The Xbox Series X, Holiday 2020 (1 Viewer)

[Bryan^H]

Maybe in your household, but not mine.

Same here.
I say that supporting both digital, and physical...with movies, and tv shows anyway.

 

[LeoA]

I was even an early adapter to downloading games and videos (The Paris Booster Pack in May 2004 for Project Gotham Racing 2 on the original Xbox was likely my first paid digital purchase), but only ever as a supplement to physical media. A lot of good games for instance have been made possible that wouldn't of stood a chance had physical media been the only option for publishers. So I'm glad the option is there.

The one area I haven't really dived into is paid streaming services. I've "bought" a lot of videos such as off the Xbox marketplace, but never have subscribed to something like Netflix. If I ever get into streaming, it likely will be streaming of another sort. Ripping my personal DVD and Blu-Ray collection and setting up a PC to stream it to different televisions in the house.

That's not to say I'll never do it. I meant for instance to subscribe to the short lived Warner Archive service a few years back thanks to my love of Connie Stevens and desire to watch her famous Hawaiian Eye series, but it was killed off before I ever got around to it.

 

[Morgan Jolley]

Microsoft confirmed that the Series X is $500 and comes out November 10th, preorders start September 22.

 

[Sam Posten]

 

[Sam Posten]

The bigger news is the subscription pricing is a really big deal. It probably isn't for a lot of us here posting about it, but for those new to the ecosystem? Huuuuge. In before the whining about it begins =)

Xbox Series S and Xbox Series X Launch November 10, Starting at $24.99 a Month with Xbox Game Pass Ultimate and EA Play - Xbox Wire

Now more than ever, gaming plays an important role in our lives. As one of the greatest forms of creative expression, gaming sparks in our imagination and connects us to new worlds, stories, and our friends. On November 10, a new generation of console gaming begins. That’s when our vision...

news.xbox.com

 

[Sam Posten]

Also, EA Play is now a part of GamePass. That's huge.

Get EA Play with Xbox Game Pass for No Additional Cost - Xbox Wire

When we created Xbox Game Pass, we did so with the vision of bringing you more great games to discover and play with your friends. Over the last three years, we’ve delivered on that vision by bringing more content to our 10 million members, and we’ve expanded the service to reach people wherever...

news.xbox.com

 

[Sam Posten]

 

[Bryan^H]

GamePass is a fantastic resource for discovering games. I think I have discovered at least a dozen games I really liked. Then I went full dinosaur and bought them physically.

 

[Sam Posten]

LOL @Bryan^H smh...

 

[Sam Posten]

 

[Morgan Jolley]

The $25/35 thing is actually a fantastic deal. Considering the Series S and X support every Xbox game ever released (more or less), it's a pretty convenient way to hop in.

I mean, it still comes down to what you actually want to play, though.

 

[Bryan^H]

It will be very interesting to see how the Series S does. We have never had an all digital console at launch day before, and the One S did OK I think, but that was near the end of the life cycle for the XBox One.
Maybe Microsoft will will lump all the unit sales together, who knows.

I'm totally stoked about the Series X. I'm not even a Halo player generally, but the delay really sucks. I certainly would have bought it. It is something I wanted to see in all its glory showing off the power of the new system on launch day.
Oh well.

 

[Steve Y]

I'm not even a Halo player generally, but the delay really sucks. I certainly would have bought it. It is something I wanted to see in all its glory showing off the power of the new system on launch day.

People have speculated this is part of the reason for the delay. The response to the Halo demo was... less than enthusiastic among hardcore Halo players, especially since it didn't show off the level of graphical power they were expecting. More likely it was a number of factors, including and in addition to the multiplayer. It's clear no one at MS wants a repeat of the MCC debacle.

 

[LeoA]

Considering the Series S and X support every Xbox game ever released (more or less), it's a pretty convenient way to hop in.

Not anywhere close to accurate. A good 95% or so of the original Xbox library won't work here and a large slice of the Xbox 360 library won't be supported.

I bought a ton of Xbox Live Arcade games on the Xbox 360 for example. When the last batch of backwards compatibility additions happened, I went and counted. Only approximately 65% of my collection was XB1 compatible. And it's those 65% that will be Xbox Series S/X compatible in November.

The only system it's virtually 100% compatible with will be the Xbox One (Just missing the Kinect games) and by extension of that, compatible with the same legacy Xbox and Xbox 360 content that any Xbox One can play.

 

[Morgan Jolley]

Leo - yeah, that's why I said "more or less." I know not every XB/360 game is supported but, frankly, all the ones that people care about will be playable...and then some more.

I wish Sony could pull that off with the PS5.

 

[LeoA]

Leo - yeah, that's why I said "more or less." I know not every XB/360 game is supported but, frankly, all the ones that people care about will be playable...and then some more.

Not anywhere close to being accurate.

If the numbers on the Wikipedia entry for Xbox backwards compatibility are correct, only a mere 4% of the original Xbox library is on the backwards compatibility list. And the bulk of the list are C and B tier titles that most didn't care about even the first time around. Almost none of the memorable exclusives made the cut and very few of the quality multiplatform releases did.

Only a very small selection of high quality releases actually ended up available like the Knights of the Old Republic games. I don't know how you decided that Microsoft covered every original Xbox game that people actually care about, but I see no merit in the claim.

And while the situation is better with the Xbox 360 (Approximately 25% of the library is supported on the XB1 and by extension, the Series X/S at launch), tons of good games that people do care about aren't on the BC list. Just the Sega titles alone make for a decent sized list of some very memorable games. If you go out there to the forum communities with people still frequently playing 360 games, you'll find others that share my desire for stuff like Afterburner Climax and Outrun Online Arcade making it to the BC list.

Heck, not even Microsoft's own library of 360 games made it out in its entirety. Some great non-Kinect 1.0 games lost out, such as Project Gotham Racing 3 and 4.

 

[Steve Y]

I wish Sony could pull that off with the PS5.

Me too! They could, but I don't think they ever will. They've done the market research and concluded it's not worth the expense. As lip service, Sony is content with putting a few B/C titles on PS Now, then releasing less than 2% of the PS2 library for purchase on the PS4.

I'd love to see some of the older PS3 titles running better on the PS5, but we'll have to wait for the obligatory remasters/remakes, many of which have already been planned or released.

An all-digital + streaming future is the holy grail for these companies. And if that future were to happen today, it would be unstable, and full of digital artifacts.

 

[Jeff Cooper]

I'm confused with that XBox All Access trailer posted above. It specifically states 2 years of All Access with no upfront cost, but then ends with 'from $24.99 a month'. Huh? How exactly does it work?

 

[Bryan^H]

So what are people here buying the "S" or the "X"?

I'm going with the "X" of course.

 

[Sam Posten]

I'm confused with that XBox All Access trailer posted above. It specifically states 2 years of All Access with no upfront cost, but then ends with 'from $24.99 a month'. Huh? How exactly does it work?

It's a payment/subscription plan. $25 a month for S, $35 for X. It's financed like a credit card and approval is based on your credit history.