NEW YORK, April 18 — A new revision of the Xbox One console does away with disc drives and instead relies on digital downloads, a relatively low price, and the appeal of an online Xbox Game Pass subscription.
The Xbox One S All-Digital Edition will release May 7 for US$249 (RM1,030), €229, and £199, an appreciable saving on the standard One S’s $299, €299 and $249 tag.
While May is not the traditional choice for a console launch, this new revision arrives before mid-year holiday breaks roll around and, perhaps just as significantly, as PlayStation begins teasing its next mainline console.
As its light-hearted trailer notes, Xbox is even a little late to the party, with music, movies, films, and encyclopedias having gone discless well before the Xbox One; games too, one might add, considering the ubiquity of iOS and Android devices.
The All-Digital is to come with three recent Xbox hits pre-installed: Creative construction game Minecraft, pirate crew jaunt Sea of Thieves and racing ramble Forza Horizon 4.
All three are also part of the Xbox Game Pass’s value-heavy lineup, for which the All Digital appears to be especially well-suited.
Xbox Game Pass provides inclusive access to a library of over 200 games.
As a “Netflix for games,” it one-upped popular rival PlayStation Plus by ensuring big-name Xbox exclusives would be added immediately upon release.
With the inclusion of the Xbox One S’s All-Digital Edition in its range, Microsoft is able to offer both the most value-conscious and the most powerful mainstream consoles.
At the higher end of Xbox’s console range, the Xbox One X comfortably outperforms PlayStation’s equivalent, the less expensive PS4 Pro, though game libraries are not quite identical and the PS4 (and now Nintendo’s Switch) opens the door to virtual reality games and experiences.
Enhancing the All-Digital Edition’s value is Microsoft’s intention to combine two service plans — Xbox Live Gold (for online multiplayer plus a couple of free games a month) and Xbox Game Pass.
Xbox Game Pass Ultimate is to cost US$14.99 per month, as opposed to US$19.98 for the two existing schemes, though its release date has not yet been made known.
It’s to be offered alongside separate subscriptions to Xbox Live Gold and Xbox Game Pass at launch. — AFP-Relaxnews
