Xbox Next Generation Coming Early | The Last of Us Online Canceled | Xbox Secret Weapon - XB2 295

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Timestamps Getting ready to go live 0:00 Intro and Housekeeping 10:45 Xbox 2023 players personal stats 30:15 Ign Gamepass article discourse 49:10 Rumour: Xbox next gen early release 1:08:00 Importance of Console sales 1:21:30 Rand goes solo 2:00:00 Jez is back 2:07:10 Arkane and Blade 2:10:00 Xbox secret weapon in Japan 2:17:55 Xbox 2024 lineup speculation 2:32:15 TLOU: Factions cancelled 2:42:10 Patreon Questions and Closing 3:18:10

Xbox internal review of Last Of Us 2: “sets a new bar for what we should hope to be able to achieve going into a new generation of consoles.The visual quality and attention to detail in The Last of Us Part II is absolutely best-in-class in basically every area, and the overall presentation is significantly ahead of anything that other teams have been producing on console and PC." There's something to be said for staying in your lane for what you do great, look at Arkane & Redfall.

10:10 The Stream Starts

Rand nailed it around 1:27:00. The enthusiasts say exclusives matter, but they don’t. What really matters is mindshare and “it” factor. Which PS5 has for the same reason Apple has. It’s a popular item. Sunset Overdrive and Ori and Titanfall all would have smashed it on PS4.

@46:31 Rand backing away from his mic and saying "Woahhh jez, woah don't say that bro, what do you mean? Can't say such things like that." Was so unintentionally hilarious

I start the night with a long Triple Jump video to help fall asleep and I wake up to this podcast so thanks for helping keep me asleep.

What surprised me most with Xbox year in review was the amount of MS rewards earned. 162,394 earned in 2023 while barely trying. God I hope they aren't gutting the rewards program on Xbox like it seems.

I'm one of the rare people who switch from PS to Xbox. I was a happy PS4 user but Xbox were offering next gen at a very affordable price with the Series S. I didn't really play Sony first party and what Xbox had interested me. Very happy with my decision!

I hope Xbox does this. PS5 Pro is next year and I'd hate for Xbox to lag behind for four more years, let's not do that. That would mean Pro becomes my main console for two years and then it's back to Xbox.

Interesting discussion on Xbox releasing the next gen early. I think its a pretty risky endeavor. I know the console space has changed dramatically since, but the Dreamcast got completely undercut by the PS2 for releasing ahead of it. PS2 came out with the ability to play dvds, better graphics, a better controller etc. There could be some jump in technology between the next gen Xbox and the PS6 that's omission could hurt Xbox, not to mention the ability to manipulate prices in reaction to the Xbox by Sony. Things have homogenized in the console space compared to then, but I think releasing the next Xbox early with a bunch of AI features (which I think consumers are still pretty iffy on the implications of, right or wrong) is a pretty big gambit in some ways, but maybe its worth it to get the spotlight on release. Great pod!

Im a little chapped that series x is finally getting some games and they are already announcing the next system... lets try supporting the current gen before pushing the next one

100% on the same vibe as Jez with gaming right now...working a lot of hours per week along with family, gaming has become a time to just shut off my mind in typically shorter sessions...so I only beat maybe 2-3 games this year, but played a lot of different stuff and had some fun with Halo, Diablo, Battlefield, Doom & a bunch of indies

Great show dudes! ❤

Dude really used playstion news on the title 💀.

Glad to hear Rand is going to give Baldur's Gate a try. For someone who loves games as much as he does I was surprised he was considering skipping it despite all the accolades which it richly deserves, he really would be missing out. I'm not a fan of isometric RPGs but once I got used to the point of view and control scheme I was blown away by how amazing the interlocking story choice/consequence was and the sheer variety of gameplay options the game gives you. As Jez said every combat encounter is hand-crafted with unique NPCs, many creatures you will only fight once and never see again which you just don't see in games today. Oh, and bragging about beating it before Jez would not be impressive since you can skip like 85% of the game to finish it. Which I did for my second run as the Dark Urge lol.

The next gen console talk was interesting. Does platform choice and a digital library matter much anymore when both platforms have a streaming service and you can play many games from last gen and current gen. All Xbox has to do to swing things in there favor is just make great games and continue keeping game pass as good as it is now or better. Especially for the casual gamers. Wait till the abk games get put on game pass and people can play cod. If most casuals only play cod and sports games then why does your last console matter anymore? Xbox has all of it on gamepass?

These guys are straight cappin when it comes to younger gamers not wanting consoles. Most ppl that have a gaming pc have a console too. It just happens that Xbox isn’t that console of choice.

I foresee a "Japanese Killer App" being developed for Xbox but it's timing is probably gonna land as a launch window for XSX²

Jez you’ll have to source anything more anecdotal than what your friends are saying about their kids’ gaming habits because the data does not support consoles becoming boomer products or losing popularity. It’s true that tablets are gamer friendly for young kids but beyond that very young age I don’t think any data is suggesting consoles being replaced by PC. It’s true PC has a nice surge as of late thanks to the popularity of streamer culture but I don’t see any data suggesting kids aren’t into consoles or that generationally consoles are losing popularity.