Occasionally you see discussions on video game forums about who might be a candidate join the console business in a big way, if anyone. Apple usually comes up prominently. Which IMO there's zero incentive for an Apple console.
There's one name rarely mentioned in such discussions which to me is arguably the ONLY big player that makes sense to join the console fray...that name is Nvidia.
What brought this to mind again is some internet discussion about the Nvidia Shield I've happened across, at hot deals forums. Despite being virtually abandoned by Nvidia IMO (they have not refreshed the chipset in a while), and overpriced at 199 for the entry level model with only a paltry 16GB of flash storage on board, it still seems quite popular amongst a niche as a relatively open streaming/gaming/emulation/media device.
So I guess you could say technically, Nvidia already has a console. The Shield has a Tegra X1, and it's not underclocked like the Switch, so it's a bit more powerful than the Switch arguably. Which isn't bad. However it's still pretty technically lacking compared to an Xbox One S at the low end of the current core consoles.
I think a console would have pretty huge benefits for Nvidia. It would increase their presence in the gaming market altogether, which would of course be nice for their core PC business.
Anyways with the Shield already existing, the landscape for me seems prime. Iterative modular consoles are now a thing, making it easier than ever to join the console fray. All Nvidia literally has to do is bring the next shield revision up to a level that it can accept 3rd party core ports, and court a few of those ports. So something around 1.5 teraflops on the lower end (and they could go much higher). For Nvidia that would be not even a millimeter sized speed bump obviously.They dont need a giant marketing budget or huge fanfare to launch a bespoke console like in the past. In theory they dont even need a single exclusive software. Just make it at a minimum "The Shield that now has support from Ubisoft, EA, Activision, Take 2, etc"
Of course one might wonder why anybody would buy The Shield console for 3rd party when the Xbox and PS4 have exclusives. Well, that would certainly be Nvidia's challenge, but I dont see it as much of one. They could attack it countless ways. From making it a power attractive box (say 3, 4, or even more than Xbox X at the high end, in FLOPS). So it could gain sales by being one of the better places to play third party games (at least above vanilla Xbox/PS4). They could attack it by being much more open in nature than other consoles, as I feel like the Shield TV is presently. Further, I think the conceit that they'd even need lots of sales might be a false one, I dont get the feeling the current Shield TV is a huge seller, yet it seemingly persists comfortably. On top of all that, I think the impact of exclusives is arguably pretty overrated, excepting Nintendo, and the sales numbers bear that out. Exclusives may get talked about an outized amount, but most people are playing COD/Fifa/Madden/NBA 2k/GTA
Maybe they could even, gasp, offer free online as a differentiator! Or even $20-$30 yearly instead of $50-60. I dont see Nvidia of all companies leaving $ on the table much, but maybe if it was a necessity to gain traction...Quite a few Madden and Fifa fanboys might be enticed by "console that plays FIFA but with cheaper online".
The PS5 might be right around the corner, so what? The iterative landscape has IMO made that irrelevant. In a relatively short time after PS5 release, Nvidia can easily release "Shield TV, power competitive with PS5" version, no problem at all.
Oh and fanboys, fanboys would be a big help in any console publish. Well have no fear, Nvidia has those in spades already. More than almost any other company IMO, at least up there with Sony, Apple.
People might wonder why this post, am I some huge Nvidia fanboy? The reverse if anything! I just find the business discussion of consoles very interesting and this has long been in the back of my mind. I also have always found a more open console that supports android emulators to be an attractive idea.
I guess one more caveat, people might say Nvidia doesn't need in the console business anymore as they supply chips for the Nintendo Switch. That's true to some extent, but it doesn't really invalidate anything IMO. If anything I'm sure Nintendo needs Nvidia much more than vice versa. I dont see it as a dealbreaker or even that Nvidia would stop supplying Nintendo with future chips for say a Switch 2 even, necessarily, for that matter.
Do I see this happening? Well, I dont see any signs of it, at all. So it certainly currently looks unlikely, no matter how much business sense I may think it makes. But I think it would be at least exciting if The Shield 2018 (if there is to be one) went this direction.
There's one name rarely mentioned in such discussions which to me is arguably the ONLY big player that makes sense to join the console fray...that name is Nvidia.
What brought this to mind again is some internet discussion about the Nvidia Shield I've happened across, at hot deals forums. Despite being virtually abandoned by Nvidia IMO (they have not refreshed the chipset in a while), and overpriced at 199 for the entry level model with only a paltry 16GB of flash storage on board, it still seems quite popular amongst a niche as a relatively open streaming/gaming/emulation/media device.
So I guess you could say technically, Nvidia already has a console. The Shield has a Tegra X1, and it's not underclocked like the Switch, so it's a bit more powerful than the Switch arguably. Which isn't bad. However it's still pretty technically lacking compared to an Xbox One S at the low end of the current core consoles.
I think a console would have pretty huge benefits for Nvidia. It would increase their presence in the gaming market altogether, which would of course be nice for their core PC business.
Anyways with the Shield already existing, the landscape for me seems prime. Iterative modular consoles are now a thing, making it easier than ever to join the console fray. All Nvidia literally has to do is bring the next shield revision up to a level that it can accept 3rd party core ports, and court a few of those ports. So something around 1.5 teraflops on the lower end (and they could go much higher). For Nvidia that would be not even a millimeter sized speed bump obviously.They dont need a giant marketing budget or huge fanfare to launch a bespoke console like in the past. In theory they dont even need a single exclusive software. Just make it at a minimum "The Shield that now has support from Ubisoft, EA, Activision, Take 2, etc"
Of course one might wonder why anybody would buy The Shield console for 3rd party when the Xbox and PS4 have exclusives. Well, that would certainly be Nvidia's challenge, but I dont see it as much of one. They could attack it countless ways. From making it a power attractive box (say 3, 4, or even more than Xbox X at the high end, in FLOPS). So it could gain sales by being one of the better places to play third party games (at least above vanilla Xbox/PS4). They could attack it by being much more open in nature than other consoles, as I feel like the Shield TV is presently. Further, I think the conceit that they'd even need lots of sales might be a false one, I dont get the feeling the current Shield TV is a huge seller, yet it seemingly persists comfortably. On top of all that, I think the impact of exclusives is arguably pretty overrated, excepting Nintendo, and the sales numbers bear that out. Exclusives may get talked about an outized amount, but most people are playing COD/Fifa/Madden/NBA 2k/GTA
Maybe they could even, gasp, offer free online as a differentiator! Or even $20-$30 yearly instead of $50-60. I dont see Nvidia of all companies leaving $ on the table much, but maybe if it was a necessity to gain traction...Quite a few Madden and Fifa fanboys might be enticed by "console that plays FIFA but with cheaper online".
The PS5 might be right around the corner, so what? The iterative landscape has IMO made that irrelevant. In a relatively short time after PS5 release, Nvidia can easily release "Shield TV, power competitive with PS5" version, no problem at all.
Oh and fanboys, fanboys would be a big help in any console publish. Well have no fear, Nvidia has those in spades already. More than almost any other company IMO, at least up there with Sony, Apple.
People might wonder why this post, am I some huge Nvidia fanboy? The reverse if anything! I just find the business discussion of consoles very interesting and this has long been in the back of my mind. I also have always found a more open console that supports android emulators to be an attractive idea.
I guess one more caveat, people might say Nvidia doesn't need in the console business anymore as they supply chips for the Nintendo Switch. That's true to some extent, but it doesn't really invalidate anything IMO. If anything I'm sure Nintendo needs Nvidia much more than vice versa. I dont see it as a dealbreaker or even that Nvidia would stop supplying Nintendo with future chips for say a Switch 2 even, necessarily, for that matter.
Do I see this happening? Well, I dont see any signs of it, at all. So it certainly currently looks unlikely, no matter how much business sense I may think it makes. But I think it would be at least exciting if The Shield 2018 (if there is to be one) went this direction.