Jeff Bakalar gives full impressions on Series X (video)

Jeff Bakalar posted a video of his full impressions on the Series X now that the embargo has lifted. It's nice to see him talk about it fully and I think Giant Bomb is very lucky to have him be on as a regular because not only will he be able to give us - and the gang - hands on impressions but he also had LG send him one of their newest OLED TV's that support 120hz so I'm real curious to hear him discuss how that works in a more candid manner on the upcoming Beastcast.

In other small news if you weren't aware - Microsoft has released their newest dashboard for all existing Xbox owners as a system update. You can download it onto your XB1X and see exactly what the future will hold. I grabbed it last night and it's basically the same thing except all the tiles have rounded edges. On an XB1X I didn't notice a huge performance difference but then again the dashboard never really worked slowly for me to begin with. I will have to try trimming a video clip since that has always worked incredibly slowly in the past or just straight up didn't work at all.

EDIT: I asked Jeff on Twitter if the Series X burned a hole through his house to the center of the planet but in a cowardly move he refused to reply.

No comment on the hole burning? Not sure if I can trust this chap.

Good hat.

Jeff Backakalare with the "hot" takes

In all seriousness, I look forward to watching this later.

ooohhhhh I wonder if that UI is also built with React Native. That's huge news if it is.

This was a good video.

This is probably going to sound mean, but Dirt 5 looks old. I remember Forza Horizon 4 popping more than how Dirt looked in that video. It seems like a really impressive box, but even showing something like Gears 5 just made me think “Yep...That looks like an old Xbox One game”.

@clagnaught: I'm with you in the "I don't want to sound mean but—" camp. Dirt 5 hasn't served as a compelling demonstration. And the fact that its rampant screentearing is so noticeable has really undermined my first impression of the game in multiple outlets' coverage.

Not sure if this is an "in fairness" addendum or not, because what I'm about to say is kind of dogpiling onto a downed target, but Dirt 4 and the Dirt Rally games of the current generation have also looked a step behind the tech of recent Forza entries and even Gran Turismo. There was a point—probably last seen around Dirt 3—where we'd consider the franchise a reliable technical showpiece. Not certain that's the case now.

Anybody else have notoriously slow streams and downloads of clips you've shared/uploaded to Xbox Live? Thats probably the only "dash" related thing thats still that bad. If they fix it for next gen, however, its good to know it'll trickle down

Y'know, I've not used keyboard support at all since they introduced it during the PS3's run. I feel like I should but there's so few opportunities for it.

looks like 1440p 60/ 4k 30 is going to be the norm unless they get some sorta dlss type system.

Looking forward to inevitable casemod adding fans directing heat out the drive slot. You're not really paying for the mod, the real get is the included aluminium mousemat to protect surfaces. "surfaces not Surfaces", that is.