New Xbox Console In Development, Star Wars Outlaws Coming Soon

As the games industry moves towards a fully digital games future, there are those of us who still enjoy a physical game from time to time. One of the reasons that people still buy disc-based games is because they don’t require an internet connection to play them, in theory. This is super important for people who live in areas with unreliable internet connections or people who travel a lot with a console in tow. Don’t tell Ubisoft any of that though, because their new Star Wars game requires an internet connection just to install the game, even if you have the disc.

Why, tho? I know there are updates and fixes and all kinds of stuff that devs do now to push out a game before it’s actually ready, but installing the base game should be a freebie. If the game is too big to fit on 1 disc to install, use 2. There were plenty of games from the PS1 days that required 2 discs to play, so we know it can be done.

I shouldn’t be surprised though. This is Ubisoft, the company famous for shoving DLC and microtransactions into basically every game they have put out for the last 15 years. They can’t do something that makes sense, that would go against their business practices.

It’s been a tough console generation for Xbox. Xbox sales are lagging in key regions around the world, Game Pass subscribers are dropping, and Xbox’s first party games have fallen way off since their heyday in the Xbox 360 era. It has gotten so bad for Xbox that devs and publishers are beginning to question whether it is even worth releasing their games on Xbox consoles.

Chris Dring, the head of industry website GamesIndustry.biz, attended GDC 2024 in March and got some interesting quotes from publishers and developers while at the conference.

We already know that first-party Xbox games will start to make their way to PS5 this year with the release of Hi-Fi Rush and others, so what is next for Microsoft and Xbox after this steep downturn? A NEW CONSOLE!

For those of you that don’t know this, consoles don’t make money for a company like MS or Sony. They actually lose a pretty hefty amount of money per console sale. Xbox Head Phil Spencer has said that MS can lose up to $200 per console sold. The whole thought behind it is that once someone buys a console, Sony or MS will make that loss back from game sales, Xbox Live or PS Plus subscription sales, and other nickel and dime efforts.

It could work out for Microsoft in the end though. For the past 2 console generations, MS and Sony have put out their competing hardware basically at the same time, but if Xbox can put out their new console long before the new PS6 hits shelves, they may be able to bring some eager gamers over to their side with a shiny new console.

Game Recommendation

I don’t know why, but I have been in a Nintendo mood recently. This week, I picked up Super Mario RPG for the Switch and couldn’t be happier with it. The original Super Mario RPG for Super Nintendo was one of the first turn-based RPGs I had ever played, and it sparked a love for the genre that continues to this day.

I was skeptical when I first heard about the remake/new edition, but after playing it for a few hours, I am starting to feel the same way I did when I was a kid back in 1996. The game has all of the charm of a Mario game mixed perfectly with RPG mechanics both new and old. If you are a fan of turn based combat games, I definitely recommend the new Super Mario RPG (and the old one too).

Cheat Code of the Week

The cheat code for this week is one I used wayyy too often in Grand Theft Auto 3, the spawn a tank cheat. Here’s the cheat codes for both PS2 and Xbox:

• PlayStation: Circle × 6, R1, L2, L1, Triangle, Circle, Triangle

• Xbox: B × 6, RT, White, LT, Y, B, Y

There’s nothing better in that game than spawning a tank by the broken bridge and launching it over the gap by shooting your cannon behind you for the speed boost as you drive!