Xbox consoles + PC are an amazing 1-2 punch imo, especially with gamepass, play anywhere and BC.
What benefits are there for a PC owner buying an Xbox Series S/X?
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For all of the "It's easier, it's simpler" arguments... I don't think they hold much water for gamers. Otherwise consoels would be larger than PC gaming... but they aren't.
Think about that. Think about the BILLIONS of dollars Sony and Microsoft and Nintendo sink into marketing and subsudizing console hardware and moneyhatting games.
NO ONE does that for PC's. No one.
And yet the PC gaming market is larger than consoles. So either to a HELL of a lot of people PC gaming isn't so difficult, or complicated as some of you make it out to be, or I'm missing out on something.
Is there like a PC gamer fanclub that gets you rewards or something? There is, isn't there? Fuck!
Think about that. Think about the BILLIONS of dollars Sony and Microsoft and Nintendo sink into marketing and subsudizing console hardware and moneyhatting games.
NO ONE does that for PC's. No one.
And yet the PC gaming market is larger than consoles. So either to a HELL of a lot of people PC gaming isn't so difficult, or complicated as some of you make it out to be, or I'm missing out on something.
Is there like a PC gamer fanclub that gets you rewards or something? There is, isn't there? Fuck!
You don't have to use it on PC either. They have the separate Xbox app.... mind you it's not that great either. They should just team up fully with Steam and have gamepass on there.
Depends on what PC you currently have, your upgrade plans and budget, what type of screen/TV you have, if you like/dislike couch gaming, if you have kids, if you're already subbing to Game Pass Ultimate and will have loads of games just sitting there waiting for you, and most importantly if you have the PC in the living room.
As a parent with prepaid Game Pass and kids playing lots of old games and no PC in the living room or 4K/HDR PC screens I choose the convenient and cheap path into the next gen - Xbox Series X.
I still have a RTX 3080 preordered though, can't see myself playing Cyberpunk on console and racing on three screens is better than racing on one TV.
There are a few compelling reasons that i have both for, but depending on the quality of your pc and your disposable income, they may not be enough:
- cross platform multiplayer is great if you have others in your home. One one xbox and one on pc, single gamepass license.
- get more value out of Gamepass Ultimate with the occasional xbox console exclusive on gamepass and perks.
- if you do not have a powerful game pc, you are not likley to build one better than the series x for the price. Provided you don't mind controllers, you can play turn based / strat / etc type games on pc and the graphic showcases on series x.
I think they do complement eachother in the Microsoft ecosystem, but thats only it: compliment. Not a must have IMO. The only other benefit I get out of it, personally, is that I'm not one of those who gripes about the quality of pc gamepass and how its not the same games as console gamepass. To be honest, as an Ultimate subscriber, I kind of like it when they are asymmetric, because it gives me an excuse to switch platforms ;)
- cross platform multiplayer is great if you have others in your home. One one xbox and one on pc, single gamepass license.
- get more value out of Gamepass Ultimate with the occasional xbox console exclusive on gamepass and perks.
- if you do not have a powerful game pc, you are not likley to build one better than the series x for the price. Provided you don't mind controllers, you can play turn based / strat / etc type games on pc and the graphic showcases on series x.
I think they do complement eachother in the Microsoft ecosystem, but thats only it: compliment. Not a must have IMO. The only other benefit I get out of it, personally, is that I'm not one of those who gripes about the quality of pc gamepass and how its not the same games as console gamepass. To be honest, as an Ultimate subscriber, I kind of like it when they are asymmetric, because it gives me an excuse to switch platforms ;)
I rather play game pass games on my Xbox than pc, Xbox app/windows store is terrible, I also rent games from GameFly sometimes, and buying an Xbox game then sell it when I'm done is cheaper than buying the game on pc.
do I have to have an Xbox? No but I can more than afford it.
do I have to have an Xbox? No but I can more than afford it.
I have a nice TV in my living room and my PC is in an office so in my situation being able to play certain games on the big screen without having to move stuff around would be nice.
My personal experience going this gen with an Xbox S as a companion to my PC is that.. it barely ever gets turned on.
Basically it's a blu-ray player, except I purchased like 4 of those in the past severla years, and I'm poretty sure I'm done with discs cluttering up my life.
For gaming I've been just streaming PC games to the TV when and if I want to play on my TV which isn't often because it's usually monopolized by my family for TV and movies plus it's hard to beat 144hz ultra wide gaming, even with a 4K TV.
The only game I really ended up being excited about playing on that system was Lego Dimensions, mostly because its not available on PC. But, it ran like crap in coop mode. Sub 30 FPS and long load times. The worst experience. My kid didnt' want to play it anymore, prefering the experience on the PC with the other lego games.
Now, a new console won't have the same issues as the low powered Xbox S, for sure, but as usual, games will continute to push graphics and continue to run at lower settings and lower framerates even on these new consoles and on PC I will inevetably suffer the same fate, except I have the option to upgrade mid gen or thereabouts.
I was thinking of buying the new Series S as a compliment to my PC, but the mroe I think I about it, the less it makes sense to. I'll happily continue to pay Microsoft for gamepass, and then almost certainly more money on top of that for any Microsoft first party title that I enjoy enough to want to own on Steam (and is available there).
Still I haven't completely ruled it out. Right now we only have one main gaming PC and a laptop. Having a third device for when we want to all play somehting together would be cool. BUT, I'd need to see a coimmitment from devs and Mircorosoft to make all of their games cross-platform, so I cna just jump in on the xbox and PC and play together, regardless of whether I have the game on gamepass or Steam.
If that happens, I'll probably reconsider. If it doesn't thenI'll just use my current GPU when I upgrade it and build a small form factor PC for the TV instead.
Basically it's a blu-ray player, except I purchased like 4 of those in the past severla years, and I'm poretty sure I'm done with discs cluttering up my life.
For gaming I've been just streaming PC games to the TV when and if I want to play on my TV which isn't often because it's usually monopolized by my family for TV and movies plus it's hard to beat 144hz ultra wide gaming, even with a 4K TV.
The only game I really ended up being excited about playing on that system was Lego Dimensions, mostly because its not available on PC. But, it ran like crap in coop mode. Sub 30 FPS and long load times. The worst experience. My kid didnt' want to play it anymore, prefering the experience on the PC with the other lego games.
Now, a new console won't have the same issues as the low powered Xbox S, for sure, but as usual, games will continute to push graphics and continue to run at lower settings and lower framerates even on these new consoles and on PC I will inevetably suffer the same fate, except I have the option to upgrade mid gen or thereabouts.
I was thinking of buying the new Series S as a compliment to my PC, but the mroe I think I about it, the less it makes sense to. I'll happily continue to pay Microsoft for gamepass, and then almost certainly more money on top of that for any Microsoft first party title that I enjoy enough to want to own on Steam (and is available there).
Still I haven't completely ruled it out. Right now we only have one main gaming PC and a laptop. Having a third device for when we want to all play somehting together would be cool. BUT, I'd need to see a coimmitment from devs and Mircorosoft to make all of their games cross-platform, so I cna just jump in on the xbox and PC and play together, regardless of whether I have the game on gamepass or Steam.
If that happens, I'll probably reconsider. If it doesn't thenI'll just use my current GPU when I upgrade it and build a small form factor PC for the TV instead.
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Wait, what? I'm pretty sure the PC gaming market is much smaller on the enthusiast end than the console market. Lots of people are "PC gamers" in that they play low end or older titles on their laptops or whatever. But only a fraction of those people own even a mid-range level PC targeted at gaming, let alone one that they selected and built themselves.
Consoles are mainstream and common living room entertainment devices, in part because they function as media centers. That's not true of comparably gaming-capable PCs.
My primary benefit: being able to easily game in my living room. My office is nowhere near my TV or router and it would cost me several hundred to have cables wired through the walls for just in home streaming. It would cost even more if I wired HDMI since it would take a high end cable to manage the 25 foot run I would need.
Use GamePass in multiple rooms in your house and share your save files and digital library.
Shit's tight.
Shit's tight.
I have a PC, but I pre ordered a Series S as well. I wanted a console for the television since I work from my PC all day. Being a Game Pass subscriber and knowing about cross saves helps. Also, GP for console has more offerings along with games that do not see a PC release. Backwards compatibility is nice too.
So they don';t count as PC gamers because they play less demanding games? Can I take away all of Nintendo form the equation then? Either way the argument is that console gaming is so easy that PC is a chore in comparison, if you're saying that only the super casuals are gmaing on PC, well that just strengthens my argument, no?
Even if you just stick to a more "mainstream" audience on PC, whatever that would mean... You're still talking Steam + Battlenet + a LOT of the MMO scene. And yes, that's bigger than either Sony or Microsoft. You'd have to put them in together to stand a chance.
PC gaming is HUGE. Steam alone represent well over a 150 million user base. It's not 2002 anymore.
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- Way more powerful than a $500 PC
- Access to larger Game Pass console catalogue
- Much more convenient for couch gaming
- Xbox 360 and OG Xbox backwards compatibility
- Far superior HDR support than PC
- Controller can also be used with your PC
- Plays 4K Blu-rays
Honestly neither Sony or Microsoft are giving me a reason to upgrade. I already have a UHD player in my x1x and gamepass for pc will yield me all of the cool exclusives. Sony is porting the exclusives I want to ps4 for the moment so why upgrade there? I'm thinking I'll wait a year or 2 for ps5 and skip series x altogether.
I mean, that's not what I said. I said that just because someone plays games on a PC doesn't mean they have a PC capable of console-level gaming. So the universe of all PC gamers can be massive, but only a subset of those people are able to skip buying a console because their PC is good enough.
Yeah, I've had a Xbox and PC for years. Both have their sweet spots. I tend to prefer couch based controller games with friends, but FPS and strategy action wants to be on a PC.
GamePass makes it better, I get free stuff on both, and I can fire up my Forza Horizon 4 save wherever and it just works.
If push came to shove, I'd keep my PC over everything else, but it's a great combo if you have the resources for it.
GamePass makes it better, I get free stuff on both, and I can fire up my Forza Horizon 4 save wherever and it just works.
If push came to shove, I'd keep my PC over everything else, but it's a great combo if you have the resources for it.
You'd rather play these games at 30fps and with worse graphics and performance? So far it's Miles, Sack Boy, and FW that they've announced as cross gen right? So GT7, Demon Souls, Ratchet and Ckank, etc, are still unknown. I doubt R&C is cross gen though.
I think the biggest, exclusive advantage of Series X over PC is the BC because it has games that simply don't exist on PC. The GamePass library is larger there, but a lot of those games that aren't on GamePass PC you can still buy on other PC storefronts for cheap if you want. GWG is nice but the Epic Store hands out free games every other week it seems. Not much of a reason to have a Series X if you are able to have a PC stronger than one. It's the reason I'm going 3080/Switch/PS5. I'll hold onto my One X for BC for sure because I still want to play my 360 games like Lost Odyssey, Blue Dragon, Fight Night etc.
Not having to go up against M/Kb players when you prefer gamepad for multiplayer games is a huge one that not many people mention.
Luckily input based matchmaking/crossplay is starting to become a thing so that's becoming less of an issue.
Luckily input based matchmaking/crossplay is starting to become a thing so that's becoming less of an issue.
I completely agree, I plugged my 3080 into my TV today and it blew my mind may have to cancel my series x pre order.
I am doing it for the ecosystem benefits, having everything available anywhere is definitely worth it if you care about Ultimate's offering. I went for a Series X, but the Series S offers the same type of value proposition.
There's just some games better experienced on the couch.
There's just some games better experienced on the couch.
One question arises to me regarding Velocity Architecture.
I assume that Sony's first parties may take advantage of the new PS5 IO throughput, since it's their new base line.
But how can MS take real advantage of Velocity, when games will be tied to multiple PC configurations?
And I'm not talking about faster booting and loading times, but assets/texture streaming.
Would the Xbox Series X deliver the "best version" on certain games? Including PC?
I assume that Sony's first parties may take advantage of the new PS5 IO throughput, since it's their new base line.
But how can MS take real advantage of Velocity, when games will be tied to multiple PC configurations?
And I'm not talking about faster booting and loading times, but assets/texture streaming.
Would the Xbox Series X deliver the "best version" on certain games? Including PC?
If you wanna game on two different displays, one desk, the other couch, then I can see that being a decent reason.
helps that the console is plenty powerful too, so the switch won't feel to jarring.
helps that the console is plenty powerful too, so the switch won't feel to jarring.
I've just plonked down orders for the trifecta (3080, PS5, Series X) - I think honestly just choice is probably the reason at this point. If I ever want to game in my living room rather than my office, I can very easily take my console downstairs and plug it in, as opposed to lugging my entire PC downstairs.
Other main reason is for the selection on console Game Pass. I strongly suspect I'll end up playing most multi platform games on PC for the first time ever with this generation, but if a game is on console GP but not PC, I'll play it there.
Other main reason is for the selection on console Game Pass. I strongly suspect I'll end up playing most multi platform games on PC for the first time ever with this generation, but if a game is on console GP but not PC, I'll play it there.
I'm still more interested in getting a Series X than a PS5 despite owning a decent PC.
I find GamePass plus some of the other ecosystem perks extremely enticing. My kids are just starting to really get into gaming too so there are other benefits to having the hardware/software synergy across the house.
Depends on your use case, I guess.
I find GamePass plus some of the other ecosystem perks extremely enticing. My kids are just starting to really get into gaming too so there are other benefits to having the hardware/software synergy across the house.
Depends on your use case, I guess.
There's the advantage of local multiplayer, though that's pretty rare in games these days.
Also sometimes you just want to sit on a couch and be comfortable while gaming, and use a large tv rather than a computer monitor.
Who even uses the Windows store anyway?
Also sometimes you just want to sit on a couch and be comfortable while gaming, and use a large tv rather than a computer monitor.
Who even uses the Windows store anyway?
Damn you have a monster of a machine and I can understand this decision lol
I'm on a more modest ryzen 2600/5700xt combo, which I expect is gonna be similar performance as XSX minus the ray tracing.
I just like buying hardware I think. No need to be able to play games in every room of my house...but I may be able to soon...
Convenience, bigger Gamepass library and and value are the only 3 benefits I care much about. There's value in having the option to re-sell physical games so non-Gamepass games (3rd party games in general) will be cheaper to play on console. For me there's also the value of not having to upgrade my PC for a while which will need a full upgrade within a couple of years to keep up and play at comfortable settings/performance.
My plan was to get a Series X, but I'm still kind of on the fence. I'm not really one to replay old games so the BC doesn't have much value for me, and other responsibilities in my life will mean less gaming time soon anyway. I will know closer to the time whether to keep my pre-order or not.
If I had a high end rig currently (2070/2080 or better and more recent CPU and better drives) I definitely would not be getting an XSX.
My plan was to get a Series X, but I'm still kind of on the fence. I'm not really one to replay old games so the BC doesn't have much value for me, and other responsibilities in my life will mean less gaming time soon anyway. I will know closer to the time whether to keep my pre-order or not.
If I had a high end rig currently (2070/2080 or better and more recent CPU and better drives) I definitely would not be getting an XSX.
Xbox app piggy backs off windows store and uses the app sandboxing like Win10 apps.
I can't use my Logitech mouse profiles in gamepass, can't install mods, etc. You're no more limited than an Xbox owner would be, but it's also not "the PC experience"
I see. I've never actually used the xbox app, or gamepass, so not really sure how they work. I think I've opened the windows store maybe twice ever.
I specifically bought halo through steam despite having gamepass, to get around the BS.
I currently have gamepass through next October. Combine this with my inability to preorder a ps5, the XSX seems like a good buy being in the ecosystem already.
probably the biggest points you are missing OP
- Online Co-op/MP on all crossplay games with one game pass sub/copy of a game
- Great multimedia machine (my personal favorite devices for watching streaming services)
- 4k Blu-Ray player
- Backwards compatibility enhancement service = often free remasters of games that don't come to PC
- Often better online communities, with a notable lack of cheating
Lots of solid reasons, especially if you have a Game Pass Ultimate Sub. It's worth it for the Backwards compatibility program, being able to play MP from the same house without extra game purchases, the respect they give to your purchases/library, and all the extra games you'll get to play from Game Pass alone in my opinion.
- Online Co-op/MP on all crossplay games with one game pass sub/copy of a game
- Great multimedia machine (my personal favorite devices for watching streaming services)
- 4k Blu-Ray player
- Backwards compatibility enhancement service = often free remasters of games that don't come to PC
- Often better online communities, with a notable lack of cheating
Lots of solid reasons, especially if you have a Game Pass Ultimate Sub. It's worth it for the Backwards compatibility program, being able to play MP from the same house without extra game purchases, the respect they give to your purchases/library, and all the extra games you'll get to play from Game Pass alone in my opinion.
Gamepass for PC and Gamepass for Xbox have different games. Plus it's a cheaper alternative to buying/building another PC if you want something in another room.
I don't want to put my gaming PC near the TV and my attempts at running long HDMI cables have been a headache. Then there's no easy way to use multiple controllers, etc.
Err, all those can apply to PC as well. "Backwards compatibility enhancement" happens automatically on PC since most games use arbitrary resolutions and framerates. Bought a new GPU? Grats, most of your games now look and run better.
I'm kinda of curious how well the Series X shapes up against a PC.
I'm using a 2070, 2700x, 16gb of Ram. Would the Xbox be a better choice?
I'm using a 2070, 2700x, 16gb of Ram. Would the Xbox be a better choice?
Some games still use it and I believe all game updates are done over that broken ass app. I've never had games corrupt more easily than the time I used game pass on PC. And fixing corrupt games is an enormous pain in the ass that normally ends with formatting the drive.
Compared to your current specs, yeah, the Series X will be the better machine.*
* Unless the game uses DLSS