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Xbox One S is the Best Xbox You Might Not Want To Buy (cnet.com)

Posted by msmash on from the shiny-but-unnecessary dept.

The Xbox One S, successor to Microsoft's Xbox One gaming console, has begun shipping today. Media outlets, which had received the review unit a week ahead of the launch date, have put out the review. In short, everyone loves the Xbox One S' compact design -- 40% slipper form-factor than the Xbox One -- and the 4K support has been widely praised as well. But perhaps, it's CNET's review that captures the sentiment of most people: "Xbox One S is the best Xbox you might not want to buy." From their review: THE GOOD The Xbox One S is a slick looking game console that's 40 percent smaller than the original and ditches the infamously gigantic power brick. It can display 4K video from streaming services and Ultra HD Blu-rays, and supports HDR contrast on video and games. The updated controller works with other Bluetooth devices, too.
THE BAD 4K, Ultra HD Blu-ray and HDR settings only work with newer TVs, and may require some trial and error. The updated controller feels cheaper than its predecessor. Project Scorpio, the more powerful Xbox One successor, arrives in late 2017.
THE BOTTOM LINE The Xbox One S is the console Microsoft should have delivered three years ago, but there's little reason to upgrade if you already own the original box.It's worth noting that the Xbox One S doesn't support game titles in 4K -- a capability that has been scheduled for the Project Scorpio, another new gaming console from Microsoft. It's set to launch next year.

71 of 114 comments (clear)

  1. S? by 110010001000 · · Score: 1

    What does the "S" stand for in "XBox One S"?

    1. Re:S? by Nyder · · Score: 3, Funny

      What does the "S" stand for in "XBox One S"?

      Sucks?

      --
      Be seeing you...
    2. Re:S? by tepples · · Score: 1, Insightful

      What does S stand for in every other iPhone from the 3GS on?

      What does S stand for in the Xbox Controller S for the original Xbox? Or in the Xbox 360 S?

    3. Re:S? by sexconker · · Score: 1

      The S stands for "Slim", though likely not "officially".
      Hardware revisions of consoles that result in a smaller profile have generally been called "slim". Sometimes officially.

    4. Re:S? by Aaden42 · · Score: 1

      I think it stands for "apple is cool and you Should think we're cool too."

      But I could be wrong...

    5. Re:S? by hamburger+lady · · Score: 4, Funny

      it stands for "slipper form factor", apparently.

      --

      ---
      Is this the MPAA? Is this the RIAA? Is this the DMCA? I thought it was the USA!
    6. Re:S? by malditaenvidia · · Score: 1

      Apple doesn't even make game consoles, go back to macrumors.

    7. Re: S? by Locke2005 · · Score: 1

      Be sure to tip your waitress! I'll be here all week!

      --
      I've abandoned my search for truth; now I'm just looking for some useful delusions.
    8. Re:S? by 110010001000 · · Score: 1

      I don't know. What?

    9. Re:S? by cayenne8 · · Score: 1
      Glad to read about this.

      I have the new 2016 OLED 55" from LG on its way from Amazon right now for my bedroom.

      I had been toying with the idea to buy this new xbox pretty much JUST for the UHD Bluray player, etc...and streaming, etc.

      I was going to treat this much like I did years ago when the PS3 was new, and I'd just gotten a nice new 59" plasma tv for the living room, at that time, I found the best price for a unit that did 3D Bluray and streaming of Netflix (amazon came later)...actually was the PS3.

      Frankly, I've hardly ever played a game on it...I tried a few like Red Dead Redemption back in the day, but I found that the controller has just too many buttons for me, is TOO responsive and that while I used to do great at first person shooters, I suck at 3rd person games...as soon as someone would start shooting me in the game, next thing I knew I was staring at the sky or the ground, etc...I just couldn't figure the controls in 3rd person.

      Anyway, it has served me great for what I actually intended for it....

      I may wait on the next PS or Xbox to see if it is a good unit for viewing media. My new OLED supports HDR and Dolby Vision....and I'm just now starting to research to see if units out there support this new tech too.....

      --
      Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.........
    10. Re:S? by Nidi62 · · Score: 1

      it stands for "slipper form factor", apparently.

      With the Xbox One S and it's patented ability to utilize slippers for warmth, Microsoft has finally brought gaming to remote, inhospitable locations such as Antarctica, Siberia, and Canada. Scientists, native peoples, and bearded individualists wearing beaver furs rejoice.

      --
      The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for it to be pitted against a slightly greater evil
    11. Re:S? by Anubis+IV · · Score: 2

      What does S stand for in every other iPhone from the 3GS on?

      The "S" stands for "Speed". It was even the first thing they said after announcing the name.

      Apple seems to generally try and offer up some sort of an explanation for new letters or modifiers that they attach to their products, such as Steve Jobs explaining back in 1997 that the "i" in the original iMac stood for "Internet", but after awhile, the letters seem to become brands unto themselves. After all, the original iPod had no way to get on the Internet, so what did the "i" stand for there? Or what does the "SE" stand for with the iPhone SE? We assume "Special Edition", but it really could be anything.

      As for Microsoft, bear in mind that they are the company that thinks incrementing 8 and 360 will give you 10 and One, respectively. I don't really expect their product names to make a lot of sense.

    12. Re:S? by Sloppy · · Score: 1

      You forgot the S in my Galaxy S4: I don't know what that S means either. (Or the X in Nexus 5X, but everyone usually agrees that X and Z never mean anything, whereas S has just the hint of legitimacy, that it might mean something.)

      (The answer: Samsung doesn't know what it means either; they just copied it from Apple. ;-)

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    13. Re:S? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Apple aren't stupid. They're not making a game console, they just make phones, pads and TV boxes that happen to be able to play games.

      If you don't present yourself as a competitor, the competition doesn't try to crush you down.

    14. Re:S? by SeaFox · · Score: 1

      it stands for "slipper form factor", apparently.

      I'm sure it'll be a shoe-in for Product of the Year.

    15. Re:S? by guises · · Score: 1

      I'd assume "small." If you remember the Xbox one and it's two controllers: there was the original "Duke" controller, which was quite large, and the Controller S, which was much smaller and designed originally for Japan.

  2. wtf are they thinking? by phishybongwaters · · Score: 1

    They've lost the market to Sony already, so their answer is to try to support 3 platforms no one wants that are almost identical except you'll need to re-purchase 99% of your stuff... good luck with that. i'm just as pissed with Sony before you call me a fanboy, both companies can such a chode for shortening the console life cycle.

    1. Re:wtf are they thinking? by spire3661 · · Score: 1

      " both companies can such a chode for shortening the console life cycle."

      Actually this is a correction for the last console gen going on for way too long. IF they had launched new systems in 2014 like they should have, these new boxes would be just a regular next gen. Quite honestly, this new move is a good thing, it makes the consoles scalable and more like PC. You are less likely to lose your library now when consoles introduce a new gen. IN fact the idea of 'gens' might already be over with.

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      Good-bye
    2. Re:wtf are they thinking? by sexconker · · Score: 1

      Xbox One and Xbox One S are functionally identical as far as games go. Maybe some arty, simple (not needing much horsepower) game down the line will support 4K on the Xbox One S. But every Xbox One game will run on the Xbox One and the Xbox One S.

      The new box, codenamed Scorpio for now, will likely run all the Xbox One (and thus Xbox One S) shit. Sony has allegedly decided to force developers to maintain compatibility with the existing PS4 when they launch their new hardware. It's not known if MS will do the same (or if Sony actually will).

      My guess is that they will both maintain lip service support for the older hardware, but once they see people are buying the new hardware by the millions, the following E3 will result in big reveals for games that can only run on the newer consoles.

    3. Re:wtf are they thinking? by HornWumpus · · Score: 1

      Wait a second: There was a benefit of a console? When? They've always sucked. All the way back to Apple 2 vs Atari 2600.

      --
      John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
    4. Re:wtf are they thinking? by Nemyst · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Seems like you're missing a few elements here. The One S is basically the same as the 360 Slim, it plays the same games in the same way. It's just a small hardware upgrade for a few features. Project Scorpio is gonna be different, same as the PS4 Neo, but both will play the same games and both actually force developers to support both platforms. You cannot release a Scorpio/Neo-only game. Your concerns are born out of ignorance more than anything else.

      Oh, and, Scorpio's gonna drop late 2017, 4 years after the One. That's just one year shorter than the N64 generation, but you keep backwards and forward compatibility here. That's not "shortening the console life cycle" any way you cut it, and it's much better than the frustratingly long PS3/360 cycle.

    5. Re:wtf are they thinking? by Dutch+Gun · · Score: 1

      but once they see people are buying the new hardware by the millions, the following E3 will result in big reveals for games that can only run on the newer consoles.

      PC makers have been making games that scale to different levels of hardware for decades. There's no reason console makers can't do the same thing. And it's a hell of a lot easier when you've got only TWO targets with precisely known specs, rather than the complete spectrum of devices PC makers always deal with.

      --
      Irony: Agile development has too much intertia to be abandoned now.
    6. Re:wtf are they thinking? by phishybongwaters · · Score: 1

      the scoprio and neo are new consoles with better specs, all devs will get those for their SDK and build for those consoles, us ps4/xbox 1 owners will be shafted with low res ports of those games. Once the scoprio/neo hit, no one will be building games for the "last gen" console, which are the ones most of us just fucking bought. So yes, if you want your monies worth, you need to upgrade the console and buy the new games for it, because the ones ported to our "ghetto" console will be the equivilant of ps3 games that launched on ps2 at the same time, xbox 360 games that also were released for xbox. Hopefully you see what I was talking about.

    7. Re:wtf are they thinking? by Locke2005 · · Score: 1

      Xbox One was a decent platform for Grand Theft auto, although it could have used better antialiasing. The benefit of a console is that they are not obsolete a year later, unlike high end PC GPU cards that cost more than a console to begin with.

      --
      I've abandoned my search for truth; now I'm just looking for some useful delusions.
    8. Re:wtf are they thinking? by Locke2005 · · Score: 1

      Some people can do math, and some people just do meth...

      --
      I've abandoned my search for truth; now I'm just looking for some useful delusions.
    9. Re:wtf are they thinking? by phishybongwaters · · Score: 2

      yes, there was. An even playing field. If you and I both had console A, you and I had the exact same experience playing game B. This also leveled the playing field for devs because they knew EXACTLY what hardware components to build for. PCs, even with todays trimmed down hardware options, are a different beast, you simply can't assume anything. That's why I'm old enough to remember having to check if the game supported my chipset, videocard and soundcard, before buying it. The only benefit was the even playing field. A tertiary benefit would be the console life cycle being longer than the pc upgrade cycle, but with asshattery like the neo and scoprio, that no longer applies. And in fact, it also destroys the even playing field aspect as they are saying devs need to support all console versions, but they are vastly different in performance. This is a kick in the nutz to anyone who bought one of these consoles

    10. Re:wtf are they thinking? by phishybongwaters · · Score: 1

      um no, I'm going to be playing low res ports of PS neo games once the SDK hits the devs desks. I agree, they waited to pull the trigger, but I do not call this a "good thing" they are going to try to support 2 different consoles at once, promising the same games on both (simply not going to happen.) so either the new console owners will enjoy crippled games so us ghetto console owners don't feel left out, or us ghetto console owners are getting shafted with ports, that's how this plays out. "IN fact the idea of 'gens' might already be over with." considering I have to buy an entire new console to get the enhanced memory and gpu, i don't think that statement makes any sense at all. But... I see where you were going and I agree 100% with this being a future state of consoles. Consoles as a service, you "lease" the device and it gets upgraded and replaced as long as you are still paying the subscription. you don't buy an xbox 8, you buy "xbox service" which provides the console on a lease basis. MS is already allowing this with the MS surface, so it's logically the next step for consoles. Sadly, this isn't it, this is a kick in the nuts and a demand to spend another 400$. That's exactly what this is.

    11. Re:wtf are they thinking? by phishybongwaters · · Score: 1

      actually your math is wrong pal

    12. Re:wtf are they thinking? by spire3661 · · Score: 2

      Its going to scale just like PC does now, where we support dual core laptops and kilowatt gaming rigs. This is nothing new. Further, we arent going to see the vast gulf in abilities like we did between Xbox 360 and Xbox one, especially large geometry capability. The 360 was so hamstrung for memory that games designed for both this gen and last gen really suffered for it. That wont happen anymore, you wont have huge differences in geometry capability, the only thing that will change is resolution and post-processing power. Like i said, its a correction for past mistakes and will be the last big speedbump for consoles for the foreseeable future. From now on its incremental upgrades with full, absolute back-compat.

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      Good-bye
    13. Re:wtf are they thinking? by iampiti · · Score: 1

      It's a good time to be a PC player but I'm afraid of Microsoft. It's likely they will push developers to develop for UWP and try to get the games to be exclusive to Xbox and Windows 10 . They might also force the developers to sell games only through the Windows Store.
      Also it seems Valve's not really pushing Linux gaming much.

    14. Re:wtf are they thinking? by tlhIngan · · Score: 2

      They've lost the market to Sony already, so their answer is to try to support 3 platforms no one wants that are almost identical except you'll need to re-purchase 99% of your stuff... good luck with that. i'm just as pissed with Sony before you call me a fanboy, both companies can such a chode for shortening the console life cycle.

      Wow. Just wow.

      In any other industry, if they sold as many units as Microsoft sold Xbones, they're be cheering.

      Sony has sold roughly 40M PS4s, and Microsoft, 20M Xbones. 20M units is a "failure".

      Sure it may be a failure if we're talking iPhones, or Galaxy S7 phones, but I'm sure Google and LG/Huawei would love to sell 20M Nexus 5X/6P phones.

      Hell, by this time in its life, the PS3 was not so successful... and yet no one asked Sony to give it up (three years in, the Xbox360 sold less than 20M units. The PS3 was the worst seller in the early part of its life, rendered a laughingstock).

      Yeah, there's a lot of Sony fanboys, but still. (I have both consoles, with both PS+ and Xbox Live Gold service to tie me in.). So far though, I have to say Sony's dropping the ball with the PS+ stuff - the free games seem to be just all indie games now...

    15. Re:wtf are they thinking? by spire3661 · · Score: 1

      "The benefit of a console is that they are not obsolete a year later, unlike high end PC GPU cards that cost more than a console to begin with."

      You do understand that GPUs dont just roll over and die after a new card comes out, right? My 570, 770, 970 and 980ti are all still viable and useful cards. The 570 is much more useful than the xbox360 and PS3 i have rotting in the closet....Did i mention if the 570 dies, i dont have to chuck the whole machine, i can replace the card with a much more power efficient version for cheap? Consoles are what they are, you get what you pay for. They arent a 'better' value, just a different one.

      --
      Good-bye
    16. Re:wtf are they thinking? by HornWumpus · · Score: 1

      An even playing field of suck isn't an advantage.

      Tune your game settings and eye candy and old PCs are plenty playable.

      --
      John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
    17. Re:wtf are they thinking? by HornWumpus · · Score: 1

      Consoles aren't obsolete a year later, they are obsolete when introduced.

      --
      John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
    18. Re:wtf are they thinking? by Miamicanes · · Score: 2

      Is there some hardware constraint that prevents Microsoft from enabling "4k UHD" on the original Xbox One at some framerate supported by its HDMI 1.4 port, or are they just using it as a selling point to try and get people who already own one to buy another one?

      As far as I can tell, there's no reason why it would take anything besides a software update to enable 2160p30 on the existing Xbox One.

      Then again, what I'd really LOVE to see is support for 720p100, 720p120, 1080p100, 1080p120. The difference between 60fps and 90-100fps is still pretty easy to spot, especially in a side-by-side comparison (above 100fps, you really need to hit 300-600fps for the difference to really stand out and be obvious... and even then, it's something you'd notice mainly with peripheral vision & only in high-contrast with fast motion).

      That said, there's another mode nobody talks about that could EASILY be supported by even previous-generation hardware (360 & PS3) -- side-by-side 3D. Basically, some new 3D shutter-glass TVs can take a 1920x1080@60fps frame, split it into two 960x1080 frames, stretch them back to 1920x1080, and display them alternating between left and right at 120fps. Right now, just about the only people who use it are people who rip a Blu-Ray 3D disc, re-encode it as SBS, put the TV into SBS mode, and play it with a generic media player... but there's no reason why it couldn't be used for kick-ass games, too.

    19. Re:wtf are they thinking? by SuiteSisterMary · · Score: 1

      ESPECIALLY especially when you consider that a lot of places will already be familiar with developing for multiple consoles, AND developing for multiple generations.

      If you can put AC4: Black Flag out for 360, XBONE, PS3, and PS4, you can make an XBONE-Scorpio disc that has a line of code that says 'if xbox.GetPlatform=Scorpio then UseBetterShadersAndBiggerTextures=1'.

      --
      Vintage computer games and RPG books available. Email me if you're interested.
    20. Re:wtf are they thinking? by im_thatoneguy · · Score: 1

      HDR might real-time tonemapping with a LUT so it's possible it's not compatible. Also I don't believe the Original Xbox One shipped with an HEVC hardware decoder for 4k streaming.

    21. Re:wtf are they thinking? by im_thatoneguy · · Score: 1

      no one wants that are almost identical except you'll need to re-purchase 99% of your stuff.

      If you have a 1080p:
      $199 XBox One Original

      If you have a 4k HDR TV want to watch movies in 4k but don't mind playing games in 1080p:
      $299 Xbox One S.

      If you want to play games in 4k or VR:
      $499 Xbox One Scorpio

      There is no "repurchasing 99% of your stuff". All of your controllers work. All of your games work. All of your saved games should be in the cloud. All of your movies and music is still there. If you are an enthusiast and want a slightly higher end experience for more money they are giving you the option of turning up the Antialiasing, texture resolution and graphics detail. Most people already complain "The graphics are good enough!" Those people can buy an Xbox One Original. For people who like to turn up their graphics settings... there are more expensive options.

      How much support do you honestly believe 3 consoles is? It's little more than a separate graphics card driver that's probably written by AMD. Microsoft sells hundreds of variations of the Surface because some people want an Atom, some people want an intel i3, some people want an intel i5 other an i7. Some want LTE. Some want 4GB of RAM. Some want 8GB of RAM. By comparison offering 3 GPU/CPU options is practically nothing. Especially since the XBox is just running Windows 10 now. So the ethernet driver is probably just a Realtek windows 10 driver. The GPU driver is a slightly modified Radeon Win10 driver. The USB controllers are probably realtek windows 10 USB drivers. The IR blaster/receiver is probably through the USB bus. The audio is probably a Realtek Windows 10 audio driver. The capture card is probably the same chipset in all 3 so one driver for all 3. The BluRay drive is just a regular SATA bluray drive.

      From a game developer perspective you just create a Low, Medium and High graphics preset in your engine settings for AA, Shadows, Model LOD, texture LOD and resolution.

      Nothing has been "shortened". The console lifespawn is just as long as before. Some customers have just been given the option to have more whizbang graphics and watch videos in 4k for more money if they so choose. If anything Microsoft's commitment to forwards compatibility means it'll be like a PC where all of your hardware and software lasts indefinitely. You should probably assume your Xbox One games will run on Xbox Two.

    22. Re:wtf are they thinking? by jonwil · · Score: 1

      There are enough PC publishers out there that have a vested interest in not going down that road (including giants like Activision Blizzard, Electronic Arts, Take-Two Interactive, Ubisoft, Valve Corporation, Warner Bros. Interactive and ZeniMax Media) that I cant see Microsoft being able to succeed in any plan to force developers to push PC titles through the UWP and hand over revenue to Microsoft if they dont have to.

      Especially for companies like EA and Valve and Ubisoft that have their own stores where they get to keep 100% of the profit and dont have to pay someone else.

  3. Depends on what you use it for... by jeffy210 · · Score: 1

    (Posting again as myself and not accidentally AC)

    Honestly it comes down to what you end up using it for. I have an older 360 that I mainly use for media right now and occasionally gaming. The ability to upgrade to a XB1 which has backwards compatibility for most games I play, coupled with both a 4K video player and a UHD-BD drive for $299 is very tempting. Most new UHD drives cost way more than that (I know price will come down).

    That being said, as a casual gamer and more media consumer, this hits my sweet spot.

    --
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    "And may your days be long upon the earth."
  4. 4K resolution by enriquevagu · · Score: 1

    So... It's a bad thing for the Xbox that if you don't have a 4k TV set, you cannot enjoy 4k resolution... So bad for the Xbox... :/

    (Who wrote such review?)

    1. Re:4K resolution by Calydor · · Score: 2

      Not necessarily bad for the box, but a reminder that if you don't have a 4K TV the box gives nothing new in that department.

      What I find crazy is that you get better resolution watching someone else play a game than playing one yourself.

      --
      -=This sig has nothing to do with my comment. Move along now=-
    2. Re:4K resolution by UnknowingFool · · Score: 1

      Well it's a given you have to have a 4K TV to use the new resolution. The more pressing problem is lack of content. The games are not in 4K and only some streaming content is in 4K. In terms of future proofing, it's a feature. It's not a feature that most can use now.

      --
      Well, there's spam egg sausage and spam, that's not got much spam in it.
  5. 40% slipper? by bj94north · · Score: 5, Funny

    "40% slipper form-factor " Whats the other 60%? Crocs? Open toe sandals?

    1. Re:40% slipper? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      "Slipper" as in more aerodynamic. This version is 40% more aerodynamic than the previous version.

      I was going to pass until I saw this.

    2. Re:40% slipper? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      If only there was a way to see what you typed BEFORE you posted it - that would prevent a lot of these errors...

    3. Re:40% slipper? by sootman · · Score: 1

      "What you submitted appears below. If there is a mistake...well, you should have used the 'Preview' button!"

      Does Slashcode say the same thing to editors?

      --
      Dear Slashdot: next time you want to mess with the site, add a rich-text editor for comments.
    4. Re:40% slipper? by SeaFox · · Score: 1

      "Slipper" as in more aerodynamic. This version is 40% more aerodynamic than the previous version.

      I was going to pass until I saw this.

      With a more aerodynamic profile you'll be able to pass it even further than you could throw the old one away.

    5. Re:40% slipper? by Locke2005 · · Score: 1

      The trained monkeys don't actually follow instructions very well, so it's pointless to even try to explain things like that to them...

      --
      I've abandoned my search for truth; now I'm just looking for some useful delusions.
    6. Re:40% slipper? by Locke2005 · · Score: 1

      The newest, high tech slippers are made out of glass... and only fit Cinderella!

      --
      I've abandoned my search for truth; now I'm just looking for some useful delusions.
  6. Re:Smaller? by tepples · · Score: 1

    Is there anyone out there who'd love to buy an xbox but cant because its 2 inches too big??

    Insane apartment rents in some markets, such as New York and much of Japan, cause people to try to save money by seeking smaller accommodations. This can lead to someone not buying a console because it's too "XBOX HUEG" to fit near the TV.

  7. Will Scorpio have backwards compatibility? by damn_registrars · · Score: 1

    When XBOne and PS4 were released, it was noted that both broke backwards compatibility. Will Scorpio do the same? If so that would probably be the best argument MS could make for people to buy this.

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    Damn_registrars has no butt-hole. Damn_registrars has no use for a butt-hole.
    1. Re:Will Scorpio have backwards compatibility? by im_thatoneguy · · Score: 1

      Xbox One Scorpio, Xbox One, Xbox One S and PC PlayAnywhere games will all be compatible. The latter Xboxes will also play a good number of Xbox 360 games. All games on the Xbox One line are also streamable to a PC.

      All of the hardware is compatible as well and the new controllers even add native Bluetooth so that you don't need an Xbox Wireless Receiver dongle to play on your PC with an Xbox One controller.

      The only difference is that Xbox One Scorpio will let you play in 4k or VR. And Xbox One S adds 4k Bluray and streaming as well as HDR for games.

  8. Re:I don't like charges to use the Internet by Aaden42 · · Score: 1

    Nope. Friends don't let friends...

  9. Re:TV Television TV tv SPORTS TV Tee-Vee Sports by sexconker · · Score: 1

    I'm so glad they shitcanned that clown. I'm also glad the best he could do was land a job at Zynga. 4 years ago they were the biggest things and speculators pumped their stock price to $14 per share. Now it's like $2.80. They're about to be sold off to someone who needs a new anchor, I guess.

  10. The real benefit by BenJeremy · · Score: 1

    Dropping prices for the Xbox One.

    Finally pulled the trigger with prices dropping as low as $199. Considering inflation, that's incredibly cheap for a current-gen game console compared to pricing on previous generations.

  11. Thanks Microsoft! by Locke2005 · · Score: 1

    Thanks for dropping the price of the original Xbox One to $249, right after I bought a used Xbox One... for $249!

    --
    I've abandoned my search for truth; now I'm just looking for some useful delusions.
  12. Re:PCs are better. by Locke2005 · · Score: 1

    Currently, the price of the best PC gaming video card (GTX 1080) is more than twice the price of a new Xbox One... do the math. I would like to see PS4 and Xbox come out with VR goggle support, however.

    --
    I've abandoned my search for truth; now I'm just looking for some useful delusions.
  13. Re:I don't like charges to use the Internet by Dutch+Gun · · Score: 1

    Xbox Live is perhaps finally worth the $60 per year for Xbox one owners, as you get three free games each month (two Xbox one, plus one compatible Xbox 360 game). Some are crap, as you'd expect, but there have been some real gems in there as well.
       

    --
    Irony: Agile development has too much intertia to be abandoned now.
  14. Re:I don't like charges to use the Internet by Locke2005 · · Score: 1

    It's kind of a silly business model. You should either pay for shrink-wrapped software and get free server access, or get the software for free and pay for server time. Paying for software, then having to pay a monthly fee to actually USE that software, seems kind of dishonest to me. People should just pay for server time to cover the recurring costs of running the servers, and software should be given away for free to leverage server time sales, just like software used to be given away for free to leverage hardware sales.

    --
    I've abandoned my search for truth; now I'm just looking for some useful delusions.
  15. Re:Stupid Cons by Locke2005 · · Score: 2

    I'm having problems passing the 4K video through my RF modulator... please help!

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    I've abandoned my search for truth; now I'm just looking for some useful delusions.
  16. Re:Stupid Cons by HAKdragon · · Score: 1

    I'm sure somebody will do it just for the hell of it - picture quality be damned. Kinda like playing Fallout: New Vegas on an old TV.

    --
    "Our opponent is an alien starship packed with atomic bombs. We have a protractor."
  17. I don't mind buying another console by MikeRT · · Score: 1

    What I mind is the incompatibility. I can almost excuse the 360 -> One incompatibility due to CPU architecture changes. Project Scorpio, however, had better run all XBox One games unmodified as painlessly as moving a Windows game from an old gaming PC to a new gaming PC. I don't want to have to have a One and a Scorpio device hooked up at the same time to play games released since 2014.

  18. Re:PCs are better. by zlives · · Score: 1

    how about the performance?
    side note wonder if xbox suffers from https://it.slashdot.org/story/... as its win10 based?

  19. Re:PCs are better. by RavenLrD20k · · Score: 2

    And when I'm not spinning a 1080 or two up to play Witcher 3 in 4K, I can tell Blender to use the CUDAs to render a 4K scene for a few hours. Or I can use those CUDAs to do amateur weather modeling... or hobbyist genome mapping. Couple those with a Tesla 1070s and you've got a nice huge data pipe to parallel blast a few billion pixels and ints all over the place....at the same time I heat my house. I can't wait to turn my computer into a fission reactor using SLI!

  20. Re: I don't like charges to use the Internet by GoodNewsJimDotCom · · Score: 1

    And its not like they don't advertise on xbox live either. They could advertise games, doritos, and even put up their own steamlike store if they wanted. But they also add a giant wall,"Pay us to play any game multiplayer online at all... Yes, we know you get it for free on PC, but you gotta understand, we're greedy. Pity our greedy hearts and pay up." Um no, I just won't buy console. There's not many games I like post 2000 anyway.

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    God spoke to me
  21. Re:Smaller? by Zaiff+Urgulbunger · · Score: 1

    It's likely just part of the product development/cost reduction process... so this is simply the model that replaces the old XBone because it's cheaper to manufacture. It costs more at the moment because they have old stock to clear, but mostly because they want a fatter margin whilst they can get it.

  22. How quiet are these things? by steveha · · Score: 1

    I never got around to buying an Xbox One. My top question: would this new model be quiet?

    I don't like high-pitched buzzing sounds, so I'm hoping the thing doesn't have a tiny super-high-RPM cooling fan.

    And if there are aftermarket quieter fans, I'd buy one.

    --
    lf(1): it's like ls(1) but sorts filenames by extension, tersely
  23. Re:PCs are better. by Locke2005 · · Score: 1

    Running multiple GTX 1080's in parallel sounds like a damn silly idea to me... but yeah, several people with more money than brains is almost certainly going to try it. You make valid points in that the power supply and heat dissipation of the GPU has now become a bigger problem than that of the CPU, and that there are a lot of other things that GPUs would be good for, if only we had software that could utilize them fully.

    --
    I've abandoned my search for truth; now I'm just looking for some useful delusions.
  24. Re:Smaller? by Locke2005 · · Score: 1

    My (ex) wife always said size doesn't matter...

    --
    I've abandoned my search for truth; now I'm just looking for some useful delusions.
  25. Noit following traditional slim console pricing by HalAtWork · · Score: 1

    But it's a slim model at costs more than the older model... Not how it's been done historically.

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    Twinstiq, game news