MICROSOFT has boasted that its Xbox Series X will be eight times more powerful than the original Xbox One.
The announcement about the next-gen comes amid near-total silence from Sony about its upcoming PlayStation 5.
Xbox is taking direct aim at the PS5 with its beefy new console.
"We know you expect the next generation of consoles to set new standards in graphical power and processing speed, converging together in games that look incredible and feel alive," said Phil Spencer, Head of Xbox.
"This will be defined by worlds that are visually astounding and immediately immersive, with innovative leaps in CPU, GPU and storage technology to give you frictionless access to new stories and new creators constantly."
The headline news is that the Xbox Series X will deliver 12-teraflops of processing power.
Teraflops refers to the number of operations a processor can handle at a given time.
The new Xbox will be able to have 12trillion "operations" every single second.
For context, that's twice as powerful as the Xbox One X – and eight times better than the original Xbox One.
Phil calls this a "true generational leap" and promises higher framerates, and "larger, more sophisticated game worlds".
Microsoft is also pledging to reduce waiting times for gaming generally.
Games should load more quickly due to a faster storage drive.
And there's a Quick Resume feature that sounds like a hardcore gamer's dream.
"The new Quick Resume feature lets you continue multiple games from a suspended state almost instantly," Phil explained.
"Returning you to where you were and what you were doing, without waiting through long loading screens."
Microsoft is also making the old Xbox games backwards-compatible, describing it as "four generations of gaming".
You'll be able to play original Xbox, Xbox 360 and Xbox One games on the new console.
And these games should be improved by steadier framerates, faster loading times and improved resolution.
Sadly, we still don't have an exact release date – but we know the console will be out in time for Christmas.
There's also no price yet, but this kind of performance won't come cheap.
Xbox Series X performance – a major upgrade
Here's the official lowdown from Microsoft…
- "Xbox Series X is our most powerful console ever powered by our custom designed processor leveraging AMD’s latest Zen 2 and RDNA 2 architectures
- "Delivering four times the processing power of an Xbox One and enabling developers to leverage 12 TFLOPS of GPU (Graphics Processing Unit) performance
- "Twice that of an Xbox One X and more than eight times the original Xbox One
- "Xbox Series X delivers a true generational leap in processing and graphics power with cutting edge techniques
- "Resulting in higher framerates, larger, more sophisticated game worlds, and an immersive experience unlike anything seen in console gaming."
While Microsoft has showed off the new Xbox's design and specs, Sony is keeping mum.
We still don't know what the PS5 looks like, and there's very little official info about its raw hardware.
And neither Microsoft nor Sony has announced pricing – which will be one of the most important announcements in the console wars.
In other news, Samsung phones can now play Xbox and PS4 games with the new Google Stadia app.
The PS5 and Xbox Series X could cost a hefty £500 at launch.
Sony has already sent the official PS5 website live.
And both new consoles are expected to have thousands of games ready at launch.
Will you be upgrading to the Xbox Series X or PS5 this year? Let us know in the comments!
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