Though the launch price of new consoles can be attractive, they often come with hidden costs. As well as paying more for games, players often have to re-purchase upgraded controllers, new accessories, remastered previous-gen games, and more.
Following its limited spec reveal of Xbox Scarlett at E3 2019 and the announcement of the Xbox Elite 2 Controller, Microsoft has confirmed that its next-generation won’t all be business as usual. As well as support for current Xbox One games, Scarlett will work with existing Xbox One controllers and accessories.
“We thought out our design for Project Scarlett, we definitely wanted to make sure that we were compatible across all the generations,” said Xbox head Phil Spencer at the Inside Xbox show at E3. “Not just with the games, but the accessories. It’s really us respecting the purchases gamers have made on our platform.”
A Change In Strategy
Its a change in pace from the Xbox One, where Xbox 360 controllers can only be utilized with workarounds or hacks. With the devices costing upwards of $40, that will mean savings for fans of local co-op gameplay. Of course, this should extend to the more expensive Xbox Adaptive Controller, official headsets, and keyboards and mice.
In fact, Microsoft’s next console is likely to mark a general shift in strategy for Xbox. With its release alongside the company’s game streaming service xCloud, the focus will be less on the hardware you’re using and more on how you want to play. Players will be able to stream at 4K 60fps from Xbox’s in data centers around the world if they wish, with supposedly little lag.
If they do choose the dedicated hardware route, Microsoft is promising up to 8K resolutions, SSD storage as VRAM for up 40x performance gains, and up to 120fps variable refresh rate.
Specs-wise the console is looking very similar to the PS5, going full AMD. It will utilize a custom-built Zen 2 processor with a Navi GPU and speedy GDDR6 RAM.
