XBox Series X / S pre-order and delivery dates confirmed

[Brad Johnson]

Microsoft has confirmed pricing and pre-order/delivery dates for the new Series X and Series S consoles

Pre-Order: Sept 22
Release: Nov 10

Series X: $499
Series S: $299

From what little comparisons I've done, if you already have an XBox One X, the Series S specs are close enough there's not a lot of justification for making the jump. The Series X, however, is a completely different critter. It's a beast. I've always bought my consoles used after the model has been out a year or two. This time I may pop for a new one right off the bat and start transitioning everything in the entertainment rack to 4K over the next year or so.

Brad

[dogmush]

I dunno, I'm torn.

I have a One X that is the release date special edition, and honestly most of my gaming is PC at this point.  I'm not sure that the expense to switch everything to 4k is going to be worth it.  At some point you hit diminishing returns on stuffing more pixels in a given space.

Also, I think I'd have to run new cabling in my walls to get 4k up to where the monitor is.

[Brad Johnson]

Luckily my setup is all in one place down in the basement. No extra cables to run. It'll be a simple matter of unplugging the old console and plugging in the new. I bought a new receiver in May as a graduation present to myself so sound and 4K switching are already in place. Now it's really just a matter of TV, 4K disc player, and gaming device. Since the X has a built-in 4K player, that checks two thirds of the boxes and the last is relatively inexpensive given the preferred 60" size.

I've always run a little behind the times on having an up-to-date setup, mostly for financial reasons. SWMBO and I are to the point now where we can be a little more proactive on entertainment things. TV and movies are something we both enjoy and equipment expense is modest compared to other things like cars, RVs, etc. It's also something with a perpetual return versus one-shot entertainment thing like travel so we're giving ourselves leeway for spending a bit on it. It helps that the setup is relatively modest compared to a lot of home theater setups, though careful component selection has resulted in a brutally effective system.

Brad

[dogmush]

Yeah, in that situation I might jump.

I'd need reciever, cables, TV, and Xbox.  And my laptop kicks a ton of ass for gaming, so the xbox is pretty much just a netflix streamer right now.

If you grab one, let us know how it does with a new game.

[Brad Johnson]

Pre-orders go live this morning at 8am PST. Gonna be interesting to see just how long it takes for pre-order allocations to run out. I'm betting less than an hour. I'll be very surprised if the order systems on most electronics retailers don't crash at least once from the volume.

I've also been doing a bit of self-educating on 4K TVs. I knew that 60-65" TV prices had plummeted in the last 12 months. What I didn't know was by how much. Daaaaang! Even impressive performers like the Samsung Q80 series are getting to be pretty darned affordable for middling budgets. Entry-level units are downright cheap, though picture quality is always in question with these uber cheap off-brand sets.

Brad

[K Frame]

I'm still gaming on my 360 and am perfectly happy with it. I barely have time to use it, really, other than occasionally to game with a friend of mine on the weekends.

[Brad Johnson]

I'm still gaming on my 360 and am perfectly happy with it. I barely have time to use it, really, other than occasionally to game with a friend of mine on the weekends.

You should be able to pick up a lightly-used One X for a song in the sell-off scramble. Do it. The gain in picture quality over your ancient 360 will be worth the upgrade. If you stream movies, it'll up the experience considerably.

Brad

[makattak]

You should be able to pick up a lightly-used One X for a song in the sell-off scramble. Do it. The gain in picture quality over your ancient 360 will be worth the upgrade. If you stream movies, it'll up the experience considerably.

Brad

Will my 360 games work on the One X?

[Brad Johnson]

Will my 360 games work on the One X?

That's a "definite maybe". Some will, some won't, and there's universal rule of thumb involved. You have to look up each game's backwards/forwards compatibility.

Brad

[makattak]

That's a "definite maybe". Some will, some won't, and there's universal rule of thumb involved. You have to look up each game's backwards/forwards compatibility.

Brad

Ah, great. Well, I bought the 360 for Halo, so I guess I better check if they will be compatible.

[Brad Johnson]

As of one hour after advertised availability:

- Amazon has a product page, which took most of an hour to even show up, but clicking "Add to Cart" returns an error.
- Best Buy has a product page but still has "Coming Soon" in place of an "Order" button.
- The Microsoft Store pre-order page lets you get to the "Choose Console Configuration" selection box but give an "Out of Stock" message.

Brad

[Ben]

PS-2 for the win!

[Ben]

PS-2 for the win!

Okay, boomer.

[fifth_column]

Boomer is talking to himself again I see . . . . .

[Brad Johnson]

Took longer than I expected but as of one hour and forty minutes after pre-orders went live, Amazon, Best Buy, Target, and the Microsoft Store pre-orders show as Sold Out. Several news articles just popping up are saying sellouts actually were in mere minutes but back-of-house systems were so overloaded it took that long to catch up.

Profiteering adds have already started showing up on Ebay. They vary from around $700 to over a grand. I can't see why anyone with a lick of sense would pay that when the consoles will be available for MSRP come November 10th.

Brad

[MikeB]

I tried to order today. Had Walmart order all done. Card declined initially. While I’m trying to figure out if something is wrong with expiration date or security code get the text message asking if I really wanted to make the charge and if I text back yes that it should work if I try again from bank. By the time I answered and resubmitted got sold out message. Really this is the time the bank decides is good to protect me! And from Walmart, not like it is some strange overseas charge.

I think I have pre-order from Amazon, but their pages wouldn’t load correctly for a long long time. Says I have active order, but delivery date pending so ...

Stupid the way they do these types of initial product sales.