It's time to admit that Microsoft was right about the Xbox Series S — here's why

8K UUHD with path tracing at 5000 FPS is great, but what if you only have $300?

[darthv72]

So the BG3 guys found an optimization for all other platforms by way of the little engine that could... interesting.

[1Victor]

Read the article headline and think “this sound like a Microsoft own site “ click on it read windowscentral and almost spayed my boss with water 🤣
Now about the article I’m not going to read it🤷🏿

[Eonjay]

"[...]but what if you only have $300?"

Apparently you would have to keep saving money. LOL no seriously. The console they show for this article cost $350. The irony...

[darthv72]

I didnt know you could spay using water. That's such a common procedure so maybe they can now?

But why your boss though?

[Cacabunga]

A mid-mid-gen upgrade will never be called a new gen console, no matter how you put it or how many excuses you try to make up.
In this case why bother cause they could have started with XSX, which was out only 1 or 2 years..

We need proper experiences worthy of new gen of consoles. XSS is a laughable attempt..

[CrashMania]

Jez Cordon is a big Microsoft shill and winowscentral is super MS biased.

[Babadook7]

“this sound like a Microsoft own site “

Bwahaha. This.

[Binarycode]

I bet that's what you say too all the guys.

[SICKINDIVIDUAL]

Y'all can add Lords of the fallen to the list of titles that PS5 outperforms series x.

[Babadook7]

Yup. Way too much advanced asset management for the Xbox to handle with that one.

[crazyCoconuts]

The typical "it's holding us back" argument aside, from a sales perspective, the S is selling way more than the X (wasn't it like 75% of total?), so you could make the case that if it wasn't for the S, Xbox would have like 25% of the sales they have now...

[sagapo]

Not necessarily. If the S wasn’t there, maybe the X would have sold more units as there was no option?
In the end it’s anybody’s guess with the “if’s” and “but’s” imo.

[BillyCrystals]

Crazy that they're only around 5 million Series Xs out there compared to PS5's 40 million.

[StarkR3ality]

Xbox has shown they couldn't give a shit about hardware, which is a shame and one of the reasons I feel like if you own a PC there is 0 point in having an Xbox. They want game pass on everyone's phone, PC, TV, fridge, you name it. They are a software company first and foremost.

Eventually the end goal will be game pass on Playstation and they can sack off consoles altogether, whether Sony would be up for that, highly doubt it, but that's their end game in my opinion.

[tay8701]

Yah highly doubt playstation would ever allow that. It's like Mcdonalds allowing their big macs to be sold at burger king. Kind of like their intent to buy nintendo, nice thought but never going to happen.

[LifesChoice]

Exactly why i didn't get a series console, it was time for a new pc i just needed a reason to bite the bullet. Im always putting off buying a new pc and just upgrade and upgrade but it was time and GPU came with gamepass so win win i guess. I was going to get a series x but ps5 seemed like a better option when i considered my pc.
I seriously doubt we will see gamepass on PS5. Things have been getting crazy lately so its not a definite but i just cant compute Sony going along with the idea.

[StarkR3ality]

I personally think CoD is the start.. they'll buy up IP to back Sony into a corner and give them no choice. Want Call of duty and Elder scrolls on your platform? Along side Halo, gears Forza and all the other shit tonne of IP we own? Brill, we will leave the console business, but you put game pass on Playstation like you've done with EA play.

Makes perfect business sense to me. I wouldn't want that to happen, I'd rather they focus on making games that compete with Sony, but Phil already said they will never outsell Sony, similar to how they'll never outsell Apple when it comes to hardware. They'll go down the windows route and get all of their software on any available platform. Steam Deck, playstation, switch 2, whatever.

Mark my words that shits coming.

[shadowT]

they may should stop selling the Xbox Series X then

[GamerRN]

Nothing wrong with giving people options...

[Crows90]

From now on then that's what I'll see it as...just an option.

In other words ..all mainline PS5 consoles are much more powerful than the mainline Xbox series console...

So yet again PlayStation holds the most powerful console and gamer share.

[GamerRN]

Wait, how does that make PS5 more powerful than Series X? Please explain that logic?

I have both systems, but that makes zero sense

[attilayavuzer]

@GamerRN

No point trying to reason with fanboy logic. By extension, they're implying that the Switch was the most powerful console last gen.

[maniacmayhem]

This is what happens when you have people jumping the gun for some quick doom and gloom headlines. Not to mention getting opinions from devs that were possibly frustrated that they would have to do some extra tinkering for the S. And to an extent, rightly so. But the optimization and trades are there to make a game play on the S. It's a budget console and it should be treated as such.

But I have to laugh at the rest of the crowd who actually told people that the S was holding back this gen and pretended to be shocked that the S wouldn't have the bells and whistles that the X or PS5 would.

It's almost as if they were reaching, hard.

[Angyobangyo]

You're reaching hard thinking the S isn't holding this gen back.

[Sephiroushin]

S is holding back this gen period

[attilayavuzer]

Then why aren't Sony exclusives doing anything notable this gen?

[Sephiroushin]

@attilayavuzer
they look a lot better while having a weaker console than the X, that alone should tell you everything

[IRetrouk]

Did you forget the original pr blurbs for the s? What about the original announce video that ms then privated after launch? You know ms over promised on the s and it has caused problems, too many devs have claimed it for it to be a lie.

https://youtu.be/u6ftY7t8bJ...

"This means that the xbox series s delivers the same next gen experiance and features as series x, just at a reduced resolution"

[InUrFoxHole]

All you need is a handful of games to do that for the statement to be true. It's like sony putting 8k on their box.

[Charlieboy333]

@Hole "All you need is a handful of games to do that for the statement to be true". Bullshit....it should ve EVERY game because that's what was promised.

[IRetrouk]

Seriously fox? How many times have we seen the series s version with more than just a resolution cut? Almost every single release has way more than that done to it.

Isn't 8k printed on the xbox chip and it's box? hasn't had a single 8k piece of content though has it? So it's more like that, no 🤔

[anast]

I'm jealous of your downvote count.

[anast]

The S means there will never be a current gen. game built specifically for the SX. Most devs and publishers don't have the talent to optimize like BG3.

BTW, I only game at 30,000 fps...This article is a stupid take. The only thing good about the S is that it kept MSXbox way below 2nd place.

[EvertonFC]

😂🤣😂

[Godmars290]

The issue is MS trying to have its cake and eat it too.

For the longest they've tried making system power most important, never really utilized such when having that advantage, now they've cut a corner or parallel with the X and S, offering a cheaper console while still chasing after specs, which now leads to the weaker system being lauded over the X on any excuse.

And still they've yet to actually make anything for either system. Are dependent on new acquisitions along with 3rd parties.

[maniacmayhem]

*Are dependent on new acquisitions along with 3rd parties.*

Exactly why wouldn't they depend on this? This is basically Sony's issue coming up for the next year, depending on third parties with hardly anything announced from their first party.

Meanwhile MS has a literal MCU like timeline of games releasing because of their many acquisitions.

*now they've cut a corner or parallel with the X and S, offering a cheaper console while still chasing after specs, which now leads to the weaker system being lauded over the X on any excuse.*

What? That whole statement makes no sense. They offered a console with higher specs and a cheaper console with lower specs at a lower price.

No different than car models, TVs or any other electronics you can find that has a high end and low end. What are you on about?

[Sephiroushin]

No different than car models, TVs or any other electronics you can find that has a high end and low end. What are you on about?

but the difference is its not like cheap normal corolla vs a sport corolla which has better specs, its more like why would you drive to a race a toyota corolla if you have a lambo, they are not even close to the same league the S with the X is dumb take and it takes away from X, its not just "we use low quality textures, less LODs, low quality lighting and so on"

[Godmars290]

"This is basically Sony's issue coming up for the next year, depending on third parties with hardly anything announced from their first party."

How many times does it need to be said: MS doesn't have Sony's track record and reputation for making games. Bad enough there's argument that MS should be credited for games in mid production after buying that studio - which they shouldn't be - but then they aren't blamed when "new" games like the last Gears and Halo come out worse. After their studios, ones created by MS, officially take over making games in those franchises.

[SimpleSlave]

Which gives credence to the fact that the Philips CD-i is indeed one of the most underrated machines of all time. Once Larian Studios find a way to optimize Baldur's Gate 3 for the CD-i they're sure to find at least 46% VRAM of optimization that'll directly benefit performance for the PC, Series X, PS5, Atari Jaguar and the 3DO.

And the best thing is that the cost of entry is like way cheaper than the Series S even. So no excuse for the broke gamers out there.

Sure, sure, "But it's only one game out of hundred of games, three years in!!" I hear you say. "But it's only one studio!!" You keep whining about. "But the Series S is a bottleneck!" and on and on and on. Well, shut it! Cuz nobody likes a Negative Nancy and facts don't care about your feelings.

Anyways, Philips CD-i redeemed and now sales should eclipse those of the PS5 and Switch for sure. Next Gen gaming starts NOW!

Gotta love it! Thank you Microsawft, Series S and Larian Studios! Based!

[Rhythmattic]

That was so on point, I read it more than twice... GOLD!

[eagle21]

S for Simpin' for sales....lol

[rippermcrip]

Why are we acting like this is some groundbreaking thing? Basically all developers have made the games work on Series S.

But they are downgraded and cost the developers a shit ton of resources just to create some last gen version of the game.

The game is still without a release date. We see some chart showing they optimized it, but yet we still have no gameplay from it.

If these devs didn't have to waste the time me optimizing for that... they could have spent that time making the other versions even better. Or have moved onto their next game.

[jznrpg]

Declining Xbox console sales while your competitors are selling some of the best numbers ever is proof that they have not made the right decisions.
You can make Doom run on a potato so this point isn’t very good, sure you can get games to run on almost anything if you gimp it enough. Plus it has taken a lot of time after it’s PC/PS5 release

[Games1st]

New switch will be the lowest standard anyways.

[CrimsonWing69]

Look, how many devs have f*cking talked about the bottleneck issues with developing games for S and X. I’m glad after how long since the launch of BG3 that, through grueling work and effort, have figured out how to optimize it for S. Let’s put it this way, it was working fine on X from the beginning. So, no, I’m not in support of the S still.

[Hofstaderman]

Well when it makes up 75% of already meager sales one will have to say MS got it right....S

[Petebloodyonion]

A bunch of questions for the usual crowd of nay-sayers.

How many games run like crap on Series S but run perfect 4K 60 FPS on PS5 and Series X?
How many games like Gotham Knights are running easily 60 FPS on PC when it's supposed to be the weak Series S fault for the 30 FPS?
And last but not least why are companies bothering to create games for Xbox Series S?

[benobee]

Why do you make it your mission in life to white knight for anything and everything MS does? Are you on the payroll or just extremely desperate to validate your purchase?

[Petebloodyonion]

Why do you complain about my positive stance on agreeing with the article discussed here!?

Several ppl here disagree with the article just for hate of the company so I asked some questions that should be easy to answers if Series S was so bad
Yet nothing?

And for your info I don’t have a digital console only because I still believe in the concept of buying physical.

[Knightofelemia]

Microsoft was not right if I wanted to play a game that was nerfed I would get the last gen version. Microsoft should have followed Sony. Same machine same specs all that is missing is the disc drive. Where I live nobody wants the Series S they litter pawn shops, Gamestops, and pop up on the used market all the time. The Series S was poorly planned it's meant for the light duty gamer or for kids to play Fortnite on.

[derek]

"But what if you only have 50 bucks and a pack of gum, shouldn't there be console for sale that you can afford"....

[Einhander1972]

This is some incredible spin trying to give the credit for Larian's hard work getting the game to even run on the console to Microsoft....

Have they even said it will be able to have split screen or any other missing feature?

BTW here is what success looks like
Gap change over last 12 months: 2,122,276 - XOne
Down year-on-year 1,098,414 units (-20.7%)

[EvertonFC]

"time to admit"
No, it was the wrong move, simples

[Eonjay]

You have to submit in mind body and soul to Microsoft. You have to accept blame for not seeing there perfect plan. You must beg for forgiveness.

That's how he comes off.

[Einhander1971]

I get what Microsoft were thinking. But I think it's definitely held back Xbox X development. But for me honestly I'm not a big Xbox fan so Series S would be enough to experience there games. The biggest mistake was only making Series S digital only. Downloading everything is shit for me. I had a series S sold it for mainly that reason. But I don't want to pay out for an X especially with the amount of times I would play it.

[BrainSyphoned]

Backwards capability: the ability to make current games look like backward compatible titles.

[purple101]

This comment about back-compat wins the day maybe even year.

[BillyCrystals]

It's a bad value. Even for a casual gamer and/or cash strapped adult, I'd still recommend that they be a bit more patient and save just a few more clams toward a PS5 or Series X.

[gold_drake]

another one of these huh.

[ChasterMies]

Don’t buy Series S. Don’t tell your friends to buy Series S. It’s under powered and won’t get you through this generation.

[StarkR3ality]

I don't know how I feel about it these days, the Series X is probably the best built console ever made in my opinion, but it's clearly being hamstrung by the Series S at this point. While I don't hate the series S, the idea of a cheaper point of entry to gaming for those on lower income, or parents who wanna get their kids a console I think it's commendable, but it's now having a negative impact on the PS5 and Series X.

Massive shame really, like i said the Series X is an amazingly designed console and when you have a dev who can get the most out of it's better GPU i.e Remedy with Alan Wake 2, it's great. But Xbox has the Series S, and not many if any devs that are actually good at making games at this point.

Give that hardware to naughty dog and insomniac and they would squeeze every fucking ounce of power out of that thing, they have no one able to show off what the hardware can do, and that's a real shame for the Series X and the peope who engineered it, felt the same way about the Xbox one X, top tier hardware, shit software developers.

[Spenok]

Lol. Ridiculous, and pretty much verifiable false. Especially when the DEVELOPERS THEMSELVES say otherwise...

[WiiU-Dude]

Plenty will never admit if Microsoft and Xbox ever do anything right or well. Sadly.

[Abear21]

I do think most people are happy with the visual quality of games on the Series S. Casual gamers would rather spend around $300 for a console and get their foot in the door of next gen gaming. Options are good BUT nobody can deny that M$ made it harder on devs and themselves—kind of how Sony did with the cell on the PS3.

[benobee]

It's time to admit this is an article from windowscentral so to say it's less than impartial is a massive understatement.

[GotGame818]

Honestly, there is WAY too big of a push for 4K games. I will take 1080p 60fps all day over 4K. The vast majority of TV is 1080p! Drop 4K, and go 2K! Nobody will even notice!

[MrNinosan]

The vast majority of TV's ain't 1080p in 2023, at least not in households with PS5 or Series S/X.

[quarkist]

purly fanboy post.

[ocelot07]

I'm a way yer they where right. The one X must of sold terrible. After the whole Teraflops and 4k 4k 4k from the rooftops. They realised Xbox gamers just don't care about 4k at all.

They want something as cheap as possible and they prefer to rent games rather than buy and no that's not me taking a jab I actually owned a s for nearly a year for the exact reason above.

[northpaws]

Oh no, and what if people only have $200 or $100? We need to make even weaker consoles. Oh wait, but what if people have only $50? We need one that can do 15fps at 240p. At the age of people spending way more on cellphones, this bullshit argument doesn't fly.

Sarcasm aside, this argument is only valid if the $400 PS5 doesn't sell.

[Profchaos]

Agree I couldn't afford a PS3 at its launch so you know what I did saved more for it. Seems were in the age of instant gratification I need something and need it now I can't wait 6 months until I can afford it

[northpaws]

Facts: 75% of Xbox gamers wouldn't know what current gen games look like. When they see their friends playing on ANY PS5, they would question why games on PS5 looks and runs so much better.

Slower machines always hold back the the industry in some way, imagine every PC gamers have 4090 and the latest CPU, you guys will see some crazy shit that would otherwise be impossible when developers have to optimize a game for millions of slower machine.

[kindi_boy]

admit

[MehmetAlperTR]

No it s not ......

[Profchaos]

It's time to admit Sega was right about the 32x

[purple101]

I liked your comment..but 32x was more powerful than the original compared to ss which is less powerful?

[Profchaos]

I know but I guess I was getting at the fact it was more of a parallel system to the Saturn Sega wanted to position it as the entry point to the 32 bit era back in the day.

And also I got a laugh at the thought

[jznrpg]

If games are taking months longer with MS’s help to release it’s not a good decision.

MS isn’t going to send help for every game.

Releasing months later with less features is proof it’s a mistake.