The new Xbox Wireless Headset comes with a free six month trial of Dolby Atmos as long as it is purchased before a certain date.
"While Xbox prints money, while it spends $75 billion on acquiring Activision, while it aggressively cuts into its profit attempting to corner the market with Xbox Game Pass, and while it does little to curtail bloat and overspending at its studios, it wants you to give it more money. And you shouldn't."
"Rather than absorb the cost of inflation, tariffs, and other costs, Xbox is passing along the cost to its consumers. This is an odd decision to begin with"
When US-based fake-journalists don't know at all what they're talking about.
Nintendo's listing games at $80 after their most successful console generation in their history. They even increased the price of the Joycon 2 mouse strap One Freaking Dollar because they can. Sony has said the PS5 generation is their most profitable generation so far and also has their own international console price increases and even increased the controller price stateside.
This isn't an Xbox problem, it's a games industry problem.
What business in this world is *not* going to pass an increased cost onto the customer in some way?
@Tyler... that MS is only the latest in the trend of companies not wanting to absorb the cost of inflation. That XB is but the latest platform to pass along the cost to its customers. If both Nintendo and Sony (which also made $$$$$) did not find it an odd decision... why would you think MS would?
Finally someone bringing up inflation instead of simpleton golden book stories of greedy CEOs and their yachts
@Darth
Correction. MS is the first. This isnt inflation related. The inflation round of increases happened across all platforms.
MS is the FIRST not the last as you implied, to pass on cost of tariffs.
The problem is gamers. They indulge in a luxury industry and live in a bubble where they think prices should remain the same for four decades. What other industry keeps their prices the same for four decades? None. Price rising is the norm.
The problem here is entitlement. Microsoft just spent 100 billion dollars trying to better their platform and they pull in 20 billion a year in revenue not profit. How long do you think it's going to take before they make their money back? What did you think they were going to do with their prices?
...MS already made that $$ back the first year. And i think there was a piece about it when it happened. I guess you can search for it.
@Darth
No they didnt. Not even close. They will be paying that 82 BILLION with profits, not revenue.
@Darth
MS has not made 82 Billion in all its time in gaming industry. They spent more on Activision than they have made in 4 generations. It was an emergency purchase.
Whoever told you they made 82 BILLION in PROFITS thought you were stupid.
^^... it doesnt take much to look it up. https://macrotrends.net/sto...
And I'm talking about MS... not just the gaming part. Seeing as it was MS $$ and not simply one division that was used to buy ABKZ. And yes... they did make that $$ back.
"Microsoft gross profit for the twelve months ending December 31, 2024 was $181.715B, a 14.48% increase year-over-year."
Rereading your message you clearly said MS not Xbox but Jesus Darth, that's some major goal post moving. C'mon you're better than that.
My comment was obviously about Microsoft requiring some return on investment from the investment they made , not through other means. that's not how business works.
If I buy a Bitcoin and it loses 4000 in a month I'm not okay with that just because I made six thousand in a month at my regular job. I want the Bitcoin to make a profit otherwise it wasn't worth it.
A business that doesn't generate profit is not sustainable even if it has a Rich Dad. eventually that well will run dry.
It's not just a games industry problem it's a global economy problem everything is going up
Nope prices in China ain’t going up.
Even in South east Asia where prices went up the last few years, it’s no where near what the Americans and Europeans have been experiencing.
In fact just a couple of days ago i got 120 eggs (size c, it’s not big) that was on offer for USD$3.25. Ask yourself, how much would that be in the US right now.
Just stop buying at launch and wait. Also this price instead kind of tells the consumer if you want to spend less sign up for gamepass. I always wait 6-12 months before buying. This way I get a game after a multiple patches and pay most half of not less price. There are very very few games which are worth full price at launch
Whether we like it or not guys prices gonna go up. Will anyone really be surprised if next playstation and Xbox launches at 699 (with disk drive sold separately) , $99 controllers, 80 for digital and 90 for physical
I’m not a Doom guy lol, so no I’m not buying that one. If anything I’ll demo it on Game Pass, someday. 🤷🏻
Yeah I'm definitely not buying that one. I'm only interested in Perfect Dark and Fable but I'd never buy at MSRP. I'm the consumer who plays the games when you can get the Director's Cut with all DLC on sale for $10.
The last five years all I've done is purchase games during the spring and fall sales. Saved so much money and played the same games with all the patches/DLC.
I've been really supportive of MS bringing their games to Playstion, including buying Indiana Jones when it came out although I'm not planning on playing it this year at all. But from now on, I refuse to buy anything they release at 80. This is it, Will always wait for sales form now on, just on principal. I can easily afford it, but I can't justify $80. NO WAY
Exactly. That's what's going to happen. I got Expedition 33 day 1, I was a part of that million in 3 days. Imagine if it was $80... It wouldn't have sold a million, maybe been considered a flop and the studio closes. This isn't going to end good.
The brought up some of the biggest IP's in the industry for a reason, and that reason is f**k you pay me if you want to keep playing.
This is where industry consolidation leads, three major publishers are no longer competing. More and more owned by fewer and fewer means price rises.
That's how businesses work they don't absorb costs unless they have to.
They don't owe us anything and neither do we same goes for Nintendo and Sony
I even expect valve to increase the steam deck price
Looks like the Australian price for the series X is up to $849 for the base model bit the 2tb one which is now near the 1k mark.
849 for a console that cost 749 on launch 5 years ago is just Wild it's crazy how bad the economy is tanking right now.
I've never seen a price increase since the Jaguar and that was a while other dumpster fire
Microsoft is currently working on three new Xbox controller prototypes, each offering a unique feature set, according to a new rumor.
Agreed
I hope they're also designing some larger controllers for those with larger hands
Based on the info in the article, I see haptic feedback being mentioned and features to further reduce latency on PC and console but no mention of hall effect.
Sony, Nintendo and Microsoft must know something we don't about hall effect to make them not want to use it in their controllers.
Rough guess, but if controllers have a longer life span because these sticks won't fail, they potentially miss out on new controller sales.
Yes Hall effect would be nice but the things that really failed in me this generation where the buttons me die bumper and face buttons on series X and Switch Pro controller got sticky or broken.
If a controller is not attached to a console from the beginning, nobody will use its "advantages". No new console, no new experiences for Xbox owners... But Microsoft can replicate Dual Sense and then... magic could happen and PC players could have more desirable options to connect to their systems, not only for PS5 conversions.
I really hope they include string HD rumble like in PS and Switch 2 controller. But really stronger. I could barely feel Hd rumble from Switch 1.
Xbox Cloud Gaming usage data shared at GDC 2025 shows where people are streaming most—and you might be surprised.
I get there are those who have no interest in streaming... I didn't at first, but then I got to testing out various games on different devices. I can't use my phone, screen is to small. I have used a 2013 VCR XBO to stream flight sim and it played surprisingly well. I also use a Logitech G-Cloud which is made specifically for streaming XB games as well as Nvidia Shield stuff. and that is what i primarily use now. I also have been using my living room One X to stream indiana jones and south of midnight. Both of which play great with little to no lag. then again i am using 1gb internet on a mesh network with the consoles wired in.
I never thought Id say this but... I really like the convenience of xcloud and PS+ premium and using the portal to play directly from the cloud as well. I get it, I get it... I will get major downvotes but this is my setup and my choice to do so. Everyone has the opportunity to do it themselves so you dont have to take my word for it.
It works for me.
I have to agree. It was a better experience than i expected it to be. I never want it to be the only option though, i prefer to play "the old way" . I dont want to be forced to stream my games of choice but as an extra option on the go its really good..
We have to pay to use Dolby Atmos? Learn something new everyday I guess.
.......this is ridiculous. Stupid move by Microsoft.
Woah wait WTF? How are you turning an audio option into a payed product? Wow that's greedy
Looking at the comments, am I missing something?
I use Windows 10, and while there a handful of free surround sound programs to be had, most of the higher quality ones are a one time purchase, with Atmos being one.