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Xbox One Console Discussion


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For anyone interested, Ninja Theory have put out a video with regards to becoming part of Microsoft Studios:

Interesting to hear that they're getting full creative freedom as part of the agreement but all the support of tech and marketing that you would want with being part of a first party studio. And even hearing Phil Spencer talking about Hellblade, it's clear that game was a big pull for Microsoft in allowing that decision.

As disappointing as it is to have them under one house, if it gives them the financial security to continue to make games with the quality of Hellblade, I'm all for it. I suspect they won't be showing anything for quite some time, probably on the next gen, but I'll be keeping an eye out for what they're working on purely because I think they're honesty and openness with the development of Hellblade struck a chord with me and that's something I can get behind from any developer.

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That was a great conference, it's nice to see them going from strength to strength and Saint Phil Spencer living up to his name. I've had very little reason to power on my Switch and PS4 the last few months and it seems it might remain that way. I guess I'll have to wait and see what Nintendo have in store later.

 

And Forza Horizon in the UK! I LOVE the Horizon games and this will be great too but I must admit, the endless sun and tropical locations of Australia's Horizon 3 are more appealing to me than Britain lol 

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Speaking of Phil, this quote from the recent interview in the Guardian is great.

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“The biggest challenge I feel now is gamers’ desire to continue to divide our industry,” says Spencer. “The mentality is that somebody must fail in order for someone else to succeed … we all want to think about how we grow the gaming business, to not create arbitrary decisions on what console you buy or what network you join. The more we work together as an industry, better things happen. You have an Android and I have an iPhone; I can still call you. That would be my hope: that we still compete, but we compete on creative and quality.”

This is a fantastic message and one gamers on the internet, including here, need to take note of.

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  • 1 month later...

I guess this is the place to talk Project Scarlet/Scarlett (seen both names floating about, but surely they’re referencing the colour, and not the spelling of the name)? 

Some interesting potential scoops came out on Thurott the other day. 

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I was able to dig up a few tiny bits of content about how Microsoft is developing its next-generation consoles. And yes consoles because right now, they are planning two different pieces of hardware.

First, Microsoft is building a traditional console that you would expect from the Xbox brand. I think it’s important to point this out so that those who prefer to have all their hardware locally, will have an option with the next generation Xbox.

As for specs for this device, that’s still not known at this time as it’s the early days of development for that piece of hardware. But what I am starting to hear more about is the second device, a streaming box that is designed to work with the company’s upcoming game streaming platform.

Scarlett Cloud as one person called it, is the game streaming service that we have all been envisioning ever since Microsoft showed off a demo game streaming at its all-employee meeting back in 2013. But this time, Microsoft has a path to bring it to market.

The second ‘console’ that the company is working on is a lower-powered device that is currently planned to ship with the next generation device that is designed for game-streaming. But the catch here is that Microsoft thinks it has figured out how to handle the latency sensitive aspects of gaming.

The cloud console will have a limited amount of compute locally for specific tasks like controller input, image processing, and importantly, collision detection. The downside of this is that it since more hardware is needed locally, it will raise the price of the streaming box but it will still cost significantly less than what we are accustomed to paying for a new-generation console which should help expand the platform’s reach.

And that is very important as Microsoft doesn’t typically make much money on the hardware sales but they do on things like Xbox Live, Xbox Gamepass, and game sales. If Microsoft can create a next-gen console that requires lower up-front payment and longer subscription payments (remember, all games will run in the cloud, so you will need to pay ‘something’ to access them), this is a huge win for Xbox and Microsoft.

The portion of the game that runs locally, some have referred to it as a slice or splice, means that the game is ‘running’ in two locations at the same time and utilizes Microsoft’s cloud to stitch it all together.

The benefit here is that Microsoft’s cloud platform reaches around the globe with data centers in every major market. This makes streaming the games platform available globally but this also likely means that it can run on any type of device. Of course, Microsoft would love you to buy their hardware but the company’s end-goal is that you can access ‘Xbox’ from any device, anywhere and Scarlett Cloud is looking to deliver on this idea.

One person familiar with Microsoft’s plans said that this may reduce latency in all aspects of the game as well. If a multiplayer game is using Azure as it’s central server, Scarlett Cloud console will be closer physically to the multiplayer server resulting in less latency.

When it comes to games, all Scarlett games will run on all Scarlett devices. Meaning, both consoles will be first-class citizens and there is not expected to be an awkward ‘this game only runs on the non-cloud Scarlett’.

The cloud version of Scarlett is further along in the development cycle than the traditional console that will also be released in 2020. This device does make me wonder if it has any relationship to the Xbox Hobart streaming device that was nearly released two years ago but was canceled late in the development cycle.

Microsoft has become quite confident in their streaming solution and now that they figured out how to bring it to market after many years of development, they are pushing forward with those plans.

 

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  • 4 weeks later...
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Anyone else a fan of the Forza Horizon series?

I'll be picking up Forza Horizon 4 when it comes out, I just thought this video was interesting, showing the differences between Xbox One and Xbox One X.

I'm intending to keep my Xbox One original for as long as possible but it's nice to see the various improvements on both machines.

Time to dig out that Xbox racing wheel soon I reckon. :D

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18 minutes ago, Ronnie said:

I'll probably be buying an Xbox for this title and a few others. Can't decide on the S or X so maybe this video will help

If you don't already have an Xbox One then I would say to go for the X but then again, if you still have a good old 1080P HDTV like me, then the S is still a very viable option.

Even though I prefer the OG model... but I guess they don't make it any more.

Do you own or are you intending to get a 4K TV within the next two years or so? If this is the case then I'd go for the X but if not then I'd try and get a good deal on an S. :peace:

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58 minutes ago, S.C.G said:

If you don't already have an Xbox One then I would say to go for the X but then again, if you still have a good old 1080P HDTV like me, then the S is still a very viable option.

Even though I prefer the OG model... but I guess they don't make it any more.

Do you own or are you intending to get a 4K TV within the next two years or so? If this is the case then I'd go for the X but if not then I'd try and get a good deal on an S. :peace:

I'll almost certainly be getting a PS5 instead of an Xbox next gen, but I would like an Xbox at some stage to play some of their exclusives like Cuphead, Below, Ori x2, Forza Horizon, Sunset Overdrive etc. Plus Game Pass seems like a crazy good deal. It'd be my first one. I have a 1080p TV but I may get a 4K one at some point.

To be honest I'll probably just spend a few quid more and get the X. I'm planning on really getting into Anthem when it comes out and I'm sure it'll look even better on that.

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With the ebay code on today, I'm thinking of buying an Xbox One X mostly just for the backwards compatibility... got such a library of 360 games many of which I'd love to play with my SO. Although... I guess I could just bring the Xbox 360 downstairs instead :blank:

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  • 3 weeks later...

I’ll be buying an X in the next week or so. I’ve been really impressed by Xbox this gen (apart from exclusives obv) and I’m keen to jump in and play things like Forza Horizon, Ori, Cuphead, AC, Read Dead etc on it. Just need to find a decent price for it...

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22 minutes ago, Ronnie said:

I’ll be buying an X in the next week or so. I’ve been really impressed by Xbox this gen (apart from exclusives obv) and I’m keen to jump in and play things like Forza Horizon, Ori, Cuphead, AC, Read Dead etc on it. Just need to find a decent price for it...

Simply Games were selling the X for around £380 on its own the other day, although there have been some good bundles for £450 that included things like Creed and Forza.

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Anyone who has an Xbox One... does the game disk still need to be in the console to play games or is it just for the install?

I figured it would be like PS4 where you need the disk in to play the game but Google says no?

Trying to decide whether to go physical or digital for Forza but if the disk is only for installs then Xbox seems to have the best of both worlds In that regard ?

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6 minutes ago, Ronnie said:

Anyone who has an Xbox One... does the game disk still need to be in the console to play games or is it just for the install?

I figured it would be like PS4 where you need the disk in to play the game but Google says no?

Trying to decide whether to go physical or digital for Forza but if the disk is only for installs then Xbox seems to have the best of both worlds In that regard ?

It needs the disc, at least it did when I had one.

If you're not fussed about going digital then why not just get Game Pass? You'll get Forza with that, as well as a bunch of other games.

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Yeah I’ll look into Game Pass. I imagine Forza is something I’ll want to have a copy of no matter but but yeah the service seems fantastic from what I’ve seen. 

I kind of want the white X though so may see if I can find that cheap somewhere with forza. 

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24 minutes ago, Ronnie said:

Yeah I’ll look into Game Pass. I imagine Forza is something I’ll want to have a copy of no matter but but yeah the service seems fantastic from what I’ve seen. 

I kind of want the white X though so may see if I can find that cheap somewhere with forza. 

You can get one from the Argos eBay store that has Forza 7 and the new Horizon game. If you order in the next half hour and use the code PUMPKINS you will get a nice 10% off the price.

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17 minutes ago, Hero-of-Time said:

You can get one from the Argos eBay store that has Forza 7 and the new Horizon game. If you order in the next half hour and use the code PUMPKINS you will get a nice 10% off the price.

Cannot thank you enough. Looks like I just made it, £405 white X with Forza. Thank you!!

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