Project Scorpio is Microsoft's next gen console that will eventually replace the Xbox One. Advertisers have marketed the said product as the best console to date and bragged of its eventual domination of the console market over Sony's PlayStation. However, despite the massive technological power infused in Project Scorpio, it can have its own Achilles heel.
Project Scorpio provides superb graphics but nothing else
The new console brags the latest in hardware design -- its amazing system-on-chip (SOC) chip, which combines CPU, GPU, and memory controllers into one chip.
Though AMD have provided the chips for both Microsoft and Sony for their consoles, Xbox and PlayStation, this would be the first SOC chip on a console that will be able to provide native 4K resolution. The effect of this power was displayed in a test run of "Forza Motorsport 7" ported to a Project Scorpio prototype. The effect was amazing according to critics, shows graphically enhanced Xbox One games and visibly stunning resolution. However, at the moment, playing old Xbox games would be the only thing this console will be used for much of the time.
Forza Motorsport on Scorpio: the full story https://t.co/uqQ2oN2y8u
— Phil Spencer (@XboxP3) April 9, 2017
Extremely limited number of games for Project Scorpio
Though Project Scorpio's retail price is still kept secret, the ultimate question is whether people would buy something expensive just to enhance the look of an old game.
This is the console's ultimate limitation, as there are currently no active developers pursuing a game specifically intended for the new console. Because of this, Microsoft announced the backward compatibility of Xbox One and Xbox 360 games. This means that graphical settings can only be maxed out at levels allowed on old Xbox games.
This would severely dampen the exhilarating experience of having a powerful console while only being able to play old games in max settings.
This is not what gaming is all about. Gamers love the story more than graphics, which was observed rather vividly over the massive disappointment fans experienced over "Mass Effect: Andromeda." Though the game had superb graphics, the story was not up to par with the grandiose nature of previous titles, hence its failure.
This might be the exact same thing that could happen to Microsoft's Project Scorpio upon release. Though Microsoft cranked up the works to provide a monster Gaming console, it would only be a fancy device to replay old Xbox games due to limited game titles. Is Project Scorpio's backward compatibility enough reason for people to ditch their PS4 and change consoles? The answer may vary in the future, but at the moment, it is definitely a huge no.
