Sony and Microsoft can’t be too thrilled that Nintendo has jumped in to steal the console limelight with the Switch. The two gaming behemoths will have to focus on their two upcoming consoles: Xbox’s Project Scorpio and the PlayStation 5.
Project Scorpio, which is said to be future-proof and handle 4K Ultra HD TVs, is expected to be unveiled at E3 2017. Microsoft is holding its briefing on Sunday, June 11 at 5 PM ET. Then Microsoft’s next-generation console is expected to go on sale before the 2017 holiday season.
Here’s the Project Scorpio dev kit video.
https://twitter.com/JezCorden/status/859734507452116993
From Game Rant:
The impressive Project Scorpio dev kit comes with 24GB of DDR5 RAM, which is double the 12GB available in the retail version of Project Scorpio. Additionally, the dev kit comes with an extra 1TB SSD, and 44 CUs (compute units), as opposed to the 40 CUs on the final Project Scorpio.
Many are saying that Scorpio could be Microsoft’s version of PS4 Pro, an upgraded Xbox One rather than a totally new console.
All Xbox One games will work on Scorpio, and all Scorpio games will run on Xbox One. There are rumors that Forza Motorsport 7 will run on Scorpio as the first demo. There is also speculation that Halo 6 or Gears of War 5 could be one of the early Scorpio titles.
Sony has dominated the console industry recently, selling over 56 million PS4s since they debuted over three years ago. Nearly doubling Xbox One sales of over 29 million.
Sony just released the PS4 Slim and PS4 Pro last year to boost sales even more. But with Microsoft and Nintendo set to grab a larger market share with their new consoles, it may entice Sony into releasing the PS5 sooner than later.
The Wall Street Journal reported that Macquarie Capital Securities analyst Damian Thong is predicting that Sony is gearing for a major release sometime late next year, which is expected to be the brand new PS5. Thong correctly predicted the release of the PS4 Slim and PS4 Pro.
However, there are also rumors that Sony will simply release another upgrade based on the success of the PS4 Slim and PS4 Pro.
The thought process behind more upgraded consoles and not new units is that scrapping a console and designing, developing, and making a completely new model is expensive. The other belief is that Sony and Microsoft are realizing that the money is not in the console, but rather selling you games. In 2016, the PlayStation Store by itself made more cash than ALL of Nintendo. Selling games digitally is a lucrative business with little overhead.
From Uproxx:
Of course, both Sony and Microsoft would love nothing better than to drive their competitors before them and hear the lamentations of their first-party developers, but that’s unrealistic, and they both know it. So instead they’ve been quietly spending money to make it easier for game developers to put their games on their respective stores. It’s why Microsoft turned the Xbox One into a Windows 10 machine. It’s why Sony has been buying up the rights to every indie game it can find. And Nintendo has gotten into the act, as well. Even Nintendo has, quietly, changed its tune: The creators of indie hit Snake Pass recently revealed the game was ported to the Switch within a week, an absolutely unheard of speed, let alone for the notoriously developer-unfriendly Nintendo.
So don’t go trading in your Xbox One or PS4 just yet because the next consoles might be just an upgrade that you don’t need to spend your hard-earned money on.