brunojenso

How do you like your port Mr Bond?

'Shaken not stirred'

I love mine. SIZE is a big factor for many including me. I don't want a large console hanging around. The S disappears nicely. I'll not even consider the PS5 unless the slim model is around XSS size.

Not all of us want our consoles to be the visual centre-points of our (sometimes limited) home-spaces.

I think like many others the Series S (and maybe the X) was the first time an Xbox appealed to me. Generally I always disliked the designs and the way Xboxes where marketed - they always seemed to have a shallow number of genres and were very 'lad' orientated. Lots of generic looking Racers and Shooters.

Anyway I enjoy the S a lot and I liked the look of it straight away - but I still think Xbox has work to do on it's game variety and would argue the catalogue still isn't as interesting as Sonys and nowhere near Nintendo. Really I wanted an easy entry point into some AAA games with a PC-like fidelity. If I'm honest I was mostly drawn to the S due to the small size. I just don't want a large console around - hence no way was Sony going to sell me a PS5.

I really enjoyed Lonely Mountains: Downhill on GP. Maybe I'll go for that.

Crimson Skies

@Vonsparrow What's so bad about it?

Sorry but exactly what is unique about this controller? I mean, it looks ok, but at the best it's maybe a better made version of dozens of similar clamp-style controllers.

Also, being only wireless is actually a bit of a step-back for these devices. Many of these devices offer direct connections meaning zero latency, pass-through charging and no controller battery life at all to worry about. Finally does this have a headphone jack? That's pretty important to a lot of people and the video doesn't show one.

Does anyone else hope they remaster P1 to the same quality visuals as P2 before moving on to an P3?

This article doesn’t say anything about the graphical enhancements - does anyone know what the visual improvements are?

@F1at8mot0 @xMightyMatt14x @antstephenson

Thank you all, great suggestions – I'll definitely give them a go sometime soon.

I'm new to Xbox and have yet to play a Halo game – Honestly from an outsider pov, just watching videos and whatnot, it's really difficult too appreciate this series.

The gameplay must be really special because on a purely visual level it looks like a very generic FPS, with a main character that looks like a weaker Doom Guy wannabe.

For someone as clueless as me, and is much more of a story guy than multiplayer, should I start with number 1 or not?

Like so many titles these days they lose me at ' lack of single-player offline modes'

Is this the first and only Crimson Skies or a sequel? I've just never heard the 'High Road to Revenge' bit before.

I fancy some of that Triple Stars Wars game action!

When we buy one or the other console, don't we all decide which one is 'better' for us?

'For us' is the key distinction. I don't have any problem with such statements in general as long as there is some attempt to remember it's merely subjective opinion and not speaking truths

But there is a bigger problem highlighted by the comments tread. Namely, that although it's clear these guys were going beyond polite opinion by posting 'PS5 is better' on the Xbox twitter account and were most certainly guilty of trolling, I don't think calling them a bunch of chavs, kids, losers or non-hardcore gamers (as many in this tread are doing) is entirely called for either.

Instead of cat-calling, please lift them up in there potential like the Xbox team's comment did, instead of joining them at their current level. Otherwise we just remain in 'eye for a eye' territory.

@Residentsteve01 Yeah it's a valid critisism, but something you accept, or don't, on Switch - that Nintendo never discount their first party titles more than by 33% (Digitally).

The funny thing is it makes you play and value those titles - whereas I have tons of great games on Switch and Xbox I got for peanuts and I hardly touch. For instance I got Titanfall 2 for £4 about a month and a half ago that I've not even booted. So maybe the other companies (MS and Sony) devalue their big titles too much with regular sales? I still play Mario kart 8 Deluxe for some reason and it still looks great.

This looks lovely

Kinda expected to get 2K on Series S

@Dijita Literally in the same boat. My Dad would actually play this and finally move on from Wii Sport Resort Golf.

Doesn't Rise of the Tomb Raider need doing to complete the set?

So pleased to see big budget games moving to Vampires rather than treading the same old dull ground with Zombies.

Good vampire and werewolf games are still a very rare thing in video games even after all these decades. I hope that changes. Even Castlevania games which are generally good games don't actually have any real vampire aspects to the gameplay - they just happen to have the famous Dracula name even though the character doesn't really do much 'vampire-y'.

Anyway I'm looking forward to this.

Any advance on using my iPhone and Backbone controller with a 'special invite' to the beta?

To big - even 32" is to big for my room. Give me 24 - 27" max please.

Does anyone know of a 24 - 27" monitor with these specs that isn't crazy expensive?

Ok that’s exciting - and encouraging if they are confident enough to try to sell it based on a demo.

This is very encouraging - hopefully they continue and do a 'No Man's Sky' complete turnaround and make this game top tier.

I personally prefer cross-dressing games, but hey, call me old fashioned.

@Dusk_Actual Ok thanks, it doesn't sound like missing out on this series is much of a tragedy then.

So for the uninitiated - which of these are really good games? (assuming some are)

@Deadcow Yeah that just sounds like terrible storytelling - the subject matter sounds irrelevant but enforced upon the player.

@JayJ Wise words my friend - I agree with everything you've said there, and feel many humans are making the same mistake of turning correctness into a dividing obsession in a few other related areas to. A balance is always needed between addressing what must be addressed, but not focusing upon it to an extreme. I'm also, or was, bisexual (I'm happily and intentionally non-active now and have be some time). Speaking honestly and frankly, once we have established a respect for one another, I personally find what sexuality any particular person is to be a very boring subject. There are far more interesting aspects to people (and other creatures). So although I respect the artistic freedom of games like this, it's subject doesn't sound like something i'm interested in playing at all. Maybe I'll try it, but the characters just seem dull to me. Still new areas of expression in video games is a very welcome thing for when, you know, the occasional time we've had our fill of ripping and tearing in Doom.

Bought the Survivor Trilogy. With a £5 Rewards gift card I got it for £12.99! This is one of the main reasons I wanted my first Xbox (Series S). I played the first game on Boot Camp on a Mac and loved it but PC gaming (especially on a Mac) sucks all the fun out of gaming (for me) as you endlessly tweak the graphic to get reasonable performance. On a console you get what you get settings-wise, and you don’t have to muck about setting up your controller and rumble. On console it’s just play.

I'm happy to report I'm nowhere close. That's too much gaming for me. I'll make 1000 maybe.

One of those games you can literally feel yourself getting dumber the more you play. Looks kinda fun, but no thanks - this is taking moronic to a new level.

Plus - Indigestion!

1. Crimson Skies
2. Ultimate Marvel Vs. Capcom 3
3. Little Nightmares 1

Thank you very much Microsoft, looking forward to them.

@3RedTriangles It has plenty of platforms sure, but so does Doom Eternal. Tomb Raider is an Action Adventure Game - not what is traditionally thought of as a platform game.

Of course genres are a bit broken these days, but going by established gaming conventions...

Within Xbox ecosystem: Raz: Psychonauts
Outside of the Xbox ecosystem: Mario: Super Mario 3D Land

Also even within the Xbox ecosystem your missing too many good ones:

Hat Girl: A Hat in Time
SquarePants SpongeBob: Bikini Bottom
Yooka & Laylee, Yooka Laylee
Vince: Voodoo Vince

Just of the top of my head, and those are 'true' platformers. Biomutant is not.

Much as I like the look of it, Biomutant honestly looks more like an action adventure in the vein of the Breath of the Wind or Immortals Fenyx Rising variety - so it's a weird basis for this article.

Game Pass for Switch :[

@Deadcow Different strokes for different folks.

To me this looks like the only interesting title coming out for Xbox anytime soon, and I love the visual style. Of course I need to see some review scores - but I'm genuinely excited.

@SegataSanshiro Hey if it gets 'em putting the extra work in to optimise, then they are welcome to, and deserve the extra exposure - over the devs that don't bother. This really is a prefect gamemaker/gamer win win scenario.

Just bought it - on my first Xbox (Series S) for £6.99! for the complete edition or whatever it's called. Not bad for 100s of hours of game. I'm look forward to the Vampire expansion in particular. I'll play it as soon as my current Game Pass subscription expires.

Looks absolutely amazing - and makes me hope for a remaster of the original one day! With re-rendered cut-scenes etcetera.

3D Platformer masterpieces are a very rare bread indeed, need preserving, and Psychonauts definitely qualifies as worthy of remastering.

Come on Double Fine! - make it the next project after this! I'd honestly prefer P1 remaster over a new project.

This video and the screenshots here and on the Store shows it in Widescreen 16:9 but I've downloaded it and it's in 4:3 right? Am I missing a setting?

@FraserG thank you, and I appreciate PX staff engaging with the comments. And of course I get the X is were the excitement is, but I'm very happy to hear you'll consider these points. I'm still blown away by how good each game looks on this little guy. Just curious but do you personally think the S will be a somewhat significant userbase builder, or not so much?

@Royalblues I think I've seen quite a few comments to that effect since visiting this site, and in this comment tread @belmont is saying the S is thier first Xbox too. I've seen a lot of similar statements on Youtube too, although I'm aware the X is more popular/attention grabbing of course. I think for a lot of people the idea of spending £450/500 on a console is a new concept. I certainly still think of them as something to pay around £300 for. I paid £337 to get a Series S plus extra official controller and 3 months of game pass. When you consider the bundled controller is worth £60 I think to get an SSD based console sub £250 is pretty good when it can function like a hassle free gaming PC.

And regarding the SSD - yes I wish it was bigger but I have 21 games on my S at 95% capacity including:

Doom Eternal, Gears 5, Forza Horizon 4, Fallen Order, Star Wars Squadrons, No Mans Sky, Hellblade, and many more - and only two or three are really small Indies. I have plenty to play and Quick Resume is equally amazing.

Part 2.

I've always gamed, and I can tell you I couldn't give a damn about 120FPS or HDR - whereas a smooth 60fps and 1440p sounds very nice. I do have a 4K 60fps screen - and I just want to go 'wow' at some nice looking modern titles without considering the graphics in fine detail. I wanted a simple way to play the big AAA titles of recent years and going forward, and the Series S is again the prefect gateway for those who do not buy, or build, gaming PCs. So please give it equal weight in the articles.

The Series S has won me into the Xbox ecosystem and user-base NOT the Series X. The X did not get me. Maybe in the future sure - but to be clear, if Microsoft had only released the X, I would not be a Xbox owner now. I would not have bought it.

So when you do a whole article that waxes' lyrical about how well a new/optimised game runs on the X and fail to even mention the S and if it runs ok (as I've seen in too many of your articles do) know that you are not writing to your new and fledgling audience.

So that's my message - the Series S is important.

These are my first two comments on this site (come from NintendoLife). I promise not to do long ones generally.

@FraserG

Dear PureXbox - I believe I have an important perspective for you to consider for your site - particularly with regard to the Series S.

Part 1.

To be brutally honest I had some major prejudice towards Microsoft as a company back with the original console (possibly unwarranted - I cant remember what my beef was with them) but I didn't like Microsoft at all and I'd have not touched the original Xbox or the 360 with a barge-pole. Also I thought the Xbox was the most horrendous console design released so far in ANY generation (worse than the also ugly 360). I've been a professional and successful designer for decades now so I think I have some valid design sensibilities. For one I've always hated large bulky consoles, and back then the sleek PS2 was the easy choice. Also Xbox had little IP identity back then and is still working on that now. It's still somewhat perceived as a 'soldier boys' training toy' with a narrow focus on shooters - although I can see that is actually changing now. I'm predominantly a Nintendo guy but have enjoyed many Sony IPs over the years. I like a lot of genre variety, both mature and playful games and appreciate unique ideas and artistic touches. I'm also way more into an end-to end story/adventure experience than endless multiplayers.

I know it's ignorance, but for some reason the current Xbox Series consoles and the Xbox One backwards compatibility is the first time me and my circle of friends have looked at Xbox as an actual viable option. Previously for all the people I knew who enjoyed gaming, Xboxes were some barely audible noise in the gaming market. Easily ignored.

Somehow that's suddenly changed, and I think its due to the Series S.

So I bought the beautifully modest and elegantly designed Xbox Series S as my first ever Xbox, and my best gaming mate is eyeing one up also. Something about the PS5 is utterly unappealing, and so far I'm loving my first Xbox.

This is going to be a familiar story so get used to it... there is SOMETHING about Xbox now that has become appealing to all its former naysayers. I have my Switch and a Series S and I'm a happy man. Sony is going to lose this round and I'm not entirely sure why - but the PS5 is of no interest to me. It's like Sony's business model is just not appealing anymore/this time around.

This site needs to appreciate and talk about the Series S as much as the X. Its a far more important model than most people on this site and in the comments seem to realise. THIS little white console with it's modest size, price and gateway to the games the Switch can't really handle, and to Game Pass is going to dramatically increase the Xbox user-base. It's going to be many people's first Xbox - both young and old gamers. They are going to choose the white console - not the black one. Microsoft played this very smart, but I still hear many Xbox gamers question the existence of the S.... (cont. below)