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[Omerta]

^ Yeah, I vaguely remember that being one of Sega's last ditch efforts before going third party. T'was something along the lines of buying two years of a subscription and getting a voucher for $150 off a Dreamcast - and it retailed for $150.

[Exhuminator]

be following the precedent set by literally every other category of consumer tech

I'm not sure I follow you there. Can you expand on this concept?

instead, we assume maybe 2-3 years per upgrade, and each model not becoming obsolete each time

So if you buy a PS5v1, but then 2 years later, the PS5v2 comes out, are you saying that PS5v2 games can still be played on the old PS5v1? Simply in a less technically impressive way? And later, when PS5v3 releases, do its games still work on PS5v1? But even more technically hobbled to do so?

[Sarge]

The primary difference between the annual upgrades on, say, cell phones, is that consoles aren't really a subsidized service. You have to jump into a contract with a phone company, or buy outright, and most folks I know don't buy their phone outright and keep doing so every year or so.

Or maybe I'm just weird. I mean, I kept my iPhone 3G going for six years. No, seriously! (Super happy to have gotten that Moto X, now.)

As far as scaling is concerned, my primary worry is that in that space, most of the games just flat out don't push the hardware at all, unless you're running on something really pitiful. If you want to hit the biggest market share, you're not going to push it to the edge, you're going to go lowest common denominator (within reason).

[Xeogred]

So would you guys rather have the inevitable slim versions of the Xbone/PS4 not perform better in any other way?

[Tanooki]

Who says mobile hasn't diversified into practically aping the console end of things? Look at the Nvidia Shield format with the K/X1 Tegra chips in the tablet/console system. They have a good pile of games only made for Android on their device chipsets that run on the modern console end of things. Interestingly enough they also come into downloads of a notably smaller size than what you get on a bloated blu ray, even if you get updates on those shield versions they're done in the background while you can use the tablet still for anything else, like a PC. Console gaming is screwing itself into an ugly dark corner with the half breed consoles (glad you liked that Elkin) because you're getting all the bullshit and none of the relief as the system is tied up doing all those firmware pushes, big installs, big patches. It's no longer (if ever) acceptable to sit and buy a new PS4/One game and go make a damn sandwich and watch a tv show or a movie while game downloads if not longer.

The gap is rapidly and very quickly closing between the two and the mobile end has the upper hand. Sure touch screens suck but you can get wired or bluetooth controllers (which latter consoles use anyway.) Also tehre's this thing that's catching popularity...ever heard of JXD? http://www.jxdofficial.com/

That basic model 7800b of theirs is an android tablet with controls built on it, preloaded with lots of stuff including many emulators, runs Android as I said, and it uses the Nvidia Tegra chipset too. The basic one is on par with their original handheld with the flip top screen, their new model which is over $300 uses the newer Tegra chips placing it right there with the tablet I have and the console. Same basic function, with the controls on device. This device can be bought on amazon.com among other US outlets so it's not entirely some chinese obscurity you have to import. That there is where things are heading and if it keeps running that way consoles are rightly fucked to be blunt. Their current tactics and model are garbage and people are tired of it or things like that wouldn't exist.

[Sarge]

Honestly? Yeah, probably. I'd rather there be one hardware target, so they can maximize for a single platform.

In practice, what's probably going to happen is that it will be like the DSi or the New 3DS, with almost nothing that takes advantage of the hardware.

It's a great deal for those that haven't jumped on the bandwagon yet. It's not so much for those of us who have. And I doubt that the improved models will come with improved pricing like the Slim variants do. I think every time a new model has dropped, it has come with an accompanying price drop.

[Exhuminator]

So would you guys rather have the inevitable slim versions of the Xbone/PS4 not perform better in any other way?

They do perform better. They take up less space, use less power, produce less heat, and have better life expectancy. Those are evolved benefits I can admire. They don't however seduce games that will perform either worse on older versions of their respective platform, or not even run at all on older versions.

[Xeogred]

Well I'll freak out if it's a problem when they're out and things are potentially bad. Either way we all knew the era of traditional consoles was at its end this gen. Unfortunately.

GOTTA GO FAST

[isiolia]

So if you buy a PS5v1, but then 2 years later, the PS5v2 comes out, are you saying that PS5v2 games can still be played on the old PS5v1? Simply in a less technically impressive way? And later, when PS5v3 releases, do its games still work on PS5v1? But even more technically hobbled to do so?

Presumably, because that's what MS and Sony have been saying about their upgraded models so far. Far as I've seen, PS4 Neo or whatever will come out. It'll run some games better due to higher clocks, have native scaling to 4k, etc. However, PS4 games on the shelf will still just be PS4 games and still work on the original model too. The Neo will just have the potential to run them better.
Different than, say, Nintendo's strategy of making games exclusive to the newer model, and I doubt approaching NEC levels of silliness.

Being realistic, there are limits to how far things can scale, so I'd expect that eventually older console versions will get support phased out. However, we've yet to see how long that actually takes. My thought is that they could still wind up supporting any given model for approximately a console generation anyway.
The idea seems more to be blurring or erasing the line between actual generations, and making it more platform-centric.

Logically, that's how most consumer tech works though. There are new models coming out annually for most of them, but generally they're incremental upgrades that aren't must-have every single time. Last year's router, Roku, iPhone, Blu-ray player, TV, or whatever probably works just fine, and probably will for years. At some point, it'll be worth an upgrade.

It's not just turning into PCs, since we'd still be looking at relatively few hardware configurations that could be specifically tested and tuned for.

Obviously, just speculation at this point. I get what you mean though, that people can feel burned by purchases (I got an Xbox One last fall, for example, have like three games for it...and now they're announcing a better version...). Flip side might be making backwards compatibility a moot point, and "HD collections" a patch away.

[Stark]

Rumor article up on Eurogamer:
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2016- ... ontrollers

Portable console with detachable controllers. Also I want that Breath of the Wild Gameboy cart now.