Saw Chrono Cross was on sale so got the game. Makes me miss Chrono Trigger..

Just went to some local shops here (Mediamarkt, Intertoys) and I have seen 2 Xbox Series X, opossed to 30+ PS5's. Seems availability is still shit. How is it in your country? I really starting to doubt it will be better around the time Starfield launches.

Edit: Also, on bol.com (on of the largest online store in the Netherlands) only has the Series X Diablo version in stock. Not the regular version....

The more I play Callisto the more I dislike the game due to the utterly shocking combat. It’s appalling, it’s built purely for 1v1 and because of the mutating mechanic it can turn single fights into a 5m slog. God forbid you get 1v2 or 1v3 because the game completely falls apart. I’ve died less in Elden Ring in my entire NG++++ playthroughs combined than I have to standard enemies in this game … it’s like they thought combat should be the equivalent of dark souls fucking a slug.

I just want to hear those sweet words from Phil's mouth "The ABK deal is now finally closed". Then we can frolic in the meadows and bask in Phils' radiance until the next purchase.

Too much?

"The ABK Deal is Now Closed!" - Phil Spencer.

Senior producer Ryan McArthur told GamesRadar, "I'm a big believer in programs like Game Pass, and for us it was a huge moment--something we marked on the calendar."

McArthur said the team wanted to get Battlefield 2042 in shape for the Game Pass launch because the team knew the game would see a major influx of players.

"One thing we talked about internally quite a lot was that if there was a moment in time where we were going to open this game up to a whole bunch of new players then it needs to be good. It needs to be the game that we wanted it to be when we launched it, and that really galvanized the team as we charged towards that date," McArthur said.

Battlefield 2042 Launching On Game Pass Was A "Huge Moment," DICE Says - GameSpot

Speaking of Fortnite, another major game was recently added to Xbox Game Pass' cloud library in the form of Grand Theft Auto V. Last time GTAV was added, the service saw a surge in popularity which resulted in occasional queues. Although it's unconfirmed if GTAV is directly responsible, many users on Xbox Cloud Gaming communities are blaming GTAV for this recent, much larger influx of queues, which is hitting Microsoft's cloud gaming systems in various regions.

It has been suggested to me that some of the delay could be caused by how Xbox Game Pass handles game delivery on cloud these days — as the library has grown, Microsoft doesn't keep every single cloud game installed on the servers at all times, opting instead to spin up nearby servers on the fly with the specific game you requested.

Microsoft is also offloading some of the GPU cycles from Xbox Cloud Gaming to A.I. processing services when they're not in use as part of Microsoft's big ChatGPT / Bing Chat push. The AI processing may also be inducing queues, as servers flip priorities around. It's a downside, but it also crucially extends the business viability of the service in a world where Apple and Google won't allow Microsoft to monetize on their platforms. You'll notice that no games either from first or third-party developers on Xbox Cloud Gaming for Google Play have in-app purchases or DLC enabled. You can blame Google for that.

Xbox Cloud Gaming is Seeing Increased Queue Times as Demand Surges | Windows Central

Lol. It feels like Microsoft will be feeding xCloud with Xbox consoles for years to come. GTAV being likely responsible for the recent strain on the service also proves that demand is exceeding capacity which of course means, Xbox needs more consoles in the server racks...Just how many consoles does a server rack need per customer? Lol. It doesn't end! And this is before Call of Duty hits the service...Dear God...Lmao.

The last paragraph is interesting if I'm reading it correctly, Microsoft is essentially taking the Series X GPU's when not in use and using them for their AI push, as well? So basically Xbox consoles are both benefitting xCloud and Microsoft AI? That's a good thing for the Xbox business, I suppose, as it further aligns it with Microsoft's overall goals and adds further justification for the investment.

On the flipside, Microsoft is using our dang consoles on non-gaming stuff and maybe causing more strain on the servers! Lmao. So that means maybe we need even more consoles in the xCloud server racks! Idk...Maybe...Man, Microsoft really needs to figure out how to manufacture Xbox Series X better if this is the case, it's needed for consumers, xCloud and AI, Lol.