Intel in the next gen of consoles?

[invictis]

With Intel releasing their new GPUs, and with them already making CPUs, could it be foreseeable for them to make an APU for one of the consoles in say 6 or 7 years?

And if they could say make an APU for the Xbox Series Y next gen, what would be the possibility that Microsoft could have backwards compatibility with Xbox One and Series X games?

 

[t0mb3rt]

Why would we want that?

 

[Deleted member 11852]

With Intel releasing their new GPUs, and with them already making CPUs, could it be foreseeable for them to make an APU for one of the consoles in say 6 or 7 years?

It feels like this would be a much easier task for Microsoft given their juicy APIs to abstract hardware changes. Sony are still in the 1980/90s with their hardware backward compatibility approach. If they had thought a little harder about the future of their platform when designing PS4, this wouldn't so tough.

Microsoft's future technology choices were clear back in 2016 - at least to me! I think the only place Microsoft really stumbles is in their game-by-game approach to things like code translation (running original x86 Xbox games on 360, running PowerPC 360 games on Xbox One++) and no framerate boost. This is cool tech, just shove it in the OS and let the user decide whether to try it otherwise the roll-out will take years.

 

[techuse]

Why would anyone want anything Intel produces in the consumer space?

 

[Deleted member 11852]

Why would anyone want anything Intel produces in the consumer space?

I presume the unwritten posit is that it's competitive (or better) on a technical level than future AMD.

 

[Megadrive1988]

With Intel releasing their new GPUs, and with them already making CPUs, could it be foreseeable for them to make an APU for one of the consoles in say 6 or 7 years?

And if they could say make an APU for the Xbox Series Y next gen, what would be the possibility that Microsoft could have backwards compatibility with Xbox One and Series X games?

The way I see things, I think it would be good if over the next 2-3 years, Intel finally emerges as an actual competitor to Nvidia and AMD in across much of the middle range of the consumer discrete GPU AIB market. And then to offer their Xe GPU, CPU, and other roadmaps to Microsoft and/or Sony as an alternative to AMD's Semi Custom offerings for whatever next generation console hardware Sony and Microsoft will be developing to release sometime in the back half of the decade, after 2025.
(i.e. Holiday 2027).

More competition to force AMD to push the envelope more to help secure another generation of semi-custom design wins for Xbox and PlayStation, at least.

It would probably be a positive thing, even if Intel does not end up inside a 10th generation of TV game consoles.

 

[techuse]

I presume the unwritten posit is that it's competitive (or better) on a technical level than future AMD.

Seems like quite the stretch. Intel will probably still be developing 14nm processors by the time Sony and Microsoft start developing their next round of consoles. Discrete GPU wise I personally believe there is a 0% chance they release anything of value within the next decade.

 

[zed]

Launching in 2027, so I guess the main question is, will it be 10nm or 14nm?

 

[BRiT]

New With Intel releasing their new GPUs, and with them already making CPUs, could it be foreseeable for them to make an APU for one of the consoles in say 6 or 7 years?

No. Strictly for business reasons. Why would Intel bother to offer anything in the console space which requires low margins in order to be attractive for console makers? There is no future in which I see Intel willing to make that concession.

 

[invictis]

Why would we want that?

The more competition the better?
I mean, we can shit on intel CPUs, but they good CPUs. Their new GPU tech apparently has RT and VRS already, and I assume it will have mesh shaders and the rest of the Direct 12 U extensions.
A GPU made from the ground up, as opposed to tied down by last model GPUs base, might well produce something exceptional.

 

[Sonic]

It's highly doubtful unless Intel is desperate and willing to make a nice deal with either Sony/MS. It doesn't make much sense for either to go with Intel until there is significant period of time where Intel is competitive. If Intel makes APU's that outperform AMD's for a few years it may make it more tenable.

I just see this as highly unlikely and something Intel has little interest in.

 

[goonergaz]

Won’t power be an issue? The CPUs may be good ‘bang for buck’ but they consume significantly more power which is a big no-no for consoles?

 

[Shortbread]

It would be quite interesting to see an Intel-based console among the big three. Nintendo-Nvidia, Sony-AMD, and Microsoft-Intel.

 

[eastmen]

The way I see things, I think it would be good if over the next 2-3 years, Intel finally emerges as an actual competitor to Nvidia and AMD in across much of the middle range of the consumer discrete GPU AIB market. And then to offer their Xe GPU, CPU, and other roadmaps to Microsoft and/or Sony as an alternative to AMD's Semi Custom offerings for whatever next generation console hardware Sony and Microsoft will be developing to release sometime in the back half of the decade, after 2025.
(i.e. Holiday 2027).

More competition to force AMD to push the envelope more to help secure another generation of semi-custom design wins for Xbox and PlayStation, at least.

It would probably be a positive thing, even if Intel does not end up inside a 10th generation of TV game consoles.

It would be a great thing for Intel to get a great graphics option even if it is slightly behind the other two. It be great for consumers that is for sure and would make them more competitive with qualcom and apple.

I think however for Sony and MS there wouldn't be a point in leaving AMD. AMD is already ahead in the graphics space and very competitive in the cpu space. Both companies have a lot invested in amd's tech. MS has had the gpu in the 360 , cpu/gpu in the one and again cpu/gpu in the series . I know they have a software solution for their BC but at the end of the day why mess with what works .

Sony seems to rely more on hardware for their BC so it might be impossible for them to move without breaking ps4/ps5 BC.

I think intel would not only have to be a competitor but would have to put forth something that curb stomps what AMD has .


I think Nintendo and Nvidia are to close now too. There isn't much of a reason for Nintendo to go from arm/nvidia to pure intel. I bet that would break the natural BC of the units and of course Nintendo is one of Nvidia's biggest customers so I am sure Nvidia is happy to give good deals to them

 

[Megadrive1988]

Exactly ^

 

[thicc_gaf]

Seems like quite the stretch. Intel will probably still be developing 14nm processors by the time Sony and Microsoft start developing their next round of consoles. Discrete GPU wise I personally believe there is a 0% chance they release anything of value within the next decade.

They already have 5nm/3nm contracts in place with TSMC (supposedly). They don't need to use their own fabs to produce the chips, though that would be an obvious cost-saving benefit if they could (they may use them for lower-range products perhaps).

 

[thicc_gaf]

It would be a great thing for Intel to get a great graphics option even if it is slightly behind the other two. It be great for consumers that is for sure and would make them more competitive with qualcom and apple.

I think however for Sony and MS there wouldn't be a point in leaving AMD. AMD is already ahead in the graphics space and very competitive in the cpu space. Both companies have a lot invested in amd's tech. MS has had the gpu in the 360 , cpu/gpu in the one and again cpu/gpu in the series . I know they have a software solution for their BC but at the end of the day why mess with what works .

Sony seems to rely more on hardware for their BC so it might be impossible for them to move without breaking ps4/ps5 BC.

I think intel would not only have to be a competitor but would have to put forth something that curb stomps what AMD has .


I think Nintendo and Nvidia are to close now too. There isn't much of a reason for Nintendo to go from arm/nvidia to pure intel. I bet that would break the natural BC of the units and of course Nintendo is one of Nvidia's biggest customers so I am sure Nvidia is happy to give good deals to them

Yeah, basically Intel's "in" to console gaming would have to come through another platform holder. Some crazy off-chance Sega, NEC, SNK etc. decided to re-join the fray. They certainly have a lot more going on than, say, Atari or Intellivision, and those two are trying their own new consoles, but I don't see how Sega or SNK could pull off a 10th-gen console without serious funding backed by another company. NEC I guess maybe could, they were pretty huge at the time of PC-Engine though I don't think they're as large anymore. But they probably have other reasons to not bother.

So it's either that or a new company emerges and tries their hand. It would still be a smaller type of thing likely not to compete directly with Sony/MS/Nintendo but...I can see a company like exa-Arcadia maybe trying a consolized version of their arcade system for the home, maybe they secure some sweet deal with Intel on the CPU/GPU front and use that in a next-generation exa-Arcadia arcade system and consolized "home-friendly" system (it doesn't have to be specifically targeting home users, just more an extension of letting arcade gamers play the games on a home-like console device featuring the same tech, with some way of keeping arcade operators in the loop for revenue and also providing a means of buying/renting such units, playing the games at home, etc.).

That's a future path for Intel into non-PC gaming spaces I think, just maybe don't expect Intel tech in a mainstream console suiting to take on the next PlayStation or Xbox (or Nintendo device, at least in terms of marketshare. It could easily beat Nintendo in specs, though).

 

[DieH@rd]

Intel in console happened once, and MS [deservedly] run away from them as fast as possible.

 

[thicc_gaf]

That was also decades ago, and lots of things have changed since then. By that logic, Nintendo should've ran away from Nvidia seeing how Sony and Microsoft were screwed by Nvidia in the past (PS3, OG Xbox), but their relationship seems very good so Nvidia have learned some lessons since those fumbles.

If Nvidia can learn, so can Intel.

 

[eastmen]

Yeah, basically Intel's "in" to console gaming would have to come through another platform holder. Some crazy off-chance Sega, NEC, SNK etc. decided to re-join the fray. They certainly have a lot more going on than, say, Atari or Intellivision, and those two are trying their own new consoles, but I don't see how Sega or SNK could pull off a 10th-gen console without serious funding backed by another company. NEC I guess maybe could, they were pretty huge at the time of PC-Engine though I don't think they're as large anymore. But they probably have other reasons to not bother.

So it's either that or a new company emerges and tries their hand. It would still be a smaller type of thing likely not to compete directly with Sony/MS/Nintendo but...I can see a company like exa-Arcadia maybe trying a consolized version of their arcade system for the home, maybe they secure some sweet deal with Intel on the CPU/GPU front and use that in a next-generation exa-Arcadia arcade system and consolized "home-friendly" system (it doesn't have to be specifically targeting home users, just more an extension of letting arcade gamers play the games on a home-like console device featuring the same tech, with some way of keeping arcade operators in the loop for revenue and also providing a means of buying/renting such units, playing the games at home, etc.).

That's a future path for Intel into non-PC gaming spaces I think, just maybe don't expect Intel tech in a mainstream console suiting to take on the next PlayStation or Xbox (or Nintendo device, at least in terms of marketshare. It could easily beat Nintendo in specs, though).

I mean if you think about it Intel right now is a sleeping giant. We saw with the pentium 4 how bad it got towards the end and we might be in that situation now with the core series. Intel of course dusted off the pentium pro tech and made the core series and jumped from having horrible chips to leading the market. They might have something else that is better than the core series coming. One could actually only hope.

its the same on the graphics side. All it really takes is one good design and they can leap in.

I also agree that it would be another company that jumps in. I just can't see it being any of those companies. We will either get something from china / trencent like the switch rip off that is rumored and maybe they will go with an intel solution because again I think simply putting an AMD apu in a handheld wont let them be competitive outside of china. The other options would be a google or amazon. I believe stadia already went the AMD route so they may not want to switch off either .

Intel in console happened once, and MS [deservedly] run away from them as fast as possible.

That was what 20 years ago ? Intel isn't the same company , they don't command the same power they used too.

I think for Intel any company willing to give their new Graphics designs a chance would be a win for them. If you think about it they would be entering the pc gaming market with very little clout. The intergrated chipsets so far are a joke and most game developers barely pay attention to them. So getting another big company behind the product like say an Amazon or Google willing to produce and release 10s of millions of consoles possibly that use the hardware would allow them to get developer support that would reflect back into the other markets