The recent showcase of the Unity Engine presents some ultra realistic character models, but are they too realistic for gaming?
Microsoft has announced a partnership with AMD to power the next generation of Xbox, including its first-party future Xbox consoles.
This thing is gonna be *expensive* and extremely powerful!
It might easily break the $1000 price point for a console for the first time ever.
So what's going on here?
I think two things: Windows faces an existential threat from SteamOS if it ever goes mainstream. So Microsoft wants to build an Xbox PC complete with streamlined Windows OS that will be able to be more attractive than any SteamDeck home console.
Microsoft wants every gamer including PlayStation gamers to move to PC, then it wants to market Game Pass to ALL PC players. Even if it only captures 5% of the worldwide market that would likely be enough to bring in enough revenue to make the subscription service a financial success.
Note how much emphasis they keep putting on "you can play your games across any device"... as in, no exclusives. This thing will flop hard, again, if it even launches. They already pumped the brakes on the handheld.
If it's going to do that, it will flop hard. Their best selling console is the cheapest one on the market, not the more expensive one. And they can't sell that to keep up with the more expensive PS5.
Edit: Also, AMD is easily not going to sign away anything that limits what they can do with Sony. They make more money the more consoles manufactured, not the one that sells the least out there but for more.
Xbox doesn’t have someone like Mark Cerny— let’s not pretend that’s a small thing. Sony's domination really began when Cerny became the lead architect. What most people don’t realize is how much of a developer-first mindset he brought to PlayStation hardware.
For example, during PS4 development, Cerny made the call to increase RAM from 4GB to 8GB of GDDR5—a huge and expensive decision at the time—specifically because developers told him they needed more memory. That change had a massive impact on the PS4's long-term success, making it much easier to develop for and future-proofing it in ways Xbox One simply wasn’t.
And he doesn’t just sit in an office and make guesses—he visits every major first-party, second-party, and even third-party studio every two years. He talks directly with the people making the games and collects detailed feedback on what works and what doesn’t. Studios trust him because he’s not just a hardware guy—he’s been a game developer, a producer, and a creative lead. He understands game development from the ground level all the way to the top, and that’s why studios feel comfortable being honest with him. That’s how features like the ultra-fast SSD and the dedicated 3D audio chip made it into the PS5—they weren’t just specs on paper, they were answers to real-world studio needs.
So while Xbox is doing great things with AMD (and that’s a strong move on its own), they don’t have a Cerny—a bridge between engineering and creative. That matters.
And for those claiming Xbox might gain an advantage by launching early—this isn’t 2005 anymore. Back then, launching the Xbox 360 a year early gave Microsoft a real edge. But now? People are invested:
They’ve built massive digital libraries
Their friends and social systems are tied into Xbox Live or PSN
And cross-play means you don’t have to switch consoles just to play with others
You can’t “win” the generation early just by releasing first anymore.
If Xbox wants to win the next generation, they should aim squarely at core gamers. Release a powerhouse, even if it costs $800–$1000. The hardcore market would embrace it. But the real danger is that they’ll also release a $350–$400 console, like they did with Series S—and that console will hold the whole generation back again. Series S was the bottleneck of this generation. Developers had to build to its limitations, and it’s part of the reason why PS4 is still being supported with new releases in 2025.
Power is only one part of the equation. Vision matters. Studio trust matters. Execution matters. And that’s where Mark Cerny and PlayStation’s approach continue to set the bar
I think they could put in a low effort iteration that doesn't pack in a lot of innovation (same dashboard, copy some ideas on the controller) on refreshed silicon, benefitting from AMDs newer architecture. They don't need an Uber engineer for mediocrity.
If they would have doubled down on exclusives after buying up the universe they could have done just that
But they've done nothing short of sabotaging their consoles for the last several years - why would they try for another baby after clubbing their eldest son? It's madness
Crazy
Microsoft has made major moves in the gaming industry, investing over $75 billion—possibly closer to $80–85 billion—acquiring publishers like ZeniMax and Activision Blizzard, along with renowned studios such as Obsidian, Ninja Theory, and Playground Games. Once that level of investment came into play, Xbox could no longer remain a side project—it had to become a serious, profit-driven business.
One of the major shifts we’re seeing is how Microsoft is adapting its strategy. While Game Pass is a fantastic service—especially for Xbox and PC players—it simply isn’t a sustainable model on its own to fund the rising costs of AAA blockbuster game development. Most Xbox players enjoy their games through subscriptions rather than purchasing them outright, which limits revenue per title.
That’s why we’re now seeing Microsoft embrace a hybrid model: keeping Game Pass as a core service on Xbox and PC, while also releasing major titles on other platforms like PlayStation and the upcoming Nintendo Switch 2.
The results speak for themselves:
Forza Horizon 5, a flagship Xbox title, has become one of the best-selling games on PlayStation.
Gears of War: E-Day (Reloaded) is already charting as one of the top pre-ordered games on PSN.
The newly released Indiana Jones and the Great Circle has performed well.
And there are strong rumors that Microsoft is working to bring even more iconic Xbox titles—including Halo—to PlayStation.
Why? Because the PlayStation 5 install base is on track to hit 100 million within the next year. That’s simply too large a market to ignore, especially when trying to recoup the costs of massive development and acquisition budgets. The days of treating Xbox like a vanity project are over. This is now about business fundamentals: revenue, growth, and profit.
While exclusives still matter in some strategic cases, Microsoft is clearly evolving with the market. It’s no longer about pleasing a small group of fans demanding exclusivity—it’s about adapting to a new reality where cross-platform availability increases revenue, reach, and long-term sustainability.
In short, Microsoft is playing smart: keeping players happy on Game Pass while also capturing full-price sales from the largest gaming audiences worldwide. They’ve chosen growth over pride—and the numbers are backing that up
I think that stance really downplays what Ken kutaragi brought to the table with the ps1 and its development pipeline which was far easier to work with than any other system at the time including the jag, n64, 3d0
Because let's be honest Sony dominated hard with both the ps1 and ps2.
Ps1 dominated so did 2 but that was harder to dev for with the emotion engine but highly capable.
Its with the ps3 that Sony lost it and really its their only console they failed to get developers on board with and the reason that Ken stepped aside.
But really modern consoles mirroring pc hardware was inevitable consoles were originally made because pc hardware wasbt capable of things like smooth scrolling and as everything evolved consoles slowly morphed into PC's which is basically where we are at now but there's beauty in a consoles simplicity so I dont know what ms will do but making a windows console seems like a bad move many gamers dont want to play with settings they want plug and play and if you push pc to be a console you lose that simplicity and that will hurt
I hope there's no focus on 8K. Current gen consoles aren't exactly setting the world alight with rock-solid 4K60 titles, nevermind 4K120. Focusing on 8K would be a waste.
UDNA is on track to be revealed Q2 2026, so the Xbox rumors from the Activision trail, might be true about them launching their console first to market with a holiday 2026 release date.
That being said UDNA will be a big improvement over the current Series Consoles, but I don’t think UDNA 1st-gen is going to be a huge upgrade over the RX 9000 performance wise. RX 9000 is on 4nm, and UDNA 1st-gen is supposed to be on 3nm (basically 4nm+).
The question I have is are they going to stick with a 2 console future. Are they dropping the high-end since Series S sold better? Are they making a higher-end platform and using the ASUS Xbox handheld PCs as the new Series S option, or are they making a middle ground that’s “affordable” and balances price:performance. Also, are they sticking with the Xbox-PC mentality we see with the ASUS handheld.
"... Xbox consoles" ~ they're again gonna pull a Series S-v2 and handicap the next-gen's 2nd phase.
@RaidenBlack
Series S was a handicap primarily due to the RAM (it needed at least 12GB), but with Switch 2 and more handheld PCs it’s going to become a porting point for those platforms. So while it hurt development early on for Xbox, it’s now helping every other mobile platform…..which is great for everything else even if it doesn’t directly benefit MS, outside of their ASUS Xbox Handheld PC.
That being said, if they did do a Series SV2 I would hope they learned from their mistakes (they clearly didn’t learn from the PS3 or the GTX970 about split memory being awful for GPUs).
RAM
16GB is the will still be the minimum for the next 5+ years (12GB is starting to hit its limit), so that problem would be solved.
GPU
RDNA4 and/or UDNA are big improvements over RDNA2. Even staying at 20CUs like the Series S, the jump to RDNA 4 + clock speed would be around a 60% - 70% boost over the Series S, putting it around a RTX 2060 - RX 6600 performance, which is a much better result, even if it’s still below PS5/SX natively. However, the Switch 2 is showing was a superior upscaled can do, and having FSR4 would be a SIGNIFICANT upgrade over the PS5/SX, and would allow the SSV2to run PS5/SX games at native 1080p same High-Medium settings and FPS as those consoles in most games, but upscaled to 4K with better image quality than both of those consoles.
Price
Considering they raised all their console prices here’s where the issue comes into play. The above hardware would be fine, but if they can’t get it to $349 - $399 (the Series S is now $379 -_-), then why not get a digital PS5 starts to become the question for anything above $399. But if the global economy steady and back to normal what could anyone say bad about this platform at $349…?
HELL YEAH!!!!
HERE WE GO AGAIN!!!!
ALREADY GOT MY MONEY SAVED THANKS TO GAMEPASS!!!
First to market with the weakest console of the new generation, half-baked and rushed. Then Sony comes around and shows them how it's done for the fifth time in a row.
You said they weren't making another console? What happened? You types are wrong about everything all the time it's quite fascinating to watch actually.
@raiden kind of but if they didn't rush rrod may not have happened and they could have turned a profit that generation
Also ps3 dropped the ball massively so the generation would of been theirs by default but rrod abd mattricks casual push killed them and gave Sony a opportunity to claw it back
@prof, don't underestimate how much developers finally getting a grasp on coding for the Cell processor also helped PS3 take the crown in the end.
Classic move if you're losing just start the next gen early look how that worked for dreamcast
At least the Dreamcast was an amazing system (still is!), the last two Xbox generations have been shameful.
Except Dreamcast was a generational leap, majority of games looked just as good if not better than some PS2 titles. More than what can be said of Nintendo since the Wii.. plus an early launch worked well for the 360.
Sony confirmed their partnership with AMD for PS6 ages ago.
With Xbox taking time, everybody was hoping they might try something new & different by going Nvidia route but guess they went with the boring AMD route again.
Well Sony recently said that PS6 was top of their mind and are hard at work on it.
Next gen talk already we're 4 in a half years in the gen. 9th gen is easily the worse gen by far.
Almost 5 years in for PS and XB entries... Nintendo kicked off 9th gen back in 2017. MS and Sony were late because of the release of the Pro/One X consoles to extend their 8th gen presence. And in doing that is why the adoption rate for their 9th gen has been slower than the previous. Its also why crossgen is still a thing.
But like you said, 9th gen has been the worst, even in my 40+ years of gaming.
Phantom Squad is an intense 1-4 player tactical top-down shooter that blends fast-paced combat with strategic planning, drawing inspiration from games like Hotline Miami and Rainbow Six. Set to release in 2025 on Steam, players take on the role of disavowed operatives who must carefully plan their assault before breaching rooms.
Nintendo Switch 2 stick drift is already an issue, but accessory makers are already working on magnetic joysticks.
I've never had stick drift in any controller I've ever owned. All my joycons (3 sets) from my Switch are perfectly fine. My Switch 2 ones are good. Never had a dualshock / dualsense have it (did have a dualshock get a stuck trigger once). Even my Valve Index controllers which were notorious for drift were fine for me.
Varies. Just because you've never had one doesn't mean others won't. I've had PS, Xbox, and Nintendo controllers indeed drift on me. Remember the drift lawsuits that Nintendo has had.
Please stop trying to say that traditional potentiometers are absolutely fine when hall effect/tmr sticks are beyond superior lol, not sure why so many people keep trying to defend potentiometers when hall effects are so pro consumer.
Companies like nintendo, sony, and mcsft don't want to implement them simply because they want you the consumer to keep buying them. Most casuals will just buy a new controller if theirs difts, easy money for the big 3.
I've gone hall effects and have never gone back, can leave my controllers out absolutely fine without worry of dust ruining the sticks.
when did I say that traditional joysticks are absolutely fine? I'm sharing my own experience here. I never said that others don't experience issues, nor that this is somehow acceptable. Strange leapfrog from A to B on that one.
People love to say it's a huge widespread issue, yet you only hear about it because the minority is vocal whereas the majority don't report anything because they are fine.
I'm happy you switched to hall effect sticks, if that's what works for you, then awesome.
Cool? Pretty sure this is for those who are having it happen. Not sure how your anecdote addresses other peoples' problems.
people around here act like everyone will get drift. I'm willing to wager more people won't get drift than will.
lucky you. I've only had minor drift once in my L Joycon which I fixed with some card stock, but drift is an undeniable problem as a whole.
My 2 sets of Joy-Cons from my OG Switch started to drift with just a month of use. That is why I bought Dobe Joy-Cons with just $25, and until now they are still fine. I hope this will never happen again on my Switch 2.
My left joy con for the OG Switch got stick drift right away as well. I never had issues with my PS5 controllers since launch until I got my kids PS5’s and they had stick drift with 2 controllers. They drop them because they are kids and although I have them wash their hands before gaming they still get gunk under them somehow. I got their controllers modded because they would have issues no matter what I have them do.
"people around here act like everyone will get drift. I'm willing to wager more people won't get drift than will."
no, nobody is acting like that, you're jsut exaggerating it and lying to downplay a problem
you know, i said the same thing not too long ago and then BOOM both controllers ha.
one on the moving stick and one on the look around stick.
both suck arse. ha
The tech is already there. I had a couple of my PS5 controllers modded with Hall Effect modules and they work great. They should come standard with them these days but they don’t.
Nyxi already made some fantastic Hall Effect controllers for Switch 1. I don't know why Nintendo couldn't have it by now if Nyxi has had for years.
Cheap, frictionless sensors ALREADY exist. Why are they "working hard to combat stick drift"? Stick drift should be a thing of the past at this point. The technology is here...NOW. It has been...for YEARS! Why is stick drift even still spoken about? It shouldn't exist!
Because its a scam for Nintendo, Sony, Microsoft to sell more overpriced controllers.
WD 40 if it's shagg.d anyway why not ? I ordered a new ps5 pad after Helldivers 2 and POE 2 became unplayable due to drift but in the meantime I fired a bit of WD on my balls just below my stick rotated in a clockwise fashion massaging it in so to speak and also did the pin reset thingy and all clean no drift and hit that cancel purchase button like I meant it
Honestly I’ve used my original Switch JoyCons and Pro Controller since launch and only in the last year did I see drift start to show up on one of my JoyCons. I’m sure it happens depending on how much and how firm the joystick is used, but it seems like a minor issue that goes with wear and tear after thousands of hours of play. I wish there had been Hall Effect sticks on Switch 2 just so there’s one less thing to worry about, but I’m not really concerned about it.
How realistic does a character have to be before the morality of killing in games finds legitimacy? Throw in realistic reactions and emotions and suddenly you have a very interesting discussion IMO. I had this discussion many years ago about GTA. If a mother is pushing a pram with a baby in it and they look real, is there a case to be made 'morally' that hurting them is reprehensible? Some of you may remember me bringing it up and it's one of the reasons I'm not entirely against the thought, even though religious groups and politicians have abused the conversation for their own ends.
I feel we DO have to face up to this idea and ask ourselves how much a video game can effect a persons view of mortality. We need to stop immediately seeing it as a threat to our beloved hobby and start asking the difficult questions. Definitely amazing tech, but developers are going to have to start justifying violence, as Naughty Dog so brilliantly demonstrated in The Last Of Us.
Its not something i can simply put on here in the comments for the short term so i will just say this
"at the end of the day its still a video game"
If this is a dumb question I apologise but anyway what kind of hardware is this tech demo running on? can a nextgen console have the power to render something this realistic?
They're just body scans, and there's no such thing as too realistic. It's called progress. We're not going backwards, are we?
in niko bellic's voice........"Not F****** Funny"