New generation Xbox determined by three key factors: power, performance and backward compatibility. In a new article on the Xbox Wire website, the creators of the platform elaborated on each of them and told how exactly the Xbox Series X combines all these characteristics.
The most powerful Xbox console
Even in the early stages of the Xbox Series X, the team of Microsoft engineers came to the conclusion that it was simply obliged to create the most powerful gaming platform. This resulted in countless discussions about what exactly the so-called “power” should be. In past generations, this word was measured by graphic innovations: the transition from 8-bit architecture to 16-bit, from two-dimensional graphics to three-dimensional, from SD-resolution to HD-resolution, and finally the emergence of full-fledged 4K.
Today, players are increasingly demanding from game developers who work with a screen refresh rate of 60 frames per second. At the same time, the graphical shell and responsiveness of the control should remain at the most impressive level. Various teams around the world had to resort to interesting, creative solutions, such as dynamic resolution, allowing you to demonstrate a beautiful picture and not sacrifice performance for this. But ultimately, such techniques are just attempts to overcome the natural limitations of actual iron. With the advent of the Xbox Series X, the situation will completely change, says Microsoft. Games will not only look better, they will literally become nicer to play.
“Despite the huge leap in GPU performance and the availability of the most relevant and innovative graphics technologies, such as hardware support for ray tracing, we believe that the future generation of consoles will be determined by more than just graphics and resolution,” said Jason Ronald, one from senior Xbox managers.
Microsoft experts realized that they had to design a platform that could run games in 4K resolution at 60 frames per second without any compromises for their creators. But they didn’t stop at that, deciding to support a frame rate that was previously unheard of on console systems, namely 120 frames per second, which should benefit many competitive projects. Naturally, the preferences for resolution and the number of frames per second in each individual case are left to the discretion of the developers themselves, but the creators of the Xbox Series X needed the console to be able to equally support games of various levels: from large-scale blockbusters to competitive e-sports disciplines and innovative indie adventure.
To turn these aspirations into reality, Microsoft again turned for help to its long-standing partner in the person of AMD, with whom it has been working for 15 years, since the inception of the Xbox 360. According to Sebastian Nussbaum, AMD’s vice president, the Xbox Series X will turn into “a true platform for technical innovation.” In many respects, this will be connected precisely with the presence of a special 8-core processor, built on the Zen-2 foundation and the graphic architecture of RDNA 2.
All of these solutions will enable talented developers around the world to achieve unprecedented performance and create truly realistic and reliable gaming worlds – such as we have never seen before, says Microsoft.
“The Xbox Series X is the biggest leap in single-chip systems and software interfaces that have ever been built inside Microsoft. And we are very proud that AMD is a true partner in this initiative. The Xbox Series X will be a true technical innovation leader in this console generation and will give a serious impetus to the future of the DirectX ecosystem, both this year and in the foreseeable future, ”added Sebastian Nussbaum.
One of the most serious (and most noticeable to the average user) features of the Xbox Series X will be hardware support for technology ray tracinglibrary based Directxthanks to which the simulation of refraction and propagation of light in games reaches completely new heights. To visually show what is at stake, Microsoft published a special demo scene prepared by Clayton Water, technical director of the super popular sandbox Minecraft.
Switching in real time from conventional rendering to ray tracing, we can see how the technology being discussed transforms the seemingly simplest geometry. The density of shadows varies depending on the distance to the light source. Burning magma emits warm shades that are reflected on nearby surfaces. Even the moon has its own rays that penetrate the room through cracks in the wall and collide with particles floating through the air. The technology of ray tracing can fundamentally change how the Minecraft universe feels, allowing players to plunge into much more realistic and atmospheric worlds.
But the most incredible thing is how the light passes through transparent objects like glasses, adopting their own shades. However, perhaps the most dramatic changes in rendering can affect water. Now water can be displayed in a truly transparent substance that realistically interacts with a wide variety of light sources, refracting and reflecting its rays.
Minecraft with and without raytracing:
Continuing the Xbox Series X Power theme, Studio CTO The Coalition Mike Reiner explained exactly how this development team plans to adapt its current development Gears 5 under the system Xbox Series X. Engine Technology Demo Unreal engine, launched on the Xbox Series X with graphics settings equivalent to the ultra-quality PC version, only with even more impressive options: ultra-high resolution textures, enhanced clarity of volumetric fog and particle density increased by 50%.
But the changes do not end there: the opening cutscene now works in full 60 frames at 4K resolution, which ensures the most smooth transition from clips to the gameplay. Download time is significantly reduced, and individual graphic effects can now be fully utilized, for example, contact shadows (allowing better to convey the depth of objects) and self-shadowing effects on different vegetation, which makes the overall picture more realistic. Already now this Gears 5 build can be launched at 100 frames per second, and The Coalition is working to get 120 frames in multi-player project modes.. The most impressive moment of the whole demonstration is the fact that the studio took only a few weeks to do all the porting and optimization work.
Microsoft has confirmed that the Gears 5-enhanced Xbox Series X action will be available immediately on the launch day of the new console through the Smart Delivery system, which allows you to purchase access to all of its future improved versions once you purchase the game..
Improving immersion and learning to love speed
The next important aspect of the Xbox Series X is its speed, which you can try to measure in several ways at once. Modern technology has forced the company to change the usual understanding of how quickly you can switch between different applications. Nobody wants to wait for the extra minutes, everyone is interested in returning to the game faster or continuing their adventures. Based on this, Microsoft engineers decided to design the console so that players spend as little time as possible waiting and spend as much time as possible directly in games.
Thanks for that, it is worth saying solid state drive (SSD). Traditional hard drives already exhausted almost all available limits, and the decision to switch to SSD was simply necessary, especially considering the plans for the Xbox Series X. A lot of work was done in this regard, but the Xbox team did not want the upload / download speed to be reflected exclusively on how quickly games start.
Thus, architecture was created Xbox Velocity, which is a synthesis of software and hardware, thanks to which, according to Microsoft, it was a real revolution in matters of downloading game data. In fact, the company says, it offers something that has never been available in the console before – instant access to 100 gigabytes of virtual memory that all developers can use. All components of the architecture of Xbox Velocity are used in such a way that to a large extent reveal the potential of physical memory, which, in turn, literally completely reverses the usual ideas about games.
“The CPU is the brain of the new console, the GPU is its heart. And the Xbox Velocity architecture is its soul. Thanks to this technology, you will get more than fast downloads. This is one of the most innovative aspects of our gaming system. It can bring real revolutionize how games are created. Giant, incredibly detailed game worlds await us with Xbox Velocity“, – is talking Andrew Goossen, Microsoft Technical Specialist.
First of all, changes will affect projects with large-scale open worlds that offer wide freedom of action and a freely changing pace of the game process. Titles such as Final Fantasy XV, Assassin’s Creed Odyssey and Red Dead Redemption 2 determined what open-world games can be on this generation of consoles.
And to make such game universes more dynamic, impressive, detailed, you need iron, which can load all the necessary assets as quickly as possible so as not to destroy the effect of presence (for example, as long trips by elevators do, or long empty tunnels, which often mask boot screens). At the same time, a new generation of talented specialists will have the opportunity to almost completely get rid of loading screens and create quick movement systems that will be quick not only in words.
But you can not talk about speed and not mention the delay in management.
“Players who are interested in e-sports disciplines most often require the most accurate, responsive control. We decided to carefully consider the entire map of interaction with the game: from pressing a button on the gamepad and processing the signal with the console to display the final frame on the screen. And along this way we tried to identify absolutely every opportunity to at least a little, but to reduce the delay, thus giving the players the best feeling, “continues Andrew Goossen.
To do this, the Xbox team began work on Dynamic Latency Input (DLI) technology, and also made some improvements to HDMI 2.1., Namely, game-oriented solutions, such as support for 120 Hz, automatic activation of low latency mode and a smart system for determining the update speed screen frequency. Microsoft has also partnered with leading television manufacturers to ensure that the current ecosystem of displays is ready for the Xbox Series X to bring.
If you look at the above technologies separately, it will not be easy to notice their impact on the overall user experience, but when they work together, the result gives a much more responsive control.
And, of course, you can not fail to mention the reduction in download time, which has become a reality thanks to the processing power of the Xbox Series X.
In addition, the creators of the console implemented the quick access technology, which was already described earlier. Now you can freely continue your favorite project from the moment where you left off at the last game session. However, the average player launches from three to four different games per month. And Microsoft was important to let you quickly and easily switch between them. Thanks to the quick access function, you can access several games at once by pressing just one button, bypassing the need to restart them or wait for some download.
All your progress will be stored directly on the SSD, which means that if you turn off the console, disconnect it from the network, install a large-scale system update on it, then you can equally successfully launch your game in the exact area where you last time and closed. For example, one of the Microsoft testers – for a whole week he did not use his Xbox Series X, then launched the console, updated it, and then was able to continue to play the game he was interested in without encountering loading screens.
Backward compatibility steps into a new generation
The third and final pillar on which the Xbox Series X is based is backward compatibility. Throughout the Xbox One era, the Xbox team has repeatedly demonstrated a passion for creating the most compatible and open gaming library. Gamers and their favorite games are the most important thing. The developers say that they themselves are ardent enthusiasts, they have their favorite series, their favorite projects, and they want to return to them again and again, even if the technologies and the process of creating games do not stand still.
“User feedback on Phil Spencer’s announcement of backward compatibility with the Xbox 360 at E3 2015 is one of the highlights of my Xbox career,” admits Jason Ronald.
Starting to work on a new generation console, the team immediately realized that it needed to strengthen its position in the direction of backward compatibility. So, having made all his efforts, using both iron solutions and software, Microsoft has been able to ensure that thousands of games with the Xbox One, Xbox 360 and the original Xbox will work in even better shape.
Of the obvious advantages that you can wait for are increased startup and loading speeds of the games themselves for backward compatibility, a more stable frame rate, higher resolution and overall picture quality. At the same time, Microsoft emphasizes that it is not going to stop there and will continue to work on new techniques and techniques that will ultimately allow it to continue to consistently make improvements to the work of classic projects of the past on the Xbox Series X.
Gears of War: Ultimate Edition on the Xbox Series X:
“We are so involved in the idea of backward compatibility and cross-platform experience that our initiative will affect not only games. Switching to the Xbox Series X, you can use the accessories you bought earlier, as well as transfer all your progress and save files,” the material says.
“We also worked out a system that allows you to enjoy cross-platform multiplayer and always have access to previously purchased games through the Smart Delivery system, which we also talked about earlier. And that’s not all. The Xbox Series X is the fastest, most powerful console in the family The Xbox we’ve ever worked on, and we created it, keeping in mind the most important thing is your impressions. We hope that this detailed look at some technical and design solutions answered some of your questions and allowed us to add a certain impression about what’s waiting for you this Christmas season, when the Xbox Series X goes on sale. ”
Additional information from other materials:
- As previously reported, the Xbox Series X comes with a custom 1TB SSD drive (NVME) with data rates from 2.4 to 4.8 GB / s. Internal memory can be expanded with SSD cards up to 1 TB. Such will be produced by Microsoft in collaboration with Seagate. The physical dimensions of these cards are roughly comparable to those of Nintendo Switch cartridges.
- External HDDs can also be connected to the Xbox Series X, but they will only be used to back up existing games and run games from previous generations of Xbox using a backward compatibility program.
- The gamepad received an updated cross and a Share button. It remembers which devices it was connected to, as a result of which players will be able to switch from one device to another as quickly as possible (if there is such a need, and it can arise, for example, if you use one gamepad when playing on Series X, PC and for the cloud xCloud service on mobile gadgets).
- Microsoft claims that on the Xbox Series X, games from older generations of the Xbox will look better, even if the developers did not release special patches. The system will automatically be able to raise the rendering resolution to 4K – both in games with Xbox, Xbox 360 and Xbox One. In addition, thanks to a special algorithm, the Xbox Series X will be able to add HDR effects to SDR games.
See also: Overview of Animal Crossing: New Horizons.
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