I would agree that Sony and Microsoft should hold off on their next-gen offerings if I didn’t think that we might be heading into an economic depression. If that happens, November 2021 might look even worse than November 1929. I think it’s better for Sony and Microsoft to sell what they can as soon as they can.

They definitely were. Perhaps the best example of it regarding the GameCube was Resident Evil 4. There was a clear graphical downgrade from the GameCube version to the PS2 version.

Yeah, I’m not picky about where a PC game is from either. I never really got the brouhaha over Epic Games Store exclusivity. I mean, it’s not like I’m having to buy a new PC in order to access that store. It’s right there on my desktop with Steam, Origin, Uplay, and GOG. Console exclusivity is WAY more annoying.

For me physical’s (very real) advantages are overridden by the simple fact that I don’t want more physical objects in my life. They’re a burden and weigh me down. I need less plastic, not more.

You misunderstood what I was saying. I wasn’t saying that story-driven games have disappeared. I specified in parentheses that Mass Effect: Andromeda and Shadow of the Tomb Raider were effectively killed so that Anthem and that upcoming Avengers game could exist. Here’s what happened if you aren’t familiar:

I look at Destiny 2 and games like it as nothingburger experiences from a narrative standpoint. The only things that matter are the play mechanics (which are admittedly good) and maintaining the game as a service to keep that sweet revenue train going. Story? Character development? World building? Like you said, it’s…

I think the point — for me at least — is that we should be able to see when a game is leaving way before it gets to the “Leaving Soon” stage. In fact, I think it would be good if we were able to see when a game is leaving Game Pass from the moment it gets added to it.

Game Pass is a great service overall, but this kind of unreliability annoys me. I think there needs to be a rule that any game coming onto Game Pass will stay on there for at least one year.

I think the advent of 4K has crippled the evolutionary prospects for gaming in this upcoming generation. Imagine if you will that the mid-cycle refresh (which was focused on 4K gaming) never happened and that these 10.28 and 12 teraflop consoles from Sony and Microsoft respectively were going to be focused on 1080p.…

Now that the Xbox Series S (a next gen console focused on 1080p and possibly 1440p gaming) has been softly confirmed by controller packaging, I think Microsoft may have a winner on its hands even without a stellar launch lineup. I expect the Series S to be priced at $300, and that’s a very sweet spot for a brand new…

It’s pretty much down to The Medium at this point, and that’s only a timed exclusive. They’re going to have to shift some of those Halo Infinite marketing dollars over to it. The Medium is the only Xbox Series X launch title I can think of that really looks next gen (because two worlds are being rendered…

I haven’t kept up with PlayStation Now. Looks like it’s changed quite a bit. It was kind of a joke just a few years ago with its absurd rental offerings, but now it’s looking at least somewhat similar to Game Pass (though they really should allow game downloads on PC). But one major advantage that Game Pass has over…

With so many people out of work and a worldwide economic depression being a frightening possibility, both Sony and Microsoft are probably having a hard time figuring out how to price their consoles. I imagine this is especially true for Sony since they don’t have Game Pass to make up the difference if they price the…

For me, I think it has to be ‘Vigil’ from Mass Effect. It beautifully set the tone for such an immersive space opera. It conveyed a sense of grandeur and mystery simultaneously, with the slow and contemplative nature of it perfectly matching the deep mystery the player was about to unravel in the game itself.

The only thing I can figure is that it might be a weird compatibility issue with Intel CPUs. (I have a Ryzen 5 3600 in my PC.)

I’m baffled too, because my GTX 1660 (no Ti) is handling it just fine at 1080p with Ultimate settings in place. What CPU and RAM do you have?

Maybe I just got lucky, but for me the game runs almost flawlessly (just a few minor hiccups that I’ve noticed) at 1080p with Ultimate graphics settings in place. (My PC is a Ryzen 5 3600 PC with a GTX 1660 graphics card and 16 GB of 3000 MHz DDR4 RAM.)

So many great indie games on Game Pass. In addition to the ones you mentioned, you’ve got A Plague Tale: Innocence, Gris, Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night, Dead Cells, Guacamelee! 2, The Turing Test, Observation, and who knows how many others.

I’ll finally have a chance to play Horizon Zero Dawn. I have it pre-purchased on Steam. There were obviously some big PS4 exclusives I missed by not buying that a PS4, and Horizon was one of the biggest.

That includes pushing the bunk idea that plastic bags are more sanitary in an effort to get states and cities to roll back or at least delay bag bans.