Xbox Series S is the perfect console for casual gamers

Can you guess the first game I played on the Xbox Series S? It wasn’t Assassin’s Creed Valhalla or Watch Dogs: Legion. It was Kingdom Hearts.

It wasn’t because I had a burning desire to save the Seven Princesses of the Heart again. The games CNET sent out for review weren’t yet activated, so to test the Xbox Series, SI decided to find something on Microsoft Subscription Service, Game Pass. It’s a perfect metaphor for what the S series is all about.

Launch Tuesday, Xbox Series S is a smaller, less powerful and less expensive version of the Xbox Series X. Unlike its bigger, bulkier sibling, it doesn’t have a disc player, and at a maximum of 1440p, it can’t play games in 4K. But at $ 300, £ 250, and AU $ 499, it’s not as expensive as you’d expect from a next-gen gaming console.

As that price suggests, this is a console for more casual gamers. The X Series is for people with a dedicated home entertainment setup: 4K TV, Dolby Atmos sound, gaming headphones, and possibly some blinking RBG lights in the mix. The S series is for those who don’t have a setup designed to extract every last pixel.

And that is reflected in the way it makes you buy games. Or rather how it encourages you to do not buy games at all. Because the Xbox Series S is all about Game Pass.

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Whether you buy an Xbox Series S or X, Game Pass will be a big part of your future. It’s to gaming what Spotify is to music, or Netflix to television. You pay $ 10 per month and get access to over 100 games, or $ 15 for Game Pass Ultimate, which lets you play on your PC and even your mobile phone. These include titles from Xbox 360, Xbox One. Soon it will also include Xbox Series games.

If you get an S Series, you’ll have two options for purchasing games: buy them individually, up to $ 70 from Microsoft Store, or play Game Pass for $ 10 per month. With its low price and lack of hard drive, the S series is absolutely perfect for Game Pass.

It does not matter. If a service like this were powered by B-grade games, that might be a problem, but that is not the case with Game Pass. A large number of the biggest games on Xbox One – Gears 5, Forza Motorsport 7, Halo: Masterchief Collection – are on Game Pass.

The idea for Halo Infinite to release on November 10 was not just to sell Xbox Series X consoles | S, but also to sell Game Pass. Again, would you rather pay $ 70 to download a copy of Halo Infinite or $ 10 to play it on Game Pass?

While Sony is investing in flagship exclusives, Microsoft is investing in its subscription service. Take a look at the launch queues for both consoles. the Playstation 5 a Spider-Man: Miles Morales, Demon’s Souls, and Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart. The biggest new games on the new Xbox platform are all AAA cross-platform versions. Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, Call of Duty Black Ops: Cold War, Watch Dogs: Legion.

Instead, Microsoft Focuses On Xbox One Games Optimized For The S Series | X. Gears 5, Gears Tactics, Ori and the Will of the Wisps, Forza Horizon 4, and Sea of ​​Thieves are all upgraded high-level Xbox One games, with 4K graphics, faster load times, and rates. refresh rates for the new Xbox consoles.

From my testing so far, the improvements are real – whether you’re playing on a good monitor or a good TV. I couldn’t tell the difference playing Forza Horizon 4 on the old 1080p TV in my living room, for example. But when I compared the Xbox One and S Series gaming on a high-end 27-inch Asus Strix monitor, the difference was clearer than the liquid crystal.

The first thing I noticed wasn’t the resolution improvement, it was the song that started playing after starting the game. Or rather, how smoothly the lyrics were. poster the song slid across the screen. The S series operates at 120Hz, which means the screen refreshes 120 times per second. The Xbox One is technically capable of this, but many games do not support it. The result for Forza was a significantly more responsive feel to the drive. The improved resolution also made the textures much smoother.

This is if you have the material. If you are the type of person who would buy a 4K, 144Hz monitor like the Strix, I guess you are the type of person who would choose an Xbox Series X over an S. But whatever, know that the S series does. is no slouch graphic.

If you are a die-hard gamer, chances are you’ve played the optimized games listed above before. But for more casual gamers, Game Pass lets you play titles you might have missed or never had access to. It could be proprietary games like Gears 5 that you missed out on not owning from an Xbox One, or acclaimed indie games like Untitled Goose Game and Dead Cells that you just never committed to buy.

Or, for nostalgia junkies like me, this lets you play an old game for the sixth time. Then yes. Kingdom Hearts.

Something different

Microsoft’s focus on Game Pass is smart. For two generations, there was little to distinguish the Xbox from the PlayStation. With nearly every third-party blockbuster landing on both, it was largely a question of choosing between Uncharted and Halo, or God of War and Gears of War, or Gran Turismo and Forza.

Now the distinction is clearer. With PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X, it’s as much a question of philosophy as of specific games. This is the way you want to buy and play games – through a subscription, on your phone through Project xCloud, or the good old fashioned way.

The S series goes further in this distinction. While the digital-only PS5 takes the regular PS5 and does away with the disc drive, the S-series looks like a different product from the X-series. It’s not just the specs, it’s also reflected in the design. The X Series is almost intimidating and doesn’t even get me started on the PS5. The S series is elegant, but more reserved. It doesn’t attract the attention – or the ridicule – like other consoles do.

Which doesn’t mean it’s better, it’s just different. And that’s why I love the Xbox Series S. Because after two generations I feel like Sony and Microsoft basically made the same console, it’s a console meant for specific use.

I can see it being perfect for casual gamers who want to play the big hits, or for more dedicated PlayStation 5 owners who choose the S Series and a Game Pass Sub as their side console.

Now, if you will excuse me, I have to go save the Princesses of the Heart for the sixth time.