Microsoft Xbox Series X | S OT - Power Your Dreams, update: FTC case unredacted documents leaked, including XSX mid-generation refresh, new gyro/haptic-enabled controller, and next-generation plans for 2028

[Raggit]

Glad to see Scorn isn't dead.

[number305]

18 minutes ago, silentbob said:

Only that opening game cinematic looked close to be being next gen. Everything else was a big nothing burger for me. Feeling better and better with my recent PC purchase if this is all we are getting at the start

My guess is there is going to be better stuff coming - but from a MS perspective if you just got a good PC built then you are good to go anyway.

[Brian]

2 hours ago, JPDunks4 said:

EA supporting Smart Delivery is good news

In an EA type of way

 

Quote

Third-party studios like Ubisoft, Sega, and Bandai Namco Entertainment are backing Microsoft’s Smart Delivery upgrades, but there’s one big exception: EA. 

While EA unveiled Madden NFL 21 for the Xbox Series X today, the company is not pledging its commitment to supporting Smart Delivery.

Instead, EA is offering its own free upgrade offer, but only if players purchase Madden NFL 21 on Xbox One by December 31st and upgrade to Xbox Series X by March 31st, 2021.

The Verge

[crispy4000]

Corvus looks sick.  AAA arcadey space combat game.  I’m surprised it even exists.

[AbsolutSurgen]

19 minutes ago, crispy4000 said:

Corvus looks sick.  AAA arcadey space combat game.  I’m surprised it even exists.

Did you mean Chorus?  I agree the trailer looked promising - for a AA game. 
 

This is Fishlabs’ first non-port or non-mobile game. I’ll temper my expectations though. 

[crispy4000]

I'm excited for it regardless.  It looked fun to play.

This wasn't a bad showcase overall IMO, just a bad next-gen blowout.  I'm intrigued by a few of the games.  But some of the stuff like the Medium showcase cutting second to an in-game renders peels the wool back a bit.

 

We've also seen Vampires Bloodlines before, in a current-gen last year state.  Curious to see the actual state of that game when it comes out.

[crispy4000]

 

Scorn and Bright Memory Infinte are likely cross gen in spite of no Smart Delivery.  At least going by PC min specs on their steam pages.

 

Medium might be next-gen only.

 

Also, what’s with that spotty HDR support?  That’s frustrating to still see.

[jaethos]

Apparently The Medium, Scorn, and Call of the Sea are console exclusives and will launch on Gamepass.

[JPDunks4]

Well at least they acknowlege the poor messaging.  

 

 

I rewatched it while being less distracted, and knowing it was just a tease of games being worked on coming to Series X, I felt it was actually decent.  Quite a few games I think looked fairly interesting.  

[DPCyric]

1 hour ago, JPDunks4 said:

Well at least they acknowlege the poor messaging.  

 

 

I rewatched it while being less distracted, and knowing it was just a tease of games being worked on coming to Series X, I felt it was actually decent.  Quite a few games I think looked fairly interesting.  

 

I agree that a lot of the games look interesting and I plan to get the system at launch now... However I think there needed to be something first party in there with amazing graphics. Not necessarily a big new title but maybe upgraded Forza or Gears of War.

[crispy4000]

22 minutes ago, DPCyric said:

 

I agree that a lot of the games look interesting and I plan to get the system at launch now... However I think there needed to be something first party in there with amazing graphics. Not necessarily a big new title but maybe upgraded Forza or Gears of War.

I’m curious, since you said plan to get it at launch now... was it this presentation that convinced you?

 

With all 1st party and most 3rd party titles being cross-gen, I want them to show some kind of next-level visual gameplay showcase.

 

Right now, the big tech showpiece is still Minecraft IMO.  I’d want a more modern-looking game that makes the distinction clear.  Something like Control arguably has on PC, perhaps pushed further in other ways.

[Keyser_Soze]

Hmm shocked to see how many people hated the presentation. I thought it was cool seeing all the games. It was nice seeing that most of them were running at 60fps.

 

 

14 hours ago, TwinIon said:

That vampire game was not very impressive looking.

 

 

That's going to be the best game in the last 20 years.

[DPCyric]

2 hours ago, crispy4000 said:

I’m curious, since you said plan to get it at launch now... was it this presentation that convinced you?

 

Yes I wasn't sure there would be enough interesting games in the launch window to warrant the purchase.

[Duderino]

Think this article sums up the disappointment quite well:

 

https://www.gamespot.com/articles/xbox-series-xs-inside-xbox-event-didnt-deliver-on-/1100-6476997/

 

The event just felt more like an extended games sizzle reel than a next-gen showcase.

[Keyser_Soze]

But knowing they were going to do a bunch of these, I really had no issue with what they showed.

 

I mean I'll eat my words if it happens but the notion of something looking "next gen" isn't really a thing these days. Games are looking good with diminishing returns on visuals. I thought the most next gen thing about it is all the high framerate stuff, I'll take that over purdy.

[Spork3245]

4 hours ago, Keyser_Soze said:

That's going to be the best game in the last 20 years.

Anyone who refers to a Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines sequel as “that vampire game” loses all credibility on their opinion of it in my book. 

Game is going to be amazing.

 

BUT, that being said... that was an awful trailer compared to all of the earlier trailers from last year.

[Bacon]

But Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines is “that vampire game” and I don't think that is a bad thing. Cuz when people say “that vampire game” Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines is exactly what I think of despite never playing it.

 

And it doesn't look impressive. Especially from the gameplay we have already seen.  Of course that means nothing for the RP elements that have not been shown yet. But what has been shown gameplay wise and graphically looks like total ass, and it was a mistake to put in an event showing of the power of a next gen console. As someone who has never played the previous game, the creators are doing nothing to get me to play the new one. Instead, everything they have shown has said to me to not get the game cuz it all looks pretty bad. What makes it worse is that a lot of people know the praise Bloodlines received, but what they have shown of the new game is "this".  At least this is how I feel. For a bit, I was kinda excited for the new game based on people's reception of the previous game. But everything I have seen has been off-putting. 

 

But I also liked the trailer. I thought it was fun. 

[Spork3245]

4 minutes ago, Bacon said:

random words from a bored user

“that vampire game” was being used because the franchise and game name are seemingly unknown to them, not because it’s “that” vampire game. That is where the non-serious accusatory loss of credibility comes in: a joke.

[Keyser_Soze]

7 minutes ago, Bacon said:

But Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines is “that vampire game” and I don't think that is a bad thing. Cuz when people say “that vampire game” Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines is exactly what I think of despite never playing it.

 

I don't think anyone would think of Vampire the Masquerade as "That Vampire Game" especially after all these years. When he first said that I thought it was some actual crappy game but I thought what else could it be besides Bloodlines?

 

other more recent vampire games: Vampyr (which would be not very impressive looking), Bloodrayne, Castlevania, Legacy of Kain

[Bacon]

2 minutes ago, Keyser_Soze said:

other more recent vampire games: Vampyr (which would be not very impressive looking), Bloodrayne, Castlevania, Legacy of Kain

Vampyr: forgot all about that game

 

Bloodrayne:

 

Castlevania:

 

Legacy of Kain: Heard of the name, not sure I know the game. 

[Keyser_Soze]

29 minutes ago, Bacon said:

Castlevania:

 

 

Well Lords of Shadow 1 & 2 came out within the last decade.

[Bacon]

1 minute ago, Keyser_Soze said:

 

Well Lords of Shadow 1 & 2 came out within the last decade.

Those aren't real. SOTN was the last Castlevania game. That or one of the N64 titles. 

[Keyser_Soze]

4 minutes ago, Bacon said:

Those aren't real. SOTN was the last Castlevania game. That or one of the N64 titles. 

 

Oooor the superior 3DS games.

[Xbob42]

I thought the Bloodlines trailer looked fine? Tone was kind of weird but I liked the abilities on display. As opposed too Car McDrivey 7, where you take your car and you drive it for 40 hours.

 

Overall I think it was fine. This was just a little thing to show off some third-party stuff. Next will be the first-party one. Dunno how many of you will end up being impressed since roughly half of you claim to not be able to tell the difference between 720p and 4k, or 15 FPS vs 150 FPS!

At this point I think it's a fool's errand to look for the one "next-gen" looking game anyway. A presentation like this is much more honest about what things will actually look like (sans the non-gameplay trailers) rather than what a single first-party team was able to achieve by pushing the system to its limits, creating an outlier not representative of the majority of high-end titles on the system in its early life.

[crispy4000]

6 hours ago, DPCyric said:

 

Yes I wasn't sure there would be enough interesting games in the launch window to warrant the purchase.

That’s surprising since most of these games weren’t confirmed for this year, or even launch window.
 

For those that are, we still have no clue how current gen versions will compare.  What extra effort is being put in to take advantage of the new hardware?

[Guest]

I would be happy to have current gen visuals with 4k60+.

[Spork3245]

Just now, sblfilms said:

I would be happy to have current gen visuals with 4k60+.

[crispy4000]

11 minutes ago, sblfilms said:

I would be happy to have current gen visuals with 4k60+.

 

I’d rather have next gen visuals at 4k60.
 

We’ll assuredly have some devs touting above-60 framerates because they made a current gen game and switched off the frame limiter.

[Guest]

I’m pretty easy to please, I suppose. The two games I’ve played the most in the last decade are PUBG and Animal Crossing, both of which are not exactly graphical showpieces  

[DPCyric]

1 hour ago, crispy4000 said:

That’s surprising since most of these games weren’t confirmed for this year, or even launch window.
 

For those that are, we still have no clue how current gen versions will compare.  What extra effort is being put in to take advantage of the new hardware?

 

I would assume (I know) that most of the new IP's are targeting launch window (generally the time people launch new IP's) and between the specs, the full BC and all the companies MS has been gobbling up I was already on the tipping point! I can probably safely wait until PSVR2 comes out before I get a PS5 (I actually got my PSVR before my PS4 because I pre-ordered it and a PS4 Pro at the same time!) unless it launches with Horizon Zero Dawn 2 and I'm in a really good place financially at the time. Also I'm generally not a graphics whore and really like unique art direction more than anything else.

[Duderino]

6 hours ago, Keyser_Soze said:

But knowing they were going to do a bunch of these, I really had no issue with what they showed.

 

I mean I'll eat my words if it happens but the notion of something looking "next gen" isn't really a thing these days. Games are looking good with diminishing returns on visuals. I thought the most next gen thing about it is all the high framerate stuff, I'll take that over purdy.

 

I do suspect many more games will target 60 FPS this gen, but this showcase was not exactly the best demonstration of the Series X's performance capabilities either.

 

One other reason live gameplay demos on the actual hardware would have been much appreciated.

[JPDunks4]

3 hours ago, crispy4000 said:

That’s surprising since most of these games weren’t confirmed for this year, or even launch window.
 

For those that are, we still have no clue how current gen versions will compare.  What extra effort is being put in to take advantage of the new hardware?

 

Not all those games will be on current gen hardware.

[JPDunks4]

The issue with the show really was the fact it was marketed as a showcase for Series X.  If you watched that and they told you it was all being done on an Xbox One X, no one would bat an eye.  If you are trying to sell people on a new console, and everything they are seeing looks no different than what they can currently play on their current console, it's not a great showing.  If this was a 2nd or 3rd show after the Console's abilities were shown off a bit, and this was shown to highlight the launch lineup and games that'll be available in the first 6 months or so, then it'd have been great.

 

It's not to say the games looked bad, but just a quick sizzle reel of trailers with no in depth breakdown of what the Series X version does better than the old hardware, is what lost it, along with the lack of real gameplay.

 

I think if they showed a trailer for one of the games, and then did quick interview with the developer, saying, on the Xbox One X it'll be 60fps, on the series X there will be a 120fps option, ray tracing, ect. it'd have gone over a little better. 

 

But at the same time, they are trying to execute all this while people are WFH duing a pandemic, so can't get too upset.

[Commissar SFLUFAN]

For a plurality -- if not an outright majority -- of "AAA" developers, 60 FPS is simply not a high priority in comparison to achieving OMGWTFBBQ graphical fidelity and a solid 30 FPS.

 

"Best.  Looking. Game. EVER!" is the bragging right you want to slap on the advertising campaign, not "Smooth As Silk 60 FPS".

[crispy4000]

2 hours ago, DPCyric said:

 

I would assume (I know) that most of the new IP's are targeting launch window (generally the time people launch new IP's) and between the specs, the full BC and all the companies MS has been gobbling up I was already on the tipping point! I can probably safely wait until PSVR2 comes out before I get a PS5 (I actually got my PSVR before my PS4 because I pre-ordered it and a PS4 Pro at the same time!) unless it launches with Horizon Zero Dawn 2 and I'm in a really good place financially at the time. Also I'm generally not a graphics whore and really like unique art direction more than anything else.

Makes a little more sense if you were already leaning heavily towards buying it at launch.

 

I'm definitely not as confident as you in thinking we'll see a huge amount of new IPs in the launch window.  Not with COVID.  I think that's why so few of these games promised 2020 releases.  I have a lot more confidence in Assassin's Creed and Madden sticking the landing in the current environment.  And console launches have started to trend away from new IP in general from AAA publishers.

As for art direction... I'm not really seeing why that's a specific selling point for a new console when, from what we know, the current gen versions may very well preserve the look.   At a different resolution/framerate/aliasing.