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[BlackTron]

Series S was definitely a smart move, and one time MS predicted very well the market.

I appeared like a smart move until it became apparent that they hadn't thought their cunning plan all the way through.

Series S fractured development while making it easier to access the Xbox ecosystem where they could proceed to make almost nothing on cost-sensitive clients while becoming also shackled to them.

It gave them momentum in terms of install base but they failed to capitalize on it (because Spencer had no plan other than Gamepass), resulting in a remaining base of people who only stayed for cheap/free shit.

Xbox would be like 1000% better off if they just had a digital XSX for $100 less from the outset. Would have solved so many issues. But then I wouldn't have a small cool and quiet 360mini streaming box so, thanks for that Microsoft

 

[scarlet0pimp]

Switch 2 is about to come out and make the series s look like a beast. It will still loads and developers will want to target it. Series S will be fine.

 

[DeltaPolarBear]

Mid-90s, they already fought that battle and said fuck it.

Anyhow the series S is fine. If a dev team can’t develop for it it’s due to not managing scope or lack of time. Wukong was a relatively small team considering the large scope of the game. BG3 started development like two generations ago.

The only thing that kept 3rd party games viable on SeriesS was the cross-gen period. Because if you run your game on a PS4, you can run it on Series S.

But that is ending. PS5 games are not going to work on Series S. Even new PC games are not going to run on Series S. Things are going to get worse from here for Xbox.

Switch 2 is about to come out and make the series s look like a beast. It will still loads and developers will want to target it. Series S will be fine.

Not happening. At the very least Switch 2 would have more RAM. The one thing that kills porting to Series S.

 

[ManaByte]

Switch 2 is about to come out and make the series s look like a beast. It will still loads and developers will want to target it. Series S will be fine.

I use my Series S every day.

 

[scarlet0pimp]

I use my series s every day too well my kids do mostly for fortnite. I take it my my friends house to play cod in a LAN love it for its small size and good looks also sips power.
Got a decent pc series x switch and Ps5 pro now too traded in the Ps5 last week. Series s sees the most play time in my house just maybe not from me.
Will probably get the switch 2 when it comes out too.

 

[cireza]

I appeared like a smart move

Don't be too hard on yourself

resulting in a remaining base of people who only stayed for cheap/free shit.

And they are addressing a part of the market that doesn't have a lot of money, so that's more business for them.

Xbox would be like 1000% better off if they just had a digital XSX for $100 less from the outset.

But this is unrealistic considering they are already selling at a loss, don't you think ?

 

[sainraja]

Series S might have been a mistake at launch but I don't think it is anymore given the Switch 2 and the rumored focus on portable handhelds.

 

[BlackTron]

Switch 2 is about to come out and make the series s look like a beast. It will still loads and developers will want to target it. Series S will be fine.

The opposite may happen with the RAM situation.

 

[Guardian Monkey]

The only thing that kept 3rd party games viable on SeriesS was the cross-gen period. Because if you run your game on a PS4, you can run it on Series S.

But that is ending. PS5 games are not going to work on Series S. Even new PC games are not going to run on Series S. Things are going to get worse from here for Xbox.

What games?

 

[BlackTron]

But this is unrealistic considering they are already selling at a loss, don't you think ?

Not really. MS has always spent massive money to support Xbox. They just do it in the wrong way and waste it. They could lose less money on a $100 less XSX digital than on on the combined costs of having a gimped console to support. Such as games not arriving the same time as Playstation, having to send developers to help, or losing titles entirely to the clause because it simply won't run on Series S. People who buy digital can also never use discs and are more likely to make up the deficit in a more direct way bypassing not only used games but also retailers completely.

The combined costs of XSS and parity clause, especially with its shit RAM, appear to have hurt the Xbox brand substantially more than a lower-tier console with the same capabilities such as PS5 digital. It's just a case of strategic planning in consoles which Sony and Nintendo are very experienced at while MS is completely lost.

 

[Mephisto40]

 

[Zacfoldor]

What's he gonna say. It was a mistake?

I bet the majority of full console priced gamepass subs are on the Series S.

Here's why I think that.

People who make bad decisions on something super easy like console choice probably also make bad decisions with money. Do you really think the series S people are the ones who got the 99 cent a decade gamepass deal and stacked it? lol no. they probably rent gamepass and gamefly at the same time.

"You'll own nothing and be happy" is your series s folks in a nutshell.

 

[SEGAvangelist]

If Series S isn't supported, we just get worse versions on Series X and PS5, IMO.

 

[ChorizoPicozo]

Besides series s lack of power, the real issue is that the Xbox hardware will continue its free fall in the market....DEAD CONSOLE.

 

[CLW]

 

[hououinkyouma00]

Well dropping it would be horrible for them as the majority of Series consoles are the S as far as I'm aware. Keeping it around sucks because it seems it's a pain, but saying oh hey you can just release games for the console people don't have would be a final nail in the coffin of modern Xbox hardware.

I still think that just a little more GPU power and memory would have completely changed everything. A Series S with like 2GB more memory, and a 6TF GPU vs 4TF I think would have gone a long way.

 

[Arsic]

You’ll never get next gen from third party because of this device.

 

[Bumblebeetuna]

You’ll never get next gen from third party because of this device.

Oh yeah, that’s what has been holding third party back, not horrible mismanagement and prioritizing the wrong things.

Plus GAF constantly tells us over and over that games don’t sell on Xbox. Why wouldn’t these third parties just stick to PC/PS5?

 

[sainraja]

Here is another take. Do hardware configurations really hold developers back?
They have had to design for multiple different configurations for a very long time and now many devs are publishing on PC as well. Does it really matter?

 

[SkylineRKR]

Here is another take. Do hardware configurations really hold developers back?
They have had to design for multiple different configurations for a very long time and now many devs are publishing on PC as well. Does it really matter?

No it doesn't matter. Its not like PS5 software, who doesn't have an XSS equivalent, looks much better. XSS however, in some instances, is the cause of certain games coming late to Xbox. But these games themselves right there prove they don't take XSS into account during development. They're too ambitious for XSS after all. And this is also why you get XSS games at near SD resolutions, or 30fps max.

It only matters for Xbox. They have to give XSS owners the same content and have to cut corners to do so.

 

[asdasdasdbb]

It's basically 50-50 at Amazon.

Series S: 7k+
Series X Digital: 6k+
Series X Disc: 900+

 

[Represent.]

I hope GTA6 runs at 3fps on series S, at 720i. not even 720p

and yes i meant 3 fps, not 30

 

[viveks86]

“I’m playing Indiana Jones on S"

 

[Setsuna Mudou]

Xbox needs to start a new gen as soon as possible...

yeah, poor Xbox, just needs a mulligan, for the 3rd time in a row, I'm sure the next one will be the one

 

[Radical_3d]

In a way I think about it in almost exactly the opposite way right now. With the rise of handheld PCs and even the introduction so far of the Switch 2

Yeah, Phill. But all those devices have more RAM than your increasingly irrelevant market share. Congratulations, you have out-cheapen Nintendo.

 

[onnextflix5]

Series s would have been a good console if it’s ram setup was not so bad and had bit more bandwidth to play with, even the switch 2 will have more ram

 

[NickFire]

There's no way they would publicly drop it at this point. But is sucks that they own so much because their pubs / devs will probably not get any exceptions approved.

 

[cireza]

Such as games not arriving the same time as Playstation, having to send developers to help

This seems largely exaggerated though.

But I agree that it is certainly easier to maximize profit on a single SKU, rather than having several SKUs each having its own manufacturing process etc...

 

[HogIsland]

PC handhelds in 2026 will be a thing of beauty. I'm just not sure they'll be running Windows.

 

[Rawbutt Jellybean]

What's he gonna say. It was a mistake?

I bet the majority of full console priced gamepass subs are on the Series S.

Here's why I think that.

People who make bad decisions on something super easy like console choice probably also make bad decisions with money. Do you really think the series S people are the ones who got the 99 cent a decade gamepass deal and stacked it? lol no. they probably rent gamepass and gamefly at the same time.

"You'll own nothing and be happy" is your series s folks in a nutshell.

I have GP on PC and I save a ton of money because of it. Better than spending $70 on a digital game you don't actually own and probably won't replay before it's on deep discount.

 

[Soapbox Killer]

I use my Series S every day.

Despite having every console, it was the main gaming driver in my house till it got water damaged. It was hooked up to the gaming monitor and the kids think Fortnite looks super cool at 120fps. Not like the Serie X or the PS5 cant do it but those are not hooked up to tvs for 120hz screens.

 

[HogIsland]

I have GP on PC and I save a ton of money because of it. Better than spending $70 on a digital game you don't actually own and probably won't replay before it's on deep discount.

I've got a lot of Steam games I "don't actually own" since 2004. It doesn't cost me a monthly fee to have Metal Gear Rising in my backlog ready to play at any time, and with great graphics/performance. Thanks to Valve constantly improving their platform, it's now a handheld game!

 

[Mibu no ookami]

They're better off discontinuing the Xbox Series than they are removing the parity clause. Not sure if a class action lawsuit would be successful, but it's probably not worth the risk at this point in the generation. The percentage of games actually impacted by this is pretty marginal. The only real concern would be if it results in delays or foreclosure on GTA. I don't think Xbox could survive as a brand if GTA6 was PS5 exclusive.

 

[Bernardougf]

Dont know what's more delusional.. people thinking Series S was a "smart" move or people that thinks Switch 2 will drive third part support.

 

[Dontkidyourselfjimmy]

The stupidest narrative was that the Series S was more capable and had more headroom at 1080p than PS5/XSX at 4k therefore it would be running higher fps. Now you have games that are stuck at 30fps on Series S. The xbox evangelists aren't very bright.

Never forget

 

[bender]

It’s their most successful platform this generation so that makes sense.

 

[Rawbutt Jellybean]

I've got a lot of Steam games I "don't actually own" since 2004. It doesn't cost me a monthly fee to have Metal Gear Rising in my backlog ready to play at any time, and with great graphics/performance. Thanks to Valve constantly improving their platform, it's now a handheld game!

Probably would have saved some money if you were able to rent it on release then buy it on a steam sale or from a key site on discount later. Then think of the games you bought that you never replayed.

 

[DeepEnigma]

Series s would have been a good console if it’s ram setup was not so bad and had bit more bandwidth to play with, even the switch 2 will have more ram

A lot of us said this from the very beginning. But the true believer derps carrying the piss buckets...

 

[Rentahamster]

What's the problem? I thought it was just a matter of adjusting a few sliders?

They can't find the slider to download more RAM.

 

[EN250]

MS seems focused*

*On doing the wrong moves

What else can they so? The weakest HW from them is the best selling one

They should be thankful last gen consoles have an active user base (at least at the start of this current gen) that forced crossgen on everyone for years, otherwise this parity would have been a real pain in the ass for Xbone Series users

 

[kevboard]

good...
keeps devs somewhat grounded.

Why is the new LLM out of china so much more efficient than Open AI's trash? because the devs were hardware starved and had to overcome those limitations through optimisation.

As long as the Series S exists, developers have to at least somewhat optimise their games.

 

[scarlet0pimp]

People keep on saying the S has 2 gb less ram than the switch, which is true, but maybe devs will start to implement the SFS technology which will put the series S back up there.x

 

[Calverz]

I play my series s more than my ps5. Sorry OP.

 

[Mephisto40]

People keep on saying the S has 2 gb less ram than the switch, which is true, but maybe devs will start to implement the SFS technology which will put the series S back up there.x

 

[Alebrije]

Series S was fine the firsth 2 years but its fate was written since its release : to be a burden for Xbox after those 2 years.

But yea Gamepass + SS was the deal back those years.

 

[SweetTooth]

I play my series s more than my ps5. Sorry OP.

Understandable, I too sometimes feels retarded and go to India for vacation instead of Switzerland..I feel bad afterwards though

 

[noob smokes]

I really do wonder how gta gonna run on that box prolly gonna be like gta 5 on ps3

 

[Cyberpunkd]

Xbox needs to start a new gen as soon as possible...

What for? So that instead of people buying XSX and not buying games they can buy a new console and continue not to buy games?

 

[Guardian Monkey]

What for? So that instead of people buying XSX and not buying games they can buy a new console and continue not to buy games?

Correct. It's the model that makes them the second largest company the world. Subscriptions.

 

[DeepEnigma]

good...
keeps devs somewhat grounded.

Why is the new LLM out of china so much more efficient than Open AI's trash? because the devs were hardware starved and had to overcome those limitations through optimisation.

As long as the Series S exists, developers have to at least somewhat optimise their games.

Why wouldn't they up their min-spec optimization to the PS5/X then?