The two juggernauts have been at it yet again, with both consoles getting a mid-cycle upgrade in the very near future, the argument has now turned towards the fact that who can provide a better 4K gaming experience.
Yes it’s true that Sony has beaten Microsoft to the punch when it comes to the release date, however, Microsoft’s position is that the undeniable power advantage that the Scorpio offers will be a major selling point when the console hits the market next year. The PS4 pro will launch on Nov 10 for $399, and so far there is only one confirmed game that is able to run on native 4k resolution, and that is The Elder Scrolls Online. This is a tad bit disappointing as The Elder Scrolls Online is not exactly known for its graphical prowess. Most developers are planning to render games at a resolution which is north of 1080p, which is the standard for current games on the PS4, and also use checkboard rendering to upscale the images to 4K.
Microsoft said that the console would have 6 teraflops of computing power, during the announcement of Project Scorpio at E3 2016. This means that it will be nearly 43% more powerful than its counterpart the PS4 Pro which clocks in at 4.2 teraflops.
In a recent interview with Eurogamer, Albert Penello who is the senior director of product management at Microsoft weighed in on the 4K debate, and this is what he had to say
“They’re talking about checkerboard rendering and up-scaling and things like that. There are just a lot of asterisks in their marketing around 4K, which is interesting because when we thought about what spec we wanted for Scorpio, we were very clear we wanted developers to take their Xbox One engines and render them in native, true 4K. That was why we picked the number, that’s why we have the memory bandwidth we have, that’s why we have the teraflops we have, because it’s what we heard from game developers was required to achieve native 4K. “
The statement suggests that Microsoft has pounced upon a golden opportunity to derail PS4 Pro’s momentum, and that they have the product which can indeed create a stir compared to its rivals.
With regards to Microsoft’s aggressive marketing tactics which highlighted the Key differences between Project Scorpio, and PS4 Pro. He downplayed Microsoft’s aggressive strategy, and from a marketing point of view it does make sense as you would want to highlight the weakness of your competitor when you know you have a certain comparative advantage over them.
The only concern to Project Scorpio’s release is the fact that its going to come out a lot later than PS4 Pro. However at the initial stages it does seem like Scorpio does indeed offer a better 4K experience than its closest competitor.
Does Microsoft indeed have a superior offering, and will you wait around for Project Scorpio? Let us know your opinions in the comments section below.
