Xbox Series S | X Console Discussion

[Dcubed]

18 hours ago, Sheikah said:

23 hours ago, Cube said:

So it seams the main reason to play Halo Infinite (campaign co-op) has been delayed for at least six months.
 
I'm expecting split screen campaign to be quietly shoved under a rug and never actually happen.
 
Forge mode is also delayed for at least six months.

Mad they're still releasing it when it clearly isn't ready yet.

Makes you wonder just kind of state it was in last year!

[Kaepora_Gaebora]

Is it just me, or have 343 Industries been terrible custodians of the Halo franchise? 

I feel like every one since 4 has either been a let down or some catastrophic bungling has happened (here's looking at you MCC's launch and first year or so). Every time Bonnie Ross walks out on stage at a MS conference, you might as well disregard what she's about to say 😂🤦‍♂️

[Julius]

20th Anniversary controller incoming...

Personally not a fan, the green seems a bit too bright, and wish the ABXY buttons were coloured like their older controllers. The Switch Pro controller wasn't too far off Xbox's controllers to begin with, so going with a translucent black as opposed to a solid black also just gives me those vibes. 

Still, kudos to Xbox, seems like they've done a lot for the anniversary year! Will always be jealous of their stupidly high output of controller variants and customisation options 

[Ike]

40 minutes ago, Julius said:

20th Anniversary controller incoming...

Personally not a fan, the green seems a bit too bright, and wish the ABXY buttons were coloured like their older controllers. The Switch Pro controller wasn't too far off Xbox's controllers to begin with, so going with a translucent black as opposed to a solid black also just gives me those vibes. 

Still, kudos to Xbox, seems like they've done a lot for the anniversary year! Will always be jealous of their stupidly high output of controller variants and customisation options 

Officially announced with a headset as well.

 

[Kaepora_Gaebora]

Pre ordered mine on Thursday...quite possibly to sit in its box on my shelf for years to come 😎😂

[Ike]

The, er, Xbox fridge preorders start on the 19th October. It's a GAME exclusive. https://www.game.co.uk/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/HubArticleView?hubId=2862757&articleId=2868421&catalogId=10201&langId=44&storeId=10151

[Dcubed]

https://news.xbox.com/en-us/2021/10/19/celebrating-the-biggest-three-months-of-back-to-back-blockbuster-game-launches-in-xbox-game-pass/

No new games you say? Then how about some old ones

Really hoping they announce a re-start of the Xbox BC programme... There's still tons of games for the original Xbox that you can't play on the Xbox Series!

[Julius]

Updates on Xbox from Microsoft's Q1 FY2022 earnings report. Just a heads-up, it's a pretty lean update...

Quote

In line with expectations, total gaming revenue was up 16% compared to the first quarter of the previous fiscal year.
Xbox hardware revenue increased 166% year-over-year, driven by demand for Series X/S, which had yet to launch during the comparable reporting period a year earlier.

Microsoft said Xbox content and services revenue was up 2% "on a strong prior year comparable, with growth in Xbox Game Pass subscriptions and first-party titles partially offset by declines from third-party titles".

...

Xbox Game Pass attracted fewer new subscribers last fiscal year than Microsoft had targeted, it was recently revealed.

...

Revenue: +16% to nearly $3.6b
Hardware: +166%
Content & Services: +2%
Xbox Game Pass & 1st-party: showing growth

Got to imagine the decline in third-party sales might in part be down to the success of Game Pass.

Still bizarre that - unless I'm mistaken - we haven't had any sales figures for Series X|S, and that because Game Pass seemingly didn't meet their earlier expectations for the quarter, that they're staying quiet about it this time around 

[Sheikah]

10 hours ago, Julius said:

Updates on Xbox from Microsoft's Q1 FY2022 earnings report. Just a heads-up, it's a pretty lean update...

Got to imagine the decline in third-party sales might in part be down to the success of Game Pass.

Still bizarre that - unless I'm mistaken - we haven't had any sales figures for Series X|S, and that because Game Pass seemingly didn't meet their earlier expectations for the quarter, that they're staying quiet about it this time around 

Semi-related, but one thing I learned recently was that the ability to convert XBL Gold time to Game Pass Ultimate for a quid isn't a one time deal. Apparently when your GP Ultimate sub expires, you can load more XBL Gold time to your account and convert it to GP Ultimate again.

You have to wonder how much money they are haemorrhaging by extended deals like this, they really are just giving GP away. You can buy 1 year of XBL Gold from another region for like 20 quid, stack 3 of them then convert to 3 years of GP Ultimate. It's insane.

[Cube]

I've had three months of ultimate for £1 twice,  and another three months (nearly four) via Microsoft rewards.

[Ganepark32]

Forza Horizon 5 releases next week on the 9th but its out tomorrow if you've purchased the Premium Edition or have bought the Premium Add-on Bundle and as the latter works with playing through Gamepass, thats what I picked up. The game went live earlier than morning in New Zealand so myself, like a lot of others going by the likes of Twitter and Era, changed our hardwares location and I've been able to jump in and play 2 hours so far.

Playing it on my Series S and it looks incredible on Quality mode (running 1440p at a rock solid 30fps with a Performance mode of 1080p at 60fps available). Wish I could have had a Series X to see how it looked in 4K but I'm satisfied with what the Series S is putting out as it really does look great. The new lighting system is great in motion and the new smoke rendering looks so good. Have been really impressed with the way they both look and have enjoyed powersliding through corners to kick up smoke and dust and see them in action.

Its like they've taken the world of FH3 and mixed it with the gameplay additions and improvements that Playground brought with FH4 and its phenomenal. The cars feel more weighty but handle superbly on and off road. And the world, from the small section I've played in so far, is bright, its colourful and just filled to the brim with stuff to do.

Its genuinely a superb racer, but that was to be expected with the previous Forza Horizon titles. This so far feels like a culmination of those games in the best way and I can't wait to put hours upon days upon weeks into the game and getting to jump into the online activities out of the gate as opposed to months or even years after release.

My favourite FH title was 3 as I loved how open the world felt and how varied Australia felt. 4 felt more one note at times and smaller in vibe. This is very much reminding me of 3 and thats only a good thing. I can easily see this topping 3 as my favourite in the series after spending more time with it.

So yeah, so far its another incredible entry into the Horizon series and easily one of the best games of the year (reviews have it averaging at 92 on both Opencritic and Metacritic). And Digital Foundry couldn't be more complementary about it, as an incredible achievement for the new gen Series consoles (its also apparently great still on even the base Xbox One maintaining a solid 1080p/30fps with no frame drops).

Another fantastic game from Xbox Game Studios this year. Looks like they're starting to get themselves into gear with their first party titles, with a fantastic port of Microsoft Flight Sim to the Series consoles and I know that Psychonauts 2 launched on PS4 as well but as Double Fine are a first party studio (and received additional funding from Microsoft to finish that game), Psychonauts 2 was a phenomenal experience. Look forward to seeing them continue this as solid first party output from Microsoft alongside that from Sony and Nintendo is only a good thing for the industry.

But yeah, play Forza Horizon 5 when you're able to as its great.

Edited November 4, 2021 by Ganepark32

[Dcubed]

So… it looks like a bunch of original Xbox and 360 games are getting new store listings and updates behind the scenes before Monday’s big Xbox Anniversary event…

Looks like I may well have been right on the money about this being the big restart of the Xbox BC programme! Come on Outrun 2, Afterburner Climax and JSRF!  

[Dcubed]

Excellent video from SSFF about the disastrous launch of the Xbox One.  Highly recommend a watch.

It really is amazing just how far Phil Spencer has come with the Xbox brand after Don Mattrick absolutely dumpstered it!

[Ike]

My 20th Anniversary Controller arrived today. It's very nice, think I will use it as my main controller.

Still has the problem with the A button

[Dcubed]

HOLY SHIT!!!

 

TIMESPLITTERS 2&3!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

[Cube]

Also FPS boost on some games, like Sonic Unleashed, Sonic Generations and Sonic Racing Transformed.

 

Oddly, EA announced today that Skate 2 servers are being turned off.

[Julius]

1 hour ago, Dcubed said:

HOLY SHIT!!!

TIMESPLITTERS 2&3!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

Got nothing but respect for Xbox with the lengths they've gone to in order to make what's easily the best backwards compatible ecosystem on the current slate of consoles. Can't help but be envious as a PlayStation owner! 

Unfortunately, this will be Xbox's final backwards compatibility update  from The Verge:

Quote

“This latest and final addition of 70+ titles to the backwards compatibility program was only possible through the passion and feedback from the community,” explains Peggy Lo, compatibility program lead at Xbox. “[Xbox fans’] constant requests for specific titles and enhancements encouraged the backwards compatibility team to partner with the original creators to preserve thousands of games from over four generations of Xbox.”

...

While Microsoft said two years ago it had "no plans to add additional original Xbox or Xbox 360 titles to the catalog," the surprise addition of more than 70 games will be the final time we'll see new backward compatible games. "While we continue to stay focused on preserving and enhancing the art form of games, 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," explains Peggy Lo.

 

[S.C.G]

There's at least three Sega published games on that list which I bought several years ago now, when Xbox games were first getting backwards compatibility updates.

Well, one which I had from back in the day of its original release... Gunvalkyrie, which I haven't played since then.

Also, Otogi & Otogi 2... both From Software games, puslished by Sega, I'd always been curious about those two titles. Chances are I'll give them a try now at least.

And if they aren't my kind of game(s) then at least they will be more saleable to anyone else looking to check them out on an Xbox One / or Series X/S.

Both of those Timesplitters games are great, I don't play many modern FPS games, but these are from around the era of FPS titles that I remember the most, though I've only played them on the GameCube, so it will be interesting to see how they hold up on a modern Xbox console.

Beautiful Katamari is a notable Xbox 360 title which I'll likely try out as well, even though it's on the Switch now.

If this really is the last backwards compatiblity update, due to licensing etc... then, it's still a decent offering, and I may have a few more reasons to load up my Xbox One again, the last time I did that was, a good month or two ago, and the update 'sort of' bricked my original Xbox One console... (it was a widespread issue which only affected the launch model of the console) but it could be fixed, though it did require a full console reset (which apparently deleted the save data on the machine, though not cloud storage) which still keeps the game data on the console at least.

This latest update should already be a lot better, as the bar is pretty low now, all it has to do is not brick the console, and make all those backwards compatible games playable.

[Kaepora_Gaebora]

10 hours ago, Ike said:

My 20th Anniversary Controller arrived today. It's very nice, think I will use it as my main controller.

Still has the problem with the A button

Did you get the message from Phil in yours? 

I cancelled mine in the end, what with Christmas coming up and kids presents to buy, and I also thought that as I'll eventually get a Series X, I'll have a new controller with that.

That's what I'm telling myself anyway despite only wanting it for collectors purposes 😢

I know it was never going to happen in a million years with licensing issues, but the one 360 game that I managed to keep after my console was stolen all those moons ago has still managed to avoid backwards compatibility.

007 Bloodstone, the true 3rd Daniel Craig Bond film 😎

[Dcubed]

I really, really hope that they change their mind about this being the last BC update... There's still so much left stuck on the original Xbox.

Still, I can't help but admire what they've done so far.  This is a fantastic update, and I'm overjoyed to finally have HD renditions of Timesplitters 2 & 3 (They even support System Link!).  Will probably pick up Otogi 1 & 2 and Vandall Hearts when they go on sale as well.

BTW, the anniversary video itself was really nice as well; nice to see them not be afraid to poke a bit of fun at themselves as well.

Looking forward to the documentary series next month

Edited November 16, 2021 by Dcubed

[Ganepark32]

So happy to see Timesplitters 2 and Future Perfect being included in the BC program. Both available for £8.39 each so decent price, will probably pick them up as I have fond memories of playing them on Gamecube with friends years ago. And nice to see Gladius there, always wanted to try it (along with Spartan Total Warrior but unfortunately that won't ever come along now).

The BC program has been an amazing initiative from Microsoft but I can understand that there are undoubtedly hurdles in place preventing them for getting more titles to the program. What they've managed to get, however, is fantastic and they should be applauded for getting so many, despite obvious hurdles in place, to work not only on Xbox One but on the newer Series consoles with frame boosts, 4k resolution and HDR.

Sure, there's still plenty of games I'd have loved to see come to the program its a shame that they're not likely to make it. I'd have loves to have Remember Me come and Dontnod seem like they want to do something with the IP but Capcom own it and are basically sitting on it. Perhaps they'll remaster it (and refine the combat). But we'll never see the older Burnout games or even some of the James Bond games from the original Xbox/PS2/Gamecube era (for obvious licencing reasons). Hopefully they'll manage to do something to get more down the line.

Still, massive kudos to Microsoft for keeping the older generations alive, even if they can't manage it fully.

[Ronnie]

10 hours ago, Julius said:

Got nothing but respect for Xbox with the lengths they've gone to in order to make what's easily the best backwards compatible ecosystem on the current slate of consoles. Can't help but be envious as a PlayStation owner! 

It's fantastic, they deserve tons of praise for it. All their pro-consumer moves are something to celebrate for sure.

[Ganepark32]

A Short Hike is out now on Xbox consoles for anyone who hasn't had a chance to play it on PC or Switch. It's a fantastic game and well worth playing if you want something chilled and laidback.

[Ike]

12 hours ago, Kaepora_Gaebora said:

Did you get the message from Phil in yours? 

 

Yeah, on the battery cover. Is it not in every one?

[Mandalore]

Microsoft have created a digital museum for the 20th anniversary. It's interesting wondering around your own profile in it. Apparently I really liked Mass Effect, and I mysteriously stopped playing Xbox consoles in 2014.