Also from the same article:
From the point of view of a developer it would be much easier if there was a single XSX SKU, but given the circumstances I think that Microsoft has made good choices in how to create a much cheaper console, that can still run next-generation games.
Eh, most devs are going to be doing that legwork during dev anyhow for the range of PC specs they’ll want to hit. It really isn’t super impactful, and likely won’t be too much of a blip for most medium size and larger devs. At the more indie end of things, there’ll of course be a difference given additional constraints on time and budget, but fewer indies are making the cutting edge titles that would need that additional time, so there’s almost a wash there.
Got strong opinions?
What’s going to happen to the Series S is devs are just going to break through the 1080p “barrier” and just downscale the resolution till it fits, including down to 900p, 800p and even lower. Which, to be fair, isn’t really the marketing for it MS originally made.
The Medium already drops to like 620p on Series S when showing both worlds.
The game is rendering two independent scenes at the same time which is a fairly unique situation and quite taxing on hardware so the pixel count drop is expected. The Medium is idiosyncratic in that way.
A Way Out did it on last gen hardware.
In any case, it remains a good example on how extreme the quality sacrifices are to get a next gen experience to run on the Series S.
You know how I can tell the Xbox Series S is a flop? The stock tracking Twitter account I followed that allowed me to score a PS5 before New Year keeps a running tally of the number of days the Xbox Series S has been in stock at Walmart Canada:
This, while the Series X and PS5 models sell out in minutes.
I thought A Way Out was more akin to split screen games - in other words, rendering the same map, albeit from different viewports.
The Medium is different in that each map is unique. I’m sure there’s a decent amount of overlap to help (collision, navmesh), but it is not exactly apples to apples.
Series X is dropping to like 900p though.
Clicking the link in that tweet shows A Preorder button and a $379.96 price so seems like they are out of stock now or something is wrong. Walmart is showing 2 other offers starting at $700.
I stand corrected! I have no interest in the Series S so I have never wanted to click through. Could it finally have gone out of stock on Day 14?! Inquiring minds want to know…
Like i’ve said over (and over) the Series S is meant to be a last gen console with next gen QOL, which coincides with MS ending all production on last gen system.
What i do find interesting about it is that last time around, in the PS4 era, people were insistent that even $100 difference was a massive gap that would echo through the whole generation. Now you have a $200 difference, and the reaction is “shrug it still sucks”. Honestly if there’s anything about it that’s limiting it’s probably lacking that drive more than the performance, because budget gamers like to buy used.
I disagree, it’s meant to be a small & cheap Gamepass box. Adding a drive would just increase size and cost.
So while the Ultimate Edition of Control is a lot smaller on the PS5, weighing just 25.79 GB it stands at roughly 42.4 GB on the Xbox Series X and 42.1 GB on the Xbox One. This is due to the better decompression technique that is available on the PS5.
That’s not true. The Xbox version of the game packages assets for all three versions of the game. That’s why the file size is so much larger. The XSX version contains all the Xbox One/One X files. The PS5 version does not have any PS4 assets wasting space.
Every article I can find on this says it is about the PS5 Kraken compression, not about Remedy packing in old assets.
If that’s true then Remedy didn’t package the files correctly. They should be using Xbox’s Smart Delivery.
I actually checked yesterday after that comment, and Smart Delivery is not one of the Features listed in the store. Other games, such as Destiny 2, do list it, though things do get left off those lists sometimes.
On that note, can I say again how great the Store redesign is on Xbox? I mean, sure, it’s amazingly snappy and quick (even on last gen Xbones), but then there’s the the auto-muted, auto-playing videos that pop up instantly when you highlight a game in the store, showing you the different editions/packages when you select a title (including what’s in them and their full/discounted price right there), the very handy wishlist, add-to-cart and buy-as-gift buttons that are prominent and easy to find, and the various features sections that are all tagged/linked, so if I’m looking for (for example) local multiplayer games I just find one in that category, highlight it in the Features and click, and I get a bunch more. Or Smart Delivery. It’s all so amazingly well done.
And the new Xbox Store shows how many players a game supports in both online and offline, whether co-op is supported, and how many players for co-op. Now if Steam would just do the same!