Medic_alert

I can't remember the exact timeline but towards the end of the generation Xbox suddenly pulled backwards compatibility, the Xbox one X and game pass on the gaming world and it looked like they were setting themselves for a true challenge to Sony.

The studio acquisitions were nice additions too and seemed to cover a broad church of interests.

It looked really exciting and I was so happy to have the majority of my library on Xbox.

Shame they just didn't make anything more of it.

Brilliant feature!

Not sure why Xbox haven't given it more focus.

I love the idea of being able to seamlessly switch between machines with different use cases - big tv, laptop, portable.

I was tempted by a pc setup because of this but changed my mind.

The first xbox game I have bought all year I think....

Alan Wake's American Nightmare!

A cool £2.22 spent on that baby!

Normally I'd be very critical here but the fact this game exists at all is verging on miraculous!

Hope no one who pre-loaded this has download limits.

That's 250gb in a week or so!

Ah modern gaming....

Great!

With the announcement that dlc packs can win it, got is going to Shadow of the Erdtree.

I'd give it to Balatro myself but that's never gonna happen.

@Raffles I wonder whether that is just down to a different design philosophy.

It could almost parallel American and Japanese car design too with a grunt vs efficiency philosophy respectively. And in the end raw grunt just does pan out as well.

It could also be that Sony has way more experience in hardware than MS

@Raffles I don't necessarily think the PS5 offers much new either, the rumble is basically the same as Nintendo's, the triggers are fine but not a game changer.

For me when you talk about unique experiences it means a console that can do something in games that has not been done before. PS promised big but didn't really deliver anything new.

The most unique console experience they have is VR but unfortunately they are rubbish at supporting it and the adoption is poor but it is a truly transformative experience.

My comments are more about the statement from Phil itself which I think is a load of cobblers to off set any disappointment from Xbox fans because there is no pro equivalent and just doesn't ring true.

@Raffles I don't disagree with what you are saying about about quick resume, it may have improved over time but when I was playing more on Xbox it just didn't work on loads of stuff and the lottery meant I stopped relying on it.

Weird things like Shadow of the Tomb Raider just losing all sound when resumed. And then there are things like Dark Souls which have a server connection and so it doesn't work.

My og comment was in relation toa new console needing to provide a unique experience and to me the Series X really doesn't even try and provide a new experience, rather refining what was already there.

@Raffles OK, but I'd argue that none of that leads to a unique experience.

Intriguing what you say about the noise your PS5 makes because both of mine are silent if not using the disc drive - which is an abomination.

It isn't innovation though. The original Xbox one is virtually silent, my Switch never makes a sound, in fact the only console I've ever had that is loud was the PS4.

Quick resume is cool and an underrated feature when it works.

I don't use it that often to be fair because it messed up too many games and lots just ping you back to the main menu, but a nice idea.

@GeeForce that's an interesting question albeit one I think is difficult to answer because I can't say what is technically possible and almost certainly don't have the idea generation of a combined team of MS engineers!

However, I think I'd highlight the controller as an example of how little innovation is being pushed by Xbox. That controller has had so little changed about it since arguably the 360 when it went wireless. The latest one added a clicky d-pad circle thing and a capture button and called it a day. They are the only major console without gyro aiming - on a console traditionally with a big market in shooters. The controller feels very iterative.

I just don't think the Series X does anything special, it is solid enough but what makes it special?

I'd argue, not much...

@GeeForce and yet backwards compatibility started on the Xbox one. You've been able to get higher frame rates and resolution on PC forever, HDR was on the PS4 pro and dolby atmos is just connecting to another service - hardly innovation.

And none of that creates a unique or special experience.

@Retrokingdan I get that a lot too... that system is not very smart....

Phil is so full of himself - what unique experiences has their hardware brought to the table?

The series x is one of the most conservative machines ever built in this space and anything vaguely interesting has been ported elsewhere. Not to mention that the base PS5 has often faired better than the series x despite the power difference - including Black ops 6!

I agree the Pro upgrade is minimal for the price, albeit selling an old console softens the blow considerably. And what you get in reality is truly an incremental upgrade but at the same time I don't see how options are a bad thing.

@defiant1376 the problem with that is the upgrades are only marginal due to there bottlenecks in the system.

That's good to hear and at least a positive statement of intent for the future of a dedicated Xbox machine.

It will be interesting to see how that ends up playing out in the end but at least we can infer that the next gen machine they have spoken about is still on the cards.

I just hope it's an absolute banger of a machine.

Perfectly sensible to do this. Nintendo clearly hold stuff over pace out their releases over the year.

It makes sense to give your games as much room to stretch their legs as possible.

Deluxe edition of Alan Wake 2 at £32 is a great deal!

@Steel76 I know people would love to see Sega in the console market again but it isn't going to happen.

Firstly they don't have the infrastructure you now need to be a platform holder, secondly their income is dwarfed by the current 3. Sega made 2.5bn USD, Sony 78Bn USD and MS 211Bn USD.

There is unfortunately no chance what so ever of that happening.

Google, Amazon and maybe someone like Tencent would be the only companies that could have a go now and Google have failed once.

@themightyant to be honest I just don't believe them.

The changes of direction and emphasis at Xbox are coming thick and fast and the new console statements may change just as quickly.

And it matters now because players put a lot of time and money into a platform and if there is a risk it is going to become something I'm not interested in (cloud gaming) or go away all together, I don't want to put another penny into it.

It's a massive shame to feel this way because I have been team green for ages and even when the PS4 seemed the only way to go I still had to have an Xbox as well. Now, I just can't take that chance.

@TheEstablishment A shrinking piece for MS and one that is stagnating for Sony.

@themightyant well that depends what you mean.

I believe there will be physical, local boxes for the forseeable future. Do I think they continue to come from Microsoft? Debatable, but personally I doubt it.

They just don't sell enough to make it worthwhile. I suspect the plan is an eco-system that drags in players on all devices but their 'box' will simply be a PC.

I'm not even sure the name Xbox will be a thing for much longer.

And there is the future off Xbox right there.

No need for a console any more.

Great for the company, awful if you are an Xbox fan.

My platform of choice has had to be relegated to backwards compatibility and what's left of my gamepass sub because I have no faith in the direction they are going right now.

Anyone expecting 2025/26 for this is very optimistic.

If they are prototyping that means they haven't even settled on final specs for the thing, let alone form factor and that means none of the manufacturing is lined up either.

Unless the plan is to use existing chipsets this thing sounds like it is 3 years plus away to me and may just be another hand held PC the way Xbox is going.

@Balaam_ I enjoyed the drama of that reply alot, so kudos to you.

I have just got the PS5 Pro and while it is much better than the og one in size and shape, I can't help but look at it sitting horizontally in my media centre and think it looks like some sort of warped out of shape cable/sky box.

Loved my one x but ultimately it is still limited by the cpu and not having an SSD.

But I do maintain that in this generation of ugly consoles the X1X is a total looker and I miss it just for that.

I have no nostalgia for these games, was never a fan but to me, the newer lighting looks better in all 3 cases and by a country mile in SA and VC.

I love Halo and this is a great package as it is now but holy smokes has it been messy getting it here.

I guess it is a good micro-view of Xbox as a whole with an opportunity squandered with not enough emphasis placed on quality out the door because they can fix it later.

Shame they have never released a finished article for collectors too. A collectors edition with all 6 games on the disc(s) and some memorabilia would have been amazing. The original disc version is not much more than a coaster these days.

I really like the look of this one.

Fingers crossed it turns out to be a better!

Still £60 too expensive.

Shame because the Series X ssd isn't as fast as Sony's and so you wouldn't have even needed a gen 4 ssd to upgrade if they had gone the same route as PS.

Meaning it could have been cheaper still.

That's the first time I have seen it and thought it looks really top notch.

Looking forward to turning the Xbox on for this one!

For a while I naively though MS might try and keep the prices of those memory cards down. I mean there is nothing special about them other than the housing.

But now it costs £125 in a sale fo 1Tb while the PS5 can have an extra 2Tb for £150.

The only advantage of that card now is hot swapping it to other machines but that's not enough.

This is such a tough question to answer because the promise has been so much greater than the delivery.

I think the Bethesda announcement was pretty mind blowing but I'm struggling for much else.