Xbox made a few surprise announcements as part of its big summer presentation this weekend, including major showcases for Starfield and a host of its other upcoming games.
One of the most welcome, though, wasn't about a game at all, but rather the reveal of a new model of its excellent little Series S, the lower-powered option out of its two current-generation consoles.
The Series S is getting a new model, releasing on 1 September 2023 but available to pre-order now, in a swish Carbon Black colourway that crucially comes with an upgraded internal SSD with 1TB of space.
Xbox Series S - 1TB
The newest Series S model will be the one to pick by default, with storage now a key part of a console's ease of use. You can pre-order it now!
That's double the previous allocation, and while it comes with a price rise of $50/£50, it's a great new option given how quickly the standard Series S fills up with games.
It's a situation that has seen plenty of movement recently, given it was only last week that WD_Black launched its own Expansion Card for Series X and S, bringing a slightly lower price point to the table to expand things.
WD_Black C50 Expansion Card for Xbox
A handy card for those of us who need a little more space.
In fact, that bears looking into - since it would currently cost about $380 to get a 500GB Series S and pair it with a 500GB Expansion Card from WD_Black, the price that Xbox has tacked onto the 1TB Series S is actually more than reasonable.
Plus, of course, the newest Series S gets that Carbon Black makeover and it really does look fantastic. We're quite big fans of the white Series S, with its contrasted grille and funky chunky design aesthetic, but there's a lot to be said for a stealthier design.
That's what you get with the new black model, and it of course fits in much more naturally with the darker Series X, too - not that you'd ever be likely to need both by the same TV.
This wasn't even the only attractive redesigned hardware Xbox showed off - to celebrate the release of Starfield it's got a lovely pair of limited editions that can be ordered now. There's a controller and a wireless headset, with the former in particular taking its place as possibly the prettiest one Xbox currently offers.
Xbox Wireless Controller
This Starfield controller is simply gorgeous, and not to be missed.
So, it was a pretty impressive showing for Xbox from a hardware perspective given that games were very much the main focus of its showcase.