Is there a future for consoles without a return to exotic hardware? *spawn

[cheapchips]

Doing exotic hardware to play the same game(s) is a fools errand. You’re just taking on costs to be different. And in the event a games doesn’t sell and you’re trying to recoup costs by putting it on other platforms, you’re screwed. Game budgets have skyrocketed in past generations. Breaking even in the ps2 generation is a different reality than today.

Also, whoever signs up as Bold is gonna be very confused.

For me that highlights one thing that exotic hardware needed to bring to the table - making games easier / cheaper to produce.

I've no idea how exotic hardware could make game development easier, other than my factious 'Dreams' machine PS6.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

@Bold Cherry picking so soon ?

I don't understand.

Some things do change and some don't but new games (or audiences ?) has fundamentally ALWAYS driven a new console cycle

Is that really true of this gen?

and if the so called 'next-gen' "isn't going to be transformative" as you claim then there really isn't a point anymore to invoking a new console cycle is there, now ?

Right. Your argument is there MUST be a novel console. My argument is there CAN'T be - it's not possible to execute. You need to address my points about why it can't happen to show it can if you are to convince me otherwise.

@Bold You mean the bubble here that isn't really representative of the general populace ? It wasn't TOO LONG AGO (2017) that consumers ate up the Switch in droves despite having NO BC!

And then you have discussions like this. Your reference here is consoles from decades ago, not consoles released in the Mobile Era where PC and phone take your software with yout. Again, I aruge that times have changed and the standards you keep referring to are outdated.

If something like mobile phones (especially unpleasant to developers) or even the Switch (NVN is not at all similar to D3D12) to a lesser extent can command the attention of big game developers, I don't see why the other dedicated gaming consoles can't earn some careful attention so that console manufacturers can SOMEHOW find away to OPTIMIZE the BoM for a GREATER market. Again it's the developer's JOB to make these things work with their given resources no matter how much their environment sucks ...

If it sucks to much, they won't bother unless the market is huge. So you need to present a plan that produces such hardware that'll be cheap enough and good enough to sell en masse and to present such a compelling case, like PS2 did, that devs will take on the burden with zero install base on the faith that install base will appear.

Or, you know, you could just repeated what happened with past consoles and avoid that debate altogether and just reiterate again that you think it MUST happen without and consideration HOW...

 

[see colon]

That was the crucial moment which really damaged the console market.

Damaged it by increasing growth and widening the console demographic?

 

[RobertR1]

Here's an easy formula:

Do you have Apple level of profits and cash reserves to invest in your own silicon design and pay a premium for the most advanced nodes?

If yes, create custom silicon.
If no, continue doing what you're doing.

With the rate of change in technology and consumer habits, what worked 20 or even 10 years ago has no impact going forward.

 

[Lurkmass]

Is that really true of this gen?

Are you REALLY going to ask this question NOW of all times considering last year's widely recognized GOTY winner and this year's most likely GOTY contenders ? There are absolutely games that are only available in this recent console cycle that's worth justifying a new generation ...

The current generation has been admittedly slower and fewer/farther in between to start but in the long run a new console cycle needs to be fueled with games that are original to it!

And then you have discussions like this. Your reference here is consoles from decades ago, not consoles released in the Mobile Era where PC and phone take your software with yout. Again, I aruge that times have changed and the standards you keep referring to are outdated.

I'm not going to comment much further other than the prospect of the Switch's successor featuring hardware BC being highly unlikely but again the Switch itself didn't feature BC AT ALL AND it released WELL AFTER the mainstream rise of mobile phones. BC being an irrelevant factor to a console system's success hasn't changed one bit ...

If it sucks to much, they won't bother unless the market is huge. So you need to present a plan that produces such hardware that'll be cheap enough and good enough to sell en masse and to present such a compelling case, like PS2 did, that devs will take on the burden with zero install base on the faith that install base will appear.

It's upto console manufacturers like Sony to establish a new market with their own exclusives if they want to keep their privileges (3rd party revenue cuts & control) as a platform holder going forwards because as consoles get closer to PCs, there'll be inevitably more competition between them and not less of it on top of the dwindling demographics ...

ALL platforms START OUT with no install base EVEN the ones with BC and it's always been the responsibility of the vendors to provide incentives for it so I don't see what argument you're trying to make out of significance from that ...