The Xbox Project Scorpio – which Microsoft claims to be the most powerful gaming console ever – will arrive in the second half of 2017. Project Scorpio will have 4K gaming, 4K Blu-ray playback, and VR-exclusive titles. On the other hand, Sony has officially announced its PlayStation 4 Pro and PlayStation 4 Slim. The PS4 Pro comes out on November 10 at $399 while the PS4 Slim will be released on September 15 for $299.
PS4 Pro lacks 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray
It gives Sony a one-year head start over Microsoft’s Project Scorpio. The PS4 Pro does everything except 4K Blue-rays. On the outside, the Pro version appears to be a challenger to the Scorpio. Should Microsoft be worried about it? In an interview with Polygon, Microsoft’s senior Xbox director for product management & planning Albert Penello said the software giant was not worried about PS4 Pro’s one-year head start.
The Microsoft exec was quick to point out that in many aspects the recently-launched Xbox One S is more feature-rich than the PS4 Pro. Sony’s new Pro console lacks a 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray drive. Sony has confirmed that the PS4 Pro will have a GPU of 4.2 teraflops. Microsoft’s Scorpio is said to feature a GPU at 6 teraflops of computing power. It means the Scorpio will be 43% more powerful than PS4 Pro, at least on paper.
Developers have plenty of time to familiarize with Project Scorpio
Penello told Polygon that their upcoming console would deliver a gaming experience that demonstrates the power gap between the PS4 Pro and Project Scorpio at “a price point that makes sense to console gamers.” Penello is confident that the Project Scorpio would be far better than Sony’s PS4 Pro. Project Scorpio promises to run games with native 4K resolution at 60 frames per second.
Microsoft announced the Project Scorpio at the E3 2016, even though it won’t arrive until late 2017. Penello said an early announcement would give developers more time to familiarize themselves with the console. Sony’s PS4 Pro will give developers a roadmap for 4K gaming, he said.
