It could, but then again!
Now, keep in mind folks that this is all speculation. This piece isn’t meant to cause any sort of flame wars or console wars. I’m merely thinking out loud here. Of course, your comments and feedback are welcomed, just keep it civil, ok?
With the release of Microsoft’s Xbox One X quickly approaching, I sat down and gave some thought as to what this could mean for console gaming. More so, what this will do for 3rd party games. You know, the multiplatform games that are the lifeblood for every console on the market currently. With so many of them coming out this year, and a few blockbusters coming out towards of the year, Microsoft could really clean up. That is if they can convince others to pick up their “4K console”.
We’re already seeing Rise of Tomb Raider being touted as a game that looks superior on the Xbox One X. This comes fresh off a recent comparison conducted by Digital Foundry, with the Xbox One X even managing to exhibit textures that the PC wasn’t able to. Now that in its self is surprising, especially seeing how great that ROTR looks on the PC and at 4K, no less. The Xbox One X version also provides three different game modes and the 4K mode is native 4K, unlike the PS4 Pro version that was presented using the checkerboard process.
While this is just one title and the Xbox One X has already received a few titles that will use checkerboarding, nothing is a given right now. We could see games that run just as good across both platforms, while some will run worse. It’s is all up to the developers and how much power they can pull other of both and how much optimization will occur. But is that any different than what’s going on right now?
In case you’re wondering about which 3rd party games are getting “Xbox One X Enhancements”, here are few titles that will be: Anthem, ARK: Survival Evolved, The Crew 2, e Evil Within 2, Madden NFL 18, Monster Hunter: World, NBA 2K18, Need for Speed Payback, Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus. All of these games will be released on the Xbox One S, Xbox One X, PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 4 Pro. However, there’s a really good chance that these games will look better on the Xbox One X, which means that many gamers will be lining up for their own Xbox One X.
Then there’s the price and perhaps the biggest concern for the system. Let’s not kid ourselves, the system isn’t cheap. At $499.99, the Xbox One X is $100 more than the PlayStation 4 Pro and that could be the difference between someone picking up either system. Some may feel that $100 is too much and that the Xbox One X isn’t worth it, while it won’t be an issue for others. Truth be told, I still feel that the price is a bit much and it should have been priced similarly to Sony’s machine or even $50 more. I’m confident in saying had that been the case, the system would sell more than it likely will once it becomes available.
But don’t take that the wrong way, it will sell and if the Xbox One X Project Scorpio pre-orders are any indication, it will sell. However, what we don’t know is well it will sell. Adding to that, since Microsoft doesn’t announce their sales figures anymore, we’ll never know the actual amount. At least outside of bragging announcements.
Wrapping it all up, could the Xbox One X put a hamper on the PlayStation 4 Pro sales? In a 3rd party game sense, there is the possibility as it has more power on tap. But that price could be an issue and the 1st party game selection available on the PS4 Pro definitely is. We’ll just have to wait until November 7th, 2017, and see how the system does this holiday season.
