Whether you are rocking an Xbox One or Series X, December is a huge month for you with Game Pass.

Coming This Month

Control (Console) – December 3
After a secretive agency in New York is invaded by an otherworldly threat, you become the Director struggling to regain control. This third-person action adventure game will challenge you to master a combination of supernatural abilities that will keep you on the edge of your seat.

Doom Eternal (PC) – December 3
Now coming to Xbox Game Pass for PC! Hell’s armies have invaded Earth and now you must become the Slayer in an epic single-player campaign to conquer demons across dimensions and stop the final destruction of humanity. Experience the ultimate combination of speed and power in Doom Eternal – the next leap in push-forward, first-person combat.

Haven (Console & PC) ID@Xbox – December 3
Does love really conquer all? Play as two lovers who gave up everything and escaped to a lost planet to be together. Glide through a mysterious landscape, explore a fragmented world and fight against what’s trying to tear them apart in this RPG adventure about love, rebellion, and freedom.

Slime Rancher (Console) ID@Xbox – December 3
Slime Rancher is the tale of Beatrix LeBeau, a plucky, young rancher who sets out for a life a thousand light years away from Earth on the “Far, Far Range” where she tries her hand at making a living wrangling slimes. Attempt to stake a claim, amass a fortune, and avoid the continual peril that looms from the rolling, jiggling avalanche of slimes around every corner.

Va-11 Hall-A: Cyberpunk Bartender Action (PC) ID@Xbox – December 3
Welcome to Va-11 Hall-A, the original cyberpunk bartending simulator!  Take on the role of Jill Stingray, bartender at the downtown watering hole of Va-11 Hall-A (affectionately nicknamed “Valhalla”). In this story-driven game you’ll influence a myriad of decisions through the drinks you prepare, so listen carefully to your clients and mix the drink that will change their lives.

Yes, Your Grace (Console & PC) ID@Xbox – December 3
In this kingdom management RPG, petitioners will arrive in the throne room each turn to ask for your advice and assistance. Decide whether to help them with their problems, or to conserve resources for more important matters. Remember: supplies are limited, and not everyone has the kingdom’s best interests at heart…

Dragon Quest XI S: Echoes of an Elusive Age – Definitive Edition (Console & PC) – December 4
Follow the perilous journey of The Luminary who must uncover the mystery of his fate with the aid of a charismatic cast of supporting characters. This Definitive Edition includes all the content from the acclaimed Dragon Quest XI, and adds extra scenarios, a grand orchestral version of the music, the ability to switch between 2D and 3D graphic modes, a Japanese audio option, and much more!

Call of the Sea (Console & PC) ID@Xbox – December 8
Dive into an otherworldly tale of mystery and love set in the 1930s, South Pacific. Play as Norah, an enigmatic woman on the trail of her missing husband’s expedition. The search takes place on a strange but beautiful island in the South Pacific, filled with secrets waiting to be unearthed. Call of the Sea is a story-led game with puzzles, where every clue leads you deeper and leaves you questioning everything.

Monster Sanctuary (Console) ID@Xbox – December 8
On your quest to become the ultimate Monster Keeper, you’ll unravel the cause of a mystery that threatens the peace between humans and monsters. With over 100 monsters to encounter and dangerous lands ahead, you’ll need to build a powerful team if you want to save the Monster Sanctuary.

Starbound (PC) ID@Xbox – December 8
In Starbound, you can create your own story! In this space-sandbox adventure you may choose to save the universe from the forces that destroyed your home, uncovering greater galactic mysteries in the process, or you may wish to forego a heroic journey entirely in favor of colonizing uncharted planets. Farm, collect, craft and build – the possibilities are limitless.

Unto The End (Console & PC) ID@Xbox – December 9
Unto The End is a challenging combat adventure game in the style of a cinematic platformer. The story is simple: get home to your family. Master read-react combat in intense sword fights. Spot opportunities to trade and use items. An adventure told through your actions; how will you make it home?

Assetto Corsa (Console) – December 10
Assetto Corsa is the ultimate racing simulator. Featuring legendary circuits such as Monza, Silverstone and Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, each track has been reproduced using Laser scan technology, offering racers the most realistic experience possible out on track. Assetto Corsa features advanced aerodynamic simulation, with each car developed using knowledge gained through collaboration with manufacturers.

Gang Beasts (Console) ID@Xbox – December 10
Gang Beasts is a silly multiplayer party game with surly gelatinous characters, brutal slapstick fight sequences, and absurd hazardous environments, set in the mean streets of Beef City. Customize your character and fight enemies in the melee game mode or fight with friends against the gangs of Beef City in the gang game mode.

GreedFall (Console & PC) – December 10
Engage in a core roleplaying experience with GreedFall, and forge the destiny of a new world seeping with magic, and filled with riches, lost secrets, and fantastic creatures. With diplomacy, deception, and force, become part of a living, evolving world. Influence its course and shape your story.

Superhot: Mind Control Delete (Console) ID@Xbox – December 10
Time moves only when you move. The long-awaited third game in the groundbreaking Superhot franchise, Mind Control Delete gives you more insight into the signature power fantasy world of Superhot with more story, more signature gameplay, more action, more guns. Keep dancing the slow-motion ballet of destruction for so much longer than ever before.

Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair (Console & PC) ID@Xbox  – December 10
Get the Royal Beettalion ready to take down Capital B and his Impossible Lair! Join Yooka and Laylee in an all-new 2.5D adventure! Run, jump, and roll your way through a series of challenging 2D levels and explore a puzzling 3D Overworld packed with secrets and collectibles.

As always some games are leaving, so make sure you squeeze in Untitled Goose Game while you still can.

Leaving December 11

• eFootball PES 2020 (Console)

Leaving December 15

• Age of Wonders: Planetfall (Console & PC)
• Infinifactory (PC)
• Metro: Last Light Redux (PC)
• MudRunner (Console & PC)
• Naruto to Boruto: Shinobi Striker (Console)
• Pathologic 2 (Console & PC)
• The Turing Test (Console & PC)
• Ticket to Ride (Console & PC)
• Untitled Goose Game (Console)

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It finally happened.

Next Gen has arrived as the Xbox Series X and S launched last night with a celebration in Queenstown dubbed Greenstown.

You can check out the video below which has ANZ traditional welcomes then a whole lot of gameplay.

So you can finally pick up your consoles today, or put your order down if you didn’t preorder.

We reviewed the Xbox Series X here.

Check out some images of Greenstown (decorated Queenstown) below.

The PS5 launches in 2 days, again, only to those who successfully pre-ordered.

The post Xbox Series X/S is out today appeared first on 8-Bit Island.

I can’t believe it’s been seven years since we saw the Xbox One, but the time has finally come for next gen. The Xbox Series X is here, and ready to show you why you need this refrigerator-esque console.

I’ve been playing with it for a week, and: wow. Wow in some expected ways, and wow in some unexpected and frankly crazy ways.  

Next gen and it’s an obelisk

There have been a lot of jokes about how the Xbox Series X looks like a fridge, or monolith, but I love the unassuming shape. If you have it standing upright, the simple and tall rectangle with the glow on top looks pretty damn cool. The design means it fits the aesthetic of any entertainment suite, and it towers above all the other things on your cabinet.

Because I like slotting consoles into shelves, I stuck my Xbox Series X sideways and pushed to the back so the fan could move air around it. Because of the square shape it gets fairly close to touching the top of the shelf, but shoving it to the back means you have a nice bit of space for the controllers and extras to fit in front, as you can see below.

In this way I was surprised at how much I liked the new console. With my controller sitting in the space in front, the Xbox Series X is subtle and unimposing, with a nice dim glow from the all seeing eye … I mean the touch button / Xbox logo light.

The smooth next gen upgrade

Usually with next gen upgrades, there’s a cutoff where you basically play as many older games as you can before you trade in the console and games and tackle what is new on the next machine. The Xbox Series X feels less like the next gen change of times past, and more like you upgraded your old dated gaming PC for a nice shiny new one.

Of course, modern consoles are basically just PCs running proprietary software, but that’s a story for another day.

Starting up and logging in was as smooth as Microsoft-branded butter. You can sign into your account using your cell phone, so things like typing in your password is easier than ever. Then straight away you can start downloading your back catalogue, or some nice shiny new games, and Bill’s your uncle; we’re in.

The OS is effectively a tweaked version of the Xbox One’s, which means it’s comfortably familiar out of the gate, and immediately I got to downloading. Any games I had half finished with usable saves on my Xbox One I jumped into. It’s the same thing, yeah, but faster. The boost in processing power makes a massive difference, but still leaves you feeling comfortable navigating around pages you have seen before.

Quick Resume your way to the future 

The biggest feature that the Xbox Series X offers, and a life changing one for me personally, is Quick Resume. The last gen introduced suspended games, letting us put our consoles to sleep, then turn on the next day and carry on without worrying about checkpoints and all that jazz. This became an everyday quality of life improvement that many found indispensable. Quick Resume is already that for me, this time tracking across multiple games.

I can play Ori and the Will of the Wisps until some ungodly hour of the night, put my console to sleep, and know that if my son comes home from school and plays Mineecraft, I haven’t lost any progress. I cannot understate how amazing this is. Last gen I would only use that feature on my PS4, because the youngling would play Minecraft on the Xbox before I got home, potentially wiping all my precious progress. Now? I’m free.

Quick Resume has already become a staple in my household, and new features are what new gens are for, right?

The power of next gen is here

The supercharged processing power was intensely apparent thanks to backwards compatibility. I jumped straight into games that my Xbox One had struggled with and it. Was. Heaven. Load times reduced, graphics and frame rates increased. Most of us, including myself, don’t have the labs or money to do some full on testing, so for this I recommend you check out Ars Technicas comparison work. In the raw numbers the difference is clear, but even a laygamer like me can immediately tell there’s some cool stuff going on under that boxy exterior.

How this works with more powerful games down the line, we’ll have to wait and see. But I’m excited.

The value of next gen is here

I have ranted about how great Xbox Game Pass is before, and it keeps holding up. I could easily play Game Pass games for the next six months without buying anything new, at which point the Xbox Series X has basically paid for itself.

A quick look at the current library shows the expected Xbox exclusives like Halo, Fable, Gears of War, and Forza Horizons. If you are new to the Xbox ecosystem, that’s a few months right there. Add to this the newer Yakuza games, Kingdom Hearts, Doom Eternal, The Outer Worlds, Darksiders, Batman Arkham Knight, FF VII, FFIX, FXV, the Outer Wilds, Dead Cells, Carrion, Cross Code, Indivisible, Hollow Knight, and so many more you’ll think you’ve accidentally wandered into the main storefront. This right here? Value.

Seriously, I am looking at the list and seeing a ton of games I want but won’t have time for, as well as the EA Play games that are being thrown in for the subscription price. How do they make money on this? I don’t know or care; I just know this is awesome.

Xbox Series X – Hard to not see the value

The Xbox Series X has been an awesome experience so far. The console looks nice and tidy, packs a lot of power in, and easily justifies its price. I would have liked a bigger change in the UI so it was more streamlined like the PS4’s was, but it is a seriously awesome next gen console that brings quality of life improvement and pays for itself with Game Pass.

Best of all, this time Xbox is leaning into the jokes.

And hey, if for some reason you need even better value for money or don’t know when to upgrade, it’s always a great idea to keep your eyes on Price Spy. This isn’t sponsored, we just think it’s neat.

The post Xbox Series X Review – An Xquisite next gen console appeared first on 8-Bit Island.

We have seen a lot of trailers and articles, but how about the console in action?

Well the 15 minute clip below has a couple of people demonstrating the Xbox by… using it.

Feel that next gen hype!

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