Pandora’s Box has been opened with the release of the Xbox One X and the PS4 Pro- in that the consoles are representative of a new paradigm for the console market. Iterative consoles providing rolling upgrades and a continuous gaming platform, not unlike smartphones and tablets, could become the way of the future- or that, at least, has been the expectation.
But will that actually happen? The PS4 Pro, while doing sufficiently well for itself, apparently was a one-off experiment for Sony, who have stated there will be a proper, all new PlayStation 5 some day. While Xbox has committed to the Xbox One X style model, will they truly forego a full generation break if Sony forces their hand? In which case, can we actually expect iterative consoles to become the way of the future?
According to Igor Gajic, Marketing Manager for the developer of Starpoint Gemini Warlords, the answer is yes. Speaking to GamingBolt, Gajic said, “[Xbox] One X is pretty powerful, although top-of-the-line PC gaming rigs will always be more powerful. You simply cannot change that, primarily because PC hardware is always evolving, while console hardware rather quickly need to catch-up. Actually, that’s exactly why Microsoft and Sony decided to bring more powerful variants of their consoles, with Xbox One X and PS4 Pro, and we expect that the market will see more of those upgrades, in a shorter time span.”
So his expectation is that iterative consoles will happen- in a sense I can see that (I can, for example, see a PS5 Pro release 3-4 years after the PS5 has launched), but will it truly man a new paradigm of console gaming like many might have hoped for initially?
