“As we wrap up this journey with the Xbox Series X and Series S, the mission behind these consoles echoes everything I’ve learned over 30 years — to create technology that’s powerful, purposeful, and beautifully integrated into people’s lives. Xbox is about fun and playing games,” Ledbetter noted.
“When we began designing the Xbox Series X, the mission was clear: build a console that delivers unprecedented power while seamlessly integrating into the modern living room. The design was inspired by the machine itself — an engineering marvel of thermal cooling and efficiency — which naturally led to the console’s iconic vertical tower form. It’s not just a gaming device; it’s a statement piece, sleek and monolithic, designed to quietly command presence without shouting for attention.”
That’s the only and last time I allow someone using the word iconic in this context. /s
Love the Series S and X to be honest, some of the most well thought out gaming hardware I’ve owned. It looks sleek and fits in pretty much any decor without looking out of place, and it’s dead silent! MS’ hardware team did an incredible job this gen. You can already tell they were heading in that direction since the Xbox One S and then the Xbox One X, with the current gen being refinements on those designs.
I don’t know what MS will adopt next and if they feel they need to change to kind of change it up, but I think they should stay the course in terms of design as no one does it better in the console space.
The Xbox Series X|S are genuinely my favorite consoles to date. They are great machines. The Series X boasts incredible power and has great design language. It’s truly an X BOX. But all I really care about is that it’s whisper quiet and plays most of my library better than ever. The series S though was a surprise favorite of mine. It’s what a console is to me: small and compact while packing a punch. The size and weight for what it offers is still baffling to me. I really hate how it’s become a scapegoat this generation and that it’s unlikely we’ll see a Series S successor due to the public response.
The hardware is fantastic, so it’s a shame to see they didn’t have a huge explosion in popularity inside and outside of gaming. In part this was just a lame duck generation. Everyone underestimated what those forever games would change and how long older consoles would hold on. Then it was all made worse by COVID delaying game development and then constantly “global economic conditions” pushing up prices.
I am really excited to see what console Xbox cooks up next. Their engineers are beyond best in the business. It’s another reason why I refuse to entertain the idea that Xbox would stop making console hardware. It’d just be such a massive blow to the gaming world. Xbox designs and builds fantastic hardware.