Microsoft announced the newest console in their Xbox brand today with the announcement landing in the evening during the 2019 Game Awards. With the Game Awards being one of the biggest gaming events of the year, it was the perfect time for Microsoft to make the announcement, and they seized the moment to be certain.
The newest console is going to be the Xbox Series X, and the fourth generation comes with a massive number of features to draw us all in. Microsoft promises that the Series X will set a new standard for performance, speed, and compatibility.
Speaking of compatibility, maybe the most interesting feature is going to be backwards compatibility with games over the entire Xbox franchise. According to the announcement, which promises to bring thousands of titles from the past back, it seems that the fourth generation of Xbox consoles is going to be able to play games from every one of its predecessors.
Other than that, there’s plenty more in terms of user interface enhancement. The Series X will be compatible with both vertical and horizontal orientations to fit the designs of even the most innovative players. Microsoft promises that the Series X will have an industrial design that enables them “to deliver four times the processing power of Xbox One X in the most quiet and efficient way.”
The console itself isn’t the only thing coming in the announcement. There will be a new Xbox Wireless Controller as well, with a refined shape and size to accommodate as many players as possible. New to the controller will be a Share button to immediately share your screenshots and game clips.
In terms of new games, the Xbox Series X was announced alongside the unveiling of Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II, the second game in the Hellblade series after Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice. Halo Infinite will also be coming at some point in 2020, though there hasn’t been a rough release date given just yet.
Speaking on a technical level, Microsoft intends to be minimizing latency through technology such as ALLM (Auto Low Latency Mode). Furthermore, they’ll be giving developers new functionality such as DLI (Dynamic Latency Input) in order to make the Xbox Series X one of the fastest, most responsive consoles ever built.
There’s no telling what else Microsoft has in store for the new console. With greater technology available every year, it’ll be interesting to see what the technology titans manage to pull off with a new, more powerful console in their arsenal.
