We have just had a general election here in the UK and I thought that’s all I would see on social media this morning as I awoke. That’s partly true but in between the celebrations and complaints, were the odd mention of Xbox. A new Xbox to be exact and again, more celebrations and complaints about this announcement.
Microsoft has announced their new gaming console, the Xbox Series X, which is set to release in ‘holidays 2020’, which I’m taking as this time next year, just in time for Christmas.
Xbox Series X will be our fastest, most powerful console ever and set a new bar for performance, speed and compatibility, allowing you to bring your gaming legacy, thousands of games from three generations and more forward with you. Its industrial design enables us to deliver four times the processing power of Xbox One X in the most quiet and efficient way, something that is critically important in delivering truly immersive gameplay. We also designed Xbox Series X to support both vertical and horizontal orientation. It’s bold and unique, very much like our fans around the world and the team of collaborators and innovators who built it.
Alongside Xbox Series X, we also unveiled the new Xbox Wireless Controller. Its size and shape have been refined to accommodate an even wider range of people, and it also features a new Share button to make capturing screenshots and game clips simple and an advanced d-pad derived from the Xbox Elite Series 2 Wireless Controller. The new Xbox Wireless Controller will be compatible with Xbox One and Windows 10 PCs, and will be included with every Xbox Series X.
Ok, so it looks kinda cool, although somewhat impractical for most TV units I imagine, the controller looks the same apart from this additional share button but what’s in the box. Microsoft have not got into the specifics yet but they are stating it will be ‘world-class’ visuals in 4K 60FPS, with the possibility of up to 120FPS, including support for variable refresh rate and 8K capability. It will be built with the help from AMD, who is smashing it right now on the CPU front and will include ray tracing! Microsoft has also patented ‘Variable Rate Shading’ or VRS, which apparently allows devs to get more out the consoles GPU.
Price? Who knows, I expect $399, maybe a bit more with a game bundle. They’ve noted that Halo Infinite will be the leading gaming with the release of the console.
Microsoft has played some of their cards, how will Sony react and will Microsoft be able to claw back part of the console community…
