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[Lactose_Intolerant]

I know from a pure console perspective I hear, “Hey, you’re going to drag Scorpio down by making devs continue to support the Xbox One.” But anyone that has played PC games knows that PCs have a minimum spec, a recommended spec and an unbounded spec. And I don’t think anybody says, “Wow, Battlefield at the top-end is somehow held back by its ability to support [low-end PCs].” Devs know how to build scalable games. They already do.

We blame consoles for that

 

[LukasTaves]

There is an interesting bit about how every Xbox One games will have to run on Scorpio. It sounds like the interoperability was less automatic to create than PS4 games on PS4 Pro, probably because the Scorpio architecture is more different with a potential new CPU and such ? I may be reading that wrong but Phil's comment make it sound like studios will have to work on something to make their Xbox One games Scorpio compatible.



As a reminder, here is how the 700 PS4 games should run flawlessy on the PS4 Pro, as explained by Mark Cerny on the great Digital Foundry piece.

That's because they are making so older games running on scorpio run better than on xbone, even without patch. Sony basically cramps the pro to the ps4 levels so when you run a unpatched game it's literally running exactly as a normal ps4 would.

 

[Obscuritas]

That was a given, Phil.

 

[PackAPunchedMick]

Where did he pluck the "every two years" comment from? thin air?

The Xbox One will have been for sale for four years at least when the "Scorpio" hits the shelves.

Theres a deeper meaning to that comment, an xbox/pc hybrid is my guess, no refreshes, just upgrades.

 

[Complicated]

Good answers. I'll take any acceleration in the hardware cycle I can get.

 

[icespide]

who expected new consoles every 2 years?

 

[Inuhanyou]

But you can get that with iterative consoles, you can jump at your own pace, and if you wait 6 years or so new games are going to look as stellar as they would on a next gen machine, but with the added benefit of the games you already own from those 6 years also running and looking better.

Iterative consoles lose their point because there is no point to the better cosnole anymore besides slightly smoother FPS or slightly higher res.

Game experiences that generally are optimized fully from design conception to release with a higher based hardware spec in mind is what defines generations to me, not simply running the same games you could get in the exact same form uncompromised on previous hardware, only slightly better.

 

[GameSeeker]

If Microsoft is not going to deliver a new XBOX console 2 years after Scorpio, they will be at a significant disadvantage.

Sony seems to have moved from a 5-6 year refresh cycle to a 6 year refresh cycle with a 3 year mid-life kicker.

2013 - PS4 (new cycle)
2016 - PS4 Pro (mid-life kicker)
2019 - PS5 (new cycle)
2022 - PS5 Pro (mid-life kicker)

Microsoft is one year behind PS4 Pro and it they don't keep Scorpio to a 2 year life cycle, they will be one year behind PS5. I can't see that being a good business decision for Microsoft.

 

[1.21Gigawatts]

But anyone that has played PC games knows that PCs have a minimum spec, a recommended spec and an unbounded spec. And I don’t think anybody says, “Wow, Battlefield at the top-end is somehow held back by its ability to support [low-end PCs].”

But isn't that exactly whats happening? Looking at the best looking games on consoles and then looking at the best looking games on PCs with 5 times as much power suggests that this power isn't fully utilized on PC.
Heck, most of these extra Ultra Settings bells and whistles are massively inefficient uses of horsepower.
PCs will always be held back by consoles, but when consoles games are supposed to run on older consoles, that will obviously hold back these games visuals on the newer consoles aswell.
We've seen that with cross-gen games this gen.

 

[leeh]

We blame consoles for that

Those consoles which are more powerful than the lowest spec PC which can play said game?

 

[Zedox]

I don't expect next gen consoles after PS4P and Scorpio to be launched until end of 2019 or end of 2020.

 

[CrimsonEclipse]

I'm okay with 3-4 year cycles I think. As long as my games carry over and I can decide when to make the jump I'm good.

 

[RooMHM]

I know from a pure console perspective I hear, “Hey, you’re going to drag Scorpio down by making devs continue to support the Xbox One.” But anyone that has played PC games knows that PCs have a minimum spec, a recommended spec and an unbounded spec. And I don’t think anybody says, “Wow, Battlefield at the top-end is somehow held back by its ability to support [low-end PCs].”

True. PC gamers lament at how ressources are spent to hold back PC versions in favor of console versions...

 

[The Praiseworthy]

Every 4 years is roughly what I expect from Microsoft from here. I think Sony is going to back to a standard schedule with the PS5.

I totally agree 100%.

 

[etta]

Straight to the point and likeable answers.

 

[Gutek]

Bummer. Could see myself updating every 4 years in the future. Actually, every 3 would be preferable.

 

[AmFreak]

Those consoles which are more powerful than the lowest spec PC which can play said game?

Like what?
The only component under console power that you can get away with on the PC is the gpu. And the reason for this is that graphics are highly scalable by itself.
You e.g. can theoretically run a 3D game with any resolution you like thus bringing the required gpu power under that the consoles offer.
But this doesn't change the fact that consoles are the lowest common denominator that these games are made for/have to run on.

 

[Miles X]

Nobody's launching a generation anymore.

Of course they are, don't be silly.

 

[Astral Dog]

Im ok with this because at least we finally had a true jump at minimun specs on 2013

 

[Chris1]

Just release a new console whenever it feels necessary/something new is on the horizon. Don't release new consoles just for the sake of it.

The XB1/PS4 releases were pretty much completely pointless as far as I'm concerned. The target was 1080p... a few years old resolution by the time the consoles came out.

Consoles should have came out when it was taking off. It should be HD > 1080P > 4K/HDR/VR > 8k/whatever else.

 

[Ushay]

Every 4 years, with a high end model that bridges the gap between generations sounds great.

So something like Xbox One/S >> Xbox Scorpio >> (Next Gen Starts) Xbox Scorpio S >> Xbox Two >> Scorpio Two .. or something to that effect. At least I hope anyway.

 

[PackAPunchedMick]

I think some of you are jumping the gun.

If Pro and "scorpio" are a failure we'll be stuck with 6-7 year lifespans forever.

 

[sublimit]

I think some of you are jumping the gun.

If Pro and "scorpio" are a failure we'll be stuck with 6-7 year lifespans forever.

And i have always been perfectly fine with that. If i wanted a new console every 2 years just for a bit more power that the devs may or may not take advantage of, i'd have jumped to PC gaming a long time ago.

 

[Ishida]

Wasn't Phil Spencer the one that stated that the Xbox One would not follow suit with iterative, mid-gen consoles when asked about the then rumored PS4 Neo? And then proceeded to reveal the Scorpio at E3?

Sure Phil, whatever you say.

 

[Poimandres]

um, his point is they make more money off software than hardware

I know that's his point, I'm just pointing out that "the original Xbox" basically had the plug pulled when it had plenty of life left.

I know that things are different now, but it's just what that phrasing brings to mind for me.

 

[Bgamer90]

I don't expect next gen consoles after PS4P and Scorpio to be launched until end of 2019 or end of 2020.

I'm thinking Fall 2020 at the earliest. Anything before then would be too soon in my opinion with this iterative consoles.

 

[jdmonmou]

I think some of you are jumping the gun.

If Pro and "scorpio" are a failure we'll be stuck with 6-7 year lifespans forever.

This is my hope.

 

[Yoday]

Wasn't Phil Spencer the one that stated that the Xbox One would not follow suit with iterative, mid-gen consoles when asked about the then rumored PS4 Neo? And then proceeded to reveal the Scorpio at E3?

Sure Phil, whatever you say.

No, not at all. He said he wasn't interested in a half step upgrade, and people wrongly took that to mean he wasn't interested in mid cycle upgrade at all.

My guess is that they are going to shoot for a new console every four years. Four years allows for a decent upgrade, but also gives the consumer a chance to buy enough games to make the hardware purchase worth it to MS. I also think that as long as Scorpio and the Xbox One S are able to exist together in one ecosystem we will see this iterative cycle continue indefinitely. People can shit on the XBO all they want, but it has enough power and enough memory that much more demanding games will still be able to scale down to it for a very long time, and Scorpio won't need to be phased out until it can no longer handle cutting edge games at 720p30, which will be a very long way down the road.

We should also have compatibility for as long as MS can maintain this multiple hardware API. MS has confirmed that X360 BC as well as all XBO games will work on Scorpio, so it would seem that licencing isn't tied to the hardware, but rather the software platform.

 

[Jumeira]

who expected new consoles every 2 years?

If you've been in discussions about PSPro and Scorpio, there's a large group of people that believe Sony will release PS5 in 2018, yes, 2 years after pro. Absurd, but there you go. Not sure if the interviewer brought this up or if Phil's getting tweets about countering PS5 in 2018 lol.

 

[rokkerkory]

My body will be ready every 4 years then

 

[Outrun]

So, what is the difference between a basic hardware generation and "a future of no console generations", considering what your talking about here Phil? You know its impossible that hardware can be infinitely forwards compatible, so what is the exact angle MS is going with?

I wanna know.

All you need is some common sense to know.

They will do it as long they can.

 

[The God]

Of course they are, don't be silly.

Not being silly. Microsoft has ceded generations, Nintendo is likely going iterative with the Switch, and Sony has been wishy washy with the idea so I think there's a good chance they'll do the same thing.

 

[Afrikan]

"At a working level, we’re as invested in making sure that all the Windows head-mounted displays work. We’re working with Valve and HTC to make sure that device works, too."

He's talking about them working on Scorpio right?

if Scorpio gets roomscale VR, that'd be GREAT. I wonder if Sony would counter that in a few years on the PS5.

 

[facetheslayer92]

He's talking about them working on Scorpio right?

if Scorpio gets roomscale VR, that'd be GREAT. I wonder if Sony would counter that in a few years on the PS5.

That's what I thought but I really don't know

 

[jdmonmou]

He's talking about them working on Scorpio right?

if Scorpio gets roomscale VR, that'd be GREAT. I wonder if Sony would counter that in a few years on the PS5.

I wouldn't get too excited about that statement at this point. Microsoft often says a lot of things to whet the appetite of consumers but don't follow through. The Rift was supposed to be compatible with the Xbox One through a game theater mode and I'm still waiting for Xbox Live and the "power of the cloud" to triple my Xbox One's processing power.

 

[WillyFive]

My body will be ready every 4 years then

A regular console generation then.

 

[ronaldthump]

I'm okay with 3-4 year cycles I think. As long as my games carry over and I can decide when to make the jump I'm good.

4-5 years is aokay. PS4 still looks really good visually.

 

[lowhighkang_LHK]

We blame consoles for that

Consoles are at medium/high settings on PC.

There are plenty of settings on Battlefield PC that scale well below that to low settings and low presets. Which proves Phils point. These PC ports use the consoles as a set mid-point, and scale up for higher end hardware and scale down for lower end hardware. Only games like Star Citizen target exclusively to higher end PC hardware. But that also leaves a huge chunk of the PC base out, and we'll see how fiscally feasible that is.

 

[Afrikan]

I wouldn't get too excited about that statement at this point. Microsoft often says a lot of things to whet the appetite of consumers but don't follow through. The Rift was supposed to be compatible with the Xbox One through a game theater mode and I'm still waiting for Xbox Live and the "power of the cloud" to triple my Xbox One's processing power.

I remember that. :/ what happened with the Crackdown game? it was suppose to be the first to feature it right?

damn shame if that VIVE stuff ain't gonna happen though. I thought Phil Spencer was taking a different approach...or at least so many around here talk him up, so I thought that was why.

 

[Suburban Thug]

I think some of you are jumping the gun.

If Pro and "scorpio" are a failure we'll be stuck with 6-7 year lifespans forever.

I'd be ok with that. If I wanted bleeding edge tech or yearly upgrades then I would buy a gaming PC.