Gaming Xbox Series X|S

[Vidyoyo]

@hasanejaz88 you can see the list of games here to see how many suit you. The games on that list, you have access to either until your subscription ends or they get removed from the service (roughly the same number get added each month that leave each month). There is a leaving soon section on the site but you have to pay attention to it or you could get a nasty surprise like @Massive Spanner did.

The catch tends to be that although the games are 'free', the DLC generally isn't so the studios get the Game Pass moolah from Microsoft as well as money for DLC/microtransactions on the games they add to the service. Maybe there's an exception for first party games like on PS+ but I don't know.

This Reddit-created document also lists games most likely to leave based on how long they've been up and taking into account that games are usually contracted for 12/18 month periods. It's an invaluable resource tool:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1kspw-4paT-eE5-mrCrc4R9tg70lH2ZTFrJOUmOtOytg/edit#gid=716085

If you look at the ones leaving this month for example, you'll note that most have been up for exactly 12 months (or more).

A Plague Tale: Innocence first went up on January 2020 and left September 2022 so really it's just a case of @Massive Spanner being a @Massive Spanner having not played it in all that time (31 months!).

 

[Massive Spanner]

This Reddit-created document also lists games most likely to leave based on how long they've been up and taking into account that games are usually contracted for 12/18 month periods. It's an invaluable resource tool:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1kspw-4paT-eE5-mrCrc4R9tg70lH2ZTFrJOUmOtOytg/edit#gid=716085

If you look at the ones leaving this month for example, you'll note that most have been up for exactly 12 months (or more).

A Plague Tale: Innocence first went up on January 2020 and left September 2022 so really it's just a case of @Massive Spanner being a @Massive Spanner having not played it in all that time (31 months!).

31 months isn't that long. Your parents spent your whole life trying to get you not to be a cnut and look where that got them!

 

[Vidyoyo]

31 months isn't that long. Your parents spent your whole life trying to get you not to be a cnut and look where that got them!

 

[Ainu]

The last generation was deceptive because we actually got new hardware half way through, it was sort of two mini generations lasting 3 or 4 years each. So I guess it'll depend on whether they do that again.

The mid gen refresh was all about the rise of 4k TVs, we won't get one this time around. I would expect this generation to last quite a while. We're two years into it and we're essentially still stuck in cross-gen, it hasn't properly started yet. The hardware still remains out of reach for a lot of people. Hell, at this rate we might still see major first-party titles release on last-gen consoles by holiday season 2023.

 

[largelyworried]

The mid gen refresh was all about the rise of 4k TVs, we won't get one this time around. I would expect this generation to last quite a while. We're two years into it and we're essentially still stuck in cross-gen, it hasn't properly started yet. The hardware still remains out of reach for a lot of people. Hell, at this rate we might still see major first-party titles release on last-gen consoles by holiday season 2023.

The original debate was about whether it would last long enough til cloud steaming is near flawless and almost ubiquitous. If not, then Microsoft will have to take part in the next gen if hardware.

 

[b82REZ]

The original debate was about whether it would last long enough til cloud steaming is near flawless and almost ubiquitous. If not, then Microsoft will have to take part in the next gen if hardware.

It will never be flawless, it's naive to think they'll hold off for this mythical time streaming has no latency.

They will wait until it's good enough. They will to continue to iterate on it, no doubt; but they absolutely won't be waiting until it's near flawless.

 

[largelyworried]

It will never be flawless, it's naive to think they'll hold off for this mythical time streaming has no latency.

They will wait until it's good enough. They will to continue to iterate on it, no doubt; but they absolutely won't be waiting until it's near flawless.

I was trying to avoid inviting the strawman argument that we'll never get to near flawlessness. Seems I failed.

Yes, they won't need to approach perfection. But as things stand, if I get the train to London, I doubt I could use it for even half that journey. If Im a student in a shared house with a 50mb broadband between 4 streaming hungry and a free wifi router, good chance I can't use it at all on a Friday night. The question is how quickly these and a bunch other comparable scenarios disappear. That isnt good enough. Will a majority of them be gone in the next 3 to 5 years max, obviating the need to start planning for a new hardware gen? Extremely doubtful.

 

[b82REZ]

I was trying to avoid inviting the strawman argument that we'll never get to near flawlessness. Seems I failed.

Yes, they won't need to approach perfection. But as things stand, if I get the train to London, I doubt I could use it for even half that journey. If Im a student in a shared house with a 50mb broadband between 4 streaming hungry and a free wifi router, good chance I can't use it at all on a Friday night. The question is how quickly these and a bunch other comparable scenarios disappear. That isnt good enough. Will a majority of them be gone in the next 3 to 5 years max, obviating the need to start planning for a new hardware gen? Extremely doubtful.

But you're pointing to a very niche way someone may use a mobile version of streaming. They'll encounter the same issues streaming YouTube or Spotify in that analogy. It doesn't hold up.

As a replacement for a home console it's a lot closer than you're making out. The fact they already have it on mobile/TV app shows that. In this instance the infrastructure is very much there, especially when you consider that Xboxes already require almost constant internet connection for games to be played.

 

[largelyworried]

But you're pointing to a very niche way someone may use a mobile version of streaming. They'll encounter the same issues streaming YouTube or Spotify in that analogy. It doesn't hold up.

As a replacement for a home console it's a lot closer than you're making out. The fact they already have it on mobile/TV app shows that. In this instance the infrastructure is very much there, especially when you consider that Xboxes already require almost constant internet connection for games to be played.

I wouldn’t exactly consider spotty WiFi to be a niche experience myself, but I guess time will tell.

 

[b82REZ]

I wouldn’t exactly consider spotty WiFi to be a niche experience myself, but I guess time will tell.

It is niche because how many people are really going to play it on the commute? Admittedly I haven't used public transport in almost a decade; but don't buses and trains now come with WiFi? That would alleviate the need to decent 4/5g to play.

The point I was making wasn't that the streaming would be used for these kind of uses anyway. I'm talking specifically about replacing the box under your TV. That's what MS and Sony will eventually want to eliminate. The fact that once streaming becomes ubiquitous the added benefits will be you can play almost anywhere without having to heft around a massive black box.

 

[Conor]

Anyone got a way to get MW2 beta code for Xbox?

 

[Alock1]

Anyone got a way to get MW2 beta code for Xbox?

Preorder the game from Amazon. Then cancel 5 minutes later once you've received your code.

You don't get charged til they ship the game so the money won't leave your bank.

 

[Conor]

Preorder the game from Amazon. Then cancel 5 minutes later once you've received your code.

You don't get charged til they ship the game so the money won't leave your bank.

Nice one!

 

[Damien]

Tweet

— Twitter API (@user) date

 

[Vidyoyo]

 

[altodevil]

fecking hell. Scam artists.

The backcompat program was part (albeit a small part) of the reason I came back to Xbox from PC. But then they abruptly stopped rolling it out. Didn't provide frame rate boosts - which they advertised hard and yet barely touched any title. Now they remove the free forever 360 titles from this.

Pointless.

 

[Fully Fledged]

Tweet

— Twitter API (@user) date

It really is time they got rid of GWG.

 

[Fully Fledged]

This looks like it might be a fun play over Halloween.

 

[Damien]

Scorn's finally out, gang.

Metacritic: 73
Opencritic: 70

Select reviews:

GamingNexus - 9/10

Full of body horror and psychotically twisted imagery, players will have a variety of reactions to Scorn, but they are unlikely to be bored. While the game's world building and puzzle design are top-notch, the combat and a punitive checkpoint system may turn some players off. Regardless, the big swing by developer Ebb Software definitely pays off. There are no other games on the market quite like Scorn.

Eurogamer - 3/5

In Scorn, a game of wonderfully horrible atmosphere and smart, hands-off puzzling is undermined by some dodgy checkpoints and wonky combat.

XboxEra - 4/10

I have enjoyed some action-adventure horror games out there. Limited ammo and health reserves can be a great tool for upping the tension and a great story helps make it worth seeing things through. Scorn has none of that. It is bland, boring, plays poorly, and excels in no areas.

Game Rant - 1/5

Finishing Scorn does not leave players with a sense of satisfaction; it's not scary and it's not fun. Most will be glad that it's over, and at least it's mercifully short. It only takes about five hours to beat Scorn, and our playthrough ended with us earning 11 out of 12 of the game's achievements. Scorn gives players absolutely no reason to return to it, and quite frankly, it doesn't offer much reason to play it even once.

 

[One Night Only]

Scorn's finally out, gang.

Metacritic: 73
Opencritic: 70

Select reviews:

GamingNexus - 9/10

Eurogamer - 3/5

XboxEra - 4/10

Game Rant - 1/5

It looks absolutely dire. Only 2 hours long too.

 

[Vidyoyo]

It looks absolutely dire. Only 2 hours long too.

Great news for those of us with 20 games already in our backlog

 

[Damien]

Great news for those of us with 20 games already in our backlog

Those are rookie numbers

 

[Massive Spanner]

MS first party exclusives have been appalling. Two years into the console and Scorn is the best they can fecking come up with.

 

[Bosws87]

MS first party exclusives have been appalling. Two years into the console and Scorn is the best they can fecking come up with.

Gamepass though!

In reality gaming as a whole is stale atm no matter what platform you own, i don't think i've been less interested ever.

 

[Massive Spanner]

Gamepass though!

In reality gaming as a whole is stale atm no matter what platform you own, i don't think i've been less interested ever.

Gamepass is great but part of the appeal was supposed to be day one MS exclusives and there have been feck all decent ones. Most games I play on it are 3rd party ones I never bothered to purchase or Indie titles - which isn't a bad thing, but it's still not good enough.

 

[Balljy]

GP is having a decent few weeks for me. Dyson Sphere, Plague Tale, Persona 5 Royal, FM 2023. I'm going to ignore Scorn as it looks rubbish.

 

[Massive Spanner]

GP is having a decent few weeks for me. Dyson Sphere, Plague Tale, Persona 5 Royal, FM 2023. I'm going to ignore Scorn as it looks rubbish.

Say goodbye to your life.

I played it last year when it first came out and sunk 100+ hours into it, it was already so polished. Looks like they've added loads more since, I'll have to go again at some point when I have a week of nothing on.

 

[Vidyoyo]

GP is having a decent few weeks for me. Dyson Sphere, Plague Tale, Persona 5 Royal, FM 2023. I'm going to ignore Scorn as it looks rubbish.

Nice try but we all know Xbox is shit because they don't have as many third person story-driven action games.

 

[evil_geko]

Scorn first playthrough around 7 hours, out of some optimization issues, I adored the game, going for second playthrough tomorrow.

 

[Vidyoyo]

A few good games coming to GP this month. Amnesia is great and SOMA is a Vidyoyo recommended masterpiece

Looking forward to diving into Persona 5 and Amnesia Rebirth myself

 

[weetee]

Watched some gameplay for Scorn yesterday..would have been an insta buy but seems ultra repetitive (?). For the slow progressing tense type of games I still have to finish Alien Isolation. It's like a huge sword of Damocles hanging above me.

 

[Damien]

 

[Abraxas]

Persona feels like one of the best games to come to this service.

 

[altodevil]

feck 343 they killed Halo. Infinite is still good fun to play online but the progression and unlocks are pathetic and the lack of campaign co-op a travesty.

 

[Sarni]

Persona feels like one of the best games to come to this service.

I absolutely loved Persona 4 and played it on Vita at the time. It is such a long game though that I am inclined to clean up my backlog a bit before starting it, but won’t take too long… will probably finish AC Origins and Yakuza 0 and be right on it for the following three months.

 

[Bebe]

feck 343 they killed Halo. Infinite is still good fun to play online but the progression and unlocks are pathetic and the lack of campaign co-op a travesty.

I only recently learned this. It blows my mind to think that a mainline Halo title wouldn't have co-op. That feature is such a huge part of why people loved the series in the first place.

 

[altodevil]

 

[Salt Bailly]

I don't know why, but that thumbnail reminded me of this:

 

[Vidyoyo]

Another terrible month again *sigh*

*Terrible for people who don't own Xbox's

 

[Sarni]

Best lineup in a while, and the previous one was actually very good as well. My backlog is getting tight. I will probably have to put Pentiment and Monkey Island next on my list and push Persona 5 further down the line as that one will basically occupy me for like 3 months.