Speculation about what Microsoft and Sony have in store for the next generation of home consoles has been ramping up. Recently, reports suggested that Microsoft are working on four separate variants of new Xbox hardware, out of which two are revisions for the current generation Xbox One with cloud streaming features enabled, and the other two being different variants of the next-gen Xbox. Recently, GamingBolt sat down with industry analyst Michael Pachter for a chat, and one of the things we spoke of was these reports, and about whether that was something Sony might considering doing with the PS5 as well.

According to Pachter, Microsoft may very well end up having two Xbox Scarlett – or whatever they choose to call their new console – variants, with one being a cheaper streaming box, and the other being a more traditional home console with more powerful hardware capabilities.

“I expect a dumbed down console, like the Steam console, where it’s download only, and there’s no hard drive or disc drive,” Pachter told GamingBolt. “So I think there will be a streaming device, like a $100 Xbox console that doesn’t run in 4K or 240 frames per second. And then I think there will be a more expensive $400 console that supports 4K, 240 FPS, virtual reality. I don’t know if there will be ‘models’. I don’t think you’re going to get completely different devices.”

On the topic of Sony, Pachter was not quite as sure about whether different variants of the same system is something they would have for the PS5 as well.

“Whether Sony does it, I think they will probably have that 4K and 240 FPS device that’ll support PSVR,” he said. “Whether they have a PlayStation Now device that is streaming only, I don’t know. Maybe there will be two each for PlayStation and Xbox, but I would be surprised if there were more than two, and I’m not sure whether Sony is committed to doing that.”

Pachter also believes that with xCloud, and the infrastructure that Microsoft is setting up, the next Xbox will automatically be in a better position to deliver a streaming-focussed console than its competitors. “Microsoft is going to have a pretty well established business for that,” he said. “I mean, Sony has PlayStation Now, but it’s only available if you own a PlayStation. And I think Microsoft, because of Play Anywhere, are further down the curve in offering games without a console. So I think it’s going to be, like I said, like a Steam box, a device that lets you stream without having to make the big investment in a console.”

Given Microsoft’s increased focus on cloud gaming, them releasing two variants of the next Xbox, one of which will be focusing on streaming, seems like a very likely possibility indeed, and all the recent reports have mentioned that they’re doing something along those lines as well. Whether or not that’s something they’ll end up doing is something we’ll have to wait a while to find out- maybe at E3 2019? In the meantime, stay tuned to GamingBolt- our full interview with Michael Pachter will be going live soon.

They claim that the digital-only-distribution has little to do with it, rather, down to the hardware and pricing strategy chosen by Sony.

“Digital Distribution is here to stay” he Martyn Brown told IncGamers. “I think the issues with the PSPgo were somewhat different, basically the cost of the hardware, the software library and it’s pricing.

“The problem wasn’t that it was a digital device – look at the iPhone and App Store.”

Sony admitted that it had ‘learnt a lot’ from the release of the PSP Go.

In an attempt to boost sales, free game downloads have been given away with every full purchase.

Industry analysts have constantly called for price cuts to the device, with Michael Pachter adding that it would ‘sell out everywhere at $99.’

“We view the 3DS as a revolutionary device, and expect its launch to spur hardware and software sales,” Pachter said.

“Due to the unique 3DS experience previewed by Nintendo at E3 this year, we believe Nintendo will be able to sell millions of units even at a price of upwards of $250.

“From a software perspective, we believe Nintendo will be able to increase DS software prices, from a blended average of around $25 today to over $29 next year.”

Would you buy games on the 3DS if it had costlier games? Or would you even buy the 3DS? I know I would… tell us what you think via your comments!

[ComputerAndVideoGames]

“Despite May’s easy percentage and dollar comparisons and long-anticipated debuts for a handful of games, it became clear that several of May’s games performed well below expectations as the month progressed,” he said

“Wii software sales were down 29 per cent year-over-year and DS software sales were down 13 per cent, while PS3 software sales were up 58 per cent and Xbox 360 software sales were up 29 per cent,” he said.

“We think this is remarkable, given growth in the Wii hardware installed base of 44 per cent and growth in the DS installed base of 33 per cent over the last 12 months. In our view, this indicates that Nintendo’s customers either are not finding enough software to satisfy their needs, or need less software than the typical Sony or Microsoft customer.” he added.

“We expect investors to remain spooked by the May results, as they are beginning to reinforce the notion that the video game industry is in a state of persistent secular decline,”

“We believe that the publishers and developers of games have created more robust multiplayer content in recent years that has resulted in core gamers playing the same games for much longer, on average, than they did in the past, leading to lower sales of new games.” he continued

“the packaged goods business is in a state of decline, and that packaged products will continue to compete with alternative interactive entertainment experiences such as Facebook games and iPhone games.”

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“As far as Splinter Cell [goes], Ubisoft gets it,” he said.

“Probably a minimum six months, perhaps a year exclusivity on 360, but you will see those games on PS3 as well.”

“Ubisoft is very good at negotiating rights to bring the game out later on a different platform,” Pachter added.

Pachter might be wrong like most of his predictions, but i have a good feeling Pachter will finally be right.

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“The company remains confident about its growth prospects, expecting net subscriber additions in 2010 of 3.2 – 4 million. We think that this growth, while likely to continue for two to three years, is unsustainable” he stated. “We believe that 800,000 of the subscribers added in 2009 were from the addition of Netflix to Microsoft’s Xbox 360 dashboard, and think that this figure will subside to around 300,000 – 400,000 per year in 2010 and beyond.”

A bold statement, and some very large figures being thrown about too. He further acknowledged that there is a limit to the growth, though. He stated that the PS3 user base in the US- the only region Netflix is available in- is not as big as the Xbox, and although Wii’s continue to sell like hotcakes, “fewer than 35% ” are connected to the internet.

Not afraid to make public his platform of choice, he further went on with doubts about the future of PC gaming,        “The PC market if you think about it just as package products sold — and let’s include Steam in there, not subscription like World of Warcraft is something like six or seven percent of total games sales — it’s not a big number,” he started.

“It’s becoming a declining industry becaues you can get a near PC experience on a console right now, and I know flamers, you all have PCs that just crap all over the PS3 and are much, much more powerful. But the PS3 is a pretty powerful box and it’s probably more powerful than 90 percent of PCs out there.”

“It’s becoming a declining industry becaues you can get a near PC experience on a console right now, and I know flamers, you all have PCs that just crap all over the PS3 and are much, much more powerful. But the PS3 is a pretty powerful box and it’s probably more powerful than 90 percent of PCs out there.”

And when asked about the Xbox 360 in relation to PC’s, he said, “”The Xbox 360 is probably more powerful than 85% of PCs out there.”

Well, to be perfectly frank, this is not such a huge statement. After all, 90% of PC’s are probably only used for work and home computing. So don’t worry PC gamers- we’re still one up on the consoles for now.

He also said that he believes that Natal will outsell the Playstation Arc 5 to 1.“I think that the Sony motion controller will have some problems gaining traction, since it is not an “in the box” solution,” the Wedbush Morgan analyst said in an interview with PS3 Center. “That will probably limit adoption to 1 or 2 million at the outset.”

“A year or so after launch, there will be 10 million [Project Natal units] out there, which will probably attract more third-party support,” he further added.

Will Pachter’s predictions turn out to be solid? Stay tuned to GB to find out.