written by Rhett Quiban
The announcement of the Xbox Series X was received with excitement and joy by many, and the positive response certainly has legs to stand on. The Xbox Series X is going to be a tech-savvy gamer’s prized jewel, already dubbed as the most powerful gaming console to date.
The thing with consoles, though, is they mostly get released around the same time as their competitors. Whether it be months or a year apart, it’s still fairly close. That’s just how consoles work. This is especially true with Microsoft’s Xbox onsoles and Sony’s Playstations—the two biggest titans in the console industry. That’s why the consoles from these two companies will always be compared to one another, ever since Microsoft joined the fray of consoles when they released the first Xbox in 2001, about a year after Sony’s PS2 release.
This time, the Xbox Series X is again facing up with Sony’s PS5, both expected to be released later this year. You’ve probably already heard and read discussions tackling how one console is better than the other. We won’t do that here. Instead, let’s try to see how the Xbox Series X can improve over its predecessor, the Xbox One. We already know it’s going to be better than the Xbox One in terms of raw power, hardware and technology, so, let’s talk about other aspects Microsoft can improve upon with Xbox Series X over its current offering.
- Improve the UI
One of the few complaints from fans with the Xbox One was its UI design. It was… cluttered and messy, to say the least. Granted, they’ve made a few adjustments over the years to make it look more comprehensive, and recently, they’ve made new changes and improvements with the Xbox’s dashboard in anticipation of the Xbox Series X. It’s much faster now, and we can only hope the improvements will carry over to the next console.
- Make installations from discs faster
This is an issue with the Xbox One so widely agreed upon, even the head of Xbox, Phil Spencer, at Microsoft acknowledged it. The game installations on Xbox One, even the ones on discs, are notoriously slow. The reason for this is when you install a game on your Xbox One, it will automatically download the most recent patches and updates of the game and install it alongside the main game.
What gamers did to counteract this and install games faster was disconnect their consoles from the internet. That way, the game is installed first, much faster, with the patches and updates downloaded later on.
While gamers found a way around this, it’s still a pretty frustrating endeavor. If Microsoft can find a way to make the installations faster, or just allow the main game to be installed first instead of amalgamating the patches and updates with the main game, it will make their players much happier.
- More freedom for offline play
Have you ever wanted to desperately play your favorite game after a long day, only to find your internet connection down or the Xbox live server offline, and you can’t play any games on your Xbox at all? This is a predicament shared by many Xbox users, one causing hair-pulling frustration.
This problem can be mitigated if you switch your console as your “home Xbox”, but even then, many users are still experiencing problems if they aren’t connected to the internet while playing. If Microsoft somehow finds a way to remove this problem altogether, the Xbox Series X will surely be a better console than it already is.
- More and better exclusives
Finally, what makes a powerful console leaps and bounds better? If you can access more and more amazing games with it.
Let’s face it: no matter how good a thing is, it’s all for nothing if the accessibility is limited. Over the last couple of years, perhaps half of the top 10 best games released are exclusives. Sadly, they weren’t Xbox exclusives. If Microsoft wants to up their game and provide a better experience for their players, they need to get their hands on more and better exclusives. They already have their hand on Hellblade 2, alongside the exclusives they already have like Halo, Forza, and Gears of War, they should be able to acquire more.
No matter the case, I’m highly positive that the Xbox Series X will be a console of wonders. Its numbers and specs are already jaw-droppingly impressive. If they somehow find other ways to make it better overall—whether its the points addressed here or something else—it’s a major win for both the console and the gamers who play with it.