Last year, we were at the point where we knew both Microsoft and Sony have some amazing consoles hidden under their cabinets. Fast forward to today and a ton has changed. Back in 2013, Sony completely won the raw horsepower and graphics game thanks to its beefier hardware. However, that wasn’t the only reason Sony came to be on the top.
We’ve been covering Xbox articles for quite a while now, however, now that the community is pushing everything into the Scorpio for being the best console of all time, you really need to re-consider the gaming area.
At E3 2017, Sony held back their PlayStation 4 Pro reveal in the fear of Microsoft’s announcement of Project Scorpio. After being under the hood for being the inferior console, Microsoft set on the embargo to build the most powerful console yet, Project Scorpio. Featuring 6TFLOPs of compute power, 326GB/s of memory bandwith, 12GB of GDDR5 VRAM and a ‘True 4K’ gaming experience, Microsoft’s Project Scorpio definitely trumps the PlayStation 4 Pro hands down on paper. Or does it?
The Marketing Schemes
Microsoft would do everything in their power to make Project Scorpio look better than the PlayStation 4 Pro for obvious reasons. Sony on the other hand has been preparing for the major hit it would take at the launch of Microsoft’s Project Scorpio. There’s no doubt that most console gamers really take marketing for words. We’ve seen that with the launch of the Xbox One S. Not only did Microsoft refresh the console, but also trumped Sony’s PlayStation 4 sales for 3 months straight despite still being under-powered compared the the original 2013 PlayStation 4.
| Xbox One | Xbox One S | Project Scorpio | Playstation 4 | PlayStation 4 Slim | PlayStation 4 Pro | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CPU | 1.75GHz 8-core AMD custom CPU | 1.75GHz 8-core AMD custom CPU | 2.3GHz 8-core AMD custom Scorpio Engine CPU | 1.6GHz 8-core AMD custom “Jaguar” CPU | 1.6GHz 8-core AMD custom “Jaguar” CPU | 2.1GHz 8-core AMD custom “Jaguar” CPU |
| GPU | Integrated AMD graphics clocked at 853MHz with 1.31TFLOPs of performance | Integrated AMD graphics clocked at 914MHz | Integrated AMD graphics with 6TFLOPs of performance | Integrated AMD graphics clocked at 800MHz with 1.84 teraflops of performance | Integrated AMD graphics clocked at 800MHz with 1.84 teraflops of performance | Integrated AMD Polaris graphics with 4.2 teraflops of performance |
| RAM | 8GB DDR3 | 8GB DDR3 | 12GB GDDR5 | 8GB GDDR5 | 8GB GDDR5 | 8GB GDDR5 |
| Storage | 500GB (5,400rpm) hard drive, supports external hard drive storage | 500GB, 1TB, 2TB (5,400rpm) hard drive options, supports external hard drive storage | 1TB | 500GB (5,400rpm) hard drive. Storage drive can be swapped | 500GB (5,400rpm) hard drive. Storage drive can be swapped | 1TB |
Table Credits:Gamespot
Until this moment, Sony continuously teases and mentions that they have the most powerful console in the world. That is, until the time they have before Scorpio arrives. So it’s technically correct. Microsoft on the other hand really seems to be focusing on selected titles for Project Scorpio despite that games would support both.
Sony’s Moving Away
Sony really knew that Microsoft’s Project Scorpio has been coming, and it shows how much they’ve put into preparing for the impact cushioning their sales. Microsoft definitely has the hardware on paper, therefore it seems like Sony has made its shift towards developing better software for their consoles. In 2016, Sony made it clear while speaking to MCV. Sony’s Jim Ryan was questioned by MCV.
With Xbox launching an even more powerful machine next year, can we expect some form of tech arms race, with the two of you releasing more powerful machines continually?
Well, they haven’t launch yet. We will do our thing independent to anything that anyone else does. We react to what’s going on in the market, rather than looking at our competitors and matching the things that they do. From our perspective, we’re just doing what’s right for PlayStation.
With the launch of Sony’s PlayStation 4 Pro, Sony definitely brought some amazing stuff to the table at the time 4K gaming and HDR support and much more. Packing 4.2TFLOPs of compute power, Sony’s PlayStation 4 Pro definitely ran games at 4k, but not natively. Instead, they used upscaling techniques to give gamers the 4K experience.
Now while Microsoft has been teasing ‘uncompromised 4k gaming’ since the teaser reveal at E3 2017, only time will tell how well Project Scorpio runs games at 4K.
Sony on the other hand, while not native 4k, has an amazing selection of titles on its console. On top of that, since Microsoft has been fading away on their VR promises, Sony’s in-house PlayStation VR really seems compelling. Taking an average gamer’s concepts into perspective. Sony’s VR offering should cost users around $699-$799 for the PS4 Pro and VR headset. Taking that into account that Project Scorpio would be priced higher, most probably higher than $500, Microsoft really seems to be dull on the VR side of the spectrum. To top it all off, even if they do manage to get a VR solution, that should take the price of the Scorpio and VR to skyrocketing heights for the average consumer.
At the time of the launch of the PlayStation 4 Pro, Sony made sure that every single user that buys and gives their VR headset a try gets an amazing experience and feel how its like to experience content in VR by including upto 18 games (depending on regions).
We’ve learnt this in the past that despite fast hardware, its the games lineup that make the hardware all that compelling. Now while Microsoft isn’t short of some amazing titles for Project Scorpio, Sony’s current lineup of titles are really compelling from its console titles and its VR titles. Users who have already invested deeply into Sony’s ecosystem wouldn’t be much disappointed at the release of Scorpio.
“Sony really knew that
Microsoft’s Project Scorpio has been coming, and it shows how much
they’ve put into preparing for the impact cushioning their sales.”
no….no they didn’t have a clue. They probably knew about the s, but they had no idea MS was going to smoke them in the HW dept so soon. Why do you think they didn’t talk about the pro at E3?
“Taking that into account that Project Scorpio would be priced higher, most probably higher than $500…”
You really have no idea what you’re talking about. Even DF doesn’t think it will be more than $500. Don’t be surprised if MS sells this at $400 and takes a slight loss. Make no mistake, MS is releasing this because they want to gain the market share they lost this gen. They can talk about it being a “premium console” all they want, but businesses also want to sell the most product they can. No system has ever sold well north of $500, and MS knows this.
“Sony’s in-house PlayStation VR really seems compelling. Taking an average gamer’s
concepts into perspective. Sony’s VR offering should cost users around
$699-$799 for the PS4 Pro and VR headset.”
I’d like to see who is going to pay that much just for VR. VR may take off at some point, but it most likely will die just as it did before. Augmented reality is far more likely to be successful than VR.
This article sounds like fanboy wishful thinking.
Lol damage control by some guy, Sony had no games at start of gen and everyone made excuses and propped up resolution lol now you are just gonna get your ass kicked by Scorpio in games. All MP will run better on Scorpio, games like 1st party?? Gt sport 1800 checkerboard vs ForZa 7 native 4k 4k textures dynamic weather lol hold on tight author
Great point, Timdog! The PS4 was LAUNCHED with Indies Indies Indies and PS3 Ports! Yet, NO ONE in the media remembers that shit…. now, 4 years later, that a slew of Japanese games and a good exclusive (Horizon) are out, all of sudden exclusives matter again haha. What happened to “resolution makes you a better gamer!” back when Sony had NOTHING
PS4 has had more and better games since day one, Jonnie Mantits. Meanwhile that “awesome lineup” you spent three years lying to yourself about consisted of launch trash like Ryse and Lococycle then broken remasters like the Disaster Chief Collection.
That HALF-ASS attempt at a Next Gen Refresh should be called a PROP. Because, Sony was using it to keep your eyes off the real Prize, the Xbox Scorpio. MS has outdone themselves with AAA Exclusives, PC-Console Connectivity, and Excellent Consumer Service. Sony should take note of this Beast MS is gonna release into the Wild ;p
This idiot,LMAO 3
And just to be clear, nothing needs to be reconsidered. Microsoft has never even hinted at Sony being out of the game.
Don’t let your fears of what Project Scorpio is and will be, make you jumpy like this 😉
The usual Xbox cockroaches led by their obese, middle-aged cult leader Timmy Dimmy Dipshit on maximum damage control over their no games joke. It’s sad when they have to try and kick-start a lack of interest after that disappointing specs reveal with disappointing tech demo screenshots! And they think they’re getting 4K textures! Hahahahahahahaha!