Xbox Series S Reveal Trailer Confirms 120FPS Support, 512GB SSD

They're really betting on those memory cards aren't they? I wonder how much smaller games can be if they stop duplicating assets for HDD seek time. Series S can always be expanded later, both with memory cards and what MS ships inside the console years from now. I also suspect an iFixit kit can put in compatible SSDs as well. $300 is an impressive price point if you don't care about discs.

Game changer.
1440p support. Ray Tracing. 120FPS support.
And it's cheaper than a Switch!
Only negatives are only 512GB SSD and looks abit ugly with the black vent, but I assume they've done that so it doesn't look too much like the Xbox One S.

I'll be getting the S then, if the X is nearly double the price I can wait until the big exclusives come out for that. For £250 I can get almost all of the benefits and my library is digital anyway, the only slight issue could be storage but I'll just use an external hard drive for Xbox One games

Microsoft lands a first heavy blow in the next-gen console war, over to you Sony...

I think I'll get the Series S, the price is too tempting!

Stupid question here possibly, but could I just connect my external hard drive I use for my One X and use this straight away on the Series S and play all the games and be covered then for next gen??

There was a leak a while back that specified not all next gen games will be compatible with Series S, any word on that?

@Octane Not any word yet, but there were some assumptions that for example it won't allow raytracing, which per official claims it does.

Can see this selling more than the series X which if true shows most gamers don't care about amazing graphics and power.

@BrilliantBill @FraserG Neat. I wonder what the catch is though. It does 1440p at 120fps, and has 4K support (supposedly at 60fps then). The lack of disc drive alone can't explain this price! This sounds similar on paper to the PS5 digital, except I expect it to be at least 400 (assuming the consoles are 500).

@FraserG I thought that might be an issue.
Hmm, so it would still work for Xbox One games so would cover everything up to now..
In that case I could still connect it to the Series S play everything I did on my One X and just use another Custom SSD for everything next gen going forwards....
I presume two hard drives can be connected??
That really world be doing next gen on the cheap...

@Octane I did notice it said it played next gen optimised games... Made me wonder about that wording...

@Octane Microsoft using their LARGE bank accounts to take a dive on the cost and sell a lot of Game Pass off the back of the S. Plus, with the move to a very similar naming convention as phones, and the All Access month by month sales plans, I'd say we'll see a 'new' version of the S a lot sooner than usual

@TheNewButler Just what I'm thinking, a good size SSD to last you a while especially if it's a Game Pass machine could cost more than the Series S itself easily...

Pricing is very interesting however still have some questions about the performance, strength and will all next gen titles be playable? They can't market it as a next gen console while not be able to play the next gen titles right?

Srsly tho, looks cool and is dirt cheap. I like the vent but I bet it gets really dusty inside. How does this compare to a one X? Would it even be worth upgrading from one X to series S

@Acksaw At this point it's Microsoft lands their first heavy next gen blow after a flurry from Sony

@Octane It won't have next gen games at 4K60FPS, its GPU is about a third of that of the Series X and well behind the PS5 as well. That said if the framerates hold up then then I'm not that bothered about a drop in resolution, I mean I play my Switch more than my Xbox/PS4. It just sounds like a great deal all round

The price is very good, but 512gb ssd? I don't see a disc drive. I'll wait for X and wait for a sale price. This is false economy.

@FraserG Thanks for the response and information.
It's certainly doable then, I could get a 1TB custom SSD to use for next gen on the Series S and transfer games between the two hard drives, just keeping what I want to play on next gen on the new SSD.
It's something to think about..

No optical drive = no sale.

I'll stick with my Minecraft Xbox S.

@ralphdibny Think of it as an entry point to next gen, it's a Game Pass machine which plays next gen games at a scaled back quality...
Benefit over One X is while Series S is not much more powerful it will play the next gen games, One X won't.
I'm seriously thinking about it as my gaming time is split between this, my Switch, and my work.
It might just be good enough for me...
Edit - Only issue's are the small SSD for me, and also I still like the odd physical game..

512gb!?

I've got more storage than that in my pants!

Xbox Gamepass Edition

@Octane These are mostly "up to" specs. So 1080p and 1440p are both possible. And maybe some games hit 60fps and some others 45fps or just stick to 30fps.

https://youtu.be/YuRJi5vYZ0w

Check out this link. It estimates that 1080p@60fps / 1440p@45fps.

@themightyant
I think they are taking the hit to make this a no brainer for casuals.
Casuals don't have a brand loyalty. They go to whatever their friends play on. If they see this console for £250, or a PS5 for £400/500, it's a no brainer for them.
Being digital-only, it also brings them into the eco-system and services that MS will get the most money from.
Very clever from MS to win back any 360 gamers that went over to PS4 this gen.

@BANJO fair enough, looks like One X will have most of the early Xbox series games I'd be interested in anyway so probably not worthwhile for me until next gen is in full swing with lots of games and ideally big price drops for series X/ps5...so tempting at that price tho lol

@BrilliantBill Still, 1080p at 60fps doesn't seem that bad if you ask me.

If you don't have a 4K TV... The only problem is the lack of disc drive.

Cheaper than Switch in the UK is a big deal , it's the same price in the US. That should help its chances to sell well, tbh. Keep in mind that GCN was cheaper than OG Xbox and PS2. While GCN sold the same as the Xbox, PS2 trounced both of them. Price isn't the only factor that matters. Yes, PS2 had a DVD player when those were insanely priced, but it also had a good value proposition in the market's mind. We'll see if people feel that about Series S. I'm still getting a Series X, tbh...

299 is an amazing price for the series s, but I gotta have my disc drive and the most powerful version.

@OlosNah it would be odd for them to advertise 1440p at 120fps if it doesn't actually reach that performance in this next generation of game releases.

@GamerDad66 in 6 days most gamepass games will be available to play on phones, tablets, and smart TVs. This is just basically hardware to play new 3rd party software before it hits gamepass.

This is a really smart move by Microsoft. $300 is an amazing price point here. I will be getting the Series X, but this is a great console for people not caring if they have a disc drive.

@carlos82 unless you're streaming 4k gaming at 120fps through game pass which is possible through Xcloud. Which is no doubt the future of gaming.

@Octane The lack of a disk drive is the sticking point for me, I'm very undecided as it stands... Another trivial reason for many but important for me is I also like going into game stores and hunting out a good preowned deal occasionally, which obviously wouldn't be possible...

@TheNoKnoSpot Isn't Xcloud 720p and streaming from One S technology at the moment? it'll definitely target far higher in the future

@carlos82 they're targeting 4k streaming to compete with Google Stadia. The beta testing has been 720p, but Azure can definitely handle 4k.

Awsome trailer, The Series S is a beast and you can't beat that price with those features..

@themightyant
With them pushing this Xbox All Access model, I wouldn't be surprised to see them go down the mobile/cell phone route with contracts and refreshes.
They could quite easily push out Series S+ or Series X+, something along those lines, after 2/3 years.

"Up to" 120 fps means bugger all of course, but it's a tantalisingly cheap product, so I might actually consider getting one next to my ps5.

Microsoft now have the most powerful console, by far. And they have the cheapest console, too. Smart move on their part. 👍🏻

So close but that 512gb ssd is a deal breaker. After the OS thats like 4 games if you're lucky.

I will definitely be getting this in a couple of years when Fable and Gears 6 drops. No disc drive doesn't bother me, as I'll just use my One S for that. This is perfect for someone like me who uses their xbox for GamePass and streaming services. Being able to play the next gen exclusives for this price is a steal.

@Octane I wasn't expecting this but it's able to upscale games to 4K so great value even for people that have 4K TVs.

@ralphdibny @OlosNah

https://www.purexbox.com/news/2020/08/here_are_the_latest_rumoured_xbox_series_s_specs

Basically, Series S is a 1440p all-digital Series X that is able to upscale to 4K.

They are better than I was expecting, and I know at that price point, a 512 gb SSD was probably going to be the best we could get. It wouldn't affect me either way the size of the SSD since I have good internet, and also because I use Xbox Game Pass and uninstall games all the time. It just might affect the people who don't like to uninstall all the time. I love the design of the Xbox Series S though. It looks nice, and doesn't look like quality was sacrificed in order to achieve that price point.

@Octane I mean, they have to cut a corner somewhere to make this price work and resolution is a good compensation.