Dan

we don't know that for sure. All we know is they're not allowed to talk about the new games yet, but whether they have any of them or not is still a mystery.
Also, of course it's about generating buzz (annoying as it is), but it's still surprising they were given review hardware this early compared to the usual 2 weeks or less timeline. I don't think it'll change any minds about the systems though... But it gives reviewers 3x to 4x more time to play with it.
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RichC2

Here's a video of loadtimes, because that sounds exciting:

fujishig

So this decreased load time is using the uber precious internal storage (which I doubt I'll be using much for last gen games until prices go way down), right? Loading from a regular external drive would be the same as current gen?

RichC2

Yep, their proprietary drive vs standard HDD. I assume the USB is 3.0 so you should be able to get improved speeds by using a high quality external SSD (though still not M2 speeds.)

Adam Tyner

Target is sending out 10% off electronics Circle offers to some folks. Pair that with a 5% RedCard discount, and you can preorder the Xbox Series S/X expansion card for $188 + tax (instead of $220).

Preorders and accessories are supposed to be excluded, but this one seems have to have slinked through.

OldBoy

Wait, it doesn’t come with an SDD card already? 1TB, right? What’s the other HDD going to do?

Adam Tyner

More capacity. Around 20% of the Series X' default capacity is spoken for.

Although with a price tag like that, I think I'd rather just regularly purge games once I'm finished playing.

RichC2

Comes with 1tb ssd, has a built in port for an expansion card to add additional proprietary storage (about $200 for an additional 1 tb), or you can use a USB one and lose some performance.

OldBoy

Oh. I’ll stick with HDD and just move into internal if and when I want. No biggie. I’m not gonna spend $200 on another SDD (do you have to open Series X and install ourselves?). My HDDs will be fine.

Coral

It's an external drive - it plugs into a port on the back of the console.

https://www.theverge.com/2020/3/16/2...pport-features

OldBoy

Why are these SDD’s with only 1TB so damn expensive? Seems a lot for so little space...

bluetoast

Because they can access shit at a high speed and are optimized for the hardware. It's custom made, and is basically an extension of the Xbox's internal hard drive.

RichC2

Because why let people use any ol NVMe when they can charge more for it? It should be 2tb for $250 but there's always going to be an upcharge to proprietary

spainlinx0

The type of SSD it is currently using regularly goes for around 200. It’s not a gen 1 SSD. That drive currently barely has a markup, and it’s custom to the Xbox. Now, if the price of it doesn’t drop as prices drop in the years to come, then yes, it’s a problem.

RichC2

Is it the FireCuda? Otherwise, true -- though a $250 2TB NVMe is going to perform close to it, even if it's not 100% on par.

Rival11

Am I the only one who doesn't care at all about load times?

Music

Yes

Dan

I only care when they're obnoxiously long. I don't need to be in a new level in 2 seconds, though... I like to check my phone while I'm playing, dammit.

Coral

I'm the same. And improvement is definitely needed, but I don't have a problem if it takes 10 or 20 seconds to load. When it's over a minute, then it becomes a bit of a pain.

Maxflier

Normal load times don't really bother me, but stuff like loading into GTA Online is really annoying.

spainlinx0

It's annoying when it's something you want to retry quickly, and it's just a long loading screen over and over again. It really makes it more frustrating than it needs to be. I'm very excited for better load times since I'm still on an original Xbox One.

Decker

Clearly you never rode an elevator in Mass Effect.

fujishig

This seems to be up for preorder at costco for members:
https://www.costco.com/xbox-series-x...100691493.html

549.99, bundled with an extra controller. It does however say this:

Michael Corvin

Will this result in skinnier gamers? No load times means no time to shove junk food in my face between levels.

Music

WTF is wrong with you?