Topic: Official Push Square Xbox Thread

@BAMozzy The XBX screenshot looks like a massive improvement over the XB1 S. There shouldn't be that much difference when comparing graphics between XBX and PC now when Digital Foundry and other YouTube videos compare games between the two systems.

@MaccaMUFC It certainly looks great!! I wish I could find the high res version of the top image that was shown during the Xbox Daily show as that was much clearer when looking at the comparison shots around the edge. Unfortunately, all I can find is a screen capture so when you look at things like the 4k Textures, 4k Resolution and Glossy reflections, it was much clearer. The bottom image at least shows a high res version to show how 'different' the quality of these two images are and a better indication of what the XBX version should look like.

DF no doubt will have fun looking at the versions. I wouldn't be surprised though if they split things up into 2 - the HD (Base consoles) versions compared with a 1080p 'ultra' PC version and a 4k comparison with the Pro, XBX and PC rather than all 5 in one. With 'exclusives' we will probably see the Win10 family compared together but I don't know they will do all 5 together. I notice that often they do a 1080p view and a Pro vs PC view - Tekken was an exception because all versions are 'HD' inc the Pro.

change of topic but does anyone know what's going on with Hololens, paired with the XBX that could be AMAZING but i haven't heard anything since it's E3 reveal in 2015

@FullbringIchigo As far as I know, its still in devkit status...

Have you seen this?

Personally I can't see AR being anywhere near as useful in gaming as VR - especially not with a small window...

Games with Gold for July...

Hmmmm, seems a bit of a bum month. I have Kane and Lynch on disc so I'll get rid of that but the two Xbox One titles don't really grab my attention.

@crippyd I wasn't overly impressed by this months - especially the XB1 games. I have the Lego game - its OK and may add K&L2 to my download list but won't bother with the other 2 games.

well i'll only download Kane and Lynch 2 if i want to play a short bland looking game that makes you throw up

i already have Lego Pirates on PS3 so i don't need that and i have played the other 2 and didn't like them so nothing for me this month

I tried Kane and Lynch 2 when it first came.out, but I didn't enjoy it anywhere as much as the first one. Will probably skip this month.

The Ultimate Game Sale Summer 2017 started today on the XBL marketplace. Pretty much the same stuff that PSN is offering now and Xbox exclusives but a pretty good sale overall especially if you don't have a PS4. Over 300 games are listed.

https://majornelson.com/2017/06/29/ultimate-game-sale-2017/

@Tasuki I bought the Witcher 3 DLC for £10 (50% off) ready for the 4k patch on the XBX. I already beat the DLC on the PS4 as I bought the GotY edition so this will give me a reason to play it again on Xbox.

Not a lot else grabbed me - well not that I don't already have or can get cheaper physically...

@KratosMD WOW that's big, i was thinking of finally picking that up but i don't think i have the room

@KratosMD I wonder if that's the update to add 4k Assets in readiness for the Xbox X launch? MS, or morre accurately, 343, have confirmed this will be getting an update to native 4k with 4k Assets...

@KratosMD I just finished Gears last week and I thoroughly enjoyed it too. Halo is my top series and I enjoyed the campaign but I think the mp is not as good as the 360 games, I find the maps are too big so there is too much travel to get back in the fight when you die.

@KratosMD I really haven't had any inclination to play Halo 5 - not since 343 have really messed with what a Halo game should be. As a Gears fan, not only do I have the Gears 4 custom XB1s, the Ltd Edition Gears 4 Elite controller I also have the Gears 3 custom XB360 controller too, I was disappointed by Gears 4 - not to the same degree I have been disappointed by 343's Halo - but I really wasn't impressed by the Campaign at all. In places it felt 'lazy', using the 'Horde' mode not once but twice during the campaign. The new characters missed the mark - not like Dom and Marcus, and the robot enemies were pathetic too. Mechanically it was a Gears game but after the ending, I was left with an 'is that it' feeling and the last mission was weak.

Its a shame, in my mind at least, that MS have built studio's to churn out nothing but Halo and Gears games. I really do think these studio's missed 'something' that made the Bungie Halo games and Epic Gears games 'special' and it wasn't 'just' the MP - something I feel 343 in particular have focused on at the expense of the campaigns. The Coalition at least seemed to try and deliver that 'campaign' that made Gears what it was but just missed the mark. I would have preferred it if MS set up studio's with more 'freedom' to make what they wanted - similar to Naughty Dog or Guerrilla Games - both of which were becoming synonymous with Uncharted and Killzone but were able to make Last of Us and Horizon:ZD. Sucker-Punch are expected to be working on something new instead of another Infamous. I think that makes it more exciting - not knowing what's coming next. It also gives developers more freedom to take a break, to explore new ideas that may help prevent franchises becoming Stale. Whilst we may be on the 5th Halo, its not like we didn't get 2 spin offs - ODST and Reach, Gears is the 5th one as we also had Judgement. Forza 7 is coming next and no doubt next year will be Horizon 4....

For me, the first Xbox was Halo, the 360 was Gears but I am still waiting for the Xbox One to have its 'defining' and 'memorable' new Exclusive.

@KratosMD Yeah, it was Warzone. I was playing Firefight and Slayer and a couple of other modes.
@BAMozzy I agree that the One hasn't got a truly standout franchise yet but there have been some absolutely fantastic games on it and I am certainly not disappointed with my console choice. Also I'm hovering over the pre order button for the X as soon as it goes live!

@crippyd I am almost certainly going to be pre-ordering the 'X' as soon as it is possible to do so. @crippyd I am not saying the XB1 era hasn't had 'great' exclusive games, its just that they have tended to be from established franchises and not 'new' era defining games. Sunset Overdrive and Titanfall were potentials but both 3rd Party developed and Titanfall 2 wasn't 'exclusive'. Games like ReCore and Quantum Break missed the mark too in terms of being 'that' game that really sold the Xbox One. Even the upcoming 'X' doesn't have a 'unique' game that could sell it - not like the Pro with Horizon: Zero Dawn and the promise of games like Days Gone, Spider-Man. God of War and Last of Us 2 to look forward to playing in '4k HDR'.

The X has Forza 7, which won't be that different in a lot of ways to its 'predecessors' and Crackdown 3, game that really doesn't look to be pushing the 'X' visually. Its also a game that had a disappointing sequel and 10yrs since the first game - which also had a bit of a 'niche following' so its not got the pulling power.

To me, it looks like MS are positioning the X more as a place to play the biggest 3rd Party multi-platform releases rather than selling us the console on what 'unique' experiences it may offer over the competition. I know what the benefits of 4k Assets can bring with the increase in Resolution but others may not and thing the 'Pro' is the equivalent to the XB1 was with the PS4 - a slightly less powerful but ultimately similar device. As such, that £100 difference is a hard sell - especially as the cheaper Pro also has the 'best' (and/or more numerous) exclusives. People may think that they can save £100 and just buy the Pro for their 4k gaming and still play the big multi-platform games at a 'similar' resolution.

Of course I know that the 'X' blows the Pro out of water in terms of Specs. I know that if developers utilise it properly, the gulf between the Pro and 'X' will be far more than the XB1 to PS4. The PS4 had sightly faster RAM but still the same quantity, the CPU of the XB1 was nearly 10% faster and the GPU of the PS4 was only 30% more powerful. The X is a whole PS4 more powerful than the Pro in its GPU. Not only does it have 64% more RAM allocated to gaming, that RAM is also 50% faster than the Pro too. CPU may seem like its still a little bit faster BUT its also customised and unlike the Pro, aspects like Audio processing for example is handled else where. Draw instructions are significantly reduced - the most intensive workload a CPU has to handle meaning that the CPU has far less workload and is still 'faster' than the Pro's too. Its just a shame that MS doesn't have a 'killer' game that really pushes the 'X' and makes those with PS4's seriously consider the 'X' as their 'upgrade' of choice - maybe just keep the PS4 for exclusives. I really think an ambitious game like Scalebound could have been that game. Drop that stupid 'co-op' in dungeon, focus more on the big Open World fantasy world and single player game where you and your dragon 'evolve' and bond. The initial game-play review where Drew and the Dragon were fighting that 'army' and beast really had some Rodney Matthews inspired look to it and was really looking forward to this. Much more than yet another Halo (inc Wars), Forza (Motorsport mostly), Dead Rising, ReCore, Crackdown, sea of thieves, etc etc.

Talking of SoT, I really can't see that selling the X either - especially not after seeing Skull N Bones and visuals that was targeting.

I will still buy the 'X' but I really can't see me buying many, nay any of the upcoming Exclusives - unless MS has a big surprise announcement for Gamescom due out in the upcoming year. Seems I will be buying it for Multi-platform releases and keeping my Pro for numerous and exciting exclusives.

@BAMozzy again, I agree with you on the games as I'm not interested in online only games like SoT but I'm still happy to have Xbox as my gaming choice even though I'm missing out on the PS exclusives. I just don't have the time or money to have two consoles, plus my marriage couldn't take it. The up coming PS games look really cool, especially Spider-Man but again I'm happy I chose Xbox and I don't see that changing. I'm looking forward to the new Mordor game and Forza and when it's announced, the new Halo. I've not played ReCore or Quantum Break although they both look like really cool games.

@crippyd Don't get me wrong, I still enjoy my Xbox gaming too. Like I said earlier, I have the Gears 4 2TB Xbox One S (as well as the original Xbox) and will be getting the 'X' (hopefully day 1 but reliant on delivery services) and own a Day 1 Elite controller and the Limited Gears 4 Elite too. Its not like I have spent all that money just to gather dust . My 'Destiny' year 1-3 is far more hours spent on Xbox than PS4 and waiting for the 'X' now to play the Witcher 3 DLC in 4k. I think I have about the same number of games on both systems - maybe a few more on Xbox, not including all the GwG/IGC games either.

Personally I like owning both. I couldn't stand not playing the PS4 exclusives as they have been excellent and during the previous 2 generations, MS seemed to be able to keep pace with great exclusives - as I am not a JRPG fan it seemed Xbox had just as many exclusives I wanted. Halo and Gears were both great, Forza was starting to get stale by the 4th but Horizon brought in the arcade fun. We also had Crackdown before 2 let it down and of course Fable as well as the 3rd Party deals with games like CoD and Fifa (not that I played Fifa). Now it seems like MS are relying on games that don't feel right anymore, grown stale or quite average and the only 'big' games are multi-platform or on Sony's console. Yes Halo is still there and its MP might be 'good' but with CoD, Battlefront, Battlefield etc there are a lot of FPS games that do it better and have better campaigns too (in some cases), Forza has competition from Project Cars as well as numerous other racers and it feels like if you've got one Motorsport, you've basically got them all. I know these are 'ok' games but not exactly pushing boundaries here. Nothing that in a few years time will look back and remember the XB1 generation for.

When you look at defining games of an Era, the Xbox had Halo, Jade Empire, Fable, Project Gotham - even Forza, XB360 had Gears, Forza Horizon, Crackdown, Alan Wake, Dead Rising (as well as Mass Effect, Bioshock, etc) and this generation has yet more of Forza (3 now +2 Horizon's), 2 Halo games and a budget 1, 2 Dead Rising Games, Gears 4 and a handful of other games that people often forget existed - like Ryse, Sunset Overdrive, Quantum Break... Not a Lot that will be remembered or stand up. I think this gen will be remembered more for its 'mistakes', the very difficult 3rd - that maybe with enough time could turn it around - PS3 managed to do so eventually. Right now though it appears that MS are relying purely on performance to sell the 'X' rather than adding in unique and amazing software to support it - much like Halo did for the Original console and then followed that with a good library of exclusives to keep gamers coming...