Xbox Series X | S

[Eighthours]

I'm not sure that 4k/60 is worth the power tradeoff. Checkerboard/60 surely gives nearly as good a resolution with fuckloads of extra power available to spruce up your visual density?

[CrichStand]

22 minutes ago, JPL said:

You never go Fully Aspel.

Mate, just a heads up. I was informed that saying that can get you banned, as it’s a reference to “never go full......” which is offensive to many individuals and against the inclusive nature of the forums. Other people have also used it on here, in reference to Aspergers, which again, is offensive to certain individuals and not in line with the inclusive nature of the forums.

[CrichStand]

17 minutes ago, Eighthours said:

I'm not sure that 4k/60 is worth the tradeoff. Checkerboard/60 surely gives nearly as good a resolution with fuckloads of extra power available to spruce up your visual density?

Think it depends on the game really. Arcade type stuff, driving games, FPS etc then 60 frames is definitely a big advantage.

 

Other stuff not so much. To be fair if 4k/60fps means next gen games that look like Halo Infinite then fuck that! Lol.

[RubberJohnny]

18 minutes ago, Eighthours said:

I'm not sure that 4k/60 is worth the tradeoff. Checkerboard/60 surely gives nearly as good a resolution with fuckloads of extra power available to spruce up your visual density?

 

Especially with stuff like Death Stranding on PC actually looking better upscaled from 1440p with machine learning, than in native 4k60, with the former leaving it with with power to spare to run at some crazy >120fps

 

If Sony can develop some similar machine learning thing in their upscaler, I think they'll have made the better choice, even if it's not the best on paper.

[Revival]

22 minutes ago, Fully Aspel said:

They’re still there! But if people haven’t already bought an Xbox to play them, then why will they suddenly buy a next gen Xbox to play them? And if you have already bought an Xbox to play them then why not just stick with your current Xbox? Think on duck!

 

Because not everyone want's to play the next couple of years at 720p/900p/1080p/30. People are starting to buy lovely 4K OLED's and if you want something to show that off then why not buy a cutting edge new console where you can experience the games going forward at 4K/60 and play them where they're most responisive?

[Eighthours]

12 minutes ago, Fully Aspel said:

Think it depends on the game really. Arcade type stuff, driving games, FPS etc then 60 frames is definitely a big advantage.

 

Other stuff not so much. To be fair if 4k/60fps means next gen games that look like Halo Infinite then fuck that! Lol.

 

But I'm saying you can still do 60fps while using checkerboarding, which effectively gives you what to most eyes is pretty equivalent to a 4K resolution at a fraction of the power usage, which then allows you much more scope to do other cool tech stuff in your game.

 

4K/60 seems like more of a marketing point to put on the box at this point, than something that's actually particularly valuable to games. 60fps, great. But 4K, you can give the impression of without having to spend the resources.

[5R7]

24 minutes ago, Eighthours said:

I'm not sure that 4k/60 is worth the tradeoff. Checkerboard/60 surely gives nearly as good a resolution with fuckloads of extra power available to spruce up your visual density?

 

Checkerboard is guff though,. it just leaves everything looking crosshatched when moving!?!

 

Now, DLSS on the other hand, THAT is fucking wizardry! the consoles need an answer to that!

 

As it really does give the image quality of 4k, while gaining 30%+ performance!

[Eighthours]

2 minutes ago, 5R7 said:

 

Checkerboard is guff though,. it just leaves everything looking crosshatched when moving!?!

 

Now, DLSS on the other hand, THAT is fucking wizardry! the consoles need an answer to that!

 

As it really does give the image quality of 4k, while gaining 30%+ performance!

 

Sounds great!

[5R7]

Just now, Eighthours said:

 

Sounds great!

it really is, i mean, yeah it took nvidia 2 years after announcing it to get to that point,  but still. There are some vids on digital foundry that show how good it is if you wanna have a look.

[Vemsie]

Game Pass is a great service, though I haven't used it much myself. Like another poster said yesterday, it makes me indecisive about what to play. I'm the same with Netflix. I'm the type of guy who buys a month of Amazon Prime to watch The Expanse, after which I'm canceling. I need to be in a certain mindset for a game.

Will it really shake-up the 'console war'? I'm not so sure. Both Sony and Nintendo have established themselves as publishers with stellar first party titles, a seal of quality if you want. Games that are very well-received and sell well over ten million copies each. It takes time to build studios like that. MS is trying to do that, but as yesterday's presentation made clear it takes time to do so. Nintendo and Sony already have multiple teams firing on all cilinders. People who are eager to play Breath of the Wild 2 or God of War 2, and there are many of those, will go for those systems. People who are on PS4 and mostly play FIFA and CoD with friends probably won't migrate either, as the big third-party games (see also Cyberpunk, AC Valhalla, Watch_Dogs Legion, Star Wars Squadrons) aren't day 1 Game Pass titles.

Sony is smart to release with a Spider-Man game. Even if it's a smaller game, it's still a follow-up to their biggest first party money maker yet. That IP is massive. Demon's Souls would be another great launch game. Many people haven't played that yet and From's games really blew up in recent years.

But it's interesting for sure. They are basically all doing their own thing at this point and they are all making ridiculous amounts of money doing so. That probably won't change anytime soon.
https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2020-07-23-the-console-war-is-over-opinion
 

Quote

Of course, they're still going head-to-head in some big areas. Yet to return to the sports metaphor: they're all playing the same game but competing for different trophies. Everyone's win conditions are different. This Christmas, Sony may well have the best-selling new console in PS5, Game Pass could cement its place as the biggest game subscription service with millions of new subscribers, and Nintendo will inevitably sell tens of millions of Mario games. And all three will be absolutely delighted with that.

 

Quote

But right now, the days of console makers fighting over the same thing is over. The console war, at least as we have known it, is done.

They all seem to be in a really good postion.
 

And yes, DLSS 2.0 is absloutely amazing. It's some sort of videogame voodoo magic.

[Jg15]

For me it comes down to digital content and BC as well. I have a ton of digital content I have bought for the xbox over the last few years, plus I do appreciate having the ability to play (and I do, as i am still playing catch up) the older 360 games.

 

As I have the ability to carry over my catalogue from one gen to the next I am effectively locked into the Xbox ecosystem for the foreseeable (and that's even before mentioning gamepass). I still appreciate the Sony exclusives mind you and will pick up a PS5 down the line.

[Mogster]

2 hours ago, Fully Aspel said:

You’ve hit the nail on the head! So many people don’t seem to have got this! If Microsoft are making their new games compatible across their new/old machines, and the top spec machine is only pushing out stuff on this level, then why does Dave Average need to buy a £500 console, when he already owns a machine that can play the game anyway? 

 

Why upgrade your PC if your current one can still run new games at lower settings?

 

Arbitrarily locking out older consoles when they run on identical architecture would be a purely cynical marketing decision to sell new consoles, and for Microsoft it's increasingly clear that Game Pass is the main thing they're interested in. I don't think they really care whether you access that using an Xbox One, a Series X/S or xcloud.

 

It's also worth repeating there there absolutely will be third party games restricted to the Series X, so if you want to play those you'll still need to buy one of the new consoles.

[JPL]

32 minutes ago, Fully Aspel said:

Mate, just a heads up. I was informed that saying that can get you banned, as it’s a reference to “never go full......” which is offensive to many individuals and against the inclusive nature of the forums. Other people have also used it on here, in reference to Aspergers, which again, is offensive to certain individuals and not in line with the inclusive nature of the forums.

No offence meant, it was just a cheeky joke from Tropic Thunder.

[SeanR]

1 minute ago, Mogster said:

 

Why upgrade your PC if your current one can still run new games at lower settings?

 

Arbitrarily locking out older consoles when they run on identical architecture would be a purely cynical marketing decision to sell new consoles, and for Microsoft it's increasingly clear that Game Pass is the main thing they're interested in. I don't think they really care whether you access that using an Xbox One, a Series X/S or xcloud.

 

It's also worth repeating there there absolutely will be third party games restricted to the Series X, so if you want to play those you'll still need to buy one of the new consoles.

but could also be available on that there other console, be near identical, and might even be cheaper.

 

its still a mixed message.

 

the people here, on this forum, will be chasing the shininess shinies, per pc and console upgrades, because that’s what we do.

 

 This feels like ANOTHER mid-gen upgrade.

[Ry]

Just now, SeanR said:

but could also be available on that there other console, be near identical, and might even be cheaper.

 

its still a mixed message.

 

the people here, on this forum, will be chasing the shininess shinies, per pc and console upgrades, because that’s what we do.

 

 This feels like ANOTHER mid-gen upgrade.

 

I understand what you mean, but it's not. The games shown just didn't look next gen. 

 

It's the games fault and this cross platform nonsense. In a couple of years things will look up. 

 

 

[layten]

First those Halo screenshots, now some Series X Flight Sim screenshots have been released.

Spoiler

 

[Mogster]

1 minute ago, SeanR said:

but could also be available on that there other console, be near identical, and might even be cheaper.

 

its still a mixed message.

 

the people here, on this forum, will be chasing the shininess shinies, per pc and console upgrades, because that’s what we do.

 

 This feels like ANOTHER mid-gen upgrade.

Well it is a mid-gen upgrade, because the One X was a mid-gen upgrade. That's all it was ever going to be without doing something completely bonkers like making it a self-contained VR headset or something.

[SeanR]

The Xbox is a pc in the front room, just like Bill wanted. it just got upgraded with a new GPU, and a massive cooler.

[MattyP]

8 minutes ago, Mogster said:

It's also worth repeating there there absolutely will be third party games restricted to the Series X, so if you want to play those you'll still need to buy one of the new consoles.

There will. But xCloud will become a thing then just stream the game to whatever device you have PC, Xbox One OG, tablet whatever. It won't be perfect at the start (see Google's Stadia). Things will improve though.

 

Sure if you want fidelity and don't have a net connection you'll need the Series X but it's just another choice.

 

The rules are going to change.

[CrichStand]

13 minutes ago, Revival said:

 

Because not everyone want's to play the next couple of years at 720p/900p/1080p/30. People are starting to buy lovely 4K OLED's and if you want something to show that off then why not buy a cutting edge new console where you can experience the games going forward at 4K/60 and play them where they're most responisive?

Well if you’ve not noticed, we’re currently in the middle of a Coronavirus crisis and many people are facing losing their jobs, or have already lost their jobs. Most folk simply won’t have the money to throw around like that, especially on “luxury” items.. Most people will make do with what they have or be very careful as to what they do spend their money on. I think both Sony and Microsoft will struggle to sell their new machines but out of the 2 the PS5 is currently looking like the safer bet. There’s just a digital and a disc machine. There’s loads of great looking exclusive games announced. They have the first party studios in place to deliver new IP and killer sequels. They have strong third party support. Barring it all going tits up with the price, i think it’s now pretty much a forgone conclusion that the PS5 will  dominate the coming months. The only thing left to find out is exactly what games Microsoft has left up their sleeve to show, that could sway things in their favour.

 

12 minutes ago, Eighthours said:

 

But I'm saying you can still do 60fps while using checkerboarding, which effectively gives you what to most eyes is pretty equivalent to a 4K resolution at a fraction of the power usage, which then allows you much more scope to do other cool tech stuff in your game.

 

4K/60 seems like more of a marketing point to put on the box at this point, than something that's actually particularly valuable to games. 60fps, great. But 4K, you can give the impression of without having to spend the resources.

I’m a lowly base PS4 and Switch owner, so have not experienced that kind of stuff yet! Games like Ghost of Tsushima and TLOU2 look mindblowing running at 30fps, even on a base machine, although I am playing on a 50 inch 4K screen. 
 

Wonder if Microsoft could get some updates to the exclusive Sega games they had back on the og Xbox? As a Sega fan that would be a big draw for me personally and the kind of thing I’d like to see Microsoft doing. Plus......Ninja Gaiden! Do it!

[Eighthours]

6 minutes ago, Fully Aspel said:

Well if you’ve not noticed, we’re currently in the middle of a Coronavirus crisis and many people are facing losing their jobs, or have already lost their jobs. Most folk simply won’t have the money to throw around like that, especially on “luxury” items.. Most people will make do with what they have or be very careful as to what they do spend their money on. I think both Sony and Microsoft will struggle to sell their new machines but out of the 2 the PS5 is currently looking like the safer bet. There’s just a digital and a disc machine. There’s loads of great looking exclusive games announced. They have the first party studios in place to deliver new IP and killer sequels. They have strong third party support. Barring it all going tits up with the price, i think it’s now pretty much a forgone conclusion that the PS5 will  dominate the coming months. The only thing left to find out is exactly what games Microsoft has left up their sleeve to show, that could sway things in their favour.

 

If you're in financial difficulty and for some reason still have to buy a next gen console (which seems like a weird life priority but let's go with it), surely the Series X (or Lockhart) is a much better bet because Game Pass enables you to have tons of games - including all first party ones - for a low monthly subscription, rather than having to spend £60 on each new big game with PS5.

[Clipper]

9 minutes ago, Fully Aspel said:

out of the 2 the PS5 is currently looking like the safer bet. There’s just a digital and a disc machine. There’s loads of great looking exclusive games announced. They have the first party studios in place to deliver new IP and killer sequels. They have strong third party support. Barring it all going tits up with the price, i think it’s now pretty much a forgone conclusion that the PS5 will  dominate the coming months.

If everyone has the same likes/dislikes and analysis as you then MS may as well not bother releasing it.

 

Pack it up lads they're done

 

[CrichStand]

10 minutes ago, JPL said:

No offence meant, it was just a cheeky joke from Tropic Thunder.

No offence taken mate! I personally think that character is funny as all fuck! “I’m a dude, playing a dude, disguised as another dude”! Lol.

 

Just thought I’d give you a heads up on what I’d been informed of. It got a bit much at times in the past, when people started doing it and I think it really bothered some people. I got where they were coming from as I’ve worked with people that have learning difficulties in the past.

[CrichStand]

32 minutes ago, Eighthours said:

 

If you're in financial difficulty and for some reason still have to buy a next gen console (which seems like a weird life priority but let's go with it), surely the Series X (or Lockhart) is a much better bet because Game Pass enables you to have tons of games - including all first party ones - for a low monthly subscription, rather than having to spend £60 on each new big game with PS5.

Like I was saying, I think most people will probably stick with what they already have, whether PS4, Xbox One or Switch. I think Microsoft are sort of edging their bets with that by spreading their business across multiple consoles, so they don’t lose big. However the less you gamble, the more you lose when you win! Lol.
 

I think Sony are currently gambling big, but if it pays off, PS5 will take the lions share of the market. I think it’ll be a considerably bigger share than this gen too. 
 

We’re all gaming enthusiasts and love video games. It’s different for the mainstream and the average consumer. I just currently can’t see why anyone, who is not already heavily invested in Xbox and Gamepass, would jump ship and suddenly buy a console for games they’ve not been interested for the whole of this gen. 
 

What I’m saying is, that the only reason people will jump ship is for the games. Exclusive big name games that they can’t play anywhere else. That is ultimately why you buy a console over another console, or why you own multiple consoles. If you haven’t got the games then it doesn’t matter what services you have, you’ve not got a console people are going to invest in.
 

At the moment, Microsoft just haven’t got the games. They’ve got all the promises and all the chat but going on their showcase not much else. Seriously look at their flagship game - Halo Infinite. It’s a car crash. Graphically it’s not even as impressive as a base PS4 playing Ghost or TLOU2, never mind some of the PS5 stuff shown (which I also found underwhelming). If that’s what they’re expecting to sell the Xbox Series X to the mainstream then they’re waaaaaay out of touch. 

[DC Lemon]

I haven’t been won over by either sales pitch as far as 2020 goes but MS made it a particularly easy decision to stick with One X for the foreseeable future. That console doesn’t deserve to be thrown out just yet and from what we saw yesterday I’m left wondering exactly what the unannounced Series S is supposed to do that the One X can’t.

[SeanR]

Which game did they say was getting ray tracing “later”, I didn’t quite catch that?

[SeanR]

1 minute ago, DC Lemon said:

I haven’t been won over by either sales pitch as far as 2020 goes but MS made it a particularly easy decision to stick with One X for the foreseeable future. That console doesn’t deserve to be thrown out just yet and from what we saw yesterday I’m left wondering exactly what the Series S is supposed to do that the One X can’t.

make waffles.

[Jg15]

2 minutes ago, SeanR said:

Which game did they say was getting ray tracing “later”, I didn’t quite catch that?

Halo I think

[SeanR]

Just now, Jg15 said:

Halo I think

Makes sense, I came in at around the forza announcement 14mins or so in.

[Quest]

All I really needed was for MS to show a commitment to Game Pass, and they did enough there for me. Sony have the slick, premium narrative-action game thing sewn up in a way that I don't see MS matching any time soon, and that's fine, as Sony aren't making flight sims or open world racers or giving me stacks of games every month for a tenner. 

 

Probably sticking with the One X for longer than expected, though.