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The Series-ously SX-y Xbox Thread with the super not great name that I may need to workshop

madhair60

Video games
I'm thinking the answer here is almost certainly "no" but... anyone here got one o' them new Xbox machines? I've ordered meself an Xbox Series X because I want a monolith of Halo, and frankly the Game Pass seems a ridiculously good deal. There's also the Series S which in the UK is £250 which is an incredibly low price for next-gen with only Some Performance Compromises. I'm very excited to receive my Gears of War machine and play all my old Xbox games going back to Zapper: One Wicked Cricket (memo to self, check this will work).

WHOMST WILL JOIN ME IN MICROSOFT-TOWN
 

LBD_Nytetrayn

..and his little cat, too
(He/him)
I will!

I don't have either new console, but I specify "yet," as it's definitely in the cards.

Good timing, this thread. I have a question I wasn't sure where to put, though they're more related to Xbox in general than the new consoles.

I've given up waiting on a console release of Halo: Spartan Strike, so I figure I'll just grab the PC version...

Except which one? There's Windows, and there's Steam. Are they the same? If I get Windows, will that version have Achievements?
 

Becksworth

Aging Hipster Dragon Dad
I was considering getting Game Pass Ultimate and playing on the cloud as a stopgap until I can actually justify buying either a Series X or a PS5, as I haven’t done the $1 starter deal yet, and I see subscription cards are going to be on sale by a lot at several retailers for Black Friday, so I’m thinking I might be able to get a year of that for around $60 hopefully. I don’t think their cloud service upgrades to Series S/X hardware until some unspecified time next year though...
 
I plan on an X, but haven't secured one yet. I was thinking of starting a gamepass thread because it rules.

This past week all EA Access games became available to ultimate subs, and yesterday Star Renegades and River City Girls came out on game pass.
 

Wolf

Ancient Nameless Hero
(He/him)
In a way, I'm more looking forward to the Series X than the PS5. I will eventually own both systems -- probably when the demand settles down a bit and you can actually find one in a store, or online sales don't bog down and crash in nanoseconds -- but I find I actually like the Series X more as a piece of hardware. I like Microsoft's approach to backward compatibility, and their dedication to the idea that you have a whole library of games from previous systems that you can take forward with you, enjoying the benefits of hardware improvements, as time goes by. I know it's fashionable to gripe about the size of the gigantic monoliths that Microsoft releases every few years, but let me tell you, a single Microsoft slab takes up considerably less room than the three PlayStation consoles I need to keep hooked up to maintain access to my PlayStation library (unless I want to go the route of emulation for everything).

Also, I don't know if Games with Gold will keep going in the future, but I know I've felt compelled to try more of the games offered there than on Sony's PS Plus games. And none of the games I've gotten with Gold have been pulled or altered such that I can't re-download them any more (yet).

So, yes, I'm very enthusiastic about the next Gears of Halo box.
 

Octopus Prime

Mysterious Contraption
(He/Him)
I’m leaning towards an S, myself, sometime next year when demand goes down. I skipped the One all together, and the loss of what few physical 360 games I have doesn’t sting that much since I still have that console.
 

Zef

Find Your Reason
(He/Him)
I'm on the fence for an XS because, while I really don't want to spend $300 just for the opportunity to screencap and stream Xbox 360 games, I've... been completely and utterly spoiled by consoles that let me do just that with their own games. And the allure of streaming Mistwalker RPGs, classic Crackdown, et al, is just too great.

I'll probably start looking into it seriously next year as well, when I can afford such a completely indulgent luxury.
 
I picked up a Series S, though I do plan to get a PS5 at some point. I also only have a 1080P TV (and likely will for some time still) so the general promise of mostly the same quality of experience at 60 FPS 1080P instead of 4K was fine with me. We'll see how many developers beyond Microsoft make the effort, so far it's been a mixed bag.

In the end though, I really picked it up as a Game Pass machine. With the deal to convert up to 3 years of Xbox Live Gold to Game Pass Ultimate for $1 I ran some math and basically (for me) if I play 1 game on Game Pass a month that that I would have bought elsewhere I'll easily get my values worth.

So it was a bit of an investment up front (even with some discounts on Gold membership), but I've been pleased so far.

I'm Kairu#4760 if anyone is up for adding me.
 

MCBanjoMike

Sudden chomper
(He/him)
I haven't figured out what my next-gen plans are or when I will move on them, but a Series X isn't out of the question. Price-wise, it compares favorably to a PC of similar power (or even just the graphics card you'd need for a comparable PC) and Game Pass is a heck of a deal. But I'm going to wait until some time next year to see how things shake out before deciding if I'm team Xbox/PS/Build another PC.
 

4-So

Spicy
I opted for the PS5 at launch but I'm looking at a Series X sometime before Christmas 2021. I don't think I can resist the siren call of Halo Infinite. The question for me is the value-add of a Series X when I already have a One X. If I had just the OG One or even skipped that gen and still had my 360, there wouldn't be so much of a question. That I can play Halo Infinite on the One X gives me some pause as well but if I can get the same experience on Series X as I do on PS5 (re: much faster loading times), it'll likely be worth the upgrade.

And yeah, Game Pass is super worth it if you're playing on a Microsoft box. Very good stuff in there.
 

Wolf

Ancient Nameless Hero
(He/him)
I never got around to getting the One X myself, so that's also no doubt influencing my decision to some degree.
 

Phantoon

I cuss you bad
I'm very tempted to get the X instead of the 5 (or more likely first), but they do need to get some exclusives on there before that's happening. I'm not interested in Gamepass as I like to own my things, so that doesn't sway me at all.
 

madhair60

Video games
I'm very tempted to get the X instead of the 5 (or more likely first), but they do need to get some exclusives on there before that's happening. I'm not interested in Gamepass as I like to own my things, so that doesn't sway me at all.
I agree with the "owning stuff" reasoning generally speaking, but I have had a look at Gamepass and there's a lot of stuff there I'm interested in but not enough to buy outright; I can use it as a sort of "try before you buy" service and pick up the stuff that I end up liking. It's worth it to me in that respect.
 

Phantoon

I cuss you bad
Oh yeah, I appreciate that it's a good idea for other people. I'm a grumpy old man who remembers how many of my PS+ games I actually played and realised that it was basically giving them money for nothing. For whatever reason, I didn't care about games I hadn't bought enough to actually play them...
 

LBD_Nytetrayn

..and his little cat, too
(He/him)
What, you never used to rent games back in the day? That's basically what this is the evolution of.

And you can still buy the ones you want. IIRC, GamePass even gives you a discount when you do (and for DLC?), so long as the game is on the service.

I like to own, too, but this is probably a much less risky way to find out you don't like something before dropping $70 on it and being offered used chewing gum and pocket lint in return on a trade.
 

Phantoon

I cuss you bad
I rented Mega Drive games in the day, but what used to happen with PS+ is I'd get a game added to the list, think I'd play it later, then never play it later. It's a fundamentally different thing to renting; when you rent it you know you have it for a defined time period, so you have to play it now. More importantly, you choose what you get, which is a reason to want to play it now. If Sony decides for me, that's not the same. It's like Netflix vs the video shop - I'd never go to the video shop and fail to finish the video I'd hire (and I'd always get a video, even if it ended up as being some below B-movie nonsense), with Netflix most of my time is scrolling and making disappointed noises.

Gamepass is a fantastic thing, and I'm delighted it exists, but it's a huge waste of time for me.
 

madhair60

Video games
I agree in principle, basically, and felt the same about PS+ all the years I paid for it. And Netflix, for that matter. Here, now, the Gamepass is good value to me simply because there's a bunch of stuff on it that I'm kinda interested in and I can now give a go - Gears Tactics, The Outer Worlds, Forza Horizon 4, Sea of Thieves, the new Ori, Flight Sim, Crosscode, etc, etc, etc. All things I might pick up for real-real later, but I can just jump into giving any of them a go, which is really exciting for me.

But I totally get it. I do. I'm the same. Generally.
 

Becksworth

Aging Hipster Dragon Dad
FYI, the three months of gamepass for $1 deal is back for the holidays if you haven’t tried gamepass. I ended up getting a year of gold for $60 and converting that so I got 15 months total.
 

LBD_Nytetrayn

..and his little cat, too
(He/him)
I have received my Series X and immediately installed Sonic Unleashed on it. I am brain damaged.
The following reply is multiple choice:

a) I fail to see how these two statements are related.

or

b) No kidding.

Generations is where you want to start.
 

Phantoon

I cuss you bad
I don't think so, it's just it's got no exclusives until next year. There's a lot to like about the Series S and X, but it's games that matter.
 

Becksworth

Aging Hipster Dragon Dad
It’s not the Series S/X, but my experience with XCloud so far has been pretty terrible. Controls are fine, but there is way too much artifacting and the image refusing to refresh properly when static 2D menu elements are being displayed. Depending on the game it is down right unplayable. PS Now and Stadia worked perfectly fine for me, and I doubt Microsoft is lacking data centers in the lower 48 states, so I don’t think it’s purely a network issue. I wonder if the implementation has anything to do with it. The partial screen refreshing reminds me more of a bad remote desktop connection than a bad stream quality
 

madhair60

Video games
My only complaint is the similarity of names Microsoft has been using lately.
It's a valid one and assuredly ridiculous. Bringing the systems in line for some sort of branding parity is one thing, but Xbox One X vs Xbox One S vs Xbox Series X vs Xbox Series S is genuinely confusing. I guess they're aiming at the kind of audience who will do their homework? That sounds condescending but it's not meant to be, I genuinely find it baffling.

Personally, I'm very happy with my Series X, and I'm glad I managed to get it. Graphics nothing - I don't have a 4K TV and have no plans to get one - I'm just thrilled by the speed of it all. I've had Crash Bandicoot 4 running in the background for just over a week, now, and I occasionally hop back into it despite having played a ton of other stuff on the system in the meantime. I hit A, I see a splash screen for maybe five seconds, and the game is running like it never stopped. That feels very next-gen to me and I don't want to go back to non-SSD systems.

I love the controller too, feels very "premium". I've seen criticism of the D-pad but I find it very responsive.

I think my favourite "moment" so far was when I booted up Sonic Unleashed (I know, I know) expecting to have to start over, only to find that, somehow, ALL of my saves from my Xbox One and Xbox 360 - some going back close to a decade - were all present and correct. I never consciously uploaded them or ever even had Xbox Live Gold, but there they were.
 

Becksworth

Aging Hipster Dragon Dad
So turns I had more gift money than expected, and the Series S stock was available, so I took the plunge and bought one. I haven’t bought a physical Xbox title since Fable II, so I’m mainly getting this for backwards compatible digital titles and gamepass. When I do get around to buying a PS5 that will likely be when I splurge on one with a disc drive.
 

LBD_Nytetrayn

..and his little cat, too
(He/him)
Awesome! I'm a little jelly, but truth be told, I gotta hold out for an X.

(If I could afford it, I'd get both.)
 
I managed to get a Series X as well and have been messing around with a mix of older games and the Series X optimized stuff. And yeah, Gamepass is great in helping with this. I did not expect to get back into Destiny 2, but all of the expansions being available, the Series X optimizations and the cross save from my original PC saves sold me on it and it looks amazing in HDR. So does Tetris Effect.

With Christmas sales I've ended up picking up the new Ubisoft titles (Assassin's Creed Valhalla, Watch Dogs: Legion and Immortal: Fenyx Rising) too to see how they use the new features. Assassin's Creed is sticking with me the most of those so far.

I've also been messing around a bit with the recent Gears 5 update and the Hivebusters seems like some good fun. I also see that Marcus Fenix can now get subbed in the campaign with Batista and that is so dumb, I've been giving it a go.
 

Becksworth

Aging Hipster Dragon Dad
So I can stream my Microsoft Xbox Series S to my Google Chromebook perfectly fine, but the Microsoft Windows app to do so is still in beta...
 
It's a valid one and assuredly ridiculous. Bringing the systems in line for some sort of branding parity is one thing, but Xbox One X vs Xbox One S vs Xbox Series X vs Xbox Series S is genuinely confusing. I guess they're aiming at the kind of audience who will do their homework?
Honestly, it's a little bit of this, but also probably a little bit of the classic, "Trying To Take Advantage of Well Meaning But Ignorant Moms During the Holidays," retail phenomenon. When the kids plead for the new gaming hotness, moms all across the world won't know the difference, will get even more confused with the intentionally confusing names, and maybe default onto buying the cheapest option (Series S).
 
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