Xbox Thread (Like/Hate) - Mainly focusing on the lackluster exclusives, weak points, or strong points of Xbox consoles
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- Aug 17, 2024
If anyone had told me back in like 2009 that this will be the fate of the Xbox I wouldn't believe them. But here we are, HALO is coming to Playstation.
Halo is Coming to PlayStation: Xbox’s Iconic Franchise Heads to PS5 with Halo: Campaign Evolved Remake
Halo is Coming to PlayStation: Xbox’s Iconic Franchise Heads to PS5 with Halo: Campaign Evolved Remake
- Joined
- Aug 17, 2018
While a good game, it massively underperformed in sales. I think it made only $980 in profit. Dead Rising 3 (then 4 I think) had some internal turbulence between MS and Capcom on its direction.
- Joined
- Jun 23, 2020
New level of Cope unlocked: "A-actually our competition isn't the PS5, it's Movies and Tiktok!"
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/24/..._code=1.v08.Yy6n.6-_64hUCqH0X&smid=re-nytimes (https://archive.is/7H18T)
Remaking a classic video game with modern technology to reach both nostalgic and new audiences has become commonplace in an industry facing financial challenges.
So it was not a huge surprise when Microsoft announced on Friday that it would release an updated version of Halo: Combat Evolved next year, the influential game’s 25th anniversary.
One detail, though, was astounding.
The sci-fi franchise that has helped the company sell four generations of Xbox consoles and generate billions of dollars is coming to the Sony PlayStation, Microsoft’s direct competitor, for the first time. It is the equivalent of Disney letting Mickey Mouse roam Universal Studios.
“We are all seeking to meet people where they are,” Matt Booty, the president of Xbox game content and studios, said in an interview about Microsoft’s strategic shift.
The supersoldier Master Chief, who must protect humanity from alien threats in the first-person shooter Halo, is joining other Microsoft properties that are exclusive no longer. The third-person shooter Gears of War and the Forza racing series made their Sony debuts this year, and Microsoft Flight Simulator will do so in December.
Video game companies have long enticed players to buy consoles with games featuring their mascots. Nintendo developed a family-friendly lineup of characters in the 1980s, and Donkey Kong, Mario and Zelda remain moneymakers. Sony’s exclusive franchises include the cinematic adventures Uncharted, God of War and The Last of Us.
Microsoft has decided to move in another direction.
It is an effort to reach more gamers and to maximize revenue after the company opened its wallet to acquire major studios. Microsoft spent $69 billion on Activision Blizzard, which makes Call of Duty and Candy Crush, and $7.5 billion on ZeniMax Media, whose portfolio includes The Elder Scrolls and Fallout.
Joost van Dreunen, a market analyst and professor at New York University, said Microsoft’s newest console, the Xbox Series X|S, had been a commercial disappointment since releasing in 2020. Analysts estimate that it has sold at least 32 million units compared to about 80 million units of the PlayStation 5.
Next year’s remake, titled Halo: Campaign Evolved, will be released for the Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5 and PC. It will not include the original game’s competitive multiplayer modes. But for the first time, four players can cooperatively play the campaign online.
Microsoft leaders hope that bringing its premier franchises to new audiences will ultimately attract more customers into the Xbox ecosystem. Booty said consumers no longer have a strong attachment to the actual devices they use to play games.
“Our biggest competition isn’t another console,” he said, adding, “We are competing more and more with everything from TikTok to movies.”
There are signs the strategy is working.
Between April and July, six of the top 10 best-selling games on Sony’s consoles were Microsoft properties. Near the top was Forza Horizon 5, four years after it was initially released for Xbox consoles.
Microsoft declined to provide PlayStation 5 sales figures for Forza Horizon 5 and Gears of War: Reloaded, a remake that was released in August. Sony did not respond to a request for comment.
By releasing the first Halo and Gears of War titles on the PlayStation 5 decades later, Microsoft is introducing lucrative franchises to loyal Sony gamers. (Games in both franchises, including a 2011 remake of Halo: Combat Evolved, have been playable on computers.) That exposure may pay dividends if Microsoft brings Gears of War: E-Day, which has a 2026 release date, and Halo Infinite’s eventual follow-up to the PlayStation 5.
Any full-price sales on Sony’s console would be particularly important for Microsoft.
Tens of millions of Xbox owners subscribe to Game Pass, a subscription service whose highest tier provides immediate access to all Microsoft-published games. The company significantly raised that tier’s prices this month amid reports that its decision to include Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 as part of the subscription cost the company $300 million in sales. A Microsoft official confirmed that the company was also conducting internal tests for free ad-supported cloud access to some games through a program separate from Game Pass.
The shifting economics of the video game industry have left some analysts wondering if Microsoft plans to leave the console market altogether. Over the summer, the company laid off almost 9,000 employees, many from game studios attached to Xbox. An anticipated reboot of Perfect Dark was canceled altogether.
“Layoffs are difficult,” Booty said. “They are a part of managing our business.”
When the original Xbox was released in November 2001, Microsoft spent about $500 million on marketing to convince players it would become a fixture in the video game business.
Much of the attention went to Halo: Combat Evolved, which impressed players and critics with its robust weapon arsenal, smooth control scheme and addictive multiplayer battles. Console players who wanted to follow the interstellar saga over its six sequels (and one prequel) were required to buy the Xbox 360, the Xbox One and the Xbox Series X|S.
In 2021, shortly before the release of Halo Infinite, Microsoft said it had sold 81 million Halo games; it declined to provide updated figures.
The series was highly influential in the 2000s: Halo 2 set the industry standard for online matchmaking, and Halo 3 generated long lines outside of Best Buys and GameStops. But the franchise’s cultural cachet has diminished since then.
Developers behind Halo: Campaign Evolved described it as a relaunch for the series with new content and modernized gameplay. In this version, Master Chief can sprint across battlefields and wield an energy sword. The environments were rebuilt in Unreal Engine 5, the first time the franchise will run on outside software.
“We are evolving the experience,” said Pierre Hintze, the head of Halo Studios. “There is a level of detail with which we now can express the original artistic vision and goals.”
Hintze said the franchise’s story of repelling an alien conquest was refreshing in an era when many games featured reluctant heroes and unclear objectives.
“When you pick up Halo, you know that you are quintessentially good,” he said. “Your job is to save humanity.”
Elizabeth Van Wyck, the chief operating officer and general manager of the Halo franchise, said it was Microsoft’s goal to reach as many players as possible.
“We talk about this as another era for Halo,” she said.
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/24/..._code=1.v08.Yy6n.6-_64hUCqH0X&smid=re-nytimes (https://archive.is/7H18T)
Xbox’s Prized Sci-Fi Franchise Is Heading to PlayStation
As part of a strategic shift away from exclusivity, Microsoft is bringing Halo to Sony’s competing console for the first time.Remaking a classic video game with modern technology to reach both nostalgic and new audiences has become commonplace in an industry facing financial challenges.
So it was not a huge surprise when Microsoft announced on Friday that it would release an updated version of Halo: Combat Evolved next year, the influential game’s 25th anniversary.
One detail, though, was astounding.
The sci-fi franchise that has helped the company sell four generations of Xbox consoles and generate billions of dollars is coming to the Sony PlayStation, Microsoft’s direct competitor, for the first time. It is the equivalent of Disney letting Mickey Mouse roam Universal Studios.
“We are all seeking to meet people where they are,” Matt Booty, the president of Xbox game content and studios, said in an interview about Microsoft’s strategic shift.
The supersoldier Master Chief, who must protect humanity from alien threats in the first-person shooter Halo, is joining other Microsoft properties that are exclusive no longer. The third-person shooter Gears of War and the Forza racing series made their Sony debuts this year, and Microsoft Flight Simulator will do so in December.
Video game companies have long enticed players to buy consoles with games featuring their mascots. Nintendo developed a family-friendly lineup of characters in the 1980s, and Donkey Kong, Mario and Zelda remain moneymakers. Sony’s exclusive franchises include the cinematic adventures Uncharted, God of War and The Last of Us.
Microsoft has decided to move in another direction.
It is an effort to reach more gamers and to maximize revenue after the company opened its wallet to acquire major studios. Microsoft spent $69 billion on Activision Blizzard, which makes Call of Duty and Candy Crush, and $7.5 billion on ZeniMax Media, whose portfolio includes The Elder Scrolls and Fallout.
Joost van Dreunen, a market analyst and professor at New York University, said Microsoft’s newest console, the Xbox Series X|S, had been a commercial disappointment since releasing in 2020. Analysts estimate that it has sold at least 32 million units compared to about 80 million units of the PlayStation 5.
Next year’s remake, titled Halo: Campaign Evolved, will be released for the Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5 and PC. It will not include the original game’s competitive multiplayer modes. But for the first time, four players can cooperatively play the campaign online.
Microsoft leaders hope that bringing its premier franchises to new audiences will ultimately attract more customers into the Xbox ecosystem. Booty said consumers no longer have a strong attachment to the actual devices they use to play games.
“Our biggest competition isn’t another console,” he said, adding, “We are competing more and more with everything from TikTok to movies.”
There are signs the strategy is working.
Between April and July, six of the top 10 best-selling games on Sony’s consoles were Microsoft properties. Near the top was Forza Horizon 5, four years after it was initially released for Xbox consoles.
Microsoft declined to provide PlayStation 5 sales figures for Forza Horizon 5 and Gears of War: Reloaded, a remake that was released in August. Sony did not respond to a request for comment.
By releasing the first Halo and Gears of War titles on the PlayStation 5 decades later, Microsoft is introducing lucrative franchises to loyal Sony gamers. (Games in both franchises, including a 2011 remake of Halo: Combat Evolved, have been playable on computers.) That exposure may pay dividends if Microsoft brings Gears of War: E-Day, which has a 2026 release date, and Halo Infinite’s eventual follow-up to the PlayStation 5.
Any full-price sales on Sony’s console would be particularly important for Microsoft.
Tens of millions of Xbox owners subscribe to Game Pass, a subscription service whose highest tier provides immediate access to all Microsoft-published games. The company significantly raised that tier’s prices this month amid reports that its decision to include Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 as part of the subscription cost the company $300 million in sales. A Microsoft official confirmed that the company was also conducting internal tests for free ad-supported cloud access to some games through a program separate from Game Pass.
The shifting economics of the video game industry have left some analysts wondering if Microsoft plans to leave the console market altogether. Over the summer, the company laid off almost 9,000 employees, many from game studios attached to Xbox. An anticipated reboot of Perfect Dark was canceled altogether.
“Layoffs are difficult,” Booty said. “They are a part of managing our business.”
When the original Xbox was released in November 2001, Microsoft spent about $500 million on marketing to convince players it would become a fixture in the video game business.
Much of the attention went to Halo: Combat Evolved, which impressed players and critics with its robust weapon arsenal, smooth control scheme and addictive multiplayer battles. Console players who wanted to follow the interstellar saga over its six sequels (and one prequel) were required to buy the Xbox 360, the Xbox One and the Xbox Series X|S.
In 2021, shortly before the release of Halo Infinite, Microsoft said it had sold 81 million Halo games; it declined to provide updated figures.
The series was highly influential in the 2000s: Halo 2 set the industry standard for online matchmaking, and Halo 3 generated long lines outside of Best Buys and GameStops. But the franchise’s cultural cachet has diminished since then.
Developers behind Halo: Campaign Evolved described it as a relaunch for the series with new content and modernized gameplay. In this version, Master Chief can sprint across battlefields and wield an energy sword. The environments were rebuilt in Unreal Engine 5, the first time the franchise will run on outside software.
“We are evolving the experience,” said Pierre Hintze, the head of Halo Studios. “There is a level of detail with which we now can express the original artistic vision and goals.”
Hintze said the franchise’s story of repelling an alien conquest was refreshing in an era when many games featured reluctant heroes and unclear objectives.
“When you pick up Halo, you know that you are quintessentially good,” he said. “Your job is to save humanity.”
Elizabeth Van Wyck, the chief operating officer and general manager of the Halo franchise, said it was Microsoft’s goal to reach as many players as possible.
“We talk about this as another era for Halo,” she said.
- Joined
- Aug 17, 2024
When you kill off your hardware and give all your games to the competition. You need something new to blame your failures on, never admit your own wrong doings
- Joined
- Aug 28, 2019
More signs that Moore's Law is Dead is right about the next-gen Xbox being a gaming PC/console hybrid:
Wccftech: The Next-Gen Xbox Will Reportedly Be The Best of the PC and Console Worlds (archive)
Windows Central: Microsoft's ambitious new Xbox: Your entire Xbox console library, the full power of Windows PC gaming, and no multiplayer paywall (archive)
I don't know what "new silicon" for running Xbox back-compatible games is supposed to mean, unless they've done something like add an FPGA or special mode for emulating the old chips, instead of using software emulation which could come with legal issues, or copying and pasting the old chips directly in (like how the Game Boy Advance contains an entire processor for running Game Boy + GBC games).
If you can play Steam/Epic/GOG, and especially pirated games on it, also with no subscription needed for online multiplayer, then it could be a Great Value™ even at an elevated price.
Wccftech: The Next-Gen Xbox Will Reportedly Be The Best of the PC and Console Worlds (archive)
Windows Central: Microsoft's ambitious new Xbox: Your entire Xbox console library, the full power of Windows PC gaming, and no multiplayer paywall (archive)
I don't know what "new silicon" for running Xbox back-compatible games is supposed to mean, unless they've done something like add an FPGA or special mode for emulating the old chips, instead of using software emulation which could come with legal issues, or copying and pasting the old chips directly in (like how the Game Boy Advance contains an entire processor for running Game Boy + GBC games).
If you can play Steam/Epic/GOG, and especially pirated games on it, also with no subscription needed for online multiplayer, then it could be a Great Value™ even at an elevated price.
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- Joined
- Aug 17, 2018
So basically, MS wants to create a home
I mean, I can see myself buying it for an entry point into PC gaming. I worry that the OS or whatever security measure MS implement would brick the machine over time.
- Joined
- Aug 17, 2024
I guess they are gonna make you be able to stream from their cloud the digital Xbox games you own that is not PC games.
- Joined
- Aug 28, 2019
If it's an open x86 platform from the start, then there will be Linux on it within hours, and people blocking the OS from updating beyond what ships with the "console" so that vulnerabilities in the system can be studied with ease.
Windows Central's anonymous
The Xbox Ally overlay with explorer.exe not running until you enter a desktop mode, is a sneak peek at what you can expect at a minimum. But they could make plenty of changes within the next couple of years.
Here's Linux (Bazzite) running on the ASUS ROG Xbox Ally:
Could be. I don't know enough about the ecosystem to know what they are talking about. Reading it again:
I think they are going to have a way to force Zen 6/RDNA5 to act like Zen 2/RDNA2, so that all games that were modified to run directly on Xbox Series X/S (including OG Xbox) will work. Other coprocessors from the Xbox Series X/S could be carried forward if the die cost is minimal, or a separate chiplet is used.
- Joined
- Aug 17, 2018
As dumb as this sounds, in a perfect world, I'd expect this new Xbox to have the Xbox (PC) OS & Windows 10/11 at once. A gaming computer that is still a computer (writing papers on it, going on websites, running programs.)
- Joined
- Aug 28, 2019
It's possible that you're right and it needs to run a different Xbox OS to play older "Xbox" games for legal or security reasons. On the Windows side, definitely not Windows 10, which is being discontinued. It would be Windows 11 if not a new "Windows 12". A new Windows OS might arrive in 2027, just in time for a new Xbox. Next-gen Xbox including a 46-110 TOPS NPU would allow it to clear any "mandatory" Copilot+ requirements.
umseriously
kiwifarms.net
- Joined
- Apr 27, 2023
If Microsoft and jez are so serious about saving Xbox, they would implement these changes right fucking now like free online. We all know this is a marketing stunt. All they need to fucking do is make games. Holy shit.
- Joined
- Aug 6, 2024
If the price is right, I would be interested in it as well. Being able to play my 360 digital library, Steam library , newest NCAA sports ball game, and not have to deal with whatever consumer hostile DRM that will ship with GTAVI PC peaks my interest.
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- Joined
- Aug 17, 2022
I think it's becoming ever more realistic that the next xbox will be a Windows 11 PC with a skin and the brand will shrink so much that it joins EA as a privately owned Saudi property.
I also predict that, with this new Windows Xbox PC, Xbox will not figure out how to run 360/OG games besides just uploading them to the store and will release the device right before Valve announces some major update with SteamOS that will lead a lot of people to figuring out how to install it on their new Xbox since it just uses Steam and GOG for the most part anyway.
I also predict that, with this new Windows Xbox PC, Xbox will not figure out how to run 360/OG games besides just uploading them to the store and will release the device right before Valve announces some major update with SteamOS that will lead a lot of people to figuring out how to install it on their new Xbox since it just uses Steam and GOG for the most part anyway.
- Joined
- Aug 17, 2024
This is an Xbox
- Joined
- Aug 24, 2023
Except the handheld has Office, Teams, and all the other bloatware you get on a Windows PC on it. It's slow and a piece of trash. I can't see the console replacement being any better, the idea that MS will make some wonder device at a reasonable price when their CFO wants 30%+ profit margins is kooky.
- Joined
- Oct 9, 2024
in the remote chance i wanted to do this shit i would just hook up my pc to the living 4k tv
- Joined
- Aug 28, 2019
If a 2027 Xbox has something like ~10-core Zen 6, 9070 XT-ish raster but better raytracing, 1-2 TB SSD, and 36 GB unified RAM/VRAM for $800-1,000, it could undercut all pre-built gaming PCs on the market, and DIY. Costs would be cut by using a "mega APU", smaller power supply, etc.
I'm not trying to hype anybody up. If this thing isn't hackable, I don't care about it. But selling a "gaming PC console" with a profit margin could be a better strategy for Xbox than trying to play Sony's game.
- Joined
- Jul 10, 2023
That’s my hope/cope… an Xbox PC box that has good price to performance would help to keep PC prices in check.