OT: Video Game Talk (oh, also the Week before the All-Star Break Pre-Game Talk "archive")

[The Merchant]

Ended up grabbing the Halo-themed Series X when it came out to play Infinite and had a blast with it, but after buddies fell off of the multiplayer it's just been collecting dust for the most part. Tried out GamePass and it's true what people say about it being the best deal in gaming, but even then it can only get you so far without legitimate AAA games. I have a Switch and gaming laptop too, but I play my PS5 the most by far. They're just king of exclusives and it hasn't been close for many years now. Kinda crazy just how badly MS has fumbled the bag since the 360 era.

 

[UncleRisto]

I'm in between contracts the next couple of weeks, mostly just chilling, and I still won't play my PS5.

But I just got Hue Play bars behind my TV, so the set-up for games and movies would be pretty neat.

 

[TruePowerSlave]

Ended up grabbing the Halo-themed Series X when it came out to play Infinite and had a blast with it, but after buddies fell off of the multiplayer it's just been collecting dust for the most part. Tried out GamePass and it's true what people say about it being the best deal in gaming, but even then it can only get you so far without legitimate AAA games. I have a Switch and gaming laptop too, but I play my PS5 the most by far. They're just king of exclusives and it hasn't been close for many years now. Kinda crazy just how badly MS has fumbled the bag since the 360 era.

It really is amazing just how piss poor the Xbox exclusives have been for a decade. Make a top 20 list of the best exclusive content and it will be one sad list.

The original Xbox and especially the 360 were great, followed by a complete faceplant.

 

[UncleRisto]

I'm in between contracts the next couple of weeks, mostly just chilling, and I still won't play my PS5.

But I just got Hue Play bars behind my TV, so the set-up for games and movies would be pretty neat.

Maybe I'll make a franchise mode (Dynasty Mode) with the Islanders...

 

[TruePowerSlave]

Maybe one day we will get a good NHL game. Until then best not to reward EA for their annual crap.

 

[The Merchant]

It really is amazing just how piss poor the Xbox exclusives have been for a decade. Make a top 20 list of the best exclusive content and it will be one sad list.

The original Xbox and especially the 360 were great, followed by a complete faceplant.

The 360 era taught them that some of the best exclusives can be bought via third-parties and that they didn't need to put in the required leg work to establish any world class first-party studios. The only franchises they ever really produced were Halo and Gears and we all know what happens to franchises that are run into the ground, regardless of how good they were at the start. Sony invested heavily into first-parties early in and have reaped the rewards almost year-in and year-out while MS keeps playing catch-up. I mean they got so desperate that they felt the need to make the largest acquisition in gaming history because if it.

 

[UncleRisto]

 

[henchman21]

Ended up grabbing the Halo-themed Series X when it came out to play Infinite and had a blast with it, but after buddies fell off of the multiplayer it's just been collecting dust for the most part. Tried out GamePass and it's true what people say about it being the best deal in gaming, but even then it can only get you so far without legitimate AAA games. I have a Switch and gaming laptop too, but I play my PS5 the most by far. They're just king of exclusives and it hasn't been close for many years now. Kinda crazy just how badly MS has fumbled the bag since the 360 era.

In general… I’d say Nintendo has the best exclusives overall. PlayStation definitely beats Xbox as of right now. Xbox is generally the best platform for anything multiplat. That has held for everything but the last generation where Xbox struggled until the One X came out. Xbox’s hardware is just typically so good.

With PS5, they just haven’t released much that are only PS5 that are worth the upgrade from the PS4 pro. Basically you have Returnal, Ratchet and Clank Rifts Apart and Demon Souls. Ghost wire Tokyo will end up on the Xbox soon. That just isn’t enough to justify yet IMO.

 

[forsbergavs32]

Please don’t hijack the thread with this kind of stuff

 

[RockLobster]

While it's true that MS hasn't had much in the way of legitimate exclusive AAA titles, that's changing starting this year. They lost their way for a bit which is why they hadn't had much the last few years, but we're going to enter a period where their acquisitions are going to pay off.

And when that Activision deal goes through, I don't believe for a second they're taking CoD exclusive. That would eliminate a big revenue stream for them. Now, they'll put it on Game Pass, and that's what I think Sony is pissed at. They know what the rest of the gaming industry already knows--that Game Pass and Game Pass Ultimate is the best value in the industry, and if you add CoD as a Day 1 game, it will force Sony to actually develop their service to compete.

 

[henchman21]

The craziest thing about gamepass to me, and won’t last forever, is you can basically get it for free. Sign up for Microsoft Rewards, do the game pass quests, random monthly quests, maybe some searches (all of which may take 5-10 minutes a day) and you’ll easily get points for gamepass. I’m paid up for 3 years and auto renewal each month. And I still end up with ~15 to spend each month. My Xbox gaming is basically free (meaning my data is the cost) after buying the console.

 

[Avs_19]

Please just give me the next Elder Scrolls. That’s all I ask.

I haven’t found a reason to upgrade from my PS4 yet but I will as soon as that game comes out. I’d prefer PS5 but I’d go back to Xbox if they make it an exclusive after buying Bethesda.

I doubt it happens anytime soon though.

 

[RockLobster]

The craziest thing about gamepass to me, and won’t last forever, is you can basically get it for free. Sign up for Microsoft Rewards, do the game pass quests, random monthly quests, maybe some searches (all of which may take 5-10 minutes a day) and you’ll easily get points for gamepass. I’m paid up for 3 years and auto renewal each month. And I still end up with ~15 to spend each month. My Xbox gaming is basically free (meaning my data is the cost) after buying the console.

You can also buy and load up to 3 years worth of Xbox Live Gold on to your account ($50 per year, so $150 total) and then sign up for Game Pass Ultimate ($1 if you're a FIRST TIME user / $15 for returning) and your 3 years of XBL Gold converts to 3 years of Game Pass Ultimate, and you don't have to pay for Game Pass Ultimate for 3 years

 

[The Merchant]

In general… I’d say Nintendo has the best exclusives overall. PlayStation definitely beats Xbox as of right now. Xbox is generally the best platform for anything multiplat. That has held for everything but the last generation where Xbox struggled until the One X came out. Xbox’s hardware is just typically so good.

With PS5, they just haven’t released much that are only PS5 that are worth the upgrade from the PS4 pro. Basically you have Returnal, Ratchet and Clank Rifts Apart and Demon Souls. Ghost wire Tokyo will end up on the Xbox soon. That just isn’t enough to justify yet IMO.

The Nintendo seal of quality is most definitely a thing, but their heavy hitters are far too few and far between to put them on a higher pedestal than PlayStation. I love me some Breath of the Wild as much as the next guy, but aside from Odyssey there really hasn't been anything close to that caliber since...and that is a huge disappointment for a console that launched all the way back in 2017.

As for third parties being better on Xbox I suppose it's preferential in terms of controller choice and which games actually take advantage of the minor hardware advantage it has over PS5, but at the same time XSX lags noticeably behind PS5's SSD. That was a fantastic decision on their part. I personally preferred the 360 controller over PS3's and now I prefer PS5's over Xbox's. It's as close to perfect as you're going to get if you don't mind parallel joysticks, minus the abysmal battery life imo. The 3D vibration feature was also executed extremely well.

And while it's true there aren't many games exclusive to PS5, the few that are have been a great showcase. Not only that, but the extra hardware power to execute flawless visuals at 60FPS with virtually no load times is worth it in and of itself for games with upgrades like Horizon and Ragnarok. It's been more than enough to justify my purchase at launch, but that's just me.

 

[Northern Avs Fan]

 

[henchman21]

You can also buy and load up to 3 years worth of Xbox Live Gold on to your account ($50 per year, so $150 total) and then sign up for Game Pass Ultimate ($1 if you're a FIRST TIME user / $15 for returning) and your 3 years of XBL Gold converts to 3 years of Game Pass Ultimate, and you don't have to pay for Game Pass Ultimate for 3 years

I did that initially, but the rewards would have been a cheaper option in hindsight.... still cheap as hell for the content.

The Nintendo seal of quality is most definitely a thing, but their heavy hitters are far too few and far between to put them on a higher pedestal than PlayStation. I love me some Breath of the Wild as much as the next guy, but aside from Odyssey there really hasn't been anything close to that caliber since...and that is a huge disappointment for a console that launched all the way back in 2017.

As for third parties being better on Xbox I suppose it's preferential in terms of controller choice and which games actually take advantage of the minor hardware advantage it has over PS5, but at the same time XSX lags noticeably behind PS5's SSD. That was a fantastic decision on their part. I personally preferred the 360 controller over PS3's and now I prefer PS5's over Xbox's. It's as close to perfect as you're going to get if you don't mind parallel joysticks, minus the abysmal battery life imo. The 3D vibration feature was also executed extremely well.

And while it's true there aren't many games exclusive to PS5, the few that are have been a great showcase. Not only that, but the extra hardware power to execute flawless visuals at 60FPS with virtually no load times is worth it in and of itself for games with upgrades like Horizon and Ragnarok. It's been more than enough to justify my purchase at launch, but that's just me.

Oh I completely disagree on the heavy hitters... Nintendo puts out ~2 heavy hitters a year which is typically more than the other companies. You're forgetting about Smash, Mario Kart, Animal Crossing, Splatoon, Pokemon (not my thing, but people love it), Metroid, and Kirby. Nothing is going to touch BotW (except maybe Tears of the Kingdom), but they release a ton of great content consistently. They just don't do a bunch of mature content... basically Bayonetta there.

The SSD advantage isn't nearly as much as a the feature and power advantage the XSX has, but to each their own there. Both play games at high resolutions with mostly acceptable framerates.

Oh the games are clearly better on PS5 vs PS4, but just nothing that is forcing the upgrade (for me) at the moment. To me, this generation as a whole has started off very poorly (I wouldn't have an XSX unless I impulse bought it to have decent performance on Cyberpunk). Basically shit for content the first two years that makes anything worthwhile, and the shortages have forced developers to make a ton of cross gen content. That looks to change in 23, but we heard that song and dance in 22 as well... so we will see.

 

[TruePowerSlave]

Multiplats are more or less the same on both consoles, they are horrendous on Switch though as it's way below a PS4 in specs.

The dual sense controller is the difference for me. From now on if others don't copy the same features to their new controllers they are doing it wrong. However, the d-pad is clearly better on the xbox and left stick is much nicer when its higher.

 

[amigo]

NHL 2004 rebuilt is still my no.1 choice. Rosters, graphics is all fine except you can only play with 30 teams but hey who need Arizona and or Columbus anyway.

 

[Soedy]

NHL 2004 rebuilt is still my no.1 choice. Rosters, graphics is all fine except you can only play with 30 teams but hey who need Arizona and or Columbus anyway.

It's a shame I just can not get it to run on Windows 11.

 

[cccoltsicehockey]

I didn't want to fork over money for next-gen consoles when they came out. I had been playing on Stadia since it came out. Since they shut it down two weeks ago I have not figured out what my next move is at this point.

 

[The Moops]

NHL 2004 rebuilt is still my no.1 choice. Rosters, graphics is all fine except you can only play with 30 teams but hey who need Arizona and or Columbus anyway.

I played that years ago, but went back to EA NHL because of the skill stick. This was back in the 360 days though.

 

[henchman21]

Multiplats are more or less the same on both consoles, they are horrendous on Switch though as it's way below a PS4 in specs.

The dual sense controller is the difference for me. From now on if others don't copy the same features to their new controllers they are doing it wrong. However, the d-pad is clearly better on the xbox and left stick is much nicer when its higher.

Docked mode for multiplats on the Switch are pretty terrible... but picking up and playing Doom Eternal on the go is a crap ton of fun. On the tiny ass screen you don't care that it isn't running 4k 60fps.

I've played with the new dual sense and really it just seems gimmicky to me. Kinda like the Switch's HD rumble and separated joycons. Neat in practice and for the few games that take advantage of it... but won't be widely accepted. Overall I prefer the offset stick layout and the Xbox Elite controller is flat out the best controller available. But a controller won't make up my mind either way on a system.

I think the best part of the PS5 is how they incorporated storage expansion. With games taking up so much room today, you don't have a transfer as much and the storage is much more affordable.

 

[Avsboy]

Next gen games are on slow drip partly because game development has become an expensive endeavor handled by a few companies.

To me, here are the advantages of the two next gen consoles:
PS5 - controller is more advanced, currently more exclusives, SSD
XSX - controller is more ergonomic, upcoming deluge of games from new first party developers, more horsepower, the console itself looks far more aesthetically pleasing than the PS5 large inverted Oreo

To me XSX has the clear advantage.

 

[TruePowerSlave]

The tech is outstanding on both next gen consoles. Now only if AAA games would be better and not aimed for casuals. Long gone is the PC golden age of the early 2000's when nearly every month there was a new absolute banger. It's quite telling that there are a ridiculous amount of remakes now.

Of course the landscape has completely changed. Game development has become very expensive and time consuming. If you release a triple A game aimed exclusively at hardcore gamers there is a risk it will not sell as much.

 

[The Merchant]

I did that initially, but the rewards would have been a cheaper option in hindsight.... still cheap as hell for the content.



Oh I completely disagree on the heavy hitters... Nintendo puts out ~2 heavy hitters a year which is typically more than the other companies. You're forgetting about Smash, Mario Kart, Animal Crossing, Splatoon, Pokemon (not my thing, but people love it), Metroid, and Kirby. Nothing is going to touch BotW (except maybe Tears of the Kingdom), but they release a ton of great content consistently. They just don't do a bunch of mature content... basically Bayonetta there.

The SSD advantage isn't nearly as much as a the feature and power advantage the XSX has, but to each their own there. Both play games at high resolutions with mostly acceptable framerates.

Oh the games are clearly better on PS5 vs PS4, but just nothing that is forcing the upgrade (for me) at the moment. To me, this generation as a whole has started off very poorly (I wouldn't have an XSX unless I impulse bought it to have decent performance on Cyberpunk). Basically shit for content the first two years that makes anything worthwhile, and the shortages have forced developers to make a ton of cross gen content. That looks to change in 23, but we heard that song and dance in 22 as well... so we will see.

Smash I'll give you for sure, but MK was essentially a straight port and while the rest are varying levels of good-to-great, they're lower on the totem pole in terms of what you'd expect from AAA. I mean it took forever to release Bayo and Metroid Prime 4's first and last appearance was 5 years ago now, which is just crazy for a flagship franchise (I know Dread came out which was awesome, but it felt like something smaller scale just to satiate the wait). I think the Switch has sort of blossomed into an indie haven, which is great. There needs to be a place like that in the mainstream. I just wish they had the same level of consistency as the PS 1st party studios in terms of AAA. But hey, that's not really their business model anymore and that's ok.

There's a great website called Digital Foundry that does an impeccable job at analyzing all of the technical aspects and performance of certain games on certain hardware. I usually go there to decide which version to pick and it almost always ends up on the side of the PS5 for me, with minimal resolution and FPS differences. The SSD really is a gamechanger if the developer decides to take advantage of it. But yeah, again, personal preference.

And I mean different people prefer different games obviously, but the PS5 had what you could easily argue as the best launch lineup in their history. There were games in there that you usually wouldn't expect for at least a year or two into a console's life cycle and it's only gotten better from there. I just find it hard to believe anyone could be disappointed in the offerings of this gen so far. Lots of cross-gen to deal with still, but why wouldn't you want to play the best versions of those games anyway?