In case you haven’t heard (in which case, where have you been?) Microsoft revealed more details on the successor to the Xbox One at E3 2019. Referred to as Project Scarlett, the versions are codenamed as Lockhart for the One S equivalent, and Anaconda for the powerhouse replacement for the One X, and we were given a few more titbits of information during the Microsoft E3 Briefing.
Project Scarlett has been designed to set a new bar for console power, speed and performance when it arrives Holiday 2020, with the much anticipated Halo Infinite appearing as a launch title. Scarlett will be powered by a custom-designed AMD Zen 2 processor with Radeon RDNA architecture, enabling features such as hardware accelerated ray-tracing (which makes lighting effects look really, really good), 8k capability, 120fps gameplay and ultra-low latency input.
Microsoft have committed to making the new console compatible with not only your gaming library, spanning four generations of Xbox, but also your accessories, which is huge news and will be welcomed by anyone who has made a significant investment in controllers, headsets and other peripherals.
On paper, Microsoft has announced a very similar specification to the next Playstation console but given their ambition to have ‘The Most Powerful Console… In The World’, it seems likely that they will do whatever they can to outdo Sony’s offering and keep that moniker.
However it pans out, Xbox and Playstation fans are all in for a treat when the next generation of consoles arrive.
