Home Gaming Xbox Scorpio wants to stop the “disruptive” console cycle

Xbox Scorpio wants to stop the “disruptive” console cycle

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Headhunting-went-way-too-far

It can’t be easy to develop games for consoles. Not only do you have to deal with expectations, hype and having to interact with the scum of the Earth known as the games industry press (Hi mom! Again! WHY WON’T YOU TALK TO ME MOM?), but there’s also a massive time limit on all of this. A time limit in the form of console hardware generations.

Just when you’ve gotten comfortable developing on a particular piece of machinery, comes a new generation of consoles out of nowhere like some sort of Microsoft or Nintendo-branded RKO. Microsoft does, however, want to change that with their modular device next year, currently codenamed Project Scorpio before the marketing team decides to brand it as something far worse.

It’s a device that Microsoft says will open the doors to a future where console generations are a thing of the past, at least in terms of performance. And overall, that should make life easier for developers. “You hear us talking about thinking beyond console generations. It’s not the idea that you don’t want to do consoles anymore or that there’s not going to be more performance [in the future with new systems],” Xbox director Albert Penello said on the latest Inner Circle podcast via GameSpot.

But if you go back and look at console generations, they’re always super exciting when something new comes out, but they’re super disruptive.

They’re really hard on developers, because they have to learn how to program on these new machines; they’re really hard on customers, which I think sometimes people forget. You have to give up a lot of stuff. The idea [for Scorpio and the future] is, can we smooth that out, can this be more about a family, can we think beyond, ‘We’re gonna do this one and then stop and then start all over again.

That makes some big sense. After all, look at the Xbox 360. On the market as a main event player for close to a decade, and the games that were being pumped out for it at the tailend of its lifespan were phenomenal visual showcases that pushed the graphics into bleeding edge ranges. If Project Scorpio can remain relevant for years upon years with a few minimal upgrade options, I think we’re going to see developers quickly become familiar enough with the device to crank out some special games.

Until the next big Xbox console, that is.

Last Updated: August 22, 2016

44 Comments

  1. The console cycle is only disruptive on this generation as the hardware was nowhere near future proofed to the level of the previous generation (Xbox 360 has less ram than my cell-phone has CPU cache, for crying in a bucket – still usable). I fail to see how Xbox One, Ps4 will continue to sell as long as the previous generation did.

    In summary, you guys made this disruptive. Nice to see you trying to fix it.

    Reply

    • Alien Emperor Trevor

      August 22, 2016 at 14:27

      If I understand correctly, they’re going to counteract the disruptive impact of infrequent console refreshes by increasing the frequency of refreshes.

      Reply

      • miaau

        August 22, 2016 at 14:32

        yeah, but more incremental, as in not breaking the development environment.

        Reply

    • Jose Francisco Arroyo-Velez

      August 22, 2016 at 15:20

      You gotta understand who the leader of the Xbox division is now vs who it was when the Xbox One was still Project Durango. Xbox One took a very hard hit under previous leadership, Scorpio will be a refresh and will give Spencer the tools he needs to run his successful business. They just took advantage of the Neo coming out to do the same, except Neo isn’t a promise that all my games will run on future hardware upgrades, Scorpio is. And it’s a simple reality that technology upgrades happen much faster than previously seen. Xbox One did have future proofing with cloud computing, but think about it. Using that as the upgrade will mean that a lot of consumers will not have the raw computing power that depends on an internet connection that needs to be powerful as all hell. It wasn’t a bad choice, it’s just the market didn’t move as previous execs expected. This here is a good thing, Scorpio will add more to the console market and when the next hardware upgrade comes 5-7 years from 2017 it will continue to add more power with the same games you have today.

      Reply

      • Original Heretic

        August 22, 2016 at 15:34

        Yeah, the previous Xbox guy dropped the ball badly.

        Reply

  2. Original Heretic

    August 22, 2016 at 14:33

    Here’s a novel idea… instead of developing a whole new console every few years, how about they allow for console parts to be upgraded, like a PC.

    Reply

    • miaau

      August 22, 2016 at 14:34

      I had a console for years, as I do not want the hassle of PC drivers and stuff. Now that i want to buy a new PC, I am flabbergasted / struck at how much money I must haul out, for a fairly bottom end gaming PC. I5, 1060 nividia card.

      Reply

      • Viper_ZA

        August 22, 2016 at 14:40

        If you buy smart now, your PC will outlast consoles. You will also benefit & save substantial amounts of money on games when compared to consoles.

        Reply

        • Original Heretic

          August 22, 2016 at 14:59

          But then, in 6 months time, will it still be able to play games at their maximum?

          Reply

          • Viper_ZA

            August 22, 2016 at 15:02

            It really would depend on what you want out of your PC gaming rig. If you want to go all out in terms of 4k gaming, you will have to spend significantly more to get the frames you desire. If you are content with 1080p gaming for now, you can put together a beefy rig that would be sufficient for quite some time.

          • Original Heretic

            August 22, 2016 at 15:14

            I’ll have to believe you. I’m so out of touch with PC gaming, I can’t accurately comment. It’s been years since I kept a good PC. I used to get so frustrated when I bought a game, I had all the right specs….and for some reason it just wouldn’t work. Worked fine on my bro’s PC, which was worse, but it just didn’t like mine!
            That was when I went console.

          • Viper_ZA

            August 22, 2016 at 15:21

            Hardware incompatibilities do creep up from time to time but I have been enjoying my i7 rig for the past 2 and a half years without any real issues. I’m more than satisfied with 1080p gaming for now as true 4K gaming does cost considerably more.

          • Original Heretic

            August 22, 2016 at 15:25

            I suppose that’s the kind of thing that one gets used to. Like, I tried to play some of my Xbox360 games recently (Mass Effect trilogy, LOVED those games), but I’ve gotten so used to my PS4, jeez, it felt like i was wading through thick mud.

          • BassieB

            August 22, 2016 at 17:29

            It will still look better than console games….

        • miaau

          August 22, 2016 at 16:22

          Well, I just want to play Civ 6 at a reasonable turn speed, even at crap graphics settings. Simple.

          Reply

          • Paul

            August 23, 2016 at 06:46

            PC’s have become much easier and cheaper the last few years, not as easy to use like consoles are but not that far behind if you are willing to learn a few things, also, I’ve found PC is cheaper than consoles now in the long run and for me it’s been that way since the PS3 and Xbox 360 days, with the PS4, Xbox One and Neo and Scorpio, it’s become even cheaper, for a lot of gamers that already have a decent gaming rig, all they have to do is replace the gpu with a new one and they are likely to have better hardware than Neo and Scorpio and getting the gpu to match and surprise the two new consoles work out cheaper then buying the new consoles.

            I used to be a console gamer for years in the past but to me they feel like a rip off with games costing more, online subs and now the vast bulk of games are on PC, consoles only make sense now if you want ease of use and/or don’t buy many games.

          • Viper_ZA

            August 23, 2016 at 07:06

            Operating System: Windows 7 64bit
            Processor: Intel Core i5-4670S @ 3.10GHz or AMD FX-6200 Six-Core
            Memory: 8 GB RAM
            Hard Disk Space: 20 GB Free
            Video: Radeon HD 7870, GeForce GTX 660 Ti

            Those are the predicted recommended specs for Civ 6. You won’t have to break the bank to get Civ 6 to run properly.

          • Mighty Meh

            August 23, 2016 at 10:31

            My PC is 5 years old and still falls in those spec’s

      • Original Heretic

        August 22, 2016 at 14:58

        Keeping a PC updated to be able to play all the good stuff as pretty as possible, that’s what’ll keep your wallet empty all the time.

        Reply

      • BassieB

        August 22, 2016 at 17:28

        hassle of PC drivers and stuff, it’s 2016 not 1995.

        Reply

        • miaau

          August 22, 2016 at 18:12

          True, true. But there are still compatibility issues with pc sometimes. My console is just easier to manage and play games on.

          Reply

          • BassieB

            August 22, 2016 at 18:24

            Unless you play fallout4……
            It honestly depends on the game your playing, there are a lot of pc games that run better than on console and vice versa.

            Consoles come with small HDD, so how are they easier to manage?
            I get it you prefer consoles, I do to for some games. But the argument you made is no longer valid. The consoles are x86 machines now a days.

          • Paul

            August 23, 2016 at 06:49

            To be honest, it’s rare that I have driver issues with games now but I will admit that I don’t recommend playing games on release unless it’s a indie developer, games run so much better after a few patches and driver updates, even on consoles I wouldn’t play many games on release because too many feel like they are still in a beta state, after a month or two they run much better for the most part.

    • HairyEwok

      August 22, 2016 at 14:38

      I believe Xbox wanted to do that. Plug in a little box that will give more compute power and graphic power.

      Reply

      • Pieter Kruger

        August 22, 2016 at 14:52

        No, they didn’t.

        Reply

        • HairyEwok

          August 22, 2016 at 15:15

          Ahem, I remember we even made jokes about it on Lazygamer where console gamers always said to PC gamers how regularly they have to do hardware upgrades.
          http://www.gamespot.com/articles/xbox-boss-clarifies-console-hardware-upgrade-comme/1100-6435381/

          Reply

          • Paul

            August 23, 2016 at 06:52

            Yep it used to be every 6 months to a year if some console gamers are to be believed, in reality, you can get by about 3 or 4 years with using some of the higher graphics settings or much longer if you are willing to lower settings, which is what happens on consoles anyway.

      • Original Heretic

        August 22, 2016 at 14:58

        I’m not talking just a little box, I’m talking about the ability to be able to swap out crucial elements inside your console.

        Reply

        • HairyEwok

          August 22, 2016 at 15:24

          Look at the link I gave Pieter Kruger. Xbox have future plans to do it.

          Reply

          • Original Heretic

            August 22, 2016 at 15:27

            This might then make me go back to Xbox. Might.

        • Mighty Meh

          August 23, 2016 at 10:39

          So you are looking for a device that plays video games that you can upgrade over time as video games get more demanding? Sounds familiar XD

          Reply

          • Original Heretic

            August 23, 2016 at 10:42

            Yeah, like a PC, like I said in my original comment. But keeping it simpler that going through all the PC hassles.

          • Mighty Meh

            August 23, 2016 at 14:09

            I’d say give PC’s another chance, things have come a long way in the past 15 years. Steam has made managing your games and their updates as easy as pie.

            As for problems you may encounter with your hardware, forums on the web have made it possible for anyone who can read to be able to fix their issues.

            Do eeet

          • Original Heretic

            August 23, 2016 at 14:11

            One day when I’m big and have the moola to fork out for the kind of system I want.

          • Mighty Meh

            August 23, 2016 at 14:27

            Take a look at a second had gaming rig if you are cash strapped. With the new architecture out people with CUD (Computer Upgrade Disorder) have been flogging things off at a reasonable price. Personally I wouldn’t go for a new top end system with the way the exchange rate is at the moment.

            I build my fiance a nice I5 setup (no graphics card) for about R4k and the only thing that wasn’t brand new was the processor and hard drive.

  3. HairyEwok

    August 22, 2016 at 14:42

    Imagining this is the situation most console folks are in right now.
    https://media.giphy.com/media/Es0g3kdtIBnCU/giphy.gif

    Reply

    • Admiral Chief

      August 22, 2016 at 14:58

      LOLWUT?

      Reply

  4. Viper_ZA

    August 22, 2016 at 14:42

    If Sony/MS & Ster Kinekor offer buy-backs for previous/older consoles at reasonable prices, I won’t mind upgrading on a more frequent basis. Knowing SA though, we will be given peanuts for our older hardware.

    Reply

  5. iusedtobe(a)regular

    August 22, 2016 at 15:03

    MS is missing the point about consoles. Having to upgrade your console will be more disruptive.

    Reply

    • Original Heretic

      August 22, 2016 at 15:32

      Completely disagree. If I had the ability to upgrade my console and still have the freedom to just pop a disc in a play (let’s not even go into the issue of day 1 game updates, please!), I’d love that. And I think many console gamers would, too.

      Reply

      • miaau

        August 22, 2016 at 16:22

        yes. simple upgrades though, sort of like lego.

        Reply

        • HvR

          August 22, 2016 at 17:43

          You talking about plug in modules, ie unplugging and swopping a piece for a new one without opening the box?

          Because that is an awesome idea in principle but a design nightmare. lots of people tried it on lots of products including consoles and have failed.

          It is ludicrously expensive and gives more issues than a installing hardware on a Windows 98 PC.

          Reply

      • iusedtobe(a)regular

        August 22, 2016 at 17:40

        I have to disagree many console gamers like my self dont want to go through the hassle of upgrading our hardware every year. I might as well get a PC then.

        Reply

  6. Mighty Meh

    August 23, 2016 at 10:37

    I think people are a little unfair when bringing forward PC’s problems.
    If you are going to compare the benefits of a pc to a console then you
    need to compare them on the consoles terms.

    People always forget
    that consoles barely ever get to 1080p and only run at 30 fps. To have a
    computer that can do that would probably cost you less than a console,
    especially if you pick up a second hand graphics card.

    Reply

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