Xbox One X will complement the Xbox One S, says Microsoft director
The Xbox One X will add to Microsoft’s console family and complement the Xbox One S, a senior product director at the company has said.
Albert Penello told the UK News Centre that every title that gamers currently play on the Xbox One S will also run on the Xbox One X, extending the choice for gamers, while all cables and port locations are exactly the same.
The Xbox One X, the most powerful console ever made, will be released on November 7. Demand is high, with pre-orders for a special edition version selling out in days and breaking records.
The Xbox One S, which went on sale in August last year, is still very much part of the family, Penello said at an Xbox showcase event in London recently.
“Everything we have shown here today runs on Xbox One S and Xbox One X,” the Senior Director of Product Management and Planning at Microsoft said. “We are investing in a lot of new offers and bundles for the Xbox One S, so the Xbox One X is growing the family, not replacing what is already available.
“There are 100 launch titles for the Xbox One X and you may own some of them already. Forza 7 ships before the new console launches, and we have enhanced games that shipped last year. I feel great about the line-up of games.”
Download the Forza Motorsport 7 demo
The showcase event featured playable versions of some of the most eagerly-awaited games, including Sea of Thieves, Middle-earth: Shadow of War (which will also be released as a bundle with the Xbox One S), Assassin’s Creed Origins, Zoo Tycoon and PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds, plus many more.
Forza Motorsort 7 was also on show. The latest instalment of the popular racing franchise features more than 30 tracks and over 700 cars, including the largest collection of Ferraris, Lamborghinis and Porsches ever, and each one has been authentically recreated, inside and out.
In the most obvious example that Microsoft is equally focused on the Xbox One S, Forza 7 will be released on PC and Xbox One on October 3, with the Xbox One X version available a month later, when the new console launches.
The Xbox One S went on sale in August last year
It will run at 60 frames per second in 4K resolution with High-Dynamic Range on the Xbox One X, which offers 40% more power than rival devices. The six-teraflop engine and built-in supersampling gives gamers better textures, shorter loading times and smoother framerates, even on a 1080p TV, while players can record game clips in 4K at 60 frames per second and capture 4K screenshots.
It also means that the Xbox will improve any game played on it. More than 100 new and existing Xbox One titles will be enhanced for the Xbox One X. These include Halo 5: Guardians, Middle-earth: Shadow of War, Assassin’s Creed Origins, Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus, FIFA 18, PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds and Star Wars Battlefront II.
“We have made sure that the games you already have not only work on the new machine, but make them better,” Penello said. “Your games will load faster and look better, taking full advantage of the capabilities of the Xbox One X. It’s going to be great on 1080p televisions, but you don’t need a 4k TV to take advantage of the better graphics. We have built an extremely powerful console, and it’s also the smallest Xbox we have ever made.”
Everything you need to know about Mixer
Penello also showed off the new Xbox dashboard, which focuses on customisability and performance. Gamers can choose which links – to games, friends or streaming service Mixer, for example – to put on their homepage and navigating through the menus is quicker and easier.
“The new dashboard will be available in the coming months on Xbox One S and X. We have listened to customer feedback and moved a lot of things they wanted to the front.
“Moving around the homepage is now much quicker, while some items that were hidden are now front and centre. Xbox has always been at the forefront of online gaming; bringing Mixer to the front is testament to how powerful and popular broadcasting is today.
“It’s the fastest and most personal user interface we’ve ever made.”
The London showcase event also featured Age of Empires: Definitive Edition, the Xbox controller Design Lab and the special edition Minecraft Xbox One S console.