oh you again eh? i wonder why i even bother with this but here i go : having a XSX run native 4k vs upscaling 1080p or whatever the XSS will run is still better, same experience bit still beter.
it doesn't change the power narrative at all, it just gives people options

I think the small size is quite the selling point, looks really portable.

It depens on what you mean by "substantial".  Gamepass is the kind of thing that could give Microsoft an advantage for a whole generation.  Yes, Sony can eventually adapt, but they'd be at a significant disadvantage for the whole generation.  It is very much like Microsoft's internet service.  They were seen as having the better service during Generation 7 and so they gained a lot of ground on Sony compared to Generation 6.  Once the PS4 was released this advantage disappeared, because Sony had caught up.  Gamepass is the same thing.  If it takes off, then it can give XBox a significant advantage for the rest of the generation.

It will help in markets where Xbox is strong (NA & UK) but I doubt this changes the tides worldwide.

Just look at the current lifetime sales of PS4 & Xbox One. The gap in sales in NA/UK is nothing compared to the rest of the world.

In the US it's possible -- especially with the $25/month deal. Worldwide there's just no chance, I'm afraid.

What will really matter is number of PS5's sold and multiply that by how much those games spend a year, on average. Then, figure out how how many do the same for Xbox, but also combine that figure with the revenue generated from annual GamePass subscribers. Then compare the revenue and profit from both.

If someone can figure that math out I will award you winner of the internet for the day.

I suspect Microsoft is going to "win" when you do that comparison, even though PlayStation will sell more (this is guaranteed).

I think they might be able to give the PS5 good competition in the N. America region. Personally I am going PS5 Disc Edition. If my XBONE decides to die, i'll eventually buy the XBOX Series S, if only so I can continue to play the very few digital games I have on the XBOX platform currently.

Agree with you. For me their Ace will be the paying plan with GP, much better than "Series S at 299" will be "Series S and instant library for 25/month".

That would mean 100M, don't think it will reach it.

Nope. Similar performance to PS5 and Series X but at 1/4 resolution.

Yep, they had to cut all corners possible to minimize the extra loss to sell at 299 (hint, the GPU being 1/4 doesn't make it 200 USD cheaper to manufacture... and even taking half the SSD size and removing disc doesn't cover that cost difference, but the royalties will be more ensured without second hand market so it justify the bigger loss on HW).

Not the same as internet service... Sony already have the games, the gamepass portion copy would just be giving those games in a similar way to Plus (sure ensuring that it only works for the time they are on the service and you sub instead of Plus that you have access as long as you are sub even if the game isn't on the instant library). The XCloud part is MS that is running against PSNow, but sure MS can already launch it being better than PSNow and that is the one that can take a lot longer to make work right.

Look at MS (not totally clear) Xbox department revenue and profit for 2019 versus PS on same period and you have your answer... 2.5 x the sale of HW, 2.5 the sale of SW for royalties, 5x or more sales for first party games, 2x the number of plus subs versus Gold generated a lot more profit than the extra revenue of GP.

Honestly, I think you just like getting into spats with me even though what I am saying isn't really ever however you seem to take it :)

You are right, "it give options", but I am also right, it does change the power narrative. I never said it doesn't give options, and I don't know why it has to be one or the other. Why not both?

But here is why it changes the power narrative. You have a 12TF console for what is likely going to be $499. And a 4TF digital-only console for what is $299. So basically a high end and a low end "option" from the company that has made all its "official" marketing this far be about 4K@120fps and the most powerful console ever bla bla bla.

On the other hand, you have a PS5 digital console that is likely going to be $399 and a PS5 disc console that will likely be $449/$499. Both consoles are identical with the only difference between that one has a disc drive and the other doesn't. 

How does MS justify a 2.5x GPU power gap, 1.6x RAM gap, 1.6x storage gap with a $100 price difference between the XSS and the PS5D? While at the same time saying that for $100 more, you get a console that only has a 1.17x GPU power gap and disc drive between it and that $399 PS5D. The thing is, the XSS actually ends up making the PS5D seem to be of a better and higher value. 

Imagine you are a neutral.nd you walk into a store and want to get the best deal you can get. So you are going in for the "budget" next-gen consoles. It becomes clear that getting the XSS is like getting a watered-down Xbox. But getting a PS5D is just like getting the best PS5 but without a disc drive. That $100 you would save i you buy an XSS doesn't look like saving anymore, but rather looks like a stupid choice, because fora$100 more, you get something that is as good as the $200 more expensive XSX.

MS s giving choices, but so is sony. You don't have to take my word for it or argue with me on this, If I am wrong at the end of the day I will fess up to it. But wait and see, in time you will see what I mean. I have said it a long time ago, a $299 xbox, a $399 PS5 and a $499 xbox, is the last thing MS would want, that basically puts that $399 PS5 in the Goldilocks zone. Now if that PS5 is not $399 but instead $449? Then yes, this plays out in MS favor at the end.

No. Not at all. Gamepass is just what sony does with PS+ on steroids. Giving ou free games every month, and if you download them its yours forever as long as you have an active subscription.

Gamepass just builds up that library vs sony taking them off every month they add new games. But like with PS+, you still have to have an active subscription to access whatever you got via gamepass.

This is not about better services or anything like that, its simply about depth of software and a delivery method or service as this case may be. That's why this is easily adaptable. All sony literally has to do to match games pass, is have a library of games that are instantly available to you once you sign up for PS+, say all the games they have released on the service over the last like 4 years, and then release their first-party games on the service on day one so as long as you have the service you don't have to go out and buy the games. As I said, easily adaptable.

But sony will not do this because they don't need to do this. MS on the other hand does. And as I said before (feels like I am always repeating myself), if MS just came off a gen where they had at least one first-party game every year selling like 10M units (at least after a year n market), they wouldn't be doing it either.

If the only difference is resolution between series s and series x then it would make a difference. Not many have 4k tvs or 4k monitors and with the option to lsyby us really good.