By using this site, you agree to our Privacy Policy and our Terms of Use. Close
thismeintiel on 14 June 2019
Edit Thread
EricHiggin said:
thismeintiel said:

You're right about the careful wording.  Not only that, but they only revealed the exact info that Sony did.  I would think they would at least announce the Tflops, like they did with the X.  My guess is that they may know they are only matching Sony or may be a little weaker, so aren't going to announce anything, just for Sony to announce the same or better performance.  Or MS doesn't have any idea how powerful the PS5 is going to be, so aren't saying anything until it is fully revealed for the same reasons as the former.  If they do end up being very similar in power, or PS5 is more powerful, I'd say Sony has next gen on lock.

As for Lockhart, if it was the 4Tflops Lockhart that was leaked, I can see why they would do away with it.  Even if the GPU would still be pretty close to the X's perfomance because of the improvements Navi brings, having a much smaller number just isn't good for PR.  Sure, it has a much better CPU, but your average consumer isn't going to know that.  But they will do a little research, or it may be printed on the box, and seeing the old one being 6 and the new one being "only" 4 would turn them off.  I think it also just causes confusion.  I mean, according to rumors there were 4 separate SKUs.  The Lockhart and Anaconda, both with discless versions.  An average consumer trying to work out which one they should get, sees 4 versions of the XB2 and only one for the PS5, is probably going to go for the PS5.

If PS5 and Anaconda were very similar, then MS could have some serious hardware problems in terms of sales. If they can't say we're clearly the best by far, they have to rely on being the cheapest, and that's continuing to try and sell XB1S(AD) and that's already not working out for them. XB1X would be the only thing they could make a move on and subsidize it to match Pro, but how would existing XB1X owners feel when their super high end console just drops in price like that? Will they be willing to pay top dollar for Anaconda and it's later X edition? This is something that makes me think that Lockhart makes sense. If Lockhart basically matches Pro specs and price yet uses state of the art tech, that's a way in which MS can please everyone. Just drop XB1X and for those that take the time to wonder why Lockhart is weaker on paper, well, hope they also take the time to watch DF explain why I guess.

If both are using Navi, even if XB was willing to subsidize Anaconda, there's only so much more powerful they can make the GPU if PS also shoots for high end. Would MS try and use more CPU cores to market performance superiority? 12TF Navi with 12 Ryzen cores, and maybe a 4TF Navi with 8-12 Ryzen cores?

The problem I see with Lockhart is that I highly doubt MS wants to subsidize any HW.  Or if they do, it's not by much.  MS has made it clear that online is where they see their future.  I could see them launching the Anaconda for $499, like they did the XBO and the X, with Lockhart remaining $100 lower than it for the remainder of the gen.  I think MS wants to just make some profit off of the HW while they still see any relevance in producing their own HW.  They know they still have some die hard fans that will prefer Xbox over the PS, regardless of price or power, even if those numbers are dwindling.  My guess is they will try to profit off the HW or at least break even, from the start.  Maybe they figure that a $399 console that is so much weaker than the one that is just $100 more, and with both of them being available Day 1, wouldn't sell well.

MS's problem, as a whole, next gen comes from the fact that Sony is willing to take a decent loss on their HW at launch (as well as EU and Japan loyalty), whereas MS seems to have loss their stomach for it.  My guess is that the PS5 will launch for $449-$499, but will be more powerful than the Anaconda.  And apparently the executive editor of Game Informer had been hearing rumblings at E3 that the PS5 will actually be the more powerful system next gen.  Now, it may not be by that much, but any advantage in Sony's favor draws it closer to sealing the deal on next gen.