The Verge: The Xbox One is the best console if you don’t care about exclusive new games

[bsigg]

This week's slate of new releases for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One serves as an illuminating indicator of the state each console is in. The PS4 has two new exclusive titles in major series that date back to the PlayStation 2 days: God of War, by all accounts a masterpiece, and Yakuza 6, a satisfying final chapter for a much-loved character. The Xbox One, on the other hand? Well, now you can play a bunch more old Xbox 1 — as in the original Xbox — games.

I don't mean for this to sound damning, though. While Microsoft is rightly being pilloried for its anemic first-party software efforts, the Xbox One actually now has more to play on it than any other console. At least, from a certain point of view.

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Things get better when you actually play these games, because in many cases they run vastly better on the new hardware. Original Xbox games are also now supported and get a 4x native resolution boost on the Xbox One and One S, or 16x on the Xbox One X — this usually means 960p on One S and 1920p on One X. 360 games load faster and often run smoother than they did on their original system, meanwhile, and sometimes even get specific enhancements for the Xbox One S and X.

It's kind of amazing, for instance, that I can put the Mirror's Edge disc I bought literally a decade ago into my One S and play it today with HDR support. The same goes for Halo 3, which now somehow looks better in backwards compatibility mode than it did when specifically remastered for the Xbox One in The Master Chief Collection. And in lieu of an actual re-release or PC version, what better way to prepare for Red Dead Redemption 2than by playing through its predecessor at a higher resolution?

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More at the link: The Verge

I think it's an interesting take. The BC has been a great push from Microsoft and seeing them really give old games new life on consoles, because we know we can do a lot of this on PC already, has been great. Playing SSX 3 last night looked and felt great and I'm interested to see how Microsoft continues to develop this feature.

 

[Spades]

This will end well.

 

[Dark Cloud]

I agree.

 

[Silky]

HEY HEY, COME ON OVER ITS TIME FOR A BAD THREAD

I like the Xbone but man, i really couldn't care less for the vast majority of non Nintendo exclusive titles these days. So the excitement for those kind of games are lost on me.

 

[Dranakin]

Plus, the ability to play UHD Blu Rays.

 

[Fiery Phoenix]

I think I generally agree, especially if you have an X. It's an amazing console.

 

[Deleted member 4093]

The Xbox One does have exclusives though

 

[bsigg]

This will end well.

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Yea, I'm expect the discourse to be as informative as the Phil Spencer thread.

But, again I thought it was an interesting take from Sam.

 

[bane833]

Well yeah the console itself is better than the Pro. That´s not a secret. Games are still the most important part though.

 

[Deleted member 3897]

I agree.

Still, Im buying consoles for exclusives so I don't care about superior multiplatts.

 

[Swauny Jones]

No lies here.

 

[R dott B]

They're not wrong.

 

[TheStebe]

You COULD say that the xbox one has an exclusive feature regarding backwards compatibility this generation?

But for anyone who wants more than just exclusives there is a lot of choice

 

[Jarod McChicken]

That's a pretty big "if", if you ask me, but sure.

 

[maximumzero]

I'm actually keeping an eye out for Xbox One S deals. If Microsoft's backwards compatibility initiative keeps going I should be able to retire my Xbox 360 and gain a Blu-Ray player in the process. I'll probably make a thread about it sometime this weekend.

 

[MrHeisenbird]

I wouldn't have a console if it weren't for exclusives.

But that's just me.

 

[Windrunner]

Kind of true which is why I own a PS4 Pro and a Xbox One X.

Playing OG Xbox games in 4K is the bee's knees.

 

[Vince_Jo1990]

I love my Xbox One, despite having a Switch, PS4 and PC. Since I don't really buy exclusive and new games anymore and I mostly play multi plats, Xbox One feels the most natural console for me to play on. Xbox game pass is amazing and I just love the console in general, the UI, controller, Online, etc.

Though PS4 wins the exclusivity games, games like Yakuza, Persona and even the new God of War, I can only play on PS4 and I keep this console for those games when they have discount and "GOTY" edition.

As a gamer, I love playing on every consoles and every games, all 3 consoles are good. Only wish MS would care for more exclusivity...

 

[Goose Se7en]

Byford, to be fair, makes solid points all around. If you don't care for Sony/Nintendo exclusives and you don't mind that MS's 1st party lineup lacks the quality and moreover, the variety that the competition has then sure, Xbox One, specifically the Xbox One X is a solid choice. The best choice.

 

[The Real Napsta]

I wouldn't have a console if it weren't for exclusives.

But that's just me.

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Same. I gotta have Halo, so I'm always buying every Xbox.

 

[Moose the Mooche]

Ow definetly

 

[kadotsu]

That's a huge ass qualifier. Especially if you own a PC.

 

[Gestault]

If price weren't a factor, I think this is a reasonable case to make about the Xbox One X. Between defacto and actual exclusives and the quality of third-party games, that would be a strong standalone system. That said, you couldn't pay me to skip the PS4 this gen. There's too much cool, obscure, and weird stuff that you just don't get elsewhere, even if there's a nice selection of those same sort of oddities on the XB1. You'd be hard pressed to make the case that there are any bad consoles this generation.

 

[evrythngwastakn]

I feel like It has been for a while. EA Access and Gamepass alone make it a much better value for the casual fan especially. It's certainly what I recommend to people who want a system for their kid or for friends who are just "madden and GTA" (or Fortnite).

That said, Sony's 1st party output is amazing so I can't imagine giving it up. And while BC for 360 games is really cool, I doubt most people will play more than the heaviest of hitters more than once in a blue moon. And to unlock the really pretty BC details you need an X, which is double the price of the S since that goes on sale so damn much. But they deserve huge props for it. Sony better follow suit next time. I'm done keeping old consoles.

 

[Dougieflesh]

Facts.

 

[dancingphlower]

If you're more interested in those older games, sure, why not? Still, I'd rather be playing new games, to be honest.

 

[T.Slothrop]

The One X is an amazing piece of hardware. I've been playing a lot of backwards compatible games on it as well as Monster Hunter World. I could see it picking up a tiny bit of momentum at the tail end of this generation.

 

[Deleted member 8791]

Hard to disagree if you want the best performing console.

 

[CloseTalker]

Yeah, that's pretty inarguable. If Sony's exclusives don't do it for you, the Xbox platform offers a huge number of services that are much more consumer friendly than Playstation does.

 

[Hoo-doo]

I agree. But it also sounds delightfully stupid in isolation.

'If you don't care about exclusive games, this is the console for you!' Yeah, no shit!

 

[nillapuddin]

game pass is legit, anyone who says otherwise is being foolish.

there are so many games that I just try out and end up loving, the value proposition is insane.

 

[Windrunner]

If price weren't a factor, I think this is a reasonable case to make about the Xbox One X. Between defacto and actual exlusives and the quality of third-party games, that would be a strong standalone system. That said, you couldn't pay me to skip the PS4 this gen. There's too much cool, obscure, and weird stuff that you just don't get elsewhere, even if there's a nice selection of those same sort of oddities on the XB1. You'd be hard pressed to make the case that there are any bad consoles this generation.

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We really are spoiled right now. Wish I had more time to play everything.

 

[Deleted member 11262]

I don't have a XBox, but I still agree.
Isn't this a given though? Their service is pretty good and I'd buy one immediately for Morrowind and Jade Empire if there were any current exclusives I'd want to play. There aren't though.

 

[Wollan]

Install times? Did they in general sort the OS in regards to UI and how multi-tasking works? No Virtual Reality?

I can understand if they think One X for multiplats (if you for some reason want to disregard exclusive new games.. but it's not just a few... there's heaps and heaps) but the One S?

 

[christocolus]

This is actually a very well written article. MS has done very well with their hardware, OS, BC live and other services. They just need to step it up now on the 1st party front and it will be almost perfect. Looking forward to what they have to say @E3.

 

[Ocean]

Exclusives are great and all but the vast majority of the games I buy are multiplat. So after never owning an Xbox, and having bought every single Playststion at launch, I got an X last week.

PS4 is, right now, sorta like a Nintendo console - it gets so many exclusives that it's absolutely worth owning, but it's not where you wanna play your multi platform games at.

 

[Megatron]

Its a really nice system, but being the only console without new exclusive games is a bold strategy.

I think for the next xbox we may see them dial that back. At the very least go with one year timed exclusives before putting them on pc.

 

[freakybj]

This will end well.

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It's sad we can't have a reasonable discussion about these things.

I agree with the sentiment of the article though. Hopefully at E3 Microsoft will have some news on exclusive games.

 

[Puffy]

Sure. I wouldn't buy one though.

Edit - The X is. The one s is still trash

 

[Lord Brady]

They're not wrong, but I do so I won't.

 

[Revolsin]

The X1 is the best console if you don't own a PC for some reason and also if you don't care for exclusives

Get enough qualifiers and a lot of things sound good

 

[Derrick01]

It's really damning in a way that the best reason to own one is for old games, and their best current gen exclusives are also old games (rare replay, halo MCC). Still to people like me the level of commitment they've done with BC is admirable and makes me want a X if I can subsidize enough of the high cost.

But as for playing current gen multiplats? Couldn't care less about playing them at slightly higher resolutions when I have a PC and Pro.

 

[JJH]

 

[Spinluck]

Pretty true, absolute best console for 3rd party games too, no question. The One X is also doing godly things with BC, and I can only hope Sony follows suit next gen with BC. I also think Live still has the up on PSN as well.

 

[Zalman]

I mean, yeah... But why would you not care about the games you can play? It's a game machine.

 

[JINX]

 

[QuantumZebra]

I'm actually keeping an eye out for Xbox One S deals. If Microsoft's backwards compatibility initiative keeps going I should be able to retire my Xbox 360 and gain a Blu-Ray player in the process. I'll probably make a thread about it sometime this weekend.

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I main a PS4 Pro along with my wife (and love them) - but my XB1S is great as a 4k UHD/BluRay player and for BC/Forza Horizon 3

 

[Deleted member 5764]

Really can't argue with that premise. I just bought an Xbox One X a few weeks ago and it really feels like the best place to play just about anything. My PS4 is going to exist solely as an exclusives machine, and my Switch will fit the bill for exclusives/indies.

I just hope Microsoft isn't dumb enough to throw away all their work on the Xbox One come next-gen. People will expect to have BC and game improvements that are on-par with the One X at the bare minimum.

 

[kennyamr]

Right, but personally, just like the movies, I rather go see a new well-reviewed big-budget movie than a remastered movie from the 90s in a better looking theater.

 

[Lifendz]

Seems fairly obvious. But I really enjoy Sony exclusives and money is a factor, so an X and any future MS consoles are never really a must buy for me the way a new Sony console is.