With The Switch Almost Here, The Graphical Focus Of Microsoft's Scorpio Already Feels Outdated

Considering that the Nintendo Switch is almost upon us with its focus on functional variety, can console gaming really support another graphical powerhouse like Microsoft’s Scorpio?

Set for release this summer, Microsoft’s Scorpio is already being touted as a big step up in terms of graphical potency for console gaming. When it was covered by Microsoft back in June of last year, the main emphasis on this new console was the increase in its graphical prowess.

The two problems with this are that games are something you play rather than simply watch and that we are already at capacity when it comes to big budget games.

This is because the real limitation on gaming is no longer technical but budgetary. We have already reached a point in the development of games where increases in cost are primarily spent on art resources and the resultant complexities of game production. In short, the logistics of building a game and creating all the necessary visual assets on modern gaming hardware has reached an unsustainable point.

This is why Nintendo’s focus on the Switch is more about what the console can offer functionally rather than just its graphics. This in turn forces an upper limit on game development expenditure and gives a much-needed fiscal reality check for publishers.

The Scorpio’s focus on graphics then feels very much at odds with the survival of console gaming itself.

Don’t forget that it was Microsoft’s blockbuster AAA approach on the 360 thatresulted in the loss of 80% of the game developers we had in the West. So what does the Scorpio actually offer gaming? Better visuals often don’t make games play any better and makes them functionally very standardized. Not to mention that the inevitable increase in production budgets to leverage this new graphical potency will likely destroy what remaining game studios we have left.

Compared to the upcoming Switch, the Scorpio only offers a dead end in terms of gaming. Games are about what you do and not just what you see. Considering how fragile console gaming is currently and the shrewd functional focus of the Switch, the Scorpio really feels at odds with the long-term survival of the medium.

Just a copy/paste, but i found it very interesting to discuss.

Thoughts?

I disagree and agree it is strange. I think it is dead end, but not for the reason the article sites. I think Nintendo approach is fine, and will put that part of the article aside for a second, but Microsoft issues isn't just hardware powerhouse, it is more software front. 

I keep saying the Scorpio is pointless. Microsoft is just dick measuring with Sony.

Console gaming isnt dying. Microsoft is.

Microsoft in consoles is not dying and neither is consoles overall.

That is the issue in a nutshell. Sony at least tries to grasp software output so they get wonderful pass, even when I feel mid generations upgrades are not really necessarily, but Sony like Nintendo tries to put out software output to match hardware output (Focused on exclusive offerings). 

Didn't they bash the switch for being too weak?

PS4 Pro is proof that people are not going to run and buy a revision of a system just because the system is more powerful. I mean, I bought one, but when I say people I mean the masses, not the gaming enthusiast. Anyways, I don't see the scorpio or the pro as a bad thing, I buy graphics cards that are more expensive cause I like the best performance possible and there are a lot of people like that. However, so far the implementation is not good enough.

So, why does he talk about costs on Scorpio exactly when it will get XBO games just with higher settings, something which is already there like you see on PC.

It will also probably support some VR system(s). That is an addition to "how a game feels".

yeah, let's just all forget that Microsoft was the pioneer in creating a true online console gaming experience and pushing the idea of a console being a media center.

They also pushed the X86 architecture in a console, which we see the benefits with making porting games between PC/PS4/One a lot easier. That and making the 360 controllers compatible with PCs helped the PC getting a ton more games that would have stayed on consoles otherwise, revatilizing the platform.

Oh yeah, and the Xbox live arcade. They basically created the whole "indie" image, an industry that the PS4 and the Switch are riding on right now.

And what about Halo? Being one of the games that helped created e-sport

I'm not saying they are perfect, but they clearly changed a lot of things and had a huge part in shaping today's gaming industry.

yes now they are lackin in first party games, yes the scorpio should not just be about better graphics. But who says it is? Microsoft has clearly proven over the years that they want to innovate on every levels. So give them a chance to present scorpio and its games before trying to take them down...