The day is finally here; we are getting brand new details on Microsoft’s Xbox Scorpio. In an exclusive, Digital Foundry has posted the specifications for Microsoft’s latest console. Earlier this week, rumors circulated that Microsoft would be revealing the console and almost immediately expectations soared.
It’s important to curb any expectations prior to these announcements and to remember E3 is just around the corner. Microsoft was never planning any massive reveals with this announcement and seems more interested in catering to the tech crowd. From that standpoint, it was an extremely important and successful reveal. These specifications absolutely demolish the competition and this bodes extremely well for the future of the console.
Here are the specifications published by Digital Foundry at Eurogamer:
CPU: Eight custom x86 cores clocked at 2.3GHz
GPU: 40 customized compute units at 1172MHz
Memory: 12GB GDDR5
Memory Bandwidth: 326GB/s
Hard Drive: 1TB 2.5-inch
Optical Drive: 4K UHD Blu-ray Blu-ray
Direct comparisons to Xbox One and PlayStation 4 Pro can be found over at Digital Foundry.
Racing Into the Limelight
The Forza series has always given us beautifully rendered vehicles and gorgeous vistas; this gives us eye candy that looks absolutely breathtaking in 4K. Forza may seem like an extremely safe and expected move, but this is a hardware reveal and was never meant to be overshadowed by gameplay reveals. It should be noted that the ForzaTech demonstration is basically a port of the Xbox One version and as such does not push Project Scorpio to its limits.
While many may have been expecting a much larger game reveal, the subtext to this reveal says more about Microsoft than any Red Dead or Crackdown 3 gameplay video could. It’s clear that Microsoft has learned from past mistakes, looking to avoid the same issues caused by the Xbox One and even PlayStation 4 Pro reveals. Revealing the specifications just over two months before E3 tells us that Microsoft has a lot to show off at their conference. Many were worried that Microsoft would be focusing solely on the hardware and leaving games as an afterthought and, in my opinion, this proves the exact opposite.
It’s easy to forget that we already have several exclusive titles announced that will more than likely be on Xbox Scorpio. Crackdown 3, State of Decay 2, and Sea of Thieves are the exclusives we know about, and that’s without mentioning Red Dead or Shadow of War as third-party Scorpio titles. Expect Microsoft to have an extremely strong and focused E3 conference, announcing price points, exclusive games, and how much space we need to clear to fit this monster on our shelves.
There’s no denying that the Xbox Scorpio is an absolute powerhouse with smart console design, and the infamous six teraflops will give us the most powerful console on the market. But without games, it will all be for nothing. With this reveal Microsoft seems confident in their product, showing us that they won’t be solely focused on hardware at their E3 conference.
If you’d rather not read all the information, Digital Foundry discusses the exact details over on YouTube:
What do you hope to hear about Project Scorpio in the months leading up to E3? Let us know in the comments below!
