wraggster
November 11th, 2020, 16:15
Traditionally, the start of a new console generation is a hard reset.
You bring home your expensive new game box with, at most, a handful of launch titles. Your previous console and all its games begin to collect dust -- assuming you haven't already traded them in. Out with the old, in with the new.
Compare that to when you upgrade your phone. Everything is backed up to your computer or the cloud, you swap SIM cards, go through the usual setup process, download that backup -- and pick up exactly where you left off. Your photos, music, podcasts and apps are all present. Yes, there are a couple of shiny new features to get excited about, but your new phone has essentially replicated your old one rather than completely replaced it.
Setting up my Xbox Series X felt exactly the same -- especially using the Xbox smartphone app to do the set-up while updates were downloading. As soon as that's done, it was like I was playing my Xbox One X. Same settings, same library of titles, same everything. Even the UI is the same -- although that's mostly because Microsoft, like mobile platform holders, iterates on its interface separate from hardware releases and did so just ahead of launch.
The 'next' of this next-gen machine is far more subtle and offers a sense of continuity never experienced with any previous console
So, thanks to cloud saves, I could just dive into the game I was playing on my previous Xbox the day, week, or even year before and continue where I left off. Just with a bigger box and a slightly tweaked controller.
The 'next' of this next-gen machine is far more subtle and offers a sense of continuity never experienced with any previous console.
https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2020-11-11-xbox-series-x-s-is-the-beginning-of-the-end-for-console-generations-analysis
You bring home your expensive new game box with, at most, a handful of launch titles. Your previous console and all its games begin to collect dust -- assuming you haven't already traded them in. Out with the old, in with the new.
Compare that to when you upgrade your phone. Everything is backed up to your computer or the cloud, you swap SIM cards, go through the usual setup process, download that backup -- and pick up exactly where you left off. Your photos, music, podcasts and apps are all present. Yes, there are a couple of shiny new features to get excited about, but your new phone has essentially replicated your old one rather than completely replaced it.
Setting up my Xbox Series X felt exactly the same -- especially using the Xbox smartphone app to do the set-up while updates were downloading. As soon as that's done, it was like I was playing my Xbox One X. Same settings, same library of titles, same everything. Even the UI is the same -- although that's mostly because Microsoft, like mobile platform holders, iterates on its interface separate from hardware releases and did so just ahead of launch.
The 'next' of this next-gen machine is far more subtle and offers a sense of continuity never experienced with any previous console
So, thanks to cloud saves, I could just dive into the game I was playing on my previous Xbox the day, week, or even year before and continue where I left off. Just with a bigger box and a slightly tweaked controller.
The 'next' of this next-gen machine is far more subtle and offers a sense of continuity never experienced with any previous console.
https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2020-11-11-xbox-series-x-s-is-the-beginning-of-the-end-for-console-generations-analysis