10 Backwards Compatible Games Transformed By The Power Of Xbox Series S

The little console that could

[rippermcrip]

This is something to brag about? It made the game just as good as the PS4 version? Wow!!

"When 2013's Tomb Raider made its way over to the then-next-gen systems, its was mired in controversy. The Xbox One version featured a hard lock to 30fps, just like its Xbox 360 counterpart, whereas the PS4 enjoyed an unlocked framerate up to 60fps.

Now, thanks to FPS Boost, we no longer have to be reminded of the era where PS4 was almost always dominant. Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition now plays out at a smooth 60fps and we have to admit, the visuals hold up really well too."

[ToddlerBrain]

It’s people like you that make gaming communities toxic. Things get better for people but you find something to complain about.

[rippermcrip]

No, articles like these are what is toxic. "The Power of the Xbox Series S" ? Current gen console makes a game look just as good as a prior gen game... that's beyond stupid to use as an example.

Series S shouldn't exist. It is holding back current gen.

[Bigman4k]

Facts

[dantesparda]

You have to be some kind of big time fanboy to not see that the Xbox series S is completely and utter POS! Even the more powerful systems, are barely proving themselves. You people complain about the Jaguar CPU, yet these so called next gen systems can barely UE5 @1440 @30fps with their weak @$$ GPU's. That have to rely on image degrading solutions like upscaling and VRS. And most of these upscaled solutions suck and show just how weak they are in having to rely on them. The only good one is DLSS but you only get that on Nvidia hardware. And TAA has all that ghosting and softening of the image, which is the second best upscaling solution. Temporal Inject seems good but ony Insomniac uses it. And where are the 60fps next gen games from these systems? But fanboys will always think that their sh!tty @$$ consoles are better than they actually are.

[darkrider]

Some don't even run at 1080... Old gen games from underpowered consoles with huge problems on the cpu side... That already run great on the one x... That can do upgrades that even the s can't...

[darthv72]

And the S can do things the One X cant. If you havent already, you should give the S a real honest try. It may just surprise you.

[MrBaskerville]

I considered an S, just for exclusives and old games, but have a feeling it would be fine now, but I'd probably regret it in a couple of years. It must have its limits, forutnately the difference in price isn't that noteworthy in the long run, atleast to me.

[FlavorLav01]

And several last gen games take a resolution hit to achieve said boosted frame rates but that’s not often mentioned. So it’s more of a trade-off in many BC cases, as opposed to the only positive headlines “power of the S” would have you believe. SMH. This thing is for kids who don’t know the difference and/or aren’t old enough to care yet.

[darthv72]

I have yet to notice if they do. The improved performance more than makes up for any visual shortcomings.

[Concertoine]

Not true, they always run at the same resolution they do on 360. They might take a hit compared to the One X which upscales to higher resolutions, but the framerate is way better than 360 or One X

[Tacoboto]

"And several last gen games take a resolution hit to achieve said boosted frame rates"

Concertoine is correct - not true. BC Titles on Series X with FPS boost will run in the One S mode if the One X mode is too intense to maintain 60fps, and when that's the case it's typical that FPS boost will be disabled by default.

"This thing is for kids who don’t know the difference and/or aren’t old enough to care yet."

Even if that's true (it's not), how is that possibly a bad thing to provide modern devices for people that don't want/need/care for the most performant product?

People still buy the standard iPhone when the iPhone Pro exists. People choose the Tesla Model 3 over the Model S. Guess what, people also choose a V4 when they could buy a V6 on a car. Microsoft providing a product for people of different demographics and spending habits, though? *Quick, sound the alarm!!*

[myfathersbastard]

What’s wrong with the series S? It runs games at 1080 or 1440 on average but with higher frame rates and SSD fast load times.
I have a PS5 as my main console for 3rd party and exclusives. And a series S for gamepass and to play games with my friends with Xbox’s. It runs great, games look good(not great but nothing to complain about).
“It’s holding current gen games back”. No it’s not. Games aren’t made like they were 10 years ago. It’s not that hard for developers to scale games based on hardware anymore.
If you use a series X that’s great. But I don’t see why people who don’t need the X getting a cheaper but still fast console is a bad thing.
You truely are the worst part of the gaming community. Toxic af.

[rippermcrip]

Series S holds back game advancement.

We never see the greatness of current Gen consoles until developers stop developing for last gen.

Series S screws that up. Developers are going to have to make sure their games work for Series S for the rest of this generation. It will cause problems.

[myfathersbastard]

You don’t understand as much as you think you do. They USED to develop for the lowest end system then do what they can for better specs. It’s litteraly the other way around now. They make the biggest, best thing they can, then make sacrifices to get things running on lower spec machines. And games don’t run/look better LATER because they stop developing for lower end machines. They get better because they know the hardware/software better because they’ve been using it longer and know the ins and outs.
If you’re SO butt hurt about it then buy a PS5 where it’s only 1 system spec to account for. Or switch to PC and just comment “PC master race” and stop clogging up the comments section.
Oh but you won’t do that because this is genuinely the most interaction you get. Trolls gotta troll I guess.

[rippermcrip]

I don't know what the hell you're going on about PC for, I'm 100% a console gamer. Consoles have always strived and been able to surpass more powerful PCs because of optimization. When a game only has to be developed to support a single Playstation console, it is optimized to the maximum. That's why Sony has always put out some of the best looking games across all systems nearly every year even though PCs can be several times more powerful.

Even if games can be "scaled", that scaling takes time and effort to implement. That is time and effort that could have been spent elsewhere.

All developers will tell you that and many of them have already said the same thing about current gen. This wasn't some problem that was miraculously fixed with current gen consoles.

They cannot just develop for the high end machine and then scale things down for the low end machine. If the low end machine cannot support something, that means they cannot have it in the game at all for any machines.

This is not just about resolution and frame rates. Things like how many enemies could be on the screen at once. If Series X could have 100 enemies on the screen, but Series S could only have 50. Well then they will only put 50 in the game and that isn't something that they are going to scale.

[darthv72]

Oh ripper... that's not how it works anymore.

[Elda]

I won an XBSS 5 months ago at my jobs Xmas party which I decided to keep out of curiosity because I never bought or owned an XB console. BC of old games doesn't interest me but one would think the XBSS should be able to run all of those old games mentioned in 4k. The machine is somewhat of a disappointment because most current AAA games are 1080p only. One would think Halo Infinite would be at least 1440p on the XBSS. As of now I call it the indie machine because it runs most indie games in resolutions above 1080p to 4k including as of now most current games that land on Gamepass are indie games.

[darkrider]

You can't expect miracles. The 299 price tag make it a crossgen console. It got a fast cpu, but everything else is below average. I don't know if you remember but before the launch of the ps5 many here were saying that it was a weak 8 teraflop machine... Not next Gen, barely an upgrade from the pro... Now imagined if it got 4 teraflops, less ram and slow bandwidth... It's very hard for the s to go beyond 1080p...

[darthv72]

You cant really compare 4tf of current gen to 6tf of last gen. I mean you could but to you its just a numbers thing. The 4tf is more efficient than the older 6tf. if anything they are on par with each other for most things while the 4tf has more potential to go further than the 6tf. It has better fuel efficiency and more horsepower even though its a smaller engine.

[Elda]

The XBSS is sold as a next-gen (current-gen) console. The system is supposed to run AAA games in 1440p. Halo Infinite has options for 30fps,60fps & now 120fps,both 30fps & 60fps resolutions are at 1080p which doesn't make any sense. The game's resolution at 30 fps in Halo Infinite should be at least 1440p or higher. When it comes to AAA multi-plats that I want to play I would buy them to play on my PS5 first & foremost even if Gamepass had a current AAA multi-plat that I wanted to play. I want the visuals in video games that I play to be clear,clean & prestine. I don't mind 60 fps but I also don't mind 30fps as long as the game plays without any hiccups & the visuals are top-notch. Halo Infinite in 1080p on a great 65 hdr 4k tv doesn't look all that great to me.

[Petebloodyonion]

" the XBSS should be able to run all of those old games mentioned in 4k. The machine is somewhat of a disappointment because most current AAA games are 1080p only. One would think Halo Infinite would be at least 1440p on the XBSS."
Clearly, you missed the press conference where they mentioned that the console target's resolution for gaming was 1440P. and not for 4K so here's the official web page.
https://www.xbox.com/consol...

Or you could also read the several reviews, explanations, and articles about how the S is geared toward ppl not having 4K tv.

[Elda]

I didn't miss anything. I mentioned that those old games mentioned in the article should run up to 4k knowing most current indies run up to 4k on the XBSS. All I know is MS has stated that AAA games should run at resolutions of 1440p on the XBSS & so far most are not.

[Petebloodyonion]

"I didn't miss anything. I mentioned that those old games mentioned in the article should run up to 4k knowing most current indies run up to 4k on the XBSS."
They are not running at 4k because they weren't made initially for 4k Again the console will display the max resolution available for the game. If you want 4k ask the game devs to patch the old game.

"All I know is MS has stated that AAA games should run at resolutions of 1440p on the XBSS & so far most are not."
Naming 1 or 2 games does not equal the majority of AAA games and I could also recall that according to MS and Sony, 4K /60 frames is suposed to be the standard for AAA games on Serie X and PS5. yet how many fail to achieve that.

[Elda]

Most current AAA games running on the SX & PS5 especially exclusives resolutions are up to 4k or very close to it. Most AAA generational games should definitely be abe to run 1440p & up on the XBSS but they don't & that's a shame. Most current AAA games should run at 1440p but they don't & that's a shame as well. As I stated before I call the XBSS an Indie console because it has no problem running indie games at 1440p up to native 4k. Playing AAA games in blurry 1080p is a disappointment for me.

[DazaMc]

Don't most of these games run at 4k on the Xbox one X/SeriesX?

[Petebloodyonion]

It's been clarified that since the Serie S isn't geared toward 4K it's running Xbox1 as running on Xbox1 S so frame boost will work for unlocked frame rate and resolution (if variable) will go up to 1080P.

For Xbox Serie X It's running the game as played on the XBOX1 X so the benefit will work the same but for games are reprogramed for a 4k thus the why you do see 4k on games optimized for Xbox1X.

Basically, the Serie S is the Xbox 1 S successor versus the Serie X which is the Xbox1X successor.

[HeliosHex]

So many great games, so little time.

[BrainSyphoned]

Engine That Couldn't. I got so sick of my Series S being the little engine that I bought one of the over priced Series X bundles from Best Buy. Wish I would have never selected the "Hey it's available off the shelf" option.

[thesoftware730]

The XSS is a nice system.

I have the SX/XSS/PS5, they all play mostly the same shit and all feel similar. All of the people who are bashing the XSS have never played one. $300 for a system that plays 99% of all next-gen well is not a bad deal.

It's like my PC, I'm still running a 2060 super and all my games run great, as good as 30 series GPU? nope, but they look nice and play well, and don't currently cost $1,000. My point being is people are acting like playing on an XSS is a horrible experience or downright unplayable, when that not the case, in fact far from it.

[ARESWARLORD]

I got a series s for my son, I was so absolutely impressed with it that I got my self one as well to sit next to my PS5.

It is ultra impressive the visuals that can produce it punches way above its pay grade

[ClayRules2012]

Yeah, the fact that it runs the Matrix demo on Unreal Engine 5 (which I know is just a demo. People say “Let’s wait for a fully functioning and complete game with this same level of detail and really advanced Ai, than we’ll talk) which I get, but I was amazed and very impressed that that little console produced such amazing quality visuals like his much bigger brother and arch nemesis PS5 lol. Just kidding on the arch nemesis haha.

It’ll be interesting to see in a few years NEXT GEN multi platform games on PS5 XSX and XSS side by side to compare.

[darkrider]

Any machine can run the unreal engine if you drop the rez...running a game at 540p at times... . And epic was forced to ask the help of coalition to achieve that... The main thing of the s isn't the price is being available everywhere for more 99 you get a next gen console with more then double of the hard disk to put games...

[Orchard]

@darkrider But he seems happy with his purchase, so why are you trying to convince him that he should be unhappy?

The argument of paying more to buy a PS5 is irrelevant:

1. He said he already has a PS5
2. $100 is a lot of money to a lot of people. That's 33% more than a Series S.
3. Maybe he wanted the Series S to play Zenimax games like Starfield, ES6 etc? Or perhaps for GamePass? You're assuming that what he wants is available on PS5, which it may not be.