Xbox 20/20: Series X Gameplay Premier
The Future of Xbox is Here
2020 has been a trying year for many for obvious reasons. While matters of health, safety and financial stability rightly take precedence, we still need a refuge from those daily stressors. To that end, Microsoft today began what will be a monthly series: Xbox 20/20. Today they took time to introduce the next generation of their hardware, the Xbox Series X, and the games and services that will come with it. The plan for now is to release the Series X this holiday along with their flagship title, Halo Infinite, but that’s just the beginning as Microsoft has plans that go well beyond what were the boundaries of traditional consoles. Smart Delivery, Xbox Game Pass, Project xCloud, the expansion of the Xbox presence on PC and a multitude of new first party studios have Microsoft poised to lead the pack as we head into gaming’s next generation. Scroll down for the world premier of Xbox Series X gameplay.
Smart Delivery and Xbox Series X Optimized Games
Recently gaming has seen the rise of remasters and remakes. Classics like the Halo series or Shadow of the Colossus or sometimes not so classic games (I’m looking at you Prototype) are able to go back and fix the flaws of their original releases while also exposing the series to a brand new audience. Games released at a time when HD wasn’t standard or the console limited the scope of a project or a game simply wasn’t well optimized, can now clean up their technical issues, get a new coat of paint and a second lease on life. Outstanding right? The problem with selling nostalgia is that as a consumer you end up buying multiple versions of the same game on different devices.
Xbox Smart Delivery sounds like the solution, allowing gamers to download the best possible version of a game for the console you have. If you have an Xbox One game that you want to play on your Series X and there’s an update available, Smart Delivery ensures you get the updated version at no extra cost. This goes hand in hand with Xbox Series X Optimization, if you see the above logo it means that whatever game you are playing was built specifically to take advantage of Microsoft’s most powerful console with features like 4k resolution, up to 120 FPS, DirectStorage, hardware accelerated raytracing, and much faster load times thanks to the built in SSD, but Smart Delivery will still give you the best version for whatever hardware you happen to be using. Every game shown today is optimized for Series X, which means even if there’s an Xbox One version on the way soon, like Cyberpunk 2077, you can enjoy it at launch and still get the added benefits later with the release of the Series X.
Xbox Game Pass Continues to Shine
Speaking of games, Microsoft continues to knock it out of the park with Game Pass. Every month they deliver quality games in varied genres and every Xbox Game Studios developed title will launch day and date on the service. Microsoft has said they will begin showing off first party titles at the July Xbox 20/20 event. In the meantime, there were a couple announcements today of games that will be coming to the service this holiday or early 2021:
Call of the Sea- Out of the Blue Games
Call of the Sea is an otherworldly adventure game set in the 1930s South Pacific. Explore a lush island paradise and puzzle out the secrets of a lost civilization in the hunt for your husband’s missing expedition.
The Medium- Bloober Team
Become a medium living in two worlds: the real and the spirit one. Haunted by a vision of a child’s murder, you travel to an abandoned hotel resort, which years ago became the stage of an unthinkable tragedy. There you begin your search for difficult answers.
As a medium with access to both worlds, you have a wider perspective and can see more clearly that there’s no one simple truth to what others perceive. Nothing is what it seems, everything has an other side.
Scroll down to see the trailer for both of these games and more in the May Xbox 20/20 presentation.
Project xCloud- Microsoft’s Cloud Gaming Solution
As Microsoft continues to improve the quality and quantity of games available via Game Pass, they also plan to pair the service with Project xCloud. Adding cloud streaming to existing subscriptions would allow customers to play their Game Pass library on anywhere, on any device as long as there is a sufficient internet connection. Putting xCloud and Game Pass together would be a big step forward in terms of making high end gaming more accessible than it’s ever been. Microsoft is not alone in this endeavor. Google has already launched their streaming platform, Stadia, albeit to less than stellar reviews and Sony has an established streaming service as well in PSNow. Where xCloud differs is they are looking to bring what their competitors currently lack; an extensive library of games (Stadia) and new releases (PSNow). We’re a long ways from the launch of the next generation of consoles and Sony surely has many surprises in store over the summer, the one thing we know for certain is the future of gaming looks brighter than ever before.