The Xbox One X is currently the most powerful console available worldwide but possessing 12 GB GDDR5 RAM and the ability to output games at 4K resolution isn’t its only calling card. The console also sports an Ultra HD Blu-Ray player and support for HDMI 2.1 monitors.

However, despite plans to support it, the spec for HDMI 2.1 has yet to be finalized according to Microsoft’s Mike Ybarra. So if you plan to purchase a monitor to take advantage of the feature, you might want to wait a bit.

Ybarra also confirmed that a new build for the Xbox One series of consoles will go live at 8 AM PT. Along with fixes for Blu-Ray, it will contain other different features which Xbox Wire will release details for.

Thus far, the Xbox One X has seen some pretty good results with current Xbox One titles. Even for titles that don’t have official patches, the console is capable of enhancing titles, especially those which utilize a dynamic resolution. What are your thoughts on the console till now? Let us know below.

https://twitter.com/XboxQwik/status/930653447845683200

Tomorrow morning at 8am PT a new build for Xbox One family will release. Xbox Wire had details, but also fixes blu-ray issues. As always thanks for the feedback from all Preview and Xbox users – you all rock!!! #Xbox

— Mike Ybarra (@Qwik) November 16, 2017

The Xbox One X is nearly upon us and as the most powerful console ever (at least according to Microsoft), it’s looking to herald the age of 4K console gaming. Whether it actually succeeds in that regard remains to be seen but games like the recent Cuphead and Forza Motorsport 7, not to mention older titles like Halo 5: Guardians and Gears of War 4, do look impressive.

Of course, one thing you shouldn’t expect from the Xbox One X is a “boost mode” of sorts like the PS4 Pro. That’s because games on the console are always using the full extent of the hardware according to Mike Ybarra, corporate VP of Xbox and Windows gaming. Ybarra also noted that older games will be “better”.

As for the user interface and having less overhauls, Ybarra told one Twitter user that the plan going forward would be to emphasize stability. So there will apparently be less major changes. We’ll believe it when we see it.

The Xbox One X launches on November 7 for $499. Will you be picking it up? Let us know in the comments below.

https://twitter.com/XboxQwik/status/919781049936125952

https://twitter.com/XboxQwik/status/920117904200355840

6 TFLOP Performance

When it was first teased as Project Scorpio, Microsoft made one thing clear – the Xbox One X is the world’s most powerful console. Boasting 6 Teraflops of performance, it’s power is enough to run games like Forza Motorsport 7 at 60 FPS and 4K resolution. And that’s with some processing muscle to spare. Make no mistake – if you want power in the console space, the Xbox One X has it.

Bluehole’s PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds has been one of the biggest surprise hits of the year. Not only has it sold millions of copies despite still being in Steam Early Access but its concurrent player numbers have been fantastic. It’s the first non-Valve game in a long while that actually topped the charts in terms of peak concurrent users.

With the game coming to Xbox One, Microsoft VP of Xbox and Windows gaming Mike Ybarra told VG247 believes that the company is capable of making the game even more successful by putting so many resources behind it. It was recently confirmed that Microsoft would be publishing PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds for Xbox One, though it wasn’t confirmed if the game would be exclusive to the console.

“I think that developers come to us for help making their game successful. So games like PUBG and many others…with us announcing we’re publishing the title that opens up marketing, it opens up a large portion of my team, the Advanced Technology Group, that’ll work directly with Bluehole on PUBG to optimize it and bring it to Xbox as fast as possible.”

For Ybarra, Xbox and Windows have been helping various studios reach more players. Minecraft was given as an example of a game that started with unlimited potential and eventually grew into something much bigger thanks to Microsoft’s resources behind it.

“I think for us, we’re just trying to…Xbox has always been a platform to enable developers to be successful. When someone comes to us and asks how we can come together to do that, we’re open to all kinds of ideas there.

“The majority if not all of those scenarios are exactly that – a developer who has a hit on their hands. Sometimes they don’t even know – look at Minecraft. Notch released it, went on vacation, thought he was going to come back and work in a fast food place and then…he’s never working again. We want to work with them and try to make them as successful as we possibly can.”

PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds players have a ton of other things to look forward to besides an Xbox One release, which will occur via the Game Preview program by 2017 end. There’s a new desert map being added and the usual monthly updates.

We recently found out that the Xbox One is going to be getting a bit of an upgrade later this fall in order to better take advantage of Windows 10 and the kind of cross-platform performance Microsoft can wring out of its PCs and console. The Xbox One is getting a new interface which will apparently make performance as much as 50 percent better.

Major Nelson’s Podcast in which the new interface was officially unveiled has a bit more information, including the fact that Windows 1o on Xbox One will be called One Core and will change the experience in using the Xbox One not only for consumers but also for PC users. Among the biggest new features will be the ability for developers to interact directly with users in  ways that have never before been made possible. Among the things the developers can talk to about users directly will be when a patch is coming out, as well as calling votes and talking about features.

Director of Program Management, Xbox and Windows Platform Mike Ybarra said that one of the reasons why they are not going to be offering this program to all Xbox One users right away is because there are some things that need to be tested and some things that just don’t work. He added that the Xbox One app on Windows 10 is so high that the company is thinking about rolling out a kind of test program for that as well. The new interface for the Xbox One will be rolled out to the masses in November.

The New Xbox One Experience will offer quite the boost to loading times when it hits Xbox One consoles in November. According to Xbox engineering head Mike Ybarra on Major Nelson Radio, the new interface will make “popular gaming features” up to 50 percent faster. The exact features weren’t specified but a “new level of speed and responsiveness” has been promised.

Along with offering an interface much closer to Windows 10, the November update for Xbox One will also bring a revamped Home screen, a new Guide, backwards compatibility for Xbox 360 games and new accessibility features. Ybarra noted that it wasn’t easy to have the Xbox One run Windows 10 and that the team’s OneCore interface is essentially a heavily customized Windows 10 built for Xbox One.

As Ybarra stated, “Windows 10 for desktop PCs has incredible momentum right now. We’re going to bring all of that efficiency to Xbox One.”

The New Xbox One Experience is currently available for Preview Program members. Stay tuned for more updates on when exactly it will go live for all Xbox One users.