Xbox has had a tough time over the past few years, continually losing market share. playstationNintendo Switch, and possibly Steam Machine soon as well. It's true that Microsoft's current hardware lineup leaves a bit to be desired, especially when it comes to exclusivity. There are virtually no Xbox exclusives, as Microsoft has begun releasing its own games on PC and groundbreaking franchises such as the Xbox One. halo and Gears of War To PlayStation.
The lack of strong exclusives, along with numerous PR issues such as allegations of Activision-Blizzard misconduct, the closure of a number of major studios, and mass layoffs, have undermined Xbox's reputation over time. While this is certainly a valid reason to reject the Xbox brand in favor of the Switch or PS5, it would be disingenuous to claim that Xbox has nothing to offer over its competitors. Hardware-wise, the Xbox Series However, it's worth pointing out that Xbox is ahead of the rest of the console market, if only to hope that its powerful capabilities will lead to more widespread adoption.
Despite all its advantages, the PS5 still lacks Xbox's quick resume feature.
Fast Resume is a key part of the Xbox Series console feature lineup.
PlayStation has a lot of cool hardware-related features, like responsive triggers and gyroscopes on the DualSense controller, but none of them compare to the usability and elegance of Xbox Quick Resume. Introduced on Series S and Series X devices, Quick Resume is literally a feature that allows users to switch between multiple different games instantly. Users can even resume the game right where they left off, even after turning the console off and back on.
Almost all Xbox games are compatible with this feature, and Xbox itself says up to five newer games can be in the Quick Resume queue at once, which should be helpful for anyone who wants to jump between games as they please. It works by saving the contents of the console's RAM to the hardware, essentially “freezing” moments of in-game time. Then, thanks to the blazing-fast speeds of the Xbox Series SSD, you can quickly retrieve and boot up those moments of gaming time. It's an incredibly valuable and convenient feature that has many meaningful use cases, including playing a variety of games, from games that require a lot of downtime to consoles used by multiple family members.
Xbox's Quick Resume feature is convenient, but be careful. This is not the same as saving your game the traditional way, as glitches have been known to occur.
Fast resumption remains Xbox's biggest advantage over PlayStation.
Naturally, few expected the underpowered Nintendo Switch to feature something similar to Quick Resume, but considering how similar it is to the Xbox Series consoles on the hardware front, it's somewhat surprising that PlayStation hasn't tried to emulate the feature. The PS5 had a similar feature in the form of Resume Activity, but this appears to have been removed from the console as of 2024. Still, Resume Activity could only work for one game at a time, and Quick Resume's most important perk was omitted.
Fast restarts are a bittersweet aspect of the Xbox Series console line. This is a great quality of life feature that really leans into the idea of Xbox being a shared hub for games and entertainment, but it's also a feature that few will enjoy, considering the poor sales of current-generation Xbox models. In the future, we hope to see other platform holders integrate the Quick Resume format into their hardware.
