Xbox fans who love role-playing games (RPGs) should be delighted to know that the new multiplatform fantasy RPG Sea of Stars will be officially released for Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S and Xbox One consoles on August 29, 2023, according to an official announcement by Sabotage Studio (The Messenger).
To begin with, watch the official Sea of Stars Xbox video below…
To put things in perspective, posted below is an excerpt from the official announcement by the developer…
Talk about an announcement that was long overdue!
Since the very beginning, we were secretly hoping to be able to cover all current and previous generation consoles. With production being a world of curve balls, we had to leave the messaging at “PC and Consoles” to avoid having to walk some things back. With the big unknowns now in the rear view, we are delighted to finally confirm the addition of Xbox to the party!
For the newcomers reading this, Sea of Stars is a turn-based RPG inspired by the classics. It tells the story of two Children of the Solstice who combine the powers of the sun and moon to perform Eclipse Magic, the only force capable of fending off the monstrous creations of the evil alchemist known as The Fleshmancer. The game also has some music from veteran composer Yasunori Mitsuda whose credits include Japanese RPGs (JRPGs) Chrono Trigger, Chrono Cross and Xenoblade Chronicles 3. In terms of setting, Sea of Stars is a prequel to Sabotage Studios’ previous game The Messenger.
A battle with a huge monster. This game has really nice pixel art and animation, complete with oversized creatures.
A battle with monsters while exploring the world.
We will find out soon how good the quality the writing for the game will be.
The delay has been painful for Xbox fans, Bethesda fans and gamers who love playing role-playing games (RPGs). The pain, however, is easing as the much anticipated Xbox-exclusive sci-fi RPG Starfield is set for a global release on September 6, 2023. You will need an Xbox Series X console, an Xbox Series S console or a capable Windows PC to play the new game from Bethesda. The game will also launch on Xbox Game Pass (XGP).
To begin with, watch the official Starfield release announcement trailer below…
To put things in perspective, posted below is an excerpt from a related announcement by Bethesda. There is more coming before the release of Starfield…
Starfield is launching on September 6, 2023.
Starfield’s official launch date has been revealed in a brand-new enigmatic trailer, followed by a special message from Game Director Todd Howard. Players can look forward to the deepest dive yet into Bethesda Game Studios’ latest epic at the Starfield Direct, coming June 11, 2023.
Starfield arrives exclusively on Xbox Series X|S and PC on September 6, 2023. Play it day one with Xbox Game Pass.
Like anyone else, I was disappointed when Starfield’s initial release date of November 2022 could not be fulfilled. We are now beyond that and if you looked closely at the above Starfield release date video with updates from Todd Howard, you will see lots of gameplay moments as other Bethesda people played it. I also noticed from those moments that it looks like Bethesda somehow improved the frame rate of the game above 30 frames-per-second (30FPS).
That being said, we can expect a lot more updates about the sci-fi RPG in this June’s Starfield Direct online event. I hope that the developers will announce officially that the game will be played in two visual modes, with one of them prioritizing a 60FPS frame rate over resolution or visual details. I also hope that they will show that controls during the space battles sequences will be very responsive and user-friendly. It would also be nice for Bethesda to show some more characters (note: interactive supporting characters that players can choose to recruit) and more details of the plot without spoiling too much.
Considering the massive open-world environments, here is hoping that 60FPS will be achieved for gamers who prefer a higher frame rate.
There should be more details and gameplay about the space battles in this June’s pre-release event.
Starfield will undoubtedly be the most significant Xbox-exclusive release this year and by succeeding commercially and critically, it will make Xbox an even more significant ecosystem for playing RPGs.
Be ready for the pre-release digital event this June and the game’s release this September.
Watch out for Starfield Direct event on June 11, 2023, and the official launch of Starfield on September 6, 2023.
In concluding this article, posted below for your enjoyment are Xbox-related videos. The leader of Sony PlayStation looks more illogical and desperate as he leads a fading opposition against the Microsoft Activision-Blizzard deal. Microsoft recently made 10-year deals with Nintendo, Nvidia and Boosteroid in connection with Activision-Blizzard. Sony is looking more isolated and shameful which is disturbing PlayStation fanboys who hate Xbox on social media. It seems the PlayStation extremists can’t help but be jealous and angry over Starfield being Xbox-exclusive.
In case you missed the news, the acclaimed 2019 science fiction role-playing game The Outer Worlds is back again with enhancements as well as the two DLC packages (Peril on Gorgon and Murder on Eridanos) in the form of The Outer Worlds: Spacer’s Choice Edition which has just been released. Those who already owned the game and wish to replay it with the latest stuff can digitally avail of the Spacer’s Choice Edition for a small price. Expect a series of enhancements while playing The Outer Worlds: Spacer’s Choice Edition on Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S.
To begin with, watch the official Xbox trailer below…
When The Outer Worlds was released to critical success, we at Obsidian Entertainment were excited to see our community thoroughly enjoy this RPG that we felt was fun, fresh, and concise. Now that we’ve announced The Outer Worlds: Spacer’s Choice Edition, an upgrade for the new generation of hardware, we thought we’d go over some of the cool changes we are bringing in and the thought process behind it. If you aren’t familiar with the game, here’s a quick recap:
Lost in transit while on a colonist ship bound for the edge of the galaxy, you awake decades after your planned date only to find yourself in the midst of a deep conspiracy threatening to destroy the colony. Explore the various planets and locations of Halcyon, including the mysterious Gorgon Asteroid and the delightful distillery on Eridanos. As you encounter various factions, all vying for power, the decisions you make determine how the narrative unfolds.
Get ready for an enduring series of discovery, misadventures and quests in the enhanced version of The Outer World, complete with the DLC packages.
Since its release, over 5 million lucky spacers have explored the celestial bodies of Halcyon and taken an active part in the power struggle rocking the colony. Everything was going just fine. But then, just over a year later, the Xbox Series X and S arrived in people’s living rooms, pushing the boundaries of console gaming ever further. In a sense, the game was released in between two console generations. When opportunity insists on striking, it’s best to use a Prismatic Hammer.
Living on in the new console generation – With the release of this new generation of consoles, we wanted The Outer Worlds to live on for future spacers to enjoy. We wanted to make The Board proud and prevent this must-play RPG from aging prematurely as new games come rolling in, while at the same time providing a relevant, modernized space colonist experience for all newcomers to Halcyon. The technical capabilities introduced with the Xbox Series X and S made it clear there was room for improvement! Not just in how the game looks, but also regarding how the game feels.
If this is your opportunity to replay The Outer Worlds after a long time, do you miss having Ellie in your team?
This meant brushing up what were already some of the strengths of the core game: an engrossing storyline influenced by the in-game choices you make, quirky yet endearing companions – each with unique abilities and their own missions for you to help them complete – a freely diversified combat system yielding high-intensity encounters with your enemies, and much more…
The road to making the definitive version of The Outer Worlds – So we grabbed our spacer’s dev kits and got to work. Of course, we worked on visual improvements such as bringing 4K, 60FPS graphics, volumetric lighting, improved special effects, better particle physics, and enhancing the environments with increased asset density and visual storytelling.
But we also strived to create a smoother gaming experience by making the combat and companion AIs smarter, improved the open-world sensation through better depth, reworked the vistas already in the game, and updated weather variations. On top of that, we reworked character models and animations to improve the feel of the game. Finally, we thought this Spacer’s Choice Edition would make even more sense if it included the base game’s DLC expansions, Peril on Gorgon and Murder on Eridanos, so we did just that. Now the experience is even richer! And we increased the level cap to 99, to give players even more ways to build their character from the seven branches of the skill tree.
Are you a fan of Parvati?
While I have been waiting for the Xbox-exclusive fantasy RPG Avowed from Obsidian Entertainment as well as Xbox-exclusive sci-fi RPG Starfield from Bethesda, I was surprised to see that The Outer Worlds was enhanced for the more modern Xbox consoles and that the price is not too high for those who previously bought the game. Still, the original game is only a little over 3-years-old now and at the time of its release, it was not exactly a visual standout among video games. Its gameplay, story concept, witty writing and memorable concept really defined The Outer Worlds as a fun game worth replaying.
I personally had replayed The Outer Worlds a lot on my Xbox One console (which conked out in 2021) and I did the same with the two separate DLC packages. I replayed The Outer Worlds and its expansions on my Xbox Series X one last time using backward compatibility and I enjoyed the improved frame rate. To replay the game in the form of the Spacer’s Choice Edition is enticing to say the least. It could ease the pain of the long wait for Avowed and Starfield (note: scheduled for release on September 6, 2023). Oh yes, Obsidian Entertainment is still working on the Xbox-exclusive sequel The Outer Worlds 2.
As of this writing, there are YouTubers and gamers who reported a variety of technical flaws and shortcomings with The Spacer’s Choice edition. In fact, the PlayStation 5 version of the game has so many bugs, a lot of gamers are suffering. Obsidian Entertainment and publisher Private Division (note: the company does not own the intellectual property rights of The Outer Worlds) should pay attention to the complaints and improve the game via patching. For the Xbox gamers reading this, watch below the early videos of The Outer Worlds: Spacer’s Choice Edition tested on Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S…
The Outer Worlds: Spacer’s Choice Edition is now available for gamers to enjoy.
In concluding this article, posted below for your enjoyment are Xbox-related videos.
Are you an owner of Xbox Series S or Xbox Series X? If you were, have you been struggling with managing the limited amount of data storage as video games and their respective DLC (downloadable content) and patches easily consumed a lot of space on your console?
There are new solutions coming but they are quite pricey. Still, you will have choices with regards to how much added storage do you need and how much money you have. I’m talking about the recent announcement made by Team Xbox that the 512 GB and 2TB Storage Expansion Cards (made by Seagate) are coming out some time in the middle of November 2021 (which happens to be the very month of the 20th anniversary of Xbox) and early December 2021 respectively.
From left to right: the 512GB expansion card (coming out November 2021), the 1TB expansion card (available already) and the 2TB expansion card (coming out December 2021). (image from Xbox.com)
To put things in perspective, posted below is an excerpt from the Xbox.com article written by Pamela Wang of Designed for Xbox. Some parts in boldface…
Designed for Xbox has collaborated with Seagate once again, and we’re excited to announce 512GB and 2TB Storage Expansion Cards for Xbox Series X|S will be available soon in all Xbox markets.
The Seagate 512GB Storage Expansion Card for Xbox Series X|S is available for pre-order today from Walmart in the United States for $139.99 USD (US Dollars) and will launch mid-November. For other markets and availability, please check your local retailer.
The Seagate 2TB Storage Expansion Card for Xbox Series X|S will be available for pre-order in November for $399.99 USD and will launch early December. The Seagate 2TB Storage Expansion Card will also be the next product featuring the Designed for Xbox Limited Series badge, ensuring premium product quality, performance, and design.
How to Use the Seagate Storage Expansion Card
This is how to insert the expansion card on the rear of the Xbox Series X.(image from Xbox.com)
To use the Seagate Storage Expansion Card, just plug the card into the Storage Expansion port on the back of your Xbox Series X or Xbox Series S console, and you can use it just as you would any external storage solution. You can choose to install games to the expansion card by default, play games directly from it, move or copy games between local and external storage, or do anything you already do today with an external hard drive. The only difference is that the expansion card is designed to match the exact performance of the internal storage of the Xbox Series X|S.
Wow! $139.99 for 512GB and $399.99 for 2TB for the Xbox Series consoles! Remember the high-end edition of Xbox 360 that first launched in November 2005? That console launched with a tag price of $399.99 which is the exact same amount of money required for the 2TB storage expansion card. High price aside, buying the 2TB storage expansion card makes more sense than buying two separate 1TB storage expansion cards that sell for $219.99 each. Do the math and you will realize what I’m saying here.
Apart from gaining additional storage space, it should be noted that there are benefits that will be realized quickly by users in terms of performance and speed. For the newcomers reading this, the Xbox Series S and Xbox Series X both use the Xbox Velocity Architecture, the foundation of which is used by the Seagate storage expansion cards. Check out the excerpt below from the recent Xbox.com article…
Xbox Velocity Architecture
This shows the flow of data between the inserted expansion cardand the chips inside.(image from Xbox.com)
The Storage Expansion Card uses the foundation of the Xbox Velocity Architecture. This is the custom, internal SSD delivering 2.4 GB/s of raw I/O throughput, more than 40x the throughput of Xbox One. The Seagate Storage Expansion Card was designed using the Xbox Velocity Architecture to deliver the exact same consistent, sustained performance of our internal SSD ensuring you have the exact same gameplay experience regardless of where the game resides.
The Seagate Storage Expansion Cards are the only external SSDs on market designed to leverage the Xbox Velocity Architecture and deliver the exact same performance as the internal SSD.
While the 512GB and 2TB Storage Expansion Cards for Xbox Series consoles have yet to be released, that means you still have time to raise money for one or both of them depending your needs for digital storage with your console. Be reminded that hot new games like Forza Horizon 5, Halo Infinite, Chorus and The Gunk will be released for Xbox this November-December, while the Saints Row (2022) reboot will be released on February 2022. Expect those games alone to consume a good amount of your Xbox Series console’s storage space. In fact, Forza Horizon 5 requires 103GB on Xbox Series consoles! Think about the future of your video gaming passion when it comes to expanding your current storage space.
In closing this piece, posted below are Xbox-related videos as well as videos of upcoming games for your viewing pleasure.
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