For Xbox and Game Pass to go mainstream, perhaps great games aren't enough

[Windows Central]

With Microsoft hiking Xbox Game Pass prices, a question of viability once again hangs over the service. Increasingly, I think Microsoft, ironically, needs to look beyond games to buoy its service for the long term.

For Xbox and Game Pass to go mainstream, perhaps great games aren't enough : Read more

 

[chris9465]

I don't agree with anything Microsoft is doing with its xbox division, games & hardware.

Hardware is now unnecessary, Cloud doesn't function consistently, and the games are at times unplayable (redfall) or lack certain features that became a staple of the game experience (HALO) or are just underwhelming (Starfield) no interest in waiting for bethesda to get its act together and fix a boring game with its broken unplayable DLC. Maybe in 10yrs I'll play it when they finally finish it. Bethesda is still trying to fix Fallout 4.

Am done with the Xbox console. I bought a decent enough MSI Katana and, signed up for a Steam account, to hold me over until The PS5 Pro release. Steam is loaded with some great games. Microsoft Game Quality is nonexistent.

Ps5 Pro with CoD6 and GTA6, and as I mentioned a MSI katana i7 32GB RAM 1T SSD. bub bye xbox console, your services are nolonger required.

Microsoft made a weak console in the Series S that made the Series X absolutely useless. Developers are skipping the Xbox all together, so am done with the xbox ecosystem

 

[C-Murder]

I don't agree with anything Microsoft is doing with its xbox division, games & hardware.

Hardware is now unnecessary, Cloud doesn't function consistently, and the games are at times unplayable (redfall) or lack certain features that became a staple of the game experience (HALO) or are just underwhelming (Starfield) no interest in waiting for bethesda to get its act together and fix a boring game with its broken unplayable DLC. Maybe in 10yrs I'll play it when they finally finish it. Bethesda is still trying to fix Fallout 4.

Am done with the Xbox console. I bought a decent enough MSI Katana and, signed up for a Steam account, to hold me over until The PS5 Pro release. Steam is loaded with some great games. Microsoft Game Quality is nonexistent.

Ps5 Pro with CoD6 and GTA6, and as I mentioned a MSI katana i7 32GB RAM 1T SSD. bub bye xbox console, your services are nolonger required.

Microsoft made a weak console in the Series S that made the Series X absolutely useless. Developers are skipping the Xbox all together, so am done with the xbox ecosystem

When you bought up the game Redfall, you already showed that you are a fan boy, a PS5 pri is needed because Sony sold me and others a gimped console, that did not support RDNA2 graphics architecture. They sold it overpriced and made millions cause they knew people were going to buy it regardless. The pandemic just made it even worse. That's why millions are still on their PS4. An 3050ti laptop is slower than a desktop 3050 with less RAM. The PS5 Pro only makes it marginally better than an Series X and adds the same memory interface and gives it RDNA2 compatibility to be able to run games at lower resolution and supersample the visual to run smoother and look more like 4k. The COU will run more efficient cause it's an slight upgrade on the original. What about people running GTA6 on their PS5 standard? See wtf your saying makes no sense. The game will scale to whatever hardware it runs on, just like PC games always do. Are you complaining about how much Sony been charging for over the last couple of years for PS+ with no day one exclusives on either tier? There are multiple ways to get game pays for the low. I've gotten gpu ultimate for 3 years for 90 bucks. Better learn how to use your money wisely, since you think we should have to upgrade our console just to play GTA6 lol. Go read the GTA6 developers thoughts on how they think their games should be priced, by the hour. There goes your subscription for GTA, if he could have it his way. You don't even have an xbox, lying @$$. I have it all, you gotta pay to play fella, if you don't want to play, don't pay.

 

[KingyOwl]

"Xbox itself is far from being "fun" right now, with fun classic features like Avatars, 1 vs. 100, and Achievements set aside and back burned."

This is the key issue for my with Xbox right now; in the 360 generation they were pioneers in creating an eco-system (avatars, Xbox Live, achievements, profiles, friend lists), then each console dashboard update hid these features further and further away until most of them were gone. Why did they bother making the "new" avatars app a few years ago only to never use them in literally anything; a 'Joy Ride Turbo 2' or a '1 Vs 100 2' for example?

If the industry is moving in the direction where the hardware you play on doesn't matter and games are increasingly going multi-platform, then surely your key differentiator is your platform's eco-system - how is your gaming profile showcased - games played history, achievements, friend lists, messaging friends, the platform needs to be as fun as it was in the 360 generation because, as the article stated, games like Fortnite are becoming their own platform and have better features than the Xbox platform itself.