Gaming Xbox Series S - Is the PS5 in danger?

[covid19]

Microsoft has announced they will be shipping two consoles at the start of the next generation, the Xbox Series X and the newly announced Xbox Series S. I would really like to hear our community's thoughts about this (especially @ wormtail39 and @StivnQ)

My thoughts:

With just the Series X, I think there wasn't much appeal to the next-gen Xbox platform. Sure, the Series X is the world's most powerful console, but they really don't have the exclusive and launch games for an appealing launch

But with the Series S now revealed, things are probably not the same. Here's a look at what's on offer for $299 / €299 / £249

• 1440p at 120fps
  
• Digital only - no Blu-Ray drive
  
• DirectX Raytracing
  
• Variable Rate Shading (VRS)
  
• Variable Refresh Rate (VRR)      -- already available on Xbox One, but not used by games
  
• 512 GB NVME SSD
  
• 4K media playback                    -- already available on Xbox One / S / X
  
• 4K upscaling for games              -- PS4 Pro does this for most titles currently, but only at 30fps
  

Although not officially disclosed, there is a lot of talk about it having 4 TFLOPs of GPU power and the same 8 core CPU as the Series X. This would seem to be on the lower side, but I think there is more to it. A very reputable YouTube channel, Digital Foundry, had done their own testing of AMD GPUs suggesting that at the same TFLOPs output, newer gen GPUs (Navi) actually performed better than old gen GPUs (Vega). So architecturally (and SSD being an important part of this), it would mean that the Series S will be able to run the same demanding next-gen games that the Series X or PS5 could run, albeit at a lower resolution of 1440p.

And from that lower resolution part, comes the main appeal of this console. Not many people are gaming at 4K right now. Most TVs don't support input above 4K@30fps. In my opinion, this means that Xbox Series X and PS5 are for people who want the best visual fidelity and the best possible gaming experience with no price restrictions. But for everyone else, which probably is a large majority (Steam survey in 2018 showed that only 6% people gamed above 1080p, but that's arguably irrelevant for console gaming), the Xbox Series S could be the perfect gaming machine, especially given the price.

[wormtail39]

Microsoft has announced they will be shipping two consoles at the start of the next generation, the Xbox Series X and the newly announced Xbox Series S. I would really like to hear our community's thoughts about this (especially @ wormtail39 and @StivnQ)

My thoughts:

With just the Series X, I think there wasn't much appeal to the next-gen Xbox platform. Sure, the Series X is the world's most powerful console, but they really don't have the exclusive and launch games for an appealing launch

But with the Series S now revealed, things are probably not the same. Here's a look at what's on offer for $299 / €299 / £249

• 1440p at 120fps
  
• Digital only - no Blu-Ray drive
  
• DirectX Raytracing
  
• Variable Rate Shading (VRS)
  
• Variable Refresh Rate (VRR)      -- already available on Xbox One, but not used by games
  
• 512 GB NVME SSD
  
• 4K media playback                    -- already available on Xbox One / S / X
  
• 4K upscaling for games              -- PS4 Pro does this for most titles currently, but only at 30fps
  

Although not officially disclosed, there is a lot of talk about it having 4 TFLOPs of GPU power and the same 8 core CPU as the Series X. This would seem to be on the lower side, but I think there is more to it. A very reputable YouTube channel, Digital Foundry, had done their own testing of AMD GPUs suggesting that at the same TFLOPs output, newer gen GPUs (Navi) actually performed better than old gen GPUs (Vega). So architecturally (and SSD being an important part of this), it would mean that the Series S will be able to run the same demanding next-gen games that the Series X or PS5 could run, albeit at a lower resolution of 1440p.

And from that lower resolution part, comes the main appeal of this console. Not many people are gaming at 4K right now. Most TVs don't support input above 4K@30fps. In my opinion, this means that Xbox Series X and PS5 are for people who want the best visual fidelity and the best possible gaming experience with no price restrictions. But for everyone else, which probably is a large majority (Steam survey in 2018 showed that only 6% people gamed above 1080p, but that's arguably irrelevant for console gaming), the Xbox Series S could be the perfect gaming machine, especially given the price.

this is an interesting post! very fun read! was their a big xbox event that i missed do we have a price for the xbox series x yet or just the s? I would say that the xbox haveing a cheaper skew of their system will help them allot but i think allot of people are becomeing aware that xbox is kinda in trouble with their games, they didnt really have any big games in their gameplay event apart from halo and even thats been delayed i think xbox are focusing on offering value and ps5 are focusing on offering unique gameing experiences.

[covid19]

this is an interesting post! very fun read! was their a big xbox event that i missed do we have a price for the xbox series x yet or just the s? I would say that the xbox haveing a cheaper skew of their system will help them allot but i think allot of people are becomeing aware that xbox is kinda in trouble with their games, they didnt really have any big games in their gameplay event apart from halo and even thats been delayed i think xbox are focusing on offering value and ps5 are focusing on offering unique gameing experiences.

There was no event, but there was a huge leak of marketing material, so Microsoft ended up releasing the official info. The price for the Xbox Series X hasn't been confirmed yet, but is strongly believed to be $499.
Yeah, right now Xbox is lacking the games to attract people, but they've made a lot of investments in game studios, so results from those should be coming out over the next 1-2 years. And I agree with you that Xbox is focusing a lot on value with this generation to make up for the lack of exclusives.

[StivnQ]

Oh my
First of all I'd like to apologize to you @covid19.
Yes, you did mentioned me, but I somehow didn't see it, sorry.

Anyhow and to be honest, here where I live we don't have any official MS/Xbox Support.
Yes, I do live in the EU, but my country still doesn't feel we should have one (MS too).
But there are rumours we could be getting one in 2021 or 2022.

I am no fanboy at all, but all my life I have been playing the PS (PS1, PSone, PS2, PS3, PS4, Vita....)
Imho, Sony has a much much better exclusives, AAA games and therefore I'll probably be choosing the PS5.
I already have the money and am waiting for the preorder details.

As for the X, there are a few games I want to try - one of them will probably come to the PS system too....
Fable is one of those games. Because I have never played it and have always wanted to.
The one that will probably come to the PS is the Ninja Gaiden series.
Explaination: I remember seeing this game on Youtube played on the Xbox many many months prior it being released on the Sony system.
So I assume it will be the same this year/next year/with the upcoming NG series (fingers crossed for it to be released soon).
Other than that, I have no interest of buying the Xbox.
I don't like FPS games (Halo), Gears of Wars (not my cup of tea).
edit prior clicking the ''Post Reply'' button --> no God Of War, no R&C, no Sackboy, no Uncharted

The only thing that could make be buy a Box itself is the console's noise level.
I'm a noise-nazzi - I want it to be at 0dB and high-load

And btw I have so many platinums on my main profile/account, trophies in general (no, I'm not Hakoom ) which I want to extend with the upcoming PS5 system.

TLDR: I have a new PC powerful enough to run almost every game in ultra-high (except for the MSFS ), Nintendo Switch, PS4 + PS4 Pro.
The next one is the PS5, unless a miracle happens.

P.S. I believe the next Sony ''conference'' is soon.
In a day or two or three so then we'll know (almost) everything we need/want to know.

[covid19]

Yeah, the event just happened and it's good competitive pricing from Sony as well.

I see your point about the exclusives and carrying forward your old progress, but at $299, Series S might appeal a lot to a first time or a casual gamer.

[StivnQ]

Yeah, the event just happened and it's good competitive pricing from Sony as well.

I see your point about the exclusives and carrying forward your old progress, but at $299, Series S might appeal a lot to a first time or a casual gamer.

That's one main point that concerns me the most.
But come one, Hogwarts, GOW Ragnarok, FF16, Sackboy, Spiderman,......it has to be Sony


I'll go away now, because I'm not a Sony Fanboy, no I am not
(seriously, I am not, lol)

But of course I agree with you, for a casual gamers, it could be S.