Xbox Series X|S Catch-All

I will buy it the minute they have a wireless version.

Aren't all the third party Xbox controllers wired? I seem to recall that MS locked others out of the wireless protocol.

Maybe but then couldn't the company make a dongle that uses their wireless protocol?

farley3k wrote:

I will buy it the minute they have a wireless version.

Same. Wired is a hard pass from me.

I used a wire controller when I'm playing on my PC. In my mind there is additional lag when playing wireless so I prefer wired, I'm sure if I actually spent time looking up the data the lag is very minimal and a non-factor though.

What is the preferred way to expand storage on a Series X these days? Is it still the really expensive Seagate thing?

pizzaddict wrote:

I used a wire controller when I'm playing on my PC. In my mind there is additional lag when playing wireless so I prefer wired, I'm sure if I actually spent time looking up the data the lag is very minimal and a non-factor though.

Depends on the controller whether input latency is more when wireless. It is for Xbox controllers. The main difference is consistency. Wireless still has far less consistent input latency than wired in all recent testing I’ve seen. Matters in esports play, especially for your mechanical consistency in Rocket League. Rocket Science has done extensive testing of popular PC controllers.

Haven’t seen anyone run the same tests on a console. Likely because no one who cares about input latency is playing on a console anymore. The Series X still has high input latency compared to a modern PC no matter what you do.

I use a wireless controller on Xbone because I don’t play anything on there where input latency matters.

LeapingGnome wrote:

What is the preferred way to expand storage on a Series X these days? Is it still the really expensive Seagate thing?

They are still working on getting other third parties making different sizes, iirc. Also, if you just have a buttload of last-gen games, you could offload them onto a USB 3.1 drive. I hooked up a 2tb SSD just for that purpose.

I’ve got both the official storage card plus a 2tb usb drive for older games or stuff I’m not actively playing but may want to in the near future. It all works pretty seamlessly.

LeapingGnome wrote:

What is the preferred way to expand storage on a Series X these days? Is it still the really expensive Seagate thing?

I have an external 2TB Samsung 870 QVO SSD that I use for non-Series enhanced games and am still just using the internal for those. If you need more room for Series enhanced games you are pretty much stuck with the Seagate thing. If you go the external SSD route there are a couple of things to keep in mind. I can't really tell any difference between games running off of the external SSD vs the internal SSD. Also you can put together your own 2TB external SSD for a little less than the 1TB Seagate thing costs. I just set everything to go to the external drive by default and then the Xbox will ask me if I want to change to the internal for any games that require it. The only place I have had issues is when a non-enhanced games gets enhanced via an update and then I end up with two copies of that game installed.

1. Don't muck around with an m.2 or any other NVMe drives, SATA is cheaper and you won't see any speed benefits.

2. Make sure the case you get (whether prebuilt or bare drive + enclosure that you put together yourself) supports USB 3.1 with UASP like this one. That will get you a nice speed boost compared to non UASP enclosure and should only cost a couple extra bucks.

3. Go for SSD capacity over SSD speed. You won't see any benefits from faster write times and just about any modern SSD has faster read speeds than what the USB bus on the Xbox can handle.

Funny thing is in testing some places (like Digital Foundry) found that an external SATA SSD using a UASP enclosure was faster than the internal SSD in certain games.

Thanks guys and good tips Rykin. My use case is pretty much Gamepass games, I hate juggling storage space or having to uninstall games then reinstall later and lately I am out of space and have to drop stuff to make room for patches.

If I have an external SSD and free space on the internal, is it smart enough to send the Gamepass non-enhanced games to the external drive and the enhanced ones internal? Is it as simple as it automatically prompts me to specify which location when I download them?

LeapingGnome wrote:

Thanks guys and good tips Rykin. My use case is pretty much Gamepass games, I hate juggling storage space or having to uninstall games then reinstall later and lately I am out of space and have to drop stuff to make room for patches.

If I have an external SSD and free space on the internal, is it smart enough to send the Gamepass non-enhanced games to the external drive and the enhanced ones internal? Is it as simple as it automatically prompts me to specify which location when I download them?

No if you sent your default storage to the external it will warn you when you try to install a game that it is required to run from the internal and allow you to switch on the spot.

March Xbox Update: Pin to Quick Resume, Controller and Audio updates, and More

Summary
  • Pin to Quick Resume.
    • With this update, you can now pin up to two games in Quick Resume on your Xbox Series X|S consoles. Your pinned games will only drop out of Quick Resume if you manually remove them or if a game takes a mandatory update.
  • Xbox Wireless Controller Share button remapping.
    • The updated Xbox Accessories app unlocks new button remapping actions for Xbox accessories, including Share button remapping for other actions like mute TV, open friends list, open achievements, and many others.
  • Audio setup wizard.
    • Now you can use a new guided audio setup wizard for your HDMI devices, available in Settings under General > Volume & audio output > Audio setup.

Um I have like 5 games pinned to Quick Resume.

Rykin wrote:

Um I have like 5 games pinned to Quick Resume.

Manually or automatically? I know there is a Quick Resume group, and those are just what’s currently in quick resume. I think automatically it let’s you have 6ish, but you can pin/lock two games into always being in quick resume.

trueheart78 wrote:
Rykin wrote:

Um I have like 5 games pinned to Quick Resume.

Manually or automatically? I know there is a Quick Resume group, and those are just what’s currently in quick resume. I think automatically it let’s you have 6ish, but you can pin/lock two games into always being in quick resume.

Ah not sure how this new thing is different/better since the games get unpinned if they are updated just like with the Group.

Rykin wrote:
trueheart78 wrote:
Rykin wrote:

Um I have like 5 games pinned to Quick Resume.

Manually or automatically? I know there is a Quick Resume group, and those are just what’s currently in quick resume. I think automatically it let’s you have 6ish, but you can pin/lock two games into always being in quick resume.

Ah not sure how this new thing is different/better since the games get unpinned if they are updated just like with the Group.

So if Quick Resume stores the last 6ish games, and you play let’s say… another 10 games, the two you pinned would not get cycled out.

I suspect it is best for games that don’t often see updates that you like to jump into occasionally.

Or for a parent who's working on one game while their kids bounce around all over Game Pass.

After years of using a flimsy one-ear headset, I think it's finally time for a gaming headset. Would prefer a wireless one that would work on both Xbox and PC; I have a headset for work, but having a potential backup for that is desirable. Don't really care about wired/wireless from a potential PC aspect, but, having a cat that has been known to gnaw on cords, well, not so much on Xbox.

Also, my old work headset had a light on the end that told me when it was muted. My new work one does not and it enrages me in petty ways. So there's another potential bonus I can think of; I miss my damn light.

Suggestions?

The Xbox wireless headset sounds like it would cover most of your needs. I have one and love it. Sounds quality is good, but I am not an audiophile. It has the mic light, does Bluetooth and has a mixer on the left ear and volume on the right. I paid $99 for mine and feel like it was worth it.

TexasRay wrote:

The Xbox wireless headset sounds like it would cover most of your needs. I have one and love it. Sounds quality is good, but I am not an audiophile. It has the mic light, does Bluetooth and has a mixer on the left ear and volume on the right. I paid $99 for mine and feel like it was worth it.

I have these and I like them so very much.

Yes, it does connect via both Xbox’s 2.4ghz and Bluetooth, but there’s a catch: whenever it’s turned on (regardless of the mode), it will turn on your Xbox (if it’s in range). You can use both at the same time, too, if you’d like to have it playing music (or a call, etc) from your phone while gaming and mixes them quite well (Xbox has a slider to control it).

If you do get them and find the leather a bit uncomfortable, you can change out the ear pads quite easily to some nice soft cloth ones designed for the Arctis series (I’ve done it). You sacrifice some noise isolation, but the comfort was so worth it.

trueheart78 wrote:

Yes, it does connect via both Xbox’s 2.4ghz and Bluetooth, but there’s a catch: whenever it’s turned on (regardless of the mode), it will turn on your Xbox (if it’s in range). You can use both at the same time, too, if you’d like to have it playing music (or a call, etc) from your phone while gaming and mixes them quite well (Xbox has a slider to control it).

This *might* depend on the last synced device. For example if you last connected to PC via the 2.4 "Xbox" adapter (opposed to Bluetooth) it probably won't turn on the xbox but would connect to the PC instead. At least that's how the controllers work.

IIRC: If you are going to game on the PC the adapter is recommended, over bluetooth, to minimize latency.

And you have all convinced me; ordered the official Xbox one.

Well one was available for sale go I got it. I guess I am team xbox this generation.

First game played Perfect Dark.
First game added to wishlist DOA 3. But maybe it should have been DOA4?

Let's go Ultra HD graphics.

The Xbox Series X Is Easy To Buy For The First Time In Years.

Looks like a number of places have it in stock right now if you have been wanting to get one. Amazon and Walmart are both saying they have it in stock.

What? Still have never seen one available outside of a single notification from Amazon JP for a Series S. I’m pretty keen to get my hands on one at some point.

In stock at Best Buy if anyone can't find an X.

Xbox Wireless Controller - Deep Pink

IMAGE(https://assets.xboxservices.com/assets/6b/38/6b386374-3f9f-4580-a0c2-67e95580ce35.jpg?n=3899411_Feature-Image-Priority-0_1040x867.jpg)

No, I don’t need another controller. IMAGE(https://emojipedia-us.s3.dualstack.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/thumbs/240/apple/325/dotted-line-face_1fae5.png) Yes, I’ve already ordered one. IMAGE(https://emojipedia-us.s3.amazonaws.com/source/skype/289/sparkling-heart_1f496.png)

Sigh. Me too.

Me three. Pretty sure one of my kids will claim it once it arrives tho.