Xbox Series X|S Catch-All

ClockworkHouse wrote:
Jayhawker wrote:

I mean, as a One X owner, I feel like I'm still in the middle of the new gen, and don't really have to upgrade, but can still enjoy a lot of the new perks for this gen, which is less about the console, and more about different people playing the same games in different formats.

Maybe.

One of the things that's been confusing and frustrating about Microsoft's roll-out of the Series X and the Series S is that it's left some significant questions about which games are coming to which platforms. Microsoft has promised that their first-party games for the next year will come to all their platforms, but what about everything else?

Take a look at Scorn and The Medium, two games recently unveiled in Microsoft's press events. Right now, both games have "Xbox Series X" as their platform. They were announced before the Series S, and so I'm not surprised that their product pages haven't been updated yet, but it does prompt the question of whether or not the Series S will run them. And if the Series S can run them, could the Xbox One X? Is it about power and capability and meeting gamers where they are, or is it about the usual stairstep hardware upgrades?

Those two games, specifically, are of interest to me because I really want to play them! I'd like to know what hardware I need in order to run them. But by keeping the Series S and their plans for that platform totally under wraps, Microsoft has made it really unclear.

Which is why I'm happy to sit and wait with my One X for a year or two. I don't think it will be hard to figure out what to buy after both consoles have been out for a few months. I feel like there is stuff I don't know, so that just means I don't have a reason to buy yet.

But yes, for right now, for people trying to figure out right now which of two things they can't by for 2 months that will fit their needs best is probably not ideal. I still think this is the end of generations. Everything will play everywhere, but no one will trust it until they see it, which is fair. I believe it will be just like phones. Some games may start to run less than good, and it is a sign it's time for a new console.

I might be wrong. Regardless, I will stick with the One X until a game I want to play won't run on it, or I feel a need to go grab the Series X. But I'm not spending any time trying to find a reason to get one. I'm sure EA will make it clear for me with the next generation of sports games. Hell, EA may have Series X version of Madden 21(which I would get for free) that makes grab one immediately. But what this does do is keep everyone playing Madden online together, regardless if they upgraded. And having a built-in population helps.

I could also find after a year that nothing about the Series X is applicable enough to me, and just get the S, or wait for the next refresh. Personally, I just like the stability between generations.

The stability thing is very consumer friendly. I'm fortunate that buying a new system right now works for me financially, but in a different era I would not have even considered it. In that world, the Series S would be tempting...but I'd likely have just kept my GamePass sub going and keep on keepin' on with my One X.

I'm a broken record around here because I deal with business strategies for a living so I am absolutely fascinated by how Sony and Microsoft (and Nintendo and Google and Epic and Apple and even nVidia) are positioning themselves.

Yeah, I 99% agree with Clock.

The only time naming confusion comes into the picture is with non-enthusiast purchasers at or near launch. And that's a tiny proportion of the sales.

A year down the line, mass-media advertising has done it's job, and TV ads have educated the public at large as to the Wii U being distinct from the Wii.

So I don't think it has NO effect, but I certainly think it has a near-negligible effect.

/hairsplit

My last Xbox was a 360. I have a PS4, but most of my gaming for the past x years has been on the PC; as such, I don't think I've missed out on a whole lot. I need Microsoft to give me a reason to buy in on the Series at all (though the S does look super cute, and the monthly payment plan does bring the effective price down substantially...)

I'm probably behind the Xbox 8-ball here, did Xbox Live get merged with GamePass or is it two separate subs? One for the games and one for online play?

staygold wrote:

I'm probably behind the Xbox 8-ball here, did Xbox Live get merged with GamePass or is it two separate subs? One for the games and one for online play?

Gold still exists and is required for online gameplay in most titles (I think some F2P games and MMO games don't require it). Game Pass is strictly gaming Netflix. Playing online is not included. Game Pass for Windows is similar. Game Pass Ultimate is basically all three rolled into one. They did make it super easy and super cheap to upgrade Gold into Game Pass Ultimate a while back where for the cost of $1 you could convert up to three years of Gold into Game Pass Ultimate. I think lots of people here jumped on that deal. There has been lots of speculation that Gold is going away but no official announcement from Microsoft.

Straight from the horses mouth so to speak:

I fully expect that Xbox Live Gold and the separate Game Pass subscriptions will be going away with only Game Pass Ultimate left.

Like this guy's discussions

The $300 Xbox Series S is Real.

https://www.reddit.com/r/gaming/comm...

Interesting take on the power disparity between the two boxes from someone developing for them.

.....................

Graphics dev here, some notes about performance targeting that people might find useful.

It has been designed to match the graphical output in almost every way except output resolution, it still supports all the same GPU features, just targets a lower resolution and has lower memory bandwidth because its not needed.

You can take a game that is running at 4k on the series X and without any changes render at 1440p on a series S and be in the same ballpark of performance.

People here are correct that its not quite as simple as you have 33% of the flops, therefore, you can render 33% of the resolution. But as most games are very fillrate limited it is more like that than it used to be.

Also, they are correct that vram amounts and bandwidth matter, both of which are reduced for series S, however so are the texture sizes.

Assets for the series X package will be at the optimum resolution for a 4k native output, assets for the series S will be at the optimum resolution for a 1440p output, almost half the resolution!

This has 4 major effects,

1. Lower memory usage at runtime which is needed due to it having less memory.

2. Lower disk space consumed by a game (could be as much as 40% less) which is great because it has half the storage size.

3. Lower SSD bandwidth required (which is good because the SSD is also slower as it uses fewer channels to keep the price down)

4. Lower memory bandwidth required both for moving the textures and for simple fill operations.

So you can see that by scaling back the Ram size and speed, and SSD size and speed, and the GPU speed you end up with a console that can perfectly handle 1440p content as long as the content is mastered for a 1440p experience. This isn't as hard as you think as final output sizes for builds is done automatically by most content processing pipelines anyway.

So retail stores will sell it for $299.99us with the $25/month included for (checks math) 1 year? Or, umm... I hate math.

MaxShrek wrote:

So retail stores will sell it for $299.99us with the $25/month included for (checks math) 1 year? Or, umm... I hate math.

The current Xbox All Access plans include the console plus 24 months of Game Pass Ultimate, paid off over a 24 month period. 24 months of Game Pass Ultimate is about $360, plus the $300 cost of the console, would be just slightly more per month ($27) than the $25/month for 24 months they're looking to charge.

Right now we're using the One X downstairs for family gaming and my evening gaming. We also have our launch XOne upstairs that gets used several times a week. I think I'm pretty happy to "upgrade both" by getting a Series X, moving the One X upstairs, and possibly seeing what I can get for selling or trading the launch One.

Just piggybacking on my last post, sounds like more tech outlets are digesting how Series S will fit into the landscape.

(Dave does excellent tech breakdowns on gaming laptops with a dash of phones on the side. Interesting to see him talk about consoles.)

Both versions of the Xbox are certainly prettier than whatever the PS5 meant to be.

But yeah, it is confusing whether they will support the same games. Seems like it could limit the Series X if all games have to support both.
Consoles truly are turning into PCs. Soon we will be used to reading the specs and performances for each of the many different generations and half generations of consoles that each game support. Surely better for consumers. Hopefully not too expensive for devs to develop for even more varied hardware.

Doubtful since the S and X share the same OS, and same APU. The S just has less graphical power which is easy to scale. The game complexity will be identical since their base platform is identical.

I suspect the life of the existing Xbox One platform will be probably 2 years. So games for the most part in development right now. After 2 years we will probably see most games released for Series X and S only.

That's impressive tech for £249 (UK) and Game Pass remains tempting as can be. Microsoft may just get a Series S into our Sony PlayStation household.

The stumbling block for the Series S is the absence of a disc drive. I have OG Xbox discs and 360 discs that I would be looking forward to backwards compatibility with. The Series X trump card, at least for this retro nerd!

If I was in the market for a console I might be tempted by a Series S simply because it looks so nice. Like a high end early '00s radio.

MrDeVil909 wrote:

If I was in the market for a console I might be tempted by a Series S simply because it looks so nice. Like a high end early '00s radio.

Yeah, I really like the look of the series S but will end of with the X. I have a 4K TV, a bunch of XBO games on disc, and a few 4K Blu-ray movies.

Looks like it is official. Xbox One X $499 November 10th. $34.99 per month for the All Access deal. Pre-orders go live September 22nd.

Is it going to glow like that beneath the grill? Part of me loves that.

The part of me that will have this thing in the center console in my living room cringes.

ETA: Looks like the sub model will include EA Play. This deal just keeps getting better and better.

https://news.xbox.com/en-us/2020/09/...

The expansion of Xbox All Access to 12 countries, offering you a next generation Xbox and 24 months of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate starting at $24.99 a month, with no upfront costs.

EA Play Comes to Xbox Game Pass at no additional cost.

Top_Shelf wrote:

ETA: Looks like the sub model will include EA Play. This deal just keeps getting better and better.

https://news.xbox.com/en-us/2020/09/...

The expansion of Xbox All Access to 12 countries, offering you a next generation Xbox and 24 months of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate starting at $24.99 a month, with no upfront costs.

EA Play Comes to Xbox Game Pass at no additional cost.

It looks like EA Play will be coming to Game Pass, regardless of whether you buy a new console; it's just an intrinsic part of Game Pass. That's a hell of a deal.

Damn. Not a lot of games on EA Play, but some really compelling ones.

It also just hit me that in this country the Series S will probably be cheaper than a Switch.

Hmmmmm, maybe I am going to be in the market for one.

I'm wondering about the Japanese pricing. I assume 40,000 yen but 30,000 yen would be super sweet (and equal to the Switch).

They are priced to move and that sub deal is mighty tempting.

Yeah, I'm almost certainly getting an S for the house at that price point through All Access. Truly seems too good to be true.

I'm all in for a Series X. I don't need it, for sure, and could maybe even be just fine with the Series S, but I want the new shiny and I think it's not too stupid to be an early adopter for one console when this only happens once every several years. I'll show my maturity and patience by not jumping into the PS5 market until there are lots of games/a cheaper version/a more powerful version/a big holiday sale, at least a year from now. Given how much I love Game Pass, though, I think I'll be perfectly happy dropping $500 on a Series X.

I would love to have had a live cam set up in a Sony boardroom when that $299 price for the S was announced; Sony doesn't have the revenue stream that GamePass is going to provide Microsoft, so they're not going to be able to cut their margins quite so close on hardware.

Rykin wrote:

[Inside the Xbox Series S video]

I just got a chance to watch that. My two takeaways:

1) That was perfect. Exactly what I wanted to see. Tech specs, some differentials between S and X. And games.
2) I don't see any reason to go for an X, with my current environment. I'll probably get the S via the $25/mo sub - if nothing else, I (presumably) can use the bundled controller on my PC, even if I never use the actual console itself; it's still a hell of a deal.