Games Inbox: Is an Xbox Game Pass subscription worth it?

Metro

5 days ago

The Wednesday letters page has some detailed advice for anyone trying to build their own gaming PC, as one reader enjoys Fast Fusion on Switch 2.
To join in with the discussions yourself email [e-mail]
Too much of a good thing
Back when I bought my Xbox Series X I got 24 months of Game Pass included. I tried a few games now and then, but mostly for 20 minutes or so, and then tried another and after a few months I didn't use it at all really.
I think having so much choice actually made it feel cheapened, if that makes any sense. I think if I'd paid £40 for a game I'd feel more inclined to play it but Game Pass was like a buffet just to sample lots of games but not actually play them properly. I didn't renew it when my sub expired a couple of years ago now.
Mark Matthews
GC: It's a common sentiment, but not one anyone really anticipated before game subscriptions became a thing.
Executive logic
With the next generation of consoles just around the corner, and with the Switch 2 kind of starting it off, will developers be held back by the difficulties of getting their games to work on all consoles? We saw how the Xbox Series S complicated releases on both it and the Xbox Series X (Baldur's Gate 3). Will developers now have to think about the Xbox Series S, Xbox Series X, and Switch 2 when making the next generations games?
When new generations of consoles come out they usually make sure that their new games can be played on their older iterations of their systems. With development time and costs skyrocketing, I think the video games industry is in serious trouble, and I don't think kickstarting the next generation is the right answer. There's plenty of life left in the PlayStation 5 (and Xbox to a lesser extent) and it feels like the next generation is more trouble than its work. But then again what do I know?
dan69247
Sign up to the GameCentral newsletter for a unique take on the week in gaming, alongside the latest reviews and more. Delivered to your inbox every Saturday morning.
Life after death
RE: the short life cycle of the beloved Dreamcast. Two years and four months from start to finish is very, very short. But suppose I don't dump a console once it's shut down, there are still plenty of games to seek out and play. I would suppose I had it for at least another two years after that, all while quietly having an affair with the GameCube.
I gave it to my nephews when I finally left her for the GameCube full time and they still have it bundled away in the back of a cupboard somewhere, promising to show me that the apprentices have become the masters at Soul Blade/Edge/Calibur. I'll bet those LED Chao memory card Tamagotchis don't work though!
big boy bent
Email your comments to: [e-mail]
Do it yourself
I never cease to be amazed at the amount of technical know-how and skill you can happen upon after just a cursory search on YouTube. If you have a problem, any kind of problem, chances are someone's already made a how-to video about it.
I've had a long-standing issue with my original Xbox, in that the DVD drive has been reluctant to open and close. It turns out this is a common problem that can be solved by fitting a new drive belt, which can be purchased easily online. These belts are so much smaller than you'd think. A spare Xbox DVD drive belt (I bought two) is no bigger than an American quarter (25 cents). Fitting the belt was a fiddly but non-invasive procedure akin to keyhole surgery using tweezers, but I saw how to do it on a YouTube video.
Last night I watched some guy revive an old non-working Xbox that he'd bought. Apparently, the capacitor had leaked over the motherboard (another common problem with the original Xbox) and he expertly mended the console and got it working again. Impressive stuff. It's so gratifying when experts turn what might be considered worthless junk back into something useful.
I guess the advice that you'd give to anyone with a malfunctioning console that's over two decades old is to get a professional to fix it and I believe retro console repair shops are scattered around the UK. I expect a lot of people would be inclined to buy another old console and commit their malfunctioning machine to landfill but I wanted to try and fix mine myself.
Michael Veal / @msv858 (X)
Bad timing
I think Game Pass is a really good idea, the only problem is it came about 20 years too late. Just hear me out! 20 years ago games were so cheap to make. I mean, 20 years ago games were around £40, half the price to make compared to now. That means a shorter time to make them, which means they could of made more in the same time frame to be able to keep the list fresh.
Also, now everyone has had enough of subscriptions. Not only have you got the video subscriptions online, everything is going on a subscription – even going to the gym. And I think everyone is saying not another subscription. But 20 odd years ago there wasn't any subscription services, which would of been perfect for Game Pass. So it's really a great idea, just a shame it was 20 years too late.
David
GC: 20 years ago, nobody downloaded AAA games, due to slower broadband speeds and limited hard drive space.
Fast catch-up
Just picked up Fast Fusion on Switch 2. Bought it mainly for the Switch 2 graphics showcase but the gameplay is rather good. I've jumped in just as the game has had a free update. The new additions are another graphics option and also three extra new circuits. Not bad for free DLC. I shall wait for more of that.
GC, is there any point me buying the older games in the series or should I leave them alone? Is it going to be a big step backwards playing fast RMX?
Nick The Greek
GC: They're all just minor variations of each other, so we'd stick with Fusion. Even if the Fusion gimmick is one of the worst things about it.
Under budget
Regarding Andrew J.'s PC purchase, as others have said, you'll get a very capable machine for £2,000 if that's what you want to spend, easily capable of at least 1440p at 60fps in most games for many years to come. PCPartPicker has good user submitted build guidesif you want to get an idea of which CPUs and GPUs are within your budget, and r/buildapc subreddit is also good for advice.
Generally speaking, I'd say an AMD CPU is probably your best bet unless you have a good reason to go with Intel: a 7800X3D (or 9800X3D, if you're willing to pay a wee bit more) would do you for years to come. On the GPU side it's worth getting something with 12GB VRAM minimum as the 8GB cards are struggling to keep up – a RTX 5070 or 5070Ti (if you can stretch to it) would also keep you going for a while, and gives you access to Nvidia's full feature set (upscaling, frame generation).
If you're not too bothered about that, then the 9070XT is a really good AMD card which has better ray-tracing and machine learning powered upscaling capabilities than the previous generation cards (I have a 7800XT which is fine for my needs, but relatively rubbish for ray-tracing).
This build (from the website you suggested) comes in around £2,000 and could be a good starting point:
If you really just want a 1080p machine then you can lower your budget a lot , but you'll maybe need to upgrade sooner. I really like what Intel are doing in the budget GPU space – they have some nice cards with good VRAM capacity that would make great 1080p/1440p machines.
Happy hunting!
Magnumstache
Skimping on power
As others in the comments have mentioned, £2,000 to target 1080p at 60fps is overkill and could be achieved for less than half that price.
Assuming you actually do want to spend £2,000 then I'd recommend a 7800X3D processor with ideally a 5070 Ti graphics card (Ti over the base 5070 for the extra VRAM), although if you need to shave £150 on your spend this could drop to the 5070. You could probably run many current games at 4K 60fps with this set-up.
Ultimately, I would recommend getting in touch with whichever company you plan to use to build the PC and discuss the requirements in more detail with them. I just put a theoretical build through Parts Picker and it came in at £1,900 but there is no upcharge on parts for building it this way.
Two suggestions, though. Firstly, add a second 2TB drive. You won't be running games off your old mechanical drive so having extra space now and being able to dump game installs on a separate drive to the operating system is worth the extra £100 at the build stage.
Secondly, don't skimp on the power supply, I often see build sites using the cheapest PSU possible, so ensure you're getting a good rated one (gold+ or better). 750w should be fine but you can always go a little higher if you think you might swap out GPUs at a later date to something more powerful.
Adam W
Inbox also-rans
Not an exact response to Andrew J but if he's struggling on compatibility between parts then this is a great site which when you start building out your machine it only shows compatible parts.
Steve
And people thought GTA 6 would have a big price! Thanks for this great sale at Very, it's more affordable.
Mark Matthews
Email your comments to: [e-mail] More Trending
The small print
New Inbox updates appear every weekday morning, with special Hot Topic Inboxes at the weekend. Readers' letters are used on merit and may be edited for length and content.
You can also submit your own 500 to 600-word Reader's Feature at any time via email or our Submit Stuff page, which if used will be shown in the next available weekend slot.
You can also leave your comments below and don't forget to follow us on Twitter.
MORE: Games Inbox: Does it matter that physical video games are dying?
MORE: Games Inbox: What's the best way to play Nintendo Switch 2?
MORE: Games Inbox: When will Switch 2 get a new 3D Mario game?