DrAspirino
Banned
After watching the PS5 reveal and XSX reveal, along with their specs, this question raised onto my mind: are next-gen consoles truly next-gen?
Let me develop the idea.
Since videogame consoles birth, a "new generation" always meant a drastic improvement in video/audio quality, as well as different ways in which data is processed to that effect.
The examples that come close to my mind right now are the NES to SNES transition, from SNES to N64, from N64 to the Gamecube, from the Wii-U to the Switch (on Nintendo's side); from PS1 to PS2, from PS2 to PS3, from PS3 to PS4 (from PlayStation side); from Xbox to X360, and from X360 to Xbone: all of them had different architecture changes, different and innovative ways to control the characters, to produce sound and images and not just improvements over previous consoles.
Let's look then how current gen works and how "next-gen" works, shall we?
In current gen you have the following components: Optical media, internal storage, SDRAM, x86 APU, integrated memory controller, digital audio-video output, network controller (wired and wireless), and a "traditional" gamepad.
Next-gen? same: Optical media, internal storage, SDRAM, x86 APU, integrated memory controller, digital audio-video output, network controller (wired and wireless), and a "traditional" gamepad. All of the same just beefed up.
x86 is an architecture that has been in use since 1978. That's f*cking 42 years!!!
System architecture? the fucking same for the past 20 years!
Blu-ray has been in use as storage media since at lest 2008. SSD nand storage? in use since 1991. PCI-e bus? in use since 2004. Operating system? Windows (Xbox) and FreeBSD (PlayStation), both of which has been used for decades on different devices.
Anyway"next-gen" is not so "next" as it keeps the same structure and architecture and only increase the power. In fact, once you enter "x86 land", there are no more generations, as software on that architecture is scalable AF, as well as game engines (given the wide variety of PCs).
Sony and Microsoft could have designed their own architecture based on RISC-V or ARM, use innovative ways of storage (like optane or something like that), change the way memory and assets are accessed, think of new uses of the wireless network controller and stack, make some parts modular (or not at all), stream everything (or don't)....BUT DO SOMETHING NEW!! INNOVATIVE!!
Although, on the other hand, having the same architecture means backwards compatibility since day 0 (since it's the same architecture), which is a plus for the user.
Long gone are the days when consoles actually pushed technology forward, like Nintendo with the N64 (using a custom designed SGI chip) or Sony with the original PlayStation (that used a 3D chip that Sony used in their professional post-production equipment).
Anyway, what I'm saying is that this "next-gen" is just another "milestone" in the generation-less x86 land.
Let me develop the idea.
Since videogame consoles birth, a "new generation" always meant a drastic improvement in video/audio quality, as well as different ways in which data is processed to that effect.
The examples that come close to my mind right now are the NES to SNES transition, from SNES to N64, from N64 to the Gamecube, from the Wii-U to the Switch (on Nintendo's side); from PS1 to PS2, from PS2 to PS3, from PS3 to PS4 (from PlayStation side); from Xbox to X360, and from X360 to Xbone: all of them had different architecture changes, different and innovative ways to control the characters, to produce sound and images and not just improvements over previous consoles.
Let's look then how current gen works and how "next-gen" works, shall we?
In current gen you have the following components: Optical media, internal storage, SDRAM, x86 APU, integrated memory controller, digital audio-video output, network controller (wired and wireless), and a "traditional" gamepad.
Next-gen? same: Optical media, internal storage, SDRAM, x86 APU, integrated memory controller, digital audio-video output, network controller (wired and wireless), and a "traditional" gamepad. All of the same just beefed up.
x86 is an architecture that has been in use since 1978. That's f*cking 42 years!!!
System architecture? the fucking same for the past 20 years!
Blu-ray has been in use as storage media since at lest 2008. SSD nand storage? in use since 1991. PCI-e bus? in use since 2004. Operating system? Windows (Xbox) and FreeBSD (PlayStation), both of which has been used for decades on different devices.
Anyway"next-gen" is not so "next" as it keeps the same structure and architecture and only increase the power. In fact, once you enter "x86 land", there are no more generations, as software on that architecture is scalable AF, as well as game engines (given the wide variety of PCs).
Sony and Microsoft could have designed their own architecture based on RISC-V or ARM, use innovative ways of storage (like optane or something like that), change the way memory and assets are accessed, think of new uses of the wireless network controller and stack, make some parts modular (or not at all), stream everything (or don't)....BUT DO SOMETHING NEW!! INNOVATIVE!!
Although, on the other hand, having the same architecture means backwards compatibility since day 0 (since it's the same architecture), which is a plus for the user.
Long gone are the days when consoles actually pushed technology forward, like Nintendo with the N64 (using a custom designed SGI chip) or Sony with the original PlayStation (that used a 3D chip that Sony used in their professional post-production equipment).
Anyway, what I'm saying is that this "next-gen" is just another "milestone" in the generation-less x86 land.
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