Xbox Game Pass for Console, PC, and Android

El-Producto wrote:

Quite surprised to hear Forza 7 is leaving. Too bad, I dabbled a bit but just have too many games to get into right now.

Most likely due to licencing deals expiring. Those games have so much of other people's IP in them, and whether it's the music or the car branding, some piece of that licensed content is likely expiring.

Alternate explanation, Forza 8 is due in a bit.

I played 20-30 minutes of Surgeon Simulator 2. I had played the original back when that first hit and remember being amused and not completely frustrated. I'm not sure if it's changes to the game or just the controller implementation, but this experience ended up being more frustrating than silly. The tutorial does not present controls clearly to you, and I would have failed to get through it altogether if not for browsing the options menu and discovering an interaction the game hadn't explained to me (specifically, how you move your arm forward and back--I spent a good 10-15 minutes frustrated that I couldn't seem to reach anything!). Anyway, I played the tutorial, accomplished all those goals, and said eh, not for me.

I also started up Signs of the Sojurner. I'd played a bit of it from that massive Itch.io charity games pack a while back, but didn't get into it. I put an hour or so into it on Xbox last night and it seems good! Charming, low key. It's a little opaque to me, as I don't totally understand some of the mechanics yet, and I'm not sure if further explanation is to come and I'm supposed to be a little puzzled, or if I'm just not getting it. I'll definitely give it another hour or two though, I like its vibe.

Right. I should have thought about that. The fricking cars.

Jonman wrote:

Most likely due to licencing deals expiring. Those games have so much of other people's IP in them, and whether it's the music or the car branding, some piece of that licensed content is likely expiring.

Alternate explanation, Forza 8 is due in a bit.

Yes, but not soon enough! For some reason I can't get into the Forza Horizon games in the same way I do the Forza track-based games. I know they should be blast and all, but it just isn't what I'm looking for, I guess.

I’ve played just a bit of Psychonaughts 2. It’s very unique. The closest comparison I could think of is a Tim Burton feature.

I’ve REALLY missed DoubleFine’s games. This one was worth the wait.

firesloth wrote:

Right. I should have thought about that. The fricking cars.

I have always thought this was pretty sh*tty. They are demanding money for what is basically free advertising. They pay god only knows how much to get their vehicles featured in movies and TV shows and pay even more for ads on TV, but they want to be paid to have their cars in games.

Well yeah.

The movie studio doesn't care which shiny car is in their movie, so it's a bidding war.

The TV stations business is selling adverts, so that's what it does.

But a Forza/Grsn Turismo with unlicenced cars? That is a crap game that no one buys. Never mind the fact that no car company is gonna pay to have their cars featured alongside hundreds of their their competitors and betters.

Anyone have thoughts on Craftopia?

Haven’t played it. But watching the trailer I felt like I was watching bootleg Breath of the Wild.

Steam reviews seem to indicate it's an abandoned early access title.

Could be an exaggeration, but they've apparently started a new project while leaving this one with a bunch of issues.

Game Pass feels like a strange platform for early access.

A_Unicycle wrote:

Game Pass feels like a strange platform for early access.

As a player I like it because I like the idea of being able to easily dip into various early access titles and see how they're progressing. I don't know that it's a good deal for developers; I would think they want players who are specifically invested in their title.

Yeah true. I'm not very likely to put money down on an unfinished game, but it is nice to dip in for a little bit with no commitment.

I *hope* (not trust or believe) that MS wouldn't want/allow an abandoned early access title (even labeled as game preview) on game pass, so maybe this means renewed work on the game? I'm not holding my breath, but MS has been pretty focused on their players of late, so it seems plausible that they would demand actual work on the game before putting in the promotion involved in bringing it to game pass.

Crown Trick comes out tomorrow. It looks like so many other top down, twin stick, roguelike games. The exception here is that the art looks really interesting and maybe a little nicer than most games like it. I will definitely give it a try.

I had a heck of a time finding The Artful Escape on PC GamePass. Eventually went through the developers Twitter to find a link to preorder the game on the MSoft Store which kicked me over to install/download it before maybe getting it to download? Also the MSoft Store has to have the SLOWEST download speeds ever. Barely touching 7.0 Mb/s when normally I clear 10+ MB/s on Steam.

Edit: I was too excited. The store page refreshed about 1.5 hours after game release and now it works.

Football Manager 2022 will be day one on Game Pass when it releases in November. The full-fat game is way too complicated and fiddly for me these days, but I know it has a huge audience.

trueheart78 wrote:

I am SO EXCITED for The Artful Escape! IMAGE(https://emojipedia-us.s3.dualstack.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/thumbs/240/whatsapp/303/guitar_1f3b8.png)IMAGE(https://emojipedia-us.s3.dualstack.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/thumbs/240/whatsapp/303/sparkles_2728.png)IMAGE(https://emojipedia-us.s3.dualstack.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/thumbs/240/whatsapp/303/sparkles_2728.png)

IMAGE(https://news.xbox.com/en-us/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/09/ArtfulEscape_XGP_KeyArt_3840x2160.jpg)

This should be out now

RawkGWJ wrote:
trueheart78 wrote:

I am SO EXCITED for The Artful Escape! IMAGE(https://emojipedia-us.s3.dualstack.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/thumbs/240/whatsapp/303/guitar_1f3b8.png)IMAGE(https://emojipedia-us.s3.dualstack.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/thumbs/240/whatsapp/303/sparkles_2728.png)IMAGE(https://emojipedia-us.s3.dualstack.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/thumbs/240/whatsapp/303/sparkles_2728.png)

IMAGE(https://news.xbox.com/en-us/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/09/ArtfulEscape_XGP_KeyArt_3840x2160.jpg)

This should be out now

If you have the means, I suggest to play with (auto)HDR on and/or OLED display. This game is gorgeous. A nice sound system/headphone would not hurt either.

I started playing The Artful Escape last night and it's really stunning. It seems to be a very easy game that wants you to focus on the story, the sights, and the sounds. I'm really enjoying it so far.

Nimcosi wrote:
RawkGWJ wrote:
trueheart78 wrote:

I am SO EXCITED for The Artful Escape! IMAGE(https://emojipedia-us.s3.dualstack.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/thumbs/240/whatsapp/303/guitar_1f3b8.png)IMAGE(https://emojipedia-us.s3.dualstack.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/thumbs/240/whatsapp/303/sparkles_2728.png)IMAGE(https://emojipedia-us.s3.dualstack.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/thumbs/240/whatsapp/303/sparkles_2728.png)

IMAGE(https://news.xbox.com/en-us/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/09/ArtfulEscape_XGP_KeyArt_3840x2160.jpg)

This should be out now

If you have the means, I suggest to play with (auto)HDR on and/or OLED display. This game is gorgeous. A nice sound system/headphone would not hurt either.

Pink Stripes wrote:

I started playing The Artful Escape last night and it's really stunning. It seems to be a very easy game that wants you to focus on the story, the sights, and the sounds. I'm really enjoying it so far.

OMG it’s really good. I mean it’s absolutely beautiful! The art is stunning!! The music is so amazingly great!!

It’s essentially a walking simulator with gorgeous art and beautiful music. If you are a fan of shred metal, you should play this.

You should absolutely play this if you are a fan of this song…

RawkGWJ wrote:

It’s essentially a walking simulator with gorgeous art and beautiful music. If you are a fan of shred metal, you should play this.

I played a couple hours of it today and feel you’ve captured it well there. I essentially held right and X for most of the time I played and just took in the beautiful visuals and sound. It certainly benefits from HDR and good headphones.

pandasuit wrote:
RawkGWJ wrote:

It’s essentially a walking simulator with gorgeous art and beautiful music. If you are a fan of shred metal, you should play this.

I played a couple hours of it today and feel you’ve captured it well there. I essentially held right and X for most of the time I played and just took in the beautiful visuals and sound. It certainly benefits from HDR and good headphones.

Yes, yes, and yes!!

I would also suggest that this is the perfect game to play while under the influence of… whatever pleases you! There’s very little technical skill required, and the audio/visual presentation is just perfect.

I'm very impressed with Crown Trick so far.

It's definitely one of the most tactile turn-based roguelikes I've played. Every action just feels so nice!

For those who like survival games like Subnautica, I'd recommend Breathedge. While there is some juvenile humor, I really enjoyed the soundtrack and had fun with the game.

RawkGWJ wrote:
pandasuit wrote:
RawkGWJ wrote:

It’s essentially a walking simulator with gorgeous art and beautiful music. If you are a fan of shred metal, you should play this.

I played a couple hours of it today and feel you’ve captured it well there. I essentially held right and X for most of the time I played and just took in the beautiful visuals and sound. It certainly benefits from HDR and good headphones.

Yes, yes, and yes!!

I would also suggest that this is the perfect game to play while under the influence of… whatever pleases you! There’s very little technical skill required, and the audio/visual presentation is just perfect.

I loved it too and think you nailed it when describing it as basically a shred metal walking sim. I really loved the visuals.

Also very easy 1k:)

I wonder why Deathloop isn't out on PC Gamepass?

Maybe their exclusivity contract said that they could only release the game on Playstation and Steam and ... Bethesda.net. Maybe Microsoft is using this opportunity to run a real time experiment in marketing data across different platforms.

polq37 wrote:

I wonder why Deathloop isn't out on PC Gamepass?

Maybe their exclusivity contract said that they could only release the game on Playstation and Steam and ... Bethesda.net. Maybe Microsoft is using this opportunity to run a real time experiment in marketing data across different platforms.

Deathloop was a Sony exclusive prior to the Bethesda purchase by Microsoft. Even after acquisitions you can’t reneg on contractual obligations without massive penalties.

I think Deathloop was one of the games they called out when they announced the merger. "We will be honoring all of our existing contracts for games on various platforms" or some such.

staygold wrote:
polq37 wrote:

I wonder why Deathloop isn't out on PC Gamepass?

Maybe their exclusivity contract said that they could only release the game on Playstation and Steam and ... Bethesda.net. Maybe Microsoft is using this opportunity to run a real time experiment in marketing data across different platforms.

Deathloop was a Sony exclusive prior to the Bethesda purchase by Microsoft. Even after acquisitions you can’t reneg on contractual obligations without massive penalties.

It's not an exclusive. You can buy Deathloop on Steam right now. Sony bought exclusive console rights for a year. Why can't Microsoft put it on Gamepass for PC?

I don't really mind that it isn't available. I just want to know what Microsoft's reasoning and/or obligations are in this case. The company has been very vocal about releasing all of it's games on Gamepass on day 1. What are the specific constraints that are preventing them from doing a Windows 10/11 launch?

Also, I'd really like to get the inside story of how bad Bethesda was tanking a couple of years ago such that they actually sold the exclusive console rights. I suspect that story won't be told for another 10-15 years though.

polq37 wrote:

Why can't Microsoft put it on Gamepass for PC?

PC GamePass doesn't sell MS hardware like the console gamepass does.