Xbox Series S/X: Thread 02

[Yakumo]

Which films stutter? I only have The Revenant, Blade Runner 2049 and The Last Jedi on UHD-BR (as apparently price is proportional to resolution^2) but all three play flawlessly on my One X.

Same here. I have UHD BluRay of Blade runner 2049, Star Wars (2nd in the newer films) and Ready Player One. All play fine on the One X.

[nonny]

Let's be honest, Infinite is looking like an Xmas title and is in need of regaining a ton of momentum. Hopefully STALKER 2 makes it... I'm doubtful, but hopefully. Otherwise it's the same old MS for the time being, unless anyone seriously expects Psychonauts 2 to do well.

Same old from Microsoft? They now have more studios than ever and haven't even announced half the stuff they're working on. I don't really see how that is same old but I guess if you are deciding to hold judgement until they deliver them fair enough.

Infinite I think is going to come out in November. On the Halo anniversary... Whether they release say a multiplayer beta before then with a few maps remains to be seen by agree it's lost momentum. You could say that was a good thing, the hype train is parked now so they're not under media scrutiny any more.

To be fair, both launch line ups are being bolstered by 3rd party offerings and pretty limited.

Sony has Demon Souls and Spiderman but if you were honest one is a remaster and the other an expansion. Not saying either of them aren't quality, but they're not entirely new either.

MS has Gears Tactics, The Falconeer, The Medium etc... All of which are ok but not earth shattering.

But for both consoles backward compatibility is filling the void. The current gen games are still pretty stellar to ironing out the performance issues on them makes them worth that little bit more right now. God of War for instance on PS5 just announced to hit 60fps with performance mode.

[fuse]

Devil May Cry 5 SE will not have ray tracing on Series S...

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[Neon Ignition]

Always bound to happen, the idea Series S won't suffer cutbacks and can align with X has always been destined to disappoint.

Same old from Microsoft? They now have more studios than ever and haven't even announced half the stuff they're working on. I don't really see how that is same old but I guess if you are deciding to hold judgement until they deliver them fair enough.

Infinite I think is going to come out in November. On the Halo anniversary... Whether they release say a multiplayer beta before then with a few maps remains to be seen by agree it's lost momentum. You could say that was a good thing, the hype train is parked now so they're not under media scrutiny any more.

To be fair, both launch line ups are being bolstered by 3rd party offerings and pretty limited.

Sony has Demon Souls and Spiderman but if you were honest one is a remaster and the other an expansion. Not saying either of them aren't quality, but they're not entirely new either.

MS has Gears Tactics, The Falconeer, The Medium etc... All of which are ok but not earth shattering.

But for both consoles backward compatibility is filling the void. The current gen games are still pretty stellar to ironing out the performance issues on them makes them worth that little bit more right now. God of War for instance on PS5 just announced to hit 60fps with performance mode.

That's all true, but MS is coming in on a very heavy sub focused strategy where content is king and unlike Sony they have little consumer faith that the content exists. Now, we know that the acquisitions will yield fruit but it content of interest is 3 years away rather than 3-6 months then it means the system is going to hold very little in terms of selling points against Sony's and once that ground is lost they will end up back where they were last gen. It's more of a messaging issue, MS has to clearly communicate that third parties and indie games aren't their most compelling reason to own an Xbox (as well as last gen games). It's the same with Series S where potential buyers might not care about Halo etc traditionally but they're much more likely to be swayed into spending that money on a Switch.

[Cassius_Smoke]

Phil Spencer says he's is open to the idea of bringing Gamepass to Switch & playstation.

https://screenrant.com/xbox-game-pass-playstation-nintendo-switch-possible-phil-spencer/

[nonny]

Phil Spencer says he's is open to the idea of bringing Gamepass to Switch & playstation.

https://screenrant.com/xbox-game-pas...-phil-spencer/

Specifically waaaay down the list.

They're looking at subscribers and what areas have the biggest pools to tap into.

iOS is a no brainer because there's millions of users on phone and tablet. Then you've got usb stick devices and smart TV apps... Switch & PlayStation well it's technically possible but equally they're the same consumers as those you're trying to get into your console space.

Honestly if game pass was on Switch is would be a match made in gaming heaven. Perfect device for cloud gaming with its 16:9 ratio screen and dedicated controls...

But I think if it does happen we won't see it for a long time yet.

[Neon Ignition]

Yep, Nintendo feels the more likely but still not that likely to come to fruition whilst Sony will never, ever let Game Pass on its system. The TV app seems the best route for MS as it continues to lower the existing entry bar to the service. Everything else will have minimal impact on numbers

[nonny]

I would fully expect to see Game Pass on Samsung, Sony TVs by next year... They've already got deals in place with Samsung and Sony uses Android TV anyway so I would assume you could side load it now and it should work.

The only limitation right now is cloud gaming for game pass is limited to 720p so they'd need to update they to 1080p minimum for big screens.

[wakka]

I'm sure Phil Spencer would be more than open to putting Game Pass on Switch and PS5 - he'd be absolutely delighted to!

I think both Nintendo and Sony will be very, very circumspect about that idea. I don't see it happening any time soon - there is no incentive for either to strike a deal, even one that gave them a very significant portion of subscription revenue.

Regarding TV apps - I think they will be an OK-ish method of increasing GP's accessibility and addressable market, but I think they are limited by two connected factors:

1) For the most part, TV manufacturers generally do a poor job of updating most sets post-sale and so to get the app will (for the vast majority) require a new TV purchase.

2) Most people don't upgrade their TV sets very often. Every 5 to 10 years really.

As far as sideloading goes, that will be such a niche activity as to be irrelevant in terms of increasing subscribers.

For me, the most valuable method of increasing accessibility will be a streaming stick or puck, ideally including a pad, and sold at a very low or no cost when a 12 month GP subscription is contracted.

That will really be quite powerful I think.

[MartyG]

1) For the most part, TV manufacturers generally do a poor job of updating most sets post-sale and so to get the app will (for the vast majority) require a new TV purchase. .

I can't speak to other manufacturers, but my Sony (bought Dec 2016) and LG (April 2016) smart TVs have both had regular updates, in fact I've had updates for both sets in the last month. The Sony set has had more than the LG, but two of those Amdroid TV updates had substantial UI changes/improvements too.

Given both sets are four years old now, to still be recieving updates in the recent weeks I'd say is a pretty decent level of post-sale support and that also, I should buy an LG CX OLED (I hadn't realised I bought these in 2016 until I looked the receipts up so deserve an upgrade).

(The Xbox App won't side load onto the Sony TV, I did try just to see).

[wakka]

That’s interesting and perhaps I’m off the mark there.

[MartyG]

This is the AndroidTV version it's running now



The latest AndroidTV version is 11 released September 22, 2020, so the OS version hasn't been updated above 8 (and it's probably unlikely TVs are going to get more than one version upgrade, if at all), but they are keeping the security patches updated.

The updates to Android 8 went out Jan 2019 OTA (not 100% sure which version of AndroidTV it orginally had, it's was either 5 or 6 in 2016).

[nonny]

That’s interesting and perhaps I’m off the mark there.

You're not too far off the mark. My Samsung TV is from 2014 and doesn't get hardly any updates now but then Samsung is running Tizen OS and not pure Android. You've got an better chance of decent support with Sony as a result but Samsung tends to support their smart TV apps for about 4-5 years and mine no longer making the cut...

Best advice, get a decent 4K streaming stick instead.

[BIG EDD]

Just had Yakuza like a dragon for Xbox on hotukdeals. The game collection have it on EBay and using code POPUPOCT20 gets you the game for £35

[nonny]

Well I've sold my Xbox One X this morning so now I'm limited to cloud streaming for 13 days...

Let the countdown begin.