Xbox Series S/X: Thread 04

[nonny]

Just got off an initial session of Hi-Fi Rush and it's very good. Even though I played using my BT headphones with a bit of latency it's a slick game.

Aesthetically it looks like a cross between Sunset Overdrive and Jet Set Radio but it's really a platformer (so far) with rhythm section battles.

So far I've only taken down the first boss and gotten past the tutorial but yeah I can see a lot of people loving this.

It's not quite my cup of tea but it was starting the click there, I'm just too tired to play it properly.

[Cassius_Smoke]

Hard to tell with Forza. But it's got to run on a seriesS, which means 480p dynamic resolution and a shaky framerate. Good for PC players like me though.

[nonny]

I still find it hard to believe they're targeting 4K60 with ray tracing on the Series X. If that is the case I'd imagine they'll hit 1080p60 on the Series S but without the RT?

Unless Turn 10 have somehow sprinkled magic dust into the Series S air vent... But then looking at what they've done in the past I won't write them off.

[Neon Ignition]

It says a lot that as soon as they started to talk about dust accumulating on the cars mid-race my response was

[Cassius_Smoke]

Yeah GT is far too clean. Racing is dirty and oily and loud.
Im looking forward to it.

[Neon Ignition]

https://www.ign.com/articles/phil-spencer-interview-2023

Spencer talks about several things including about how the Xbox line up was MIA last year which is hopefully a sign 2023 will keep swinging

[nonny]

I mean, he's asked the right questions and he's diplomatically answered them well... I'd love to know more about what is going on at 343 and plans for this year. He's sidestepped that re-confirming they're in charge of Halo but little else.

2023 simply cannot be worse than 2022 in terms of release schedule. So far it's definitely better and what's been confirmed with dates is great.

What we really want though is dates for Forza and Starfield.

[Cassius_Smoke]

It'll certainly be a better year than last year.
Their approach to HIFi Rush might be a bit telling though. Its a good game that probably deserved some run up late last year, but MS seem a little confused about what a good game looks like. If they were in Sonys position then they could afford to ghost drop a game or two, but they aren't. I think Nintendo would have definitely had a game like this on their Direct.

[nonny]

Apparently it was Bethesda / Tango Gameworks idea to shadow drop the title based on how well the QA went... they felt it was ready and it was a cool idea.

It sounds like MS/Xbox didn't have any real part of it other than to say OK.

From what I've played of Hi-Fi Rush it's excellent so really I think overall they do know what a good game looks like but it is fair to say Xbox is being cautious when it comes to release dates and dictating when a game is "ready" now given their track record.

[CMcK]

I’d rather companies didn’t hype games for 12 to 18 months before release. Gets silly sometimes. FF7 remake etc.

[kryss]

I'm still looking forward to getting a Series X sometime down the road.

I caved and bought an S this week. 1 month of GamePass for $1 and then I'll start faffing around with emulating PS2 and GC/Wii.

[nonny]

That new Dolphin emulator is really bloody good. Wish it had a better UI as there's a bit of setup involved but it's a solid performer.

[Cassius_Smoke]

Some more Forza pics.
I think the cars don't look as good as GT7s, but the tracks looks more alive.

https://forza.net/news/forza-motorsport-developer-direct/

[CMcK]

Didn’t pay much attention to the Forza reveal the other day but it does look incredible. The paintwork on the cars gives them a realistic look like no other racer. I always admired GTs cars but they are just a bit on the hyper real side.

[Neon Ignition]

I think part of the reason FM8 at times loses the realism element is that they seem to be a bit more lenient on lighting for the sake of flare and the RT reflections are over done. They've applied it but even a pristine clean car in real life doesn't reflect as cleanly as these do in game, it's why the dirt system is so important so it could look better as the race goes on.