The veil is lifted, and the product of Project Scorpio is finally revealed.
This year’s E3 press conference for Xbox was a bit of an information overload. Between the official reveal of the Xbox One X (previously known as Project Scorpio), a showcase of dozens of games, and a couple bombshell announcements, it became clear quite quickly that Microsoft was aiming to blow gamers away.
So did they? Well… That’s up for debate.
Showing Off A Car?
I’m a die-hard Forza fan, so seeing Forza Motorsport 7 at the beginning of the briefing filled me with joy, instantly. Not just because it looks gorgeous on Xbox One X with extreme detail and enhanced weather effects, or that there’s going to be a massive list of cars to play with. My joy is more primal. It’s the car nut in me. The little kid in me that wants a ridiculous sports car. The part of me that’s been trying to convince Jennifer to let me buy a Focus RS.
The same testosterone-filled gear head that giggled with delight when the Microsoft spokesman let slip that they were showing off the 2018 Porsche 911 GT2 RS for the first time ever.
Then reality hit me, and I realized that most gamers wouldn’t give a damn about any of that.
Seriously, Microsoft… What were you thinking? At least it wasn’t a huge portion of the show.
All The Games
No, the biggest portion of the show was the non-stop parade of games: Over 40 in total, half of which had some sort of exclusivity on Microsoft platforms. I had trouble keeping up with them all. At one point, I found myself scrambling to type out each game’s title, along with whether or not they are exclusive to Xbox or not.
I failed… Microsoft announced so many games that I couldn’t catch them all.
- Anthem
- The Artful Escape
- Ashen
- Assassin’s Creed: Origins
- Battlerite
- Black Desert
- Brawlout
- CodeVein
- Conan Exiles
- Crackdown 3
- Cuphead
- Dark And Light
- The Darwin Project
- Deep Rock Galactic
- Dragon Ball FighterZ
- Dunk Lords
- Forza Motorsport 7
- Fortnite
- Hello Neighbor
- The Last Night
- Life Is Strange: Before The Storm
- Metro: Exodus
- Middle-Earth: Shadow Of War
- Minion Masters
- Observer
- Ooblets
- Ori And The Will Of The Wisps
- Osiris: New Dawn
- Path Of Exile
- PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds
- Raiders Of The Broken Planet
- Riverbond
- Robocraft: Infinity
- Sea Of Thieves
- Shift
- State Of Decay 2
- Strange Brigade
- Super Lucky’s Tale
- Surviving Mars
- Tacoma
- Unruly Heroes
I missed some games, and can you blame me? How could I keep up? I did skip Minecraft for a reason though.
But seriously. Holy crap, Microsoft! I really didn’t expect there to be so many announcements, or so many exclusives either.
I’ll stop you before getting into the argument over what counts as exclusive. The timed exclusivity agreements appear to be due to publishing money being used to get some of these games made, but there are still quite a few, true exclusives as well.
Also, State Of Decay 2, Sea Of Thieves, and Crackdown look bonkers!
From Project Scorpio To Xbox One X
When Microsoft showed off the Xbox One X, confirmed its ridiculous specifications, and Phil Spencer let loose that all games would see performance increases on the new Xbox, the crowd was muted.
They were only waiting for the price, which Spencer delivered cold: $499 US.
I priced parts for a PC with comparable performance, and the best I could do was about $900. Maybe I’m just a noob, but I seriously can’t find a way to build a PC capable of matching the specs of Xbox One X without going well over $500.
Yet, people still aren’t happy. Oh well.
Miscellany
That isn’t all though. Microsoft also let slip that original Xbox games would be playable on Xbox One, following in line with the Xbox 360 backwards compatibility program. It’s a huge win. The Xbox One is now the only system that supports compatibility with every previous version. It lines up with the statements from Microsoft that Xbox is meant to be fully backwards and forwards compatible.
I can’t help but feel like Microsoft made an extremely good impression, but until we know more about the Nintendo and Sony presentations, it’s impossible to know just how well Microsoft made its case.
We will just have to wait and see what the PS4 and Switch have to offer, I suppose.
Don’t believe me? See it all for yourself!
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Thank you for the recap! I havent been able to watch anything yet, but i have been hearing information about the new xbox. Personally, i cant wait for it. Time to start saving up lol
-Luna 😁🎮🎮🎮
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The Ori and the Blind Forest sequel interests me enormously, but that will come to Steam. As for the Xbox One X, my issue is there’s no innovation there, it’s just marginally improved graphics. I’m not paying £500 for a souped-up console. I do wish Microsoft would use its creative might to do something more interesting than just ramp up the specs every few years. The same goes for Sony.
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Specs make a huge difference in not only how each game runs but also how each game looks. I would think that would be ranked high with each gamer considering how far the community has come in 20 years.
The innovation doesn’t come from Xbox, it is going to come from the companies who make the games for the console. What can they do with specs like what will be offered with the X? That’s what I am excited to see. Imagine Horizon x2.
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I think the success of the indie community has proven graphics are increasingly irrelevant, frankly. Games like Shovel Knight, Ori and the Blind Forest, Axiom Verge, Teslagrad, INSIDE, Dead Cells, Owlboy, and Stardew Valley excel without the need for HD quality, hyper realistic graphics. They prove by merging modern gaming sensibilities with the SNES heyday era of gaming gameplay is all important, not whether you can perfect lip syncing. This is why a game like Super Metroid will always be better than instantly forgettable filler such as Titanfall or the latest CoD installment.
“The innovation doesn’t come from Xbox, it is going to come from the companies who make the games for the console.” Except they don’t; the PS4 and Xbox One have endured a propensity for dishing out formulaic CoD and GTA clones. In reality, the two leading mainstream consoles foster a generic creative environment where another ultra-violent FPS will triumph commercially over something innovative. A major developer would never take a risk with an innovative project, given this dodgy setting. Again, this is why indie games are largely so much better than AAA titles – the developers can dare to be different.
What I’m excited to see is exceptional games – graphics don’t guarantee that. In fact, this infatuation with this is detrimental to game quality. Faffing about about frame rates rather than what a game delivers is counterproductive for the industry.
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Don’t think I mentioned hyper realistic graphics, but I can see where you got confused. Regardless of realistic graphics, the games you mention still do not look like games did 15 or 20 years ago. Which suggests that graphics are important. Even Minecraft has graphics that are cleaner and more pleasing to look at than Mario did on the SNES. Games like that are popular because gamers like the feel of playing something that reminds them of the early years of gaming. Of course the original games are going to be better than CoD or Titanfall (the first Titanfall didn’t even have a campaign). But you’ve got a lot of younger kids who love the new stuff because they never touched a Nintendo controller before the Wii.
GTA has only had 5 games, so I really don’t see how that’s an argument against Zelda or Mario which both came out in the 80s. CoD is being released, same as Assassins Creed, as often as it is because it is in high demand for people who just want to shoot stuff and those younger kids I already mentioned. I would love to see more innovated games, but even if they came out with more, which isn’t up to either company, I wouldn’t play them because I work all the time.
“A major developer would never take a risk with an innovative project” I am assuming you haven’t played Mass Effect, Elder Scrolls, or Horizon?
Neither of us are going to convince the other that they’re right, so we might as well end this here.
You obviously have a soft spot for indie games where I do not.
You’re acting as though Xbox and Sony are looking at their consoles and saying, “hmm we shouldn’t upgrade because developers will never create anything awesome for this.” They’re looking at what they’re creating and giving developers more room to create something innovative and artful. How can you not see that? Better specs will allow for innovation to happen.
The more people to get into the gaming community, to create works of art or to write tremendous stories, will be when we thrive the most. But we will never get there if companies like Sony and Xbox do not provide the resources to get there.
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I wrote “GTA clones”, not GTA games – there have been over 10 GTA games spread across multiple formats, but I’m targeting GTA clones. You’ve obviously not read my comment properly, so I can see why you got confused.
I wouldn’t class Mass Effect as innovative – sitting through reams of godawful text and horrendous cutscenes is another major problem with modern AAA games; these developers who think making you sit through these things is how contemporary titles should play are daft – it’s turned into a running joke in the industry just how bad the scripts are.
“They’re looking at what they’re creating and giving developers more room to create something innovative and artful. How can you not see that? Better specs will allow for better innovation to happen.” That’s a rather naive outlook, I’m afraid. This is a commercial decision based purely on keeping up with Sony’s upgraded PS4 and the arrival of the Switch.
How I can’t see it is as follows – the PS4 and Xbox One have been out for a combined total of almost a decade and, during this time, haven’t innovated. At all. Now I agree, innovation isn’t always practical or worthwhile, but to fall back so lazily on endless GTA clones (Google that term – it’s a notorious industry trope) is cynical and insipid. It was the same on the last generation and it’s the business model which will continue into the upgrade phase – but with marginally improved graphics, of course.
What Microsoft is doing is looking at the marketplace and, instead of releasing a proper new games console which does innovate, it’s throwing together something with the promise of a slight graphical improvement and expecting its fans to fork out £500 for it. That’s not only cynical, it’s lazy – it’s also endemic of the graphics-over-all-else policy which has become so tiresome.
You know what – I’m kind of more interested about the gameplay; an enhanced framerate doesn’t make a crap game good. In fact, if developers spent less time focusing on HD graphics and how they structure their games, we’d likely see an upheaval in AAA title quality. Anyway, we will indeed have to agree to disagree. Have a good one!
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I can see where you are coming from but tech does impact more than just visuals. It can directly impact innovative gameplay design, improve AI programming, and allow for more robust multiplayer (like shared worlds and such).
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I think that if that the indie games community is something that appeals to you, that’s a good thing. However, indie games are not the end-all-be-all of videogames either.
Indie games can push the industry forward by provoking developers to pursue non-traditional avenues of development, but part of what makes gaming great is when things are pushed to their limits.
Without develops pushing the envelope of hardware and software limitations, we wouldn’t have gaming as we know it today. Sure, there are many groan-worthy things that have come from games over the years: microtransactions, season passes, and bloatbox games for instance. However, without developers testing the constraints of gaming hardware, we wouldn’t have voiceover dialogue, open worlds,
online multiplayer, or dynamic systems.
Indie developers are responsible for some of the more memorable experiences these days, but like it or not, the heavy hitters in the gaming industry do a lot to push progress. Small teams and individuals may be able to create hits like INSIDE, Stardew Valley, or Undertale, but the tools used to create those indie gems wouldn’t exist had the big studios not done the work to make those games possible in the first place.
Don’t forget, many of the folks making indie games these days are the creative minds that cut their teeth in the AAA gaming industry. They learned how to do what they do, working on the same types of games that you’re lamenting exist.
The key thing to remember is that there’s a place for indie games, the AAA titles, and everything in between. I’d hate to see indie studios get squashed out by the giants, but I’d also rue the day that modern gaming completely died. I do enjoy playing those dumb shooters and racing games every now and then. I love the RPGs that have gained popularity over the years.
Powerful hardware may not mean that
gaming instantly gets better across the board, but it leaves room for expansion. It gives developers room to play around. It helps remove the restrictions that developers would otherwise have. Would the Xbox One X’s or PS4 Pro’s total power be wasted on most games? Yes. The same could be said for the PC market as well however.
These more powerful consoles give the industry more headroom to play with. Writing that power off just because it’s overkill for games like Axiom Verge and Owlboy, without considering that other game developers might take advantage of the increase in power, is kinda ignorant though.
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There are some good points there, but ultimately I’m indicating the industry has reached a point where this fascination with graphical prowess is detrimental to the mainstream industry. Which it most certainly is. We’re at a point where gamers are, so ignorantly, dismissing certain consoles (i.e. the Wii U) as its graphics aren’t quite as good as other models. Miss Steiner there, whilst I appreciate her enthusiasm, is placing such a major emphasis on the performance of the console. I’m trying to avoid resorting to “back in my day” Old Fart Syndrome, but gameplay is all important. I’d also class an excellent soundtrack as far more immersive than graphical quality. Sooooo, I’d say Microsoft and Sony’s relentless efforts to make everything look amazing is just leading to pretty games with no substance.
You can even see how insane some gamers went when they heard Breath of the Wild has a slight frame-rate issue. They went ballistic! Does it affect the game in any way? No. Should it be an issue? Apparently, yeah. It’s bloody deal break! Slight frame-rate issue, so I won’t play one of the best games of all time!
Frankly, a lot of these indie developers are deliberately ignoring the advanced technology you’ve highlighted, instead using archaic PC software (often in one man teams but, yes, occasionally from major developers, such as the Tomorrow Corporation) to ape games of old. I’ve worked with one recently here in Manchester and they’ve confirmed they went to mark a significant step away from the AAA developers who are hell bent on delivering graphical prowess, as they know this sect of gamers will react with fury if they fail to achieve ill-perceived notions of visual perfection. This is, sadly, the reality of the modern mainstream industry.
Anyway, I wouldn’t class this assessment as ignorant. Many modern gamers lambaste Nintendo at any given opportunity, which is the one company who ensured gaming is where it is today. That’s an excellent legacy, but we now need to focus on where we are in 2017, but the prognosis is a future with increasingly banal results. But, hey, at least it’ll look nice.
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It’s worth noting that sound design benefits from performance increases as well.
While I understand you value different things in gaming than probably the majority of folks, I can see your point. Stagnation works either way though; either by refusing to push for advancement or resorting to graphical upgrades as the sole means of improvement (like with sports games). I see indie devs, the AAA industry, and everything else in between, as capable of complementing each other. Killing one part off would be a detriment to the industry. Don’t forget that indie developers exist now because the AAA industry started to falter, and now indie games are influencing the big boys.
I guess I have a far less pessimistic view about gaming, and one far less rooted in nostalgia. I love old school games, as well as many other styles. I’m looking at the Xbox One X and PS4 Pro as a way for developers to push the envelope on visual and aural fidelity, as well as providing me with the means to get my indie fix when I need it. The alternative seems awfully bleak in comparison, leaving games to just churn out the same stuff endlessly until I get bored. I would figure that gamers would be open to seeing platforms challenging each other, as that competition is what sparks innovation.
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“I guess I have a far less pessimistic view about gaming, and one far less rooted in nostalgia.” – I’m not rooted in much nostalgia, that’s a very tired argument to roll out. What I’m against is releasing exactly the same games console with beefed up graphics and charging £500 for it – how on Earth is criticising this viewed as pessimistic behaviour? It is, frankly, absurd that anyone would defend that.
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I can understand your stance, but I’d say that you’re just likely not the target audience.
Also, a GPU performance difference of 1.3 TeraFLOPS to 6 TeraFLOPS is not marginal by any means. They went all out it seems. If Xbox One X is only marginally better than the original Xbox One, then I can’t imagine what a significant difference would be.
Running a 4K VR headset at 120 FPS? That would be significant I guess.
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Not the target audience – agreed there, sonny jim. But, graphical improvements aside, my point still stands on that, and I’d class it as a pertinent one; now developers will be going all out to make their games look totes amazeballs, rather than focusing on the gameplay elements. It’s an increasingly common practice, which is why I tend to steer clear of most AAA titles. Like most blockbuster films, they arrive, cause a bit of a splash, and then they’re forgotten a month later.
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Games like Horizon: Zero Dawn would not exist had companies like Microsoft and Sony not been innovative and created the consoles they have created. Not only does Horizon push the limits of the PS4 to create “amazeballs” graphics, but also supreme gameplay and storyline.
Just because they’re not being innovative to your liking, doesn’t mean they’re not doing so.
Here’s a definition for you:
Innovative: (of a product, idea, etc.) featuring new methods; advanced and original.
Explain to me how Microsoft and Sony are not accomplishing the literal definition of innovative. Just because it doesn’t compare to your ideas, does not mean they are not accomplishing remarkable goals.
You, good sir, are not the majority in your enjoyment of video games. If you were, companies like Microsoft and Sony would not be driving themselves to produce such incredible consoles. Not to mention, without these consoles, none of the games you enjoy would even exist. The AAA games are there to push the boundaries and the indie games are they to help encourage. We are a gaming community, not a gaming community vs. gaming community.
You are allowed your opinions, but understand that you are not the lump sum of gamers worldwide. If you were, Breath of the Wild wouldn’t exist, because even that game was only possible due to the innovations made by Microsoft and Sony.
And, for the record, it is Mrs.
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The most innovative thing Sony did was introduce CDs to gaming – ever since, they’ve changed barely anything about their consoles, apart from improving the graphics with each iteration. If this is your ideal version of innovation, it’s led to the hellishly dreary and generic CoD and GTA clone saga which currently plagues the Xbox One and PS4 like a nasty rash. A game like Ori and the Blind Forest is a perfect example of how graphics complement the gaming experience, rather than taking precedence over all else.
“You are allowed your opinions, but understand that you are not the lump sum of gamers worldwide” – Even the regularly sycophantic modern gaming press is incredulous – The Xbox One X is not a new games console, it is a souped-up Xbox One. All it does is offer a marginal graphical and performance enhancement; pretending it’s some giant leap forward is vacuous. This will also cost you £500. It’s a cynical corporate exercise, like Apple rolling out another pointless iPhone 12 months after the last. This is my point – I don’t need to be the target demographic to note this out; having brain cells on my side, I can see this is giant waste of money.
“Games like Horizon: Zero Dawn would not exist had companies like Microsoft and Sony not been innovative and created the consoles they have created.” Another piece of flawed logic. You might as well praise Nintendo and Atari for their efforts several decades ago – they deserve more praise than Microsoft or Sony. Horizon: Zero Dawn (which has been divisive, critically, it must be noted) is hardly innovative – it’s a sprawling RPG. There are plenty of those. It was also released strategically to coincide with the superior Breath of the Wild, which is a game that does innovate, on a console which also achieves the same goal.
Anyways, the Xbox One X is not a gift to the industry, and being patronizing won’t get you very far either.
That’s all I have to say regarding this subject. Toodles.
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I would never waste as much money as I would on the expensive piece of crap like the Nintendo Switch. You wanna talk about not doing anything innovative? How about creating a game, the same damn game, for every single console you create for the past 35 years because it made you so much money then, and people are nostalgic. Is that innovation to you? You clearly do not understand how more powerful machines work nor understand the difference they make to gamers and the industry.
Don’t patronize me by calling me dear. I am not your dear.
[snip]
Why are you even bothering? You clearly hate anything to do with any other company other than Nintendo. Nothing I say, despite having facts, is going to change your narrow mind of thinking.
Those indie games you seem to be choking down are only possible due to the AAA games you seem to loathe.
[snip]
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Alright folks, let’s pump the brakes.
It’s clear that this is going nowhere, so this line of comments is getting shut down. It’s clear that both sides are very passionate about the subject, and it’s easy to get entrenched. However, the not-so-subtle, condescending tones are unwarranted and unnecessary.
Let me offer context:
Mr. Wapojif, as you can undoubtedly understand, “Miss Steiner” (she’d prefer Mrs. Steiner by the way if you’re going to address her in that manner) does prefer to play on Xbox, for a number of reasons that I won’t waste your time explaining. What you do need to understand is that she has a limited time to play games, as she’s away from home 60 hours a week, so when she does play, she wants to play things she enjoys. The rest of her time is spent reading, to be honest.
Homework, in the form of taking chances on games that fall outside her genres of preference, is not something she really has the time for because she wants to enjoy what she’s playing. As such, she tends to play things she loves, which unfortunately leaves out many new experiences. That hasn’t stopped her from trying new things though.
So, to quote a gaming executive: “please understand”. She has a different point of view, the types of things that she enjoys are not the same as what you enjoy. To write off her entire view because you disagree with what she loves in gaming helps nobody. That sort of exclusionary thinking only alienates others.
That said, I hope you have a good day. If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to email me at falconreviewsblog@gmail.com or leave a comment here. Any further attempts to comment on this particular discussion will be heavily edited for my enjoyment as per the Rules & Regs of Falcon Game Reviews, section 2.2.
https://falcongamereviews.com/rules-regs/
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“It’s clear that this is going nowhere, so this line of comments is getting shut down.” – I already established that in my previous message and have no intention of commenting further. Jennifer was the one intent on dragging it out. Regards – Mr. Wapojif
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That was not evident. I’ll make sure to edit your comment to reflect that, because if you really were intent on letting bygones be bygones, you wouldn’t have been attempting to be provocative.
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The closing paragraph indicates this quite clearly after I’d alleviated my other burdens through the written word. Jennifer had already established herself as someone unwilling to read my comments in full, so I apologise for her behaviour on her behalf. Regards, Mr. Wapojif
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You can leave the non-apologies out. It serves no one. Regardless, her and I spoke about this and she decided to cease commenting following her last response this morning.
Furthermore, you can’t presume to know whether or not she read your comments in full, just because she disagrees with you. Someone disagreeing with you doesn’t serve as an indicator that they didn’t consider your point of view at all. The inverse of your assertion would be just as true, regardless.
However, I can see that you already unfollowed Falcon Game Reviews. I’m sorry that this discussion has led here. With that in mind, I wish you the best of luck in your future endeavors.
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I wasn’t that convinced with the exclusives to be honest, well not enough for me to go out and upgrade my Xbox One to the X anyway. I’m hoping next year, we will see some killer apps, its been a while since Microsoft released a new IP that really made me take notice
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Keep in mind that an upgrade means an upgrade for your current games as well. Witcher 3 already looks amazing and can look that much better on the X.
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Or fire up your NES and Super Mario Bros 3. and you’ll find it’s better than a game 20+ years its junior. That’s why specs don’t matter. Again, £500 for a new console so the Witcher 3 can look a smidgen better… well, I’d consider that wasted moolah.
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True, and its a good excuse to go back and play these games. But for me its a little too soon to re visit them, I would like play some new games right now.
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I think I view my video games like I view music. It depends on my mood. When I find something I really like, I usually stick to it for a long time.
There’s just not much being produced that intrigues me.
What games are you looking forward to?
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That is a really good comparison, never thought of playing games that way. At the moment I am counting down the days to the Crash Bandicoot N sane Trilogy, what about yourself?
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Haha that’ll take you back 😊
Meh nothing at the moment. I have a backlog at this point. School got in the way of my game playing and now I don’t get home until after 6 each day. I don’t see myself going after any of the games they announced. Maybe Anthem, but they would have to really come through after Andromeda, which I still need to finish…
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Um… wow things escalated quickly here… So here’s my two cents!
First of all, nice recap. I usually only pay half-attention to Microsoft since I don’t own an Xbox, so it was nice to have some context for my weird snapshots of memories. So thank you for that. Now onward to the graphics drama!
Yes, a product looking nice is important, and certainly adds to appeal. I love how Horizon: Zero Dawn and Mass Effect: Andromeda look. I love how much better Dragon Age: Inquisition looks on the PS4, and how beautiful the sunsets are in The Witcher 3. But, as an example, re-releasing Skyrim 100 times because the graphics will be a teeny tiny bit better between, say, PS4 and PS4 Pro seems a little silly to me. However, Skyrim isn’t being re-released for the sake of graphics; it’s being re-released because it’s a good game and it sells.
So, the way I look at it, graphics are the icing, but the cake needs to be good, first. And the powerful machines that can handle amazing graphics are the same powerful machines that can handle amazing and innovative gameplay.
Graphical prowess or system power (by themselves) haven’t always predicted console success, though, as both the Xbox 360 and PS3 were more powerful than the Wii, but the Wii crushed both of them in sales. And the Saturn, which was the most powerful console of its generation… well hardly anyone even talks about it anymore. Games are, in my opinion, what move consoles.
Having said all that, I think if the Xbox One X (which I’m still fruitlessly trying to get people to call XBOX) gives you the gaming experience you want, go for it! It seems like it’s going to be a great console, and I love that they’re putting in some backward compatibility!
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Also, with my limited knowledge of how consoles work, I know making a console with backward compatibility takes up space in the console and has something to do with having other engines in there, so if the XBOX (tee hee there it is again) is $500, I’d imagine that’s because it needs to be able to play games from three console generations. So… three consoles for $500? Not a bad deal, especially for newcomers to the Xbox family!
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Emulation is a tricky thing to play with, which is why most backwards compatibility attempts in the past have been hardware backwards compatibility.
Basically, to run a program on a system not designed to run it, you either have to include the components that the original system had (the PS2 and PS3 did this) or you have to artificially simulate the physical architecture of the system (software emulation).
If you choose to go the route of software emulation, there’s a few things you need to consider:
Do you want to be able to run each operating system concurrently, or do you want to only run one at a time?
Does your hardware have the processing power to emulate the target system’s architecture?
How much system resources can you devote to the emulated system?
You can play around with this by installing Linux on something like Oracle’s VirtualBox on your computer.
From my own understanding, the way that Microsoft handled their 360 (and now original Xbox) backwards compatibility function is that the Xbox One partitions off part of the system’s resources to run a version of the 360 OS and account for the system resources needed to run a game.
The accomplishment is that they’re simulating the physical connections that existed in a piece of hardware that isn’t present. The way the 360’s RAM interfaced with the processor, the hard drive fed information to the RAM, and whatnot. I don’t even know if I’m explaining it well.
The cool thing is that the original Xbox and Xbox 360 BC will both work on all models of the Xbox One. The fact that any form of the backwards compatibility existing at all is a feat of software engineering. It’s just a shame that Sony didn’t invest the capital and personnel to do the same with the PS4, considering that their system should be more than powerful enough to manage it.
Sorry for the novel.
TL;DR version: Backwards compatibility is cool but complicated.
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Yeah, I figured it was something like that…. 😉 Seriously, though, I do know that it’s complicated, and you’re right, though. I think the PS4 is more than powerful enough to handle some sort of backward compatibility. I think they really believe it isn’t worth the amount of time that players would actually spend playing their old games. I mean, I guess I can see where they’re coming from, but there are plenty of classics that I know I would like to play again without having to hook up another console to my television…
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So, I like the Xbox brand and my XB1 is my preferred gaming system despite owning all three. I like the idea of the X and was going to get one this fall regardless but much like the PS4 Pro, I think they did a mediocre job of explaining why you want one. Power is great but what makes it special to new owners when a system half the price will play everything as well, if marginally worse. The price point didn’t help in that area either. $500 was my break point and what I’ve been expecting but I think for people looking to get in on the XB1, it seems high (even if the tech inside justifies it, the games are still the same as the S model). I think the problem with the price is fans want MS to be aggressive and $400 seemed like a price that said MS was going to scratch and claw back in this. The reality though, as much as I’d like MS to be more competitive (if just to push Sony again), is they are down by double and aren’t going to make it up.
As for the rest of the conference, I didn’t leave super excited for exclusives this year. Forza and Crackdown seem to be the big guns this year with the usual strong 3rd party support.
A friend that I was texting with said MS is like a good car but not a fancy one. It won’t let you down but it won’t excite you either. That’s kind of how I feel about the show.
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That’s a really good analogy.
I always thought of gaming PCs as the supercars of the gaming world. Psychotically powerful, yet also extremely expensive.
The Xbox One is like a tuned up car. Good for racing, but not going to blow anything competitive away.
The PS4 is the muscle car. Not going to compete with a supercar, but has the brute force to stomp out any tuners.
Nintendo is like an ice cream truck.
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I do like ice cream though.
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Very well said! I agree with that last statement. Shelby and I were talking about the conference last night and how it just isn’t the same as it was in previous years. Companies used to wait for the conference to showcase what they have for the coming year, now that we have press releases that isn’t really a thing anymore. Several companies struggled to bring something new to the table that the community had not heard of before.
I would like to see e3 become what it once was, but I know the competition is too great for that. It is too us against them and about the consumer instead of the gamer.
Great input though!
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I was happy with what was shown even if I too had trouble keeping up! Getting original Xbox backward compatibility is a huge bonus for me… I have my games currently in storage and now have a great reason to dig them out again. 😊
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I’m excited to finally be able to play Crimson Skies! And I’m dying for some Mech Assault.
One can dream for those IPs to find a home on Xbox again…
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As far as I know, there’s no reason Microsoft can’t bring them back as they own the rights. Hopefully they do well on BC and prompt them to try! 😊
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Wasn’t impressed with E3 as a whole this year, but Microsoft did a pretty decent job. A lot of cool games revealed; I am particularly intrigued by The Last Night. I also loved the Sea of Thieves demo they showed. Definitely a more enjoyable showing than in years past imo.
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The Last Night does look pretty cool. I’m excited to see what it’s about.
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What would I do without you, seriously.
But WHOA xBox! For real?? Shoot! I didn’t know about most of those games! I need to look into more and maybe add more to the “Games I Am Looking Forward To” list! Mother bugger, I have to …..
Thank you for that list. Looks like I have some work ahead of me. O.O
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[…] may remember the Porsche 911 GT-2 RS from the Xbox E3 briefing this year, where it was revealed for the first time to the public to a crowd of very confused gamers and […]
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