Microsoft Is Making Sure To Future Proof Games for Scorpio; It's Not Getting Distracted by VR

Shannon Loftis revealed that Xbox One games are being future proofed for Scorpio. Phil Spencer said that Microsoft won't be distracted by VR.

[kaiserfranz]

Great, as someone who is not interested in VR at all I am glad someone in the console space isn't wasting time with it.

[TKCMuzzer]

Interesting, so what your saying is not to try anything new, innovate or offer new experiences? Nothing like standing still. Whats do you think of google? they try all kinds of things.
It's also interesting how you say 'console space' as if Microsoft are dedicated towards it. It's the fact they neglected the basics of the 'console space' to why they are in this situation now, plus from where I stand they are less interested in the 'console space' and more interested in the 'PC' space.

[donthate]

Ironically, you say that MS neglected console space, yet the reason is they exactly tried something new and risky with Kinect. Now, they are returning to console gaming with full focus gaming and adding PC. This means we will get more PC like ability in our console. That's great!

Let others champion VR, and if and when it turns to a success MS can focus on that. As it stands right now, even Sony themselves are admitting PS VR is a short experience type thing. Yup, I don't want MS focus on a $400+ device that has a short attention span.

[joeorc]

@donthate
[As it stands right now, even Sony themselves are admitting PS VR is a short experience type thing. Yup, I don't want MS focus on a $400+ device that has a short attention span.]

Sony Never implied PSVR cannot do extensive VR gaming' Quite trying to say otherwise..saying short experiences are best does not or is saying it is implied or stating otherwise that it cannot do or saying that longer experience VR gaming in VR is not Viable.

Far from it.

No where Did Sony imply that or stated as such. And this is the 2nd time you have trued to twist that into PSVR cannot... do when it is far from the truth of what it can or cannot do

[MatrixxGT]

your right, MS is standing still and not trying anything new. In fact in 2013 they tried a bunch of new shit. It wasn't what people wanted so they changed course to right the ship. Now they are trying something new in the console space. How it turns out we will see.
He's not interested in VR. I'm not interested in VR. Believe it or not there are people who just have no interest in any VR.

You don't see me going around trying to tell people they shouldn't like it either. I get what VR can accomplish and for those excited about it, have fun. Me not purchasing it isn't going to degrade your experience trust me.

[Eonjay]

Someone needs to explain how not having VR as an option is better than having it as an option.
The PS4 has VR and more traditional game than the competition. Distraction is a code word for we aren't supporting it yet so lets demonize it.

[Mrveryodd]

what was neglected by msoft , just would like to know from someone who i doubt has one .

[rainslacker]

@donthate

New and risky isn't following the fad created by another company with their own solution which basically does the same thing. Kind of like they are now with VR and Scorpio...except they aren't really taking a vested interest in VR, so they aren't even really taking a risk, just trying to attract those that are interested in VR because they realize there is a pretty good potential market there.

There's merit to MS VR approach, but when their own approach to it is half ass, I don't see any reason to be that compelled to support their efforts in the field. At least with Kinect they tried to make it into something, and they kind of did for a short while. Nothing about their approach was half assed except for the fact that the content itself couldn't really be made to be compelling....which isn't a problem I see with VR.

There will be people who aren't interested in VR. But honestly, with MS approach, I can't see them really gaining those who are interested in it, or making the technology interesting, because they seem to have no interest in doing so. Not exactly showing themselves off to be any kind of market leader there are they?

See the difference? With Kinect, they tried to do something different, even though it was the same, it was still unique, with it's own experiences. They were trying to be a market leader of the tech, which was still pretty popular among many at the time.

With VR, they're not even saying they're going to care, but hey, if you want it, here you go. Maybe some content will come for it. Enjoy. We don't care. If enough people start to care, maybe we'll show an interest. That's not being a market leader, and it's really funny just how people are trying to say that's perfectly fine, and even giving points to MS for their forward thinking when that thinking is anything but. I mean, we don't think it's really worth much of our time to focus on, but hey, we will still take your money while marginalizing what's important to you.

You don't sell a console by just offering up what consumers want. You have to support what consumers want and give them content that they want, even if they are only a segment of the entire customer base. MS is pretty much just ignoring the segment that is interested in VR, and if VR takes off, they're going to have a pretty hard time getting their attention after saying how much they aren't into it now. You get ahead by being a market leader, not following the market.

[curtis92]

Interesting, so were you there bashing Sony when they first showed the PS4? Because it wasn't 'offering new experiences'? Stop flaming someone because they like a brand you've deemed unlikeable.

[UltimateMaster]

Sony confirmed that the PS4 NEO is aimed at a 4k TV users.
That's what I am interested in, but it's also good to have choice with VR if it does take off and plenty of interesting games are being created.
I am not sold on VR yet.

[Pancit_Canton]

Why not have both?

Oh wait....They can't. They already spend their R&D money on holo-lens and it's already too late for them to enter the race. Their choice is to either pay the licensing for the third party manufacturer or try to downplay the VR scene, and pray to gaming gods that it won't succeed.

[illtownNJONE]

scorpio is an open platfom for VR, oculous and VIVE will be supported

[Eliseo676]

Holo-lens are a Microsoft thing. Not Xbox.

People forget Microsoft has a lot more on their plate than gaming. So much more, their company doesn't revolve around the Xbox. They have one of the highest R&D budgets in the world. From the start they made it clear VR wasn't their focus, and the Ocolus partnership has been for a long time being build upon.

They will have both. They don't have to pray to anyone. Second place is not as bad as fanboys believe.

Please, try looking it more objectively, and look at what exact markets the Hololens are being marketed in. It certainly isn't as prominent in gaming as in other business.

[Software_Lover]

Holo-Lens is for more than gaming. Microsoft doesn't need Xbox to survive. It isn't their bread and butter.

[Kleptic]

@illtown...MS backs the rift, so there is a possibility of OR support on scorpio...

but I almost 100% guarantee that scorpio will in no way, shape, or form support anything Steam related...It's a living room pipe for the win 10 store, so Steam, SteamVR, Vive, etc. won't happen unless HTC is able to break it out into it's own unrelated platform...which I'm not sure how the licensing with all that works; HTC is primarily the manufacturer, they didn't design it.

on second thought...if MS really did want to blow things wide open, they could allow steam on the scorpio...and save 1st party/xbox content for their own store...but, MS rarely acts in such a forward thinking way...They'll most likely try GFWL again, which is how this is setting up, and I'd be blown away if it ends any differently...

[marquisray]

Vr is going to be like 3d tvs its a fad that will play out quickly lol

[LordMaim]

Spencer literally called out VR as one of the driving factors behind the Scorpio at E3. "Project Scorpio is actually an Xbox One that can natively run games in 4K and is built with the hardware capabilities to support the high-end VR that you see happening in the PC space today... when it ships it will be the most powerful console ever built."

http://www.theverge.com/201...

[KwietStorm_BLM]

Nobody is "wasting time" with anything. The great thing is there is something for everyone, even those who try to downplay what is offered elsewhere.

[WeAreLegion]

Try it.

[j15reed]

Yea MS is doing the smart thing by letting Oculus and HTC create compatible hardware, so they can just focus on what they do.

[Silly gameAr]

The console that has VR coming out soon, is still cranking games out, and it's funny because they're not calling VR a time waste.

[marioJP87]

Same here.

[Garethvk]

That could haunt them as VR is looking good. the whole upgrade to 4K was for a better VR experience. why buy a Scorpio and a 4k tv when I can play the games on a PC in 4K which this cannot do.

[VER1ON]

Really excited for this monster

[Frisky]

The thing is, things they're doing for Scorpio are ok. The standard console has been out for around 3 years now and its millions of living rooms, so things are pretty much okay there as well. But what about Xbox One S? Why would someone who doesn't already have an Xbox would buy Xbox One S now when Scorpio is coming out within a year.

[Sitdown]

Perhaps because it's cheaper in price, and they can always upgrade a year later should they desire to.

[marquisray]

Its called upgrading pc users do it all the time to get better graphics to play new games so its ok pc users to spend money on graphic cards but wrong to upgrade consoles lol

[ScorpiusX]

Nicce , keep that up

[KaiPow]

What does this mean for Hololens support in upcoming titles?

[Alexious]

I think Hololens support in actual games is a long way out still.

[mogwaii]

That shitty thing is never gonna happen

[ScorpiusX]

Nothing much seeing how Hololens is AR and made for more diverse application than gaming .

[vega275]

I was interested in VR and was going to wait until scorpio to release to buy into VR. But after hearing that games will be short experience. It was a complete turn off for me.

Sorry I'm not spending hundreds of dollars for a headset that only plays tech demo of games.

Glad to hear MS not focusing primary on VR.

[WeAreLegion]

You haven't actually looked into VR at all. There are tons of full AAA titles that support VR and more are coming.

[King_Lothric]

If he was "interested in VR" as he claimed to be, he would have known that because that is basic and common information for anyone really interested on VR.

[Alexious]

It's like that because VR otherwise induces motion sickness with long sessions.

[hiawa23]

I am fine with MS's plan as I have 0 interest in VR, besides, Oculus and Vive are supposed to work with the Scorpio, so I think MS has their bases covered. Haters going to hate no matter what.

[Rude-ro]

Good thing they do not release a lot, should be easy to do.

[Deltaguy]

seems like they aren't getting distracted with good games either..or new IPs..Sony is doing VR and putting out high quality titles at the same time...

[King_Lothric]

I prefer a company that can do both and not limiting its audience by one or the other. A company that still delivers good exclusives games while also providing a good VR experience.

[jb227]

"Taking advantage of dynamic scaling and things like that, a game they make for Xbox One today will run beautifully on S and run beautifully and look better on Scorpio."

'Run beautifully on S, run beautifully on Scorpio and look better'

Noticed that he didn't mention any kind of performance increase there, only a visual one. Sounds to me like MS is focused more on hitting 4k than giving a jump from 30 fps to 60 fps.

[freshslicepizza]

it's up to the developers to use the extra resources how they wish, but thanks again for your positive feedback. playing games like forza in 4k and 60 frames per second also sounds very feasible.

[stormshadow1981]

Less talking and more walking Microsoft !

[Maxor]

You can have the fastest console in the world. But that doesn't change the fact that the vast majority of console gamers are playing on absolutely shit TVs with 50ms response time. Many of them don't even bother to enable game mode on their sets or have any idea what game mode is.

[iceman06]

That's why all of this tech talk is out. The masses really don't do the research. Mostly, they just gravitate toward whats popular and trendy among their peer group and really don't know what they are getting and why. As long as they can say that they have the "best". I will guarantee that there will be people jumping all over these consoles without the proper setups to get the actual value. It's no different than the people who upgrade phones yearly JUST to get a new version and not because the new version has made significant enough changes to warrant an upgrade. The masses want trendy tech, but they often don't have any idea how to use it. This makes for a great climate for companies to drop high tech buzz words and take that to the bank.

[rainslacker]

You don't see MS really getting into those specifics. Or any company really. It's all about the buzzwords, and people look at those more than how the tech itself actually affects them.

When Scorpio releases, the vast majority of people wouldn't even be able to take advantage of what it has to offer. Moreso with the upcoming X1S release. But saying it can do "upscaled" 4K despite people that do have 4K TV's can already do that, and has HDR despite less than 10% of the TV's out there being 4K with only about 1/3 of those being HDR compatible, and will play UHD's, despite the content for UHD being exceptionally sparse with no signs that it's going to increase exponentially any time soon. Or saying the Scorpio will do native 4K, despite the fact that 1080/60 content with better quality is to be the most common offering and 4K content offered actually probably won't look as good because it will use fewer effects as 6TFlops isn't enough to deliver 4K at ultra settings, but is enough for ultra at 1080....and a good upscaler will still look better. Hmmm....wonder which the devs will prefer to use given that fact?

Sony will probably do something similar to generate hype, and as always, the average consumer will be completely clueless to most of it, and the fan boys will continue to bicker over who's doing it better and why it's such an important factor for one company winning out over the other.

[Artemidorus]

Halo, Forza, Gears, Halo again, Forza, Forza etc.

No thanks.

[Elronza]

I am actually glad that Microsoft chose this path without VR. This is a great move on Microsoft's part as anyone who wants VR has PC and PS4/PS Neo to choose from, and those who only want games centered on controller gaming have the Xbox1! Me personally though I'm going with PC and PS4/ PS Neo as I already own both a gaming PC and Laptop with access to Microsoft's games. And as long as the PS Neo allows remote play I am good!