Project Scorpio is Microsoft’s newest console. It was built with the idea of the developing technology in mind, which means that VR and 4K will run on it. Microsoft has gone as far as to say that this is the most powerful console ever created, is that true?
GameRant shares the Scorpio’s technical specifications and it's safe to say that they are more than impressive. The console has been supplied with eight 32 bit cores clocked to work on 2.3 GHz frequency. The graphical processor is composed of 40 units, each of them working at 1172Mhz frequency. This means that the graphical processor on Scorpio is more than four times more powerful than the one embedded in XBOX One.
ArsTechnica dwells deeper into the console’s hardware specifications. The Scorpio has been supplied with a 1TB hard drive, which has a 50% extended bandwidth. This means that information will load much faster, bringing shorter load times and allowing the console to keep a stable 4K resolution, without tearing and visual glitches. The increased HD and bandwidth is also welcomed by developers, who will have much more freedom in their work through the increased possibilities.
With the nearing of Scorpio’s release, one thing becomes inevitable and that is the direct comparison between the Scorpio and PS4 Pro. Forbes has a detailed article on the matter, covering all points important to both gamers and developers. Forza 6 has been updated to a 4K graphics and runs on the Scorpio with 60FPS, without any screen tearing and with a lot of free processing power to go. This means that the console will offer higher possibilities to developers when compared with the PS4 Pro. IT is expected that the Project Scorpio will be released at a price of $499, which is $100 more than the price of the PS4 Pro.
This could create big problems for Microsoft when trying to localize a market, but still nothing is sure, as the official price is expected to be revealed at E3. The best feature coming with the Project Scorpio is the backwards compatibility. Microsoft’s new console will allow for XBOX One and XBOX 360 games to be played on it, with some little exclusions. This is a strong selling point, since the PS4 does not offer any similar feature. In the end, buying a $100 more expensive console may pay-off in replaying old titles, or just purchasing older games. There is still no official release date for the Project Scorpio.