Category: Gaming

All things to do with the gaming but primarily covering the Microsoft Xbox console ecosystem and PC gaming.

Xbox Series X Impressions

I was very fortunate to have been able to pre-order an Xbox Series X from the Microsoft Store in Australia and have it delivered; one day later than the release date but I was not too fussed about that (thanks DHL by the way). Now that I have spent some time with the Xbox Series X I have some impressions that I would like to share and maybe if you are considering in picking up a next-generation (or current generation now I guess) console I can help in some way.

Black, dense, matte and unassuming

If there are several adjectives that I would use to describe the Xbox Series X, I would say the console is matte, black, dense, and unassuming. Microsoft has basically created the most “boring” and unassuming console I can remember to date; and that is not a bad thing either. The Xbox Series X sits on the top right of my TV entertainment unit and really it is nothing too flashy or eye catching. There are no flashing lights or other effects – the only light you will see is the Xbox logo power button on the front of the console.

When you take the Xbox Series X out of the box you will notice one thing very quickly, it is a heavy console. Microsoft must have packed everything in there very neatly and in a way to save as much space as possible but also ensure that there is enough airflow so the console will not overheat. The console is just a solid rectangular prism. None of which is a bad thing. The console feels very premium and for the price the expectations are set and met.

Originally I had the console laying horizontally but the base does not come off and it looks a little weird in my opinion as the base is one large circular dish. I wish that Microsoft allowed the base to be removed if the console was laying down because it does look a little weird. So now I have the console sitting vertically like much of the marketing material showing the Xbox Series X. The entire top of the console is one massive vent with small circular holes too. If you look at the top of the console from different angles you will find a green color outlining the inner perimeter of the circular vent holes; nice touch.

The black color and matte finish is great if you do not mind having fingerprints on the console if you continually touch it; so I say set it and forget it. I am happy it is not any other flashy color or white as it would look a little odd next to all my other black electronic devices in my entertainment unit. Overall aesthetically I feel the console is perfect for me; it is not trying to do too much, it sits there doing what it is supposed to do and nothing more. Microsoft has done a great job in creating something that will just blend in the background.

Fantastic performance across the board for old and new

During the couple of weeks I have been playing games on the Xbox Series X I have noticed that all the games look amazing, load extremely fast and play very well. One of the first games that I did try was Gears Tactics which is optimized for Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S. With the game installed on the internal solid state drive it loads insanely quick and it looks amazing. I never noticed any graphical issues, pop in or other framerate issues when playing the game; the Xbox Series X handled that game really well. I did have the game crash on me once when I reloaded from a checkpoint but it never happened again so :shrug:

I have also been playing Apex Legends with my friends and that too loads and plays well with little to no issue. The game has not been “upgraded” for the new consoles as far as I know so that is saying something on the upscaling and performance bump the console provides naturally with its raw power. Two other games that were also not optimized that I played were Resident Evil 3 and Doom Eternal. Both of which I may add were installed on the external hard drive I have attached to my Xbox Series X. Again I found no framerate or graphical issues in either game, plus even loading from the external hard drive I felt was fairly quick. Doom Eternal I would like to point out in particular played buttery smooth and looked absolutely amazing; kudos to the developers.

Recently Vermintide 2 got an update to be optimized for Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S. Previously the game took a very long time to load and played in what felt like 30 fps with some harsh dips in frames when there was a large number of enemies on the screen. With the update however the framerate looks to have been bumped up, the game loads insanely fast and there is no framerate dips when the action picks up. So older games when updated play significantly better and if they are not optimized still benefit from small boosts in performance from what I can tell. Again Microsoft has gone above and beyond in ensuring that old games play better and new games play great.

I did test out Destiny 2 because that game on my Xbox One X took forever to load and would only play at 30 fps. When installed on the external hard drive the loading time is faster on the Xbox Series X than on the Xbox One X but there is no framerate improvement unfortunately. If you do move the game to the internal solid state drive then you get an even greater crazy increase in loading performance but again no framerate improvement, so I’ll need to wait for Bungie to optimize the game for the Xbox Series X. I look forward to that.

Overall, no matter if the game is old or new, Microsoft has found a way to squeeze some form of performance improvement being either faster loading or better framerate. With no true Xbox Series X exclusives out that I am interested in playing at the moment (or am aware of) and allowing older games to just perform better on the new console is a massive bonus. If you want to play the best Xbox versions of current games released then you should consider picking up the Xbox Series X; however if you are waiting for a killer game like Halo Infinite then wait for a bundle as I feel like the Xbox One X is more than capable of playing anything out now just not as good as the Xbox Series X.

Along with playing games very well it does so super quietly too. I can barely even hear the Xbox Series X when I am playing games. Sometimes I have even gone up to the console just to see if I can hear the fan spinning. There was no game that I played that caused me to actually hear the fan or console making any noticeable sound. Along with it being whisper quiet the console does gives off a good amount of heat from the top vent. This is to be expected as the top vent acts much like an exhaust. Is it very hot? No not really, but there is a good increase in ambient temperature increase around the top vent. Would it cause the room to get very hot like some “journalists” have noted – no and it also will not cause any discomfort to your hand if you leave it on the vent for a period of time. I am not too concerned about the amount of heat the console emits as it looks to be putting out the heat instead of keeping it inside the console. Only time will tell if there will be another red ring of death scenario and fingers crossed there will not be.

Quick resume and Xbox Game Pass

If you are like me and play two or three games at a time then hopping between games can be a pain. I could be playing Control and then be invited to an Apex Legends or Gears 5 online match. Saving one game and then loading the new game on the Xbox One X could take a long time depending on where I am in the first game as saving or finding a checkpoint is not always possible so quickly. But with quick resume I do not need to worry about that anymore. I have not experienced any game that I have played at the moment that has had issues in loading quickly with quick resume or failing to load with quick resume. I can turn the console off and then the next night I can boot it back up and pick up the game right where I left off; no menu loading or game save loading. I can jump between games and it takes at most 10 seconds compared to the several minutes it would take previously. I do not know how Microsoft has done this but it is fantastic.

Microsoft has bet big on Xbox Game Pass and I love it. From Doom Eternal to Control; paying full price for games is now a distant memory. If you are in the Xbox and Windows ecosystem then it makes the most sense to pick up Xbox Game Pass and if you have a PC then having Xbox Game Pass Ultimate is the best option out there. I would never have picked up Crusader Kings 3 but with it being on Xbox Game Pass on PC I gave it a whirl. So while there is no killer exclusive you benefit so much from trying the buffet that is the games on offer with Xbox Game Pass. There really is something for everyone. This is one offering that is available for both previous generation and current generation of Xbox consoles though but I am mentioning it here as there are a good number of optimized games on Xbox Game Pass for the Xbox Series X.

Overall it has been very pleasant

I tip my hat off to Microsoft. From a pleasant aesthetic that does nothing special but does everything right to the great performance in loading and framerate, I am super happy with my day one purchase. I have friends who are still waiting to receive theirs and when I tell them how great the console is performing they are getting more eager and excited to get their own console. I hope you console comes in soon Logan.

Would I recommend the console? Yes with some catches. If you absolutely must have the latest and greatest Xbox console then you would have pre-ordered or have already considered picking the console up when it is available to be purchased again or there is new stock. The Xbox Series X does everything the Xbox One X does but better and with some nice tricks up its sleeve like quick resume. You can wait for a killer game to come out before you pick up the Xbox Series X and you will not really be missing out on anything.

Again if you are in no rush then wait for a small price drop or bundle with a game that you are truly waiting on. Microsoft has done an amazing job in crafting a console that does everything great but in 2020 there is nothing forcing you or screaming out that says you must pick up the new Xbox Series X. If you are on the fence I say wait and save your money but if you want to play the games out now in the best way then what are you waiting for pick up the console.

Impression from the July Xbox Games Showcase

To start things off, I am going to say that I am a massive Xbox fan so this impressions may have a little fanboy in it (and I do not apologize for that one bit) but the July 2020 Xbox Games Showcase was what I was expecting and I was not disappointed overall with what I saw and am looking forward to playing these games on my Xbox Series X console and PC in the future. I’ll break down the games that I am looking forward to the most below but the TL;DR is that Halo looked fine, there were so many games coming day one to Xbox Game Pass, and plenty of the titles shown here are not going to be ready for 2020, 2021, or even perhaps 2022 which is a little disappointing. The full showcase can be seen here in 4K 60fps.

Halo Infinite – the Chief is back baby

Along with being a massive Xbox fan I am a massive Halo fan. I have played all the Halo games and completed them all on Legendary difficulty. From what I saw from Halo Infinite I am pleased, and cautiously optimisitc.

Visually the game does not look too bad; but I was expecting a little higher fidelity, especially from a first party title. There were a couple of draw distance issues where noticable pop in was present, some of the shadows in the pelican had jagged edges and were not as clear and crisp in the outdoor environment, and some of the textures looked a little low resolution or lacking in detail such as the flat nature of the assault rifle or the hexagonal prisim environmental structures on the Halo ring. In saying that though, this is obviously a work in progress build and most likely a cut from not the most up to date build. Hoping that visually we see some improvements before the game is released in holiday 2020. So I cannot be too critical but will still call it out.

From an audio perspective, the game sounded like a Halo game. The music was Halo, the guns were Halo, it felt very Halo. I was fairly happy with how 343 managed to capture the “feel” of Halo through not just the musical score but the Grunts, Brutes and Elites voices and audio cues. If the rest of the game sounds much like what the gameplayed showed us then my ears will be happy.

The gameplay that they showed (and I am so happy that they showed us a solid 8 minutes of gameplay) was also what I was expecting from a Halo game. The shooting looks solid, I like that they have re-introduced pick ups in the game too like the new drop wall. The two new UNSC guns that they showed us, the VK78 Commando and the CQS48 Bulldog look like they are going to be fun to use, along with the new Banished weapons the Mangler and the Ravanger. Glad that the Brutes are back in a mainline Halo game. I am still a little unsure how I feel about the grappling hook, but it gives a new means of movement and adds more verticality to the game’s levels. It will be interesting to see how Halo feels being an “open world” game but I am cautiously optimistic about it. Once I get the game into my hands and start playing around with the objectives and shooting the poor alien bastards in the face, I’ll get a better sense if this really does “feel” like a Halo game.

Overall I think what Microsoft and 343 had shown for Halo Infinite was enough to get me more excited for Halo Infinite. I may have to replay the other Halo games to catch myself up with the story and get back into the feeling of stepping into the boots of the Master Chief. Looking forward to the game’s release. You can see the campaign gameplay reveal here.

State of Decay 3 – Winter zombie deers

I played the previous State of Decay games and I generally enjoyed them. I would not call them AAA games but AA games. They looked okay, they played okay, they had a number of bugs which did annoy me sometimes but overall I had fun playing them in single player and multiplayer. The CGI trailer for State of Decay 3 has me curiously asking if there would be dynamic weather or seasons and the potential of hunting or wild life threats. Very interested to see more. I do not know when this game will be released but I don’t see it coming out in 2020 or 2021. You can see the announcement trailer here.

Forza Motorsport – Vroooom…

Turn 10 and Playground Games have IMO developed the best racing games in the last two decades period. Both Forza Motorsport and Forza Horizon are the best simulation and arcade racing games there are, no questions asked. They look, sound, and feel extremely authentic. The in-engine trailer they showed us has me excited to get back into the Motorsport side of the Forza series as it looks photorealistic and running in 4K at 60fps is going to be great. Again, much like State of Decay 3, I want to see more but can see this title being at least 2 years away if it is in early development. You can see the announcement trailer here.

The Outer Worlds: Peril on Gorgon – Mystery! Scandalous Strangers! Thrills! Danger!

The Outer Worlds was a very good RPG by Obsidian. I really enjoyed my time in that universe and am happy to purchase the DLC for this, no questions asked. This trailer was also one of the best trailers promoting a game I have seen in a long time. The voice over and the overlays were hilarious, plus it comes out on September 9th so it is not too far away. Time to reinstall The Outer Worlds and pre-purchase this DLC; bonus discount if you are an Xbox Game Pass subscriber. If the DLC is as good as the main game I will be satisified with my purchase. You can see the announcement trailer here.

Avowed – classic RPG

As an RPG fan the new RPG that Obsidian announced has me intrigued. There was not much shown other than the CGI trailer, but it is fantasy based, there are spells, flaming arrows, skeleton warriors, etc. I’ll need to see more but the RPG games that Obsidan has put out are all IMO hits so this one should be a no brainer if you are an RPG fan. Again I don’t think we’ll see this game released until late 2023 the earliest. Plus being built entirely from the ground up for the Xbox Series X means it will most likely not be released on the Xbox One. You can see the announcement trailer here.

Hellblade 2 – we are going to… Iceland

Using Unreal Engine 5 and built for the Xbox Series X and PC means this game is going balls to the walls with high fidelity. I really enjoyed playing the first game and am looking forward to playing the sequel. Wish that they showed us a little more than just telling us the game is going to take place in Iceland or centered around Iceland. Much like State of Decay 3, Forza Motorsport and Avowed I do not see this game being released in 2020, 2021, or 2022 (starting to see a pattern here anyone?)

Destiny 2: Beyond Light – XSX, XGP, 4K 60fps

Bungie to me have really done no wrong. They made Halo. I never played Destiny 1 and got into Destiny 2 from the start and generally enjoyed it. Now that they have split with Activision they can really spread their wings, try new things and experiment a little with their game. I have not played Destiny 2 in a little while because I find the load times fairly long when playing on my Xbox One X and running at 30 fps is not great after playing many games now in 60fps at a minimum. When it does come to the Xbox Series X in 4k at 60fps and on Xbox Game Pass I’ll be looking to get back into it and I know a couple of my friends will be ready to party up and get back together in our usual fireteam. You can see the showcase trailer here.

S.T.A.L.K.E.R 2 – surprised to see this

I absolutely loved playing the previous S.T.A.L.K.E.R games. I was absolutely surprised to see this game shown off here, even if it was just a CGI trailer that really gave very little away. I look forward to finding out more about this game in the near future with it releasing in 2022 at the earliest. Could this be the S.T.A.L.K.E.R game that has official and proper dedicated coop multiplayer? You can see the official trailer #1 here.

Warhammer 40K: Dark Tide – for the Emperor

As a kid and teenager I played both Warhammer 40K and Warhammer Fantasy. So seeing this game was again a little surprising and pleasing. I am happy that we are not playing Space Marines but the Imperial Guard too as it makes the game feel significantly more dangerous. The CGI trailer looked good and I have enjoyed my time playing Warhammer: Vermintide 2 which was also developed by Fatshark. I would like to see more of this game. It looks like we will be getting different classes based on the characters that they have shown and the Chaos are at their old tricks again. Hopefully this comes out in the next year or two but I do not have my hopes up. You can see the announcement trailer here.

The Medium – rendering two worlds at the same time

I am hopeful that this game is good because what they had shown looked really interesting. Graphically I think it did not look next generation but I guess conceptually what they are trying to achieve requires some of the technology that the next generation of consoles and PC is offering. Unfortunately this game too did not have a release date so I’ll need to wait a little longer before it is released. On the plus side, if it is going to come out several years down the line, they can polish it up and start drip feeding us a little bit more about the game. Happy to see more of this game in the future. You can see the dual reality trailer here.

CrossfireX – a Remedy campaign

Last time I saw anything about this game was the multiplayer and that looked interesting. I am still waiting for a decent military shooter that is not too janky, in early access or Call of Duty. Seeing the footage of what the campaign would look like was another surprise and to have Remedy working on it is a bonus. To me it looks very Call of Duty in regard to the set pieces, explosions and themes. Not sure if this is a day one pick up, but I will be keeping a close eye on this one because if the campaign and multiplayer are any good then bye bye Battlefield (even though in reality I dropped off Battlefield 5 very early on in the release). You can see the campaign reveal trailer here.

Fable – what, you chase chickens?

Finally. I had been waiting so long for another mainline Fable game. Fable 1 was an absolutle blast. Fable 2 was amazing and unfortunately Fable 3 was a little bit of a disappointment and not a great way to send off the series for the time being. To showcase a CGI trailer for such a beloved franchise so early on in the development of the game means that we will need to be waiting a good period of time for this title too. I am more than happy to wait for a new Fable game if they can iron out the lag and issues that plagued Fable 3. Once I find out the release date for Fable it will be a day one pick up on Xbox Game Pass. You can see the announcement trailer here.

An Unanswered Xbox Series X Question

As the release of the Xbox Series X comes closer every day, there is one question that I am unsure there is an answer to (well I cannot find it anyway and I have not heard anything specific from Microsoft or Phil Spencer).

“Will the Xbox Series X support the same my home console settings as the Xbox One?”

What is the my home console setting you may ask? More information about it can be found here but it is by far one of the best Xbox One features. I am also not the only one asking this question. Over at the various Xbox subreddits the same question is asked multiple times with many individuals assuming that just because the Xbox One has this functionality that it would be available for the Xbox Series X. However that is a bad assumption IMO. Microsoft has been very pro-consumer so it may very well be there, but if they remove the functionality then it will go completely against this pro-consumer messaging.

Why is this question so important though? As I noted above it is IMO one of the best Xbox One features because it makes going digital if your household owns multiple Xbox One consoles extremely beneficial and you can save money on a subscription. The scenario in my household currently is that I own an Xbox One X and my brother owns an Xbox One X; I have set my brother’s Xbox One X as my home console, and he has set my Xbox One X as his home console. What this allows us to do is:

  1. Share my Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscription – I pay for the subscription but my brother gets the ability to play on Xbox Live and any game on Xbox Game Pass on console. The only thing that my brother cannot do is play any Xbox Game Pass game on PC.
  2. Share all our Xbox digital games – if I buy a digital game, my brother can play the same game whether I am online or offline (as long as my brother is connected to Xbox Live); and if my brother buys a digital game then I can do the same.

If Microsoft does remove this functionality then my brother would need to buy his own subscription and we both would lose part of our very large digital library. Generally we both buy games digitally when they launch at full price, and if we cannot share our digital games then I for sure will not be buying as many digital games and will be waiting for massive sales. So Microsoft, Phil Spencer, it would be great if you could let the Xbox community know whether or not you are axing this functionality.

[Updated: 03/29/20] Experiencing slow Microsoft Store game downloads and updates

Update 03/29/20: It has been about 2 weeks and after changing my Xbox One X and my gaming PC’s DNS settings I can safely say that my game download and update speeds have been consistently faster. With the whole COVID-19 pandemic happening at the moment some services are slowing down their customer’s downloads speeds or reducing their bitrates, see here. Your mileage during this time may vary if you were having download/update issues from either the Xbox Store or the Microsoft Store.

Update 03/15/20: I have been playing around with the DNS settings on my Xbox One X after doing some reading, and found this page and this page. After making some changes to my DNS I can confirm that I am getting significantly better download speeds.

Instead of the several Mbps I was getting, I am now getting speeds in the high 80s. Whatever CDN I am connecting to is allowing me to download the games and patches much faster 😀

On Saturday (03/14/20) I tried to contact TPG support to see what is going on but after waiting for over 30 minutes just to talk to someone I gave up. As of right now I am not recommending anyone to use TPG as their Australian ISP and look at another provider (perhaps Aussie Broadband – seem to fairly good reviews, Australian customer support, and do not suffer from this issue). I will be checking back again in a week or so to see if this change solves my problem, and if it does then bye bye TPG.

Original: I pay for a 100Mbps download and 40Mbps upload internet connection through TPG. Generally when I do a speed test I achieve download speeds in the area of the high 80s and low 90s which is fantastic (even during peak times). But when I am trying to download an Xbox One game or update an Xbox One game I get speeds in the very low 10Mbs but mostly fall under 2Mbps. It is even worse if I try to download a Windows game through the Xbox app on my PC, where I get speeds less than 1Mbs on average. Just this morning I wanted to download Halo Combat Evolved Anniversary on PC, but was getting speeds under 1Mbps and just cancelled the download in disappointment.

What is really odd is that this has only been happening recently, I would say in the last two months. My home network configuration has not changed at all, the same devices are connected and there have been no intrusions in my network (so I know there are no unknown devices taking up my bandwidth). I am a little perplexed.

Some of my troubleshooting steps I have taken are:

  1. Restart my modem and my router (multiple times)
  2. Restart my Xbox One X console (both hard shutdown and restarting)
  3. Restart my PC (full shutdown and restart)
  4. Restart the Xbox app
  5. Cancel my game download or game update
  6. Restart my game download or game update
  7. Change from a wired connection to a wireless connection for my Xbox One X (and then back to a wired connection to a wireless connection)
  8. Change the DNS that I am connecting to for my Xbox One X (from my ISP provided DNS to Google, and then back)

None of the above troubleshooting steps have seemed to have solved or identifiy the problem 😦 What is really odd, when I check my network connection status and results on my Xbox One X I see download speeds of 90Mbps, upload speeds of 20Mbps, Open NAT, and ping of 100ms. If I try and stream video content in 4K I have no issue. Watching YouTube videos in HD I have no problem. Even downloading games and game updates on other platforms like Steam and EA Origin seem to be downloading at speeds I would expect for what I am paying for. I verified that on Steam I achieved speeds of 79Mbps when downloading Vermintide 2 the same morning as I tried downloading Halo CEA.

Navigating to the Xbox Support site is in my opinion pointless. To actually get in contact with an actual person that works at Microsoft is near impossible, which is a shame. I do not want to talk to another Xbox gamer, I do not want to post in the forums and hope for a response (looking at the support forums, much of the posts are unresolved and unanswered). The customer support AI that they have looked promising. The steps asked by the AI to help narrow down the problem are what I have performed, but in the end it could not fix the problem and asked if I wanted to talk to a real person; but that person would not be a Microsoft employee but an Xbox gamer.

I’ll be keeping this post updated with any new information that I find or experience. Hopefully this is not going to be a long term issue, because I download all my games as I have gone in all digital and there are a number of games coming out that I will be picking up soon like Resident Evil 3 and Doom Eternal. If you have experienced this problem, are having this issue, or have recently resolved the problem then please do leave a comment below.

E3 2019: Microsoft Xbox Briefing Impressions

I woke up at 6AM AEST to watch the Microsoft Xbox E3 2019 briefing and I felt a little indifferent after it ended. There were some moments I was like, “yeah this is going to be awesome”, and then there were moments like “next game please”. Frankly it was not their best showcase (for me anyway). I watched it again before writing this blog post and took notes down as the event progressed so I could at least have some references and ideas to go off. You can watch the VOD here (I have time stamped it to the start of the event so you don’t have to sit through 25 minutes of a countdown timer).

Xbox Game Pass is king

The biggest take away from the entire Xbox event IMO was that Xbox Game Pass is going to be such an attractive offering to gamers on Xbox and now on PC that it would be foolish to not consider the subscription service, especially that for a limited time it is $1 for the Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscription. Nearly every single game that was announced or shown was going to be available at launch of Xbox Game Pass, which is fantastic news. Not only that but with their new Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscription at $15.95 AUD per month you get your standard Xbox Game Pass, Xbox Live Gold and Xbox Game Pass for PC. I’ve just subscribed to the ultimate service as it is too good to not use. Well done to Microsoft for offering such an enticing and worthwhile bundle. Using this service I have bought less games but I have played more games, and even games that I had held out on or was hesitant to pick up such as Homefront: The Revolution and Vampyr.

The future of Xbox

The new Xbox console was also teased, code-named Project Scarlett. With four times the power of the current Xbox One X, it is going to be one beast of a machine. It appears the focus for the new Xbox console is to have games play faster/smoother, load quicker, while also look amazing (obviously). As a gamer you should be excited by this. As Phil Spencer said, “The new Xbox has been designed, built and optimized for one thing and one thing only, gaming…”. Unfortunately we need to wait until Holiday 2020 but on the bright side I am going to have the time to save up for the console and any game I want when it comes out.

There was also a very brief mention of Project xCloud but there was not mention of the network specifics or how it will function or even how much it will cost, so we will need to wait and see for that. There is also a new console streaming service that will be available too, where your own personal console can be setup as your own personal xCloud server so that you can play your games anywhere you want which is cool.

I already have an Xbox Elite controller, but version two of the controller is going to be coming out soon. From what they showcased in the trailer (you can see that here) it looks like that they listened to the gamers and have made some really good improvements like fully wrapped grips, adjustable-tension thumbsticks, and more. Having Bluetooth connectivity is a bonus as is the USB-C connection, but I am not entirely sold on the internal battery which from the looks of it is not removable. Many people have said the first iteration of the controller was poorly built and did not withstand the use from long gaming sessions; I have not had problems with my and the grips, etc. are all still going strong.

So many games

When Microsoft said that they were bringing games to the show, they really meant it. There was a crazy amount of games that they showed but there was only a handful of games that really appealed to me from either the cinematic trailer or the gameplay trailer. A quick rundown of the games that interest me included:

  • The Outer World – I was a fan of Fallout New Vegas, and to be able to play an RPG from the creators of New Vegas is going to be great. Plus it is going to be available on Xbox Game Pass at launch.
  • Ori and the Will of the Wisps – as someone who is not interested in platformers too much, the original game was absolutely outstanding and difficult. This looks to be much of the same and will also be on Xbox Game Pass at launch. However it looks like the game will be coming out early 2020.
  • Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order – you can check out my breakdown of the gameplay shown at EA Play 2019 here, but the CGI trailer looked decent. However being a single player action game, the replayability does not look very high.
  • Blair Witch – horror, atmospheric and thriller games are some of my favourite. This looked to be right up my alley and gameplay-wise appears to play closely like the Outlast series. I am interested in seeing more of this and as a bonus it is an Xbox Game Pass title.
  • Cyberpunk 2077 – nothing more needs to be said about this game. It will be GOTY. CD Projekt Red are one of the best developers out there. They know how to make fantastic looking RPGs and worlds that are fully immersive. This game looks no different, but we will need to wait until 2020 for this title too 😦
  • Age of Empires 2 Definitive Edition – more Age of Empires is always a good thing. As an RTS fan, and a fan of the series I will be playing this game when it launches and it is going to be on Xbox Game Pass.
  • 12 Minutes – this game has me intrigued. It is not a game that would normally interest me. I’ll keep an eye on this game and when it goes on sale I’ll probably pick this up and give it a play.
  • Gears 5 – I absolutely cannot wait to get my hands on this title. Everytime I see this game I get more and more excited. The new Escape game mode looked absolutely crazy and is going to be a blast playing with two other mates. The story looks like it is also going to go places where other Gears games have not gone. Releasing in September 2019 on Xbox Game Pass makes this a no brainer.
  • Halo Infinite – it has been too long between main Halo games. The last big Halo game came out at the end of 2015, Halo 5: Guardians. Halo Infinite is going to be a launch title in 2020 for the new Xbox console. 343 Industries went forward with the campaign in Halo 4 and then took great steps forward with multiplayer in Halo 5. All they need to do is now have both packaged together, but I am not sure they can do this; fingers crossed. I have high hopes for the game and it launching through Xbox Game Pass along a brand new console might be what the 18 year old franchise needs.

The next year will be interesting, with many of the games announced coming through Xbox Game Pass and playable in 2020 they will most likely be playable on the current generation of Xbox and next generation of Xbox consoles. Bring on 2020!

E3 2019: The Sims 4 and Battlefield V Stream Impressions

Originally I was going to have two separate blog posts for The Sims 4 and Battlefield V streams, but after watching the streams I felt that from what both announced it would be better to have a single write up. There was absolutely no way that I would be able to write up two meaningful blog posts.

The Sims 4

It will be 20 years of The Sims franchise this year. I cannot believe it has been that long, and I have been there from the start. So congratulations are in order for the franchise that keeps on giving; thanks EA and Maxis on such a fun franchise to play.

Just a very brief breakdown of what is coming this year:

  • The Sims 4 Island Living (new expansion pack)
    • Will be releasing at the end of June.
    • Brand new island world with an active volcano.
    • Plenty of new Create-A-Sim (CAS) and Build/Buy items that are inspired by real world Polynesian cultures.
    • Mermaids – something that looked interesting.
    • Dolphins – great to see some more animals in the game with interactions included.
    • New island interactions – from using aqua zips to snorkeling.
    • New Conservationist career.
    • New small odd jobs including being a lifeguard, diving instructor, etc.
    • Plus much more.
  • The Sims 4 Realm of Magic (new game pack)
    • Will be released in the Fall of 2019 (unless it is delayed and pushed out)
    • More information about this pack will be detailed later on in the year 😦
  • The Sims 4 Moschino (new stuff pack)
    • Will be released later in the year.
    • New Freelance Fashion Photographer career.
    • Primarily a CAS focused pack with new items to make your sims look fashionable.

If there was one thing that I could say about this particular stream; there was not many announcements but within each announcement there were a number of new items that needed mentioning. The brand new expansion pack alone has so many new items it would be crazy to list them all. I am super excited for this one though. Some of the features that I am looking forward to include the new world that has an active volcano (that can shoot lava bombs into the world – perhaps there will be a new death method in the game?), all the new interactions with the world including entering and exiting the world’s water (great addition to make the world feel more lifelike and real), and all the new interactions that can happen with the world and the items such as sunbathing, snorkeling, etc.

So I think what Maxis has done is give what every Sim fan out there wants. There is a little bit of everything for everyone; from the individuals who want to create some amazing worlds and buildings, to the individuals who want to craft interesting and fun stories with all the new world and item interactions. Good job here, I was super satisfied with what they showcased.

You can check out the stream using this link.

Battlefield V

I knew going in that it would be a map reveal, but I was very disappointed in what maps got revealed. As someone who was an avid Battlefield player, I think DICE really have missed the mark with Battlefield V. What did get announced was for the next two chapters in the game, chapters 4 and 5 (coming in the next several months).

There is a new map set in Greece and that does not look like it is going to be a fun map to play on. It looks absolutely gorgeous but as they showcased the map it looked like it was going to be one with many choke points and be a pain in the ass to take capture points. The focus of that map looked primarily infantry as well (something I am not a fan of in Battlefield especially with the majority playing the recon/sniper class).

There is a new North Africa map that also got announced. This to me felt like an absolute cop out of a new map as it was taken from the war stories mode and reworked for multiplayer. All the Africa maps that have been in any recently developed Battlefield game have been absolutely trash and are by far the worst maps on the rotation. The only positive from this is that there is a good focus on vehicle combat due to the scale of the map.

Along with these two maps there are a number of close quarter combat style maps which are designed for squad conquest coming out in August; again something that I don’t think Battlefield V really needs at the moment. I like squad conquest but there are more important issues to resolve. Operation Underground which is a “re-imagining” of Operation Metro and coming out in October; again this looked a little lazy to me.

DICE are also going to increase the maximum level cap to 500 from 50. I don’t see the point in doing this. Why have a level cap at all? The rewards that you get from reaching certain milestones after level 50 include company coins, new dog tags, icons, etc. To me it would make sense to remove the level cap completely and let people just continue to get rewards. In September they will also finally be having the ability to have private servers through private games; this should have been there from the start.

The only redeeming announcement was that in chapter 5 you will be able to play as the USA and Japan while fighting in the Pacific. Along with this will come new weapons and vehicles. Looking forward to that the most, unless DICE somehow mess that up too. Maybe the next Battlefield game will be worthwhile playing long term.

You can check out the stream using this link.

E3 2019: Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order Stream Impressions

I would not consider myself a die hard Star Wars fan, but I would consider myself a fan of Star Wars. I’ve watched most of the main Star Wars movies, played most of the Star Wars games and have read some Star Wars novels. So I would say that this game would be right up my alley.

I didn’t watch this stream live because I really didn’t want to disrupt my sleeping schedule just for E3 so it was one of the first streams I watched when I woke up. I am going to say the 15 minute or so gameplay footage they showed did not disappoint and if I did stay up to watch the stream I would have been okay with it overall. As the stream progressed I noted down some of the positive elements that stood out to me which include:

  • Single player action game only
    • This is good news to me (and probably other gamers out there too). Most of the Star Wars games that I have enjoyed playing have been single player only games such as Knights of the Old Republic, Jedi Outcast, etc.
  • “Thoughtful” combat
    • It was mentioned that the combat was designed in a thoughtful way and it showed. From the enemy variety and placement, choice of using your lightsaber and force powers; it really was designed to have you think while fighting the enemy with many ways to go about completing the encounter.
    • The transitions between using your lightsaber and force powers looked fluid and smooth. Actually the entire gameplay was fluid and smooth.
    • At times there were “cinematic” moments while you were in combat such as when you were in the process of finishing off an enemy. The camera would pan around slightly, now I don’t know if this was done using one of the analog sticks or part of the game however.
  • Buttery Smooth Movement
    • As smooth as the combat was, so was the traversing and movement around the environment.
    • You can tell that this game took inspiration from Titanfall in regard to the wall running, clambering and climbing; it was made by the same developers.

You have a companion droid which looks to provide you with health when you are low (limited supply and you need to prompt for it, leaving you vulnerable) and it can unlock paths, provide you with Star Wars lore, and generally help you out to progress to the next area. Being an action game I know the focus will be on the combat and moment to moment set pieces, but I also really do hope that there are some puzzles in the game to break up the pace a little. We did not get any further information about the skill points and how they will be used or spent other than they can be used for force abilities. I would have liked to see that; will it be a skill tree? Or will it just be a “pick an ability” option?

If I was to be fairly critical of the game I noticed that it did not look the best or something coming out late 2019. I don’t know if it was the stream, but I was watching it at 1080P at 60 fps and for a 2019 game, graphically I had seen better looking games. It did not look bad but I would have expected some of the models and textures to look a little better. Some of the fire and smoke effects were also not the best I have seen. Lighting, shadows and the foliage were generally okay however. Having this quality shown is far better than having something look amazing and then when the game is released have it significantly downgraded, so kudos to Respawn here on that.

Maybe it was just me but the facial animations at the beginning of the gameplay along with how the character’s face was sitting looked a little off too. Now it was nowhere near as bad as Mass Effect Andromeda’s facial animations but it just did not look right. Being focused as a Jedi story I knew going in that you will not be choosing a force side, ie. light or dark. I don’t know why Greg would ask them this question. As someone who prefers the force abilities on the dark side and generally plays a Sith or dark Jedi I am a little disappointed but it is not a deal breaker. Perhaps I can choose to wield some of the dark side force abilities?

Overall from what I have seen so far of the game it looks like it is going to do well. There will be more shown at the Microsoft E3 2019 event which will be great and I will have a blog post about that whole event separately. Being a single player only game and because I buy all my games digitally now, it will be a game that I buy when it is on sale for at least 40% off; I don’t see it having much replay value (I could be surprised). If you want to check out the official Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order stream then use this link (I have timestamped it so that you don’t have to wait for the actual stream to start). Enjoy 🙂

Moving Away From Insider Builds

I have been an Xbox and Windows Insider since the two programmes were available. Though I have been more active in providing feedback and taking alpha, and regular early builds in the Xbox Insider programme than the Windows Insider programme. However, it has now come to the point where stability is an issue. I can live with the issues like party chat not working all the time or getting randomly disconnected from Xbox Live. But not being able to update your console is entirely different.

At the start of the Windows Insider programme I was active, much like I was with the Xbox Insider programme. The builds were fairly stable, the features were coming in fast and were generally reliably. However some point at the end of 2017 or early 2018 I felt that the builds had gotten less stable and I experienced a number of update issues. I never ran any of the Windows Insider builds on my regular and day to day Windows machine but the laptop that had been receiving builds was encountering issues updating to the next build and odd system performance and functional problems.

Note: I am well aware that taking early builds is always going to come with problems and being part of the programme is to help find issues, report them and provide feedback on the quality of the build. However when you cannot perform basic functions and update your machine to the next build, it becomes hard to stay in the programme. I commend Microsoft in trying to resolve as much of the issues as possible and getting the community’s feedback on features and functionality. But there comes a point where being part of the programme is no longer viable or worth it.

The issues that I had experienced with the Windows Insider programme, I rarely if ever experienced with the Xbox Insider programme. Updating to the latest Xbox OS version was never a problem (if you have an update waiting then your only options are to update to the new version, stay offline, or turn the Xbox off) and getting access to new features was great. Many of the issues I found with the Xbox Insider builds were mainly cosmetic until recently. Two weeks ago I tried to update my Xbox One X console to the latest Xbox OS build but I kept getting an upgrade error. As I stated above, my options were limited. I can either update the console or not play it.

I tried to update the console again after it failed, but that did not work. I performed a hard reboot and hard restart of the console but that too did not work. Looking at the Xbox support page provided me with an option to perform an offline update (but from what happened it appears that it only considers Xbox OS versions that are not part of the Xbox Insider programme). Updating offline did not help at all. I resorted to performing a factory reset but that too did not help. The error message was also inconsistent and when I went to the Xbox support page to look what the error messages meant, it showed that I needed to give my Xbox to Microsoft to fix it (not going to happen, especially during the holiday period). I was not sure the Xbox Insider build was the problem originally but I unenrolled the Xbox console from the Xbox Insider programme and tried to update it again. Low and behold it updated with no issue, to the current consumer wide stable version.

When you cannot update your console to the latest version, but need the update to have your console function properly it is a major issue. Should I have been part of the Xbox Insider programme with my main Xbox One X console? Probably not, just like I kept my main desktop Windows PC on a stable version of Windows 10 and my Windows laptop on an insider build, I should have done the same with my Xbox consoles. As it is noted by Microsoft when you join the programmes, the builds can be problematic and you may not use your machine because of the update or the update my brick your machine. With that in mind now and having issues I don’t feel it is worth getting access to new features when the builds are less stable no matter which ring (alpha, beta, etc) I am in. Once I learn that these issues are resolved or happening nearly not at all I may re-enroll my console.

EA Play 2018 Press Conference Impressions

I woke up at 4am AEST to watch the EA Play 2018 Press Conference and then again before I left to watch UFC 225. During the second watching I wrote down some notes about what interested me, what got my attention and what I am looking forward to that is coming in 2018 and in 2019. Unfortunately there does not seem to be much on that list so this post may be a little small and light on content. Before I go into that list I am going to highlight games, etc. that were announced but I am not interested in playing or I felt the announcement did little to excite me:

  1. FIFA 19: I have not bought a FIFA game in a really long time. I have EA Access and am more than happy to wait for the title to come into The Vault.
  2. Star Wars: Battlefront 2: I enjoy the Star Wars games that get released but with the mess that was SWBF2 at launch, I stayed away from this title. No improvements made by DICE will get me to buy this game or play it anytime soon.
  3. Unravel Two: I never played Unravel and I am not really into platformer games. I can appreciate what the developers have done but it is just not up my alley.
  4. Sea of Solitude: Another title that did little to excite or interest me. I hope the developers find a market for their game though, and good luck to them in finding success.
  5. NBA Live 19: Basketball is not a sport that I follow so I completely ignored this title.
  6. Madden 19 and Young Kiv: NFL is one of the leagues I do watch as a New York Giants fan, but like the FIFA games I don’t buy them. Also the eSports personality of Young Kiv did not do anything but get me to say “who is this and why should I care”.
  7. Command and Conquer Rivals: What I would do for a C&C game that is for the PC. A mobile game is an automatic turn off. My smartphone is primarily a tool for me to be more productive and communicate with people, not play games.

With those items out of the way, the only remaining announcements are the ones that managed to interest me or were different enough that they got my attention.

Battlefield V

So there was barely anything revealed and talked about. More will be shown at the Microsoft Xbox E3 2018 Press Conference which is good. But my takeaways from what did get revealed and talked about which interest me were:

  1. Superior mobility (dive and smash through windows).
  2. Stationary turrets are now moveable.
  3.  Even more destruction. Could we be going back to the days of Bad Company 2? I hope so.
  4. Plenty of customization. From the guns to the tanks.
  5. No more loot boxes and no premium pass. Thank God. Nothing worse than fracturing the community and having people buy gameplay advancements.
  6. War Stories. Unfortunately will have to wait until the Microsoft Xbox E3 2018 Press Event to learn more about the first one.

Some elements that made me roll my eyes and say “really” include:

  1. Battlefield Battle Royale mode. Not every game needs to copy the success of Fortnight, even if they try to put their own spin on it.
  2. Again no proper in-game, live, actual footage from a real match. I don’t want to see in-engine footage trailers. I want to see how the game actually plays.

Cloud and Subscriptions

When Andrew Wilson (CEO of EA) came out I knew there would be some new business practices and plans revealed. A cloud streaming service from EA will be coming in the future and an early version of it is playable at the event. I don’t see this taking off anytime soon, especially if it uses EA servers but I can appreciate the technology behind it.

There was the mention of EA Origin Premier as well. I was really hoping that they would allow people who have EA Access and EA Origin Access to have a single subscription to play EA games on both Xbox and PC. But no, instead it is a way to play (it would seem) brand new EA published titles without purchasing the game through EA Origin Access, much like Xbox Game Pass and Microsoft published titles. I cannot see myself buying this subscription service however.

Star Wars: Jedi Fallen Order

This got me interested because I generally like Star Wars games and I really enjoyed Titanfall. Vince Zampella teased a new Star Wars game set between Star Wars Episodes 3 and 4, where the Jedi are hunted. Unfortunately the game will be released in 2019, if it does not get delayed or pushed out. Not much else was said about the title.

Anthem

To start the Anthem portion of the event there was a fast paced, intense trailer which did not look too bad. Some of the information that we did get from the panel of BioWare employees that were on stage include:

  1. It is not an MMO. This is good for me because I can really only have one active MMO in my life and that is World of Warcraft.
  2. Major focus on characters for the story and player choices. This is good because if the characters are dull and boring then everything else is dull and boring.
  3. Much of the single player experience will be experienced in bases and the multiplayer experience will be in the open world portions of the game.
  4. BioWare is already preparing Anthem to be DLC ready in terms of story. They did not say DLC specifically but they did say Anthem is built to have story added at any time. What better way to get people to pay for DLC than with story content.
  5. Promises of ongoing and long term meaningful content. Hopefully it will be better than the original The Division content and the content that Bungie has been pumping out slowly for Destiny 2.
  6. Real world purchasable items will be there but will be only cosmetic and there would be no loot boxes or randomness when buying content.
  7. The game if not delayed or pushed back will coming out 22 February 2019.

So there you have it folks. I will also be doing a Microsoft and Bethesda recap so stay tuned for those.

My New Xbox One X

I wanted to write this a little while ago, but needed to have some more time playing on the Xbox One X and try to experience as much as possible. Since the launch of the new Xbox One console, I have been having a blast. Yes I am an Xbox fanboy so maybe my view is slightly skewed but Microsoft made an extremely great (dare I say) near perfect console.

Xbox One X Project Scorpio with various Xbox One controllers
Xbox One X Project Scorpio with Xbox One Day One, Elite and Project Scorpio Controllers

To my luck, I managed to pre-order an Xbox One X Project Scorpio Edition, I know a number of people that wanted this edition but missed out due to the limited number. After using it for a little while I thought I might sum up the experience I have had with it so far and also areas where there is some contention on the Internet.

Breakdown

Price

I knew I wanted to purchase the Xbox One X when it was still called “Project Scorpio”. From what I was reading and the rumours swirling around the Internet , I knew it was going to be a powerful console and it wasn’t going to be cheap. A high price tag was not going to discourage me from purchasing it. I pre-ordered the Xbox One Elite controller and that was $200 AUD, so paying around $700 AUD for a new, and powerful console was not an issue. I mean a GTX 1070 is still going for $700 AUD. For the power and convenience the console provides it is super cheap, plus I have a large library of Xbox games so I am not going to invest in another console.

4K and HDR

Weeks before the lead up to the release of the console there were many gaming sites that posted about how “unnecessary” or “wasted” it would be to purchase the Xbox One X console if you do not have a 4K TV or one that supports HDR. Funnily enough there were none of these articles written when the PS4 Pro was coming out/released (bias “journalism” maybe). I don’t know where these so called “journalists” got this information because Microsoft to their credit on numerous occasions highlighted the benefits a gamer would have if they only had a 1080p display.

I personally do not have a 4K/HDR supported TV; mine is still a 65” 1080p Panasonic plasma TV. The games (enhanced or not) all look gorgeous. Gears of War 4, Halo 5 Guardians, Quantum Break, etc. all look brilliant with their enhancements. Even the games that haven’t gotten the enhancements look slightly crisper and cleaner to me like Battlefield 1. I have spoken to a number of friends on Xbox Live who do have 4K TVs with HDR and have an Xbox One X, and there has been a unanimous agreement that the visual fidelity is high class.

Performance

I knew the Xbox One X was powerful and would help with load times, framerate, etc. but boy did I underestimate how much of an improvement there would be. Off the top of my head I can think of two games where the load times have significantly improved. Destiny 2 and XCOM 2 (I’ve been playing these recently). Loading to the Tower or any planet in Destiny 2 took it’s sweet time on my original Xbox One. On the Xbox One X the time it takes to go to those same locations is easily halved.

XCOM 2 on the original Xbox One was a disaster when it came to loading. If you tried loading a save, loading a mission, or coming back to your ship, it could easily take one minute. On the Xbox One X it loads in under 15 seconds. Before I could go and grab a drink from the fridge and come back to still see that the game is still loading, and now on the Xbox One X it just loads too quick to do any of that.

Games like Halo 5 Guardians, Gears of War 4, Battlefield 1, etc. all feel smoother. They feel like they are hitting higher refresh rates (or targets that they were originally supposed to be reaching). I don’t know, I can’t measure it and maybe I’m just imagining it, but the games feel like they play better. It is the same as going from a monitor that doesn’t support 144Hz to one that does and you reach that refresh rate, the game just feels so much better. So overall I think the Xbox One X is on a completely higher tiered level to the original Xbox One. Kudos Microsoft for squeezing so much performance out of such a dense little box.

Good Internet

My current Internet download and upload is 100Mbps and 40Mbps respectively (again I am fortunate enough to be able to have fibre connected directly to my house). I also do not have a data cap. Both of these (speed and data) are extremely important when considering the Xbox One X. The game updates to handle the 4K assets, etc. are massive (some games nearly double in size). So if  you have slow Internet download speeds or have a relatively small data cap then it will seriously hamper your ability to play the recently updated Xbox One X Enhanced games. From what I can tell there is no way to not download these updates if you have an Xbox One X console.

I did notice that downloading titles on the Xbox One X seemed slower than on the original Xbox One. I am on the Alpha Insider Preview ring so there may be some OS issues, but other people I have talked who are not Xbox Insiders pretty much agree that their downloads seem to be going slower on the new console. I’ll be keeping an eye on this and if it persists then I may have to have a little chat with the Microsoft Support team or raise an issue.

Storage Space

Along with these large downloads to support the 4K assets comes the need for more storage space. This is one area I think Microsoft needed to do a little better. A 1TB internal storage device is not nearly enough to support all the new Xbox One X Enhanced games that a gamer could potentially have. My internal HDD is near capacity with all the updates my games have received recently (I only have 75GB left). I do have an external HDD but may need to consider purchasing another. So do invest in another storage device to ensure that you do not run out of space.

Final Thoughts

Who is this Xbox One X console for? Well due to the high price tag I don’t imagine it is for the casual gamer, or someone who is not interested in playing the latest games at the highest fidelity possible on a console; for that I would suggest the Xbox One S. The individual who would buy this console would be one of these I believe:

  1. Looking to buy a new console where money is not a purchasing factor.
  2. Looking to upgrade your old or original console where money is not a purchasing factor.
  3. Looking to upgrade your old or original console to play the latest games at the highest console fidelity possible.

Do you need a 4K/HDR supported TV to enjoy the Xbox One X? Absolutely not. I don’t have one and I am having a blast; everything looks amazing and the games play better than before. There is a noticeable difference even in 1080p 🙂

Do you need a good Internet to use the Xbox One X? Unfortunately I believe yes. I cannot see in the settings anywhere to disable 4K updates if you don’t have a 4K TV. Downloads could take an extremely long time and you may hit your data cap if you have one. This is one of the downside of 4K gaming.

If someone off the street right now asked me, “Would I recommend the Xbox One X?” I would say “yes” in a heart beat with no hesitation. I would tell them that they don’t need 4K or HDR to experience what the Xbox One X offers, I would even mention to be mindful of the download sizes for game updates.

I don’t give technology a numbered rating but if I had to give one to the Xbox One X, it would easily be a 9.5/10. I cannot fault Microsoft for the product that they have built.

Kudos Microsoft.

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