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Doctor_MG on 25 April 2023
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Kyuu said:

Playstation consoles never were "underpowered". The only noteworthy underpowered consoles to have released are Nintendo handhelds (excluding Switch), Wii, Wii U, and Series S.

PS1 was overall more poweful than the Saturn and much better designed than both Saturn and the N64 (Cartridges) which launched too late. Had Nintendo gone with CD's and launched the console earlier, the generation would have played out differently, and the most powerful console would have won.

PS2, though weaker overall than the GameCube and Xbox which released over a year later, was mindblowing at launch. Many consider it the single greatest "generational leap" of all time. MGS2 and GT3 were insane (and I came from Sega GT on Dreamcast). Graphics 100% constituted its hype.

Wii was a clear anomaly that capitalized on a temporary dempgraphic for a short but intense period of time. PS360 had better legs, but since they were eating at each other's sales, neither managed to win the generation.

PS4 won its generation as ths most powefrul console (Switch came at a different time and also mainly targeted a different audience. It wasn't "underpowered" anyway. The One X is a late upgrade).

PS5 will also easily beat the Series S. Series X is arguably more powetful but it's in limited production, Xbox isn't strong enough a brand, and the power gap between it and PS5 is the least significant in console history.

Hardware features/spec advantages matter when they are significant, more now than ever before. Series S vs PS5 proves it, as does Switch OLED vs Lite. Switch owes a lot of its success to the fact that it was a fairly powerful handheld at launch (that doubles as a home console thanks in part to its decent specs). Price and specs are both important factors.

Underpowered may be the wrong word to use, but it is absolutely true that almost every generation it is not the console with the best specs that "wins". Atari 2600, NES, Gameboy, SNES, PS1, PS2, GBA, NDS, Wii, and 3DS. Depending on the generation you think it belongs to, Switch could also be considered one (vs. PS4/Xbox One). Almost every single generation a console that is not the most powerful sells more. Though you can excuse each generation by isolating one reason or another, with a pattern like this it's hard to ignore.

I don't think that Series S vs. PS5 proves the point that "specs still matter". The Series S is a console that has less features overall than the Series X. The same is true for the Switch Lite vs. the Switch OLED. The OLED isn't performing better because it has better specs (it doesn't), it's because it's fully featured. 

Now, do specs matter? Yes, absolutely. If the Switch 2 launched with specs barely better than the Switch 1 I don't think it would sell well (unless it had a REALLY unique gimmick to sell it). But I also think that spec advantages matter less these days because of diminishing returns. It is far harder for me to recognize the difference between 1440p and 4k than it is 720p and 1080p despite them being extremely similar ratio wise.