Even before the Xbox Series X was revealed late last year, Microsoft had promised that the next-gen hardware would focus on doing away with loading times wherever possible. After all, how many times have you been put off by the idea of loading up a game to play for half an hour or so, because of the reality of sitting through roughly five minutes of start up and loading screens?
The good news is that the Xbox Series X has a quick resume feature that does... well, it does exactly what it says on the tin. This feature was of course confirmed earlier this week alongside a mountain of other meaty specs and cool new bits and bobs, but Microsoft has now confirmed that you can quick resume games even after a full system reboot. You love to see it.
Microsoft's Larry Hryb learned a little bit more about the new feature in a recent episode of his Major Nelson podcast with guest Jason Ronald, the director of program management at Xbox. Ronald said that while the Xbox One lets you jump straight back into any game you're in the middle of, the Xbox Series X's SSD will let you load up and jump between multiple games at the point you left them.
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Hryb then shared an anecdote regarding quick resume that he admitted he probably shouldn't be sharing. Revealing just how impressive the new feature is, he recounted the time he discovered it was possible to quick resume after a complete reboot of the console.
"One of the things that I was noticing when I was in the lab when I was playing it, I was switching back and forth just real quickly and seamlessly between games," he remembered. "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."
Ronald then confirmed that this wasn't a fluke, and that it actually makes going back to older consoles feel a touch archaic. He said that if he just wants a quick gaming experience, the Xbox Series X lets him "instantly jump in and have a great game". He added that it's great to know that the next time he comes back, his game will be right where he left it.
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Between quick resume, full support for backwards compatibility, and the ridiculous 12 teraflops of GPU performance, it's clear that Microsoft really isn't messing around this time. We've still not heard anything on pricing, but I can't imagine all these bells and whistles will come cheap.
Featured Image Credit: MicrosoftTopics: Xbox, PS5, Xbox Series X