Xbox Series X CONFIRMED to wield PS5 battling special weapon

Xbox's Major Nelson, aka Larry Hryb, has spilled the beans on an Xbox Series X feature that's been described as "transformative." The news comes as we wait for the PS5 reveal that was slated for February, and just days after a surprise announcement from Microsoft detailing its upcoming console's specs. 

Talking with Microsoft’s director of Xbox program management, Jason Ronald, on his Major Nelson podcast, the pair talked about the hands-on time they've had with the hardware so far. Joking that he would "probably get in trouble" for talking about it, Hryb went on to gush about the way the Xbox Series X has changed his gaming experience, and it's all down to the custom SSD.

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"Now I have to admit the next feature that we're going to talk about is one that I'm really excited about because I've had a chance to use it in the lab and that is a quick resume which is going to be available for multiple games," Hryb said.

Quick resume already exists on the current Xbox One X and the Xbox One family of consoles, and allows players to dive back into the game they were playing if they suspend it to do something else on their console. 

Ronald stepped in to explain the evolution of this on the Xbox Series X, saying, "With Xbox series X we're actually able to do that for multiple titles and we've basically taken this to the next level of capability. And this is really powered by our custom built SSD. 

"That's a part of the Xbox series X, which actually allows us to have multiple games saved at any one time. And then I can instantly jump between them or jump into them and resume exactly where it was when I left off."

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Hryb chimed in, commenting that "One of the things that I was noticing when I was in the lab was I was playing it I was switching back and forth just real quickly and seamlessly between games. But then I had to reboot because I had a system update and then I went back to the game and went right back to it. So it survives a reboot that's amazing."

This isn't something that exists on the current generation of consoles and illustrates just one of the improvements that using an SSD will bring to the Xbox Series X, as well as the PS5, which runs at lightning fast speeds thanks to its own SSD.

Both Hryb and Ronald have been testing out Microsoft's new console for a few months now, and Ronald says that the quick resume feature has made it "difficult to even go back to the old way of playing games. It's so transformative."

Both the Xbox Series X and the PS5 are set for a 'Holiday 2020' launch, and while the former console was unveiled last year, we're still waiting for Sony to draw back the curtain on its successor to the PS4.  That's looking likely to happen in March, given we're heard noting and are already at the end of February, but we'll have all of the details for you when they drop.

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Source: Major Nelson Radio via The Verge