PC's Worst Nightmare Coming True? Upgradeable Consoles Next Round

Sega back in the day had the 32x and SegaCD, add-ons and ways to extend the life of the Genesis but it was a great attempt at the wrong time.

Interesting enough it appears that developers feel the time is almost upon us to see this happen again and in the next round of consoles the last PC gaming advantage in terms of max settings and graphic card updates may appear in a new console format.

Stay Tuned for some interesting details in this video

[Hitman0769]

This could have serious ramifications on the console industry. I think there are pros and cons to the permanent specs of current day consoles but additional upgrades could have some good possibility as well. I would personally prefer to see shorter life cycles and better upgrades on consoles rather than upgrade ability but if they can face the challenges of designing such an add-on and find solutions that further gaming, I'll be all for it.

@CameronL99 Completely valid points.

[CameronL99]

Shorter life cycles? Shorter than 5 years which is what we've had every generation until this one? Do you realize how bankrupt Console makers would be if they had to come out with a console every 3 years? There's a massive amount of marketing and technology that goes into them, Sony spent billions coming up with the PS3 with its Cell architecture, they needed a 10 year life cycle just for some of that to pay off. Noone wants to spend billions on something that they're going to replace in 3 years.

[kancerkid]

Although I think it would be easier to upgrade a console (Plug and Play) over a PC(compatibility, etc), I do not think it would be anywhere near as cheap, nor would any PC gamer care as there would be an extreme limitation of choices.

If you are going to go the upgradeable root, just build a PC. It has much greater functionality for a slightly higher price.

Oh, and does this mean their would be tiers of games, where some games could only be played on the best hardware? I mean MS can't even publish games that require an HDD b/c not everyone has one, though most people do.

I do not see this going anywhere.

[Army_of_Darkness]

Ya right! If consoles get shorter life cycles, then i might as well purchase every other next gen console then since it would be pointless to buy each one....
I say, the longer the cycle the better! I dont really like the idea of upgradable consoles though cause who knows, they might abuse it like they do with dlc. ...

[evrfighter]

upgradeable consoles takes a huge part of the pro vs the con of pc vs. console gaming argument away from the console gamer.

Not only that but pc gamers would point and laugh at the console gamers who are severely hamstrung by the amount of access Sony and M$ would allow console gamers to have.

I mean it basically boils down to the pc elite poking fun at the
"poor mans pc"
"the DLC pc"
"fisher price pc "
"little tykes pc"
"It's Nerf or a real pc"

Oh how I wish this would happen. there would be lulz and it would be awesome.

but then we are getting pulled into HHG's momentum. let's start from the beginning.

1) HHG has no clue pc gaming exists and once he finds out he begins to go on about how it doesn't compare to consoles. Even goes as far to debate pc gamers about it.

2)As HHG gains more knowledge about the gaming industry he realizes that PC gaming is where its at but to come out and support it would make him look the fool. Foot in mouth syndrome.

3) console gaming as we speak is dried up and he's always going on about the next-gen and the future. He has nothing to combat the advancements that are being made on the pc and if you look at #2 he's lookin the fool.

4) his only option is to do what he can to downplay pc gaming. Expect to see more articles like this from in the future.

[NewMonday]

Technically the lifecycle would be extended not reduced, only the graphics chip would be changed, and maybe RAM, but for this to work every game has to ship with all graphics settings and features like PC games, or this would be pointless.

This is not a bad idea, think about it , we already have blue ray HDD wi fi power supply, why buy all that when all we need for an extension is a graphics chip, maybe for just 60-100$.

And this generation is already upgradable with replicable HDD

[FanboyPunisher]

"poor mans pc"
"the DLC pc"
"fisher price pc "
"little tykes pc"
"It's Nerf or a real pc"

[Theonetheonly]

Dear Mr hiphop gamer.
Just admit that you want to start gaming on a pc.

If the community worked together to bring love to the pc you would have exactly what you are so excited about. all the best exclusives would see the pc market unhampered by hardware limitations.

everything you just described sounds EXACTLY like a PC what it sounds like is that you want consoles to become PCs why not just buy a pc :)

you sound like a console gamer thats still in the closet about wanting to make the jump to pc.

Pc Just Jump in it only does EVERYTHING.

[MaxXAttaxX]

Instead of small improvements.

That's why I stick to consoles.

[hiredhelp]

I cant see any console running a a good pc video card for one thing it would have to be farely large casing. just for the board. them chips get very hot very quickly you will run into over heating issues.
thats without the cpu and ram.

nice thought but really you want that you might as well have a pc. and to have the latest tech lets just say graphics cards are like mobile phones. if you want the very latest tech .you go bankrupt cos next one be out very shortly after.

[joeorc]

Is that the same Hybrid core processors that are in mobile gaming like smartphones an tablets are also going into desktop PC's not to mention the very same PC only centric game engine developers are making their game engines compatable, why is that mainly because Microsoft has no other choice to make the next ver. Of windows Os with full Api's to run on these chipsets.

Thank about that for a sec, in over 15+ years Microsoft has not or pushed a. Full windows Os in the consumer space on a non. Intel based chipset.

Add in the fact that very likely that the next. Game systems all three put out will. Use the same core chipset, maybe not the same series of chips but the same core chipset which will. In effect mean from the portible space to the tablet to the smartphone to the game console to the Pc all the same development tools can be used with less waste in not only time but manpower needed.

Its a brave new world an in my opinion it's being dominated by the Arm chipset.

[hiredhelp]

are see you done your homework .you right in one sense. not sure motorola or the samsung. , but also the NGP and the ipad two both have the same chipset i understand what you talking. about and one day these will become very powerfull to display on a much wider resalution screen.

but to be honist if every hardware was going to run the same there would be no need to have soo many company's pushing new hardware.

As for the handheld right now i think its about how each system is designed to use these new ARM chipset's dont forget the psp had a arm chipset.

but with the pc the pc wont use such a hardware as its going too far too fast thoe a dual core on upcomming mobiles is impressive and 1ghz cpu becomming the norm. you have to take into account this is still 1ghz even at a quad core thats 4g's thoe with what they packing in the smartphones and ngp could it once run on a console. right now no because the screen size. in future very possible. thats my take on it m8. glad to see JOEORC you enthusiasm same as mine bubble voted. wish i could bloody spell

[DeadlyFire]

How is this a bad thing. I say its awesome idea. First thing I would like to note. Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo can brand the hardware and release the updates at specific times. Say every 5 years or so. Get Generation 7 update now or something like that. Games can be branded with labels for this as well like each generation so really not much changes. Just maybe your price point lowers. Not a bad concept. Needs a trail run though I believe and maybe a bigger case to be sold with a console. Basically a full tower desktop as my next console + monitor. I say bring it on. I love this idea as I love PC gaming and it would open up a new world as far as software boundaries are concerned. PC is the top platform and their is a reason for that. Consoles branching into PC market would be great. It would start a new rivalry. Likely Xbox would get Windows support. PS3, Wii would likely be open market or create their own OS.

What I like about this concept is there is room for the consoles to create their own SDK and require it for use up until new hardware is set and then say here is the new SDK and new generation hardware to run it. Its the one thing PC doesn't have. A set time window for hardware/software.

I hope this does come true. Adds new depth to the consoles and opens a new world to consumers. A console that never dies.

[ct03]

It's not a bad thing. But considering how people keep stressing that "having to upgrade your PC every 4 months" (note how you supposedly have no choice in the matter, you HAVE TO upgrade) is awful.

[DeadlyFire]

Well PCs don't have to be updated everyday like some believe. Yes new parts come out every 4 months or so. Are they nessesary to play next great game. NO. A good Graphics card and PC setup will last you 2 solid years without requiring any significant change and after that only required bump would be Graphics card, or Memory to last you another 2 years. Then maybe an overhaul around 4-6 years. Depending on if you will allow yourself to tone down a few games to lower settings with same resolution.

Graphics cards now have a high quality card line for $250 bucks. Not bad at all.

[THILLREBORN]

I've been hearing this for some time and I'm down.

[vgcgames]

make sense

[gcolley]

how?

[SpaceSquirrel]

I could see consoles becoming more like PCs

[Burning_Finger]

that would sucks ass... Majority of gamers just want to play games on default hardware and settings without costing X amount of $$$.

[fromasterjay]

I love this idea...

[Modestmex]

might as well game on a pc.

[GoldPS3]

Might as well not because PC don't have Uncharted, MGS, KZ, GT, and other great PS exclusives.

[DeadlyFire]

Playstation PC will though. :P

[Solid_Malone]

man, that would be awesome. But then again, if the consoles are upgradable, it could mean that hackers could potentially chip the upgradable part to fool the system into playing pirated games.

[DeadlyFire]

Don't they already do that anyway?

[AuToFiRE]

when consoles become upgradable it becomes the 'if you want to play this game you got to buy this overpriced proprietary hardware!

[radphil]

Isn't that how it's slowly directing towards to now? They tend to do that with harddrives as is.

[AuToFiRE]

well on the 360 at least

[radphil]

To be honest, I relate that more on an overall level on all companies, where it's like "You can buy THIS item for X amount of dollars, or THIS item that has extra space and stuff for X amount of dollars"

Nintendo is one prime example of guilt of this as well. Wii Motion Plus, umteen revisions of the DS, etc

[DeadlyFire]

They can still hold onto the SDK/Hardware and lock it down. As its still a console battle. Just a bigger arena and more global appeal in it being more like a PC.

As hardware would still be vastly different I believe in design from typical PCs its likely specific hardware will be required.

[therapist]

except all the parts would be retardedly overpriced (microsofts hard drives ring a bell?)

a freaking gig of ram would be $200

lol

from a business strategy it's a great idea

the end user would get boned on price...

the lack of any competition kills things

imagine if there were only 3 different companies to buy a car from, you think they are crazy expensive now....

while it's a great idea, it is really only being thought of as a way to scam you out of more money ala day one dlc

stick to pc, the only pseudo-free market left in gaming if you want performance options

worst of all console user would still get cheated out of all the pc benifits besides graphics,

like free maps

mods to last you years!!

free mmo's. rts's, fps, 30 day trials, you could game on pc, without pirating a thing for the rest of your life and never spend a dime

the console overlords charge you to use the internet you are already paying for, i don't see them letting you have a skyrim mod that takes 100 hours to beat for free

[meetajhu]

No its consoles worst nightmare. People will start preferring PC. @autofire 100% correct!

[SKUD]

DO NOT WANT.

[Rapture13]

I would be ok with this, as long as no games REQUIRED an 'upgraded console.' But then again, what would be the point of upgrading if you didn't HAVE to have it. It would not make the games much better. Basically, the 2 situations would be A) Games that require upgrades (which sucks) or B) Games being made that only require default consoles, therefore hardly utilizing the upgrades. It would be very similar to the whole Crysis 2 thing. Crysis 2 is better on PC for sure, but not miles ahead of consoles like it should be.

[BenCrazy424]

There is a reason why the 32x and the sega cd failed. No developer wanted to make anything on it and people didn't want to buy addons. If you want upgradable consoles, buy a PC. The reason I bought a console is because it lasts 5 or more years and I do not need to spend extra money keeping it up to date (hardware) to play new games every 2 years.

[Horny Melon]

Won't happen, not worth it. If they put too much upgradability into the console they fracture their audience. The Sega CD and 32X taught the industry that lesson. If the upgrades don't provide enough of a boost they won't be worth buying.

[therapist]

graphics alone pc kills console, that is a given

not to mention the console lack true multi tasking, i can be in a game of crysis 2 online with my brother, chating on steam with my friend 1000 miles away, alt tab and check my work email in 1 second, alt tab and be back in crysis, play for another few minutes, round ends, alt tab, order a pizza, send my brother a picture from last nights party in 2 seconds, buy and start a digital download of another game, alt tab and back in crysis....ect...ect...ect...

and mods

mods kill console, people call little big planet innovative, gtfo with that, thats like 1998 modding

check out total conversions of half life 2, oblivion, unreal 3, nwn2

lbp is kool for what it is and i had fun goofing with it

this mod for oblivion;

http://www.moddb.com/mods/n...

is better than the original game some would contend!!

[LunaticBrandon]

So either upgrades are forced or not utilized. Sounds great.

[ct03]

1080p60 pushes 4.5 times as many pixels per second as the current console standard of 720p30, and that doesn't even take into account good anti-aliasing.

So obviously hardware upgrades could be utilized, giving much better graphics, while still being entirely optional.

[LunaticBrandon]

There are other things you can do with better hardware. You would still be playing 24 player online in Battlefield 3 for example.

[Hazmat13]

im down for it. hopfully the next crysis will be a graphics beast on both consoles and PC i could see sony makin there own graphx cards ame with microsoft until then. back too Metro 2033 man i cant wait for Metro 2034 hopfully on PS3 and 360 and PC man that game is fun.

[gcolley]

dumbest thing i have read today

[yugioh100]

"Upgradeable Consoles"

lol ok have fun paying hundreds more than the console is actually worth.

[ct03]

It would be heaven for the companies. Right now, they don't make much money off of the console hardware (in the early stages they even tend to lose money).

But with overpriced, possibly proprietary upgrade components, they could make huge profits.

[MonopolyRSV]

Would it take more than two PS3s to equal the proposed processing power of the PS4?

Instead of a separate add-on, it would be better if two PS3s could simply be linked together, or maybe better, 1 PS3 and 1 NGP.

A couple problems are:

1) If it's not two PS3s combined, how can they make the combination of the PS3 and the add-on aesthetically pleasing?, especially with the original fat PS3 and the newer slim.
2) Can it even be done? A couple months back a document was leaked on here which alluded to Sony potentially looking at an add-on, but still no one can really agree how the 2 would fit together. All they have to work with is the USB and Ethernet ports right? How else would you make the connection?

I'm a big proponent of this idea since I just think it seems really wasteful to manufacture increasingly sophisticated processors etc which eventually become obsolete and can never be expanded on.

[DeeBee]

Wasn't April 1st LAST week!?

In all seriousness though, IF consoles were to become upgradeable, as most have said, we all get screwed with over priced upgrades. I can buy a 2TB HD for the PC for less than M$ are charging for their HD which is a fraction (about an 8th) of the size! But that's not the biggest issue, IF consoles were to be upgradeable ... you can upgrade the RAM, the HD, the GPU, maybe even the CPU ... ummm, does this sound familiar to anyone? Yeah, that's right ... it's a PC!

Consoles are slowly evolving into PCs, not just in the tasks they do but in that you can patch games, update firmware ... and one thing people hate the PC for, installing games instead of just putting the disc in and playing right away. If this joke of a rumor were to ever become true we'll just end up with 5 types of PC on the market, the traditional custom system running Windows (Linux or whatever), and then 4 locked down PCs running either OSx, Playstation OS, XBox OS or Nintendo OS. Basically consoles will die and we'll instead get a PC and choose which OS we want to run.

[Yukicore]

No man, they definitely will only be compatible with specific PS3 or X360 marked hardware. And probably no option to install other OS. It would only be that (example) they release PS4 with possibilities to change hardware, but nothing on sale now. 2 years later they release PS5 pack with new hardware and games would only run if your PS4 says that you have that new PS5 hardware in console, you would be able to play games that are made for ''PS5''. Nothing more, otherwise everyone would realize how BAD performance of consoles actually is. Consoles are good just because games are made specifically for them. And if the game is made not good enough, you get choppy performance and low frame-rates.

[ATiElite]

NO!
and I'm laughing every time I see a consoler say yes and the reason I laugh is because these are the same people who bad mouth PC gaming by saying "buh buh buh you got to upgrade your PC every 6 months".

It took 5 years before the 360 and PS3 actually were being sold as PROFIT for their companies. 360 can't really have games install on a HDD because some 360 only have 4GB of space. Sony went back and forth on the PS2 backwards compatibility issue and having just 2 different console Sku's has caused problems for Devs. For consoles it's just not good business sense and plus you take away the plug n play it's so easy a caveman can do it appeal of consoles if you go the upgrade route.

Leave the upgrading to the professional gaming equipment..PC it only does everything all at the same time in 1600p with backwards compatibility FOREVER!

[Yukicore]

Keep in mind that those games are made specifically for that hardware console has, otherwise consoles performance would be terrible! Well maybe upgradable RAM memory, to increase frame-rate in busy gaming moments, because with my PS3 when there are multiple objects moving, things happening in games it just drops frame-rate. Changeable graphics settings would destroy everything that consoles are good at, games are made for SPECIFIC HARDWARE on consoles, hardware for consoles suck, what makes those games run is that they are made just for that specific hardware.

[Skynetone]

Cant see it happening,

A: it will split the user base and cause confusion
B: if i have a ps4 level 1 and you have a ps4 level 2, devolpers will still develop for level 1 users so the only think level 2 will bring is better lighting / fps etc etc. not exactly worth the upgrade {maybe for some high end users}
C: you have to add expansion slots to the ps4 making it more expensive to produce
D: OnLive Gameing System has shown you dont need expensive graphics cards to have amazing graphics
E: i have a feeling that no amount of upgrades will keep the ps4 relevant in 10 years time, tech moves to fast

[KRONie]

Consoles are pretty much PCs stuffed with proprietary hardware and a custom OS. And now they want to add customizable hardware, making OS the only thing that separates consoles from PCs.

When you think about it, why DO we have consoles as a mainstream gaming? Right now you can get a decent gaming computer for ~$600-~$700 and you can get it attached to your TV(or 3 TVs) as easy as it is setting up a console. You get same games, many more features(and don't have to beg the developer to release a feature for the OS because chances are - it already exists on PC), higher resolutions, and you can play them from your couch since theres native pre-configured gamepad support for just about every game since 2007-08. There are rarely any hardware incompatibilities but they are mostly found in shovel-ware, or lazy ports. Black Ops is a perfect example of both.

[Tyre]

It's quite plausible that this is the case for the next gen...it fits with the Microsoft X-Engine rumor 1.5 years ago(that all Xbox titles from the end of 2010 till now obligatory have been build upon an Engine that can be scaled) Better hardware/more ram automatically enhances graphics of existing games: higher res textures/higher framerates/better shaders/better physics/more objects/longer view distance for example(cause they've been build on the scalable X-Engine already and games yet to be build will make use of the upgraded headroom from the get go), Makes sense, erases the compatibility problem with upgraded hardware and the backwards compatibility and enhancement of older titles is guaranteed...kinda like the CryEngine on PC...launch hardware can be upgraded with more RAM and newer GPU/CPU which will result in higher settings capabilities in the games. I'm all for it!

[kesvalk]

a customizable console is gaming PC.

[Tyre]

No it isn't...i didn't mean customizable....i meant scalable engines to go with future hardware upgrades like accessories that automatically will enhanched the graphics for all games on the next gen consoles when future upgrades are inserted(something resembling the N64 memory upgrade addon back in the day but with games made before the upgrade also affected by the extra memory: upwards and downwards compatibility). Not like a custom composite console(that would be like a compound PC from different hardware components) but with open slots for example in the launch model where future addons can be inserted(extra memory/extra GPU/CPU etc).

[Lulabarbie]

Change is good...

[snaileri]

Stupid people keep buying consoles,
no matter how close they come to PC.

[theroadtoruin]

its just a matter of time before Sony starts going this route, remember; it is called 'playstation computer entertainment'.

Sony has been making strides this direction ever since linux on PS2, yes linux could be installed on the PS2. then pushing it farther on the PS3 with things like the built-in web browser.

it's obvious they are trying more and more to make the Playstation a convenient hassle-free PC. im sure we will see something along the lines of this sometime in the future.

[caperjim]

I hope it happens. All games will have built in detection for whatever hardware you have and will adjust accordingly. Hardware installs will be easy with interchanging motherboards with CPU, GPU and ram built in. It will be like putting in a game cartridge. Very easy for an average person with no tech knowledge to understand.