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Console Gaming General Discussion

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Deal Guru
Feb 11, 2007
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seafish wrote: If anyone wants to pick up XC: Definitive Works Set, it's back on Amazon for backorder, but for $108.46
Sold out everywhere else and resellers are going hard for it
It seems strange that Amazon would sell it above MSRP.

I got it for $99.99 elsewhere. The hardcover artbook is decent but not outstanding. 240 pages long but I don't like most of the
character designs in this game compared to the other top RPGS.
Deal Fanatic
Oct 23, 2004
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Finished Ori and The Will Of The Wisps with 100% this weekend. One of the most enjoyable platformers I've ever played and significantly better than the first game. I really have nothing bad to say about this game and highly recommend it. Crazy that I was able to play it start to finish for only a couple bucks on game pass.
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Feb 21, 2013
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ReeGee wrote: Finished Ori and The Will Of The Wisps with 100% this weekend. One of the most enjoyable platformers I've ever played and significantly better than the first game. I really have nothing bad to say about this game and highly recommend it. Crazy that I was able to play it start to finish for only a couple bucks on game pass.
It's crazy how much value Game Pass brings. I still need to finish Ori 2, but I've played so many different games because of GP, many that I probably would never have touched otherwise. Even for PC, I don't have a beefy gaming PC, but I was able to enjoy popular indie games like FTL and Into the Breach and Astrologaster on my Surface. I'm really looking forward to Wasteland 3...

I have a few friends who are so stuck on the "console wars" that they continuously badmouth Microsoft because they're diehard PS guys, and it's kind of weird that this is the vibe people still have towards MS stemming from the start of this gen, given the consumer-friendly products and services they've created since Phil Spencer took over.
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Feb 21, 2013
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Looks like MS has trademarked "Xbox Series" according to this report: https://www.gamespot.com/articles/micro ... 0-6478439/. I'm fully on board with them doing "Series __" consoles, but even the choice of "S" and "X" is maybe not the best idea because of how closely those two letters sound when spoken.

I get why they don't number their consoles traditionally either, because they'll always be at a numerical 'disadvantage' to Sony, but their naming conventions have been baffling over the years, and hopefully they can finally just keep it at something consistent moving forward.
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M1GOmigs wrote: It's crazy how much value Game Pass brings. I still need to finish Ori 2, but I've played so many different games because of GP, many that I probably would never have touched otherwise. Even for PC, I don't have a beefy gaming PC, but I was able to enjoy popular indie games like FTL and Into the Breach and Astrologaster on my Surface. I'm really looking forward to Wasteland 3...

I have a few friends who are so stuck on the "console wars" that they continuously badmouth Microsoft because they're diehard PS guys, and it's kind of weird that this is the vibe people still have towards MS stemming from the start of this gen, given the consumer-friendly products and services they've created since Phil Spencer took over.
I probably do at least half my gaming through Game Pass now. I'm honestly getting it at a steal right now constantly paying $1 a month but even at the regular $5/month price I'd stay subscribed at this point because there's always at least a couple games I want to play. I'm starting to wonder if MS can keep up this level of value long term and if they're actually seeing an overall improvement in sales from brand exposure and their games being more popular now, more word of mouth etc. Like you said games like Ori and Streets of Rage 4 wouldn't be on my radar normally but now I'm playing them and recommending them to people which I normally wouldn't. Can't wait until the new Flight Sim gets added and that's the game I'm looking forward to most this year next to CP2077
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Feb 21, 2013
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Interesting news today: MS is closing down Mixer, and it will partner with Facebook Gaming for game streaming according to a bunch of sources.

Microsoft is shutting down Mixer and partnering with Facebook Gaming

Most interesting out of this is that they're integrating Project xCloud to Facebook. From Verge's article:
Microsoft will work closely with Facebook to bring xCloud to Facebook Gaming, allowing viewers to click and immediately play games that people are streaming. It’s a vision that’s very similar to Google’s ambitions with Stadia, but Mixer has lacked the scale and viewership to truly deliver this more broadly.
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Deal Addict
May 9, 2007
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M1GOmigs wrote: Interesting news today: MS is closing down Mixer, and it will partner with Facebook Gaming for game streaming according to a bunch of sources.

Microsoft is shutting down Mixer and partnering with Facebook Gaming

Most interesting out of this is that they're integrating Project xCloud to Facebook. From Verge's article:
This could only be good news. During the quarantine, all of the streaming platforms saw a huge increase in viewership except for Mixer. So despite everyone being home with nothing to do, Mixer was the only platform not able to gain any traction at all when the circumstances would never have been more favorable for Mixer if it ever had a chance now was the time.

On second thought really hoping Facebook doesn’t get baked into the dash.

Also if MS can afford the insane amounts of money they offered to acquire streamers like Ninja ($30M) and Shroud ($10M) there's no reason the Series X can't be $400 at launch...
Last edited by Bryson on Jun 22nd, 2020 4:27 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Aug 20, 2009
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I think I would rather they just partner with Amazon since my streaming is all Twitch but I understand that they both compete in the cloud space that will probably never happen. I'm not a big fan of Facebook anything. I refuse to even hook up my Oculus Rift with their platform.

I guess this was a smart play for guys like Ninja though, he probably gets all of that cash and doesn't need to be exclusive to the platform anymore.
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Bryson wrote: This could only be good news. During the quarantine, all of the streaming platforms saw a huge increase in viewership except for Mixer. So despite everyone being home with nothing to do, Mixer was the only platform not able to gain any traction at all when the circumstances would never have been more favorable for Mixer if it ever had a chance now was the time.
Yeah, they did a poor job with Mixer, and yet they invested so much money to buy it, then to lure guys like Ninja and Shroud to stream on the platform. It provided nothing of value over Twitch, and doesn't have the accessibility or name recognition or built in audience as FB or YouTube...
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Deal Guru
Feb 11, 2007
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The whole XBox UI needs an overhaul.

In the most recent update all that was changed was scrolling from horizontal tabs to vertical tabs.
It will even pin community tabs from some of your most frequently played games on there by default.

^
Ninja makes over $500,000 USD a month streaming Fortnite on Youtube and Mixer.
He had the largest audience on Twitch before Microsoft paid him to stream exclusively for Mixer.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ninja_(gamer)


That is about 1/3rd of what PewDiePie makes on Youtube if you extrapolate it to a year, but it is very impressive for someone that streams only 1 game.

.
Last edited by XFactor11 on Jun 22nd, 2020 8:36 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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Peopel still use Facebook(besides Messenger)? What a stupid move.
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mymuro wrote: Peopel still use Facebook(besides Messenger)? What a stupid move.
Just because it's not popular with North Americans (specifically, white North Americans) doesn't mean it's still not used by people. It's actually big in other countries like India, Indonesia, Brazil, The Philippines, etc. It's one of the only ways I keep in touch with my family around the world aside from IG and WhatsApp (both owned by FB)... And even among certain minority groups in Canada like Indigenous communities, it's still pretty popular.

Also, MS has no other choice unless they align themselves with Amazon (Twitch) or Google (YouTube) - two companies who they see as competitors. Facebook is pretty much their best and only option with a big user base.
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All I know is the last thing I want is Facebook anywhere near the Xbox dash. Or anywhere near user data for that matter.

I never cared for the Sony Facebook share integration either, though thankfully that was all optional using their API.
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Dec 12, 2006
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I didn't mind Mixer, it seemed to work really well and the integration with the xbox was nice when we'd get our friends together and a few of us were waiting one of us could stream and was always the go to when we were playing Jackbox due to its low lag. However it was always an impossible hill to climb against twitch and this is one of those times where its better just to have one prominent place for everything than have streamers and people streaming broken up amongst difference services.

On the flip side I echo what other folks said, if there is somehow Facebook integration into the Xbox Dashboard that is going to be awful.
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Redmask wrote: All I know is the last thing I want is Facebook anywhere near the Xbox dash. Or anywhere near user data for that matter.

I never cared for the Sony Facebook share integration either, though thankfully that was all optional using their API.
SpicYMchaggis wrote: I didn't mind Mixer, it seemed to work really well and the integration with the xbox was nice when we'd get our friends together and a few of us were waiting one of us could stream and was always the go to when we were playing Jackbox due to its low lag. However it was always an impossible hill to climb against twitch and this is one of those times where its better just to have one prominent place for everything than have streamers and people streaming broken up amongst difference services.

On the flip side I echo what other folks said, if there is somehow Facebook integration into the Xbox Dashboard that is going to be awful.
I doubt their partnership will run that deep... I doubt it'll be baked right into the UI like Mixer seemed to be towards the end. If anything, they'll have dedicated ad space for FB gaming streams, and they'll push the app more than the Twitch app, but it seems like a purely opportunistic thing for both companies, at a time when both could use the help and increased visibility from their respective communities.

Mixer was OK - it wasn't awful or anything, but there wasn't anything to differentiate it from Twitch ultimately (Plus Twitch gave away good rewards to Prime subscribers). When Mixer first started to come up, the promise was that it would allow fans more interaction with the streamers, and they would integrate some neat mechanics that may even affect the game the streamers were playing (IIRC they were hoping to even have things where viewers could vote for more of certain enemy types, or boss types, maybe vote on game modes or modifiers, etc...) but it just never happened. Just like the Windows phone, it had some really good ideas, but they came in way too late, and they were fighting an uphill battle against more entrenched, more popular options with greater brand recognition.

But hear me out.... If they can only bring back 1 vs 100 into Facebook gaming, who'll say no to that? Grinning Face With Smiling Eyes.........
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I thought Mixer was technically superior to Twitch in terms of lower latency and better quality streams but they never evolved the chat side of things and people forget how critical that is to streaming. Twitch is a glorified IRC server which makes it easy to extend by the community and third parties. It is crazy how much community and app support it has. Mixer had a half baked API and never got serious about third party platform integrations so the chat experience was vastly worse than Twitch. That killed adoption and without adoption you don't have a platform.

1 vs 100 was really neat and that sort of interactive show never getting any traction is a huge bummer. I loved 1 vs 100, they could've done it without the prizes and I still would've kept playing. I also really miss Netflix Parties, those were super fun. The 360 early to mid-gen days had some great online experiences, lots of experimentation and wacky stuff.
Deal Addict
May 9, 2007
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M1GOmigs wrote: I doubt their partnership will run that deep... I doubt it'll be baked right into the UI like Mixer seemed to be towards the end. If anything, they'll have dedicated ad space for FB gaming streams, and they'll push the app more than the Twitch app, but it seems like a purely opportunistic thing for both companies, at a time when both could use the help and increased visibility from their respective communities.

Mixer was OK - it wasn't awful or anything, but there wasn't anything to differentiate it from Twitch ultimately (Plus Twitch gave away good rewards to Prime subscribers). When Mixer first started to come up, the promise was that it would allow fans more interaction with the streamers, and they would integrate some neat mechanics that may even affect the game the streamers were playing (IIRC they were hoping to even have things where viewers could vote for more of certain enemy types, or boss types, maybe vote on game modes or modifiers, etc...) but it just never happened. Just like the Windows phone, it had some really good ideas, but they came in way too late, and they were fighting an uphill battle against more entrenched, more popular options with greater brand recognition.

But hear me out.... If they can only bring back 1 vs 100 into Facebook gaming, who'll say no to that? Grinning Face With Smiling Eyes.........
Phil Spencer talks about opening xbox to the possibility of streaming on Twitch and other platforms now.



If you are asking if the current Mixer integration in the dashboard is just going to become Facebook gaming. The answer is no.

https://www.reddit.com/r/xboxone/commen ... e/fvs3agf/
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Oct 23, 2004
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Redmask wrote: Absolution was okay but it simply wasn't a true Hitman game. I think expectations can make all the difference though. The interesting part about the new Hitman is I hated the episodic format before playing it but after giving it a chance I think it fits perfectly. Hitman is all about self contained, non-linear, replayable missions and in those respects its pretty much the ideal game for the format. My initial reaction was basically just a kneejerk that stemmed from the episodic format essentially being a failure across the rest of the industry. I suspect many people had the same reaction as I did. It's a shame because Hitman Season 1 is pretty damned great and now I see the game being an ideal "platform".
ReeGee wrote: This comment thread nails the Hitman issue. This is exactly why so many people haven't purchased it despite it probably be a good game

https://www.reddit.com/r/Games/comments ... e/dhewv2o/

I believe you that the episodic format probably worked better for this game than others but it still makes for a very uncertain confusing purchase that many people will never bother with. It's just far easier and more appealing to spend money and time on a game where you get the complete package in 1 transaction. Look at that thread and how many people intended to buy it but were confused or had no idea when/if the full game was released.
Sup guys it's me bringing up old games again. I finally got around to buying Hitman as these days you can buy the entire season for like $10-12 and I've read nothing but praise for this game in the past year or so with being able to play it all in the Hitman 2 engine.

I'm typically not into stealth games and it's among my least favorite genres but I decided to give this a try anyway since it's so cheap now and I saw a thread recently of tons of people including many who don't typically enjoy stealth raving about how good this game is now and they weren't lying. I've spent literally 5-6 hours just on the tutorial training maps completing all the different challenges and outcomes. I already love this game and haven't even started a real mission yet. Highly recommend to anyone who hasn't played this yet. I'll probably be picking up the Hitman 2 episodes when they get cheaper.

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