Real take on if I should buy a Xbox series x.

[HarleyQuinn]

Ok, so here's the skinny. I have a Xbox one. It works, mostly, for what I do. Sea of thieves, borderlands 3, some other odds and ends, but that's it. And loading times are atrocious (or drop frequently when doing borderlands online).

Been considering a new Xbox system. I think the series x would be ideal, given I prefer physical disks, used games, etc. But damn, that price tag.

I'm just wondering if anyone has any pointers, or good deal, things to keep an eye out for, etc. $650 is half my rent for the month, so it's mighty hard to bite.
And used looks like around $100 off.



Anyway, I just haven't bought a new system in forever, and would love a little guidance.

Thanks y'all!

-Cassie

[BrickHaus]

It really comes down to your usage level. How many hours a day or week do you game. Putting a 40 hour week on your Xbox? Its probably worth the upgrade.

Play 4 hours a month? Probably not.

If you were my personal friend Id try to sway you to the pc master race. Though thats even more money. they are sooo much better to game on, plus give functionality of 3d printing, modeling, and video editing as needed.

[Chuck E Ducky]

I will never go back to a console. However if I was going to it would be Steams machine.

https://store.steampowered.com/sale/steammachine

[Spaghetti Overdrive]

Just buy a used gaming PC or laptop and use steam at that point. you'll get a better expeirence and your remotes will pair if you;re using windows.

self serving, but i have a nice gaming computer for sale for $650 lol

[GanonsGrin]

I kept my Xbox One and bought a Series S during covid and haven’t regretted it at all. You can still play your current physical games on the One, but you will be giving that up moving forward. I did end up buying a memory stick for it as well to expand my storage. Some games are gross
with how much memory they eat up. I haven’t regretted going for the S over the X at all though. It’s fun to have physical copies, but I only really care about that with my Switch now because of how difficult it is swapping between 3 systems. As for the Xbox, I only buy one or two games a year and don’t intend on selling them afterwards anyways, so the digital route was an easy choice for me.

[StaticShocked]

1080 Resolution gaming at 30FPS, hard to beat the fun per dollar of a series S. However, it does have longer load times and slightly less graphics quality and is digital only. I have had one since launch and only regret it a tiny little bit (over the X).

If you game on a 4k tv OR have to have 60 FPS, go series X. The S does not do well with any tv over 1080 resolution IMO and the S will need a storage upgrade which adds $100 to its price anyway.

That being said, a used $650 gaming pc will usually game at 1440 resolution great and steam games can be had frequently on major sales. Other online pc game stores run sales or free games frequently and GOG allows you to download offline installers for the games purchased through them.

The choice really depends on if you like computers or not. But i would go X if you play frequently and can justify the expense. S if you just casually game a few hours a week (me).

[HarleyQuinn]

So I actively avoid pc. I literally struggle with stopping playing, and lose all track of time. I have an older gaming pc, collecting dust, because I don't wanna get too sucked into it. Thus using consoles.


Anyway, my big thought with the x versus a, is re buying borderlands 3 honestly. But if y'all are very pro series s... It might be worth just doing that and rebuying digitally (do dlcs previously purchased work/transfer?).


The series x just seemed pretty straight forward, the digital only is a bit weird to me.

[cheapguitarscheapthrills]

I would steer towards PC or even a steam deck. Console wars are all but over and Xbox seems like it's going to be on the losing end. Unfortunately consoles will phase out physical games it's been trending that way for a while. Most discs are just keys to download and play games at this point so I don't think it's worth it personally. Steam has so much cool indie stuff, your library stays with your account, and you can emulate basically anything you want on the retro side PC>

[Jonnydread]

I’ll go against the flow here. I got an Xbox series X and it’s completely fine for my needs. I like weird indie games as much as the next person, but I mainly play single player escapism games for an hour or two every couple of days. It was inexpensive and suits me fine for my needs. If you’re doing online stuff YMMV, but that’s not my bag so

[JonM]

For context, we've had every Xbox console since the original. I've been a Live subscriber since the beginning. With these things in mind, I'm obviously not biased against the platform. That being said, I'm worried that the platform may be dying. Microsoft has no more exclusive titles left. Even the studios they purchased are distributing their games as multi-platform. Sony is outselling them at a rate of nearly three to one and they do have platform exclusives. I went into the Series X with the notion that I have my entire back catalog of games from the past twenty years to play on it. The only problem with that is that I seldom dip into my back catalog much anymore. Most of my time is spent on more recent titles or playing on my Steam Deck.

Speaking of Steam, yes it's true that they're releasing their own "console", but at this point price is unknown and we're in the midst of a global chip shortage. Until Valve releases a price, I'm reserving judgement on that project. It does look promising though. No more online subscriptions and a catalog dating back to the beginning of time is very enticing.

As for the future, Microsoft is nearing the end of this console generation. Rumor has it that their next console won't even be an actual console but rather a gaming PC like the upcoming Steam Machine that also happens to play console games. The good news is that they will no longer charge for online play. The bad news is that it'll be priced like a gaming PC.

The bottom line is that if you want an Xbox, that's fine so long as you know it's nearing the end of its cycle. Just keep in mind that the gaming market is in a state of change and uncertainty at this time.

[Spaghetti Overdrive]

Actually this raises something for me that I think is worth mentioning, especially since OP doesnt want a full on PC: The Steam Deck is a shockingly good proposition.

It's very much not a PC even though it's fully capable of PC things, and the OS it runs on is so efficient and optimized, that you can load and play games very quickly and in console-comparable fidelity.

The price is also much fairer, and it's a very small form factor/portable

[JonM]

Provided you can even get one right now. Valve has been out of stock of all models for some time.

[HarleyQuinn]

Yeah.... I saw that.
Thus, series x or s.


It's a great idea, but if I can't locate one, well....

[glaman5266]

So I actively avoid pc. I literally struggle with stopping playing, and lose all track of time. I have an older gaming pc, collecting dust, because I don't wanna get too sucked into it. Thus using consoles.

The series x just seemed pretty straight forward, the digital only is a bit weird to me.

I avoid it too, albeit for different reasons. I just don't want to dick with it. I like a ready-to-go set-top box that just works with little fuss. And the price for the usable number of years seems to me to be a significantly better value with consoles. At least as far as hardware goes. Software, of course, is a different bag, as you can play anything on a PC.

I'm a physical-only guy, unless a game is DEEPLY discounted to, like, 5 bucks. If you want physical then Nintendo is really the best player in the gaming space right now.

As has been mentioned, the Series X/S and PS5 are nearing the end of their cycles. I'd caution against buying either brand at this point for that reason alone. But if you really want a new Xbox, the Series S is less expensive and, from what I've seen, are good for modding. If you're into that.

That being said, I'm worried that the platform may be dying. Microsoft has no more exclusive titles left. Even the studios they purchased are distributing their games as multi-platform. Sony is outselling them at a rate of nearly three to one and they do have platform exclusives.

Speaking of Steam, yes it's true that they're releasing their own "console", but at this point price is unknown and we're in the midst of a global chip shortage. Until Valve releases a price, I'm reserving judgement on that project. It does look promising though. No more online subscriptions and a catalog dating back to the beginning of time is very enticing.

As for the future, Microsoft is nearing the end of this console generation. Rumor has it that their next console won't even be an actual console but rather a gaming PC like the upcoming Steam Machine that also happens to play console games. The good news is that they will no longer charge for online play. The bad news is that it'll be priced like a gaming PC.

I share this sentiment. With the moves Microsoft has been making in recent years it seems they themselves don't have a good handle on their own business. I also have a lot of other reasons for not leaning toward Microsoft, but those are based more on ethics and overall business practices across their entire brand. I also have all the Xbox gens, but I will comfortably say I will not be buying any more M$ hardware going forward.

Game-wise, Sony seems to be leaning that way IMO, as I don't think they have anything as enticing as what they offered on the PS4. I actually bought a used PS4 Slim at an end-of-year sale at a local used game shop, as there's a ton of worthwhile games to play on it. I'd say it's a good value even put up against the current gen consoles. It also seems to run a hell of a lot better than the horribly antiquated Xbox One.

As I mentioned above, I'm a physical-only guy. If I were to go digital, the upcoming Steam Machine is an incredibly compelling case for it. Like you, I'm waiting until a price is released. Currently, I'm gaming primarily on the Switch 2 with no urge to buy from the other two companies. My Series X only sees use when watching Youtube or HBO Max, or for Elden Ring and Halo MCC. If I REALLY wanted a higher-powered machine I'd be looking very closely at the Steam Machine. A computer that I can (pretty much) treat like a set-top box and play while sitting in my recliner? Sounds like a decent proposition to me.