Project Scorpio: Microsoft's new console will arrive this year with 6 TFLOPS of gaming goodness in tow

The next generation of Xbox console is almost upon us; there’s now an official timeline for release and a dedicated page on the Xbox Store.If you’re a gamer of any sort, you must have already heard of Project Scorpio. It’s the next generation of Xbox One and features 6 TFLOPS of power and native support for 4K gaming.The console has been rumoured to be coming for a long time now but we’re yet to learn of its true capabilities. The only details that we’ve heard our summarised in the line above. 6 TFLOPS and 4K. That’s the promise.It was Windows Central who spotted that Project Scorpio now has an official, estimated release date of Holiday 2017 (December) and a dedicated page on the Microsoft Store. Another point to note is that the Scorpio will be compatible with all Xbox One games and accessories.Windows Central also appears to have some more information on the console. Shader Model 6 support will be included, they say, which means more efficient rendering and potential performance improvements on the Xbox One and Project Scorpio.They also reconfirm the “True 4K gaming” spiel, adding that 1080p games will also benefit from the higher resolution as Project Scorpio will support supersampling technology. This would mean smoother objects and cleaner textures with no noticeable performance hit. The console will also support HDR and will come with an in-built 4K Blu-ray player.Sony’s competitor, the PlayStation 4 Pro (PS4 Pro) is certainly down on power compared to the Scorpio, on paper anyway. The PS4 Pro is rated at around 4 TFLOPS. The relative lack of grunt also means that the Sony console doesn’t actually support 4K gaming. It uses a trick called checkerboard rendering to upscale 2K content to 4K.In terms of pure horsepower, the Project Scorpio Xbox is certainly the one to beat. When it comes to the quality of the exclusive games, however, the matter is still up for debate and comes down to personal preference.Regardless, Project Scorpio promises to change the equation as far as game development is concerned and even PC gamers should rejoice at the new console.Game developers tend to build their games to run best on the lowest common denominator, so to speak, which has always been the game console. The greater power of the new console means developers have more headroom to implement new features and the result will be higher fidelity gaming.We’re looking forward to the debut of Microsoft’s new console. Are you?