Xbox Chat - ID@Xbox Digital Showcase next Monday at 6pm. 3 games added to Game Pass Core. No BlizzCon in 2024.

[Photek]

I assume this will be the final nail in the Rewards coffin, but hope to be proven wrong.

They literally put all the rewards in one place and this is your response.

[Moggy]

I assume this will be the final nail in the Rewards coffin, but hope to be proven wrong.

They literally put all the rewards in one place and this is your response.

They seem to have removed the 2500 points for a 4 week streak.

[kazanova_Frankenstein]

I assume this will be the final nail in the Rewards coffin, but hope to be proven wrong.

They literally put all the rewards in one place and this is your response.

They seem to have removed the 2500 points for a 4 week streak.

Thanks for the clarification Moggy - that was what prompted my response.

[rinks]

They also seem to have removed the cheaper monthly auto-redeem £5 voucher, while increasing the points price of the regular one.

[rinks]

A new thing has appeared, though: 275 points if you use your console five days in a week. If that's an ongoing thing, it makes up for the loss of 2500 points for a ten-week streak.

[Pedz]

I can't access the rewards app. It keeps telling me I am in the wrong region. Very irritating. Seems others have had issues online and MS seem unhelpful to them. Been like it since January.

[kazanova_Frankenstein]

A new thing has appeared, though: 275 points if you use your console five days in a week. If that's an ongoing thing, it makes up for the loss of 2500 points for a ten-week streak.

I read about this earlier. That sounds neat.

[Monkey Man]

Polygon splitting a Phil interview at GDC into a million articles -

A handheld Xbox? Microsoft’s gaming chief can’t stop thinking about it

A handheld Xbox could be hardware, an app, or both

https://www.polygon.com/24108660/xbox-h ... -interview

Phil Spencer on what the hell is happening in the games industry

And why exclusives have become a risky business

https://www.polygon.com/24108700/phil-s ... es-layoffs

Phil Spencer wants Epic Games Store and others on Xbox consoles

To grow the console market, Xbox will need to be more like PC

https://www.polygon.com/24108670/xbox-e ... -interview

[Rapidly-Greying]

Games like Indiana Jones to come to PS5 after 6/12 months of exclusivity. You heard it hear first folks,my Auntie Wilma is a fortune teller.

[Monkey Man]

Xbox Cloud Gaming (Beta)

Xbox Insiders can preview Mouse and Keyboard support while playing via cloud gaming on supported browsers (Edge and Chrome) and the Xbox App on Windows PCs.

Currently supported titles and any known issues are below:

Fortnite
Browsers only
ARK Survival Evolved
Sea of Thieves
Grounded
Halo Infinite
Atomic Heart
Known Issue: There is some difficulty switching between gamepad (controller) and Mouse and Keyboard while streaming game
Sniper Elite 5
Deep Rock Galactic
High on Life
Zombie Army 4 Dead War
Gears Tactics
Pentiment
Doom 64
Age of Empires 2

Additional consideration for Xbox Insiders:

Some games will display controller UI elements (e.g., "press A to start") by default. Their UI will adapt to Mouse & Keyboard input only after player has started to use Mouse/Keyboard to interact with the game (moving the cursor and/or pressing keys)

On browser:
The game stream needs to be in full screen mode to work with mouse and keyboard. Players can hold the ESC key at any time to exit full-screen mode.
The player must click on the game stream element explicitly for it to "capture your pointer". Otherwise, your mouse input won't be sent to the game.
Players can press F9 to exit mouse and keyboard use for the game

https://news.xbox.com/en-us/2024/03/25/ ... 0321-2200/

[Photek]

This will be great when it launches fully, sneaky lunch time games of things incoming!

[Parksey]

I assume this will be the final nail in the Rewards coffin, but hope to be proven wrong.

They literally put all the rewards in one place and this is your response.

His response is accurate. They haven't just reorganised, they have made changes and cuts. Which is what they have slowly and steadily been doing for the past year or two.

They have been scaling back the amount of points you can earn per month, whilst also increasing the time taken for some of them (like each daily search having a small cooldown period before the next registers) and increasing the cost to redeem these points.

Simply put, you get fewer points, it takes longer for you to earn these points each day, and your points don't go as far. A quick look on the MS Rewards Reddit shows how these changes have been received.

It's still worth it in my eyes, as I can still get at least £10 in MS store credit each month, which helps me pick up titles on sale (though annoyingly, with the auto redeem, your credit expires in three months). And it's still the best rewards system out of the three consoles.

However, I never experienced the Rewards system in his pomp, as I was abroad and it wasn't available, and I think it's these people who feel the scale backs the most.

[kazanova_Frankenstein]

Cheers Parksey.

It is indeed still a decent scheme, but it used to be genuinely incredible (so far as a reward scheme can be incredible).
I’m still persevering with it (though I did give up when the ridiculous cool-down on searches was present), but sometimes I wonder if I am only doing it still because I can do a lot of the required activities when I get in to work first thing in the morning.

[Victor Mildew]

The streaks are still going for me it seems.

[Moggy]

The streaks are still going for me it seems.

It ends on 15 April.

[Monkey Man]

Rumour -

[Exclusive] Here’s Your First Look At The Upcoming White, All-Digital Xbox Series X

Details About The Digital Xbox Series X You Should Know
To get you up to speed on my previous post, the white Xbox Series X has a few of its components upgraded, such as the heatsink, but elsewhere, there are no major enhancements to talk about. Its price, as per my knowledge, is expected to be introduced in a lesser bracket as compared to the currently available Xbox Series X, which retails for $499.99 in the US.

https://exputer.com/news/xbox/white-dig ... -x-photos/



Adorable etc.

[Victor Mildew]

The streaks are still going for me it seems.

It ends on 15 April.

One last hurrah then

[Moggy]

The streaks are still going for me it seems.

It ends on 15 April.

One last hurrah then

[rinks]

Were those photos taken on a 1990s webcam?

Real or not, it looks bad. The Series S worked because of the nice contrast with the black grille. This just looks dull.

[KK]

When you ask the boss man upstairs to okay money for a new mould and he says no, no, no.