I feel like Microsoft at least does a better job of getting across that their systems are new and different. Nintendo put so much focus on that damn controller.
As much as I loathe Nintendo's business end,
The xbox series has absolutely horrendous naming system.
Nintendo fucked up mainly for Wii=> Wii U,
Microsoft has been a shitshow since 360, mainly coz they picked 360 and didn't consider what they'll go to next.
And the ONE moniker for a buttload of services is absolute bullshit when it isn't the first device/product from that brand.
And then they went to Series?
That's absolutely shit as a naming convention for a single generation as well.
Stg the project names are a lot better than the final marketing names.
(They released two consoles this gen, the One Series S and One Series X, a low end and a high end one respectively. Together they're called the Xbox One Series)
Can't fucking believe they didn't just do this, starting with the previous gen:
Xbox S1 and Xbox X1. Then current gen would be Xbox S2 and Xbox X2, and so on forever. Mid cycle refreshes can be S2.5 or X2.5. refer to the generation as generation 2 or generation 3.
. Or if they were really assed about Sony having higher numbers (ive seen this theory floated) then start with S5 and X5, fine whatever.
The current naming convention literally looks like the result of a bet between marketing departments at Nintendo and Microsoft of "hey I bet I can get the CEO to sign off on the stupidest fucking naming scheme"
Really just shows how little people have actually been paying attention. The names suck but it's really not that hard to differentiate.
At this point they should just name their next consoles Xbox 11 and Xbox 11 Lite or something. It succeeds in making their number higher than PlayStation's (as was the goal of the 360 back in the day), it coincides with the current Windows version to signify that recent Xbox platform unity, and most importantly, it solves the problem of consumers having to think beyond "bigger number means better." And then please don't fuck it up by making the next Windows named something other than 12.
I'm pretty tuned into gaming news, and although I haven't owned an Xbox since the 360 era I still keep an eye on gaming console hardware. I have no clue at all which Xbox is which. This naming convention is even worse than the ill-fated 'Wii-U'.
At least with the PlayStation I know the bigger number is newer and the pro version is better than the non-pro and that slim means small.
I sympathize with the moms and grandmas of the world trying to shop for the Xbox gamers in their life. It's a minefield of confusing names.
Doesn't that only mean they aren't making Xbox One games? I'm pretty sure third-party companies will still make Xbox One games, or does it literally mean no more new Xbox One games?
We're currently in the "Series" era with the fourth generation of Xbox. The Series S is the entry level, digital-games-only model. The Series X has a disc drive and generally better specs.