Rumour is Microsoft culled the physical division

[Ambrose Burnside]

So how would you feel if XBox, as the rumours persist, go full third party, become more Steam-like (including making some niche hardware like a handheld and/or branded PC) and all of the previously exclusive XBox first party goes to Playstation - Gears, Halo, Forza, etc.?

My impression is MS want to go in that direction full bore and good-guy Phil is there with his hand on the tap, reading his community and reactively adjusting pressure as required.

I don't like it, ideally I'd want a strong Xbox console keeping Sony honest. Xbox 360/PS3 generation was the best generation. Unfortunately Microsoft learned absolutely nothing from that generation and here we are

I'm always about competition. I have about 10 storefronts on my PC

[Madmya]

10 storefronts? That's just ridiculous. I'm not criticising you, but it just sucks that your library has to be so fragmented.

Are you able to organise your games so you don't have to remember which storefront you've bought everything from?

[Peppermint Lounge]

I use Steam, GOG, Ubisoft, EA, Epic, Rockstar, Xbox, Battlenet. It doesn't feel fragmented - it's all PC. You just start the relevant storefront prior to running the game you want to play. GOG lets you install and run games standalone without the launcher. Some launchers integrate with others eg: XBox now lets you run Activision/Blizzard (Battlenet), EA and Ubisoft storefront games from the XBox app.

[Rorschach]

Having multiple storefronts isn't great but since it's all on the one box its not a huge deal. I stopped using EA and Ubisoft as most of my wants are serviced between Steam, GOG and Game Pass now. Be a shame to see MS bow out of hardware but the Xbox One was a misstep they never really recovered from. Its a shame because the Series X is basically the perfect console.

[Peppermint Lounge]

Playstation appears to be advancing their PC integration too. Ghosts of Tsushima is going to launch on PC with a new Playstation overlay and Trophy support. Up until now Playstation PC game achievements are delivered via the store platform. Not sure if the overlay might evolve to an optional full PC Playstation client/storefront but I suspect it probably will.

[Madmya]

I was more referring to browsing your library to find a game to play, rather than playing a specific game already in mind. You have to go through all of them, and if you've got ten.. shit I'll forget about more than one of them.

I wonder how many PC games I own that I have no idea about.

[Rorschach]

I used to have a shit tonne installed but it made no sense, was playing any of them. I now try to limit myself to 10 and work down. Finished Persona 5 Royal the other day. Working my way through MGSV, trying to make a dent in the backlog. But you're right, I have a lot of games I bought and then simply forgot about.

[Peppermint Lounge]

MGSV is golden. I put over 200 hours into it. Reading its name again makes me want to revisit it. I was about to start Persona 5 on PS3. I've been meaning to play a Persona game for years.

[Ambrose Burnside]

I was more referring to browsing your library to find a game to play, rather than playing a specific game already in mind. You have to go through all of them, and if you've got ten.. shit I'll forget about more than one of them.

I wonder how many PC games I own that I have no idea about.

I absolutely forget what I own, but that's mainly because of the 1.63 billion free games I've claimed over the years, rather than the storefront.

[Ambrose Burnside]

Also, good guys Microsoft shutting down a bunch of studios again

[Madmya]

I forget what Xbox games I own.

I more meant games that are from storefronts that I don't even remember. You've got ten of them!

[Ambrose Burnside]

Ugh had a whole reply here but the forum shat itself.

But basically it's not that big a deal cos most storefronts are publisher-specific, so if it's a Far Cry game, I know it'll be the Ubisoft store.

Ubisoft games are also on Steam, so I don't mind it. Wherever something that takes my fancy is cheaper, I'll grab it from there.

[Madmya]

But that's only because you've got Far Cry in mind, what if you don't have a specific game in mind - you're just browsing the storefronts you remember. Anyway, it's a bit of a first world problem. It'd be nice if there was a third party program that could access all of your storefronts.

[Peppermint Lounge]

GOG Galaxy provides access to your alt storefront libraries. You can group installed games across multiple storefronts together, search, etc. Some of the integrations are a bit hit and miss though. There's also Playnite but I've not tried it.

[Madmya]

GOG Galaxy provides access to your alt storefront libraries. You can group installed games across multiple storefronts together, search, etc. Some of the integrations are a bit hit and miss though. There's also Playnite but I've not tried it.

Will look into it

[unfnknblvbl]

Just gonna gently remind y'all that this is one huge advantage that consoles have over PCs, and it's one thing that Microsoft are talking about taking away from the console experience.

It's bad enough that Rockstar games want me to sign into the social club on a console, I can't wait to have to launch the game from the Rockstar Launcher on my Nextbox.

[Ambrose Burnside]

I think if you grew up with consoles as your primary gaming device in the 80s/90s or whatever then you have a very different perspective on walled gardens than if you grew up with PCs.

I've always had both but have always considered myself PC first, and the idea of being locked into a single ecosystem repels me philosophically.

I get the good old days of consoles where you could get a cart or disc, whack it in, and it'll work (RIP), but for me I always look back to the good old days of PC where you had shareware games, games would be built from the ground up for mod support, ISPs would host multiplayer servers (RIP), and a single place to source your games and mods is the complete antithesis to that experience.

Consoles are becoming more and more PC-like (hell, they even support mods now) and PCs are becoming more and more console-like in their ease of use. Microsoft may be pushing that harder than anyone but there's very little difference in the experience of downloading a game from PSN and playing it with your Dual Sense controller, and downloading a game from Steam and ... playing it with your Dual Sense controller.

[Madmya]

Yep yep.

And Nintendo will largely be immune to this since they have so many amazing first party titles.

Maybe this will be an opportunity for a Sega comeback.

/dreamin'

[Rorschach]

I remember thinking having a hard drive like PC would be a game changer for console gaming when the 360 made it's push for it. The day the 360 went from Blades to the launcher and you could download and install games was a novelty as I never had my own PC growing up. I don't mind that there are games and store fronts but what really bothers me is the always on nature of games now - if I didn't have my internet connection I'd be fucked.

I'm glad Nintendo have resisted this trend, largely, and of all the next generation consoles coming, the Switch 2 is the only one that excites me at the moment. I wish to God they would do a re-release of 90/00s hardware with physical media. There are that many Chinese OEMs now showing it can be done for not a lot of outlay. Hoping Sega releases a handheld Dreamcast one day. Of all the consoles I miss that one the most.

[unfnknblvbl]

The Analogue, inc. machines have been great. I'm honestly shocked that Sega at least haven't partnered with them.