On the one hand this is unlikely, unprecedented, and would piss off early adopters. On the other hand, they might just do it if they feel they are SO far behind there’s effectively nothing to lose. Diego
It’s not just unprecedented - it’s inevitable. The consoles are in an endless generation now, as they’re platform rather than hardware based, just like smartphones.
stusser
5611
It does seem crazy at first glace. But when you think about it, there’s no reason for Sony or Microsoft to ever break backwards compatibility again. They’re basically locked down PC hardware.
And once there’s no reason to break backwards compatibility, and once you figure out that you should really just build locked-down PCs, the next obvious logical question in sequence is-- why would you ever launch another console?
Well, there’s a ton of publicity, and it allows you to break forwards compatibility. So when 2019 comes around, rather than releasing XBone revision 6 with an AMD HDX9970 and mandating that all released games need to work fine on the 2013 XBone release console, you put out Xbox Next… with an AMD HDX9970.
@Sam: Exactamundo! It makes so much sense that yeah-- Microsoft should nut up and just frickin’ do it. And then Sony will be forced to frickin’ do it, and consoles will be as you say, platforms rather than hardware.
I don’t think it’s inevitable, though. I actually don’t think it will happen at all. Neither side has the balls.
Jazar
5612
I think Microsoft would absolutely do this. They have done so many unprecedented decisions in the past year they’ve proven that anything and everything is on the table. It’s not completely unprecedented as the 3DS now has a new revision with more RAM and exclusive games.
If MS tries something like that they will deserve every ounce of the brand-destroying backlash it will cause.
Only tech obsessed fools think releasing a new hardware version with different specs would really help MS. The resolution differences may be a PR pain but there not why Sony has sold more systems. All MS would get is pissed off gamers, and annoyed developers.
No kidding. I just bought the price-dropped bundle. If they made an upgraded Xbox anytime within a year I would be straight furious.
Jazar
5616
If Microsoft loses this holiday season in the US (which is a big if) then I would absolutely expect a revision next year. They have proven to be drastic and are out of options.
I think you’d have just as much pushback from retail partners (who are impossible to remove from the equation as long as there’s a hardware component) as from existing customers. Video game consoles don’t sell well enough and don’t have high enough profit margins to sustain the Apple business model, especially if you aren’t doing name changes or at least external hardware redesigns (and good luck pushing those year after year), and stores like Walmart aren’t going to want to have to deal with stocking all those unsold original Xbox Ones, which take up a hell of a lot more shelf space than a last-gen iPad mini or an original 3DS, and don’t have nearly as much price-cut potential as those devices.
Also, with regards to the 3DS comparison, I know it’s easy to forget, but the 3DS has been out for four years. That’s longer than the span between the Game Boy Advance and the original DS! With how much people have been complaining about the New 3DS despite that, can you really say releasing an upgraded Xbox One fewer than two years after launch is a “fantastic idea,” unless your goal is to make Microsoft take the “most hated corporation in America” crown from EA?
My guess is no HW revision. Die shrinkage to return profitability (they are probably hurting per unit with the price drops) and memory architecture specialist to help simplify the usage of the ESRAM and narrow the gap (perceived or otherwise), maybe by abstracting the developer pain via some funky SDK stuff that automates its usage or at least the optimisation process.
I agree, I think it will get them more flak than requiring online got them. So they’re not going to do it.
Canuck
5620
Yes it is crazy. You’re nuts. :)
Do you think MS would (or should) go out and piss off the very few people who have actually bought their console despite all the crap they’ve pulled? I don’t think the “generation” is going anywhere soon. At least not this gen. You’d piss off your fanbase, you’d piss off the developers, and you’d piss off retail.
No one hates on nVidia for new video card releases. If Xbox loses Nov and Dec in the States being 50 cheaper and with a free new game I could see them trying it. It would be full compatibility, just higher res and better frame rates. I put the idea as a far outside chance but not unthinkable.
All this speculation about how pissed off people will be - is that really the case? Apart from somebody who, for example, buys a Nexus 5 the day before the Nexus 6 is announced, nobody gets annoyed with the comparatively faster progression in the smartphone/tablet/phablet market.
If MS release an Xbox OnePointOne in 1-2 years with a few revisions that make it more capable but otherwise 100% compatible with existing titles then how is that a bad thing? Say it has DDR5 RAM, possibly a little more. Throw in a more capable graphics chip. Suddenly you have a machine which can exceed PS4 performance within a 1080p framebuffer, and those with the Xbox One will be able to play the same games but at the now “traditional” 900p upscaled. Yeah, when we get to Xbox OnePointThree or Four, the original will have to be sunsetted in terms of dev support, but because “Xbox” is now service-based it becomes a more natural transition over time that the historic wall between generations. You’re not leaving your game library behind any more, so as a consumer you have more attachment to the platform over time not less. The same obviously goes for Sony with Playstation.
Razgon
5623
Smart phones have a lot smaller life cycle than Consoles, hence the anger if a console maker makes a new edition within two years, unlike a smart phone company.
I’m pretty sure such a move would alienate the very people who are the core audience of the console.
The core audience rightly kicked off at MS original vision for the XBO and if they’d stuck to their guns and released it in that configuration, then in combination with the performance gap, it would have absolutely shafted Xbox rather than its current state of being significantly behind the PS4. People become alienated when progression means they get a worse deal (as cutting out the used market for games would have with XBO as they unveiled it), but nobody gets pissed off at the prospect of better stuff which doesn’t exclude existing owners in the way a traditional leap between hardware generations would.
stusser
5625
It absolutely would alienate everybody who already bought one. And I still think they should do it.
Well I was all set to buy a bundle and after seeing that online. I’m now wondering if I should hold off. That said, if they did I’m sure they’d have some sort of trade in get 200 for trading in your old system etc. If that’s the case Buying an xbox now would be the same price as buying it day one.
I can’t believe you’re going to hold off based on completely wild speculation based on the fact that MS wants a die shrink and a memory engineer? Just buy it. Life is too short to wait all the time.
Also, die shrinks happen. Has absolutely nothing to do with a new console. The Xbox 360 at launch was 90nm. Around 2007, it went to 65nm. The latest versions are all 45nm. Same console, 2 die shrinks. It’s all about reducing costs.
RickH
5628
Short answer: It’s just website click-bait. If you want one, get one.
The platform will be stable for the forseeable future because that’s what consoles are – a stable development platform. And even if there is an Xbox 1.1, any incremental architecture changes 3+ years from now (ex: locking down 1080p for all software, and other stuff) won’t invalidate your 900p system. It took 3+ generations of iPads and iPhones for support for older models to drop off for new software, and I’m betting the changes in the console boxes will be far less dramatic, more evolution than revolution, and maintaining full backwards compatibility.
In the last year, MS was mystified as to why so many hardcore 360 users declined to upgrade to the new system. While the conventional wisdom has been that backwards compatibility doesn’t matter for consoles, the current-gen buyer was making a fresh start no matter what system they bought. I think BC matters a lot for the future, since Apple and Android users are now used to (1) frequent hardware refreshes, and (2) having all their software hop right over to the new system. If, 3 years from now, I can unplug my USB drive with all of my Xbone software, plug it into a new unit, and pick right up where I left off, it would be a much easier sell than the Xbone was last November, where all the money I had given MS for the last 8 years meant nothing.
