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The era of one console lasting an entire generation is over, says Microsoft, with Xbox boss Phil Spencer suggesting we could see a more powerful Xbox One console this generation.
“In other [consumer technology] ecosystems you get more continuous innovation in hardware that you rarely see in consoles because consoles lock the hardware and software platforms together at the beginning and they ride the generation out for seven years or so,” said Spencer at press event in San Francisco last week and reported by The Guardian. “We’re allowing ourselves to decouple our software platform from the hardware platform on which it runs.”
He added: “We believe we will see more hardware innovation in the console space than we’ve ever seen.
“We’ll see us come out with new hardware capability during a generation and allow the same games to run backwards and forward compatible because we have UWAs (Universal Windows Applications) running on top of UWP (Universal Windows Platforms). It allows us to focus on hardware innovation without invalidating the games that run on that platform.
“We can effectively feel a little bit more like what we see on PC where I can still go back and run my old Quake and Doom games, but then I can also see the best 4K games coming out. Hardware innovation continues and software takes advantage. I don’t have to jump generation and lose everything I played before.”
Could we see a new Xbox One released this year capable or running Gears of War 4 at super fidelity and possibly 4K, helping to counter the success of the seemingly unstoppable PS4? Release a more powerful Xbox One and at the same time drop the price of the existing model and Microsoft could be onto a winner. It works amazingly for Apple, so why not for Xbox?
Source: The Guardian
