Gaming consoles are a big thing today and with technological advancements being introduced every passing day and there is no question that hardcore gaming enthusiasts are waiting for the latest upcoming version of their favourite preferred gaming platforms and Microsoft’s Project Scorpio/Xbox 2 has already received a confirmation regarding its release date which is slated to be somewhere in the first week of November, 2017.
The Ultimate Gaming System from the tech giants is actually pegged to be the latest state-of-the-art entry to the world of gaming consoles but there is also a big question of how many people will actually end up affording this monster of a system when it finally starts being available in the market.
That is far off for now as we try and delve into the depth of the Xbox 2-Project Scorpio, what it is slated to feature and how exactly will it be different from the rest of the gaming consoles we have seen so far. Robbie Bach, who was Microsoft’s President and Chief Xbox Officer for ten years, spoke with Geekwire recently and dropped a bit of information regarding the Xbox Two. He was there talking about his book: “Xbox Revisited: A game Plan for Corporate and Civic Renewal.”
Xbox 2 : Project Scorpio – What can the new monster console from Microsoft offer?
The Xbox 2, codename Project Scorpio, is already stated to be a very different machine from what we’ve seen thus far from game consoles. Technology is changing at a rapid pace and it’s looking like future technology such as augmented reality and cloud-gaming is going to be the new standard which future consoles will be expected to live up to.
#A Lighter and more compact Xbox: The Xbox One S which was rolled out a few days back featured an incredibly compact console hardware which was 40% smaller than the original Xbox One. The Xbox 2 will definitely sport a similar physical outlook if not more compact but Microsoft claims to have altered the outlook of the console. Many Xbox 2 concepts on the internet show different interpretations of how the Xbox Project Scorpio might look like but we will get to find out for real only after Microsoft decides to roll out images of the console themselves, apart from depending on leaks.
#A Ramp Up in Internal Memory or 3D Stacked RAM? :Now, the question which arises in everyone’s head regarding the Xbox 2 is what powers it. Since the original Xbox rolled out by Microsoft years back, each new iteration has sported a significant escalation in the RAM specifications and the Xbox 2 might just see a ramp up from the 8GB DDR3 RAM featured in the Xbox one. Also possible is the incorporation of 3D Stacked RAMs which promises more powerful options for less cost and leaves more of the budget for improvements in other areas of the console.
#A Power Greater than Rivals Sony?: One unverified source told X-ray, an Italian video games news site, that the new Xbox will be more powerful than Sony’s new upgraded console. The source even said that the performance will beat the NEO by up to six times. The Xbox 2 will reportedly have an insane 10 TFLOPs of computing performance power, according to Tweak Town. It could have the capability to run games at 4K resolution with a frame rate cap higher than the already-fluid 60 frames per second on most consoles and systems. An 8core CPU is what is rumoured to be featured but keeping in mind that Microsoft has promised a powerhouse of a console, we’ll just bookmark that in case the tech giants do roll out a 16-core CPU in the Xbox 2.
#A Larger Hard Drive Capacity?: When Microsoft released the Xbox One S, they offered it in a 500GB, 1TB, and 2TB model. In an interview with NZ Gamer, Phil Spencer talked about a similar approach with Xbox 2 (Project Scorpio).
“That said, the opening price point of the Xbox One S, and the different hard drive sizes, that is a critical part of this whole product. When I think it as a product line, you should expect the pricing to kind of be in line with that.”
-Phil Spencer
So, this more or less does confirm the fact that the Xbox 2 will come in different storage sized variants. Also doing the rounds is the incorporation of another latest hard drive technology called Shingled Magnetic Recording, which, in conjunction with other advancements, we could be seeing hard drives as large as approximately 100 terabytes.
Huge isn’t it? When you compare it with other consoles or even Microsoft’s last console for that matter.
#4K Blu-Ray Support: 4K Blue Ray support has already been rolled out in the Xbox One S by Microsoft but that being said there has been no confirmation that the Xbox 2 will feature the same or not. However, in the NZgamer interview, Phil Spencer did say that people have responded very well to the Xbox One S and its 4K Blu-Ray drive, which prompted him to mention that they would be interested in continuing to utilise that option. It’s no confirmation, but it does suggest Xbox 2 (Project Scorpio) will use a 4K UHD Blu-Ray drive.
#Project Scorpio’s Backward Compatibility: Microsoft’s Project Scorpio come is all set to come with Xbox 360 backwards compatibility program support. The confirmation of the feature came from Xbox engineering lead Mike Ybarra on Twitter yesterday. “360 Backwards compatibility will, of course, work on Scorpio,” he said in a tweet when a user asked him if 2010’s “Red Dead Redemption” would be playable on the Project Scorpio. Microsoft added new games to the support list, including Halo Wars, Halo Reach, Skate 3, Call of Duty: Black Ops, and the BioShock franchise.
Last year, Microsoft brought backwards compatibility for Xbox 360 games for the Xbox One. Now, there over 250 360 titles that are playable for the Xbox One including numerous “Halo” titles, “Red Dead Redemption,” and most recently, “Blue Dragon.”
Beside the above mentioned, another exciting feature that should be appearing in the Xbox 2 is VR compatibility. Microsoft isn’t new to the virtual reality technology. The company has already ventured into the VR industry with its Hololens which is really a pair of mix reality headset. If Xbox 2 becomes VR compatible then, the console can easily reap benefits from that, allowing players to access standard PC games in VR. Xbox 2 has a good chance at becoming the only console for true 4K and hi-fidelity VR. Dubbed as the next best thing, by 2020 the VR industry is going to generate some $40 billion in revenue, as per industry analysts. So venturing into the industry head-on is a really great idea.
Microsoft’s Project Scorpio: How Much can the Xbox 2 Cost Post A potential November 2017 release?
There is this notion among non-gamers and gamers alike that console gaming is expensive. And no matter how things are justified in the end, the notion is far from being untrue.
And with the Xbox 2 which is due for a November release next year. Microsoft proves them right yet again. The monster console from the Tech Giants is slated to bear a minimum price tag of $600 which is gonna see it become the most expensive console ever. Yes, its specification and gameplay will be beyond anything we have ever seen so far and it might just provide everything needed to offer hardcore gamers the best sort of gameplay but the question of how many people would be able to afford it still remains.
