Lately, the Xbox Series S has been involved in a bit of controversy surrounding its power, with one particular dev claiming that teams had been struggling with developing for the system. While there's no doubt that two consoles adds to the current-gen Xbox workload, we've also seen plenty of evidence that Xbox Series S is keeping pace this gen.
Although the circumstances are wildly different here when compared to AAA releases, an indie developer has taken to Twitter to remind us that the Series S can actually achieve up to 4K, 120FPS, albeit with a much less intensive game.
Back in March, PowerSlave Exhumed received a native Xbox Series X|S port, and the team managed to squeeze 4K and 120FPS out of Xbox Series S. Sure, it's a small indie title with its roots in the PS1 era, but still, it shows the console can at least push those high-performance numbers in some instances.
Even if PowerSlave Exhumed started out life as a PS1 game, it's not necessarily a given that it can run at such high targets on current-gen hardware. The dev claims that there's more going on in the background with this one than you might think.
Anyway, the dev managed to hit its targets here regardless, and the results show us the raw output that Xbox Series S is capable of. It all depends on the game of course, but still, we hope to see more of these numbers in the future!
"It's not about that we managed to do this, it's about how easily we managed to do it. This required just myself to test and deploy, where normally we would need a small team just to optimize to the hardware."
What do you think to all this? Comment down below and tell us.
Comments (22)
Much like XSX and PS5 could run games in 8K if enabled, but it would be more Pong than A Plague Tale.
Still well done dev.
I mean... I think it's pretty much a given for games like that is it not? Or am I missing something? š
What even is this story? I feel Iāve learnt nothing from this. This story is basically the least graphically demanding a game is the better it will run šā¦well Jesus, stop the press!
Are we already at the point, 2 years in its life cycle, where weāre already so insecure about the capabilities of the series s that we have to latch on to some indie dev telling us it can run a ps1 game at 4k 120fpsā¦to prove the consoles good (honest guv!)?
When news articles like this are considered needed to defend the series s capabilities we know that consoles going to be in for a rough ride going forwardā¦
Lol compare that game to games such as plague tale, the differences are night and day and only one of those games is pushing hardware to its fullest. His point proves nothing.
@Dr_Luigi My son's grandparents wanted to get him a series s this week (father in-law is end of life and spoiling the family as says he can't take it with him.) Me and my wife discussed the pros and cons together. Disc drive, more storage and a bit more future proofed we put the extra Ā£200 for a series X. Still think the series s has its place but now you can walk into a shop and pick up a series X no problem it's getting less appealing.
@Dr_Luigi it really isnāt. What have you learnt from this? Anyone with even the slightest intellect thatās a gamer understand different games work on different engines. Have different priorities that take up different degrees of resources.
You havenāt learnt anything from this story only that some budget games, if they have graphics from 4 generations agoā¦will likely run well on a current gen console. Did you not already know this? Did it make the claims from other devs working on completely different games any less valid for you?
This story is akin to a safety blanket. Itās meaningless in what itās actually sayingā¦but is designed to make you feel better for your console of choice. Itās like those cringy YouTube videos fan channels do. Have you heard of YouTube? Do you ever watch fan channels? Play the game of checking out their thumbnails every time the opposing console gets a well reviewed game, or an exclusive etcā¦the thumbnail will read like āshocking new super upgrade for series x/s/PlayStation 5āā¦you know, a nice warm safety blanket to reassure and comfort
Yeah, im not seeing why this is even a story? 'Switch runs pong at 120hz' would also mean nothing? Have I missed a relevant fact?
Not sure what this article proves... everybody knows the less demanding a game is, the higher resolution & framerate you can get.
The problem with the Series S over the next 6-8 years of this generation, is the games (especially AAAs) will get more & more demanding...not less.
Iām glad this dev is happy with the Series S and can take full advantage of it, we all know looking at the game itās far from the most demanding though so Iām not sure what point heās trying to make.
Going forward the S is going to struggle as games get more demanding and Iām sticking with my assumption that as this generation progresses the S will hold back the X if devs have to develop for both as per MS policy.
@Beermonkey good choice on going with the XSX. Where I live it costs almost as much as a XSX to get a XSS and 512gb card to make storage equal. I had a friend get a XSS at launch and she she couldn't have the two games she wanted to play installed at the same time.
@Dr_Luigi noā¦my reply wasnāt In response that āitās just another point of viewāā¦it was in response that itās āfair discussionā - regardless, a different point of view ā¦or a fair discussionā¦youāre supposed to learn something otherwise itās just noise (which this isā¦and which is why youāre originally replying to me saying itās a fair discussionā¦and now saying āwhy does it have to teach you anythingā)
You can pick and choose what you add validity to - stories from devs that say the series s is strugglingā¦or stories that say the series s can easily do 120 4k on my game. The actual proof is in the pudding. Letās see how it starts to handle current gen games going forward. So far, struggling.
Iām not āoverly wound upā. Iām just not seeing the value beyond acting as a safety blanket for series s owners in this storyā¦because there is no real value in it (other than puzzled bemusement)
My original message wasnāt to you. My reply was to your reply. If you donāt want a discussion then rather me avoiding these stories that give me such joy in their stupidityā¦.just donāt reply to messages I place pointing out said stupidity. š¤
Yeah maybe for that embarrassment! Not necessarily the case for any game actually worth playing tho
@Dr_Luigi say what son? Iām sure youāre trying to troll meā¦ but Iām bored, so Iāll bite.
Okā¦first, me clicking on this article again and again isnāt reinforcing that what this article says, what the indie devs say, even what the guy saying āit could run on a potatoeā, is of valueā¦ my clicking on this article again and again is in reply to YOUā¦š«
The arguement that something must contain something of value if you clicked on it itself holds little validity - youāve heard of click bait right? Whatās the title read? Did you open it expecting the said 4k 120fps game to run on a potatoe? ā¦did you learn about any new techniques or software tools that has allowed devs to squeeze more out of the little series s? No?ā¦ because itās a fluff piece designed to balance some negativity the series s has been getting lately. Thereās no real information in there that translates to any game beyond potatoe man 2 or whatever this game is called.
Second, why must we learn something? Why why whyā¦followed by, who says people arenāt learning something. I dunno man, itās a fluff piece, like I said. And reminds me of when fan channels go on the defence. Itās entertainingā¦but that doesnāt mean it holds information of any actual value.
And like I first said, if ānewsā stories like this are needed now, 2 years in, thereās already clear signs of trouble.
@Dr_Luigi ok, then let me be even more clear - when I talk value I do so in regards to the information offered. Not the value of revenue my replying to you may bring the site. Nor the value of the exercise my fingers get as I write to try and explain something that, with in its context, has been pretty clear from the start. But such is the internet.
The point of view offered here from this dev offers as much practical value as this stuff always has. It doesnāt translate to the vast majority of the games on the system.
I'm a gamer across multiple platforms myself. I play on PS5, Nintendo Switch, Xbox Series S, and PC. Although I can't speak for the Series X, because I haven't compared the difference firsthand between my Series S and a Series X, I can say that I really love my Xbox Series S and that it has been able to run pretty much all the games I have for it very well. I think my PS5 runs things better based on going back and forth between the two, but I imagine it would be a very similar comparison if I were weighing an Xbox Series X against the Xbox Series S that I own. I'm sure that the Series X can run things better, much like how I've noticed with how well my PS5 runs things, but my little Xbox Series S is still a very capable and powerful console in my eyes.
So, all in all, I think from my limited perspective, opting for either an Xbox Series X or an Xbox Series S are both excellent options this generation when it comes to Xbox gaming. However, since I haven't used a Series X myself, my take on this might be a little limited.
Oh it's Devs moaning about having to do work he is really on about.
Look all games and assist are made on PCs and/or Macs and created for consoles. It takes more time for Devs to adjust for 3 consoles over 2 and that's the bottom line.
The S is perfectly capable machine if you aim for 1080p which studies have shown most people still own a 1080p TV at least in the UK. Dialling down what's available in a game does largely come down to how the game was made and how easily scalable the Devs made the game. I mean NMS for example is a gorgeous looking game and that now runs on the Switch!
The Devs that want to make a game that runs well that's scalable will and as for the rest, well we all know the S show that many games launch as, usually from the big guys in the industry and it's because they want to push out games with zero love.
I feel the problem will really be when a mode on PS5/XSX runs at 1080p, what does that mean for the XSS then? Most āperformanceā modes already run at 1080/1440p, so the XSS canāt have the same performance mode at 1080p unless the graphics are set to much lower. But what if XSX performance mode runs 1080p/60 at lowest graphical settings for a game? Does the XSS then do 540p/60 or simply have no performance mode?
Thatās the problem I see. We talk about XSX running at 4K and XSS running at 1080p/1440p. But rarely do games actually run 4K on XSX already. And the amount of games running 4K will only decrease.
@tatsumi exactly. I mean look at A Plague Tale Requiem. 1440p/30 on the X and 900p/30 on the S. Could they get it running at 1080p/60 on the X? Iām not sure but imagine the concessions you have to make to get that game running at 60 on the S, I canāt see a game like that ever having a performance mode on the S.
My problem with my Series S are games that have significant drops in resolution like Metro Exodus. In 2022 I can barely stomach 540p, when itās not a on the small screen of a handheld machine. 1080p/(stable)30fps are totally fine. Thinking about rising electricity bills, the S is (mostly) a nice compromise between power and efficiency though.
Look I love my Series S I've had no lagging or anything. I'm not sure why everyone hates on it but if you have the Series X then why do you care? Let developers handle it because it's not your job and in the end your opinion is anything but that. The devs will continue to make games and Microsoft will continue to allocate more memory via updates.
So the Xbox Series S seems less powerful then the Xbox One X is that right?
I had a One X before my Series S so maybe I should of just kept it instead of getting the Series S..?
Many still are not understanding the most important thing that's not being done yet?? The Full RDNA 2 Hardware in the Xbox Series S/X are not being utilized! I am talking about Super Sampling Feedback, Direct ML Hardware Accelerated Ray Tracing=Path Tracing, VRS, DirectStorage, Mesh Shading, Xbox Velocity Architecture that can load a game in Miliseconds faster then the PS5! None of its being used by devloopers however it's on the Xbox Series S/X SDK for developers bit their not using it over 2 years now! Still learning how to do it and then once it's used, wd will see Next Generation Gaming! 1440p 60 to 120FPS on High Settings Xbox Series S and 4K 120FPS or more on the Xbox Series X! Game Developers are NOT using that hardware still using the x86 Architecture found in the Xbox One so don't blame the Xbox Consoles blame the Game Developers for not using the hardware that GAMERS deserve!!
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