Support NeoGAF

[Bernoulli]

In the Netherlands, there is practically no marketing at all.

I think MS' gamble backfired big time. With the pandemic and inflation, Series S seems like the ideal solution for those who want an Xbox, but they get the worst experience.

It's big Win for the Switch 2
But a loss for the series x wich means devs will focus less on optimizing and using all the power

 

[Dick Jones]

And people want MS to drop support for the S.

Fixed

 

[DeepEnigma]

And people want MS to drop support for the S.

Nah, just the parity clause full stop. Not selectively.

 

[Killjoy-NL]

It's big Win for the Switch 2
But a loss for the series x wich means devs will focus less on optimizing and using all the power

Wasn't MS planning on putting GamePass on Switch?

Knowing the disparity between Series S and X, imagine MS actually doing that.

 

[semiconscious]

c'mon, now - we all know that this's been the case from the get-go. 'cheap game pass box' ftw...

 

[Katatonic]

Nah, just the parity clause full stop. Not selectively.

And piss off 75% of the user base so they can please 25% on forum arguments? I hope they do.

 

[Bo_Hazem]

I wonder what this place would do without Microsoft news?

Xbox news keep me well entertained and afloat until the next PS 1st party game release or other massive game release.

 

[DeepEnigma]

And piss off 75% of the user base so they can please 25% on forum arguments? I hope they do.

75% of the userbase would know none-the-wiser. It is the "casual box" after all, innit?

 

[Pagusas]

Should have made it 6-8tf, all digital, 16gb of fast RAM and made that the only SKU.

They’ve just gone with the worst of both worlds here. A premium machine that’s outstripped by both PS5 models and a cheaper machine that’s handicapped by a poor RAM configuration and underpowered GPU.

There’s nothing saying they have to compete with Sony spec wise. Just release a good £349 machine instead.

Sadly their own marketing position/audiance requires them to compete with Sony. The Sony and MS audiance are both interchangeable. If Sony disappeared tomorrow they'd all migrate to Xbox (or PC). Same with the Xbox audiance.

Nintendo's the one with an audience that can be independent of MS and Sony.

 

[Pelta88]

74% Explains everything.

 

[Katatonic]

75% of the userbase would know none-the-wiser. It is the "casual box" after all, innit?

If that's their style, I guess.

 

[HeisenbergFX4]

Series S was a mistake !

A mistake it doesn't seem they have learned from yet

 

[DeepEnigma]

A mistake it doesn't seem they have learned from yet

 

[Killjoy-NL]

A mistake it doesn't seem they have learned from yet

To think that things were getting better after Mattrick left. /s

 

[Badlucktroll]

 

[Bo_Hazem]

A mistake it doesn't seem they have learned from yet

I don't think your friend is happy with this buffoonery. See how it hindered them from competing with the rumored PS5 Pro which will further more widen the gap between the two consoles. Not to mention how many studios are skipping xbox at the moment just for fun.

 

[Bernoulli]

A mistake it doesn't seem they have learned from yet

 

[HeisenbergFX4]

I don't think your friend is happy with this buffoonery. See how it hindered them from competing with the rumored PS5 Pro which will further more widen the gap between the two consoles.

He wasn't at all happy with how things were trending

 

[Bo_Hazem]

He wasn't at all happy with how things were trending

Only proves he'll be a real threat to Sony if he ever gets the leading position instead of Phil.

 

[T-Cake]

They need to get more Series X into the cloud. These five minute waits to get a game going is not on!

 

[NickFire]

A mistake it doesn't seem they have learned from yet

Sometimes mistakes happen. Sometimes mistakes never actually happened. For instance, using propriety storage solutions is only a mistake if your goal involves anything but charging for licensing. And putting an anchor on your flagship console is only a mistake if making the best possible games for a flagship consoles is an actual goal.

 

[acm2000]

back then you couldnt get a series x anywhere, they were busy updating the xcloud server blades

 

[Kagoshima_Luke]

Scrap that POS SKU and release a $99 streaming box.

 

[thicc_girls_are_teh_best]

It's no wonder they're unwilling to abandon the Series S when it's selling so well for them.

Don't do this to yourself.

yea

Just like how Genesis systems were selling well for Sega to the big box retailers in the early '90s. 'Cuz sell-in is the same thing as sell-through eh?

At least Xbox does consolidated accounting :/

(*Genesis kid here BTW, so it kinda pains me to have even typed that. But it's true )

I wonder what this place would do without Microsoft news?

I'll give you that. Mascot Phil™ got all of Xbox to turn into mascots with this ABK deal. All these deets getting leaked out, keeping them in the news.

Just kinda wild how quickly we've moved on from Starfield I guess :/

Anyway, series S was huge in the pandemic.

Was it really? They were barely keeping pace with XBO and since end of 2022 had fallen behind. That's with plenty of Series S units to go around.

Were retailers buying the systems up? Yep. But the sell-through rates must've been downright horrid for Microsoft to get as aggressive with discounts, software giveaways, promotions, tie-ins and all the such they started doing back half of last year.

They are fucked with this 4tf.
They will need to make a short gen.

TBH I don't think the power is the problem; it's the use-case. Series S doesn't have a very strong use-case for people who aren't already entrenched in the Xbox ecosystem. As a 2nd console for PS5 owners it offers little because they get 90% of the same multiplats which just run way better on Sony's system, and the "exclusives" are all on PC Day 1. People with a PS5 are more likely to have a decent PC than a Series S. Also offers no portability options.

As a 2nd console for Switch owners, a lot of them are more likely to have a PS5 than Xbox since they can access all the same multiplats Xbox has, plus some 3P exclusives not on Xbox, in addition to all of Sony's 1P games. And, like with Sony customers, they are likely to have a decent PC if they really need any of Microsoft's games, since MS puts everything Day 1 over there. Switch also offers a docked option for those who want a console-like experience in the home, weakening a use-case for Series S.

Honestly the Series S just doesn't have too much of an addressable market for those who aren't already entrenched in Xbox consoles. Relying on penny-pinchers going cheap over recession concerns, isn't a reliable market to depend on for long-term sales.

 

[twilo99]

Less than 6 millions Series X... This is crazy lol

It would be impossible to compete with a Sony without having cheaper option…

 

[Killjoy-NL]

It would be impossible to compete with a Sony without having cheaper option…

Yet the cheaper option is making PS5 more attractive.

 

[rapid32.5]

SerieS S iS So SucceSSful

 

[Poltz]

It would be impossible to compete with a Sony without having cheaper option…

We don’t know this. They are tracking behind Xbox One with that cheaper option.

 

[analog_future]

 

[DeepEnigma]

 

[thicc_girls_are_teh_best]

The super hero we all need.

Chad beta Spud, sprouting into action.

"Choice". Then they don't even mention their other console.

I swear Microsoft's marketing is 1:1 with Sega's during the Saturn era. Just too many parallels.

 

[bender]

Series X was the mistake, not the S. The market has spoken.

 

[SHA]

People are cheap... news at 5.

It's the economy, they keep saying that, they aren't totally wrong tbh.

 

[Topher]

This would be more interesting if it were the breakdown from this year rather than last.

 

[skit_data]

 

[Phase]

OP's an obvious shill promoting xbox and microsoft content. I think I'm going to take a break from this website. It's getting ridiculous at this point.

 

[Banjo64]

Should have discontinued the white model and announced a £20 permanent price drop to £229 for the black. £299 is a head scratcher.

 

[analog_future]

Should have discontinued the white model and announced a £20 permanent price drop to £229 for the black. £299 is a head scratcher.

Agreed. Could've been a big hit but it's a non-starter at MSRP.

 

[semiconscious]

Yet the cheaper option is making PS5 more attractive.

no. i mean, then why wouldn't the cheaper option also make the series x more attractive?...

wanting to own a sony console that features sony exclusives is making ps5 more attractive. because sometimes things are just that simple...

 

[GHG]

 

[Killjoy-NL]

no. i mean, then why wouldn't the cheaper option also make the series x more attractive?...

Because the cheaper option plays the exact same games and costs less.

Pretty straightforward.

wanting to own a sony console that features sony exclusives is making ps5 more attractive. because sometimes things are just that simple...

Yes and it's superior compared to Series S on top of that.

This is literally the situation MS created for themselves.

 

[yamaci17]

Should have made it 6-8tf, all digital, 16gb of fast RAM and made that the only SKU.

They’ve just gone with the worst of both worlds here. A premium machine that’s outstripped by both PS5 models and a cheaper machine that’s handicapped by a poor RAM configuration and underpowered GPU.

There’s nothing saying they have to compete with Sony spec wise. Just release a good £349 machine instead.

12 gb vram would be enough

tflops really doesn't matter, you can scale the game back down to 428p (aveum did it. more games will follow the suite. games like aveum / ff xvi are just scapegoats that "prepares" the room for the upcoming horrible releases)

it only and only needs 12 gb memory. nothing more, nothing less. that would be the perfect amount that allows automatic scaling from xbox series x (plus a bit of texture degration)

it would also allow it to run all xbox one x versions of games

i have no idea why they decided to go with 10 gb value. it is a much worse decision than having ddr3 when your competition has gdrr5

 

[Slicker than your average]

It's no wonder they're unwilling to abandon the Series S when it's selling so well for them.

They also said they lose more money on the S than the X per unit sold.

 

[Tripolygon]

They fucked themselves with that one.

 

[mrmustard]

I wonder WTF their plan will be once Sony inevitably drops the PS5 Pro?

Plan A: Don't give a shit about it
Plan B: See plan A

 

[Banjo64]

Plan A: Don't give a shit about it
Plan B: See plan A

Plan C: continue to lose ground whilst spending billions on studios.

 

[DeepEnigma]

Plan A: Don't give a shit about it
Plan B: See plan A

All their internal emails suggest otherwise.

 

[Heisenberg007]

I was going with 65:35 by now. This is a huge shift.

The overwhelming majority of Xbox gamers will be playing Xbox games not in their full glory this generation. I don't see how this is a win for Xbox.

1. Why invest in making your games technical and visual masterpieces when 3/4 of your audience won't even experience it?
2. Why go the extra mile optimizing Series X versions for less than 1/4 of your audience?
3. Moreover, the 3/4th Xbox Series S audience will look at PS AAA games running on the upcoming PS5 Pro and notice a stark difference in visual fidelity. This will not benefit Xbox or Xbox Game Studios in word-of-mouth marketing.

 

[HeisenbergFX4]

I was going with 65:35 by now. This is a huge shift.

The overwhelming majority of Xbox gamers will be playing Xbox games not in their full glory this generation. I don't see how this is a win for Xbox.

1. Why invest in making your games technical and visual masterpieces when 3/4 of your audience won't even experience it?
2. Why go the extra mile optimizing Series X versions for less than 1/4 of your audience?
3. Moreover, the 3/4th Xbox Series S audience will look at PS AAA games running on the upcoming PS5 Pro and notice a stark difference in visual fidelity. This will not benefit Xbox or Xbox Game Studios in word-of-mouth marketing.

Get ready for the "get a PC to compete with the PS5 Pro" campaign

 

[Heisenberg007]

Get ready for the "get a PC to compete with the PS5 Pro" campaign

I can see that happening, but even that is just ... stupid from a business POV, no? Unless they had a very active and successful Windows Store.

They will sell the majority of their games on Steam for the same 70-80% cut as everybody else -- which would have been 100% on the Xbox platform.