Gadgetory

the console wars is back and the battle is changing and the only question is are you willing to embrace it welcome back to the console wars times have definitely changed before we can proceed in the heated battle Babar Dumbo and Timothy Olyphant here demand to be addressed elephant number one you're probably wondering about the long delay between episodes what can I say a job parenthood you know how goes life just gets in the way not enough hours in the day and not enough days in the year so that's how it is and probably will be but thanks for sticking around the console generation has reached maturity and for some it seems we are reaching the end of the line with all the talk and hints about the NX Nintendo has made it abundantly clear that they're winding down activities for the Wii U and the most annoying part is that the Wii U featured a great ensemble collection of superb first party games that I'd argue are superior compared to what the original Wii had to offer and sure there are still some games coming out this year I mean starfox has shaped out to be a pretty good Nintendo 64 game I guess and regarding Zelda Wii U I think we're looking at a name change we can surely expect this to be released on Wii U and the Nintendo NX with priority on the ladder just to be clear we you did not tank because it had bad games that we you tanked because there are only 13 million of us who are willing to buy a Nintendo console pretty much exclusively for first party content I think at some point Nintendo is going to have to wake up and realize what made the NES and Super NES so successful back in the day it's not because they were the best hardware is because they had amazing third-party support the Wii U on the other hand was initially aimed at a market that no longer exists the grannies grandpas and casual gamers who picked up the phenomenon that was the we are now all gaming on iOS and Android devices that casual market is completely lost and the masses that bought the we have absolutely zero percent chance of ever buying a dedicated game system ever again for the NX to succeed in Tendo is going to have to get both Wii U audience and 3ds handheld audience plus probably the mobile audience on board and that's a pretty wide spectrum of people to cater to the soon-to-be announced NX Hardware I think will reflect this and it will try to appeal to all parties in an attempt to restore consumer confidence Super Mario maker is one of the phenomenons that Nintendo dare not leave on a dying planet form so whatever the specs of the NX are I think you can expect Mario maker to be there the standard x86 architecture would be the smart bets for Nintendo in terms of backwards compatibility and in terms of multi-platform portability the only question is do multi-platform developers even give a hit the first console in history to be voted out of the console wars is the Nintendo Wii U Mario it's time to put out your torch it's time to go oh this particular chart is quite self-explanatory while the sales in the Xbox one are by no means bad they're actually in line with what the Xbox 360 had back in the day but the ps4 sales are hands-down phenomenal don't the PlayStation 4 is on track are reaching ps2 numbers which were thought to be unattainable in this day and age while the Xbox one definitely has more than a fighting chance Microsoft has started to respond to the PlayStation 4 success quite reactively and the company has started to lean heavily towards Windows 10 PC gaming and the self-proclaimed Universal Windows platform high profile game devs including epics Tim Sweeney have risen up to speak against the UWP which raises some alarms as to Microsoft's intentions you exclusive games have always been a selling point of consoles and once Xbox exclusives including Forza Gears of War 4 and scalebound maybe heading over to the PC according to Microsoft I was personally very much looking forward to playing quantum break on the Xbox one but now that it's no longer even a timed exclusive for the Xbox I think I will be playing this game on my beefy gaming rig if that is Microsoft and remedy entertainment managed to get the game running properly on Windows 10 Microsoft has also been cleaning house by shutting down some major first party studios it's most likely due to the shift in strategy but I find myself yearning for the heydays when the devs under Microsoft Studios put out some of the absolutely best games in the business epic games Bungie Lionhead rare missed Walker sure some of the studios are still around but their mere shadows of their former selves luckily there are some new very interesting IPs on the horizon but there have been hints from Microsoft that these will also appear on the PC and in the Windows 10 store and these recent shifts and strategy are really raising some concerns as to why even own an Xbox one and as of late I think even Microsoft seems to be having a hard time explaining it it's clear that Microsoft wants you to own a surface tablet even Windows 10 PC and Windows Phone and they want to achieve this by diverting some of that Xbox magic and brand value and of course Xbox resources into the bigger Windows 10 the ecosystem Soniya team has gone the exact opposite route the company has recently disassociated PlayStation from all the other product areas so the PlayStation brand and revenue are not affected by product areas that aren't doing so well let's you be the judge are you as an Xbox gamer benefiting from Xbox being associated with Windows 10 and if I recall correctly and I do xbox seem to be doing quite well without the association to Windows and the funny part is that the launch of the Xbox one was delayed in many countries including my own because the new Windows based OS was ready and don't get me wrong I actually love windows sent on my PC and I enjoy Windows Phone but you have to admit that it's been a hindrance to the Xbox one Microsoft is also hinted that they are open for the Xbox one to get upgrade ability in the near future which may end up being a game changer not only for the Xbox but for game consoles in general Sony has since then countered Microsoft statements by hinting at a more powerful PS 4.5 or ps4 Kay so it seems that we may be at a cusp of an entirely new type of console war things are going to get more complex and definitely more interesting but the whole idea of game consoles being plug-and-play with no need to worry about upgrades is I think the single best reason why I love consoles in the first place I don't know about you guys I feel all warm and fuzzy inside and playing my console look at the games will be optimized for this specific set of hardware or an entire generation it's an environment where everyone has the exact same experience it may be somewhat subconscious but that definitely appeals to me if there is an enhanced Xbox and a PlayStation 4 K or 4.5 the best thing that I think will come out of this is that it will end up extending this console generation by quite a bit sure there have been attempts at upgrading consoles mid generation before Sega attempted it twice with the Genesis and Nintendo has done it and is actually doing it still with the 3ds but none of these can be touted in success stories so there are definite risks involved this episode was originally intended to compare the UIs of the Xbox one and ps4 consoles but when getting down to the actual comparing I came to the realization that 99% of the features are just graphical and layout changes from the previous generation which led me to the question do we even need a PS 5 and Xbox - if enhanced versions of the consoles are released or will this serve as an opportunity for shift and strategy for Sony and Microsoft all systems now support an architecture that pretty much make them backwards compatible out of box and the OS can be easily upgraded in both systems so instead of buying a PlayStation 5 or an Xbox 2 you simply buy a Playstation or an Xbox which are refreshed with upgraded GPUs and CPUs every three or four years for example the problem will at some point arise when game simply won't be able to run on the original systems but this kind of approach could extend the console generation in a way that keeps the console hardware relevant against the fast iterating mobile and PC hardware space if the Xbox one does get upgradability the question is can it survive as a cheap PC and does it even need to if there are no exclusives filled Spencer however has made it clear that there will not be an Xbox 1.5 but I'm guessing the cutting the console lifecycle short for the Xbox one and perhaps rebranding the Xbox is still a viable option so why does Sony need an upgraded console well people seem to forget that the ps4 does not have 4k HDR video support because the UHD blu-ray and high dynamic range video standards were not finalized when the ps4 launched Sony still wants to sell TVs and it probably wants to position the ps4 as an Ultra High Definition blu-ray player and the only way you can do that is to launch a new version of the PlayStation 4 with added support for hdmi 2.0 a which enables 4k HDR video so I can pretty much guarantee that that at least is going to be one of the key features of an upgraded PlayStation if Sony as a newer more powerful APU to the ps4 K they will of course risk splitting their user base and make especially the most recent buyers regret their investment Sony also needs to draw a clear line between the two consoles so the ps4 K will probably be priced higher than the regular budget ps4 whether Sony upgrades APU 4k resolution for Triple A games at this price point is still out of reach 4k demands pretty much quadruple the processing power and the math just doesn't add up 4k upscaling however is likely but the fact is that the adoption of 4k televisions in homes is still extremely marginal so I think the console manufacturers at least at this stage have very little to gain with 4k gaming but who needs 4k games can look this good at 1080p let's go check out that tower I'll come with for all these reasons I think it's highly unlikely and we'll see a $400 console driving triple-a games at a 4k resolution at least anytime soon that being said it would be an optimal time to upgrade the GPU in the consoles because there is another very demanding variable in the mix namely VR although not as demanding as 4k virtual reality demands empower under the hood a PlayStation VR at 400 bucks will play a pivotal role in the adoption of VR in general and with the high installed base of the ps4 Sony may soon find itself in a position where it can pretty much own the VR market in 2016 Sony's strong position also gives them the opportunity to take risks so if they were to launch an enhanced PlayStation mid generation this I think would be the time even though the oculus rift is equipped with the Xbox one controller minimum spec requirements for the rift suggest that the Xbox one hardware is pretty much out of the equation so I'm guessing one of the reasons why Microsoft is considering an Xbox one upgrade besides to be able to run games at 1080p is to potentially enable VR down the line in the form of the oculus rift the psvr seems to be selling like hotcakes so in terms of future prospects the PlayStation 4's outlook is quite solid indeed if the software is there and virtual reality ends up not being a fad the PSP R has definite potential on becoming a system seller for the ps4 as well I really can't find any such equivalent for the Xbox so the more I think about it an upgrade that enables the oculus probably wouldn't be such a bad idea Oh beyond the screen but what about the hololens you asshole world well blend while the technology is cool and interesting the application for gaming are debatable as is the field of view of the world and the dev kit pricing suggests that a consumer model is pretty far away so definitely lots of future potential but for the Xbox one it's probably not going to be of much aid time is going to end yeah - trust me or what while I would not go out as far as to say that things are looking a bit catastrophic for the Xbox one but it's not looking too terrific either Microsoft however has the resources to turn things around coming into this console generation Microsoft made a lot of bets that didn't pay off and these mistakes ended up costing them a lot of loyal X bots who moved over to the ps4 and this ultimately cost them the call duty partnerships and various other exclusivity deals during the previous generation Sony did similar mistakes they price themselves way too high with the ps3 and they also made mistakes in the hardware department by making it too complex the ps3's infamous tagline was it only does everything and gamers they just wanted to play games Sony managed to turn things around by focusing on the essentials namely gaming you would think of Microsoft could have learned from Sony's mistakes and apparently learning from your own mistakes is proving more concrete is this the end of the console wars if you ask me well certainly not the Battle of the console wars continues and the future is unwritten Microsoft definitely has the resources to turn things around but the communication from Microsoft is currently so vague and so ambiguous it's hard to tell if they themselves know what the future holds the Xbox but it's quite clear a playstation will continue to press hard with laser focus on delivering great content and more exclusive games only time will tell how this plays out but as it stands Microsoft is in a position I think where they need to make a choice either truly believe and commit to the Xbox or diminish its value and achievements by forcing it to become a part of an ecosystem that nobody really asked for at least of all gamers care about and I can tell you that there are enough gaming platforms on the PC so I complete L need a closed marketplace for games gaming is why Xbox was once great at this and certainly not this it's time to make Xbox great again so this episode got a bit derailed for my original plan but this bunch of elephants just needed to be addressed before we proceed the console war is changing and this series will evolve with it no points are awarded in this round but I will be continuing the next episode with a more traditional approach by comparing the current state of PSN versus Xbox Live follow me on Twitter I'm happy to answer any questions that you may have stay tuned for the next installment of the console wars you