Topic: General Xbox Series X|S Thread

@GarbonZoni you are right. The sad site of this is I bought used console 1 month ago. I tested while buying. Everything was fine, fifa, cyberpunk working well. When I downloaded fortnite it crashed :/.

@Czesiek126 That's a bummer mate. Hope you didn't pay too much. Take it to cex , see if you can recoup some of the money spent then put it towards a new one.

Ruh-roh. This doesn't seem like the sort of attention Sony's going to enjoy.

Aww Jesus, not in here aswell. Sigh.....

I agree with the person above me. We really don't need to discuss that in this thread. That's about Sony, and this is about the Series consoles. It's already a topic that is a dicey one to discuss, so adding to it here isn't a good idea imo.

@Ralizah Is it surprising? Sony - a Japanese company lobbying the US to block a deal between 2 US companies that would actually benefit BOTH, keeping Jobs and income coming into the US.

You have Sony with a lead in EVERY market trying to claim this deal is anti-competitive as it would leave Sony unable to 'compete' with MS despite the fact they still own the biggest Exclusive Library only on Playstation that 'forces' people to buy or miss-out and 'allegedly' uses their Dominant position - especially in Japan to prevent Xbox from being able to compete. Final Fantasy is a massive game in Japan and even if Xbox had it, wouldn't seriously impact their 'dominant' position, but they 'block' MS regardless.

Lobbying US government to block 2 US companies from 'merging' to be 'more' competitive with Sony whilst both those US companies have little/no chance to Compete in Japan because of Sony - its only right that the US lobbies Japan for 'fair' trade as they 'expect' fair trade in the US...

There is a BIG difference to put your money into owning IP's, owning the Studio's and Talent behind a game to bring those to your Ecosystem Exclusively, make them part of your 1st Party Content going forward vs going to a 3rd Party and using your money to 'BLOCK' that studio from releasing on a specific Platform/service. I'd have NO ISSUE with Sony if they bought Square Enix or just bought Final Fantasy and the Studio behind it - as 'annoying' as it maybe for gamers on 'other' platforms, at least you know what to expect. Square Enix can't make Tomb Raider anymore and Amazon may decide to make that Exclusive to their Gaming ecosystem. Point is, if they own it, they have that right - but paying to 'block' others is absolutely ridiculous...

Looks like Alternatives to the Seagate Expansion is Coming...

I have xbox series S, is It possible to get steam on it, also what other similar sites like steam are available.

Not specific to Xbox Series X - certainly not in Cyberpunk, but this does show the difference 'Full' Ray Tracing as a Holistic approach to Lighting makes a massive difference to Rasterized Lighting or even various RT effects being used (Psycho mode for example).

With the 'tokenistic' RT modes we get on console - for 'more accurate' shadows OR reflections that barely make any noticeable 'difference', it maybe difficult for some to understand what RT can and does significantly improve on.

Anyway - I think its an interesting video and may help some have a better understanding of RT and how it can correct many 'issues' of lighting that plague games - although its not really affected my 'enjoyment' but I am aware that some things do look very 'game' like because the lighting isn't 'right'.

Well worth watching in my opinion - but I do think we are probably a decade away from getting this level of RT in a AAA 'realistic' looking game similar to Cyberpunk on Console and still be playable - at least not without any form of AI upscaling.

@BAMozzy I find RT an interesting effect but I simply do not care about until it has been optimized to have the game running at a good frame rate with it on. Whenever I am provided with the options I allways go to performance by default as even 1080 to 4k is not worth it.

Got a quick question. I recently have been enjoying Mortal Kombat 11 on the Series X in fact its making me want to replay MK 9(Mortal Kombat 2011) and MKX again. I know MKX is backwards compatible but is Mortal Kombat? I went to the MS Store but it appears that both MK and MK vs DC have been delisted digitally but googling it some people are saying yes.

I figured I can find a physical copy of Mortal Kombat from either a used game shop, Flea market or even ebay but before I do that I want to know if anyone here can confirm if it's backwards compatible or not.

The last time I played this game was on the PS3 so I don't have a Physical 360 copy to try this out, or even a digital.

Thanks

@Tasuki you can check it at Xbox website:

https://www.xbox.com/en-US/games/backward-compatibility

And it looks like they are!

P.s: I played MGS HD Collection after it was delisted digitally.

@Balta666 Awesome, thanks for the link. I figured it being delisted wouldn't be a problem, I have a few physical copies of backwards compatible games that were delisted, Forza Horizon 2 for example and it works fine. I know if there was any digital only DLC I can't get unless they happened to release a physical Ultimate Edition. I just wasn't 100% sure it was backwards compatible and didn't want to waste the time tracking a copy down.

This is why I don't think MS will make their OWN handheld Gaming device as they can let Asus, HP, Acer etc make their OWN windows based gaming Handhelds that will automatically have access to Game Pass for PC and Cloud streaming options too.

MS could Licence these too - either allow them to use Xbox branding to help sell more (like Turtle Beach Xbox branded headsets or Seagate Xbox branded Expansions) or even promote them with 1-3 months of 'free' Game Pass for PC codes in the box so you have 'games' to play straight away - no need to spend more 'buying' games to play on it - if you don't own 'PC' games.

Between this, Steam Deck, AyaNeo, Mobiles/Tablets (and any gaming accessories that turn those into handheld gaming devices), there are numerous options to Play Xbox games on the Go so I can't see MS needing to make their OWN.

This is interesting to see how Cyberpunk can run its 'highest' RT mode on various 'weak' GPU's - even if at a 'Console' like 30fps.

What is 'interesting' to is that compared to 'most' current GPU's in the majority of gaming PC's today (not the very latest, top tier GPU's), Streaming proves to be the 'best' option to get the most playable version of Cyberpunk in its 'highest' tier RT mode because it runs at 60fps or above 'most' of the time and even the 'extra' lag incurred by streaming doesn't hurt as much as the Lag/latency incurred at 30fps.

It makes sense when most 30fps games have around 120ms input latency, 60fps tends to be around 70-80ms (of course varies from game to game) and streaming adds about 5-10ms so at 60fps, it feels more like 60fps (70-80ms) and more responsive, better to play than 'natively' at 30fps.

Therefore, all those XB1/X owners could actually benefit by playing games via Game Pass Streaming than play natively. XB1X may well have the sharper image, but streaming could offer much richer, denser and/or RT lit visuals supersampled down to be 'softer' at 1080p, but far less pop-in. Its a 'big' upgrade over 'sub-1080p' and barely holding 30fps versions on XB1S to play Series X visuals at 1080/60 through their consoles.

I wonder how long before They build 'super' Gaming computer servers that are far more capable and connected to super chips to handle the most complex Physics, AI, Ray Tracing etc (even use AI to help in the game) that 'no' domestically available hardware could run locally or 'offline' so the ONLY option is streaming...

I know that some games 'rely' on streaming - Flight Sim for example but feels 'different' because it does have 'offline' content that 'looks/feels' the same - it doesn't matter that the 'world data' is streaming in inc the actual weather in that area etc - not on disk - it still 'relies' on streaming to play the main part of it.

I still think there is a future for Hardware and don't really want to see Streaming as the 'main/only' real option - can't see it for at least a 'decade' but as a viable option, an 'entry' way to play games or even a 'compliment' to a main platform (like streaming a game before you decide whether to download/install, use it to play where you can't with PC/Console, etc) I can only see it getting 'better' and growing in users - which will also encourage more investment and improvements. I just wonder how long it will be before 'Streaming' can offer a 'better' experience than whatever 'Hardware' they can cram in a box to 'sell' at an 'affordable' price for what it promises and punches above its price point like Consoles are designed to be.

GeForce now arguably can offer 'better' than a $500 Series X/PS5 console - Cyberpunk with the highest tier Visual Quality at 60fps and over...(mostly)

Anyone know when the preload is for Last Case of Benedict Fox? Still no pricing or preload that I can tell.

RARE said everwild might release in 2023, look forward to it, but I not sure exactly how the game plays, I really hope it is good I'm a big RARE fan

@BrilliantBill What he is saying is that there is NO world where people will give up a whole generation+ of their Digital Libraries on Playstation built up over the last gen to play new 'Xbox' games like Starfield, Fable etc. Even if most of the games are multi-platform releases, if you bought for PS4 (as most gamers did because Xbox One didn't sell well so had far fewer users), they are still 'locked' to the Playstation generation. So its not just Playstation 'exclusives' they would lose and we know Sony had by far the 'best' (at least from a critical perspective - many winning or nominated for Game of the Year) and most numerous exclusives, but every game they owned from last gen.

It wasn't a 'complete' reset with this Gen. People have a LOT more to lose by switching these days. At the start of the PS4/XB1 era, with no Back Compat (at launch or ever on PS4), it was a 'fresh start' and everybody 'lost' their games to start 'fresh' on PS4/XB1. We know how bad MS 'screwed' up - although was really ahead of the curve but gamers weren't ready for the 'digital' era in 2013. Now you can buy a PS5, Series X and your entire 'digital' library (as well as 'discs') from last gen come with you. That could be £/$1000's worth of games that people don't want to 'Lose' by switching platforms.

The 'only' real hope is that they can 'encourage' others to 'play' in some capacity. Its probably why the Series S exists too - a 'cheap' console that maybe Playstation gamers would pick up to play the exclusives, but still 'lose' out on 3rd Party sales as they buy those on PS5. The other aspect is those 'new' gamers coming into 'console' gaming for the first time, those with no digital history. But even then, those gamers have at least a 'decade' of games to choose between because these consoles also have last gen games and we know Xbox wasn't as 'strong' so even if 'Starfield' was an 11/10, its not going to pull gamers away from Playstation with Spider-Man, Last of Us, God of War, Horizon, Ghost of Tsushima etc as well as Spider-Man 2 coming 'soon'.

Xbox would need a LOT of AAA 'bangers' on Consoles to compete with all the AAA bangers from the PS4 gen onwards that PS5 offers. Its not 'Starfield' vs a 'single' PS5 title, but ALL the exclusive titles you could play so even if Starfield is the best game 'ever', PS5 owners aren't going to sell PS5's and 'switch' to Xbox so Xbox can close the console 'gap'- that's not going to happen.

@BrilliantBill I don't disagree at all and its clear that MS understand that they can't really compete in Console Sales wars and therefore aren't going to have some 'miraculous' game (or selection of games) that will suddenly see 'Xbox' catching up and/or overtaking Sony/Nintendo in terms of units sold.

At best, they can hope to encourage people to jump into their 'ecosystem' in some capacity - even if its just via Cloud. If they get the ABK deal through, even if they made 'every' game Exclusive, its not going to make Playstation gamers 'jump' to Xbox and give up their Library on Playstation, abandon all those 'exclusives' - inc those coming like Spider-Man 2, Wolverine, Final Fantasy 16 etc - hence NO jurisdiction has 'blocked' MS based on 'Hardware' gaming and the CMA's argument that it would give MS an 'unassailable' advantage in Cloud is 'ridiculous'. If Sony wanted, they could start their own 'cloud streaming' service with Many more games in their Library from PS1 onwards, more 'exclusives' as well. EA, Ubisoft, SE, WB, TenCent and 'all' the other Publishers and their owned IP's aren't ALL on Game Pass so could start their own 'cloud streaming' to compete.

Its a bit like saying Netflix had a monopoly because they started Streaming and therefore no-one else had a chance to compete against ALL the content Netflix had - yet Amazon, Disney+ etc have all competed successfully. MS/Xbox only has their 'own' IP's and Studio's they can guarantee on Cloud - which leaves 1000's of other games owned by various other companies that 'could' start a 'competing' cloud service. If Sony started one, I doubt it would be 'windows' based and would have its own 'unique' library of games - but Sony (and the other Publishers who are 'Sales' focussed) don't think Cloud is right for them - as it would 'hurt' sales of Hardware & Software, therefore affect their Sales focussed business model.

The reality is that its not Starfield vs 'Spider-Man 2' for example, its the 'entire' Library of games you can play on 'Xbox' vs the entire Library of games on Playstation - you aren't spending $500+ just to play a single game and if Starfield is the 'only' must play on Xbox, its not going to pull people away from the many more games on Playstation.

I have been saying for years, before the current gen started that MS is not competing for Console sales, not trying to be the best selling hardware - hence you get day 1 releases on PC/Cloud too - both affect Console and Software sales. They have a 'different' business model - more service based. But Sales are also not the ONLY metric...

Worth checking out this Interview of Phil Spencer and Matt Booty with Giant Bomb, will get the time Stamps ready It's great to see them talking so openly and freely about Xbox and games and just experiences, it's a wonderful insight, makes me feel good about Xbox, that is a good thing.

Link: https://youtu.be/ykXaj1d1jXY

Phil Spencer and Matt Booty about 1hour 15mins in, Time staps are in the video on youtube etc

Thanks