The Xbox console, made by Microsoft, is well-known for the green used in its interface and marketing. Since late 2013, it has been green with envy of PlayStation’s success this console generation.
It’s no secret that the Xbox One is lagging behind the PS4. Since the console generation started two years ago, the X1 has only outsold the PS4 in the U.S. on rare occasions, like the release of Halo 5 in October 2015. Besides those rare circumstances, the outselling is about 2:1, according to Forbes.com.
The rocky launch of the Xbox One, which was significantly less powerful and $100 more expensive than its competitive counterpart, the PS4. The Xbox 360 was king last gen, but many of those gamers made the jump to PlayStation.
The positive for Microsoft and its Xbox One going forward? There’s really nowhere to go but up. In fact, the company is already taking huge steps in the right direction. Xbox head Phil Spencer is putting the focus right back where it belongs–on the games!
At this year’s Microsoft E3 conference in Los Angeles, Xbox continued to take steps back in the right direction after its 2013 misfire.
During that launch window, the company didn’t focus enough on the most important part of console gaming–ease of access and games. Instead, X1 pushed its interconnectivity as a multimedia device.
This year, Xbox spent its show talking about exclusive games, the hardware its games run on and fancy controllers to play them with. All of these things really matter to the hardcore console gamer: how pretty the games run, how smooth they run and how easy it is to play.
However, the Microsoft conference did not come free of gambles. Xbox has shifted from the phrase “Xbox One Exclusive” and replaced it with “Xbox One and Windows 10 Exclusive.” The parent company of Xbox is one of the pioneers of computing and now it is trying to break down walls in gaming. Buying a copy of an Xbox game gives you the ability to play the game on a Windows 10 PC (if your device can handle the game).
https://twitter.com/patrickklepek/status/742416868179247104
(This tweet from a video game media member sums up the approach Xbox seems to be taking.)
It’s a pretty big deal, but some might ask, “Well, what’s the purpose of buying a dedicated gaming console when I can do the same on my PC?” Many PC gamers already do say that and don’t bother with consoles in the first place. But now, as Microsoft tries to integrate the two, the value of the Xbox console does seem to take a hit in my opinion. On the other hand, the ability to play games, such as Gears of War 4 (2016) or Halo Wars 2 (2017), on a computer would be really cool.
To end the conference, Microsoft gave a glimpse at the future of gaming. It went into some elaboration about the long-rumored new console coming. The console is working under the name “Project Scorpio” and will launch on Holiday 2017. The video was a short montage of different developers talking about the extra power that the device will allow and how much of a joy it is to work with. Microsoft said it has something like four times the computing power of the current Xbox One and allows for much more simultaneous rendering. It does look like a monster of power, but until more information is released, I would advise Xbox and gaming fans alike to save their pennies because it cannot be cheap.
Xbox’s fans have a lot to be excited for in the short-term with games, such as Gears of War, State of Decay 2, ReCore and much more coming in the calendar year.
So get ready!
