Xbox One S: A new look, but the same substance - what's Microsoft trying to do?

Since Microsoft released Xbox One and Sony released PS4 at the end of 2013, the console war between the two companies has become a war without gun smoke. However, due to the previous mismanagement of Xbox One, the inherent hardware of the console is insufficient, the acquired software lineup is sparse, and the bundling of Kinect is not priced well, it has been beaten by Sony PS4 to this day.

Even though everyone believes that Xbox One has no hope of competing against PS4, Microsoft does not intend to give up this gaming "empire" that it has worked so hard to build. Today's E3 expo has become the highlight of Microsoft's counterattack.

Emphasize Xbox One's living room entertainment positioning

The entire Microsoft E3 conference was not amazing in the eyes of players. Although it had blockbusters such as "Gears of War 4", "Hitman Academy", and "Forza Horizon 3" launched on Xbox One and Win10, the entire game lineup received mediocre response and failed to give people a sense of surprise.

Even the new Xbox One Scorpio, which is known as "Microsoft's most powerful console", has not attracted much attention. This is mainly because compared with the Scorpio that will be released at the end of next year, the Xbox One S released in August is more eye-catching. Yes, it is the Slim version of Xbox One. According to the official introduction, the overall volume of BOX ONE S is 40% smaller than that of Xbox One, supports 4K video playback (but not 4K games) and HDR, supports 4K Blu-ray discs with built-in power supply, the controller has been optimized for longer connection distance, and a stand is provided to support vertical placement. In addition, Xbox One S will also launch a 2TB hard drive version, and there will no longer be an interface specifically for the Kinect motion controller.

From the published configuration, Xbox One S is not outstanding, but the greatly reduced size and built-in power supply show that Microsoft has put a lot of effort in hardware design. HDR still improves the game viewing experience to a certain extent, but Microsoft still said that other than that, the game effect will not be much different from Xbox One.

But the most surprising thing about Xbox One S is the 4K Blu-ray playback function. After all, as the cost of 4K LCD panels drops, 4K TVs are becoming more and more popular at a lightning speed. In terms of 4K playback, Microsoft's Xbox One S is actually ahead of living room entertainment, even ahead of professional player Sony. The price of the 500G hard drive version is $299, which is even more of a video player among game consoles. You should know that the price of Panasonic's 4K Blu-ray player is now more than $1,000. Microsoft's Xbox One provides a cheaper 4K solution by subsidizing the hardware with game software.

What is dramatic is that Blu-ray playback made a great contribution to the PS3's counterattack against Xbox 360, and now Microsoft is following suit. It can be seen that in the future when there is a vacuum of 4K Blu-ray players, Microsoft Xbox One S may be able to take advantage of this opportunity to significantly increase its installation volume.

However, Xbox One S may still be awkward in the gaming world

After talking about AV enthusiasts, let's turn to the gamer group. In fact, in recent years, players have gradually felt that with the rapid growth of hardware replacement and the rapid development of PCs and smartphones, the market share of consoles is gradually shrinking, the replacement period between new and old consoles is getting shorter and shorter, and the game development cycle is getting longer and longer, which has also led many game industry giants to seek transformation.

When the sales of consoles are not good, the launch of new consoles can often stimulate consumer demand for consoles, but this may not be the case for the problematic Xbox One. Even Sony's strategy for the new console PS4.5 is to improve some performance to cope with the shortcomings of VR games in the future, and to provide support for 4K Blu-ray in line with market trends.

Although this move to cooperate with VR has won praise from many players, it is still uncertain whether PS4.5 will be a hot seller, because the installed base of PS4 is now large enough, and no software manufacturer will probably give up support for the old version of the console. They will only provide better game optimization on 4.5 and will not launch software that is incompatible with the old console.

Of course, as a rival, Microsoft also showed its full sincerity this time and carried out drastic reforms to address the defects complained by players.

However, I think that with Sony in front and Scorpio in the back, Xbox One S will probably still be a failed game console.

This is because players who currently own an Xbox One (note, players) have absolutely no need to buy a castrated and scaled-down version of the console, while players who are considering buying an Xbox One will choose to hold on to their money and wait for the release of the Scorpio, which will have more powerful performance and be closer to the next-generation console.

What's more, Microsoft's major game titles are now available on all Xbox One and Win10 platforms. Everyone has a PC, and there are more games to play. Why buy a home console with an unattractive game lineup?

Microsoft's ambitions behind Xbox Play Anywhere

Although Microsoft's announcement of Xbox One S expressed its unwillingness to abandon the Xbox platform, the subsequent announcement of a series of its own cross-Xbox One and Win10 platform games, as well as the Xbox Play Anywhere plan, exposed Microsoft's ambitions.

The cross-platform game system is aimed directly at Sony Play Cross. Microsoft's series of actions show that Microsoft's focus is on the promotion of Win10. Behind the cross-platform games and the XPA plan, you can even hear Microsoft's roar, "Go upgrade your PC to Win10!"

But this also indirectly shows that Microsoft has admitted the failure of Xbox One and is willing to use Xbox One as a springboard for Win10.

Of course, Microsoft has not given up on Xbox One. The launch of the Slim model shows that Microsoft has not shelved its plan to seize the entrance to the living room. Xbox One S will exist as a device to introduce users to the Microsoft ecosystem, just like iPod touch to iOS. After the release of Scorpio next year, with its so-called powerful functions, Microsoft may be able to stage a Jedi counterattack.

As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity.