It's now been a couple of weeks since both the Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S were originally made available for pre-order, and as we all know, the majority of Series X stock sold out within just a few hours.
No official numbers have been provided about how well the Series X sold or how many units were available, but according to GM of Xbox Games Marketing Aaron Greenberg, the console was breaking retailer records within seconds.
"All of our retailers digitally told us that we broke every record for like, everything, within seconds. And many of them struggled just to keep their websites up. Like, of any pre-order they've ever done for any product.
And I remember the Xbox One launch and I think it was close to a week before the pre-orders were gone, and now they're gone in seconds. So, it's fun! We're going to work hard to make as many as we can in the meantime."
Greenberg was speaking as part of Saturday's Game Pink Live stream, which raised money for the National Breast Cancer Foundation to help women and families impacted by breast cancer, raising over $30,000.
Were you able to pre-order an Xbox Series X? How would you compare it to the Xbox One launch? Tell us below.
Comments 27
I think both consoles are breaking preorder records. That’s great for all gamers.
More consoles sold mean bigger market for developers.
Happy to hear Xbox is doing so well this time around. Kick PlayStation’s butt a bit more to keep each other competitive over the next years.
Probably pretty easy to break preorder records when you offer more preorders than are available to buy - or did this shambles happen every console release?
It’s all just marketing garbage but let’s be honest - both console will do superbly well and create more awesomeness for all their user base this new generation. Just can’t wait being part of it all.
I got my Series X pre-order and it was probably the most difficult console to pre-order because of the websites and not being able to get on the first 2 I tried - making it increasingly stressful trying to ensure I would get a console for launch...
Now there will be some unwanted pushsquare folks who will come here to dismiss this, living in a state of eternal denial.
Sure hope I get some information on when my pre-order is expected to arrive soon. Either way, I'm excited and smart delivery means I can still pick up games without worry.
@Xiovanni I agree with you there's scalers have definitely helped towards both consoles breaking ore order records, plus the higher demand for console gaming during the see times
@Senua Considering I literally just read somebody on Push Square saying that Xbox didn’t sell out and you can still buy them because nobody wants an Xbox, absolutely 😂
@nessisonett To be fair I just went on Amazon and I can still technically get an Xbox Series S still which is still quite shocking. I've mentioned this previously and received multitude of excuses as to why this is the case, but it does still shock me.
I really wanted an X but didn't manage to, however I'm really still torn on getting the S. I'm being told its the same as an X but just won't be 4k. I don't have a 4k tv so in theory I should just get this, but I just still do not believe that me playing the S on a 1080p tv will look the same as an X on 1080p as everyone keeps telling me. I wonder if others think the same and thats why they aren't selling? Guess I'll wait until they are out in the wild to have this confirmed or not, in which case if that IS true I'll just go out and buy an S whenever I want as I don't see me getting a 4k tv in the next 10 years.
There are also rumours that eventually there will be X exclusive games not coming to S, which again is rubbished by the experts on the comments section, however it does still concern me and I would be livid if that ever turned out to be the case. Perhaps another reason people are apprehensive about buying the S.
Wish MS would be clear about all this - and I mean explicitly clear, but their lack of transparency is what is stopping me get the S over X as otherwise I'd be saving £200 which could be years of Gamepass instead!
@StonyKL
Microsoft has been clear about the differences between the Series X & S. I’m not sure what else you want from them.
And the Series S is still out there because it’s enthusiasts who pre-order consoles & go through the insanity of taking a day off work just to sit on the internet scouring websites for a chance at a pre-order. And those people will want the Series X.
The Series S will hit it’s stride when it gets into stores & the more casual gamer sees the $299 price point & will snatch it up.
@Senua
Of course there will be because they all live in some fantasy world where they worship an idol of that buffoon Jim Ryan. 😂
@KelticDevil I've tried to find confirmed information. MS site themselves says S supports 1440p output versus X's 4K output but I still don't know what that means completely. I'm struggling to find the answer to my original question (and would love someone to direct me to an official source and not a rumour).
For the whole of the next gen, as I will have a 1080p tv, will the graphical output between the Series X and Series S be exactly the same as I won't be getting 4K from the Series X (so getting that machine would seem pointless to me)?
I can't find the information where they say the only difference between the two will be resolution only. Some articles I have read say they aren't sure what the difference will actually be until they have been released (pcmag.com) - meaning they don't seem too sure either.
Look, yes I am new to Pure Xbox - I owned a PS2, PS3, PS4 and not an Xbox since the 360 which I only had for 3 months before I got RRoD (which gives me a crazy amount of backlog on Game Pass to look forward to!) - and me questioning about simple things to you guys is probably annoying - but right now getting an Xbox is a very exciting option but doesn't mean its easy to follow. I've seriously only just got my head around all the model differences! No joke! I just would be very annoyed to get a Series S (which I can get right now) and find out afterwards that the only difference is more than just the resolution.
I think the talk of scalper bots overrated. It's enough that it's a pandemic so people are home more , it's the first major console launch since March 2017, it's the first new console generation since November 2013, it's the first new console generation with Game Pass, it's the first console launch after Xbox bought Xenimax which turned the heads of huge numbers of people, and far from least it's nearly Christmas. These are each huge demand factors. Together they're a tsunami of demand. No matter what the stock allocation was the launch xbox would have sold out super quickly.
PS I didn't order a launch console. I'm waiting for console reviews, mass user tests, and the launch of a Series X in a game themed shell. Above all I'm waiting to get a future proof 4K TV at a good price that can show the full ability of the Series X. Not really worthwhile for me to upgrade from X1X yet. Nevertheless I'm loving the launch and I'm very excited by it. Happy gaming everyone!
@StonyKL how is it sold out other places but not in your region is more baffling.
https://www.amazon.com/Xbox-S/dp/B08G9J44ZN/ref=mp_s_a_1_6?dchild=1&keywords=xbox+series+s&qid=1601922202&sr=8-6
Seems like a really big error to send so many of that model there.
@StonyKL It won't look exactly like XSeX on your 1080p screen, but the difference will be that the XSeX is starting with 4k texture packs and then will be rendering 4k and supersampling down to 1080p. The result is a slightly cleaner image with better anti-aliasing/lack of aliasing.
That's the same effect as PS4 Pro versus PS4 on a 1080p screen, except 4Pro also increases frame rate and allows extra gfx effects, where that difference won't apply to Series consoles.
So yes, at a technical level the output image won't appear exactly identical on the screen. It is rendering the same scene in the same way with the same effects and lighting. But it's not using the higher res texture pack and rendering at 4k and then "downscaling" the image to the res. The later requires tons more horsepower for a minor improvement in 1080p output. The game itself will render exactly the same. But a downscaled 4k image technically looks sharper than a native 1080p image. Not a detail most consumers will notice at all. Pixel peepers like me tend to notice. Personally, I notice only because I play on a monitor right next to my face, though. If it were on the TV, I wouldn't notice at all.
Also, though, the S renders 1440p and still super samples to 1080p so the difference should be less noticeable still than PS4 vs Pro! Just using the lower rest texture packs instead of 4k packs.
MS has been pretty clear, there won't be "X exclusive" games. It's the same CPU, same GPU series. Just a smaller GPU and less memory, thus lower res textures. Jim Ryan intentionally added fuel to that disinformation fire with his low grade FUD.
1440p vs 4k means it renders 2560 horizontal dots and 1440 vertical dots. 4k means it renders 3840 horizontal and 2160 vertical dots, each dot being unique. Your display only has 1920 horizontal and 1080 vertical dots. So both of them render considerably more dots than your screen actually has dots to display, so both of them get a reduction in pixels before sending it to your screen anyway. Like with photo work, if you have a 10MP sensor and reduce it to an 800x800 image, you're starting with more information than if you had a 3MP sensor....but both had more original data than you actually are using. The higher res one may be more "accurate" when reduced, but bother have excess information that gets lost anyway. (Vs scaling upward from a 1080p image to a 4k image where it has to "guess" what color/brightness is supposed to be in the other 3 out of 4 dots you don't have information for based on what other dots are around it.)
@nessisonett @Senua Seriously, what is it with the Playstation fandom that makes them so cult-like? I mean the 360 kind of had the same thing going on. Nintendo can kind of have the same thing going on. But neither of them have the same level of pure corporate worship that Playstation seems to have. My first thought is simply that it was the leading console and the generation of kiddos that came of age in the last 7 years are generally twits. But I honestly feel like they're not the noxious, corporate worshiping ones, it's the older PS2 crowd leading that charge. It's really bizarre. I've owned all the same products they have owned....I certainly never devolved into building altars to the manufacturer of them....
Much more difficult. That's for sure. For the Xbox One I just went in one day after work and preorderes. I did get screwed out of a Day One Edition even though that's what Gamestop pre-ordered for me.
With the Series X, the manager of Gamestop gave the 6 Series Xs to some guys he was friends with. We then tried Target, Walmart, and Best Buy with no luck. Finally we were able to get 2 in on Amazon right as they first opened preorders and broke.
I'm hoping Amazon will have some more Series X consoles for a Prime Day sale (not at a discount). If so, they will sell out in a minutes again. Otherwise, I don't expect any to become available until another short-lived blitz on launch day.
@StonyKL "I wish MS would be clear about all this - and I mean explicitly clear, but their lack of transparency is what is stopping me get the S over X" .
I honestly don't know what you are talking about. Microsoft couldn't have been clearer about Series S:
https://youtu.be/fYtJWIxt3-M?t=5
https://youtu.be/1W0DP93wNd8?t=1149
Jason Randy has explained several times the differences and they have been reported by all serious gaming sites.
@Thretosix No because the CPU is the same so frame rates will be the same as Series X.
What a load of PR bull next generation comes along with, brings out the worst in all the companies.
You can’t break a record of any sorts really
As it all depends on how many you had to sell in the first place and no camp has said how many consoles they had to preorder to begin with.
@StonyKL "I just would be very annoyed to get a Series S (which I can get right now) and find out afterwards that the only difference is more than just the resolution".
Series S is designed to deliver next-gen games in 1440p at 60fps and even 120fps but Microsoft said that they won't force developers to target an specific resolution.
The console has the same CPU as Series X and it's able to upscale to 4K so it can do anything that Series X can do but the GPU and GPU memory are not capable of doing native 4K.
This is relative, indie game Falconeer will run in 8K at 60fps on Series X so you can probably expect it to run in 4K at 60fps on Series S.
I hope that this helps.
@BlueOcean so watched that video and it I think it is telling me that the Series S has EVERYTHING the X has apart from it outputs 1440p (and can upscale to 4K if plugged in) while X outputs native 4K. So in theory I should be buying the S and not the X because the only difference for me will be that - which I doubt my eyes can even notice.
Was worried that I'd start seeing differences like Watchdogs when demoed to watchdogs when released - I'd end up with the released version while the X would end up with the demoed version. But that will never happy this gen according to that Major guy.
Think I've been convinced to go for the S with game pass then and save myself £200 for a difference I'll never even notice on 1080p gaming! Good work
@StonyKL I'm glad that I could help! Welcome to Xbox! 😄
@Senua fanboyism for you. I'm playstation through and through. Always had one and likely always will but this time I have preordered both for launch. I'm actually very excited about the Xbox. They have done a really good job this time around and I am looking forward to seeing how Gamepass evolves.
I think MS have a got a really good offering right now that is swaying Playstation fans like myself.
@Senua By "(That's) fanboyism for you", @Alpha_Pulse mean that he's naming what you were talking about (PS fanboys). It seems that you misunderstood him.
@BlueOcean Oh alright thanks I get it now. Yeah it’s not wrong to be a fan but always try to demand better. 😅
@Senua Poor guy, you misunderstood his first comment 😅.
@Senua bloody hell what a welcome to the xbox community! 🤣
Yes I was actually siding with you on your comment. No fan can hide that MS have a got a lot to bring to the industry right now.
And thats my second comment 😉
Show Comments
Leave A Comment
Hold on there, you need to login to post a comment...