Awwwww man, Crazy Taxi got the Steam disclaimer that Generative AI is involved in the games development.

In poor taste to announce this when the main game is still ~8 months out. 

"We’re also introducing the XBOX Wireless Controller X25 Special Edition in translucent OG Green, showcasing 25 years of play inside. From the original ABXY colors, to the timeless green, every detail calls back to the beginning, including the bumpers honoring the original black and white buttons on the original “Duke” controller."

Nice touch including the black and white buttons nod!

Xbox Games Showcase was a good 8/10 for me. No real low point, but also missing that BIG WOW announcement. Gears of War E-Day looks fantastic and moves above Halo remake for me. Though Fable still at the top. 

Ending the main showcase with CoD is just ehhhhh. 

I'll likely get the 25th anniversary Xbox controller. I actually own the Halo OG Xbox with the translucent green plastic. 

Open beta for Gears start 6th of August

Interview with Matt booty. Live service titles will be multiplatform, others will be "case-by-case" yes he uses those words.

The dreaded phrase is back!

https://youtu.be/iWLmhs0nmyc?si=ULA9Ru37RIx8OEzb

Here's what I think was their reasoning with Xbox exclusivity, with them saying live-service games are multiplat but still porting State of Decay 3 and Senua:

Every single Xbox Games Studios games was very far in development for PS5 (Gears of War: E-Day, Clockwork Revolution, Senua, State of Decay 3, and obviously Halo and Fable). MS realized that exclusivity is important, but at the same time, a lot of time and money had already been spent on building the PS5 versions of those games. They only canceled the PS5 ports of those games of theirs that had the potential to be needle movers.

Senua and SoD 3, as good as they may be, are niche. Hellblade 2 sold terribly, charting 37th in the USA and missing the European Top 100 altogether on its month of release in May 2024. The PS5 release didn't do much to help either. Still to this day, there has been no announcement of Hellblade 2 concerning "X number of players reached", which MS does for every of their games. SoD 3, like the Hellblade franchise, is a known quantity and not a needle mover. Canceling the PS5 ports wouldn't do anything. If the PS5 ports hadn't been already deep in development though, I think they would have been exclusive under this new administration.

On the other hand, Gears of War: E-Day is a known quantity and has historically been one of the biggest system sellers for Xbox. This next entry is looking great and does have the looks to be a return to form for the franchise and could be a major title. Clockwork Revolution is a new AAA IP, and thus has no established fanbase as of now, but as an unknown quantity, it could pop off and turn out massive like many new IPs this gen (Stellar Blade, Expedition 33). It makes sense to take a bet on it and cancel the PS5 port.

In the future, I think most SP titles will be Xbox console exclusives. Senua, Fable and Halo Campaign Evolved would have been exclusive had their development not been that advanced or announced (Halo literally comes out next month lol). But the next Halo, Fable, Elder Scroll 6, Blade will be exclusive. Big titles like Forza Horizon 7 won't be though.

Very good showcase to me, like 8/10.

I was wowed by Gears of War: E-Day, and liked some of the reveals like Magicians: The Devil's Deal. Fable had a cool trailer, and I like the darker tone this trailer has compared to previous trailers, but I still feel like we've barely seen any gameplay, just cinematics. It looks beautiful, but most of the trailer was just close-up of characters.

But yeah, really hyped for Gears, and Metro 2039, the new levels in Halo, Magician: The Devil's Deal all looked cool, and some exclusivity of some kind is back and so for me that was enough for me to be satisfied.