Microsoft on Project Scorpio, PS4 Pro marketing and Xbox tweets

Albert Penello leads planning for Xbox, he answered some questions from Eurogamer in this interview.

[Overload]

This guy is hilarious.
http://www.extremetech.com/...

I'm surprised he has the nerve to open his mouth again.

Also, the PR isn't working, the Xbox One S is getting outsold by every PS4 SKU on Amazon.
https://www.amazon.com/best...

[Gazondaily]

What's so hilarious? You don't think an extra 2 t flops is going to make a big difference?

Did he say the PS4 was going to be outsold by the X1S?

His interview seemed pretty Frank tbh. Do you think Scorpio cannot do native 4k is that your point?

[Overload]

Sure, while using the assets of the Xbox One games, the system it is tied to.

My point is Albert will say anything.

[Sparta07]

@ septic, why so angry?
From the beginning of this gen you been claiming that power don't matter?
Wonder why you changed your mind?
" you don't think an extra 2 t flops is going to make a big difference? "
Is actually less then " 2 t flops "
There is a bigger jump in power difference with the xboxs and PRO then there is with with Scorpio and PRO.
1.8 t flops is not really going to " kill it ". But every little extra power helps.

[Gazondaily]

@Sparta

"From the beginning of this gen you been claiming that power don't matter? "

Lies. I have been stating the opposite from day one

Resolution DOES matter. Here's my article plain as dayou almost 3 years ago:

http://n4g.com/news/1469841...

"Wonder why you changed your mind? "

I wonder why you're lying through your teeth

[christocolus]

@Overload

“He will say anything”?

Lmao. Just like you will say anything to downplay xbox. right? I've seen comments of yours on N4g and even other gaming sites, all you do is crap on MS and Xbox anytime you get the chance... MS says their titles at launch will be native 4k and they said over and over that they decided to wait till 2017 to deliver a true 4k console but somehow you are trying to spin that as a lie or something?

@sparta

“Why are you so angry”?

How are you reading anger from his comment? Lol. He is only stating facts and his comment is on point

Anyways. I wonder when MS will do the reveal. I hope they'll have demos and stuff planned that show off the true power of the Scorpio. A guy on GAF said Playground Games was already working on a new franchise and if true I can't wait to see what they and other devs can do with a 6TF machine. Just look what they've been able to achieve on Xbox One with just 1.3TF. Let's see how the reveal goes.

[candystop]

Why are you guys repeating false information about Xbox fans who apparently didn't care about graphics bs? Sure some said its not everything but you will find that type of gamers on both sides of the fence. Xbox gamers have always cared about graphics, online quality game play (not just singleplayer), community and tight controls. Just because Sony tried to step it's game up doesn't mean we have forgotten our roots. When PS2 was around you guys didn't care about visuals or online play but now years later you want to have everything everything Xbox just with The name Sony on the box. Resolution and many more aspects are what we all like at this point but calling Xbox gamers out is seriously bizarre and shows you n have no idea what you're talking about. Scorpio will be a nice touch to put balance back in order from a tech standpoint. Don't think for 1 second that we some how never cared about visuals just because you said we didn't or never felt the need to argue .

[donthate]

What is hilarious is that the dance has changed, and now some people are saying graphics don't matter, and others are now saying it does.

All I can say is, I been gaming on Xbox for long time, and I also been gaming on Playstation for even longer, albeit less. I have stuck to Xbox for a good reason. It is the best gaming platform period.

Xbox has:

* fastest online gaming network on consoles (as rated by a IHS, which is a third party)
* EA Access
* mod support
* open to cross play with other consoles
* Xbox Play Anywhere, get your games on PC and console for the same price
* backwards compatibility
* monthly updates with great features
* XBL Cloud reliability
* great exclusives like Gears 4!!! Best racing game like Forza Horizon 3!

and the list goes on.... so having the most powerful console is icing on the cake. The best console gaming experience is on the Xbox platform.

[Aenea]

It's 1.8, not 2.

And for 4k output it's not going to make a huge difference, as much as the difference between X1 and PS4 except other way around.
For 1080p content the difference will be a lot clearer tho!

And honestly, many a 3rd party game currently can't hit 1080p, they do 900p on the X1, those games trying to hit 4k means they would need to push 5.76 times the number of pixels which isn't going to be possible (5.76 x 1.3Tf = 7.488Tf) on the Scorpio unless they dial down the graphical details.

So I believe that the Scorpio will be able to do native 4k, just like the Pro is able to, but the Scorpio can do this with more ease with a bit more games but certainly not all. It will also be able to use a higher target resolution and then upscale than the Pro is able to do.

And a fun calculation:
If you want to compare the TF difference between the Pro and the Scorpio when outputting 4k and turn it into a number you can compare to our current 1080p consoles then you have to divide the 1.8TF by 4 which results in 0.45 which is about the same difference the PS4 and X1 now have on 1080p content.
NOTE: this is to make people see how big of a difference that 1.8TF will make with 4k content so one can compare it to the difference we are seeing now with 1080p content...

-----
@donthate

Yes, that could very well be the case, but what most fans of both sides are currently arguing about is those darn Tflops and it's not going to be all about the Tflops! (it's about the Pentiums! ehmmmmm :))

And still we will have to see how it goes, I'm really interested is seeing how 3rd party developers are going to handle both the Pro and the Scorpio, if we even see added benefits for either and if we do get benefits, I am curious if they are going to both be rather different.
Honestly I think the biggest differences we will see is with MS's their first party games, since they won't hold back and optimise it until it looks stunning.

-----
@AngelicIceDiamond

Yeah, agree, nice recap of many a Sony fan, here's one for Xbox fans too:
2013: Resolution is not important, can't even see the difference
2016/2017: Resolution and those Tflops man, they are all important!

It goes both ways and it's silly beyond believe. Honestly I never saw much of a difference, yeah okay, when you freeze frame the videos and start over analysing everything, but when they are running, nah uh...

[donthate]

Aenea:

I think the biggest benefit for graphics on Scorpio isn't going to be the resolution, but the texture resolution. Xbox Scorpio is expected to have 12GB of RAM, so this allows for 4K textures and higher resolution will show this detail off well.

The PS4 Pro has the exact same RAM configuration as PS4, i.e. 8GB of GDDR5, with a very minor bump in bandwidth (Scorpio bumped this 50%!), which means the textures for PS4 Pro are likely the same one you get on the vanilla PS4/XB1 versions whereas Scorpio will get the PC 4K textures.

I believe this will make the bigger difference visually. Unlike before between XB1 and PS4, this isn't just a performance difference, but a hardware resource difference and no checkerboard upscaling is going to fix that.

[AngelicIceDiamond]

Res sure did matter hard 3 years ago. We don't need a link to provide "proof" any logical person knows just being here on this site is proof enough of this sites extreme hypocrisy but of course fanboys are time sweepers and try to erase what they did and said and start up a new arguments and agendas. And when they get proven wrong again in the future they'll, thats right, try to erase time and history and make up more BS. Fanboys will forever take L's and embarrass themselves time and time again because they only think for the moment and never in the long term.

2013: Resolution is everything
2016: Resolution is only part of it and not everything.

Continue to say asinine things and we'll just embarrass you and I'll laugh at you after. I have no tolerance or pity for fanboys you all do it to yourselves anyway.

[candystop]

Well said donthate!

[ShowanW]

@Sparta07's comment instantly let's me know, that he/she doesn't understand how this works

stop looking at numbers alone.

it's all "lanes and highways" ... what are lanes/highways made of? how wide are the lanes, and how much data can you pump into them before congestion kicks in...

sony and microsoft spit out any crazy number, and i see that us humans still go nuts over them...

[NewMonday]

@Septic
just give up, you are exposed, everyone knows your tricks now, you say one thing and the opposite another day

@donthate

if Scorpio uses different textures then say goodbye compatibility, XBone will not play same games as Scorpio and it's a full new generation console launch, also say goodbye to 3rd party support.

[4Sh0w]

Overload are you actually mad a Microsoft exec is saying positive things about Scorpio?...not like he bashed PS4Pro.

Sparta, what's so angry about Septics comment?...it seems more folks are showing anger towards any news of Scorpio's higher specs, thus the downplaying continues.

[Gazondaily]

@Newmonday
"just give up, you are exposed, everyone knows your tricks now, you say one thing and the opposite another day "

LOL and how is that? By proving someone dead wrong by linking to an article in 2014 stating my case?

You incessant fanboys try so hard and can never back up what you say. And you're SO unsettled and insecure over this Scorpio power difference that the last time you were doing damage limitation for Sony was when Titanfall was out. Oh how you've piped down now over that series.

Keep trying and failing and I'll carry on schooling you. You lot make it too easy. 😂

[freshslicepizza]

The one thing I hate is the claim best games. That goes for everyone. Nobody has the best games. Just say we have a great library of games or we are happy with the games we have.

Everything else in the interview was actually quite low key.

[Unspoken]

@donthate, please stop teasing me with the potential that Scoripio will bring with its awesome configuration. 8GB+ GDDR5 (maybe X?) of ram solely for games. The games and the functionality of the this new Xbox will have due to the increased hardware specs is going to make for such a smooth system. I'm guessing the ram will also help the multi tasking OS and hyper visor setup as well as the influx of apps we will see. This will be the ultimate home theater entertainment system to date. HTPCs will still hold the title for specialized decoding but it obviously takes some time and know how to setup.

@NewMonday, please have your head examined or at least try a little harder to troll. What you say has no basis in reality. To address your asinine comment, changing textures removes compatibility? The vast array of PC hardware says hello! The ability to change texture quality is in nearly every game.

[Artemidorus]

6TFLOP will not provide true 4K gaming at 60fps

Name one PC 2016 AAA game that provides true 4K 60fps on a 6TFLOP card.

[Death]

Native resolution hasn't been important. It's PlayStation fans that have used this bs excuse for three years even though Xbox has always put out a 1080 signal. Now that PS4 Pro relies heavily on an upscaler they are beginning to see the light.

[Grown Folks Talk]

Amazon is the only place that sells systems?

[Overload]

It represents 10% of the NA market and that is more than enough of a sample by any measure.

[JasonKCK]

10% boy that's a mighty big number and sure represents the whole.

[Red_Renegade]

most surveys don't have sample sizes as big as 10%, but people say they're good.

[ha8eraid]

I see gift cards being the top sellers by ur link.

@Overload you said PS4 skus u didn't say products just saying.

[Overload]

Those are PSN cards.

[ShottyatLaw]

So it looks like Pokémon Moon is more popular than Sun. That's interesting. Thanks for the helpful and relevant link!

[threefootwang]

If this was being said under anyone but Phil Spencer running Xbox, I would've agreed with you. Since Phil has come on, things have honestly changed. I'm willing to give them the benefit of the doubt.

[Mystogan]

He was right about Xbox one being more powerful in practice than on paper. The PS4 is supposedly 40% more powerful but that's not hard numbers. In every Multiplatform comparison people are like, where is that 40% more power? except for the sony fanboys of course, but they can't even tell the difference if the comparisons were not labeled.

Which makes me wonder, Why has nobody done this yet? Make several pairs of screenshots with no label and Make people vote on which looks better and then later reveal which was which.

It doesn't mean shit when that 40% is just 0.5 Tflops. which basically amounts to 2 extra pixels on that flower or grass. Now when the Scorpio arrives that is a 2TFlops difference. That's a generation more powerful. You're definitely going to see a difference.

edit: wait did he say memory bandwidth is 384Gb/s? That's even higher than the GTX 1080! I thought they said 320 before, something must have changed. Or this is a weird typo.
It's the same as the rumored GTX 1080Ti. And the GTX 1080Ti also has 12GB of GDDR5.

@below
I'm pretty sure 384 is more than 320, what exactly is there not to understand?

@KuraPika
And yet people are barely able to make out the difference if it weren't for the labels.
If it was 720p vs 1080p you would see a difference. But 900p Upscaled to 1080p vs Native 1080p is not noticeable at all. And it isn't as if Xbox One was missing whole textures or something. That was the PS3's problem vs Xbox 360. Not only was it running at lower framerates. It was missing textures entirely in a lot of multiplatform games.

@Aenea
It depends on what resolution the PS4 Pro scales up from. If it's "close to 4K" then yeah you won't see much difference pixelwise. But the advantage that the Xbox Scorpio has is that it can use extra power for more special effects, it also has 4GB more RAM. 12GB. And much faster bandwidth. The difference will come from all that extra power.

[SCW1982]

Your talking about things you don't understand little man.

[Aloy-Boyfriend]

on practice Xbox One was still less powerful than PS4, so the comparisons were legit. The 40% more power allowed PS4 to do 1080 while xbox was dynamic 720p, 900p and 1080p

In other instances it provided slightly more stable framerate and 900p over 720p

[343_Guilty_Spark]

@ XiKurapikaKurta

There are very few 720p games on Xbox One. Most games are 1080p (probably 85 to 90%) then rest are 900p upscaled to 1080p which looks a tad softer but it's not a huge deal. It's not like the PS4 versions of games have double the frame rate.

[Aenea]

0.5Tflops is two extra pixels on that flower or grass, ok, then 1.8Tf will be 8 extra pixels in 4k (that turn out to be the same damn size as 2 pixels in 1080p!) on that flower or grass. People seem to forget that in 4k the difference will be about the same as it is now in 1080p....

So what we will see in the graphical differences between Pro and Scorpio with 4k content will be about the same difference we have now between PS4 and X1 with 1080p content and according to you, people can't seem to notice that all too well....

[rainslacker]

" where is that 40% more power?"

Higher resolutions. Longer draw distances. Better textures and lighting?

I dunno, all those multi-plat comparisons seem to give the upper hand to the PS4. Unless you're expecting the game design to drastically change with that extra 40%....in which case, you're going to be doubly disappointed with the Scorpio when it comes out, as all those aforementioned things are probably the only thing which will show any marked improvement.

[christocolus]

Let's wait and see what happens at the reveal then we will finally know if MS is right or wrong.

[OpieWinston]

The articles won't stop. Neither will people down playing each others plastic boxes.

Everyones got to justify their purchase on the internet by slamming other peoples purchases.

[XStation4pio_Pro]

STOP USING AMAZON AS A METRIC!

[danny818]

youre stupid PS PR had no mercy on Xbone why should they have any Mercy on PS

[GUTZnPAPERCUTZ]

Did nobody see he confirmed the RAM Bandwidth, 12gb of 384gb/sec... O_O Holy Shit!

[Automatic79]

@Overload

This is a decent interview and to be honest I enjoyed it more than the PSPro reveal. So stop your nonsense.

[Jayszen]

Since this guy likes to compare Xbox to PS4 on anything and everything, how about actual games, or the lack of on Xbox? With just two major releases this year so far, Recore and Quantum Break, when will Microsoft start to have more exclusives than Playstation? But Microsoft can't as all Xbox games are now also available on PC thereby making the Xbox redundant, period. What is the point of out-muscling PS Pro when your console itself is no longer necessary? At least with the PS4 and Ps Pro, I can play games that are not available on PC making either of these consoles necessary if one wants to play games like Uncharted 4, God of War, The Last Guardian, Spiderman, etc., etc...

Further, we have no knowledge of what Sony has on the planning board and for all we know there may well be an even more powerful console on the horizon. What is a fact is that for the next year or so, Microsoft has the least powerful console on the market while the PS Pro is the most powerful. A year is a long time and who knows how things will stand in the market a year from now.

[threefootwang]

Yeah because Sony has been releasing exclusives by the bucket load right? If releasing means announcing a game and then two years later still delaying them.

[Doabarrelroll]

I'm sorry are you playing scalebound and crackdown 3, games announced back in 2014? what about fable legends, cuphead, phantom dust? Finally got QB after 2013 E3 and it was a letdown. What about sea of thieves and halo wars 2 announced last year delayed to next year well are you?.......

Exactly, your not so shut your mouth. When you have more games than your competitors by a mile, you see more delays.

@Bg
Yeah cause I'm sure being on a list of a banned troll who repeatedly makes new accounts like a 10yr old just to make lists to call people who call out all the Xbox fanboys on this site ponies means SOOO much to me, I can't live anymore/s BTW your insult to me makes YOU look more like a 8yr old than me. I'm actually 22 so no try harder

[threefootwang]

@ doadumbbarrelroll

Typical ignorance of a PS fanboy clown. Pretty funny that you throw the Xbox response at me when the only console I've owned this gen so far has been a Ps4 lol. My Playstation sat for almost two years collecting dust because of lack of games, but please, go on lol. Isn't it sad that games Sony announced from a few years ago have been intentionally delayed only to show how amazing they are on the PS4 Pro? An absolute joke of an upgrade by the way. Thanks for your response though, it just reaffirms why I can't stand fanboys.

[Doabarrelroll]

Can't stand fanboys, I guess you can't stand yourself then. I'd be rich as hell right now if I has a dollar for every Xbox guys who tells me "I only a PS4 this gen or I own both consoles so I know what I'm talking about" it's always the same song with you guys. You must not be a gamer than cause if your so called "PS4" gathered dust for two years that means you didn't buy anything for it, not even multiplates. So congrats you confirmed your full of crap.

[threefootwang]

@ doanevendumberbarrelroll

And then right on que he attacks again with nothing but dumb comments. Boy you must sure feel special knowing thats the best you got. For a clown who loves to suck Sony's Wang, you sure spend alot of time on MS articles. Why aren't you playing all the amazing exclusives Sony has to offer instead?

[OB1Biker]

Yea Ive noticed many articles are all about specs and movie players

[AngelicIceDiamond]

" But Microsoft can't as all Xbox games are now also available on PC thereby making the Xbox redundant, period."

Maybe to you and allot of others inside the walls of this spec of a site. But X1 seems to be selling ok despite its games on PC you understand in the real world not in the echo chambers of N4G the console is still selling pretty well.

"What is the point of out-muscling PS Pro when your console itself is no longer necessary?"

Again the rest of the world doesn't care if its on PC. True story I talked to a handful of ppl and I said to them that Gears will be on PC. You know what they told me? "Im a Xbox gamer I don't care" "That's cool" "That's nice" "All my friends are on Xbox" "I don't play on PC" do those ppl equal the world? No they but those ppl share the mindset of where MS will be moving its games the most. News flash if you game on PC PRIMARILY then you'll be picking up MS games on PC. Games on PC is not mean't to move console players over that's not how it works.

What is a fact is that for the next year or so, Microsoft has the least powerful console on the market while the PS Pro is the most powerful."

I would most certainly hope the PS4P is vastly stronger then the X1 S Sony would be in deep, deep trouble if it wasn't.

[Aenea]

Tell them that on the PC with Windows 10 they are still Xbox games since it's all the same Xbox eco system! Nothing is different at all after all! Same MS stuff!

Or isn't it? Hmmmmmm....

------
"I would most certainly hope the PS4P is vastly stronger then the X1 S Sony would be in deep, deep trouble if it wasn't."

Ehhh, it is, seen the specs?

[rainslacker]

He compared games. He said, "Greatest games...Check"

Personally, I think it's sad MS takes every oppurtunity to promote Xbox based on it's merits compared to the PS4. If it was working better, then that'd be one thing, but if you're trying to position yourself as a market leader, you don't keep comparing yourself to the actual market leader. I mean, Apple doesn't routinely go around comparing itself to Android, rather they promote their own features without often mentioning Google. When they did do direct comparisons to PC back with Mac computers, they still didn't manage to win anything due to it, rather they invented their own rabid fan base which tends to think it's superior to anything else....which is kind of how it's working out for MS right now.

[Blubby]

Forza Horizon 3
Dead Rising 4
Gears of War 4
Recore
Quantum Break

Street Fighter 5
Uncharted 4
Ratchet and clank
The last guardian

Dont know why you think xboxone has no games

[_LarZen_]

The backpedaling when Scorpio comes and it wont deliver native 4K is going to be of epic proportions. Because I see it slim to none that Scorpio will actually ship with 6 TFLOPS matching $400-450 GPU's like the Nvidia GTX1070.

Keywords for Scorpio is going to be dynamic resolution and supersampling. And clever magic done with upscaling like in the PS4Pro.

Everything from now and to the release of the Scorpio is word play and PR mombojombo.

And until Scorpio comes out the PS4Pro will have gaming capabilities no other console have. And no amount of Tweets can change that.

[dms5223]

Just wanted to comment on the price you quoted. Microsoft doesn't pay what you would pay when you order the GPU off of newegg. Big corporations sign contracts that are negotiated to secure special pricing when considering their bulk order.

Just wanted to inform!

[_LarZen_]

Aye that's a good point. But we are still talking about a pricey GPU needed to achieve what they claim the machine will do. And dont get me wrong. If they managed to achieve 6 TFLOPS and at an affordable price nothing would be better.

But I dont think it will happen.

[343_Guilty_Spark]

To add to that PCs often require higher graphical and computational power to achieve similar results as a console. They know this but are del iterately choosing to be ignorant.

[Fishy Fingers]

"$400 - 450 GPU"

What? First off they're using AMD not Nvidia so let's see, RX480 at 5.5tflops costs a whopping $200 retail. So expect MS to pay considerably less in bulk, also factor in Scorpio releases in 12 months so again, cost will be considerably less by then.

It's cool to use our imagination but let's inject a little education. $400? More like $100.

[trainsgofast]

"Albert Penello: Yeah. We had to pick a number. Why did you choose six teraflops? Why did you choose 384Gb/s in memory bandwidth? What's the point of those numbers? The point of those numbers was to deliver Xbox One-quality games in 4K. That's the point of those numbers. But we're not going to dictate to developers that that's how they have to use that power."

It's gone up to 384GB/s from what was said in the video of "more than 320GB/s"

[343_Guilty_Spark]

It'll look better than PS4P. Debate that. You are just bitter and butthurt.

[OB1Biker]

No idea if they hit the TFLOPS they advertise but not being obsessed with delivering native 4k might actually be more sensible.

[corroios]

Deliver games in 4k native. Lol. 6 teraflops isnt enough for triple AAA games with locked frames. Better bump up the specs, if you dont you will have a huge surprise. Better get a 1080TI from nvidia, because in late 2017 it will be cheaper...

«4k will be the same from SD to HD». Sorry, but no it wont. It will take much, much, much, much, much, much more time to get something like 50% of the average consumer with a 4k tv and even more dificult with a 4k HDR tv.

What is funny is the fact that he doesnt tells what is the price of the console... we all know why!!!

[343_Guilty_Spark]

6 is still more than 4.

If PS4P does 1440p/60 than the Scorpio will do 1800p/60.

[XXanderXX]

I want my Scorpio , the wait is a pain .

[goldwyncq]

"Launching holiday 2017, Project Scorpio is the next member of the Xbox One family and will be the most powerful console ever created with 6TFLOPS capable of delivering true 4K gaming,"

There you have it. No more "Scorpio is a next gen console" nonsense please.

[peewee11016]

True 4k lol. Upscale you mean. 6tera is no where near enough to do a full native 4k
Vulkan has yet to even be in any pc if ur willing to shell out a shit ton of cash ur delusional if you think that will happen.

[thisgamer503]

On a PC it isn't. Look at what developers were able to pull out of 512mb systems with no power such as the xbox 360 and ps3. Those systems put out visuals FAR beyond a PC with similar specs. Don't count out console efficiency. can see the ps4's 4.2tflop power matching a PC at 6-7tf. Xbox's 6tf will propbably match 7-8. Evwn with Vulkan/DX12/Mantle a PC has a good amount more overhead than consoles. They also don't have a shared memory pool so latency in moving data between hd-system ram-video ram is much less of a bottleneck. It's always been this way. Just because PS4 and XB1 use similar parts to a PC doesn't mean it will perform the same.

[trainsgofast]

Get ready for ture 4k Forza Motor Sports!!
1080p/60 XB1
Forza 6 1.3TF X 4 = 5.8TF
Halo 5 1.3TF X 4 = 5.8TF
"Play XB1 games in 4k." Well looks like it can do it!

[KakashiHotake]

It really is sad how both these supposed next gen consoles XBox One and PS4 can barely hit a consistent 1080p 60fps. Now even they're supposed updated versions Xbox One S and PS4 Slim/ Pro still aren't reaching it but yet they want another $300+ from consumers. All this talk about 4k and HDR yet none of these consoles are even hitting 1080p 60fps. I've reached the conclusion that this generation really is all about the money and these companies are just low balling gamers. Both Xbox1S and PS4 Pro are advertised as 4k gaming machines, yet none of them actually do 4k gaming. On the bright side you are getting a fair amount of tech for the price your paying, but again it's all about capitalizing on sales. from a business stand point i understand completely, but from a gamers POV it still leaves much to be desired. I just can't understand how gamers become fanboys and side with one company over the other when they're both technically doing the same thing just in a different way. At this point I'm not getting my hopes up for Scorpio either but we''ll see.

[XMarkstheSpot]

Ill be getting a Scorpio when it releases, but it better be as good as they say, after the X1 reveal they cant really afford to mess around with the consumers. I expect it to probably be around 499 if they are serious about selling the console because anything above that is really just a no no in the console realm IMO. Id be super surprised if they can get the price lower if they are willing to take a hit or maybe have a good deal on parts.

[thisgamer503]

Have to agree. I really like having MS in the console competition, but if they flop Scorpio's console launch, they might as well say bye bye to the console space.

[christocolus]

"I think there are a lot of caveats they're (Sony) giving customers right now around 4K. They're talking about checkerboard rendering and up-scaling and things like that. There are just a lot of asterisks in their marketing around 4K, which is interesting because when we thought about what spec we wanted for Scorpio, we were very clear we wanted developers to take their Xbox One engines and render them in native, true 4K. That was why we picked the number, that's why we have the memory bandwidth we have, that's why we have the teraflops we have, because it's what we heard from game developers was required to achieve native 4K.

"Scorpio obviously will have a more powerful spec, but won't PS4 Pro always be cheaper? Scorpio has bigger processor, more RAM, potentially a Blu-ray drive - that's can't be cheap. I get the sense it's already being billed as a premium product. Won't you run up against a
tough comparison next year when Scorpio is more expensive than PS Pro?

Albert Penello: Well, we haven't announced the price yet, so we'll see.

Sure, but the expectation is PS4 Pro will be cheaper than Scorpio, right?

Albert Penello: It will be an interesting discussion next time we chat!"

Interesting. Can't wait for the reveal.

[vega275]

So MS is not allowed to promote the features of the xbox one s without people claiming its some kind of jab at sony cause they lack those features. So when sony takes jabs at MS its ok like the job fair for lionhead studio closure. But MS arent allowed to say anything about sony.......ok got it

[rainslacker]

Well...when MS is promoting those features in direct response to PS4's own marketing, then yeah, it's a jab. Might be true, or not, but doesn't make it any less of a way for MS to try and ride on the coat tails of a company that can do most of their console marketing without trying to piggyback on the success of another product from another company.

[vega275]

So because sony market their console that lacked features. MS is suppose to stay silent because of it. Because thats what your saying. They are promoting their product which would be no different then what sony would and have done.

And piggy back on who success are you reffering to....huh sony. How are they riding on their coat tails exactly. How is MS making money or success from another successful console. You sound sensitive because MS promoted the xbox 1s feature that should have been standard in the ps4s and pro version.

But again as always people like you forget not too long ago sony took jabs at MS about lionhead closure. Where was your outrage at sonys jab.........yeah i remember there wasnt outrage from you and many at sony but at MS instead.

[rainslacker]

No, not saying that at all. But you're saying that MS isn't taking a jab at Sony, but when their comment is in direct response to something Sony is doing, it's a jab.

By piggybacking, I mean, everytime Sony has something to say, MS has to come in and say how it's product is better or promote it's product in some way off that announcement from Sony. There are ways to handle that kind of thing without trying to steal the other companies thunder, and it makes MS look more like they're doing this "Hey, look at me" with their marketing. There isn't anything wrong with it, it just makes MS look envious, instead of confident that their product can sell on it's own.

I'm not sensitive about it. It is what it is. I'm just expressing my opinion on what I feel MS could do better with their marketing.

As far as what Sony would do. They haven't done much of this, well look at what we can do in comparison to MS. Outside the reveal to launch time with the DRM stuff where they made explicit jabs at MS, they've just been promoting their product on it's own merits, without reacting to everything MS is doing. When MS announced the Slim and Pro, Sony didn't come in and start saying how PS4 was better in some way. Instead, they just promoted their product in their own time. I think the only thing they said about it was being surprised that MS promoted it the way they did when asked directly about it.

[medman]

I love what Microsoft is doing with the Scorpio, but the bottom line is Scorpio won't have Horizon Zero Dawn, The Last of Us 2, Spider-Man, God of War, etc. etc. etc. Sony will be just fine as long as they keep the exclusives coming, and they have been reliable on that front for decades. Games matter. Nintendo knows. Sony knows. I wish Microsoft focused more in that department, because the Scorpio needs something more than the same old Halo, Forza, Gears rotation to really make a significant impact.

[Lenrulesdaworld]

MS hasn't had good exclusive or new ip's this gen?. Who's to say those games will review well, how many games on both sides have been jacked up by expectations and not met with good reviews. Greats games are based on personal taste. IMO minus JRPG's I think ms has better games in shooting, racing, 3rd person is def sony, single player experiences is sony but Multiplayer is xbox. MS has also had some really great 1st to console games, early access titles like ark, we happy few, elite dangerous, etc. I think MS focus has been nothing but games honestly, I guess you'd have to be really following the console and what they are releasing to see that. Not saying you aren't, just talking in general.

[medman]

I hear you, but from my perspective, which is the perspective of someone who games on pc, ps4, 360, ps3, NES, SNES, and several other consoles, who will also probably buy an NX next year and possibly a Scorpio if I inexplicably choose not to upgrade my pc.........Microsoft, especially their first party offerings, don't match up well to Nintendo or Sony. Yes, that is my opinion, but it's also borne out in review scores over the years. Also, I think Sony and Nintendo are much more creative, and take more risks when creating new ip, as well as creating more new ip than Microsoft.

That being said, I'm really waiting to see what is going on with Crackdown. I don't have much personal interest in Scalebound, Sea of Thieves, or some of the other titles for the next year Microsoft has coming. Crackdown is the one I really would like to see more from, but that game has dropped completely off the radar. I'm hoping it's going to be really great, but considering how it was revealed, and when.....to not hear a peep about it for so long is concerning.

[Lenrulesdaworld]

I still disagree, old sony sure but im speaking of this gen. 1st party owned games and new ip haven't been abundant at all for either side or shall I say many have been pushed back for consoles. MS may have less studios but their 1st party owned games dev'd by 3rd party studios has been good in my opinion. I loved QB, Killer Instinct, ori and the blind forrest, max curse of brother hood, forza horizon, etc. Still have Scalebound and Sea of Thieves to release as new ip as well. Nintendo console wise has release splatoon and ???, DS completely different ball park. Sony has had some nice releases, bloodbourne and uncharted are at the top, a lot of other titles are either in the same range or same rating as most X1 exclusives. If this was the PS2 era, i'd agree without hesitation. PS3 debatable but this gen just really hasn't been anything crazy. Ton's of indies, lots of 1st to console, time exclusive indies and 3rd party japanese exclusives cause xbox sells poorly in japan so it's not worth the port. If we remove the jrpg aspect for sec, they've pretty much have had the same games this gen. minus exclusives/console exclusives. All the indies are jumping back and forth between the two. But the japanese games are the difference and for that reason alone I want a ps4 pro because I'm not getting what I got on 360. Like lost odyssey, blue dragon, tales of syphonia, infinite undiscovery, etc. Don't get me wrong, end of the day it's personal preference and what you like. I'm just saying based on this gen or even last, it's not as clear cut as it use to be. A lot rides on history and nostalgia but it's sort of faded when you really look at it, AAA 3rd party has been dominate and holding us all down this gen.

PS. Great talk man, no fanboy crap going back and forth, just to differing opinions from grown men. How it should be honestly.

[sk8ofmnd]

xb loyalist are shouting 4k hdr from the rooftops when only 15% of the population has 4k sets. Its like getting a muscle car thats a 4 cylinder with roll up windows...

[Hardiman]

The tweet that should come from the Microsoft camp is hey guys we finally decided to invest in a slew of first party studios so we can offer customers or in my case "potential" customers awesome games but alas.

[rainslacker]

Spencer said he wanted that way back with ROTTR. Said he wanted some kind of game that could compete with games in that genre that Sony had. That was MS reasoning for buying timed exclusivity.

Not that they've shown any signs of creating that stuff themselves so far, and no signs that their 1st party studios are going to work on anything other than their current staples, but Spencer did say that's what he wanted. Stuff like that may take a while though.

[NewZealander]

Great job MS, I don't understand all the shade the Sony camp keeps throwing tho. XB1 has been getting it since the beginning.
But it is funny how things tend to flip flop on the Sony side of the fence.
After xb1 reveal all we heard was "oh no we better not get gimped games because of the weak x1 hardware"
But now..."power pfft that doesn't matter"
Make up your mind boys ;)

[feraldrgn]

Typical MS, talking down the competition even when not asked.

[MagicBeanz]

"Greatest Games -check"- LOL

more like

ridiculous claims -check
hyperbole - check
false PR statements - check

[its_JEFF]

"The point of those numbers was to deliver Xbox One-quality games in 4K" - Albert Penello

Very good interview, some real interesting stuff. The above statement tells me that we're not ready for 4K rendered games, yet. If we're just getting modern looking games but at 4K, then why not just stay at 1080p. Render them at 1080P60 and give high-poly characters, high-poly environments, larger worlds, better AI. I'm glad that MS isn't mandating that games must be rendered in 4K, gives me hope for bigger worlds, better AI, and all that stuff.