GC: And if you don’t own a 4K TV you’re not really going to see any benefit?
PS: Yeah… We specced Scorpio to be a great 4K console. The output of Scorpio is meant to be plugged into a 4K TV and we wanted to make sure the internal frame buffer of the Scorpio can support 4K. So that’s our target: 4K streaming and the power. So really, that’s the focus of us building the console – that is to build a great 4K console.
As people are moving to 4K TVs, I think this is great [points to Xbox One S] if you want to call it a 1K console. It obviously supports 4K video streaming, but from a game standpoint… if you’re looking to play 4K video games, games in 4K, Scorpio is what you should go buy.
GC: It’s just, when I think of what’s needed to justify buying a whole new console I feel it needs to be more than just a change in resolution. It needs to be something my mum, or any other disinterested party, will immediately notice and realise is a big step up.
PS: That’s right.
GC: And I’m not sure this necessarily sounds like that.
PS: And that’s why we’re going to have both in the market at the same time. It’s for exactly that reason. So people ask me: ‘Is this a generational change for a console?’ And I say this is part of the Xbox One family. If you like the way games look today the price point of an Xbox One today, or an Xbox One S this summer, is actually a great console for you. Because many people say, ‘You’ve announced Xbox One S and you’ve announced Project Scorpio – why would anyone buy an Xbox One S?’ And honestly the answer is pretty obvious…
GC: Because you don’t have an 4K TV!
PS: That’s right! It’s price and the capability that you have. And even if you had a 4K TV but you really just want to watch Netflix in 4K and you’re fine with the way the games look now, the Xbox One S is great value at 299, the lowest priced console on the market. It’s got a 4K UHD Blu-ray drive… Project Scorpio is for your core enthusiast who wants 4K gaming. And I’m not trying to sell everybody on Scorpio. We’re going to run the programme with both consoles in market, and I think there’s an audience for both of them.
GC: So say a developer came to you and said they wanted to use the power of Scorpio for something else. Maybe they wanted to drop the resolution to 1080p and use the processing power usually reserved for 4K to run advanced AI or graphical effects or whatever. Would you just tell them no?
PS: This is the discussion we’re starting with developers. The reason we’re announcing it now is so that we can have discussions about what developers want to do with the power. I can tell you the design point of Scorpio is to run a 4K gaming console.
GC: But if someone finds something clever they want to do with all that power, you won’t necessarily stop them?
PS: This gets a little bit more technical in that the box itself will always output a 4K signal. You can plug it into a HDTV as well, but if you plug it into a 4K TV the signal you’re gonna get is always gonna be 4K. So even if a developer decides that they don’t want a 4K frame buffer – say they want a frame buffer that’s a little smaller so that they can do some graphic techniques in that buffer – we’re gonna output a 4K signal, plugged into a 4K television.
How are Sony gamers gonna afford a 4ktv when they gotta rebuy ps3 remakes
I don't stan consoles, I cop what suits my style
