Xbox Series X [XBSX] [Release November 10 2020]

I wonder about the possibility of aggressive trade-up offers by MS once the initial launch demand period wanes to incentivize purchases of the new models. Then the units they acquire can be refurbed and re-deployed in GamePass subscription bundles.

 

Looks like more audio makers targeting Series X support for surround sound via USB connectivity to adjust for the removal of legacy optical connection.

We are working with our partners at Microsoft to roll out a firmware update for MixAmp Pro TR, A50 + Base Station and A20 headsets by launch of Xbox Series X. This update will include the ability to deliver game surround sound & voice chat via USB. Stay tuned for future updates.​

 

Edit: Oops

This is about what I expected when they announced the removal of optical & IR. They can maintain functionality while making the customers who will use it pay for a 3rd party USB adapter instead. This in turn saves Microsoft money & allows them to spend the money on features that most people will use. Not ideal, but it is what it is. :/

Tommy McClain

 

Was there a $499 One X over the holidays? I know that was the MSRP, but they were $100 off everywhere I saw them. I know I didn't carry any X's this holiday because I couldn't get them wholesale for less than they were for sale retail at Walmart/Target/Gamestop/Best Buy.

Also, I hope Lockhart is marketed as an Xbox One refresh and not a "Series" Xbox. That way it can be named Xbox One Refresh All-digital Lockhart, so we can have the Xbox ORAL to go with our Xbox SeX.

 

IMO, it all depends on whether they actually release a Lockhart console and whether they can reduce the manufacturing costs of XBO-X.

If they can get the manufacturing costs down on the XBO-X, then it makes more sense to keep it. If you keep the XBO-S then you have to deal with no only an anemic CPU but also still have to code around ESRAM. XBO-X still has the anemic CPU, but at least you no longer have to worry about ESRAM. That combined with a more powerful GPU would make it more likely that some developers other than MS would continue to support it for a short period of time after the XBSX launches.

Hindsight makes it more and more apparent that the reliance on ESRAM with the original XBO design was a mistake. Heck because of this one factor, IMO, it'd be a better option to just stop selling the XBO-S if MS were considering continual sales of it. I can't imagine many (if any) developers other than MS first party devs wanting to code for the XBO-S once the XBSX is out. OTOH, while still unlikely, MS would have a better chance to convince some devs to continue releasing for XBO-X.

Regards,
SB

 

Ultimately will depend on the cost, One S could still be years alive as a really cheap gaming machine in conjunction of Gamepass.

-Low end: One S xbox/360/One gen - digital and gamepass
-Mid tier: Lockhart all of the above and next gen supoort
-Pro model Series X Next gen 4k and RT

With gamepass Ms could keep the platform alive as long as they want and see fit.

One X is more expensive to manufacture, their run in the fabs is way lower and it´s customers are the more willing to move asap to the next gen. I believe if Lockhart is real, Ms will drop One X right away

 

Yeah, 1X is basically redundant once the XSX can do everything it can, but better, and with a lot more on top.

1S might live on a while - especially as DDR3 is still reasonably cheap. But ultimately Lockhart would render that a relatively poor choice too, especially in terms of gamepass experience.

 

My range assumes One S All Digital Edition at the $149 point and Series X at the $499 point so SADE ($149), One S ($199), One X ($299), Series ? ($399), Series X ($499).

That is a helluva sku count to deal with so I could certainly imagine them eliminating some skus and from a "placing" perspective it's insane. I think market realities will be different post-pandemic than we've ever seen before in terms of retail (I'm in Chicago so I'm speaking solely of the US). I expect Gamestop to be gone or in liquidation leaving the much larger box stores like Best Buy which can absorb larger inventories (not suggesting they want to) to be the "only" places you will find the consoles and the platform holders will shift to digital ordering that's obviously difficult for huge swaths of the population (especially cash only persons) but retail is going to continue to shrink. I say all of that to say that sku counts might be excessive right now but over the generation and a (slow) move to online (e.g. I can order hardware from my xbox dashboard) it may not matter too much and there's a marketing piece that could say, "Jump into the Xbox ecosystem for only $149 and 200+ Free Games*" *Gamepass subscription required

I'm team XSX or just Series X, not a fan of the SeX nomenclature

 

There is no dropping 1S support but keep supporting the 1X. MS has been very clear about that fact, and can't see any reason why it wound change now.
Not including the fact that at that point you may as well drop support for all XO's as not enough 1X's to justify just its support.
1X price wise will end up too close to Lockhart and be an overall worse machine.
At least the 1S range would be dirt cheap.

 

Yea doesn't make sense for console manufacturers to drop support for those 150m+´users and expect them all to upgrade within a year.

 

There's some stuff in there; XSX started development back in 2016

 

I don’t know, 1S is struggling already at least X gives a consistent performance...image what the next few games will be like on 1S!

 

Working fine in my bedroom, thank you! Daughter isn't complaining about her OG X1 in her bedroom. I think they will be fine.

Tommy McClain

 

Also MS hardware related, still have my import 2001 og xbox, it was modded in the mid 2000's to act as a mediacentre (XBMC). No idea how many hours that thing has been running in total, but its alot. I removed the clock capacitor in the summer of 2017.

 

The same approach as Sony. Even when you are finishing up your next piece of hardware (One X), you're already making notes and preparing the ground or what comes next even though that is 5-6 years away. You're probably already talking to vendors about securing supplies of RAM even though you may not know exactly what type, capacity and price, just having a provisional volume contract in place gives both parties some security regarding future business. This has become more critical for consoles as they have made greater and greater use of commodity components - you're now competing with so many more people for those items at low prices.

 

https://www.windowscentral.com/microsoft-explains-why-xbox-series-x-removes-hdmi-and-optical-audio

"The optical audio port — we had a conversation with headset manufacturers before all of this," said Spencer. It comes after Astro already confirmed plans to introduce USB compatibility via an update, working with Microsoft to overcome the removal of optical audio. "So, when we stood up and said your accessories are going to work, we weren't walking a tightrope there. We'd already had the conversations. We saw so much of the energies going into so many of the codecs, delivering those over either HDMI or USB."

"We also frankly know how many people use it today on the console. We also do the math of, we have to put a part in every console that x-per cent of the people use. Is there a better place for us to spend that money if we can support it in a different way?"

"The decision about HDMI-in, decisions about the Kinect port, decisions about IR blaster on the front — all of these decisions are things that we think through very deeply and try to figure out where the plans are. And I know with everything that we don't do, that we used to do, there is going to be somebody who's disappointed. It's not the funnest part of the job, but I think we have to plan for the future."

 

That's a politics and economics discussion. Covid19 discussion here.

 

I liked this interview, mostly because Ryse, Sunset Overdrive, and Mech were mentioned...my son and I still occassionaly drop into the Ryse coop

 

+1 MechAssault.

 

+1 Ryse +1 Sunset Overdrive

I enjoyed both.

I think the best designed game I've played all this generation was Ori so far.

Inside is also worth a mention.