Refresh consoles vs. 9th gen

[vivster]

WoodenPints said:

vivster said:

Why would the upgrades delay the next gen? They're working on next gen as we speak. The PS4 Pro and Scorpio are just measures that are necessary to keep it fresh. Why would they do a refresh after 3 years and then think that the Upgrades will last longer than that? I mean we already know now that the Pro is underpowered and Sony will want to keep the time that MS has a stronger console on the market as short as possible.

I remember a time when console owners wanted to keep the Gen as long as possible. I guess that's over now.

As I see it the next gen has already been delayed as I saw in my post of how MS would very likely of pushed a new Xbox in 2018 but we got confirmation not so long ago that MS won't release a console every 2 years so the earliest possible Xbox is 2020 if they go on a 3 year cycle and 2021 with a 4 year cycle which is the gap between the One and Scorpio.

As you said Sony will want to limit the time that MS have the power advantage and if they keep a 3 year cycle that will just end up 1 year Sony has an advantage then for 2 years MS will have an advatage in power so a PS5 releasing in 2019 would unlikely as it repeats the power advantage/disadvantage so PS5 will be 2020 at the earliest.

It's possible that both companies see no future of generations and just a refreshed hardware every 3 years is the future but I that that would lead to stagnation of sales eventually so a real next generation of consoles will be required to inject life back into the market.

 

Why would a 3 year cycle lead to stagnation in sales? People will still buy consoles if they need them. If Sony and MS lift the restrictions for game developers they have the power to decide on which consoles they would like their game to run. If they want more sales they will not neglect the older consoles. And just like that we have a very healthy console industry with choice for consumers and developers abound.

3 years is still a very long time.