Xbox Series X
Price: £449 (inc VAT) from fave.co/3eRsGXT
The Xbox Series X is a somewhat paradoxical console. It’s the most powerful black box Microsoft has ever produced to play games on, launched at the same time the company keeps saying that hardware doesn’t matter, and all Xboxes are created equal.
It’s a new console launching without a single major exclusive game – nope, not even a Halo – but instead the promise that it’ll play just about every Xbox game ever made, and make most of them look better than ever.
This is an Xbox that doesn’t really do anything that your current Xbox doesn’t. But it will do most things better, faster, and at more frames per second (if you have one of the few TVs that supports over 60fps, that is). For a major new console that makes it an oddly niche proposition. Oh, and it looks a bit like a fridge. Did I mention that yet?
DESIGN
Microsoft has nailed the look of the Xbox Series X – which is a good thing, because by virtue of its sheer size this is a console you’re likely going to have to look at a lot.
A large cuboid, measuring 301x151x151mm, the Xbox Series X is big. But not only is it big – because of the boxy design, reminiscent of a desktop PC tower, it’s the wrong shape to fit into most TV cabinets or entertainment centres. If you’re like me and prefer to tuck your consoles away, this is a problem: the Series X does not tuck. Unless your shelves are enormous, this is a console destined to sit on show, right next to your TV, whether you like it or not.
With that in mind, it’s a relief that Microsoft opted for a design that’s basically just a big black box. Interrupted only by a disc
