Xbox Series X | S

[Talk Show Host]

45 minutes ago, Wahwah* said:

 

Halo got given an eye watering $500,000,000 for five years of development (iirc).

 

Just to be clear, that is an unconfirmed rumor.

[Dukesy]

Without Halo, they need to think about coming up with some kind of bundle.

 

It doesn't need to be in the box, just have a digital redemption for a choice of maybe 3 different non game pass games to satisfy different ages/tastes. If one of those was Cyberpunk, that would be a big statement

 

 

 

[Ferine]

Just now, Stanley said:

The bigger problem for MS with Halo is that they were using it to effectively spearhead the new Gamepass campaign. It’s all very well promising all new first party content day one on the service, but not so great when there isn’t any. 

On that note, I'm a little wary of Microsoft's ostensible 'platform' approach to some of its biggest titles. For example “Halo Infinite [is] the start of the next ten years for Halo”, the new Forza Motorsport is suspiciously numberless and even Fable seems as if it might be hewing closer to the GaaS model. There's nothing inherently wrong with this, of course, but I do wonder if this is a handy out for Microsoft: first-party games will launch on Game Pass, that doesn't mean you aren't paying separately for years of DLC or seasonal passes instead of getting sequels as part of your subscription.

 

Obviously this might be a total non-issue, especially if Microsoft continue to finance one-offs like Tell Me Why. Capitalism has simply trained me to break out the magnifying glass as soon as anyone wheels out a gift horse.

[Kevvy Metal]

2 hours ago, Isaac said:

 

Yeah, shifting videogames to a SaaS model is stupid.

 

Might want to tell Netflix how badly it worked for TV and Movies?

 

Netflix don't release TV shows where the VFX are half-finished and then the app crashes half-way through an episode. 

[Harsin]

Somewhere at Redmond there’s a team of consultants sat around a big Dr. Strangelove style war table In a smokey room, having a heated discussion over exactly which retro gaming t-shirt Phil Spencer should wear at his next interview to show just how much he loves games.

[LeighCb]

11 minutes ago, Mr Tony said:

 

One X is the top of the line current gen.

 

Series S will be the entry level next gen.

 

Do they both do 4K?

[Talk Show Host]

1 minute ago, LeighCb said:

 

Do they both do 4K?

 

Nope, only the X.

[T Pot]

2 minutes ago, LeighCb said:

 

Do they both do 4K?

 

One X does. From what we know of the Series S, it's going to be a 1080p machine (but it hasn't been announced).

 

If you want nextgen with full 4k & bells & whistles you'll want to buy the Series X

[Boozy The Clown]

Series S will do current gen games (backward compatibility) at 4K*,  next gen games at 1080p.

 

*uncomfirmed obviously until it actually gets revealed officially.

[Steven]

18 minutes ago, macosx said:

it would have to be quite a special something to make up for the non appearance of your lead platform title on a new console launch.

 

I'm thinking either or both cock out on stage/crying (with influencers waiting in the wings to offer a range of thoughts the average person already has in their head)

[Broker]

12 minutes ago, Talk Show Host said:

 

Just to be clear, that is an unconfirmed rumor.

Seemingly entirely based on the budget of Destiny, which isn’t exactly a normal game production. 

[Talk Show Host]

1 minute ago, Broker said:

Seemingly entirely based on the budget of Destiny, which isn’t exactly a normal game production. 

 

Yeah, Destiny was quite a unique case, although to be fair the "infinite" on the title definitely suggests some kind of mmo/subscription approach to design.

 

But 500m? After the latest showing? I highly doubt it.

[LeighCb]

Blimey, they have made it a bit confusing. I'll just see how much everything costs I guess. 

[Talk Show Host]

1 minute ago, LeighCb said:

Blimey, they have made it a bit confusing. I'll just see how much everything costs I guess. 

 

Where were you some pages ago when I argued about the same thing? 

[RubberJohnny]

23 minutes ago, Talk Show Host said:

Just to be clear, that is an unconfirmed rumor.

 

It's not that much of a stretch though, ~500 devs in Seattle with an average salary of ~$80,000 is $40 million per year, times 6 years development, is ~$240 million, double for marketing spend at launch, I can see it getting close.

 

Game budgets generally stopped getting published this gen, so people just have a very disconnected view of how much things cost.

[Transient Curse]

20 minutes ago, Talk Show Host said:

 

Just to be clear, that is an unconfirmed rumor.

 

 

 

I tried my best to be as factual as possible, there's always something to nitpick.

[dataDave]

16 minutes ago, Harsin said:

Somewhere at Redmond there’s a team of consultants sat around a big Dr. Strangelove style war table In a smokey room, having a heated discussion over exactly which retro gaming t-shirt Phil Spencer should wear at his next interview to show just how much he loves games.

 

A Mario one, just to get people excited.

[T Pot]

9 minutes ago, LeighCb said:

Blimey, they have made it a bit confusing. I'll just see how much everything costs I guess. 

 

7 minutes ago, Talk Show Host said:

 

Where were you some pages ago when I argued about the same thing? 

 

Current Gen:

Entry Level: One S

Top Level: One X

 

Next Gen:

Entry Level: Series S

Top Level: Series X

[CarloOos]

Am I alone in thinking this doesn't actually matter as much as everyone is making out? While Halo being delayed is definitely embarrassing, MS have been pretty open about their strategy that they don't care what platform you're on, to the extent that they're releasing everything across every platform they have available.

 

We already had a lot of people saying they weren't going to bother picking up either next-gen machine until later down the line, when more actual next-gen software has been announced. So if you're a person who is locked in on Games Pass, and you're still planning on buying a new machine either this year or next, then why do the day one sales of the actual Series X matter? At this point if you're buying an Xbox you're buying it for Games Pass, something that will only become more true in a years time. The machine is just an upgraded conduit for a subscription that most of us already have, but people keep trying to weigh it up against a traditional console launch.

 

I'm still surprised either of them are bringing out their consoles this year tbh, if it wasn't for this endless game of chicken they're playing I think they'd both push back. Releasing extremely expensive toys while the western world hits its biggest recession in a lifetime seems ill-judged.

[barkbat]

Everything about Microsoft's approach with the X seems arse backwards.

 

They push a hardware spec that champions performance and puts it clear of its main rival, then have a software strategy that puts cross-generational play as a key feature, and launch the thing relying on 3rd party games to make it shine when it's the lower spec machine that will be the benchmark for every developer.

It's like they are doing everything to remove a clear difference between the two consoles on screen, and so make the cheaper one the clear choice, even disregarding Sony's amazing run of 1st party franchises.

 

I really think that Halo Infinite is the symptom of this internal conflict - a game that probably started life as the tent pole release for the world's most powerful console, and then a few years in had to suddenly work on Xbox One and have 100s of online players because Fortnite happened to be doing gang-busters during a milestone Microsoft executive meeting.

[footle]

1 hour ago, bear said:

They haven't announced the Series S yet so nothing is full confirmed but going by the rumours and innuendo it's basically: 

 

Series X- Native 4K, $500-600 expected price

 

Series S- No optical drive, 1080p graphics, same CPU as the Series X, $300-400 expected price. 

PS5: $300-600 expected price depending on who’s guessing.

 

its going to be interesting.

[Alex W.]

Sony certainly has an opportunity to bullshit their way past the power difference in the two consoles, at least for a while, but there’s still a big window for them to completely whiff it on price.

[CarloOos]

I really don't think anyone would have been bothered if the Series X & PC versions of Games Pass had a bunch of exclusive games likes Halo Infinite and the next Forza, but I presume the intention was to keep selling as many subs as possible to the vast majority of people that aren't early adopters.

 

From Microsoft's perspective making Halo Infinite a Series X exclusive probably seemed like the equivalent of Netflix releasing a new series of Stranger Things which can only be watched by people with HDR compatible TVs, it's something that doesn't help them with the majority of their audience.

[Steven]

Once again, launch lineup will sell it to me. Xbox will be fine - Halo 3 wasn't there with the 360 and it did OK. I only bought one when Ghost Recon AW came out as that felt like the first next gen thing at the time.

 

Hopefully Sony can stop pissing  around and show definitively what they have this side of Christmas now.

[Alex W.]

Supposedly the shipping box for the white Xbox pads:

Edit- I’m a little sceptical that stores were meant to just sit on these for three months, wasting warehouse space, but maybe they weren’t meant to leave MS’s suppliers yet.

[CarloOos]

14 minutes ago, Steven said:

Once again, launch lineup will sell it to me. Xbox will be fine - Halo 3 wasn't there with the 360 and it did OK. I only bought one when Ghost Recon AW came out as that felt like the first next gen thing at the time.

 

GRAW didn't release until four months after the 360 launch as well.

[HarryBizzle]

46 minutes ago, CarloOos said:

Am I alone in thinking this doesn't actually matter as much as everyone is making out? While Halo being delayed is definitely embarrassing, MS have been pretty open about their strategy that they don't care what platform you're on, to the extent that they're releasing everything across every platform they have available.

 

We already had a lot of people saying they weren't going to bother picking up either next-gen machine until later down the line, when more actual next-gen software has been announced. So if you're a person who is locked in on Games Pass, and you're still planning on buying a new machine either this year or next, then why do the day one sales of the actual Series X matter? At this point if you're buying an Xbox you're buying it for Games Pass, something that will only become more true in a years time. The machine is just an upgraded conduit for a subscription that most of us already have, but people keep trying to weigh it up against a traditional console launch.

 

I'm still surprised either of them are bringing out their consoles this year tbh, if it wasn't for this endless game of chicken they're playing I think they'd both push back. Releasing extremely expensive toys while the western world hits its biggest recession in a lifetime seems ill-judged.

 

I dunno, it certainly takes the wind out of the sails of the Series X launch for me - but I was one of the few people excited to play Infinite as shown. I might be wrong, but I think it helps the brand over the first year or two if they can say they're selling out and it's the most successful Xbox launch of all time and all the rest of those dodgy stats that always get rolled out for this kind of thing. But I'm not convinced that's going to happen when they're launching like this.

 

I think they're already fighting an uphill struggle in making this look like a full on next gen console. It's got no exclusive games, it's pretty much the same design language as the One X, and for some bizarre reason they really don't want to get out there and show us a direct comparison of just how bloody good games look on it in comparison to the One X or One S. And now it's not even launching with a big first party game - unless they rush something else out the door to take it's place, which I don't see happening. In comparison, the PS5 is new and exciting - despite being ugly as sin.

 

At the moment it just feels like the launch of the One X or PS4 Pro, and I'm not going to buy one at launch without something special to draw me in - getting the best experience for a big game like Halo was enough, but getting the best of what I'm already playing on Game Pass definitely isn't.

[Steven]

2 minutes ago, CarloOos said:

 

GRAW didn't release until four months after the 360 launch as well.

 

Yeah, it was early the following year.

[CarloOos]

7 minutes ago, Steven said:

 

Yeah, it was early the following year.

 

By comparison, Arkham Knight, the first 'proper', decent, current-gen only game I can think of, released 19 months (!!!) after the Xbox One & PS4 launched. That's almost two years with nothing but cross-gen software and shite.

 

EDIT: Actually Bloodborne came out a few months earlier, still a year and a half though.

[SweatyTravolta]

Ryse was at launch baby!