Video: DF 'Face-Off' Draws Interesting Comparisons Between Xbox Series S And PS4 Pro

to be fair its not a realistic comparison.

Series S was always better. its a fantastic little box

@Kaloudz It'll be interesting to see what the gaming landscape is like by the next gen. Assuming that they'll milk this gen as long as the last. Maybe we'll see if there's a mid-gen refresh to both models?

The series s should be the clear winner it's was marketed as a next generation machine

@Kaloudz Yeah my SS does exactly what i wanted it to to, its a great little machine and i'm glad i got it even if i may upgrade to the Series X later this year.

Why is this being touted as a huge win that it barely beats last gen hardware?

Breaking news: Console released in November 2020 is superior to console released in November 2016.

@Kaloudz

I do question whether MS will once again make two consoles at the start of next gen, given the bits of feedback that it's had from gamers and developers this gen. I myself love my Series S. It's more than done what I expected it to.

The only thing I think they would do differently next gen is make sure the S and X equivalents have the same amount of RAM.

@themightyant @GeeEssEff A lot of people still go about with the nonsensical idea that the Series S is basically a PS4 Pro or XBox One X with an SSD, so a video like this one helps debunk that myth with objective facts.

Next gen vs last gen. Why they even thought this was a comparison worth making boggles the mind? Plain stupid.

wow congrats, I'm glad we finally had this analysis to prove that a next-gen xbox is a bit more poweful than a last gen playstation

@Kaloudz I think it's likely that they'll do that. That's what happened last gen with the One S and X, and the PS4 Pro. That way they can keep the generation going for longer without needing the expense of a brand new console.

@uptownsoul I don't think the Series S will struggle as the Xbox One & PS4 didn't hold back gaming & new titles are still coming for those consoles.

@Kaloudz anything can drive costs up. Rubbered feet can. Question is if they would be willing to eat that cost and still offer a cheap console.

Also, who knows what the cost differential for ram will be by the time they make successor consoles. Right now, though, I think the S|X system has worked wonders for them, just as the Nintendo Switch Lite has worked wonders for Nintendo.

At the end of the day, the one thing most devs objectively complain about (that are not fanboys claiming to be devs) is simply that the RAM difference can introduce a few issues, especially if your game was using the ram mostly for non-graphical reasons.

@Kaloudz

I'm assuming ram factors quite largely into capability gaps?

Ram differences can cause a few headaches if the dev ram budget is not heavily using it for graphical assets. One of the big advancements of the Series S|X (both software and hardware) is precisely blazing fast loading of assets that means not all graphical assets need to be on RAM at all times, leaving more ram for other things (lookup tables, AI, code, etc) that can't simply be scaled down "because its running on the 1440p version of the console."

Its not likely going to be that huge of a barrier, especially since these games end up having to run on so many different platforms, including PCs that are running a heavy weight OS, but it still is an added complication that I feel could had been avoided, and hope gets avoided on a Series S|X² (or whatever they call them.)

@themightyant

They don't actually need the same amount of RAM, as Series S doesn't need 4K textures it can have a smaller memory pool

It's not always just about textures. Imagine a game like Vampire Survivors. It's just a 2D game, it's not going to run at higher or lower resolutions regardless the console, but the number of enemies and their AI still need the exact same amount of memory and resources, else you potentially bump into situations where the game uses up all available memory and locks up.

This is not entirely hypothetical, I once managed to overload the game on my Series X with that game with a specific set of upgrades and level, sadly didn't document what exact upgrades/character/level to see if I could replicate it.

@themightyant never underestimate how fast a game with near infinite entities can eat up ram.

I played Cyberpunk on both the Series S and One X back when it launched and even then it was a better experience on the Series S. The Series S is definitely the better of the consoles performance wise but it's not night and day like it has been in past generations, even on PS5 one of the best looking games I've played has been TLOU2 and that only has an fps boost over the Pro version.

Some of the comparisons here are a bit weird though, GTAV never even got a Pro/X patch and whilst I doubt it would hit 60fps it could certainly have looked much better. The big issue at launch for Series S was playing One S versions of last gen games but as time goes by and it gets its own games this won't matter as much

One X and Series S makes more sense. I get the 'platform comparison' but for proper hardware comparison if you put a better hard drive in the One X it could be capable but the Series S is still better due to newer and better parts put in it. It may be the Series X and scaled down a bit but it's still a digital, inline with Series X somewhat and 1400p which is fair of an upgrade than the 1080p of the One and One S.

Then again if more objects (grass, trees, whatever), particles, enemies and sharpness then sure. I can go without reflections or lighting personally even if it's the point of this gen is making more techniques possible for games with more power and that's fine I just don't care enough for them. I've seen reflections in prior generations like racing game car mirror reflections (some did do it or even some did interiors before others even if less cars so it was possible) even if a mirror in a bathroom, glass for cabinets in kitchens, modern building glass reflections or in water is more likely what these studios will use reflection technology for or more natural things in environments depending on the angles or less level of design or whatever.

That and the 4K (One X) capable and just different parts with more going on in the Series S it's why I am happy with the One X physical and powerful even if behind the Series S in later gen support sure and the better parts to make it like the Series X better performing. Besides the One X feeling like a collector's item of a piece of hardware people got if they really cared (I don't play much Xbox One as I do OG/360) but still good to have if I really needed it for third parties (more what I use my Xbox One for) or first parties.

Even if BIomutant even before the PS5/Series update it ran so much better on a Series X than a One X and Forza Motorsport 7 pushed the One X no idea if it runs better on the Series S/X without even an update for it.

@themightyant a blade of grass does not have AI state, hit points, buff stacks, position tracking, direction, animation frame sequencing, and a ton other data that ends up piling up fast.

I'm not saying the game normally requires a lot of memory to run, but based of its own design it will exponentially start spawning entities that have a lot more memory demands than a blade of grass. I have no knowledge of the game inner workings, so can't say exactly what is going on inside its guts, but I do have experience developing server/client games and can tell you the server side uses up a ton of data, even if there is not a single polygon being stored in its memory. Entities can quickly add up, reason I brought up that game as an example of something that can potentially use more memory in edge-cases than many would guess.

The comparisons with the PS4 Pro is lacking in how the PRO performs on a 1080p screen at 1080p as apposed to higher definition settings on a 4K screen, and in performance mode if offered. There is also boost, super sampling, and possible hdd or ssd upgrades.

I use my Pro on an old LG 1080p and Gta 5 looks good and has smooth frame rates, off or online. Same with Borderlands 3, Far Cry 6, Stray, TT Wonderlands, and Vice City definitive edition when using performance mode. At 1080p I notice no drop in detail but
notice the improved frame rates with or without a performance option. Higher/smoother fps does inherently make games look better to me as motion blur is reduced.

Pro vs S? The S does and should outperform a Pro, it is the newer gen.

@uptownsoul we have seen plenty of disasters over the years but it's either the game ain't ready to ship or they've just taken on to much & try to release on every platform available. To be fair I see the Devs complaining about the Series S are just getting there excuses in early as we have seen little that takes advantage of both Series S/X hardware. Just need to look at GTA5 on series S & the Matrix demo to see the leap. But yes 2023 will be an interesting year as we will see games release on next gen engines like Unreal 5.

@somnambulance I wouldn't call Atomic Heart the first as it runs on Unreal 4 & is slated for Xbox one & PS4 also. I'd say the first game slated to run Unreal 5 engine in March called the Hell is Us is the Series S's first major test.

@Kaloudz Yeah my friend still uses the launch XBone.

Though when we're all playing Sea of Thieves with him on the XBone, another on a One S, another on a PC, and me on a Series X the load times at least are very noticable. He'll start a game, I'll join up, and I'll have the ship stocked up before he's even loaded in

A foregone conclusion surely. Sold my PS4 Pro for money towards a Steam Deck and I was glad to see the back of it, the worst console,I’ve ever had I think, it performed a bit better then the standard model but was utterly ludicrously ridiculously loud, how Sony ever thought it was acceptable I have no idea. I cleaned it endlessly and it still was stupidly loud.
Sorry just ranting about the PS4 Pro fan.

@uptownsoul I don't think it will be as soon as 2024/2025 as we haven't had anything yet that has fully used the Series S hardware yet & we are still in cross gen territory. There is a few Unreal 5 titles coming this year & next. But the bulk of titles after will be running on engines specifically for the current gen consoles so it will be interesting.

@Kaloudz I get that. Long loading times don't really matter that much in games, but in SoT it's a BIG tactical advantage to have fast loading times. It's a real design flaw.

@uptownsoul I'm aware that current gen games are coming this year. But again like I said before we should wait till they release before judging if the Series S is gonna spectacularly struggle.
I still think the Series S will be fine though as Fortnite, FIFA & GTA5 are still favourites, indie titles will run no bother, remakes of older games still being popular should run ok, plus Japanese titles tend to be ports of Switch titles so there is still potentially a large amounts of games that could run no bother in the future.

@uptownsoul another solution which could be used to benefit all next gen consoles including the Series S is cloud tech. Devs could use cloud to load parts of the game like Flight Simulator did.

@uptownsoul I was more thinking it could be a cloud mode you could switch on if you have a capable internet connection & have off if a simple check deems it's not capable. Kind of like you have at the moment with Performance & Quality modes so it wouldn't impact players ability to play the game but could enhance it like adding full ray tracing to the Series S titles.
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