A hot potato: Time might feel like it's passing slowly these days, but we really are moving ever closer to the holiday season and the launch of the next-gen consoles. Ramping up the hype train, Xbox boss Phil Spencer has claimed that the Xbox Series X will bring about the biggest change in gaming since the move from 2D to 3D.

Microsoft has given away plenty of details about the Xbox Series X's capabilities, including its hardware-accelerated Ray Tracing. Answering a question about how the technology will improve games compared to the previous generation, Spencer said: "RT [Ray Tracing] on console will be great. I'm very focused on the work we are doing around Dynamic Latency Input (DLI). In my view the feel of games this upcoming generation will change as dramatically as any since 2D to 3D given CPU upgrade, DLI, memory bandwidth and SSD."

Spencer notes that a lot of work is going into Dynamic Latency Input---a system that reduces the input delay from a controller by sending the data just before it's needed by a game, resulting in significantly lower controller latency.

The exec also mentions how the upgraded processor, increased memory bandwidth, and the much talked about solid-state drive speeds will set games on the Xbox Series X---and PS5---apart from what's come before.

We've not seen much of games running on the Xbox Series X, though Senua's Saga: Hellblade II was shown off at December's game awards. Microsoft said the gorgeous trailer is running as in-engine, which is promising.

The Xbox Series X is said to be capable of 4K@60pfs, 8K, up to 120fps, and feature 12 teraflops of power. Whether it and the PS5 produce games as outstanding as Spencer claims remains to be seen. It'll also be interesting to find out how the consoles compare to the PC.