Xbox – Page 3 – Syndication Server

Todd Howard: Having no Starfield vehicles is a better space experience

Bethesda producer Todd Howard says the team decided against giving you Starfield vehicles to make the space game more fun

[anyclip-media thumbnail=”undefined” playlistId=”undefined” content=”PHNjcmlwdCBzcmM9Imh0dHBzOi8vcGxheWVyLnBvcHRvay5jb20vYW55Y2xpcC13aWRnZXQvbHJlLXdpZGdldC9wcm9kL3YxL3NyYy9scmUuanMiIGRhdGEtYXI9IjE2OjkiIHB1Ym5hbWU9IjE5OTgiIHdpZGdldG5hbWU9IjAwMTZNMDAwMDJVMEIxa1FBRl9NODMzNSI+Cjwvc2NyaXB0Pg==”][/anyclip-media]

Bethesda producer Todd Howard says the team decided against giving you Starfield vehicles to make the space game more fun. Howard made the comment in a recent interview with Bloomberg, where he said the team wanted to keep the focus on space travel and making interesting planets with different levels of gravity.

“It’s something we considered,” Howard said. “We’re gonna do outer space and planets. Once you add vehicles, it changes the gameplay.”

“Once you land in your ship and you’re on foot, it lets us make an experience where we know how fast [the players] are seeing things.”

You could say that sounds a bit more like Bethesda needed to keep players from moving too fast and causing loading problems, where they reached areas before assets loaded in, rather than considering what makes a fun experience. However, Howard also said that the enjoyable part about space travel in Starfield is using your ship and upgrading your jetpack, the latter of which lets you take advantage of each planet’s unique gravity and ground conditions.

Two Starfield expansions are planned for launch at some point in the future, so it’s possible we may see additional ways to get around then. If you’re looking for more Bethesda adventures to hold you over until then, check out our list of the best Bethesda games.

Written by Josh Broadwell on behalf of GLHF

Microsoft is bringing back the Xbox 360 in buildable form

The Xbox 360 store might be closing, but Microsoft has a new way for you to keep your Xbox nostalgia alive in block form

The Xbox 360 store might be closing, but Microsoft has a new way for you to keep your Xbox 360 games nostalgia alive in block form. Microsoft announced a new Mega Xbox 360 building set, planned for release on Oct. 8, 2023, and sold through Target.

Pre-orders went live right after the announcement and sold out within hours. There’s no word yet on whether Target will receive additional stock prior to or after the release date, though Target seems to keep a steady stock of its other Mega set, the Hot Wheels ‘77 Pontiac Firebird.

This hits so many levels of nostalgia and we're here for it

The MEGA 3:4 scale Xbox 360 collector set is exclusively available at Target. Pre-order now: https://t.co/Vw4fE3G4z1 pic.twitter.com/0Op9bJuNXR

— Xbox (@Xbox) September 8, 2023

Mega’s Xbox 360 set costs $140.99 and has 1,342 pieces. That includes blueprints for the 360 system, complete with internal parts and wires; a controller with individual pieces for the face buttons and a snazzy Xbox button that sticks out a bit; and a buildable case for Halo 3.

The console section is pretty impressively detailed, with slots for memory sticks, a glowing power ring, brand labels, and even what looks like a motherboard for the base of the inside. Thankfully, you won’t have to worry about blocky thermal paste, since this is probably the only Xbox 360 that won’t go red and die on you.

Meanwhile, Microsoft is gearing up to close the Xbox 360 shop in 2024, though you can still keep playing 360 games you already own on Xbox Series X|S and even your 360 as long as you want.

Written by Josh Broadwell on behalf of GLHF

[mm-video type=video id=01gr713eeqbqnw2n511e playlist_id=none player_id=none image=https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/video/thumbnail/mmplus/01gr713eeqbqnw2n511e/01gr713eeqbqnw2n511e-2cc7aa48e8c641f155b6e6a7d038d022.jpg]

Player discovers Starfield money trick with a basket

One player discovered a handy Starfield money trick that lets you steal thousands of credits in the space game without ever stealing a thing

One player discovered a handy Starfield money trick that lets you steal thousands of credits in the space game without ever stealing a thing. Reddit user MrJsingh posted a video showing the scheme in action, which has you use a basket and some credit sticks to technically avoid committing a crime.

Starfield isn’t exactly overflowing with baskets, but MrJsingh found one in the shady Red Mile club, where patrons leave their credit sticks lying around. Since people own these sticks, they count as private property and set off a ruckus if you try to pocket them. MrJsingh picked up the basket, dropped it near a table where some people were milling about, and then used another legal item to sweep the credit sticks into the basket.

A very unique way of stealing lots of credits (Game physics at work)
byu/MrJsingh inStarfield

Then, they grabbed the basket full of money, took it to a location where no one was watching, and swiped all the cash. They walked away with a few thousand credits and no one was the wiser.

It might not be as much as you’d get from going out of bounds in New Atlantis, sure. But it’s a fun way to manipulate the game and get around Starfield’s draconian theft system, where even picking up an errant spoon is enough to make half a city start shooting at you.

If you’re tempted to start a thieving spree of your own, make sure to take along one of the best Starfield weapons – and maybe leave your Starfield companions behind. They don’t usually like crime.

Written by Josh Broadwell on behalf of GLHF

[mm-video type=video id=01fqpcc5fy4z69j31mar playlist_id=none player_id=none image=https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/video/thumbnail/mmplus/01fqpcc5fy4z69j31mar/01fqpcc5fy4z69j31mar-5fd567aebf1e13ea394e4522425d1f3f.jpg]

The best Bethesda games ranked from questionable to exceptional

Ranking the best Bethesda games is tough when many of them shaped the modern RPG genre, but we think these are the studio’s top efforts

Ranking the best Bethesda games is kind of a tough ask, as the studio earned its reputation as makers of some of the best RPGs around. After a checkered decade of making and publishing poorly received games such as Home Alone and Terminator 2029, Bethesda settled into a groove with its Fallout and Elder Scrolls franchises. Staying in a groove usually means creative decay for most studios, but Bethesda found a way to innovate and even push the RPG genre forward in some cases – despite stripping it back in others. Most modern Bethesda games hold up surprisingly well, and even the ones that launched in a terrible state are better now.

A Starfield all-nighter saved this man’s family from a tragic fate

Playing Starfield all night saved one man’s family from a deadly fire, after an explosion tore through their apartment building

Playing Starfield all night saved one man’s family, after an explosion tore through their apartment building. The man, who posted his story on Reddit as tidyckilla, said he stayed up until past 2 a.m. on the night that Starfield launched in early access on Xbox and PC, and at one point, he heard an explosion (thanks, PC Gamer).

“I decided to stay up and play as long as possible to experience this new universe,” tidyckilla said on Reddit. “At 2:26 in the morning, while playing the game, I heard an explosion from my downstairs neighbor’s apartment. I paused my game to see what was happening.”

“When I opened the door I saw flames rising up our stairwell to our apartment. I immediately got my wife and cat, rushing us to safety with only minor burns. If I hadn’t been up bingeing Starfield I would have been asleep and we would have all died to [sic] smoke inhalation.”

Starfield saved me and my family’s life
by u/tidyckilla in Starfield

He said the cause was a downstairs neighbor who smoked and used oxygen tanks. They had apparently ignited a tank on accident and died as a result of the fire.

Some commenters asked whether he could have used the apartment’s fire escape, but tidyckilla said that the fire went up the building and the back of it and blew out the windows. He and his family made it out just before that happened.Meanwhile, tidyckilla, his family, and his Xbox are at a hotel, where he told commenters on Reddit that yes, he is, indeed, still playing Starfield.

Written by Josh Broadwell on behalf of GLHF

[mm-video type=video id=01fnv28fksmzshrm55xy playlist_id=none player_id=none image=https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/video/thumbnail/mmplus/01fnv28fksmzshrm55xy/01fnv28fksmzshrm55xy-6174b8e1108e00c809369388a1cf5224.jpg]

All Starfield traits ranked by how cool they are

Our Starfield traits ranked list lays out what makes each trait worthwhile from gameplay and roleplaying perspectives – and which fall short

Starfield traits task you with setting your life story out before it even begins. Maybe you’ll be an Enlightened introvert who can’t stand setting foot on solid ground or a snake-loving softie with a big bounty on their head. Some of them are cooler than they seem, like the parasocial relationship trait where you get free presents. It’s not as bad as it sounds! Well, maybe it is.

Anyway, there’s a surprising number of traits that have very little effect on how you play the game and some that even punish you for playing a certain way.

If you’re after more Starfield goodness, check out our Starfield companion ranking list for a totally accurate, completely subjective list of the best friends you can surround yourself with.

Microsoft cancels $1 Xbox Game Pass trial ahead of Starfield launch

Microsoft is ending the $1 Xbox Game Pass trial just days before Starfield’s launch, the publisher’s most anticipated game in years

Microsoft is ending the $1 Xbox Game Pass trial just days before Starfield’s launch, the publisher’s most anticipated game in years. Since Microsoft owns Bethesda, the makers of Starfield, the space game will land on Game Pass the day it launches – Sep. 6, 2023 – but if you’re keen on trying without buying, you’ll have to pay a full month’s subscription.

Which is more expensive now, after Microsoft raised the price in July 2023.

Microsoft made no statement about the change, which seems to have happened quietly. Polish gaming site XGP first noticed that the option for the two-week, $1 trial no longer existed on the Game Pass website (thanks, Pure Xbox). At the time of writing, the option is still gone.

Your choices now are paying $10.99 for one month on console; $9.99 for a month on PC; which also includes EA Play at no extra cost; or $16.99 for a month of Game Pass on console and PC.

Removing the trial is an unexpected move, but if your only goal is playing Starfield, it’s admittedly not a bad price. You’re essentially paying a sixth of the game’s price and getting it for a month before deciding whether to renew. Not ideal, but not terrible, though you might need to get a second month if you plan on playing Starfield‘s New Game plus, a first for Bethesda.

Written by Josh Broadwell on behalf of GLHF

Baldur’s Gate 3 on Xbox is happening this year after all

Head of Larian Studios Swen Vincke said Baldur’s Gate 3 on Xbox will release in 2023 after all, following development issues on the Series S

Head of Larian Studios Swen Vincke said Baldur’s Gate 3 on Xbox will release in 2023 after all, following development issues on the Series S. Vincke made the announcement on Twitter and said the team reached an agreement with Xbox about releasing a game that didn’t have feature parity between Series X and Series S.

“Super happy to confirm that after meeting [Phil Spencer] yesterday, we’ve found a solution that allows us to bring Baldur’s Gate 3 to Xbox players this year still, something we’ve been working towards for quite some time,” Vincke said on Twitter. “All improvements will be there, with split-screen coop on Series X. Series S will not feature split-screen coop, but will also include cross-save progression between Steam and Xbox Series.”

Super happy to confirm that after meeting @XboxP3 yesterday, we’ve found a solution that allows us to bring Baldur’s Gate 3 to Xbox players this year still, something we’ve been working towards for quite some time.

— Swen Vincke @where? (@LarAtLarian) August 24, 2023

So if the BG3 character editor launches before the end of the year, you’ll even get that on Xbox.

Earlier in 2023, Larian issued a statement addressing claims that Baldur’s Gate 3 was a PS5 exclusive and said that problems with split-screen co-op was the primary reason the team had to delay BG3’s launch on Xbox. Xbox’s 2020 guidelines for developing games on Xbox platforms require content parity between games released on consoles in the same generation.

The fourth bullet point under section XR-130 is:

Ensure that identical game modes are offered across console types within the generation.

In an interview with Video Games Chronicle, Xbox head Phil Spencer said parity was never a problem or even a requirement.

“In terms of parity, I don’t think you’ve heard from us or Larian, that this was about parity. I think that’s more that the community is talking about it,” Spencer said. “There are features that ship on X today that do not ship on S, even from our own games, like ray-tracing that works on X, it’s not on S in certain games.”

It’s worth noting that features and modes aren’t the same thing, though. Split-screen co-op is an actual game mode that falls under XR-130. Ray tracing is a feature that doesn’t.

Whatever the case, Baldur’s Gate 3 on Xbox is happening in 2023, though Larian doesn’t have a release date for it yet.

Written by Josh Broadwell on behalf of GLHF

[mm-video type=video id=01g958amx9p5nyjf46k3 playlist_id=none player_id=none image=https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/video/thumbnail/mmplus/01g958amx9p5nyjf46k3/01g958amx9p5nyjf46k3-fc4a3f35405ac36d313db16cba48663c.jpg]

Starfield has gone gold and Xbox preloads start soon

Starfield has officially gone gold, Bethesda announced on Twitter, which means the space game won’t be delayed again on Xbox and PC

Starfield has officially gone gold, Bethesda announced on Twitter, which means the space game won’t be delayed again. When a studio says a game has gone gold, it means they’ve completely finished development and passed what the team believes is the necessary quality assurance certification, so they printed the master copy that will be used for all other copies.

The news comes after two delays, one that pushed Starfield out of its original November 2022 slot into early 2023 and then another that bumped it back to September 2023.

If you’re playing on Xbox and Windows, you can pre-load the game starting Aug. 17, 2023, while Steam players can pre-load on Aug. 30, 2023. Starfield officially launches on Sep. 6, 2023, but if you buy the deluxe version, you get access five days early, starting Sep. 1, 2023.

Prepare for launch.#Starfield has gone gold! Preloads begin tomorrow for @Xbox X|S and Windows PC and August 30 for Steam. pic.twitter.com/LC8xJnI8WN

— Bethesda Game Studios (@BethesdaStudios) August 16, 2023

Meanwhile, Bethesda is continuing its trend of slowly dishing up more information about the Settled Systems and the world we’ll soon be setting foot into. There’s been a steady influx of new lore trailers, and most recently, Bethesda published a detailed timeline of the United Colonies, Constellation, and the conflicts that shaped the galaxy since humans set foot on Mars in the 2050s.

The anticipation is so high that some very keen players already pieced together what they believe is the game’s entire skill tree, just from bits and parts of trailers shown in the past several months.

Written by Josh Broadwell on behalf of GLHF

Obsidian almost made Avowed a multiplayer RPG to get funding

Obsidian just about turned Avowed into a multiplayer game to ensure they could get the funding needed before Xbox bought the studio

Obsidian just about turned Avowed into a multiplayer game so they could get the funding they needed before Xbox bought the studio in 2018. Obsidian founder Feargus Urquhart said in the last installment of the studio’s anniversary document that he was responsible for the decision and kept pushing it for what was probably too long.

“One of the things I really pushed was that Avowed was going to be multiplayer. and I kept on that for a long time,” Urquhart said. “I know, in the end, it was the wrong decision to keep on pushing on it.”

“We were still independent and [when] we were selling it, it was a more interesting game to publishers. And when you’re asking for $50, $60, $70, $80 million, you have to have something interesting to talk about. And multiplayer made it interesting. It was this idea of sort of the peanut butter and chocolate, putting it together – it must be something that’s good.”

The rest of the studio and Urquhart eventually realized that multiplayer wasn’t their strength – similar to when they realized they shouldn’t just try to make Obsidian Skyrim – and they changed direction. By that point, however, the team was already preparing a vertical slice, which is games industry speak for a showcase demo, so Urquhart was apparently pushing the multiplayer idea for quite a while.

That might explain why the Xbox Games Showcase trailer we saw didn’t show off terribly much from the game and why there’s no concrete release date for it except sometime in 2024.

Written by Josh Broadwell on behalf of GLHF

[mm-video type=video id=01fneweg9c4wk5v2c2c9 playlist_id=none player_id=none image=https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/video/thumbnail/mmplus/01fneweg9c4wk5v2c2c9/01fneweg9c4wk5v2c2c9-a0465eb771466761de4c34fc9ceabc05.jpg]