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Did MS overpromise and under deliver with Xbox series S?

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MercuryLS

MercuryLS

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Oct 27, 2017
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The more 3rd party titles come out, the more we're seeing massive downgrades on XSS in comparison to XSX. I remember when it was announced I seriously thought about getting one in addition to PS5, but the more I see games launch on it, the more it looks like a compromised design.
 
Uzupedro

Uzupedro

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May 16, 2020
12,234
Rio de Janeiro
Overpromised? Yes, it's obvious that third parties would have bigger differences other than resolution.
Under delivered? No, their first parties are the ones doing what they promising.
 
Hey Please

Hey Please

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Oct 31, 2017
22,824
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Thus far, outside MS's first party offerings especially as it pertains to BC titles, yes.

Edit: Just to note that devs are still coming to grips with the GDK. And that said, I do not expect feature parity minus the resolution sentiment that MS put forth for Series S being a thing for too long.
 
gothmog

gothmog

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Oct 28, 2017
2,434
NY
I was skeptical at first, then got excited by the hype, and now I'm skeptical again. I think the console is in a tough spot. It's not the first priority for any company doing a game. Not even Microsoft. I think that's going to hurt it more than any real technical limitations.
 
watham

watham

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Oct 30, 2017
244
Alabama, USA
Will all come down to who's buying it and if they care and don't think the folks it's marketed towards are on this forum.

There are also no next-gen only games on Xbox yet, unlike PS5 so it's harder to compare. It will take a while to judge it fully.
 
ParksCo2

ParksCo2

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Oct 31, 2017
68
No. They didn't.
Like it or not most people don't have the equipment or desire to want an X. Several people at my job purchased a S and absolutely love it. Not everyone needs or wants a high end machine when they play one or two games a year.
 
WordsintheWater

WordsintheWater

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Oct 25, 2017
7,503
So far, yes, but they have time to change that and it's super early. Do I think they will as games get more complicated? No I don't, but I'd like to be surprised.
 
a Master Ninja

a Master Ninja

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Dec 11, 2017
4,825
Quoting myself from the COD thread
a Master Ninja said:
There is a stark difference between how Microsoft First Party games look and run on the Series S and how multiplatform games look and run on the Series S.

I expect that out of the like 9 or so SKUs Activision/Ubisoft/etc have to develop, the Series S version is the lowest priority right now. I wonder if that will change a year or two from now.
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Ambient

Ambient

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Dec 23, 2017
7,060
Massive downgrades... I don't know what you expected from a box priced the way it is. It's a good box and I'm glad I got it as a companion to my PS5.
 

Deleted member 18944

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User Banned (1 week): Trolling and antagonizing other members
Microsoft fucked your wife and stole your fridge with this console launch, it seems.
 
MouldyK

MouldyK

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Nov 1, 2017
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Era is making me decide to throw my Series S in the trash.

No Next-Gen for me! I've seen the light!
 
Kickfister

Kickfister

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May 9, 2019
1,782
It's hard to say. Whatever Microsoft did with their tools for these consoles is clearly giving developers hell. The PS5 outperforming the series x in virtually every game tested (minus a specific mode in COD) is not what we should be seeing. We need to wait for Microsoft to either fix what's wrong or for developers to come to grips with these new tools.

But yes, I too am very disappointed in what we've seen so far.
 
Alucardx23

Alucardx23

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Nov 8, 2017
4,711
MercuryLS said:
The more 3rd party titles come out, the more we're seeing massive downgrades on XSS in comparison to XSX. I remember when it was announced I seriously thought about getting one in addition to PS5, but the more I see games launch on it, the more it looks like a compromised design.
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I don't think so. Once games start to be developed with a focus on variable rate shading, Sampler feedback Streaming and the machine learning upscaling solution from AMD or Microsoft, we should see and quality improvement on XSS games. Right now this is a transitional period where most games have engines designed mainly for last Gen consoles.
 
SSPssp

SSPssp

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Oct 25, 2017
587
What I'm really interested in is how it compares to Xbox One X. I wonder how close they are. I know that Series S has more features and the SSD, but it seems like One X is close, isn't it? Does anyone have any good comparisons? I'm having trouble finding any.
 
ImmortanRambo

ImmortanRambo

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Jun 25, 2020
35
I think people forget the audience this is targeted for. My girlfriend got one and is just ecstatic with it. Loves the way it looks and is very happy with the performance. She has a 1080p t.v. and even with my playing the same game on a 4kolded with the seriex x next to her has not noticed a difference. She is just happy it loads as fast and keeps saying what an upgrade it feels like from her original xbox. She said she instantly noticed how much better Sea of Thieves felt and minus the differences in the quality of our T.V. 4k hdr vs 1080 no hdr she noticed no difference. Was just happy it didnt take ages to load into the gamee like it use to haha.
 
neptunez

neptunez

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Apr 21, 2018
1,863
No, because a lot of people still have a 1080p set somewhere in their home, for some it's their primary TV.

Hell, I recently got a new 4K TV 5 months ago, but it doesn't have "True" 120hz
 

aceldama

Member
Jun 8, 2019
518
Microsoft advertised this was the 1440p/1080p console for people who hadn't upgraded to a 4kTV yet. Every DF comparison to date shows that the compromises are much more significant than that.

Microsoft oversold the console and there will be a lot of disappointed consumers.
 
Lemony1984

Lemony1984

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Jul 7, 2020
6,695
I think they did a pretty bad job of showing games running on the S prior to launch. But also, I don't know why you'd buy one without seeing games actually running on it, if that's important to you.
 
Cyclonesweep

Cyclonesweep

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Oct 29, 2017
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aceldama said:
Microsoft advertised this was the 1440p/1080p console for people who hadn't upgraded to a 4kTV yet. Every DF comparison to date shows that the compromises are much more significant than that.

Microsoft oversold the console and there will be a lot of disappointed consumers.
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Aren't Xbox Studios games hitting that though?
 
RedHeat

RedHeat

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Oct 25, 2017
12,685
Yeah, I think they over-promised but I kinda had a sneaky suspicion that it would underperform when the RAM specs became known
 
neoak

neoak

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Oct 25, 2017
15,260
Man, do you even remember PS4/XboxOne console launches? We didn't get software that truly used the machines for like 2 years
 
Precious Tritium

Precious Tritium

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Oct 25, 2017
9,399
It's definitely not just the resolution difference that was talked about.

It's still impressive for the price but I think I'll save for the Series X when I get an Xbox, before was thinking the Series S would be the better option for a second console.

Interested how games like Hellblade and Avowed run on it.
 
Hey Please

Hey Please

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Oct 31, 2017
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Cyclonesweep said:
Aren't Xbox Studios games hitting that though?
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Correct and again, that's largely (or only) with BC and next-gen enhanced renditions of current gen titles. Given the deficit in raw power and memory bandwidth I wonder if it is truly reasonable to expect visual feature parity (at marketed resolution of 1080 to 1440p) between XSX and XSS version of even 1st party titles once development of next gen only titles begin in earnest.
 

Deleted member 11626

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It does what they billed it as: plays next gen at a fraction of the fidelity at a fraction of the price. I'm getting one to serve as a game pass/multiplayer for games with my buddies that aren't cross-play machine. This thing will be $300 with some generous bundles next fall, and it will always be available for people looking to game on the cheap.

It won't be a situation where resolution is simply turned down, so I guess that sucks. But for $300, you're in next-gen for the next several years
 
platocplx

platocplx

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Oct 30, 2017
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I think it's a very flexible machine and I think that's what MS should've marketed instead of misleading people into thinking that the system would practically be a 1440p Series X vs it more than likely being a very capable 1080 p machine that should more often than not have framerate parity but with concessions to achieve that and sometimes will actually hit the higher end targets at times.
But this for all intents and purposes will be a 1080p machine over its life time and more often than not will have framerate parity with the series X.

with all that said it's great for people who don't care about UHD, and want a budget current gen machine and want something for Gamepass.
However the better value long term are the other console options.
 
Gotdatmoney

Gotdatmoney

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Oct 28, 2017
14,487
It's delivering basically what is to be expected give the specs.

Given the RAM and the GPU cutbacks on games are to be expected if they are running with most the next gen suite of effects. Yeah you are going to get more 30fps games and stuff without or with very reduced Raytracing. I don't believe this is unreasonable. It's a $300 machine.
 
zombiejames

zombiejames

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Oct 25, 2017
11,921
"All developers have to do is lower the resolution" was always wishful thinking at best, delusional at worst. It was never going to work out that way.
 
Hawk269

Hawk269

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Oct 26, 2017
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I have a couple IRL friends that are loving it. They are mainly Switch gamers but wanted to jump into something different and not break the bank. 3 out 4 got the S, 1 got the X and the 3 are loving it with Gamepass. No complaints at all from any of them. The guy that got the Series X also had a 4k/120 capable TV so that is why he went that route...the other 3 had 1080p displays and felt for the price it was impulse price range and have not regretted it yet...other than swimming in games. Storage has not been a issue since they attached external HDD's and just move any specific X/S enhanced games.
 
Yerffej

Yerffej

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Oct 25, 2017
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I was never sure they should have said it's anything more than a 1080p machine.
 
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