Xbox Series S | X Console Discussion

[martinist]

Thinking about dropping my attempts at getting a PS5 and switching to trying to get a Series X. Microsoft seem to be doing a better job at preserving older games and has a pretty extensive backwards compatible list that i can see.

Mostly for the Forza Horizon games but wierdly also for Skate 3 which I haven't played in over a decade now.

I had an Xbox One at a time but ended up selling it, kinda miss playing the master chief collection to be honnest the thing is I don't really want to pay for two seperate online services when i'm already paying for PS Plus however Game Pass does look tempting to me.

[Nicktendo]

9 hours ago, Kaepora_Gaebora said:

Done and done! How you getting on with the Series S? 

I really want to hold out for the X, but money 🤷‍♂️ so I'd be interested to know how the S hold up!

I'm abso-bloody-lutely loving it!! It is such a sleek machine. Quick resume is a game changer, load times are basically a thing of the past, it is a real beauty!

I would say, given your situation (which I think is having a One X, right?), the S might not be the best option. The S is basically a One X in terms of power with more modern architecture which makes it perform slightly better and use less power. Right now, bar a few One games that run in 1440p or 4K, or even 120zh, if that's your bag, there is no real difference. Halo MCC, for example, has been optimised for 120hz at 1080p, but not 4K, which I'm pretty sure it could manage on the One X - so it runs at a lower res than on PC for me. Bit of a kick in the balls... but great to have quick resume and no load times. Then there's the issue of storage. 365gb is criminally small. I filled it up pretty fast and now have the majority of my games stored on a brand new 2TB HDD. All non-optimised games run off that, without the benefits of lightning-fast loading. 

Honestly, for someone who's pretty deep into the ecosystem, I do think you'd be better off biding your time waiting for a Series X. I have been out of the Sony / MS loop for over 10 years now, so this feels super fresh and exciting to me despite the machine not being a beast relative to its brethren. I don't think you'll see much improvement over the One X for the money you'll pay (while losing your disc drive!!), and I'd say it's likely you'd just want an X when the big games start dropping, I know I do... I couldn't justify an X right now, but this seemed tempting as an impulse buy and a "sampling", if you will, of what's going on outside Nintendo and Steam. 

7 hours ago, martinist said:

Thinking about dropping my attempts at getting a PS5 and switching to trying to get a Series X. Microsoft seem to be doing a better job at preserving older games and has a pretty extensive backwards compatible list that i can see.

Mostly for the Forza Horizon games but wierdly also for Skate 3 which I haven't played in over a decade now.

I had an Xbox One at a time but ended up selling it, kinda miss playing the master chief collection to be honnest the thing is I don't really want to pay for two seperate online services when i'm already paying for PS Plus however Game Pass does look tempting to me.

I'm genuinely impressed with what MS are bringing to the table. I'll share a few thoughts with you having spent a week with my Series S now. 

- Game Pass is the real deal. I got signed up to Ultimate for the first month for £1 and then bought a 12-month sub off CDKeys for £102. There is almost too much content on there for anyone to get through given there are only 24 hours in a day. It's the variety that I have been impressed with most. There are the first party games from MS over the past few years - your Forza 7, Horizon, Master Chief Collection, Sea of Thieves, Gears 5 etc. Then you've got the big hitters from EA and Bethesda, with Square Enix and the Sega (Yakuza Series) also heavily represented. There are enough AAA games to shake a stick at, if that's what you want. The vast majority of these I've never played, outside of a few hours on PC. I'm hopeful that Death Stranding will come soon so I can play it at a framerate and resolution it deserves. GTAV is coming back on today. If you've had a PS4, there is PLENTY of exclusive and third-party content from the past 5 years there.

- Indies are extremely well represented. Granted I've played many of these on Switch, I'm already working my way through three of my favourite indie games again. Celeste, Enter the Gungeon and Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair. They have the added bonus of achievements, obviously, if you're into that. Yooka looks absolutely mouth-wateringly sexy and looks like it runs in 4K60, but I'll have to check that! There are also a bunch of indie games I haven't bought on Switch or that have not come to the platform. With Game Pass, I have the option of trying them out at least. There's a solid 50 or so well-regarded indie games on the list. Again, too much choice. 

- Classic games are also fantastically represented. Rare Replay was one of the BIG reasons why I was always tempted by a One back in the day. It's on there of course and I've been having a blast with some classic N64 games - all of them running without any framerate issues whatsoever. I get that some people are purists, but for me, I don't have the space or the time to mess about with original hardware and just want something that works on a modern TV. There's a superb list of 360 games, many of which I'm diving back into or trying for the first time. Skate 3 was an instant download as I'd only played the first and absolutely loved it. 

It really is wonderful. I still don't know how I'll feel when some of these games get removed and I'm sat there with them unfinished and unpurchased, but MS do give you fair warning that something is on its way out. Subbing to gold / game pass / ultimate also gives you extra discounts to buy games in the store as well. I was surprised when I went into the store for the Spring Sale that's currently on to see that many of the AAA games in Game Pass are on sale for £5-20 each, often the deluxe or ultimate version too. So if you really don't want to lose something, I'm pleased to see that deep, Steam like sales seem to be a thing here. Might pick up the Witcher 3 for a fiver, just to have the option of playing it on the TV rather than the PC.

They really have done a stellar job with this machine, bar the obvious space limitations. Once the year is up and some proper next-gen games have been announced, I'd seriously consider upgrading to an X and just dropping PC as a main platform altogether with the exception odd RTS and indie game where a mouse and keyboard are crucial. Gaming on a console on the living room TV without needing to piss about with wires and settings and the like is always so much more satisfying. 

Edited April 8, 2021 by Nicktendo

[Ronnie]

Phil Spencer deserves a ton of credit for turning the ship around in such a big way. Seems a great guy too.

[Nicktendo]

15 minutes ago, Ronnie said:

Phil Spencer deserves a ton of credit for turning the ship around in such a big way. Seems a great guy too.

A far cry from Donny Boy's - "You can play on Xbox 360" and...

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[Hero-of-Time]

It was good reading your impressions, @Nicktendo. It's always interesting to hear what a persons thoughts are when new to or returning to a different console's ecosystem, especially when it's going from Nintendo to one of the other two. It's like night and day. Have you tried Party Chat yet? No more need for discord.  

Game Pass has been a great success for MS and has certainly helped nudge people into choosing an Xbox over their competitors. The selection of games just gets better and better and if MS can keep getting big games launching on the service then it will pull more punters in.

Ownership is a big issue for me with the service but I think it's something that I'm just going to get over at some point. It's getting to the point now where all 3 of the console makers are pushing subscription services and rotating games. For better or worse this may be the future of gaming and MS are certainly ahead of the other two when it comes to this. 

Its a weird one because I had no issue with stopping my purchases of blurays and instead just watched my movies on Sky, Amazon and Netflix but with games I'm having a harder time letting go of physical media, even if at this point just just a key on a disc.

What @martinist mentioned about picking up an Xbox over a PS5 is a sentiment I've read a few times over the past couple of weeks on various gaming boards. With MS supporting and celebrating their legacy of consoles and Sony throwing theirs under the bus, it seems a lot of gaming enthusiasts aren't happy with Jim Ryan's direction for Sony and will instead opt to jump to a different platform. I doubt it will effect the mass market gamers but it's little things like this that could end up snowballing. 

It's going to be interesting to see how things play out once MS have all their ducks in a row and their new studios are starting to churn out games. Things like the rumoured Kojima partnership is another thing that will help build the platform and it's such announcements that I want to see more of and will certainly push me into picking up the console.

 

[drahkon]

5 minutes ago, Hero-of-Time said:

I doubt it will effect the mass market gamers but it's little things like this that could end up snowballing. 

This is what I'm most interested in regarding sales.
Personally, I don't give a crap about BC (further than last gen). If I did, I would've gotten an XBox this gen. And I don't see the (for a lack of better word) "casuals" caring about it for the forseeable future.

But as you said, it could eventually be one factor to make PS5 and Series X/S sales equal, maybe even turn the tide.

Maybe Sony will dial back on their stance and offer some form of "legacy BC", maybe not. Maybe XBox will stay leaps and bounds ahead, maybe not. Maybe the world will end. It definitely will end.

Interesting times

[Nicktendo]

40 minutes ago, Hero-of-Time said:

It was good reading your impressions, @Nicktendo. It's always interesting to hear what a persons thoughts are when new to or returning to a different console's ecosystem, especially when it's going from Nintendo to one of the other two. It's like night and day. Have you tried Party Chat yet? No more need for discord.  

Game Pass has been a great success for MS and has certainly helped nudge people into choosing an Xbox over their competitors. The selection of games just gets better and better and if MS can keep getting big games launching on the service then it will pull more punters in.

Ownership is a big issue for me with the service but I think it's something that I'm just going to get over at some point. It's getting to the point now where all 3 of the console makers are pushing subscription services and rotating games. For better or worse this may be the future of gaming and MS are certainly ahead of the other two when it comes to this. 

Its a weird one because I had no issue with stopping my purchases of blurays and instead just watched my movies on Sky, Amazon and Netflix but with games I'm having a harder time letting go of physical media, even if at this point just just a key on a disc.

What @martinist mentioned about picking up an Xbox over a PS5 is a sentiment I've read a few times over the past couple of weeks on various gaming boards. With MS supporting and celebrating their legacy of consoles and Sony throwing theirs under the bus, it seems a lot of gaming enthusiasts aren't happy with Jim Ryan's direction for Sony and will instead opt to jump to a different platform. I doubt it will effect the mass market gamers but it's little things like this that could end up snowballing. 

It's going to be interesting to see how things play out once MS have all their ducks in a row and their new studios are starting to churn out games. Things like the rumoured Kojima partnership is another thing that will help build the platform and it's such announcements that I want to see more of and will certainly push me into picking up the console.

 

The BC support from Xbox was a big factor in my decision making. I've harped on about Rare Replay for many, many years and finally accepted that it's never coming to a Nintendo console. Out of the gate, there's a good 10 or so titles over N64, Xbox and 360 which I've really enjoyed (yes, including Grabbed by the Ghoulies ). The fact the Fable games are all on Game Pass, Dead Space, Mass Effect (which I've never played!) and countless other classics from the 360 generation which I missed out on is a real deal sweetener. Many of them aren't on Game Pass, true, but they're priced competitively, or even in some cases free to own forever, like Crackdown, another game I adored on 360. 

Having the entire One library supported out of the gate, with some of them even getting a FPS or resolution boost is superb. I've got 5+ years of content that I've ignored either at my fingertips or at worst fairly cheap in the MS store. I get the BC is not a big deal for a lot of people, especially those who took part in the last gen, but it has maybe been the deciding factor for me jumping in. The X / S support and native titles is only going to grow, and there's plenty of good stuff on there already. 

I think Nintendo have done an average to good job with BC on the Switch. I've put way more time into the SNES app than I ever imagined and have certainly had a good time messing about with the NES app on occasion. I don't feel like I need to own any of these games (again!) and I'm happy to see them being part of a service. Respect to Capcom and Konami too for keeping their classic games alive with truly fantastic collections. I loved Mario 3D All Stars and would be happy to see more of this from Nintendo, even if it's in the form of another VC service.

I get what you're saying about ownership. It is also a question for me too, and I'm still largely sceptical of going digital-only despite having only bought digital Switch games in the past year. That is mostly down to the extortionate physical prices here though, and the voucher system or CDKeys usually works out at 20-25% cheaper. I tried to rationalise subbing to Game Pass the way I rationalised subbing to Netflix back in the day. I sold 400+ DVDs back in 2010 for around £300 and haven't really missed them, bar the odd box set I suppose. I subbed to Netflix and Amazon Prime for a few years before getting bored with most of the content. Now, I generally don't watch films or TV series and if I'm really desperate, I can rent it on Apple for a couple of quid. I think subbing to a gaming service for roughly the same price provides infinitely more value. Especially when it's stuff you would likely have bought anyway. Yes, there's no resale value, but outside of Nintendo physical games, is that ever going to be an issue again? When everything is available digitally, you can find any physical version (non-special edition) for as little as a quid a few years after release. The option to buy digital is always there, especially in a good sale, and you end up saving a lot of space at home 

I'm going to embrace this new direction and am willing to place a little bit of trust in MS to pull it off. They have me for a year and then I guess I'll sit down and review whether it's really worth it. At £8 a month averaged out, it's certainly better value than Netflix. A lot is going to depend on how pricing evolves and how much they play God over the stuff that is available on Game Pass and for how long. Being able to stream from the Xbox to the phone is good and works surprisingly well. Certainly not on a par with the Switch, but the potential is there. Really interesting to see whether their studio gamble pays off and whether they can quickly bring Game Pass for PC and mobile up to parity with their hardware, including streaming to the mass market. Places like Japan and India would be potentially massive consumer bases if they can pull off good XCloud streaming to mobile. Japan has no interest at all in their hardware (Series X sold 31 units last week), but I do think they could tap into the market with top-of-the-line mobile support for their 1st party and indie titles. I think Sony has a real uphill battle now that they've put all their chips in the Western market and basically surrendered Japan to Nintendo. If MS start to capture the West, Sony are going to have to get their act together. I don't doubt that they will though, and I think this gen is going to be one of the most exciting in decades. 

Edited April 9, 2021 by Nicktendo

[Happenstance]

I will probably get myself a Series X at some point. It looks like a good console and I’ll probably be more interested in game pass once more older games start coming as that’s where these kind of services work for me. I just wish they had exclusives that I actually wanted to play. It feels like they’ve been stuck with the same few series since the 360 and every time we get promises of change very little actually comes from it. 

The stock issues definitely seem to be working for them though as even I’m keeping an eye on things to potentially grab one. I do like new tech though so it’s not surprising.

[Aneres11]

Had my X since launch and I've loved owning it. 

I managed to get a PS5 shortly after launch from John Lewis. Sold it a few months back. 

I played Astro and thought it was decent enough, but I couldn't get on board with the ps5 controller. They've made the Series controller ever so slightly smaller and my god, it's just perfect for my hands. 

I think I'd get used to the PS5 one if I just played with that exclusively for a while, but swapping between them made it clear how much more comfortable the Series one is. I have small hands though, so my opinion will likely differ to a lot of others. 

I have bought 2 retail games for Series X so far. Rest has been GamePass and I've enjoyed so many great games through it. And I have about 5 downloaded but have just moved house so my gaming time has dropped massively in the last two months. 

But for me, zero regrets. I do regret buying a PS5, but I sold that to a friend for price I paid for it and he's happy enough with it. 

I'll definitely pick up a PS5 again in the future, but my gaming time isn't what it was and I originally wanted to wait for Ratchett, but even just that alone won't be enough now. Maybe Christmas will see more games I'm interested in out for it but to be honest, I may just not bother until there's a really built up library I feel it's worth investing in. 

Thankfully with GamePass, there's always something to play and it's even made me play games I would never buy but always quite liked the look of. Downloaded We Happy Few, a game I thought looked decent but didn't want to purchase. Hopefully I will get around to playing it at some point.

[Sheikah]

6 minutes ago, Aneres11 said:

I do regret buying a PS5, but I sold that to a friend for price I paid for it and he's happy enough with it. 

I bet he is! After you parted ways did he head in the direction of a CEX?

[Nicktendo]

23 minutes ago, Aneres11 said:

They've made the Series controller ever so slightly smaller and my god, it's just perfect for my hands. 

I forgot to mention this.

The controller is really a stunning little piece of kit. Like you say, it's a perfect size and super comfortable.

I have a blue One controller for my PC and there are very subtle improvements to the Series controller which are great.

• The texture on the sticks, triggers and grips is super rough and much improved over the previous edition. Doesn't feel like cheap smooth plastic. 
• The triggers have subtle rumble and force feedback in them. Maybe not to a PS5 level, but definitely an improvement over the One pad.
• The D-pad is WAY better. It's not a Nintendo style one this time, but it still feels very responsive. My blue one has broken and double taps right when I press it once, a common problem, apparently. Horrible in menus. The way this one is built means that shouldn't be a problem this time round.
• The share butting is great for instant screenshots and videos. Works just as well as Nintendo's. 

Better to hold for long periods than Nintendo's pro controller, slightly more comfortable overall, and the added benefit of superb triggers. 

[Ike]

Both of my controllers have the issue with the A button where if you press it a certain way, it doesn't register the press. Seems to be a design flaw but hardly anyone has mentioned it.

[Aneres11]

3 hours ago, Sheikah said:

I bet he is! After you parted ways did he head in the direction of a CEX?

He best bloody not have! 

[Aneres11]

23 minutes ago, Ike said:

Both of my controllers have the issue with the A button where if you press it a certain way, it doesn't register the press. Seems to be a design flaw but hardly anyone has mentioned it.

Now you've said that, I've also noticed it. 

Very frustrating. 

[Dcubed]

On 08/04/2021 at 2:03 PM, martinist said:

Thinking about dropping my attempts at getting a PS5 and switching to trying to get a Series X. Microsoft seem to be doing a better job at preserving older games and has a pretty extensive backwards compatible list that i can see.

Mostly for the Forza Horizon games but wierdly also for Skate 3 which I haven't played in over a decade now.

I had an Xbox One at a time but ended up selling it, kinda miss playing the master chief collection to be honnest the thing is I don't really want to pay for two seperate online services when i'm already paying for PS Plus however Game Pass does look tempting to me.

Absolutely the right decision as far as I’m concerned.  So long as you’re not really into Sony’s first party exclusives (save for MLB The Show ), going Xbox over Playstation this generation is a no brainer.

[Kaepora_Gaebora]

@Nicktendo thank you for such a thorough response! 

I actually have a One S at the moment myself, so the leap to a Series S would probably be substantial enough...but I kinda want to go Series X as and when I make that leap 😎🙈

Agree with the Phil Spencer praise, I'm sure he can be a ball breaker as much as I'm sure Miyamoto is as well behind the lovely Mario and Zelda veneer, but he's turned the Xbox ship around quite a bit; I still think Sony will (possibly are already) win the "console war", but I think MS are creating their own market and way that they bring their experience to consumers...with the caveat of having a seemingly unlimited budget for it all, I don't understand how they are financing Game Pass but, for a consumer, it's great 🤷‍♂️

[Cube]

It's a loss leader, before slowly phasing out owning games and increasing costs. Phil Spencer's goal is removing consumer rights, his attempt is working better than the previous one.

 

[Kav]

A Switch on the shelf at the Xbox Event...

 

[Glen-i]

6 minutes ago, Kav said:

A Switch on the shelf at the Xbox Event...

 

I mean, where else are you going to get a high def model of Banjo that doesn't look like a rectangle?

Edited April 20, 2021 by Glen-i

[Julius]

Xbox's results from Microsoft's Q3 FY21 are very impressive. 

I do wonder if they'll start sharing numbers with us again when it comes to console sales anytime soon. Though the current limitations on production and distribution, I imagine, might make them want to consider doing otherwise, when they stopped posting numbers last generation, it felt like they were essentially admitting defeat. 

The numbers don't even need to be better, but transparency for both console sales and Game Pass uptake I feel would be better for transparency and I think show them as being a bit more confident this time around. 

[drahkon]

Happy to see they're doing well.

But always kinda scared to see how much spending power Microsoft has...recent history has shown they like to use it.

[Happenstance]

 

[Dcubed]

Oh shit...

https://wccftech.com/stalker-2-is-a-3-month-console-exclusive-microsoft-will-increase-revenue-share-for-xbox-games-too/

Quote

As you might recall, Microsoft publicly expressed support for Epic early on when Apple went as far as trying to block access to the Apple SDK for all Unreal Engine developers. Last week, Microsoft also announced the introduction of a better revenue share for game developers on the PC Microsoft Store: from August 1st onward, they'll get 88% of the revenue from selling their PC games on the platform instead of 70%, matching Epic's initiative.

However, this document originally penned in January 2021 reveals that Microsoft plans to do the same for the Microsoft Store on Xbox. The timeframe of the announcement is the same as that for the Microsoft Store on PC, which could suggest the official news is incoming. Of course, plans may have changed slightly in these last few months, leading to a delay of this part.

This would completely change the console gaming landscape if they go ahead with this.  All of a sudden? It might not even be worth Sony & Nintendo's time to bother with supporting 3rd party games on their platform at all if Microsoft make 12% revenue share the norm!

I mean.  For Microsoft? They can afford to do this because they're not bothered about selling consoles anymore; they only care about Gamepass subscriptions.  But for Sony & Nintendo? This would completely break them!

Nintendo invented the console gaming royalty model... and now it looks like it's about to be completely undone!

Edited May 2, 2021 by Dcubed

[Glen-i]

While it would hit Nintendo pretty hard, Sony would be the one that would get the biggest injury if this was true.

Nintendo gets most of it's revenue from first party software, but Sony are more reliant on third party support and this move would hurt l.

Edited May 2, 2021 by Glen-i

[Cube]

Steam show no intention of shifting, so Sony and Nintendo will probably carry on. Publishers won't skip those platforms because of the percentage, as it's still hugely profitable for them. 

 

The only people that benefit from this are the CEOs and shareholders. No way will it get passed on to consumers or developers.