On the Inner Circle podcast, Xbox director Albert Penello talked in length about Xbox Scorpio, which is as Microsoft puts it, “thinking beyond console generations.” What they are referring to is the traditional cycle of a console having a lifetime of four to six years, then the company will update the hardware to allow for more technical innovation.
The transition from Xbox 360 to the Xbox One has been “disruptive” as he puts it. It had effected gamers and developers equally. With the Scorpio, they look to incorporate the Scorpio as a part of the “Xbox family”, meaning that your extra peripherals are able to come along for the ride.
Penello had this to say when speaking about the next step for Xbox:
You hear us talking about thinking beyond console generations. It’s not the idea that you don’t want to do consoles anymore or that there’s not going to be more performance. But if you go back and look at console generations, they’re always super exciting when something new comes out, but they’re super disruptive. They’re really hard on developers, because they have to learn how to program on these new machines; they’re really hard on customers, which I think sometimes people forget. You have to give up a lot of stuff.
As Anthony Wright reported on last month, the idea is that the Scorpio will be the most powerful console on the market, and the entire platform will now support multiple consoles with different specifications, something that PC gaming has been doing for decades now. As a consumer, you will have the power to purchase a console that makes most sense for your needs, both fiscally and gaming performance. Your controllers and cameras will seamlessly work between each of the three consoles.
With consoles looking to add longevity to their consoles, it will be interesting to see how the competition reacts. No longer will computer gaming be the only modular device on the market. What comes after that is anyone’s guess. Phil Spencer says he might have few ideas, though.