Redesigned Xbox Series X/S consoles and a new controller coming next year

[Steve]

These leaks come from official MS documents that were part of a court case, but were improperly redacted.

This is the new Series X design: -

It's interesting that they're going all-digital. That seems like it's gonna piss a lot of people off, if there's no version of the Xbox that has an optical drive. That said, there have been rumours that they're going to sell an external optical drive as an add-on, so we'll see. It's hard to tell how big the redesigned Series X is, as there's nothing else there to use for scale, also, it look round to me, so presumably you can't lay it down flat like you can with the current design.

There will also be a Design Labs version of the Series X. so you'll be able to choose from various colours etc., just like with Design Labs controllers now.

The Series S design is staying the same, but is getting tweaks/improvements: -

This is the new standard controller: -

I like the changes they've made here. It has a rechargeable battery, but one that isn't sealed in so you can easily replace it. The thumbsticks are modular so they can be replaced if you get stick drift. Hopefully they don't price gouge with spare parts (they almost certainly will, lol).

The controller is scheduled to launch at the end of May 2024 for $69.99. The Series X redesign will launch at the end of October 2024 at $499, and the Series S will launch at the end of August 2024 for $299; both of those prices are the same as the current models.

[djdiggla]

The redesign on the X looks pretty dope IMO. Looks massive tho. Both it and the current PS are so big I'm not even sure where I'd put them. The optical drive removal would traditionally annoy me but who besides us olds even care about DVDs and discs in general anymore. 

[Steve]

Yeah, it's hard to tell how big that Series X will be. You'd think that with not having to fit a pretty big Blu-Ray drive in the case, they'd be able to make it a fair bit smaller, but cooling is another big issue.

I don't think the current Series X is that big really. It's the PS5 that's feckin' massive: -

I wonder what the PS5 Pro will look like, cos that's due out next year. It's interesting that only Sony are going for a mid-generation power boost this time, especially as MS liked to tout the "world's most powerful console" talking point for the Series X, which they won't be able to do once the PS5 Pro is out.

[djdiggla]

The PS5 is stupid big. My son seemed to think the new Series X was gonna be reasonably sized but who knows. Also is just an awkward shape.

Did you see the court document leak showing that 75% of xbox owners are Series S? Also ready they are about to kill the S. Makes sense. I like that they are compatible but MS has to dump the no disparity. Some games just are not going to be able to run all the features on S and that's ok. It's like when Nintendo did the New 3DS... some games could only be played on it. Tough shit.

[Steve]

12 hours ago, djdiggla said:

Did you see the court document leak showing that 75% of xbox owners are Series S?

Yeah, but I'm not surprised by it. For almost 2 years, the Series X was hard to get hold of, while the Series S was available constantly. Also, there's a lot of people who just don't care about the power difference, or don't fully understand the difference between the X and S.

If MS are still in the gaming business 15 years from now, I would be surprised TBH. They fucked up repeatedly at the absolute worst times. Now that digital lock-in is a massive factor, unless they do something REALLY disruptive, I can see them cutting their gaming division.

[djdiggla]

Yeah it's pretty wild. Xbox and 360 were amazing systems. Really stubbed their toe repeatedly after that.