Inside the next Xbox: Project Scorpio tech revealed • Hacker News Board

Re: Inside the next Xbox: Project Scorpio tech revealed

#51

Post by zaroth » Thu, Apr 06, 2017, 4:53 PM UTC

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 steaming pile of trash.

Everything from initial setup trying to make accounts for the kids, to setting up payment methods, trying to switch between users constantly as things are authorized in one place or another, trying to install apps, constantly turning it on to find its forcing an hour of updates that must be installed to basically unbrick it. The media player app is insultingly bad. The App Store is a wasteland. The UI is a total train wreck.

I went to install Amazon's app to stream some Prime shows last week. You would think probably some other people have tried to do this before, what could go wrong? What a mistake. App constantly crashing, took over an hour, including power cycling the Xbox twice before I get it to the point where I was actually watching a show. This for what is a Every time I try to do anything with that infernal machine, I just end up tearing my hair out. I really don't understand how they have millions of users and so much basic shit Just Doesn't Work.

And don't get me started on the UI..... Everything I want to do buried the absolute maximum amount of clicks away from where I would expect to look for it.

I try not to complain about it usually because it just gets my blood boiling how could MS put out such absolute garbage? Please tell me I'm not alone in feeling this way :-)

The hardware rat race is great and all, but for a platform where they have Apple-esque control I would have expected two orders of magnitude better results than what MS has managed to deliver in 2017 for a living room experience.

Re: Inside the next Xbox: Project Scorpio tech revealed

#52

Post by simonswords82 » Thu, Apr 06, 2017, 5:08 PM UTC

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'…

Yeah so that's a good point about game availability. I only installed Steam on the Mac to play Kerbal Space Program! Every now and then I'll have a flick through the titles available but nothing there grabs me. As a result, I've never bothered plugging it in to the TV to have a play in Big Pic mode.

Re: Inside the next Xbox: Project Scorpio tech revealed

#53

Post by brosky117 » Thu, Apr 06, 2017, 5:14 PM UTC

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…

100%.

The UI is insanely difficult to use. I frequently find myself wondering how to do the most basic tasks.

If it weren't for Halo, I'd be gone a long time ago.

Re: Inside the next Xbox: Project Scorpio tech revealed

#54

Post by notyourwork » Thu, Apr 06, 2017, 5:16 PM UTC

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…

I agree and I regularly miss the blade dashboard from long ago. Every update keeps making it more and more difficult and intuitive.

When you don't have a mouse or a touch screen, putting things in non-linear places makes extremely difficult to navigate to. I find myself regularly going down and over and up and around. Almost circling things to select them.

Old gaming menus were horizontal or vertical but not both at the same time.

Re: Inside the next Xbox: Project Scorpio tech revealed

#55

Post by [deleted] » Thu, Apr 06, 2017, 5:16 PM UTC

snuxoll wrote: post #44

nightski wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Actually it feels like the trend you are starting to see is that AAA studios can't even keep up (aka Mass Effect Andromeda, and other recent high profile releases). The graphics burden just seems too high that everything else suffers. But it's not all bad. I feel like, especially on the PC, smaller indie studios have been flourishing and some of the best games in recent times are not AAA nor graphical powerhouses.

> Actually it feels like the trend you are starting to see is that AAA studios can't even keep up (aka Mass Effect Andromeda, and other recent high profile releases). The graphics burden just seems too high that everything else suffers. The problem with Andromeda was animations, not AAA graphical fidelity. I don't think many people are unhappy with the current level of flashy effects, we're mostly just looking at hig…

[deleted]

Re: Inside the next Xbox: Project Scorpio tech revealed

#56

Post by __david__ » Thu, Apr 06, 2017, 5:19 PM UTC

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'…

Big picture mode is OK, but plugging my laptop into the TV and launching steam is a multi-step process, esp. compared to just pressing the playstation button on the playstation controller (everything's already hooked up, it just comes on).

I also have a gaming PC hooked to my TV and I run big picture mode on that. It's slick, but it's not as smooth as a console. The controller will wake up the computer, but I have to hit the button twice (once to initiate the wake-up and once to connect the controller, which fails to connect on the first press because the computer isn't awake yet) and then there's a 50/50 chance that the controller won't let me get past the windows 10 login screen.

The console is an appliance made for running games, and the whole experience is so much smoother.

Re: Inside the next Xbox: Project Scorpio tech revealed

#57

Post by e40 » Thu, Apr 06, 2017, 5:21 PM UTC

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…

I once tried to use the XBox360 and it wanted me to verify the account before I could update, which took me into a hell that I wouldn't emerge from for 2+ hours. At the end, I was so upset at the BS I had to put up with (including >30 minutes on the phone with their support), I was ready to throw the machine out the window.

Re: Inside the next Xbox: Project Scorpio tech revealed

#58

Post by [deleted] » Thu, Apr 06, 2017, 5:27 PM UTC

kbenson wrote: post #33

snuxoll wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> If you own a PS4 or an X1 and the money to buy a PS4 Pro or Scorpio, it seems like the best move is to buy the upgrade of the platform you don't have. Then you've got access to both platforms' exclusives, and at least one new-spec machine for the games that aren't exclusive. As someone who owns both consoles, after seeing the lack of enthusiasm at the PS4 Pro launch event I decided to hold off until Scorpio specs b…

> From here on out, expect new hardware every couple years that will be compatible with your existing library So, basically a computer, but limited, and a lower bar to entry. I understand the use case for those that might not have a traditional computer or a very old one, but presumably everyone here would be better served by either shelling out an extra $100-$200 every couple years for a better video card in their l…

[deleted]

Re: Inside the next Xbox: Project Scorpio tech revealed

#59

Post by __david__ » Thu, Apr 06, 2017, 5:31 PM UTC

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…

Yeah, I have a nice 4K tv and I still think 4k is a bit of a red herring. I even moved my couch a foot closer. The only thing I noticed is that I can now distinguish between 720p and 1080p where I couldn't on my old 1080p tv.

I think 4k is more important on 25" to 30" computer monitors that are perched just a couple feet away. I'm not convinced it makes a difference on a wall mounted TV.

I think the more exciting bits of progress are the wide color gamut and HDR.

Re: Inside the next Xbox: Project Scorpio tech revealed

#60

Post by to3m » Thu, Apr 06, 2017, 5:32 PM UTC

kbenson wrote: post #42

snuxoll wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You're not exactly wrong, but you're not 100% right either. Consoles have one thing that PC's don't, a streamlined experience tailor made for your TV. People do more than just play games on a console, they stream Netflix, interact with their friends through sharing videos and clips, listen to music on their home entertainment system that's already connected to the TV. Valve has been trying REALLY hard to get to this…

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.