Phil Spencer: XSX isn't being held back by Xbox One

[the-pi-guy]

Speaking to GamesIndustry, the Xbox boss called the idea of games being held back "a meme that gets created by people who are too caught up in device competition." Instead, Spencer points to the PC market, where games that are regularly touted as the most advanced versions across all platforms can also be played on lower-powered hardware:

"I just look at Windows", Spencer explained. "It's almost certain if the developer is building a Windows version of their game, then the most powerful and highest fidelity version is the PC version. You can even see that with some of our first-party console games going to PC, even from our competitors, that the richest version is the PC version. Yet the PC ecosystem is the most diverse when it comes to hardware, when you think about the CPUs and GPUs from years ago that are there.

Phil Spencer Says Xbox Series X Games Aren't Being Held Back By Xbox One - IGN

[the-pi-guy]

The generous way to interpret this is that if a game needs XSX, much like PC where they have minimum specs, not every game would be playable on lower spec systems.  


The less generous way to interpret this is that games will have to support a lesser version somehow.  Which best case means worse fidelity.   Or it could also mean smaller feature sets.  

[Legend]

Kinda is, kinda isn't. Of course this had to become a fanboy thing where playstation fans think it will ruin everything and xbox fans think it shouldn't even be talked about.


It's all about cost and player experience. A weaker port is always possible but at what cost? If expensive downgrades need to be made, sometimes it is best to only have that version of the feature and not spend money on the upgraded version. Like for example ssd streaming. Why make two game worlds when you can just have one with traditional load sections?

[kitler53]

i'm sorry but am I misreading the part where the PC master race complain about how PCs get held back by consoles and how at every generation they can point to how this helped advance gaming on PC.

some parts of game development scale well (resolution, framerate, non-interaction objects like foilage) and some don't (AI, map size/complexity, number of interactive objects, physics).   the reason gamers care is because the scalable items only affect visuals and the non-scable items affect gameplay.   

GG already talked about how they couldn't put "flight" into horizon due to last gen limitations.   based on what's seen so far i'll bet that is in the new game.   thank god horizon isn't beeing held back by ps4 because that will enhance the gameplay.

[Xevross]

He's chatting battleship and he knows it.