Xbox stopped being an underdog (I mean they never truly were, but they felt like it at times) when Microsoft gave them 7.5 billion to buy Bethesda.
They stopped being "Xbox" in my mind and just became a more blatant arm of Microsoft when they dropped $69 billion on Activision.
The entire Xbox team getting caught out in a "pivot to video" level of misleading people about Gamepass has honestly soured me quite a bit on the company, and especially Phil Spencer, who was honestly half of the fun of being an Xbox fan. "Uncle Phil" was great to hang around and all, but this is him coming in and telling your dad he gambled away that loan.
I'm pretty sure nobody has been "misled" about Game Pass. It fairly obviously trades potential sales for promotion + "why not it's free" player growth + word of mouth, as well as a check from MS.
+5
AegeriTiny wee bacteriumsPlateau of LengRegistered Userregular
Game Pass is meant to monopolize video games as a service by shear brute force. It's the Uber playbook, lose money to offer an unsustainable service, but since you got more money than all the rest youll get the monopoly at the end and the law cant keep up with your lobbying and lawyers. The end game for game pass is the utter annihilation of competition.
Enjoy those "free" games tho.
As always when discussing Microsoft’s imminent gaming monopoly, it is worth taking a look at platform reality in console market.
I don't know how similar NZ is to those countries, but I haven't been successful at finding a Series X here so far. Minding I'm going to go to my secret channel, which successfully got me a PS5 to see if I can.
AegeriTiny wee bacteriumsPlateau of LengRegistered Userregular
edited February 15
Also in a deliciously ironic twist for me, I've decided to go for the version that lacks a disc drive as I've become extremely used to no longer bothering with DVDs or discs anymore. I may come to regret this decision later, but unlike past me, I no longer really play previous games anymore at all unless they're new (like the remake of Dead Space). Especially because I usually use my console at home and NZ internet is far better and more stable than Australia. The only console I buy physical games for anymore is Nintendo and that's because of their relentless fuckery surrounding digitally bought games and hardware locking.
Some of you may remember during the glorious xbone reveal that this was a huge sticking point and problem for me with regards to games being largely digital. Now I don't give a shit, but I'll still never purchase any game that requires an online connection to play a single player game (sorry Redfall, I was so excited to play you as well )
Game Pass is meant to monopolize video games as a service by shear brute force. It's the Uber playbook, lose money to offer an unsustainable service, but since you got more money than all the rest youll get the monopoly at the end and the law cant keep up with your lobbying and lawyers. The end game for game pass is the utter annihilation of competition.
Enjoy those "free" games tho.
Then I guess Sony and Nintendo better step up their offerings before they get annihilated, eh?
Honestly, these aren't even the most impressive mental gymnastics we've seen in this thread so far. Gotta pump up those rookie numbers!
Welcome to the [Xbox] thread, where we engage in longwinded, increasingly convoluted arguments about how simultaneously Microsoft's division is stalled in the face of an insurmountable lead by its most obvious competitors among the platform holders, like the one that bought one the world's largest motion picture studios and used those rights to make video games, and yet are poised for complete domination of the whole industry by means of a particularly ruthless library subscription model...which said competitor has already implemented for their own customer base. Twice.
By the looks of it: classic Penny Arcade Forums. We're the real titans of industry here.
Also in a deliciously ironic twist for me, I've decided to go for the version that lacks a disc drive as I've become extremely used to no longer bothering with DVDs or discs anymore. I may come to regret this decision later, but unlike past me, I no longer really play previous games anymore at all unless they're new (like the remake of Dead Space). Especially because I usually use my console at home and NZ internet is far better and more stable than Australia. The only console I buy physical games for anymore is Nintendo and that's because of their relentless fuckery surrounding digitally bought games and hardware locking.
Some of you may remember during the glorious xbone reveal that this was a huge sticking point and problem for me with regards to games being largely digital. Now I don't give a shit, but I'll still never purchase any game that requires an online connection to play a single player game (sorry Redfall, I was so excited to play you as well )
Once in a very blue moon I pull a flat circle of an ancient arcane green plastic container and slide it into my series X, and it says:
Downloading that shit.
Also, my friend keeps fucking buying me discs instead of the digital version, which we do every Xmas. He doesn't do gamepass so this year I grabbed a bunch of smaller indie titles for him like River City Girls (we played a shitload of River City Ransom on a couch a half a lifetime ago) Somerville and more. "Yo, here's your codes my dude."
+1
AegeriTiny wee bacteriumsPlateau of LengRegistered Userregular
Yes it's like Doom 2016. You put in the disc and it installed 8 GB from the disc and then I think Downloaded like 44-48 GB from the internet.
Yes it's like Doom 2016. You put in the disc and it installed 8 GB from the disc and then I think Downloaded like 44-48 GB from the internet.
Good job Bethsoft.
At this point discs are just keys.
Which is nice sometimes. I bought a used copy of Crash Trilogy that wouldn't install from disc, but I could download the game and then just use the disc to verify ownership when I play.
AegeriTiny wee bacteriumsPlateau of LengRegistered Userregular
edited February 16
Yeah it's part of what's change my attitude. I mean you buy a disc and then download all this shit anyway, so what's the point frankly? I might as well not listen to a jet engine while playing (hopefully the Series X is better if I do need to use a disc).
I think the best part of our glorious digital future is this: I have set my friend's xbox as my home xbox. Now she's signed in on it at home. She has access to Gamepass and all of my library anytime she wants via that home console status. I have to be online for my own Xbox, but honestly, I'm online all the time anyways soooooo yeah.
There might be some issues with it all sure, but hey, thanks for this great feature Microsoft.
Yeah I have that setup with my friend too, its sweet
I mix digital and physical, depending on prices and whether I think I’ll trade the game in once I’m done
Prohass on
0
BRIAN BLESSEDMaybe you aren't SPEAKING LOUDLY ENOUGHHHRegistered Userregular
I mostly buy discs for games I well and truly care about, or if Mighty Ape has a preorder cheaper than the digital storefront (lol)
The last one I got it for was the limited edition Ori collection of games that came with the Piano Collections and I wouldn't trade that box for the world
Yeah it's part of what's change my attitude. I mean you buy a disc and then download all this shit anyway, so what's the point frankly? I might as well not listen to a jet engine while playing (hopefully the Series X is better if I do need to use a disc).
The Series X is absolutely whisper-quiet even under stress when it's venting heat like a volcano
E. Request 35
Request 35 seeks executed copies of content-licensing agreements between SIE and third- party gaming publishers. These contracts are relevant. Among other things, Microsoft is aware that PlayStation requires many third-party publishers to agree to exclusivity provisions, including preventing the publishers from putting their games on Xbox’s multi-game subscription service. But Microsoft does not fully understand the extent of SIE’s arrangements or how they impact the industry’s competitiveness. Given exclusivity’s centrality to the Commission’s Complaint, see, e.g., Compl. ¶¶ 9, 12, 51, 53, Microsoft needs this information for its defense.
SIE claims this Request is unduly burdensome because
Another potential, evidence pending, plus for Game Pass and developers: Sony might pay you to NOT put games on it. That would be essentially free money.
Another potential, evidence pending, plus for Game Pass and developers: Sony might pay you to NOT put games on it. That would be essentially free money.
As I said before: potential, pre-agreed payment (aside from "chancing it" with sales).
And in potentially even more interesting news, Sony is asking for for a second extension on their deadline to file to squash the FTC subpoena. They get another 2 weeks to keep negotiating with the FTC.
The FTC obviously subpoenaed Sony to get documents to bolster their case against Microsoft, but for whatever reason Sony is hesitant to give everything the FTC is asking for. It would be pretty embarrassing for the FTC if Sony actually did file that motion like they did with Microsoft, so I assume the FTC will be much more willing to keep negotiating and give more concessions.
It just seems shitty they initiate these actions and yet want to hide what they are doing.
Just like they hid all the exclusives they had coming down the pike while screaming about microsoft taking COD exclusive. Including a COD exclusive sony they themselves had for a month!
I would like some money because these are artisanal nuggets of wisdom philistine.
It kinda feels like there should just be a class action lawsuit against all the big companies because they are obviously all trying to hide shit, which in the end is most likely all very anti consumer. We'll see who has greased the palms of frc employees more when we see who comes out ahead here.
E. Request 35
Request 35 seeks executed copies of content-licensing agreements between SIE and third- party gaming publishers. These contracts are relevant. Among other things, Microsoft is aware that PlayStation requires many third-party publishers to agree to exclusivity provisions, including preventing the publishers from putting their games on Xbox’s multi-game subscription service. But Microsoft does not fully understand the extent of SIE’s arrangements or how they impact the industry’s competitiveness. Given exclusivity’s centrality to the Commission’s Complaint, see, e.g., Compl. ¶¶ 9, 12, 51, 53, Microsoft needs this information for its defense.
SIE claims this Request is unduly burdensome because
Another potential, evidence pending, plus for Game Pass and developers: Sony might pay you to NOT put games on it. That would be essentially free money.
Pretty sure we already know they pay developers to not put games on Gamepass. I believe that came out early on.
+3
BRIAN BLESSEDMaybe you aren't SPEAKING LOUDLY ENOUGHHHRegistered Userregular
It would just be nice for someone to say it louder for the people at the back.
I really just found it strange that after the Apple-Epic slapfight people just casually found out that Sony demands a super-special cut of revenue from all cross-play game microtransactions that no other major platform demands, and the revelation passed from people's thoughts like a fart in the breeze
It would just be nice for someone to say it louder for the people at the back.
I really just found it strange that after the Apple-Epic slapfight people just casually found out that Sony demands a super-special cut of revenue from all cross-play game microtransactions that no other major platform demands, and the revelation passed from people's thoughts like a fart in the breeze
I mean they are the number one sku, but scummy as fuck moves like that are how they maintain that supremacy and it feels just as unfair as opening the money vault to buy studios.
I would like some money because these are artisanal nuggets of wisdom philistine.
It kinda feels like there should just be a class action lawsuit against all the big companies because they are obviously all trying to hide shit, which in the end is most likely all very anti consumer. We'll see who has greased the palms of frc employees more when we see who comes out ahead here.
It’s not class action, but there is the “gamers” lawsuit against Microsoft in California, where two law firms are suing on behalf of 10 PlayStation owners. The lawyers want to depose Nadella, Spencer, Ryan, Bowser, and others. Depositions for Microsoft are stayed for a few months, because they’re busy with the FTC/CMA/EU.
So Cult of the Lamb is just... iffily programmed altogether. Recent events that happened in my cult.
-Name of Cult member (null set) has reached old age.
-Cult member (normal name) has DIED of old age (she never reached old age to begin with, unless the game was trying to name her earlier, for that other notification?)
-Cult members assigned to two beds at the same time, multiple times
This might be on purpose but I made a few days of food for everybody before heading to the dungeon. While there, the baddy cursed my cult with famine. Then they... didn't eat the food I left for them to fix that? Very strange.
There's an upgrade to send multiple Cult members out on Mission together (first two, then three). But the way it's designed is either described wrong or doesn't work. The implication is that you can send two people on a mission TOGETHER to improve the chances that they will succeed and not die (a la how the ships work in ACIII, IV, and Rogue). But there's no actual mechanic to do that. You can send two people, one after the other after the same objective, but it doesn't seem like doing that is actually changing the odds? I guess maybe what the upgrade actually does is: flat upgrade to not dying on Missions + send out multiple people on unrelated Missions at the same time, but if that's what they meant, they described it very poorly.
0
AegeriTiny wee bacteriumsPlateau of LengRegistered Userregular
Yes that's what it means. It means you do multiple missions at the same time - not improve the odds of the same one. Their success rate is based on their state and mood etc. Honestly it kind of doesn't have a lot of point with the way the game is set up.
I still need to play Cult of the Lamb, instead of just watching three or four different online personalities play it. Even if I'd never use the Twitch integration, it's very cute.
Atomic Heart is cool and all but why would you have shitty Resident Evil type of saving in a game from 2023?
It sounds like a classic case of design choice by the developers who are leaning hard in the direction of classic gameplay progression (the game is very System Shock/Bioshock after all). Not one agree with (to be honest, I would've preferred if they migrated entirely to a modern manual save system that was not fixed point based, but it's a remake so I guess that's why).
So far, the reviews are positive (though not Hifi Rush glowing): surprisingly excellent writing, very good music, strong art direction, okay technology (not very impressive for UE5), and quite a few bugs on release (expected from Mundfish, sadly). You can skip a lot of the best content in the (limited) overworld. It's a no-brainer for Game Pass, but I can see the reluctance to drop $70 on Playstation 5 unless you were a big Bioshock fan (I'm not personally).
More Cult of the Lamb notes:
-Why can't you summon a demon off the elderly members? They're the highest leveled! And it's not like this isn't reflected elsewhere, sacrificing or ascending them is allowed, and much more profitable than doing so with a younger member.
Edit: So... turning someone into a demon doesn't kill them? News to me! I guess this blunts how bad it is that they won't let you use an elderly member.
-The devs seem to have misunderstood what parts are good and bad to randomize in a roguelike. Randomizing ALL of your equipment AND your Tarot cards means you can have a build with a dagger that feather touches enemies, 3 hearts for life, and sometimes fish drop when you kill enemies or alternatively, you can have 7 hearts with a hammer that one hit kills every normal enemy AND regains health on kills. And it shoots a projectile. I'm at max personal and cult level and the swinginess is deeply stupid.
-I need a lot more cult stats. Basically, the cult management is way too simple. I should have the option to call a specific member over to me, because it can be REALLY hard to find them sometimes! The graveyard serves as a way to find all the people who died normally, but the game doesn't seem to provide a list of all the ones who were sacrificed or ascended anywhere? And finally, when you bring up the list of active members, there should be a sorting tab who is assigned to do what, by level, etc.
-Really wishing for more cult forms to choose from. Way too many of them are weird, spider headed goblins but I don't have like... a mouse? A rat? Any kind of bird? I know there was a DLC pack of forms (which is a bit scummy), but their design taste is just odd, to me.
Edit: There IS a rat, I just took forever to find it (it's hidden in a specific location). Complaint stands on mice and birds, though.
-Four recipe meals of poison that let you kill your members ridiculously, very little "cook two or three of the same kind of fish together as a normal food dish." Obnoxious.
My hopes for this promised Spring DLC that "focuses on Endgame":
-More types of missions to send members on please. Send them on a fishing mission that is essentially the equivalent of you spending a day fishing (not just come back with 10 of the one kind of fish or whatever).
-Let us assign a chef! Maybe they have to be a certain minimum level or something.
-That cult management stuff I was talking about would be good, since an Endgame cult is quite large.
-Better build control (literally ANY build control).
-Instead of everything just giving you straight money at the end, they should update it to more smoothly leveling up members or making adding members easier as options, instead of JUST money.
Honestly I can't tell which way you're going with this, since Bioshock never quite clicked with me even at the height of its popularity (but I still beat 1 and 3). So either way would probably work.
Posts
They stopped being "Xbox" in my mind and just became a more blatant arm of Microsoft when they dropped $69 billion on Activision.
The entire Xbox team getting caught out in a "pivot to video" level of misleading people about Gamepass has honestly soured me quite a bit on the company, and especially Phil Spencer, who was honestly half of the fun of being an Xbox fan. "Uncle Phil" was great to hang around and all, but this is him coming in and telling your dad he gambled away that loan.
That's why I bought it up. Yeah, again, it was obvious. It just wasn't openly stated that the obvious was true.
I don't know how similar NZ is to those countries, but I haven't been successful at finding a Series X here so far. Minding I'm going to go to my secret channel, which successfully got me a PS5 to see if I can.
PS - Local_H_Jay
Sub me on Youtube
And Twitch
Some of you may remember during the glorious xbone reveal that this was a huge sticking point and problem for me with regards to games being largely digital. Now I don't give a shit, but I'll still never purchase any game that requires an online connection to play a single player game (sorry Redfall, I was so excited to play you as well
Welcome to the [Xbox] thread, where we engage in longwinded, increasingly convoluted arguments about how simultaneously Microsoft's division is stalled in the face of an insurmountable lead by its most obvious competitors among the platform holders, like the one that bought one the world's largest motion picture studios and used those rights to make video games, and yet are poised for complete domination of the whole industry by means of a particularly ruthless library subscription model...which said competitor has already implemented for their own customer base. Twice.
By the looks of it: classic Penny Arcade Forums. We're the real titans of industry here.
Once in a very blue moon I pull a flat circle of an ancient arcane green plastic container and slide it into my series X, and it says:
Downloading that shit.
Also, my friend keeps fucking buying me discs instead of the digital version, which we do every Xmas. He doesn't do gamepass so this year I grabbed a bunch of smaller indie titles for him like River City Girls (we played a shitload of River City Ransom on a couch a half a lifetime ago) Somerville and more. "Yo, here's your codes my dude."
Good job Bethsoft.
At this point discs are just keys.
Which is nice sometimes. I bought a used copy of Crash Trilogy that wouldn't install from disc, but I could download the game and then just use the disc to verify ownership when I play.
Steam ID: Good Life
(I also buy a lot of used games in Japan, but I won't pretend that's relevant to most of you)
There might be some issues with it all sure, but hey, thanks for this great feature Microsoft.
I mix digital and physical, depending on prices and whether I think I’ll trade the game in once I’m done
The last one I got it for was the limited edition Ori collection of games that came with the Piano Collections and I wouldn't trade that box for the world
The Series X is absolutely whisper-quiet even under stress when it's venting heat like a volcano
https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/ftc_gov/pdf/606911_d09412_-_respondent_microsoft_corp._s_opposition_to_non-party_sony_interactive_entertainment_llc_s_motion_to_quash_or_limit_subpoena_duces_tecum.pdf
Another potential, evidence pending, plus for Game Pass and developers: Sony might pay you to NOT put games on it. That would be essentially free money.
pleasepaypreacher.net
Yeah, also feels pretty on-brand.
Steam | XBL
As I said before: potential, pre-agreed payment (aside from "chancing it" with sales).
Though I would presume not very much.
pleasepaypreacher.net
The FTC obviously subpoenaed Sony to get documents to bolster their case against Microsoft, but for whatever reason Sony is hesitant to give everything the FTC is asking for. It would be pretty embarrassing for the FTC if Sony actually did file that motion like they did with Microsoft, so I assume the FTC will be much more willing to keep negotiating and give more concessions.
https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/ftc_gov/pdf/606926_d09412_-_second_agreed_motion_of_non-party_sony_interactive_entertainment_llc_for_extension_of_time_to_move_to_limit_or_quash_or_otherwise_respond_to_subpoena.pdf
pleasepaypreacher.net
I can see why they would rather avoid that again.
Just like they hid all the exclusives they had coming down the pike while screaming about microsoft taking COD exclusive. Including a COD exclusive sony they themselves had for a month!
pleasepaypreacher.net
Steam: https://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561198004484595
Pretty sure we already know they pay developers to not put games on Gamepass. I believe that came out early on.
I really just found it strange that after the Apple-Epic slapfight people just casually found out that Sony demands a super-special cut of revenue from all cross-play game microtransactions that no other major platform demands, and the revelation passed from people's thoughts like a fart in the breeze
I mean they are the number one sku, but scummy as fuck moves like that are how they maintain that supremacy and it feels just as unfair as opening the money vault to buy studios.
pleasepaypreacher.net
It’s not class action, but there is the “gamers” lawsuit against Microsoft in California, where two law firms are suing on behalf of 10 PlayStation owners. The lawyers want to depose Nadella, Spencer, Ryan, Bowser, and others. Depositions for Microsoft are stayed for a few months, because they’re busy with the FTC/CMA/EU.
-Name of Cult member (null set) has reached old age.
-Cult member (normal name) has DIED of old age (she never reached old age to begin with, unless the game was trying to name her earlier, for that other notification?)
-Cult members assigned to two beds at the same time, multiple times
This might be on purpose but I made a few days of food for everybody before heading to the dungeon. While there, the baddy cursed my cult with famine. Then they... didn't eat the food I left for them to fix that? Very strange.
There's an upgrade to send multiple Cult members out on Mission together (first two, then three). But the way it's designed is either described wrong or doesn't work. The implication is that you can send two people on a mission TOGETHER to improve the chances that they will succeed and not die (a la how the ships work in ACIII, IV, and Rogue). But there's no actual mechanic to do that. You can send two people, one after the other after the same objective, but it doesn't seem like doing that is actually changing the odds? I guess maybe what the upgrade actually does is: flat upgrade to not dying on Missions + send out multiple people on unrelated Missions at the same time, but if that's what they meant, they described it very poorly.
pleasepaypreacher.net
It sounds like a classic case of design choice by the developers who are leaning hard in the direction of classic gameplay progression (the game is very System Shock/Bioshock after all). Not one agree with (to be honest, I would've preferred if they migrated entirely to a modern manual save system that was not fixed point based, but it's a remake so I guess that's why).
So far, the reviews are positive (though not Hifi Rush glowing): surprisingly excellent writing, very good music, strong art direction, okay technology (not very impressive for UE5), and quite a few bugs on release (expected from Mundfish, sadly). You can skip a lot of the best content in the (limited) overworld. It's a no-brainer for Game Pass, but I can see the reluctance to drop $70 on Playstation 5 unless you were a big Bioshock fan (I'm not personally).
-Why can't you summon a demon off the elderly members? They're the highest leveled! And it's not like this isn't reflected elsewhere, sacrificing or ascending them is allowed, and much more profitable than doing so with a younger member.
Edit: So... turning someone into a demon doesn't kill them? News to me! I guess this blunts how bad it is that they won't let you use an elderly member.
-The devs seem to have misunderstood what parts are good and bad to randomize in a roguelike. Randomizing ALL of your equipment AND your Tarot cards means you can have a build with a dagger that feather touches enemies, 3 hearts for life, and sometimes fish drop when you kill enemies or alternatively, you can have 7 hearts with a hammer that one hit kills every normal enemy AND regains health on kills. And it shoots a projectile. I'm at max personal and cult level and the swinginess is deeply stupid.
-I need a lot more cult stats. Basically, the cult management is way too simple. I should have the option to call a specific member over to me, because it can be REALLY hard to find them sometimes! The graveyard serves as a way to find all the people who died normally, but the game doesn't seem to provide a list of all the ones who were sacrificed or ascended anywhere? And finally, when you bring up the list of active members, there should be a sorting tab who is assigned to do what, by level, etc.
-Really wishing for more cult forms to choose from. Way too many of them are weird, spider headed goblins but I don't have like... a mouse? A rat? Any kind of bird? I know there was a DLC pack of forms (which is a bit scummy), but their design taste is just odd, to me.
Edit: There IS a rat, I just took forever to find it (it's hidden in a specific location). Complaint stands on mice and birds, though.
-Four recipe meals of poison that let you kill your members ridiculously, very little "cook two or three of the same kind of fish together as a normal food dish." Obnoxious.
My hopes for this promised Spring DLC that "focuses on Endgame":
-More types of missions to send members on please. Send them on a fishing mission that is essentially the equivalent of you spending a day fishing (not just come back with 10 of the one kind of fish or whatever).
-Let us assign a chef! Maybe they have to be a certain minimum level or something.
-That cult management stuff I was talking about would be good, since an Endgame cult is quite large.
-Better build control (literally ANY build control).
-Instead of everything just giving you straight money at the end, they should update it to more smoothly leveling up members or making adding members easier as options, instead of JUST money.
Honestly I can't tell which way you're going with this, since Bioshock never quite clicked with me even at the height of its popularity (but I still beat 1 and 3). So either way would probably work.