I don't think it shows a lack of competition and greed. As far as I can tell, it illustrates a fundamental attribute of consoles: They are a fixed target. Game developers can hyper-optimize for the specific hardware in a console because 100% of the people using that console will be using that hardware configuration.
With PCs, there's the question of how well your computer will play a game. With consoles, this question is instead binary: Either your Xbox 360 will play the game exactly as well as all the others or it will not play the game.
Either your Xbox 360 will play the game exactly as well as all the others or it will not play the game.
That's not the case, or at least it shouldn't. PC's aren't magic. You can ship a game with low res textures and high. So if you have the Xbox1 2013 you get the low, but if you have the Xbox1 2015 you get the high and maybe a bump in resolution.
This is a solved problem in the PC world. I understand its different than the status quo, but its silly to think it can't be done.
I suspect the console makers are simply scared to make the early adopters have a worse experience than the kid with the new box and it serves them to make the generation last as long as possible from an economic pov.
Regardless, I hope someone disrupts this duopoly. I had higher hopes for android gaming devices, but who knows, its still early in the game. I could see a deviation on the steambox really shake things up.
I also imagine the economics get better as time goes on and you don't make a profit until sale # x million. Considering how much cheaper hardware is nowadays, I wonder if this formula still applies. You can make a gaming box that beats these next gen consoles for not that much.
Comments
I don't think it shows a lack of competition and greed. As far as I can tell, it illustrates a fundamental attribute of consoles: They are a fixed target. Game developers can hyper-optimize for the specific hardware in a console because 100% of the people using that console will be using that hardware configuration.
With PCs, there's the question of how well your computer will play a game. With consoles, this question is instead binary: Either your Xbox 360 will play the game exactly as well as all the others or it will not play the game.
That's not the case, or at least it shouldn't. PC's aren't magic. You can ship a game with low res textures and high. So if you have the Xbox1 2013 you get the low, but if you have the Xbox1 2015 you get the high and maybe a bump in resolution.
This is a solved problem in the PC world. I understand its different than the status quo, but its silly to think it can't be done.
I suspect the console makers are simply scared to make the early adopters have a worse experience than the kid with the new box and it serves them to make the generation last as long as possible from an economic pov.
Regardless, I hope someone disrupts this duopoly. I had higher hopes for android gaming devices, but who knows, its still early in the game. I could see a deviation on the steambox really shake things up.
I also imagine the economics get better as time goes on and you don't make a profit until sale # x million. Considering how much cheaper hardware is nowadays, I wonder if this formula still applies. You can make a gaming box that beats these next gen consoles for not that much.