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Microsoft told digital foundry that the Series X is their mid-gen refresh (DF direct Weekly #116)

DeepEnigma

Gold Member
GIF by iHeartRadio
 

GHG

Gold Member
The MS spokesperson was probably joking and they took him seriously. What do I know.

Richard further follows up on John's comments, it doesn't sound like it was a joke. It was what they were told around the launch of the consoles - that they consider the S and X to be the equivalent of the S and X last gen.

Although plans could have changed so who knows, but regardless I think it's a strange way of looking at things.
 

Sleepwalker

Member
So you’re saying your flagship console which is basically on par with the competition’s flagship console is actually the 1.5x enthusiast step…and your budget series is the main course…

I feel like I’m taking crazy pills

I bought a series X day one but ever since then it has been clear the Series S is their main console, they are trying to make it stick no matter what, offer it for $200, include years of GP, bundle it with shit, they've done it all. The X might not even exist.

Further proof is that they took it to their showcase to announce a NEW series S model with a price increase. (terrible value btw imo)
 

adamsapple

Or is it just one of Phil's balls in my throat?
Who is "us"?

Ponder Denzel Washington GIF by Entertainment Tonight

People?

I recall folks saying that the SX is already the midgen refresh for the S, or that they launched a base and Pro model at the same time.

This just feels like an extension of the same rhetoric.
 
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So I really don't believe that either the PS5 or XSX are equivalent to mid gen refreshes. I'm sure if you were to release a system in the middle of a gen it would be more powerful than those two systems.

I always saw the X and S as being two pieces of bread with the PS5 in the middle.
 
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Bernardougf

Gold Member



If the timestamp isn't working then it's 3 minutes 10 seconds in.

John states that they consider the Series S to be the "standard machine" and that the Series X was to get out there ahead of time in terms of what they would consider to be a refresh.


Welp ...thats what I call a CREATIVE VISION!
 
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Thaedolus

Gold Member
I bought a series X day one but ever since then it has been clear the Series S is their main console, they are trying to make it stick no matter what, offer it for $200, include years of GP, bundle it with shit, they've done it all. The X might not even exist.

Further proof is that they took it to their showcase to announce a NEW series S model with a price increase. (terrible value btw imo)
I guess…man I thought the series S was perfectly fine for the budget conscious gamer jumping in at reduced settings, but with its other bottlenecks and it being the baseline this gen…le sigh.
 

GHG

Gold Member
People?

I recall folks saying that the SX is already the midgen refresh for the S, or that they launched a base and Pro model at the same time.

Well when you consider what their direct competition considers to be their baseline for hardware in terms of this gen then it seems to be misguided.

If that's the strategy they really want to follow through with for the reminder of the gen, good luck.
 

Godot25

Banned
Even if Microsoft was already finishing work on Xbox Series X Pro, Spencer would not tell anybody from public. He is not stupid especially since he has a game coming that could be a true system seller.

Even Sony is keeping it hush about that new revision of PS5 without disc drive and that console is supposed to be out in September according to Henderson because they have stock of old PS5 consoles to sell.

I have no doubt that if Sony has PS5 Pro in the works Microsoft would have to respond whether they like it or not.
 
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Varteras

Gold Member
PS4 Pro was 20% of the sales of PS4 once it was released. Xbox One X probably didn't sell that well. So I get why they don't do a mid-gen refresh. It's just not worth it.

Because if you don't and your competitor does, that is a great marketing piece for them to say the only way to play most games at 4K/60FPS, as an example, is to buy their premium console that you don't have.

However, this does seem to conflict with that picture a while back where there was a space for a yet to be announced device. Though, we don't really know for sure what that meant.
 
So what? I don't get some of you sour about this.

Its common sense. You can't release a lower tier spec and then make it not work with newer games (unless you are nintendo, ala new 3dsxl, but ms and sony don't have loyalists who worship them like ninty and apple do).

And honestly anyone who has a pc should know this isn't an issue at all. One can do 1080p the other 4k. Thats it. You don't need as much vram or performance for a lower resolution. Everything else can stay the same. Its not like they are really pushing ray-tracing. Honestly 4k is probably too much for this gen and should of been just upscaling from 1080 or 1440p anyway.
On a pc a lower spec system would lower the resolution, or lower the graphics from ultra to high, to med, to low as needed. Or the resolution, there is tons of options to play with.


Also mid gen refreshes are pointless and just appease a few graphics whores. The PS5/series x haven't really had many exclusives yet to push the base models.
 
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Sleepwalker

Member
Lol! Alex is so full of shit! The only reason he hates the idea of a PS5 Pro is because he knows the hardware would further chip away at some of the benefits of PC vs console (at least in short term) and become a compelling option for even the most devout PC players.
The PS5 is already great value vs a PC, even at $599-799 depending on the performance uplift it could be incredible value. What if Sony makes it so the gap in performance between a PS5 pro and the regular PS5 is close to the gap between Series S and X?
 

X-Wing

Member
Now in a more serious tone. I think the future of Xbox hardware is tied to the success of the Activision acquisition. If they close the deal they will support Series until the end of the generation but then they will stop making hardware since they will have the content to pull people into their subscription model without the consoles. This means they would no longer need to sell hardware at loss just because it is the biggest entry point for Gamepass.
If the acquisition fails I see them giving a last push to try and get as many consoles in people's homes as possible in the hope of increasing subscriptions numbers there.
 
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