Consoles needs to change

[Guy from the 80's]

Look OP, your premise is the very reason why console games are actually failing. You want them to be nothing more than glorified PCs. PCs that are completely underpowered.

Consoles ARE glorified PC's. Consoles hasnt been consoles since the Dreamcast/Ps2 era. The xbox changed all of that.

Understanding your roots here is the key as to why consoles in their previous design were actually ingenious as to why people loved playing console games more than their PCs.

The main factor that made console games great was that from a consumer stand point it was easy access gaming. Put in the cartridge and you were on your way. Heck even the CD based consoles for the most part had a good balance between loading time and gameplay. No fuss, no muss.

Consoles was a cheap way of playing games as not everyone could afford a PC. But thats not relevant anymore as today most people could afford either. I play on all platforms and I cant honestly say that playing/launching a computer game is any harder than playing a videogame. I hate to say this but people who complain about fuss and muss when talking about computer games have no idea about what they are talking about, or that they base their opinion on experiences from 10 years ago.

The positive for the developer was that the technology was static. That is key to understanding the success of consoles from a developers standpoint. You see QA testing takes a long time and to ensure there aren't any bugs in the development of the game. PC games major flaw is that they have to worry not only about the hardware of each consumers PC but also the software and graphic card drivers. So while the PC potentially has to deal with an infinite number of systems that could develop bugs, console developers only have to deal with one. This one static spec also enables an understanding on what the system is capable of where the limits are and where it's strengths are to be used. SNES may not have had as much power compared to the Genesis, but it certainly had a much better sound card and a better range for music.

No bugs in console games, when did this happen? But you are still ignoring the point I have made before. I'm not saying there would be 10 manufacturers making upgrades, it would be one official one. So there would be no fuss, at all!

 

[dreadedcandiru99]

So why cant there be consoles where you can upgrade the hardware?

Well, there's the Ouya [http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/ouya/ouya-a-new-kind-of-video-game-console]. The whole point is that it's cheap and easy to design for, but apparently you'll be able to open it up and add stuff if you want.

 

[Canadamus Prime]

If you updated the hardware then devs couldn't optimise for specific hardware as easily and then they would just become shitty PCs.

Exactly. That is one of the biggest problems devs face when trying to develop for the PC. The hardware is never consistent, so Q&A is a nightmare. I imagine that's one of the big reasons why the console market is so much more attractive.

*Note: Remember I'm not biased one way or the other. I'll game on anything with a screen.

What do you have against boardgames?!

You damn game racists are all the same... ALL THE SAME I TELL YOU!

Nothing. I like board games.

 

[sneakypenguin]

It would be so ideal if they could do that upgradable systems. CPU's are usually not a bottleneck, so that could remain static through a consoles lifetime. if they had some sort of swappable module with a gpu/ram upgrade for a 100 bucks or so it would be awesome. I doubt it would require too much of an adjustment on developers part either. Create one version then scale back draw distance AA, resolution etc until it runs on old hardware.

 

[BoogityBoogityMan]

What I have noticed though, it the big difference between hardware performance. So why cant there be consoles where you can upgrade the hardware? It should be that difficult right? I can imagine consoles being designed in a more compact way obviously, but why not design something where you can replace a graphics card in the same way you can change a memory chip?

I think there are only upsides to such a console. It would reduce the need for "next gen" consoles every 5 years.

Thoughts?

You seem to be missing the one of the main points of a console. The main this is you dont have to worry about any of the bullshit hardware issues that you have with PCs. You can buy ANY game for a 360 and it will run on your 360. Games are already optomized for set hardware on it meaning they can do more with a console then a pc with equal specs. You are basically taking one of a consoles greatest strengths and throwing it out the window.

You can already buy upgrades for consoles, all he is suggesting is that that be applied to other areas of the console.

It would be like adding a big hdd to a 4gb model, or a racing whell to a PS3. You buy an addon to make your console better, that's all. It doesn't mean that if you don't you cannot play certain games, just that if you do you can play them better. And I'll repeat what others have said, all the addons would be official and there wouldn't be a huge problem with hardware variations because of that.

I don't know what all the hate is for, isn't consumer choice good?

 

[mikecoulter]

It's easy to agree with either side of this argument.

One one hand, it would give users more control and flexibility on their systems depending on how much they're willing to spend. Hardware could be controlled in an Apple fashion (RE. Mac Pro graphics cards) to limit the amount of fragmentation across the platform to maximise support.

On the other, this could cause the base model systems to be left behind with a sub-par gaming experience for the user that could even give an unfair advantage to others during online play.

Also, lets not forget that the Nintendo 64 was hardware upgradable with a memory expansion, so this has been tried before...

 

[Guy from the 80's]

What I have noticed though, it the big difference between hardware performance. So why cant there be consoles where you can upgrade the hardware? It should be that difficult right? I can imagine consoles being designed in a more compact way obviously, but why not design something where you can replace a graphics card in the same way you can change a memory chip?

I think there are only upsides to such a console. It would reduce the need for "next gen" consoles every 5 years.

Thoughts?

You seem to be missing the one of the main points of a console. The main this is you dont have to worry about any of the bullshit hardware issues that you have with PCs. You can buy ANY game for a 360 and it will run on your 360. Games are already optomized for set hardware on it meaning they can do more with a console then a pc with equal specs. You are basically taking one of a consoles greatest strengths and throwing it out the window.

I really wish people would read the thread before posting.

1. The uppgrade would come at the end of the consoles life. Imagine an uppgrade being released to the 360 now, it would be a good thing.

2. Microsoft has alredy sought a patent for an uppgradable console.

3. The uppgrades would not be throwing the strengths of a console out the window.

 

[Guy from the 80's]

I really wish people would read the thread before posting.

1. The uppgrade would come at the end of the consoles life. Imagine an uppgrade being released to the 360 now, it would be a good thing.

2. Microsoft has alredy sought a patent for an uppgradable console.

3. The uppgrades would not be throwing the strengths of a console out the window.

1) As I said it would be good and very very bad.

2) Your point being?

3) Obvious load of bullshit. One of the consoles strenghts is that you DO NOT HAVE TO UPGRADE IT. It will play every single game made for it right out of the box. If you make for an upgradable console that will not happen anymore.

3)So let me get this right. You would rather buy a new console thats much more expensive that to just install a new card prolonging its lifetime?

2)Its obvious what the point is. Microsoft seems the benefits from creating a console you could uppgrade. (duh)