XBox One X : Saving the best for last!

When Microsoft learned that Sony was working on an upgraded version of their PlayStation 4 console, they wasted no time when ushering in their response, titled "Project Scorpio" this last addition to the Xbox One, was the perfect response.

Released on November 2017, the Xbox One X showcased upgraded hardware, designed primarily to render games at 4K resolution and to provide performance improvements for existing games which can be displayed at full resolution on 4K displays or supersampled for lower-resolution displays Microsoft's XB1X features 6 teraflops of graphical computing performance in comparison to the PS4 Pro's GPU which only had 4.2 teraflops.

Xbox One X as with the Xbox One S (“S” as in slim) also plays UHD 4K Blu Ray's where even Sony's PS4 Pro cannot. And while the PS4 Pro's game library is superior over their competitors' Microsoft and Nintendo, The XB1 X has backward compatibility of various games from its library especially when it comes to games you have previously purchased from the Xbox 360 digital marketplace.  Whereas with PlayStation 3, your games for the most part are confined to that system. PlayStation Plus catalog of PS3 games can only be streamed to the PlayStation 4 and 5, making it not capable of operating the titles from physical storage i.e., hard drives.

 Although it's no match for the true successor that is Xbox Series X, the One X can hold its own against the Series X's baby brother. Despite the Series S having advantages over the One X when it comes to faster loading time, higher framerate, a convenient form factor however, its resolution output is limited to 1440p, with the One X not only capable of displaying 4K graphical fidelity, but upscaling backwards compatibility titles to a much higher resolution.

For those of you who are tech savvy, you can swap out the one x's archaic HDD for a 2.5 SSD which can improve faster loading time. Not as fast as the Series S, but fast enough.There are plenty of comparison videos that demonstrate both systems’ strengths and weaknesses so it’s up to one's overall preference.

While the current gen Series consoles have gained traction throughout the past 3 years since its initial launch, there are less games being developed for the Xbox One due to graphics, lack of Ray tracing and framerates not meeting the expectations for newer titles while Cross gen games are wading off. to the Gamepass ecosystem, you can play games solely developed for the Series consoles on your Xbox One X via cloud gaming. Sure, it's not as good as a localized installed game, but a viable option, nonetheless. As of July 2020, production of the Xbox One Thanks X was discontinued, thus securing both Series S and X, foothold as their successor gold standard for this generation's line. But...in the meantime, despite no longer manufacturing the Xbox One consoles, Microsoft has not entirely abandoned their last gen platform. In closing, while the undervalued 3rd Xbox console had its shares of failures and successes, I think it's one of the best systems thanks in part to innovation and game preservation. It's come a long way from what was looked as a "failure " to becoming a serious contender in the gaming industry.