The Xbox Series X, which just made a major announcement regarding the specs of its next console, leads the PS5 in terms of PR. After all, we have a concrete idea of what to expect from the Xbox console and very little information about the PS5.

In a recent blog post, Microsoft's Xbox chief Phil Spencer revealed some of the main attractions of the Xbox Series X, including 8K gaming potential, advanced ray tracing, and backward compatibility. He also mentioned several other features, including a "quick resume" feature and advanced audio capabilities.

Thanks to a podcast hosted by Larry Hyrb, Director of Programming for Xbox Live, we learned a little more about the advanced 3D audio and quick resume features.

When playing the Xbox Series X, you can pause and interrupt games just as you can on current consoles. However, the Xbox Series X's Quick Resume allows you to play multiple games at the same time, allowing you to switch between FIFA and Halo on the fly.

It doesn't stop there; on Hyrb's podcast Major Nelson Radio (named after Hyrb's Xbox gamer tag "Major Nelson"), Hyrb announced that Xbox Series X games can be paused and left even when the console is turned off Hyrb announced that Xbox Series X games can be paused or left unattended even when the console is turned off. In other words, you can resume the game from where you left off by turning the console back on; Hyrb said:

"I had to reboot because there was a system update, but I went right back into the game. So it's okay to reboot.

This has never happened before. On current consoles, turning off the console means exiting the game and returning to the "start" screen of any game when the console starts up again. Being able to get back into the game immediately is part of Microsoft's efforts to provide gamers with the content they want at a faster pace.

The fun doesn't stop there; Hyrb spoke with Jason Ronald, Xbox's partner director of program management, about the Xbox Series X's immersive audio capabilities.In an April 2019 interview, Sony's Mark Cerny said that this generation of game consoles will represent a leap in audio comparable to the leaps in graphics in the previous generation, and Ronald says the same thing. He mentions spatial audio developed using ray tracing, which can put you right in the middle of the action.

JR: "Raytracing means more realistic lighting. You can use raytracing for things like spatial audio to achieve raytraced audio.

LH: "Wait a minute, I've never heard of ray-traced audio."

JR: "Yes, we are all about immersion in the gaming experience, and that applies to the audio experience as well as the visuals.

"Raytraced audio" seems to bring as much change to sound games as traditional ray tracing does to graphics. In any case, I look forward to being able to immerse myself in as many games as possible as soon as I boot up the console. This will be one of those management features that feels as if it was there all along.

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