In the face of PS4 Pro, Microsoft maintains that Xbox 'Scorpio' is 'most powerful console ever made'

The difference in power between the upgraded Xbox One and PS4 will be 'obvious' to consumers.

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Xbox senior director of product management Albert Penello told IGN that Microsoft has nothing to fear following Sony's reveal of PlayStation 4 Pro yesterday.

"We were very confident when we made the announcement. It was kind of a bold thing to say, given the rumors that were out there. And I’m more confident today that we’re going to have the most powerful console ever made."

Penello went on to declare that Microsoft has been one step ahead of Sony as of late, and will stay ahead as competition heats up. For instance, neither PS4 nor PS4 Pro have a 4K Blu-Ray player—an odd omission, given that Sony was one of nine companies responsible for creating the technology. Xbox One S does, and, presumably, so will Xbox Scorpio.

"I think for $299 the Xbox One S with 4K Blu-Ray, with HDR, with the upgraded controller with Bluetooth, and the new design, I think we’ve got a killer product that beats their PS4 Slim on the low end."

To be fair, not much separates Xbox One S and PS4 Slim, launching next week for $300, in terms of hardware. Sony will push out a firmware patch next week that adds support for HDR to all PS4 models, putting standard PS4 and PS4 Slim on even footing with Xbox One S.

One area where Microsoft may compete is higher framerates. While the company has yet to unveil Scorpio and disclose its hardware specs, many publishers have said that titles new and old will run at 30 frames per second on both PS4 and PS4 Pro, even though Pro's beefier hardware allows developers to hit a steady 60fps in many cases.

It's likely that publishers are aiming for a steady 30fps on PS4 Pro to even the playing field. Both Sony and Microsoft are stressing that their respective console upgrades are not new consoles, but upgrades to this generation's boxes. While there will be advantages to buying PS4 Pro or Xbox Scorpio, both manufacturers assure consumers that every game released for upgraded hardware will work on older models.

"We think about [Xbox One and Scorpio] as part of the same family," Penello said. "All of your existing Xbox One games and accessories will work. Your Xbox One games will look better on Scorpio. And I believe we will have a very good story for customers for both upgrading their content and how the cross-compatibility between the two products works. Every game that you’re buying this holiday for Xbox One and Xbox One S is going to work on Scorpio, no problem. Out of the box."

Long Reads Editor

David L. Craddock writes fiction, nonfiction, and grocery lists. He is the author of the Stay Awhile and Listen series, and the Gairden Chronicles series of fantasy novels for young adults. Outside of writing, he enjoys playing Mario, Zelda, and Dark Souls games, and will be happy to discuss at length the myriad reasons why Dark Souls 2 is the best in the series. Follow him online at davidlcraddock.com and @davidlcraddock.

From The Chatty
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      September 8, 2016 2:56 PM

      I would hope so, given that it's a year or more away and will probably cost more than $399.

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      September 8, 2016 5:06 PM

      Is this the same Microsoft that was yelling power isn't everything when these consoles launched, or am I imagining that? Admittedly my memory is fuzzy and I can't be fussed to look it up.

      Either way I own a PS4 and I don't plan on investing in a TV that can make use of all those k's. Most of my gaming is done on PC (because I can get close enough to read the text). I am happy enough with 1080p that this isn't enough of a bump to make another $400 worth it for me personally.

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        September 8, 2016 5:22 PM

        I don't think it's the same people running xbox that were at launch.

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          September 8, 2016 10:16 PM

          Yeah, I think the original guy in charge was replaced.

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        September 8, 2016 7:16 PM

        [deleted]

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        September 9, 2016 1:05 AM

        I think MS argued more that there wasn't a power difference between the two rather than power didn't matter.

        Eventually when they had to admit there was a power difference they kinda said it didn't matter, in fairness the power different wasn't that big anyway in terms of CPU differences and TFLOPS.

        I think things are going to get stupid though with the PS4 Pro and XB Scorpio and will be even worse than the dumb 1080p debates.

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          September 9, 2016 2:45 AM

          The ps4/xb1 tflops ratio is almost exactly the scorpio/ps4pro tflops ratio, to add to the hilarity.

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        September 9, 2016 7:23 AM

        [deleted]

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        September 9, 2016 8:27 AM

        Under new management now. Phil Spencer is trying to steer the XBoX One ship back in the right direction, which means there'll probably be contradictions between what was said then and what is being said now.

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      September 8, 2016 5:21 PM

      It's gonna be yuuuuuge

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        September 8, 2016 5:24 PM

        Also that's an interesting spin on being a year behind on an upgraded console and an indeterminate amount of time before VR capability

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        September 8, 2016 5:44 PM

        Xbox is huge

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      September 8, 2016 5:29 PM

      [deleted]

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      September 8, 2016 7:26 PM

      Joke's on them when the NX comes out.

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        September 8, 2016 8:22 PM

        It'll be something if it pars with the ps4 pro

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      September 8, 2016 7:41 PM

      Ok, microsoft, time to release those sell throughs of *both* machines, and the skorpio has not been released yet so you can claim whatever you want.

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      September 8, 2016 8:48 PM

      i find it funny microsoft and sony brag about the hardware when you know its amd thats doing the grunt work

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        September 8, 2016 10:31 PM

        I wonder if AMD would even exist anymore if not for these contracts. It doesn't seem like they sell a ton of CPUs anymore.

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          September 8, 2016 10:35 PM

          They still sell a ton of CPUs and APUs to low end laptop makers.

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            September 8, 2016 10:37 PM

            Yeah but that is a pretty low margin business I'd imagine. I'm not privy to any real numbers but just anecdotally I never hear anyone going out of their way for an AMD processor.

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              September 8, 2016 10:39 PM

              My main game box still has the FX-8320 Black edition. Not the fastest, but a workhorse.

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      September 8, 2016 11:48 PM

      And still less powerful than the PC I built a year ago.

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      September 9, 2016 8:26 AM

      I just wonder how much it'll cost and how much longer till it gets released....

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      September 9, 2016 5:37 PM

      Did you know that the PC 0wns them both? Also, did you know that the console is basically an under-powered PC? Did I just blow your mind?

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