Not really. If you were going to buy an xbox, you would either just buy the cheaper version, the more expensive version assuming its just better, or look up the difference.
It makes sense. It may suprise a lot of people on here but their biggest market is not the people who demand 4k 60FPS in all games and will riot if they don't get it. Their main market is kids playing FIFA and Minecraft and other casual gamers who just enjoy fun games at a reasonable budget.
For that they really got it right with the Series S.
Nintendo understanding this market is a big part of how they've been outselling MS and Sony in the Wii and Switch generations despite being behind on hardware power.
I've been waiting for a game that will be worth it, that I can only play on a new console, and so far I haven't seen one. I'm closer to upgrading my graphics card than getting a new console at this point.
Well yeah, most people are still using 1080p TVs. Your average console gamer doesn't need 4K, nor do they care about framerates. They just want to play games*.
I own a Series X, but I also own a 4k TV. So, for me, it made sense to spend the extra $$$ and get a console that could truly utilize my TV's capabilities. If I had a 1080p TV, I probably would have gone with the Series S.
It's an absurd value. I have two that I just use as media centers and the house. You can also travel with it very easily. About the same size as my switch one you put a travel case on it.
Especially in Asia, which is a shame. My country doesn't has a game pass and no official store. At least now we have a GP on PC, but not on the console yet
nah, this was true during launch when both were constantly sold out, but now that availability has grown this has not stayed linear. the PS5 currently makes up around half of all consoles sold in the UK, followed by switch and eventually xbox. xbox sales are actually down 20% or so year-to-date.
The X is trying to compete in a premium space, long with the PS5. The X falls short of the PS5 in almost every category that a premium consumer cares about, and I don't think premium consumers are interested in value-oriented subscriptions like GamePass.
The S is competing with.... Well definitely not the Switch. I wouldn't say the Steam Deck either. It was competing to an extent with the PS4 and Xbox One, but not anymore. The S has kind of been left in its own market, so this news makes sense.
Maybe the Switch 2 will have some overlap in that market, but assuming it's a hybrid handheld it might still be differentiated enough to leave the S on it's own. Sony has been working on lowering the cost of the PS5 but I can't see that getting anywhere near S territory. So unless something else drops I don't see the S having competition any time soon.
When you're talking about a premium market in particular, I think most high-end consumers who care about the aesthetics of their living room would prefer the official, matching Dualsense charger/stand over Microsoft's charging kit.
The exclusives are huge, especially factoring in backwards-compatibility. Xbox is undoubtedly a better value if you already have a library of older Xbox games or you are shopping used. But if you divide consumers up into Budget, Value, and Premium tiers, I don't think the Premium tier consumers care about playing games that old. The PS4 had way more big-budget AAA exclusives than the Xbox One did, so I think PlayStation has the advantage there.
Weirdly, I think there's some dissonance with this around disc drives. I would think premium consumers would care less about physical media: they aren't buying used games and probably have concerns for the aesthetic of storing physical media. I personally prefer physical media, but I consider myself a value consumer who has no qualms buying used and can handle a little bit of clutter. So I think disc drive versions are valued less by the premium segment, but costs more to manufacture. So I think that boosts the sales of the diaclsss PS5. Premium consumers aren't interested in the Series S at all though, so if they do go Xbox they just get the X and don't use the drive. I kind of wonder how the market will react if the rumors of Sony selling an external drive end up true.
The S is a stellar emulation box that doesn't need to be jailbroken. It's a hell of a lot easier to configure than a custom Linux distro like RetroPie and the hardware packs a punch. I don't own one, but I'd be more likely to buy a series S than a PS5 or series X.