As part of the mass Xbox layoffs this week, news has also emerged about the company's physical games being impacted, with Microsoft reportedly shutting down key departments.
While there's no evidence just yet Microsoft is necessarily withdrawing completely from this space, it has raised questions about the future of physical support within this ecosystem - with speculation Xbox could outsource and might be consolidating.
Now, in response to this development, the CEO of physical distributor Limited Run Games, Josh Fairhurst, has chimed in on social media. mentioning how his company would "continue to support Xbox" hard copy releases "whenever possible":
They don't make games like this anymore.
Too dated in my book. The AI is way too unpredictable to be acceptable today. It's definitely a game of its time.
Agreed with those sentiments. The quality of the CPU controlled characters make or break a stealth game and they are pretty poor in all the Splinter Cell games by today's standard. This is what led me to playing Spies vs Mercs all the time in later games just to get a better stealth experience from a real person. Arguably Sony are making better stealth games albeit not Tom Clancy stuff.
You should stick with fortnite or one of the countless bloodborne style games then. What a joke.
I had a good time with the game. It is a product of its time. But when it came out it was a must have game for a lot of people. I wish Ubisoft would make another game in the series or at least a reboot.
They are making a remake, I think. I loved the original game when it was released, but I tried to play it again in recent years and just couldn't get on with it. The same with the older Hitman games.
Yeah chaos theory still holds up though I gotta say. If you’re a fan of the series I highly suggest you go back to that one. Ubi has said they are remaking sc for “modern audiences”. I don’t have a lot of faith for the future of that company
Due to the lack of modern stealth games, and me constantly playing the MGS series, I've been looking for alternative stealth games to play, and went back and re-played the SC series recently. I wouldn't call SC1 or SC:PT masterpieces, there are AI issues, they're very much trial-and-error games, and that can lead to a lot of frustration. I also found the stories in this series to be boring, uninteresting, and just sloppily told. Cinematics are also of poor quality for both in-game scenes and CG cut-scenes, the soundtrack didn't leave any impression on me either.
Chaos Theory is better, but there was still a lot of room for improvement, and Double Agent (old gen ver.) was a sloppy mess that ended up a regression from CT. But still, at least they tried back then, these days Ubi-junk doesn't even try to make good games!
Xbox and EA have recently made baffling moves that define how bleak the future of the gaming industry is with major companies at the helm. Ryan Bates from "Last Word on Gaming" posits in this op-ed that maybe it's not ineptitude, but intention.
Name someone that isn't trying to look us these days maybe cdpr.
Take two, ubi and yes even PlayStation are pushing us to own nothing and be happy with our live service ad injected games on a sub so they can raise prices at will and take access away when they see fit.
If it keeps up I'll be a full time retro gamer and this industry will be crashing hard
As rediculas as it sounds we need government reforms to defend consumer rights
Xbox 360 launched 18 years ago and was a generation-defining console that invited many people to jump into gaming for the first time and connect with friends around the world. We’re thrilled people continue playing their favorite Xbox 360 games on Xbox 360, or on newer consoles via Backward Compatibility for supported titles.
"we believe in game preservation"
Remember the media reaction when PlayStation wanted to shut down the PS3 store (but then kept it open)... where is that reaction here?
What are you asking? Like, if people got pissed at Sony for that? Because they did. We also got pissed at Nintendo when they did it.
You’re getting a chance to buy what you want before they close it. Moving forward digital stores should work like Steam. It’s just in this beginning they made it platform specific and closed off. A hindsight in their part and it sucks, but what is the percentage of people buying anything off these stores and what is the cost to keep the servers up?
I get it and yes making strives so this isn’t the case every gen we go into is absolutely a must. I mean PSN on PS3 is so convoluted to buy anything since you can’t use a credit card. Vita store is gone. It’s going to go away eventually.
"What are you asking? Like, if people got pissed at Sony for that? Because they did. We also got pissed at Nintendo when they did it."
My point is when PlayStation did this every website under the sun was writing articles talking about how "anti-consumer" it was yet I haven't seen anything like that happening when it's xbox doing it, in fact mostly what I see is praise from media when xbox makes obviously false claims about game preservation while they close down their store and xblig and push for digital only consoles streaming and subscriptions.
What I am asking is for everyone to be criticized or praised equally.
I mean look at the way the PS5 Slim's detachable disk drive was reported, it was super critical. Even though in reality they made it easier for people who initially buy a digital only console to move to physical, it was actually a step away from digital only. But did it get reported like that at all... no.
And you can still buy stuff on PlayStation you just need to add money to your account on the website or a PS4/5.
That reaction isn't here because you can still play Xbox 360 discs of supported BC titles on Series and Xbox One, and you can still buy BC titles on the current Xbox Store.
It still sucks losing access to non-BC titles but don't act like it's the same situation. Let me know when PS5 actually supports my PS3 library.
How are you going to play those discs on your Series S (which 75% of xbox owners have) or your adorably all digital Series X?
And keep in mind that BC on xbox is an extremely limited selection of games, it's less than 25% of retail releases, and way less than the entire catalogue.
It's not a solution for the future, this isn't how "game preservation" looks, it's the fake PR that makes it that much worse.
I'm not getting an all digital Series X so bark up someone else's tree, creep. I have my Series X for that disc support and functioning old hardware I still buy discs for (Bought Sudeki, Super Paper Mario, and 3D Dot Game Heroes a few months back - one for each old platform).
Fact is there's a mechanism that exists for Xbox OG and 360 BC physically and digitally. PS has none for PS1 or 2 or 3. If you're gonna bring PS into an Xbox article, at least know what you're talking about.
"Fact is there's a mechanism that exists for Xbox OG and 360 BC physically and digitally. PS has none for PS1 or 2 or 3. If you're gonna bring PS into an Xbox article, at least know what you're talking about."
I understand that, I'm making commentary on the fact that xbox is moving to digital only (and that the vast majority of current gen xbox owners do not have a disc based option) and not towards preservation as they claim.
And obviously people can play games on the original hardware for as long as that lasts, I have hundreds of games from "retro" consoles, I own nearly 200 PS3 discs alone.
Is there some reason, you feel the need to make personal insults in every comment, I reply to what you say without insulting you. But you know whatever, it says more about you than me...
And for the record "you" was being used colloquially I wasn't speaking you directly.
It won't as far as emulation. The os3 was built different.
I am in agreement though. I wish Sony would sell like an ultimate console. Have it where you have to order off their site and make it have real bc. Like the og ps3 had ps2 inside so to say.
@Ein You're a creep because of your obsessive comment history making everything revolve around Sony or how awful Xbox is to a point that you're now just throwing irrelevant things in any way you can.
And don't try to make "you" colloquially now just because you're wrong about me and your feelings got hurt.
Whatever, keep insulting me, if you think that is going to make me change my opinions or what I say you couldn't be more far from the truth.
How you choose to treat other people only reflects poorly on you. (and this time it's not colloquially)
The PS3 situation may have something to do with no forward way to play those games on newer hardware. Not to mention the PS3 store has been around far less than the 360 store. 360 store closing was expected and they did a pretty good job making many of its digital games forward compatible with XBO and subsequently the Series as well. Ones they could not come to an agreement with are going to be left behind, but here is your chance for last minute deals for you to continue playing on your 360.
Just because the 360 store closes doesnt make all of those games you have (digital/physical) stop working on real 360 hardware. If people have physical 360 games, chances are they also have the means to play them. Just like People with PS3 games having a PS3. It would be nice if all older games worked on newer hardware... but that is not for us to decide, that is for MS, Sony and Nintendo.
Difference being the 360 games will still be sold on series consoles, while the PS5 only preserved a selection of Ps3 games for premium subs. If the Xbox 360 store closes the games will still be available, if the Ps3 store closes then those games are gone.
How does this contradict what they said about game preservation?
As far as what I have read that is not accurate, except for a small selection of games that are available through BC.
And even when the PS3 and Vita stores were going to be shut down they still were still going to be available to download if you purchased them already.
So you’re asking for equal treatment? That’s not how the world works or don’t you know? Which I can can’t believe you’re that naive. Xbox gets attacked on this site all the time. You have to ask why that was a big deal amongst the PS3 fan base? Because it wasn’t Xbox fans that were throwing up a huge stink. It’s was PlayStation fans and look at the results, Sony gave in and kept it open. You should celebrate it, instead of worrying about who takes it on the chin more.
The one thing I’ve Learned, is these companies don’t need people to defend them. They have all done things worth criticizing, but it will never be equal.
While the 360 store is closing and you will not be able to make any new purchases from a 360..... you can still download content you have previously purchased prior to the closure. The same can also be said about access to 360 games available on the XBO/Series. You will be able to make new purchases of titles that are available on the current store as well as download previously purchased content that is also compatible with the XBO/Series.
RIP Xbox 360 digital store and all its games.
It really grinds my gears that they are waiting till 10 days before closing to give the best discounts and the list as of now is 100 or less titles from the massive 360 library
I should have enough points by the weekend to get £25 credit off MS, (hardly ever spend money on xb1), might look at a few of these.
The Xbox 360 store was one of the only advantages the Xbox Series consoles had over the PS5. When I got my series X, I spent more playing Xbox 360 games vs current-gen Xbox games since that was the golden era for Xbox and several titles had enhancements such as 4k resolution and fps boost.
Closing this store will now only benefit the competition.
The xbox360 store is closing on the xbox 360.
Xbox 360 games are unaffected on the xbox one and series consoles.
"Xbox will stop supporting the ability to purchase new games, DLC, and other entertainment content from the Xbox 360 Store on the console ->and the Xbox 360 Marketplace (marketplace.xbox.com).<-&q uot;
You will not be able to purchase any 360 games. You will only be able to play xbox discs if you have a console that support discs which doesn't look great for the future of xbox, if it has one.
@Ein
Why are you repeating what i said?
You will not be able to buy digital 360 games to play on your 360.
You will still be able to buy 360 games on Xbone and Series consoles. Go to marketplace.xbox.com, that's the old browser store and not the new one.
Why isn't MS PR getting in front of this messaging and making an official statement? All of this speculation is based on that Windows Central guy's tweet that he's since backed off of a bit.
Yeah going digital only Microsoft this is bad for gamers and limits gamers, Physical > Digital.
What will keep retailers from pulling consoles? Wasn't this always the threat? I get that xbox isn't really about the console anymore, but it's too soon to drop it completely.
Idk why is this such a shock. Xbox owners didn't buy physical games. Retailers started to return the disks back to it's publishers. Than retailers stopped to order new ones. Than publishers decided to only release PS and Switch physical.
Than MS said: -You know what Phil? We need to fire some people.