Xbox Series X | S

[Isaac]

3 minutes ago, Stanley said:

Because it’s a feature that’s standard on every other console and every other modern device and has been for some time, we really shouldn’t have to put up with batteries at this point. 

 

https://www.argos.co.uk/product/1383616

 

There's this if you want non-AA rechargable batteries, but otherwise, it's much more consumer-friendly to use a cheap standard (AA) rechargable and replaceable battery.

[Transient Curse]

The AA batteries are the jewel in the controller's crown. 

 

Being able to get your own battery/rechargable/rechargeable pack is a great move. All the other controllers will end up with exhausted batteries that only last ten minutes.  I think it's YET ANOTHER consumer friendly win for Microsoft, the people's champ.

[Stanley]

2 minutes ago, Isaac said:

 

https://www.argos.co.uk/product/1383616

 

There's this if you want non-AA rechargable batteries, but otherwise, it's much more consumer-friendly to use a cheap standard (AA) rechargable and replaceable battery.

Do you mean environmentally friendly, as I fail to understand how charging me another £17 is consumer friendly. 

[Ry]

6 minutes ago, Stanley said:

Because it’s a feature that’s standard on every other console and every other modern device and has been for some time, we really shouldn’t have to put up with batteries at this point. 

 

I much prefer batteries that last 20 hours compared to an in built battery that lasts 3. 

 

I have a 2 month old PS4 and the controller only lasts 3 hours tops. Absolute joke. 

[Stanley]

1 minute ago, Ry said:

 

I much prefer batteries that last 20 hours compared to an in built battery that lasts 3. 

 

I have a 2 month old PS4 and the controller only lasts 3 hours tops. Absolute joke. 

Sounds like there is a problem with your controller if it only lasts that long after 2 months. 
 

I mean there’s a sweet spot for sure, the DS4 doesn’t last for ages, although the newer revision seems better, but the Switch controllers all have fantastic battery life - particularly the pro controller which is like 50 hours or something crazy. I hardly ever need to charge it. 

[Transient Curse]

5 minutes ago, Stanley said:

Do you mean environmentally friendly, as I fail to understand how charging me another £17 is consumer friendly. 

Batteries wear out faster than pads, a new pad costs more than a new battery.

[Ry]

2 minutes ago, Stanley said:

Sounds like there is a problem with your controller if it only lasts that long after 2 months. 
 

 

I think most people get 3-4 hours. Anybody I have asked says the same. 

[footle]

1 minute ago, Stanley said:

Sounds like there is a problem with your controller if it only lasts that long after 2 months. 
 

I mean there’s a sweet spot for sure, the DS4 doesn’t last for ages, although the newer revision seems better, but the Switch controllers all have fantastic battery life - particularly the pro controller which is like 50 hours or something crazy. I hardly ever need to charge it. 

The DS4 is just useless in some way - a 1000mAh battery shoudn’t run out in a few hours. But does.

[Stanley]

1 minute ago, Wahwah* said:

Batteries wear out faster than pads, a new pad is more than a new battery.

I’ve always bought the the play and charge kits for my Xbox pads, they’ve never ran out. I mean if they included them with the pad it would be great, but they don’t. 

[HarryBizzle]

16 minutes ago, Stanley said:

Because it’s a feature that’s standard on every other console and every other modern device and has been for some time, we really shouldn’t have to put up with batteries at this point. 

Presumably you’re talking about the modern devices which commonly are not being designed to be user serviceable. 
 

Note there’s no one complaining in Xbox threads that their controller doesn’t hold a charge.

[Kevvy Metal]

I've not found there to be any real change in how long my two Dual Shock 4's last, but it is prob around two evenings worth, so 6 - 8 hours maybe. 

It's telling though, that I have to have two controllers and swap them whenever the battery runs out which is every other session. 

I'd say it's very likely because it always has a big light blaring out the back of it. And it always has an active capacitance touch pad. 

[Ferine]

Batteries are fine, I'm more fussed about stick drift: every Xbox controller I've owned since the 360 launched has developed it within a matter of months. Not an issue in a lot of games as they'll often have a rather generous central deadzone, but it annoys me to an irrational degree when I try to come to a stop and my character starts doing that slow-motion sidle.

[Stanley]

3 minutes ago, footle said:

The DS4 is just useless in some way - a 1000mAh battery shoudn’t run out in a few hours. But does.

Battery life is something they’ve said they’ve improved for the dual sense, so I hope so. 

[Stanley]

1 minute ago, HarryBizzle said:

Presumably you’re talking about the modern devices which commonly are not being designed to be user serviceable. 
 

Note there’s no one complaining in Xbox threads that their controller doesn’t hold a charge.

Yeah there’s no one complaining about it in the Switch thread either 

[Talk Show Host]

2 hours ago, Down by Law said:

Series S seems so pointless to me. Why offer a gimped version of your super powerful next gen console right out the gate? Especially when the One X is a more than capable machine and only in it's 3rd year and was already being sold at an affordable price and included the features people are suggesting dropping to make the S more cost effective. 

 

Isn't the One X the lead console for Cyberpunk as well?

 

I agree with the "Series S" being quite a weird choice. Microsoft generally has a bad history with promoting  a main message behind their consoles and I really don't think it will provide them with any serious advantage in the market. Consumers will certainly be confused and that can only lead them to Sony or Nintendo.

 

Imagine a sales person who is trying to explain to a general customer about the differences of the Series S and the Series X compared to the other consoles and then he or she having to explain that difference to their kids who are already salivating over the cheap version of PS5. I understand Microsoft wanting to diversify and it will prove a good choice for people who really know what they want and what everything means, but confusing the mainstream audience is the last thing Microsoft needs. 

 

As for the One X and Cyberpunk though, I highly doubt it can run the damn thing without severe cutdowns, let alone be "the console" for it. These CPUs had problems with Novigrad in Witcher ffs.

[Transient Curse]

17 minutes ago, Stanley said:

I’ve always bought the the play and charge kits for my Xbox pads, they’ve never ran out. I mean if they included them with the pad it would be great, but they don’t. 

 

I guess the argument I could conjur up is that the reason the play and charge kits are so good is because they don't have to be factored into the cost of every pad? I don't doubt that profit margins on pads and batteries must be insane but if the battery was included in the cost of the controller then they'd have to make it a lower capacity one or bump the cost of the controller up to make it profitable enough for them to make a return on their investment. I think it'd be fair to say that the PS4 pad battery isn't as good as the one you get with a play and charge kit. 

 

Ultimately, a packed in removable battery that would allow AA's to be used instead if necessary would be the best option, I agree. But given the choice of a non-removable battery and a paid, but removable pack, I'd pick the latter. 

 

I wish my phone, computer and everything else had removable batteries too, I'm surprised it's not something that the EU mandates by now - it must lead to so much landfill.

[Stanley]

3 minutes ago, Talk Show Host said:

 

I agree with the "Series S" being quite a weird choice. Microsoft generally has a bad history with promoting  a main message behind their consoles and I really don't think it will provide them with any serious advantage in the market. Consumers will certainly be confused and that can only lead them to Sony or Nintendo.

 

Imagine a sales person who is trying to explain to a general customer about the differences of the Series S and the Series X compared to the other consoles and then he or she having to explain that difference to their kids who are already salivating over the cheap version of the PS5. I understand Microsoft wanting to diversify and it will prove a good choice for people who really know what they want and what everything means, but confusing the mainstream audience is the last thing Microsoft needs. 

 

As for the One X and Cyberpunk though, I highly doubt it can run the damn thing without severe cutdowns, let alone be "the console" for it. These CPUs had problems with Novigrad in Witcher ffs.

Oh no the confusion - do I buy the £450 model or the £250 model?! 

 

They will both run the same games, one will do 4K and have a disc drive - that’s the only difference as far as the consumer is concerned. 

[SeanR]

2 minutes ago, Stanley said:

Oh no the confusion - do I buy the £450 model or the £250 model?! 

 

They will both run the same games, one will do 4K and have a disc drive - that’s the only difference as far as the consumer is concerned. 

you forgot “the new Xbox is cheaper Than the new ps5, but isn’t as good as the new Xbox that’s more expensive” confusion

[HarryBizzle]

12 minutes ago, Stanley said:

Yeah there’s no one complaining about it in the Switch thread either 

 

Give it time!

[Talk Show Host]

7 minutes ago, Stanley said:

Oh no the confusion - do I buy the £450 model or the £250 model?! 

 

They will both run the same games, one will do 4K and have a disc drive - that’s the only difference as far as the consumer is concerned. 

 

It may not be confusing to you as a choice but the general public don't even know what 4K or a disc drive means for their games.

 

Faced with the choice of buying a cheaper console missing things they don't really understand would be enough to turn their heads away. Sony has been much smarter in this: console is the same. If you need the drive go for it and if you don't here's a cheaper version. 

[Stanley]

2 minutes ago, HarryBizzle said:

 

Give it time!

Sure, it’s been three and half years, how long do you reckon? I’m not exaggerating but I must have charged my pro controller no more than twenty times since I got it at launch. 

[Transient Curse]

4 minutes ago, Talk Show Host said:

 

It may not be confusing to you as a choice but the general public don't even know what 4K or a disc drive means for their games.

 

Faced with the choice of buying a cheaper console missing things they don't really understand would be enough to turn their heads away. Sony has been much smarter in this. Console is the same, if you need the drive go for it and if you don't we have a version without one.

 

I'm not defending Microsoft's choice to make the S, I still don't understand what it offers and what it doesn't (because they haven't said) but Sony's approach will presumably result in two systems that aren't wildly differently priced. It's expected that the S is about opening the market up to more price sensitive people.  I view the Sony system as much as being for people who don't use physical media anymore, they must have the data indicating how many disc drives go completely unused, as it is for people who are trying to save £50.

[Transient Curse]

2 minutes ago, Stanley said:

Sure, it’s been three and half years, how long do you reckon? I’m not exaggerating but I must have charged my pro controller no more than twenty times since I got it at launch. 

 

My pro controller rarely needs charging either. I must turn it on sometime to see how full the battery is. 

[Clipper]

4 minutes ago, Talk Show Host said:

 

It may not be confusing to you as a choice but the general public don't even know what 4K or a disc drive means for their games.

 

Faced with the choice of buying a cheaper console missing things they don't really understand would be enough to turn their heads away. Sony has been much smarter in this: console is the same. If you need the drive go for it and if you don't here's a cheaper version. 

If your hypothetical nextgen console buyer is at the level of not knowing what 4k is or a disc drive then they might just say

 

"Which box can i get that is nextgen but is cheapest"

[Stanley]

4 minutes ago, Talk Show Host said:

 

It may not be confusing to you as a choice but the general public don't even know what 4K or a disc drive means for their games.

 

Faced with the choice of buying a cheaper console missing things they don't really understand would be enough to turn their heads away. Sony has been much smarter in this. Console is the same, if you need the drive go for it and if you don't we have a version without one.

Was there this much confusion surrounding the PS4 Pro or the Xbox One X? Perhaps there was and it was all over the media and everything turned to chaos, I must have just missed it 

 

And if the general public don’t know what a disc drive is how are Sony sending a clearer message? 

[Clipper]

These hypothetical buyers sound like extras from a Romero film - stumbling into shops grunting "pretties - give me box with pretties"

[Stanley]

As someone who has worked in retail for many years you see them coming, and you don’t give them a choice - here’s your Series S, here’s your Gamepass, and you’re done, next! 
 

(although I haven’t worked in game retail for many, many years - is it even a thing these days?) 

[Transient Curse]

Microsoft proved the discless console wasn't confusing when they had the One X, One S and One S All Digital on the market all at the same time and nobody got upset.

[SeanR]

3 minutes ago, Stanley said:

Was there this much confusion surrounding the PS4 Pro or the Xbox One X? Perhaps there was and it was all over the media and everything turned to chaos, I must have just missed it 

 

And if the general public don’t know what a disc drive is how are Sony sending a clearer message? 

nah, cos they understand that “more expensive must mean better”

 

(not you Xbox one!)

[SeanR]

Just now, Wahwah* said:

To be fair, Microsoft proved the discless console wasn't confusing when they had the One X, One S and One S All Digital on the market all at the same time and nobody got upset.

how many ssl-digital fit they sell?