Ever since Microsoft had announced the Xbox One back on May 2013, it’s been a slow climb back up from the mountain for the company. From lack of first-party support this generation to the whole Digital Media Rights issue, it seems Microsoft is looking to rectify this generations problem with their next generation console … or consoles. Codenamed Scarlett, Lockhart, and Anaconda, Microsoft is gearing up for the 9th generation of consoles by following a similar formula, one like their current plan with the 8th generation, the current era. Scarlett is aiming to be the launch console. Lockhart,from what sources are saying, is similar to the Xbox One S with being a smaller, more affordable version of Scarlett. Anaconda is looking to be the Xbox One X version of this family by being the 4K machine and the most expensive of the three.
Details are scarce on what the specs are for each machine at the point, but according to VG 24/7 who translated an article from a French gaming website, we may have a first look at what Lockhart and Anaconda might be.
The supposed specs for Xbox Lockhart are as follow:
- CPU: Custom 8 Cores – 6 zen threads 2
- GPU: Custom NAVI 4+ Teraflops
- RAM: 12GB of GDDR6 memory
- Storage: 1TB NVMe 1 + GB / s SSD hard drive
For Xbox Anaconda:
- CPU: Custom 8 Cores – 16 Zen threads 2
- GPU: Custom NAVI 12+ Teraflops
- RAM: 16GB of GDDR6 memory
- Storage: 1TB NVMe 1 + GB / s SSD hard drive
These are to be taken with a grain of salt, of course, but this is very plausible. Everyone doesn’t have 4K TVs yet, let alone 4K monitors, and Microsoft seems to be aiming at a 1080p machine with Lockhart, and it is an easy entry machine for anyone who can’t afford Scarlett. Anaconda, on the other hand, seems to be a true 4K resolution machine, similar to the Xbox One X, and going with the purposed specs above, it could possibly retail for the same price as the Xbox One X at launch. As far as Scarlett itself is concerned, it could be similarly as powerful as the regular Xbox One to as powerful as the PS4 Pro. Until official announcements arise, there is no guarantee which it could be.
But what is a console without its games? Rumor has it that Halo Infinite might be a launch title for this new family of systems. Not much has been said on the game itself since it was first teased a few short years ago. E3 is just around the corner, and we can always hear new information on these machines and Halo Infinite until then (or until Microsoft figures out the right time to reveal their cards on what they are planning). For now, we can sit back and quite possibly take a sneak peek at the future with their next console release, the Xbox One S – All Digital which is, as the name says, an all-digital system, with no disc drive. With that system supposedly due out early May with pre-orders supposedly going live in mid-April, we’ll be prepared for the future as it comes.
