Gaming Xbox Series X|S

[Redlambs]

I don't really know what you're on about. Do you mean the free stuff like Disney+? All I know is buying a game on the store is a breeze. Maybe getting gamepass that 1 time if using a code, or buying a 360 game isn't the most optimal but generally, buying an Xbox One or Series game is easy.

The store generally is strong now. And if these are the main complaints about the UI and why it is so rubbish, then it's doing a pretty good job I think.

For example, you get free dlc for Dead by Daylight. That takes you to a ridiculous amount of screens to get it, that's a fact.

That was one example, another is I don't like the homepage icons and how you interact with them, but then I'm clearly talking to the wrong person about gripes as you'll never have it! All I can say is that my point about the other stores is again, very valid. The way the Xbox UI is built means it's tied to too many things. But it's early days, I hope they can sort it.

I think you have to have an outlook email linked to all accounts these days. Dummy accounts work, or like you said, just turn notifications off (or a rule for emails from Xbox).

Yep, I dreaded as much and classic MS. That's pretty trash, you surely have to agree on that.

On backwards compatibility, if I load a 360 game it just signs my gamertag in on the 360 and syncs cloud saves with it. I don't have to add a new profile every single time no.

If it's just the downloading of the profile, it should just be the first time you load that 360 game (and should take seconds). When you next boot the game, you should just get a really quick cloud save sync.

So I'm correct, EVERY new 360 game you play has to download that profile individually. Also, it seems to have an issue early on with switching profiles too. As with the other gripes, it's far from ideal but not a deal breaker.



Listen mate, I know you are going to get defensive about this stuff, you admit that yourself, but I'm just trying to figure out why it works in this way I'm not attacking the system I've just spent £450 on. It's no secret I hate the way it works on PC, I hate the MS store and the Xbox app, I just hoped on the X it would have moved forward more to a streamlined experience and trust me, if the PS5 version is like this I will go harder as they have less of an excuse! In any case, nothing I've said is wrong, it's just not a good intuitive system in all areas (buying a game is fine enough though, although we don't know if it'll have the same file system problems the PC store has at times yet). Sure it's functional, and sure you might be used to it, but that doesn't mean it's actually good enough. They've cut corners and done the typical MS thing of piling on top instead of creating a contained UI for the Xbox. In fact, further proof of that, is the recent "new" upgrade for the PC side, check it out for yourself if you can be arsed and you'll see what I mean.

To cheer you up though, I like the box itself. SoT ran for hours earlier, and I actually heard the fan have to kick in. It was still nice and quiet enough though, and the top never got that hot.

 

[Redlambs]

On another note, I finally decided to try Crackdown 3 for a few hours today...what the hell have they done with this game? Granted it's been a long time since I played the first 2, but Jesus I don't remember them being so floaty to control (to the point of tedium) and devoid of any actual interest in the fights and what you can do.

Maybe it's a touch of nostalgia, but this just doesn't feel like the Crackdown I remember

 

[altodevil]

On another note, I finally decided to try Crackdown 3 for a few hours today...what the hell have they done with this game? Granted it's been a long time since I played the first 2, but Jesus I don't remember them being so floaty to control (to the point of tedium) and devoid of any actual interest in the fights and what you can do.

Maybe it's a touch of nostalgia, but this just doesn't feel like the Crackdown I remember

The first two are free to own in the Microsoft store. I picked up all the free games I could and added them to my collection. Never know if they will go back on sale.

 

[Redlambs]

The first two are free to own in the Microsoft store. I picked up all the free games I could and added them to my collection. Never know if they will go back on sale.

Nice, cheers! Though I have the discs anyway so I'm sorted.

Just a shame when they feck a series like this. I get a bit sad looking though the gamepass everytime I come across Dead Space

 

[Alock1]

For example, you get free dlc for Dead by Daylight. That takes you to a ridiculous amount of screens to get it, that's a fact.

That was one example, another is I don't like the homepage icons and how you interact with them, but then I'm clearly talking to the wrong person about gripes as you'll never have it! All I can say is that my point about the other stores is again, very valid. The way the Xbox UI is built means it's tied to too many things. But it's early days, I hope they can sort it.




Yep, I dreaded as much and classic MS. That's pretty trash, you surely have to agree on that.




So I'm correct, EVERY new 360 game you play has to download that profile individually. Also, it seems to have an issue early on with switching profiles too. As with the other gripes, it's far from ideal but not a deal breaker.



Listen mate, I know you are going to get defensive about this stuff, you admit that yourself, but I'm just trying to figure out why it works in this way I'm not attacking the system I've just spent £450 on. It's no secret I hate the way it works on PC, I hate the MS store and the Xbox app, I just hoped on the X it would have moved forward more to a streamlined experience and trust me, if the PS5 version is like this I will go harder as they have less of an excuse! In any case, nothing I've said is wrong, it's just not a good intuitive system in all areas (buying a game is fine enough though, although we don't know if it'll have the same file system problems the PC store has at times yet). Sure it's functional, and sure you might be used to it, but that doesn't mean it's actually good enough. They've cut corners and done the typical MS thing of piling on top instead of creating a contained UI for the Xbox. In fact, further proof of that, is the recent "new" upgrade for the PC side, check it out for yourself if you can be arsed and you'll see what I mean.

To cheer you up though, I like the box itself. SoT ran for hours earlier, and I actually heard the fan have to kick in. It was still nice and quiet enough though, and the top never got that hot.

Haha it doesn't cheer me up or otherwise if you like or dislike anything about it. I don't buy DLC, I'm sure there are some things that could be done better. But for me, the things I need and want to do often are a few buttons away, and it seems that most who use the console often like it. If I can navigate it quick and do what I want with little effort, it's a good UI for me. Maybe not for others use cases. There's pros and cons to building on top and adding things - and what I'll say is that it's time tested. It has everything I need without feature / function gaps that other consoles tend to have at launch and beyond.

On the Xbox 360 profile thing, this is just because of the backwards compatibility, right? It isn't emulating the game alone and trying to input an Xbox one profile with achievements and cloud saves but is basically emulating the Xbox 360 dashboard and boot and login process within the Xbox series X shell. It was the same process on Xbox One.

Maybe they'd have had a better solution had they built the Xbox One with 360 backwards compatibility in mind. But it was a change in approach and so they had to backwards engineer the best solution and this is what we have. That we have a decent chunk of 360 games at all is fantastic as far as I'm concerned, especially considering the backwards compat efforts of Sony and Nintendo. Clearly moving forward it's going to be better integrated as each system / app will be built with cloud and backwards compatibility in mind. It's as easy to boot an Xbox One game as a Series X game with no need to download profiles etc.etc. seems that's just a case of having to backwards engineer back compat to me.

 

[Alock1]

On another note, I finally decided to try Crackdown 3 for a few hours today...what the hell have they done with this game? Granted it's been a long time since I played the first 2, but Jesus I don't remember them being so floaty to control (to the point of tedium) and devoid of any actual interest in the fights and what you can do.

Maybe it's a touch of nostalgia, but this just doesn't feel like the Crackdown I remember

Honestly it felt like a joke game when I tried it. Like it was built alongside the other 2 back on the early 360.

Not sure how it's got a bit this niche of the internet who actually love and rate it.

 

[Mr Anderson]

Tetris is surprisingly cool. Integrated with the funky music is actually pretty wild. Worth a go on GamePass, would never buy it personally though at the rrp price point.

 

[Alock1]

Tetris is surprisingly cool. Integrated with the funky music is actually pretty wild. Worth a go on GamePass, would never buy it personally though at the rrp price point.

Was playing this last night. I'd never buy it at any price to be honest but happy to sink a few hours in through gamepass. Looks great too. Colours really pop.

 

[ShinjiNinja26]

My eyes just lit up there when I went on Amazon and seen there was series x available until I clicked the buy options and some feckers selling it for £999! Scumbag.

 

[Bojan11]

Honestly it felt like a joke game when I tried it. Like it was built alongside the other 2 back on the early 360.

Not sure how it's got a bit this niche of the internet who actually love and rate it.

Only bought the first one like thousands of others did because it included the Halo 3 beta. Was fun for about 10 minutes.

 

[Alock1]

I can't get over how good Forza Horizon 4 looks on Series X. To think Digital Foundry think it could look even better if they were able to get the same visual fidelity as One X with the Series X enhancement (4k Vs 1080p) seems crazy.

It's such a brilliant game. You don't need to be a racing fan to enjoy it. I hope they bring over the seasons into Fable in some way. All 4 look incredibly in their own way.

 

[altodevil]

I can't get over how good Forza Horizon 4 looks on Series X. To think Digital Foundry think it could look even better if they were able to get the same visual fidelity as One X with the Series X enhancement (4k Vs 1080p) seems crazy.

It's such a brilliant game. You don't need to be a racing fan to enjoy it. I hope they bring over the seasons into Fable in some way. All 4 look incredibly in their own way.

It's so deep. There's just so much to do in it, and it's chill.

 

[Mr Anderson]

I can't get over how good Forza Horizon 4 looks on Series X. To think Digital Foundry think it could look even better if they were able to get the same visual fidelity as One X with the Series X enhancement (4k Vs 1080p) seems crazy.

It's such a brilliant game. You don't need to be a racing fan to enjoy it. I hope they bring over the seasons into Fable in some way. All 4 look incredibly in their own way.

It’s actually stunning.

 

[Woodzy]

My eyes just lit up there when I went on Amazon and seen there was series x available until I clicked the buy options and some feckers selling it for £999! Scumbag.

Don’t get too disheartened, my sister bagged one at normal price from Amazon on Wednesday.

Sign up to stock informer and keep an eye out.

 

[Redlambs]

Honestly it felt like a joke game when I tried it. Like it was built alongside the other 2 back on the early 360.

Not sure how it's got a bit this niche of the internet who actually love and rate it.

Such a shame. The first two weren't the greatest games ever, but could be a lot of fun for an odd hour or two at a time. I guess all the budget went into Crews!

I can't get over how good Forza Horizon 4 looks on Series X. To think Digital Foundry think it could look even better if they were able to get the same visual fidelity as One X with the Series X enhancement (4k Vs 1080p) seems crazy.

It's such a brilliant game. You don't need to be a racing fan to enjoy it. I hope they bring over the seasons into Fable in some way. All 4 look incredibly in their own way.

It was always a beautiful game to look at. I'm going to load it and play it soon, I've never actually played 4 properly.

 

[Redlambs]

Sea of Thieves is stunning on it too, and soooo much smoother. I don't think the lighting/reflections are up to spec as my PC though, which is a bit odd, but I think they'll have some optimising to do so it should be improved down the line.

The only annoying thing is their insistence of mouse acceleration/smoothing being forced on. Not that it bothers my boy who will ultimately use it for SoT.

 

[pascell]

Saw a video online of a few peoples turning off and turning into a smoke machine.

 

[rcoobc]

Saw a video online of a few peoples turning off and turning into a smoke machine.

You should always believe everything you see on the internet

 

[Eckers99]

So I'm thinking of switching over to Xbox this generation, with the monthly payment plan and Gamepass massively tempting. Would the subscription give me access to all the best games of the past generation? Used to łove Halo and Gears - are there any decent recent installments of those?

 

[altodevil]

So I'm thinking of switching over to Xbox this generation, with the monthly payment plan and Gamepass massively tempting. Would the subscription give me access to all the best games of the past generation? Used to łove Halo and Gears - are there any decent recent installments of those?

Gears 5 is great. And yes it absolutely does. That's why I got it, didn't have an Xbox One or PS4.

 

[Eckers99]

Gears 5 is great. And yes it absolutely does. That's why I got it, didn't have an Xbox One or PS4.

I've loved my PS4 and it's a wrench to leave the Sony exclusives but £10 a month to have pretty much unlimited gaming, while I wait for new titles to come out/ down in price seems almost too good to be true. Plus I switched from 360 to PS4 largely to catch up on the Sony titles I'd missed on PS3 and didn't regret it.

The 2 consoles both seem to have different selling points but Gamepass is swinging it for me right now, especially with it feeling like more of a leap of faith due the lack of new titles.

 

[altodevil]

What's the thoughts on Fallen Order? Worth a play?

 

[Redlambs]

What's the thoughts on Fallen Order? Worth a play?

Definitely worth a play for free, does Star Wars settings well enough and the story is ok.

Very much a mish-mash of ideas ranging from mediocre to decent enough in places though, nothing really excels and the level design can be incredibly tedious. But you have nothing to lose and might even love it like some have.

 

[Redlambs]

I've loved my PS4 and it's a wrench to leave the Sony exclusives but £10 a month to have pretty much unlimited gaming, while I wait for new titles to come out/ down in price seems almost too good to be true. Plus I switched from 360 to PS4 largely to catch up on the Sony titles I'd missed on PS3 and didn't regret it.

The 2 consoles both seem to have different selling points but Gamepass is swinging it for me right now, especially with it feeling like more of a leap of faith due the lack of new titles.

I would definitely check out the games on the gamepass though before taking the leap. It's very good value for games, but nothing really stand out for the new machines. Having said that on the one hand you say you missed the Xbone generation so the best stuff is mostly on it, on the other hand the best stuff isn't overly exciting unless you really want Halo or Gears. Though I'm a huge fan of Sea of Thieves, that's very much worth trying to get into even with it's sharp learning curve at first.

As for future games, well it's highly likely Sony will have the best exclusives again, but we don't know for sure as MS have made a few strides in that area.

 

[DixieDean]

I finished Cold War's campaign today. It was a by the numbers COD. I played at 4k with ray tracing on. I did not notice it at all. The game just looked like a sharper Xbox One game. Not impressive at all, really.

And now I've spent a lot of time with it I can safely say that the new controller is really good. It feels premium in a way the old one didn't. I'm going to be sad to part with it when I start using my elite.

 

[Eckers99]

I would definitely check out the games on the gamepass though before taking the leap. It's very good value for games, but nothing really stand out for the new machines. Having said that on the one hand you say you missed the Xbone generation so the best stuff is mostly on it, on the other hand the best stuff isn't overly exciting unless you really want Halo or Gears. Though I'm a huge fan of Sea of Thieves, that's very much worth trying to get into even with it's sharp learning curve at first.

As for future games, well it's highly likely Sony will have the best exclusives again, but we don't know for sure as MS have made a few strides in that area.

Yeah, I'd be happy just to catch up with the good Xbone games I've missed and maybe even revisit a few classics. By the time that's getting old, I reckon the good next gen stuff will start coming out. I've got a positive feeling about the Xbox this time around.

 

[bonothom]

I can't get over how good Forza Horizon 4 looks on Series X. To think Digital Foundry think it could look even better if they were able to get the same visual fidelity as One X with the Series X enhancement (4k Vs 1080p) seems crazy.

I actually agree with digital foundry. On the one x they had ssao turned on and it ran at 4k 30fps. On the series x they've turned off ssao to get it to run at 4k 60fps and it doesn't look as good to my eyes. You mention 1080p on the one x, but thats the 60fps version. I always played at 4k 30fps. I hope they do a version for 4k 30fps with the extra settings turned on, on the series x. It should really be able to run it at 4k 60fps with the same settings as the one x.

 

[bonothom]

I finished Cold War's campaign today. It was a by the numbers COD. I played at 4k with ray tracing on. I did not notice it at all. The game just looked like a sharper Xbox One game. Not impressive at all, really.

And now I've spent a lot of time with it I can safely say that the new controller is really good. It feels premium in a way the old one didn't. I'm going to be sad to part with it when I start using my elite.

I actually think ray tracing is a waste of resources. You could have ultra settings for everything at 4k and get 60fps on the series x without ray tracing and you'd get a better looking game.

 

[EvilChuck]

Saw a video online of a few peoples turning off and turning into a smoke machine.

 

[Balljy]

I actually think ray tracing is a waste of resources. You could have ultra settings for everything at 4k and get 60fps on the series x without ray tracing and you'd get a better looking game.

I can't comment on Cold War but you need to see the likes of Control with Ray Tracing. It's crazy how good it can make things look when done properly.

 

[Reditus]

Forza Horizon 4 is good fun but why must it have such annoying characters in it? Everyone of them is an arsehole

 

[mancan92]

Definitely worth a play for free, does Star Wars settings well enough and the story is ok.

Very much a mish-mash of ideas ranging from mediocre to decent enough in places though, nothing really excels and the level design can be incredibly tedious. But you have nothing to lose and might even love it like some have.

Plus graphically it's incredible

 

[horsechoker]

@Bojan11

Stop it mate

 

[Parma Dewol]

Really should have pre-ordered. Frustrating not to be able to find stock now, and I only want the Series S.

 

[pascell]

I fell for it

 

[P-Nut]

Really should have pre-ordered. Frustrating not to be able to find stock now, and I only want the Series S.

Asda had Series S stock last week, not checked since but it was still there in the evening of release

 

[Bojan11]

https://www.videogameschronicle.com...upply-shortages-to-continue-until-april-2021/

“I think we’ll continue to see supply shortages as we head into the post-holiday quarter, so Microsoft’s Q3, calendar Q1,” Xbox chief financial officer Tim Stuart said at the Jefferies Interactive Entertainment conference last week

And then when we get to Q4, all of our supply chain continuing to go full speed heading into kind of the pre-summer months.
And that’s where I start to — I expect to see a little bit of the demand — the supply profile, meeting the demand profile.

You’ll be outside of a holiday window. We’ll have supply cranking over the next, what, 4, 5, 6 months. And that’s when I expect to see really that demand profile start to be met, which will be really, really great.”

 

[bonothom]

I can't comment on Cold War but you need to see the likes of Control with Ray Tracing. It's crazy how good it can make things look when done properly.

Not seen Control with Ray Tracing. I've seen it on watch dogs legion and after it's rained in places it makes the graphics look a bit of a mess because the resolution is noticeably lower in the graphically complex bits.

 

[Balljy]

Not seen Control with Ray Tracing. I've seen it on watch dogs legion and after it's rained in places it makes the graphics look a bit of a mess because the resolution is noticeably lower in the graphically complex bits.

Yeah, it'll be a problem if the hardware can't cope and has to reduce resolution. These games are very early in the console though and they will improve over the next few years so let's hope they sort it out. They are thinking about it though as they are compromising on some of the ray tracing features on PS5 in Spiderman to keep performance up and that's probably the way to go rather than just reduce resolution.

I'm talking about PC, but ray tracing is incredible when done well and I wouldn't want to go without it for what it does. There's only a handful of games on the done well list for now though!

 

[Redlambs]

Ray tracing is a huge leap. Just not gonna be fully realised on these new consoles.


Anyway, first big crash today. Surprise surprise it was the fecking MS store, black screening and refusing to open, which also cancelled and deleted all partial downloads.

That's a common problem they've never fixed, on the plus side it looks like the partial games haven't duplicated on the ssd. Yet anyway, I'm yet to reattempt redownload