Microsoft Reveals Next-Gen Console: "Xbox Series X"

[Griffith500]

There's a performance / quality sweet spot around about 140-150% scaling - 1440p is only 133% of 1080p. That's linear dimension, since that's what you see - pixel counts are more like 195-225% and 177% respectively.

But, like-for-like, native 1440p still looks better than any supersampled 1080p material, so I think there is a benefit to a little more resolution in hardware given the current (and near-future) state of content creation. In terms of detail, 4K is 150% of 1440p, interestingly - so 4K (2160p) on a 1440p display would be a pretty "future proof" target in gaming terms, in my opinion.

This doesn't factor in the "AI" upscaling schemes, either. So you could render at (e.g.) 100%, intelligently upscale to 150% (with less total performance impact than just rendering at 150%, and with comparable quality) then downscale to the display hardware. It might be hard to get this working at high refresh rates, though.

You could also sample different regions of the screen at different densities (more in the middle, less at the periphery, say) and save some pixels there, too.

From all of the above, I'd wager that developers are generally not targeting native 4K at all. 1440p is probably it.

 

[RaceFuchs]

From all of the above, I'd wager that developers are generally not targeting native 4K at all. 1440p is probably it.

On which plattform? Series S or Series X? Most games within the next two years are gonna be cross-gen titles. We already have these games in 1440p or even higher resolutions on PS4 Pro and Xbox One X. Given how much more power these new consoles have, native 4K should be the new gold standard in all of these games. I expect something like this...

New Assassins Creed 2020 PS4
1080p 30fps

New Assassins Creed 2020 PS4 Pro
1440p + (dynamic resolution) 30 fps

New Assassins Creed 2020 Xbox One X
1800p + (dynamic resolution) 30 fps

New Assassins Creed 2020 Xbox Series X / PC
4K 60 fps, no RT

Assetts should be the same on all versions. IF sub-4K really is the target on any next-gen titles, it will be a dynamic resolution which adapts to engine load.

What will be really interesting to see is how much different a game like Forza 8 will look or perform on Series X. It already hits native 4K and 60 fps on Xbox One X, and since this will be a cross gen title, they wont be able to remodel all 700+ cars, all tracks and assetts. I imagine that the difference is all about raytracing reflections and illumimation.

 

[redhed17]

From all of the above, I'd wager that developers are generally not targeting native 4K at all. 1440p is probably it.

I would bet most console users are gaming on TV's, not on 1440p monitors, and TV's are mostly 1080p, and increasingly 4k.

 

[RaceFuchs]

I would bet most console users are gaming on TV's, not on 1440p monitors, and TV's are mostly 1080p, and increasingly 4k.

Are you assuming you cant play in 1440p on a 4K TV? Because you can and that works out really well.

 

[Griffith500]

I was thinking more about the split tier, X vs. S.

So the "target" as a developer is, as always, the lowest common denominator: the S. And I'm glad someone mentioned cross-gen; imagine being a mid-tier console developer suddenly lumbered with near PC-levels of performance and asset testing to carry out! I expect Microsoft in particular might have something in place to help in this regard.

Regardless of the output being 1080p or 4K more often than not, the internal render target can (and most likely will) be ~150% of 1080p, upscaled or downscaled to fit those popular screens accordingly.


Yes, certain titles will offer outstanding native 4K visuals (true native, actual 2160p render targets, if not better), yes some will even be 60 Hz with it. Sony and MS will try to ensure plenty of devs offer some value to the more expensive option, but it will be a box ticking exercise in many cases.

Certain titles will also offer higher refreshes than 60 Hz despite the comparative lack of supporting hardware in the wild, which is more important to me and thankfully increasingly important to the industry.

 

[RaceFuchs]

I think, to understand how next gen games will look like in the next two years, we just have to look at some PC games. Metro Exodus is propably the perfect example. This title runs on the base consoles and the enhanced ones with 30 fps and looks fine, but it has many exclusive features on PC like a special fur shader and Raytracing of course. While 1440p is possible on Xbox One X as well, you only get 60 fps on PC. I would imagine the game to offer that kind of graphic quality and performance on Series X, too. It is a very good example of a cross-gen title with next-gen technology on PC and some scaled down elements on current gen system.

I expect a big jump when the first proper next-gen exclusive AAA games arrive in two-three years. Until then, most big next-gen games like Halo Infinite and Forza 8 will propably not look radical different on the new console, although experts will spot differences right away.

 

[Griffith500]

Metro Exodus is one game that very clearly shows the performance penalty of 4K buffers and RT all at the same time, yes.

On a top tier card you can play it with upscaled (DLSS) 4K at ~60Hz with ray tracing features (RTX) at "next-gen" quality settings. The upscaling offers a 40% boost in performance over native 4K.

 

[imported_rik19]

Looking back at the price of the original xbox in comparison to what the new one may be..

 

[Griffith500]

Don't forget 20 years of inflation means the number on the price should be 66% higher for the same equivalent "cost".

So £350 then is more like £580 now.

 

[imported_rik19]

Yes......Be cheap if it comes out near the old price.

 

[GTPNewsWire]

This is the discussion thread for a recent post on GTPlanet:

Xbox Series X System Specs Revealed in Full

This article was published by Andrew Evans (@Famine) on March 16th, 2020 in the Gaming category.

 

[Jtheripper]

Was just about to post about that,pretty detailed article on Eurogamer. Seems DF is impressed.
Says RT would use up 13Tf if was not in dedicated hardware.
Makes me wish they also used dedicated physics hardware, with maybe 10 to 100 times efficiency than using std cpu. If using gpu for that then im not sure how efficient that can be.

 

[FT-1]

I'm getting PS2 Memory card vibes from the expandable storage.

 

[Rotorist]

A monstrous gaming machine as many of us had predicted months ago based to the leaks circulating the web.

 

[Tornado]

May pick up an Xbox SeX to replace my Xbone. Seems like it's about a push with the computer I built in November, but it has a 4K BD drive which is the only reason I kept my Xbone X.


With the inevitable multiplatform releases Microsoft pushes, would be pretty great to have things be about 1:1 in experience instead of the horrible load times I had to deal with whenever I tried to play FM7 on the Xbox itself.

 

[scooterlord]

Who cares if it’s a monster if it doesn’t have a good lineup of games... pffff

 

[PzR Slim]

Fanboys gonna fanboy!

 

[artem9000]

Estimated price: $2495

 

[Doomotron]

So, it is as powerful as a very good gaming PC, but will it cost more than a good gaming PC? Ultimately the best-selling console will be the cheaper one.

Also, Microsoft should be praying they don't get Switched again, because if the sales aren't that good and Microsoft sell it as a loss, Xbox as a brand will be over.

 

[urmie]

Damn Xbox with that confidence! Day one baby!

According to Steam's survey, Series X outperforms approximately 98.9% of all PCs on Steam period.
https://store.steampowered.com/hwsurvey/Steam-Hardware-Software-Survey-Welcome-to-Steam

Congrats to those of you in the literal 1%.

 

[TokoTurismo]

Fanboys gonna fanboy!

Not surprising though, especially if we judge by what this site contains more of in fanbase... >_>

Anyways, congrats to the Xbox team on making this console happen, because it is epic right now!! Loving their confidence as well! Keep it up MS! Day freakin' one!

 

[Lukanyon]

I WANT TO SEE FORZA WITH TRAYRACING!!!

 

[rofajole]

Estimated price: $2495

My sanity was borderline questioned when I said it might reach US $800 a couple pages back...

 

[GT Kelv]

On stage, Phil did say it’d set a new bar for compatibility (among other things)... so that would be nice. Though it’s possible he might’ve been alluding to some sort of PC game compatibility with that.

Backwards compatibility is probably the single most important factor for whether I’ll go with Playstation or Xbox at launch next gen.

Same for me. I really think the PS4 won’t be backwards compatible across all previous PlayStations. I think it should be. I hope they prove me wrong.

 

[Tornado]

Same for me. I really think the PS4 won’t be backwards compatible across all previous PlayStations. I think it should be. I hope they prove me wrong.

What do you mean? Sony will happily let you pay a monthly fee for limited access to certain previous Playstation generation titles so long as you are under the data cap you probably have.

 

[VXR]

Aside from the obvious benefits of mainstream games, Sim City or Cities Skylines could be ported and look almost on par with their PC counterparts. That would be a big win.

 

[TokoTurismo]

I WANT TO SEE FORZA WITH TRAYRACING!!!

Me too!

I'm just dying to see Forza 8 run on this beast of a console, especially with raytracing. I hope T10 gets to show it off tomorrow. I'm sure it will look very gorgeous!

 

[VBR]

Very impressive indeed.

 

[Robin]

Looks like MS really pushed the boat out with the system, good to see specs that are aiming high rather than the modest 'post recession' previous generation. Will be interesting to see how the PS5 compares tomorrow.

I'm getting PS2 Memory card vibes from the expandable storage.

I like the idea of a return to game saves and data just being on something you can pull out, swap around, take somewhere. Although it could be done on USB stuff for previous generations it didn't feel quite the same as something dedicated.

 

[rhalgr]

Also, Microsoft should be praying they don't get Switched again, because if the sales aren't that good and Microsoft sell it as a loss, Xbox as a brand will be over

I don't think Xbox will go anywhere anytime soon. MS bought a lot of studios and Spencer has the trust of Nadella. He appointed him to Vice President of Gaming.

With xCloud & gamepass, sales of the console itself is loosing importance to Microsoft. Microsoft as a whole shifted it's focus under Nadella and is all about providing services.

Azure is obviously the focus, but this division already benefits from MS Gaming division, because of their research and so on. Imo this is one of the reasons Sony are in talks with MS to host their PS Now service.