Xbox One Scorpio is expected to release this fall, and there’s been lots of speculation about the console’s price and intent to deliver VR experiences. In a recent interview with AusGamers, Xbox president Phil Spencer cleared the air about the six-teraflop machine.
First off, the most pressing concern for gamers is the product’s price. As a premium version of the current Xbox One, Scorpio sounds like it could be quite expensive compared to its S counterpart. After all, with its top-tier specs, Microsoft does intend its 2017 box to be the most powerful console ever made.
“I want Scorpio to be at a console price-point,” Spencer suggested, “I’m not trying to go and compete with a high-end rig.” He further added that “because we’re building one spec, we’re able to look at the balance between all the components and make sure that it’s something we really hit that matters to consumers and gamers.”
While we don’t want to read too much into Spencer’s idea, the implication here is that Xbox Scorpio won’t release at a price that’s totally unfamiliar in the modern console market. In other words, we’d expect it to go as low as the industry-leading PS4 launch price of $399, but not as absurd as the $599 tag of the PS3. Something closer to $500 is what’s generally accepted by the mainstream if there’s enough perceived value in the product.
When it comes to creating that value, however, it seems that VR may not be as central to plans as originally assumed. When the Scorpio was first revealed, it was supposed that Microsoft may be releasing this SKU largely because it’d be powerful enough to support demanding virtual reality headsets like Facebook’s Oculus Rift. Spencer’s thoughts, on the other hand, are much more tempered in that regard.
“You asked me how much of a business directive [VR] is for us in order for Scorpio to take off and I don’t bake it into that at all. But if it does [take off] and that’s what gamers want to do, I want to make sure we have a console that can support it.” Beyond that, he describes recent VR experiences on other platforms as “more ‘demoey’ than anything else.”
The Xbox Scorpio is planned to release in fall 2017 and is designed to play all past and future Xbox One games as well as Xbox 360 backward-compatible titles.
What do you think of Phil's comments about the price of Xbox Scorpio? Will this machine be more focused on VR than he’s letting on? Tell us in the comments section!
