Phil Spencer Talks Xbox Series X Reveal Plans, Says He's "Never Been More Excited"

Ohboyohboyohboy....

I'm going to be honest, I've never been less excited for a new gen.

I think between the console revisions, the already high quality and standard for this hen's games, and the pandemic I just don't have any desire for new hardware. They could have easily waited for the ten year cycle.

I think if anything, MS have made a smart decision with their 'smart delivery' plan. If my feelings translate at all to the wider audience, Sony could be the only platform holder to struggle over the next few years.

YEEEAAH GIMME GAMES!

Though I wont be getting one, Im very excited for the full reveal. New consoles gens are a great time!

@Richnj
You're not excited to leave 30fps as the industry standard behind? 😕

We're all excited for what Phil will bring. Since this is his baby, he's got a point to prove after Mattricks disaster. Xbox is in good hands.

Now show us the games Phil! We want Halo!

Such a great time is a console lunch year .

@gingataisen it's never really bothered me. As far as I can remember, the highest rated games of the last ten years ran at 30fps.

I mean, I have a Switch, and there's plenty to enjoy about the games on that console. Lacking 60fps is hardly ruining the experiences. 60fps is one of those features that's nice when it's there but only a must with certain types of games.

I'd much rather get excited over interesting games.

C'mon Phil convince me to part with my monies!

@Grot Yeah man, the Switch is a fantastic little console. I think if Nintendo would address the features that player want on the console, it could even give the next gen a fight.

Something I'm realising looking at my consoles is that of the last two gens, I've always had to swap my standard console with a slim version, and that the slims run better and look better. And actually, I'd have preferred to have the pro versions of the PS4 and Xbox One, so at the very least I'm going to wait for the updated versions to come out. Which should hopefully give me another 3-4 years.

@Richnj
Would any of those games be rated lower if they ran at higher frame rates? I for one, am very happy to leave the generation of subpar performance and never-ending remasters behind.

@gingataisen I for one would be delighted if everything from next gen would run at 60 fps, but if I remember correctly, the same thing was being said at the start of this generation. Also, I don't think we've seen the end of remasters at all; I think there are already a few announced! A new 60 fps gen without too many remasters sounds excellent, but I'm not holding my breath

@gingataisen The point is they wouldn't have been rated higher if they had higher frame rates. The fps doesn't determine the overall quality of the product. As long as it's stable and the dev knows what type of game they are making, they can make great experiences regardless.

And remasters, remakes, and poorly ran games will still be a thing in the next gen. Better hardware won't change that. I'm not sure why you think it would. There will still be a big market for updated games, and last gen games running on current hardware (it's why MS put so much effort in to the BC program, and why both Sony and MS are ensuring the next gen still runs current gen). Games like RE2 and FF7 are clearly proving that there's still a big market for that stuff.

And and, poorly optimisation or random bugs will still happen. Look at the xbox one x version of RE3. It was the best hardware and it ran the worst at launch because of some weird technical error. Get companies that are too small, lazy, incompetent, or cheap to fix that type of stuff and you're back to subpar performance again. (unless you were just generally calling 30fps "subpar" in which case, you'd be at odds with the vast majority of gamers).

@ShaiHulud Which is exactly my concern. The 360 was meant to be a HD console, and the games ran at 720p or below (and at 30fps). That would be laughable in this gen for a game to run at those specs (outside of the Switch, and even then, some gamers are turning their nose up at that).

And the Xbox One was the 1080p/60fps console, and we have plenty of 30fps games with dynamic resolution going. Destiny, which was one of the biggest early launches for this gen, ran at 900p and 30fps.

The the XSX will not just be running at 1080p either, but also be 4k, which likely means there will be games running at sub 4k, or sub 60fps in 4k mode. Fortnite of all things runs at sub 4k on XBX from what I've read. And it's hardly the most graphically impressive game, but obviously the type of game it is requires more power.

Which is why I don't get this mentality of dreaming of a 4k/60fps only future. That's a goal, not a guarantee.

@Richnj Exactly. I think quite a few developers will try to make their games look spectacular on the series X in 4K, but won't really take a solid high framerate into account, as they probably are of the opinion that graphics are more appealing to the masses than fps.

@ShaiHulud @Richnj
Games that run at 4K30fps are already a reality (Destiny 2, FarCry 5, RDR2, FH4, etc.) I can't believe you guys think they put a CPU in SeX that's four times more powerful than the one in Xbox One X, just to achieve objectives that have already been met. 😒

@gingataisen My glass is half empty, whereas yours would probably be half full

@gingataisen I hear you. Sick of these 'remasters'. Fortunately smart delivery should put an end to that, and further expose scummy companies like EA (who you can bet will try and weasel their way out of it), as someone who doesn't care about games.

Yes to next gen games. No to current gen 'remasters'. Tho you can probably bet when the consoles do come out certain sites will be full of people going "plz port xxxx in 60fps!!!!!!"

@gingataisen But you're expecting full 4k/ 60fps, which will require more power. Then next gen games will also be more graphically intensive. Which, again, will require more power.

The xbox one was touted as something stupid like 8-10 times more powerful than the 360, and still didn't get full 1080p/60fps with all games.

@Richnj
What I'm expecting (hoping, really) is that, when a game that pushes the hardware to its limits makes 4K60 impossible, that devs have the good sense to compromise resolution, not frame rate. Come next gen, a 60fps experience should be the industry standard.

If Phil is excited, then we should be excited.

Me too, i am excited about the generation X!
They have confinced me already.

We have reasons to be excited. Imagine the new games that Xbox Game Studios are making, imagine third-party games running on that beast and imagine the day that you power your Series X on and see all your previous games available!

@gingataisen

https://wccftech.com/frogwares-interview-on-the-success-of-the-sinking-city-and-what-comes-next/

"Since both consoles have announced support for up to 120fps refresh rate, there is hope among some gamers that developers would use 60fps as the baseline for next-generation titles. Do you think that will actually be the case?

I think more and more devs will offer you a choice between resolution and framerate. I personally hope 60 FPS will become the standard, but optimization is not that easy, especially for smaller studios."

This popped up on my newsfeed today. Thought I'd add it to this conversation.

@Richnj
This is a good read. I too, hope that frame rate is prioritized over resolution.