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videogameschronicle, “Xbox saves the summer with a solid showcase that channels the E3 of old”

ProtoByte

Weeb Underling
I actually prefer the multiplatform and third-party games that were showed in Sony's showcase.

Both showcases sucked in terms of 1st party (little gameplay and no proper release dates). Sony's was better in terms of third-party content. Really big franchises and gameplay were shown for many: Assassin's Creed, Alan Wake 2, Final Fnatasy, Metal Gear, Dragon's Dogma 2, Phantom Blade 0, Towers of Aghasba, Tower of Fantasy etc.

But this one is subjective. And it's totally fine if somebody prefers the third-parties from the XBox show.
PlayStation shouldn't have even bothered with a showcase. It was just a bunch of bullshit that nobody cares about, and an underwhelming misfire of a Spider-Man 2 showcase. They probably did it because they were contractually obliged to market on behalf of Final Fantasy XVI Trailers, Phantom Game Stock-Pump, and an assortment of other stuff that mostly didn't impress.
 

Ozriel

M$FT
The thing is none of those first parties look impressive. It's not just about "showing" as many games as possible for the sake of list warring. The games have to look good too.

Well, most people think they look good. Yours seems to be an outlier opinion.

It's only a matter of months before reality sets in and everybody is left wondering what's the next big thing for Xbox -- the very topic that a Showcase is supposed to address. Both PS and Xbox Showcases failed in that regard.

Did you miss the showcase?
In a matter of months, people will be preparing to play Starfield, then Forza next. Payday 3 and Cities 2 on Gamepass Ultimate. Two Persona games early next year.

Nobody’s wondering.
 

feynoob

Banned
  • No gameplay footage from the 2020 games we saw.
  • Still no updates on Perfect Dark, Contraband, Everwild, or State of Decay 3.
  • No big AAA surprise announcement.
  • No proper release date for Fable, Hellblade, South of the Midnight, Clockwork Revolution, or Avowed.
  • Avowed disappointed fans eagerly waiting.
  • Most importantly, we just had a Showcase that is supposed to show what the roadmap is. Do we know what's the next game releasing after Forza? Which one is it and when is it releasing? No.
How can it be a good showcase that "saved the Summer" when it did not even show the roadmap properly? It had the same issues that Sony's showcase had: little gameplay and little clarity on the roadmap.

Edit: Hurt fanboys leaving laughing and empathy emojis should instead try addressing my last bullet point 😄 Even they know deep down that they have no idea what's next lol.
All that matters was SP games.
Shit execution though.
 

GymWolf

Gold Member
The thing is none of those first parties look impressive. It's not just about "showing" as many games as possible for the sake of list warring. The games have to look good too.
Agree to disagree.

I haven't watched starfield yet but people seems very happy with it and they had a 45min video for it.

Fable looked at the very least interesting and if the graphic can come close to the trailer, it is gonna be the best looking game on the market.

Hellbalde showing was annoying but we know the type of game by now, at least we saw some actual nextgen graphic.

Forza looked good

Flight simulator looked good


Like i said, they didn't beated sony by much, but they definitely did.
 

Ozriel

M$FT
Just like Redfall, right? Lol

Most people didn’t think Redfall looked great at previous showings. So no, not like Redfall. But you already knew that.

If it's such an outlier, irrelevant opinion, one wonders why you feel the need to constantly surveil and respond to it.

One wonders why you’ve posted the same thing in every thread.

Actually no, I’m not wondering. I know why.
 

ProtoByte

Weeb Underling
Agree to disagree.

I haven't watched starfield yet but people seems very happy with it and they had a 45min video for it.

Fable looked at the very least interesting and if the graphic can come close to the trailer, it is gonna be the best looking game on the market.

Hellbalde showing was annoying but we know the type of game by now, at least we saw some actual nextgen graphic.

Forza looked good

Flight simulator looked good


Like i said, they didn't beated sony by much, but they definitely did.
Whether they beat Sony is besides the point in my mind. You can read my opinions on Sony's showcase a few posts above. Going anywhere beyond that, and I think people wind up losing perspective.

I do not take well to any positive reception of that particular Hellblade 2 trailer after years and years of the terms "cinematic", "third person/over the shoulder" assorted terms were made into pejoratives and lobbed around for fanboy and anti-fabvoys purposes. It also doesn't look good aesthetically. Next gen textures (still downgraded from what was shown in 2019, but I digress) only go so far if the aesthetic is poor, and/or the actual gameplay is nonexistent. Otherwise, we'd be counting Killzone Shadowfall or Infamous Second Son among the best of last gen.

Fable's best part was the monologue from Ayoade. I don't think they actually showed the game in any meaningful capacity, so I'm not sure what else is so interesting about it, but whatever. Not a negative, not a huge win or particularly indicative of anything. Also, by the time it comes out, you can bet it'll be 2025, and there will be plenty of other games that meet or exceed its visual fidelity from this trailer.

Probably going to get some salt flinged my way for saying this, but Flight Simulator doesn't matter. Forza is Forza, and continues a streak of racing games that are not even really doing their function of being graphical tech benchmarks and showcases.
 

ProtoByte

Weeb Underling
Most people didn’t think Redfall looked great at previous showings. So no, not like Redfall. But you already knew that.
You should put this forward for a master's degree in revisionism.

Actually no, I’m not wondering. I know why.
Yeah, because I'm not impressed by what I've seen. Sorry. If you're insinuating fanboyism or platform warring, refer to my post about Sony's presentation.
 

Wildebeest

Member
The thing is none of those first parties look impressive. It's not just about "showing" as many games as possible for the sake of list warring. The games have to look good too.
I think it was pleasing just to see a variety of artistic styles on display instead of the same high detail realism style everywhere. It was less fatiguing to watch, even if the trailers were not representative of gameplay and were not technically pushing limits not seen before. Looking impressive can be quite superficial.
 

Ozriel

M$FT
Whether they beat Sony is besides the point in my mind. You can read my opinions on Sony's showcase a few posts above. Going anywhere beyond that, and I think people wind up losing perspective.

I do not take well to any positive reception of that particular Hellblade 2 trailer after years and years of the terms "cinematic", "third person/over the shoulder" assorted terms were made into pejoratives and lobbed around for fanboy and anti-fabvoys purposes. It also doesn't look good aesthetically. Next gen textures (still downgraded from what was shown in 2019, but I digress) only go so far if the aesthetic is poor, and/or the actual gameplay is nonexistent. Otherwise, we'd be counting Killzone Shadowfall or Infamous Second Son among the best of last gen.

Fable's best part was the monologue from Ayoade. I don't think they actually showed the game in any meaningful capacity, so I'm not sure what else is so interesting about it, but whatever. Not a negative, not a huge win or particularly indicative of anything. Also, by the time it comes out, you can bet it'll be 2025, and there will be plenty of other games that meet or exceed its visual fidelity from this trailer.

Probably going to get some salt flinged my way for saying this, but Flight Simulator doesn't matter. Forza is Forza, and continues a streak of racing games that are not even really doing their function of being graphical tech benchmarks and showcases.

Your previous comment claimed the games ‘didn’t look impressive’. Now you’re pivoting to whether they ‘matter’?

So Fable looks bad, but you’re convinced that by 2025 other games will meet its visual fidelity?

Family Feud Lol GIF by Steve Harvey
 

ProtoByte

Weeb Underling
Your previous comment claimed the games ‘didn’t look impressive’. Now you’re pivoting to whether they ‘matter’?
I'm not pivoting. I don't think Flight Simulator looks impressive, but I think it's more important to point out that the nature of the game means it's practically irrelevant in the grand scheme of things.

Is it nice to have? Sure. Are most people going to even think about playing it? No.

So Fable looks bad, but you’re convinced that by 2025 other games will meet its visual fidelity?

Family Feud Lol GIF by Steve Harvey
Chuckle away, buddy. I never said Fable looks bad (well, other than the protagonist's character model), but I must say that I was not blown away by what I saw, visually. If you were, great. What else about it looks interesting?

Graphical fidelity is a great thing, but when I see a game showcased, I need it to be showcased holistically before I'm impressed. What does it play like?
 

Toots

Gold Member
Nevermind the quality of the games (it is all very subjective anyway), the showcase in itself destroyed the sony's last poor showing.
Lots of game trailers, not much talk as it should always be.
There was a few game that caught my eyes, notably that weird Capcom game, Path of the Goddess which gave me strong Bunjingai vibes and i love it.
3_Bujingai_PS2.jpg
 

Alx

Member
Let’s be honest 95% of e3 was shite games, cringy devs, orchestras, cringy stage demos of shit like Wii Music and Kinnect.

The other 5% was hardware reveals and the ‘one more thing’ announcements.

And it didn’t respect your time.

1-2 hour conference from Nintendo/Sony/Microsoft. 3-6 hours for the actual 3-5 trailers for games that were good.

Some serious revisionist history about e3. It wasn’t some balls to the wall none stop quality showcase.
Yeah we may look at previous E3 with rose-tinted glasses, but the criticism we have today already existed back then : CGI trailers, release dates that were too far away, lack of gameplay (and when there was gameplay, it was either boring or so scripted it could have been a cutscene). Sometimes we even only had teasers with a title screen an nothing else. And most of the "one more thing" anouncements were for promises that would only come true (when they did) years later.
If anything the motion control era was a good way to make it more entertaining and original. After it died out, the show became even more boring.

Now I wouldn't say the Xbox showcase was excellent, but it did its job (as an advertisement for Game Pass and Starfield).
 

ZehDon

Gold Member
In my opinion, Microsoft actually showed what they needed to: games people want to play. Was it an A+ conference? No, I'd probably give it a B+ if I'm feeling generous. Good effort, but nowhere near the level of the E3 of Dreams. But Microsoft didn't need to deliver an A+, they just needed to beat Sony's C-grade conference and step over whatever-the-fuck Keighly was trying to do. And they absolutely did. Starfield did the heavy lifting, but the conference had a good number of games I'm keen to play. Plenty of stuff for the next twelve months, with a lot of games to be dated at some point in the future. If Microsoft delivered conferences like this reliably every year, I'd be pretty happy I think.
 
Clockwork doesn't really look AAA, but it sure is interesting. One of the better, more interesting games they showed. I'm looking forward to it.

Hard disagree on the road map. PlayStation gamers also know what they are getting next: Rise of Ronin, Death Stranding 2, Stellar Blade, Fairgames, Concord, Helldivers 2, Marathon, etc. PS actually has more games lined up in the near future than Xbox. The problem, however, is the same: no one knows when those games will be released.

Xbox has the same problem. No one knows what the next game after Forza is and when is it releasing.
We are talking first party here.
I can go through the studios
343 - Halo Content
Coalition - Gears 6
Obsidian - Avowed, TOW2, ???
Double Fine - ???,???
Undead - SOD3
Inxile - Clockwork, ????
Machine - Indiana, Wolfenstien 3
Tango - ????, ????
Playground - Fable, FH6
Compulsion - Midnight
Turn 10 - Forza MS
Roundhouse - ???
Arkane - ???, ???
Id - ???
Bethesda - Starfield, TES6, Fallout 5, F76
Zenimax Online - ESO, ???
Mojang - Minecraft
The Initiative- Perfect Dark
Ninja Theory - Hellblade 2, Project Mara
Rare - SOT, Everwild
Worlds Edge - AOE
Xbox Game Publishing - Contraband, Tower, Project Shaolin, Flight Sim, Ara History Untold, ????, ???

As for Sony
Naughty Dog - Factions, TLOU3?
Insomniac - SM2, Wolverine
Sucker Punch - GOT2?
SSM - ???
GG - ???
Polyphony - GT8
Bend Studio - ???
Bluepoint- ???
House - ???
SSD - MLB
Firesprite - Star Citizen, ???
Firewalk - Concord
Haven - Fairgames
London - ???
Media M -.???
Nixx - PC Porting???
Asobi - ???
Valkyrie - ???
Fabrik Games - ???
Bungie - Destiny, Marathon
Xdev - Helldivers, Steller Blade, Death Stranding 2, Rise of the Ronin

At this point the roadmap for Xbox is better known. Of course Sony has games coming out, but we don't know alot of them.

I for one would rather know what game a studio is working on than to have it secret until a year out from releasing.
I'm happy to know Machine Games is working on Indiana Jones back when it was released even if it means I don't see anything for three years.
I would love to know what id is doing. Same goes for Roundhouse, etc, even if it's a CGI announcement trailer like we saw with Contraband, Indiana Jones and even Wolverine.
I can't be fucked waiting years to find out.
 

poodaddy

Member
I like the Xbox ecosystem much more than PS, and I tend to get all console multiplats there as I just prefer the reward system for achievements on Xbox, and I find console warriors tiresome on both sides, but particularly Sony warriors, perhaps due to the fervor with which they carry out their nonsense and the increased likelihood of coming across them.

That being said, while I think the showing was "fine", I don't see how it was really much better than Sony's show, and I can't get excited about cinematic trailers and teasers on principal. The showcase desperately needed more gameplay, so I don't see how it saved the summer. It seems all publisher showcases are mostly just cinematics all day, though Nintendo Directs tend to have plenty of gameplay footage, so that's actually useful. I think this trend of overly dramatic cinematic trailers for games that end up nothing like the trailer has plagued the industry for way too long and I wouldn't mind it dying. A cinematic trailer is completely useless for me, and I do mean completely. They tell us nothing about how the game will play whatsoever, and I can't see why anyone even spends the money on producing them anymore.

Pumped for Starfield though, that game's gonna drink my life away.
 
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RoboFu

One of the green rats
Forza 8 was cool. Can’t say I’m excited about much else .. fable yeah but that’s too far out to get hyped.
 

ReBurn

Gold Member
  • No gameplay footage from the 2020 games we saw.
  • Still no updates on Perfect Dark, Contraband, Everwild, or State of Decay 3.
  • No big AAA surprise announcement.
  • No proper release date for Fable, Hellblade, South of the Midnight, Clockwork Revolution, or Avowed.
  • Avowed disappointed fans eagerly waiting.
  • Most importantly, we just had a Showcase that is supposed to show what the roadmap is. Do we know what's the next game releasing after Forza? Which one is it and when is it releasing? No.
How can it be a good showcase that "saved the Summer" when it did not even show the roadmap properly? It had the same issues that Sony's showcase had: little gameplay and little clarity on the roadmap.

Edit: Hurt fanboys leaving laughing and empathy emojis should instead try addressing my last bullet point 😄 Even they know deep down that they have no idea what's next lol.
Someone giving Microsoft a pat on the back sent you into full damage control mode. Then you felt the need to damage control your damage control with that "no u" edit. Kind of makes it seem like you're the hurt fanboy here. Just saying.
 

Hendrick's

If only my penis was as big as my GamerScore!
Uh Huh Sure GIF


Even if you (or anyone) could address the last bullet point I mentioned in my comment, I'd concede.

It's only a matter of months before reality sets in and everybody is left wondering what's the next big thing for Xbox -- the very topic that a Showcase is supposed to address. Both PS and Xbox Showcases failed in that regard.
You sound salty as hell.
 

Chukhopops

Member
I'm not pivoting. I don't think Flight Simulator looks impressive, but I think it's more important to point out that the nature of the game means it's practically irrelevant in the grand scheme of things.
The best part of FS2024 is that it finally puts to rest the extremely stupid “Google Maps lol” and “not a real game” arguments.

It was overshadowed by other trailers and games but I think FS career mode is going to be fantastic. I can’t imagine how comfy it will be to fly all those aircrafts with a huge range of proper missions.
 

Heisenberg007

Gold Journalism
Someone giving Microsoft a pat on the back sent you into full damage control mode. Then you felt the need to damage control your damage control with that "no u" edit. Kind of makes it seem like you're the hurt fanboy here. Just saying.
Not at all. The writer had a hyperbolic take that "Xbox saves the Summer" and "a solid showcase". So I'm pointing out the obvious flaws in that.

There are several issues with the showcase. Literally no showcase this summer is what gamers expected. Both PS and Xbox fans are left wondering what the next games play like and when are they releasing. That is a fact.

If somebody can respond to that, I'm more than happy to take the L and reverse my stance.

But as of now, the fact remains that PS fans do not know what Concord, Fairgames, Marathon play like and when exactly they are releasing, and Xbox fans do not know what Hellblade 2, Fable, South of Midnight play like and when exactly they are releasing.

PS fans do not know what's the next big after Spider-Man 2 and when it's releasing. Xbox fans do not know what the next big game after Forza is and when it's releasing.
 
Clockwork doesn't really look AAA, but it sure is interesting. One of the better, more interesting games they showed. I'm looking forward to it.

Hard disagree on the road map. PlayStation gamers also know what they are getting next: Rise of Ronin, Death Stranding 2, Stellar Blade, Fairgames, Concord, Helldivers 2, Marathon, etc. PS actually has more games lined up in the near future than Xbox. The problem, however, is the same: no one knows when those games will be released.

Xbox has the same problem. No one knows what the next game after Forza is and when is it releasing.
As someone from MS said, there are still more events this year, be it Gamescom, VGA or some other MS smaller showcase, there's time to talk about the future games after FM and Starfield, we already know their 2024 lineup mostly, maybe there'll be a last game, probably from some Bethesda developer, we'll be getting fixed dates later this year or early 2024 with some Xbox Direct.

About the AAA thing, i agree that if you are looking for the best visuals, some smaller studios from MS won't be able to reach that, specially if they are developing WRPG's which is probably the most complicated genre.

This said, not everybody is looking just for that kind of games. If you love these, well there you have the Flight Simulator, the Horizon Zero Dawn and Forbidden West, even Hellblade 2 too. I've played the first ones and i don't even have to play the last one, these are all for you, i'll gladly take inXile's first person RPG any day
 

Heisenberg007

Gold Journalism
As someone from MS said, there are still more events this year, be it Gamescom, VGA or some other MS smaller showcase, there's time to talk about the future games after FM and Starfield, we already know their 2024 lineup mostly, maybe there'll be a last game, probably from some Bethesda developer, we'll be getting fixed dates later this year or early 2024 with some Xbox Direct.

About the AAA thing, i agree that if you are looking for the best visuals, some smaller studios from MS won't be able to reach that, specially if they are developing WRPG's which is probably the most complicated genre.

This said, not everybody is looking just for that kind of games. If you love these, well there you have the Flight Simulator, the Horizon Zero Dawn and Forbidden West, even Hellblade 2 too. I've played the first ones and i don't even have to play the last one, these are all for you, i'll gladly take inXile's first person RPG any day
1. Thank you for actually conversing and not just hide behind a laugh/empathy emoji 😄

2. I agree with your 1st point: there will be plenty of opportunities to talk about future games and their release dates. However, we can't count those potential participation in future game shows to rate this show, right? Similarly, I'm sure Sony will hold State of Plays and show Concord's gameplay and release date, for example, but that doesn't mean we could increase the rating of their show based on that. People were disappointed with them and rightfully so. Because that show had the same problem: little gameplay and no roadmap clarity.
 

Corndog

Banned
Highlight the incorrect part.

Did they show Perfect Dark, State of Decay 3, Contraband etc.?
Did they share release dates for upcoming games?
Do you know what's the next game releasing after Forza and when?

Please do share.
Which showcase was better, PlayStation or Xbox?
 

Thirty7ven

Banned
Without Starfield it’s a pretty decent show, not great but decent. But Starfield was there and it was hype and reminded us of why we like these shows. We want to be impressed by something that feels new and interesting, and important. Starfield was that game this E3 season, no doubt.
 

Cyborg

Member
We thought PS showcase was bad but they still had more heavy hitters than the Xbox show had. I just don't understand how this show could be considered as good.

- I mean the top IPs (Fable, Avowed, Hellblade) that you worked years on had no meaningful gameplay demonstration.
- A lot of the games are also coming to PS
- You say no CGI but your third game is a CGI movie...
- A lot of small games without that AAA status, look interesting for a select (niche) audience
- No real must have exclusives

Only positive is that Starfield seems to be great (after 20+ years of development)


Still both (PS and Xbox) showings were a letdown.
 
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God this place fucking sucks.

You’re all not even trying to hide the console warring anymore.
Maybe take a break for a bit?

This is the nature of enthusiast forums about anything, people feel the need to declare a winner in a zero sum game.

-------------------------

Great showing from Xbox, better than they've had in recent years, best showcase from the big guys so far. Looking forward to seeing more from Fable, it's such a beloved series to me and my family.
 
1. Thank you for actually conversing and not just hide behind a laugh/empathy emoji 😄

2. I agree with your 1st point: there will be plenty of opportunities to talk about future games and their release dates. However, we can't count those potential participation in future game shows to rate this show, right? Similarly, I'm sure Sony will hold State of Plays and show Concord's gameplay and release date, for example, but that doesn't mean we could increase the rating of their show based on that. People were disappointed with them and rightfully so. Because that show had the same problem: little gameplay and no roadmap clarity.

But the least of Sony's problems with Concord, Fairgames, Marathon, or even Factions isn't the lack of a final release date, from these, Concord got a 2024 date, that's fine from now, but we saw nothing from these games, we can tell Fairgames is a PVP Heist GaaS from the trailer at least even if it was CGI, for the other 3 we saw nothing, tho we know two are PVP GaaS shooters and Faction is some kind of mistery, but by far, the most exciting game there.

That's the problem, pretty much every first party game announced for PS5 right now is a multi GaaS except the marvel Insomniac games. If you add that Spiderman 2 looks good, but more of the same and nothing incredible visually well it doesn't help either.

If Sony announced 2-3 single player games, a couple with some gameplay like Avowed and inXile's game, and other with just in engine stuff, their show would have been so different.

But yes i agree the Xbox was FAR from perfect, Fable's section was meh for me, Compulsion's game, like, what is it even? Then the 2024 games, i would have liked of course some more fixed date, at least a "Summer" ," Early" or whatever, and the biggest mistake, the way they showed their two games that are supposed to come sooner than the rest, Hellblade 2 and Forza Motorsport, what a bad show from these two, i think we'll see more from Forza in the next days/weeks, but what we've seen from it so far, on three! shows, is lame, no gameplay at all, no rain/storm, no cockpit gameplay, urban circuits, not even a 10-15 non stop gameplay section... very bad, specially if you compare to how they showed Forza 7, which was great.
 

Corndog

Banned
Both sucked imo.
Most of the games they showed were quite good. Even the indies like Phantom Blade 0 and Towers of Aghasba looked very good!

The problem with the showcase in my opinion was (1) PlayStation Studios titles Fairgames, Concord, and Marathon didn't have any gameplay, and (2) Several PlayStation Studios that we all thought were a lock didn't appear, e.g., TLOU Factions, Twisted Metal, Bluepoint's, Horizon MP, and at least one of Ghost of Tsushima, SSM's 2nd game, Bend's new IP, etc.
 
I honestly don’t know what MS could do to appease some here. They showed 26 games (barely any indie game as opposed to Sony showcase) and still it doesn’t seem enough lol

People complaining about Forza and Downblade 2 not showing gameplay but forget that these two are coming soon and the showcase was about Starfield.
 

Topher

Identifies as young
7.5, not 10 billion.

It was quite widely reported that Sony were trying to buy Starfield exclusivity before the Zenimax sale, so both platforms wanted it to be exclusive. Sadly, only one can have it.

Well, it was definitely "widely reported", but it should be pointed out that the source was one person (Imran Khan) and no one else has corroborated what he said.

Well they did make the best show of the summer, so far, so yeah.

I agree. I thought the Xbox showcase was good, but the Starfield deep dive was simply fantastic. In any case, FAR better than SGF or the PlayStation showcase.
 

Liamario

Banned
I honestly don’t know what MS could do to appease some here. They showed 26 games (barely any indie game as opposed to Sony showcase) and still it doesn’t seem enough lol

People complaining about Forza and Downblade 2 not showing gameplay but forget that these two are coming soon and the showcase was about Starfield.
I think they had a better show than Sony, but Sony's was poor. Xbox wasn't that much better and at this point, it really needs to be.
 
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