right now, neither Sony or Nintendo want MS to compete against their subscription service on their own platform, so if it is ever allowed, Sony and Nintendo would be getting a significant cut of that $.

the definition of parasitism.

This new Indy game looks awesome! Developed by Wolfenstein devs too. Troy Baker as Indy also.

https://youtu.be/htGnW6YNPjs?si=aNL8W74CR3E9ZkRF

benstylus wrote:

I don't know if MS is all that keen on playing that long game though. They have lots of money sure, but how long do you want to bleed or prop up a model that is un-sustainable? I think for sure having some games come to other platforms will help open up other revenue streams... GP is great for the consumer but ultimately I don't trust it.

I think GP on other platforms would work but not like it currently is. I think for it to work on other platforms it has to offer just MS games and not other games, I think what can push Sony and MS away is if non MS first party games show up on GP then you are basically cannibalizing sales. If you just put MS games on a service and offer it at a competitive price it's a win win. Sony and Nintendo make some cash and MS has more subscribers, basically opens up another revenue stream for MS and Nintendo and Sony make money of something that otherwise would not be there.

TalonJedi87 wrote:

And Todd Howard is exec producing it, the director of Wolfenstein New Order and Youngblood is behind it. I'm digging the gameplay, combat looks great.
It looks like it's 3rd person during exploration and 1st during combat, which i absolutely love, i wish more games would do this.
Its set between Raiders and Last Crusade, seeing Marcus in the trailer actually brought tears to my eyes. I love him in the series and the actor was a great man.

Shane12m wrote:

It is.
Exploration, puzzles, and interactions etc (like rope swings ) are in 3rd person like Uncharted and combat is in First Person.

"Players control Indy as they navigate through a mix of linear, story-sensitive areas and wider, exploratory landscapes. Combat can either be directly engaged with or circumvented entirely through the use of stealth mechanics, and the character's signature whip can be used as both a weapon, or as a means for traversing across obstacles, and solving various puzzles to uncover alternate paths and obscured collectibles."

Indiana Jones and the Great Circle looks very promising! But Senua's Saga: Hellblade II has my full attention at the moment. The first game was great, and I think this sequel is poised to be better with all of the additional funding that Microsoft has. Disappointed that there will be no physical release, but I am not surprised. Avowed also looks solid!

2024 should be a good year for Xbox studios!

Just realized the new Indy game will be Xbox and PC exclusives. Sony is probably eating their hat right about now. Until that Wolverine game by Insomniac comes out that is.

Ehh. They’ll probably just drop another uncharted remake.

Finn wrote:

They've been propping up Xbox since the early 2000s despite never getting any kind of foothold for the Xbox ecosystem in the Asian markets. That's a huge market not to be competing in.


It's great for a certain kind of consumer right now, but I think bad for consumers in general in the long run.

Look at what has happened with video streaming. Dozens of services out there and to watch everything you want, you have to subscribe to multiple, or binge on one service then switch to another, etc. So either you are paying as much as you would have to just buy the stuff, or you have a part time job managing your subscriptions to make sure you are using, pausing, etc. each service at optimal times or you are just throwing away money.

TalonJedi87 wrote:

Another M rated Wolverine game would be fantastic.
That Wolverine Origins game was great. 100 times better than the movie.

Heck yeah. I replayed the Wolverine Origins game so many damn times in the early 2010’s. And I think they said they got approval from Marvel to make the new Wolverine game M.

TalonJedi87 wrote:

Oh my gosh, that's awesome. It was wishfull thinking but it looks like you're on the money.
https://gamerant.com/marvels-wolverine-m-rating-co...

Ya and from what I watched of the gameplay of the leak it’s gonna be brutal. I hope they have him regenerate on the fly too. That was so rad in the Origins game.

benstylus wrote:

True, but that does not mean it’s going to last forever, they have also said that if GP can’t make the subscriber threshold they have set out that they could pull out of the market. That tells me that there is definitely a time limit.

Finn wrote:

They just paid 68.7 billion dollars to buy Activision, buy far the highest dollar acquisition of a video game company ever.

For context, the second biggest acquisition was Take Two buying Zynga for 12.7 billion. The MS/Activision deal was nearly five and a half times that.

They ain't pullin' out anytime soon.

benstylus wrote:

Just repeating what was said. They have a number they want to hit and they want growth. The GP model has to have growth in active accounts or it fails. It's even bigger now because of the acquisition. I believe MS said that if this move does not bring in the numbers they wanted they would indeed pull out out... I think think they would rethink things. I would bet they would leave hardware and focus on selling software personally.

I maybe wrong, but I did say for awhile that MS should go multi plat, said it more when GP came out... it makes more sense, to be successful it means MS has to shift from 1st to 3rd party. They are starting to do it now. It's only a matter of time before it fully happens IMO. It feels as though MS could see the writing on the wall.

Microsoft lays off 1,900 workers, nearly 9% of gaming division, after Activision Blizzard acquisition

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/other/microsoft-lay...

To be fair, layoffs are expected after a big merger, as there would probably be quite a bit of duplication of staff to be integratred.

The Riot Games layoffs are the bigger story IMO.

https://www.riotgames.com/en/news/2024-rioter-upda...

League of Legends alone brings in nearly 2 billion dollars a year. Even with that Riot isn't immune

This however is a little concerning....

https://www.thegamer.com/xbox-digitial-only-micros...

Finn wrote:

This is definitely something I expected but not quite this soon. I thought they would wait for their mid-gen Pro Xbox Series console which would be all digital and then kill off their physical releases at that time.

The upcoming XSX refresh isn't going to be a Pro model, and it loses the disc drive. I don't know why they'd even bother with doing that. We throw in old BC discs more than anything in ours.

They’re probably also doing this if true to keep costs down. I usually balk at $70 AAA disc based games now and wait for a price drop. And as much as I don’t care for digital mostly I’ll concede to paying $10 or so less digital than for the disc if push comes to shove.

TalonJedi87 wrote:

They aren't going to lower digital game prices because they want you to gamepass

I’m not sure why MS is hellbent on dying on this gamepass hill. Maybe because they’re buying up the entire non first party catalogue? At this point they’re just shoving it down our throats.

Yeah but once game pass becomes like a $30-40 dollar a month premium who’s really going to use it as much? Even at the rate it’s at now I only subscribe for like 3 months out of the year and gorge myself on all the games available I want to play at the time then say peace out for another 8-10 months.