Dragonsbane

@Snake_V5 "Mediocre is anything below 90% I expect at least 95% or 97% for this game like most PlayStation exclusives are."

But you are fine with Spider-Man, Miles Morales, Horizon, Returnal, Ratchet and Clank, Grand Turismo, Sackboy, Days Gone, Kilzone, Infamous Second Son, and every single MLB all being under 90%?

Actually... looking at Metacritic... it seems the list of games they have over 90% is definitively in the minority side. GoW3, 2018 and Ragnarök, TLOU 1 and 2. Maybe there are more but all I see are basically 6 games since the PS4 launched landing over 90% and at least 3 of them are PS3 remasters.

@themightyant we will have to agree to disagree.

I don't know your history, but this form of early access (get to play the game a week or so before anyone else) has been going on for years now from multiple publishers as a means to incentivize premium digital editions of games. If you always complained about it before, fair. If not, this is an oddly selective time to start.

Honestly, the early access is not even tied to just "pay more". It's tied to buying the season pass. That upgrade will continue to be available post launch with the only benefit being the season pass, and some cosmetic extras. Game Pass has never included DLC, so its not like anyone paying for the upgrade is only getting early access, they are also getting premium content that was never going to be included with game pass anyways.

@themightyant "So review embargo is just 8 hours before it releases to buy? (5pm embargo -> 1am release in the UK) I know Bethesda has history with this, but that's not cool and deserves push back."

The game has been available for buying for a long time now.
If the reviews happened to be negative, Xbox and Steam both have very generous refund policies.
Also disagree on your take of "early access" being the same as when the game is out. I understand some don't like the practice of early access, but that's not the street date. You wont be able to walk into a store and buy a physical copy until the 6th, and you cant pay $70 and expect to pay it today.

Paying for early access might feel frustrating, but honestly, I find it more frustrating that many youtubers, even some with relatively low sub counts, happen to get access to review codes when sites like this one didn't get the codes until rather late.

I'm so hyped... game is pre-installed, computer drivers updated... need to install it on my Xbox and hope they have cross-save, for any day I feel like tolerating the terrible 30fps over tolerating my desk.

I never played these games, so cant tell what I would want on a 6th entry. I do would like to see a remake of 2 and 3 since those entries don't look the part compared to the remake of 1, much less the 4th and 5th entries.

I would be a lot more likely to jump into the series if I knew I could get through the whole saga in modern consoles, and not just via BC.

Like the idea. Now I feel they need to keep this up and release these things with every single game they launch going forward. Even the smaller titles like Pentiment or Grounded.

Not saying to go and create them for older games (although would be nice) but instead that they should offer these for all their future game regardless if they are Triple-A or smaller scale. Bonus points if these came with codes to redeem exclusive dynamic backgrounds, maybe even sold bundled with a digital code of the game.

@LX_FENIX Now they just need to show the price for gamepass games"

THIS! The main reason I go into the page of the game that is on my wish list is precisely because they refuse to show the price if its on Game Pass!!!!

Hope this keeps on going and translates into a sequel. Could see them releasing a Killer Instinct Ultimate with all the content of the original and even more character packs.

The fact that they did some balance passes make me think that is in the cards.

@shoeses I have a feeling MS would renew the license if it’s affordable (royalties instead of a bulk sum up-front) since it would mean simply more content for Game Pass.

Really hope MS pursues securing the license for this and the 007 games so they can be re-listed and maybe listed on Game Pass.

I know its a longshot, but also would love it if they could cut out some deal to be allowed to port and re-list all Activision Spider-Man games, even if making new ones is blocked due to licensing agreements with Sony.

@ZYDIO These days, that is just a collector's item since the console versions (PS2 and 360) are no longer supported. The game is still online, but only on PC.

I honestly have enjoyed the generation so far. Playing games at 60fps, at higher fidelity than they would had ever been able to on prev gen (if you don't see it, you should go and play those games on a fat Xbox One and compare them again) and lightning fast load times... this generation has been amazing.

Sadly, we are starting to see games not able to provide performance modes, forcing 30fps modes, as they leave prev gens behind. As they no longer see the need to optimize their code to run in prev gen, they now feel its worth it at all to develop 60fps modes.

The closer we get to this mythical "true next gen games" the more I feel I might quit playing on consoles and just buy a PC.

@Rmg0731 the only person here complaining about consolidation also complained about the ABK acquisition. No one else is complaining about consolidation, but about the repercussions of Chinese control of western media. We already have seen a lot of censorship due to Chinese influence in gaming, so its understandable.

Why wait to sink slowly into obscurity, when you can just change your brand into an unrecognizable lot of nothing?

@BANJO @Ichiban I may be misreading the article, but the DLC is being revealed now but the first character wont be available until Spring 2024, while the game is launching this September.

I think it makes sense for them to reveal what is going to be in the DLC pack ahead of time, if they want to sell the full season pack ahead of time. Not everyone has the rep Smash Bros has developed where players will preorder character packs without knowing what will be on them.

I hope there is another pack down the road, there is room for more non-mk characters that fit the current guest theme. I could see Spawn making a return, or DC's Ultraman.

A bit of a shame, if its true that Star Wars Outlaws wont make it within the fiscal year. Was really hoping for it to be an early 2024 title.

The game is currently one of my most anticipated games.

@FraserG In your game profile pages, the Accessibility features list is, IMO, a bit low. Currently it shows

1. Overviews
2. Reviews (with big video embeded)
3. Screenshots
4. Guides
5. Accessibility Features
6. News
7. Where to buy
8. Comments

I understand if it's not viable, but I would love it if Accessibility was the second item in the list just under Overview, or at least the third after Reviews.

Also, many of the games in your database have no reviews or screenshots, but most the ones I spot-checked have accessibility info. Would also be nice if the Review/Screenshot section was hidden if they are not populated.

@shoeses both were delisted before the xbox acquisition, and I am not sure but either both or just one of them were co-published by someone else that might still have some say on re-listing them for sale. They also are very recent additions, nearly 5 years post acquisition of double fine, reinforcing that there was some legal red tape they could not work around, at least for sale basis.

They had similar issues with Golden Eye, they were able to add it as "free DLC" for owners of the digital copy of Rare Replay, and as part of game pass, but they were not able to just list it for sale. On that one, we do know there is some legal ownership with Nintendo.

Other than those two titles, though, all the ones you listed are not available to play via game pass.

You're telling me that only the 2nd game in the Deathspank Trilogy or only the second Sonic & Sega Racing game didn't have some bug that made them impossible to make BC

That is very very possible, yes. If you ever ran games on an emulator, you would find plenty of similar odd exceptions where one game or another used x or y feature that does not emulate well, or take many more resources, but it can always be something as stupid as some licensing hurdles with music (Sonic 3 has been notorious for this due to some Michael Jackson collaboration in the soundtrack.)

Another holdback of BC is that all BC titles had to run smoothly not only on a Series X, but on the launch Xbox One VCR model too. Maybe at some point in the future they can get rid of that restriction and re-open the program, making new additions exclusive to Series X|S.

@shoeses So far, whenever Xbox has delisted a game (BC or not) it also leaves Game Pass, so it would not be a way to play those games.

Only way to play a delisted BC game you didn't buy digitally is to hunt for a used disk copy, something I have done a few times.

I don't think MS has ever delisted games unless licenses expire, though? Usually its due to music or car licenses, some rare cases its due to licensed IPs, but outside of some recent acquired studios, MS has always avoided developing licensed IP games.

As far as I understand, the reason MS stopped their BC program was because they technically ran out of games that would work without bugs, or the publisher/IP holder was willing to agree be added to the program. ABK was always friendly to BC, so that acquisition closing wont change that. 007, Spider-Man and Transformers ABK games will continue to be on licensing limbo.

@shoeses And while the older 360 CoDs would be something Sony & Nintendo don't have, I feel if they were that big of a selling point to someone, they'd already own them & an Xbox.

360 BC CoD games are constantly on the best selling list at the Xbox store, that alone tells me these games are a big selling point. I think its usually mostly the Black Ops games, but right now its crazy to look at because there is a very good sale going, and it has pushed CoD 360 games to take 5 out of the 10 top selling spots. Those games are always on high demand.

Time is a funny thing, it makes people get older, some stop playing, others start playing for the first time. As that happens, they discover IPs, they fall in love, and then find out there are dozens of entries they can go back and play, and many of them hold up very well.

Basically, claiming old games don't mater "because everyone owns them" is like saying that the world should stop printing new copies of Harry Potter, The Lord of the Rings, or Don Quixote. After all, anyone that ever wanted those should have them by now.

Back catalogs matter, to the IP owners and to consumers.

@GamingFan4Lyf "Honestly, Microsoft should have just done away with Gold and added multiplayer to Console."

IMO, this would have been the ideal solution.

Ultimate gets access to retain Games With Gold, Deals with Gold, PC games and EA Play as reasons to justify the extra cost.

This is a confusing list. I wish there was some logic to it, like "games that are 2 years old", but I guess they are trying to mimic that PlayStation Plus collection that got canceled recently, at least in vibe?

I don't understand this.... I dare bet the cloud streaming costs to maintain this service running has to be way more expensive than porting quick emulators for every platform they want this on.

@S1ayeR74 tell you what, if they get the block extension, I'll actually go and buy a lottery ticket. The FTC and I would then be on even grounds at winning.

@Moonglow personally I am neutral on outcomes, although not hearing more about this whole ordeal is worthy of celebration.

My opinions on this whole ordeal are simply based on the weakness of the case presented by the FTC more than desire of things going either way. The FTC's case is so weak, that I cant believe they didn't know it wasn't. Their tactic was almost certainly based entirely on running out the clock, same with the CMA.

@Moonglow More likely seems that the appeal is not addressed until well after the deal has already gone through.

The FTC tactic has been entirely focused on doing things close enough to the deal deadline to run out the clock, but that is likely to backfire.

@S1ayeR74 "Not surprised, I did see a grounded video on this and they believe they 'may' have a chance of winning the appeal. We shall see."

And I have a chance at winning the lottery.

@mousieone " And agreed it was fine after the judge said it would sway her decision. "

The judge said it would not sway her decision, but still offered to recuse herself.

@WallyWest There is not going to be a "this time". This extension wont be granted, and this deal will very likely close Monday, dare bet first thing in the morning.

If these things can be done over the weekend, it might be done by Saturday morning.

And its not like the Judge kept anything a secret, it was openly disclosed and the FTC actually insisted on going through her court. MS did not want to go through a CA court.

I find it odd they are talking about this game now. I honestly expected more radio silence for a year or two after the reveal... perhaps this is closer than most of us expected? 2024?

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I keep seeing it as day one. Game Pass only ever includes based copies of the games, never DLC or premium editions. They are still giving exactly the same thing I would get for $70.

I would be upset if I was told that the $70 bought copy did include access to the early "head start", though, because at that point the Game Pass copy is not the same as the $70 one.

@themightyant "Day 1 is when it's available to everyone paying for it. i.e."

People paying for the regular version of the game don't get to play until 9/6, though. Am I wrong?

Personally, I don't mind if some want to pay premium for early access, catch bugs, and that results in at least some more bug fixes on the day one patch.

Maybe they are trying to take a page out of Capcom's Resident Evil handling, since its been very successful for them, if this is a true remake, I'll be disappointed about the wasted resources.

If given an option on full AC remakes, I would had so much more hoped them to pursue a remake of the original game.

Odd... I don't have a twitter account, and up to this date I was able to click on any embedded tweet and read them, but that does not seem to be working. I can see the embedded tweet, but can't click through to read the thread.

Just let SEGA Sammy Holdings to buy Xbox and rename it Dreamcast X.

Sneak in the contract that Phil Spencer must lead the new SEGA console division.

"The agreement would keep all existing Activision console titles on Sony, including future versions in the Call of Duty franchise or any other current Activision franchise on Sony, through December 31, 2027."

Wow.... this is a lot more inclusive than I expected. This means if there was any new Crash, Spyro or Tony Hawk game by 2027, it would be on PlayStation too.

I guess what Jim didn't like was the 2027 cutoff date? Or maybe he knows about some new IP ABK is working on he really wanted to launch on PlayStation?

"...and to drive PlayStation gamers to the Xbox platforms, specifically Game Pass."

Well, obviously what was in that email was that CoD would join Game Pass day one.

I am also certain he is no fan of CoD going to Switch. Even if just 1% of the CoD audience decides to play on Switch, that is still 1% of a gigantic share of their mtx revenue.