170°

Xbox Series S review (2024): The best choice for gamers on a budget

The Xbox Series S is a cheap and cheerful console for the current Xbox generation, but not without some minor drawbacks.

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windowscentral.com
Jin_Sakai145d ago

The best choice would be a PS5 digital edition.

Nyxus145d ago

I would say physical so you can take advantage of both the digital and physical deals. Sometimes a store will have an offer for a physical version that is much cheaper than what it costs in the digital store. Probably worth the investment of a physical drive.

BeHunted144d ago (Edited 144d ago )

PlayStation Plus 12 months Subscription is £10 more than Xbox Game Pass Core.

PS Plus: £59.99
Game Pass Core: £49.99

Markdn144d ago

Doesn't matter what cost if nothing worth paying on it. :) series s is a joke mistake console that has cost Microsoft dearly and hampered game. Release on the more powerful. X

shinoff2183143d ago

If you buying a console on a budget whats 10 more dollars. Ps is a better deal no matter how you serve it on the plate. You get better games in general. Not everyone's into renting.

andy85144d ago (Edited 144d ago )

Tbh with the price of digital games I'd never suggest someone get a digital. FF7 Rebirth and Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth cost me £90 combined. They're £130 on the store. And I can sell them afterwards for most of it back. That's the cost of the disc addition in 2 games

Elda144d ago

Both new versions of the PS5 are the same price now, physical would be the best option of the 2.

badz149144d ago

I would argue that the best choice for budget gamers is budget gaming PC, heck I would even recommend the Steam Deck.

andy85144d ago

Again not so much as you can't sell your games afterwards

shinoff2183143d ago

Your average gamer wouldn't be able to figure all that out.

rlow1143d ago

Weird!? My comment was directed @Jin_Saki. I even clicked on his reply button at the top, but somehow my comment ended up with you???

+ Show (1) more replyLast reply 143d ago
rlow1143d ago

I have to ask…. Do you live with your parents? Because you seem to be on every Xbox article usually trolling along. I’ve never seen someone so dedicated to Xbox.

badz149143d ago

wait wait wait...suggesting for a better option is trolling now?

dude, I built myself 2 PCs using the i5-4690 (used) + RX580 (used) + 16GB DDR3 + 1TB SSD and each of them for around the same price as the Series S where I live. been 3 years now and it runs game just fine at 720p to 1080p

rlow1143d ago (Edited 143d ago )

I have to ask…. Do you live with your parents? Because you seem to be on every Xbox article usually trolling along. I’ve never seen someone so dedicated to Xbox.

I originally clicked your reply button several hours ago but ended up on someone’s else rely. Weird

+ Show (4) more repliesLast reply 143d ago
purple101145d ago

who have they paid now...

ahh "Windows Central'

I see

darthv72145d ago

Its a great little starter system for 9th gen gaming. It does better as an 8th gen extension thanks to things like FPS boost but when it comes to 9th gen games it is really starting to show its limitations. Obviously the idea is to hold out for something better like a PS5 or SX but for anyone who is just looking for a cheap 9th gen point of entry... this is it.

ChasterMies145d ago

Nope, nope, nope. On an annual cost basis, a Xbox Series S is a lousy deal at this point in the console cycle. The Seried S is already struggling with current gen games. It won’t make it to next gen. The Series X and PS5 digital cost more now, but they will be useful far longer.

Concertoine143d ago (Edited 143d ago )

It has its place - mainly kids and casuals. You can find a Series S for like $230 more often than not, and it runs contemporary games, for now. And it plays everything a Series X does, which is a lot of games. My friends who only play sports games and a little COD have a Series S, and it satisfies them well enough.

To the avg N4G user, probably not satisfying and we can justify the upgrade to Series X or PS5. But to casuals, its solid. Also people in countries with less disposable income.

TheColbertinator144d ago

Thanks Windows Central. Another unbiased and well explained article to further push gamers towards a logical purchase.

Plague-Doctor27144d ago

This site is terrible at recognizing sarcasm

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70°

Spartan: Total Warrior - Before Dark Souls, There was Sparta

Spartan: Total Warrior launched back in 2005, with an aggressive-but-fair agenda for its combat not dissimilar to the Souls series.

john4163d ago

I still whip out my OG Xbox to play this once in a while it’s one of my all time favorites

vTuro243d ago

This game was so fucking good. It's legit one of my all time favorite games. I wish they'd make another (Vikings was mid) or remake this one. Probably won't happen, but one can dream.

150°

10 Biggest Xbox Mistakes of All Time (So Far)

The Xbox brand has done a lot of good over the years, but their various blunders are pretty wild to look back on in their magnitude.

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culturedvultures.com
piroh8d ago (Edited 8d ago )

Ironically number 9 can save them at this point (releasing games on multiple platforms)

ChasterMies7d ago

By “save them” you mean make more profit for Microsoft. Xbox will still be a dying hardware platform.

OtterX7d ago

You could add the naming scheme for the consoles, it just confuses customers. I know they wanted to avoid traditional numbering bc it would always be lower than their competitor, but this whole 360 then One then Series thing is confusing af. Imagine a Soccer Mom trying to figure this stuff out. I still mistakenly call the Series X the One from time to time on accident.

RNTody7d ago

Don't forget about the Xbox One, Xbox One X and Xbox Series X! Good luck to Soccer moms around the world.

S2Killinit7d ago (Edited 7d ago )

They did that on purpose to confuse and direct attention away from the generational numbering.

MS doesn’t like reminding people that they joined the industry after others had already been involved in gaming.

For instance, they called the xbox “360” to combat PlayStation “3” because they wanted to seem like “more” than “3”, so instead of xbox 2, they opted for xbox 360. Also this had the additional benefit of selling consoles to uninformed parents who might purchase a “360” instead of a “3” by mistake, or because they thought 360 was more than 3. Kind of a disingenuous move.

They have been continuing with their confusing naming patterns for pretty much the same reasons. Frankly, it fits with who and what they are as a brand.

FinalFantasyFanatic6d ago

I can understand their reasoning, but whoever came up with that naming scheme should be fired, bad naming schemes have killed consoles (I'm pretty sure it was the major reason for the downfall of the WiiU). They should have had unqiue names like Nintendo and Sega have had for their consoles, far less confusing for the consumer.

rob-GP3d ago

@FinalFantasyFanatic "They should have had unqiue names like Nintendo..."

lol, you mean:

NES, SNES
GameBoy, GameBoy Advanced, GameBoy Colour, GameBoy SP
DS, DSi, DSXL
3DS, 3DS XL, New 3DS, New 3DS XL
Wii, Wii U
Switch, Switch OLED

+ Show (1) more replyLast reply 3d ago
Cacabunga7d ago (Edited 7d ago )

Phil Spencer is the worst that has happened to Xbox.
They built a respectable brand up to Xbox one. Then this guy took over and things became a joke

Reaper22_7d ago

He still has his job. Something you can't say about Jim Ryan.

Cacabunga7d ago

Both bad execs. One is on job and one thankfully retired.

FinalFantasyFanatic6d ago (Edited 6d ago )

I didn't like either person, both people damaged their respective brands and produced worse outcomes, but Phil did save the Xbox brand from being retired by Microsoft. Although in hindsight, he should have just let it die, rather than languish in limbo like it is now.

Rainbowcookie5d ago

Yeah but the one that was "bad" didn't even affect sales.

bunt-custardly7d ago

Phil Spencer was also on the team back when 360 was around, alongside Shane Kim, Peter Moore etc. I think the damage that did the most harm was the Don Mattrick "Always Online" console (ahead of its time basically). They handed Sony and Nintendo a free-pass when that was revealed. It went downhill from there. Then the corporate machine went into full swing to try and recover. They have to a degree as a games company for the masses, and less so for the core gamer. Outside USA, the Xbox brand does not sell as well as Japanese based consoles (citation needed).

Cacabunga7d ago

Want a decision maker. The always online and TV plans was a disaster yes, but they caught up by announcing 1st party games that gamers actually kept the hype going.. until this moron took over and introduced the PC day one release.. e all know where that ended..

S2Killinit7d ago

I dont think they were ever a respectable brand, not since the beginning, when their goal was never to be involved and share in the gaming space. I think the OG xbox was an exception because MS as a brand was still getting its foot in and so the people behind that were people of the gaming industry.

FinalFantasyFanatic6d ago

The 360 was the brand in its prime though, everything went downhill towards the end of that generation. Its staple games like Halo, Forza and Gears are what kept the console relevant and afloat for so long.

MaximusPrime_7d ago

Really good video.

I remember the days with RRoD was big news on here, N4G.

Microsoft had it turbulence number of years.

Looking at the success of Sea of Thieves despite being 6 years old, time to release Halo, Forza horizon 4 & 5 on PS5. It'll help their revenue

shinoff21837d ago (Edited 7d ago )

2 of the 4 games they did already sold really well. So it's definitely going down. Idk about halo or forza but I feel those studios they've bought in the last 5 years, their coming

ChasterMies7d ago

I found this video painful to watch. Can someone list them out?

Top 10 for me from are:
1. 2013 reveal presentation
2. Bundling Kinect 2 with Xbox One
3. RRoD or why rushing to market with hardware is always a bad idea.
4. Buying studios only to close them.
5. Ads on the Home Screen
6. Letting Halo die.
7. Letting Geard of War die.
8. Every console name
9. Charging for Xbox Live on Xbox 360 when Sony let PS3 players play online for free.
10. Cancelling release of OG Xbox games after the Xbox 360 launched.

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