Let's Talk About the Series S - Kinda Funny Xcast Ep. 151

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Mike and Parris get real about the Xbox Series S, discuss Starfield going Gold, and more!
Time Stamps -
00:00:00 - Start
00:01:16 - Whatcha Been Playing?
00:11:26 - Housekeeping
00:13:00 - Let’s Get Real About The Series S
00:50:46 - Congratulations To Tango Gameworks and Hi-Fi Rush
00:53:01 - Xbox Enforcement Strike System
01:00:11 - Game Pass Update for Second Half of August
01:03:02 - It’s Time For Starfield!
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[@Eric-nx6cp]

Its so good that Paris constantly speaks on behalf of the customer, not just gamer.

[@HoustonPlaysGames]

How are you going to call the Series S GPU the same as the X when it has less than half the CUs at a lower clock rate. It’s not just downclocked, it’s also cut down. That’s misinformation and you need to correct it.

[@Spartan_83]

timestamp? They said it was meant to run at a lower resolution so it may have just been a mistake/misspoke.

[@NF_Redux]

if Microsoft's teams have yet to solve the same issue with their own games like Halo Infinite & Forza Motorsport, i'm not sure how much help they'll be to Larian.

[@tylerisse5120]

Halo issue wasn't series s it was xbox one

[@benjaminc6304]

Mike puts so much work into KF and I still feel he’s underrated

[@aaronwalsh8469]

Yeah better than ps I love you. I’ve never owned an Xbox .

[@joeysham]

Mike has been cool to watch, cuz it has been an absolutely visible growth. He is so much better than when he was even a year ago. Every time he comes on he's better.

[@hawt_dawg_man]

@@aaronwalsh8469saaaaaame. It's still important to check out what the other platforms do in order to know how PS, Nintendo etc can do better or different

[@mitchbrannon3418]

Mike and blessing are 👌

[@matthewwalsh1468]

​@@aaronwalsh8469I gave up on PSILY, too annoying

[@RL_Stine_88]

The person who brought up that we are about to have a $349 Series S, and that being too much. Dude, with that being only $50 less than a PS5.... That isn't acceptable after all the BS we have heard about the Series S lately. Specially with PS+ really getting much better than it was at the start of this gen.

[@tardis_treasures]

It shouldn't have been made. I discless xbox series x would have made more sense. I think the series s will definitely hold back the x going forward

[@StarWolf5298]

The S is the current gen Xbox I have. I basically got it to be my Game Pass and Retroarch box while PS5 is my go to for the more premium releases. So for me it's working out just fine.

[@cinders8144]

I knew things were bad when Halo Infinite was dipping to 540p on HFR mode on the Series S.

[@Spartan_83]

it was also a cross-gen game on the Xbox one and newer more demanding games have run much better.

[@USMCbrantley]

Work in retail since 2021 and can confirm we sell more Series S than Series X and talking to best buy and Walmart employees in my area they claim it's the same for them. The Switch obviously is the most brought system in our stores, with the Series S being 2nd, and Ps5 being 3rd and Series X being last in 4th. Most of my guest buying series s says it's a cheap next gen console that they plan to just get GamePass Ultimate and nothing else. Cost is a big factor these days. To some it's why pay 400 to 500 when you can spend 300 for something that plays the same games and save money for other things.

[@preyingocelotgames4397]

If the S is the machine that most Xbox players have......isn't that a huge problem if devs are struggling to get games on there?

[@thenotoneman2812]

Also, we gotta remember that not every market in the world is like the US. There are countries where the prices for the Series X and PS5 are pretty much not affordable for most people.

[@USMCbrantley]

@@guyincle126 Same games as in what you play off gamepass. Gaming is an expensive hobby for the average consumer. Edit: Could you also leave your console war mindset at the door. The majority of us don't care anymore about it since the Wii era.

[@USMCbrantley]

@@preyingocelotgames4397 Idk if its the one that most people have but since 2020 the Series S has been selling faster than the Series X in my area/store.

[@USMCbrantley]

@@thenotoneman2812 This true. In fact my whole comment is really about cost. If my area is the same as every where else then yeah majority has the Series S due to the cost. Imagine that majority of those users are more all in on Gamepass/Gamepass Ultimate than they are buying games out right due to cost as well.

[@fromsoftserve]

Loved this! small correction on Series S. It's not the same GPU as the X, as it's of course cut down to 4TF versus 12TF on Series X. But yes, same CPU. I do think they need to make an exception for some cases where the 8GB of total memory is an issue.

[@fromsoftserve]

@@DeadLoya oh yeah, my bad. I was thinking of the ram available to the games the selves. Versus what's left for the OS

[@fromsoftserve]

@@DeadLoya oh I'm sure Parris just misspoke tbh. No biggie or anything. Hell, talking off the cuff in the videos I make, I get things wrong all the time.

[@Americanskillet]

First full episode of XCast because I’m considering getting an S and getting back into Xbox gaming again! Just wanted to say what a great discussion this was, super informative and balanced!

[@jarrodsteele4868]

I got the series S when the series X was impossible to get early in the gen...I love this little beast

[@edwin99901]

Dont live in denial, get the x or ps5.

[@Pezcore96]

I got a pre order for the S for my youngest Son. I asked him the other night if I could buy a series X would he want to swap it out. I was shocked when he told me that he was fine with the S. He plays at 1080p and has almost 2TB of storage now so he doesn't see the point of upgrading.

[@AmacioMartin]

@@edwin99901 facts

[@USMCbrantley]

​@@edwin99901 Its not denial. The avg person rather spend 300 for the same experience than 500. Majority are getting it with GamePass and calling it a day. For the avg consumer gaming is an expensive hobby no matter where you at in the world.

[@yomamasohot6411]

"Beast"

[@dominicorlando190]

I don’t think MS can make exceptions. The series S is advertised as having feature parity, only sacrificing frame rate and/or resolution. People bought the console with this in mind and I wouldn’t put it past some folks to try pushing lawsuits against MS over it.

[@Uncle_Ant_]

The reluctance to just call out Microsoft or having to couch every negative statement about Xbox is so strange.

[@Ascensioner]

Awesome show y'all. Listening to you guys makes my day

[@dannydavis2039]

I love My "New" Series S! Just over a week ago I found it at a pawn shop for just over $180 dollars after tax. I had a one S die nearly 2 years ago and have two Xbox 360s, so I have a large digital library along with Game pass Ultimate to enjoy on it. My favorite feature so far is quick resume. Switching back and forth between (6) games so far has been so fun. Thanks for the great discussion!

[@jessenorris6499]

I wish people in the media would go and ask devs about it instead of constantly guess. None of us "know". Who has asked directly why split-screen isn't in FM? The BG dev made it clear it was a time/resource allocation issue. They smartly chose to get the PC version out early to avoid Starfield, have the PS5 version ready to fill the Starfieldless library there, and then hit Xbox later once again avoiding the game. You have the resources to get actual answers instead of giving speculation that anyone off these street could make.

[@LuciusAugustusRex]

Well said Jesse

[@yomamasohot6411]

I think journalists do need to ask this but not to developers but to MS. Why did they design such an underpowered machine? Even their own first party developers can't get split screen running.

[@tloz171nfs]

I love the idea of feature parity; the same game at lower resolution/framerate is the entire point. Plus most Xbox physical games have been glorified drm keys for almost 10 years so I dont mind going digital (whereas ps/nintendo I'm physical until they stop giving me the option, and then i will probably support the industry less). I love my Series S as my Gamepass machine and my PS5/Switch as my full price physical machines.

[@kfr3435]

Can't forget metroidvanias Mike ..Blasphemous 2 comes out next week as well! A ton of great games coming out 🎉

[@sillymikey]

I love the series S as an option, but Parris is right. If I go to Best Buy and a disk-less ps5 is 50$ more, the series S is never gonna sell in that situation.

[@Spartan_83]

you can still get the regular ss for cheap. I've seen it as low as 150$

[@USMCbrantley]

Series S is $300 that's $100 cheaper than the Disk Less PS5 but my store and other stores will drop the price to $200 to $250 on it with extra sells and goodies on top of it. For the average consumer/causal player that's what their going for. Hell the Switch is still the hottest selling electronic since it came out. Why? Cause of price and majority of Nintendo games is safe for all ages in the family. A college student or someone working pay to pay that wants to get in the gaming action is more likely to buy a Series S over X and PS5. Especially when they know about GamePass and most kids, teenagers, and young adults are playing free2play games/live service games. It doesn't make sense to drop $500 you don't really have when even Switch can run those type of games.

[@illestcatnnebraska7331]

What about the lack of storage space & those expensive memory cards

[@Spartan_83]

@@illestcatnnebraska7331 you can still buy cheap SSDs to store your series S games on some of them will even play off of external SSDs and you can just transfer back and forth of course it depends on the individual but someone like myself who only plays one game at a time I'm perfectly fine with that

[@yomamasohot6411]

​@@USMCbrantleyhe is talking about the 1tb version.

[@jeffcarrier9808]

I almost got a Series S instead of a PS5. I'm happy with my final choice.

[@Spartan_83]

I got the sx and ps5 and to be honest I mostly just play the SX now.

[@bonzismarthome]

​@@Spartan_83seems like an unlikely thing

[@Spartan_83]

@@bonzismarthome it's not. I prefer playing on the SX over the PS5. I play on the PS5 if it's a exclusive that I really want to play.

[@Juggernaut-IV]

Xbox gamers are used to not being able to play game of the year contenders Paris >< god of war, spiderman, last of us 2, FF16, now baldurs gate 3

[@galacticmaui2]

I’ll be honest…I like my series S and agree it’s a great value but I think most gamers should just get the X if given the choice. The S kinda feels like a half step between my PS4 and PS5. Games run at a higher FPS over the PS4 but more or less visually look very similar. The SSD is crazy fast but definitely a compromise coming from 1TB PS4. A lot of consumers will be happy with Series S but think more people should get X for both short and long term benefits. I recently upgraded to the X and think I made the right choice.

[@crispy.nuggets]

Amazing take Paris, well reasoned. Nice to see a major Xbox influencer acknowledge that this situation with BG3 and the SeriesS is a problem without deflecting onto Starfield. I say this as someone who owns and loves my SeriesS.

[@richdarb8022]

Another great episode guys

[@Arthur0ne]

Take a shot every time París says that’s a problem

[@RL_Stine_88]

Xbox really needs to get the prices for their memory cards dropped WAY down!! A TB should be like $90-$99 imo

[@Kmaitland89]

The main difference between the S and X is not just memory........

[@twayneusmc1993]

I love my series S, I'm more of a PC gamer and having that little guy to take with me when i need to travel for work or even bring over to a friends is awesome. I would love a series X but i just can't afford that.

[@buckman234]

Launch the games feature-incomplete on Series S if theyre not ready when the main launch is supposed to happen. Also, figure out what the heck is going on with these features not working.

[@John_Smith5]

Series S is a great secondary console to the ps5 for gamepass, backwards compatibility, and emulation through dev mode

[@Allups]

u might be able to get Starfield premium edition upgrade on gamepass if u dont want to pay for the entire premium edition. note u well still only be able to play while u have gamepass

[@MaggotCorpseMusik]

I got a Series S over a year ago when I could when I saw them slowly in stock, then like 6 months ago I bought the Series X souly to run Starfield on. The Series S became my living room “community” system. Not bad for the price but I definitely prefer the X over the S

[@paulbrown1409]

If a big game that will run on series X is never released because they can’t get it to run on the series S at what point do Microsoft have to say ok release it on X only?

[@thepews1511]

20:06 "Do you guys ever think about death?"

[@good.news.everyone]

Xbox has unfortunately backed themselves in a corner and are now in an awkward position. The series s was initially a great play, but they clearly did not consider all the logistics (demanding split screen play) and it is going to force them to do one of a few things - say "hey this actually is going to be a lesser machine and you wont be able to play everything the way we sold it or with less features" and accept that there will be problems with communication of which titles are limited and the flak that will come with it; or "certain titles will only release on series X," leaving millions feeling duped, thinking they were buying into "next gen" when they weren't; or they can continue to forfeit GOTY contenders because they dont want to eat crow. none of these are really "optimal." I love the series s. I own one despite owning a series x. I keep it in the living room as a secondary xbox and take it on trips. it was a great call for many reasons, but they really fumbled the messaging around it. now xbox is going to be deciding whether to take the brand hit and catch flak for releasing a "next gen" machine that will be missing out on pertinent features or titles altogether, or continue taking Ls on getting some of the biggest games on their platform in increased frequency, seeing as we arent even halfway through the generation and this is already becoming an issue.

[@addidaswguy]

I've been playing a ton of remote play and cloud games in the Xbox Game Pass app, The Cloud stuff plays AMAZING! I wish they would just do something where they just add a ton of games to the cloud server. And then if you have paid for the game, you can just play it from the Cloud instead of having to do Remote Play, because unless I'm sitting in my house it doesn't work well. And if I try to play games like NBA 2k, shot timing is almost impossible (especially in 2k23 where it's green or miss)

[@matthewwalsh1468]

1:00:13 - Just played it for the first time last night on GamePass, fun game (maybe an 8/10)! Good time waster while we all await 'Starfield'...I'd call this one: 'Starfield Light', or: 'Starfield With Training Wheels Still Attached' 😂

[@theonlymoxeris]

I don't know if anyone else has corrected them but baldur's gate isn't out on playstation right now either it's only on pc currently but still at least playstation has a release date

[@NF_Redux]

yeah it's almost 3 weeks from now on PS5.

[@JuturningMeOn]

I agree with Paris. Please just put BG3 on Series X and figure out the S later.

[@Lyle-qc8ld]

love the show. I believe Larian wouldnt put their game out on xbox even if xbox made an exception for parity for series S. Larian also has their own standards separate from xbox’s for parity.

[@philbarton2832]

This is exactly what I was thinking. Larian strike me as idealists and won't want to put out an inferior product just because of an issue Microsoft created. Larian know they have a phenomenal game here and want whoever is playing it to have the full feature complete experience

[@Juggernaut-IV]

I’ve had rog ally since launch and it is 8/10 great plays everything I want even baldurs gate split screen hooked to my tv on medium settings 40-60fps it has external GPu options to make it a powerhouse mobile setup allowing high to ultra 1440p or even 4 k settings easily. It is the switch pro and is just a handheld laptop in all factors. Yes the battery can drain at 30w but you can scale that back to 10-15w for less intense games and get 2-3 hours of gaming. Or you just plug in and get that 35w boost and play big boy games.

[@RL_Stine_88]

Yeah Halo Infinite didn't get split screen... BUTT, For some dumbass reason, Halo Infinite was also launched on the Xbox One!! That was a huge mistake, should have been streaming only for the Xbox One.

[@yomamasohot6411]

Now imagine being an Xbox One X owner in 2017 and finding out Halo, which was originally releasing in 2019, i.e., within 3 years, won't be released on it.

[@mrreece8986]

Series X has 16gb of memory and the series S has got 10gb of memory

[@fotografick]

The portability of the series S is one of it's best features and the PS5 still doesn't have a slim model to compete with it. For most games this is a non issue and I think Larian will get it working eventually (they got Divinity Original Sin 2 working on the switch)

[@bonzismarthome]

I don't think PlayStation need to compete since they are wiping the floor with Xbox Series

[@fotografick]

yeah, they definitely are targeting different markets. Like I just don't have the space for a PS5.@@bonzismarthome

[@OfficialDaBeast]

​@@bonzismarthomecomment was clearly speaking on the portability aspect of each console.

[@dageekynerd2898]

I have the Series X the premium console, why should I miss out on anything because the the budget console? Miss me with there's more Series S out there, I thought console sales ain't matter lol. I think at the end of the day the S will go down as a miscalculation along with using Xs in servers when stock was low.

[@chubbybehem0th]

BG3 is just the start of more devs having issues optimizing new, more demanding games on the S. Putting out that console was a huge mistake.

[@MegaCocoa125]

Overall, I think the S was a mistake. I get that it's a nice deal, but it's obviously holding the industry back. This isn't the first time developers have complained about the Series S.

[@apimb1396]

I can confirm that my children who all have the Series S give two shits about Baldurs Gate splitscreen....just release the game...when did this become a talking point ? Its an archaic feature that at best 1%actually use

[@aooaooapoooopa]

It's nuts that one game has caused people to reconsider the entire Series S strategy. Ignoring the fact the console is the most sold Xbox console between the Series X and S. Ignoring the fact it is the affordable entry into next-gen gaming for many families not only in America, but in lesser advantaged countries. Ignoring the fact that almost every single game has come to the console and only ONE has to delay release due to the Series S. Halo Infinite had to work on both the Series console but also the Xbox one. Note, couch split-screen co-op hasn't been able to be done in Halo since Halo 4 or Reach? It's not a Series S exclusive problem. Also, ignoring the fact that the two sku approach still garners more third party support for high end technical games that the Nintendo Switch doesn't get but everyone is fine with that. Mostly because they know that's part of the bargain being apart of the Nintendo ecosystem. The same could be said for the new Xbox ecosystem where they want gaming to be for EVERYONE. Not just hardcore console warrior babies who base their ecosystem's success based on what the competition is doing.

[@GameTHOTS]

As far as trying to branch out for more people, I think the series S is a win, but I do think it is going to hold us back more and more as the gen goes on. Devs should be able to choose to support it. just my opinion.

[@TheBlakamon15]

That too much power to devs. Devs already do not optimize their games as it is. When devs have to configure their games for pc with specs way lower then series s there should not be much of a problem.

[@GameTHOTS]

@@TheBlakamon15 More so the people they answer to don't give them enough time or money to optimize. If Devs had more power, we would have better games. The Money people who are in charge are the real issue. the Series S is hurting us but it is expanding their pockets.

[@NF_Redux]

agreed. @@GameTHOTS

[@Elethes]

It is a pity that Larian doesn't want to put BG3 on xbox series S and X without the co-op for now. That would be much better than delaying the whole game for months.

[@mbern4530]

I'm almost positive that xbox has a policy that games have to be equal to the competition. They used to have this policy back on the 360 as well and when combined with their original small digital game file size caused a lot of issues.

[@danielsanchez9791]

I wonder if all developers so far have just built the games on the Xbox for the series S and only upscale resolution for the X.

[@yomamasohot6411]

Yes. But they optimise it to the best of their ability, which is why you will see identical performance on the series x and the ps5.

[@DetroitsReaper]

The switch can't play some games natively either though

[@thebiglo25]

that is a slippery slope to give exceptions because it can snowball out of control so no exception for any game first party or third party

[@Krytern]

Unless they write down specific feature exceptions that can be used by anyone. like "splitscreen", rather than exceptions for individual games.

[@Username_CC_]

he said he only just saw an Xbox in a store for the first time?! There's no way. Even PS5 was in stores in 2021 he must be

[@Spartan_83]

They were in store for a little bit but not long, Xbox used the SX for their cloud gaming and Phil even apologized that they had short stock of SX and Amazon said that their SX stock had been very low and couldn't keep them stocked, hell for a while SX was still invite only on amazon when the PS5 wasn't.

[@raypalmer5125]

I've met so many people who aren't gamers, aren't really interested in most of the "Gamer Games" like Baldurs Gate 3, but just want something that can play Fortnite, Call of Duty or Fifa so they decided to go for Series S. It's practically the perfect thing for non-gamers who want to get into a little bit of casual gaming.

[@Krytern]

I've had two people today ask me "what is Baldur's gate 3?" when I tried to talk about it... One of the most played games on Steam of all time and some never heard of it.

[@USMCbrantley]

​@@Krytern Because its not hitting with causal players. People are talking about more than playing it.

[@illestcatnnebraska7331]

What about the storage space on the Series S, seems like a bad deal

[@spuggz2]

Paris can literally palm the Series S with One hand....Scary!

[@jeffcarrier9808]

Nailed it! Yes, an exception to the "feature parity" rule must absolutely be made in key situations. Clearly it opens the flood gates of devs saying they want to make things easier and leave features out of the S version, but right now we are talking about losing A) Cornerstone features of a franchise that could at least still happen on the X, and even worst B) Missing out on entire major game releases! BG3 should absolutely be such a key situation.

[@philbarton2832]

Like you said unfortunately that's a slippery slope and it'll be damaging to public perception of Xbox which in turn affects sales. The series S would more and more become seen as a machine for "casuals" rather than the most powerful consoles kid brother

[@sherpawhale]

It sucks right now, but I think the Baldur's Gate 3 situation is going to work out well for all parties. PC players got it moved up ahead of Starfield, Xbox players won't be split between it and Starfield so they'll get a bigger audience for each, and Playstation players get a temporary exclusive to take the sting away from not having Starfield.

[@nodakgirl93]

my main console is ps5. i will most likely get the og series s for xbox exclusives. i think for some people where the series S is their main system will see the cons as the generation continues. but its a decent system for families with kids

[@tannerselby85]

I have the S to play Xbox exclusives and PS5 for everything else cause trophies. I haven’t turned the S on since I got it 2-3 years ago, but I’m glad they offer something at that price point to remove those barriers of entry.

[@LuciusAugustusRex]

The idea of throwing away the Series S is short sighted and elitist. The Series S has been a great tool for Xbox and allowed a lot of people to jump in at a reasonable price. Until devs start using things like Sampler Feedback and VRS, I don't want to hear it. I want devs to use the tools made to help with RAM allocation, until they start using these tools I dont want to hear it from people.

[@aaronwalsh8469]

Those damn lazy developers!

[@LuciusAugustusRex]

@@aaronwalsh8469 I'm not saying they're lazy, using new tools is hard and in the middle of the dev cycle you don't have time to learn something new. So I would never call them lazy, but if you don't use the tools that would help you with the problem you're running into, I can't find it in my heart to give a shit lol.

[@yomamasohot6411]

Be a little practical. These platform specific tools are only utilised by first-party developers. You can't expect multiplatform developers to do that for every platform they develop. This applies to all platforms. This is why you will find many third-party games that have similar loading times on ps5 and xbox series x even when PS5 has a superior SSD and IO. If every developer used the "tools," this wouldn't be the case. Even Xbox first party developers are struggling with the series s.

[@aaronwalsh8469]

@@LuciusAugustusRex I just think Microsoft messed up with the series S. Releasing a weak system at the start of a new gen cycle when a high powered system like the series x, ps5 will be old tech after three or four years. Microsoft has hamstrung themselves now as far as a series x “pro” , because then they would be asking third party to make games for three different systems just on Xbox. This gen feels like the 360/ps3 gen in reverse.

[@Yo_teeej]

Has anyone told Paris he needs to get into voice acting ASAP? Dude could've been Lance Reddick's replacement for Zavala in Destiny 2

[@J2Kmn]

I agree with Paris completely. I think feature parity was and is a novel idea. But there are going to be some games (like BG3) where it just isnt possible at the moment the game launches. I have to imagine that the mass majority of Xbox gamers would've prefered that split-screen be delayed until ready and the game be launched on the same day as PC or PS5. I had to buy BG3 on PC to play with my friends and its a bummer to know that the sole reason that happened is because of spit-screen. A feature that probably wouldn't even be used by most peeps on Series S. I think being able to play the game at all trumphs feature parity.

[@adamcha967]

The amount of times Mike changes his looks! That man is a chameleon!

[@KindaFunnyGames]

HAHA love this comment -SBM

[@karateffekt1106]

But never drinks anything else besides that my hero academia beverage. Is that a energy drink?

[@mattmas6628]

I got a series S for my secondary game room downstairs after getting my Series X for my home theatre. I was a PlayStation guy my whole life but back compat and FPS boost brought me into the Xbox sphere. I still have ps5 tho

[@mustang750r]

The series S should have had the same amount of memory as the X, The same CPU clock, and instead of 20 compute units the GPU should have had 28 or 30. It's not all about just gameplay feature parity, there's a lot of games on the series S that are missing visual/performance mode that it should have but at a lower resolution. For example Plague Tale Requiem on the PS5 and series X has 60, 40 and 30fps modes and on Series S it's just stuck at 30fps.

[@two-keytech7578]

Got an S because I could get game pass ultimate and play some games in my living room and have my computer in my game room for all the games I want more power to play.

[@geoffreykirby3761]

Series S will probably end up being a bigger issue down the line, but for now, it's mostly fringe cases of it holding things back. Feature parity is probably something they'll drop in the next year or two

[@G_Doggy_Jr]

Do you know of any examples of PS4 games that had additional **gameplay features** on the PS4 Pro that were absent on the base PS4. Or likewise, Xbox One games that had **gameplay features** in the Xbox One X version that were absent on the base Xbox One model? (I've emphasised the words "gameplay features" to clarify that I'm asking only about _gameplay_ features, such as split-screen co-op, and not mere graphical or frame-rate features). Examples like that would provide some evidence to support your claim that feature parity is going to be dropped.

[@joeysham]

They won't. They would look like hypocrites, and they would lose their "pro-consumer" appearance. Willing to bet that starfield would be 60 fps if it wasn't for the s, and losing baldurs gate is a large L. Because, better or worse, next year, the world will move on, and baldurs gate won't be relevant. Maybe some are like hey, this is supposed to be good, but it's nothing like when everyone os talking about it

[@G_Doggy_Jr]

@@joeysham There is no frame-rate parity requirement between the X and S. So, if your claim is true (that Starfield would be 60 on the X if not for the S), then it must be that you think the devs have to spend all their time optimising for the S, that they have no time left to optimise for the X. I agree with everything else you said.

[@illestcatnnebraska7331]

That S was a mistake… and a scam all in one…$299, but with limited storage space & an expensive memory card…1440p 60fps, yeah right

[@joeysham]

@G_Doggy_Jr they didn't have an option to be late on it, this is their best opportunity to aay look we have a game. So it became all hands on deck. It had to run and run well out of the gate. Locking frame rate works and gives them time to finish. They can always patch it later, and say you wanted it, here. But out the gate it's a win, and they can blame it on "we want the visuals to be wow". Even though the vast majority of players prioritize framerate because between 1080p vs 4k and 30fps vs 60 fps, the framerate is more noticeable. Maybe it won't be noticeable. Maybe my tv will correct it. But I'd stake a lot that if series s didn't exist, it would be 60. But the s isn't going away either, because there's more s than x.

[@miro9832]

Making an exception for the S, makes it difficult to price the game. It goes against the play anywhere motto Xbox has been going with. Its easy to remove features from the S, but it ruins the basis on which Xbox has been building an Ecosystem. It means the console you paid money for does not support a feature, that you can play on cloud gaming without buying a console. It undermines the business model

[@mrdoruya]

Having games available on the x and not on the s at the same time is not acceptable

[@uniqtechniq9314]

Love the Series S

[@Blballerboy]

💩

[@mexiwolf009]

Me too. Sold it though after a year of owning it.

[@alvaroruiz3009]

Is microsoft willing to give customers their money for making them buy consoles that will have games with missing features? Cuz if not i smell a fat lawsuit if xbox ever thought about the stupidity of getting rid of parity clause

[@twayneusmc1993]

I think if Xbox comes out and owns the fact that it's weaker and maybe offered series S owners the option to trade it in for a series X with like a 100 discount off series X most fans would not only jump at the chance but also feel less jaded by the fact the series s quite simply never was gonna be able to compete.

[@RL_Stine_88]

Mikes hair.... Hahahahahahaaaa!!!! I love that Mike is full time on KF. He is my favorite to watch for sure!

[@RL_Stine_88]

Besides Mikes hair entertaining me... Can someone PLEASE adjust the mic for this guy! LoL seeing him hold it by the mic stand base and throwing it all over the place!! He is killing me with just how much he is moving it around! Mike n his mic!

[@bonzismarthome]

He could just adjust the mike himself.

[@tjrage6168]

Last gen it was the connect. This gen, the series S. Glad I’m fortunate enough to enjoy all platforms aye yi yi

[@Mlunny81]

Xbox needs to let go of split screen. MS are the ones who won’t let BG3 go on XB because of feature parity. No split screen on Series S is better than not having BG3 at all. I’m pretty sure Series S owners would agree. Maybe split screen is streaming only. It’s not like a little lag would be a problem for a slow turn based game with dialog driving the gameplay.

[@TheLshyne]

People don’t understand it’s not up to them ultimately. Larian is not going to release until they’re satisfied with how the game runs. They said they didn’t have enough resources to be optimizing all three versions at the same time. It is what is 🤷🏾‍♂️

[@lukesp00k]

@@TheLshyneLarian Studios was NEVER going to release BG3 on Xbox on at the same time as Starfield, the series S is just being a fall guy at the moment. And it makes prefect marketing sense. Release the game a month earlier then Starfield on PC, release on PS at the same time as Starfield and then in a few months time release BG3 on Xbox once Starfield has cleared through the system.

[@Mlunny81]

I’m not too sure about that. Larian said they didn’t want to do that, primarily because of unique split screen quests. They never said they wouldn’t do that. They also said they were confident they could get it to work, which is why they’re holding off on making any announcements about it. You could be right, but they never said they simply wouldn’t do it. But even if Larian would do it, MS has said both consoles will have “feature parity” when it was announced, so MS won’t let that happen, even if Larian would. As far as we know Larian has said these things because MS told them to.

[@yomamasohot6411]

​@lukesp00k this is some Qanon level of conspiracy theory lol😂

[@lukesp00k]

@@yomamasohot6411 not really, BG3 release date got moved forward on the pc to the start of August. Almost like they are avoiding something?! While the PS5 version has stayed to that date, which makes sense, loads of PS only players will pick up BG3, just to have something to play while the PC and Xbox community is lapping up Starfield. It's super clever marketing from Larian, I fully expect BG3 on Xbox by the end of the year, heck wouldn't surprise me if it comes out on Gamepass on release too. Neither Larian or Xbox would want BG3 and Starfield fighting for player share.

[@TheMasonAguilar]

i hate how normal mike is on x cast. you can’t fool me mofo😂😂😂

[@ThatGamingGuyfromthe70s]

Series S is good enough in the vast majority of games. Unfortunately the BG3 situation has inadvertently handed console exclusivity to Sony for one of the greatest RPG's ever made. As an owner of pc, playstation and series X I want games like BG3 to be put in front of as many players as possible and the industry is all the better for having choice and competition.

[@CheefChaos]

BG3 was delayed several times and then even moved up a month to distance itself from starfield. BG3 deserves its roses, using a controller I still have doubts about the Mass approachability of the actual gameplay compared to a Bethesda title.

[@garymoon6230]

I think the series s is needed, economy all over the world is suffering,people have less money,series s costs less,plays the same games,it's got gamepass with Starfield,it uses half the electric of the series x,I think many people benefit from series s,it's got limits for sure but in this day and age I think it's needed.

[@Live2Dye]

I absolutely LOVE my SeriesS, I understand the thought of holding games back but if the issue is just RAM, The ‘Black S’ for 350 should have more RAM. Xbox should fall on the sword and have a dedicated team to help 3rd parties with S builds in order to meet their requirements. Split screen is very difficult on the hardware, specially on BG3 that has multiple instances of the game running at once in split screen. All in all, Xbox shouldn’t hold out a release just bcuz of a low ROI feature like split screen. Also, I want to clarify, my S is my 3rd string console, my Ps5 and Switch are priorities. Gamepass sold me on the S.

[@McCoy97]

If they added RAM, they would them have a THIRD set of specs to account for.

[@Live2Dye]

@@McCoy97 provide a 1:1 trade in program for the launch S players and provide a free month or w/e of gamepass to incentivize them to actually trade it in. And sunset that console along with the dev build requirements.

[@McCoy97]

@@Live2Dye That would make Microsoft look terrible and that isn’t a realistic solution.

[@Live2Dye]

Not releasing games on their platform due to performance is a sharper dagger being placed in their side as opposed to correcting a possible shortcoming.. but at the end of the day, split screen is a low ROI feature and should be treated as such.

[@McCoy97]

@@Live2Dye Microsoft is a multibillion dollar company. They had to have known this would become an issue.

[@eekaa6994]

I agree with Parris

[@thewhitewolf4968]

Should of just been just that. Xbox series x with drive and one without it 😢

[@mbern4530]

I don't own an xbox, but if I was going to buy one it would be the S due to the price. Parris saying that games should just release on the X and release on the S at a later date is a terrible idea. If that was the case I would be furious as a consumer and I'm guessing many people would fell the same. They need to release the games at the same time on both consoles, not make owners of the S feel like second hand customers, because that would drive those people away from xbox.

[@otachi_r2x458]

There’s no question at all that the Series S may have seemed likea good idea at the time but it is now the major thing that is kneecapping Xbox. MS should just cancel the Series S completely and offer a trade in credit towards a Series X for everyone who wants to upgrade.

[@Protihex]

I just don't get how the S could be this difficult to develop for. These games launch on PC which has so many variables in builds. Maybe I'm just stupid, but that just doesn't make sense to me.

[@yomamasohot6411]

Yes, you are stupid, but that's fine. I'll break it down for ya. All the new games releasing on PC have a minimum requirement of 16gb of RAM. Series S has 10gb of RAM. I think you can understand big number good, small number bad.

[@realadelphstar]

If you're willing to spend 350 on a 1tb s you would have spent 399 on a disc less series x. They should make discless x and give ppl 350 credit towards the the new x and create the separation between the s and x and move on to next gen

[@tyler328]

Cyberpunk has never had framerate issues on seires S???

[@marcello696]

it was originally 30fps and they added a performance mode to get 60, could have phrased it better

[@tyler328]

@@marcello696 I know but the 30FPS mode never had any issues when it realeased, nor before the next gen upgrade either

[@TheLshyne]

Right the S was actually running it better than the PS5. Digital Foundry pointed that out in their breakdown

[@mcchesti000]

It does make me wonder if the reason we are seeing less split screen in games (ex. Halo infinite) is because devs have strong deadlines from publishers and choose to drop it because of the series s

[@Mickice]

If you want an Xbox series try a second hand store.

[@dotty1774]

They should have done a digital series X for $100 cheaper. The S has and will limit what Devs can do this Generation.

[@stevene8893]

Been a PlayStation guy since PS1, and I only own an Xbox now because they released the S and I use it exclusively for gamepass. I have a PS5 and PC for everything else. So I wouldn’t be in the Xbox ecosystem w/o the series S, this is because I knew I was going to get the PS5 and didn’t feel the need for a series X in addition

[@Spartan_83]

I had to upgrade to the SX and play it more than my ps5 but PC is still king.

[@kerrym2521]

Feature Parity is the issue. 3rd party developers are not going to continue to fund extra time and resouces to get their games onto Xbox simply due to this feature parity clause. Xbox can't afford to lose more big name games. As an owner of a Series S, I would prefer to have games like BG3 on my Xbox, but without the Split-Screen and understanding that feature may or may not come to my version of the console down the line. If I don't get the game at all or it's significantly delayed, then I might as well buy the game on a different console. How does that help the Xbox ecosystem?

[@yomamasohot6411]

It also depends on the developer's decision. Would they accept releasing BG3 without local MP? We don't know.

[@AAGGHH4]

No we don't need the Series S. And Microsoft cant afford to have games missing features that've been in the series for years. Baulders Gate was the catalyst but don't forget Halo and the new Forza are missing split screen. Almost like a lack of memory in a certain console is causing features to be cut. If they're having to cut split screen, what else are they having to cut? Or at the very least, it must be wasting long development time trying to solve all these self inflicted issues. The S is a liability that cant be afforded in a generation that has a strong PlayStation.

[@neddy42]

I hadn’t heard Tinykin was leaving GP. Shoot, haven’t had the chance to try that yet.

[@sugarhigh4242]

The problem is actually the Series X. MS can't mass produce the X without losing a ton of money, and just as many people are buying the S. If the X didn't exist with the parity clause, Larian could easily release BG3 on the S without split screen support.

[@otachi_r2x458]

That is absolutely insane. You may be the only person on earth to have this thought. Amazing.

[@sugarhigh4242]

@@otachi_r2x458 it's true tho. People don't even care about graphics that much. Some of the most popular games are Minecraft, Roblox, Nintendo exclusives, etc. Series S is a consumer friendly way to play most of the new games easily. It's the hedging from MS that sucks, not the S or X on their own. Between the two now if you're gonna kill one, it HAS to be the X. Maybe they never should've done the S, but it's too late now.

[@Nicky_Biggz]

When you have the smallest user base of all platforms and your ecosystem is the most difficult to develop for you have a serious problem. The series S needs to go. They need to start moving away from it. It doesn't make sense to buy a series S for $300 (especially $350) when you can get a discless ps5 for $100 more. The discless ps5 gets you more storage from the original series S, you get more than double the memory, and you get more than double the gpu... for $100. When you say it like that the series S is a piss poor deal.

[@KrytopsyX]

I don't want to come off as hammering down on Parris but he has said many things in this video that are simply not true. (Things that are easy to prove, that many devs would catch on but aren't at the root of the issues.) And to answer Barrett's question, Larian did have their game running throught ''streaming'' on Stadia before it got shutdown and being a turn based game makes BG3 that much more ''compatible'' with streaming if you will as it doesn't requires to have the least amount of input lag to be playable and enjoyable.