Josef Fares Blasts Xbox Series Naming Convention As A 'Total F**king Mess'

Who the #### is Josef Fares? And more importantly: who cares?

So he never buys T-Shirts ?
S,M,X,XL, wtf?

Pretty sure there are far more pressing things in America to be passionate about.

For clarification I am aware he is not from the US, but I am so I was thinking of my own perspective

Well it is confusing, if you are below certain IQ level.

I don't think it's any more confusing than Xbox One S and Xbox One X. People had no problem telling those two systems apart and when the new Xbox consoles fully replace the old ones, it won't be a problem at all.

Hopefully no one told his there's a PS5 and a PS5 DE....he would have just stopped the interview. It is a bit confusing when you're talking about one X/S and series X/S but soon it should just be X n S

Who da FOOK is dat guy

@IronMan30 I think it can be confusing because Xbox One S and Xbox One X still exist. For non-gamers, it could be confusing because they are just looking at "Xbox" and "S" or "X" without really paying attention to "One" or "Series".

I tried talking to my wife (who is a non-gamer) about a Xbox Series X vs Xbox One X and she looked at me like I had 6 heads because it was so confusing to her. I finally just said I want a "Series X"

PS5 is hard to confuse with PS4.

It’s only confusing to idiots like this guy. What’s so hard to understand the difference between X and S?

Friendly reminder: go watch Kopps.
It got dubbed even in Italian, so I guess English-speaking versions are not unheard of.

@notleks_ That "idiot" probably has more technical and creative prowess than you or I will have in our entire lives.

The problem is people lean on the X and S which are model distinctions like 3DS XL and 3DS Lite. The actually name is “Series”.

And also no one had an issue with Apple for the “XR” or “XS” and the “X” but it’s and issue with a video game console?

A lot of overreactions in this comment section. It's not hard to see what he means.

"Xbox One X Sales Spike On Amazon As Series X Pre-Orders Go Live"

https://www.purexbox.com/news/2020/09/xbox_one_x_sales_spike_on_amazon_as_series_x_pre-orders_go_live

"Do You Think The Xbox Naming Convention Is Too Confusing? (251 votes)"

[66% think the naming convention is confusing.]

Even if you disregard the One S and One X, having two models with similar names will always be confusing for consumers who aren't as passionate about video games as we are.

All the comments on here defending the naming. It is confusing. I get it and I assume most on this site will get it — we are enthusiasts. But the general public who is the vast majority of buyers will be so confused. Most of the confusion comes from the One X vs the One Series X. It's too close.

What happens for the next generation? Series P? Doesn't sound as cool, so they go to a different naming convention? The conversation should be about how great the games and system are. Is this a big deal to me? No, but it is an unforced error.

The clown is probably sitting there saying this while having an iPhone in his pocket, which is exactly the same style of naming convention MS have gone for!
If they went the generic numbered console route like Sony, then it would probably be even more confusing since we'd have an Xbox 4 going against a PS5. LOL

@AlexSora89 Surprised to see a comment like yours here, I rarely see people mention the movie Kopps in an article about Josef Fares since he isn't that well-known. I'm from Sweden and most people here obviously knows about him since he's Swedish. I've watched the movie Kopps so many times and it's genuinely one of the funniest movies I've ever watched. Josef Fares is a brilliant movie director. It's too bad though that because he isn't as well-known as people such as Steven Spielberg or James Cameron that people tend to look down on him as some nobody. Imagine if Spielberg had said that the Xbox naming convention was confusing, that would've carried a lot more weight and people here wouldn't be as hostile towards him as they are now with Fares.

I'll hold my hand up and admit that I get confused. I don't find it an easy gaming distinction at all.

If they had kept the numbering thing after the 360 that would have helped. 360, 361, 361x and s, and this would be 362 x and s.

Oh wait, now I'm confused again.

@blinx01 the Iphone goes with the numbering system (Iphone 3, 4, 4S, 5, 7, 10, 12, 12XS), with the the X and S in some generations, minus a few examples. We wouldn't be having an article if Xbox did that.

Hate to say it, but I agree. They got themselves into a mess with adding S and X to everything. I don’t really care for the “New” naming convention Nintendo uses either. These are all okay for more hardcore gamers, but can make things confusing when talking about them.

@Bdbrady no they didn’t for all models.

iPhone X
iPhone XR
iPhone XS

And Let’s talk about Galaxy’s naming convention because you’d think a 51 would be better and newer than a 20?

I wouldn’t worry about what Xbox calls their console when your game looks like it could run on a PS2.

@mousieone but the Iphones (for the most part) do go 1, 2, 3, 4, with iterations at the start X/S/R . . . It would be like the Iphone 1, Iphone 360, Iphone One, Iphone One X, Iphone Series X, etc. I would assume the X would be the tenth, the 360 the third or the newest, the series X|S I don't even know.

It's clearly confusing consumers — hence this article and others in the past. It doesn't matter if you or I understand it. They need to have it be simple for the mom opening up Amazon before Christmas. They even get their own naming conventions messed up . . .

I still see some content creators slipping on the name and referring to One X when they mean Series X. This is a self inflicted wound by Microsoft. Honestly feel like they should have pulled an Apple move and went with Xbox and Xbox Digital. Clean and simple.

Don't care who the guy is, but it's true. The Xbox console names of late really are ridiculous.

@Bdbrady actually the IPhone 8 was released at the same time as the IPhone X the next year came the XR and XS. There was no IPhone 9 and the XR is a slightly faster processor than the X but similar models. The XS is the upgrade.

Also the Galaxy A51 5G came out around the same time period as the Galaxy S20. If one set of consumer electronics isn’t confusing why is the other set?

Easy naming from master of branding - me:
Xbox 0 (original, zero - 144p)
Xbox 360 (360 - 360p)
Xbox 720 (One - 720p)
Xbox 1080 (One S - 1080p)
Xbox 4000 (One X - 4k)
Xbox 6000 (Series S - 6k)
Xbox 8000 (Series X - 8k)

@LtSarge in all fairness Spielberg said he played Mario on PSVR and people gave him trouble for it. Being good at one thing doesn't mean all your opinions should carry weight.

@mousieone and Apple was criticized for that. Are you really arguing Xbox's naming system is a good one? That there is no room to improve? There is this article written, and others, showing it is confusing.

i just....look I don't think I'm of above-average intelligence. I would say I'm a bright person. I understood the naming convention immediately and haven't been the least bit confused. why is it that people seem to have no problems understanding how Apple names stuff, but having to remember two letters is giving people aneurysms for some reason?
is it a great name? nope. But I don't understand what's CONFUSING about it.

Oh dear oh dear,
Someone left his brain cell at home today.

There is no defending this. Its an awful naming convention that is confusing. Its not the end of the world, but it is confusing.

I don't understand why people compare this to iphones? If my Mrs (who is useless at techie stuff) walked into a store she would know that the biggest number iphone in the shop is the newest and can compare between her current number 6. Yes they have Pro version but I'm pretty sure she'd understand the Pro is the 'better' one than the non pro version.

There is no way she'd walk into a shop and know that Series is newer than a One, or that X is more powerful than an S. And if she did know that Series is the new version of One, then she wouldn't know if Series S is more powerful than One X (although some people say it isn't so I'm still not 100% sure on this). Why would she. It has no progressive relevance.
It does not mean the Xbox is rubbish, its just confusing for majority of people who don't read articles about the product in order to learn what the difference is.

@RushHour4 next Xbox
Xbox 12000 = 12k

@Bdbrady At what point did I say there was no room for improvement?

People just focus too much on what I consider to be minor.

Josef Fares' head is so far up his own arse, he's choking on his own hair. Always has been, always will be.

I mean it's kind of the truth but that guy over exaggerate the matter like it's the most confusing naming scheme ever & low key telling most gamers are just that dumb to figure out the differences. But yeah, there are actually confused people like parents ordering One X instead of Series X.

While Sony can simply slap word "Pro" for the buffed up version of PS5, i don't know what Microsoft will do with the Xbox. Series XX/SS? Sounds super dumb. Series X Pro/S Pro? That would be blatantly copying Sony so, no. Series X+/S+ or X²/S²? The latter kinda unique but lol. Series X Ultimate/S Ultimate following gamepass tiers? Maybe, idk.

@mousieone I feel you on that. I just want people to jump in and buy the system(s). The more that jump on, the more great games we will get. Have a good day!

Said it once, I'll say it again. Anyone who finds the naming confusing is a f***ing moron. If you can't tell the difference between One and Series then you have issues.

I'm not the biggest fan of the naming convention but it could be worse. One was a horribly confusing name for people unfamiliar with the XBox ecosystem. At least with the "Series" lineup, they kept the idea of the S model being the baseline console and the X model being the high end console (even though the One line didn't start that way......). My only concern is if/when Microsoft does their console refresh for this generation how they will name the new baseline and higher end units.

Wouldnt expectanything less, from the likes of josef stalin.

I have to say I think he's got a point, and even for those who do know the difference it can still be all too easy to slip up and say "One S/One X" instead of "Series S/Series X" and vice versa.

Xbox, super Xbox, super Xbox alpha, super Xbox hyper alpha, super Xbox hyper alpha plus. See easy!

Xbox. Its a brand, its what it is. Its not a sequel or a whatever its a way and an experience to play. MS are heading for the clouds quite literally, I have read this guy stuff before and one day he will fall off the pedestal he thinks he sits on.

He had better hope his game is good really........

I'm sure by the time the bulk of Series S/X consoles are sold there won't be One S/X on the market. I'm not sure it's the greatest name but for now it's early adopters who know what they are getting. When the larger audience purchase through the back of this year and next it will be the only Xbox options on the market. So it's confusing for a short period, when predominantly early adopters and enthusiasts are buying.

He's not wrong. I may love the product but the naming could not possibly get any worse at all. I thought it was bad when Nintendo did -=NEW=- Nintendo 3DS. I thought it was bad when Nintendo did WiiU. But then Microsoft outdoes it with the Xbox One (Actually Xbox Three), and then Xbox One X and Xbox One S because that's not all confusing. "Excuse me, do you have any Xbox one X in Stock?" "Oh sure we have Xbox One S" "Well, I said One X" "Right One S that's what I said...."

And I thought we'd get over that misery with a better naming scheme only to land into XBox Series X and XBox Series S, so we have all the same confusion we had before, but now compounded that the two names not only sound like each other, but also each sound like their predecessors.

They really needed to just go with Xbox You. That wouldn't be confusing at all. Then for the mid-gen refresh they could do Xbox -=NEW=- You. Then people can buy it as a self-improvement product and wonder why all they're doing with their lives is sitting on the couch playing video games and eating Doritos.

@gollumb82 I had the same reaction at first - "oh great, another Youtuber mouthing off" - but I reread and realized he's the creator of It Takes Two - so a game dev on the platform has room to criticize....it affects his product too

And yet he hasn't yet spoken out publicly about the iPhone 12, iPhone 12 mini, iPhone 12 Pro, and iPhone 12 MAX? "They should just call it the Apple phone!!"

Regardless of what he says about Xbox (and let's face it, who really cares WHAT he says about anything?) I find him to be trite and boring. Not unlike the Video Game Awards show that keeps giving him and his trite and boring games airtime.

@swedetrap it’s not the same though.
It is much easier to see 12 > 11, which is the biggest difference as that tells the generations apart. And then from 12 you choose whichever fits best in your budget (or hands) between Mini/standard/Pro/Pro Max.

But Xbox One X and Xbox Series X. There is no natural indication which one sits above the other (I mean you could even interpret that Xbox One X is a device belonging to the Xbox Series with the letter X). And people often just read the beginning and the end of the name and like to miss out the middle (unless it’s a number that is harder to overlook).

There is enough evidence that the naming sucks, with a lot of people having accidentally ordered the Xbox One X instead of Series X. Same issue did not happen between Series S and Series X (easy to tell X > S), and did not happen between PS4 and PS5. It may have been a very rare case between PS5 and PS5 DE (as images of both consoles look very similar).

Can’t argue with facts that some other comments already posted.

One can only wonder how the naming convention will continue with the next upgrade. If they stick to simply Series X from now on they could do it like apple with their MacBooks, just look up the year. I really hope they switched to “Series” because they might have a better naming convention going forward.

What's to be confused about...

Seriously?

Xbox: is the brand.

Series/One/360: is the name of the console for the generation.

X/S: is the type that defines the capability.

I honestly think he's just had a brain fart moment, and in frustration, had a mini rant, and blame it on naming conventions.

@tatsumi I don’t recall people accidentally buying a 3DS instead of the 2DS.

imagine being this ***** stupid lmao

@NEStalgia
Okay,I guess I need to chime in again. First off, I made that first post to highlight the rude way Mr Fares expresses his issue with the naming scheme. This is the guy who flashed his middle finger at the camera at The Game Awards (I believe that was his way of protesting against microtransactions or something). Secondly, I have never had an Xbox before and I had zero issues buying Series X in an informed manner. How? I read ONE article about Xbox consoles. That's it. People don't read anymore and complain later. It doesn't only concern consoles either.
-Oh no! I wanted to buy Game Pass but I bought League Pass instead! Blast MS for choosing this name!/s

@gollumb82 haha well, were the gamers that kind of know what we're looking at in general. I face palmed with "xbox one" in 2013 (we were calling it Xbox 720 up to that point) and again with the x and s thing. They even sound the same over the phone.

For devs I imagine that gets really annoying. Especially if you're targeting all 4 of them, keeping everything straight in meetings.

For consumers..... Don't overestimate Jane soccer mom buying "the new x box" for the kids. She only know it's the xbox... The new one.....x? Yeah the x box. Yes i know her. Her name isn't Jane though.

Let's go with Karen.

It may be quite confusing for Karen to by items for the new console with the who One X, and Series X.

Thing is, this guy works in the industry! He SHOULD know, because he's marketing/developing his game for these platforms.

Again, I'm quite certain it was a brain fart moment, and in frustration, moved into a rant, of which all the Karens can empathize with.

Seriously, the naming convention for these consoles isn't that difficult, unless you're Karen. Then (as Karen) you demand to speak to Uncle Phil, because the console name is unacceptable 🤣

@gollumb82 I'd like to put this topic in a different light. Let's start with a rhetorical question: Don't you find it weird that you don't know the actual reason why he flipped the bird towards the camera during The Game Awards? He didn't do it because of microtransactions, he did it because he hated the Oscars. This is something that is widely known if you had read the numerous articles made about him back then. But you don't remember that because you don't seem to care much about the fellow, just like the many parents who buy game consoles for their kids don't care about Xbox and therefore can't be bothered remembering the names of the consoles. See the parallels here? You only remember information about stuff you care about. When kids tell their parents: "I want the Xbox Series X" and the parents don't care, they'll just walk into the store or search online for an "Xbox" and that's it because they don't have any interest in it.

Just giving an example here since I find that part of your post to be similar to why people find the names of Xbox confusing. So don't focus too much on your part since I don't actually care if you knew the reason why he is known or not. I'm just hoping by giving you a personal example that maybe you'll see why it'd be confusing.

As a side note, I know all of this from personal experience because as a kid I used to tell my parents to buy me stuff and they'd bring the wrong things a lot of the times because they didn't care about my interests and therefore they rarely remembered what I told them. I reckon that'd be the case for a lot of families as well.

I love my Xbox consoles, but he’s not wrong. I still think Xbox One is an even worse name because we now have to write stupid stuff like OG Xbox when talking about the real Xbox 1.

As for Series S/X, it is somewhat annoying as before I could talk about the X and everyone would know I meant the Xbox One X. Now I have to make sure I write One X or Series X to be clear about what I mean. Even OX could be misinterpreted to mean Original Xbox. I know it’s only a bit of extra typing, it’s more the issue of having to be extra vigilant to make sure I’m being clear about what console I’m referring to.

Just calling the new consoles the Series Y and Z would have been fine I think. All this hassle just because Microsoft didn’t want the Xbox 2 on the market alongside the PlayStation 3...

@LtSarge
Fair enough. I see your point and admit there is some merit to it. The difference for me is that I didn't bother checking the exact reason for his flipping the bird is because I don't care enough as it doesn't involve spending a significant amount of money. Maybe it's just me, but I always do my research before I buy anything and if I'm not sure I ask.
I don't want to cause controversy here but the people we're talking about here are the ones who forced McDonald's into putting the Hot Contents! warning on their coffee cups.

@gollumb82 I agree, it is important to do your research when buying products, especially expensive ones. Maybe it's because the behaviour of parents these days has changed compared to the older generations? It's not uncommon to see parents buy everything their kids ask for nowadays. Or it could be because more people are more wealthy today than in the past. I've definitely noticed this trend in Sweden where there's a wider middle class now and expensive products are seen as "cheap" products because of a higher disposable income. Because of this, people don't care as much about where their money goes as they used to.

Either way, times have definitely changed since we were younger.

@LtSarge
You're right about that. I would definitely not trust my parents to buy me the right console these days Luckily, I'm almost 40 and can buy my own stuff. Still, I had to tell my father which laptop to buy because he doesn't have a clue about electronics. As you said, times have changed.

Whole lot of people here straight calling the dude a jackass and asking who is he.

You know exactly who he is if you are anyway in the gaming circle and @LtSarge perfectly summed up why this Xbox console naming is an issue for some with evidence above, which you mostly ignored.

Keep doing you @LtSarge, some people just don’t work with facts

@Jacko11
How are those facts? Facts about the guy? Sure. The rest are opinions.

@gollumb82 in his first post he literally linked to a PureXbox article where Amazon sales of another console had drastically increased at time of pre orders going live for Series X and a vote which was conducted on this site.

@Jacko11
Yup, I saw that. It was unfortunate, speaking of people mistakenly buying XOX instead of XSX, but was a result of people forgetting to do their research. Some guys and gals just heard Xbox and X and thought that was enough. Only have themselves to blame if you ask me. But again, this is my opinion and I don't expect everybody to agree with me.

@Jacko11 I appreciate it mate. That article was genuinely the first thing that came to my mind when I read this one.

Granted I think that Fares could've worded things differently and been less.. vulgar but he still has a point. It feels though that most people reacted to his vulgarity rather than the point he was trying to make, which is understandable. Hostility is usually met with hostility. But yeah, that's just the type of guy he is. He tends to speak very "freely" about his opinions, lol.

@gollumb82 true but if 66% (251 votes) go in favour of it being confusing on a site for Xbox fans and die-hards, imagine the confusion for an average consumer buying for themselves or a loved one. Thats enough info to present a case. I know the difference, but my dad has already questioned it with me once or twice in the past, even friends into gaming have asked.

@LtSarge no problem mate, it’s annoying to see someone present evidence to support a case but be ignored anyway. Happens too much on here and PushSquare tbh.

But you’re 100% right. People react with hostility towards someone who appears hostile. Fares is known for being outspoken and saying how he feels openly. But the message behind the words is the key component being missed for sure

It doesn’t bother me, I actually look into what I’m buying before buying it, be it a phone, console or whatever. I do feel sorry for the unaware mum who has to on online or instore to buy their kids a new console though, I mean they could look into it themselves too but MS naming does not help them.

It is what it is though, I can’t get mad at stuff like this.

This guy is an idiot.

Lol, I agree with the guy. Should have gone with Xbox one in order. Then the series X should have been called the Xbox X2 and the series S should should have been the Xbox S2

@JGRockford Perfect 👌