So, I bought a Xbox One X...
...and here's a quick and dirty update to give my impressions of the Project Scorpio Limited Edition that arrived. Perfectly on time for the worldwide launch on 7th of November, 2017.
The first impression out of the box, is that it's quite a bit heavier than the S model. Same shape and size, impressively so, considering the vastly improved hardware inside. The weight isn't really a shock, they've crammed in a lot of power here! I highly approve the same minimalist and stylish design idea brought over from the One S. In fact, the two share a very alike appearance and the ability to be placed vertically or horizontally.
As mentioned, my version of the Xbox One X is the Project Scorpio Limited Edition, with a printed fade from black to grey across the length of the console. The Project Scorpio logo is printed on the front in green, this logo is also on the controller, which has black face buttons rather than coloured ones. Inside the box package is a vertical stand, but other than that, there's little else unique to this limited edition apart from the visual fade to grey theme and the box it came in.
The first impression out of the box, is that it's quite a bit heavier than the S model. Same shape and size, impressively so, considering the vastly improved hardware inside. The weight isn't really a shock, they've crammed in a lot of power here! I highly approve the same minimalist and stylish design idea brought over from the One S. In fact, the two share a very alike appearance and the ability to be placed vertically or horizontally.
As mentioned, my version of the Xbox One X is the Project Scorpio Limited Edition, with a printed fade from black to grey across the length of the console. The Project Scorpio logo is printed on the front in green, this logo is also on the controller, which has black face buttons rather than coloured ones. Inside the box package is a vertical stand, but other than that, there's little else unique to this limited edition apart from the visual fade to grey theme and the box it came in.
For those unaware, Project Scorpio was the codename for the Xbox One X project, rumoured also to be the name of the final product. It's cool to have a reminder of the Scorpio hype before launch with this specific edition. The normal XB1X has a plain black colour and includes a standard Xbox One black controller with coloured face buttons.
Swapping out your Xbox One or Xbox One S is super easy if you use an external harddrive: simply transfer all games, pre-download 4K assets prior to moving console and then transfer your profile via an option to the external HDD. Power down and simply reconnect it up again on this X model. Quick and easy.
Swapping out your Xbox One or Xbox One S is super easy if you use an external harddrive: simply transfer all games, pre-download 4K assets prior to moving console and then transfer your profile via an option to the external HDD. Power down and simply reconnect it up again on this X model. Quick and easy.
If you're new to the Xbox One family, well enjoy, you are about to get the best visual experience of all the unique games to the system, as well as the best version of multi platform games on console from now on.
What does the X do though? For starters, it's a huge power upgrade in the Xbox One family. Going from the One/One S, we're talking almost six times the GPU power, that's the graphics card, and an increased CPU to run games in native, or close to, 4K resolution. Four times the resolution of 1080p, but there's also a large increase in available memory, meaning better textures and more detailed environments in games.
What does the X do though? For starters, it's a huge power upgrade in the Xbox One family. Going from the One/One S, we're talking almost six times the GPU power, that's the graphics card, and an increased CPU to run games in native, or close to, 4K resolution. Four times the resolution of 1080p, but there's also a large increase in available memory, meaning better textures and more detailed environments in games.
One could almost consider it a new console generation entirely and one can wonder if distinct generations will fade out to more progressive hardware upgrades in the future, but that's a discussion for another day.
The One X is fairly steep priced, it's looking to aim for those customers who still want to play on consoles but want a share into the superior PC visuals. All Xbox One games run on both standard One and One S, with specific One X patches that enhance the games in numerous ways. Rest assured, all games can be played on all systems in the Xbox One family, it's just the visuals that separate the games running on the One X from the One/One S.
The One X is fairly steep priced, it's looking to aim for those customers who still want to play on consoles but want a share into the superior PC visuals. All Xbox One games run on both standard One and One S, with specific One X patches that enhance the games in numerous ways. Rest assured, all games can be played on all systems in the Xbox One family, it's just the visuals that separate the games running on the One X from the One/One S.
The first line-up of enhanced titles give us a indication that the visuals are right up there with the high/highest settings on current PC games, a treat for us console players that want to show off some pretty visuals on our Ultra High Definition TV's!
Older Xbox One games, that don't specifically receive a One X enhanced patch, will have forced v-sync, vertical syncronisation of the picture drawn for each frame, with more stable framerates and forced 16xAF texture filtering for clearer textures. Thus making even those older, same generation, titles look improved. Typically, games with framerate drops on One/One S should run smooth on the One X, thanks to the increase in hardware power.
Older Xbox One games, that don't specifically receive a One X enhanced patch, will have forced v-sync, vertical syncronisation of the picture drawn for each frame, with more stable framerates and forced 16xAF texture filtering for clearer textures. Thus making even those older, same generation, titles look improved. Typically, games with framerate drops on One/One S should run smooth on the One X, thanks to the increase in hardware power.
Backwards compatible games benefit strongly too. Some 360 games have even got One X specific patches that run them at 9 times the original resolution, making them look incredibly sharp! Including the aforementioned 16xAF and locked v-sync. Original Xbox games run at an increased resolution too, further boosting their visuals as they're two generations apart and need these benefits for modern UHD TV's.
Other than that, the One X is familiar territory. The exact saame menus as the other Xbox One family of hardware, controllers are the same and all your digital and physical games work on it. Included is also a UHD drive, just like the One S received, making it possible to use the console as a media hub for UHD Blu-Ray movies and 4K streaming services.
If you don't previously own a console from this generation, I would highly recommend going for this one, as it's the one built for the best visuals and equipped to handle the graphical upgrades for many years ahead. If you already own a One or One S then it's all about the question of your need for a 4K visual upgrade, or not. If you're an owner of a new 4K TV it's worth it to have the benefits!
Other than that, the One X is familiar territory. The exact saame menus as the other Xbox One family of hardware, controllers are the same and all your digital and physical games work on it. Included is also a UHD drive, just like the One S received, making it possible to use the console as a media hub for UHD Blu-Ray movies and 4K streaming services.
If you don't previously own a console from this generation, I would highly recommend going for this one, as it's the one built for the best visuals and equipped to handle the graphical upgrades for many years ahead. If you already own a One or One S then it's all about the question of your need for a 4K visual upgrade, or not. If you're an owner of a new 4K TV it's worth it to have the benefits!
Although, 1080p TV owners get a sweet and sharp supersampled picture on the One X. Supersampling takes the 4K picture and downscales it to 1080p, benfitting heavily from massively increased edge smoothing, a much more pleasant 1080p quality picture in other words.
All in all, an impressive and powerful piece of hardware from Microsoft, the most powerful console yet made, with a lot of focus on making older titles improved. Offering a lot of options regardless if you own a 1080p TV, a 4K one or even a 1440p PC monitor.
All in all, an impressive and powerful piece of hardware from Microsoft, the most powerful console yet made, with a lot of focus on making older titles improved. Offering a lot of options regardless if you own a 1080p TV, a 4K one or even a 1440p PC monitor.
There's a ton of games getting updates all the time to really sweeten the deal and with Microsoft's latest focus on making Xbox and PC players play together across platforms, even PC players looking into upgrading a gaming PC could benefit from buying this and setting it up with a monitor on a desk.
If power, super sharp resolution and graphics, plus great possibilities for going back to improving older generation titles is your thing, well, then I'd highly recommend the One X. Not only have they merely future proofed their console franchise with beefier hardware, but Microsoft have also gone the extra mile to let gamers upgrade their current Xbox favourite titles and let developers choose how to use the power the way that suits them.
If power, super sharp resolution and graphics, plus great possibilities for going back to improving older generation titles is your thing, well, then I'd highly recommend the One X. Not only have they merely future proofed their console franchise with beefier hardware, but Microsoft have also gone the extra mile to let gamers upgrade their current Xbox favourite titles and let developers choose how to use the power the way that suits them.
What a half generation upgrade!