Xbox first party titles expected to hit $80 USD this holiday; Game Pass pricing currently unchanged.

  • porthos@startrek.website
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    3 months ago

    Game Pass pricing currently unchanged.

    That is because the job of Game Pass isn’t to make money, it is to funnel customers into subscription services and destroy the idea that people buy games from artists.

    Game Pass either succeeds and destroys the gaming industry like spotify did to music or Microsoft will abandon Game Pass.

    • ampersandrew@lemmy.worldOP
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      3 months ago

      They’ve already plateaued and basically admitted to it. It’s a large revenue stream that’s not as large as they thought it would be, so now they’re going to coast with it and rely on just being a massive publisher instead.

    • BlameTheAntifa@lemmy.world
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      3 months ago

      GamePass used to be such a good value, but it’s gotten so overpriced. I’d rather keep the money and spend it on a few games a year I get to keep. Plus, not being available on Linux and/or Steam Deck makes it easier to ignore. Never going back to Windows.

    • simple@lemm.ee
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      3 months ago

      Correction: It is to make money, but the goal is to get people to subscribe now then jack up the prices once people start relying on it.

    • Blackmist@feddit.uk
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      3 months ago

      People never bought music from artists.

      They bought it from record labels.

      Whenever you see an artist complain they had a million streams and made twenty dollars, it’s not Spotify that’s keeping it all.

    • Appoxo@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      3 months ago

      “Artists” lol.
      The ratio is 100:1 (1 being an actual artist or a studio still enacting on this believe)

    • pulido@lemmings.world
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      3 months ago

      It’s happening across the board at every industry.

      Rather than try to appeal to a larger audience, they’ve found it’s more profitable to take greater advantage of an ever-shrinking pool of saps.

      Mark my words, they legitimately don’t want the business of people with standards or self-respect. They want to cultivate communities where the only participants are Stockholm Syndrome victims and their abusers.

    • jjjalljs@ttrpg.network
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      3 months ago

      Renting games and music seems like a bad idea to me, but I am in the minority. Buy a new album once a month for $8, after a year I have 12 albums. Pay that to spotify and I have nothing.

      Gamepass is priced more aggressively at $12/mo, but I assume it’s a loss so they can eventually raise prices. Even so, if I buy a new somewhat discounted game for $36 every three months, after a year I have four games. With gamepass, I’m pretty sure I end up with nothing.

      But I don’t think humans are known for long term thinking.

    • PanArab@lemm.ee
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      3 months ago

      I pretty much switched to the Steam Deck, but I still have a backlog of games on Xbox that I may end up with one or two last Xboxes if my Series S dies for any reason. Hopefully it lives long enough that I don’t have to get a new Xbox sometime in the future.

    • Appoxo@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      3 months ago

      I didnt know Linux manufactured solid controllers. Can you link me one? /s

      Like for real: Xbox Controllers are actually good.

        • PraiseTheSoup@lemm.ee
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          3 months ago

          Said features are mostly gimmicks, and quite frankly the symmetrical stick placement is uncomfortable and outdated by nearly 20 years. Even my $40 8bitdo controller I use for my Switch feels more premium than a $80 PS5 controller. In every other case be it PC, android, or Xbox I am going with the Xbox controller.

          • demonsword@lemmy.world
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            2 months ago

            and quite frankly the symmetrical stick placement is uncomfortable and outdated by nearly 20 years

            sorry but I have to disagree, it’s so much more comfortable than the mismatched sticks other controllers have

            fuck Sony BTW, they patented said symmetrical stick placement and the world is worse off because of this

          • AnimalsDream@slrpnk.net
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            3 months ago

            I prefer the symmetrical sticks, calling it outdated is just cult of inevitable progress vibes. Also the touchpad is hardly a gimmick when we’re talking about PC as a gaming platform. If anything a touchpad should become standard on all controllers.

            My biggest complaints with the dualsense controller is that the shape of it starts to feel uncomfortable after long game sessions, the ds4 was better. Also the dpad sucks.

          • sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works
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            3 months ago

            Idk, gyro aiming is pretty sweet.

            I’m also not a fan of the symmetrical sticks, but it doesn’t bother me a ton, and having gyro aiming as an option is a big value add. I definitely don’t pay full price though, I’ll only pick it up on sale.

      • Jakeroxs@sh.itjust.works
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        3 months ago

        Wish I could agree, but the consistently broken bumpers really irritate me.

        I have gone through probably 20ish Xbox controllers, the 360 controllers were the most durable (except the stick rubber bit) whereas the core and series controllers and even my elite 2 controllers have all had the bumpers break or otherwise stop functioning.

        I replaces the bumpers several times manually, then with the elite 2 they changed the design but now it breaks at the actual button instead of the flimsy plastic piece like on the core/series controllers.

        Luckily putting some ISO on the button and throughly cleaning it along with sticking a small piece of paper near the actuator seems to have fixed it for several months.

        I would love a solid controller with Xbox style layout (particularly the thumbsticks) replaceable sticks and 4 back paddles. I think the Playstation TouchPad would also be a welcome addition for PC navigation or steam input mapping.

        • PraiseTheSoup@lemm.ee
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          3 months ago

          20 controllers bro you have a problem and it’s not the controllers. My original Xbox 360 controllers from 2006 still work. My original Xbox one controller still works. My series x launch controller from 2020 still works. And I play dark souls. You have some other issues to sort out.

          • Jakeroxs@sh.itjust.works
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            3 months ago

            I blame Skyrim/Fallout and Dark Souls/ER, so much bumper pressing in those games.

            I also use them A LOT, even being a PC gamer lol if it supports controller, that’s how I’m playing it.

            I do think where I comfortably press it probably has to do with it.

            If you think I’m like throwing them around or doing crazy stuff like that, I don’t haha.

            Edit: If you look online, it’s very common for the bumpers to fail

            • cabb@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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              3 months ago

              You’ve probably tried this but in case you haven’t: try putting isopropyl alcohol in the gaps around the bumpers, it can clean the contacts and make the bumpers work again.

              But yeah I’ve also has a ton of first party xbox controllers fail on me, although usually its the left stick or right trigger (I mostly play rocket league which abuses both) and was mostly the xbox one controllers so I’ve switched to more durable 3rd party controllers.

              • Jakeroxs@sh.itjust.works
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                3 months ago

                Ha yeah, that’s how I got the elites functional again, took it apart and did it directly at the button, so far so good after several months.

                The Xbox one/core controllers though it was usually part of the thin plastic bit that connects the bumpers (it’s all one piece for some reason…)

  • unknown1234_5@kbin.earth
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    3 months ago

    if anyone was looking for a good time to switch to PC, it’s now. some stuff will be harder but you’ll have steam sales and control over your own device (more than a console anyway, if your running windows you’ll still have to put up with Microsoft).

    • Jyrdano@lemmy.world
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      3 months ago

      I have Win11 at work and its frustrating as hell. Definitely switching over to linux when I decide to buy a new pc

    • ximtor@lemm.ee
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      3 months ago

      if your running windows you’ll still have to put up with Microsoft

      Luckily, there is another choice. Linux runs pretty smooth and has gotten much simpler to use over the years.

    • PaleRider@feddit.uk
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      3 months ago

      Yeah, I’ve been an xnbox user since 360 but I don’t think I’ll stick with another console.

      I’ve been looking at handheld PC`s…

  • B0NK3RS@lemmy.world
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    3 months ago

    There has always been an inherent value to consoles but if that goes away then I can genuinely see them dying off. Personally I thinks the current gen is a huge disappointment anyway and this news just makes it even more ridiculous.

    • samus12345@lemm.ee
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      3 months ago

      I’ve always been a console peasant for the convenience of having a dedicated gaming device hooked up to the TV that uses a controller as well as the ability to trade in games when I’m done with them, not to mention consoles are cheaper than comparable PCs. I do have a decent PC, but I find I rarely play through entire games when I have to sit at a desk to do so. With digital games looking like the only game in town in the future and consoles being walled gardens with no other places to buy games for them, that cost advantage will be gone and it will be cheaper in the long run to pay more up front for a PC and get games for less. I got a Steam Deck recently, and it’s been a great showcase for how a PC hooked up to the TV using only a controller can work. I had no idea Steam had such a robust system for remapping controllers and have been able to play games with them that would have been a huge hassle before.

      If Sony does away with physical games like Nintendo is come the PS6, I’m definitely switching to PC gaming.

      • B0NK3RS@lemmy.world
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        3 months ago

        To be fair PC gaming is a whole different monster to deal with because of the extortionate prices of new hardware and extreme consumerism.

        I just want to play games and not be a target for all these companies :/

        • samus12345@lemm.ee
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          3 months ago

          Considering consoles no longer go down in price and are even getting price hikes, not to mention mid-gen refreshes like the PS4 and PS5 Pro, I’d argue they’re no less susceptible to “extreme consumerism.” PCs do require more effort and research to get what you want at a price that makes sense, that’s true, but you don’t have to have the latest bleeding edge tech for everything, especially if you’re okay with running games at 1080p and 60fps like I am.

          The lack of alternative places to buy games for consoles used to be mitigated by the second hand market. Without it, console games are just going to be too damn expensive for me, especially considering they’re nothing more than data. There is no reason they should cost this much other than pure greed.

  • PanArab@lemm.ee
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    3 months ago

    Even though I stopped buying new games on Xbox for sometime now, numerous reasons to boycott Microsoft I’m sure you have yours too. There is still probably another Xbox console or two in my life due to the over 300 game digital library I have accumulated over three generations due to Xbox Live Gold and Microsoft Rewards.

  • Scotty_Trees@lemmy.world
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    3 months ago

    I still use my Xbox One to play some Battlefield games. But I’m never buying a new console ever again. Fuck Microsfot. Fuck Sony. And you know what Nintendo fuck you too. Price gouging, greedy fucks the lot of them. PC+emulators is now the way to go, fuck all these greedy companies.

  • chunes@lemmy.world
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    3 months ago

    Old games are better anyway. Covid knocks off two IQ points every time you catch it, and it shows in the quality of software these days.

  • commander@lemmy.world
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    3 months ago

    Microsoft may as well just cancel their whole Xbox hardware business. Xbox Series is a secondary market for Microsoft games after PlayStation and any console successor they release is going to limp to the starting line. At least the XSX had hype from the Bethesda acquisition and previous Obsidian/Inxile/etc acquisitions

    Really we all need a Steam Deck 2 and a stronger Valve produced Strix Halo mini-PC

    • ampersandrew@lemmy.worldOP
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      3 months ago

      It’s looking like the Xbox will stick around as a cheap entry point into Game Pass and the games that Microsoft publishes themselves. Yes, I know, it’s not as cheap as it used to be, but still fairly capable for a game machine at that price. The Steam mini PC is likely on its way. A couple of months back, there were leaks of the new Steam controller that leaked on their way to be mass produced after finalizing the design, so they’d probably accompany the living room machine. In the meantime, I have a mini PC running Bazzite that’s been awesome, but with tariffs in the US, you won’t be able to get the same performance per dollar that I got.

      • PanArab@lemm.ee
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        3 months ago

        Xbox will stick around as a cheap entry point into Game Pass

        Not after these price increases

    • bennel@lemmy.world
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      3 months ago

      The difference is: Microsoft and Sony 1st party titles go on sale and eventually come down in price over time.

      Nintendo first party titles are always full price, even for 5 year old games.

      • PieMePlenty@lemmy.world
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        3 months ago

        Yup. The reality, while shitty, Microsoft still publishes games on multiple platforms (2 at minimum - PC and xbox). On PC, the games are sold on multiple storefronts with varying discounts and sales. Oblivion remastered just launched with a 17% discount on another store on PC for example.

        Nintendo has a complete monopoly on the platform they publish for and completely control the prices.

        For me, all these price increases are doing is moving me more towards PC. And to a larger degree off AAA titles all together.

        • missingno@fedia.io
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          3 months ago

          Every game that has a physical release (and even some that don’t) does get sold by other retailers, and those retailers do regularly have sales.

      • missingno@fedia.io
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        3 months ago

        The discounts usually aren’t too steep, but games do go on sale periodically. DekuDeals is a fantastic resource for price tracking.

        • bennel@lemmy.world
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          3 months ago

          That’s fair… But the point I was more trying to make is that Breath of the Wild, an 8 year old game that has a sequel out, is currently full price. It went on sale earlier this year for 40% off.

          40% off a $70, 8 year old game is very different than 40% off an 8 year old game that was selling at $40-$50 without a sale.

  • pinball_wizard@lemmy.zip
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    3 months ago

    I wonder if the price increase will be spent on making a chart that tells me which XBox is which?

    I don’t know exactly when I got old, but I feel angry every time Xbox reminds me that I’m too old to know which is which.

    • lustyargonian@lemm.ee
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      3 months ago

      “Fortunately we have a product for people who aren’t able to get some cash for our console, it’s called xCloud”

  • simple@lemm.ee
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    3 months ago

    Well, that settles it. $80 games is going to be the new standard and Sony will quickly trail along. Oh well, nothing much has changed for patient gamers.

    • UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world
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      3 months ago

      $80 on release day. $60 a month later. $40 a year later. $20 a year after that.

      What you’re paying for isn’t the game, its the hype. An enormous component of a modern AAA game’s budget is just advertising. That’s what your $80 is going towards. You’re paying to have people tell you to buy it.

      Even assuming you don’t feel like pirating… Just be patient, play something that came out a few years ago, wait for the next Steam Sale, and own the game for pennies on the dollar.

    • slimerancher@lemmy.world
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      3 months ago

      Yeah, buy most games at half price or less, fully patched up and with all the DLCs. Such a joy!

    • pulido@lemmings.world
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      3 months ago

      Oh well, nothing much has changed for patient gamers.

      Aye. I wait until games are finished before torrenting them.

      Feels good being off the consumer bandwagon. Games are coming out faster than I can beat the ones that came out years ago. I have enough digital entertainment for the rest of my life without ever having to spend a dime.