The XBox Thread - Page 204

Microsoft revealed its Xbox Series X console last month, but the company strangely didn’t show off the rear of the device. For a few hours today, we thought that had changed during AMD’s CES 2020 keynote, the chipmaker revealed what appeared to be the rear of the Xbox Series X briefly, showing off all of its supposed ports.

But while it initially looked like the Xbox Series X would include two USB-C ports and two HDMI ports, AMD has just admitted it actually used a fake render during its presentation. “The Xbox Series X imagery used during the AMD CES press conference was not sourced from Microsoft and does not accurately represent the design or features of the upcoming console,” explains an AMD spokesperson in a statement to The Verge. “They were taken from TurboSquid.com.”

TurboSquid provides 3D models, and it appears that someone at AMD used one of the many renders available of the Xbox Series X on the site. One in particular includes the same rear ports found in AMD’s presentation. It’s an embarrassing mistake for AMD to make, especially when Microsoft purposefully didn’t reveal the rear ports during its unveil video last month. Microsoft will be including a regular USB-A port at the front of the Xbox Series X, though.

The Xbox Series X will include a custom-designed CPU based on AMD’s Zen 2 and Radeon RDNA architecture. Microsoft is also using an NVMe SSD on Xbox Series X, which promises to boost load times. Xbox Series X will also support 8K gaming, frame rates of up to 120 fps in games, ray tracing, and variable refresh rate support. Microsoft is planning to ship the Xbox Series X “holiday 2020.”

AMD’s rear ports mistake comes just hours after Xbox chief Phil Spencer revealed the Xbox Series X APU on Twitter. Spencer changed his display picture to a chip of Project Scarlett, the codename for the Xbox Series X. The chip itself doesn’t reveal much more than we already know about the Series X, but it includes an 8K stamp which suggests Microsoft will target this resolution at some point with its next-gen console.

The future of gaming has never been more inspiring. Creativity in games is flourishing. New services empower you to discover more games—and bring you closer to the games and creators and streamers you love. The cloud creates a massive opportunity to stream console-quality games and play with the people you want, wherever you want. And for many of us, nothing is more inspiring than the dawn of a new console generation.

We know you expect the next generation of consoles to set new standards in graphical power and processing speed, converging together in games that look incredible and feel alive. This will be defined by worlds that are visually astounding and immediately immersive, with innovative leaps in CPU, GPU and storage technology to give you frictionless access to new stories and new creators constantly.

We’ve been using Xbox Series X in our internal Takehome program and are energized by the feedback we’ve been receiving. At Xbox we value being open and transparent with you, and I’m proud to be able to share details about some of the technologies we are enabling for the next generation, and look forward to boldly sharing more as we head towards E3.

A superior balance of power and speed

Compared to the previous generation, Xbox Series X represents a superior balance of power and speed in console design, advancing on all technological fronts to delivering amazing, dynamic, living worlds and minimize any aspects that can take you out of the experience. Our job at Team Xbox is to give teams the tools they need to achieve their ambitions and tap into the console’s power with efficiency, a few of which we’re detailing today. Raw power is just part of the story:

• Next Generation Custom Processor: Xbox Series X is our most powerful console ever powered by our custom designed processor leveraging AMD’s latest Zen 2 and RDNA 2 architectures. Delivering four times the processing power of an Xbox One and enabling developers to leverage 12 TFLOPS of GPU (Graphics Processing Unit) performance – twice that of an Xbox One X and more than eight times the original Xbox One. Xbox Series X delivers a true generational leap in processing and graphics power with cutting edge techniques resulting in higher framerates, larger, more sophisticated game worlds, and an immersive experience unlike anything seen in console gaming.
  
  
• Variable Rate Shading (VRS): Our patented form of VRS empowers developers to more efficiently utilize the full power of the Xbox Series X. Rather than spending GPU cycles uniformly to every single pixel on the screen, they can prioritize individual effects on specific game characters or important environmental objects. This technique results in more stable frame rates and higher resolution, with no impact on the final image quality.
  
  
• Hardware-accelerated DirectX Raytracing: You can expect more dynamic and realistic environments powered by hardware-accelerated DirectX Raytracing – a first for console gaming. This means true-to-life lighting, accurate reflections and realistic acoustics in real time as you explore the game world.

Immersion in an instant

• The next console generation will be defined by more playing and less waiting. And when play begins, we know many gamers demand ultra-low latency to be as immersed and precise as possible. To this end, the team analyzed every step between player and game, from controller to console to display, and asked how we could make it faster.
  
  
• SSD Storage: With our next-generation SSD, nearly every aspect of playing games is improved. Game worlds are larger, more dynamic and load in a flash and fast travel is just that – fast.
  
  
• Quick Resume: The new Quick Resume feature lets you continue multiple games from a suspended state almost instantly, returning you to where you were and what you were doing, without waiting through long loading screens.
  
  
• Dynamic Latency Input (DLI): We’re optimizing latency in the player-to-console pipeline starting with our Xbox Wireless Controller, which leverages our high bandwidth, proprietary wireless communication protocol when connected to the console. With Dynamic Latency Input (DLI), a new feature which synchronizes input immediately with what is displayed, controls are even more precise and responsive.
  
  
• HDMI 2.1 Innovation: We’ve partnered with the HDMI forum and TV manufacturers to enable the best gaming experience through features such as Auto Low Latency Mode (ALLM) and Variable Refresh Rate (VRR). ALLM allows Xbox One and Xbox Series X to automatically set the connected display to its lowest latency mode. VRR synchronizes the display’s refresh rate to the game’s frame rate, maintaining smooth visuals without tearing. Ensuring minimal lag and the most responsive gaming experience.[
  
  
• 120 fps Support: With support for up to 120 fps, Xbox Series X allows developers to exceed standard 60 fps output in favor of heightened realism or fast-paced action.

The next generation of game compatibility

• The benefits of the next console generation extend in every direction, bringing greater visual fidelity and improved loading speeds to your existing gaming legacy, in addition to new games. We’re continuing our commitment to compatibility with Xbox Series X and investing in technology that makes game ownership easier across generations.
  
  
• Four generations of gaming: Our commitment to compatibility means existing Xbox One games, including backward-compatible Xbox 360 and original Xbox games, look and play better than ever before. Your favorite games, including titles in Xbox Game Pass, benefit from steadier framerates, faster load times and improved resolution and visual fidelity – all with no developer work required. Your Xbox One gaming accessories also come forward with you.
  
  
• Smart Delivery: This technology empowers you to buy a game once and know that – whether you are playing it on Xbox One or Xbox Series X – you are getting the right version of that game on whatever Xbox you’re playing on. We’re making the commitment to use Smart Delivery on all our exclusive Xbox Game Studios titles, including Halo Infinite, ensuring you only have to purchase a title once in order to play the best available version for whichever Xbox console they choose to play on. This technology is available for all developers and publishers, and they can choose to use it for titles that will be release on Xbox One first and come to the Xbox Series X later.
  
  
• Xbox Game Pass: In addition to games from across four generations of consoles, our leading game subscription service, Xbox Game Pass, will continue to have our first party games, like Halo Infinite, included at their launch. We look forward to millions of you experiencing the Xbox Game Pass portfolio and immersing yourselves in a deep library of high-quality games, playing those you love now and also discovering your next great adventure.

A generation with players at the center

Xbox Series X is our fastest, most powerful console ever, designed for a console generation that has you at its center. This means a high-fidelity gaming experience enclosed in a quiet and bold design, with the ability to discover thousands of games across four generations, all with more playing and less waiting.

Whether it’s empowering amazing creators at our 15 Xbox Game Studios, fueling game discovery with Xbox Game Pass, or expanding what and where you can play with Project xCloud, Team Xbox stands for frictionless pathways between players and the best experiences our remarkable art form has to offer. Xbox Series X represents that same commitment for players who want immediate immersion in games that also look and feel better than ever.

We can’t wait to share more details about the new Xbox with you in the coming months.

New York (CNN Business)Microsoft revealed the technical specifications of its next generation video game console, the Xbox Series X, in a Monday blog post. Although pricing is still unknown, Microsoft said the Series X is coming this holiday season and has several new features that would give it a leg up over older consoles.

The Series X will be capable of running 4K graphics at 60 to 120 frames per second, meaning that game graphics should display clear details and games will appear smooth even during action-packed scenes.

The new console is also getting an upgraded graphics card and processor so it could run more graphic-intense games.
Notably, high-end PCs are capable of running graphic-intense games at as much as 200+ frames per second, so this upgrade for Xbox brings its technical specs closer to what's already available on the market for PC gamers. Consoles have lagged behind PCs when it comes to providing higher resolution in gaming, but are often more affordable and easier to set up than computers.

Like its predecessor, the Xbox One X, the new console has one terabyte of storage, but it has been upgraded for faster load times.

"Modern devices have changed our expectations on how quickly you can move between experiences or applications," Xbox's senior communications manager Will Tuttle wrote in a blog post. "Most of us want to be able to instantly jump into an experience or return right to where we left off."

With the upgrade, Xbox is claiming it will be possible to play a game to a certain point, turn off the console and perform a system update, and still get back to where you left off.

Games with immersive open worlds like "Red Dead Redemption 2," "Final Fantasy XV" and "Assassin's Creed Odyssey" could benefit from the faster load times, Xbox said. Tuttle wrote that Xbox has been working with TV manufacturers for the past two years to make sure displays are ready to support the Xbox Series X.

Microsoft is also touting the new console's ability to support older games.

"As gamers themselves, [the team] understood that we all have our favorite memories, franchises or titles that we want to continue to play even as technology and game design continues to advance," Xbox wrote.

Since the Xbox Series X has upgraded storage and overall specs compared to the Xbox One X, it's easier to support past games.

"They gave us the Xbox One X and it was like we got this big playground to play with," said Peggy Lo, principal program management lead of backward compatibility, in the blog post. "Then we got the Xbox Series X and it was like we had a whole amusement park to play in."

On July 29 2015 04:05 JoeCool wrote:
I am surprised how many people are trying to sell their xone. There are a lot of really good offers, most of them are just too far away from where I live but still.

On March 18 2020 09:36 {CC}StealthBlue wrote:
The console is the size of a small computer tower... also to showcase it's power let's play... Minecraft.

When we set out to design the Xbox Series X, we aspired to build our most powerful console ever powered by next generation innovation and delivering consistent, sustained performance never before seen in a console with no compromises. To achieve this goal, we knew we needed to analyze each component of the system, to push beyond the limitations in traditional console performance and design. It was critical in the design of the Xbox Series X to ensure we had a superior balance of power, speed and performance while ensuring no component would constrain the creative ambition of the world’s best creators, empowering them to deliver truly transformative next gen gaming experiences not possible in prior console generations.

At the heart of the Xbox Series X is our custom processor leveraging the latest RDNA 2 and Zen 2 architectures from our partners at AMD to deliver a best in class next generation processor delivering more than 12 TFLOPs of GPU power and more than 4 times the CPU processing power of the Xbox One X. Xbox Series X includes the highest memory bandwidth of any next generation console with 16GB of GDDR6 memory, including 10GB of GPU optimized memory at 560 GB/s to keep the processor fed with no bottlenecks. As we analyzed the storage subsystem, it became clear that we had reached the upper limits of traditional hard drive technology and to deliver on our design aspirations, we would need to radically rethink and revolutionize our approach with the Xbox Series X.

Empowering Next Generation Game Design and Creative Vision

Modern games require a significant amount of data to create the realistic worlds and universes that gamers experience. To enable the processor to work at its optimum performance, all of this data must be loaded from storage into memory. The explosion of massive, dynamic open-world environments and living, persistent worlds with increased density and variety has only increased the amount of data required. From environmental mesh data, high polygon character models, high resolution textures, animation data, audio and video source files and more all combine together to deliver the most immersive game play environment for the player.

Despite the ability for modern game engines and middleware to stream game assets into memory off of local storage, level designers are still often required to create narrow pathways, hallways, or elevators to work around the limitations of a traditional hard drive and I/O pipeline. These in-game elements are often used to mask the need to unload the prior zone’s assets from memory while loading in new assets for the next play space. As we discussed developers’ aspirations for their next generation titles and the limitations of current generation technology, this challenge would continue to increase exponentially and further constrain the ambition for truly transformative games. This feedback influenced the design and development of the Xbox Velocity Architecture.

Introducing the Xbox Velocity Architecture

The Xbox Velocity Architecture was designed as the ultimate solution for game asset streaming in the next generation. This radical reinvention of the traditional I/O subsystem directly influenced all aspects of the Xbox Series X design. If our custom designed processor is at the heart of the Xbox Series X, the Xbox Velocity Architecture is the soul. Through a deep integration of hardware and software innovation, the Xbox Velocity Architecture will power next-gen gaming experiences unlike anything you have seen before.

The Xbox Velocity Architecture comprises four major components: our custom NVME SSD, hardware accelerated decompression blocks, a brand new DirectStorage API layer and Sampler Feedback Streaming (SFS).