Reaction: Xbox Is Making Next-Gen Gaming More Accessible Than Ever

“Have you recovered from the last couple of days in Xbox land yet?”

I’m sure even Xbox themselves haven’t recovered from the unprecedented release. But so far they have managed to create a great hype. Good job 👍

I wouldn't call it next-gen gaming in series S case. That thing is on next gen lvl only in CPU. GPU is on one X lvl and memory is even worse than that.

@Darth_Stofi i’d say gamepass is in itself next gen gaming.

Combine that with xcloud and the series s, and you have amazing value for your money. It’s not only about the box, it’s about the complete package. And I’m loving it! This will be my first xbox .

@Darth_Stofi It’s a perfectly balanced system for 299$ since it has to render 4x times less pixels than Series X. Regarding the memory, the live demo of Sampler Feedback in action built-in GPU hardware clearly shows how it actually cuts down memory requirement by multiple times.
https://youtu.be/fYtJWIxt3-M?t=2m50s

A 1440p120fps capable machine priced at 299$ can not be achieved by anyone else for atleast next few years. If that’s not next-gen (with bottleneck removing optimisations and innovations) then I don’t know what is.

I'm glad MS is taking this seriously. The XSS does offer a fairly good value and so does the XSX. MS is really correcting course, so far.

Great article, @FraserG and my thoughts, exactly. Meanwhile, Xbox Game Studios are working their magic. The positive vibes around Xbox are incredible now.

@Darth_Stofi Your information is wrong. The memory and GPU are proportionate for HD/QuadHD, otherwise it wouldn't be able to run Series X games at 60 FPS (up to 120) in 1080/1440p. It even upscales to 4K so the only thing that it doesn't have is native 4K rendering, the rest is pure next-gen.

Its beautiful to see! The Xbox Access route is so attractive, throw in an extra controller and its literally a dollar a day to get into the next generation. They've had a great couple days and are definitely gonna make a splash this holiday and beyond!

I am thrilled with all of announcements that Microsoft has made up until this point! They are really proving to me that Xbox is the best place for me to game this upcoming generation.

Gamepass is awesome value I have to agree and would be the only reason il get a xbox series S, But xbox have still yet to show me any exclusives that give me that wow factor that the PlayStation exclusives bring, I'm tired of shooters and Xbox's two main exclusives are shooters the other is a racer (forza) and I'm not into sports games, I'm onto Rpg's and action/adventure and the blockbuster third person games and so far xbox don't deliver on that front for me, if they step up their game on that front then id gladly complete the console trio. (switch/ps5/series s)
Saying that I hope state of decay 3 is something special as state of decay 2 was one of the games I enjoyed most on the Xcloud beta on my mobile

@Darth_Stofi I can't tell if you are serious or being a troll.

From a resolution perspective, no, the Series S doesn't reach the native 4K resolution. But it does have the rest of the technology included in the Series X (hardware-accelerated ray tracing, VRS, Velocity Architecture, etc.).

If you watch the video that takes a deeper dive into the Xbox One S, Microsoft has stated that GPU/RAM differences is solely for the purpose of targeting lower resolution - and therefore lowering the price.

Bottom line: everything the Series X game can do, the Series S can do only at a lower resolution (and with half of the storage space). If a Series X game is dynamic 4K, Series S will be dynamic 1440p. 60fps on Series X, Series S is 60fps. 120fps on Series X, 120 fps on Series S. Instant load on Series X, instant load on Series S.

It's still next-gen, even if it's not a 4K machine because it can do more than what the Xbox One is capable of doing.

I am curious if Series S can run Xbox One X enhanced versions of legacy games. Theoretically, it should be capable.

@GamingFan4Lyf Like you said, Series S has the hardware next-gen features that Series X has and that PS5 reportedly don't.

@playstation_king I completely agree regarding Xbox exclusive games - too much focus on the 1st-person perspective and shooting. I enjoy the cinematic story-telling feel of Sony's first-party exclusives.

I do really enjoy Gears of War. Still very much a shooter at it's core, but the series has gotten better at story-telling over the years.

Halo - first-person shooter
Grounded - first-person (third-person view feels tacked on). Though still a great take on the survival game genre.
Avowed - looks like it will be first-person given the first-person perspective at the end of the trailer
Sea of Thieves - first-person

Everwild will hopefully be that proper third-person blockbuster game
Hellblade II I hope is much more action-based that the previous game
Fable reboot has potential to make the mark.

But yeah, a whole lot of "pew, pew, pew" and not enough character-building.

Not that there is necessarily anything wrong with first-person games, but there is something about the extra care put into third-person games from a quality front. Animation work tends to be higher-quality. Environmental details tend to be finer as it helps to ground your avatar in the world. I don't know, there is just something...better with third-person cinematic experiences that is lost in first-person games. It's a personal preference, of course.

I hope all the studio acquisition will help expand Microsoft's gaming portfolio into more of the cinematic story-telling games that Sony has mastered.

Great week for Xbox, that leak is all but forgotten.

I don't see how Sony can match the finance plans that MS offers for both new consoles. And those plans compliment each other nicely. MS may have feared people buying the $300 S over the $500 X b/c of the pandemic fueled job losses, but only $10 more for the X than the S monthly, $35 vs $25, may make people decide, "you know what I had $300 set aside for the S, but I'll get the X instead pay-as-you-go."

EA Play at no extra charge in Gamepass alone may have won them a daily news cycle.

Box is nice, controller is nice. Complete turn around from 7 years ago. Systems should be flying off the shelves this holiday, and people locking themselves into $600 and $840 2 year plans should be good for MS stock price. Your move Sony.

@rjejr if the xbox series X is more powerful than the ps5 then surely the X costs more to make? So Sony matching the prices shouldn't be a problem as its Microsoft who would be losing more money

@Darth_Stofi

🙄

You are either misinformed or a troll.

@GamingFan4Lyf I understand where you’re coming from. I’m not gonna argue that Xbox’s exclusive games are all top tier. But I wouldn’t exactly say all of them are “pew pew”. Grounded is first person but is closer to Minecraft than halo. Sea of thieves has shooting but there is so much more to the game with how you actually play it. Avowed is going to have In depth rpg mechanics and will be a medieval fantasy game.

There’s third person games as well that are pretty varied in gameplay styles. State of decay, Hellblade (which I know you mentioned as well as fable). Plus little gems like ori, battletoads, and tactical games like gears tactics and wasteland 3

I understand if first person isn’t for everyone. But I would argue Xbox has more gameplay variety across the board than they ever have.

@playstation_king Microsoft is selling Series X at a loss. If Sony undercuts it, they'll lose more money than Microsoft because PS5 is about as expensive to manufacture: expensive SSD, liquid metal cooling (not confirmed), controller features... Size alone comes at a price and PS5 is the largest (or one of the largest) console ever made. Besides, there are reports revealing how expensive the PS5 parts are.

@xMightyMatt14x Yep the current variety on Xbox is huge and it'll get better soon.

I'm new to Xbox, can someone please explain this game pass thing to me, I really don't understand it and it's kinda hard to find any in depth info.
Thanks in advance

@BlueOcean doesn't the xbox series X have an expensive ssd and liquid cooling?
The ps5 outer shell should be cheap plastic as I'm hoping they are replaceable to customize, but yes the controller might cost a bit

@playstation_king Yes, that is why I said that PS5 is about as expensive to manufacture. Oh, it's not the plastic case only but the inner parts (it's not hollow) and of course manufacturing, distributing, etc. Bigger consoles are more expensive to keep and move so PS5 is more expensive to distribute than Series X and of course Series S.

@Kev_Morrison You can read the official information here:

https://www.xbox.com/en-GB/xbox-game-pass?xr=shellnav

You subscribe and can play old and new Xbox games on console, PC, tablet and phone. Tablet and phone use streaming technology like Netflix.

@GamingFan4Lyf

I can’t disagree with you more about this.

Xbox 1st party has one FPS franchise in Halo. And the other 1st person games you mentioned are not shooters.

In fact, have you played Wasteland 3? Battletoads? Gears Tactics? Forza Horizon series? They even have a flight sim that is getting perfect review scores.

And Sony’s first party games are all the same. 3rd person action/adventure, one & done single player games (other than the Gran Turismo series). They don’t even bother with multiplayer & when they do it is crap. They have VERY little variety. And Microsoft gives you great multiplayer along with fun single player campaigns.

Microsoft has so much variety in their lineup. I have no idea what you are taking about. I don’t want Xbox to copy Sony. Microsoft covers so many different genres.

Great article! I am so happy that I am an Xbox owner with tons of games to play on the best systems out there.

And these past couple days only reinforced my excitement even more. 👍🏻

@playstation_king I think PS5 will match the XSX price at $499, it kind of has to, but PS5 DOE won't match the XSS price of $299, no way a PS5 only missing a $50 blu-ray drive can be that cheap. MS took more out of the S than just the drive.

Also, and really more importantly, $25 or $35 a month for 2 years looks better than $400 or $500 during a pandemic. Sony has never done that type of financing before, MS has. That's the biggest hurdle Sony faces I think, the financing, not the price. Though price may hurt on the low end as well.

@BlueOcean @xMightyMatt14x

I completely agree.

I forgot to mention Ori & State Of Decay. Thx for bringing those up too!

And Microsoft is covering almost every genre. People may not like some of the games Xbox is offering, but for people to knock the library for not having variety is just mind boggling. 🙄

@GamingFan4Lyf seems you're getting some grief for agreeing with me, I should point out to people I was talking about the big Big budget games with realistic next gen graphics and amazing story and gameplay, not indie level games like ori and sea of thieves, battle toads etc and wasteland 3 is multi plat. Only ones that match that criteria are gears and halo and they are shooters

And I really enjoyed state of decay 2 on gamepass using my phone but still wouldn't call it a big budget game and story was no existent, fable would most like really interest me though

Can't wait for nov 10th..

@playstation_king It's fine. I am used to it as I also get grief when I am critical with Sony over on PushSquare as well. I do have a preference to Sony's exclusive titles. If I were to pick between Gears and a new Uncharted, I would pick a new Uncharted to play first and then shift to Gears when I was done (though since I have Game Pass Ultimate, I never have to worry about buying Gears - it will be available when I get around to it). I do think that Microsoft has the best overall value over Sony.

@xMightyMatt14x @KelticDevil Saying it's all shooters is unfair to say. For me, it's more about just first-person games in general.

I never said any of the games were bad games. I enjoy Grounded and Sea and Thieves, though perhaps no so much the multiplayer focus of the games (I hate multiplayer games). I like Halo, but Infinite getting delay doesn't bother me one bit. The Outer Worlds is enjoyable, for the couple hours I have played.

I just want to see more games like Hellblade, Psychonauts, and Ori come from Microsoft Studios.

@playstation_king it’s fair to say high production value. I’ll give you that one. Xbox has catching up to do. But pretending that upcoming projects don’t exist or will not exist that are targeting high production value is silly. Avowed, Fable, w/e the Iniyiatives game is, inExiles next project, State of Decay 3, Hellblade 2, etc. are all targeting high production value. Since we are playing the game of “whether or.not to purchase a system based on its future prospects” rather than “what system is best now” then future known quantities need to be taken into account.

Basically, if you want to argue that Xbox lacked high quality and high production value games this gen compared to Sony you’ll win that every time. But if you want to argue that there is no evidence of high production value on the horizon, as well as variety, you are purposefully hiding under a rock.

@GamingFan4Lyf that’s fair. I’m more pumped for psychonauts than most other projects so I fee ya there. I think those are coming. I don’t see the conversation fully starting to shift until about 2023, but all signs and evidence point to more variety and higher quality games coming to Xbox this gen. We all have our preferences for sure though so not everything will be everyone’s cup of tea. For instance I can’t get into wasteland 3 or last of us (never been much for post apocalyptic settings myself. With the only exception being the base building multiplayer oriented state of decay). But I love uncharted. Ratchet and clank, Psychonauts, halo, fable, ori, and would love more action adventure that’s serious but not overly depressing lol

Edit: can’t believe I forgot sea of thieves. I’ve played so much of that. Lol

@themightyant the ori I played was on the switch and it just didn't do it for me and yes the graphics were good but I was using it as an example of not being a big budget first party title

@xMightyMatt14x if you like state of decay then maybe you would like days gone? Just swap the base building for a story, there's crafting mechanics and camps to upgrade and side quests etc playing days gone is was made me interested in state of decay 2

@playstation_king that’s a good suggestion. I hadn’t got around to that one as initial reviews were rough and I tend to play on my Xbox more. But it might be worth a try.

@xMightyMatt14x I said that fable was an exception and yes hellblade was pretty good all across the board, state of decay 2 was lacking that extra polish to be a big budget game but who knows if state of decay 3 can get some good visuals and add some story then it could be the best post apocalyptic game around

Honestly, Microsoft is doing an amazing job here. I’m surprised and excited. I never thought about gamepass before a few months ago, but now I can’t imagine not having it.

If they can truly pump out first party titles and maybe take some chances this gen, along with more RPGs (Dragon Quest 11 is a good start) I think this will be an amazing gen for Xbox.

@xMightyMatt14x I definitely reccomend it I preferred days gone over the last of us 2, TLOU2 had too much story to a point where I thought it was a tv series lol but credit where its due it took some bold decisions and probably has the best graphics from any console game I've ever seen

@themightyant

Exactly! Dismissing Ori as just some indie game is ridiculous. I have no idea why people think like that.

And these are the same people laughing at games like Super Lucky’s Tale when it launched on Xbox, but now that it’s multi platform, people are saying it’s a fun game. 🙄

If Ori was on PlayStation, they’d be singing it’s praises from the mountain tops.

@TheNewButler
So all games get rotated out?
Roughly how long?
Do they come back?
Let's say I start a game, it disappears the next day? I can't play it anymore even if I downloaded it?

The all access pass with the XSeX, is that ultimate?
So, if I have that, but no PC, I'm pretty much wasting money?

What is projectxCloud?

My biggest dilemma is whether to go with Series X, Series S or Xcloud 🤣 cant complain about having choice but damn....

Nothing software wise grabbing me at the minute on Xbox or PS5 but never does at launch.

I was not expecting to be interested in next gen consoles, maybe switch pro (if that could be called next gen) and then xss appeared...and completely changed my mind.
My only issue (waiting for the actual games tests) is whether or not the controller has gyro capability which for me is necessary to enjoy a FPS on a console

@BlueOcean @TheNewButler @TheNewButler @themightyant

Okay, thanks everyone!
I believe I am going to go with the 2 year XSeX plan.
I appreciate all the info.

@Kev_Morrison Welcome to the SeX family 😂!

@Kev_Morrison

In addition to what everyone else said.....

Microsoft just announced that they are bringing EA Play to Game Pass Ultimate. So you would get that too. And that’s a great deal! 👍🏻

So I understand than on the smart delivery will strip out all 4K assets from the series S downloads so game files will be different between the two systems making the smaller drive on the S go further.

@themightyant

Well played. 😉

@GamingFan4Lyf The S will probably not have the VRAM for 4K texture packs so I don't think it will X versions. Simplified but in a game the CPU deals with all the AI, Logic and physics. The GPU loads the textures, raps the wireframe, lights the scene and adds image post processing. So the S will load lower res textures and apply to lower polygon (resolution) wireframe. So all the complexity of next gen but lower res. The 4K textures will most probably overrun the memory. It will play One S versions buttery smooth I would expect. All of this is just guessing though

@Darth_Stofi I believe that’s why they’ve discontinued the One X, to make it seem like a bigger upgrade between the systems

I'd actually be interested in an upgrade program for my original VCR Xbox One. Might anyone be offering a trade-in option for XB1 at all?