The dawn of a new generation of gaming consoles is upon us. Slated for a 2020 holiday release; we’re now just months away from Microsoft’s newest box hitting store shelves. As the news continues to trickle out we take a closer look at what we know about Microsoft’s Xbox Series X.
The Name
As we mentioned in previous articles, Microsoft has an interesting history when it comes to naming their consoles, and the Series X is no exception. According to a recent interview with Business Insider, a Microsoft spokesperson mentioned that The Xbox Series X will be known simply as Xbox. Citing that the reason behind choosing the name Series X was in order to be able to use additional console names in the future.
The Box
Ditching the traditional look and feel of a console, Microsoft has opted to go for a monolithic PC tower look for the Series X. According to the recently leaked image, the Series X lacks the HDMI pass-through that allows current Xbox One X’s to connect their TV’s in order to watch right from the box instead of having to use your cable box. Also missing is the IR output which probably means no Series X Kinect.
The Series X comes with an HDMI input, three USB-SS ports, a digital audio output, a standard Ethernet port, and a small-sized power port.
The Power
The Series X is expected to be a powerhouse in terms of today’s console standards. Series X will make a significant jump in GPU power from the current monster that is the Xbox One X, bringing it to 8x Teraflops of GPU power. Games will also run in native 4K / 60FPS and up to 120FPS and with 8K capability. The best part, however, is that the Series X is fully backward compatible with ALL Xbox One accessories and games!
Series X is also set to launch with Project xCloud, Microsoft’s ‘Google Stadia’-like Netflix for Games type service which could potentially bring over 5,000 games providing the vast majority of their library from Xbox, Xbox 360, and Xbox One to the Series X.
The Price
There’s still a lot of speculation over what the cost of the Series X will be with many folks pinning it anywhere between the $399 to $599 range, or even higher, and it’s not out of the realm of possibility considering smartphones seem to increase in price year after year. But when it comes to consoles anything above $499 seems a bit steep. I guess we will find out soon! The pre-order window has yet to be announced, but we expect to hear more about pre-orders sometime around E3.
The Games
Backward compatibility aside, we know that Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II will debut on Series X alongside Halo: Infinite. Microsoft lost this gen’s console wars with the lack of exclusive games that came out for Xbox One. Microsoft, however, has been quietly buying up studios like Double Fine, Ninja Theory, Obsidian Entertainment, and many more. They even started up a new studio named The Initiative. This time around there’s no reason for the Series X to be without exclusives. Not only that but launching with a more robust Xbox Game Pass and a full-featured Project xCloud should mean plenty of games to keep you busy for years to come!
