A few generations back I had a blast with the vanilla Xbox 360 and I don’t know how I managed to pick up a PS4 after that instead of the Xbox One. Maybe it was all the talk of the DRM and “always-on” that scared me back then. But now it’s that same bold innovation that lures me into buying Gamepass Ultimate without buying an Xbox!?
Why did I buy a PS5?
By now I’ve grown used to the PS controls and since I mostly played Warzone on PS4 I wasn’t ready to leave the PlayStation family just yet. My brother and most friends were going for the PS5 as well and so it was an easy pick. I have no regrets whatsoever yet I forgot one thing that originally drew me into the Xbox family and the sweet taste of PS5 fun got stale after the first announcement of the next Halo. It’s one of those franchises I grew up with and it made my 360 heat my entire room for hours on end. For me, it was a franchise that would make me buy a Series S just for that game. So I started saving up for that game and a Series S. Unfortunately I had other costs to make since I am a fully grown adult and renovating has forced me to redirect my budget elsewhere. I kind of lost touch with my plans to buy an Xbox.
Hello future.
Xbox Gamepass intrigued me as it was so much more than the PS Plus downloadable games you get every month. Being able to play games on release for a fixed subscription is certainly a no-brainer for those who haven’t bought their next-gen console yet. Or is it current-gen by now? I wouldn’t know since most people still haven’t got their hands on a PS5 by now. So Xbox has some real cheap marketing strategy since Sony still can’t deliver PS5 stock late into 2022. This “Netflix”-approach to gaming was only the beginning. It’s all part of the online architecture Xbox introduced when they first got the backlash of the “always online” DRM talks and I believe back then it was too early for the world to understand. Also not everyone had stable or reliable internet back then. Think about it!
“Xcloud”
I live in area with fairly good internet and streaming 4K content is rather instant. I have tried the PS Now service in the past and I was blown away by its possibilities. The service was stable and it also lets you download games to make them run even smoother. Response time isn’t as perfect as I wanted it to be in FPS games but after a while, your brain starts to anticipate and corrects your shots. For non-reactive games, this was really nice to play lots of games without paying full price. Most games back then were older games too. Now Xbox has this really nice cloud gaming built into their Ultimate subscription. It’s a fairly decent price you’re paying every month. It’s only after almost 2 years that the cost of the subscription nears that of a Series S, and that’s without counting the large collection of games you get. Now Cloud gaming as a real next-gen idea kinda scares me yet I’m willing to try it out starting next month.
Don’t buy an Xbox! Get Gamepass Ultimate.
It’s true, I really believe that Xbox doesn’t want everyone to pay full price for an Xbox. There’s a brilliant strategy behind it. I don’t have to pay the full price of a console at once. Instead, I get to pay a small fee every month. I can play on my work pc that is not a specced beast at all. It’s a simple i5 processor laptop that’ll be great for trying out the Gamepass Ultimate and Xcloud service without committing to the full price of a console + separate games. I just need to get a hold of a wired controller and I’ll finally be able to help my friend in Halo Infinite co-op when it releases. He’ll need my help for sure! just like in the old 360 eras. (Editor’s note: I remember this differently) I can still love my Warzone adventures on my PS5 but I get the best of both consoles without breaking the bank. I truly believe Xbox has made a great move with this perfect marriage and I’m sure they know it since they’ve recently added Gamepass built-in the next generation of Samsung Smart-TVs. The future might be cloud gaming after all and with the cost of life hitting records, this is a smooth transition without too much compromise.
