The XboxCast

#GameFace! Chochy Milky

Lee doesn't drink chochy milks, and to be honest you can tell. 
It explains so much! 
 
Xbox is now officially 20 years old, so let's take a bit of a look back. 20 years! Can you believe it? Just look up some of the #Xbox20 hashtags on Twitter and get all the warm fuzzies. From lifelong friendships, to pioneering live services, Xbox has been instrumental in the gaming world.
 
We go over our best features, surprise features, missing features, and feature features! 
And we've even roped in our Patrons to get their thoughts. What does the community think?
 
We're hanging onto GTSAC, making it into week 2 where we think we may bomb out...
 
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If you liked this episode, don't feel ashamed.
Rather, join the dozens of others that are following us.
 
http://linktr.ee/thexboxcast 
 
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Your hosts are:
 
Kyle: XarCrius on Xbox
Lee: Leehoward on Twitter and Xbox
Simone: GymBeanNZ on Twitter and Xbox

#NuNews: Hot Blue Aliens

Because who doesn't like blue aliens? 
Especially when they are warm and not cold. 
 
Podcasting on a Saturday means we have all the news. Every single piece ever written. In the world! So, strap yourself in and let's dive into the news of the week. 
 
Xbox has turned 20 this week, and there is a lot of exciting news coming out. From a docu-series to a sneaky Halo launch, it was a great celebration of everything Xbox. And we now have the last Backwards Compat drop with Xbox adding 76 games to the program. We're super excited to see Max Payne make the grade! 
 
GTA Remastered and COD Vanguard have landed with a thud. From broken game modes, invisible bridges and way too much rain, these games aren't exactly polished... Forza Horizon 5 has rocketed into the charts as the ultimate dopamine factory. 
 
We rant slightly about The Game Awards. But then again, who isn't? Can you believe Forza Horizon 5 didn't make the GotY cut? 
 
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If you liked this episode, don't feel ashamed.
Rather, join the dozens of others that are following us.
 
http://linktr.ee/thexboxcast 
 
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Your hosts are:
 
Kyle: XarCrius on Xbox
Lee: Leehoward on Twitter and Xbox
Simone: GymBeanNZ on Twitter and Xbox

#GameFace! Rewarding Long Behaviour

What games do you sprinkle on your breakfast? 
 
This is officially our 60th episode this year! If we had known, we might have planned something. But we didn't so we didn't.
 
We're trying to take part in GTASC this week - and, spoiler alert, it's not going so well. We have to get achievements and keep up with some very dedicated people. Will we survive the week? Will we make it to week 2? Why are we stressing ourselves out? 
 
Simone and Kyle have finally started Halo 5, and are absolutely loving it so far. Jumping out a plane and shooting the enemies - it makes you feel way too cool. It reminds us a lot of the first mission of Gears 5. And we all know what a disappointment that turned out to be... 
 
If you want to get your name yelled into the void, become a Patreon and help us make even more of the content you love. 
 
We also have a YouTube channel where we stream the podcast recording, have previous episodes in video form, and all sorts of other things. Follow us there if you're not a fan of Twitch!  
 
--
If you liked this episode, don't feel ashamed.
Rather, join the dozens of others that are following us.
 
http://linktr.ee/thexboxcast 
 
--
Your hosts are:
 
Kyle: XarCrius on Xbox
Lee: Leehoward on Twitter and Xbox
Simone: GymBeanNZ on Twitter and Xbox
 

#NuNews: Modular Throttle Quadrants

Lee is Jeremy Clarkson and this is The XboxCast! 
 
We're starting to think about our Games of the Year, and that means you need to think of it too. Check out our Patreon for last year's categories to make sure you're prepared. Want to discuss your thoughts? Jump into our Discord and tell us all your games of the year! 
 
Forza Horizon 5 is taking the charts by storm, and keep in mind this is a day after properly released. As of recording it was sitting on 2 million players. As of publishing - 7 million! That is absolutely incredible. Halo is celebrating 20 years with new cosmetics in the Master Chief Collection, including an Xbox on your back and even Clippy watching you. 
Mass Effect has a new poster and the hype is real! Why can't we get Mass Effect now? Waiting is hard... I want to put this poster up in my room. 
 
Kyle and Lee get sidetracked talking about these remasters and re-imaginings. The things we really want it to play the games how we remembered them. Not how they actually were. Bring the games into the modern age, new graphics engines, updated controls - that's what we really want. 
 
Forza Horizon 5 is leading the charge on new games coming out this week, sucking all the air out the room for the other releases. Doesn't stop us from finding a few other really pretty games to get distracted with. 
 
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If you liked this episode, don't feel ashamed.
Rather, join the dozens of others that are following us.
 
http://linktr.ee/thexboxcast 
 
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Your hosts are:
 
Kyle: XarCrius on Xbox
Lee: Leehoward on Twitter and Xbox
Simone: GymBeanNZ on Twitter and Xbox

#GameFace! #Witcherween WrapUp

It's only taken halfway through November to get to this point. 
#Witcherween has now officially concluded. 
 
--- Spoilers ahoy ----
 
All through October, we were playing through The Witcher 3, and seeing how far we can get in a month. Since it is a game about monsters, so it totally counts for Halloween and #TerrorTober. And you can't change our mind about this! 
So how far did we get? What did we think? What was our favourite quest? And why did Lee start a different game?  
 
We also have a YouTube channel where we stream the podcast to, have previous episodes in video form, and other things. Be sure to follow us there if you're not a fan of Twitch!  
 
--
If you liked this episode, don't feel ashamed.
Rather, join the dozens of others that are following us.
 
http://linktr.ee/thexboxcast 
 
--
Your hosts are:
 
Kyle: XarCrius on Xbox
Lee: Leehoward on Twitter and Xbox
Simone: GymBeanNZ on Twitter and Xbox
 

#NuNews: Buy One, Get One You Don‘t Really Want

As chaotic as things get, we're here to sort it all out. 
Well maybe not. 
 
Brackets Windows enters the Gaming Charts under the guise of Age of Empires. But doesn't hold much other excitement apart from the fact that Cities: Skylines is a city builder. Kyle has found one of you has played Fallout 76 for over 8,000 hours. Do you need someone to talk to? We're here to help... 
 
We're still chatting about The Witcher and even celebrating the first games 14th birthday. Did you know Geralt can't jump in the first game? Microsoft release their earnings for the past 3 months and it's quite a reasonable jump. Hardware sales are up 166%! Not too shabby for a console thats not available and apparently has no games. 
 
LG have decided to lock their latest features behind the bigger sizes, and we don't see this working out for them at all. Now Lee's TV tells him how long he's been playing for. That's only slightly annoying... 
 
For new games, Unpacked ticks Kyle's box while Call of Duty confuses us all. Why is it coming out now? When can we get Halo? If you have the Ultimate Edition - you can even jump into Forza Horizon 5! But we doubt this is news to you. You're probably already playing. In which case, tell us how it is! Other new games aren't really interesting, but that doesn't stop us from covering them anyways. Lee notices that everything coming to Game Pass are the most interesting games this week. 
 
Shout out to our Head of Media - Matty - for the new lower thirds! Check it out on YouTube or Twitch and tell us what you think. And don't forget to join our Discord! 
 
--
If you liked this episode, don't feel ashamed.
Rather, join the dozens of others that are following us.
 
http://linktr.ee/thexboxcast 
 
--
Your hosts are:
 
Kyle: XarCrius on Xbox
Lee: Leehoward on Twitter and Xbox
Simone: GymBeanNZ on Twitter and Xbox

#GameFace! Craig‘s Glow Up

#Witcherween continues, and drives Kyle a little mad it seems... 
 
We're getting fancy with these voice overs! What do you think? Do you want to be famous too? Because now you can. Just jump into our #Discord and tell us. 
 
Because we can't stay on topic, we get completely distracted with the new Halo Infinite trailer, Forza Horizon 5 and even Age of Empires 4. And even Craig has a beard now! Can you tell we're excited? Because we might be... 
 
Simone has a lovely picnic with Keira where all they do is look at the stars. Completely different to Kyle and Lee's experience. And then she wields a dwarven axe, which Lee thinks is sacrilege.
Lee sat down quietly and just finished the main story.  
 
We also have a YouTube channel where we stream the podcast to, have previous episodes in video form, and other things. Be sure to follow us there if you're not a fan of Twitch!  
 
--
If you liked this episode, don't feel ashamed.
Rather, join the dozens of others that are following us.
 
http://linktr.ee/thexboxcast 
 
--
Your hosts are:
 
Kyle: XarCrius on Xbox
Lee: Leehoward on Twitter and Xbox
Simone: GymBeanNZ on Twitter and Xbox
 

#NuNews: Double Gary

You haven't lived until you've been double Gary'd! 
 
Are you taking part in GTASC? Because we are. And our aim is to make it to past week 5... Hold thumbs that we actually manage to make it! 
 
Back4Blood is still toping the charts, and we can't believe it. Where did Call of Duty go? But let's leave the excitement there as nothing much else changes. Rather, how awesome is it that Sea of Thieves now has 25 million players? Thats worth getting excited about for realsies.
 
Bungie has upset people when it comes to Destiny. Again... Seems like it's that time of year. 
 
The idea of game cartridges comes up again, and we think we have the best idea when it comes to these add-in cards! Aren't we really clever? It would be perfect for the Series S after all. 
 
Are you getting hyped for #HaloInfinite? Kyle couldn't get any more excited. Lee is not excited at all. We may need someone to balance us out... 
 
There are a ton of new fishing games this week. So time to catch some carp, or bass, or something that swims. And get your strategy fix on with the release of Age of Empires IV. It's here and it's real! Can you believe it?  
 
--
If you liked this episode, don't feel ashamed.
Rather, join the dozens of others that are following us.
 
http://linktr.ee/thexboxcast 
 
--
Your hosts are:
 
Kyle: XarCrius on Xbox
Lee: Leehoward on Twitter and Xbox
Simone: GymBeanNZ on Twitter and Xbox

#GameFace! Punching Druids

In witch-case... Spoilers ahead for #Witcherween! 
 
Kyle continues to battle Windows 11 and audio issues, so please excuse us. In the meantime, lets dive headfirst into The Witcher, spoilers and all. How far have we gotten, what quests are standing out to us and everything in-between. 
 
Kyle and Lee like horses, while Simone punches trees. It's been quite the journey.  
 
We also have a YouTube channel where we stream the podcast to, have previous episodes in video form, and other things. Be sure to follow us there if you're not a fan of Twitch!  
 
--
If you liked this episode, don't feel ashamed.
Rather, join the dozens of others that are following us.
 
http://linktr.ee/thexboxcast 
 
--
Your hosts are:
 
Kyle: XarCrius on Xbox
Lee: Leehoward on Twitter and Xbox
Simone: GymBeanNZ on Twitter and Xbox
 

#NuNews: Lee Is Always Buffed

For a brief period of time, we had a shimmer of hope... 
And then, nothing. 
 
Back4Blood has come for Call of Duty as it takes the top spot on the charts! Things have changed and the top game has been dethroned. We truly are living in some exciting times. 
Dragon Age 4 is only coming to next-gen systems, and not on Xbox One. How will this change the game, and will it even ever come out? We ask you because we don't know.
Kyle tests Dolby Vision an gives a brief review and ends up turning it off. For some reason it forces it on in all games even games that should be in normal HDR10. This leads to games looking red... How annoying. Minecraft gets a bunch of new and exciting updates! There is so much Minecraft news, Lee enlists his daughter to be our Minecraft correspondent. 
 
And it looks like Apple Music is coming to Xbox! All of us Apple Music subscribers can now celebrate. 
 
Another week, another bunch of not so exciting games coming out. So many new games that are retro-inspired. We're sure someone out there is excited. 
 
Lee has laid down the challenge - for everyone who wants a newsletter that is! 
 
--
If you liked this episode, don't feel ashamed.
Rather, join the dozens of others that are following us.
 
http://linktr.ee/thexboxcast 
 
--
Your hosts are:
 
Kyle: XarCrius on Xbox
Lee: Leehoward on Twitter and Xbox
Simone: GymBeanNZ on Twitter and Xbox
Paul: HippoHQ on Xbox and YouTube
 

#NuNews: Monster News

This is the monster news episode you've been waiting for... 
Now with a small #Witcherween update. 
 
There's almost too much news to keep up with. But it means we have a lot to say...
So, in starters - Edge is now on Xbox, but why would you want it? Apart of course, playing Stadia on your Xbox. Kyle, Lee and Simone were guests on Hall of Gamers, so check them out, where you can listen to us talk nonsense for 3 hours. Microsoft & Blizzard are working on a special edition Xbox Series X, with looks amazing but not functional at all. We don't see this getting wife-approval. Not when she's an interior designer. All this and more in this 3-hour news re-cap of doom!
 
Please excuse the audio for Kyle - we blame Windows 11... 
 
--
If you liked this episode, don't feel ashamed.
Rather, join the dozens of others that are following us.
 
http://linktr.ee/thexboxcast 
 
--
Your hosts are:
 
Kyle: XarCrius on Xbox
Lee: Leehoward on Twitter and Xbox
Simone: GymBeanNZ on Twitter and Xbox
Paul: HippoHQ on Xbox and YouTube
 

#GameFace! Hot XboxCast Summer

Our new logo launched! How do we look? 
And this is not even our final form. 
 
Kyle has been tweeting cryptic tweet in the lead up to the logo launch. Did you get any?
Or were you like Lee and just gave up? Luckily for you Kyle explains it all. Now you can feel smart too. 
 
Lee and Kyle were guests on the Magic Casts podcast! You should check it out and see how serious we can be when we need to be. 
 
#Witcherween: Use the hashtag on Twitter to tell us all about it!
We dive into our thoughts about Geralt, the game, the side quests and all the dumb things we've done. Apparently, Roach is chonk - like a corgi. Poor horse! At least the teeth are very well rendered. 
 
We also have a YouTube channel where we stream the podcast to, have previous episodes in video form, and other things. Be sure to follow us there if you're not a fan of Twitch!  
 
--
If you liked this episode, don't feel ashamed.
Rather, join the dozens of others that are following us.
 
http://linktr.ee/thexboxcast 
 
--
Your hosts are:
 
Kyle: XarCrius on Xbox
Lee: Leehoward on Twitter and Xbox
Simone: GymBeanNZ on Twitter and Xbox
Paul: HippoHQ on Xbox and YouTube