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Sony & Microsoft had a mid-cycle crisis: The Aftermath
Undead Scottsman
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
So back at an Xbox and Windows 10 Press Event last month, Phil Spencer was quoted, talking about breaking away from static, locked hardware
Later he clarified that he was not talking about physically upgrading existing Xbox consoles
These seemed to be simply musings about potentially futures for the console industry; fun things to discuss, but far away from anything concrete. Later at GDC, however, rumors that Sony was showing a PS4.5 started leaking.
Source: http://kotaku.com/sources-sony-is-working-on-a-ps4-5-1765723053 (and while it's from Kotaku, the writer of the article is the one who broke the Xbox One DRM 180 story back in 2013, so he has credibility.)
Interesting time for the industry! I wonder if we'll hear more at E3 this year.
Source: http://www.polygon.com/2016/3/1/11121666/xbox-one-hardware-upgrades-phil-spencer-microsoftBut he went much further than merely outlining internal strategies for cross-platform efficiency. He argued that consoles could and should be upgradeable, like PCs, and that the model of generation shifts may be coming to an end.
"We see on other platforms whether it be mobile or PC that you get a continuous innovation that you rarely see on console," he said. "Consoles lock the hardware and the software platforms together at the beginning of the generation. Then you ride the generation out for seven or so years, while other ecosystems are getting better, faster, stronger. And then you wait for the next big step function.
"When you look at the console space, I believe we will see more hardware innovation in the console space than we've ever seen. You'll actually see us come out with new hardware capability during a generation allowing the same games to run backward and forward compatible because we have a Universal Windows Application running on top of the Universal Windows Platform that allows us to focus more and more on hardware innovation without invalidating the games that run on that platform."
Spencer said that Xbox One owners could be offered optional hardware upgrades in the future, that allows the console to keep up with emerging and competing technologies. Such a move would also suggest an end for new console launches.
""I believe we will see more hardware innovation in the console space than we've ever seen.""
"We can effectively feel a little bit more like we see on PC, where I can still go back and run my old Doom and Quake games that I used to play years ago but I can still see the best 4K games come out and my library is always with me. Hardware innovation continues while the software innovation is able to take advantage and I don't have to jump a generation and lose everything that I played on before."
Later he clarified that he was not talking about physically upgrading existing Xbox consoles
Source: http://www.gameinformer.com/b/news/archive/2016/03/07/xbox-boss-phil-spencer-says-modular-console-upgrades-not-our-plan.aspx“The feedback I’ve received about, ‘Hey, am I going to break open my console and start upgrading individual pieces of my console?’ That’s not our plan,” he said. “There’s something special with what happens with a console. You buy an appliance-like device. You plug it into your TV, and it just works when you plug it in. It’s not like I’m going to ship a screwdriver set with every console that comes out.”
These seemed to be simply musings about potentially futures for the console industry; fun things to discuss, but far away from anything concrete. Later at GDC, however, rumors that Sony was showing a PS4.5 started leaking.
Sony is currently planning a new version of the PS4 with increased graphical power and games running at 4K resolution, developer sources tell Kotaku.
We don’t know whether current PS4 owners will be able to upgrade or if they’ll have to buy an entirely new device to benefit from this power boost, but from what we hear, Sony has started briefing developers.
Based on conversations with developers who have spoken with Sony, this ‘PS4.5’ will include an upgraded GPU both to support high-end 4K resolution for games and add more processing power that can enhance the games supported by PlayStation VR, the headset Sony will launch this fall. It’s unclear if ‘PS4.5’ is an official name or just a nickname that developers have been using. One developer jokingly called it the ‘PS4K’ while telling me about the device.
Source: http://kotaku.com/sources-sony-is-working-on-a-ps4-5-1765723053 (and while it's from Kotaku, the writer of the article is the one who broke the Xbox One DRM 180 story back in 2013, so he has credibility.)
Interesting time for the industry! I wonder if we'll hear more at E3 this year.
Undead Scottsman on
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Though more seriously, I think we'll see new revisions with the same hardware capabilities but in smaller, more power-efficient packages.
Spencer's quotes don't feel like they have a lot of ugency behind them. They feel like explorative musings rather than laying out a plan. I'm not expecting them to show things off at E3. I suppose there's always the possibility that Spencer's comments were to get people ready for the idea when they drop it at E3, but I doubt it.
Unfortunately, something like that wouldn't be able to pop up until next gen.
Edit: it would also be important for game devs to make sure their games still run on the base system without issue.
I get that if you're a big PC gamer, it's just NBD at all, but that's not everyone.
Edit: And smaller, maybe, but the Xbox is as big as it is because it's mostly a giant fan and cooling; the thing is ridiculously quiet. If they can go smaller while keeping the same noise level, I'd see it, but I don't miss the 360 jet engine.
The other part of me slaps the shit out of the first part and points out how terrible that went for Sega.
Another part just wants a Crispy Creme.
I would be very interested in it, especially an Xbone that can really take advantage of the snapping feature which is slow and sluggish to use sometimes. You can't easily snap a video app when playing games due to the RAM split.
I also think they could offer the slimmed down 'normal' versions without a Disc Drive but with a larger HDD. This way they can sell the old hardware at a cheaper price as a kinda 'mid-range' offer for cheap parents around Christmas.
I am pretty excited to see what happens here.
For Microsoft, they've been talking up their UWP platform. In essence, you'd design for the UWP first, and that will allow you to quickly get your game working on Xbox One, Windows, Surface or MS Phones. In theory, this would make developing for both an Xbox One and an Xbox OnePointFive very simple. If you're developing for PC too, then you'd likely already have the assets to ensure the game runs well on the Xbox One, but also has bells and whistles on the OnePointFive.
In theory, at least.
Dunno what Sony would have planned. Hopefully it's a little more than "Eh, you figure it out."
So..
You want a PC.
Or maybe we'll just get exclusive to Xbone 2.7 and above games.
They're kinda eliminating the one advantage consoles have; closed box means not needing to try and keep up with whatever driver doesn't break your shit. Maybe it's overly cynical of me, but I feel like opening consoles up for upgrades means planned obsolesence. :I
That was a twofold problem; the older 360's had crappy glue in them and some games would run them so hot it would in effect kill the console (I remember GTAV bricking some older consoles, similar to the first wave of RRoD).
Plus, they didn't think forward enough in offering HDD space. Later, games became so large no launch console could play them with out an upgrade. In both cases, hindsight was 20/20.
No.
As I said, I would just prefer modular upgrades as opposed to an entirely revised version of the same console in the form of an XBOX OnePointFive/PS4.5.
These attitudes are archaic. Just like we have constant upgrades for phones, computers, tablets, etc etc, why can't consoles be as flexible? Used to be you only needed to upgrade every so often, but now? Things change quicker. And I am not advocating for completely scalable and modified consoles, just more than the one option presented.
The 3DS, 2DS and New 3DS are good examples. They realized they wanted something with a bit more punch to run some games, but not all. So they did a brilliant idea: they stripped the old hardware down and sold it cheaper, while positioning the successor as a niche but nice choice for gamer that care about niche games and better performance. It's not so insane when it's been done before and done well.
The entire point of consoles is "you bought one, you is done". Not "well, you bought one, but that was last year, now you can't play anything new lolz".
Apple takes shit for not supporting/apps not running well on the iPhone 4, which is positively ancient in mobile terms. How well would that go for a console?
Yep, that is definitely a potential avenue of suck.
Ideally, I'd like for it to go on 8 year long cycle, 4 year short cycle.
So like PS4/Xbone in 2013, PS4.5/XB1.5 in 2017, PS5/XB2 in 2021, PS5.5/XB2.5 in 2025
Consoles are all backwards compatible, while each generation is fowards compatible for at least one short cycle. (So the PS4 can play PS4.5 games, the PS4.5 can play PS5 games etc. etc. Basically you can go .5 ahead, but not a full 1) Essentially consoles will get obsolete, but only after they've been eclipsed by a full generation after around 8 years, like how it would normally be. So if you want to stay out of the rapid mid-generation cycle, you can.
However, there's a lot of ways that can go sour, like iterating more than every 4 years or not having forwards compatibility. It'll be interesting to see what Sony and MS has to say when they start talking about this stuff.
Except not at all. You can't really just buy a console and call it done. You need internet to constantly update the console. You need more HDD space to store more games. There are constant variables after buying the console nowadays, we don't live in the days of dial-up anymore. Times have charged. These are problems that already exist for console owners.
They still release games for Old 3DS right? They release higher scale games all the time in the PC world. Just because something new and shint exists doesn't mean they will give up on older hardware. Hence why they still make 360/and PS3 games and only until 3 years ago still made PS2 games. Buying a console isn't a legally binding contract.
Internet is free? More space on a HDD is free? What? I mean, just because you have to pay more money to make the console experience better doesn't mean the vanilla version of that hardware is suddenly useless.
I also need power to keep it running. Internet is, at this point, a "utility", and literally needed for me to function professionally and personally. This may not be true for everyone, sure, but in my age/regional/professional bracket, it absolutely is.
The statement as written is true for me, though maybe not for you. I bought a console. I plugged it into the utilities and my TV. I am done until Xbox Two, and this is awesome.
used to be you bought something and expected it to last, now people are eager to shell out hundreds of dollars every 6 months for the latest piece of shit.
It's not that simple. Just because you don't take the internet as a cost of a console doesn't mean it isn't one. Having access to updates, digital libraries, etc are services. You pay for PSN/XBL. You pay for more HDD space. You lay for upgrades to the system. Just because you don't want to fork over money for a better experience won't keep people from getting an Xbone 1.5.
I don't see the major issue. I really doubt they are gonna full-stop quit making PS4 and Xbone games. If anything, they will release two scaled versions, one for launch consoles and one for expanded consoles. It isn't that hard, PC games do it already across thousands of configurations.
On the other hand I realize that expecting a 400 dollar machine to be cutting edge for 5+ years is silly.
If consoles want to stay competitive with pcs in terms of graphics they'll need to start doing upgrades sooner and sooner due to how fast the technology moves these days. I think the 360/PS3 era and even the PS2/Xbox era were abnormally long.
It's not a cost of updating the Xbox unless that's the only reason you have the internet. You need electricity and a TV to run the Xbox too, are you factoring those into the cost?
Let's flash back to the mid-90's. I was a wee lad on a 486/33 with a 430mb hard drive. We had windows and some other stuff on there, but in general, I was constantly filling that hard drive up with games and having to delete stuff to make room for other games. Neither I, nor my folks spent a single cent on a new storage solution. I probably reinstalled WarCraft II a half dozen times.
Unless it's intentionally or unintentionally being made obsolete, which was the scenerio deporowski was suggesting.
Exactly. Destiny was released for two consoles. The prior gen console was literally a drag on the experience for the current gen console. It was a limiter.
Now, you have current gen and current.5 gen consoles, and a game is released. The same scenario will play out, and eventually, "current" will be dropped from support, just like Destiny 2 is probably not going to support the 360/PS3.
This isn't malicious, this isn't "intentional obsolescence", this is simply "well, we're targeting all the new shiny stuff", like you naturally would. It's something that consoles have entirely avoided by their nature within a generation.
Also, seriously, "we have an offline solution, it's the 360" was enough to get someone fired. How much better do you think "just buy the new one!" is going to go over?
I just remembered I own Crystal Chronicles and literally never played it. I don't think I even took the shrinkwrap off.
This is gonna be a fascinating mess to watch.
Hell, it's not like all games would immediately stop coming out for the XB1 and PS4. There are plenty of not very demanding indie titles that would continue to still be compatible with these systems long into the XB2 and PS5's life. Since they still live within the same ecosystem, they have no problem still being sold those older consoles.
Twitter: Cokomon | dA: Cokomon | Tumblr: Cokomon-art | XBL / NNID / Steam: Cokomon
Sony will in turn release a 4.5 system to maintain parity, but I don't necessarily think we are going to see an entirely new console development model come out of this.
Twitter: Cokomon | dA: Cokomon | Tumblr: Cokomon-art | XBL / NNID / Steam: Cokomon
Plus Microsoft and Sony don't really have the same problem they did last gen, where they'd lost so much money in the first 2-3 years of the generation that they kinda had to ride those consoles for as long as they could to try to make it up.
The amount of new series arriving from big publishers at the end of the PS3/360's life was pretty much a trickle. I don't really want that mentality stretching out forever.
On the other hand, no real generation shifts might force more new series more often.
Twitter: Cokomon | dA: Cokomon | Tumblr: Cokomon-art | XBL / NNID / Steam: Cokomon