Xbox News: Series X Projected To Dominate the Holidays | Naming Your Child 'Game Pass' is a No-No

RJ Pierce, Tech Times 29 August 2021, 02:08 pm

Xbox is projected to have a very good holiday season, according to industry projections.

(Photo : Phil Barker/Future Publishing via Getty Images)
A pair of Microsoft home video game consoles, including an Xbox Series S (L) and Xbox Series X, taken on October 27, 2020.

With a perceived lack of direct competition from Sony PlayStation late this year, Xbox is set to hold its strongest position since the glory days of the Xbox 360. According to TechRadar, owners of the Xbox Series X will have two extremely strong exclusives in "Forza Horizon 5" and "Halo Infinite," taking the crown from PlayStation, who won't be having any big releases to counter with.

This is in light of the next major exclusive for PlayStation slated to release next year ("Horizon: Forbidden West"). It's also a very different situation from when the current-generation consoles first started in November 2020, with Sony holding the upper hand for most.

Exclusives such as "Spider Man: Miles Morales" and "Demon's Souls" took the crown for the PlayStation 5 during its early weeks. Then came "Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart" just a few months ago. All the while, Xbox fans had to deal with Game pass releases and upgraded versions of existing games.

Perhaps the biggest one that will turn the tables in Xbox's favor this time around will be, of course, "Halo Infinite." One can expect that come December 8, Xbox Series X and PC players will make sure that this game goes flying off the shelves.

Of course, this doesn't mean that PS owners won't have something to play during the holidays. They still have Director's Cut upgrades for "Ghost of Tsushima" and "Death Stranding," as well as the timed exclusive "Deathloop," which is developed by Arkane Studios (a studio that Xbox owns).

Xbox Doesn't Want You Naming your Kid 'Game Pass,' Among Other Names

In other news, Microsoft and Xbox are pretty protective of their trademarks (obviously). As such, they won't like it when you name your child "Game Pass," or even other names such as "Blinx," "Master Chief," or God forbid, "Emergence Hole," and "Car from Forza."

During one of the streams for Gamescom 2021, Xbox's Aaron Greenberg and Bethesda's Pete Hines shared some stories about fans who may have gone a little overboard with their fandoms. One story that came up was of a woman who went into labor during the first reveal for "Skyrim." Eventually, another fan caught on and named their child Dovahkiin after "Skyrim's" main character. They got free Bethesda games for life, writes Kotaku.

But seemingly not wanting something like that to happen again, Greenberg pleaded for anyone not to name their kid something like "Game Pass" just so they might have the chance to get a free Xbox Game Pass subscription for life. Also, this ponders the question: is it really worth naming your child something that terrible so that you can get a free subscription?

That's up to anyone to decide. But for the love of everything holy, don't make your kid's life horrendous.