Xbox The Xbox One - Part 13

[Iceman]

Oh sorry missed these posts. I'm going to log in and check the vids myself now.

 

[Iceman]

well, after I downloaded the video, I used the VLC player on my computer to check, and when I checked the Video codec info or whatever, it was showing as the 4K resolution.

and, when I downloaded it, I made sure to choose the 4K option, which has the largest file size ( almost 1 GB I think ).

so I'm going to assume it was in 4K.

oh, and another thing that I found out about the comparison vid. There might be a bit of misleading there in one scene.

There's one comparison shot that shows the X version of Lara with mud and blood on her face, with the PC and Pro versions both lacking that extra detail of mud and blood.

some were pointing to that extra detail as due to the power of the X. however, I've seen some mention that's not entirely true. because the extra blood/mud is situational, depending on if Lara gets hurt/dirty in game. So, according to them, it should show in the PC/Pro versions, too, under the right conditions ( Lara getting hurt/dirty ).

if that's true, that is a bit misleading ( on DF's part, I guess ). It implies an extra level of detail due to the X which may not be the case.

and it looks like DF was made aware of that one "in question" comparison shot for Rise ( the one with blood/dirt on Lara's face ) and they have updated their analysis with a more accurate/representative pic.

https://***********/digitalfoundry/status/902827675617767424

Spoiler

based on that new pic, you CAN tell that the X DOES offer better texture/detail/clarity compared to the Pro, and is closer to the PC version, even with all 3 now sporting blood/dirt on Lara's face.

so I'm glad that's been cleared up with a more accurate representation.

Ok cool The differences on her face at one point and in particular the textures on her jacket were really impressive. I really enjoy these comparison videos.
Much better watching them through the big TV than on a laptop too!

 

[X Knight]

Ok cool The differences on her face at one point and in particular the textures on her jacket were really impressive. I really enjoy these comparison videos.
Much better watching them through the big TV than on a laptop too!

but even on a laptop, you can tell the difference in that newly released comparison pic.

oh, and just a heads up, apparently there's a new OS update going around that's causing some consoles to FACTORY RESET.

https://www.onmsft.com/news/latest-xbox-one-update-causing-some-consoles-to-factory-reset

it just happened to me.

fortunately, it looks like my apps on my internal drive are still there, and I save all my games to my external. so those don't appear affected, either.

but man........it gave me a scare. hope nothing else was wiped out.

 

[Iceman]

That's pretty ****! I was just logged on and it looked fine. Most of my stuff is saved to external too. And I think game saves are in the cloud. Even if my HD got wiped it only took me a day to download everything again (about 5TB of stuff I think).

 

[X Knight]

That's pretty ****! I was just logged on and it looked fine. Most of my stuff is saved to external too. And I think game saves are in the cloud. Even if my HD got wiped it only took me a day to download everything again (about 5TB of stuff I think).

yeah, that's one advantage of using an external.

speaking of which, I really should get an external for my PS4......lol.

and game saves are saved to both the internal hdd and the cloud, I think. auto cloud backup is good. but I still wish we had the option to backup save files to a USB stick.

cuz, y'know, what happens if something ever happens to the MS servers and your cloud saves?

then you'd be really screwed. but if you could manually backup to a USB stick, at least you'd have that as a failsafe.

 

[Iceman]

Having more options are always preferable. I don't think there's many games I'd replay from scratch nowadays if I lost all progress.

 

[X Knight]

yeah, I'd be pretty devastated if I lost save progress on a game I've sunk countless hours into.

 

[Iceman]

yeah, I'd be pretty devastated if I lost save progress on a game I've sunk countless hours into.

I don't think I'd play a whole RPG again from scratch. Not nowadays anyway. That's why when Witcher 3 gave me a choice of difficulties I tried it on the hardest and got killed in the first fight so had to drop it. I'd like to play through again on the hardest difficulty but I definitely won't. Too much time to spend on one game when there are so many other things to check out. If anything I'd go through again on the simplest difficulty to speedrun it and get the flavour without anything slowing me down. But it is a shame to miss out on the ultimate challenge.

 

[X Knight]

I don't mind replaying a game or RPG, but it should be because I choose to do so. not because something wiped out my saves or factory reset my console.

however, even with that, I think there's a limit as to how many times I can play through the same thing.

but I guess it depends on the game.

 

[Iceman]

Walking Dead 1 & 2 and Michonne are now backward compatible. Doesn't make any difference to me as I already own them on X1.

 

[Iceman]

I don't mind replaying a game or RPG, but it should be because I choose to do so. not because something wiped out my saves or factory reset my console.

however, even with that, I think there's a limit as to how many times I can play through the same thing.

but I guess it depends on the game.

Yeah, exactly.

I can play narrative-based RPGs like Mass Effect 2 and 3 but not exploration ones unless it's to try something with a different character or make very different choices.

 

[X Knight]

Yeah, exactly.

I can play narrative-based RPGs like Mass Effect 2 and 3 but not exploration ones unless it's to try something with a different character or make very different choices.

yeah, I'd have to agree with that.

a game like Persona 5 is more narrative-based than exploration, and that's a game I don't mind playing through multiple times. just like I don't mind watching certain anime multiple times if they have good stories ( like Sword Art Online ). And Persona 5 is literally like playing through an anime story.

but if it's more open world/exploration? probably not.

 

[Iceman]

yeah, I'd have to agree with that.

a game like Persona 5 is more narrative-based than exploration, and that's a game I don't mind playing through multiple times. just like I don't mind watching certain anime multiple times if they have good stories ( like Sword Art Online ). And Persona 5 is literally like playing through an anime story.

but if it's more open world/exploration? probably not.

I don't think you'd get the same wonder 2nd time around if you've already explored every inch of the world on your first playthrough lol. But it can work if alternative characters are very different and experience the world quite differently and have different storylines and alliances and enemies in the world. Still the subsequent playthroughs would be much less significant than the first. And there's too many other big games to get through nowadays lol.

 

[Iceman]

Only 2 months away now!

 

[X Knight]

Only 2 months away now!

nice!! hope you enjoy the X when it comes out, Iceman.

 

[Iceman]

nice!! hope you enjoy the X when it comes out, Iceman.

I'll do some S and OG comparisons for you to return the favour.

 

[X Knight]

I'll do some S and OG comparisons for you to return the favour.

haha.

I'll be counting on you to tell me how good the X is, cuz unfortunately, I don't think I can continue the Xbox journey with you, Iceman.

I've just had too much problem, hassle, and bad luck with the Xbox One that I've kind of lost faith in the brand sadly.

Not only do I have a noisy fan and sticky Dpad on my S, but I've also had to contend with frequent forced log offs and Live disconnects. Then, they released the update last week that reset everything, which seemed to fix the log in/connect issues, but now my browser might be busted.....lol. I can't watch a streaming video for more than 5 minutes or so before the whole browser crashes. And if I can't use my Xbox to browse properly, that kind of takes away a key use for it, y'know?

So, fed up, I went shopping for a standalone 4K player over the weekend. After all, my original purpose for getting the S this time was to replace my previous 4K player.

I got lucky and found a great deal on a standalone that I've been eyeing. So I decided to try that out. It's a bit more complicated to setup, but the difference is night and day.

The new standalone is whisper quiet and that makes a big difference to me when watching movies/shows and listening to music to relax. The video/sound quality on everything is nice, too, and it plays all kinds of files including 4K vid files.

After using the new 4K player over the weekend, it's made me realize just how annoyingly distracting that ticking fan noise on my S is. it really is a world of difference.

so, I'm giving it another week. and if the new 4k player continues to perform well, then I think I'm going to return my S while it's still in the refund period.

And if I do that, then I think I'm truly done with the Xbox One. I've given it too many chances across multiple years and multiple consoles, and it's been nothing but a disappointment and hassle each time.

 

[Iceman]

Ok whatever works out best for you. I thought you were just going to try the X for free with the guarantee and return that if it didn't work out? Anyway best to do whatever suits your personal situation.

 

[X Knight]

Ok whatever works out best for you. I thought you were just going to try the X for free with the guarantee and return that if it didn't work out? Anyway best to do whatever suits your personal situation.

I don't think I can hold out another 2 months listening to this annoying constant tick tick tick tick tick tick tick tick tick tick.........lol.

Plus, the deal on the standalone 4K player was too good to pass up and I don't know how long that's going to last. It's cheaper than the S, so if I return the S, I'll actually get some money back, which I can use towards games this Holiday season.

Also, there have been several other factors that have swayed my opinion.

The delay of Crackdown 3, the total cancellation of Scalebound and Fable Legends, and the overall current state of MS' exclusives played a role. There really aren't any big, must have exclusives this year and in the near future that make the X a must have. Especially compared to Sony's exclusives next year like God of War, Days Gone, and Spider-Man. Nevermind all the niche Japanese RPG and fighting games that tend to favor the PS4.

Also, as I said about the Digital Foundry RoTR comparison vid, I was a bit let down. Yes, the X does look a bit better in certain areas, but the difference between that and the Pro wasn't so dramatically huge that it just blew me away. And I feel like we are entering the area of "diminishing returns" when it comes to graphical improvements. Stuff like God of War, Days Gone, and Spider-Man all look amazing on the Pro. So if the Pro is capable of stuff like that, that's good enough for me.

And finally, just from a practical point of view, this past month using the S again made me realize it's very hard to juggle multiple consoles. I simply don't have the time to play games across 3 consoles. 2 consoles with the PS4 and Switch was already pushing it......lol. And I have games for both systems backlogged that I need to attend to.

And just my overall experience and bad luck with the Xbox this gen. It just hasn't been a pleasant experience. There's always something wrong, some hassle or headache to deal with, something that doesn't work right. Contrast that to both my OG PS4, my Pro, and even my Switch, all of which have given me almost 0 issues.

so yeah, as alluring as the X looks and sounds, I think I'm going to pass on it.

after all, as good as the X will be, all Sony has to do is watch and learn and surpass it with the PS5 in a few years time.

 

[Iceman]

4k players will go down in price fast too. But yeah do whatever works. I haven't got time for all the consoles either now.

 

[X Knight]

4k players will go down in price fast too. But yeah do whatever works. I haven't got time for all the consoles either now.

yeah. so many great games out there ( on all consoles ). not enough time. t:

it's all about priorities I guess.

and yeah, 4K player prices have come down fast even from just last year when I originally started shopping for one.

the new one I just picked up was down to around $220. Just a few weeks ago, it was around $270 ( down from the regular $300 ).

that's why it was a great deal I couldn't ignore.

and you know me. I love those deals.

anyways, hope you enjoy the X when it comes out, Iceman. it sounds like you are going to have a great time with it with lots of games to enjoy.

if nothing else, I want the X to succeed to provide a competitive fire under Sony's *** so they don't get too complacent with the Playstation.

 

[Iceman]

Yeah, looking forward to seeing the differences on all the games against the S. I haven't been playing that much recently but will get right back into it after I pick this up.

 

[X Knight]

^ sounds like a plan!!

in the meantime, I've got some PS4 games to catch up with. I've been neglecting my Queen Makoto for too long now.

 

[Dr Lee]

There's a slim chance I might be able to get a XB1S. Bro is hoping to get a XB1X & if he does, i'll be taking his XB1S and then paying him back later...

 

[X Knight]

^ hope it works out for you, Dr Lee.