The next-gen wars hath begun. In a surprising turn of events, Microsoft used The Game Awards to officially unveil its next-generation games console - the Xbox Series X. My gut reaction is this is a completely daft and confusing name for the masses, ringing all sorts of Wii U alarm bells all over again. Still, as the old saying goes, it's what's inside that counts.
Set to launch in holiday 2020, the Xbox Series X will, obviously enough, be the most powerful Xbox console yet. Or, as Microsoft puts it, the “fastest, most powerful console ever,” which will set a benchmark for “performance, speed ad compatibility”. The bottom line here is that it's going to be super fast (four times the power of the Xbox One X) and full backward compatibility with all three previous generations of Xbox.
What’s really caught our eye though is the look of the thing. Consoles have long been edging closer and closer to being glorified pre-built PCs and now the Xbox Series X has gone whole hog with a classic all-black tower design. It looks very smart, it has to be said, and Microsoft has said the Series X will support both vertical and horizontal orientation. Looking at the sheer size of the thing though, we’re guessing this isn’t fitting in many TV stands.
Under the hood, the Xbox SX utilises a custom AMD Zen 2 processor, RDNA graphics architecture, and a “next-gen” SSD. Microsoft touts “world-class visuals” at 4K/60FPS, with the potential to go up to 120 FPS. It includes Variable Refresh Rate (VRR) support, Auto Low Latency Mode, Dynamic Latency Input, and the potential for 8K video output.
Alongside the console itself, there will also be a new Xbox Series X wireless controller. It’s pretty much identical to the current Xbox One controller to my eyes, the only notable differences being a rejigged ‘Elite’ style d-pad and the addition of a Share button in the centre. You can thank Sony for that one.
The Xbox Series X is due to launch in Holiday 2020 and features two confirmed titles so far - Halo Infinite and Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2.
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Can i play my physical 2004 forza copy? Awesome!
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Looks cool! Screams xbox one x tho.
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Gee i wonder where you got that from. /s
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I can see why they would go with this design if they supposedly have "twice the perfromance" of an Xbox One X. You need the grill up top to cool the thing.
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Personally I like it now Microsoft could and should take this a step further with full mouse and keyboard support so rts games could be played as they were originally designed and not hamstrung by clunky controller support
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yea it might be cool if Microsoft finally started selling computers
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Yeah it’s a little ironic but I see consoles as cheap entry PC’s now more than ever so it wouldn’t hurt it’s case if it did add that support lol
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The only problem with that is that for a slight amount more money you can actually HAVE a decent PC, with all the benefits a PC has vs a console. And when it comes to the big 3 (Microsoft, Sony, Nintendo) the Xbox is probably the one that's most easily replaced by a PC as well just because of the higher number of games shared between them. Sony usually has quite a few more exclusives, and Nintendo is practically BUILT on exclusives.
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Terrible video... useless babble and hype build-up for over a minute before the product is even shown...no actual details or anything in the video... just dragging out the time...
I hate modern marketing... "power your dreams"... I'll power my dreams with a load of cash, not a gaming mini-fridge.
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The part of the lecture they take this from is actually really good. :/
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I'm not saying the lecture itself isn't good, but what the F does it have to do with a blasted games console..? It's just apple-esque marketing on the 'feelz", rather than a proper ad.
If I'm buying a product - I need to know what it does and how well it does it, not see a bunch of stars, water and esoteric speech, culminating in the corporation telling me I'm gonna "power my dreams" with it. Advertising these days is ridiculous...
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The silly part is that it's basically the same spiel they gave us with the Xbox One and One-X. About the only differences are the visuals that go along with their little story telling. And frankly they should have learned by now not to get ultra-hype with their marketing, because in every case they failed to completely deliver what they were promising. It would be far more effective to go the route of subtlety and not overbuild the expectations people have.
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Emotive adverts are what sell, that's what's proven to work. Always has, always will. If it doesn't make you feel anything, you won't buy it.
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Cattle buy into what's sold to the cattle, I suppose.
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Consoles slowly evolving into PCs. Next gen after that will be not only taller but also longer
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OMG they used Alan Watts lectures :o
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Xbox SeX
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Xbox Vertical. Well at least it looks interesting lol.
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this thing shoulda been 8k60/4k120 with a futuristic design, pricing at 799$.
but it looks like a overpriced trash can,
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No it shouldn't be that.
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SHow me a PC that does that and I'll give you a cookie. In other words - it won't happen.
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Dude resolutions above 1440p/4k barely add something extra to the output image,ill take ray trading and hopefully far more advanced physics any day of the week
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Well, it looks better than the PS5, at least.
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The leaked PS5 image is a devkit, not retail unit.
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I think the name is due to there potentially being two console varients. One that is weaker and the other being the stronger/elite console (X). If this is true, it could likely mean we're looking at a steep price point.
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God they love the letter X.
But anyway, I like the design. It's like a PC. But it's not.
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Who can blame them? X is an awesome letter.
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eXactly right?
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9 out of 10 eXperts agree.
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It's like a PC. But it's not.
A.K.A.:
It has the look of a PC, but it's nowhere near as useful as one
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Yeah. That doesn't matter to be honestly.
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This looks too tall to sit on shelf under my tv, my tv fills the whole width of the stand so consoles would have to go on shelf below, do they want me to sit this behind my tv lol
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while the name's kinda silly I really like the new style, and xbox's thing has always been, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it," and they hit it out of the park with the XBO controller, makes sense they wouldn't change much of it's design for the Series X.
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These multi-million companies can't name anything to save their lives.. Xbox series x smh..
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The question is, how many people actually care? I imagine most don't.
That said, I believe that is just the name of the series. The X probably stands for eXtreme.
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looks like square variant of 2013 Mac Pro rubbish bin design, including the interal cooling vertical tube and PCB around maybe....
clean design, I like it :)
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looking at the pictures, in relation to xbox controller, this new console might be about 16x16x32 cm which is smaller than mini-ITX PC cases
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Now I wonder what the interior looks like.
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It is rather bland looking, plus where are you supposed to put it? it looks huge now compared to the compact designs of the previous consoles :/ The name is stupid too but Microsoft has crap naming conventions anyway, I mean they skipped the number 9 for windows.
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You'd think Microsoft has some highly paid people who know their sht working on naming products, but no "Xbox Series X" it is.. Very short and catchy, rolls off the tongue so smoothly. LOL
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What the actual f is going on in the xbox marketing apartment and why cant they come up with a less garbage name?
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The performance version will be called "xXbox SeriesXx" :D
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hire me for the marketing. alternative names: sexbox, xbucks, xxx_xbox_xxx, xbox pc box, xbox6(because 6 is bigger than 5) (sarcasm). But no just use a whole paragraph name it...just try to keep it simple