Finally, Microsoft has revealed the hardware specs for the Xbox Scorpio, and while many applaud its “smart design with sheer horsepower,” its become clear that the company has decided to let go of one thing – the Kinect port. Following the footsteps of the Xbox One S, Scorpio will ditch the dedicated Kinect port. What’s there instead is an adapter that lets owners use the peripheral with one of the console’s USB ports and an extra external power supply.
Kinect port no more
Digital Foundry was lucky enough to get invited to Microsoft’s Redmond campus last week.
The trip was unprecedented – it’s a first in terms of early access to everything there is to know about the highly anticipated gaming console.
The reviewers wrote a lengthy article over at Eurogamer, and amid the 4,000-plus word account is the revelation of the lack of a Kinect port, similar to what Microsoft did for the Xbox One S. “Since port arrangement is based on Xbox One S, there's no return for the original Xbox One's Kinect port (a USB adapter is required) but the HDMI input is retained,” Digital Foundry commented. The arrangement of ports on the back of the unit, including the standard figure-eight power, is similar to the One S.
Xbox Scorpio VR in the works?
If Microsoft keeps its word, virtual reality games on the Xbox Scorpio could happen.
In a press release it put out earlier this year, the company mentioned bringing “mixed reality content to the Xbox One family of devices.” That of course, includes Project Scorpio.
It’s very likely, considering every part of the new console’s hardware is a significant upgrade from the Xbox One S – even Sony’s PlayStation 4 Pro.
For those keen on virtual reality rigs, the console has the guts needed to tear the minimum specs of the HTC Vive and the Oculus Rift apart.
Should it come to fruition, neither platform will show up for the system. Microsoft has been hell-bent on creating its own take on augmented reality and virtual reality. What was known as Windows Holographic before is now called Windows Mixed Reality.
Both Vive and Rift have built a software suite that runs on top of Windows 10. Microsoft, with the release of the Windows 10 Creators Update, has embedded the technology into the base level of its operating system. Judging by Microsoft’s discussion on how it views virtual reality through the lens of its Mixed Reality team, any VR coming to the Xbox will do so through the Windows platform.
Everything else will be revealed in time, possibly at E3 in June.
