Rumors surrounding Microsoft and a new Xbox One refresh are swirling hot and heavy like Polygon’s Let’s Play videos of DOOM down the toilets of Youtube stars.
GamesIndustry.biz has a collection of reports from various sources, all of whom claim that two new Xbox One units are on the way. The first unit will be a slimmer Xbox One, 40% smaller with a larger hard drive, essentially like forcing your girlfriend into bulimia while getting a boob job at the same time. They don’t mention anything about performance, so the new Xbox One is all looks and no substance.
The second Xbox One unit (which I’m afraid to say would make it either an Xbox One.5 (or would that be One.Five?) or an Xbox One 2 (or would that be One.Two?)) will be a big step up from the current generation model by offering faster performance and beefier hardware. In fact, rumors from the gaming journalism twins of destruction are reporting that the 1.5 generational refresh will see the Xbox One.2.5 (or would that make it an Xbox 8?) powered up at 6 teraflops. Supposedly this will make this new Xbox (codenamed Xbox Scorpio) more powerful than the PS4.5K, which is rumored to be around 4.14 teraflops.
Some of these rumors claim that the Xbox Scorpio is being designed to facilitate virtual reality gaming, and that Microsoft may have struck a deal with Oculus. They’ll definitely need some seriously beefy hardware to accommodate the Oculus Rift, though. Rumors are also claiming that standard Xbox One games will work with the Scorpio and that Scorpio games will work with the Xbox One, so it’s not a complete generational leap over the current tech.
Supposedly the thinner, slimmer, trimmed down Xbox One will debut during E3. Some speculate that it will be more akin to the Apple TV or Amazon’s Fire, where the focus of the device will be on small scale apps from the Windows Store. Others believe that it will be the same ‘ole Xbox One just on a silicon Jenny Craig diet.
So where does that leave the so-called Xbox Scorpio? Well, supposedly that’s going to debut sometime in 2017. When it will be announced is anyone’s guess, but if it’s not officially unveiled at E3 this year, expect some big announcements during GamesCom in Cologne, Germany.
E3 kicks off on June 12th with the press conferences by EA and Bethesda, and will continue through the week with major bombs being unveiled throughout the first half of June.
(Main image courtesy of DecalGirl)
