What if the 9th gen launched with Standard and Premium hardware!

[Alby_da_Wolf]

Mr Puggsly said:

Alby_da_Wolf said: I raise with a Standard, Premium and Hybrid range at launch. Just like the hybrid was the only way for Ninty to recover its sunk home console part of business, it could do the same for Sony portables (PSV after all, despite not being a hybrid, was ALSO a first attempt to bring home console games to portables). At that point MS too would most probably follow suit.

Nintendo's hybrid console works because the capabilities are dated. I mean its a machine that essentially delivers graphics at par with 360 and PS3 with more polish, especially when docked.

I don't see how MS and Sony can offer a hybrid option when they push hardware with greater technical capabilities. Unless cost isn't a concern, I mean the Switch is $299 for much inferior capabilities than the cheaper PS4 and X1.

 

If you mean the console gaming of the 5th gen and beyond, I'd give PSP credit for that not Vita. I mean it had ambitious games that were acceptable even by home console standards, it even had ports from 6th and 7th gen consoles. Vita is simply the successor of that.

It's just necessarily needed larger RAM that this gen and that portable CPU have significantly higher power than those in 8th gen home consoles. GPU must be a mobile one that be more powerful than 8th gen home consoles ones when docked, but undocked it will run at lower clock, much lower Watts and lower res and FX. Anyway, having to be a portable or mobile GPU with dual speed (or an APU with GPU with such feature), performance leap of the base model wouldn't be huge compared to previous gen. But if Switch will be very successful, this will become very likely. Anyhow, 4x GPU power when docked would already be enough to deliver VR @60fps at the same resolution that a game would run without VR and @30fps on previous gen. 4x GPU power compared to current gen base model home consoles should be easily at reach of mobile GPUs or APUs by 2020, considering the huge leap in computing power and energy efficiency AMD already achieved with its latest architectures. Higher capacity batteries for the same weight as now will help too.
Also, if NS, launched the first quarter of this year, can already reach 720p@60fps when docked, 2x1080p(for VR) or 1x1440p@60fps should be perfectly achievable by docked mobile GPUs more than three years and a half later. Probably docked mobile GPU will be able to deliver 4k too, but 1440p or dual 1080p for VR, and at 60fps, should already be enough for next gen entry level or hybrid models.