If you were to ask anybody if they play games, you will very likely get an affirmative answer. Everybody has played at least one game in their lives. It may not be a video game, but it is a game of some sort. Gamers are simultaneously the same and unique. We are all the same because we have all had triumphs and heartbreaks, while playing a game. We have all felt the anticipation of a new game, and the let down when a game did not live up to our expectations. We have all been frustrated and elated all while playing games.

Even though we have all felt those experiences, none of us have had the exact same overall experiences when it comes to games. We all have different favorite types of games, games we have played, and even when, where, and what games we had access to and played.

I have played games on a range of devices and consoles. Over my life I have played games on a wide variety of devices, ranging from the Apple II/e to the Xbox Series X. The entire list includes:

• Nintendo Entertainment System (NES)
• Sega Genesis
• Sega Game Gear
• Nintendo 64
• Sony Playstation 2
• Microsoft Xbox
• Nintendo Game Cube
• Nintendo Wii
• Microsoft Xbox 360
• Sony Playstation 3
• Xbox One
• Sony Playstation 4
• Nintendo Switch
• Xbox Series X

I have also played games on Microsoft DOS, Microsoft Windows 95, 98, 2000, XP, and even on the Mac, iPhone and iPad. The games that I remember most will always be ones that I enjoy playing. These games are ones that I have undoubtedly purchased multiple times. Some of these include Super Mario Bros 1, 2, and 3, Sonic the Hedgehog 1, 2, and Sonic & Knuckles, Wolfenstein 3D, Doom, Quake, the entire Half-Life series, Duke Nukem 3D, and a bunch of other games.

I have purchased a new iPhone each year since its original introduction in 2007. Having purchased a new iPhone each year, I have been able to figure out what areas I need to cover in each review that I post about the phones. 

Having owned an iPhone for so long I have played a bunch of games on the iPhone, as well as the iPad. While I do not play that many new games on the iPhone, there are four games that I play almost daily.  Given that I spend so much time with my iPhone, you would think I would spend more time playing games on there, but I do not. For the last seven years worth of iPhones, I written a review. 

Even though I have played many games, across the various consoles, I have never actually written a review of a gaming console, as far as I can tell. So, this is somewhat of a first for me. I have written about the Xbox One and Playstation 4 in two separate e-books, but never a full review.. But I will give it a go. With that, let us dive into various aspects and my thoughts on the latest Microsoft console, the Xbox Series X, starting with a bit of history of gaming.

Brief History of Gaming

When you look at the tech industry in general, you will see a new phone being released at least every month, sometimes even every week, and that is just from a single manufacturer. There are some manufacturers, like Apple, who release their new phones only once a year. There is one industry that makes even Apple look like speed demons when it comes to releasing new products. There are some types of devices that do not get new releases every year, or even every few years. One type of device that meets this definition is. gaming console. 

When new phones are released, they are typically generally incremental changes from the previous versions. That is not to say that they do not make leaps from time to time, they certainly do, but they are just not nearly as significant of shifts.

The same cannot be said for gaming consoles. Typically, console manufacturers tend to release new console generations every five to seven years. The primary reason for such a long time span between console generations is due to development times. One of the factors that contribute to the time is that the entire platform may change. This has happened more than once in recent history. Another factor is that console manufacturers must get game developers on board and developing for the new system in order to have titles available at the launch of the new console.

While console manufacturers release new console generations in longer spans, there are typically incremental versions of the console that are released at some point between the generations. Typically, these incremental versions include additional storage, smaller designs, and other internal refinements. Some of the recent incremental consoles include the Xbox One S, the Xbox One X, the Sony Playstation 4 slim, and the Playstation 4 Pro. The question becomes, what defines a “console generation”?

Console Generations

Depending on whom you ask, a console generation can be defined in a number of different ways. However, there has been some consensus of what each console generation is. The early console generations were marked by significant advances and included things like hardware changes. For instance, in the first five generations we go from the original Pong machine, all the way to the Sony Playstation 1. These generations include going from 4-bit consoles, to 8-bit to 16-bit, or 32-bit to 64-bit consoles. This also includes going from 2D graphics to 3D animated graphics. The first five console generations spanned from 1972 to 1999, while the sixth to 9th generations span from 2000 to now.

Each console generation has its own iconic consoles, below are the big names for each generation.

1st Generation

Original Pong

2nd Generation

• Atari 2600
• Intellivision
• ColecoVision

3rd Generation

• Nintendo Entertainment System (NES)
• Commodore 64 Gaming System
• Sega Master System

4th Generation

• TurboGrafx-16
• Sega Genesis
• Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES)

5th Generation

• Sega Saturn
• Nintendo 64
• Sony Playstation 1

6th Generation

• Microsoft Xbox
• Nintendo GameCube
• Sega Dreamcast
• Sony Playstation 2

7th Generation

• Microsoft Xbox 360
• Nintendo Wii
• Sony Playstation 3

8th Generation

• Microsoft Xbox One
• Nintendo Switch
• Nintendo Wii U
• Sony Playstation 4

9th Generation (Current) 

• Microsoft Xbox Series X|S
• Sony Playstation 5

As time has gone on, the number of distinct consoles being manufactured has been dropping to only a few manufacturers. The first generation saw 888 different consoles, whereas the last four generations have only had three or four consoles being released.

The reason for such a precipitous drop is that a change happened with the second console generation. Instead of having a device being dedicated to a single game, the consoles become platforms with the ability to play multiple games. A significant number of consoles utilized cartridges. These hard plastic cartridges were durable and allowed you to use swap them out easily.

Stating with fifth generation, games began switching from cartridges to using CDs, or DVDs for their games. The reason for this was storage density and the need to be able to store more information than a standard cartridge could hold. 

Another shift happened with the seventh generation of consoles. That change was the ability to download games to your console and not need a physical item to be able to play your game. This had the advantage of allowing you to re-download your games again, as well as allowing updates to games. 

Nintendo has typically done its own thing, and continues to do so by going back to using cartridges for their Nintendo Switch system. There are two reasons for this shift. The first is that the Switch is meant to be portable, so having a spinning drive is not possible. Secondly, the storage space available on cartridges has increased to the point where they can put games on cartridges. The Nintendo Switch does support digital downloads, so you do not need to use a cartridge, but you can if you would like.

As you can see there have been three major manufacturers, Microsoft, Nintendo, and Sony, for the lsat three generations. Each of these manufacturers have their own line of consoles. It is possible that another console manufacturer will enter into the market, however, it does not seem likely.

As mentioned above, gaming consoles are not released every year, there are typically refinements released at about half-way through a console generation’s lifetime. This has been true with the release of smaller versions of each of the most recent consoles.  When there is a revision released, it is typically smaller, or in the case of Nintendo, a bit more powerful, or a different form factor. 

When it comes to console gaming, I primarily play games on the Xbox. I do have a Playstation 4 and a Nintendo Switch, so I can play games on those as well. I typically only play console-exclusive games on those devices. 

Because I primarily game on the Xbox, I was excited to hear that Microsoft was releasing a new console this holiday season. Unlike so many others, I was able to get a console for launch day, although I did have some trouble. You can read about the problems I had here.

Now, that we have covered some history, let us get to the review of the Xbox Series X by starting with the unboxing.

Unboxing

There are a slew of different unboxing videos of the Xbox Series X available. Like this one from What’s Good Games, but here are some pictures of the unboxing of my Xbox Series X.

I have watched a few different unboxing videos, so I knew what to expect. When you open the The Xbox Series X packaging, you are presented with the Xbox console right up front. It is nicely wrapped in a soft wrap to protect the console.

Behind the console is a box that contains the power cord, an HDMI cable, and the included controller. In order to setup the console you need to take it out of the box. The Xbox Series X console is HEAVY, at 9.8 pounds or 4.45 kilograms.. The console is not unwieldy, but it is dense and would be problematic to cart around. So, it is a good thing that it is designed to be stationary. This compares to the Xbox One, which was 7.7 pounds, or 3.5 kilograms. Therefore, this newer console is 27% heavier than the original Xbox One.

The Xbox Series X has a number of ports on the back of the console. The ports include:

• Two USB 3.1 gen 1 ports, using the USB-A style connector.
• One gigabit ethernet port
• One power cord plug
• One HDMI out
• One dedicated proprietary storage expansion port.
• One Kensington lock port

The layout of the ports for the Xbox Series X are pretty good. Each port has its own shape, so they are easily identifiable by sight. There is a nice touch that many users may not need, but it can be vital for a certain segment of the population. There are unique bumps beneath each of the ports. This is designed for those who may have visual issues and need to identify a port by touch. 

The USB ports have 3 single dots on them. The ethernet port has two dots, the power port has a single dot, the HDMI out port has a long bar, and the storage expansion port has four dots beneath it. These will allow you to easily identify the ports should you need to be able to identify the ports without looking at them.

As mentioned above, the Xbox Series X includes a gigabit Ethernet port. While some will end up using this port, many will likely use the wireless connection instead. The included wireless is dual-band the 802.11ac. This means that it can support 802.11b,g,n,a, and AC, at 2.4GHz and 5GHz frequencies. This all sounds like a bunch of mumbo jumbo, and unless you are steeped in wireless connectivity it may not mean much. To make things easier the Wi-Fi working group has retroactively re-named some of these using straight numbers. The Xbox Series X supports Wifi 5, 4, 3, 2, and 1. It does not support Wifi 6, which would be 802.11ax. Even though it does not support the latest wireless connectivity, 802.11ac should be sufficient for most everyone. 

All of these ports are on the back, now let us flip it around and look at the front. There is one port on the front as well, another USB 3.1 gen 1 port that uses the USB-A style plug. There are three buttons on the front of the Xbox. There is the disc eject button to remove physical discs. Close to the disc eject button is the Power button. In the opposite corner from the power button is the controller synchronization button.

Outside of the console, you also receive the power cable, a controller (more on that in a bit), and an HDMI 2.1 cable. This cable is a “Ultra High-Speed” cable because it needs to be able to deliver all of the data to your TV, again more on some of the new technology in a bit. Now that we have covered what is in the box, let us look at the internals for the design of the Xbox Series X.

Design

The Xbox Series X console is a rectangular device, that is 5.94 inches wide by 5.94 inches deep, by 11.85 inches high. When consoles are released there are generally designed to lay flat. Technically, the previous Xbox consoles, except for the original Xbox, can be placed on their side, but it is likely that many use it while laying flat.

The Xbox Series X is designed to be used in either orientation. I typically use my Xboxes with the disc drive being horizontal, where the top of the disc will be towards the top of the console. This is because it makes it much easier for me to know which way the disc is supposed to be inserted. I still buy most of my games in physical format, because I can do what I would like with the physical disc afterwards. That is not to say that I have not purchased digital games, I have, but I just prefer to get the physical games. 

Modern gaming consoles are very much like PCs, and contain many of the same type of components. What separates gaming consoles from standard PCs is that gaming console hardware is typically static and highly customized, meaning that they do not typically use off the shelf components.

The Xbox Series X is designed to have the air flow through the core of the console. In order to facilitate this, on the bottom of the console there is a foot that will allow the console to sit slightly above the surface it is placed on. This foot is on the console in order to allow enough to flow over the internals. In order to get enough airflow and to keep the console cool enough, some of the internals have been specifically designed. The biggest example of this is the motherboard.

The motherboard of the Xbox Series X is actually a unique design with two individual boards. One of the boards has the processor, graphics, and memory on it. The second board has all of the input and output, like the wireless, USB ports, HDMI port, and disc drive.  The two boards are attach to a metal chassis, which lines up the boards and allows them to interconnect so everything works well together.

This is very reminiscent of the 2013 Mac Pro, in that it has a unique layout, and the design of the Mac Pro had air flow over the internal core. One of the issues with the 2013 Mac Pro was that it was very limited in terms of thermals, which limited its upgradeability. Luckily, that is not likely to be a problem with the Xbox Series X, because it is not designed to be upgradeable in anyway, and typically game console generations do not change significantly, except in their size.

On the motherboards you will find an 8-core 3.8GHz custom processor and a GPU that is capable of running at 12 teraflops, or 12 trillion operations per second. To complement this is 16GB of system memory. This memory has two different speeds, there is ten gigabytes of memory that runs at 560 gigabits per second, and six gigabytes of memory that runs at 336 gigabits per second. The reason that there are two different types of memory is for throughput. Some tasks need to be able to read and write memory as fast as possible, so it would use the ten gigabyte block of memory. Whereas memory that does not necessarily need to be that fast can use the six gigabyte block of memory.

The types of items that may be stored in memory are loaded from the permanent storage, or non-volatile memory. The Xbox Series X has 1 terabyte of custom storage. This uses the Non-Volatile Memory Express, or NVME, protocol. This protocol is designed to connect directly to the CPU. This connection means that the CPU will be able to access the memory faster than going through traditional buses. This should provide faster speeds.

While the Xbox Series X comes with 1 terabyte by default, you can expand the storage in two ways, using the dedicated expansion port, or USB 3.1. Each option has its own trade-offs.

If you use the dedicated expansion port, you will have to get the custom Seagate Storage Expansion Card. Using this expansion card allows you to use the storage just as if it were internal storage. This would increase your overall storage to 2 terabytes. The downside to this is that it is not cheap. As of this writing, the expansion card has a retail price of $219.99, but it does match the internal storage exactly.

If you opt to go with the USB 3.1 external drive route, you can get much larger storage sizes, upwards of 8 terabytes. While these are typically cheaper, particular for a 1, 2, or 4 terabyte drive, you are not able to use these type of drives for playing games directly off of. Instead, you would need to copy the games from this drive to the internal storage. While this would be significantly faster than re-downloading a game from the xbox servers, or re-installing from disc and then updating the game, it will still take some time. Furthermore, it will take some manual management of your games.

All of these internals support the whole reason you are using the Xbox, to play games. In order to be able to see what you are doing, you need to have some graphics. The Xbox Series X can output games at true 4K, meaning a resolution of 3840 pixels wide x 2160 pixels tall, provided you have a 4K television. The Xbox Series X is capable of handling high-dynamic range, or HDR, content. 

HDR is a technology that allows more vibrant colors. For instance, lighter colors will be brighter, while darker colors will be richer. This can add more contrast to a game and can enhance your overall game play. If you have a capable television, or monitor, you can even play games at 120 frames per second. This would allow the game play to be even smoother than playing at 60 frames per second.

There are a few different types of HDR standards. These include HDR10, HDR10+, HLG, Dolby Vision, and Advanced HDR. The Xbox Series X supports HDR10, HDR10+, and Dolby Vision. These are the most common types, so it is good to have these supported.

While not all monitors can display content at every refresh rate, described using frames per second, or fps, many monitors can support multiple refresh rates. The Xbox Series X can handle the following refresh rates, 24 frames per second, 30 fps, 60 fps, and 120 fps. The various refresh rates can be used within a single game, depending on the content. For instance, if there is a video cut scene that plays at 24fps, while most of the remaining gameplay is 60fps, the Xbox Series X can seamlessly switch between the two modes, and if your monitor supports it, can adjust on the fly without you ever noticing. 

While video is probably the most important aspect of any media on the Xbox Series X, sound can be just as important in some contexts. The Xbox Series X is capable of handling Dolby Digital 5.1 sound, DTS 5.1, Dolby True HD with Atmos, up to 7.1. This is all provided that you have the proper sound setup in order to support the sound.

With all of this technology in such a dense package, it is time to actually get to to playing some games, so now that the technology has been covered, let us move onto to actually setting up the Xbox Series X.

Setup

When I first turned on the Xbox, as you might expect, there was a day one firmware update. This patch was only about 800 megabytes, so not terribly large, particularly as compared to some day 1 game updates. Yes, I am looking at you Call of Duty and your 135GB of downloads, but that is a different story. This was actually smaller than I had expected, but I did expect an update to be needed. Just about every modern devices will need to be updated as soon as they are plugged in and powered on, it is just the modern way of technology.

It has been quite a long time since I had to set up an Xbox. There are a few different ways to setup an Xbox console. The first is to use the on screen guide, which will walk you through step by step. The second option is to use the Xbox app to help set up your Xbox. I opted to use the Xbox app on my phone. The reason I opted for this was because I have a complicated password for my xbox account and trying to enter this via the controller would be a pain to do. Combine this with two factor authentication and it would probably take 10 minutes to get past the login screen.

When you setup and Xbox, you have an option to transfer the settings from an existing Xbox, or to set up the Xbox as a new console. I opted to transfer my settings. This took a lot less time that I expected. The amount of time was short because the transfer was only for the settings and account information. It did not transfer game data, like I had initially thought. Of course, this was my own ignorance. 

The Xbox app will walk you through all of the steps needed. This includes updating the console, selecting power options (energy saving or instant on), setting up automatic updates, enabling remote features, naming the console, and then finally copying the settings from another Xbox.

There was one last thing that happened after I finished the setup. My Xbox Series X controller needed to be updated. Which is not a new thing, since my previous Xbox controllers needed updates from time to time, but I was a bit surprised to see that was immediately after finishing setup. 

There was one last thing that happened after I finished the setup. My Xbox Series X controller needed to be updated. Which is not a new thing, since my previous Xbox controllers needed updates from time to time, but I was a bit surprised to see that was immediately after finishing setup. 

After the setup comes installing games onto the console. Let us move to that for a bit. 

Installing Games

After you have setup an xbox, you do have the option of transferring over game data after the fact. This is done via the settings. After I had finished my setup I contemplated transferring over the game installation data. However, I opted to not do this because there is a new feature for this generation of Xbox consoles.

The Xbox Series X, as well as its cousin the Xbox Series S, have a feature called “Smart Delivery”. Smart Delivery will only download the assets that are necessary for that console. Let us say for instance that you have an Xbox Series S. The maximum resolution for the console is 1440p. This means that you will not need the full 4K resolution images. Similarly, if you have an Xbox Series X, you will not need to download the 1440p assets. This means that you should be able to save some space on your console. If you have an Xbox Series S, you will save more space than the Xbox Series X, but both consoles should save some space.

Since I was going from a non 4K gaming device, the Xbox One S, to a 4K one, the Xbox Series X, I opted to get the optimized versions of the game data delivered so that I could experience the games I chose to install in their full 4K resolution.

There are two downsides to this technology. The first is that the game developer has to support this technology. I honestly do not know what it takes to support Smart Delivery. It might be as simple as tagging different assets for which console or indicating its maximum size. If a game supports Smart delivery it should indicate “Smart Delivery” on the game’s information on the Xbox console or xbox.com. Similarly, if you purchase a physical game, it will have the wording “Series X” on the front cover of the case. 

The second downside is that it will take time to download the optimized version. Game assets that use 4K will take up more storage space, so they will take longer to download, even if they are compressed. This is due to having significantly more resolution, and therefore being of larger size, than standard 1080p or 1440p assets.

On the topic of software, let us move onto the Xbox dashboard software.

Xbox Dashboard 

One of the benefits of software is that you can update, change, and adapt software over time. The software that is used to handle the non-gaming interface of the Xbox is the Xbox dashboard software. If you upgraded from an Xbox One to the Xbox Series X you should notice absolutely no difference between the dashboard of the two consoles. 

Where you would notice some differences is with the capabilities of the console. There are a couple of new options for the Xbox Series X that were not in the Xbox One S, which is what I upgraded from. These include some HDR options, which are outlined above, and another new feature supported by the Xbox Series X.

Game Play

My old Xbox was an Xbox One S. I got this from my brother after he upgraded to a different Xbox One model. The Xbox One S had a 500GB spinning hard drive that ran at 5400RPM. The fact that it was a 5400 RPM hard drive did mean that things were going to take a bit longer, but should be sufficient for game play. The Xbox One S does support 4K Blu-Ray playback, but not 4K gaming. Even the Xbox One S was an upgrade from the original Xbox One that I purchased back in 2013, because that did not include any 4K capabilities at all.

The first thing I noticed with the Xbox Series X is how fast games load. This was most notable when comparing the load times on Watch Dogs: Legion. On the Xbox One S I could get up, go and grab something to drink and come back and still not have the game be loaded. With the Xbox Series X it would take approximately 15 seconds to load, which was a significant improvement.

There are two factors that allow this. The first is that there is an SSD on the Xbox Series X, and the second is the NVME storage, given that it is significantly faster than a spinning hard drive. Solid State drives, by their nature, are faster than any spinning hard drive. This is because solid state drives can read random parts of the drive, where as a spinning hard drive must seek out a specific spot and may need to make a few revolutions before finding the particular sector.

Now, let us switch to a whole new feature for the Xbox Series X, one that will make aspects of game play a bit richer. That feature is called Ray Tracing.

Ray Tracing

Ray Tracing is a newer technique that allows more accurate shadows and lighting around objects. Say for instance you have a. Desk with a light shining on it. In the past it would take a lot to render the exact lighting that would move while a character moves. You would not always be able to take into account how a player would move. Therefore, you would be more likely to render consistent lighting, so that you could have a predictable result. 

However, with todays technology this information can be computed and rendered in near-real time. This technique will allow for even better game play experiences.  Here are two examples from Microsoft’s game, Minecraft. The first one does not have Ray Tracing enabled, while the second one does hav Ray Tracing enabled.

Not every game supports Ray Tracing, but for the ones that do, there may be an option to turn off Ray Tracing within the settings of the game. This is the case for Call of Duty Black Ops: Cold War. Since Ray Tracing is still new to the Xbox, it may not be optimized and may have issues. If you do experience any, it might be best to turn it off until the issues can be rectified. I have not experienced any issues specifically related to Ray Tracing, that I know of, but that is not to say that there have not been any.

Now that we have finished with the game play, let us switch to how you play games, using the controller.

Xbox Series X Controller

The way that you control a game depends on the platform. For desktops and laptops, you may be able to use a keyboard, mouse, joystick, or another input device. Remember the old ThrustMaster racing wheels? There are some consoles, like the Nintendo Wii and Nintendo Switch that have their own unique controllers, like the Wii Remotes, and the Joycons on the Nintendo Switch. Even though the Switch and Wii have their own unique controllers, there is another controller available, the Pro controller, which has a controller that is more akin to traditional console controllers.

Some gamers are not able to use traditional controllers and instead need to be able to adapt a controller to their needs. For these gamers, there is the Microsoft Adaptive Controller. While it is not covered in this review, it is available for those gamers who need it.

If you were to just make a quick glance between an Xbox One controller and the Xbox Series X controller you might not think there is any difference between the two. However, there are some differences, but they are subtle. 

All Xbox controllers, excluding the Xbox Adaptive Controller, have a number of items on the front of the controller. These items are:

• Two joysticks, one on the upper left, and one on the right side towards the bottom.
• A directional pad on the left button side.
• Four buttons in a diamond pattern, from top going clockwise you have Y, B, A, and X.
• An options button on the left.
• A start button on the right..
• In the middle at the top is the controller power button.

The buttons and joysticks on the front are not the only buttons. There are some along the back as well. These are:

• Two bumper buttons on the shoulders of the controller, one on the left and one on the right.
• Two trigger buttons on the back, again one on the left and one on the right.
• A power port between the bumpers.
• A pairing button to the left of the power port.

There is one last port on the bottom of the controller, an accessory port. This is used to connect additional items like headsets. The Xbox Series X controller also has one additional button, that is in between the options and start buttons, and that is a dedicated share button.

The function of the Share Button can be customized through the Settings on the Xbox Dashboard. You have a few different options. This can be “Record what happened”, “Take Screenshot” or “Start/Stop recording’. Now, the “Record What Happened” option depends on your default capture settings. For 4K game captures you can capture the last 30 seconds, for 1080p, it is 1 to 2 minute, 720p is up to 3 minutes. The screenshots will be in 4K. The option for "Start/Stop Recording" will begin a record when you press it, and then stop the recording. This allows for a more customized length of video, which can save time in editing later. Even if that editing is just trimming the beginning and the end, it is still time saved.

Besides the power port, the directional pad has changed. The directional pad on the Xbox One controller is designed to allow you to more easily hit the up, right, down, and left arrows. These sit at 90 degree angles to each other. The modification with the Xbox Series X controller is that it is much easier to hit the diagonals, or 45 degrees from the standard directional buttons. This configuration can provide for more control during a game, particularly puzzle games or any other game where exact controllers or small adjustments in those specific directions are needed. This is not the first controller to have this type of configuration. The Xbox Elite Controllers have had this type of directional pad.

Having these additional directional options make playing some type of games a bit better and can make some actions a lot easier. Along with the directional pad there are some other changes, most notably to the back of the controller. This change can also allow for a better overall experience.

Increased Grip

The original Xbox One controller took the shape of the Xbox 360 controller and refined it. One of the aspects of the original Xbox One controller was that the area where you wrap your fingers around the back were smooth. While this felt nice, and provided a uniform feel across the entire controller, it could be a bit problematic. 

Imagine if you will, you are heavy into a gaming session, fighting the last boss of a game, you are low on health and barely surviving. Or maybe you are in a multiplayer match, and you are on a hot streak, going 10 and 0, and you need to keep going, or maybe you are playing a Dance Dance Revolution game and you are hitting every single beat perfectly. Because everything is a bit stressful your palms begin to sweat and with the controller being smooth it may be a bit difficult to hold onto the controller and you may end up dying or failing to hit that button at right the right moment.

Microsoft took the feedback about this and with the Xbox One S controllers, as well as the Xbox Elite Controllers, and added some gripping material to the back of the controllers. This would help during those intense gaming sessions and would allow air to flow through the bumps on the controller.

The Xbox Series X controller take this a bit further and adds just a bit more grip material. When I compare the Xbox One S controller and the new Xbox Series X controller, the Xbox Series X controller does seem to have additional grip material on it. I will concede that it is possible that the grip material on the Xbox One S controller has been worn away over time and it might have the same amount of grip material when it was new. Regardless, it does have more grip material than the original Xbox One controller, which did not have any grip material at all.

There is one last item to discuss about the controller itself, and that is the port on the controller.

USB-C

It is likely that many players use their Xbox controllers wirelessly, but that is not the only method. You can also used them wired to your Xbox as well. If you use rechargeable batteries, or the charge kit, you will need to plug in your controller from time to time. The primary purpose of these ports is to allow the controllers to be connected via a cable. 

The Xbox series of consoles have all had Universal Service Bus, or USB, ports included in them. USB is designed to allow a standard physical interface between devices. At this point USB is considered an "old" technology. It is not outdated, but it has been around a long time. USB was finalized in 1996, with the first devices coming out later in the same year. USB really is universal. While it is being replaced by new ports, it is still in use today on a large number of products, including newly introduced ones.

The original Xbox had a proprietary USB connection that was used for the controllers. Since the Xbox 360, the Xbox consoles have all had standard USB ports, available to the end user. These have been USB-A ports. 

The Xbox Series X continues to have USB-A ports on the console. There are two ports on the back of the console and one on the front. However, what has not remained the same is the type of connection on the controller. The Xbox 360 had a proprietary connector that would allow even a wireless controller to connect to the Xbox 360, and would charge the controller if you had rechargeable batteries in the controller.

While the ports are used primarily used to connect controllers, there have been some other accessories that have also used USB ports. This includes the Kinect, controllers like guitars and drums for rhythm games, and hard drives for storage. These are just a few of the many other accessories that have been available over the years.

With the introduction of the Xbox One in 2013, the port included on the controllers was a standard one, a Micro-USB port. Unlike other systems, these ports are standards compliant. Changing to a standard port would allow gamers to purchase any USB-A to Micro-USB cable to be able to connect their controller to their console. One of the downsides of the Micro-USB port is that you need to plug in the cable in a specific direction.

With the Xbox Series X, the port has changed again, but only on the controller. It is no longer Micro USB port as it was on previous controllers, but has been replaced. With a USB-C port. The fact that it is a USB-C connection is actually a good thing, for a couple of reasons. First, you longer need to worry about plugging in the power cable incorrectly. This is because USB-C is designed to be reversible. Secondly, USB-C is quickly becoming the de-facto standard for connecting most peripherals. Furthermore, if you have another USB-C cable, you can use that to charge your controller.

The thing that I am confused about is why there is not at least one USB-C port on the Xbox Series X console. I can understand needing to retain one or two USB-A ports, given that many users have existing accessories that will work on their Xbox Series X, but not having a USB-C port on the console itself does seem a bit strange. As mentioned earlier, USB-C is quickly becoming the go to standard for not just accessories, but for all other types of devices, like phones, laptops, tablets, and other gaming consoles. 

I would hope that when the next revision of the Xbox Series X comes about, if tradition holds in about in 3 to 4 years, that it would have at least one USB-C port on it, if not having all of the ports being USB-C. While it is a minor issue, it does seem a bit odd to not have a single USB-C port on the console, particularly considering that USB-C has been around long enough where there would have been time to change one or two ports to USB-C. There one last thing to mention related to the bundled-in controller and USB-C, and that is the cable.

USB-C Cable

As mentioned above the Xbox One controller used Micro-USB for its connection to the Xbox One and to charge. The cables included with these controllers were somewhat unique in that they included a light to indicate the current charging status of the controller. If this indicator was orange the controller was charging and if the light was white the controller was fully charged. 

The USB-C cable bundled with the controller does include this indicator. The controller will vibrate when you plug it in, so there is some feedback regarding the controller. However, there is no easy way to see on the cable, or the controller, the current charge status. You can use the Xbox dashboard to see the current charge status, but this does require you to turn on the Xbox in order to see the information.

The USB-C cable does have another difference, compared to the Micro-USB cable provided with the Xbox One. It is much thicker. One thing I did notice over the years of using the Xbox One, and the Xbox One S, is that the Micro USB cable would eventually fray and need to be replaced. I have owned three “Plug and Charge Kits” for the Xbox One. I would either buy a new one because the rechargeable battery would not hold a charge long enough or because the cable frayed. Since Micro USB is a standard I could have just purchased or used a standard cable, but the cables included in the “Plug and Charge Kit” was always a longer one, so I could, as the name suggests, plug in the controller and charge it simultaneously. Furthermore, it had the indicator light. So both of these items kept me purchasing the cords. The good thing about having purchased so many is that I now have a number of rechargeable batteries that can be used.

The thicker USB-C cable should provide a bit more reliability and the cable should not wear out as quickly. At least that is my hope. Again, since it is not a cable with any additional features, should it happen to break in the future, I can just order a new cable in the length I would like so that I will be able to continue charging the controller while playing. It would be nice to see Microsoft come out with a USB-C cable with a charging indicator. It was a nice feature to be able to easily see the charging status.

Even though the controller has USB-C, the console only has USB-A ports. There might be another reason why there are so many USB-A ports on the Xbox Series X, and that is backward compatibility.

Backward Compatibility

When gaming consoles first came to market, you would not have any expectation of being able to play games from another console on the current one, even if the consoles were from the same manufacturer. This was the way that gaming worked until approximately 20 years ago, when the Playstation 2 was released. The Playstation 2 allowed you to play games from the original Playstation. Microsoft did not have its own gaming console until November of 2001 with the introduction of the original Xbox, so it did not have to worry about supporting older games.. 

If Microsoft had been releasing its second console in 2001 instead of its first, they might not have included support for the original Xbox, and some may have been okay with that.. However, Microsoft’s second console did support backward compatibility.

Being able to support older console games is not as simple as snapping your fingers and having it function properly. Each game console is its own platform, has its own specifications and idiosyncrasies. Another reason this is not simple is due to the underlying platforms possibly being significantly different between console generations. 

For instance, the original Xbox console was built with parts that were similar to standard PCs. This was chosen because Microsoft knew PC parts quite well having worked on various operating systems that support the PC market for 15 years at that point. Whereas the Xbox 360 used an entirely different architecture. The Xbox 360 used an IBM Power-PC architecture. You would not be able to play games from the original Xbox on the Xbox 360, at least not without some additional work being done to support the functionality.

When the Xbox 360 was released it was announced that it would support some original Xbox games. This was possible due to technological advances that were made in the four years between the release of the original Xbox and the Xbox 360. In order to be able to run original Xbox games, the Xbox 360 would need to emulate the original Xbox’s software. 

When you do any sort of emulation, you will invariable see a loss of performance. Luckily, the Xbox 360 had enough power to be able to play the original Xbox games fast enough, even through emulation, that most users likely did not notice a difference.

When the Xbox One console was released in 2013, Microsoft had made some additional changes. Amongst these was the switch back to more standard PC-like hardware. This would allow the Xbox One to more easily emulate the original Xbox games, but with the different architecture would make it a bit more difficult. This is where the second change coms into play. That change was the way that the underlying Xbox operating system architecture had been changed. 

In the intervening eight years between the release of the Xbox 360, in 2005, and the Xbox One, in 2013, a new type of technology became more viable as a solution. That technology is what is called a hypervisor. A hypervisor allows you to run multiple operating systems simultaneously. If you have ever used some like VirtualBox, Parallels, or Microsoft’s Hyper-V, you are well aware of how you can run multiple operating systems on the same machine at the same time. This is how the Xbox One console functioned. The Xbox Dashboard was run in one virtual machine, while games were run in another. In fact, the Xbox 360 operating system would effectively virtualized, albeit with modifications, to allow the Xbox 360 games to run, even though the underlying architecture were different. The same approach continues to be the case with the Xbox Series X. 

These two changes, back to PC-like hardware and the transition to using a modified version of Microsoft’s Hyper-V, allowed backward compatibility to thrive. Since the architectures between the Xbox One and the original Xbox were similar, being able to run the original Xbox games would be expected. However, since the architectures differed between the Xbox One and the Xbox 360 so much, you might expect backward compatibility for those games to not be present. 

This is where the hypervisor comes in as well as the length of time between console releases. With the eight year difference the capabilities of the hardware improved significantly. Much like the Xbox 360, the Xbox One had enough spare processing power to be able to play the Xbox 360 games without much difference being noticed by the gamer, even when emulated. All of the Xbox 360 games that I have played on the Xbox One worked flawlessly and felt just as though they wee running on the Xbox 360.

Providing compatibility for software is core to Microsoft. However, the Xbox Series X introduces a new type of compatibility, and that is with some hardware. So, let us look at that compatibility next.

Hardware Backwards Compatibility 

Gaming is neither strictly personal nor strictly communal. It can be either one, or both at the same time. It is likely that you will end up playing a game with others from around the world, however your setup will likely be unique to you. One way that you can make gaming your own is by finding just the right controller. This could be a standard Xbox controller, or possibly even one from the Xbox Design Labs, or even a third-party controller. When you find the right controller you will likely want to be able to keep using it. Unfortunately, this has not been possible with previous generation changes.

When you think of Microsoft, you may think about their operating system, Windows, even though the have de-emphasized Windows in recent years, it still may come to mind. When you think about Microsoft Windows you might think about “backward compatibility”. If Windows has anything going for it, it is that it is highly backward compatible. As an example, if you installed Windows 7 in 2009, you could run software that was originally built for Windows 3.1, or even DOS. This type of compatibility is highly unusual.It appears that the desire for hardware backward compatibility has migrated to the Xbox Series X.

Typically when you buy a new gaming console you will get a new controller to go along with it, so you can play right out of the box. However, you may have to buy an additional controller, as well as all new accessories. While some may be compatible, it is possible that some will not. As was mentioned earlier, each time an Xbox console was introduced the previous generation’s controllers would not be compatible. What this would mean is that you would have to buy all new controllers and accessories. This is not necessarily the case if you were to upgrade to an Xbox Series X, or Xbox Series S, at least for controllers.

That is right, you are able to use your Xbox One controllers with the Xbox Series X. This is easy enough to do. It is as simple as pairing any other controller. You simply perform the following steps:

1. On the Xbox Series X console, press the controller pairing button, which is on the front near the USB port. The on/off button of the Xbox Series X console should begin blinking.
2. On the controller tap the pairing button on the top of the controller. This is next to the power port. The one/off button on the Xbox One Controller should begin blinking.

The two devices should begin pairing and once they have paired both on/off buttons will stop blinking and become solid. Once the devices have been paired, you can begin using your Xbox One controller with the Xbox Series X console. The controllers that you can pair are not just the Xbox One S controllers, or Xbox One X controllers,, but you can even pair an original Xbox One controller. This includes any of the stock controllers, Xbox Design Lab controllers, or even the Xbox Adaptive Controller.

There is one additional benefit that this ability has. Say that you are having a gaming party, but you do not have enough controllers. Now, with backward compatibility, you can ask your friends to bring their own Xbox One controllers so you can all play with a familiar controller.

The fact that all Xbox One controllers will work with the Xbox Series X is a great change to see. This is particularly true given that some users have already purchased some expensive controllers and want to keep using them. Let us now power on through to another accessory for the controllers.

Xbox Rechargeable Battery

Controllers since the Xbox 360 have had the ability to be used wirelessly. Even though the controllers can be wireless they need to be powered. This is possible by either using two standard AA batteries, or by using some rechargeable batteries. Microsoft does sell a rechargeable battery with an appropriate charging cable. They call this the Xbox Rechargeable battery. 

The kit for the Xbox Series X contains a rechargeable battery, which fits nicely inside the Xbox Series X controller as well as a USB-A to USB-C cable, so you can use the battery in your Xbox Series X controller . You do not need to use this specific set for the newer controllers. You can use the older version of this set, called the “Xbox One Plug and Charge Kit”. 

I like the Rechargeable Battery kits because they can charge while you play, provided you plug in the controller while the rechargeable battery is inserted into the controller. All batteries will degrade over time, so it is likely that you will need to replace the battery in a couple of years in order to be able to get the same amount of gameplay as when it was new.

Battery Life of the Controller

The battery life on the Xbox Rechargeable battery is quite amazing. I have had the Xbox Series X for about a month now and I have only had to charge the controller twice in that time. That means that I get approximately ten days to two weeks of game play time before needing to recharge. I do not always play the same amount of time eery day, it varies as you might expect. This is likely due to the rechargeable battery being new, but it is nice to not have to charge the controller every few days. 

My experience with Xbox Series X has not been all fun and games, although it has been mostly that. I have run into some issues while using the console. 

Problems

As is the case with just about anything these days, I have experienced problems with the Xbox Series X. The biggest problems that I have experienced, has been the Xbox Series X freezing. And when it does freeze, the entire console just shuts down. Basically, it is a hard crash. This has happened in with more than one game, therefore it is not necessarily game-specific. I have even had this happen while scrolling through the user interface. I hope this is a transient issue that is fixed with a future update. 

I have not been the only one to experience this issue, there are others that have. Some indicate it is due to ray tracing, but that is game specific setting. I suspect it is actually due to airflow problems. I set my Xbox Series X on its side with the disc drive at the top of the, and with what I thought was enough airflow around the console. However, after I moved the Xbox into an area with a bit more airflow the issue has not re-arisen, at least as of this writing. 

I have also experienced crashes of games. For one game it would crash and when I realized it had crashed I would try to go back to the Xbox dashboard, but the Xbox dashboard would end up freezing. Eventually the game would actually crash and allow me to start it up again. Typically, the game took a minute or two to actually crash.

I know that this issue was not related to airflow, because I have experienced this after moving the Xbox. I do have automatic updates enabled for both game and system updates, so it is possible that these have already been fixed, and that they may not re-occur.

I know that developing software is not an easy task, and that any piece of software is going to have bugs. Sometimes these bugs do not manifest themselves until they are in the hands of users. Hopefully, no major issues come up during my usage of the console and I hope that these issues were just software related and not an issue with the hardware.

Closing Thoughts

When you unbox the Xbox Series X you will notice notice that it is indeed heavy for a gaming console. It comes in at 9.8 pounds, or 4.45 kilograms and it is rectangular in shape. Inside the box are the split motherboards, central cooling. Powering all of this is custom CPUs and custom GPUs that are capable of handling 12 trillion processes per second. To help handle the gaming, you get two different speeds of memory, 10 gigabytes of faster memory and 6 gigabytes of slower memory.

In order to store your games and media you get 1 terabyte of storage standard on the Xbox Series X. This storage is a powerful custom solid-state drive. This SSD is faster than a standard hard drive, but also due to the speed of the SSD, which uses the Non-Volatile Memory Express, or NVME, memory. This memory allows the console to be fast not only for launching titles, but also allows for faster load times while playing games. It will be interesting to see if Microsoft introduces even larger storage options for the Xbox Series X in the future, which could add to the longevity of the console.

Once you get past the initial setup and update, you can then begin playing. When you do begin playing you can play the most current games, like Watch Dogs: Legion, Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla, or even NBA 2K21. While at the same time, due to backward compatibility, you can play games from previous Xbox generations, including some games that were only available on the original Xbox console. It is still mind boggling to be able to play games that were released nearly 20 years ago, all as if it were on the original console. 

If you are upgrading from an Xbox One, you may get the game data that is optimized for your console. This is known as Smart Delivery and can allow you to save some space by not downloading unneeded data. Once you do upgrade, for newer games, there may be some new technologies that enhance the game. If the game supports Ray Tracing, you may be able to have even better game play with improved shadows including very realistic rendering of the shadows in real-time. If you have the proper television setup this can make for more immersive games.

You will most likely be playing with a controller. You can use the included Xbox Series X controller or you can use any Xbox One controller. This backward compatibility with hardware is a great addition that can protect your existing investment in Xbox One accessories. So if you really like that Xbox One Elite controller, you can use still use it with your new console.

Overall, I like the Xbox Series X thus far. In most cases, it is not easy to spot any difference between playing on my old Xbox One S and the Xbox Series X. The place I notice the most change is with the amount of time that it takes for some games to load. It is noticeably faster than the older consoles, particularly if you are coming from a console that has a 5400RPM spinning hard drive.

The Xbox Series X is a great platform for gamers. The inclusion of full 4K gaming allows the highest quality of gaming. Once you add High Dynamic Range, or HDR, in with the games you will have the latest and greatest technology available and this will provide you with the best gaming experience that you can get today.

As of this writing it is difficult to get an Xbox Series X, but availability should improve over the next few months. If you are looking to either get into the Xbox, or upgrade an existing Xbox One, you cannot go wrong with the Xbox Series X. It should prove to be a great console for years to come.

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