The Xbox Scorpio device will usher in a new wave of thinking as it relates to console generations.

On the latest Inner Circle podcast, Xbox director Albert Penello spoke about how the new Scorpio device, which launches in 2017, is Microsoft's attempt at "thinking beyond console generations." While previous transitions, like the one from Xbox 360 to Xbox One, have been "disruptive"--for developers and gamers alike--the move to Scorpio will be different. The device introduces the idea that Xbox consoles exist in the same family, with the games and peripherals you own able to move forward with you.

"You hear us talking about thinking beyond console generations. It's not the idea that you don't want to do consoles anymore or that there's not going to be more performance [in the future with new systems]," Penello said. "But if you go back and look at console generations, they're always super exciting when something new comes out, but they're super disruptive.

"They're really hard on developers, because they have to learn how to program on these new machines; they're really hard on customers, which I think sometimes people forget," he added. "You have to give up a lot of stuff. The idea [for Scorpio and the future] is, can we smooth that out, can this be more about a family, can we think beyond, 'We're gonna do this one and then stop and then start all over again.'"

Spencer spoke about wanting to see a steady stream of hardware innovation rather than seven-year gaps between consoles, citing the smartphone market as inspiration. Greenberg went one step further. In his opinion, this is the last console generation. "We think the future is without console generations," he said, explaining that Project Scorpio was a "big bet" that gamers will embrace that notion.

Q: The Xbox platform has moved forward to have such regular updates and new features coming all the time. It kind of seems like hardware is going the same way. There was a very short gap between the Xbox One and the Xbox One S, and we're probably talking an even shorter gap before Project Scorpio. Do you see a future of console upgrades continually happening? Is this the last console generation?

Greenberg: I think it is. ... For us, we think the future is without console generations; we think that the ability to build a library, a community, to be able to iterate with the hardware -- we're making a pretty big bet on that with Project Scorpio. We're basically saying, "This isn't a new generation; everything you have continues forward and it works." We think of this as a family of devices.

But we'll see. We're going to learn from this, we're going to see how that goes. So far I'd say, based on the reaction, there appears to be a lot of demand and interest around Project Scorpio, and we think it's going to be a pretty big success. If the games and the content deliver, which I think they will do, I think it will change the way we think about the future of console gaming.