Microsoft's Xbox Series X Just Ended the PC-Console War

The Xbox Series X is the end result of decades of PC-console convergence -- and the effective end of the PC-console war.

[2pacalypsenow]

Has it been confirmed that you can play all your past xbox games? or just the ones MS makes compatible?

[_SilverHawk_]

I like my pc a lot but there are still a lot of games on playstation and Nintendo where you need those consoles to play.

[Tech5]

"Microsoft's Xbox Series X Just Ended the PC-Console War"

I don't think so. PC is multi-purpose on a wider scale.

[Army_of_Darkness]

We all know pc will always be more powerful than consoles... Well depending on how much you invest in it but nevertheless, I still prefer to game on a console now and always. Buy the console, install a game and play. Simple.

[D__RAiL]

Yup I am the same way. If a game releases the same time on PC I will get it but there are too many exclusives not to own a Switch and a PS4.

[Brave_Losers_Unite]

PC has steam games which has more games than any other console and service combined.

[NiteX]

@Army_of_Darkness What makes you think it's so different on a PC? You can do the exact same thing. Buy a PC pre built if you want. Install the game and play. Simple. Then with PC you have extra options if you choose. You can use a variety of different controllers, 3rd party programs like reshade that let you tweak visual options and what not. It's like consoles only users still think playing games on a PC is the same as it was in 1998.

[bouzebbal]

Haha the fanboys.. They show this they trash it, if they instead chose to show god of war 2 they'll say Sony afraid of xbox.. So pathetic

[jwillj2k4]

It’s Vice versa as well though

[Army_of_Darkness]

@NiteX

I have a Asus gaming laptop and it isn't as simple as a console. Sure you have the option to tweak but I don't like going through all of that. Adjust this and that just to make it run or look as good as it can, while consoles on the other hand has the settings optimized to run and look it's best already.. Sure you can use the pcs recommended settings but when compared to the console version it honestly looks inferior... Of course you will say, then upgrade your graphics card but that's another hassle and cost.... No thanks.

[Obscure_Observer]

@2pacalypsenow

I believe Microsoft will continue their BC via software emulation, which imo is far better than native.

I rather play my games BC games enhanced. :)

[LOGICWINS]

I can't wait to play Dead to Rights with enhancements. That was my most played Xbox game back in the day.

[DaDrunkenJester]

All 4 gens work with current emulation

https://www.gamesradar.com/...

[Zeref]

all games that are on Xbox One, including 360 and OG Xbox titles.

[Christopher]

They have not said all Xbox One games. They have said all BC compatible 360 and Xbox titles will work on next-gen. It's very unlikely that the games 99% of gamers care about won't be supported. Especially from your major publishers. RDR2 is going to run fabulously on Xbox Series X. Guaranteed.

[porkChop]

They've said all 4 generations of games will play on SX. I'm not sure if that means every single game. At the very least it means all their Xbox One BC-compatible games will be playable.

[darthv72]

It is all the currently supported games the XBO can play. But I seem to recall they stated they were stopping the project of adding more games to the XBO BC list and shifting it over to Scarlett. So that means they are continuing to add even more games from XB and 360 that the XBO cannot play.

Honestly, i am very curious about Sony and how much BC support the 5 will get. We can assume at least 4 games are supported but the likes of 3 remains to be revealed. And 2 is possible (at least the DVD ones) but I'm not sure about 1 seeing as the bluray drive of the 4 was unable to play CD media (and rumors are the 5 is using a UHD upgraded variant of the 4 drive) so that means 1 & 2 (CD based games) would be digital only if at all.

[battlegrog]

yes all 3

[Muzikguy]

If there's one thing I hope Sony pays attention to it's this. With MS adding a share button to their controller and all the talk about BC, I hope to see Sony have something too that will enhance their old games when playing on PS5

[Loktai]

I mean.... Sony has had the share button all last gen, so the share button in itself isnt really anything to pay attention to. The PS5 is already fully compatible with PS4 which likely includes all of the PS2 classics, and at bare minimum its going to support PSNow which is quite a lot of PS3 games.

Good backward compatibility is nice but when youre talking about next gen systems, what I want to see
and what MICROSOFT needs to learn from SONY is commitment to the system and its peripherals.

Microsoft at first bundled the kinect, then totally abandoned the kinect, leaving anyone who bought it for the kinect features at launch high and dry as devs could no longer be sure there would be a kinect in each system and would not program many features to truly utilize it. And with all the high profile cancellations, delays and such this past gen I hope Microsoft learns from Sony, a lot more than I hope Sony learns from Microsoft. Especially when it comes to priorities . Sony just kept churning out exclusives and launched console VR, and Microsoft cancelled fable, scalebound and others, and pushed back hyped games many times.... "teh cloud" didnt pan out either... and they only really cared about "teh cloud" when they were under dogs in power, once the X was out the cloud was put out to pasture so anyone who was expecting that whole thing went with it. It was like a rollercoaster.

[DaDrunkenJester]

All 4 gens will be supported via current BC. So basically all of Xbox One I'm sure, and then whatever is emulated for 360 and OG

https://www.gamesradar.com/...

[Master of Unlocking]

More important still has it been confirmed that you'll be able to use anywhere near the same amount of software on the Xbox series X as on a PC or is that yet again just another full-of-shit blogger that's coming out of the woodwork to make some inane statement because he interprets Microsoft's revealing their system first as some sort of giveaway that the next-gen will see Microsoft get ahead of Sony's PS5?

[babadivad]

I need to know this. Got some OG Xbox disc I want to play.

[Loktai]

If they are currently BC they will be BC on the new system is what they're saying, all the current XBOX one platform games and BC games.

[babadivad]

@Loktai

Have they specifically said this. I haven't heard concrete information either way, just speculation. If they have given a concrete answer, please send me a link.

[Sophisticated_Chap]

All of the games that are currently backwards compatible, will work on the Series X.

[Christopher]

No confirmation on "how much."

What we do know:

1. They have said that Xbox and 360 BC titles were designed to be forward compatible (reason why you download digital versions of the games even if you use a disc to validate ownership).

2. They specifically stopped porting 360 and Xbox titles early on this year to specifically work on making Xbox One games compatible with the next generation of Xbox consoles.

3. The fact that they have to work on making Xbox One titles compatible means that at least a good number of games would not otherwise be supported natively, if not all of them, and that some may not be made compatible (likely due to issues outside of Microsoft's control, such as online validation and matchmaking methods that are deprecated).

[Mozillayaseen]

I've been wondering about that too myself or did they manage to make it natevily backward compatibe.Just insert the disc and start playing whichever generation we want no need to download.That would be awesome.I tweeted Phil about it but he didn't get back to me....No surprise there.At least i tried. I heard it was backward compatible but not sure if it's natevily.

[tonyjames404]

yeah.... No, it didn't

[Unspoken]

Read the article not just the headline.

[ChiefofLoliPolice]

I did and yeah Tony is right. It really didn't.

[tonyjames404]

I did.... & No, It didn't

[isarai]

I like how simply because it stands tall like a traditional PC tower people are all of a sudden comparing it to PC like crazy.

[2pacalypsenow]

People think that just because PS5 (most likely) and Xbox will be BC that PC gamer will automatically say (hey I can play my Ps4/Xbox 1 game son the new console, I'm buying it).

They're so delusional.

[rainslacker]

I remember the PS2 and PS3 were compared to PC's back in the day because of their power being high enough to be classified as super computers. It didn't make them PC's, and until MS makes the Xbox console itself an open computer like PC is, it's not going to bridge anything. At best, MS can work to try and make cross buy more of a thing, so people who choose, aren't stuck in one or the other. That would require a significant amount of 3rd party support, and likely digital sales would be locked to Windows Store anyhow, because MS is still going to want it's money from licensing.

MS also isn't likely to want the console to be open, and will still require signed code to be able to run it on the system, which could work for PC to some degree, but it'd be equivalent to a less useful version of MacOS.

[babadivad]

That was just Sony hyperbole. Those consoles were no where near strong enough to be classified as "super computers".

Not even close.

[rainslacker]

With the ps3 it was about the processor power, which was a classification by the US to regulate what taxes would be levied upon import. Bot sure if it was the same with the ps2.

It was in relation to the processing power, not the overall performance of the system.

It was a legit classification under the law, but was indeed used as marketing hyperbole. Not major marketing, just some creative leak to the press who reported it because why not?

[Imortus_san]

PS2 was never compared to PC, it was a crap 480i full of bad grafics and good CG while PC was already running games natavly at 1024x768, by the time the Original Xbox hit the market there were already 1600x1200 monitors.

[Santouryuu]

Now you mention it. I remember reading about Sony selling the PS2, in Europe, as a "multipurpose device" closer to pc than console. Something to do with tax rates being lower.

[FlyingFoxy]

Nah, PC is more versatile. And you can get more power when you want it, a Nvidia 3070 should be 30-40% quicker than the new Xbox when the new GPUs release by summer. The 2000 series was overpriced from the start, it's about time we got back to decent jumps in performance for better prices like before.

[Anomander]

2000 Super line was priced right for the power you got.

[babadivad]

No it wasn't. The original 2070 was a tu 106 die. Which means it's a xx60 card. But they put a xx70 sticker on it and charged you xx70 money for it.

Those cards were an over priced scam and you guys bought them up because you weren't paying attention or just didn't care that you were getting scammed. As long as it had NVidia on the box, you gave them your money.

The entire 20xx line is overpriced.

[Anomander]

@Babadivad Incorrect. The Super uses the TU104 while the regular RTX lined used theTU106
For instance RTX 2070 Super
https://www.notebookcheck.n...
RTX 2070
https://www.notebookcheck.n...

[babadivad]

Did I say the Super or did I say the 2070?? Secondly, the launch 2070 IS on the TU106 die. It was a 2060 card and Nvidia was charging you 2070 prices. It was their highest selling card at the time. Those are all facts.

[gangsta_red]

The war is over already?

[Gravesinger_]

Yup, and PC won

[Nineball2112]

“Only the dead have seen the end of war.”
― Plato

[PhoenixUp]

Except you can mod various PC games which you can’t do as easily with Xbox titles

[rainslacker]

So....a closed gaming system is somehow going to end the gap between console and PC? Somehow I doubt that, unless Steam puts their store up on the console, and 3rd party publishers enable cross buy with PC and console across the board. Since I'm pretty confident that MS will want their share of the licensing costs to publish on the console, it's unlikely you'll see cross buy with Steam and console. Windows Store and console release maybe 3rd party would go for cross buy....but I imagine it might have some pretty heavy caveats to prevent account sharing.

Given how people don't want to buy games from anywhere but Steam given recent examples of other stores making an appearance, and long running PC stores having a mere sliver of the overall PC market, I somehow doubt that MS has ended anything.

[rainslacker]

I'm sure ms will continue cross buy with their titles, and some 3rd party will enable it, mostly indie, but it's up in the air if larger 3rd party publishers will use the feature when using windows store.

I'm talking more about the notion that some war is now over with PC, because the console is still there to capture the gamers who dont want pc, but it's much more limited than a pc.

[neutralgamer1992]

Pc gaming is growing yearly and generate billions. It's not going anywhere. For sure Ps5 and Xbox one x series will be similar to pc's

One thing I really want is full mod support for games on next Gen consoles

[D__RAiL]

Yup it's why Microsoft and Sony are putting some of their exclusives on the PC Market now. It also has the best VR market and thats hitting a boom in late 2019 and into 2020 and will continue to grow.

[FGHFGHFGH]

won't happen because ..DLC

[XabiDaChosenOne]

I miss when console were consoles.

[CoNn3rB]

Same, I miss the days when there was one per gen, except maybe a slim version but it was the same thing but thinner. It's all become too over the top.

[Jrios355]

And yet the PS4 and Switch are proving out to be successes.

[ApocalypseShadow]

Lol.. umm.. yeah.

After skimming through the hot air, and then at the end, the article goes against the title's premiss, here's my take...

It would be quite interesting if Microsoft created Series X to have a dual boot similar to what Sony did with PS3 running Linux. What if Series X dual boots a console OS and Windows 10X or whatever? Console in a box. PC in a box. They could also, because we know how Microsoft likes numbers, say how many more Windows operating software and hardware was added from each sale of the console.

I have multiple Android tablets. One of them dual boots with Windows and I can run Windows software on it. Which allowed me to play AM2 Remake on the go besides Mugen Marvel vs DC. A dual boot console would run all hardware accessories from PC and accessories for console. Plays PC games but also plays console games. With the right drivers, runs PC VR headsets or Windows MR.

That's what I would do if I was a company trying to eliminate the wall between both. Or maybe the one OS runs both sides. It's an interesting thought. Yeah. Like a Steam console. But with actual Windows and more money behind a console manufacturer. We'll see...

[Smokehouse]

I’d much rather a dedicated Xbox platform instead of a hybrid. Thats the only reason people like consoles lol. Dedicated exclusive support for a specific machine, OS and controller. The gamepass is a game changer tho. If I can play these new games on my current Xbox using gamepass and cloud then why do I need this new Xbox? They already won me with a circus of value. Unlike the closed platform approach of the ps5 which makes it more... traditional. And appealing imo.

[ApocalypseShadow]

I'm with you. I like dedicated consoles. But this is Microsoft trying to be different than Sony while being like Sony in the strategy Sony has used to win so many generations.

If the console is one and the same, that would mean any game they allowed through certification on PC, runs on Series X. Microsoft Series X games run on compatible PC hardware. Basically developers would be targeting one OS that runs on PC and console. That makes development easy across the board. That makes accessories compatible across the board.

I mean, I'm buying PS5 regardless what they do. But it would be an interesting turn off events and easy on developers. Windows built in means VR would be a no brainier and easy to do.

[rainslacker]

I think ms would not do dual boot. The open portion of windows could still screw up the other partition, and there is plenty of malicious software people would inevitably download. Itd make more sense just to use a hyper visor version of windows that would run concurrently, and suspend the bloat when you go into game mode. It would require signed code for windows programs though, so available software would be more limited, but there is plenty of UWD enabled software out there to cover what 99% of people do on the computer.

Or, MS could run the OS over the cloud, which is something they want to do anyways.

[TheColbertinator]

Bwahahaha oh wait, you were serious? Let me laugh even harder BWAHAHAHA

[Dom_Estos]

Just Ended the PC-Console War? What? What does that even mean?
Fanboy articles. Gotta love em for their sheer stupidity.

[Rude-ro]

😂😂😂
Here is a rectangle and a no gameplay trailer...

Because we need our media partners writing 100s of fluff pieces to keep us relevant.

Here you go.. where is the outrage for halo mcc not supporting crossplay or play anywhere? Microsoft’s, and their fans, war cry for 3 years this gen.

Where is the 9 years of a stagnant existence of Microsoft in gaming?

Microsoft will have made 6 variants of consoles and zero new AAA 1st party games in the last 8 years.
Why are they even relevant in any way shape or form?
Here is the recent history of Microsoft... subscriptions, fluff pr, cloud gaming(not the pr lie of the power of the cloud from yore).. and their most recent positive news is no microtransactions in a game that flaunted a store front in its launch trailer... 🤔 which means the feedback was negative and irrelevant due to said focus on an in game store and it is being changed to save face.. since gears 5 micro transactions are so horrible.

[Chris12]

Here's rude-ro's recent history - lies, mistruths, deflection, trolling, inappropriate post deletions and hate for all things MS. Funny how that works.....

[JayRyu]

Outrun 2, Afterburner climax, and Otogi 1&2 on the XSX can't wait 😁

[Vrguy]

It’s crazy to me that Xbox will have a hardcore fight sim with missions on a console!MS Flight Sim 2020 is the best looking recreation on the world I have seen in a game!

[PCgamer98]

Well yeah as a pcgamer there's barely any reason to get an xbox anymore.

[starchild]

Yeah, and that's awesome. I'm tired of spending hundreds of dollars just to play a handful of games held hostage artificially on a piece of hardware that has less capability than my PC.

[FanboySpotter]

Pro and one x were already more powerful than -most- peoples PCs and more capable of 4k than -most- 4k pc owners. Ps5 and SX is overkill for the guys on here with imaginary PCs even with just the price.

[Ristul]

imaginary PC?? 😂

I love it when kids cant grasp the fact that people spend money on top components on PC. Must be people without jobs or something. 🤣

[GOULDYBOBS]

A 1060 6gb is more powerful than a ps4 pro. One x is a different kettle of fish.
As for the next generation, has anything been confirmed other than the SSD?
Hardly breaking news

[battlegrog]

Thank you

[Petebloodyonion]

I think the title is quite misleading vs the article for the article is more talking about how future console will work in a similar fashion like the smartphone model with an upgrade every X year but keeping a similar structure so your library keeps working.
Now I don't believe that the series X would be the 1st system to be like that but more the Xbox 1X (and probably the Ps4 pro) for I'm sure that I expect upcoming games to be playable on X1X at a lower setting. Just a reminder that the Serie X controller will be retro compatible with Xbox1 so there's no reason to believe the seeds for this wasn't plan with the last mid upgrade.
And remember, I'm sure MS doesn't want to lose the customers that just fork hard cash for the current expensive hardware that was released in November 2017.

Now regarding the title,
Smartphone has yet to kill the tablet and pc market.
The same will apply here, yes all of them can play games but that doesn't mean that its the exact type of owner for each.

[Jrios355]

You can brag about how powerful PCs are (I' not doubting the power of PCs) but if you don't have the exclusives to show off that power, I don't wanna hear it. Show me exclusive games that can match the likes of God of War, Horizon: Zero Dawn, Spider-Man, Days Gone, Super Mario Odyssey, etc, then you can brag. Don't just show me a super duper modded version of GTA5.

[Tross]

Dude, I'm a PlayStation guy through and through, but you really don't have a good grasp of PC gaming. PC is full of exclusives. Most of them aren't AAA exclusives, but there are a ton of exclusives that will never reach consoles. PC gaming isn't all about power either. I don't have the most powerful PC on the market (and actually think my PS4 is more powerful), but it's good enough to run all the Steam games I play. PC/console multiplats are also often cheaper on Steam, so there's that too.

I love my PS4 and all its exclusives, but I have different systems for different things, so maybe I'm not the right individual to talk about the PC/console war. However, let it be known that I disagree with your analysis of PC gaming.

[Jrios355]

PC can have the largest selection of exclusives for all I care, but how often do they get the notoriety that the games I just listed get? How often do we get PC exclusives that show off the true potential of PC gaming, or how powerful its hardware is? The hardware that the master race likes to brag about, but never have the exclusives to show that off? Star Citizen? When is that coming out?

If PC gaming isn't about power, and it doesn't have games that match the likes of Horizon: Zero Dawn, and Spider-Man, then what? Mods? Multiple game launchers? Games that can be downloaded for free via pirating and emulators? Is that what this "glorious PC master race" prides itself on?

[Tross]

Huh? Good luck telling that to those who are firmly in the PC camp.

[jbrock11]

NVIDIA has entered the chat.

[KwietStorm_BLM]

Will there ever be a time when people stop to think about what they're spewing instead of rushing to type up articles?

[TheHateTheyGive]

How do all these unintelligent articles get approved? we wont know nothing till february ps5 and E3, till then everything is speculation.

[MrVux000]

If you really think that these fanboy wars will ever end, you are in for a nasty surprise.

[MrVux000]

There will come a time when the only differences between consoles and PC-s, are mostly games and game-services they offer, but i highly doubt that time will come next generation, it might come close but PC will still come on top.

Indeed, i have to agree, consoles are improving in a more faster rate with its new iterations and tech innovations, but the power gap is still visibly there between PC-s and consoles,especially when you consider one of the consoles main weaknesses (LACK OF UPGRADEABILITY). (And no, the PRO/SCORPIO versions are not it... a proper upgrade would be like we see on a PC. I build a 1000$ PC, and then 2-3 years later i cash out 200-300$ for a new graphics card, that way my previous 1000$ does not fall down the drain. You could say ''but i can sell my previous PS4/XboxOne console for the upgraded version'' and you would be right to do so...but buying a new set of HW and upgrading an existing one...is NOT the same)

It may not be apparent when you look at most first party games, that blow most of the other PC available games visuals out of the water...but when we compare multiplats, the difference come in more clearer, all of that cuz of lack of upgradeability. While overall graphicall fidelity has very few noticable differences (and that is if you stick your head to the screen, or do a 400% zoom ins), the biggest players in that game are;

1)Drawing distance
2)FPS
3)Resolution
4)Modding

The first 3, to me personally and to most people, are not that big of deal in most games, however that still doesn't OBJECTIVELY negate the PC-s indeed have the upper hand with power,

Modding also applies,and even tho consoles did make some strides toward implementing mods on them...tho a certain party simply doesn't like to take risks like they used to (looking at you SONY)...they are still significantly falling behind their PC counterpart.

So these are the 4 factors, that are mostly influanced by one major feature ''HW upgradeability''. Until that thing gets properly implemented, it will be a looong while until we can say ''games are the only difference''...

[william_cade]

It looks like a low end PC. Not sure if that will end it.

[gold_drake]

wat? no it didnt lol.

[Imalwaysright]

As a PC gamer I have to ask: what war?

[Einhander1971]

OH NO!!!! The PC master race is over 😂😂

[iplay1up2]

Unless your a dedicated PC gamer, most average people don't need a PC that is super powerful, for email and daily tasks. I have a gaming PC and a laptop. I am done upgrading my PC just for games. It really isn't worth it once next gen comes out. 4K 60FPS is good enough for me.

[rainslacker]

My PC is around nine years old. Has an older gen i5. I do have 32gb of decently fast memory which was fast for when I brought it because I do work which requires a good amount of memory.

My GPU is lacking for some modern games, but a good majority of games still run on it. I think ROTTR was the first commercial game which didnt meet the minimum requirements.

I may not be able to have the best looking games, but I could still play them on my PC. For less than the cost if an X1X now, I could get a new GPU which would outclass this gen, and probably be sufficient enough for any game released next gen. Could probably outclass next gen for the same price if I wait a year or two.

Thing about PCs nowadays is that an older PC doesn't mean it's a potato. The GPU, and eventually the memory may lag behind if you let it go, but overall, the upgrades dont really cost that much anymore. Memory is cheap. SSD is becoming cheap. RAID arrays are easy. Windows is surprisingly efficient. So on and so forth.

If people were deciding to buy a pc or an xbox console, I'd say a console if they didn't already have a PC. If they had an older PC, I'd tell them to probably just upgrade the GPU and memory, save some money, and you'll have access to the same games as the console or more.

The only exception would be the really tech clueless people, because pc isnt always as straight forward as some claim it to be

[TheOtherMoon]

Is anyone else getting tired of the term "console war(s)"?

[GrizToof]

These click bait titles really work cause look at us. This article is sitting at the top of the site and everyone is commenting, myself included. This new Xbox that we still have lots to learn about didn't end a damn thing. If this new console comes with Windows built in and every game released can be modded out the box then yes the new Xbox has ended the war by becoming a PC itself. Which means PC WINS!

[frostypants]

The main advantage of PCs is easy upgradability without waiting for a new console gen. That hasn't changed. Saying this "ends" that war simply by way of cross-gen games is pretty naive. BC is not the main reason people play PC games. Hardware power/flexibility is.

[Exvalos]

Article is a bit click bait but if you read it he makes sense. Pretty much he is just saying pc has always had one feature that they could hold over consoles which is full backwards compatibility and now xbox has finnaly gotten on board that train.

[JonTheGod]

Except that Series X can only play the same BC games as Xbox One. It's selective through the BC program, not native.

[TrueRican69]

You all dumb if you think xbox won. Sony won all the past consoles wars. So what they show they bluetooth box that dont mean shit. And comeing this E3 2020 Sony will show who the kings of kings. As far it can play old xbox games who care I dont care about old games from 2005. Give up aready sony not out of it yet.

[xX1NORM1Xx]

Believe it or not all consoles are actually computers running custom firmware!

[Phoenix76]

They make the same claim every gen cycle.

[Bleucrunch]

The title for the article is silly, there is no way that author was lucid when writing this lol.

[IRetrouk]

There was a war!!?? When did it start?? Who started it? Where do we sign up?

[Max_Eckhardt]

Not even close

[ScootaKuH]

Nah it hasn't

[SinisterKieran]

no it didn't

[Kaedro]

lol just lol. "Journalism" at its finest.

[LucidIllusion]

:/