Xbox Series X - $499/£449 or $35pm/£28.99 via All Access Nov 10

[Mavrick]

Xbox Project Scarlett - E3 2019 - Reveal Trailer - YouTube

This week, Microsoft is in Los Angeles where the company announced that they acquired five gaming studios and that they are working on next-gen consoles as well as a new game streaming service.

Phil Spencer said that the company’s cloud engineers are working to bring console-quality games streaming to any device. Microsoft already allows in-home game streaming with its Xbox console and the Xbox app on the PC and this streaming service is a natural extension of that experience. It’s also not hard to imagine that the streaming service will be linked to Xbox Game Pass too.

Spencer also confirmed that the company is working on new iterations of the Xbox console but this shouldn’t come as a big surprise. I have been told that the codename for the next series of devices is currently Scarlet but I don’t know a timeline for release at this time.

But, seeing as streaming is going to be a focus, the company’s mixed reality headsets are evolving to have more features and applications, and the company’s ability to have one game run on multiple platforms, it’s not too hard to imagine what the company may include in the next iteration of the console hardware.

Any way you look at it, Microsoft has put a considerable amount of effort into making the Xbox brand exciting and the future looks promising for those invested in the ecosystem.

https://www.thurrott.com/xbox/161161...eaming-service

[Mavrick]

Sooner the better to be honest. I know they need to wait for decent yields on the mass production chipsets and late 2019 through 2020 is the earliest they could really launch, but if they could release tomorrow I'd buy them in a heartbeat.

[SethRex]

I'm okay with that. 2020 for X-Box Scarlett and PS5 is perfect.

[DJR662]

So now I'm doubting if I should get an Xbox One X or just hold on to my regular Xbox One and wait for the next console to arrive. I'm only using the Xbox for Halo and Gears Of War games, practically nothing else. But I would like to be able to play the new (and the previous) Halo and Gears games in 4K/HDR. Also Rise Of The Tomb Raider is not available with HDR on the Pro, so that would be the only other title I would buy for the X. Unless Shadow Of The Tomb Raider will be in HDR on the X only as well.

[Mavrick]

Originally Posted by DJR662

So now I'm doubting if I should get an Xbox One X or just hold on to my regular Xbox One and wait for the next console to arrive. I'm only using the Xbox for Halo and Gears Of War games, practically nothing else. But I would like to be able to play the new (and the previous) Halo and Gears games in 4K/HDR. Also Rise Of The Tomb Raider is not available with HDR on the Pro, so that would be the only other title I would buy for the X. Unless Shadow Of The Tomb Raider will be in HDR on the X only as well.

Those new Halo and gears games sure as hell wont be out next year, 2020 at the earliest so the question is, is Tomb Raider worth spending over $400 on?

[Gamma_Winstead]

Originally Posted by Mavrick

Those new Halo and gears games sure as hell wont be out next year, 2020 at the earliest so the question is, is Tomb Raider worth spending over $400 on?

Gears 5 is 2019.

[dyne]

Interview with Spencer. Basically two key points. When you buy “Xbox” you’re buying into an ecosystem. Seems to be their term for your library being available on any device (which I love) and shooting down the rumors Guillemont started that after next gen we’ll all be streaming. MS is taking the brand seriously again and this is a good thing.

https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2...-xbox-consoles

[Blu Lemmy]

MS know they screwed the pooch this gen. They are too shrewd to do so again.

I expect the 'Scarlet' to write many wrongs. If they can nail some great exclusives it would stand them in good stead.

[Mavrick]

Originally Posted by dyne

Interview with Spencer. Basically two key points. When you buy “Xbox” you’re buying into an ecosystem. Seems to be their term for your library being available on any device (which I love) and shooting down the rumors Guillemont started that after next gen we’ll all be streaming. MS is taking the brand seriously again and this is a good thing.

https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2...-xbox-consoles

And that is pretty much what I have been saying all along about the next set of consoles. You buy one game and it will play on Ps4/Pro/PS5 etc same with Xbox you buy 1 game and play it on any system.

But every time I've said it I've been told how stupid that is because the old system will hold back the new games. I guess MS at least have the same idea. Saying for a long time that console sales aren't the focus going forward. It will be the service that is offered, Gold and Plus, and keeping as many members as they can whilst offering access to their library on multiple platforms.

https://zhugeex.com/2016/04/the-futu...-evolutionary/

[dyne]

Originally Posted by Mavrick

And that is pretty much what I have been saying all along about the next set of consoles. You buy one game and it will play on Ps4/Pro/PS5 etc same with Xbox you buy 1 game and play it on any system.

But every time I've said it I've been told how stupid that is because the old system will hold back the new games. I guess MS at least have the same idea. Saying for a long time that console sales aren't the focus going forward.

A lot of people have been saying that all along as it's pretty much common sense.

Originally Posted by Mavrick

It will be the service that is offered, Gold and Plus, and keeping as many members as they can whilst offering access to their library on multiple platforms.

https://zhugeex.com/2016/04/the-futu...-evolutionary/

And Gamepass. It's an excellent revenue source for old games that would normally bring money only to ebay sellers or Gamestop. I'm sure the companies that have games on there get a very small cut of the profit, which is better than no profit which also explains why 3rd parties are jumping on.

[Steelmaker]

Sony would never do this, but it would be funny if they opened their conference with the clip from Gone With The Wind where Clark Gable says "Frankly Scarlet, I don't give a damn." LOL.

[Steelmaker]

Originally Posted by Blu Lemmy

MS know they screwed the pooch this gen. They are too shrewd to do so again.

I expect the 'Scarlet' to write many wrongs. If they can nail some great exclusives it would stand them in good stead.

I thought that's what the X1X was for?

[dyne]

Originally Posted by Steelmaker

I thought that's what the X1X was for?

Not enough time for that. The only wrong they need fixed is more exclusives and making MGS twice as big will do that, next gen. I always thought of the X as a love letter to the hardcore Xbox fans and those that need the best tech (like the Pro was on the SONY side). Nobody in their right mind should of expected the X to magically make exclusives appear as that was never it's intent.

[Dirk504]

I can definitely see 2020 for the new consoles, especially since most of the games they announced are coming in 2019. So that means after this last run of games, their attention will be on the PS5 and Scarlett.

But that makes me wonder what the point of the X1X was??? I already bought that, so I think I'll only invest in a PS5 next gen.

[dyne]

Good write up by Oli.

https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2...-honesty-at-e3

2013 seems like a long time ago. This was a presentation by a player untroubled by hubris, humbled by past mistakes, but determined to stay in the game and willing to show enough of its hand to convince us of its serious intent. Job done.

Halo Infinite was a cool announcement but a transparently vague and distant prospect; Gears 5 seemed a bit too self-involved to turn this flagging series around; Crackdown 3 seems diminished with every showing; Forza Horizon 4 was hardly a surprise, though it did look astonishingly good. What really surprised was that Microsoft had enough self-knowledge to know it wasn't ready to stick the landing with any of these yet, and acquired the spectacular Cyperpunk 2077 trailer for the proverbial one last thing, surely knowing that it would face a few barbs for closing on a multiplatform game in the process. That's some impressive corporate realism.

There's always a tussle between Xbox and PlayStation for who can soak up the most reflected glory from the big third-party names, but this year Xbox swerved the juggernauts like Call of Duty and Assassin's Creed (with the arguable exception of PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds) and instead played a smarter, cooler game. By showcasing fan-favourites like Dying Light 2 and the dreadfully titled Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice (from traditional PlayStation ally From Software), as well as CD Projekt's opus, Microsoft was consciously addressing the most passionate of gamers rather than the biggest of demographics. A move born of necessity, perhaps, but still a meaningful choice and much-needed evidence of a canny eye for what players really care about.

I think it's partly because Microsoft no longer thinks of Xbox as one machine, and hasn't for a while: it's a family of products and services, where your game licences work across multiple console variants and PC (and, in the future, streaming), and which is also tied together by alternative offerings like Xbox Game Pass. In this fluid context, a new, more powerful console isn't such a big existential deal.

The games industry would be much poorer without everything Xbox has done for it in the last 15-plus years, and now we can feel confident it's in it for the long haul.

[R3P0]

Originally Posted by Blu Lemmy

MS know they screwed the pooch this gen. They are too shrewd to do so again.

I expect the 'Scarlet' to write many wrongs. If they can nail some great exclusives it would stand them in good stead.

MS screwed themselves on 1 thing and that was the selling or trading of used games. Gamers have not forgiven them for the crap they tried to pull by marrying the game to the console system.

I am just now considering an Xbox One X and even at this point it has to be a hellva sale for me to pull the trigger

[Steelmaker]

Originally Posted by R3P0

MS screwed themselves on 1 thing and that was the selling or trading of used games. Gamers have not forgiven them for the crap they tried to pull by marrying the game to the console system.

I am just now considering an Xbox One X and even at this point it has to be a hellva sale for me to pull the trigger

While that screwed them in the beginning, it has nothing to do with X1 in 2018. It's the lack of exclusives that's hurting them now. For as great as MS' conference was, there's still nothing to play exclusives wise in 2018 except your yearly dose of Forza.

[R3P0]

Originally Posted by Steelmaker

While that screwed them in the beginning, it has nothing to do with X1 in 2018. It's the lack of exclusives that's hurting them now. For as great as MS' conference was, there's still nothing to play exclusives wise in 2018 except your yearly dose of Forza.

I will also give you that they never should have shuttered all their studios, which is hilarious as they are trying to bring them back now for exclusives.

[Steelmaker]

I think the main thing to take away from the MS conference is that it appears they are moving in the right direction for the future. The X1 generation is basically a "punt" and they know that. They are building towards next generation. They lost me this generation but if they keep making good choices and start creating more and more exclusives that I can't play on Sony's or Nintendo's consoles, yeah I'll bite and get their next gen machine. They have a long ways to go though.

One thing's for certain, to have a fighting chance they HAVE to take back North America. If they don't, next gen is going to look a lot like current gen in terms of market share. Globally it's a much tougher battle for them and in Japan it's practically an exercise in futility. But Xbox has to be the unquestioned platform of choice in North America for them to remain relevant.

[Gamma_Winstead]

Originally Posted by Steelmaker

I think the main thing to take away from the MS conference is that it appears they are moving in the right direction for the future. The X1 generation is basically a "punt" and they know that. They are building towards next generation. They lost me this generation but if they keep making good choices and start creating more and more exclusives that I can't play on Sony's or Nintendo's consoles, yeah I'll bite and get their next gen machine. They have a long ways to go though.

One thing's for certain, to have a fighting chance they HAVE to take back North America. If they don't, next gen is going to look a lot like current gen in terms of market share. Globally it's a much tougher battle for them and in Japan it's practically an exercise in futility. But Xbox has to be the unquestioned platform of choice in North America for them to remain relevant.

That's never going to happen though. Even the 360/PS3 gen the Xbox wasn't the unquestioned platform of choice. Sony has too hard of a grip on the global community for Xbox to ever really overtake it, and it's all down to Sony's focus on games. Microsoft has continually dropped the ball in that regard. They'll need dozens of high tier exclusives to ever come close to matching Sony's reputation. They can't just buy their way to the top.