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At E3 last week, in a behind closed doors presentation called Xbox 101, Microsoft engineering manager Jeff Henshaw - not a member of the PR team, he points out - tells a small gathering of journalists that Xbox One's 300,000 server cloud gives the next-generation console a unique advantage.It's a somewhat abstract claim that Microsoft made first only a few weeks earlier during its Xbox One reveal event, and it's been dismissed by more than a few developers, including The Witness creator Jonathan Blow, as little more than a marketing trick. Digital Foundry's In Theory analysis concluded: "Microsoft needs to prove its position with strong ideas and practical demonstrations. Until then, it's perhaps best not to get too carried away with the idea of a super-powered console, and there's very little evidence that Sony needs to be worried about its PS4 specs advantage being comprehensively wiped out by 'the power of the cloud'."
Turn 10 Studios has discussed how Forza 5 will use the cloud to make more lifelike AI with "human intelligence", but I've struggled to imagine how Xbox One games would benefit directly. To Henshaw's credit, he does focus on what matters most: the games - albeit in prototype terms.
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