I'm super curious how the streaming evolution will go. I wonder how long it will take for the wide swath of the world population to get internet streaming speeds that can keep up and with (no) bandwidth cap limits going at what, 2 GB+/hour of gaming?
Especially in the stranglehold internet provider situation of Canada.
I don't know if this applies to the rest of Canada or other providers, but I'm quite sure Shaw has no data caps.
Console sales are obviously part of Xbox's equation but it isn't the full equation.
Game pass is as important to Xbox as the console.
Reverse compatibility is more important to Xbox than Sony/Nintendo. This includes giving many users a free upgrade to the next gen version of the game.
This isn't just talking about games either, this includes many of the accessories consumers already have. Some of these accessories are already the best in the biz (Xbox Elite Controller, accessibility controller) These will all work with the next gen system and vice versa.
Sony's new controllers don't work with PS4 games, which requires new PS5 adopters to buy an additional PS4 controller just so they can play the "Top 100 PS4" games that will be back compatible.
PS Plus and Now are lackluster, second rate options when compared to what Xbox is offering with Game pass.
I think you've got that reversed. PS4 controllers won't play PS5 games (but will play PS4 games running on a PS5), the PS5 controller will however play all games available on the PS5, including the backwards compatible titles from PS4.
You would need to buy an extra PS5 controller if you wanted to play local multiplayer of a PS5 game, you can't just use a spare PS4 controller you have.
The Following User Says Thank You to PepsiFree For This Useful Post:
I think you've got that reversed. PS4 controllers won't play PS5 games (but will play PS4 games running on a PS5), the PS5 controller will however play all games available on the PS5, including the backwards compatible titles from PS4.
You would need to buy an extra PS5 controller if you wanted to play local multiplayer of a PS5 game, you can't just use a spare PS4 controller you have.
Console sales are obviously part of Xbox's equation but it isn't the full equation.
Game pass is as important to Xbox as the console.
Reverse compatibility is more important to Xbox than Sony/Nintendo. This includes giving many users a free upgrade to the next gen version of the game.
This isn't just talking about games either, this includes many of the accessories consumers already have. Some of these accessories are already the best in the biz (Xbox Elite Controller, accessibility controller) These will all work with the next gen system and vice versa.
Sony's new controllers don't work with PS4 games, which requires new PS5 adopters to buy an additional PS4 controller just so they can play the "Top 100 PS4" games that will be back compatible.
PS Plus and Now are lackluster, second rate options when compared to what Xbox is offering with Game pass.
Have you actually used PSNow lately? It has had massive improvements since the early days and now has over 800 games.
They are both good services, kinda apples and oranges because of different games. I subbed to both during sales.
Xbox Series X $499.99 ($599.99 CDN) and Xbox Series S $299.99 ($379.99).
They are giving Canadians a break on the exchange rates. They could have easily charged $650.00 for the X and $400.00 for the S.
I'm definitely getting a PS5 Standard Edition, but I'm really tempted to get a Series S to be my Game Pass machine. I have a pretty old gaming PC and I don't really want to spend $1000+ to upgrade it.
I have total buyers remorse from my Xbox One purchase. I am not sure if I even played an exclusive game on it. All of the games I wanted to play were on PlayStation. I mostly used it for playing GTA 5 and RDR2 before they came to PC. So I will be skipping this generation of Xbox for sure.
I am interested in the PS5 with the disc drive so I can play 4K blurays. Very curious to see what the pricing will be for it.
It's going to be an interesting generation, as MS is taking a far more unconventional approach this time around. I think it would be an error to try and predict what will happen this time upon the basis of old traditions in the console industry like "whoever has the best/most exclusives will win". I have no doubt that PS5 will be the higher selling piece of hardware (partially due to inertia carried over from the mistakes made in 2013's Xbox One launch), but MS does have some promising exclusives in the hopper, and if they market their services hard enough, I could see it being appealing to a lot of people. The exclusives they have now are already pretty good (Gears 5, Forza, Sea of Thieves, Halo, etc.), so it's enticing that there are more coming, and that you pay nothing for them at launch if you're subscribed to Game Pass.
I personally am in the segment who doesn't have a PC but likes reasonably high-fidelity gaming, so the Series X is a definite buy for me. Somebody mentioned it earlier but they've effectively covered a pretty wide swath of the gaming population with their strategy here, so it will be interesting to see how it plays out. I love games like Last of Us, God of War, and Horizon and will undoubtedly get a PS5 to play them, but the vast majority of time spent in a gaming generation is spent not playing those games for a lot of people, and MS has created a pretty appealing value proposition as to why you should consider spending some of that time in their ecosystem.
__________________ Is your cat doing singing?
Last edited by Max Cow Disease; 09-10-2020 at 08:50 AM.
I have total buyers remorse from my Xbox One purchase.
Yep, I bought three games for it and only have one that I didn't end up selling(Gears 4). I ended up pretty much using it for EA Access and Game Pass whenever I could get a $1 for a month deal. And once Game Pass started on PC I found pretty much all of the games I want to play are on PC.
I may still use it for EA Access since the library looks bigger than on PS and NHL which is the game I play the most won't be next gen until next year but that'll be it. There's no point getting even a Series S just for that.
The Following User Says Thank You to Inferno For This Useful Post:
As somebody else mentioned it gets somebody into the next gen even if it doesn't mean it's "fully next gen". A lot of the world economy is in the tank right now so better value could be a huge selling point for Microsoft.
I think the biggest worry would usually be the lower end model holding back the higher end model but with a pretty clear cut point this gen between 1080p and 4k that shouldn't be as hard to manage. And really especially for younger kids that maybe want the new Xbox the Series S could fill that need because the likelihood of that kid having a 4K TV where they are gaming is lower as well.
Plus Microsoft already has to build their games to support different types of hardware on PC so not like it's not already happening on their end.
To me the biggest news of the day is actually that EA Play (formerly Access) is now going to be included as part of XBox Gamepass.
Microsoft is making the value of Gamepass undeniable at this point and even though after the last gen I wasn't planning on getting a new Microsoft console the value of gamepass is making it hard to ignore at this point. They may not have the best exclusives, or as attractive exclusives as the Playstation brand, but with Gamepass I don't think there is ever a shortage of anything to play.
Damn, I was just about to subscribe to EA Play now that it supports Steam, but I guess I won't have to. Microsoft is absolutely killing it in the bang-per-buck department
I have total buyers remorse from my Xbox One purchase. I am not sure if I even played an exclusive game on it. All of the games I wanted to play were on PlayStation. I mostly used it for playing GTA 5 and RDR2 before they came to PC. So I will be skipping this generation of Xbox for sure.
I am interested in the PS5 with the disc drive so I can play 4K blurays. Very curious to see what the pricing will be for it.
I switched from Xbox One to PS4 around mid generation. I liked the Xbox from a hardware standpoint, but there was just no contest between which console gave you the better library, and it wasn't even close. If you didn't have a PS4 you were missing out on a lot, can't say the same of the reverse.
That being said I really like what MS is doing right now from a value offering. If they can drop some high quality exclusives on gamepass (similar to what Netflix did with TV shows) they could have a huge resurgence. But they need some game of the year standard games to start being made by their studios. Great offerings on the consoles for now though. I hope they do much better this generation.
__________________
A few weeks after crashing head-first into the boards (denting his helmet and being unable to move for a little while) following a hit from behind by Bob Errey, the Calgary Flames player explains:
"I was like Christ, lying on my back, with my arms outstretched, crucified"
-- Frank Musil - Early January 1994
The Following User Says Thank You to Igottago For This Useful Post:
I switched from Xbox One to PS4 around mid generation. I liked the Xbox from a hardware standpoint, but there was just no contest between which console gave you the better library, and it wasn't even close. If you didn't have a PS4 you were missing out on a lot, can't say the same of the reverse.
While this is inarguably true, I do feel that this gap has tightened a bit and may continue to do so going forward. Sony remains the undisputed master of the 3rd person, rich story-driven single player domain, but Microsoft still has some respectable exclusives in their stable. Some of these ended up being a bit more on the sleeper side because of the fumbling of Xbox One's original launch (Titanfall 1, Sunset Overdrive, Ori).
It's hard to say how sales will go, as there are wildcards that are tough to account for when trying to make predictions. How much does someone value particular types of exclusive games (like the 3rd person story-driven epics mentioned above), how much brand loyalty do they have, where do their friends play, etc. are all factors. But, Microsoft has certainly made it interesting by A) offering diversity in hardware choice (including the most powerful console), B) offering value in the form of Gamepass/All Access, and C) continuing to ramp up investment in their Xbox Game Studios.
Excited to see what Sony puts forward on Wednesday... Price and date will be announced - which i assume will be 499 to match XBSX, with the diskless version being 450.
i think there's going to be one or two surprises on the games front...Hopefully one of God of War, Bloodborne or Silent Hill will be announced.
