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[Birdo]

Love the price. This will be my little Forza box.

 

[Skifi28]

If the rumored 1/3 of the X GPU power is true, I don't see any way this is a 1440p console. The memory amount doesn't help matters much either.

 

[Jaxcellent]

300 for a digital only weak ass console, wihout any cool new games.. seems to me Microsoft is just extending the XOne gen... let's not and say we did. Sony will crush them again next gen.

 

[Synless]

how Does this thing compare to the already existing Xbox one X? It looks worse on paper to me which means this thing Is not knocking it out of the park.

 

[fran.fernandez]

Feel like this is gonna be discounted fast

 

[Montauk]

I mean of course, we have dads and moms who buy this thing for their childrens, grandmas who do gift for their nephews, casual gamers etc.

But if you are an hardcore gamers with a decent job you buy the big sister, not the lesser one, this stuff stay in your home for almost 10 years, saving 250 dollars for stuff like this is straight up moronic for me, sorry.

What I said still applies. Not everyone is you. Other people have different priorities. Maybe they have a "good" job maybe they don't. Maybe they're saving. Maybe they like games but not to the tune of $500.

 

[supernova8]

299 is fantastic. I don't like the bluetooth speaker design but I can live with it.

If only they had a compelling first party lineup I would be all over it.

 

[LeftThumbstick]

I honestly don't know what to make of it, yes the price is pretty sweet but I want to see the games first.
I'm not a serious day&night gamer, my gaming time is precious and limited and I definitely have the funds to feed this habit so my question is why in the hell would I buy this instead of the PS5 + upgrade my PC for those games I want to experience on PC or strategy games which don't run on the PS5?

Of course, I'm not the target market of this console, but many would fall into this

For the 50 millionth time, Xbox DO NOT CARE where you buy their shit from, be it a PC or the Xbox itself, as long as you buy it.

Why would you buy this? To save yourself a good $500+ that you would’ve spent upgrading your PC just to be able to match the console level of quality, and probably more to surpass that level and be able to brag about it. On top, you will be spending at least $450-500 for that PS5, plus $50-70 for each of those juicy exclusives. Actually, you will be paying full price for ALL PS games.

or, get a $299 1440p that is capable of up to 120hz, all major first party game releasing on Gamepass day one for around $15 per month (you only need it for the month the game you want is coming out then cancel again).

it’s a no brainier for anyone that cares about the value proposition here. I’m sure not so well of parents and families will benefit massively from this and Gamepass.

I think it’s nuts that this even needs to be spellled out for people still.

 

[KungFucius]

We won't know how it's going to effect game development until it's been out lomg enough to be passed crossgen titles.

I know the XSS's defenders keep saying games will just be identical, but at a lower resolution, but this is seriously underpowered. I just cannot see how this isn't going to adversely affect next gen development.

Look at how badly the XO often ran games this gen compared to PS4, or the massive gulf in quality is between games on Switch compared to everything else. Yet those power gaps are nothing compared to how far behind the PS5 and XSX this thing will be, and we're seriously meant to believe that won't adversly effect things?

This isn't a bargain in my mind, or MS being noble, customer friendly geniuses, this is pure greed exploiting the poor, ignorant and budget conscious to make a fast buck any way possible, and not giving a damn about what's actually best for the wider gaming industry and games themselves as a medium.

It is the same exact architecture only less powerful. The only knob needed is to dial the resolution down. I don't understand why people don't get how this is nothing. If you have ever gamed on PC and pushed an older GPU too much you can easily understand how lowering resolution makes the top games run fine.

Just because a game runs worse on XBO than PS4, it does not mean XBO gimped PS4 games. The fact that some struggle shows that they favored the more popular HW then adjusted it to target the lesser box which was not identical. MS is not going to target performance on the XSS over XSX becase the XSX competes with the PS5 for technical bragging rights and XSS owners already showed they are more concerned about price than graphics.

Do you and other "Oh my god a lower powered unit will gimp games across the gen" theorists have any evidence to support the claim that lower power identical architecture that should scale easily with resolution does not scale with resolution and hence requires devs to struggle to develop high res games and just puts out crap instead? Note this thing is also all digital which means it will likely be smart enough to only download 1080 or 1440 versions of the assets. Further, I don't see why devs couldn't scale the res down even further for the S version of a title if there is a problem scaling the X version down. They could gimp the gimped version more instead of gimping the main version and the entire generation. This thing is not targeted at an audience that really cares about the best graphics.

 

[trikster40]

I’m curious if they know something we don’t. Odd that it just leaks out on a Monday night, then requires a tweet to confirm it’s real AND the price point?

My guess is they think Sony’s going to make an announcement soon (this week?) and they wanted to steal their thunder with this nugget, then after whatever Sony announces, come out with Series X price and release date. I think they know this is cheaper than the discless PS5 so it’s a safe way to be the price point leader going into next gen.

I am ready to see games running side by side on the S and X to see what kind of performance issues we are talking about here. Supporting up to 1440p and 120fps doesn’t necessarily mean as achieving it on next-gen titles.

 

[sobaka770]

You look to much inwards , there are enough people who are willing to yes.

Can't disagree. I mean I hope I'm not that stupid, me, you most people on this forum are enthusiasts XboxS is not targeting 90% of this forum population.

Microsoft strategy is to go after middle-level gamers. These are people who don't quite game on mobile phones but are also not chasing mega-trends and obsess about next gen tech like ray tracing. It's not that transparent.

However even if I remove myself from the equation I wonder how truly big this market really is? Because we know that more young people just game on handhelds or phones. Xbox isn't chasing that as Series S is not portable. Older generations and poeple with some money can easily justify spending 1-2k on getting an entry level TCL 4k HDR TV and pay a 200$ premium for a full-blown next-gen console. I don't want to derail this thread because we have a separate discussion on Gamepass but clearly both GP and XS are targeting the same value-prop market. The question is: does this niche even exist, can you move people into that niche and how much profit can you get out of it?

The doubt comes from the fact that here we're debating 200$ discount on a console that should last a generation yet people are conditioned to spend 100s of dollars on microtransactions, full-games cost 100$ now (I take AC Valhalla Gold Edition), people have no qualms to raid stores for new Zelda and Mario for full price. Compared to that is there really a value in saving 200$ to get a smaller console and is 15$ a month a good subscription proposition for you target audience (as all MS exclusives will go there) considering AAA games like AC, FIFA, Madden - all mass-market franchises will not go on GP and will certainly look considerably better on a console worth 2 full-prices games more?

I don't have answers and I'm interested to see the answer but right now that market niche is not appearing as clear to me as Xbox Execs.

 

[MrS]

I think it’s a good product for somebody who has been in the PS ecosystem for a long time. Low price point + game pass gives you access to a hell of a lot of games you’ve missed at a very low price. For next gen games, I still think its going to be an anchor that stops series x from reaching its full potential as games will inevitably be held back so that they can run on S. It will be interesting to see who buys it and if it can tempt Sony gamers to make the switch.

 

[T-Cake]

I think it is a great price but for me a digital console has far too many caveats and limitations.

So what happens next gen when there are only discless models? Do you give up gaming?

 

[YoodlePro]

For the 50 millionth time, Xbox DO NOT CARE where you buy their shit from, be it a PC or the Xbox itself, as long as you buy it.

Why would you buy this? To save yourself a good $500+ that you would’ve spent upgrading your PC just to be able to match the console level of quality, and probably more to surpass that level and be able to brag about it. On top, you will be spending at least $450-500 for that PS5, plus $50-70 for each of those juicy exclusives. Actually, you will be paying full price for ALL PS games.

or, get a $299 1440p that is capable of up to 120hz, all major first party game releasing on Gamepass day one for around $15 per month (you only need it for the month the game you want is coming out then cancel again).

it’s a no brainier for anyone that cares about the value proposition here. I’m sure not so well of parents and families will benefit massively from this and Gamepass.

I think it’s nuts that this even needs to be spellled out for people still.

Literally everything you wrote there is a non issue for me.

Besides I've already locked in my PS5 preorder at a measly €200 (€250 with the €50 up front fee) so whatever. Even if I would've paid full price for the PS5 I would have still bought it lol. Why the fuck would I pay for game pass, did you read what I wrote??? I don't need access to a million games I need access to the games I WANT and for LIMITED AMOUTNS OF TIME.

AND I ALMOST ALWAYSNEVER CARE FOR XBOX FIRST PARTY GAMES so Gamepass is very hard pass!

so there is little to no value proposition for me here. I don't understand why you're so triggered. I guess it's the second coming of Christ for you?

 

[M1chl]

I’m curious if they know something we don’t. Odd that it just leaks out on a Monday night, then requires a tweet to confirm it’s real AND the price point?

My guess is they think Sony’s going to make an announcement soon (this week?) and they wanted to steal their thunder with this nugget, then after whatever Sony announces, come out with Series X price and release date. I think they know this is cheaper than the discless PS5 so it’s a safe way to be the price point leader going into next gen.

I am ready to see flames running side by side on the S and X to see what kind of performance issues we are talking about here. Supporting up to 1440p and 120fps doesn’t necessarily mean as achieving it on next-gen titles.

I think it's better to put it that this machine is targetting 1440p with up to 120FPS, I think it would be more like 1080p with 60 fps, which would be enough for a lot of casuals. Let's be real...

 

[Aidah]

I have a 55" 4K OLED but sit about six foot away. Will I really notice THAT much difference between the S and X as the S price is great.

I think if you don't notice a difference on that TV then either Series X is garbage, or your eyes are.

 

[Rolla]

To me, it's interesting that they released it on social media first. I expected more fan fare via an official exec backed announcement.

It'll be interesting to see the metrics on social media.

I plan to get one.

Edit* I thought it was an official release?

 

[Makoto-Yuki]

yup, sony won't be able to offer anything at that price.

PS5 will be £400 at least.

 

[Aurelius]

I still game on a 1080p TV, together with Gamepass this is very tempting.

 

[Makoto-Yuki]

I think if you don't notice a difference on that TV then either Series X is garbage, or your eyes are.

I still game on a 1080p TV, together with Gamepass this is very tempting.

yup if anyone is hesitant about getting a new TV or just doesn't wanna then this will be perfect. £250 and you've got yourself a next gen console. crazy good value.

 

[Lestat Phoenix]

Sure but are those the games you WANT to play? Recently there were some good games on Gamepass but I still rather own CK3 that pay a monthly fee to play it. Gaming is a time-expensive hobby so unless games get shorter I just don't see it as a Netflix-type binge pastime where you sample games. (oh we already had that, it was called demos, it was free and we no longer get those cause smart marketers realised that it drove customers away most of the time)

Like sure, I'm cool if I can pay 15$ and try Grounded, Wasteland 3, CK3 and maybe even GoW5 but I'm old enough to know that it's not what I will play in long-term and the overabundance of kinda-cool-but-probably-not is not what I want from gaming.

For the hundredth time, you CAN OWN IT FOR A DISCOUNT IF YOU WANT TO BUY IT holy shit.

 

[Denis Colovic]

It is the same exact architecture only less powerful. The only knob needed is to dial the resolution down. I don't understand why people don't get how this is nothing. If you have ever gamed on PC and pushed an older GPU too much you can easily understand how lowering resolution makes the top games run fine.

Just because a game runs worse on XBO than PS4, it does not mean XBO gimped PS4 games. The fact that some struggle shows that they favored the more popular HW then adjusted it to target the lesser box which was not identical. MS is not going to target performance on the XSS over XSX becase the XSX competes with the PS5 for technical bragging rights and XSS owners already showed they are more concerned about price than graphics.

Do you and other "Oh my god a lower powered unit will gimp games across the gen" theorists have any evidence to support the claim that lower power identical architecture that should scale easily with resolution does not scale with resolution and hence requires devs to struggle to develop high res games and just puts out crap instead? Note this thing is also all digital which means it will likely be smart enough to only download 1080 or 1440 versions of the assets. Further, I don't see why devs couldn't scale the res down even further for the S version of a title if there is a problem scaling the X version down. They could gimp the gimped version more instead of gimping the main version and the entire generation. This thing is not targeted at an audience that really cares about the best graphics.

Very interesting post! Ofcourse it depends on the game but on next gen having 4k textures for all art assets will be the standard really. Some games will probably even have 8k textures. No one should be concerned about that. Besides that dynamic resolution scaling will help a lot too. That 300 Dollar machine will be able to give very great results. But as always games will look better or have much more detail on higher spec machines. We shouldnt forget that every generational leap is not only driven by its amazing hardware but also by the great new or upgraded first and third party game engines.

 

[HTK]

This is not for me because I want a proper next gen leap, however this is great move by Microsoft.

Sony should price the PS5 Digital at $399 and PS5 at $449.

 

[Karlinel]

If they target 1440p and upscale to 4k my old BC titles, imma buy this one.

 

[DonF]

So who is going to post the obligatory "Sony have really knocked it out the park with the PS5 All digital imo" thread?

 

[Bonfires Down]

Did you guys know that most people are perfectly happy watching Netflix at 720p?

I mean, I’d get the 4k console, but it’s for nerds.

Oh, and I sub to the 720p option on Netflix.

 

[Portugeezer]

It's a decent option if you haven't upgraded to 4k TV yet (most non-shit 4k TV would cost you more)

 

[BlueXImpulse]

So who is going to post the obligatory "Sony have really knocked it out the park with the PS5 All digital imo" thread?

me

 

[Radical_3d]

If it can play Halo 3 at 4K I’m in.

 

[M1chl]

I find this picture, don't know where to put it:

If it can play Halo 3 at 4K I’m in.

If I am not mistaken you can do that on X1X

 

[Vol5]

I must be the only pessimist on GAF. New console revealed without any games or how they run, frame-rates, RT, resolution, etc. After the last 6 months and BS MS consistently fed us, you lot are on board with spending £299 without anything tangible on display. Next-gen experiences could be severely knee-capped with this console if 3rd parties decide to develop against it.

Let the pre-orders go crazy, which no doubt they will at that price. Me personally, I'll sit and wait to see content running first before considering a purchase.

 

[Radical_3d]

I find this picture, don't know where to put it:

If I am not mistaken you can do that on X1X

Correct, but I only own a XOS (that I haven’t even unpackaged since I moved one year ago).

 

[Orta]

One thing that is a constant problem on gaming forums is enthusiasts (core gamers) failing to see things from a more casual perspective.

For many casual gamers they won't know about or care about the potential performance/graphical downsides to this. They will want a new console, they'll say ooh that's a good price and they'll buy it.

Most people don't know, understand or care about the sort of technical detail and graphical minutae that we, as serious enthusiasts, do. We're not normal, always try and remember that.

I'm a committed pc gamer but when it comes to consoles, definitely fall into the casual category so perhaps my input on this system might be of interest.

The way I see it is I can buy this little box for €275 (imported from Amazon UK) and out of that box I've got my shiny new console and controller. I don't need to pay another €70 for a launch game because as far as I know MS isn't launching with a AAA title.

Instead I'm more than happy to sign up to this gamepass thing for a little over €3 per week and play stuff like graphically upgraded RDR2, Ori, Tomb Raider, Halo, Forza, etc that I never experienced because I didn't buy an Xbox One. And if I want to play the next gen stuff, its there too, and 1440p isn't a problem as I don't have a 4k tv.

From my casual perspective, its a nice little package.

 

[sobaka770]

For the hundredth time, you CAN OWN IT FOR A DISCOUNT IF YOU WANT TO BUY IT holy shit.

And for the 100th time you still have to pay 15 a month before you commit to buying and AAA games are not on Gamepass such as AC, FIFA and all the big hitters. So it's a subscription on top of other purchases for me.

 

[Sw0pDiller]

Pretty nice machine and great value.. but I don't see any games I want to play on xbox. Maybe when craig shows up in a couple of years wearing a new dress

 

[Calverz]

Not even slightly true, they just have to make good games again.

All this other bollocks with gamepass, play anywhere, xcloud, and the XSS would be completely unnecessary, if they were knocking out 1st party bangers the same way Sony, Nintendo and they themselves used to do in the late X1/early 360 years.

They could make the xss £99 and you would still be moaning about something or other.

 

[SirTerry-T]

The SSD on this thing probably won't need to store any 4k textures that it's big brother and Sony equivalent probably will, so maybe that's the reason for the smaller storage size???

 

[Calverz]

how Does this thing compare to the already existing Xbox one X? It looks worse on paper to me which means this thing Is not knocking it out of the park.

The CPU and SSD is a HUGE upgrade to the one x jaguar cpu and HDD. As for GPU its worse yes. But then it isnt targeting 4k like the one x did. I think you’ll be pleasantly.

 

[Malakhov]

Good and cheap option if you don't have a pc, that's about it

 

[Papacheeks]

Only 512gb of storage is a big mistake. Modern warfare is 200gb by itself, if Cold war is close to that in size, then people are going to need to upgrade storage when they buy this thing.

If there was one component not to skimp on it's storage.

Looking at you too Sony.

 

[Kev Kev]

it looks really nice and that price is honestly just perfect for me.

512 GB for all digital console is terrible.
Youll install 4 bigger game and its full

this isnt a problem for me. and this console is designed for people who dont play as many games. so 4 big games is perfect. hell, i never have more than a couple downloaded on ym console anyway. never liked hte idea of games i wanst playing taking up space

 

[oagboghi2]

Yeah people always tend to look at these things from their own viewpoint, and not the 'bigger picture'. This thing will fly off the shelves. It will be the parents darling, console wise.

I swear to god you people live in constant denial

 

[THE:MILKMAN]

So what happens next gen when there are only discless models? Do you give up gaming?

If that was the only option I would probably switch to PC or find another hobby if not!

I think there is long way to go for an all digital future (or even whether we get a PS6/XSXX). Lets see what percentage the digital consoles sell first.

 

[Slings and Arrows]

I want to see how the games run on this.

And i guess MS have painted themselves in a corner if they need to go VR

 

[Damigos]

The Series S is better than Series X
I am still getting a PS5 though

 

[megreotsugua]

I'm still not convinced. Some people are saying it's worth it for gamepass, but there's a lot of games to play that I almost can't keep up with without gamepass. I will just end up paying for it and waste money.

I'm still waiting for a must have game from MS.

 

[Bombolone]

Is that a real picture of the console?

 

[Cert.in.Death]

A long-term liability and now hinders all developers from using the resources of the Series X for exclusive content.

An acceptable purchase proposition for the lowest economic strata if you’re willing to forfeit the allure of the highest grade performance. But is also not the cheapest option given the Switch will cut its price early next year and the Switch lite is available.

 

[JohnnyFootball]

I’m curious if they know something we don’t. Odd that it just leaks out on a Monday night, then requires a tweet to confirm it’s real AND the price point?

My guess is they think Sony’s going to make an announcement soon (this week?) and they wanted to steal their thunder with this nugget, then after whatever Sony announces, come out with Series X price and release date. I think they know this is cheaper than the discless PS5 so it’s a safe way to be the price point leader going into next gen.

I am ready to see games running side by side on the S and X to see what kind of performance issues we are talking about here. Supporting up to 1440p and 120fps doesn’t necessarily mean as achieving it on next-gen titles.

This doesn't steal Sony's thunder in the slightest. Now that the cat is out of the bag, Sony will get all of the attention when they announce and everyone will forget about Xbox.

The only way MS stays in the conversation is if they announced a fake price and then comes out with a newer much lower price.

 

[Tazzu]

If only it had a disc drive it would be a day one purchase.