The Xbox Series S Is Holding Back Games? I Asked A Developer What They Think...

[@mayen67]

Also its worth pointing out, that looking at the seriesS for what it is, it is actually a well designed and gaming focused console. It has a unified pool of fast ram a decent GPU and great CPU, great SSD + iO stack and modern feature set. If Nintendo released a seriesS calibre consoles it would be considered powerful lol.

[@MrSamPhoenix]

Indeed, but keep in mind that Nintendo wouldn’t have two versions of the console. They’d just have either the Series-X or just the Series-S.

[@XBX1MASTER]

@@MrSamPhoenix you are right. Nintendo offers no choice this generation. If they offered a traditional console with decent power I'd consider one.

[@danarose2677]

@@MrSamPhoenix I can't tell if this is sarcasm. Nintendo has supported multiple version of console on multiple generations.

[@MVPMTKING]

@XBX1MASTER facts, I'd love to see Nintendos art and creativity with game mechanics on a modernly powerful system.

[@XBX1MASTER]

@@danarose2677 power and performance not colors and screen sizes.

[@t.fernbach602]

98% of games in the past two years have also been released on the PS4 and Xbox One, but the Series S is the problem. I call bull on that.

[@j.k.1239]

Lazy devs. does not want to develop for another console but has zero issue optimizing games for multipole pc combinations.

[@kyleparkhurst1720]

Cod and halo infinite (somehow with it's issues) can run at 120 fps and looks great. Cyberpunk runs at 60 somehow fucking doom and eternal run on a goddamn switch and it's playable

[@LIONPRINCE2001]

@@An_Evangelist_Who_Loves_Jesus tell me your a pony without telling me your a pony

[@B727X]

Damn bro I just bought a steam deck I don’t wanna have to get a console so early into its life lol

[@fuzailmalik9280]

@@j.k.1239 Pc don't require multiple optimizations for different builds aside from controls and maybe vulkan and dx or raytracing but its kinda easy. the problem is that series x and s have the same architecture but different power levels. also optimization is not a switch that you can flip, so every model, texture, lightmaps (if any), path tracing etc have to be different and that's basically making a game 3 times. most devs will make game with xbox series s in mind because by design it will work perfectly on ps5, series x and mid tier PC so that's where the problem lies. i know it might sound like a lie but I am a game dev.

[@alexsabre3219]

It’s worth noting that many developers disagreed with the Rocksteady guy and defended the Series S. The guy said himself that he was speculating since he wasn’t involved in GK‘s development and their specific problems. At the end of the day developers already have to take into account PC differences and graphic card that range in ability when they develop games. Series S is being made into a scapegoat more than anything else. Gotham Knights has poor optimization on all platforms including PC and that speaks volumes to its shortsighted development and the reason we don’t have 60fps on consoles.

[@j.k.1239]

Gotham Knights developers just wanted to scapegoat series s for his trash game.

[@viceroy2672]

@@j.k.1239 He wasn't even a developer for GK. He doesn't even work at that studio.

[@RubyRose23328]

@@j.k.1239 Exactly. The game is so terribly optimized that it's unplayable on all platforms

[@manuelberenguerrojas7271]

I imagine smaller studios trying to develop AA games might be more affected by series S. Downporting to series S takes additional development time, maybe you have the budget and man power or maybe you don't, or maybe your game is a glitchy mess and it requires significant effort to make it work on ps5, let alone series S. Also, sometimes lowering the resolution just won't cut it for your game, optimization is not only asset quality and resolution, sometimes level design has to be altered.

[@LaztstaNd]

On ResetEra, there were some verified dev accounts disagreeing with him. We need to keep in mind, that just because somebody is a dev, doesn't inherently make them right and it certainly doesn't mean it excludes them from being a massive fanboy/console warrior and blow things way out of proportion. Right now what I'm seeing is every single AAA game regardless of being last-gen, cross-gen or next-gen getting released on the Series S, some are already announced for 2024 (that's more than half the length of a regular console generation), not saying it's impossible for problems to arise, but the burden of proof is on the people claiming it's a potato.

[@Mari_Izu]

The obsession for graphics is what is holding back games.

[@Pickoffarwim]

“Poor optimization”

[@mikhanch1228]

Just say you want to play last gen looking games

[@more_UO_memes]

Say Nintendo fanboys.

[@TheDavidish]

Go play games on PC on lowest settings then bud

[@leeartlee915]

Huh? Never has there been a time when more developers (albeit smaller ones) are making games that could play on almost anything. AAA development has always been about cutting edge graphics. They are going after the top of the market and that’s what the causal gamers wants: the “best”.

[@Jacker604]

Cyberpunk was a great example where they developed using high PC specs as the primary dev platform. When they tried to squeeze that into last gen ps4 and Xbox one, that was a nightmare. Current gen consoles fared a lot better as their hardware are closer to the PC specs.

[@zybch]

Not sure about the PS4 Pro, bu the XB 1X played Cyberpunk really well, the only bug I saw was a single T-pose early on. But god, that thing was horrible on the OG ps4 and xb1 lol

[@xKillZone99]

didn't the game run better on current gen consoles over PC though? I remember even on high end PCs it was a nightmare to run

[@MysteriousStranger50]

No I wouldn’t say so. I had a “high end” PC and I had zero issues outside of the bugs the game had. With PC you have access to more powerful tech but also software. Like DLSS. Which the console didn’t have. I mean you’re also going about comparing the system doing 60FPS and up, as well as high graphics. Against the console launch counterparts that can’t do both. Seems to me if you ignore the bugs the game has, the actual performance on PC is fine, if not really good.

[@skorpers]

That's exactly how games should be developed. Scale down textures to free up memory and target lower resolutions and frame rates for consoles. Can also employ decaying physics objects like Grinding Gear Games has done for Path Of Exile. What that means is that when their treatment as an interactive physics object is no longer needed it is detatched from physics calculations and no longer in need of anywhere near as much CPU time. That's just one tiny example.

[@skorpers]

@@MysteriousStranger50 FSR is available on both PC and console, and now we have Intel XeSS. Cyberpunk Devs didn't implement it for whatever reason, but on PC for example you can mod in FSR support in many games.

[@qriderjoe9793]

The Series S is still powerful for its price. How is a system that is aimed at 1440p or 1080p with 120 fps sometimes, keeping gaming back? Near Automata is running on a Switch, Witcher 3 as well. Developers for Sony & Microsoft dont even have 60fps as a standard yet. Gamers have to wait and hope their favorite games gets a next gen update. This issue is one of optimization, not technological downfalls

[@marcuslightbody6933]

@@DicehunterSC this is not true Did you even watch this video. Do you seriously think pc developers start at a gtx 1060?? Series s and series x have the same CPU therefore series s simply doesn't effect or "hold back" game design. The xbox dev kit is designed for developers to make the game for series x then scale back graphics for the series s. If the game is cross gen that is when developers have to consider lesser hardware because that generation has terrible CPUs

[@Spartan_83]

@@marcuslightbody6933 these people don't understand scaling and MVG has even talked about how impressive the SS is and the ray tracing on SS. GK is running at 1440p on the SS and DF said it's running better than the SX and PS5 versions with the PS5 having the most drops lol.

[@TheCh0wderp]

@The Molotov Bros I pray for a day where I can stop saying this: Stop comparing GPUs by teraflops. They are not indicative of performance, and they change generation to generation in GPU tech. The Xbox One X is using an outdated GCN architecture GPU, that is substantially older than what current gen consoles are using: RDNA 2. An RDNA 2 teraflop is not the same as a GCN teraflop, it’s far greater than a GCN one. Go to any PC space and teraflops aren’t in any discussion comparing GPUs. And then you consider GCN can’t even do RT either.

[@Spartan_83]

@The Molotov Bros You can't just compare TFs it doesn't work like that and RDNA 2 is much better plus the SS has raytracing and most games are 60fps. The SS was made to be a 1080p/1440p gaming machine which is why it has less memory even though there is a few games that run at 4k on the SS. The SS also has much faster loading times.

[@fabolousjada5070]

Those are old games we’re talking new games

[@forrandomsites3336]

If the series s is holding back games, then it's safe to assume the brand new all powerful 4090 gpu is already outdated, because it barely keeps a stable 60fps in gotham knights. Can you see the problem? It's not that so much that the series s is weaker(to an extent) than the ps5/series x, it's more so devs can't optimise their games for sh!t.

[@jovieasyrof2017]

yes!!!! poor excuses from them

[@milkycannon444]

2 things can be true at once lol games can have terrible optimization and the series s can still hold back devs on truly leaning into next gen. Series S isn’t why games increasingly have bad optimization but it surely isn’t helping usher in “next gen gaming”. I’ve played maybe 2 titles that truly felt next gen to me. Demon souls and ratchet and clank. Demon souls visually looks like a next gen game and ratchet and clank did some next gen shit with the portals and load times we haven’t seen before in the industry.

[@14supersonic]

Series S isn't the problem, the devs are. Just throwing as much power as they can at a poorly made game instead of spending time to optimize is the problem.

[@leeartlee915]

I wouldn’t blame the developers. This has everything to do with the money men and publishers. I would be willing to bet that developers want to drop support for gen. 8 systems for awhile now. Do you know how much extra stress it takes to make games for multiple SKUs?

[@DGiovanni]

@@leeartlee915 It’s completely on developers. They know how much time and money they have when the project starts. They shouldn’t be asking for more for graphics when they haven’t even polished the gameplay.

[@14supersonic]

@@leeartlee915 I know it's not all the developers faults, but this has been going on for so long now, especially on PC. They should realize how much work is needed to build their game competently, and pled with publishers for some respite in the dev cycle. The problem is a lot of devs don't value optimization enough and it shows in the final products, and as games get more complex it gets way to difficult to overlook a poorly running game.

[@elpatriotaLX]

​@@leeartlee915 Some 3rd rate developers are too lazy to optimize for the PS5 and Series X. That's a bs excuse because on the PC side companies optimize for many more configurations. I have seen a DEV on twitter blaming series S and the dude probably works for a tiny indy studio in a basement. Anyway, the S has enough power to grant much better. The S is not an issue.

[@solid_justice5855]

@@leeartlee915 these devs allready dropped gen 8 for this game, did not help

[@LedZeppo32]

There's a possibility that it may hinder some, but I feel too many are using that excuse for games that perform poorly on PS5, and XBOX Series X. You hear too often "We were limited due to Switch and Series S." At some point I feel that's a cop-out for poorly performing games by CEO's to save face and put the reason for a badly performing game on someone else. They've used the excuse for years. Overall, I think it's a cop-out, because they released a game too early. My issue with Gotham Knights isn't the graphics and gameplay. It should be better. My issue is the $70 tag for what should be a $50-$60 game, especially with what I've read is going on with the game currently.

[@Billinous]

I'll never understand a game developer attacking a console that has Millions of Gamers waiting for a competent product. The Series S has added Millions of new gamers to the market and instead, the developers attack it. smh

[@victory7763]

Right you can develop a game with Sega Genesis being the base and it won't hold back anything!

[@der-Troet]

most of the steam users has an 1060.

[@victory7763]

@@der-Troet and they will have to upgrade soon, as the base tech being supported will move. AAA games aren't supporting 1060s for another 7 years. Get that out of your head now. Mid budget games sure.

[@ngchloe4877]

Even if they wanted to, I don't think cutting the S requirement is an option. It could be a PR nightmare and the S has been their biggest foot in Japan to this point. I don't think they would want to give that up.

[@Billinous]

I'm certain that Playstation is behind all these attacks on the Series S. If they can pressure Microsoft to drop support for the S, then Microsoft immediately looses over half of it's customers The way Playstation is behaving against customer convenience i.e Series S and Gamepass makes this theory realistic

[@DP12321]

@@Billinous No way, we just want the best console version. Games would be better if Series S didn't exist. It's the same thing as the optional hard drive on the 360. It's the richest company cutting corners and affecting everything. With a disparity of 6GB of RAM, how is it not holding back gaming? If a developer can't account for a mandatory hard drive on the 360, or a missing 6GB of RAM on Series S, they can't account for it. Games will be held back on a technical level.

[@Billinous]

@@DP12321 How about you buy a gaming PC if you are only going to be playing the best version of games. You can play over 5000 games released in 2022 on Steam plus Xbox and Playstation games Developers make games for gamers to play. End of. If there is a large portion of gamers on the Series S then only a moron would want to reduce the number of customers they can sell their game to. Money talks mate and not whining incompetent developers who cannot even port their games on the Switch unlike Bethesda who had zero issues porting Doom. No excuse when other developers do it without issue on far less powerful consoles and are rewarded with additional sales

[@DP12321]

@@Billinous I'm not a PC gamer anymore. Enhanced consoles are a thing. Yeah Doom 2016 is on Switch but I can play it on 4K on Xbox One X and Series X. Which is preferable.

[@Billinous]

@@DP12321 Like I said, if you want to play the best version of a video game then get a gaming PC. It's not complicated mate On PC, you never have to worry about your game struggling to meet 4K60, hell you can even reach 4K120! The series S consistently outsells both the Series S and both Playstation 5 models (diskless and with disk drive) in Japan of all countries. The Series S is a MONSTER for the price and the customer is always right. If you are going to ignore that easy money-making opportunity the Series S provides developers then you are in the wrong business

[@Fidelis1776]

If literally hundreds or more different video cards (not even mentioning CPU's) haven't held back the PC gaming market, I find it very hard to believe having only THREE different specs to manage for next gen gaming systems being that difficult.

[@punishedhek7495]

Consoles do t work like pc, you think you have better insight than devs?? Lol dude the truth it the truth, a video card is different than a console

[@Blasko86]

Facts

[@kennypowers1945]

@@punishedhek7495 only one shitty dev has said it’s holding back consoles tho lol. The rest of them think it can be done

[@Spartan_83]

@@punishedhek7495 several devs have come out and said the SS isn't holding back gaming though lol GK devs are just lazy and don't won't the extra work plus there is even video of the 3090 dropping below 30fps on GK.

[@leeartlee915]

Home consoles are a different beast than PCs. With home consoles, developers make the games with that hardware specifically in mind.

[@chakkra69]

Let me see if I understand this; Gotham Knights runs at 1440p/30 fps on Series S but these developers are telling me that they couldn't lower the resolution on the PS5 and SX to 1440p as well to increase the performance on those platforms; and yes, I know that they would have had to tweak some other things as well, but there are literally dozens of other SMALLER studios who have done it. Heck, Gears 5 has a 120 fps mode on Series S for God's Sake! and sorry, but I don't think GK looks any better than Gears 5.

[@TecraX2]

Generally speaking, the GPU is usually the bottleneck when it comes to the resolution, while the framerate is bottlenecked by the CPU. Given the rather minor difference in CPU speed (compared to GPU performance) between the Series S and Series X, it seems very likely that the performance issues with Gotham Knights are due to poor optimization of the Game Code in general (i.e. Rushed Release)

[@ShadowFoxInfinite]

This conversation has been going on long before this game, and the notion that Series S holds back developers is a straight up lie on the development side. Developers just need time to optimize for targets, and publishers need to spend more money to pay for that time. Also, these game engines are more of the problem- a 1080p framebuffer only requires around 16 MEGABYTES of VRAM so it’s really textures and other render targets that balloon RAM costs in “modern” games. Smart Delivery makes specs irrelevant in the SDK.💯🥃

[@RetroRampage]

the series S isn't even that weak.. Since multiplatform games have become a thing, developers have always needed to keep in mind weaker hardware. Pc gaming will forever have this concern. We're in fact very lucky that developers are finally adding "performance mode" in console games, allowing the series s to punch well above its weight, while the series x / ps5 can still have the best graphics.

[@Crazy_Gamer_OG]

also gotta keep in mind, people are still making multiplats for the Switch as well, which is basically a slightly more powerful Wii U, lol...

[@michaelmyersplays4992]

@@Crazy_Gamer_OG like what ? No triple a games tho lol

[@zybch]

@@michaelmyersplays4992 On switch? I'd say that ANY game that reaches switch with the ridiculous downgrades needed for that platform makes them AA at best, even if they are AAA on the 'real' consoles. Playing Doom and Wolfenstein is horrible on switch compared to even the minimum spec PC.

[@thedude8128]

You guys are such morons for this line of thinming then sit there wondering why Sony gets approached by publishers to do exclusives... No Devs want to go exclusive to Xbox due to the series s and the need for 2 teams to optimize for 2 consoles on 1 system This is why Sony won last gen and will win again this gen. Phil is an idiot and has had 10 yrs to 'fix' Xbox. 3 game dev cycles. 1 entire console generation and still he hasn't put Xbox anywhere close to even nintendo in sales. Phil is garbage for xbox and just sells you beta clowns the idea that if you buy Xbox you're an Alpha bro like Phil Phil is a beta. He can't even outsell Nintendo

[@Zinkolo]

It is significantly weaker than the series X

[@Svante]

Well, in that case, then popular PC GPU's, like the GTX 1060, are holding them back as well? But we don't hear them complaining about budget cards.

[@fernandomartinez4486]

Thats not how it works on the PC side dude. For PC, people just develop on whatever system they have, according to what they want to build. They can develop a program or a game and make it as beefy and beautiful as they want. Once it is done, they calculate and inform you what the minimum requirements are in order to run what they did. They NEVER start their development process by picking up a GPU. They create first, then they tell you whats needed to run it. You can create something and it might need a 3080 in order to run all you put in your game. Dead Space remake, they already said it will need a gtx 2070 at least. You think they picked that gpu up and started developing based on it? But with consoles, the actual first step is: whats the minimum requirement? That requirement becomes their cap, their base. The total opposite to PC side of things

[@andremalerba5281]

@@fernandomartinez4486 not completely true! On one of the Broken Silicon episodes from Moore's Law is Dead, the dev said that on PC they usually look at the steam surveys to understand what's still the most popular configuration and try to at least push it down to reach that once possible or else they allienate a great portion of that market which turns out making the port not worth it 'cause why are you going to spend time and money developing for something that only runs on the halo tier of specs. Of course from time to time we have the Crysis of the industry that are made to sell hardware, but yeah.

[@seekingsolutions7078]

Reality: maybe not everyone can afford a $3k rig and end up choosing the much cheaper $300 option. If developers don’t want to struggle with “limitations” they can chose to make games only for the series X and PCs- let’s see how well that goes for them.

[@Rbjd]

Yeah give them permission to do that and watch your console have 0 games and basically lite version of the games u do have.. stop talking nonsense

[@ninjakenchin327]

Bro we pay for the game why the fuck is it my problem that they aren't competent enough optimise it

[@seekingsolutions7078]

@@ninjakenchin327 agreed

[@seekingsolutions7078]

@@Rbjd yes

[@ninjakenchin327]

​@seekingsolutions7078 I got a gaming laptop instead but that's cuz I have high school but I must say the change was god

[@drivillain4967]

Gotham Knights minimum system requirements for PC are pretty demanding. I highly doubt the Series S is holding it back. This is just poor optimization on the Devs end.

[@RubyRose23328]

Even the 4090 is struggling. It's the developers

[@webbedshadow2601]

@@RubyRose23328 Holy crap you gotta be kidding me, ironically this is like Arkham Knight's PC release isn't it?

[@fabolousjada5070]

Sony is king

[@lebronsburner9330]

jesus

[@ronaldojoe]

I bought my series S last december, and since then I have not even turned on my PS4. The fact that I can get into next gen without shelling out 500+taxes is amazing, besides being way more readily available. Not to mention the amazing emulation machine it is. Storage can be improved, but having fewer games installed makes it easier to decide what to play or not-.

[@robwilliamson6181]

Series s is a fantastic console. Absolutely love mine

[@victor7777]

The Series S allows many people to access gaming for cheap who otherwise couldn't afford it and it's a great option for the PS5 and XSX which are still lacking stock. Development for the XSS should be encouraged.

[@doublecell966]

You ever heard of the saying "you get what you pay for" ? Trust and believe there is a reason why it's cheap.

[@doublecell966]

@@user-jh1dc2jr2v if you really believe that you are getting a console that cheap with no drawbacks then you are in for a rude awakening bruh.

[@TonyJenn]

@@doublecell966 i think people know that already...

[@doublecell966]

@@TonyJenn then why are they shiting on developers who have a problem with the hardware?

[@Crazy_Gamer_OG]

XSS isn't cheap, it's 'affordable' & can do everything a XSX/PS5 can do, just at lower resolutions.

[@BryAnthonyC]

Regardless, I still enjoy my Series S and will continue to play it in the far future. It's possible for games to run well on the Series S and even if the quality isn't there for some massive game, It won't matter as long as the story campaign is amazing.

[@DissTrackTed]

I hope they stop developing for the series S sooner.

[@powercheif]

@@DissTrackTed why tho? The series s plays games very well. They need to stop supporting last gen consoles.

[@BryAnthonyC]

@@powercheif Yeah the series s is awesome. Especially for a back console just in case the main ones fuck up.

[@JudeTheYoutubePoopersubscribe]

@@DissTrackTed Why would they cut off near enough half of their current gen console user base???. The series s is selling extremely well and is stupidly powerful for the price they are asking.

[@warchiefvenomn7612]

@@BryAnthonyC Not gonna happen. It's a requirement that any game that comes out in Xbox Series needs to be played in both S and X. There isn't going to be such thing as a Series X exclusive game, it would be like a Ps4 Pro/Xbox One X exclusive tittle. It's not gonna happen, the game must run in every version.

[@codezero7981]

short answer: No, it's not holding games back.. devs are simply too lazy to optimize their games on said hardware.

[@markus9641]

may wanna watch the video again.

[@TonyJenn]

@@markus9641 there's other devs that claim different. Look at more than 1 source

[@jmtradacc]

Watched the full video and you can summary in one word: Lazyness.

[@mikeh4818]

Not yet, pretty much no AAA next gen games have been developed yet tho. I don't see how this isn't a problem within a few years. Microsoft as a developer is only as good as their worst platform, whether it's PC or the Series S

[@markus9641]

@@TonyJenn I mean if you develop indie titles or smaller scale games then your opinion is rather irrelevant (like 99% of devs praising the series s, of course they praise it, it makes them money without destroying their artistry). MVG even hints as this as not being the truth because he has no experience with actually running into limitations with the Series S as someone developing Gotham Knights or any bigger game would.

[@cristiancortes9]

What is truly holding gaming back is the lack of innovation.

[@qphlat27]

Nah, there's a place for the Series S. It's a great budget system for people who don't want to spend the money for the fancy specs but want their foot in the door for "next gen" gaming. Microsoft won't let it go anywhere.

[@chasejackson7248]

They need to chop off that foot and join the future.

[@qphlat27]

@@chasejackson7248 Stop being inconsiderate

[@Billinous]

The sales of the Series S tell you everything you need to know about how the customer sees the systems capability for next gen titles. The Series S is the best selling Xbox in Japan of all places! These developers need to stop whining and meet their customers demand for high quality games

[@fugitive6549]

@@chasejackson7248 CPU bottleneck is impossible to overcome compared to GPU bottleneck. Series S has the same CPU as SX and ps5 and it's easier to turn down the resolution and graphics preset to accommodate the performance. Check out the new DF PC analysis and you will realise that the game is mostly CPU limited and performs horrendously due to poor multithread utilisation. Series S actually runs Gotham Knights better than boths SX and PS5 which tells you that the game is entirely CPU bound at their respective resolutions. The reason Cyberpunk rum fine on Series S from the beginning was due to much better CPU on series compared to last gen. Don't believe the bullshit. I am a PC gamer btw, I don't care about consoles but all the incorrect info triggers me.

[@richardkrauss7852]

This is such a weak take. Series S Can do 120fps and uses the exact same architecture as the series X. This would be like saying weaker PCs is holding back PC game development

[@IamDanLP]

Im happy not everybody is fucking stupid. Devs should just optimize, lower the fucking resolution and graphics. Thats it. Not that hard. Its like for a PC. Not everybody have a 3090ti, some are still on the 2060. So Developers should cut the crap and do their work. If they arent happy, change the job.

[@gio7796]

Dude, you have no idea what you talking about. Marketing teams are brainwashing you. "Series s can do 120 fps" what does this even mean? Anything can do 120 fps! Playstation 3 can do 120 fps if game is primitive enough.

[@gio7796]

@@IamDanLP Oh, guess what, series s gpu is much slower even compared to 2060, so how much downgrade one game can have? Two different resolutions, texfures, game models, physics? Maybe you want them to make two separate games?

[@Beaver187]

I bought an XBSS for the living room and find myself playing it more than I anticipated. I also own an XSX. The Series S is a great addition. Added a 500GB external SSD. Very very happy with my purchase. Most people that comment about it's bottleneck issues probably don't own or plan to own it.

[@InJeffable]

I'm probably going to get a Series S in 2023 since we're starting to see last-gen consoles being left behind (as they should be IMO). I love my Xbox One, but its time is coming to an end. I have no problem with the Series S. It runs on the same architecture as the Series X, it's as affordable as the Switch (and actually more affordable than the Switch OLED), and it's travel-friendly due to its size. I encourage anyone worried about Series S bottlenecking to watch a video of The Matrix Unreal Engine 5 tech demo running on it. Any issues the Series S currently has are due to software, not hardware.

[@Spartan_83]

It's ponies spreading misinformation and Devs using the SS as a scapegoat.

[@keysersoze9652]

Series S is great for consumer and probably bad for developers

[@shinaikouka]

For me, the biggest reason why I wouldn’t want the Series S - even as a secondary system - is the lack of a disc drive. It doesn’t affect Game Pass (obviously), but I have plenty of physical games that are useless on it.

[@Spartan_83]

@@shinaikouka Cool, then that system wasn't made for you, or the ps5 digital for that matter.

[@echosierra9990]

The biggest issue developers have, currently, is the fact that a lot of the games are using poorly optimized game engines for the current generation of consoles.

[@Spartan_83]

This^ most devs don't use the features available on the SS/SX like VRS, CS, ML and more which would help with a lot of issues with the SS. FSR 2.0 is also very good for upscaling at a lower resoutlion.

[@KingKarimYT]

If games are still being developed for the PS4/Xbox One, the S shouldn’t be an issue. Although it should be mentioned that once the Pro version of the PS5 and Series X are out, XSS would be a big problem for some devs for sure.

[@ac1dflare937]

You do realise the Series S is far more capable than ps4 pro or the One X. The only thing it is less capable of is 4k, however as it was never intended for that it's irrelevant for the 100s of millions around the world who cannot have a 4k screen

[@_huw_435]

The fact that god of war 2 is coming to ps4 is so stupid it means it’s not a truly next gen game

[@codezero7981]

there won't be any Pro versions of PS5 and Series X, they are powerful enough on their own.

[@faustianblur1798]

@@ac1dflare937 It's still far less capable than PS5 or Series X. Series S versions of cross-gen games are almost always closer to PS4 Pro and One X in terms of features like ray-tracing. Without the base PS4 version setting a baseline it's going to struggle badly to run current-gen games.

[@mappybc6097]

@@_huw_435 The fact Star Citizen can run on a 3070 is so stupid, it means it's not truly a next gen PC game. You console fanboys thinking a game being scalable is a bad thing crack me up 😂.

[@seanabsher5577]

here's the thing about developing for series S: it's supposed to be a 1080p 60-120fps system, where you build for the series X, and then for the series S, you just decrease the render resolution, decrease the texture resolution, and polygon count. it's easy to down sample or decrease the requirements , easier than to increase them

[@iPoeticProphet]

1440p*

[@elimalinsky7069]

@@iPoeticProphet It's 1440p now but will definitely drop to 1080p further down the line as the generation progresses. Series S will also start taking advantage of FSR 2.1 (and newer versions in the future) and render internally at 720p or 900p upscaled with very little loss of fidelity. Memory management will also improve with data being streamed in and out of RAM instead of being pre-fetched. I think Unreal Engine 5 is already built around continuous texture steaming.

[@StrangerE0ns]

@@elimalinsky7069 *I don’t understand any of that but it sounds cool as fuck*

[@seanabsher5577]

@@iPoeticProphet almost no TVs exist that receive 1440p and output that resolution. Some may take that resolution and upscale it to 4k. But unless you bought the series s because it costs less, and no other reason, it's probably going to be paired with a FHD/ 1080p tv.

[@Deanspall_]

@@seanabsher5577 is when the series s upscale to 4k the quality goes from 1080p to 2160p which is 4k ???😅

[@superflyryno732]

Seeing how the Series S runs Modern Warfare 2, I don't see how it's honestly holding anything back. It looks incredible on all next gen consoles.

[@gio7796]

Yeah, cause modern warfare is a true pinnacle of next gen gaming.

[@Wyn3e]

@@gio7796 tbf Gotham nights isn’t that either

[@s47industries]

Considering some of the most amazing looking games have been cross platform and can scale down to be playable on the most popular GPU on Steam, the 1060TI, I doubt the Series S is the issue. Developers just need to do their job.

[@ET_Videos]

If the Series S had a disc drive...would be kinda awesome! Agreed it's got enough power for what it is, and I like it.

[@DeadPhoenix86DP]

According to a rumor the Series S will get a external disc drive.

[@rotcario]

Series S is simply wonderful, I've been playing for more than 1 year and I've never complained, I'm amazed.

[@ac1dflare937]

Same got X and S at launch, 4k 55" and 24" 1440/1080p screen are near identical at normal viewing distances.

[@mpowerness92]

How does it feel, not owning any of your games?

[@FumoPliskin]

@@mpowerness92 Technically I haven't owned my games since 2004 with Steam. Try again sweetie.

[@mpowerness92]

@@FumoPliskin Technically with steam you can back them up to a hard drive and own them. Try again, poor.

[@Elysiabikha]

@@mpowerness92 true. No problem with Xbox s but Microsoft push hard eliminate ownership hell even buying games

[@cameronsnyder88]

Love the conversation and insight. This only works if the game is console only though. If you think about PC and the sheer number of configurations and older hardware that is out there it totally falls apart.

[@ChaosUnfold]

The graphical performance of the Series S shouldn't be that much of a concern, especially considering the fact that the devs are making games to run on the Switch alongside it. As long as the Series S continues to sell well ( it's practically outperformed its bigger brother the Series X), they (the devs) will continue making games for that price point.

[@joe8090]

Both of u guys are awesome 👍 I've been following ur channels for about 3 or 4 years now and to be completely honest, both ur content along with a few other notable people (Arlo, rule of 2 review, rgt 85 and reviewtechusa) has helped me with overcoming a deep depression. I hope you all keep up the great work and thank you!

[@BungieStudios]

I understand it might be an extra hoop to jump through for devs and publishers, but I'm glad Microsoft created both options. It's great for the consumer. More people can participate in gaming thanks to the different price points.

[@FSAPOJake]

I have a hard time believing the Series S is holding back games when 99% of these devs are still making games for PS4 and Xbox One.

[@Zynet_Eseled]

yup.

[@Tystimes]

I believe it about the series s

[@haterpro0f]

@@Tystimes of course you would bc you're a Sony fan boy😂😂

[@joefawley9264]

I don't. It seems the games currently in development/starting development will now abandoned last gen. The games nearly finished right will be on both, but the games that will take years to finish will be next gen only

[@blackfrieza1912]

@@joefawley9264. Sony literally said that they're still gonna be making last gen games

[@albinpalsson6491]

A larger install base can generate more software sales and a larger income for a game studio. So if the series S sells more than the series X, the potential profit for a game will be bigger if it is on S instead of X. Which would mean that the developers are encureaged optimizing their games for the series S, without a real dev.kit. What a mess…..

[@alejandroquinones3636]

I think it’s important to clarify that Gotham knights even in the technical sense, is inferior to Arkham Knight. Digital Foundry’s video on Gotham Knights showed that many of the technology is by all means, last gen (with the exception of textures). So it’s even more bizarre to see the whole 30fps situation on a game that again, is artistically and even technically inferior to a 7 year game. Optimization seems to be the real issue with that game in particular.

[@vxicepickxv]

They didn't optimize for multithreaded CPUs. Probably because of publisher demands for a specific release date.

[@jovieasyrof2017]

I don't know man.. Arkham knight looks so much better than Gotham Knight. maybe it's just me

[@Blasko86]

If CDPR can get cyberpunk to run at 60fps on XSX and PS5 (most of the time) then absolutely no dev out there has an excuse lol

[@Blasko86]

The problem here is ridiculous deadlines set by publishers, "Get it done and get it out the door, we want our money!!!" I see it every day at my job doing industrial manufacturing and I'm absolutely sick of it lol

[@Blasko86]

And yes, having to struggle with last gen systems doesn't help.

[@lebronsburner9330]

devs are just throwing bunch of fancy lightning and stuff from new engines, there are some old gen games from a bunch of years ago that look better and run better than gotham knights

[@Canalbiruta]

@@lebronsburner9330 arkham knight, the previous game in the series being one of them

[@rager1969]

AT&T was trying to sell WB Games and then a few months ago Discovery/Warner said they were trying to sell WB Games. So, I'm thinking there are budget constraints and release timelines that are tighter than normal that caused Gotham Knights to not be optimized..

[@Turquoisecat]

🔝🔝🔝 Congratulations 🎊 you have been selected among my shortlisted winners 🎁🎁🎁 Dm to claim prize Congrats 🎊 🎊🔝👆

[@non_one_c]

I'm a huge fan of the Series S. Bought a very cheap one as a secondary, have it on my desk as a small streaming console, always take it to friends and we bought one for a friend so they can continue playing with us. I've even used it more than my Series X in the past few months. I totally understand how frustrating the device can be from a devloper perspective. But as a consumer that thing is a godsend. Microsoft makes the right call and I hope they never drop support for it.

[@drztopgun]

Yeup I agree. I was going to buy Gotham Knights but after the crappy 30fps I said nope, after the game gets the 60fps patch I will happily buy it. But I won't spend money on crappy development efforts. Blaming everything on the series S when the game doesn't run good on the most powerful PC's get out.

[@StevoStaple]

Celebrant I defrosted 3 buns defrost properly defrost as described in NZ and I won't

[@Spartan_83]

do developers for PC claim that the RTX3080 is holding the 4080 back? They have different graphics settings for a reason. Optimizing a game to run on two sets of hardware can't be any more difficult than doing it for a whole spectrum of PC specs.

[@victory7763]

If you have to "hide loading times" on one they aren't going to change that for a different graphics card, you're still going to squeeze through corridors too What you aren't thinking of is architecture

[@Spartan_83]

@@victory7763 loading times on PC sx and PS5 are relative to each other we're talking about seconds here.

[@victory7763]

@@Spartan_83 You must not know what I mean by devs designing games to hide loading times. I'm not referring to the actual time it takes to load, I'm referring to gameplay designs put into games to accommodate loading a section of the game... accommodations that current gen wouldn't need but are still in the game nonetheless because the games are still being made for last gen (and s Series S). Do you think it's a coincidence that so many games last generation made you squeeze between corridors as you reach a new section? A PC running on a 3080 with an SSD never need that, BUT they were in the games nonetheless because they need to accommodate console at the time. Now current gen consoles don't need such a thing either but still have it because last gen is STILL kept in mind. The very base design of a game has to take into account whatever the lowest specs are they are developing for. Higher frames and graphics are all you can upscale, but DESIGN never changes Look this up. "Hiding load times" its literally a common dev technique put into games. And this is just ONE example of how design is dictated.

[@Spartan_83]

@@victory7763 yeah I get what you're saying but you also have to understand that a lot of PC users back when the Xbox One and PS4 was out we're still using older mechanical drives not everybody was using SSD at the time and even then not all ssds are the same some ssds are pretty slow so it's not just console but they have to factor in everything and PC is so vast as to what your setup is

[@fabolousjada5070]

Not the same consoles are meant to be kept for years way diff buddy pcs are to be upgraded every other year for a part or two to keep up with new AAA games

[@NovelaPrincess]

I got the Xbox series S because I was on a budget plain and simple and it’s great! I don’t understand this talk when people are still playing games on previous consoles but Series S is the problem really?

[@punishedhek7495]

WHT don't you understand, they Saif the future, it's gonna hold it back, who gives who gives fuck if you think it's simple and great, it's weak and at o e point no more games are coming out for last gen, you people have opinions on gaming and don't know how this works, bunch of casuals. It's a shit console , should've saved it and got a series x. If you do t understand why it's gonna be a problem in the future than you're an idiot who shouldn't be sharing opinions

[@TheGoldenAge7]

Series S is not classified as last gen, that’s the problem. Studios are forced to develop for it or either skip Xbox entirely like some companies have chose to.

[@ac1dflare937]

@@TheGoldenAge7 in every metric it's next gen but with a lower pixel output. 4k requires a huge GPU and ram boost over 1080p simply due to higher res textures and 4x the pixel count. Simply put just like on pc you can lower Res and effects for lower graphics output, it really is not that complicated. And considering there are dozens of 1440p and also 120fps games on Series S that should be obvious

[@TheGoldenAge7]

@@ac1dflare937 Tell that to all the different developers that have spoke out. They’re obviously getting annoyed with Microsoft, and that’s a bad sign for things to come.

[@starwarzfan49]

@@TheGoldenAge7 your name is very fitting

[@harrisonmccartney4878]

We're honestly pushing past what games realistically need to actually run IMO. Like as long as you can run 1080/60, we're frankly good on what games have to offer. Everything we're pushing past there is into the realm of 4K/8K and approaching 120+ FPS, which is nice, but not anywhere close to necessary for 90% of gamers who just want to be able to play the latest games. 1080/60 being the standard for any game, any technological overhead which can push us into the realm of 4K/120 FPS is overkill. The Series S should become the standard bearer for 1080/60, although Xbox and game developers seem to emphasize resolution over performance for the console most of the time, which IMO is the wrong move. Instead what you sometimes get is 1440/30, or 1440/60, and I'll happily take the later if it can be done, but if it's a choice between 1440/30 or 1080/60, the 1080/60 needs to win every time, or at least have a choice be offered for players who want to pick what they want to compromise on. In reality the actual shortcoming is on the developers, who are perfectly capable of optimizing their games for the Series S, but simply don't want to. It is, admittedly, a lot of extra work to program and prioritize things for the Series S independent of what the Series X and PS5 are capable of, and that's why some refuse to do it, but there's virtually nothing about the Series S, from a technological standpoint, which is holding game development back. If you look at the PC space, hardware nearing half a decade old is still capable of running modern games, albeit with some performance compromises, and this is the area that Series S will need to take later in the generation. The Series X and PS5 will continue to push games to their limits, and developers will either optimize their titles for the Series S's limitations, or they won't, but there isn't going to be some kind of freeze on game development for the more powerful consoles because of it. The Series S will just sometimes get the short end of the stick, but that's the price of a more budget friendly console that can't offer the same power specs as more expensive hardware can.

[@derekt7206]

I refuse to believe that this is happening only for a simple fact, we haven't even fully transitioned to the current generation, companies continue to make games for the last gen and will not drop support for them, another reason that I find hard to believe is that why isn't this an issue for devs when they develop for PC. PC has many different types of performances they have to make sure it runs on not everyone has the new GPUs or CPUs. I can understand if they fully dropped the last-gen support and fully developed for the PS5 and Series X/S then I can understand where they show proof of the issues. But again in my opinion it has to do with the fact that some devs are lazy and do not want to fully optimize for the current generation. There has to be something going on if devs don't have issues developing for PC but have issues with the current gen when we haven't fully started the current gen till 2023 to 2024 when we see more games that run on the current gen and not the last gen.

[@UnseenEternalStudios]

It’s supply and demand. How many people do you know that really need an Xbox series s? The hardware is hardly different, you will be playing the same exact games. Why would a common gamer ever spend that type of money on a new system that is the same as the one they already have? And on top of that many of our old games are still not backwards compatible, so we have entire game collections that we already have bought that we can’t even play on our hardware. New generation just makes no sense for a common gamer. An Xbox one will be all you need right now. There’s literally no reason to need to pay for the new one.

[@joefawley9264]

I think we are hearing about this now because games entering development take years and from this point on will most likely be next gen only.

[@gamingaddict2944]

Well yea asswatertv ... If you want a Xbox you might as well not buy anything and quit gaming. Xbox is trash lol

[@Spartan_83]

@@UnseenEternalStudios Hardwear is very different wtf are you talking about? lol

[@fszirl]

Deathloop runs smoothly at 60fps full HD on the Series S, and it's a current exclusive gen game so it's possible to make optimized games for every new gen consoles, even the less powerful one

[@CyrilViXP]

Holding back games? MK11 takes 110 Gb of space, GTA5 - about 80. How much do they need to unpack their textures and polygons really to make it “new gen”?

[@Ramona122003]

The idea that the Series S is holding back ‘next Gen’ is not only nuts, but a very western pov. Namely, in Japan and other Asian regions, games are made with either the Switch or the PS4 in mind, not the PS5 because software-wise the PS5 has been a bomb so far in Japan and it’s hardware sells are within range of the WII U and Vita. There is no reason to make a game ‘next Gen’ unless they’re trying to appeal to the west to makeup for the lost of Japanese sells.

[@Bladez5]

Fr

[@shaggymcdaniel3216]

I have both the Series S and X. Besides the resolution, I have a hard time telling the difference. BTW the X Screen for the Series S is a must have. Hooked up, it runs 70 watts and I have it hooked up to 2 100 watt solar panels. It will run all day.

[@Turquoisecat]

🔝🔝🔝 Congratulations 🎊 you have been selected among my shortlisted winners 🎁🎁🎁 Dm to claim prize Congrats 🎊 🎊🔝

[@Billinous]

I'd rather play a top drawer game at 1080p on the Series S than a garbage unplayable mess by an incompetent developer

[@fabolousjada5070]

That means your tv is trash

[@shaggymcdaniel3216]

I have a Hisense U7G, and I will admit it looks better, but not a night and day difference. The graphical improvements this generation are so minute, that people shouldn’t dismiss the S as “inferior.” It’s a fantastic console.

[@fabolousjada5070]

@@shaggymcdaniel3216 trash get a oled and then compare the two and if you say they look the same you straight up lying

[@DeaconGoss]

Yeah I already have a Series X but went and copped a Series S for my other room a couple weeks ago when Target had that promotion where you get the Series S and a free extra controller for $250. That was a black friday-ish deal I had to take advantage of.

[@TimDespairBear11]

I think MAYBE late into this generation they’ll possibly have “X only games.” But to drop s support right now would be pulling a sega.

[@NoCapNick698]

Honestly Microsoft would be pretty scummy if they dropped support for the Series S since they promised fans next gen performance at budget costs. But I do agree with devs Microsoft shouldn’t have made this console they should’ve put better hardware

[@TimDespairBear11]

@@NoCapNick698 I agree they shouldn’t have made the console. If you’re on a budget just play your Xbox one, most games are on there anyway. I’m not trying to sound like a dick but seriously. Hell $300 is still expensive to most people, if someone is tight on cash they likely wouldn’t buy the S either.

[@NoCapNick698]

@@TimDespairBear11 I’m confused why they couldn’t just make a console like the PS5 Digital, And I promise you that games will be pushing 1080P and 30FPS by the end of this generation, Devs are pushing graphics not a good frame rate and if people really are ranting about 4K+60FPS then they can keep enjoying games that are on par with PS4 games

[@TimDespairBear11]

@@NoCapNick698 I think Microsoft was desperate to make a cheaper console than Sony, because they thought that was possibly the only way they’d outsell the ps5. Seems like a solid idea on paper but didn’t really work out.

[@spazco8669]

i think as stuff like vrs and fsr become more common series s will be ok.

[@AldrianCG]

I might understand the “holding back” narrative regarding the xbox consoles, but how come exactly is the series s gets in the way of the PS5 version, if dev kits are specific for consoles?

[@felipesantos-er4kk]

🤦🏽‍♂️

[@EricasTouch]

The Series S is the LEAST of my worries. People are having this same problem with The Sims 4. I have a $1200 laptop and I can’t run Sims 4 anymore AT ALL (it ran fine when I first got this laptop but all the packs and patches on an 8 year old game engine have run the game into the ground). It runs FINE on my Series S. Is the Series S to blame for that??? Nope. It’s the fact that the developers don’t want to fix the issues that are plaguing the game.

[@Spartan_83]

GK is so badly optimized that there is even video of the 3090 dropping below 30fps at times lol

[@fxhzwingzero]

The series S is a powerful little console, far better than the onex and ps4 pro so i don't see the problem! Smells like crap to me, i have a gaming pc and a series s, it's a great media hub and i've never been dissapointed with the quality of games on it, it's not a series x or a ps5 but it's not that far off in my opinion and i have a ps5 as well...

[@andrewarnell1251]

As far as I'm aware, other than the SSD, the Xbox One X is more powerful that a Series S. I may be wrong on that, though!

[@fxhzwingzero]

@@andrewarnell1251 It is but at the the sweet low price point and the power of the S I see little point in getting the X as I have a ROG OC 3070, i9900k, 32gb ddr5 with 12tb of hdd space 4tb of which is the SSDs! My pc wipes the floor of the new consoles, plus I have a steam deck and a switch as well as the PS5 😅 The Series S looks great in the living room on my 4K 50inch tv, and it’s great to play with my partner and family/friends with little hassle (the pleasures of console gaming) :) The disc drive is the only benefit of the X for me personally :P I’m waiting for the pro version of the X tbh, if it’s any good or not, we will see!

[@nickfox919]

@@andrewarnell1251 the jaguar cpu in the one x is a dinosaur

[@fxhzwingzero]

@@nickfox919 Consoles will always be budget pcs though, thats what they are basically

[@RodaMoonknight]

Gotham Knights: Dips from 30fps to 20fps Developer: It's the Series S fault!

[@Crazy_Gamer_OG]

How is it the fault of a console I'm not using? Dev, "Shut up!"

[@RodaMoonknight]

@@Crazy_Gamer_OG but the game performs better on Series S Dev: SILENCE NON DEV

[@frankiesab777]

The developer never said that, they said that it's the coop mode the reason it's 30fps. Someone that used to work there said that and had deleted his Twitter account since.

[@StormsparkPegasus]

30fps is absolutely unacceptable in the modern day. The only exception I make to this is the Switch, because sometimes cutbacks have to be made when you have limited hardware that has to be able to run on a battery. The Gotham Knights developers are just no talent hacks.

[@michaelmcclintick9541]

Love to see these 2 great creaters team up. Both have a lot of experience and knowledge in the video game field.

[@shadowhunterrx]

Not a Xbox guy outside the 360. But to be honest... Kinda wanna have a Series S. Look like a fun little system to play on and kinda wanna try game pass.

[@engraateer9768]

I'm sure GTA 6 will come out to Xbox series S just like Red Dead Redemption 2 worked great on Xbox one

[@EricasTouch]

Get one if you want it. It’s a very capable tiny console. I have had mine for a month and coupled with Game Pass, I have been absolutely blown away by what this little console can do. I had never had an XBox before this little champ.

[@DarioImperial]

Microsoft and Sony designed their current gen flagship consoles believing that developers will target their games to run in 4k 60 or 1440p 120, when This is true series S makes sense as the console that can run the same games at 1440p 60 or 1080p 120, the problem comes when the developer is unable to reach fps higher than 30 and a resolution higher than 1440p, then in order to make the games to run in series S developers have to sacrifice resolution going lower than 1080p and sacrifice effects, textures etc. We know that series s is capable to show games that run with the same effects as series x a good example is watch dogs legion.

[@ethnol3842]

Knew when I saw the title it would’ve been MVG. Awesome video and insight! Thank you.

[@cjlister8508]

Why can't you just move around resolutions and get better frame rate? That's exactly what you do on PC. That's what I want from the next gen: PC like options on console games.

[@SUPERFunStick]

I feel like KZbinrs are making way too big of a deal about this "PROBLEM" bro, the switch runs Doom 16, Doom eternal, Skyrim and the Witcher pretty damn well, Sony and Microsoft are still selling PS4 and Xbones, AND game streaming is getting more popular every week, so it doesn't exactly matter how much power is in the series S when the console itself can do the heavy lifting of the game engine and stream in the textures and other graphics from the cloud. Honestly, streaming being used in new, innovative ways this generation might actually have the potential to turn console and possibly even PC graphics cards into expensive paperweights. Microsoft clearly sees no "PROBLEMS" here, and neither should we. Powerful expensive GPUs aren't the only way to get good graphics anymore

[@Crazy_Gamer_OG]

Games, "Oh no he didn't! Hold me back, bro!" Series S, "I'm holdin' you, bro!" Games, "Thanks, bro!"

[@akavario]

It actually seems like the constant push for 4k 60 is also holding games back. If the consoles can’t do it, or can only do it sometimes, then stop focusing so much on resolution, and divert resources elsewhere.

[@deejones6431]

My opinion as an Xbox Series S owner. I believe Xbox Series S is a headache for Developers ....but, I believe that headache can be worked around I think it mostly about Developers don't want to be bothered with the Series S and put in the time and effort.

[@fugitive6549]

No, don't believe these Devs. This guy wasn't even part of Gotham knights development, he is spewing BS and deleted his account. The reason SS isn't holding back is due to the same CPU it uses as the SX which is the main reason Cyberpunk can run at 60fps on SS but can barely run at 30fps on old gen, even PS4 pro. It's not difftto just lower the resolution, polygon counts and texture resolution in order to accommodate for SS. Gotham knights problem is entirely the CPU optimisation not GPU where SS does pise any issue.

[@Woodzta]

So my understanding of the accusation is that the guys at the top were ordering developers to optimize from the bottom up to deliver a rather consistent experience. That's not the same as making it run well on the Series X and later worrying about the Series S which it sounded like was suggested at 14:31. The hardware itself is obviously not 'at fault'. The Series S is an incredible piece of hardware and we know it.

[@ProffyChaos]

Always good to hear from MVG. Brings real insights whenever he talks.

[@Neo_Rain146]

Series S was a stroke of genius by MS as it fill a nice little niche gap left by Sony. You can get into next gen gaming without necessarily breaking the bank and get new people into the Xbox ecosystem buying games and using game pass. I have a PS as my main console but got a series s just to try game pass and some xbox exclusive I’ve never had a chance of playing.

[@isaacddestroy3674]

Last Gen and the Switch are the real crutches 😂 To me the Series S’ spec sheet is the best possible (believable) outcome with a potential Switch 2. It is the value option and i feel like the power it has really isn’t hardly being leveraged as it could be. I do have to agree that if there is anything insufficient about Series S, it is the RAM allotment. It would be crazy if they pulled an expansion pak situation and added in some more ram or even leveraged a reserve of the SSD for RAM use

[@2Gunz_Gaming]

how much do you think the series S would cost if it had 12 gb of RAM instead of 10gb?

[@isaacddestroy3674]

@@2Gunz_Gaming considering the sale prices for are already down to $250, I think they could do it at the $299 MSRP

[@brandonfarfan1978]

Nice discussion Mr. Spawnwave and MVG. This was really informative to watch.👍😃

[@DontCallMeScooterrr]

Insightful and reasonable as always, thanks MVG

[@Turquoisecat]

🔝🔝🔝 Congratulations 🎊 you have been selected among my shortlisted winners 🎁🎁🎁 Dm to claim prize Congrats 🎊 🎊🔝👆👆👆

[@budthecyborg4575]

Anyone making a PC version of their game cannot have any legitimate complaints about Series S, at that point making the S version really is just a matter of adjusting the graphical sliders. So the worst case scenario is going to be a game that starts out on PS5 and then gets ported to Xbox without a PC version, though I don't think I've ever heard of that happening.

[@NathansNostalgia]

The real reason why developers are complaining is because it forces developers to HIRE more people to optimize a version of their games for Series S hardware. Every company wants to maximize profits and avoid hiring more people. The Series S forces them to hire more developers, possibly even teams dedicated specifically to optimize another version of the game. That costs more money, which devs don’t want.

[@iRadinVerse]

Fact that the game that started this narrative was Arkham Knights, a game that got a 5 from IGN makes me question if it's just a poorly optimized game.

[@HiroKompleX]

Xbox Series S is holding back games...except for the games it isn't. 2 games get released that's 30fps and all of a sudden it's a issue smh

[@YeOldeGamerGrampsofOlde]

Aside from the law of diminishing returns, the biggest hurdle for games right now are either the investors, shareholders, management or a combination of two or the three of them that just _"have"_ to release games at a certain date even whilst in a totally, consumer damaging state just to fit some quarterly quota or report. Seeing as how many recent years release disasters fit that criteria, it's safe to assume it's a current industry standard that will not change unless people start to really make a fuss and things like _"review embargoes"_ are outlawed for the benefit of the consumer and force companies to abide by some semblance of *FIT TO PURPOSE.*

[@Conker009]

I have a series S console, and I don't see the need to upgrade the console

[@MrDernagon]

"There is NO excuse to have poorly optimized games releasing on Nintendo Switch!" "The god damn Xbox Series S is holding back this generation!" 🤔

[@ColombianLNP]

So basically what i got out of this is. Buy the series S and save yourself a ton of money

[@jonathanpusar5931]

Damn, game devs are petty bastards. YOUR JOB is to optimize. Dont like it? Find a new one. They DO realize that the vast majority of consumers wont spend $500 on a game console? They just wont. Way too goddamn much money for a box that plays video games for 90% of people who dont need 1337 graphics. Microsoft was hella smart and forward thinking by bringing in the Series S. Is it a compromise? Sure....but its a very livable one and gets next gen gaming for $200-250. Plus it locks people into their digital ecosystem. I'm sure the console price alone is going to win this gen of gaming. Its going to be at least 3 years until PS5 amd X|X is under $300, while this little bugger will probably be permanently priced dropped to $249 on E3 with constant sales at $199 to keep volume high. Every console by definition is a compromise. PS2 was not the most advanced graphics vs a PC. Neither was a 360 or PS4. What they were was great bang for the buck systems at prices people could digest spending. I'm sure Series S is selling extremely well during Black Friday. This is why devs don't run the business side of things lol. Sounds like a lot of them are PC Master Race bros.

[@ScrapKing73]

But, the release of the Series S allowed for the immediate retirement of the Xbox One back in 2022. Whereas Sony, without a current-gen budget option, Sony is continuing to manufacture more PS4 units here in 2022. The PS4 (ancient CPU, mechanical hard drive) is holding game development back WAY more than the Series S is. Almost all these games are on PC too, and PCs are scaleable down to budget PCs.

[@JackTheBlack1585]

I feel like lazy developers gonna use the series S as an excuse for them.

[@garymoon6230]

Cyberpunk 2077 now has the fsr2.1 update for series s and the 60fps mode does look a lot better,there's always a cut down version of a game but most people I talk to can't tell the difference between 1080p with HDR and 4k HDR because most people don't have a 65 inch TV,most people have smaller TVs and the difference isn't as noticed on smaller TVs,on big TVs fair enough,I just think developers are lazy and only think about easy money.

[@metaknightguyWII]

This is what you are good at spawn. Need more of this and techwave. Talk with developers that you know and not with a squad talking about leaks and rumors with not alot of backing

[@Kubush1]

PS5 is on par with 2016 PC gaming.. they are toys for children and tech illiterate dads. Educated gamers only use PC.

[@rahnihlkuzurandra8462]

The real problem is not just graphics but rather too high fps to match the graphical resolutions and very poor optimizations, Nier Automata and Dying Light Platinum Edition on Switch proved that if you optimize the games properly then the games will run on anything old and current no matter the graphics. Even Bright Memory Infinite was optimized well on Switch proving that anything can be done and run on outdated specs.

[@rodrigogooo]

As a PS5 owner i think just one thing, if you cant create a 60 fps patch for gotham knights because you are just scaling the series S to PS5/Series X, you will just not get my money, and im the guy who buy every assassins creed farcry game out there, im an open world fan.

[@Fidelis1776]

I have a PS5 and a Series S. After playing different games that were available on both systems, I really need someone to explain to me why the PS5/Series X don't have a 60FPS option.

[@hsavietto]

If a game developer wants their games only to run on XBox Series X, all they need to do is to sell it as physical copies only, no digital version.

[@staycguy]

The S has more power than the dam switch! You don’t hear the devs hating the low powered switch! Get over it and do your job! People can’t afford next Gen consoles, so just do what you been doing, far cry 6 and more all work in 60FPS! Gotham has NO excuses. That game was broken.

[@bulletman155]

This is exactly why there is a resurgence of retro games from the original Xbox, 360, PS3 and PS4. Today’s games are nothing more than a “DRM” disc that requires constant downloads and bug fixes. It certainly seems that game developers have lost their drive to produce a quality product that is complete, all the while raising prices to $70.00 plus.

[@Turquoisecat]

🔝🔝🔝 Congratulations 🎊 you have been selected among my shortlisted winners 🎁🎁🎁 Dm to claim prize Congrats 🎊 🎊🔝👆

[@cornclub]

The AAA developers are lazy and want something to blame for their lackluster products. The developers can just create games for Series X/PS5 and have games stream on the Series S. PS4 must also be holding the generation back since they continue making games for it.

[@hepwo91222]

yeah, Gotham Knights comes out and if it was 60 FPS on PS5/Series X and was only 30 FPS for Series S I might see their point, but it released 30 FPS across all consoles? This is the devs being lazy making excuses.

[@Frigid_Kev]

There are launch titles on the PS4, Xbox One and even the Wii U that not only runs well on their respective base consoles but even their graphics that still holds up to this day and manages to rival the most recent games with ray tracing even. Series S "holding" devs back is no excuse whatsoever. This is straight out lazy of them

[@LastActionHero_]

Not all devs are good devs, just saying.

[@AtomicEy]

Anthem Devs- don't worry we have BioWare Magic👍

[@jediguy634]

Love MVG! I've learned so much over the years from him and its great incite to get a "peek behind the curtain." Could this problem being more of a management issue? We've been hearing alot this year about "Dev Crunch" being out of control this gen. Does dev managers, owners, and us as gamers, now expect so much from them and games have gotten so big and bloated they no longer have the staff to tackle PS, XBOX, and PC? With MS pushing Game pass so hard, and now with PS3 Cloud streaming, i wouldn't be surprised if the S eventually gets marketed as "Play local on Series X OR cloud stream to your S." Or could we get a "Play it first on launch day on X. Available on S (say 60 days later)." Curious on how we as the EU would respond to this kind marketing. Seems gamers in general push the front of "oh we feel sorry for these devs lay off them." But if a game launches witout features or needs several patches to make it playable, the Dev's are the first ones getting tossed under the bus. I think the time has come that we the End User, need to stop pre-ordering games and picking them up "day 1."

[@Nagi40]

BS.... Cyberpunk 2077 runs at 60fps on Series S Forza Horizon 5 runs at 60fps on Series S ('1080) NFS Unbound runs at 60fps on Series S Farcry 6 runs at at 60fps (1440)..... oh yes the problem is the console, not the incompetent devs that gaves us a piece of garbage game like Gotham Knights...

[@Spartan_83]

Dying light 60fps

[@Spartan_83]

just run the games at lower resolution if needed 900-1080p is fine for a lot of people that bought the SS.

[@Real_Sgt_Tom]

That's like saying PCs from 3 years ago are holding back games because not everyone is going out and buying the 3080 card...lol

[@Zinkolo]

I don't think asking MVG is the best course of action since he's only experienced in very low end projects and none of which are big AAA titles. He's also a huge Xbox fan so is viewpoints are extremely skewed

[@arminalinezhad6654]

When final game runs well on series s,it doesnt mean series s could handle it in the first place,may be developers deleted so many good features because series s could not handle it,thats why next gen games feels the same as last gen but with just better textures

[@dlr_melvin]

If any triple a studio tries to use the series s as a excuse they are just lying and not putting in a minimum amount of effort