X boxing new generation. Xbox Scarlet is a new console from Microsoft. What will be the new xbox

Microsoft, represented by the head of the gaming division Phil Spencer (Phil Spencer) during the E3 2018, which is working on the next generation Xbox (we will call the console Xbox Next for simplicity). When should we expect this gaming platform to hit the market? Reputable blogger Paul Thurrott recently spoke about this with reference to his sources.

According to him, the next generation of Xbox is codenamed Scarlett, and Microsoft plans to release it in 2020. At the same time, Microsoft describes Scarlett in internal documents as a family of devices, so several products may come out at once. The date may seem relatively close as the Xbox One X was only released last year, but Microsoft is supposedly determined to shake up the industry.

Mr. Turroth expects Xbox Next to be fully compatible with all games available today, while offering next-generation features and services (like streaming games). Considering how much effort Microsoft is spending on backward compatibility today, this is a logical assumption. In addition, the Xbox Next will probably continue to be based on the x86 architecture.

Sony, in turn, is not saying anything about its next-generation gaming system (let's call it PlayStation 5), but rumors about its development have been around for a long time, so the launch of the device should also be around the corner. Recent reports are about key components used by the Japanese and continued fruitful cooperation with AMD.

Forbes, citing anonymous industry sources, reported that the PS5 will use a graphics accelerator with AMD Navi architecture, complemented by a Zen + -based processor (strange that not Zen 2). However, there is no more detailed information, so it is not clear whether we are still talking about a powerful single-chip system by analogy with the PS4 and PS4 Pro (which is logical and saves) or Sony decided to use separate components of the Ryzen CPU and GPU Navi for maximum productivity.

AMD Navi graphics architecture will be manufactured in compliance with 7nm technology standards, and, according to sources, this accelerator is the fruit of AMD's close collaboration with Sony. Much of the work on the new architecture was allegedly led by Raja Koduri, who led the Radeon Technologies Group and most recently at Intel.

It is alleged that cooperation with Sony was carried out to the detriment of work on the Radeon RX Vega and other current AMD projects: Mr. Koduri was forced against his will to transfer up to 2/3 of the engineering team exclusively to Navi. Because of this, the boss was allegedly very unhappy with the amount of resources and engineering hours spent on the RX Vega desktop accelerators, and products like the Frontier Edition turned out worse than expected.

Citing its sources, Forbes also says that the desktop version of Navi will primarily target the mass market and will not compete with the expensive and high-end NVIDIA GeForce accelerators. This is logical if you take into account the console roots of Navi, but it does not mean at all that more powerful solutions on the same architecture will not come out after mass products.

Curiously, according to Forbes, the Navi accelerator is not mentioned in any way in connection with Microsoft Scarlett. Journalists speculate that Xbox Next will not use Navi at all or will receive its own accelerator developed by the AMD and Microsoft teams based on Vega. In general, all the conversations of informants about Navi were conducted in the past tense, as if work on the accelerator had already been completed - maybe the PS5 will be released even earlier than the Xbox Next, by analogy with the PS4 Pro and Xbox One X?

Detailed information on the characteristics of the next generation console has appeared online Xbox two and its budget version, as well as the release date of the two devices and the price in Russia.

French portal Jeuxvideo publishes in-house information on next-gen consoles Microsoft Xbox 2 (Xbox Two), the website reports. According to these data, the American company plans to release two gaming platforms at once. Previously, the next device of the brand was mentioned under the name Xbox Scarlett, but this time there were two names at once Xbox Anaconda and Xbox Lockhart. Before that, there were already rumors with just such working names. The main and most powerful device will be the Xbox Anaconda.

Xbox Anaconda (Xbox Two) specifications:

• Processor: 8 cores and 16 threads based on AMD Zen 2 architecture
• Video Card: Based on AMD Navi architecture with over 12 teraflops of performance and 16 gigabytes of GDDR6 video memory
• Built-in memory: 1 terabyte NVMe SSD at 1 GB per second

A second console called Xbox Lockhart from the Xbox Two lineup will be a budget solution, the website says. This device is cheaper, but also weaker in terms of the "iron" filling. Only the video card will differ. It will be built on the same architecture as the main Xbox Scarlett model, but with a capacity of only 4 teraflops and 12 gigabytes of memory on board.

The price for Xbox 2 (Two or Scarlett) in Russia is expected to be around 40 thousand rubles. Sources of the French edition report that the price tag of the Xbox Anaconda will be at the level of modern Xbox one X, that is, about $ 500, which is about 33 thousand rubles. However, prices for the current most powerful Microsoft console in official stores reach 39 thousand rubles. There is no information about the cost of Xbox Lockhart yet.

The same source said that both consoles in the Xbox 2 series will be unveiled at E3 2019, but will not release until late 2020. In addition, Microsoft will showcase several next-gen games for the Xbox Two at the year's major show. Among them will be the main projects - Halo 6 and Gears 5, as well as a new game from the studio Ninja Theory. Microsoft acquired the company following the success of Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice.

"And, of course, our hardware developers. The same developers who offered unprecedented performance on the Xbox One X. They are now fully focused on building the next Xbox consoles. In them, we once again want to offer a quality product that will set the benchmark for console gaming." - Phil Spencer

Wait a minute. Did he really say "Xbox" right now? In plural? It was Phil Spencer at E3 2018 talking about what we already knew. That the next generation Xbox is being developed. Microsoft included a small Easter egg in its announcement - this is an image of the Scorpio chip from the Xbox One X. The motherboard is also shown 17 months before the release. Perhaps the point here is that the plural mention of Xbox was not a mistake. More than one Xbox version may be in development.

This opinion is confirmed by an article on Thurrott.com, which is dedicated to Windows and Microsoft. It says here that the next generation Xbox is codenamed Scarlett. The release is due in 2020. The product is described as a product line. Of course, the Xbox is now a family of products. There are cheaper models and more powerful and expensive Xbox X. The latter have higher graphics power and faster speed.

What is a streaming box? At E3, Phil Spencer talked about the platform for streaming games to multiple devices. Smartphones are one example of these devices. Earlier I said that advanced technology is required that will make new consoles even more expensive. The idea of \u200b\u200ban overly expensive version of the next Xbox seems obvious. Just look at the $ 500 Xbox One X. Streaming would take away expensive components in favor of cloud storage. Smartphones, tablets, Smart TVs, etc., would be able to play Xbox games. Why not release an Xbox for streaming with a regular controller then. This is an interesting idea for a family of consoles, a familiar interaction on not the most powerful hardware. Or a slightly more nerdy compressed version of the same games available via streaming. I think it might work. I've seen broadcasts with impressive quality, so the idea of \u200b\u200ba broadcast box is a viable option.

Plus, Phil Spencer said even more in his annual interview. He talked about games like Hellblade for people without consoles or even a TV. For those who own Smart TVs, most of them contain the decoding chip and USB connectors needed for a streaming console like this.

In general, this is an option, but it is unlikely that Phil Spencer spoke about it. Let's discuss the second option, which is very simple. The new Xbox family consists of a full next generation console, with the Xbox One X becoming the new base model. It replaces the Xbox One S, possibly with a new 7nm Scorpio chip and cheaper memory. A lot also speaks in favor of this theory. For starters, games purchased for Xbox One S will stay relevant longer. Rather than aiming for 4K resolution, the Xbox One X offers the same visual effects as next-gen consoles, only at a lower resolution and a lower frame rate. The Xbox One X has a graphics performance of 6 TFLOPS, and that power is now being used to run games on Xbox One S at higher resolutions. It can be used for other purposes as well. Secondly, I'll talk about Phil Spencer's big bomb again in my E3 interview. He talked about rebalancing the next generation CPU and GPU, and also discussed higher frame rates. Games at 60 FPS and 120 Hz. We know how the balance between CPU and GPU can change. We're talking about Radeon graphics on top of a Ryzen processor, which offers a massive performance boost over the Jaguar clusters in current generation consoles. Why not. 60 fps on next-gen consoles, 30 fps on new entry-level version, maybe at lower resolutions. I like this idea and I think it makes sense. However, this will limit the developers' ability to squeeze everything out of the new system. They can't get the most out of Ryzen if they have to support Jaguar in the old version. This is very important because of all the new components, Ryzen is the only one truly next-gen compared to the Xbox One X.

I also think this strategy relies on the perception of the Sony PlayStation 4 Pro as a base console. Only then will we see multiplatform support for this concept. Sony is still committed to the concept of a complete leap between generations. I was told about this during the launch of the PlayStation 4.

So, great idea, fit for Xbox One X owners, but the slim Scorpio has a limited lifecycle. A cheaper console option will come in handy though. Look at a complete next-generation console. It needs a large processor, a lot of RAM, and a solid state drive for high speed. All this is expensive.

But, what if Microsoft does something different. Let's talk about the future of the next generation console. We know that the most important aspect must be the central processing unit. Look at the chip area, how much space Ryzen takes up. The next 7nm processor will require about the same space as the Jaguar 16nm. Presumably the biggest next-gen console upgrade is relatively cheap. Why not release the console for a cheaper and more premium version with it? In both cases, Ryzen will apply. Both consoles will be able to run next generation games. The difference between the two will be the same as it is now between the Xbox One X and S. One will run at a higher resolution than the other. A more compact GPU will aim for around 30-40 fps, which is cheaper to do and doesn't require a lot of RAM. The storage requirements will also be reduced, resulting in the entire console being cheaper. Honestly, this is the only way I present the next generation console at a reasonable price. Storage and RAM are now very expensive, even for Microsoft's capabilities.

There is also another option. Here's the thing: when the chips get on the production line, not all of them come out perfect. They have defects. This does not always mean that the chip is unusable and should be discarded. Here we have a GTX 1070, and here is a GTX 1070 Ti. They have the same memory, the same processors, and the Ti is more powerful. Most of the GPU is active here. The GTX 1080 has faster memory, but the processor is the same. There is a fully active version of the chip here and such a card is more expensive. Any PlayStation 4, Pro, Xbox One, and Xbox One X commercially available is not fully active. Two computing units are disabled on base models, four on reinforced versions. However: The Xbox One X for Developers runs on a fully unlocked Scorpio processor. Power 6.6 TFLOPS versus 6 TFLOPS in retail version. Also 24 GB of storage versus 12 GB and 1 TB SSD instead of 1 TB HDD. This opens the door to different possibilities. The premium console is essentially the same as the standard console, with more powerful graphics, faster boot times, storage, and memory. Add in the second generation Elite controller and you can launch the product on the shelves.

This is clearly possible. The personal computer market is set up to offer premium models with small performance gains, why not do the same on consoles. Fundamentally, this does not solve the problem of the high cost of real leaps in next-generation console performance. With this plan, the premium model will be more expensive than the standard version cheaper. Thus, the idea is real, but it is unlikely to be realized. It's hard to imagine that buyers would want to pay that much.
Finally, and most obvious. My previous speculations are about the family of consoles that are currently being developed. However, they are based on a talk by Phil Spencer. In fact, he could not say this and only repeat the development philosophy of the Xbox One X. New generations of products are always being developed so that they can get into the hands of users as soon as possible. This resembles the smartphone development model. However, there are differences, since the increase in productivity requires the transition to new technical processes. 28 nm, 16 nm, 7 nm. It will take many years to wait. Spencer had no reason to talk about something that might not appear until around 2022.

Of course, there could be more ideas for the next consoles. For example, the portable Switch console has made its own adjustments. Perhaps, only possible. The underclocked 7nm SoC can run Xbox One X games on handheld consoles. We need to wait a few years for 5G cellular networks to appear, after which everything will be broadcast to smartphones and tablets. Streaming has a lot of potential, which is why Microsoft and EA are bringing games to IP platforms. There are at least two other big players who can make their own announcements. However, this is a topic for another article.

Since the inception of console games, there has been a war behind the scenes. PlayStation is desperate to win its battles against Xbox and Nintendo, with every generation of the console continuing the war. Each of these systems borrows some technology from rivals, but at the same time keeps its secret weapon in its bosom in each generation.

The upcoming PlayStation 5 consoles aren't out yet, but the PS4 Pro is. The Xbox 2 was announced at E3 2016 codenamed "Project Scorpio". Microsoft has taken a bold step forward, while Sony has only moved a little forward with the PS4 Pro. Why?

Will Sony rehabilitate itself with the PS5, or will the PS4 Pro remain the main console for a few more years? Will the cycle of new equipment releases repeat? We will answer these and many other questions!

We need to start by discussing the PS4 Pro and how it fits into this iterative atmosphere of the console. We've already discussed the PS4 Pro prior to its release. And this statement came after:

It's actually very simple: just like with PlayStation VR, we think it's important to show people new hardware, a new platform, when we have a full range of possibilities that can be realized.

This seems like a logical idea, but all this talk of console cycling gives us new questions: is the release of the PS4 Pro a sign that we'll never see the PS5, and instead use a number of redesigned consoles? House replied to this question:

To be clear, the high-performance PS4 codenamed Neo we're currently working on is an addition to the existing lineup, not a replacement. And maybe we got the opportunity to move a little away from static consoles, which may not change for six, seven, eight years, and try to update the PlayStation 4 for something better. This is especially true - and I must emphasize this - graphics and games that will be much better than the previous ones.

Previous generations of consoles ceased to interest PC gamers a year after their release, as the console's hardware lagged behind computers. The PS4 Pro is designed to combat this, not a PS4 replacement.

So there is still a chance for a PS5 to come out, almost guaranteed to happen. Sony wants people to get the most out of their device. Chances are, they developed something that will crush Microsoft's next generation consoles when the time comes. In fact, I believe Sony was deliberately waiting for Microsoft to reveal the cards so that the PS5 could respond with Xbox 2.

Let's keep that idea in mind and see what technology the PS5 can use once the PS4 and PS4 Pro are no longer relevant.

Sony focuses on gaming and experience

In our article “The Future of Entertainment,” we discussed the likely vision for the PlayStation 5. Using predictions about the technology of the future, we have shaped the PlayStation 5 with innovative new processors made at the molecular level using nanotechnology.

These processors will have an intelligence equal to that of the human mind! It may sound like science fiction, but in less than ten years it will become reality.

Looking at virtual storage technology, we realized that the PlayStation 5 would be able to store data as large as twenty-five terabytes, which is the equivalent of twenty-five thousand gigabytes! That storage would be enough to support some pretty massive games.

In addition, this storage eliminates the need for physical disks. With the PlayStation 4, we have already gradually begun to move into the new digital age. Games can be purchased on release day and downloaded to your hard drive.

When the PlayStation 5 comes out, it will also have a new optical drive technology known as Light Peak. It will give us lightning fast internet with the ability to download data at a speed of 100 gigabytes per second! Anything we download will play almost instantly.

With new technologies in virtual reality, the time of PlayStation 5 will be marked by immersive and intuitive VR. The PlayStation has always come first in terms of graphics, and the PlayStation 3 has the first fully compatible 3D system.

With this in mind, it's clear that Sony has a clear vision for a gaming system that will once again change the way we think about gaming. With PlayStation 5, you will fully immerse yourself in the world of 3D virtual reality games, which will also be portable. The thin line between the real world and the game world will become even more blurred.

As of PlayStation 2017, Sony is completely unrivaled in terms of exclusive titles. Let's take a look at some of the release titles ahead of the imminent PS5 release:

• Horizon: Zero Dawn
• Persona 5
• Farpoint (VR)
• Statik (VR)
• God of war
• Uncharted: Lost Legacy
• The last of us 2
• Days gone
• Nier Automata

While not all of them are exclusive to PS4 (some of them exist on PC as well), you won't see any on Xbox One or Project Scorpio (Xbox 2). How does Xbox make games, you ask? Let's find out.

Microsoft is getting ready to release Project Scorpio. But where are the games?

Microsoft's E3 2016 press conference was the first to go down in history. During this presentation, they confirmed the existence of the Xbox One Slim. This new system has several new features, but is ultimately the same as the Xbox One.

At the end of their demonstration, the head of the company took the floor. Xbox President Phil Spencer took the stage and talked about the new console. He promised that it will be "the most powerful console ever." Among the characteristics were mentioned an 8-core processor, 4K resolution, VR compatibility.

Phil Spencer said this new console blurs the lines between innovation and technology. He promised that it would contain the most powerful GPU that a console could fit, and he promised six teraflops of processing power.

It's a pretty impressive console, and it's no use complaining about the final specs. Project Scorpio specifications:

• CPU: eight x86 cores with a clock speed of 2.3 GHz;
• GPU: 40 configurable compute units clocked at 1172 MHz;
• RAM: 12 GB GDDR with 326 GB / s bandwidth;

Project Scorpio will indeed be more powerful than the PS4 Pro. But power is not the main thing. We also need games. In this regard, Microsoft is experiencing a clear deficit.

A recent Forbes article got me thinking about the state of Microsoft. Even though they've always won with their legendary games like Gears of War and Halo, they also have a lot of new and exciting things to do.

Namely Scalebound. This game from Platinum made Xbox users a bit envious. Who wouldn't want to play Devil May Cry with only dragons? But in early 2017, Microsoft removed the game from the Xbox roster to everyone's disappointment.

This was the first loss in the whole chain. Games like Phantom Dust and Fable Legends have met the same fate. The Xbox took these games away and didn't replace them with anything comparable. Sure, you have Halo Wars 2, Crackdown 3, and Sea of \u200b\u200bThieves that are made on a conveyor belt, but none of them are really worthwhile.

Even the recent exclusives (with the exception of Forza), which received warm reviews, do not help. Project Scorpio may be the most powerful console ever, but if it doesn't have games, gamers will choose Sony and expect a new console.

This problem has been around at Microsoft for years, so it's unlikely that they will suddenly change anything before the PS5 is released. If anything, I think Sony will continue to invest in new games and look to top quality, best-reviewed sequels. The momentum they have and the talent that keeps them stable will easily transfer to PS5.

Imagine Naughty Dog's first PS5 game. The mere thought of it makes me shiver. Microsoft has Rare (a pretty strong game admittedly), but it's often referred to as a Kinect game. With Sea of \u200b\u200bThieves, they'll have a chance to reclaim their success, but the Halo and Gears franchises didn't impress users.

343 Industries and The Coalition, which are working on Halo and Gears, respectively, need to step up their strength somehow if they want to match the quality of the studios that these franchises have started. In addition, Microsoft must stop canceling games and start investing in new franchises if they want to compete with Sony.

In the meantime, we'll just keep playing these delightful Sony exclusives.

The user always wins

It has already been said that healthy competition is very good for the consumer because it forces competing manufacturers and developers to innovate. This trend has been seen many times in the ongoing console wars. The PlayStation 5 will undoubtedly continue Sony's focus on creating rich and immersive games. Movies and music will still remain, but games will always come first.

However, the competition between these two industry titans is constantly pushing the limits of video games, and I think we can agree that everyone benefits from it.

What do you think about this? Who will win this battle on the eternal battlefield of game consoles - PS5 or XBox 2?