I had the series s for a couple years until I could afford a PS5 and it let a working class chick like myself enjoy current games on a budget. I still have it, and while I don't use it as much I'll still admit a series s and game pass is a god send for those of us who love to game but have other financial obligations and can't afford the beefier consoles ATM. (Or a capable gaming pc)
I realize Microsoft is a shit company, but I do think the series s is good for what it is.
Sucks that a vocal minority of idiot gamersTM complain about it "holding consoles back"
These are the people who only have video games in their lives and nothing else
Rant over. Much love ❤️
How is this true in any way?
Explain what you mean?
The games run and look a bit worse, but that's about it.
Even Baldurs gate 3 is perfectly playable and enjoyable on a Series S just with a crappier frame rate.
I feel like the argument is that by splitting the hardware into multiple models like this, manufacturers can actually inflate the price of the normal models further while still getting sales from people who can't afford them, whereas in earlier generations they were forced to sell the console hardware for cheap, sometimes even at or below cost, to compete for users who would then be locked in and buy a bunch of $60 games. That system was probably a better deal in terms of hardware per dollar for everyone that could afford a console in the first place, but especially people that were say, playing few games a lot of hours, pirating, or deal hunting and so didn't pay in as much to the game ecosystem after the fact. And then you either had An Xbox, or you didn't, there was no question of how things would run, and if Micro$oft wanted more market share they had to lower the price for everyone.
The new system is in some ways like Apple's price stratification, and may get more like that in the future, which I assume is the fear. Where the low spec option is a more competitive price to get that market share, but the higher spec options get their prices inflated to what the top end of the market is willing to pay, and becomes out of reach of normal people. just adding a bit of ram and storage to an iphone or a mac, can cost several hundred dollars, much more than the upgrade is worth, but some people need that, or simply can't help themselves and can afford it so they max it out and cough up the $$ which is great for apple, they get to gouge people with $$$ while still getting people with less $ invested in their ecosystem.
In migrating to a pricing model like this, someone is definitely getting a worse deal, the question is just who? Either:
So I don't know which it is, but I think that's the core of the disagreement, are we in scenario 1 or 2? And players who land on the wealthier/poorer side will probably feel differently about each one as well.
Also in the past the hardware and software were so custom that you really needed all of the consoles to be the same so that the experience was good for all players, but now that consoles are converging onto basically PC hardware under the hood, and the market is bigger than ever, they can more easily offer a lower spec option and just dial back some quality settings like a PC game on the lower spec option. This isn't necessarily a bad thing.
It's not the end of the world but its definitely done in the service of making M$ more money, like everything they do
disclaimer: I have never owned an xbox (or playstation) I just think the price stratification bullshit is interesting and worth understanding
more or less what I was going to say