Topic: General Xbox Series X|S Thread

@Yousef- @Pastellioli There have been way too many negative rumours about Xbox that were false since the Zenimax acquisition. Microsoft will still be making consoles because there is no reason not to for a software and hardware company that has become one of the most important -if not the most- publishers worldwide and that is ahead of Sony in gaming revenue after the acquisition of ABK.

Their business strategy and economy includes, of course, PC and mobile, so I'm not sure how much will they market consoles in the future. In most territories, Xbox consoles haven't been advertised for years. They probably should try harder about that, because consoles are part of the business, even if the console market is limited.

There is an "Xbox is doomed" mantra online and a new Xbox drama every week, but numbers say that everything is fine, because the number of consoles sold doesn't mean much this generation, just look at Sony and how worried they are about their exclusives not selling enough on PS5. The important thing here is that Microsoft earn billions just with subscriptions every year, not to mention the digital store. Nintendo is doing great with hardware and software, especially because many of the games are full-priced ports, but I don't know if Switch successor will be as profitable. I doubt it.

EDIT: On top of the drama, there are fake news, like when it was reported that Hellblade II was not even the 100th best-selling game at launch, Ben using a physical releases chart as source. Hellblade II wasn't released physically. Truth is, it debuted in 10th on the Steam (digital) charts, in spite of being a Game Pass title on console and PC.

@Banjo- I don't believe the "Xbox is doomed" thing, also cuz it's been done to death so many times. I still doubt that Microsoft is going to retire the Xbox entirely also because of the studios it has under its helm (Xbox Game Studios, ZeniMax Media, and Activision-Blizzard) and I do feel that is a very unrealistic thing for most people to believe. While it is good to hear that the Xbox is still financially stable and that they are working on the next console already, I still think that they should improve upon parts of their strategy, like trying harder to market them instead of possibly stopping marketing them in certain countries and not always hiking up the prices of Game Pass, since that is alienating a lot of people right now. When fake news does come around on the internet, I think Microsoft should be faster with addressing the "news" to stop more damage from spreading and to quell worries. It's something I don't think they are good at doing.

I do think the fake news that is being made is also detrimental to the brand because although it did turn out that Microsoft is going with the multiplatform strategy for a few of their games, every single "leaker" claimed that every exclusive is going multiplatform but I am sure Microsoft did say that there still would be exclusives, and not every title would go multiplatform. Plus, in a lot of those reports, most of the time it's said that a specific game going multiplatform is "considered" and not decided on yet, so plans could change and aren't set in stone. It's why I don't take some news and "leaks" seriously or with a grain of salt, since some people do easily believe them and it can spread false info, plus, there was this whole fiasco last month during the summer gaming season with these two trusted "leakers" who completely fumbled their jobs and are pretty much not trusted anymore.

@Banjo- @Pastellioli it does seem like Microsoft in general needs a better PR mouth piece. Phil has been kinda acting out that role but I wouldn’t be shocked if he’s got his hands tied behind his back.

Also truth be told here, I’ve had a much longer, much more extensive reply in mind. But my internet crapped on me and it got deleted by my device and I can’t remember most of what I said since that was two days ago and I’m still annoyed by it so this is incredibly shorter. I hope I’ll remember more later.

@Pastellioli Everything you said is right. The fake news and made-up rumours spread quickly, but also when they are denied officially, you barely see anyone referring to the facts! Like the example I posted above, but there are dozens of them.

Microsoft could certainly market Xbox a lot better, but I'm not completely sure about denying every piece of fake news or rumour, because Nintendo and Sony don't address them and being the only one doing so is like accepting being targeted constantly.

Xbox is targeted constantly, anyway. When the "leakers" and "insiders" said that Microsoft was dropping hardware, releasing every game for PS5 and that Call of Duty was not going to be included in Game Pass, Microsoft denied all that around a week later in a podcast. A few days later, more gloomy rumours started showing up already. Some people have made a living out of this.

The agony of Xbox is an online mirage exaggerated by some posters. If you talk in real life (or party chat), 99.99% of Xbox players aren't worried about any of this. I'm sure that Microsoft isn't that worried either when they see their financial reports.

However, Microsoft shouldn't rest on their laurels. Firstly, they need to supervise all their teams properly, because some of them have been working in chaos, like The Initiative until Crystal Dynamics came to the rescue. Secondly, they should improve their current marketing efforts, even if it's as simple as marketing certain games and the platforms where you can play them on. I thought that they stopped doing that because of the ABK acquisition, so we might be surprised by a marketing campaign when Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 is out come October.

@Yousef I know how that feels.

Good list. A lot of titles hold up. Onenchenbara and OG Ninja Gaiden 2 come to Mind.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=CvgOBmyrBF4&t=278s

What do you guys been up to lately? Any games you’re playing or excited for? I’m planning to pre order a few games close to their release. Besides that, I’ve just been on my steam deck a lot.

@Yousef- I beat a few games and posted about them on Last Game You Beat.

I just noticed that Crash Bandicoot N.sane Trilogy is the third most popular title on Game Pass right now, just behind FC24 and Minecraft, sandwiched between them, Forza and Call of Duty. This proves that Xbox users do like platformers. Please, Microsoft, time for Banjo-Kazooie!

@Banjo- thank you, and I agree. Platformers belong on Xbox too!

@Banjo- Oh golly oh gosh, I would die if a new Banjo game happened…I need one so badly! So many of Rare’s platformers are in need of modern revivals…

@Pastellioli You couldn't have said it better! I was surprised to see Crash so high on the ranking. There are so many great IPs there, especially Rare's IPs: Banjo-Kazooie, Conker, Viva Piñata, Jet Force Gemini and, well yeah, Grabbed by the Ghoulies. I loved that one on Rare Replay (1080p 60fps).

@Banjo- So many of their old IPs had so much potential and a ton of great ideas that could have been expanded upon a lot with new entries. I wish a few of them made it in the modern day...

Imagine if they announced Xbox Super S|X or something

Does anyone else feel like they’ll be largely unaffected by most of Xbox’s recent bad decisions? I use my series on a daily basis and don’t really see myself changing for any particular reason any time soon. Despite all the bad decisions and the declining lifespan and inferior quality of life, I don’t sub to game pass anyways and I don’t really buy that many games per month to begin with and they’re usually cheap or heavy I discounted games and i just play a lot of old stuff or play on my steam deck sometimes. I’m still very much comfortable with Xbox being my primary home console too. It has all the games I need on it. All the 7th gen, 8th gen, even a few 9th gen games.
I can’t say for sure what 10th gen will be like because I don’t have enough of a frame of reference to go off but we’ll see in 2026.
But even then I still see myself gaming on my Xbox for another year or two pretty regularly.
Anyone else feels the same?

@Yousef- I do feel the same way as well. I think Microsoft has a lot of stuff to improve on in the Xbox division, but I just realized they don’t really affect me at all, not trying to excuse their bad decisions that negatively impact a lot of their customers, I still dislike the price hikes they did for Game Pass and how they came out of nowhere as I was about to resub. The only sub I have is the Core sub solely for online play, and I do think that price hike made me not really care for Game Pass anymore. I think my selection of owned games (albeit kinda small since I don’t buy games a lot) is keeping me satisfied and playing the Xbox. Maybe I buy one new game and it’ll be a while that I buy another one. It’s maybe my game tastes in older, already released games that make me feel like Microsoft’s multiplatform decisions for their newer games don’t affect me that much, but I can understand a lot of criticisms people give them for how they can badly handle stuff, which they tend to do more often than not, like taking a full week to respond to the rumors that initially came out on them making ALL of their exclusives multiplatform.

@Pastellioli with me changing stuff around my spendings budget and how I use my Xbox to enjoy stuff I already have, I see myself buying games less and less. I’d love to get stuff like DBZ Sparking Zero and Sonic x Shadow, but I genuinely don’t know if my budget would allow it. We shall see.

Do you think it's worth getting a series S (1tb) in 2024?

I've had S and X in the past so I know both are good but I just wondered if the S in 2024 is still a vaible option.

Is it struggling with new games?

I'm a casual gamer and have a PS5 so unless games become barely playable i'm not going to notice. Most gaming I will do on PS5 but i'm looking at the S so i can play the new flight sim and try call of duty without paying 70 for it on ps5.

@BolkaRover I think it’s totally worth getting just for that. I do light gaming on my series s as well for games I don’t plan to buy and it’s awesome for those. Huge library, two days ago I finished Reload, a game I would’ve paid 70 bucks to play had I not gotten game pass instead. Even the 500gb model served me well, although I got myself a 4 terabyte HDD to store the 360 and Xbone games but you won’t need it if you already have a ps5 and play on it and just plan to do light gaming on your series to try stuff. So yeah go for it.

@BolkaRover That really depends on 'you' and whether or not you think it's 'good enough' for you. I can't answer whether or not you will get what you want/expect from it - enough to feel like it was a worthwhile purchase or not.

I personally think its not 'struggling' as such - maybe can't always offer the same 'features/modes', but its like the PS4/XB1S from last gen in that regard which wouldn't get 'Performance' or Higher Quality/resolution visuals the PS4 Pro or XB1X could. The Series X is likely to give you a very similar level of experience to the PS5 in that regard and the Series S, by comparison, would seem to be 'struggling' because it maybe can't do the 'couch co-op', maybe won't have a '60/120fps' performance mode or offer the Ray Traced shadows/reflections (but does use alternatives).

So it depends on whether or not you feel its too much of a drop off in resolution for example after being used to PS5 - especially if you have a 4k TV. But the 'games' aren't radically different, still offer the same story etc. CoD for example may not look quite as 'good' on Series S vs Series X/PS5 but looks and plays better than on last-gen... Its also the 'cheapest' Hardware option for being able to download and play games with Game Pass.

It really does depend on you though - whether or not you'll use it 'enough' that you feel it was a worthwhile purchase. Yes it can save you money, but spending money on Hardware and a Game Pass Subscription to save $70 on CoD and maybe play Flight Sim might be more 'expensive' than just buying CoD on PS5. If you really want to play Flight Sim and/or other Xbox exclusives (timed or otherwise) - like Indiana Jones, Stalker 2, Fable, Perfect Dark etc, then you'll get more 'use' from your Hardware/Subscription to get more value and it be more worthwhile..

Thanks for the replies guys. Very helpful. I will def be interested in Fable and Indiana Jones so I think at such a low price the series s is gonna be worth it for me.