Microsoft Project Scarlett: top-end Anaconda, cheaper Lockhart

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These will serve as the successors to the Xbox One X and Xbox One S all-digital.

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I always thought the selling point of consoles for gaming, over PC's, was the fact that they were all the same so you knew what you were getting and games played fine on anything, surely if they're going down this route where one is better than another game devs will just use the spec of the console as a reason for crap performance?

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Originally Posted by [GSV]Trig

I always thought the selling point of consoles for gaming, over PC's, was the fact that they were all the same so you knew what you were getting and games played fine on anything, surely if they're going down this route where one is better than another game devs will just use the spec of the console as a reason for crap performance?

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I don't know how console dev works but if they are on the same architecture then everything should scale. Developing for the bottom of the stack then allowing the higher end console to do it's thing sounds too simple. No difference to the OneX to the One tbh though.

The way I'd see it working is Lockhart as the baseline (to Xbox One X levels) for optimisation and then Anaconda increasing the framerate and/or upscaling the resolution as appropriate.

Will be interesting to see how the stated plans of MS and Sony around Ray-Tracing pan out - hopefully we'll get some indication through AMD's higher-spec PC GPUs that are expected to ripple through during the course of 2020.

Will Ray-Tracing be fast enough on the next-gen consoles? Will users that prefer raw framerate have options to disable it (a bit like the 'performance mode' seen on lots of Xbox One X titles today)? Let's hope so - bummer to get next-gen hardware and suffer with choppy framerates in favour of eye-candy that's soon ignored.

Got to be honest Gamepass has sold me on a next gen xbox. Be interesting to see what tie in deals they have for renting a console and game pass - You can get an xbox x with game pass for a set amount per month currently. I'm definitely interested.

That makes no sense to me. Launching a "new" console in "lockhart" that's less powerful than the Xbox One X ("PS4 Pro level of grunt") is just confusing. Drop the One X to £199, launch a new high end model, remove the optical drive on the One X if you really need a bottom end SKU but don't bring something out LESS powerful than the X, because that will just confuse people and muddy the message.

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Originally Posted by cheesemp

Got to be honest Gamepass has sold me on a next gen xbox. Be interesting to see what tie in deals they have for renting a console and game pass - You can get an xbox x with game pass for a set amount per month currently. I'm definitely interested.

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I think they've already talked about an upgrade path on the rental scheme to Scarlett-you'll need to be on the One X scheme, which over the course of 2 years works out about $15 cheaper than buying a console and gamepass.

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Originally Posted by cheesemp

Got to be honest Gamepass has sold me on a next gen xbox. Be interesting to see what tie in deals they have for renting a console and game pass - You can get an xbox x with game pass for a set amount per month currently. I'm definitely interested.

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Conversely gamepads has meant that if I was going to get a console it'd be a Sony or (more likely,) Nintendo. Why bother with an Xbox when game pass lets me play their stuff on my PC anyway?

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Originally Posted by [GSV

Trig;304]I always thought the selling point of consoles for gaming, over PC's, was the fact that they were all the same so you knew what you were getting and games played fine on anything, surely if they're going down this route where one is better than another game devs will just use the spec of the console as a reason for crap performance?

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You can easy get games to play the same as on console, you just gotta down your standards to their specifications and would run it flawlessly on a cheaply made PC, however the PC people do like Eye Candy and more so we boost teh GFX to max and add in every single detail at possible at 1440p or better, so it is a myth... if can live with console quality on PC you don't need much firepower... you don't see these consoles being priced at 1500 euro or whatever for a good reason.

Windows Central claims to have "credible information on the target specs" of the Anaconda and Lockhart consoles.
"According to several sources familiar with Microsoft's plans, Anaconda is targeting around 12 teraflops (TF) of computing power, compared to the Xbox One X's 6TF, and the Xbox One S's 1.4. Lockhart conversely will sport around 4TF, and according to marketing materials we've seen previously, it is being positioned as the most-affordable entry point to next-gen experiences," says the report.

Additionally "Both Lockhart and Anaconda reportedly sport eight CPU cores targetting around 3.5GHz." With regards to RAM, "Anaconda will guarantee 13GB of RAM for games, with 3GB on the OS a total of 16GB". Both consoles will feature SSDs and Windows 10 Core OS and have excellent backwards compatibility. Pinch of salt required with this info.

Xbox Anaconda will be a day one purchase. No doubt about it. Even on release, it'll still no doubt be cheaper than my RTX 2080 (£660).

daddacool - The Lockheart will be graphically as powerful as the X, and have a more powerful CPU (Zen 2). Not sure why you thought it would be less powerful. 4K30 will be the norm. Or even 1440p60.

The Anaconda will be the one with extra graphical grunt for 4k60. I've heard talk of 1440p120.
The jury is out whether 4K60 will happen with ray-tracing enabled. Most likely ray-tracing and 4K30.

Devs will most likely make the game for Anaconda and the Lockheart will simply run at a lower framerate and/or resolution.