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Xbox One X sets pre-order record for the Xbox console family

xbox one x 4k resolution list glamour shot
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Microsoft Xbox executive Phil Spencer has said in the past that the company does not expect its upcoming Xbox One X to be a massive seller — that is what the less expensive Xbox One S is for — but early pre-order numbers are looking impressive for the 4K-capable console.

The Xbox One X “Project Scorpio Edition” was made available for pre-order just after the Microsoft Gamescom presentation on Sunday and it is becoming increasingly hard to find. The special edition, which sells for the same $500 price as the standard Xbox One X, comes bundled with a vertical stand and limited edition controller. It also includes a unique gradient on the console itself as well as a free trial to the Xbox Game Pass service.

“Within just a few days, we saw record-setting sell-out times and are currently sold out in many countries around the world,” Xbox Corporate Vice President of Marketing Mike Nichols said in a statement. “You, our biggest fans, have pre-ordered more Xbox One X Project Scorpio Edition consoles in the first five days than any Xbox ever.”

Pre-order numbers have been steadily increasing over the last few generations. The Xbox One outpaced the Xbox 360 when Microsoft opened up pre-orders in 2013, though the console has consistently sold fewer units than the PlayStation 4. Third-party developers have largely sided with Sony’s system this generation, with only a handful of Microsoft-exclusive games releasing in 2017. So far this year, console-exclusives for PlayStation 4 include Nioh, Nier: Automata, Horizon Zero Dawn, Matterfall, Nex Machina, and Persona 5, with Knack II and Gran Turismo Sport scheduled to arrive within the next few months.

One Microsoft-exclusive game was supposed to be Crackdown 3, an open-world action-adventure that makes full use of the Xbox One X’s increased processing power. However, it has been delayed into 2018, leaving Forza Motorsport 7 and Cuphead as the two big-name exclusives for Xbox One and Windows 10 this holiday season. A number of other games will receive enhancements for the X, however, including Middle-earth: Shadow of War and Assassin’s Creed Origins. Older Xbox One titles like Halo 5: Guardians and Rise of the Tomb Raider will also receive updates, allowing the Xbox One X to play them in 4K resolution for the first time.

The Xbox One X launches on November 7.

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Gabe Gurwin
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Gabe Gurwin has been playing games since 1997, beginning with the N64 and the Super Nintendo. He began his journalism career…
Turn your Xbox Series X into a Starfield machine with this console wrap
The Starfield Xbox Series X Console Cover.

Microsoft announced that official Xbox Series X Console Wraps will come out later this year. Three of these are already available to preorder, including one based on Bethesda Game Studios' highly anticipated Xbox console exclusive Starfield.
Following in the footsteps of customizable PlayStation 5 console covers, Microsoft is finally giving people more options to customize their normal Xbox Series X series. That comes in the form of Xbox Series X Console Wraps, which Microsoft says are "made with solid panels and an engirdled fabric," and are "designed to perfectly surround your Xbox Series X" without blocking the console's vents and airflow like some of the other current third-party options. The first Xbox Series X Console Wrap to release is based on Starfield and will come out on October 18.

Its design lines up with the special Starfield headset and controller and is based on the avionics modules players will encounter during the game. The Starfield Console Wrap will cost $50 when it launches in October, but two more Consoles Wraps launching a month later will come in slightly cheaper at $45.
Those two Console Wraps use soft microfiber fabric and feature designs based on camouflage, with the Mineral Camo Console Wrap using blues and purples and the Artic Camo Console Wrap featuring gray and white tones. Both Camo Console Wraps release on November 10, the three-year anniversary of the Xbox Series X launch.

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The impending Xbox 360 Store closure makes me wary of Game Pass’ future
The Xbox logo.

I'm an avid Xbox Game Pass user, often trying almost every game that comes to the service and closely following the games coming to and leaving the service each month. Following some recent announcements by Microsoft, though, I've been thinking a lot more about something else about Xbox Game Pass and Microsoft's current digital-focused Xbox storefronts and ecosystem: what happens when it all goes away?
Microsoft announced last week that it will shut down the Xbox 360 Store in July 2024. After that day, it will be impossible to buy games, movies, or TV shows digitally on the Xbox 360 store; it's just like what happened with the 3DS and Wii U eShops earlier this year. That announcement also came not long after Microsoft revealed it would replace Xbox Live Gold with Xbox Game Pass Core in September. With these changes, Microsoft is stamping out any support or focus its giving to the Xbox 360's era as a platform. As someone who grew up mostly playing Xbox 360, seeing these things I grew up with go away is saddening. It's also making me think about the day this will eventually happen to Xbox Game Pass or the store on the Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S.

Frankly, I'm not as concerned that Microsoft is going to do it anytime soon. Microsoft has given no indication that it plans on abandoning Xbox Game Pass. It's a really successful subscription service heavily integrated into all of its current platforms, there are titles confirmed to launch day one on it into 2024 and beyond, and Xbox initiatives like Play Anywhere and Smart Delivery ensure that at least some version of most Xbox games are available on other platforms. While I expect it to be the primary part of Microsoft's gaming strategy over the next decade, as someone who mainly played Xbox 360 growing up and is now seeing its storefront and subscription service go away, I'm now thinking about what the end of the Game Pass era will look like.
These recent actions have indicated that Microsoft will eventually be willing to do the same to the storefronts and subscription service we're currently using. Even after the backlash PlayStation, Nintendo, and Xbox all faced from these announcements, Sony is the only one that has backtracked its plans to close down older digital storefronts, at least temporarily. Xbox Game Pass is the current hotness for Microsoft, but what happens come the day it isn't? A lot more games are digital-only or tied to a subscription this generation, and those are the games most at risk of being lost if a digital storefront shuts down.
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Xbox Series X

Like any other consoles, the Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S aren't without issues. Even after several years on the market giving Microsoft time to push out updates and fixes, there are still some issues that can crop up.

In this guide, we're going to cover the most common Xbox Series X problems, as well as how to fix them. You can also keep up with all updates, known issues, and potential fixes directly from Xbox.
Get in touch with Microsoft
Before getting to any fixes, take note of the different contact options for Microsoft and Xbox support. There's a robust support system in place, and for certain issues, you'll need to contact Microsoft for a repair or replacement. If you have a smaller issue that we haven't covered in this guide, you can ping us on Twitter @DigitalTrends so we can add it to this guide, as well as tag @XboxSupport. That seems to be the fastest support route.

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