Microsoft has made it official the Xbox series S is real, and it is a small next gen $300 Xbox.
Here's what you need to know and why Sony might be a little bit worried.
[MUSIC]
Okay, in the late hours of labor day tech reporter Brad Samms dropped an incredible scoop.
The Xbox series s was real, and it was going to cost $299.
Boom.
Shortly after that the Xbox twitter account lit up with what I would describe as an absolutely perfect meme In response, big time, kudos to whoever's running that social account because it gave Microsoft a little bit of time to decide what exactly they wanted to do.
Now that the cat was out of the bag, but in the end, Microsoft decided to hell with that.
Let's just announce everything and they made it official
[MUSIC]
Xbox series asks the smallest Xbox that's ever been made with an equally small price point, especially for a next gen launch console.
Let's hit the Specs.
It is a digital only console 512 gigabytes of SSD storage it's 60% smaller than the Xbox series x targets 120 frames a second up to 1440 DPI resolution supports ray tracing a variable rate shading and variable refresh rate.
Straight.
And there's 4k upscaling for games and 4k media streaming too.
We also found out when it would drop November tenth during the Xbox game showcase back in July that date was when destiny two was slated to hit Gamepass making it a prime candidate for a launch date.
And that's now confirmed by Microsoft in the series as promo video.
As I mentioned earlier, the series asset is going to cost $299 while the series x is rumored to come in at $499.
So the series asked is a direct competitor for the Nintendo Switch now.
And the Series x is going to be a direct competitor for the PlayStation 5.
I mean, this is fighting all of your enemies at once Microsoft.
You guys are like Captain America in that elevator scene.
[SOUND]
[SOUND] God I love that scene.
Anyway, back to the console's.
I will say though I think the most interesting rumor is that the series S and X will be available to purchase via Xbox all access in a monthly payment plan.
So $25 for the series S and.
$35 for the series x. That's a really interesting move if it's true, because one Sony hasn't announced the price of its console yet, and two, you're looking at about $40 a month and $50.
Dollars a month if you roll in the cost of game pass to speculate just a little bit.
Most triple A titles are about 60 bucks on release.
So for less than the cost of that per month, less than one game per month, you're getting access to all of the game pass library and you have a console a next gen console.
That's a killer deal on Microsoft's part.
And the Microsoft says it's going to be releasing all of its Microsoft game Studios titles day and date to game pass.
So you're getting titles like Halo infinite, the same day they're launched, you don't have to wait for them and you're doing it for a lot cheaper than you would having to immediately sink $500 into a console.
On launch day, you can see Microsoft really wants customers to buy into game pass ultimate and cope with something like this where you can also pay a monthly fee a subscription if you will to your hardware That's compelling stuff given the state of a lot of people's financial situations right now because of the pandemic.
Dropping $500 on a console is just not feasible, but paying 40 to $50 a month to have a console and access to a huge library of some brand new games.
Is really appealing and also really doable.
So what does this mean for the other console manufacturers?
Okay, so Nintendo, I think has been marching to the beat of its own drum band orchestra universe for a long time now since the launch of the Wii and I'm not really sure if Microsoft's Series S is going to put pressure on them as a company to do anything differently.
I mean the switch is what it is, right?
But Sony, on the other hand, I think has to be at least sweating one or two bullets.
It seems much less interested in building out its PlayStation now streaming service and making sure that its newest slate of studio made games are on it day and date.
It also hasn't announced that They're going to have an installment plan for the hardware, or at least we haven't heard anything about that not even rumors.
And lastly, it seems perfectly content to just do the same thing.
It's done every single console generation which is launched great exclusive titles and say That's the reason to come to PlayStation, which never change a winner.
I totally get it.
That is fine.
And that's a strategy you can do this.
But the landscape of games is changing so rapidly at this point with the advent of cloud gaming and streaming that I think Microsoft actually has an advantage here a real advantage If you've been on the fence about picking up an Xbox in the next console generation, the series S has to tip you at least a little bit toward yes, right.
Microsoft says we're going to get more details soon, which I assume.
Means they're going to talk a little bit more about that rumored installment plan that we just discussed.
Now, how do you think Sony should respond to a $299 Xbox drop that down in the comments, and be sure to subscribe and check out our previous Xbox coverage like Jeff back Lars walk-through of the project formerly known as x cloud.
Until next time, beginning humans
