Xbox Series X & S - Reviews

Starting? LOL! According to the elements of the ‘Gaming Media’, its been there as soon they were announced almost a year ago.

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Dat optimization

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I wonder why it’s 70.78 on both of the PlayStations …

https://venturebeat.com/2020/11/05/xbox-series-x-review-true-next-generation-gaming/

The Xbox Series X is so good that I think you should get one — only maybe not right away. If you pick it up at launch, early next year, when big exclusives start coming out, or even after a price cut a few years from now, you’re going to end up with a great way to play games. Even if you have a powerful PC that runs all of Microsoft’s future releases on Game Pass, the Series X will work better with televisions and can serve as a great multimedia box.

But Microsoft didn’t design the Series X in such a way that you should feel like you’re missing out if you wait. If it’s how you want to play games, the company did an excellent job ensuring you’ll love the box. But if you only come to the Xbox ecosystem for Halo or a handful of other exclusives, the console is unnecessary. Subscribe to Game Pass and then play those games on your phone or on the PC.

It’s clear Microsoft only wants to instill the fear of missing out when it comes to its services. If you purchase its new hardware, Microsoft is focused on ensuring you end up happy to own it. But I think that approach can make it difficult to feel excited about spending $500.

And yet once you own it, it’s easy to fall in love with the Xbox Series X.

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I’m fine with it as long as they keep the same energy. One lacks first party big launch games and the other is less powerful. As long as there is parity in both console reviews, they will be considered valid to me.

It 100% is. Obviously. I cannot believe gamers…

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Yes this. It’s embarrassing that COVID is dismissed,

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As a PC gamer, the “but there’s no games” comments ring completely hollow.

When you buy a shiny 3080, you play the same games you did before, with knobs on and at frame rates and resolutions you couldn’t before. People are shelling out £700++ just for this.

When the Series X shows that you can now do this for literally dozens of currently available Xbox Games, with the promise of far more and exclusive games to follow, how is that not comparable?

For Xbox One/S owners especially the jump is immense. Of course the One X is more complicated but that’s because this was also a £430 console only a few short years ago. Even then, performance on Series X mode games is often double that of One X, a huge upgrade by PC terms which usually only offer 30-50% performance uplift for the same price bracket per generation.

Put simply, if you look at this from the point of view as a platform, Series X provides the best one for console games from 2021 onwards in pure performance and perf per £, and isn’t that what’s important, rather than short term issues that are mainly due to the coronavirus pandemic?

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It is driving me mad seeing people say that there are no new games that justify a Series X purchase simply because they are also available on current generation. I am certain that all those people only played those new games on the next-gen hardware. They would not say those thing had they played those games on a current-gen console.

I’ve played Watch Dogs: Legion and Dirt 5 on my One X and these are clearly next-gen games that are suffering on current-gen. The pop-in on Watch Dogs while riding a drone is abysmal, as well as some atrocious frame-dropping during cutscenes in Dirt. Not to mention the loading times! And I can only imagine how these games run on the base Xbox.

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What was the most popular launch game on Switch? Breath of the Wild.

What was that game also on? The WiiU. Didn’t stop it from being a system pusher for Switch did it.

The “but the games are available on other platforms” argument is a bit odd.

Gears Tactics is essentially a launch title comparable to this, even if it had an earlier PC build.

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You guys are completely right. There’s an obvious agenda being pushed even more so by journalists that have been gaming on Pc but pretend to not understand Ms just following the same approach just so they can continue to push the “Xbox has no games therefore it sucks” narrative, which was always pure and unadulterated BS, slightly shifted as “SX has no games that you can only play on it therefore it sucks”

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I suspect having had an early glance at some PS5 reviews that Xbox will be pretty upset that having given their console out so early and shown off their amazing BC preservation and enhancement work and their commitment to gamepass allied to this and building PC style libraries that this is merely a footnote and all every review wants to scream is PS5 super exciting, Xbox super boring. I think Phil Spencer may want to consider how they manage a launch in future because clearly showing off the stuff that in previous generations would have won huge acclaim early has given the usual suspects the chance to set a narrative.

And lets be honest - even if Halo Infinite was at launch would this be any different? It really wouldn’t be.

I’ve always found it so weird, consoles getting a rating, haha.

But the reviews are as expected. The complaints about games was to be expected, warranted, but also nothing new and personally I’m over that. It is what it is.

I think my favorite reviews are by Jeff Grubb and Karak from ACG.

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They both did a really good job.

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Industry is changing. But journos still have the same mentality of ‘exclusives’ first approach.

Now here’s how Xbox will capture the market.

  1. Hardware

The way microsoft has positioned the series X - it will capture the old Xbox market + low and medium PC market of gamers.

With series S - It has more potential to be the best second console. In 8th gen, it was reported that a substantial amount of console gamers owned both the consoles. For the buyers of rival consoles as there first, it will be much easier for them to buy the series S as there second because 1. This price is low 2. Gamepass is the perfect thing to play exclusives of the second console.

Series S will also capture the market which only plays 1080p and look for the cheapest of the cheapest way to play. They may become heavily invested in Gamepass at a later stage. Don’t forget grand parents and parents who just want to get a game console for there 10 year olds.

  1. Software

There are mostly multiplats at launch for series X but they are also expected to run best on series X.

As for first party, Halo is missed and it can’t be stressed enough. But as someone who is invested in Gamepass, the lack of first party games is just a delay rather then absence. This can be taken as 50-50 it’s neither bad nor good. Also, launch line up looks weak when compared to rival console. So if anyone wants to rate as a comparison to rival console, then they should know that software disadvantage is temporary but every other advantage series X has is permanent.

  1. Gamepass

It will happen and happen in front of the industry as it will see itself changing from inside out. Bethesda is just the start. I can say more about Gamepass but saying it’s the best deal in gaming is the statment in itself. At the extreme end, it will be Gamepass vs the rivals, people won’t even care about the consoles.

TL:DR

The hardware is the best in industry and software is delayed rather then absent. And then there is the Bethesda bomb.

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Nothing embarrassing when your direct competitor, who already had a huge mindshare advantage, is bombarding the market with exclusive and time exclusive games from day one.

How in the world did MS managed to release such a high spec console and mess up its software release schedule , I have no idea, Why in the world did their second party publishing arm not buy 1-2 next gen looking launch games for it, I have no idea.

I mean really ? This reminds me the Xbox one x launch but , at least, that was a mid gen refresh.

I mean there are lots of reasons for all this. The fact MS were not exactly invested in the console space till 2018 when deals and starting new projects may well have been too late. Because MS are also treading a different path via gamepass, xcloud, play anywhere etc…

Also I’d guess because Sony originally were aiming for 2019 launch and it being delayed a year gave them the extra time.

But dismissing Covid is not really a good idea here - we know the USA and UK have been disproportionately hit and Xbox have a lot of studios there and we also know that it would impact upon their development given the last 6 months are critical and have been disrupted on a scale never seen before in the industry.

Not everything has to be one vs another. There are a lot of factors at play - perhaps MS just treat their staff a bit better (we know Spencer has said all along that his primary concern is his team’s health and wellbeing and nothing on a timeline was sacred over that). And personally sometimes there is more than rushing out games for internet checklists.

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I think one better answer is Gamepass. That’s what there focus is and it’s unbeatable. Xbox is infact the most affordable console at launch.

Based on the hype for the ps5 and its launch exclusives the gamepass initiative doesn’t seem to be working. The early adopters want new shining games for their new toy. I am getting an XSX at launch and not a ps5 but I can’t help but feel extremely underwhelmed with what the XSX will be offering in the near future.