The Xbox Series S Lost Its Place
So, on May 1st, Microsoft announced a bunch of price increases for their systems and games, and I’m super bummed about it. In part, this is because I am broke, and video games already cost an arm and a leg. Mostly, though, it’s because I think that the Xbox Series S was the most accessible way to play current gen games up until now, and it had a place because of that. I don’t think it does anymore.
Who is the Xbox Series S for, and What Is It?
Let’s start with who the Series S is for, and what it actually is. The system isn’t designed for power users. It’s mostly for more casual folks, or people who can’t afford a $500 console. That was the intention from the start, and the original price reflected that sentiment. It was made to be a little brother to the more powerful Xbox Series X.
Of course, if you’re reading this blog post about video games, you probably already know a general rundown of what the Xbox Series S is; a cheap and compact Xbox system. There’s been this notion online that the Series S holds back modern gaming, but I disagree, and I think it’s a good thing that developers have to lower some system requirements to get games working on mid-range PCs and lower end devices like the Steam Deck.
The Compromises!
Performance wise, the pint-sized Xbox was designed to be a mostly 1080p to 1440p machine. The vast majority of games will only run at those resolutions, and sometimes the frame-rate will even be cut in half to just 30 from a full 60. For the price at launch, this was fine, but as this is a semi-review of where the system stands in the current day, I don't know if the performance cuts it for how much Microsoft expects customers to pay.
Like I said before, the people buying this thing are casual gamers, and probably won't have it hooked up to a 4K TV. Even if they did, they’re not going to care if the image is slightly blurrier. As someone who owns an Xbox Series S, I can tell you right now that I honestly couldn't care less that it’s not in 4K. I’ve used the system on a 1440p monitor and the games still look fine, and right now I’ve got it hooked up to a regular old 1080p TV in my bedroom. Plus, games like Fortnite, Doom Eternal, the Call of Duty titles, a lot of the modern Resident Evil games, Gears 5, Apex Legends, and many other games support 120 fps on the Xbox Series S. It’s no pushover, technically, but its also not gonna be amazing or mind-blowing on a big screen. Just to reiterate, this machine was made as a lower end device designed for folks who don't want to blow their paycheck away on a video-game system. That intention is sort of redundant now.
Storage is another compromise with the system. Owners of the Series S are stuck with 512 gigs unless they shell out a disproportionate amount of money to upgrade the storage. This also isn’t a big deal if you’re not really installing a ton of games. I’ve got six titles on my Series S right now, and I don’t see myself downloading any more until I finish a game and delete it. I promise, it’s not as big of a problem as some of the tech enthusiasts make it out to be, and you can always upgrade your storage down the line if you decide that 512 gigabytes isn’t enough.
So, It's Simply Not Worth It Anymore
The Xbox Series S is a compromised system, no doubt. However, its price made those compromises reasonable, up until now. You used to be able to get it brand new for $300 bucks. That’s a great price. For that, you got a machine that runs all of the newest games reasonably, and has access to the ginormous Game Pass library. In a little bit, that won’t be the case anymore. It’ll be $380 for the base model. That’s way too much. This thing is priced like a premium console from five years ago, which is wild. Honestly, I got my Xbox as a gift, but you can find them used for like $200 on Facebook Marketplace or eBay, and that’ll be bound to change soon with these new prices. I personally don’t think it has a place on store shelves for most people now. I think that folks wanting to buy a console to play casual games will just stick with their last gen systems or even go buy a used PS4 or Xbox One, and the folks like me who want a compact and cheap console will go get the system used.
I wouldn’t suggest paying nearly $400 for the Xbox Series S. Your money is better spent saving for the big consoles or buying a used system now. Don’t get me wrong, I love this little machine. It’s neat, it fits nicely on my desk, it runs games reasonably well considering the size of it, and the price WAS great. Now, I don’t know. I'd say skip the console if you're getting it new. Buy it second-hand, or save for something better.