Microsoft Consoles and Updates

[DisturbedSwan]

I did indeed @Maf, still not clear whether you actually played Sonic Generations and Sonic Unleashed or not on there in the end though? 

 

Completely agree that PS Now is playing catch-up, it definitely doesn’t hold the same value proposition as GP for sure.

 

Yep, MHW was on there recently and Just Cause 4 as well awhile back, great gets no question about it.

[Bob]

Didn't the director of Scalebound need to take a break for mental health issues after the game got cancelled? I always assumed that had played a big part in the game getting canned since it couldn't have been easy to work in that condition, or work for him. One of my bosses ended up leaving her position for mental health reasons and even something mundane like cleaning became complete chaos while she was sick and after she left. 

[DisturbedSwan]

I still don’t understand - no matter what shape Scalebound was in - why they gave up and cancelled it but left the turd that is Crackdown 3 to be developed for the next few years? It’s a really odd decision for me.

[one-armed dwarf]

Kamiya had to take a break due to a stress related illness apparently, but the vehemently denied it on twitter. Which tells you what you already knew about Japan's attitudes to that type of thing

 

The thing with Scalebound tho is it never even looked like a game to begin with, it looked like a jumble of ideas thrown together while Crackdown is just an old game updated.

 

Remember that "boss fight" they showed at E3? Boss fights are the strongest parts of Kamiyas games so if they couldn't even get that right I'd hate to see the state of everything else.

[Maf]

Crackdown 3 is not a turd, also, that game is all right 

[mmmark]

Can we take a moment to appreciate the Xbox app remote control functionality.

[Maf]

I don’t know what that is 

[mmmark]

2 hours ago, Nag said:

I could if I'd ever used it.?

 

I use it all the time now that the controller has guzzled all energy from every battery available within a few hours. 

 

2 hours ago, Maf said:

I don’t know what that is 

 

Open it up with the Xbox on and at the bottom left a remote icon is available. Can quickly and easily control the dashboard and apps. Great for YouTube, Netflix etc. 

[Maf]

I’m sure Black Desert is terrible but I really want to play it 

[DisturbedSwan]

The ? has landed on Game Pass

 

??????

[Hendo]

You're right, Super Hot is amazing!

[mmmark]

I thought he meant goat sim until I looked at the image.

 

Is survive still supported?

[Bob]

Devs on bigfish get paid per minute played. That would be my assumption for gamepass as well. 

[Hendo]

I think I read that every case is slightly different but one dev said they get a flat fee for a certain amount of time on the service.

[Maf]

I would have to imagine it’s not too dissimilar to PS+ style negotiations where a big game that has been out for a while and sales have slowed, ie Monster Hunter World or Fallout 4 which were big games for their respective release periods but sales probably trickle now, so they can “lease” their game to Microsoft for a set period for a set price + bonus if it’s one of their top downloads for the month or after X amount of downloads the publisher gets a cut

 

You have to imagine the negotiations are really thought out as well and are planned perfectly with sales on a game’s DLC or expansion pack. 

 

I bet it goes the other way, too. Like Ashen was a small indie game that is for download off of GP. Microsoft must approach them with a number, the developer projects what they think they’ll make, and take Microsofts offer if they want something a bit safer then being out there with no guarantee. I bet smaller companies also look at things like Rocket League and see how well that “free” exposure served that game.

 

And of course for 1st party stuff it’s just in their best interest given their current ranking in the console wars and what their future bets appear to be. But I bet any money in a parallel universe where MS are the top dog and they invent GP none of their first party stuff is on GP. It goes to show why they stopped making big press releases about how big they are and hiding their sales figures if they’re willing to cannibalise their whole 1st party output for GP. If they’re looking at the numbers and their whole potential profit of all their 1st party line up is on par with the profitability potential of GP then...yikes. No wonder they want this gen to end as soon as possible, are teaming up with Sony to save on R&D and want everyone subscribed full time

 

But what gets on GP, yeah, I bet they approach every deal with set contracts but the numbers on those contracts get the shit negotiated out of them

[mfnick]

Banner saga! Awesome

[DisturbedSwan]

 

Xbox Game Studios Publishing on Steam starting with Halo Master Chief Collection and Gears 5, Win32 support for Windows 10

 

Quote

“Our intent is to make our Xbox Game Studios PC games available in multiple stores, including our own Microsoft Store on Windows, at their launch. We believe you should have choice in where you buy your PC games,” writes Xbox chief Phil Spencer in a blog post announcing the shift in strategy. The move follows Microsoft’s decision to publish its upcoming Halo: The Master Chief Collection on Steam.

“We will continue to add to the more than 20 Xbox Game Studios titles on Steam, starting with Gears 5 and all Age of Empires I, II, and III: Definitive Editions,” Spencer explains. “We know millions of PC gamers trust Steam as a great source to buy PC games and we’ve heard the feedback that PC gamers would like choice.”

 

[DANGERMAN]

it's less about pc gamers and more about sales I'd expect. Who is buying games from the Windows store?

 

I hope they make a decent fist of pc gamepass, the current version is awful, if they can make it meaningful then that's no bad thing. You've got the Humble and EA subscriptions on pc, the Humble one isn't without its problems but is the more interesting, gamepass could better that

[Jimboxy]

It's win win, making it loader agnostic ticks a lot of pc gamers boxes at the moment and it will certainly cause an upturn in sales.

 

If I ever get this pc, I'll certainly look into what is on offer on game pass. It always seems pretty decent on Xbox.

[Craymen Edge]

The PC game pass is going to be a separate subscription from the existing Xbox version (which only really "works" on PC because a couple of the games do the Play Anywhere thing and give you the PC version when you get the Xbox version digitally).

Hopefully they can get the support from developers to make it as appealing as the Xbox pass. 

 

I'm glad they're dropping the UWP format requirement for games to appear on the W10 store, which will allow for mods, overlays, tools etc.

It also probably makes it less work for devs and publishers to put their games on the storefront, as they don't need to make a different executable for W10 store.

 

More of their own games will be coming to Steam (and presumably other storefronts at some point) is a good thing for choice, but makes you wonder how much they're going to bother improving their own.