Microsoft Announces Xbox One S, Project Scorpio Gaming Consoles (engadget.com)

Details of Microsoft's rumored new console have dropped ahead of the company's conference at E3 tradeshow Monday. It appears the long-anticipated smaller and more powerful variant of company's current console is real. According to a leaked press render, Microsoft will be announcing the Xbox One S (where S stands for Slim) at the gaming event. The Xbox One S will be 40 percent smaller than the Xbox One, and pack in more powerful processing and graphics muscle. According to the render, the Xbox One S will come with a 2TB hard drive, and feature support for 4K video playback and High Dynamic Range. According to separate reports, the Xbox One S is likely to be priced at $399 for the 2TB variant. Update: 06/13 16:58 GMT by M : Microsoft has officially taken the wraps off the product. It will be available for purchase starting August. AnandTech has more details.Also at its event, Microsoft announced Xbox Play Anywhere. The Verge reports: It lets you buy participating cross-platform games once, and own them on both platforms. If you buy a game on Xbox One it will simply appear in your Windows 10 library, and vice versa, and your saved games, achievements, and other information will carry over between the two versions.Microsoft also unveiled "Project Scorpio", a high-powered Xbox One launching next year that is capable of supporting 4K content as well as virtual reality headsets. "We are creating more choice in your gaming experience than ever before," said Xbox chief Phil Spencer to open Microsoft's E3 conference. No word on its pricing yet.

Comments

Re:Alleged to be one of two new models

[DrXym]

Just because it does 4K doesn't mean it will support Bluray UHD. Supporting 4K could just mean more VRAM and support for HEVC in hardware. Supporting Bluray UHD means changing the drive to read 4-layer discs and other technical requirements which Microsoft might not feel so inclined to do when the main beneficiary is Sony.

It seems more likely that they'll toss in 4K support for streaming services and leave it at that.

Seattle Director's Rule

[tepples]

If your machine lacks an optical drive, and the best home Internet connection in your area is satellite or cellular with a cap on the order of 5 to 15 GB/mo, good luck carrying your console and a monitor into town every time you want to install a game, even if you aren't using online multiplayer. Many rural users are in this situation due to the DSL distance limit. And in Seattle, Washington, the Director's Rule requires a supermajority of nearby landowners to approve any construction, where failure to respond counts as a no vote, and vacant properties also count as a no vote.

Re:Seattle Director's Rule

[CastrTroy]

Why don't they partner with game shops (and walmart and other retailers) to put a computer in their store where you can load games onto a hard drive. Bring in a USB hard drive, enter your xbox live ID or scan a barcode that corresponds to your account. An encrypted copy of the game is put on the hard disk. You bring the hard disk home, and the game is copied onto the console and decrypted by the fact that it's connected to your account. You could probably even set up a system where-by digital games could be shared/sold between different accounts by deactivating the game on one person's account, and activating it on another person's account. That way you could just bring a hard disk full of games over to your friend's house, instead of having to cart around a bunch of discs.

Oculus Rift

[backslashdot]

The problem with trying to stuff augmented reality and VR down our throats this early is that the screen door effect is still very prominent. The only way to get rid of the screen door effect is to provide a 5K resolution display per eye. AR and VR will fail because they tried to bring it out too early.