After a slew of PS5 leaks, the Xbox Project Scarlett rumour mill is finally beginning to gather steam. With stories about its focuses (which we know won't include VR) breaking last week, Xbox VP of gaming Phil Spencer has dropped another tidbit regarding the console.
In a tweet, Spencer said: "This week I brought my Project Scarlett console home and it's become my primary console, playing my games, connecting to the community and yes, using my Elite Series 2 controller, having a blast."
Big Phil Spencer has clearly being playing the Xbox Series X.
And it’s started….this week I brought my Project Scarlett console home and it's become my primary console, playing my games, connecting to the community and yes, using my Elite Series 2 controller, having a blast. Great work by the team, 2020 is going to be an incredible year.4 December 2019
There's a few interesting points to note here. The first one is that the dev kits are available to play, meaning that Xbox Two, or Project Scarlett or whatever you want to call it, exists in the real world. PlayStation 5 dev kits have been confirmed to have landed in developer's hands, so it stands to reason Microsoft has kept up. Unlike the PS5, no dev kit images have leaked. Yet.
A second point to note is that Project Scarlett is Spencer's PRIMARY console, which surely means he's taking full advantage of the console's backwards compatibility. With most launch titles presumably still in active development, it sounds like the Xbox Two is capable of playing... well, whatever Phil Spencer is currently playing right now.
With Microsoft's talk about celebrating all the generations that came before, it sounds capable of playing not just Xbox One, but Xbox 360 discs as well.
Another interesting tidbit here is that the Xbox One controller Spencer is using, the recently-released Elite Series 2, is capable of interfacing with the Xbox Two. Those investing in the premium controller now might be able to use it with the next-gen console, which tracks with Microsoft's continuity plans. The company has offered to upgrade Xbox Ones once Project Scarlett has been released. The premium, customisable controller might even come with the console as standard.
This is one of the first confirmations we've had from Microsoft that the console exists in playable form. We look forward to more details being dropped ahead of 2020, as the big reveal looms ever closer.
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