Xbox Series X | S

[Tim]

Thanks for all your replies, It would seem holding out for  the X is the better option, I just have to address the main bottle neck of funding a decent 4k telly to go make it all worth it

 

[Bushtopher]

@Tim - I’d get a Series S if I were you. I got a Series X and relegated my old One X to my study. Then saw a really good trade in offer to upgrade my One X to a Series S (effectively costing me only £70 to upgrade). Find myself using the Series S much more than I did the One X because it has the same ridiculously quick loading times and quick resume that the Series X has. For me, that’s the best feature of these new consoles, and means I play much more (and more variety) than I did on the One X as it’s just so quick and easy to turn on and play for 15 mins or so. 
 

In the last week or so, I reckon I’ve actually spent more time on the Series S than the Series X  

[Strafe]

5 minutes ago, Bushtopher said:

@Tim - I’d get a Series S if I were you. I got a Series X and relegated my old One X to my study. Then saw a really good trade in offer to upgrade my One X to a Series S (effectively costing me only £70 to upgrade). Find myself using the Series S much more than I did the One X because it has the same ridiculously quick loading times and quick resume that the Series X has. For me, that’s the best feature of these new consoles, and means I play much more (and more variety) than I did on the One X as it’s just so quick and easy to turn on and play for 15 mins or so. 
 

In the last week or so, I reckon I’ve actually spent more time on the Series S than the Series X  

Is that because it’s in your study though?

[Bushtopher]

1 hour ago, Strafe said:

Is that because it’s in your study though?

Yeah, that’s a a fair point!

 

I’m also finding that there are some games I prefer playing on a monitor at a desk (which I don’t think I’ve done since my Amiga days!), and some which feel better on the big screen. Maybe it’s my old eyes!

[Oh Danny Boy]

3 hours ago, Tim said:

Thanks for all your replies, It would seem holding out for  the X is the better option, I just have to address the main bottle neck of funding a decent 4k telly to go make it all worth it

 

The S is a fantastic next gen console. I had a One S a year ago and it didn’t get much game time, the Series S is a huge jump from there and improves upon its last gen variant in every single way. The Series X is for those with 4k TVs etc, if you’re not interested in that then there’s little point in spending the extra £200. Both play the same next gen games suited to the TV set up you have.  If you plan on having a 4K tv in the near future than you might want an X to future proof yourself in that regard. 

Memory size isn’t as simple 512gb v 1tb. Series S/X games have different download sizes that’s at least a third smaller on the S due to not having the 4K assets. So the difference in the amount of actual S/X games each system can hold is much smaller than what simply comparing the SSD size differences would suggest. 
 

The biggest difference is whether you’d want a disc drive or not and whether that’s worth £200. That depends on your habit as a gamer. I’ve been all digital with the Xbox since the 360 days, due to convenience and that physical game value are so minimal anyway.  If you have lots of physical copies of Xbone/360 games than this may sway you to an X. 
 

If you want next gen Xbox gaming at this moment then an S definitely wouldn’t disappoint and it’s aesthetics is a very nice bonus. 

[ucci]

Can you plug in an external Blu-ray disc drive in the S to play disc games? 

[Fletch]

The S is brilliant it's so small, silent and speedy. It's transformed Forza Horizon 4 I don't have time to check my phone during loading times now. 

 

The storage is an issue but I'll just plug the hdd from my one and live the slightly longer loading times for the stuff I play less often. 

[routeburn]

Another happy S customer. Performance is great so far, super smooth, and I prefer Destiny 2 on XSX than on my PC.

In terms of storage, I have about 4 "big games" and a whole bunch of small/medium games installed and have around 10GB spare. Given I'm using it as a "Game Pass Box", I don't think I'll have more than 4 big Game Pass titles on the go at any one time, so it should be fine. Let's see how it goes as the native X/S games come along in the next year or so.

[Hitcher]

1 hour ago, ucci said:

Can you plug in an external Blu-ray disc drive in the S to play disc games? 

No.

[Purin]

I bloody LOVE my S.

 

Glad my X was a dud in a way, as the S is so small and sleek and cute looking in my set-up. Cold War is absolutely amazing on it.

[friedgold]

Yeah, I love my S. I know (and kind of agree with) the arguments against an all-digital collection but frankly with a couple of kids charging around having dozens of game cases all over the shop isn't my idea of fun.

 

On another note, I was gifted £45 of vouchers for Christmas and am in the strange quandary of haviogn absolutely no idea what to spend it on. Game pass seems to have me covered. It's a pretty weird place to be, so if anyone has anby recommendations please throw them my way.

[HarryBizzle]

I’ve always sold my games on and bought physical, so spending money on digital games always feels like a bit of a waste of money, but I think I could probably get by with just game pass and then buying a few digital games a year with what I get from Microsoft Rewards. 
 

At the moment, the S is my primary console. 

[Luseth]

17 minutes ago, HarryBizzle said:

I’ve always sold my games on and bought physical, so spending money on digital games always feels like a bit of a waste of money, but I think I could probably get by with just game pass and then buying a few digital games a year with what I get from Microsoft Rewards. 
 

At the moment, the S is my primary console. 

 

I always thought that, however with my xbox so far I have spent the money for ultimate which includes live that I would have paid for anyway and the xbox. I've spent nothing due to game pass on the xbox and it see's much more game time at the moment than my ps5 If I were to intentionally reduce my gaming expenditure the xbox would be my go to currently. There are also plenty of sales much like steam and that so maybe you won't be able to get games right away but you'll be able to get them for good prices if you wait a little bit

[Hodge]

Just played through Hivebusters on Series S. Fantastic from start to finish. Rock solid 60 fps throughout and looked stunning on my 1080p Plasma. Load times? What load times and quick resume is spot on for this title to. If this is the sign of things to come for series S, it will have a very bright future. Also kudos being able to install what you need to save space.

[Luseth]

On another note, i'd like to pick up a cheap 3rd party controller for my daughter, she's very young so i'm half expecting her to break it or get food jammed in the buttons or something.

 

Does anyone have any cheap suggestions? I'd rather not pick up an official one for her to ruin.

[Jamie John]

Game are doing a pre-order queue for Series S and X consoles, apparently:

 

 

[Timmo]

Another Series S fan here, although I'm not ruling out an upgrade at some point.

 

I was playing Resi 3 last night (rock solid 60fps, btw), and the tool tips trying to help me with a boss were up for too short a time for me to read them. Loading times are insane.

[Fletch]

1 hour ago, friedgold said:

Yeah, I love my S. I know (and kind of agree with) the arguments against an all-digital collection but frankly with a couple of kids charging around having dozens of game cases all over the shop isn't my idea of fun.

 

On another note, I was gifted £45 of vouchers for Christmas and am in the strange quandary of haviogn absolutely no idea what to spend it on. Game pass seems to have me covered. It's a pretty weird place to be, so if anyone has anby recommendations please throw them my way.

 

Hitman 3 later this month?

 

I'm not sure if it's the fact that I'm using a better TV than my old Xbox One set up in the bedroom with my new S downstairs but Forza looks so much better I'm not sure if it's the 60fps but it almost looks more 3D which is a weird way to describe it.

[Dudley]

3 hours ago, ucci said:

Can you plug in an external Blu-ray disc drive in the S to play disc games? 

 

Given the financial case of the Series S for them is the massively increased profits from digital games/GamePass then there is no way they would ever consider this even if it were possible.

[Dudley]

19 minutes ago, Jamie John said:

Game are doing a pre-order queue for Series S and X consoles, apparently:

 

 

 

They're not, it just says out of stock when you try and add it, which is not how queues work.

 

[ucci]

27 minutes ago, Dudley said:

 

Given the financial case of the Series S for them is the massively increased profits from digital games/GamePass then there is no way they would ever consider this even if it were possible.

Thanks for letting me know. It's a PC in a box with a different O/S so must be locked out. How can you play your original owned Xbox OG or 360 games? Not all are on gamepass. 

[deerokus]

2 hours ago, friedgold said:

Yeah, I love my S. I know (and kind of agree with) the arguments against an all-digital collection but frankly with a couple of kids charging around having dozens of game cases all over the shop isn't my idea of fun.

 

On another note, I was gifted £45 of vouchers for Christmas and am in the strange quandary of haviogn absolutely no idea what to spend it on. Game pass seems to have me covered. It's a pretty weird place to be, so if anyone has anby recommendations please throw them my way.

Yakuza Like a Dragon 

 

[Mogster]

28 minutes ago, ucci said:

Thanks for letting me know. It's a PC in a box with a different O/S so must be locked out. How can you play your original owned Xbox OG or 360 games? Not all are on gamepass. 

You can buy them from the store, get some from Games With Gold and they're often on sale for peanuts too. Note that only a selection of 360 and OG Xbox games are supported though, not all of them.

 

Any supported games you've previously bought digitally on the 360 will automatically be available in your games library.

[Yiggy]

@friedgold

 

If you quite like fun single player adventure games that are easy to play and especially if you quite like Greek Myths then Fenyx Immortals can be had pretty cheaply, is not on Gamepass and provides a good 30 hours of solid entertainment. It stops short of being amazing but its great fun and provides a comfortable level of challenge. It was my fave game over Christmas. 

[Garwoofoo]

25 minutes ago, Mogster said:

You can buy them from the store, get some from Games With Gold and they're often on sale for peanuts too. Note that only a selection of 360 and OG Xbox games are supported though, not all of them.

 

Worth pointing out though that there are still a small number of Xbox 360 games that are supported through backward compatibility but are not available digitally. You're not going to be able to play those at all without a disc drive.

[Dudley]

1 hour ago, ucci said:

Thanks for letting me know. It's a PC in a box with a different O/S so must be locked out. How can you play your original owned Xbox OG or 360 games? Not all are on gamepass. 

 

You can't play your old disk games, only ones you owned digital via some means (or are prepared to rebuy if available).

[Dudley]

29 minutes ago, Garwoofoo said:

 

Worth pointing out though that there are still a small number of Xbox 360 games that are supported through backward compatibility but are not available digitally. You're not going to be able to play those at all without a disc drive.

 

Forza Horizon 1 for one, unless you bought it digitally before delisting.

[carlospie]

Little nightmares is really good. Highly recommended

[bluejmc2005]

On 06/01/2021 at 18:58, StoooTube said:

Does it stick when fully depressed?

 

Mine was doing this. There’s a small rubber pad that wears away and causes the trigger to stick. Removing the pad does the trick. I think you can access this without a screwdriver, just pop the back off the right side of the controller.

So I fixed it. WD40! absolutely spot on after a couple of squirts when fully depressed

[Simmy]

On an alternative note - anyone tried Civ VI?

 

I'm doing the game sharing thing with an RTS / Game Board enthusiast and I'm thinking of picking up Civ VI for gaming together on the Xbox.

 

He's got my One X I've got the Series X.

 

I've read the store reviews saying there's crashes etc - is this accurate? Would be the perfect game otherwise but just wanna check if anyone else has experience with this game.

 

Cheers!