The Xbox team has been hard at work preparing for their next generation console, Project Scarlett, by including many new features and changes. So far the team has been able to garner a lot of positive press. The Scarlett console looks powerful, will be backward compatible, and will launch with Halo: Infinite.
We look at the three things we think that Microsoft should do to be able to leap ahead of Sony's PlayStation 5 come next fall.
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Virtual Reality
Sony have already started the trend of console grade virtual reality, with the PS4, but Microsoft has a chance with a truly powerful console to do 1080p, 120fps, VR on the Scarlett. Microsoft has done some half measures with their "mixed reality" initiative, but that was aimed more toward PC than Xbox.
The last generation of consoles were not powerful enough to truly handle virtual reality and I imagine it will be a bigger play this time around. If Microsoft were to go for Virtual Reality, they should not pair any extra hardware with the base Xbox, as they did with the Kinect on Xbox One. The Kinect became the Xbox One's albatross early on and the decoupling of the two came too late to make a difference in the long run.
Microsoft should follow Sony's example in that they should create a VR setup, but they need to find a way to sell it separately for a reasonable price. If both console manufacturers produce high profile VR products, I imagine developers will port their games to VR more often and we may see VR take a higher priority than it currently has.
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Multimedia Hub
The Xbox One for some became a Blu-ray player and the only console that could playback 4K discs. The Xbox has become a focal point in many living rooms and to further differentiate from the PlayStation, Microsoft should highlight the Xbox's strengths as a multimedia hub.
Adding more streaming apps, keeping the Blu Ray capabilities of the Xbox One, and making sure it has the best Wi-Fi card possible would be a good start to making the case as to why the Xbox should be plugged into your TV. We all know the Xbox can game, but we all like to watch Netflix and Hulu, being able to highlight how well the Xbox can do that could be the difference to the less hardcore gamer.
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Improved controller
The controller on the Xbox One was okay, but there was a reason why the Xbox One Elite controller was such a big hit. Some people make their decision on which console to buy based on how good the controller.
If Project Scarlett has a very good base controller, it could be a gamechanger. For Microsoft to truly nail the controller, that would go a long way to entrenching their position as the console for everyone. Also adding some features from the Elite controller, like paddles or different trigger lengths, would be a nice gesture and save users money having to buy a brand new controller.
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Written ByEzekiel Carsella@jamaican116