Jason Ronald, from Microsoft, shows in depth the compatibility, preservation and exploitation aspects of the console hardware.
Microsoft has opted for the preservation of video games. This is stated by Jason Ronald, of the company, in a new entry on Xbox Wire, where he remembers that Xbox Series X will go on sale with hundreds of titles from the brand's historical catalog. The console is backward compatible with all Xbox One games and many of the products that were originally released on the original Xbox and Xbox 360. In addition, as previously noted, its next-generation system will allow for improvements to older software. , which will include increases in resolution (up to 4K) or the implementation of anisotropic filters, which will improve the visual quality of the games.
Beyond innovations in the field of backward compatibility, the Redmond company sets its sights on the future and its internal teams. As of today, Xbox Game Studios is made up of 15 teams, among which are its new acquisitions, studios such as Ninja Theory, InXile Entertainment, Double Fine or Obsidian Entertainment. According to Xbox, all of them are "working hard" to create "the best catalog of exclusives in history" of the platform. "We are tremendously excited to soon showcase many of the games that are in development for Xbox Series X," he says.
For Microsoft, video games leave an "indelible mark" on all players. The company reproduces one of the ideas that Phil Spencer, head of the division, has been repeating for a long time: "Video games bring us all together." Whether through new products or the legacy of the classic, the gaming community has been forged over time.
Preserving a legacy
The North American giant has underlined the need to preserve the historical legacy of video games. This does not mean exclusively that the title works in a new machine, but also that “progression, achievements, friendships and communities” are transferred between generations. Likewise, older accessories and peripherals must be compatible with Xbox Series X, as it will eventually happen.
"Our goal has always been to enable gamers to enjoy the best versions of their games across all four Xbox generations at the launch of Xbox Series X." These principles, he says, "have been key" from "the first day" for them, something that has influenced their design decisions when they started building new hardware.
"With over 100,000 hours of testing completed games, thousands of games are already playable on Xbox Series X today."
Compatibility
The origins of the current Xbox physical and digital backward compatibility began at E3 2015. Since then and until now, Xbox One titles backward compatible with Xbox One are numbered at more than 600. That team within Xbox that was responsible for doing that The task of improved backward compatibility with hundreds of titles is the one that has worked in recent years in doing the same with the options that will incorporate the Xbox Series X output. “The same team that created the new and innovative ways of preserving and improving your existing catalog gaming on Xbox One is the same one that is pushing the limits again with Xbox Series X, ”says Ronald.
Maintaining this compatibility presents a massive technical challenge by having a system architecture and chips that advance through each generation, ”he continues, ensuring that more development teams will continue to work on improving their titles to take advantage of the optimization that will be provided by Xbox hardware. Series X this generation.
"With over 100,000 hours of testing completed games, thousands of games are already playable on Xbox Series X today," the largest amount ever seen with a console at launch. "By the time it goes on sale this Christmas, the team will have invested more than 200,000 hours making sure that our game library is ready for you to jump right away," he says.
Games from the past will play better on Xbox Series X
The concept of optimization also emerges in the letter signed by Jason Roland. "Players will not only be able to play all those games from the past, but they should be able to play them better than ever." And they will, because the Xbox Series X backward compatibility is being designed by squeezing the most of the console's CPU, GPU, and SSD memory without the need to apply boost mode or overclocking, but with the console's base power to each and every one of the more than 1000 compatible titles – past and present – that are already testing.
And yes, Xbox Series X backwards compatible games will also have reduced load times compared to their original wait times. "Our NVME SSD is responsible for powering the Xbox Velocity Architecture." And we cannot forget about the visual aspects. Regardless of the loading times, a visual reconstruction will be applied using HDR techniques without impacting in the least the original performance of the titles: it is native to the hardware itself.
Finally, Quick Resume. Like the native intergenerational Xbox Series X and Xbox One games, this new console will allow you to resume the game where we left it in a multitude of games at the same time even if we completely turned off the console – now it was possible with a single game and in suspend — or restart it.
A final caption in Microsoft's letter has to do with preservation. For this, titles that over time do not look as good as in the past may benefit from techniques such as Heutchy, which will allow games to be rendered with a resolution higher than the original up to 4K; as well as with the application of anisoropic filters to improve the final image quality of classic games and make them look like today's video games. In this way, a selection of games still to be specified may improve from 30 to 60 FPS or from 60 to 120 FPS.
Xbox Series X will launch worldwide on Christmas 2020 at a price yet to be determined. In July we will meet their first party games.
