Talking Point: Six Months Later, What Are Your Thoughts On The Xbox Series X|S?

When the Series Pro (or whatever) arrives, I'll replace my original One. I'm that guy.

I think the Series X is the best console I owned in my life as a gamer.

I think that they are pretty good consoles, and you can see how much Microsoft has improved since the XBox One launch. However, there aren't really enough games that I can't just play on my XBox One to justify the time and effort it takes to secure one, at least for me. The SSD is a reason to upgrade in itself, though.

The console itself is pretty incredible; but yea Microsoft really just need to wow us with something. Graphics aren’t everything, so having things like the FPS boost is awesome as it shows the power of the machine on these older games.

But come on; the amount of dormant IPs - just make some shorter games with them. I would like some 4-8 hour Conker/Kameo/Banjo game or bring back one of the exclusive JRPG franchises like Blue Dragon/Lost Odyssey. Also Age of Empires on console.

Bringing back Battletoads, Perfect Dark and Fable is along the right lines!

Series X is good place the play your games in the best way possible but it drastically needs some games that are series X only to really show of what the console an do.

To be honest, we're all yet to experience the proper next gen games, but in the meantime, I'm wokring my way through my backlog (slowly) and enjoying Gamepass. It's a fantastic console with only a few little OS / sound quirks that don't bother me too much. I'm excited for what Xbox have planned over the next few years ^_^

@SegataSanshiro I know it’s a shame. They recently released that Fantasian game on IOS which looks very cool but i’m just not going to bother with it since it’s mobile.

No reason Microsoft can’t throw some money their way again though. Blue Dragon and Lost Odyssey and basically Mistwalker itself all existed due to their funding. Would love for them to consider something similar again. Those were two beautiful games.

Superb tbh. I have a Series S which suits my needs perfectly and Game Pass in incredible. I haven’t picked up my Nintendo Switch since buying the S 3 months ago. Not once.

I'm absolutely loving my Series X. I haven't upgraded since the base Xbox One/PS4 in that gen, so the jump is quite massive for me. Since those last gen systems launched I've mostly played on PS4 and Nintendo systems and really ignored a lot of the Xbox One library, only checking out some exclusives like Gears or multiplayer games where my friends were at like Overwatch, Call of Duty, etc.

I got a Series X just a few weeks ago so maybe I'm in a different camp, but there are just so many GamePass games alone to try out, even if they are "last" gen, that it will hold me over just fine until some true, heavy, next-gen exclusive games come out.

Just since I got the system I've played through (all on GamePass) Doom Eternal, Deep Rock Galactic, Outriders, and am currently playing Resident Evil 7 to eventually play 8. Quick Resume is probably one of my favorite features of any system ever.

I've always been a Sony/Nintendo guy though I dipped my toe into the xbox ecosystem during the xbox one era. I think the Series X is amazing and I'm loving my time with it so far.

Gamepass is absolutely fantastic and I love that microsoft seems to have a fantastic relationship with Square Enix right now as I love their games. Microsoft appears to be going in the right direction so far, compared to the PS5 the Xbox Series X is easy to use and everything just seems to work. I think the Series X will probably become my Gamepass/third party machine apart from cheap physical copies on PS5.

I'm most enjoying the cool stuff Microsoft has done to improve old games; Auto HDR, FPS Boost, things like that. Along with the SSD slashing loading times, these features completely transform the experience of playing older games.

It's also cool whenever we get a surprise Series X upgrade.

Never had an Xbox so I got the Series S. I think it’s amazing so far. Gamepass is awesome, and the additional features such as quick resume + FPS boost makes it even better. Additionally, the backwards compatibility means I’ve gotten cheap 360 games so I don’t have to use my old PS3 anymore for some of those games.

The console from the design and console UI and performance is ten out of ten.
Best built console, considering all that power.
Game pass ultimate, very good and enjoying.

New games that show us why we spent £450
Zero out of Ten, and that’s being honest.
Six months in and were is our Returnal, were is our Ratchet and Clank. Let alone the diabolical release of no games for series x. Apart from a like warm Medium.

I really hope they sort this very soon especially for this fall 2021 and following on.

My passion is to see the full potential and power of the series x, in exclusive games by Microsoft 23 studios. Come on and get your act together.

Have had every xbox console and this is by far the best although it doesn't yet have the best lineup of exclusive games that still goes to the first xbox at the moment, But Gamepass keeps me occupied and the games that are in development once they start releasing it will probably have the best lineup of games.

I'm in the can't get one camp still. Having zero interest in the disc free Series S means I'm waiting for the constantly sold out Series X.
I really want one, but the lack of consoles is going to make this year's E3 extra sucky as it all just seems like a bait and tease with the new consoles...
Grumble over, all said I done I'm certainly picking up the Series X over the PS5 soon as possible.

I got a series s, with the seagate card. I'm loving it. The ssd load times are great, no more phone surfing(bad?). Quick resume is a game changer(HA!). Being able to go from SoD2, to tetris, then yakuza Ø, then back, is a time saver. The lack of games, to optimize the power of the series, is annoying, but fps boost is a good salve....for now.

Tl;dr, I'd give it a B-

@pip_muzz I used a stock alert channel on Youtube to pick up mine it sets off a siren when they are in stock. Check out as a guest and use apple/google pay if you can as the retailers payment processor can get overloaded due to demand.

What really surprised me was how much I wanted to go back and play my older games just for the fast loading times and, when applicable, higher frame rates. I’ve always been a one time experience and that’s enough person, but I’m SO into going back to older titles now. Really glad I started on Xbox this gen. It’s nice to see someone other than Nintendo champion backwards compatibility for once.

@Marvel_Ham i don't a pro version is happening in all honesty. There might be a redesign down the road but even that I'm not sure about as this thing is really an engineer's wet dream.

Enjoying mine, the SSD had kinda been worth it alone.

Outside of wanting to see more games, the only thing I want to see from MS now is some sort of Xbox VR. I don't care if its an "all in approach" with an unique headset and a heap of exclusives, or a simple hands off approach of just letting third parties release VR games on the Xbox store and let us use third party headsets.

I'm can't praise the series x enough. I was so surprised that i actually went with xbox as it was never on my radar even when i started saving up for my PS5. The build and guts of this beast are 10/10 as others have said. It doesn't make any noise, the load time's are game changing and the fact it's got a massive back compat is amazing. I'm comparing it to a PS3 as well so the differences are mind boggling. I'm personally 10/10 on the software side as gamepass is an amazing deal and all the games are new to me so I'm not lacking new games to play. I know that's a personal situation and that they did actually drop the ball massively with the whole Halo Infinite debacle. But getting EA Play and Zenimax games definitely help offset that.

I hope supply ramps up so people can experience the game changing improvement of the hardware...it's really a change that you won't be able to go back from.

I love my Series X a lot, and it’s seriously saved me so much money in the long run thanks to gamepass. Spend a lot less on games now, especially with old games finding new life.

Still, the future is what excites me when we get a lot of the new next gen games like Halo Infinite, Perfect Dark, and whatever else Microsoft has up their sleeve.

I guess it is about priorities. I wouldn't give up my launch day Series X for anything. Even without new console-specific games, it's totally changed my gaming life. The speed of the system in loading has completely altered how I game. Now, when I only have 15-20 minutes, I can still jump into a multiplayer game and play a match or two. Before, I'd spend nearly that long waiting for freaking loading screens, and it wasn't worth playing for just a few minutes.

So I'm totally looking forward to next (current?) gen games, but I also am already completely satisfied with my purchase and the value I've gotten out of it. My time is the most valuable thing to me, and the Series X saves me from wasting what I do have.

@Krzzystuff Chipsets and throughput evolve.With compatibility as the latest focus, refreshes are all but guaranteed. The 360 did it, the One did it, and even Playstation did it.

I bought the series S about a month ago and it's a good console nice and small and smart looking, fast to load up and nice quality of life features, but in terms of graphics, power and new games I haven't been impressed so far but I suppose as time goes on better games will come along

Not the best console I've ever owned but its the best xbox console I've owned

The only option to vote if you own one is to say you love it! Hilarious! I do like my Series X but I'd like it a whole lot more if there were some next gen games to play on it. Games haven't been that impressive but the machine itself has been.

I waited in line for 8 hours to get my X on release day because I missed all the preorders. I figured the console would be replacing my ps4 and laptop for my gaming needs. It's done that and much more. Game Pass made it so seamless to transition from generation to generation and brand to brand. Get to play all my favorites.

Just got a series s, wanted a series x but gave in. It’s a better upgrade than I thought over my one x, load times and frame rates are much better.
Looking forward to hopefully starfield and horizon 5 soon as I think new high performing games are the only thing it’s lacking in (resident evil village is a very good start though)

still no new 1st party games

My series x is a fantastic bit of kit. Just need the serie x/so games to go with. Microsoft you need to deliver at E3.

It’s great as a streaming box. It’s great as a way to play existing games that are remastered to take advantage of new tech (like RGB SCART over Composite), but there’s nothing there to really wow and amaze me graphics wise. PS5 has with Returnal and Resident Evil Village as well as Astro’s Playroom. Microsoft needs to put out new games and yesterday. It’s like I been telling people since launch (and yes I have both before anyone accuses me of being a fangirl), Microsoft had their console ready but their games weren’t. Sony had their games ready but their console wasn’t.

@pip_muzz
Keep trying smiths toys had stock in store yesterday and a mate picked one up.
Though within minutes they were gone.
I checked the site.
Hope you get one soon.

@TwinFami
You are spot on there
PS5 games ready console not so good
Series x console ready games no.

I went from an OG XB1 to a series X, and the upgrade is very noticeable, but overall this gen's hardware isn't going to be a paradigm shift. The best part of being an Xbox user rn is Microsoft's amazing ecosystem. Makes playing my switch kind of a drag.

@Marvel_Ham cept that new 360 chipset performed no better than the old 360. there was no power upgrade there, just efficiency at the power level. Games performed no different.

last gen was odd cause hardware refreshes with upgrades was usually just exclusive to handhelds. Before it was just an add on to the system and the only reason it happened then was because the hardware for last gen wasn't honestly not even that good. Didn't even hold up to PC in the slightest.

This gen is honestly very different, very akin to the 90s where the tech in them was bleeding edge. Granted the only true bleeding edge component this time is SSD but both of the SSDs in the PS5 an Series are nuts. The CPU generation its from is not even two years old and they're both using very recent RDNA(2) GPUs along with the fact the RAM is also very recent at GDDR6.
Can upgrades happen? sure, but the average lifespan of a system is 5 years minimum. the last two have been unusually long.

They are still too hard to get and I haven't been in a rush to get one as I am still fine with my One X. The Series X is the only real upgrade for me and I would pretty much need to buy a new TV to get the most out of the upgrade anyways.

I bought the series X day one. Wish I hadn’t bothered. No proper next Gen games at all yet and none on the horizon.
I really don’t care about gamepass as I don’t have time to play all those games and I don’t care that old games are given polish with 60fps.
I just want proper next gen games on my x box.
My PS5 has far more use and will continue to do so.

Loving mine, the speed, old games upgraded, new games look nice, just a lovely pair of consoles.

Enjoying mine.

Hardware: spot on

Games: I've come back to Xbox from PS4, so games like Forza Horizon 5 and Gears 5 are new games to me. Plus great stuff on gamepass (like Dirt 5).

UI: actually, that's horrible... but have got used to it.

Get the feeling Halo will be underwhelming though, so MS need to get some new flagship IPs instead of just Halo, Gears, Forza.

However, overall I'm happy I got it... feels more like home than my PS4 🙂

I have a Series S at the moment (haven't been able to find an X yet, and I'm not paying $800 for it lol), and to be honest at first I was lukewarm on it. The graphics seemed blurry as I was coming from a one x, but the ssd was game changing for me. Then FPS boost happened. The games look and run AMAZING, especially considering how much i paid for the system. However, as always seems to be the case as an Xbox owner...where are the games? Trailers are great but when is stuff coming? I hope Microsoft has enough sense not to spend their E3 conference showing off more CG trailers. I'm happy otherwise!

@The_New_Butler The Medium is just above average?

While I do love my Series X, I'm sure I could have lived with my One X for another year. I think both the X and PS5 could have used another year in development with games etc, plus maybe be more agile to this chip shortage we're seeing.

Beyond that though, zero complaints beyond getting some real true next gen games. Lets go E3!

Improved backwards compatibility, FPS Boost and quality of life improvements are what make Series X/S so good. Next-gen games have me excited as well but a lot to enjoy in the meantime. Definitely better, easier and cheaper (free enhancements, Game Pass) than any other console. I love the new D-pad, too. I'm far more excited about upcoming Xbox exclusives than PS5 exclusives, too. My only complaint is no Banjo-Kazooie and Viva Piñata yet.

My first 24 hours with Series X was a mild disappointment - sort of like upgrading from an iPhone 11 Pro to an iPhone 12 Pro. The more I used it, the more I realized that the difference was more akin to iPhone 7 --> iPhone 12 Pro.

It isn't a whole new beast, and that's what we're used to, so I can see where some people are mildly disappointed. Covid messing with game release schedules probably didn't help either.

On the plus side, my impression of PS5 over PS4 Pro isn't nearly as good. I've played my PS5 a total of 4 times and hadn't touched it since the holidays. I recently bought Returnal as I'm a huge Housemarque fan and didn't enjoy it in the least.

@Marvel_Ham I wonder if we’ll have a mid cycle refresh this gen. We sort of had a 4K problem that couldn’t have been resolved by the base PS4 and One/S, leading to the need for a PS4 Pro and One X. I highly doubt 8K will be a thing in 3-4 years. Even if it is— modern high end GPUs barely hit max settings at 4K/60.

@Nalverus @AgentGuapo

Those are some informative points made, but I personally can’t accept that there won’t be another model released ~2024. Whether it provides performance upgrades or a slimmer chassis - I speculate that there will be something to keep the design team busy until then. There has to be something to allure the late-adopters even if it’s just a lower price point because the launches have underachieved.

I bought a Series S, just because the cost was a no brainier to replace my ageing launch One. Every game I’ve played now runs better and games that use a variable resolution look significantly better too. I really wish RDR2, Tekken 7 and Soul Calibur 6 would get at least a 1080p patch though. First world problem though eh. Love the Series S.

@Marvel_Ham What if they never release a Pro version?

@Pigrotto agreed

@Pigrotto agree.

Every day there is something new or another game with FPS boost. Going back to all my old games is a joy to play them how they should be! Slightly disappointed in no real next gen title yet though and cant wait to see the true power unleashed

In a sentence? Great console with a poorly designed controller.

The knubs are uncomfortable. The share button is in an inconvenient place resulting in accidental presses infinitum. On top of that the smaller size has also added to how uncomfortable it is.

Thankfully I have my translucent green elite series 2 to use.

My favorite gaming system ever, Absolutely love it..

@FatalBubbles To be totally fair, several of those games are cross-gen. The only PS5 exclusives are Demon's Souls, Astro's Playroom, Destruction All-Stars, Godfall, and Returnal. I'd also argue against Demon's Souls since it's just a remake of an old game, but even with that it's only 5. Still, if you want count them as well, it will just require a bit of patience that people should have given how things are and that each gen usually starts out slow even when things are normal.

Yes, Xbox only has 1, but they have a very exciting group of games coming out at some point. Some 3rd party exclusives that may be flying under the radar for some like Stalker 2 and The Ascent, along with Halo Infinite and Microsoft Flight Simulator of course. Then even more big guns are likely coming in 2022 and likely 2023, like Perfect Dark, Hellblade 2, Avowed, Fable, Forza Horizon 5 (and Motorsport 8), State of Decay 3, and Psychonauts 2. Patience will likely pay off in the end.

At the moment; it’s more of a hardware upgrade as opposed to anything else. And I’m really okay with that. I’ve gotten spoiled by load times speed and FPS boost. I’m not really hurting for games because a lot has come out this year to play. Not to mention backlogs. Although, some of these games are cross gen, some games like Judgement are next gen only for Xbox anyway. I understand why someone wouldn’t want a new system right now but I’m super happy with my purchase. Now I just need more time.

@UltimateOtaku91

@InterceptorAlpha I guess that an issue with big hands. Thing is as one of those people with smaller hands that the controller was designed for; I love it. But I’m glad MS made everything forwards compatible and has options both ways; so things like the older controllers work as well.

I'm an early adopter in both Xbox and playstation camps.

Love both but very different feelings towards them.

The series X is fantastic, fast, looks good but it's like buying a graphics card for the PC you have had for years. The same experience but just a bit more streamlined.

Im sure going from base xbone the feeling might be different but from oneX it all feels the same really.

The PS5 feels like something new and continually keeps me smiling. Only series X game that has done that was loading up gears 5, now that does look and run well.

6 months time and halo things might be different.

@The_New_Butler Haven't played it yet but the dual reality feature gives it a next gen feel & this impression is coming from the PlayStation camp. 😆

I managed to get myself a Series X at the beginning of the year and don't regret the purchase, higher and more stable frames per second is always nice to have. But for me it feels like they launched too soon, the hardware is great but where are the next gen games?

@KilloWertz Bugsnax is PS5 only also. 6/8 are only for the PS5.

I completely agree, Xbox has a bright future!

Really happy with it. Everything is fast, smooth (for the most part), Game Pass suits my attention deficit perfectly, and the dashboard is intuitive. I suspect a lot of misgivings are that it isn't revolutionary and there are no true next-gen games to compensate for that, but in terms of a user experience it is a real pleasure to use and play on. Plus games don't cost £70, which is just ridiculous. I will buy a PS5 eventually, but I in no way regret choosing the Series X. And it can only get better.

I bought my first Xbox because I got tired of trying to get a PS5. As a newbie to Xbox, I love the Series S. Game Pass Ultimate has been amazing letting me play games I wouldn’t have ever bought at retail. The console is fast, quick resume is the best thing ever (I’m already annoyed when I play games that don’t support it—it’s like “why am I staring at these start up screens?). My one hope is Xbox gets some good story based games similar to PS5 (FFVII remake, and games like Spider-Man or Uncharted). I haven’t touched my Switch or PS4 in the two months since I bought the Series S.

@The_New_Butler I have to agree and disagree with you here, astro for the ps5 was a tech demo for the controller whilst it was good I didn't feel like it could count as a proper game, returnal on the other hand was, and even though it was niche in terms of its gameplay it was still better than any next gen exclusive xbox or playstation has dished out so far (until ratchet and clank).

Amazing piece of hardware that needs to fulfill its “Next gen” potential with games.

It’s great having FPS boost and back compat but the experience has been a bit watered down with no UI update and no 1st party launch titles.

Don’t get me wrong, I love it so far but the launch window could have been better.

Onwards and upwards.

As someone with Series X and PS5, I have to say Series X has had more play time.
The main factor? Game Pass.

Makes me laugh somewhat because Series X has had next to no exclusives compared to what I've played on PS5, but Game Pass combined with FPS Boost has swung it for me and recently how Quick Resume has been improved to actually make it usable now.

PS5 has had some great exclusives of course and the DualSense, when used correctly like in Astro and Returnal is superb, but the £70 game price has made me very selective in what I buy and I'm sort of disappointed not many games have had 60FPS patches.

So far I have no incentive to upgrade from my base xbone but I will get one once the games come. As of right now everything I want to play I can still play on xbone and since I don’t sell systems... even the bc loses its impact with me. Perhaps in two or three years.

Having bought a series x on launch day I've got to confess...... I've used it maybe 3 times for a total of 10 hours. Finding it very hard to justify playing anything on it when 95% is available on pc :/ need an amazing exclusive to play otherwise it'll continue to be a dust magnet -_-

@The_New_Butler I guess I was hoping that there would be a diverse catalogue of console exclusive games being released on series x 🤷‍♂️ I'm also a creature of habit and will continue to own each console from every generation, just wished I'd waited longer but the temptation was to much 😅

It's the console that just manages to pull me in. PS5....just kind of sits there. I'm happy to have it with how impossible they are to get...but I think I last used it in February. To play Gravity Rush 2 again. Switch...it'll get tons of use, and I'm looking forward to a hardware upgrade from them, but Nintendo's choice of pushing ACNH as the only game of the year without much else left that on the back burner too. I just tend to always want to pick up the XSX first.

@DDJT The whole point of Xbox's model is unifying console and PC (mostly.) Everything on Xbox is pretty much also going on PC (the opposite is not always true due to the nature of PC.)

Series S is worth it over buying a last gen console, only because of the much better loading times.

But the storage is too small and because of the price of expanding that, the sensible thing to do is buy a Series X.

I have had both Series S and X, Series S on paper is more powerful than a base PS4 but in reality the graphics are the same.

@FatalBubbles No, it's not. Bugsnax is available for both right on their store.

Obviously not a big deal in the end. Just one of those "I'm right and you're wrong" things.

@KilloWertz You’re right! They gave it away for PS5 only I had thought so that’s what I was thinking.

I have owned both a Series S and a Series X at the same time.

I used both on the same 1080p screen. Not 4k.

First, I played Dirt 5 on Series S. It looked last gen.

Then, I played Dirt 5 on Series X. It is noticeably better, there are clearly a lot fewer jaggies. Also, the car textures are especially impressive.

Both on the same 1080p screen.

Since I got my XSX in early March I've spent a good chunk of my gaming time with it and have been pretty impressed. It feels like the most complete Xbox system I've ever used right out of the gate and making it one of the best consoles I've ever used in its first year. The fact its fully backwards compatible with all things the Xbox One could and even improves on many of those games with faster load times, better visuals, and better performance, it's so nice. I also want to note that, because some stores were only selling both Xbox Series X and S via Xbox All Access, I was actually able to obtain it. It helped to sift out all the bots and scalpers and get the system in the hands of normal consumers, which makes me very happy.

As for complaints, the only complaints I have are very specific to me as a multi system owner. Those being they've moved away from remote play on PC that they had already working on Xbox One requiring you to download a separate app and it doesn't work quite as well. Also they removed the HDMI in from Xbox One, which I was using as a work around to stream 360, Wii U, and Switch. Thing is, there's work arounds for all those things. As noted, there's a separate app for PC streaming and I just bought a cheap capture card for other systems that worked as good as using my Xbox One to stream. Outside of this, I have no complaints. I got a lot to play on it thanks to BC and the massive improvements on many games and I have Game Pass for 2 years which gives me access to a constant library of games. I'll be getting a lot of gaming out of this.

Pretty great start hardware wise. The new games aren't there, but as a first time xbox owner since the original I'm digging a lot into the backwards compatible library I missed out on with the 360. Frankly, between that and the option of game pass there is more than enough to play. Still looking forward to Halo Infinite though. I got the S which does most things pretty well, but if there is a mid gen refresh or a slim version I'll be upgrading since I like the system more than I expected.