MICROSOFT CLAIMS
IT WILL SUPPORT
8K GAMING AT UP
TO 120FPS, WITH
RAY TRACING FOR
REALISTIC LIGHTING
£tbc / xbox.com
Crumbs, is... is that a new console?
Yes indeed. This windowless black
tower is ironically from Microsoft.
It’s the Xbox Series X, it arrives
this year and absolutely nobody
saw it coming... except everyone
who knew the PlayStation 5
was on its way and immediately
put two and two together. If the
design’s giving you vertigo, don’t
fret – it’ll work on its side too,
although insufferable geeks
reckon that’ll make it the same
height as the Xbox One X but
double the width, so either way
the real winner here is Ikea.Will it beat the PS5 for power?
Specs are scarce, but AMD is on
processor/graphics duty and it
will use rapid GDDRG memory. Far
more exciting is Microsoft’s claim
that the Series X will support 8K
gaming at up to 120fps with a
variable refresh rate. There’s also
a built-in solid state drive (SSD)
for super-fast loading times and
support for everyone’s favourite
renegade cop... sorry, graphics
rendering buzz term, ray tracing.
This simulates lighting in the most
realistic way yet, so environments
look true to life – because beingreminded of the real world is what
everyone wants when playing
video games. Sony’s PS5 is
expected to go pretty much
toe to toe in the specs stakes,
although leaked benchmarks
suggest the Series X wins
by 12 teraflops to 9 (with a
teraflop measuring theoretical
performance). The important part
is they’ll both play FIFA.Any other titles for online players
to embarrass us on?
Well, we know Halo Infinite is in
development, along with Senua’s
Saga: Hellblade II. The Series X will
also support games that play on
the previous-generation Xbox
One consoles. Old controllers
will work too, although the new
console will come bundled with
slightly smaller new gamepads
featuring the hybrid D-pad from
the Xbox Elite controller, along
with a dedicated share button.Any more for any more?
Xbox boss Phil Spencer says
VR will not feature when the
Series X hopefully arrives in time
for Christmas, priced at around
£400 to £500.XBOX SERIES X
ICON