Nintendo Has Already Disproven the Xbox Series X's main Criticism
Next-gen consoles have finally arrived, and players have been acting quickly to pick the new systems up and see what all of the hype from the last year of reveals and sneak peeks was all about. However, some players who support the Xbox brand have been hesitant with the new console, due to the Xbox Series X lacking the PS5's prominent features like Haptic Feedback and, perhaps most importantly, the lack of console exclusives.
With Microsoft pushing for more and more PCs to offer an Xbox experience, especially through the Windows 10 crossover compatibility, the Xbox Series X doesn't have too many exclusives to the console that aren't also on PC. Thanks also to many games releasing for both the previous consoles and next-gen, the worry is that there's less incentive to buying the new systems when a PC can play all of the new games anyway in addition to titles that never release on console.
For PC gamers, a lack of launch day exclusives for Xbox Series X with post launch not looking much better can make buying a whole new console seem unnecessary. However, this mindset does leave out a huge population of the player community, one that Nintendo has previously shown is one of the largest markets for the industry. Players who often devote less time and money into the hobby and aren't quite interested in the PC rig building and customizing experience are what have made Nintendo's last two record breaking systems so successful.
The term "casual" has earned a level of stigma among gamers over the last few years, but the descriptor is really just meant to point out players who only devote an hour or two at the end of the work day, or a few hours on the weekend. These are the players who jump into the hobby irregularly, looking for party games or multiplayer titles like Fall Guys to drop into for a few rounds after work or before bed, but are less likely to devote the tens of hours required for a game like Skyrim. While the less active players like this don't have much of a presence in online message boards or forums, they are the lifeblood of Nintendo's sales records, and somewhat of a backbone for the gaming industry as a whole.
When the Wii launched in 2006, it brought with it a wave of these players that only really bought the console because of Wii Sports, which came bundled with the system anyway. However, most people who wind up with the console in their home are bound to get curious about what else it can do, and suddenly there is a whole genre of players diving into titles they never would have seen without the Wii's approach to gaming. The same effect has taken place more recently, as Nintendo's Switch console breaks sales records three years after its initial launch, with its wide market of consumers keeping the developer high as an industry giant.
This is exactly the kind of market that Microsoft can reach out for with the launch of the Xbox Series X, offering itself as an easier way to get into next-gen gaming without having to dive all the way into PC building. That's not to say that building a rig isn't an enjoyable and rewarding experience, with career paths opening up every day for fans with a passion for technology, but it can be a large ask for some players. These types of players that jumped onto the Wii when it launched and again for the Switch are exactly who Microsoft is looking for, especially with the more affordable Xbox Series S.
It's true that the majority of players looking for the strongest, most impressive gaming experience available will be more likely to turn to PC than to the Xbox Series X. However, that doesn't mean that the console won't have a market among the players that either don't already have a PC, or have already turned to Microsoft's consoles in the past. Looking at the two affordability options between Xbox Series X and Series S, along with the Game Pass subscription service, and these less active players are looking at a considerably lower barrier for entry than building a gaming rig.
Any PC gaming pro worth their salt will know that the best gaming rig isn't one that has a fancy logo on it, but is one that is built from the ground up with CPUs, GPUs, adaptors, cards, processors, and everything else that makes a computer tick. Grabbing the right Nvidia GeForce 30XX series is only half of the equation, without the right processors and drivers, players might still get bottlenecked at 1080p even though their expensive new gadget runs native 4K. At the end of the day, piecing together a proper rig is a lot like restoring a classic car, requiring tons of knowhow, elbow grease, and sometimes parts that have to be tracked down two countries away over eBay or Craigslist.
This barrier with requiring players building a rig to know the ins and outs of every piece of hardware as it releases is only half of the added expense to building a next-gen level gaming rig. The graphics card alone can cost more than the Xbox Series X, and with scalpers bogarting GeForce 3090s, the price can become astronomical for anyone trying to jump into next-gen right now. For players who are just looking to maintain the hobby, a console is the easier and cheaper option, even if it does limit some of the freedom PC players have.
So, PC gaming comes with tons of advantages over consoles, from being able to customize settings to run games at higher framerates, with higher resolutions than even the highest that next-gen consoles hope to achieve. Additionally, a PC also has easier access to fan-made addons to some of the best games, with mods that let players do everything from play GTA with Kingdom Hearts' Sora to inserting Game of Thrones' Westeros into Skyrim. However, this freedom does also invite a level of risk for players downloading mods from unofficial sources that might include malware and viruses that can inflict lasting damage on a system or steal private information.
Of course, the PSN and Xbox Marketplace have never been completely safe from DDOS attacks and hacks that steals players' personal information, so none of the many options are completely safe. There is a risk to inputting a credit card or email and password into any online system, but there's a lot less risk in downloading a game or DLC on a console than there is for PC, with browsers being a much more common source of cyber attacks. With people out there willing to hack children's games, some players that aren't as knowledgeable on properly protecting their computers might be better off with a console, and both PS5 and Xbox Series X are equally decent options on that end.
The Xbox Series X is available now at select retailers while supplies last.
Post a Comment