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Topic: The everything Xbox thread

Posts 9,801 to 9,820 of 11,953

BruceCM

That's probably why he asked if they had to wait for them to die to use their faces free .... ? Anyway, since I do remember the Cold War times, that part would be a lot more interesting to me but I'm guessing it doesn't end up making much difference to the FPS gameplay

SW-4357-9287-0699
Steam: Bruce_CM

Dezzy

@ThanosReXXX

I was assuming you don't have to pay anyone if the person is dead. I don't even know if you'd have to pay their family for something like that. I've gotta assume the right to your own likeness is an individual thing.

It's probably a bit like how old music goes into the public domain after 50 years or whatever it is. Like you can play Beethoven's music anywhere you want and there's no-one you have to pay royalties to.

[Edited by Dezzy]

It's dangerous to go alone! Stay at home.

Octane

@Dezzy I bet nobody is paying the family of Hitler for his appearance in all those WWII comedies

I know they approached the family of Peter Cushing to use his likeness in Rogue One, so I'm certain there are some regulations to that. I expect that close family have at least the right to object, but that's just me guessing.

Octane

ThanosReXXX

@Dezzy Yeah, usually there's some kind of fee or provision-based contract if the person is still alive, and otherwise it's either close relatives or affiliates who possibly hold the rights.

But in the case of Reagan, I've no idea.

'The console wars are like boobs: Sony and Microsoft fight over which ones look the nicest and Nintendo's are the most fun to play with.'

Anti-Matter

I didn't really remember who have been kicked out from Microsoft for ruining Xbox One ?

Everlasting Dance Trax Boxing Eurobeat

ThanosReXXX

@Anti-Matter Don Mattrick. Why do you ask?

'The console wars are like boobs: Sony and Microsoft fight over which ones look the nicest and Nintendo's are the most fun to play with.'

Anti-Matter

@ThanosReXXX
Just curious.
I heard he have been fired for online checking before playing Xbox One games and something that made the Xbox gamers really angry with his decisions.

Everlasting Dance Trax Boxing Eurobeat

ThanosReXXX

@Anti-Matter Well... fired...
They let him go, probably with a big fat bonus, like what happens most of the time with executive positions, and then Phil Spencer took over, and he has now been busy cleaning up all the mess, and making things better for Xbox users, but it's a LONG and sometimes slow process.

[Edited by ThanosReXXX]

'The console wars are like boobs: Sony and Microsoft fight over which ones look the nicest and Nintendo's are the most fun to play with.'

Zuljaras

With the coming of the new generation I looked back on the Xbox One and why it struggled at the start. I watched this video and most of the points are spot on. The guy also mentions why the Xbox Series X strong points are bringing more that the One ever did.

Dezzy

About half way through Halo 2. Absolutely loving the Anniversary update, it feels so different from what I remember back on the Xbox.
I definitely like this more than Halo 1 though. Better story, better pacing, better environments, better weapons. Maybe the only place it's worse is that it's a bit more linear in its design.

It's dangerous to go alone! Stay at home.

NEStalgia

@Octane @ThanosReXXX @Dezzy While I don't know for sure, I suspect the need to pay for the likeness of someone doesn't actually apply to public figures, and certainly not world leaders. If you wanted to use the likeness of Bill Clinton in a video game about 90's events (or a brothel simulator), I imagine there would be no payment required even while he's alive. Though Reagan might be an unusual case as he was also a member of the Screen Actors Guild and there's probably hordes of red tape once the union gets their claws into things.

@Zuljaras I don't think we need that video (with a host that represents every negative stereotype of gamers imaginable) to know why XBone failed. There's a lot of "reasons" but ultimately it failed before it launched with the hardcore. "#dealwithit", "always online", and that hideous DRM strategy made it a laughing disgrace and an outrage and it read like a war on their customers. The stakes were raised with "mandatory spy cam", The meme grew with the pre-launch event that focused on sports, tv, movie producers, sports, tv, sports, dogs, sports, cars, sports, tv, dogs, DRM, camera, all your face is belong to us, sports. (NEVER try to impress gamers with sportball....)

I watched that presentation live. I was a 360 & PS3 owner. I had a WiiU already at that point. I wasn't sure whether to laugh or cry, and mostly felt uninterested and disgusted simultaneously. And I still gave them the benefit of the doubt.

And then the deal was sealed at E3 when their show continued the aimless display of cluelessness, they unveiled the high price, then post-show they antagonized and assaulted reporters over criticism and doubt of the DRM & camera. And then a few hours later Sony showed up, removed their (IDENTICAL up to that moment) DRM plan entirely, did the "this is how you share on PS4" video with Yoshida, and undercut the price. Everyone watching, myself included pre-ordered a PS4 BEFORE the show ended to squeeze it in.

Once that ball started rolling with the "core" it was hard to stop. The next day, I believe MS made noise about reversing the DRM, unbundling the camera.....backpedaling hard from the prior month and a half of "set in stone" decisions. But it was too late. The machine was already rejected by the core, the meme was already all over the internet, and anyone just joining into the madness saw in black and white that X1 was a joke and PS4 was the way to go. From there it was impossible to repair things. Then we found out X1 was less powerful than PS4 to boot, and most games ran sub-1080p (didn't I already have a WiiU for that?!) And MS's cool, experimental exclusives compared to Sony's mega-franchises weren't going to do it any favors in convincing the masses. And Mattrick already closed all their internal studios and sent everyone packing....so there was no way to remedy the problem in the space of a generation.

Phil had quite an uphill battle. Through X1X he did an amazing job of patching back. But I fear after all that work, the past month has unraveled much of that work, an it's starting to feel like a reprise of the old launch. The console itself isn't bad this time, of course, but so much of the business process around it seems like part deux.

@Dezzy Halo is always linear, though.

NEStalgia

Magician

Mmm hmm, the Xbox has come a long way from the dark days of 2013.

[Edited by Magician]

Switch Physical Collection - 1,537 games (as of December 22nd, 2025)
Switch 2 Physical Collection - 4 games (as of December 8th, 2025)

ThanosReXXX

@NEStalgia Well, whatever the case, I know one thing for sure: they sure as hell didn't pay for Castro's likeness in Black Ops...

All kidding aside, though: certain celebs most definitely do get paid to have their likeness be featured in games, such as for example Kevin Spacey in Call of Duty Infinite Warfare.

@Zuljaras Austin Evans usually has good, on point videos, but I kinda agree with @NEStalgia here about the reasons why the Xbox One failed; it was clear from day one that they ruined the launch.

On a side note: the other video was already posted by me quite a few pages back, but you may have missed that.

'The console wars are like boobs: Sony and Microsoft fight over which ones look the nicest and Nintendo's are the most fun to play with.'

Ralizah

Eh. Messing up its launch didn't do the platform any favors, but recall that Sony messed up the PS3's launch as well, but eventually bounced back and that console ended up outselling the 360. Microsoft's problems with no platform-driving software outside of stale shooters hasn't really been addressed yet.

Globally, the biggest hurdle facing Microsoft is that the Playstation is just wildly more popular as a brand. Playstation has an automatic advantage coming out of the gate.

With all that said, Microsoft is clearly turning the Xbox brand into something more service-oriented, making it less dependent on the traditional home console model than Sony is. XSeX is a big part of Microsoft's next gen approach, but it's only that: a part. Playstation lives or dies based on PS5 sales.

Didn't watch the video. It might be insightful, but the "angry gamer" dude in the preview image turns my stomach.

[Edited by Ralizah]

Currently Playing on January 13, 2026: The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy (PC)

Grumblevolcano

It feels like the only thing that came up from July's Xbox showcase that is still prominent today is the debate about whether the XB1 version of Halo Infinite should be cancelled. Everything else from that showcase is a distant memory.

Grumblevolcano

Banjo-

@Ralizah PS3 didn't oversold Xbox 360. Sony, technically, did during the current generation releasing cheap revisions with cut features but last generation was #1 Wii ("casual"/blue ocean market), #2 Xbox 360 (hardware and software) and #3 PS3, lagging and behind everyone else.

@NEStalgia Interesting, I didn't know that Sony had online DRM planned and backpedaled after Microsoft's messy conference.

[Edited by Banjo-]

Banjo-

Switch Friend Code: SW-6404-5318-0807

Dezzy

NEStalgia wrote:

@Dezzy Halo is always linear, though.

Not that much though. You have several points in the first game where you just have to explore and find the correct destinations yourself. That point where you first land on the Halo, you have to save 3 different platoons of soldiers, and you're pretty much left to just explore yourself and find them in whatever order.

There's nothing like that in Halo 2, as far as I can remember. It's much more of a Call of Duty style campaign (but better).

It's dangerous to go alone! Stay at home.

redd214

Just wrapped up my Halo marathon rolled credits on 5! Dunno why 4 and 5 get so much hate, definitely weren't bad by any means. Think I'm gonna give Ori 2 a go next see what all the hype is about!

redd214

Ralizah

@BlueOcean

"PS3 didn't outsell the 360, except technically it outsold the 360."

That's a very circuitous way of admitting I'm right. It's an impressive achievement considering how poorly the PS3 started last gen.

Anyway, my point is that bungling launch doesn't mean a console has to fail. It requires persistent mistakes that aren't corrected.

Hopefully Microsoft's studio acquisitions help it build up a first party portfolio that can compete with Sony and Nintendo.

Currently Playing on January 13, 2026: The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy (PC)

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