Let’s take a look at the new Xbox One X console, 6 teraflops is better than 4.2

Last night Microsoft finally pulled the veil from its long anticipated response to the PlayStation 4 Pro, would the Project Scorpio be as big as a Learjet and include twenty small children with fans to keep it cool? As it transpired, that is a resounding, no. But the name and the first look at the console was shown.

The Xbox One X, as it is now known, will be released on November 7, 2017. Retailing at a confirmed US price of $499, no UK or EU price point has been announced just yet. But if it’s anything like the original Xbox One launch price point, expect it to be between £429 to £449… or thereabouts.

Let’s face it, it’s not steep… neither is it cheap. But Phil Spencer did say Project Scorpio was going to be a ‘Premium console’. As a result, I cannot say I am too surprised. I do wish it was priced a smidgeon more competitively, however.

Not only was the final name for the console announced, Microsoft also showed us what it looks like, the specs of the machine, as well as teasing some games running on the console. Let’s get back to the console though. How big is it, what does it comprise of and most importantly does it change gaming as we know it?

On first impressions it initially looks smaller than the Xbox One S. Microsoft also highlighted this, stating that the Xbox One X was indeed the smallest Xbox console to date.

The specs of the console are pretty considerable, definitely not to be scoffed at. The essentials are thus:

• Six teraflops
• Twelve gigabytes of GDDR5 RAM
• 326 GB/S of bandwidth
• True 4K
• Eight million pixels
• HDR
• Premium Dolby Atmos
• Wide Colour Gamut
• 4K UHD BluRay drive

It all seems pretty incredible for a gaming console, does it not? For comparisons sake, if you were to compare to a PC graphics card, there are more teraflops than every other gaming graphics card barring the Nvidia GTX 1080. That’s a lot of flopping.

The RAM (random access memory) has received a considerable boost, from eight gigabytes DDR3 (8GB DDR3) on the original Xbox One (with Kinect) console, jumping up to a mammoth twelve gigabytes (12GB) of GDDR5 ram. That’s four gigs more, and faster RAM to boot! 

We’ll keep tuning Scorpio to empower creators to share the best versions of their games. Unlocked extra GB of RAM for them, now 9GB of GDDR5

— Mike Ybarra (@XboxQwik) June 8, 2017

With NINE gigabytes of this available to games developers to harness however they see fit, things are beginning to look particularly exciting for the console generation as a whole.

The world also got its first look at the retail box the console comes in, as well as an example of game box art. Everything looks pretty nice, and professional. Minimalism is key here.

On paper then, everything looks pretty spectacular, but will it actually turn the tide this generation in favour of the Xbox One console family? 

Let’s be realistic, probably not. Whatever happens, the unveiling of the actual console is great for gamers of either console camp. With the addition of another 4K capable console to the market, developers will be encouraged to push both the Xbox One X and the PlayStation 4 Pro to their respective limits… in theory. 

Not long till November now.