Xbox One X: A Step in the Wrong Direction?

Putting the Flop in Gigaflop

A new console approaches: the Xbox One X. New consoles always bring excitement and a spark of innovation to the gaming world, and we hope for something that won’t just prolong our 3-hour gaming sessions at 1 AM but also enhance and elevate our gameplay in the process. But is power truly king when it comes to gaming consoles? Well, when you look at the history of gaming consoles… not so much. And this is what worries me about the Xbox One X.

(Side note: No, I am not a Sony fanboy or a Microsoft hater. In fact, the Xbox was the first home console I ever purchased myself, thanks to a lot of birthdays and Christmases spent saving up money as a youngling. I chose the Xbox over the GameCube and PS2 for one simple reason: Halo.)

When a new gaming console is released, three major aspects matter:

A.) What is different about this console than all the other consoles out there?
B.) What exclusive games will I be able to play ONLY on this console?
C.) How much does the console cost?

The Console’s Individuality.

Out of the big three console developers (Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo), Nintendo has done the best when it comes down to the uniqueness of a new console. Nintendo isn’t afraid to innovate, which is why their consoles always tend to be sold out for AT LEAST the first few months post-release. From the GameBoy to the Wii and Wii U to the Switch, each of their consoles have done something that no other console before them has been able to do, enticing gamers with a method of play that no other console can offer. As for Sony and Microsoft, the tendency is just to improve whatever console of theirs came out last, or simply copy a trend Nintendo has already set (looking at you, PlayStation Move and Xbox Kinect). Improved graphics, improved controller, improved whatever -- they’re all just improvements, not innovation. You had vanilla before, but now we present... French Vanilla!!! Woohoo. There’s no drastic step forward or completely new feature, and we’re essentially just given an Xbox or PlayStation sequel. Instead, Sony and Microsoft seem to rely solely on their exclusive games and the content they hold.

What Games Can Be Played on the Console

As an example, take the Sega Master System vs. the Nintendo Entertainment System. Both were released in 1985 with the Master System being significantly more powerful. Despite this, the NES still outsells it by over 50 million units. The NEO GEO -- the most powerful system of 1990 over the SEGA Genesis and SNES -- only sold a measly 1 million units (the Genesis sold 41.9 million, the SNES 49.1 million). Nintendo 64 vs. PlayStation 1: PS1 smoked the N64 by nearly 70 million units. Xbox vs. PlayStation 2, PS2 outsells the Xbox by over 120 million units. Why? The games. As we’ve seen over the years, a great game library, not great specs, sells a console. Which brings me to my final point:

Price

Currently marketed as “the most powerful console,” the Xbox One X is hitting shelves at the high price point of $499 (USD). The E3 conference and their website boasts about the One X’s usage of 4K, its 2.3GHz CPU, 12GB of graphic memory, a 6 Teraflop GPU, etc… which sounds impressive, but is essentially just a more technologically-improved version of the previous Xbox with absolutely no innovative features. You’ll also be able to replay your old Xbox discs, or download some of the older Xbox titles, which is definitely a plus, however, there are some big red flags here. Not counting the console’s atrocious name, 4K can already be found on the PS4 Pro (a console that’s $100 cheaper). Plus, 4K isn’t quite the norm in living rooms just yet, so for most gamers, it’s a safe bet that 4K doesn’t really matter. And while the nostalgia factor works, it’s not something to rely upon. Are you really going to replay all of Mass Effect for the hell of it when Andromeda and plethora of other games are about to release? Let’s be honest -- probably not.

Microsoft keeps mentioning power. Gigaflops of it. Yes, you can be the most powerful, but can the games, specifically the exclusives, live up to that? After this year's E3, I’m convinced that (at least during year one of the One X’s release) no, the games definitely cannot. The lack of exclusives announced alongside the launch of the One X proves that developers are nowhere near ready to harness this kind of power -- to put it simply, it’s incredibly difficult make a game that utilizes the console’s space/power properly while also conforming to a reasonable development time. Most of the best games shown at E3 2017 (Anthem, A Way Out, Star Wars Battlefront 2) aren’t exclusive and can be played on both the Xbox One X and PS4 Pro… sorry, Microsoft, but no one’s going to shell out an extra $100 just to play Sea of Thieves.

Does the Xbox One X have potential to be next year’s best selling console? Absolutely! All Microsoft needs to do is give game developers the resources to utilize the power that the One X offers. That means games with gigaflops of actual content, not gigaflops of seas and randomly generated islands to happen upon (I don’t mean to keep picking on Sea of Thieves -- it’s just that out of the six announced exclusive titles for the One X, it was the only one that actually looked decent).

A gaming console needs good games to survive. If a gamer wants gaming power, they’ll just build a PC. If Xbox One X can somehow manage to rake in more exclusives that outshine the PS4 exclusives, the One X definitely has a chance to redeem itself. Otherwise, I think we'll just be sticking to Spider-Man on the PS4 and Super Mario Odyssey on the Switch.

~Richard
@richarizzard