If I say the “most powerful console ever built,” you’re bound to think of Microsoft’s obnoxious Xbox One X promotional campaign. However, the most recent platform to claim this is actually the Slightly Mad Studios VR console. That’s right, the developers of Project Cars are working on their own game-playing box with virtual-reality capabilities and 4K output. Yay, buzzwords!
Announced back in January via CEO Ian Bell, the platform’s name was to be Mad Box. There, Bell also said that it will come with its own game engine for developers. It’s a bold claim to make. However, according to PCGamesInsider, Bell and company have withdrawn their trademark application for the Mad Box name.
The pullback was on April 5 and is due to the French games company Mad Box. There “exists a likelihood of confusion on the part of the public,” says a Mad Box opposition from April 5. Essentially, people will confuse the two names, and the games studio claimed the name first.
We’re unsure what to expect after this. It’s possible that Slightly Mad Studios will work something out with Mad Box. But, it’s more likely that they’ll have to rename their box. However, despite its powerful hardware, we can be sure their console will be “competitive with upcoming console prices.” At least, if nothing has changed behind the scenes there either.
At the time of the announcement, Bell made a lot of claims regarding his new console. “It will support most major VR headsets and those upcoming and the specs will be equivalent to a ‘very fast PC 2 years from now,’ being one of the big ones. Also, the CEO says his platform will be “very easy to develop for” and to port these titles to other consoles.
Finally, Bell had said that there are “3 large conglomerates” interested who can fund the whole thing by themselves. Again, these are a lot of big claims we’ve yet to see much solid proof of. That and we can be sure the console will be up against stiff competition from the next PlayStation and Google’s Stadia.
