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Xbox Series X and S: everything you need to know about the next gen of Xbox

The next-generation of Xbox gaming is a little more complicated than what we’re used to. For starters, Microsoft has released not one but two new consoles this week: the Xbox Series X and the Xbox Series S. Many of the initial crop of first-party games is also designed to be playable on its last generation Xbox, the Xbox One, as well as Windows PCs. And that’s before we get into Microsoft’s game streaming service, xCloud, which could mean you won’t need any Xbox hardware at all to play many of the latest games.

Each new generation tends to deliver big changes for console gaming, and Microsoft’s successors to the Xbox One are no different. Games look better thanks to more powerful graphics hardware and built-in support for more realistic lighting technology, and in some cases feel more responsive thanks to support for frame rates of up to 120fps. They also also load quicker because both consoles now include fast solid-state storage, a big improvement over the mechanical hard drive included in the Xbox One.

But Microsoft’s approach to this new generation is a big departure from how console launches have worked previously. Typically, we’ve seen Sony and Microsoft release just one new piece of hardware at launch, and each one tends to come with an exclusive library of games that you have to buy the new console in order to play. While Sony, too, has operated a game streaming service for years, it’s only typically used PlayStation Now to offer access to older titles, rather than brand-new releases like xCloud is promising.

Microsoft’s new consoles give you a lot more freedom with how you play its new games, but depending on where you choose to play them, you won’t get exactly the same experience. The Xbox Series X is a much more powerful machine than the Series S or the current Xbox One, for example, which has a big impact on performance.

Microsoft’s two new consoles

This week, Microsoft released its two new Xbox consoles. There’s the $499 (£449, €499) Xbox Series X, and a cheaper $299 (£249, €299) Xbox Series S. You can read our reviews of both of them by following the links below.

It’s not unusual for console manufacturers to offer a couple of different hardware options at launch, but normally, the differences are minor. The PS3, for example, was initially available in two models. There was a version with a 60GB hard drive as well as a cheaper version with a smaller 20GB hard drive, no Wi-Fi support, and fewer ports. Meanwhile, Microsoft also originally sold a “Core” version of the Xbox 360 in 2005, which included compromises like including a wired rather than wireless controller and omitting a hard drive.

The differences between the Xbox Series S and Series X are more substantial and have a big impact on how games look. While Microsoft says the Series X is targeting running games at 60fps at a full 4K resolution, the Series S instead targets a lower 1440p resolution at 60fps. It’s a big power disparity, similar to what we saw between the Xbox One and the Xbox One X, but this time, the two consoles were available on day one, rather than releasing years apart.

Microsoft has a good rundown of the main differences between the Xbox Series X and the Series S on its website. Both have 8-core CPUs, although the X has a slightly higher maximum clock speed of 3.8GHz, rather than 3.6GHz on the Series S. Both support expandable storage of up to 1TB via an expansion card, both output over HDMI 2.1, and both are backwards compatible with “thousands” of Xbox One, Xbox 360, and original Xbox games. Both support hardware-accelerated ray tracing for more realistic lighting in games, both support Dolby’s high-end Atmos audio technology, and both will support the Dolby Vision HDR standard. They’re also both backwards compatible with all officially licensed Xbox One accessories like controllers and headsets — although there are no plans to support the Kinect camera.

There are, however, big differences between the two. The Series X has a 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray drive, but the Series S is digital-only, so you’ll have to download your games rather than buy them on disc. And yet, the disc-based X also has double the amount of internal storage with 1TB as opposed to 512GB. We found the storage in the Series S filled up quickly as a result. The Series X also has more RAM at 16GB compared to 10GB in the Series S. Physically, the Series S is also a lot smaller than the Series X; Microsoft calls the console its “smallest Xbox ever.” Despite the size differences, we’ve found both consoles have good cooling systems, and are run cool and quiet when in use, so long as you don’t try blowing vape smoke into them.

Although they have different amounts of storage, both consoles use fast solid-state drives. For starters, that means that games load very quickly. We’ve found that many games that took over a minute to load on the Xbox One X now boot up in seconds. Games like Destiny 2 and Sea of Thieves, for example, load in half the time on the Series X as they did on the One X, and we found The Outer Worlds loaded in just six seconds on the new console.

Xbox Series X load times

Game	Xbox Series X	Xbox One X
Game	Xbox Series X	Xbox One X
CoD: Warzone	16 seconds	21 seconds
Red Dead Redemption 2	52 seconds	1 min, 35 seconds
The Outer Worlds	6 seconds	27 seconds
Evil Within 2	33 seconds	43 seconds
Sea of Thieves	20 seconds	1 min, 21 seconds
Warframe	25 seconds	1 min, 31 seconds
AC: Odyssey	30 seconds	1 min, 7 seconds
No Man’s Sky	1 min, 27 seconds	2 mins, 13 seconds
Destiny 2	43 seconds	1 min, 52 seconds

This fast storage also helps enable a feature called Quick Resume on both consoles, which allows you to switch between games incredibly quickly in a lot of cases. The big problem right now is that it’s not supported by every game, although Microsoft is working to enable it across more titles. When it works, though, Quick Resume is one of the consoles’ best new additions, and Sony’s PS5 doesn’t have an equivalent feature.

One of the most significant differences between the Series S and Series X is found in the graphics department. Although both consoles use AMD’s RDNA 2 graphics architecture, the Series X has 52 compute units. That’s not only more than double the 20 compute units you’ll find in the Series S, but they’re also clocked faster at 1.825GHz compared to 1.565GHz. In total, that means the Series X has 12.15 teraflops of graphical horsepower according to Microsoft, compared to 4 teraflops for the Series S.

The Xbox Series X is technically a shade more powerful than the PS5 in the graphics department. While Sony’s consoles are also based on AMD’s RDNA 2 architecture, both models of the PS5 clock in with 10.28 teraflops of GPU power. They’ve got a smaller number of compute units (36), but their maximum cap is higher at 2.23GHz. They’ve also got 8-core CPUs, but they’re clocked at 3.5GHz. However, it’s important to note that the PS5’s CPU and GPU clock speeds are variable based on the total workload, so it’s not quite an apples-to-apples comparison with the new Xbox consoles. This approach could benefit the PS5 in certain scenarios but limit it in others. Otherwise, the PS5’s specs on paper are similar to the Series X. It has 16GB of RAM, 825GB of storage, and a 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray drive.

There aren’t many cross-platform titles that allow us to see how the performance of the PS5 and Series X compare in practice, but an analysis of Devil May Cry 5 by Digital Foundry sees Sony and Microsoft’s consoles performing very similarly. In some modes the Series X offers slightly faster performance, while the PS5 is ahead in others.

Like Microsoft, Sony also has a step-down digital-only version of its next console, but here, the differences are a lot more basic. The lack of a disc drive means that the digital console is a little slimmer, but otherwise, PlayStation CEO Jim Ryan tells CNET that its two consoles are “identical products.” That means we shouldn’t see the same power disparity as Microsoft has.

Xbox Series X vs Series S vs PS5

Categories	Xbox Series X	Xbox Series S	PS5	PS5 (digital-only)
Categories	Xbox Series X	Xbox Series S	PS5	PS5 (digital-only)
CPU	8-core AMD Zen 2 CPU @ 3.8GHz (3.6GHz with SMT Enabled)	8-core AMD Zen 2 CPU @ 3.6GHz (3.4GHz with SMT Enabled)	8x Zen 2 Cores @ 3.5GHz with SMT (variable frequency)	8x Zen 2 Cores @ 3.5GHz with SMT (variable frequency)
GPU	AMD RDNA 2 GPU 52 CUs @ 1.825GHz	AMD RDNA 2 GPU 20 CUs @ 1.565GHz	AMD RDNA 2 GPU 36 CUs @ 2.23GHz (variable frequency)	AMD RDNA 2 GPU 36 CUs @ 2.23GHz (variable frequency)
GPU Power	12.15 TFLOPS	4 TFLOPS	10.28 TFLOPs	10.28 TFLOPs
RAM	16GB GDDR6 RAM	10GB GDDR6 RAM	16GB GDDR6 RAM	16GB GDDR6 RAM
Performance Target	Target 4K @ 60 FPS. Up to 8K. Up to 120 FPS	Target 1440p @ 60 FPS. Up to 120 FPS	Target TBD. Up to 8K. Up to 120 FPS	Target TBD. Up to 8K. Up to 120 FPS
Storage	1TB PCIe Gen 4 NVMe SSD (2.4GB/sec uncompressed, 4.8GB/sec compressed)	512GB PCIe Gen 4 NVMe SSD (2.4GB/sec uncompressed, 4.8GB/sec compressed)	825GB PCIe Gen 4 NVMe SSD (5.5GB/sec uncompressed, typical 8-9GB/sec compressed)	825GB PCIe Gen 4 NVMe SSD (5.5GB/sec uncompressed, typical 8-9GB/sec compressed)
Free space for games	802GB	364GB	667GB	667GB
Expandable Storage	1TB Expansion Card	1TB Expansion Card	NVMe SSD Slot	NVMe SSD Slot
Backward Compatibility	“Thousands” of Xbox One, Xbox 360, original Xbox games. Xbox One accessories.	“Thousands” of Xbox One, Xbox 360, original Xbox games. Xbox One accessories.	“Overwhelming majority” of PS4 games	“Overwhelming majority” of PS4 games
Disc Drive	4K UHD Blu-ray	None	4K UHD Blu-ray	None
Display Out	HDMI 2.1	HDMI 2.1	HDMI 2.1	HDMI 2.1
MSRP	$499/£449/€499	$299/£249/€299	$499/£449/€499	$399/£349/€399

The difference in power generally mean early Series S and the Series X’s games run at different resolutions, but often perform similarly. For example, Watch Dogs: Legion targets 4K at 30fps on the Series X, and 1080p 30fps on the Series S, and both support ray-tracing for better looking reflections (check out both in action here).

Similarly, Sea of Thieves and Forza Horizon run at 60fps at 1080p on the Series S, compared to 4K 60fps on the Series X.

Despite the differences in resolution, Microsoft says both consoles are targeting frame rates of 60 frames per second and can support up to 120fps. For example, Rocket League will have a performance mode on both consoles that will allow it to run at 120fps, albeit in both cases at a reduced resolution compared to its 60fps mode. That said, there are some games that target different frame rates across the two consoles. Destiny 2’s crucible mode can run at 120Hz on Series X, but not on Series S, for example.

For now, however, the trend has been for games to feel just as smooth to play regardless of the console, but to look less detailed on the cheaper machine because of their lower resolution. That might not matter as much if you’re playing on an older 1080p TV, but it’ll be more apparent if you’re using a modern 4K set.

Although Microsoft has said the Series S targets 1440p, some early Series S games are running at 1080p. Yakuza: Like a Dragon and Gears Tactics target 1440p, but others like Sea of Thieves, Forza Horizon 4, Fortnite, and Watch Dogs: Legion are 1080p. That may change as developers get more comfortable working with the new hardware, but based on past experience it might not. For example, Microsoft billed the Xbox One X as being capable of 4K gaming at 60fps but many of the most popular games around didn’t run at full 4K. Fortnite, for example, runs at a maximum of 1728p on the Xbox One X, while Doom: Eternal tops out at 1800p.

Although your existing Xbox One controllers will work on the Xbox Series X and Series S, there’s also an updated controller for the new consoles, which is available in white, black, and blue. Although it’s broadly similar to the design Microsoft has used for its previous controllers, it’s slightly smaller and has a dedicated share button to simplify the process of uploading screenshots and video clips. Its D-pad is also a circle like the recent Xbox Elite Series 2 controller, rather than a cross like it was on the Xbox One.

New games, new hardware

New hardware needs new games to make the most of it, and Microsoft and its partners have announced a host of games that are coming to its new console. The biggest of these is Halo: Infinite, the latest entry in the long-running sci-fi first-person shooter franchise that’s become synonymous with the Xbox brand since its debut way back in 2001.

Unfortunately, Microsoft recently delayed Halo: Infinite, meaning it will now release in 2021, rather than arriving alongside the new console. News of the delay, which Microsoft attributed in part to the pandemic, came after the game’s visuals were met with criticism after their initial unveiling, prompting developer 343 Industries to admit, “We do have work to do to address some of these areas and raise the level of fidelity and overall presentation for the final game.”

With other Xbox staples like Fable and Forza Motorsport without release dates, the delay has left third-party publishers to fill in the rest of the launch lineup, including Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, Dirt 5, Watch Dogs Legion, and Yakuza: Like a Dragon. Here’s a guide to the best launch day games, and here’s what the months ahead are looking like in terms of new releases.

These games support different Xbox Series X and Series S features. Watch Dogs Legion, for example, run in 4K on the Series X and supports ray tracing for more realistic-looking lighting on both consoles, but there’s no ray-tracing support in Assassin’s Creed Valhalla. Another interesting title in the launch lineup is Dirt 5, which can run at up to 120fps on the Xbox Series X. A high frame rate like this is especially important in a fast-paced racing game, and it means Dirt 5 feels more responsive to play on compatible TVs.

One common feature a lot of these games share is that they’ll also be available for current-gen consoles like the Xbox One and PS4. What was more surprising was when Microsoft said that would be true for even its own flagship games. If Microsoft keeps that promise, it would be a big departure from how console manufacturers have treated these games in the past, where these exclusive games have previously been an essential part of the sales pitch for new hardware.

New games, old hardware

Microsoft has said you won’t have to buy new hardware to enjoy its upcoming first-party titles because many of them will also come to Xbox One. Here’s how Xbox chief Phil Spencer described the company’s approach back in July, where he said that every Xbox Game Studios game in the next couple of years will be playable on the Xbox One.

You won’t be forced into the next generation. We want every Xbox player to play all the new games from Xbox Game Studios. That’s why Xbox Game Studios titles we release in the next couple of years—like Halo Infinite—will be available and play great on Xbox Series X and Xbox One. We won’t force you to upgrade to Xbox Series X at launch to play Xbox exclusives.

And if you’re more of a PC gamer and don’t own an Xbox One, then Microsoft also typically releases its major titles there as well, and it says it plans to continue this policy this year.

There are some caveats you should be aware of. First is that these promises only cover Microsoft’s first-party titles, aka those published by Xbox Game Studios. Microsoft isn’t making any promises about how other publishers like EA, Ubisoft, or Activision will handle their new games.

Even then, Microsoft has been pretty explicit about the fact that this only covers its own games that will release across the “next couple of years,” and there are signs that some high-profile games that have already been announced might not be coming to the Xbox One. After Microsoft’s high-profile Xbox event in July, we noted that a majority of the title cards for Microsoft’s first-party games, including Forza Motorsport and Fable, didn’t mention that they’d be coming to the Xbox One.

Finally, in case this wasn’t obvious, you’re probably going to see a very different-looking game if you’re choosing to play on a base Xbox One from 2013 compared to a shiny new Xbox Series X.

There’s even been some concern that trying to continue to support the Xbox One could hold back Microsoft’s next-generation games, which could give Sony an advantage since it can focus all of its attention on the new hardware. Spencer, as well as developers we’ve spoken to, have said this shouldn’t be a problem, but so-called “cross-gen” games on previous consoles have never made the most of the latest hardware.

New games, no hardware

Say you don’t own an Xbox or a gaming PC, but you do have an Android phone. Does Microsoft have any next-gen gaming options for you? Thanks to game streaming, it does. On September 15th, Microsoft added game streaming to Xbox Games Pass Ultimate, which costs $14.99 a month. The feature, which was known previously as xCloud, could give you a way to play many of the biggest Xbox Series X games without having to own any gaming hardware at all. You can stream them to a device as simple as an Android phone, for example (but not iOS, which we’ll get into in a second).

Game streaming isn’t an entirely new idea — Sony launched its PlayStation Now service way back in 2014 to a muted response — but Microsoft is taking a much more interesting approach. Rather than focusing on older titles, as Sony did with PlayStation Now, Microsoft says its new games will be available to stream the day they release and lists recent first-party titles like Forza Horizon 4, Gears of War 5, Tell Me Why, The Outer Worlds, and Ori and the Will of the Wisps as being among the 150-plus games available to stream at launch.

There are currently a couple of compromises to this approach, as we found recently when we tested the service for ourselves. For starters, load times and lag and noticeable, and are worse than competing cloud gaming services from Google and Nvidia. Getting into gameplay can take between a minute and a minute and a half, and fast-paced games can feel sluggish. Microsoft says that the servers powering the service will be upgraded to Series S/X hardware next year, but as it stands the service feels unfinished.

xCloud also currently isn’t available on every platform. At the moment, xCloud is available for Android, but the restrictions Apple places on game streaming services mean that its yet to come to iOS. That should change next year, however, since Microsoft is planning to develop a web version of the service that will be able to run on Apple’s devices.

Since xCloud will be included with an Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscription, it’s offered alongside a huge array of content beyond game streaming. Xbox Game Pass Ultimate’s $14.99 a month subscription also lets you download and play over 100 games directly on your Xbox or Windows 10 PC, as well as EA Play. It also includes an Xbox Live Gold subscription, which gives access to online multiplayer on Xbox.

PlayStation Now is still around, of course, but Sony isn’t promoting it as a way to play its recent games. It might have a huge catalog of over 800 titles, but it doesn’t feel like a serious attempt to compete with Microsoft’s game streaming, even after a recent price cut to $9.99 a month.

The backwards compatibility question

The ability to play a previous generation’s games on your new hardware (so-called “backwards compatibility”) has varied between different consoles and generations. Nintendo’s Wii U could happily play every Wii game, and the Wii could play every GameCube game before it. In contrast, the PS4 can’t natively play any games that were released for previous PlayStations — although some can be streamed via PlayStation Now.

With its new consoles, Microsoft has outlined three ways your old games will eventually be playable on its new hardware. Some games will be backwards compatible, some will receive enhancements, and others will receive a free upgrade when newer versions are released.

With the Xbox Series X, Microsoft is making big promises about your ability to play your old Xbox games on its new hardware. For starters, “thousands” of games released for the original Xbox, Xbox 360, and Xbox One are playable on the new consoles, and Microsoft has got a handy tool to let you browse them all. That includes almost every game released for the Xbox One, barring those that required its Kinect camera accessory.

The Xbox Series S can still play older games, but it doesn’t include their Xbox One X enhancements like higher resolutions. So in most cases, you’ll essentially be playing the version of the game that was designed for the less-powerful Xbox One S. That said, in some cases those older games can still benefit from more modern hardware such as the faster solid-state drive, and games with dynamic resolution scaling can run at higher resolutions. Backwards compatible original Xbox and Xbox 360 games run at an enhanced 1440p resolution.

That’s the baseline, but in some cases, Microsoft says that games will be enhanced, running in higher resolutions and frame rates than they were originally released with and with support for new technologies like HDR. In particular Microsoft says games can be updated to run at double their original frame rate on both the Series S and Series X. We already seen Microsoft achieve impressive results with some of this technology.

Finally, there’s Smart Delivery, which is essentially a free upgrade program that means you won’t have to re-buy an Xbox One game — like Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla, Cyberpunk 2077, or Doom Eternal — if it also gets released on the new hardware. Although this will theoretically offer the biggest upgrade, the feature is being selectively used. If you previously bought the original Control for Xbox One, for example, you won’t get a free upgrade to the next-gen version. That’s reserved for owners of Control’s new Ultimate Edition.

Sony has promised more modest improvements for PS4 games running on the PS5. It’s confirmed that the “overwhelming majority” of PS4 games will run on its new hardware, and says that some will have better loading speeds and more stable frame rates. Some developers have said they’ll offer free upgrades to the PS5 versions of their games.

Paying the price

If you want to continue to pay for your hardware and games up front, then that’s still an option with Microsoft’s new Xboxes. As mentioned above, the Xbox Series X retails for $499, while the Series S costs $299. Major releases, meanwhile, seem to be priced similarly or at a $10 premium to current-gen titles. The PS5 costs between $399 for its disc-free model, and $499 for its model with a 4K Blu-ray drive.

But going into this generation, Microsoft is making a big bet on people wanting to spend their money on games in monthly installments. For the Xbox Series X, that means paying $34.99 a month for 24 months via its Xbox All Access bundle (total cost: $839.76), while the Series S is available for $24.99 a month (total cost: $599.76). All Access will be available in 12 countries this year: Australia, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, South Korea, Sweden, the UK, and the US.

That’s more expensive than buying the console upfront, but included with Xbox All Access is Xbox Game Pass Ultimate — a subscription service that gets you free access to over 100 Xbox One titles, including big recent titles like Tell Me Why, Ori and the Will of the Wisps, and Forza Horizon 4 — free games via EA Play, Xbox Live Gold (a subscription that comes with its own monthly free games as well as access to online multiplayer), and game streaming via xCloud. Oh, and it gives free access to over 100 Windows 10 games as well, such as the recently released Microsoft Flight Simulator.

If you’d rather buy your hardware outright and buy a subscription to one of Microsoft’s game services separately, then Xbox Game Pass is available in a couple of different variations. Factor in the cost of these subscriptions to the total price of Xbox All Access, and the price of the console hardware itself drops to just $10 or $20 a month.

Xbox Game Pass comparison

Categories	Xbox Game Pass Ultimate	Xbox Game Pass	Xbox Game Pass for PC
Categories	Xbox Game Pass Ultimate	Xbox Game Pass	Xbox Game Pass for PC
Platform	PC/Xbox	Xbox	PC
Games included	250+ games	250+ games	200+ games
Xbox Live Gold	Yes	No	No
xCloud	Yes	No	No
EA Play	Yes	No	Yes
Monthly price	$14.99/£10.99/€12.99	$9.99/£7.99/€9.99	$9.99/£7.99/€9.99

Suffice it to say, if you don’t have the cash to make a big upfront purchase, then Microsoft still wants to get you on board for its next generation of consoles. You won’t own any of the games you can play (aside from the older Xbox 360 games you can download with Xbox Live’s Games with Gold service), but that’s the trade-off you make.

Microsoft’s plans for the next generation of gaming are sprawling. Two consoles that are available via subscription and can play a huge chunk of your existing Xbox games, a new roster of games that will be playable on your existing Xbox One, a continuing focus on PC gaming, and a game streaming service mean that, no matter what hardware you own, there’s a decent chance you’ll be able to pay Microsoft to play its games.

We’ve written before about how the focus on trying to sell subscriptions rather than premium hardware means that the “true next-gen Xbox” is the subscription itself, rather than the hardware it plays on. Microsoft is casting its net wide, and it doesn’t want any hardware requirements to get in the way of you subscribing.

Sony, meanwhile, is doing what it’s always done: it’s making a new console, developing exclusive games for it, and selling it. It’s hard to argue too much with the approach when it’s done so well for the company so far, especially with the PS4.

As of this writing, the PS4 has reportedly outsold the Xbox One by a factor of over two to one, so it’s hard to see why Sony would want to change its strategy too much. Microsoft is coming into this next generation as an underdog, and it’s doing everything in its power to change the rules of the game.

Update November 12th, 1:30PM ET: Added hands on impressions now that the Xbox Series S and Series X have launched.

Correction: An earlier version of this article stated that the PS5 will have 16GB of GDDR5 RAM. This is incorrect. It actually has 16GB of GDDR6 RAM.

Best upcoming Xbox One games to look forward to in 2020

(Pocket-lint) – There are amazing games coming out for Xbox One in the coming months. Whether you own an Xbox One S, 4K-ready Xbox One X or one of the newly-released next-gen consoles, most games work across them all.

We’ve rounded up the Xbox One games we’re looking forward to the most for you to get excited about too.

If you’re more into Sony, here’s our list of the best upcoming PS4 games, instead

There are release dates where possible and a trailer for each. We’ll also be updating the round-up throughout the year so come back wherever possible.

Cyberpunk 2077

Release date: 10 December 2020
Xbox One exclusive: No, also on PS4 and PC
Publisher: CD Projekt Red
Read more: Cyberpunk 2077 initial review: The most stunning open-world RPG we’ve seen by far

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We got to see around 50 minutes of the game played in front of us in a behind closed doors session at E3 2018 and 51 minutes later we could pick our jaws up off the floor.

Now over a year later and we’re still hyped. This is an open-world RPG from the maker of The Witcher 3 that is quite simply stunning. Our only question is whether it really will run properly on an Xbox One or if it’ll have to wait until the Xbox Series X turns up for the best performance. We’ve got a release date now and the chance to pre-order as well!

Outriders

Release date: December 2020
Xbox One exclusive: No, also PC and PS4
Publisher: Square Enix External Studios
See the official site

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From the team behind Gears of War Judgement and Bulletstorm comes a brand new co-op shooter with a dark sci-fi vibe. We don’t know much about the game at this point, but it certainly looks intriguing and a whole lot of fun to play with friends.

Immortals Fenyx Rising

Release date: 3 December 2020
PS4 exclusive: No, also on PS4, PS5 and PC
Publisher: Ubisoft
See the official site

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An all-new IP from Ubisoft, Immortals looks for all the world like it’s taken plenty of inspiration from The Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild.

A hero is on a quest to save the gods while exploring a beautiful fantasy world where tricky puzzles, mysterious dungeons and heroic feats await.

Halo Infinite

Publisher:Xbox Game Studios
Release date:2021
Exclusive?No, also on Xbox Series X and Windows 10

Halo Infinite is going to be a big game for Xbox Series X, but will also be coming out for Xbox One, meaning that almost anyone can play it – plus it’ll be on Game Pass from day one.

The game will put players back in the hallowed Spartan armour of Master Chief, as he combats the Banished, a new threat to humanity, and promises more freedom than any recent game in the series, with huge levels and the choice of how and when to tackle your objectives.

Dying Light 2

Release date: 2020
XBox One exclusive: No, also on PS4 and PC
Publisher: Techland Publishing

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The first Dying Light offers an excellent blend of parkour, first-person combat and more than a touch of role-playing. We have even bigger hopes for the sequel, which looks to add a dynamic world to the mix. The characters and circumstances change depending on your actions – a potentially great concept.

The next outing also seemingly promises a world that changes based on your choices, so you’ll have much more influence on the world around you. The new trailer also appears to show various factions of humans fighting it out for supremacy, so there’ll be more than just brain chompers to worry about.

Microsoft Flight Simulator

Release date: 2020
Xbox One exclusive: No, also PC and Xbox Series X
Type: Simulator
Publisher: Xbox Game Studios
See the official site

The next update to Microsoft’s Flight Simulator series is coming in 2020. Flight Simulator has already hit PC, but is coming to Xbox One as well.

Flight Simulator promises players the freedom to create their own flight plan and jet off anywhere in the world, flying day and night against realistic weather conditions.

Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines 2

Release date: 2020
Xbox One exclusive: No, also on PS4 and PC
Publisher: Paradox Interactive

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After a decade and a half, we’re finally getting a sequel to Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines. Similarly a first-person RPG, it’ll put you in the shoes of a bloodsucker ready to wreak havoc on mortals and the vampiric alike. We can’t wait.

Psychonauts 2

Release date: 2020
Xbox One exclusive: No, also on PS4 and PC
Publisher: Double Fine
See the official site

Double Fine studios were at E3 2019 showing off gameplay footage for Psychonauts 2, alongside the announcement that the company is joining Xbox Game Studios.

Psychonauts 2 has been a long time coming, but will no doubt have fans of the series thoroughly excited.

“Psychonauts 2 tells the story of Razputin Aquato, a gifted acrobat with psychic powers, as he fulfils his life-long goal of becoming an international psychic super-spy. In other words, a Psychonaut. Raz joins the Psychonauts at a dangerous time: a mole has infiltrated the organization and is planning to resurrect history’s most cruelly powerful psychic villains. Not knowing who to trust, Raz must dive into the history of the Psychonauts, and that of his own family, to fight the demons of their shared past.”

Twelve Minutes

Release date: 2020
Xbox One exclusive: No, also PC
Publisher: Annapurna Interactive
See the official site

Twelve Minutes is an “interactive thriller” where your character is stuck in a time loop. A romantic evening with your wife is interrupted by a police detective rudely entering your home, accusing your wife of murder and then beating you to death.

Things get interesting when time starts all over again and you’re forced to suss out what’s happening and how to stop it. Twelve Minutes should certainly make for an awesome gaming experience.

Biomutant

Release date: 2020
Xbox One exclusive: No, also PC
Publisher: THQ Nordic

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Biomutant is a new open-world action RPG coming later this year. Biomutant will allow players to combine mutant powers and a wealth of weaponry to customise their characters into the ultimate hero or villain. The fate of the world is in your hands.

Skull & Bones

Release date: 2020
Xbox One exclusive: No, also on PS4 and PC
Publisher: Ubisoft

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If there’s a game to starkly contrast the jovial pirates of the recently released Sea of Thieves then, well, Ubisoft has hit the nail on the head with Skull & Bones. This multiplayer battle game takes you to the seas where you’ll need to play co-operatively with others to sink competitors’ ships and abscond with the loot.

Rainbow Six Quarantine

Release date: 2020
Xbox One exclusive: No, also on PS4 and PC
Publisher: Ubisoft
See the official site

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There’s a new threat coming to the world in the form of a mutated alien parasite that’s infecting people and wreaking havoc on the planet. Your team is sent to save the day.

This is a 3-player tactical co-op FPS where you’ll be teaming up to battle it out against the environment and survive unpredictable missions.

Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga

Release date: 2021
Xbox One exclusive: No
Publisher: WB Games

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It seems that a new Lego game is coming at some point soon. This new platformer isn’t just a remaster of the previous Lego Star Wars games – it promises hundreds of different characters and different levels throughout. It’s being pitched as a brand-new Lego video game unlike any other with fun-filled adventures and plenty of humour too.

Tunic

Release date: TBD
Xbox One exclusive: Yes
Publisher: ID@Xbox

Looking like a cross between the SNES Zelda games and Monument Valley, Tunic is a cute, isometric adventure game with exploration and puzzles at its heart. Very much an indie game to watch.

Starfield

Release date: TBC
Xbox One exclusive: No, also on PS4 and PC
Publisher: Bethesda

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Touted as “Skyrim in Space”, Starfield will be the first new intellectual property from Bethesda Softworks in many a year. We don’t expect to see anything about it until 2021 at least, though.

The Elder Scrolls VI

Release date: TBC
Xbox One exclusive: No, also on PS4 and PC (probably)
Publisher: Bethesda

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Yep, it’s just music and a logo, but doesn’t it make the hairs on your arms stand on end like it does ours?

Beyond Good & Evil 2

Release date: TBC
Xbox One exclusive: No, also on PS4 and PC
Publisher: Ubisoft

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It’s been more than 15 years since the original game, so this sequel has us excited more than most. We still haven’t seen much of the gameplay yet, but the CGI effects are quite simply jaw-dropping. What’s more, you can have some of your music or artwork included in the game. Find out more at hitrecord.org.

Elden Ring

Release date: TBC
Xbox One exclusive: No, also PC
Publisher: Bandai Namco Entertainment
See the official site

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Another cracking game reveal at E3 2019 was Elden Ring – a game co-written by Game of Thrones’ George RR Martin and developed by FromSoftware. As if that wasn’t enough, it’s also set to be an action-RPG in the style of Dark Souls. If that’s not enough to get your pulse racing, then what is? That said, we’d be very surprised if this one doesn’t slip its release date at this stage, since we’ve heard so little about it.

Writing by Rik Henderson and Adrian Willings. Editing by Max Freeman-Mills.

Xbox Series X review: the next-gen is here

Our first response on the new Xbox Series X, the console that kicks off the ninth generation. Waiting for the PlayStation 5, here are the performance considerations, the tests on consumption, noise and loading times, and everything we can expect in the tomorrow of video games

by Rosario Grasso published on November 2020 in the Videogames channel

Microsoft Xbox

“The ninth generation begun is” as Master Yoda would say. Well, after the endless flurry of rumors, rumors, more or less definitive specifications, announcements, denials and the usual process that anticipates the debut of a new generation of consoles, Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5 are between us, or at least in the hands of the specialized press. A point that should not be overlooked so superficially, given the difficulties that producers are encountering in churning out the new systems en masse, with the health crisis that complicates everything.

new generation of consoles starts from two assumptions: greater computing power with the ability to play, even on consoles, at high refresh rates , resolutions up to 8K in upscaling and with latest generation visual effects such as Ray Tracing . The second assumption is the SSD , which will significantly speed up uploads and remove some historical obstacles for developers, who will be completely free to structure their game worlds without having to mind the restrictions related to the bottleneck generated by mechanical discs.

Let’s start from one point, the Xbox Series X review , with this type of timeline, cannot be exhaustive: it’s not so much because we have the console in the editorial office for only two weeks, but it is more a matter of vision and perspective. Evaluating if a console is presenting the specifications and has the prerogatives to be successful is almost impossible in such a short time, because “win” a “console race” depends on many factors, not all, or perhaps few or very few, controllable by console manufacturers. It would be better to say that it is a challenge, a bet that is launched by trying to guess what the entertainment tastes of current and future players will be (considering that PS4 and Xbox One have been on the market for 7 years now).

We can immediately make some assessments on energy consumption, temperatures , operating efficiency, skin characteristics, interface user, noise, loading times , but then the quality of the next exclusive and non-exclusive games, the capacity to update systems with new firmware, future features and offers for customers will, as usual, make a difference.

Although PlayStation has hands down won the previous generation, the two rivals (Nintendo, for obvious reasons, plays on a separate field) are very close. We saw it in the war of embargoes they triggered at the time of unboxing and we see it on many other fronts, starting with the technical specifications. Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5 are both based on Zen 2 architecture for the CPU and RDNA 2 with hardware support for Ray Tracing as regards the GPU. This obviously comes with a lot of advantages, and could be considered indispensable from the point of view of developers, who are not so forced into a laborious conversion work when switching from one console to another.

Xbox Series X features a GPU at 52 Compute Unit , i.e. a significantly higher architectural density than to PlayStation 5, which stops at 36 Compute Unit . So, in terms of theoretical maximum computing power we are at 12 TFLOPS versus 10, 23 TFLOPS . Microsoft has thought of a fixed frequency system, with the CPU (practically identical between the two consoles, 8 cores) running at 3.8 GHz and the GPU set to 1825 MHz, against the variable frequencies of PS5, i.e. up to 3.5 GHz for the CPU and up to 2, 23 GHz.

It is very difficult, if not impossible, to say which of the two producers has guessed the correct path. Because it depends on how the games are made and to what depth they can exploit the hardware they run on. It can be said that a game well optimized for the Xbox Series X hardware has the potential to run better than the corresponding version of the PS5. This is what currently happens with Xbox One X and PS4 Pro : Several games feature a more stable frame rate and slightly higher resolutions on One X than on PS4 Pro. But in the coming months, this comparison will be done game by game .

Technical specifications

Here are the full technical specifications of the two new Xbox consoles.

	Xbox Series X
CPU	3.6 core custom Zen 2 CPU GHz (3.4 GHz with SMT)
GPU	Custom RDNA 2 GPU 12 TFLOPS, 52 CU a 1, 825 GHz
SOC size	360, 45 mm
Processing	7 nm Enhanced
Memory	GDDR6 from 16 GB with bus from 320 bits wide
There memory bandwidth	10 GB a 560 GB / s (memory accessible by games), 6 GB at 336 GB / s
Internal memory	1TB Custom NVME SSD
Actual I / O Speed	2.4 GB / s (Raw ), 4.8GB / s (compressed, with custom hardware decompression lock)
Expandable storage space	support for the 1TB Seagate Expansion Card for Xbox Series X \| S perfectly matches the internal memory (sold separately). Support for external HDD with USB 3.1 (sold separately).

Performance target 4K a 52 fps, with support up to 120 fps High Dynamic Range HDR up to 8K Optical drive Blu-ray UHD 4K HDMI 2.1 Features Automatic low latency mode. HDMI variable refresh rate. AMD FreeSync. Audio functionality Dolby Digital 5.1, DTS 5.1, Dolby TrueHD with Atmos, L-PCM up to 7.1 HDMI 1 HDMI 2.1 port USB 3 Gen 1 USB 3.1 ports Wireless 802. 11 ac dual band Ethernet 802. 3 10 / 100 / 1000 Radio accessories Dedicated Dual Band Xbox Wireless Radio Format 15, 1 x 15, 1 x 30, 1 cm Weight 4.4 kg

	Xbox Series S
CPU	3.6 GHz (3.4 GHz with SMT) 8 core custom Zen 2 CPU
GPU	4 TFLOPS, 20 CU a 1, 565 GHz
SOC size	197 , 05 mm2
Memory	GDDR6 from 10 GB with bus from 128 bits wide
Memory bandwidth	8 GB a 224 GB / s (memory accessible by games), 2GB a 48 GB / s
Internal memory	NVME SSD customized by 512 GB
Actual I / O Speed	2 , 4GB / s (Raw), 4.8GB / s (compressed, with custom hardware decompression lock)
Expandable storage space	Support for Seagate 1TB Expansion Card for Xbox Series X \| S perfectly matches internal memory (sold separately). Support for external HDD with USB 3.1 (sold separately)

Performance target 1440 pa 60 fps, with support up to 120 fps. It also supports native 4K if the developer chooses to render at 4K. It also contains advanced scalar hardware if connected to a 4K TV HDMI 2.1 Features Auto low latency mode. HDMI variable refresh rate. AMD FreeSync Audio functionality L-PCM up to 7.1, Dolby Digital 5.1, DTS 5.1, Dolby TrueHD with Atmos HDMI 1 HDMI 2.1 port USB 3 Gen 1 USB 3.1 Ports Wireless 802. 11 ac dual band Ethernet 802. 3 10 / 100 / 1000 Radio accessories Dedicated Dual Band Xbox Wireless Radio Format 6.5 × 12, 1 × 27, 5 cm Weight 1, 92 kg

Test

These assessments must also be made in the light of the cooling systems and the energy efficiency of the two systems. Consoles, even more so than traditional desktop PC systems, must not overheat and must not incur energy inefficiencies, so that they can be used by the widest possible audience. After our first tests, we must say that they both work well and that they give a feeling of efficiency and stability greater than previous console launches. Xbox Series X features a voluminous fan at the top , and blows the hot air through a grille, towards the top.

In other words, if you are playing a Gears 5 and put your hand over the console, then you can feel a flow of hot air. Perhaps disturbing, certainly unusual if it is true that we are used to systems that emit the air from the rear. That said, based on the tests we’ve had so far, Xbox Series X overheats less than Xbox One X, is significantly less noisy, and is more efficient on the floor. of energy consumption . Immediately above the fan we have a perforated structure where, for each hole, there is a part in reflective green which returns a pleasant aesthetic effect, recalling the I find the typical green of the Xbox world. As for the power supply, the Xbox Series X comes with a 315 W and, as with all Xboxes from Xbox One S, the power supply will be internal. The regulators supply up to 100 W per square inch, with a charge peak of 128 TO.

The temperature test was done with the thermal imaging camera FLIR One , already used here in the editing of Hardware Upgrade for other works, for example for the thermal tests of laptops. We recorded a temperature of almost 48 ° C in the upper part of the console, which is the one that, for obvious reasons, heats up the most. Even after hours of gameplay, however, the Xbox Series X does not overheat excessively, and it always remains very quiet.

We were surprised that with the game running there is no noticeable increase in noise compared to the console at idle. We also tried to run Gears 5 for several hours and noises and temperatures increase a little: the console is therefore confirmed to be really very efficient in both aspects. The figure of just over 30 dB means that it is almost completely silent. Of course, as long as it is positioned in an airy environment and with the upper part completely free from obstacles.

Rather, it is the optical reader, when engaged in reading a disc, that generates the conditions of greatest noise. Moreover, it is a much quieter reading than that of the PS4 Pro player, which represents one of the sore points of the previous generation Sony console. Xbox Series X also is the most efficient console in terms of power consumption .

We ran the consumption test in idle and with three different games, Halo 5: Guardians, DooM Eternal and Gears 5 . Xbox Series X always holds firmly under the 190 Watts of power consumption and, beyond the case of Gears 5, always shows superior performance to the previous generation console. A very interesting data, which confirms the excellent manufacturing quality of the Xbox Series X power supply.

Given the debut of the SSD on consoles, it is very interesting how they improve i loading times of the games. It’s not so much how much it takes for the console to boot up in wonder, but how game loading times are cut, as our graph shows. The tests were carried out under normal conditions and not the presence of the Quick Resume functionality, which we will see better later.

The importance of the SSD does not end in the loading times because, as mentioned before, the very approach of the game developers, and will affect the shaping of the game worlds of future titles. We will explore this point further below.

Xbox Series X also gives the feeling of being a very compact system from the point of view of internal components, pursuing an approach already started with Xbox One X. An excellent engineering, therefore, which allowed to contain the dimensions and to give the console a minimalist aesthetic appearance, in line with the trend of the moment in terms of furnishings. In other words, if the designers of Microsoft Xbox drew on the way of thinking of an interior designer when they thought about the design of the new console, it seems that those of Sony were more based on the tastes of gamers and younger audiences.

The new Xbox Series X gamepad

The Xbox Series X gamepad is certainly not an evolution from previous generation Xbox gamepads. When you have it in your hand it immediately gives the feeling of great agility, with a very stable grip thanks to the increase in the knurled surface. This type of motif is in fact more accentuated and now also affects the upper part of the gamepad, starting with the triggers. Microsoft has also revised the buttons, since now they return a consistent sound feedback, as well as tactile, to the pressure, which provides greater guarantees about the fact that the pressure has occurred. The directional cross has also been significantly improved, and is now much more precise, with interesting implications also as regards the typing of the texts.

In addition, a vibration effect has been applied to the two upper triggers that reproduce a different type of feedback depending on what is happening in the game. These triggers have a different operation than the Xbox One pad triggers: inside them, in fact, there is an ERM (Eccentric Rotating Mass) motor , i.e. a system similar to the one already integrated into the controller handle. These vibration motors are activated at specific points and at different levels of intensity through a mechanical oscillation that rotates around a point of balance. This is a different technology than those based on sound waves (at the base, among others, of the Linear Resonant Actuators of the Nintendo Switch Joy-Con), which on paper guarantee more articulated vibrations and different levels of intensity.

Compatibility with a multitude of devices, apart from Xbox, is very important. The new controller, in fact, works with both Xbox Series X and Xbox One through the classic Xbox Wireless Radio proprietary protocol. At the same time it is compatible with PC, Android and iOS via the Bluetooth Low Energy (BTLE) protocol . Compared to the past, change the type of port on the controller, now type USB-C where up to the past generation was mini-USB type. The console, on the other hand, has no USB-C input on the body (unlike the PlayStation 5).

In addition, the new controller uses a higher frequency of communications with the system, in order to reduce latency. It falls within the concept that Microsoft with the new console is identifying with the name of Dynamic Latency Input (DLI) , that is a series of system-wide improvements that include a specific technology in the console and that also affects the HDMI connection to the TV / monitor.

At the bottom of the device we find the share button . With a single press we will create a screenshot, while with the double press on the screen the acquisitions and shares section will open where we can configure the type of acquisition. In all cases, however, these are clips with strong compression, basically usable for editorial purposes like ours (we had to proceed with the acquisitions with external box with the contents on the new consoles you see on the site these days).

SSD

With Xbox Series X debuts in console world the SSD as a reference point for storage. This has very important advantages not only in terms of game loading times, but also and above all of gameplay. Developers will have more design freedom for game worlds and will be able to manage large open worlds and populate them with very different polygonal objects.

At the same time, we have lower specifications compared to PlayStation 5. Sony beat a lot on this point in the advertising phase of its new console: where PS5 is inferior in terms of GPU, it catches up compared to Xbox Series X thanks to the technology behind the SSD . If at Microsoft the declared performances in terms of Throughput I / O are the following, 2.4 GB / s (raw) 4.8 GB / s (compressed) , Sony declares 5.5 GB / s (raw), 8-9 GB / s typical (compressed) . Also from this point of view it is extremely difficult to immediately verify what the real repercussions of the theoretical specifications are, because we will have to wait for the work of the developers from the point of view of optimizing their games on the basis of the new hardware.

Microsoft has inserted a new chip of custom I / O located in the SoC of the new console and a decompression system that has been designed to deliver data in a precise and timely manner. With the new API DirectStorage and the new hardware decompression, Microsoft is able to further improve the performance of I / O and reduce CPU overhead, both of which are essential for speeding up loads. Looking ahead, the Xbox Series X Streaming Feedback Sampler (SFS) is a game changer for streaming game worlds and their levels of visual detail.

SFS can be further exploited to increase the level of detail of the textures by loading on the memory only the strictly necessary contents. In fact, much of the latency of a hard disk is that it employs a mechanical head that moves across the surface of the disk (platter) to search for the data it needs: a mechanism that takes more time to search than to do. actual reading. Therefore, the same data is often duplicated hundreds of times simply to make it easier to find.

One point where Microsoft seems weaker than Sony is the available storage expansion system. . On the rear of the console is one slot for the Seagate Branded 1TB Expansion Card , at prices not exactly affordable. Sony, on the other hand, has thought of a more versatile NVMe SSD slot inside the console, to which it is possible to connect a traditional NVMe SSD, easily available on the market.

Microsoft has the advantage if you look at the size of the main unit inserted into the console. If in the case of PS5 it is 825 GB, of which just over 650 GB available to the user, Xbox Series X offers a 1 TB drive which, net of the console operating system installation, offers approximately 900 GB freely manageable by players.

HDMI 2.1 and 120 Hz

A separate discussion must be made regarding the connection HDMI 2.1 . If up to Xbox One X we had two HDMI ports (one input and one output) now we only have one port, but of the HDMI 2.1 type, which is capable of providing enough bandwidth to handle image streams up to to 4K and to 120 Hz . It is precisely this latter aspect that interests us most, since now, even on consoles, you can enjoy very high refresh rates, with a consequent reduction in latencies.

Who plays on console is used to much higher latencies than 100 thousandths of a second, with disadvantages especially from the point of view of the integrity of the competitive multiplayer gaming experience. Now, since launch, Xbox Series X allows you to play Gears 5, in multiplayer mode Versus , with latencies wandering around on 30 / 40 thousandths of a second . But be careful, because to enjoy the 120 Hz you need to have the right monitor / TV, considering that traditionally in the PC environment, high refresh rates are managed via DIsplayPort and not HDMI. It may therefore happen that your monitor to 144 or 240 Hz has the HDMI 1.4 connection, insufficient for new consoles (bandwidth level to play in 1080 p requires at least an HDMI 1.4b connection).

Once the connection is successfully established, the Xbox Series X dashboard will immediately detect the ability to activate the 120 Hz and will ask if you want to switch to high refresh rate. From the display and TV options in at any time the user can choose the resolution and refresh rate based on the specifications of the connected monitor / TV. There is also a diagnosis screen, where Xbox Series X clearly highlights what the TV supports and what it doesn’t: for example, with the monitor 360 editorial Hz reports that “Your TV configuration supports up to 1080 p natives to 120 FPS “.

To these is added the tool to calibrate the TV: step by step, right from the console point of view and therefore in such a way that it is affordable for everyone, it explains how to perform a precise calibration for any type of television. A similar tool allows you to calibrate the HDR for games. Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S are able to leverage an innovative HDR rebuild technique to enhance existing SDR games with no developer work and no impact on available CPU, GPU or memory resources.

Xbox Series X, like the previous generation, can read discs Blu Ray 4K Ultra HD .

Xbox App

The new Xbox Series X debuts Xbox App (also available for Xbox One). This is associated with the console and allows you to remotely manage its contents, then start a download, manage friends lists, chat with them, search for new contents and purchase them, manage the acquisitions made on the console and share them, and much more. yet. As happens for a device like Oculus Quest 2 , even the Xboxes are in this way manageable via the smartphone.

Xbox Game Pass

A key component of Microsoft’s offering for this generation is Xbox Game Pass, to the point of being integrated directly into the console dashboard. Xbox Game Pass Ultimate includes all the benefits of Xbox Live Gold and beyond 100 quality games for console, PC and Android mobile devices, all at a low monthly price.

Xbox Game Pass Ultimate members can also access the EA Play at no additional cost. EA Play subscription includes more than 60 among the best games for PC and Electronic Arts consoles, such as FIFA 20, Star Wars Battlefront II, Titanfall 2 and Need for Speed Heat. It also includes some of EA’s most popular franchises, such as Battlefield, Mass Effect, Skate and Sims, access to trial versions of the games and discounts on EA digital purchases.

To Regarding backward compatibility , Microsoft has done a great job, making almost all games from the past Xbox available also on the new Series X and Series S. There may be problems only with certain games built around the logic of Kinect , but otherwise it almost always goes smooth as oil. While in the case of PS5 there may be some more hitches, probably due to the major architectural changes especially related to the functioning of the storage unit.

Smart Delivery and Quick Resume

These are two of Microsoft’s most touted Xbox Series X features. Very interesting is Smart Delivery , the technology of Xbox Series X that allows you to play the best version of games in based on your console. All Xbox Game Studios games that are optimized for Xbox Series X, including Halo Infinite , will support Smart Delivery. This means that if you purchase the Xbox One version of a supported title, Microsoft will identify it and serve you the optimized version for the new console on the Xbox Series X, at no additional charge, when available. Smart Delivery is implementable by all Xbox developers.

For some years now, Microsoft’s strategy has provided for a decentralization with respect to hardware , in order to allow for gamers to choose which device to play on while remaining in the Xbox ecosystem. This started with Xbox Play Anywhere and reaches a later stage with Smart Delivery. In the future, the approach will be further expanded when the cloud gaming technology Project xCloud is sufficiently refined.

The Quick Resume technology, on the other hand, will allow you to resume the game from where you left off . Quick Resume allows you to resume several games at the push of a button, instantly switching to the action, where you left off (even weeks later), “for multiple games at the same time”. It needs to be specifically supported by games, so it may not work with the 60% of titles.

Think you are playing a game and turn off the console later. Upon reopening, if you decide to return to play with that specific game, just click on the corresponding icon and the game will be immediately restored, as can happen in a Windows environment with an application running and immediately available through the taskbar.

Conclusions

Ultimately, what is Xbox Series X like? It certainly represents a very important evolution in hardware compared to the previous generation, from a certain historical point of view in consideration of the fact that Zen 2 and RDNA 2 are recently introduced technologies also in the PC world. The GPU configuration gives it more computing power than the PlayStation 5 which, together with the SSD, will allow developers to release gaming experiences that in many ways are unprecedented in the console world.

Xbox Series X gives the feeling of being engineered in an accurate and very precise way, and offers interesting performances both in terms of silence and temperatures. In addition, it is the most efficient console ever in terms of energy consumption. Of course, as we mentioned, there is insufficient data to be able to give a complete judgment, because the performance on the market will depend on other factors, on the future support and on how the video game and entertainment industry will change. From these points of view, despite recent efforts, Microsoft could still pay a gap compared to Sony PlayStation, in terms of games and exclusives.

Xbox Series X is also minimalist, not only in appearance but also in functionality. Microsoft gives the feeling of having wanted to develop something “clean”, without overdoing it. It provides a very competitive hardware, for the price at which it is granted, but leaving doubts about the level of innovation of the Series X project. Microsoft gives the feeling of having taken great care in improving the hardware, but the rival has focused on the ‘to offer players a different experience compared to the past generation, in terms of controllers, user interface and other elements in such a way as to convey the idea that something changes in the way of playing, beyond the power made available to the players. We close with a scheme of Pros and Cons in comparison to PS5 .

PRO

More powerful hardware than PS5, especially the GPU

Quiet and optimized from the point of view of energy consumption 5873

Minimalist design

Support ai 120 Hz immediately working

More space on the basic disk

VERSUS

Not very innovative
On paper, prest lower shares for the SSD
Cumbersome storage expansion

Xbox Series X and Series S: Quiet, fast and not very original

Before the new Microsoft game consoles Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S were launched, heise online had the opportunity to test the final models in detail. After many days full of measurements and extensive gaming sessions, we can state that compared to their predecessors, the new consoles are not only particularly powerful, but also extremely quiet. Our detailed test of the Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S shows: The game consoles usher in a new era of inconspicuousness – but not always in a positive way. Because at least for the market launch on 10. November there will be no real, exclusive next-gen games that demonstrate the capabilities of the consoles.

The Xbox Series X costs 500 Euro and should be most games in 4K and 60 fps. The console even remains whisper-quiet during games – we only measured 0.1 sone each time – unless a Blu-ray (0.6 sone) is rotating in the drive. Microsoft has managed the cooling concept really well and the comparatively large case volume (15 x 15 x 30 cm) used. The waste heat is transported away efficiently – however, when setting up, you should make sure that the fan grill always remains free. The Xbox Series S also remains nice and quiet when playing (less than 0.2 sone). The maximum power consumption determined by us in Gears of War 5 is around 200 Watt (Series X), or 90 Watt (Series S). When playing back movies, the Series X burned up to 80 Watt, the Series S round 50 Watt.

Test discussion on the Xbox Series S & X from heise online.

Fast loading, little space The particularly fast SSD significantly reduces loading times for most games – some games load around the Factor 5 faster. Among the games tested, Forza Horizon 4 and Monster Hunter: World benefited the most from the Xbox console’s SSD. There is also the practical Quick Resume function, which allows gamers to switch back and forth between several games within a few seconds – thanks to the fast SSD cache. That worked in the test with up to eight games at the same time.

The Xbox Series X has an HDMI 2.1 port, three USB ports (USB 3.1 Gen 1), an Ethernet port and memory expansion slot.

Unfortunately, the storage space is a bit tight: On the Series X, 801 Use GByte, on the Series S only 364 GByte. In the meantime, however, some games are partly well over 100 GByte in size, e.g. Call of Duty: Warzone. When buying the new consoles you should keep that in mind and, if necessary, use the proprietary one, 240 Order expensive SSD storage expansion at the same time. This is especially important for players with lame internet connections who cannot “just quickly” download a game again.

Almost all games run on the Series X and Series S, which also run on the previous One and One X work. Even without special adjustments, many benefit from the new console performance, show sharper textures through a sixteen-fold anisotropic filter or prettier colors through a more or less well-functioning Auto-HDR mode.

To the new functions like 4K at 120 To use Hz or a variable refresh rate, the game must be adapted to the technology and the television must be compatible. In the test with Dirt 5 the game worked with 100 Hz more fluid and remained sharper with fast movements, but the rendering resolution was lower and some details were missing compared to 60 – fps mode. At the time of testing, however, the game was not yet finalized.

Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S outperform their respective Predecessor Xbox One and Xbox One X in every way. They are faster, quiet and, thanks to modern functions, offer a good basis for the games of the coming years. In the absence of real next-gen titles at the start of sales, there is still no urgency for owners of the Xbox One X to switch to the Series X right away. For Xbox One users, however, an upgrade could already be worthwhile – after all, the power of the new consoles also gives many older titles a lot of momentum.

Find the full test with all measurement results, thermal images and other findings You on heise +:

Consoles in comparison: Technical data Xbox Series X Xbox Series S Xbox One X Xbox One S AMD Zen 2 / 8 x 3.8GHz (3, 66 GHz Multi-Core) AMD Zen 2/8 × 3.6 GHz (3.4 GHz multi-core) AMD Jaguar / 8 × 2.3 GHz AMD Jaguar / 8 × 1, 75 GHz 16 GByte GDDR6 / 320 Bit GByte GDDR6 / 120 Bit 12 GByte GDDR 5 / 384 bit 8 GByte DDR3 / 245 Bit AMD RDNA 2 / 12, 5 TFLOPS AMD RDNA 2/4 TFLOPS AMD GCN 4/6 TFLOPS AMD GCN 2 / 1.4 TFLOPS 1.8 GHz / 52 1.6 GHz / 20 1.2 GHz / 40 0.9 GHz / 12 SSD (PCIe Gen 4, NVMe) / 1 TByte SSD (PCIe Gen 4, NVMe) / 512 GByte HDD with 5400 RPM / 1 TByte HDD with 5400 RPM / 500 GByte, 1 TByte, 2 TByte 820 GByte 364 GByte 780 GByte 780 GByte ( 1 TByte version) ✓ (UHD Blu-ray) – ✓ (UHD Blu-ray) ✓ (UHD-Blu-ray) 1 × HDMI 2.1 / – 1 × HDMI 2.1 / – 1 × HDMI 2.0b / 1 × HDMI 2.0b 1 × HD MI 2.0a / 1 × HDMI 2.0a 3 × USB 3.1 (type A, 1 × front, 2 × rear) 3 × USB 3.1 (Type A, 1 × front, 2 × rear) 3 × USB 3.0 (type A, 1 × front, 2 × rear) 3 × USB 3.0 (type A, 1 × front, 2 × rear) ✓ / proprietary (back) ✓ / proprietary (back) – – 1 × Gigabit Ethernet / Wi-Fi 5 (801. 11 ac) 1 × Gigabit Ethernet / Wi-Fi 5 (801. 11 ac) 1 × Gigabit Ethernet / Wi-Fi 5 (801. 10 ac) 1 × gigabit Ethernet / Wi-Fi 5 (801. 11 ac) – – S / PDIF, IR S / PDIF, IR 150 mm × 300 mm × 150 mm 275 mm × 65 mm × 150 mm 275 mm × 60 mm × 240 mm 300 mm × 63 mm × 230 mm internal (315 Watt) internal (nb) internal (245 Watt) internal (120 Watt) ( mfi)

Xbox Series X vs Xbox One X: What’s the difference?

(Pocket-lint) – The Xbox Series X brings 4K 60fps gaming and next-gen power. But how does it compare to the outgoing Xbox One X?

Xbox Series X vs Xbox Series S: What’s the difference?

What you really want to know is that, if you already own an Xbox One X, is it worth upgrading? We compare the specs and features of them both to help you make up your mind.

Design

As you can see, the design of the Xbox Series X is quite a departure from the norm. It is designed as a standing unit, although can be laid down on its side too. However, it is considerably larger than the Xbox One X so you will need a bigger space in your TV stand, for instance.

Xbox One X vs Xbox One S vs All-Digital Edition: Which should you buy?

One of the reasons for its larger size and aesthetic is heat dissipation. The grille at the top allows for internal heat to dissipate, which is important as the processing chips inside will get extremely hot and if there are not sufficient cooling measures employed, you’ll find the internal fan will have to work harder – resulting in a very noisy machine and, worse still, one that is prone to crashing.

The same is true of the Xbox One X, which can run noisy at times for the exact same reason, but its internal hardware is easier to keep cool as it is lesser specced, so has a slimmer, more conventional profile.

Graphics

Graphics hardware is, naturally, different in the two machines. With the Xbox Series X representing a significant upgrade. It sports a custom GPU with 12 teraflops of power and 52 compute units running at 1.825GHz. That’s basically the most powerful graphics processing chip in any console to date – even more powerful than the one in PS5.

In comparison, the Xbox One X has a similar custom GPU but with 6 teraflops of power, 40 compute units and running at 1.172GHz.

Microsoft claims the Series X is twice as powerful as the One X in terms of graphical prowess.

In simple terms, it will run nigh-on every game natively in 4K 60fps, where the One X can only run a handful of titles in full 4K natively. And often, you have to choose between 60fps or 4K, not both. Some games will also run at 120fps on the Xbox Series X – it has that much potential.

It is also worth noting that games for the Xbox Series X can utilise real-time ray-tracing technology, to make in-game lighting more realistic. The Xbox One X does not support that feature.

CPU and memory

Like the GPU, the main processor sees a major jump between the two consoles. The Xbox Series X comes with a custom eight-core AMD processor based on the Zen 2 architecture, running at up to 3.8GHz per core.

The Xbox One X, on the other hand, also has a custom eight-core AMD processor, but it runs at a maximum of 2.3GHz per core. This, says Xbox, means the Series X is four-times faster, more efficient and powerful.

On top of that, the next-gen machine comes with 16GB of GDDR6 RAM, while the One X has 12GB of GDDR5 RAM.

PS5 vs Xbox Series X: The next-gen gaming battle begins here

Storage

Another big leap comes in the storage solutions used in the new console.

The Xbox Series X uses SSD (solid state drive) storage, which is much faster for read/write transfers than traditional hard drive tech. It contains a 1TB SSD which will provide a couple of major benefits. Not only will games load faster – including in-game loading times – you will be able to pause a game, start up another, and go back to the original paused title instantly.

The Xbox One X, on the other hand, comes with a 1TB HDD, which is still capable and reasonably speedy for normal use. There is basically nothing wrong with it whatsoever.

Both consoles are able to be expanded through USB 3.0 (3.1 on the Series X) external drives. In addition, the Series X also comes with a dedicated, proprietary drive port on the rear for users to plug in an optional extra 1TB SSD unit.

How to upgrade your Xbox One storage by 2TB or more

Controller

A new version of the Xbox Wireless Controller comes with the Xbox Series X. It looks similar but has a new “share” button and the D-Pad design that looks more like the one on the Elite 2 pro controller.

We have no problems whatsoever with the current Xbox controller though – it’s one of the best ever released – and the best news is that you can use it on the Series X too.

Xbox Series X controller: All you need to know

Games and accessories

All Xbox One games and accessories will be compatible with the Xbox Series X, although that won’t always work the other way around.

Best upcoming Xbox Series X games

Xbox is committed to releasing games for all Xbox consoles (from One up) for at least a couple of years going forward. And, as a bonus, some of the games will instantly be upgraded when installed on a Series X.

That might mean enhanced graphics and better loading times. Think of it much like the Xbox One X in comparison to the One S – many current games have enhanced graphics when played on the One X.

Xbox’s Game Pass subscription service will work on the Series X as it does on the Xbox One.

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Home entertainment

Both consoles sport a 4K Blu-ray drive and support Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos. All other streaming apps and entertainment services will be similar across both.

One thing that might make a difference though is that the Xbox One X has a HDMI 2.0 output, while the Xbox Series X will come with a HDMI 2.1 equivalent. This means the One X cannot go above 4K HDR 60fps in video output terms, while the Series X is capable of 8K 120fps. That could be important if you plan to purchase an 8K TV anytime soon.

Price

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Currently, you can snag an Xbox One X for around £350 – its original RRP was £450. The Xbox Series X costs $499/£449 (in contrast, the Xbox Series S is $299/£249)

With Xbox All Access, which includes Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, you can get either one of the new Xbox consoles for a monthly fee. There is no upfront cost, and you pay one monthly price for two years.

$22.99 or £18 (Xbox One S 1TB console, Xbox Game Pass Ultimate)
$24.99 or £21 (Xbox Series S console, Xbox Game Pass Ultimate)
$34.99 or £29 (Xbox Series X console, Xbox Game Pass Ultimate)

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Xbox Series X vs Xbox One X: Which is best for you?

Ultimately, the main decision to make is whether you want to invest (heavily) in the future of gaming or you’re happy to settle for the very best the last generation has to offer.

The Xbox Series X is an extremely powerful, exciting new console. But we also have a massive sweet spot for the Xbox One X. The latter is an amazing machine for the current price and you can buy one now with free games thrown in.

Writing by Rik Henderson. Editing by Dan Grabham.

Xbox Series X vs Xbox Series S: What’s the difference?

(Pocket-lint) – The Xbox Series X is here but that isn’t the only new Xbox available. The Xbox Series S is an all-digital version with some key differences – it’s a cheaper alternative.

So we’ve put together a handy guide to help you decide which new Xbox is the best for you.

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Design

Perhaps surprisingly, the two next-gen consoles look nothing alike. The Xbox Series X is a monolithic beast of a machine, best designed to stand vertically, while the Series S looks more like the Xbox One S – it even has a similar grille on the top (when horizontal).

Xbox Series X vs PS5: The next-gen gaming battle begins here

Xbox has decided to make that grille black and the console white, however, which makes it look like a loudspeaker when it is stood on its end.

Processing and graphics

Both the Xbox Series X and Series S are powered by a custom AMD Zen 2 eight-core processor, but the Series X CPU will run at 3.8GHz per core (3.6GHz with multi-threading) and the S at 3.6GHz (3.4GHz with multi-threading).

They differ even more greatly in the graphics processing, with the Series X sporting 12 TFLOPS (52CUs at 1.825GHz) of RDNA 2 graphics. The Series S will have 4 TFLOPS (20CUs at 1.565GHz) of RDNA 2 graphics.

RAM is also different across machines. The flagship console has 16GB of GDDR6 RAM, while its stablemate will have 10GB.

Ray tracing is supported by both, but while the Series X will be able to run games in full 4K resolution, the Series S will be locked at 1440p (and many games will run in 1080p). Both will run games at 60fps natively, although are capable of up to 120fps.

Even with its lower-spec though, the Series S supports variable refresh rates and shading.

Storage

In terms of storage, both have an SSD for faster load times and the rest of the abilities that solid-state drives can offer. The X will come with a 1TB internal SSD, with an expansion slot for an additional, proprietary 1TB drive. It will also support USB 3 and up external hard drives.

Xbox Series X and S storage expansion: Everything you need to know about the Seagate Storage Expansion Card

In comparison, the Series S has a 512GB SSD to keep costs down. That’ll give it the same super-fast loading times and other features, but we are seriously worried about the capacity considering most games these days are anywhere up to 100GB in size. Some are even larger, such as Call of Duty: Warzone.

Thankfully, it will also support the 1TB Expansion Card that will be available separately. And both consoles will support external USB 3.0 drives (and above) – although they won’t work with the faster loading times, etc.

Controller

A new Xbox Wireless Controller ships with the Xbox Series X and the one with the Series S is no different – just a different colour. It will also be available to buy separately and also works with legacy Xbox One consoles.

You can find out more about the new gamepad here: Xbox Series X controller: All you need to know.

Games and accessories

All Xbox games – be they Xbox One, Xbox Series, or even original Xbox and Xbox 360 – will work across the entire family of consoles. The only exceptions will be those that require Kinect.

That includes the Series X and Series S, with games featuring enhanced graphics and other platform talents coming under the banner of “Optimised for Xbox Series X/S”.

As for accessories, Xbox has confirmed that all Xbox One controllers, headsets, and other first and third-party accessories will work with both new consoles too.

Microsoft’s games library subscription service, Xbox Game Pass, will be available for both Series S and X, with EA Play now added to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, making for a very compelling subscription service.

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Home entertainment

There is no physical disc drive on the Series S. The Series X (like the existing One X and One S) will sport a 4K Ultra-HD Blu-ray drive for games and movie playback alike.

They will both support HDR, Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos, for video and games (the first consoles to have Dolby Vision gaming support).

Price and availability

This is the big one. The Xbox Series X will cost £449 / $499 for that extra power and punch. While the Xbox Series S will be $299 / £249 at launch.

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You can also purchase either console on the Xbox All Access monthly payment plan. It includes the console and Xbox Game Pass Ultimate for a low monthly fee. Check out all the details here.

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Conclusion

It makes complete sense for Microsoft to launch two consoles, at two price points, much like it has done in the past. And, while the spec differences are obvious, both should. It will come down to your budget.

It must also be said that with two models of the PlayStation 5 also here, it’s an exciting, jam-packed end to the oddest year in recent history.

Writing by Rik Henderson. Editing by Dan Grabham.

ALLM: everything you need to know about Auto Low Latency Mode

(Image credit: Sony)

With the PS5 and Xbox Series X just around the corner, a lot of attention is being focused on gaming-specific features introduced as part of the HDMI 2.1 spec.

Much of that attention is focused on 4K@120Hz (also known as High Frame Rate or HFR) and VRR (Variable Refresh Rate), both very advanced features that are currently available on very few TVs.

By comparison, ALLM (Auto Low Latency Mode) is a far simpler little feature that won’t transform your gaming experience as such, but will subtly improve the experience of living with a TV that’s used for gaming as well as TV- and movie-watching. Best of all, its relative simplicity means it’s already available via lots of TVs and existing consoles – even those that don’t have HDMI 2.1 sockets.

What is ALLM?

ALLM stands for Auto Low Latency Mode, and all it does is automatically switch to the TV’s gaming preset, or Game Mode, when a gaming signal is detected. That’s it. Simple, right?

Why is Game Mode important?

Modern TVs are constantly processing and enhancing the picture being shown, whether that’s sharpening edges, enhancing the contrast, adding vibrancy to colours, digging up more dark, smoothing motion or upscaling the signal to fit the display. The problem is that all of this processing takes time. Not lots of time (we’re talking milliseconds here), and when you’re simply watching something there’s no reason for you to notice any delay between the signal going into the TV and being displayed on the screen – but it is enough time to manifest as lag when playing games.

This type of lag is specifically referred to as ‘input lag’, and it can make a massive difference when gaming. Just 100-200ms of input lag can make certain games almost unplayable.

That’s why almost all TVs now have a Game Mode or simply a Game picture preset. At their core, all these modes do is switch off most, if not all, of the TV’s active picture processing, but most manufacturers optimise further in order to beat their rivals to the lowest input lag possible.

How low are we talking? Samsung and LG’s top-tier 2020 TVs are broadly in the 11-14ms range, which is ludicrously fast. In fact, that’s arguably unnecessarily fast: while some hardcore gamers will claim that they can feel any degree of input lag, most agree that anything under 40ms is imperceptible and many people won’t notice anything under about 100ms.

The benefit of ALLM

Traditionally, you would have had to manually switch Game Mode on when playing a game in order to get the best performance possible, then manually switch it off afterwards to get the best picture for movies and TV, but ALLM makes such inconveniences a thing of the past.

ALLM doesn’t simply activate every time you turn on your console, either: it’s intelligent enough to differentiate between playing a game and watching a movie via a streaming app or Blu-ray, even if you use your Xbox for all of those things.

Which game consoles have ALLM?

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Of the current-gen consoles, the Xbox One X and Xbox One S support ALLM, but it’s not a feature of any versions of the PS4 – even the PS4 Pro.

The good news is that the PS5 is expected to support ALLM, and we know for a fact that both the Xbox Series X and Series S will.

Which TVs support ALLM?

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There are actually too many TVs that already support ALLM for us to list them all individually, so let’s take a broad look at each of the major manufacturers:

LG and Samsung lead the way on gaming features such as ALLM and VRR and boast the lowest input lag scores in the business.

ALLM was applied pretty much across the LG range in 2019, so if you’ve bought a model (OLED or LCD) since then, chances are you’re ready to go.

Samsung actually introduced ALLM earlier, in 2018, but that year it was restricted to the company’s QLEDs and higher-end LCDs (NU8000 and above). Pretty much all 2019 and 2020 models have the feature.

Panasonic also added ALLM to its TV range in 2019. If you’ve got an OLED model or an LCD from the 800-series (GX800 in 2019 and HX800 in 2020) or above, you should have access to the feature.

Philips is another manufacturer that added ALLM in 2019, in this case across the whole OLED and LCD range.

Given that it actually makes games consoles, it’s rather surprising and disappointing to discover that Sony is comfortably the worst major manufacturer when it comes to supporting gaming features in its TVs. Even ALLM, the simplest of these features, is only supported by one range – the XH90 (known as X900H in the US). We reviewed the KD-65XH9005 model recently and it’s great, but Sony really needs to up its gaming game for 2021 and beyond.

Of course, we do list ALLM in the specs of the models in our best gaming TVs round-up, so head there if you’re looking for a new TV for gaming.

What about soundbars and AV receivers?

(Image credit: Future)

Of course, if your console goes through an AV amp or soundbar on its way to your TV, that will also need to support ALLM if you’re going to take advantage, and support here is fairly patchy.

AV amp owners will likely fair best, particularly those with a Denon in their system as that company features it across most of its models launched since 2018 (many of the older products got it via a firmware update). Yamaha’s new 2020 models will be getting ALLM, too.

In soundbar-land there’s a strong shift towards support for ARC (Audio Return Channel) and eARC (Enhanced Audio Return Channel), which allow models to receive high quality audio signals (including Dolby Atmos) via HDMI. If your soundbar supports one of these, we’d recommend connecting your console directly to your TV in order to take advantage of its ALLM and/or VRR features, as well as its low input lag, and then have the audio sent out from the TV to the soundbar.

MORE:

Best gaming TVs

PS5: everything you need to know

Xbox Series X: everything you need to know

VRR: what is Variable Refresh Rate?

Xbox Series S in pictures: Our first look at the 1440p Xbox

(Pocket-lint) – Although we can’t yet reveal what the Xbox Series S is like when switched on, we can share our own pictures of it out of the box and give you our first impressions on the size and build quality.

Microsoft claims that it is the smallest Xbox yet and that’s no exaggeration. If you’re worried about cabinet space, this is definitely the next-gen console to get – it’s got a tiny footprint.

We’d say it’s fractionally taller than an Xbox One S, but has less width. And, as there’s no disc drive, you can easily tuck it away and forget about the box itself.

We would say, however, that you’ll need to leave plenty of space above the Series S for airflow as, unlike its larger next-gen sibling, the heat grille is on the top, flat edge – showing that this is the only next-gen machine truly designed to lie flat.

We’re not entirely sure why the grille is black and the rest of the console white, but suspect it’s to distinguish it from the Xbox One S All-Digital Edition as it looks similar.

On the rear, you get an Ethernet port, two USB ports, a HDMI out, power (via figure of eight) and a storage expansion slot for the official SSD expansion card from Seagate. At present, only 1TB is available – to expand the 512GB in the console itself – and it’s quite pricey, but at least it’ll be available from launch.

You can also use external hard drives plugged into the USB ports (of which there is a third on the front), but you won’t get the benefits of faster loading, etc. We suggest that you store Xbox One games on an external drive and save the internal SSD for Xbox Series S titles.

The new Xbox Wireless Controller – which will also work with Xbox One – has an additional share button in the centre, plus a redesigned D-pad, but that’s about it. It’s very similar to the previous controller in shape and feel.

The plastic underneath is a little more tactile, but that’s about it. It does have a USB-C port on the top, should you want to wire it or use rechargable batteries. You get a couple of AAs in the box.

First Impressions

This is very much the console for families. As well as its more attractive price point, it is small and neat enough to tuck away – something that can’t be said about the Xbox Series X nor PlayStation 5.

Everything feels well built and made to last, while we already know that all Xbox One accessories are compatible, so you can add extra controllers you might already own.

In short, the Xbox Series S is a light, fun next-gen console that seems to fit in with the existing Xbox family of devices well.

Writing by Rik Henderson.

(Pocket-lint) – If you’re looking for something to play on your Xbox One S or Xbox One X you’ve come to the right place.

There are now thousands of games available for the Xbox One and choosing between them can be a tricky task. However, we’ve played a huge amount of them over the years and have our own favourites.

Prefer PlayStation? Best PlayStation 4 and PS4 Pro games every gamer must own

Here, then, are our picks for games you really should check out. Some are enhanced for Xbox One X and many of them are even available on Xbox Game Pass Ultimate – a subscription service to download and play full games as often as you like. It needn’t cost the Earth, therefore.

Enjoy.

Red Dead Redemption 2

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Although Red Dead Redemption 2 starts slow, the amount of depth and variety in mission types will soon have you well and truly hooked. It is also massive, so make sure you put aside a month to get through everything it has to offer. And, with the addition of Red Dead Online, you’ll have plenty to do even after the single-player story is finished.

Gears 5

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The fifth instalment in the Gears of War series – not including the prequel, Judgment – is a tour de force of a game that adds open world elements for the first time to great effect. It also puts you in the oversized COG shoes of Kait, the franchise’s first female lead character, and has some truly memorable boss battles.

Borderlands 3

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Gearbox has created the best Borderlands yet. It feels very familiar to the others in the series, which is to its benefit as that makes it easy to launch straight into, but there is enough new and improved to sate the appetites of fans and newcomers alike.

Borderlands 3 review: Bigger, badder and bloody… funny

The Outer Worlds

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If you’re a fan of action-RPGs and crave some proper Fallout-style action that’s distilled to its proper essence – i.e. with none of that building nonsense or other extraneous elements – then you’ll love The Outer Worlds.

The Outer Worlds review: Better than Fallout 4?

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare

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Along with the superb single-player campaign and Special Ops, CoD: Modern Warfare all adds up to a mighty fine package. If there was a suspicion in recent years that the Call of Duty franchise was beginning to creak under the strain of its annual nature (albeit with a rotating roster of three developers taking turns), this game does a great job of allaying such fears.

Call of Duty Modern Warfare review: Stronger than ever

Fortnite

Fortnite is free to play and aimed at everyone – kids and adults alike. The mixture of first-person shooter gameplay, base-building and cartoon graphics attract young and old and with cross-platform play you can even take on those on Switch or PS4.

PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds

Otherwise known as PUBG, this essentially kicked off the now massively popular Battle Royale format. It started on PC but came to Xbox One first – in terms of home console releases. It’s no longer exclusive but the Xbox One version benefits from being around longer than PS4 and looks especially good on an Xbox One X.

Metro Exodus

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Post-apocalyptic games may have been done to death, but Metro Exodus still manages to generate a new spin on the genre, due at least in part to its uniquely Eastern European worldview. It’s a fine game too: beautifully crafted, intelligently placed, rich in terms of story and endowed with gameplay that is both satisfyingly varied and nicely fettled.

Metro Exodus review: All aboard the superb single-player shooter

Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey

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Assassin’s Creed: Origins breathed fresh life into the franchise but Odyssey takes it in an all-new direction. Controls are similar, although the combat system gets even more of an overhaul and the game seems more like an RPG than before, with speech trees and levelling up on a scale like never before. Ancient Greece is also a great place to explore.

Assassin’s Creed Odyssey review: Sparta-cular

Control

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If you like third-person shooters then Control offers up one that’ll feel quite unlike any you’ve previously played, thanks to its stratospherically weird paranormal storyline. Both in terms of gameplay and ambience, Control is utterly original, very distinctive and deeply satisfying, thanks to a decent roster of side-missions and challenges beyond the main story.

Control review: Gloriously bonkers paranormal action

Ori and the Will of the Wisps

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A delightful sequel to Ori and the Blind Forest, this lovely platformer will win you over with gorgeous artwork and smooth, satisfying gameplay. It’s an impressive package through and through, and can also scale up to give a serious challenge if you crank up the difficulty. Its gentle story and characterful animations should live long in the memory.

Ori and the Will of the Wisps review: Platforming perfection?

Spyro Reignited Trilogy

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This is a splendid remaster of one of the most endearing platform game series of the 90s. It offers each of Spyro the Dragon, Spyro 2: Ripto’s Rage! and Spyro: Year of the Dragon but with a major, modern overhaul of the visuals and audio. Developer Toys for Bob even got the voice actor for the two sequels to revoice Spyro in the first for continuity.

Spyro Reignited Trilogy initial review: The most lovingly created remaster yet?

Forza Horizon 4

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Not just one of the best driving games on the Xbox One, Forza Horizon 4 is one of the best on any games machine. Its UK setting works wonderfully for providing great variety in race styles and conditions. Plus, the seasons mechanic, with spring, summer, autumn and winter offering different themes throughout your gaming experience, makes for superb longevity.

Forza Horizon 4 review: Best racing game ever?

Hitman 2

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The Hitman reboot was a great episodic adventure but the sequel is even better – possibly the best stealth game ever, in fact. You’ll need patience but the sheer number of ways to complete each assassination mission make it a game you will come back to again and again. This game also upgrades the episodes of the first, so you can revisit them too using the new and improved game engine.

Hitman 2 review: An utterly sublime stealth game

Doom

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Whatever Bethesda may believe, and whatever the tastes of millennials, Doom is all about its single-player campaign, which is a blood-smattered brilliant beast of a game. It’s extensive, insanely hectic, unbelievably satisfying, gloriously gory to behold, and more than worthy update of the classic original.

Doom review: Redefining the remake

Resident Evil 2

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The original Resident Evil 2’s horror dynamics garnered a huge amount of praise at the time. The 2019 remake makes the maximum use of modern technology to take them to an even higher plane. As a result the new Resident Evil 2 is an absolute tour de force – it’s nothing less than an object lesson in how to remake an old game.

Resident Evil 2 review: An object lesson in how to remake a seminal game

Shadow of the Tomb Raider

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The last part of Lara Croft’s origin trilogy is also the best. It is bigger than her previous two outings, has a more involving storyline and plenty of tombs to raid. The skill tree and role-playing elements are superbly realised and the graphics are simply stunning at times – especially when presented in 4K on an Xbox One X.

Shadow of the Tomb Raider review: Stealthy finale for Lara Croft trilogy

Monster Hunter: World

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Monster Hunter: World proves to be gloriously addictive and endlessly charming, offering an open world experience like few others. Environments are teeming with life and the RPG elements are great and easy to get to grips with, even to franchise newcomers. You’ll soon find yourself addicted to both its charm and challenges. Much like us.

Monster Hunter World review: Taking down beasties in glorious fashion

Quantum Break

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Remedy’s action adventure has a stellar cast and incredible character modelling to look just like each and every one of them. The time-travelling sci-fi plot is engaging and the gameplay mechanics are innovative and interesting enough to keep you gripped to the end. Your time manipulation abilities are especially fun to use. However, the biggest elements to Quantum Break that make it stand out are the several 20 minute long TV episodes that punctuate the action and further the story. They will divide opinion but are well-worth sticking with.

Quantum Break review: All in good time

Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order

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When Electronic Arts secured the Star Wars licence, there was a lot of new hope (pardon the pun) that we’d get games of the quality of Star Wars Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II and Knights of the Old Republic. Sadly, while Battlefront I and II offered great multiplayer action and authentic visuals, they lacked in story or depth. Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order makes up for it in spades, with an expansive single-player campaign and gameplay that feels like a cross between Dark Souls and Tomb Raider. The force is strong in this one.

Just Cause 4

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As big fans of the series over the years, Just Cause 4 is everything we wanted in a big budget sequel. It offers similar crazy, madcap action sequences across an expanded open world environment. Most of all though, it doesn’t take itself too seriously and is as much a giggle as it is a bombastic gameplay experience.

Just Cause 4 review: The master of mindless destruction

Sea of Thieves

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Sea of Thieves represents a risky approach to create a gameplay experience which feels fresh and unique. But it succeeds. It might just be the first game to nail the knotty conundrum of providing the tools with which gamers can create their own narratives.

Sea of Thieves review: Terrific team-play let down by tedious tasks

Devil May Cry 5

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Devil May Cry 5 is such an extreme joy to play – and is built on such a logical, focused structure – that you’ll find yourself returning to it again and again, whenever you feel the need for a blast of cathartic, cobweb-blowing, spectacularly stylish action.

Devil May Cry 5 review: Focused and spectacular

Dark Souls 3

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As anyone who has played a Dark Souls game would expect, Dark Souls 3 is huge, gothic, creepy, studded with bosses which, when you first encounter them, seem impossibly daunting, yet irresistibly addictive. At times, you will curse the impulse which propels you back into its fetid world, as you struggle to advance even a couple of hundred metres. But the pay-off is that any small triumphs you manage to pull off will be so hard-won that they feel like mighty victories.

Dark Souls 3 review: As gothic, unforgiving and brilliant as ever

Halo 5: Guardians

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The fifth instalment of Master Chief’s adventures adds a fresh game style to the proceedings in the form of co-operative play during the campaign mode. You are always accompanied by three other characters for each mission, whether that’s with Master Chief’s team or a new team of Spartans led by Jameson Locke. And don’t worry if you can’t find three friends to play along with, Halo 5 does a very good job with artificial intelligence to give your companions life. There’s also the excellent new multiplayer mode to provide plenty of fun: Warzone. It can lead to some seriously bonkers battles.

Halo 5 Guardians review: Benefits with friends

No Man’s Sky

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While No Man’s Sky was criticised a fair amount straight after launch, continual updates and content patches have arrived to turn it into the space exploration game we all originally hoped for. And the long-awaited Xbox One version came with them from launch. Result.

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt

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Not just one of the best games on the Xbox One, The Witcher 3 can lay claim as being one of the best of all time. It is an extraordinary feat in game design, where it seems that every action undertaken in the massive third-person RPG has an effect on the game world. Save a merchant from some bandits in a random encounter, for example, you might meet him again many hours later in a city, where he gives you a massive discount on items he has for sale. The world itself also seems alive and vibrant while the game is also capable of testing your skills so you don’t just blitz through it.

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt review: The best role-player since Skyrim

Grand Theft Auto V

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It took a while to get GTA V onto the current generation consoles but nobody can complain considering how much extra the improved game offers over the original version. For a start, Rockstar added a whole new first-person mode, which enables the player to experience the game from a different perspective, even if completed before. Plus, the graphics were given a tasty overhaul to make San Andreas look more spectacular than ever. And let’s face it, GTA V was always one of the best games available anyway.

Grand Theft Auto 5 review: Bona fide thrill ride on PS4 and Xbox One

Fallout 4

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Sprawling and vast, Fallout 4 is trickier to get into in comparison with the previous chapters on former generation machines, but it rewards stoicism with one of the biggest role-playing adventures of all time. It also adds a base building mechanic to the gameplay, where you can construct your own villages for fellow survivors, so adds something new to the first or third-person shooting and looting action of before.

Fallout 4 first impressions review: Radiating brilliance

Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain

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Kojima’s last Metal Gear Solid game for Konami also happens to be his grandest moment. Taking the franchise into the realms of open world seems to have been an inspired decision, with so much to do and missions to complete that you will be playing for hours. We know, we’ve still not seen everything there is to see in the game. We also love the way you can tackle just about everything in multiple fashions – run and gun or sneaking around are just two ways you can complete objectives, each causing different reactions.

Metal Gear Solid 5 The Phantom Pain review: The best stealth game ever made

Halo: The Master Chief Collection

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With Halo: The Master Chief Collection, 343 Industries put together an amazing package of the four best Halo games remastered for the current generation console. We’ve had Halo 5: Guardians since release, but the previous four are a worthy set of games regardless. The Xbox One version of Halo 2 is such an amazing upgrade to the Xbox original that it’s almost worth the money on its own.

Halo: The Master Chief Collection review: High-def history lesson

Destiny 2

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Destiny 2 might have had its critics at launch, but it has improved into a very fine game, with multiple upgrades and campaign add-ons over the years. And, with Bungie having made the core experience free-to-play after becoming a self-publisher, there is now no excuse not to give it a whirl.

Destiny 2 Shadowkeep review: A glimpse of what Destiny 3 will deliver

Minecraft

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The continuing success of Minecraft might come as a surprise to some but with each new release a new generation of fans is born. And, because Microsoft is now the sole owner of the series, the Xbox One version is exemplary. It also offers cross-platform play.

Alien: Isolation

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Winner in the best game category at the Pocket-lint Gadget Awards back in 2014, Alien: Isolation maybe took many by surprise with its adherence to the tone of the first Alien movie, both graphically and thematically. Rather that arm you with hefty weaponry and send floods of xenomorphs in your direction, the name of the game is survival as you are hunted through a destroyed space station by just the one Alien. Cue some pant-wettingly scary moments.

Alien: Isolation review

Far Cry 4

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Although we love Far Cry 5, the former outing for the series is one of our favourite first-person shooters and remains the better of the two. Far Cry 4 has everything a modern game should offer. At its heart it’s an FPS, but there are role-playing game elements, driving challenges, wonderful co-op play and one of the largest open world maps we’ve seen in such a game. The mission structure is excellent, while the amount of side missions and other things you can do is almost overwhelming. But perhaps the best thing about Far Cry 4 is the superb villain in Pagan Min. Evil and funny in equal measure and the closest you’ll get to a truly realised Bond-style foe in gaming.

Far Cry 4 review: A shooter like no other

Dragon Age: Inquisition

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Although it helps to have played the previous Dragon Age games on older consoles beforehand – at least to follow the plot – Dragon Age: Inquisition is a mighty role-pla

Microsoft’s two new consoles

Xbox Series X load times

Xbox Series X vs Series S vs PS5

New games, new hardware

New games, old hardware

New games, no hardware

The backwards compatibility question

Paying the price

Xbox Game Pass comparison

Cyberpunk 2077

Outriders

Immortals Fenyx Rising

Halo Infinite

Dying Light 2

Microsoft Flight Simulator

Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines 2

Psychonauts 2

Twelve Minutes

Biomutant

Skull & Bones

Rainbow Six Quarantine

Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga

Tunic

Starfield

The Elder Scrolls VI

Beyond Good & Evil 2

Elden Ring

Technical specifications

Test

The new Xbox Series X gamepad

SSD

HDMI 2.1 and 120 Hz

Xbox App

Xbox Game Pass

Smart Delivery and Quick Resume

Conclusions

PRO

VERSUS

Design

Graphics

CPU and memory

Storage

Controller

Games and accessories

Home entertainment

Price

Xbox Series X vs Xbox One X: Which is best for you?

Design

Processing and graphics

Storage

Controller

Games and accessories

Home entertainment

Price and availability

Conclusion

What is ALLM?

Why is Game Mode important?

The benefit of ALLM

Which game consoles have ALLM?

Which TVs support ALLM?

What about soundbars and AV receivers?

Check Also

Far Cry 6, Assassin’s Creed Valhalla and Immortals will be 60fps on next-gen consoles

Performance

iOS web app

Library

App functionality

Red Dead Redemption 2

Gears 5

Borderlands 3

The Outer Worlds

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare

Fortnite

PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds

Metro Exodus

Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey

Control

Ori and the Will of the Wisps

Spyro Reignited Trilogy

Forza Horizon 4