The Xbox Series X will support 'ray traced audio' and let players resume games after a...

[Polycount]

In context: Lately, Microsoft has been revealing a plethora of details about its upcoming next-gen Xbox Series X game console. Just two days ago, the company claimed the device would have 12 teraflops of GPU performance, support for "Smart Delivery," and access to quick resume, a feature that lets you "immediately resume multiple games from a suspended state."

Today, a few more interesting details have dropped, courtesy of a recent podcast with Microsoft's Larry Hryb. First of all, we now know that the Xbox Series X's quick resume feature will also function even after a hard reboot.

"I had to reboot because I had a system update, and then I went back to the game and went right back to it," Hryb said. "So it survives a reboot." That'll be a pretty handy feature if it sticks around on launch, but it might also push Microsoft to be more aggressive with its software updates (as it is within the Windows 10 ecosystem). Only time will tell on that front, but overall, it should be good news for users.

If you're gaming during a storm or any other situation in which your console might suffer a sudden loss of power, theoretically, you should be in the clear. However, it's possible that this feature will not work after a full shutdown, so we'll be reaching out to Microsoft for clarification.

Moving on to the other major piece of Xbox Series X-related news, let's talk ray tracing. According to Hryb, the next-gen console's ray tracing implementation will go beyond realistic lighting and reflections. "With the introduction of hardware-accelerated ray tracing with the Xbox Series X, we're actually able to enable a whole new set of scenarios," Hryb said. "Whether that's more realistic lighting, better reflections, we can even use it for things like spatial audio and have ray traced audio."

Hryb says it's difficult to explain what that entails from an end user's perspective -- he notes that it's something users need to experience firsthand to grasp. However, in theory, ray traced audio should make scenes and areas "come to life" in a more immersive way.

We look forward to learning more about the Xbox Series X in the coming months before its holiday 2020 launch period. Additionally, we hope Sony responds to Microsoft's latest info dump with some PlayStation 5 details of its own soon. Right now, the Japanese tech firm seems content to let Microsoft have the spotlight, but we don't expect that to last very long.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/84179-xbox-series-x-support-ray-traced-audio-players.html

 

[Buhaj]

I picked a used Xbox One X just to check it out, and honestly I'm less impressed than I thought I would be, having owned an original Xbox One in the past. The UI is convoluted, which I didn't expect, I guess I started appreciating PS UI simplicity. After all, people will follow games, that's why I'm going to stick with my PS4 Pro. The Last of Us 2 or Ghost of Tsushima (even the new Predator game) are just more interesting options (TO ME) than another sci-fi shooter like Halo 11 or Gears of War 14.

 

[Vulcanproject]

Consoles finally discovered save states are a thing

Who would have thunk it

 

[m4a4]

Consoles finally discovered save states are a thing

Who would have thunk it

Save states as they're describing aren't a thing for video games anywhere that I'm aware of (unless the Switch did something recently). So what are you implying..?

 

[Vulcanproject]

Save states as they're describing aren't a thing for video games anywhere that I'm aware of (unless the Switch did something recently). So what are you implying..?

Many of Nintendo's virtual console game 'restore points' are essentially save states. Just dumping the machine's entire volatile memory onto disk. It's taken far too long for consoles to pick up on this kind of rapid restore and resume even with a reboot, when it was always best suited to them as closed platforms.

That's what I'm implying.

 

[ShagnWagn]

"quick resume feature"

So, a "new" marketing buzzword? lol. I guess the people in the game department have never heard of "hibernate"? It's been in their Windows operating systems for almost two decades. LOL /facepalm

cloud = internet
quick resume = hibernate

*yawn*

"would have 12 teraflops of GPU performance"

Well, release it and we will see what it really has on launch. You can throw all the teraflops at a game, but if it's poorly coded, everything will look like the original Doom. Then there are bugs that devs love leaving in games. Wish I could be positive. :/

 

[Lionvibez]

"quick resume feature"

So, a "new" marketing buzzword? lol. I guess the people in the game department have never heard of "hibernate"? It's been in their Windows operating systems for almost two decades. LOL /facepalm

cloud = internet
quick resume = hibernate

*yawn*

"would have 12 teraflops of GPU performance"

Well, release it and we will see what it really has on launch. You can throw all the teraflops at a game, but if it's poorly coded, everything will look like the original Doom. Then there are bugs that devs love leaving in games. Wish I could be positive. :/

These announcements are for Average Joe not for technical users.

The average just looks at marketing slides and goes wow, while the rest of us want actual technical details and data.

 

[pcnthuziast]

RIP pc gaming. (kidding, not kidding)

 

[m4a4]

Many of Nintendo's virtual console game 'restore points' are essentially save states. Just dumping the machine's entire volatile memory onto disk. It's taken far too long for consoles to pick up on this kind of rapid restore and resume even with a reboot, when it was always best suited to them as closed platforms.

That's what I'm implying.

Oh, virtualised small/light games? That's an entirely different ballpark. You're talking about MBs of data, while a recent full AAA game state could be GBs of data to resume it quickly.

I mean, it's not even a thing on PC for non-emulated games that I'm aware of (where features like this could at least be demoed easily)...
So, unless you have an example of decent-sized games pulling off this technical feat, then I'm not sure you know what this entails. At all.

 

[Vulcanproject]

Oh, virtualised small/light games? That's an entirely different ballpark. You're talking about MBs of data, while a recent full AAA game state could be GBs of data to resume it quickly.

I mean, it's not even a thing on PC for non-emulated games that I'm aware of (where features like this could at least be demoed easily)...
So, unless you have an example of decent-sized games pulling off this technical feat, then I'm not sure you know what this entails. At all.

It's very strange why you're questioning this. First you say they aren't a thing anywhere, then it's pointed out saves states have been in the virtual console for a while and then you also make it (well) known that they are common place in emulation.

Now you want to add extra vague (Decent sized? 1GB? 10GB? Whatever that means) conditions to your original question, and claim I know nothing about how save states might work. Despite the fact I already pointed out dumping volatile memory to disk is indeed, a thing. It could especially be a thing if these consoles have the well documented, very high speed SSD drives that can move gigabytes a second. Not a secret technology to those of us who have heard of next gen consoles.

Perhaps this discussion should end here before it gets any more laboured for either of us or potential readers.

 

[m4a4]

It's very strange why you're questioning this. First you say they aren't a thing anywhere, then it's pointed out saves states have been in the virtual console for a while and then you also make it (well) known that they are common place in emulation.

Now you want to add extra vague (Decent sized? 1GB? 10GB? Whatever that means) conditions to your original question, and claim I know nothing about how save states might work. Despite the fact I already pointed out dumping volatile memory to disk is indeed, a thing. It could especially be a thing if these consoles have the well documented, very high speed SSD drives that can move gigabytes a second. Not a secret technology to those of us who have heard of next gen consoles.

Perhaps this discussion should end here before it gets any more laboured for either of us or potential readers.

No. I said what they're describing isn't a thing yet in modern gaming. Don't twist what I said.

Virtualizing old consoles and saving their game states are NOT what they're describing because those old games are significantly smaller. The technical requirements for what they're describing have only become affordably available recently.

This has never been a current-gen video game thing (that can be done to any game), despite what you're trying to imply.

 

[Vulcanproject]

This has never been a current-gen video game thing (that can be done to any game), despite what you're trying to imply.

I didn't imply this was a thing that happened before in all games, or 'decent sized' games, or 'current gen' games. All those definitions were only first mentioned by you!

I literally just said this was a thing before (it was, as you tacitly admit), and it's taken far too long for consoles to get on with this concept when all along they were best suited to it as a practice. This was my precise reply and explanation of the first post you requested!

It's a mystery why you have anything else in your head. No more than this was ever said or claimed by me, as is plainly apparent just reading back.

One of my pet hates for forum discussions is people reading what isn't there, and then the discussion is bloated with nothing interesting or useful added. This is why this conversation is shut down.

 

[m4a4]

I didn't imply this was a thing that happened before in all games, or 'decent sized' games, or 'current gen' games. All those definitions were only first mentioned by you!

I literally just said this was a thing before (it was, as you tacitly admit), and it's taken far too long for consoles to get on with this concept when all along they were best suited to it as a practice. This was my precise reply and explanation of the first post you requested!

It's a mystery why you have anything else in your head. No more than this was ever said or claimed by me, as is plainly apparent just reading back.

One of my pet hates for forum discussions is people reading what isn't there, and then the discussion is bloated with nothing interesting or useful added. This is why this conversation is shut down.

Yeah, you implied consoles were late to the party. That it's been a common thing for a while. Finally!

It's taken far too long for consoles to pick up on this kind of rapid restore and resume even with a reboot, when it was always best suited to them as closed platforms.

Then what you said (after expanding on it) hasn't been possible for modern consoles (letalone modern non-console gaming). Implying they should've had it a while ago. I was wondering why you were implying it when I've never heard of it beyond old emulation. Your implication was flawed from the start (and then you doubled-down).

But whatever. I'm glad to have this new, modern console feature to set a precedence for gaming. Maybe we'll see it show up on PC soon too...

 

[Buhaj]

MS seems to be solving issues no one else had. They are apparently forgetting people buy consoles for games, and that's the reason I'll probably go with the PS5.

Load times aren't going to be an issue with SSDs inside consoles anyway.