Xbox Series X

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blckgrffn

Diamond Member
May 1, 2003
9,110
3,028
136
www.teamjuchems.com
Series S is already stuck with One S back compat levels of fidelity, so all the sweet updates to games for the One X are lost.

Buying an S is a big compromise already and it seems like people who bought it are going to get a watered down experience for its entire lifetime. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
 

cmdrdredd

Lifer
Dec 12, 2001
27,052
357
126
Techland already showed the issues with having 2 power SKUs for Xbox by releasing Dying Light 2 on series S at 30fps. After a month they did patch it to be 60fps. they mentioned that the issue was just time, they concentrated on the Series X/PS5/PC ports and just punted on the Series S.

That’s how it should be. I say screw the series S, drop it entirely. Just release a $400 digital only series x and be done. The idea was dumb from the beginning. They acted like “but some people only have 1080p TVs and don’t care about 4K” while ignoring the entire issue with lower performance hardware without user controlled graphics options like on PC. On a PC I can run at native 1080p and turn on and off a few settings as needed to achieve the performance I am comfortable with. You can’t do that on the console and they seem to have forgotten that you can still take advantage of the series x strengths on a 1080p set. It’s not as if you absolutely have to have a 4K TV to plug it in. They could do a better job of making the game scale down though. Like I said, developers just don’t want to spend time on that. So just drop the sku I say.

I don’t even support a digital only sku. Just release one device like back in the day. People who want to buy digital games can do just that. I had a hard time getting a ps5 and I wanted a disc console so I could buy games used etc. I’m sure using some of the chips in a digital only version limited how many disc versions were out there which is probably the more popular of the two anyway.

If Sony and MS want to go all digital then just do it and don’t bother splitting the skus between a disc and a digital.
 
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SteveGrabowski

Diamond Member
Oct 20, 2014
6,793
5,752
136
Techland already showed the issues with having 2 power SKUs for Xbox by releasing Dying Light 2 on series S at 30fps. After a month they did patch it to be 60fps. they mentioned that the issue was just time, they concentrated on the Series X/PS5/PC ports and just punted on the Series S.

After playing it, felt like Techland punted on PS5 too. The main quest in DL2 is a trainwreck with progression bugs that required me to back out and reload so many times.
 

purbeast0

No Lifer
Sep 13, 2001
52,834
5,713
126
They acted like “but some people only have 1080p TVs and don’t care about 4K” while ignoring the entire issue with lower performance hardware without user controlled graphics options like on PC. On a PC I can run at native 1080p and turn on and off a few settings as needed to achieve the performance I am comfortable with.
Yeah I couldn't care less about 4k and would never have any interest in the S lol.
 

ultimatebob

Lifer
Jul 1, 2001
25,135
2,445
126
That’s how it should be. I say screw the series S, drop it entirely. Just release a $400 digital only series x and be done. The idea was dumb from the beginning. They acted like “but some people only have 1080p TVs and don’t care about 4K” while ignoring the entire issue with lower performance hardware without user controlled graphics options like on PC. On a PC I can run at native 1080p and turn on and off a few settings as needed to achieve the performance I am comfortable with. You can’t do that on the console and they seem to have forgotten that you can still take advantage of the series x strengths on a 1080p set. It’s not as if you absolutely have to have a 4K TV to plug it in. They could do a better job of making the game scale down though. Like I said, developers just don’t want to spend time on that. So just drop the sku I say.

I don’t even support a digital only sku. Just release one device like back in the day. People who want to buy digital games can do just that. I had a hard time getting a ps5 and I wanted a disc console so I could buy games used etc. I’m sure using some of the chips in a digital only version limited how many disc versions were out there which is probably the more popular of the two anyway.

If Sony and MS want to go all digital then just do it and don’t bother splitting the skus between a disc and a digital.

I think that the real plan there is to get more people using XCloud streaming subscriptions. You don't need a ton of fast hardware when the Series S is really just acting as a dumb terminal for a faster gaming system hosted in Azure.

Of course, our residential broadband has to get a lot better before this will really work. Right now, the latency is a gameplay killer for other streaming services like Stadia.
 

quikah

Diamond Member
Apr 7, 2003
4,068
649
126
I think that the real plan there is to get more people using XCloud streaming subscriptions. You don't need a ton of fast hardware when the Series S is really just acting as a dumb terminal for a faster gaming system hosted in Azure.

Of course, our residential broadband has to get a lot better before this will really work. Right now, the latency is a gameplay killer for other streaming services like Stadia.

I think they are going to announce a streaming stick at their June event (that is the rumor anyway). Streaming works well enough for a ton of games that don't require split second timing.
 

blckgrffn

Diamond Member
May 1, 2003
9,110
3,028
136
www.teamjuchems.com
I think they are going to announce a streaming stick at their June event (that is the rumor anyway). Streaming works well enough for a ton of games that don't require split second timing.

Almost all new Game Pass games have Cloud Gaming as a option. It's an *awesome* way to demo a game when games are freaking 10's of GB to download just to taste. Experience has been fine for me, but I haven't played anything too long there or a game like Hades. If its interesting after a gaming session on the cloud, I just download it for the playing whenever I get back to it.

Just grabbed This War of Mine on my Xbox after getting good mileage out of Frost Punk on my PC free from Epic.
 

cmdrdredd

Lifer
Dec 12, 2001
27,052
357
126
I think that the real plan there is to get more people using XCloud streaming subscriptions. You don't need a ton of fast hardware when the Series S is really just acting as a dumb terminal for a faster gaming system hosted in Azure.

Of course, our residential broadband has to get a lot better before this will really work. Right now, the latency is a gameplay killer for other streaming services like Stadia.

Playing that way is atrocious. Input lag from hell. It’s not feasible for many titles and gamers.

Not to mention the graphics can be better playing locally because that takes some type of bandwidth too and there is a limited amount of it. Playing a game with every visual setting on medium is a waste of my time lol
 
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cmdrdredd

Lifer
Dec 12, 2001
27,052
357
126
MS Flight Sim Too Gun expansion is as expected. Boring lol

It’s more of the same with a few challenges involving low level flying in an F-18 and one carrier landing challenge. Each challenge has leaderboards. There are no actual carrier ops. No taxiing, no catapult assisted take off. Just the landing challenge and if you fail it restarts, if you succeed it tells you a score and ends.

There is one other challenge involving hypersonic flight in an experimental aircraft. Fly from CA to NY in 30 minutes. Can go up to 150,000 feet. I guess it’s pretty neat to do once.
 

KentState

Diamond Member
Oct 19, 2001
8,397
393
126
MS Flight Sim Too Gun expansion is as expected. Boring lol

It’s more of the same with a few challenges involving low level flying in an F-18 and one carrier landing challenge. Each challenge has leaderboards. There are no actual carrier ops. No taxiing, no catapult assisted take off. Just the landing challenge and if you fail it restarts, if you succeed it tells you a score and ends.

There is one other challenge involving hypersonic flight in an experimental aircraft. Fly from CA to NY in 30 minutes. Can go up to 150,000 feet. I guess it’s pretty neat to do once.

That's like 7k miles/hour or something like mach 10? Probably takes more time to slow down and land than the actual flight.
 

cmdrdredd

Lifer
Dec 12, 2001
27,052
357
126
That's like 7k miles/hour or something like mach 10? Probably takes more time to slow down and land than the actual flight.

Probably, I never completed the challenge. I got to Mach 9.5 at 136,000 feet and didn’t complete the flight.

You have to climb to 30,000 feet, invert and nose over, roll upright, pass Mach 1, slowly pull out of the dive, accelerate to Mach 3, then enable the scram jets. The SR-91 I guess it is, is very temperamental and fragile. Easy to over stress
 

purbeast0

No Lifer
Sep 13, 2001
52,834
5,713
126
I'm confident you're completely wrong.
It's been pretty obvious that they have been grooming to completely change over to a cloud gaming infrastructure for a while now. And now we are seeing the end result where you don't even need a console or PC to play their games. MS has been taking losses in the console hardware game for a very long time and still are with the current generation.

Now they will be able to get out of the hardware business and stick to the software business and just reap the benefits of that. I think all of the games will still be playable on PC locally but I don't think they will continue to make consoles to lose money when they simply won't have the need for end users to own one to play their games.
 

quikah

Diamond Member
Apr 7, 2003
4,068
649
126
Now they will be able to get out of the hardware business and stick to the software business and just reap the benefits of that. I think all of the games will still be playable on PC locally but I don't think they will continue to make consoles to lose money when they simply won't have the need for end users to own one to play their games.

They will still need to design a hardware system to run these games on in the datacenter. Right now they run stuff on SeriesX blades. I don't see them punting that to some 3rd party.
 

purbeast0

No Lifer
Sep 13, 2001
52,834
5,713
126
They will still need to design a hardware system to run these games on in the datacenter. Right now they run stuff on SeriesX blades. I don't see them punting that to some 3rd party.
Could just be a PC.

Or just continue to use XSX and they can upgrade them internally as needed in the future.
 

cmdrdredd

Lifer
Dec 12, 2001
27,052
357
126
It's been pretty obvious that they have been grooming to completely change over to a cloud gaming infrastructure for a while now. And now we are seeing the end result where you don't even need a console or PC to play their games. MS has been taking losses in the console hardware game for a very long time and still are with the current generation.

Now they will be able to get out of the hardware business and stick to the software business and just reap the benefits of that. I think all of the games will still be playable on PC locally but I don't think they will continue to make consoles to lose money when they simply won't have the need for end users to own one to play their games.

Nope it really has not. This is an option sure, but they will have dedicated hardware for the hardcore. This streaming crap is the equivalent of making games for your phone. It’s to get the casuals.
 

purbeast0

No Lifer
Sep 13, 2001
52,834
5,713
126
Nope it really has not. This is an option sure, but they will have dedicated hardware for the hardcore. This streaming crap is the equivalent of making games for your phone. It’s to get the casuals.
The "dedicated hardware" will be a PC next gen.

Their sales have progressively gotten worse and worse each console gen since the 360, with terrible hardware decision after decision with the Kinect and the Series S. And they are losing money on top of that with each piece of hardware sold.

Neither of us know how it will play out but I'll be very surprised if there is another Xbox console after the series X. And I'm not talking about like a Series X Pro, I am talking a whole new generation. They have been setting up for becoming a "gaming as a service" platform for 10+ years and have been the pioneers behind the whole online eco systems in the console world.
 

Skel

Diamond Member
Apr 11, 2001
6,214
659
136
The "dedicated hardware" will be a PC next gen.

Their sales have progressively gotten worse and worse each console gen since the 360, with terrible hardware decision after decision with the Kinect and the Series S. And they are losing money on top of that with each piece of hardware sold.

Neither of us know how it will play out but I'll be very surprised if there is another Xbox console after the series X. And I'm not talking about like a Series X Pro, I am talking a whole new generation. They have been setting up for becoming a "gaming as a service" platform for 10+ years and have been the pioneers behind the whole online eco systems in the console world.

Isn't the current Xbox a PC, only in a custom box? I seem to remember that it's full of PC parts and every time they release one all the sites go crazy talking about the parts in it.. If anything the OG Xbox had complaints of people somehow bothered it was more a PC than the other consoles. MS also combined their app stores into one, so I'm not too sure what else they need to be a PC.. keyboard and mouse.. wait.. you can do that now..

People have been saying that the Xbox loses money for as far back as I can remember paying attention to it. I've never understood why people obsess over this, but regardless if that was a sign of MS killing the platform off then it would have been done long ago. As long as Devs are pushing boundaries of hardware limits there will always be consoles to play it on. I can't ever imaging the 'hardcore' gamers (I hate this term, but alas it's the best way to identify those I speak of) ever accepting lower graphics and lighter games.

This is like the Ouya, and countless other things were going to kill off the Xbox. While I am openminded enough to say 'maybe' I highly doubt it'll be anytime in the next few console cycles.. if anything we'll probably get more minor refreshes like the Xbox One X to Xbox Series X.
 

cmdrdredd

Lifer
Dec 12, 2001
27,052
357
126
Isn't the current Xbox a PC, only in a custom box? I seem to remember that it's full of PC parts and every time they release one all the sites go crazy talking about the parts in it.. If anything the OG Xbox had complaints of people somehow bothered it was more a PC than the other consoles. MS also combined their app stores into one, so I'm not too sure what else they need to be a PC.. keyboard and mouse.. wait.. you can do that now..

People have been saying that the Xbox loses money for as far back as I can remember paying attention to it. I've never understood why people obsess over this, but regardless if that was a sign of MS killing the platform off then it would have been done long ago. As long as Devs are pushing boundaries of hardware limits there will always be consoles to play it on. I can't ever imaging the 'hardcore' gamers (I hate this term, but alas it's the best way to identify those I speak of) ever accepting lower graphics and lighter games.

This is like the Ouya, and countless other things were going to kill off the Xbox. While I am openminded enough to say 'maybe' I highly doubt it'll be anytime in the next few console cycles.. if anything we'll probably get more minor refreshes like the Xbox One X to Xbox Series X.

The ps5 is based on the same hardware mostly. It’s basically PC parts yes. The Xbox console won’t be gone I’m confident of that. There are casual gamers who won’t buy a $500 piece of hardware just for that and that’s what streaming is marketed toward. I’m confident it is not to replace the hardware but it will provide a platform for the casual gamer who is unwilling to buy dedicated hardware to play the current titles(and market micro transactions toward lol).

Streaming for games has been talked about by playstation too but nobody seems to be ranting about the ps5 being the last console from Sony. Other companies have jumped on this bandwagon too such as steam and Nvidia with a varying levels of success.
 
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sze5003

Lifer
Aug 18, 2012
14,177
622
126
The plague tell game sequel looks good and so does the one Rick and Morty game. I may just buy a couple months of gamepass to play these titles when they come out. Aside from playing red dead 2 I have not used my series x much at all.
 

SteveGrabowski

Diamond Member
Oct 20, 2014
6,793
5,752
136
Man this stream from XBox-Bethesda is so noisy, you'd think XBox would have put out a clean 4k stream to show their games off.
 

purbeast0

No Lifer
Sep 13, 2001
52,834
5,713
126
I'm seriously contemplating selling my XSX at this point.

The only downside is I'll have an empty spot on my shelf if I do so it'll look weird.
 
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