The Xbox Series X, Holiday 2020 (1 Viewer)

[LeoA]

E3 this year was a big dud for all these companies I thought, but for Microsoft specific news, I enjoyed hearing that the new Forza Horizon would be cross-gen (Wasn't a guarantee I felt after confirmation that Forza Motorsport next year would be a Series X/S exclusive). And I'm happy to see Flight Simulator 2020 will be arriving shortly on Series X/S.

 

[Bryan^H]

Flight Sim looks great, that is about it for me. Still waiting for Hellblade 2, and ray tracing for Minecraft.

 

[Morgan Jolley]

Microsoft officially announced that they plan to offer xCloud streaming of Xbox Series X games to Xbox One/X/S as an app. So if you have a previous-gen console and a good internet connection, you officially don't even need to buy a Series X/S.

 

[Edwin-S]

Microsoft officially announced that they plan to offer xCloud streaming of Xbox Series X games to Xbox One/X/S as an app. So if you have a previous-gen console and a good internet connection, you officially don't even need to buy a Series X/S.

I would think only if a person is satisfied with a down converted version since a series X/S game being streamed to a One X/S would have to account for hardware limitations.

 

[Morgan Jolley]

Would it though? It's streaming the video and audio so the only real limitation is your connection speed. Microsoft has Azure data centers all over the world to minimize lag times and they're saying you could technically get full Series X fidelity.

I also wonder if there's some way they could even stream a lower-res version over a slower connection then use DLSS to upconvert it and players would not even notice the difference.

 

[Sam Posten]

Xbox cloud upgrade is live: Series X power on your browser for over 260 games

Game Pass Ultimate's $15/mo now goes a lot further, and we break down why.

arstechnica.com

 

[Sam Posten]

Xbox Cloud Gaming: Now Running on Xbox Series X; Expanded PC and Apple Device Availability - Xbox Wire

At Xbox, our mission is simple: bring the joy and community of gaming to everyone on the planet. To achieve that, we aspire to empower everyone to play the games you want, with the people you want, anywhere you want. We are creating a future that combines the gaming heritage of Xbox and the...

news.xbox.com

 

[Sam Posten]

Huzzah!

 

[Sam Posten]

Sweet

 

[Carlo_M]

Is that your second Series X?

 

[Sam Posten]

Is that your second Series X?

Yes. This one is replacing an Xbox 360 in the basement. Once the basement is back in operation.

It’s a little too tall for the living room

 

[Bryan^H]

Sweet View attachment 119069

How?

I mean at this point consoles of current gen systems are so impossibly hard to get I amazed anyone is able to score one. At any rate, very nice, congrats!

 

[Carlo_M]

Very sweet looking design. I'm pretty much a 1 machine household now, only game on my gaming monitor due to its near zero input lag, versus my 4K TVs which have good-but-not-great input lag times. Surprisingly I can tell the difference pretty easily when playing PvP in Destiny 2. One day I'll upgrade my 4K sets, they're 3 and 4 years old now so maybe in 2022 or 2023.

Did the rumored "slightly more powerful" versions which may (or may not) be upcoming give you pause before buying that second Series X?

 

[LeoA]

Microsoft did a surprise last round of original Xbox and Xbox 360 backwards compatibility additions last Monday. 76 additions, I believe. Lots of fluff, but some good games scattered in there like Ridge Racer 6.

Alas, 3 of the 5 Xbox Live Arcade additions from the 360's library that I own aren't recognized as actually being owned by me on the console and MS has yet to fix it. And looking online, looks like I'm not alone. Warlords, Time Pilot, Scramble, and some others aren't being recognized as owned by other people as well when they go to download them on their XB1 or Series X/S.

Starting to doubt it gets rectified, but at least I still have my Xbox 360 set up when the mood strikes to play some Time Pilot or Scramble.

 

[Sam Posten]

How?

I mean at this point consoles of current gen systems are so impossibly hard to get I amazed anyone is able to score one. At any rate, very nice, congrats!

I knew they would go on sale at the end of the broadcast and I bought two in the first batch. One for me one for my nephew

 

[Morgan Jolley]

I read that the huge drop of BC games is likely to be the last drop Microsoft does, due to the rest of the games being held up by rights/trademark issues. There's some big games that never got in there but they're mostly licensed games like Spider-man.

Quick question: how much time do you actually spend playing BC games? Sony's approach to legacy content is "nobody really plays old stuff" while Nintendo has made it central to their Switch Online plan. I'm curious if people engage with old games when they're "given away for free" versus just being enabled on the latest hardware but you need to own/buy them yourself.

Also, seriously, how the hell did you get two Xbox Series X's?

 

[LeoA]

On my Xbox One, I'd estimate that 1/3rd of my time is spent in Xbox and Xbox 360 games. More so the latter since the original Xbox library is very poorly represented in the backwards compatibility list (Although the emulator itself is top notch).

It would be a bit more than that, but I still have both legacy Xbox systems hooked up. So backwards compatible games still see some use on their native platforms by me, although I shy away from playing more demanding stuff on the BC list like Red Dead Redemption on a genuine 360 these days since even on a now lowly Xbox One S, Microsoft's emulator outperforms real 360 hardware.

I'll get hooked on a big modern game two or three times a year (Forza Horizon 4 being the most recent example), but most of the time it's more classic stuff. I did a playthrough of the unlockable versions of Prince of Persia 1 and 2 in PoP: Sands of Time (An original Xbox game) last weekend on my Xbox One for a recent example.

 

[Bryan^H]

I read that the huge drop of BC games is likely to be the last drop Microsoft does, due to the rest of the games being held up by rights/trademark issues. There's some big games that never got in there but they're mostly licensed games like Spider-man.

Quick question: how much time do you actually spend playing BC games? Sony's approach to legacy content is "nobody really plays old stuff" while Nintendo has made it central to their Switch Online plan. I'm curious if people engage with old games when they're "given away for free" versus just being enabled on the latest hardware but you need to own/buy them yourself.

Also, seriously, how the hell did you get two Xbox Series X's?

To be perfectly honest I never play BC content on my Series X, or 360 for that matter. I know I'm in the minority (especially those that even care about old games) but I play all games on their dedicated console.

 

[Sam Posten]

I read that the huge drop of BC games is likely to be the last drop Microsoft does, due to the rest of the games being held up by rights/trademark issues. There's some big games that never got in there but they're mostly licensed games like Spider-man.

Quick question: how much time do you actually spend playing BC games? Sony's approach to legacy content is "nobody really plays old stuff" while Nintendo has made it central to their Switch Online plan. I'm curious if people engage with old games when they're "given away for free" versus just being enabled on the latest hardware but you need to own/buy them yourself.

Also, seriously, how the hell did you get two Xbox Series X's?

I follow wario64 and others who broadcast when drops will happen.

 

[Steve Y]

The addition of Lego Lord of the Rings was really exciting. I've been waiting for this a while. (You can't buy it digitally from the storefront or the website, but I ordered a disc online.) Also, I was playing Elder Scrolls: Oblivion with Dolby Vision and FPS boost. It feels like a remaster. Also tried out Halo Multiplayer this week, and as someone who doesn't like competitive shooters, I had a blast.

I love all my consoles, but Xbox has been my go-to lately.