Xbox Series S/X: Thread 05

[fishbowlhead]

I could imagine that devs feel torn. Approaching the point where 60fps is less of an option and putting a 30fps bells and whistles experience would normally be the go to move, they likely still feel that the mass market players don't care about 30fps being the sole option however core gamers do and are the ones with the online coverage feedback will come from. That then creates pressure to maintain a 60fps option for PR's sake but as the systems get older supporting it will compromise the experience.

Once PS5 Pro hits the market the gloves will probably come off and more games will say pay up the £600+ price tag or its 30fps only

30fps is purely designed for good previews and nice pictures for websites and mags when the games in pic mode. Actual performance wise it shouldn’t even be an option for modern 4k panels, as it’s a completely unacceptable experience as it just doesn’t fundamentally work properly.

[Neon Ignition]

As the curve of impact that visuals advance by feels like it's lessened, performance should have been a bigger focus but the scale of success from titles like Black Myth give the impression gamers still crave the wow factor at that performance cost. Pro will be an interesting test in terms of demand for performance in games given the cost and how it will be the sole console option for those focused on it. The PS brand helps but it'll still be interesting to see how much demand there is from the mass market second time around.

[randombs]

I don't really understand them trying to validate why we (the consumer) don't need 60fps in our games.

As for 60fps in general, Redfall now has it and is better for it... Starfield the same (even on Series S now since last update).

It can be done. It should be done and we don't need spoonfed excuses.

I agree with the sentiment to a point - personally, I find some games need 60fps, some are better with it, and others actually feel better in 30fps.

But of course the devs will say their game looks and plays great in 30fps. They’re not going to say “look, this is all we could manage based on the hardware and our skills. Also, Raj is away on paternity leave and Barb's on another mental health holiday due to the last crunch...“ as stocks would plummet.

As long as consoles have a fixed performance spec then VR is the only obvious reason I can think of that could force a high minimum frame rate regardless of consumer ideas around graphics vs smoothness, and VR is hardly mainstream.

Maybe if TV and films move well beyond 24 fps then 30fps will may become quite jarring to look at.

Wait, what if our salvation lies in all those people who - heaven forfend - prefer motion smoothing?!? Or, more realistically, in that frame generation tech that's sweeping the nation.

I've recently fallen in love with 40fps and I'll fly that flag until my untimely death. Admittedly I haven't had much experience with it so I don't know if it helps every genre, but I don't play Horizon Forbidden West in 60fps any more and I never imagined I'd prefer anything lower than 60fps with that game.

[nonny]

It’s backfired on literally every single game that’s come out this gen and devs have been sneaky with a 60fps mode. They announce at the last min it’s only 30fps, and cue massive crap storm, every, single, time.

Devs, 60fps or no sale, it’s as simple as that, 30fps does not work whatsoever on modern 4k panels, it’s a fundamentally awful experience.

In fairness performance is the last piece worked on as they go through QA and finalise everything but ideally they should have a 60/30 toggle in their scope throughout... Not leave it on the table as an afterthought.

It's telling that they managed it on Redfall and Starfield after some updates. With Avowed already delayed I'd rather them add more time and get it catering to both preferences day one.

Hellblade 2... Yeah I can totally get why that game is set at 30fps on console. It's highly stylised and filmic in it's design.

Here, they're going for RT fidelity but honestly not every consumer wants that in their RPG. Give us the option.

[Neon Ignition]

https://www.forbes.com/sites/paultassi/2024/08/25/xbox-needs-to-pick-a-lane-and-soon/

The lane has been picked and as Game Pass cannot sustain Xbox hardware we're in an awkward phase of Microsoft not wanting to prematurely officially state the obvious, that Xbox hardware is going to end

[Neon Ignition]

https://www.eurogamer.net/indiana-jones-and-the-great-circle-developers-super-thrilled-its-headed-to-playstation

Less chance of more redundancies would understandably be reason enough to be happy at the reveal

[Brad]

How Microsoft have managed to balls up Xbox so badly I don't know. They entered the scene with a bang, absolutely owned with Xbox 360, had an online service way ahead of the competition and then seemingly managed to make every possible wrong decision. Saying they were going digital only, stopping used game sales, backtracking on that, calling their third console "one", splitting their next generation into two tiers, one of which was weaker than their previous generation's best system, making rare make avatars instead of games, killing studios, buying Activision, we assumed to achieve exclusivity but then putting everything on playstation anyway and then putting all their other stuff on playstation as well. Did they ever have a strategy beyond 360?
It's a real shame because we don't want Sony to be the only powerful console in town but it looks like it's going that way.

[Neon Ignition]

https://www.eurogamer.net/ive-made-some-of-the-worst-game-choice-decisions-says-xbox-boss-phil-spencer

Passing on Destiny was probably the right move, that type of game benefits from being on more platforms and doesn't tie MS down with the association when things go sour. Not sure either would have been better off it it had been Xbox exclusive.

Still, Spencer may have sone regrets but at least 2024 is going really well!....

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[fishbowlhead]

https://www.eurogamer.net/ive-made-s...s-phil-spencer
Passing on Destiny was probably the right move, that type of game benefits from being on more platforms and doesn't tie MS down with the association when things go sour. Not sure either would have been better off it it had been Xbox exclusive.

Still, Spencer may have sone regrets but at least 2024 is going really well!....

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Someone shut those dam crickets up i’m trying to sleep.

[Neon Ignition]

https://support.xbox.com/en-us/help/subscriptions-billing/manage-subscriptions/xbox-game-pass-conversions

For uswrs who use the old Gold to Ultimate conversion trick, MS has again updated the conversion so now it converts at a ratio of 2:1 as they continue to phase it out

[Neon Ignition]

https://www.windowscentral.com/gaming/xbox/were-building-plans-for-the-25th-anniversary-of-halo-and-xbox-microsoft-confirms-in-a-new-interview-we-have-such-a-rich-heritage-you-have-to-celebrate-that

Another nugget of a notion that Xbox 5 will release in both high powered home console and handheld variants.
The high powered console is dead on arrival. The handheld might find some market space if... if Sony don't do the same with PS6.

[wakka]

This is the most interesting bit of next gen, right here - the hardware and the market have been handily road tested by Steam Deck, Aya Neo and all the rest, and Xbox and PS handheld versions feel very viable.

What I am very curious about is what Nintendo's next move is in a marketplace with multiple handheld options. It will be a real existential threat to a conservatively-designed Switch 2 if you can buy a handheld PS5.

[Neon Ignition]

It would definitely be interesting, Switch has brand awareness behind it now which is a great asset but it would plough a path right through Nintendo's usual standpoint of ploughing their own course. It'd be interesting to see what that meant for, presumably, Switch 3 down the line if the system was no longer so unique.

[wakka]

Agreed. I think they would be forced to shake things up, which could be quite exciting. I think we can be assured that any future PlayStation handheld would be a pretty straight down the line product - a Portal with the actual guts to make the games work without a PS5, basically (although probably with a bit more of a svelte design, I would hope, than the current DualSense-glued-to-an-Android-tablet).

[Neon Ignition]

It's amusing that the Vita/3DS heralded the death of the handheld due to mobile gaming and here we are a decade later looking at it approaching being its future