Microsoft announces Xbox One X Project Scorpio Edition for pre-bookings: Price, specs and more 

Head of Microsoft Xbox Phil Spencer introduces the Xbox One X gaming console during the Xbox E3 2017 media briefing in Los Angeles, California, U.S., June 11, 2017. Image: REUTERS

Tech giant Microsoft has announced pre-bookings for the Xbox One X Project Scorpio, a limited edition of its latest gaming console which it had unveiled in June this year.

The Xbox One X Project Scorpio edition is a special collector's edition designed for those who would prefer a more visually enhanced version of the Xbox One: Day One Edition. It comes with a different texture and an exclusive vertical stand. It also has the ‘Project Scorpio’ name etched on both the consoles as well as on the controller.

The Xbox One X, hailed as the world’s first 4K console, that includes the Project Scorpio, is going to hit the shelves on November 7 this year for a price of USD 499.

Custom design. Limited edition. Get the Project Scorpio #XboxOneX before it's gone: https://t.co/XXjNAO9nnipic.twitter.com/bM8QAZBO5s

— Xbox (@Xbox) August 20, 2017

On Monday, the Redmond-based tech giant kicked off pre-orders for its new gaming console, and it is has been made available through Amazon, Walmart, Best Buy and Target and Microsoft’s own e-retail website in the US. Currently, all of the pre-orders are for Project Scorpio edition One X consoles only.

Xbox One X, which is reportedly the most powerful gaming console in the world, also happens to be the smallest Xbox ever.

As per a Forbes report, Amazon has already sold off its initial pre-order allocation, and pre-orders from other retailers are also quickly getting sold out.

The case of Xbox One X Project Scorpio Edition will also carry a gigantic “X” pattern, which is meant to evoke a connection with the design of the original Xbox.

Numbers of units available for the Project Scorpio edition, which will be selling at the same price as the Xbox One: Day One Edition, has not been announced by the tech giant as of yet.

No word has been said so far about the India launch of the console, however, tech experts are predicting it to be few weeks after the global launch.

The Xbox One X, if on-paper specs are to be compared, looks more powerful than prime market competitor Sony Playstation 4 Pro.

The Xbox One X will also feature 6 teraflops of graphical power, as compared to the 4.2 teraflops of the Sony PlayStation 4 Pro. The Xbox One X will have a UHD Blu-ray drive, which the Sony PS4 Pro lacks.

In a bigger bonanza for gamers, the Xbox One X’s engine comes with a backwards compatibility enhanced capabilities – so now all existing Xbox One titles should look better on the Xbox One X and will be running at 4K and full 60 frames-per-second video graphics and also have anisotropic filtering and faster loading times.

The new console will also work with all the current Xbox One accessories.

Although the display is being advertised at 4K, it is highly likely that the display on the screen will be super-sampled to 1080p, and all Scorpio exclusive games (if any) will be made available for all users regardless of the display.

Hence technically, players will not be requiring a 4K screen to run the Xbox One X, and it will be using supersampling to improve the display on 1080p screens, while it will beam out true 4K UHD playback on 4K screens.

On the audio front, the new Xbox One X console will also be supporting Dolby Atmos for gaming, Dolby Atmos for headphones is in addition to another format called HRTF- which has been developed by the Microsoft HoloLens team, thus giving a mixed reality advantage to the Scorpio console.

For cooling, console features the Hovis vapor chamber cooling technology that is used in high-end PC gaming console systems such as Nvidia GTX 1080. This helps in keeping noise levels low during the gameplay. The console also has a centrifugal fan on-board for heat expulsion.

The console comes with a 245 watt internal power supply and a standard figure eight power socket. The console offers HDMI but lacks a Kinect port.

Microsoft also said that the company has over 100 games ready, enhanced and tailor-made for the Xbox One X, some of which include Dishonoured 2, Fallout 4, Injustice 2 and Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Wildlands have received updates to make use of the Xbox’s new power which also includes bringing 4K and HDR support.

The games have been fitted with more assets, higher display resolution and better frame rates over the non-enhanced version.

Microsoft had also announced 42 new games for the Xbox console family at games expo E3 this year, out of which 20 were Xbox-exclusive titles. The list included Forza Motorsport 7, and other global popular games like Assassin’s Creed Origins, Life is Strange: Before the Storm, Dragonball Fighter Z, State of Decay 2 and more.

It seems that the Xbox one X will so far remain an added luxury for the true blue Xbox fans who fancy true 4K UHD gaming on an Xbox console.

Priced USD 100 higher than market competitor Sony PS4 Pro, one of the things that can happen to drive its market USP could be the long line of exclusive console-only games that Xbox has lined up for itself (that will work both on Xbox One X and One S) versus a lax Sony that has not made any exclusive for its Ps4 lately.