Yea, it's not as simple as that. They also have to explain the current xbox one isn't useless and not making their customers feel like they just wasted money, while also bigging up the new powerful box.
Kotaku: XB1 Slim 2016, More Powerful XB1 Scorpio/VR 2017, iterative boxes from now on
- Thread starter ekim
- Start date
Yea, it's not as simple as that. They also have to explain the current xbox one isn't useless and not making their customers feel like they just wasted money, while also bigging up the new powerful box.
CosmicQueso
Member
On the other hand, if the tech changes aren't significant and revolutionary, as they have been in prior cycles, then having a steadier stream of revenues come in from iterative consoles rather than the peaks and valleys of the traditional console model makes the consoles far less risky financially.
With the traditional model, Microsoft's botched Xbox One launch could cost them for 5-7 years, paying the opportunity cost price of not having launched well. With an iterative model, if one iteration doesn't sell well, they can quickly address the issues and deliver a more appealing box. Revenues are more steady, mistakes are more easily and rapidly fixed.
Same thing as in games now. Without the service model, a game would have one shot at really selling a bunch, launch. Now, games can continue generating significant revenue for years.
It's far less risky this way. And if people go to PC, that's fine for them too. People will be playing on Windows 10, and hopefully (in their minds) using the Store, and generating MAUs.
Sure, I'm not really arguing that though. What I'm saying is that that one bullet point means less when you're comparing a box trying to be a PC vs an actual PC.
Bring it, last gen was way too long and by the time the Scorpio comes out the internals will be 5 years old in the Currrent Machines
MilkyJoe
Member
If it's more powerful you can bet MS will be all over that angle this go round.
Psycho_Mantis
Banned
Is XB1 not going to have any exclusives?
disappeared
Banned
I hope the Slim reveal is another 360 Slim reveal like, "It's out next week," or something.
qa_engineer
Member
I am expecting the next xbox to have similar performance to PS4 Neo and nearly identical hardware configuration with the exception of ESRAM. Quote me bros.
dragonelite
Member
I guess esram is out for Xbox Slim and Scorpio, given it was a band aid to help with gpu bandwidth.
Should help with having the same kind of memory architecture on all the consoles and pc.
They will via simply releasing major AAA games for the older box for the next 3+ years.
Papacheeks
Banned
To what end though? That's what the message is now. What happens couple years from now?
All it takes one game to make a case for use with more powerful iteration console, and you get a situation that could cause a lot of problems.
I love that you seem to have so much faith in this, as though it can't backfire or cause issues down the line?
The biggest issue is that development cycles this gen have gotten so long that a game that is developed to take full advantage of the Xbox Scorpio will be a generation behind by the time it releases since the console cycles are becoming shorter while development cycles are becoming longer.
It isn't comparable to smartphone release cycles because those devices are defined only by the hardware, whereas consoles are defined by the software. New consoles grant new capabilities for developers to use with games. If new consoles are being released before developers can even grasp the new features of the previous iteration fully, what's the point? They aren't being used to their full advantage and simply cannot be because of a lack of time.
And when the xbox one is at 30fps and Scorpio is at 60fps?
Sounds like a disaster in the making really, don't know how any current xbox one owner can be happy with this unless they're planning to upgrade every few years.
Yep, I agree. No more having to rebuild the backwards compatibility every generation for them. Now, you will be able to play most games on a system moving forward (until yours gets outdated, but you will at least be able to continue to play old games when upgrading).
The good news is that the consoles will not have the ridiculous yearly update that phones do. It will be every couple of years, and with a bigger boost. I think this is better for gaming.
Tatsumi Oga
Banned
Is this info about the new Xbox in line with what Phil Spencer said earlier this year?
RedAssedApe
Banned
check under your chairs. xbone slim jim for everyone lol
What makes you so sure? The Bone's architecture makes it much more difficult for MS to make big upgrades while retaining backwards compatibility. Their current APU is already overly complex.
Papacheeks
Banned
We really need more solid official info before we can say
Is your iphone/smartphone useless when a new one is released?
MilkyJoe
Member
Go see how much they pissed up the wall on Kinect, there was an article about how the Kinect cost them almost as much as the console to put in the box. Take away that piece of shit and what could the xbone have been?
justsomeguy
Member
The requirements may not be so major in 2017.
That said, I don't think potential support for OR indicates much about spec, other than that it would have a more powerful GPU than currently in Xbox One. OR support doesn't necessarily imply seamless support for existing OR games on PC - and thus the same hardware requirements at a minimum. Xbox VR may be its own specific separate build target with its own specific performance envelope, that would still be powerful enough to serve 90hz content. That could be anything as long as it has a reasonably better GPU than the current Xbox One tbh.
If they want seamless compatibility with all oculus software without dev intervention, that's another matter, but I don't think that's necessarily implied.
but unlike previous generations, the internals were not cutting edge, so they've got a lot less legs.
Dyson Industries
Banned
It's more confirmation that this will be their...not exit strategy per se, but a shift away from consoles long term and an investment into Xbox as "games as a service". If the Halo 5 to PC rumour turns out to be true, then bank on it - they're wrapping it up.
There's no point in having an Xbox if you have a PC no.
KatamariOnTheRocks
Member
So happy that were finally getting iterative consoles.
Last gen stretched on for way too long and most people end up getting a "slim" revision halfway through the gen anyway so we may as well get a "slim" revision that includes better hardware.
Last gen stretched on for way too long and most people end up getting a "slim" revision halfway through the gen anyway so we may as well get a "slim" revision that includes better hardware.
Wasnt Nadella+company restructure in 2014?
I can't see this being the case considering graphics would push sales of the new boxes more than framerate would.
D
Deleted member 752119
Unconfirmed Member
It will probably still have some I'd guess.
But really, console exclusives are good enough as the average Joe is console only and a lot only own one platform.
dragonelite
Member
You don't have to run the newest or fastest iteration on the market, just like
most people don't upgrade to the newest model each year.
Just like i didn't bought the Galaxy edge 7 two months ago,
instead of the one plus x i have right now.
Tatsumi Oga
Banned
I assume this is old news by now or is this podcast still coming?
https://mobile.twitter.com/bdsams/status/735436849402007552
https://mobile.twitter.com/bdsams/status/735436849402007552
aspiegamer
Member
At this point I've come to accept that we're entering a more progressive console development, but it sounds like the sort of thing you'd only want to try at the start of a generation. Trying to make games for whatever the current Xbox model is + making sure the older models still work sounds like quite a chore. How long are the older models supported, I wonder? It has to end eventually, and things would need progressive tiers of downgrading. Sony has some of that same problem, but they seem more interested in starting with a PS5 as its future progressive device? Make PS4 titles BC and just call it "Playstation" with an updated model every 2 years. Trying to do it mid-gen on what will be very weak hardware in another 5+ years is quite bold. Really, this sounds like it would be easier for people to swallow on brand new hardware that would always be compatible with everything in the future without question.
The oculus move sounds good! But if MS walks out at E3 and their big message is "HEY, LOOK, VR!" they're going to look desperate in trying to follow Sony who has been talking it up for 2 years and has a release date. An endgame of an Xbox that could run win10-compatible titles for oculus would be a big step forward in that it would at least set the entry price around Sony, plus it would have beefier performance, and then of course work on a PC.
With all the new model silliness from all 3 big makers that may or may not all be out by the end of this year and a desire to move people to buy the new stuff, I'm wondering if we'll see $250 consoles this fall. Xbox surely. PS4 I don't know.
The oculus move sounds good! But if MS walks out at E3 and their big message is "HEY, LOOK, VR!" they're going to look desperate in trying to follow Sony who has been talking it up for 2 years and has a release date. An endgame of an Xbox that could run win10-compatible titles for oculus would be a big step forward in that it would at least set the entry price around Sony, plus it would have beefier performance, and then of course work on a PC.
With all the new model silliness from all 3 big makers that may or may not all be out by the end of this year and a desire to move people to buy the new stuff, I'm wondering if we'll see $250 consoles this fall. Xbox surely. PS4 I don't know.
Almost exactly, yeah
Obviously Xbox Scorpio is likely to have a semicustom APU with Zen CPU and Vega GPU with HMB2. Fall 2017.
Vega 10 being AMD's largest, flagship GPU for PC next year, and Vega 11 being a smaller (but not small) chip.
Like the relationship between Polaris 10 and Polaris 11, but Vega 10 will be high-end and Vega 11 midrange, whereas Polaris 10 is midrange and Polaris 11 is low-end.
AMD will have the entire top to bottom lineup with 4 GPUs, from Vega 10 all the way down to Polaris 11, with many graphics card SKUs and APUs in laptops, etc.
My bet is Scorpio's GPU will be somewhere between Vega 11 and Vega 10.
Phil Spencer wants a new generation Xbox to be a significant upgrade with big numbers. He said he's not a fan of an XB1.5.
VR plays a big role, so expect Xbox Scorpio to be compatible with Oculus Rift CV1 and probably CV2 as well, given that Oculus plans to iterate "rapidly".
Vega 10 being AMD's largest, flagship GPU for PC next year, and Vega 11 being a smaller (but not small) chip.
Like the relationship between Polaris 10 and Polaris 11, but Vega 10 will be high-end and Vega 11 midrange, whereas Polaris 10 is midrange and Polaris 11 is low-end.
AMD will have the entire top to bottom lineup with 4 GPUs, from Vega 10 all the way down to Polaris 11, with many graphics card SKUs and APUs in laptops, etc.
My bet is Scorpio's GPU will be somewhere between Vega 11 and Vega 10.
Phil Spencer wants a new generation Xbox to be a significant upgrade with big numbers. He said he's not a fan of an XB1.5.
VR plays a big role, so expect Xbox Scorpio to be compatible with Oculus Rift CV1 and probably CV2 as well, given that Oculus plans to iterate "rapidly".
If this was about power then that would imply true PS4/XB1 successors, and since we aren't getting those it's more about "ecosystem"
Came and went.
If the Neo is $400 this fall, but the Scorpio is sold for say $500-600 in 2017, would the new Xbox not be quite a bit more powerful?
The reason the current consoles are so cheap, is because they gave them a very inexpensive/shitty cpu.
For another 100-200 dollars Microsoft can afford to put much better hardware in the box. I'm assuming this new product is aimed at the High-end console gamer.
The reason the current consoles are so cheap, is because they gave them a very inexpensive/shitty cpu.
For another 100-200 dollars Microsoft can afford to put much better hardware in the box. I'm assuming this new product is aimed at the High-end console gamer.
We've literally already had these types of discussions with the PS4K. Especially now that both Sony AND Microsoft are doing the same thing, it will be easy for customers to adapt.
Especially considering that phones already have a similar upgrade path.
And, I'm assuming that Microsoft will adopt similar requirements that Sony is rumored to have in place, such as:
-it is required to make the 4k version run better
-it is required to have parity in content between the versions
-devs are required to have both versions by 'x' time
If you notice, they are requirements. Having consistency is key to making it work.
The Abominable Snowman
Member
Nevermind, they are using Rift, according to this rumor. Awesome.
I should read the comments less.
I should read the comments less.
oldergamer
Member
I don't think it will be yearly, but every two years.
Papacheeks
Banned
These are not fucking phones!
These are consoles that play $60+ software not 1.99-4.99 app/games.
And we are dealing with things like resolution, frame rates being different by possible large margins.
And if lets say down the road a major AAA game runs like ass on older PS4, than Neo you will have a fucking wild fire that could spread, once developers want to work on the newer hardware down the line.
Just because Sony's mandate now says you have to target PS4, doesn't mean it wont change in the future which has happened to an extent with different versions of games.
I abolutely agree. This is the major issue I have with iterative consoles. Just count the amount of big games released throughout one year and you'll see that only a few games will truely exploit the power of your shiny new console. Less big games, more hw. For example: by the time the next Halo or GOW is launched we could already see the next iteration of Xbox.