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Generation X: The Evolution of Xbox One

How Microsoft came from the Xbox 360 to the Xbox One X in four years.

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The Xbox One X will finally be released in a few weeks, and it's clear to see why there's a lot of anticipation, as it's been lauded as the most powerful console ever made. We've played the console at events, and although the performance boost might not be hugely evident to some gamers, the jump to 4K on the right screen will definitely make an impression, like that moment when you first plugged the Xbox 360 into an HD screen for the first time. Images look crisper, lighting works wonders, and everything just looks so much better when you put it through this machine.

In terms of how it looks, although we knew it'd be the smallest in the Xbox One family, its size is surprising when you actually see it in person. Having that little black box sat on the table in front of you, you realise how impressive an achievement it is to put all that power in the smallest machine they've made. It's pretty sleek, with a matte design that's sure to avoid the dreaded fingerprint marks, but it's also notably minimalist, with just a solitary USB slot, two buttons, and the Xbox logo on the front. It's the best looking Xbox console Microsoft has ever made (rivalled closely by the second generation Xbox 360), and it certainly looks the part. But how did Microsoft get to this point, to this little box?

Let's start with the Xbox 360, which was a powerhouse console, with classics such as Halo 3, Crackdown, Gears of War, Forza, Fable II, and more bolstering Microsoft's second outing in the console market and ensuring it remained the go-to choice for many. In this era of 'console wars', Sony had won the round before with the hugely successful PlayStation 2, but Microsoft had bit back with the fantastic Xbox 360.

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Fast forward to 2017, 12 years (would you believe?!) after the launch of the 360, and Microsoft is gearing up to produce the third iteration of the Xbox One, the 360's successor, with a generous serving of ambition backing up the project. But just how did Microsoft go from having the console-of-choice five years ago, to making a sizeable upgrade designed to rein in the competition?

Generation X: The Evolution of Xbox One
The Xbox One went head to head with the PS4.

It's no secret that the Xbox One didn't have the smoothest of starts to life. The pre-launch conversation was marred by a number of issues, including a backlash against discs being tied to consoles (meaning that a game could only be used once and on one machine), as well as a criticism that it didn't have the same technical capabilities of Sony's PS4 (no doubt trying to prove a point after slipping a little bit behind Microsoft with the PS3), especially since the Xbox One used a lot of memory on the Kinect at launch, again a feature that fans weren't particularly enthralled with.

On top of that, there were also bumps in the road in terms of PR. For instance, when former Xbox chief Don Mattrick was asked about connectivity concerns (as the Xbox One originally required an internet connection), he uttered the infamous response: "we have a product for people who aren't able to get some form of connectivity, it's called Xbox 360." Microsoft game director Adam Orth also left the company after tweeting that those concerned about this connectivity issue needed to "#dealwithit".

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The internet connectivity issue was eventually reversed, and changes were made in response to the criticisms Microsoft received, but by then the damage was done. In the eyes of many, the Xbox's reputation had been tarnished, and the PS4 instead became the go-to console for a lot of gamers, especially as it had more power, whether that be in terms of GPU, RAM, or otherwise.

Generation X: The Evolution of Xbox One
The Kinect was a feature Microsoft pushed with the Xbox One.
Generation X: The Evolution of Xbox One
Titanfall wasn't a launch title for the Xbox One, but did follow early the next year.

There was another aspect that kept the PS4's reputation strong over the years as well: the games. Since launch, exclusives released on the PlayStation 4 include Bloodborne, Horizon: Zero Dawn, The Last Guardian, Nioh, No Man's Sky, Uncharted 4: A Thief's End - the list goes on, arguably dwarfing the Xbox One's both in terms of quality and quantity.

The war of exclusives arguably started in Xbox's favour, though. With strong titles like Forza Motorsport 5, Killer Instinct, and Dead Rising 3 leading the charge at launch, and with Titanfall dropping early the following year, Microsoft started with the most promise in terms of software when compared to the PS4's launch exclusives, like Knack and Killzone: Shadow Fall. It was their subsequent exclusives that let them down, though, even despite the return of big names like Halo 5, Gears of War 4, and the yearly Forza releases. The PS4 simply went from strength to strength in this department, piling on the reasons for gamers to invest in their hardware rather than Microsoft's, especially since Sony also had a lot of indies at launch, something that had always been Xbox's strength on the 360.

When Mattrick left his role as Xbox chief, Phil Spencer came in. It was a move that marked a big change in attitude for the Xbox team. They suddenly became friendlier, helped by Spencer's own charm on stage, and started to acknowledge some of the oversights and mistakes of the past, adapting to move forward in a positive way, changing their vision where appropriate, tweaking the formula to better suit the needs of their community.

The situation as it stands, though, means that Microsoft is in a position where, despite good results in the recent past, sales for the Xbox One lag behind the PS4 dramatically. They had to do something to try and turn things aroung, and during E3 2016 Phil Spencer announced that they were actually going to do two things, namely unveiling the Xbox One S and what at the time was called Project Scorpio.

Generation X: The Evolution of Xbox One
Spencer has been the face of change at Xbox in recent years.

The Xbox One S, firstly, was a redesign of the original Xbox One, a console that wasn't known for its aesthetic appeal. The S instead gave it a new look, in a white-topped box that was 40% smaller than the original, as well as supporting 4K, HDR and losing the infamous power brick that had shackled the original. Models were announced featuring 500GB, 1TB, and 2TB hard drives, and overall it looked like Microsoft was giving the console a much-needed refresh, while also looking to entice potential newcomers to their side.

What immediately overshadowed this announcement, though, was Project Scorpio, a mysterious machine only teased with a few floating videos of circuit boards on-screen behind Spencer. We were told it would have six teraflops of GPU rendering at 60Hz, VR support, eight CPU cores, 200 GB per second of bandwidth, and be able to render true 4K gaming. Microsoft was making a statement, as were the devs at E3 who said that it was "a console with no boundaries", at one point even being memorably referred to as "a monster".

The key rhetoric throughout the whole thing, though, was that both of these would be part of the Xbox One "family" - nobody owning any form of the Xbox One would be left behind. All accessories and peripherals work across all three consoles, and all games - past and present - would too, making this just another step in an iterative process, one that came to define the next year in the battle between Microsoft and Sony.

Generation X: The Evolution of Xbox One
The Xbox One S was the design refresh the Xbox One needed.

Moving forward to September 2016, and Sony did exactly what Microsoft did, revealing their own revision of the standard model, the PS4 Slim, which would replace the previous model as standard, as well as a slightly more powerful console, the PS4 Pro. Like the Xbox One S, the Slim was (as expected by the name), 40% smaller in size than the original PS4, however, the specs were exactly the same. As if that wasn't enough, in the next month Sony would also launch the PSVR headset too, along with a number of launch games that saw the company enter the VR market (previously only ground covered in the PC and mobile space). Microsoft, however, has held back from making a commitment to VR, and instead have focused their efforts more on AR with the HoloLens in particular.

The Pro was the console for those looking for an immediate technical upgrade. It enabled 4K rendering, improved VR performance, an upgraded 4.2 teraflops of GPU, checkerboard rendering support, a higher CPU clock, and the ability to stream at 1080p resolution at 60 FPS - all vast improvements on what the standard PS4 had to offer. This was all well and good, but many saw it as not quite up to the competition that the Scorpio was offering. Not only did the Pro, for instance, not have Ultra HD Blu-Ray support (something even the Xbox One S allows for), but it's significantly less powerful than the Scorpio. It did, however, have one distinct advantage: time. It was released much sooner, in November 2016, with a number of developers releasing, and continuing to release, patches to let their games take advantage of the Pro.

When E3 2017 rolled around, Microsoft needed to up the ante when it came to the Scorpio, which we then got a name for: the Xbox One X. We found out that it would be coming in November this year, that we could buy the console for $499 USD, and even got to see some games running on the new hardware. Xbox had bitten back once again, leaving us where we are now; awaiting a console that will be the most powerful ever made, and that developers are saying is one of the best to develop for. Anticipation couldn't be higher, especially since there was a huge number of games shown for both the Xbox One X and the console family as a whole, many of them indies, arguably marking a successful reclamation of that title from Sony.

Generation X: The Evolution of Xbox One
The Xbox One X was first revealed at E3 2017.

Even before its release, the vision behind the Xbox One X has changed the console market by introducing an iterative model, one that some have called 'the death of generations', similar to what we've seen Apple do in regards to the iPhone, sharpening and tweaking an existing formula at regular intervals. It introduced the idea that consoles could be slightly improved with new versions of the hardware released more regularly, rather than the generational model seen before (i.e. the gap between the Xbox 360 and Xbox One, which was eight years). The PS4 followed suit, leading people to believe that this may be the way that consoles were going, a little bit more like PCs, with improved specs coming along for those who want the crème de la crème, the high-end stuff: 4K, HDR, 60FPS, all that jazz.

Where does the Xbox stand now then? Well, at E3 Spencer also mentioned that Xbox original games would join the backwards compatible family, joining the extensive list of over 380 Xbox 360 games already available to play on the Xbox One family of consoles, something that was met with rapturous applause in LA when it was revealed.

Xbox also has the added bonus of many titles featuring Play Anywhere, an initiative announced at E3 2016, which means if you buy a game on PC, you can also get it on Xbox, and vice versa, with save files also carrying over too. There are subscription services too, like Game Pass and EA Access, allowing players to get more games on their console, and the selection in Games with Gold also impresses each month as well, bringing free titles to those with Xbox Live Gold memberships. Players are even invited to try out new Xbox features via the Insider Program and early access games via the Game Preview Program.

There are a lot of reasons to like the Xbox One, then, but in the exclusives department, things still aren't looking great. Forza Motorsport 7 has just been released, the landmark title for the autumn, which looks great on the Xbox One X, but with Halo nowhere to be seen, and Crackdown 3 delayed, there's not much else of note to talk about. There's PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds, sure, a big deal for Microsoft, but one could argue this isn't enough to draw someone to the console in the same way as some of the big names like Halo and Gears of War could. Without that killer launch game to sell this powerful console, it might be hard to convince the masses to make the change and make the upgrade.

Generation X: The Evolution of Xbox One
Where has Master Chief gone?
Generation X: The Evolution of Xbox One
The Project Scorpio edition, with all its green goodness.

To talk about the console itself, the price in the UK sits at £449.99, and you can pre-order it right now from retailers like Amazon. This just comes in the regular edition right now, although Microsoft did announce the now-sold-out Project Scorpio edition previously, one that celebrated its earlier codename with an exclusive vertical stand, a custom design featuring Project Scorpio on the console and controller, as well as a lot of green decal to match.

Then we should also talk about the all-important technical specs, so brace yourselves, as here's the list of all the things you need to know:

CPU: 8 custom x86 cores clocked at 2.3GHz
GPU: 40 customised compute units at 1172MHz, with Polaris features at 6 teraflops
Memory: 12GB of GDDR5 RAM at 6.8GHz with 326 GB/s bandwidth
Storage: Upwards of 1TB HDD
Ports: HDMI in and HDMI out, 1 USB port on the front, two on the back, both of which are 3.0. Also an IR receiver/blaster, SPDIF digital audio, and an ethernet port
Wireless: Wireless IEEE 802.11ac dual band; (5GHz & 2.4GHz)
Power Button: Same as Xbox One S
Power Supply: 245W, which is internal
Disc drive: 4K UHD Blu-ray drive
Physical dimensions: 30cm x 24cm x 6cm
Weight: 3.81 kg
What's in the box: 1 console, 1 wireless controller, 1 HDMI cable, 1 power cable, 1 month of Xbox Game Pass trial, 14 days of Xbox Live Gold trial

Games are the most important thing, though, and we know there won't be any exclusive games for the Xbox One X. Instead, all games released will be playable on all three consoles, although Microsoft is keen to emphasise that they all play best on the One X. Even existing games are set to be enhanced for the upcoming console, alongside upcoming games, and we've provided a complete list of all those, new and old, that will be enhanced:

A Plague Tale: Innocence
Anthem
ARK: Survival Evolved
Ashen
Ashes Cricket
Assassin's Creed Origins
Astroneer
AWAY: Journey to the Unexpected
Battlerite
Below
Biomutant
Black Desert
Brawlout
Chess Ultra
CODE VEIN
Conan Exiles
Crackdown 3
Crossout
Danger Zone
Dark and Light
Darksiders III
Dead Rising 4
Deep Rock Galactic
Diablo III: Reaper of Souls - Ultimate Evil Edition
Dishonored 2
Dishonored: Death of the Outsider
Disneyland Adventures
DOOM
Dovetail Games Euro Fishing
DRAGON BALL FighterZ
Dynasty Warriors 9
EA Sports FIFA 18
EA Sports NBA Live 18
EA Sports Madden NFL 18
EA Sports NHL 18
Elex
Elite: Dangerous
EVERSPACE
F1 2017
Fable Fortune
Fallout 4
Far Cry 5
Farming Simulator 17
Final Fantasy XV
Firewatch
For Honor
Fortnite
Forza Horizon 3
Forza Motorsport 7
Gears of War 4
Gravel
Greedfall
GRIDD: Retroenhanced
Halo 5: Guardians
Halo Wars 2
Hand of Fate 2
Hello Neighbor
Hitman
Homefront: The Revolution
Immortal: Unchained
Injustice 2
Jurassic World Evolution
Killer Instinct
Killing Floor 2
Kingdom Come: Deliverance
L.A. Noire
Life is Strange: Before the Storm
Mafia III
Mantis Burn Racing
METAL GEAR SURVIVE
Metro: Exodus
Middle-earth: Shadow of War
Minecraft
Minion Masters
Monster Hunter: World
NBA 2K18
Need for Speed Payback
Nine Parchments
OKAMI HD
Ooblets
Ori and the Will of the Wisps
Outlast 2
Paladins
Path of Exile
PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds
Portal Knights
PES PRO EVOLUTION SOCCER 2018
Project CARS 2
Quantum Break
Raiders of the Broken Planet
Railway Empire
Real Farm
ReCore: Definitive Edition
Redout: Lightspeed Edition
RESIDENT EVIL 7 biohazard
RiME
Rise of the Tomb Raider
Roblox
Robocraft Infinity
Rocket League
Rugby 18
Rush: A Disney Pixar Adventure
Sea of Thieves
Slime Rancher
SMITE
Sonic Forces
Star Wars Battlefront II
State of Decay 2
STEEP
Strange Brigade
Super Lucky's Tale
SUPERHOT
Surviving Mars
Tacoma
Tennis World Tour
The Artful Escape
The Crew 2
The Darwin Project
The Elder Scrolls Online: Morrowind
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Special Edition
The Last Night
The Long Dark
The Surge
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
Titanfall 2
Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Wildlands
Tom Clancy's The Division
Train Sim World
TT Isle of Man: Ride on the Edge
Warframe
Warhammer: End Times - Vermintide
We Happy Few
Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus
World of Tanks
WRC 7 FIA World Rally Championship
Zoo Tycoon: Ultimate Animal Collection

So now we just have to wait for the Xbox One X to be released in November to see just how well it performs, and whether it can live up to the expectations placed on its shoulders with the title of 'the world's most powerful console'. Will the games currently available and on the horizon be enough to entice players to make the upgrade? And if they do, what next? Will the Xbox after the One X be another iteration on this design, or a new Xbox entirely? If Microsoft stays true to its vision and keeps growing the Xbox One family to include future hardware upgrades, there's every chance the company's renewed vision for console gaming will prove a success, maybe even forcing its competitors to follow suit. We won't find out this year, though, probably not next year either, but the die has been cast and all that's left to do is see what Microsoft rolls on November 7.

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