If you’re around my age, you remember back when gaming wasn’t indie or triple-A; it was just games. Things changed a lot for console players when Xbox Live Arcade appeared, and suddenly a whole host of new games started to creep into mainstream gaming. The early games in that program were a little janky, kind of cute, often cheaper, and just fun to play. It’s not often that you get that exact same feeling in 2026, and yet Bounty Brawl: Most Wanted manages that.

That’s both a good and bad thing, in my opinion. It’s good in that it’s a game that’s immensely easy to pick up and play, you’ll understand it straight away, and you can muck around with your mates. You have to go to different planets to hunt down bosses, and each level gives different modifiers, with them getting more intense as your run goes on, but you get stronger by getting upgrades. A lot of these are kind of run-of-the-mill, like move and attack speed, but each character has different unique buffs too.

The characters do all feel meaningfully different too, although they don’t tend to be complex. The main thing is that you can dodge, you can lasso (I’ll get to that), you have a basic attack, and you have a special attack. You can also dance, which is always good. Basic attacks range from things like charging up a big melee swing to shooting at something, and special attacks can have unique properties, like making claws swirl around you, or being chargeable if you have a special resource. Each character also has different weapons you can unlock, but they really don’t change much.

The lasso is pegged as being one of the big features, and while you do use it a lot, it also feels a little bit too limited. You use it to interact with the various stage hazards, like pulling up lightning rods or trying to stop trains to act as cover for you, and you can use it to deal damage to enemies if you can stun them, but that’s sort of it. There is movement with it, but it’s only in specific places, so it’s just a bit underwhelming.

I’m not really trying to complain about Bounty Brawl, because it is a fun time with friends, although it does also feel bad solo. It’s one of those games which feels like a time capsule to 20 years ago, and that brings me a bit of internal joy, but I also don’t know that that’s enough for how good games are now. There’s fun to be had here, and I think it’s likely a massive amount of fun with younger gamers in split screen, where I do think this game would shine, but otherwise, it’s fun, but not for long. If you don’t mind that, then grab it and enjoy the sheer nonsense of it all, find your favourite character, and summon some worms to help aid you in battle.

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Xbox is putting unusual pressure on its own console business, and a new Xbox Wire post gives players a clear reason to watch for an Xbox price hike.

Microsoft says storage and memory prices are climbing fast, while Xbox can’t currently make as many consoles as players want to buy. It also says the business needs a new hardware model and new partnerships as it remains committed to Helix.

Microsoft hasn’t announced a price increase. Still, the post lays out a cost problem that can eventually reach shoppers, especially when supply is already tight and the company is questioning the old console model.

Why is Xbox hardware under pressure

“While the entire industry is facing a components crisis, we believe we have been impacted more greatly than many of our peers due to the choices we made over the last half decade,” says the post. The price it paid for console storage parts was already more than twice as high in February as it was last fall. Those costs have doubled again since then, and planning for the 2027 holiday season points to another major increase.

Storage isn’t the only problem. Microsoft says memory costs are following a similar path, and the broader industry is dealing with a component crunch.

What could change for buyers

Higher console prices are only one possible outcome. Microsoft could also reduce subsidies, change storage options, adjust bundles, lean on partner-built hardware, or push more players toward PC, mobile, and streaming.

The subsidy line adds pressure to that list. Xbox says that, excluding Activision Blizzard King, it spent more than $20 billion over five years on content, platform work, and hardware subsidy, while annual revenue declined by nearly half a billion dollars over the same period. That makes aggressive console pricing harder to defend.

When should buyers pay attention

The 2027 holiday season is the clearest timing marker in the Xbox Wire post, but Microsoft doesn’t name specific products, prices, regions, or launch plans. It also says it’ll look at partnerships and possible M&A to improve its position across hardware, PC, mobile, and streaming.

For now, buyers should treat this as an early warning, not confirmation. An Xbox price hike isn’t official, but with storage costs potentially rising far beyond 2024 levels and supply already tight, anyone planning a console upgrade should watch for pricing, bundle, and availability changes before the next major Xbox hardware push.

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