Xbox Series X | S

[MattyP]

4 minutes ago, Stanley said:

But even at that point they had more first party games than they have had recently.

 

I still find it bizarre that they launched the Series consoles with basically no exclusives whatsoever. Let’s be honest Phil Spencer has been studio head for some time now, and there’s only so long you can dine out on Gears 5 and Forza Horizon 4, their last big tent pole releases, some two and three years ago.

MS have definitely changed track a bit.

 

I know it bothers some that there are no new exclusives. Yet the series consoles are still selling well, GamePass is doing well. So they are doing something right.

 

Personally to me it's just a box that plays games well, better than my current PC and cheaper than upgrading that.

 

In fact it's much like a PC upgrade or a new phone. Hardware is improved, has some new features and plays all my old favourite games.

 

Sure new games will come but not the be all and end all of getting some lovely new gaming hardware. The games will eventually come not even fussed of they are exclusive, first or third party. It doesn't matter. Much like my TV plays video content. 

[Kevvy Metal]

47 minutes ago, Stanley said:

But what about the other important games, what about those? 

Important is subjective. They all are and none are. 
 

but yes! I get the joke too  

[JPL]

21 minutes ago, Stanley said:

But even at that point they had more first party games than they have had recently.

 

I still find it bizarre that they launched the Series consoles with basically no exclusives whatsoever. Let’s be honest Phil Spencer has been studio head for some time now, and there’s only so long you can dine out on Gears 5 and Forza Horizon 4, their last big tent pole releases, some two and three years ago. 

Oh, I totally agree and this might upset broker, but I’m disappointed with the lack of any Series exclusives so far and how quiet they’ve been around when we’ll see any.

 

I said it a few days ago, probably in this thread, but I’m hoping they have a solid E3 (or whatever) and they surprise us with a few games that are ready to go.

 

I also hope that Halo Infinite is good as the original is still my favourite game, but I’m not convinced they’ll find that magic again.

[Mr. Gerbik]

35 minutes ago, Stanley said:

The phrase “properly back on track now” presuming you meant with regards to first party releases. I hope they are too but we can’t ignore the fact that we haven’t seen any big releases from them for a while, and Halo Infinite didn’t exactly go as planned, to say the least. So I think it’s still too early to decide that tbh. 

All those acquired studios have proven track records. So in this case I can safely say that I expect the usual level of quality from the likes of Arkane, inXile, Obsidian, Double Fine etcetera. Maybe even better with their newly found budgets. I think it's safe to assume that it's going to be awesome, but yeah I do agree they're taking their sweet time. (Edit: and that's also arguably a good thing if you look at CDPR for example)

[Stanley]

11 minutes ago, Mr. Gerbik said:

All those acquired studios have proven track records. So in this case I can safely say that I expect the usual level of quality from the likes of Arkane, inXile, Obsidian, Double Fine etcetera. Maybe even better with their newly found budgets. I think it's safe to assume that it's going to be awesome, but yeah I do agree they're taking their sweet time. (Edit: and that's also arguably a good thing if you look at CDPR for example)

Yeah of course, and it’s ironic that the one bloody game we know about from Bethesda, well one that’s imminent anyway, is Death Loop, a PS5 exclusive 

 

I’m really just playing devils advocate here, I’m confident they (MS) will come up with the goods and in the meantime I’m quite content with Game Pass and Cyberpunk 2077. 
 

Out of interest does anyone have a link to that presentation in which they showed all the games in development, think it came out late last year - I just want to remind myself what’s on the way? 

[Uncle Mike]

And Ghostwrite: Tokyo is also now an MS-published timed PS exclusive, right? Such a weird setup.

[mdn2]

Along with MLB: The Show being on Gamepass. This is going to be a very unique generation. 

[Stanley]

13 minutes ago, Uncle Mike said:

And Ghostwrite: Tokyo is also now an MS-published timed PS exclusive, right? Such a weird setup.

That looks really good too. 

[deerokus]

How often are you going to actually use a pizza oven? Stupid purchase. 

[JPL]

Just now, deerokus said:

How often are you going to actually use a pizza oven? Stupid purchase. 

I’m hoping at least once a week over the summer. I can’t wait.

[deerokus]

You can play a series x more often than that.

 

Bad for the environment too! 

[Dudley]

 

5 hours ago, Mr. Gerbik said:

Fair enough but it does feel like the really special first party stuff, eg all the games promised by all those studios they bought, are still not here yet. And that once they finally start arriving, it will be incredible to have all of that available day one and permanently on gp.

 

 

Other than all those games, what have MS ever done for us?

 

3 hours ago, Stanley said:

I mean are you even following the discussion? Citing all first party games day one on the platform as reason alone for subscribing, and then using Returnal as an example of a game you might get if it was on Xbox is kind of a weird way of saying there are no new MS exclusives, otherwise why not just name the Xbox exclusives you’ll get? 

 

Ignoring 2 pages of utter fanboy bollocks I mentioned Returnal specifically because it's currently the subject of fierce debate over historically high game pricing on Sony first party titles.

[Mr. Gerbik]

I have a brilliant idea. How about an Xbox Series X with an extra extension for pizzas built on top of its hot grill and marketed as a console and pizza oven in one? 

 

THE XBOX SERIES PIZZA

[deerokus]

1 minute ago, Mr. Gerbik said:

I have a brilliant idea. How about an Xbox Series X with an extra extension for pizzas built on top of its hot grill and marketed as a console and pizza oven in one? 

 

THE XBOX SERIES PIZZA

Keep the pizza in the Xbox Series Fridge. 

[Mr. Gerbik]

7 minutes ago, deerokus said:

Keep the pizza in the Xbox Series Fridge. 

MARKETING SYNERGY

[JPL]

18 minutes ago, deerokus said:

You can play a series x more often than that.

 

Bad for the environment too! 

I will play my Series X more than that.

 

Why’s it bad for the environment?

[Isaac]

3 hours ago, Mr. Gerbik said:

This sums uo my feelings towards the current situation. I love my Series X and Microsoft now owns some of my most favorite developers of all time - but the upcoming exclusives from those studios are a bit like the zombies and the dragons in Game of Thrones for the first 5 or so seasons. They're coming, they're coming, really they are.

 

1 hour ago, Mr. Gerbik said:

All those acquired studios have proven track records. So in this case I can safely say that I expect the usual level of quality from the likes of Arkane, inXile, Obsidian, Double Fine etcetera. Maybe even better with their newly found budgets. I think it's safe to assume that it's going to be awesome, but yeah I do agree they're taking their sweet time. (Edit: and that's also arguably a good thing if you look at CDPR for example)

 

It's almost like there has been an unprecedented global situation that has massively affected productivity at businesses everywhere (including game developers).

 

Who knew eh?

[JPL]

2 minutes ago, Isaac said:

 

 

It's almost like there has been an unprecedented global situation that has massively affected productivity at businesses everywhere (including game developers).

 

Who knew eh?

Sony are managing to get a few games out here and there though, to be fair.

[Mr. Gerbik]

And to be further fair, those Microsoft Game Studios have two near finished PS5 exclusives that they're putting out soon. So they're not bringing out nothing, just nothing on Xbox.

[Isaac]

6 minutes ago, JPL said:

Sony are managing to get a few games out here and there though, to be fair.

 

Hardly, they have one big new AAA game out and it's technically a remake, with their second about to come out shortly (debatable if that's a AAA).

 

Nintendo are suffering worse than Microsoft and Sony but it's undeniable that the pandemic has totally fucked the game industry in terms of pushing everything back.

 

It'll continue to fuck release timelines for at least the next 12 months too, if rumours are to be believed. 

 

Most publishers just hadn't announced specific dates before it hit so we will just see a ton of '2021' games quietly move to 2022.

[Boozy The Clown]

Xbox First party Games expected (rumoured) for 2021

 

Flight Simulator - "summer 2021"

Starfield - every xbox youtuber video desperately predicting this based on zero evidence

Forza Horizon 5 - Hairy "insider" guesses and Beardo guy hinted at a game coming this year he cant wait for or talk about, FH is his favourite Xbox franchise

Halo Infinite -  Delayed by a year in 2020 maybe more

Wolfenstein 3 - desperate youtube predicition

Psychonauts 2 - multiplat seems fairly solid for 2021

 

2022 

 

Hellblade 2 maybe

Forza Motorsport maybe

Deathloop - after 1 year PS5 exclusivity

Ghostwire Tokyo   after 1 year PS5 exclusivity so probably 2023

 

2023 & beyond

 

Fable

Perfect Dark

State of Decay 3

Elder Scrolls 6

 

Thats the current state of play as far as I know.

There are a million rumours leaks and speculatory guesses on top but until they are announced with release dates that will almost certainly have delays, I'm not holding my breath. Basically by the time all your 3 years of gamepass subs begin running out is when they'll start to deliver on the promises of the past few years. Why do you think they made it a 3 year limit ?

[JPL]

There’s Everwild from Rare as well. No idea how far along that is though.

[Broker]

1 hour ago, Mr. Gerbik said:

All those acquired studios have proven track records. So in this case I can safely say that I expect the usual level of quality from the likes of Arkane, inXile, Obsidian, Double Fine etcetera. Maybe even better with their newly found budgets. I think it's safe to assume that it's going to be awesome, but yeah I do agree they're taking their sweet time. (Edit: and that's also arguably a good thing if you look at CDPR for example)

My only concern is Microsoft’s rich history of intervening and ruining/cancelling games. The last generation could’ve had a new Fable game if they hadn’t demanded it be multiplayer GAAS and then cancelled it. And they ditched that platinum game with the dragons and the radical 90’s protagonist. I’m really hoping for a hands off approach from them given the amazing history of the studios they’ve bought. Obsidian just need more cash and time and they could probably make the best games we’ve ever seen. The worst outcome would be know nothing producers sticking their oar in and demanding things that conform to trends, which I guess at the moment would be the kind of cutscene driven barely interactive games that are getting Sony endless applause. 

[Boozy The Clown]

18 minutes ago, JPL said:

There’s Everwild from Rare as well. No idea how far along that is though.

 

The last I heard about Everwild was the producers asking the "fans" what kind of game they would like it to be. It didn't inspire much confidence in how far into development it is.

[Boozy The Clown]

9 minutes ago, Broker said:

My only concern is Microsoft’s rich history of intervening and ruining/cancelling games. The last generation could’ve had a new Fable game if they hadn’t demanded it be multiplayer GAAS and then cancelled it. And they ditched that platinum game with the dragons and the radical 90’s protagonist. I’m really hoping for a hands off approach from them given the amazing history of the studios they’ve bought. Obsidian just need more cash and time and they could probably make the best games we’ve ever seen. The worst outcome would be know nothing producers sticking their oar in and demanding things that conform to trends, which I guess at the moment would be the kind of cutscene driven barely interactive games that are getting Sony endless applause. 

 

I think they have genuinely learned from this and have new management who are spinning the philosphy of letting talented devs make the games they want to make without guidance or interference . There's also been a lot of talk of the various studios sharing technology to increase the speed of development which is surely a good thing.

[Broker]

4 minutes ago, Boozy The Clown said:

 

I think they have genuinely learned from this and have new management who are spinning the philosphy of letting talented devs make the games they want to make without guidance or interference . There's also been a lot of talk of the various studios sharing technology to increase the speed of development which is surely a good thing.

Absolutely, I’m really hoping we’ll get to see those undoubtedly excellent developers let free to create amazing games funded by the endless Microsoft cash pile. The technology sharing should be good too, hopefully it’s similar to what Sony apparently do instead of the EA frostbite nightmare. 

[footle]

Boozy is dropping truth bombs.

 

Of his list I only really expect to see Psychonauts, Flight Sim (though not in august in a state people would expect) and Halo this year: one game being ported, and two games that have been in development hell forever.

no idea why anyone would expect starfield, or for it to be any good.

[Sarlaccfood]

2 hours ago, Isaac said:

 

Hardly, they have one big new AAA game out and it's technically a remake, with their second about to come out shortly (debatable if that's a AAA).

Come on, one game?
 

I was going to reply with a list of other games they’ve released but it’s Sunday and I’d feel bad making you do all the gymnastics to explain why they don’t count.

[Stanley]

1 hour ago, Isaac said:

 

Hardly, they have one big new AAA game out and it's technically a remake, with their second about to come out shortly (debatable if that's a AAA).

 

Nintendo are suffering worse than Microsoft and Sony but it's undeniable that the pandemic has totally fucked the game industry in terms of pushing everything back.

 

It'll continue to fuck release timelines for at least the next 12 months too, if rumours are to be believed. 

 

Most publishers just hadn't announced specific dates before it hit so we will just see a ton of '2021' games quietly move to 2022.

It has of course affected game development, but Sony had three games out at launch, and regardless of whether Demon’s is a remake it’s still pretty obvious that it’d been in development some time, not just chucked out to make up numbers, the other big game you appear to be overlooking is Miles Morales, and let’s not forget they put out both Last of Us Part II and Ghost of Tsushima during 2020 too. 
 

This isn’t a recent problem, MS studios haven’t brought anything to their consoles for years bar Ori and State of Decay 2, over a year ago. 
 

Nintendo have released way more games too, so yes the industry has been hit by the pandemic but it doesn’t explain the lack of any notable releases for years by on their consoles. 

[Isaac]

8 hours ago, Stanley said:

It has of course affected game development, but Sony had three games out at launch, and regardless of whether Demon’s is a remake it’s still pretty obvious that it’d been in development some time, not just chucked out to make up numbers, the other big game you appear to be overlooking is Miles Morales, and let’s not forget they put out both Last of Us Part II and Ghost of Tsushima during 2020 too. 
 

This isn’t a recent problem, MS studios haven’t brought anything to their consoles for years bar Ori and State of Decay 2, over a year ago. 
 

Nintendo have released way more games too, so yes the industry has been hit by the pandemic but it doesn’t explain the lack of any notable releases for years by on their consoles. 

 

Gears Tactics was released less than six months ago on console. Minecraft Dungeons too, although as that's on Switch I guess it's not really an exclusive.

 

Nintendo's cadence has massively slowed with loads of industry stories about them really struggling with the pandemic (as they had zero remote-working capabilities) and has been exemplified by their first Direct in 12 months being one where they showed a new Golf game and a remake of a Wii Zelda game, and that was about it.