What Is This New Xbox, And Why Is It Sad?
Call me old-fashioned, but the idea of a gaming console with no cartridge slot, disk tray or possibility of playing a physical copy of a game is enough to make me clutch my alphabetically arranged game folder close to my chest. That’s exactly what the Xbox One S All-Digital console is – the same console you know, but without a disc drive.
However, I am of the gaming generation that was once accustomed to blowing violently into a Nintendo 64’s cartridge slot, desperately trying to clear the hole of dust and obstructions. And I do love Netflix. So maybe I’m more ready for this brave, new digital world than I think.
Why release an Xbox that can’t play physical games?
Microsoft says it’s responding to the market, including the popularity of all-digital entertainment services such as Netflix and the company’s own Xbox Game Pass. It is like Netflix for gaming, allowing members to download and play a rotating list of more than 100 games for $10.95 per month. But where does that leave me and my collection of hard-copy games that date back to the original Xbox? Will I still be able to play my Knights of the Old Republic game?
Side note – you’d have thought that a company the size of Microsoft would have figured out that the acronym of their shiny new console name is Xbox One SAD… let’s hope sadness isn’t all the console has me feeling. For this reason, I will give the Xbox One S All-Digital a rating based on how sad – if at all – it makes me feel.
Setting up the Xbox One S All-Digital
The gear is easy to set up. However, you should be prepared for extensive software updates and install times. Maybe it’s my choice of internet service provider, or perhaps it’s that Australia’s internet speeds aren’t even in the global top 50 countries, but it took my Xbox One SAD almost 30 minutes to install updates fresh from the box. Then it took two whole hours to install one of the three games included in the box: Sea of Thieves (the other two are Forza Horizon 3 and Minecraft). Yay, internet!
Trying to be clever, I set a timer intending to catalogue how quick the console is to set up. In reality, I became bored with waiting, walked away, tidied my house, changed the sheets on my bed, bathed my dog, took a nap, then came back to Sea of Thieves ready to play.
This is Arthur, he is clean.
I’ve just now remembered to switch my timer off and it reads 24 hours, 24 minutes, 51 seconds. Think of that what you will.
SAD rating: Sad.
Gameplay
Playing Sea of Thieves and Forza Horizon 3 (install time: 3 hours – I watched some Sense8 on the console’s Netflix app, yes hello from 2015) feels exactly the same as playing on my original Xbox One console. Pretty seamless! Great visuals! Engaging gameplay! Nice.
What I struggled with were the actual games. I’m usually a fan of sweeping RPGs I can sink into, such as Elder Scrolls or Mass Effect and Zelda: Breath of the Wild is (imho) one of the best games ever made. So the jump to an online multiplayer and a game where you race schmick cars (technical term) wasn’t ever going to be smooth.
Launching into Sea of Thieves – with zero instruction on how to play, with minimal experience of playing games with randoms online was… challenging. I was immediately killed four times by the first skeleton I encountered. Three randomly assigned team members quickly abandoned my digital ship once they figured out I was just… really bad at this.
Similarly, with Forza Horizon 3, I don’t think I was supposed to bang up my Ferrari (is that what it was?) that much, but I did win one race?
My take from this is that while the Xbox One S All-Digital won’t make me a better gamer, it runs games just as well as my original Xbox One. This is pretty great given it’s much smaller, lighter and noticeably quieter while running games.
Of course, the machine has all the home entertainment options of the original Xbox One console such as YouTube, ABC iView, Stan, SBS and so on.
SAD rating: Not sad!
Backwards compatibility
So having settled into using my console for supplied games, I figured I’d explore my back catalogue. The Xbox One All-Digital does have backwards compatibility. However, I quickly discovered this will not work for physical games I already own. For those to work, there needs to be a disc drive. Goodbye Bastilla Shan.
The good news is that there are still some ridiculous 576-ish games from the Xbox back catalogue that are available, including Knights of the Old Republic, if I were to want to buy it (hmm…). Add to that the Xbox Game Pass, and you’ll have no shortage of games to play.
SAD rating: Quite sad.
Is an Xbox with no disc drive worth it?
Despite my personal gripes with the system, the Xbox One All-Digital feels like a step in the right direction for Microsoft. More and more, the gaming landscape will evolve to be more online-based and move away from discs.
This would make an excellent first Xbox for someone coming into the gaming landscape right now, but isn’t quite right for those looking to upgrade or replace their existing Xbox console. Without owning physical Xbox One games, not to mention older games, joining the Xbox brigade with the Xbox One S All-Digital would be great.
Except that Microsoft has listed the digital console for only $50 less than a bundle including the same device with a disc drive. Why not buy that one just in case?
SAD rating: Not sad, but could be happier.
The Xbox One S All-Digital is available for preorder for $349 from today, July 22. It launches officially on August 1. Find out more here.
(All images: Xbox)