In June, Microsoft announced Xbox Project Scorpio at the E3 conference. Alongside it was the announcement of the Xbox One S and faint news of a new Sony console that has since launched. Since then, Project Scorpio has remained an enigma, a piece of console tech that seems to promise the world, but something that very little is known about, apart from a few specs.
Xbox Project Scorpio and 4K
Now that the PS4 Pro is out and some of its users are struggling to get the non-native 4K tech to work, Microsoft has been vindicated in its decision to hold back Xbox Project Scorpio until the holiday season of 2017. Right now the key issue being seen by PlayStation 4 Pro owners is compatibility for both TVs and games. The problems center around 4K compatibility; find out more here.
Regarding Xbox Project Scorpio and 4K, at a recent Xbox Fanfest in Mexico City, Xbox Executive Aaron Greenberg decided to talk about Scorpio and what it promised. Talking about the 4K capabilities of the Xbox’s next console, Greenberg says it will deliver “True 4K gaming” in a manner that has never been seen before on a console. It will have the ability to render games; that will put all other consoles to shame.
He also said the following:
“This will really bring the most powerful console you’ve ever seen. It will bring these really true 4K, really incredible visual games that we’ve never seen before on the console.
“People who have spent thousands of dollars on a high-end PC are getting that experience. How do we bring that to scale in a console in your living room? That’s a big part of what Project Scorpio is about.”
Scorpio specs: what do we know?
Much like Nintendo with its Switch console, Microsoft is keeping its cards close to its chest. Having said that, there is a consensus that the device will come with 6 Teraflops of computing power. Compare that to the PS4 Pro at 4 Teraflops, and you have around a 40% increase in power.
As for its CPU, so far the rumor is that Xbox Project Scorpio will feature an octa-core chip, but this has not been officially revealed so expect this to change. There could be 230GB of storage installed, which would enable the console to do what Greenberg promised, meaning that Xbox Project Scorpio will be able to run native 4K games without any visual compromises at all.
More revelations
Just a few weeks ago, lead Xbox engineer Mike Ybarra took to Twitter to talk about Xbox Project Scorpio. He revealed that Project Scorpio would support Xbox 360 titles, making it backwards compatible. This directly mirrors what is currently available on the Xbox One, which allows users to play 360 games whenever they like.
What do you think of Xbox Executive Aaron Greenberg’s 4K statement? Could it be too late for Scorpio by this time next year? Some critics point towards the 360/PS3 era and the fact that the more powerful PS3 had to cope with substandard ports. Will Xbox Project Scorpio be the victim of low-quality 4K ports? Whatever happens, it will be interesting to see what a first-party Scorpio exclusive game looks like.