With the Xbox Series X in the hands of a select few games journalists, early impressions have hit the internet focused on several of the console's features. Outlets such as IGN, GameSpot, VentureBeat, and The Verge got to go hands-on with the Series X ahead of its November 10 launch, and while not everything was allowed to be discussed just yet, each outlet looked at elements such as how the console improves backward compatible games through better framerates, enhanced resolution, and speedier load times.
At The Verge, Tom Warren put together a list of load times for several popular backward compatible games, comparing how quickly they loaded on an Xbox One versus an Xbox Series X. The findings were impressive, especially because no work had been done on these games from the developer. These improvements come innately to the Series X without any additional labor from anyone.
Sea of Thieves, for example, was hastened from a minute and 21 seconds to 20 seconds. Destiny 2 shaved off more than half its time, from q minute and 52 seconds down to 43 seconds. Maybe most impressive is the better time observed for The Outer Worlds, which fell from 27 seconds down to just 6.
These games have not been optimized for next-gen. They're just better thanks to the internal architecture of the Xbox Series X, and changes like these, as well as better visuals, were witnessed across the board from all previewing outlets.
There's been no preview event for the PS5 but there's no reason to expect it won't boast similar enhancements. Collectively, these previews serve to appease information-starved consumers who had to wait until September to learn the consoles' prices, and even then have yet to see much gameplay for either console. Despite that, pre-orders sold out across the board and supplies will be limited up to and including launch for anyone still hoping to combat a growing sense of FOMO.
As VentureBeat's Jeff Grubb put it after his hands-on time with the Series X, and more will likely agree in time, there's "no going back to Xbox One or PlayStation 4."
