While we still don’t know what the price of Microsoft’s Project Scorpio console is going to be, we do know one major feature gamers had to be hoping was coming. One Microsoft exec confirmed that the new console, whenever it does hit the market, will have the same kind of backwards compatibility the Xbox One console carries.

Director of Program Management for Xbox Mike Ybarra confirmed the backwards compatibility on Twitter when he posted, “360 Backwards compatibility will of course work on Scorpio.” The no-nonsense response was to a user who had asked Ybarra whether they would be able to play the Xbox 360 version of Red Dead Redemption on Scorpio.

While it might seem like a bit of a no-brainer at this point, it’s always nice to see that Microsoft is sticking with something that has worked for them. The ability to get Xbox 360 games on the Xbox One has certainly been a selling point since the current generation console landed

Everyone seems to be giving their take on the next iteration of console hardware. GameStop’s executives have constantly been teasing us with announcements without outright confirming the existence of the PS4 NEO or Xbox One Scorpio. Take Two Interactive CEO Strauss Zelnick has also weighed in on the same but was more confident in seeing another generation of hardware as opposed to upgrades.

Speaking during the Cowen and Company Technology, Media & Telecom Conference, Zelnick said, “Do I expect there will be another iteration of hardware? I do. Do I think that will be good for us? I do. If it doesn’t happen, will it be bad for us? No.”

Thus far, the reception to the PS4 and Xbox One has been “wonderful” and Zelnick estimated around 60 million combined consoles available today. He also believed, by way of an IDG projection, that this number will hit 115 million by 2019.

But what about the upgraded consoles and rumours of the same? Zelnick said, “Can’t comment on those rumors; does it matter? No.”

Once again, it appears E3 2016 will be the place to learn more information.

After numerous teases in the past by GameStop, its CEO Paul Raines took a moment to praise Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End during an interview with Fox News.

Raines noted that, “It’s spectacular. I’ve played all the Uncharted series [games] and they’re all spectacular. One just gets better than the other. Naughty Dog has done a spectacular job again.

“The character development is rich. It’s a little bit of a Raiders of the Lost Ark adventure. It’s a fantastic game [and] has sold through well for us. We love Sony first-party games, anyway; always have.”

Raines also revealed that “sales are good” for the game through GameStop and the company was “very happy” for the same. He also noted that it helped to sell more PS4 consoles and “fair amount of digital content” for it. Specific sales numbers weren’t provided and Raines said Sony would have a better idea of the same.

Of course, he couldn’t keep from teasing announcements at E3. On the subject of VR and new consoles, Raines said, “We’re gonna hear about that at E3.”

Does this refer to the Xbox 1.5/Scorpio and PS4 NEO? Time will tell so stay tuned for updates.

This year is odd, primarily because Microsoft’s strategy feels unclear. We all know the joke about the TV and sports and fish AI but the last two years have been pretty solid for the house that built Xbox. Last year was exceptionally good, especially when it came to future reveals since there was assurance that most of these titles would be releasing in the near future. The focus remained on games. The problem is, it wasn’t quite enough to aid the company in securing a lead over the PS4. In fact, despite arguably more releases in 2016, Sony has pulled well ahead of Microsoft in the console race.

So what’s the plan this year? More games? That will always be on the menu and honestly, more games are good. But rumours have been swelling. Expectations have been building. What can you possibly expect at Microsoft’s E3 2016 presser? Let’s touch in the main points.

Scorpio and Slim

Despite reports of the PS4 NEO which will compliment rather than replace the base model, it’s ironically Microsoft that’s garnered the most attention with rumours of its upgraded consoles. Or rather consoles in general since according to source, an Xbox One Slim will be releasing this year while a redesigned and souped up version of the console codenamed Scorpio is out next year. So far, so salty in terms of how you should be taking rumours. But that’s not all.

According to these sources, Microsoft will also be releasing Chromecast-esque and Apple TV-esque Xbox attachments, presumably for streaming media in homes. And it also seems the vaunted Xbox One controller is also going in for a redesign when the Xbox 1.5 – the slim version – debuts. Which console has 4K support? With rumours of the Xbox 2 aka Scorpio being compatible with VR and a VR game in development (not to mention Microsoft reportedly courting Oculus), what will E3 2016 hold in terms of surprises?

Overall, one can hope that this isn’t simply a knee-jerk reaction to what Sony’s doing. It takes more than better hardware to succeed and hopefully Microsoft is working on facilitating more games for its console.

The First Party

If there’s one thing Microsoft does have going for its console, it’s the first party support. Last year hyped up a number of great games for the future including Scalebound, Crackdown 3, ReCore, Sea of Thieves, Gears of War 4 and Halo Wars 2. The problem now is information.

Scalebound was delayed into early 2017, which is understandable given its massive scope. Crackdown 3 and ReCore haven’t really had a ton of details going about. Same goes for Sea of Thieves. Wasn’t Crackdown 3 supposed to be all revolutionary with its open world destruction and cloud computing capabilities? We heard a whole lot about that at GDC 2015 with the promise of a multiplayer demo in the Summer but nothing’s emerged just yet. Gears of War 4 had its multiplayer beta roughly a month ago but it’s the campaign which draws the most interest.

And there’s that something else that 343 Industries was teasing recently. It’s probably Halo related. Why mention it alongside Halo 5 updates and Halo Wars 2 if it wasn’t? Forza Horizon 3 will also likely be announced because duh.

Here’s the thing – Microsoft doesn’t have an awful line-up of games for this year. It just needs more. For all of its prolonged development cycles and constant delays, Sony does have the upper hand for 2016. Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End and Ratchet & Clank were both great. Horizon: Zero Dawn and The Last Guardian are out this year. Gran Turismo Sport will follow. Other titles like Final Fantasy 7 Remake, Media Molecule’s Dreams and so on will continue to be hyped. Sony may not have had the most number of releases last year but it’s seemingly making up for it this year. And that’s counting the unannounced games that are presumably waiting in the wings.

How does Microsoft counter that? That’s a good question if ever there was one. Not that Sony is on top of the world or anything (it has its own unique set of problems) but Microsoft has its work cut out for it in making me care about the line-up between this year’s E3 and next year.

Quality of Life

Another area where Microsoft has seemingly slowed down is in its quality of life updates for the Xbox One. Maybe that’s because it intends to shift to Scorpio more next year? Regardless, there’s a big difference between last year – which saw the release of backwards compatibility for Xbox 360 games,  dedicated servers for party chat and a revamp of the entire UI – and this year where we’ve gotten the odd few improvements to Achievement tracking, multi-disc support for backwards compatible titles and being able to see who’s in a party.

If anything, the focus has been more on integrating the Xbox One into the Windows 10 framework via cross-platform titles. Not that this is a big deal but it’s a bigger deal for PC players than console gamers. Coming out with significant updates to the UI is no easy feat but hopefully this E3 will see something, anything interesting. We expect to see a number of Xbox One titles carrying the tagline of also heading to Windows 10. That won’t be shocking and it hopefully won’t be a major focus for Microsoft. That being said, there is the rumoured Project Helix, an initiative between Xbox One and Windows 10. Whether really shakes things up remains to be seen.

All in all, E3 2016 is shaping up to be something special. The jury is out on just how well it could pan out for Microsoft but there is stuff in the pipeline. There are plenty of big developments that could come true. And really, at the end of the day if there are fun games to play, everyone wins.

GameStop has been teasing new console announcements for the past few months without outright giving credence to the rumours. That PS4 NEO and Xbox One Scorpio may very well be on the way but you didn’t hear that from GameStop.

Hilariously enough, the company seems to be confirming new console announcements for E3 but without outright stating from whom. COO Tony Bartel said during the company’s recent earnings brief that, “We expect E3 to focus on key titles in the back half of the year and console announcements. We also expect VR to generate significant gaming consumer and press interest.”

Management further added that it wasn’t modeling any sales projections for the new consoles into its future outlook. Which is fine but the song and dance is getting tiresome at this point.

Though Sony’s PS4 NEO has been rumoured for some time, Microsoft recently joined the mill when news of a souped up Xbox One codenamed “Scorpio” for 2017 and a slimmer Xbox One for 2016 were rumoured. Once again, stay tuned for more details as E3 2016 rolls around.

After yesterday’s report about a new upcoming Xbox One model being planned for 2017, codenamed “Scorpio” and VR-capable with 4K output support, another source has emerged to reveal just how powerful it could be.

Speaking to Polygon, this source said that Scorpio will be four times as powerful as the current Xbox One. It also confirmed that a “slimmed down version” of the current Xbox One with a new controller is also in the works. While the latter is scheduled for the end of this year, Scorpio will reportedly be out in late 2017.

The creation of Scorpio is apparently motivated by power and Microsoft is determined to get the upper hand over Sony. While the rumoured PS4 NEO is expected to hit 4.14 teraflops in performance, Scorpio will apparently be targetting 6 teraflops.

Expect announcements to come streaming at E3 2016 for these Xbox One models when you’re not taking all these reports with a grain of salt. In the meantime, what are your thoughts on the same? Let us know in the comments below and stay tuned for more information.

Sony isn’t the only one seemingly planning for a more powerful console with 4K resolution support. According to sources speaking to Kotaku, Microsoft is planning to do the same with Scorpio.

This is the code name for a 2017 iteration of the Xbox One which will have a more powerful GPU that can support Oculus Rift (whom Microsoft is pursuing a partnership with). This year will see the release of a compact Xbox One that could arrive in the fourth quarter. Three individuals speaking anonymously noted that they weren’t really meant to reveal Microsoft’s plans at this stage. Imagine that. Another source noted that the compact Xbox One would have a 2 TB hard disk.

As for Scorpio, development sources were concerned that even with a GPU upgrade for 4K resolution support, there’s currently no plan for an I/O transfer speed upgrade, which could lead to games having longer loading times due to the larger 4K assets.

Take this all with a grain of salt as usual but it should be interesting to see what Microsoft announces at E3 2016.