Upcoming Console Generation Could Last Only Five Years

Tsing

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DigiTimes is reporting that the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X may only be around for five years before their successors are announced. That’s interesting news – particularly for PC gamers, who have long suffered from pesky consoles and their inadequate, outdated hardware, which have arguably held back the industry as a whole. (Sure, we’ll admit that some of those exclusives look pretty incredible, but can you imagine what the average triple-A game would look like if modern processors and GPUs were the norm?)



“The life cycle for household game consoles may be shortened to five years from 6-7 years, and PS5 shipments may challenge 120-170 million units when its 5-year cycle expires, compared to 110 million units registered to date for PS4 launched in November 2013,” DigiTimes’s sources...
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Yea I don't see the average consumer of consoles willing to spend 500+ every five years. Unless the big vendors are willing to do 5 year warranties and let consumers pay out the cost over 3 years like modern cell phones.
 
I can see them doing it if the games are fully backwards compatible. Like, for the first 1 to 2 years the next gen games will still play on the old console, just less detail until later in the life cycle when they drop support for it. While also allowing the older games to work on the newer console.
 
I remember certain people saying that this console generation was only going to last 5 years. It's going to be 7 when the new consoles come out.
 
LeRoy_Blanchard said:
I can see them doing it if the games are fully backwards compatible. Like, for the first 1 to 2 years the next gen games will still play on the old console, just less detail until later in the life cycle when they drop support for it. While also allowing the older games to work on the newer console.
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Yar, especially if MS transition works out for them from Xbone to XSX/S (b/c, cross gen for all 1st party games for the first couple of years).
 
Sure, Sure. We all know there will be some t.v. manufacturer pushing 16K by then so, of course, we'll need a new console to play games at 240 FPS. Yep, no sarcasm here.
 
SeymourGore said:
Yar, especially if MS transition works out for them from Xbone to XSX/S (b/c, cross gen for all 1st party games for the first couple of years).
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With last gen's consoles being x86 based and this generation being x86 based I see no reason why it can't work that way unless they purposely do it.

It would be just like PC games. Where, if you want the best visuals, buy the latest hardware. You can't afford the latest hardware, but still want to play the latest games, turn down the visuals.

For MS and Sony, they could easily enable those settings for their consoles. When they have new hardware (console) released, stop selling the old hardware.
 
Grimlakin said:
Yea I don't see the average consumer of consoles willing to spend 500+ every five years. Unless the big vendors are willing to do 5 year warranties and let consumers pay out the cost over 3 years like modern cell phones.
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I think MS tried something like that... the gaming payment plan for 360? I don't think it ended well. Part of me kind of likes the idea of a 5 year console "lease", trade it in at the end and either walk away, or they hand you a new one. I hate this with cars, but for a smaller ticket item that gets constant refreshes, could work.
 
I can’t do the console game any longer and it’s a shame as I feel like I’m missing some great titles. Just can’t spend the money on both really. 5 years is something said the last two generations If I’m not mistaken, just seems like bs to me.
 
I’m ok with that. I mean, the PS3/360 gen was unusually long and lead to a lot of stagnation (DX9 4ever). Typical console generations outside of that have been about five years, give or take a couple.

Really really hard to say it’s about the money when top GPUs are on a 18-24 month cadence and cost four figures now..
 
{NG}Fidel said:
I can’t do the console game any longer and it’s a shame as I feel like I’m missing some great titles. Just can’t spend the money on both really. 5 years is something said the last two generations If I’m not mistaken, just seems like bs to me.
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I feel the same. I usually buy every console, but probably will only be doing the PS5 this go around. The Switch was the first Nintendo console I bought since the Gamecube and it has gone mostly unused.
 
The Switch was the first console I've bought since the PS2. Played some Zelda and Pokemon on it, but ultimately needed to sell it a couple months ago due to COVID19.
 
Armenius said:
I feel the same. I usually buy every console, but probably will only be doing the PS5 this go around. The Switch was the first Nintendo console I bought since the Gamecube and it has gone mostly unused.
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Yeah I like the idea of the Switch but I know it would be wasted on me. I had a PS Vita which was a super cool little device, but I hated having to bust out reading glasses to see the screen. But my teenager self would have murdered to have either of the things.

As far as the big boy (and big ticket $$$) consoles go, 5-7 years seems about right. Any more and people gripe about stagnant tech. Any less and people gripe about "having" to buy a new console so frequently. You start to cannibalize your own sales with constant new products. Think of smart phones.

Long term... I think someone, someday, maybe... will get game streaming (ala Stadia etc) working properly. New technology vs improved internet latency, etc. When that happens, the days of the expensive new console will be gone. I think it will happen eventually.

I had some random thought about how PC is usually the winner of these fights. But lots of people still do not want big black PCs in their living room (I know my wife doesn't). But thinking about that some more, it's not really even the same field. Sure PCs can play most of the same games. But cost, complexity, size and appearance, WAF (wife acceptance factor) put the PC into it's own habitat.

Sorry, rambling....
 
Burticus said:
Yeah I like the idea of the Switch but I know it would be wasted on me. I had a PS Vita which was a super cool little device, but I hated having to bust out reading glasses to see the screen. But my teenager self would have murdered to have either of the things.
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The Switch can be played on a TV.
 
Burticus said:
Yeah but I've never met anyone that does. TBF my sample size is pretty small, but I know 3-4 people with them... and those things never hit the dock.
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I used mine on the dock all the time. Only time I took it off the dock is when I'd bring it with me when I was traveling for work. Although I'd bring the dock with me and hook it up to the hotel's TV; but I would play on it during the ride up there if I wasn't driving.
 
I used my Switch on the dock 95% of the time. Ended up selling it as I rarely played it, but it had some decent games.
 
The switch is a genuinely geinus concept I just wish it had more power. But I know im asking for something that would probably render that concept impossible.
 
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