Xbox Series X: Microsoft reveals range of new details about console
Specs will allow for new features in addition to better performance, Xbox claims
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Your support makes all the difference.Microsoft has revealed a host of new details about the new Xbox Series X.
The next generation console has a wide variety of new hardware – from a custom processor to a new SSD for storage – that will allow for new features as well as upgraded performance, the company claims.
Among the features that will come to the new generation are "Quick Resume", which will hold games in a suspended state so players can jump straight into the game. Though the Xbox One already has a similar feature, it is limited to just one game.
It will also have support for 120 fps gaming, and raytracing for more realistic environments.
All of that is powered by a custom designed processor that sits at the centre of the console. It has four times as much processing power as an Xbox One, Microsoft said. It allows developers to use 12 teraflops of GPU performance: twice as much as the Xbox One X, and more than eight times as much as the original Xbox One.
"Xbox Series X delivers a true generational leap in processing and graphics power with cutting edge techniques resulting in higher framerates, larger, more sophisticated game worlds, and an immersive experience unlike anything seen in console gaming," wrote Xbox chief Phil Spencer in the announcement.
Microsoft also said that the new Xbox comes with a "next-generation SSD", with which it said "nearly every aspect of playing games is improved". "Game worlds are larger, more dynamic and load in a flash and fast travel is just that – fast," Mr Spencer wrote.
PlayStation has also stressed the importance of its SSD to the new PS5, leaning on it as probably the most discussed aspect of its new console. Neither has given enough detail to know which of the new storage systems will be faster.
Mr Spencer said that the console was currently being played by people within the company as part of its "Takehome" programme, and that it had shared the new information as part of a commitment to be "open and transparent". More details about the new console would be coming soon, he said.
"We can’t wait to share more details about the new Xbox with you in the coming months," he wrote.
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