Quote:Microsoft is reportedly bringing the new console to market as a way to lower the base cost of entry into the Xbox ecosystem. Pre-orders are expected by April, with the console actually going on-sale in May. Given the rumors, we suspect the system will be reworked to lower the BoM when possible, though no additional information has been provided in terms of port loadouts or wireless support. The rumor is that Microsoft is targeting a price point as much as $100 below the current $299 Xbox One S price.

The company hasn’t forgotten its customers who still rely on discs, however. Reportedly there will be a disc-to-digital program at Microsoft stores, allowing gamers to transfer physical copies to digital licenses. Details of how this would work haven’t been rolled out and the program isn’t officially announced. There’s also supposedly a cost-reduced version of the Xbox One S coming later this year as well that would keep the ability to play physical discs but still target a price below $299.
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The chart from the NPD Group, shown above, illustrates just how dramatically sales have shifted from retail to online outlets. According to NPD data, even in 2013, 46 percent of console games were still sold in physical stores. Today, that ratio has fallen to 21 percent. I’ve long been a proponent of keeping physical distribution — there are too many people with metered connections or slow download speeds for me to feel comfortable with an all-digital distribution system — but it’s clear that patterns are changing. Microsoft’s latest Xbox One will attempt to change with them.

Quote:Code found in a Steam Beta update suggests that Valve and Microsoft are planning to improve cross-play between PCs and Xbox One consoles. The code refers to Xbox-related networking features, which could mean a future version of Steam will make it easier for devs to enable cross-play.

Valve hasn't officially acknowledged the code in question, but it wouldn't be surprising to learn that it's collaborating with Microsoft to help bridge the gap between PC and Xbox players. Microsoft has spent the last few years unifying the platforms by introducing Xbox Play Anywhere, making an Xbox Windows 10 app and revealing initiatives like Project xCloud that will allow people to stream Xbox titles regardless of what device they own.
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We've reached out to Valve to see if the company might offer more information about the Steam Beta update and will update this story if it responds. And it's worth remembering this is an update to the beta version of Steam--this could be something the company tests but never actually releases to the public. With the way things are trending, however, enabling native cross-play between Steam and Xbox seems more than likely.

Quote:Piscatella went on to note that Xbox One dollar sales have nearly doubled since last year. All of this adds up to a puzzling situation in which the Xbox One may have had some impact on Microsoft’s overall product shipments, but the evidence of that impact has been entirely hidden by Microsoft’s refusal to release shipment numbers. Granted, the gains are somewhat obviated by the NES Classic’s overall topping of the hardware charts, but this is an inconsequential momentary drop, driven by nostalgia gaming. Nobody views an NES Classic as competition for an Xbox One or PlayStation 4, even if they do consider the current generation a three-way shootout between the Nintendo Switch and the living-room bound rivals of its competitors.

Whether Microsoft can meaningfully make up any ground on the PlayStation 4 remains to be seen, and I’m not terribly optimistic about it. The company might make up a few million sales, but gamers seem to have largely decided on this generation, and the decision decisively points to Sony. It’s too bad that we don’t have sales figures from Microsoft, because actual hard data from the manufacturer would help show whether or not the Xbox One X actually expanded into new markets or reached new consumers, or if both the PS4 Pro and Xbox One X just recycled the same consumers they had already attracted. That’d be significant for knowing whether or not manufacturers will repeat these kinds of upgrade cycles in the future. The Xbox One X is the most powerful console you can buy for the money and an arguably better value than a PC for gaming depending on how invested you are in the Xbox One ecosystem and whether or not you have a 4K HDR TV. It’s also unambiguously the most powerful game console you can buy.

It’d be darned interesting to know if the Xbox One X cut into any new markets or brought new customers into the Xbox fold. Until Microsoft releases formal numbers, we never will.

Quote:At E3 this year, Xbox chief Phil Spencer confirmed that Microsoft is indeed working on a new generation of Xbox consoles, in case there was any doubt in your mind. Since then, we've learned that the new consoles are codenamed Scarlett, and that they'll arrive in 2020.

According to a report from Thurrott.com today though, there will be two separate next-gen consoles. One will be similar to gaming consoles that we see today in terms of functionality, but the other will be dedicated to streaming games.

Called Scarlett Cloud at this time, the service will stream games with a limited portion of it running locally, helping to cut down on latency. As Thurrott puts it, the games are running in two places at once, and uses "Microsoft's cloud to stitch it all together". The report says that there would also be less latency if the game runs off of Azure, since it would be physically closer to the multiplayer server.

Quote:Microsoft may be looking to blur the line between PC and console gaming. Window Central reports that Microsoft and Razer are working on bringing keyboard and mouse support to Xbox One, which could provide far more accuracy in some games, and allow players to use whatever control scheme they prefer.

The website got its hands on a presentation from Microsoft featuring some comments from Razer. The slideshow includes the ability to use Razer's Chroma lighting. Mice on Xbox One would require support for up to five buttons, wheel movement, and anything else you'd expect from a PC. All games would still require full support for gamepads.

Microsoft's notes also point out keyboards and mice could affect balance on multiplayer games. And while it would be up to developers, it's "highly suggested" that a mouse and keyboard setup be considered as part of matchmaking rules, as games can detect what controls are being used.

The presentation also suggests that any USB mice supported by a Windows PC would work on Xbox, including those with wireless dongles. However, there is no planned support for Bluetooth or mice with custom drivers.

Quote:The following new features are active in this build:

120Hz – Support for More Video Output Options

In this build Gamers with monitors and televisions that support a 120Hz refresh rate can now turn on 120Hz support for 1080p and 1440p output resolutions on Xbox One S and Xbox One X. This high refresh rate option means you can now take full advantage of displays with 120Hz capabilities. High refresh rate support can provide a smoother gaming experience and lower latency on some displays, and games may benefit from reduced tearing and stuttering via 120Hz output.

Quote:Over the last few weeks, Microsoft has added a handful of additional X-Enhanced 360 games, and the Digital Foundry team has been giving them a look-see. The Witcher 2 (above), the original Forza Horizon, and Crackdown have already been analyzed, and the results have been largely positive. It seems that frame rates are about as good as the original releases, and in some cases they’re even better.
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What makes the Xbox One’s backwards compatibility so interesting isn’t the core concept – it’s the implementation. We’ve seen plenty of emulation for ports, but the scope and ambition from Microsoft’s back compat initiative is unmatched. An emulator that can render 360 games at nearly 4K on official hardware is a big deal for consumers.