Xbox Series X first impressions...from a first timer

[eightbit]

My situation with the new Xbox is probably a lot different than others. That is because the very last Xbox I played/owned was the Xbox 360. And even there I didn't give it much of a chance for one reason or another back then.

 

But I figured the time has come to see what I have missed. It's kind of a weird feeling to play all of these Xbox Game Pass games for the first time (I think the only game on that 100 game list that I have actually put any time into in the past was the first Gears Of War). So all of that said, it is ALL new to me. And man have I been missing out!

 

The hardware first off feels like a tank. This is a very well built console. The controller is as fantastic as ever...but even moreso now. I like the grips on this and the D-Pad feels fantastic. I really like what they did with the D-Pad modification and the clicky-ness

 

I set this up as an "instant on" console in the initial settings...and yeah, it is instant on. I never had the previous consoles to gauge the speed but this is pretty much instantaneous. I have this hooked up to a 55 inch 4K TV that I didn't even know was a 4K TV until this evening. My brother purchased it for me last Christmas and said it was 1080P only. Well, that was a surprise

 

Downloading (at least over Wifi) however is SLOW. These games are huge. Forza Horizon 4 was around 89GB and took an hour. I am probably not telling people what they already do not know, but I am certainly not used to that. I think I may have to go hard wired on this soon.

 

My first impressions of it are just fantastic. It is built well as is the controller, DVD and Bluray movies play as expected, games look absolutely stunning, the quick resume feature is very very cool. I guess it really just comes down to (for now) if you already have an Xbox One X and have been following Microsoft Xbox games for a while. Those people may not feel the need to upgrade at this point in time with no real X/S exclusives. But for me, it is ALL new so I am having a blast. I think if you skipped the last generations of these consoles (One and One X) that you will really enjoy what you are seeing here. And, maybe even if you didn't you will benefit from these rediculously fast load times. Probably again what you have all heard in the reviews before.

 

And, when games arrive that are specific to the X/S consoles and will not work on those previous generation consoles that is of course where you will need one of these.

 

 

Overall, more than happy with this purchase. This is one slick console. And while its great that it is all pretty much "new" to me, I kind of wish it had not been. I should have been playing a lot of these games a long time ago!

[MrMaddog]

Welcome to the club!

 

Here's my suggestions for any first time (new) Xbox owner...

 

Buy an external hard drive for all your Xbox One games and save the internal storage for the "next gen" titles that require it.

 

Get a media remote if you plan on watching Blu-Rays or streaming video because you will need to pause something w/o waiting for your controller to wake up.  I heard that Series S/X supports full HDMI-CEC for using the TV remote but Xbox remotes will still work.

 

If you find something on Game Passs that you "really" like, buy it at a discount while it's still available.  Games do come and go often except for Microsoft's 1st party stuff.

 

 

[eightbit]

Great advice, thanks! Yeah, finding storage is quickly running out of course

[eightbit]

I will say though that I am absolutely loving this console. It just chews up any game you throw at it. Ridiculously fast load times and not a hint of any type of slow down at all on dozens of games I have tested. I think it's going to be some time indeed before I actually see a game that gives this thing a run for its money. That said, I can wholeheartedly recommend this console. Best purchase of 2020 for me!

[DJ Clae]

I haven't tried it yet, but I doubt I would want to play a game like Wonder Boy, Sonic Mania or Mega Man 11 with that clicky D-pad. I don't think it would feel smooth.

 

Still an improvement over the Xbox One D-pad though as long as it doesn't break easily. Not sure if I want to play a game with it to find out.

[Metal Jesus]

Ever since the Xbox One X, Microsoft has done a great job with their consoles...and the Series X is definitely a continuation of that trend. I love mine as well.

[King_Salamon]

I will be getting a Series X sometime in 2021... no rush for me as I'm enjoying my One X and pretty much only play Fallout games on it.  lol  I also intend on grabbing a PS5 as well.  I enjoy all the systems... maybe even get an Amico.  lol

[Punisher5.0]

On 1/1/2021 at 9:01 AM, King_Salamon said:

I will be getting a Series X sometime in 2021... no rush for me as I'm enjoying my One X and pretty much only play Fallout games on it.  lol  I also intend on grabbing a PS5 as well.  I enjoy all the systems... maybe even get an Amico.  lol

The one thing Im jealous about with the Xbox ecosystem is New Vegas is playable on all of them since the 360. Sony stopped at the PS3 for some reason

[digdugnate]

notwithstanding the crazy scalper prices and supply right now, we're waiting till later this year to move to the Series X- our One S fits the bill for everything we want to do at the moment.

 

Forza 8 (Forza Motorsport) would be a really compelling reason to buy.

[King_Salamon]

17 hours ago, Punisher5.0 said:

The one thing Im jealous about with the Xbox ecosystem is New Vegas is playable on all of them since the 360. Sony stopped at the PS3 for some reason

I have owned all PS systems with the exception of the PS3.  I played FO3 and NV on the 360 and have kept the games since.  At first I thought I would have to buy new (pre-owned) 360s to keep playing those games but now with the back compat of the One X and Series X etc, I am super happy to keep playing the games when I want to.

 

One interesting thing is with MS buying Bethesda and already owing Obsidian... there's a good chance we will see another Fallout game from Obsidian.  At least I can hope.   I won't even get into the exclusivity idea that may follow.

[eightbit]

I've been throwing a bunch of 360 games at it (shopped by local Goodwill's this past weekend) and well...everything works so far I admit I have not scoured any compatibility lists prior to purchasing. Just finding games I would like to play (and are not scratched to hell) and bringing them home and trying them.

 

My 16 year old came in while I was playing a few of the 360 games and said "Hey wait, this isn't a 360 game, right?". That said, they look really darn good on this. I did not own the 360 for very long and I no longer have it to compare, but games like Halo 4 really don't look like a 360 game on this console at all!

 

 

 

And, not turning this into a Sony rant (or Xbox fanboy) thing, but I will say that I have been pissed off about the way Sony went about backward compatibility for years. I purchased the 60GB PS3 on launch day and it was great. PS1/2/3 games all on one awesome console. I really loved it. Installed YellowDog Linux and thought the OtherOS idea was really forward thinking. Shortly after the console lost the OtherOS function via an update...and shortly after that my console died. I had it replaced through Sony and they gave me the 80GB model with semi backward PS2 compatibility. Ugh. But, whatever...it still played every PS2 game at least that I had. I guess I didn't own any of the 5% that would not work with that new software emulation.

 

Then, some years later that console died as well. I "upgraded" to a slim model. Now it only had PS1 and PS3 compatibility. WTF? And, the hard drive in that one died 24 hours later. I guess it couldn't handle all of the copying/downloading of my purchased titles. I returned it.

 

I passed up on the PS4, but my brother got it. No backward compatibility at all. Heh. Now, the PS5...with PS4 backward compatibility. And I suspect that will be taken away in a year or two if I were to go by their track record.

 

 

Backward compatibility to me is an important thing. Not just for purchasing the cheap game at a Goodwill, but for forward preservation of the games. It's really great to play some now "vintage" games (the actual physical media) on a brand new machine without having to hunt down a used old console with a lot of mileage on it.

Edited January 6, 2021 by eightbit

[+wongojack]

You mentioned GamePass in your first post.  I am still using an original XBox One for most of my gaming and TV watching (I don't have a 4k TV).  I like to play big budget titles on my 1080p TV, but what GamePass has really done for me is eliminate a lot of indie game purchases that I would do on Steam.  Pretty much as soon as I get around to finding a game that is getting some buzz but isn't by one of the "big" studios, it seems to hit GamePass.  A good example right now is Monster Train.  I heard great things about it and added it to my Steam wishlist . . . just waited a little bit and . . . abracadabra now it is on GamePass!  This is really changing my PC gaming behavior in a way I didn't expect.  The fact that I can take advantage of GamePass for PC is also a HUGE benefit for games in that category.  Heck, I can also play a lot of them on Android too.  I know that for some people the idea of subscribing to a gaming service sounds unappealing, but in my case, I think it may have actually saved me money.

[eightbit]

On 1/6/2021 at 12:54 AM, wongojack said:

You mentioned GamePass in your first post.  I am still using an original XBox One for most of my gaming and TV watching (I don't have a 4k TV).  I like to play big budget titles on my 1080p TV, but what GamePass has really done for me is eliminate a lot of indie game purchases that I would do on Steam.  Pretty much as soon as I get around to finding a game that is getting some buzz but isn't by one of the "big" studios, it seems to hit GamePass.  A good example right now is Monster Train.  I heard great things about it and added it to my Steam wishlist . . . just waited a little bit and . . . abracadabra now it is on GamePass!  This is really changing my PC gaming behavior in a way I didn't expect.  The fact that I can take advantage of GamePass for PC is also a HUGE benefit for games in that category.  Heck, I can also play a lot of them on Android too.  I know that for some people the idea of subscribing to a gaming service sounds unappealing, but in my case, I think it may have actually saved me money.

 

 

Honestly in the beginning (when I first signed up) I didn't think I would use it much. Boy was I wrong. I am playing so many games now...games overload! I do use it to find games that I really want physically (like the Ori series, Forza Horizon 4, Streets of Rage 4) and I buy those games. I love the service and intend to keep it active for as long as I own the console. It is so well worth the price (I went with Ultimate) and if I weren't a physical game collector I would say a Series S and this service would be all most gamers would need out of a next gen console.

[DJ Clae]

On 1/5/2021 at 11:17 PM, eightbit said:

I've been throwing a bunch of 360 games at it (shopped by local Goodwill's this past weekend) and well...everything works so far I admit I have not scoured any compatibility lists prior to purchasing. Just finding games I would like to play (and are not scratched to hell) and bringing them home and trying them.

 

My 16 year old came in while I was playing a few of the 360 games and said "Hey wait, this isn't a 360 game, right?". That said, they look really darn good on this. I did not own the 360 for very long and I no longer have it to compare, but games like Halo 4 really don't look like a 360 game on this console at all!

 

 

 

 

In cases where the 360 game has been enhanced for Xbox One X, then your kid is actually exactly right. You aren't playing a 360 game; you're actually running Xbox One X code. Most of those games run in native 4K. Here's the complete list:

 

https://www.xbox.com/en-US/games/xbox-one/xbox-one-x-enhanced-list

 

Halo 4 is not one of these, because they want you to play the Master Chief Collection instead.

[Rick Dangerous]

Backwards compatibility is the main reason i'm leaning more towards the Xbox ecosystem and away from Playstation.  I really appreciate being able to play OG Xbox games, Xbox 360 games, and Xbox Live games i have previously purchased. 

 

When i got a PS4 none of my digital purchases from PS3 transferred over, ALL my 360 digital games popped right up on my Xbox One.

 

I'll stick with my Xbox One X until it breaks, but if i ever do buy another modern console, it' will probably be an Xbox Series X (or it's successor) because i know it will play all my games. 

[Serguei2]

On 12/29/2020 at 12:00 AM, eightbit said:

My situation with the new Xbox is probably a lot different than others. That is because the very last Xbox I played/owned was the Xbox 360. And even there I didn't give it much of a chance for one reason or another back then.

 

But I figured the time has come to see what I have missed. It's kind of a weird feeling to play all of these Xbox Game Pass games for the first time (I think the only game on that 100 game list that I have actually put any time into in the past was the first Gears Of War). So all of that said, it is ALL new to me. And man have I been missing out!

 

The hardware first off feels like a tank. This is a very well built console. The controller is as fantastic as ever...but even moreso now. I like the grips on this and the D-Pad feels fantastic. I really like what they did with the D-Pad modification and the clicky-ness

 

I set this up as an "instant on" console in the initial settings...and yeah, it is instant on. I never had the previous consoles to gauge the speed but this is pretty much instantaneous. I have this hooked up to a 55 inch 4K TV that I didn't even know was a 4K TV until this evening. My brother purchased it for me last Christmas and said it was 1080P only. Well, that was a surprise

 

Downloading (at least over Wifi) however is SLOW. These games are huge. Forza Horizon 4 was around 89GB and took an hour. I am probably not telling people what they already do not know, but I am certainly not used to that. I think I may have to go hard wired on this soon.

 

My first impressions of it are just fantastic. It is built well as is the controller, DVD and Bluray movies play as expected, games look absolutely stunning, the quick resume feature is very very cool. I guess it really just comes down to (for now) if you already have an Xbox One X and have been following Microsoft Xbox games for a while. Those people may not feel the need to upgrade at this point in time with no real X/S exclusives. But for me, it is ALL new so I am having a blast. I think if you skipped the last generations of these consoles (One and One X) that you will really enjoy what you are seeing here. And, maybe even if you didn't you will benefit from these rediculously fast load times. Probably again what you have all heard in the reviews before.

 

And, when games arrive that are specific to the X/S consoles and will not work on those previous generation consoles that is of course where you will need one of these.

 

 

Overall, more than happy with this purchase. This is one slick console. And while its great that it is all pretty much "new" to me, I kind of wish it had not been. I should have been playing a lot of these games a long time ago!

89 GB?

 

EEeek!

 

My internet connection is limited to 15 GB/month.

 

It would take five months to download it.