Talking Point: Which Is The Most Underrated Xbox Console To Date?

Easily the Xbox One, it's the only one that could really be considered underrated besides the original. Honestly, I think the Xbox One is probably the most underrated console of all time. Considering how popular it was to hate on, it managed to layout pretty much everything that is being used today on Series consoles and it's probably one of the best backwards compatible consoles I ever owned. It brought in a massive back catalog on their digital storefront that lets me play loads of old games with enhanced graphics and performance. Nobody else is really doing this.

Looking back it's easily the console I enjoyed the most last gen as well. It actually came out strong with some launch titles like Forza 5 and Ryse, and the Forza series support always remained strong which has been my favorite series over the years. If you enjoyed Forza and backwards compatibility, it was hard not to love the Xbox One.

The Original Xbox for me. I worked in retail at the time and it really annoyed me how many customers would completely ignore the system in favour of the PS2. It didn't matter how impressive the first party games were or how much better multiplatform games looked and played, they just blindly wanted a PlayStation. To be fair, it was a masterclass in marketing from Sony, which is why the Dreamcast, despite having an amazing catalogue of exclusives, sadly never stood a chance either.

Thankfully things have changed since then.

The Xbox One. Despite the lack of 1st party titles, I would say i definitely had the most fun with the Xbox One.. Games like Titanfall, Gears Of War UE, Battlefield 1, Battlefield 4, Ryse, GTA V, Ori, Red Dead Redemption 2, The NHL series, So many great memories for me with the Xbox One..

@themightyant Do you mean Series S?

@__jamiie Well said. As a SEGA kid that switched to Xbox when the Dreamcast died, I could never understand the appeal of PlayStation.

The Xbox One wasn’t good and almost destroyed Xbox. The Series S is (quite rightly) highly rated and has tonnes of promotion by fans. The OG Xbox was extremely underrated compared to the PS2.

Series S for sure. It has faults, but it's a fantastic little console that gets nothing but dumped on by gaming fans. Kinda regretted getting one at first until I set it up as a dedicated local streaming box with quick resume. Now I'd replace it if it broke.

X1 is hard to defend. It was in the dumpster at launch, they fixed it so it was less in the dumpster, but with little to no exclusives, and it being the console that ran all 3rd parties worse than PS4, there really wasn't much redeeming about it. It did perk up and become genuinely good when the X1X came out, but it's hard to talk up a console that was only good when it's more expensive premium model came out for the last 2.5 years of its existence, and most of what was good about that was really just setting the stage for the Series launch. X1X was a really good box but short lived. X1S was an eventual pretty good place to play but held back by the VCR. The VCR was a disgrace. I don't regret owning my 1X, I loved it, and it revolutionized digital for me. But I don't regret avoiding Xb the rest of last gen, it just wasn't playing half the time.

@CaptainCluck If you hate the Xbox One you should hate the latest Series consoles as well, they are essentially the same exact thing only with newer hardware.

Original Xbox for me, it was one hell of console for it’s time and got overshadowed a lot by the general public.
I think the first console to have an internal hard drive as well.

Who the hells voting the series s being under rated? It’s sold as a current gen machine and we’ve not seen how it can properly handle current gen games yet. Crazy. Like saying series X is under rated… neither have shown what they can do yet.

Has to be original Xbox. That thing was a power house at the time but went ignored by most throughout its generation. It was doing things we still miss today. It also had some decent exclusives it doesn’t get enough credit for.

@NEStalgia you’re confusing under rated with under appreciated. Which I agree, at present it is. Under rated though?…what are the expectations on the box again? C’mon. It’s not shown us enough yet…not by far.

@JayJ
The “same exact thing only with newer hardware” applies to all consoles. The Xbox One was underpowered and underwhelming from day one. It was an Xbox generation where it just made more sense to move to PC for performance and exclusives. Series X|S is a huge improvement for it’s completed backwards compatibility library, faster SSD loading, GamePass, quick resume and the reasonable price.

@uptownsoul People confuse the S with a Switch thinking it's just too underpowered to run current games. But the S isn't "Underpowered" in the same sense, it's not OLD hardware, it's a lower tier GPU and the same CPU underclocked slightly.

I absolutely won't deny it sucks that X1X Enhanced games don't run the X1X version on it currently, just the base X1S version. And I won't deny that, say FH5 has obscene pop-in on it in performance mode. Graphically it's not much of a looker. But it's not "underpowered" in the sense that games will be held back. It's literally a console with a budget GPU and reduced memory to match. Low end PC GPUs will be "holding" back games in the same way. Even Sony games. Because they'll need to target them.

We've really moved into an era of "economics will hold games back" more than "technology will hold games back" IMO.

@Bleachedsmiles We've seen some impressive tech demos here and there. Yeah, it hasn't had a lot of examples. But we've seen what the upper limit is. Whether that's utilized well, we don't know, but since the demo was UE5, we can bet the underlying architecture will support using it right at least. The expectations aren't to graphically wow, that's for sure,

The Xbox One to me is the most underrated. It came off the coattails of the 360 which was the highlight of Xbox. They had built and established themselves in the gaming market, but the Xbox One had a bad reveal with them mentioning “TV” more than games. It hurt the company and MS considered pulling the plug on Xbox altogether that generation. The system didn’t sell as well as its two previous generations and all we heard was “Xbox has no games.” It wasn’t true. It had them, but was definitely to me, the most underrated Xbox system.

I'd say the original Xbox. It was big back in the day but the gigantic success of the Xbox 360 means the original Xbox is kind of forgotten about nowadays. XB1 is definitely the most disliked but even though I've had fun with it (mostly around 2015-2017), I don't think its done enough to deserve being called underrated.

it's the original Xbox for me. It was known mostly as that thing you played Halo on, but the original Xbox represents a time when Microsoft was actually really proactive about getting games. Crimson Skies, Panzer Dragoon Orta, NFL Fever, MechAssault, KOTOR, Jade Empire, RalliSport Challenge, etc. this was probably the most aggressive Xbox has ever been about building a portfolio of franchises, and i LOVED my OG Xbox.

@CaptainCluck Not at all. If you actually knew what you were talking about you would be well aware of how the Xbox Series consoles have the same exact console OS as the Xbox One for the most part, just tweaked a bit for the newer hardware. Heck they both keep up with the same system updates for the most part as well. All the Xbox One games work natively with the Xbox Series consoles, some even enhanced with greater graphics and performance, generally everything from Xbox One is carried over to Xbox Series consoles, and that includes all the backwards compatibility. Everything about your Xbox Series experience is generally the same as what they developed for the Xbox One.

If you think all consoles are like that, try playing all your PS3 games on a PS4, all your 3'rd party PS4 games on a PS5, or your Wii U games on a Switch.

@JayJ
Thanks for validating my argument. If all the best features of the Xbox One are currently in the Xbox Series, then the XB1 couldn’t have been underrated. The XB1 is unnecessary to go back and use or feel nostalgia for.

@SplooshDmg Haha, cool! Yeah it's really great for that use. Needs a phone/tablet/pc but it basically gives you an Xbox Switch, but more powerful than switch, cheaper than OLED model, and plays your xb library and gp. Most importantly has quick resume which matters for Xbox Switch and cloud does not have it ...

I mean, they're ALL underated. Xbox doesn't have the die-hard cult like fanbase that Nintendo and Sony do and this is reflected by the fact that even when they release very good consoles they still end up in last place in terms of sales. I voted Series X (though Series S also would count). I think of Xbox as I think of Sega in their Dreamcast years. Very creative, very innovative but not getting anywhere near the recognition they deserve. My only hope is Xbox doesn't go the way of Sega in the console market.

Pictures of Donny really need a trigger warning and NSFW flag, BTW

Speaking of underrated, I'm happy that Sunset Overdrive got a good mention in the article. One of my all time favorite games.

I’ll side with you on this. As an early adopter, my Xbox One is still alive and ticking while my original Xbox lost access to DLC ages ago and my Xbox 360 died after its 5th year. I totally supported Microsoft’s efforts to bring the Xbox to the living room with the pass through HDMI for cable boxes, built-in TV guide, and native Kinect support. Another feature that was never fully embraced is the second screen connectivity, lots of respect for EA with Battlefield and Plants vs Zombies Garden Warfare taking advantage of that feature to give commanders and edge in the fight.

I'd probably say the Series S, I see a lot of people online criticising it and even suggesting it's not a next gen console. Then here in the UK where the PS5 is always out of stock and the X usually is, the S has been readily available and even discounted

its either the xbox one as that has a great back catalogue of games and plenty of consoles are available cheap at the £60 mark and despite the digital foundry snobs making out its unpayable 900p can still look great and the games are cheap if you have gamepass or second hand can be had for a couple of quid

dont believe the haters

Or xbox series S despite the digital foundry snobs making out its not up to snuff the consoles tiny about the size of a thick book and can be had cheap about the £150 mark second hand. games can also look and run well on it ive been very impressed with it

dont believe the haters

The original xbox. Too many people overlooking it due to the popularity of the PlayStation and the general hate for Microsoft at that time.

OG Xbox for sure.

Xbox one was overrated (yes I know it was hated, that still was more than it deserved.)

Xbox one x was great, but too late to get any significant library.

360 is as good as it was popular, and I can say the same about the XSX.

Might be able to say the XSS is also quite underrated.

@pip_muzz MS won't be going anywhere in the console market. The main reason they lag behind in sales is due to the strength of Sony and Nintendo's performance in the far east where MS are weaker.

I don't think any of them are under rated, but if I was to choose one, it'd be the OG Xbox. Just due to the dominance of the PS2 and Wii at the time it was overlooked by many. The original controller was also too big for anything other than adult male hands so it wasn't a great fit for kids or lady gamers (unless they've got man hands)
I think a lot of people went for the PS2 partly because of DVD playback as well (DVD players were expensive when it came out) if MS had included that, it would have made a big difference rather than having to buy the dongle attachment to go with it.

None of them. They’re all rated highly in their time, the second best console on the market after Playstation.

@russbeer Playstation is the biggest selling console in Europe. USA is the only place Xbox matches/outsells Playstation.

@JayJ there are about 12 PS4 games that don’t work on PS5 and you’ve probably never heard of any of them. There are over 4000 PS4 games that work on the PS5.

@uptownsoul i don’t think it will struggle. The Xbox One is nearly 10 years old an they’re still making games for that without struggle an the Series S is way more powerful.

@uptownsoul i didn’t see no. Series X is my first ever Xbox. I know Red Dead 2 ran fine on PS4 tho.

@CaptainCluck Well that's a ridiculous outlook, the Xbox One built everything the Series consoles are based upon. If none of that matters then the Series consoles don't matter, and if that's what you're trying to say then I think you're on the wrong website.

@JayJ
You can’t gatekeep this site just because I didn’t like the Xbox One and thought it was a miserable generation for Xbox. Let’s agree to disagree.

The original Xbox for me. Great console that I'd put in my top 10 all-time and helped MS gain a lot of credibility which led to an even better generation with the X360.

Honestly? I voted for Series X. Seems crazy, we're all mostly enjoying it right now.

But it feels like a lot of the general public is more crazy about the PS5, which is fair. so it's mostly about what it feels like outside this bubble to me. original xbox would get my vote otherwise

Xbox One. It was my first Xbox and I got it after PS4 yet I thought the Xbox One was a better console, quieter, better built, with a more comprehensive UI, a more ergonomic controller and with more games that appealed to me, including backwards compatible games. Yes, it was less powerful than PS4 and that's why I didn't intend to get it but once I did, I enjoyed it more than PS4. This is why Xbox One X is so special for many people, because it fixed all of Xbox One's shortcomings. Series X is even better than both of them, not just because of the extra power but all the features that no other console has. Series S is great value.

@russbeer The Original Xbox wasn't up against the Wii. It was PS2, Dreamcast and GameCube that generation.

Really wanted to see a groundbreaking Xbox One Kinect game. They are clearly underrated.

@Jellybreen Honestly, the PS4 and now PS5 seems to have some odd internet popularity. Like it seems to be really big among some sites like reddit and their community, but I never knew anyone IRL who was a fan of it like that. Most people I know either gamed casually on an Xbox or they were into PC.

@JayJ It's been the opposite for me. Majority of people I know own a PC, then a Playstation. But PC gaming in general has been the popular thing wherever I've lived.

@Jellybreen Anyone I know who is really into gaming seems to have a gaming PC, that's for sure.

@JayJ yeah, and even people I know with consoles seem interested in a gaming pc.

personally, I have it and enjoyed it, but I need separation from work space and play, and I rather just enjoy the simpler, ready nature of consoles, and being on the couch with my dogs and fiance instead of sequestered away.

@Jellybreen Yeah, it's why I also love having handhelds, they're great for just relaxing wherever and playing a game.