Xbox Series S/X: Thread 03

[Neon Ignition]

Pinch of salt (taken from GAF) but a supposed reliable leaker has said MS's E3 conference will revolve around:

-Starfield
-Halo Infinite
-Wolfenstein III
-A new Dragon focused RPG by IO Interactive
-Announcement of the Kojima project
-The Project Omen vampire project being worked on by Arkane
-Avowed
-Forza Horizon 5 set in Mexico and releasing late this year

Other than FH5 there's no information on what from that list will release within the next 12 months but presumably MS can't afford for Infinite to have another delay

[Cassius_Smoke]

I think it's quite telling that other than Halo and Forza there are no established franchises coming from the previous generation.
New games are good, Sony needs new games too, but there is a need to have games people recognise too when you are moving into a new generation.
MS are going to need these new, untested games to land with people if they hope to get shifting consoles.

[nonny]

Infinite won't delay... It'll ship on the 20th anniversary... I agree they can't wait any longer and they've had a year more development time. If anything should they need to delay I can see them maybe staggering it so the campaign hits date and maybe the multiplayer gets pushed a little.

I can see them putting a beta out for the multiplayer prior to launch though to cover it.

Forza Horizon 5 is all but confirmed now thanks to a leak of new matchbox cars coming out. Mexico sounds like it's the new sandbox by really I hope they mix up the template a little now. I actually want them to add motorbikes... Go a bit Dakar Rally.

Psychonauts 2 is going to launch at the show and you've got The Ascent in July, both in game pass. I'm sure with a few smaller indie titles there'll be a steady stream of releases into the fourth quarter bigger titles.

What we don't know is what the 3rd party offerings are that they've apparently lined up as exclusives.

We've also heard very little about Flight Simulator. That's knocking about somewhere.

[Neon Ignition]

New footage of Psychonauts 2



Looks faithful in a nice style-mediocre gameplay kinda way

[Neon Ignition]

https://www.purexbox.com/news/2021/04/microsoft_flight_simulator_receives_surprise_pegi_rating_for_xbox_one

PEGI has listed a rating for Microsoft Flight Simulator on... Xbox One

[Neon Ignition]

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jun/03/microsoft-irish-subsidiary-paid-zero-corporate-tax-on-220bn-profit-last-year

An Irish Subsidiary of Microsoft made £220bn in profit last year despite having no employees, just Directors - because it's a 'resident' of Bermuda which we all know is an Irish heritage site.

At least we know how MS can fund Game Pass budgets now!

[nonny]

https://www.tomshardware.com/uk/news/amds-fidelityfx-superresolution-coming-to-xbox-series-xors?region-switch=GB

I'm wondering if this will be something they announce at E3 as bolstering some of the "boost" options being rolled out?

[Cassius_Smoke]

MS are doing some great things regarding tech support. They are leaving Sony behind on this.

[Neon Ignition]

I'd imagine it would just be quietly added as a feature. From what I can gather nothing currently out would really benefit from it and the end result in its current form isn't supposed to be all that amazing or near DLSS standard despite how irs referred to being an equivalent, it's also near certain to land on PS5 too. A potentially useful tool, maybe more so for Series S than anything else but nothing will fundamentally change for its arrival

[nonny]

I'd imagine it would just be quietly added as a feature. From what I can gather nothing currently out would really benefit from it and the end result in its current form isn't supposed to be all that amazing or near DLSS standard despite how irs referred to being an equivalent, it's also near certain to land on PS5 too. A potentially useful tool, maybe more so for Series S than anything else but nothing will fundamentally change for its arrival

Yeah I know it applies to PS5 as well. I didn't realise it didn't need machine learning like DLSS... I'd assume if MS can use it for older titles they will, given their focus on upgrading. For newer titles I'd assume it's guaranteed this will be utilised as it's now rolled out in the development IDE.

Until we see real performance it's hard to gauge if it's as effective as DLSS but certainly it'll add something to all the consoles able to use it.

[nonny]

I think this is looking really good now. Not long to wait and day one in game pass. I know it's coming to Xbox One, PC and PS4 as well but it'll be a shot in the arm for game pass and then only a few weeks till the Ascent drops.

[fishbowlhead]

Well I ended up with a SeriesX last week. My mate bought 2 a few weeks for £530 off eBay, first one fell through so he bought a second one at the same price. First one turned up unexpectedly last week and seller didn’t respond to requests for a return, so i said I’d just buy it off him save the faff, I would of got one eventually.

So yeah, fully in for next gen now. HaloWars2 runs smooth as a button on it.

[nonny]

Well I ended up with a SeriesX last week. My mate bought 2 a few weeks for £530 off eBay, first one fell through so he bought a second one at the same price. First one turned up unexpectedly last week and seller didn’t respond to requests for a return, so i said I’d just buy it off him save the faff, I would of got one eventually.

So yeah, fully in for next gen now. HaloWars2 runs smooth as a button on it.

Congrats, probably the perfect time to get one with E3 just around the corner...

[nonny]

Love the narration by Jermaine Clement here. Gold.

This goes straight into game pass soon and I'll be queuing it up for download

[Neon Ignition]

It's become a bit of a personal meta-game for me now as to how many free months I can build up of Game Pass before something worth claiming a month is released, just about to bag my sixth month!

Massive nod for hiring Clement for the trailer, he's hugely likeable all the time just like when I see or hear Rhys. He's also hugely at odds with the content which is good for attention, games looks like a bazillion generic fantasy titles for me though so onto month seven!