Topic: Official Push Square Xbox Thread

In Ninja Theory's own words on why they accepted MS's deal...

Its interesting to hear how they funded the 10m it cost to make Hellblade and why they only had a staff of 15-20 working on the game. The fact they had to undertake 3rd party contract work to fund this meant that over 80% of their staff team were engaged in these so that they could fund this game does go some way to explain why the promises that MS gave them would be enticing. It was good to hear though that they were promised creative freedom with the support of the MS infrastructure to create the games they want which bodes well for those of us with access to MS Platforms. At least it seems they won't be given an existing MS IP and told which games to make. Also seems they will be keeping their IP's too regardless of what happens.

@BAMozzy so simply put MS offered them the money and infrastructure they need to make their games

sounds like they made the best choice for them and that fine by me

@FullbringIchigo I agree! If you watch the video, it seems like the deal was the best thing for Ninja Theory and it certainly benefits MS too. It does annoy me though that I see a LOT of comments that seem to suggest NT were more associated with PS - but their first game was exclusive to MS and the only reason Hellblade released on Sony's platform was because of the number of gamers on that system compared to Xbox. The game was totally self funded AND, if you listen, that 10m budget also included publicity too.

I am not saying that its not disappointing for fans of NT and on PS only but to say that Hellblade was part funded and successful because of Sony first is a BIG error.

Whether they remained totally independent or not doesn't affect me anyway as I could always play their games anyway. I do think though that its 'great' for MS to have some 'competitive' studio's in their stable. I can't say that the two studio's (Undead Labs - State of Decay and Compulsion Games - We Happy Few) are particularly exciting - neither have a long history of quality games. It will be interesting to see if they expand or stick to those small, indie type, games. Playground Games is a biggie - although again its not that 'exciting' as they have only made Xbox games anyway. We did hear though that they were expanding and looking at making other games and looking at releasing on other platforms too so its perhaps a bigger coup than it feels. In a lot of ways though its like Sucker-Punch signing for Sony after only making Sony games for years and for a lot of people, thy already thought Playground were signed to MS. One of the most interesting though I think is the Initiative - the new studio that was created with the ex-Crystal Dynamics Studio Head. This is obviously a completely new studio with no track record to speak of but Darrell has worked at Rockstar as a Lead Artist as well as Director of Art on Tomb Raider games from 2006-2008 before becoming the Head of Studio at Crystal Dynamics for Tomb Raider (2013) as well as the trilogy and Guardian of Light games that also released. After that, he became Head of Product Development and Studio for Square Enix with games like Hitman, Just Cause 3, Rise of the Tomb Raider etc on his CV. He also spent time at Activision recently as Senior VP, Head of Development with the CoD 2016/17 releases, Destiny 2 and Crash Bandicoot games so he himself has a long history in gaming with some of the biggest franchises too.

Its expected/rumoured that Playground Games are working on Fable as their 'open-world' title that MS alluded to at E3. I hope though that it was their choice to make it rather than being asked or even worse, told to make it. I hope that they had the freedom to pick existing franchises OR create a new IP and they opted to make a new Fable because it inspired them and had some great ideas for taking it forward. As much as I like some of the franchises that MS own, I think it could backfire by making a game in one of these. Even if they wanted to do it, not told or asked to do it, you know some will think MS pushed them into it and we know how difficult it will be for them to appease the fans, innovate yet keep it the same etc and keep bringing up 343, the Coalition or Rare as examples too. At least if they start with a new IP, there isn't the weight of expectation. I enjoyed Gears 4 - ok its not the 'best' in the franchise in some ways and a lot think they played it too safe - but if they hadn't, then you know a LOT would be saying its not Gears any more - like they say about Halo - although 343 do look to be taking inspiration from Combat Evolved, the impact that had and vibe of the first - going back to the roots now...

Anyway, point is, I think they ought to be looking at making their 'own' new IP's - at least first.

Sensible World of Soccer has a HD remaster on Xbox?! Gotta say, I'm pretty jel.

https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2018-06-26-sensible-world-...

So after being disappointed by The Crew 2, I was thinking of picking up Forza 3 for my racing fix. I am wondering though to my understanding the Horizon series is more of an arcade racer then a sim? And would it matter if I buy it now or should I just wait for Forza Horizon 4??

@Tasuki Horizon is more an arcade racer and 3 is the best of them so far. If you want a sim go for Forza 7. I would think that Horizon 4 will refine the game play further but it depends on how much you want to spend on the game, as obviously 3 has been out a long time so will be much cheaper, and how soon you want to play.

@Tasuki The Horizon games are pretty much more open world games that you just happen to be in a car all the time. Arcade racing is perhaps a bit off too as they have the Forza sim and customisation built in but then again, you wouldn't get away with driving a lot of these cars through fields etc. Of course 'racing' forms a part of the overall experience, but then you also have things like jumping, drifting, exploring etc too. There are 'set' races and some special events that pit you against Aeroplanes, boats etc and you can challenge 'drivatars' anytime in a point to point race too. There are 'barn finds' which are barns with 'historic' cars in that you can find - a bit like collectibles that become available as you progress,

The 'story' is that you are trying to build up a 'festival' (the Horizon festival) around 'cars' and the more you 'win', the more 'fans' you attract and the bigger the festival becomes which opens up more events and sites too. Its not fixed - in that you have to do all the events to open up the next set or site or have to do them in order. In some ways its a bit like Burnout Paradise but without the smashes and the burnout boosts. You are not limited to staying on Roads either so if you want to drive a Ferrari off-road and use these to make a massive jump, that's up to you - so in that respect its not 'realistic'.

Personally I prefer the Horizon series to the Motorsport series as I get bored of just driving round tracks that seem to end up looking very similar, the only goal being to beat the other drivers to the finish line. I know Horizon has 'races' but you can also spend time just driving around and having 'fun'.

3 is certainly a great game - probably the best in the series so far. 4 is always online so the open world will be occupied by 'real' drivers - not Drivatars which are AI based on your friends driving. It will have seasons that change weekly so the world will change too rather than be 'static' like it is in 3. I expect that it will be 'better' but whether its radically better or not, I don't know. I don't expect too much will have changed in the concept and what you can do.

@crippyd @BAMozzy Thanks for the replies guys. Think I will look into it as it does sound more up my alley then Motorsport. @BAMozzy I agree with ya as I too get bored just going around a race track over and over.

@Tasuki I know a lot of people say its just another Forza game and MS only have say 3 games (Forza, Halo and Gears) but the two are more like GT and Burnout rather than being the 'same' game. Maybe they are not as different as Halo(FPS) and Halo Wars (RTS) but if you want the more 'Sim' based racing that's equivalent to GT, Project Cars etc, then go for Motorsport but if you like more 'Arcade' style with much more variety than just racing a group of cars around a race track over and over and over again, then Horizon is definitely the route (no pun intended) to go.

They do have some 'special' events. In the first (which is BC and 4k now on X) for example, you have Mustang vs Mustang - except its you in a Mustang car racing against an AI in a Mustang Aeroplane. Like Burnout Paradise, there are signs to crash through as well so you can literally spend time just driving around trying to find all of these. Like I said, the object is to do events, normal races, 1v1's, drifting, jumps, Speed traps etc to win fans so you can expand your Horizon festival. Its not 'structured' in that you have to events in an order and some sites are more 'city' based where as another may be more off-road based but as I said, its more around 'fun' than Sim based and more of an open world game with 'driving' as its mechanic too. Australia, the setting of 3, looks stunning and like all Forza games performs at a locked frame rate - Horizon being 30fps though - not that it really matters as its so smooth anyway.

Games with Gold for July announced...

July's 2018 Games with Gold lineup for Xbox One includes: Assault Android Cactus and Death Squared. For Xbox 360 owners (and through Xbox One backward compatibility), July kicks off with Virtua Fighter 5 Final Showdown, followed by Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell Conviction.

Quite a poor month in my opinion - with exception of Splinter Cell, none of the others will be added to my collection at all...

@BAMozzy VF5 isn't a bad game.

@BAMozzy Wow, what a stinker July is for us Xbox owners! I totally agree that Splinter Cell is the only decent game (for my tastes) in the roster.

@KALofKRYPTON I can't stand fighting games so 'in my opinion' its a very poor month!!!

@BAMozzy That is definitely up my alley, as.I do enjoy the open world racing more like Burnout Paradise or The Crew. I like to just relax sometimes and cruise around and take in the sights in between events, it helps me at least my getting bored and helps break up the monotony of just doing races over and over. Think I might pick it up this weekend.

I find it kinda funny how Games with Gold started out really strong at the beginning of this gen and had some really good titles while PS4 had Indy after indy. Now it seems to have flipped PS+ is getting a pretty good line up while the last few months Games with Gold have been bad.

Pretty poor month for me. Ah well, never mind.

@Tasuki GwG has dropped off in recent months as far as the XB1 offerings go but you also get XB360 games to play as well - at least these are not 'indy' too like the PS3 offerings. To me it feels like the games have dropped off since Game Pass started adding in the 'new' release exclusives, as if its suffering from that...

@Tasuki you can try horizon series through gamepass and see if you like it. Personally it's the best racer this gen, on all platforms and that's the exclusive worth owning xbox one in my opinion. Tons of fun, top notch graphics, so many variety in everything, from cars, through tracks to activities. Driving part has really good balance between arcade and simulation. You just can't go wrong with forza horizon if you like arcade driving games. If you can find forza horizon 3 cheap or affordable, go for it. If you are buying new then you could wait for fh4, but if money isn't problem I would buy fh3 now and then fh4 when it releases. Forza horizon series keeps it value really good, and doesn't drop in price for a really long time.

After all, both games will have enough differences that you can just buy both and enjoy them for a long time.

@NecuVise I don't think the Forza Horizon series is available through game pass at least here in NA at least I didn't see it when I checked.

They announced at E3 or after it that they will add fh3 and all subsequent releases to gamepass, including upcoming fh4. Maybe they will do it it July? I'll try to find you some info on that.

Edit : it seems like they announced that they will add fh4 when it releases but no news on fh3, so sorry for misinformation, my mistake.

Anyway, both have different setting so it's worth owning both and if you buy fh3 now you can wait till black Friday for fh4.