Live data from Hacker News

Inside the next Xbox: Project Scorpio tech revealed

eurogamer.net

61–70 of 133 posts

Re: Inside the next Xbox: Project Scorpio tech revealed

#61
I hope this is more than just putting out 4k games. Most people don't have 4k TVs, and, very importantly, for those that do, most don't have a big enough one for how far away they sit.

I'm thinking of upgrading to a 65-inch OLED this year, and from my couch of about 10 feet away (maybe a hair closer), I won't be able to tell 1080p from 4k. And that's a pretty big TV!

I would much rather see Scorpio games at 1080/60 fps with more effects, more polygons and more complex lighting.

Re: Inside the next Xbox: Project Scorpio tech revealed

#62

I hope this is more than just putting out 4k games. Most people don't have 4k TVs, and, very importantly, for those that do, most don't have a big enough one for how far away they sit. I'm thinking of upgrading to a 65-inch OLED this year, and from my couch of about 10 feet away (maybe a hair closer), I won't be able to tell 1080p from 4k. And that's a pretty big TV! I would much rather see Scorpio games at 1080/60 f…

> I hope this is more than just putting out 4k games. Most people don't have 4k TVs, and, very importantly, for those that do, most don't have a big enough one for how far away they sit.

And don't have the bandwidth to download many gigabytes of forced game updates.

Re: Inside the next Xbox: Project Scorpio tech revealed

#63
post #25

Maybe I am completely off the marks here, and I'm sorry if this is off topic, but as someone who follows very closely what Apple is (or isn't?) doing in their Pro machines I am very curious how those specs compare to what everyone is asking for from Apple. The RAM is obviously low, fine, but it sounds like the CPU and GPU are significantly more capable than anything that Apple is shipping right now, and Microsoft wil…

Microsoft is running a custom SoC that is tailor-made to their platform, with shared memory, power delivery and internal communication channels for the CPU and GPU. This right away reduces a lot of costs you see in a traditional professional desktop, where you have a GPU with separate power requirements, dedicated VRAM, and all the hardware needed to communicate over PCIe on both sides. Not to mention the Xbox One us…

The Mac Pro was actually pretty well priced for what it was offering at launch. The price just has stayed constant and everyone else kept improving their hardware.

Re: Inside the next Xbox: Project Scorpio tech revealed

#64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Great shot, 17 years ago I predicted that within 10 years you would not be able to tell the real from the computer generated. This is the first screen shot that qualifies IMHO, because this comes damn close to looking real.

Unfortunately they didn't have a screenshot of Forza running at Ultra level settings, which is mentioned in the article as being achievable, because I think the line would be blurred even further.

I hope Ultra level settings add a fair bit b/c the aliasing on that screenshot is incredibly obvious everywhere but especially on the cables holding the starting lights and the barrier fences. It looks good but it isn't real by a long shot.

Re: Inside the next Xbox: Project Scorpio tech revealed

#65

I hope this is more than just putting out 4k games. Most people don't have 4k TVs, and, very importantly, for those that do, most don't have a big enough one for how far away they sit. I'm thinking of upgrading to a 65-inch OLED this year, and from my couch of about 10 feet away (maybe a hair closer), I won't be able to tell 1080p from 4k. And that's a pretty big TV! I would much rather see Scorpio games at 1080/60 f…

This must be highly subjective, because for me, 65" 4k tv 10' away is like night and day to me compared to 1080p

Re: Inside the next Xbox: Project Scorpio tech revealed

#66
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 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 happy if they could just bring the Xbone back to the level of usability that the 360 had. To their credit, they're getting there little by little in many ways. To their discredit, they shouldn't have to do that in the first place. MSFT had a working platform, but I'm guessing some PMs needed to make their mark, so they "improved" things by breaking them.

So I just play games on it, and watch the occasional Blu-Ray. That keeps the "aggravation footprint" to a minimum. Anything else I want to do is on the Apple TV. And when the next-gen consoles roll out, I'm going to be taking a hard look at what Sony has to offer.

Re: Inside the next Xbox: Project Scorpio tech revealed

#67
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…

I've got an old 360 with the original blade interface; unfortunately, it's pretty unstable (high chance of red-ringing while playing anything). I pulled it out of storage a couple years ago to get the serial number when MS was offering a free memory card for older machines.

The interface felt so nice to go back to! Things were logically organized! Ads only showed up in the store tab (i.e. when you're looking for things to buy anyhow)! Going back to the current interface on my replacement 360 is what pushed me to start playing with blocking the ads using router rules.

Re: Inside the next Xbox: Project Scorpio tech revealed

#68
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…

Honestly don't have any of the same experience as you except that some things are buried behind too many clicks. I use the amazon stream all the time. I don't even remember installing it. Can't remember ever having a problem installing apps.

I have it set to always on, so I basically never even notice the updates since they happen while I sleep or am at work. So yeah, I don't share your experience at all.

Re: Inside the next Xbox: Project Scorpio tech revealed

#69
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…

My #1 UX issue is that it makes me manually sign into my profile every time I turn it on, which is a clunky and overlong process, even though I only have one profile and I ALWAYS use it.

Re: Inside the next Xbox: Project Scorpio tech revealed

#70
post #44

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…

Animations are a big part of graphical fidelity. Games with lower-detail character models relied more on your mind to fill in the details as characters spoke or made facial expressions (I still remember an incredible scene in 2001's Anachronox where a character slowly smiles, conveyed with the motion of three vertices), but when you have a near-photorealistic rendering of a human face, the animation has to be up to standard. This is every bit a drain on art budgets as the modeling and textures.
Post reply on HN