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E3 XBox (Games) Microsoft Games

Microsoft Announces Xbox One S, Project Scorpio Gaming Consoles (engadget.com) 144

Posted by msmash from the new-console dept.
Details of Microsoft's rumored new console have dropped ahead of the company's conference at E3 tradeshow Monday. It appears the long-anticipated smaller and more powerful variant of company's current console is real. According to a leaked press render, Microsoft will be announcing the Xbox One S (where S stands for Slim) at the gaming event. The Xbox One S will be 40 percent smaller than the Xbox One, and pack in more powerful processing and graphics muscle. According to the render, the Xbox One S will come with a 2TB hard drive, and feature support for 4K video playback and High Dynamic Range. According to separate reports, the Xbox One S is likely to be priced at $399 for the 2TB variant. Update: 06/13 16:58 GMT by M : Microsoft has officially taken the wraps off the product. It will be available for purchase starting August. AnandTech has more details.Also at its event, Microsoft announced Xbox Play Anywhere. The Verge reports: It lets you buy participating cross-platform games once, and own them on both platforms. If you buy a game on Xbox One it will simply appear in your Windows 10 library, and vice versa, and your saved games, achievements, and other information will carry over between the two versions.Microsoft also unveiled "Project Scorpio", a high-powered Xbox One launching next year that is capable of supporting 4K content as well as virtual reality headsets. "We are creating more choice in your gaming experience than ever before," said Xbox chief Phil Spencer to open Microsoft's E3 conference. No word on its pricing yet.
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Microsoft Announces Xbox One S, Project Scorpio Gaming Consoles More

Microsoft Announces Xbox One S, Project Scorpio Gaming Consoles

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  • not enough (Score:3, Insightful)

    by greenfruitsalad ( 2008354 ) on Monday June 13, 2016 @11:22AM (#52307061)

    they should make it 100% smaller and stop polluting slashdot

    • 40% smaller in volume translates to 16% smaller in each dimension. Whoo hoo!! that's so exciting.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by tsqr ( 808554 )

        40% smaller in volume translates to 16% smaller in each dimension. Whoo hoo!! that's so exciting.

        TFA is sadly lacking in details; however, the 'S' in the model name stands for 'Slim', implying that the reduction is in one dimension, presumably height. Personally, I think they should have left the measurements alone and put in a higher-capacity battery. Oh wait, that comment is for smart phones. Never mind.

  • Me too, much? (Score:4, Insightful)

    by Viol8 ( 599362 ) on Monday June 13, 2016 @11:39AM (#52307259) Homepage

    So Sony announced a 4K PS4 and Surprise! There's now going to be a 4K Xbox one. Well who didn't see that coming. Of course now they effectively both destroyed the console lifecycle I expect we'll soon see the law of diminishing returns kick in as people stop buying consoles because they're worried they might out of date in a few years rather than the usual 5 or more.

    • Re: (Score:3, Funny)

      by Yvan256 ( 722131 )

      I'm just waiting for the Nintendo Wii U 2K.

      • The next console by Nintendo is currently codenamed "NX" and according to reports, it will be capable of 4K video. It will be released in fall 2017.

    • Even the old XB360 had various generations though. The early ones had component video out,while later generations added HDMI (and supposedly more reliable motherboards)

    • Well, Xbox One is 3 years old now and has as much graphics power as 8 year old PC graphics cards. Now that consoles are effectively a small-form-factor PC, using 8 years old graphics tech is really hurting it. I am surprised this is releasing so soon and at this price. I would have expected keeping the same price while using the low-end AMD Polaris GPU (who knows, maybe they are actually using that GPU, but I doubt it as it would probably cost them $130-150 for the chip alone which is half the price of the

    • they effectively both destroyed the console lifecycle I expect we'll soon see the law of diminishing returns kick in as people stop buying consoles because they're worried they might out of date in a few years rather than the usual 5 or more.

      Exactly the opposite. Now you can buy an older generation console for less if you don't need the latest features but still play the latest games with your friends who do rush out to buy the latest and greatest. More importantly you'll be able to play your games in higher quality later when the latest and greatest drops in price.

      If you're budget conscious this is a great change for consoles. Let's compare:

      Before:
      You buy the Xbox 360 for $199 when the Xbox One came out at $499. You don't need 1080p, you d

      • Comment removed based on user account deletion
        • So tired of the 'main reason we buy console is bland uniformity and lockstep progression'. Enough, that time is over. VR blew up that pretty little world view. The truth is the last console gen went on WAY too long, and this is the result. VR is here, NOW, time to upgrade.
    • 6 months ago, there is no way in hell i would have guessed Microsoft would be putting out a ~6 TFlop console built with VR in mind. That is some serious power. We should be rejoicing, not whining ,"my 1.5 Tflop console is now worthless..... wahhhhhhh". Welcome to technology where things move fast and the hits just keep on coming. I am actually excited about the consoles for the first time since the early Xbox360 days.

    • Sony didn't announce squat. They confirmed something. In the meantime, the One S, supporting 4k video playback, will be for sale in a month. Neo? In development, with no information provided whatsoever.

      Sorry, I'm a Sony fan myself, but.. Microsoft won this round.

  • Alleged to be one of two new models (Score:5, Insightful)

    by RogueyWon ( 735973 ) on Monday June 13, 2016 @11:39AM (#52307265) Journal

    If credible reports are to be believed, the XB1-S is the first of two successors to the current XB1. There is a second machine, rumoured to have significantly upgraded internals, which is apparently due next year, to compete with the PS4 Neo. This might, of course, all be proven wrong within the next few hours following MS's E3 presentation.

    But if the reports are correct, then things start to look very odd. The XB1-S described in TFA looks like a pretty normal mid-generation hardware refresh, similar to the 360-S or the PS3-slim from the last generation. It reduces the form-factor and apparently adds support for 4k Blu-Rays (the current XB1 can do 4k video output, but there is currently pretty much nothing that makes use of it), but doesn't do much else. So far, so sane. But then this is apparently only going to be given a few months on the market before a significantly more powerful "XB1.5" is released, which will offer a significantly bigger step up.

    There's something not quite right with this current console generation. It's hard to put a finger on precisely what - the sales numbers (even for the XB1) are pretty great compared to the last generation - but there is definitely something that isn't quite gelling. Despite being over two and a half years old, the software libraries for the PS4 and XB1 remain fairly thin, being light on the major exclusives that have powered previous generations and heavy on "HD remasters" of old games. If, like me, you prefer to game on a PC, the reasons to own the new consoles look pretty thin (and I sort-of regret my own purchases).

    I don't know whether there is something sinister emerging in the financials which the public can't see, but both Sony and MS seem to be spooked in a way that the numbers don't quite support (MS's position isn't what they wanted, but is also by no means bad). I still can't work out why, at a point in the cycle when they should be enjoying the huge third-party licensing fees that should be rolling in thanks to their large installed base, Sony are taking a massive gamble and splitting their user-base with the PS4 Neo. Slightly more understandable is why MS would feel the need to follow suit, but even that doesn't quite feel right. All the omens for Nintendo's NX look pretty dire, so I doubt it's that which has Sony or MS spooked.

    As I say, hard to put my finger on it, but there is definitely something odd going on.

    • Re:Alleged to be one of two new models (Score:4, Interesting)

      by DrXym ( 126579 ) on Monday June 13, 2016 @11:48AM (#52307377)
      Just because it does 4K doesn't mean it will support Bluray UHD. Supporting 4K could just mean more VRAM and support for HEVC in hardware. Supporting Bluray UHD means changing the drive to read 4-layer discs and other technical requirements which Microsoft might not feel so inclined to do when the main beneficiary is Sony.

      It seems more likely that they'll toss in 4K support for streaming services and leave it at that.

      • Re:Alleged to be one of two new models (Score:4)

        by RogueyWon ( 735973 ) on Monday June 13, 2016 @12:05PM (#52307593) Journal

        Might be right.

        One thing it certainly won't be is 4k gaming, despite some of the more excitable comments around this and the PS4 Neo. We know what practical 4k gaming requires on PC (even the new Nvidia 1080 paired with an i7 6700k isn't quite there in terms of consistently acceptable performance) and the PS4 Neo specs fall far short of that. I doubt there's a new iteration of the XB1 on the way that will be significantly more powerful than the PS4 Neo.

      • Just because it does 4K doesn't mean it will support Bluray UHD. Supporting 4K could just mean more VRAM and support for HEVC in hardware.

        I hope the Xbox One GPU is more than enough to decode HEVC at 4k resolution...

      • other technical requirements which Microsoft might not feel so inclined to do when the main beneficiary is Sony.

        And Disney, Fox, Paramount, Universal, and Warner. Universal is a big one for the following reason:

        It seems more likely that they'll toss in 4K support for streaming services and leave it at that.

        Any streaming service operated by Microsoft in the United States has to overcome peering policies of an ISP owned by Universal's parent company.

    • :As I say, hard to put my finger on it, but there is definitely something odd going on.

      Most likely, the S version was already in development, and as soon as MS heard the rumors that Sony was developing the 4K, they decided to imitate, therefore starting development on a beefier version

      • Yes, that's the most plausible explanation, isn't it? I wouldn't be surprised if the XB1-S also had lower manufacturing costs than the default XB1, so it's a way of keeping the lower-spec model in circulation at a lower price-point.

        Also, not a comment about your post, but... aren't the AC fanboy horde out in unusual force today, by slashdot standards? Is there something in the water? Large parts of this comments section read more like Kotaku than slashdot.

    • Your right, there is something amiss this time. This is the first time consoles are architecturally identical to a standard PC system. It is also the first time that none of the consoles attempted to push technology forward in any way (the chips in both consoles are nothing to write home about performance wise, even at the time of the console's launch.) At the same time, small form factor PCs like NUCs were getting popular. Combined with Steam, PC manufactures started building gaming systems that *directly

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Kjella ( 173770 )

      I don't know whether there is something sinister emerging in the financials which the public can't see, but both Sony and MS seem to be spooked in a way that the numbers don't quite support

      Well if there's any sinister in the financials, I'd suggest it is AMD begging/tricking them to make a new round of consoles so they can earn some more money. Maybe they've stealthily planted the idea that the other company was going to launch a half-gen console creating a self-fulfilling prophecy, maybe they offered a deal too good to refuse. It's no secret that AMD needs money to stay afloat....

  • Like you had an xbone, now you had to buy a second one, so you have two xbones.

    Are they hoping for an old school "play dem xbones"? reference?

    • I never understood where people got "Xbone" from. Why would you concatenate "Xb" with "one" when the product name is "Xbox One"?

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by cfalcon ( 779563 )

        Who knows with these names man. Microsoft called it the Xbox 360 because when you see it you turn 360 degrees and walk away.

  • Oculus Rift (Score:4, Interesting)

    by backslashdot ( 95548 ) on Monday June 13, 2016 @11:58AM (#52307499)

    The problem with trying to stuff augmented reality and VR down our throats this early is that the screen door effect is still very prominent. The only way to get rid of the screen door effect is to provide a 5K resolution display per eye. AR and VR will fail because they tried to bring it out too early.

  • No mention if MS is going to release the hardware-refresh as a kinetic-only bundle. The original Xbox One suffered from the higher price-point but also due to the %10 of resources which were reserved for the kinetic which meant that titles on the Xbox often ran at lower resolutions and worst frame rates then on the PS4. Eventually MS unlocked those %10 resources but with this hardware refresh they could be added on top and allow for the kinetic to run without limiting performance. A bundle is likely to be t
  • The intentional exclusion of features from these devices to drive their own services means I won't be using a console for the foreseeable future. I use my PS3 almost exclusively as a streaming player now. Sony removed features from the PS4 that made the PS3 a useful device once games run dry. I can buy a NUC device and get much better ROI.

  • Xbox One S = Xbox Ones = Xbox Two, at least, right guys?

    "Microsoft Announces the Xbox Two, Its Smallest Xbox Yet"

    FTFY

  • Presumably the One S will have better specs than the One; $300 for that sounds like they're selling it at a loss. What would be the prospects of buying it and not buying any games to harm Microsoft and have a decent Linux machine?
  • Seriously? I mean, I realize Apple doesn't own a copyright on the letter "S", but Microsoft couldn't think up a better moniker for a sub-release of a device?

  • There's only one way to read this: OMG next quarter's loss will make the last one look like a profit, we need a distraction fast.

  • Golden Goose, meet clever.

  • ...with encrypted flash to run xbox games on your pc, for like 50 Bucks, would be great.

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