Microsoft Xbox Series X | S OT - Power Your Dreams, update: FTC case unredacted documents leaked, including XSX mid-generation refresh, new gyro/haptic-enabled controller, and next-generation plans for 2028

[Pikachu]

 

Quote

Introducing the new Xbox Series X*. Power Your Dreams.

Coming Holiday 2020. 

 

[elbobo]

I do like them going in a different direction with their design but everyone is going to lay that thing on its side, it is not going to fit in many entertainment stands vertically 

[Slug]

Ohhh they should've gone with a different name...there's gonna be some model confusion happening for sure.  100% chance Grandma buys the wrong one.

[Keyser_Soze]

5 minutes ago, elbobo said:

I do like them going in a different direction with their design but everyone is going to lay that thing on its side, it is not going to fit in many entertainment stands vertically 

 

It would fit mine because my TV just sets on a flat surface / cabinent like thing. It could sit right next to the TV like an alexa or something.

[AbsolutSurgen]

Is it the Xbox SeX?

[XxEvil AshxX]

I actually like the design. At first i thought it was huge, like a subwoofer or a pc tower, but once i realized it was only as wide as the controller and about three times as high, I warmed ip to it pretty quick.

 

I don't have an entertainment center setup so i don't have to worry about it fitting in a cabinet.

 

 

[XxEvil AshxX]

8 minutes ago, Slug said:

Ohhh they should've gone with a different name...there's gonna be some model confusion happening for sure.  100% chance Grandma buys the wrong one.

 

That's when Grandpa says "no bitch i wanted the expensive one."

[Spork3245]

6 minutes ago, XxEvil AshxX said:

I actually like the design. At first i thought it was huge, like a subwoofer or a pc tower, but once i realized it was only as wide as the controller and about three times as high, I warmed ip to it pretty quick.

 

I don't have an entertainment center setup so i don't have to worry about it fitting in a cabinet.

 

 

what if it has a ported downward firing subwoofer built-in and they forgot to mention it and those who keep it on glass shelfs have a mess to clean up after the first in-game explosion???!

[Keyser_Soze]

10 minutes ago, AbsolutSurgen said:

Is it the Xbox SeX?

 

 

[Chairslinger]

28 minutes ago, Slug said:

Ohhh they should've gone with a different name...there's gonna be some model confusion happening for sure.  100% chance Grandma buys the wrong one.

 

 

I am still a little unclear. So this is the next Xbox, right? Like, it's the hardware equivilent of the PS5?

 

This may be the worst naming I've ever seen from a major console. "Series X" doesn't even sound like it rises to the level of a remodel, much less a whole new system. It sounds like the name you'd give to a limited edition Xbox One because it changed the color of the case to special Xbox green.....

 

 

32 minutes ago, AbsolutSurgen said:

Is it the Xbox SeX?

 

 

Remember how offended they acted when people started using XBone? Maybe they decided to lean into the meme making with this one....

[Spork3245]

54 minutes ago, AbsolutSurgen said:

Is it the Xbox SeX?

 

19 minutes ago, Chairslinger said:

Remember how offended they acted when people started using XBone? Maybe they decided to lean into the meme making with this one....

It’s the Xbox Becks: it plays the song “Loser” every time you die in a game.

[Keyser_Soze]

10 minutes ago, Spork3245 said:

 

It’s the Xbox Becks: it plays the song “Loser” every time you die in a game.

 

Doesn't matter, had Xbox Sex!

[Spork3245]

1 minute ago, Keyser_Soze said:

 

Doesn't matter, had Xbox Sex!

Beck’s had lots of sex

[Keyser_Soze]

2 minutes ago, Spork3245 said:

Beck’s had lots of sex

 

Sometimes sad sex.

[XxEvil AshxX]

Dumb name aside, here's the write up on Xbox Wire that gives a bit more information.

 

Quote

 

For eighteen years and three console generations, the Xbox community has shown us the power both games and fun can have on all of us. As we enter a new generation of gaming, we see a future where you’re instantly absorbed in your games – where worlds are even more lifelike, immersive, responsive and surprising – and where you are at the center of your gaming experience. With the new Xbox Series X, we will realize that vision. 

 

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.

 

The name Xbox is an expression of our deep history in gaming, our team’s unrelenting passion, and our commitment to both our fans and the future of gaming at Microsoft. It also signifies our belief that a gaming console should be for just that – gaming.

 

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.

 

The possibilities of what Xbox Series X enables developers to achieve was also brought to life this evening with the unveiling of Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II. A sequel to the award-winning Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice from world-renowned developers Ninja Theory, the game is being built to leverage the full power of Xbox Series X.  The footage shared tonight was captured in-engine and reflects the power of Xbox Series X available to developers to deliver new universes, experiences and games in ways you have never imagined.

 

Bringing Developers’ Dreams to Life with Xbox Series X

Games today deliver amazing visuals and tell an array of different and deep stories.  That’s why, when we started work on Xbox Series X, it was vital we continue to advance state-of-the-art visual capabilities for developers, while also ensuring they could realize even greater feeling, emotion and empathy in their games. With Xbox Series X, we will elevate the way games look, play and feel. We will also remove the technical barriers faced in previous generations and enable developers to create more expansive, immersive gaming worlds that invite more players to play. 

 

From a technical standpoint, this will manifest as world-class visuals in 4K at 60FPS, with possibility of up to 120FPS, including support for Variable Refresh Rate (VRR), and 8K capability. Powered by our custom-designed processor leveraging the latest Zen 2 and next generation RDNA architecture from our partners at AMD, Xbox Series X will deliver hardware accelerated ray tracing and a new level of performance never before seen in a console.  Additionally, our patented Variable Rate Shading (VRS) technology will allow developers to get even more out of the Xbox Series X GPU and our next-generation SSD will virtually eliminate load times and bring players into their gaming worlds faster than ever before.

 

We are minimizing latency by leveraging technology such as Auto Low Latency Mode (ALLM) and giving developers new functionality like Dynamic Latency Input (DLI) to make Xbox Series X the most responsive console ever.  Xbox Series X is also designed for a future in the cloud, with unique capabilities built into the hardware and software to make it as easy as possible to bring great games to both console and elsewhere. Xbox Series X will deliver a level of fidelity and immersion unlike anything that’s been achieved in previous console generations.   

 

One Console, Four Generations of Gaming

One of the things we’re most proud of with Xbox Series X is the promise we’re delivering to our fans who have and continue to invest with Xbox. Thanks to backward compatibility, you can expect your gaming legacy, thousands of your favorite games across four generations of gaming, all your Xbox One gaming accessories, and industry-leading services like Xbox Game Pass to be available when you power on your Xbox Series X in Holiday 2020.

 

Building on our compatibility promise, with Xbox Series X we’re also investing in consumer-friendly pathways to game ownership across generations. Leading the way with our first-party titles including Halo Infinite in 2020, we’re committed to ensuring that games from Xbox Game Studios support cross-generation entitlements and that your Achievements and game saves are shared across devices.  As we branch out and extend gaming to more players around the world, console gaming will remain at the heart of our Xbox offering.  Game creators around the globe are already hard at work building content for Xbox Series X and our 15 Xbox Game Studios are developing the largest and most creatively diverse lineup of Xbox exclusive games in our history. On behalf of Team Xbox, we’re excited to enter the future of console gaming with you and can’t wait to share more in 2020.

 

 

[XxEvil AshxX]

Here's my question though; and it's gonna be the same thing on PS5...

 

Just how big of an SSD are we talking? Cuz next gen games are gonna be fuckin massive, and if we want to take advantage of the virtually "no loading times" of the SSD, we might be picking and choosing the small handful of games that we might fit on them. I personally don't even use the console hard drive at all, I have an external that I bought day one and have used ever since. This will most likely be the case going forward as well.

[HGLatinBoy]

Leave it to Microsoft to come up with shitty Xbox names I would've just called it Xbox SX just to keep it simple. And I guess its designed to look like one of those Amazon echos or something. I bet you it doubles as a smart home device. "Xbox dim the lights"

[elbobo]

11 minutes ago, XxEvil AshxX said:

Here's my question though; and it's gonna be the same thing on PS5...

 

Just how big of an SSD are we talking? Cuz next gen games are gonna be fuckin massive, and if we want to take advantage of the virtually "no loading times" of the SSD, we might be picking and choosing the small handful of games that we might fit on them. I personally don't even use the console hard drive at all, I have an external that I bought day one and have used ever since. This will most likely be the case going forward as well.

 

I think 1TB minimum with 2TB max. I don't know about most people but I just delete games once I beat them. I have a 1TB SSD in my PC for games and a steam library that would easily go over that but I never run out of space because I just delete the games after the credits roll.

[bladimir2k]

I agree that there will be confusion between the upcoming Series X model and current X model but to me it looks like there are falling in line with the Iphone naming convention.  Main brand name will be XBOX, Series X is the high end model. Lots of speculation that there will be a Series S for the lower model which seems to be that disc-less version. Although I think the best thing they could do is completely stop production on the current xbox one X/S once the Series X is released so "casuals" and parents can't get confused.

 

I think it was stupid on the marketing team to make it one word and thus confusing everyone... Should have made it where XBOX was in big bold letters and Series X was underneath in a smaller font. Emphasizing that moving forward XBOX is the main name with different iterations of it. I stand corrected, looking at the marketing pictures/vids they did do this. I guess now I'm thinking marketing team was even more stupid and should have come out with just The new xbox for the reveal and later on, maybe in E3 said oh yeah and we have 2 models.. Series X and Series S.

[crispy4000]

The name isn't any better than the Wii U.  But *shocker* the name isn't what killed the Wii U.

 

It bugs me more that they're using "Faster. More Powerful." as its tag line.  They're perfectly content just to recycle their Xbox One X marketing.  They've dug themselves into a hole with it, it'd be super ironic if the PS5 was more capable.

 

Truth be told, the most exciting things happening in gaming right now aren't innovations new hardware will enable.  It's hardware agnostic stuff like subscriptions, streaming and crossplay.

[Dodger]

Series X sounds like some dumb gen X marketing. Like Xbox Series X for Xtreme! for dude bros who wear Axe body spray and just want to get their Call of Duty on.

 

Whatever I just want to play pretty vidya games and so far have really enjoyed Games Pass and all the BC is nice, especially if we get even further enhancements on this thing. So I'll buy one. 

 

Then again, Playstation sounded like some Fisher Price toy when it came out, and it did all right. As long as the games are there, the name won't matter much. I laughed at Nintendo Wii too, that ended up doing all right. Provide value to your customers and the name isn't all that important. 

 

Xbox Infinite would have been a lot better though. 

[Guest]

The name is dumb, but I think it further solidifies the transition away from normal generational advancement. I actually thought there was a chance they would just call this one Xbox.

[Spork3245]

50 minutes ago, XxEvil AshxX said:

Here's my question though; and it's gonna be the same thing on PS5...

 

Just how big of an SSD are we talking? Cuz next gen games are gonna be fuckin massive, and if we want to take advantage of the virtually "no loading times" of the SSD, we might be picking and choosing the small handful of games that we might fit on them. I personally don't even use the console hard drive at all, I have an external that I bought day one and have used ever since. This will most likely be the case going forward as well.

I’ll go out on a limb and say that the SSD is going to be a buffer alongside a traditional HDD. A 1tb SSD is still around $85-100 for a decent one. I’m thinking it’s going to be 256-500gb and will keep 2-3 “recently played/installed” games preloaded on it. Could totally be wrong, though, but, IMO, this would make the most sense as it could be paired with a 2-4tb HDD which are dirt cheap.

[Brian]

This just confirms that Xbox Series S exists   I still doubt it will launch on day one with the X. 

[TwinIon]

So my biggest question with the next Xbox is if games will be completely compatible in the same way that PC or iOS games are. I feel like there has been a lot of mixed messaging on this topic, and I feel like there still is some, but this language may have clarified it:

Quote

Building on our compatibility promise, with Xbox Series X we’re also investing in consumer-friendly pathways to game ownership across generations. Leading the way with our first-party titles including Halo Infinite in 2020, we’re committed to ensuring that games from Xbox Game Studios support cross-generation entitlements and that your Achievements and game saves are shared across devices.

To me, that says that this does still mark a standard generational divide. They'll sell versions for each generation in the same way you could get Black Flag for the 360 or XOne. Saves and achievements might recognize it as the same game, but you'll probably still be buying a generation specific game. I would imagine it's possible that digital versions are cross compatible, and obviously for first party titles there's Gamepass, but it really seems like the standard generation cycle is alive and well.

 

So for all the talk about consoles becoming PCs, other than the architecture, that really doesn't seem to be the case.

 

I really hope that the interface is completely rethought. I think the current home UI is the worst on an Xbox since the OG.

 

And yes, the name is dumb. MS screwed up by not just going with Xbox 2. They've been lost ever since the 360.

[crispy4000]

1 minute ago, TwinIon said:

To me, that says that this does still mark a standard generational divide. They'll sell versions for each generation in the same way you could get Black Flag for the 360 or XOne. Saves and achievements might recognize it as the same game, but you'll probably still be buying a generation specific game. I would imagine it's possible that digital versions are cross compatible, and obviously for first party titles there's Gamepass, but it really seems like the standard generation cycle is alive and well.

 

I think you'll be right.  The question I have is how long they (or 3rd parties) will produce games like that.  One year?  Two years?  How many games will forgo the previous gen entirely in that period?

 

It would shed light retrospectively on how long the Pro/X (and future mid-cycle refreshes) could have been expected to last.  I'm thinking 4-5 years, with only ~3 years where they won't be slumping behind a generational divide, let alone the decaying base models.  Maybe indies will be cross generational longer?

[Ghost_MH]

55 minutes ago, sblfilms said:

The name is dumb, but I think it further solidifies the transition away from normal generational advancement. I actually thought there was a chance they would just call this one Xbox.

 

They should have just renamed the Xbox One the Xbox Series One and then named their new console the Xbox Series Two. Then the mid-generation upgrades could get the extra X moniker. That is, Xbox Series One X and Xbox Series Two X. There you go. Still a dumb mouthful, but at least it makes sense and it would be easy to move beyond this one generation. The cheaper diskless console could be something like Xbox Series Two S.

[TwinIon]

22 minutes ago, crispy4000 said:

I think you'll be right.  The question I have is how long they (or 3rd parties) will produce games like that.  One year?  Two years?  How many games will forgo the previous gen entirely in that period?

 

It would shed light retrospectively on how long the Pro/X (and future mid-cycle refreshes) could have been expected to last.  I'm thinking 4-5 years, with only ~3 years where they won't be slumping behind a generational divide, let alone the decaying base models.  Maybe indies will be cross generational longer?

I would expect most first party titles be released across both gens for quite a while. If it can work on a PC, it should work just fine on a One X at the very least. I'd suspect that Indies cross release for a very long time, at least anything not terribly demanding. It's not like you even have to cross compile it to ARM or support a new input device or anything, it's all still very much the same. I don't know if it'll be the same digital SKU, though I would think they would be, but it sure seems like any digital only games should probably work on the older X One consoles.

 

The more I think about it, the more I wonder where that line will eventually be drawn. Eventually most of the audience will have migrated to a new gen console and it just won't be worth the time running all the QC tests and what not, but that's at least a couple years into the generational life cycle, and with the existence of the One X, maybe longer.

[Mr.Vic20]

More interesting than its look is its specs and at 12TFs, that system will be an absolute beast. PC will still edge it out for power with this year's hardware, but the gap is narrowing swiftly. My rule of thumb is to add roughly 30% to a console's TF rating to understand how it will output when compared to a PC. For all of Nvidia/AMD driver optimizations, PC are still more of a brute force affair as compared to their console cousins. So its loosely reasonable to look at Xbox Series X system as a 15TF PC. That's basically my PC right now! I'm very excited to see console makers close this gap because A.) more ambitious PC ports and B.) My PC will inevitably retake hardware supremacy with delicious results! 

[Dodger]

8 minutes ago, Mr.Vic20 said:

More interesting than its look is its specs and at 12TFs, that system will be an absolute beast. PC will still edge it out for power with this year's hardware, but the gap is narrowing swiftly. My rule of thumb is to add roughly 30% to a console's TF rating to understand how it will output when compared to a PC. For all of Nvidia/AMD driver optimizations, PC are still more of a brute force affair as compared to their console cousins. So its loosely reasonable to look at Xbox Series X system as a 15TF PC. That's basically my PC right now! I'm very excited to see console makers close this gap because A.) more ambitious PC ports and B.) My PC will inevitably retake hardware supremacy with delicious results! 

 

 

I'm no expert so correct me if I am wrong but it sounds like the Series X is going to be more powerful than all but the top of the line gaming PC's when it releases, and not already 4 years outdated like the PS4 and X1 were. 

 

If so next gen should be something special as the baseline hardware is actually pretty damn good this time around. 

[cusideabelincoln]

26 minutes ago, Mr.Vic20 said:

More interesting than its look is its specs and at 12TFs, that system will be an absolute beast. PC will still edge it out for power with this year's hardware, but the gap is narrowing swiftly. My rule of thumb is to add roughly 30% to a console's TF rating to understand how it will output when compared to a PC. For all of Nvidia/AMD driver optimizations, PC are still more of a brute force affair as compared to their console cousins. So its loosely reasonable to look at Xbox Series X system as a 15TF PC. That's basically my PC right now! I'm very excited to see console makers close this gap because A.) more ambitious PC ports and B.) My PC will inevitably retake hardware supremacy with delicious results! 

 

And first party developers are able to squeeze the most their respective consoles, as I'm assuming their game engines are designed with a single architecture in mind.  I was utterly surprised how good God of War looked and played on a base PS4.  It was definitely punching above its 2TF weight class, especially compared to third party games whose engines have to run on at least 3 different platforms.

 

I believe it was Digital Foundry who also showed that AMD's RDNA architecture is more efficient for game rendering than their older GCN architecture, per TF.  So it's even more difficult to compare TFs these days.  While I haven't seen the Nvidia breakdown, I'm sure Pascal is less efficient than Turing per TF.

[Keyser_Soze]

33 minutes ago, Mr.Vic20 said:

More interesting than its look is its specs and at 12TFs, that system will be an absolute beast. PC will still edge it out for power with this year's hardware, but the gap is narrowing swiftly. My rule of thumb is to add roughly 30% to a console's TF rating to understand how it will output when compared to a PC. For all of Nvidia/AMD driver optimizations, PC are still more of a brute force affair as compared to their console cousins. So its loosely reasonable to look at Xbox Series X system as a 15TF PC. That's basically my PC right now! I'm very excited to see console makers close this gap because A.) more ambitious PC ports and B.) My PC will inevitably retake hardware supremacy with delicious results! 

 

I can imagine Warframe running on the Sex right now!

[Spork3245]

2 minutes ago, Keyser_Soze said:

 

I can imagine Warframe running on the Sex right now!

Exactly the same but at 120fps?

[Xbob42]

41 minutes ago, Mr.Vic20 said:

More interesting than its look is its specs and at 12TFs, that system will be an absolute beast. PC will still edge it out for power with this year's hardware, but the gap is narrowing swiftly. My rule of thumb is to add roughly 30% to a console's TF rating to understand how it will output when compared to a PC. For all of Nvidia/AMD driver optimizations, PC are still more of a brute force affair as compared to their console cousins. So its loosely reasonable to look at Xbox Series X system as a 15TF PC. That's basically my PC right now! I'm very excited to see console makers close this gap because A.) more ambitious PC ports and B.) My PC will inevitably retake hardware supremacy with delicious results! 

Ah but you're forgetting the rule of shitty first years, so you subtract 60% of the power of the console for the first 1-3 years, depending on how bad the exclusive cycle is going, each year adding about 20% of that power back on until games near the end of the generation look completely different than the trash at the start, despite those first games almost exclusively relying on some graphical gimmick and lack of competition to sell copies, like Knack!

[TwinIon]

4 minutes ago, Xbob42 said:

Ah but you're forgetting the rule of shitty first years, so you subtract 60% of the power of the console for the first 1-3 years, depending on how bad the exclusive cycle is going, each year adding about 20% of that power back on until games near the end of the generation look completely different than the trash at the start, despite those first games almost exclusively relying on some graphical gimmick and lack of competition to sell copies, like Knack!

Personally, I think the impact of all these generalities has been significantly lessened by the universal adoption of PC architecture. It's not like we need to rely on one great water effect to prove a console is powerful while devs figure out the arcane secrets to unlocking a shocking new and different piece of hardware. Yeah, there will still be novelties pushed to make the console look good (my bet is ray tracing), and yes having a dedicated platform to optimize for does make it seem more powerful than a direct PC analog, but I would guess that the differences there are likely to be smaller than ever.