Xbox’s rumored hybrid PC console, finally got an official tease with Xbox and the new head of Microsoft Gaming Asha Sharma tweeting out about the upcoming new generation of consoles.
Project Helix as it is codenamed is looking to be exactly what some of the rumours speculated with Asha saying: “Project Helix will lead in performance and play your Xbox and PC games.” A console/PC hybrid. This isn’t too much of a surprise as Xbox’s business strategy for the last 5 or so years has openly been pivoting towards service and availability as we’ve seen with game pass.
So far this strategy has been nothing but good for consumers, less exclusivity and more ways to play. If anything with game pass it’s cheaper than ever to play even with theprice surge they had last October. Of course people have concerns about not owning the games they play or games being taken off the pass but so far it’s a pretty good deal.
However this strategy has seemingly taken a hit to Xbox as a brand in online circles, leaving some people with the question why buy an Xbox if you can play their games on PC or even PlayStation. This idea was further pushed when it was reported that Xbox hardware sales were down by 32%. A slump is never something you want to see but at least when it comes to hardware, this slump is pretty predictable as we get closer to the end of console cycles.
Cue Project Helix a PC console hybrid, a new generation that will not only boast more power for consoles but offer even more with the whole ecosystem Microsoft has built out. So while they might not be going all out on exclusives right now they will be pushing closer to locking players down into their ecosystem. This could however change with Sony pulling exclusives away from PC but we’ll have to see. The biggest sticking point for this PC console hybrid is going to be the price and how they package it.
It’s hard to say if they’ll be able to get it down to a reasonable price point in the current market and depending on it’s features it’s hard to guage what the reaction will be. Either way It’s clear Xbox is not backing down from their Xbox as a service/platform strategy and I’m looking forward to see what happens at the upcoming GDC next week.
This was a game I started playing on stream for our Sunday indie game nights and I found myself enjoying it so much that I went on to complete the game. MIO is a metroidvania with an adorable art style, an interesting world. The game feels mechanically quite unique in some ways, colliding with enemies not causing any damage was something I had to rewire my brain to account for but early on despite them not giving you a lot the game does feel rather easy even with you not getting a map you can open every 5 seconds.
This does however change as you progress further into the game, you’ll get challenging platform sections, more difficult bosses , all the standard metroidvania tools and more. I was going to do a full impressions of the game but had a lot of distractions so never really got the chance but I do want to spotlight it because I found the experience really enjoable. I will however warn that the game does have a story related mechanic that I’m not sure whether it’s timed or based on map exploration but when it hits you it can feel pretty punishing however don’t be too discouraged as it also affects all the enemies and bosses as well.
Silent Hill Ascension was one of several games announced during the Silent Hill Transmission livestream that premiered in October 2022. Alongside this we saw Silent Hill F, the remake of Silent Hill 2, a tease of a brand new game by the name of Silent Hill: Townfall and another Silent Hill film called Return to Silent Hill.
Now this isn’t the first MILE that has been produced by Genvid; they also produced The Walking Dead: Last Mile. Now if you haven’t heard of this or seen it before then I can’t blame you as it was an experience exclusive to Facebook Gaming and Facebook Watch. The way it worked for Last Mile was that you’d be able to play the game through Facebook Gaming and earn influence points by interacting daily and playing mini games in a very browser/mobile-esque looking game.
Gameplay from The Walking Dead: Last Mile
These influence points could then be used to place bids on story decisions to ultimately decide where the story goes, in the case of TWD: Last Mile you could even spend these points to have your own created survivor make a cameo.
Now as for Silent Hill Ascension we don’t have exact details on how this’ll play out. Outside of the latest trailer that just dropped and further details on the Genvid site that states “SILENT HILL: Ascension follows multiple main characters from locations around the world tormented by new and terrifying SILENT HILL monsters. Lurking in the shadows, these monsters threaten to consume people, their children, and entire towns as they’re drawn into the darkness by both recent murders and long suppressed guilt and fears.”
Some Silent Hill fans confused and disappointed
Silent Hill fans expressing their frustration for the series direction
One thing we can take from the trailer is it’s certainly a visual improvement over Last Mile. Though some fans of the Silent Hill series have taken to the comments to express their disappointment in the lack of subtlety in the trailer as worries arise that it won’t quite hit the psychological horror points of games past. Other commenters seem to not quite be getting that this is a live limited time series either. To be fair within the trailer the idea of a MILE isn’t very well communicated.
Genvid CEO “It’s your chance to shape Silent Hill cannon… forever”
We do however get some further insight into what the experience will be from Genvid CEO Jacob Navok in an interview posted on the Genvid YouTube channel back when the project was announced. Navok goes on to say: “You can change its outcomes and even be a part of scenes. There is no reset button, decisions that you make mean life or death in the story. It’s your chance to shape Silent Hill cannon… forever.” Now the part where he mentions you can even be a part of scenes sounds quite similar to what TWD: Last Mile went on to do, so it’s quite likely Ascension will follow a similar approach with influence points.
How they’ll actually approach the live decision making remains to be seen and we will have to wait for further details. Last Mile also had LIVE interactive streams with Yvette Nicole Brown and Felicia Day that revealed new story developments and discussed the aftermath of the community’s decisions on the story. So we could possibly see something similar for Ascension.
Silent Hill Ascension Release Date And Gameplay
So far all we have gotten from the trailer and the Ascension website is that the series is to drop sometime in 2023. We’ve still no idea what platform the game will release on. Considering past MILEs it’s possible this game could just be browser based or a mobile game. Some people’s hope is that with Behaviour Interactive behind it the game will be a multiplayer experience more akin to what they’re known for Dead By Daylight. Though right now we have no idea if this will really be the case. Just going off the trailer my hope is this game has taken inspiration from Supermassive Games’ The Dark Pictures Anthology. Supermassive, also known for The Quarry and Until Dawn did a wonderful job of creating compelling interactive horror stories, the question is can Silent Hill Ascension do the same?
