The all-new Xbox Series X officially launches today but I was lucky enough to get mine yesterday so I could play around with it and have a post ready for today. I purchased mine from Geekay on September 22nd when they launched the Xbox pre-orders. I was hoping to get a hold of a unit before the launch date by a few days but the Geekay shipment of Xbox’s only cleared customs yesterday afternoon and so only got to pick up mine after that.
Not sure about other local sellers but Geekay will be either delivering all the pre-orders today. They also contacted their customers and arranged a pickup timeslot for today if they didn’t want to wait for delivery. My brother for example is gonna have to wake up early today to pick up his Xbox at 9AM, so it was a lot of fun sending him photos yesterday of my Xbox.
There are a lot of unboxing videos and reviews on YouTube by much better gamers than me, but in this post I’ll go over some of the things regarding our Middle East edition.
- Firstly, the Middle East version of the box is bilingual. The front side is the same as the US version but the rear of the box and all the fine print are in both Arabic and English
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Once you open the box there isn’t a manual, but the getting started guide is bilingual
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The power plug is the UK Type G plug
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The console works with 220v so no need for a transformer
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There is no power brick, just a regular cable from the Xbox to the wall plug (this is the best thing ever)
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I have a US Xbox account and it works perfectly fine with the Middle East edition Xbox (well kinda)
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I ran into a minor issue buying games from the Xbox store and I think it’s because I have a US Xbox account but a Kuwait-based Microsoft account? I pay the monthly Microsoft Office subscription fee using a Kuwait address but I have my location on my Xbox account set to US so maybe there is some sort of conflict
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Because of the issue I had of purchasing games directly from inside the Xbox store I ended up using Amazon to buy the digital copy of Assassin’s Creed Valhalla. I used a Florida address so I didn’t pay any tax and got the game for the listed price of $59.99 and then installed it on my Xbox using the code Amazon sent me
- On starting the console there was a 775MB update I had to install. This was downloaded and installed by the time I was done setting up the Xbox
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On my Zain 5G, Valhalla took around 2 hours to download. It’s a 47GB file and was downloading on average at speeds of 45Mbps with the occasional jump to around 65Mbps and drop to 35Mbps. The game was ready to start halfway through the download but because I installed it before the launch date I couldn’t play it
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I only installed two games on my Xbox for now, Castlevania: Symphony of the Night and Killer Instinct. Quick resume worked perfectly when flip-flopping between the two games
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The packaging and overall design of the Series X is minimal and smart, I personally love it. I think the new PS5 is ugly (sorry Sony fanboys) while this is a lot less flashy and it fit into my TV cabinet perfectly
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The controller feels great, there is a new texture on the backside which gives it a much better grip when held
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The official price of the Xbox Series X in Kuwait is KD167 while the smaller Series S costs KD104
If anyone has any questions, let me know and I’ll try to answer it in the comments.
50 replies on “Xbox Series X – Everything You Need to Know About the Middle East Edition”
My Xcite preorder went to packing last night, so hopefully will get it today. I’m quite surprised it’s a specific Middle East edition (I don’t know why really) but is perhaps another example of how well Microsoft have handled this launch that we could be getting them on launch day (I presume we will – if Geekay’s cleared yesterday I’m sure Xcite’s did too).
I’m planning to start FH4 again from the beginning in 4K 60FPS, and will also buy Assasins Creed and Dirt 5 when mine arrives.
Fingers crossed for today.
FH4 on the series X! I’m jealous. But going to hold out until next year to upgrade.
Ah lucky you, I ordered mine from Best and they have estimated delivery 14\11. Should have gone with Geekay or Xcite, as everyone seems to get their by today.
That’s great news Mark. Congratulations. Tell us about Valhalla, I’m interested to know how it compares with Origins which had a great story line. I did not get Odyssey because the story line sucked. Also if you or anyone have a 120Hz Hdmi 2.1 TV and/or Dolby Atmos setup , I’m interested to know the experience. Have fun!
The 120hz experience is negligible unless you’re playing competitive FPS.
Yeah my TV only supports 60hz at 4K and not about to go buy another TV just for 120hz
Actually that’s not true. Real world games like FH4 are amazing. I have a pc setup for FS and FH4 with a LG UGear 144Hz display. I can clearly see the difference between the 4K60Fps on TV and 120 on the monitor. Funny thing is they say FH4 is capped at 60fps, so I’m wondering if our TVs are applying some sort of smoothening filter and killing details
If the game runs at higher frame rate, the game becomes overall more fluid and responsive. Unlocking the framerate to 120 allows the experience to become even more fluid and enjoyable.
If your arguement is that casual gamers won’t be able to feel the difference, this has been debunked infact casual gamers can benefit from even 240hz displays. It is instead professionals that can do without extremely high frame rates as they can adjust to the delay appropiately unlike casuals.
The difference might not be immediately visible to the untrained eye but you can feel the smoothness immediately. It’s something you need to try yourself to understand.
Here’s a video detailing the effects of high frame rate monitors:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OX31kZbAXsA
Problem is not only do you need a 120hz capable display but also a 120hz capable AV receiver. So 💰💰💰💰
Ohh as a PC gamer with headphones I didn’t even know about av receivers before now. You might have to overhaul your setup if it isn’t Hdmi 2.1 compatible.
Awesome, thank you Mark!
Regarding your Xbox account, I had the same issue with my Xbox One S, so early on I created a completely new USA account, and no longer have the issues you mentioned
I can directly buy games, and Game Pass is awesome
I’ve been trying to buy game pass and it always asks me to add a us address and I don’t know what to do
Use a Aramex US Address, or any other freight forwarding address, that will solve your problem
Really would postaplus do the job? Also when it asks to add a payment method can I just my kuwait based credit card
Absolutely Khaled! Banks in Kuwait, atleast ones I’ve dealt with no longer really check the address when US payments are made. I think it’s just the account holder name and card number /cvv that really matter. It’s helped me start with purchases in the US.
Holy shit that worked! postaplus address didn’t work so I used myus instead and my gift visa card and I was able to bypass the dumb game pass authentication. Thanks alot James and Nasser
Does it have a CD slot to play old XBOX 360 games? I read that it is compatible with older games.
Yeah Series X has a CD slot. The Castlevania I installed and played is actually the 360 version. Xbox still remembers all my old purchases and I just redownloaded and installed it.
That slot was a deal breaker for me as my Xbox is also my 4K disc player.
The new xbox is great value just for having game pass, but since I already have that on PC, PS5 is the logical choice to play exclusive sony games, despite it’s ugly design.
Why do you have your Xbox on its side? It was meant to be standing.
It’s not meant to be standing, you can choose to have it on its side or standing, there are rubber feat on both sides it’s up to the user.
Its the “There is no power brick“ for me.
So lets say hypothetically speaking.. if I want one now. Where do I get it from?
AFAIK you don’t. I don’t think there’s going to be supplies on the shelves until the new year from what I’m reading…..
Rehab will probably have them but at inflated grey market prices.
Ok friend just got his from Eureka, they had a lot on display
Tawaseel and Xcite have them too. As mine hasn’t arrived yet I could have not preordered and got it quicker.
First world problem 😀
Just spoken to Xcite. All preorders going out for delivery before 4pm today. Slightly annoying as I’m at work and I specifically asked for after 4pm but they wouldn’t budge.
There are three certainties in life : Death, taxes (unless you live in Kuwait), and Xcite being unable to stick to an agreed delivery schedule 😀
at leat you’re gonna get it today! Vanhalla I don’t think will be playable till tonight anyway since it wasn’t playable for me this morning when I tried.
I wont if it comes whilst I’m actually teaching. I’ll have to send it back to the depot. But if I’m not teaching I can run over and pick it up……
if your place is next to the school, when driver calls u just have him drop it off to you at school.
“The console works with 220v so no need for a transformer
There is no power brick, just a regular cable from the Xbox to the wall plug (this is the best thing ever)”
FYI, the “power brick” is (or contains) a transformer. it’s just two names for the same thing.
Nope. Transformer is used to convert our 220v to 110v which is what we used to use on US units. The power brick is what is then used to provide power to the unit. That power brick is now internal.
Example of power brick
https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/619idNDLpFL._AC_SY355_.jpg
Yeah good riddance to that. I still have mine because of my 360
Has anyone’s Xcite preorder arrived yet? Or know when their last deliveries are?
on reddit i think a couple of guys said they got their delivered
Anyone waiting on Xcite they are delivering between 5pm and 10pm. They have loads to deliver. Mine just arrived 🙂
Barely a “Middle East” version. Apart from the UK plug (which is normal for exports) and Arabic booklets, it’s identical.
Adding to my comment; I’m pretty sure the Xbox’s in our region are EU Xbox’s and apart from the Arabic packaging, we don’t have a special edition.
yes this isn’t a special edition xbox, it’s the regular xbox and it’s probably the same unit as in th EU, US and other parts of the world.
yup, those are the only two things i mentioned that are different
You can figure out what region the console is by using a bluray movie or DVD. Those are region locked to region 1 (US) or region 2 (UK). Games aren’t region locked tho obviously.
4K discs have no region coding, Some DVDs in the UK started to have no region coding as well, and some blu-rays have been like that for a long time.
All my Blu-ray’s and dvds are region locked and I’ve tested this so I don’t know what you’re talking about. I don’t have 4K Blu-rays so maybe that’s an exception.
The Xbox App is fantastic btw, everyone needs to download it and connect their systems to it
Hello
Is there any censorship in assassin creed Valhalla (Arabic) version like Gore and blood?
Regards
does anyone know if there are any units left for sale please? thank you
I tried searching online everywhere, no luck.
So if I purchase an Xbox from Xcite and then relocate to the US. Can I just swap out the outlet for a normal US outlet and continue to play like normal?
Legendary Xcite service strikes again 🙁
My Xbox series x controller packs up 🙁
They make me drive all the way to al rai. They can’t fix or repair it so I either to have to buy a new Xbox one controller (can’t buy series x controller) or return the entire console for a voucher as they can’t replace it. Why do I keep buying from these people?
Controllers can’t be repaired and probably need to be sent back to Microsoft. I’m guessing they can’t replace your console because it’s out of stock which isn’t their fault so they’re offering you a voucher for the same amount (you could probably press them for cash). Take the voucher and once they restock get a new one again. That’s actually good customer service.
Alternatively if you don’t want to do this just buy a series x controller. If they don’t have it in stock it’s readily available elsewhere.