Microsoft Shares A More In-Depth Look At The Xbox Series S

Perfectly designed for 1440p60/120fps gaming.

PS5 and Xbox Series S seems like the way to go.

thats seriously impressive and kind of makes me wonder why get the X when this is so much cheaper and has the same performance (just lower resolution)

One thing I do wonder is how does it handle Xbox One X games, will they be at 4K?

It’s a massive shame we have 2 really nice consoles launching this Christmas and not one must have game to make either of them worth buying.

I have to say I find all of this a little confusing, and I can't help but think MS made it that way on purpose.

"4x the processing power of an Xbox One console."

I'm assuming that's not the X1X, which is still now technically a last Gen console. I've read Series X is 4x faster than X1X but Series S is 4x faster than X1S so that makes XSS about as powerful as X1X. So it's really more of an X1X with an SSD. But it will play XSX games, whenever they release in 2 years. Only in 1080p not 4k.

I know Nintendo has done similar things - the Wii was as powerful as 2 GameCubes duct taped together, the Switch is really just a portable Wii U, and has the games to match, but at least those all released 1 generation at a time with very different names.

Microsoft just 2 years ago launched X1X, now XSS and XSX at the same time, that's a bit much. Oh yeah and X1SAD was not long ago either.

I mean yeah I can follow, but I don't know if the people writing all of these articles are capable of not making typos. 😂

If the Series S had a disc drive i would of gotten it..

@rjejr In spite of the wording, they clearly confirm that Series S is like Series X except for the rendering resolution so it's a next-gen console with next-gen CPU and SSD without any bottlenecks.

"Xbox Series S delivers the same next generation speed and performance that define Xbox Series X. It is similar in CPU and has the identical I/O performance as Xbox Series X, making it easier for developers to deliver the same great performance, while rendering at a lower resolution".

It also upscales to 4K so Series S is basically like Series X but without native 4K, without a disc drive and with half of the storage capacity.

I am so stoked! The Xbox brand has so many positive vibes surrounding it lately.

@rjejr

I don’t find it confusing at all. I think Microsoft is making this very simple actually.

@rjejr They'll be talking about the CPU which is around 4x the processing power of even the One X, as that still uses that ancient Jaguar CPU and is by far the biggest limitation of that console

@carlos82 So, for every Series S article are we going to get to read that Series S is so much faster than X1S but mostly the same as X1X but really faster b/c Jaguar? B/c that will certainly make every article fun to read. Also, see next reply.

@KelticDevil Clear as mud.

@TheNewButler Sorry buddy, but I always stop reading at "buddy" with people I don't know.

@BlueOcean "so Series S is basically like Series X but without native 4K, without a disc drive and with half of the storage capacity."

So a Series S is like a Series X the same way a Switch is like a Series X b/c a Switch can't do 4k, doesn't have a disc drive, and has much less storage capacity, but it does play video games on my TV. 😂

@TheNewButler Ok, actual reply since I'm new here.

I understand what's going on, I said that in the last sentence of my original post, which still stands unedited up there at #6. But I'm talking about people who go into stores to buy these consoles for their kids and teens and don't read gaming websites.

Take your sentence for example. It starts with: "Just to be clear" and then continues with: "while the X1X does have a GPU with raw numbers that appear as impressive as XSS you can expect the Navi GPU to be around a third + more efficient than the GPU in the current gen consoles."

Say a parent of a 13 year old is told their kid wants an Xbox for Christmas, Then the parent goes to the store to buy their kid an Xbox for Christmas, and they ask the employee at Target what the differences are between the Xbox and they are told: "Just to be clear" "while the X1X does have a GPU with raw numbers that appear as impressive as XSS you can expect the Navi GPU to be around a third + more efficient than the GPU in the current gen consoles." For most parents, that doesn't meet the definition of "clear".

I get it, you get it, most people here get it, but MS is selling at least 2 new systems this holiday, plus whatever boxes will still be left on store shelves or websites from this gen, and the naming IS going to be confusing to a lot of people. It just is. Xbox 1 X, Xbox 1 S, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S. That's a lot of X's and S's.

PS5 w/o or w/o a disc drive is easier to understand. And even a grandparent will guess PS5 comes after PS4.

Nintendo made a similar mistake w/ Wii U, some people actually thought the Wii U was just the Gamepad to play on the Wii.

https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/284664

"1. Customers were too confused about the product.
The Nintendo Wii was a phenomenon, appealing to people who didn't consider themselves to be gamers with its first-of-its-kind motion controls in a home console. It was smart for the company to want to take advantage of the machine's success, but the name it chose for the Wii's successor, Wii U, didn't communicate to customers that this was a brand-new device.

Meanwhile, the company's marketing efforts focused on the tablet-like controller, which conveyed to some customers that the Wii U was just a peripheral, instead of a full-blown console.

"Some have the misunderstanding that Wii U is just Wii with a pad for games, and others even consider Wii U GamePad as a peripheral device connectable to Wii," Satoru Iwata, the former Nintendo president who died last year, said during a company meeting in April 2013. "We feel deeply responsible for not having tried hard enough to have consumers understand the product."

Takeaway: Branding and marketing can sink your company. Always make sure to effectively communicate what makes your product different."

@TheNewButler Sony has less failed at marketing than just hasn't done any yet. And they better get on it soon. Though I think MS had such a good day yesterday Sony may be waiting a bit until the smoke settles and there is a little distance between the 2 announcements, b/c Sony ain't wining on price or financing options. I never thought Sony would announce this week, despite being a Japanese company they are very US focused and w/ Labor Day Monday I always thought next week would be better for them. But I don't see how they can win the "war of announcements" at this point.

Grandparents and parents still don't understand all of this stuff. And the people I talk to at Target understand some of it even less. But if the XSX box is anything to go by, if MS has a complimentary white box half the size of the X for the XSS that will go a long way towards distinguishing the 2. And if MS sells out all the X1S/X stock before mid-November that would help a lot as well.

Still wouldn't want to be in working in retail explaining it to people this holiday though. 2 new Xbox, 2 new PS5, and PS4.

Switch and Lite really are their own ecosystem at this point. Nintendo should really be thinking $149 Lite sales, $249 Switch sales this Black Friday if they want to sell any. Even as a portable Switch at $299 isn't looking too good next to the Series S. Lite at $149 would still sell to kids though. If Sony sells PS5 DOE for $299 Switch is really in trouble, that game line-up is severely limited this holiday.

It really is MS time to shine. I just think they could have shone brighter with better naming conventions. Expect to be having power comparison discussions the remainder of the year. Not with me, this is enough for me, but every article there will be someone. I've seen it already today.