MS is out of angles to sell their console to push ahead again. Price cuts, UHDs, b/c... all have been crossed off the chalkboard. So, new hardware has to be newest game plan. If they think having the most powerful console at the moment is what it takes, then so be it. Will it work? I think it will for them. Will they overtake the competition? Doubtful, but time will tell. There's a lot for the brand to overcome still.

I don't get Microsoft. I know we haven't seen it yet, but is Scorpio really needed? Xbox One sales have gone up compared to before. The newer model got a positive reception. All they need is the software and marketing power. They seem to have given up on exclusives. They could easily ride out this generation for another year or two, but they don't want to do that. Are they not sure what they want to do? Do they plan on exiting the console market in a few years or transition to a service like Steam? I just don't get what Microsoft is trying to do.

Well at any rate I plan to buy both the Scorpio and Switch. I am completely behind mid gen upgrades. I want to see the console market offer a variety of choices from each manufacturer, scaling from $100 units, all the way to $1000 units that compete with or out perform the best single CPU/GPU PCs on the market.

I like the idea of the Switch, but I also think we should have an option for a mobile device that can play our entire games library, for whichever platform we support. Switch is a great start, but I hope Nintendo eventually offers a Phone version and a dedicated home version with greatly increased power.

The graphics race is not going anywhere soon. We are still a long ways away from photo realism, authentic physics, and lifelike animation. We also have to have the power to render in much higher resolution, and we need a massive increase in RAM for the future of VR.

In reality, both Switch and Scorpio are pushing forward in ways gaming first hardware needs to progress. More variety in hardware power, and more form factors is essential to market growth. In the future I should be able to buy a Handheld, a Phone, a Tablet, a Console, or a PC from MS, Sony, and Nintendo. Each devices offers full support of all software. If I just want a phone that I can dock and play on the TV at lower resolutions, then that can be my deal. If I want a Phone and a Console, then I can do that. If I want all five form factors, then I can be that consumer.

Going forward, the market should be all about choice. These brands overall, should be more than big enough to support both mass market and niche systems. This will build both a casual, and a core following of users that greatly benefit the manufaturer, which in turn greatly benifits the consumer.

Do you have any source for that besides wishful thinking. I would love that to be true, yet atm it seems unlikely Scorpio will cost less than 399 if even that, while OR version one is still 599 + 199 for motion controllers. So how is an OR 2.0 bundle going to be for the masses?

Sure the asset creation costs will remain the same, which also means there's no real benefit to pro or scorpio besides resolution or lighting. No better textures or higher quality models. It's still extra work to balance the game for the extra modes and so far it looks like developers aren't going all out to get the best out of ps4 pro, just a little resolution increase and some bumps in draw distance. (Which can still be significant in VR) Why would it be different for Scorpio?

So yeah, I disagree with the article that it will cause a jump in development costs, just a slight increase for QA on different models. But I must say that these revisions are for a niche market and will only become the dominent console when the cheaper one is phased out.

Youth today love graphics, as longs as COD/Fifa etc keep coming, it will sell well.

Yes, the HW was weak from the get go, as was PS4. PS4 Pro is also still weak half arsed job. MS likely know pushing TV etc and Kinect was wrong, and are now creating something much better.

If it uses Ryzen, all good to me. Know what my third party is going to run on.

Sony said the pro is doing better than expected and the slim is doing worse.  Until we see some worldwide numbers instead of Japan only I wouldn't say the pro is not successful.

Then shouldn't PC games cost more? I don't really get about that budget increasing.

I'm all for extra power,my beef with it, is it seems to be used to play catch up with the latest format rather than on better AI ,less pop up, more individual npc's etc. but where a long way from 1080P /60fps across the board and just as it looks like next gen will correct that we get 4K ,another standard that won't be met anytime soon and then comes 8/16K.

How do you know?