The Future of Xbox Rests on the Scorpio
By Jay Parks (GrimlockTheDino)
Xbox has had a rough go in Generation 8 of video game consoles. We have watched the dominating force of Microsoft crumble to its knees against Sony's PS4. Numbers don't lie, Sony has a commanding lead and keeps adding to it every day. Microsoft needs to come out swinging with Project Scorpio and I think their first step was a home run!
Project Scorpio is the latest video game console from Microsoft, set to release later this year. Project Scorpio is the new upgrade to the Xbox One, similar to the PS4 Pro upgrade that Sony released in 2016. Microsoft is claiming they will be releasing the most powerful console to date and last week we got our first details about Project Scorpio's specs.
As you can see from the above chart, Project Scorpio is receiving a significant upgrade from the Xbox One and even edges out the PS4 Pro in most categories. These numbers are impressive from a console system, but something else caught my attention. Microsoft made the statement, "Project Scorpio was designed to win developers back." This is a big step that needed to be addressed by Microsoft and if they indeed can "win developers back" to their console it could be the turning point for Xbox. Microsoft has come a long way since their E3 melt down in 2013, listening to their fan base and delivering improvements, OS overhauls and backwards compatibility to rebuild the Xbox One brand into what it should have been day one. This latest statement from Microsoft shows us that they are listening and do realize they need to win fans and developers back to the brand. Specs are shiny and exciting but if you don't have games to play, then it will sit and collect dust like my current Xbox One S is doing.
I have been tough on Microsoft this generation, not because I hate them; in fact it's quite the opposite. There was a time that nothing could touch my Xbox 360, I was a Microsoft fanboy and damn proud of it. Microsoft lost their way and I was forced to move, but I never stopped believing in them. I knew with the right people they could fix this mess. I believe we are starting to see the turn around. Phil Spencer and the Xbox team have been working hard and Project Scorpio seems like the final piece to the puzzle. I do not think this means Sony should be scared or that Xbox will catch the PS4 in units sold. But the battlefield is about to become much more even, and with the Nintendo Switch joining the fight, Microsoft needs to make this adjustment now and show the world why we should develop and play games on the Xbox.