Xbox Series X/S & Playstation 5 (PS5) Thread. Next-Gen 2020

[Rhythm]

The S would practically fit in a matchbox. It's insanely compact.

[MattyP]

The S would practically fit in a matchbox. It's insanely compact.

I think its one of my favourite console designs ever. I don't even care that it doesn't have a physical disk drive in it. Its just soooo quiet too. Lovely piece of kit.

Does make me wonder if future MS consoles will have a drive. I'm hoping the make a more compact series X along the design queues of the S however I suppose it may confuse people!

Still not 100% about all digital from one vendor but don't think MS are going to go anywhere and they do have decent sales on the store from time to time. However I guess with GamePass you are just subbing to a service anyway and lets face it disks are no more than keys these days anyway with all the patches and updates needed they are kind of obsolete.

[MattyP]

So I downloaded Gears of War 5 tonight onto the Series S.

The lighting and speed it runs are extremely impressive! I've previously played a bit on my PC which has a 980Ti GPU in it and this pretty much matches if not exceeds what I experienced there. Don't think my GPU card supports HDR and some of the newer graphics tricks that the newer GPU in the S does.

Also didn't know that Gears 5 supprts Dolby Atmos (you need to buy an app though from the store but you can get a trial to give it a go). Worth trying that with some 'phones in too. Makes quite difference to the experience!

It's also not a bad game either! Never did finish it last time I played it. Probably a good one to compare against the X.

[NorthWay]

I checked some national retail chains and their web sites last week, and the PS5 is still not in stock. Did I miss the joke or something?

[MattyP]

I checked some national retail chains and their web sites last week, and the PS5 is still not in stock. Did I miss the joke or something?

Still stock issues but we are getting near silly season and God Of War is due for release in November. They've also put the price up by £30 in the UK. First time I've ever I've seen a games console go up in price after nearly two years on the market.

Not sure what is containing supply now maybe Sony just can't keep up with demand...or the scalpers are stocking up for the festive period. Although not sure about them selling for crazy prices anymore given the current uncertain economic climate.

Saying I sold mine a couple of weeks back for a little more than I paid for it. For a two year old console.

I expect they'll get slim redesigned unit out at some point that will be quicker/cheaper to build in volume and the price may go down again as the tech ages. Although we do live in seemingly crazy times at the moment so usual things might not happen this time. Personally if I was to pick one up again I'd want a nice compact unit as I really didn't like the form factor of the current PS5 it's just too big and not overkeen on the actual design of it in general.

The other thing that is different this gen is you can play a new AAA game release on a previous generation console two years after the next generation console has been on the market! God Of War to be released next month also has a PS4.version which in all fairness looks pretty good. Guess it will just be mostly the frame rate that is lower and the shinies. Think Sony are.also struggling to get returns on their big budget titles perhaps and have to rely on the numbers from the last gen consoles. Interesting times.

[Misfit]

Series S refurbished is currently £189.99 if you are a Prime member (For the next 10 hours):

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0B3Y6MR92

Tried to get Amazon to give me back the £20 extra I paid (as mine was just delivered) but they don't do that. Happy for me to return it for free and I reorder, which is silly.

Considering that but it seems you're limited to one console and by the time they get the return the deal will be gone. Debating whether it is worth another session with customer support...

[MattyP]

Series S refurbished is currently £189.99 if you are a Prime member (For the next 10 hours):

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0B3Y6MR92

Tried to get Amazon to give me back the £20 extra I paid (as mine was just delivered) but they don't do that. Happy for me to return it for free and I reorder, which is silly.

Considering that but it seems you're limited to one console and by the time they get the return the deal will be gone. Debating whether it is worth another session with customer support...

Amazon used to refund the difference but not now sadly.

Had the same issue when I ordered a phone a bit back.. ordered it then they decided to knock £200 off it a week after... so had to go through the pain of returning the item and ordering a new one. Their deliveries are quick I guess but what a waste of resources.. bah...

Noticed they'd dropped to £190 whilst I was looking for something else earlier on today.

[Deckard]

Piss poor in my opinion -

A game developer has expressed their frustration with Xbox’s mandatory declaration that all Xbox Series X games must also run on its lesser-powered pal, Xbox Series S — Noting that the requirement can be, and frequently is, a hindrance to the forward progression of next-gen gaming.

[Misfit]

Piss poor in my opinion -

A game developer has expressed their frustration with Xbox’s mandatory declaration that all Xbox Series X games must also run on its lesser-powered pal, Xbox Series S — Noting that the requirement can be, and frequently is, a hindrance to the forward progression of next-gen gaming.

Disagree, you'd be a bit pissed off to buy a new console and find it doesn't get the new games.

Just offer them in 1080p on the S and I'm sure you can keep the rest of the bells and whistles.

And there is no such constraint on the PS5 and that's really progressed 'next-gen' gaming!

These things are just PCs now and PC games can adapt to the different power of the host machines.

[Rhythm]

Piss poor in my opinion -

A game developer has expressed their frustration with Xbox’s mandatory declaration that all Xbox Series X games must also run on its lesser-powered pal, Xbox Series S — Noting that the requirement can be, and frequently is, a hindrance to the forward progression of next-gen gaming.

This is the exact complaint I've had about this split gen since it got announced. The ubiquity of all platforms getting everything is a blessing and a curse. Every platform is expected to get every game. Which means, at some point, that there's going to be a lowest common denominator.

Basically the only thing you can expect as you progress up from a £200 Series S right up to a PC blinged out with a £1600 RTX4090 is that the framerate might be smoother and the graphics will be a touch shinier. And that fucking sucks

Just offer them in 1080p on the S and I'm sure you can keep the rest of the bells and whistles.

That's the whole issue - it's not just rendering resolution. Different CPU speeds, different amounts of RAM. Meaning anything you design for the 16GB Series X has to also work on the 10GB Series S. So (for example) no improved physics on the X, no improved crowd mechanics. Anything genuinely "new" for this gen has to be created with the 10GB RAM, slightly slower model in mind.

This is the same thing Sony got fucking hammered for when the announced the PS4 Pro. They announced the new machine and published a big list of rules that basically said "look, the Pro is a slightly souped-up PS4 but that doesn't mean you can diddle the existing customer base. You're allowed to say 'Better on PS4 Pro' but you're not allowed to release Pro-only games and nor are you allowed to give Pro owners content that standard users can't get".

And that kind of customer protection made sense when it was a short-term interim hardware bump. But XBox's current gen has that constraint built in for the entire generation. So for all the "most powerful console ever" talk out there about the X, it's all half bullshit, because the X by design isn't allowed to do genuinely new things.

And there is no such constraint on the PS5 and that's really progressed 'next-gen' gaming!

Sony are still playing the same game. 2 years into the console there are only 5 exclusive PS5 games - everything else has been split across generations. But the point this dev has made is that Sony stuff can get better - the consoles are evenly-specced and thus once devs/publishers give up on the PS4 everything can move forward. Microsoft, by promising everything everywhere all the time, might have scuppered the Series X.

[MattyP]

These things are just PCs now and PC games can adapt to the different power of the host machines.

Agree... My old PC runs new games I just to play them scaled to what my hardware can do.

Same as the Series S. However the Series S has the same Zen 2 architecture as the Series X and PS5. I expect most of the extra processing grunt and memory in them will go to shifting higher fidelity graphics around.

In the end surely everything is scalable? The publishers will just want to get their content out to as many people as possible a d the S lowers the barrier to entry to gaming for many that might not have bothered before. So more money in gaming can only fund more games so hopefully more diversity.

I mean the limitations of the Spectrum or C64 didn't stop great games getting released? The Switch has some great games despite its technical limitations. And of course we now have Steam deck too etc ...

[Deckard]

Sony are still playing the same game. 2 years into the console there are only 5 exclusive PS5 games

Really ? Where is the point of difference to make you leap to new hardware ?

[venusian]

Sony are still playing the same game. 2 years into the console there are only 5 exclusive PS5 games

Really ? Where is the point of difference to make you leap to new hardware ?

Perhaps there isn't one?

[Misfit]

New Xbox Series S are £189.99 at Amazon and Smyth's Toys (the latter with a free month of Game Pass)

I set up my son's Series S last night - it's so small and cute!

[Rhythm]

New Xbox Series S are £189.99 at Amazon and Smyth's Toys (the latter with a free month of Game Pass)

I set up my son's Series S last night - it's so small and cute!

Aren't they dinky? Genuinely one of the nicest, cleanest console designs I've ever encountered. Who knows what Sony and MS were thinking of with their top-spec system designs, but MS knocked it out of the park with the Series S