[anotherpoorgamer]

So Microsoft owns Activision Blizzard now?  Does that mean more Activision Blizzard titles and backwards compatibility with Activision Blizzard Xbox/Xbox 360/Xbox One games?

[bardockkun]

So Microsoft owns Activision Blizzard now? 

No.

[walletandgromice]

I might be in the minority here, but I'd love to see a Lego TMNT game. There is just so many characters and settings from the various incarnations that it would be perfect for the Lego treatment. The arcade style is fun, but also limiting.

Could be fun. They weren't included in Lego Dimensions despite the fact that Lego did have a TMNT license around that time if memory serves

[Series M]

So Microsoft owns Activision Blizzard now?  Does that mean more Activision Blizzard titles and backwards compatibility with Activision Blizzard Xbox/Xbox 360/Xbox One games?

I wonder what this would mean for UK gamers. Would they just not have Activision Blizzard titles available on Game Pass, or not at all?

[Kromis]

I wonder what this would mean for UK gamers. Would they just not have Activision Blizzard titles available on Game Pass, or not at all?

https://youtu.be/2SORT6-Fv8s?t=221 

[gamegirlpocket]

Signed up for PS Plus Extra with the 25% off right now and I gotta say, It is a real game changer. At the start of this generation, Sony really wanted to be the premium brand where you will pay $70 for a new game and eff you, you'll like it goddammit. They saw the writing on the wall and had to roll out their own game pass equivalent. The services are almost identical, minus exclusives obviously, but if Sony wants to wait a year to put exclusives on there, that is perfectly fine with me. The rewards program also is a good job of integrating trophies and perks for doing things in games in a way that feels a little bit more integrated.

Xbox is still my main platform but If I was not already well invested in the Xbox ecosystem, I'm not sure. I've been a pretty die-hard defender of Xbox for a few years now.

So did TMNT ever add some kinda mode or something that made maxing out your character less grind'y? I Think all I got left are Raph and Casey, but holy playing the same levels over and over again to get them to level 10 just gets tiresome as .

Nope. It's the kind of thing that's only fun if you have a group of friends or a house full of kids who enjoy replaying it four player etc., playing online with randos it loses its luster, which is a shame.

For anyone who hasn't played it yet, definitely worth playing and it's short, two weeks is plenty of time.

[HektiK]

Tried TMNT match making with randos and got into a game that was a fight away from Shredder.  Got to Shredder, all the others died and dropped out leaving me to finish it.  Rolled credits on a game I put 10 minutes in.  

[SIX min WHISTLE]

So Microsoft owns Activision Blizzard now? Does that mean more Activision Blizzard titles and backwards compatibility with Activision Blizzard Xbox/Xbox 360/Xbox One games?

The merger is at minimum months from closing, if it does manage to get around the UK blocking the deal.

If it does the existing games that are playable will probably hit GamePass. We don't know if any additional games will become backwards compatible since the BC team was disbanded. That likely would depend on games having been made compatible in the past, but blocked from release due to Activision not wanting them out there.

[tearsintherain]

Wife said we got a box at home and its apparently a few goodies for the Xbox Fan Fest, including a beer glass, some socks and some sorta blanket or something.  Pretty cool, I did register for fan fest but not to attend in person or watch on screen and it musta been picked a few weeks ago.  Saw a few other people post they got it on twitter as well.

 

it makes an xbox sound apparently too when you open the box lol

[bee01]

You can redeem 250 Chipotle rewards points for 250 Street Fighter 6 coins ($5 of premium currency).  Limited to 15,000 redemptions (I got 2 codes).  You can also use code HDKN236 when ordering to get 250 coins.  I don't eat there very often and they jacked up the point cost for a free entree, so this wasn't a bad way for me to use up my points.

 

Hopefully that should cover most of the battle pass cost for me when it's released.

[adam31]

It’s dead.
Don’t try it.
Or tell anyone about it

That's ok, don't care about Diablo.

Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk

[wampler13]

I'll send a code for a digital copy of Event Horizon (Not MA, ought to have 4ks) to the first person to quote this post.

[deszaras]

There just wasn't enough game there for the amount of work you had to put in to level up. And then when you are leveled up your reward is playing the same short arcade game AGAIN but now with leveled up characters? The game was super fun to beat once. They did a tremendous job slowly introducing the new elements level by level, but once you'd beaten it there wasn't anything to warrant going back again and again.

Totally agree. I loved playing it for the first time but haven’t felt compelled to play it again. I’d buy it on the cheap to have when I get the itch to play. I would really like the Cowabunga Collection but it hasn’t dropped enough for me to get either and that has tremendous amount of nostalgic feeling behind it.

[Gideon68]

I'll send a code for a digital copy of Event Horizon (Not MA, ought to have 4ks) to the first person to quote this post.

Did I win? 

[Burning Karma]

Signed up for PS Plus Extra with the 25% off right now and I gotta say, It is a real game changer. At the start of this generation, Sony really wanted to be the premium brand where you will pay $70 for a new game and eff you, you'll like it goddammit. They saw the writing on the wall and had to roll out their own game pass equivalent. The services are almost identical, minus exclusives obviously, but if Sony wants to wait a year to put exclusives on there, that is perfectly fine with me. The rewards program also is a good job of integrating trophies and perks for doing things in games in a way that feels a little bit more integrated.

I just bought a PS5 off Amazon Warehouse today so trying to figure out the best way to get the games I want. After reading your post, I started looking into PS Plus Extra. I might have to take the plunge. I ordered Spider-Man: Miles Morales and Death Stranding: Director's Cut, but both of those are on Extra in addition to a couple of others on my list.

[wampler13]

I'll send a code for a digital copy of The Running Man (Not MA, ought to have 4ks) to the first person to quote this post.

[adonfraz]

I'll send a code for a digital copy of The Running Man (Not MA, ought to have 4ks) to the first person to quote this post.

Thanks

[ArugulaZ]

The Running Man gave us the concept of the deepfake!

 

Me watching the movie on TV in my teens: "What a big load of science fiction hooey! Replacing peoples' faces with computers! Never happen in a million, billion years."

[beenaround]

The Running Man gave us the concept of the deepfake!

Me watching the movie on TV in my teens: "What a big load of science fiction hooey! Replacing peoples' faces with computers! Never happen in a million, billion years."

Like almost every other Stephen King story, the written version is so much better it isn't even funny. Technically The Running Man is a Bachman book but you know, technicalities.

The movie was great for cheesy Arnold qoutes. "You cold-blooded bastard! I'll tell you what I think of it: I'll live to see you eat that contract, but I hope you leave enough room for my fist because I'm going to ram it into your stomach and break your god-damn spine!"

[JohnnyCage]

This year is too packed for games. I'm currently overwhelmed with Zelda and Diablo 4 and there's still Armored Core 6, Starfield, Mortal Kombat 1, Spider-Man 2, Final Fantasy 16, Pikmin 4, Cyberpunk DLC, Forza, Alan Wake 2. I'll be playing catch up well into next year.

[Bloomy]

Some new games were added to the Game Pass leaving soon list for mid-month :

 

Among Us

Cricket 22

Generation Zero

Naraka: Bladepoint

TMNT Shredder's Revenge

theHunter: Call of the Wild

 

Haven't run a new scan since the month rolled over.  Cricket and Generation Zero were last dated for the 1st, but Cricket's been rolling over for a while.  The other 4 were all dated for mid-month, so not a big surprise if you've been watching.

The above games were removed from the Leaving Soon list.  Ran a scan and they all have a date of the morning of the 16th, except Cricket 22, which moved to the Monday night sale time.

[Kromis]

This year is too packed for games. I'm currently overwhelmed with Zelda and Diablo 4 and there's still Armored Core 6, Starfield, Mortal Kombat 1, Spider-Man 2, Final Fantasy 16, Pikmin 4, Cyberpunk DLC, Forza, Alan Wake 2. I'll be playing catch up well into next year.

Dawg, I love that you're still buying backwards compatible games for "free" when there's so much on the horizon 

 

PATIENT GAMERS GANG RISE UP!

[phat_tonyca]

So I am redoing the d4 trick since mine didn't work and was refunded for both. Are we cancelling the preorder or request refund?

Sent from my Pixel 7 Pro using Tapatalk

[Kromis]

So I am redoing the d4 trick since mine didn't work and was refunded for both. Are we cancelling the preorder or request refund?

Sent from my Pixel 7 Pro using Tapatalk

Hold on...you're still seeing the $30 offer even though you already did it once? I thought it died? 

 

Also, cancelling/refund should be the same. For your refund reason, you can pick "pre-order" and it should process very quickly. I guess you're asking because you're seeing a "cancel" option from your transaction history in your Microsoft account?

[phat_tonyca]

Hold on...you're still seeing the $30 offer even though you already did it once? I thought it died?

Also, cancelling/refund should be the same. For your refund reason, you can pick "pre-order" and it should process very quickly. I guess you're asking because you're seeing a "cancel" option from your transaction history in your Microsoft account?

Yeah I thought it was the same but took a chance and preorder standard edition and then just logged in after the work and searched for ultimate edition wasn't in the just for you deals and it was there. I did have to wait before seeing it as it didn't show up when I retried this morning

Sent from my Pixel 7 Pro using Tapatalk

[Gideon68]

I'll send a code for a digital copy of Event Horizon (Not MA, ought to have 4ks) to the first person to quote this post.

Thanks, Wampler

[Bryson]

Signed up for PS Plus Extra with the 25% off right now and I gotta say, It is a real game changer. At the start of this generation, Sony really wanted to be the premium brand where you will pay $70 for a new game and eff you, you'll like it goddammit. They saw the writing on the wall and had to roll out their own game pass equivalent. The services are almost identical, minus exclusives obviously, but if Sony wants to wait a year to put exclusives on there, that is perfectly fine with me. The rewards program also is a good job of integrating trophies and perks for doing things in games in a way that feels a little bit more integrated.

Xbox is still my main platform but If I was not already well invested in the Xbox ecosystem, I'm not sure. I've been a pretty die-hard defender of Xbox for a few years now.

Is this your first playstation console? i literally just picked up a PS5 today and subbed to PS+ extra. Have Kena and Ratchet downloading as we speak. I have the playstation app installed on my phone and I literally just got an alert to let me know that Kena just finished downloading lmao!

 

I'm curious previously you mentioned being impressed with PS5's UI and disappointed with Xbox. What made you impressed/disappointed with both?  PS5 didn't really impress me out of the box. Hooking up my PS3 this week and I was extremely impressed. Basically the entire background changes to a backdrop of the game accompanied by music from the game which changes on the fly every time you scroll through a new game in your library. So in fact Sony's UI has been doing this for 3 generations now.

 

PS+ is a great value now. This is what happens when Microsoft forces Sony to compete. Consumers end up benefiting. I personally don't care much about day and date. I find it's a little bit overrated especially considering most games are releasing broken and buggy these days. One advantage is that all Xbox 1st party games will stay on Game Pass forever. This doesn't seem to be the case with Playstation as they recently removed Spider-Man from the service unless that was just an exception and them just trying to cashgrab some extra sales with the recent release of the movie.

[Bryson]

I wonder what this would mean for UK gamers. Would they just not have Activision Blizzard titles available on Game Pass, or not at all?

Bottom line is nobody knows!  The question is whether can get away with Activision operating independently while not offering any Activision games on Game Pass since that was the CMA's  main cause for concern but really it's looking like they just grasping at straws to block this deal from happening. I'm sure they would use a nuclear bomb to block this deal if they could. Very strange.

 

Out of 40 countries, many whom have accepted the deal without any conditions, only the CMA has blocked the deal. I'm 99% sure the deal will happen, without or without the CMA. What happens there is up in the air. There will be backlash in the UK from customers who can't play their games and there have already been pushback from politicians including the Prime Minister that rejecting this deal is sending a bad message to the world and likely send the UK back to 3rd world status. 

 

Rarely have I seen a tech giant, let alone Microsoft be this committed about acquiring another company. Clearly this is important to their long term strategy keeping in mind that MS vision goes beyond just the console and involves growing the ecosystem.

 

 

The merger is at minimum months from closing, if it does manage to get around the UK blocking the deal.

If it does the existing games that are playable will probably hit GamePass. We don't know if any additional games will become backwards compatible since the BC team was disbanded. That likely would depend on games having been made compatible in the past, but blocked from release due to Activision not wanting them out there.

The back compat team dropped the ball so hard here! Ryse Son of Rome, Sunset Overdrive and Crackdown 3 were literally some of Xbox One's high profile exclusives. There's no reason any of these games should not be running at 60 FPS! Going back to them recently was extremely painful

 

I'm not a graphics snob either but when you get used to playing games at 60 FPS, it's like going from watching a black and white TV to a color TV. It'd be hard to go back once you've experienced color. It's doable, just not as enjoyable.
 

[Kromis]

Signed up for PS Plus Extra with the 25% off right now and I gotta say, It is a real game changer. At the start of this generation, Sony really wanted to be the premium brand where you will pay $70 for a new game and eff you, you'll like it goddammit. They saw the writing on the wall and had to roll out their own game pass equivalent. The services are almost identical, minus exclusives obviously, but if Sony wants to wait a year to put exclusives on there, that is perfectly fine with me. The rewards program also is a good job of integrating trophies and perks for doing things in games in a way that feels a little bit more integrated.

Xbox is still my main platform but If I was not already well invested in the Xbox ecosystem, I'm not sure. I've been a pretty die-hard defender of Xbox for a few years now.


Nope. It's the kind of thing that's only fun if you have a group of friends or a house full of kids who enjoy replaying it four player etc., playing online with randos it loses its luster, which is a shame.

For anyone who hasn't played it yet, definitely worth playing and it's short, two weeks is plenty of time.

 

 

Is this your first playstation console? i literally just picked up a PS5 today and subbed to PS+ extra. Have Kena and Ratchet downloading as we speak. I have the playstation app installed on my phone and I literally just got an alert to let me know that Kena just finished downloading lmao!

 

I'm curious previously you mentioned being impressed with PS5's UI and disappointed with Xbox. What made you impressed/disappointed with both?  PS5 didn't really impress me out of the box. Hooking up my PS3 this week and I was extremely impressed. Basically the entire background changes to a backdrop of the game accompanied by music from the game which changes on the fly every time you scroll through a new game in your library. So in fact Sony's UI has been doing this for 3 generations now.

 

PS+ is a great value now. This is what happens when Microsoft forces Sony to compete. Consumers end up benefiting. I personally don't care much about day and date. I find it's a little bit overrated especially considering most games are releasing broken and buggy these days. One advantage is that all Xbox 1st party games will stay on Game Pass forever. This doesn't seem to be the case with Playstation as they recently removed Spider-Man from the service unless that was just an exception and them just trying to cashgrab some extra sales with the recent release of the movie.

PS+ Extra is going to be my imaginary friend I borrow games from and I'm very happy Playstation is competing with Game Pass.

 

The only Playstation I've ever bought in my life is the PS3 during Black Friday 2011. I wanted a BD player and have never bought a single game except for the Ratchet and Clank All 4 One / LittleBigPlanet 3 that came included (I barely touched R&C and never touched LBP3). All the games I've wanted to play I've borrowed from friends after they're long done with them (namely the entire God of War series on PS3, Uncharted 1-3, TLoU, and MGS4). 

 

Most of my adult friends are on Playstation now but they don't game too much and don't buy too many hardcore games. Same with my coworkers. I have less people to borrow from nowadays so PS+ Extra is extremely valuable for "new" Playstation owners like me (well, I don't own a PS5 yet but I will eventually after I upgrade my home theater.) Ideally, I'd just wait for all the PS first party games to hit PC and have my cousin family share with me on Steam. I'm going to keep mentioning my huge backlog though so I don't even know when I'd even get around to another console ecosystem 

[bee01]

Yeah, PS+ Extra has closed the gap with Game Pass.  I have a couple years of Premium left after converting my basic PS+ by buying 1 month of the old PS streaming service before the new tiers were added.  I checked out how much it would cost to buy another year of Premium with the 25% discount - $90.  More than I'd like to pay (I miss the days of cheap 1 year PS+ subs).  I'm hoping the Gold to GP conversion works next year when I need to renew.

 

The new PlayStation rewards program (Stars) is ok - basically 4% cash back.  MS Rewards is far better.