Microsoft has continued its drip-feed of Xbox Series X reveals by detailing how it believes the next-gen console’s Velocity Architecture will take future open-world games onto a higher plane.
In a detailed article on Xbox Wire, Jason Ronald, Microsoft’s Director of Program Management, said: “The Xbox Velocity Architecture fundamentally rethinks how a developer can take advantage of the hardware provided by the Xbox Series X. From entirely new rendering techniques to the virtual elimination of loading times, to larger, more dynamic living worlds where, as a gamer, you can choose how you want to explore, we can’t be more excited by the early results we are already seeing.”
As an architectural aspect of the Xbox Series X, Velocity Architecture isn’t something tangible that we gamers will be able to perceive but, Microsoft argues, we will notice the effects it has on gameplay. Ronald explains Velocity Architecture’s starting point: “As we analyzed(sic) the storage subsystem, it became clear that we had reached the upper limits of traditional hard drive technology and to deliver on our design aspirations, we would need to radically rethink and revolutionize(sic) our approach with the Xbox Series X.”
So, Velocity Architecture is basically a new input/output (I/O) system – about as unglamorous as you can get. But it should have glamorous implications, as far as gameplay is concerned. Ronald went into detail: “The Xbox Velocity Architecture was designed as the ultimate solution for game asset streaming in the next generation. This radical reinvention of the traditional I/O subsystem directly influenced all aspects of the Xbox Series X design. If our custom designed processor is at the heart of the Xbox Series X, the Xbox Velocity Architecture is the soul. Through a deep integration of hardware and software innovation, the Xbox Velocity Architecture will power next-gen gaming experiences unlike anything you have seen before.”
If you’re partial to the techy end of things, Ronald explained that there are four elements to Xbox Velocity Architecture: a custom 1Tb SSD (Solid State Disc) that conforms to the NVME standard and is designed to deliver: “more than 40x the throughput of Xbox One;” Hardware Accelerated Decompression, designed to deliver game assets when they are required, and including a proprietary algorithm for texture decompression; a new Direct Storage API (Application Programming Interface) which basically allows developers to address the Xbox Series X’s hardware much more quickly cleverly; and a new element entitled Sampler Feedback Streaming (SFS). Ronald’s description of the latter is pretty technical, but he described its implications: “SFS provides an effective multiplier on available system memory and I/O bandwidth, resulting in significantly more memory and I/O throughput available to make your game richer and more immersive.”
Cutting through the impenetrable technical jargon, Microsoft is claiming that Velocity Architecture will, at the very least, give developers the chance to make the open worlds they have always dreamed of, with no discernible loading times and true openness – that is, no need to create diversionary means of transitioning from one area to another.
It also reckons that it should enable developers to make them more “Dynamic” – that is, to respond in much more interesting ways to gamers’ movements through those worlds and actions within them. Developers – renowned for taking new hardware and finding innovative ways of pushing it to the extreme – should be able to translate a cleverly designed new architecture, however prosaic it may sound on paper, into new gameplay experiences, which is good news for all of us.
Sony, of course, recently crowed about how the PS5’s SSD will usher in a step-change for gaming. But quietly, in its inimitably dry, technically-focused manner, Microsoft just revealed that it has gone way beyond merely plugging an SSD – much more responsive than a traditional hard disk – into its new console, by rethinking a whole chunk of system architecture.
As far as the new Direct Storage APIs are concerned, Ronald pointed out that: “Standard File I/O APIs were developed more than 30 years ago and are virtually unchanged while storage technology has made significant advancements since then.”
Recently, we’ve seen a proliferation of click-baity articles along the lines of: “Has Sony won the next-gen console wars already?” Sure, Sony’s marketing and design departments may have made some early inroads in the battle, although Microsoft will surely fight back through its Xbox Series X online event scheduled for July 23. The PS5 may look sexier than the Series X, but the ultimate proof will reside in the relative gameplay experiences the two consoles will provide. Proper gamers should keep open minds.
