Topic: Official Push Square Xbox Thread

I like a good George polo shirt lol.

@BAMozzy Ok so your "Supermarkets" are what we would call Discount Department Stores, as I said your Walmarts. Where as our "Supermarkets" just sell food and items that would be used in conjunction with food.

@BAMozzy @Tasuki Their (US) Supermarkets are like our Iceland, Farmfoods etc. and our Asda, Tesco etc. are their Discount Department Stores.

The clever thing about our Supermarkets (UK) stocking and selling games is that it’s convenient that we shop there for our weekly shopping and while we are there we may pick up a game that we didn’t get on release or we just happen to be doing our shopping on the games release date. I bet a lot of mothers buy a new Call of Duty game on an annual basis while doing their shopping for when their kids finish school or to put away for Christmas, I can definitely believe that happens.

With the recent closure of Grainger Games, Asda is now the only store close to me that sells games, otherwise is about a 10 minute drive to GAME, but this doesn’t affect me as I’ve been buying digitally for a long time now and rent with Boomerang Rentals, also with these closures of dedicated video game stores like Grainger Games and the like, I believe physical copies of games are going to be a thing of the past in the near future anyway, it would save gaming companies a fortune not having to pay for packaging, discs and all the logistics and distribution, it makes sense for them for people to just buy their games digitally with a click of a button, those with poor internet connections who don’t want to go digital are sadly going to be in the minority I’d imagine.

@MaccaMUFC I can't see 'Physical' disappearing in the near future - maybe in a few generations time but its still the most popular format for video games on consoles. Whilst you may get say 40% of all games bought being digital - that also includes all those digital only releases but where games are sold physically too, the difference is a lot wider with the majority of games being more 70-30 or more. You may get the odd 1 that hits 35% digitally but most don't reach 30% sales this way.

You also get a lot of those 'special' editions - whether its just a steel book case and some 'digital' extras or the ones with statues, art-books etc which are very desirable (for collectors) and lucrative for publishers too. These often sell out long before a game actually releases too so I can't see Publishers really wanting to push everyone to Digital. Not only that, as much as they may hate trading, there is 'less risk' for consumers and may well buy more games because they know if they don't like it, can at least get some money back.

Even if we do see a time when Digital is the most popular format and as significant as Physical is now, I still see the Publishers happy to release Physical games - If you have a game that sells 5m for example 2m of those could still be Physical - maybe even just special collectors editions too that are most profitable (as far as Physical goes). Its also unlikely that the consoles will be without a disk drive. It adds more functionality (not just gaming) to the console. As good as streaming is, there are a LOT that want the 'highest' quality they can and until Streaming can deliver uncompressed, high quality content, then Physical will still be the 'enthusiasts' choice. HD streaming isn't as good as Bluray, 4k HDR streaming isn't as good as 4k HDR blurays. Even though Streaming has had a 'big' impact on both audio and movie sales, Vinyl, CD's, Blurays etc are still selling and until the market is virtually dead - like we did see with Cassettes (whether audio or VHS) - then it will always make sense to offer customer choice. I know gaming may not be a 'quality' issue like audio or visual content but there will always be those that prefer physical format - just like there are those that prefer digital too so its better to cater to both. If there were those that didn't buy Vinyl, then that would no doubt disappear but its actually doing very well.

@MaccaMUFC I don't think physical versions of games are going away anywhere soon. Look at CD and vinyl they are more popular than digital downloads, even if streaming is taken over as the most popular 'format'. Thing is games are a lot more complex to download/stream than films and music so I think physical versions of games will be around for a lot longer than some people think.

I must say - this is a very interesting xbox discussion

@NecuVise I thought this was the supermarket discussion thread?...

@JohnnyShoulder guess it went of course, kind of like a Supermarket Trollie with a wonky wheel

@KratosMD The couple of reviews ive read say that it needs a lot of work and is riddled with bugs, so beware before buying if you are not into that sort of thing.

@JohnnyShoulder You also forgot repetitive too but then some people find that with big AAA games - I have heard some say God of War's combat gets quite repetitive. This isn't a AAA priced game and offers more than 'most' indies. It is more a 'larger' indie game than a scaled down AAA game (like Hellblade for example). Maybe too ambitious for the team in the way No Mans Sky was...

I admit that State of Decay didn't really interest me. Days Gone has much more appeal although that is also more 'story driven' and of course 'Single Player'. Obviously Xbox owners won't get Days Gone either and if you enjoyed the original, then State of Decay 2 probably won't disappoint.

@BAMozzy I didn't mention that it was repetitive for that very reason, it is very much subjective and down to individual, more so than most things in games. Games by design are repetitive, it is how the developers hide it that makes the great games stand out from the average ones.

@KratosMD Not the first time Halo has been developed into an 'Arcade' game but maybe the first time its actually going to be in an Arcade - seems like a Operation Wolf, House of the Dead or Virtua Cop type thing set in the Halo universe. I don't know if it will be adapted for the home market too but games built for 'light guns' don't always translate as well. It may work well in VR of course as its on rails anyway...

@KratosMD Calling it now, Halo 6 coming out in 2022. You can say my claim is ridiculous, but I will stand by it diligently.

Games with Gold for June 2018...

Well it was inevitable that the 3rd and final AC Chronicle game was free. Not bothered about Smite (Gold Bundle) at all so can't say the XB1 offerings are 'great' this month. On Backwards Compatibility 360, we get Sonic and all-stars racing and Lego Indy 2. I won't bother with Sonic but may add Lego Indy 2 - jusr because I have the first.

Not a great month in my opinion - lets hope E3 has some great news for us XB1 owners...

Yeah, not a great month in my opinion. Isn't Smite an online only game? I've not played any of them so I'll add them to my hard drive anyway, I'm paying for Gold so I may as well get the 'free' stuff.

@KratosMD How does it compare to Mario Kart? I think that, on the SNES, is the definitive kart racer.

I think Smite is Free to Play but is a MMO so I have absolutely NO interest at all in it. I couldn't care less if Sonic is better than Mario Kart, Crash Tag Team or Diddy Kong racing - I am NOT interested in some kids 'kart' racing game. I out grew these 'years' ago and whilst they did get a 2nd lease of life when my Kids were young (N64/Wii era), I have no interest in them now. If I want my 'racing' fix, I will play Forza (either Horizon or Motorsport) or Burnout for the more 'arcade' racing. These games don't tend to get played often anyway but are good for an hour or so of mindless fun.

I thought Smite was F2P or am I getting mixed up with something else.

@Tasuki I thought so too - but it wouldn't be the first F2P game with 'paid' for content which seems to be what is being offered here. As I have no interest in the game, I can't tell you what the 'paid' for content offers - whether its exclusive characters, cosmetics, more character save slots and/or earlier access. If its like World of Tanks for example, there are certain Tanks exclusive to premium owners as well as earlier access to higher level tanks (as you earn more XP) - maybe just unlocks everything in the game - I don't know but the 'main' game is free to play.

@NecuVise Looks like For Honor will be at E3 again.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z0c0CuV5jT4