From GamingBolt:
“Project Scorpio will be the next addition to the Xbox One family and it ultimately is the next step in delivering our vision for the future of gaming beyond generations,” Spencer said.
[...]
"Project Scorpio is a serious inflection point for team Xbox and we are announcing Project Scorpio today to gives our developers and partners to take advantage of that ability now in order to realize their visions for the future and deliver even more great games for you. Today marks the beginning of gaming beyond generations. A future full of choice. All future where can all play without boundaries.”
It’s a bold and ambitious vision, and a dramatic change from how console gaming has been so far.It's a vision in which there essentially isn't a next console generation, so I guess bold is as good as way as any to describe it. I don't know if it's ambitious, though, so much as realistic. After all, some of us have been talking about this being the last console generation for some time, now.
That's right. I called it. Booyah.
This goes against everything console manufacturers have done for decades. The prevailing business model has been to create a powerful, exotic machine sold initially at a loss, make the money back through software sales, and continue selling the same console as prices come down over five years or more. The fixed hardware specification means games run the same for everyone, and developers are able to optimize more efficiently than they could for a similarly powerful PC. [...]
So why would Sony and Microsoft want to tear up the rulebook? The clue is in that first rule I mentioned above, stating that you start with a “powerful, exotic machine.” The PS4 and Xbox One are nothing of the sort — powerful, yes, and capable of great things, but based on middling PC hardware. They share the same architecture, and thanks to the PC industry that architecture gets iterated on at breakneck pace — just like you see in the smartphone market. And, just as companies like Apple and Samsung are able to release cutting-edge new models each year, Sony and Microsoft would like to sell you on more up-to-date technology.[...]
The shift to a more flexible release cycle could well be a good thing; the fixed generations are certainly anachronistic for the tech world at large, and different levels of hardware will offer more choice over where to buy in. The current usage of more conventional architecture means it'd be strange not to capitalize on the potential flexibility. But Sony and Microsoft’s quest for better performance is bound to run into compromises, and that’s what’s ultimately likely to drive me to an even more flexible solution: the PC.
Steam currently has 125 million active users, while Sony's PS4 is winning the current console generation with only 40 million units sold (double the XBox One, but 13M behind where their 3rd-place PS3 was at the same point of the last console gen), so I'd say that the a lot of gamers have moved to PC, rather than putting down money for underpowered consoles.
Both PS4 Neo and XBox One Scorpio feature strong backwards compatibility, too, so developers wanting to make games for either console will also find themselves still wrestling with the lesser performance of those platforms' older/standard specs. If this results in console games that continue to be lesser versions of the PC versions, then Steam gamers will have few reasons to switch, especially since they'll get more and more invested in Steam's ecosystem as time keeps passing.
Both PS4 Neo and XBox One Scorpio feature strong backwards compatibility, too, so developers wanting to make games for either console will also find themselves still wrestling with the lesser performance of those platforms' older/standard specs. If this results in console games that continue to be lesser versions of the PC versions, then Steam gamers will have few reasons to switch, especially since they'll get more and more invested in Steam's ecosystem as time keeps passing.
Yes, Virginia, when even the makers of the consoles are openly admitting that the way they do business has to change, it really is the last console generation.