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The Xbox twitter account has been active this week! After a series of tweets we've learned that the Xbox Series S is a thing (surprise!), it will cost $299 dollars, the Series X will cost $499, and you can buy them on November 10th.

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The Series X at $499 is unsurprising, which is a good thing. That's been the assumed price point and they hit it exactly. It's a fair price for the hardware—from specs to aesthetics, Microsoft has done a nice job here. That price point will anchor the next gen pricing scale. Not every PlayStation 5 SKU will be $499 but I expect its most important one to be.

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Despite the Series S being a poorly kept secret, the announcement was still exciting: it's only $299. This is an impressive balance of price and performance. You're getting the same CPU—clocked a hair slower—and super fast storage as the Series X, paired with a less powerful but still next-gen GPU. They're saying 1440p and up to 120fps. I assume that's an either/or not a both. Regardless, it's a very compelling package. A very smart one, too.

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If you don't have a 4K TV—only a third of Americans do—and you're shopping for a console at the end of November, it's going to be hard to resist the Series S. Will access to PlaySation 5's exclusives and overall PlayStation brand power justify a $200 premium up front? Certainly not for everyone; it's a much harder sell for 1080p gaming.

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Even if you don't buy a Series X, the Series S is in strong console sidekick position. It matches the Switch's price and offers access to a very different but also versatile catalog. More importantly for Microsoft, it's a beachhead for the also compelling Xbox Game Pass service. $299 for access to Game Pass ready hardware is a great value.

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I'm impressed with the Series S. I'm even more excited to see what it does to the console landscape. Sony doesn't have a counter for it because it doesn't fit into their next-gen philosophy. The Series S is primarily a product of Microsoft valuing services over specific hardware. Secondarily, it's a clever admission that 4K gaming isn't here for everyone yet.

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