Julius

I mean, for the same reason that anyone has bought an Xbox X, for instance, right? To play games on the most powerful home console available. We're quickly coming to the end of the third generation of Xbox consoles, and, I'll be frank: Microsoft didn't decide to get into the gaming business to be second best, and that's the best that they've managed in nearly twenty years. Let's just talk about the numbers of consoles sold here, and nothing else: the original Xbox (24 million) got trounced by the PS2 (over 150 million); the Xbox 360 (84 million) got jumped by the Wii (101 million), and despite the PS3's repeated attempts to off itself, it still nearly caught up (~84 million); and the Xbox One (~40 million) has been left in the dirt by the PS4 (94 million). They've put a dent in the console market and ushered in so many things that likely wouldn't have seen the light of day for a few more years otherwise (the way that they integrated online multiplayer with the original Xbox, or developed that into an online subscription-based service with the Xbox 360 come to mind), and have been at the cutting edge of technology since they started competing, but at this point, I just don't know what they could do really do to beat the Switch and PS5 by the end of the next generation. Don't get me wrong: I don't think consoles are going away, and they won't for a good while yet. But Microsoft's, and thus Xbox's, strengths lie in advancing technology and paving the way for others in that space. They didn't win the first battle, nor the second, or even the third -- but they're the only one of the Big Three with the financial clout and know-how to put something like this into place right now. I can watch Netflix on my phone, on my computer, on my TV...even on my Amazon Fire, despite the fact that it's a product manufactured by a direct competitor. I mean, imagine if Disney+ (Disney's new video streaming service) came out at the end of this year exclusively on mickeyPhones -- how bizarre a move would that be considered? The Netflix-style game streaming services speculated about to this point have missed one key element: ambition in scale. This is that scale that they need to succeed. The point isn't at all that Xbox Game Pass could be coming to Switch; the point is that it could be coming to just about everything.

My limited understanding is that it's practically just an install key these days. You insert the disc, but these days, games are far too large to be read back in real-time by the disc drive, so games require installation before they can be played (as is the case if you're installing a physical or digital copy of the game). In the case of physical copies, after the game has been installed from the disc, my (again, limited) understanding is that they basically become a key to access that game on the console. Physical copies still have a number of consumer benefits these days -- resale, no fear of losing everything digitally attached to an account, being able to install a game without the need for internet access, sharing copies, etc. -- over their digital brethren, but as the gaming market continues to lean towards a digital future, I'm curious to see how many more generations physical gaming can hold out.

I think the biggest difference here is that listing for the event that they're holding next month at GDC about Xbox Live coming to other devices seems to naturally foreshadow a bigger move by Xbox as a whole. The description from the GDC listing, before it got taken down in a hurry: Game Informer allowing Imran Khan, their employee, to say something in an article posted on their site, I think, gives this a little bit more validity, simply because he doesn't just write about potential rumours on a regular basis -- and that's not to discredit the other sites, because they're all actually fairly reliable when it comes to gaming news, and Thurott and Windows Central for Xbox news in particular. On Stars, though, I think that the consensus around here is that Game Freak likely tested some stuff out on the Switch, and porting Sun and Moon in some form or another to the Switch to try some things out seems like a probable conclusion -- whether or not Emily Rogers or Eurogamer (I think it was them?) actually knew anything is an entirely different discussion, I guess that plus the whole "expect to see Virtual Console, plus GameCube games, by the end of Switch's first year!" thing is why I don't put too much stock in Eurogamer anymore, and there seemingly much more reliable sources than Emily Rogers these days.

Square Enix will host another Dragon Quest XI S broadcast on March 27th at 12:00 GMT.

It's crazy just how quickly the story has developed in the last 24 hours. The conversation has evolved from "Hey, Xbox are going to announce Xbox Live coming to Switch, and iOS and Android devices, at GDC next month", which we learned a few weeks ago, to the Gematsu article referenced in your quote citing FIVE sources that have come out in the last day or so, and that's not even including themselves!

I mean, the gaming handheld market is non-existent outside of Nintendo, and the Switch is competent as both a handheld and home console device. Many gamers have a Switch as their primary console, if not as a supplementary one to their PS4 or Xbox One, and the Switch will very likely be the first console for a new generation of gamers in the same way that the Game Boy, Game Boy Advance, DS and 3DS were, so it only makes sense for Xbox to go after the mindshare of the younger gaming demographic. I doubt Japan is even on their mind with a move like this -- it's probably a genuine afterthought. Could it help them break into Japan? Sure, but there's no way that's the goal with an initiative like this, especially seeing as the reports are saying that they're taking aim at the smartphone market, too. I think that a service like this, if done right, gives Xbox the edge as we look ahead to the future: it's a very, very aggressive way of putting themselves out there as the go-to for streaming games, in the same way that Netflix is seen as the go-to for streaming shows and movies, it secures them a piece of the market without having to focus on the hardware as much as PlayStation and Nintendo do now. It's a long-term payoff. I have my doubts that PlayStation and Nintendo are looking this far ahead.

I mean, there was news going around earlier this month that Xbox will be present at GDC next month to announce Xbox Live integration for iOS and Android devices, as well as the Switch, bringing with it a slew of features, like cross-platform achievements, friends lists, etc. This is what the original GDC listing has Microsoft saying: Such an announcement next month would seem like the perfect one to cement this possibility in people's minds, foreshadowing a potential grand reveal of Xbox Game Pass coming to Switch at E3. I agree with you that E3 makes the most sense -- especially moreso now that PlayStation won't be there, but I think that, if this is true, this would have greatly overshadowed any and all E3 announcements, even if they were present.

Game Informer's Imran Kahn seems to be backing this up, too. In an article he wrote for GI:

To add to @Glen-i's point about Xbox wanting a way to break into Japan, they seem like the only one of the Big Three ready to dive head first into an all-digital future. It drastically cuts costs across the board for Xbox if they transition from being a console maker to a service provider, and if what NateDrake says is true about streaming a game like Forza to a smartphone, then Xbox stand to both revolutionise the gaming market and lend a hand to a potentially atypical growth spurt for the gaming industry. As of last year, there were over two billion gamers worldwide, with over one billion of those playing games on PC, and a recent forecast predicted that the number of gamers would double by 2030; this turn of events -- Game Pass is likely not only coming to Switch, but iOS and Android devices too -- could easily accelerate that, as Game Pass would be able to reach audiences that it simply couldn't before, as modern gaming (up to this point) has still very much been a first world luxury. It goes well beyond extra software sales in that regard: like Netflix and other successful streaming platforms, Xbox wants you to buy into their ecosystem, whether that be by picking up an Xbox console, playing on your PC, and now supposedly your Switch and phone. I think that this is a natural progression of their Play Anywhere initiative, and I look forward to seeing if there any truth to this in their panel at GDC next month. This can only be a good thing for gamers: a rising tide lifts all boats, after all, so hopefully this lights a fire under the butts of those over at PlayStation

So...hahaha...it just gets worse for us Chelsea fans. Hahahaha...

Funny that you mention that, because I felt the exact same way and skipped to them being caught in a Frame Trap. Then I realised that they were going to talk about Tetris 99 (watched quite a bit of Kyle's stream the other day, so I've had my fill of that) and Etrian Odyssey Nexus (I've noticed that Ben sometimes becomes a bit vague when talking about games that the other panelists have little to no interest in and rushes through talking about it), so I skipped talk about those games too. So the first time around, I basically just listened to them talk about DQXI S and answer some emails. I've since gone back and listened to the rest of the show, but yeah, definitely a (very subjectively) weaker lineup of games that they talked about this time around I'm expecting a very spicy Hottake about Anthem next time around

Just going to shamelessly quote my post from the Switch thread pertaining to Xbox Live et al coming to Switch:

According to NateDrake over on ResetEra (from what I'm reading he's reliable), apparently Xbox Games Pass, xCloud, and at least one game which was due to be Microsoft exclusive (namely Pro), will be coming to the Switch. This follows from the announcement a few weeks ago that Xbox Live was coming to Switch, iOS, and Android, which will be explained further during a panel at GDC next month. @Dcubed, if this is true, I think your hopes and expectations for Scalebound being revived (perhaps at Nintendo's request? Could be a cross-platform game with the Xbox One -- now wouldn't that be neat?!) seem to be well-founded. Also, I read your response to me before, and genuinely didn't know much about Scalebound's development and Kamiya's investment in the project beforehand, so thanks for informing me about that

It's always sad to see someone go, and I've just realised that I think I've known who Reggie is for most of my life, despite only really getting into gaming in the last few years. Nintendo's E3 presence is certainly going to be different without him -- he always brought a smile to my face when he popped up, at least. Now he gets a well deserved break, and the refreshing of faces over at Nintendo continues.

The Resident Evil community manager has said that more details will be available by the end of the month:

News on a Western release date coming next week:

Untitled Goose Game has been delayed:

From Polygon: I know that a Day One (/Eight) patch is coming to deal with the loading times and some other miscellaneous things, but the game just seems poorly designed. What I read over on PCGamer about them not learning from the problems that games like Destiny -- released like five years ago! -- have had is pretty damning, too. In my opinion, they should have just given the game more time -- and this is EA we're talking about, so if next gen is coming next year, then they're likely more than aware of this. Why not give the game more time to be developed, and wait until next gen so that the hardware -- across the board -- is in a position to best support it? The simple truth is that they announced this game far too early: nearly two years from announcement to release is just far too long for anything that is a new IP that isn't made by a developer at the top of their game in their genre, such as CDPR with Cyberpunk 2077. The real reason that it's launching now is very simple, too: money. Yes, every business is a cash-driven one, but EA making very public mistake (criticising Belgium for their stance on MTX in FIFA) after very public mistake (hiding the fact that Battlefront II was literally structured around MTX) is silly, and is it really any wonder, @Ronnie, that their handling of MTX in any situation grabs a lot of attention now after the scar that Battlefront II has left? Because this industry isn't just driven by money -- it's driven by passion. I would understand the defence of microtransactions if this were anyone but a gigantic multinational company like EA. It's not like they need the money to pay their developers, or for upkeep of games. My biggest problem with Battlefront II honestly wasn't even that the game was structured around MTX and now has a terrible progression system that it's been taken out -- it's that they felt the need to put microtransactions in to begin with. They make nearly $1 billion a year in revenue alone from FIFA Ultimate Team (let's not even take into account that the game is practically the same every year, and has the nerve to be put out with a £59.99 RRP), and you know for a fact that very little of that money gets pumped back into the game, so why didn't they just take the hit with games that are virtually passionless so that they didn't have to include MTX in games like Anthem and Battlefront II, which should be built on nothing but passion for good game design and practises? And the truth is, from everything I've read, the MTX "problem" is just one on a long list of problems with Anthem. This whole situation reminds of what's gone on over at Activision, with nearly 900 people out of a job despite the company posting record profits. This MTX money is going nowhere but to the profits column, because it requires very little upkeep, and to the back pockets of overpaid CEOs and shareholders. @Ronnie, you're right: in some ways, games are cheaper and bigger than ever before. But the truth is that microtransactions just don't need to be as commonplace as they are in the gaming landscape, and especially not in games releasing at an RRP of £59.99 published my mega companies like EA. They're making money hand over fist in one of the most cutthroat industries in the world. I wouldn't be surprised if their heads have already turned away from Anthem and their eyes are fixed on Apex Legends, a game that is getting praised from every direction. Sadly, Anthem will probably be buried by the end of next year -- I just hope that the fine folks over at BioWare aren't the ones that see life-altering repercussions as a result of that.

Seems fitting to post this here are the Scalebound discussions the other day:

Holy smokes! Lan Di looks incredible! Much more polished than he looked at Gamescom last year:

I wasn't quite sure where to put the below news about Google, so I figured I'd make a dedicated thread for this year's GDC, seeing as it's lining up to be a year of note for the conference, as news has also circulated recently that Microsoft would be present to talk about Xbox Live coming to iOS, Android and the Nintendo Switch. It was announced today that Google will be holding a mysterious gaming-related event for the media at 18:00 BST on March 19th, during GDC 2019, with the tone being set for the event very different to previous keynotes that they've held at the conference in recent years; it seems that they'll have something to show: As reported by Kotaku's Jason Schreier last year, Google's been making moves on the gaming industry throughout the 2010s, last year going so far as to holding meetings with major video game companies during GDC 2018 to gauge their interest in their streaming platform, believed to be codenamed Yeti, as well as reportedly courting a number of development studios during last year's E3 -- not with the aim of simply wooing them over with Yeti by their side, but with the prospect of outright purchasing them. Supposedly, as talked about by Schreier in his article last year, their service will take a three-pronged approach: 1. A streaming platform. 2. A form of hardware. 3. Attempts to bring developers under the Google umbrella, by way of aggressive recruiting or even major acquisitions. As many here will be aware, Google held public tests of a streaming platform - Project Stream - towards the end of last year, which came to an end just last month, with Ubisoft's Assassin's Creed Odyssey being the only game available for these public tests. For those unaware, Project Stream streamed the game through Google Chrome. Could we see hardware next month from Google? A more concrete idea of their plans for gaming? Have they made any major acquisitions already that are to be announced at GDC? And let's not forget Microsoft: what does bringing Xbox Live to iOS, Android and Switch really mean, and how does it fit into their plans for Project Scarlett and xCloud? It seems like the biggest GDC in recent years is knocking on the door -- and I have no doubt that it will be an interesting one, giving us more perspective on the potential future of gaming, whichever way it goes.

100% agree on the love for Ben: his reviews are great, Frame Trap I agree is probably the strongest (at least the most consistent) show that they produce, and his love for games comes across in his honesty -- he'll be one of the first to point out nonsense and argue against it when it comes to big topics. Case in point: the most recent Hottake on the additions to Dragon Quest XI S: Definitive Edition. @Hero-of-Time mentioned Frame Trap being home to much more productive discussions, and I think that how flexible they are about a show's length allows them this freedom to very organically jump from topic to topic, which just doesn't happen on the EZA Podcast -- I still personally enjoy it, but there are definitely parts where I'm rolling my eyes, or am annoyed at how they cut out some of the more interesting parts of the show (i.e. discussions in Love & Respect) to adhere to an approximate show length. Why is the main podcast, with the name of their group, the one with the most restrictions? When I started listening to EZA a bit over two years ago, the main podcast would frequently creep over two hours, and was inarguably much stronger than it is now. Actually, talking about this has made me think that maybe Ben should spearhead the main podcast, and Kyle should helm Frame Trap (or a similar show) -- the lax nature of the latter would be a much better place for bits, because there's a time and place for goofing around, and what better time than just basically sitting around and talking with your friends? They all being their own respective strengths and weaknesses to the table at the end of the day, but I just don't think that their respective strengths are implement in an optimal way. I occasionally listen to Friend Code to see how Damiani is doing, and I think that he's becoming a much better figurehead for discussion, as well as Tabletop Escapades (which, ironically, Ben also hosts) which is probably my second favourite podcast behind Frame Trap. Oh, and shout out to Brad, because he does some great work and is frequently part of some interesting discussions.

Cedric Biscay, Shenmue III producer and CEO of Shibuya Productions (which presents MAGIC), has announced that the first gameplay trailer for the game will be shown at MAGIC Monaco on March 9th. Backers Update #97 also showed off these two new screenshots of the game: Correct me if I'm wrong...but is the first image our first look at a facial animation for Ryo? The textures, backgrounds and faces look amazing I've also just noticed that I still haven't shared my thoughts on the first two games...whoops I'll get to that by the end of the month

While I think Scalebound is a decent shout (I think I saw @markderoos mention it too -- so good shout to you too!), and is certainly one of the largest AAA cancellations of the last few years...I'm not totally convinced. I think @killthenet brings up probably one of the strongest cases for it not being Scalebound, and that is that I can't remember there being too much of a fuss about it either. Granted, we probably weren't shown enough, but I rarely mention read/hear about Scalebound these days outside of it being used to reference Microsoft's relatively poor handling of exclusive games this generation. If there was enough excitement around the game looking back for Nintendo to decide to help revive it, I feel like we would have heard about a publisher like Square Enix trying to scoop it up. I would have suggested that Monolith Soft could have helped them out, but if I recall, the problem with Scalebound wasn't, well, the scale (plus, Monolith Soft are probably busy enough as is -- they've recently expanded, and have hinted that they're working on two games simultaneously: one being their medieval fantasy RPG, and the other likely being the next entry in the Xeno franchise). On Kamiya, the guy probably has one of the most impressive and alluring CVs in gaming right now, considering how action is more often than not being implemented across the wide range of genres. Unless he has a personal investment in Scalebound still seeing the light of day, I doubt he'd still be on board directing the game at this point. Personally, I'd be much more interested if he took what he learned from that experience into another RPG project. Which brings me to my next point: Platinum seem busy enough as is right now. Some looking around (on their official site) tells me that they have around two hundred employees, and I would have to think that they would be strained at that number with all of the projects that they've been working on. Projects planned for release this year are the recently revealed Astral Chain, as well as Babylon's Fall (to be published by Square Enix; if Kamiya isn't working on Bayonetta 3, I wouldn't be surprised if he was working on a new IP like this one); projects pending a release date are Granblue Fantasy: Relink (published by Cygames; think it's worth noting that Platinum officially left the project around a fortnight ago), Bayonetta 3, and two mobile games: Lost Order (Cygames) and World of Demons (Deana). And this isn't to take into account any likely unannounced projects (I'd have to imagine that Yoko Taro is spearheading the development of another game, for example). I'd be interested in seeing how Scalebound has involved if it is still kicking, but until we get something remotely solid hinting at it still existing, I have my doubts

The official site for Astral Chain is up, bringing with it done new details on the game about the story and characters, as well as it's open world city known as The Ark. Well worth checking out, as it has a bunch of awesome new screenshots for the game too.