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johnny_ultimate · 08-09-2020 11:41pm

As I’ve said before, I find Microsoft’s strategy both brilliant and a tad baffling in equal measure.

That they’re making their system so widely accessible is a wonderful thing. Gaming should be accessible to as many as possible, so a range of options for all levels of financial situations is great to see. GamePass is a no-brainer for anyone with an Xbox or PC at this stage.

But I’ve never been less convinced I need to own a new console(s). With a decent PC, everything I’d like on Xbox is readily available (although they definitely still have a problem when it comes to offering ‘must play’ games over ‘eh, I’ll give this a few hours because it’s on GamePass’ - The Netflix Effect). This is a good thing in terms of narrowing options down and honestly just the environmental benefits of not having to own multiple electronic boxes. But I’m still a bit bemused at the idea of these fancy new next gen Xboxes launching and Microsoft going out of their way to convince me personally that I don’t ever need one

Thecageyone · 09-09-2020 12:42am

johnny_ultimate wrote: »

As I’ve said before, I find Microsoft’s strategy both brilliant and a tad baffling in equal measure.

That they’re making their system so widely accessible is a wonderful thing. Gaming should be accessible to as many as possible, so a range of options for all levels of financial situations is great to see. GamePass is a no-brainer for anyone with an Xbox or PC at this stage.

But I’ve never been less convinced I need to own a new console(s). With a decent PC, everything I’d like on Xbox is readily available (although they definitely still have a problem when it comes to offering ‘must play’ games over ‘eh, I’ll give this a few hours because it’s on GamePass’ - The Netflix Effect). This is a good thing in terms of narrowing options down and honestly just the environmental benefits of not having to own multiple electronic boxes. But I’m still a bit bemused at the idea of these fancy new next gen Xboxes launching and Microsoft going out of their way to convince me personally that I don’t ever need one

Gamers with short attention spans [like me!] who used to rent more than buy back in the oulden days love grab and try systems like XBGP. I also very rarely ever finish games, so it is perfect. Only thing that would concern me about the S is storage. Seems there's only a 500GB option? is this expandable? And if so how much will additional SSD drives cost? I only play on PC atm, I still have a 360 going strong but only the kids use it now and at that mostly for Netflix or YT on the bigger TV - if I were to get an S that's where it would go. I might get comfy enough on the sofa to get more stuck into longer games

CastorTroy · 09-09-2020 12:44am

This also includes a nice new controller for your PC, which I'm guessing will be about €80 on its own.

Thecageyone · 09-09-2020 12:50am

CastorTroy wrote: »

This also includes a nice new controller for your PC, which I'm guessing will be about €80 on its own.

Trouble there being, the 2 current controllers I have for PC won't work on the S, so would have to buy an extra anyway

[edit] or maybe! ... One of them is a third party xbox one wired controller, that might work as a 2nd?

AlmightyCushion · 09-09-2020 12:59am

johnny_ultimate wrote: »

As I’ve said before, I find Microsoft’s strategy both brilliant and a tad baffling in equal measure.

That they’re making their system so widely accessible is a wonderful thing. Gaming should be accessible to as many as possible, so a range of options for all levels of financial situations is great to see. GamePass is a no-brainer for anyone with an Xbox or PC at this stage.

But I’ve never been less convinced I need to own a new console(s). With a decent PC, everything I’d like on Xbox is readily available (although they definitely still have a problem when it comes to offering ‘must play’ games over ‘eh, I’ll give this a few hours because it’s on GamePass’ - The Netflix Effect). This is a good thing in terms of narrowing options down and honestly just the environmental benefits of not having to own multiple electronic boxes. But I’m still a bit bemused at the idea of these fancy new next gen Xboxes launching and Microsoft going out of their way to convince me personally that I don’t ever need one

They want people buying the games and services because that is where the money is. Whether you buy it on for PC or Xbox, they don't give a shít, they just want you buying games/Game Pass. The fact that Game Pass and the games are on PC means there is a better chance you will buy it. If they were exclusive to Xbox then you might not buy it.

Retr0gamer · 09-09-2020 1:08am

Penn wrote: »

They're just f*cking with you at this stage, Retro

I mean why put Sigma there? Black is the better version!

Grumpypants · 09-09-2020 6:10am

johnny_ultimate wrote: »

As I’ve said before, I find Microsoft’s strategy both brilliant and a tad baffling in equal measure.

That they’re making their system so widely accessible is a wonderful thing. Gaming should be accessible to as many as possible, so a range of options for all levels of financial situations is great to see. GamePass is a no-brainer for anyone with an Xbox or PC at this stage.

But I’ve never been less convinced I need to own a new console(s). With a decent PC, everything I’d like on Xbox is readily available (although they definitely still have a problem when it comes to offering ‘must play’ games over ‘eh, I’ll give this a few hours because it’s on GamePass’ - The Netflix Effect). This is a good thing in terms of narrowing options down and honestly just the environmental benefits of not having to own multiple electronic boxes. But I’m still a bit bemused at the idea of these fancy new next gen Xboxes launching and Microsoft going out of their way to convince me personally that I don’t ever need one

The average player buys 1.5 games a year. With Game pass Microsoft actually makes much more, almost double that. They also make a loss on the actual console, so a large player base not buying the console but subscribed to Game pass is a very good thing for them.

recyclops · 09-09-2020 8:01am

I think it's genius those who wanted a series X will still pick it up myself included.

But the real win is the amount of people who had no plans to jump to next gen now are considering it, people who are Sony only this time yesterday had no idea they would be saying they will buy an xbox as well and pc owners saying buyin one is the perfect set up.

Fair play to ms it seems a great strategy

RedXIV · 09-09-2020 8:07am

Grumpypants wrote: »

The average player buys 1.5 games a year.

I am helping severely skew this stat :P

gizmo · 09-09-2020 10:28am

Retr0gamer wrote: »

I mean why put Sigma there? Black is the better version!

Guessing because it's a Playstation focused release? Sigma 2 was markedly inferior to NG2 also, not just superficially with the blood and dismemberment toned done but the reduced enemy count and subsequent health/damage rebalance makes it look weird as **** in comparison. The inclusion of the non-Razer's Edge version of NG3 just makes the third title in the package not worth touching at all

Retr0gamer · 09-09-2020 10:46am

gizmo wrote: »

Guessing because it's a Playstation focused release? Sigma 2 was markedly inferior to NG2 also, not just superficially with the blood and dismemberment toned done but the reduced enemy count and subsequent health/damage rebalance makes it look weird as **** in comparison. The inclusion of the non-Razer's Edge version of NG3 just makes the third title in the package not worth touching at all

'Hey kids, I heard you love Ninja Gaiden and there hasn't been a rerelease of what is arguably the greatest action game ever made in a long time. Well here's all three of the ****tiest versions of each game in one package!'

They might as well go the full hog and give us the Arcade version of Ninja Gaiden as an unlockable instead of the NES games, or the awful PC Engine version of the NES game.

K.O.Kiki · 09-09-2020 12:09pm

RasTa wrote: »

Sony could charge $700 and it would still outsell any Microsoft console.

Didn't work out so well against the Xbox 360 for the first 4 years.

Thecageyone wrote: »

Trouble there being, the 2 current controllers I have for PC won't work on the S, so would have to buy an extra anyway

[edit] or maybe! ... One of them is a third party xbox one wired controller, that might work as a 2nd?

All Xbox One pads should work on Series S/X.
Basically, if it's a licensed pad then it's XInput-compatible, and thus recognized by Xbox's OS.

EoinHef · 09-09-2020 12:41pm

recyclops wrote: »

I think it's genius those who wanted a series X will still pick it up myself included.

But the real win is the amount of people who had no plans to jump to next gen now are considering it, people who are Sony only this time yesterday had no idea they would be saying they will buy an xbox as well and pc owners saying buyin one is the perfect set up.

Fair play to ms it seems a great strategy

Why would PC owners buy and Xbox? All the exclusives will come to PC

Makes more sense to buy a PS if you already own a PC

Markitron · 09-09-2020 12:55pm

K.O.Kiki wrote: »

Didn't work out so well against the Xbox 360 for the first 4 years.

You could argue then that the 360 had a 4 year head start and still didn't outsell the PS3. I think the point about the Playstation brand being bigger is valid.

recyclops · 09-09-2020 12:56pm

EoinHef wrote: »

Why would PC owners buy and Xbox? All the exclusives will come to PC

Makes more sense to buy a PS if you already own a PC

because some people like the idea of having a console connected to a tv, and the game pass ultimate sometimes has console or pc only games.

There is also some people who have kids and can split the cost as well and save money that way.

Stone Deaf 4evr · 09-09-2020 12:59pm

EoinHef wrote: »

Why would PC owners buy and Xbox? All the exclusives will come to PC

Makes more sense to buy a PS if you already own a PC

Presumably as a second place to play / take advantage of crossave / game pass / xcloud?

I do agree, I have a new pc, and theres no real reason to go for one of the new xboxes, but conversely, theres nothing in sonys exclusives that i'd lose sleep over missing either, particularly seeing as they seem to be loosening their grip on them - see Horizon, Death stranding as examples.

Retr0gamer · 09-09-2020 1:02pm

Markitron wrote: »

You could argue then that the 360 had a 4 year head start and still didn't outsell the PS3. I think the point about the Playstation brand being bigger is valid.

They lost a massive amount of market share, effectively giving up total dominance of the market to share it with a competitor.

Never get too complacent in the videogame market. Playstation is synonymous with videogames but before that so was Atari and Nintendo. Sony very nearly lost the entire market that generation due to their own hubris and if Microsoft hadn't managed to screw up due to their own hubris I doubt they would have pulled it back with the PS4.

EoinHef · 09-09-2020 1:08pm

recyclops wrote: »

because some people like the idea of having a console connected to a tv, and the game pass ultimate sometimes has console or pc only games.

There is also some people who have kids and can split the cost as well and save money that way.

If you bought a playstation you would have that connected to the TV though?

The games that will either be console or PC on gamepass will be 3rd party,all the exclusives will be on both platforms.

Fair point about saving money though,it would be good value having ultimate if thats all you were interested in on both platforms for one fee.

For me id just like the platforms that give me the widest access to most games including platform exclusives and that would either be Xbox lite and a PS5 or PC and a PS5.

From what ive seen most PC people think the same.

Shiminay · 09-09-2020 1:09pm

If you take this 300 quid stripped down XBox and spend it on a graphics card, you can have all your stuff on the best platform with the best specs. Nuff said

It's a compelling price point for a lot of people, but I'm just past the point of buying a console any more now after being so frustrated with the PS4 Pro.

EoinHef · 09-09-2020 1:13pm

Stone Deaf 4evr wrote: »

Presumably as a second place to play / take advantage of crossave / game pass / xcloud?

I do agree, I have a new pc, and theres no real reason to go for one of the new xboxes, but conversely, theres nothing in sonys exclusives that i'd lose sleep over missing either, particularly seeing as they seem to be loosening their grip on them - see Horizon, Death stranding as examples.

Horizon and Death Stranding dont hurt Sony being on PC at this point imo,they are platform sellers that are no longer needed to sell PS4s as Sony will be moving onto the PS5.

If they had launched on PC at the same time as PS4 id agree.

Arcadeheroes · 09-09-2020 1:16pm

EoinHef wrote: »

Why would PC owners buy and Xbox? All the exclusives will come to PC

Makes more sense to buy a PS if you already own a PC

There is still reasons to own an Xbox even if you have a PC , but it depends on your needs.

Sure Microsoft are offering the game pass on the PC but the majority of gamers do not want to deal with the Windows Store. Also the game pass on PC does not offer the entire Xbox catalogue of games from the OG Xbox to Xbox one so you still miss out on games like Panzar Dragoon Orta , Crimson Skies , Rare Replay , Ninja Gaiden .

johnny_ultimate · 09-09-2020 1:17pm

Shiminay wrote: »

If you take this 300 quid stripped down XBox and spend it on a graphics card, you can have all your stuff on the best platform with the best specs.

If you spend 300 quid on a graphic card you get a last-gen, mid-tier card in a box and nothing to run it on :pac:

I kid, but really 300 quid for a machine with those specs is pretty remarkable value for many, many people. Anyone without a capable PC already will be paying A LOT more than that for an equivalent machine.

EoinHef · 09-09-2020 1:21pm

Arcadeheroes wrote: »

There is still reasons to own an Xbox even if you have a PC , but it depends on your needs.

Sure Microsoft are offering the game pass on the PC but the majority of gamers do not want to deal with the Windows Store. Also the game pass on PC does not offer the entire Xbox catalogue of games from the OG Xbox to Xbox one so you still miss out on games like Panzar Dragoon Orta , Crimson Skies , Rare Replay , Ninja Gaiden .

Theres an Xbox app on the PC to access game pass games,no need for the Windows store.

Are those games console exclusive because there via backward compat? Fair enough,theres some games there as console exclusive so that might be a seller for some.

Thecageyone · 09-09-2020 1:28pm

Arcadeheroes wrote: »

There is still reasons to own an Xbox even if you have a PC , but it depends on your needs.

Sure Microsoft are offering the game pass on the PC but the majority of gamers do not want to deal with the Windows Store. Also the game pass on PC does not offer the entire Xbox catalogue of games from the OG Xbox to Xbox one so you still miss out on games like Panzar Dragoon Orta , Crimson Skies , Rare Replay , Ninja Gaiden .

All the games I'd never want to play either way tbh. And as above, you don't have to go anywhere near windows store, you use a separate downloadable client just like you do for Steam game. And it works smoothly [opens quicker than an xbox one will start up] without any hiccups.

Retr0gamer · 09-09-2020 1:55pm

johnny_ultimate wrote: »

If you spend 300 quid on a graphic card you get a last-gen, mid-tier card in a box and nothing to run it on :pac:

I kid, but really 300 quid for a machine with those specs is pretty remarkable value for many, many people. Anyone without a capable PC already will be paying A LOT more than that for an equivalent machine.

300 will get you a great card if take into account the money you save on selling the old one.

johnny_ultimate · 09-09-2020 2:07pm

And the X price (and release date) is confirmed:

https://twitter.com/xbox/status/1303680112156524544?s=21

johnny_ultimate · 09-09-2020 2:14pm

Retr0gamer wrote: »

300 will get you a great card if take into account the money you save on selling the old one.

Really? You’d be looking at a 2060 (original) for that price, which is mid-tier and now last gen - a good card, but hardly Earth shattering - and we don’t know how it’ll stack up against next gen games. Again, we’re working on the assumption that someone doesn’t have a decent PC setup in the first place.

I have a good PC and well know its benefits. But building or upgrading to a high standard is an expensive game, and you will not get a machine operating at anything near Xbox Series S performance for 300 quid. The best you could hope for is an OK graphics upgrade on an already powerful machine.

TitianGerm · 09-09-2020 2:17pm

johnny_ultimate wrote: »

Really? You’d be looking at a 2060 (original) for that price, which is mid-tier and now last gen - a good card, but hardly Earth shattering. Again, we’re working on the assumption that someone doesn’t have a decent PC setup in the first place.

I have a good PC and well know its benefits. But building or upgrading to a high standard is an expensive game, and you will not get a machine operating at anything near Xbox Series S performance for 300 quid. The best you could hope for is a decent graphics upgrade on an already powerful machine.

Prices are falling out of the 20 series cards at the moment.

Once the 3070 is out you'll get a 2060 for around €200. CEX stopped taking cards last week to adjust prices and dropped the buy price to €159 for the 2060.

I had a 2060 and it ran most games I play very well at high settings at 1440P. Modern Warfare for example got 100FPS on high at 1440P.

Thecageyone · 09-09-2020 2:18pm

Even my GTX 1660 [oc] which can be had for 200 can handle pretty much any current game at 1440p - won't blow anyone away in the fps count, but if 1080p is good enough for you [it is for me] then even on ultra you'll get 60fps+ in most games [a tweak or two here and there]

recyclops · 09-09-2020 2:20pm

johnny_ultimate wrote: »

And the X price (and release date) is confirmed:

https://twitter.com/xbox/status/1303680112156524544?s=21

also say this in the announcement

EA Play Comes to Xbox Game Pass at no additional cost.

what is ea play? is it that vault thing?

the xbox all access finance announcement says UK in game and smyths toys i wonder if it includes here

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