A number of weeks ago, rumors of an upgraded PS4 began cropping up all over the place offering significant performance boosts to the initial PS4 design along with 4K compatibility. Now, anonymous insiders are reporting that Microsoft is working on their own big console upgrade, dubbed "Scorpio" and "Xbox One-Two".

This supposed upgrade's target performance is nearly 4x that of the current Xbox One, with sources saying 6 TFLOPS compared to the current console's ~1.5 TFLOPS. The inside source also claims the upgraded Xbox, like the rumored PS4 Neo, will be backwards compatibility with current Xbox One games. The reports claim this upgrade isn't likely to show up until 2017, with a Slim model of the current console possibly being announced this E3.

Source

How will these mid-generation console upgrades effect console gaming in general? Will these mid-generation upgrades prove a poor idea, effectively dividing owners of current consoles? Will developers bother supporting the older consoles when a newer, more powerful option is out there? Who's to say. Personally, I'm not necessarily against these upgrades as long as the respective companies offer big trade in bonuses for the old hardware, and as long as game developers continue supporting the old consoles as well.

 

[Abcdfv]

I booted up Resident Evil: Revelations on my n3DS the other night and was surprised to find that it DOES work with the c-stick and extra z buttons.

You can thank the control pad plus for that

 

[Jayro]

People also need to take note of their HDMI port of their TV. An HDMI 2.0 port can take in a 4K signal at 50 and 60fps, but an HDMI 1.4 can only do 4K at 24fps

 

[Yil]

The consumer mobos are different, you are not taking that mobo and building a console and selling it for profit.

The difference from consumer licensing and corporate licensing is night and day. Yeah you can use Netflix app for free on your PC, but as soon as you put that Netflix app on a PS4 and XB1, Netflix starts to charge money, because you are essentially using Netflix playback to help sell your product to make money.

Why do you think Sony kept removing USB ports on the PS3 every single hardware revision, its because each USB was costing Sony $$$. Why do you think Netflix app is not available on PS Vita, even though PS Vita and PS TV can both run Netflix app just fine with a whitelist changed, because Netflix charges Sony $$$ for every single piece of hardware that runs Netflix on a Sony system.

I think you are confusing the consumer world with the commercial world. Whenever you make something that is designed to use someone elses licenses to make money, you need to pay licensing fees and it adds.

No need to argue over this, just wait until the systems come out and you tell me if they can play 4K AAA games. Time will tell.

You realize that the PS3 dropped down to 2 USB ports for a reason right? And you realize that Wii didn't play DVD movies for reason, right. The hardware and cost of hardware and licensing consortiums are a different beast.

Oem still need to pay for those with motherboards which goes in the price. And the same goes for other hardware unless it's made in China and sold in unofficial routes. And that is not even laptop. Oem still need to pay processor company for using their chipset and supporting their cpu, still need to pay for those display ports, and those usb ports. And then it is sold to us. Sony and Microsoft just include many times more since it's the whole package.
The thing is, amd can offer new graphic at that price and the licensing is not getting much higher. Even desktop polaris r7 are faster than ps4 right now.

 

[Xuman]

No need to sweat, none of these new upgraded systems can actually play any games outside of Pong in 4K.

All they do is upscale 1080p to 4K, and have built in HEVC decoder to play 4K Blurays.

For a system to actually be powerfull enough to do commercial 4K AAA gaming, the console would need to cost close to 1000 dollars, and thats with MS and Sony taking a loss leader.

All these upgraded systems are just cheap 4K upscalers. Thats it.

Exactly why i see no need in getting those upgrades and ill play 4k when gen 9 comes out

 

[Viri]

I wonder if the next console Microsoft makes will still look like a 1994 VCR. I look forward to how bad of a name they can come up with. The Xbox-Next? The Xbox 1.2?

I don't own any "next gen" console(does the 3DS count?), I do kinda plan to pick up a Wii-U when the price drops. That tablet controller is comfy as fuck, but the console's library is too damn depressing, and doesn't warrant 200 dollars.

I don't own any of the next gen consoles because, well, there isn't anything on them that I want. I don't care about the Souls' series, I never liked Uncharted, and I stopped caring about Halo after Halo 2.

Hell, I didn't even upgrade my PC's CPU/GPU, because my PC runs the games that I do wanna play just fine.

 

[Yil]

I wonder if the next console Microsoft makes will still look like a 1994 VCR. I look forward to how bad of a name they can come up with. The Xbox-Next? The Xbox 1.2?

I don't own any "next gen" console(does the 3DS count?), I do kinda plan to pick up a Wii-U when the price drops. That tablet controller is comfy as fuck, but the console's library is too damn depressing, and doesn't warrant 200 dollars.

I don't own any of the next gen consoles because, well, there isn't anything on them that I want. I don't care about the Souls' series, I never liked Uncharted, and I stopped caring about Halo after Halo 2.

Hell, I didn't even upgrade my PC's CPU/GPU, because my PC runs the games that I do wanna play just fine.

Have you tried wonderful 101?
Minecraft with shader with max rendering and 1080p and vr can still push your pc to the limit.

 

[Viri]

Have you tried wonderful 101?
Minecraft with shader with max rendering and 1080p and vr can still push your pc to the limit.

Since the Wii-U exploit came out, I have my nephew's Wii-U. They don't seem like in much of a hurry to get it back, so I've been playing a lot of Hyrule Warriors on it.

 

[XDel]

In times like these, it's good to have the ability to simply upgrade your gfx card.

 

[sarkwalvein]

In times like these, it's good to have the ability to simply upgrade your gfx card.

And download great bargains from Steam. Specially during summer sale.
Oh, wait. That can be done with a PC.
(I think this post is calling for @Margen69 )

 

[Taleweaver]

Aren't all consoles updates of their previous versions at this point?

I don't mind them doing this, but it needs something extra. And unlike when the things were announced, they now have it: vr.
So... I would just wait and see what comes of this. All this hate because of generation length just sounds like childish banter to me.

 

[sarkwalvein]

Aren't all consoles updates of their previous versions at this point?

I don't mind them doing this, but it needs something extra. And unlike when the things were announced, they now have it: vr.
So... I would just wait and see what comes of this. All this hate because of generation length just sounds like childish banter to me.

Well, the basic advantage of getting a console instead of a PC was simplicity for the user.
A good part of that simplicity was that you shouldn't care for specs and updating, you just buy the thing and all games would just run good.
Simple things for simple gamers that didn't want to scratch their head or go technical.
Now, if you have different versions of the consoles that kind of play the same games, but with different performance and perhaps not the same options, it gets complicated and getting a console becomes less and less interesting.

 

[Droyd]

I have started a mindset of getting rid of my ps4 because of this shit.

Did the same thing, already sold my Wii U and I didn't even played all the games I was hoping for.

 

[Burlsol]

Both consoles were essentially underpowered when they were released... For the sake of keeping their costs low and trying to have the most appeal to those early adopters. Not surprised that a more powerful version is being made mid-generation. Microsoft even did this before with the various hardware changes between their launch model and their last model of both the original Xbox and the 360... Except this was mostly for sake of larger harddrive, better cooling, fixing the RROD, or adding more RAM as games began to demand it.

Really though, what matters here is how necessary these mid-step systems will be for the average (non-VR, non-4k) consumer. Especially when both systems still don't have much of a library to speak of once you exclude sports games and re-releases. Sure, there will be people out there who will immediately shell out the cash just because the new CoD or whatever will only support the new model... But your average consumer, mostly people who don't have much disposable income, or just have kids, will look at something like that and just see it as a huge scam and another reason to forget about it entirely until there is a significant price drop or the old one breaks. And, for the most part, it's this later group that makes or breaks the success of a console. There's no reason why the same game wouldn't work on the earlier version of the console, just probably with a capped framerate and longer loading times (you're not changing the OS, you're not significantly changing the sort of firmware used)... Unless they intentionally program it to not work for sake of their quarterly profit reports.

 

[Foxi4]

Incremental updates at short intervals may not be such a bad idea provided backwards compatibility is preserved and performance is not affected negatively, which shouldn't be an issue on x86. It would basically turn Xbox and PlayStation into ecosystems rather than physical platforms, they could stay "alive" indefinitely. Releasing a new "version" of the system every 4-5 years, if done correctly, would allow the hardware to catch up without sacrificing the library. Essentially you'd trade in your old system for a new one and, technically speaking, it'd still be the same "Xbox" or "PlayStation", just better. If you find that idea offensive, do note that you're already doing it with iOS and Android. As long as the legacy system is supported for an extra 2 years to allow for an adaptation gap, it's fine. You still get all the advantages of owning a console, meaning the no-nonsense plug and play experience, and the deal might actually be cost-effective.

 

[sarkwalvein]

Essentially you'd trade in your old system for a new one and, technically speaking, it'd still be the same "Xbox" or "PlayStation", just better.

Well, if you look at it like that it may actually work. If they offer some cheap trading options that will also work as a deterrence to any kind of unofficial modification, I suppose that sounds nice for MS and Sony.

(But in any case this starts to look as a camouflaged way of leasing)

 

[Foxi4]

Well, if you look at it like that it may actually work. If they offer some cheap trading options that will also work as a deterrence to any kind of unofficial modification, I suppose that sounds nice for MS and Sony.

(But in any case this starts to look as a camouflaged way of leasing)

The gaming market has worked this way for years. People have traded in their Game Boys for their GBA's, they've traded their PS3's for PS4's, if anything, this could give a new lease for life for gaming stores which have been going through a dry spell ever since PSN, XBL and the eShop introduced games on demand.

 

[Depravo]

The gaming market has worked this way for years. People have traded in their Game Boys for their GBA's, they've traded their PS3's for PS4's

People actually do that? I still have all my consoles/games.

 

[mgrev]

maybe like OnePlus One and OnePlus Two (and the soon to come OnePlus Three)

 

[Foxi4]

People actually do that? I still have all my consoles/games.

As do I, but it's hardly a rule - most people get rid of their old systems.

 

[Clydefrosch]

they're just doing that to make the NX end up looking bad again.