Xbox Series X|S Thread - Power Your Dreams.

That's pretty cool, more than perfunctory packaging to protect the console this make the box, Apple style, part of the experience, a gift waiting to be unwrapped!

If it was Apple-style, you wouldn’t get the controller or the mains lead.

rinks wrote:If it was Apple-style, you wouldn’t get the controller or the mains lead.

And you'd need a special adapter to connect the HDMI cable to Apple's own HDMI output slot

I’ve just logged into my ShopTo account to see if there had been any updates about when I can expect my Series X (there hasn’t ) and have noticed that they need people who have a console (PS5 or new Xbox) thats confirmed for day one to pay for it by the 31st of October, not sure how many of you ordered through ShopTo but thought I’d post here anyway.

Robbo-92 wrote:I’ve just logged into my ShopTo account to see if there had been any updates about when I can expect my Series X (there hasn’t ) and have noticed that they need people who have a console (PS5 or new Xbox) thats confirmed for day one to pay for it by the 31st of October, not sure how many of you ordered through ShopTo but thought I’d post here anyway.

I wanted to use shopto but on the day it wouldn't work for me so ended up using amazon. I wanted to pay for it early but don't think that's something I can do on Amazon.

kerr9000 wrote:

Robbo-92 wrote:I’ve just logged into my ShopTo account to see if there had been any updates about when I can expect my Series X (there hasn’t ) and have noticed that they need people who have a console (PS5 or new Xbox) thats confirmed for day one to pay for it by the 31st of October, not sure how many of you ordered through ShopTo but thought I’d post here anyway.

I wanted to use shopto but on the day it wouldn't work for me so ended up using amazon. I wanted to pay for it early but don't think that's something I can do on Amazon.

I paid early on Amazon with my PS5 preorder. A few days after I had preordered I bought Amazon vouchers credit and then I applied it to the preorder. If you're not sure of the process you can contact them via messaging and they can apply it.

New interview with Phil Spencer:
https://kotaku.com/xbox-boss-phil-spenc ... 1845392984

Series S:

“I think, over the generation, our expectation would be that price really matters and that you would see the Series S sell more,” Spencer told me.

Spencer says some games load faster on his S than his X because they’re loading lower-res graphics.

There is nevertheless a real power difference between these two new Xboxes. That has worried some developers, who have cited the Series S’s deficiency in RAM—10GB to the X’s 16GB—as a hindrance to getting next-gen Xbox games to perform as well as the X’s specs should allow them to. I’ve heard from experienced developers who are split on this issue.

“I’m not worried,” Spencer said. “I think we have proof points, like we’ve said, on PC, that show that you can get absolutely amazing-looking games on great hardware and have those games scale to the hardware capability.”

He acknowledged the additional labor that is being put on developers to design for the S and X specs. “But absolutely, it is work. There’s no doubt about that. The fact that you have two performance specs now, I’m not going to stand here or try to PR somebody and say two different specs is the same as having one spec. It’s not. We’re doing this because we want to expand the market.”

Spencer said that the Series S could be an effective lure for lapsed Xbox 360 fans who may have skipped the Xbox One or even switched to PlayStation. Even if they go buy a PS5, he thinks the Series S might offer some appeal. “Maybe buying two $500 consoles is going to be a difficult thing, so we said, ‘Hey, let’s make sure we’ve got something to catch a second-[console] owner.’”

Bethesda exclusivity:

“Is it possible to recoup a $7.5 billion investment if you don’t sell Elder Scrolls VI on the PlayStation?” I asked.

“Yes,” Spencer quickly replied.

Then he paused.

“I don’t want to be flip about that,” he added. “This deal was not done to take games away from another player base like that. Nowhere in the documentation that we put together was: ‘How do we keep other players from playing these games?’ We want more people to be able to play games, not fewer people to be able to go play games. But I’ll also say in the model—I’m just answering directly the question that you had—when I think about where people are going to be playing and the number of devices that we had, and we have xCloud and PC and Game Pass and our console base, I don’t have to go ship those games on any other platform other than the platforms that we support in order to kind of make the deal work for us.

Halo Infinite:

I asked if Microsoft would consider offering Halo Infinite’s campaign at a different time than the multiplayer, if one is complete before the other.

“Bonnie [Ross, head of the Halo franchise] and the team will go drive those decisions,” Spencer said. “But I think we want to make sure people feel like they have a Halo experience. I think we can look at options like that.” He said any decisions like that would have to factor in the structure of the game and the story its telling. “So, yeah, I think that’s something to think about, but we want to make sure we do it right.”

Cross gen games:

“I think we’re going to take it on a case by case basis,” Spencer said. “When we talk about a couple of years, it’s just when we look at the roadmap of games and the things that we’re building, that’s what we see. And so we’re just trying to be transparent with people about the roadmap of games that would be coming for last gen.”

Xbox games on other platforms:

Where does that leave the prospect of more Xbox games coming to non-Xbox consoles? Spencer told me that “it doesn’t feel sustainable” to consider Xbox games on a case by case basis for Switch and said, “In order to really support it, I would want a full Xbox ecosystem somewhere. And that probably means things like Live and Game Pass and stuff.”

Next gen games on Xbox One via xCloud:

It was refreshing to hear that Spencer also sounds committed to bringing xCloud to Xbox One, letting current gen Xbox owners play next gen games without buying a new box.

“When we think about Xbox One, absolutely, we think it could be a good way for us to bridge generations and be able to let people play those games,” Spencer said. He put it behind PC and iOS in terms of priorities. “I don’t think it’s years off,” he said. “It’s just work to get done. We know how to do it.”

Faster SSDs:

On whether Microsoft will eventually offer faster solid-state drives in new Xbox consoles to compete with the blazing SSD speeds in the PS5, which are expected to radically reduce video game load times: “I think, like you’ve seen in past generations, that we will iterate on hardware. We’ve already started, right? Our team doesn’t go away, when we kind of lock the spec. Some of it is cost. That’s always the important thing. How do you drive down the cost of the console in the parts that are there, but also just looking at areas in terms of what are the next iterations that you might do?”

Reviving old IPs:

On whether Rare might do more with some of its classic characters such as Banjo-Kazooie and Conker: “I leave it up to the studios in terms of the things that they want to go work on,” he said. “I have a lot of respect for Rare and the work that they do. They do like building new things, and they’ve seen success with Sea of Thieves. I think they’re really excited about Everwild. But also the response to Battletoads was nice. And I think [partner studio] Dlala did a good job with the game. And so I think it’s just always a balance. My inbox is full of: ‘Let every studio do new [intellectual property].’ And also: ‘Why haven't you brought back Crimson Skies and Blinx?’

Sounds like ShopTo have been informed of their launch day allocation. Wonder if Amazon or Game will let people know if they’re going to get one at launch or not.

My order still says 10th November.

My ShopTo preorder has said “not confirmed for day one” since roughly a week after the orders went official, just keep checking just in case!

Robbo-92 wrote:My ShopTo preorder has said “not confirmed for day one” since roughly a week after the orders went official, just keep checking just in case!

Yeah same here - Bit annoying but oh well.

Finiarél wrote:

Robbo-92 wrote:My ShopTo preorder has said “not confirmed for day one” since roughly a week after the orders went official, just keep checking just in case!

Yeah same here - Bit annoying but oh well.

Yeah it’s annoying, keep wondering how long to leave it before starting to look elsewhere once its launched but then again with how insanely quickly everything sells through I’m tempted just to wait it out and hope it won’t be too long.

Not surprised about Bethesda’s games wouldn’t come out on the PS5. It’s like “unless they allow us to put in Game Pass.”

Which Sony wouldn’t let it happen at all. But on the Nintendo Switch? Hmm.

Not surprised about Bethesda’s games wouldn’t come out on the PS5. It’s like “unless they allow us to put in Game Pass.”

Which Sony wouldn’t let it happen at all. But on the Nintendo Switch? Hmm.

I still think if Elder Scrolls was going to be Xbox exclusive they'd make a massive deal about it and would make sure everyone knows that it isn't going to be on PS5, they wouldn't dance around it like they are.

Said ages ago they gonna be exclusive and the response was “why doesn’t Photek get it?” and some bizarre statement of being on PS5 for “goodwill”.

Edd wrote:I still think if Elder Scrolls was going to be Xbox exclusive they'd make a massive deal about it and would make sure everyone knows that it isn't going to be on PS5, they wouldn't dance around it like they are.

He hasn’t ‘danced’ around anything and as soon as TES6 has more to show then they’ll hype it up as exclusive. Why would he mention the PS5 at all?

Garth wrote:

Spencer said that the Series S could be an effective lure for lapsed Xbox 360 fans who may have skipped the Xbox One or even switched to PlayStation. Even if they go buy a PS5, he thinks the Series S might offer some appeal. “Maybe buying two $500 consoles is going to be a difficult thing, so we said, ‘Hey, let’s make sure we’ve got something to catch a second-[console] owner.’”

Yep, this is me.

The 360 was my main console that gen, but given the Xbone's missteps in the early days, and the fact I was living in a country where the Xbox is effectively taboo along with tattoos and bestiality, the PS4 was the more logical choice.

I'm not ingrained in that console's infrastructure (curse you, Destiny) so I'll need to pick up a PS5 at some point, but the Series S price point and Gamepass make it a cost-effective way of getting both. I doubt I could justify £1000 on two consoles that will likely end up getting a lot of similar games, especially as I already own a Switch and have stuff to play on the PS4.

But £500/600 for the two is much more palatable, especially as I'm not massively interested in the PS5 exclusive games yet, but will be eyeing one up further down the line.

Missing the Xbone generation does mean that there are probably half a dozen games I want to try out on my Series S at launch - Gears 4 and 5, Halo 5, Halo MCC, Sea of Thrives stand out - as well as some third party last-gen games that I never got around to on the PS4, but will now be improved by the added power.

The sticking point is, of course, that there's not going to really be anything next-gen about the games on launch day. You'll get next gen performance under the hood on the old games and quality of life stuff, but nothing on the software side.

To be honest, I wouldn't be surprised if Gamepass made the Xbox my choice for third party games going forward, and Sony's consoles for the better exclusives. Quite similar to how the PS3 and 360 worked out. I'd probably be tempted to get the Series X and a "lite" version of the PS5 if Sony offered a similar set up, but the digital only version they offer isn't really discounted that heavily and it's only really the disc drive being optional.

My one worry is that the S isn't future proofed enough or is going to be old hat quickly, as, let's be honest, we are getting mid-gen upgrades again. I don't want my "new" console to be chugging and compromised just a couple of years in.

Fortunately the X hasn't been easy to preorder over here, so it's not a dilemma I have had... yet.

Do you think the Series X/S are the machines to break into Japan in anything but a niche way?
Is there are real hype about it there?

Peter Crisp wrote:Do you think the Series X/S are the machines to break into Japan in anything but a niche way?
Is there are real hype about it there?

Pre-orders sold out didn’t they? Tbf they probably weren’t in as many numbers as over here or US but I these new machines might have better luck this time round.