Gaming Shout Thread

[Maf]

I know there’s been a lot of talk about Gamepass and value vs time vs subscription vs price 

 

There’s also been a lot of talk about the current state of Xbox, how it’s struggled this gen and how pointless the next console will be if they stay multiplatform

 

But the months when you get Oblivion Remastered, Expedition 33 and Blue Prince for £12.99 makes you go oh, that’s what it was always meant to be 

 

If they’d got their production pipeline right years ago I really think things would have been very different. 
 

Gone from an avid Xbox supporter when they were all struggles, to going off Xbox after they shit the bed with multiplatform and studio closures to seeing almost redemption arc in the past 6 months to a year but it being too late is like, man.

 

I always thought this was a good idea and I always saw the vision for Xbox with Gamepass, Activision deals, studio acquisitions. Like let’s build this massive clip of studios and we can fire a game off every month or 2 months and the constant roll + first party quality at Gamepass price + throw on CoD and Bethesda = how do you lose?

 

But everything took too long to bear fruit. They just never got the timing down. So even when there’s these amazing months of games it’s not enough 

 

As much as Xbox wasn’t just unfortunate, they also made bad decisions that really cooled my fandom for them. Studio closures, fucking up Gamepass tiers - imo supporting PC too much, they should have prioritised their console.
 

I also think it’s just unbelievably unfortunate as a fan. If all of this had worked this would have been an incredible generation for Xbox 

[Nag]

Does anyone else here actually use the points you earn from playing games and such... I'm earning a month of Ultimate for every three months of playing and not really going out of my way. Presuming they don't raise the point prices or nerf the gains (they will eventually) I'll be able to add another 7 months to my already stacked 2027 end date... that's a sweet deal.

 

The stint from November onwards for Game pass has been great... it's nearly May and I'm yet to buy a game this year so it's doing something right... or maybe this year has just been trash so far... who knows.😂

 

I dunno... maybe I don't think about games in the same way as some of you guys do. To me this generation has been no better for Sony than Microsoft, it's just kind've moved along with the odd highlight but as a whole it's been fairly boring to be fair.

 

[one-armed dwarf]

Sony have been more boring but more successful, and it is cause of timing I think like maf says

 

If these titles were exclusive I'd be tempted more towards Xbox than sony except for the lack of FF on xbox

[Maryokutai]

I don't think at any point in time you could argue about the 'value' of Gamepass, it's more of a subjective thing how much you get out of it. Just throwing two RPGs in my face back to back is nice at face value but if I'm not in the mood to get into a big title like that right now I already have to start pondering whether it's worth starting either some months later when its delisting is already looming on the horizon. It's just too much FOMO to deal with IMO, plus in a couple of years time you're looking at a completely 'empty' console because none of the games you played were purchased. It's a very throwaway, consumerist approach that just doesn't align with how I engage with the medium at all, but I'm not judging anyone for enjoying it. 

 

As for Xbox, I agree that the timing of everything is just bad. If they had gotten 2-3 more years post Activision to get into the new rhythm as an ecosystem that still does exclusives I think they would have been able to reshuffle the market situation quite a bit and get into a good spot for next-gen. I still think this was all very short-sighted in favour of quick cash. Nobody's going to buy a next-gen Xbox if all its games release elsewhere, which will be followed by a severe decline in Gamepass subscribers and those numbers will not look good on their spreadsheets. Wonder who they're going to fire then, maybe Bethesda's customer support or something.

[one-armed dwarf]

Yeah, Blue Prince is a fucking hard-core time devourer, Jason Schrier is nearly at 200 hours. So is Oblivion. Maybe Expedition 33 is actually the leanest title there. You aren't just beating one and quickly moving onto the other.

[shinymcshine]

Nah, we had a great time with Blue Prince in 40 hrs, over 2 weeks - clearly not 100% on everything, but then you might as well say Balatro too as that's another 100hr+ game which was recently added.

 

Meanwhile there still a whole bunch of sales and GP discounts so you can build up a reasonable offline catalogue for a great price if you ever want to cease your subscription.

 

[Maf]

Kind of in the Reader’s Letter thread, I think Sony boned it up by chasing live service stuff. Blue Point is a really good studio. They had them making a God of War live service game which got canned

 

I understand all games are artificial and there’s nothing “natural” about development. But some things just don’t fit and if it got that bad with all their 10 live service games they were supposedly working on. They’ve wasted so much time and money and no one has anything to show for it. 
 

I’m not sure when I’ll get to Blue Prince and watching Oblivion - it seems cool for what it is but it’s just a reminder I really dislike this type of game. But what is good is Gamepass gives options. I don’t really get FOMO. Every month there’s stuff leaving the service, and sometimes I think oh, I would have liked to have played that. But it’s usually replaced with something new and shiny. I understand how people might not like that. My biggest issue with Gamepass is the loot box aspect. But it’s cheap enough, usually delivers, and I’ve gone on to buy games I really like as well (Person 3, Lies of P, Lords of the Fallen, etc)

[mfnick]

I said before, I think after the last showcase, that it’s a damn shame they’ve decided to go multi platform at this point. This year is extremely quiet on Sonys front, would have been perfect timing to start clawing some market share back as this is the year they seem to be getting their shit together. All those investments are starting to bare fruit. Got a decent release cadence, starting mostly this month & all on GP is excellent value. 

[Nag]

1 hour ago, mfnick said:

would have been perfect timing to start clawing some market share back

 

I can't really agree with that... can you claw market share back 4 years in to a generation? That seems like something that would happen if Microsoft can get a head start by launching a new machine ahead of Sony... like 360 did.

 

I completely agree with what Phil Spencer said about them losing the worst generation with Xbox One and people starting their digital libraries... most people won't switch after spending an entire generation or two splashing cash on games.

[one-armed dwarf]

I think we need to stop including the Oblivion remake in the Xbox wins column tbh, it kinda stinks of them shadowdropping to avoid harsh reviews.

 

The column is full enough with the other stuff anyway.

[Nag]

There aren't too many reviews for it but it can't be that bad if it's sitting at 88% (pc) and 79% (Xbox) on Metacritic surely...

[shinymcshine]

Article about Casio game wrist watches from the 1980s - albeit if feel the closest analogy is how everyone played Snake on their Nokia phone in the late 1990s.

 

https://www.theguardian.com/games/2025/may/02/space-invaders-casio-video-game-watches

[Maf]

Biggest wishes for E3 season

 

1) DBFZ 2 

 

That is all 

[Nag]

Talk about low hanging fruit...

[Maf]

Ok here’s 5

 

1) DBFZ 2

2) Turok Origins release date

3) Jet Force Gemini Remastered

4) Zelda spin-off Souls-like

5) Dragon Quest 12 gameplay 

 

+ 2 more

 

+1) New Castlevania game

+2) Tetris Effect 2 

[one-armed dwarf]

Safe prediction of Half Life 3.

 

I dunno what else.

[Nag]

Apart from the obvious Resident Evil 9 reveal and for Fable gameplay to knock my socks off I'd be happy for some cool stuff I don't know about... preferably that isn't 3 years away.

[spatular]

BATRIDER!!!111

[DANGERMAN]

I suppose that Sega stuff, Jet Set Radio and Crazy Taxi. However, I've learnt to not expect nice things so I'm actually kind of dreading them 

[Maryokutai]

Castlevania would be nice. There has been so much movement around that IP (animated shows, re-releases, crossovers) that I get the feeling there has to be some fire somewhere with all that smoke.