Other Xbox One S & Scorpio

[IntoxicatedPuma]

The Xbox One S seems to bring quite a few things to the table:

Front IR Blaster
Integrated power supply (no more brick)
4K video playback
Bluetooth controller
40% smaller than Xbox One (no word if that includes the power brick)

The Scorpio has nothing confirmed yet, but sounds like "zen" CPU cores and a GPU chip slightly more powerful than RX480.

If Microsoft is really merging Windows 10 and Xbox (sounds like Xbox may end up being just a custom UI over Windows that runs only the apps + Xbox games) - then I will be more interested in an Xbox. I hope Microsoft considers SSDs though, current load and boot times are ridiculous.

 

[Phuncz]

I do hope the Scorpio will have atleast an option for a 250GB of SSD, 2TB HDD sounds so unnecessary.

 

[PlayfulPhoenix]

I do hope the Scorpio will have atleast an option for a 250GB of SSD, 2TB HDD sounds so unnecessary.

For storing games locally, you can fill it pretty quickly, and for storing 4K content, even more so. Isn't storage user-replaceable, though? (And couldn't Microsoft do a hybrid-drive approach and implement a 32-64GB cache drive to speed up most usage?)

I haven't been able to read into the announcements, but the two questions I'd have would be:

1. Is the Windows OS underlying the "Xbox skin" user-facing? Can I install Steam on this and have an Xbox and Steam Machine in one?
2. Why the heck is Microsoft announcing this so early? I can think of a number of reasons but I get the feeling that there's some context or information we don't have that's contributing to their strategic choices.

 

[Phuncz]

For storing games locally, you can fill it pretty quickly, and for storing 4K content, even more so. Isn't storage user-replaceable, though?

I understand the sentiment but considering how affordable SSDs have become, it still amazes me no manufacturer will bring out the "fast pack". Even 2TB SSDs exist, although they cost more than an Xbox One or PS4.

2. Why the heck is Microsoft announcing this so early? I can think of a number of reasons but I get the feeling that there's some context or information we don't have that's contributing to their strategic choices.

Most likely because they are loosing a lot of ground to the PS4 and this might hold off buyers that were going to get a PS4 before next year.

 

[jtd871]

I suspect the reason Microsoft is announcing so early is that IIRC Sony is "winning" this generation of the console war in terms of units sold, so they want to get any remaining potential PS4 buyers to hold out for the new MS hotness.

 

[CC Ricers]

Having the space to store two drives would be pretty nice to have in the newer Xbox. Then you'd have the best tradeoff of speed for underlying OS and affordability of a HDD (although a SSHD would be better and still pretty affordable). Or at least the option to expand storage space with external hard drives/NAS.

If Microsoft is really merging Windows 10 and Xbox (sounds like Xbox may end up being just a custom UI over Windows that runs only the apps + Xbox games) - then I will be more interested in an Xbox.

It's not hard to see Windows-Xbox integration coming, though it's been a long process getting there. Bill Gates was upset at the development with the original Xbox because none of the work behind it crossed over into Windows development. Gates wanted Windows in every Xbox from the start.

 

[BirdofPrey]

It's not hard to see Windows-Xbox integration coming, though it's been a long process getting there. Bill Gates was upset at the development with the original Xbox because none of the work behind it crossed over into Windows development. Gates wanted Windows in every Xbox from the start.

The original Xbox was more or less a standard, albeit unremarkable, PC shoved into a case, part of the reason it was so chunky, so that would have made a certain bit of sense. PS2 at the time you could put Linux on.


The move by Microsoft is more or less just keeping Parity, I think. Sony also has their upgrade coming and Nintendo has been working on a new console, even if it seems to be a ways out still. They may also being trying to make sure they can capture some VR market. As yet, MS doesn't have a VR headset of their own (Hololense is augmented reality rather than virtual reality, and isn't coming soon), so they are trying to do what they can to at least get people to hook their Rifts and Vives up to something they did make.


The whole Windows thing is MS trying to leverage their installed userbase so their app store stops wallowing in dev hell from lack of customers, and to provide other ways of enticing users into their walled garden away from competitors.

 

[jØrd]

This article is pretty heavy but there is alot of Xbox stuff in there. IIRC only universal windows apps will be allowed on xbox. One guy did get DosBox up on it though

 

[BirdofPrey]

I do kinda wish they'd do a bit more with that whole Universal Windows App thing.
MS themselves have a desktop and UWP version of all their Office products, but for the time being, that's a benefit since their office apps have a crappy feature set. Similarly, I still use Windows Live Photo gallery for image organization since the photos app is utter crap and won't let me organize jack shit.

Of course, in the mean time, I wish they'd let regular .exe programs use live tiles (but then it would probably take forever for anyone to use that, I still have installers that ask if I want to create a quick launch icon, which was a feature depreciated in Windows 7, replaced with the ability to pin to the taskbar), or at the very least, let me use an icon that fits in with them.

 

[iFreilicht]

I think all of that will come eventually, the problem is that they need to merge two enormous frameworks for applications with each other, that takes time.

The 40% volume decrease from the XB1 seems not to include the power brick, so they managed to cram even more stuff into it and finally reached a reasonable size (read: the size of the PS4).