Microsoft offers a closer look at the Project Scorpio dev kit

Microsoft is almost ready to take the wraps off of the final consumer version of its next Xbox, Project Scorpio, at E3, but before that happens, the company is stoking the hype ahead of time by taking a closer look at the Project Scorpio developer kit. Xbox's Larry "Major Nelson" Hryb has released a new video in which he sits down with Kevin Gammill from the Xbox Engineering team to go over the kit that is currently in developer hands, and some of what makes it special. Check it out below:
The interview goes over a lot of what has been covered before concerning the dev kit, but it's an interesting look nonetheless. Of particular interest were the details on the front OLED display panel, which can be fully programmed by developers with diagnostic tools and more — something we reported earlier in May. Some developers have even created small games specifically for the front panel for fun, Gammill says.
Hryb and Gammill also briefly touched on the significance of what has been appropriately dubbed the "Dolphin" test. The test acts as a "way of bringing up the graphics sub-system and proving out some of the timings and performance we want in kind of a neat fun way," Gammill states. More interesting is that the test itself dates back to the original Xbox and it is one of the first things that the team implements on each console.
Now that we've seen what developers have been working with, all that's left is to see the final production hardware. Microsoft will unveil just that on Sunday, June 11, during its E3 2017 presentation. We'll have all of the latest on Scorpio here, along with all of the game announcements alongside it.
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Dan Thorp-Lancaster is the former Editor-in-Chief of Windows Central. He began working with Windows Central, Android Central, and iMore as a news writer in 2014 and is obsessed with tech of all sorts. You can follow Dan on Twitter @DthorpL and Instagram @heyitsdtl.
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Wow can't wait to see these units go up on Ebay :)
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But for what reason?
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and how much... They normally go for BIG bucks... $10K+ so unaffordable for MOST people.
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I love the nice fully orange official Xbox controller between the Shadow Pink and Military Green (or Recon Tech). ^^
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Maybe it's a orange-redish controller but I confirm that on an Asus screen, my Lumia 950 and on Xbox One (connected on Sony TV screen), it's orange and not red. Maybe a new controller later this year ?
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I cannot afford an Xbox. Still I'm feeling happy to hear the news..😊
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At 2:11: "I see a different display". Interesting - it might mean there is one on the normal Scorpio as well.
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I dont think so
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I can guarantee that thre will not be one on the final unit. It serves not purpose other than a temporary curiosity for some. Consoles are built on the premise of 10 foot rule. With that design rule everything usable must be easily visibe from 10 feet away. That is why there aren't lots of buttons (except for power) or display like on standalone players showing the current Blu-Ray info. But, most importanly it adds unecessary costs (actual hardware display & internal control board, and returns because the displays fails, etc..). No need for the extra headache. There was one more reason. What was it.....? Oh yes, because they already said there won't be. :)
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Do we know if the Forza concept demo we saw a while back was using the dev kit, with the additional specs as outlined in the video? I was really excited to see the perceived additional "head-room" that was hyped with that demo/screen capture. Hopefully that was taking into account the expected shipping specs and not the souped-up dev specs.
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So can we say that these are more or less the dimensions for the Scorpio?
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Presume so, yeah. Unless they feel the need to improve the cooling, because a bigger footprint will help them a bit with that.
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SIgh...Hardware must be finalized by now... Outdated before release... I hope it does what it says for years to come. The ONLY thing I dislike about consoles from design to shelf is normally 6-8 months (if not longer), in that time, advanacements in PC (Xbox is just a PC in a nutshell with a custom OS) is far ahead of what is in the console. I hope we dont get into this trend of buying a new console every 2 years.... This is the thing that was part of the Video game crash of 1983, I am a older gamer and I remeber the time clear as day, as things dried up for games for almost 2 years. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_American_video_game_crash_of_1983