E3 2017 semi-officially kicks off tomorrow with the first of the two big console showcases when Microsoft holds it's annual we’re-kinda-behind-Sony-huh? press conference. No disrespect to Microsoft but the numbers don’t lie and Sony has sold about 30 million more consoles. The gap is widening, too, so it’s no surprise Microsoft is leaning on a much smaller number that matters, too. One. As in one new console, the unveiling of Project Scorpio against no new consoles for Sony. Of course, Sony’s console is doing just fine. Will Microsoft’s?
Watch the stream to find out! Everything kicks off at 2 p.m. PDT/ 5 p.m. EDT on Sunday, June 11. The show is expected to run about 90 minutes, a little longer than usual, to accommodate more games (or compensate for time eaten by Scorpio). You have a plethora of streaming options:
Here’s a rundown of some key points to keep in mind during the Xbox E3 Briefing
Microsoft is expected to announce some big updates on projects long in the works, like Sea of Thieves , State of Decay 2 and Crackdown 3. Today’s EA Play 2017 teased Anthem , rumored to be a Destiny- killer from BioWare, as being a part of the Xbox E3 2017 Briefing.
Obviously Project Scorpio and 4K gaming will take up a huge chunk of time. For reference, here’s the official Project Scorpio specs, courtesy of Digital Foundry
Eight custom CPU cores clocked at 2.3GHz
326GB/s of memory bandwidth
1172MHz GPU - with 40 customised compute units
12GB GDDR5 memory
1TB HDD
4K UHD Blu-ray disc player
4K gaming support
VR support
VR support is a tremendous wildcard in terms of big surprises at the event. Microsoft recently featured HP’s new “mixed reality” peripheral during an education presentation. It stands to reason this new gadget would make an appearance at the show, especially since mixed reality might prove to be a more comfortable entry point for consumers still skittish about the more isolating, cumbersome VR. There are rumors of a big Oculus partnership, since this is the first year Oculus doesn’t have an official booth on the show floor. What’s especially exciting is that an Oculus partnership could open the door for Steam content to make it's way to the Scorpio, giving users a much larger library than the one currently available for PSVR. Yes, this is wild speculation but that’s what E3 is all about, right?
