Julius

...and now box contents and model numbers have leaked from Hong Kong. Any month now...maybe...

There ain't no party like a GameXplain Analysis party:

So, there's a mysterious PAX event scheduled to start at 00:00 BST next Saturday (the 19th), currently titled 'Sony Holder'. Could be nothing, could be VR-related, could be anything. Could be a placeholder time. But with TGS starting the following week, as well as Xbox's Series pre-orders going live that week too, you would think something is on the way, and this seems to be the biggest hint so far that there might be some sort of event next week for the PS5. Again: could be nothing. But fingers crossed that's not the case.

My question is what the penalty is you do go to another household? That there aren't fixed fines and other potential penalties for breaking these rules just shows how much of a mess it's all been over here compared with other countries, we haven't taken things all too seriously. Also the fact that I'm only just learning this and am close by to Birmingham...there have to be better ways to keep people in the loop. The British summer mentality shines through in the strangest ways, didn't think it would in a pandemic but That's pretty much what the UK needs in a nutshell. I'm amazed no country has pushed surveillance harder than seems to be the case at the moment around the world when it comes to tracking COVID (apart from countries which were already unfortunately at that position pre-COVID). If there was ever a time(/excuse) to have comprehensive surveillance installed, now would be the time. I don't think we know either I'm guessing it's some politician who knows absolutely squat about control measures for a pandemic, and didn't pay enough attention when they were advised to not relax things, or pay much closer attention than they have done. But seriously, aside from all that, what a surprise that our figures spike when we force people to go back to school/college/uni in the middle of a pandemic, where they also have zero enforcement of rules relating to face masks, distancing, etc. Not to mention everywhere they pass by/through on the way to and from school, with all the small shops that have tried to open back up now they've gone back to school, to try to stay in the black. Who could have possibly known?

The update on the 26th will be part of Koei Tecmo's Tokyo Game Show panel, with that segment of their panel starting at 14:00 BST: The panel actually kicks off at 21:00 JST / 13:00 BST, but the first half is dedicated to KT's new Atelier title, with the second half turning the focus to Age of Calamity. I have to imagine that Nintendo/KT will release a separate summary video after the end of the panel.

Gone gold! Just a few weeks now. Not sure how long I'll put into the online, but looking forward to digging into the campaign - however short it is - all the same!

Speaking to Entertainment Tonight, Ewan McGregor has said that Kenobi - as far as he's aware - will only be a standalone season, with shooting starting in Spring next year. I really hope that's the case. A focused, standalone season, with a set story to tell about Obi-Wan at this point. That's what I've been hoping for since it was announced, so fingers crossed!

Longer walkthrough with some gameplay: Some previews have just gone up too:

Switch version coming down the road..? Apparently got deleted shortly after, but it's been spotted elsewhere on the site and during the game's promotion too. Also, this is pretty neat. Comes with the original 1989 game! And those screenshots look a little better.

It's back!

Heavily rumoured the last few weeks, and it's here. Looks pretty rough...

Well, looks like those rumours about a title change were right. Game is now titled Immortals Fenyx Rising. Oh and it's releasing 3rd December 2020. Trailer from Ubisoft Forward: Not a big fan of the new title... Got a (short) deep dive into the game too: Quite liking the art style of the world though, definitely getting those Breath of the Wild vibes.

Next Night City Wire is actually next Friday on the 18th: Guessing the one at TGS on the 26th might just be a recap on everything for the Japanese audience, or something like that?

Neat video giving a bit of a closer look:

Yeah, I'm really curious about this too. There have been whispers of another event since even before the event in June, but the rumours around that always seemed to be centred more on software than hardware. That being said, we're still waiting for that teardown Cerny mentioned way back during the Road to PS5 video (obviously, plans might have changed since) and a better look at the UI. I think there are still exclusive announcements they have yet to reveal, not necessarily for launch or even specifically in the launch year, such as any potential revival of a Konami IP with their backing, or something like Final Fantasy XVI. It might be a little ways off, but I mean, so was VII Remake when that was announced, and that's always been SE's thing. Whether or not any of these actually get announced before launch, though, I'm not sure. We have TGS in a few weeks, but honestly, I feel like it would be best to let the system launch and then have an event to bring in 2021 and give us a better look of what's on the horizon. Didn't they have something similar with PS4 around launch too which revealed Uncharted 4? So, I think it's tough to predict. I think PlayStation are probably better positioned than Xbox (in terms of social media presence - we saw the crazy numbers for the logo and controller) to just drop the prices on social media, but that just doesn't feel like something they'd do (especially if they're going to try anything like go under the Series X price with both versions - though I doubt it). I think a streamed event with a focus on the launch lineup, showing some in-depth gameplay of Spider-Man: Miles Morales and whatever else is going to be there on Day 1, and then ending with the prices of the console and a date for pre-orders to go live would be the best way to get all eyes on them again. But again, I don't think it's a necessity. Which I think makes it even more exciting to see what they choose to do. As for price, as @Sheikah and @will' mentioned, they're going to sell at a loss at launch, especially now. I don't think they'll take as much of a loss as Xbox (because they don't need to), but even in terms of production, I imagine they have plenty of deals to limit costs, purely because they've got another console likely to soar right on by the 100 million consoles sold mark in 5 years or so. Who wouldn't want in on that? But hasn't practically every console - I mean, very specifically here though, every PlayStation console - been sold at a sizeable loss at launch? It's the razor and blade model which has worked so well in this industry, and as has been mentioned plenty of times before, having a Digital Edition only puts them in a better position to make their money back, seeing as that's where they'd be making their money back anyways, but this time with a larger cut and a generally higher RRP (compared with physical). I think that's why I'm a bit confused at previous suggestions that Sony can't at least match the Series X with its disc version of the PS5, but even then, they could sell at £499 and it's still going to sell.

NieR is going to be turning up with updates on Replicant ver. 1.22... (yeah, not typing the whole name out this time ), Reincarnation (mobile game) and Automata (I'm guessing word on a next gen upgrade?). The "We Have a Decent Amount of New Info" Special

So, I've had a bit of time to digest this all, and I'm stuck in the middle on how exactly I feel. I hope I don't sound too harsh, and before I even start my rambling, I do genuinely hope Xbox delivers on all of this and kills it next gen. It's better for me as a gamer, and people get to keep their jobs. It's a win-win if that happens. On the one hand, those prices are insanely good. £449 for the Series X and £249 for the Series S is pretty bonkers! For the hardware you're getting it shows just how serious Xbox are about this gen...but I'm struggling to see how they're making money back, haemorrhaging money on both the hardware and software point (strictly from a Game Pass point of view - and honestly, I think you'd be almost silly not to jump on Game Pass, of course depending on finances and actual interest in what's available). Oh, but that's the long-term plan, they're going service-based! Okay, let's look at it this way: a generation has typically been seven or eight years long for the past two or three generations. Let's assume you jump in on Day 1 with the Series S or X this November, grabbing the console on the All-Access plan, giving you two years of Game Pass Ultimate. You won't be impacted by any changes to price for Game Pass Ultimate until November 2022 at the earliest, at a minimum 25% of the way into the course of the generation, and if you are one of Microsoft's ideal customers - as in, someone who jumps in on Day 1 with the All-Access plan, and does the bulk of their gaming through that service for the next two years - they aren't making much money at all from you for potentially two years. The little they do make is going to be from third party titles! Meanwhile, they're busy bleeding money on their hardware until production costs get low enough for them to start turning a profit, but by which point we're probably already halfway through the generation and a mid-gen refresh is probably on the cards. There are a lot of numbers of course I'm not mentioning here, but the general point is going to be the same regardless: Xbox. Bleeding. Money. For a good while. It's such a difficult one to read, but basically they want as many people in during this first year or two before they can reasonably expect to start putting the prices up on Game Pass. That's great if you achieve crazy sales figures - which hey, the Series S is very well positioned to deliver on - before ramping them up, but if not, well, you're in a weird position again. It could pay off in a great way, but it could also absolutely be that final nail in the coffin for Xbox I feel if it doesn't. They have a lot of riding on it, which is why I hope it does well, because I don't want that to happen. But they need to strike gold with some of these first party titles in the next two years, enough to get people to pick up a Series S or Game Pass, at least. Then I come to the spot where I'm in a bit of a grey area: the financing plan for these consoles as part of All-Access. On the one hand, people are generally in a stranger spot now when it comes to finances than they were about six months ago, so paying a monthly fee vs the whole amount is a great sell for those in a tight spot wanting to experience next gen. At the same time, though, a credit search to finance a console? Yes it comes with Game Pass Ultimate, and I think it's a good deal, but these are very uncertain times for most people as it is. As someone who works for a bank, let me put it this way: you want a £600 loan which you can pay back over two years? That's not the most exorbitant amount - so why don't you have the funds to cover it as is? It's a bit of a red flag for me, so I'm curious to see how potential lenders might view it if you end up missing payments and potentially defaulting over a console. Then again, I've seen this is Klarna they're doing it through - I'm also curious how they view similar habits with clothing and other things they provide finance for. I'm sure people will mention smartphones and such too, but honestly I feel that in the first world communication is becoming more of a necessity. At the end of the day, this shouldn't be a priority expense like that perhaps should be (below actual living expenses, of course). Personally, I think it's a dangerous game to play today, with so many only just starting to return to work, knowing that another lockdown could put them back in a hole they've just struggled out of. My general, totally objective advice (for this, and honestly just lending in general): only take out credit in instances where you could comfortably clear it with boosted payments of your own accord, and only if you're wise with your money as it is, with the disposable income to very easily support it. Probably not necessary to hear for many here - and again, Game Pass Ultimate bundled in with that is a great deal - but why do I foresee thousands of students throwing their maintenance loans or maxed out overdrafts at this and somehow finding themselves falling into arrears? Anyways, I've gone a bit off topic there. So the final thing: games. Yep, there aren't any for me to get me interested on Day 1, and I can tell you for a fact that if/when I pick up one of these consoles, at least based on how things are now, it won't be through All-Access, simply because I wouldn't be confident enough to commit to two years of a console only for Microsoft first party titles (for me personally, third party will still likely be played on PS5). We know how many delays there are in this industry, we've seen COVID devastate release and development plans, and most importantly for me: we haven't seen Microsoft hit any sort of stride with their their acquired studios. Until those games start getting churned out on a regular basis and are performing well critically, why would I commit to two years of a slate we seriously know so little of? I use Netflix daily right now, but I don't think I'd pick up a two year subscription even if they did offer one. I don't know if I'd be interested in Netflix's offering two years from now, and likewise, it's hard to say where Xbox Game Studios will be in two years, too.

Yep, always surprises me when people forget what a guaranteed juggernaut of a launch title Spider-Man: Miles Morales could be. It's likely going to be a fraction of the price of 2018's Spider-Man, and somewhat continues the story of that game, which was one of the best- and fastest-selling of the generation. Miles Morales practically becoming a household name after the success of Into the Spider-Verse won't exactly hurt it's chances, either. Price and pre-order announcement. Tokyo Game Show. Pre-orders going live. Potentially another PlayStation event thrown in the mix at some point. And launch. Going to be a crazy next two months or so. You know, when things finally start ramping up! Which will be any day now...right?

Coming to Series S and X on November 10th, what's going on with the other versions now seems...a bit shaky. From Gematsu: We knew already that the PS5 version wasn't supposed to be coming at launch due to some level of next gen exclusivity, but the muddiness over current gen platforms is pretty odd. Hope we get some clarity soon, because them not just confirming the dates are unchanged in that statement is just weird. Could be nothing, but maybe Xbox have agreed a new type of deal?

Pushed forward a week from the 17th to the 10th to launch Day 1 on next gen.

Phil saying it was supposed to be next week that this all got revealed Feel they did well to pivot as quickly as they did. It's tough these days because they did well to rush out so much on such short notice, but an hour feels like an eternity on the internet. Also, deep dive on the Series S:

Let the hype flow. First trailer for Dune! Still slated for December 18th. Looks fantastic. That cast feel like the leaked theatres-only trailer gave a better feel for Zimmer's score, so hopefully we hear some more of it in the buildup to release! Time for another read I think. It's been a little while

Yep, pretty much where I'm at. Should have a price/pre-order date announcement before Xbox pre-orders go live on the 22nd I imagine. Or hope. I mean we have to know by TGS, surely? Based on Xbox's prices, I'm expecting them to price match the Series X with the disc version at £449/$499, and £399/$449 for the Digital Edition. I don't think they'd risk going higher, but even if we saw £499/$499 ($549?), I think they're still in a fine position. People will want third party AAA experiences, and they're coming to both consoles, many of them not part of Xbox's (admittedly awesome) Game Pass - I'm thinking of Cyberpunk in particular here. A shorter AAA first party game in Spider-Man: Miles Morales is going to perform like crazy, I honestly wouldn't be too surprised if they just went with that on the first party front at launch. I think everyone forgets just how crazy well the first one sold! Question marks over Demon's Souls, feel like that'd be a great title at launch, but if not at launch, then maybe in December? There are already so many games on the way to round out the year, and I'm not confident PlayStation would release two of their big games at the very start. Would love to be wrong, but would have no idea when I'd get around to playing it, what with Cyberpunk 2077, Age of Calamity and (potentially) Spidey all so close together too

Carto is releasing on 27th October. I don't think we got a release date before, but I'm not 100%, so sorry if I'm repeating old news!

The Xbox Series X is officially confirmed to be $499, launching 10th November. Pre-orders start 22nd September. UPDATE: ...and coming in at £449 in the UK. Your move PlayStation.