

XDEFIANT BETA LENGTH PLUS
After the main showcase the reaction definitely seemed a bit mixed as the overall tone of the thing seemed to throw a lot of people, plus there was widespread criticism of it looking less than beautiful. This one’s probably obvious after Phil Spencer made such a point of saying he’s played it a bunch, but there’ll be a big segment on Obsidian’s Pillars of Eternity-expanding first person RPG Avowed.Side note: In the poll I ran last time, this was by far the most popular choice of games listed that people were looking forward to. This is a good example of a trend that seems to be emerging pretty quickly these days – much as we’ve seen in movies and TV, game studios are now looking at their own back catalogs as sources of raw material to reimagine from scratch, rather than continue or simply just remake. If you were expecting something that built fully on the foundation of Lionhead’s original, it seems like this one is moving much further afield and reimaging the franchise. We didn’t get a release date, but we did get a beautiful demonstration of how the story is being reimagined by Playground, plus a wonderful use of Richard Ayoade to demonstrate the team’s commitment to humor. I’m guessing it’s way further along than anyone thinks, and we may even get a release date. All the glitter-inspired fuss about Playground Games’ Fable reboot will turn out to be true.Much as we've seen in movies and TV, game studios are now looking at their own back catalogs as sources of raw material to reimagine from scratch, rather than continue or simply just remake. What’s interesting is that the Xbox Showcase (actually, both of them) projected a renewed confidence from Microsoft, despite a significant number of previously announced games like State of Decay 3, or highly-likely titles like Gears 6 not being present. Ryan had this one on his list on Unlocked, too.

To be fair, I was hardly the only one predicting this. It’s not a stretch to assume there’s a Master Chief Collection-style Gears bundle in the works too. I know this isn’t exactly that bold of a guess, but it’s time.

However long the segment of their showcase is, people will complain that it’s too long. See the individual carbon fibers, or something.

XDEFIANT BETA LENGTH PC
The biggest question after the show was: why is it 30fps on Xbox Series X and Series S and not 60fps, as people expect from truly next-gen games? In his IGN Performance preview after the event, Michael Thompson dove into the details shared by Bethesda, the revealed PC minimum and recommended specifications. The game looks phenomenal, and will surely be the juggernaut that both Microsoft and the Xbox fanbase really need it to be. I wasn’t exactly stretching on this one, so it doesn’t really count.
