Xbox - Series S/X: Thread 01

[dataDave]

People really don’t know what they want.

Next-gen graphics AND performance? There's no reason what was shown the other day shouldn't be running at 4K/120fps, even (there wasn't even any ambient occlusion, so EASILY!!). Especially with all of this TERAFLOPS talk.

[nonny]

Ok so I've watched the Digital Foundry video assessment. Seems to marry up with the lighting comments from earlier and the fact that the XSX version is supposedly getting ray tracing in a patch and without it we've got this lovely dynamic flat mess.

**** knows why MS just went with it without adding some context. Maybe 343 are in a state of emergency or maybe they figured it's all about the gameplay.

I am going to assume then that with this debacle that ray tracing patch is going to hit oooo review time? And it'll be pretty clear which version is the XSX version and the One X because one will have no ray tracing and look closer to what we have now.

Guess that'll be easy to spot?

[Lyris]

I thought the Series X would be right up your street with all of the HDMI 2.1 support and the HDR stuff in the display controller that can display any title in HDR with a machine learning based reverse tone map process for SDR games. This technique will even work with original Xbox games and doesn't carry a performance penalty.

Well, it's right up my street in that it'll put UHD BD players in more homes (Although I'm personally content with the format staying relatively niche).

I didn't know about the SDR-to-HDR stuff, sounds interesting.

[Digfox]

Nice write-up of the Microsoft studios over at Resetera and what they are working on. Sort of lends itself to some of the conversation here. And I haven't seen anything like this for Microsoft's studios.

->Open Spoiler<-

1. 343 Industries
   - Has been under Microsoft control since 2007. Their last game released in 2015, and there next game will be ready for the next generation later this year.
2. Compulsion Games
   - They were acquired by Microsoft in 2018, two years ago. Their last game released less than two years ago, and they're ultimately still supporting it. If they have a game in development, it's likely not very far along.
3. Double Fine Productions
   - They acquired the studio in 2019, and they were already actively in development with Psychonauts 2 which releases next year. They do typically have multiple games under development, and despite recent expansions, they're ultimately a pretty modestly sized studio. It wouldn't be surprising if we didn't see anything truly noteworthy from them until sometime in 2022-2023.
4. inXile Games
   - They were acquired in late 2018, and already had Wasteland 3 in development. Despite recent expansions, they're a pretty modest sized studio as well. It wouldn't be surprising if we didn't see anything from them until 2021-2022.
5. Mojang Studios
   - They've been under Microsoft control for a while now. They just released Minecraft Dungeons, but that game was pretty modest in scope - so we may see something new from them in the near future beyond post Dungeons support.
6. Ninja Theory
   - Microsoft acquired them in 2018, and with that - they already had games in development. One of those games being Bleeding Edge, which just released. Next is Hellblade 2, which is maybe 2-3 years into development - with the first year or so of that being very light development. It's feasible that they have something game play oriented to show regarding that game this year. They also have Project: Mara, which is also likely pretty early in development.
7. Playground Games
   - Microsoft acquired them in 2018, but that's ultimately meaningless, given that they were already intrinsically tied before tying the knot. Traditionally, they released a Forza Horizon game every two years since the first, with the last Forza Horizon being in 2018. So there's a chance that Forza Horizon 5 surprisingly drops this year, or at the very least, at some point within the console's first year of launching.
   - They have a new studio now, that was starting to be formed in 2017, and still isn't fully formed. Obviously, some development has taken place, but this game is still likely a 2021-2022 title at best.
8. Rare
   - They've been under Microsoft's control for a long time now, so that's meaningless. They're a nice sized studio, and released Sea of Thieves in 2018. They're still actively developing that game, which includes both content and giving it the next generation treatment.
   - They've also announced Everwild, which seems fairly early in development, so it's anyone's guess as to when that'll drop. I suppose there's a chance that they have another game in development, especially if its in lockstep with some type of support studio, but it wouldn't be surprising if this was the entire scope of their development for a while.
9. The Coalition
   - They're a really nice sized studio, and they released Gears 5 last year in 2019. Given the size of the studio, there's a chance that they have something close to unveiling, but it wouldn't be surprising if that weren't the case.
10. The Initiative
    - This studio was formed in 2018, and is still being fleshed out. The game they have in development is 2-3 years along, with a significant portion of that likely being light development given that it was probably a small nucleus of people. It might be ready to show off this year, or it could next year.
11. Turn 10 Studios
    - They've been under Microsoft since their inception nearly 20 years ago, and they typically release a new Forza every 2 years without fail. This is the first time where that hasn't been the case, with the last game being released in 2017. I'd imagine that the game is likely far enough along to have gameplay to show, and will likely release within the first year of the Series X's launch.
12. Undead Labs
    - They've been with Microsoft since 2018, but similar to Playground Games, they were basically a 1st party studio in all ways but name. They are a pretty small studio, but have expanded recently, and they dropped State of Decay 2 in 2018. Given that there was 5 years in between State of Decay 1 and 2, the size of the studio, and the fact that they announced the game with a CG trailer - I would assume that their next game is likely not dropping until around 2022.
13. Obsidian Entertainment
    - They've been with Microsoft since 2018, and they just released The Outer Worlds late 2019. They also already had Grounded in development before being acquired with Microsoft. They're a decent sized studio that has been expanded recently, but with that in mind, I would imagine that Avowed couldn't be any more than 2ish years in development. MAYBE more if Microsoft was already tasking them to make it before acquiring them, but regardless, I'd say that 2022 is likely the earliest we see anything from them outside of Outer World's post release content and Grounded.

[nonny]

The one to watch is the initiative. We know absolutely nothing about what they're developing other than it's apparently quadruple A. There is a rumour it's a reboot of Perfect Dark but who knows...

[dataDave]

Ok so I've watched the Digital Foundry video assessment. Seems to marry up with the lighting comments from earlier and the fact that the XSX version is supposedly getting ray tracing in a patch and without it we've got this lovely dynamic flat mess.

I watched it as well, mainly for a laugh. The roll animation on that Elite...

Everything other than the resolution and view distance is straight out of 2001.

[Brad]

Some people are setting their expectations a bit high I think. To make a pc do 4K at 120fps requires two 2080 Ti cards. A monitor that can handle that is a grand minimum.

Are people really buying a new Xbox and a thousand pound monitor? Are devs really going to target that?

This whole next gen will be like the ones before it. 360 and ps3 touted 1080 but everything was 720. PS4 and xbone were 4K but almost everything uses tricks to do 4K and you rarely get 60fps. I think we should set our sights on 4K 60 as a goal on next gen and be happy if we see it.

[Team Andromeda]

A few Xbox Series X games get at a Native 4K, but other than Forza 7, Halo 5 at the cost of Frame Rate.

I suspect the only games hitting 120 FPS mode with be games that can run easily on current gen systems and not even looking to handle native 4K. I suspect a big increase in 4K games at 60 FPS next gen and for HDR to be a much bigger deal.

It's such a shame that the likes of DF and others no longer upload in HDR anymore. I'm not a fan of the gameplay but blood hell does Death Standing look out of this world in HDR .

After the shows the best looking game is that one from Remedy Crossfire X ; That's looks insanely good and like FEAR for the next gen .

[nonny]

I'm not expecting 120fps on everything. I don't think I even want 120fps... But I do want developers to target 60fps and offer choice to the gamer on whether they want to prioritise frame rate or resolution.

With Halo right now if they said we could have amazing ray tracing but we're going to need to go to 1440p or dynamic frame rate to keep that at 60fps I would be fine with that.

But... I would like that to be an option. Not 30 sliders of options like on PC but a couple of simple ones on/off. That to me would be amazing.

I see Spiderman Miles Morales on PS5 will have something like this, though the tweet I read from the developers is not clear on specifics. It's great to see developers offer choices to the consumer on what they prefer.

[Cassius_Smoke]

[MENTION=221]nonny[/MENTION]

Id go with that. Just a few options. I'd take 60 over 4k any day. Let people choose what they want.

[Neon Ignition]

I wouldn't be surprised if Hellblade 2 isn't very early in development with existing work shelved when MS took over to make something more ambitious, hence its effective absence from this showreel.

[hudson]

Would it be best if we release the next generation fall 2021 instead? I'd be happy with that.

[Cassius_Smoke]

Do we know exactly what games shown are definitely going to be available at launch?

[Brad]

[MENTION=221]nonny[/MENTION] I’m with you on that. Allow choice. I would say you need to lower your expectations further. I think ray tracing and 1440p and 60fps is still asking too much

[Team Andromeda]

Would it be best if we release the next generation fall 2021 instead? I'd be happy with that.

No becsuse life is about living the here and now. Sure the good stuff always comes latter . But I enjoyed my 360 on day long before Halo 3 shipped well over a year latter .

Same goes for the PS4 . Was so happy on day one, didn't mind the long wait for Uncharted 4 .