I would just like to say. Kudos to Microsoft for Play Anywhere. Will never buy a console (most likely) but can still play Xbox exclusives. Forza Horizon 3!
I'm playing Neverwinter on Xbox One lately. It's free and it's fun for me. It isn't great, groundbreaking, or earth shattering. But it is fun, and that's especially true for the free price. There are in game purchases you can make, but they aren't necessary.
This is typical behavior, he posts a wall of text none of it relevant to the argument, and acts like he's a well of knowledge.
Nice. I didn't know that Xbox related profits were higher than PlayStation related profits. Good for Microsoft.
I have mentioned it multiple times, and I guess you just haven't gotten it... so I will bold it and color it for you - The entire point, again... don't underestimate Microsoft, or what they will do to one-up Sony. Their cheaper upgrade, plays 4K Blu-ray, streams 4K, and will utilize HDR. They are okay with CLEARLY losing money to provide a 4K media experience. I have no doubt they have tricks up their sleeves for Scorpio, and Azure will likely be one of them. What are you offering in rebuttal? That's what I thought. Anytime you want to challenge me on my knowledge of Microsoft, be my guest Kemosabe. It isn't my problem if you A) can't comprehend what I am posting or B) don't take the time to read it. Feel free to refute anything I've presented. Otherwise pipe down and head back to the PS4 thread. I go into extreme detail, because like the post from Drexlerfan22 above - when I leave a short answer, some people just don't get it... so I expand on it to try and help them understand it. What an assholee, AMIRITE? --- Finally, to further drive home my point of not underestimating them using Azure for compute... using a plethora of examples just for you, seclusion: That quote (source) is from Microsoft Studios general manager Shannon Loftis. So it has nothing to do with my "well of knowledge," seclusion, and everything to do with fact. Still don't believe in the Azure compute? 2013 Titanfall Discussion with Jon Shiring (Lead Engineer of Titanfall): 2013 Polygon 2014 E3 Announcement: 2015 E3 Trailer: 2015 Gamescom Demo where they offload to more than eleven Azure compute nodes: 2015 Gamescom, Phil Spencer: As you can see, this Azure compute information has been talked since 2013, and they were extending Crackdown to 14 compute nodes in 2015. That is for a $60 game... could you imagine what they'd invest in Azure compute for a full console and VR experience? But yeah, I'm clueless.
Okay, one last trump card and then I'm done. Loftis on Scorpio: This tells me that the Scorpio plays games natively at 4K resolution at 60FPS. So, maybe they offload some compute to Azure to get 4K 60FPS VR? They already offload upwards of 20 compute nodes on Azure for Crackdown 3... it isn't outside the realm of possibility. Hell, after seeing what they were doing with Azure and Crackdown as far back as 2014, I'd say it is an almost certainty. And for those worrying about development lagging behind because of the slower systems:
It's kinda impressive that you're still not getting this. You said: "...and their 1.4 teraflop One S can also do 4k native media playback, while the far more powerful Playstation 4 Pro can't, and Sony freaking invented Blu-ray." This implies that PS4 Pro can't play 4K media, period. Pretty sure it can, it just can't play 4K discs. A 4K video file read from a hard drive is still 4K media, as is a 4K video file streamed over a media server (as opposed to upscaled from a lower res). Please point me at something that clearly states the PS4 can't play 4K video. I await your response with bated breath, oh wise one. I did some bolding and coloring in my post too, to help you out (why are you so emotional about this, anyway...?).
I am getting it. The PS4 doesn't have the optical drive, so how am I wrong? I don't get it. I was talking about the DRIVE... which isn't cheap. I even mentioned other 4K Blu-ray players being around $300... if you want to take it as I meant 4K streaming, go right ahead, but I didn't - get over it and feel free to actually care about something relevant. For the 10th time, Microsoft is willing to lose money, to beat Sony. So don't be shocked if 4K VR hits Scorpio.
If you didn't "mean" that, you need to speak more clearly, then. Because "4K native media" does not necessarily equal "disc." The PS4 can play 4K native "media" (video), as far as I'm aware. This was my point, in its entirety. Again, staggering you managed to not get that this whole time. Instead you went off on an emotional tirade explaining how the sky is blue, when all I ever said was the shirt is green. Chill. Out. And on the "beat Sony" point: I couldn't possibly care less. You & Salvy seem to be the only ones that do. I just told you multiple times how I'm not buying a PS4 Pro or a Scorpio...
You stated factually inaccurate information (PS4 can't play 4K media), and now refuse to admit your error. Instead you threw a tantrum and talked about unrelated things, pretending they prove... something or other. But yeah, you're chill, buddy.
Svpernaut, The last quote is exactly what I'm talking about, and I don't disagree with some of your points, but "We asked about what happens when Xbox One games are only capable of sub-60 frame performance and whether Scorpio would be pinned to the lower spec in that regard. "Typically, yes. A good example is Killer Instinct, which is cross-play on PC and Xbox One. We have locked the frame rate to 60 frames per second," Loftis says. "We could do better on super high end PCs, but that ruins the competitive nature of it."" ruins competitive nature??? That right there tells me devs having to focus on original Xbox one and Scorpio won't be able to just forget about the old one (just like they did with cross play of pc and console they mentioned here) .. it'd be nice if devs had the option is all. And you're right you can game on a mid range pc just fine, but even those are surpassing xbox one (original not Scorpio). So going back to draw distance... You'll see pop-in loading of stuff in the background (even characters), and I have a feeling to make it "competitive" with the old systems, they're not going to allow the newer systems to just render the whole area at once. On battlefield/gta if you have super high draw distance on a pc you won't notice the background loading in as you approach it, you can even turn up the amount of traffic rendered in gta. Obviously since pc is open the higher-end systems have the true advantage, true 120hz with 120fps, the Xbox is still going to be held back to 60hz and pretend tvs that state 120hz. I want consoles that push the boundaries, especially since consoles still drive development. Another example is load times, let's say they let consoles support ssd like the pc does, are the players going to have to wait for the original adopters to load in? And yes, I know you can add an SSD to xbox/ps4 but it's way limited at the moment vs loading on the pc. I think Xbox/MS has made some great moves with the ability to have one copy of first party games on systems, but if they want a true tiered experience they should just allow system requirements on their games and devs to decide how playable it'll be on the low-end. Force people to move forward
If I made an error, it was not being more clear with my point. Seriously, come on. It has a freaking HDMI 2.0 port for crying out loud. I think I have more than shown I know a fair amount about the subject. If you truly thought what I meant was that the PS4 Pro couldn't handle 4K content, that is on you. The freaking PS4 may be 4K capable with a future update for Pete's sake. Feel free to actually add relevant information to the discussion at any time. I don't think we are really that far off. I think they'll continue to to push what the Xbox app on Windows 10 can do. In the end, "Xbox" as we currently know it can and likely will just be an app and platform - like Steam. I think they'll still offer hardware in the terms of Xbox consoles as a benchmark for hardware makers to aspire to - just as they have done extremely successfully with the Surface. Microsoft doesn't necessarily want to be in the hardware game, they never really have. People tend to forget, but Microsoft created the Xbox for the specific reason of showing off the power of DirectX... it was the DirectX Box originally. They bought the rights to Halo, simply to showcase DirectX (good watches: one, two, three). To be fair, increased FPS does give a player an advantage - which is why at gaming competitions all players play on the exact same systems, and with PC gaming tournaments they generally cap performance settings as well with "tournament specific" configs. Also, Loftis is the head of Microsoft Studios - so she is likely talking about their published games explicitly. I don't think the limitations are going to be as crazy as you are thinking, and there very well may be no limitations for developers. Of course in a closed ecosystem you are going to have some constraints, but it also saves you a ton of headaches too (hackers, instability, etc.). And most people are okay with 60FPS and 4K, I know I am. This goes back to the debate about digital music, where people would swear by FLAC, when a 320kbps MP3 is more than good enough for most, at a fraction of the size. I am not sure what point you're trying to make with load times. In competitive gaming, sure you have to have everyone load in at the same time - but in online pickup play, you load when you load, no different than with PC games. For die-hard gamers who want the best performance, the PC will always be their platform. The Xbox is there as a "hands free" high-end gaming experience. I used to be a die-hard gamer, and always had the latest and greatest PC, but I have so little time to game now, I want to just be able to pick up and play at anytime - so the console works for me. If a console isn't for you, that is where the Play Anywhere comes in. You still get all of the great social and network aspects of Xbox Live, but on your PC.
Red, do you have a Racing Wheel? I want to get Forza Horizon 3, but I want to get a wheel that doesn't suck first (most seem to from the reviews), and one that also doesn't cost $500+ dollars.
Yes. No. You just admitted above you weren't clear, which was the issue ("media" does not always mean "physical media"). The cognitive dissonance of knowing you were unclear, while simultaneously believing it was someone else's fault you were misunderstood is... impressive.
