Thanks for all the support everyone!!

@barry_the_xalanyn

9 ай бұрын

UwU? Rand al Weeb

Rand telling Jez not to ban people was unintentionally hilarious and the most awkward exchange I've ever heard on this show in 6 years of listening. Holy cow 😅

@Str1derNZ

9 ай бұрын

I was actually really impressed by how they both handled that.. Jez was obviously pissed off about the grief he was getting. He was able to move past it very quickly. Well done team

@deadplanet2397

9 ай бұрын

@@Str1derNZ I heard it, but didn't have my eyes on the chat at that moment. What were people even saying to him?

@Ciki92

9 ай бұрын

Banning was too extreme just bc some didn't think series s was not holding anything back

@Str1derNZ

9 ай бұрын

@@deadplanet2397 I didn't get to read the chat either.. But ths anger was obvious in his voice. I was impressed how he just put it behind him and carried on.

@Str1derNZ

9 ай бұрын

@@Ciki92 of course it was. That's what can happen when you piss people off. Sometimes we over react.

Timestamps: Intro 6:03 Jez breathes fire and Patreon shout outs 7:11 What's everyone playing? 16:50 Rand-al-bear 19:20 Xbox Series X Prop? Console sales concern 43:15 BG3 devs and Series S concerns - Rand v Jez 1:11:00 Final Fantasy XIV on Xbox 1:28:55 Jez optimistic about blizzard 1:48:50 EU's relationship with Xbox 1:51:45 Xbox

My problem with digital content, is that companies like Ubisoft can say your account has been inactive too long and delete all your games.

Awesome show boys, just started the episode looking forward to watching this before work

Bloom is my personal favorite

I have been a listener to the podcast for a few years now and that has to be one of the most painful episodes ever.

Thank you for the awesome timestamps!!!

The Rewards program has been good for a while in Norway, it’s actually like you said the support for Xbox in the few retail game stores left are awful, Xbox barley have any shelf space compared to Nintendo and PlayStation.

Does anyone have a timestamp for the SEGA acquisition talk?

@HelloGhostly

9 ай бұрын

1:55:28 give or take a couple of seconds lol 😂

@iamyevon

9 ай бұрын

@@HelloGhostlymuch appreciated

Anyone know the name of the beginning song?

Jez is such a baby

Baldurs gate runs on a STEAM DECK and you think the series s is holding it back ?

@pebo94

9 ай бұрын

There's no split screen on Steam Deck

@ktdagoat1289

9 ай бұрын

​@@pebo94is their Co op?

@r66112d

9 ай бұрын

@@pebo94 why is the Xbox version different than the pc version

@bairdbaird6878

9 ай бұрын

Lmao, the developer literally said that they have been unable to get split screen working on the Series S. Even with the assistance of Xbox's Advanced Technology Group, they still don't know if it will be done this year.

@ktdagoat1289

9 ай бұрын

@@bairdbaird6878 Doesn't that mean devs lack knowledge and THEY can't figure how to make it work?? From what it seems MOST devs that had Series S problems just seemed to not understand it at all.. Even Tech land said it would be REALLY HARD to get DL2 working at 60fps.. It had 60 2 days after launch after actually looking at it.. Also Tech land is smaller in size than Larian, I understand its not the same type of co op but.. How a smaller team can get frames and co op functioning vs a Larger studio.. I think Larian simply had a budget THOUGHT they'd save and pocket X amount of money.. Probably did it assuming that it would be a simple port down for the X to S version and when they found out it wasn't, didn't want to hire people to bring in the knowledge they lack..

Jez's pessimism is becoming unbearable.

@jakelloyd487

9 ай бұрын

It’s not pessimism it is realism

Remember, when Jez says something regarding exclusivity the opposite almost always happens

Starts @ 6:02

Elder scrolls Oblivion Remake!!! YES!!!❤

There is no way a more powerful PlayStation will come out at the same price as the current one. PlayStation Pro will come out with a price of 600.00 or 700.00 with two or three games. And PlayStation say the extra price is for the two games and claim that console is the same price as the standard PS5. By making you pay for content titles up front.

Good intro beats

Finland mentioned! 🎉

Highly disagree with Jaz on series S holding back BG3 topic. Holding back means u cut down feature or scale of the game, just needing more time with optimization doesnt mean holding back. Also Larian is an AAA studio now with 400+ employees.

@Z3RO_Myth

9 ай бұрын

Fax

@Ipwnu75

9 ай бұрын

The Series S is literally holding back the Xbox version lol.

@Ciki92

9 ай бұрын

@@Ipwnu75 okay there are 2 meaning of holding back, but we console fanboys use holding back means not powerful enough. I agree, timely manner, it is holding back

@jimmythegamer2231

9 ай бұрын

Also, Jez conveniently left out the part about Larian Studios themselves recently saying that they DON'T think that the Series S is holding back gaming. Larian believes that developing for more platforms simply takes more time for studios on a similar size as Larian Larian is big, but they're not THAT big. They're still not what I would personally consider a massive AAA studio up there with the amount of resources and/or staff as a company like Bethesda, Naughty Dog, or Obsidian, for instance.

@Ciki92

9 ай бұрын

@@jimmythegamer2231 well obsidian has 200+ employees, larian themselves said BG3 is an AAA RPG. Thats why its priced at $60

Great show Rand AL Thor Jez

2:50:31 I got the new dash almost a week ago. As Rand says, it's not that different.

I think I might just stop watching, banning people just because they disagree is really lame

Time stamps are back!

Starfield is on busses where I live in Leeds. UK. Its also on a colab with Lucozade where you can win in game items

@1:12:54; time to time, if you've tested your game on XSS, you will be fine. If you only test your game on XSX and PS5, then come back to XSS, you will def need more time. If you only test your game on PS5 then come back to Xbox, you will need more time.

Larian is a huge studio, lol. Not small at all.

Can't wait to watch the hot chip clip. Also today's a sad day cause RIP Paul Reubens aka Pee-Wee Herman! That guy was my childhood 😢

Rand is right. Xbox Revenue has gone up since Phil. Xbox Spending has gone way up as well. Revenue means nothing without operating costs. I cant believe people dont understand this.

Best balanced show around, aside from perhaps from Mr Boomstick perhaps. Keep the great work and the level-headed discussions up.

People talk about the problems of Xbox having two consoles, yet want Xbox to make a handheld, the price would hover around Series X price, yet less power, and niche compared to the S, compare the sales of the three handhelds released combined to the Series S.

Chat split on Microsoft releasing an xbox series x pro right up until the point that a game is released on the PS5 pro that uses that power. I’d love a series x pro and I’ll be getting a ps5 pro when it comes out.

@ohmnesia

9 ай бұрын

Well so far devs aren‘t even using the power of the Series X properly, so what good is a Series X Pro?

@paulbrown1409

9 ай бұрын

@@ohmnesia I like tech 🙂🙂

@ohmnesia

9 ай бұрын

@@paulbrown1409 Me too. Just a shame that developers are doing nothing with it.

This issue of multiple SKUs would be solved if developers just treated Xbox like PC. Give users the ability to play with graphics settings, and ship the game to each console with default performance settings. Maybe too much of a paradigm shift?

Balders gate is coming out in august on PC and September on PS5. If it was a PS console exclusive would there be a narrative that PS are holding back the generation? There is also no release date for MAC OS, are MAC's holding back the generation?

Twice the power for the same price seems unlikely, and would indicate that Sony is more worried about Xbox than they let on, because they would almost certainly be selling it at under cost. The Slim at 399 may be just the core console without the drive packed in.

I wholeheartedly believe it was the old Square CEO who was shafting Xbox. The new CEO seems to actually care about Xbox.

@3:11:47. Yeah, I think MS would want to maintain good relations with the OEMs. When everyone win, I win too. You let people earn their share, they will help you push. MS 1st party HW will always have to be more expensive imo.

Rand, night owl, trouble with your weight, intermittent sleeping... Did you got your tiroid gland check? I've been there, one pill a day and it changed my life.

You said it yourself Jez. Series S isn’t holding back Series X or Larian. Xbox should’ve been there to support that studio with ATG.

Microsoft need to keep first party games on s/x but remove the requirement to release series s versions of their games.

What if Xbox built a Gen 10 Zen 6/RDNA 5 box for November 2025?

The square Enix CEO looked like a character out of Final Fantasy

@glenmcl

9 ай бұрын

You have no idea about Japan, do you?

@paulbrown1409

9 ай бұрын

@@glenmcl in what sense Glen? Culture? Industry? Socio economic situation. Or the fact that I’m MY opinion he reminded of how smartly dressed characters are in FF games and obviously being developed in Japan life imitates art or art imitating life.

Let's quit pretending the argument that "there are too many SKUs to develop for" is legitimate. That's complete bullshit if that's your excuse as a developer to not develop/optimize a game on a platform. Imagine if they had that same mentality in other tech markets. Your job is to develop video games for gaming consoles. Do your job. You know what happens if I don't do my job? Well, the same should happen to you.

Morrowind is the better game and the one most people got into the Elder Scrolls. It was released on the og Xbox and PC only and console gamers have never seen or played anything close to that at the time. More monumental than the subpar Oblivion.

An English mate played with an American yesterday

Bad faith and bad argument from Jez on the Series S. He starts off by saying if the series S was selling well this would be a non issue It shows his points on the series is based in his pessimism hes basically not expecting sales to ever change and hes drawing conclusions from that. When in reality things change ,not to long ago xbox was selling well and ps had stock issues xbox was 200k units behind PS .. By all accounts xbox deserves to be outsold 2:1 there games havent landed...but to expect xbox to keep selling bad when theyve just sorted out stock issues and there biggest game of the gen is about to drop is very unbalanced and comes off as alarmism Its jez dipping in his pessimism bag and King will be proven right again.

You can’t find Starfield controller or headphones. Sold out

You guys are going back and forth but I can see what he's saying it's logistics / time that is holding it back not hardware.

how was jez’s take controversial? it makes complete sense.

@barcster2003

9 ай бұрын

Xbox guys dont like the implication and its unfixable. I think Xbox played a dangerous game because what if Switch successor can hit that mark?

@ohmnesia

9 ай бұрын

Because he worded it very poorly. Same as in his explanation.

You guys are on crack if you think prices are going down for anything. Prices went up already. Best case scenario, they stay the same for a while.

If Microsoft acquires Sega they need to bring back shadow man. That game was creepy.

rand was super salty today, anybody notice ?

@tji7046

9 ай бұрын

Rand?

@cooljoshua4959

9 ай бұрын

You must be confusing Rand with Jez

@SonRevak

9 ай бұрын

Rand was completely chill wdym lol

I missed the poll because I thought your show was on Friday. YES I want a Xbox mid Gen console refresh

The 2 sku Xbox strategy was and is a great idea. But the Series S needed a tad more power.

@ScubaSnacks

9 ай бұрын

The problem is that MS assumed that by putting in hardware-level RAM-saving features like sampler feedback streaming and directstorage that devs would be able to easily port their games from the X to the S, since they would typically only need textures 1/4 of the size. The critical flaw in that assumption is that devs need to actually use the features available, and so far nearly none of them have.

I don't know how I feel about any company other than Nintendo acquiring Sega, but even that would alienate tons of their fanbase. Plus, that means that the games prob wouldn't be on any other consoles or Steam. Plus, I'd like to think that they'd like to stay independent. Plus, they would get more money by not being exclusive, due to their games being available on more things. That's why Sonic and all their other franchises are as sucessful as they are: because they're multi-platform.

The Series S is a weaker machine and this will create issues as Jez rightfully says, this is a simple fact, and while Xbox enforces parity between systems, then Xbox will always be on a back foot - but as a multi-console owner this just means the exclusives on Xbox will be all I will play there and I will play everything elsewhere. Also, we need to see Gamepass sort itself out as the games have been shocking for ages.

@lukesp00k

9 ай бұрын

What's shocking about them?

SILO OUTSOLD

Jez seen all that FF16 promo and still it undersold. such a waste of money lol… you can market a game all day, but if someone just doesn’t care, it makes no difference.

The industry is bias to sie, with that being said none of this is surprising that things are not optimized for Xbox. And continue to say hardware is the issue lol. Xbox will be the series s’s life blood. They will continue to support this console independently, they were aware of all of these things when they decided to go in the direction they did.

Xbox buying all these studios they can run into the ground 😂🤦‍♂️

Jez windows on the ROG isn’t that bad. I enjoy it. Now Steam desktop made me want to commit suicide. That crap is a proper nightmare.

@r66112d

9 ай бұрын

It's not hard to install windows on a steam deck

I feel like we can’t talk about the Series S holding anything back until this generation gets its shit together period. The S is a moot point when PC only and PS5 only games are releasing THIS broken and so poor quality especially compared to last gen and older games. Even if this were an issue I can’t say I’m too sympathetic. Gaming is for gamers. If developers have to do more work to bring games to a greater range of devices at more accessible price points and size points (this is actually a big deal with modern PC rigs, the PS5, and Series X) then that’s great. And for the most part smaller dev teams aren’t the ones putting out (often unnecessarily) larger than life games with massive install sizes and technical restraints often only to release something that massively disappoints the community and doesn’t work because its so poorly optimized. If the issue is Microsoft making difficult demands and then not offering support to devs to achieve those demands than I’m all for calling them out. But it really isn’t. Its some weird scapegoating and company fanaticism trying to make a non-issue into the worst thing the industry has seen since micro transactions. The Nintendo Switch is a MASSIVE technical restraint released in the middle of last gen weaker than both the Xbox One and PS4 and its gone on to STILL sell circles around both with publishers and devs scrambling to optimize their games for it even pulling off “impossible” feats and no one has once said its holding back anything. The Series S is priced very close to the Switch (cheaper than OLED) with far more power and pro consumer features and better storefront pricing. Install base is an issue but its the Series S heavily boosting that. I see a lot people bring up a worry that more games skip Xbox, but Xbox has seen more third party support than ever this generation. Games have ALWAYS skipped Xbox and it wasn’t because of technical restraints. More games than ever are coming and are on Xbox and if the cost of that is a few releases late or even not at all here or there due to devs needing to do more work, then I’d say Xbox made a really smart move with the Series S.

Predicting they'll phase out Series S with a mid-gen upgrade, Series Z. Series X Digital becomes the new entry model, drops the disc drive and price to 300. Series Z is new premium at $500-600. Now they can drop dev mandates for S, though some will still support for a while. Offer trade-ins and upgrade programs for anyone. New dev targets are X and Z, similar specs with PS5/PS5Pro. They can do this every 4-5 years. Downside is a shortened Series S lifespan, but it resolves concerns of Series S mandates for extended timelines, and no pressure of a third SKU. The Series S market is more casual anyways, less investment, I don't think hardcore players get too burned. All said, there don't seem to be many developers beyond Larian having meaningful problems with the S, a lot is being amplified online, don't think we should gloom and doom too much until these issues actually become a reality. I think we'll know the answers about the S as MS's mid-gen plans start coming into focus.

@jimmythegamer2231

9 ай бұрын

I agree with what you said for the most part, however, I doubt MS will ever phase out the Series S. We have to remember that most current-gen Xbox owners have a Series S and not a Series X, in part due to the fact that the S is cheaper AND due to stock shortages with the X. So abandoning the S would be abandoning most current-gen Xbox users. Maybe, MAYBE if things get so bad that devs are skipping Xbox left and right solely because of the Series S - which I highly doubt - then MS would remove the Series X/S parity requirements, but as for phasing the console out entirely? I doubt it. I imagine MS will drop the price of the Series S to $199 in a few years and the Series X to $399 in response to whatever Sony might do. You can get the Series S for $200-$250 in frequent sales most of the time anyways.

@bairdbaird6878

9 ай бұрын

We're about to exit the cross-gen period. More cases like BG3 are inevitable if the following condition is met: - devs target their port towards the PS5 That condition seems very likely to be met, because the PS5 has the larger install-base. It is "inevitable" in that case because it is logically obvious that porting a PS5 game to the Series X would be much quicker and easier than porting it to the Series S. Thus, if the above condition is met, we should expect more Xbox ports to take longer to come to the console. Note also that not all devs communicate openly about such issues. Also, some devs might choose simply not to bother porting to Xbox, due to the extra cost and the relatively low install base.

@G_Doggy_Jr

9 ай бұрын

No chance that they'll phase out the S, in my opinion. They already lose money with each X and S that they sell (the S is worse). They take this financial hit because it brings people into the ecosystem. Your suggestion is that Microsoft will say, "we promised you that the S was a next-gen console. We were wrong, so you can trade in your S for a true next-gen device." Microsoft already loses money selling the S, so they'd lose even more money with the replacement/upgrade. That, and going back on their promise would damage their reputation. No, as much as I resent the S, it makes more business sense for Microsoft to double down and make the most of their weak hardware. It can be done -- just look at the success of the Switch. Your suggestion involves a huge financial loss in hardware sales (subsidising the Series S replacement). Microsoft could instead use that money to subsidise developers to port their games to the S. This will not please hardcore gamers who only care about the Series X. But, there are other ways to placate us that do not involve the humiliation of going back on their promises with the S. I still think a Series X Elite is likely to follow Sony's PS5 Pro. It would be a third console SKU, but the issues involved with that could be minimised by keeping the hardware as close as possible to the X.

@barcster2003

9 ай бұрын

Bad idea

It would be kinda crazy if all that "we won't be beat on power" talk didn't even last a gen imo. As for SKUs ain't Xbox have 3 SKUs last gen? Series S & using Series X stock for cloud was a miscalculation tho imo.

If this sega tease is the same old new from over a week ago I'm unsubbing, you're just to late always to late

I somehow doubt Microsoft will buy Sega.

@jackd6148

9 ай бұрын

That's what people said about ABK

@darthvader473

9 ай бұрын

@@jackd6148 Yeah, but this time it's going to be less likely to happen with Microsoft and Sega. More people don't want Microsoft to buy Sega compared to the people that do.

@darthvader473

9 ай бұрын

@@jackd6148 Not to mention it'll be more difficult for Microsoft to purchase Sega. Sega in time, would definitely say no.

@jimmythegamer2231

9 ай бұрын

​​@@darthvader473 On the contrary, it would be MUCH easier for Microsoft to buy SEGA than Activision-Blizzard, considering how much smaller it is. Plus, there are equal amounts, if not more people that either don't care or would want Microsoft to buy SEGA than those that outright wouldn't want that to happen. I imagine you are one of those who is hoping it doesn't happen. Nonetheless, there is a VERY high chance that Microsoft will acquire a Japanese publisher after ABK in, give or take, two or three years. Microsoft clearly wants a major foothold in the Japanese market, but the question is whether they'll acquire SEGA or Square Enix, or someone else. And let's not forget that, according to the market definitions of regulators like the FTC, Sony is a monopoly in Japan, so MS acquiring SEGA would be regarded as good for the industry.

@craigappleby4708

9 ай бұрын

I find your lack of faith disturbing

Microsoft made the wrong bet, again! First the Kinect / TV debacle and now Series S. Was never a fan of it, it just complicates things and selfishly, i would never buy the weaker SKU. Should they make a Pro they will have 3 SKUs and devs having issues will only get worse. Why is it so hard for MS to make the right decisions, Sony has been acting way smarter. However, if they don't make a Pro, they will lose me as a customer. Will just switch to PC. I have no interest in 45 fps or heaven forbid 30 fps or extremely blurry graphics.

@cooljoshua4959

9 ай бұрын

It wasn't the wrong decision. People just look at the negatives without seeing the positives.

Let’s have some fun and get spicy. Prediction: ARMORED CORE VI not only will be a better and more overwhelming Sci-fi experience than Starfield - actually it will be GOTY for those who don’t like kid games - but it will also have higher meta and more sales than SF.

@jimmythegamer2231

9 ай бұрын

That's utterly delusional. Starfield will be a better and much more ambitious game than Armored Core in most ways, and Starfield will most likely have a significantly higher Metacritic than Armored Core ever will. Just look at all the past Armored Core games; most of them score in the 60s-70s. I imagine Armored Core will be in the low-to-mid 80, and the sales for the game won't be that good due to how niche it is; especially not compared to Elden Ring. Even though it's on Game Pass, Starfield will undeniably crush Armored Core in terms of sales - particularly on PC. Starfield will probably sell, like, 10+ million copies over the course of several years while Armored Core 6 will sell no more than maybe 2-3 million copies. Also, why compare Armored Core and Starfield anyways? They're not even remotely similar games anyways. But Starfield will have a much better narrative and be far more immersive than Armored Core will be.

@G_Doggy_Jr

9 ай бұрын

When you say "spicy", I take it you are referring to Spice, the synthetic cannabinoids that cause permanent brain damage? Just kidding. It's a pretty leftfield take, though. - "better and more overwhelming sci-fi experience" -- that's a totally subjective thing, so sure - "non TOTK GOTY" -- I'm skeptical on this one. I think some outlets will not give TOTK their GOTY, but I don't think it'll go to Armored Core in those cases. - "higher meta" -- I think Starfield will be 88 and Armored Core will be 86 - "more sales than Starfield" -- Armored Core is on PS5, and Starfield is on Game Pass. But, From Software games don't have the mass appeal of Skyrim, imo. Not sure how I feel about this one.

ALRIGHT.Wich as the greater probability? That aliens visite hearth ? Or that the jews accomplished time travel? 🙂😏

I’ll say it for Jez. The series S was a mistake.

@Zanoladab

9 ай бұрын

​@@UwU-pk6nvwe aren't getting baldur gate anytime soon on xbox because of the series s

@jimmythegamer2231

9 ай бұрын

If it wasn't for the Series S, PlayStation would be outselling the Xbox 4:1 most likely.

@jimmythegamer2231

9 ай бұрын

​@@Zanoladab Oh boo hoo, one game that will come to Xbox in a few months anyways.

@ohmnesia

9 ай бұрын

No. The mistake is still not having enough Series X stock out in the wild. Literally still haven‘t ever seen a Series X in a store here in Switzerland. Not even advertised. It‘s always the Series S.

sega would be foolish to sell itself to microsoft it would destroy them as a company giving xbox track record

So when Microsoft brings out. New more powerful mid gen console. Then the 50 percent don’t buy the new console. Keep using your S or X.

@ScubaSnacks

9 ай бұрын

It's way more than 50 percent. The PS4 pro accounted for like 10% of total PS4 sales, and I can't imagine the One X was that far off. Mid-gen upgrades are for a fraction of the enthusiast market, most people don't care.

Xbox needs to punt the series S and take the L. Just offer an amazing upgrade offer when you trade in your series S. If you still don’t do it don’t complain when your games aren’t as good….Series S owners more than likely only got it for fortnite , cod, sports etc.

I hope MS doesn't buy Sega. Xbox needs to stop making mid games not buy a studio that only makes mid games! If they want to make a real impact they need to go after Capcom or square enix.

@jimmythegamer2231

9 ай бұрын

SEGA makes mid games? Last I checked, the large majority of the recent Yakuza and Persona games are critically-acclaimed and regarded as masterpieces. The large majority of what SEGA makes is far from mid. In fact, they make less mid games than Square Enix does, whose track record consists of plenty mediocre flops like Forspoken, Marvel's Avengers, The Diofield Chronicle, Valkyrie Elysium, etc. I hope MS acquires SEGA, frankly. Capcom is fine but they don't make any JRPGs and all of their games come to Xbox anyways, so I don't really think there as important. Also, Xbox has made plenty of great games on their own, they just weren't massive AAA system sellers.

@Nicky_Biggz

9 ай бұрын

@@jimmythegamer2231 I strongly disagree. I tried all those Sega games and they were all 360 games with higher resolution. The square enix games that were mid were from studios that weren't the main studios and are closed or sold now. Capcom does make Japanese games, but they have made them more appealing for the west. Capcom bitch slaps Sega in regards to quality. I can't think of a single Sega game that stands toe to toe with monster hunter, resident evil, or street fighter

@MasterSystemMarceau

9 ай бұрын

Dude, if Xbox buys SEGA I'm throwing a party. Xbox and SEGA are my 2 favourite VG companies.

@illestcatnnebraska7331

9 ай бұрын

Is acquisition talk gonna be the way Xbox channels stay relevant?…thats just sad

@guitarspud1723

9 ай бұрын

​@@Nicky_Biggzthat is just how you...... feeeeeeeeel. Games are subjective. Persona 5 reigns king.

We really don't need a mid gen from either company at all and it's stupid cos the consoles we have now aren't making the most out of the tech in them anyway, which tells me now they both lied about the capability of the consoles