Why I Can't Recommend the Xbox Series S Anymore
I've been a Series S owner almost since the console's launch, and I've been happy with my purchase overall, as a way to dip my toes into the Xbox ecosystem. However, midway through this console generation, it's hard for me to suggest that anyone should buy one of these baby Xbox consoles today, and ironically, it's not really the Series S that's at fault.
Why the Series S Was Great
In 2022, I wrote How Much Worse Is the Xbox Series S, Really? and the conclusion was that it's not that much "worse" than buying its bigger brother, the Series X, at all. There were many people, I argued, for whom the Series S made perfect sense as a purchase. It was perfect as a Game Pass machine, or if you didn't intend to buy physical games or many digital ones. Those who still had 1080p TVs, or only tended to play eSports or free-to-play games, were perfect for the Series S.
Likewise, it's a great way to play digital versions of old original Xbox and Xbox 360 games for those us who never had those consoles, or are a little nostalgic for them. The Series S is small, energy-efficient, and easy to add to your existing entertainment center. It was, and still is, a cool little console that gives you access to current generation games for an appetizing upfront cost.
Yes, you're limited to 1440p at most. Yes, it comes with well under 500GB of user-accessible storage, and yes, you lose access to 60fps and features like ray tracing in many games. Still, these were reasonable sacrifices given how cheap your overall ticket to current gen games could be. Sadly, not all of this is still true, and that tips the scales towards me recommending people spend their money elsewhere.
Things Have Changed
The biggest change that has made me less of a Series S evangelist is the shift from cross-generational games to proper current-generation games. This has led to a developer arms race where significant compromises have to be made on Series X, leading to sometimes unacceptable compromises on Series S.
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