Microsoft XBOX (XBox One X / Project Scorpio) - Prerelease News and Rumours

[Rangers]

Oh Neogaf...

 

[Rangers]

DF's involvement in some semi-official capacity is exceedingly bizarre. Perhaps a tacit admission by Microsoft that they communicate technical issues poorly or lack credibility based on past reveals, therefore they felt an independent technical assessment would be beneficial!?!

It's hard to know what to make if this aspect.

Seems to me normal. DF has gotten key interviews with MS tech people before, so there's a relationship. MS knows they are a obvious choice to unveil "tech stuff". This is supposedly not pricing, form factor, games, or anything for a wider audience. Even though it will like it or not get carried to a wider audience...

 

[Deleted member 11852]

I'm not really reading to much into it other than it could be simply that they just want to get the final specs out there now but are not ready for any other stuff like showing the actual box + revealing price.

Why do Microsoft need DF to reveal specifications?

Seems to me normal. DF has gotten key interviews with MS tech people before, so there's a relationship. MS knows they are a obvious choice to unveil "tech stuff". This is supposedly not pricing, form factor, games, or anything for a wider audience. Even though it will like it or not get carried to a wider audience...

Before a console has been revealed? No, never. So not 'normal'. Unprecedented rather.

 

[Scott_Arm]

Why do Microsoft need DF to reveal specifications?



Before a console has been revealed? No, never. So not 'normal'. Unprecedented rather.

Well, technically the console was revealed at E3, including the main spec points. If anything was weird it was how early they did that, without a concept box or any prototype games.

I don't think MS needs DF to reveal the specs, but I guess you could view it as having your specs vetted. I imagine it's just a way for them to start generating buzz now to keep hardcore gamers interested until release date.

 

[GrimThorne]

Interesting move turning this task over to DF. Especially when it's well understood that Euro/DF was basically the birthplace of Rez-Gate.

Giving this to DF is not only curious, but also a bold move if the intention is to take their fiercest critic and have THEM validate Scorpio's technical prowess using the very standards that so effectively placed the Xbox One at the bottom of so many comparative analysis. In many ways if DF were to suddenly choose to state that power, rez, and frames are no longer important, they would essentially lose credibility going forward.

 

[Scott_Arm]

Since when is DF a fierce critic of Xbox?

Digital Foundry has done tech interviews with both Microsoft and Sony regarding their hardware. I guess we'll see what this looks like, but I don't see why this is any different than the others, except for maybe the timing.

 

[Rikimaru]

Giving this to DF is not only curious, but also a bold move if the intention is to take their fiercest critic and have THEM validate Scorpio's technical prowess using the very standards that so effectively placed the Xbox One at the bottom of so many comparative analysis. In many ways if DF were to suddenly choose to state that power, rez, and frames are no longer important, they would essentially lose credibility going forward.

The "balance" interview was not critical at all.
I assume there won't be any critic this time too.

 

[goonergaz]

Makes sense to me getting DF involved, MS know DF will do an article anyway and MS know lots of Xbox fans (and others this is aimed at) watch DF and will be expecting an 'unbiased' assessment. Obviously this will cast a little doubt on how much MS might insist DF say/do that we're not aware of, but hopefully DF will inject some 'not so great' parts so we'll at least feel it's truly unbiased.

 

[scently]

DF wrote an article or two which went a long way to explaining and detailing what Sony did with PS4Pro. It cleared a lot of doubt and gave people confidence into what Sony intend with the console, especially after the perceived lukewarm unveiling. They are literally the best place to go with detailing the technical aspects of the console, with a view to reaching the precise audience that understands it. Its that simple.

 

[Rodéric]

Scorpio won't change the games available on the system neither the abysmal UI... As for other things... We'll see. I don't expect any better reception than the PS4 Pro (and I think a number of people still don't even know it exists or what it is, obviously not people here at B3D)

 

[fehu]

 

[ProspectorPete]

I believe if it had Zen they would have unveiled through the New York Times, or Wall Street Journal.

The DF article would write itself, think about it: 12GB ram, Vega GPU, Zen CPU.

They could have released a video themselves, even when talking about specs.
"With Zen more detailed worlds are possible, it is now possible to calculate every single blade of grass as is demonstrated in this version of Forza Horizon made specifically for Scorpio in just under 2 weeks"
the Forza developer then talks you through it
"the power of Scorpio is unprecedented and the SDK is so easy to work with, as a matter of fact, games can be adapted to scorpio in just a few weeks. Conversely: if you develop for Scorpio it is really easy to make a version for Xbox One as well."

Also get a few other developers from their partners on board, like the Bethesda guy "When they showed me it in 2016 I was impressed. Now.. I am completely floored. It is such a pleasure to work with the system, and going forward, our games on Scorpio will be unmatched, the Zen CPU allows for unlimited quests, with more than 400.000 lines of dialogue."

A slick produced video would be in line with what MS is all about, they would have given DF a tiny look if they were that confident in their specs (and to combat DF releasing the specs early), not collaborate with DF on the world wide reveal..
So Zen is out.

 

[chris1515]

I believe if it had Zen they would have unveiled through the New York Times, or Wall Street Journal.

The DF article would write itself, think about it: 12GB ram, Vega GPU, Zen CPU.

They could have released a video themselves, even when talking about specs.
"With Zen more detailed worlds are possible, it is now possible to calculate every single leaf of grass as is demonstrated in this version of Forza Horizon made specifically for Scorpio in only 2 weeks"
the Forza developer then talks you through it
"the power of Scorpio is unpresentented and the SDK is so easy to work with, as a matter of fact, games can be adapted to scorpio in just a few weeks. Conversely: if you develop for Scorpio it is really easy to make a version for Xbox One as well."

Also get a few other developers from their partners on board, like the Bethesda guy "When they showed me it in 2016 I was impressed. Now.. I am completely floored. It is such a pleasure to work with the system, and going forward, our games on Scorpio will be unmatched, the Zen CPU allows for unlimited quests, with more than 400.000 lines of dialogue."

A slick produced video would be in line with what MS is all about, they would have given DF a tiny look if they were that confident in their specs (and to combat DF releasing the specs early), not collaborate with DF on the world wide reveal..
So Zen is out.

Zen or not the best place to do the reveal is digitalFoundry

 

[chris1515]

Scorpio won't change the games available on the system neither the abysmal UI... As for other things... We'll see. I don't expect any better reception than the PS4 Pro (and I think a number of people still don't even know it exists or what it is, obviously not people here at B3D)

I think the reception will be a bit better. It will not change the generation but much more current Xbox One owner will buy it than current PS4 owner bought PS4 Pro.. The marketing and communication will be higher on MS side...

 

[ProspectorPete]

Zen or not the best place to do the reveal is digitalFoundry

IMO If you believe in it then revealing your own product yourself is the best place to do it.

DF, as great as it is, does not get that many views. Inviting a top 200 youtuber to their office would generate a much larger coverage

Edit:

I just re-read this article and realise DF as a partner IMO is merely damage-control:
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/d...ware-balance-actually-means-for-game-creators

 

[Shifty Geezer]

DF, as great as it is, does not get that many views. Inviting a top 200 youtuber to their office would generate a much larger coverage

A larger coverage of people who don't give a shit about Scorpio and don't care what a TF is, let alone 6 of them.

DF is selected as the place to talk about the specs ahead of talk about the system. It lays the groundwork among the console nerds (who'll be advising their peers) to talk technobabble and impress people. MS don't want to talk specs during the proper reveal because they'll bore much of their audience, but they don't want to avoid spec talk because it's a PR strong point. So they are messaging the correct people with the correct part of the message.

 

[turkey]

Well, technically the console was revealed at E3, including the main spec points. If anything was weird it was how early they did that, without a concept box or any prototype games.

I don't think MS needs DF to reveal the specs, but I guess you could view it as having your specs vetted. I imagine it's just a way for them to start generating buzz now to keep hardcore gamers interested until release date.

It could be in part Microsoft have said you will see the difference with Scorpio and the press have been saying otherwise or how good PS4 pro and reconstruction is, DF can show (possible closeups) and explain the differences that a trained eye can see regardless of the normal user via a 720p YouTube stream. They can highlight these and given they will trawl and footage and try to do this anyway you might as well give them the uncompressed raw footage and have technical people on hand to assist.

If your confident of your system there is little risk in letting the details out but more risk in having them miss represented I suppose.

I suspect it will not be a full spec reveal but I think perhaps more a trusted 3rd party validation of true 4k 60fps from a AAA title in Forza 7. Not only a resolution jump but Turn 10 have probably also ramped up the dynamic effects for the Scorpio build to really show off the upgrade over Xbox One. Df could go nuts with just this and have a good bit of Greenawalt gushing over the system and what it does for simulating the skeletal deformation and resulting blood splatter of insects on the newly modelled windscreen and aerodynamic simulation.

Soon we shall see.

IMO If you believe in it then revealing your own product yourself is the best place to do it.

DF, as great as it is, does not get that many views. Inviting a top 200 youtuber to their office would generate a much larger coverage

Edit:

I just re-read this article and realise DF as a partner IMO is merely damage-control:
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/d...ware-balance-actually-means-for-game-creators

Whoever reveals, all other outlets will copy and paste the info, far better for a technical system to be revealed by technical minded folks and then disseminated by the mainstream.

The publications you mentioned have already reported that df is doing this, and you can be assure once up they will have their own piece up, they may have also been send press kits but not had whatever direct access df has had.

 

[ProspectorPete]

A larger coverage of people who don't give a shit about Scorpio and don't care what a TF is, let alone 6 of them.

DF is selected as the place to talk about the specs ahead of talk about the system. It lays the groundwork among the console nerds (who'll be advising their peers) to talk technobabble and impress people. MS don't want to talk specs during the proper reveal because they'll bore much of their audience, but they don't want to avoid spec talk because it's a PR strong point. So they are messaging the correct people with the correct part of the message.

While you have a valid point, Spencer once said their goal was to sell 200 million consoles. I don't think one does that by addressing the enthusiasts. And most people will know 6 is more than 4 with regards to TF but we'll see

 

[eastmen]

While you have a valid point, Spencer once said their goal was to sell 200 million consoles. I don't think one does that by addressing the enthusiasts. And most people will know 6 is more than 4 with regards to TF but we'll see

why can't they do both ? The average consumer doesn't care to much about specs as long as they are told this is the one that has the best looking games. So you do a deep dive targeting those who would actually enjoy it . Then MS is in the news for April and what is going to be out there to take the spot light away from them ? Heck they could do a over view with DF this week , in two weeks do a deep dive on the cpu , two weeks after that the gpu , two weeks after that the ram and what have you and stay in the hardcore circle news from now to E3 . At E3 they announce the games which is what the casuals will care about and dominate the news then also.

You seem to be spending a lot of time trying to downplay the Scorpio reveal. Whats the issue if it is a power house ? Are you worried about sony or something ? Tommorow the picture will get a lot clearer and we will know if MS spent a year sitting on something similar to ps4 pro or took that time to surpass the pro in all areas. What you or I think wont really matter. The question will be if the machine MS introduces can create a clear reason for gamers not only to leave xbox one / ps4 but not migrate to the pro. That's not just on the hardware but also the software and I believe we will only get a look at a small part of the hardware tomorrow

 

[Shifty Geezer]

While you have a valid point, Spencer once said their goal was to sell 200 million consoles. I don't think one does that by addressing the enthusiasts.

If Spencer was only going to talk to DF and not continue marketing and PR in other avenues, that'd be a relevant concern.