The Xbox Series X/S: Two Years Later - Kinda Funny Xcast Ep. 118

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Mike, Gary, and Parris review the Xbox Series X and S two years later to talk about what they still ove and what they're still missing.
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[@Zen_Ronin]

Ok, when Mike said "We're going to do a little holiday shopping" I thought they were just going to give Mike a camera and let him film one of his crazy adventures.... and now I realize that is exactly the kinda kontent I need from Kinda Funny. 🤣

[@infinitysynthesis]

Game pass, fps boost, resolution boost, backwards compatibility, xcloud, play anywhere, smart delivery. Xbox really is the best place to play.

[@infinitysynthesis]

Also quick resume 😁

[@rad6666]

Great stuff guys, as a 50 year old gamer I Adore Gary he's the OG.

[@HoboRocky]

At the end of the day, I never run out of games to play on Xbox. Mostly due to Gamepass. The platform itself is great and I love having access to my back compat games from the 360/Xone. Right now I'm bouncing between Pentiment, Persona 5 and Gotham Knights. (Also GoW:R) Yes, I wish there were more 1st party games, but the content they have put out has been high quality. Hopefully a sign of things to come.

[@baneintherain]

I get that it's an Xbox show, but who considers the Wii a failure?

[@nighthawk4251]

Yes and no. Not a failure because of how well it sold and got people that normally didn’t purchase consoles to buy one so they could play Wii sports. Yes a failure because of the game selection. A handful of really good games, but 80% of that library is just shovel ware

[@baneintherain]

My brother in Christ, the system sold over 100 million units. "You" may feel there were only a "handful" of good games, but there was plenty of choices for hardcore gamers. Even if there was a bunch of shovelware, it is an objective fact that it was a success financially. It was literally a license to print money for Nintendo.

[@nighthawk4251]

@@baneintherain “a handful” is more of a turn of phrase, not being literal. I mean if I say 80% of the console is shovel ware than that leaves over 200 games that would be looked as being of some varying degree of quality from amazing to just okay. It most certainly wasn’t a failure to Nintendo, but even hardcore gamers don’t look back at the Wii as being this paradise of great games. It had some real bangers but if you took even hardcore Nintendo fans and asked them to rank the consoles based on their library, it’s fair to say Wii would probably be towards the lower half of that list. Then again, that’s some stiff competition. Only thing that would be sure bet of being at the bottom of that list is the Wii U.

[@X5J2UY]

@@baneintherain To be fair, I wouldn't always consider sales=success. The PS3 sold over 100 million consoles and most people would consider it a failure. Wii was definitely very successful though. Especially in the markets for casual gaming

[@baneintherain]

Again, we aren't talking about how many games you liked. Gary said the Wii could be seen as a failure and I just have to point to 100 million units sold and piles of money saying that it's a success. Period. Not anyone's opinion on the games available. To touch on that though, there's a reason why there was so much shovelware on the system. Because it was so massively popular that every developer was trying to get a piece of the action. So thanks for proving my point.

[@isyutd159]

I love my gamepass machine! It's cozy, convenient and easy. But I admit, the PS5 is my exclusive machine and my go to for platinums. I wish they also overhauled the overall xbox achievement system.

[@Live2Dye]

As a Sony 1st player, I love my series S. I missed out on the One generation so I have all of those games loaded on an external drive. Hopefully by the time I catch up on that back catalog, the seagate expansions becomes cheaper.

[@hiphopefx]

Series S is a hell of a deal.

[@oOdidlyOo]

One game they didn’t talk about is Gears Tactics

[@joeynunez9577]

GoodMorning Kinda Funny Crew

[@howdydutt1e]

I’m surprised Paris didn’t say Killer Instinct 😂

[@HoboRocky]

Kevin popping in at 29:50 had me cackling

[@digitalsickness85]

That's Barrett

[@HoboRocky]

@@digitalsickness85 look harder friend, a little more to the left.

[@mikem2253]

I recently sold mine as I have made the move to PC, but really enjoyed my time with it. They have a great box there. Love that my "Play Anywhere" games carried over progress to PC.

[@rawteeb]

This is my first time watching the Xbox podcast from kinda funny and the bald English guy has me cracking up he was on a roll! All 3 were really likeable too Overall great show. Will be watching more thanks for the upload boys!

[@Garynieves]

Gary was excited for that cheese board. 😂😂

[@suizideking7987]

Love my Series X! Always lots of games to play with GamePass and best console for multiplayer in my opinion. Excited for the exclusives to hit next year! I play the interesting exclusives on PS5 but Xbox probably has 90% of my gaming time.

[@Jacobstoddy]

It’s been 2 years, the Xbox storage is a failure of an idea. It is now 2x the price then the storage for PlayStation and the Sony nvmes are 2-3x faster and can be used in a pc after. I have both consoles but I refuse to support Xbox’s extra storage.

[@Darwinfeeshy]

Agreed. I have a series S and the prices for storage upgrades are just absurd.

[@CompletelyInadequate]

I was high on it the first year, haven’t really played it at all the second year, gamespass had some gems sometimes but I need console exclusive games if not this is probably the last time I’m buying an Xbox 🤷🏻‍♂️

[@shadowknight1994]

I really hope Xbox holds back on revealing anything completely new. I think they should take the Sony approach. Market a handful of titles until they release, and then hopefully the next batch of titles are closer to release and there's more to show than just a CGI trailer.

[@dickdanson]

The series S is a good deal, but it may well become an issue with its limited memory bandwidth later in the generation. Most games so far are cross gen, so they easily run well on it. There is already games on series S that drop as low as 720p, while many others only have a 30 fps mode while the other consoles have 60. I understand some people dont mind that, but in the future it may become even worse where games actually run poorly or are severely compromised.

[@nighthawk4251]

I will agree with Gary on gears. I can remember the day and where I was when I played the first gears of war when it came out. I played gears 2 shortly after it came out but only recently did I pick up the other games and in all honesty I get bored very quickly. The gameplay just hasn’t evolved enough. The story is still interesting, but everything else especially the moment to moment gameplay has just gotten stale.

[@linkinparkblink182ro]

dude how do you get past the first circle of skeletons about 15 minutes into Vampire Survivor?

[@dageekynerd2898]

"What do you want to see from Xbox at the Game Awards?" How about some contenders? lol

[@maratsglad]

kinda just want an xbox as an emulator machine tbh

[@Mr8T1]

It's not a bad system but I regret jumping in so early. I got ahead of myself when they bought Bethesda and thought they would immediately start pumping out big games. I'm not so sure they'll have any sort of consistency until 2024 / 2025 at this point.

[@Mr8T1]

@@Stonehorn next year is filled out by a bunch of stuff that should've been this year.

[@basementality4924]

We have been saying just wait for next year every year since this system has come out. It’s always next year with Xbox.

[@Mr8T1]

@@basementality4924 agreed. Most of their stuff that’s been announced is still sitting on CGI reveals. Forget release cadence, we still don’t have gameplay!!!

[@nighthawk4251]

I really enjoy my series x, but I’d still give it a C at best for the first two years. Xbox has been pretty sparse on actual good content that is exclusive to the console. Halo infinite is fun but has been a mess since release and is still light on content. Psychonauts 2 was fantastic but I played it on PlayStation. Forza is an amazing racing game, but that about it when it comes to exclusive content that’s worth checking out.

[@patfuryy]

The little storage of the Series S is obviously pushing cloud streaming

[@elcapitan008]

3:54 Yeah, no. Perfect Dark is an FPS first and a TPS last. You should be able to switch to TPS but it shouldn't be Third Person Action focused.

[@ianbarker8556]

Very good as a GamePass machine

[@bashinit08]

Being a PC first type of a gamer I see value in all consoles. My gaming room I have 2 gaming desktops and two gaming notebooks setup for when friends and relatives come over. 2nd I would say I use my PS5 and PS4 pro just because of specific games Sony has. PS 5 is also setup by my main gaming area. PS4 pro is in another room for guests to use. Then on to the Xbox platforms. My series X is also setup on my main gaming spot. I did use it with some friends. I got my series X on day one release and was happy about that. It took a whole year before I got my hands on a PS5. I still love how the Xbox series x looks. For me better than the ps5. I like Ps5 controllers a lot better. But on the Xbox the pro controller is what I use and it does okay. The rest of the house is setup with 4 more Xbox series s. Can we talk value. These are so great for the price. Amazon even had them for $200 after rebate on cyber Monday. But for fortnite crew they are awesome. Everyone has fun and we can all run and gun together as a fam. They all have a place. Look forward to 2023 and see what Xbox does to continue to improve. I am a gamer 4 life and love all the things. Hope you all enjoy where gaming is in this time of life. My first game console was pong which was a long time ago and love what it was then and still love where gaming is going.

[@BrownGuy22G]

Other then call of duty at 120fps mostly play on 60fps on Series X

[@kingsleyjackson8287]

Make both 1st & 3rd person

[@ado_fritos]

My "have" for them; I love the Elite controller, but they HAVE to get a new supplier for bumpers cause they fragile AF

[@tjrage6168]

The series S is holding this gen back. Let it go

[@mrglass7133]

No, it's not

[@spacemanleezy93]

2 years went by so fast! Wow

[@themightyant.]

A mixed bag Hardware a strong A First party software a C- Game Pass an A Altogether who knows.

[@JoEBaHKiD]

Next year should be a great year for Xbox and Game Pass!

[@mr_m4613]

The Xbox brand is dead man, you'll be lucky if they're still on the gaming space by then.

[@nighthawk4251]

It definitely seems that way but at the same, we’ve been saying “next year will be Xbox’s year” for like 4-5 years now. Hopefully it actually happens next year

[@JoEBaHKiD]

Luckily i got a PS5 too so either way is a win

[@holddamayo7474]

Gary saying Vampire Survivors is his game of the year invalidates any opinion on video games he will ever have again

[@karlmoore1837]

Hardware wise, two years on, my thing is to do with the controllers. Xbox has had a lot of QA with their controllers and those issues haven't gone away completely. I would like to see a refresh with the controllers moving to hall-effect sticks (no stick drift). There is only one maker putting out hall effect sticks for less than $90, so, I would like better QA and better parts in the controllers.

[@madphantom92]

Good effort but still lackluster.

[@basementality4924]

Only thing that will save Xbox is Bethesda. They had to throw a shit ton of money at the problem instead of making quality games themselves.

[@thefreshtowel9815]

Aside from gamepass Xbox is an L for me. And that's just for vampire survivors right now.

[@greenday051391]

Lotta Gears shade on this episode. Don't like that lol :P

[@kyledurbin603]

I will never pay $200 for a controller. I don't care what it does!

[@garybergamo6440]

They start with game awards and redfall🤦‍♂️ game awards was a literal no show and redfall.. yea redfall. I can't believe what's happening with Xbox rite now

[@9thhokage364]

D- one of only two consoles I’ve ever regret buying between this and Sega Saturn.

[@strixis7290]

Got a ps5 but the series S was a hell of a bargain with gamepass

[@kyledurbin603]

Fable had 1 good game, a mediocre sequel, and then just a disaster of a 3rd game. I do not know why people praise the series as if there's a series to praise.

[@YouTubeCensors]

Awesome 2 years, more to come. Kids these days are so lucky with Gamepass get hundreds of great games for the price of two games at most.

[@sithhunter965]

did garry just say that digital foundry will say during videos that the performance difference between series X and series S is minimal. WOW garry out here just lying on repeat about the series S. id love kinda funny to do an interview with digital foundry and have them absolutly put garry in his place once and for all.

[@harrymcdowell2212]

The misconception with the pricing of 4.0 NVME drives is mind boggling to me. If you are putting a cheap 3.0 nvme in the ps5 you are doing it wrong…. The proprietary drive from Microsoft cost the same as a 4.0 nvme… my 2tb sn850 WD black was 299.99 when I bought it…. The proprietary nature of the drive is what drives this misconception and it’s wild.

[@VidHunter666]

2 years since I bought that waste of space and 5 years since I bought into the empty promise of Xbox one X. I'd like xbox to be good! Worthwhile even. Sorry I am a very broken sickened xbox fanboy. All I've done for the last 9 years is buy hardware. When will someone bring Phil to task?! Don Matrick or whatever his name is atleast ruled over xbox in a golden era. Phils done nothing stick ur game pass get me some good games!!

[@sithhunter965]

this is why i havnt had a xbox since the 360 days. they are always waiting for the next year for those games. pc has all the games and more, ps5 has all the exclusives.

[@yassedbaez2423]

Xbox 1st party- Gears Tactics, Gears Hivebusters, Flight Simulator, Psychonauts 2, Forza Horizon 5, Halo Infinite, As Dusk Falls, Grounded, Deathloop, and Pentiment. Not sure I will consider this light. Not to mention DLC for Sea of Thieves, Forza, Grounded, HotWheels, Elderscrolls and Fallout.

[@X5J2UY]

That's being very generous. Psychonauts 2 and Deathloop were pretty much finished games when Microsoft bought them. I wouldn't count those two as 1st party titles. As Dusk Fall and Pentiment were great, but really small and Grounded was okay (and also small). The rest of the line-up was the usual stuff (Halo, Gears, Forza and Flight Sim)

[@zagraone]

Is the bafta award higher then the game award's

[@vinski19]

Yes

[@Blakers37]

I still think Game Pass is such a terrible excuse this far along to coverup how poor 1st party has been this generation. Microsoft is still mostly throwing money at other studios because they haven't hit their stride yet within their own first party studios. I really, really, REALLY want to see them actually ship awesome games and come out with these blockbuster experiences their consoles are made for. I want to see flagship titles hit both Xbox and PC and make them compete on the stage with Sony/PS5, and using other companies games to do so when you can also play them on PlayStation (although usually at a cost) is just disingenuous. It's just insane to me the argument hasn't changed at all since the end of the One/One X days, and the impact Game Pass has on the industry is not a good one. Subscription services like this don't work long term, look at Disney+ and Netflix to see how things will start to fall apart when growth is no longer possible or tenable when the service itself needs to actually become profitable.

[@MrEnyaws07]

FH5 online is awful and neglected. Similar to Halo, it had the great launch with amazing reviews, but dropped the ball post launch (imo). Online in FH5 is in a bad state: TT leaderboards are broken from hackers, the Eliminator is full of teleporters, and some cars are still bugged for me. Fun game, but the shine wore off for me pretty quickly.

[@jayevans20]

Fantastic podcast. However, I would rebut the fact that every game needs to be perfect. The games need to be good but not perfect. Also, One area Xbox needs to improve on is Marketing. Within marketing, they need to do Nintendo-style showcases every quarter. The only other thing Xbox needs to do is stop being nice to its "competitor". Other than Cod; when the ABK deal goes through, that game should be the only thing that goes to Sony other than the MMOs. Otherwise, I'm very happy with my Series X.

[@alize1874]

All I'm waiting for is psvr2 playstation has a big 2023 because of AAA games and now psvr2.. and what it has to offer pretty sad phil turn his back on VR even though he said xbox one x was getting VR

[@MuMasoo]

Tbh I see no need for an xbox especially having gamepass on pc. Halo being a massive disappointment, atleast ps5 put out some really good exclusives.

[@muyaja]

I can get all of those small games ps5 or switch don’t need an Xbox get a steam deck instead

[@supervisorjd4458]

I give Xbox an F- Xbox is garbage, and will always be garden

[@whirlwindgamer1094]

TRASH is what the first 2 years was!

[@erichighsmith419]

It’s amazing how uniformed they are about the series S… devs are literally asking to drop the requirement to develop for the console because it’s holding the X and ps5

[@johnny05100]

Worst generation for games that actually push the console you bought 2 years ago 🤦🏻‍♂️

[@frankkent5567]

Serious whitewash for a podcast about Xbox to talk about the Game Awards without mentioning how long Xbox has gone without publishing a major Game of the Year contender. Edit: Gary and Parris's scores for Xbox first party and its continuing failures are also laughably high.

[@eldeny1]

What does he means with IF YOU WANT THE ENTIRE UNIVERSE OF GAMES GET AN XBOX GAMEPASS??????? There is nothing special about GAMEPASS, PS PLUS is there too with many awesome games.... It is funny these people still talking about GAMEPASS as if it is the only option lol

[@tloz171nfs]

As someone who jumped into PS+ extra to try Returnal & Stray. PS Plus is clunky, the selection is either the same or not as good, is more expensive, and doesn't get updated with games I want to play like Gamepass does. If Sony cared about the Premium/Classic tier or added more 1st party games it'd be more of a competition (ie Forza is on Gamepass, GT7 is 70 dollars)

[@eldeny1]

@@tloz171nfs hahahahahahahaha hold on doesn't updated ithe content?? Bro only with the 3 games we get monthly is enough to say it is a better option than GAMEPASS... What are you even playing now my guy??? Pentiment? As dusk falls ? Mini games 1990 looking games I don't understand what are you even saying, Ps plus is giving me plenty of games, games that your weak GAMEPASS will never have All they are giving you are games with low ass quality and the only way to defend this weak ass games is to say OHH BUT THE GAMES IS LOOKING THAT BECAUSE THATS THE ART STYLE 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 COME ONNNN DUDEEEE WAKE UP AHHA

[@eldeny1]

@@tloz171nfs kzbin.info/www/bejne/mGbJhnePhpqLes0 Take a look at the whole list of games from ps5 ps plus and explained me how GAMEPASS is better, haha my friend Xbox has no GAMES haha how can people defend that shit

[@dukestaa3852]

I give Xbox a D- the first 2 years. No first party quality games, Halo Infinite a huge disappointment, Gamepass is fine but it’s nothing without good games. This Xbox generation so far is as bad as the start of the Xbox One generation.

[@nighthawk4251]

The first two years of Xbox one at least had some pretty good exclusive games with titanfall, sunset overdrive, ori, and killer instinct.

[@TheEregos]

@@user-du4bf4dh5l HAHAHAHAHA

[@supervisorjd4458]

Xbox sucks Donkey Di%#^

[@bixhutch6274]

Gamepass has no games? Yeah you don't have Gamepass. Gamepass has been on a fucken tear.

[@Mr.Martin1996]

You clearly don't have GamePass if you think there's no good games on there. They have at least some stuff there that's at least enjoyable.

[@Surfer_0x1]

System for losers with no games. Lol

[@andyw8988]

The irony of this person calling others a loser, priceless 🤑