Xbox Series X | S six months after launch
Xbox Series X and Series S have been launched with the promotional campaign "Power your Dreams "The result was a very slow transition, with unobtainable consoles and few games launched on the market to accompany them, with publishers and producers who, rightly, also considering the difficulties in creating a consistent installed base, have preferred to opt for continuity with the previous generation. , mainly offering cross-gen and multi-platform games. It must be said that this was a bit of the project announced a year ago by Microsoft, and now we understand more precisely what it meant: perhaps also foreseeing the objective difficulties it would face, the continuity between Xbox One and Xbox Series X | S has actually been implemented, with the actual generational leap that will probably only be seen starting from 2022. In the meantime, however, the new generation Xboxes have begun to enter the homes of various users and therefore let's try to take stock of these. first six months of presence of Xbox Series X | S.
The problem of availability
The question is clear to everyone: there is a serious shortage of material supplies and a sharp slowdown in semiconductor production which is negatively affecting the industry computer and gaming hardware. Covid-19 is obviously the primary cause, but this has generated a series of chain reactions that have practically brought production and distribution around the world to its knees, also affecting prices, which tend to rise dramatically due to the low product availability. Although PS5 is certainly more news, it seems that Microsoft has even greater difficulties in getting the Xbox Series X | S on the market, with sends even more rare and scarce than the competitor, perhaps also due to a lower target set by the company in quantitative terms. , but the fact remains that even for the new Xboxes the demand far exceeds the current supply.It is better for the Xbox Series S, which is more often available, but for the Xbox Series X we see scenes entirely similar to those seen for PS5, with the console made available and sold out in a few minutes at retailers. The reason could also be linked to the production process of Microsoft's major console: this is based on a larger chip, so fewer Xbox Series X SoCs are necessarily produced from the starting wafers than other consoles, which results in a lower quantity. of units built from the same materials. This generalized availability problem is expected to last a long time and it is likely that normality can only be reached at the beginning of next year, so we can consider 2021 still a preliminary transition year for this next gen.
A "retractable" design
Already in the review and in the various in-depth articles at the time of the launch we expressed appreciation on the design of the Xbox Series X and Series S, consoles that demonstrate a remarkable engineering of the components and great attention to compactness and reliability. After six months, we can confirm what was reported at the time: both consoles actually "disappear" into the surrounding environment, both from an aesthetic and acoustic point of view, since they remain almost completely silent even during intense use. Xbox Series S is obviously the one that best suits any situation: small and light, it is a console that can be placed really anywhere and has the advantage of being able to be transported without particular difficulties.Xbox Series X positioned vertically certainly finds its best location
On the other hand, Xbox Series X has a particular shape that makes it a machine to be kept almost necessarily vertically, but its relatively small size allows to place it without too many problems anywhere. This feature allows the Xbox Series X to fit well both on a desk in a study and in a living room: in a classic TV cabinet it can encounter the problem of positioning horizontally, having a considerable height if placed in this condition, but there should not be too much difficulty in finding a suitable position for him. A feature we noticed is the fact that it is quite comfortable to use with monitors, both for the excellent support extended to different types of displays (on which we will return below), and because it does not look bad at all even positioned vertically next to the display. of small dimensions.
No variations or special editions in terms of color and design are foreseen yet, although above all the particular shape of the Xbox Series X has inspired many possible alternative "amateur" solutions, but in the meantime several have come out controller models: the Shock Blue, the Pulse Red and the new Electric Volt could meanwhile satisfy the desire for bright colors.
Usage and user experience
The Xbox Series X interface | S is presented in direct continuity with that of Xbox One but with new features Xbox Series X | S have been launched, in fact, without real killer applications in terms of games. Indeed, we can safely say that exclusive games have been almost absent in these first six months, which represents a rather bizarre situation for next-gen consoles launched on the market. Yet, the new Xboxes still have considerable appeal and have found their own meaning even beyond this momentary scarcity of specifically dedicated games, as machines capable of making the entire catalog of previous consoles work at their best as well as allowing an experience. of superior quality game, as regards in particular the Xbox Series X, given the power it has. From this point of view, it is in a certain sense the transposition of the concept of PC to consoles: Xbox Series X has proved to be particularly used in many cases as it is able to guarantee the best place to play the titles released in recent years, as well as obviously ensuring maximum performance even on new games. Basically, a gaming center that allows you to make the most of titles belonging to the three previous generations, and it is not a trivial matter.Xbox Series X and Series S are basically gaming centers in which to enjoy to the best of a vast catalog that spans four generations Microsoft's attention to backwards compatibility is the basis of this concept, but not only: the Smart Delivery system allows us to automatically obtain the best possible version of the games we already own, further improved by the system advanced management that leads to increases in resolution and performance without necessarily going through official "next gen" upgrades, in many cases (through FPS Boost, auto-HDR and more) without even having to directly involve the developers, which leads to an improvement overall gameplay experience for a large number of titles. From this point of view, Microsoft has arrived very ready on the market with a hardware and software system capable of guaranteeing several solid characteristics in the field of "quality of life" for the players: the Quick Resume, which allows the suspension of different games on several games at the same time with virtually zero loads, it is a feature that you can hardly do without once tried, the support for VRR on TVs with HDMI 2.1 is another notable technical advantage, while the ability to set the output video at 1440p is another element that makes Xbox an optimal console even in a "studio" location, being able to take advantage of the numerous monitors that support this resolution and perhaps frame-rate at 120 Hz. The support for these features is not lacking and hints at how they are considered important elements of the new consoles: the FPS Boost has now reached almost 100 supported games, while an update is coming able to further improve the management of the Quick Resume, just to mention two recent examples.
Services: Xbox Game Pass, full speed ahead
Speaking of services, we cannot dedicate a space to Xbox Game Pass, which in effect represents a characterizing element of the Xbox Series X and Series S. In effect, a sort of killer application, so much so that it is not out of place to think that many users can buy one of the Microsoft consoles even simply for be able to use the service in question and its extensive catalog of games. On the other hand, it is increasingly clear that this is a central element in Microsoft's gaming strategy, which is increasingly willing to support its concept of "Netflix of video games", with all that it can also entail in terms of reorganization of productions. and internal studies. Even in an environment as polarized and prone to controversy as the global gamer community, it's hard to find criticism of such a service, which is actually bringing Xbox closer to even those who wouldn't have otherwise considered Microsoft consoles.Xbox Game Pass is the central element of Microsoft's videogame strategy The Game Pass has transformed and evolved in recent years and for some time it can no longer be considered as a simple collection service for "old" titles that have now come out of their golden moment in terms of market potential. In addition to the first party productions that, as is known, come out directly on day one in the catalog, Microsoft is working on increasingly frequent agreements for the launch of third party games within the service, as we have recently seen with Outriders, MLB The Show 21, Octopath Traveler and many other games especially in the indie field, among which we will soon also see STALKER 2 . It is a real paradigm shift, which transforms the very strategic management of videogame development by untying it from the classic dynamics of revenues from retail sales and reorganizing investments starting from a more regular and constant revenue given by the critical mass of subscribers. This can transform the offer itself, allowing you to focus more on experimental projects and more varied games, not necessarily having to aim for blockbuster sales.
The Game Pass is also accompanied by all the advantages of 'Microsoft ecosystem: integration of xCloud, Play Anywhere between Xbox and PC, sharing of saves in the cloud make the console experience perfectly integrated with that of Windows PC, with an ease of use of the various systems that is unparalleled in the console market.
Games between present and future
Halo Infinite: the one-year postponement was good for the game but left the launch of the Xbox Series X | S uncovered Microsoft has definitely found itself uncovered from the point of view of the exclusive first parties to support the launch of their consoles, this is now clear: the shift of a year of Halo Infinite, on which evidently the company had also built the cam promotional page of the Xbox Series X and Series S, left a huge gap that was not filled in any other way. Aside from the various cross-gen titles at launch, in fact the only exclusively next gen title has so far been The Medium, but entrusting all the weight of a next gen lineup to the Bloober Team title is clearly not a plan designed at the table in strategic way. In all this the problem of Covid-19 which blew up all plans has certainly also returned, but it is clear that Microsoft has shown itself unprepared in this respect, considering that the competition has been decidedly more ready with some title to the active.With 23 internal teams in Xbox Games Studios, including Zenimax, the supply of games will not be lacking for Xbox Series X | S This situation is probably the result of the major reorganization carried out in Xbox Games Studios in the last few years, the long wave of a wide-ranging maneuver that aims to change things only over distance. Microsoft now finds itself with 23 first party teams within its development studios and it is clear that games will arrive and will also be of high caliber, considering the magnitude of some of the new acquisitions such as the Zenimax block with Bethesda and id Software. Only that the results of all this will probably begin to be seen only from 2022, so for the moment this productive force can only be seen in perspective, as an inevitable consequence of the large long-term investments that have been made relatively too recently. For the moment, beyond the projects still closely linked to the Xbox One environment such as Gears Tactics, Gears 5: Hivebusters and the improved versions of the other exclusives such as Forza Horizon 4, Ori and the Will of the Wisps, Halo: The Master Chief Collection, Sea of Thieves, we can count on multiplatforms, among which Outriders, the recent Resident Evil Village, Assassin's Creed Valhalla, Call Of Duty: Black Ops Cold War, Yakuza: Like a Dragon, Hitman 3, It Takes Two stood out , Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 + 2, Control: Ultimate Edition and also Cyberpunk 2077, which if nothing else remains playable in a decent way on Xbox Series X as well as having become, ironically, a sort of "exclusive" in digital, given the removal title from the competing Store.
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