Rumor: Xbox "Lockhart" specs leaked, is $300

[Mr Puggsly]

goopy20 said:

Mr Puggsly said:

Your first is paragraph is wrong. There are games that actually have increased graphics settings on Pro and X1X. Its not just resolution and performance. They vary and some might be small, but they exist.

Some games actually increase graphics settings like textures, shadows, draw distance and other settings if you're using a premium console. 1st party X1X games for example tend to have increased visual settings and/or better textures than base X1.

Ray tracing isn't necesarily a crucial feature and many games may not use it because it can be very demanding. Next gen consoles might also use advanced image reconstruction techniques which make low resolutions look significantly higher. Developers have a lot of new options in the coming gen. Even something like ray tracing can be adjusted to be less demanding, as can many effects. Series S could lower visual settings to keep resolution higher if developers feel they should.

It's certainly possible Series S could have content in the ballpark of 720p if developers are really pushing PS5 and Series X GPUs hard. But as you pointed out, it would likely be exceptional visuals as was RDR2 for the 8th gen. Dynamic resolution has also been a great feature to keep image quality sharper.

I don't know man. I kinda expect all next gen games to have exceptional visuals and Ray Tracing to become the norm, especially when MS first announced the 12Tflops Series X. For me it would be perfect if both MS and Sony launched a high-end console at $599. Maybe that is expensive, but we live in a world where teenagers walk around with $1000 phones and if there is no cheap option, I'm sure they would still sell great if consumers clearly see the value from the start. We would get eye-ball-melting graphics and prices would go down a few years later anyway. 

I;m sure Lockhart will perform better than the X1X and I understand that Tflops don't tell the whole story. But isn't the gpu the most important part of a console and the last thing you want platform holders to cheap out on? Anyway you spin it, 4Tflops doesn't sound like a generational leap from say the 360 to ps4. It would be an incredibly unbalanced console where the gpu becomes a major bottleneck and no way in hell it could do Ray Tracing, which is one of the main reasons to get excited about next gen.

But on a positive note, I don't think Lockhart will be their base console and that it'll launch along side Series X. It's far more likely that it will come later as a Xcloud console. Since E3 got canned, MS will be doing a GDC livestream next week where they'll talk about things like Ray Tracing and their vision for next gen. As I've been ranting about for 2 weeks, Cloud gaming and GP will likely be MS's main focus for next gen.

Xbox Series X + Project xCloud = New Chapter in Gaming

https://developer.microsoft.com/en-us/games/events/gdc-2020

Frankly, I would be fine with $599 PS5 and Series X. However, that would probably just make Series S more successful early on at $299 and running the same games.

PS5 and Series X could be the lead platforms doing "eyeball melting graphics."  Even while doing that there are many visual settings that can be adjusted to perform well on 1/3 of the GPU power.

You say Lockhart's TF number isn't the whole story, then you compare it directly to 8th gen. The X1X virtually was a generational leap in GPU power, 5x over X1. Series S would be a massive upgrade over base 8th gen consoles in all specs.

Games with ray tracing tend to have quality settings. Hence, the simple solution is lowering resolutions and ray tracing quality if necessary for Series S. How many times do I need to repeat that same point?

Series S wouldn't be the platform you buy for the best graphics per se. It would be the one that plays the same games with visual compromises at a lower price. If adjusting resolution isn't enough or developers want a less compromised resolution, then they tweak visual settings as well.

That's the point of it. Series S would be a big upgrade over 8th gen in overall fidelity given its running 9th gen content. But at a modest price for lowered resolution and/or graphics settings.

I would also suspect Series S becomes the hardware utilized for xCloud.