Is This Console Generation Going to be Extended Due to the Pandemic?

Gaming
22

I very strongly believe this will be the last generation as we know it. The only company to release new hardware at this point will be Nintendo imo.

The way the mobile scene is exploding year on year shows us this. This is why Xbox are genius. Game pass will be able to expand must when Apple Arcade expands and perhaps Android will also have a more robust subscription service in the not tell distant future too.

I feel Xbox will just release refreshes of the same or very incrementally better hardware in the next 5 years and owely then into just software focused. It is written.

Have a feeling Nintendo may be the only /true/ console manufacturer in 5+ years, but maybe this too much of a romantic idea.

23

The next time there will be a new console launch is when there is a breakthrough in tech. SSD was this years theme along with 60/120 fps.

24

It’s such a weird situation. This generation was the first time I’ve ever bought new hardware on day one. Like, I knew it was going to be tough to score a console day one and felt lucky that I did, but I had no idea that 6 months later it would still be near impossible. I can’t imagine the frustration.

3 Likes
25

This gen hasn’t even begun yet, and it won’t until next year. We’re still getting tons of cross-gen games.

1 Like
26

I think 7-8 year generations are the new norm. I also believe mid generation upgraded consoles are to be expected. We’ll see those in either 2023 or 2024.

27

I’ll say 6-8 years depending on how the tech advances over the next few years.

28

I think it’ll be about as long as Xbox One/PS4 but it’s hard to say. It kinda depends on demand and the economy. The Xbox 360/PS3 gen lasted way longer than intended because of the recession. The games landscape will look a lot different by the time we are talking about new consoles anyways.

29

I m not sure if the mid term consoles has worked out for Sony and Xbox.

30

It was a success for Microsoft if for no other reason than forcing the use of Smart Delivery by developers years before consumers noticed it, which is a key technology for the new current-gen and all the glowing praise they’re receiving for how simple it is to upgrade games to the best version available while keeping game saves simple.

2 Likes
31

Do you mean with the One X? Smart Delivery before it was called that :slight_smile:

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32

If you mean extending support of 8th gen Consoles then yes! It may likely happen.

The planned first party stuff may not change but some third party and indies for sure gonna support these consoles.

33

Yes, my reply was to the point of “mid term console has worked out for Xbox”.

34

I think the main reason this gen will be a long one is because of semiconductor issues. 5nm looks good but not a generational leap in performance and especially price. Will TSMC have a process in 5 years with 3 times higher transistor count for the same price? I have doubts.

35

Won’t matter that much when AMD will have better technology. They already do for the CPUs and will have RDNA4 for GPUs by then. Microsoft/Sony could move to that for the work smarter, not harder, benefits.

36

Their newer CPU tech since Zen2 is a good step up but certainly not a generational leap like we got from Jaguar to Zen2.

37

Right, but they’ll have Zen4 in 2022 so possibly Zen5 by then, if not at least Zen4+. The leaps won’t be as drastic since Jags were so underpowered compared to desktops. But every bit if new tech and smarter designs will make it worth it over the costs of attempting “simple die shrinks”. Throw in PciExpress 5 and faster NVME maybe better compression engine. That would be a sizable jump for a rolling generation Xbox upgrade.

If this console gen is extended then games will suffer compared to PC because they only have the 1st gen RayTracing and SuperScaling by AMD. Those need to be boosted for sure.

I can see Microsoft wanting to keep pace with PC platform, making it easier to unify development.