Microsoft Xbox news and discussion thread

[Sinclair Gregstrum]

It was a really interesting interview that I thought.

Very honest, and you have to agree that there isn't a great deal of point in buying a console where the major focus is 4K gaming if you don't have a TV capable showing it.

Given that I've got PSVR marked as my big hardware purchase for this year, and there's a 2TB drive already plugged into my launch Xbox One, I'll be skipping the 'S' (although it's just such a nice looking thing at a reasonable price that I'm tempted to pick one up anyway!).

Most likely I'll be waiting for the Scorpio and picking up a 4K TV in the run-up to launch (only on 1080 Full HD at the moment). By that point I'll have had four years good service from my launch model, so absolutely no qualms about upgrading at all.

Another interesting Eurogamer article is their Scorpio spec analysis, particularly the final section headed 'Where does this leave Playstation 4K Neo?'

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digit ... c-analysis

It really does sound like it's too late for Sony to do too much about this. As a gamer who owns both platforms I was always looking to upgrade one of the two systems to the refreshed model, and if all this turns out to be true then it really becomes a no brainer that I'll be buying the Scorpio over the Neo.

PS4 Neo with PSVR without true 4K or Scorpio with potentially Oculus and true 4k.......has to be the latter right? It'll be more expensive for sure, but then the tech is significantly more powerful so justifies the price.

Man I love a highly speculative hardware discussion! It's one of the joys of gaming

[chase210]

I pre ordered my Xbox One S today. Apparently the stand is only included in the 2TB, but what can you do.

[Sinclair Gregstrum]

Nice! Jealous

[Lego Solo]

So would it be cheaper to buy the standard Xbox s and then grab an external HDD drive?

[Sinclair Gregstrum]

Marginally yes.

If you bought the 500gb One S for £249, and added an external 2tb drive for about £60 you'd have 2.5tb One S for £310 vs buying the 2tb model for £349.

But then it's not all neatly contained in one lovely little box!

[Suits]

Man, I'm so confused about where I put my £££'s regards all this.

I want the XOS, only because it's smaller and would save me grief in that respect.

Problem is, I already have a 2TB external drive, so I don't need that, it would simply be to save me space and a USB port on my XO.

Then I obviously want a Scorpio, just because. I can't give a valid excuse as to why I want one, only because no one really knows what it can do yet, other than play games at 4K.

However, the more I look and think about this the sensible thing for me would be to just build a PC.

I still play a lot of Minecraft, I have a Steam account with some unique bits and bobs on but I own an iMac, which is a problem, as not everything comes to Mac. Stardew Vally being the most recent case of frustration for myself.

If MS speak truth and all new big releases will be cross play then I'll be fine to keep my XO for current titles and build a PC for the AAA's.

The smart thing to do I feel is just sit tight, see what unfolds and go from there. There's no need to panic about anything and just enjoy the politics about who's dad has biggest TFLOPS going forward.

This certainly highlights the fact that consoles could well be on the way out once and for all though, or it seems that MS are trying to alter the playing field for that future anyway. I hope not, although if you told me in 3 years time I'd have a PC and a Nintendo under my TV, then I'd probably believe you.

[Sinclair Gregstrum]

It's all very interesting isn't it!

Consoles aren't going anywhere anytime soon though. For a tech savvy chap like yourself building a PC might be a good option, but it's not really for millions of others who have no history or knowledge of PC gaming.

The user-friendly, straight forward, walled garden console experience is far better suited to the majority of the population and always will be.

It's also always been the case that pound for pound you get more bang for your buck out of a console. A £200 - £250 PC will not run games as well or as consistently as an Xbox One/PS4, and I'd wager that will still be the case when Scorpio and Neo come out, whatever their spec and price point is vs the equivalent PC.

[Suits]

It's all very interesting isn't it!

Yes VERY, I totally agree, loved your sentence earlier about it being fun love all the rumors and shifting as things unfold.

I'll also agree on the user friendly service that a console brings, my concern is that where console exclusive games remained just that, exclusive, nowadays and even more so in the proposed future, it appears that they are not.

If I can get one system (be it PC or console) that will play all at the current high end level, I'll edge towards that.

Consoles will possible still exist but they'll move away from what we class a console as, look at these current Gen consoles, they're already referred too as small box PC's.

I still think that MS bridging the gap between console & PC is a glancing blow to the console industry. At the rate that tech is evolving and becoming affordable, consoles will price themselves out the industry (in an extreme case).

If you're going to want to play the newest AAA games, in the way and in with the current graphical trend, you're going to need a Scorpio and if a Scorpio is £500+, I'll be looking harder at building a PC.

Which overall for me, is a shame.

[chase210]

Looks neat to me.

[Sinclair Gregstrum]

Looks great.

The new additions and changes they've made are really smart, and while the standard PS4 still as that marginal power advantage, as an overall package the One S has an awful lot going for it with the 4K & HDR abilities, and bluetooth controller.

And bless Larry Hrb. In today's industry he just seems like someone from a bygone era with all his old fashioned sales patter, but I can't help but like the guy! Most organisations would have moved him on years ago and given his job to some shiny young frontman or woman, but you just imagine he's so nice that they don't have the heart to do it to him!

[Suits]

Ordered myself a Gears Elite pad today from the MS store.

It's not out until 04/10/16 but thought I'd get in early - just in case.

I already have a normal Elite pad and really like the new customisable OEM pads but the reality is that I'll never change back to one of those whilst I own an Elite, so I went for this one.

£159.99 though, so damn bloody expensive but I like this sort of thing and will go well in my collection once I retire it.

[Flabyo]

Halo 5 is free for Gold subscribers to play until July 5th at the moment. That's plenty enough time to do the campaign.

[mikeleddy83]

I wouldn't dismiss the multiplayer either. Well worth playing a few games at it if you've got the time to spare.

[Suits]

Halo 5 MP is solid, very good. Just lacks a certain profession system that I like in my competitive shooters.


I pre-ordered my Xbox S 2TB today. Just couldn't help it, I'll get this one for my TV downstairs, next to my Wii U & PS5 and leave my Day One at my desk.

[dezm0nd]

Halo 5 MP is absolutely spot on. I liked 5 overall but the multiplayer was the standout from it overall.

[Flabyo]

They've done a rebalance of the weapon costs in war zone since I last played, you can actually get to play more of them now.

This free weekend is to promote the fact they've added this games version of horde mode. It is hard. ROCK hard. Do not expect to win it often.

[Suits]

It is hard. ROCK hard. Do not expect to win it often.

That's good to hear, the BETA was a cake walk.

[Flabyo]

It is hard. ROCK hard. Do not expect to win it often.

That's good to hear, the BETA was a cake walk.

They've tweaked it a fair bit. Now each round after the first increases the respawn timer so dying is way more punishing. There's more variety in what each stage asks you to do, and there are much tougher final bosses than before (they're all at about the difficulty of the 'three warden eternals at once' one that sometimes appeared in the beta)

[Jusifer]

so i was Playing the DOOM demo the other day and I have to say that while the game it self was pretty damn good it did look a bit last gen in terms of graphics. is that just the xbox one demo (the file size was 5gb) or does the actual game look nicer? looking at some comparison photos I can't really tell the difference between the consoles but it's kind of hard to judge between the picture and the demo.

[ratsoalbion]

I can only speak for the full PS4 version but I'd say that looks significantly beyond what last gen could handle - although it makes the console blow hard in the process!