It seems like just yesterday that the strange monolithic look of the Xbox Series X was announced. But how does its size compare to other consoles like the Xbox One and PS4?
The comparisons between the console and a fridge did not take long to emerge after that odd reveal, and many people noticed that the Xbox Series X looks a lot like a PC tower - well, a cross between a PC tower and a fridge.
Style is a strangely important factor when it comes to consoles, just look at how many people have special edition versions of consoles they already own.
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If you're wondering why the Xbox Series X looks quite so huge, and how its size compares to other consoles, read on...
Xbox Series X size compared to other consoles - video
Now that an Xbox Series X prototype has been displayed in the wild, fans are starting to make some pretty convincing mock-ups to scale. And a German YouTuber called Maniak Gaming has done us a favour, by putting his Xbox Series X scale model next to various other consoles.
So have a look at this video to see a decent approximation of what the Xbox Series X will look like next to the PS4, the Xbox One, the Nintendo Switch and numerous other pieces of tech...
Why is the Xbox Series X so big?
Well, Digital Foundry sat down some of the designers at Microsoft and chatted to them about the challenges in a fascinating article.
"We didn't have stuff we could test, we didn't have measurements we could take, we knew it was going to be powerful, and we knew it was going to require a totally different way of thinking about how to design a console," said Chris Kujawski, principal designer at Microsoft.
It was struggles like this which led to that intriguing design, which Microsoft itself is quite happy comparing to a fridge...
What was the issue with designing the Xbox Series X?
The issue, as Digital Foundry said, was that the power requirements were so much higher in the Xbox Series X than they've had before.
It meant a total rethink to the way they build their machines. This bit was explained by Jim Wahl, the director of mechanical engineering for Xbox hardware:
"I like to think about our past generations as having a bit of an exoskeleton, so you have a mechanical structure with electrical shielding all on the outside then you have all the guts in the inside".
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For this one, things had to be different, "what we did in this generation is that we turned that completely inside out… and so this centre chassis essentially forms the spine, the foundation of this system and then we build things out from there".
This is all essential but also leads to some issues, some very relatable ones for those of us with limited fridge space, "we play this sort of 3D Tetris game, where you're trying to figure out where the components should go and what's the best arrangement - and then that starts to establish some of the dimensional aspects."
So, it turns out the reason for the design is the size of the internal pieces; the Digital Foundry piece goes into extensive detail about many of the individual parts, all of which contribute to the dark obelisk that is the Xbox Series X.
It's a stunning form factor really, but you may have to reconsider your current TV stand if you want to display it properly.
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