Xbox Series S/X: Thread 02

[Neon Ignition]

Had a look and a few weeks back apparently Amazon briefly sold some for £179.99. Given the price of the Series S it wouldn't be a surprise to see that price or lower hit to clear the remaining stock. In June Lidl sold Digital Xbox One S's for £99.99 so they should be cheap as chips too.

[MartyG]

Really? I paid £240 for my one x just over a year ago and that came with forza 7 and Forza horizon. From Smyths.

The launch price of the Xbox One X was £500. The launch price of the Xbox Series S is £250. Yes, it is twice the price. Unless you want to start comparing used and old stock GFX cards to new ones. You know you can buy a GTX Titan X 2nd hand? It’s simple. Getting the RTX2060 is like buying a new Series S, for more money than you paid for the last one but it’s slower and has less RAM.

I really don't get the hate - it's a cheap entry into next gen consoles that will allow people to play a massive catalogue of Xbox titles, aimed clearly at the casual market who likely never bought an Xbox One X because it cost more than the One S, which is exactly the same situation for the Series S and Series X (and the Titan and 2060). The two SKUs are aimed at completely different target markets.

[Brad]

I don’t want to compare second hand as that’s stupid but comparing to current Amazon or high street price of a one x is exactly what you should be doing. I don’t know what that is mind. I only know what I paid for mine.

Also I don’t hate it. I think the series x is the best looking of all the new consoles. It’s size and price are great! My argument is that it’s a confusing piece of technology.

[wakka]

The One X has been discontinued now though, so once the final stock has been cleared out, it'll be gone. Likewise with the discless One S. I'm not convinced there are too many of those hanging around as they did a massive stock clear at £99 at quite a few retailers a few months ago, at the same time there were all the One Xs at £250.

[CMcK]

I'd imagine the biggest hang up for One X owners looking to upgrade is most probably have at least some of their games on disc so losing the disc drive will cause some anguish given how wide the two SKU's price points are.

As for resolution. We have two TV's set up, a 43 inch 4K one sitting about 2ft from the screen and a 70 inch with a long L bend sofa so sitting anywhere from 3-8ft. The difference between 1080p and 4K is immediately noticeable via either. The difference between Forza Horizon 4 running on 1080p console to 4K PC was a revelation.

I can’t imagine 1X owners are looking at the Series S as an upgrade it’ll be the X all the way surely. Losing the disc drive going from the 1S to Series S isn’t good though. People buying the lower priced consoles are presumably more price sensitive and use the second hand market making a disc drive essential.
It’s funny on reflection that MS got so much grief for their digital strategy pre Xbox One launch and yet now both platform holders are launching second hand market killing consoles. Sony and MS will have the statistics and know what percentage of peeps are using disc versus download and must think it’s worthwhile.

[nonny]

I think if you bought a One X you did so because you wanted 4K initially and obviously with it now supporting freesync and 1440p it's a capable machine at the high end of last gen. It's easily the most powerful last gen console and it was sold as such to people who care about that (me).

Those are the people who are going for the Series X. Don't get me wrong the Series S is an absolute bargain and I think MS have wisely paired it down to lose things the average consumer wouldn't care about so much ... But equally the Series X is coming in cheaper than the One X was at launch and that's honestly just as much a bargain.

Even more so when you consider on the all access plan it's what £8 a month more? Both are attractively priced, to different core groups.

[Team Andromeda]

I really don't get the hate - it's a cheap entry into next gen consoles that will allow people to play a massive catalogue .

It's simple, it's a great spec next system at an amazing mass market price and the Sony Defence Force know it .

[Brad]

Not at all. The new ps5 looks awful. The new series x is the most powerful but looks dull and has no games and the series s is just confusing because it’s tagged as next gen but is graphically inferior to their best last gen machine. I have no allegiances; I’m gaming on pc currently but I will miss the Sony exclusives and I’d miss the Xbox ones if there were any that I liked but there aren’t but that’s just me getting old.

[Neon Ignition]

Yeah, in terms of Xbox One X owners looking to buy a new system I'd imagine most will focus on the Series X unless they try to go Series S in an attempt to get a PS5 as well using the money saved. The One X was a niche core product serving exactly the audience the Series X is intended to appeal to.

But likewise, for the same reasons already discussed I think the lack of a disc drive will be a big factor in the mass appeal of the Series S and I don't at all believe £249.99 makes the Series S mass market, it's never been that simple otherwise we'd have a race to the bottom. Xbox is simply fundamentally no longer a mass market brand and price alone won't change that. The system makes for great news for the systems own market but otherwise just strays Xbox from being outclassed by Sony to being outclassed by Nintendo.

Between the three companies there are six SKU's currently on option excluding the ones being phased out into being last generation and I'll be staggered and astounded if Series S doesn't come a very distant fifth.

[hudson]

It's simple, it's a great spec next system at an amazing mass market price and the Sony Defence Force know it .

ha. Cue the Terminator theme.

[Dogg Thang]

I think the lack of a disc drive will be a big factor in the mass appeal of the Series S and I don't at all believe £249.99 makes the Series S mass market, it's never been that simple otherwise we'd have a race to the bottom.

Yep, I agree. As others have mentioned, the lack of a disc drive limits certain buyers, such as the Cex raiders. That's why I still struggle with the idea that this is for 'casuals'. As we've covered, some of us (okay, me) could barely figure out what was being sold and what model did what. I mean the fact that some of you are throwing out comparisons such as it's like the GTXTurbo1955 5.0 versus the Graphicmaster7000 ATI Beta 9 or whatever they are show just how far from casual any of this is. I just don't believe that those who aren't engaged are going to pick a system so unclear and seemingly defined by such technical subtleties. And if they do, they'll return it when they find it doesn't play the games they've bought.

[cutmymilk]

I have a 4K QLED which will do a marvellous job of displaying the Series S I'm sure. I may well go for it. My finger is hovering over the buy button for Horizon 3 before delisting too.

[nonny]

Well to anyone going digital.

Sell all those discs.
Sign up to game pass ultimate.
Check which games you want to buy back.
Buy gift card credit from the cheapest territory.
Buy back the games you want to keep.

Then just keep those MS rewards ticking over for free cash every month.

[CMcK]

Is MS betting that Game Pass better value than second hand games? People subscribe to all sorts of stuff these days so it’s seen as normal. And never underestimate people’s laziness. Too much effort to go to Cex when it’s all there on the console store.

[Neon Ignition]

April 2021:

Scenario A - Microsoft's financials herald the success of 15 (or other) million Game Pass subscribers = Gamble paid off
Scenario B - Microsoft's financials talk about revenue but decline to reveal updated Game Pass subscribers = Gamble failed

I'm betting the latter because the systems main appeal will be to existing XBO owners who have had years now to opt whether or not to buy into Game Pass so it's largely going to be the same userbase shifting to the new machines.

That being said it's good to see MS putting Game Pass front and centre. I think for Sony it's incredibly easy to diffuse Game Pass as a worthwhile reason for people to choose Xbox over PlayStation but the critical aspect in MS's favour is that Sony doesn't appear to bother trying to so there's a PR opportunity there.