Xbox Official Xbox thread

[Madmick]

As much as they’re lacking on the game front (for now anyway) at some point all those studio purchases they did over the last two years or so have to start paying dividends. It will be interesting to see what will happen then.

My optimism is temperated on that front. I assumed the same when they spent mountains of money to subsidize the development of exclusives for the Xbox One, and we all know how that turned out. Remember that headline from 2013?
Microsoft spending $1 billion on Xbox One games

Their spending spree on Studios isn't a recent development, either. They've been trying this strategy, albeit less aggressively than in recent years, since the advent of the Xbox. The infamous Lionhead acquisition is perhaps a symbol of how well it has worked out in the long term. This article from a few years ago talks about that history. Nevertheless, you can see their centralization of Game Pass wasn't haphazardly thrown together.
Microsoft studio buying spree likely not over, says Xbox boss Phil Spencer

The Xbox brand has been dogged by a major conundrum since 2013. Console purchases are motivated in no small part by exclusives. Microsoft had a first-party games problem. Past tense. E3 2018 started to change that.

Nestled amongst Halo Infinite, Gears of War 5, Devil May Cry 5, and Battletoads announcements, Microsoft shared big news for the future of its first-party games. Four established studios—Undead Labs (State of Decay), Playground Games (Forza Horizon), Compulsion Games (We Happy Few), and Ninja Theory (Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice)—had been acquired by Xbox. Additionally, former Crystal Dynamics head Darrell Gallagher has been tapped to lead a brand new team, The Initiative, based in Santa Monica.

Xbox boss Phil Spencer isn’t ready to let off the gas yet. In a recent CNET interview, he says that his team isn’t done shoring up Microsoft’s first-party game offerings.

Building the Game Pass library
“They have been going after quantity at relatively low prices, so are likely going to keep chasing $100 million sized deals,” says Wedbush analyst Michael Pachter. Head of Microsoft Studios Matt Booty tells GamesIndustry.biz that Microsoft is looking at studios with 50 to 100 employees that release games every two to three years. A big theme in the interview is concerned with Game Pass, Microsoft’s Netflix-style subscription service. Game Pass marks another step for Microsoft looking at success as ecosystem-based rather than motivated strictly by console sales (as the newly announced Xbox All Access program reinforces).

The model has changed. It used to be that consoles were sold as loss leaders, with software licensing making up the difference (and then some). It was the old marketing paradigm of razors and razor blades, with the latter being a source of recurring revenue made possible by practically giving away the former.

Indeed, Phil Spencer didn't just start talking about how he doesn't care about selling the most consoles last month. This strategy has been a laser focus of theirs for years.

This is where I'm more optimistic. I think if they do a good job of communicating the great idea to minivan moms, they could make a real dent not just against Sony, but also Nintendo. The great idea is this: for $22.99/mo-$34.99/mo, nothing upfront, you walk out of the store with a box, and you can tell your kid to shut up. That's an all-in-one monthly fee. You don't have to commit more. It covers everything. There's more game content included with Game Pass than your kids could ever hope to exhaust. Next Christmas, you won't have to worry about blowing more money on some unforeseen viral game-- aka the Elmo Toy craze effect-- because all the biggest games on the Xbox come with that Game Pass.

 

[PEB]

 

[method115]

My optimism is temperated on that front. I assumed the same when they spent mountains of money to subsidize the development of exclusives for the Xbox One, and we all know how that turned out. Remember that headline from 2013?
Microsoft spending $1 billion on Xbox One games

Their spending spree on Studios isn't a recent development, either. They've been trying this strategy, albeit less aggressively than in recent years, since the advent of the Xbox. The infamous Lionhead acquisition is perhaps a symbol of how well it has worked out in the long term. This article from a few years ago talks about that history. Nevertheless, you can see their centralization of Game Pass wasn't haphazardly thrown together. This have been laser focused on this strategy for years.
Microsoft studio buying spree likely not over, says Xbox boss Phil Spencer

Indeed, Phil Spencer didn't just start talking about how he doesn't care about selling the most consoles last month. This has been their new strategy for years.

This is where I'm more optimistic. I think if they do a good job of communicating the great idea to minivan moms, they could make a real dent not just against Sony, but also Nintendo. The great idea is this: for $22.99/mo-$34.99/mo, nothing upfront, you walk out of the store with a box, and you can tell your kid to shut up. That's an all-in-one monthly fee. You don't have to commit more. It covers everything. There's more game content included with Game Pass than your kids could ever hope to exhaust. Next Christmas, you won't have to worry about blowing more money on some unforeseen viral game-- aka the Elmo Toy craze effect-- because all the biggest games on the Xbox come with that Game Pass.

Great breakdown. I really don't understand what their issue has been with getting good quality games on their system. They seem to always have issues with game devs. I know at one point MS being overly controlling of game studios was one issue but that was stopped once Spencer took over I believe.

IMO obsidian is the best stuido they've taken so far. I might be biased considering I've enjoyed most of what that studio has put out. I look forward to Avowed, unfortunately grounded doesn't interest me at all and is a departure from what the studio normally works does.

 

[Law Talkin’ Guy]

Random question, but does Game Pass have any kind of parental controls? Like if a parent buys their kids an Xbox but doesn’t want them to play Battlefield for example can they put on any kind of age restrictions?

 

[method115]

Random question, but does Game Pass have any kind of parental controls? Like if a parent buys their kids an Xbox but doesn’t want them to play Battlefield for example can they put on any kind of age restrictions?

I would assume the parental controls are system wide. So that regardless of what service you are using it still stops any games you deem to much from being played. I don't use them though so I'm not 100% sure.

 

[Clifford_Harris]

Random question, but does Game Pass have any kind of parental controls? Like if a parent buys their kids an Xbox but doesn’t want them to play Battlefield for example can they put on any kind of age restrictions?

It's on the console and you can restrict based on age and require either a password or passcode.

 

[method115]

Also HDR10. We still haven't received any confirmation of support for these standards from Sony

PS4 Pro supported HDR10 so I imagine the PS5 will continue to do so.

I was reading on another gaming website that some developers were unhappy with the Xbox series S. Looked into and looks like ID software made some complaints about the memory. They feel it's going to under-powered and is going to hold this gen from moving on. If they are right this could be what the issue is with Halo 5.

https://wccftech.com/id-software-devs-concerns-xbox-series-s-specs/

If all developers have to hold their games back to support the Series S this gen could be off to a slow start. This could also benefit Sony and their developers as they are the only ones who will be programming just for the PS5 and not having to worry about supporting a weaker version.

 

[Strychnine]

Cheeky B@$tard!

 

[Sycho Sid]

Cheeky B@$tard!

This was pretty funny, but nothing will top pulling the 3090 out of the oven for me.

 

[Madmick]

Microsoft Xbox Smart Delivery vs. Sony PS5 Upgrade

Cite them. List every game from Smart Delivery that is both:

1. Offering a free upgrade to the PS5 for owners of the PS4 version, and
2. Offering a free PS4 version for gamers who buy the PS5 version

Okay, I see I'll have to do the legwork myself. I'm sure everyone is curious.

#2 is off the table. I haven't heard of a that being promised for a single Playstation game. This is what sets "Smart Delivery" apart from the "PS5 Upgrade" branding Sony is putting on the box of PS4 games whose developers are offering free upgrades. You aren't entitled to ownership of the game on the older platform if purchasing the newer game, and Sony is doing nothing itself:

"Unlike Microsoft, Sony’s approach to cross-generation upgrades is not catch-all. Xbox Smart Delivery means that all Xbox Game Studios games will only need to be purchased once to be played on both the Xbox One and Series X or Series S. By contrast, Sony is letting its third-party publishers decide whether they’ll be offering an upgrade program."
-- GamesRadar


XBOX SMART DELIVERY & PS5 UPGRADE

• Assassin's Creed Valhalla
• Borderlands 3
• Control*
• Cyberpunk 2077
• Dead by Daylight
  
• Destiny 2: Beyond Light
• DiRT 5
• DOOM Eternal
  
• Far Cry 6
• FIFA 21**
  
• Hitman 3***
• Immortals: Fenyx Rising
• Maneater
• Marvel's Avengers
• Planet Coaster
• Rider's Republic
• The Elder Scrolls Online
• The Witcher 3: The Wild Hunt
  
• Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Siege
• Watch Dogs: Legion
• Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2
• WRC 9: FIA World Rally Championship
  
• Yakuza: Like a Dragon

*only for the Ultimate edition (currently $40)
**only if purchased before the next year's installment
***PS5 upgrade is available for the digital version only
-- Note -- These are games where the developer is offering a free upgrade for the Playstation, but the even better "dual entitlement" for Xbox, so they are are Smart Delivery titles.


DEVELOPER-PROVIDED FREE UPGRADE (Both Xbox & Playstation), XBOX SMART DELIVERY

• Madden NFL 21**
• Monster Boy & the Cursed Kingdom
• NBA 2K1*

*only for the Mamba Forever edition (currently $100)
-- Note -- These are games where the developer is offering a free upgrade for both Playstation and Xbox, but that doesn't automatically qualify them for the latter's Smart Delivery, because that entails "dual entitlement" also affording the consumer automatic ownership on the older Xbox platform


PS5 UPGRADE, XBOX SMART DELIVERY

• Kena: Bridge of Spirits

Games highlighted in purple are (console) exclusives not available on the Xbox platform
-- Note -- These are games that offer a free upgrade on the PS5, but not on the Xbox. For now, only one game appears, obviously, which is an exclusive to the Playstation. Given their respective policies, platform exclusives would seem to be the only possible time the PS5 will ever support an upgrade when the XSX/XSS does not.


XBOX SMART DELIVERY, PS5 UPGRADE

• Balan Wonderworld
• Call of the Sea
• Chorus: Rise as One
• CrossfireX
• Cuisine Royale
• Echo Generation
• ExoMecha
• Forza Horizon 4
• Gears 5
• Gears Tactics
• Grounded
• Halo Infinite
• Hello Neighbor 2
• King Oddball
• Manifold Garden
• Metal: Hellslinger
• Ori and the Will of the Wisps
• Phantasy Star Online 2: New Genesis
• Pragmata
• Psychonauts 2
• Scarlet Nexus
• Sea of Thieves
• Second Extinction
• Tell Me Why
• Tetris Effect: Connected
• The Ascent
• The Gunk
• The Medium
• The Touryst
• War Thunder
• Yes, Your Grace

Games highlighted in green are (console) exclusives not available on the Playstation platform
-- Note -- These are games that support the dual entitlement of Xbox's Smart Delivery service, but offer no upgrade on the PS5 at all. As you can see, this isn't limited to platform exclusives.



XSX Total Game Count:

• 57 (Free Upgrade)
• 54 (Smart Delivery)

PS5 Total Game Count:

• 27 (Free Upgrade)

 

[Madmick]

Some bad news finally out today if this Collider article (published today) is accurate:
https://collider.com/ps5-specs-vs-xbox-series-x-series-s/

The XSX & XSS won't have a USB-C port, we already knew that, but the bigger issue, given concerns about the relatively small internal storage size of 1TB, and the potential the proprietary card slot may not be as competitive on cost for expansion at a later date than it is today, is that all three of the XSX & XSS USB ports are 3.1 Gen 1. This means a 5Gb/s throughput ceiling = 625MB/s. That is barely faster than the the SATA III ceiling.

This means high-end external storage will be limited to those Seagate SEC cards.

Furthermore, the WiFi standard is reported to be only WiFi 5. That is less of a concern because WiFi 5 still greatly exceeds the bandwidth of any consumer network around the world, and probably won't be eclipsed for over a decade, long before a successor model is out, but there are more subtle advantages for latency with WiFi 6 concerning gaming.

 

[Deadwing88]

 

[nefti]

I just got back into gaming cus if the lockdowns. I got a ps4 because my friends told me it had better single player games.

Thinking of getting the xbox series x cus i dont have an xbox. How are the single player games for xbox?

 

[SaiWa]

Pre-orders for the systems are up...

Anybody reserved one? X or S?

 

[Sycho Sid]

X is still available at Wal Mart for you guys

 

[Smokes]

Got the X from MS store!!

 

[Deadwing88]

Pre-orders for the systems are up...

Anybody reserved one? X or S?

Pre-ordered a X early this morning (UK)..

 

[Madmick]

Wow. They saw Sony completely botch the launch, Microsoft promised that wouldn't happen, and yet they still fucked up their own.

Here's the official Microsoft page with the list of distributors:
Microsoft: Pre-Order Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S Starting Tuesday, September 22

– United States (8AM PT): Microsoft Store, Amazon, Best Buy, GameStop, Walmart, Target, Sam’s Club, Newegg, and other participating retailers

– Canada (8AM PT): Microsoft Store, Amazon, Walmart, Best Buy, EB Games, The Source, and other participating retailers

– UK (8AM BST): Microsoft Store, GAME, Amazon, Dixons, Currys PC World, Argos, John Lewis, Smyths Toys, VERY, AO, Tesco, Simply Game, Shopto and other participating retailers

– Australia (8AM AEST): Microsoft Store, JB Hifi, EB Games, Telstra, Harvey Norman, and other participating retailers

– New Zealand (8AM NZST): Microsoft Store, JB HiFi, EB Games, Spark, and other participating retailers

The Verge has perhaps a more convenient page because it links directly to the product pages for several of the major retailers:
Here’s where you can preorder the Xbox Series S and Series X consoles
Retailer sites are buckling due to loads of traffic, it seems


I guess they share the same silver lining. The reason nobody can get their hands on one is because they're selling like hotcakes. Even Microsoft's pre-order page is out of stock.

This ain't a repeat of 2013. The war is on.

 

[method115]

This ain't a repeat of 2013. The war is on.

This isn’t to much of a surprise Xbox was always competitive in the US. It’s worldwide they have issues. Even during the Xbox one launch I remember them doing well at launch and then things started to slow.

In February 2020 they were 5 mil apart and that’s after this long.

 

[Deadwing88]

This isn’t to much of a surprise Xbox was always competitive in the US. It’s worldwide they have issues. Even during the Xbox one launch I remember them doing well at launch and then things started to slow.

In February 2020 they were 5 mil apart and that’s after this long.

Seeing as Microsoft seems committed to splurging cash on new studios, it's time to make inroads into Japan with major investment..

Tango Gameworks was a good start.