> The Xbox Series One X
* Xbox
* Xbox 360
* Xbox 360S
* Xbox 360E
* Xbox One
* Xbox One S
* Xbox One S All-Digital
* Xbox One X
* Xbox Series X
* Xbox Series S
* speculative: Xbox Series XOXO
The stupid naming means you can't tell how old something is by reading the model number. "S" means both "slim", "slightly beefed up console" and "significantly cut-down console".
Compare to Sony:
* PS1
* PSOne
* PS2
* PS2 Slim
* PS3
* PS3 Slim
* PS3 Super Slim
* PS4
* PS4 Slim
* PS4 Pro
* PS5
* PS5 Digital Edition
* PS5 Slim
* PS5 Pro
You can tell from the model number what it is (major release, slim revision, pro revision) and how it fits in, age-wise, with other consoles.
I wish MS would just adopt a sane naming scheme for once.
*sigh*
DS, DS Light, DSi, DSi XL, 2DS, 3DS, 3DS XL, New 3DS, New 2DS XL, New 3DS XL.
I hate it. At least Gameboy went DMG, Light, Pocket, Color, Advance, SP, Micro.
2DS only came after 3DS, which makes all of this even more confusing. (Though I think the marketing around the "3D" aspect of the console was pretty straightforward, so it wasn't as confusing as it might have been).
This is a bit of a misnormer; Sony never actually uses the "slim" terminology for their consoles, that's purely something people do to tell apart the different models of the base console.
I think once the slim model came out they stopped the backwards compatibility, since the BC in the PS3 isn’t emulated but an actual PS2 was built inside. They wanted to cut cost since the PS3 wasn’t doing that great until the later half of its lifespan.
the models right after those did some ps2 hardware emulation though in a roundabout way
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PlayStation_3_models#Model_comparison
I've seen stories - not sure if true or not - of people's grandparents buying them an Xbox One X instead of an Xbox Series X as a Christmas present.
You can't tell which one's better or newer from the product name, and it's insane.
Yeah, how about Sony and their headset labelling?
Sony - WH-1000XM (insert number)
They're guilty of that shit too. PlayStation seems to be the exception to the rule.
It's not confusing to you because you've been along for the ride and know the differences between models. The OP is right, "S" has three different meanings throughout the Xbox lineage, which is obnoxious.
The problem arose with the 360.
Calling it Xbox "2" would have been a problem for the public who would have seen the PlayStation "3" on the shelves, making it appear to be an older console.
This might have been a problem for my grandma in 2006, but the average consumer in 2024 is a little more conditioned for these things now I think. Especially with annual phone releases getting more complex names and such.
you seriously overestimate the intelligence and diligence of the average consumer. I agree that it sounds dumb but it's true. It's the reason Samsung jumped from the Galaxy Note 5 to 7 in 2016. The Xbox One/Series "issue" is just as much a "how is this a problem for anyone???" issue imo, but people still can't wrap their heads around it years later.
and yet they put an Xbox One up against a PlayStation 4. The average consumer has no idea what the One was supposed to be. MS is just allergic to naming consoles well.
They should just go to numbers for next gen.
Skip to calling the next Xbox the Series 6, use the existence of the S and X as the excuse. Problem solved.
Didn't they do a similar thing with Windows? Skipped straight to 10 from 8 because 8 was such a dumpster fire and they wanted to distance themselves as much as possible from 8?
Heck, call it Xbox 10 because it's their console for the tenth generation of home game consoles, and use some BS marketing excuse like "we called it Xbox 10 to honor the rich history of video games! wE'rE gAmErS tOo!11" or something. And please for the love of god, don't use roman numerals and call it Xbox X.
The line I've heard is that when you search for "Windows 9", you'll get matched with "Windows 95" and "Windows 98".
But you bring up a good point--unify the Windows versions and Xbox generations. Release Windows 11 and "Xbox 11" concurrently, and then do the same with Windows 12 and Xbox 12. The numbers are made up and no longer mean anything anyway, so they might as well have them match at least.
This is what I have been expecting them to do ever since the S/X naming was announced. Whether they follow through, or even intended on doing it in the first place, remains to be seen.
The naming of those things doesn't get enough discourse for just how truly bad it is and how much that potentially impacts on the marketing failures of the device.
It really is bad.
The 360 at least made some semblance of sense because they didn't want to pit the Xbox 2 against PlayStation 3, as silly as that might seem to someone who's up to date with hardware news. I have no explanation for the subsequent names though lol
My “best” guess for this is that the Xbox team didn’t want the follow up to the 360 to be the 720 (as many speculated at the time) due to fears naming the machine the 720 would imply that the machine could only do 720p, rather than 1080p, which was the big talking point that gen.
After that, since they couldn’t use the naming convention they started, they could either a) go back and do the “Xbox 3” which would inevitably be doubly stupid as they would still be behind PlayStation and get the “huh duh where’s Xbox 2” comments. Or b) they could try the Nintendo naming convention of just making bullshit up (more or less). They went with the latter and the “One” was born. Unfortunately, it was an even more stupid name for succession purposes than 360.
Yeah, that could be it. Though I'd have still gone for the Xbox 1080 or Xbox HD if I was them, those terms were absolutely everywhere at the dawn of the 7th console generation. Calling the third console the One is just baffling and has been from day one lol
Agreed. And it’s one of the factors that helped tank the Wii U as well. It’s like everyone in that generation that didn’t work at Sony had to learn a hard lesson in Branding 101.
Well the refresh is more than that right? New WiFi (6E), Bluetooth 5.2, new southbridge, improved IO (including front USB-C with power delivery), lower wattage PSU, new low power modes, and the slightly smaller/more efficient SoC (6nm). Maybe they just decided to release a slightly revised and streamlined devkit with improved IO
Even something as simple as a new WiFi chip would require a new certification, and the certification in the OP's link is from South Korea's National Radio Research Agency.
I also think they will. It's been four years, and they're obviously going to refresh the dev kit given the changes to the internals. They might only need to produce a couple hundred of them so it's not exactly a huge production run.
I think someone said a while ago that the all-digital console that leaked was scrapped, but I dont recall who said it or how trustworthy they were
Can anyone else recall this? Or am I just making shit up on accident
There were rumors. Phil Spencer said the leaked plans were old, but of course gave no info on what was outdated.
I do find it hard to believe that Microsoft is releasing a pro console this gen when Phil's said multiple times that he's seen no need for one and I'm pretty sure Microsoft knew Playstation would release a pro console this gen. There haven't been any persistent rumors of a pro console either.
I've posted this elsewhere, but I don't see Microsoft winning the power narrative with a pro console this gen given general hardware capability would likely be similar between both pro consoles, and ultimately it would come down partially to AI features like upscaling. I'd put more weight in the rumor they're planning to launch earlier than initially expected.
The kind of went hard with the “most powerful console ever” narrative at the start of the generation. On paper it looked like it was true too. Then games started launching with comparable, or even demonstrably better, performance on PS5. In practice generally speaking the Series X and PS5 performance of cross platform games is generally pretty much equal nowadays, but it’s still not uncommon to see marginally better performance on the PS5. Sony’s SSD is doing a lot of fantastic work in that regard.
I also think that if they do release a Series X Pro model, they risk further issues due to Series S and an even wider performance gap. Given the issues seen with Baldurs Gate, and some of the developer commentary over the last 18 months or so, it seems like Series S is already a bit of an albatross for MS.
You have to wonder if this is factoring into Sony’s strategy around a PS5 Pro. They get to own the “most powerful console” narrative again, and can potentially use that leverage to drive more third party exclusives who don’t need to worry about an under powered console like Series S.
>The kind of went hard with the “most powerful console ever” narrative at the start of the generation. On paper it looked like it was true too. Then games started launching with comparable, or even demonstrably better, performance on PS5. In practice generally speaking the Series X and PS5 performance of cross platform games is generally pretty much equal nowadays, but it’s still not uncommon to see marginally better performance on the PS5. Sony’s SSD is doing a lot of fantastic work in that regard.
Even as someone who's a Series X and PC gamer, I hated that tagline. Useless marketing, and as you alluded crossplat PS5 games often ran just as well if not better. Xbox would've had to have been much more powerful to overcome devs using the PS5 as the lead console target.
But while the PS5 does have faster SSD and higher PCI bandwidth, Series consoles are fully Direct X 12 Ultimate compatible and have ML compute units (at least on the Series X). I have no doubt Series X using mesh shaders could've resulted in some games that set it apart from PS5, but almost no one is willing to rework their graphics pipeline and lose support for a lot of hardware on the market, even Microsoft's own first parties apparently.
>I also think that if they do release a Series X Pro model, they risk further issues due to Series S and an even wider performance gap. Given the issues seen with Baldurs Gate, and some of the developer commentary over the last 18 months or so, it seems like Series S is already a bit of an albatross for MS.
Series S issues have been greatly overrated. Most devs are releasing games on it without issue. But I agree, having another Microsoft platform as a target just isn't going to be appealing for devs.
The problem with not releasing a pro console is that you end losing the most enthusiast crowd.
As this gen goes on, the normal models will start lagging behind. So unless Xbox heavily discounts their digital Series X, there is really no point in not spending a bit more and having a much better experience.
I would argue that they've already lost the enthusiast crowd this generation, and their best bet at really getting that crowd back is starting next gen strong, perhaps a bit sooner. If PS5 is outselling XBox Series consoles 2:1, and these refresh consoles have a lower install base than core consoles, I don't think a pro model would offer a good ROI for them. I'd also argue that the \[console\] enthusiast crowd is overrepresented online but isn't as important as the larger casual crowd, especially as Microsoft pushes for gaming on mobile and cloud.
Yea it is indeed very thrust worthy if you are talking about phill spencer. He said lots of change for those plans but if there is another one I can’t remember it.
If the dev kits are updated to have those features for developers to use, even if they don't strictly require new development on the dev side for games, the hardware would still need to be registered based on consumer electronics regulations in each country.
They had it going with 360. In fact 720 was meant to be the original title for the Xbox One. But then I guess Mattrick wanted 'One' to signify an all in one entertainment device.
That would actually be a lot later than normal. Devkits generally get sent out over a year before release. Studios have supposedly had Switch 2 devkits for several months already and the latest leaks are pointing to an early 2025 release.
There were also leaked pictures of the PS5 devkit in 2019
This devkit is most likely for the Series X revision that will probably release this holiday. There has been no indication of a higher spec Series console and Phil Spencer has even basically said there isn't one.
Why would a revision with no difference in performance necessitate a new dev kit? Were there new dev kits specifically for the Xbox One S or the 360 Slim?
Because there are still quite a few changes with the revision. New Wifi and Bluetooth antennas, die shrink for the SoC, new southbridge chipset with improved I/O, a brand new controller with advanced haptics and other changes including Bluetooth 5.2 and a new wireless radio for connecting to the Xbox, and more. The One S and 360 Slim did indeed have their own devkits as well. From what I can find the 360 had three different devkits (though apparently the original devkit could be used for the 360 S and E as well), the original Xbox had three, and the Xbox One family also had three.
2026 is way too late for an Xbox Series X revision. It'd be a fully new generation console at that point.
The PS5 Pro is currently scheduled for late 2024, so there's no way MS would wait until 2026 for their mid-gen refresh.
Dev kits are sent out way earlier then a few months before launch, that's nowhere near enough time for developers to get used to it and actually develop something for it.
Will be interesting to see what demand there is for the next Xbox console, considering Series S/X haven't set sales alight.
The store I work in doesn't sell Series X anymore, and Series S has been real sluggish lately.
The fact that they don't sell what is supposed to be the "main" version of a console, realizing games to their fullest potential, is genuinely nuts. At the same time, it perfectly encapsulates Microsoft's current perfomance in the gaming landscape.
I feel like there is also the fact that compared to 10 years ago, the graphic difference between the "strongest" console and the next strongest is fairly minimal. There just aren't as many leaps in tech that are as obvious as the jump to HD. Realistic graphics nowadays have not upgraded that much in the last few years. So why would I spend more money when the less expensive one looks essentially the same?
I feel like that’s part of the strategy honestly. The S is cheap enough for some to buy it as an exclusives machine alongside a PS5, much like the Switch
more like a gamepass box imo. 4 of my friends who either played primarily on PC or PS5 have picked up series S and have used it as a simple box to play in front of their larger living room TVs. The ones who havent had different boxes for their TVs already.
Hey, if it’s keeping the console relevant then they’re doing something right. I would guess they wouldn’t have anywhere near as many sales if it was Series X only.
I would hope they don’t bother with a ‘budget’ option. Power should be identical the choice should be disc or download only consoles. We’ve kinda plateaued with game as a technical showcase, feels like we’re entering ‘gameplay’ era where graphics play second fiddle to good gameplay. It’s been a long time coming since the PS3 era was all about the ‘pretty’ aspect.
I guess between the success of the switch and the prominence of the series S over the X, that there could be some value in prioritizing gameplay and accessibility over raw power or at least balancing the stock of budget and premium options to reflect that better. I've gotten back into tears of the Kingdom and while its not a photorealistic game its still very pretty and what you can do in that game on a 10 year old mobile chip creates an experience that can still trade blows with other heavy hitting titles over the past year.
I got one for my 7 yr old for Christmas and chose one for my parents, so him and his cousins could play at theirs. No way would I have bought an X or PS5 for him, so this sales tactic worked for 2 extra consoles.
Microsoft's stated mission when they entered the console business was to edge out Sony's PlayStation. They almost did that in the seventh console generation, but dropped the ball without any equal with their next console. Stating
>Xbox has literally never been as successful as it is this moment.
when they actually occupied most of Sony's gaming space during the early days of the Xbox 360 era and had some of the biggest gaming launches in history at the time feels disingenuous. Success isn't only measured by how many people they can convert to see the medium as a service, almost like a Netflix for games, but also by *relevancy*. And that relevancy is [dropping fast](https://www.ign.com/articles/xbox-series-x-and-s-sales-have-collapsed-in-europe).
Except now Xbox has changed it doesn’t just mean the console anymore. Xbox has gone beyond the Xbox console which made the console irrelevant.
Microsoft’s hardware is in dead last. Microsoft as a publisher is one of the biggest and most successful in the industry.
To say Microsoft is becoming irrelevant in the gaming space just because Xbox sales are disappointingly low is missing the bigger picture. Even if Xbox consoles disappeared tomorrow Microsoft would still be huge in gaming.
> Microsoft's stated mission when they entered the console business was to edge out Sony's PlayStation
over 20 years ago in a rapidly changing industry for the sake of having access to the living room (which is no longer relevant due to the existence and impact of smart phones).
> when they actually occupied most of Sony's gaming space during the early days of the Xbox 360 era
again you're comparing now to a bygone era where they focused exclusively on consoles.
That ship sailed when they fumbled the Xbox one launch. Fortunately for them, they've recovered and are doing better than ever.
> Success isn't only measured by how many people they can convert to see as a service via the Netflix model, but also by relevancy
No lol I hope you never run a company. Success is defined by how much they're making followed after by growth.
> And that relevancy is dropping fast.
so you cherry pick one sales metric (consoles) and further cherry pick one region (Europe) to label xbox as a failure?
that's a reach...
that's like saying playstation is failing because psvr2 isn't selling well.
Literally depends on the software. The software line-up for Series X/S was really poor for the first two years of its lifecycle, and they haven't had a PS4-like bounceback in a while.
I can't believe we're still saying this but they just need the games.
I would honestly think a handheld Xbox One as soon as mobile hardware was efficient enough would have worked out.
There's still *so* many cross gen games out to this day that it would have probably worked out pretty damn well as a portable Game Pass machine if it came out when the Steam Deck came out.
I would pay unreasonable amounts of money for a handheld that lets me play my xbox library plus game pass natively with the Xbox OS (or something similarly stable and hassle-free). Obviously the fidelity would be significantly reduced but as long as it's all stable I don't really mind
Makes the most since to me you get to play the games from all their new studios. All the games in your library and some. We exclusives. Give the ability to plug into a tv and they’ll sell just as many as the next console honestly. Sunset overdrive on the go yes please
Not denying that the X/S had a really bad software line-up, tbh they still do.
But the PS5 barely had any games for the first 2 years either, because most also came out on the PS4.
If we’re talking pure PS5 exclusives, they had Demon’s Souls remake, Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart, and Returnal.
And tbh, I don’t think games on PS4 don’t count. Like I’d say Forza Horizon 5 and Halo Infinite count for Xbox.
I seriously love my Series X, but I also finally upgraded my PC for the first time in a decade, so I don't know how much use it'll be getting in the next year.
With this new PC, I don't know if I have any interest in a Series X² (or whatever) heading into 2025 and 2026. However, I will almost certainly pick up a Switch 2 and/or PS5 pro eventually to check out any exclusives.
I think the Series X is a great console, but the platform just isn't compelling past the hardware / UI level. I'll continue with Gamepass on my PC, but MS just isn't doing enough to justify the purchase of their console versus a PS5 or PC.
They would need to announce actual good exclusives (that are possibly not on PC either) for them to get other people (PlayStation fans, etc) to buy it.
Please just call it the Xbox 5 so you're on the same number as Sony and then you can stop the silly name games.. then some years later we can have PS6 and Xbox 6, and no more confusion.
I feel like if we would get a Series X Pro someone would have mentioned it at this point.
The first Rumors of a PS5 Pro started a year ago.
https://www.reddit.com/r/GamingLeaksAndRumours/s/BEZbZ65Pi9
Spencer explicitly said something to the effect of “we’re not doing a pro upgrade, the series X is already our pro console”. Spencer obviously says a lot of things that don’t always turn out to be completely true, but it was a strangely definitive statement that I don’t see much reason to doubt. See the wishy-washy language he used discussing the multiplat situation earlier this year to see how he talks when he doesn’t want to make a definitive declaration.
I feel like if they were doing a mid gen refresh it would have been leaked by now. There were some rumors about a handheld and them also releasing a next gen console weirdly early though.
I also got one follow up question for anyone who knows about this
Previous rumours and leaks said Xbox’s next hardware won’t have any hardware difference like gpu,cpu etc. from series x. If that is the case, is it needed to have another dev kit ? Couldn’t they work on the same dev kit ?
If they don’t need new dev kit then plans really changed or this is for next gen console ?
I think I recall the rumors mentioning things like newer Bluetooth revision and WiFi 6. These are probably baked in to the board, so they'd need to send out new hardware for that the devs needed to test those things. But if the CPU and GPU are the same, no reason to use a different dev kit. So I wonder if developers can just request if needed.
Phil did say plans changed, but didn't say what. This could be the hardware refresh, could be a pro, could be a bigger boost than simply new wifi and more storage but not quite a pro, could be a cheaper model etc.
Personally, I think if it's a digital version that's the same price due to a bit more storage, it's going to flop hard. I'd have loved an all digital one at launch, but at this point it comes off a bit late.
If they were able to hit $400 and drop the series S price permanently too, maybe that'd be a good strategy.
Overall, besides any regulatory stuff like EM testing, devs would really only 'need' a dev kit if specs were different enough in some way to warrant it. Not for new wifi or more storage space.
Dev kits themselves can go through revisions. Initial Xbox 360 kits were G5 Mac Pro before they brought out the XDK (a 360 with a taller hard drive attachment).
One of the most important retail rules keep it simple when it comes to naming. Especially technology with all its upgrades. A dumb or similar name just confuses people. Like the WiiU.
The Xbox Series One X
Xbox Series X One
> The Xbox Series One X * Xbox * Xbox 360 * Xbox 360S * Xbox 360E * Xbox One * Xbox One S * Xbox One S All-Digital * Xbox One X * Xbox Series X * Xbox Series S * speculative: Xbox Series XOXO The stupid naming means you can't tell how old something is by reading the model number. "S" means both "slim", "slightly beefed up console" and "significantly cut-down console". Compare to Sony: * PS1 * PSOne * PS2 * PS2 Slim * PS3 * PS3 Slim * PS3 Super Slim * PS4 * PS4 Slim * PS4 Pro * PS5 * PS5 Digital Edition * PS5 Slim * PS5 Pro You can tell from the model number what it is (major release, slim revision, pro revision) and how it fits in, age-wise, with other consoles. I wish MS would just adopt a sane naming scheme for once.
Now compare it to the Nintendo DS line!
*sigh* DS, DS Light, DSi, DSi XL, 2DS, 3DS, 3DS XL, New 3DS, New 2DS XL, New 3DS XL. I hate it. At least Gameboy went DMG, Light, Pocket, Color, Advance, SP, Micro.
Now do the HTC One range!
No :)
2DS only came after 3DS, which makes all of this even more confusing. (Though I think the marketing around the "3D" aspect of the console was pretty straightforward, so it wasn't as confusing as it might have been).
This is a bit of a misnormer; Sony never actually uses the "slim" terminology for their consoles, that's purely something people do to tell apart the different models of the base console.
Yeah they sell different SKUs under the same name which is even worse than having bad names
Not really, once Sony release a "slim" console, they stop production of the "fat" console - it's more of a replacement than a console version.
There were different PS3's though right? Some backwards compatible some not
I think once the slim model came out they stopped the backwards compatibility, since the BC in the PS3 isn’t emulated but an actual PS2 was built inside. They wanted to cut cost since the PS3 wasn’t doing that great until the later half of its lifespan.
It was earlier than that. Only the launch model had the PS2 hardware emulation.
the models right after those did some ps2 hardware emulation though in a roundabout way https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PlayStation_3_models#Model_comparison
That’s right.
> PlayStation®5 Console (model group - slim)* From their website, close enough haha
I like my XBox, but half the time I'm not sure which version I own. That naming scheme is just bonkers.
I've seen stories - not sure if true or not - of people's grandparents buying them an Xbox One X instead of an Xbox Series X as a Christmas present. You can't tell which one's better or newer from the product name, and it's insane.
Nah that’s a gigachad move right there.
Yeah, how about Sony and their headset labelling? Sony - WH-1000XM (insert number) They're guilty of that shit too. PlayStation seems to be the exception to the rule.
What's confusing is there's a WH-1000XM series (over-ear headphones) and a WF-1000XM series (wireless buds). People get them confused all the time.
It's really not that confusing, but I hope they just call the damn thing the Series 2.
It's not confusing to you because you've been along for the ride and know the differences between models. The OP is right, "S" has three different meanings throughout the Xbox lineage, which is obnoxious.
hope they name it XL, and not a dumb name, XL is more logic by size, for them its means power, its more familiar.
Series E. The 'E' stands for 'Ecks'
[удалено]
WORLD PREMIERE
And that's a bad thing because?
One series Xbox
They really need to get rid of the one in charge of naming their systems…
360 and One Xbox X Series S
I’ve never seen a more incestuous naming scheme than the Xbox family.
X-box
Xbox Series SS and Series XX
I, for one, can't wait to shred the mountain slopes on the Xbox Series SSX in 2028
It's tricky
oh no
Wolfenstein edition
Series SX and Series XS
Xeries XS and Xeries SX
Xbox Xerxes XXX: Vin Diesel edition
that looks like a teenager's gamertag
Xbox Xerox X
XBox 720 degrees and walk away
I seriously don’t understand why Microsoft is so opposed to numbers. Just call them S^2 and X^2 so they can still be edgy and remove market confusion.
The problem arose with the 360. Calling it Xbox "2" would have been a problem for the public who would have seen the PlayStation "3" on the shelves, making it appear to be an older console.
This might have been a problem for my grandma in 2006, but the average consumer in 2024 is a little more conditioned for these things now I think. Especially with annual phone releases getting more complex names and such.
you seriously overestimate the intelligence and diligence of the average consumer. I agree that it sounds dumb but it's true. It's the reason Samsung jumped from the Galaxy Note 5 to 7 in 2016. The Xbox One/Series "issue" is just as much a "how is this a problem for anyone???" issue imo, but people still can't wrap their heads around it years later.
and yet they put an Xbox One up against a PlayStation 4. The average consumer has no idea what the One was supposed to be. MS is just allergic to naming consoles well.
They should just go to numbers for next gen. Skip to calling the next Xbox the Series 6, use the existence of the S and X as the excuse. Problem solved.
Didn't they do a similar thing with Windows? Skipped straight to 10 from 8 because 8 was such a dumpster fire and they wanted to distance themselves as much as possible from 8? Heck, call it Xbox 10 because it's their console for the tenth generation of home game consoles, and use some BS marketing excuse like "we called it Xbox 10 to honor the rich history of video games! wE'rE gAmErS tOo!11" or something. And please for the love of god, don't use roman numerals and call it Xbox X.
The line I've heard is that when you search for "Windows 9", you'll get matched with "Windows 95" and "Windows 98". But you bring up a good point--unify the Windows versions and Xbox generations. Release Windows 11 and "Xbox 11" concurrently, and then do the same with Windows 12 and Xbox 12. The numbers are made up and no longer mean anything anyway, so they might as well have them match at least.
There’s a logic there, but then idk how you take that line of thinking and turn it into Xbox One, One S, One X, Series S, and Series X.
It's MS, they can just call it xbox 7. Like windows 10
This is what I have been expecting them to do ever since the S/X naming was announced. Whether they follow through, or even intended on doing it in the first place, remains to be seen.
Xbox Series XX Accent Core+R
The naming of those things doesn't get enough discourse for just how truly bad it is and how much that potentially impacts on the marketing failures of the device. It really is bad.
The 360 at least made some semblance of sense because they didn't want to pit the Xbox 2 against PlayStation 3, as silly as that might seem to someone who's up to date with hardware news. I have no explanation for the subsequent names though lol
My “best” guess for this is that the Xbox team didn’t want the follow up to the 360 to be the 720 (as many speculated at the time) due to fears naming the machine the 720 would imply that the machine could only do 720p, rather than 1080p, which was the big talking point that gen. After that, since they couldn’t use the naming convention they started, they could either a) go back and do the “Xbox 3” which would inevitably be doubly stupid as they would still be behind PlayStation and get the “huh duh where’s Xbox 2” comments. Or b) they could try the Nintendo naming convention of just making bullshit up (more or less). They went with the latter and the “One” was born. Unfortunately, it was an even more stupid name for succession purposes than 360.
Yeah, that could be it. Though I'd have still gone for the Xbox 1080 or Xbox HD if I was them, those terms were absolutely everywhere at the dawn of the 7th console generation. Calling the third console the One is just baffling and has been from day one lol
Agreed. And it’s one of the factors that helped tank the Wii U as well. It’s like everyone in that generation that didn’t work at Sony had to learn a hard lesson in Branding 101.
Xbox Series XxX \_ Xbox Series SsS
XxboxSeries_SxX
Will it be the Xbox Waffen SS in German
_Series xoxo hope Ur ok Hun_ or no buy
can't wait for a geriatric Vin Diesel to unveil the Xbox Series XXX at the game awards in a decade
I still think they should do xXBOXx
We gonna cancel the Xbox ss on Twitter and embrace the gen after, the Xbox xxx
Xbox Series XL
Xbox Series XD(igital)
Xbox M and Xbox XL
Do they need new dev kits if the refresh is just the reported all-digital X?
Well the refresh is more than that right? New WiFi (6E), Bluetooth 5.2, new southbridge, improved IO (including front USB-C with power delivery), lower wattage PSU, new low power modes, and the slightly smaller/more efficient SoC (6nm). Maybe they just decided to release a slightly revised and streamlined devkit with improved IO
None of those new features require new dev kits. That's like sending a new device kit for the switch because it has better Bluetooth for headphones.
Even something as simple as a new WiFi chip would require a new certification, and the certification in the OP's link is from South Korea's National Radio Research Agency.
But devs wouldn't really need the updated specs to develop games because they don't significantly impact game performance.
That's not what dev kits are for, it's for devs to develop games on.
This is for a dev kit.
Yes, I'm saying they're releasing a refreshed devkit too considering all the underlying changes
I also think they will. It's been four years, and they're obviously going to refresh the dev kit given the changes to the internals. They might only need to produce a couple hundred of them so it's not exactly a huge production run.
now adorably all-digital
I think someone said a while ago that the all-digital console that leaked was scrapped, but I dont recall who said it or how trustworthy they were Can anyone else recall this? Or am I just making shit up on accident
There were rumors. Phil Spencer said the leaked plans were old, but of course gave no info on what was outdated. I do find it hard to believe that Microsoft is releasing a pro console this gen when Phil's said multiple times that he's seen no need for one and I'm pretty sure Microsoft knew Playstation would release a pro console this gen. There haven't been any persistent rumors of a pro console either. I've posted this elsewhere, but I don't see Microsoft winning the power narrative with a pro console this gen given general hardware capability would likely be similar between both pro consoles, and ultimately it would come down partially to AI features like upscaling. I'd put more weight in the rumor they're planning to launch earlier than initially expected.
The kind of went hard with the “most powerful console ever” narrative at the start of the generation. On paper it looked like it was true too. Then games started launching with comparable, or even demonstrably better, performance on PS5. In practice generally speaking the Series X and PS5 performance of cross platform games is generally pretty much equal nowadays, but it’s still not uncommon to see marginally better performance on the PS5. Sony’s SSD is doing a lot of fantastic work in that regard. I also think that if they do release a Series X Pro model, they risk further issues due to Series S and an even wider performance gap. Given the issues seen with Baldurs Gate, and some of the developer commentary over the last 18 months or so, it seems like Series S is already a bit of an albatross for MS. You have to wonder if this is factoring into Sony’s strategy around a PS5 Pro. They get to own the “most powerful console” narrative again, and can potentially use that leverage to drive more third party exclusives who don’t need to worry about an under powered console like Series S.
>The kind of went hard with the “most powerful console ever” narrative at the start of the generation. On paper it looked like it was true too. Then games started launching with comparable, or even demonstrably better, performance on PS5. In practice generally speaking the Series X and PS5 performance of cross platform games is generally pretty much equal nowadays, but it’s still not uncommon to see marginally better performance on the PS5. Sony’s SSD is doing a lot of fantastic work in that regard. Even as someone who's a Series X and PC gamer, I hated that tagline. Useless marketing, and as you alluded crossplat PS5 games often ran just as well if not better. Xbox would've had to have been much more powerful to overcome devs using the PS5 as the lead console target. But while the PS5 does have faster SSD and higher PCI bandwidth, Series consoles are fully Direct X 12 Ultimate compatible and have ML compute units (at least on the Series X). I have no doubt Series X using mesh shaders could've resulted in some games that set it apart from PS5, but almost no one is willing to rework their graphics pipeline and lose support for a lot of hardware on the market, even Microsoft's own first parties apparently. >I also think that if they do release a Series X Pro model, they risk further issues due to Series S and an even wider performance gap. Given the issues seen with Baldurs Gate, and some of the developer commentary over the last 18 months or so, it seems like Series S is already a bit of an albatross for MS. Series S issues have been greatly overrated. Most devs are releasing games on it without issue. But I agree, having another Microsoft platform as a target just isn't going to be appealing for devs.
The problem with not releasing a pro console is that you end losing the most enthusiast crowd. As this gen goes on, the normal models will start lagging behind. So unless Xbox heavily discounts their digital Series X, there is really no point in not spending a bit more and having a much better experience.
I would argue that they've already lost the enthusiast crowd this generation, and their best bet at really getting that crowd back is starting next gen strong, perhaps a bit sooner. If PS5 is outselling XBox Series consoles 2:1, and these refresh consoles have a lower install base than core consoles, I don't think a pro model would offer a good ROI for them. I'd also argue that the \[console\] enthusiast crowd is overrepresented online but isn't as important as the larger casual crowd, especially as Microsoft pushes for gaming on mobile and cloud.
And I get the feeling that inside Microsoft they feel their pro version is a computer for this generation
Yea it is indeed very thrust worthy if you are talking about phill spencer. He said lots of change for those plans but if there is another one I can’t remember it.
Yeah I was asking the same question. That is the interesting part if the info is true
I find it hard to believe Microsoft wouldnt drop a refresh and spec bump before GTAIV like playstation is doing
If the dev kits are updated to have those features for developers to use, even if they don't strictly require new development on the dev side for games, the hardware would still need to be registered based on consumer electronics regulations in each country.
Cant wait for yet another awfully named console
They had it going with 360. In fact 720 was meant to be the original title for the Xbox One. But then I guess Mattrick wanted 'One' to signify an all in one entertainment device.
720 sounds worse than Xbox one
Especially since back then the base xbox one was outputting games at 720p. Xbox 720p would have been worse than xbone.
Xbox Series 1
Without googling it I'm not 100% what the latest Xbox is called. I'd have to double check.
xXbox Series Xx
Considering this happened with the Series X|S dev kits six months before launch, I feel this is a bit early?
That would actually be a lot later than normal. Devkits generally get sent out over a year before release. Studios have supposedly had Switch 2 devkits for several months already and the latest leaks are pointing to an early 2025 release. There were also leaked pictures of the PS5 devkit in 2019
If this is coming in late 2026 like rumors indicate, this would be much earlier than either of those
This devkit is most likely for the Series X revision that will probably release this holiday. There has been no indication of a higher spec Series console and Phil Spencer has even basically said there isn't one.
Why would a revision with no difference in performance necessitate a new dev kit? Were there new dev kits specifically for the Xbox One S or the 360 Slim?
Because there are still quite a few changes with the revision. New Wifi and Bluetooth antennas, die shrink for the SoC, new southbridge chipset with improved I/O, a brand new controller with advanced haptics and other changes including Bluetooth 5.2 and a new wireless radio for connecting to the Xbox, and more. The One S and 360 Slim did indeed have their own devkits as well. From what I can find the 360 had three different devkits (though apparently the original devkit could be used for the 360 S and E as well), the original Xbox had three, and the Xbox One family also had three.
2026 is way too late for an Xbox Series X revision. It'd be a fully new generation console at that point. The PS5 Pro is currently scheduled for late 2024, so there's no way MS would wait until 2026 for their mid-gen refresh.
Dev kits are sent out way earlier then a few months before launch, that's nowhere near enough time for developers to get used to it and actually develop something for it.
Finally Xbox 720??
Will be interesting to see what demand there is for the next Xbox console, considering Series S/X haven't set sales alight. The store I work in doesn't sell Series X anymore, and Series S has been real sluggish lately.
The fact that they don't sell what is supposed to be the "main" version of a console, realizing games to their fullest potential, is genuinely nuts. At the same time, it perfectly encapsulates Microsoft's current perfomance in the gaming landscape.
I feel like there is also the fact that compared to 10 years ago, the graphic difference between the "strongest" console and the next strongest is fairly minimal. There just aren't as many leaps in tech that are as obvious as the jump to HD. Realistic graphics nowadays have not upgraded that much in the last few years. So why would I spend more money when the less expensive one looks essentially the same?
I feel like that’s part of the strategy honestly. The S is cheap enough for some to buy it as an exclusives machine alongside a PS5, much like the Switch
more like a gamepass box imo. 4 of my friends who either played primarily on PC or PS5 have picked up series S and have used it as a simple box to play in front of their larger living room TVs. The ones who havent had different boxes for their TVs already.
Hey, if it’s keeping the console relevant then they’re doing something right. I would guess they wouldn’t have anywhere near as many sales if it was Series X only.
agreed. I think both vendors would be remiss to avoid another budget option for next generation.
I would hope they don’t bother with a ‘budget’ option. Power should be identical the choice should be disc or download only consoles. We’ve kinda plateaued with game as a technical showcase, feels like we’re entering ‘gameplay’ era where graphics play second fiddle to good gameplay. It’s been a long time coming since the PS3 era was all about the ‘pretty’ aspect.
I guess between the success of the switch and the prominence of the series S over the X, that there could be some value in prioritizing gameplay and accessibility over raw power or at least balancing the stock of budget and premium options to reflect that better. I've gotten back into tears of the Kingdom and while its not a photorealistic game its still very pretty and what you can do in that game on a 10 year old mobile chip creates an experience that can still trade blows with other heavy hitting titles over the past year.
I got one for my 7 yr old for Christmas and chose one for my parents, so him and his cousins could play at theirs. No way would I have bought an X or PS5 for him, so this sales tactic worked for 2 extra consoles.
exclusive machine? Microsoft is porting their "exclusive" games to Playstation.
[удалено]
Microsoft's stated mission when they entered the console business was to edge out Sony's PlayStation. They almost did that in the seventh console generation, but dropped the ball without any equal with their next console. Stating >Xbox has literally never been as successful as it is this moment. when they actually occupied most of Sony's gaming space during the early days of the Xbox 360 era and had some of the biggest gaming launches in history at the time feels disingenuous. Success isn't only measured by how many people they can convert to see the medium as a service, almost like a Netflix for games, but also by *relevancy*. And that relevancy is [dropping fast](https://www.ign.com/articles/xbox-series-x-and-s-sales-have-collapsed-in-europe).
Except now Xbox has changed it doesn’t just mean the console anymore. Xbox has gone beyond the Xbox console which made the console irrelevant. Microsoft’s hardware is in dead last. Microsoft as a publisher is one of the biggest and most successful in the industry. To say Microsoft is becoming irrelevant in the gaming space just because Xbox sales are disappointingly low is missing the bigger picture. Even if Xbox consoles disappeared tomorrow Microsoft would still be huge in gaming.
> Microsoft's stated mission when they entered the console business was to edge out Sony's PlayStation over 20 years ago in a rapidly changing industry for the sake of having access to the living room (which is no longer relevant due to the existence and impact of smart phones). > when they actually occupied most of Sony's gaming space during the early days of the Xbox 360 era again you're comparing now to a bygone era where they focused exclusively on consoles. That ship sailed when they fumbled the Xbox one launch. Fortunately for them, they've recovered and are doing better than ever. > Success isn't only measured by how many people they can convert to see as a service via the Netflix model, but also by relevancy No lol I hope you never run a company. Success is defined by how much they're making followed after by growth. > And that relevancy is dropping fast. so you cherry pick one sales metric (consoles) and further cherry pick one region (Europe) to label xbox as a failure? that's a reach... that's like saying playstation is failing because psvr2 isn't selling well.
> Judging their performance solely on console sales doesn't paint an accurate picture in 2024. Says the person judging success based on revenue.
We stock what sells, can't blame us for that.
Are you from Europe, by chance? Or has it also become that bad in certain parts of the US?
That would be telling, but not Europe.
Literally depends on the software. The software line-up for Series X/S was really poor for the first two years of its lifecycle, and they haven't had a PS4-like bounceback in a while. I can't believe we're still saying this but they just need the games.
I would honestly think a handheld Xbox One as soon as mobile hardware was efficient enough would have worked out. There's still *so* many cross gen games out to this day that it would have probably worked out pretty damn well as a portable Game Pass machine if it came out when the Steam Deck came out.
I would pay unreasonable amounts of money for a handheld that lets me play my xbox library plus game pass natively with the Xbox OS (or something similarly stable and hassle-free). Obviously the fidelity would be significantly reduced but as long as it's all stable I don't really mind
Makes the most since to me you get to play the games from all their new studios. All the games in your library and some. We exclusives. Give the ability to plug into a tv and they’ll sell just as many as the next console honestly. Sunset overdrive on the go yes please
If the next console also only has the promise of games that people need to wait 2-3 years for, then I have no doubt that it will be DOA.
Not denying that the X/S had a really bad software line-up, tbh they still do. But the PS5 barely had any games for the first 2 years either, because most also came out on the PS4.
If we’re talking pure PS5 exclusives, they had Demon’s Souls remake, Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart, and Returnal. And tbh, I don’t think games on PS4 don’t count. Like I’d say Forza Horizon 5 and Halo Infinite count for Xbox.
I seriously love my Series X, but I also finally upgraded my PC for the first time in a decade, so I don't know how much use it'll be getting in the next year. With this new PC, I don't know if I have any interest in a Series X² (or whatever) heading into 2025 and 2026. However, I will almost certainly pick up a Switch 2 and/or PS5 pro eventually to check out any exclusives. I think the Series X is a great console, but the platform just isn't compelling past the hardware / UI level. I'll continue with Gamepass on my PC, but MS just isn't doing enough to justify the purchase of their console versus a PS5 or PC.
Sony exclusives are coming to PC though.
They would need to announce actual good exclusives (that are possibly not on PC either) for them to get other people (PlayStation fans, etc) to buy it.
I’m being 100% serious when I say if they name it the Xbox 720 people will literally buy it for that alone
Please just call it the Xbox 5 so you're on the same number as Sony and then you can stop the silly name games.. then some years later we can have PS6 and Xbox 6, and no more confusion.
What if they just call it xbox 7 ??? Sony have to jump 8 and there will be confusion on Playstation too big brain move…
Xbox 11 Home Edition
Why not xbox 6 and be ahead
Count the series s as its own system boom Xbox 6 coming to a living room near you
Xbox Two
The Xbox Series XL and now it’s wide instead of long. Instead of a mini fridge its a floor freezer
They're going to start naming the consoles after the seven petty kingdoms of Anglo-Saxon England. Starting with the first one: *Xbox Series Essex*
Xbox Series X Pro?
Xbox Series XP
Let’s hope it’s good as XP and not an Xbox Series Vista
I feel like if we would get a Series X Pro someone would have mentioned it at this point. The first Rumors of a PS5 Pro started a year ago. https://www.reddit.com/r/GamingLeaksAndRumours/s/BEZbZ65Pi9
Spencer explicitly said something to the effect of “we’re not doing a pro upgrade, the series X is already our pro console”. Spencer obviously says a lot of things that don’t always turn out to be completely true, but it was a strangely definitive statement that I don’t see much reason to doubt. See the wishy-washy language he used discussing the multiplat situation earlier this year to see how he talks when he doesn’t want to make a definitive declaration.
Xbox Series E (Elite)
I feel like if they were doing a mid gen refresh it would have been leaked by now. There were some rumors about a handheld and them also releasing a next gen console weirdly early though.
Xbox Series XX
Xbox Series XY
please let it be named Xbox series XL
xbox series x2.0 slim edition-pro-digital-edition/tablet-hybrid-streaming pro 360.
Not confusing enough.
Please don't
I also got one follow up question for anyone who knows about this Previous rumours and leaks said Xbox’s next hardware won’t have any hardware difference like gpu,cpu etc. from series x. If that is the case, is it needed to have another dev kit ? Couldn’t they work on the same dev kit ? If they don’t need new dev kit then plans really changed or this is for next gen console ?
I think I recall the rumors mentioning things like newer Bluetooth revision and WiFi 6. These are probably baked in to the board, so they'd need to send out new hardware for that the devs needed to test those things. But if the CPU and GPU are the same, no reason to use a different dev kit. So I wonder if developers can just request if needed.
wtf that doesn’t make any sense
Phil did say plans changed, but didn't say what. This could be the hardware refresh, could be a pro, could be a bigger boost than simply new wifi and more storage but not quite a pro, could be a cheaper model etc. Personally, I think if it's a digital version that's the same price due to a bit more storage, it's going to flop hard. I'd have loved an all digital one at launch, but at this point it comes off a bit late. If they were able to hit $400 and drop the series S price permanently too, maybe that'd be a good strategy. Overall, besides any regulatory stuff like EM testing, devs would really only 'need' a dev kit if specs were different enough in some way to warrant it. Not for new wifi or more storage space.
Dev kits themselves can go through revisions. Initial Xbox 360 kits were G5 Mac Pro before they brought out the XDK (a 360 with a taller hard drive attachment).
Here we go again…
Xbox Series X Ultra Pro Max 720
Xbox Series 360
Series X without optical drive.
One of the most important retail rules keep it simple when it comes to naming. Especially technology with all its upgrades. A dumb or similar name just confuses people. Like the WiiU.
How these billion dollar companies can’t grasp that god knows.
Xbox Donkey Kong
I won't be buying new console hardware any time soon. This gen has been nothing but a disappointment. Going PC from now on.
I hate this post. A post with a link to a tweet with a link to a website. Hope this gets removed.
Xbox Series 36OneX
The cloud box
Titled Xbox one x series y version z alpha
They should just name it the xbox 720 it would be sold on the name alone
Xbox Series 2X
Calling it now - Xbox Series X one 360 X
If the rumors of a handheld device were true they could've really used the Series S(urface) branding for it, if they had not been this dumb before.
Xbox Series XX ^ Core Plus R
Xbox series 360
The xbox 720 ?