Topic: The everything Xbox thread

Admittedly I've not yet played a single Spiderman game, but as cool as the most recent one looked, it just seemed like it would be a vacuous affair, style over substance. Halo: CE had substance, quite a lot of it too for what was a pretty flashy launch title. Kinda blew me away at the time how good its combination of looks, audio and gameplay was, and you could play the entire campaign in split screen co-op!

I've not followed the series since, so have no idea how Infinite fits into the story, but to me the gaming world is a richer place for having Master Chief and Halo in it, so I'm much more on the Halo side of the line this Christmas.

I've just rewatched the recent cinematic trailer for Infinite - the one where the MC suit is being constructed. It climaxes with the dialogue "It all means nothing... until you step inside" and then the word 'BECOME' is superimposed over MC's helmet, and it just had me screaming inside my head "Give me Halo VR!" When I think how nonchalantly Nintendo dropped Breath of the Wild VR mode, and then I think of XSeX's 12 'flops of power... they've got to do it, haven't they?

@NEStalgia That's a weird bit of gatekeeping. I wouldn't think you'd be one of these people who thinks only AAA full retail releases are "real games." If a game has a beginning, middle, and end, and can be played on its own, it's a real game. For example, by the standards we've discussed, the 10 hour or so Uncharted 2 is a real game, while the originated-as-DLC Torna: The Golden Country, which I spent around 30 hours playing (till I got to the end, not until I 100%ed it), which tells a complete story, has its own battle system and mechanics, etc. somehow isn't. Or, using Infamous: First Light as an example, that's still very much a game that can be purchased and completed on its own. In fact, it's the only game from that studio I've currently played. Uncharted: The Lost Legacy is another good example, I think.

Anyway, I don't think anyone can reasonably compare Miles Morales to Halo Infinite as an experience, and say one is "better" than the other. What you think is "better" is almost certainly going to depend on your expectations and priorities. There's not a lot of common ground between a cinematic third person action-adventure game and an open world sci-fi shooter.

I don't really see how gaming has morphed from something mainstream to something premium. If anything, it's the opposite. It's far easier to affordably follow gaming today than it was in the 90's, for a number of reasons:

• Over time, gaming has become a mainstream hobby that has become more accessible than ever. You don't need to visit specialty nerd stories to find pretty much any major release these days. Additionally, everything is available digitally.
• Consoles like the PS2, NDS, and Wii broke down barriers when it came to who owned a console or what constituted a console gamer. Everybody is a gamer now, to some degree.
• Price standardization makes it easier than ever to afford new releases, versus the often insane prices that abounded for new games in the 90s.
• Premium game sale culture (pioneered by Steam, but adopted by virtually everyone other than Nintendo at this point) and the ease of digital sales has made it simpler than ever to be able to wait for great discounts on big games.
• Additionally, programs like Humble Monthly, PSPlus, and Xbox Live Gold allow people to rack up a large number of games for a comparably lowish yearly price.
• And, of course, GamePass is a thing now, and it's probably the best value in the industry.

Which isn't to say gaming isn't still an expensive hobby. And for hardcore collectors, it's probably more expensive than ever with the sheer number of releases, limited print runs, collector's editions, etc. coming out all the time. But I think it has only become more accessible to lower-income brackets over time.

@Tasuki Yeah BATTLETOADS, just saw it there on games radar, i can'nt wait for it really . i only played the one on the game boy and the arcade one. from what they have been writeing about it it sound's good like turbo tunnel if one players is still ok the rest can respawn. Thats all they really said about gameplay so maybe there will be even more. is the new xbox, there going to release backwards compatible with xbox one games? this game is one of the reasons i'll buy an xbox.

Recently i found an XBOX 360 E Blue color from my local online shop website Tokopedia. I was freaking shocked when the seller said the machine was USA version and still Original. 🤪🤪🤪
That was really really distracting me between want to purchase that machine immediately or wait until next year during this pandemic situation. 🤤

I really want to get an Xbox 360 USA version and still 100 % Original, No jailbreak. But when i remembered my game list on Xbox 360 i want to buy, i have to pending my rush plan to get Xbox 360 E. I still have a lot of games on PS3, PS4, Switch, 3DS i wanted to buy so i need to focus with my current plan, not get distracted by Xbox 360 that i might consider when the time is right to buy. 😣

@Ninfan Yeah I loved the Arcade game and wish this one was closer to it in style and tone. I played both the NES and SNES ones years ago and also played Battletoads/Double Dragon. As I said it's nice to see the series return but at the same time such a disappointing look.

I have to agree with @NEStalgia as his insight comparing Halo Infinite and Spider-Man Miles Morales is spot on. Halo is obviously the better game and Spider-Man Miles Morales is the marketing showcase. People will be playing Halo Infinite for years while the glorified Spider-Man standalone DLC will be one of those rushed launch games you play once for the graphics.

Good to see you've already played both, you should write game reviews

The 2 games aren't really comparable, 1 is standalone DLC that probably went the standalone route to take advantage of the PS5's hardware instead of being held back by PS4 meanwhile the other is a 10 year collection where unlike normally with collections you release the collection after the games release, this time the collection is released at the beginning. Infinite is basically Master Chief Collection 2, Master Chief Collection was Halo FPS for 2001-2012 meanwhile Infinite is Halo FPS for 2020-2030.

@Grumblevolcano If Spider-Man MM is standalone DLC, does that means BOTW 2 is standalone DLC as well? Same is true for something like Lost Legacy, I think that saying it's standalone DLC doesn't really do it justice.

And how is Halo Infinite a collection?

Of course I haven't but we know the scope and modes of each. No need to play a game to talk about the content so don't be silly... 😜

No. Has Nintendo said that BotW 2 is a short game that was planned as DLC initially? Miles Morales is PS4 DLC turned into a rushed PS5 launch semi-sequel with half the content.

Halo Infinite's campaign is bigger than 4 and 5 combined and the multiplayer component is an important part of the game.

@BlueOcean Aonuma did confirm that BotW 2 was originally BotW DLC, I'd guess it was made into a sequel because releasing more DLC would mean the Wii U would've had to be supported for longer (Nintendo said back in 2016 that BotW Wii U and BotW Switch would be the same experience).

@Octane I think it's more underestimating what DLC can be, back in the 90s for example DLC was huge PC expansions.

I don't think that BotW 2 will be shorter than BotW, that would be almost impossible and they don't need to rush it because it's a Switch game. I remember that Nintendo said they would like to make DLC set in the same world if that's what you mean but they released a little bit of DLC (quite short story-wise) and that's it.

@Ralizah Not gatekeeping, though there's an age factor your missing. Once upon a time there were 2 types of games. Real games in a box, and garbage shareware on a floppy. The two did not cross. That's when my definition of "real game" was shaped. So yes, I'll never really think of "not full priced packaged game" as "real game" the same way you do who was more used to digital content at the start. Though "aaa" didn't exist at the time either, so it's not apples to apples. Duke 3d was "packaged game"

All that said, MM chafes me in a few different ways. They're hyping it as THE launch game of a new console. It's an expansion pack. We don't know if it's full price or not. There's speculation it isn't based on old games, but those old games were never flagship console launches. I can't imagine Sony leading a console launch with a budget priced game. And it rubs me wrong they're locking the expansion pack for an existing headline ps4 game behind a $500 new console pay wall. That's insulting. Sequel, fine. Not an expansion pack. So they are either headlining a console with overpriced dlc, or they're screwing ps4 Spiderman owners by locking them out of expansion access without a hardware purchase for no reason.

But I'm mostly upset at the internet gamers that are justifying a glorified addon a as a launch title and forcing hardware upgrades to get it "aren't generations awesome!" While putting down and honest to goodness full game a long time in the making almost explicitly because it's not forcing a hardware pay wall on it. I'm disappointed in the "i demand the right to buy eliteness" mentality left pc behind to be rid of.

And yes, gaming has become more affordable. For now. But between the economic effect of the plaque and the appearances of the new gen, it feels like that's about to roll back hard.

@BlueOcean I don't think they ever said it was planned as DLC.

Spider-Man MM is just a shorter spin-off. It's probably not a €60 game either, but €40.

@Octane Spiderman mm it's stand alone dlc. Lost legacy and first light were stand alone dlc. They're aren't full sequels and the company directly states so. Previously they priced them so as well... We'll see this time.

Botw2 it's explicitly a full size seqel. Or so they say for now. No reason to believe otherwise. Unless something looks untrue about that when we see more.

@Octane MM is $540.... You need to buy a PS5 to buy the $40 dlc for your ps4 game.

@Octane You can spin it as much as you want and disagree with me and NEStalgia but it's obvious that Miles Morales is a rushed short sequel that is based on the PS4 game with next-gen graphical frills.

BotW 2 can't have a shorter story than BotW and they aren't rushing the development for a new console launch. BotW disappointed me quite much but BotW 2 will likely be better packed.

Most expensive DLC ever 😂.

Mmmm nice! This is the new Xbox vs PS thread??? I like it!

Good news, you don't need to have a card or Paypal attached to your Microsoft Account to buy/redeem backwards compatibility games on XB1 now. Microsoft Account balance works.

@Grumblevolcano They must have been working on the 360 marketplace, it has compatibility errors and perhaps once they finish Games with Gold they can put backwards compatible games in the same database as the Xbox One and Series X games.