Last night, at The Game Awards, Xbox chief Phil Spencer took to the stage for the official reveal of Microsoft’s new powerhouse successor to the Xbox One family of devices.
Previously code-named Xbox Scarlett, it’s official moniker has now been revealed, and it’s called – wait for it… Xbox Series X.
Doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue, so we may see it being referred to by an abbreviated name much like Sony and the PS4/PS5. They could go with the Xbox X although that could cause confusion with the One X, or maybe the XSX?
The design is also one that is sure to divide opinion. It follows the design cues from the One X, with the matte black finish and minimalist design, but the Series X looks to be a lot bigger than the current gen, having more in common with a mini-desktop PC than any console to date. If I had to describe it in one word, I’d go with monolithic.
By our estimates, if you lay the Series X on its side (which, thankfully, it can be), it will be slightly wider than the One X, but will be about four times thicker. It’s a beast, but considering the epic rumoured specs, this design philosophy is actually quite smart – after all, people have been building PC’s in this form-factor for decades.
As we know, Microsoft already announced current controllers and peripherals will be cross-compatible between Xbox One and Series X, however, they are releasing a new iteration of the controller too.
Slightly smaller than the current design, it has an added share button and a d-pad that mimics that of the Elite controller, with a rounded pad. It is the cross-compatibility that is the real star though. With peripherals costing more and more, the fact you can buy an expensive headset or controller and guarantee it will work beyond this generation is excellent news.
Release date is still listed as Holiday 2020, but we expect E3 to be the next major reveal for the Series X.
We can’t wait!
