They Called the Third, Fourth and maybe Fifth Xbox: Xbox One

A while back I had sent out a PSA to many of my friends that it's probably wise to hold off on buying a PS4 or Xbox One since both Sony and Microsoft were intimating that new hardware iterations might be just around the corner.

We know more than ever about Microsoft's new hardware, but the warning still stands.

As E3 is winding down we still haven't heard much about the next PS4, rumored to be code-named "Neo", but we now know much more about Microsoft's future hardware... or do we?

EuroGamer does a much better job than I at laying out the pitfalls in Microsoft's upcoming hardware strategy (if it can be called that). The problem, as I see it, starts to feel like a serious lack of vision. Not just the sort of corporate institutional blindness common to companies of Microsoft's size, but also the lack of a coherent direction. This has been Microsoft's problem since before the Age of Ballmer Ascendant, it's true, but the Xbox future is one of confusion and head-scratching bafflement.

My warning to friends was, hold off on buying more consoles until this all gets sorted out. Now that the Xbox One S and Project Scorpio have been revealed, I can definitively say: it's best to hold off on buying more console until this all gets sorted out.

A few months ago, the question had to be, why would you buy an Xbox One when an Xbox Two was right around the corner? Even after Microsoft has revealed the Xbox One S, an Xbox One console with 4k video capabilities, the question now is, why would you buy an Xbox One S when Project Scorpio is right around the corner?

What's worse is that it seems that Microsoft is less sure about what Project Scorpio will be than we are. Oh sure, 6 teraflops is being bandied about, and something about memory bandwidth (it has the right RAM, this time), but we also know that every Xbox "Exclusive" title will be day and date released on PC to Windows 10 users. Project Scorpio is going to end up being the Microsoft version of a Steam Machine. A PC-lite that plays all those cool Microsoft games... that you buy and play on PC.

And with cross-network play, why even get an Xbox at all? I can see a need for those that don't want to pay out the nose for a PC gaming rig, I guess, but otherwise, Microsoft's strategy is just baffling.

I'm very curious what is happening in the corporate strategy meetings over at Sony Interactive Entertainment. Sony has been uncharacteristically adroit in navigating the turgid waters of this current generation of video gaming. At first, I was a bit surprised to hear that Sony would announce NOTHING about Neo at this E3. "Surely, they must provide answers," I thought to myself.

Microsoft's somewhat confused strategy leads me to believe that Sony is once again making the superior play, here. Why make announcements when there is so much left to determine?

So, to you, console gamer, I only say: just wait and see what happens. It may be 2017 before it really makes sense to buy another console.