The Xbox one Scorpio (and the PS4 Pro) are incremental upgrades over the existing Xbox One and PS4- as a result, they are tied inextricably to the existing consoles, rather than being a full next generation that may provide for further opportunities in game design. The advances they bring to the table are, instead, graphical.
This is what Pawel Lekki, CEO of EXOR Studios, known for X-Morph: Defense, believes too. When we had a chance to chat with him, we asked him for his opinion on the PS4 Pro and Xbox Scorpio- in the end, does he believe that a more conservative approach like the PS4 Pro is better, or a more radical overhaul like the Scorpio’s?
“I think that Scorpio is providing more opportunities for advanced graphics options,” he said. “However gameplay mechanics are always going to be limited to what is available on the base level consoles. I wouldn’t expect life changing upgrades to games on these consoles. I think that some games may actually suffer from their existence. I can imagine a scenario in which a game is designed to run in 30FPS on the base console versus 60FPS on the upgraded one.”
It sounds about right- and it goes back to an earlier observation I made about the Scorpio being needlessly tied to the existing Xbox One. Unfortunately, that won’t be the case- so while the Scorpio’s immense power will definitely be used to see some great visuals, in terms of gameplay, we’re still tied to the Xbox One baseline- exactly as Lekki observes.