At last night's E3 event, Microsoft finally unveiled their secretive Project Scorpio - hereafter known as Xbox One X.

While the big takeaway was the relatively cheap price-point €499 for what's being dubbed as the world's most powerful console, already rumblings have begun to circulate about how exactly Microsoft is going to market the XBox One X and whether or not is anyone actually going to stump up the cash for it.

Looking broadly at the specifications for it and what the console will be able to do, it does look like the One X has a lot to offer - true 4K graphics and 2160p resolution, a number of console launch exclusives including buzzy titles like The Last Night and Tacoma, and higher specs on raw performance - but the question still stands, is anyone actually going to buy it?

Going by the specifications and stats, One X looks an awful lot like a very high-end gaming PC and they usually run somewhere in the region of €1,000 or higher - so for bargain-hunting players, it's a cheap way of getting one. Not only that, Microsoft believe that games already released for the Xbox One will also feature improved graphics, and will also be backwards-compatible with the 360 and the original Xbox. As for the 4K graphics, all of that depends on whether the TV you'll be playing has the ability to display them - and most modern televisions from the past two or three years have that capability built in as standard.

The Xbox One X is going head-to-head with the PS4 Pro, and so far, the PS4 line has outsold the Xbox One 2:1 in the UK and 3:1 in Europe - so the One X is hoping to level both of those territories out.

What Sony has over Microsoft - currently - is console exclusives, however studios like Bethesda have already committed to creating console exclusives for the One X so that may no longer be an edge for Sony. Right now, a PS4 Pro will cost you €399.99 - however the PS4 Pro has been on release since November of last year and it's likely that Microsoft will eventually drop the price of the One X when it reaches the same age as the Pro.

Essentially, it's a question of graphics - and how much you value them in your gaming experience. If you want markedly improved graphics and a much more sleeker, smoother experience, the One X is definitely worth a go - and if you've thought about shelling out for a gaming PC, this seems like a much more affordable and less technical option.

 

XBox One X Specifications:

-Project Scorpio CPU Eight custom x86 cores clocked at 2.3GHz
-GPU: 6TFLOPS, 40 customised compute units at 1172MHz
-Memory 12GB GDDR5
-Memory Bandwidth 326GB/s
-Hard Drive 1TB 2.5-inch
-Optical Drive: 4K UHD Blu-ray