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00:00All right, let's talk about the Xbox Series S.
00:03This has been officially announced or revealed by Microsoft to be coming in at $299.
00:09A very fair price for a next-gen console.
00:12It's something that I'm very excited about.
00:14I got the news this morning and I was like, hey, that's really cool.
00:17And I share it out on Twitter and I think the vast majority of people were excited
00:21about the price point and what this thing offered.
00:23But there are still a good number of people that were,
00:26not disappointed, but maybe they're just console haters.
00:29But people were like, that's just a glorified Game Pass machine, right?
00:34It doesn't have great specs.
00:36And I think a lot of it stems from the hardware specs on this thing.
00:40It's reported to be coming in at 4 teraflops of graphical, I guess, power,
00:45if you want to call it that.
00:46I think the Xbox Series X comes in around 12 teraflops and this thing's coming in at 4.
00:50A very big difference, right?
00:52That's a third of what the big boy Xbox Series X is supposed to deliver.
00:58And I think the big thing that a lot of people aren't getting when it comes to the Xbox Series S
01:03is that this is a machine that has been specifically engineered by Microsoft
01:07to match the graphical capabilities, the graphical output
01:12of the Xbox Series X in almost every manner except for resolution.
01:17So all the games are going to look just as good and be just as fluid
01:20and be just as next gen as the Xbox Series X.
01:24Except the difference is that instead of a 4K output,
01:27like instead of a 4K target output, it's targeting 1440p.
01:32It's still really sharp.
01:33I mean, 1440p gaming looks so good,
01:35as long as you're not sitting like inches away from a gigantic screen, right?
01:38So the Xbox Series S still has ray tracing, still has variable rate shading,
01:42still has variable rate refresh rate up to 120 frames per second.
01:46The console is decked out.
01:47The only difference is that it's targeting 1440p output instead of 4K output.
01:52And like the difference between the two in terms of hardware requirements is massive,
01:57especially on a console that's trying to hit a $300 price point.
02:00Now, if you look at the reported specs,
02:02the CPU is supposed to be the same between the two systems,
02:04between the X and that cheaper S.
02:06The GPU is weaker, but we're also supposed to be seeing less video memory on the Series S
02:12and lower video memory bandwidth.
02:14So like slower VRAM on the Series S.
02:16Now, here's the thing.
02:17Because 1440p stuff is less demanding than 4K stuff,
02:22you can get away with less video memory and lower bandwidth for that memory.
02:27And same with storage, right?
02:28The Xbox Series S is supposed to come in with 512 gigs
02:32instead of the terabyte that the Xbox Series X is supposed to offer.
02:36So half the storage, but because, again, 1440p gaming instead of 4K,
02:41everything is just a little bit smaller.
02:42Your downloads should, in theory, be smaller.
02:44Your textures are smaller, your assets,
02:45everything about these downloads should be smaller for the Xbox Series S.
02:50So the point I'm trying to make is that there's no real deficiencies with the hardware.
02:54The actual gaming experience between the S and the X will be very similar,
02:59maybe even identical, aside from resolution.
03:02Now, I've always thought that console output resolution was a weird topic.
03:06Like for me, it's never been about 4K gaming.
03:08I've never truly understood why Microsoft and Sony have been so tunnel-visioned on resolution.
03:14Like back in 2017, they were already going for 4K gaming, right?
03:20As if it was this experience that would somehow make the console game that much better.
03:25Like higher resolution would change everything.
03:27The thing is, it doesn't, right?
03:29Unless you're playing on gigantic screens,
03:31the gaming experience between 1080p and 1440p and 4K is not that different.
03:37What does make a difference is frame rate, right?
03:39At least to me, like when you jump from 60 hertz or 60 frames per second
03:43to 120 frames per second, it is massive.
03:46The whole game just feels so much more fluid and so much more immersive when it's fluid.
03:51But Microsoft in the past has gone for 4K as being like the next generation.
03:57But it's so good.
03:58It is so good and refreshing to see them focus on this cheaper variant
04:03that offers what I think is a way more realistic and practical experience for the user, right?
04:101440p gaming, 120 frames per second.
04:14That's like, that's the good stuff.
04:16To me, that's what gaming should be.
04:18Not 4K or 8K.
04:20None of that stuff really matters right now.
04:22It's not just Microsoft and Sony.
04:23Even PC gaming has started to push for 4K and 8K gaming as being like the next generation stuff.
04:29We'll get into it with like, you know, future videos on the RTX cards.
04:32But the point I'm trying to make is that 1440p gaming,
04:36especially if you can hit 120 frames per second, is awesome.
04:39And the fact that this $300 console is targeting that is so good.
04:45I feel like this is probably the best news I've heard about Xbox anything in a really long time.
04:50Because this feels like a product that everyone will appreciate.
04:54Not just people with really high-end 4K or 8K TVs.
04:58Now, I want to close off this conversation with this topic of price.
05:02$299.
05:03That feels so right.
05:05It feels like it brings warmth to my heart.
05:09Considering like everything that's going on in the world right now, the climate that we're in,
05:12to have a console, like a next generation console, with payment plans available for it,
05:17just feels so good and so warm to see coming into the marketplace.
05:22So my take on it is like, obviously, I'm excited for this thing.
05:25I think that a lot of people are going to pick it up.
05:27I think it's gonna be a great device.
05:29But the whole purpose of this video is like, for the people that doubt,
05:34you know, they want to press X for doubt.
05:36People that doubt the ability of this thing to deliver a good experience.
05:40I disagree.
05:41I think the Xbox Series S is going to be something
05:43that delivers something really compelling for a console gamer.
05:47Okay, hope you guys enjoyed this video.
05:48Thumbs if you liked it, subs if you loved it.
05:50I'll see you guys next time.