Xbox Game Showcase 2020

[Juxtapose]

Microsoft held their Game Showcase today, showing off upcoming first party titles that will be launching in various combinations on all three of their supported platforms: Xbox Series X, PC, and Xbox One.

There are several new IPs and exclusives in addition to their staple franchises, and being first party, everything will be launching on Game Pass in addition to physical and digital copies. Anything on Xbox One will also be part of the Smart Stream program (meaning you buy the Xbox One or Xbox Series X version, you get the other version at no additional charge).

The various summary trailers:

The full event can be watched here:

Their YouTube Channel has the individual trailers.

For me, Halo: Infinite looks great and was the show highlight, and I was surprised by the Fable reboot announcement. Tell Me Why, and The Medium: Dual Reality also look interesting.

 

[Dankster Morgan]

Halo looked alright

 

[Juxtapose]

Halo looked alright

Yeah, we'll see what happens with it. They're definitely trying to go with a classic Halo: Combat Evolved feel.

I'm curious what differences will be present between the three versions, if it really will be mostly "graphic settings" and load time differences, or if it'll be something more drastic.

 

[CrimsonShadow]

Yeah, we'll see what happens with it. They're definitely trying to go with a classic Halo: Combat Evolved feel.

I'm curious what differences will be present between the three versions, if it really will be mostly "graphic settings" and load time differences, or if it'll be something more drastic.

Microsoft always seems to shoot themselves in the foot by overcomplicating things out of the gate, and then realizing they should have made them simpler later.

 

[Juxtapose]

Microsoft always seems to shoot themselves in the foot by overcomplicating things out of the gate, and then realizing they should have made them simpler later.

How so? Assuming this works just like PC gaming, which is what they've been suggesting, that's not overly complicated at all.

What I'm curious about is if that will really be the case, since we have yet to see it in action.

 

[Sutter Pain]

Def glad I will be able to play all these games on release at 5 per month. All while not having to buy some shitty console hardware that is inferior to the pc I built 2 years ago.

 

[Dankster Morgan]

Yeah, we'll see what happens with it. They're definitely trying to go with a classic Halo: Combat Evolved feel.

I'm curious what differences will be present between the three versions, if it really will be mostly "graphic settings" and load time differences, or if it'll be something more drastic.

Halo being what got me into gaming, it makes me sad that it didn't totally blow my nips off. Ugh. I want to want it more than I actually want it.

 

[Gooberking]

Just super quick skimmed. Showing off 120fps for Ori. I'm into high frame rate awareness.

I still need to play the game. I actually bailed on playing the original because it was 30fps locked. I'm not sure I need a console to do it, but I'm also not totally against getting an Xbox this time around.

 

[CrimsonShadow]

How so? Assuming this works just like PC gaming, which is what they've been suggesting, that's not overly complicated at all.

What I'm curious about is if that will really be the case, since we have yet to see it in action.

While it always sounds good in theory, consoles never work like PC gaming. When games are multiconsole, things always have to be tamed in order to be compatible with the lowest common denominator. It's why those theoretical graphical differences between Xbox One and PS4 never really panned out when games were released on both platforms.

Even PC games sometimes suffer when there's a simultaneous console release, because console standards of performance always play by different rules.

 

[Juxtapose]

Halo being what got me into gaming, it makes me sad that it didn't totally blow my nips off. Ugh. I want to want it more than I actually want it.

Curious, what did you want instead?

While it always sounds good in theory, consoles never work like PC gaming. When games are multiconsole, things always have to be tamed in order to be compatible with the lowest common denominator. It's why those theoretical graphical differences between Xbox One and PS4 never really panned out when games were released on both platforms.

Even PC games sometimes suffer when there's a simultaneous console release, because console standards of performance always play by different rules.

Perhaps, but we'll need to see how it's implemented and obviously, how it works. I'd expect, between an Xbox One S and an Xbox Series X, there to be much lower texture quality, draw distance, lesser lighting, etc. This sort of stuff is common from low to higher end PC's, for example.

Look at DOOM (2016), as an example. My rig plays it on Ultra Settings without popping a sweat. My father's system has a much better processor than mine, but a much lesser video card and less ram, so he has to play it on lower settings, some of them outright on low. The game does look lesser than compared to my system, but it still looks and plays great.

I have the Xbox One version of the game as well, and on my Xbox One X, I'd say the textures and lighting are a mixture of high and medium as opposed to Ultra Settings, and the game plays and looks fantastic on said console. So it will depend on how well Microsoft has actually approached this.

When the time comes, I expect Digital Foundry will do a very in-depth look.

 

[Dankster Morgan]

Curious, what did you want instead?

A new setting. Halo 2, 3, ODST, Reach, fuck even 4 and 5 introduced badass new settings. And up through Reach they were absolutely stunning in terms of the setting and offered something new. It just looked too much like CE but I understand why they went that route. I want to see something new, but still in line with the established Bungie art style.

However, the Banished are great, hopefully Atriox is actually in the game because he is a badass villain, and I desperately want the Arbiter back as a major player in the game.

 

[Juxtapose]

A new setting. Halo 2, 3, ODST, Reach, fuck even 4 and 5 introduced badass new settings. And up through Reach they were absolutely stunning in terms of the setting and offered something new. It just looked too much like CE but I understand why they went that route. I want to see something new, but still in line with the established Bungie art style.

However, the Banished are great, hopefully Atriox is actually in the game because he is a badass villain, and I desperately want the Arbiter back as a major player in the game.

We may still get that though. Keep in mind, Halo 2 focused strictly on showing the war on Earth, yet in the actual game, this was such a small part and most of it was spent on Delta Halo and High Charity. For Halo 3, everyone believed the Ark was Earth, which was again all we saw in the pre-release footage, but it turned out to be a whole new installation.

Whichever Installation we're seeing in Halo: Infinite so far, it's entirely probable there will be other locations, including new ones.

For the Banished, I have yet to play Halo Wars 2, but I do plan to pick it up. I hear that Atriox is quite the badass. I'm curious how the plot with progress from Halo 5: Guardians, since we see the Banished in control here and having decimated humanity, yet I expected to see Cortana and her Created in control.

Unless this was dealt with in Halo War 2, of course, then I would be ignorant of it.

 

[Ilthuain]

Stalker 2 was the highlight for me. Once I saw that bolt spinning into the room I stood up and cheered.

The Medium, and that Warhammer 40k game look cool as well.

I'll probably pick up a Series X on release. With Gamepass and backward compatability for software and peripherals, it seems like a safe purchase.

 

[Tony at Home]

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 holy shit!!!!

 

[Dankster Morgan]

We may still get that though. Keep in mind, Halo 2 focused strictly on showing the war on Earth, yet in the actual game, this was such a small part and most of it was spent on Delta Halo and High Charity. For Halo 3, everyone believed the Ark was Earth, which was again all we saw in the pre-release footage, but it turned out to be a whole new installation.

Whichever Installation we're seeing in Halo: Infinite so far, it's entirely probable there will be other locations, including new ones.

For the Banished, I have yet to play Halo Wars 2, but I do plan to pick it up. I hear that Atriox is quite the badass. I'm curious how the plot with progress from Halo 5: Guardians, since we see the Banished in control here and having decimated humanity, yet I expected to see Cortana and her Created in control.

Unless this was dealt with in Halo War 2, of course, then I would be ignorant of it.

Just youtube the cutscene of Atriox clapping the shit out of multiple Spartans. He reminds me of Tartarus from Halo 2 which was my favorite story because there was a villain there as a physical threat that was the opposite to the protagonist (who in Halo 2 I would argue was the Arbiter more so than MC).

 

[portent]

Honestly, I feel like the showcase was very subdued. I'm not expecting Sony's next one to blow me away either. Most of the games were either sequels, reboots, upgrades to existing games, etc.

This isn't to say that I don't believe that MS will win this generation, because I wholeheartedly believe it. The one thing that really blew me away was the look of Forza Motorsport 8.

That said, I think Microsoft is very forward thinking and they have the interests of their customers first.

This comes from someone who has owned every Sony, Microsoft, Nintendo and Sega console.

Sony has been taking advantage of their customer base for a long time, and MS is really putting their customers first with this generation, especially with Smart Delivery, as well as with Xbox All Access, which will allow the purchase of a system, then an upgrade option for the next generation 7-10 years down the road, which also includes gamepass ultimate. This leads me to believe that they will continue to offer backward compatibility with their systems moving forward.

 

[Kiss the Missile]

Idk if that would help them "win" tho. The move still looks to be to own a PS console, and just play Microsoft games on PC. Especially with how much they're buffing Gamepass.

 

[Swindle]

Halo looked alright

Didn’t look great, tbh. What was up with that poor rendering of the fog in the distance. Just popped in and out. Definitely not next-gen impressive

 

[mastermalone]

While it always sounds good in theory, consoles never work like PC gaming. When games are multiconsole, things always have to be tamed in order to be compatible with the lowest common denominator. It's why those theoretical graphical differences between Xbox One and PS4 never really panned out when games were released on both platforms.

Even PC games sometimes suffer when there's a simultaneous console release, because console standards of performance always play by different rules.

As a software engineer, I would say this is not the entire story. We build software to take full advantage of the hardware first and then scale down based on feature detection. If feature "X" then perform task.. You get the idea.

This includes assets, sounds, frame rates etc. Working from the top makes initial development easier than trying to scale up for features. The reason:

You get to use all the new, easier to use features . Working with older, less feature rich interfaces makes for an antagonizing programming experience especially when trying to get the code to do what you're asking it to do (unsuccessfully sometimes).

 

[Juxtapose]

Just youtube the cutscene of Atriox clapping the shit out of multiple Spartans. He reminds me of Tartarus from Halo 2 which was my favorite story because there was a villain there as a physical threat that was the opposite to the protagonist (who in Halo 2 I would argue was the Arbiter more so than MC).

I'm going to hold off only to avoid spoilers, though the marketing I saw certainly made him look very, very badass.

That said, I think Microsoft is very forward thinking and they have the interests of their customers first.

While I can't say who will "win" this upcoming generation, I certainly believe Microsoft is in a much better spot and on the right track to really perform this gen. I fully agree with your forward thinking comment.

Sony has been taking advantage of their customer base for a long time, and MS is really putting their customers first with this generation, especially with Smart Delivery, as well as with Xbox All Access, which will allow the purchase of a system, then an upgrade option for the next generation 7-10 years down the road, which also includes gamepass ultimate. This leads me to believe that they will continue to offer backward compatibility with their systems moving forward.

I'm not a fan of Sony's business practices myself and never have been (for the entire company, not just their game's division). I gave them a chance with the PlayStation Vita, and they burned me hard. Having said that, I'm not an elitist on platforms as you, and I'll recommend the PlayStation brand to someone if I believe it is the best product for how they want to game.

For Microsoft and backwards compatibility, that absolutely seems to be a priority for them, and it's one I really appreciate. Because of it, I have something like 40 games that I can play on my Xbox One X right now, many enhanced for the console. They have a fantastic back catalogue.

Idk if that would help them "win" tho. The move still looks to be to own a PS console, and just play Microsoft games on PC. Especially with how much they're buffing Gamepass.

Perhaps, but what they're doing is giving their consumer base choice. If you want to play their games, you have multiple platforms you can do it from. Heck, you'll apparently be able to play them on your tablet and smartphone via xCloud (though we'll see how well that works).

It looks like they're looking to have subscription services, primarily GamePass, be their primary revenue stream, not hardware sales. If that is indeed the business model they're targeting, they're absolutely doing the right thing making Xbox a brand as opposed to a single platform.

 

[portent]

I'm not an elitist on platforms as you, and I'll recommend the PlayStation brand to someone if I believe it is the best product for how they want to game.

I'm thinking, and hoping that you didn't mean that I seem to be elitist, LOL. I'm an owner of every Sony system, including multiples of the PS1, PS2 and PS3, as well as 3 PSP's and a Vita, a PS4 and a PS Classic.

I am not elitist or biased toward any company. I try to look at what games I prefer, then look at what console will actually provide the most value for my money. So for, at least IMHO, this generation looks like Microsoft will provide the most value.

Most people actually don't know what the X in Xbox stands for. It stands for DirectX, and it was originally called the DirectXbox. For a lay person, DirectX is the architecture that has powered 3d graphics on all PC's and all Xbox systems. This also helps explain why it's easier for MS to natively offer backward compatibility.

 

[Swindle]

Very little actual gameplay shown. Why are they getting a pass on that?

 

[Juxtapose]

I'm thinking, and hoping that you didn't mean that I seem to be elitist, LOL. I'm an owner of every Sony system, including multiples of the PS1, PS2 and PS3, as well as 3 PSP's and a Vita, a PS4 and a PS Classic.

I am not elitist or biased toward any company. I try to look at what games I prefer, then look at what console will actually provide the most value for my money. So for, at least IMHO, this generation looks like Microsoft will provide the most value.

Most people actually don't know what the X in Xbox stands for. It stands for DirectX, and it was originally called the DirectXbox. For a lay person, DirectX is the architecture that has powered 3d graphics on all PC's and all Xbox systems. This also helps explain why it's easier for MS to natively offer backward compatibility.

I did not and apologize! I'm typing all this on my company MacBook Pro, and I loathe the track pad on it. It's overly large, and as I type my hands oft hit it, causing the cursor to move around, resulting in text errors. On occasion, it actually deletes text I've written as well.

That's what happened here. The full text was supposed to be:

Having said that, I'm not an elitist on platforms as you all know, and I'll recommend the PlayStation brand to someone if I believe it is the best product for how they want to game.

 

[Juxtapose]

Very little actual gameplay shown. Why are they getting a pass on that?

It was an event to show what games and titles are upcoming to the brand, not a game demonstration.

At an event like this, I would have been surprised to see actual demos of people playing said games. Having said that, it would not have been unwelcome.

 

[Swindle]

It was an event to show what games and titles are upcoming to the brand, not a game demonstration.

At an event like this, I would have been surprised to see actual demos of people playing said games. Having said that, it would not have been unwelcome.

I say this because XBox got raked for a shoddy presentation before. Figured they would step it up