Microsoft reveals New Specs of their Upcoming Project Scorpio

Microsoft has launched more details surrounding their upcoming console, Project Scorpio.

E3 2016 saw the announcement of new, beefed-up consoles by both Microsoft and Sony. After what many have considered having been a generation of consoles lacking in technical innovation, the two companies are seemingly seeking to fix this.

Indeed, in Microsoft’s case, the company promised that their upcoming Project Scorpio will be the “most powerful console ever.”

Now, after the launch of the PS4 Pro in November 2016, the specifications for the upcoming system have been revealed. In many ways, they live up to Microsoft’s bold promise.

With 8 custom x86 cores at 2.3GHz, the upcoming console will be capable of running games at 4K. It will also run games at 60-frames per second.

To put this into perspective, the recent PS4 Pro manages 2.1GHz, and the previous Xbox One only 1.75GHz. Overall, the Project Scorpio should be some 31% faster with its x86cores than the Xbox One.

The Project Scorpio will also feature a hard drive of 1TB, as opposed to the Xbox One’s 500GB. It will also feature a memory bandwidth of 326GB per second, which dwarfs even the PS4 Pro’s 218GB per second.

The console will also offer benefits for those who have already invested in this current generation. Microsoft has confirmed backwards compatibility for both Xbox One and Xbox 360 games. Those that are a part of Microsoft’s current Xbox One Backwards-Compatible program will be playable on the console.

The system will also make these games run smoother, load faster, and look better. Microsoft has also said that developers will have the option to update their titles to take advantage of Project Scorpio’s 4K compatibility.

With all this, however, what can you expect the price to be? On this, Microsoft has been perhaps, suspiciously vague.

Microsoft commented on meeting the promise of a powerful games console and the need for consumer affordability. They said to Eurogamer that:

“We want to hit the price-points where consumers want to purchase this. It’s about balancing the two.”

Many specialists, however, are putting the console in a price range of $400 (approx. £320) to $500 (approx. £400). This would make the upcoming console both the most powerful game’s console and also the most expensive in recent memory. What this would mean will be interesting to see!

Consoles were originally introduced to be the cheaper alternative to the more powerful gaming PCs. With the Project Scorpio, however, Microsoft would seem to be trying to bring their Xbox in line with current gaming PC hardware.

However, it remains unknown whether customers will show interest for paying such a console.

On another front, Microsoft will need to do much to create a healthy selection of console exclusives for the Project Scorpio.

As part of the Project, Scorpio reveals, a new Forza entry was teased. But, if the PS4’s success with the likes of Horizon Zero Dawn shows anything, it is that new intellectual properties are as needed.

Nevertheless, with no release date set for the console, Microsoft have time to ensure these needs and concerns are met.