# Project Scorpio: Xbox



## Mike (Apr 5, 2017)

http://www.xbox.com/en-us/project-scorpio



Unveil is supposed to be at 1PM GMT on Thursday, April 6th with Eurogamer. 

Glad I didn't buy a One S I guess.


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## TedEH (Apr 5, 2017)

Sounds like a bunch of meaningless numbers and hype to me, but then I'm not usually a "console gamer". I figure if you're thaaaaaaat hung up on specs, you'd just buy a PC. What would impress me in a console is a really strong lineup of exclusives that make use of the unique features of that particular console.

The biggest thing that stops me from having interest in this kind of thing is knowing that, with the way games are made, the incremental increase in performance for this console is going to have very little impact on the resulting quality of games coming out for it. 99% of what I would want to play won't be exclusive by any means, and the xbox builds of any game are going to have to be able to run on the currently existing consoles anyway. I see buying an updated console as being really similar to just buying the next iPhone- it'll be marginally better, but mostly more of the same with a couple of extra bells and whistles you probably will never use.

I'm 100x more interested in a Switch than another Xbox. But then I'd rather keep my PC than either if I had to pick just one.

I very well might just not be the target audience, so to speak.


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## StevenC (Apr 5, 2017)

Xbox vs PlayStation is a race to the bottom. Who can lose out to PC last? I genuinely don't remember the last game I bought for my Xbox, there's only one exciting game coming down the line, and all the exclusives are available on PC day 1 from now on. I plan to buy a PS4 eventually but only for a handful of games, which are at least fully exclusive. I can understand at least Microsoft are trying to move the Xbox brand to Windows 10, and the Xbox division has never made any money for Microsoft. I imagine this could be the last Xbox and in a few years they'll have moved entirely to Windows.

I could imagine a PS5 copying the Switch because Sony are incapable of coming up with their own ideas, but their audience has told them over and over again that they don't want to the PlayStation experience on the go. We'll see, though, because they're also not very successful at knocking off Nintendo.

This is incredibly uninteresting as something to actually buy.


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## TedEH (Apr 6, 2017)

I've heard all the "consoles are going to die, everyone will be PC only" and "PC gamers are a thing of the past" comments from all over the place, and I don't believe any of it for a moment. Consoles still have their place, and probably always will, just as there will always be people claiming PCs can do everything consoles can do (which I wouldn't call 100% accurate, but close enough for most purposes).

I think at this point people are pretty settled on their preferred platform, and it would take a lot of effort (marketing?) to move those people to something different. PC is an easy sell, cause you need them for so many other things anyway. But I think consoles need to start distancing themselves from being so PC-like if the want to re-capture non-console gamers. To me, that means exclusive games, but also exclusive hardware and features. I'd buy a switch cause it's the only way to play Nintendo games, and because the form factor is appealing. Being able to travel with a more-or-less full Nintendo console is a great selling point. Xbox, doesn't have anything that appeals to me that a PC can't already do, and the PS4 doesn't have enough exclusive games I care about to justify the cost.

I want to want consoles. But I don't.


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## StevenC (Apr 6, 2017)

You're exactly right, and I think that unless the home console starts going for something other than "We're a bad PC" I think they're in trouble. This seems to be Microsoft's aim, because it's more people using Windows, but Sony has to do something else or they won't have a market for the PlayStation at all. They haven't even put a 4k Blu Ray player in the PS4 Pro to promote their media formats like they've always done.

Nintendo saw this trend a long time ago. Console sales were up, but not because more people people were playing games, but the same proportion of a larger population were playing games. Hence the Wii and DS and every attempt to expand the gaming market since then, because they only operate in the video games industry.

From today's news I still don't really care about the Scorpio.


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## Señor Voorhees (Apr 6, 2017)

Xbox is a clunky joke and I don't care that there's a faster one. My not-really that expensive pc is still worlds better.


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## mongey (Apr 6, 2017)

I think Sony and MS are purely going after the core gamers dedicated to their brand who may have got a ps4 or xbone on launch but have since got a 4k tv . 

dangling that "it plays games at 4k" worm in front of them. they know those core gamers wont be able to resist an upgrade selling a whole bunch more units


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## StevenC (Apr 6, 2017)

mongey said:


> I think Sony and MS are purely going after the core gamers dedicated to their brand who may have got a ps4 or xbone on launch but have since got a 4k tv .
> 
> dangling that "it plays games at 4k" worm in front of them. they know those core gamers wont be able to resist an upgrade selling a whole bunch more units



Nintendo has already shown that's not the way to make money.


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## Mwoit (Apr 7, 2017)

If anyone wants to read the Eurogamer article... http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/d...?ocid=Platform_soc_omc_xbo_fb_Photo_lrn_4.6.1

I don't care about Xbox too much, but I am interested to see the hardware being used to it's full potential. At this stage, it's more or less a standard x86 machine and if Ryzen would be a good candidate to stand up to Intel. The CPU market is pretty stale anyway, but it's interesting to see something new.

Then again, the real question is, who will use that hardware and can they effectively utilize to it's maximum potential? Probably not.


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## Señor Voorhees (Apr 7, 2017)

The thing that's dumb about it is that the extra oomph is mostly meaningless since every single new thing that's made has to work on the old hardware. You can't truly exploit the upgraded hardware because the games need to function on the already long-dated hardware as well. 

The same way that xbox and Playstation have been holding back mainstream progress on pc gaming. Interesting how the consoles will now be getting in their own way. 

Content will remain essentially the same... You'll just have better loading times and les fps problems.


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## TedEH (Apr 7, 2017)

I feel like the whole "push for 4k" thing isn't going to go as smoothly as anyone would like. It's nice to say "look at all this extra spec we've got, now we can upres everything!", but that's not realistically how things work. Every individual piece of software would need to be updated to scale properly, and that means a whole new round of optimizations and shortcuts that may or may not work out. You can't just turn up a couple o settings and run with it. I don't think people realize just how much effort goes into getting even very simple games to perform well and scale to different machines.


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## ZeroS1gnol (Apr 7, 2017)

Ive got an Xbox one and I enjoy it. A performance boost would be nice and I have been looking forward to the scorpio because of this, but I am so utterly disappointed that this will not have an SSD. Loading times can be horrific on a console and it's all to do with the HDD. I would be willing to put down some hard cash for a console with SSD. But it looks like I'm switchting to PC in about a year or so, because console manufacturers don't seem to really want improve on their systems that much.


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## Ralyks (Apr 7, 2017)

I've been holding off on getting an Xbox One S to hear more about this thing. At this point, I'll wait to see the thing in action. Specs are nice, but lets see some games. Otherwise I feel like I'll just end up with an One S for a 4k blu ray player than can also play some Microsoft Exclusives.


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## ferret (Apr 8, 2017)

I've got a beefy computer. I have a hard time considering Xbox because true exclusives are very rare. Microsoft wants to push Windows 10 app store and stuff too. Meanwhile, Sony keeps a lot of really interesting games locked to the PS4.

I'm not really knocking Xbox, there's some great games... It's just... if it'll be on PC, what's the draw for me?


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## Jonathan20022 (Apr 9, 2017)

The Scorpio is a high end version of the Xbox One for the high end consumer, if you want to experience the games in a higher resolution or more consistent/higher framerate. Microsoft kind of shot themselves in the foot when they decided to move exclusives onto the Microsoft Store for PC. I've been playing Gears 4 on my PC with my friends and it's been a blast and I'm very glad I can do that.

I'll be interested in getting this several years down the line when I can get it for a very cheap price if there are enough games to entice me to buy one. But like any hardware revision, the people who wait to buy near the end of a console's life cycle have a greater experience when the best hardware is available with a very filled out game library.

Another thing to keep note of, the promise of 4k 60fps is so vague that it's very hard to believe any of it at this point. There is going to be a hell of a lot of little compromises like resolution scaling to achieve that promise.

I built a gaming PC for 4k gaming in August of last year and I spent about $1600 on the Desktop alone. And the only *recent games that I can run at 60 frames or above maxed out at a 4k resolution are very few and far between. To reference my previous example, I can't run Gears of War 4 during the more intense scenes and fire fights above 50fps. It drops to 45-50fps during those moments, and is locked at 55fps and under during just about every other scene with every single option maxed out .

Native 4k Resolution with consistent hard locked fast frame rates will not happen for the price range people are envisioning this to have. There are plenty of specs and large numbers being flung around, but in my mind that is intentional in order to impress the average consumer. I can ask 8/10 people and they will not know what to define a teraflop as.

This is what a comparable PC costs to the power of Project Scorpio, and it costs under $600. Make of that what you will, but this while being easily the most powerful console in the market. It will not accurately deliver on it's promises without workarounds and compromises.

https://pcpartpicker.com/user/link9933/saved/#view=phrf7P


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## TheTrooper (Apr 22, 2017)

I'm not exactly an hardcore gamer, I currently stopped playing on my 360 six months ago, just to help me get more hyped for RDR 2 and I basically played 1 game in the last 3 1/2 years (GTA V, a lot Online) and mostly played one game per year (mostly from Rockstar Games) but I'm pretty damn interested in Scorpio.

I had my 360 for a LONG time and it's kinda time to upgrade; the new X1 seems a good excuse for me.

Hopefully it is released before or right at the same time of RDR2, (How come there's no topic here?!) that should be fun.

Altough 4K resolution is very cool and it's going to be the next thing in a short amount of time, I'm more intrigued by supersampling on a "normal" HD 1080p screen since it's still the most used device.


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## Ralyks (Apr 22, 2017)

Right now I'm almost looking at the Scorpio like "So you're going to let me know that they didn't cancel Crackdown 3, right?"


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## leftyguitarjoe (Apr 28, 2017)

The specs of this console arent enough to run things at 4k 60fps. Not a chance. Most games currently and will likely downscale the resolution and still run at low fps. Sell your xbox and use your scorpio savings to get the ultimate Microsoft gaming machine: a PC.


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## Ralyks (Apr 28, 2017)

I feel like a console running native 4K at this point in time would be at LEAST 800 - 1000 USD.


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## StevenC (Apr 28, 2017)

leftyguitarjoe said:


> The specs of this console arent enough to run things at 4k 60fps. Not a chance. Most games currently and will likely downscale the resolution and still run at low fps. Sell your xbox and use your scorpio savings to get the ultimate Microsoft gaming machine: a PC.



And that's exactly what Microsoft wants you to do. There's not going to be room in the video games industry for high powered consoles to compete with PCs very soon and both Microsoft and Nintendo know this.


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## lewis (May 2, 2017)

initially I was well on board with this.
Now it just seems pathetic given that we are in the middle of YET ANOTHER generation of "suped up consoles" that offer basically no strong games to play on them.

I honestly thought and expected this gen to be a return to form finally. A return to the PS2 form of gaming titles.
Last gen started off well but fizzled out badly. This gen has fallen so flat. A combination of games either getting rushed out so are either weak as hell or a buggy mess OR nothing great at all to choose from.

Im seriously underwhelmed. I bought Farcry literally weeks ago now. The newer caveman type one. And I havent even opened it out of its plastic yet.
I love gaming and could be a diehard gamer, but I find myself barely playing these days and when I do its either on Skyrim special edition again, or just a razz on Fallout 4.
This console seems an absolute waste of time, money and effort given how weak the game lineup is.


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