Xbox Series X

[Hwlngmad]

On 3/22/2020 at 4:22 AM, negative1 said:

gameplay footage, hands on:

 

later

-1

Yes, I saw this video.  Needless to say I was very impressed and I look forward to seeing not only what MS does with the Series X, but what else they have in store for the Xbox One line, which if they put the Xbox One X down to $250 or so, that would be really hard to pass up.

[negative1]

https://www.windowscentral.com/xbox-series-x-and-xbox-series-s-release-date-and-price-finally-revealed

 

• Xbox Series S console design finally leaked.
• We can confirm the Xbox Series S is $299, and the Series X is $499.
• Xbox Series S and Xbox Series X will launch on November 10, 2020.

It has long been rumored that Microsoft is working on two Xbox consoles for next-gen, aiming to claim both ends of the market. And now, we can confirm indeed that the pricing scheme should be very familiar, matching that of the Xbox One X and Xbox One S of yesteryear.

 

We can confirm via our sources that the entry-level Xbox Series S will cost $299 at retail, with a $25 per month Xbox All Access financing option, which Microsoft is planning to push hard via various retailers and a large global rollout. The more powerful Xbox Series X will cost $499, with a $35 per month Xbox All Access financing option.

Both consoles will launch on November 10, 2020.

 

The Xbox Series S just leaked (via Brad Sams), giving us a glimpse at Microsoft's entry-level next-gen SKU. The Xbox Series S is small enough to fit inside an Xbox Series X, and we expect it to be around 4TF RDNA2, making it roughly around as powerful as the Xbox One X, perhaps geared towards 1080p monitors with better frame rates. We don't have further details on the console's capabilities beyond that, but we expect NVME drives, and many of the newer "next-gen" features like fast resuming multiple games, and ray tracing.

 

later

-1

[Steven Pendleton]

Xbox Series Speaker

 

This one still looks like a yakiniku grill, just like the Series X does. Or maybe it's a hot plate. Not sure yet.

[Atariboy]

No disc drive makes the S a non-starter for me, sadly. Nice to finally see some concrete details though and I'm glad prices aren't as crazy as feared.

[MrMaddog]

48 minutes ago, Atariboy said:

No disc drive makes the S a non-starter for me, sadly. Nice to finally see some concrete details though and I'm glad prices aren't as crazy as feared.

Not to mention the lack of media remote support so unless it fully supports the TV remote through HDMI-CEC, then there goes my HTPC...

 

I only have a couple of physical games for my Xbox One so "maybe" I can replace them with digital copies?  And TBH I haven't watched any Blu-Rays in a long time.

 

But I'm definitely keeping my Xbox 360 for the disc games!

[Austin]

Pricing doesn't seem unreasonable to me, but I'm with Leo on the S not having a disc drive. That pretty much makes the X the only option for me. Not that I'd probably go for a S anyway, I do want the "latest and greatest". Still though, no disc drive will alienate some customers that would prefer the $300 option.

[Punisher5.0]

Pricing doesn't sound bad at all for what you get. It will be interesting to see what Sony does for the price of the all digital version of the PS5.

[cimerians]

I'm putting that $500 to a new PC not a console, Zen 3 is right around the corner and will pick up the $299 console. I'm done with physical media which is surprising for me to say, thought I'd never say that. Really like what Microsoft is doing making Xbox games available on PC and Accessibility options as well as backwards compatibility they've done a great job all around for years now. 

[Hwlngmad]

Pretty solid line up imo.  I think the Series S at $299 and the Series X at $499 are pretty reasonable price wise for what you will be getting.  Make me wonder, since MS is going to still be producing the One S, what it's future price will be in-and-around Black Friday and even after that.  I think it will be dropped (permanently) to $199 and we might see it on sale for Black Friday for $150.  Granted, these are just guesses on my part, but obviously a price change for the One S is (very likely) coming.

[negative1]

6 hours ago, Austin said:

Pricing doesn't seem unreasonable to me, but I'm with Leo on the S not having a disc drive. That pretty much makes the X the only option for me. Not that I'd probably go for a S anyway, I do want the "latest and greatest". Still though, no disc drive will alienate some customers that would prefer the $300 option.

 

8 hours ago, Atariboy said:

No disc drive makes the S a non-starter for me, sadly. Nice to finally see some concrete details though and I'm glad prices aren't as crazy as feared.

The no disc drive is a non-issue. They are shooting for the casual crowd, who could care less, especially with digital downloads,

gamepass, and xcloud. And you can still play 360 games that are backwards compatible if you already owned them digitally.

Maybe they will address transferring physical discs at some point.

 

If you need a disc drive, just get the One S, they're cheap, or if you prefer 360, just get that used. they're cheap too.

 

later

-1

 

 

[Atariboy]

It's an issue for me since I appreciate the value of physical media.

 

Assuming game performance largely is equivalent on Xbox Series S minus the substantial reduction in resolution, I'd of appreciated a cost reduced option tailored for 1080p televisions if there were no substantial downgrades otherwise. But like I already said, the absence of an optical drive makes the Series S an immediate non-starter for my needs. 

 

My Xbox One S isn't going to play Xbox Series S/X software. Even Microsoft's promised two year window or so of dual XB1/XSX 1st party releases appears to be getting backtracked upon. We were recently told that Forza Motorsport 8 next year will be eschewing XB1 compatibility, which all but seals the deal that Forza Horizon 5 will be skipping Xbox One in 2022.

 

And I'm seeing lots of Halo Infinite rumors about the XB1 iteration being scuttled and with the beefy PC requirements, I'm not optimistic of Microsoft's promised Flight Simulator 2020 release being followed through with on the Xbox One. Especially if the XSX launch is a major success like it just may be (While we're in an economically troubled time, a lot of people are turning to videogaming and willing to spend more than they'd typically would with the absence of many other entertainment options), I suspect we'll see several more AAA projects from Microsoft studios backtrack on promised Xbox One support to focus entirely on the next-gen hardware.

Edited September 8, 2020 by Atariboy

[Hydro Thunder]

I'm interested in the Series X, based partly on the supposed backwards compatibility all the way to the OG Xbox.  I would love to do some HD gaming for some of the super old stuff that's not available on Xb1 (specifically Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance, and maybe stuff like  Buffy TVS, Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks and Mortal Kombat: Armageddon, and others).

That at least was my first eyebrow raise at the new consoles doing something the previous gen didn't, that I cared at all about.

 

Past that... Not really honestly for myself seeing the point of the PS5 or the XB SX.  With the 360 / PS3 generation, we got downloadable games, wireless controllers, large hard drives, Blu-Ray (PS3), and HDMI for the first time, huge steps up from the prior generation.  XB1 and PS4 kinda gave me "more of the same but betterer graphix!".  And the XB SX and PS5 seem like "even yet still more betterer grapix!!!" without any particular killer apps that speak to me.  But all that said...still interested, still watching to see what they become, and hoping this generation fares better than the present for overall fun factor.

[Atariboy]

Sadly, I don't think that's going to happen. I believe it's largely assumed by the media that only the original Xbox and Xbox 360 games presently on the Xbox One backwards compatibility list will be playable on the Series S/X at launch (And hopefully some further additions to the BC list will happen in time).

 

Would be something special though if virtually the entire Xbox software family could be enjoyed on a single console, but I think Microsoft would be clarifying matters to make that clear if it indeed was the case. Instead they're happy to mislead people with their vague statement from months ago about 4 generations of Xbox software being playable on one system, which technically is going to be correct just by fully supporting the Xbox One (And the select Xbox/Xbox 360 games that can be played on any Xbox One).

 

Never say never I suppose, but sounds too good to be true.

 

Edited September 9, 2020 by Atariboy

[Steven Pendleton]

1 hour ago, Curious Sofa said:

I'm interested in the Series X, based partly on the supposed backwards compatibility all the way to the OG Xbox.

This is literally the only reason that I am interested in it, as well, because I recently learned that Sega made a lot of awesome games that are apparently still exclusive to the original Xbox. I don't feel like messing around with the original Xbox + OSSC or whatever, so this would be a great way to get all of those games playable. I think maybe the 360 has full compatibility with the original Xbox (or maybe not, I don't know), but unfortunately I let one of my friends borrow it 7 or 8 years ago and I haven't bothered to get it back yet.

 

If this new thing doesn't have 100% compatibility with the entire original Xbox library, insta-not interested. We'll see what happens.

[Atariboy]

Xbox 360 was backwards compatible with approximately 50% of the original Xbox library.

 

I spent time with several dozen games on the 360's emulator out of curiosity through the years, and felt like only about 20% of what I played were problem free enough to be satisfactory for me. If that percentage is anywhere accurate, that works out to be about 10% of the original Xbox library that's compatible and runs reasonably problem free. And probably even worse than that since it's not like I went through start to finish with every single game I tested.

 

Was a pretty lousy emulator for the most part.

 

 

Edited September 9, 2020 by Atariboy

[Steven Pendleton]

8 hours ago, Atariboy said:

Xbox 360 was backwards compatible with approximately 50% of the original Xbox library.

 

I spent time with several dozen games on the 360's emulator out of curiosity through the years, and felt like only about 20% of what I played were problem free enough to be satisfactory for me. If that percentage is anywhere accurate, that works out to be about 10% of the original Xbox library that's compatible and runs reasonably problem free. And probably even worse than that since it's not like I went through start to finish with every single game I tested.

 

Was a pretty lousy emulator for the most part.

 

 

Well, that sucks. Not really sure what else to say about it, unfortunately.

 

Anyway, this new thing is now officially $500 and releases on November 10th

 

https://www.gamespot.com/articles/xbox-series-x-releases-on-november-10-for-500/1100-6481946/?utm_source=gamefaqs&utm_medium=partner&utm_content=news_module&utm_campaign=homepage

Edited September 9, 2020 by Steven Pendleton

[+wongojack]

I'm not really sure where the idea that the original XBox and Xbox 360 library would be 100% supported came from.  Every official statement that I've read (and there's no way I've read them all) has been careful to say that things currently running on Xbox One will run on XSX.  That means that the slice of both libraries that currently runs on XBox One will work on the new machine.  That's definitely NOT 100% of 360 games and not even all the OG Xbox titles that would run (or start as @Atariboy points out) on the Xbox 360.  And I agree that the backwards compatibility from 360->OG left A LOT to be desired.

[negative1]

2 hours ago, wongojack said:

I'm not really sure where the idea that the original XBox and Xbox 360 library would be 100% supported came from.  Every official statement that I've read (and there's no way I've read them all) has been careful to say that things currently running on Xbox One will run on XSX.  That means that the slice of both libraries that currently runs on XBox One will work on the new machine.  That's definitely NOT 100% of 360 games and not even all the OG Xbox titles that would run (or start as @Atariboy points out) on the Xbox 360.  And I agree that the backwards compatibility from 360->OG left A LOT to be desired.

Exactly.

I have a free XBOX that someone got tired of and gave it to me.

I have a free XBOX 360 that someone else got tired of, when the got the XBOX one (my original 20G version gave up after working flawlessly for 15 years).

I have a free XBOX one that yet another person gave me, because they got an XBOX one s.

 

[yes, i gave free stuff to my other friends as trades].

 

I will probably be getting an XBOX one s, from that last previous friend, when he upgrades to XBOX series S/X.

(Along with a PS4, since they will get a PS5).

 

So i'm covered on the playing games from each era.

 

I HAVE ZERO INTEREST in series s/x, since there's NOTHING (unless its retro related, which i doubt) on it.

Wake me up when pac man CE DEX 4k, with raytracing shows up, or galaga, or dig dug.

 

later

-1

[Hydro Thunder]

Well..... Sounds like the new systems are nearly solely a plus for people who are REALLY needing 4k gaming and have $ to spare.

For me and others like me, with my 1080p (I think it's 1080p, might be 1080i, lol  ) TV and lack of interest in CoD 28 or Fortnite RayTrace4K Edition or whatever...

Not seeing it as of yet.  

Funniest part to me... My generation HAS disposable income.  Just seems very shortsighted to release a new system with so little to offer past 4k or whatever, ignoring a huge market.  The failure to recognize the success of such things as the Switch, or Arcade1Up, the Legends Ultimate cabs, all that sort of thing... seems shockingly shortsighted, even for peeps as out of touch as the Sony / Microsoft market branders.  But then, these are the same people that came up with such incredibly inventive and striking names for their new systems as "Just add 1 to the number next to PS, it's fine", or "Keep calling it Xbox, but make sure you keep it confusing and sound like no fun at all, add something tiresome and banal like "Series" ".

 

 

[Atariboy]

No different than last time.

 

Most of us will change our tune. There was nothing I was dying to play on PS4 and XB1 at launch with both the PS3 and 360 libraries offering a lot of games I still wanted to play back in 2013 (A backlog I'm still far from clearing in 2020). But they're both viable entertainment options today for me and it will be years before I ever tackle the bulk of what I'd like to eventually play on the XB1/PS4.

 

I suspect in a couple of years time I'll be able to start making a solid want list for both Sony and Microsoft's upcoming consoles for the day when I make the jump, even though the high profile platform exclusive AAA's and next-gen efforts from big publishers like Ubisoft that the gaming press focuses so much on will largely be non-existent on it. 

 

The only game changer that would've sped up my desire to jump into this generation would've been universal backwards compatibility. If the impossible happened and the Xbox Series X really played virtually every original Xbox and Xbox 360 game with performance and visual upgrades such as HD rendering for original Xbox games, I'd of wanted one immediately. But right now I feel safe in thinking I'll be very happy staying behind on the Xbox One and Playstation 4 for the next few years.

Quote

I'm not really sure where the idea that the original XBox and Xbox 360 library would be 100% supported came from. 

The confusion on backwards compatibility is partly Microsoft's own fault. I'm sure the vagueness of what I linked to below is deliberate, with Microsoft happy to have people thinking it's more than it probably will end up being.

 

https://news.xbox.com/en-us/2020/08/11/xbox-series-x-launching-with-thousands-of-games/

 

No where do they clarify that it will only play Xbox and Xbox 360 games already on the backwards compatibility list. Instead it's a rather grand sounding statement that excites people until they start to realize that full Xbox One backwards compatibility makes it technically not a lie.

 

Yet if this could play more than the ~25% of the Xbox 360 library and the ~4% of the original Xbox library that's presently supported on the Xbox One family (Per Wikipedia's BC article, which I'm not sure is accurate), they'd probably be out there making sure the world was aware of it. So I think that logic is why many of us have kept our expectations grounded in this area, rather than Microsoft actually being clear on the details of their BC initiative. 

Edited September 9, 2020 by Atariboy

[Agamon]

That's odd. I assumed all along the b/c catalog was what was available for the current gen, because to assume otherwise didn't make sense. It takes a lot of work to make these games work on current gen, it's not just copypasta ogxboxgame.exe.

 

Gotta say, I do not need one of these, not right away as my XBox One and my PC does the trick right now. But the price is not too bad, especially with the Canadian conversion rebate. I tend not to get fomo, but hard to ignore the hype wave right now.

 

I wonder if Sony is going to take bath on their price now, too...

[+wongojack]

@Atariboy - I dunno man, I heard very distinct language about the backwards compat at some point that said they were committed to making everything on Xbox 1 work on the series X.  That was enough for me.

 

"Microsoft has also confirmed that every single game that runs on Xbox One will work on the Xbox Series X, including OG Xbox games and Xbox 360 games that are backward compatible. "

 

Here's a article dated Sep 1st, but I heard this last year:  https://www.windowscentral.com/xbox-series-x#:~:text=All of your current headsets%2C controllers%2C and other,the single resume available on Xbox One consoles.

[cimerians]

Changed my mind, just saw the specs on the S on some site, 500 gig drive….forget about it. Someday will get the disc based version with the extra space slightly better gfx but definitely will wait for sales and a price drop so it will be a while for me. Not sure I 'need' one since there's really nothing I can't play on PC already, Halo Master Chief Collection on Steam was the icing on the cake for me. Just so ingrained in buying new consoles for so many decades. One of my favorite console launches was Super Nintendo and Xbox 360..waiting in line at electric avenue Montgomery Wards for the former.

Edited September 9, 2020 by cimerians

[Hydro Thunder]

Yes, Microsoft had said somewhere (I want to say in an official newsletter that I got) that it had a backwards compatibility entire team who are making great strides etc, really strongly led me to believe it would further the OG Xbox catalogue.

For them to have made the current 60 or whatever OG Xbox games that are on the XB1 sound like so many more would be coming, well.  I'll just say it did the opposite of earn them any points from me, if my $ matter.  No one is interested in a ninetieth version of Fusion Frenzy, dig deeper guys.

[Atariboy]

I don't even think it's 60. I believe I saw 41 at Wikipedia, which amounts to 39 original Xbox games for us in North America when we subtract the PAL exclusive WWII tank game and GTA: San Andreas (Putting the original Xbox disc in just triggers the 360 remaster to download).

 

For now I believe the official line is that the Xbox and Xbox 360 backwards compatibility initiative is finished. The focus for the team is on making sure Xbox One software, including the existing backwards compatible line, are working as they should on the Series S/X.

 

They've said though that in time, they may revisit adding to the backwards compatibility catalog.

Edited September 9, 2020 by Atariboy