It’s no surprise that players are excited for Next-Gen consoles like theXbox Series Xand the PS5, but it seems as though the anticipation still isn’t quite at the level studio heads like Phil Spencer would prefer. This is likely due to the limited way that these systems have shown off their abilities and focused on the goal toeliminate load times in next-gen.
Thanks to this limited focus on teraflop numbers, frame rates, and reduced load times, Xbox boss Phil Spencer has mentioned in a recent podcast with Reggie Fils-Aime and Harold Goldberg to reach out about the upcomingXbox Series X. With a lot of games likeDestiny 2filling out Next-Gen librariesduring the system’s first releases and a limited look at what exclusive gameplay looks like, players still can’t really get a feel for what these consoles will play like.
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In the conversation on theTalking Games With Reggie And Haroldpodcast, Spencer explains his frustration with trying to explain how it feels to play theXbox Series X with high frame rateand resolution capabilities. For one, no matter how many press conferences or gameplay trailers Xbox release, no video capture is going to be able to show exactly what the next-gen console is capable of. This is especially difficult to appreciate if viewers aren’t watching on systems or monitors that are capable of playing back the footage at the same quality that the new system can.
Spencer’s comments imply that players really won’t be able appreciate the jump from Xbox One to Xbox Series X until they’ve had a chance to play on the new console for themselves, since showing offgameplay videos doesn’t do next-gen justice. So, it’s likely that, similar to the leap with VR headsets, the only way to really understand the difference is to try out the new systems personally. This has clearly left people like Spencer who have the responsibility of generating excitement for the systems in a rough situation, as they have to convince players how amazing these systems can be without being able to show them.
While there certainly is plenty of anticipation and excitement for next-gen consoles, it is true that some fans are looking at the jump from Xbox One to the Xbox Series X as a lighter step than previous consoles. These new next-gen consoles maychange the console generation modelfor years to come, but the impact won’t likely be as large as the step from 2D graphics to 3D or from SD polygon limits to the millions of polygons per hair follicle that we see now. This can, in a minor way, diminish that excitement for next-gen, but if Spencer’s claims are to be believed, it’s simply because we really need to see the difference to believe it.
