DonFerrari said:
EricHiggin said:
MS will no doubt make the dev tools as friendly as possible if this is the case. They apparently focused heavily on the software and dev tools for XB1X, so there's no reason to believe they won't go beyond that to get games running on both next gen consoles as easy as possible. That of course doesn't mean it will be a simple as making one version and having it work perfect on both, but for the average dev, it won't be a big deal overall. Unless all they care about is profits, and how many devs like that make great games you want to play anyway?
As for PS4 to Pro. Did the devs know Pro was coming? If they had an idea, did they take it serious, or was it just up in the air in a manner that they very well assumed it wasn't going to happen, and didn't really plan ahead? Why waste time on scalability, if you don't know or think you're going to need it? Now that devs know a mid gen upgrade is likely, and maybe PS will even be straight up and tell them it'll likely be based on a Zen 6 CPU and RDNA 5.0 GPU, etc, they can be more prepared in advance, so there's less headaches down the road.
As for the smaller devs, well, they may have to put a little more work in for both consoles, or maybe they can focus solely on Xcloud streaming. As long as the game works on the Xcloud server hardware, it should work on every XB console right?
Lockhart and Anaconda would cover at least a few possibilities. It may help them to succeed in the fact that if they can have the cheapest next gen console, as well as the most powerful, they will likely pick up more sales then they would otherwise. More than a few casuals will be swayed if Lockhart is $100 cheaper than PS5. There are also going to be those people who simply want to know they have the best hardware, and won't know, or care, that the games may be playing worse than they would on the single PS5 SKU. They will buy Anaconda, whether it's the same price as PS5, or $100 more.
Lockhart also covers MS butt if Anaconda doesn't do what they want and need it to do, like the XB1X. If PS5 runs away with the high end, then with the MS focus on digital and cloud streaming, they might as well focus on Lockhart and not even bother with a mid gen upgrade. MS could just save the mid gen input costs and put them towards subsidizing Lockhart and getting it as cheap as possible asap. They would certainly sell a worthy amount of consoles that way. Imagine a next gen 1080p/60 casual console that plays the majority of next gen games, yet costs just $249 after a couple years, while PS5 is at $399. Lockhart would sell more than enough units in a situation like that. Meanwhile, MS, like you mentioned, is doing everything they can to get their users to pay for Live and Game Pass.
I wouldn't be surprised if MS focuses more on Nin's hardware choices than SNY's. All you have to do is look at how the last 5 or 6 years have played out, and then take into consideration the Wii and Switch. Why with the clear MS focus on digital services, should they try to compete with SNY in terms of power going forward? Why not be the Switch of the home console market? Cheap next gen hardware that plays the games reasonable enough, with plenty left over for online subscriptions.
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Still considering most of the sales where on base PS4 and X1, the games were developed with good performance on those systems and them using the extra power of pro or x1x to improve fps, pixel count or some effects.
They didn't made the game focused on X1X (the lowest seller of them all) and them axed until it worked on the others, that would cost more time and money plus making worse versions for most of the consumers.
So if Sony focus PS5 single system with the most they can pack at 399 up to 499 pricetag (with up to 100 of cost being eaten by Sony to recover on SW) the 1st party of Sony will simply destroy in quality and IQ the games that would be made with baseline lockhart from MS. Just like they did this gen.
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A question to ask would be if PS4 was at XB1 spec of 1.3TF, and XB1 was at PS4 spec of 1.8TF, yet their prices remained the same, how would that have changed the sales of those consoles early on, even with the DRM nonsense? Now if you take into account where XB1 and PS4 stand now, with everything that's happened this gen, and ask yourself, what if the hardware outcome is the same as last gen, with Lockhart being weaker, but this time being significantly cheaper than PS5 in terms of pricing, how will that effect next gens early sales?
If Lockhart can get a worthy lead due to it's lower price, that would force devs to focus more on lockhart, and then worry about PS5, and then Anaconda after that. While third party PS5 games would be superior, they probably wouldn't be earth shattering by any means, and so would an extra $100 be worth it for PS5 to a casual? Now this would basically make Anaconda similar to XB1X in terms of how much better it is vs it's competition, so it's sales may very well suffer, but will MS really care as long as they had the Scarlett family sales lead overall?
PS5 first party games should end up incredibly more impressive in this situation, but would that be enough to draw the casuals in vs a cheaper Lockhart with Game Pass? Part of the reason PS4 was able to succeed to the extent it has, is because of it's early lead. Word got out that PS4 was the place to play, and it simply grew from there because PS made sure to keep the beast fed. The start of next gen will be a reset of sorts though. If MS can play their cards right, they could give PS5 a tougher time than PS4 had, with again, weaker hardware, but more affordable this time around.
Switch has made it clear that you don't necessarily need a ton of power to sell boat loads of hardware. With MS and Nin being a little cozy, I don't think it would be crazy for MS to take note of this. That doesn't stop them from offering the most powerful next gen console either, even if the games on it aren't all that impressive. When it comes to casuals who don't do their research, the cheapest available, or highest specs can certainly be enough for them depending on what they are after. MS would likely sell enough Anaconda's to cover the input costs, so as long as they keep those gamers from going to SNY, it may still be seen as a small win for the time being in their eyes.
It's really hard to say what may play out next gen. How many people have a massive stash of digital games on PS4, and how many feel locked down to the PS brand because of it? How many new customers have played PS4 first party titles, and how many are so hooked that they have to have a PS5? While I think this certainly gives PS an advantage no doubt, I don't think it guarantee's them PS4 level success again by any means.
