Xbox and Larian Co-Op Solution is to Drop Co-Op

Baldur’s Gate 3 will be coming to Xbox this year, with split-screen removed for Series S by Chris Scullion for VGC

“Super happy to confirm that after meeting Phil Spencer yesterday, we’ve found a solution that allows us to bring Baldur’s Gate 3 to Xbox players this year still, something we’ve been working towards for quite some time. All improvements will be there, with split-screen co-op on Series X. Series S will not feature split-screen co-op, but will also include cross-save progression between Steam and Xbox Series.”

Said solution mentioned yesterday was to remove functionality. I’m sure the Venn diagram of Xbox Series S owners who want to play Baldur’s Gate 3 with local split-screen doesn’t exist. I wonder if this is a green light for devs to just drop gameplay to support Series S better or if this is a case by case situation.

Phil Spencer, Founder of the Modern Day Mid-Gen Refresh, Thinks Mid-Gen Refreshes Cause “A Bunch of Issues”

The definitive Xbox Gamescom interview by Tom Phillips for Eurogamer via VGC

“As soon as you start doing mid-gen refreshes, you’ve got a bunch of issues in front of developers, on what platform they target…”

I’m sure that isn’t an issue now with Series S and X…

From IGN in February:

In a statement to IGN, Larian Studios clarified the situation, saying the studio is “planning to release Baldur’s Gate 3 for PC, Mac, GeForce NOW and PS5.” An Xbox version is in development, but Larian Studios has struggled to get splitscreen co-op working on Xbox Series X|S, causing it to delay an official announcement.

Credit where it is due though, Phil does address Baldur’s Gate 3.

On S, specifically, we designed the box with similarities to X, and clear places where we’re targeting a different performance. And we’re taking feedback from devs including Larian, I met with them today to talk about it and I’m confident we’re going to find a good solution and we’re going to learn.

I don’t see a world where we drop S. In terms of parity, I don’t think you’ve heard from us or Larian, that this was about parity. I think that’s more that the community is talking about it.

Microsoft wants to have their ecosystem on servers and in the cloud. Then this parity issue goes away. Except for the parity of internet connections, screens played on, control interfaces… 🤔

Phil Spencer Wonders how Xbox can Preserve Digital-Only 360 Games After Announcing Closure of 360 Digital Store

The definitive Xbox Gamescom interview by Tom Phillips for Eurogamer via VGC

There’s a list of, what 220 games that are not back compat, and I have that list and I’ve got it stapled on my forehead, and like, how can we make sure [you can play them still?] How many of those are on PC? That’s one thing, because it doesn’t necessarily mean you need to be able to play it on the existing hardware that you bought 15 years ago, but preservation is front and centre when all these decisions are made. I will say for us that preservation that’s linked to only one piece of hardware is a challenge. Because there can be hardware love as well – people who love and want this device to do this forever – but mechanical things will break over time. But that’s why we gave people with this decision a year. Let’s say ‘hey, if you want to go buy things in the 360 store, we’re going to give you a year headstart, and you can go get those things’. And just know that the list of the 220 games is something that we see, and we would love to find solutions for those games to continue to play.

Xbox 360 Digital Store Shutting Down Next Summer

The Xbox 360 Store Will Close July 2024, But You Can Keep Playing Your Favorite Games by Dave McCarthy, CVP Xbox Player Services, for Xbox Wire via VGC

On July 29, 2024, Xbox will stop supporting the ability to purchase new games, DLC, and other entertainment content from the Xbox 360 Store on the console and the Xbox 360 Marketplace (marketplace.xbox.com)

I just bought Castlevania: Mirror of Fate HD the other week so I could play it at 4K for Chapter Select. So many games will become inaccessible to new players. I wish Xbox would flip a sitch and just enable backward compatibility for all physical games, but that will never happen. Xbox stopped adding to the program two years ago.

For as much as Xbox touts accessibility of titles through xCloud, they are done making sure digital games from 360 are up for grabs. I get that maintaining these servers have a cost and add to security vulnerabilities–it’s why Sony wanted to nix the PS3 and Vita shops in 2021, but they reversed that decision. The Wii U and 3DS weren’t so lucky.

But this is Microsoft we are talking about. The company that still has elements of Windows 3.1 in Windows 11. That’s 30-year-old software.

Semi-related side note: Why the heck can’t owners of the physical version of Rare Replay download and use the new port of GoldenEye 007? Totally ridiculous. They use discs as keys for backward compatibility. Why can’t the same be done here?

Halo’s Slipspace Engine is being Swapped

Microsoft Studio Behind Halo Faces a Reboot on Years of Turmoil by Jason Schreier for Bloomberg via The Verge

Chief among them is a pivot to a new gaming engine, the suite of tools and technology used to make video games. The studio’s own engine, known publicly as Slipspace, has been one of the biggest points of contention over the past two decades. Based largely on old code from the 1990s and early 2000s, it’s buggy and difficult to use and has been the source of headaches for some developers on Halo Infinite, people familiar with the development said. Several multiplayer modes that are nearly finished, such as Extraction and Assault, both popular in previous Halo games, have yet to be released in part because of issues involving the engine, they said.

…it wasn’t until late last year, when previous studio head Bonnie Ross and engine lead David Berger departed and Pierre Hintze took over, that the firm finally decided to pivot to Unreal. This switch will start with a new game code-named Tatanka

RIP to the dopest game engine name out there.

I was surprised to read Slipspace is based of code from 20 years ago. Quick searching on Halopedia indicates that Slipspace entered development in 2015~2018, but is derived off Bungie’s older Blam engine. That entered development in 1997, so that’s where the cruft lies.

Unreal started development in 1995.

I’ll never forget the public name reveal of the Slipspace engine and Halo Infinite. What a shame that game was in such disarray. I still haven’t played the campaign, due to the lack of co-op at launch. I think it’s fixed now, but it feels too late now.

Splinter Cell Conviction is being Delisted on Xbox

Microsoft announces plans to delist various games from the Xbox 360 marketplace by Tom Ivan for Video Games Chronicle

Microsoft has announced plans to delist various games and associated DLC from the Xbox 360 marketplace next month…

…Removals will begin on February 7, 2023. Microsoft also noted that once purchased, players can always redownload games from their Xbox 360 Download History.

This is why I stand by purchasing my games physically. At least Microsoft is keeping downloads available for those that have bought the games. For now.

Splinter Cell Conviction is sublime action-stealth. The black and white visuals combined with the mark and execute commands created a bodacious game.

Other notable games I see are the Left 4 Dead games, Limbo, Peggle 2, Dark Souls Spelunky, and The Orange Box.

Xbox’s Game Awards No-Show Is a Slap in the Face to Players – IGN

Xbox’s Game Awards No-Show Is a Slap in the Face to Players by Ryan McCaffery for IGN

It’s a bad sign when there were more Muppets at The Game Awards than Xbox world premieres. As someone who’s been playing and covering Xbox for 20 years, I’m not sure I’ve ever been more baffled by the console-maker’s decision-making. I tweeted my frustration as soon as the industry’s glitziest event of the year came to its awkward end, and if the hundreds of responses to that tweet told me anything, it’s that this was no hot take. How could it be? Microsoft literally showed nothing for the year to come, despite promising us a huge 2023 at last summer’s Xbox Showcase.

In June last year I foolishly declared the years-long exclusives drought over ahead of Microsoft’s fantastic Fall 2021. In hindsight, that period has been an exception rather than the new rule. Xbox fans suffered through an exceptionally dry year (shout-out to Obsidian’s fantastic, if niche, Pentiment, though!) and also had to watch PlayStation exclusives delight PS5 owners at The Game Awards all night long, from Forspoken to Final Fantasy XVI to Death Stranding 2.

Microsoft may have the defacto subscription service, but without their own new exclusives to beef up said catalog, what to fans have to look forward to? I haven’t touched my Xbox since we played Banjo-Kazooie for Chapter Select earlier this year. I wish that wasn’t the case.

xCloud is Coming to Xbox One

Xbox Unveils its Biggest Exclusive Games Lineup Ever by Will Tuttle for Xbox Wire via Tom Warren at The Verge

For the millions of people who play on Xbox One consoles today, we are looking forward to sharing more about how we will bring many of these next-gen games, such as Microsoft Flight Simulator, to your console through Xbox Cloud Gaming, just like we do with mobile devices, tablets, and browsers.

Yours truly with my own 2021 predictions:

I think Microsoft will announce that an xCloud app will come to Xbox One consoles. Most likely the One S and One X, since they both can output 4K video. If my phone can “run” The Master Chief Collection, I think the One S and One X can stream some games. Not only would this technically mean that you can play these games on your older hardware, but it also helps bolster Game Pass Ultimate subscriptions, which is what Microsoft and Xbox really want their customers to sign up for.

And while talking about the cross-generation bottleneck in September 2020:

Xbox could and probably will back out of this two year promise with some games. It’s already had questions pop up around it. Frankly, I think Xbox needs to cut ties with hardware support for Xbox One and somehow transition those consoles (Xbox One S and One X specifically) to xCloud boxes. Then, their hardware cap is mostly removed freeing up developers.

Also in July 2020, when Phil Spencer said you were the future of gaming:

Speaking of xCloud, an official public launch window has finally been given. I wonder if older Xbox One consoles will support xCloud streaming. Say you own an OG Xbox One (like I do) and Halo Infinite runs below 1080p when natively installed. What if you could stream the 1080p version via xCloud? I know that the Xbox One S has 4K video output capabilities. Why not allow users to stream the native 4K version of Halo Infinite to their Xbox One S? Microsoft may lose the initial sale of the shiny new box, but they could be gaining a new monthly subscriber to Game Pass Ultimate. At $15 a month, that may seem like the more appealing choice to folks hesitant to upgrading their box, especially if it can run the newer games through streaming.

I do love it when I am right.

Cross-Generation Games are like Movies at the Theater

It’s vital Sony maintains its PlayStation 4 support | Opinion by Christopher Dring for GamesIndustry.biz

In reality, people will want the best version of these games. Spider-Man: Miles Morales is more popular on PS5 than PS4, and that will be true of Horizon: Frozen West, Gran Turismo 7 and God of War. It’s the difference between watching the new Marvel movie at the cinema compared to getting it on Disney Plus. The hardcore fans will want the big screen experience. But as the film industry also discovered during the pandemic, there’s a huge opportunity in the TV space.

I like this analogy. Movies have totally shifted in the last year, bringing the direct-to-digital future to living rooms sooner than big theater chains ever wanted. I certainly rented my fair share in the last year. Heck, Warner Bros. bringing their movies to HBO Max on day one made me keep my subscription.

And Dring is right about people wanting the best versions. Movie theaters are opening back up. People will buy the PS5 version of Spider-Man or God of War, if they can. They may even opt to wait until they get a PS5 to buy those games (or, as I’m sure Sony hopes, double dip).

I’ve always agreed that cross-generation support makes sense, as a business, especially with an install base of 120+ million PS4 consoles.

In the bloody confusing aftermath of the PlayStation 5 stream, Sony confirmed that Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales, Sackboy: A Big Adventure, and Horizon Forbidden West are also launching on PS4. After believing in generations it seems that Sony also believes in its PS4 install base.
It’s no secret that I have voiced concerns about Xbox’s own public promise to support cross generational support for its Xbox consoles. The wider the range of supported hardware, the more work it is for the developers and the more it can limit the upward potential of the game. Now Sony has promised three major first party titles are cross generational.
This is great (just like it is for Xbox) for those consumers that don’y want to or can’t upgrade to the next gen consoles. You aren’t left behind. Nintendo has done this before with popular Zelda titles. It is definitely a win for consumers.

I guess they should have just confirmed Gran Turismo 7 and God of War were cross-gen too.

My stance is firmly rooted in limited development potential. With such technological strides in next-gen with the SSDs, native 4K, and so on, developing games for nearly decade old hardware has to cut off forward progress and new, previously impossible ideas.

Colin Moriarty pointed out yesterday that the only first-party PS5 exclusive we know about is Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart and that is out in one week. Hopefully, E3 2021 changes that soon, but man that is weird for Sony to have all these games close to the chest after the open-book that was the PS4 catalog.

I’m starting to get a little whiplash from Sony talking out of both sides of their mouth. They need to communicate a clear message. If that message is “We are supporting PS4 and PS5,” then they ought to embrace it, clearly share which games will do that, and incentivize the upgrade to PS5 beyond being new and shiny. Eventually, first-party development will leave PS4 behind and wholly focus on PS5. Sony needs to be better about communicating when that change will happen.

The Cross-Generational Bottleneck: Cyberpunk Edition

Cyberpunk 2077 for Xbox One and PlayStation 4 Review by Destin Legaire for IGN

While I had just as much fun playing Cyberpunk 2077 on PC as Tom did playing for his review, on the base PlayStation 4 or Xbox One it is a different game entirely. It fails to hit even the lowest bar of technical quality one should expect even when playing on lower-end hardware. It performs so poorly that it makes combat, driving, and what is otherwise a master craft of storytelling legitimately difficult to look at. It is not an exaggeration to say that I’ve felt nauseated after playing because of the terrible frame rate. It really is that bad, and it’s very suspicious that CD Projekt Red refused to provide console review copies ahead of launch.

I’d say it is more than suspicious. It was downright intentional. They knew the state the console version of the game was in, deliberately showed PC-only footage, and took people’s money anyway. CD Projekt Red figured it would be easier to ask for forgiveness rather than permission.

Seeing is believing though.

This is the type of bottleneck I feared for cross-generational games. Cypberpunk 2077 “runs” on 11 different platforms (PS4, PS4 Pro, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox One S, Xbox One X, Xbox Series S, Xbox Series X, PC, and Stadia). From a business perspective, I understand wanting to launch on last generation consoles. There are 165+ million PS4 and Xbox One consoles out in the world. I think it is safe to say the vast majority of purchases this past week were for those platforms. CD Projekt Red spent a lot of goodwill this past week.

Halo Infinite is supposed to run on nine different consoles. I think Xbox will slowly kill off their cross-generation support by running out the clock for the promised two years of support. Sony may have made the right call by not promising all their games will be cross-generational and instead announcing them as they see fit.

I bought Cyberpunk for a couple of my friends for Christmas and now I’m starting to think coal would’ve been a better present.

– Logan Moore via Twitter

I was one of the friends. If he bought me coal, at least it’d work as intended. Thankfully, I can wait until the proper PS5 version is released in 2077.

Xbox Series X at First Blush

The next generation of console gaming has begun today with the Xbox Series X | S. I picked up my Series X this morning at Best Buy at 6:00 AM. Despite each customer requiring an appointment before 9:00 AM, Best Buy was not prepared for the 20+ folks that were there this morning. After buckling up and making it home, I was able to set up the Tower of Power before needing to start work. Here are some of my first impressions with the latest and most powerful from Microsoft.

The Console

It may not be as tall as the PS5, but the Series X was far more dense than I expected. It fits well next to my TV and I imagine once the new factor wears off, the console will just fade into the background in my mind.

The Controller

The matte black finish is much nicer to my eye than the Xbox One controller’s more glossy accents. I am curious how oils from my hands will look over the years. The textured grip feels great in my hands, although not as grippy as the rubber grips on Elite Series controllers. The nicest surprise is the D-Pad. Delightfully clicky and comfortable. I’ll have to test a 2D platformer for the accuracy, but it feels like a real treat.

Speed

Coming from an OG Xbox One, I cannot believe how fast the Series X boots. Gone are the 30~ second boot times from “Instant On” mode. Hello blink-of-an-eye start times.

Set-Up

Microsoft wants you to use the Xbox app to set up the console, so I did. The process is slick. While the console updates its firmware, you are logging in, establishing preferences, and deciding if you want to transfer games/info from an Xbox One. I did a clean set up and just downloaded the few games I wanted to play.

I do wish that the app allowed me to see the download status of the games. It simply shows what is installed, which left me to pop into the living room every couple hours to check the status of my installs. I also could not figure out some sort of rest mode, so I left the console on most of the day for the downloads to do their thing. Even though I left it on, the console was dead silent. I’m curious what it will sound like when running a game.

One fun tidbit is that the console identifies itself as “SCARLETT” to the network. A nice little easter egg to the product codename.

Games

The absence of Halo Infinite is a major blow. The only “new” game I am going to play is Tetris Effect Connected and that is simply adding 4K60 support and multiplayer. I am stoked to finally play Forza Horizon 4 for the first time. The updates to the Halo: Master Chief collection sound dope, but those will be released next week. As cool as the hardware side of a launch is, I am feeling an emptiness for games to play on the Series X. Thankfully, the PS5 and its launch lineup will fill that hole later this week.

Now it’s time to go play some games!

Next-Gen SSD Storage Options and Pricing

Best Buy went ahead and listed the custom 1TB SSD memory card for the Xbox Series consoles for pre-order at $219.99. The hardcore gamers will have to pay nearly half the console’s price (or nearly the whole console if buying a Xbox Series S) to double their storage. It’s a steep price to pay to manage your solid state drive less often.

Expanding the PS5 SSD storage is a different story. Mark Cerny revealed that users could expand the storage themselves with NVMe SSDs. The catch was, they’d have to wait until consumer NVMe SSDs caught up with the speed of the PS5’s own SSD. Cerny said that Sony would provide a list of recommended drives when they become available.

It sounds like Samsung’s NVMe M.2 drive that uses PCIe 4.0 has the speed, according to The Verge back in September 2020, with read/write speeds of 7,000MB/s and 5,000MB/s. Those particular drives have 250GB, 500GB, 1TB, and 2TB (the 2TB model is supposed to release later this year). Those are currently priced at $89.99, $149.99, $229.99, and the 2TB doesn’t have a price yet.

Leaving upgrades to the user definitely gives them more options, but can lead to confusion, especially if the installation is tricky. Swapping the PS4 or PS4 Pro hard drive was simple, but we have no idea how easy that will be on PS5. Xbox users can use traditional hard drives, if they are USB 3.1 or USB 3.2, but they will only run and play older games. Xbox Series console games and features require the custom SSD.

It reminds me of SD cards for cameras or the Nintendo Switch. I buy the size I want for the price I am willing to spend. 1TB SD cards run roughly $350~, but a 128GB micro SD card is roughly $20~ and is perfect for my Switch.

I could also see the cost of the NVMe drives going down sooner, since they serve a wider market. More competition to drive the prices down. The Xbox 1TB drive is currently made solely by Seagate and is a proprietary drive, which could lead to it keeping its current price for longer. Either way, upgrading the storage on these next-gen consoles is going to be a tough pill to swallow for the first year or two.