If you’re an Xbox fan, then you will be happy to hear that Microsoft is bringing new Xbox hardware to Germany next month. More specifically, it will be debuted at Gamescom. This news comes from Larry Hryb aka. Major Nelson, who teased “all-new Xbox hardware and accessories” in a blog post on Wednesday morning. This is definitely good news, but no one really knows exactly what it means. There have been rumors that it could be a revised Elite controller, with three-way hair-trigger locks, tension control for thumbsticks, a magnetic USB-C connector and new grips. This is a good guess as the last Elite controller was released back in 2015. So it seems like it’s definitely time for an update.
The other thought is that it could be a new Xbox One X with more than 1TB of onboard storage. But is that really something that Microsoft would do? Or would they release a cheaper One S instead? The previous version was released about two years ago and it received really good reviews from users. In fact, it was viewed as having a more optimal design and overall, better performance. With higher quality TVs, the more expensive Xbox is not necessary. A lower price could make it even more attractive for first-time buyers.
But we might be getting ahead of ourselves assuming that it’s going to be a new console. I mean, E3 just took place month, so why wouldn’t they have made this big new announcement then? Yes, Gamescom is pretty big in the industry, but, like I said – it’s not E3. The event does offer a better look at the titles and hardware that you would have seen at E3, which makes it more specialized. But why, then, wouldn’t Microsoft have teased the release at E3?
During the lead up to last year’s Gamescom, Microsoft wasn’t shy about acknowledging that the Xbox One X was going to play a big role in their presentation. Again, so why are they being so cryptic this year? I’m going to take a step back and ask a controversial question. Is this even a big deal? Yes, the new controller is great and will make for better gameplay, but it feels like Microsoft is blowing it out of proportion. Or, at least the media is (us included). If you didn’t want the hype, you wouldn’t have been so cryptic in their blog post.
What’s interesting, though, is that after they made that announcement, they changed the wording of the post from “all new Xbox hardware and accessories”, to “new Xbox One bundles and accessories”. I don’t think Microsoft is releasing a new Xbox console until 2020, so the bundle aspect makes sense but is kind of a letdown as well. Also, the fact that Microsoft changed its wording makes me feel like they were misleading by saying “all new Xbox hardware”. I mean, that does sound like a new console. That said, it feels like they’re trying to get more attention than maybe they need to. Unless Microsoft has something really big up their sleeves, I feel like people are going to be let down as a result of this announcement.