{"id":1351,"date":"2017-04-09T18:59:38","date_gmt":"2017-04-09T18:59:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.surrealresolution.com\/?p=1351"},"modified":"2017-04-09T01:34:21","modified_gmt":"2017-04-09T01:34:21","slug":"project-scorpio-what-we-know-and-what-it-means","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.surrealresolution.com\/index.php\/2017\/04\/09\/project-scorpio-what-we-know-and-what-it-means\/","title":{"rendered":"Project Scorpio: What We Know and What It Means"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>I\u2019m a tech geek, at heart. Ever since I was 4 years old, learning how to use my first Windows 95 desktop tower, I\u2019ve had a soft spot in my heart for technology, and the specs of a wide assortment of consumer products. So consider my interest risen when, this past week, Digital Foundry and Eurogamer were given exclusive access to the specs of the upcoming Microsoft gaming console, dubbed \u201cProject Scorpio.\u201d Not much was revealed about the console, apart from the specs, which has been a point of contention within the gaming world, along with the rest of the Xbox team\u2019s recent decisions as of late. It is very likely that there will be a full and proper console reveal at E3, later in June, but for now, I\u2019m going to give a deep look at what we know about Scorpio now, and what it all means as of now.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"747\" height=\"421\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/RE2hNrq1Zxs?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en-US&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox\"><\/iframe><\/span><\/p>\n<p>First, let\u2019s address the big selling factor this console will have &#8211; native 4K gaming. Both outlets were given a look at <i>Forza Motorsports<\/i> running at a native 4K resolution, at 60 frames per second, and while that\u2019s all well and good, how will older Xbox One games run on the console? Supposedly, many XB1 games, which run at either 1080p\/60, 1080p\/30, or even 900p\/30, will also be able to run at a native 4K screen resolution, by adding in additional art assets meant for the proper 4K display. To note, though, citing Digital Foundry\u2019s video on the Scorpio, the demo of <i>Forza<\/i> was only running between 60 and 70 percent of the total GPU power of the console &#8211; more on that in a moment. Now, admittedly, this is a substantial step up from what the PS4 Pro can do, offering a native resolution instead of upscaling to 4K, but we still need to know about how upcoming games will run &#8211; again, more on that in a moment.\u00a0As far as benchmark tests go, Scorpio outperforms the competition, across the board. Looking at the detailed specs, the CPU is a 2.3GHz 8-core custom AMD processor, the GPU is an integrated AMD graphics card with six TERAFLOPS!!! (that\u2019s a Training Stage bit) of processing power, it is sporting 12GB of GDDR5 RAM memory, and a 1TB 2.5\u201d HDD and 4K UHD Blu-ray optical drive. Nothing we didn\u2019t already know before last summer\u2019s E3 presentation, but hey, here they are again.<\/p>\n<p>So what does this all mean? Well, based on specs alone, nobody can really give a definitive answer as to whether or not the console will be something far greater than anything anyone has ever seen before, or if it\u2019ll just be the Xbox One on steroids.<\/p>\n<p><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"1353\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.surrealresolution.com\/index.php\/2017\/04\/09\/project-scorpio-what-we-know-and-what-it-means\/screen-shot-2017-04-08-at-9-26-38-pm\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.surrealresolution.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/Screen-Shot-2017-04-08-at-9.26.38-PM.jpg?fit=1712%2C962&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"1712,962\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"Screen Shot 2017-04-08 at 9.26.38 PM\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.surrealresolution.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/Screen-Shot-2017-04-08-at-9.26.38-PM.jpg?fit=747%2C419&amp;ssl=1\" class=\"aligncenter size-large wp-image-1353\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.surrealresolution.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/Screen-Shot-2017-04-08-at-9.26.38-PM.jpg?resize=747%2C419&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" width=\"747\" height=\"419\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.surrealresolution.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/Screen-Shot-2017-04-08-at-9.26.38-PM.jpg?resize=1024%2C575&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.surrealresolution.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/Screen-Shot-2017-04-08-at-9.26.38-PM.jpg?resize=300%2C169&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.surrealresolution.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/Screen-Shot-2017-04-08-at-9.26.38-PM.jpg?resize=768%2C432&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.surrealresolution.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/Screen-Shot-2017-04-08-at-9.26.38-PM.jpg?w=1712&amp;ssl=1 1712w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.surrealresolution.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/Screen-Shot-2017-04-08-at-9.26.38-PM.jpg?w=1494&amp;ssl=1 1494w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 747px) 100vw, 747px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>But right now, it\u2019s looking more like it\u2019s just the Xbox One on steroids.<\/p>\n<p>Now, granted, there were some great points made, from the Digital Foundry and Eurogamer exclusives, that will grant game developers a lot of further access to create games exclusively for this console, but that\u2019s all to be seen later on toward release, which Microsoft is still insisting on being Q4 2017. That\u2019s not what concerns me, though. Lost in the shuffle, amongst all the talk about performance and cores and TERAFLOPS are one rather important element of what makes a game system successful: the games. Which is something Xbox has been lacking for a while; in the past year and a half, Microsoft has shut down the studios behind <i>Fable<\/i> and <i>Project Spark<\/i>, released <i>Quantum Break<\/i> to a middling response, and completely cancelled their PlatinumGames exclusive <i>Scalebound<\/i>. And by the way, <i>Nier: Automata<\/i> has sold over 1 million copies on PS4 and PC so far. I\u2019m sipping my tea at you, Microsoft.<\/p>\n<p><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"1354\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.surrealresolution.com\/index.php\/2017\/04\/09\/project-scorpio-what-we-know-and-what-it-means\/screen-shot-2017-04-08-at-9-29-05-pm\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.surrealresolution.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/Screen-Shot-2017-04-08-at-9.29.05-PM.jpg?fit=1710%2C958&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"1710,958\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"Screen Shot 2017-04-08 at 9.29.05 PM\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.surrealresolution.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/Screen-Shot-2017-04-08-at-9.29.05-PM.jpg?fit=747%2C419&amp;ssl=1\" class=\"aligncenter size-large wp-image-1354\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.surrealresolution.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/Screen-Shot-2017-04-08-at-9.29.05-PM.jpg?resize=747%2C419&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" width=\"747\" height=\"419\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.surrealresolution.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/Screen-Shot-2017-04-08-at-9.29.05-PM.jpg?resize=1024%2C574&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.surrealresolution.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/Screen-Shot-2017-04-08-at-9.29.05-PM.jpg?resize=300%2C168&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.surrealresolution.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/Screen-Shot-2017-04-08-at-9.29.05-PM.jpg?resize=768%2C430&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.surrealresolution.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/Screen-Shot-2017-04-08-at-9.29.05-PM.jpg?w=1710&amp;ssl=1 1710w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.surrealresolution.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/Screen-Shot-2017-04-08-at-9.29.05-PM.jpg?w=1494&amp;ssl=1 1494w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 747px) 100vw, 747px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>So\u00a0what about their three core original IPs &#8211; <i>Halo<\/i>, <i>Forza<\/i>, and <i>Gears of War<\/i>? For what it\u2019s worth, Microsoft has been relying on these three titles to sell their consoles, and so far? Xbox One &#8211; 26 million consoles sold; PS4 &#8211; 53 million consoles sold. And this is why all eyes will be on Microsoft, come E3, because they desperately need to come out swinging with the reveal of Project Scorpio. On top of revealing concrete physical details, aka the console itself, they need to announce a plethora of developers on board for the system, they need to let their consumer base know just what this product is and who they are targeting it toward, and they have to announce it at a price that will not be given an apathetic response. And if they have it in them, maybe announce a new original IP, or give an update on the status of <i>Sea of Thieves<\/i>. They need to sell a mass audience on this console, and it can\u2019t just be filled with buzzwords and fancy promo spots. If this is going to be a gaming machine, they need to focus on games, games, and more games, and execute their mission without a hitch.<\/p>\n<p>In other words, the Xbox team just needs to not have a repeat of 2013.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"747\" height=\"421\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/ui8yTFRflyI?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en-US&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox\"><\/iframe><\/span><\/p>\n<p>You all remember that 2013 E3 presentation, right? The show that cost Don Mattrick his job at Microsoft, filled with talk of disc-based DRM, the \u201cit\u2019s called Xbox 360\u201d comment, the $499 price point, and that failed Assassin\u2019s Creed demo. And then Sony kicked them in the ass, only a few hours later. Yeah, all that Phil Spencer needs to do with his team is just not have a repeat of that disaster, and everything will be fine. Just come out swinging, impress the crowd, offer a great demo presentation for the people at E3, and for the love of God, don\u2019t let it be anything above $500.<\/p>\n<p>Until then, all we can do is wait it out until E3. You can bet that there will be plenty of E3 coverage on here, and on The Training Stage, so let\u2019s cross our fingers that things will go smoothly for everyone at Xbox this year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"I\u2019m a tech geek, at heart. Ever since I was 4 years old, learning how to use my first Windows 95 desktop tower, \n<a class=\"moretag\" href=\"https:\/\/www.surrealresolution.com\/index.php\/2017\/04\/09\/project-scorpio-what-we-know-and-what-it-means\/\"> [...]<\/a>","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":1352,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"yasr_overall_rating":0,"yasr_post_is_review":"","yasr_auto_insert_disabled":"","yasr_review_type":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[10],"tags":[250,249,19],"class_list":["post-1351","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gaming","tag-e3","tag-project-scorpio","tag-xbox"],"yasr_visitor_votes":{"stars_attributes":{"read_only":false,"span_bottom":false},"number_of_votes":0,"sum_votes":0},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.surrealresolution.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/scorpio-2.jpg?fit=1173%2C693&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8GYHU-lN","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.surrealresolution.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1351","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.surrealresolution.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.surrealresolution.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.surrealresolution.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.surrealresolution.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1351"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.surrealresolution.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1351\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1355,"href":"https:\/\/www.surrealresolution.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1351\/revisions\/1355"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.surrealresolution.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1352"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.surrealresolution.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1351"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.surrealresolution.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1351"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.surrealresolution.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1351"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}