In the battle for exclusive franchises and titles certain power moves have taken place over the last few years. Microsoft acquired Bethesda, thus inheriting all its multi-million-dollar properties. Microsoft would also pursue a deal with Electronic Arts in which it got the company’s games on its Game Pass ultimate subscription service at a low (if…
Tag: Microsoft
Throwback Bit Thursday: Gears of War
The Xbox 360, Red Ring of Death issues aside, continues to be Microsoft’s most successful home console of all time. It had a much better start than the PlayStation 3 (commercially, and in terms of software quality), and it ended up selling 84 million consoles to PlayStation 3’s 87 million. For all intents and purposes,…
Buying New Home Consoles 20 Christmas Seasons Ago
20 years ago, many home console gamers had a very merry Christmas. Microsoft’s Xbox and Nintendo’s GameCube were new consoles on the market, and the PlayStation 2 was beginning to hit its historic stride with great games like Final Fantasy X and Metal Gear Solid 2 arriving on the system. If we dig deeper, we…
Microsoft: Fable Kinect Marriage a Mistake; Regrets Closing Lionhead Studios
The Fable franchise, at one point, was one of Microsoft’s most important exclusive properties under its Xbox brand. In fact, the Fable reboot (currently in development by PlayGround Games) is one of the most anticipated exclusive games on the Xbox Series consoles, and one that is expected to go head to head with Sony’s premier…
Spencer: Respects Nintendo and Sony, but Google and Amazon are Microsoft’s Rivals
In a very interesting interview with a popular UK video games magazine (Edge), Phil Spencer opened up about his take on console wars and who Xbox’s real rivals are moving forwards. Xbox Series X is Doing Better Than Xbox One But… Sony continues to lead current generation home console hardware sales, if you count the…
The Best Console Launch Games of All Time – Part 1
With Black Friday gone, and the Holiday season fast approaching (though there are no console launches this year), I have decided to list the best console launch titles of all time. After all, most gamers that want a new console (be it PS5 or XBSX) haven’t been able to nab one. Thus, the new console…
Black Friday: PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series X? But Can You Find One?
As Black Friday Approaches…Will You Be Able to Find a PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series X in Stock on Stores? My answer to this is to keep your expectations in check. Since the launch of “next”, now “current”, generation machines last November, I have only been able to find Xbox Series Xs in Walmart shelves once in…
Phil Spencer On Elder Scrolls VI Xbox Exclusivity: “Not About Punishing” Sony
Microsoft’s historic (7.5 Billion Dollars) acquisition of Bethesda, last year, changed the gaming landscape. The Xbox brand went from having ‘Few exclusives’ to owning franchises like Doom, Dishonored, Fallout and The Elder Scrolls, among others. The buyout was good news for Xbox owners, but scary news for PlayStation loyalists who feared that the long awaited…
Throwback Bit Thursday: The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim turned 10 today. Two console generations have passed since its 11/11/11 release date, and that makes Skyrim a prime candidate for a Throwback episode. Skyrim was a significant step forward for open-world games, and even legendary franchises, like Nintendo’s Zelda, took a lot from it when crafting its newer entries….
New Fable Has Been in Development for 4 Years
With Forza Horizon 5 out now in stores and Game Pass, Playground Games’ focus can shift towards Microsoft’s Action-RPG property. However, Playground has had two separate teams working on the games over the past 4 years (at least). Tom Golton (Lead Engineer) wrote a tweet a few days ago confirming the length of Fable’s development…