Now before I start, I want to make something very clear: I’m a huge Xbox supporter. I’ve followed them since the beginning, since the times when Halo was just becoming a thing. I have lost many, many hours to gaming on the Xbox family of consoles, sometimes almost religiously. I have a ridiculously large Gamerscore that is way too important to me. I live and breathe Xbox basically. However, I would be lying if I said that I was confident about the upcoming Xbox One X.
I’m worried for several reasons, but the biggest is the price of the machine. At $499, Microsoft will have to pray to the gods to get this console sold in any meaningful numbers. I understand that it will be ‘the most powerful console’ on the planet. I understand that it offers ‘true 4K’ – but that’s not enough. Very few people are going to be interested in a console launching at that price, no matter the power. Further to this, the original Xbox One launched at the same price, and look where that got Microsoft.
So what about the games? A new console launching at that price should have a few big hitters to convince people to jump in right? Nope. Sorry, but a shinier Forza 7 isn’t enough to make me want to spend $499. I love Forza, but it isn’t enough. I’ll get the regular version of the game on the Xbox One S, thanks. What about a new Halo game to really push the machine and entice gamers in? Nope. No sign of it. A huge mistake by Microsoft. As for third-party games like Assassin’s Creed Origins and Anthem, they look great, but they’re the same games on other platforms looking slightly better. It’s not enough to make me want to splash, like I did with the Nintendo Switch, because of the fact it offered something different. (My first Nintendo console by the way!).
That brings me nicely to my next point. I possess a very powerful PC that can push almost all of the modern games to their limits. That’s the system I go to when I really want to see my games looking prettier than ever. And it’s glorious. The Xbox One X therefore, seems oddly placed to me. Why would I play games on there, when they would look better on my PC? That’s not to mention that almost all PC games are cheaper in the first place. So that leaves us with exclusives being the key reason why anyone would purchase the Xbox One X. Well, as we’ve already discussed, the exclusives don’t really exist. At least not yet. By the time they’re ready, surely we’ll be looking ahead to the next Xbox anyway?
There’s no doubt in my mind that Microsoft is proud of the Xbox One X. It’s a machine they’ve created for hardcore console gamers. But I can’t help but feel it’s more a response to Sony and their (largely pointless) PS4 Pro than anything else. It seems that the claim to have ‘the most powerful console’ on the planet was the goal, without much thought on how that was actually going to be sold. The Xbox 360 was a great console, but it had very little to do with its power. It was the amazing games and the great price that helped to make it such a beloved console. No killer exclusives and a very high price are major deal-breakers for any console, ‘midlife’ upgrades or not. The whole console is redundant before it’s even been released in my opinion, and I don’t like to say that at all. As someone who loves the Xbox family, I’m pretty worried that this is going to be a failed attempt, pushing Microsoft even further back in relevance.
What do you think?
In my world, I still want it, but also own a very powerful PC. It’s specifically for friends on Xbox and the ease of Amazon Video/Netflix from my bed. 🙂
I agree with this opinion piece totally. My soul reason for purchasing an original Xbox, back in the day and an Xbox 360 some years later was because they had some great exclusive content, I couldn’t get on a PlayStation. For example, Star Wars: KoTOR, Jade Empire, Fable and Halo. There were even more than that but I don’t want to list them all.
I purchased an Xbox 1 early on and except for a few games, the thing has basically been a paperweight for me. This is where it becomes a double edged sword for me.
It’s not that Xbox doesn’t have some good IP’s that they call their own. It’s that, they haven’t come up with anything original in quite some time. It’s all sequels of games we have been playing for years, without much innovation within those games.
Halo, Forza, and Gears of War still feel the same, just with a graphical bump. I fear that, there either isn’t anything new coming, or Xbox is going to come up with some great games that will ONLY run on the Xbox one X.
If the latter happens, I will feel duped. I spent $500 for my Xbox 1, with a game, Kinect and two controllers. Any original gaming, I hope, will run on my machine. If not, then as a loyal customer for years, I will have no choice but to not do business with Microsoft anymore.
I am upgrading from my 4 yr old Xbox 360E to the Xbox One X… been waiting for a reason and the X is it… I wish it were $399 so I could get some more games but it is worth it at $499 and I get a 4K Blue Ray player too…. plus all games will look and play better on the X…. Like Witcher 3 Complete, Ace Combat 7, Path of Exile, Middle Earth Shadow of Mordor and War, Victor Vran, Vikings Wolves of Midgard, the Halo 6 when it comes out, Elder Scrolls 6 when it comes out, Call of Duty WWII, and many more… but those are the ones I want to play
“I understand that it offers ‘true 4K’”
Bullshot mate, as the only AAA game running in “true 4k” at their conference was the racing game, Forza. They will be uprezzing and checkerboarding their way to 4k in the majority of AAA games, just like the competition.
I think the X is a weird box! The price point states that they aren’t in the market to chase Sony but that broaches the question of who exactly is the device for? Basically it is a Pro model for 4K owners, or those that want the best possible experience for their console games. It’s a premium device and they seem to be expecting to sell far more S models than X models. That said, I’m interested in it and will probably get one in November.
100% agree, i don’t see why we need to have an Xbox One X. Sure it’s more powerful, but I feel like we are at the point where consoles are giving PCs a run for their money, not in terms of raw power, but in terms of efficiency. Sure a PC can chug out better graphics, but at what cost? Comparing the cost of My PC and the parts I invest in it, a PS4 would be a smarter invest financially and games like Horizon Zero Dawn really show what an optimized game can really do. I also find that the consoles have much better optimized OS’s. Windows ends up becoming a hog and I can’t help but feel it impacts my game performance. On PC to, i tend to run into some odd problems with games here and their. Odd issues with controller support, games crashing, you name it. I know PCs have it’s advantages, in terms of modding and tweaking settings, but since all their talks are about raw, power, i can’t help but ignore these things.
I do really like that MS is promoting backwards compatibility and allowing their key games to be playable on Windows as well. It’s very player friendly moves. I do respect Microsoft for making moves that technically hurt their bottom line, but in the end, provide a wealth of options for the gamers.