I’m Sticking with Xbox

I regularly re-evaluate my technology choices, and this year I’ve spent a lot of time in the PlayStation camp in order to understand how this platform compares. But I’m sticking with Xbox.

More to the point, I’m sticking with Xbox because I feel that Microsoft has the better solution. That Microsoft, partially out of necessity, is delivering the gamer-first functionality that I want, while also providing a credible entertainment entry.

It doesn’t always work out this way. And as Microsoft’s consumer-based offerings, especially, continue to lag or even be outright ignored, I suspect that many reading this understand where I’m coming from. You may want to choose the Microsoft solution. But boy do they make it hard sometimes.

So I’ve struggled. I keep Groove limping along despite stronger services from Spotify and Google. I keep using OneNote. And OneDrive. And Skype. Despite obvious problems with each.

But Xbox is personal. I’ve been impressed with each console release in turn, and with the Xbox 360 in 2005, I switched from PC gaming to the console for good.

A big part of this experience, of course, has been the Call of Duty series of games, each of which has consumed a good chunk of each year, in turn. When Xbox lost the COD franchise to Sony in 2015, I fretted about not getting map packs as quickly as before. And as I noted in My First Year As a Second-Class COD Gamer, that experience hasn’t been great.

So I dabbled in the dark side. Earlier this year, I dusted off my PlayStation 4, updated it, and began re-evaluating it. Compared to the original Xbox One, the original PS4 was quieter, smaller, and more elegant, though I’ve always preferred the Xbox One user experience to the strange, dull PS4 interface. And I vastly prefer the Xbox One’s hand controllers to those of Sony’s.

But I’m a COD addict. And I eventually starting purchasing the map packs—or DLC, for downloadable content—for the then-current COD title, Black Ops III, on PS4 first so I could experience the new maps earlier. And with news that the PlayStation 4 Pro would offer the highest-quality graphical experience for Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Remastered—the games I figured I’d be spending the next year playing—I started to seriously consider whether switching to PS4 made any sense at all.

But it does not.

A number of factors tilt things in favor of the Xbox. The first, of course, is the gorgeous new Xbox One S, which I dubbed “the perfect thing.”. This console is sleek, beautiful, and quiet, and as time moves on, I’ve only become more impressed by its 4K and HDR graphical capabilities. It’s just a great visual experience.

Then there’s the controller. Yes, Sony is finally and belatedly getting its own rip-off premium controllers, but the Xbox One Wireless Controller—in particular the Xbox One Elite Wireless controller for which I paid $150—is superior. There is this controller and then there is other stuff, and when you consider what it is you’re doing while playing games, the quality of the thing you’re manipulating is paramount to the experience. And Xbox One wins this one easily.

And then there are the games.

I preordered the Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare Digital Deluxe Edition for $100 on Xbox One: That gives me the game, of course, plus a year of DLC and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Remastered. So it’s a lot of money, sure, but it’s an unprecedented value, too: I’ve paid $120 for just the latest COD and the DLC in past years. Regardless, these games look stunning on Xbox One S, especially when used with my Samsung UHD display, which sports both 4K and HDR. Switching consoles would give me earlier access to new maps, but little else.

But aside from my ongoing COD addiction, I have plans to play more games as well, and you’ve seen the start of that with my reviews of games like Gears of War 4, Firewatch, and Inside, each of which I completed, plus my early peeks at other games like Battlefield 1, Recore, Quantum Break, Forza Horizon 3 and more. I will formalize this in some way, but I’m thinking that I should break up my COD time each month with at least one other game.

And on that note, it makes sense for me to stick with Xbox because many new games will be Xbox Play Anywhere titles that work on both the console and PC. I won’t be switching away from console gaming anytime soon, but I still have plans to build a VR-capable gaming PC soon, and as portable PCs improve, I could imagine jumping between Xbox One and a PC for certain games. It’s a nice advantage to sticking with the Xbox platform.

Speaking of the future, Xbox “Project Scorpio” is coming next year. This largely unknown future console will provide 4K gaming and VR capabilities of its own and, as important, a logical step forward for current Xbox One users. I look forward to stepping forward with it.

Long story short, I’m sticking with Xbox for all the right reasons. Not because Microsoft makes it. But because Microsoft got it right.