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Inside the next Xbox: Project Scorpio tech revealed

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Re: Inside the next Xbox: Project Scorpio tech revealed

#121

Post by etchalon »

Yhippa wrote: post #116
zaroth wrote: post #51

What they really need to do is maybe just start completely over on the whole Xbox Dashboard. For something that could be so simple and easy, the whole experience of trying to use the Xbox for anything other than playing a game is insanely frustrating. Every time I sit down to try to use it I'm just tearing my hair out! It's been, what, over a decade they've been working on that Dashboard and it has always been just a…

> Everything I want to do buried the absolute maximum amount of clicks away from where I would expect to look for it. Part of the latest update had a video for the new Home button functionality. It used to be that pressing the Xbox button on your controller took you home. In the video they literally said "to go home press the Xbox button and then the "A" button twice". I can't imagine recording a video telling people…

The new functionality is closer to the original 360 functionality. I preferred it and welcome its reinstatement.

Re: Inside the next Xbox: Project Scorpio tech revealed

#122

Post by cwyers »

kbenson wrote: post #50
simonswords82 wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm a typical HN user I suppose. Own/run a software company, we even code in Microsoft's tools! However, I do 99.9% of my work on a Mac laptop. I've installed Steam on said laptop but it's just not the same as having a console. I love my XB1, it just works. I buy a game, pop the disc in, download a metric shit tonne of updates for a couple of hours (a rant for another time) and I'm good to go. I don't care about 60FP…

> I've installed Steam on said laptop but it's just not the same as having a console. So, assuming the games you want to play are available on Steam for the Mac (a big if, likely), how bad is an Xbox USB controller, HDMI out to your TV, and Steam Big Picture mode? Is it sub-par, or have you never bothered because you have the xbone (or because it doesn't have what you want to play)? I have neither, so I honestly don'…

I tried using the Steam Link, and it's not user-friendly at all. I have a dual monitor setup with a USB KVM switch, and I cannot manage to get the Steam Link going to the TV with sound on and switch to the non-Steam computer with my KVM. Steam Big Picture works fine until there's a single problem and then all bets are off. Games not written with it in mind will pop out to situations where you need a keyboard and mouse at the strangest times.

Re: Inside the next Xbox: Project Scorpio tech revealed

#124

Post by gozur88 »

to3m wrote: post #60
kbenson wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, I understand for the general public, and I wasn't trying to imply there's no place for the new consoles, just that I figure most the people reading HN could probably get away with putting that money towards their main computer platform more effectively. That does, of course, assume mostly single use, and that's a rather large caveat I didn't cover. I have three kids, and for a set-top box, ease of use is extrem…

I'd have expected most people to have a laptop at home. Maybe I'm unusual, or maybe the people I know are unusual, but I don't know many who use a desktop PC at home any more. Desktop work PCs are still common, but you're not going to spend your own money on them.

I have a desktop at home. I despise tiny laptop screens and tiny laptop keyboards. And touchpads. Desktops have advantages when it comes to performance and cooling, which is a big deal for a gaming system.

Re: Inside the next Xbox: Project Scorpio tech revealed

#125

Post by gozur88 »

snuxoll wrote: post #100
kbenson wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> You'll never get the same performance for the same cost on PC. In a direct from-nothing-to-full-system comparison, sure. But if you've got a desktop already, your costs might just be the Nvidia card, and maybe some more RAM if that's lacking. Newegg has Nvidia 1070 cards that advertise DX12 for $370. It looks like a 1080 will cost about the same as I imagine the Xbox refresh will cost for about 15%-20% more power.…

> But if you've got a desktop already Killer right here for an increasing percentage of the population. Fewer households even HAVE a desktop PC these days, laptops, tablets and smartphones are the computing devices of choice for many these days. Even if you HAVE a desktop, there's no reason to assume the power supply can handle a dedicated graphics card if it wasn't shipped with one. Many OEM's like to skimp on power…

I would have thought most households (in the US, at least) have a PC for taxes and youtube videos.

Re: Inside the next Xbox: Project Scorpio tech revealed

#126

Post by Balgair »

Yhippa wrote: post #117
mikestew wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I really don't understand how they have millions of users and so much basic shit Just Doesn't Work. Because those millions of users use the box to play games, like I do. Oh, I've tried all the other stuff, and as you point out it's generally such a steaming pile of shit that I feel foolish for having even tried. (If the Kinect weren't in a box in the garage, I'd be staring in its direction right now.) Frankly, I'd be…

> but I'm guessing some PMs needed to make their mark, so they "improved" things by breaking them I loathe this so much and you know this is _exactly_ what happened. This is a problem at a lot of big companies. At the end of the year you don't get reviewed on "improving existing customer experience" you get more money based on how many features you put into production.

See Excel, Google Maps, Chrome, etc. Really anything by Google starts out amazing, and then ends up as either total crap or relegated into a black hole. MSFT has gotten a lot better, relative to before, but is still terrible in absolute numbers. I know why this is, managers gotta manage, mortgages gotta get paid, etc. but the real question is why do companies get into these traps, even though it happens so damn often? The only thing I have is the Gervais Principle, but even that is too simple an explanation.

Re: Inside the next Xbox: Project Scorpio tech revealed

#127

Post by ashark »

gozur88 wrote: post #125
snuxoll wrote: post #100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> But if you've got a desktop already Killer right here for an increasing percentage of the population. Fewer households even HAVE a desktop PC these days, laptops, tablets and smartphones are the computing devices of choice for many these days. Even if you HAVE a desktop, there's no reason to assume the power supply can handle a dedicated graphics card if it wasn't shipped with one. Many OEM's like to skimp on power…

I would have thought most households (in the US, at least) have a PC for taxes and youtube videos.

Youtube videos? Phones. Tablets. Chromecast, Apple TV, game consoles if you want it on the TV.

Taxes? Possibilities: 1) someone else does it, 2) you do it but all on paper, 3) work device (maybe even at home if it's a laptop), 4) something something public library. I don't think tons of people would miss their personal PC bigly come tax time (some would, surely).

Re: Inside the next Xbox: Project Scorpio tech revealed

#128

Post by supernovae »

ballenf wrote: post #113
supernovae wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

such as?

Read reviews for games you're looking at buying? Star ratings is all I've found, but they sold this as an entertainment hub and touted how it's all integrated. What's the point of all the flashy store interface if it's lacking what has become a critically important part of the buying process for most people?

Hmm. There are mobile apps for iOS, Android and Windows that allow you to browse store. The store is also online via the web and the Xbox includes edge browser so you can search the web for game reviews..

The latest dashboard updates feature a few reviews, but lets be honest - hard problem to solve on console since providing feedback for apps is better done on a tablet/PC/laptop than with a controller.

Re: Inside the next Xbox: Project Scorpio tech revealed

#129

Post by snuxoll »

ashark wrote: post #127
gozur88 wrote: post #125

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would have thought most households (in the US, at least) have a PC for taxes and youtube videos.

Youtube videos? Phones. Tablets. Chromecast, Apple TV, game consoles if you want it on the TV. Taxes? Possibilities: 1) someone else does it, 2) you do it but all on paper, 3) work device (maybe even at home if it's a laptop), 4) something something public library. I don't think tons of people would miss their personal PC bigly come tax time ( some would, surely).

TurboTax has an iPad app. Also, it works fine in a laptop as well.

Re: Inside the next Xbox: Project Scorpio tech revealed

#130

Post by Strom »

jd20 wrote: post #49
BatFastard wrote: post #8

This should provide some amazing graphics on a 4K screen! The console programmers do some incredible feats with the resources they have available.

What I find interesting, is the parallel in movie content, where 4K UHD content just became available late last year (while 4K movie content was available earlier, all the stuff I'd seen was poorly encoded or heavily compressed). I see a lot of people on AVSForum complaining that there's absolutely no visual difference between 4K or 1080p, sitting on a couch at normal distances, based on scientific arguments of the h…

Definitely interesting. Regarding the human eye, it varies greatly from person to person how well they see. However it's not even only about the eye itself, but also how well suited & trained [1] your brain is to interpreting the signals.

I personally have always had perfect vision, and have always been able to notice even fairly subtle differences in resolution. My brother also has perfect vision in the classic 20/20 sense, but has to inspect closely to tell apart even 720p & 1080p movies. Our ability to notice differences in bitrate is even more far apart. [2] It's not even only about picture quality, but also about refresh rates. I can tell the difference between 100 Hz & 144 Hz, and I'll even notice bad frame pacing on an otherwise stable framerate. At the same time I have a friend who didn't notice anything different about the 48 fps variant of The Hobbit compared to other 24 fps movies.

It probably has a lot to do with what we spend our time doing. In that I've spent most of my life hunting for better picture quality & higher frame rates. Compared to the average person I must've spent an unbelivable amount of time thinking about & observing picture quality & frame rate. Thus I have probably developed a skill for this.

--

[1] The training can be an implicit side-effect of other activities.

[2] Interestingly this is for video bitrate. The reverse is true for audio bitrate. My brother being a lifelong audiophile claims to hear the difference between even 320 kbps MP3 & FLAC.

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