#console-gaming — Public Fediverse posts

Xbox Reset Is Very Painful But Absolutely Necessary

Welcome back Xbox fans and fellow geeks!

As a long-time Xbox fan and owner of three Xbox game consoles, I can say that this current console generation has been disappointing and the current state of Xbox gaming is a huge letdown.

With the approval of Microsoft’s leadership, Team Xbox acquired a lot of game companies that include the giants Activision-Blizzard-King (ABK) and Bethesda, going right down to the smaller game studios. Those were acquired with the promise of new and exciting games that would make Xbox gaming really great in the form of exclusive games, new content for Game Pass subscribers and more.

Sadly, things turned out really disappointing and now the new Xbox head Asha Sharma has the tremendous challenge of making drastic reforms, downsizing and correcting the cases of mismanagement by the previous leadership. That said, she declared a hard reset of the Xbox business and the changes are being implemented already.

To put things in perspective, posted below is an excerpt from the Xbox announcement focused on Asha Sharma’s message to the entire team. Some parts in boldface…

We are beginning the most significant restructure in XBOX history. After careful consideration, I’ve made the difficult decision to reduce our team by approximately 3,200 throughout FY27. This will include approximately 1,600 role eliminations today, and in addition, four studios will leave XBOX to new management. I recognize that a year-long restructuring creates additional challenges. Unfortunately, it is not possible to make all the necessary changes in a single day, and I wanted to be direct about the scale.

I know this is painful. These changes will directly affect people who have poured their creativity into building XBOX. Many joined us through acquisitions, while others were recruited here, or sought us out because they loved this industry and loved XBOX. Today’s decisions do not reflect their talent or dedication.

Our business today is not healthy. We are operating at margins that are 3-10x lower than comparable platform and publishing businesses. We entered Gen 9 with a smaller install base and a higher cost structure. To grow, we bet on Game Pass, multi-platform, and a broader portfolio of content. While those businesses have created meaningful value, they did not grow at the pace we expected. As that happened, our core business weakened, and we added more teams, more investment, and more time, hoping for a better outcome. And now the industry is facing the most severe hardware crisis in its history. We must reset XBOX.

First, we will reset our content portfolio.

Since 2018, we have aggressively expanded our studio portfolio while the number of games created each month across the industry now outpaces the last ten years combined. We now find ourselves competing not only with the largest publishers, but also with smaller independent studios. It is neither possible nor desirable to own every great independent studio. We have also learned that we are not the best home for every type of studio; in a typical year, we lost 64 cents for every dollar we invested. As we reset XBOX, we will help independent creators succeed by providing open development tools and audiences to realize their vision.

Compulsion Games and Double Fine Productions will return to management and transition to independent studios with their IP, catalog, and runway for their next games. Ninja Theory and Undead Labs have entered terms to join new ownership with funding to complete and grow Senua and State of Decay 3. In France, Arkane’s management is beginning required consultation with its Works Council to review potential strategic options.

We are also making reductions across other units, and in some cases, shifting investment to focus on higher priority projects. These changes vary in size across Activision, Bethesda/ZeniMax, Blizzard, King, Mojang, and XBOX Game Studios. None of our first party publicly announced games or projects are being cancelled as part of these reductions.

In addition, Mojang and King will now report directly to me. These two studios have increasingly become platforms and are our largest by monthly active players. They bring critical geographic, demographic, and differentiation to XBOX.

Second, we will reset our platform.

We know that great technology gets better when it gets simpler, not bigger. Today, in some parts of the company, work passes through as many as 14 layers of management. Our platform teams are 40% larger than they were at the start of this generation, even as our player base and playtime have declined. That complexity has slowed decisions, blurred accountability, and made it harder to deliver for players. As we reset XBOX, we will simplify.

We will reduce management layers to no more than 5, and where possible, 3. We will deliver success through a flatter organization that is built around makers (individual contributors focused on building), player-coaches (leaders who remain deeply involved in the work while developing their teams), and directly responsible individuals (DRIs) who own key decisions and outcomes. And we will streamline how we work across our tools, with a cleaner code base, shared services, and 50% reduced vendor spend.

Third, we are resetting how we operate.

As XBOX grew our headcount, we became more fragmented. Teams, studios, and functions often operate independently, and it became harder to work towards a shared goal, make the right tradeoffs, and get things done.

For the first time, we are establishing a Chief Operating Officer with end-to-end P&L responsibility across content, hardware, platform, and services. Helen Chiang has been promoted to this role and will report directly to me. Over nearly two decades at XBOX, Helen has helped build some of our most important businesses, from XBOX Live to leading Mojang and the Minecraft franchise. She will bring our businesses together under one operating model, making sure we make clear investment decisions, learn from our successes and failures, and hold ourselves accountable for results.

Thank you, Dave McCarthy, who is retiring after 17 years with XBOX. Dave has played a defining role in building the platform that millions of players rely on every day and has been a trusted partner through many of the biggest moments in XBOX’s history. We wish him all the best.

These changes are about a bigger future for XBOX, not a smaller one. The next decade of gaming will be larger, more global, and more creative than anything we’ve seen before. This year, we’ll invest as much in XBOX as we ever have, but we’ll invest with greater focus, greater discipline, and greater clarity, all in service of making XBOX where the world plays and creates.

I want XBOX to be one of the few companies that entertains more than a billion people each day and gives everyone the opportunity to create and connect.

To see the full message, click https://news.xbox.com/en-us/2026/07/06/resetting-xbox/

Indeed, the Xbox business model deteriorated financially and became much harder to manage. The billions of Dollars spent on Xbox gaming over the past several years did not result in the great gaming experiences for fans and gamers, nor did it compel the Xbox game studios to become productive and disciplined.

First-party games of Xbox in the generation of Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S have been lackluster in quality and enjoyment overall. I played Starfield a lot on my Xbox Series X via Xbox Game Pass and my enjoyment of it has been limited compared with other games of Bethesda. Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II was fun at first but it ended up being hollow. As the said Ninja Theory-developed game lacked depth with its gameplay and game design, I never bothered to replay it after finishing it. Obsidian Entertainment, a company that specialized in making role-playing games (RPGs), produced new RPGs under the Xbox umbrella but none of them were great. In fact, Avowed and The Outer Worlds 2 ended up as commercial failures.

Going back to Asha Sharma’s message, I can say that letting go of Compulsion Games and Double Fine Productions was the right move as the huge amount of money Team Xbox spent of them did not result in great games. Compulsion Games’ South of Midnight was a $100,000,000 production that ended up with sales of way below one million copies. More notably, Compulsion Games has a discriminating woke and hateful community manager who goes by the handle @PikaChulita. Look at the captured evidence below.

Speaking of wokeness and discrimination, the controversial Matt Hansen has been laid off from Obsidian Entertainment. Hansen was heavily involved in the huge disappointment called Avowed. That being said, Team Xbox should really REMOVE all the untalented woke activists among its many game developers. Those activists – the feminists, the LGBTQ mob, the Islamists, the Black Lives Matter zealots and others – do not care about making great games at all and they have been misusing Microsoft’s money to turn new Xbox games into vehicles of Leftist/woke/socialist propaganda. Xbox should also cut off any ties with the super woke Sweet Baby Inc.

When it comes to the larger entities like Activision, Bethesda/ZeniMax, Blizzard, King and Mojang, the layoffs are painful but it makes sense to shift investment to focus on higher priority projects. Activision should regain focus on ensuring quality and great fun with its continued productions of Call of Duty (COD) games. Bethesda has to deliver new Fallout and The Elder Scrolls games faster and with the highest quality possible.

With the way things are right now, I am not certain if I will pursue the next-generation Xbox console called “Project Helix”. Memory has gotten much more expensive in recent times due to extremely high demand from artificial intelligence (AI) data centers and the memory manufacturers’ deals with AI companies. How much memory could the next-generation Xbox have and could its retail price exceed $1,000 at launch?

Indeed, the future of Xbox gaming is really clouded and I can only hope that the hard reset of the Xbox business under Asha Sharma will create positive changes and results. To say the least, the reforms have started and only time will tell what will happen next.

In ending this blog post, posted below are selected YouTube videos about the state of Xbox for your enlightenment.  

https://youtu.be/2BZBoBAZGsc?si=aL2iNzIiW6It6zvF

https://youtu.be/G7gFcdPmUeM?si=RjfV62K2TEgK4W4c

https://youtu.be/B8jITSU6IfM?si=npeGI3VDmYPRoX4n

https://youtu.be/qWFSICcym9c?si=OVgz7K77aGsISa2N

https://youtu.be/DeUV3IqEZRU?si=U4mZnmOQGY2V6CKO

https://youtu.be/O_1YpnEKkxA?si=yKa24vue7V60KilE

https://youtu.be/FGFD1W415FE?si=NI380YIxmaw2CNBg

+++++

Thank you for reading. If you find this article engaging, please click the like button below, share this article to others and also please consider making a donation to support my publishing. If you are looking for a copywriter to create content for your special project or business, check out my services and my portfolio. Feel free to contact me with a private message. Also please feel free to visit my Facebook page Author Carlo Carrasco and follow me on Twitter at @CarloCarrascoPH as well as on Tumblr at https://carlocarrasco.tumblr.com/ and on Instagram athttps://www.instagram.com/authorcarlocarrasco

Xbox Reset Is Very Painful But Absolutely Necessary

Welcome back Xbox fans and fellow geeks!

As a long-time Xbox fan and owner of three Xbox game consoles, I can say that this current console generation has been disappointing and the current state of Xbox gaming is a huge letdown.

With the approval of Microsoft’s leadership, Team Xbox acquired a lot of game companies that include the giants Activision-Blizzard-King (ABK) and Bethesda, going right down to the smaller game studios. Those were acquired with the promise of new and exciting games that would make Xbox gaming really great in the form of exclusive games, new content for Game Pass subscribers and more.

Sadly, things turned out really disappointing and now the new Xbox head Asha Sharma has the tremendous challenge of making drastic reforms, downsizing and correcting the cases of mismanagement by the previous leadership. That said, she declared a hard reset of the Xbox business and the changes are being implemented already.

To put things in perspective, posted below is an excerpt from the Xbox announcement focused on Asha Sharma’s message to the entire team. Some parts in boldface…

We are beginning the most significant restructure in XBOX history. After careful consideration, I’ve made the difficult decision to reduce our team by approximately 3,200 throughout FY27. This will include approximately 1,600 role eliminations today, and in addition, four studios will leave XBOX to new management. I recognize that a year-long restructuring creates additional challenges. Unfortunately, it is not possible to make all the necessary changes in a single day, and I wanted to be direct about the scale.

I know this is painful. These changes will directly affect people who have poured their creativity into building XBOX. Many joined us through acquisitions, while others were recruited here, or sought us out because they loved this industry and loved XBOX. Today’s decisions do not reflect their talent or dedication.

Our business today is not healthy. We are operating at margins that are 3-10x lower than comparable platform and publishing businesses. We entered Gen 9 with a smaller install base and a higher cost structure. To grow, we bet on Game Pass, multi-platform, and a broader portfolio of content. While those businesses have created meaningful value, they did not grow at the pace we expected. As that happened, our core business weakened, and we added more teams, more investment, and more time, hoping for a better outcome. And now the industry is facing the most severe hardware crisis in its history. We must reset XBOX.

First, we will reset our content portfolio.

Since 2018, we have aggressively expanded our studio portfolio while the number of games created each month across the industry now outpaces the last ten years combined. We now find ourselves competing not only with the largest publishers, but also with smaller independent studios. It is neither possible nor desirable to own every great independent studio. We have also learned that we are not the best home for every type of studio; in a typical year, we lost 64 cents for every dollar we invested. As we reset XBOX, we will help independent creators succeed by providing open development tools and audiences to realize their vision.

Compulsion Games and Double Fine Productions will return to management and transition to independent studios with their IP, catalog, and runway for their next games. Ninja Theory and Undead Labs have entered terms to join new ownership with funding to complete and grow Senua and State of Decay 3. In France, Arkane’s management is beginning required consultation with its Works Council to review potential strategic options.

We are also making reductions across other units, and in some cases, shifting investment to focus on higher priority projects. These changes vary in size across Activision, Bethesda/ZeniMax, Blizzard, King, Mojang, and XBOX Game Studios. None of our first party publicly announced games or projects are being cancelled as part of these reductions.

In addition, Mojang and King will now report directly to me. These two studios have increasingly become platforms and are our largest by monthly active players. They bring critical geographic, demographic, and differentiation to XBOX.

Second, we will reset our platform.

We know that great technology gets better when it gets simpler, not bigger. Today, in some parts of the company, work passes through as many as 14 layers of management. Our platform teams are 40% larger than they were at the start of this generation, even as our player base and playtime have declined. That complexity has slowed decisions, blurred accountability, and made it harder to deliver for players. As we reset XBOX, we will simplify.

We will reduce management layers to no more than 5, and where possible, 3. We will deliver success through a flatter organization that is built around makers (individual contributors focused on building), player-coaches (leaders who remain deeply involved in the work while developing their teams), and directly responsible individuals (DRIs) who own key decisions and outcomes. And we will streamline how we work across our tools, with a cleaner code base, shared services, and 50% reduced vendor spend.

Third, we are resetting how we operate.

As XBOX grew our headcount, we became more fragmented. Teams, studios, and functions often operate independently, and it became harder to work towards a shared goal, make the right tradeoffs, and get things done.

For the first time, we are establishing a Chief Operating Officer with end-to-end P&L responsibility across content, hardware, platform, and services. Helen Chiang has been promoted to this role and will report directly to me. Over nearly two decades at XBOX, Helen has helped build some of our most important businesses, from XBOX Live to leading Mojang and the Minecraft franchise. She will bring our businesses together under one operating model, making sure we make clear investment decisions, learn from our successes and failures, and hold ourselves accountable for results.

Thank you, Dave McCarthy, who is retiring after 17 years with XBOX. Dave has played a defining role in building the platform that millions of players rely on every day and has been a trusted partner through many of the biggest moments in XBOX’s history. We wish him all the best.

These changes are about a bigger future for XBOX, not a smaller one. The next decade of gaming will be larger, more global, and more creative than anything we’ve seen before. This year, we’ll invest as much in XBOX as we ever have, but we’ll invest with greater focus, greater discipline, and greater clarity, all in service of making XBOX where the world plays and creates.

I want XBOX to be one of the few companies that entertains more than a billion people each day and gives everyone the opportunity to create and connect.

To see the full message, click https://news.xbox.com/en-us/2026/07/06/resetting-xbox/

Indeed, the Xbox business model deteriorated financially and became much harder to manage. The billions of Dollars spent on Xbox gaming over the past several years did not result in the great gaming experiences for fans and gamers, nor did it compel the Xbox game studios to become productive and disciplined.

First-party games of Xbox in the generation of Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S have been lackluster in quality and enjoyment overall. I played Starfield a lot on my Xbox Series X via Xbox Game Pass and my enjoyment of it has been limited compared with other games of Bethesda. Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II was fun at first but it ended up being hollow. As the said Ninja Theory-developed game lacked depth with its gameplay and game design, I never bothered to replay it after finishing it. Obsidian Entertainment, a company that specialized in making role-playing games (RPGs), produced new RPGs under the Xbox umbrella but none of them were great. In fact, Avowed and The Outer Worlds 2 ended up as commercial failures.

Going back to Asha Sharma’s message, I can say that letting go of Compulsion Games and Double Fine Productions was the right move as the huge amount of money Team Xbox spent of them did not result in great games. Compulsion Games’ South of Midnight was a $100,000,000 production that ended up with sales of way below one million copies. More notably, Compulsion Games has a discriminating woke and hateful community manager who goes by the handle @PikaChulita. Look at the captured evidence below.

Speaking of wokeness and discrimination, the controversial Matt Hansen has been laid off from Obsidian Entertainment. Hansen was heavily involved in the huge disappointment called Avowed. That being said, Team Xbox should really REMOVE all the untalented woke activists among its many game developers. Those activists – the feminists, the LGBTQ mob, the Islamists, the Black Lives Matter zealots and others – do not care about making great games at all and they have been misusing Microsoft’s money to turn new Xbox games into vehicles of Leftist/woke/socialist propaganda. Xbox should also cut off any ties with the super woke Sweet Baby Inc.

When it comes to the larger entities like Activision, Bethesda/ZeniMax, Blizzard, King and Mojang, the layoffs are painful but it makes sense to shift investment to focus on higher priority projects. Activision should regain focus on ensuring quality and great fun with its continued productions of Call of Duty (COD) games. Bethesda has to deliver new Fallout and The Elder Scrolls games faster and with the highest quality possible.

With the way things are right now, I am not certain if I will pursue the next-generation Xbox console called “Project Helix”. Memory has gotten much more expensive in recent times due to extremely high demand from artificial intelligence (AI) data centers and the memory manufacturers’ deals with AI companies. How much memory could the next-generation Xbox have and could its retail price exceed $1,000 at launch?

Indeed, the future of Xbox gaming is really clouded and I can only hope that the hard reset of the Xbox business under Asha Sharma will create positive changes and results. To say the least, the reforms have started and only time will tell what will happen next.

In ending this blog post, posted below are selected YouTube videos about the state of Xbox for your enlightenment.  

https://youtu.be/2BZBoBAZGsc?si=aL2iNzIiW6It6zvF

https://youtu.be/G7gFcdPmUeM?si=RjfV62K2TEgK4W4c

https://youtu.be/B8jITSU6IfM?si=npeGI3VDmYPRoX4n

https://youtu.be/qWFSICcym9c?si=OVgz7K77aGsISa2N

https://youtu.be/DeUV3IqEZRU?si=U4mZnmOQGY2V6CKO

https://youtu.be/O_1YpnEKkxA?si=yKa24vue7V60KilE

https://youtu.be/FGFD1W415FE?si=NI380YIxmaw2CNBg

+++++

Thank you for reading. If you find this article engaging, please click the like button below, share this article to others and also please consider making a donation to support my publishing. If you are looking for a copywriter to create content for your special project or business, check out my services and my portfolio. Feel free to contact me with a private message. Also please feel free to visit my Facebook page Author Carlo Carrasco and follow me on Twitter at @CarloCarrascoPH as well as on Tumblr at https://carlocarrasco.tumblr.com/ and on Instagram athttps://www.instagram.com/authorcarlocarrasco

Xbox Reset Is Very Painful But Absolutely Necessary

Welcome back Xbox fans and fellow geeks!

As a long-time Xbox fan and owner of three Xbox game consoles, I can say that this current console generation has been disappointing and the current state of Xbox gaming is a huge letdown.

With the approval of Microsoft’s leadership, Team Xbox acquired a lot of game companies that include the giants Activision-Blizzard-King (ABK) and Bethesda, going right down to the smaller game studios. Those were acquired with the promise of new and exciting games that would make Xbox gaming really great in the form of exclusive games, new content for Game Pass subscribers and more.

Sadly, things turned out really disappointing and now the new Xbox head Asha Sharma has the tremendous challenge of making drastic reforms, downsizing and correcting the cases of mismanagement by the previous leadership. That said, she declared a hard reset of the Xbox business and the changes are being implemented already.

To put things in perspective, posted below is an excerpt from the Xbox announcement focused on Asha Sharma’s message to the entire team. Some parts in boldface…

We are beginning the most significant restructure in XBOX history. After careful consideration, I’ve made the difficult decision to reduce our team by approximately 3,200 throughout FY27. This will include approximately 1,600 role eliminations today, and in addition, four studios will leave XBOX to new management. I recognize that a year-long restructuring creates additional challenges. Unfortunately, it is not possible to make all the necessary changes in a single day, and I wanted to be direct about the scale.

I know this is painful. These changes will directly affect people who have poured their creativity into building XBOX. Many joined us through acquisitions, while others were recruited here, or sought us out because they loved this industry and loved XBOX. Today’s decisions do not reflect their talent or dedication.

Our business today is not healthy. We are operating at margins that are 3-10x lower than comparable platform and publishing businesses. We entered Gen 9 with a smaller install base and a higher cost structure. To grow, we bet on Game Pass, multi-platform, and a broader portfolio of content. While those businesses have created meaningful value, they did not grow at the pace we expected. As that happened, our core business weakened, and we added more teams, more investment, and more time, hoping for a better outcome. And now the industry is facing the most severe hardware crisis in its history. We must reset XBOX.

First, we will reset our content portfolio.

Since 2018, we have aggressively expanded our studio portfolio while the number of games created each month across the industry now outpaces the last ten years combined. We now find ourselves competing not only with the largest publishers, but also with smaller independent studios. It is neither possible nor desirable to own every great independent studio. We have also learned that we are not the best home for every type of studio; in a typical year, we lost 64 cents for every dollar we invested. As we reset XBOX, we will help independent creators succeed by providing open development tools and audiences to realize their vision.

Compulsion Games and Double Fine Productions will return to management and transition to independent studios with their IP, catalog, and runway for their next games. Ninja Theory and Undead Labs have entered terms to join new ownership with funding to complete and grow Senua and State of Decay 3. In France, Arkane’s management is beginning required consultation with its Works Council to review potential strategic options.

We are also making reductions across other units, and in some cases, shifting investment to focus on higher priority projects. These changes vary in size across Activision, Bethesda/ZeniMax, Blizzard, King, Mojang, and XBOX Game Studios. None of our first party publicly announced games or projects are being cancelled as part of these reductions.

In addition, Mojang and King will now report directly to me. These two studios have increasingly become platforms and are our largest by monthly active players. They bring critical geographic, demographic, and differentiation to XBOX.

Second, we will reset our platform.

We know that great technology gets better when it gets simpler, not bigger. Today, in some parts of the company, work passes through as many as 14 layers of management. Our platform teams are 40% larger than they were at the start of this generation, even as our player base and playtime have declined. That complexity has slowed decisions, blurred accountability, and made it harder to deliver for players. As we reset XBOX, we will simplify.

We will reduce management layers to no more than 5, and where possible, 3. We will deliver success through a flatter organization that is built around makers (individual contributors focused on building), player-coaches (leaders who remain deeply involved in the work while developing their teams), and directly responsible individuals (DRIs) who own key decisions and outcomes. And we will streamline how we work across our tools, with a cleaner code base, shared services, and 50% reduced vendor spend.

Third, we are resetting how we operate.

As XBOX grew our headcount, we became more fragmented. Teams, studios, and functions often operate independently, and it became harder to work towards a shared goal, make the right tradeoffs, and get things done.

For the first time, we are establishing a Chief Operating Officer with end-to-end P&L responsibility across content, hardware, platform, and services. Helen Chiang has been promoted to this role and will report directly to me. Over nearly two decades at XBOX, Helen has helped build some of our most important businesses, from XBOX Live to leading Mojang and the Minecraft franchise. She will bring our businesses together under one operating model, making sure we make clear investment decisions, learn from our successes and failures, and hold ourselves accountable for results.

Thank you, Dave McCarthy, who is retiring after 17 years with XBOX. Dave has played a defining role in building the platform that millions of players rely on every day and has been a trusted partner through many of the biggest moments in XBOX’s history. We wish him all the best.

These changes are about a bigger future for XBOX, not a smaller one. The next decade of gaming will be larger, more global, and more creative than anything we’ve seen before. This year, we’ll invest as much in XBOX as we ever have, but we’ll invest with greater focus, greater discipline, and greater clarity, all in service of making XBOX where the world plays and creates.

I want XBOX to be one of the few companies that entertains more than a billion people each day and gives everyone the opportunity to create and connect.

To see the full message, click https://news.xbox.com/en-us/2026/07/06/resetting-xbox/

Indeed, the Xbox business model deteriorated financially and became much harder to manage. The billions of Dollars spent on Xbox gaming over the past several years did not result in the great gaming experiences for fans and gamers, nor did it compel the Xbox game studios to become productive and disciplined.

First-party games of Xbox in the generation of Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S have been lackluster in quality and enjoyment overall. I played Starfield a lot on my Xbox Series X via Xbox Game Pass and my enjoyment of it has been limited compared with other games of Bethesda. Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II was fun at first but it ended up being hollow. As the said Ninja Theory-developed game lacked depth with its gameplay and game design, I never bothered to replay it after finishing it. Obsidian Entertainment, a company that specialized in making role-playing games (RPGs), produced new RPGs under the Xbox umbrella but none of them were great. In fact, Avowed and The Outer Worlds 2 ended up as commercial failures.

Going back to Asha Sharma’s message, I can say that letting go of Compulsion Games and Double Fine Productions was the right move as the huge amount of money Team Xbox spent of them did not result in great games. Compulsion Games’ South of Midnight was a $100,000,000 production that ended up with sales of way below one million copies. More notably, Compulsion Games has a discriminating woke and hateful community manager who goes by the handle @PikaChulita. Look at the captured evidence below.

Speaking of wokeness and discrimination, the controversial Matt Hansen has been laid off from Obsidian Entertainment. Hansen was heavily involved in the huge disappointment called Avowed. That being said, Team Xbox should really REMOVE all the untalented woke activists among its many game developers. Those activists – the feminists, the LGBTQ mob, the Islamists, the Black Lives Matter zealots and others – do not care about making great games at all and they have been misusing Microsoft’s money to turn new Xbox games into vehicles of Leftist/woke/socialist propaganda. Xbox should also cut off any ties with the super woke Sweet Baby Inc.

When it comes to the larger entities like Activision, Bethesda/ZeniMax, Blizzard, King and Mojang, the layoffs are painful but it makes sense to shift investment to focus on higher priority projects. Activision should regain focus on ensuring quality and great fun with its continued productions of Call of Duty (COD) games. Bethesda has to deliver new Fallout and The Elder Scrolls games faster and with the highest quality possible.

With the way things are right now, I am not certain if I will pursue the next-generation Xbox console called “Project Helix”. Memory has gotten much more expensive in recent times due to extremely high demand from artificial intelligence (AI) data centers and the memory manufacturers’ deals with AI companies. How much memory could the next-generation Xbox have and could its retail price exceed $1,000 at launch?

Indeed, the future of Xbox gaming is really clouded and I can only hope that the hard reset of the Xbox business under Asha Sharma will create positive changes and results. To say the least, the reforms have started and only time will tell what will happen next.

In ending this blog post, posted below are selected YouTube videos about the state of Xbox for your enlightenment.  

https://youtu.be/2BZBoBAZGsc?si=aL2iNzIiW6It6zvF

https://youtu.be/G7gFcdPmUeM?si=RjfV62K2TEgK4W4c

https://youtu.be/B8jITSU6IfM?si=npeGI3VDmYPRoX4n

https://youtu.be/qWFSICcym9c?si=OVgz7K77aGsISa2N

https://youtu.be/DeUV3IqEZRU?si=U4mZnmOQGY2V6CKO

https://youtu.be/O_1YpnEKkxA?si=yKa24vue7V60KilE

https://youtu.be/FGFD1W415FE?si=NI380YIxmaw2CNBg

+++++

Thank you for reading. If you find this article engaging, please click the like button below, share this article to others and also please consider making a donation to support my publishing. If you are looking for a copywriter to create content for your special project or business, check out my services and my portfolio. Feel free to contact me with a private message. Also please feel free to visit my Facebook page Author Carlo Carrasco and follow me on Twitter at @CarloCarrascoPH as well as on Tumblr at https://carlocarrasco.tumblr.com/ and on Instagram athttps://www.instagram.com/authorcarlocarrasco

RE: https://mastodon.social/@DreamStationcc/116890474229640860

I don't see where is the news here.

But probably Console gaming dug its grave when online store moved there, because hardware-wise it's from the PS3 era that consoles are just refurbished PC hardware, and exclusives today aren't unique to these platforms like they were once.
If your ecosystem doesn't rely on unique parts like Wii or Switch, consoles are more a past relics.

Pick even a not recent PC + Linux and you get emulation for running also old gen consoles.

#pcgaming #consolegaming

RE: https://mastodon.social/@DreamStationcc/116890474229640860

I don't see where is the news here.

But probably Console gaming dug its grave when online store moved there, because hardware-wise it's from the PS3 era that consoles are just refurbished PC hardware, and exclusives today aren't unique to these platforms like they were once.
If your ecosystem doesn't rely on unique parts like Wii or Switch, consoles are more a past relics.

Pick even a not recent PC + Linux and you get emulation for running also old gen consoles.

#pcgaming #consolegaming

RE: https://retro-gaiden.com/@nsonic79/116887622146902912

and the #sony trainwreck goes on 🙄 i said it once and ill say it a million times, this makes me all the more thankful i moved on from #consolegaming

#gaming #playstation

RE: https://retro-gaiden.com/@nsonic79/116887622146902912

and the #sony trainwreck goes on 🙄 i said it once and ill say it a million times, this makes me all the more thankful i moved on from #consolegaming

#gaming #playstation

RE: https://retro-gaiden.com/@nsonic79/116887622146902912

and the #sony trainwreck goes on 🙄 i said it once and ill say it a million times, this makes me all the more thankful i moved on from #consolegaming

#gaming #playstation

RE: https://retro-gaiden.com/@nsonic79/116887622146902912

and the #sony trainwreck goes on 🙄 i said it once and ill say it a million times, this makes me all the more thankful i moved on from #consolegaming

#gaming #playstation

Valve releases drivers, notes to make Windows work on Steam hardware, but refuses to support it — tells users it doesn’t offer support for ‘Windows on Steam Hardware,’ gaming company provides resources ‘as is’

https://fed.brid.gy/r/https://www.tomshardware.com/video-games/console-gaming/valve-releases-drivers-notes-to-make-windows-work-on-steam-hardware-but-refuses-to-support-it-tells-users-it-doesnt-offer-support-for-windows-on-steam-hardware-gaming-company-provides-resources-as-is

Valve releases drivers, notes to make Windows work on Steam hardware, but refuses to support it — tells users it doesn’t offer support for ‘Windows on Steam Hardware,’ gaming company provides resources ‘as is’

https://web.brid.gy/r/https://www.tomshardware.com/video-games/console-gaming/valve-releases-drivers-notes-to-make-windows-work-on-steam-hardware-but-refuses-to-support-it-tells-users-it-doesnt-offer-support-for-windows-on-steam-hardware-gaming-company-provides-resources-as-is

@mrgrumpymonkey The main question of the article is where console gamers will go when they realise the price hike of next gen consoles isn't worth the diminishing returns in performance and graphical fidelity: the article suggests that some may go to pc but that for many: getting into mobile gaming (with the game pad phone attachments) would be more financially realistic - pc gaming is a massive initial investment that mobile gaming doesn't require

I wish the article had covered FLOSS gaming which is free and improving all the time - capitalism will squeeze all the fun and choice out of games and FLOSS gaming will remain free and open

#FLOSS #FLOSSGaming #ConsoleGaming #PCGaming

@mrgrumpymonkey The main question of the article is where console gamers will go when they realise the price hike of next gen consoles isn't worth the diminishing returns in performance and graphical fidelity: the article suggests that some may go to pc but that for many: getting into mobile gaming (with the game pad phone attachments) would be more financially realistic - pc gaming is a massive initial investment that mobile gaming doesn't require

I wish the article had covered FLOSS gaming which is free and improving all the time - capitalism will squeeze all the fun and choice out of games and FLOSS gaming will remain free and open

#FLOSS #FLOSSGaming #ConsoleGaming #PCGaming

@mrgrumpymonkey The main question of the article is where console gamers will go when they realise the price hike of next gen consoles isn't worth the diminishing returns in performance and graphical fidelity: the article suggests that some may go to pc but that for many: getting into mobile gaming (with the game pad phone attachments) would be more financially realistic - pc gaming is a massive initial investment that mobile gaming doesn't require

I wish the article had covered FLOSS gaming which is free and improving all the time - capitalism will squeeze all the fun and choice out of games and FLOSS gaming will remain free and open

#FLOSS #FLOSSGaming #ConsoleGaming #PCGaming

@mrgrumpymonkey The main question of the article is where console gamers will go when they realise the price hike of next gen consoles isn't worth the diminishing returns in performance and graphical fidelity: the article suggests that some may go to pc but that for many: getting into mobile gaming (with the game pad phone attachments) would be more financially realistic - pc gaming is a massive initial investment that mobile gaming doesn't require

I wish the article had covered FLOSS gaming which is free and improving all the time - capitalism will squeeze all the fun and choice out of games and FLOSS gaming will remain free and open

#FLOSS #FLOSSGaming #ConsoleGaming #PCGaming

@mrgrumpymonkey The main question of the article is where console gamers will go when they realise the price hike of next gen consoles isn't worth the diminishing returns in performance and graphical fidelity: the article suggests that some may go to pc but that for many: getting into mobile gaming (with the game pad phone attachments) would be more financially realistic - pc gaming is a massive initial investment that mobile gaming doesn't require

I wish the article had covered FLOSS gaming which is free and improving all the time - capitalism will squeeze all the fun and choice out of games and FLOSS gaming will remain free and open

#FLOSS #FLOSSGaming #ConsoleGaming #PCGaming

RE: https://retro-gaiden.com/@ncgaa/116881647424419224

#sega last hooray for #consolegaming

RE: https://retro-gaiden.com/@ncgaa/116881647424419224

#sega last hooray for #consolegaming

RE: https://retro-gaiden.com/@ncgaa/116881647424419224

#sega last hooray for #consolegaming

Logitech G named partner for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4

Logitech G has become the Official PC Peripheral Partner for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4. The deal…
#NewsBeep #News #Technology #ActivisionBlizzard #AU #Australia #CallofDuty #ConsoleGaming #ContentCreation #esports #First-personshooter #gaming #Gamingheadsets #Logitech #LogitechG #NintendoSwitch #PCgaming #PlayStation5(PS5) #twitch #xboxseriesx
https://www.newsbeep.com/au/785853/

Logitech G named partner for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4

Logitech G has become the Official PC Peripheral Partner for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4. The deal…
#NewsBeep #News #Technology #ActivisionBlizzard #AU #Australia #CallofDuty #ConsoleGaming #ContentCreation #esports #First-personshooter #gaming #Gamingheadsets #Logitech #LogitechG #NintendoSwitch #PCgaming #PlayStation5(PS5) #twitch #xboxseriesx
https://www.newsbeep.com/au/785853/

PlayStation disc petition approaches 200,000 signatures as backlash grows over Sony's decision to stop producing new physical media — firm still plans to produce optical media for existing titles, but new games will be digital only

https://fed.brid.gy/r/https://www.tomshardware.com/video-games/playstation/playstation-disc-petition-approaches-200000-signatures

PlayStation disc petition approaches 200,000 signatures as backlash grows over Sony's decision to stop producing new physical media — firm still plans to produce optical media for existing titles, but new games will be digital only

https://web.brid.gy/r/https://www.tomshardware.com/video-games/playstation/playstation-disc-petition-approaches-200000-signatures

Microsoft 'resets' Xbox by cutting 3,200 jobs this year, divesting five game studios — firm cites 'margins that are 3-10x lower than comparable platform and publishing businesses'

https://fed.brid.gy/r/https://www.tomshardware.com/video-games/xbox/microsoft-resets-xbox-by-cutting-3-200-jobs-this-year-divesting-five-game-studios-firm-cites-margins-that-are-3-10x-lower-than-comparable-platform-and-publishing-businesses

Microsoft 'resets' Xbox by cutting 3,200 jobs this year, divesting five game studios — firm cites 'margins that are 3-10x lower than comparable platform and publishing businesses'

https://web.brid.gy/r/https://www.tomshardware.com/video-games/xbox/microsoft-resets-xbox-by-cutting-3-200-jobs-this-year-divesting-five-game-studios-firm-cites-margins-that-are-3-10x-lower-than-comparable-platform-and-publishing-businesses

PS5 Disc Drive purchase cap predates Sony's disc cutoff — 'high demand' order limit has been on the store page since at least March 2025

https://fed.brid.gy/r/https://www.tomshardware.com/video-games/playstation/ps5-disc-drive-purchase-cap-predates-sonys-disc-cutoff

PS5 Disc Drive purchase cap predates Sony's disc cutoff — 'high demand' order limit has been on the store page since at least March 2025

https://web.brid.gy/r/https://www.tomshardware.com/video-games/playstation/ps5-disc-drive-purchase-cap-predates-sonys-disc-cutoff

Sony crammed an entire PS1 into a DualShock controller that connects to your TV, but killed the project — PlayStation Puga offered game studios a mere 10 cents per unit sold

https://fed.brid.gy/r/https://www.tomshardware.com/video-games/console-gaming/sony-crammed-an-entire-ps1-into-a-dualshock-controller-that-connects-to-your-tv-but-killed-the-project-playstation-puga-offered-game-studios-a-mere-10-cents-per-unit-sold

RE: https://mastodon.social/@xandowsk/116857555299748884

#consolegaming on #sony #playstation in 2028 is gonna be great :guilded_lul:

This is just prefect! :gablol:

#memes #meme #humor #gaming

RE: https://mastodon.social/@xandowsk/116857555299748884

#consolegaming on #sony #playstation in 2028 is gonna be great :guilded_lul:

This is just prefect! :gablol:

#memes #meme #humor #gaming

RE: https://mastodon.social/@xandowsk/116857555299748884

#consolegaming on #sony #playstation in 2028 is gonna be great :guilded_lul:

This is just prefect! :gablol:

#memes #meme #humor #gaming

Brand new Steam Machine hit with 'red line of death' GPU failure after playing No Man's Sky for just five minutes — console 'bricked itself' following update in failure that echoes the horror of the Xbox 360's infamous RROD

https://fed.brid.gy/r/https://www.tomshardware.com/video-games/console-gaming/brand-new-steam-machine-hit-with-red-line-of-death-gpu-failure-after-playing-no-mans-sky-for-just-five-minutes-console-bricked-itself-following-update-in-incident-eerily-reminiscent-of-xbox-360-launch

🔶動画公開のお知らせ🔶
ジルオール無印(PS1)旅先編プレイ動画公開しました！
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZoWvfYMBmKw&feature=youtu.be

#ジルオール #PlayStation #PS1 #初代PS #PS初代 #レトロゲーム #ゲームプレイ動画 #プレイ動画 #ずんだもん実況 #ゲーム #RetroGaming #ConsoleGaming #Gaming #Gameplay #VideoGames #ZillOll #Zill_Oll

🔶動画公開のお知らせ🔶
ジルオール無印(PS1)旅先編プレイ動画公開しました！
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZoWvfYMBmKw&feature=youtu.be

#ジルオール #PlayStation #PS1 #初代PS #PS初代 #レトロゲーム #ゲームプレイ動画 #プレイ動画 #ずんだもん実況 #ゲーム #RetroGaming #ConsoleGaming #Gaming #Gameplay #VideoGames #ZillOll #Zill_Oll

🔶動画公開のお知らせ🔶
ジルオール無印(PS1)旅先編プレイ動画公開しました！
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZoWvfYMBmKw&feature=youtu.be

#ジルオール #PlayStation #PS1 #初代PS #PS初代 #レトロゲーム #ゲームプレイ動画 #プレイ動画 #ずんだもん実況 #ゲーム #RetroGaming #ConsoleGaming #Gaming #Gameplay #VideoGames #ZillOll #Zill_Oll

🔶動画公開のお知らせ🔶
ジルオール無印(PS1)旅先編プレイ動画公開しました！
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZoWvfYMBmKw&feature=youtu.be

#ジルオール #PlayStation #PS1 #初代PS #PS初代 #レトロゲーム #ゲームプレイ動画 #プレイ動画 #ずんだもん実況 #ゲーム #RetroGaming #ConsoleGaming #Gaming #Gameplay #VideoGames #ZillOll #Zill_Oll

🔶動画公開のお知らせ🔶
ジルオール無印(PS1)旅先編プレイ動画公開しました！
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZoWvfYMBmKw&feature=youtu.be

#ジルオール #PlayStation #PS1 #初代PS #PS初代 #レトロゲーム #ゲームプレイ動画 #プレイ動画 #ずんだもん実況 #ゲーム #RetroGaming #ConsoleGaming #Gaming #Gameplay #VideoGames #ZillOll #Zill_Oll

Digital archivists rush to save PS3 game data before Sony shuts down the store forever in 2027 — RPCS3 emulator urges users to preserve all content

https://fed.brid.gy/r/https://www.tomshardware.com/video-games/playstation/digital-archivists-rush-to-save-ps3-game-data-before-sony-shuts-down-the-store-forever-in-2027-rpcs3-emulator-urges-users-to-preserve-all-content

Playstation Goes 100% Digital In 2028 https://popgeeks.com/playstation-goes-100-digital-in-2028/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=mastodon #PlayStation #GamingNews #DigitalGaming #ConsoleGaming #GameOn

Playstation Goes 100% Digital In 2028 https://popgeeks.com/playstation-goes-100-digital-in-2028/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=mastodon #PlayStation #GamingNews #DigitalGaming #ConsoleGaming #GameOn

Playstation Goes 100% Digital In 2028 https://popgeeks.com/playstation-goes-100-digital-in-2028/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=mastodon #PlayStation #GamingNews #DigitalGaming #ConsoleGaming #GameOn

Xbox reportedly testing a way to digitize physical games in the wake of PlayStation killing game discs — feature said to go back to Xbox One-era games

https://fed.brid.gy/r/https://www.tomshardware.com/video-games/console-gaming/xbox-reportedly-testing-a-way-to-digitize-physical-games-in-the-wake-of-playstation-killing-game-discs-feature-said-to-go-back-to-xbox-one-era-games

So let me get this straight:
- The next console generation will likely cost 1k+
- It will be digital only
- Prolly no good sales for that reason
- They can remove the games however they want like they are already practicing with movies

So buying digital+DRM-free on PC is superior, at this point?!

#ConsoleGaming #Gaming #VideoGames #ShareYourGames

So let me get this straight:
- The next console generation will likely cost 1k+
- It will be digital only
- Prolly no good sales for that reason
- They can remove the games however they want like they are already practicing with movies

So buying digital+DRM-free on PC is superior, at this point?!

#ConsoleGaming #Gaming #VideoGames #ShareYourGames

So let me get this straight:
- The next console generation will likely cost 1k+
- It will be digital only
- Prolly no good sales for that reason
- They can remove the games however they want like they are already practicing with movies

So buying digital+DRM-free on PC is superior, at this point?!

#ConsoleGaming #Gaming #VideoGames #ShareYourGames

So let me get this straight:
- The next console generation will likely cost 1k+
- It will be digital only
- Prolly no good sales for that reason
- They can remove the games however they want like they are already practicing with movies

So buying digital+DRM-free on PC is superior, at this point?!

#ConsoleGaming #Gaming #VideoGames #ShareYourGames

Sony officially kills the PlayStation disc, ending physical game production in 2028 — shutting down the PlayStation Store on the PlayStation 3 and PS Vita systems

https://fed.brid.gy/r/https://www.tomshardware.com/video-games/playstation/sony-officially-kills-the-playstation-disc-ending-physical-game-production-in-2028-shutting-down-the-playstation-store-on-the-playstation-3-and-ps-vita-systems

RE: https://mastodon.social/@Knoebel/116844627174047131

It's hilarious to me that they felt the need to stop PC ports to sell more consoles just to make their consoles fucking worthless only a couple of days later.

I'll say it again and again:
Fuck Sony.

#Sony #Playstation #ConsoleGaming #Gaming #VideoGames #ShareYourGames

RE: https://mastodon.social/@Knoebel/116844627174047131

It's hilarious to me that they felt the need to stop PC ports to sell more consoles just to make their consoles fucking worthless only a couple of days later.

I'll say it again and again:
Fuck Sony.

#Sony #Playstation #ConsoleGaming #Gaming #VideoGames #ShareYourGames

RE: https://mastodon.social/@Knoebel/116844627174047131

It's hilarious to me that they felt the need to stop PC ports to sell more consoles just to make their consoles fucking worthless only a couple of days later.

I'll say it again and again:
Fuck Sony.

#Sony #Playstation #ConsoleGaming #Gaming #VideoGames #ShareYourGames

RE: https://mastodon.social/@Knoebel/116844627174047131

It's hilarious to me that they felt the need to stop PC ports to sell more consoles just to make their consoles fucking worthless only a couple of days later.

I'll say it again and again:
Fuck Sony.

#Sony #Playstation #ConsoleGaming #Gaming #VideoGames #ShareYourGames

RE: https://mastodon.social/@Knoebel/116844627174047131

It's hilarious to me that they felt the need to stop PC ports to sell more consoles just to make their consoles fucking worthless only a couple of days later.

I'll say it again and again:
Fuck Sony.

#Sony #Playstation #ConsoleGaming #Gaming #VideoGames #ShareYourGames

Retro Gaming Ads Blast – Part 44

Welcome back readers, fellow geeks and electronic gaming fans!

In this edition of the Retro Gaming Ads Blast (RGAB) series, we will take a look at another batch of retro gaming print ads from the 1980s to the early 2000s.

For the newcomers reading this, Retro Gaming Ads Blast (RGAB) looks back at the many print ads of games (console, arcade, computer and handheld) that were published in comic books, magazines, flyers, posters and newspapers long before smartphones, social media, the worldwide web and streaming became popular. To put things in perspective, people back in the 1980s to the 1990s were more trusting of print media for information and images about electronic games and related products.

With those details laid down, here is the newest batch of retro gaming print ads for you to see and enjoy…

1. Berzerk Arcade Flyer

Could you imagine being trapped deep within a maze surrounded by dangerous robots (plus one other unstoppable enemy) capable firing laser blasts at you? This was the concept behind the design of Berzerk, an arcade game released by Stern Electronics in 1980. Released at a time when science fiction became wildly popular in American entertainment, Berzerk was immersive for gamers and the multidirectional gameplay feature was captivating for many. To promote the game, Stern Electronics came up with a customized visual design that blended 2D sprite elements with a photograph of two people and some hand-drawn art pieces. The front of the flyer emphasized accurate the core concept of the game while the rear explained the technical details. They even played with their company name with the line “Stern goes berzerk!”

2. Rush’n Attack North American Arcade Flyer

During the late stages of the Cold War, Konami made a lot of military-themed video games which resonated not only with those who were already aware about the global conflict but also with gamers who craved for action and excitement. One of those games was Rush’n Attack (alternative title: Green Beret) which was released in American arcades in late-1985. Konami came up with an arcade flyer showing four people (looking like an American family) having a good time in front of an arcade cabinet, and three screenshots of the game were displayed on the lower half. Rush’n Attack – which was deliberately titled to resemble the phrase “Russian attack” due to its obvious Cold War setting – went on to succeed commercially and critically. One notable game review compared Rush’n Attack favorably with the movie Rambo: First Blood Part II.

3. Turbo Out Run North American Arcade Flyer

Following the massive success Sega achieved with Out Run in 1986, the company went on to release the follow-up Turbo OutRun three years later. As seen in their North American flyer, Sega emphasized the in-game locations, the look of the machine with the driver’s seat and steering wheel, and the excitement they can expect. Turbo OutRun went on to become successful in the arcades worldwide and it got ported to a variety of consoles and computer systems in the years that followed. On its own, the arcade flyer sparked excitement for gamers.

4. Air Duel Japanese Arcade Flyer

Released in Japanese arcades in 1990, Air Duel from Irem is an intense and fast-paced 2D sprite vertically scrolling shooter that attracted a lot of players. It had a war theme and its aesthetic has a mix of military and somewhat futuristic science fiction elements. The game’s arcade flyer featured a very intriguing artwork by Takashi Yamasaki showing two aircrafts flying over a city heading towards a massively large enemy in the distance. In my opinion, the artwork alone is pretty engaging to see and it’s more than enough to make me think about playing the game.

5. Spellbound Adaptor Print Ad

Remember back in the old days when there were hardware lockouts on game consoles that prevented users from playing games imported from different regions? In Europe, a special cheat and regional bypass cartridge called the Spellbound Adaptor was released and it allowed Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) users to bypass the lockouts and play games from overseas. The Spellbound Adaptor was notably advertised in European print media showing two sexy ladies posing with the adaptor itself (on the SNES), the television and many SNES games. The ad even includes a promo of buying the adaptor with a game of choice for only £69.95. The ad is still impactful to look at.

6. Contra III: The Alien Wars North American Print Ad

By the time the SNES was launched in America in 1991, a lot of gamers who enjoyed Contra games on the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) have been craving for a sequel on the newer console. Their dreams finally came through in early 1992 when Konami released Contra III: The Alien Wars on the SNES, and it was a lot more than visual upgrade as it had groundbreaking features connected with the game developers’ clever use of the console’s technology. Konami was already aware of Contra’s huge following in America, so they came up with an aggressive looking print ad promoting Contra III: The Alien Wars. With a red-and-black background, the ad had a variety of screenshots that were tilted to look 3D (showing what the game offered) and used a minor space for the descriptive text and image of the game box. This old print ad is one of the finest ways to promote a sequel while also emphasizing the next-generation experience fans can enjoy. This ad is a classic!

7. Apocalypse Print Ads

Believe it or not, Hollywood legend Bruce Willis actually starred in the ambitious video game titled Apocalypse. Before its 1998 released on PlayStation, Apocalypse started with the player character having an AI-controlled partner named Trey Kincaid to be played by Willis. Publisher Activision signed a multi-million Dollar deal with Bruce Willis to use his likeness and voice for the Trey character. Eventually the Trey Kincaid role was modified to be the playable character. Given the huge deal signed with the super star and the additional costs that came with game design revisions, Activision launched an aggressive marketing campaign for Apocalypse and they heavily used Bruce Willis’s name and imagery. Ultimately the game sold less than one million copies and yet Activision was satisfied with the sales which convinced them to go back to Apocalypse developer Neversoft for a new project.

8. R-Type Delta North American Print Ad

R-Type, the long-running series of 2D side-scrolling shooters by Irem, fully embraced 3D polygons with R-Type Delta on PlayStation in 1998. To promote the game in North America, Irem and their partner Agetec went all-in emphasizing their series shift into 3D polygonal graphics while promising new in-game weapons. Very smartly, they included positive quotes from Electronic Gaming Monthly (EGM), PlayStation Magazine (PSM) and Official PlayStation Magazine (OPM) to show credibility. In recent times, an enhanced version of R-Type Delta (R-Type Delta: HD Boosted) was released on modern game console and PC.

9. Racing Lagoon Japanese Print Ad

Released in 1999 for PlayStation only in Japan, Racing Lagoon was one of many games SquareSoft made for a genre other than role-playing games (RPGs). Released at a time when the PlayStation already had lots of racing games available from around the world, Racing Lagoon was a racing game that had role-playing elements mixed in. To promote it, SquareSoft made a print ad that had a night-time city vibe and they showed some screenshots with a unique visual style. The in-game story was influenced by the illegal street racing trend that happened in Japan during the 1980s.

10. Resident Evil – Code: Veronica North America Print Ads

When Resident Evil – Code: Veronica was released on the Sega Dreamcast in Japan in February 2000, it delivered a next-generation survival horror experience to die-hard RE fans and it was easily one of the must-have games for Dreamcast owners of the time. Along the way, RE fans and Dreamcast owners in America were already anticipating the game. Capcom had an aggressive ad campaign for the game with US gamers in mind and this particular single-page print ad showed the fan-favorite characters Claire and Chris Redfield on one corner, six selected screenshots and quotes from the published game reviews of Game Informer, Next Generation and the Official Dreamcast Magazine. The 2-page print ad had the same elements but had the Redfield siblings on the 2nd page. I remember seeing these ads on a few gaming magazines and they made me think about buying a Dreamcast just to play RE – Code: Veronica. These old ads emphasized the strong business trust between Capcom and Sega (which itself lost a lot of money and credibility with the Sega Saturn consoles and many add-on devices released years prior).  

+++++

Thank you for reading. If you find this article engaging, please click the like button below, share this article to others and also please consider making a donation to support my publishing. If you are looking for a copywriter to create content for your special project or business, check out my services and my portfolio. Feel free to contact me with a private message. Also please feel free to visit my Facebook page Author Carlo Carrasco and follow me on Twitter at @CarloCarrascoPH as well as on Tumblr at https://carlocarrasco.tumblr.com/ and on Instagram athttps://www.instagram.com/authorcarlocarrasco

Retro Gaming Ads Blast – Part 44

Welcome back readers, fellow geeks and electronic gaming fans!

In this edition of the Retro Gaming Ads Blast (RGAB) series, we will take a look at another batch of retro gaming print ads from the 1980s to the early 2000s.

For the newcomers reading this, Retro Gaming Ads Blast (RGAB) looks back at the many print ads of games (console, arcade, computer and handheld) that were published in comic books, magazines, flyers, posters and newspapers long before smartphones, social media, the worldwide web and streaming became popular. To put things in perspective, people back in the 1980s to the 1990s were more trusting of print media for information and images about electronic games and related products.

With those details laid down, here is the newest batch of retro gaming print ads for you to see and enjoy…

1. Berzerk Arcade Flyer

Could you imagine being trapped deep within a maze surrounded by dangerous robots (plus one other unstoppable enemy) capable firing laser blasts at you? This was the concept behind the design of Berzerk, an arcade game released by Stern Electronics in 1980. Released at a time when science fiction became wildly popular in American entertainment, Berzerk was immersive for gamers and the multidirectional gameplay feature was captivating for many. To promote the game, Stern Electronics came up with a customized visual design that blended 2D sprite elements with a photograph of two people and some hand-drawn art pieces. The front of the flyer emphasized accurate the core concept of the game while the rear explained the technical details. They even played with their company name with the line “Stern goes berzerk!”

2. Rush’n Attack North American Arcade Flyer

During the late stages of the Cold War, Konami made a lot of military-themed video games which resonated not only with those who were already aware about the global conflict but also with gamers who craved for action and excitement. One of those games was Rush’n Attack (alternative title: Green Beret) which was released in American arcades in late-1985. Konami came up with an arcade flyer showing four people (looking like an American family) having a good time in front of an arcade cabinet, and three screenshots of the game were displayed on the lower half. Rush’n Attack – which was deliberately titled to resemble the phrase “Russian attack” due to its obvious Cold War setting – went on to succeed commercially and critically. One notable game review compared Rush’n Attack favorably with the movie Rambo: First Blood Part II.

3. Turbo Out Run North American Arcade Flyer

Following the massive success Sega achieved with Out Run in 1986, the company went on to release the follow-up Turbo OutRun three years later. As seen in their North American flyer, Sega emphasized the in-game locations, the look of the machine with the driver’s seat and steering wheel, and the excitement they can expect. Turbo OutRun went on to become successful in the arcades worldwide and it got ported to a variety of consoles and computer systems in the years that followed. On its own, the arcade flyer sparked excitement for gamers.

4. Air Duel Japanese Arcade Flyer

Released in Japanese arcades in 1990, Air Duel from Irem is an intense and fast-paced 2D sprite vertically scrolling shooter that attracted a lot of players. It had a war theme and its aesthetic has a mix of military and somewhat futuristic science fiction elements. The game’s arcade flyer featured a very intriguing artwork by Takashi Yamasaki showing two aircrafts flying over a city heading towards a massively large enemy in the distance. In my opinion, the artwork alone is pretty engaging to see and it’s more than enough to make me think about playing the game.

5. Spellbound Adaptor Print Ad

Remember back in the old days when there were hardware lockouts on game consoles that prevented users from playing games imported from different regions? In Europe, a special cheat and regional bypass cartridge called the Spellbound Adaptor was released and it allowed Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) users to bypass the lockouts and play games from overseas. The Spellbound Adaptor was notably advertised in European print media showing two sexy ladies posing with the adaptor itself (on the SNES), the television and many SNES games. The ad even includes a promo of buying the adaptor with a game of choice for only £69.95. The ad is still impactful to look at.

6. Contra III: The Alien Wars North American Print Ad

By the time the SNES was launched in America in 1991, a lot of gamers who enjoyed Contra games on the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) have been craving for a sequel on the newer console. Their dreams finally came through in early 1992 when Konami released Contra III: The Alien Wars on the SNES, and it was a lot more than visual upgrade as it had groundbreaking features connected with the game developers’ clever use of the console’s technology. Konami was already aware of Contra’s huge following in America, so they came up with an aggressive looking print ad promoting Contra III: The Alien Wars. With a red-and-black background, the ad had a variety of screenshots that were tilted to look 3D (showing what the game offered) and used a minor space for the descriptive text and image of the game box. This old print ad is one of the finest ways to promote a sequel while also emphasizing the next-generation experience fans can enjoy. This ad is a classic!

7. Apocalypse Print Ads

Believe it or not, Hollywood legend Bruce Willis actually starred in the ambitious video game titled Apocalypse. Before its 1998 released on PlayStation, Apocalypse started with the player character having an AI-controlled partner named Trey Kincaid to be played by Willis. Publisher Activision signed a multi-million Dollar deal with Bruce Willis to use his likeness and voice for the Trey character. Eventually the Trey Kincaid role was modified to be the playable character. Given the huge deal signed with the super star and the additional costs that came with game design revisions, Activision launched an aggressive marketing campaign for Apocalypse and they heavily used Bruce Willis’s name and imagery. Ultimately the game sold less than one million copies and yet Activision was satisfied with the sales which convinced them to go back to Apocalypse developer Neversoft for a new project.

8. R-Type Delta North American Print Ad

R-Type, the long-running series of 2D side-scrolling shooters by Irem, fully embraced 3D polygons with R-Type Delta on PlayStation in 1998. To promote the game in North America, Irem and their partner Agetec went all-in emphasizing their series shift into 3D polygonal graphics while promising new in-game weapons. Very smartly, they included positive quotes from Electronic Gaming Monthly (EGM), PlayStation Magazine (PSM) and Official PlayStation Magazine (OPM) to show credibility. In recent times, an enhanced version of R-Type Delta (R-Type Delta: HD Boosted) was released on modern game console and PC.

9. Racing Lagoon Japanese Print Ad

Released in 1999 for PlayStation only in Japan, Racing Lagoon was one of many games SquareSoft made for a genre other than role-playing games (RPGs). Released at a time when the PlayStation already had lots of racing games available from around the world, Racing Lagoon was a racing game that had role-playing elements mixed in. To promote it, SquareSoft made a print ad that had a night-time city vibe and they showed some screenshots with a unique visual style. The in-game story was influenced by the illegal street racing trend that happened in Japan during the 1980s.

10. Resident Evil – Code: Veronica North America Print Ads

When Resident Evil – Code: Veronica was released on the Sega Dreamcast in Japan in February 2000, it delivered a next-generation survival horror experience to die-hard RE fans and it was easily one of the must-have games for Dreamcast owners of the time. Along the way, RE fans and Dreamcast owners in America were already anticipating the game. Capcom had an aggressive ad campaign for the game with US gamers in mind and this particular single-page print ad showed the fan-favorite characters Claire and Chris Redfield on one corner, six selected screenshots and quotes from the published game reviews of Game Informer, Next Generation and the Official Dreamcast Magazine. The 2-page print ad had the same elements but had the Redfield siblings on the 2nd page. I remember seeing these ads on a few gaming magazines and they made me think about buying a Dreamcast just to play RE – Code: Veronica. These old ads emphasized the strong business trust between Capcom and Sega (which itself lost a lot of money and credibility with the Sega Saturn consoles and many add-on devices released years prior).  

+++++

Thank you for reading. If you find this article engaging, please click the like button below, share this article to others and also please consider making a donation to support my publishing. If you are looking for a copywriter to create content for your special project or business, check out my services and my portfolio. Feel free to contact me with a private message. Also please feel free to visit my Facebook page Author Carlo Carrasco and follow me on Twitter at @CarloCarrascoPH as well as on Tumblr at https://carlocarrasco.tumblr.com/ and on Instagram athttps://www.instagram.com/authorcarlocarrasco

Retro Gaming Ads Blast – Part 44

Welcome back readers, fellow geeks and electronic gaming fans!

In this edition of the Retro Gaming Ads Blast (RGAB) series, we will take a look at another batch of retro gaming print ads from the 1980s to the early 2000s.

For the newcomers reading this, Retro Gaming Ads Blast (RGAB) looks back at the many print ads of games (console, arcade, computer and handheld) that were published in comic books, magazines, flyers, posters and newspapers long before smartphones, social media, the worldwide web and streaming became popular. To put things in perspective, people back in the 1980s to the 1990s were more trusting of print media for information and images about electronic games and related products.

With those details laid down, here is the newest batch of retro gaming print ads for you to see and enjoy…

1. Berzerk Arcade Flyer

Could you imagine being trapped deep within a maze surrounded by dangerous robots (plus one other unstoppable enemy) capable firing laser blasts at you? This was the concept behind the design of Berzerk, an arcade game released by Stern Electronics in 1980. Released at a time when science fiction became wildly popular in American entertainment, Berzerk was immersive for gamers and the multidirectional gameplay feature was captivating for many. To promote the game, Stern Electronics came up with a customized visual design that blended 2D sprite elements with a photograph of two people and some hand-drawn art pieces. The front of the flyer emphasized accurate the core concept of the game while the rear explained the technical details. They even played with their company name with the line “Stern goes berzerk!”

2. Rush’n Attack North American Arcade Flyer

During the late stages of the Cold War, Konami made a lot of military-themed video games which resonated not only with those who were already aware about the global conflict but also with gamers who craved for action and excitement. One of those games was Rush’n Attack (alternative title: Green Beret) which was released in American arcades in late-1985. Konami came up with an arcade flyer showing four people (looking like an American family) having a good time in front of an arcade cabinet, and three screenshots of the game were displayed on the lower half. Rush’n Attack – which was deliberately titled to resemble the phrase “Russian attack” due to its obvious Cold War setting – went on to succeed commercially and critically. One notable game review compared Rush’n Attack favorably with the movie Rambo: First Blood Part II.

3. Turbo Out Run North American Arcade Flyer

Following the massive success Sega achieved with Out Run in 1986, the company went on to release the follow-up Turbo OutRun three years later. As seen in their North American flyer, Sega emphasized the in-game locations, the look of the machine with the driver’s seat and steering wheel, and the excitement they can expect. Turbo OutRun went on to become successful in the arcades worldwide and it got ported to a variety of consoles and computer systems in the years that followed. On its own, the arcade flyer sparked excitement for gamers.

4. Air Duel Japanese Arcade Flyer

Released in Japanese arcades in 1990, Air Duel from Irem is an intense and fast-paced 2D sprite vertically scrolling shooter that attracted a lot of players. It had a war theme and its aesthetic has a mix of military and somewhat futuristic science fiction elements. The game’s arcade flyer featured a very intriguing artwork by Takashi Yamasaki showing two aircrafts flying over a city heading towards a massively large enemy in the distance. In my opinion, the artwork alone is pretty engaging to see and it’s more than enough to make me think about playing the game.

5. Spellbound Adaptor Print Ad

Remember back in the old days when there were hardware lockouts on game consoles that prevented users from playing games imported from different regions? In Europe, a special cheat and regional bypass cartridge called the Spellbound Adaptor was released and it allowed Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) users to bypass the lockouts and play games from overseas. The Spellbound Adaptor was notably advertised in European print media showing two sexy ladies posing with the adaptor itself (on the SNES), the television and many SNES games. The ad even includes a promo of buying the adaptor with a game of choice for only £69.95. The ad is still impactful to look at.

6. Contra III: The Alien Wars North American Print Ad

By the time the SNES was launched in America in 1991, a lot of gamers who enjoyed Contra games on the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) have been craving for a sequel on the newer console. Their dreams finally came through in early 1992 when Konami released Contra III: The Alien Wars on the SNES, and it was a lot more than visual upgrade as it had groundbreaking features connected with the game developers’ clever use of the console’s technology. Konami was already aware of Contra’s huge following in America, so they came up with an aggressive looking print ad promoting Contra III: The Alien Wars. With a red-and-black background, the ad had a variety of screenshots that were tilted to look 3D (showing what the game offered) and used a minor space for the descriptive text and image of the game box. This old print ad is one of the finest ways to promote a sequel while also emphasizing the next-generation experience fans can enjoy. This ad is a classic!

7. Apocalypse Print Ads

Believe it or not, Hollywood legend Bruce Willis actually starred in the ambitious video game titled Apocalypse. Before its 1998 released on PlayStation, Apocalypse started with the player character having an AI-controlled partner named Trey Kincaid to be played by Willis. Publisher Activision signed a multi-million Dollar deal with Bruce Willis to use his likeness and voice for the Trey character. Eventually the Trey Kincaid role was modified to be the playable character. Given the huge deal signed with the super star and the additional costs that came with game design revisions, Activision launched an aggressive marketing campaign for Apocalypse and they heavily used Bruce Willis’s name and imagery. Ultimately the game sold less than one million copies and yet Activision was satisfied with the sales which convinced them to go back to Apocalypse developer Neversoft for a new project.

8. R-Type Delta North American Print Ad

R-Type, the long-running series of 2D side-scrolling shooters by Irem, fully embraced 3D polygons with R-Type Delta on PlayStation in 1998. To promote the game in North America, Irem and their partner Agetec went all-in emphasizing their series shift into 3D polygonal graphics while promising new in-game weapons. Very smartly, they included positive quotes from Electronic Gaming Monthly (EGM), PlayStation Magazine (PSM) and Official PlayStation Magazine (OPM) to show credibility. In recent times, an enhanced version of R-Type Delta (R-Type Delta: HD Boosted) was released on modern game console and PC.

9. Racing Lagoon Japanese Print Ad

Released in 1999 for PlayStation only in Japan, Racing Lagoon was one of many games SquareSoft made for a genre other than role-playing games (RPGs). Released at a time when the PlayStation already had lots of racing games available from around the world, Racing Lagoon was a racing game that had role-playing elements mixed in. To promote it, SquareSoft made a print ad that had a night-time city vibe and they showed some screenshots with a unique visual style. The in-game story was influenced by the illegal street racing trend that happened in Japan during the 1980s.

10. Resident Evil – Code: Veronica North America Print Ads

When Resident Evil – Code: Veronica was released on the Sega Dreamcast in Japan in February 2000, it delivered a next-generation survival horror experience to die-hard RE fans and it was easily one of the must-have games for Dreamcast owners of the time. Along the way, RE fans and Dreamcast owners in America were already anticipating the game. Capcom had an aggressive ad campaign for the game with US gamers in mind and this particular single-page print ad showed the fan-favorite characters Claire and Chris Redfield on one corner, six selected screenshots and quotes from the published game reviews of Game Informer, Next Generation and the Official Dreamcast Magazine. The 2-page print ad had the same elements but had the Redfield siblings on the 2nd page. I remember seeing these ads on a few gaming magazines and they made me think about buying a Dreamcast just to play RE – Code: Veronica. These old ads emphasized the strong business trust between Capcom and Sega (which itself lost a lot of money and credibility with the Sega Saturn consoles and many add-on devices released years prior).  

+++++

Thank you for reading. If you find this article engaging, please click the like button below, share this article to others and also please consider making a donation to support my publishing. If you are looking for a copywriter to create content for your special project or business, check out my services and my portfolio. Feel free to contact me with a private message. Also please feel free to visit my Facebook page Author Carlo Carrasco and follow me on Twitter at @CarloCarrascoPH as well as on Tumblr at https://carlocarrasco.tumblr.com/ and on Instagram athttps://www.instagram.com/authorcarlocarrasco

Best Crossplay Games for Mobile, Console, and PC in 2026

Friends split between phone, console, and PC? This list keeps it practical with games that actually make sense across different devices, including Fortnite, Minecraft Bedrock, Roblox, Brawlhalla, Among Us, Fall Guys, Warframe, Disney Speedstorm, Sky: Children of the Light, and Genshin Impact.

#Crossplay #Gaming #MobileGaming #ConsoleGaming #Fortnite #Minecraft #Roblox

https://www.fixgamingchannel.com/best-crossplay-games-mobile-console-pc-2026/

Best Crossplay Games for Mobile, Console, and PC in 2026

Friends split between phone, console, and PC? This list keeps it practical with games that actually make sense across different devices, including Fortnite, Minecraft Bedrock, Roblox, Brawlhalla, Among Us, Fall Guys, Warframe, Disney Speedstorm, Sky: Children of the Light, and Genshin Impact.

#Crossplay #Gaming #MobileGaming #ConsoleGaming #Fortnite #Minecraft #Roblox

https://www.fixgamingchannel.com/best-crossplay-games-mobile-console-pc-2026/

Best Crossplay Games for Mobile, Console, and PC in 2026

Friends split between phone, console, and PC? This list keeps it practical with games that actually make sense across different devices, including Fortnite, Minecraft Bedrock, Roblox, Brawlhalla, Among Us, Fall Guys, Warframe, Disney Speedstorm, Sky: Children of the Light, and Genshin Impact.

#Crossplay #Gaming #MobileGaming #ConsoleGaming #Fortnite #Minecraft #Roblox

https://www.fixgamingchannel.com/best-crossplay-games-mobile-console-pc-2026/

Best Crossplay Games for Mobile, Console, and PC in 2026

Friends split between phone, console, and PC? This list keeps it practical with games that actually make sense across different devices, including Fortnite, Minecraft Bedrock, Roblox, Brawlhalla, Among Us, Fall Guys, Warframe, Disney Speedstorm, Sky: Children of the Light, and Genshin Impact.

#Crossplay #Gaming #MobileGaming #ConsoleGaming #Fortnite #Minecraft #Roblox

https://www.fixgamingchannel.com/best-crossplay-games-mobile-console-pc-2026/

Best Crossplay Games for Mobile, Console, and PC in 2026

Friends split between phone, console, and PC? This list keeps it practical with games that actually make sense across different devices, including Fortnite, Minecraft Bedrock, Roblox, Brawlhalla, Among Us, Fall Guys, Warframe, Disney Speedstorm, Sky: Children of the Light, and Genshin Impact.

#Crossplay #Gaming #MobileGaming #ConsoleGaming #Fortnite #Minecraft #Roblox

https://www.fixgamingchannel.com/best-crossplay-games-mobile-console-pc-2026/