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[ManaByte]

But please, carry on with your Bleeding Edge. A piss poor, unpolished, small minded "passion project".

Sea of Thieves was a passion project, probably the first Phil greenlit, and it’s Rare’s most successful game ever.

 

[Bumblebeetuna]

Bleeding Edge was good fun.

Grounded is not my type of game, I loathe survival resource collecting games.

Pentiment was great, one of the best of 2022.

Have HiFi installed but haven’t started it yet. Word of mouth is pretty spectacular, but that might just be buzz from the shadow drop.

 

[ManaByte]

Have HiFi installed but haven’t started it yet. Word of mouth is pretty spectacular, but that might just be buzz from the shadow drop.

No it’s fantastic. The type of game old Sega would release on the DC.

 

[StealthGoblin]

None of them interest me, but I love that Microsoft are enabling and growing that. It’s something I’d like Sony to do. The sheer talent at both groups is astonishing so there must be some brilliant ideas we don’t ever get to see.

 

[RGB'D]

Bleeding Edge is crap, the other three are good. So keep these passion projects coming MS.

They were making Bleeding Edge before the MS acquisition so I do question if it was a passion project like the rest. But Obsidians output were definitely passion projects and it appears that Hi-Fi Rush was as well (even if they started development before acquisition, that process took time to get certified and I'm sure that Microsoft had shared their vision of being able to do projects like this because of Gamepass. In fact Todd and Pete mentioned these types of projects specifically when they were talking about why they were so excited to partner with MS.

 

[Andodalf]

Bleeding Edge was in development before they were aquired

 

[Camreezie]

Its different and they should be more frequent. Its not like theyre releasing bigger games from these studios , what do they have to lose

 

[ManaByte]

Its different and they should be more frequent. Its not like theyre releasing bigger games from these studios , what do they have to lose

Throw shit at the wall and see what sticks is a great business strategy.

 

[Ansphn]

Seems to be the only things they're releasing these days. Where are the AAA games? And I don't mean Forza every year.

 

[GHG]

The two people who voted for bleeding edge have to be trolling.

Out of those games Grounded is by far and away the best of the bunch. Not played HiFi yet so will be interesting to see where it stacks up.

 

[Varteras]

The two people who voted for bleeding edge have to be trolling.

Out of those games Grounded is by far and away the best of the bunch. Not played HiFi yet so will be interesting to see where it stacks up.

I voted for it because Pentiment and Grounded put me off with their aesthetics while I really liked Bleeding Edge's. I've not seen enough of Hi-Fi Rush yet. No trolling. Just voted based on liking the looks since none of them appealed to me gameplay wise.

 

[GHG]

I voted for it because Pentiment and Grounded put me off with their aesthetics while I really liked Bleeding Edge's. I've not seen enough of Hi-Fi Rush yet. No trolling. Just voted based on liking the looks since none of them appealed to me gameplay wise.

 

[Varteras]

Don't you look at me like that!

 

[samoilaaa]

grounded has very positivie on steam from 39k
pentiment has overwhelmingly positive from 2k

id say they are doing pretty good

 

[vaibhavpisal]

MS would be crazy not to make more of these.

Gamepass fodder .... Whatever.

I could keep playing these if this is all they made, in rotation with one of online shooters.

I am thinking Minecraft Legends would also fit in this bunch.

 

[Flutta]

Meh..

 

[Jooxed]

Had a bunch of fun with some friends in grounded. Hi Fi Rush having a great time with. Looking forward to see what else Microsoft has up their sleeve.

 

[ChorizoPicozo]

I’m sure your opinion holds a lot of weight with Xbox. Do you even own one?

As a professional, maintaining objectivity is crucial. This is why I strive to ensure accuracy and impartiality in my analysis.

 

[Mr Moose]

Were any of these being made before acquisitions?

 

[Punished Miku]

Were any of these being made before acquisitions?

Bleeding Edge was started before. Redfall started before.
Pentiment and Hi-Fi were specifically explained in interviews as "only being possible because of Gamepass."
Grounded, not sure. Maybe started before.

 

[xClout]

Passion = morelife

 

[Corndog]

As a professional, maintaining objectivity is crucial. This is why I strive to ensure accuracy and impartiality in my analysis.

A professional what? Troll? Jackass?

 

[ChorizoPicozo]

A professional what? Troll? Jackass?

is already stated.

 

[oji-san]

None tbh, but still will try Hi Fi Rush, perhaps will surprise me.

 

[Umbasaborne]

As other have said, they would be great if they complimented some big games too, but microsoft seems incapable of getting anything beyond an indie title out the door

 

[Beastclaw Raider]

The xbox situation reminds me a lot of Sega and their last consoles. Lots of really nice out there creative games but nothing big pulling it front.

 

[Dr. Claus]

Halo infinite scored an 87 on metacritic and received a lot of game of the year awards. I guess you think Horizon forbidden west was mediocre too huh?

Yes. Also:

As I have always said. Anyone who tries to use GotY/MetaCritic/Opencritic (or any similar service) as any metric is a console warrior or someone who desperately needs validation of their own purchase decisions.

You people always prove me right.

The release of multiplayer content was mishandled but the game is still great critically and top 20 on Xbox live most played games.

Not hard to be on the top when you don't have a lot to offer in terms of first party releases. Not to mention suck cost fallacy looming ever larger for those who bought into the poor, greedy design.

Forza motor sport isn’t an arcade racer by any stretch of the imagination. And it is a current gen game unlike GT7 with its ps3 textures.

SimCade. Not the same as Arcade. GT7 *is* a current gen game. But please, continue showing how much of a sad little console warrior you truly are.

Star field, red fall, Gears, Fable, Forza Motor sport, and more are all releasing on Xbox. Just because a game doesn’t have a release date doesn’t mean it is in development hell.

This is literally a discussion about a lack of variety being released on Xbox. Note the RELEASED part.

Also developers have come out and said that there are problems with Fable, Perfect Dark, and Everwild for a while now. We even got a dev confirming that Perfect Dark will be delayed until *after* the next Tomb Raider release which won't be for at least 2-3 years. You can do the math, bud.

Sony only has Spider-Man 2 release date so does that mean their other games are having development issues?

Strawman arguments are all you really have, huh?

 

[RCU005]

This

Hi- Fi Rush was a great surprise, and if it wasn’t for it, reactions would’ve been worse.

 

[AngelMuffin]

This

Hi- Fi Rush was a great surprise, and if it wasn’t for it, reactions would’ve been worse.

Yeah, I agree. That’s why I bumped it up to a “meh”. Will be trying that out tonight.

 

[SF Kosmo]

I didn't get into Pentiment but Grounded and Hi-Fi Rush are both excellent, and honestly just as fun as any of the more AAA-oriented fare. I think it's important to take chances and see what players connect with, not just follow proven formulas over and over.

I can't wait to see what Double Fine do.

 

[BbMajor7th]

I'm all for it and I wish Sony were still greenlighting these smaller scale projects - as others have noted though, these land better when they're part of a more substantial framework of releases.

 

[semiconscious]

As other have said, they would be great if they complimented some big games too, but microsoft seems incapable of getting anything beyond an indie title out the door

thank you...

i didn't get an ms console to play faux indies...

 

[Ghost of Caelid]

For fucks sake, man

Don’t people read anything these days?

I think that, sadly gamers have gotten too invested in how much a game cost to make. It's weird because rarely for film or music do the fans go "this album cost _____ to make" as an indication of quality...no one cares that Avatar cost more tha Everything Everywhere All At Once...because at the end of the day the art speaks for itself. But since gaming is so cause up on A/A/AAA mindset fans put alooooot of emphasis on budget. It's sad because who cares if Hi-fI Rush cost 10% the budget of Forspoken, one is goingto be better recieved and on top of that does something new. Thats why passion projects are important...risk is rarely taken in the expensive games, but if you let creators try new ideas in the smaller games, when they start their 5 year projects they don't have to worry about fleshing out the new concept.

 

[Jigsaah]

Hit or Miss.

Bleeding edge was fun until I played with a full group of my toxic friends. Made sure I never played that game again.

Hi Fi Rush is stylish and a lot of fun.

I prefer more realistically styled survival games like The Forest as opposed to Grounded, but I can see why people enjoy this game.

I have not played Pentiment. Obsidian has really been pumping the games out huh?

 

[Ghost of Caelid]

To the people quoting me like what I said was some hot take:

Yes, lets pretend we all invested thousands of dollars on OLED TV's, surround sound speakers, super high-end gaming cards, gaming chairs, $300 Pro controllers, $600 consoles, etc, to play fucking Bleeding Edge.

I cant be the only person around here that wants to see studios spend time on making real next gen AAA games with large-scale battles the likes of which we've never seen before, the return of destructible environments, superior A.I, creative new game design (we're still in the PS3 era), new mission structures, hardware pushing graphical fidelity, intelligent writing, more visceral combat, etc, etc.. You know.. next gen stuff.

And no, I dont care that these things are in the indie space - I want to see them in AAA games.

"BuT tHoSe ThinGs tAke 8 YeArs!" Precisely why I said there isnt enough talent in this industry. Build less, but larger, more efficient studios. Manage your studios better, higher more talent from other industries. Thesre must be a way to shorten development time and it starts with hiring the cream of the crop and proper studio management. If Insomniac can do it then nobody else has an excuse, because it can be done.

But please, carry on with your Bleeding Edge. A piss poor, unpolished, small minded "passion project".

I spent 1800 on my oled, 500$ on my xbox headphones, 1000$ on my ps5 xsx respectively so I can enjoy games like GOW with all the bells and whistles, but also the mellow sounds of Signalis in 4k with proper hdr and pure blacks...I think you need to expand your taste if you think a game has to be of a certain budget in order to be impressive. Take a moment turn on a game like Inside, lights off head phones on, and just play it...I promised you will be more immersed than almost any game ever, because it's not about budget but how well the vision is achieved by the game design team.

 

[sachos]

How are you feeling about the suite of small games and which of their current studios would you like to see do a small project.

I think its great they are trying new stuff, regardless if they end up being good or not. I want them to keep doing it, wee need more AA like 8-10 hours experiences that do not take 9 digit production costs and 5 years to make.
A small project from one of their studios? I would love to see iD try make an FPS campaign similar to either FEAR or Soldier of Fortune, i would love for Playground Games to go back to old school racing games, make something more akin to NFS3HP or NFSHP2 closed circuit racing with beautiful designed tracks around the world.

 

[Killer8]

Indies and these smaller scale games are the antidote to the growing mediocrity of AAA gaming. Having something like Game Pass to act as a safety net for the teams making them is also very important. If this model makes developers comfortable enough to take risks again then I am all for it.

 

[itsjustJEFF]

They've been doing a damn good job! As someone who is not an Xbox guy, but a gamepass on pc guy, it always seemed like Xbox gamers didn't like the "smaller" games. They always seemed to prefer the AAA games or the big realistic bangers or something... at least that was sentiment I got online, and maybe that's the problem lol, it would have just been a very vocal minority. Every release can't be a AAA banger, you need smaller titles in between to hold you over. With the semi-regular droughts of AAA games Xbox has had recently it looks like those most vocal has started to recognize the value of smaller games. They're almost always unique and almost always a good time.

I wonder if these smaller games turnout so well, and seemingly on time, is because they are smaller... meaning Xbox leaves them be. Maybe they're not as involved cause it's a "smaller" title that isn't that big of a financial risk

 

[Ozriel]

To me "Passion Projects" means low quality fodder for Game Pass.

The first Passion Project I ever played was Bleeding Edge. It was uninspired, low quality, trying to chase a trend, fodder. And Despite talking about how much passion the studio had for the project. When it didn't take off they closed the entire game down. My second passion project was the honey I shrunk the kids game. I damn near cried after a few minutes. played it for a few hours due to a lost bet on the other site and it was a chore. I haven't wanted to play a passion project since.

And yet Grounded has sold millions of copies on Steam alone, has 80+ MC rating and 83% user rating on Steam…with over 10k daily concurrent players.

Cleverly dodging Pentiment and Hi-Fi Rush also doesn’t do you any favors. Those are ‘passion projects’ as mentioned in this thread, and one has multiple GOTY awards with the other being hailed as one of the best action games in a long while. Hardly ‘low quality Gamepass fodder’.

Bleeding Edge was a side project made by a handful of Ninja Theory devs. It flopped and they moved on. You pitching it as a studio-wide passion project is completely on-brand.

 

[darrylgorn]

Considering Hi-Fi and Grounded are two of the best games this generation, I'd say passion projects are doing well!

 

[Pelta88]

And yet Grounded has sold millions of copies on Steam alone, has 80+ MC rating and 83% user rating on Steam…with over 10k daily concurrent players.

Cleverly dodging Pentiment and Hi-Fi Rush also doesn’t do you any favors. Those are ‘passion projects’ as mentioned in this thread, and one has multiple GOTY awards with the other being hailed as one of the best action games in a long while. Hardly ‘low quality Gamepass fodder’.

Bleeding Edge was a side project made by a handful of Ninja Theory devs. It flopped and they moved on. You pitching it as a studio-wide passion project is completely on-brand.

 

[Ozriel]

Seems my data was from a weekend spike. Still, 7k+ daily players is nothing to scoff at.

At least you saw the review stats when you made this crop. So much for ‘low quality fodder’

 

[Thirty7ven]

It’s what these subscription services should bet on, it’s the way to go.

 

[Unrivaledx88]

Beats the shit out of 85% of AAA games. Forspoken is technically a "AAA" game that sucks.

Okay say Forspoken is a Miss… How many AAA games did Sony bring to Playstation before having a crappy AAA game lile Forspoken??
And now MS?

Point made.

Now we Laugh and keep waiting

 

[KungFucius]

Complete joke.

If these games are your passion, as in, you wouldnt want to make ANYTHING ELSE but these, even if you could.... then you need to dream bigger.

Disgusted at how developers have zero passion to push the medium forward.

I think small games like these does push the medium forward with more varied content that gets to take some risks you don't see much of anymore. Your definition of a passion project is shallow and misses the mark. They are small scope games where they can take risks and not have to worry about tanking the studio if it doesn't score in the 90s.

 

[bluecowboys]

Okay say Forspoken is a Miss… How many AAA games did Sony bring to Playstation before having a crappy AAA game lile Forspoken??
And now MS?

Point made.

Now we Laugh and keep waiting

Laugh at what exactly? MS just got a good game to start this year and have three AAA first party exclusives this year that are more than likely going to score well. Age of empires is coming to Xbox soon at the end of this month too.

 

[bluecowboys]

Yes. Also:


You people always prove me right.

Not hard to be on the top when you don't have a lot to offer in terms of first party releases. Not to mention suck cost fallacy looming ever larger for those who bought into the poor, greedy design.


SimCade. Not the same as Arcade. GT7 *is* a current gen game. But please, continue showing how much of a sad little console warrior you truly are.


This is literally a discussion about a lack of variety being released on Xbox. Note the RELEASED part.

Also developers have come out and said that there are problems with Fable, Perfect Dark, and Everwild for a while now. We even got a dev confirming that Perfect Dark will be delayed until *after* the next Tomb Raider release which won't be for at least 2-3 years. You can do the math, bud.


Strawman arguments are all you really have, huh?

Halo infinite is competing with both MS and third party games. To be top 20 is really good and far from a failure.

Simcade isn’t even a real word and FM is a simulator racer. Also, GT7 released on the ps4 making it a cross generation game. FM is going to be current gen game only.

Lack of variety released games? Just last 2 years we got the following games.

Halo - FPS
Hi Fi Rush - Rhythm
Flight simulator - Simulator
Gears Tactics/ Age of empires - Strategy
Grounded - survival
Forza Horizon - Arcade racer
Pentiment - Role playing.

This year we are going to get a co op team based shooter, racing sim, and a AAA role playing game. All releasing relatively soon. Beats Sony’s third person adventure games that they keep releasing over and over.

 

[Mess]

I had a great time with Pentiment. I get people don't buy Series X for this kind of games but I for one am happy that MS greenlights them.

 

[Dr. Claus]

Halo infinite is competing with both MS and third party games. To be top 20 is really good and far from a failure.

You keep telling yourself that while you ignore the numerous reports and statements by the developers themselves stating that it was far from their projected hopes, the critical response from long time fans, and the complete shit show that has been 343i as of the last year with numerous lay offs and massive changes at the top. A strong, "really good" game wouldn't let that happen.

Simcade isn’t even a real word and FM is a simulator racer. Also, GT7 released on the ps4 making it a cross generation game. FM is going to be current gen game only.

https://gprivate.com/637bb
So a game is only next gen when you impose idiotic constraints to it?

Lack of variety released games? Just last 2 years we got the following games.

Yes, as I have already explained above and a number of those games are more than 3 years old. Not released during the drought we have now. Any more attempts at ignoring what is being written and moving goalposts?

This year we are going to get a co op team based shooter, racing sim, and a AAA role playing game. All releasing relatively soon. Beats Sony’s third person adventure games that they keep releasing over and over.

And you constantly try to bring up Sony for some odd reason, almost as if you are afraid and need to remind people which "Team" you are on. Further showing how much of a sad little warrior you truly are. Sony deserves just as much criticism as Xbox. Doesn't mean Xbox shouldn't be criticized.

 

[01011001]

if we get more highly polished AA games like Hi-fi Rush then I say GIMME MOOOAAAR!